During the last years of Governor Patterson's administration his great object was to get the sale of the lands sold in 1781, for non-payment of quit rent confirmed to the purchasers: he was always very sanguine in his expectations of the rapid settlement of the Island, and appeared to think that if he could secure himself in the lands acquired at these sales, the influence arising from such an extensive and valuable property would give him more consequence in the colony than any Governor could acquire with the small salary and patronage annexed to the office, and that he would in effect continue to direct the affairs of the Island, though the government thereof should be nominally transferred to another. He had, as we have already seen, procured the return of a House of Representatives that were compleatly devoted to his interests, and he soon after contrived to get rid of such of the members of the council as were not equally so. In this situation upon the arrival of Lieutenant Governor Fanning from Nova Scotia, with the Kings commission in the usual form appointing him Lieutenant Governor of the Island, in the room of Mr. Patterson, the latter affected to think that his immediate removal from the administration of the government was not intended, that the appointment of Lieutenant Governor Fanning was only a temporary measure to provide for carrying on the public service during his absence in England, to which he was directed to repair, that he might personally satisfy His Majesty's Ministers with respect to his conduct relative to the lands sold in 1781; this he affected to consider as an object which he was certain of accomplishing, and that in the mean time he had a right to retain the command until it was convenient for him to set off on his voyage to England which, owing to the advanced state of the winter, could not take place till the next spring. 0n these pretences, to the surprise of every thinking man in the Island, Mr. Patterson refused to give up the government, and the council (then composed of members, all of whom had been nominated by himself) though they saw the madness of such conduct, and individually did every thing in their power to persuade him to desist therefrom, yet as a body they had the weakness to countenance this criminal insult upon the authority of their sovereign, by meeting him in council, and acting with him in all respects as if he had been still His Majesty's legal representative. Under these circumstances Lieutenant Governor Fanning remained for some months as a private person, confident that this audacious conduct as soon as known, must produce such orders as would leave Mr. Patterson without the shadow of an excuse, and that in the mean time the peace of the colony would be preserved, and all appearance of farther disobedience avoided. Mr. Patterson had met the Assembly a few days before the arrival of Lieutenant Governor Fanning, and they were then sitting, he had laid the Bill before them for making the sales of the lands sold in 1781 voidable, agreeable to the orders of government, which they immediately rejected: the private Bill stated to be at the request of the purchasers was then brought forward and passed as we before mentioned; it was expected that this measure, which had the appearance of being nearly the same in effect with the Bill sent from England, would satisfy government, Mr. Patterson's friends in this country had also found means to divide the proprietors in opinion respecting his conduct, and some of them had even come forward with a strong representation in his favour; these measures were now followed up by equally strong addresses and representations in his favour from the Council and Assembly, and upon the whole he and his friends had the strongest hopes that he would be continued in the command of the Island. On the other band representations were sent from the Island, by which it appeared that the proceedings of these bodies by no means spoke the general sense of the colony, the management with respect to the lands sold in 1781 was clearly pointed out, and other acts of official misconduct brought forward, and above all the dangerous example of disrespect to the Royal authority in presuming to retain the administration after the arrival of Lieutenant Governor Fanning.

During the winter addresses from various parts of the Island were presented to Lieutenant Governor Fanning, requesting him to assume the command of the Island according to His Majesty's Commission, and early in April before the arrival of any intelligence from England, he published his proclamation notifying his appointment and calling upon the inhabitants to obey him as the King's representative; in this measure he was chearfully and readily obeyed by a great majority of the Island. Mr. Patterson however next day thought proper to publish a counter proclamation asserting his right to the administration, calling Lieutenant Governor Fanning an usurper, and commanding the inhabitants to obey himself as the King's legal representative; no tumult or disorder however happened in consequence of this extraordinary state of things, every one saw that it could last only for a few weeks at most, perhaps only for a few days.

In a short time the spring Letters from England arrived, when it appeared that the conduct of Mr. Patterson in not surrendering up the Government to Lieutenant Governor Fanning upon his arrival, was highly disapproved of by His Majesty's ministers, and he was commanded without farther delay to give up the Great Seal, and all the public documents and official papers in his possession to his successor whose appointment in the Government was confirmed. This change was extremely agreeable to the Island in general, and would have been much more beneficial could the late Lieutenant Governor and his friends have given up all idea of his restoration to the government, but that was an event for which they were yet determined to struggle; and after an absence of a few months at Quebec, Mr. Patterson returned to the Island, and set up a systematical opposition to the administration of his successor; having been long in the Government, many of the first people in the Island had been under obligations to him, and he of course had a considerable influence, every effort that was possible in the infant state of the Colony was tried to render the administration of Government in the hands of Lieutenant Governor Fanning impracticable; a prudent and steadily moderate conduct, however, enabled the latter to overcome every difficulty, and Mr. Patterson after a fruitless struggle of nearly two years left the Island and came to England, where he expected to resume his old influence among the proprietors of the Island by whose interest he had originally got the government, but here too he was disappointed, the hearing of the criminal complaints preferred against him by the proprietors of the lands sold in 1781, turned out so much against him, that he lost all influence among that body, and with that every hope of a restoration to the Government of the Island to which he never afterwards returned: and having fallen into distress, his extensive and valuable possessions were soon after sacrificed for not a fifth of their real value, under the operation of colonial laws passed during his administration. These laws it has since been found necessary to repeal, indeed they ought never to have existed, and what is very remarkable by a concurrence of fortunate circumstances very different from the views with which they were enacted, it so happened that while they were in operation very little other injury resulted from them than what fell on Mr. Patterson's property *.
* By these laws a creditor was enabled to attach his debtor's property at the time he took out his first process against him without waiting for judgment; and lands might be sold by execution in six months without any equity of redemption. It might have been expected after the decision of the Privy Council on the complaints against Governor Patterson and his adherents in 1789, that all farther attempts to disturb the colonial government, would have been abandoned, but an unfortunate misunderstanding between the officers of the customs, and the merchants of the Island in 1791, gave that party an opportunity of making a last effort to regain their influence in the colony; by their management a complaint was preferred to government against the Lieutenant Governor, the Chief Justice, the Attorney General, and the Collector of the Customs, which these officers were obliged to answer, and the matter was heard before the Right Honourable the Committee of the Privy Council for Trade and Plantations, when after an expensive investigation they were all honourably acquitted; as this business is now so long past and many of those concerned therein have seen their error, and the parties have in general been long reconciled to each other; I shall not now enter into the circumstances: some things have since come to light by which it has appeared that the real complainants were not entirely without cause of complaint, though by no means such as to justify the extent to which the charges were carried; it was one of those party struggles to which every society of freemen is liable at times, and in which all the factions, the discontented, and those who have any thing to expect in the scramble, eagerly join; but which on this occasion it is now well known, never would have been brought to the length it was, but for the jesuitical management of one, who was equally the enemy of the accused and the accusers, and who not being entitled to interfere in the public affairs of the colony, has for many years past, employed the whole of his time in endeavouring to render them impracticable in the hands of those to whom the management of them has been intrusted. * * As I am certain that every child of ten years old in the Island, and every person in England, in the least Acquainted with or concerned in the affairs of the colony can at once name the man, I think it unnecessary to do it here. Our fisheries which had been gradually reviving since 1784, promised to become again considerable, and afforded the means of recommencing a trade with the West India Islands, by which we were abundantly supplied with their produce upon very moderate terms; several cargoes of fish were also annually shipped for the European market, for which British manufactures, salt and wine were brought in return; besides the cod fishery, the herring fishery was begun and promised well, and our merchants had found means to obtain a considerable share in the produce of the great salmon fisheries carried on in our neighbourhood on the continent, and upon the whole there was every appearance of extensive and valuable fisheries being established to the great benefit of the Island when the late war commenced; since which the fisheries have been almost given up; and our articles of export now consist of wheat, barley, oats, salt pork, butter, furs, seal oil, and oysters, to Nova Scotia, with live cattle and some timber to Newfoundland, and occasionally a few cargoes of squared timber to Great Britain; a few people are also engaged in shipbuilding which are generally sold in Newfoundland: this is a business which will probably be carried on to a great extent, should the Newfoundland fisheries revive on the restoration of peace, as the great plenty of timber in several districts, and the reasonable rate at which the necessaries of life are obtained, will enable us to build at a much cheaper rate, than they can do in Newfoundland, where the timber is now generally at such a distance from the harbours as to make it very expensive. Since 1792 the importation of any kind of provisions has totally ceased, and the export of these articles has gradually increased.

In 1794 two provincial companies were raised for the protection of the Island, and His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent, who commanded for several years at Halifax in Nova Scotia, was pleased to pay the most marked and liberal attention to the protection and security of the colony, much more so indeed than any other general officer who had ever commanded in the district; by His Royal Highness's command our barracks were rebuilt on a more extensive scale, and new works constructed for the defence of the town and harbour of Charlotte Town; and had circumstances permitted His Royal Highness to have visited the Island in person, there is every reason to believe that the colony would have reaped still higher advantages from his patronage and protection; the general feeling on the subject, after His Royal Highness quitted the command in that country, was manifested in a circumstance which I shall soon have occasion to mention.

During the whole war we remained perfectly unmolested by the enemy; besides the two companies already mentioned, and a small detachment of the royal artillery; three troops of volunteer horse, and a light infantry company, were formed among the inhabitants, who were handsomely cloathed and mounted at their own expence; the arms and accoutrements were given by government: besides these every man in the Island from sixteen to sixty years of age are mustered in, and subject to the militia laws; and when the natural difficulties of the country are adverted to, the colony may be considered as having been perfectly safe against any predatory attack, which in the then and present state of the British naval power is all that we had to dread.

It having been found from the first settlement of the colony, that great inconveniencies resulted from the name of the Island being the same with many other places at no great distance, to which letters and other things intended for the Island were frequently sent by mistake, often to the great loss of individuals and the general injury of the colony; it had in consequence been frequently in contemplation to change the name of the Island, and the subject being recommended by the Lieutenant Governor to the attention of the legislature in 1799, and the measure finally determined on; an act was accordingly passed for changing, the name of the Island, from St. John, to Prince Edward Island; which was chosen by the legislature as a mark of respect, and gratitude, for the attention His Royal Highness had shewn to the protection and security of the colony, and the interest he appeared on every occasion to take in the welfare and prosperity of its inhabitants. This act soon after received His Majesty's Royal Assent, and appears to answer the purpose for which it was resorted to; though it will yet be many years probably before the use of the old name is entirely discontinued, in the mean time proper provision is made in the act to prevent any persons being injured from ignorantly making use of the former name in any deed, or writing, concerning property in the Island; a mistake which may often be expected to happen in conveyances made in this country, by people unacquainted with the change of name which has taken place.*
* In 1800 much mischief was done to the colony through a Mr. Wentworth, who was sent to the Island in the office of Attorney General; whoever recommended him has much to answer for: whatever his professional abilities might have been, either from habitual drinking or the effects of disease, he appeared to be insane the greatest part of the few months he spent on the Island; on the first day he made his appearance in the Supreme Court, he addressed himself to the audience, and informed them that he had been pitched upon by their Sovereign as a person of distinguished abilities, to come to the Island to regulate their affairs, and see justice done, and in a short time he told them that every thing was wrong, and that he would undertake to clear the greatest part of them from paying rent, or fulfilling any contract made with the proprietors, most of whom he said had no right to their lands; the Court and even the Governor he treated with the greatest insolence, no body seemed to know what to do with him, at the same time it was evident that his conduct if not checked, would be productive of very serious evils; so fascinating was his doctrine with the ignorant, that in the short space of two months he received, according to his own account, four hundred retaining fees, all this however did not satisfy him, whenever he heard of any differences existing, he contrived to set a lawsuit on foot; never perhaps was there a more complete instance of popular delusion than this man excited for some weeks; but happily for the colony, when the madness was at its height, letters arrived from the Secretary of State, announcing to the Governor Mr. Wentworth's being superseded; this he was by no means willing to submit to, and his behaviour on the occasion was so extravagant, that his greatest admirers could no longer shut their eyes upon his real character, and he soon after left the Island, when his numerous clients lost their money. Fortunately for the peace of the colony, he has been succeeded by a gentleman as remarkable for discouraging litigation as Mr. Wentworth was anxious by every means to promote it; the situation into which he threw the colony for some months, is a strong instance of how much mischief may be done in a new country, even by one imprudent appointment. He was superseded before his conduct in the Island was known in this country; to whom the colony was obliged on the subject, I never knew, but the obligation is such as will be long felt and remembered. In 1801 the Assembly having instructed the colony's agent in this country, to make such farther representations to Government, as might be necessary to obtain a decision on the subject of their petition in 1797. The signing of the preliminary articles of peace soon after gave an opportunity of bringing the subject forward; and early in 1802 the affairs of the Island were referred to the Committee of His Majesty's most honourable Privy Council for Trade and Foreign Plantations, by which Board a measure was recommended, and soon after carried into effect, which has already had a very powerful influence on the progress of the colony. At this time the arrears of quit rent due to the Crown on the lands, was £59,162. 17s. and on many of the townships amounted to more than it was supposed they would sell for, if then put up to sale by public auction, a circumstance which naturally operated as a discouragement to their respective proprietors in coming forward to fulfil their terms of settlement: for this heavy arrear of quit rent government determined to accept of a moderate composition, and as an encouragement and reward to the proprietors who had exerted themselves in the settlement of the colony, this composition was made lighter to them in proportion to the exertions they appeared to have made; with this view the different townships were thrown into five classes; the first comprehended all those lots which appeared to have the full number of people required by the terms of settlement upon them; from these the amount of four years quit rent only was demanded, in lieu of the full quit rent from 1769 to 1801.

In the second class were put all the townships which appeared to have one-half the required population upon them; these were charged with five years quit rent in lieu of all arrears to May 1801.

In the third class were put all the townships which had between one-fourth, and one-half the stipulated population on them, these were required to pay nine years quit rent in lieu of all arrears up to May, 1801.

In the fourth class were all the townships which did not appear to possess one-fourth of the required population; these were charged the amount of twelve years quit rent in lieu of all arrears up to May, 1801.

And in the fifth class were placed the townships which appeared to be totally waste and uninhabited, these were charged with the amount of fifteen years quit rent in lieu of all arrears up to May, 1801.*
* In this arrangement no distinction was made between those townships which had been settled by the exertions of their respective proprietors and those which were settled by the voluntary resort of people to them: the number of people on each was the sole criterion by which the townships were classed, a circumstance which must appear highly liberal on the part of government when the conduct of many of the proprietors is considered. This measure by disburthening, the lands of a heavy arrear of quit rent had an immediate effect on the progress of the settlement; for in the short period that has since elapsed nearly one-third of the lands * in the Island have been sold, and transferred; most of them from the hands of people who were no way disposed to make exertions for their settlement. to people who are actively engaged therein, and in this short period full one third has been added to our former number of inhabitants, with a prospect of a farther rapid increase: and it may be mentioned to the credit of the country that this sudden influx of people made no change in the price of the necessaries of life, and that it was found easy to supply all the new settlers with provisions, until they were enabled to raise them by their own industry, an object which they have in general accomplished in a shorter period I believe than ever was done before in any new country ; ** much of this is no doubt to be attributed to the Earl of Selkirk, by whom the principal body of them was brought to the Island, and by whose care and attention all their wants were foreseen and provided for; his lordship's settlers had also the further advantage of being, set down in what is naturally the finest district of the Island, and which having been totally neglected by its former proprietors had been left waste and uncultivated, but which now promises under his lordship's management to become in a few years a populous and valuable settlement; and truth requires me to say, that I am confident these people will arrive at a degree of independence, and prosperity, of which they could have had no prospect in their native country; and that they will in a few years contribute more to the general prosperity of the British empire in their new situation than there was any prospect of their ever doing in their former. *** * Townships' Numbers, 1, 10, 1/2 12, 17, 23, 24, 31, 32, 33, 1/2 37, 38, 39, 1/2 40, 41, 42, 43, 1/2 47, 1.3d of 53, 54, 57, 58, 1.3d of 59, 60, and 62, besides a great many smaller transfers. ** This is a circumstance very much to their own credit; It has been observed in the Island that the new settlers from the Highlands are much more industrious and enlightened than the original highland colony who first settled in the Island, they have besides got rid of more of their ancient prejudices and customs, and appear to think more like the rest of their fellow subjects then those who emigrated thirty-five years ago. *** It may suit the views of particular people to represent the connection and dependence of the remaining British colonies in America on the mother country as loose and precarious, such is not by any means the light in which the subject is seen in these colonies, where I may presume to say it is as well understood as it generally is in this country; neither are the morals nor the institutions of their republican neighbours viewed by them in the same favourable aspect, in which they are too commonly represented in this country; and as to any probability of a rupture between the two countries whereby the security of the British possessions in America may be endangered, I trust that is an event at a great distance. Most people well acquainted with the situation of the United Slates are convinced that notwithstanding appearances to the contrary, their government has no serious idea of a war with this country; in the present state of their party and political distractions, such a measure could not fail having the most fatal effects on their internal state; and far from being in a situation to think of conquests, they would probably find it very difficult to defend their own sea coasts: but at all events, I consider the maritime colonies as perfectly safe in the present state of the British naval power, and whenever their real value becomes well understood in this country (a circumstance I trust at no great distance) such measures I am confident will be adopted by government as will rapidly raise them into a state of population, which in a few years will leave them nothing to fear from their republican neighbours.

And when their valuable natural resources are generally known, and the immense extent to which their fisheries may be carried is felt, whereby a great body of hardy seamen will be formed for the national defence, I think I may venture to predict that their affairs will be put on such footing as will at no very distant day render them the most powerful foreign dependency of the British empire, that which will yet be most cherished, and last parted with. Though they produce neither gold nor silver, nor any other delusive wealth, they enjoy a climate and soil, however diversified, which will enable them to support in a maritime situation an extensive population, whose industry and resources may he rendered of the highest consequence to the parent state.
In consequence of this great accession of inhabitants, the Townships Nos. 29, 44, 45, 53, 57, 58, 60, and 62, on which, a few years ago, there was not a human being, have in a short time become well settled, and many other townships have acquired a great addition to their population, the only lots that now remain totally unoccupied, I believe, are those numbered 7, 8, 9, 10, 15, 51, and 52, on the greater part of which, it is probable settlements will be commenced in the course of this year.

The very liberal terms on which the composition for the arrears of quit rent up to May 1801 was placed by government, having been disregarded by some of the proprietors, either in hopes that it would not be enforced, or that better terms might be obtained, it became necessary to proceed at law against their property in the Island, these proceedings were commenced in l 803, under an act which had been passed in the preceding year, and in 1804, judgments were obtained by the Receiver General of the quit rents, against ten townships, five half townships, and one third of a township, for arrears of quit rent due to the crown, and it is now in the power of government, either to re-annex these lands to the crown, and re-grant them in small tracts to actual settlers, or in order not to interfere with the other proprietors, they may be divided into tracts of a thousand acres, and sold, subject to the same rate of quit rents to which they were originally liable, by which means they will not interfere with the plan of the colony, or in any respect injure the other proprietors; this is a subject on which people will differ, and I am aware that some will say, why not instead of enforcing the payment of the quit rents as the means of compelling the proprietors to attend to the settlement of their lands, proceed against them for non-performance of the other conditions on which they were granted, as has been done in Nova Scotia; to which I answer, that such a proceeding could not in any thing like an equal degree answer the purpose, the only condition in the terms of settlement which could be enforced with that view, is that which requires a number of people equal to one person for every two hundred acres contained in each grant, that is one hundred souls on a tract of twenty thousand acres, or 6700 inhabitants for the sixty- seven townships into which the Island is divided, a population much inferior to what it has already attained under all its disadvantages, but which in such a country is a mere trifle, and less than probably each of the Townships will contain in half a century.* Let us look at what has happened in Nova Scotia where no quit-rent has yet been exacted, but where the terms of settlement have been enforced, and many hundred thousand acres on which these had not been fulfilled, have been escheated, and regranted, often without much public benefit resulting therefrom; most of the lands which have been escheated were the property of non-residents, and justly ** escheated perhaps, because entirely neglected, so far the thing was very right, but it has unfortunately happened, that these lands were often regranted in large tracts to people, who being upon the spot, were enabled by a little personal exertion, and by sacrificing a fourth or a fifth part of what they thus acquired, to place something like the appearance of the scanty population required by the terms of settlement upon them, and when that has been once done, no farther questions are asked, by these means many hundred thousand acres of the finest lands in the province are locked up in the hands of a few individuals, to the great obstruction and injury of the settlement, but had the quit rents trifling as they are, been exacted and regularly laid out in public works through the Country, such speculations would never have been thought of, and I am convinced the population and improvements of the Colony would long ere this have far exceeded any thing it can now boast of. I believe I shall run no risk of misstatement, when I say that not one twentieth of the lands which have been granted in this Province thirty years ago are yet cleared or cultivated, and the evil would have gone to a much greater length, had it not been for the general instruction issued in 1790, prohibiting further grants without His Majesty's permission, That I am well founded in this assertion will be believed, when it is known that notwithstanding the difficulties which this instruction opposed to such practices, there is one man in the Province (if I am well informed) Who has contrived to procure grants to the extent of one hundred thousand acres, during the administration of Sir John Wentworth, without being possessed of a capital which could have enabled him to bring one thousand acres into cultivation.***
* The Bermuda Islands do not contain as much cultivatable surface as one of our townships, and yet are said to have 20,000 inhabitants the climate and situation it may be alledged are very different, but acre for acre we can raise more of the necessaries of life than they can, and may therefore look forward to as high a state of population. ** I have heard of some very hard cases however which made the more noise, that it soon appeared that little more was effected by the proceeding than placing the lands in the hands of a resident proprietor, instead of a person living in Great-Britain or Ireland. *** I am sensible that what I have said on this subject, will not be pleasing to the great landholders in that country, nor to those who have large grants in view, when the restraining instruction of 1790 is recalled, the exaction of the quit rents would be a serious cut upon their prospects: to a man who holds from twenty to forty thousand acres, and upwards, on speculation, (which in the mean-time yields nothing) and many such there are, a quit rent of even a farthing an acre regularly exacted, becomes an object; but to the man who holds only from five hundred to a thousand acres, and who has a hundred acres in cultivation, such a quit rent is a mere trifle which would be readily paid when it was felt that the consequence would be, effectually to cut up the large grants, which more than any other circumstance have injured and prevented the settlement and cultivation of the country. If it is expected that the colonies in North America are ever to enable the West India Islands to become independent of the United States in the very necessary articles of provisions, fish and lumber; that can only be accomplished by an attention to their affairs very different from what they have hitherto met with. It seems at first difficult to comprehend how taking money out of the pockets of the proprietors of a waste and uncultivated country, can contribute to the benefit of that country, as it has the appearance of diminishing the fund from which its improvements are to he carried on; that is the first view of the matter which will naturally present itself, and those unacquainted with the subject may be inclined to require explanation before they can give credit to the contrary. The thing is easily explained, the lands were originally granted on terms of being settled and improved, whereby alone they can become of any real value either to the proprietors or the public. It now appears after upwards of thirty years trial, that a great majority of those to whom the Island was granted, have never made any exertions towards improving the country, and that notwithstanding such failure they have been enabled to retain their lands, and to speculate on the future prospects of the colony without either expence, or exertion, in consequence of the indulgence of Government in not exacting the regular payment of the quit rent; whereas it may easily be conceived, that if the quit rents had been regularly exacted, that the proprietors in general, would either have made such exertions as were necessary to put the lands in a way of exonerating them from this yearly expence, or that they would have gradually sold them off, either in small tracts to actual settlers, or in large tracts on speculation to men of fortune, who might be inclined to adventure their money in the settlement; what has happened since the composition for the arrears of quit rent up to May 1801 was adopted, is a complete proof of this, and I am convinced had that measure been adopted in 1790, when it was first proposed, that the consequence would have been, that we should before this, have had fifty thousand people in the Island, and that every acre in the colony would now have been worth at least five guineas, that is, provided the growing quit rent had been regularly exacted in the mean-time, and faithfully laid out on the improvement of the country.

In April 1805, several of the principal proprietors resident in this country, presented a representation to Lord Camden, then Secretary of State for the colonial department, stating such matters as appeared to them to require the attention and interposition of Government; this representation has not yet been taken into consideration, but there is every reason to expect that when more important affairs will permit the great statesman now at the head of that department, to enter upon the affairs of the Island, such a determination will be made thereon, as cannot fail being highly beneficial, and thereby place the future progress and prospects of the colony on a certain and permanent footing.

In the beginning of July, Lieutenant General Fanning, who had been near nineteen years Lieutenant-Governor of the Island, was superseded by Lieutenant-Governor Desbarres, who has the advantage of commencing his administration with the colony in perfect peace and harmony, and in a rapid state of improvement; far from meeting with opposition of any kind, he has been received with all the attention and respect due to his office; and I am confident will meet with the most liberal support from his predecessor and his numerous friends, in every measure calculated to promote the general prosperity of the colony. Upon giving up the government, General Fanning received every mark of respect and attention that could be shewn him by the people, whose interests had so long been committed to his care; all were sensible of his good intentions, and the difficulties he had to struggle with as governor, where from the circumstances of the country, and the property thereof being locked up in the hands of non-residents, he was deprived of all the means by which governors are usually enabled to contribute to the prosperity and progress of a new colony.

His conduct during the time he administered the government, had met with the uniform approbation of His Majesty's Ministers, and a provision equal to the amount of his salary was made for him on his being superceded.