6-7 EDWARD VII., A. 1907 pains of Death the party accused shall be tried and acquitted or condemned and punished according to the Laws of England. Provided always that whereby the Laws of England the benefit of Clergy is allowed upon any Conviction the Offender in such case shall only be fined and Imprisoned or bound to his good Behaviour, And Provided also That no Judgement shall after the Verdict given, be arrested upon any objection of Informality in the Indictment or Discontinuance in the Record.

And Whereas it may be necessary to ordain many Regulations for the future Welfare and good Government of the Province of Quebec, the occasions of which cannot now be foreseen nor without much Delay and Inconvenience provided for, without entrusting that Authority for a certain time and under proper Restrictions to Persons Resident there.

And Whereas it is at present inexpedient to call an Assembly Be it therefore Enacted by the Authority aforesaid That it shall and may be lawful for His Majesty His Heirs and Successors by his or their Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain to constitute and appoint a Council for the affairs of the Province of Quebeck and its dependencys to consist of such Persons resident there not exceeding (

) nor

less than ( ) as His Majesty His Heirs and Successors shall be pleased to appoint and of such other Persons resident there as upon the death removal, or absence, of any of the Members thereof, shall be nominated by His Heirs or Successors under His or their Sign Manual to supply the vacancy; Which Council so appointed and nominated or the major part thereof shall have full Power and Authority to make Ordinances for the Peace, Welfare and good Government of the said Province in all cases whatsoever, with the consent of His Majesty's Governor or Commander in Chief or in his Absence of the Lieutenant Governor for the time being.

Provided always That every Ordinance so to be made shall within ( ) months be transmitted by the Governor Commander in Chief or in his absence by the Lieutenant Governor and laid before His Majesty for his royal approbation and if His Majesty shall think fit to disallow thereof The same shall cease and be void from the Time that His Majesty's Order in Council thereupon shall be promulgated at Quebec And Provided also That no Ordinance touching Religion or by which any Punishment may be Inflicted greater than fine or Imprisonment for Three Months, or by which any Duty, Tax, or Rate may be Levied shall be of any force or effect until the same shall have received His Majesty's Approbation And Provided also That no Ordinance shall be passed at any Meeting of the Council except between the day of and the unless upon some urgent occasion, in which Case every Member thereof resident at Quebeck or within Miles thereof shall be personally summoned by the Governor or in His absence by the Lieutenant Governor to attend the

same.

day of

And be it further Enacted &c That nothing herein contained shall extend or be construed to extend to prevent or hinder His Majesty His Heirs and Successors by his or their Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain from erecting, constituting and appointing such Courts of Criminal, Civil and Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction within and for the said Province of Quebeck and its dependencys and appointing from time to time the Judges and Officers thereof as His Majesty His Heirs and Successors shall think necessary and proper for the circumstances of the said Province.

Endorsed- -Dra', of Bill

1 Concerning this section, Wedderburn, in his letter to Dartmouth, cited in note 1, p. 377, says :-"The empowering His Majesty to create the Legislative Council by Letters Patent instead of appointing directly by the Act of Parliament seems to me an immaterial Alteration, supposing that it is necessary (as I conceive it is) to describe in the Act the Powers and Authority of that Council. In either way the Nomination of the Members must be vested in the King and no greater Power in effect is acquired by the first mode than by the latter tho' in appearance the Power of erecting a Legislative Council seems to import more than the power of naming the Members and will from the appearance excite more opposition.

"The latter Clause I take to be unnecessary as I do not see how the Act restrains the King from appointing Judges and erecting Courts of Justice, I have therefore drawn It as a saving and not as all enacting Clause." M 384, p. 252.

SESSIONAL PAPER No. 18

PROPOSED EXTENSION OF PROVINCIAL LIMITS.1

The Limits of the Government of Quebec as declared in the Proclamation of 1763 are as follows, Vizt. "bounded on the Labrador Coast by the River St. John, & from thence by a line drawn from the head of that River thro' the Lake of St. John to the South end of the Lake Nipissin; from whence the said Line crossing the River St. Lawrence and the Lake Champlain in 45 Degrees of No Latitude, passes along the High Lands which divide the Rivers that empty themselves into the said River St. Lawrence from those which fall into the Sea; and also along the North Coast of the Bay des Chaleurs, and the Coast of the Gulph of St. Lawrence to Cape Rosiers, and from thence crossing the Mouth of the River St. Lawrence by the West end of the Island of Anticosti terminates at the aforesaid River of St. John."

The Kings Servants were induced to confine the Government of Quebec within the above Limits, from an apprehension that there were no Settlements of Canadian Subjects, or lawful possessions beyond those Limits, and from a hope of being able to carry into execution a plan that was then under Consideration for putting the whole of the Interior Country to the Westward of our Colonies under one general control & Regulation by Act of Parliament. It was also conceived that there was no claim of Possession on the Coast of Labrador to the East of the River St. John, and therefore from an apprehension that a valuable Cod Fishery might be carried on upon that Coast, it was annexed to the Government of Newfoundland.

The plan for the regulation of the Interior Country proved abortive & in consequence thereof an immense tract of very valuable Land within which there are many Possessions and actual Colonies existing under the Faith of the Treaty of Paris has become the Theatre of disorder & Confusion leading to causes that must affect the public Tranquility and weaken the Authority of this Kingdom, whilst those Colonies which exist under the Faith of the Treaty remain either without the protection or the control of Civil Government,3

It has also been discovered that there are a variety of claims to possessions upon the Coast of Labrador between the River St. John and the Straits of Belle Isle, and that by far the greatest part of that Coast is impracticable for a Cod Fishery and can only be used for that species of sedentary Seal Fishery which is in its nature inconsistent with the Regulations of the Fishery at Newfoundland.

In order therefore to obviate the dangers and disadvantages arising from the present defective state of the Interior Country. To give force and effect to the Power and Authority of the Crown within it. To give scope to the many Commercial advantages which may be derived from it. to extend the benefits of Civil Government to the Settlements of Canadian Subjects that have been formed in the different parts of it, and to

1 Canadian Archives, Dartmouth Papers, M 385, p. 346. The boundary line as here proposed, indicates the limits within which it was desired to confine the English colonies. That it was largely adopted, despite the opposition of some supporters of the Ministry, will be seen from the third draught of the bill which follows. No clue is given as to the author of this proposal, but, as may be observed from a letter of Dartmouth to Cramahé of Dec. 1st, 1773. (See p. 338) this extension of the limits of the Province, like the establishment of the Roman Catholic religion, was represented as a direct concession to the Canadian noblesse and clergy in response to their petition. For other features of the policy which harmonized with this, see note 4 below, & note 1, p. 389.

? For the actual statement of the reasons for this policy, see the papers relative to the establishment of civil government in Quebec, p. 105 and pp. 110-11.

3 This is a matter on which a great variety of evidence is recorded and many different opinions expressed. The chief of these references are scattered throughout the letters and reports contained in the State Papers of the Q series, the Home Office Papers, and the Haldimand Papers, some of which are duplicates.

4 In addition to the statements made in such letters as that of Dartmouth to Cramahé of Dec. 1st, 1773, (see p. 338) we find the statement of Wm. Knox the Colonial Under Secretary, after the Quebec Act was passed, that "the whole of the derelict country, is, by the first clause of the Act, put under the jurisdiction of the Government of Quebec, with the avowed purpose of excluding all further settlement therein, and for the establishment of uniform regulations for the Indian trade.” "The Justice and Policy of the late Act" &c. p. 20. See also note 1, p. 389.

6-7 EDWARD VII., A. 1907

give Stabi'y & ivantage to the Sedentary Fisheries on the North side of the Gulph of St. Lawrence, it is proposed that the

Lan ́ts ard Boundaries of the Government of Quebec shou'd be altered and enlarg'd on the following wanner, that is to say,

that the said Government should be bounded on the side of His Majesty's other Chomies by a Line drawn from the Head of Bay Chaleurs (including the North side of The sad Bay and all the Lands between that and the River St. Lawrence) along the R tens weich divide the Rivers which empty themselves into the River St. Lawrence from those which fall into the Atlantick Ocean until the said line reaches lake Chepen in 63 Degrees of No Latitude.

the said ane to be continued from thence in a direct course to the first spring or Had of Hudson's River, and from thence in a dire t course to the entrance of Lake On.4: trom the said River St. Lawrence. That the said Line should pass from thence across the said Lake to the Mouth or entrance of the Strait of Niagara and should pass kong the East side of the said Strait until it falls into the Northern Boundary of the Movmoe of Pensylvania, and from thence it should follow the course of the said Boundøy 'Die as well on the North as the West, to the Point where it intersects the River Of & and so following the course of the said River, from the said Point to its e with the River Mississippi. That the said Government should comprehend al. Pro Coast of Labradore as far East as Esquimaux River & be bounded on the North by a line drawn due West from the mouth of the said River to the southern Limits of no ferritory granted to the Hudsons Bay Company and to follow the course of the said Its as far as the River Mississippi, the said River to be the Boundary on the West Dom the point where it is intersected by the Southern Limits of the Territory granted to the Hudson's Bay Company as aforesaid, as low down as the Mouth of the River Endorsed

Paper relative to the extension of the Limits of Quebec.

THIRD DRAUGHT OF THE QUEBEC BILL.'

Au Act for making more effectual Provision for the Government of the Province of Quebec in North America; and for removing Doubts which have arisen relative to the Laws and Constitution of the said Province since His Majesty's Royal Proclamation of the 7th of October 1763.

Whereas His Majesty by His Royal Proclamation bearing date the 7th day of October in the Third year of His Reign, thought fit to declare the Provisions which had ben made in respect to certain Countries, Territories and Islands in America Ceded to 1. Majesty by the Definitive Treaty of Peace concluded at Paris on the 10th day of Foby Ltd And Whereas by the Arrangements made by the said Royal Proclamation Ay large part of the Territory of Canada, within which there were several Colonies and Søttlements of the Subjects of France who claimed to remain therein under the Fetch of the said Treaty, was left without any Provision being made for the administra From of Civil Government therein, and other parts of the said Country where sedentary Fabertos had been established and carried on by the subjects of France, Inhabitants of The and Province of Canada under Grants and Concessions from the Govern thereof, were annexed to the Govt of Newfoundland, and thereby subjected to regulations incontrout with the nature of such Fisheries. May it therefore please your most excellent Manory that it may be enacted; and it is hereby enacted by The Kings most excellent Manty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same That all the said Territories, Islands and Countries, heretofore part of the Province of Canada in Nouth America, extending Southward to the banks of the River Ohio, Westward to

Canadian Archives, Dartmouth Papers, M 385, p. 311. The alterations and additions by which the und draught was developed into the third are given in part in the notes on the second draught. Velos explanations are furnished in the memorandum which follows this draught of the bill.

SESSIONAL PAPER No. 18

the banks of the Mississippi and northward to the Southern Boundary of the Territory granted to the Merchants Adventurers of England trading to Hudsons Bay, and which said Territories, Islands and Countries are within the limits of some other British Colony as allowed & confirmed by the Crown, or which have since the 10th Feby 1763, been made part of the Government of Newfoundland, be,and they are hereby annexed to, and part and parcel of the Province of Quebec as created and established by the said Royal Proclamation of the 7th of October 1763, for and during His Majesty's Pleasure; And Whereas the Provisions made by the said Proclamation in respect to the Civil Government of the said Province of Quebec and the Powers & Authorities given to the Governor & other Civil Officers of the said Province by the Grants and Commis sions issued in consequence thereof, have been found upon experience to be inadequate to the State & Circumstances of the said Province the Inhabitants whereof amounting at the Conquest to above One hundred Thousand Persons professing the Religion of the Church of Rome and enjoying an established form of Constitution & system of Laws by which their Persons and Property had been protected, governed and ordered for a long series of years from the first Establishment of the said Province of Canada, Be it therefore further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That the said Proclamation so far as the same relates to the Civil Government & Administration of Justice of & in the said Province of Quebec, & the Commission under the Authority whereof the Government of the said Province is at present administered & all & every the Ordinance & Ordinances made by the Governor & Council of Quebec for the time being relative to the Civil Government & Administration of Justice in the said Province and all Commissions to Judges & other Officers thereof, be, and the same are hereby revoked, annulled & made void from and after the

next.

Day of

act

And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid that His Majesty's subjects professing the Religion of the Church of Rome of & in the said Province of Quebec as the same is described in & by the said Proclamation and Commissions, and also of all the Territories part of the Province of Canada at the time of the Conquest thereof, which are hereby annexed during His Majesty's Pleasure to the said Government of Quebec may have, hold & enjoy the free Exercise of the Religion of the Church of Rome, so far as the same is not inconsistent with the Kings Supremacy as established by of Parliament and that the Clergy & other Religious of the said Church may hold receive & enjoy their accustomed Dues & Rights with respect to such Persons only as shall possess the said Religion. Provided nevertheless that nothing. herein contained shall extend or be construed to extend to the Disabling His Majesty's His Heirs or Successors from the making such Provision for the Maintenance & Support of a Protestant Clergy within the said Province as He or they shall from time to time think necessary & expedient.

And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid that all His Majesty's Canadian Subjects within the Province of Quebec, & the Territories thereunto belonging, may also hold, and enjoy their Property & Possessions together with all Customs & Usages relative thereto, and all other their Civil Rights in as large ample & beneficial manner as if the said Proclamation, Commissions, Ordinances & other Acts & Instruments had not been made, and as may consist with their Allegiance to His Majesty & Subjection to the Crown and Parliament of Great Britain.

For which purpose be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid that, in all matters of controversy relative to the Property & Civil Rights of any of His Majesty's Subjects, whether Canadian or English, Resort shall be had to the Laws of Canada and This clause which is written in the margin of this draught of the bill appears in the body of the fourth draught. See p. 403.

6-7 EDWARD VII., A. 1907

not the Laws of England for the Decision of the same, and all Causes that shall hereafter be instituted in any of the Courts of Justice to be appointed within & for the said Province by His Majesty, His Heirs & Successors, shall, with respect to such Property & Rights be determined by the Judges of the same agreeably to the said Laws & Customs of Canada & the several Ordinances that shall from time to time be passed in the said Province by the Gov' Lieut-Gov' or Commander in Chief by & with the advice & consent of the Legislative Council of the same to be appointed in manner herein before mentioned & by no other Laws Customs or Usages whatsoever.

Provided always that it shall & may be lawful to & for every Person in the said Province, whether Canadian or English, that is Owner of any Goods or Credits in the same, and that has a right to alienate the said Lands, Goods or Credits in his Life time by Deed of Sale, Gift or otherwise to devise or bequeath the same at his or her death. by his or her last Will & Testament to such Persons, & in such manner as he or she shall think fit, any Law, Usage or Custom; heretofore; or now prevailing in the Province, to the contrary hereof in any wise notwithstanding. And provided also that nothing in this Act shall extend or be construed to extend to any Lands that have been granted by His Majesty or shall hereafter be granted by His Majesty His Heirs & Successors to be holden in free & common soccage & that it shall & may be lawful to & for any of His Majesty's Subjects at his, her or their respective Ages of 25 years to change the Tenure of Estate held of His Majesty, His Heirs or Successors into free & common soccage by any deed executed in the presence of two Witnesses & presented to the Chief Justice of the Province who shall summon a Jury to assess the sun to be paid to His Majesty in lieu of the Profits of the Seigniory & upon Payment thereof sha direct the Deed to be enrolled & the same being enrolled the Land shall from thence forth be held as Lands in free & common soccage are held by the Laws of England.

And Whereas the Certainty & Lenity of the Criminal Law of England & the Benefits and Advantages resulting from the use of it have been sensibly feit by the Inhabitants from an Experience of more than nine years, during which it has been uLiformly administered. Be it therefore enacted by the Authority aforesaid. That the same shall continue to be administered, and shall be observed as Law in the Province of Quebec and its Dependencies as well in the description & quality of the Offence, a in the method of Prosecution & Trial, and the Punishments & Forfeitures thereby inflicted to the exclusion of every other rule of Criminal Law, or mode of Proceeding thereon which did, or might prevail in the said Province before the year of Our Lori 1764. Anything in this Act to the contrary thereof in any respect notwithstanding. Subject nevertheless to such Alterations & Amendments as the Gov Lieut-Gov' o! Commander in chief of the s Province, by & with the advice & Consent of the Legislative Council of the said Province hereafter to be appointed, shall from time to time cause to be made therein in manner herein after directed.

And Whereas it may be necessary to ordain many Regulations for the future Welfare and good Government of the Province of Quebec, the occasions of which cannot now be foreseen, nor without much Delay & Inconvenience be provided for withou intrusting that Authority for a certain time & under proper Restrictions to Perso resident there

And whereas it is at present inexpedient to call an Assembly; Be it therefore enacted by the Authority aforesaid that it shall & may be lawful for His Majesty. His Heirs and Successors by Warrant under His or Their Signet, or Sign Manual and with the Advice of the Privy Council to constitute and appoint a Council for the Affairs of the Province of Quebec & its Dependencies to consist of such Persons resident there, not exceeding (23) nor less than (17) as His Majesty, His Heirs and Successors shall be pleased to appoint, and upon the Death, Removal, or Absence of any of the Members of the said Council, in like manner to constitute & appoint such and so many other Person, or Persons as shall be necessary to supply the Vacancy, or Vacancies; which Council so appointed & nominated, or the major part thereof shall have full Power and Authority to make Ordinances for the Peace, Welfare and good Government of the

The remainder of this clause is left out in the 4th draught, in accordance with the criticisms of Hill gh and Carleton, as accepted by Dartmouth. See p. 404 & note 1, p. 390.