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much expedition as the same may be done.” (7 and 8 William iii. c. 25, s. 1.)

“Writs for the election of members, &c., shall be issued by the Governor,” &c.—Canada Constitution Act, the 31, Geo. iii. c. 31, s. 18.

“And be it enacted that writs for the election of members to serve in the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada shall be issued by the Governor of the said Province, &c. (Canada Constitution Act, the 3rd and 4th Vict. c. 35, s. 24.)

“And be it enacted, that whenever it shall be established to the satisfaction of the Governor of the said Colony, that the seat of any elective member of the Legislative Council hath become vacant, the Governor, unless other provision in that behalf be made by the Governor and Legislative Council, as hereinbefore provided, shall forthwith issue a writ for the election of a member to serve in the place so vacated, during the remainder of the term of the continuance of the said Council, and no longer.” (Constitution Act of New South Wales, the 5th and 6th Vict. c. 76, s. 11.)

It is a maxim of Law, that incidents are always supplied in Statutes, by intendment; in other words, that whenever a power is thereby given, everything necessary to the making of it effectual, is given by implication. (Dwarris on Statutes, 517.)

The Governor of a Colony is not keeper of the public Seal thereof by virtue of his office; he is usually appointed to that charge, but the appointment must be by express provision in his Commission, or in some other Instrument. The Queen may appoint any other person to that office. The Custos or Regent of Great Britain is not Keeper of the Great Seal of that part of the United Kingdom; nor is the Viceroy of Ireland Keeper of the Great Seal of that country.

When, therefore, the Constitution Act gave to the Superintendents the power of issuing writs, in certain cases, for the election of members to serve in the Provincial Councils, it impliedly gave to them powers similar to those given by the Royal Warrant and Orders in Council to the Chancellors of England and Ireland, or given by Statute to the Speaker of the House of Commons, or to the Governors of Canada and New South Wales. It invested them with the right of giving instructions to the Keeper of the Colonial Seal to affix the same to the Bills or writings made out by them, in the Queen’s name, for the holding of such elections, and which, on such affixture being made, and being subsequently tested by them, in due form, would become what in law are termed writs. Whether issued by the Governor of the Colony, or the Superintendent of a Province, the instruments authorizing the election of persons, under the Constitution Act, to exercise legislative functions, must have the same essentials: they must be issued in the name and under the Seal of the reigning sovereign.

In his work on Colonial Law, Clark informs us (p. 28) that all elections for members to serve in the houses of Assembly in the North American and West Indian Colonies, are holden by the King’s writs, and that the Assemblies are convoked by royal proclamations. And in the Royal Instructions of July 26, 1832, issued to the Governor of Newfoundland, his attention is particularly called to the subject: “You are to take care that all writs be issued in our name throughout our said island under your government.” (Clark, C. L. 442.)

When the mode, manner, time, or place, of holding an election is prescribed by statute, such election, if not holden as prescribed, will be void. Thus, by the 58 Geo. III., c. 95, it was enacted that in the election of a Coroner for any County in England or Wales, the Sheriff of the County should cause the election to take place at the next County Court, unless the Court should happen to be holden within six days after the receipt of the writ. The Sheriff of the County of Stafford having received the writ for the election of a Coroner more than six days before the next County Court, did not, on the day when the next County Court was held, proceed to the election, but gave notice that it would take place at a County Court to be holden, by adjournment, fourteen days afterwards. Such election took place accordingly; but it was holden that the same was void, as not having been holden in conformity with the Act, at the next County Court after the receipt of the writ, such instrument having been received by the Sheriff more than six days before the holding of that Court. (In re Coroner of Stafford, 2 Russ., 475.)

For the two Provinces (New Ulster and New Munster) abolished by the Constitution Act, her Majesty provided seals; but for the present Provinces, her Majesty has made no such provision. The seals now in use by the Superintendents were provided under Acts of the respective Provincial Legislatures. But these bodies not only have no power to make such provision, but their attempting to do so is a contempt of the royal prerogative. Such seals can, therefore, have no more efficacy in law than those of private persons; indeed, not even so much. All writs of election, in colonies, are issued under the seals thereof respectively, and the seal of this colony has been committed by her Majesty to the custody of his Excellency the Governor.

I am of opinion that the writ to be issued by the Superintendent of a Province, in case of a vacancy in the Provincial Council thereof, must be of the same nature, and have the same essentials, as the writs which the Governor is empowered to issue for holding general elections of persons to serve as members of such Councils. I am farther of opinion that no instrument can be a writ which is not made out in the name and under the seal of the Sovereign for the time being, and that no election of a person to serve in the Provincial Council, as a member thereof, can be valid, unless the same be holden by virtue of a writ, i.e., a mandatory letter in the name and under the Seal of the Queen.

2. In the second letter, your Honor is informed that his Excellency had been advised that the directing of the writ to Captain Halahan, as a Resident Magistrate, residing in the Pensioners Settlements would be a valid appointment of that gentleman to the office of Returning-officer for that electoral district.

The Governor, as already mentioned, was empowered to make provision, by proclamation, for the appointing of Returning Officers. By the Proclamation of March 8th, 1853, the late Governor provided (S. 37) that the Returning Officer of each electoral district should be the Resident Magistrate residing therein, or such other person as the Governor or his deputy should in that behalf appoint. In the Pensioners Settlements there were two Resident Magistrates, and no person had been appointed by the Governor or his deputy to act as Returning Officer. This Regulation does not meet the case of there being two or more Resident Magistrates, at the same time, in the one district: it can only apply to districts having within them, respectively, but one such Magistrate. As applied to the case of a district in which there were two Resident Magistrates, the rule would be void for uncertainty, as no person could say which of them was the Resident Magistrate referred to by such rule.

The simple fact of the Superintendent having directed a writ to any person could not make that person a Returning Officer. Such person might, with impunity refuse to execute it, on the ground that he was not such officer. By the Constitution Act, the Governor of the Colony,