SESSIONAL PAPER No. 18 That the Persons of the above Description, animated by your Petitioner's Example, having sacrificed their Estates and Properties in support of Your Majesty's Laws and Government, did faithfully serve in Canada, and on its Frontiers, till the Reduction of these Corps; when being still actuated by the same Principle of Loyalty and Affection, they, to the number of several Thousands, resolved to settle within Your Majesty's Government, on the Lands assigned them as a Reward for their Services, and in pursuance of the Proclamation of Your Majesty's Commissioners in the year 1776; and entered earnestly on the Improvement thereof, with a Prospect of making a Provision for their Families, and thereby contributing greatly to the Advantage, Strength, and Security of that Province, and to the Increase of Your Majesty's Revenues. That the Tenure of Lands in Canada is such as to subject them to the rigorous Rules, Homages and Reservations, and Restrictions of the French Laws and Customs, which are so different from the mild Tenures to which they had ever been accustomed, and which continue to be enjoyed by the rest of Your Majesty's Subjects, has occasioned a general Discontent, and would have induced many to decline accepting their Locations, and to resolve on abandoning their Enterprize, but for the Influence of Your Petitioners, who had first led them into the Service, and on whose Endeavours they relied for obtaining, through Your Majesty's Favour, the Grant of such Terms and Tenures, and the Establishment of the same Laws as they formerly enjoyed under the auspices of Your Majesty's Government. In full Confidence of this happy Event they were prevailed upon to persevere in their Settlements, on which they have already, at some Expence, and much Labour, erected Habitations, and cleared Part of the Lands allotted to them. For the Attainment of these Objects, so essential to the Happiness of Your Majesty's faithful Subjects, so conducive to the Increase of these new Settlements, and so salutary in their Consequences to the Public, we have, upon mature Deliberation, formed a Plan, which with the reasons in support of it, we humbly presume to submit to Your Majesty's Royal Consideration. 1st It is proposed, that the County of Point Boudet, on the Lake St François, in the River St Lawrence, and from thence Westward, shall be comprehended within One District, distinct from the Province of Quebec, under the Government of a Lieutenant Governor and Council, to be appointed by Your Majesty, with the necessary Powers of internal Regulation, but subordinate to the Governor and Council of Quebec, in the same manner as the Island of Cape Breton now is, to the Government of Nova Scotia. This Territory will include all the Settlements made or intended to be made by the disbanded Corps, and the other Loyalists, while it leaves all French Canada and the French Seigneuries as they were before. 245 That this Territory shall be subdivided into smaller Districts or Counties, Cataraqui1 being the Metropolis, with Courts of Justice, to be established by Your Majesty. In support of such an Arrangement, we beg leave to remark, that it will be productive of the most beneficial Consequences, not only to the Settlers, but to the Nation at large. Whilst this Territory remains a Part of the Province of Quebec, and the Inhabitants amenable to the Courts of Justice there and at Montreal, the Delay and expence of an Attendance on those Courts, both to Suitors and Witnesses, will be enormous, the distance from Detroit to Montreal being not less than Six hundred Miles, without any Road whatsoever, and the water communication exceedingly tedious, precarious, and during the Winter Season absolutely impassable: Crimes will be committed with Impunity, from the difficulty of Prosecutions; and Civil Remedies in effect rendered burthensome from the same causes. The Inhabitants of this Territory, already amounting to several Thousands, conceive with all Humility that they have the strongest Grounds to hope for such an exempt Jurisdiction as they ask for; They were born British Subjects, and have ever been accustomed to the Government and Laws of England. It was to restore that Government, and to be restored to those Laws, for which from Husbandmen they became 1 Afterwards Kingston. 6-7 EDWARD VII., A. 1907 Soldiers, animated with the Hope, even in the most gloomy Aspect of Public Affairs, that should they fail in their Attempts to recover their former Habitations by a Restoration of Your Majesty's Government, they would still find a Resource in some Parts of the British Dominions, where they might enjoy the Blessings of British Laws and of the British Government; and they still possess the greatest Confidence, that by Your Majesty's Gracious Interposition they will be exempted from the Burthens of French Tenures, which, however congenial they may be to Men born and bred under them, would be in the highest Degree exceptionable to Englishmen. The Petitioners have the more Confidence in the Success of their Application, from reflecting that they do not ask for more than has already been granted to their Fellow Sufferers in Nova Scotia, for less indeed than is enjoyed by those who are settled in the Province of New Brunswick, and only to be in the same situation with the Settlers in the Island of Cape Breton: A distinction between men under the same circumstances of Prescription, Confiscation, and Attainder, and who have been invited into the Public Service, and to take Part in the Royal Cause, by the same assurances of Protection, and the same Gracious Offers of Rewards, in the one case continuing to Settlers the Blessings of the British Constitution, and in the other subjecting them to the Hardships of French Tenures and French Laws, they trust will not be permitted by a Gracious Sovereign, who is the Father of all His People. In consideration of the vast extent of this Territory, along an important and valuable Communication, which is not only the Channel of the Fur Trade, but the Residence of those Nations of Indians who took part in Support of the Royal Cause, the Security, growth, and extension of these Settlements, must evidently be an object of the utmost Consequence, not only as it will most essentially secure and promote that Trade, but as it will preserve those Indians in their adherence to Your Majesty. The United States are duly impressed with this Idea, and have already manifested a purpose of supplanting us in the Friendship of the Indians; and unless they are counteracted, the British Interest with those Nations will very rapidly decline. We humbly presume that effectually to counteract them nothing would be so conducive as the Establishment of a liberal System of Tenure, Law, and Government in this new Settlement; this would best contribute to the Growth and Increase of it; whilst it would stimulate the Adventurers themselves to the most vigorous Exertions, it would invite and encourage Emigration to it; for as the present Inhabitants before the Rebellion principally resided in the now United States, their extensive connections there, from their Attachment to Your Majesty, their ancient Predilection in favour of the British Government, their Dislike of the Republican Government they now live under, as well as from their Family, and Personal Attachments, would be strongly induced to remove to this new Colony: Should Your Majesty graciously vouchsafe Your Royal Protection to these Settlements, we are confident that in every Competition for the Favour of the Indians Your Majesty will have a decided Advantage, not only from the Influence which many of your Petitioners are known to have over them, but because Numbers of the present Settlers have long been in Habits of Friendship and mutual good Offices with them, sharing the same Dangers, and fighting in the same Cause, and whose former Prepossession would thus, by means of a familiar and constant Intercourse with Your Majesty's Faithful Subjects, be best preserved and rendered permanent. Upon the whole, whether we consider the Relief and Prosperity of the Settlers as Sufferers in the Cause of their King and Country, for whom Your Majesty has ever expressed so Benevolent a Disposition, or the Advancement of the Settlement, as conducive to the Benefit of the Nation, in either View, and much more in both respects, do we conceive that the Plan now proposed is such an one as will merit and obtain Your Royal Attention and Patronage. For our Part, we conceive ourselves bound by the strongest Ties to use every Endeavour in our Power to promote the Wishes of these People; It was by our Example that numbers of them were induced to quit their former Possessions, and to take up Arms, by which they have been deprived of their Property, and Banished from their Country, and it was from their expectation of the Success of our Representation to their Sovereign, that they have entered upon the arduous undertaking of forming Settlements in a wild SESSIONAL PAPER No. 18 and inhospitable Country-Well knowing the Disposition of these People, and the Habits in which they have been bred, we think it our Duty most respectfully to declare it to be our opinion, that unless they can obtain the object they are in pursuit of, they will be discouraged from Carrying on their present Enterprize, and prefer some other part of Your Majesty's Dominions, where they may enjoy the Blessings of the British Constitution, but where perhaps they would not be equally useful as they will be in their present situation, should they receive the Protection they solicit. Your Petitioners, therefore, impelled by motives of Humanity towards a Number of Distressed Families, by a sense of Honor and Justice to a set of deserving Men, who placed Confidence in them, and to whose Eventual Loss of Property and Reverse of Fortune, they consider themselves in a great Degree accessary, and at the same time by a Conviction of the Public Utility of the Measure, most humbly implore Your Majesty that the Blessings of the British Laws and of the British Government, and an exemption from the Tenures, may be extended to the aforesaid Settlements. London 11th April 1785. Rob' Leake, Major late 2 Batt" K. R. Reg' New York Batt" K.R. Reg' New York. Batt" K. R. Reg' New York. 1 Batt" K. R. Reg' New York. (Signed) Gay Johnson, Col. 6 Nations & Superin- Duplicate My Lord HAMILTON TO SYDNEY,1 ́ Quebec 20th April 1785. In a former letter to your Lordship, I made an undisguised avowal of my entire ignorance of various matters relative to the state of this Province very necessary to be known by a person in my situation. Tho' I dayly gain some information yet I am apprehensive that my long letters contain too little matter to be interesting. The minutes of Council will no doubt display the endeavours of some of the Members to bring forward salutary measures, to improve defective Laws, & to render a British Constitution desirable as well as venerable. These endeavours will appear to have been opposed and counteracted generally by the same persons whose attempts however sometimes fall short of their aim. 1 Canadian Archives, Q 24 2, p. 291. When Haldimand returned to Britain in the autumn of 1784, Lieut. Governor Henry Hamilton assumed office as administrator of the Civil Government, while St. Lezer was placed in command of the military affairs, with Hope as Commissary General. After the passing of the Quebec Act Hamilton had received his appointment from Dartmouth as Lt. Governor at Detroit, and was one of those to whom fell the unfortunate duty of employing the Indians to harass the scattered frontier settlements of the English colonists in Pennsylvania and Virginia, during the Revolutionary War. Afterwards, as Lt. Governor of Quebec Province and President of the Legislative Council, by his advocacy of the extension of British institutions in Canada, he incurred the enmity of Governor Haldimand and his friends, especially Col. Henry Hope, who succeeded him as Lt. Governor. Thomas Townshend, afterwards Viscount Sydney, was one of the Secretaries of State in 1782, but had been replaced by Fox during the Shelburne Administration. He again became Secretary of State for the Home Department, on Dec. 23rd, 1783. He was created Baron Sydney in March, 1783, and Viscount Sydney in 1789. 2 The letter referred to is evidently that of Dec. 2nd, 1784, in which he refers to his inexperience in the details of the government, owing to the lack of information. See Q24-1, p. 24. He brings up the matter again in his letter of Jan. 23rd, 1785. Q 24-1, p. 258. Hamilton had made repeated applications to Haldimand before his departure, for information and instructions relative to the government of the Province. These being withheld, up to the last moment, he had made application to Sydney for the necessary papers and instructions. See Hamilton to Haldimand, Q 23, p. 392; Hamilton to Sydney, Q23, p. 389; and Finlay to Nepean, Q 23, p. 438. 6-7 EDWARD VII., A. 1907 It might seem a hazarded opinion to advance that there are a few persons in this Province who appear desirous that the Canadians should feel such restraints and bear such burthens under English Government as shall keep their minds open to favorable impressions of their former situation under French Laws and an Arbitrary Government. What other principle could operate to prevent the substitution of legal means to the odious partial services by corvées? Why have not the services been regulated and equallized!! A principal object for the consideration of the Legislature is the arrival in this Province of numbers of Englishmen or the descendants of Englishmen who must abhor their being subjected to an authority they have been unacquainted with, and to men whose language & customs they are as yet strangers to. Provision by Law should be made to conciliate these people, and if possible prevent complaint by anticipating their grievances. Until this day the Militia Ordinance remains unamended, tho' its defects are palpable & even acknowledged by those who might reform it-They advance, that this is not a proper period, but, if a time of Peace is not the properest time to relieve a people from the burdens indispensibly borne in a time of War, these Gentlemen see not the readyest means of contenting the Canadians, or are wilfully blind to them. The general terms in which I represented this matter at the opening of the Session not having produced the desired effect, I took occasion in the Private Council to enter more particularly into the subject, at the same time expressing my wish that the Canadians should participate with the Old Subjects in all the advantages of the English Constitution mentioning the various provisions and considerations which had governed the British Legislature in forming the English Militia Law. One of the Members, a native of this Country advanced, that the new subjects in this Province would Universally prefer their Ancient Government, and return to the dominion of their ancient Master or Masters. This being uttered with Vehemence produced a ferment which I interrupted by addressing myself to the Member, who was (I believe) struck with a sense of his own imprudence, saying, "Monsieur, si ses gens "croyent par la montrer leurs bons sens, du moins ils ne demontrent point ce que demande "leur devoir." What followed from the Members, being likely to produce acrimony and personalities I thought proper to stop them by saying, "brisons la dessus" and urged the further consideration of the business before us. I cannot help My Lord calling to mind the Marquis de la Fayette, his visit to the Indians, the inherent Attachment of the French to whatever is French, the possibility of a revival of natural prejudices upon the event of a Continental War in Europe, and the indefatigable industry of the rivals of Britain to create for her difficulties and embarrassments: the unrestrained maxims of their policy which all the world has experienced and which they think Justifiable if subservient to their boundless ambition. My Lord, I give no credit to this Gentleman's assertion, but I will venture to advance that if any thing can effectually hasten the disaffection of the Canadians to British Government, it is the idea which some few entertain and which seems to govern their reasonings and actions, that a military system alone with an adherence to the maxims of a military Government can retain the people of this Colony in their allegiance. An enquiry into the character consequence and unbiassed disinterestedness of these few persons whom I could count up without employing many figures would satisfy your Lordship that they cannot have the confidence of the people at large, wanting fortune, activity, information and true public spirit. 1 There was much protest among the general body of French Canadians, except of course the Segniears, against the enforcement of the Corvies and other feudal exactions of the older Regime, as enforced by Carleton and Haldimand, and later by H pe within whose functions as Quartermaster General these matters lay. Among numerous papers on the subject may be taken a group giving the Finch complaints and Hope's reply. See Q27 438 The military administration of the Province was in the hands of St. Leger and Hope. For a ygorous er tien of Hanalton's administration after the departure of Haldimand, see Hope to Haldimand, May 26th, 1788 Q242, p. 386, Referring to the visit of Lafavette and the Arican Commissioners to various tribes of western In bans At Fort Stanwix they wet with deprites to a the Six Nations. See Haldimand Papers, BS, p14; also, Q 24 1, pp. 17 and 43. SESSIONAL PAPER No. 18 Your Lordship knows, Canada is no longer what it was at the conquest; it is (as I have reason to think) much altered since the American Independence took place. Besides the afflux of persons disgusted with American Government, the load of taxes imposed on those who yet remain under it must shew to the Canadians their advantages over them in situation which they were blind to while the American Emissaries during the late rebellion amused them with the florid display of the blessings of American liberty. Those persons who by their mere negatives to matters brought on in Council, stop, or prolong the proceedings, are not armed with argument to support their naked votes, & lean upon the faith, information and suggestions of those few who have more subtility and plausibility than solid Argument. The minutes speak for this assertion, but My Lord I must resort to Your indulgence for thus openly & perhaps too warmly treating this subject. I have heard it said that I encourage petitioners and remonstrants-it may be so understood because in the last Session of the Legislative Council, I voted for throwing open the doors of the Council chamber. I receive all Applications from the highest to the lowest, I wish to render Justice to all. If Petitioners are not heard how shall abuses be reformed!--if I have not the confidence of the people at large, I shall be a stranger to their discontents, 'till they break out in murmurs and it may then be too late to apply a Remedy. The papers which shall be transmitted from time to time I expect will vindicate this reasoning, in the interim Your Lordship will please to Justify me in so much as I have not reaped the advantage of those notices and instructions which I am to hope will come to my assistance from Your Lordship in the short period of the absence of a Superior I have the honor to be with profound deference and respect My Lord Your very obedient and Very faithful servant HENRY HAMILTON The Right Honorable Lord Sydney One of His Majestys Principal Secretaries of State Preamble. ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING TRIAL BY JURY. СНАР. ІІ. An Ordinance to regulate the Proceedings in the Courts of Civil Judicature, and to establish Trials by Juries in Actions of a Commercial Nature and Personal Wrongs to be compensated in Damages. Whereas it is necessary for the Ease and Conveniency of His Majesty's Subjects who may have Actions to prosecute in the Courts of Civil Judi 1 This refers to the proceedings in Council in April, 1784, when a number of citizens of Quebec made application for permission to be present at the debates of the Legislative Council. The Council by a vote of 11 to 5 adopted the following position, "The Council have voted that the Gentlemen who requested admission to hear the Debates this day cannot be admitted. This to serve as an answer to every future application." Reasons of dissent were recorded by Lt. Gov. Hamilton, President of the Council, and Mr. Finlay. Hamilton's reason was, because our Debates have for object the benefit of the province." The reason for their votes put forth by the leaders of the majority, was that their oath as councillors required them to keep secret all that might be discussed in Council. Mr. Finlay, in his reasons for dissent, sought to prove that no such limitations applied to the proceedings of Council as a legislative body. See Q 23, pp. 235-241. 2 As a result of the representations of Haldimand and Hope what came to him was the following, "I have received the King's Commands to signify to you, that His Majesty has no further Occasion for your Services as Lieutenant Governor of the Province of Quebec, and that it is His Royal Pleasure that you do return to England, leaving with Colonel Hope, who is appointed to succeed you, such Instructions and Documents of Government as are in your possession, and which may be necessary for his guidance." signed. "SYDNEY." Q 25, p. 34. 3 Canadian Archives, Q 62 A-2, p. 601. The Ordinance for regulating the proceedings in the Courts of Civil Judicature, first passed in 1777, (see p. 466) had been renewed every two years, with practically no 18--3-34 |