No. 55

I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your Despatch No. 5
of the 5th of June forwarding an Address to Her Majesty the Queen,
signed on behalf of the Municipal Council and people of New Westminster
by the Chairman of the Committee appointed to celebrate Her Majesty's
last Birthday, in which they express their horror and indignation at the
recent attempt to assassinate His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh
at Sydney.

I am commanded to instruct you to assure the Municipal Council and
people of New Westminster that Her Majesty cordially appreciates the
spirit of loyalty to the British Crown and of attachment to the Person
and Family of the Sovereign displayed in their Address.

I regret greatly the disappointment of the hopes, naturally
entertained by the inhabitants of New Westminster, that their Town would
be the Capital of a British Colony, and I am aware that all your own
prepossessions would have led you to select that town for the seat of
Government of the United Colony of British Columbia. But the choice of
a capital must be determined by political and commercial considerations
affecting the welfare and convenience of the whole Community. After
careful enquiry and consideration Her Majesty's Government is satisfied
that the choice which has been actually made is that which the public
interest requires. And I trust that the founders of New Westminster
will not allow any feelings of irritation to affect their conduct
towards their fellow Colonists, with whose prosperity, they may be
assured, their own is most closely allied; or to prevent that hearty and
general cooperation for the common good, which the circumstances of the
present time so eminently demand; and with which I feel little
apprehension for the ultimate fortunes of the Colony.