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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. 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 bonâ 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.

My Lord,

XXXVI

HALDIMAND TO NORTH'

[Trans. Shortt and Doughty.]

Quebec, 6th November, 1783.

Your Lordship has already been made acquainted with the general State of this Country, I am told that in the Petition which Some of His Majesty's Antient Subjects have prepared to be presented to Parliament, they lay great Stress upon the Number of Loyalists who are to Settle in the Province, as an Argument in favor of the Repeal of the Quebec Act and for Granting a House of Assembly, but I have great Reason to believe these unfortunate People have suffered too Much by Committees and Houses of Assembly, to have retained any prepossession in favor of that Mode of Government, and that they have no Reluctance to Live under the Constitution established by Law for this Country. At the Meeting of the Legislative Council I intend to propose and recommend the Passing an Ordinance for the Introduction of the Habeas Corpus2 Act or Some other Mode for the personal Security, which will put the Liberty of the Subject in that Respect upon the Same footing as in England, and which will remove one of the ill grounded Objections to the Quebec Act, for tho' that Law had never been introduced into the Province, people were taught to believe that the Quebec Act had deprived the Inhabitants of the benefit of it.

I have the Honor to be with the greatest Respect and Esteem, My Lord, Yours Lordship's Most Obedient, and Most Humble Servant, FRED: HALDI MAND.

Sir,

XXXVII

FINLAY TO NEPEAN3

[Trans. Shortt and Doughty.]

Quebec, 22d October, 1784.

The Advocates for a House of Assembly in this Province take it for granted that the people in general wish to be represented; but that is only a guess, for I will venture to affirm that not a Canadian landholder in fifty ever once thought on the subject and were it to be proposed to him, he would readily declare his incapacity to Judge of the matter. Although the Canadian Peasants are far from being a stupid race, they are at present an ignorant people, from want of instruction-not a man in five hundred among them can read; perhaps it has been the Policy of the Clergy to keep them in the dark, as it is a favourite tenet with the Roman Catholic Priests, that ignorance is the mother of devotion. The Females in this Country have great advantage over the males in point of Education. The Sisters of the Congregation, or grey Sisters as they are called, are settled in the Country Parishes here and there to teach girls to read, write, sew, & knit Stockings: there's only a few of that Sisterhood-they are the most useful of any of the religious orders in Canada.

Before we think of a house of Assembly for this Country, let us lay a foundation for useful knowledge to fit the people to Judge of their Situation, and deliberate for the future well-being of the Province. The

1 The new conditions after the Revolutionary War already influence "the ancient subjects" in renewing their appeals for a House of Assembly. Lord North was one of the Secretaries of State from April to December, 1783.

2 See No. XXXVII and note, p. 171.

Hugh Finlay, Postmaster-General and a member of the Council. Sir Evan Nepean was first Permanent Under Secretary of State for the Home Department. He was appointed in 1782.

first step towards this desireable end, is to have a free school in every Parish Let the schoolmasters be English if we would make Englishmen of the Canadians; let the Masters be Roman Catholics if it is necessary, for perhaps the people, at the instigation of the Priests, would not put their children under the tuition of a Protestant.

The natural born subjects say, that they settled in Canada under the Kings promise to call a house of Assembly as soon as the circumstances of the Province would permit. The time is now come, say they; they likewise state many priviledges that they hoped to enjoy on the faith of the Royal Proclamation, of which they were deprived by the Quebec Act.

It is not yet ascertain'd that the people wish for a house of Assembly! -Is it not the very essence of representation that the members of the house be chosen by the free and uncontrolled voices of the people in their districts? The Quebec Act gives full power and authority to His Majestys Legislative Council to make Laws and grant all manner of Priviledges to render His Majestys subjects in Canada free and happy; if they are not actually so, the Legislative Council alone is to blame, not the Quebec Act, for by it the Council may alter even the Criminal Law.

Before any Act passes giving the Canadians a house of Assembly, let us be sure that it will be agreeable to a majority of the landholders— Let the nature of free representation be set forth, let the duty of a representative be explained, and convey a proper idea of the powers a house will have to frame laws, and lay taxes: this necessary information ought to be drawn up in plain clear terms, and read to the people every sunday for three months by the curate of each Parish immediately after divine service, that the inhabitants or country people, may turn it in their thoughts, consult among themselves and advise with the most sensible in the Parish, be they French or English, to enable them to come to a determination concerning this matter.

Let those who assert that it is necessary for the wellbeing of the people that the habitans have a share in the Government, do their best endeavours to show them by solid arguments that it will be for their good-At the end of three months, or six if more time is requisite, let the Captains of Militia in presence of the Curate and four of the most notable in the Parish take the voices of the people for House, or no House? If a majority throughout the Province say House, grant their desire if they say no house-the British Parliament will not force that form of Government upon them: the ancient subjects, (a small proportion of the people) ought not unreasonably to insist on that which a majority of their fellow Citizens refuse after mature deliberation.

When the people, by means of education, become more enlightened, they will probably wish for an alteration of the present system-wheneever that desire appears let the alteration be made-in the mean time let it always be held up that a house will be called whenever a majority of the people apply for it.

I conceive, that whenever taxation is mentioned, the Peasant will reject the idea of a house, from his narrow way of thinking, and attachment to money. Were a house to be forced on them, and that house lay taxes to defray the expence of Government and a thousand useful purposes which the English Members (if any English there should be chosen) would be continually be projecting, they would deem themselves oppressed and probably wish to join the American confederacy, not possessing knowledge enough to foresee the evil consequences of that Junction. The Enemys of Government (and there never is wanting turbulent people in all Countrys) would make a handle of their discontentment and keep up a spirit which they would hope to turn to account one day or other.

We at this moment enjoy all the benefits arising from the Habeas corpus act'.

The Legislative Council have repeatedly refused to grant Jurys in civil cases. Say the people, there is no Judge on the Bench capable of determin1 For an illuminating note on Habeas Corpus in Canada, see Lucas, History of Canada (Oxford, 1909), p. 88.

ing a Commercial point so well as a Jury of Merchants, nay 'tis absolutely impossible that Right can be done to the subject by Judges not bred to the Law, under that anticommercial ill-understood System la coutume de Paris, without the intervention of Juries-Jurys are an Englishman's birth right. Why refuse optional Juries? asks an old subject-because, answer the Judges, they are too burthensome on the people. No, replys the Englishman, Jurys are not burthensome when the Courts are properly regulated by terms, but here you have weekly Courts, as inconvenient as injurious since they tend by their frequency to deprive the Subject of trial by Jury, a right which an Englishman never can give up, and which His Majesty was pleased by His 13th Instruction strenuously to recommend, but the Judges who have had most influence with our Governors have found means to prevent our having Jurys in the Civil Courts, as they have been looked on as a pernicious check on the power of the Bench'. It has been remark'd that men never wish for more power than the Law gives them, unless they intend to use it-On trials for Damages, the want of Juries may be severely felt.

May I, Sir, refer you to a sensible man Mr. Grant of St. Roc, (a member of the Legislative Council) for ample information concerning our Courts of Justice-he lives at No. 42 Newman street.

It has been represented that poor people cannot afford to attend as Jurors on civil causes-Let them be paid and they will cheerfully serve— 'tis but reasonable that the contending partys should pay.

I have taken the liberty to trouble you with this letter at the desire of my friend Governor Skene.

I have the honor to be Sir,

Your most obedient and very humble Servant,

XXXVIII

HUGH FINLAY.

PETITION FOR HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY, 24 NOVEMBER, 1784 TO THE KING'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY

[Trans. Shortt and Doughty.]

The humble Petition of Your Majesty's Ancient and New Subjects; Inhabitants of the Province of Quebec.

MAY IT PLEASE YOUR MAJESTY.

AFTER the Conquest of the Province of Canada by the Arms of Great Britain, Your Petitioners in compliance with Your Majesty's gracious and royal Proclamation, bearing date the 7th day of October, 1763, Settled and became established, in the New acquired Colony of Quebec; in the full reliance on the faith of the Crown of Great Britain, as expressed in that Proclamation, for the enjoyment of those Laws, that Freedom and Security in Canada, which the Principles of the English Constitution afforded, in every part of the British Dominions in America. YOUR PETITIONERS and the Inhabitants of the Province, have chearfully on every occasion, obeyed the Controuling power of the Parliament of Great Britain, and with patience have suffered, during a period of Anarchy and War, rather than wound Your Majesty's feelings, or embarrass the Throne with Remonstrances and Petitions at a time when the safety of the Nation, made sacred every moment of Public deliberation. The Actions and Conduct of Your Petitioners when truly represented, will best express to Your Majesty, the Sincerity of their Loyalty and Attachment to the Crown and Government of Great Britain.

YOUR PETITIONERS look with Concern on the burthen of Great Britain, and with great Pain and Commiseration they see the distresses of Your Majesty's loyal Subjects, who, driven from their Estates, Wealth, and Possessions are daily taking Shelter in this British Colony; though

1

1 See p. 186 and note for the introduction of trial by jury in civil cases.

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