112 HISTORY OF PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND.

appeal to the country was certain to ensure the defeat of the government; and the governor was accused of desiring to effect that object before his departure from the island,— for he had- been appointed to the government of the Bahamas. It is only due to Governor Bannernian to state that, he had anticipated difl'iculties, which constrained him to consult the colonial secretary as to the most proper course of action, and that he received a despatch, in which the duke said: “ I leave it with yourself, with full conti— dence in your judgment, to take such steps in relation to the executive council and the assembly as you may think proper before leaving the government.” \Ve may be permitted to say that it is only in very rare and exceptional cases that either a British sovereign or a royal representative can be justified in disregarding the advice of constitutional advis- ers; and the case under notice does not seem, in any of' its bearings, to have been one in relation to which the prerogative should have been exercised.

Dominick Daly, Esq, succeeded Governor Bannerman, and arrived on the island on the twelfth of June, 1854, and was received by all classes with much cordiality: addresses poured in upon his excellency from all parts of the island. A few days after the arrival of the new governor the election took place, and was, as anticipated, unfavo "able to the gov- ernment, which, to its credit, resigned on the twentieth of July,—intimal.ion to that effect having been communicated to the governor by the president of the executive council, John RI. 11011. A new government was formed, and the house assembled in September, in consequence of the ~atifi- cation of a commercial treaty between the British and United States governments, and the withdrawal of the troops from the island,—circumstances which required the immediate consideration of the assembly. The session was