106 HISTORY OF PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. and wealthy classes confined almost entirely to a single town. While its people were distinguished by those qualities of order and public spirit which formed the staple foundation of all government, in as high a degree as any portion of their brethren of British descent, yet the external circum¬ stances which would render the introduction of responsible government expedient were wanting,—circumstances of which time, and the natural progress of events, could alone remove the deficiency. For these reasons Earl Grey con¬ curred with his predecessor, Mr. Gladstone , that the time for a change had not yet arrived. He, at the same time,, expressed his conviction that the existing system of adminis¬ tration was compatible with the complete enjoyment by the inhabitants of the colony of the real benefits of self-govern¬ ment. The colonial secretary thought that the period had come when the assembly of the island should undertake to provide for the civil list. He accordingly addressed a despatch to the governor, intimating that the home government was willing to provide the salary of the governor, which it pro¬ posed to increase to fifteen hundred pounds sterling a year, provided the other expenses of the civil government were defrayed from the funds of the island. To this proposal the house expressed its willingness to accede, provided that all revenues arising from the permanent revenue laws of the colony were granted in perpetuity, all claim to the quitrents and crown lands abandoned, and a system of responsible government conceded. The home government, in reply, expressed its willingness to accede to the wishes of the assembly on all these points, with trifling modifications, save the granting of responsible government, in the present cir¬ cumstances of the island. The governor, therefore, deemed it the best course to dissolve the assembly and convene a