6-7 EDWARD VII., A. 1907 We would also submit to the Legislature the propriety of encouraging by a Bounty, the raising and dressing of Hemp & Flax Seed, and the manufacture of Potash; these being Articles that Great Britain annually purchases from Foreign States to a considerable Amount; Whatever her own Settlements can supply is of course a National Saving; and the Manufacture of Potash in particular is so useful to a new Country in more than one way, that it seems to merit peculiar Encouragement. There are two other things relative to this subject that will be productive of much advantage to this Settlement; and these are, that Government should take what Grain & the Settlers may have to spire towards furnishing the necessary supplies for the Troops &. in the Upper Posts; and make this place instead of Carleton Island1 the Quarters of the Naval Department and the Depôt of Stores &o. intended for the Garrisons in the Upper Country. As these however are matters that depend solely on His Lordships good pleasure, you may perhaps think them foreign to the purport of your Letter; But they are matters of such great utility to the Settlement, that, we could not omit this opportunity of mentioning them: And we trust that your regard for its welfare will induce you to represent them to His Lordship in the most favorable manner. As Government ave already been graciously pleased to provide for the Establishment of a Clergyman2 and school at this place, it is with the utmost diffidence, that, we offer anything on this head; but when it is consider'd that from the extent of this Settlement, it is impossible for the greater part of the Inhabitants to profit by these Establishments, We trust it will not be thought unreasonable to request some assistance towards making provision for Clergyman and School-masters at convenient places through the Settlement; that the Inhabitants in general may participate of the benefits of these useful institutions. It appears to us also as a matter worthy of consideration, whether Persons residing in the present American States, But who are of known Attachment to the British Government, might not be Admitted as Inhabitants of these Settlements on producing Authentic Proofs of their Loyalty, and whether such Persons might not be permitted to bring with them such Cattle or Farming Utensils as they may possess, and it may also be worthy consideration whether some means might not be fallen upon for introducing such Property into the Settlements as the Present Inhabitants may have possessed and be able to recover in the American States. They may often be able to get Cattle or farming Utensils for their dues there, when Money is not to be had, but these not being allowed to be brought in are of no use. Could favourable Regulations be made respecting these matters consistently with the more important Interests of the Province at large, and in such a Manner as to prevent abuses, We believe it would soon make such an Addition to the Population and Property in these Settlements as would visibly increase their Importance. We have now laid before you such matters as occur to us as the most important for promoting the grand objects mentioned in your Letter consistently with our Situation. For though the Establishment of the English Laws and form of Government in their fullest extent would unquestionably be the most effectual mode of promoting and Establishing the Welfare of the Settlement, Yet there Are advantages We dare not presume to hope for distinctly from the other parts of the Province. We are Sir with the greatest respect, your most obedient and very humble Servants (signed) Neil McLean. 1 During the Revolutionary War a naval post had been established at Carleton Island, which lies between Wolfe Island and the American shore below Cape Vincent. It was also a depot for the transhipment of stores, &c. between the St. Lawrence river and Lake Ontario navigation. It was one of the posts ceded to the United States by the Treaty of 1783, but not given up at the time. 2 Dr. John Stuart, formerly missionary to the Mohawk Indians, was the first clergyman appointed at Kingston, and hence in Upper Canadia. LETTER FROM THE MAGISTRATES AT NEW OSWEGATCHEE TO SIR JOHN JOHNSON, BARONET.1 Sir, New Oswegatchee 18th Dec 1786. The Magistrates of this Settlement having communicated to us the contents of your letter of the 27th Nov' respecting the best mode for the population, Agriculture and settlement of the Kings Lands in this Province. We have to request you'll please to return our warmest thanks to His Excellency Lord Dorchester for this early instance of his paternal Care for us, and to represent to His Excellency our Sentiments, & prayers hereunder written, should they corroborate with your own; And if they should in any Instance deviate from what you Judge proper to be represented, we have the fullest confidence in your care & friendship for us; And your general knowledge of the Sentiments, Dispositions, and wishes of the Loyalists settled in this Province; and chearfully submit to you, to make such Alterations in these our Sentiments as your prudence may dictate. 1st We most earnestly pray for ourselves & in behalf of the Inhabitants of New Oswegatchee, that we may have our Lands by Grants free from any Seigneurial Claims or any other incumbrance whatever, The Kings Quit rent excepted. 2nd That we may be governed by the British Constitution and Laws for the support of which and his Majestys Crown & Dignity we first took up Arms in Opposition to the American Congress. 3rd That we may be formed into separate Countys from Pointe aû Baudet upwards, having our own Courts, Judges and Civil Officers & perhaps one County from Pointe aû Baudet to the Great river Gananaque, holding Courts Alternately at New Johnstown and New Oswegatchee, may be the most convenient for the lower settlers, and another County from Gananaque to the Head of Quinty Bay, & a third including Niagara and upwards. And perhaps your Representation may Incline His Excellency to form the whole into a separate Government dependant on Lower Canada. 4th We humbly conceive that nothing could more rapidly promote the settlement of the Kings Lands, than the Encouragement of the Gospel, and Schools in these Infant Settlements. And lastly, we pray that a stop may be put to the Importation of Timber or Lum-. ber of any kind into Canada from Vermont, or Any of the American States, and some Encouragement given to the Loyalists to supply Lower Canada with Lumber, as that is at present the only staple commodity in this Country. We have the Honour to be with great respect & esteem James Campbell. Thomas Sherwood. Dan' Jones. William Lamson. Allan McDonell. Sir, your most obed' & humble Serv's 1 Canadian Archives, Q 27-2, p. 519. The old post of Oswegatchie is now known as Ogdensburg, and the new establishment on the opposite side of the river St. Lawrence after the Revolutionary War, was known at first as New Oswegatchie. The name was commonly applied to the whole district as far up as Brockville. 6-7 EDWARD VII., A. 1907 N° 18. My Lord, DORCHESTER TO SYDNEY.1 Quebec 13 June 1787 The latter part of the Merchants reports to the Committee of Council for Commerce and Police, together with the petitions from the Canadians occasioned thereby, will shew Your Lordship a diversity of opinions in this province concerning the Laws and a House of Assembly, more accurately, than I should have been able to procure without these representations. The English party has gained considerable strength of late years by the Loyalists, who have taken refuge in the province; and many more discover a strong inclination to follow, so that it is more than probable the desire for an Assembly will annually increase; yet common prudence seems to require, before an alteration of that magnitude should be attempted in a country composed of different languages, manners, and religions (where nine tenths of the people are ignorant of the nature and importance of an Assembly) that the whole plan should be minutely unfolded, and its effects upon the Legislature and the provincial economy clearly discerned. This description should be published and time given for all men to make themselves masters of the project, and form their opinions thereon, free from artifices and intrigues of any kind. Without these precautions it is more than probable, that disappointments and disorders might arise even at the outset. For my own part, I confess myself as yet at a loss for any plan likely to give satisfaction, to a people so circumstanced as we are at present. But what urges more immediately is an alteration in the tenure of lands to be granted by the Crown. The Instructions direct that these lands be granted in a manner every way similar to the tenure under the French Government. Whatever merit this system might have had formerly, so great have been the changes of late years on this Continent, that a new line of policy, adapted to the present relative condition of the Neighbouring States, and suited to the minds and temper of the King's subjects, is become indispensably necessary for Great Britain. I therefore humbly recommend that His Majesty would be graciously pleased to allow His Governor and Council to grant His lands in free and common soccage, unincumbered with any crown rent whatever : but not more than one thousand Acres to the same person without the King's approbation. Many petitions have been sent down by the Loyalists (the last of which is A--] inclosed) praying among other things to be placed upon the same footing with their brethern in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick; some disorders have also been excited among them, concerning which I have directed immediate investigation. It is not on account of these petitions, that I propose the alteration, but because I judge it highly expedient to remove the Smallest Cause of discord between the King's Government and His people, or between Great Britain and these Provinces, on any score whatever. 5 And it is for this purpose I further recommend, that the thirty pence for every hundred Acres be remitted in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to all who do not hold more than One thousand acres; as to others, I think this right should be reserved merely as a check on large grants to persons who never mean to cultivate or improve, and who at present obstruct the settlement of those provinces. It may be advisable to reserve in every township of thirty thousand acres, five thousand to be granted only at a future day under the King's Special directions; These reserved parcels will enable His Majesty to reward such of His provincial Servants as 1 Canadian Archives, Q. 27-2, p. 983. 2 See Report on Commerce and Police, pp. 612-639. 3 It was on the urgent recommendation of Carleton himself that the reversion to the French system for new grants of land was made. See Carleton to Shelburne, p. 202, and draught of Ordinance relating to French land tenures, p. 204. In consequence of this and other recommendations from Carleton, the instruction of July 2nd, 1771, was issued (see p. 295), requiring that all future grants of land to English and French subjects alike should follow the French feudal tenure. 4 See below p. 647. See note 3, p. 551. SESSIONAL PAPER No. 18 may merit the Royal favour, and will also enable the Crown to create and strengthen an Aristocracy, of which the best use may be made on this Continent, where all Governments are feeble, and the general condition of things tends to a wild Democracy. People of property in the States are now, I believe, sensible of the evils occasioned thereby, and would bring forward an adequate remedy, did they know how to carry it into execution.1 As the planters approach the Indian country, they are afresh stimulated by the manners of that lawless people, who may be influenced but not easily controlled, and they in a great measure imbibe their uncivilized ideas of liberty. The American side of the great lakes would in a short time be covered by settlers of this description, was it not for their fear of the Savages. This check sooner or later will be done away, prudence therefore requires we should prepare for the event in time, by placing the King's subjects on this side in every respect in a situation at least as eligible, as that of their neighbours. The introduction of intermediate seigneurs at that distance would, I think, be totally impracticable. The Canadians at Detroit have been under a strong military control, and therefore have paid their rents and mutation fines, the produce of which has been taken by the Commanding Officer of the Post as his perquisite, I know not by what Authority; their friends on the Wabache paid nothing, placed as they were at some distance from our garrison at Detroit; and from hence we may understand their aversion to our taking post among them; they expected we should require the same dues paid at Detroit, from which the Americans, they were assured, would set them free. The Quitrents in the English Colonies were not one sixth of the burthen on these lands en roture, and yet I understand that Government was never able to collect them; but, after the revolt had taken place, offered to relinquish the claim; from all which I am convinced these dues never will be paid, and only prove a perpetual cause of discontent, and afford the means of alienating the minds of the people from the King's Government. I am with much respect and esteem Your Lordship's most obedient, and most humble servant. The Right Honble DORCHESTER PETITION OF THE WESTERN LOYALISTS.? Copy To His Excellency the Right Honorable Guy Lord Dorchester Captain General and Governor in Chief of the Colonies of Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Bruns wick, and their dependencies, and Vice Admiral of the same. General and Commander in Chief of all His Majesty's Forces in the said Colonies, and the Island of Newfoundland. The petition of the Subscribers, residing in the new settlement, in behalf of themselves and the Inhabitants at large, in the respective Townships, from Point au Baudet on Lake St Francis Westward, as far as Niagara. Humbly sheweth, 1 This paragraph indicates the central policy of much of the Constitutional Act of 1791, and the basis of the Crown Reserves, in addition to the Clergy Reserves. 2 Canadian Archives, Q. 27-2, p. 989. This is the petition referred to in the foregoing letter from Dorchester to Sydney and enclosed with it. 6-7 EDWARD VII., A. 1907 That your Petitioners impressed with the most lively sentiments of gratitude, beg leave through the Channel of your Lordship, to offer their sincere, and united tribute of thanks to their most gracious Sovereign for the singular, and multiplied favors conferred on them; at the same time they presume that your Lordship will with your wonted Goodness, interest yourself in regard to some propositions they have to make which with submission, they conceive are very essential to promote the happiness of the People, and facilitate the progress of the settlement; and they humbly hope, that what your Lordship cannot with propriety grant yourself, you will be So condescending as to recommend to His Majesty, for His Royal approbation and consent. 1st It is the confirm'd opinion of your Petitioners from the fullest conviction, that if the blessings of the British Constitution was extended to this infant Settlement, and their Lands granted according to English Tenures, such a change wou'd produce many happy effects, among the rest to augment the happiness of the People, to strengthen the bands, as well as the Interest of Government, to give a Spur to Industry, to population and Commerce and damp the hopes, and the expectations of their enemies ;—at the same time they must confess, it is not without some degree of envy that they reflect on privileges, and indulgences, granted to their fellow Sufferers in Nova Scotia which they themselves do not enjoy--especially when the same motives which engaged them in the Honourable and Glorious cause of defending the rights of their Sovereign, and the dignity of the Nation, places them on the same footing, and gives them equal pretensions. but notwithstanding they rest satisfied in the hope that your Lordships representation of their situation, will induce His Majesty to interpose His Royal favor in their behalf, to remove all cause of Jealousy and crown the happiness of your Petitioners; the arrangement for this purpose so anxiously wished for, and the arguments in support of it, are so well described in a petition drawn up by Sir John Johnson and others, in behalf of themselves and the. Loyalists at large in this Province (and presented to His Majesty in Council the 11th April 1785) renders it unnecessary to add anything further on the subject at present, except to beg leave to refer your Lordship to the aforesaid Petition, and to tran-mit you a Copy, which will accompany this. 2d Your Petitioners pray for some assistance in establishing the Church of England, and Scotland, in this Infant Settlement, and that a Glebe of Four Hundred Acres of Land in each Township, may be set apart for a Clergyman. 2 3. They pray for some assistance towards establishing a school in each district viz New Johnstown, New Oswegatchie, Cataraqui and Niagara, for the purpose of teaching English, Latin, Arithmetic and Mathematics. 4th They pray for a prohibition of Pot and pearl Ash and Lumber from the State of Vermont, to prevent a door being opened for an Illicit Trade from the United States, which wou'd be a detriment to the Province in general, to this Settlement in particular, and only beneficial to a few interested Individuals they also pray for a Bounty to be laid on the above Articles, as well as on Hemp, in Order to stimulate their Industry, and encourage their internal Trade. 5th They pray that Government will be so generous in addition to former Bounties, to grant them a loan of three month's provisions, consisting of the article of Pork only. -to be paid by the Settlers in three Years, under such restrictions and obligations as may be thought most expedient to insure the punctual payment of the same. 6th They beg to inform your Lordship that a number of the Inhabitants who have been in the service are so unfortunate as not to have drawn any Clothing by reason of their not being in the Province at the periods when it was issued, and that others who 1 This petition is given at p. 524. 2 New Johnstown was the general name for the eastern portion of what was afterwards the District of Luneburg, and still later the Eastern District. It comprised townships 1 to 5 from Point Baudet westward. In its narrower sense it was a village in the township of Edwardsburg, about three miles east of Prescott, which was for a time the capital of the Eastern District. New Oswegatchie was, in like manner, the older general name for the western portion of the District of Luneburg comprising townships 6, 7 and 8. It was originally occupied by Jessup's Corps. Cataraqui, afterwards Kingston, while retaining its local designation as under French rule, was nevertheless used to indicate the whole settlement in its neighbourhood, comprising the seven adjoining townships to the westward. |