Villars to Granville

I had the honour at the request of a number of gentlemen
interested in British Columbia to address Your Lordship on the
19th of June on the subject of the presentation of a Memorial
on the condition of that Colony.

Not having received any reply to the above letter, owing
doubtless to the great pressure on Your Lordships time, I am
directed to enclose the Memorial for Your Lordship's
consideration and to state that the gentlemen who proposed
presenting the Memorial personally are unable to remain in town.

The Memorialists have large interests at stake in British
Columbia and desire to call Your Lordship's serious attention to
the condition of the Colony; and to the difficulty with which
the few remaining Colonists can bear the heavy public expenditure.

The words quoted in this Memorial "that the Colony is slowly
dying out &c" were written lately to one of the Memorialists by Sir
James Douglas K.C.B. formerly Governor of British Columbia, who
now resides in the Colony.

They express a truth that is well known to the Memorialists and
to all persons connected with British Columbia.