“After Mr. Connell’s resignation, he wrote a letter to the Hon. J. H. T. Manners-Sutton, the Lieutenant-Governor of the Province, giving his reasons for resigning his office. He, however, says that he did not resign on account of the stamp affair, but because he could not agree with the Government expenditure of public moneys, and because he said that his colleagues did not have confidence enough in him to back him up on a small matter; that is, the issuing of the Five Cents, brown. Through the kindness of a friend I have been enabled to see the complete official correspondence, etc., between Connell, the Governor, and Council in reference to this business, and am giving them here. Several of the letters contain a large amount of matter irrelevant to the subject in question, and dealing only with the political reasons of Mr. Connell’s resignation, and these parts not being interesting to the philatelic reader are left out.
“The correspondence starts with the letter of the Council to the Lieutenant-Governor after they had had the designs submitted to them.
“Memorandum of the Executive Council in Committee.
“‘_To His Excellency the Hon. J. H. T. Manners-Sutton, Lieut.-Gov., etc., etc._
“‘We advise your Excellency to approve of, and order to be distributed, the One Cent, Ten Cent, and Twelve and a Half Cent postage stamps procured by the Postmaster-General, and we further advise Your Excellency to order a Five Cent postage stamp to be struck, bearing the likeness of the Queen, instead of the Five Cent stamp already procured by the Postmaster-General.
“‘(Signed) S. L. TILLEY. P. MITCHELL. A. T. SMITH. CHARLES WATTERS. W. H. STEEVES. DAVID WARK.
“Letter from Mr. C. Connell to the Lieut.-Governor.
“‘SIR,—Various circumstances having occurred with reference to the administration of the Government of this Province during the short time that I have had the honor of being one of Your Excellency’s advisers, induce me to address Your Excellency....
“‘Having felt this and other matters for some time past, and at the same time feeling reluctant to take a step that I saw pressing on me, I delayed action; but the recent act of my colleagues in the Government has brought matters to a crisis, the want of that support on their part on a subject in which I believed I was authorized in the action I had taken, as will appear by the following minutes of Council (December, 1858) and correspondence: