used to continue to them the enjoyment of those civil and religious Rights which were secured to them by the Capitulation of the Province, or have since been granted by the liberal and enlightened spirit of the British Government.

This consideration has had a great degree of weight in the adoption of the plan of dividing the Province of Quebec into two Districts which are to remain as at present under the administration of a Governor General, but are each to have a Lieut. Governor and a separate Legislature.

The King's Servants have not overlooked the reasons urged by your Lordship against such a separation', and they feel that while Canada remained under its present form of Government great weight would have been due to those suggestions; but when the resolution was taken of establishing a Provincial Legislature, to be constituted in the manner now proposed, and to be chosen in part by the People every consideration of policy seemed to render it desirable that the great preponderance possessed in the Upper Districts by the King's antient Subjects, and in the lower by the French Canadians should have their effect and operation in separate Legislatures; rather than that these two bodies of People should be blended together in the first formation of the new Constitution, and before sufficient time has been allowed for the removal of antient preJudices, by the habit of obedience to the same Government, and by the sense of a common interest.

With respect to the intended Boundaries of these Provinces a blank is left in the Bill in order that your Lordship may, with the assistance of the Surveyor General, who is now in Quebec, consider of such a description of those Boundaries as may be sufficiently intelligible and certain, so as to leave no room for future difficulties on that subject. The division between the two Provinces is meant to be the same as is mentioned to your Lordship in Lord Sydney's Letter of 3d Sept., 1788, with the alteration suggested by your Lordship in your Letter of the 8th November following.

There will however be a considerable difficulty in the mode of describing the Boundary between the District of Upper Canada and the Territories of the United States. As the adhering to the Line mentioned in the Treaty with America would exclude the Posts which are still in His Majesty's Possession, and which the infraction of the Treaty on the part of America has induced His Majesty to retain, while on the other hand the including them by express words within the Limits to be established for the Province by an Act of the British Parliament would probably excite a considerable degree of resentment among the Inhabitants of the United States, and might perhaps provoke them to measures detrimental to Our Commercial Interests. Possibly the best solution for this difficulty might be to describe the Upper District by some general words such as "All the Territories, &c., &c., &c., possessed by and subject to His Majesty, and being to the West or South West of the Boundary Line of Lower Canada, except such as are included within the present Boundaries of the Government of New Brunswick.

In settling this point of the Boundaries it will also be a question, whether the Fishing Settlement in Gaspé may not with advantage be annexed to the Government of New Brunswick rather than to be left as a part of that of Lower Canada under the system now proposed to be estabished particularly as the local Circumstances of that District might render a representation of it in an Assembly at Quebec extremely difficult if not impracticable.

The Legislature in each of the Two Provinces is intended, as your Lordship will observe from the draught of the Bill, to consist of His Majesty represented by His Governor, or Lieutenant Governor, a Legislative Council, and a House of Assembly.

It is intended to separate the Legislative from the Executive Council.

1 See No. XLVIII.

2 See Nos. XLVII and XLVIII.

and to give to the Members of the former a right to hold their Seats during their Life and good Behaviour, provided they do not reside out of the Province, or attach themselves to any Oath of allegiance or Obedience to the United States, or to any other Foreign Power.

It is the King's farther intention to confer upon the Persons whom he shall distinguish by calling them to His Legislative Council some mark of Honour, such as a Provincial Baronetage either personal to themselves, or descendible to their Eldest Sons, in lineal Succession.

A great accession of wealth to the Provinces might probably induce his Majesty at a future period to raise the most considerable of these Persons to a higher degree of Honour, but this could certainly not be done with propriety under the present Circumstances.

The Object of these regulations is both to give to the Upper branch of the Legislature a greater degree of weight and consequence than was possssed by the Councils in the Old Colonial Governments, and to establish in the Provinces a Body of Men having that motive of attachment to the existing form of Government, which arises from the possession of personal or hereditary distinction.

It will be very necessary that great attention should be paid to the choice of those Persons who are to be placed in this situation in the first instance, and of those whom His Majesty may be advised from time to time to add to that number; and as your Lordship's long knowledge of the Province and of the Individuals who compose the higher classes of the Community, must render your Lordship more particularly competent to such a Selection, I must desire that your Lordship will consider this point with that degree of attention to which its importance entitles it, and that you will state to me the names of those Persons whom you may think fit objects of the King's favor in this respect, in each of the Two Provinces intended to be formed.

In the draft of the Bill which I enclose, a blank is left for that which is to be fixed as the smallest number of which the Councils are respectively to be composed. It is certainly desireable that this number should not be made too large in the first instance, as it would be easy for His Majesty to add to it whenever it may be found expedient, while on the other hand the calling improper Persons to the Council, in order to make up the number required by the Bill would under the system now proposed be productive of permanent inconvenience and mischief to His Majesty's Government.

Of this point also your Lordship must unquestionably be the best Judge, and I shall be anxious to learn your Sentiments upon it. My present idea, founded, however, rather on conjecture than on any satisfactory information, would be that the Legislative Council in Upper Canada should not consist of less than six Members, and in lower Canada of not less than Twelve; and that the selection of these Persons should be made with a view to encreasing the number by some addition at no very distant period, as a mark of His Majesty's favor to those Persons whose Conduct may be found to entitle them to it.

Your Lordship will also state to me for His Majesty's information, the number and names of those Persons whom you may think proper to recommend to His Majesty for Seats in the Executive Council.

It is by no means intended that the Members of the Legislative Council should be excluded from this Body, or that it should on the other hand be wholly composed of Persons of this description. It may be adviseable that some of the Persons named to the Executive Council in one of the Districts, should also be admitted to the same distinction in the other.

In providing for the establishment of a House of Assembly in each of the Two Provinces, the first question of detail which occurs is that of the Numbers of which these Bodies should consist, and of the manner in which they should be elected; particularly with respect to the division of the Provinces into Counties or Districts, and to the relative proportion of Representation to be allowed to the Towns.

The decision of these points must necessarily depend on local knowledge: They are therefore left in blank in the Draft of the Bill, and I must desire your Lordship's opinion upon them. I am not sufficiently informed whether the present Division of the Counties would be well adapted to the Object in question, or whether a subdivision into Parishes or Districts would be more desireable.

I enclose for your Lordship's information a Paper delivered to me by Mr. Lymburner', containing a Plan of Representation for the Province; but as far as I am at all enabled to form an Opinion on the Subject, that plan appears to me to be liable to great objection. I also transmit a plan for the same purpose framed by the Board of Trade in 1765'.

The next point to be considered is the Qualifications of the Electors, and of the Persons to be elected in each of the Provinces. This is also in great measure a point of local detail, depending on the condition & circumstances of the different Classes of the Inhabitants of the Provinces; and on which His Majesty's Servants are therefore desirous of receiving your Lordship's Opinion. In the margin of the Bill which I now transmit, I have marked the suggestions which have been made to me on this Subject; but I do not feel myself enabled, without farther information, to form any satisfactory Opinion upon them.

The remaining Clauses of the Bill do not seem to require much particular discussion in this Letter; Your Lordship will observe by the 27th Clause, that it is intended to continue all the existing Laws of the Province until they shall be repealed or varied, by the Legislatures of the respective Provinces. An exception is however made and there is a Clause left in blank for the insertion of such Commercial Regulations, if any, which it may be thought expedient to introduce, as exceptions to the Canadian Laws, respecting Property and Civil Rights, previous to investing the Assembly in Lower Canada with a right to negative all future changes which may be proposed.

This is a point which is now under the consideration of His Majesty's Law Servants, but as it is probable that I shall receive your Lordship's answer to this dispatch before it may be necessary to come to a final decision on this Subject, I shall be glad to be furnished with any suggestions which may occur to your Lordship upon it, as likely to conduce to the advancement and security of the Commercial Interest of this Kingdom, and that of the Province as connected with it.

The Clause enabling Persons to commute the holding of their Lands into free and comon Soccage is conformable to what your Lordship has recommended with respect to the Upper Districts, and it seems a measure of good policy to extend the same principle to the lower parts of the Province, as far as the prejudices of the French Inhabitants will allow.

I should wish to know your Lordship's sentiments with respect to the time which might be most convenient for the commencement of this new System, supposing the Bill to be passed in the next Session of Parliament.

1 See No. XXXIX.

I am, &c.,

W. W. GRENVILLE.

2 This date should be 1769. (See Shortt and Doughty, p. 666, note No. 2.)

Sir,

LII

DORCHESTER TO GRENVILLE

[Trans. Shortt and Doughty.]

Quebec, 8th February, 1790.

I received the triplicate of your dispatch' No. 2 on the 20th of last month, and avail myself of the first opportunity to submit to His Majesty's Ministers such observations on the proposed Bill, as occur to me in the

moment.

The inclosed Draught comprehends the corresponding alterations, engrafted upon the Bill, transmitted in your letter.

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 hoped 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, and Michilimakinac, 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 Legislative Council, distinguished by some mark of honor, did the condition of the country concur in supporting this dignity; but the fluctuating state of Property in these Provinces would expose all hereditary honors 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 1 See No. LI.

* Printed in Shortt and Doughty, p. 677.

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.

The qualification of Electors, and persons to be Elected, as to birth, has been extended to inhabitants of the Provinces before and since the conquest, because they may be considered upon an equal footing with the natives, and to foreigners naturalized, because an accession to the Province of light and property from abroad is desirable, and not likely to injure the King's interest, under the guards proposed.

The disqualifications of Persons, attainted for Treason, and Felony, Deserters from the Militia when called out into service, and Bankrupts, until the full payment of their debts, have been added to the fourteenth clause, as a check to these evils, and from a persuasion, that persons of that description are not entitled to any political honors or consequence.

On the expediency of inserting any commercial regulations, as exceptions to the Laws of Canada, previous to investing the Assembly in Lower Canada with a right to negative all future changes, I regret that the complicated and professional nature of the subject, prevents my forming any other than a general opinion, that whatever regulations of this sort shall be thought proper to be adopted, should be enacted Specially, unfolded to the people, and not introduced in bulk, and by general description.

The introduction of a Soccage Tenure I think necessary in the upper country, and advisable in every part of the province, and this free of Quitrents from all, holding no more than one thousand acres, as recommended in my letter to Lord Sydney No. 18. And the Quitrent, which it may be judged proper to lay on large Tracts, should be given up to the Provincial Governments for their Support, that all seeds of discord between Great Britain and her Colonies may be prevented. And independent of this important consideration perhaps the true principle of Economy is rather to obviate the necessity of sending money Abroad, than to bring home any from Quitrents or Duties of any kind.

I take for granted, that the benefits, arising to the subject, from a change of the tenure in Fief to that in Common Soccage, are meant to run throughout, as from the King to His Tenant, so from the latter to all his Under-tenants, at the time of change; Otherwise the advantages will be confined to a few, and an interest created unfriendly to the improvement of the country. Some alterations have been made in the clause relative to this point, with a view of clearing doubt upon the subject.

The commencement of the operation of the Act, as to every part, excepting only the issuing the Writs of Election, and calling together the Houses of Assembly of the respective Provinces, has been fixed at such time, as may be declared by His Majesty, with the advice of His Privy Council, not later than Six months after the notification of the Act in this Country, which I think will allow time sufficient for all necessary arrangements, as to these points.

But for the Convocation of the Assemblies a more distant period appears to be necessary, for the reasons above stated. As soon as the proper plans for their organization shall have been prepared, His Majesty may order the Assemblies to be convened, as soon as convenient, previous to the first of January, 1792, as suggested in the thirty first clause of the Bill, to which is likewise added a proposal for the temporary Government of the two Provinces in the interval, by the Lieutenant Governors, and Legislative Councils thereof, According to the model of the Quebec Bill.