the Peace, who shall hear and determine all matters relative to the Conservation of the Peace, and whatsoever is by them cognizable, according to the Laws of England, and the Ordinances of the Governor and Legislative Council of the Province.

The said Sessions for the District of Quebec, shall be held at the City of Quebec, and the said Sessions for the District of Montreal shall be held at the City of Montreal, on the days hereafter following, to wit, on the second Tuesdays of the Months of January, April, July, and October, in every year.

And Two of the said Commissioners of the Peace shall sit weekly in Rotation, in the Cities of Quebec and Montreal, for the better Regulation of the Police, and other matters and Things belonging to their Office; and the names of the Commissioners who are to sit in each Week shall be posted up on the door of the Sessions House, by the Clerk of the Peace, Two Days before their respective Sittings.

ART. III.

As the great extent of this Province may render it often impracticable for the Coroner of the District to give his Attendance at the different Places where it might be necessary, the Captains of Militia shall be and hereby are impowered, in their respective Parishes, when any marks of Violence appear on any dead Body, to summon together Six respectable Householders of his Parish, to inspect the same; and he shall according to their Opinion, report the manner and cause of such Death in writing, to the nearest Commissioner of the Peace, that a further examination may be made therein, if necessary.

ART. IV.

And as great Inconveniences might arise from the want of Peace Officers in different parts of the Province, the said Captains of Militia shall be and hereby are impowered to arrest any Person guilty of any Breach of the Peace, or any Criminal Offence, within their respective Parishes, and to convey or cause to be conveyed, such Person before the nearest Commissioner of the Peace, to be dealt with according to Law. (Signed) GUY CARLETON.

March 4, 1777.

XXXIII

THE COLONIAL TAX REPEAL ACT', 1778

(18 George III, C. 12.)

An Act for removing all doubts and apprehensions concerning taxation by the Parliament of Great Britain in any of the Colonies, Provinces, and Plantations in North America and the West Indies; and for repealing so much of an Act, made in the seventh year of the reign of his present Majesty, as imposes a duty on tea imported from Great Britain into any Colony or Plantation in America, or relates thereto.

Whereas taxation by the Parliament of Great Britain, for the purpose Preamble. of raising a revenue in his Majesty's Colonies, Provinces, and Plantations in North America, has been found by experience to occasion great uneasiness and disorders among his Majesty's faithful subject, who may nevertheless be disposed to acknowledge the justice of contributing to the common defence of the Empire, provided such contribution should be raised under the authority of the General Court, or General Assembly, of each respective Colony, Province, or Plantation: And whereas, in order as well to remove the said uneasiness, and to quiet the minds of his Majesty's subjects who may be disposed to return to their allegiance, as to restore

This Act is more particularly concerned with the American Colonies. It is included here because the title may include Canada, though it is obvious that it did not repeal No. XXVI.

No tax to be hereafter imposed by the King and

Great Britain

Colonies in

the peace and welfare of all his Majesty's Dominions, it is expedient to declare that the King and Parliament of Great Britain will not impose any duty, tax, or assessment, for the purpose of raising a revenue in any of the Colonies, Provinces, or Plantations: May it please your Majesty Parliament of that it may be declared and enacted, and it is hereby declared and enon any of the acted by the King's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this presNorth Ameri- ent Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, that from Indies; except and after the passing of this Act the King and Parliament of Great Britain will not impose any duty, tax, or assessment whatever, payable in any of his Majesty's Colonies, Provinces, and Plantations in North America or the West Indies; except only such duties as it may be expedient to impose for the regulation of commerce; the net produce of such duties to be always paid and applied to and for the use of the Colony, Province, or Plantation, in which the same shall be respectively levied, in such manner as other duties collected by the authority of the respective General Courts, or General Assemblies, of such Colonies, Provinces, or Plantations, are ordinarily paid and applied.

etc.

So much of

an Act, 7 Geo. III as imposes a duty on tea imported from Great Britain

into America repealed.

II. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that from and after the passing of this Act, so much of an Act made in the seventh year of his present Majesty's reign, intituled "An Act for granting certain duties in the British Colonies and Plantations in America; for allowing a drawback of the duties of Customs upon the exportation from this kingdom of coffee and cocoanuts of the produce of the said Colonies or Plantations; for discontinuing the drawbacks payable on China earthenware exported to America; and for more effectually preventing the clandestine running of goods in said Colonies or Plantations," as imposes a duty on tea imported from Great Britain into any Colony or Plantation in America, or has relation to the said duty, be, and the same is hereby repealed.

My Lord,

XXXIV

HALDIMAND TO GERMAIN1

[Trans.: Shortt and Doughty.]

Quebec, 25th October, 1780.

As it is my Duty, it has been my Business to inform myself of the State of the Country & I coincide with the Majority of the Legislative Council in Considering the Canadians as the People of the Country, and think that in making Laws and Regulations for the Administration of these Laws, Regard is to be paid to the Sentiments and Manner of thinking of 60,000 rather than of 2,000-three fourths of whom are Traders & Cannot with propriety be Considered as Residents of the Province.-In this point of view the Quebec act, was both just and Politic, tho' unfortunately for the British Empire, it was enacted Ten Years too late-It requires but Little Penetration to Discover that had the System of Government Sollicited by the Old Subjects been adopted in Canada, this Colony would in 1775 have become one of the United States of America Whoever Considers the Number of Old Subjects who in that Year corresponded with and Joined the Rebels, of those who abandoned the defence of Quebec in virtue of Sir Guy Carleton's Proclamation in the fall of the same Year, & of the many others who are now the avowed well wishers of the Revolted Colonies, must feel this Truth however national or Religious Prejudices will not allow him to declare it.

Your Lordships Most Obedient & Most humble Servant,
(Signed) FRED HALDIMAND.

1 This letter throws contemporary light on the value of the Quebec Act. Lord George Germain became Colonial Secretary in July, 1776.

XXXV

TREATY OF PARIS, 1783

[Trans. Shortt and Doughty.]

DEFINITIVE TREATY of Peace and Friendship between His Britannic Majesty and the United States of America.-Signed at Paris, the 3rd of September, 1783.

In the Name of the Most Holy and Undivided Trinty.

It having pleased the Divine Providence to dispose the hearts of the Most Serene and most Potent Prince, George the Third, by the Grace of God, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, Duke of Brunswick and Lunenburg, Arch-Treasurer and Prince Elector of the Holy Roman Empire, &c., and of the United States of America, to forget all past misunderstandings and differences that have unhappily interrupted the good correspondence and friendship which they mutually wish to restore: and to establish such a beneficial and satisfactory intercourse between the 2 Countries, upon the ground of reciprocal advantages and mutual convenience, as may promote and secure to both perpetual Peace and Harmony; and having for this desirable end already laid the foundation of Peace and reconciliation, by the Provisional Articles signed at Paris, on the 30th of November, 1782, by the Commissioners empowered on each part; which Articles were agreed to be inserted in, and to constitute, the Treaty of Peace proposed to be concluded between the Crown of Great Britain and the said United States, but which Treaty was not to be concluded until terms of Peace should be agreed upon between Great Britain and France, and His Britannic Majesty should be ready to conclude such Treaty accordingly; and the Treaty between Great Britain and France having since been concluded, His Britannic Majesty and the United States of America, in order to carry into full effect the Provisional Articles above-mentioned according to the tenor thereof, have constituted and appointed, that is to say:

His Britannic Majesty, on his part, David Hartley, Esq., Member of the Parliament of Great Britain; and the said United States, on their part, John Adams, Esq., late a Commissioner of the United States of America at the Court of Versailles, late Delegate in Congress from the State of Massachusetts, and Chief Justice of the said State, and Minister Plenipotentiary of the said United States to Their High Mightinesses the States General of the United Netherlands; Benjamin Franklin, Esq., late Delegate in Congress from the State of Pennsylvania, President of the Convention of the said State, and Minister Plenipotentiary from the United States of America at the Court of Versailles; John Jay, Esq., late President of Congress and Chief Justice of the State of New York, and Minister Plenipotentiary from the said United States at the Court of Madrid; to be the Plenipotentiaries for the concluding and the signing the present Definitive Treaty: who, after having reciprocally communicated their respective Full Powers, have agreed upon and confirmed the following Articles :

Art. I. His Britannic Majesty acknowledges the said United States, viz., New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, to be free, Sovereign and Independent States; that he treats with them as such and for himself, his Heirs and Successors, relinquishes all claims to the government, propriety and territorial rights of the same, and every part thereof.

II. And that all disputes which might arise in future on the subject of the Boundaries of the said United States may be prevented, it is hereby agreed and declared, that the following are and shall be their Boundaries, viz., from the North-west Angle of Nova Scotia, viz., that Angle which is formed by a line drawn due North, from the source of the St. Croix River to the Highlands, along the said Highlands which divide those

Rivers that empty themselves into the River St. Lawrence from those which fall into the Atlantic Ocean, to the North-westernmost head of Connecticut River; thence down along the middle of that River to the 45th degree of North Latitude; from thence by a line due West on said latitude until it strikes the River Iroquois or Cataraquy'; thence along the middle of the said River into Lake Ontario; through the middle of the said Lake until it strikes the communication by water between that Lake and Lake Erie; thence along the middle of said communication into Lake Erie: through the middle of said Lake until it arrives at the water communication between that Lake and Lake Huron ; thence along the middle of said water communication into the Lake Huron; thence through the middle of said Lake to the water communication between that Lake and Lake Superior; thence through Lake Superior, Northward of the Isles Royal and Phelipeaux, to the Long Lake; thence through the middle of said Long Lake, and the water communication between it and the Lake of the Woods, to the said Lake of the Woods; thence through the said Lake to the most North-western point thereof, and from thence on a due West course to the River Mississippi; thence by a line to be drawn along the middle of the said River Mississippi, until it shall intersect the Norther-most part of the 31st degree of North latitude: South by a line to be drawn due East from the determination of the line last mentioned, in the latitude of 31 degrees North of the Equator, to the middle of the River Apalachicola or Catahouche; thence along the middle thereof to its junction with the Flint River; thence straight to the head of St. Mary's River, and thence down along the middle of St. Mary's River to the Atlantic Ocean: East by a line to be drawn along the middle of the River St. Croix, from its mouth in the Bay of Fundy to its source; and from its source directly North to the aforesaid Highlands, which divide the Rivers that fall into the Atlantic Ocean from those which fall into the River St. Lawrence: comprehending all Islands within 20 leagues of any part of the shores of the United States, and lying between lines to be drawn due East from the points where the aforesaid Boundaries between Nova Scotia on the one part, and East Florida on the other, shall respectively touch the Bay of Fundy, and the Atlantic Ocean; excepting such Islands as now are, or heretofore have been, within the limits of the said Province of Nova Scotia.

III. It is agreed, that the People of the United States shall continue to enjoy unmolested the right to take Fish of every kind on the Grand Bank and on all the other Banks of Newfoundland; also in the Gulph of St. Lawrence, and at all other places in the Sea, where the Inhabitants of both Countries used at any time heretofore to fish. And also that the Inhabitants of The United States shall have liberty to take fish of every kind on such part of the Coast of Newfoundland as British Fishermen shall use, (but not to dry or cure the same on that Island,) and also on the Coasts, Bays, and Creeks of all other of His Britannic Majesty's Dominions in America; and that the American Fishermen shall have liberty to dry and cure fish in any of the unsettled Bays, Harbours, and Creeks of Nova Scotia, Magdalen Islands, and Labrador, so long as the same shall remain unsettled; but so soon as the same, or either of them, shall be settled, it shall not be lawful for the said fishermen to dry or cure fish at such Settlement, without a previous agreement for that purpose with the Inhabitants, Proprietors, or Possessors of the ground.

IV. It is agreed that Creditors on either side shall meet with no lawful impediment to the recovery of the full value in sterling money of all bonâ fide debts heretofore contracted.

V. It is agreed that the Congress shall earnestly recommend it to the Legislatures of the respective States, to provide for the restitution of all estates, rights, and properties which have been confiscated, belonging to real British Subjects: and also of the estates, rights, and properties of

1 The older names for that part of the St. Lawrence between Lake Ontario and the mouth of the Ottawa River. 2 i.e. Rainy Lake.

Persons resident in Districts in the possession of His Majesty's arms, and who have not borne arms against The said United States: and that Persons of any other description shall have free liberty to go to any part or parts of any of the 13 United States, and therein to remain 12 months unmolested in their endeavours to obtain the restitution of such of their estates, rights, and properties as may have been confiscated; and that Congress shall also earnestly recommend to the several States, a reconsideration and revision of all Acts or Laws regarding the premises, so as to render the said Laws or Acts perfectly consistent, not only with justice and equity, but with that spirit of conciliation which, on the return of the blessings of Peace, should universally prevail. And that Congress shall also earnestly recommend to the several States, that the estates, rights and properties of such last-mentioned Persons shall be restored to them, they refunding to any Persons who may be now in possession the bond fide price (where any has been given) which such Persons may have paid on purchasing any of the said lands, rights, or properties since the confiscation.

And it is agreed that all Persons who have any interest in confiscated lands, either by debts, marriage settlements, or otherwise, shall meet with no lawful impediment in the prosecution of their just rights.

VI. That there shall be no future confiscations made, nor any prosecutions commenced against any Person or Persons, for or by reason of the part which he or they may have taken in the present War; and that no Person shall on that account suffer any future loss or damage either in his person, liberty, or property; and that those who may be in confinement on such charges at the time of the Ratification of the Treaty in America, shall be immediately set at liberty, and the prosecutions so commenced be discontinued.

VII. There shall be a firm and perpetual Peace between His Britannic Majesty and the said States, and between the Subjects of the one and the Citizens of the other, wherefore all hostilities both by sea and land shall from henceforth cease: all Prisoners on both sides shall be set at liberty, and His Britannic Majesty shall with all convenient speed, and without causing any destruction, or carrying away any Negroes or other property of the American Inhabitants, withdraw all his Armies, Garrisons, and Fleets from the said United States, and from every Port, Place, and Harbour within the same; leaving in all Fortifications the American Artillery that may be therein: and shall also order and cause all Archives, Records, Deeds, and Papers belonging to any of the said States, or their Citizens, which in the course of the War may have fallen into the hands of his Officers to be forthwith restored and delivered to the proper States and Persons to whom they belong.

VIII. The navigation of the River Mississippi, from its source to the Ocean, shall for ever remain free and open to the Subjects of Great Britain, and the Citizens of The United States.

IX. In case it should so happen that any Place or Territory belonging to Great Britain, or to The United States, should have been conquered by the arms of either, from the other, before the arrival of the said Provisional Articles in America, it is agreed that the same shall be restored without difficulty, and without requiring any compensation.

X. The solemn Ratifications of the present Treaty, expedited in good and due form, shall be exchanged between the contracting Parties in the space of 6 months, or sooner if possible, to be computed from the day of the signature of the present Treaty.

In witness whereof, we, the Undersigned, their Ministers Plenipotentiary, have in their name, and in virtue of our Full Powers, signed with our Hands the present Definitive Treaty, and caused the Seals of our Arms to be affixed thereto.

Done at Paris, this 3d day of September, in the year of our Lord, 1783.

D. HARTLEY.

JOHN ADAMS.
B. FRANKLIN.
JOHN JAY.