2SO J- G- BOURINOT 



to Halifax where he died at the remarkable age of 103 years.' Of his successors in the 

 government of the country until 1820 there is nothing of interest to say. Their ad- 

 ministration of affairs was simply noted for squabbles of the most contemptible 

 character with the members of their councils, some of whom seem certainly to have been 

 remarkable for irritability of temper, probably fostered by the inconveniences and discom- 

 forts of life in a little village so far from the great haunts of men. Many of them no 



doubt, — 



" Mistook the rustic murmur of their burgh 



For the great wave that circles round the world;'' 



and in the spirit of a little bureaucracy believed themselves so many magnates. Gov- 

 ernor, judge, secretary, attorney-general, and officials generally could not permit anything 

 to come between the wind and their dignity. Even so accurate an historian of the island 

 as Mr. Richard Brown, who lived the greater part of his life at North Sydney, engaged in 

 the development and study of its mineral resources, dwells reluctantly on this period of 

 its annals, and is obliged to admit, while referring to Lieutenant-Grovernor Ain.slie,- that 

 " like all his predecessors his reign was, from first to last, disgraced by continual quarrels 

 and disputes, alike dishonourable to all the parties concerned." Finally a question arose 

 as to the means of carrying on the government of the island. Amongst other laws, or as 

 they are strictly termed, ordinances, passed by the lieutenant-governor and council, was 

 one in the year 1801, for levying a tax of one shilling a gallon upon all spirituous liquors 

 imported into the island during two years. This ordinance was afterwards cj^uestioned 



1 The following are the names of the first Councillors who were sworn in to assist and advise the lieutenant- 

 governor: Kichard Gibbons, chief justice, president ; David Mathews, attorney-general; William Smith, military 

 surgeon ; Thomas ÎMoncriefie, fort adjutant ; .T. E. Boisseau, deputy commissary of musters ; Rev. Benjamin 

 Lovell, military chaplain; Thomas Uncle, William Brown and John Wilkinson; clerk of council and provincial 

 secretary, David Cuyler. Subse(iuontly on account of difficulties between DesBarres and the commandant of the 

 garrison, Colonel Yorke, the fort adjutant and the chaplain resigned, and Alexander Haire and George Rogers 

 were appointed in their place- The names of the other civil officers of the province, in addition to those just given 

 in the list of councillors, were as follo\vs : surveyor-general, Tliomas Hurd; comptroller of customs, William 

 Brown ; naval officer, George Moore ; postmaster, Thomas TJncle ; Rev. Ranna Cossit was appointed in 1786 first 

 rector of St. George's Church. He and all the officers of the civil government were paid out of an imperial grant 

 made by parliament for that purpose. By an ordinance of the 14th of Feb. 1791, the whole island was constituted 

 one parish, and the minister required to be of the Church of England, with some provision for liberty of dissent. 

 (See Brown's Cape Breton for other information on this subject). The majority of the names here given have dis- 

 appeared, but there are still in the island representatives of the Dodds, Cossits, Gibbons and Moores, who took 

 part in the public affairs of the island when its government was first established- The Dodd family have given 

 three judges in succession to the bench. Numerous descendants of the settlers that came into Cape Breton in its 

 early days are found at Sydney, Louisbourg, St. Peter's, He Madame, Bedeque and other parts of the island. For 

 instance, Lorway, Kavanagh, Townsend, Kartell, Bagnall, Robertson, Tremain, Crawley, Ball, Ingraham, Hill, 

 Plant, McKinnon, Clarke, Dumaresque, Brown, Weeks and Crowdy. But with the coming of the Scotch settlers, 

 Macdonald, Ross, MacKinnon and other names of " that ilk" began to prevail from one end of the island to the 

 other. 



- The following is a list of the lieutenant-governors of Cape Breton while it had a government of its own : — 

 Major Frederick Wallet 1 >esBarros, 1784—1787 ; Lt.-Colonel Maearmick, 1787—1795 ; Attorney-General D. Mathews, 

 presidentof council, administrator. May 27, 1795— June 29, 1798 ; Brigadier-General Ogilvie, president of council, 

 administrator, June 29, 1798— June 21, 1799 ; Brigadier-General Murray, June 21, 1799— September 16, 1800 ; Major- 

 General Despard, September IG, 1800— July 6, 1807; Brigadier-General Nopean, July 6, 1807— June 1, 1813 ; Briga- 

 dier General Swayne, January 1, 1813— February 6, 1816; Lt.-Colonel Fitzherbert, February 5. 1816— November 4, 

 1816 ; Major-General Ainslie, November 4, 1816— June 22,1820; Captain David Stewart, administrator, until 9th 

 October, 1820, when Cape Breton was reunited to Nova Scotia. 



