soever, having been a bona fide resident in any country not being under His Majesty's Government, or who shall have taken the oath of allegiance to any other State or Power, shall be eligible to be proposed, chosen or elected, as a Representative or Representatives of any City, County, Riding or Borough, or other place of any description now or hereafter sending a Representative or Representatives to the House of Assembly of this Province, until such person or persons shall have resided in this Province for and during the space of seven years next before the election at which any such person or persons shall be proposed, elected or chosen as a Representative or Representatives as aforesaid. III. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any person or persons as aforesaid, not having resided in this Province for seven years as aforesaid, shall propose or offer himself or themselves as a candidate or candidates to become a Representative or Representatives of any County, City, Riding or Borough, or other place now or hereafter sending a Representative or Representatives, and shall be thereof convicted by the oath of one credible witness, shall forfeit and pay the sum of two hundred pounds, to be recovered by any person who shall sue for the same, in His Majesty's Court of His Bench in this Province, by action of debt, bill, plaint or information, wherein no essoigne, privilege, protection or wager of Law shall be allowed, and only one imparlance. IV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any person or persons as aforesaid, not having resided in this Province for seven years as aforesaid, whether such person or persons shall have proposed or offered him or themselves as a candidate or candidates or not for any County, City, Riding or Borough, or other place of any description now or hereafter sending a Representative or Representatives to the House of Assembly of this Province as aforesaid, shall presume, upon such choice or election to obtrude or present himself or themselves into the said House as a Representative or Representatives, as aforesaid, he or they shall forfeit and pay the sum of forty pounds, over and besides the foregoing penalty, if such person or persons shall have incurred the same, for every day that he shall so obtrude or present himself or themselves, to be recovered by any person or persons who shall sue for the same in His Majesty's Court of His Bench, by action of debt, bill, plaint or information, wherein no essoigne, privilege, protection or wager of Law shall be allowed, and only one imparlance. V. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That from and after the passing of this Act, no person or persons, of what condition soever, shall be eligible to be proposed, chosen or elected as a Representative or Representatives of any County, City, Riding, Borough or other place of any description, now or hereafter sending a Representative or Representatives to the House of Assembly of this Province, unless he shall be possessed of an unincumbered freehold, in lands or tenements, in fee simple, in this Province, to the assessed value of eighty pounds, lawful money of this Province. VI. Provided always, and be it hereby enacted by the authority aforesaid, That every person who, from and after the passing of this Act, shall appear as a candidate, or shall by himself or any others be proposed to be elected to serve as a Member for any County, City, Riding, Borough, or any part or place now or hereafter sending a Member to the House of Assembly of this Province, shall, and he is hereby enjoined and required, upon reasonable request to him to be made, at the time of such election, oi before the day prefixed in the writ of summons for the meeting of Parliament, by any other person who shall stand a candidate at such election or by any two or more persons having a right to vote at such election, take a corporal oath, in the following form, or to the following effect: "I A. B. do swear, that I truly and bona fide have such a freehold estate, over and above all incumberances that may effect the same, and am otherwise quali fied according to the provisions of Law, to be elected and returned to serve as a Member in the Commons House of Assembly, according to the tenor and true meaning of the Act of Parliament in that behalf, and that I have not obtained the same fraudulently for the purpose of enabling me to be returned Member to the Commons House of Assembly of this Province, so help me God." VII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any of the said candidates, or persons proposed to be elected as aforesaid, shall be guilty of false swearing in such oath, such candidate or candidates, or person or persons as aforesaid, shall on conviction thereof, receive and suffer the like pains and penalties to which any other person convicted of wilful and corrupt perjury is liable by the Laws and Statutes of this Province. VIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the oath aforesaid, shall and may be administered by the Sheriff for any such County as aforesaid, or by the Mayor, Bailiff, or other Officer or Officers for any County, City, Borough, Riding, Place or Places aforesaid, to whom it shall appertain to take the poll or make the return at such election for the same County, City, Borough, Riding, Place or Places respectively, or by any two or more Justices of the Peace within this Province, and the said Sheriff, Mayor, Bailiff or other Officers, and the said Justices of the Peace respectively, who shall administer the said oaths, are hereby required to certify to taking thereof, into His Majesty's Court of His Bench within three months after the same, under the penalty of forfeiting the sum of two hundred pounds, to be recovered with full costs of suit, by action of debt, bill, plaint or information, in His Majesty's Court of His Bench in this Province, and if any of the said candidates or persons proposed to be elected as aforesaid, shall wilfully refuse upon reasonable request to be made at the time of the election or at any time before the day upon which such Parliament by the writ of summons is to meet, to take the oath hereby required, then the election and return of such candidate shall be void. IX. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That no fee or reward shall be taken for administering any such oath or making, receiving, or filing the certificate thereof, except two shillings and six-pence for administering the oath, and five shillings for making the certificate, and five shillings for receiving and filing the same, under the penalty of one hundred pounds to be forfeited by the offender, and recovered as aforesaid. X. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That one moiety of all fines and penalties that shall be incurred under this Act shall be immediately paid into the hands of the Receiver General for the use of His Majesty, His Heirs and Successors towards the support of the Civil Government of this Province, and shall be accounted for to His Majesty, His Heirs and Successors, through the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury for the time being, in such manner and form as His Majesty, His Heirs and Successors shall please to direct, and the other moiety to the person who shall sue for the same. T LXXXVIII SHERBROOKE TO BATHURST [Trans. Brymner, Report of Canadian Archives, 1897.] Calverton near Southwell, Notts., 14th March, 1822. My Lord, I have been honoured with your Lordship's private and confidential letter of the 11th inst., the contents of which shall not transpire, and in reply to your question "Whether the Union' of Upper and Lower Canada would have a beneficial effect," I answer, that if these Provinces continue in the same state they were in at the time I relinguished the Government, an Union would be very desirable, provided it could be established on proper principles, so that the undue influence of the Assembly should be somewhat controlled and the power of the Crown increased. But if such a measure were to be attempted considerable difficulties must be expected before it could be reconciled with the jarring interests of the inhabitants and the variety of wild opinions so generally entertained. Your Lordship's description of the persons usually returned to the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada is perfectly correct. And the mischiefs arising from this cause are incalculable. I also agree that the Assembly of Upper Canada appears more tractable at present. But when I consider the vicinity of the latter Province to the United States, the population continually flowing in from thence, the constant communication and intermarriages between the families on both sides of the line, the number of Americans who purchase the best of the lands as soon as they are cleared and every other description of property in Upper Canada worth having; and when I look to the loose demoralising principles introduced by those people, I very much doubt whether reliance can be placed on a continuance of this tractable disposition. I am fully aware my Lord of the evils arising from that ascendancy which the Catholics of Lower Canada exercise to the prejudice of whatever relates to the Protestant interest, but I suspect a very erroneous idea prevails in this country of the state of religion in Upper Canada. It might be supposed that the generality of the inhabitants being called Protestants were either of the communion of the established Church or of the Kirk of Scotland. Whereas the greater part are Methodists and Sectaries of every description. And I am sorry to add there are many who appear to have no sense of religion whatever. Circumstances have materially changed since the separation of the two Provinces, and I could not avoid remarking when I was in Upper Canada, that in many instances a stronger bias prevailed in favour of the American than of the British form of Government. Whereas the Catholics in Lower Canada have a rooted antipathy to the Government of the United States, and have no dread equal to that of one day falling under its Dominion. This trait of character I venture to press on your Lordship's attention, as whatever may be the fate of the Upper Province, the Americans will never be able to establish themselves in Lower Canada whilst this feeling is cherished. In giving my candid opinion of the state of the two provinces, I shall be happy if I have in any degree answered the expectations your Lordship has done me the honour to express. And I have only to assure you of my 1 In both Provinces disputes between the various divisions of the Government became so pronounced that efficient government seemed impossible. In Lower Canada, race and religion complicated the political situation. In 1822, the British Government proposed to solve the problem, and Sir Robert Horton, Under Secretary for the Colonies, introduced a bill for the union of the two Canadas. It was fiercely opposed by the French-Canadians, and the English-speaking Canadians did not receive it with unanimous enthusiasm. As a consequence, the bill was withdrawn. The financial part, however, was passed under the title Canada Trade Act (3 George IV, c. 119) (see p. 219). This Act led later on to further disputes, as it was claimed that it was contrary to the Tax Repeal Act, 18 George III, c. 12 (see No. XXXIII). In the following documents will be found the abortive Act of Union and the points of view of various interested parties. willingness at all times to attend to your Lordship's commands. In repeating that I shall not fail to hold your Lordship's communication confidential, I must request that my answer may be looked upon in the same light, and have the honour to be, my lord, Your Lordship's, very obedient and J. C. SHERBROOKE. LXXXIX PROPOSED ACT OF UNION, 1822 [Trans.: Canadian Archives, Q. 160.] A Bill [as amended by the Committee] for uniting the Legislatures of the WHEREAS in the present situation of the Provinces of Lower and Preamble. Upper Canada, as such with relation to Great Britain as to each other, a joint Legislature for both the said Provinces would be more likely to promote their general security and prosperity than a separate Legislature for each of the said Provinces, as at present by law established; 31 Geo. 3, each of the repealed. Be it therefore enacted by the KING's most Excellent Majesty, by So much of and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and c. 31, as proCommons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of vides a Legisthe same, THAT so much of an Act passed in the thirty-first year of the lature for reign of his late Majesty King George the Third, intituled, "An Act to Provinces of "repeal certain parts of an Act passed in the fourteenth year of his Lower and "Majesty's reign, intituled, 'An Act for making more effectual provision Upper Canada, "'for the Government of the Province of Quebec in North America, and "'to make further provision for the Government of the said Province,' as provides for the composing and constituting within each of the said Provinces respectively, a Legislative Council and Assembly, and for the passing of laws by the Legislative Council and Assembly of each Province, shall be and the same is hereby repealed, except in so far as the same or any of the provisions thereof, may by this present Act be continued or applied to the purposes of the joint Legislature to be constituted in manner hereinafter mentioned: Provided also, that so much of an Act passed in the fourteenth year of the reign of his said late Majesty, intituled, "An Act "for making more effectual provision for the Government of the Province "of Quebec in North America," as is repealed by the said Act passed in the thirty-first year aforesaid, shall be deemed and taken to be, and shall remain repealed. And be it further Enacted, That from and after the passing of this Henceforth to be one joint Act, there shall be within the said two Provinces, and for the same jointly Legislative one Legislative Council and one Assembly, to be composed and constituted Council, and in manner hereinafter described, and which shall be called "The Legislative one joint Assembly for "Council and Assembly of the Canadas;" and that within the said Pro both Provinces, or either of them, His Majesty, His Heirs or Successors, shall have vinces. power, during the continuance of this Act, by and with the advice and consent of the said Legislative Council and Assembly of the Canadas, to make laws for the peace, welfare and good government of the said Provinces, or either of them, such laws not being repugnant to this Act, nor to such parts of the said Act passed in the thirty-first year aforesaid, as are not hereby repealed; and that all such laws being passed by the said Legislative Council and Assembly, and assented to by His Majesty, His Heirs or Successors, re-assented to in His Majesty's name by the Governorin-Chief in and over the said provinces of Lower and Upper Canada, or in case of the death or absence of such Governor-in-Chief, by the Lieutenant Governor of the Province of Upper Canada for the time being, or in case of the death or absence of such Lieutenant Governor, then by the Lieutenant Governor of Lower Canada for the time being, or in case there Joint Legisla- may be summoned. shall be no Lieutenant Governor at such time resident in the Province of Lower Canada, then by the person administering the government thereof for the time being, shall be and the same are hereby declared to be, by virtue of and under the authority of this Act, valid and binding to all intents and purposes whatever within the said two Provinces. And be it further Enacted, That the present members of the Legislative Councils of Lower and Upper Canada shall, by virtue of this Act, and without any new or other commissions for that purpose, constitute together the Legislative Council of the Canadas, which said members shall take precedence in the joint Legislative Council according to the date of the instruments by which they were originally summoned to the Legislative Councils of the two Provinces respectively; and that it shall also be lawful Other Persons for His Majesty, His Heirs or Successors, from time to time, by an instrument under his or their sign manual, to authorize and direct the said Govcrnor-in-Chief, or in case of his death or absence, such other person, and in such order respectively as is hereinbefore directed, to summon to the said Legislative Council, by an instrument, under a seal to be transmitted by His Majesty to the Governor-in-Chief, or under any other seal which the said Governor-in-Chief shall be by His Majesty directed to use for the purposes of this Act, and which shall be called the Great Seal of the Canadas, and shall be applied only to the purposes directed by this Act, such other person or persons as His Majesty, His Heirs or Successors, shall think fit; and that every person who shall be so summoned to the said Legislative Council, shall thereby become a member thereof. Such Persons Governor to appoint and remove the Speaker of the Legisla tive Council. Joint Assembly to consist of the present Members of both, and to continue until 1 July 1825, unless sooner dissolved. Act of Upper And be it further Enacted, That such persons only shall be summoned to the said Legislative Council, as by the said above-mentioned Act, passed in the thirty-first year aforesaid, are directed to be summoned to the Legislative Council of the said two Provinces respectively; and that every member of the said Legislative Council shall hold his seat for the same term, and with the same rights, titles, honours, ranks, dignities, privileges and immunities, and subject to the same provisions, conditions, restrictions, limitations and forfeitures, and to the same mode of proceeding, for hearing and determining by the said Legislative Council all questions which shall arise touching the same, as are in the said Act, passed in the thirtyfirst year aforesaid, mentioned and contained, with respect to the members thereby directed to be summoned to the Legislative Council of the two Provinces respectively. And be it further Enacted, That the Governor-in-Chief, or in case of his death or absence, such other person, and in such order respectively as is hereinbefore directed, shall have power and authority from time to time, by an instrument under the Great Seal of the Canadas, to constitute appoint and remove the Speaker of the said Legislative Council. And be it further Enacted, That the members at present composing the Assemblies of the said two Provinces shall, together with such new members as shall or may be returned for either of the said Provinces respectively in manner hereinafter mentioned, form and constitute the Assembly of the Canadas, and shall be and continue until the first day of July one thousand eight hundred and twenty-five, unless sooner dissolved; and that in case of a dissolution of the said Assembly, or of vacancies occurring therein, members shall be returned from the same counties and places, and in the same manner, and in the same numbers, except as hereinafter otherwise provided, as now by law they are returned within the two Provinces respectively. AND whereas an Act was passed by the Provincial Legislature of Upper Canada, in the sixtieth year of the reign of his said late Majesty, intituled, "An Act for increasing the Representation of the Commons of "this Province in the House of Assembly;" BE it therefore further Enacted, That the said Act, and all the provisions therein contained, except as hereinafter otherwise provided, shall remain in full force and effect, and shall be applied to the representation of the said Province of Upper Canada in the joint Assembly, in like manner as the same were applicable |