a Commee 6-7 EDWARD VII., A. 1907 Quebec, James Grant Esq' to be Governor of East Florida, George Johnstone Esq' to be Governor of West Florida, and Robert Melvill Esq' to be Governor of Granada, Dominico, St Vincent and TobagoIt is Ordered by His Majesty in Council that the said Representation and Draughts of Commissions Be, and they are hereby referred to the Right Honourable the Lords of the Committee of Council for Plantation Affairs to consider the same and Report their Opinion thereupon to His Majesty at this Board.— REPORT ON COMMISSIONS FOR GOVERNORS.1 N 9. A. AT THE COUNCIL CHAMBER WHITEHALL the 6th day of October 1763 By the Right Honourable the Lords of the Committee of Council for Plantation Affairs &c Comicons Report of the Lords of the Drafs of Commis 66 Your Majesty having been pleased by Your Order in Council of the Committee upon the 5th of this Instant to referr unto this Committee a Representation sions for the Gov" from the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations, setting forth, of Quebec, East Flo- that in Obedience to Your Majesty's Commands signified to them in rida, West Florida and the Granades a Letter from the late Earl of Egremont dated the 14th July, last, they have prepared Draughts of Commissions for the Honourable "James Murray Esq' to be Governor of Quebec, James Grant Esq' to "be Governor of East Florida, George Johnston Esq' to be Governor "of West Florida, and Robert Melvil Esq' to be Governor of Grenada, "Dominico and Tobago-That in the Description of the Governments "of Quebec, East Florida, and West Florida they have conformed "to the Limits and Bounds which your Majesty has been pleased to "direct and approve, and as they conceived it to be Your Majesty's Royal Intention, that the Form and Constitution of Government in "these new Colonies, should be as near as may be similar to what has "been established in those Colonies, which are under Your Majesty's "immediate Government, they have therefore prepared these Commis "sions accordingly, by which the Governors are impower'd and "directed so soon as the Circumstances of the Colonies will admit "thereof, to summon and call General Assemblys of the Freeholders "in their respective Governments in such Manner as is practised in "Your Majesty's other Colonies; That they have omitted in these "Commissions any Power that it may be necessary to grant to the "Governors and Councils of Your Majestys said new Colonies to "make Temporary Regulations until Assemblys can be called, because they were of Opinion that an immediate and publick Declaration of "the intended permanent Constitution, and an Insertion in the first "Commissions of the Power of calling Assemblys so soon as the Cir"cumstances will admit, is expedient for Your Majesty's Service, and "will give Confidence and Encouragement to such of Your Majesty's Subjects, as shall incline to settle in your said new Colonies, and "because such Power of making temporary Regulations may be given. Privy Council Register, Geo. III., p. 112. 2 Wills, Earl of Hillsborough, succeeded the Earl of Shelburne as President of the Board of Trade, Sept. 9th, 1763. SESSIONAL PAPER No. 18 Committee Report "in the General Instructions which they shall prepare and lay before "Your Majesty with all possible Dispatch. That there are in the "Commissions to the Governors of Your Majesty's other Colonies "some Clauses respecting the Power of suspending and comptrolling "the Council, but as they conceive these Matters may be more pro'perly and regularly provided for in the Instructions under those "Articles which direct the Nomination of the Council, ascertain their "Authority and point out their Duty and Methods of Proceedings, "they have therefore omitted these Clauses in the present Draughts "in order to insert them in the Instructions-" The Lords of the Committee in Obedience to Your Majestys said Order of Reference this day took the said Representation and Draughts of Commissions into their Consideration, and are of opinion, that in order to make the said Commissions agreeable to the Instructions to be given to the said Governors the following Addition should be made to each of the said Commissions at the End of that Article whereby the said Governors are empowered to make Grants of LandVizt "Provided the same be made conformable to the Instructions here"with delivered to you, or to such other Instructions as may hereafter "be sent to You under Our Signet and Sign Manual, or by Our Order "in Our Privy Council.-"And the Lords of the Committee having accordingly caused the said Addition to be made in each of the said Draughts do agree humbly to lay the same so amended before Your Majesty for Your Royal Approbation 1 Your Majesty having been pleased by Your Order in Council of the 5th of this Instant to referr unto this Committee a Representation from the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations setting forth, "that in Obedience to Your Majesty's Commands signified to them by a Letter from the Earl of Halifax, dated the 27th of last Month they have prepared, and humbly lay before Your Majesty, the Draught of a Commission appointing Montagu Wilmot Esq' Governor of Nova Scotia, in which Draught they have so described the Northern and Eastern Limits of this Province, as to make it conformable to what has been already approved in respect to the Southern boundary of the Province of Quebec, and to comprehend the Islands of Cape Breton and St Johns, that they have also made the River St Croix the Boundary to the Westward, for, although it be true that the ancient Limits of this Province, as it was possessed by France under the Treaties of Breda and Ryswick and ceded to Great Britain by the Treaty of Utrecht under the Name of Acadia, did extend as far West as the River Pentagoet or Penobscot, yet as it appears to have been determined in the Year 1732, upon a full examination of the Claims of the Province of the Massachusets Bay, as well by the Attorney and Sollicitor General, as by this Board, and finally by His Majesty in Council, that the said Province had a right of Jurisdiction and property under the Limitation of the Charter, to the Country between the Rivers Sagadehock and St Croix, and as in consequence of this Examination, the Instructions given to Colonel Dunbar, and to the Governor of Nova Scotia to make Settlements within that Tract were revoked, and it was Ordered that the Province should not be disturbed in the possession they claim to have of this Country it does not appear to them that this question is for the present open to a New Discussion: But as they conceive there are many material circumstances in favour of Your Majesty's Right to the Country as far West 1 Now Prince Edward Island. 6-7, EDWARD VII., A. 1907 ward as the River Penobscot which were not stated in the Case laid before the Attorney and Sollicitor General in 1732, upon which Case their Opinion and the Dicision of the Council were founded, they do not think it adviseable that this Restriction of the Western Bounds of Nova Scotia to the River St Croix should pass without some reservation of Your Majesty's Right to the Country between that River and Penobscot, being entered upon the Council Books; And they rather humbly proposed this to Your Majesty, as it may be a means of hereafter removing any Objection which may be taken on the part of the Province of Massachusets Bay to the Southern Line of Quebec, as far as it concerns their Northern Limits, for if such Objection should be made, and it should appear upon examination they have any just ground of Complaint, it will be in Your Majesty's power to make them a reasonable Compensation, by allowing their Jurisdiction to extend as far Eastward as the River St Croix, between which and the River Penobscot they have lately made some considerable Settlements". The Lords of the Committee in Obedience to Your Majestys said Order of Reference this day took the said Representation and Draught of a Commission into their Consideration, and being of Opinion that Your Majesty's Right to the Country between the River St Croix, and the River Penobscot (the ancient Limits of the said Province) ought to be reserved in a more publick manner than by an Entry in the Council Books, do therefore propose that the following alteration should be made in the said Draught of a Commission for that purpose. Viz' After the Appointment of Montagu Wilmot to be Captain General and Governor in Chief in and over the Province of Nova Scotia, the description of the Boundarys of the said Province to be left out, and the following words inserted in lieu thereof. "Which we have "thought proper to restrain and comprize within the following limits"Viz: to the Northward, Our said Province shall be bounded by the Southern Boundary of Our Province of Quebec as far the Western extremity of the Bay des Chaleurs; To the EastThese boundaries are "ward by the said Bay and the Gulph of St Lawrence, to the described in Montagu " Cape or Promontory called Cape Breton in the Island of that Wilmot's Com" dated " Name including that Island, the Island of St Johns, and all other the same as those 21. Nov. 1763. 66 as "Islands within Six Leagues of the Coast; To the Southward by the 66 66 The Lords of the Committee have therefore caused the said alter ation and Addition to be made in the said Draught of a Commission accordingly, and do agree humbly to lay the same before Your Majesty for Your Royal Approbation ио |