DENUNCIATION OF POPERY

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of the fisheries of cod on the Labrador coast, to the great prejudice of the English fishermen on the banks of Newfoundland; considering the said fisheries of Labrador as a nursery of French Canadian seamen, to man, in case of a French war, any squadrons of France in those seas. He exposed the train of fatal mischiefs attending the establishment of popery and arbitrary power in that vast and fertile region now annexed to the government of Quebec, and capable of containing (if fully peopled) not less than thirty millions of souls. He deduced the whole series of laws from the supremacy first re-vindicated under Henry VIII., down to this day, as fundamentals constituting a clear compact that all establishments by law are to be Protestant; which compact ought not to be altered, but by the consent of the collective body of the people. He further maintained, that the dangerous innovations of this bill were at variance with all the safeguards and barriers against the return of popery and of popish influence, so wisely provided against by all the oaths of office and of trust from the constable up to the members of both Houses, and even to the sovereign in his coronation oath. He pathetically expressed his fears that it might shake the affections and confidence of his Majesty's Protestant subjects in England and Ireland; and finally lose the hearts of all his Majesty's American subjects. His Lordship then said, that for these and other reasons he gave his hearty negative to the bill.

THE CONSTITUTIONAL ACT OF 1791

WHEN by the Treaty of Versailles Britain acknowledged the independence of the American Colonies, the consequent influx of American Loyalists into Canada and Nova Scotia profoundly altered the social and political character of those provinces. Though the Loyalists had taken the side of Britain in the struggle, and fought hard for the ideal of a United Empire, they were as resolute believers in the right of colonists to manage their own local affairs as John Adams himself. Those who had settled on the St. John River at once claimed the right to send representatives to Halifax. When this was refused by Governor Parr, they appealed to the Mother Country to divide the province. In 1784 this division was made, and New Brunswick was separated from Nova Scotia.1

In Canada a considerable English-speaking population settled in the fertile country between the old French settlements and the American border, now known as the Eastern Townships. Further west, in the district afterwards known as Upper Canada, the first settlement of Loyalists was made on the spot where, under the French, Fort Frontenac had stood. Here a new town grew up, with the name of Kingston. Other Loyalists settled to the number of several thousands along the River St. Lawrence and the Bay of Quinte.

1 Cape Breton was also separated at this time, but in 1820 was again united to Nova Scotia.

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Many of the provisions of the Quebec Act were soon found to be unsuitable for men trained in such schools of self-government as New England and New York, and in 1791 the Constitutional Act was passed, by which the British Parliament endeavoured to give to the North American Colonies, in the words of John Graves Simcoe, the first Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, a Constitution "the very image and transcript of that of Great Britain."

During the preparation of this Act numerous communications passed between the British Government and the Governor, Lord Dorchester,1 of which one of the most important is here given, together with the views of Lieutenant-Governor Milnes on the working of the Act, given in 1800.

LORD DORCHESTER TO THE RIGHT HON. W. W. GRENVILLE.

QUEBEC,

8th February, 1790.

SIR, I received the triplicate of your dispatch No. 2 on the 20th of last month, and avail myself of the first

1 Formerly General Carleton. Lord Dorchester had been opposed to the division of the Province. He wrote to Lord Sydney on November 8, 1788 (P.R.O., Col. Corr., Q., vol. xxxix., p. 119): "A division of the Province, I am of opinion, is by no means advisable at the present, either for the interests of the new or the ancient districts, nor do I see any immediate call for other regulations than such as are involved in the subject of the general jurisprudence of the country. Indeed, it appears to me that the western settlements are, as yet, unprepared for any organisation superior to that of a county. But though I hold a division of the Province at present inexpedient, yet I am of opinion that no time should be lost in appointing a person of fidelity and ability in the confidence of the Loyalists to superintend and lead them and to bring their concerns with despatch to the knowledge of Government under the title of Lieutenant-Governor. .. Should a division of the Province notwithstanding be determined by the wisdom of His Majesty's Council, I see no reason why the inhabitants of these western districts should not have an assembly as soon as it may be organised without detriment to their private affairs, nor against their having so much of the English system of laws as may suit their local situation and condition."

opportunity to submit to His Majesty's Ministers such observations on the proposed Bill as occur to me in the

moment.

The enclosed Draught comprehends the corresponding alterations, Engrafted upon the Bill, transmitted in your letter.1

The attainment of a free course of Justice throughout every part of His Majesty's possessions in the way least likely to give umbrage to the United States appears to me very desirable. For this reason the boundaries of the two proposed Provinces are described by a precise Partition line only of the Country of Canada, with the addition of such general words, as I hope might include the Territories subject to, or possessed by, His Majesty to the Southward of the forty-fifth degree of North Latitude on the side of Lake Champlain, as well as on the side of Oswego, Niagara, Detroit, Michilimakinak, corresponding as nearly as could be, with the idea expressed in your letter. But upon consulting the Chief Justice relative to the operation of this description of the Boundary, I find that he does not think it will answer the desired end.

The District of Gaspé it seems best for the present to leave annexed to the Province of Lower Canada, on account of its commercial connection with this Province, and because, notwithstanding its distance, the communication of it with Quebec by water is easier than its access to the seat of the Government of New Brunswick, in the present condition of that Province; the more so, as the difficulty of a representation from that District in an Assembly at Quebec is greatly diminished, by the opening left in the Bill for non-residents of any district being elected Representatives thereof.

But the Bay of Chaleurs being subject to different Governments, particularly during the present uninhabited state of that part of New Brunswick, gives an opportunity to ill disposed persons to elude the controul of the law to the detriment of the Fisheries, and good order; a clause to remedy this evil is therefore inclosed, which, if approved of, may be introduced into the Bill as an addition to the second clause.

Many advantages might result from an hereditary

1 The original draft of the Bill, with Dorchester's proposed emendations, is given in the Report of the Canadian Archivist for 1890.

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Legislative Council, distinguished by some mark of honour, did the condition of the country concur in supporting this dignity, but the fluctuating state of Property in these Provinces, would expose all hereditary honours to fall into disregard; for the present therefore it would seem more advisable to appoint the members during life, good behaviour and residence in the province. The number for Upper Canada to be not less than seven and for Lower Canada not less than fifteen, to be encreased by His Majesty as the wealth and population of the Country may require. To give them as much consequence as possible, in the present condition of the Province, they should be selected from among the men of property, where talents, integrity and a firm attachment to the Unity of the Empire may be found. I shall take the first opportunity of communicating the names of such persons as appear to me the fittest objects of this description.

The House of Assembly for Upper Canada might consist of not less than sixteen, and that for Lower Canada of not less than thirty members, or nearly double in number to the Legislative Councils, to be augmented also in proportion to the Population of the Country.

As far as I can judge at present it might be advisable to give the Towns of Quebec and Montreal in Lower Canada, a representation of four members each, and two to the Town of Three Rivers, dividing the Country Parishes thereof into twenty Circles, to send one member each. In Upper Canada, the four districts of Luneburg, Mecklenburg, Nassau and Hesse, to furnish four members each, and hereafter to be subdivided into as many Circles and Towns, as their condition may require.

But the present time is too short to enter into a more minute detail, for which reason it is proposed to fix only the smallest number of members in the Bill, and to leave the actual subdivision and apportionment, necessary for an equal representation, to be ascertained by the Lieutenant Governors, with the advice of the Executive Councils, of the respective Provinces, under authority for that purpose from His Majesty.

1 This division had been made by Dorchester in July, 1787. See Kingsford, op. cit., vii. 259.