Colonial Despatches

I have received with much regret the intelligence of the Death of Mr. Frederic Seymour on the 10th Instant and I must beg you to convey to Mrs. Seymour the expression of my sincere sympathy for her under this great and sudden calamity.

Mr. Seymour has carriedthe the Colony through a period of no ordinary difficulty which I am aware has imposed on him great anxiety and much personal inconvenience, and though I know that much remains to be done and that the revival of prosperity which has been so severely shaken must be slow, I have pleasure in recording the energy with which after the annexation he applied himself to the thankless task of retrenchment, and to the improvement of its Financial position.

In the somewhat critical circumstances of the Colony, I loseno no time in notifying to you formally Her Majesty's approval of the appointment of Mr. Anthony Musgrave, at present Governor of Newfoundland to succeed to the Government of British Colombia. Of this I have already informed you by Telegraph.

A Lieutenant Governor's Commission will be forwarded to Mr. Musgrave by the next Mail and he will be instructed on it's receipt to proceed at once to British Columbia, whither his Commission as Governorwill will follow him as soon as it can be prepared.