SESSIONAL PAPER No. 18 Halifax to Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations. B. N° 5. A. & W. I. Oct. 8. Lords CommissTS for Trade & Plantations St JAMES'S Oct. 8. 1763. MY LORDS, Having laid before the King your Lordships Letter of the 6th instant with the Drat of a Proclamation therein inclosed, and His Majesty having been pleased to approve the said Draught, & to order it to be printed, & passd under the great Seal, in the usual Form, I send your Lordships herewith a number of printed Copies of the said Proclamation & am to signify to your Lordships His Majesty's Pleasure that you should transmit them to the Governors of His Majesty's several Colonies & Plantations in America & to the Agents for Indian Affairs. endorsed: October 8. 1763. I am & DUNK HALIFAX Dra to Board of Trade Signifying the King's Pleasure that they should transmitt Copies of the Proclamation to the Governors of the Colonies & the Agents for Indian Affairs. 2 WHEREAS We have taken into Our Royal Consideration the extensive and valu able Acqu. tions in America, secured to our Crown by the late Definitive Treaty of Peace' concluded at Paris, the 10th Day of February last; and being desirous that all Our loving Subjects, as well of our Kingdom as of our Colonies in America, may avail themselves with all convenient Speed, of the great Benefits and Advantages which must accrue therefrom to their Commerce, Manufactures, and Navigation, We have thought fit, with the Advice of our Privy Council, to issue this our Royal Proclamation, hereby to publish and declare to all our loving Subjects, that we have, with the Advice of our Said Privy Council, granted our Letters Patent, under our Great seal of Great Britain, to erect, within the Countries and Islands ceded and confirmed to Us by the said Treaty, Four distinct and separate Governments, styled and called by the names of Quebec, East Florida, West Florida and Grenada, and limited and bounded as follows, viz. 1 Taken from the text as contained in the "Papers Relative to the Province of Quebec," 1791, in the Public Record Office. Copied in the Canadian Archives Q 62 A, pt. I., p. 114. 2 The attitude of the Home Government at this time, on the subject of immigration, the kind of immigrants to be favoured, and even the need of an outlet for surplus population on the part of some of the older colonies in America, may be gathered from a report of the Lords of Trade, Nov. 5, 1761, upon the proposal to transport a number of Germans to the American Colonies after the peace. They point out that as "regards colonies possessed before the war, the increase of population is such as scarce to leave room in some of them for any more inhabitants.' The encouragement and advantages of the less populated southern colonies are such as to induce sufficient migration without burdening the public. Our own reduced sailors and soldiers would be more proper objects of national bounty, and better colonists, than foreigners, whose ignorance of the English language, laws, and constitution cannot fail to increase those disorders and that confusion in our Government, which the too great migration of people from Germany has already fatally introduced in some of our most valuable possessions." Calendar of Home Office Papers, of the Reign of George III. 1760-1765. No. 349. 6-7 EDWARD VII., A. 1907 First-The Government of Quebec bounded on the Labrador Coast by the River St. John, and from thence by a Line drawn from the Head of that River through the Lake St. John, to the South end of the Lake Nipissim; from whence the said Line, crossing the River St Lawrence, and the Lake Champlain, in 45. Degrees of North Latitude, passes along the High Lands which divide the Rivers that empty themselves into the said River S Lawrence from those which fall into the Sea; and also along the North Coast of the Baye des Chaleurs, and the Coast of the Gulph of St Lawrence to Cape Rosieres, and from thence crossing the Mouth of the River St Lawrence by the West End of the Island of Anticosti, terminates at the aforesaid River of St John. Secondly--The Government of East Florida, bounded to the Westward by the Gulph of Mexico and the Apalachicola River; to the Northward by a Line drawn from that part of the said River where the Chatahouchee and Flint Rivers meet, to the source of St Mary's River, and by the course of the said River to the Atlantic Ocean; and to the Eastward and Southward by the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulph of Florida, including all Islands within Six Leagues of the Sea Coast. Thirdly The Government of West Florida, bounded to the Southward by the Gulph of Mexico, including all Islands within Six Leagues of the Coast, from the River Apalachicola to Lake Pontchartrain; to the Westward by the said Lake, the Lake Maurepas, and the River Mississippi; to the Northward by a Line drawn due East from that part of the River Mississippi which lies in 31 Degrees North Latitude, to the River Apalachicola or Chatahouchee; and to the Eastward by the said River. Fourthly The Government of Grenada, comprehending the Island of that name, together with the Grenadines, and the Islands of Dominico, St Vincent's and Tobago. And to the end that the open and free Fishery of our Subjects may be extended to and carried on upon the Coast of Labrador, and the adjacent Islands, We have thought fit, with the advice of our said Privy Council, to put all that Coast, from the River S John's to Hudson's Streights, together with the Islands of Anticosti and Madelaine, and all other smaller Islands lying upon the said Coast, under the care and Inspection of our Governor of Newfoundland. We have also, with the advice of our Privy Council, thought fit to annex the Islands of St John's and Cape Breton, or Isle Royale, with the lesser Islands adjacent thereto, to our Government of Nova Scotia.1 We have also, with the advice of our Privy Council aforesaid, annexed to our Province of Georgia all the Lands lying between the Rivers Alatamaha and St Mary's. And whereas it will greatly contribute to the speedy settling our said new Governments, that our loving subjects should be informed of our Paternal care, for the security of the Liberties and Properties of those who are and shall become Inhabitants thereof, We have thought fit to publish and declare, by this Our Proclamation, that We have, in the Letters Patent under our Great Seal of Great Britain, by which the said Governments are constituted, given express Power and Direction to our Governors of our Said Colonies respectively, that so soon as the state and circumstances of the said Colonies will admit thereof, they shall, with the Advice and Consent of the Members of our Council, summon and call General Assemblies within the said Governments respectively, in such Manner and Form as is used and directed in those Colonies and Provinces in America which are under our immediate Government; and We have also given Power to the said Governors, with the consent of our Said Councils, and the Representatives of the People so to be summoned as aforesaid, to make, constitute, and ordain Laws, Statutes, and Ordinances for the Public Peace, Welfare, and good Government of our said Colonies, and of the People and Inhabitants thereof, as near as may be agreeable to the Laws of England, and under such Regulations and Restrictions as are used in other Colonies; and in the mean Time, and until such Assemblies can be called as aforesaid, all Persons Inhabiting in or resorting to our Said Colonies may confide in our 1 Nova Scotia would thus include the three present maritime provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island. 2 With reference to the reasons given and provisions made for calling Assemblies in the new Provinces, see Report of the Lords of Trade, Oct. 4th, 1763, p. 114, also report of the Lords of the Committee of Council for Plantation Affairs, Oct. 6th, 1763, p. 116. See also the Commission to Hon. James Murray to be Governor of Quebec, p. 128, and the Instructions to Governor Murray, sec. 11, p. 135. SESSIONAL PAPER No. 18 Royal Protection for the Enjoyment of the Benefit of the Laws of our Realm of England; for which Purpose We have given Power under our Great Seal to the Governors of our said Colonies respectively to erect and constitute, with the Advice of our said Councils respectively, Courts of Judicature and public Justice within our Said Colonies for hearing and determining all Causes, as well Criminal as Civil, according to Law and Equity, and as near as may be agreeable to the Laws of England, with Liberty to all Persons who may think themselves aggrieved by the Sentences of such Courts, in all Civil Cases, to appeal, under the usual Limitations and Restrictions, to Us in our Privy Council, We have also thought fit, with the advice of our Privy Council as aforesaid, to give unto the Governors and Councils of our said Three new Colonies, upon the Continent full Power and Authority to settle and agree with the Inhabitants of our said new Colonies or with any other Persons who shall resort thereto, for such Lands, Tenements and Hereditaments, as are now or hereafter shall be in our Power to dispose of; and them to grant to any such Person or Persons upon such Terms, and under such moderate Quit-Rents, Services and Acknowledgments, as have been appointed and settled in our other Colonies, and under such other Conditions as shall appear to us to be necessary and expedient for the Advantage of the Grantees, and the Improvement and settlement of our said Colonies. And Whereas, We are desirous, upon all occasions, to testify our Royal Sense and Approbation of the Conduct and bravery of the Officers and Soldiers of our Armies, and to reward the same, We do hereby command and impower our Governors of our said Three new Colonies, and all other our Governors of our several Provinces on the Continent of North America, to grant without Fee or Reward, to such reduced Officers as have served in North America during the late War, and to such Private Soldiers as have been or shall be disbanded in America, and are actually residing there, and shall personally apply for the same, the following Quantities of Lands, subject, at the Expiration of Ten Years, to the same Quit-Rents as other Lands are subject to in the Province within which they are granted, as also subject to the same Conditions of Cultivation and Improvement; viz. To every Person having the Rank of a Field Officer.. To every Subaltern or Staff Officer. To every Private Man 5,000 Acres. 3,000 Acres. 2,000 Acres. 200 Acres. 50 Acres. We do likewise authorize and require the Governors and Commanders in Chief of all our said Colonies upon the Continent of North America to grant the like Quantities of Land, and upon the same conditions, to such reduced Officers of our Navy of like Rank as served on board our Ships of War in North America at the times of the Reduction of Louisbourg and Quebec in the late War, and who shall personally apply to our respective Governors for such Grants.1 And whereas it is just and reasonable, and essential to our Interest, and the Security of our Colonies, that the several Nations or Tribes of Indians with whom We are connected, and who live under our Protection, should not be molested or disturbed in the Possession of such Parts of our Dominions and Territories as, not having been ceded to or purchased by Us, are reserved to them, or any of them, as their Hunting Grounds.— We do therefore, with the Advice of our Privy Council, declare it to be our Royal Will and Pleasure, that no Governor or Commander in Chief in any of our Colonies of Quebec, East Florida, or West Florida, do presume, upon any Pretence whatever, to grant Warrants of Survey, or pass any Patents for Lands beyond the Bounds of their respective Governments, as described in their Commissions; as also that no Governor or Commander in Chief in any of our other Colonies or Plantations in America do presume for the present, and until our further Pleasure be known, to grant Warrants of Survey, or 1 On Oct. 13th, 1763, the Earl of Halifax wrote to the Attorney General, inquiring 'as to the means which should be used to nullify the doubtfulness of a paragraph in H. M's proclamation, which makes appear that only those officers which served both at Louisbourg and Quebec are entitled to grants of land, such not being His Majesty's intention." Calendar of Home Office, Papers, 1760-1765, no. 1036. it 6-7 EDWARD VII., A. 1907 pass Patents for any Lands beyond the Heads or Sources of any of the Rivers which fall into the Atlantic Ocean from the West and North West, or upon any Lands whatever, which, not having been ceded to or purchased by Us as aforesaid, are reserved to the said Indians, or any of them. And We do further declare it to be Our Royal Will and Pleasure, for the present as aforesaid, to reserve under our Sovereignty, Protection, and Dominion, for the use of the said Indians, all the Lands and Territories not included within the Limits of Our said Three new Governments, or within the Limits of the Territory granted to the Hudson's Bay Company, as also all the Lands and Territories lying to the Westward of the Sources of the Rivers which fall into the Sea from the West and North West as aforesaid; And we do hereby strictly forbid, on Pain of our Displeasure, all our loving Subjects from making any Purchases or Settlements whatever, or taking Possession of any of the Lands above reserved, without our especial leave and Licence for that Purpose first obtained. And, We do further strictly enjoin and require all Persons whatever who have either wilfully or inadvertently seated themselves upon any Lands within the Countries above described, or upon any other Lands which, not having been ceded to or purchased by Us, are still reserved to the said Indians as aforesaid, forthwith to remove themselves from such Settlements. And whereas great Frauds and Abuses have been committed in purchasing Lands of the Indians, to the great Prejudice of our Interests, and to the great Dissatisfaction of the said Indians; In order, therefore, to prevent such Irregularities for the future, and to the end that the Indians may be convinced of our Justice and determined Resolution to remove all reasonable Cause of Discontent, We do, with the Advice of our Privy Council strictly enjoin and require, that no private Person do presume to make any Purchase from the said Indians of any Lands reserved to the said Indians, within those parts of our Colonies where, We have thought proper to allow Settlement; but that, if at any Time any of the said Indians should be inclined to dispose of the said Lands, the same shall be Purchased only for Us, in our Name, at some public Meeting or Assembly of the said Indians, to be held for that Purpose by the Governor or Commander in Chief of our Colony respectively within which they shall lie; and in case they shall lie within the limits of any Proprietary Government, they shall be purchased only for the Use and in the name of such Proprietaries, conformable to such Directions and Instructions as We or they shall think proper to give for that Purpose; And we do, by the Advice of our Privy Council, declare and enjoin, that the Trade with the said Indians shall be free and open to all our Subjects whatever, provided that every Person who may incline to Trade with the said Indians do take out a Licence for carrying on such Trade from the Governor or Commander in Chief of any of Our Colonies respectively where such Person shall reside, and also give Security to observe such Regulations as We shall at any Time think fit, by ourselves or by our Commissaries to be appointed for this Purpose, to direct and appoint for the Benefit of the said Trade: And we do hereby authorize, enjoin, and require the Governors and Commanders in Chief of all our Colonies respectively, as well those under Our immediate Government as those under the Government and Direction of Proprietaries, to grant such Licences without Fee or Reward, taking especial Care to insert therein a Condition, that such Licence shall be void, and the Security forfeited in case the Person to whom the same is granted shall refuse or neglect to observe such Regulations as We shall think proper to prescribe as aforesaid. And we do further expressly enjoin and require all Officers whatever, as well Military as those Employed in the Management and Direction of Indian Affairs, within the Territories reserved as aforesaid for the use of the said Indians, to seize and apprehend all Persons whatever, who standing charged with Treason, Misprisions of Treason, Murders, or other Felonies or Misdemeanors, shall fly from Justice and take Refuge in the said Territory, and to send them under a proper guard to the Colony where the SESSIONAL PAPER No. 18 Crime was committed of which they stand accused, in order to take their Trial for the same. 1 Given at our Court at St. James's the 7th Day of October 1763. in the Third Year of our Reign. GOD SAVE THE KING EGREMONT TO GOVERNOR MURRAY." WHITEHALL, Augt 13th 1763. Gov MURRAY. SIR, I take great Satisfaction in acquainting you, that His Majesty has been graciously pleased to confer on you the Government of Canada, over which Country you have already presided so long with such Applause, that The King is persuaded this appointment will be received by His new subjects as a singular mark of His Majesty's Royal attention to their Welfare & Happiness. The necessary Commission & Instructions for you, on this occasion, which are preparing by the Board of Trade with all Dispatch, will be forwarded to you as soon as possible, and as they will contain very full Directions, not only with regard to the Form of Government to be established in Canada, but to your Conduct in every particular; I have no new Orders to transmit to you at present; But His Majesty thinks it very material, that you should be apprized, that He has received Intelligence, which gives some reason to suspect, that the French may be disposed to avail Themselves of the Liberty of the Catholick Religion granted to the Inhabitants of Canada, in order to keep up their Connection with France, and, by means of the Priests, to preserve such an Influence over the Canadians, as may induce them to join, whenever Opportunity should offer, in any attempts to recover that Country; It therefore becomes of the utmost Consequence to watch the Priests very narrowly, and to remove, as soon as possible, any of them, who shall attempt to go out of their sphere, and who shall busy themselves in any civil matters: For tho' The King has, in the 4th Article of the Definitive Treaty, agreed to grant the Liberty of the Catholick Religion to the Inhabitants of Canada; and tho' His Majesty is far from entertaining the most distant thought of restraining His new Roman Catholick Subjects from professing the Worship of their Religion according to the Rites of the Romish Church: Yet the Condition, expressed in the same Article, must always be remembered, viz: As far as the Laws of Great Britain permit, which Laws prohibit absolutely all Popish Hierarchy in any of the Dominions belonging to the Crown of Great Britain, and can only admit of a Toleration of the Exercise of that Religion; This matter was clearly understood in the Negotiation of the Definitive Treaty; The French Ministers proposed to insert the Words, comme cidevant, in order that the Romish Religion should continue to be exercised in the same manner as under their Government; and they did not give up the Point, 'till they were plainly told that it would be deceiving them to admit those Words, for The King had not the Power to tolerate that Religion in any other Manner, than as far as the Laws of Great Britain permit: These Laws must be your guide in any Disputes that may arise on this Subject; But, at the same Time, that I point out to you the necessity of adhering to Them, and of attending with the utmost Vigilance to the Behaviour of the Priests, The King relies on your acting with all proper Caution & Prudence in regard 1 The Earl of Halifax, in a letter to the Secretary at War, March 11, 1765, directing him to prepare and bring into Parliament a bill to extend the Mutiny Act to North America, points out that there are many posts in that country which are not under any civil jurisdiction, and that therefore the additions to be made to the 60th clause of the Mutiny Act are very necessaary. This is especially so since, in the Proclamation of Oct. 7th, 1763, while provision is made for apprehending and bringing to justice such criminals as might take refuge at these posts, yet no mode is established for the punishment of crimes committed at those posts, or in the reserved territories. See Calendar of Home Office Papers 176 0–1765, No. 1671. 2 This is a portion of a letter from the Secretary of State, the Earl of Egremont, to Governor Murray. The remainder of the letter refers to the priest Le Loutre who had formerly occasioned much trouble in Acadia, and also to claims for lands granted to the late French Governor, Vaudreuil, in western Canada. Copy, from Public Record Office, in Canadian Archives, Q. 1, p. 117. |