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FIRST REPORT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 COMMITTEE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Wouse of Assembly, 
 
 ON THAT PART OF THE 
 
 SPEECH 
 
 OF 
 
 HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR IN CHIEF, 
 WHICH RELATES TO THE SETTLEMENT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 CROWN LANDS, 
 
 THE MINUTES OF EVIDENCE 
 
 TAKEN BEFORE THE COMMITTEE. 
 
 EE 
 
 QUEBEC : 
 PRINTED BY J. NEILSON, No, 3, Mountain-Street. 
 
 
 
 1821. 
 
 
 

 
 p SARA AAA Ra 
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 REPORT. 
 
 OUR Committee, deeply sensible of the importance of the 
 
 matter referred to them, have lost no time and {pared no la- 
 
 bour in inveftigating the caufes which have hitherto retarded the 
 
 Settlement of this Province, and more particularly of the Wafte 
 Lands of the Crown, and yet unconceded Seigneurial Lands. 
 
 Their attention was in the first inftance directed to the afcer- 
 taining of the amount of the furplus agricultural population of this. 
 Province, for whom it was expedient and juft to provide habitations. ; 
 
 From the declarations of feveral witneffes which your Committee 
 examined, it was manifest that Lower-Canada poffeffes in itfelf an 
 abundant population to fettle thefe wafte lands. 
 
 To determine as exactly as might be, the precife amount of this 
 furplus population, your Committee prepared a feries of Queftions, 
 (whereof a Copy is fubjoined to this Report, under theletter( A.) and 
 tranf{mitted the fame to the Curates of the different Parishes in this 
 
 - Province, and to fome of the more diftinguished Seigniors refident 
 
 in the Country, with a request to communicate their anfwers with 
 all convenient fpeed.—Sufficient time has not yet elapfed to entitle 
 your Committee to anfwersto thefe Queries. ‘They anticipate, 
 however, with confidence, much valuable information from thefe 
 refpectable sources, and when received, will feel it their duty to 
 lay the fame before this Houfe with the least poffible delay. 
 
 Your Committee next directed their attention to the determining 
 of the quantity, and afcertaining of the quality of the wafte and 
 ungranted Lands of the Crown, with their local advantages or dif- 
 advantages, viewed with reference to actual Settlements. The re- 
 fult of thefe inquiries was in the highest degree fatisfactory, and 
 evinces that Land advantageously situated may be provided for the 
 entire furplus population of Lower-Canada.—The examinations up- 
 on this matter, taken before your Commiteee, will be found in the 
 Appendix to this Report, under the Letter (B ) 
 
 It could not but excite furprife in the minds of your Commit- 
 tee, that the large furplus agricultural population of the Province, 
 had not been long fince located upon the vast traéts of ungranted 
 Lands of the Crown—and it became a matter of anxious inquiry to 
 
 a 
 
 
 
 
 
-— 
 y 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 them, whether the caufes which had produced the ftrange anoma'y 
 of a fuperabundant agricultural population, environed bya wilder- 
 nefs of Lands, were permanent in their nature or otherwife. 
 
 It is with no ordinary fatisfaction that your Committee have it 
 in their power to declare, as their opinion, that thefe caufes are 
 not of a permanent nature, and to add that a hope, that their re- 
 moval may be confidered as neither of difficult or diftant attain- 
 ment, may reafonably be indulged. 
 
 In the opinion of your Committee, one of the principal caufes 
 which have retarded the fettlement of the wafte Lands of the 
 Crown, in Lower-Canada, has been the abandonment of the an- 
 cient mode of granting Lands in Fief or Seigneury, and the intro- 
 duction of the’tenure of Free and Common Soccage, a tenure no- 
 vel and unknown to the people of this Country. 
 
 The first fubject of inquiry of your Committee, has been into 
 the caufes which led to the adoption of a meafure which did* not 
 appear to manifest that regard for the ancient Laws and Inftitutions 
 of this Province, which {o eminently characterized His Majesty’s 
 
 Government generally, and here abundant proof was afforded to 
 
 your Committee, that a policy fo adverfe in its spirit to the general 
 policy of His Majesty’s Government towards this Colony, arofe not 
 from’ any intermiflion of that regard, but from extrinfic circum- 
 stances, which it was not in the power of your Committee to do 
 more than partially explore. 
 So early as the year 1775, His Majefty was graciously pleafed by 
 his inftructions to Guy Carleton, Efquire, Captain General and 
 Governor in Chief in and over the Province of Quebec in Ameri- 
 ca, and of all the ‘Territories dependant thereupon, dated St. 
 James’, 8d February, 1775, with other matters relating to the 
 good Government of this Province, to order, as follows :-— 
 ‘ 38.°« By our Commiffion to you under our Great Seal of Great 
 “« Britain, you are authorized and empowered, with the advice 
 “and confent of our Council, to fettle and agree with the inhabi- 
 “ tants of our faid Province of Quebec, for fuch Lands, Tenements 
 ‘¢ and Hereditaments, as now are or shall hereafter be in our power 
 “« to difpose of ; it is therefore our will and pleafure, that all lands 
 “© which now are or hereafter may be fubject to our dispofal, be 
 “granted in Fiet or Seigneurie, in like manner as was practised 
 “« antecedent to the Conquest of the faid Province, omitting how- 
 ** ever, in any grant that shall be paffed of such Lands, the refer. 
 ** vation of any judicial powers or privileges whatever -—and it is 
 ‘© our further will and pleasure, that all yrants in Fief or Seigneu- 
 “« rie, soto be passed by you as aforesaid, be made subject to our 
 “ Royal Ratification or difallowance, and a due registry thereof 
 “© within a limited time, im like manner as was practised in regard 
 ** to grants and concessions held in Fief and Seigneurie under the 
 « French Government.” 
 
 a“ 
 
 
 
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 ae 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 That in the year 1786, His Majesty was graciously pleased by 
 Such articles in the instructions to Lord Dorchester, as are not con- 
 tained in the instructions to Guy Carleton, Esquire, in 1775, alfo 
 a copy of such articles or parts thereof in the same instructions in 
 1786, as are now altered from the instructions to Guy Carleton, 
 Esquire, in 1775, to order as follows :— 
 
 40. « Whereas many of our loyal subjects, inhabitants of the Colonies 
 “¢ and Provinces now the United States of America, are desirous of retain- 
 <‘ ing their allegiance to us, and of living 1a our dominions, and for this 
 “ purpose are disposed to take up and improve lands in our Province of 
 «« Quebec : and we being desirous to encourage our said loyal subjects in 
 « such their intentions, and to testify our approbation of their loyalty to 
 « us, and obedience to our Government, by allotting lands for them in our 
 “ said Province: and whereas we are also desirous of testifying our ap- 
 «| probation of the bravery and loyalty of our Forces serving in our said 
 “ Province, and who may have been reduced there, by allowing a certain: 
 ‘‘ quantity of land to such of the non-commissioned officers and private 
 é¢ men of our said Forces, who are inclined to become settlers therein ; it 
 «is our will and pleasure, that immediately after you shall receive these 
 << our Instructions, you do direct our Surveyor General of Lands for our 
 ‘< said Province of Quebec to admeasure and lay out such quantity of 
 ¢‘ land as you, with the advice of our Council, shall deem necessary and 
 << convenient for the settlement of our said loyal subjects, and the non- 
 ‘ commissioned officers and private men of our Forces which may have 
 «¢ been reduced in our said Province, who shall be desirous of becoming 
 << set lers therein; such lands to be divided into distinct Seigneuries or 
 « Fiefs, to extend from two to four leagues in front, and from three to 
 “ five leagues in depth, if situated upon a navigable river, otherwise to be* 
 ¢ run square, or in such shape and in such quantities as shall be conve- 
  nient and practicable, and in each Seigueurie a Glebe to be reserved and 
 ¢¢ laid out in the most convenient spot, to contain not less than three hun- 
 «¢ dred acres, nor more than five hundred acres ; the property of which 
 “* Seigneuries or Fiefs shall be and remain: vested in us, our heirs and suc- 
 «© cessors; and you shall allot such parts of the same as shall be applied 
 «‘ for by any of our said loyal subjects, non-commissioned officers and 
 «¢ private men of our Forces tai as aforesaid, in the following pro- 
 s¢ portions, that is to say,’’ &c. 
 
 “« The said lands to be held under us, our heirs and successors, Sei- 
 «¢ gneurs of the Seigneurie or Fief in which the same shall be situated, 
 «¢ upon the same terms, acknowledgments and services, as lands are held 
 «+ in our said Province under the respective Seigneurs holding and posses- 
 « sing Seigneuries or Fiefs therein, and reserving to us, our heirs and suc- 
 é¢ cessors, from and after the expiration of ten years from the admission 
 ‘s of the respective tenants, a quit rent of one halfpenny per acre.” 
 
 That after the declaration of American independence, in the year 
 1776, the powers of His Majesty’s Government in this Colony came 
 to be exercised by persons who had resided and held offices in the 
 old British Colonies, who succeeded to the principal offices in this Pro- 
 vince. That from the manner in which the influence of those,Gentlemen 
 
 a2 
 

 
 Ee 
 
 6 
 
 and their friends had been exercised in the old Colonies, and from the ill 
 success which had attended the policy adopted by their advice, Canada 
 could augur but unfavourably of the administration which was destined to 
 rule it. 
 
 The alarms of the people of Canada were greatly increased by a large 
 influx of Loyalists, who were naturally anxious to retain the laws, insti- 
 tutions and tenures to which they were accustomed. Notwithstanding 
 that Great Britain had by an Act of the Imperial Parliament; commonly 
 called the Quebee Act, (14 Geo. III. Cap. 83,) guaranteed to His Ma- 
 jesty’s Canadian subjects “ within the Province of Quebec, that they, the 
 *€ Religious Orders and Communities only excepted, might hold and en- 
 ** yoy their property and possessions, together with all customs and usages 
 “relative thereto, and all other their civil rights, in as large, ample and 
 * beneficial a manner, as if the said Proclamation, Commissiuns, Ordinan- 
 “* ces, and other Acts and instruments, had not been made, and as may 
 “consist with their allegiance to His Majesty, and subjection to the 
 ** Crown and Parliament of Great Britain, and that in all matters of con- 
 ** troversy relative to property and civil rights, resort shall be had to the 
 ** Laws of Canada, as the rule for the decision of the same ; and all causes 
 ** thar shall hereafter be instituted in any of the Courts of Justice, to be 
 “appointed within and for the said Province, by His Majesty, his heirs 
 ** and successors, shall, with respect to such property and rights, be de- 
 ** termined agreeably to the said Laws and Customs of Canada, until they 
 «« shall be varied or altered by any Ordinances that shall from time to time 
 “© be passed in the said Province by the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, 
 ** or Commander in Chief, for the time being, by and with the advice and 
 ** consent of the Legislative Council of the same, to be appointed in mane 
 ** ner herein after mentioned,” still several Petitions, which are to be met 
 ‘with in a Volurre, entitled, « Quebec State Papers,” were transmitted to 
 His Majesty’s Government by His Majesty’s Canadian subjects, praying 
 that they might be maintained in their ancient Laws and institutions, 
 
 That these apprehensions were by no means so visionary as might at 
 first sight appear ; for the repudiated public men of the old British Colo. 
 nies, had by their arts attained that dominion in Canada, which their more 
 wise and honest countrymen had not been able to atchieve by their arms, 
 
 Accordingly, in the year 1790, His Excellency the Right Honoura. 
 ble Guy Lord Dorchester was pleased to refer to a Committee of the 
 whole of the Honourable the Legislative Council, « to investigate and 
 ** report a statement of the comparative advantages and disadvantages of 
 “the Tenure in Free and Common Soccage, and the present Tenures of 
 “* the Province of a different description, with a view to the public inte. 
 ** rest, as well as that of the individuals holding under such Tenures : that 
 “© they deliberate, and in case a conversion of the present Tenures in Fief 
 ** or otherwise into Soccage Tenure, shall appear to be adviseable, that 
 “‘ they report upon the most eligible mode of effecting the same, without 
 ** prejudice to the rights of individuals, and the general interest of the 
 “country. In doing this the Committee are to attend to the nature and 
 “* operation of the different clauses in the Statute of 12th Car. 2, Cap, 
 «24, by which Soccage holding was made general in England, giving 
 ‘* Mr. Lanaudiére at the same time an opportunity to be heard on his Pe- 
 
 
 

 
 7 
 
 * tition for a conversion of the Tenure of his Estates into that of Free 
 «« and Common Soccage, which was referred to a Committee of the Coun- 
 “cil on the 14th February, 1788. And the Committee may call on 
 «« Mr. Attorney and Solicitor General for their opiaion on the subject 
 «* matter of the reference, if they shall conceive the same to be necessary, 
 «¢ and take all such other means as they may think proper, for acquiring 
 «the necessary information ; and further, if the legislative interposition 
 «¢ shall appear to be necessary, the Committee are to report such draft of 
 «a Bill, as the case may require.” | 
 
 The Resolves of the Council, and the Resolutions and motion of the 
 Chief Justice, adopted by the Committee, were calculated to introduce the 
 Tenure in Free and Common Soccage, in lieu of the ancient Tenure of 
 the country, in all new Grants, and to undermine and ultimately overturn 
 those Tenures in the old Grants. These Resolves, with the Reasons of 
 Dissent therefrom by Mr. Mabane, are subjoined to this Report, under 
 the Letter (C.) 
 
 It is consoling to reflect that His Majesty’s Government did not parti- 
 cipate in this scheme. 
 
 The Debates upon the Constitutional Act of these Provinces, (31st 
 Geo. III. Cap. $1,) exhibit the two great Statesmen in the British House 
 of Commons, who in almost every other object of public policy were op- 
 posed to each other, concurring in the justice and expediency of maintain- 
 ing his Majesty’s Canadian subjects in their ancient Laws and Institutions, 
 and of securing to his Majesty’s subjects who had been reared under and 
 were attached to the Laws and institutions of England, the possession of 
 those Laws and institutions, and in conferring upon both the inestimable 
 advantages of the British Constitution. 
 
 The work which contains these Debates, being a voluminous one, and 
 not of easy access, your Committee subjoin to this Report an extract 
 therefrom. (D_) It was in consequence provided by the Constitutional Act, 
 «« that there should be in the Provinces of Upper and Lower-Canada res- 
 pectively, a Legislative Council and Assembly, to be severally composed 
 and constituted in the manner described in the said Act, to make Laws for 
 the peace, welfare and good government of those Provinces,”’ and in a sub- 
 sequent Clause, “ that all lands which shall be hereafter granted within the 
 “¢ said Province of Upper-Canada, shall be granted in Free and Common 
 «« Soccage, in like manneras lands are now holdenin Freeand Common Soc- 
 “* cage in that part of Great Britain called England, and that in every case 
 ‘* where lands shall be hereafter granted within the said Province of Lower- 
 *¢ Canada, and where the Grantee thereof shall desire the same to be grant- 
 “‘ ed in Free and Common Soccage, the same shall be so granted ; but 
 * subject nevertheless to such alterations, with respect to the nature and 
 ** consequences of such Tenure of Free and Common Soccage, as may be 
 ** established by any Law or Laws which may be made by his Majesty,- 
 “his heirs or successors, by and with the advice and consent of the Le- 
 ‘¢ gislative Council and Assembly of the Proviuce,”’ and a free and repre- 
 entative Government was thus assured to these Colonies. 
 
 Your Committee, in proceeding upon the enquiry upon the compara» 
 stive advantages and disadvantages of the ancient Tenures of this country 
 and of the Free and Common Soccage Tenure, came to a conclusion that 
 

 
 wa 
 
 8 
 
 the former possesses decided advantages over the latter, in the settlement 
 of a new country. 
 
 Your Committee did not deem it necessary to institute any enquiry res- 
 pecting the comparative advantages of these Tenures in a more advanced 
 state of society, leaving it to the wisdom of their remote posterity to pro- 
 vide remedies for these inconveniences when they shall arise. It could not 
 fail to strike the attention of your Committee, that great prejudices exist- 
 ed in the minds of the British descendants upon this continent against the 
 Tenure en Fief. ‘The Statute 12 Car. II. Cap. 24, operated a salutary 
 revolution in the Constitution of Great Britain, and it is said by high au- 
 thority to have been ‘¢ a greater acquisition to the civil property of the 
 *¢ Kingdom than Magna Charta;”’ yet although by means of it ‘ the 
 *€ oppressive or military part of the feodal Constitution was happily done 
 © away, We are not to imagine that the Constitution itself was utterly 
 
 «¢ laid aside, and a new one introduced in its room ; since by the Statute 
 “12 Car. II. the Tenures of Soccage and Frankalmoign, the honorary 
 «¢ services of Grand Serjeanty, and the Tenure by Copy of Court Roll, 
 << were reserved ; nay all Tenures in general, except Frankalmoign, Grand 
 ¢¢ Serjeanty and Copyhold, were reduced to one general species of Tenure, 
 ‘then well known and subsisting, called Free and Common Soccage. 
 ¢¢ And this sprung from the same feodal origin as the rest.” 
 
 The reasons which induced your Committee to come to the above con- 
 clusion, are as follows. 
 
 The two great obstacles to settlements in all new countries, is the want 
 of capital, and the consequent want of a market for labour in those com- 
 paratively remote situations. In a City composed of artisans, having all 
 for sale the same commodity, whatever be its excellence, they will all 
 starve ; in anew settlement composed entirely of labourers to be furnish- 
 ed with meat and clothing from the sale of their labour, they also starve 
 from the same cause, the want of customers. 
 
 The things possessed by each, though valuable in themselves, possess 
 no exchangeable value. ‘The minimum of capital required to be employ- 
 ed for any productive labour, will be regulated by the quickness or slow- 
 ness of the return. Unfortunately in the clearing of land, even upon the 
 smallest scale, the return to the actual settler is slow, generally from nine 
 to twelve months. 
 
 _ Where actual settlements are now found upon the continent of North 
 
 America, the above obstacles have been surmounted, either ; 
 
 _,lst. Fortuitously, by the accidental coming together of persons having 
 capital and persons having labour, at the formation of the new settlement, 
 as in the case of Massachusetts ; or, 
 
 2d. By the Government rs | a donation to the new settler, of capi- 
 tal sufficient to support him until his labour became productive, as wag 
 done in Upper-Canada at the commencement of its settlement in 1783—4, 
 and has it is believed since been done in some of the tate Military Setule- 
 ments in that country ; or, 
 
 * $d. By the Government granting the lands in a manner to secure the 
 laying out of a sufficient capital by individuals for this purpose, with a 
 view to their own profit. 
 
 In the first there is danger that there be not a due proportion of capie 
 
 ff ~ 
 
 
 

 
 ey, 
 
 tal; and then the first settlers are subjected to great hardships, as hap- 
 pened to the first settlers of Massachusetts. 
 
 The second is exceedingly expensive and onerous to Government ; in- 
 deed so much so, that it cannot be carried on upon a very extensive scale, 
 nor permanently. 
 
 The third appears obviously to be the best system ; it may be carried 
 on, not only to the extent of capital which the capitalist of the Colony 
 itself may turn into this direction, but is calculated to draw capital from 
 abroad into this channel, and thus enrich the Colony as well by the intro- 
 duction of new capital, as by the advantageous employment of it when 
 introduced, 
 
 The object of the capitalist is to get from the Government the highest 
 premium he can for employing his capital in the clearing of wild lands. 
 On the other hand, that of the Government, on the behalf of itself, the 
 owner of the lands to be granted, and on behalf of the needy individuals 
 who are thus to obtain a settlement, and out of whom in one shape or ano- 
 ther a large portion of the profit of the capitalist is to be extracted, is 
 to give the capitalist as small a premium as he will accept for this use of 
 his capital. 7 
 
 . In the proprietary Governments of the old British Colonies, Maryland, 
 &c. the premium given to Lord Baltimore and the other great proprieta- 
 ries, to induce them to effect settlements in those countries, was much too 
 high, and became so burdensome to the actual settler, that Government 
 ultimately resumed the Charters. 
 
 _ The system least onerous to the actual settler, is unquestionably the 
 French system of Seigneuries, 
 
 The only inconvenience of the system, and that was certainly a very 
 
 at one, arose out of the civil and sometimes criminal jurisdiction at- 
 tached to the Seigneurie. This, however, on the conquest, was removed. 
 
 Under this Tenure the actual settler had several advantages: he was 
 not obliged to disburse any money for his land ; whatever little stock he 
 possessed, might be entirely laid out upon the improvement of his farm. 
 
 The Seigneur, in certain cases, but not universally, was bound by the 
 conditions of the original grant, to open a road to communicate from the 
 most remote settlement in his Seigneurie to the next concession of ungrant- 
 ed lands therein. He was expected to builda Mill, and the rate of mouture 
 was fixed at a lower rate (1-14) than it now stands at in the United 
 States, where the greatest competition obtains (1-12)—The new Settler 
 had the countenance, support and assistance of the Seigneur, who was 
 
 ‘* ° s » . - e & 
 interested in effecting a settlement to save his Seigneurie from forfeiture ; 
 
 and all this was obtained for a moderate annual rent. 
 
 The system of Seigneuries is calculated to produce and has produced 
 in this country an equal division of the lands, a thing favourable to human 
 happiness, to good morals and industrious habits, to the stability of Laws 
 and Government, and to the military strength of a country. 
 
 The Tenure in Seigneurie is one which the people of this country un- 
 derstand, and to which they are accustomed. 
 
 The religious and social habits of the Canadian agriculturalist, prevent 
 him from emigrating to the ‘Townships. He is there deprived of all the 
 
 
 

 
 wT 
 
 10 
 
 substantial comforts of his religion. His child cannot be baptized, nor 
 receive instruction in the principles of his religion ; on the verge of the 
 tomb, he can receive no religious consolation. He has no means of at- 
 tending Divine Worship. 
 
 From these causes, your Committee are persuaded that noCanadian sets 
 tlements could be effected, unless the permanent residence or occasional 
 attendance of a Priest could be had ata Chapel to be erected therein, and 
 unless a colony of from 20 to 50 men, in habits of previous social inter- 
 course, could be settled together. And your Committee see nothing so 
 likely to produce this, as the erection of a sufficient number of Seigneuries 
 to provide habitations and farms for the surplus population of the country. 
 
 For further and valuable information upon this subject, your Commit- 
 tee refer to a paper written and published in the year 1791, which will 
 be found subjoined to this Report under the Letter (E.) 
 
 Upon the whole, your Committeeare of opinion, that the first and prin- 
 cipal obstacle which has existed, to the settlement of the Waste Lands 
 of the Crown, has been the neglect of the Colonial Administration to 
 obey the abovementioned wise and gracious Instructions of His Majesty. 
 
 Quebec, 12th February, 1821. 
 ANDREW STUART, 
 Chairman, 
 
 
 
FIRST REPORT. 
 
 
 
 MINUTES OF EVIDENCE 
 
 TAKEN BEFORE THE COMMITTER 
 
 
 

 
 
 
) 
 
 MINUTES OF EVIDENCE, 
 &§c. 
 et 
 
 ( A.) 
 UESTION FIRST.—What is the number of fouls within 
 the Parifh of. 
 
 2d. What is the number of heads of families, landholders, with- 
 in the Parith of , refiding upon farms, and deriving their 
 fubfiftence wholly or principally from the produce ? 
 
 3d. What is the number of hired agricultural labourers, and of 
 labourers belonging to the family of the landholder, not receiving 
 wages ? 
 
 4th. What is the greateft extent of ground poffefled by any 
 one individual in the faid Parifh ? 
 
 5th. What is the number of individuals in the faid Parifh, hold- 
 ing in their own right an extent of ground equal to two farms of 
 three arpents in front by thirty or forty arpents in depth ? 
 
 6th. What is the number of individuals in the faid Parifh, hold- 
 
 ing in their own right farms of lefs than three arpents in front, by 
 thirty or forty in depth, and into what number of claffes can the 
 faid farms be diftributed, and what is the number of each ? : 
 
 “th. What is the number of marriages, births and deaths in 
 the faid Parifh within the laft ten years ? 
 
 8th. What is the number of agriculturalifts above the age of 
 twenty-one, unmarried, and what 1s the number of females above 
 the age of eighteen, unmarried, in the faid Parifh ? 
 
 9th. What is the extent of ground in the faid Parifh fufceptible 
 of cultivation, not yet granted ? 
 
 10th. Is there a road through the faid ungranted land, and has 
 the faid land been furveyed ? 
 
 11th. Have there been any grants of land in the faid Parifh 
 previous to the year 1759; if fo, what was the general mode of 
 granting, as well with reference to the extent of graye granted, 
 as to the terms upon which the fame was granted ! 
 
 12th. Is there in the faid Parifh a confiderable number of per- 
 
 fons who are defirous and capable of making new fettlements in 
 | ts Boos | 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 a 
 
 14 
 
 the faid Seigniory, provided they could obtain lands in the neigh- 
 bourhood, or at a fhort diftance from thofe of their relations and 
 friends ; and are there any fuch lands, and what is their quantity 
 and quality ? 
 
 13th. .Are there any caufes which have retarded and continue 
 to retard the fettlement of the jand in the old Seigniories in this 
 country, and what do thofe caufes appear to you to be? 
 
 14th. Do any of the inhabitants fettle in the Townthips which 
 
 are granted in free and common foccage ; and if none go, to what ° 
 caufe do you afcribe it? - 
 
 ( B. ) 
 
 The Honourable James Cuthbert appeared before your Commit- 
 tee and anfwered as follows to the Queftions put to him :— 
 
 Q. Have you had any and what means of becoming acquainted 
 with the nature and advantages of the Seigniorial Tenure in this 
 Country, compared with the Tenure of Free and Common Soc- 
 cage? 
 
 4 Being Proprietor of the Seigniory of Berthier, in the Dis- 
 trict of Montreal, and having refided upon it for twenty-four 
 years, I have had occafion to beftow much confideration upon this 
 subject, and acquire much experience refpecting it. 
 
 Q. What in your eftimation are the relative advantages or dif- 
 advantages of these two modes of Tenure ? : 
 
 A I hold a very great difference between the two modes of 
 granting land. That under the feudal fystem, as it is in my opin- 
 ion, not accurately called, offers an eaft » €xpeditious, certain and 
 economical mode of mode of obtaining lands, in the manner moft 
 congenial to the means, habits, wants and ufages of the nineteen 
 twenuieths of the population of this Province, and carries in its 
 nature and confequences the only reafonable hope of a long aud 
 lafting connexion with, and fubmiffion to the Mother Country, 
 Whereas the Grants in Free and Common Soccage, after fur- 
 mounting all the difficulties and expenfe of procuring them, break 
 in upon the habits, cuftoms, manners and prejudices of the Canadian 
 Grantees ; the conditions of thofe Grants not only deprive them of 
 the ordinary refourfes they poffefs under the Syftem in Fief, but alfo 
 bind them to the obligation of employing in the firft inftance, at 
 a time they are totally incompetent, an immenfe unproduétive la 
 bour, which, if applied to a land in Fief, would alone enable them 
 to {ubfist their Families. 
 
 Another powerful objeétion to the granting of the wafte lands of 
 the Crown in Free and Common Soccage, under the prefent re- 
 gulations, is the evident tendency of fuch grants to level all order; 
 of Society, and produce that {pirit of republicanifin which has al- 
 ready proved so fatal to Great Britain 3 €xperience has brought to 
 
 o~ 
 
 
 
15 
 
 my conviction the facility with which the lower orders of Englith, 
 Scotch or Irish will be allured from rational to licentious liberty, 
 when brought within the verge of American politics ; and the ea- 
 fy gradation from oppofition to independance ; whilft it is true to 
 aver that the language, religion, laws, cuftoms, inclination and 
 even prejudices of the Canadians enfure their fidelity and fupport 
 tothe Britifh Government, and prefent an insuperable bar to their 
 becoming Americans. 
 
 Q. What are the caufes which prevent the Canadians to fettle 
 upon lands in Free and Common Soccage ? 
 
 A, Grants in Free and Common Soccage, ftrike the great body 
 
 . of the people as a dereliétion of all they hold dear, they view the 
 
 fyftem and perhaps not without reafon, as tending to fubvert their 
 inftitutions, Civil and Religious, by a flow but unerring progress ; 
 then the difficulty of obtaining the grant, the diftance from their 
 friends, their removal from the ordinary support and affiftance 
 they were accuftomed to, and above all the immenfe tax of labour 
 they incur, not only for their own Lot, but also for the Clergy 
 and Crown Referves, which are to be raifed in value by the fweat 
 of their brow ; thefe and many other objeétions deter His Majes- 
 ty’s Canadian fubjects from fettling on Free and Common Soccage 
 Grants. It has been faid that American and European Emigrants 
 have a total averfion to fettle upon lands in Fief, &c. this is fub- 
 ftantially and practically contradicted in the Seigniories of Dautrai, 
 Lanorai, Ramefay, D’Aillebout and Terrebonne, under my own 
 perfonal knowledge, and in many other Seigniories throughout 
 the Province. It is principally on account of the Language not of 
 the Tenure that any difficulty has arifen. 
 
 With regard to fettling the wafte lands of the Crown in Fief, 
 it is within my conviction that were I in poffeffion of ungranted 
 cultivable land, | could concede fome hundred farms en roture, in 
 thefhort {pace of twelve months, 
 
 Q. What is your opinion of the denfity of the population of the 
 fettled part of the Seigniories ? 
 
 A. The population in the old Seigniories is very denfe, and in 
 my divifion of Militia in 1804, there were from nine hundred to 
 one thoufand Militiamen, and in 1820, twenty-four hundred men 
 above fixteen years of age. | 
 
 Q. I underftand you haye travelled in Europe and the United 
 States of America, did you ever obferve an Agricultural Popula- 
 tion fo dense as that of this Province ? 
 
 A. In no Country where I have travelled, have I met with 
 such a denfe Agricultural Population as in this Counrry, except 
 in French Flanders and Brabant. 
 
 Q. What in your opinion has been the caufe of the Canadian 
 Agriculturalifts not fpreading more widely over the Seigniorial 
 lands ? | é . 
 
 
 

 
 (GW 
 
 
 
 
 
 Se ee Se ce 
 
 YE 
 
 16 
 
 A. If I had held ungranted Seigniorial lands of a good quality 
 I could have conceded two or three hundred farms in one year, 
 as I have already faid. As to the other Seigniories wherein there 
 are ungranted lands, I cannot point out the caufe of their not be- 
 ing granted; the lands may be held in the hands of the pofleffors 
 on fpeculation. I am thoroughly convinced that there is no want 
 of Agriculturifts of the Country difpofed to take thofe up. 
 
 Q. Can you fay if many of the recent Emigrants from Great 
 Britain, have fettled on the grants in Free and Common Soccage? 
 
 A. [have no knowledge that any of them have. 
 
 Q. Do you know that many of them have fettled on the Sei- 
 gniorial Grants, and what number do you fuppofe have so settled ? 
 
 A. I have already faid that many European and American 
 Emigrants have so settled, I can form no eftimate as to the num- 
 bers. 
 
 Q. Do you know of any application for augmentations of Sei- 
 gniorial Grants fince 1791, or for the granting of new Seigniories, 
 and can you inform the Committee of the refult ? 
 
 A. My underftanding, as to the fystem adopted in granting the 
 Crown Lands in this Province, was fuch, that although I was in- 
 clined to apply, I never did. I have heard of perfons having ap- 
 plied without fuccefs, 
 
 The Honorable Roderick M’Kenzie, Seignior of Terrebonne, 
 appeared before your Committee. 
 
 Q. Have there been any grants of Land in your Seigniories, 
 previous to the year 1759, if fo, what was the general mode of 
 granting, as well with reference to the extent of ground granted, 
 as to the terms upon which the fame was granted ? 
 
 A. Many grants were made before and after that period—all 
 on the fame terms. 
 
 . Is it generally credited and believed in other Seigniories, 
 that the Lord fells his Land, and will jnot grant them a cens ¢t 
 rentes in the manner heretofore ufual and accuftomed-? 
 
 A. No deviation from the original rule for Conceffions has ta- 
 ken place in the Seigniory of Terrebonne. As to other Seignio- 
 ries I cannot anfwer. 
 
 Q. Is there any confiderable unmber of persons in the said 
 Seigniories, defirous and able to effect new fettlements in the faid 
 manors or lordships, provided that lands could be had contiguous 
 to, or at mo very confiderable diftance from the lands of their 
 friends and relatives, and is there any and what quantity of such 
 Lands, and what is its quality ? 
 
 A. Owing to certain circumftances, beyond my controul, fet- 
 tlers could not not be encouraged heretofore to take farms from 
 me. ‘The Soil, however, is good. 
 
 Q. Are there any, and what causes which in your eftimation 
 
 f~ 
 
 
 
17 
 
 have retarded and continue to retard the fettlement of the Lands 
 in the old Manors or Lordfhips of this Country ? 
 
 A. No augmentations to Seigniories having been made fince 
 1759, and of courfe not expected to be made hereafter, may be a 
 principal cause for the delays obferved in the Settlement of fome 
 Seigniorial lands. Proprietors expecting no increafe as formerly, 
 wait favourable opportunities to make the moft of what they have. 
 
 Q. Is there any emigration from the said Seigniory, and if fo, 
 is the same annual and regular, and whither is the fame direéted ? 
 
 A. No Emigration from the Seigniory of Terrebonne. 
 
 Q. Do any of the inhabitants emigrate to the Townships, grant- 
 ed in free and common foccage, and if not, to what caufe do you 
 attribute this circumftance ? 
 
 A. The inhabitants of this Country prefer Seigniorial Grants to 
 any other. I conceive that syftem to be the best fince the people 
 who live under it never complain, and seem the happiest in the 
 world. If a, Settler who-can be recommended, apply to a Sei- 
 gnior for a grant, he-inftantly becomes a proprietor at the trifling 
 expense of five or fix dollars to the Surveyor and Notary for 
 deeds of Survey and Conceffion. The Censitaires in the Seigni- 
 ories of Terrebonne, pay annually at the rate of half a bushel of 
 wheat and twenty pence for every twenty acres. Some, indeed, 
 pay less, but no one pays more. As wheat sells at present, this 
 rent may amount to about two pence halfpenny per acre. 
 
 Q. Is there any, and what number of British Emigrants fettled 
 in the manors or lordships in the Diftrict of Montreal, and if fo, 
 when did the faid fettlements take place, and are the fettlers sa- 
 tisfied with the said tenure ? 
 
 A. Iam not prepared to ftate the number of British Emigrants 
 fettled upon Seigniories in the Diftrict of Montreal. Several hun- 
 dreds have applied to me within three years, but it was not in m 
 power, however defirous I might be, to encouragethem. Stil 
 Settlements are of late forming on the banks of the L’Achigan, 
 both in the Seigniories of Terrebonne and La Chenaie. Spirited 
 and independent Emigrants, (some of whom have travelled far 
 and near for a home) take farms at all hazards, as fast as the 
 Jand can be surveyed, and roads can admit.—Thefe fettlers pay 
 no rent for upwards of two years, and they seem highly satisfied 
 with their situation, and future prospect. — 
 
 Q. Are the lands in the rear of the Seigotapias northward of 
 the St. Lawrence, sufceptible of Cultivation ! 
 
 A. By all the information I could collect from the best sources, 
 I have reafon to believe that the land on the rear of the Seignio- 
 ries, (with little exception), to an immenfe diftance, is suitable 
 to agricultural purposes. As far back as 1684, I believe you will 
 find on the records within this building, that lands were leafed by 
 the Government of thofe days, ugon the banks of several rivers 
 
 
 

 
 . 
 
 18 
 
 which fall into Hudfon’s Bay, for the express purpose of Cultiva- 
 tion; and Charlevoix’s Hiftory will show that the extenfive coun- 
 try which lies between the Saint Lawrence and Hudfon’s Bay, 
 was in his time well known. What appears now a wide watte, a 
 blank, appears in his Map, particularized and covered with des- 
 criptive names: At this diftance of time, a diftance of nearly 
 two-hundred years from the first Eftablifhment on the St. Law- 
 rence, a man can ride from its banks northward, in less than three 
 hours to the very last house in any part of the Country under 
 cultivation, 
 
 The Reverend Mr. Demers, Superior of the Seminary of Quebec, 
 answered as follows : 7 
 
 Q. Are the two modes of granting Lands in this Province, that is to 
 say, that under the Feudal System, and that in Free and Common Soc- 
 cage equally beneficial, and will you please to communicate to the Com- 
 mittee the reasons which induce you to give a preference to either? 
 
 A. I am fully persuaded the Feudal System, confined within proper 
 limits with regard to Seigniorial and Permanent Rents, is the most ad- 
 vantageous mode of inducing His Majesty’s Canadian Subjects to be- 
 come Proprietors of the unconceded Lands in this Province—what leads 
 me to think so, is, that under that system the poorest people, provided 
 they are able to work, may easily become Proprietors of the Lands they 
 clear, without being compelled to purchase them. These new Proprie- 
 tors are indeed charged with a permanent Rent, but if the original 
 Grantees of the Crown enter fully into the true spirit of the Feudal 
 System, all they can impose, is very moderate Seigniorial and permanent 
 Rents, and such as the new Grantees will always be able easily to pay, 
 If the Government adopted the Feudal System in granting the Crown 
 Lands, their Grants might regulate the Rates of the Seigniorial Rents 
 for every square acre of ground. In this way the Rent in all these new 
 Concessions would be uniform, and nothing would remain discretionary, 
 As to the Proprietors of these new Fiefs, the Lods e Ventes and other 
 feudal dues would afford them a compensation for the lowness of their 
 Rent, and even for the expenses they might incur the more speedily to 
 bring their Land into cultivation. 
 
 If the Lands are conceded in Free and Common Soccage it will be 
 quite otherwise.—It may be presumed, that the greater part ofthese 
 Lands would shortly become the property of a few rich capitalists, who 
 would not fail to retain the best lots, in order to bring them into cultj- 
 vation themselves, and who would then sell or lease to the rest. How 
 then shall the young Canadian Farmers, whose only wealth is that love 
 of labour of which the habit was formed under the paternal roof, settle 
 upon those lands ? Finding it impossible to acquire land sufficient for 
 their future decent support, they will be compelled to take some of those 
 lands on lease or gd Bail Emphytéotique—But in that mode of settling, 
 it is easily seen that they will not experience equal advantage, as if the 
 Lands were granted them in the Feudal manner. To be convinced of 
 this, it suffices to know on what conditions the Lots reserved in the se. 
 veral Townships for the Crown, and for the support of the Protestant 
 
 Tf ~ 
 
 
 
9 
 
 Clergy are leased. Every lot is of 200 acres or 235} arpents or therea. 
 bout, French measure. So early as 1812, 363 of these lots were leased 
 for 21 years, on the following terms, that is to say, ** forthe first seven 
 “* years, ‘T'wenty-five veep or Eight Bushels of Wheat per annum : 
 * the second seven years, Fifty Shillings, or Sixteen Bushels of Wheat, 
 “ and for the remainder of the period, Seventy-five Shillings, or Twen- 
 ** ty-four Bushels of Wheat per lot, the Lessors having the option of 
 *¢ requiring payment to be made in either of the modes stipulated,” 
 (‘Topographical Description of the Province of Lower Canada, page 
 14) Onan average, every Lot of 235} arpents is charged with an 
 annual Rent of fifty shillings or sixteen bushels of wheat, at the option 
 of the Lessor. Estimating the bushel of wheat at four shillings only, 
 these 2353 arpents will therefore be charged on an average with a yearly 
 rent of sixty-four shillings. This rent is certainly higher than it ought 
 to be, if an equal lot of ground were granted in Feudal ‘Tenure, Let 
 us suppose this Rent to be precisely the same, and two young Canadian 
 Farmers each take one of these-Lots of Land, and that one of them 
 take his on lease, the other under a feudal grant: at the close of the 2] 
 years, will the situation of both these Farmers be alike? One of them 
 will have become the actual Proprietor of the Land he has cleared, 
 While the other, with equal care, anxiety and toil, unattended by any 
 superior advantage during the 21 years, will only retain the uncheering 
 recollection of having, under the sweat of his brow, cleared a land not 
 belonging to himself. 
 
 But it will be said, will not the Lods et Ventes due to the Seignior on 
 every mutation prevent the young Farmer from taking Lands by Feudal 
 Grant? By no means, because the young Farmer well knows he will 
 have no Lods et Ventes to pay while he remains in possession of his land, 
 and that such of his descendants as hold it after him will be equally exempt 
 as long as they acquire by descent. T hough the due of Lods et Venies 
 may appear onerous to the purchaser, I am not the less persuaded that 
 this due has an excellent effect on domestic society, for it is generally a 
 powerful motive for retaining hereditary Lands. This is not one of 
 those vague assertions which are inconsiderately hazarded, but a matter 
 of fact readily confirmed by numerous instances afforded by such parts 
 of our Country as have been longest settled, such as the Céte de Beau 
 pré. It isno rare thing to find in that place families who at this day 
 possess the same lands which were granted to their ancestors almost im: 
 mediately after the earliest settlements effected in this country. 
 
 Such are the reasons which induce me to think the Feudal System 
 more beneficial relatively to the cultivation of the ungranted Lands of 
 the Crown, than the mode hitherto foilowed in granting those lands. 
 
 Q. What are the causes which have prevented His aTeiety’e Canadi- 
 
 nw 
 
 an Subjects from settling the Lands in Free and Common Soccage ? 
 
 A. One of the principal causes, is the want of pecuniary means of 
 purchasing Lands and afterwards clearing them. [ do not think there- is 
 now tobe procured in the Townships, a tract adequate to the support 
 of a family for less than £ 100—Very few young Canadian Farmers have 
 such a sum, and those who have will ever prefer purchasing Land al- 
 ready in part cultivated, or applying their money to the clearing of lands 
 
 c 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 wy 
 
 20 
 
 taken under a Feudal Grant, and costing them nothing. As to those 
 who have no pecuniary means or scarcely any, they will never be recone 
 ciled to taking on Lease or Bail Emphythéotique a Tract of Woodland, 
 remote from the place of their nativity—nor willthey more readily take 
 such Land on Rente Constituée, from apprehension of ultimate inability 
 to pay that Rent, and thereby becoming liable to ejection from lands 
 which they have in part cleared: unless they can settle in some other 
 way they will prefer remaining labourers all their lives. —I think I know 
 the Inhabitants of the Country parts sufficiently to feel assured that in 
 this opinion I am under no error. 
 
 To this cause, which is inherent in the system itself which has been 
 invariably pursued in granting the Crown Lands since 1795, others may 
 be added ; as the want of ready means of intercourse, between the settle- 
 ments in the Townships, and the Canadian Settlements, ignorance of the 
 language of those among whom the young Farmers of our parts would 
 be placed, and above all, the remoteness of Religious aid. ‘his alone, 
 I am persuaded, would have prevented the sounder portion of our Ca- 
 nadian Youth from availing themselves of the advantages which new 
 Settlements might offer in all other respects: nor would the substantial 
 Farmers of our Country, sincerely attached, as they are, to their Reli- 
 gious principles, ever consent to the departure of their children to settle 
 in places where they might suspect their faith or salvation to be in dan- 
 
 er. y 
 
 * It is easy with a little attention to see, that these various causes would 
 cease almost instantaneously, if our young Farmers had the same facili- 
 ty of settling on the Crown Lands as on the unconceded Lands in the | 
 old Seigniories, because they might, by agreement among themselves, 
 depart in sufficient number, and take lands at the. same place, indul- 
 ging a most reasonable hope that other young Farmers would not fail 
 shortly to join them. 
 
 Q. What are the conditions on which the Gentlemen of the Semi- 
 nary concede the Lands in their Seigniories ? 
 
 A. These conditions are, I believe, the same as are imposed by other 
 Seigniors in conceding land within their Censive, with the exception: of 
 the Seigniorial Rents, which generally vary in the several Seigniories, [ 
 do not know whether the other Seigniors exact Corvées of their tenants. 
 The Seminary of Quebee have never exacted any from their tenants, 
 and they are net mentioned in the Grants made by them hitherto. The 
 only charges they impose on the Grantees, are, 
 
 Ist. To make a clearing along their neighbours’ line, Edonner du Dé- 
 couvert. | 
 
 Qdly. To make and keep in repair the Roads and Bridges upon their 
 lands according to law. 
 
 3dly. To carry to the Seigniorial Mill to be there ground, the grain 
 which those lands produce. : 
 
 4thly. To pay the Seigniorial and permanent Rent and the Cens 
 yearly. It is spegified in all the Deeds, that this Cens bears Lods et 
 Ventes, Saisine et Amende, in the proper cases, according to the Custom 
 of Paris. The Seigniorial Rent and the Cens are not the same in the 
 several Scigniories of the Seminary of Quebec. In the Isle Jésus, 
 
 
 
~~ 
 
 21 
 
 fearly all the Lands were originally of three arpents in front by forty 
 in depth. The greater part of these lands annually pay 10s. 6d. 2-3ds 
 of Cens et Rentes, the others, much less numerous, having been conce- 
 ded when the value of wheat was only Is. 8d. per minot, are charged 
 with 5s. 6d. 2-3rds. in money, and three minots of wheat as Cens e¢ 
 Rentes. In the Parishes of Ange Gardien, Chateau Richer, Ste. Anne 
 and St. Joachim in the Seigniory of Beaupré, the lands are originally of 
 three arpents in front by one league and a half in depth, and they pay 
 annually 5s. 6d. 2-3rds. as Cens et Rentes. Among these lands there 
 are 30 or 40 of which the Rent in Money is less considerable, and which 
 are charged with a few Capons, valued at 20 Sols Tournois each. In 
 St. Paul’s Bay in the same Seigniory, almost all the lands are originally 
 of three arpents in front by 50 arpents in depth, and pay annually 5s. 
 6d. 2-3rds. or 5s. 10d. Cens et Rentes. The lands which have been con- 
 ceded of late years in the same Parish do not pay more. Inthe Js/e aux 
 Coudres the Cens et Rentes of the Lands are less considerable than at St. 
 Paul’s Bay. Besides these charges, the Seminary of Quebec in all 
 Concessions which they make, reserve all Oak fit for the building of 
 His Majesty’s Ships, and reserve for themselves the right of taking upon 
 the lands which they grant, the wood which they may want for the 
 building or repairs of the Seigniorial Manor House and Bannal Mill. The 
 former of these Reserves is to His Majesty alone. As to the second, it 
 cannot be a charge upon the Tenants, because the Seminary never re- 
 uire it, 
 ts Q. Are there regular Emigrations from the several parts of this Pro- 
 vince to the other parts thereof? What is their general direction, and 
 what appears to you to be the cause of them? ; 
 
 A. As the lands which would suffice for the support of a family are 
 lower in price in certain Parishes of the Districts of Montreal and Three 
 Rivers than those in the District of Quebec, the Inhabitants of the 
 Country parts of the Districts last mentioned not unfrequently sell what 
 little real property they have in order to purchase larger estates in the 
 other Districts. Most of those who thus abandon the Country about 
 Quebec, settle in one of the following Parishes, Chateaugay, Blairfin- 
 die, Ste. Marie de Monnoir, St. Constant, St. Jacques, St. Roch, Le 
 St. Esprit, St. Benoit, &c. Ihave not heard that any of them have 
 settled in the Townships. ; 
 
 I presume these Emigrations would be much less frequent in the Dis- 
 trict of Quebec, if the Farmers could more easily settle on unconceded 
 Lands in the old Seigniories or on the Crown Lands. In my answer to 
 the second question, [ have pointed out the causes which appear to me 
 to have hitherto prevented the Canadian Farmers from settling on the 
 Crown Lands, Those which, as it appears to me, chiefly prevent their 
 taking Grants of Land in the old Seigniories at present, are these :—In 
 some places, the severity of the Climate and the bad quality of the Soil 
 relatively to Agriculture ; in some others, the extraordinary expense 
 which must be incurred in cutting deep Trenches for draining Tracts 
 of Land which are sometimes extensive ; almost every where the want 
 of Roads of access to the places ~ oy reggae might be made. To 
 
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 22 
 
 these several causes might perhaps be added the Rents which certain 
 Seigniors are, (as it is said) desirous of fixing at too high a rate upon 
 the lands which they concede. 
 
 J. T. Taschereau, Esquire, a Member of the House of Assembly, ap- 
 peared before your Committee : 
 
 Q. Do you know the Country south of the Saint Lawrence, beyond 
 the parts which are settled in the Seigniories of Nouvelle Beauce, as far 
 as the Line which separates this Province from that of New-Brunswick, 
 and by what means have you acquired that information ? 
 
 A. Ihave not visited it, but L have seen some persons who have done so. 
 
 Q. Are there in those parts, Lands susceptible of cultivation, and to 
 what extent are they ? 
 
 A. Those who have been there, say, most of it is very fit for cultiva- 
 tion—With respect to extent, there are several hundred thousand acres. 
 
 Q. What are the appearance of the Country, the nature of the Soil, 
 the qualities and species” of Timber, the Lakes and Rivers, with their 
 courses, and how far are they navigable within the limits of that part of 
 the Country ? 
 
 A. Some parts towards the Heights are Mountainous, the rest is as 
 even and as well adapted to cultivation as the rest of the land in the Pro- 
 vince which is fit for cultivation.—The quality of the timber is various. 
 
 These Rivers are navigable for boats in various places, and might be ren- 
 dered so in all places by means of sluices and other works of art. 
 Q. How great an extent is actually settled in that part of the Country ? 
 A. The Township of Frampton alone to my knowledge, is settled, 
 and it is so only in part. 
 
 Q. Are there any Roads in that part of the Country—What are they, 
 and in what state ? 
 
 A. There is a Road through the Township of Frampton, and another 
 Road which leads to the State of Maine, which is called the Kennebec 
 Road. These Roads were lately made by the Commissioners of Internal 
 Communications, They are in a tolerably good state, but are decaying 
 rapidly for want of Settlements. 
 
 Q. What causes do you think have prevented the Settling of that 
 part of the Country ? ? 
 
 A. The causes which have prevented the settling of the Lands beyond 
 the Seigniories of La Nouvelle Beauce, are a want of Roads, a want of 
 grants by the Crown in the ungranted Townships, and in those which 
 are conceded a want of Roads, the Lots for the Crown and those for 
 the Clergy, and alsothe very considerable expenses which the Grantees 
 are obliged to incur for opening Roads, expenses of Survey and other 
 expenses, with respect to which they are unable to obtain reimbursement 
 of a portion of the interest, whereby they are put under the necessity of 
 selling their lands at a very high price, and the interest of the considera- 
 tion for the sale is equivalent to a rente which the Farmer could not pay, 
 
 
 
—_— 
 
 23 
 
 which would not be the case if in conceding those lands at a moderate an- 
 nual rent, the Grantees of the Crown could hope hereafter to be indemni- 
 fied in some other way. 
 
 Mr. Taché, from Kamouraska, one the Members of the Provincial 
 Assembly, appeared before your Committee and stated :-—— 
 
 I have resided for eighteen months at the place called Chicoutimy, 
 in the upper parts of the River Saguenay, at the place commonly called 
 King’s Domaine, which was in the year 1805. In the Spring of 1806, 
 I travelled over all that part of the King’s Domaine, which extends from 
 Chicoutimy to the great Lake Mistassin, called on the Map Mistissyniz, 
 of which the River Rupert is the Outlet, and which River runs into 
 Hudson’s Bay. In that space there is a considerable tract of Land fit for 
 cultivation, more especially what surrounds Lake St. John, which is 40 
 leaguesin circumference, and where formely the Jesuits had a Settlement. 
 I have had occasion to observe that the Soil is remarkably rich there, 
 and the climate as fine as that of Quebec. Lake St. John may be situate 
 north of Quebec at a distance of about 35 leagues according to the in- 
 formation of the Indians. From Lake St. John to Chicoutimy, is a 
 space of 35 leagues or thereabouts intersected by various Rivers and 
 Lakes, which may facilitate Intercourse. The shores of these Rivers 
 and Lakes are of very good Ground. In descending the Saguenay a 
 space of six or seven leagues, and as far as the place to which first rate 
 Vessels might go, its shores consist of a Soil very fit for cultivation. 
 The aforesaid Domaine produces a very large quantity of fine Pine of 
 various kinds, and especially of red Pine; and I consider this part of 
 His Majesty’s Domaine as one of the richest parts of North America, 
 relatively to the Lumber Trade and Agriculture, were it brought into 
 use. The River Saguenay is navigable for large Vessels as far as Chicou- 
 timy, and the Lakes are navigable from thence for Vessels of 60 or 70 
 Tons. 
 
 Q. How many great Rivers or others which are navigable run into 
 the Saguenay ? 
 
 A. More than thirty are navigable for Canoes, some of which have 
 an Easterly others a Westerly course. 
 
 Q. How many are navigable for Bateaux ? 
 
 A. Only the Chicoutimy and the Saguenay. 
 
 Q. How far is the River Chicoutimy navigable and for what Vessels ? 
 
 A. About seven leagues for Bateaux, and above that is a Lake which 
 is capable of bearing Vessels of at least one hundred Tons, The Lake 
 is about nine leagues long, and is called Chinouagomi, it is about two 
 miles wide. This Lake is divided by a point of Land of 10 or 15 ar- 
 
 nts from another Lake called Chinouagomichiche, which is about $ 
 weeks long, by one mile broad, and is navigable for Vessels of 30 or 
 40 Tons. ‘The outlet of this small Lake is the Belle Rividre which runs 
 into Lake St. John. The position of all that Country is upon a Slope 
 from North to South, an exposure very favourable to agriculture and 
 sheltered by a chain of Mountains which commences East of Lake Mis- 
 tassin, called on the Map Mistissynnis, running towards the South West, 
 and terminating in a curved line at the rocky Mountains. Pde 
 
 Q. What extent of Country, in leagues, is susceptible of cultivation ? 
 
 
 

 
 24 
 
 A. T should find it difficult to decide what extent of Country from 
 North to South is susceptible of cultivation, but from Cap au Leste, in the 
 River Saguenay to the settlement on Lake St. John, a distance of 40 
 leagues or thereabouts, the whole tract appears capable of cultivation, 
 and all the land in that Latitude from Lake St. Jobn as far as the 
 sources of the River St. Maurice, a distance of about seventy leagues, 
 is, as I believe, very fit for cultivation. . 
 
 Q. What vestiges of the Jesuits’ Settlement remain ? 
 
 A. The Furrows of the Plough are still to be seén on a Tract of 3 or 
 400 acres square, which is now overgrown with Trees, Some fruit 
 Trees also exist which were ina part of their Garden, also the remains 
 of the foundation of their House and of the Chimnies, 
 
 Q. What is the quality of Timber on all that Tract of Country, which 
 you visited ? 
 
 A. The environs of Lake St. John are covered with Poplars, Aspen, 
 Ash, Spruce, and white Birch. ‘There is also much Alder. In descen- 
 ding towards the Saguenay, there are on a height, large tracts of Pine, 
 which I have already mentionned. It is well known to Farmers, that 
 Ground which produces Aspen, Poplar, Ash and Alder, is extremely 
 rich and fertile. 
 
 Lieut.-Col. Bouchette, Surveyor General of the Province, ap- 
 peared before your Committee. 
 
 Q. Are you acquainted with the country lying on the fouth 
 fhore of the River St. Lawrence, beyond the fettled parts of this 
 Province, on the Lake Temiskouata, as far as the Province line 
 which feparates this Province from the Province of New-Bruns- 
 wick, and what have been your means of information ? 
 
 A. Ihave fome knowledge of the country fituate between the 
 St. Lawrence and Lake ‘Temiskouata, but more particularly of the 
 communication between this Province and New-Brunfwick, having 
 travelled that part of the country feveral times, and made partial 
 furveys and plans of the whole of that route, and in 1814 fet off 
 lands for the disbanded Veteran Soldiers, whom I placed at differ- 
 ent ftations for the purpofe of keeping up the communication, and 
 in 1817 had again occafion to fee a great part of the country weft 
 of the River St. John, in running the Aftronomical Exploring 
 Line from the fource of the Ste. Croix to the firft waters of the 
 Riftigouche, and returned to Quebec by the Portage Road. 
 
 Q. Is there any, and what extent of cultivabie ground within 
 this tract ? 
 
 A. I fhould conceive, to the beft of my knowledge and eftima- 
 tion, that about 100,000 acres of cultivable land could be found 
 contiguous and along the whole extent of the Portage Road from 
 the Seigniory of River du Loup to Fief Temifcouata. 
 
 Q: What is the face of the country, the nature of the foil, the - 
 kinds and defcription of timber, the Lakes and Rivers, and their 
 courfes, the fize of the fame, and how far navigable within this 
 tract ? | 
 
 
 
Qe ee 
 
 25 
 
 A. After afcending the firft ridge of highlands in the rear of 
 the fettlements on the borders of the St. Lawrence, from thence- 
 to the River Verte, the face of the country is generally level, the 
 
 \ foil of a fertile nature, compofed of dark mould, inter{fperfed with 
 
 , fand in fome places, and clay bottom ; the timber is chiefly beech, 
 
 birch, maple, and a quantity of white pine, and fome red.) From 
 
 thence to the River St. Francis the country is alfo level, but ex- 
 
 tremely rocky and ftrong; the growth of timber is fimall poplars, 
 
 {pruce and under brufh. From thence again to within three miles 
 
 of Lake Temifcouata, the country is broken, and interfected by 
 
 ridges of highlands traverfing the country in a north by eait and 
 
 fouth by weft direction ; of thefe highlands there are mountains 
 
 of gradual afcent and defcent, compofed of excellent foil, though 
 
 rather light, and in fome parts ftrong, and the timber chiefly ma- 
 
 ple, birch and beech, &c. In the extenfive valleys that exift in 
 
 the courfe of that tract, there are many patches of good land, 
 
 well watered, and large meadows. In approaching, Lake Temis- 
 
 couata, the foil is of a dark mould, but immediately on the bor- 
 
 ders of the Lake only it is in many parts of a light fandy and 
 
 gravelly nature. The Lake, which is confpicuous for its beautiful 
 
 and picturefque f{ceneries, is about 22 miles in length, by the ave- 
 
 rage breadth of a mile and a half, encompaffed on all fides by 
 
 ( % © highlands, gradually defcending, and covered with woods down to 
 
 its margin. The principal Rivers which empty themfelves into 
 
 this Lake, are, viz: the Namsgamskutefek, which flows out of 
 
 Long Lake, is about two chains wide, gentle current, and is faid 
 
 to be navigable for boats and canoes; the Toledo, or Riviere au 
 
 Canot, takes its fource in a chain of {mall Lakes to the nortb-eaft 
 
 of ‘T'emifcouata, and although rapid, is navigable for Canoes; Afh- 
 
 berusk River, which difcharges itfelf at the head of the Lake, 
 
 takes its fource in a chain of {mall lakes in the ridge of mountains 
 
 to the north-weft, which divide thefe waters from thofe of the 
 
 Trois Piftoles, and are only feparated by a fhort portage. Previ- 
 
 ous to concluding this part of my defcription of the Lake, I will 
 obferve, that, together with extenfive pineries that are found in | 
 
 abundance on and in the vicinity of this lake and the rivers, there 
 
 is an effential advantage derived from the peculiar fpecies of fith, 
 
 namely, the toledo, the white fifth, and falmon trout, but muft 
 
 diftinguifh the toledo trout, taken at the entrance of and in the 
 
 river of the fame name. _ It is very like the ordinary fize codfifh, 
 
 and is taken in fuch quantities at a particular feafon, that the in- 
 
 habitants of the lake and others, even from the Madawaska fettle- 
 
 a ment, falt them for their ufe in the winter. And in refpect to the 
 
 ; feveral rivers which interfect the portage road, the principal are 
 
 the St.Francis, taking its fource in a fall lake of the fame name 
 
 in the highlands, and falls into the river Saint John in a fouth, 
 
 
 

 
 26 
 
 fouth-eaft direction. The Riviére Verte, which empties into the 
 Saint Lawrence in a northerly courfe, is rapid, and not navigable, 
 being obftructed by falls; alfo feveral branches of the Trois Pis- 
 toles, which are {mail, rapid, and not navigable. 
 
 Q. What extent of this part of the country is actvally fettled ? 
 
 A. On proceeding from the laft fettlement on the Temifcouata 
 road, at the ferry or new bridge in the depth of the Seigniory of 
 River du.Loup, there are no fettlements until you reach Green 
 River, where there are about eight or ten, and altogether about 
 100 acres cleared ; from thence the country is unfettled to the 
 River Saint Francis, a diftance of above eighteen miles, at which 
 place there are two fettlements, with about fifty acres cleared, and 
 between this and Long’s farm at Temifcouata,’there are but a few 
 abandoned houfes, with from ten to twenty acres cleared. The 
 fettlement at Temifcouata Lake may confift of four houfes, a faw- 
 mill, and from feventy to eighty acres of clearing. 
 
 Q. Are there any and what Roads in the faid tract, and what 
 is the ftate thereof ? 
 
 A. There is but one road, originally opened in 1783, which 
 commences about 4 miles eaft of Rivigre des Caps, at the Saint 
 Lawrence, and directs its courfe eaftwards to Lake Temifcouata, a 
 diftance of thirty-feven miles. The opening of this road was con- 
 fidered at that time of the greateft importance for the conveyance 
 of the Britifh Mail from Quebec to Halifax. Notwithitanding 
 fome endeavours to avoid the abrupt afcents, defcents and {wamps, 
 &c. which confequently caufe a number of windings and turnings 
 of the road, and which obftructions are greatly prevalent in this 
 broken part of the country, ftill they are frequently met with in 
 the courfe of this route from Green River to within a mile or two 
 of the lake, which render the ufé of carts or Wwaggons entirely 
 impracticable, and materially contribute to weary and fatigue the 
 traveller. ‘The road however from the St. Lawrence to the Green 
 River, is fomewhat better, and can admit of both thefe carriages, 
 Having traverfed this road feveral times with attention, I am con- 
 vinced that it might, by applying proper means, and deviating in 
 many places from the prefent courfe, become as good a road as 
 many within this Province; but it muft be obferved that capable 
 fettlers muft be placed on the fame, that it may be kept up in a 
 good ftate. The advantage of fuch a proceeding fpeaks for itfelf. 
 
 Q. What are the caufes which, in your eftimation, have con- 
 tributed to advance or retard the fettlement of the faid tract ? 
 
 A. The caufes, in my eftimation, which have contributed to re- 
 tard the fettlement of that part of the country, I would claf$ un- 
 der the following heads : 
 
 Iftly. From the difadvantage of not having a practicable road 
 throughout the portage, and a continued communication to New- 
 Brun{wick, 
 
 
 
Kes, 
 
 2dly. From not having placed, on the firft opening of the road, | 
 perfevering and able fettlers, and too few a number to keep up | 
 fuch an extenfive communication. | 
 
 ' 3dly. The doubts arifing with refpect to the exact limits of | 
 | Lower-Canada and New-Brunfwick with the United States. 
 
 Robert Chriftie, Efquire, appeared before your Committee, and 
 an{wered as follows : ; 
 
 Q. Are you acquainted with the Diftrict of Gafpé, and what 
 have been your means of information ? 
 
 A. I have vifited the Diftrict of Gafpé the laft and preceding 
 Summers, as Secretary to the Commiffioners for inveftigating 
 the claims of the inhabitants to Lands, purfuant to an Act of the 
 Legiflature of this Province, of the 59th Geo. III. Chap. 3. My 
 information on the ftate of that Diftrict is principally derived from 
 perfonal obfervation, while employed on that fervice. 
 
 Q. What is the extent of cultivable ground in the faid Diftrict ? 
 
 A. If by cultivable ground is meant ground already cleared of 
 timber, and ready for tillage, I fhould eftimate it upon the very 
 loweft computation at five thoufand acres. Upwards of 'five hun- 
 dred claims have been received by the Commiffioners ; many of 
 thofe claims comprehend feveral lots, fome of which are in a great 
 
 meafure cleared and under tillage, others are {till in foreft ; fup- 
 i pofing then that at an average each claim may be eftimated at 
 about ten acres of cleared land, the total will be five thoufand 
 acres; but judging from perfonal obfervation of the different tracts 
 of cleared land in that Diftrict under tillage, which I had occafion 
 to vifit in the difcharge of my office, I am convinced that in efti- 
 mating it at ten thoufand acres and upwards, I fhould not exceed 
 the truth. | 
 
 Q. What is the face of the country, the nature of the foil, the 
 kind and defcription of timber, the lakes and rivers, and their 
 courfes, the fize of the fame, and how far navigable within this 
 Diftrict ? 
 
 A. The face of the country is various, in fome parts it is rough 
 and mountainous, occafionally interrupted by deep and uneven 
 vallies, here and there interfected with deep ravines; the high 
 lands in fome places are thinly clad with a ftunted growth of finall 
 wood, but moft parts of the country are well covered with timber, 
 fuch as maple, beech, birch, pine, larch, white cedar, hemlock, 
 &c. but there is lictle or no oak of confequence. Inthe Bay des 
 Chaleurs, the land from Port Daniel upwards to Maria, a tract of 
 fixteen or eighteen léagues, is level, well watered, and abounds 
 
 e with the beft growth of hardwood ; nor do I know of any part 
 | of Lower-Canada fuperior to this tract of country in foil and cli- 
 mate. It produces the beft of wheat and grain of all defcriptions, 
 and I have underftood from the inhabitants, that rarely, if ever, 
 has their grain fuffered from blight or ruft, ‘The foil in this part 
 
 27 
 

 
 a 
 
 of the Diftrict is a friable red clay and loam, and this indeed,-as 
 far as fell within my obfervation, is the general character of the 
 foil of the Diftrict, except on the River Riftigouche, where the 
 land is of a richer defcription. With refpect fo the Lakes in this 
 Diftrict, I know nothing, never having advanced any diftance in- 
 land. ‘The principal Rivers are thofe which empty into the north- 
 weft and fouth-weft branches of Gafpé Bay, the River St. John, 
 at Douglafs Town, in the fame Bay, the River at Malbay, the 
 Grand River, near Cape Defpair, the Rivers Great and Little Pa- 
 bos; Port Daniel, Eaft, Nouvelle, Bonaventure, Great and Little 
 Cafcapedia Rivers, and the Rivers Nouvelle and Rifti gouche, which 
 Jaft is the principal River in the Diftrict, the other Rivers above 
 mentioned, though confiderable ftreams, are navigable only by 
 boats or canoes; they may generally be compared in fize to the 
 St. Charles, the Chaudiere and the Jacques Cartier, near Quebec ; 
 they are fufficiently large and deep for rafting down pine timber 
 from the interior of the country. The Riftigouche is navigable 
 by {chooners and even larger veffels, as far up as the Indian Vil- 
 lage, which I fuppofe may be about fifteen or fixteen miles from 
 the mouth of the River, or Maguacha Point, probably a little 
 more or lefs. The Commiffioners for the Gafpé Land Claims, 
 Mefirs. J. T. Tafchereau and L. M. Juchereau Duchefnay, have 
 made a Cenfus and detailed Statiftical Report of this DiftriG, to 
 his Lordfhip the Governor in Chief, which, were a copy laid be~ 
 fore this Committee, would afford much more correét and fatisfac- 
 tory information on the fubject of the prefent enquiry, than my | 
 recollection enables me now to give, as they were the refult of 
 the joint obfervations of thefe Gentlemen, and of the moft care- 
 ful inveftigation of the reports of thofe who might be depended 
 upon, in fuch inftances as did not fall within their own immediate 
 view. 
 
 Q. What are the Mineralogical and Foffil productions of the 
 Diftrict ? | 
 
 A, My knowledge of mineralogy is fo exceedingly fuperficial, 
 that I muft acknowledge myfelf wholly incompetent to {peak asa 
 mineralogift : I can therefore only fpeak as an ordinary obferver 
 of the different materials of this defcription which may {trike the 
 attention of the traveller. The Diftrict abounds with lime, par- 
 ticularly Gafpé Bay, the north fhore of which is, from its entrance 
 including Cape Gafpé upwards, a feries of capes and precipices of 
 the beft lime ftone. In the Bay of Chaleurs it is not fo abundant, 
 the coaft in that part of the Diftrict exhibiting a chain of low 
 capes of a red fandy ftone, fimilar to that defcription of ftone 
 called pudding, which by the action of the fea and weather, falls 
 and crumbles into fine gravel and fand. At and near Percé,: in 
 certain {pots, the capes appear to be partly of variegated marble, 
 and is compofed of marine petrifactions, In New-Carlifle, at the 
 
 
 
 
 
oO 
 
 29 
 
 diftance of three or four iniles from the fea fide, at a fmall lake, 
 
 is a bed of fhell marle, faid to be of a fuperior kind, and of which 
 
 I have feen fpecimens. There are no doubt coal mines in feveral 
 ¥ parts of this Diftrict ; at Douglafs Town, in Gafpé Bay, on the 
 . fouthern bank of the River St. John, I collected a fmall quantity 
 of tarry and inflammable matter, which oozes in confiderable 
 quantity from the earth about high water mark, in colour and 
 {mell refembling coal tar, which I believe to be afphaltum, or fome 
 other fpecies of bitumen ; it is now depofited at the Mufeum of 
 the Quebec Seminary. On digging the furface of the ground, I 
 found a black coal coloured earth, and was informed by fone of 
 the inhabitants that pieces of coal had frequently been found about 
 that place. In Gafpé Bay, and in the Bay of Chaleurs, at Paspe- 
 biac, I found feveral fpecimens of valuable pebbles, which have 
 fince, at my requeft, been wrought by a Lapidary in Quebec, by 
 whom I am informed that they are of the moft valuable Corne- 
 lian, Agate and Jafper, fuperior to any of the kind found in Eu- 
 rope, and equal to thofe of India. 
 
 Q. What extent of this Diftrict is actually fettled ? 
 
 A. The Diftrict, compared with its extent and capabilities, is 
 very thinly fettled, and that only along the fea coaft, in places 
 adapted to the fifheries, and where veflels can approach and an- 
 chor in fafety for the purpofes of traffic. 
 
 Q. What is the ftate of the Roads in the faid Diftrict ? 
 
 A. The ftate of the roads is exceedingly bad, and in many in- 
 habited places the beach on the water fide is the only practicable 
 road. 
 
 Q. What are the caufes which in your eftimation have contri- 
 buted to advance or retard the fettlement of the faid Diftrict ? 
 
 A. The caufes which have contributed to retard the fettlement 
 of this Diftrict, are various, but it appears to me they may prin- 
 cipally be comprehended in the three following : 
 
 First.—The abfolute want of titles to the lands upon which the 
 people have for many years been eftablifhed, and the confequent 
 apprehenfion of the poffeffors, that they at fome future day might 
 be troubled in their poffeflion. The inhabitants could not there- 
 fore improve thofe lands with cheerfulnefs, which they were not 
 certain of enjoying. ‘This caufe may however now be confidered 
 as almoft entirely removed, by the Act paffed by the Legiflature 
 of the Province, to fecure the inhabitants of that Diftrict in the 
 possession and enjoyment of their lands, (59th Geo. III. Chap. 3. 
 a» Second.—The neglected ftate of the roads in the Diftrict, an 
 ‘ the little attention paid to enforce the Road Laws. This may 
 
 however in a great degree have refulted from the circumftance 
 juft above mentioned, and I fhould fuppofe, that as the people in 
 that’Diftriot are fhortly to obtain their titles, according to law, 
 more attention will be paid to be fubject than heretofore, as they 
 
 
 
 
 
— ata ge nae aia ie 
 
 | 
 
 4 
 
 tip 
 
 oe |: 
 
 FF 
 
 a 3h 
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 Ag 
 
 ——— - 
 ———— _ 
 -~—- 
 
 
 
 ROE a 
 
 . 
 
 30 
 
 neceffarily will then become more than ever interefted in improv- 
 ing their old roads and opening new ones. 
 
 Third.—The defective fyftem of Civil Judicature, as eftablifhed 
 by law for that Diftrict, and the omiffion for many years paft to 
 hold Courts of Quarter Seffions for the trial of mifdemeanors and 
 other offences cognizable in thofe Courts. The Provincial Judge 
 for that Diftrict can only take cognizance in caufes amounting to 
 £20, nor can he, as done in the other Diftricts, iffue Writs againft 
 real property for fums exceeding £10 fterling, by which creditors 
 in this Diftrict are more difadvantageoufly fituated than in other 
 parts of Lower-Canada. For debts exceeding £20, fuitors muft 
 come to the Quebec Courts. The delay and expenfe attending 
 fuits to be carried on at fo great a diftance from home, are fre- 
 quently fuch as to deter them from profecuting, preferring rather 
 to forego the debt altogether, or wait until it may pleafe the debtor 
 to difcharge it. ‘The difadvantages under which the trade is placed 
 in this refpect, are very great, and difcouraging to the merchants. 
 The want of Criminal Courts, and Courts of Quarter Seffions, 
 for the trial of offenders againft the laws, is productive of the moft 
 ferious evils. ‘The impunity of crime in that Diftrict, for want of 
 Criminal Courts, daily and hourly leads to a repetition of the moft 
 daring and atrocious outrages, infomuch that no man in the Dis- 
 trict may be faid to be fecure in perfon or property. The com- 
 plaints on this fubject are loud, and I am convinced that this is 
 one very material caufe by which the improvement of the Diftrict 
 has been and {till is retarded. | 
 
 Mr. Alexander Morrifon, of the City of Quebec, Cooper, ap- 
 peared before your Committee. 
 
 Q. Are you acquainted with the River Saguenay, and what 
 means had you of becoming acquainted with it ? 
 
 A. I refided three years at T'adouflac, at the entrance of the Ri- 
 ver Saguenay. I have been up the River as far as Chicoutimy, 
 which is 26 leagues, or thereabout, up this River. I was coming 
 and going there for fourteen years. 
 
 Q. What is the fize of this River ? 
 
 A. ‘This River is about half a league broad ; a man of war can 
 afcend it for twenty-three leagues, and veflels of a hundred tons 
 burthen may go as far as Chicoutimy. 
 
 Q. What is the climate of the country about Lake St. Johns ? 
 
 A. As far as I underftand from travellers, it is much the fame 
 as that of Quebec. 
 
 Mr. M‘Nicol, of Murray Bay, appeared before your Committee. 
 
 Q. Do you know the lands fituate on the River Saguenay ? 
 
 A. I have no other knowledge of that country than what I de- 
 rive from the Voyageurs. 
 
 Q. How far is the River Saguenay navigable ? 
 
 7—™ 
 
 
 
$1 
 
 A. It is navigable for large veffels for thirty leagues, and for 
 smiull crafts as far as Chicoutimy. 
 
 Q. Are there on both fides of the River Saguenay lands fit for 
 
 ii cultivation ? 
 t A. Yes; but I cannot fay how far. 
 
 Q. What is the climate ? 
 
 A. The climate is good there, and perhaps better than that of 
 Quebec, becaufe of its weftern expofure. 
 
 Q. What is the foil ? 
 
 A. The foil, generally fpeaking, is good, and fit for cultivation, 
 efpecially at Haha Bay and Chicoutimy. I know the foil towards 
 Lake St. Jean, where there formerly was a fettlement of Jefuits, 
 is good, and that the climate is mild enough for melons to thrive 
 there. It is faid to be the beft climate in Lower-Canada. 
 
 Q. Do you poffefs any land or other property in that neigh- 
 bourhood ? | 
 A. Tam Co-Seignior of the Seigniory of Murray Bay, in right 
 of my wife ? : 
 Q. Have you any knowledge of the quality of the timber in 
 thofe parts ? 
 | A. At Chicoutimy there is good white pine, white ath, walnut, 
 i elm and beech. 
 
 Q. Do you know whether there are in your parts any young 
 people who would like to fettle on the River Saguenay, towards 
 Lake St. Jean, and fhould you not like yourfelf to have a Seignio- 
 ry there ? 
 
 A. If that part of the country were to be conceded, I am per~ 
 : fuaded there are a great many people in our parts who would like 
 
 to fettle there. 
 
 Richard Coughtrie, yeoman, of Valcartier, in the Seigniory of 
 St. Gabriel, appeared before your Committee. 
 
 Q. When was the fettlement of Valcartier commenced ? 
 
 A. In the month of Auguft 1816 
 
 Q. What diftance were the firft clearings of Valcartier from 
 the laft Canadian fettlements ? 
 
 _ A. Two leagues. 
 
 Q. What was the ftate of the roads previous to the commence- 
 ment of that fettlement, between the laft Canadian fettlements and 
 this new eftablifhment ? 
 
 | A. There was no road paffable for a cart, or even for a fingle 
 * horfe, thefe two leagues, during the fummer feafon, by reafon of 
 the morafles and {mall ftreams which interfected this road ; thefe 
 being frozen in the winter, the Canadian fettlers were enabled to 
 go a diftance of a league and a half this road, which they did for 
 
 the purpofe of getting wood, 
 
 
 
{ 
 1 
 
 ’ 
 ihe 
 at 
 AM 
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 U 
 
 j 
 ai! 
 
 a 
 
 ge 
 
 4 
 ——— 
 
 3 e 
 
 
 
 , 
 
 32 
 
  Q. What extent of road was made by the Grantees of this 
 tract ? 3 
 
 A. Two thirds of a league. 
 
 Q. Did you at any time, and when, make a Statiftical Table of 
 this fettlement ? 
 
 A. Yes, I aflifted inthe making out one in the autumn of 1820, 
 and at the requeft of the Grantees I made out another in the 
 month of January, 1821, both of which I have in my pofleffion. 
 
 Q. be you tranfmit to the Committee thefe Statiftical State- 
 ments ! 
 
 Mr. Coughtrie then produced to the Committee the faid Sta- 
 tiftical Statements, which are as followeth : 
 
 
 
STATISTICAL TABLE OF THE: SETTLEMENT OF 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 VALCARTIER. 
 
 < 3g Sg SE See ae ee 
 26 
 . a 7 » 2 1 
 Names of Householders. ¥ Sis ,1/ 21 g , ° § 
 2B 6i/SisisisisZigisis ss 
 
 = a ra = “a = a oP) = a = 
 ° SisetisalS |] & m | 3 2 = § = 
 
 
 
 uring the winter feafon. 
 
 
 

 
 , 
 
 36 
 
 Q. Does this afford a fair profpect of maintaining them by 
 their labour ? 
 
 A: Yes, 
 
 Q. What upon an average has been the amount of the advan- 
 ces you have been obliged to make to them up to’this feafon ? 
 ~ A. Upon an average about feven pounds. 
 
 Q. Is the value of their work equal to that fum ? 
 
 A. Not at the prefent time; the latenefs of the feafon, joined 
 to a difficulty of finding out where the lands were which they 
 were to clear, retarded them ; they were likewife employed in 
 building a houfe, and they were obliged to cut the under brufh- 
 wood for the diftance of about two miles, to make a path to their 
 work. 
 
 Q. Do you think that an honeft and induftrions emigrant, ob- 
 taining a job of this nature, and a leafe upon fhares of the land 
 cleared by him for a term of three years Or more, would have a 
 _ fair profpect of fupporting his family, and becoming himfelf ulti- 
 
 mately a landholder ? | 
 
 A. Yes. | 
 
 Q. I believe you are yourfelf an emigrant, and of what coun- 
 try ? 
 
 A. Yes, I am from Scotland. 
 
 Q. How long have you been in this country, and how long 
 have you been employed fince your arrival here ? 
 
 A. I have been three years in this country in May laft. Icame 
 out as a hired farm fervant to John Neilfon, Efquire, of this City, 
 and refided with him in that capacity from the time of my arrival 
 to the month of September 1819. "Mr. Neilfon, to oblige me, 
 had previoufly fold to me at a moderate rate, a farm at Valcartier, 
 upon which there was no clearing, of three arpents in front, upon 
 thirty in depth, where I now refide. I fubfequently obtained 
 from the Commiffioners of the Jefuits’ Eftates, in the month of 
 November, 1819, in common with nine others, a lot of ground of 
 three acres in front, by fomewhat more than thirty acres in depth, 
 in the fifth conceffion. | 
 
 Q. Is this the fame fifth conceffion which is mentioned in the 
 Statiftical Table which you laid before this Committee ? 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. What is the defcription of perfons who have fo fettled in 
 the fifth conceffion, what is their country, and from whence has 
 been derived their means of fubfiftence fince they have eftablifhed 
 themfelves at Valcartier ? 
 
 A. All, but one Canadian, are emigrants from Scotland ‘and 
 Ireland; five of them are Irifhmen, four of them Scotchmen : _ 
 they arrived here chiefly in the year 1818, ~~ 
 
 Q. Have they all a fair profpect, by induftry and honefty, to 
 
 “room 
 
 
 
BT ee 
 
 become landholders, and to fupport their families with the pro- 
 duce of their farms ? 
 A. Yes. 
 ) Q. Are there any ungranted lands in that Seigniory adjoining 
 the actual fettlements, fufceptible of cultivation ; and if fo, how 
 many lots ? 
 
 A. I have reafon to believe that there are five lots in the fifth 
 conceflion, about ten lots, or perhaps more, in the rear of the 
 lands granted to Doctor Blanchet, and four lots between the land 
 ufed as woodlands and the land granted to Lewis Foy, Efquire. 
 
 Q. Have you any knowledge or information of the lands lying 
 on the other fide of the Jacques Cartier River, beyond the moun- 
 tains by which that river is immediately skirted ? 
 
 A. Yes, 
 
 Q. What is the quality of the fame ? 
 
 A. It is equai if not fuperior to the lands at Valcartier actually 
 fettled. Indeed, generally, the foil on that fhore of the Jacques 
 Cartier River is better than on this. 
 
 Q. Is it watered by any and what ftreams ? 
 
 A. The River aux Pins, which runs in a foutherly direction, 
 and empties itfelf, at a diftance of about five leagues, in the Lake 
 Ontarietsi, which laft lake is about five leagues in length, and 
 difcharges itfelf into the Jacques Cartier. 
 
 . Q. In what length of time does an able bodied emigrant ufually 
 learn to chop wood and clear land, and build log houfes and 
 barns ? 
 
 A. In about three months. 
 
 » 
 
 Mr. Angus Brownfon, Timber Merchant, refiding at Three-Ri- 
 vers, appeared before your Committee, and anfwered as follows :— 
 
 Q. Are you acquainted with the Country lying beyond the fet- 
 tied Country on the St. Maurice ? 
 
 A. Yes, I am. 
 
 Q. Is there any and what extent of cultivable ground within 
 this tract? What is the face of the Country, the nature of the 
 Soil, the kinds and defcription of Timber, the Lakes and Rivers, 
 and their courfes, the fize of the fame, and how far navigable - 
 within this traét, and what have been your means of information 
 in thefe particulars ? ; 
 
 A. In the month of Auguft, 1818, I was induced, by informa- 
 tion of there being Red Pine Timber fit for His Majetty’s Navy, 
 to go about 40 leagues up the River Saint Maurice, being authori- 
 zed by Mefirs. P. Patterfon & Co. who had a licence from the 
 Commiffioners of His Majefty’s Navy. I found the Timber an- 
 fwer my expectations, confequently proceeded in cutting and fqua- 
 
 
 
 a 
 
 
 

 
 38 
 
 ting and getting it down; finding fome difficulty in getting up 
 provifions, it induced me to cultivate in the month of June, 1819, 
 a piece of land fufficient to fow twelve buthels of Oats, two buth- 
 els of barley, twenty bufhels of potatoes, half an acre of turnips, and 
 two bufhels Timothy, which produced as well as could be expect+ 
 ed, confidering the ftate of the cultivation of the land, the Tim- 
 ber being cleared from the land at a late feafon of the year. I 
 cannot exactly ftate what was the amount of the Crop, as I gave 
 it to my Oxen and Horfes, without its either being thrafhed or 
 meafured. I planted Potatoes the next year, from which I alfo 
 hada good Crop. Mr. Archibald Fairfield, who was engaged in 
 the fame bufinefs under the fame licence, alfo fowed forty bufhels 
 of Oats, and thirty bufhels of Potatoes for two fucceflive years, 
 from which he alfo had a handfome return. This fowing and 
 planting was upon the Points and Iflands of the River Saint Mau- 
 rice, the uplands being high and rough, and not fo readily culti- 
 vated at this place. Mr. Fairfield’s fowing was partly twenty 
 leagues and partly ten leagues below mine. He fowed as well on 
 the high lands as on the low lands, the country not being fo rough. 
 My fowing was made at about forty leagues from Three-Riyers. 
 From the opportunity I had of exploring the lands on the Saint 
 Maurice, I am of opinion that thefe lands are fufceptible of culti- 
 vation from the Forges of Saint. Maurice, for fifteen leagues on 
 each fide of the River, and then the country becomes rough and 
 mountainous. Above the above mentioned fifteen leagues, I faw 
 many {pots fufceptible of cultivation, but thefe being too fmall, 
 they would hardly admit of any confiderable fettlement. ‘The 
 firft fifteen leagues the Timber is Maple, Beech, Elm, Ath, But- 
 ternut, Red Pine, White Pine, Spruce, Balfam, White and 
 Black Birch. The Timber above this part of the River and on the 
 more rough and mountainous parts, confift on the mountains prin- 
 cipally of White Birch and fmall Red Pine, on the more even 
 parts of it the Timber is much the fame as on the first mentioned 
 fifteen leagues. For the first fifteen leagues the foil is various. On 
 the fmootheft and best part of the. Country it is loam, with a {mall 
 coat of black foil, and much the fame as in the Eaftern Town- 
 _thips. The Hills are more rocky than the Lower Lands. Above 
 thefe fifteen leagues the foil on the fimall cultivable {pots, is much 
 the fame as below, but the mountains are rocky and hardly culti- 
 vable. The courfe of the River is generally from north to fouth, 
 inclining a little to the east, and it is navigable for five leagues 
 from the Town of Three-Rivers to the Portage Gabeille. I do 
 not recollect the length of the Portages, nor the height of the 
 Falls, not havingmy memorandums with me, which I took when 
 I travelled through that. part of the country, thefe being at Three- 
 Rivers, but I wiil fend them on my arrival. From the Portage 
 
 
 
OO ae 
 
 39 
 
 Gabelle, about one mile to Portage aux Gres is navigable, and from 
 thence about a league and one half to Portage Shawinigan, is 
 again navigable for Bateaux, from thence to aux Hlétres,a league 
 and a half from aur Hétres to Grand’ Mere about four miles, from 
 thence to Petit-Pile about four miles, from thence to Grand- 
 Pile about a league. The Saint Maurice from Grand- Pile for 
 twenty-fix leagues is navigable for Bateaux to the Portage of the 
 cate with a gentle current, with the exception of a few fmall 
 apids, 
 
 The River Saint Maurice is entirely navigable for Bateaux, with 
 the exception of the above mentioned feven portages, of which to 
 the best of my recollection the fhortest is about two acres, and the 
 longest about nine acres. 
 
 There are a number of {mall Lakes, from which there arife {mall 
 Rivers and Brooks, which difcharge themfelves into the Saint 
 Maurice, but which are not navigable. But there are fome larger 
 Rivers which difcharge themfe!ves into the Saint Maurice, which 
 are able to carry canoes; the first is the River which falls into the 
 Saint Maurice at the Portage of Shawinigan, the next is the Ri- 
 ver Mickinack, about nineteen leagues from Three-Rivers, on the 
 east fide of the River, the next and largest one is the Mattouin, 
 which is about one fourth of the fize of the Saint Maurice, running 
 from weft to eaft, and falling into the Saint Maurice about twenty 
 three leagues above Three-Rivers, on the weft fide of the River ; 
 this River is of confiderable length. The next River isthe River 
 aux Rats, where there are fome buildings belonging to the 
 North-Weft Company, which are now deferted, about thirty- 
 three leagues above Three-Rivers. Then comes /a. Riviére Croche, 
 about thirty-eight leagues from Three-Rivers, on the eaft fide of 
 the Saint Maurice. 
 
 Above the River aux Rats about ten acres, there is a small one 
 nearly as big as the River awxv Rats, which falls into the Saint 
 Maurice. 
 
 From the River Afattouin upward, mountains in many places 
 come quite down to the fhore, and are rocky, and fome of them 
 high. I can be pofitive in faying that the River Saint Maurice is 
 navigable for about forty leagues, having afcended it myfelf in a 
 Bateau that diftance. We alfo drove up twenty-eight oxen in the 
 fummer on the banks, and onfhore. In the winter 1819, we 
 had about fixty train loads of Provifions going up the River, all 
 the way on the ice, with the exception of the Portages, partly as 
 far as twenty leagues, and partly as far as forty leagues. I was in 
 this part of the sree in the spring and late in the fall, and 
 I obferved that the was not earlier in the fall nor later in 
 
 the fpring than at Three-Rivers, and in the winter there was lefs 
 7am by e2 
 
 i 
 \ 
 
 
 

 
 a 
 
 40 
 Snow in that part than at Three-Rivers. I have made thefe ob- 
 
 fervations myfelf for two years. Ihave never been more than. 
 
 four miles back in the interior, leaving the Saint Maurice, but 
 from the appearance of the Country on both fides of the River, for 
 fifteen leagues above Three-Rivers, I am of opinion that there is 
 extent of land on both fides fo as to admit of !arge Settlements. 
 
 I have been in rear of Berthier, and have afcended the Affomp- 
 tion River, I alfo afcended the Champlain. 
 
 Q. To the beft of your knowledge and judgment, do you think 
 that there are any and what Wafte Lands of the Crown {fusceptible 
 of cultivation, lying in the rear of Champlain, Cap de la Magde- 
 
 leine, Three-Rivers, Pointe du Lac, Machiche, River du Loup,. 
 
 - Maskinongé, St. Cuthbert and Berthier ? 
 
 A. My opinion is that, for forty-five miles from the Saint Law- 
 rence, in the rear of the fettlements in the above mentioned parifh- 
 es, the greater part is fufceptible of cultivation. This opinion 
 is founded upon perfonal obfervation of the lands in the rear of 
 
 Champlain, of the lands on the borders of Saint Maurice, and the. 
 
 lands in the rear of Berthier. 
 
 Q. What are the Boundaries of the Seigniory of Le Cap de la 
 Magdeleine, and what is its extent ? 
 
 A. It is bounded in front by the Saint Lawrence, on the weft by 
 the Saint Maurice, two leagues in front, and twenty in depth.— 
 The Saint Maurice abounds with Fifh; we caught and took in 
 Seines and with hooks, Bafs, Pike, Pickerel, Trout, the White 
 Fifh, such as they take it in Lake Ontario, and whichis not met 
 with in the Saint Lawrence; and there is likewife a fort of fith 
 called Owatassa, the Englifh nor French name whereof, I do not 
 know, weighing from one to two pounds, moft of these, particu- 
 larly the pickerel, are of a fuperior quality and flavour. "When 
 the canoes ftopt in the evening, we found no difficulty in taking 
 what fifh we wanted for our fupper, whilft the effects were taken 
 out of the canoes, and fire was making bythe men. ‘There are 
 Moofe-Deer, Beaver, Otter and Rabbits in very great abundance, 
 fo much fo, that we had no difficulty whatever to take fo many as 
 we wanted for twenty men ; there are alfo fome Ducks, but not 
 many. 
 
 Q. Towhat extent do the actuel Settlements in the Seigniory 
 of Le Cap de la Magdeleine extend ? 
 
 A. There is one Conceffion of forty arpents wholly fettled, 
 and one of twenty arpents partly fettled; and five or fix houfes 
 upon the Saint Maurice, below the Forges. 
 
 Q. What part of the Seigniory of Cap de la Magdeleine do you 
 think would be beft fituated for a new Settlement, and what ex- 
 tent of: ground would be found therein fufceptible of cultivation ? 
 and are there any and what obftacles to be furmountcd to effect 
 fuch fettlement ? 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 41 
 
 A. Not having explored the rear of the Cap de la Magdeleine, 
 and having no means of judging of the extent of good land in it, 
 except of what I faw on afcending the Saint Maurice, as ftated 
 above, I cannot venture to offer the Committee any conjeéture as 
 to the extent of good land there; if upon enquiry, a Settlement 
 was to be effected in the rear of the actual Settlements in that Sei- 
 gniory, I apprehend that the beft courfe would be to continue the 
 road on the weftern fide of the Saint Maurice, which leads from 
 Three-Rivers to the Forges, being a diftance of about three leagues, 
 to continue that road to a point oppofite the place in the Seignio- 
 ry of Cap de la Magdeleine, where the new Settlement was to be 
 effected, and communicate therewith by means of a Ferry. By 
 this means fettlements might be effected on both fides of the Saint 
 Maurice, and one leading road, whereof three leagues are already 
 made, would enable both Settlements to communicate with Three 
 Rivers. 
 
 Q. Isthere any and what interval of ground not fufceptible of 
 cultivation, between the Forges of Saint Maurice, and the cultiva- 
 ble ground of which you have already {poken ? 
 
 A. Yes, about a league. 
 
 Q. Are there any and what number of Iflands, and of what 
 extent, inthat part of the River Saint Maurice which you have 
 explored, and of what quality of land ? 
 
 A. There are fourteen or more {mall Iflands from one to fifty 
 acres in extent, about one half of thefe is good land and the lar- 
 geft are better than the fmaller. 
 
 Michel Prevost, Esquire, one of the Members of this House, gave 
 the following information :— 
 
 Q. Where do you live ? 
 
 A. 1 have lived forty years in the village of Saint Jacques, situate 
 in the rear of the village of L’?Assomption, and four leagues north of the 
 River Saint Lawrence. 
 
 Q. Have you had occasion to examine the lands situate in. the rear of 
 the Seigniory of Saint Sulpice ? 
 
 A. Yes, for about three leagues. I do not know the name of the 
 Township. No part of that Township is settled yet, with the exception 
 of one English Family, which has been there since the Spring of 1820. 
 At the end of those three leagues, there is a chain of Mountains, and 
 beyond those Mountains, are rich meadows, on which some persons with- 
 out any right whatever, have mown upwards of six thousand bundles of 
 Hay. These Meadows are upwards of three leagues in extent. There 
 are also two or three Lakes upon those mountains which abound in Fish. 
 
 These lands which are very fit for cultivation extend upwards of six 
 leagues. ‘The kind of wood produced there, is hard wood, Oak, Pine, 
 and a great quantity of Maple. Fifty thousand pounds weight of Sugar 
 and upwards, are made there annually. A number of Saw Mills might 
 
 be erected there at the outlet of those Lakes. There are Ronde 
 openas far as the Township. ‘ good 
 
 
 

 
 42 
 
 -Q. Would the youth of your parts desire to settle on those lands, and 
 what prevents their so doing ? 
 A. I believe many of them would settle there, because the whole Sei- 
 niory is already settled. Some of them had settled there, but having 
 ae their Settlements, by means of the persons who have obtained Grants 
 from the Crown, the others in disgust have avoided doing the same thing. 
 - Phey are besides given to understand that it is very difficult to obtain any, 
 and that no survey has as yet taken place. 
 
 Jacques Deligny, Esquire, one of the Members of this House, gave 
 your Committee the information following : 
 
 ©. Where do yon reside ? 
 
 A. At the village of Berthier, in the Seigniory of Berthier. 
 
 * Q. Do you know the Crown Lands, in the rear of that Seigniory ? 
 ’ A. Yes, those called the Township of Rawdon and Kildare, the latter 
 especially. 
 
 Q. What is the nature and quality of the soil in the Township of Kil. 
 
 dare, 
 . A. Most of the lands are susceptible of cultivation. There are some 
 rocks. From what I have heard from all those who have visited the spot, 
 the soil isa grey earth and clay, covered with black mould. Some other 
 parts are yellow and sandy earth fit for Agriculture. The part of this 
 Township granted to the late Mr. Vondenvelden, has been about ten years 
 settled. The kind of wood in this Township is in great part hard wood. 
 The rest of the Township is in a state of nature, with the exception 
 of some acrés which are cultivated by the Inhabitants of the Parish of St. 
 Paul, who had no title. This was chiefly in hollows or meadows. The 
 reason why those Crown Lands are not as yet settled, is, that the inha- 
 bitants do not know who to apply to for them, although they are in 
 great want of them, and have already made repeated applications to the 
 Government on this subject, without success. To such a degree are ma- 
 yy of the inhabitants in want of lands, as even to have offered to purchase 
 wood lands from the Seignior, but have been refused. To my knowledge 
 many inhabitants who have applied to the Seignior of Sainte Elizabeth, 
 for lands in that Seigniory, have not succeeded in obtaining a grant of 
 them ; the Seignior saying he could not at the time grant them. They 
 lease to them, however, tracts covered with Maple (des Sucreries) at the 
 rate of twelve pounds of sugar, for every hundred Maple Trees. 
 
 The Township of Rawdon, is separated from that of Kildare, by the 
 Seigniory of Ramesay. Mr. Antrobus has no title to that Township, al- 
 though he is in possession of it, and leases extensive Maple tracts (Su- 
 ereries) im that Township. The lands in that Township are very fit for 
 cultivation, especially in the neighbourhood of the Lakes, which are in 
 that Township. As yet, no part is settled. 
 
 Alexis Moussaux, Esquire, a Member of this House, gave the infors 
 mation following :— 
 
 That he knowsthe Townships of Kildare and Rawdon. Mr. Antro- 
 bus is in possession of the latter, and lets tracts covered with Maple, (Su- 
 creries} but does not grant any land. The refusal of the Seigniors of 
 
 r™ 
 
 
 
ess, 
 
 43 
 
 Berthier to concede lands in the rear of their Seigniory, is the 
 occasion of there not being any Roads for such inhabitants as might be ia- 
 duced to take lands in the Townships. The Seigniors refuse to concede 
 all the } asa lands, as those which are covered with fine wood, &c. and 
 ) only offer to grant those which are rocky and scarce fit for cultivation; 
 
 If there are tracts of Maple, (des Sucreries) on those good lands, they 
 lease them. 
 
 Mr. Dumont, one of the Members of this House, appeared before 
 your Committee, and stated as follows :— 
 
 It is impossible that lands as they are now granted, can suit the native 
 French Canadians, for they cannot ever succeed in opening and cultivating 
 their lands. For instance, a Canadian who is proprietor of a Lot in a gi- 
 ven Township, settles there. He makes a clearing. He wantsa cleared 
 interval, du Découvert. He wants fences of separation. He wants water 
 courses across several lots belonging to Government, the Protestant Cler- 
 gy, or rich Proprietors. Is there a moral possibility of his procuring 
 what is required of neighbourhood ? This is one of the chief obstacles 
 to the settling of the Townships. 
 
 
 
 Mi. Philemon Wright, of Hull, in the Province of Lower-Canada, 
 appeared before your Committee and gave the following information :— 
 
 I have resided in this Country twenty-three years. Previous to residing 
 
 ' > in this country, I resided in the Province of Massachusetts; I was indu- 
 ced to come in this country, by the Proclamarion of General Clarke, 
 which held forth the prospect of obtaining lands, to persons desirous of 
 
 investing Capital in land, and under their form of Government. 
 
 Q. Did you obtain a grant of any and what waste lands of the Crown, 
 and at what time? : 
 
 A. I was leader for a quarter of a Towuship- Ten of us obtained a 
 patent for twelve hundred acreseach I surveyed the whole of the Town- 
 ship of Hull, wherein these lands were situated, being a ‘Township of 
 §2429 acres, I got the order in Council, on the 22d March 1800, the 
 patent was issued in 1806. 
 
 Q. At what expense was this survey made ? 
 
 A. I cannot speak to the exact amount of the expense, it could not be 
 less thau £700. The expenses were greatly increased by the remoteness 
 of that Township from any other Settlement, being at a distance there- 
 from of not less than $0 miles. This Survey contained the concession 
 lines as well as the outlines, and I have not yet been reimbursed by the 
 éther Grantees of the other three fourths of this Township, for their pro- 
 portion of this expense. 
 
 Q. What portion of the land given to your associates, remained in 
 their hands ? 
 
 A. The agreement between me and my associates was that I should 
 
 ’ pay out of my own pocket, all the expenses of survey, of patent fees 
 and travelling expenses, in consideration whereof, they were to assign to 
 me, 1000 acres each, out of the 1200 assigned to them, which was ac- 
 cordingly done, : 
 
 OOOO 
 
 
 

 
 ee ee eee —— 
 , Teal _= a  . ee ee axs..4 — 7 
 Seve Seo = Sar = ai a = = 
 a 
 
 
 
 44 
 
 Q. What is the number of acres of ground cleared, in your hands and 
 in the hands of your sons? 
 
 A. About three thousand acres. 
 
 Q. In what state have been and are now the Roads and Highways in 
 the Township of Hull, how and in what manner have they been made, 
 kept up and repaired ? 
 
 A. When I first settled in the Township of Hull, there was nota sin- 
 gle Tree cut down. I have opened all the roads with some assistance, 
 to make it possible for my people to pass and repass. One stone cause- 
 way in particular, cost me above one thousand pounds. The total of the 
 amount of money, spent by me and some of my neighbours upon these 
 roads, for the twenty years past, amounts’ to £2211] 17s. 6d. besides 
 £955 expended by the Commissioners of the County of York, making a 
 total of £3166 17s. 6. and the roads in the front of the Township are 
 now very good. 
 
 Q. What is the extent of the Roads made in the said Township, with 
 this money ? 
 
 A. About thirty miles, 
 
 Q. Are there any and what obstacles to making roads in the new 
 Townships ? 
 
 A. The Crown and Clergy Reserves, constitute one great obstacle to 
 the improvement of the Internal Communications of the Townships. The 
 large tracts of Land, in the possession of proprietors absent from the Pro- 
 vince, constitute another great obstacle, 
 
 Q. What is the state of Education in that Township ; what is the num- 
 ber of Schools and Scholars, and what is taught therein ? 
 
 A. There are three School Houses, and about 150 Scholars, who are 
 taught Reading, Writing and Arithmetic. 
 
 Q. What are these Schools maintained by ? 
 
 A. By voluntary subscriptions for ten years past. ‘Twelve years ago 
 there was a Schoolmaster sent to Hull by Government, but he only staid 
 two years and then he left the Settlement. 
 
 Q. How are the Roads from Hull to Montreal ? 
 
 A. The Communication from Hull to Montreal is bad, impraticable 
 for any horse orteam. ‘There has been, by the Commissioners for the 
 County of York, a Road cut out of sixteen feet wide, for sixty-four 
 miles to the head of Long Sault, and there has been seventy-one Bridges 
 built. ‘There are four places where either ferries must be established, 
 or large Bridges built, and the ravines or gullies filled up to enable Teams 
 to pass. ‘The remaining sixty miles to Montreal are passable. 
 
 Q. Are the Lands through which the road from Hull to Long Sauk 
 passes in the hands of large or small proprietors? 
 
 A. Generally in the hands of large proprietors, absentees from the 
 Province. 
 
 _ Q. Have you had any and what means of obtaining information of the 
 quality of the soil on the north shore of the Ottawa ? 
 
 A. For the last twenty-three years, I have devoted much of my time 
 to obtain this information, and I believe the soil to be very good for stock 
 farms in particular, and any other uses. | 
 
 Q. Do you think that there is any considerable tract of country in the 
 
 
 
 4 
 , 
 q 
 
 
 
Re 
 
 
 
 teat of the present settlements, fit for cultivation, on the north shore of 
 the Ottawa? 
 
 A. Yes, I consider it fit for settlements up the River Ottawa, for one 
 hundred miles, even the whole of the north shore, from River du Loup 
 about two hundred and fifty miles to Fort Coulanges. And I have been 
 credibly informed that the Country to the Lake Temiscaming, which is 
 said to be as large a Lake as Lake Champlain, is fertile, and will make 
 good Settlements in some future time. Mr. M‘Kay sent down his Boats 
 two years ago in the Spring, and got thirty-six bushels of potatoes, and 
 planted them on Lake Temiscaming, he has since. told me that they 
 grew exceedingly well. He took likewise up some Peas and other seeds, 
 which succeeded likewise well. _He likewise purchased in the Township 
 of Hull, a Bull, some Cows and Calves for the use of his Farm on that 
 Lake. The distance of this Lake from Montreal is about four hundred 
 miles to the north-west. I was likewise applied to about two years ago, 
 by a Mr. Fisher, on the Lake Sable, about ninety miles to the north of 
 the Grand river, up the river aux Liévres, for a Bull, a Cow, and a Hei- 
 fer Calf, and he drove them from the ‘Township of Hull tothe Lake Sa- 
 ble. I am since informed that he is doing extremely well, 
 
 Q. Could a Road be carried from the Township of Hull to any and 
 what point of the River Saint Maurice, or to any and what point of the 
 Rivers emptying themselves into the Saint Lawrence, between the Em- 
 bouchures of the Ottawa and the St. Maurice ? 
 
 A. I am of opinion, and have been so for a number of years past, that 
 a Road might be made from the Township of Hull to the Saint Maurice 
 er River du Loup; but I have no personal knowledge of that tract of 
 Country, and if a Road should be opened, and a tier of ‘Townships or 
 Seigniories laid upon this Road, it would be of great benefit. 
 
 Q. What is the number and names of the Rivers lying in and between 
 Hull and the mouth of the Ottawa, distinguishing those which fall in 
 the northern side and those which fall in the southern side? What is 
 the size of those Rivers. are they navigable to any and what distance, 
 for any and what description of vessels, what is the general exposure and 
 climate of the Country, so far as has come to your knowledge ? 
 
 A. The River Rideau falling into the Ottawa from the south, betwixt 
 the Townships of Nepean and Glocester ; it is navigable only for Canoes, 
 and winds through about ten Townships, coming a distance of sixty or 
 seventy miles ; there is a large number of Lakes at its source. The Ri- 
 ver Gatineau falling into the Ottawa from the north, betwixt the own- 
 ships of Hull and Templeton; it is navigable for Steam-BRoats and other 
 small vessels for about six miles, they it becomes rapid for about fifteen 
 miles, and it turns two mills. The width of this River is from ten to 
 twenty chains ; it comes a distance of three hundred miles from the north 
 west, ithas a communication with the Black River with Batteaux and 
 Canoes for almost the whole distance, ‘The River Blanche falling into 
 the Ottawa, in the lower part of the Township of Templeton, from the 
 north, it is about two chains wide and — for Batteaux in the 
 Spring of the year, about fifteen miles, then it mes rapid, its length 
 
 is aboutone hundred miles. The a Lievres falls in the Ottawa from 
 
 
 

 
 wy 
 
 46 
 
 the north; inthe Township of Buckingham, is about ten chains wide, id 
 navigable for Steam-Boats or Vessels nearly two miles, then it becomes 
 rapid for about four miles, then it is navigable for Batteaux the distance 
 of thirty miles in very smooth water. About ninety miles up is the Lake 
 Sable. I do not Know the size of this Lake but it is large and navigable, 
 and a great fishing Lake. ‘There is the Settlement of Mr. Fisher on 
 this Lake. This River is still navigable at the head of the Lake to 
 a great distance to some other Lakes. The River Blanche, falling 
 into the Ottawa on the north in the Township of Lochaber, is about 
 two chains wide, navigable for Batteaux, five or six miles, in the Spring 
 only. The River Petite Nation, falling into the Ottawa on the north, 
 in the Seigniory of the Honourable L. J. Papineau, is about three chains 
 wide, and navigable for Batteaux five miles nearly the whole year. There 
 are mills on this River ; five miles up above this distance the river is rough 
 and rapid; and comes from a number of Lakes about one hundred miles 
 in the interior. The River Petite Nation falling into the Ottawa on the 
 south; inthe ‘l‘ownship of Plantagenet, and is navigable for Bat- 
 teaux for six miles, here are some Mills at that distance. This 
 River is navigable for Batteaux in the Spring for forty miles from these 
 Mills. The Big Salmon River, falling into the Ottawa, north, in the 
 Seigniory of the Honourable L, J. Papineau, is about two chains wides 
 navigable for Batteaux in the Spring only, and I suppose it comes a dis- 
 tance of about fifty miless The small Salmon River, falling into thé 
 Ottawa on. the north, in the same Seigniory, is about two chains wide; 
 and only navigable for Canoes for a small distance. I suppose it comes 
 a distance of about forty miles. The River Rouge, falling into the 
 Ortawa on the north inthe Township of Grenville; about four chains 
 wide, not navigable ; it comes a distance of about forty or fifty miles 
 from some Lakes. The River Callemant, falling into the Township of 
 Grenville, about one chain wide, is very rapid , and not navigable but a 
 small distance; fine Falls for Mills ; and the Quarries are said to be of 
 Marble; comes a distance of about forty miles; The River cal: 
 led North River, falling into the Ottawa on the north, in the Sei- 
 gniory of Argenteuil, about three chains wide, navigable for Batteaux, 
 about three miles, and afterwards for Canoes with the exception of some 
 Rapids. There are Mills in divers places on this River; its length is 
 about one hundred miles; coming from Lakes. The River Duchéne, 
 falling into the Ottawa on the north, in the Seigniory of River Duchéne; ° 
 about one chain wide, not navigable ; but there are several Mills on this 
 River. ‘The River l’Assomption, falling into the Ottawa on the north, 
 in the Seigniory of St. Sulpice, about two chains wide, navigable for 
 Batteaux a good way up, but I am not able to state the distance, I bes 
 lieve Rafts of Planks come down that River about twenty miles in the 
 Spring. It comés a great distance out of the Country, but } do not know 
 that distance. Each of these’ Rivers is well stocked with Fish. The 
 Country generally on the Banks of these Riversis fertile, but some are 
 subject to overflow in the Spring. Its having an exposure to the south 
 causes the climate to be more mild, and one ean generally plough one 
 week sooner on the north shore than on the south, owing to this exposi- 
 tion. There is only one ridge of land running a distance of about three 
 
 
 

 
 47 
 
 hundred miles from Quebec to the Township of Eardley, which in some 
 a is quite rocky, but the land behind is considered fertile but 
 illy. 
 
 Q. What would be the length of Road connecting the Lower Cana- 
 dian Settlements from River du Loup and Masquinongé to Hull, in as 
 straight a line as the nature of the Country would admit ? 
 
 A. I should think about one hundred and sixty miles. 
 
 QO. What is the expense of clearing and fencing an acre of wild land, . 
 and what is the usual produce of an acre of wild land, and in what con- 
 sists the process of clearing ? | 
 
 A. The expense of clearing an acre of land is £3, the produce is from 
 200 to 400 bushels of Potatoes per acre, or 25 bushels of oats, or 25 
 bushels of wheat, or 30 bushels Indian Corn, or 200 bushels Turnips, 
 The process of clearing consists in three things, first, cutting down the 
 under brush, which is worth 7s8.-Gd. secondly, chopping down the 
 wood in rows two Rods wide, worth 24s. thirdly, Firing, Burning and 
 Branding fit for the Harrow, worth 97s-Gd, then the work is done, 
 
 QO. What would be the expense of putting in the Crop per acre ? 
 
 A. The common price is ten shillings. 3 
 
 Q. Do not the poorer sort of settlers find themselves occasionally con- 
 strained to adopt a more imperfect mode of clearing, and what is that 
 mode ? . 
 
 A. Yes, they first cut the brush and small trees, leaving the large trees: 
 standing, which shade the land, so that they do not get more than half a 
 crop. 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 » 
 TOTAL OF A STATISTIC ACCOUNT TAKEN FOR THE YEAR 1820. 
 TOWNSHIP OF HULL. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 | ee at | | Soa). 
 = | » Phe af o § | epee = Is ey | 
 cae pte) ieee fs gels | 3 Fels Z| 
 Bie as 5 #51 2 Bl i.) Flgis! s/< Sig | aia! {8 
 |= |3 p21 S12 (Fo lsig SigssigigiSisis) a/* | 12 iS legi g iz) ./8 
 rE BPE he MSE 
 Sa at 1 = . oo pt ae ee = * is ~ e 2 ; » | hee CO | 
 glslelz|\¢ |= |$| 4/4 jeg] s gs) ¢ |e lA |e] é)¢ leelse sel = 2% 
 22 FIE/ S18 Si sig FE isi sisiesisisieals ¢/ sis 32822 5 8: 
 HAS ols SIRES |B BAe anaes SIR IAL AIA BBA A |< eee 
 Belonging to the | | | a | | | ) i | | 
 concern of P. 112) 177, 207| 29 40 5| 45025 “ 90, 62| solg252 fie 1 865801709 2138 510) 49026500 110, 4 1] 2 8201230161220 410/15 
 Wag Soe ST t t TL ee ve bay pac he ak Se ee 
 “4 ay ris eile a -_——— | | 
 neosme 2 Jeg 241| 296] 94) 518| 217| dias = er! 0 38 | eled 119 id Sie 6110) 211 aa 270 1 sotcotpaboles ts! 47 
 E be ee Ss | See aes if ——- oR SERES 
 Bae. i 
 TOTAL, “Hol 13 558 soslashaholssan 401) 177 any 418/58 06 254 8 86111 sot 0 04 Sat, = 47575| 180 4 9 shasta zor 29 
 Neg e ped 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Heads of Families, - - - - 79 Births during the period of ee 185 3 uf 
 Labouring Men, - - - = - 283 | yearsin the Township, =, = 
 Children under 20 FR = Fe’ Se liken: sake absent, Value of Property, “a = 
 Womeg, -- - = = 115 Soh = a 
 — Total Births, "955 2 | ro] 
 Total population, 708 | sinks mg S- oe 
 ‘Total number of Horn’d Cattle 
 Deaths under Ten Years of Age, 10 10° | belongingto P. Wright and} 389 | Clearing Land, #1210000; 958000); 2168000 
 Ditto, by accident, < Rises 3. | Sons, Mills, 4400 0 0 300 0 0 4700 0 0 
 Ditto, Grown People, - - - = 10 (Ditto ditto Horses, 29 | Distilleries 3008 0 0 | 
 — iSchool Houses, 100 0 0} 150 0 0 250 0 0 
 Total of Deaths within the Pe- 418 (Stone Houses, 2000 0 0 | 
 riod of 20 years inthe Town-}+ 23 —— (Framed Dwelling do, 445000/ 300000} 745000 
 ship of Hull, : ) Total number of Domestic Cat- Block ditto, 75000} 225000 3000 0 O 
 tle belonging to P. Wright Framed Barns, 4000 0 0 4400 0 0 8400 0 0 
 and Sons Block ditto, :00 00 650 0 0 850 0 0 
 \Ditto belonging to the Inhabi- ued 
 tants of the Ghele Townehip, $2174 £31000 0 0 | 0} 5133000 
 
 
 
reno VY O'R VV LOL 
 
 > 
 
 ott a TLL 6[hCUeD ee eee ene 
 
 od 
 
 
 
 49 
 
 Mr. John Burrows of the Township of Nepean, in the Province of Upper- 
 Canada, Land Surveyor, appeared before your Committee, and answered 
 as follows :— 
 
 Q. What parts of this Province, have you had occasion to explore or 
 examine? 
 
 A. Uhave passed through the Townships of Chatham, Buckingham, 
 Templeton, Hull, Hardley, and Onslow, and I have been rather parti- 
 cularin my observations. I have observed the lands on both banks of the 
 Ottawa, without examining them however particularly. 
 
 Q. Would you state what you have observed respecting the particular 
 face of the country. The number, size and sources of the Rivers which 
 fall into the Ottawa, Their several distances from each other. The 
 Lakes which may have fallen under your observation. The quality of 
 the Timber. The depth and nature of the soil, and the susceptibility for 
 the cultivation of the country generally ? 
 
 A. Speaking of the face of the country ina general sense, it is very 
 susceptible of making grazing farms, In the Township of Grenville, 
 there are three Rivers of note, viz: the River Rouge, the River Calumet, 
 and another considerable River whose name I do not know. In Buck- 
 ingham there is a considerable one called the River aux Liévres, and se- 
 veral small Lakes. In the Township of Templeton, the River Blanche, and 
 a number of small Rivers. In Hull a large River called Gatineau, and also 
 small Rivers. Eardley is well watered with small Lakes, but there are 
 no considerable Rivers. In Onslow there are no considerable Rivers, 
 but it is well watered with small Lakes. © All the rivers of which I have 
 now spoken fall into the River Ottawa. The River Rouge is navigable 
 for Indian Canoes, which go trading into the back country, as are also the 
 rivers aux Liévres and Gatineau. This last River is about fifteen miles from 
 river aux Lieores, and river aux Liévres is about forty-five miles from river 
 Rouge. The River Gatineau in Hull is indeed navigable for Steam-Boats, 
 or the heaviest Batteaux, for five miles from the Ottawa. It is about 
 half a mile wide, and the Indians navigate it for a distance of about three 
 hundred miles. Its local situation is such that it falls in at the greatest 
 extent of navigation for heavy vessels for one hundred and twenty miles 
 above Montreal, and it is just opposite the Falls of Rideau on the south 
 shore of the Ottawa. Between the western part of Hull and the eastern 
 part of Eardley, there is a beautiful chain of Lakes extending about ten 
 miles. . The other Townships are particularly well watered with small 
 Rivers and Lakes, and of an excellent quality for grazing. All kinds of 
 timber are in abundance in these Townships ; but the predominant quali- 
 ty is Maple, Bass-Wood and Pine. From the head of the Long Sault 
 to the Falls of the Chaudiére, the soil is generally a fine deep meadow 
 soil, within the distance of about a mile and a half of the Ottawa; but 
 the back lands are of an eneven surface, and of various qualities of 
 soil, But with very a Re ag the whole is as I have already 
 
 ted for Grazing Farms. <= 
 — = the oopalatial and extent of cultivated grounds within 
 those Townships, to the best of your knowledge ? 
 
 ‘ the Townships of Grenville, Buckingham and Templeton, I 
 do atom there are more than ten absolute Settlers, In the Town- 
 
 
 
~ 
 
 ? > — 
 ede | fe *. oe ~4 
 ha OR Sg 
 
 +] 
 | 
 ie 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 50 
 
 ship of Hull, there may be about one hundred and twenty. In that of 
 Eardley, three settlers. In Onslow there is only one In the extent of 
 ninety miles on the north side of the River Ottawa, there is only the 
 Banks of one Township, which is that of Hull. in cultivation, and that 
 extent is about seven thousand acres. In all the other Townships 
 there is not more than three hundred acres in all, in a state of cultivation. 
 The rest is still a perfect wilderness. 
 
 Q. To what cause do you attribute these excellent lands remaining 
 waste ? | é 
 
 A. I shouid think from the Banks of the Ottawa to the extent of about 
 five miles, being granted to individuals who have within the last twenty 
 year been in possession of them, but have shown no disposition of settling 
 them, nor of permitting any persons to do so, except at a price of from 
 four to six dollars per acre. Another cause also, is that the proprietors 
 of part of those lands cannot be discovered. I could mention also that 
 for want of finding out who the Proprietor of an extent of about one 
 thousand acres in the Township of Buckingham, is, it has been impossi- 
 bie to erect a ferry across the river aux Ligures, and a number of cattle have 
 been lost in consequence thereof, crossing the mouth of that River. The 
 great expense which has been laid out by the Commissioners for the Coun- 
 ty of York, in making a Road from the head of the Long Sault to the 
 Lake of the Chats, is in some measure rendered useless for the present, 
 by reason of not bein able to establish this F erry. The back lands of 
 the said ‘Townships are yet waste, ungranted, and not surveyed, with 
 the exception of that of Hull. . 
 
 Captain Fougére appeared before your Committee. 
 
 Q. Do you know the Magdalen Iflands ? 
 
 A. Yes, I know them. 
 
 Q. How many of them are there to the beft of your knowledge ? 
 
 A. Five, 
 
 Q. What is their extent ? | 
 
 A. Brion Ifland may be fixty or feventy arpents fquare. The 
 two Bird Iflands may be four {quare arpents each in extent. Entrée 
 Ifland may be nearly one hundred fquare arpents in extent. L’Ifle 
 Royale, on which there are fettlements, is seventeen leagues in 
 Jength. In fome places it is about three miles wide, in other places 
 only an arpent. Its breadth is very unequal. Thefe Iflands pro- 
 duce abfolutely nothing ; even Potatoes generally fail there. 
 
 Q. What was the number of Inhabitants on thofe Iflands when 
 you first knew them ? | 
 
 A, About fourteen or fifteen. 
 
 Q. What was the number of Inhabitants on thofe Ifands when 
 Sir Haac Coffin took poffeffion of them ? 
 
 A. There were about eighty families. 
 
 Q. Whence came the firft inhabitants of thofe Iflands ? 
 
 A, They were Acadians or Canadians. 
 
 Q. How many are'there at prefent on thofe Iflands ? 
 
 
 

 
 51 
 
 A. One hundred and thirty-three families. 
 
 Q. Of what Country ? 
 
 A. All Canadians and Acadians. 
 
 Q. How do thefe people earn their living ? 
 
 A. By the Cod Fishery and purfuit of the Sea Cow ? but the 
 latter ceafed about seventeen years ago, and no longer exifts. 
 
 Q. How did Sir Ifaac Coffin gain poffeffion of thofe [lands ? 
 
 A. I have heard that thofe Iflands were given to Sir Ifaac Cof- 
 fin for his meritorious fervices as a Britifh Admiral. 
 
 Q. Did Sir Ifaac know or was he ignorant that thofe Hlands 
 were fettled ? 
 
 A. He knew it. 
 
 Q. Do you know whether Sir Ifaac has caufed to be paid or 
 
 has enacted Rents from Perfons who were fo in poffeffion of jands 
 in the faid Iflands ? 
 
 A. He caufed each person, or every perfon in poffeffion of 
 a fishing ground, to pay fix dollars a year for the ground from the 
 moment of his taking poffeflion. He then leafed the [lands to 
 one Mr, Irvine of Halifax for the term of five years; at the ex- 
 piration of which Sir Ifaac after a Law Suit with Mr. Irvine, de- 
 manded of the inhabitants the rent for five years, but moft of the 
 inhabitants conftantly refufed to pay the rent exacted, and the mat- 
 ter is in litigation at the prefent moment, 
 
 Q. Are the inhabitants of thofe Iflands fatisfied with the con- 
 duct of Sir {aac Coffin? 
 
 A. They complain of it. They have often demanded of him, 
 and once more efpecially in my prefence, that they would put 
 them in poffeflion of their Fishing grounds, but he has conftantiy 
 refufed to grant thofe lands to them, faying they belonged to him, 
 and that he demanded the above mentioned rent of fix dollars, 
 The inhabitants very often fuffer great inconvenience from the 
 Shipwrecks which frequently happen on thofe Iflands, being each 
 family fometimes obliged to fupport three or four perfons who 
 would perish without fuch fuccour. Whereby thofe poor inhabi- 
 tants are very often expofed to want provifions for themfelves by 
 reafon of their remotenefs from the Ifiand of Saint ] ohn, or other 
 places whence provifions can be had, befides that for fix or feven 
 
 months in the winter the communication with every other part of 
 
 the world is entirely cut off. 
 Q. Is the Fishery confiderable at prefent ? | 
 A. The Fishery has greatly diminished for fifteen or fixteen 
 years, and is at present les than it was formerly by one third. 
 Captain Fougere wishes to add that the inhabitants, inftead of 
 being difcouraged by annual rents, ought rather to receive encou- 
 ragement to remain there, and that frores ought to be eftablished 
 there becaufe of the Shipwrecks which annually take place there 
 
 
 

 
 52 
 
 that the Iflands produce abfolutely nothing ; ard that he has him- 
 felf for ten years past or thereabouts, brought off thofe Iflands 
 about a hundred shipwrecked perfons every year, who without 
 the aid of the inhabitants would have perished. 
 
 Mr. Claude F. Grenier appeared before your Committee. 
 
 Q. Do you know the Magdalen Iflands ? 
 
 A. Yes, Iknow them, I lived there from 1791 to 1812. 
 
 Q. How many of them are inhabitable ? 
 
 A. Five of them are inhabitable, but fome of them are not fo. 
 
 Q. Do thofe Iflands produce any thing? ‘a 
 
 A. They only produce a few potatoes, and thofe in favourable 
 Seafons only. 
 
 Q. What was the number of inhabitants on thofe Iflands 
 
 when you firft went there ? 
 
 A. Thirteen heads of Families, 
 
 Q. What was the number of Families when Sir Ifaac Coffin 
 
 took poffeffion of them ? , 
 
 A. Sir Ifaac Coffin took poffeflion of them in 1798, and there 
 were then a hundred families in thofe Iflands ? 
 
 Q. Whence came the earliest inhabitants of thofe Iffands ? 
 
 A. They were Acadians. 
 
 Q. How do thofe inhabitants earn their living. 
 
 _ A. By the Cod Fishery, and in the Spring fome of them go in 
 purfuit of Seals. Formerly the Sea Cow abounded, but that has 
 been over for 25 years. 
 
 Q. How did Sir aac Coffin gain poffeffion of those Iflands ? 
 
 A. By grant. I have seen the instrument myfelf, which was ex- 
 ecuted I believe by Lord Dorchester in the year 1798. 
 
 Q. Did Sir aac know thofe Iflands were fettled ? 
 
 A, He knew it, for before he took pofseffion he fent Agents 
 thither to afcertain the matter. | 
 
 Q. Do you know whether Sir Ifaac has caufed to be paid or 
 has exacted rents from perfons who were in pofseffion of lands on 
 
 the faid Iflands after he obtained poffeffion of them ? 
 
 “A. Yes, he has dernanded fix dollars or two hundred weight of 
 Cod Fifth from every head of a Family annually, from the moment 
 of his taking poffeffion. Some of them have paid, but others be- 
 ing too poor, have been unable to pay, and he has threatened to 
 profecute them, but hasnot hitherto done fo. The inhabitants 
 of thefe Iflands have demanded that poffeffion of their Fifhing 
 ground, and other ground be given them, which he has always re- 
 fufed. The inhabitants of thofe Iflands are very poor, being 
 obliged to fubfist wholly by Fishing, the foil producing nothing 
 in many places, not even potatoes. There are ufually two Ship- 
 wrecks every year, more or lefs, and the perfons fhipwrecked are 
 
 
 
 
 
GT. 
 
 at the mercy of the inhabitants, who, although poor, share their 
 fmall ftock of provifions with thofe unhappy perfons. To my 
 knowledge almoft every inhabitant has had as many as two or 
 three fhipwrecked perions to fupport for fix months and fome- 
 times longer, there being no intercourfe with the rest of the world 
 during the winter months. Ithink thefe people ought rather 
 to be encouraged, than difcouraged as they are by the impofition 
 of Rents, in confideration of the great fervices which they render, 
 as without their afliftance almoft all the shipwrecked perfons who 
 are caft upon thofe Isles would perifh, It would be neceflary to 
 eftablifh Stores of Provifions to have recourfe to in cafe of need, 
 as the Islands produce abfolutely nothing. 
 
 André Tfonhahiflan, fecond Chief of the Lorette Indians, ap- 
 peared before your Committee, and made anfwer as follows to 
 the queftions put to him. 
 
 Q. Are you acquainted with the lands on the further fide of 
 the River Jacques Cartier, north-eaft of the Seigniory of Faut- 
 fembault ? Of what quality are they ? 
 
 A. Yes, I know thofe lands. They are fufceptible of cultiva- 
 tion as far as the River aux Pins, and even for fome diftance along 
 that River. A Conceffion might be made on each fide of that 
 
 River. 
 Q. Where does the River aux Pins rife, and what is its direc- 
 
 tion ? 
 
 A. It flows out of Lake Cutiatendi, in a foutherly courfe until 
 it empties itfelf in Lake Ontarietfi, which has an outlet leading 
 into the River Jacques Cartier. 
 
 Q. What is the breadth of the River aux Pins ? 
 
 A. It’s mean breadth is one perch or thereabouts. 
 
 - You hunt inthofe parts. What is your Game, and how 
 long does your hunting feafon last ? 
 
 A. We hunt as far as the fources of the Rivers Ste. Anne and 
 Batifean. We take Beaver, Otter, Martin, yet thofe animals 
 are lefs numerous than formerly. Our Hunting Seafon begins 
 about the Twenty-fifth of March, and towards the end of May 
 we return. Some Hunters begin about Michaelmas and return 
 
 when the Rivers are frozen. 
 Q. What kinds of Timber are there on the grounds you fo hunt 
 
 upon ? 
 v2 Black Spruce and Fir. The only Trees there having broad 
 leaves are the White Birch and Service Tree. The Country is 
 very mountainous. - 
 ~ Q. What Lakes are there in thofe parts ? 
 A. A great number, large and fmall. They contain Trout and 
 
 White-Fish. g 
 
 
 
 ee 
 neil teenie. aon ae 
 s OE —_ _ 
 

 
 a 
 54 
 
 Q. What Rivers are there ? 5 Din is 
 
 A. The River that is met first is the River Sainte Anne, the 
 next isthe Batiscan, and their feveral branches. . 
 
 Q. Are there any Ravines, and how do you crofs them ? 
 
 A. There are feveral. When they are not two wide we crofs 
 them on a tree which we fell for the purpofe, when they are too 
 wide to be pafied in that manner, we ufe fmall rafts. 
 
 Q. Of what quality are the lands in the Seigniory of Saint Ga- 
 briel, on the further fide of the River Jacques Cartier ? 
 
 A. The lands on the further fide of the River J acques Cartier, 
 within the Seigniory of Saint Gabriel are mountainous. Some 
 Settlements might neverthelefs be made in the neighbourhcod of 
 Lake T'sonnontouan, where there is good hard wood. 
 
 Q. Would it be practicable to make a road through the gorges 
 of Monrit Tfonnontouan to the River aux Pins? - 
 
 A. Yes, a Road might be made there, but it would be necefsary 
 to remove a large quantity of Stone. | 
 
 Q. Where do the Rivers Jacques Cartier, Ste. Anne and Ba- 
 tiscan rife ? | 
 
 A. The River Jacques Cartier runs out of a Lake in rear of the 
 little River of Malbaie. The River Sainte Anne rifes in rear of 
 Beauport, and fo does the River Batifcan. 
 
 (C.) 
 RESOLVES OF THE COUNCIL, 
 
 That the progrefs of population and fettlement in this Province 
 under the Government of France, whatever the caufe or caufes of 
 it was flow, the cultivated parts even in the central Diftricts of 
 Quebec, Three-Rivers and Montreal, being to this day confined 
 to the banks of the St. Lawrence and the mouths of the navigable 
 Streams that fall into it. | 
 
 That the Royal Patents, Grants or Conceffions of the lands, 
 were either in Seigniory or in Roture; the latter confifting of 
 Town-Lots, Farms or {mall tracts, aud the Seigniories, larger 
 tracts of various dimenfions, many of which are in the rear, or af 
 a few leagues from the convenience of water carriage, {till in 
 Foreft. 
 
 That the French King’s territorial revenue arofe from Quints or 
 alienation fines of one fifth of the confideration money payable by 
 the purchafer of the lands held in Seigniory ; and of Lods et 
 Ventes of one twelfth on the fale of lands held in roture; the 
 lands in roture ordinarily paying alfo Cens et Rentes, the Ceng 
 beimg one Sol, or an English halfpennyfor a front of one acre or 
 
 « 
 
 
 

 
 55 
 
 180 French feet, and the Rente, another Sol for every acre of 
 the Conceffion, with a bushel of Wheat for every forty acres, 
 or two fat Capons of the value of twenty fols. 
 
 That the French Crown did not exaét its whole dues, but re- 
 mitted a third both of the Quint and Lods et Ventes. . 
 
 That the Seigniories were parcelled out into Farms, and thefe 
 conveyed by the Seigniors under like charges of Cens et Rentes, 
 and fubject to Lods et Ventes, except where a large parcel had 
 been granted in arriére Fief ; on the fubfequent transfers whereof 
 a Quint became due to the Seignior without Cens et Rentes. 
 
 That all the grantees as well of the Crown as of the Seigniors, 
 had permanent Eftates, under an habendum to them, their Heirs, 
 and Affigns. 
 
 That according to the Receiver-General’s accounts, the Terri« 
 torial Revenue for the thirteen years from Ist May 1775, to the 
 Ist May 1788, (comprehending arrears,) was in actual receipt at 
 the Treafury, not equal to Ten Thoufand pounds fterling. 
 
 
 
 
 
 The Lods et Ventes being but £1351 9 65} 
 The Quints, 3148 1 44 
 : The Balance of Royal Rents from all the King’s 
 own Seigniories, Sorel excepted, 4554 7 52 
 | £9053 18 $f 
 From Sorel, 216 19 11 
 £9270 18 24 
 
 Which together with certain Duties of Cuftoms fixed by A& 
 of Parliament, is by the Royal grace given to the Province to- 
 wards the fupport of its Government. 
 
 That in exploring the caufes of the tardy progreffion of the po- 
 pulation of the Colony under the Government of France, there 
 feems to be little or no ground for afcribing it to the non-compli- 
 ance of the Seigniors with the conditions for cultivation exprefled 
 in their Patents or Grants; the inftances of profecutions for ta- 
 king an advantagy of thofe conditions, and returning their Sei- 
 gniories to the Royal Domain, being rare, and the Seigniorial 
 Cenfitaires fo much more numerous than the King’s, that the for- 
 
 mer, or the inhabitants of the Seigniories, at all times did, and do 
 ’ now, conftitute the main body of the Landholders of the Country. 
 
 That the Feudal Syftem, if that was amongst the caufes of the 
 
 non-fettlement and proportionable debility of the French Colony, 
 2 
 
 ETETEEEOEOOOU 
 

 
 
 
 > 
 
 56 
 operating to a difcouragement of the Royal Grants, as well as the 
 Grants of the Subject, there can be no ground for holding the 
 Grantees to a rigorous performance of the conditions of their 
 Grants. | 
 
 That it was among the main caufes of that low condition in 
 which Canada was found at the British Conquest, is deducible 
 from the probability that many thoufands of Families had found 
 their account in emigrating from the exuberant population of the 
 Kingdom of France, if the Government had given their lands 
 here upon eafy terms, and efpecially in the fertile Regions and 
 moderate climates, on the Banks of the Rivers and Lakes in the 
 fouth and fouth-weft. 
 
 That the difcouragement of that fyftem to the fettlement of the 
 old French Grants, muft in future greatly increafe; the popula- 
 tion depending now upon the introduction of Britith fubjects, . 
 who are known to be all averfe to any but Englifh Tenures; and 
 the Canadian Seigniors of courfe be left without a. hope of mul- 
 tiplying their Cenfitaires, except from the predilection of the def- 
 cendants of the French Planters, to ufages no longer prompt- 
 ed by intereft, nor recommended by example. ; 
 
 That the grant of the Waite Lands of the Crown in free and 
 common foccage, is effential to the growth, ftrength, defence and 
 fafety of the Province. | 
 
 That unlefs the old French Seigniories can be fettled upon 
 terms as advantageous to the Hufbandman as the lands of the 
 Crown, their land market muft be at a ftand, to the detriment of 
 the Proprietors, until the cultivation of the wafte lands of the 
 Crown is damped by their remotenefs froin all water carriage, and 
 the conveniences and benefits of commerce. 
 
 That with the advantage of a vicinity to the Navigable waters, 
 and a converfion of the tenures, the Seigniories will probably be 
 the first to be fully cultivated, and with an increafe of profit to 
 the proprietors, under that ample dominion which they will then 
 enjoy over their lands, for fettling them upon fuch terms as them- 
 {elves may concert, to form a populous tenantry, and lay a founda- 
 tion in property for that perpetuity of their names and families, 
 which a wife and well balanced Government will be inclined to 
 encourage and fupport. 
 
 That the King’s Roturier Tenants cannot fail to wifh for a con- 
 verfion and difcharge from the Cens, Rentes, and Lods et Ventes, 
 and all the other feudal burthens connected with the Tenure under 
 which they now hold. : 
 
 That the motives of intereft will naturally make it the de- 
 fire alfo of every Seigniorial Cenfitaire, to ftand upon the fame 
 free foundation of exemption with the other landholders of the 
 
 
 
9 
 
 Colony ; but as this commutation for a difcharge of the rents and 
 dues to the Landlords, muft neceflarily depend upon private con- 
 ventions between them and their Tenants, and involving confide~ 
 
 } rations, out of the contemplation of any but the parties reciprocal- 
 ly interefted, their cafes cannot be the objects of fpecial and 
 particular Legiflative provifion ; perhaps the fureft means of fe- 
 curing to the Tenant a fair compact, will be to hold the Lord to 
 his dues to the Crown, until he has difcharged his Tenants from 
 the feudal incumbrances in his own favour. 
 
 That the Prerogative is competent to put the wafte Lands of 
 the Crown undera Soccage Tenure. But the Legiflative interpofi- 
 tion is neceflary to make that Tenure univerfal. 
 
 That if this is to be the work, not of Parliament, but of the 
 Colony Legiflature, the Royal inftructions given for the greater 
 fecurity of the property of the fubject, will require an Act with 
 a probationary or fufpending claufe, until His Majefty’s approba- 
 tion can be obtained. 
 
 That an abfolute and univerfal Commutation of the ancient 
 Tenures, though for the better, would be a meafure of doubtful 
 policy ; but that no fubftantial objection occurs againft giving fuch 
 individuals that benefit as defire it; and efpecially to fuch of the 
 Seigniors whofe Tenants or Cenfitaires {hall conceive it to be for 
 
 <i > their own, as well as for the intereft and benefit of their Land- 
 : lords ; and may therefore fignify their consent to the change. 
 
 That the ends may be accomplifhed by a Law with claufes to 
 the following tenor or import :— 
 
 Be it enacted &c. 
 
 That if any person or perfons holding Lands in the Province of 
 Quebec in Fief and Seigniory immediately of the Crown, and ha- 
 ving authority to alienate the fame, fhall at any time after the 
 commencement of this Act, furrender the fame into the hands of 
 His Majefty, his Heirs or Succeffors, by Petition to the Governor 
 or Commander in Chief of the faid Province for the time being, 
 fetting forth that he, fhe or they, is, or are defirous of holding 
 the fame in Free and Common Soccage, fuch Governor or Com~ 
 mander in Chief for the time being, fhall caufe a freth grant to be 
 made to fuch perfon or perfons of fuch lands to be holden in Free 
 and Common Soccage. And every fuch change of Tenure {hall 
 work the abfolute extinguifhment of all mutation fines, burthens 
 and incumbrances within the tract fo furrendered and regranted, 
 to which the fame or any part thereof would or might have been 
 liable under the laws and cuftoms concerning lands held in Fief 
 
 % and Seigniory, or inany other manner than in Free and Common 
 Soccage. — * | | 
 
 "Provided neverthelefs, and be it alfo enated, that fuch furren- 
 
 EEE — 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 ~~ 
 
 58 
 
 der and re-grant fhall not avoid or bar any right to any fuch lands 
 fo furrendered, or any intereft in the same, to which any other 
 than the perfon or perfons furrendering the fame, fhall have been 
 entitled either in pofleflion, remainder or reverfion, or otherwife ; 
 but that every fuch right and title shall be as valid as if fach fur- 
 render and re-grant had never been made. 
 
 And provided alfo, and be it enacted by the authority aforefaid, 
 as to all fuch Lands as are held of the Crown in Roture in the faid 
 Province, the fame shall be deemed and adjudged to be held in 
 Free and Common Soccage, from the time it shall pleafe His Ma- 
 jefty, by any inftrument to be iflued under the Great Seal of the 
 faid Province, to declare the difcharge of all Cens et Rentes and 
 Mutation fines due to the Crown thereon. 
 
 And provided alfo, and be it further enacted, that nothing in 
 this Act contained fhall be of force until His Majefty fhall have 
 fignified his Royal Affent to or allowance of the fame. 
 
 And to provide for the cafe when it may happen, that the 
 Seignior may be defirous of the converfion of the ‘Tenure of the 
 Seigniory and fome of the Vaffals or Cenfitaires of it, difinclined 
 to the change ; | 
 
 Be it allo enacted by the fame authority, that in every fuch 
 cafe the Petition for a Surrender, as well as the Patent for the 
 re-grant thereof, shall exprefs and defcribe with competent cer- 
 tainty, the fituation and real contents of the Lands and Eftates 
 of all that are fo difinclined to a change of Tenure: and thofe 
 parcels, shall be excepted out of the faid re-grant, and remain in 
 all refpects as if fuch re-grant had never been made. But that 
 from and after fuch re-grant, one fifth part of all fuch Lods et 
 Ventes or Mutation Fines, to accrue on the alienation of such 
 excepted parcels, shall be paid by the Proprietor or Proprietors 
 of the Seigniory, for the ufe of His Majefty, his heirs, or fuc- 
 ceflors: and shall and may be fecured by proper claufes and pro- 
 vifoes, to be expreffed in fuch Patent of re-grant. 
 
 DISSENT. 
 
 Mr. Mabane’s reafons of diffent from the Refolutions and Mo- 
 tion of the Chief Juftice adopted by the Committee. 
 
 Becaufe the Refolutions moved for do not appear to apply to 
 the object of the reference. 
 
 Becaufe it appears that the flow progrefs of population and fet- 
 tlement under the Government of France, cannot be afcribed to 
 any inherent vice in the feveral Tenures under which Lands are 
 held in the Colony, that it arofe from the difficulties which the 
 firft fettlers found in contending with the fierce and Savage Na- 
 tions which furrounded them, Sesh their frequent wars with the 
 
 
 
 
 
 oF PE PG cs —" 
 
 — a — 
 “— a | | z 
 ———— 
 
89 
 
 British Colonies, and above all, from their repeated expeditions 
 in the upper countries and toward the Ohio, in which the ambi- 
 tious policy of France had forced them to engage, 
 
 } Becaufe it appears evident from the rapid and almoft unexam- 
 
 pled progrefs of population in the Province (from its own refour- 
 ces) being from 65,000 fouls in the year 1766, to about 120,000 
 in 1784, and who are now chiefly employed in Agriculture; that 
 the prefent Tenures are not inimical to population and fettlement 
 of the Coiony: 
 
 Becaufe the King’s Rights in the ancient Tenures of the 
 country being exprefsly referved in the Act of the 14th of the 
 King, and by His Majefty’s gracious bounty appropriated to de- 
 fray the expenfes of Civil Govérriment, ought not to be relin- 
 quiflied or factiticed without an equivalent compenfation. 
 
 Becaufe however unproductive the Territorial Revenue may 
 have hitherto been from the iridulgence or fupinenefs of Govern- 
 ment, no judgment can be formed from thé fums actually col- 
 lected, of the Revenue that may hereafter arife therefrom, which 
 mhuft increafe in proportion to the Populatioii and Commerce of 
 the Province. 
 
 Becaufe the predilection of the native irfhabitants of the Pro- 
 Vince to their ancient Fenures arid laws, ought not to be interfe- 
 
 > red with uniefs by their owh confent, arid on the ftrongeft and 
 | cleareft grounds of public utility. ora 
 _ Becaufe the alterations propofed by the Refolutions or any other 
 converfion of Tenure tending to give the Seignior a more abfo« 
 lute and unconditional poffeilion of the Fief would not only be a 
 facrifice of the King’s Rights, but would defeat the wife intentia 
 ens and beneficent effects of the Arréts of 1711 and 1732, and 
 the declaration of 1743, by which the Seignior is obliged to 
 grant to fuch perfons as will apply for them for the purpofe of 
 improvement, Lands in Conceffton fubject only to the accuftomed 
 and ftipulated Rents and dues, and upon his non-compliance the 
 Governor is authorized on the part of the Crown and for the be- 
 hefit thereof, to the exclufion of the Seignior for ever, to con- 
 cede or grant the Lands fo applied for By the fame law the 
 Seigniors are forbid under pain of nullity and a reunion to the 
 Crown of the Land attempted to be fold, to fell any part of their 
 unimproved Lands or en bois debout, difpofitions of law highly 
 favourable tothe improvement of the Colony, and which fecure to 
 the Children of the Cenfitaires or others the means of fettlement 
 and of employing their induftry in cultivation on fixed and mode- 
 x rate terms, whereas if the converfion of the Seigniories into Free 
 . and Common Soccage fhould take place, the children of the pre- 
 fent inhabitants of the Country and ail others defirous to fettle 
 
 EEE a 
 
60 
 
 thereon would be left entirely fubject to the arbitrary exactions of 
 the Seigniors to their infinite prejudice and the manifest detriment 
 of the country’s improvement. 
 
 Becaufe it appears that the fervices or burthens to which the Cen- 
 fitaires under conceffions fromm Seigniors are fubjeét, are few, 
 clearly underftood and afcertained and are by no means onerous or 
 
 oppreflive. 
 J. WILLIAMS, C, L, C. 
 
 ( D.) 
 
 HOUSE OF COMMONS, 
 Fripay, 4th Mareh, 1791. 
 Mr. Chancellor Pitt moved, “* That His Majesty’s Message concerning 
 ‘« the new constitution for Quebec might be read.” 
 It was read accordingly. 
 
 GEORGE R. | 
 
 His Majesty thinks it proper to acquaint the House of Commons that 
 it appears to His Majesty, that it would be for the benefit of His Ma- 
 jesty’s subjects in his Province of Quebec, that the same should be divi- 
 ded into two separate Provinces, to be called the Provinee of Upper-Ca- 
 Ht nada and the Province of Lower Canada ; and that it is accordingly His 
 | Majesty’s intention so to divide the same, whenever His Majesty shall be 
 i enabled by Act of Parliament to establish the necessary regulations for 
 h} h the government of the said Provinces. His Majesty therefore recom- 
 ith mends this object to the consideration of this House. 
 
 His Majesty also recommends to this House to consider of such provi- 
 sions as may be necessary to enable His Majesty to make a permanent ap- 
 propriation of lands in the said Provinces, for the support and maintenance 
 ofa Protestant Clergy within the same in proportion to such lands as have 
 been already granted within the same by His Majesty ; and it is His Ma- 
 jesty’s desire that such provision may be made, with respect to all future 
 grants of land within the said Provinnce respectively, as may best con- 
 
 duce to the same object, in proportion to such increase as may happen in 
 ; the population and cultivation of the said Provinces ; and for this pur- 
 | 
 
 
 
 = . ib CA ARS Ree at see =z 
 
 ose His Majesty consents that such provisions or regulations may 
 be made by this House respecting all future grants of land tobe — 
 made by His Majesty within the said Provinces, as this House shall a 
 fit. . R. 
 _ Mr: Chancellor Pitt then moved, “ that the act of the 14th of His 
 ** Majesty respecting the said Province be read,” and the title being 
 . read pro formd, he observed that the purport of his motion was to repeal 
 | part of the above act, and to introduce new regulations for the future 
 government of the said Province. Feeling the importance of the subject, | 
 he should have been desirous of stating fully to the House the grounds and 
 
 oS) ta 
 | 
 
 the principles on which he meant to proceed in forming a constitution for _ 
 a valuable appendage to the British dominions, which, he trusted would 
 contribute to its future prosperity ; but as it was not likely that any op- 
 
 
 
 ooO™~ 
 
9 
 
 position would arise against bringing in a Bill for this purposes and as ex- 
 planation would come with more propriety when the Bill was before the 
 House, he should state only ina few words the outlines of the plan, un- 
 less questions were asked or explanations demanded in the first instance. 
 } The Bill which he meant to propose was founded, in the first place, on 
 the recommendation contained in His Majesty’s Message to Fivide the 
 Province into two goyernments. — This division it is.hoped would put an 
 end to the competition between the old French inhabitants and the new 
 settlers from Britain or British Colonies, which had occasioned the dis- 
 putes and uncertainty respecting law, and other disputes of less impor- 
 tance, by which the Province had been so long distracted. This division 
 ir was hoped, could be made in such a manner as to give each a great ma- 
 jority in their own particular part,. although it could not be expected to 
 . draw a line of complete separation. Any inconveniences to be appte- 
 hended from ancient Canadians being included into one, or British Set- 
 tlers in the other, would be cured by the establishment of a local legisla- 
 ture in each, 
 
 It was for this purpose that he should first propose, in imitation of the 
 constitution of the mother:country, a Council and House of Assembly 
 for each, the Assembly to be constituted in the usual manner, and the 
 Members of the Council to be Members for life 5 reserving power to His 
 Majesty to annex tocertainhonours an hereditary right of sitting in the 
 Council. All laws and ordinances of the Province were to remainin 
 force, till altered by thisnew Legislature. They would consequently re- 
 
 » tain as much of the laws of England as they now had or chose to keep, 
 and they would possess the means of introducing as much more as they 
 might think convenient. The Habeas Corpus Act was already law by 
 an ordinance of the Province, and this invaluable right was to be conti- 
 nued as a fundamental principle of the constitution. 
 
 ‘These were the most important points, but there were others to which 
 the attention of the House was called by His Majesty’s Message. It was 
 meant to make provision for a Protestant Clergy in both divisions, by an 
 allotment of lands in proportion to that already granted ; and as in one 
 of them the majority of the inhabitants would be catholics, it was meant 
 to provide that it shall not be lawful for his Majesty in future to assent 
 to grants of land for this’ purpose, under the sanction of the Council and 
 
 _Assembly of either division, without first subntitting them to the British 
 _ Parliament. ‘The tenures which had been the subject of dispute, were tobe 
 settled in Lower-Canada, by the local legislature ; in Upper-Canada the 
 settlers being chiefly British, or British Colonists, the tenures were to 
 be soccage tenures; and, inorder to prevent any such dispute as had 
 been the cause of separating the thirteen States from the mother country, 
 it was provided that the British Parliament should impose no taxes but 
 such as were necessary forthe regulation of trade and commerce ; and to 
 guard against the abuse of this power, such taxes were to be levied and 
 ‘to be disposed by the Legislature of each division. As the constitution 
 
 *~ which he had thus briefly opened, could not be in a state of activity for 
 
 _ gome time, His Majesty was to be empowered to make temporary regula- 
 
 tions to bein force for six months after the establishment of the new 
 Constitution. h 
 
 61 
 
 > 
 
 —————————— 
 

 
 > 
 
 62 
 
 Mr. Fox declared it impossible to express an entire approbation or a 
 disapprobation of a Bill which the House had not yet seen ; but he did 
 not hesitate to say, that if a local Legislature was liberally formed, that 
 circumstance would incline him much to overlook defects in the other re- 
 gulations, because he was convinced that the only means of retaining dis- 
 tant Colonies with advantage, was to enable them to govern themselves, 
 
 OrvereD, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to repeal certain 
 provisions of the Act of the 14th of His Majesty, respecting the Go- 
 vernment of Canada, and to make other provisions, &c. 
 
 (E.) 
 
 OBSERVATIONS 
 On the Report refpecting a change in the Tenures of this 
 
 Province. 
 
 The Order of Reference of the 25th Auguft 1790, requires a 
 Committee of the whole Council, to make an exact report of the 
 advantages or difadvantages of the tenures in free and common foc- 
 cage, and of the present tenures of the Province of different de- 
 nominations ; taking into confideration the intereft of the public 
 as well as of individuals. ‘Che Committee in this Report are char- 
 ged to pay attention to the nature and effeéts of divers Clauses in- 
 ferted in the Stat. 12 of Charles 2d, Chap. 24th. They are, at the 
 fame time, enjoined to give the Honourable Charles De Lanau- 
 diere the liberty of being heard on the Petition for changing the 
 tenure of his Eftates into that of Free and Common Soccage. 
 Finally, the Committee are authorized to requeft the opinion of 
 the Attorney and Solicitor-General, if they fhall think it neceflary. 
 
 The wifdom of the Right Honourable Guy Lord Dorchefter, 
 manifefts itfelf in this order ; it difcovers zeal for the public good, 
 as well as for the interefts of individuals; it deferves the praife 
 and gratitude of all. 
 
 The Honourable Members of the Council received the anfwers 
 of the Solicitor-General, dated 5th October, 1790, to questions 
 that had been propofed to him. We do not learn from the ex- 
 tract of the proceedings, that the Honourable Charles De Lanau- 
 diére has been heard on his requeft ; but we read his replies to fe- 
 veral of the queftions propofed to the Solicitor-General. 
 
 What diftinguishes the English from all other people, is their 
 advantage of living under a Government that joins to the real de- 
 fire of procuring the good of its fubjects, a generous invitation to 
 all to communicate their reflections tending to this object. _ This 
 happinefs, this advantage is ours. ‘The order of His Excellency, 
 for printing the proceedings of the Committee, and the permiffion 
 of making them public, is a fure guarantee of it tous. His Ex- 
 cellency therefore wishes to give to tenants of every denomination, 
 
 
 

 
 Qe en ae 
 
 63 
 
 the means of reflecting on the propofed change; and to their ree 
 prefentations, if they have any to make, a liberty of accefs not 
 inferior to the tenures he offers. 
 
 If in thefe obfervations any thing offenfive should appear, I pro- 
 teft that it is not in my intention; and thatthe sphere of my in- 
 telligence has been too confined to perceive it. I love my Coun- 
 trymen, I love the public good, and thank heaven for the advan- 
 tages of the Government with which we are favoured 
 
 In the Report of the Solicitor-General are found very judicious 
 details, and a love of truth and of juftice that merits the applaufe 
 and acknowledgements of every good Patriot. ‘The Trans!ation 
 not being very exact, (a) recourfe muft be had to the Englifh. 
 ‘Iwo things however muft be remarked, Ist. page 15, the fervi- 
 tude of bannalié is not a confequence of the fiction of the feudal te- 
 nures. In effect, of 300 Cuftoms digefted in France, all under the 
 Feudal fyftem, there are fcarcely 3U that admit the bannalité. See 
 Dictionnaire de Droit de Ferriére, verbo bannalilé. It 1s not even a 
 Seigniorial right, fays Brodeau onthe Cuftom, Art. 71. This ar- 
 ticle itfelf fays it clearly in the following terms, ‘ No Seignior can 
 « conftrain his Vaflals to go to the oven or mill that he may pre- 
 ** tend to be bannal, aah he has a valid title.” : 
 
 This fervitude takes place in the Province, in virtue of an Ar- 
 y rét of the Council of State, of the 4th June 1686, paffed at Ver- 
 
 failles, and regiftered at Quebec by drrét of the Superior Coun- 
 cil of the 23d October of the fame year ; and again further in 
 virtue of the claufe inferted in all the contracts of Conceflion. 
 Wherefore this right of bannalité has nothing to do with the na- 
 ture of the prefent tenures. 2d, page 18, It is mot poflible that 
 the prefent fy{tem of tenures can be a bar to the fettlement of 
 lands not yet granted, becaufe this kind of tenure is much lefs 
 burthenfome than the Soccage, fuch as it isin England. This 
 will by and by be fhewn. 
 
 The replies of the Honourable Charles De Lanaudiére, Esqr, 
 do not appear by much to be either fo juft or true. 
 
 In the anfwer to the fourth and fifth queftions, he places among 
 the number of burthens the retrait feodal and lignager which are 
 the advantages of the Conceffions in fief. He renders all pofies- 
 sions of fiefs and arriére-fiefs by whatever title, liable to Military 
 Service ; but it will be shewn that Ecclefiaftics and Citizens of a 
 
 
 
 (a) This Translation, every where, where there is any question of Lods et Ventes, 
 makes use of the odious term Amende, though the Engish word “ Fines” signifies in 
 that case debeurs i ou finance. — . 
 ~ In page 16, line 3, there is a phrase without any meaning, because the English words 
 of litle moment are rendered by the French words comme seulement pour un moment, 
 (as only for a moment) instead of regarderont cette exemption comme d’une petite im- 
 
 — h2 
 
 a 
 

 
 , a 
 64 
 
 number of Cities are exempted from it. He punishes with for- 
 feittire or confifcation the illegal dismemberment of a Fief, whilft 
 the cuftom inflicts no punishment for fuch dismemberment ; it on- 
 ly looks upon the fale as not béing made with refpect to the Sei- 
 gnior paramount. (b) In fine he agreeably affects our ears with 
 the term of restrainte which belongs only to Chiromancy. (c) 
 With refpect to Juftice, he says, by the Ordmance of Roufs 
 fillon in 1563, Art. 27, it is enacted ‘«* That the Hauts Jufticiers 
 “ shall be purely fubject to the jurifdiction of the Parliaments, 
 *¢ and according to the ancient ordinance, shall be condemned 
 in 60 Livres Parifis for the erroneous judgment of their Judges.” 
 In the first place there is no Ordinance of Rouflillon of 1563, 
 nor do we know of any Ordinance at all of Rowfiillon with fo ma- 
 ny as 27 Articles; but we find an Edi& of Paris, of the month 
 of January 1563, compofed of 39 Articles, of which the 27th 
 speaking of the Hauts Jufticiers, fays «« The Hauts Jufticiers fub- 
 “ ject purely to the jurisdiction of our Parliaments, shall be con- 
 ** demned according to the ancient Ordinance, in 60 Livres Pa- 
 “ rifis, for the erroneous judgment of their Judges,” by which it 
 is eafily feen that this article 27, is the fame that the Honourable 
 Member cites as Article 27th of the Ordinance of Ro uffillon, in 
 1563, which probably never exifted. | 
 _ There is a pretty senfible difference between this exprefiion of 
 the Ordinance, “ the Hauts Jufticiers fubject purely to th ¢ juris- 
 ¢ diction of our Parliaments shall be condemned,” and th? other 
 ofthe Honourable, “ the Hauts Jufticiers shall be purely fu bject 
 to the Jurisdiction of our Parliaments, and shall be conemne d,”’ 
 which is abfolutely false, because there are Hauts Jufticiers who be- 
 long fimply to the jurisdiction of Baillis or Royal Prevéts, who were 
 condemned to only 60 Sols Parifis for erroneous judgment. Bacquet 
 Droit de Juftice, Chap. 17. But it is no longer the Hauts Jufti- 
 ciers who pay the fine for erroneous Judgment, it is the parties 
 appealing in the fuit. Conference des Ordonnances, livre 7, titre 
 4, paragraphe 4, note 3. Thus, in the four last lines of page 22, 
 there is an anachronifm, a false citation, a wrong interpretation 
 and an alteration of the text. | 
 On the Page 23. Since when has Military Service been a charge 
 inherent in and infeparable from every fpecies of Fief? If the au- 
 thor would be pleafed to give fome proofs of this, he would oblige 
 his readers, he would even furprize them. 
 Read Ferriére, titre des Fiefs, page 58, Edition of 1714, Bac- 
 quet, traité des francs fiefs, Chap. 10, No. 3, the Recueil des or- 
 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 - (b) Article 51-ofthe Custom. = . ‘ | 
 (c) The art of divining, by sy ante the lines of the hand, which, doubtless, has «a 
 great deal to do with the Feudal System. - 7 
 
 
 
 
 
> 
 
 
 
 65° 
 
 donnances de Rébuffe, rubrique des Fiefs et arriére-Fiefs ; and it 
 will be feen that the Citizens of a number of Cities are exempted. 
 
 The Ordinance of Francis Ist, which is not of 1740, but of 
 
 j the 19th March 1540, at Blois, made the rule of Military Service, 
 with refpect to the revenues of the Fiefs, but for that time. 
 
 The réglement of Louis XIII, of the 30th July, 1635, Article 
 8, exacts a revenue of 1000 livres, to furnish a light Horfe, which 
 was exacted by that of Francis Ist, for a revenue of 300 or 400 
 livres. See Ferriére, titre des fiefs, page 60. The Honourable Meme 
 ber has cited this réa/ement 3 would it have been any greater trou- 
 ble for him to have given itsterms? Finally, the Kings of France 
 no longer exact this succour, fince they have ftanding Armies. 
 Dictionnaire de Droit, verbo ban. 
 
 If in reporting the convocation of the Ban. &c. by Louis 
 XIV, of the 11th Auguft 1674, the Noble Ecuyer had not omit- 
 ted a part of the phrafe, the fense would not have been chan~ 
 ged in the manner that it appears to be. ‘The following are the 
 terms of that Patent: “ To all Noble Ecwyers, Vaisals, and 
 «¢ others holding Fiefs and arricre-Fiefs, fubject to our ban and 
 “ arriére-ban, all excufes being fet afide, &c.” It is there feen 
 that His Majefty exacts from all thofe who are subject to the ban, 
 not from all who have Fiefs, as the Honourable Ecuyer infinuates, 
 
 x by fupprefliing the words, ¢ fubject to our ban an arriére-ban,” 
 an omiflion that fuppofes no great fuccefs in feeking the truth. 
 
 «“ The Ecclefiaftics are to contribute a year’s Revenue of their 
 Fiefs, or fuch other contribution as His Majetty shall settle,” con- 
 
 . tinues our author: though Ferriére, Dictionnaire de droit, verbo 
 ban, fays on the contrary, “ all kinds of perfons are fubject to this 
 «tax; only the Ecclefiaftics are exempted,” and a little lower, 
 « but this obligation was confined to the laics, in favour of 
 «© Churchmen, under the Pontificate of Pope Zachariah, at the 
 “© {olicitation of his Legate Boniface.” 
 
 Towards the end of his replies the Honourable Councillor feems 
 quite to lofe fight of the Cuftom of Paris, Ist. The term of depié 
 drawn from fome other cuftom, fuch as of Anjou or of Maine, is 
 abfolutely unknown to this. 2d. It has never impofed on the Cen- 
 fitaires the fame obligations as on Vaflals. 3d. It does not admit 
 ‘a the bail a cens either fidelity, acknowledgment, or retrait li 
 gnagers 2 confequences of the nature of the faid bail. 4th, It ac- 
 knowledges neither contradiction, ingratitude, or injurious Lan- 
 guage, &c, of the Cenfitaire. 5th, In it the Roturier Inheritance 
 cannot become forfeit. As to the examples of appearing bare- 
 
 * headed in Court during its fitting, if true, they have never been 
 legal or univerfal. They are not known in Canada, nor Is it pos- 
 sible they can ever be introduced here while the prefent tenures 
 are preferved. | | 
 
 a 
 

 
 66. 
 
 Such are the reflections that naturally prefent themfelves, on 
 the anfwers of the Honourable Charles De Lanaudiére, Efquire, 
 without their caufing the least forgetfulnefs of the refpect due to 
 his perfon and character. 
 
 Of ali the Legiflators who have preceded the prefent age, those 
 have been the wifeft who have come neareft to an eftablishment of 
 equality. among the fubjects. The wifest of ail, becaufe he had 
 the fpirit of God, whom we adore, was Mofes. He divided the 
 lands amongft the Hebrews, with fo much juftice and equality 
 that the {malleft complaint was never heard. But it would have 
 been little to have eftablished this equality had he not ufed the 
 means of maintaining it. To fucceed, he rendered thefe lands, 
 by their nature, inalienable, and with fo much wifdom. that this 
 inalienability conftantly fupported itfelf againft the efforts of ava- 
 rice, which generally overturns all things, 
 
 In such manner that if any one had alienated his estate in a time of ca- 
 lamity, he, or his heirs if he had any, recovered his property the year of 
 the Jubilee. Thus every fif:y years, the ancient distribution was re-es- 
 tablished, in full right. He did more, he provided in such manner for 
 the liberty of individuals, that if any one had trafficked away a part of 
 his property, he recovered it at that epoch. Thus lost Members were 
 restored to their Country ; who in re-entering into the possession of their 
 Jands, recovered the title of citizens, and found themselves in a condition 
 to fulfil the functions of a citizen. Hence among them were never known 
 those seditious demands of new Registers, or new Partitions, so com- 
 mon in Greece, any more than those Agrarian Laws so often asked by 
 the Romans, 
 
 If it was at present a question of a new establishment, of giving a form 
 to a new people, a more excellent model could not be proposed. But 
 the present question is only of procuring advantages to a people already 
 established ; of correcting faults in the culture of adelicate plant, and 
 not of rooting it up. It 1s a tree of which the trunk must be preserved 
 and provision made for extending its roots. 
 
 Tt is a tree that may be pruned, but care must be taken not to destroy 
 it, undera pretext of giving more vigour to the roots already formed, by 
 depriving them of the means of spreading and dividing themselves into 
 new branches by removing the surrounding earth. This is what must ne- 
 cessartly happen if the present tenures be abolished and the Soccage sub- 
 stituted in their place, without obviating two principal inconveniences ; 
 the future oppression of the husbandman, and the ruin of the present 
 Seigniors. 
 
 In fact if the rights of Lods et Ventes and of Bannalité be re- 
 trenched without a compensation weighed in the balance of Justice, it 
 (d) will be lopping off the head of this tree to give more vigour to the 
 
 NS 
 
 (da) The suppression of Bannal Mills, it is to be feared, might be prejudicial to indi- 
 viduals ; for if a toll be not fixed for grinding, he, whose mil! might be most advantage-~ 
 ously situated, would have it in his power to avail himself of this advantage, to vex those 
 who might be obliged to have recourse to him, in the too frequent unhappy case of an 
 universal dry season. 
 
 
 
 
 | 
 

 
 67 
 
 toots. The Seigniors must perish whilst the present race of husbandmen 
 would reap the advantage. But onthe other hand, if the future Sei- 
 gniors be permitted to sell their lands uncleared, and to gant leases on 
 such conditions, and charged with such services as they please, it will be 
 taking away from individuals the means of procuring lands for their 
 children ; whence the future husbandman would be exposed to oppres- 
 sion, Thus the head of the tree being lopped off, the root would be 
 seen sensibly to wither and the tree would perish. Thus toa happy and 
 truly free people, would succeed a people of slaves and Wretches ; a peo- 
 ple without hope of procuring themselves a decent support, and conse- 
 quently without any certain means of educating their children, by conse- 
 quence, without morals and void of probity. 
 
 This has not escaped the vigilant attention of the Right Honourable 
 Lord Dorchester, in the order of reference. His views are to establish 
 in the Province, the kind of Tenures thie best calculated to insure the 
 progress of Agriculture, to render the people happy, to attract new set- 
 tlers and procure a numerous population. Views truly wise, and worthy 
 the Representative of a great King. Such is the object of the reference. 
 
 To attain this end His Excellency wishes the Soccage to be considered 
 conformable to the clauses inserted in the Statute XII, Charles IT, Chap. 
 24, that the advantages and disadvantages of this tenure, may be 
 compared with the advantages and disadvantages of the present tenures ;_ 
 and in case a change should appear to be advantageous, the mode to be 
 chosen of doing it, without prejudice to the rights of individuals and the 
 Snes interests of the Country is shewn. Such is the certain route mar- 
 
 ed out by His Excellency, ia following Which we cannot tun any risk 
 of error. en 
 
 The Stat. 12th Charles II, Chap 24, retained the tenures in soccage, 
 
 frank almoigne, petit sérjeanty, the honorary services of Grand Serjeanty, 
 and the Copyhold, or Tenures by Copy of Court Roll. This may be 
 seen in Blackstone, Chap. 1, of the modern tenures. 
 
 The Soccage in its most ample signification (says this respectable au- 
 thor) seems to denote a tenure by any certain and determinate service, 
 It is of two species: the Free Soccage of which the services are ho- 
 norable ; and the Villein Soccage, of which the services though certain 
 are of abase nature. Such as hold by Honourable services are called 
 liberi sokemanni, free sokemen, Freeholders, according to Glanvil, &c. 
 
 The grand Criterion, the touchstone by which to distinguish this kind 
 of tenure, is by its services being certain and determinate ; such, in par- 
 ticular are the petit serjeanty, tenure in burgage, or the manner in 
 which boroughs and towns hold of their Lords, and gavelkind. This 
 is confirmed by what he says a little higher, that the Military Services, 
 (as escuage itself) while they remained uncertain were equivalent,to 
 
 night Service ; and that the instant they were rendered certain, they 
 changed both their nature and name, and were called Soccage. From 
 whence he concludes, it is the determination of the services that gives the 
 name to this tenure. c. 
 
 Nothing, adds he, better proves a great liberality, a great privilege than 
 the certainty of the nature of the Services, which frees the tenant from the 
 
 
 

 
 68 
 
 obligation of obeying without delay the Caprice uf a Seignior, who called 
 on him when he pleased, as in the Knight service. For which reason 
 Britton who describes the tenures in soccage, under the name of fraunke 
 ferme, says, that they consist in lands, of which the nature of the servi- 
 ces, being of chivalry, has been changed by feoffment, for certain and 
 determined annual services, among which were reckoned neither homage, 
 ward, marriage or relief. | eS. 
 
 Blackstone afterwards proves that the tenure in soccage is not less of 
 Feudal origin than the chivalry tenure ; and that by ten instances of com- 
 parison, which are too long to insert here; it suffices to say a few words 
 én passant, on two of these instances, | ~ 
 
 At the fourth he says that the tenure in Soccage was of common right, 
 subject to aids to the Lord, when his son was knighted, when he-mar- 
 ried his eldest daughter, &c. which aids were fixed by the Statute of 
 ‘Westminster 1 ch. $6, at 20s. for every €20 per annum. These aids 
 which were originally mere benevolences, were afterwards exacted as 
 matter of Right. The Stat. 12 of Charles II. abolished them. For what 
 reason is easily seen. These aids in the first instance, were only benevo- 
 ‘Tences ; they were raised by vexation into absolute rights ; the Seigniors 
 “became oppressors, 
 
 But it was not so with respect to the relief, which was paid by the 
 heir at the death of his ancestor. and which was a year’s revenue of the 
 estate held in soccage, whether considerable or not. This relief, which 
 Bracton does not look upon as a real relief, but simply as guedam presta- 
 tio loco relevit in recognitionem domini, was retrenched by the Statute of 
 Edward Ist, Chap. Ist, which declares that the free Sokeman shall pay 
 no relief, but after the death of his ancestor shall pay double the usual 
 rent. | 
 The Statute 12th Charles II, reserves this relief ; and on lands in Fee 
 Simple, holden by a rent, the relief is still due on the death of the 
 tenant. 
 
 It would be too long to recite the tenures in villenage simple and privi- 
 leged ; the different modes of possessing them and their different services ; 
 what they have in common with’free goccage, and in what they differ. It 
 suffices to remark that the Statute 12th Charles II. Chape 24, Sect. 7, 
 has reserved the tenure by Copy of Court Rolls, with all the services 
 dependant thereon ; and, consequently arbitrary rights, at the will of the 
 Lord, are yet acknowledged in England. It is true that the Courts of 
 Justice have confined these rights within moderate bounds, to prevent 
 their absorbing the inheritance ; in so much that except under particular 
 circumstances, never more than two years revenue of an estate are al- 
 lowed in case of succession or alienation. (e). 
 
 Such are the Tenures that have prevailed in England, since the Statute 
 12th Charles II. It is clearly scen that the Free Soccage, if it does not 
 properly admit a relief, admits at least of a compensation. et. 
 
 The Villein Soccage admits the rights of heriot, in lieu of the relief, 
 
 aa mn ae ae ne ce ee OEE PY 
 
 (e) Notwithstanding the modifications so wisely established against oppression, can 
 any one dissemble that these services are very onerous, Tn our present tenures, are there 
 any that can be put in comparison with these ? ; 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 69 
 
 to be paid after the death of the tenant, by his heir. It admits the rights 
 of alienation, even arbitrarily, (at least by fiction,) and according to the 
 will of the Lord ; though in one sense, they become certain, because the 
 Courts, in their judgments, will not suffer them to exceed two years re- 
 venue on the lands they thus held. . | : 
 
 Our roturier tenures according to the custom of Paris, do not admit of 
 relief in any case, and the alienation fines called lods et ventes, can never 
 extend, to two years revenue (f). These are the tenures Lam about 
 to shew, according to the custom of Paris, with the tenure in Sef in capite 
 or immediately from the King, and the tenure in arriére Seep. 
 
 All the tenures of Canada are conformable to the Custom of Paris, and 
 are divided into noble and roturier. _ 
 
 The noble tenures are all subject to the rights of frans fiefs and nouveaux 
 acquéts, when they fall into the hands of roturiers or in mcin-morte 3 that 
 is a fine which these roturiers or holders in main-morte, becoming posses- 
 sors of noble estates, are obliged to pay to the King, when he shall be 
 pleased to order a declaration of it. (g | 
 
 ‘These noble tenures are See Leases aleux or Fiefs subject to services, 
 or redevances ;_ or Fiefs in fran almoign, The only object at present, 
 being to obviate the odium meant-to be thrown on our tenures, it suffices 
 to mention the Fiefs held by services and redevances. | 
 
 The Fiefs are held either immediately or mediately of the King. The 
 immediate Vassal of the King, owes him Ist. Fealty and homage, with 
 the aveu et denombrement. 2d. In case of sale or other act equivalent to 
 a sale, the new possessor owes the guint (h).. 3d. In case of succession, 
 in the collateral line only, the heir owes the relief (i). 4th. In those ac 
 cording to the Vexin Je Francois, which are but few, the relief is due on 
 every mutation, but never any guint. 5th. The Military Service in virtue 
 of the dan, if the Tenant be not privileged (k), 
 
 The mediate Vassal of the King, owes to the Seignior of whom he 
 immediately holds, all the above dues, except the Military Service, which 
 is never due but to the King. 
 
 Such are the burthens Ba ae right. There are some others very 
 reasonable and of great advantage to the Public good, imposed by clau- 
 ses inthe Concessions, cited in the Report of the Solicitor General, as 
 well asin the replies of the Honourable Charles De Lanaudiére (1). 
 
 
 
 f) They are but a twelfth part of the amount of the purchase money. ; 
 
 g) The King orders this declaration nearly every. forty years, according to Ferriére, 
 verbo franc-fief ; this charge may be looked upon as uncertain; its rate being according 
 to the prudence of the officers appointed for this purpose, from a state of the revenues 
 arising from the possessions. 
 
 (h) Thefifth part of the purchase money. 
 
 (i) It isa year’s revenue of the said Fief, ora sum fixed by award, or by offer of the 
 Heir, atthe option of the Seignior. This right can be paid but once in a year, however 
 numerous such mutations may be in that period. . 
 
 (x) This duty has never been required in this Country. HGOR 
 a(1) They are to give notice of what mines may be found in the said Fiefs, to reserve 
 o trees prope for building vessels, and to furnish the necessary ground for erecting 
 
 orts on, 
 
 i 
 

 
 70 
 
 I say nothing of /a Justice, Ist. because it is fallen into disuse, or 
 useless since the conquest, particularly by the Quebec Act. 9d. Be- 
 cause it would create confusion in the present administration of justice. 
 3d. Because it is not inherent in the feudal tenure. Lief et Justice n’ont 
 tien de commun (m). 
 
 If from all these rights be excepted the right of franc-fief, and of nou- 
 veaux acquéts, it may be said, that these noble tenures, have no dues re- 
 pugnant to the Soccage, because, in this case, they have none but what 
 are certain, | ; 
 
 I may venture to say, they are neither onerous to the Tenants, nor un- 
 easy tothe Government, And as the Statute 12th Charles IT. by the 
 Sect. 6, of Chap. 24, reserves all these rights, except for estates held 
 immediately of the King in capite, I may add that they have nothing con- 
 trary to thig Statute, except what may regard the rights owing to the 
 King. What will be said of the rotures will shew that these first tenures 
 are not oppressive for the Censitaires. ; 
 
 A juster idea cannot be given of the roturier tenures, considered with 
 respect to their nature, than by using the proper terms of Ferriere, in 
 his Dictionnaire de droit, his words are, verbo roture : 
 
 *¢ Roture is an inheritance held en censive, different from fiefs, which 
 “are inheritances held nobly. Fealty and homage, the denombrement, 
 “¢ relief, guint, main-mise, retrait feodal, forfeiture, have no place in 
 «© rotures.”? 
 
 ‘* Inheritances held in roture owe but two principal rights ; the an- 
 *¢ nual Cens and the Lods et Ventes, which are due from the new propries 
 “* tor to the Seignior censier in virtue of sale or other conveyance equiva- 
 € lent to a Sale.” 
 
 “* To these two rights must be added the Fines for non-payment of 
 “* the Cens, or for failure of notifying the sale: the first is of five Sols 
 ‘* Parisis, (0) the second of three Livres fifteen so/;.”? 3 ; 
 
 To form any other idea of the Rotures under the Custom of Paris, is 
 to abandon the best Law authorities. Tt remains to shew that every 
 man has a right to oblige the Seignior to grant him lands at a very mode- 
 rate and certain return. 
 
 The right and facility that every individual in the Province has of having 
 lands under the present tenures, is manifestly proved by the ordinances 
 cited by the Solicitor-General, and the Honourabie Charles De Lanat- 
 diere, as well as by the clauses of the Concessions of Seigniories, as these 
 Gentlemen have also well remarked. 7 
 
 Ist. By these ordinances, and by these clauses, it is expressly forbid 
 tothe Seigniors to sell lands uncleared, on pain of re-union to the Dot 
 main of the Crown. , 
 
 2d. It is expressly ordained that the Seigniors shall grant Lands to all 
 who ask for them. 
 
 3d. If the Seigniors refuse to grant them, after being required so to 
 do, the persons asking the said lands shall make complaint to the Gover- 
 
 am ee eee Re oe ee 
 (m) Ferricre, titre ler. des Fiefs en général, paragraphe ler, No. 35, page 54, to the 
 
 end. ‘ 
 
 (n) 5 Sols parisis, is3 pence 1-3d; and three livres fifteen Sols make 574 pence, 
 
 NE i> = 
 ti 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 71 
 
 nors &c., which Governors are authorized to grant them to them, under 
 the name and for the profitof the King, at the same rate as the other 
 Concessions of the said Seigniory. 
 
 To shew that the charges and redevances of the rotures are certain and 
 -mocerate, it suffices to expose the highest rentes that are known to have 
 -been stipulated prior to the conquest, without examining if any Seignior, 
 under the silence of the Government since that epoch, may have stipula- 
 ted for higher, or put in practice any vexation. | 
 
 Ist. The greatest rentes before the Conquest, when they were stipula- 
 ted to be in cash, were two sols tournois per superficial acre. (0) | 
 
 2d, Those which were stipulated in money and wheat, were of one sof 
 tournois per superficial acre, and a bushel of wheat for forty superficial 
 acres, 
 
 As tothe Cens, it consisted generally speaking, of a so/ or a sol 
 and a half tournois for every acre in front, by the whole depth of the Con- 
 cession, (p) this cens is subject to 
 
 Ist. The right of Lods et Ventes. 
 
 2d. La Saisine ; that is to say, twelve deniers Parisis, for being seised 
 of it ; but article §2 of the Custom says ‘ ne prend saisine qui ne veut.” 
 
 There is no obligation to take saisine. (q) 
 
 3d. The Fine when the case happens. (r) 
 
 By the ordinances already cited, and by the clauses inserted in the 
 Contracts, the Censitaires are obliged, 
 
 ist. To let their grain be ground at the Seignior’s Mill, and to pay the 
 fourteenth part for grinding. 
 
 2d. To make or permit to be made all roads and Bridges necessary for 
 the Public. 
 
 $d To clear their lands and occupy them, within a year and a day 
 from the date of the contract. A clause extremely favourable to Agricul- 
 ture, to the advancement of the Province, and to population. 
 
 4th. They are subject to the reserve of mines, ores and minerals; and 
 oak trees. (s) : 
 
 Thus every man has aright to insist on a grant of Land, without its 
 costing him a so/ to become a perpetual proprietor of it. (t) And if the 
 
 
 
 (0) Two Sols Tournoiz are equal to a Penny and a ninth, a Sol Tournois, being 
 5-9ths ofa Penny. ae 
 
 (p) A Sol and a half Tournois is 15-18ths of a Penny of Cens for an arpent in front, 
 by 20, 30, 40 arpents indepth. Some are known to be 126 arpents in depth, which are 
 subject but to this Cens. ; 
 
 ) Twelve Deniers Parisis are equal to two thirds of a Penny. 
 
 4 This fine is of two sorts; one is incurred by the refusal of paying the Cens et Rentes, 
 and is of five Sols Parisis. the other arisesfrom the default of notice being given of the 
 sale, and consists of three Livres and fifteen argue Rg Sentence of the Judge is ne- 
 cessary to oblige the Proprietor to the ment ofthese Fines. =, 
 
 (s) As to Onk Trees, his reserve aes aie take from them the liberty of cutting them 
 dowh on the land they clear, nor even on their other lands; custom having ever consi- 
 dered this reserve in this sense, that the King has a right of taking those Trees, wherever 
 he finds them, as also the Seigniors for their Mills, &c., without having it in their pow- 
 er to charge their Censitaires with culpability for cutting them down. — There is even a 
 Judgment of Mr. Begon, of the 20th July, 1722, which forbids the Seigniors to trouble 
 Cee Counteirss in the employmentand sale of the Oak ‘Trees they cut down on their 
 Jan 
 
 (t) It will cost him but the Notary’s Fee for passing the Deed., 
 

 
 72 
 
 rentes are all stipulated to be in money, he will pay annually for an estate, 
 for example, of 4 Acres by 40, a rent of 16 Jiures tournois, and a Cens 
 of 6 sols. (v) 3 ; 
 
 If, on the contrary the rent is in money and wheat, he will pay eigh 
 livres tournois of rentes,and six sols of Cens with four bushels of wheat.(x) 
 
 If afterwards this land is sold, the purchaser, on entering into all the 
 rights of the settler, becomes also subject to the charges, and will owe 
 the Lods et Ventes. (y). a 
 
 Is it then without reason that, under the present system of tenures, 
 the people of this Province are said to be happy ? Is the Censitaire ex- 
 posed, on his death, to have the fruits of his labours torn from him, after 
 flattering himself with having, by the labour of a whole life, acquired 
 for the children of his bosom, the sacred right of an inheritance ? 
 
 Can these tenures be compared to the Leases of ten, twenty years, for 
 life, &c. known in England, of one or of several acres of land, for an- 
 nual rents of two, four, six, ten Guineas per acre, which the unfortunate 
 husbandman cannot pay without being reduced to live on a fourth part of 
 what is necessary to satisfy his appetite, and that in Potatoes, Oats, &e ? 
 Yet, still happy, if he be not obliged, after having cleared a great part 
 of his land, to abandon his sacred and natural right to the fruits of his 
 labours, gained by the sweat of his brow, from-his.incapacity to pay an 
 Oppressive rent. 
 
 {s this a kind of tenure, which draws the blood of the labourer to nou- 
 rish and satiate a rich Lord, as voluptuous as indolent and useless? Is 
 this a tenure where the earth devours its inhabitants, and must fall, bya 
 natural: tendency, into the hands of these great proprietors, the eternal 
 scourge of population ? 
 
 _ Asa proof, none are known to leave the Province to seek elsewhere a 
 - More advantageous kind of tenure ; while we see arrive here Families, in 
 swarms, to enjoy the benefits that its tenures offer them, and breathe the 
 free air of its husbandmen. 
 
 Such are the observations I have made, after reading with attention, and 
 reflecting on the extract of the proceedings of a Committee of the whole 
 Council of His Majesty, printed by order of his Excellency, dated the 20th 
 of October last. Asa citizen and native of the Province, of course as much 
 interested in its welfare as any can be, I think no one can blame me for 
 them. I submit them with the most humble respect, to the examination 
 and wisdom of the Right Honourable Lord Dorchester, 
 
 THOMAS BEDARD, Priest 
 Quebec, 16th February, 1791. | 
 
 — 
 
 v) Making fifteen Shillings and one Penny anmual rent for 160. ts of land. 
 é x) Making seven Shillings and eight Pence, with four bushels of Wheat for thie dank 
 guantity ofland. | - ) Ute put Byes 5 
 (y) The Lods et Ventes, as has been. already said, are the twelfth. of the amount 
 of the purchase money. The Seigniors generally remit a fourth of this right, without 
 any prescription being established against them by Custuea: i 
 
 
 

 
 —— See era 
 
 SECOND REPORT. 
 
 is 
 OUR Committee next directed their attention to the Town- 
 fhips erected, as well on the southern as on the northern 
 
 fhore of the Saint Lawrence. 
 
 And here, their first object of inquiry was, whether the Free 
 and Common Soccage Tenure had produced that inequality in 
 the divifion of the lands which your Committee have already stated 
 to be, in their opinion, one of the neceflary confequences of that 
 {fpecies of Tenure. 
 
 Upon this branch of the subject, your Committee examined 
 His Majefty’s Surveyor General, and divers individuals who had 
 either refided in some one of those Townfhips, or travelled 
 through them. (A ) 
 
 Your Committee here found exceflive quantities of land in the 
 hands of particular persons, who have never cultivated or fettled 
 it, and have thereby prevented others more induftrious from im- 
 proving the same, and quantities greatly exceeding what in the 
 natural order of things, under that tenure, could have obtain- 
 ed in the short period which had elapfed fince the erection of 
 those ‘Townships. 
 
 It became thus manifest to your Committee, that this unfurtu- 
 nate state of things had originated in some error or vice in the 
 system of granting lands, which had been purfued by the Coloni- 
 al adminiftration. 
 
 Your Committee had been taught by the result of their first in- 
 quiry which has been communicated to the House, not rashly or 
 haftily to attribute this error or vice to His Majesty’s Govern- 
 ment. They well knew from the Inftructions for James Murray, 
 Esquire, Governor ofthe Province of Quebec, dated the 7th De- 
 cember, 1763,—That His Majefty had Ordered, That « Where- 
 “as great inconveniences have arisen in many of our Colonies 
 ** in America, from the granting exceflive quantities of land to 
 ‘* particular persons, who have never cultivated or fettled it, and 
 “‘ have thereby prevented others more. induftrious, frém jim- 
 “ proving the same: In order, therefore, to prevent the like 
 ‘* inconveniences for the future, you are to take efpecial care 
 “* that'in all grants to be made by you, by and with the ad- 
 “¢ vice and confent of our Council, to perfons applying for the 
 «fame, the quantity be in proportion to their ability to culti- 
 
 a 
 
 
 

 
 2 
 
 “‘ vate; and youare hereby directed to obferve the following di- 
 ‘© rections and regulations in all grants to be made by you. viz, &c.”’ 
 
 Your Committee remarked alfoin the Special Regulations for 
 the granting of the wafte lands of the Crown, a paternal regard, 
 nay folicitude for the happinefs of His Majefty’s subjects, utterly 
 inconfistent with meafures like thofe of the Colonial adminiftra- 
 tion, fraught with mifchief to them. , 
 
 These regulations are to be found subjoined tothis Report, un- 
 der the letter (B.) : 
 
 To obtain information upon this matter, upon which your Com- 
 mittee could depend, an humble address to his Excellency the Gos, 
 vernor in Chief, was voted by the Houfe on the 13th February 
 inftant, praying that his Excellency would be pleafed to order to 
 be laid before this Houfe, Copies of fuch Royal Inftructions, ref- 
 pecting the granting of the Crown Lands in this Province, as may 
 have been given fince the year 1786, alfo a table of the Fees of 
 the Office of the Clerk of the Executive Council, and other Public 
 Officers, relating to the said grants, and alfoa Copy of the Man- 
 damus of His late Majefty George the Third, for granting of 
 Lands to Sir Robert Shore Milnes and the Executive Councillors. 
 
 His Excellency the Governor in Chief was pleafed to give for 
 anfwer, that, ‘¢ in compliance with the sAdeele of this Houfe, of 
 ‘‘ the 13th of February inftant, he should caufe to be laid before 
 “ this Houfe, Copies of fuch parts of the Royal inftructions for 
 *« the granting of Crown Lands, as His Majefty has caused to be 
 «© made public.” | 
 
 “© Copy of the difpatch from His Majefty’s Secretary of State, 
 “© ordering that 2 grant of Land should be made to Sir Robert 
 © S. Milnes ; and Copy of the Table of Fees to the officers named 
 “< in this address, should also be communicated.” | 
 
 And His Excellency accordingly tranfmitted to.the Houfe on - 
 on the 17th February inftant :— 
 _ Extract from a difpatch, dated Whitehall, 6th June, 1801, 
 “© from His Grace the Duke of Portland, to Sir Rebert S. Milnes, 
 «* refpecting Grants of Lands to be made tosome of the Mem- 
 ** bers of the Executive Council ; Copy of the Royal Inftructions 
 “* relative to the granting of the wafte lands 6f the Crown.” 
 
 *¢ Copy ofa Difpatch dated Downing Street, 31st December, 
 “© 1808, from Lord Caftlereagh to Sir J. H. Craig, K. B., order- 
 “ing that a Grant of Land should be made to Sir Robert Shore 
 *¢ Milnes.” i | | 
 
 « Copy of the Table of Fees to be taken upon Grants of the 
 *¢ wafte Lands of the Crown.” | LP GL 
 
 All of which are to be found in the Appendix to this Report, 
 under the Letter (C.) 
 The intentions of His Excellency the Governor in Chief to af- 
 ford every proper information to the Houfe, relative to the Public 
 
 
 

 
 ( 
 
 
 
 x 
 
 » 
 
 s 
 
 Inftructions of His Majefty, intentions which the above answer 
 of His Excellency the Governor in Chief so manifeftly evinces, 
 have however, from caufes which your Committee do not deem it 
 necefiary to explore, failed to produce their due fruit. 
 
 For it was within the knowledge of your Committee, that on the 
 1ith June, 1798, His Excellency the late Robert Prefcott, Ef- 
 quire, had laid before the Land Board of His Majefty’s Executive 
 Council, the following inftruction under His Majefty’s Sign Ma- 
 nual, bearing date the 15th day of Auguft, 1797, and the direc- 
 tions he had received from His Majefty’s Secretary of State, in con- 
 formity to the said inftruction. 
 
 GEORGE R. 
 
 Inftruction to our trufty and well beloved Robert Prefcott, Ef- 
 quire, Lieutenant General of our Forces, Captain General and 
 Governor in Chief of our Province of Lower-Canada, in America, 
 or in his abfence to the Lieutenant-Governor or Commander in 
 Chief of our said Province, for the time being. Given at our 
 Court at St. James, the 15th day of August 1797, in the thirty- 
 feventh year of our reign: 
 
 “¢ Whereas, by our Gacierst Inftructions to our Captain General 
 “¢ and Governor Commanding in Chief in and over our Province of 
 « Lower-Canada, bearing date at St. James’s the 16th day of Sep- 
 “ tember 1791, it is declared amongst other things, to be our will 
 *¢ and pleafure, that the ‘Townfhips therein mentioned, and the 
 “ refpective allotments within the fame, together with the lands 
 “© to be referved as therein aforefaid, fhall be run and laid out by 
 “ our Surveyor General of lands, for the faid Province, or fome 
 “¢ skilful perfon authorized by him for that purpofe, which Sur- 
 ** veys, together with the warrants and grants for the refpective 
 « allotments, fhall be made out for, and delivered to the feveral 
 «© Grantees free of any expenfe or fees whatfoever, other than 
 «¢ fuch as may be payable to the different officers, according to the 
 ‘“* table of fees already eftablifhed, upon grants of land made in 
 « the faid Province. Now, our will and pleafure is, that the faid 
 “ Townfhips therein mentioned, and the refpective allotments 
 «“ within the fame, together with the lands to be referved, as there- 
 “in aforefaid, fhall be-run and laid out by our Surveyor General 
 ‘© of lands for the faid Province, or fome fkilful perfon authorized 
 “ by him for that purpofe, which Surveys, together with the 
 “‘ warrants and grants for the refpective allotments fhall be made 
 € out for, and delivered to the feveral Grantees, on payment of 
 «; fuch fees as fhall from time to time be eftablifhed by us, under 
 “¢ our Signet and Sign Manual, or by our order in that behalf, 
 “ fignified by one of our principal Secretaries of State.” 
 
 a2 
 

 
 
 
 4 
 
 And His Excellency informed the Board that the directions he 
 had received from His Majefty’s Secretary of State, in conformity 
 to the above inftructions, were :— 5 
 
 « Ist. That in thofe cafes where the faith of Government has 
 been pledged to the applicants, (according to the Report of the 
 Committee of the whole Council, of the 24th May, 1797,) for fpe- 
 cific quantities of land, the grants thereof fhould be paffed on 
 the fame fees that have been paid upon thofe grants that have al- 
 ready paffed the Seal. 
 
 _& 2d, That, although the faith of Government is not confider- 
 ed to have been {pecially pledged in the cafes where perfons peti- 
 tioned for ‘Townfh'ps on behalf of themfelves and their affociates, 
 yet, inafmuch as fome of thofe affociated applicants have fully 
 evinced the fincerity of their intentions of carrying the Settlement 
 of the landsthey fo petitioned for, into effect, and have, upon 
 the faith of the encouragement heretofore given them by His Ma- 
 jefty’s Government in Canada, embarked their labour and proper- 
 ty in Surveying and allotting the ‘Townfhips they fo petitioned for, 
 and in making effectual Settlements therein, it is His Majefty’s 
 pleafure, that a preference fhould be fhewn to perfons of this Clafs, 
 ** by making them Grants (upon the old Fees) to the full extent 
 ‘¢ mentioned in His Majefty’s inftructions, viz: twelve hundred 
 ‘‘ acres to each aflociated Grantee.” But this is not to extend 
 to the granting of the whole Townfhip, except in thofe cafes 
 where the number of the afsociated applicants who are actually 
 fettled thereon, fhall be fufficient at the rate of twelve hundred 
 acres each, to comprehend the whole of the grantable lands in 
 fuch Townfhip.—And in cases where the number fo actually fet- 
 tled in any Townfhip, fhall not be fufficient, allowing at the rate 
 of twelve hundred acres each, to comprehend the whole of fuch 
 grantable lands in fuch Townfhip, the remaining part thereof, if 
 granted to the affociated applicants, must be granted on condi- 
 *¢ tion of immediate Settlement, and ofits being fubject to the ad- 
 « ditional feés for the Public Service.” It is alfo His Majefty’s 
 pleasure, that fuch of the Settlers, as may happen to be feated on 
 lots referved for the fupport of a Proteftant Clergy, or for the fu- 
 ture difpofition of the Crown, fhould hold the fame, upon the 
 fame terms and conditions as fhall hereafter be granted to other 
 cultivators of referved lots of a fimilar quality. | 
 
 3d. That fuch of the applicants as have been at the expenfe of 
 Surveying the Townthips they have petitioned for, and laying the 
 fame out into Lots, preparatory to the Settlement, but have not 
 proceeded effectually to the actual Settlement thereof, fhould have 
 grants (upon the old Fees,) for the one half of the Townfhips they 
 
 {o petitioned for, in the fame quantities (to wit 1200 acres) to each 
 of the aflociated Grantees, as in the former cafe, on condition of 
 the immediate fettlement thereof; but this is not allowed to be 
 
 
 

 
 ee siaéaé#4é..eouweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee 
 
 5 
 
 extended, in any of the cafes falling under this defcription, to more 
 than one half of the Townthips ; fo that if in any of these cafes, it 
 fhould be thought proper, in the wifdom of the Council, (on ac- 
 count of the intended Settlers being actually waiting to go on,) to 
 advife the Granting of the whole ‘Townfhip to the affociated ap- 
 plicants, the latter half thereof must of courfe be subject to the 
 additional fees for the Public Service. 
 
 «“ 4th. Thofe of the applicants who have only put themfelves to 
 the trouble and expenfe of foliciting and exploring the Townfhips 
 they defired, are not confidered to have done much towards evin- 
 cing any serious intention with refpect to carrying the Settlement 
 thereof into effect, which alone could entitle them to any favour- 
 able confideration. In as much, however, as the exploring of 
 the Townfhips they petitioned for, may have been attended with 
 some expenfe, His Majefty is pleafed to allow, that applicants of 
 this defcription may have grants of the one fourth part of the 
 Townthips they refpectively petitioned for, upon condition of the 
 immediate fettlement thereof. ‘This however is meant to extend 
 only to thofe cafes where the applicants did actnally put them- 
 felves to the trouble and expenfe of exploring the ‘Cownfhips they 
 applied for: and .if thefe fhould defire to have the grants at 
 the rate of twelve hundred acres to each aflociated Grantee, fuch 
 grants are to be fubject to the additional Fees for the Public Ser- 
 vice. 
 
 «“ 5th. Such perfons or affociations of perfons, who, from a de- 
 fire of making actual Settlement on the lands, purchafed the pre- 
 tentions of thofe applicants that had become difcouraged by the 
 delays which took place in the pafling of the grants, are to be 
 confidered as ftanding in the place and ftead of the applicants, 
 whofe pretentions they fo purchafed, and to receive the Grants 
 accordingly in the fame proportions and on the fame conditions as 
 thofe applicants themfelves would have been entitled to under the 
 above regulations. 
 
 «¢ 6th. The remainder of the lands (except where Government 
 may confider it proper to grant certain quantities to particular per- 
 sons by way of favour, as rewards for fervices or the like ; and 
 excepting the refervations for the fupport of a Proteftant Clergy, 
 and for the future difpofition of the Crown,) are to be difpofed 
 of at Public Sale, at certain times and places to be notified ; in 
 fuch quantities, and fubject to fuch condititions of Settlement and 
 Cultivation as shall afford the beft chance for the purchafers be- 
 coming themfelves the permanent Settlers on the lands, and for 
 raifing out of the price thereof an efficient fund towards defray- 
 ing the Public expenfes of the Province. ieee 
 
 “ 7th. The amount of the new Fees to be taken under the Royal 
 inftructions, now communicated tothe Board, (including, as well 
 the part payable to the officers concerned in pafling the Grants, 
 

 
 6 
 
 as the part to be appropriated towards the fupport of Government) 
 is fixed at twenty-five pounds currency per thoufand acres, and fo 
 in proportion, being at the rate of fix pence an acre ; but it is di- 
 rected, that the grants to be made in obedience to orders from 
 His Excellency, in confideration of fervices, fhall be fubject only 
 to the payment of half Fees, or three-pence per acre. | 
 
 “8th. In the grants fubject*to thefe additional fees, and thofe of 
 the lands that fhall be difpofed of by fale, the Grantees are to 
 have all mines and minerals, excepting only thofe of Gold and 
 Silver, which latter are to be reserved to His Majefty, his Heirs 
 and Succeffors, as formerly.” 
 
 {t was alfo within the knowledge of your Commitee that His 
 Excellency had, at the fame time, fubmitted to the confideration 
 of the Board, to report whether it might not be advifable to give 
 public notice of thefe infiructions. 
 
 That His Majefty’s Executive Council declared that they were 
 unanimoufly of opinion, that it was not advifable at the time to 
 give public notice of thefe regulations. 
 
 That an unfortunate difference of opinion exifting between His 
 Excellency the Lieutenant Governor and His Majefty’s Executive 
 Council upon this fubject, His Excellency the Lieutenant Gover- 
 nor for the time being, and His Honour the Chief Juftice of the 
 Province and Chairman of the Executive Council for the time be- 
 ing retired from their high Stations and returned to Great Britain, 
 His Excellency having, previous to his departure, caufed to be pub- 
 lifhed, « An Extract from the Minutes of Council, containin 
 “* His Majefty’s late regulations relative to the wafte lands of the 
 “* Crown, with His Excellency the Governor General’s Order of 
 *< reference, refpecting the fame, to a Committee of the whole 
 *© Council of the Province of Lower-Canada, the faid Committee’s 
 “« Report thereon, and His Excellency’s Speech in reply,” which 
 will be found in the Appendix to this Report under the letter (D.) 
 
 That whatever difference of Opinion might exist, refpecting 
 the expediency of publifhing thefe regulations, there could be 
 none as tothe duty of rendering public the above inftructions, 
 under His Majefty’s Royal Sign Manual, inasmuch as by the 
 38th article of His Majefty’s Inftructions to Lord Dorchefter, Go- 
 vernor General, &c. &c, &c. bearing date at St. James’s 16th Sep- 
 tember 1791, it was ordered as followeth :— 
 
 «It is our further will and pleafure, that the foregoing In- 
 *¢ ftructions to you, as well as any you may hereafter receive, re- 
 *¢ lative to the pafling Grants of Lands, in conformity to the faid 
 “« Act, paffed in the prefent year of our Reign, be entered upon 
 ‘ Record for the information and fatisfaction of all parties what- 
 ** ever, that may be coricerned therein.” 
 
 The directions which accompanied thefe Inftructions, worth 
 as they are of the juftice and honour and wisdom of His Majefty’s 
 
 
 

 
 7 
 
 Government, were however viewed by your Committee with furs 
 prise and gratitude not unmixed with regret. ‘Chey cou!d not 
 but feel gratified for the care and wifdom with which His Majetty 
 provided that exceflive quantities of land fhould not be granted 
 to particular perfons. They were furprised that orders fo diftinct« 
 ly enunciated, fhould not have received their due execution with- 
 in the Colony from the Servants of the Government. But it was 
 with the moft painful fenfation that your Committee read that por- 
 tion of His Majefty’s Inftruétions, which relates to the fale of the 
 wafte lands of the Crown, for the maintenance and fupport of 
 His Majefty’s Government, They faw in this inftruétion a prin- 
 ciple which, from the fmallnefs of the pecuniary means of His Ma- 
 ‘jefty’s Canadian Subjects, oppofed a new and almoft infurmounta- 
 bleobftacle to the progrefs of any Settiements to be effected by them 
 on the wafte lands of the Crown, a principle hoftile to the free 
 Conftitution which it has gracioufly pleafed His Majefty to confer 
 on this Province. They felt convinced that His Majefty had, at 
 that time, been made to feel a diftrust of the willingness of His 
 Majefty’s Faithful Canadian Subjects to provide in a Conftitution- 
 al manner for the fupport and maintenance of His Majefty’s Go» 
 vernment. | | | 
 
 Your Committee have reafon to congratulate the Country that 
 the diftinguifhed Bravery and Loyalty of His Majefty’s Canadian 
 Subjects, during the trying circumftances of the late war, joined 
 to a more intimate acquaintance with the manners, feelings and 
 principles of the people of this Country, have fince reftored them 
 that confidence, which feemed to have been impaired in His Ma- 
 jefty’s Royal Breaft. ‘ 
 
 For on the 29th of December, 1812, His Excellency Sir 
 George Prevoft, then Captain General and Governor in Chief in 
 and over thefe Provinces, in his Speech from the Throne, was 
 gracioufly pleafed to exprefs, “ his. great fatisfaction in com- 
 ‘* municating to the Affembly of this Province, that having com- 
 ‘* municated to His Majefty’s Secretary of State, the addreffes of 
 ** the Houfe in anfwer to his Speech, on the opening of the Pro- 
 ‘© vincial Parliament in February last, in order that they might be 
 “* laid before His Royal Highnefs the Prince Regent, he had fince 
 ** received the exprefs commands of His Royal Highnefs to 
 ** thank them in his name, forthe affurances of fupport and at- 
 “© tachment which they contain, and to acquaint thein that His 
 “ Royal Highnefs places that confidence in the courage and loyal- 
 
 nanrclclUms 
 
 ~ 
 
 © ty of His Majefty’s Canadian Subjects, which makes him equal- 
 ly fearlefs of the refult of any attack upon them, and of any ins 
 * fiduous attempts to alienate their affection from His Govern- 
 ** ment,” i . 
 And again, in his Speech from.the Throne on the 13th of Janua- 
 ry, 1814, his Excellency was gracioufly pleafedto fay, « That 
 
 al 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 a — 
 Sse ee 
 
 8 ‘ 
 
 ‘¢ in reviewing the events of the war, he cannot but contemplate 
 ss with pride and fatisfaction, the zealous difcharge of duty which 
 «¢ he has witnefsed as well in the militia as in all clafses of His Ma- 
 « jefty’s Subjects in this Province, and which he confiders the 
 s¢ furest indication of their Loyalty to their Sovereign, and of 
 “«¢ their determination to defend, to the laft extremity, this valua- 
 “«‘ ble portion of his dominions.” 
 
 And on the 7th January, 1818, His Excellency Sir John 
 Coape Sherbrooke, then Captain General and Governor in Chief 
 in and over thefe Provinces, in his Speech from the ‘Throne, was 
 «« gracioufly pleafed to fay, * that in purfuance of the directions 
 ss he had received from His Majefty’s Government, he fhou!d or-. 
 «« der to be laid before the Affembly, an eftimate of the sums re- 
 «¢ quired to defray the expenfes of the Civil Government of 
 « the Province ;” and he adds, * JI anticipate with confidence, a 
 «© a continuation of that loyalty and zeal for His Majefty’s Ser- 
 «© vice, on your part, which | have hitherto experienced, anda 
 «« ready execution of the offer which you made on a former 
 “ occafion, to defray the expenfes of His Majefty’s Provincial 
 
 -« Government, with a liberality that did you honour.” 
 
 And it is ftill fresh in the recollection of your Committee and 
 of the Houfe, that His Excellency the Earl of Dalhoufie, now 
 Captain General and Governor in Chief in and over thefe Pro- 
 vinces, has been gracioufly pleased to fay in His Speech from the 
 Throne at the opening of the prefent Legiflature, «that he has — 
 from paft experience the fullest confidence in the loyalty, fense 
 of duty and attachment to the principles of the conftitution of 
 His Majefty’s Canadian fubjects, whereof this Houfe is the hum- 
 ble Reprefentative, and has pleafed, further, to exprefs his con- 
 viction that they are difpofed to enable His Majesty to fuftain the 
 Civil Government of this Province, with honour and with advan- 
 tage to his subjects.” , 
 
 Your Committee, feeling in common with the Houfe and with 
 the Country, that the Honour of this People is its moft facred in- 
 heritance and moft precious of all its’ poffeffions do not deem it 
 neceflary to offer an excufe for the details into which they have 
 gone upon this branch of the fubject. <i 
 
 Your Committee proceeded to examine many witneffes relative 
 to the manner in which these inftructions were carried into effec 
 by His Majefty’s Colonial adminiftration. (E.) oe 
 
 Your Committee find on referring to the Public Accounts, from 
 the year 1797, to this day, that no revenue was raifed by the 
 fale of thefe lands or any portion of them. 
 
 Your Committee have afcertained beyond a doubt, that thefe 
 inftructions were evaded in the following manner. 
 
 7™ 
 
 
 
ee, eee 
 
 9 
 
 An entire Townhhip, or a half, or a quarter ofa Townthip, was, 
 upon the application of an individual who had the fortune to enjoy 
 the favour of the Colonial Adminiftration, promifed to him. He 
 obtained the names of thirty-nine individuals, who either lent 
 them gratuitoufly, or fold the ufe of them for fome trifling confi- 
 deration, or were to receive nominally a grant of 1200 acres of 
 land, really and truly a grant of 200 only. In each of thefe 
 three cases, a bond or obligation was executed, whereby the 
 real grantee of the ‘Townfhip, known by the name of «“ Lead- 
 er,” ftipulated with thefe personnes interposées, that upon 
 the pafling of the Patent, these feveral affociates fhould convey 
 to the Leader, either the entire 1200 acres in the two firft cafes, 
 or the 1000 in the laft cafe, in fee fimple to the Leader, the lat- 
 ter engaging to ufe the neceflary exertions, and incur the necef- 
 fary expenfes, and alfo to pay the Patent Fees upon the Grant, 
 without any reimburfement to him from the affociates. The cam- 
 mon form which was ufed upon thefe occafions, is to be found in 
 the Appendix to this Report, under the Letter (F.) 
 
 Under this fystem there was granted to the Members of His Ma- 
 jefty’s Council, above 130,000 acres; to friendsand relatives of 
 Members of the Executive Council, above 100,000 acres... To in- 
 dividuals who had not joined the Standard of His Majefty during 
 the Revolutionary War, above 300,000 acres. To American Loy- 
 alifts, and to His Majefty’s Canadian Subjects, with the exception 
 of the Canadian Militia who ferved in the year 1776, none, or if 
 there be fome folitary exceptions, they are fo few as not to merit 
 confideration. 
 
 For thefe Services, His Majefty directed, by a Special Mandamus, 
 that there fhould be granted unto the Lieutenant Governor for 
 the time being, an entire Townfhip of the wafte lands of the 
 Crown, to each of the Members of the Executive Council, one 
 quarter of a Townfhip, which was according carried into effect. 
 
 Your Committee next directed their attention to the afcertain- 
 ing whether any, and what fees were exacted for these Grants. 
 
 Your Committee have reafon to believe that during the period 
 the late Honourable William Smith, Efquire, was Chief Juftice of 
 the Province and Chairman of the Executive Council, no fees 
 were exacted or received, and His Majefty’s above mentioned in- 
 ftructions in every refpect obeyed. 
 
 A Table of Fees (whereof a Copy is subjoined under the Let- 
 ter (G.) was eftablifhed by His Majefty’s Council, and fees were 
 exacted and received, contrary to the above mentioned inftructions 
 of His Majefty, but under the above Table of fees, which fees 
 have latterly, without any authority, or pretence of authority, been 
 confiderably augmented. 
 
 Your Committee, unwilling to believe that the above mention- 
 

 
 wa 
 
 10 
 
 ed evafions of His Majefty’s gracious Inftructions, had been prac- 
 tifed with the knowledge, privity or confent of His Majefty’s Ser- 
 vants, bound by their oaths, their honour and their duty to obey 
 them, inftituted a long and patient inveftigation into the origin of | 
 thefe abuses. They have been painfully, but irrefistibly led to 
 the conclufion that they were fully within the knowledge of indi-~ 
 viduals in this Colony, who poffefled and abufed His Majefty’s 
 confidence. | . . 
 
 The inftruments by which this evafion was to be carried into 
 effect, were devifed by His Majefty’s Attorney General for the 
 time being, printed and publicly sold in the Capital of this Pro- 
 vince, and the principal and intermediate Agent was His Majes- 
 ty’s late Affistant Surveyor General. 
 
 _ Your Committee defirous of obtaining more particular inform- 
 ation, refpecting the manner in which the Townfhips have been 
 fettled, have directed a feries of queftions to be addreffed to feve- 
 ral of the principal Gentlemen in that Country, and will without 
 delay report to the Houfe, when anfwersare received. ) 
 
 The attention of your Committee has next been directed to the 
 caufes which have retarded the Settlement of the ungranted lands. 
 in the old Seigniories of this Province, and to the determining of 
 the extent to which relief has been afforded to the diftrefled Emi- 
 grants coming to our fhores. Upon thefe two fubjects, fome pro- 
 gress has been made, and every diligence will be ufed by the 
 Committee to give to them that full inveftigation which their im- 
 portance loudly calls for. | 
 
 Upon the whole, your Committee are of opinion that the fecond 
 principal obftacle to the Settlement of the wafte lands of the’ 
 Crown, has been that the Colonial Adminiftration has evaded and 
 difobeyed the Gracious Inftructions ef His Majefty, posterior to 
 the year 1786. 
 
 Quebec, 23d February, 1821. 
 
 | ~ ANDREW STUART, Chairman, 
 
 \ 
 
 
 
Ke . 
 
 MINUTES OF EVIDENCE, &c. 
 
 > J 
 
 (A) &(E). 
 
 Lieut. Col. Bouchette, Surveyor-General of this Province, ap» 
 peared before your Committee and anfwered as follows: 
 
 Q. How long have you been Surveyor-General ? 
 
 A. IT am a Commiflioned Surveyor of lands in this Province 
 fince 1790. I have been upwards of feventeen years at the head 
 of the Surveyor-General’s Department. 
 ~ Q. Can you furnifh the Committee with the names of indivi- 
 duals who have received grants from the Crown of Wafte Lands 
 belonging to it, exceeding in extent 1200 acres ? 
 
 A. I can, from the Records of my Office, and will do it to- 
 
 orrow. 
 
 Q. Can you furnifh the Committee with the names of the Lea- 
 
 ders as they were called, of the different Townfhips ? 
 . A. Yes, I can, but I beg to refer to the general Statement of 
 the Lands granted in the Province of Lower-Canada, given in 
 my Topographical Work of the Canadas, in which is contained 
 the information required. 
 
 Q. When did the Provincial Government commence to grant 
 Lands in Free and Common Soccage ? 
 
 A. In 1796. 
 
 Q. What was the description of perfons who were called the 
 Leaders of ‘Townfhips ? 
 
 A. I refer to the Statement thereof in my Geographical Work. 
 
 Q. What was the number of Signatures ufually fubfcribed to 
 the Petition for the grant of a Township ? 
 
 A. About thirty-fix in a Townfthip of ten miles square, of 
 about 44,000 acres, admitting each individual had 1200 acres. 
 __ Q. Has there been any grants in this Province, in Free and 
 Common Soccage to any one individual, exceeding 1200 acres, 
 and what were they ? | 
 
 A. As far as I recollect, to Sir Robert Shore Milnes, and the 
 Members of the Executive Council, under a Special. Mandamus 
 from home, as an indemnification for their services and great trou- 
 
 ble in the land granting businefs, = 
 
 Q. By what denomination was generally known that individu- 
 al amongft the petitioners, who charged himfelf with the prepa- 
 ring of the Petition, and obtaining fignatures thereto, with pré- 
 
 b2 
 
 OEE OOo 
 

 
 , 
 i2 
 
 fenting the fame to the Provincial Government, and carrying it 
 through the Council, with the expenfes of-furvey, and ultimate- 
 ly with obtainining the Patent, and paying the fees thereof? 
 
 A. They were called Leaders of Townships. 
 
 Q. Upon the face of the Patent did they or any of the other 
 Patentees receive any more than 1200 acres? ,, 
 
 A. As far as my knowledge goes, not more. 
 
 Q. Were not thofe Leaders by the original underftanding be- 
 tween themfelves and the Co-petitioners, charged with this trou- 
 ble and thefe expenfes, without obtaining from their said Co-pe- 
 titioners any remuneration for the one or reimburfement for the 
 other ? 
 
 A. I have generally underftood fuch was the cafe. 
 
 Q. What might be the expenfes of Survey and Patent on a 
 Township of 44,000 acres? 
 
 A. About €340. . , 
 
 Q. What was the average value of lands in thofe Townships, 
 -as they were purchafed up by Speculators from the year 1796 
 1803 and 1804? 
 
 A. The lands were then confidered of little value, as they were 
 sold, as far as my knowledge extends, from 6d. to 15d. per acre. 
 
 Q. What is the fmallest quantity which at that time or now 
 American Settlers intending to join in opening and effecting a 
 ‘Settlement in an uncultivated Township in this Province, would 
 accept as a free grant from the Crown? — | 
 
 A. I should'think not lefs than a Lot of 200 acres. 
 
 Q. Was not the prefent diftribution of the Townships into 
 ma 200 acres adopted in confequence of a knowledge of this 
 fact | ig: a3 | 
 
 A. I cannot answer this Queftion, inasmuch as the fyftem of 
 dividing into Lots-of 200 acres, was eftablished before I entered 
 into office. | 
 
 Q. Did not the fyftem of granting to the actual fettlers of lots 
 of not lefs than 200 acres, obtain as well in Lower as in Upper- 
 Canada, down tothe laft peace with France, and the consequent 
 influx of British Emigrants into these Colonies ? 
 ioA. Tecan say —— as to the caufe of the influx, but I believe 
 at-was generally the cafe, that Lots of 200 acres were granted. — 
 
 Q. Was it not univerfally the cafe in this Province ? 
 
 ». AT cannot say-whether it was universally the cafe or not. 
 
 -. Q. Have you any knowledge of any grant being made of a 
 -lefser quantity of land than 200 acres to any individual, previous 
 to the peace with France ? 
 
 . A. Ido not: know of any, as fat asmy memory goes, ~ 
 
 - + Q» Has any fmaller. quantity than 200 acres been tendered to 
 British Emigrants latterly ? 
 
 
 
Se ee 
 
 A. Yes; 100 acres is what is ufually tendered and given under 
 Location Tickets, and to a large Family a greater quantity, ge» 
 nerally not exceeding 200 acres. 
 
 Q. How was the taeda of a'lownship indemnified for the ex- 
 penfe of £340, -he receiving no more than 1200 acres, under the 
 Patent, worth from 6d. to 15d. the acre ? 
 
 A. It was generally underftood that they were indemnified by 
 receiving from the other patentees a portion of the lands granted 
 to thefe patentees, 
 
 Q. Did you ever underftand or hear what that portion was ? 
 
 A. I have generally underftood that some conveyed 1000 acres, 
 and others lefs. 
 
 Q. Are you aware what is the quantity of Land the Govern- 
 ment of Upper-Canada tenders to Emigrants generally ? 
 
 A. I know nothing about it. 
 
 Q. Have there been any new Seigniories erected in this coun- 
 try fince its conqueft by the British ¢. 
 
 A. None that I know of but Murray Bay and Mount Murray, 
 and Shoolbred in the District of Gaspé. 
 
 Q. What is the number of Seigniories in the Districts of Que- 
 bec, Montreal and Three-Rivers ? 
 
 A. As far asI can recollect, two hundred and eighteen in the 
 
 oa al 
 
 Y whyjoe Province, viz: 
 In the Diftrict of Quebec, 92 Fiefs & Sgnrs. & 5 Iflands. 
 ‘Three-Rivers, 36 do. do. 2. do. 
 Montreal, 61 do. do. 9 do. 
 Gafpe, 11 do, do. 2 do, 
 
 amounting altogether to about 12,700,000 arpents. 
 
 Q. What portion of the Diftrict of Montreal is actually conce- 
 ded and fettled ? 
 
 A. I conceive confiderably upwards of three-fourths, except 
 the Seigniory of Beauharnois of thirty-fix square leagues, which 
 I believe does not exceed one fourth. 
 
 Q. What portion of the Diftrict of Three-Rivers, and what 
 portion of the Diftrict of Quebec, which is fusceptibie of cultiva~ 
 tion, is actua'ly conceded and fettled ¢ | 
 
 A. I conceive on an average hardly two-thirds, many not more 
 than one half, and some which I believe do not exceed one 
 fourth. © : 
 
 Q. Is the surplus Agricultural population of the Province of 
 Lower-Canada at all considerable ? 
 
 A. I think it is. > 
 
 ~ Q. Is the diftribution of lands in the cultivated parts in the 
 Seigniories of Lower-Canada, amongft their Settlers, tolerably 
 equal ? | | 
 
 A. I think it is. 
 
 
 

 
 14 
 
 Q: What is: the ufual fize of the Farms in Lower-Canada, in 
 the Seigniories ? 
 
 A. ‘They are generally of three arpertts in front by thirty itt 
 depth, or of three arpents in front by forty-two in depth, except 
 ina few singular inftances, in fome of the firft original grants, 
 which have not a greater front but a far greater depth. 
 
 Q. Are they not now in many inftances fubdivided to a degree 
 which renders them infufficient to afford convenience to the faf- 
 mer and his family ? 
 
 A. Yes; I believe it to be the case in many parts of this Pro- 
 vince. 
 
 Q. Is not, a Farmer holding fix arpents in front by thirty in 
 ‘depth, in the old Settlements, confidered as a wealthy landholder 
 by his neighbours ? | 
 
 A. I believe he is. 
 
 Q. Is not the proportion of individuals holding farms of this 
 extent in the old Settlements, very small ? | 
 
 A. In proportion to the aggregate Settlers within the Seignio- 
 ries, I should think it is. | 
 
 Q. Is not the proportion of individuals fettled upon lots of land 
 of lefs than three arpents in front, fituate in the front Conces- 
 sions of the Seigniories lying between this place and Montreal, 
 confiderable ? | ; 
 
 A. I cannot pofitively anfwer this queftion, not having ‘direc- 
 ted my attention to this object, but I believe it to be the case. 
 
 Q. What were the rents and services with which the Farmers 
 were charged anterior to the conqueft ? 3 
 
 A. They vary; fome at forty Sols, others one Ecu Tournois, 
 ut I believe never exceeding. 
 
 Q. Are thefe charges deemed onerous by the people of the 
 Country ? 
 
 A. [never underftood they were. | 
 
 Q. Would they prefer to fettle in the Seigniories with these char- 
 ges, preference to fettling on lands in Free and Common Soc- 
 
 a I prefume they would. . » 
 
 _ Q. Have any number of Canadian Settlers eftablished them- 
 felves on the lands granted in Free and Common Soccage ? 
 
 A. I believe very few. . 
 
 - Q. To-what caufe do you attribute this ? 
 
 A. The reafons are obvious; they do not iike the Tenure, as 
 they do not know it, they do not like to leave their relations and 
 ‘friends, and they like to be within reach of their Churches. - 
 
 « .Q. Have the goodnefs to look at the Lift in your Topographi- 
 cal Work, and to inform the Committee how many of the Lea- 
 
 
 
Qe 
 
 15 
 
 ders of Townships named in that List, were Members of the Exe 
 ecutive or Legiflative Council of the Province ? | 
 
 A. I believe about fix of the Executive and five of the Legis- 
 lative Council. 
 
 Q. Do not fix Members and even lefs, ufually conftitute a ma- 
 jority of the Executive Council ? , 
 
 A. I cannot pofitively say the number neceflary to conftitute a 
 Quorum in the Council. 
 
 Q. How many of the individuals in that Lift receiving lands of 
 larger grants than 1200 acres, were Law-Officers of the Crown ? 
 
 A. I believe only one. 
 
 Q. How many of the faid Leaders were Civil Officers of the 
 Crown, receiving emoluments for their fervices, exclufive of the 
 above two clafses ? 
 
 A. I believe about feven or eight, as far as I cn judge. 
 
 Q. Fow many perfons engaged exclufively in large Commercial 
 dealings in the Cities of Montreal and Quebec became Leaders 
 of ‘Townships ? 
 
 A. About fix Merchants. 
 
 Q. How many perfons of the Military Staff of His Excellency 
 the Governor in Chief for the time being, were Leaders of. 
 Townships ? 
 
 y A. Two. | 
 
 Q. Suppofing that each of the Leaders of the firft Clafs recei- 
 
 ved from each of the Afsociates a conveyance of one thoufand 
 acres, what was the whole quantity of acres of the Wafte Lands. 
 of the Crown, of which they became pofleffed ? 
 _ A. As the Leaders of Townships held generally one fourth or. 
 one half of a Township, in that cafe thofe that were Leaders for. 
 one fourth of a River Township, admitting the re-conveyance as 
 above ftated, would remain for one fourth of a ‘Township about 
 10,200 acres, for half a ‘Township 20,400, and in cafes of a whole 
 Township about 40,800 acres. 
 
 Q. What was the entire quantity of land given to His Excellen- 
 cy Sir Robert Shore Milnes, and to the Members of the Execu- 
 tive Council, under Mandamuses from England, as a remunera- 
 tion for their Services ? 
 
 A. There was granted to Sir Robert Shore Milnes, 48,000 
 acres, and to fome of the Executive Councillors 12,000 acres each, 
 and to others 6000 acres each. 
 
 Q. Will you have the goodnefs to look at the above mentioned 
 list, and ftate what quantity of land was given to the Legislative 
 
 » Councillors as Leaders ? | | 
 A, About 25,000 acres. : ; 
 
 Q. What was the quantity given to Crown Officers, exceeding 
 1200 acres ? 
 
 A, I cannot fay exactly, I believe fomething exceeding 3000 acres. 
 
 
 

 
 ~~ 
 
 16 
 
 -Q. What is the total quantity of Land granted to Civil Officers 
 of the Government as Leaders, and their Affociates ? 
 A. About 195,800. ~ 
 
 Q. What is the total amount of land granted to Merchants ? 
 
 A. About 112900 acres. 
 
 Q. What is the quantity of Land granted to perfons coming 
 from the United States as Leaders? | 
 
 _A. About 376,200 acres. 
 
 Q. What is the quantity of cultivable Jand in the fouthern 
 fhore, contained within the ungranted wafte lands of the Crown ? 
 
 A. There remains ungranted within the triangular space of 
 Country bounded by the Province Line Latitude forty-tive de- 
 grees north, by the Saint Lawrence on the north, and the River 
 Chaudiére to the north-east, about 1,800,000 acres, after dedudt- 
 ing the two-fevenths for Crown and Clergy refervations; I fhould 
 conceive that upwards of three-fourths is cultivable land, and fit 
 for every fpecies of grain peculiar to the Country. 
 
 Q. What is the quantity of cultivable Wafte Lands of the 
 Crown lying between the Ottawa and Saguenay Rivers ? 
 
 A. I cannot give a correct idea of the lands fit for culture be- 
 tween the Saguenay and the Riviére du Goufre, yet Iam of opi- 
 nion that there may be found many tracts of cultivable land, 
 though the Country is generally extremely mountainous, but from 
 the Goufre to the Ottawa there may be found in the rear of the 
 old grants, between the ridge of mountains that extend in a fouth 
 weft direction, nearly parallel with the Saint Lawrence, and 
 ftrike the Ottawa in Granville, about 300,000 acres of arable and 
 cultivable Land, including the ungranted parts of the ‘Townships 
 already laid out within that f{pace. 
 
 Q. What would be the moft advantageous and shortest road 
 from Quebec communicating with Upper-Canada ? 
 
 A. From Berthier a road might be laid out in the direction of 
 the Township of Kildare through Rawdon, Kilkenny, Abercrom- 
 bie, Wentworth, Chatham, &c., to Granville, which would short- 
 en the diftance from Berthier to the latter place of thirty-one 
 miles and communicate with Upper-Canada. 
 
 Q. What are the Fees taken in the Land granting bufinefs ? 
 
 A. My Patent Fees are 15s. per 1000 acres, and as far as I'can 
 recollect thofe of the Secretary of the Province 10s. and that of 
 the Clerk of the Council, I believe 10s. Governor 15s. Auditor 
 6s.-8d. Regiftrar 5s. Attorney-General 10s. 
 
 Q. Are there any other taken by any or all thofe Officers and 
 
 what are they? ee 
 - A. I can only anfwer for myfelf with refpect to a correct ftate- 
 ment of Fees. Lands at prefent granted under military conditions 
 produce the following Fees in my Office 7s.-8d. per Location 
 Ticket, Certificates of vacancy 2s.-6d. 
 
 The List mentioned in the above Evidence is as followeth ;—~ 
 
 oO™ 
 
 
 
 
 
ae 
 
 17 
 
 ’ Mr. Sax appeared before your Committee. 
 He fays he is Surveyor of Lands; that he commiericed his ap- 
 prenticefhip in the year 1789, and that for twenty years from 
 + that time he has been occupied in practical Survey within this 
 Province. He Surveyed different Seigniories arid Townfhips in 
 the Dittrict of Montreal. The country generally fpeaking, is 
 hilly in the Townships, but the foil good and {ftrong, and the 
 land cultivable, excepting here and there a mountain and some 
 swamps. ‘The borders of the Saint Lawrence are granted in Sei- 
 gniories, and towards the Lines on the Sorel River it is alfo gran-~ 
 ted in Seigniories. ‘There are alfo five or fix Seigniories on the 
 St. Francis, and the lands granted in Free and Common Seccage 
 beyond the Seigniories, amount to about two millions of acres, 
 but there remains upwards of one million of acres in the tracts 
 erected into Townfhips ungranted, exciufive of the Crown and 
 Clergy referves, In ‘lownfhips already erected, the one half of 
 the lands are ofan excellent quality, and the other half of an in- 
 ferior quality. He does not know what is the quality of the lands 
 ungranted and not furveyed. The neareft point of the ungranted 
 and unfurveyed lands is about fix miles from the Canadian Settle- 
 ments, the. moft remote point is from fifty to fixty miles, He 
 knows nothing of the ungranted lands lying on the north fhore 
 y of the River Saint Lawrence, excepting the T ownfhip of Bran- 
 don in the rear of Berthier, in the Dittrict of Montre al, which 
 he furveyed himfelf, and the land of which is excellent except in 
 the rear, which is mountainous.—The Fees upon the Grants or 
 Patents are £3 6s. 8d. per one thoufand acres, exclufive of the 
 expenfes of the Survey, but for thofe lands which are granted by 
 Location Tickets, the Fees are 15s. 6d. per name, on filing the 
 Petition at the Executive Council Office, 10s. 2d. at the Survey- 
 or-General’s Office, 2s. 6d. at the Provincial Secretary’s Office, 
 and he believes 2s. 6d. more at the Executive Councii Office for 
 a Copy of the Report, which is lodged in the Surveyor-General’s 
 Office. ‘The firft expenfe to which the Petitioner for land is fub« 
 jected, is the payment of 2s. 6d. to the Surveyor-General for a 
 Certificate of vacancy; the fecond charge is likewife 2s. 6d. at 
 the Provincial Secretary’s Office for a certificate that no Patent 
 has been granted for the land prayed for ; the third charge is 15s, 
 6d. to be paid to the Clerk of the Executive Council, and exacted 
 previous to the Petition being received ; the fourth charge of 
 2s. 6d. is likewise exacted by the fame Officer for a Copy of the 
 Order in Council ; the fifth charge is 7s. 8d. at the Surveyor Ge- 
 neral’s Office for the Location ‘Lickets, making altogether thirty 
 fhillings and eight pence. - 
 
 
 

 
 ) 
 
 18 
 
 Mr. Sax further fays that this Location Ticket is given to the 
 perfon intending to fettle fuch land, and on conditions of fettle- 
 ment by himfelf or fome other perfon for him, and clearing four 
 acres of land and building a houfe on his grant. The grantee of 
 half a Lot is bound to do as much as the grantee of fix Lots, 
 equal to 1200 acres. ‘lhe erecting of ‘Townships and the grant- 
 ing of lands on the fouth shore of the River Saint Lawrence com- 
 menced in 1792, and continued in large grants till about 1798. 
 It was well known during the whole of that period of time, that 
 no more than 1200 acres could be granted in a Township to one 
 individual, and it was alfo underftood that fuch grantee could not 
 obtain a grant in any other Township. ‘The population of the 
 Townships on the fouth shore of the Saint Lawrence is about 
 twenty thoufand fouls, giving about four thoufand Militia men. 
 The Settlements in the Seigniories have more rapidly augmented 
 than in the Townships. ‘The Seigniors grant lands at the rate of 
 five divyes and two so/s, and two and a quarter minots of wheat 
 for ninety arpents in fuperficies, and others much lefs. There are 
 fome exceptions to this; in fome inftances fixpence for every fu- 
 perficial arpent is exacted per annum. ‘There are fome Seigniors 
 who fell their lands at an arbitrary rate, by fixing the price them- 
 felves befides exacting the annaal rents, 
 
 Q. What is the number of Britifh Emigrants that are actually 
 fettled in this Province fince the laft peace with France ? 
 
 A. I think that the number of Emigrants fettled in this Pro- 
 vince is about one hundred, and does not exceed one hundred 
 and fifty, to the beft of my knowledge. | 
 
 Q. What has been the number of applications of Emigrants for 
 fettling in this Province ? 
 
 A. The number is about one thoufand. 
 
 Q. How long ago is it that these applications were made ? 
 
 A. Within the two last years the number of applications amoun- 
 ted to about fix hundred, and in the preceding years to four hun- 
 dred. | 
 
 Q. What is the average time before the applicants obtain their 
 Location Tickets, and are enabled to fettle on their-lands ? 
 
 A. From one month to three months. 
 
 ~Q. May not the interval of one month’s delay in a particular 
 feaion, deprive the emigrant of obtaining a crop from his land, or 
 put him back ? ; 
 
 _A. I think it may put him back for eight months. 
 
 G. W. Allfopp, Etquire, appeared before your Committee. 
 
 _ Q. Have you had any and what means of becoming acquainted 
 with the manner of applying for and obtaining grants of land in 
 the Townfhips fituated on the fouthern fhore of the St, Lawrence ? 
 
 
 
19 
 
 A. It is fo many years fince, that I have very little recollection, 
 thofe tranfactions were generally done by my father, who was li- 
 ving at the time. . 
 
 Q. What is the import of the term Leader” of a Township, 
 and who are the perfons known by the names of * Affociates” ? 
 
 A. The term Leader of a Townfhip is applied to perfons apply- 
 ing for a quarter, half, or a whole Townfhip, and Affociates are 
 perfons who are confidered to be the cultivators, or perfons who 
 are to aflist in the eftablifhment of a Townthip. 
 
 Q. In what proportions are the grants to the Leader and the 
 Affociates made in the Patent which is ultimately iffued ? 
 
 A. ‘I'welve hundred acres for the Leaders, and twelve hun- 
 dred acres for each affociate. 
 
 Q. Who paid the expenfes of Survey and the Patent Fees? 
 
 A. The Leaders as far as I know paid all the expenfes of ex- 
 ploring, Survey and Patent Fees. 
 
 Q. Who prefented the Petition, attended it through its pro- 
 greis, and exerted himfeilf to obtain a fuccessful refult ? 
 
 A. The Leader. 
 
 Q. Who paid the agents for their trouble ? 
 
 A. Not having had any agents for what I have been concerned 
 in, Ido not know, but I have underftood that perfons applying 
 for Lands at a diftance from the Capital did employ agents refi- 
 dent at Quebec, to obtain the lands that they applied for. 
 
 Q. Did the Leaders obtain any and what remuneration or re- 
 imburfement for the above fervices and expenfes ? 
 
 A. The Leaders made different arrangements with their Affo- 
 ciates according to the fituation in which Townfhips were placed, 
 {ome more, foine lefs. As far as I have underftood they have 
 got one thoufand acres out of twelve hundred transferred to them, 
 on their being at the whole expenfe of exploring, furveying, fub- 
 dividing, and paying the fees of Office. 
 
 Q. What was the defcription of perfops whofe names were ufed 
 as Aflociates; were they likely to make actual fettlements or 
 otherwife ? 
 
 A. My Affociates in half a quarter of a Townfhip which I ob- 
 tained were refpectable Tradesmen, Canadians, refiding in the 
 City of Quebec, and at that period having property and funds ca- 
 pable of providing for the fettlement of their refpective portions, 
 and I believe they are {till poffeffors of thefe Lands. 
 
 Q. What was the confideration you gave to your Affociates ? 
 
 A. Asa Leader for the fmall part of the Townfhip I obrained, 
 Japplied for it in my own name, and gave in the names of my 
 Affociates, having previously eg to the Affociates in what 
 
 
 

 
 ~~ 
 
 20 
 
 way they were to re-convey a part of the lands to be granted. to 
 them, to myself as Leader. 
 
 Q. What was the quantity of land reconveyed to you ? 
 
 A: Having been at confiderable expenfe in exploring, survey- 
 ing and fubdividing for fo fmall a part of a Townfhip as I obtains 
 ed, I received eleven hundred acres out of the tweive hundred 
 from each Affociate, who confifted of four perfons. 
 
 Q. Have you any knowledge of a lefs quantity than one thou 
 fand acres being ftipulated for by the Leader ? 
 
 A. I know nothing about it. 7 
 _ Q. Have you any knowledge of the Affociates afligning or 
 agreeing to affign their interest in the two hundred acres previous 
 to the iiluing of the Patent, and did this occur frequently ? 
 
 A. Not to my knowledge. | | | 
 
 Q. What was the average price of the wafte lands of the Crow 
 at that time ? 
 
 A. That was entirely guided by the fituation where the Town- 
 fhips were placed. I fuppofe from one fhilling an acre to ten fhil- 
 lings, or more. 
 
 Q. What quantity of the wafte lands of the Crown have you 
 in your. poflefiion ? 
 
 A. I do not exactly know the quantity, but I fuppofe about 
 five thoufand acres. | 
 
 Q. Have you caufed to be cleared and inclofed any and what 
 quantity of land, and at what price and where ? 
 
 A. No I have not; but I have at various times attempted to get 
 Settlers. “ “) | 
 
 Q. Haye you knowledge that lands in the aétual poffeffion and 
 occupation of different individuals, improved by them, have been 
 fubfequently granted to other individuals, and to any and what 
 extent ? 
 
 A. I know nothing about it, except from what I might have 
 heard. 
 
 Q. Are there not many perfons in this Province whofe purfuits 
 are altogether foreign from agriculture, and who poflefs like 
 yourtelf large tracts of wafte lands of the Crown? 
 
 A. There may be many in this Province, but I have na pers 
 fonal knowledge of the fact. . | | 
 
 Q. Look at the General Statement of lands granted in free and 
 common Soccage in the Province of Lower-Canada, as contained 
 in Lieutenant Colonel Bouchette’s Work, and teli the Committee 
 how many were Leaders of Townihips ? 
 
 A. I have only a knowledge of fix perfons contained in that 
 Lift, who were Leaders of Townfhips, there are many others 
 
 
 
21 
 
 in the fame List who, as ~I have been informed from general 
 report, were Leaders of 'Townfhips. ; 
 
 Q. Do you think that any perfon within this Province, difpofed 
 to become an actual Settler, would accept fifry or one hundred 
 acres of the ungranted wafte lands of the Crown, on condition of 
 effecting an actual fettlement thereon? : 
 
 A, Very few, unlefs confiderable advances were made to them, 
 or except they had fome funds of their own. 
 
 Q. Do the large traéts of land held by yourfelf and others in 
 the ‘Townfhips, and who do not refide there and improve and 
 cultivate the fame, yield any and what revenues to the proprietor. 
 thereof ? 
 
 A. I have never received any remuneration or profit from that 
 part of the Townthip that I poffefs, nor from the disburfements 
 that I made towards it. 
 
 Q. What in your eftimation has retarded the Settlement 
 thereof? 
 
 A. The manner in which the Referves of the Crown and Cler- 
 gy in the Townthips have been divided, has operated as a difcou= 
 ragement to a fettlement of the lands in my opinion; I think it 
 would have been better if thefe referves had been placed in one 
 corner of the Townfhip, which would have been advantageous to 
 
 y the Grantee as well as the Crown. 
 ~ Q. Do you apprehend that the abfence of the large landed pro- 
 prietors, and their neglecting their Settlement duties, has mainly 
 contributed to retard the fettlement of these lands ? 
 
 A. Yes, in fome inftances. 
 
 >’ 
 
 - 
 
 Mr. J.P. Robinfon, Culler of Timber, of the City of Quebec, 
 appeared before your Committee, and anfwered as followeth :— 
 
 Q. Have you refided for any and what length of time in the 
 Townfhips on the fouth fhore of the River St. Lawrence, in the 
 Dittriét of Three-Rivers ? 
 
 A. I have refided for eight years, from 1806 to 1814, gene- 
 rally in the Townthips of Compton and Afcott. 
 
 Q. Have you caufed to be cleared and inclofed any and what 
 quantity of land, and at what price and where ? 
 
 A. I cleared myfelf in the Townfhip of Compton about fixty 
 acres; the common price for clearing was about ten dollars per 
 acre ? | 
 
 Q. What is the quantity of Stock in your poffeffion, and have 
 
 nN you erected any and what buildings upon the faid land, and of 
 what value ? | ’ 
 
 A. My quantity of Stock was very small, I erected a houfe of 
 the value of £100, but no other buildings. I have fince difpofed 
 of my property at a {mall value, 
 
 
 

 
 , 
 LB 
 ; 
 { 
 . 
 « 
 F 
 ; 
 a 
 “ 
 ,& 
 - 
 
 22 
 
 Q. Have you pafled through any and what Townfhips, and 
 what is the extent of the cleared lands inthe fame, and the po- 
 pulation thereof refpetively, and are there any and what Town- 
 fhips on the fouth fhore in which there are no clearings or Set- 
 tlements ? 
 
 A. I have paffed through the whole of the Townfhips on the 
 River St. Francis, as far as the Township of Eaton, and from Af- 
 cott toStanftead on the line. The ‘Township of Sranftead is for 
 the greateft part cleared and fettled : there are four Companies of 
 Militia in that Township. The Township of Hatley is in part 
 cleared and fettled ; the other Townships are partly cleared, fome 
 more fome lefs. ‘lhere are fome Townships, for inftance Barford, 
 Stoke, and a few others where there are no“Settlements. 
 
 Q. What is the ftate of the roads in the faid Townships and 
 are there any and what caufes, which tend to advance or retard 
 the improvement of the internal communications of the faid Town- 
 ships? 
 
 A. The roads in general are bad, the caufe is that the Crown 
 and Clergy Referves are not fettled; likewife the abfence from 
 the Province of large landholders, the actual fettlers having been 
 obliged to open and make thefe roads through neceflity ; this all 
 retards the fettlement, and this is the principal caufe why 1 parted 
 with my property in the Township of Compton. . 
 
 _Q. Are there any and what number of perfons in the faid 
 Townfhips who have fettled upon and improved wafte lands of 
 the Crown inthe fame, which faid lands have fince the faid Set- 
 tlement been granted by patent under the Great Seal of the Pro- 
 vince to other individuals, and what isthe number of the faid Set- 
 tlers, and fo what bufinefs, profeflion or education were they edu- 
 
 _ cated, and what generally were the places of refidence, profeffion 
 
 and occupations of the Grantees of the Crown, and have thefe 
 latter made or attempted to make any fettlement upon the fame ? 
 A. T have no perfonal knowledge of the matters referred to in 
 this Queftion, but it is generally believed so in the Townships, 
 and particularly in the Township of Stanftead. I know one per- 
 fon who bought a lot of land about twelve years ago in a ftate of 
 nature, in the Township of Compton, and after clearing thirty or 
 forty acres of the fame, and building a houfe and a barn thereon, 
 he learned that the land belonged to His Excellency Sir Robert 
 Shore Milnes. ‘This perfon, to my knowledge has sent a petition 
 to the former Governor, His Grace the Duke of Richmond, for 
 2 grant of this faid land, and has as yet not received any anfwer 
 to his Petition, but he ftill remains at the present moment on the 
 
 faid land, in expectation of obtaining a title. Several perfons 
 
 
 
| 
 
 23 
 
 went and fettled on thefe lands atid made partial clearings, but 
 not being abie 10 procure titles they left them. I believe-there 
 are feveral other persons in the fame fituation, but I cannot spe- 
 cify any particular inftance. Moft of the Grantees of the Town- 
 ship of Compton, have never attempted to make any Settlement. 
 
 or any roads upon the fame, and they are not likely to do fo un- 
 der exifting circumftances. 
 
 Q. What are the caufes which in your eftimation have contri- 
 buted to advance or retard the Settlement of the faid T ownships, 
 and the profperity of the same ? 
 
 A. ‘The caufes why the Townships are not more fettled, is the 
 badnefs of the roads, the want of Schools and of Courts of juttice 
 and the unequal diftribution of the lands. and in as much as the 
 Crown and Clergy Referves interfere with the keeping the roads: 
 in order; for the people who are partly fettled on thefe Referves 
 are not bound to aflist in making roads. Many perfons have taken 
 lands in thefe ‘Townships and began making farms, but on account 
 of the above ftated difficulties, they have deferted their farms or 
 fold them at a very fimall price. 
 
 Q. What is the diitribution of the faid lands, are they generals 
 ly diftributed equally or otherwife, and what is the ufual fize 
 and dimenfions of the farms in the faid Townships ? 
 
 A, The Grants to {ome individuals are too large to expect that 
 they would fettle thereon and improve the fame: for inttance, im 
 the Township of Compton, nearly one half of that Township is 
 granted to one individual, and no fettlements or roads have ever 
 been effected by him, or even an acre of land told by him fince 
 his grant. The ufual fize of farms where people have fettled on: 
 and made improvements, is from thirty to one hundred acres. 
 
 Mr. Jacob Pozer appeared before your Committee. 
 
 Q. Have you had any and what means of becoming acquainted 
 with the manner of applying for and obtaining grants of Land in 
 the Townships fituated om the fouthern shore of the St. Lawrence? 
 
 A. I applied about two years ago jointly with my father and 
 brothers, for part of the Township of Shenley, adjoining my fa- 
 ther’s Seigniory, to His Grace the Duke of Richmond, to which 
 Petition we received the fame day an anfwer on the back of it, by 
 which it was fent to the Land Committee. After the lapse of 
 three or four months I was fent for by the land Committee, requeft- 
 ing to know whether I had any thing to add to the Petition, and 
 they gave for anfwer that they had it not in their power to grant 
 
 
 

 
 wy 
 
 24 
 
 the whoie of our prayer, that I fhould further confider on it, and’ 
 return the Petition, and they would fend it to the Land Board in 
 England for further confideration. | 
 _Q. What is the number and the defcription of Settlers whom 
 you were defirous of putting upon thefe lands ? 
 . . A. About one hundred and thirteen Germans, 
 
 Q. What is fince become of them ? 
 
 A. There are about thirty of them who went away, the re- 
 mainder fettled upon the Seigniory of Aubert Gallion, belonging 
 to my father. - 
 
 Q. Was your father one of thofe perfons known by the name 
 of Loyalifts, and did he ferve and in what capacity during the re- 
 volutionary war ? 
 
 . A. Yes, he ferved in the Provincial Corps of Sir J. Johnson ag 
 a Serjeant and was on duty at the evacuation of New-York. 
 
 Q. Did he make. any and what application for grants and with 
 whom, and fingly and with what defcription of Perfons, and what 
 was the refult of his application ? 
 
 A. He figneda Petition which was taken round by the Honou- 
 rable Hugh Finlay as Leader of a Township for himfelf and his fa- 
 mily, and feveral of our neighbours did the fame. ‘The Township 
 was granted to Mr. Hugh Finlay. Some years ago, conceiving that: 
 thefe lands might be valuable, I made enquiries in the Provincial 
 Secretary’s Office, expecting to find in it the name of my father: 
 for twelve hundred acres, my mother, myfelf and my fix brothers 
 and fifters for twelve hundred acres each, and found that our 
 names. and thofe of our neighbours were not inthe grant, but 
 names of other perfons whom I do not know nor ever heard of. 
 
 Q.. Was. not the Honourable Hugh Finlay a Member of the: 
 Executive Council and a Member of the Land Board ? 
 
 A. Mr. Finlay was a Member of the Executive Council, but 
 whether he was a Member of the Land Board I cannot fay. 
 
 _Q. Were any of the neighbours whom you have fpoken of, Loy- 
 alifts, or have they ferved during the American war ? wai 
 
 A. Yes, one of them by the name of Brown, wasarmourer, and 
 afterwards Mafter Armourer of the Ordnance Department at Que- 
 bec. Mr. M‘Kenzie, another of our neighbours, ferved in the 
 _ Highland Regiment in Lower-Canada in the feiges of 1759 and. 
 1774. | | 
 
 Q. To your belief or knowledge, is there any confiderable 
 number of Loyalifts fettled in the Townships on the Southern 
 shore of the St. Lawrence? 
 
 - A. None that I know of. 
 
 
 
Qe ee 
 
 Ms. Thomas Cary, Seniors appeared before your Committee, iss 
 
 Q. Have you had any and what means of becoming acquainted with 
 = manner of applying for and obtaining Grants of Land in the Town- 
 
 Ips ? 
 
 } A. Yes, my means are the knowledge acquired from having been se- 
 
 veral yearsa Clerk in the Exeeutive Council Office, and acting Clerk of 
 
 the Council during Mr. Ryland’s absence, during the whole of General 
 
 Prescott’s administration, aud also during the time of Lord Dorchester’s 
 administration, from the time when the Land granting business began, 
 
 Q. What is the import of the term ‘ Leader”? of a Township, and 
 who were the persons known by the name of * Associates”? ? 
 
 A. The Leader is the Chief of a ‘T’ownship, to whom, and a svuffi- 
 cient number of Associates, the Township is granted at the rate of twelve 
 hundred acres each. No man by the King’s Instructions being allowed 
 more than twelve hundred acres. This isto be considered as unconnected 
 with Military Grants. 
 
 Q. Who paid the expenses of Survey, and the Patent Fees ? 
 
 A. The expenses of Survey were at first, I believe, paid by the Crown, 
 the Patent Fees by the Grantees, 
 
 Q. Who presented the Petition, attended it through its progress, and 
 exerted himself to obtain a successful result ? 
 
 A. The Leaders at first, and afterwards Agents were employed by the 
 Leaders, but this was a private transaction. ms 
 
 Q. Who paid the Agent for this trouble ? 
 
 y A. The Leader. 
 . Q. Did the Leaders obtain any and what remuneration or reimburse- 
 ment for the above services and expenses? 
 
 A. I have gene-ally understood that the Associates in consideration of 
 two hundred acres clear to them free of all expense, conveyed to the Leas 
 der their remaining one thousand acres, but this was all by private agree- 
 ment, and therefore might vary, sometimes more sometimes less ; or there 
 might have been other considerations. 
 
 ©. Were the arrangements of this nature private, or were they notori- 
 ous and public? 
 
 A. It was generally understood so publicly. 
 
 Q. During the administration of General Prescott, were there not ma- 
 ny applications pending before the Council ? | 
 
 A. There were many pending, but they had been principally made du- 
 ring Lord Dorchester’s time. | 
 - Q. What length of time had those applications been pending ? 
 
 A. I think the greater part of them laid over for years, before any Pa- 
 tents were issued. 
 
 Q. What was the nature of the differences between lis Excellency 
 General Prescott and the Executive Council, so far as you feel yourself 
 at liberty to state these things? 7 
 
 ¢ A. I understood it to be rspecting the land granting business. When 
 the land granting business was first commenced, there Was.a set of Books 
 
 e€ . 
 : 
 
 
 
S fo. ces ee er ee. 
 == ee ———- > 
 
 
 
 PEELS OLE CORY AEP IEE i i 
 : oe ae 
 SSeS a = 
 
 HA 
 ih 
 BEY) 
 why 
 Hit 
 | 
 
 ——-— ¥ -- 7 = —~ 
 SSS 
 
 94 
 
 called the Land Books, which were considered to be open and public, 
 as distinguished from another set of Books, called the State Journals. 
 
 Q. Did you not incur the displeasure of the Council, in consequence of 
 acting under this impression that the Land Journals were public ? 
 
 A. Yes. | 7 
  Q. Had the parties making application for land free access to the 
 King’s instructions respeeting waste lands of the Crown ? ore 
 
 A. They had access to the Journals by means of extracts, they had 
 no access tothe King’s instructions. 
 
 Q. Were there ary and what fees received by the Clerk of the Exe- 
 cutive Cousieil, fur services rendered by him in the land granting business ? 
 
 A+ In the beginning there were no fees. I think there were none 
 during the whole time that Mr. Williams wasin that Office. About 
 the time that Mr. Ryland came into that Office as a Clerk of the Execu- 
 tive Council, I believe there was a Tarif of Fees for the different offices 
 concerned in the land granting business. | . 
 
 Q. Wasthe Tarif established in England, or in the Executive Coun- 
 cil? 
 
 A. In the Executive Council I think. 
 
 Q. Is not that Tarif in direct contravention of His Majesty’s instruc- 
 tions ? 
 
 A. I cannot say. I think there were.no Fees in Mr. Williams’ time, 
 but I think there were some allowed in Mr. Ryland’stime. Ovef and 
 above the fees charged in the Tarif, there were fees charged for extracts 
 from Journals from the Land Book by Mr. Ryland, but I think not by 
 Mr. Williams, I believe the reason why no fees were taken at first, was, 
 that the Grantees might have their lands free of expense. 
 
 Thomas Lee; Esquire, Notary Public, appeared before your Com- 
 mittee. 
 
 °Q. Have you had any and what means of becoming acquainted with 
 i manner of applying for and obtaining grants of Land in the Town- 
 ships ? 
 
 A: I have had an opportunity of knowing what is done to obtain lands 
 in the Townships, having been a Notary’s Clerk with Mr. Voyer the 
 younger, in 1799, 1800,. 1801, 1802 and 1803, at the time many of 
 those lands were granted to various persons, 
 
 Q. What is the Import of the term “ Leader’ of a Township, and 
 who are the persons known by the name of ** Associates’’. 
 
 A. By “ Leader,” I understand a person who associates himself with 
 a number of persons to obtain those lands or Townships, and by “ Associ- 
 ates’? the same individuals, who for a trifle reconvey to the Leader the 
 lands which the Government has granted them, after having obtained 
 Letters Patent. | 
 - Q. In what proportions are the grants to the Leader and the Associ- 
 ates made in the atent which is ultimately issued? 
 
 ‘A. As well as I can recollect twelve hundred acres of land were granted 
 to the Leader and each of his Associates indiscriminately. 
 _ Q. Who paid the expenses of Survey and the Patent Fees? 
 
 
 
Pe ee ee 
 
 A. The Leader. rout ia 
 Q. Who presented the Petition, ‘attended it through its progress and 
 exerted himself to obtain a successful result ? } 
 > A. The Leader, or an Agent whom he employed, for the Associates 
 were merely nominal 
 
 Q Didthe Leader obtain any and what remuneration or reimburses 
 ment for the above services and expenses ? 
 
 A. The remuneration of the Leader consisted in the reconveyance 
 which the Associate made to him for a trfle, that is to say fifteen or 
 twenty shillings, as soon as the letters atent were obtained from Governs 
 ment : 
 
 Q. What was the description of persons whose names were used as Age 
 sociates, were they persons likely to make actual Settlement or other- 
 wise ? 
 
 A: The first person that offered was taken, provided he took the oath 
 of allegiance to the King of England. 
 
 Q How were Signatures obtained to the Petitions, and what were 
 the motives and considerations held out to the Associates geuerally ? 
 
 A. By promising them fifteen or twenty shillings, sometimes less. 
 
 Q. Have you any knowledge of a less quantity than one thousand acres 
 being stipulated for by the Leader ? 
 
 A. Not to my knowledge. 
 
 Q. Have you any knowledge of the Associates assigning or agreeing 
 to assign their interests in the two hundred acres previous to the issuing 
 the Patent, and did this occur frequently ? 
 
 A. Almost in every case. 
 
 Q. What was the average price of Waste Lands of the Crown at that 
 time ? 
 
 A. It varied, there were some of which the average price was from 
 two shillings to two shillings and sixpence per acre, but they were in ges 
 neral worth from one shilling to one shilling and three penee, according 
 to the situation of the Land. - 
 
 Q. What is their average price now ? 
 
 A. I bave no Idea. 
 ~ Q. What quantity of Waste Lands of the Crown have you in your 
 possession. ? | ieee : 
 
 A. [had some at that time, but I have parted with them since, 
 
 Q. Are there not many individuals within this Province, whose pur- 
 suits are altogether foreign from Agriculture, and who possess large tracts 
 of Waste Lands of the Crown ? PER | 
 
 A. Yes, a great many, which has impeded the progress of the popula- 
 tion and the welfare of the Country. alt | 
 
 Q. How many such persons do you know ? md 
 
 A. Almost all the persons named in the General Statement of the 
 Crown Lands granted in Free and Common Soccage to various persons 
 ¢ since 1795, in the Topography of Canada by Jos. uchette Esquire. 
 
 Q. Do you know, or have you reason to believe that thers are many 
 persons resident in this Province or pers possessing tracts of Land | 
 e€ ‘ 
 
 
 

 
 , 
 
 28 
 
 of from twelve hundred acres upwards to sixty thousand acres, who have 
 hid out no money upon them, and have not performed the Settlement 
 duties ? 
 
 A. I believe that excepting the expense of Survey &c. the persons 
 named in the above mentioned General Statement, have not laid out a sin- 
 gle halfpeany on clearing them or advancing their cultivation, 
 
 Q. Do you think that any person of British extraction upon the Con- 
 tinent of North America, disposed to become an aciual Settler, would 
 accept fifty or one hundred acres of the ungranted and Waste Lands of 
 the Crown, on condition of effecting an actual Settlement thereon? 
 
 A. Ithink there are none, for so small a quantity of land would not 
 indemnify any person for the privations and expenses to which such Set- 
 tlements are liable by their remoteness from the settled lands. ' 
 
 Q. Have you known any instance of there being tendered to an actual 
 Settler by the Provincial Government a less quantity than two hundred 
 acres since the last peace with France, and the consequent influx of Emi- 
 grants into these Proviuces from Great Britain and Ireland ? 
 
 A. I have not. had an opportunity of knowing whether Government 
 have made such offers or not, but i know the emigration from the mo- 
 ther country has been considerable for several years. 
 
 Q. What in your estimation has retarded the Settlement of those 
 Lands? 
 
 A, Ithink the Crown and Clergy Reserves added to the Grants which 
 have been made of large quantities of land to various persons who delay 
 selling them in order to obtain a higher price, also the law of the Coun- 
 try which does not extend to the ‘Townships for the opening and repair 
 je Highways, is one of the principal causes, 
 
 Q Have you in your possession as Notary, any and what number of 
 Instruments, by which Leaders of Townships entered into an agreement 
 with their Associates, by which the Associates bound themselves to 
 transfer or reconvey a certain portion of their grants to the Leaders, and 
 Were or were not these instruments made in one and the same usual and 
 accustomed form ? 7 
 
 A. Since my becoming a Notary in 1805, I have not passed any act 
 for the reconveyance of Lands granted by Government, except by the 
 Associates for the Township of Hull, to Mr. Philemon Wright, their 
 Leader. = . 
 
 __ Q.. What was the usual. quantity of land so reconveyed ? 
 _ A. In the case abovementioned the reconveyance was one thousand 
 acres, but generally the Associates reconveyed the whole to their Leader. 
 
 Q. Were these Instruments executed secretly and covertly, or was not 
 this mode of obtaining a larger grant than twelve hundred acres, as limite 
 ed by His Majesty’s instructions, notorious and public ? 
 
 A. The granting of those. lands to various persons has always appear- 
 ed to me a privileged matter, although it was notorious and public, be- 
 cause they were granted only:to Executive Councillors and their Friends, 
 having endeavoured both for myself and my friends to obtain Crown 
 
 , : 
 
 
 
oS 
 
 29 
 
 Lands with a view to settling them, I have ever experienced on the part’ 
 of the Officers of Government who had the nianagement of these matters, 
 obstacles nearly insurmountable, 
 + Q. By whom were these forms prepared, as it was generally understood 
 | at the tinve, and as you believe ? 
 
 A. It was the present Chief Justice, who was then Attorney General, 
 who drew the form by Lease and Release for the cases of John Black, the 
 late Honorable John Youug, the late Joseph Frobisher, Isaac Todd, 
 Montour, and many others, whose names I do not recollect. I know 
 this, because, while a Clerk at Mr. Voyer’s, [ used to goto Mr. Sew- 
 ell’s myself for the Draught in order to have it printed, 
 
 Q. Who printed these forms ? 
 
 A. The King’s Printer. 
 
 Jacques Voyer, Esquire, Notary Public, appeared before your 
 Committee, and anfwered as followeth: i 
 A. Have you had any and what means of becoming acquainted 
 with the manner of applying for and obtaining grants of land in 
 the Townships fituated on the fouthern fhore of the St. Lawrence ? 
 A. Yes I have, having applied for fome for myfelf, and for 
 others on feveral occafions, as Land Agent, for many Townships, 
 in the years 1800, 1801, 1802, and 1803. 
 q Q. What is the import of the term “ Leader” of a Townhhip, 
 4 and who are the perfons known by the name of « Affociates ?” 
 
 A. The Leader of a Township is the perfon who applies for 
 the grant of lands forming a Townfhip, and the Affociates are 
 the perfons who lend their names to the Leader to obtain the 
 fame. 
 
 Q. In what proportions are the grants to the Leader and the 
 Affociates made in the Patent which is ultimately iffued ? 
 
 A. In an equal proportion of twelve hundred acres to each of 
 them. 
 
 Q. Who paid the expenfes of Survey and the Patent Fees ? 
 
 A. The Leaders of the Townfhips paid them in every cafe 
 which came to my knowledge and for whom I acted as Agent. 
 
 2. Who prefented the Petition, attended it through its pro- 
 grefs, and exerted himfelf to obtain a fucceffful refult ? 
 
 A. Yhe Leaders or their Agents. 
 
 . Who paid their Agents for this trouble ? 
 
 A. The Leaders. 
 
 . Did the Leaders obtain any and what remuneration or re- 
 imburfement for the above fervices and expenfes ? 
 
 A. Previous to their taking any f{teps for obtaining a grant, the 
 Leaders of the Townfhips entered into an agreement with their 
 Affociates, by which the Affociates bound themfelves to transfer 
 one thoufand acres, and in some inftances eleven hundred acres of 
 
 
 

 
 ‘ , 
 
 30 
 
 the lands which they were to obtain by the grant, in confidérati~ 
 on whereof the Leaders obliged themfelves to pay all the expen 
 fes which were to be incurred for the furvey of the lands and for 
 the obtaining of the grant. 
 
 Q. Have you in your poffeffion as Notary, any and what num- 
 ber of inftruments of the defcriptron last mentioned, and were 
 they or were they not in the usual and accuftomed form ? 
 
 A. I have executed inftruments of this description for at least 
 ten Townfhips, the exaét number I cannot tell, they were in the 
 ufual and accuftomed printed form. Immediately after the iffuin 
 of the Letters Patent, the agreement or inftrument above allude 
 to was followed and carried into effect by the execution of deeds 
 executed by the Affociates, thereby conveying to the Leaders in 
 full right one thoufand acres, and in fome inftances eleven hun- 
 dred acres as above mentioned. 
 
 Q. Could you furnith to the Committee Copies of the inftrue 
 ments you have juft now mentioned ? 
 
 A. I could, having the originals in my poffeffion. 
 
 Wherevpon Mr. Voyer was requefted to furnish the Committee 
 with ali convenient diligence Copies of the above mentioned 
 forms. 
 
 Q. Were thefe inftruments executed fecretly and covertly, or 
 was not this mode ot obtaining a larger grant than twelve hundred 
 acres, as limited by His Majeity’s initructions, notorious and pub- 
 lic ? 
 
 A. They were executed publicly and were notorious to all the 
 world. 
 
 Q. By whom were thefe Forms prepared as it was generally un- 
 
 derftood at the time, and as you believe ? } 
 _ A. Lunderftood, when they were first handed to me, that they 
 had been prepared by His Majefty’s Attorney General at that 
 time ; the perfon who gave them to me told me fo. _In confe- 
 quence of which, and of the correétuefs of form, as coming from 
 fuch high authority, I cauled the fame to be printed, and obtained 
 confiderable employment as a Notary in thefe tranfactions. 
 
 Q. What was the defcription of perfons whofe names were 
 ufed as Affociates, were they perfons likely to make actual Settle- 
 ment or otherwife ? 
 
 A. A few of them, fuch as thofe of the Townfhip of Shipton 
 were likely to become actual fettlers, the others were generally 
 poor people, who fold the two hundred acres which they had res 
 ferved by their agreement to the Leaders for a trifling confider- 
 ation. | 
 
 Q. What was that confideration ? 
 
 A. From half a guinea to eight dollars; 1 bought myfelf many 
 for half a guinea. ee 
 
 
 
Qe ae 
 
 31 
 
 Q. How were Signatures obtained tothe Petitions, and what 
 were the motives and confiderations heid out to the Affociates ge- 
 nerally ? 
 
 + - A. The Signatures were obtained from the Affociates in confi- 
 deration of the promife held out to them that they should obtain 
 two hundred acres of the land which might be granted to them. 
 
 Q. Have you any knowledge of a iefs quantity than one thous 
 fand acres being ftipulated for by the Leader ? 
 
 A. Never, not only amongtt thofe which I have paffed asa No-« 
 tary, but alfo amongit thofe which I have feen, and which were 
 numerous, 
 
 Q. Have any knowledge of the Afsociates afligning or agreeing 
 to aflign their interest in the two hundred acres previous to the 
 iffuing the patent, and did this occur frequently ? 
 
 A No 
 - Q. What was the average price of the wafte lands of the 
 Crown at that time? 
 
 A. About fixpence per acre. 
 
 Q. What is their average price now ? 
 
 _A. If I take it as a rule that the thing is only worth what it 
 would fetch, they are not more worth now, but I would not fell 
 mine now for lefs than two shillings and fixpence. They may be 
 
 i worth about two shillings and fixpence per acre, but I think that 
 they could'not fetch more than fixpence per acre ready cash. 
 
 Q. What quantity of Waite Lands of the Crown have you in 
 
 « your poffeffion ? 
 
 A About thirty thoufand acres. 
 
 Q Have you caused to be cleared and inclosed any and what 
 quantity of land and at what price and where ? 
 
 A. I have caufed about eighty acres to be cleared in the Town- 
 ship of Frampton, at the expenfe of about ten dollars the acre. 
 
 Q. What is the quantity of Stock in your poffeflion, and have 
 you erected any and what buildings upon the {aid land. 
 
 _ A. The land [have fince fold, and I have no Stock in my pos 
 feffion. 
 
 Q. Of the remainder of the faid thirty thoufand acres, have you 
 caufed to be cleared and enclofed any and what quantity, at whac 
 price and where ? 
 
 - A Ihave not. I have fold various lots of the fame, which are 
 partly cleared. 
 
 ~ Q. At what price or prices upon anaverage, were the fame 
 fold, and by whom were the clearings upon the fame effected ? 
 
 A. I fold the greater part at one shilling the acre, and the re 
 mainder from two shillings to two shiiings and Gxpeace, the 
 clearings were effected by the purchafers. 
 
 
 

 
 a 
 
 32 
 
 Q. Have you erected any and what buildings upon the remain- 
 der of the faid land, and of what value ? 
 
 A. I have not. 
 
 - Q. Have you any knowledge that Lands in the actual occupa- 
 tion of different individuals and improved by them, have been 
 fubfequently granted to other individuals, in the manner above 
 mentioned, and to what extent? | | 
 
 A. Ihave not a perfonal knowledge of the fact, but heard dif- 
 ferent perfons complain that it had been the cafe with regard to 
 them. 
 
 Q. Is this not a matter of public notoriety, and have you any 
 doubt on the fubject ? 
 
 - A. From the knowledge I have of the character of the perfons 
 who made the complaint, I have no doubt but what it is true, 
 but I do not think it is a matter of public notoriety. 
 
 . Are there not many perfons within this Province whofe pur- 
 fuits are altogether foreign from Agriculture. and who poffets like 
 yourfelf large tracts of Wafte Lands of the Crown ? 
 
 A I know fome perfons who like myfelf hold large tracts of 
 land, and whofe puriuits are foreign from Agriculture, but who 
 have expended larg: fums of money to have them fettled. 
 
 Q. How many fuch perfons do you know ? 
 
 . A. I know two only from my own knowledge. 
 
 Q. Do you know or have you reafon to believe that there are 
 many perfons refident in this Province or elfewhere, poffefling 
 traéts of land of from twelve hundred upwards to fixty thoufand 
 acres, who have laid out no money upon them, and have not per- 
 formed the fettlement duties ? | 
 
 A. I believe that there are many perfons in the Province and 
 elfewhere, who do poffefs large tracts of those lands, who have 
 Jaid out no money or very little upon them, and they have not 
 performed the Settlement duties. | 
 
 Q. Do you think that any perfon within this Province dispofed 
 to become an actual Settler would accept fifty or one hundred 
 acres of the ungranted and waste lands of the Crown, on condi- 
 tion of effecting an actual Settlement thereon ? 
 
 A. ‘No, I am fure they would not, for to my personal know- 
 ledge all the militia men to whom a grant of one hundred acres 
 ' for privates, and two hundred acres for non-commiflioned Offie 
 cers, were offered for their fervices during the late American wary 
 on paying the patent fees, would not accept them ; and I have my 
 felf on feveral occafions offered half a lot of land to individuals in 
 a Township partly fettled, if they would go and attually settle it, 
 and I have not found one that would accept of the offer. 
 ~ Q. Have you known any inftance of there being tendered ta 
 an a¢tual Settler by the Provincial Government a lefs quantity 
 
 oro™ 
 
 
 
OS ee 
 
 33 
 
 than two hundred acres fince the last Peace with France, and the 
 confequent influx of Emigrants into thefe Provinces from Great 
 Britain and Ireland ? 
 
 + A. There was never any leffer quantity than two hundred acres 
 tendered to Settlers previous to the last peace with France ; four 
 hundred acres were granted to the militia men who had ferved du- 
 ring the Blockade of Quebec, in 1775. | 
 
 Q. Do the large tracts of land held by yourself and others in 
 the Townships, and who do not refide there, and improve and 
 cultivate the fame, yield any and what revenues to the: proprietors 
 thereof ? 
 
 A. They do not, they are a source of expense, trouble, plague 
 and anxiety. | 
 
 Q. I prefume then that yourfelf and the others would willing- 
 ly furrender thefe lands to the Crown to get rid of this fource of 
 expenfe, care and anxiety ? 
 
 A. I would not by any means, but I would cheerfully and wil- 
 lingly give one half of them to individuals who would go actually 
 to fettle upon them. | 
 
 Q. How do you and the other large proprietors generally ex- 
 pect to be indemnified for this expenfe, trouble and anxiety ? 
 
 ni A. I do not expect to be indemnified for my trouble and ex- 
 penfe. 
 
 Q. What in your eftimation has retarded the Settlement of 
 
 thefe Lands ? | 
 
 A. It may be attributed to the following causes : 
 
 1°, Tothe Tenure under which they were originally granted, 
 which confidering it with the difadvantages under which it was 
 eftablifhed, to wit: The right of referving two feventh parts of 
 the lands thereby granted, was not calculated to promote and en- 
 courage the fettlement thereof. 
 
 2°. ‘To the great number of grants which were made within too 
 fhort a period, of wild lands which covered a furface of from twen- 
 ty to forty-five miles, and which from the great diftance to which 
 the moft part of them were from the Settlements, were inacceffi- 
 ble to the owners thereof. 
 
 3°. In not having laid out, previous tothe granting of any 
 of the faid Wafte Lands, three grand routs or roads leading from 
 the respective Towns of Quebec, Montreal and William Henry, 
 to the Lines, and in not having granted immediately after, all the 
 lots on both fides thereof to aétual Settlers, who in that cafe 
 would have kept the fame in repair in summer, and in a ftate fit 
 to travel upon inthe winter. ‘The want of thofe grand routs or 
 roads, from which partial ~~ might have been made at a very 
 
 
 

 
 ot 
 
 {mall expenfe to communicate into the Townships laying on the 
 right and left thereof, has, I fincerely believe, materially contribu- 
 ted to retard the Settlement of thofe Lands. , , 
 
 ~ 4°. To the Clergy and Crown Referves. Thefe have been 
 and I am convinced continue to be an infurmountable obftacle to 
 the Settlement of thofe lands. ‘The difficulties, inconvenience 
 and extra labours which they occafion to Settlers cannot be enu- 
 merated; suffice it to fay, that Settlers cannot move or take a 
 {tep towards cultivating and improving their lands but what they 
 are in the way. 
 
 Mr. Alexander Rea, appeared before your Committee. 
 
 I was formerly a Merchant, but at prefent I am forming a Set- 
 tlement in the Townships of Rawdon and Kildare. I explored 
 Jaft September the ‘Township of Rawdon partially, and the ungran- 
 ted part of Kildare. I explored about eleven miles square of thefe 
 two Townthips, lying north of Montreal; the quality of the land 
 is fully Settlement worthy, and owing to local advantages I think 
 it preferable to land on the South fide'of the River, though the 
 foil is not que fo good, Iam certain there is full one hundred 
 thoufand acres of good and cultivable land lying between the Sei- 
 giiiories of Dail!ebout and the Ottawa, in the rear of Valtrie and 
 the adjoining Seigniories, and I have good reafon to think that — 
 there is double that quantity. Ihave often travelled through the 
 Townfhips on the South fide of the River St. Lawrence, and I 
 have fome local knowledge of the fituations and circumftances of 
 many of them. he retention of the Crown and Clergy Referves 
 together with the large quantities of land obtained by Grants and 
 purchafed by different individuals on fpeculation, who have not 
 and never had any intention of fettling or improving the fame, 
 has injured the Settlement of the Country very materially. 
 
 ‘Q. What numbers of Britifh Emigrants have found refuge in 
 an actual Settlement on the lands obtained from Government 
 in this Province, fince the laft peace with France ? 
 
 A. From one hundred and fifty to two hundred on the fouth 
 and north fide of the St. Lawrence, not including the ‘Townfhips 
 on the Grand or Ottawa River. 
 
 + Q. What is the average time before’ the applicants obtain their 
 their Location Tickets, and are enabled to fettle on their lands ? 
 
 A. Were all due difpatch ufed by the Emigrant or his Agent, 
 at thofe particular feafons of the "year, when ‘the fitting ‘of the 
 Council does'not interfere with other public duties, the neceflary 
 ‘papers’could ‘be obtained in three weeks, but otherwife it has of- 
 ten extended from 6 weeks to three months, 
 
 
 
—gg QI ae 
 
 S& 
 
 - ‘There was a Report made by the Council on the Ist December 
 laft, accompanied by a plan of Settlements, which promises to do 
 away with the delay and obftacles which hitherto have exifted in 
 - * the Emigrants obtaining their Grants, and under the foftering 
 
 | care of His Excellency the Governor Earl Dalhonfie, who’has gi- 
 ven it every attention, I have no doubt, as far as circumftances’ 
 will permit, every thing will be done for obviating the difficulties 
 under which they may be placed. 
 
 Q. Are there any perfons concerned in the administration of 
 Juftice, who are Members of the Executive Council? _ 
 
 A. ‘The Chief Juftice of the Province is Prefident of the Council, 
 and two Judges are Members. 
 
 Q. How many days in the year are occupied by the fitting of 
 the Courts of Juftice ? 
 
 A. One hundred and forty days, whereof twenty happen at 
 that particular feafon of the year which is peculiarly diftrefling to 
 the Emigrant. 
 
 Q. Is not the delay in granting the Jand a material inconveni- 
 ence to the Emigrant ? | : 
 
 A. Owing to this delay the unavoidable expenfe incurred, and 
 the detriment fuftained by lofs of time in improving his land, is a 
 great inconvenience particularly when the finallnefs of his means 
 
 rf are taken into confideration. 
 : Q. What isthe ufual Fee of Agency, when an Agent is em- 
 ployed by the Emigrant at Quebec ? 
 
 A. From thirty-five to forty fhillings for an affociate grant of 
 twelve hundred acres, when it exceeds this quantity there is then 
 an allowance of five per cent. upon the amount of grants obtained. 
 
 Q. Would this Fee be exacted from an Emigrant, applying for 
 two hundred acres or lefs ? 
 
 A. Yes. | 
 
 Q. What are the Fees the Emigrant is fubjected to over and 
 above this charge of Agency? 
 
 A. The Fee of the Clerk of the Council on prefenting the Pe- 
 tition for one or more individuals, if of the fame family, is fifteen 
 fhillings and fixpence; the Surveyor-General’s Certificate of one 
 or fix lots being ungranted, two shillings and fixpence; the Cer- 
 tificate at the Provincial Secretary’s Office, two shillings and fix- 
 pence; on obtaining the order in Council, a further fee of feven 
 shillings and eight-pence to the Surveyor-General for the Location 
 Ticket ; all of which fees except the laft, are lost to the Emi- 
 grant, if the prayer of his Petition is nor granted. 
 
 Q. In the event of more than one individual joining in the 
 fame Petition, is the fee of fifteen shillings and fixpence charged 
 on each name or not ? = | 
 
 
 

 
 \ 
 
 36 
 
 A. Although there should be a hundred names in the faid Pes 
 tition, the Fee of fifteen shillings and fixpence is exacted from 
 every one, unlefs the parties ftand in the relation of father and 
 child, brother and fifter, and uncle and nephew. 
 
 -- Q. Have you any knowledge of the inftructions which may 
 have been given tothe Executive of this Province, refpeéting the 
 granting of the Wafte Lands therein ? 
 
 A. The only knowledge which I have and can have is from 
 public report, and from the perufal of a printed proclamation of 
 Lord Dorchefter, and alfo of the Extracts of the Minutes of the 
 Council of Lith June, 1798. 
 
 Q. Whence did you obtain the Copy of the Minutes of the 
 Council above alluded to ? 7 
 
 A. I obtained it from Mr. James Fraser, at Montreal, who 
 found it amongft the Papers of his deceafed Son. 
 
 Q. Were any of your anceftors Loyalifts, leaving the old Bri- 
 tish Colonies, now the United States, at the breaking out of the: 
 Revolution ? 
 
 A. My Grandfather and my Father left New-York at the eva- 
 cuation of that place by the British Forces in the year 1783, and 
 they firft went to Shelburne in Nova-Scotia, and came to this 
 Country in 1796 and 1799. 
 
 Q. Did your Anceftors suffer any loffes in confequence of at- 
 taching themfelves to the Loyalifts ? 
 
 A. My Grandfather’s Eftate worth five thoufand pounds, was 
 confifcated and fold, for which he received from the British Com- 
 miffioners an indemnity of fix hundred pounds. 
 
 Q. Did your Grandfather receive any grants of land in this 
 Province as a Loyalift ? 
 
 A. He Petitioned the Governor in Council feveral times unfuc+ 
 cefffully, and I have now pending betore His Excellency in Coun- 
 cil a Petition to that effet. My Grandfather having been unfuc- 
 cefiful, my father did not petition the Governor. : 
 
 Q, Was it not well known in 1792 and 1796, and is it not 
 well known now, that His Majefty’s Government should not 
 grant more than twelve hundred acres to any individual, and that 
 upon condition of actual Settlement ? 
 
 A. Linvariably underftood and have known fuch to be the cafe, 
 that all afsociated applicants or others were not to receive more 
 than the quantity mentioned, with the exception of Loyalifts, the 
 heads of whofe families were to receive twelve hundred acres, and 
 their wives and children two hundred each. 
 
 Q. Was it not notorious from 1792 down to 1803, that thefe 
 inftructions were evaded by the Provincial Government, and by 
 what manner were they fo evaded ? | | 
 
 
 
pe SF 
 
 $7 
 
 A. Yess the mode of evading His Majefty’s inftruaticns was 
 generally this, a perfon coming forward with ten, twenty of forty 
 affociates was enabled to obtain a grant of one fourth, one half or 
 
 > the whole of a Township of forty-four thoufand acres, making the 
 allowance to each affociate of twelve hundred acres, By engage- 
 ment under bond betwixt the Affociates and the Leader, he would 
 obtain a Patent for the whole in the name as well of the Leadér as 
 of the Affociates, whereupon a conveyance was made by each Af- 
 fociate to the Leader of one thoufand acres out of twelve hundred. 
 
 Q. Was the evafion practifed fecretly or publicly ? 
 
 A. No, it was quite a publie thing. 
 
 Q. In the felection of the objects of this Bounty of the Provin« 
 cial Government, was any reference had to the means or inclina- 
 tions of the individuals to effect an actual fettlement of thofe lands ? 
 
 A. 1 have always underftood there was, in as much as it was 
 always ftipulated, that a certain proportion of the Setclement Du- 
 ty should be performed within the different periods of three, 
 five and feven years. 
 
 Q. Ofthe different individuals to whom one fourth, one haif 
 or whole Townships have been granted, did any perfon actually 
 fettle thereon ? | 
 
 A. Yes; I think I could name eight or ten. 
 
 ns Q. Were there many amongit thofe grantees, who from their 
 | fituation in life could not have been expected to fettle perfonally 
 on thefe Townships, or fuperintend the Settlement thereof ? 
 
 A. Many of them could not, 
 
 Q. Are there not large tracts of land in the poffeffion of many 
 individuals who have not effected and are not likely to effect any 
 settlement thereon, and who hold them till their value is increa~ 
 fed by the exertions of individual fettlers ? 
 
 A. It is notorious that fome of the first Townfhips on the fouth 
 fide of the River are held and the fettlement thereof retarded, to 
 the great injury of the actual Settler, by perfons who obtain grants 
 to the extent of one fourth, one half and a whole Township, I 
 must likewise obferve that feveral Townfhips on the banks of the 
 Grand or Ottawa River, are held by perfons on the fame principle, 
 to the great detriment of thofe perfons already fettled, and 
 the extenfive fettlements that are now ina {tate of progrefs on the 
 upper parts of the River. | , 
 ' Q. Isthere not an unequal diftribution of Lands in the Town. - 
 fhips ? = 
 
 ‘ a Certainly, very much {o, to the great detriment of the prin- 
 cipal part of the inhabitants. 
 
 Q. Is there a more equal distribution of the lands in the old 
 Seigniories?, . beta 7 : 
 
 
 

 
 » atl 
 
 
 
 38 
 
 - Ae Very much fo. The principle upon which the Seigniories 
 are conceded tends to an equal diftribution of lands. ‘ 
 . Q. Is it not true that the Earopean Settler has a prejudice 
 againft the Seigniorial tenure, and that the French Settler has a 
 prejudice againit Free and Common Soccage ? 
 
 A. [have invariably found it to be the cafe. 
 
 Q. Are there any Canadians fettled in the Townfhips ? 
 
 A. Yes, afew and very few. : 
 
 Q. To what caufe do you attribute the Canadians not Settling 
 in the Townfhips ? 
 
 A. Principally to their Religious, Social and Local habits, to 
 their prejudices in different degrees, to Free and Common Soc- 
 cage, and to the difference between their Religion, Language and. 
 
 habits and the Religion, Lauguage and habits of the inhabi- 
 
 tants of thofe Townships, and they and their anceftors having 
 been in the habit of receiving land fromthe Seigniors, without 
 the disburfement of Funds, on paying a moderate annual rent. 
 
 Q. Of the Emigrants who arrived at this Port in the years 1815, 
 1816, 1817, 1818 and 1819, did any of them find their way to 
 the United States of America? 
 
 A, From ocular demontftration and information upon which | 
 can rely, I am confident that during the years mentioned not lefs 
 than three thoufand have pafled into the United States, and I be- 
 lieve that this number may be doubled. In the year 1819 I was 
 travelling in the United States, in the western parts of Penfylva- 
 nia, New-York and Ohio, where I met them in companies from 
 ten to twenty, all.of whom came out by the way of Quebec. 
 
 _ Q, Is the furplus of the Agricultural part of the population of 
 Lower-Canada confiderable ? L 
 
 A, Yes, from the opportunities I have had of obferving, I think 
 it is very confiderable. 
 
 Q. Is there any difficulty in effecting a Settlement in Seigniories 
 out of this population ? 
 
 A. In Seigniories where the land is good and the rent moderate, 
 
 and facilities given in the opening of roads by the Seignior, which 
 itis greatly his interest to do, there is no difficulty. 
 _Q. You fay you have explored the Townships in the rear of 
 Lavaltrie, St. Sulpice, and the adjoining Seigniories, what inter+ 
 nal communications, in your opinion will be required for the be- 
 nefit of thofe Townfhips ? 
 
 _A. A general Road running through the Townships from the 
 Daillebout Seigniory to the head of the Long Sau!t on the Grand 
 River in the Township of Grenville, as per the plan which is ly- 
 ing in the Civil Secretary’s and Surveyor-General’s Offices, will 
 certainly be a grand object in fettling thofe Townships, and alfo 
 very advantageous for that part of the Country generally, befides 
 
 oo 
 
 
 
 4 
 
39. 
 
 opening a direct communication between the City of Quebec, and 
 the Grand or Ottawa River, and the Civil and Military Settlements 
 _ on the fame. 
 + Q. Do you think that the road Statute as it at prefent ftands, is 
 | as applicable to the Townfhips as to the Seigniories ? | 
 
 A. Not by any means, the plan on which they are laid out is 
 {fo oppofite that it cannot apply; in addition to this the Crown 
 and Clergy Referves and large grants are obftacles very much ops 
 pofed to it, and for which a provifion ought to be made in the 
 Road Act. 
 
 Q. Do you think that the eftablishment of Register Offices 
 would havea good effect in Settling the Townthips ? i 
 
 A. Yes; I am certain that the Province in general would feel 
 the benefit of them very much, but more efpecially the Town- 
 ships. 
 
 P. E. Desbarats, Efquire, appeared before your Committee : 
 Q. Have you had any and what means of becoming acquainted 
 with the manner of applying for and obtaining grants of Land in 
 the ‘Townthips ? | 
 A. I became acquainted with the manner of applying for and 
 obtaining grants of Lands in the Townfhips in the year 1796, 
 y through the late Honorable Hugh Finlay, who was then Chair- 
 man of the Board of the Land granting department, who advifed 
 me to Petition fora whole Townfhip as a Leader, which I did, 
 praying for twelve hundred acres of land for myself, and twelve 
 hundred acres for each of thirty-nine Affociates, in the Townthip . 
 of Bedford, in the Diftrict of Montreal. 
 Q. What is the import of the term “ Leader” of a Townhhip, 
 and who are the perfons known by the name of « Affociates’’ ? 
 A. I underftand by the term Leader, that he is the perfon who 
 is to make the neceflary applications, and incur all the expenfes 
 previous to the obtaining of the Patent, and alfo to pay all fees 
 that may become due on the iffuing of the faid Patent for a grant - 
 of land. | 
 Q. In what proportions are the grants to the Leader and the 
 Affociates made in the Patent which is ultimately iffued ? | 
 A. By the Royal Inftructions which were made known in the 
 year 1796, each Leader had aright toinake an application and 
 obtain for himfelf and thirty-nine affociates twelve hundred acres 
 of land each; but in confideration of the heavy expenfes which 
 the Leader was obliged to incur, previous to his obtaining the 
 grant a bond was generally entered into between the Leader and 
 the Affociate, by which the latter bound himfelf to conveyto the 
 former one thoufand acres out of his twelve hundred. 
 Q. Who paid the expenfes of Survey, and the Patent Fees ? 
 
 
 

 
 4 
 
 
 
 40 
 
 - A. The Leader, as above mentioned. 
 
 ~Q. Who prefented the Petition, attended it enhOune its pro- 
 grefs, and exerted himfelf to obtain a fucceffful refule ? 
 
 A. The Leader alfo. or his Agent. 
 
 . Who paid the Agents for this trouble ? 
 
 A. "The Leader. | 
 
 Q. Did the Leaders obtain any and what remuneration or re- 
 imburfements for the above fervices and expenfes ? 
 
 A. This is anfwered by a previous anfwer. 
 
 Q. Have you in your own pofleflion any and what number a 
 Inftruments or Bonds of the defcription laft mentioned, and were 
 they or were they not in the ufual or accuftomed form ? 
 
 A. I have fome in my poffeffion executed in my own favour, 
 they confift in a deed of leafe and releafe in the Englifh form, 
 and of a transfer 1 in the Cuftomary form of this Country. 
 
 29Q. Were thefe Inftruments executed fecretly and covertly, or 
 was not this mode of obtaining a larger grant than twelve hun 
 dred acres, as limited by His Majefty’s Inftructions, notorious 
 and public ? 
 A. It was public and well known throughout the Province. 
 Q. By whom were thefe forms prepared, as it was generally 
 underftood at the time, and as you believe ? 
 A. To my certain knowledge various forms of thofe deeds 
 were drafted by His Majefty’s then any General. 
 2: Are you Law Printer to His Majefty ? 
 A. Yes, I have been fo fince the year 1798. 
 . Have you any and what knowledge that thefe forms were 
 printed for the ufe of the Leaders of Townfhips, and by whom ? 
 
 A. Yes, I have, many were printed, and I believe the great 
 eft part, at my Printing Office. 
 
 Q. Who were the Agents employed by the Leaders of Towne 
 fhips at that time ? 
 
 A. The principal Agents were Mr. Phillips and Mr. Vonden- 
 velden. 
 
 Q. Did they or either of them hold any office or offices of truft 
 or emolument under the Government ? 
 
 A. Mr. Phillips was Clerk of the Houfe of Affembly, and In- 
 fpector of Flour at the Port of Quebec ; Mr. Vondenvelden was 
 Affiftant Surveyor-General of the Province. 
 
 Q. What was the defcription of perfons whofe names were ufed 
 as Affociates, were they perfons likely to make an actual Settle- 
 ment or otherwife ? 
 
 
 
41 
 
 ; A. They were generally Canadian Farmers, very few of them 
 likely to become Settlers in the Townships. xt 
 ~ Q How were Signatures obtained to the Petitions and what 
 . were ~ motives and confiderations held out to the Affociates ge- 
 nerally : 
 A, tT he Signatures were generally obtained upon a promife to 
 the Affociates that they fhould incur no expenfe, that they would 
 have two hundred acres to themfelves free; and if they wifhed 
 to transfer thefe two hundred acres, they would receive from one 
 to two guineas for thefe two hundred acres. 
 Q. Have you any knowledge of a lefs quantity than one thou- 
 fand acres being ftipulated for by the Leader ? . 
 A. No, I have no certain knowledge, but I have underftood 
 that in fome cafes lefs than one thoufand acres was ftipulated ‘for 
 by the Leader. 1 
 Q. Have you any knowledge of the Affociates affigning or 
 agreeing to affign their intereft in the two hundred acres, previous 
 to the iffuing of the Patent, and did this occur frequently ? 
 A. Yes, I believe it has been the cafe in fome inftances. 
 Q. What was the average price of the wafte lands of the Crown 
 at that time ? , 
 A. It depended much upon the fituation of the land; I believe 
 3 it was from one to five fhilllngs per acre. ' 
 ’ Q. What is the average price now ? 3 
 A It is variable for the fame reafons ftated in the above an- 
 {wer ; I believe they fell from one fhilling to forty. 
 
 Q. What quantity of wafte lands of the Crown have you in 
 your poffeffion ? 8406 
 
 A. About fix thoufand acres,’ having fold five thoufand five 
 hundred acres to the Honourable Mr. Juitice Pike. 
 
 Q. Have you caufed: to be cleared and inclofed any and what 
 quantity of land, and at what price and where ? 
 
 A. Yes, about two hundred acres on various lots in the Town- 
 fhip of Frampton; the average price for clearing has been from 
 s£2.-10s. to €3. per acre. This fort of clearing leaves the ftumps 
 on the land, but it prepares it for feeding, and moft of the whole 
 is enclofed. 
 
 Mr. William Hall of the City of Quebec, appeared before your 
 Committee, and gave the following anfwers to the queftions put 
 to him =" + ¥ | 
 
 ® ‘- Q«-Are you proprietor of any and what quantity of land on the 
 fouth fhore of the River Saint Lawrence, and in any and what 
 Townfhip ? is > > ot . as 
 
 
 
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 A. In the Townthip of Broughton I am proprietor of twenty- 
 two thoufand ‘acres, in the Townthip of Ely, nine hundred and 
 fifty acres, in Stoke eight hundred acres, in Godmanchefter fe- 
 ven hundred acres, 
 
 Q. Have you had occafion to travel through any and what 
 Townships ? 
 
 A. I have travelled through Broughton and Godmanchefter 
 only: 
 
 Q. What is the number of Settlers in Broughton ? 
 
 A. Ten in number. ‘There is a great number of Settlers in 
 Godmanchefter, but I do not know the number. My lands in 
 that Township 1 believe to be all fettled without my permiffion. 
 
 _ Q, Did you derive the above lands by grants from the Crown 
 or by purchafe from individuals ? 
 
 A. With refpect to the Lands in Godmanchefter, I purchafed 
 them from one Cunningham who had a Location Ticket, and the 
 Patent for feven hundred acres came out inmy name. With ref- 
 peet to thofein Broughton, my uncle the late Henry Iuncken and 
 myfelf were Leaders for that Townfhip, and in that quality I got 
 only twelve hundred acres from Government, and my uncle and 
 I purchafed the remainder from the Affociates. With ref{pect to 
 thofe in Ely, I purchafed them from Amos Lay. Thofe of Stoke, 
 I purchafed from Ward Bailey the Father. 
 
 Q. Of what defcription of perfons were the Affociates of whom 
 you bought the Lands in Broughton ? 
 
 A. They were Canadian Farmers of the Seigniories of Sainte 
 Marie and Saint Jofeph near the faid Township. 
 
 Q. By whom was the Petition prefented to the Governor and 
 the Survey obtained for the faid Lands? _ 
 
 _A. By my Uncle and myfelf. 
 
 Q. Who paid for the Survey ? 
 
 A. Government paid for the Surveying of one half of the late- 
 ral lines and we the other, a moft unneceflary expenfe, becaufe 
 thofe lines aught be drawn juft as well at the same time the divi- 
 fion lines are drawn, which said divifion lines were paid for by us. 
 
 Q. Who paid it gat Fees, as well for the lands granted to 
 you as to your affociates ? 
 
 A. My uncle and myfelf. 
 
 Q. Was any part of them to be refunded to you by the affo- 
 ciates ? 
 
 _ As No, no part. 
 ~ Q. Had each affociate the fame quantity of Land as yourfelf 2 
 
 A. The fame quantity was granted to the Affociates by the pa- 
 tent as to ourfelves. | 
 
 Q. What is the amount of Patent Fees ? 
 
 
 
rl OO eee 
 
 ~+ 
 
 = 
 
 43 
 
 A. Three pounds fix fhillings and eight pence for one thoufanid 
 acres, ; 
 
 Q. What are the expenfes of Survey ? =~ 
 
 A. About three hundred and thirty pounds. nee 
 
 Q. What is the price you paid for the lands in the other Towns 
 fhips befides Broughton ? 73" : 
 
 A. One hundred and twenty pounds for the feven hundred 
 acres in Godmanchefter, one hundred pounds for the nine huné 
 dred and fifty acres in Ely, and fifty pounds for eight hundred 
 acres in Stoke. . 
 
 Q. What was your inducement to pay the expenfes of Survey 
 and the Patent Fees of your A ffociates as well as yourfelf, without 
 any right to be reimburfed for the fame ? 
 
 A, ‘The object was this; It was allowed by Government that 
 one man fhould be as a Leader in a Townthip, becaufe it was 
 confidered that every Affociate was not able to pay the Patent 
 Fees, and Government confidered it a fhorter way, and to have 
 to do with lefs people, to have it done by one man, and to make 
 as good a bargain with his Affcciates to reimburfe him in Jand for 
 the expenfes that he had been at in Surveying and paying the 
 Patent Fees. 
 
 Q. What was the ufual bargain between the Leaders and Af 
 fociates ? 
 
 A. The ufual bargain was that the A ffociates returned back to 
 the Leaders one thoufand acres, and kept only two hundred for 
 themfeves, but my Affociates refufed to accept fo much as two 
 hundred acres, faying that their farm would be too large, and we 
 agreed for one hundred acres. 
 
 Q. You ftated that the views of Government were confistent 
 with the above reafons, what makes you believe fo ? 
 
 A. Becaufe notorioufly fuch was the prattice of the times, and 
 becaufe many, and I believe all the Council were doing the same, 
 with the exception of the Lord Bithop of Quebec. 
 
 _Q. Had you any converfation with any of the Council refpect- 
 ing the granting of lands on that fyftem? 
 
 A. Thad no converfation myfeif; my uncle had frequent con- 
 verfations with one of the Council, who could not fail to explain 
 
 his views to him. 
 
 Q. Were there not at the fame period a number of Citizens 
 from the Eaftern States who had remained in America after the 
 Peace of 1783, who applied for and obtained Townfhips or part 
 of Townfhips as Leaders ? on 
 
 A. I know of nine of that defcription in Mr. Bouchette’s Lift, 
 but there are many others whom I cannot particularize. — 3 
 
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 44 
 
 try that lies on the fouth fide of the Saint Lawrence, between thé 
 rear of the Seigniorial grants, the State of Maine and the Province 
 Line. vg 
 
 A. I have been through this part of the Country in feveral di- 
 rections to,the Province Line, and alfo to the State of Maine. The 
 Soil is generally good in all directions, the Country is not mouns 
 tainous, but in general with gentle {well, and highly favourable 
 to Agriculture and Grazing. 
 
 Q. Has that Country, confidering its local fituation and advane 
 ee as rapid advances as it might have done ? 
 
 A. No. 
 
 _ _Q. What in your eftimation are the caufes that ret arded its ade 
 vancement ? 
 
 - A. So heavy blocks of land falling into the hands of individuals, 
 the Affociates not willing to come forward and open roads, and 
 the Leaders not being able to open them, and perhaps their not 
 having feen their lands up to this day, and roads not having been 
 made, has been the principal reafon that the Country has not been 
 more fettled. 
 
 Q. Do you think that the unequal diftribution of lands which 
 the foregoing fyftem has caufed, did not alfo principally contri- 
 bute to retard the Settlement thereof ? | 
 
 A. If the large quantity of lands had fallen into the hands of 
 persons having the inclination and the means to go themfelves 
 and make improvements upon them, proportionate to the extent 
 of ground which they received, I am inclined to think that this 
 unequal diftribution of land would rather have advanced than re- 
 tarded the Settlement thereof. ™ 
 , Q. Have any and if fo, how many of the Leaders of Townfhips 
 or parts of Townthips made improvements proportionate to the 
 extent of ground which they received fromthe Governemnt ? 
 
 A. I know of nine, but there may be many more, which I 
 cannot ftate. 
 _  Q. Are there any and what Townfhips on which there have 
 been no improvements made by the Leaders ? 3 
 A. There are many, but I cannot ftate the number, 
 Wm. Bowron, Efquire, refiding at Foucault, Caldwell’s Manor 
 appeared before your Committee, and stated as followeth: 
 [am a native of Great Britain, born and educated in the village 
 of Cacherftone, near Richmond, county of Yorkthire, from whence 
 I emigrated with my parents in the year 1793 to America, and 
 Settled at Champlain, Lat. 45, on the borders of Lake Cham- 
 ‘plain, where I remained until the commencement of the late War 
 with the United States; when.I came to Canada and have refi- 
 ded fince at Montreal and Caldweil’s Manor, the latter is my pre- 
 
 
 
45 
 
 fent place of refidence ; I have been fixteen years engaged in clear’ . 
 ing and improving wild lands, and in the Lumber ‘Trade; during’ 
 this period of time, I had an opportunity of feeing the commence~ 
 ment and progrefs of many Englith families who emigrated to that 
 part of the Country at the fame time, and have had an opportu- 
 nity of feeing and experiencing the many difficulties they have had 
 to contend with in the commencement of new Settlements, and 
 which might be much ameliorated by the aid of Government. 
 
 Q. Have you paffed through any and what Townhhips, and 
 what is the extent of cleared lands in the fame, and the popula- 
 tion thereof refpectively, and are there any and what T ownthips 
 on the fouth fhore in which there are no clearings or fettlements ? 
 
 A. I have paffed through the Townthips of Sherrington, He- 
 mingford, Hinchinbrook, Potton, Sutton and Brome, but do 
 not know the extent of cleared lands or population, nor am I ac 
 quainted with any Township in which there is no Settlement, 
 
 * Q. What is the ftate of the roads in the faid Townships; and 
 are there any and what caufes which ferve to advance or retard 
 the improvement of the Internal Communications of the faid 
 ‘Townfhips ? 
 
 A. Generally fpeaking the roads are bad, owing I conceive to 
 the number of Grantees non-refident, and the interfperfion of 
 Crown and Clergy lands, and the difficulties of having roads laid 
 out and homologated according to law, the inhabitants having the 
 whole expenfe together with Fees of Office, which to a population 
 where Barter is the general circulating medium, are fcarcely pof- 
 fible to be collected, or from the poverty of many of the Setclers 
 fcarcely to be borne, this I conceive can only be obviated by af- 
 feffing the lands of non-refidents, or obliging them to bear a por- 
 tion of the expenfe and labour in making and keeping roads in 
 repair. 
 
 Z ‘0. Are there any and what number of perfons in the faid 
 Townfhips who have fettled upon and improved watte lands of 
 
 tthe Crown in the fame, which faid lands have fince the faid Set 
 
 tlement been granted by Patent under the Great Seal of the Pro- 
 ‘vince to other individuals, and what is the number of the faid 
 Settlers, and to what bufinefs, profeffion or occupation were they 
 educated, and what generally were the places of refidence, profes- 
 fion or occupations of the Grantees of the Crown, and have thefe 
 latter made or attempted to make any Settlement or Settlements 
 upon the fame? tabs Sewer 
 A. There are in the Township of Hinchinbrook I believe from 
 
 ‘leven to twelve thoufand acres of land granted to perfons non-re- 
 
 
 
ee as + > ~ 
 nS A 
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 a Pee MASP Se ¥ , at . 
 
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 SHS es - 
 
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 46 
 
 fident, many of whom are now refiding in the United States; 
 
 ‘fome dead and fome who left the Country foon after the lands 
 
 were granted, and have never fince been heard of, there are alfo 
 fome few families on thofe lands without any titles. ‘The 'Town- 
 fhip of Hemingford has been chiefly granted and a Jarge portion 
 of it fettled, but the Settlers from poverty and want of Internal 
 Communications, have moft of them abandoned their Farms and 
 fold them fora trifling confideration to land Speculators, which 
 are now held at fo high a rate by a few individuals, that it is un- 
 likely that part of the Country will be settled foon, 
 
 Q. What are the caufes which in your eftimation have contri- 
 buted to advance or retard the Settlement of the faid Townfhips, 
 and the propriety of the fame ? 7 
 
 A. The principal inducement to perfons to fettle in the Town- 
 fhips would be the opening of Roads, eftablifhing Schools and 
 Courts for the adminiftration of juftice, particulacly the recovery 
 of finall debts, and for punifhing petty crimes and mifdemeanors, 
 which would rid the Townfhips very much of bad principled peo- 
 ple, and drive the lurking vagrants from their hiding places, pare 
 ticularly in thofe Townthips bordering on the Lines. I fhould re- 
 commend as one of the beft methods to facilitate the Settlement 
 of the Townfhips, to have an Agent or Agents appointed who 
 refided on the fpot, whofe duty it fhou'd be to locate the Settlers 
 and to attend to the improvement of the Settlements, who fhall 
 make an annual report to Government of the quantity of land 
 cleared, increafe of population, ftate of the roads, and afford all 
 other information in his power for the object defired, in confides 
 ration of which he fhall be allowed ten acres per centum on fuch 
 quantity of land as he fhall locate and fettle. Thatthe Settler 
 
 fhall not have a Deed of Grant until he fhall have built a houfe 
 
 and cleared and cultivated twelve acres of land on each hundred 
 acres granted. The advantage to Government might be an ins 
 ducement to have fuch an Agent appointed, who would see that 
 the conditions of all grants were duly performed, and would grant 
 Certificates to that effect previous to the Settlers obtaining deeds 
 the preventing improper perfons fettling thofe lands. The ad- 
 vantage to the Settler would be very great, as he would then have 
 a perfon at hand to locate him, and to whom he might apply in 
 all cafes for information relative to Roads, Schools, &c, 3 
 
 Mr. James M‘Douall, of the City of Quebec, Merchant, ap. 
 peared before your Committee, and gave the following informa+ 
 tion :— 7 | ) 
 ~ Q. What diftance have you been in the rear of the a¢tual Set- 
 tlements in the rear of the Fief Mafquinongé ? 
 
 
 
A 
 
 47 
 
 A. I have been about forty miles in the interior of the Country 
 back of Lake St. Peter. 
 
 Q. At what diftance from Lake St. Peter do the wafte lands of 
 the Crown commence ? 7 
 
 A. The Wafte Lands of the Crown commence fomewhat above 
 twenty miles back of the Seigniory De Lanaudiére. $ Wes 
 
 Q. To what diftance from Lake St. Peter do the actual Settle- 
 ments extend ? 
 
 A. The actual Settlements from Lake St. Peter extend better 
 than twelve miles. 
 
 Q. What is the quality of the ground between the actual Set- 
 tlements and the Wafte Lands of the Crown, and what is the qua- 
 lity of the Waite Lands of the Crown in that direction, and the 
 extent of cultivable ground ? 
 
 A. The quality of the ground between the actual Settlements 
 and the waste lands is fit for farming. There is a good deal of bro« 
 ken land, gullies and ravines and rocky ridges. The quality of Tim- 
 ber is Maple, Beech, Birch, Elms and Pines. Around Lake Masqui- 
 nongé there is a good deal of marfhy Ground and wild Hay. The 
 quality of the wafte Lands of the Crown in this direction improve 
 and are better adapted for culture. As far as I have been in that di- 
 rection with the exception of a Red Pine plain the foil is barren but 
 the Timber is valuable. The quality of the foil in this Pine plain 
 is of a light foil, but preferred by fome from the warmth and 
 lightness of the foil to any other. ‘lhe Timber on the foil is allo 
 highly valuable for Settlers for bringing it to Market. 
 ~ Q. What in your estimation has prevented the Settlements ia 
 the Seigniory of Mafquinonge from extending themfelves back 
 to Lake Matquinongé ? 
 
 A. [underftood from Mr. De Lanaudiére, in his life time the 
 Seignior of Mafquinongé, that he did not wifh to make any grants 
 to applicant Settlers, afliguing amongit other reasons that the land 
 would become more valuable in procefs of time, and that he pre- 
 ferred to fell them at 5s. per acre, and referve to himselfa nomi- 
 nal rent, carrying with it ordinary Seigniorial rights, fuch as 
 Lods et Ventes, Cens et Rentes, &c. I applied for fome lands 
 for fome of my workmen, and after great difficulty obtained 
 them ; I alfo got fome for myfelf. = 
 
 Q. What extent of ground, and upon what conditions. did 
 you obtain these lands for yourfelf and for your workmen ? : 
 
 A. The terms of thofe obtained for the workmen I do not re- 
 collect. They got about one hundred acres each. I think it was 
 agreed that they fhould pay a dollar an acre, and one fhilling and 
 fixpence a year on the whole. I obtained for myfelf about three 
 thoufand acres, for which I paid him in cafh three fhillings and 
 
 ~~ 
 
 
 

 
 wy 
 
 48 
 
 ninepefice per acre, and one fhilling and fixpence yearly for'the 
 whole tract as an acknowiedgment of his quality of Seignior, © J 
 = Q. What is the extent of Lake Mafquinongé ? 
 
 A. It is about four miles in length, and about a mile and a half 
 in breadth. 
 
 Q. What isthe number and fize of the Rivers falling into the 
 St. Lawrence, beginning at the St. Maurice and ending at the Ot- 
 tawa, how many of them are to the beft of your knowledge navi-+ 
 gable, and to what diftance and for what veffels, what is the dis- 
 tance from the fources of thefe Rivers, their direction and their 
 length, and what is the expofure and climate of the Country wa- 
 tered by them ? . 
 
 A. ‘There are two fmall rivers at about eighteen miles from the 
 St. Maurice, both called the Machiche Rivers, they are not na 
 vigable, but. fufficient to drive Mills. Lumber has been floated 
 {town from the largeft. River du Loup is is about nine miles furs 
 ther up, it is of a greater magnitude than the two preceding, and 
 onty navigable for a few miles for Boats, and early in the Spring 
 for River Crafts. River Mafquinongé is fix miles further up, and 
 of the fame fize, it is alfo navigable for about eight miles for Boats 
 and Canoes. Twelve miles above this isa very {mall river, but 
 fufficient to drive Mills a part of the feafon. River Berthier ig 
 about four miles further than this laft and not navigable for any 
 diftance, but there is a confiderable body of water in it. Then 
 follows River L’Aflomption, which is navigable at certain periods 
 for Crafts to the Village of L’Affomption, how much further I do 
 not know. The courfe of all thefe Rivers is from the northward 
 to. the fouthward and fouth-weft. I am not acquainted with their 
 different fources. Some of those Rivers, as I have been informed by 
 Hunters, Canadians and Indians, fuch as the Rivers Mafquinongé 
 and L’Affomptiontake their fources from large Lakes at the diftance 
 of about two. hundred miles and upwards from the point in which 
 they empty themfelves in the River Saint Lawrence, and they run 
 through a great deal of rough and mountainous country. 
 
 Q. What in your eftimation is the diftance from the Saint Law- 
 rence of the height of land which divide the waters which empty 
 themfelves into the Hudfon’s Bay from thofe which empty them- 
 felvesinto the St. Lawrence? _ 
 
 , A. About two hundred miles in a direct line. In following the 
 Rivers it must double that diftance. 
 
 - Q. What is the exposure and what are the advantages or disad« 
 vantages of that expoiure with reference to climate of the country 
 watered by the laft mentioned rivers, and what is the comparative 
 feverity in fuch portions of that country which you had occafion 
 #0 explore,:.in comparison to the climate of Quebec ? . A. 
 
 
 
a: aa 
 
 49 
 
 A. The expofire of the Country which I had occafion to éx« 
 plore was a fouthern one. ‘The climate more hofpitable and the 
 soil more productive than thofe of Quebec and its neighbourhood. 
 I have reafon to fuppose that vegetation commences earlier in the 
 tract of Country which I had occafion to explore than on the fouth 
 fhore of the Lake Sr. Peter, probably from three days to a week. 
 
 Q. Have you any knowledge from general report or otherwife 
 of the manner in which lands obtained by a Leader of a Township 
 and his Affociates were ufually diftributed amonft them ? 
 
 A. I have underftood that a Leader of a Township procuring 
 forty Affociates, was to give two hundred acresto each, and that 
 the remainder of the Township he got to himfelf. I likewife un- 
 derftood that this Leader paid the expenfes of the Patent and Sur- 
 vey, &c. and that frequently the Affociates redéeded their tivo 
 hundred acres to the Leader. 
 
 Mr. Webb Robiuson appeared before your Committee. 
 
 Q. Have you had any and what means of becoming acquainted with 
 the manner of applying for and obtaining grants of land in the Townshi ps? 
 
 A. Yes; I applied in the yedr 1815 for lands for a person as Agent. 
 
 Q: What is the import Of the term Leader of a Township, and 
 who are the persons known by the name of Associates-? 
 
 A: The Leader of a Township is the person who applies for the 
 grant of lands, and the Associatés are the persons who leud their names 
 to the Leader, to enable him to obtain the same. 
 
 Q. In what proportions are the grants to the Leader and the Assso- 
 ciates made in the Patent which. is ultimately issued ? 
 
 A. In about 1200 acrés to each of them. gt 9% 
 
 _ Q. Who paid the expenses of Survey and the Patent Fees? 
 
 A. The Leader. | 3 
 
 Q. Who presented the Petition, attended it through its progress, and 
 exérted himself to obtain a successful result ? 
 
 A. The Leaders or their Agents. 
 
 - Q. Who paid the Agents for this trouble ? 
 
 A. The Leader, sh ‘ 
 
 Q. Did the Leaders obtain any and what remuneration of reimburse- 
 ment forthe above services and expenses ? on 1 4s08 
 
 A. The Associates only got a part of the Grant, which generally con- 
 sisted of a Lot of two hundred acres, and sometimes they got nothing, - 
 
 Q. What was the description of persons whose names were u-ed as as- 
 sociates, were they likely to make actual Settlements or otherwis- ? 
 
 A. They were not bkely from their situation in life, being generally 
 poor people, tomake any actual Settlements. There are however some 
 few exceptions. ‘Fhey generally returned or re-conveyed their share to 
 the Leader. ? : 
 
 
 
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 50 
 
 Q. What was the consideration ? 
 
 A. A mere nothing. | 
 
 Q. How were signatures obtained to the Petitions, and what were 
 the motives and considerations held out to the Associates generally ? 
 
 A. The Leaders generally promised to the Associates two hundred 
 acres, sometimes less, sometimes nothing at all. 
 
 Q, Have you any knowledge of a less quantity than one thousand 
 acres being stipulated for the Leader ? 
 
 A. I have no knowledge about it. 
 
 Q. Have you any knowledge of the Associates assigning or agreeing to 
 assign their interest in the two hundred acres previous to the issuing of 
 the Patent, and did this occur frequently ? 
 
 A. Yes, U have knowledge of a Leader applying for lands, and some 
 ofthe Associates agreeing to give up their wholeshare. _ 
 
 Q. What was the average price of the waste lands of the Crown at 
 that time ? 
 
 A. [cannot tell the exact value of lands at that time, but I sold my- 
 self some lands in the year 181]5, situated on the River St. Francis, at 
 ten shillings the acre, but waste lands where there are no roads, are not 
 saleable at all. ‘They were sold at Sheriffs Sales in Lots of two hundred 
 acres at three or four pounds a Lot. Some could not be sold at all, 
 
 Q. What quantity of waste lands of the Crown have you in your pos- 
 session ? 
 
 A. I cannot exactly tell the number of acres, but I believe eight or 
 nine thousand acres, | 
 
 Q. Have you caused to be cleared and inclosed any and what quantity 
 of land, and at what price and where ? attire J 
 
 A. No. . 
 
 Q. What is the quantity of Stock in your possession, and have you 
 erected any and what buildings upon the said land ? | 
 
 A. I have no Stock, and I have not erected any buildings. 
 
 Q. Have you any knowledge that lands in the actual possession. and 
 occupation of different individuals and improved by them, have been 
 subsequently granted to other individuals, and to any and what extent? 
 
 A. 1 know personnally of but one instance. | A person living onan Is- 
 land in the River St. Francis, a number of years, and after having clear- 
 ed and settled almost the whole of it, it was granted to another individu- 
 al, who, I understood, wanted to take it from him; this might have . 
 occurred in many other instances, but without my knowledge, my resi- 
 dence being in Quebec? n 
 
 Q. Are there not many persons in this Province whose pursuits are al- 
 together foreign from Agriculture, and who possess like yourself large 
 tracts of waste lands of the Crown? | 
 
 A, Yes, there are numbers of individuals like myself, who hold large 
 
 tracts of land and whose pursuits are foreign from agriculture. 
 
 QO. Look at the general Statement of lands granted in Free and Com: 
 mon Soccage in the Province of Lower-Canada, as contained in Mr. Bous 
 chette’s Work, and tell the Committee how many were Leaders of Town- 
 ships ? 
 
 
 
“s 
 
 I eee 
 
 §1 
 
 A. There are seventy-two names, most of whom were Leaders of 
 Townships, the other names contained in this List, [ do not know. 
 
 Q. What is the total amount of lands granted to these individuals ? 
 
 A. About one million and thirty thousand acres. 
 
 Q. Did the Officers and Privates of the Canadian Militia mentioned 
 in that List, settle upon their Lands, or did they sell their rights to in- 
 dividuals who bought them upon speculation, without any view of set- 
 tling upon them themselves ? . 
 
 A. Generally speaking, the Privates sold’ their Lots to people of the 
 last mentioned description. 
 
 Q. Have you any and what means of knowing at what price these pri- 
 vates sold their Lots of Lands? 
 
 A. My father purchased up a large number of these claims, for which 
 he paid various prices, from two pounds the Lot to eight or ten pounds 
 for individual Lots. I cannot say what was the average price, they were 
 dearer then than they are now. 
 
 Q. Has the value of waste lands in the Townships where there are no 
 roads, increased or diminished since your father made these purchases ? 
 
 A. Ido not think that they have increased. 
 
 Q. Do Lands of thisdescription, sold at Sheriff Sale, after the usual 
 advertisements in the Quebec Gazette of four months, sell now et a high. 
 er price, than they would have done at the above mentioned period ? 
 
 A. Yes, I think they do. 
 
 A. Do you know or have you reason to believe that there are many 
 persons resident in this Province, or elsewhere, possessing tracts of land 
 from twelve hundred acres upwards to forty-eight thousand acres, who 
 have laid out no money upon them, and have not performed the Settle- 
 ment duties ? 
 
 A. I know of many persons possessing large tracts of lands, the exact 
 extent of which I cannot state, who have not performed the Settlement 
 duty. 
 
 Q. Do you think that any person within this Province, disposed to 
 become an actual Settler, would accept fifty or one hundred acres of the 
 ungranted and waste lands of the Crown, on condition of effecting an 
 actual Settlement thereon ? 
 
 A. There are many persons of this description, but they are Emi- 
 grants from Great Britain and Ireland. 
 
 Q. Would the natives of this Continent of British extraction accept so 
 small a grant upon the condition of actual Settlement ? 
 
 A. 1 do not think they would. 
 
 Q. Have you known any instance of there being tendered to an actual 
 Settler by the Provincial Government a less quantity than two hundred 
 acres, since the last peace with France, and the consequent influx of 
 Emigrants into these Provinces from Great Britain and Ireland? 
 
 A. Ido not know any thing about it. 
 
 Q. Did you ever hear of any grant of any quantity less than two hun- 
 dred acres to an actual Settler previous to that period ? 
 
 .- Bindloniis | a a 
 
 
 
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 52 
 _ Q- Do the large tracts of land held by yourself and others in the 
 ‘Townships, and who do not reside there and improve and cultivate the 
 same, yield any and what revenues to the proprietor thereof ? 
 
 A. There are five or six to my knowledge, there may be many more, 
 but I do not know them, having not been often in the Townships. — 
 
 Q. What in your estimation has retarded the Settlement of these 
 Lards? | _ | 
 
 A, The want of Roads, and the Clergy and Crown Reserves intersec- 
 
 ting the Settlements. 
 Q, Do you apprehend that the absence of the large landed proprietors 
 
 and their neglecting their Settlement duties has mainly contributed to 
 retard the Settlement of these Lands? 
 
 A. I do not think that they have been mainly the cause, but partly, 
 the chief obstacle is the want of roads, : 
 
 ( B.) 
 
 _ ‘Whereas many of our loyal fubjects, inhabitants of the Co- 
 lonies and Provinces now the United States of America, are defi- 
 rous of maintaining their allegiance to us, and of living in our 
 dominions, and for this purpofe are difposed to take up and im- 
 prove lands in our Province of Quebec: and we being defirous to 
 encourage our faid loyal fubjeéts in fuch their intentions, and to 
 teftify our approbation of their loyalty to us, and obedience to our 
 Government, by allotting lands for them in our faid Province t 
 and whereas we are alfo defirous of teftifying our approbation of 
 the bravery and loyalty of our Forces ferving in our faid Province, 
 and who may have been reduced there, by allowing a certain 
 quantity of land to fuch’of the non-commiffioned officers and pris 
 vate men of our faid Forces, who are inclined to become fettlers 
 therein ; it is our will and pleafure, that immediately after you 
 fhall receive thefe our Inftruétions, you do direét our Surveyor 
 General of Lands for our faid Province of Quebec to admeasure 
 and lay out fuch quantity of land as you, with the advice of our 
 Council, fhali deem neceflary and convenient for the fettlement 
 of our faid loyal subjects, and the non-commiffioned officers and 
 private men of our Forces which may have been reduced in our 
 faid Province, who fha!l be defirous of becoming fettlers therein 5 
 fuch lands to be divided into dittinct Seigneuries or Fiefs, to ex- 
 tend from two to four leagués in’ front, and from three to five 
 leagues in depth, if fituated’u on a navigable river, otherwife to 
 be run fquare, or in fuch thape and fuch quantities as fhall be 
 convenient and practicable, and jn each Seigneuriea Glebe to 
 be referved and laid out in the moft convenient {fpot, to contain 
 not lefs than three hundred acres ; the property of which Seigneus 
 ries or Fiefs fhall be and remain vefted in us, our heirs and fuc-~ 
 
 
 
ot 
 
 Qe ae 
 
 53 
 
 ceflors ; and you fhall allot fuch parts of the fame as fhall be ap 
 plied for by any of our faid loyal fubjects, non-commiffioned off- 
 ¢ers and private men of our Forces reduced as aforefaid, in the 
 following proportions, that is to fay :— m 
 
 To every Mafter of a Family, one hundred acres, and fifty 
 acres for each perfon of which his family fhould confit % 
 To every fingle Man, fifty acres. ” 
 To every non-commiffi ned Officer of our Forces reduced in 
 Quebec, two hundred acres. 5s Js 
 
 To every Private Man reduced asaforefaid, one hundred acres 3 
 and for every perfon in their Families, fifty acres. 
 
 The faid lands to be held under us, our Heirs and Succeffore, 
 Seigneurs of the Seigneurie or Fief in which the fame {hall be fie 
 tuated, upon the fame terms, acknowledgments and fervices, as 
 lands are held in our faid Province under the refpective Seigneurs 
 holding and poffeffing Seigneuries or Fiefs therein, and referving 
 to us, our Heirs and Succeffors, from and after the expiration of 
 ten years from the admiffion of the refpectiye tenants, a quit rent 
 of one halpenny per acre, | 
 
 (C.) 
 
 Extract of a Difpatch from His Grace the Duke of Portland, to 
 
 His Excellency Sir Robert Shore Milnes, dated Whitehall, 
 6th June, 1801. 
 
 s I have fully confidered the calculation, contained in No. 44, 
 of the value of a'Townthip of Wafte Land, in order to form a 
 judgment of the proportion which it might be proper to grant to 
 thofe Members of the Executive Council who have given so much 
 time and attention to the settlement of the Land Bufinefs. 
 
 I am in confequence to fignify to-you His Majefty’s pleafure 
 that as a proof of the juft fenfe he entertains of the ability and in- 
 tegrity with which this complicated bufinefs has been arranged by. 
 them, a sole Grant fhould be made to each of the fix members 
 whofe attendance has been conftant, of one quarter of a Townthip 
 without any affociates, the value of which as appears by your 
 Statement, will amount, after deducting the expenfes of furveying, 
 dividing &c. to fomething more than £600 to each Executive 
 Councillor.” 3 
 
 A true Extract, 
 
 Certified, AB Ss READY, Secretary. 3 
 
 
 

 
 a 
 
 54 
 
 Copy of the Royal Inftructions relative to the granting of the 
 Wafte Lands of the Crown, which are entered on the Minutes 
 
 ~ of the Executive Council, ane were publifhed in a Proclamation 
 iffued by His Excellency Lieutenant Governor Clarke on the 
 7th day of February, 1792. . | 
 
 First.—That the Crown Lands to’ be granted be parcel of a 
 Townfhip. If an Inland Townfhip, of ten miles square, and if 
 a Townthip on navigable waters, of nine miles in front, and twelve 
 miles in depth, to be run out and marked by His Majefty’s Sur- 
 veyor or Deputy Surveyor General, or under his fanétion’and au- 
 thority. 
 
 Second.—That only fuch part of the Townfhip be granted as 
 fhall remain, after a refervation of one feventh part thereof for 
 the fupport of a Proteftant Clergy, and one other feventh part 
 thereof for the future difpofition of the Crown. | 
 
 Third.—That no Farm Lot fhall be granted to any one perfon 
 which fhall contain more than two hundred acres; yet the Go- 
 vernor, Lieutenant Governor, or perfon adminiftering the Go- 
 vernment, is allowed and permitted to grant to any te F or per- 
 sons fuch further quantity of land as they may defire, not exceed- 
 ing one thoufand acres over and above what may have been before 
 granted to them. 
 
 Fourth.—That every Petitioner for lands make it appear he or 
 fhe is in a condition to cultivate and improve the fame, and fhall 
 befides taking the ufwal oaths, fufcribe a declaration (before pro- 
 per persons to be for that purpofe appointed) of the tenor of the 
 words following, vizt: ‘I A.B. do promise and declare that I 
 ‘¢ will maintain and defend to the utmoft of my power the autho- 
 «« rity of the King in his Parliament as the fupreme Legiflature of 
 * this Province.” 
 
 Fifih.—That applications for grants be made by Petition to the 
 Gavernor, Lieutenant Governor, or Perfon adminiftering the 
 Government for the time being, and where it is advifable to grant 
 the Prayer thereof, a Warrant fhall iffue to the proper officer for 
 afurvey thereof, returnable within fix months, with a Plot annexa 
 ed, and be followed with a Patent granting the fame, if defired, 
 in Free and Common Soccage, upon the terms and conditions in 
 the Royal Inftructions expreffed and herein after suggefted. . 
 
 Stxth.—That all Grants referve to the Crown all Coals, coms 
 monly called Sea Coals, and Mines of Gold, Silver, Copper, Tin, 
 fron and Lead; and each Patent contain a Claufe for the refervae 
 tion of timber for the Royal Navy, of the Tenor following: — 
 
 © And provided alfo, that no part of the Tract or Parcel of 
 «¢ Land hereby granted to the said —_———_ and his Heirs, be 
 « within any refervation heretofore made and marked for us, our 
 «“ Heirs and Succeffors by our Surveyor General of Woods, or 
 
 ™~. 
 
 
 
MA ii 
 
 55 
 
 * his lawful Deputy; in which cafe, this our Grant for such 
 ** part of the Land hereby given and granted to the faid , 
 *« and his Heirs for ever as aforefaid, and which hall upon a Sur- 
 ‘* vey thereof being made, be found within any fuch refervation, 
 *¢ fhail be null and void, any thing herein contained tothe 
 “ contrary notwith{tanding.” Y: 
 
 Seventh.—That the two fevenths reserved for the Crown’s fue 
 ture dispofition and the fupport of a Proteitant Clergy, be not fe- 
 vered tracts, each of one feventh part of the Townfhip, but fuch 
 Lots or Farms therein as in the Surveyor General’s Return of 
 Survey of the Townfhip fhall be defcribed or fet apart for thefe 
 purpotes, between the other Farms of which the faid ‘Townthip 
 fhall confitt, to the intent that the Lands fo to be referved may be 
 nearly of the like value with an equal quantity of the other parts 
 to be granted out as aforementioned. 
 
 
 
 Eighth. That the refpective Patentees are to take the Eftates 
 granted to them severally, free of Quit Rent and of any other ex- 
 penfes than fuch Fees as may be allowed to be demanded and re- 
 ceived by the different Officers concerned in pafling the Patent 
 and recording the fame, to be {tated in a Table authorized and 
 eftablifhed by the Government, and publicly fixed up in the fe- 
 veral Offices of the Clerk of the Council, of the Surveyor Gene- 
 tal, and of the Secretary of the Province. 
 
 Ninth.—That every Patent be entered upon Record within fix 
 months from the Date thereof, in the Secretary’s or Regifter’s 
 Offices, and a Docket thereof in the Auditor’s Office. 
 
 Tenth.—Whenever it fhall be thought advifable to grant any 
 given quantity to any perfon of one thoufand acres or under, and 
 the fame cannot be found by reafon of the faid refervations and 
 prior Grants within the Townfhip in the Petition expreffed, the 
 fame, or what fhall be requifite to make up to fuch perfon the 
 quantity advifed, fhall be located to him, in fome other Town- 
 fhip upon a new Petition for that purpofe to be preferred. _ 
 
 Certified, | HERMAN W. RYLAND. 
 Copy, DOWNING STREET, 
 No. 14, 3lst December, 1808. 
 
 SIR 3 
 Sir Robert Shore Milnes, Bart. having ferved His Majefty as 
 
 His Lieutenant Governor of the Province of Lower-Canada, to 
 His Majefty’s entire fatisfaction, and to the benefit of the Province + 
 and His Majefty having been gracioufly pleafed to fignify His Roy+ 
 al pleafure, that a lafting mark of His favour fhould be conferred 
 upon him in reward of his ufeful fervices, 1am commanded to 
 
 
 
> 4 
 
 
 
 56 
 
 fignify to you His Majefty’s commands’ that a Grant of Land 
 
 fhould be effectually made to him in the faid Province on the 
 
 moft favourable terms, equal in quantity to a Townfhip, and iti 
 
 fuch Districts as have been already furveyed and fubdivided, and , 
 : without Affociates. ; ts co 
 
 be Tam &c. | 
 tid 2 aN . | (Signed) CASTLEREAGH. 
 ~ Sir J. H. Crate, K. B. | 
 i Bees! RE." &e, - Certified a true Copy, 
 
 J. READY, Secty. 
 
 Copy of the Table of Fees eftablithed by otder of the Governor 
 “in Council, on the 4th December 1797, to be taken upon 
 “ Grants of the Wafte Lands of the Crown. | 
 
 a SAE Per Thoufand Aeres; 
 
 
 
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 The Governor, a ~ - - £010 O 
 ‘2° Attorney General ob OV A SD eg 010 0 
 : ‘Surveyor General, + 2. « 015 0 
 | Secretary ot the Province - ~ 010 O 
 Clerk of the Council, - - - 010 O 
 Auditor; * =.) 4 207% - - 0 6 8 
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 stp tai 3 - Certified, Ary 
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 ii ap yas 2 ? 
 i b (D.) : ote 
 tk, Order of Reference to a Committee of the whole Counéil respéc= 
 is pee agg ting the Townfhips. | oh 
 It ‘fd Extract from the Minutes of Council, of the 11th June, 1798. ‘at 
 
 His Excellency reminded the Board of what he had mentioned 
 on the 17th April 1797, refpecting the Wafte Lands, to wit : 
 ss That, on his coming to the adminiftration of the Govern- 
 ** ment of this Province, he found that an alteration in the terms 
 s¢ of difpofing of the Wafte Lands of the Crown was in cont=m- 
 * plation by His Majefty’s- Minifters.” iP 
 ; The intent of the alteration then in contemplation was, to raife, 
 by the difpofal of the Wafte Lands in future, (excepting in thofe 
 cafes where the faith of Government might be already pledged to a 
 the Applicants,) a Fund to be applied towards defraying the ex 
 ‘penfes of the Provincial Government. B 
 _ His Excellency laid before the Board an Inftruétion which he 
 had fince received under His Majefty’s Royal Sign Manual, which, 
 being read, was ordered to be entered, viz :—— 
 
 
 
 ~-_~ ms 
 
GEORGE R. 
 
 | Inftruction to our trufty and well beloved Ropert 
 L.S. Prescort, Efquire, Lieutenant General of our Forces, 
 Captain General and Governor in Chief of our Province 
 of Lower-Canada, in America, or in his abfence to the Lieute- 
 nant-Governor or Commander in Chief of our faid Province, for 
 the time being. Given at our Court at St. James, the 15th day of 
 Auguft 1797, in the thirty-feventh year of our reign : 
 ‘* Whereas, by our General Inftructions to our Captain Gene- 
 ** ral and Governor Commanding in Chief in and over our Pro- 
 “* vince of Lower-Canada, bearing date at St. James’s the 16th 
 “« day of September 1791, it is declared amongft other things, 
 ** to be our will and pleasure, that the Townthips therein men- 
 ** tioned, and the refpective allotments within the fame, together 
 ** with the lands to be referved as therein aforefaid, fhall be run 
 © and laid out by our Surveyor General of lands, for the faid 
 “* Province, or some skilful perfon authorized by him for that 
 “ purpofe, which Surveys, together with the warrants and grants 
 “« for the refpective allotments, fhall be made out for, and deli- 
 “* vered to the feveral Grantees free of any expenfe or fees what- 
 “ foever, other than fuch as may be payable to the different offi- 
 “* cers, according to the table of fees already eftablithed, upon 
 ** grants of land made in the faid Province. Now, oUR WILL 
 ** AND PLEASURE Is, that the faid Townthips therein mentioned, 
 “ and the refpective allotments within the fame, together with 
 “ the land to be referved, as therein aforefaid, fha!l be run and 
 * laid out by our Surveyor General of lands for the faid Province, 
 ** or fome skilful perfon authorized by him for that purpofe, which 
 ** Surveys, together with the warrants and grants for the 
 ** refpective allotments fhall be made out for, and delivered to 
 the feveral Grantees, on payment of fuch fces as fhall from 
 “ time to time be eftablifhed by us, under our Signet and Sign 
 *« Manual, or by our order in that behalf, fignified by one of our 
 “ principal Secretaries of State.” i 
 | G. R. 
 
 _ And His Excellency informed the Board that the directions he _ 
 had received from His Majetty’s Secretary of State, in conformity 
 to the above inftructions, were :— 
 
 _ © Ist. That in thofe cafes where the faith of Government has 
 been pledged to the applicants, (according to the Report of the . 
 Committee of the whole Council, of the 24th May, 1797,) for {pe- 
 
 57 
 
 _ cific quantities of land, the grants thereof should be paffed on the 
 
 fame fees that have been paid upon thofe grants that have already 
 pafied the Seal. | 
 
 
 
ad 
 
 58 
 
 ‘2d That, although the faith of Government is not tonfideted 
 to have been {pecially pledged in the cafes were perfons petitioned 
 for Townships on behalf of themfelves and their affociates, yet, 
 inafmuch as {ome of thofe affociated applicants have fully evinced 
 the fincerity of their intentions of carrying the Settlement of the 
 lands they fo petitioned for, into effect, and have, upon the faith 
 of the encouragement heretofore given them by His Majefty’s* 
 Government in Canada, embarked their labour and property in’ — 
 Surveying and allotting the ‘lownships they fo petitioned for; — 
 and in making effectual Settlements therein, it is His Majefty’s 
 pleafure, that a preterence should be shewn to perfons of this Clafs, 
 « by making them grants (upon the old Fees) to the full extent 
 « mentioned m His Majetty’s Inftructions, viz: twelve hundred 
 * acres to each Associuted Grantee.” But this is not to extend 
 to the granting of the whole Township; except in those cafes 
 where the number of the affociated applicants who are actually 
 settled thereon, shall be fufficient at the rate of twelve hundred 
 acres each, to comprehend the whole of the grantable lands in 
 fuch ‘Townsfhip —And in cafes where the number fo actually fet- 
 tled in any ‘Townfhip, fhall not be fufficient, allowing at the rate 
 of twelve hundred acres each, to comprehend the whole of fuch 
 grantable lands in fuch ‘Townfbip, the remaining part thereof, if 
 granted to the aflociated app.icants, ** muft be granted on condi- 
 “ tion of immediate Settlement, and its being fubject to the ad- 
 “ ditional fees for the Public Service.” It is alfo His Majefty’s 
 pleafure, that fuch of the Settlers, as may happen to be feated on 
 lots referved for the fupport of a Proteftant Clergy. or for the fu- 
 ture difpofition of the Crown, should hold the fame, upon the 
 fame terms and conditions as fhall hereafter be granted to other 
 cultivators of referved lots.of a fimilar qualiry. ae 
 
 3d. ‘hat fuch of the applicants as have been at the expenfe of 
 Surveying the Townthips they have petitioned for, and laying the 
 fame out into Lots, preparatory to the Settlement, but have not 
 proceeded effectually to the actual Settlement thereof, fhould have 
 grants (upon the old Fees,) for the one half of the ‘Townthips they 
 {o petitioned for,in the fame quantities (to wit 1200 acres) to each 
 of the affociated Grantees, as in the former cafe, on condition of 
 the immediate fetclement thereof; but this is not allowed to be 
 extended, in any of the cates falling under this defcription, to more 
 than oe half of the Townthip ; fo that if in any one of thefe ca- 
 {es it fhould be th. ught proper, in the witdom of the Council, (on 
 account of the intended Settlers being actually waiting to go‘on,) 
 toadvife the Granting of the whole Township to the aflociated ap- 
 plicants, the /aiicr half thereof must of courfe be fubject to the 
 additional Fees for the Public Service. _ =z | ) 
 
 “« 4th. Thofe of the applicants who have only put themfelves to 
 
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 59 
 
 the trouble and expenfe of soliciting and exploring the Town thips 
 they defired, are not confidered to have done much towards evin- 
 ¢ing any ferious intention with refpect to carrying the Settlement 
 thereof into effect, which a/one could entitle them to any favour- 
 abie confideration. In as much, however, as the erp/oring of 
 the Lownfhips they petitioned for, may have been attended with 
 fome expenfe, His Majefty is pleafed to allow, that appiicants of 
 this description may have grants of the one fourth part of the 
 Townthips they respectively petitioned for, upon condition of the 
 immediate fettlement thereof. This however is meant to extend 
 Only to thofe cafes where the applicants did actually put them- 
 selves to the trouble and expenfe of exploring the Townfhips 
 they applied for: and if thefe should defire to have the grants 
 at the rate of twelve hundred acres to each affociated Grantee, 
 fuch Grants are to be fubject to the additional Fees for the Public 
 Service. 
 
 “« 5th. Such perfons or affociations of perfons, who, from a de- 
 fire of making actual Settlement on the lands, purchafed the pre- 
 tensions of thofe applicants that had become discouraged by the 
 delays which took place in the pafling of the grants, are to be 
 confidered as itanding in the place and ftead of the applicants, 
 whofe pretenfions they fo purchafed, and to receive the Grants 
 accordingly in the fame proportions and on the fame conditions as 
 thofe appiicants themfelves, would have been entitled to under the 
 above regulations. 
 
 * 6th. The remainder of the lands (except where Government 
 may confider it proper to grant certain quantities to particular per- 
 fons by way of favour, as rewards for fervices or the like; und 
 excepting the refervations for the fupport of a Proteftant Ciergy, 
 and for the future difpofition of the Crown,) are to be dilpofed 
 of at Public Saie, at certain times and places to be notified; in 
 fuch quantities, and fubjeét to fuch conditions of Settlement and 
 Cultivation as fhail afford the beft chance for the purchafers be- 
 coming themfelves the permanent Settlers on the lands, and for 
 railing out of the price thereof an efficient fund towards defraying 
 the Public expenfes of the Province. 
 
 “‘ 7th. ‘The amount of the new Fecs to be taken under the Royal 
 inftructions, now communicated to the Board, (including, as well 
 the part payable ta the officers concerned in pafling the Grants, 
 as the part to be appropriated towards the fuppert of Government) 
 is fixed at (wenty-five pounds currency per thousand acress and fo 
 in proportion, being at the rate of sixpence an acre ; but it is di- 
 rected, that the grants to be made in obedience to orders from. 
 His Excellency, in confideration of Services, fhall be jubject only. 
 +o the payment of half Fees, or three-pence per acres 
 
 32) 
 

 
 60 
 
 8th. In the grants fubject to thefe additional fees, and thofe 
 of the lands that fhall be difpofed of by Sale, the Grantees are to 
 have all Mines and Minerals, excepting only thofe of Gold and 
 St/or, which latter are to be referved to His Majefty, his Heirs 
 and Succeflors, as formerly.” 
 
 His Excellency likewife fubmitted to the confideration of the 
 Board to report whether it might not be advifable to give public 
 notice of thefe regulations, and to fix a reafonuble time for the 
 perfons comprehended under the Ist. 2d. 3d. 4th & 5th. Articles, 
 to come forward and take out their grants; to the end that His 
 » Majefty’s gracious intentions, refpecting the raifing of a fund to- 
 wards defraying the public expenfes of the Province, by the dis- 
 pofal of the wafte lands in future, may be carried into effect with 
 all convenient expedition. 
 
 His Excellency likewife informed the Board that feveral of the 
 difpatches which he had received from His Majefty’s Minifters, 
 recommended that fuch meafures should be devifed, refpectin 
 the lands to be referved for the fupport of a Proteftant Clergy, 
 and for the future difpofition of the Crown, as might beft fecure 
 them from depredations, and render them early productive for 
 the purpofes for which they were gracioufly defigned. 
 
 It was, His Excellency obferved, the opinion of His Majefty’s 
 Minifters (in which His Excellency moft perfectly concurred) 
 that the beft mode of fecuring the referved lots from depredations 
 would be to grant them to occupants on fuch bencficial leafes as 
 will create an immediate interest in each leflee, to preferve them 
 againft all encroachment. 
 
 His Exceilency did not indeed expect that, while the price of 
 land fhall remain iow, any very confiderabie rent can be obtaine 
 ed; but it neverthelefs appeared to His Excellency, that the re- 
 ferved lots, fituated in the immediate neighbourhood of actual 
 fettlements (and it was there only that depredations could be ap- 
 prehended) might be readily difpofed of at a rent that fhall be ve- 
 ry low for a term of years at the commencement, and be afters 
 wards encreafed in certain ftipulated degrees, from period to pe- 
 riod, at the expiration of certain given terms of years. ; 
 
 His Exceilency exprefled his hopes, that, by the wisdom of 
 His Majetty’s Council, a pian of this kind might be devifed, that 
 would meet His Majefty’s gracious approbation, and produce 
 thofe beneficial effects which His Majefty fo gracioufly detigned. 
 
 OrvereD by His Excellency, with the advice of the Board, that 
 it be referred toa Committee of the whole Councii to report, with 
 all convenient expedition, on the means that fhall appear to be 
 the moft likely to fecurethe referved lots againft encroachments, 
 and render them productive, for the purpofes for which they were 
 gracioufly intended by His Majefty. . 
 
 (A true extract ) 
 (Signed) Tu. CARY, A. C, Ex. Soe 
 
 -™~™ 
 
 
 
aS 
 
 + 
 
 ao ew 
 
 61 
 Report of the Committee of the whole Council, of the 20th June 
 | 1798. 
 
 To His Excel'ercy Ropert PrescoTr, Esquire, Captain Gee 
 neva! and Governor in Chief of the Province of Lower-Canaday 
 Sc. &e. Ss | 
 
 Report of a Committee of the whole Council, [present the 
 Chief Justice and fice Members of the Executive Council] on 
 your Excellency’s order of reference of the 11th inftant, refpect- 
 ing the Wafte Lands of the Crown. 
 
 May it please your Excellency, 
 
 The Committee having, in obedience to your Excellency’s or- 
 der of reference, duly confidered the queftion referred to them by 
 your Excellency, ‘* whether it might not be advifabie to give pub- 
 ‘€ lic notice of the regulations contained in the order of reference, 
 « &c.” and after the maturett deljiberation on the tendency of fe- 
 veral effential parts of the directions thereby communicated, they 
 find themfelves compelled to form a conjecture which they ha- 
 zard with the greateit deference, which 1s, either that fome ac- 
 cidental omiffion has taken place in the ftate of facts, relative to 
 the granting of the wafte lands of the Crown, which may have | 
 been laid before His Majcfty’s Secretary of State, or on the other 
 hand, that the-Executive Government of this Province have hi-r 
 therto mifconceived His Majetty’s inftructions on the fubject. For, 
 it is manifeft, that the directions now communicated to the Board, 
 are framed upon the princip.e of giving encouragement to a pros 
 cedure which the Executive Counci: have ever thought it their du- 
 ty to inhibit and repel to the utmoit. 
 
 By the fecond direction it appears that a preference is to be 
 fhewn to thofe affociated applicants who are actuaily fettled on 
 the lands: in which ternis t e Committee are necediarily led to 
 include unauthorized fettlers, as well from the notoriety of the - 
 fact, that almoft all fettlements hitherto made have been entered 
 upon without title, as from the expres tenor of the faid direction, 
 whereby an indulgence is extended to fuch of the fettlers, “ as 
 ‘¢ may happen to be feated on lots referved for the fupp ort of a 
 « proteftant Clergy or the future difpofition of the Crown,” w 
 muft evidently be of that defcription. And this unauthorized fet- 
 tlement, is the procedure which the Executive Council have hi, 
 therto endeavoured to reftrain, Syst} 
 
 To prohibit and repel every attempt to acquire lands by the ro- 
 bust lit/c of occupancy is fo congenial to the ideas of civilized Go» 
 yvernment, and is in itfelf fo reafonable, that it forms, as it were, 
 a common. law principle, of the fyftem of land granting. 
 
 
 

 
 , 
 
 62 
 
 civil commotions and open rebellion ‘that prevailed in the neigh 
 bouring States, from a violation of thefe principles, are ftill relae 
 ted with horror, But the Exeeutive Government of this Province 
 have not refted on the bare principle, but have, from time to time, 
 imterpofed pofitive reftraints by prefcribing certain formalities as 
 indifpenfably neceffary before the applicants could be qualified to 
 receive a title or be allowed toenter into poffeffion. Thefe re. 
 ftraints being found ineffectual, they. were followed up by a Pro- 
 clamation ifued in the month of Auguft laft, ftrictly forbiddin 
 
 fuch intruGion, under the penalties thereby announced. Shoul 
 
 the Govern nent be found to have acted improvidently in framing © 
 thefe precautions, the Executive Council. moft fincerely regret 
 their error in having fuggefted them; but fhould fuch authorita- 
 tive precautions be daemed falutary, afier ftating that thefe’actual 
 fertiers have fet them at open defiance, the Committee, from mos 
 tives of refpect, will abftain from any obtervations on the fubject.’ 
 
 Fn regard to the third direction we think it our duty, in all fub. 
 miffion, to represent that, when it comes to be applied to the ca« 
 fes of a great number of His Majetty’s fubjects of approved Noyalty, 
 it alfumes a very ferious afpect : not on account of the limitation 
 of His Majefty’s bounty in their behalf, which the Committee, if 
 they may prefume to exercife an opinion on the fubject, humbly 
 conceive to be fufficient'y liberal, but from the comparifon which 
 must be made between the conduét of the ciafles mentioned in 
 the 2d. and 3d. directions respectively, and of the confequences 
 refulting therefrom, the conduét of the de cription of perfons in 
 cluded under the third direction has been direct! y the converfe of 
 the conduct of thofe who are to benefit by the fecond direction, 
 they having abftained from feizing upon His Majetty’s lands, in 
 difobedience ofa folemn Proclamation, by which means they now 
 are, and for a con{iderable time have been precifely in the predi- 
 canent {tated in the third direction, Waiting to go on, in dutiful 
 fubmiffion to the Law, and therefore will not fail to complain 
 that, while others triumph in their tranfgreffion, they have. not 
 received an equal benefit for their obedience. e ogg 
 
 Fn regard to the sth direction, whereby perfons therein deferi: 
 bed, having purchased the pretentions of others, are to be confi- 
 dered as ftanding in their piace and ftead, the Committee mot 
 refpectfully impiore, that fome confideration may be had of the 
 labyrinth of deception, fraud, and, if they are to judge of the fu. 
 ture by the paft, of forgery which they will have to wade through, 
 whole duty it may be to report on the validity of such pretentions — 
 and fuch purchafes, which will encreafé in a proportion nor to be 
 caleulated, when this direction comes to be made public. Pretens 
 
 
 
baal — —/- ow 
 
 Oe ee 
 
 63. 
 
 sions tho’ an unfubftantial commodity in all countries, are in Ame- 
 rica particularly fo, and are firft formed by Signatures to a Petition 
 confifting of names fometimes written by the parties, and fome- 
 times written without their knowledge, fometimes of perfons ha- 
 ving exilience, and fometimes of perfons not having existence. 
 Pretensions never ferioufly brought forward, or long fince relin- 
 quifhed will be refumeds and perfonages found to reprefent every 
 fignature; deeds or contracts executed in {uch form and manner 
 and under fuch circum(tanees as to caita ridicule upon the idea of 
 a ferious tranfaction, will be multiplied and antidated, and frauds 
 without number practifed, which no vigilance can detect. How 
 far therefore it may be practicable to give effect co this direction, 
 is mOit refpectfully fubmitted to fuperior wisdom. 
 
 Hitherto the Committee have confined their report to what 
 they apprehend will be the immediate confequence of making 
 thefe directions public, namely a fpiric of diflatisfaction among 
 His Majefty’s loyal and dutifui fubjeéts, iffuing from plaufible 
 grounds of complaint and the encreafe of coliufion and fraud be- 
 yond computation. But when they extend their views to the re- 
 mainder of the lands yet unapplied for, the Committee cannot but 
 teprefent and deprecate the fearful confequences that will infalli- 
 bly enfue, when it fhall become known to the lawlefs and obtru- 
 five race, who dwell upon the borders of this Province, that any 
 relaxation of the fyftem of repelling encroachments has been di- 
 rected by authority ; and though it fhould be thought advifab'e zo 
 confirm the orders given in the fecond direction, the Committee 
 fully apprized of the almoft ungovernable propentity of this des- 
 cription of perfons, to take poffedion of, or to ufe their own idiom, 
 to make their pitch on the moft advantageous {pots, ferioufly re- 
 queit permiflion to repeat their apprehenfion of the evil effects 
 that will arife from publifhing rhe reafon afligned for the prefe- 
 rence, left, the difpofition for actual fettlement fhould be indulged 
 to fuch an extent and by fuch numbers, that the whole of the 
 Crown lands become occupied without producing a fentiment of 
 loyalty or gratitude, and Government be reduced to the expe- 
 dient of fubitituting connivance for authority. 
 
 For thefe reafons the Committee of the whole Council are una- 
 nimoufly of opinion that it is not advifable, for the prefeut, to 
 give public notice of thefe regulations. . 
 
 The Committee, confidering that their report on the fibfequent 
 matter contained in the order of reference, will much depend on 
 the ultimate directions to be expected upon this report, propose 
 to defer the confideration thereof, yntil {uch final directions fhalk 
 
 , 
 
 
 

 
 ws 
 
 et 
 be received. All which is humbly fubmitted to your Excelléncy’s 
 wisdom. 
 Council Chamber, Bishop’s Palace, } 
 ~ Quebec, 20th June, 1798. 
 By order, 
 (Signed) W. OSGOODE, Chairman. — 
 A true Copy. (Signed) Tu. CARY, A.C. Ex. @. 
 
 ita 
 Lxtract from the Minutes of Council, of the 9th J uly, 1798. 
 
 His Excellency laid before the Board a Report of a Committee 
 of the whole Council, dated the 20th June laft, upon the Refe- 
 rence of the llth of the fame month, respecting the wafte lands 
 of the Crown, which was read and ordered to be entered. 
 
 His Excellency then obferved that nothing would afford him 
 greater fatisfaction, than a coincidence of opinion between him- 
 felf and the Members of the Executive Council, wherever such 
 coincidence would be confiftent with what he conceived to be his 
 duty towards His gracious Sovereign and towards the Province 
 over which His Majefty had been gracioufly pleafed to appoint him 
 to prefide. To the fulfilment of thefe duties, with uprightnefs, 
 impartiality and integrity of heart, fo far at leaft as his abilities 
 might enable him, he fhould certainly, if neceflary, facrifice every 
 other ‘confideration, either of pleafure or of eafe. And he was 
 exceedingly forry that in the fulfilment of them, he felt himfelf 
 compelled in the prefent inftance to fupport a Doctrine, materially 
 different from that contained in the report that had juft been read 
 to the Board. 5 it 
 
 His Excellency informed the Board that the Regulations which 
 he had communicated on the 11th ultimo, and to which the Re. 
 port related, were founded on what he conceived to be, A VERY 
 MATURE CONSIDERATION of the Proceedings of the Executive Go. 
 vernment of this Province, under His Majefty’s Royal Inftruc- 
 tions, on the 16th of September, 1791, as contained in the books 
 now upon the table; copies of which proceedings, together with 
 a true and faithful ftatement of the pofitions and arguments that 
 had been urged both for and again{t the appiicants, were transe 
 mitted to His Majefty’s Minifters for that purpofe, — , 
 
 Although indeed all men might be at all times liable to error 3 
 yet, His Excellency obferved, a determination made by fuch high 
 authority, poffefling fuch amp!e materials whereon to form a pro- 
 per judgement, was certainly entitled to fo much a that if 
 the propriety thereof fhould not, at firft fight, appear fo clear and 
 fatisfactory to any perfon or perfons as might be wifhed, the 
 
 ounds, both of the determination and of any objeétion that 
 might be oppofed to it, ought to be well and truly examined, be- 
 fore any cenfure fhould be pafled thereon. So far His Excellency 
 
 rJ~. 
 
 
 
eZ 
 
 said, he was perfuaded the Board would agree with him and he 
 could not but entertain hopes that before they rofe they fhould 
 agree much further. He was the more induced to entertain thefe 
 hopes, from his having obferved that the greater part of the Mem- 
 bers, who were prefent at the Committee that.made the Report, 
 happened not to be Members of the Board during the early ftages 
 of the bufinefs, and might therefore perhaps have been unacquain- 
 ted with fome of the proceedings that had then taken place : thofe 
 alfo of the older Members of the Board, who were prefent at the 
 Committee, might, His Excellency readily conceived, have loft 
 the remembrance of thofe proceedings. His Excellency would 
 therefore, in the courfe of his obfervations on the report. which 
 had juft been read, take the liberty of explaining to the Board, the 
 grounds of the feveral articles of the regulations where any expla- 
 nation fhall be neceflary, in order to fhew them in their juft and 
 true light. 
 
 The first article, being no other than the effence, as it were, of 
 the report of the Committee of the whole Council, of the 24th of 
 May, 1797, refpecting perfons who had heretofore obtained Or- 
 ders of the Governor. in Council for fpecific quantities of land; 
 did not, His Excellency faid, require any explanation. 
 
 The Foundation upon which the Committee build the objections 
 that are contained in the Report, in regard to the second and sub- 
 sequent articles is, § That they are framed upon the principle of 
 ‘ giving encouragement to a procedure which the Executive 
 * Council have ever thought it their duty to inhibit and repel to 
 ‘ the utmoft,’ which procedure is afterwards explained to be the 
 entry upon land and making fettlement thereon without Title. 
 
 The Committee, His Excellency obferved, had, he believed, 
 fallen into a miftake with refpect toa very important matter of fact 
 in the very Foundation upon which their objections are built. 
 The regulations, His Excellency faid, were by no means framed 
 upon the principle of giving encouragement to that procedure, 
 they were, on the contrary, framed upon the principle of pre- 
 venting thofe evils which must otherwise arife from the encou- 
 ragement that had been heretofore given to that procedure by the 
 Executive Council, and upon the principle of adminiftering 
 (through His Majefty’s gracious benevolence) a rational degree 
 of diftributive juftice towards thofe who had embarked their la- 
 bour and property therein, in confequence of that encouragement. 
 
 That the applicants at large received advice and encouragement 
 from the Members of His Majefty’s Council, to come in and fet- 
 tle on the Townfhips they petitioned for, without waiting for the 
 forms prefcribed for iffuing regular grants, and that they were ac- 
 tually expected by the Provincial 4g pegs {fo to do, are points, 
 
 65 
 
 
 

 
 66 
 
 His Excellency obferved, that could not require greater proofs 
 than are contained and repeated in divers pages of the Books now 
 upon the table, in which the proceedings of the Executive Coun- 
 cil ftand recorded. g 
 
 His Excellency then directed the Clerk to read part of the Mi- 
 nutes of Council of the 11th October, 1792, which was read ac- 
 cordingly, and ordered to be entered. 
 
 Extract from the Minutes of Council of 11th October, 1792. 
 
 « Read a Report of a Committee of the whole Council, on the 
 reprefentation from the Land Committee, refpecting the want 
 
 of Deputy Surveyors. 
 THE REPRESENTATION. 
 
 «“ To His ExcELLENcy Aturep Ciarke, Esquire, Lieute- 
 « tenant Governor and Commander in Chief of the Province 
 « of Quebec, &c» Major General commanding His Majes~ 
 “« ty’s Forces in America, &c. & c+ &e- 
 
 c 
 c 
 
 nan 
 
 c 
 
 “ 
 
 Reprefentation from the land Committee concerning the in- 
 «¢ conveniences likely to arife from the want of a {ufficient 
 number of Land Surveyors, to lay out the Townfhips al- 
 ready applied for, by perfons ready to take up and enter 
 upon the immediate cultivation of tracts of the Waste 
 Lands, appertaining to the Crown. | 
 
 ~ A wn 
 ~~ a aes 
 
 «“ May it please your Excellencys 
 
 «¢ The number of Surveyors employed is ten, eight of which 
 are in the field, the remaining two wiil be fent out ina few 
 «© days.” | | 
 
 c Phere is at prefent above three Millions of acres under War- 
 rant of Survey, and to be laid out in Townships.”’ 
 
 «« Suppofing the Surveyors were all at this moment at work, 
 and allowing a month (many of them confider fifty days to be 
 «“ neceflary) to complete the Survey of a Townfhip, the bufinefs 
 could not be finifhed in lefs than fix months, and the Summer — 
 ‘¢ is now far advanced and not one return, as yet, made of a fin- 
 « gle Townfhip.” — ai ie 
 
 © The Committee beg leave to obferve, that the applicants for 
 ss Lands from the late Colonies (now the States of Vermont, New- 
 «¢ Hampfthire, Maffachufets and Connecticut) after having obtain- 
 « ed the defired affurance of grants of the wafte lands of the 
 «« Crown in terms of your Excetlency’s Proclamation of the 7th 
 ss of laft February, have gone back to thofe countries, and their. 
 «< return may be foon expected with many hundreds of induftrious 
 
 wn . 
 n 
 
 oa 
 
 MX , 
 ” 
 
 “~ 
 an 
 
 
 
67 
 
 men, who, as they fay, anxioufly with to be admitted as Bri- 
 tifh fubjects, nothing doubting but they may immediately take 
 pofleffion of the lots they have been made to expect 5 fhould 
 they be difappointed from a want of Surveyors (or otherwise) 
 to lay out the [racts intended for them, they muft remain idle 
 in the woods or return from whence they came. In the hum- 
 ble opinion of this Committee, every poffible means should be 
 ufed’to prevent this threatened evil. A check of this nature, 
 given to the prefent fpirit of emigration into the Canadas, would 
 deprive this Province of an opportunity of encreafing the popu- 
 lation of the Country, and of adding to its wea th by the ingrefs 
 of skilful induftrious farmers in great numbers : it is therefore 
 fubmitted, whether the Surveyor General may not be required 
 to fet to work a greater number of Surveyors without lofs of 
 time.” 
 
 «© The Committee are aware of an objection that may probably 
 be ftarted by the Surveyor General’s Office, againft proceeding 
 to the Survey of a new Townfhip that is not bounded by a tract 
 already furveyed; for example Amos Lay, Proprietor of the 
 Townthip of //y applies for the tract ordered for him and his 
 affociates, not yet furveyed. ‘The Surveyor finds that it is a 
 Townfhip in the fourth range, North of the line which fepa- 
 rates the Province from Vermont, upon which line there is no 
 known point from whence to depart but the Eaftern boundary 
 of Mr. Dunn’s Seigneurie; from thence he muft meafure the 
 bafe of the townfhip of S.tion and one of its fide lines continu 
 ing North along the {fide-lines of the townfhips of Bolton and 
 Stukely, to reach the South-Weft corner of K/y, where he is 
 to begin his operations on Mr Lay’s account; but before he 
 will proceed he will ask, who is to pay for running thefe lines 
 to find Mr. Lay’s corner ?” 
 
 « To obviate all difficulties in fimilar cafes, the Committee 
 humbly fubmit, whether feeing the Crown will fooner or later 
 be at half the expenfe of running all the lines of thofe town- 
 fhips) Government might not in the mean time fatisfy the Sur- 
 veyor. This mode of proceeding would prevent delay.” 
 
 «© All which is neverthelefs most humbly fubmitted to your Ex- 
 
 -cellency’s great wisdom, 
 
 «© Signed by order of the Committee, Council Chamber, Bi- 
 © fhop’s Palace, Quebec, 13th July, 1792. 
 (Signed) HUGH FINLAY, Chairman. 
 
 THE REPORT. 
 
 To His Excerrency Axurep Crarxe, Esquire, Lieutenant 
 “ Govrnor of the Proviuce of Lower-Canada, and Major 
 « General commanding His Majesty’s Forces in North Ame- 
 be ricdy &C. &e. &ce. k 2 
 
 
 

 
 bd 
 
 68 
 
 s¢ Report from the Committee of the whole Council, on the 
 “‘ reprefentation from the Land Committee, respecting the 
 «© want of Deputy Surveyors, the Members affembled being 
 «¢ the Carer Justice and Mefirs. Fintay, Bapy and Dunn. 
 
 © May it Please your Excellencys 
 
 ‘© In obedience to your Order in Council of the 4th of Augutt 
 © last, the Committee humbly report that they concur with the 
 ‘«¢ Land Committee in their apprehenfions of great detriment to 
 ** the public, unlefs means fhall be found to give speedy execu~ 
 “© tion of the Warrants iffued to the Surveyor General’s Office, 
 “* refpecting the Wafte Lands of the Crown, | 
 
 «© That it is well worthy of the Government to provide for the 
 ‘* probable contingency of the actual arrival of new fettlers, des- 
 ‘* tined to atract or township mot at that time surveyed. 
 
 «¢ That it is for this end expedient to require a Report from the 
 “ Surveyor General’s Office, ftating the number of the pre- 
 « fent Deputies in employment, and what hopes may be en- 
 ** tertained of acquiring additional ftrength, for the immenfe 
 ** work to be performed; with liberty to fuggeft, whether any, 
 © and what aid can be afforded by the energy of the Government, 
 «© and in what manner. | | 
 
 “© Refpecting the remedy in part, recommended by the Land 
 «© Committee, no folid objection to it occurrs, if due care is taken 
 “ by the Surveyor General, under the reftrictive provifo in the 
 «¢ in the Governor’s Warrants of Survey, to confine the work to 
 “© amoiety of the expenfe on the outlines of a tract or townfhip, 
 - & or where it exceeds it to apprize the Government of that excefs, 
 «¢ that the Crown may be indemnified for the advancement, be- 
 “ fore the issuing of the Patent. But for the greater fecurity 
 * againft the refcinding the provifo unneceflarily, the Surveyor 
 «« General ought to go into no departure from it without a {pecial 
 « order of the Governor and Council to authorize it; to be ob- 
 « tained by an application from his Office to the Governor, ftating 
 «‘ the reafons upon which the measure is founded: and as, after 
 “¢ all, it may fo happen, through a want of Surveyors in the field, — 
 «« that the intended occupants or grantees of a Townfhip may ar-- 
 * rive at the {pot before the return of the Survey, the Committee 
 «¢ recommend as a means to anticipate the beft courfe on fuch an 
 « event, that it be made a fubject for the deliberation and report 
 ** of the Surveyor and Deputy Surveyor General, and that an 
 «¢ order iflue that they do, from time to time, give the earlieft 
 ‘¢ poilible information as to which tract or townfhip it fhall have 
 «« happened or is like to happen; fuch an event affecting the 
 «« Royal interest and the common tranquility, and being in the 
 
 of 
 
 -~ 
 
 
 
69 
 
 «< higheft degree interefting to all that come to fettle, in areli- 
 *¢ ance upon the public faith and invitation. 
 ‘¢ All which is neverthelefs moft humbly fubmitted to your 
 it «¢ Excellency’s great wifdom. 
 
 Signed by order, 10th October, 1792, 
 (Signed) WILLIAMSMITH, Chairman. 
 
 « OrpeERED, that the Clerk of the Board caufe a Copy there- 
 «< of to be ferved upon the Surveyor’ and Deputy Surveyor 
 << General for the guidance of that Office.” 
 
 The Minutes, His Excellency obferved, which the Clerk had 
 juft read, even were there nothing elfe, would convince the 
 board, that the procedure of fettling on the lands, previous to 
 the iffuing of the legal title, inftead of being InuiBitED had been 
 actually ENcoursGep by the Executive Government of this Pro- 
 vince; norhad His Exceilency hitherto discovered any thing in 
 the books upon the table, whereby that procedure had been inhi- 
 bited, untilthe month of Auguft laft pait. 
 
 e The Proclamation that was iffued in Auguft laft, ordering thofe 
 
 : who had gone on the lands without any fufficient authority, to 
 depart ; was intended (as His Excellency conceived and under- 
 ftood at that time) to apply to fuch perfons only as might have 
 come in mere ftraglers, without being connected with any afloci- 
 ation of fettlers, and without having obtained any order fora 
 grant in favour of themfeives individually. 
 
 Could His Excellency have thought that any perfon would have 
 confidered it as an order for thofe perfons to depart, who had 
 originally embarked their labour and property, upon the encou- 
 ragement formerly held out to them under His Majesty’s authori- 
 ty, no confideration would have induced him to fign an inftru- 
 ment, to be interpreted in a manner fo derogatory to the honour, 
 the dignity and the good faith, which has ever fo con{pi- 
 cuoufly reigned in the breaft of His Royal Mafter 5 and it afford- 
 ed him much fatistaction to learn that the proclamation had been 
 generally, (though perhaps not univerfally) underftood by the 
 ‘ bettermoft fort of people in the country, in the fame light as he 
 
 I himfelf underftood it at the time he figned it. 
 > His Excellency was as averfe to any attempts of acquiring 
 Lands by the robust title of occupancy as any Member of the 
 Committee could have been when the report, now on the 
 table, was drawing up; but he could by no means conceive | 
 chat people, who had originally embarked their labour and 
 
 
 

 
 70 
 
 property, in fettling lands, in confequence of fuch encourage- 
 ment as had been given in this Province, and who had been year’ 
 after year humbly petitioning for the grants which they had been 
 originally taught by Government to expect; he could, he faid, 
 by no means conceive that people of this fort could be confidered 
 as having attempted to acquire lands by the robust title of occu- 
 
 ance. 
 : The principal danger, His Excellency faid, to which the car- 
 rying on afettlement upon fuch encouragement as was given in 
 this Proviace may be liable, is, that it may happen through fome 
 accident or other, thatthe “egal Title may finally be granted to 
 different perfons from thofe who had made the fettlement, and 
 who, together with the occupancy, may be faid to poffefs a Pre= 
 tension vf Right, under the encouragement that had been fo gi- 
 ven. His Exceiiency ufed the terms Pretension of Right, incon- 
 tradiitinction to Legal Title. Wherever a Government fhall have 
 given fuch encouragement, it certainly behoves it-to take efpecial 
 care in forming fuch regulations for the iffuing of the grants, as 
 fhall concentrate the Legal Tit/es with the above mentioned Pre-— 
 tensions of Right, and veft them both in one and the fame perfon. 
 Were the Legal T tles and the Pretensions of Right to be in dif- 
 ferent perfons, there would undoubtedly be great danger that fuch 
 a clafhing of the one with the other would produce civil commo« 
 tions ; but if they are vefted in one and the fame perfon the dan- 
 ger is entirely avoided, : | 
 
 {t would be tedious, His Excellency faid, to difcufs the caufes 
 which produced thofe civil commotions, alluded to in the report, 
 that had heretofore taken piace in the neighbouring States. It 
 would be fufficient to obferve, that they rofe entirely from the 
 Lecai Tities being vefted in one fett of perfons, whi'e Pretensions 
 of Right exifted in another. -But a though it was not now ne- 
 cefiary to difcufs that fubject, yet, His Excellency neverthelefs 
 thought it right to inform the Board, that thofe commotions, to- 
 gether with the caufes from which they flowed, and the effects 
 that refulted from them, were duly weighed and confidered when 
 the foundation was laid on which the regulations, communicated — 
 to the Board on the 11th ultimo, were built. And the regula- 
 tions were, in His Excellency’s opinion, fo framed as to preclude 
 (if faithfully carried into execution) thofe dangers of fimilar com- 
 motions, to which this Province might otherwise be expofed. 
 
 With refpect to the indulgence extended by the regulations 
 «* to fuch of the fettlers as may happen to be feated on lots refer. 
 «« ved for the fupport of a Proteftant Clergy, and for the future 
 ‘« difpofition of the Crown,” whom the Committee appear to con- 
 
 -F-~, 
 
 
 
9 
 
 fider as intruders, His Excellency thought it right to explain to 
 the Board, the reafons on which that indulgence was founded. 
 
 When the Settlements were commenced in the year 1792, it 
 was intended by the Provincial Government, that the refervations 
 for the Church and for the Crown fhould be located in the Four 
 
 orners of the feveral inland Townthips that were fituated on Ri- 
 vers or Lakes: this determination is contained in the Minutes of 
 Council of the llth October, 1792, and the firtt Settiers made 
 their arrangements accordingly. Afterwards, in the fummer of 
 the year 1793, the mode of locating thefe Refervations was alter- 
 ed, and it was determined in Council, on the 12th of Auguft, 
 1793, that the applicants for tive ‘Townfhips (three of which had 
 been then already begun to be fettied, although only one of them 
 had been yet granted) fhould have it in their option whether to 
 have the refervations in thofe lownfhips located in four parallelo- 
 grams, running through the Townthips, from front to rear, or to 
 have them located in detached lots: they chofe the mode of pa- 
 ralielograms, and made their arrangements accordingly. The 
 fettlers, on fome other Townthips also, taking it for granted that 
 one general fyftem would prevail through the whole, made their 
 arrangements in the fame manner. On the '0th of October, 
 1794, the former orders refpecting the allocationof the refervations 
 were virtually refcinded, and it was determined in Council that the 
 refervations, in q// the 'Townthips, fhould be located in detached 
 lots, conformably to certain Diagrams contained refpectively at 
 pages 362 and 374 of the book C upon the table. In confequence 
 of thefe alterations the reservations fell in {undry inftances upon 
 lots that had been fettled on; and His Excellency could not but 
 flatter himfelf that the Board wouid from hence readily perceive 
 the propriety and juttice upon which that part of the regulations 
 was founded. 
 
 As the objections contained in the report of the Committee, 
 re{pecting the Third Article of the regulations, and the'compari- 
 fon between the conduct of the applicants referred to in the Se- 
 cond and Third articles (namely tho.e who had actualiy proceeded 
 to the Settlements and thofe who had not) are built altogether 
 upon the fuppolition that thofe of the applicants who proceeded 
 to the fettlement of the land they petitioned for, had, in fo doing, 
 acted in difobedience to the directions of the Executive Govern- 
 ment: And His Excellency had already fhewn that that fuppofi- 
 tion was founded on amiftake, and that they had in fact been 
 thereunto encouraged by the Executive Government, and were 
 expected by the Executive Government fo to do, the whoie of 
 the objections here ftated by the Committee would, ciis Excellen- 
 cy conceived, fall of courfe. 
 
 No remark having been made by the Committee, refpecting 
 
 
 

 
 CF 
 
 “19 
 
 the Fourth article of the regulations (by which His Majefty’s be- 
 nevolence is extended ina certain degree to thofe of the applicants 
 who may have put themfelves to the expenfe of exploring the 
 Townthips they fo petitioned for) His Excellency had of courfe 
 nothing to obferve to the Board thereon, 
 
 In regarc to the /7fth article of the Regulations (by which per- 
 fons therein defcribed, having purchafed the pretenfions of others 
 are to be confidered as ftanding in their place and ftead) in the 
 execution of which the Committee apprehend much difficulty, 
 His Excellency obferved to the Board, that the determinations 
 and counter-determinations herein before mentioned, refpecting 
 the allocation of the lands fo to be referved, the delays year after 
 year, inregard to the pafling of the grants, and in a word the ge- 
 neral uncertainty with which the bufinefs appeared to be conduc- 
 ted, difheartened a great number of faithful applicants, who had 
 intended to fettle in this Province, and who had for that purpofe 
 incurred expenfes, fome to a greater and otherstoa lefs amount ; 
 fundry of thefe dispofed of their pretenfions to others who pofles- 
 fing more confidence in His Majefty’s Government, retained an 
 idea that things would eventually come right ; and paid to the for- 
 mer a confideration, by way of reimburfement for the trouble 
 and expenses they had been at. Onthis account it was thought 
 perfectly reafonable and right that thofe of the purchafers, who 
 actually meant to come in and fettle on the land, fhould ftand in 
 the place of thofe from whom they had fo purchased. This was 
 the principle upon which the J%/th Regulation was founded ; 
 and his Excellency could not but. consider it as a most juft and 
 equitable one. Neither could His Excellency conceive that there 
 can be any material difficulty in carrying it into effect. In thofe 
 cafes where there fhall be no caveats, there can certainly be no 
 difficulty, and where there fhal! happen to be caveats, nothing 
 more can be neceflary than to hear and determine them be- 
 fore the Governor in Council, in the fame manner as caveats 
 among{t applicants for grants of land were heretofore heard and 
 determined in His Majesty’s other Colonies, now the American 
 States. There were feldom, His Excellency obferved, any very 
 great difficulties in ascertaining even thofe truths that were requi- 
 red to guide the confcience in the folemn and awful duties of gi- 
 ving judgment in cafes of life or death: and His Excellency could 
 not conceive it to be poflibie that there could be any great difficul- 
 ty in afcertaining {uch truths as would guide the judgment in the 
 difpofal of a few thoufand acres of wild land to fettlers, in a coun- 
 try which His Majefty had fo long directed to be fettled. : 
 
 In regard to the sth article of the regulations (which intimates 
 that the dispofal of the wafte lands, in future, except in certain 
 cafes, will be by public Sale) His Excellency obferved, that the 
 
 o~-™ 
 
 
 
Nees 
 
 expenfes with which the mother Country was burthened for the 
 fupport of the Civil Government of this Province, ‘had long been 
 contidered by very refpectable people, both at home and here, as 
 being, at least, in a great meafure, unreafonable and unnecefsary 5 
 and the more fo as the waste lands of the Crown in this Province 
 a{forded fo important a refource without any burthen to the inha- 
 bitants. It had alfo, His Excellency faid, been long reprefented 
 by numbers of respectable people, that the difpofal of the wafte 
 lands by public fale, under proper conditions of fettlement and 
 cultivation, would be in every point of view, infinitely preferable 
 to the granting them to perfons petitioning ; not only with ref- 
 pect to the fums that might be thereby raifed for the fupport of 
 Government, but likewise with refpect to the more f{peedy Set- 
 tlement and cultivation of the country by able and induftrious far-. 
 mers, and the consequent population and profperity of the Pro- 
 vince. It was truly natural, His Excellency faid, when one con- 
 fiders the flow progrefs that has hitherto been made in the grant- 
 ing and fettling of the lands, that fuch reprefentations fhould be 
 attended to by His Majefty’s Minifters. 
 
 With refpect to obtrufive fettlers coming in to make their pit- 
 ches as they term it, and as noticed by the Committee in this part 
 of their report; His Excellency obferved, that from the operation 
 of certain caufes, which (although they might be traced to an 
 earlier period) firit began to make their appearance in the newly 
 fettled parts of the country, about the latter end of the.year 1795, 
 or the beginning of the year 1796, there had been more reafon 
 to apprehend inftances of that fort late than formerly. Were 
 thofe caufes to be fully open, His Excellency faid, many of the 
 people whom there was reafon to expect might undertake long 
 journies upon that errand would be found to merit commifseration, 
 not reproach. His Excellency hoped he might never find it ne- 
 ceflary to enter into an explanation of thofe caufes; he certainly 
 never would explain them unlefs it fhould become neceflary ; and 
 he had the fulleft reafon to hope, and to believe, that by faithful- 
 ly carrying into execution the directions he had received through 
 His Majefty’s Secretary of State, as communicated to the Board ; 
 and by difpoling of the wafte lands in future (except in certain ca- 
 fes) at open and public fale, every poflible evil, that might other- 
 wife be apprehended, would be effectually avoided. 
 
 His Excellency obferved to the Board, that, although the pofi- 
 tion on which the report of the Committee is built (to wit, that. 
 the applicants who had proceeded to the fettlement of the lands 
 without having obtained legal titles, ought to be confidered as in- 
 truders) appears to have been taken as an axiom, inits nature 
 fo evident as to be entitled to univerfal aflent 5 yet, it had appear- 
 
 l 
 
 
 

 
 Sa J 
 
 74 
 
 ed to him, from the moment he arrived in this Government, and 
 was'informed of the manner in which the land bufinefs had been 
 conducted ;—To wit, that fince the conclufion of the American 
 war’ (which was then thirteen years) many public invitations had 
 been given for people to fettle in this Province ; that feveral hun- 
 dred families had embraced thofe invitations, and that many thou- 
 fands’ would gladly have followed their fteps; but that, during 
 that whole length of time, only one Grant had pafied the Seal; 
 It appeared to him, His Excellency faid, from the moment he ar- 
 rived and learnt this ro be the cafe, that no pofition could with 
 fafety be'taken, without first examining with great eare and atten= 
 tion all the parts with which it might be connected,’ as well with 
 refpect to circumftances consequent’, and thofe present and thofe 
 antecedent. i Phone 
 
 On his making ftill further and further enquiries, His Excellen- 
 cy faid, he found that the opinions entertained by different people 
 were fo extremely wide, and oftentimes so diametrically contrary. 
 to eachother, that the fubject appeared to him to be of infinitely 
 too great magnitude to be decided upon in this Country. He there- 
 fore thonght it his duty to lay before His Majefty’s Minifters a 
 brief hiftorical narrative of the proceedings; in the order of time 
 in which ‘they took place ; and as they ftand recorded in the 
 Books now upon thetable. ‘This he accompanied with a true and 
 faithful (though brief) ftatement of the pofitions and arguments 
 that had been fet up, both foy and against the applicants’; and 
 fubmitted the iffue, fo joined, to the decifion of His Majetty’s 
 Minifters. ers aeey | 
 
 The evidence upon which the iffue was determined was copied 
 from the books now upon the table ; it confifted not of partial ex- 
 tracts from any recorded document, but of the full copy, although 
 certain parts thereof might not immediately relate to the points in 
 queftion. © The decifion is contained in the regulations communie« 
 cated to the Board on the 11th ultimo. 7 
 
 His Excellency likewife obferved that in the framing of thofe 
 regulations, the Report of the Committee of the whole Counci! of 
 24th May, 1797, which ftated that the faith of Government had 
 not ‘been pledged, except in the cafes therein defcribed, was tas 
 ken as a Datum. In as much however as a number of applicants, 
 who did not come within the benefit of that Report, had, upon 
 the encouragement that had been held out tothem by His Majes- 
 ty’s Government in Canada, embarked their labour and ‘property 
 in carrying on the fettlement, and others in preparations for cars 
 rying on the settlement of the lands they had petitioned for, 
 agreeably to what they had underftood and believed to be His Ma- 
 jefty’s gracious intentions; His Majetty’s fervants judged, and 
 in His Excellency’s opinion they had judged with equal wisdom 
 
 
 
75 
 
 and goodnefs of heart, that although the faith of Government 
 had not been confidered to be literally pledged to them, yet, it 
 would be utterly inconfiftent with His Majefty’s Honour and 
 Dignity, that people, who had fo embarked their labour and pro- 
 perty, upon the encouragement held out to them under His Ma- 
 jefty’s authority fhould fail of fharing in His Royal benevolence ; 
 and the regulations were fo framed, as to proportion His Majes- 
 ty’s benevolence (as nearly as general rules could well admit) ac- 
 cording to the different degrees in which the different clafles of 
 applicants had exerted themselves, under the encouragement that 
 had been fo held out to them; than which His Excellency concei- 
 ved, nothing could be more truly honourable or more religioufly 
 juit. | 
 His Excellency could not but flatter himfelf thatthe explana- 
 tions he had nuw made would induce the board. to entertain a ve- 
 ry different opinion of the regulations from that contained ‘in the 
 Report of the Committee : His Excellency likewile flattered him- 
 felf with hopes, that the Board would coincide, with him in opin- 
 ion (efpecially when it was confidered that the applicants, who 
 were the objects of His Majefty’s Royal benevolence, ‘had al- 
 ready laboured in fufpenfe during {ix long years) that it would be 
 proper that His Majetty’s gracious intentions fhould-be, in fome 
 way or other, made known to them without delay, to the end 
 that their long and painful anxieties might ceafe ; and that they 
 might come forward with gratitude and cheerfulnefs of heart, to 
 take out their grants, according to the proportions prefcribed by 
 the regulations; preparatory to the carrying into execution His 
 Majefty’s further gracious intentions, of raifing by future dispo- 
 {als of the wafte lands, a fund to be appropriated, by His Majefty, 
 towards defraying the civil expenfes of the Province. 
 
 ORDERED, by His Excellency, that it be referred to a Com- 
 mittee of the whole Council, to confider of the most pro- 
 per means of communicating, to the parties concerned, 
 His Majefty’s gracious intentions contained in the regula- 
 tions laid before the Board on the 11th ultimo, and to re- 
 port the fame to His Excellency with all convenient dis- 
 patch. 
 
 Atrue Extract. 
 (Signed) THOMAS CARY, 
 7 A. C. Ex. C.. 
 
 
 

 
 ba 
 
 76 
 THurspay, 20th September, 1798. 
 At the Council Chamber in the Caftle éf St. Lewis. 
 PRESENT, og 
 
 His Excellency Rosert Prescott, Efg. Governor, and 
 The Honourable W. Ofgoode, Chief Juttice: 
 The Lord Bithop, Frangois Baby, and .° 
 Hugh Finlay, John Young, } Efquires 
 
 + ieee entry of Minutes of the laft Meeting of the Board 
 (9th of July laft) being read, His Excellency requefted that 
 it might be remembered that the order for recording the Report 
 of the Committee of the 20th June (relative to the new regula- 
 tions then lately received through His Majefty’s Secretary of State, 
 in conformity to the inftruétion under His Majefty’s Royal Sign 
 Manual, bearing date at St. James’s, the 15th day of Auguft, 
 1797, communicated tothe Board on the | Ith of J une, laft) was 
 not voluntary on his part ; but, on the contrary, that the draft of 
 the Minute which His Excellency on that day brought forward 
 {tood thus, « His Excellency laid before the Board a Report of 
 “© a Committee of the whole Council, dated the 20th of June laft, 
 “ upon the reference of the 11th of the fame month refpecting 
 “ the Wafte lands of the Crown, which was read and ordered to 
 “* be filed ;” and that it was purely in compliance with a requeft 
 of the Board that His Excellency had permitted the word € filed” 
 to be ftruck out, and the word « entered” to be fubftituted in its 
 place. 
 
 His Excellency could not but feel fome degree of regret, at the 
 circumftance of that requeft being made andcomplied with: His re- 
 gret, His Excellency faid, arofe from this confideration; the records 
 of the proceedings 1 elative to the granting of the Wafte lands of the 
 Crown, by an old ftanding order, perfectly conformable to His 
 Majefty’s Royal inftructions, and therefore to be held in all cafes 
 inviolably facred, were, what they undoubtedly ought to be, open 
 for the information and fatisfaétion of all perfonsconcerned therein. 
 
 It appeared to him, His Excellency obferved, that when, on 
 any fubject, there might happen to be a momentary difference of 
 opinion between the Governor and his Council, it would be much 
 better that their reafonings fhould be put, at leaft for fome time, 
 on special files, to be open only to the Governor and Members of 
 the Council, (or to fuch other particular individuals as might ob. 
 tain {pecial permiffion from the Governor or from fome Member 
 
 
 
77 
 
 of the Council for that purpofe) to the end that the same might be 
 reconfidered, whereby an Union of opinion might take place pre- 
 vious to the recording, than to record at once the different opinions 
 {o entertained. For although His Excellency would in fuch cafes 
 always endeavour on his part, to confider the fubje«t so fully be- 
 fore-hand, as not to be afraid of fubmitting his opinion thereon 
 tothe judgment of the whole world, and although he would al- 
 ways be ready on his part to correct by a future document any mis- 
 take (all men being at times liable to error) that he might at any 
 time discover in a prior one; yet, (admitting likewife that the 
 fame dispofitions fhould equally prevail in the breafts of all the 
 Members of the Council, His Excellency could fee no ufe in en- 
 tering upon record, opinions that were not coincident ; at leaft un- 
 til they fhould be reconfidered. 
 
 The reafon His Excellency faid, which induced to prefer the 
 putting of fuch different opinions in all future cafes upon spe- 
 cial files, was this, he could fee no good reaton why any momen. 
 tary difference of opinion between the Governor and the Council, 
 fhould be open to the public; which mutt be the cafe in regard to 
 the Land-bufiness, if entered upon Record: for, His Excellency 
 faid, he could on no accouut whatever depart fo far from the or- 
 ders of his Royai Mafter, as toallow any of His Majefty’s Inftruc- 
 tions relative.to the granting of the Wafte Lands of the Crown, 
 or any of the proceedings had thereon, fo far as the fame fhall be 
 entered on record or placed of record upon the ordinary Files, to 
 be kept for the parties concerned, | 
 
 His Majefty’s Royal Inftructions, in order to-avoid all caufes of 
 complaint with refpect to partiality, ftri€tly enjoin (in addition to 
 any publication that might be made by “ Proclamation or other- 
 wife,”) that all inftruétions which His Majefty has given, or may 
 hereafter give “ relating to the pafling grants of lands in conform- 
 « ity to the Act paffed in the thirty-first year of His Reign, be 
 « entered upon record, for the information and fatisfaction of all 
 “ parties whatever that may be concerned therein.” 
 
 The inftruétion relating to caufing ‘a publication to be made 
 by Proclamation or otherwife,” gives in fome degree a discretion- 
 ary power, to be exercifed by thofe who might be entrufted with 
 the adminiftration of the Provincial Government: But His Ma- 
 jefty’s Royal commands, that his in{tructions fhall be entered up- 
 on record, and that all parties concerned fhall have free accefs to 
 thofe Records, are in no degree dicretionary, but in every rei- 
 pect positive. 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 ie 78 
 
 Were the parties to lhave free access to the Records for the pur- 
 pose merely of knowing His Majefty’s Royal Inftructions, conii- 
 dered by themfelves, feparate and diftinét from the proceedings 
 had thereon, such -accefs could be of no poffible avail to them. 
 The inftructions therefore, together likewife with. the proceed- 
 ings thereon, in which the interefts of individuals may be con- 
 cerned, are neceflarily included. in His Majefty’s Royal Com- 
 mands; and His Excellency can on no condition (at leaft on no 
 condition fhort of an express permiffion from his Royal mafter) 
 allow His Majefty’s commands to be difobeyed. 
 
 His Excellency then informed the Board that he had received 
 2 Report of the Committee of the whole Council dated the 9th 
 of Auguft, and delivered on the 16th of the fame month, upon 
 the reference of the 9th of July laft_—On perufing the Report, 
 Fis Excellency faid, he found that. certain parts thereof contain- 
 ed opinions which he could not exactly coincide with; he had 
 therefore, made certain remarks in writing, relative to the points 
 which appeared to him in a different light from that in which they 
 had appeared to the Committee ; which, together with the Re- 
 port he was about to lay before the Board. 
 
 As His Excellency had not till now, explained his reafons with 
 refpect to the placing of any documents on Special Files 5 it was 
 his intention, in the prefent inftance, to make fuch Order as the 
 Hoard might think proper to advife, whether to put the prefent 
 Feport together with his remarks thereon upona Special File as 
 
 above defined, or to enter them upon record: and if the Board . 
 
 fhould not be prepared to favour him with their advice therein, he 
 fhould order the Report and his Remarks to be put on fuch Spe- 
 cial file for the prefent, and not recorded until further orders 
 may be given therein by the Governor, after the expiration of 
 ten days from this time. 
 
 His Excellency then laid the Report, together with the Re- 
 marks he had made thereon in writing, before the Board 3; which 
 being read and confidered, the Chief Juftice, in the name and on 
 the behalf of the Members prefent, advifed that the fame be en- 
 tered; and His Excellency having given his word, in manner 
 above-mentioned, ordered the same to be entered of Record ac- 
 
 cordingly. 
 : “ THE REPORT. 
 [N. B. The different paragraphs are numbered 1, 2, 3, &c. for 
 the purpofe of enabling the reader to refer the more eafily to the 
 correfpondent parts of the Governor’s remarks, which are num- 
 bered in the fame manner.] | 
 
 
 
 TS 
 
- 
 
 79 
 
 To His Fxcellency Roser’ Prescort, Esquire, Captain Ge- 
 neral and Governor in Chief of the Province of Lower- 
 Canada, &c. &c. &c. | 
 
 REPORT of a Committee of the whole Council, Prefent, the 
 
 Chief Juftice, and feven other Members of the Council, on your 
 
 Excellency's Order of Reference of the 9th ultimo, “to con- 
 
 ‘© fider of the moft proper means of communicating to the par- 
 
 “© ties concerned, His Majefty’s gracious intentions contained 
 
 «« in the Regulations laid before the Board on the 11th ultimo,” 
 respecting the Wafte Lands of the Crown. 
 
 May it please Your Excellency, 
 
 1. In obedience to your Excellency’s commands, the Commit- 
 tee have taken into ferious confideration your Excellency’s order 
 of reference, of the 9th July jaft, ‘to confider of the moft pro- 
 “ per means of communicating to the parties concerned, His Ma-~ 
 « jefty’s gracious intentions contained in the Regulations laid be- 
 « {ore the Board onthe 11th June lait,” and after tendering their 
 moft thankful acknowledgments for the folicitude manifelted by 
 your Excellency to explain the import of the regulations commu- 
 nicated in the Order of Reference of the |1th June laft, by en- 
 tering into a detail of the motives that gave rife to them; the 
 Commiteee will avail themfelves of the authority of such example, 
 and with all deference lay before your Exceilency a more exten- 
 five view of the reafons that induced them to make the report vf 
 the 20th June last, as well as of the report which they now fub- 
 mit to your Excellency’s wisdom, which would have been fooner 
 presented but for their continued attendance at the Court of Ap- 
 peals, and the difficulties they have experienced in endeavouring 
 io obtain neceflary documents. 
 
 2. With every dispofition to profit by your Excellency’s superior 
 judgment, they beg to obferve before they enter upon the subject 
 that if in delivering their fentiments, the Committee may appear to 
 differ in opinion from others, they hope that such variance may 
 not fubjeét them to the imputation of cafting cenfure upon any 
 one, becaufe if difference of opinion do neceflarily imply cenfure, 
 benevolent men will @ave no Judgment to exercile ; and if dis- 
 cuffion muft produce discord, a deliberate Council isiil calculated 
 to anfwer the ends of its inftitution. | 
 
 3. Another obfervation the Committee will take the liberty of 
 premifing, which they hope will tend to relieve that laudable anx- 
 iety fo feelingly exprefsed by your Excellency in thofe cafes of 
 compaifion which are mentioned in zhe Order of Reference ; the 
 
 
 
80 
 
 Report already made by the Committee, conduces to this matter 
 of opinion, that it is notexpedient for the prefent to make public 
 the Regulations communicated to them, and it neither follows as 
 a necefiary or natural confequence, that therefore Government is 
 not bound to fulfil every engagement which in equity they may be 
 faid to have contracted with the public. On the contrary, the 
 Committee truft that your Excellency will meet with a zealous co- 
 operation on their part, to keep His Majefty’s facred word invio- 
 late, and to perform whatever in juftice or honour may be requi- 
 red of the Executive Government. They are under no apprehen- 
 fion that the faith of Government will not be preferved, though 
 they are fearful that its liberality may be abufed; and therefore 
 they were diffident of recommending pubiic notice to be given of 
 the Regulations. 
 
 4. ‘he Committee would hold themfelves to be deficient in the 
 obfervance of refpecttul ufages, were they to omit exprefling their . 
 acknowledgments for the apology your Excellency is pleafed to 
 frame for their fuppofed inadvertence to the prefent bufiness : 
 Had the obligation proceeded from a lefs exalted quarter, they 
 might have qualified their gratitude by some obfervations in their 
 own juitification, from which they will for the prefent abftain. 
 
 5. With regard to the Extraét cited by your Excellency, the 
 Committee are ready to admit that it appears to countenance the 
 procedure mentioned in the Order of Reference: But with re- | 
 gard to that document, it has long fince been confidered a nullity, 
 both with refpect to the obje& of its immediate tendency, and 
 alfo as conftituting an authority to Jjuftify the proceeding al- 
 luded to. The object of its immediate tendency was to obtain a 
 fupply of Surveyors for the new Townfhips at the joint expense of | 
 the Crown and the Applicants ; this divifion of payment was for 
 fome time deemed to be an authorized meafure ; but it being wife- 
 ly confidered by His Majefty’s Minifters, that it was fufficient for 
 the Crown to extend its bounty, without incurring an additional 
 charge on account of its liberality ; the Governor received in con- 
 fequence, authentic information that the Crown would be at no 
 further expenfe on that object. From this period the document 
 in question has been looked upon as a dead letter : as an authority 
 to juftify the proceeding alluded to it is null, becaufe it was made 
 under the prevalence of a temporary miftake, and is in direct con- 
 travention of His Majefty’s Inftructions. 
 
 5. Toexplain more fully the nature of this temporary miftake, 
 the Committee, with your Excellency’s permiffion, will enter in- 
 to a brief narrative of the proceedings of the Land-granting De- 
 partment, by which the delay that has already obtained may be 
 
 
 
Ness, 
 
 partly accounted for; and the pofition afferted by the Committee 
 in their former Report, that they have uniformly endeavoured to 
 repel actual fettlement before a compliance with the previous for- 
 malities, will be eftablifhed by the moft authentic proofs. 
 
 It appears by an Entry in the Council Book marked (C) of the 
 20th February, 71792, that a Land Committee was on that day 
 named in Council. 
 
 On the 17th March, 1792, a Report of the Committee of the 
 whole Council upon certain doubts fuggefted by the Land Com- 
 mittee is entered. In this Report after obferving “that an abun- 
 dant population of thefe countries feems to be the main object of 
 the Royal inftructions,” the Chairman of the Committee propofed 
 a plan of the ordinary progrefs of the bufiness of the Land Office 
 Department as follows : 
 
 lft. A Petition to the Governor for the vacancy defired under 
 a defcription to be accurately afcertained by a future Survey. 
 
 2d. ‘he Reference of it to a Committee of the Council for 
 
 their Report. 
 _ 3d. Judgment in Council thereon; and when for the Grant, 
 an Order for issuing a Warrant to the Surveyor General, for the 
 Return of a Survey agreeable to the Royal inftructions: this 
 Warrant to be under the Governor’s Hand and Seal at Arms. 
 
 81 
 
 4th. Then the adjuftment in Council for the fhares of each of 
 the Patentees. 
 
 doth. A Tranf{miffion of the Lift by the Clerk of the Council to 
 the Commiffioners for taking their qualifications under ftanding 
 inftructions for that purpose, within the time limited by an Act 
 or Minute of the Council. 
 
 6th. A Report from the Commmiffioners to the Council-Office ; 
 whence thofe papers are to go into.the hands of the Attorney Ge- 
 neral for his Report to the Secretary’s Office of the Draft ofa 
 Patent. 
 
 7th. The Patent to be there engrofled and iffued under the 
 Great Seal upon payment of the Fees due to all the Officers con- 
 cerned, and to be accordingly dftributed by the Secretary, who 
 is to record the Patent, and preferve all the detached files. 
 
 After which it is recorded * that the Committee concur in the 
 “mode of proceeding aforementioned (uggeacee by the Chair,” 
 and this Report was finally confirmed in Council. | 
 
 From fome caufe which it were ufelefs now to inquire into, it 
 fo happened, that the progref$ of businefs proposed by the Chair- 
 man of that day, directly inverted the courfe commanded by 
 His Majefty’s inftructions; for it appears that by the progrefs pro- 
 
 | m 
 
 
 
~~ ~ < “ i - ~ & - _— 
 0 te ee ee eee ee ee sts 
 
 * 
 — 
 — a 
 
 a 
 
 - > ™ 
 
 
 
 ws 
 
 «84 
 
 not only to the amount of the applicants, but even to thofe who 
 were fuppofed to have made actual Settlement on the land ; who, 
 having neglected to comply with the terms of the notice, were 
 clearly fubject to the penalty thereby announced. After these 
 forfeitures had accrued, it was generally underftood that in addi- 
 tion to those perfons who had fatisfied themfelves with a bare 
 Warrant of Survey of the outlines of a Township, a number of 
 others, under various pretexts, fome from having purchased pre- 
 tenfions, and others becaufe it fuited their intereft, had made ac- 
 tual fettlement in various quarters; and many upon Lands refer- 
 ved for the fupport of a Proteftant Clergy, and the fiture difpofi-: 
 tion of the Crown. To check this propentity, it was thought expe- 
 dient to iffue a Proclamation as mentioned in the former Report ; 
 but this Proclamation never was intended by the Executive Coun- 
 cil, nor could upon any principle of sound conftruction, be fuppo- 
 sed to affect the parties alluded to in your Excellency’sOrder of 
 Reference, who might have an equitable claim upon Govern. 
 ment, but thofe only who having forfeited their claim, or having 
 no claim at all, had made actual Settlement without fufficient au- 
 thority. 
 
 Thefe fucceflive meafures would be alone fufficient to evince the 
 anxiety of the Executive Council to refift actual Settlement with- 
 out authority, from the firft moment that the neceflary powers to 
 carry the granting of Lands into effect were in exiitence; but 
 the moft convincing proof of their difpofition, as well as of the 
 influence of that dispofition upon the public opinion, arifes from 
 the conduct and forbearance of a numerous body of Applicants 
 of approved Loyalty, who poffeffed of that operative Inftrument, 
 a Warrant of Survey, have, from a principle of decency, refrain- 
 ed from taking poffeffion. This is a fact, which added to their 
 public notices, affords, in the Opinion of the Committee, the 
 itrongeft proof of the pofition they have afferted, 
 
 10. For the purpofe of applying the effect of the Regulations, 
 the Committee will divide the applicants who have made actual 
 fettlement, into two clafles, without attending to the numerous 
 perfons who have fo done becaufe it fuited their intereft. 
 
 First. They who come ftri€tly under the defcription fet forth 
 in the fecond regulation, and have alfo obeyed the notices iflued 
 by the Executive Council. a | 
 
 Secondly. They who come under the faid defcription but not 
 obeyed the notices ifflued by the Executive Council. 
 
 Refpecting thofe of the firft Clafs, the Committee never enter- 
 tained a doubt but they had an equitable claim, which the Com- 
 mittee have ever been ready to confirm, 
 
 
 
Wr 
 
 85 
 
 Refpecting the fecond clafs, the number of which it will. not be 
 eafy toafcertain, becaufe the Returns relate to the obedient only, 
 but which clafs (if Judgment is to be formed by common Report, 
 or by inference drawn from the limited number of thofe who ap- 
 pear by the Returns of the Commiffioners to have obeyed) mutt 
 be confiderable; the Committee are under great difficulty to 
 know whether they are to partake or be excluded from the bene- 
 fit of the Regulation. 
 
 11. With regard to the explanation given by your Excellency 
 concerning the Refervations, the Committee are ready to admit 
 that it may apply to the fmall number of ‘Townthips alluded to, 
 but the queftion with the Committee is, whether it applies to the 
 remaining Townfhips; for it is to be observed that the directions 
 are not partial but general. 
 
 12. Vhe Committee have paid due attention to your Excellen- 
 cy’s Remarks on the purchafe of pretentions; and with a view of 
 a{certaining how far fuch pretentions may extend, they thought 
 it expedient to call for the documents ftated in their Journal, 
 from the refpective Officers therein mentioned; but with thefe 
 materia!s they have not been duly fupplied ; and in the retardment 
 they have met with, the Committee are concerned to find, fuch 
 familiar ufe has been made of your Excellency’s name, that you 
 are reprefented as having condefcended to coinment on the pur- 
 poses to which such documents may apply: under thefe circum~- 
 jtances therefore, the Committee are compelled to proceed upon 
 lefs complete information than they could have wifhed, and fuch 
 as by perfonal fearch of the Records they can obtain, 
 
 13. Your Excellency will perceive from a Report of the Sur- 
 veyor-General of the 19th Auguft, 1790, entered in the Council 
 Book of State Affairs, (Letter H. page 8), that the wafte and un- 
 granted lands of the Crown, lying on the fouth fide of the River 
 St. Lawrence, are ftated to be above 20,700,000 acres. By com- 
 puting the Returns, as appears by the Schedule annexed to this 
 Report, it appears that upwards of 300 Leaders with nearly 
 11,000 profefsed Affociates may have pretenfions under Warrants 
 of Survey, to the moft defirable portions of this extenfive Tract ; 
 the value of which, were it calculated at prefent, or at no very 
 diftant day, by eftimates already given in upon oath in His Ma- 
 jefty’s Courts of Juftice, would amount to upwards of two Mil- 
 lions fterling ; it may therefore be readily concluded what exer- 
 tions are likely to be made to eftablith pretenfions to this extenfive 
 boon, when founded on the fpecious plea of delay on the part of 
 Government ; and fhould the fale of fuch pretenfions receive en- 
 couragement, the Committee apprehend that the unclaimed refi- 
 
 
 
 . 
 ne eo ee a ae ee 
 

 
 al 
 86 
 
 due will not afford avery productive source of Revenue to an{wer 
 His Majefty’s gracious: purpofes. ‘Thefe circumftances the Com- 
 mittee have thought it expedient to ftate, not with a view of 
 prefuming to set limits to His Majefty’s bounty, but as matters of 
 fact, which they deem it necellary His Majefty’s Minifters fhould 
 be apprized of, | 
 
 14. ‘Fhe Committee have alfo paid due attention to your Excel- 
 Jency’s obfervations on the facility of adjudging on the purchafe 
 of pretenfions ; and have likewise confidered the analogy fuggeft- 
 ed from the nature of the inveftigation of fact in cafes of life and 
 death. How painful foever the discharge of thofe duties may be, 
 the feelings of thofe who prefide on fuch folemn occafions, are 
 greatly alleviated by the confideration, that crimes are defined 
 with precifion, the courfe of proceeding eftablithed by long expe- 
 rience, and the effect of evidence fettled by a feries of Determina- 
 tions. But in the prefent cafe, firft principles are to be previoufly 
 eftablifhed : What conftitutes a Pretenfion ? What fha!l amount 
 toa Settlement ? What fpecies of conveyance fhall be evidence of 
 2 purchafe? thefe appear to be fimple queftions, but judicious men 
 would hefitate before they could be prevailed on to anfwer them. 
 When thefe points are fettled, the inguiry muft proceed with 
 Precautions unattended to in the ordinary courfe of bufinefs. Evi- 
 dence must even be required that every party named, has or had, 
 a phyfical exiftence. For the Committee truft that the right of 
 the Crown will not be concluded by the very fimple procefs allu- 
 ded to in the order of Reference, that becaufe no Caveat js enter- 
 ed, therefore there can be little doubt ; the opening to collufion, 
 being in fuch cafes but too manifeft. And as Testimony, though 
 difficult to be obtained, will be procured in a common caufe ; and 
 as. many confciences may not revolt at the means employed to pro- 
 cure the lands of the Crown ; the vigilance of the King’s Servants 
 muft be exerted in proportion; with the discouraging reflection 
 that after every effort it will be baffled, and that while they per- 
 fuade themfelves they are dispenting juftice, they will in fact be 
 only miniftering to the triumph of fraud, 
 
 If the being named in a Warrant of Survey conftitutes a preten- 
 fion, when it is confidered that pretenfion is a plant of prolific 
 growth in every foil, and that many thoufands may avail them- 
 felves of fuch Claims; what time may it not require to adjuft 
 them ? | 
 
 Apprized as the Commiltee are of the innumerable frauds that 
 have already been practifed, of which they could produce abun- 
 dant proof, as well as of the frauds which are daily practifing, 
 refpecting the Wafte Lands of the Crown, with all the draw back 
 
 
 
si 
 
 9 
 87 
 
 of uncertainty avowedly attending the fpeculation, it being well 
 known that three patents only have been iffued; The Committee 
 almoft fhudder at the deluge of iniquity with which they must be 
 overwhelmed fhould the traffic of pretenfions be confirmed; and 
 finding that ordinary language is too feeble to exprefs their appre- 
 henfions, they will dwell no longer upon the fubject than finceres 
 ly to implore a further confideration, how far it may be expedient 
 to authorize a proceeding tending to confound Pofleflion with 
 Right, and to encourage thofe loofe notions of property which in 
 thefe days are but too prevalent. 
 
 15. Attending to the progreflive courfe obferved in the Order 
 of Reference, the Committee are now come to a part of it which 
 gives them great difquietude; and though they are prevented by 
 a fenfe of decorum from citing detached portions for the purpose 
 of commenting thereon, yet they are compelled in juftice to them- 
 felves to obferve that by a particular paflage in the Order of Re- 
 ference they are reduced to very confiderable embarratlment. ‘The 
 part alluded to mutt be defigned either for the purpofe of explana- 
 tion, or for fome other purpofe; if for the former, it need not 
 be obferved that explanation receives {mall aid from the language 
 of myflery, or rather from an averment that the matters alluded 
 to never fhould be explained, unlefs it fhould become neceflary ; 
 but if it be intended to convey the idea of which it is clearly fufcep- 
 tible, the Committee muft obferve of the perfon who advifed it, 
 that he fhows little reverence for His Majefty’s representative, by 
 scattering vague and unworthy infinuations ; or regard for His Ma- 
 jefty’s Executive Council, in prefuming they would be heard with 
 indifference. 
 
 16. Although the Executive have been accuftomed to receive 
 more ample and fpecific information, particularly in land matters, 
 than it has been thought expedient to communicate by your Excel- 
 lency’s firft order of reference, on which the Committee forefee, 
 that unless they are fupplied with fome more precife document, 
 they fhall be unable to proceed, from the manner oblerved by 
 thofe who have been directed to prepare it; yet they cannot omit 
 exprefling their acknowledgments for the detail your Excellency 
 has been pleafed to give of the materials laid before His Majefty’s 
 Minifters refpecting the object in queftion. ‘They beg leave to 
 tender their approval of the se hen te your Excellency in 
 
 not limiting your information to the documents contained in the 
 Council Books, which, although unquneftionably authentic fo far 
 as they extend, are very inadequate to convey a comprehenfive 
 account of the prefent {tate of land matters. They are alfo grate- 
 ful for the information given to the Committee, that finding opi- 
 
 
 

 
 88 
 
 nions diametrically contrary to each other, you fubmitted a true. 
 and faithful ftatement of the different arguments on the fubject. 
 A conduct of this fort certainly evinced the most earneft defire 
 of giving the fulleft information. At the fame time, recol- 
 lecting the groundlefs reports and abfurd notions that pre- 
 vailed in public, and having heard nothing that deferved the 
 name of argument, a term which your Excellency’s curtesy has 
 affigned to their difcourfes; the Committee cannot but lament 
 the peculiar difficulties under which your Excellency muft 
 have laboured in bringing forward what was worthy of the 
 confideration of His Majetty’s Minifters; at the fame time they 
 regret that among the repeated inquiries, it was not thought ne- 
 ceflary to demand any opinion on the fubject from a particular bo- 
 dy, where it is probable your Excellency would not have been 
 perplexed by a diverfity of fentiment;° becaufe the Executive 
 Council are led to conclude, from that harmony which for fome 
 years has happily fubfifted among them (whether for the benefit of 
 the Province or otherwife is not for them to determine) with only 
 one initance of recorded divifion, and that in a matter where the 
 public had no concern, they might at leaft have relieved your Ex- 
 cellency from part of that difquietude which muft have arifen 
 from the conflict of discordant fentiments. 
 
 17, Without regarding the vague and idle difcourses of parti- 
 cular perfons, the Committee will notice an error which was al- 
 moft univerfally prevalent, which confirms the observation that 
 men of eager minds, when warped by intereft, are liable to fall 
 into miftake, as thofe of confufed intellect. After the Report of 
 the Committee, on the queftion how far the faith of government 
 was pledged became to be made known, the general inference 
 was, that becaufe Government did not hold themfelves pledged 
 to gratify the expectations of every speculator, therefore they 
 did not mean to attend to the equitable claims of individuals. 
 The Committee did not conceive that fuch a confequence could 
 be deducible from their Report, and were therefure under no ap-~ 
 prehenfion that His Majefty’s honour and dignity would fuffer 
 thereby. | 
 
 18. Having again confidered the regulations propofed to be 
 made public, the Committee ftill think it incumbent on them to 
 reprefent the Complaints that will inevitably be made, for the 
 reafons before affigned ; whether fuch complaints are of fufficient 
 importance to be noticed, it rests not with them them to decide $ 
 but they hold it their duty to ftate them, They are alto apprehen- 
 five that the equitable motive for the indulgence fhewn to aétual 
 
 
 
————————————e—eeEEEEE—E 
 
 ey, 
 
 89 
 
 fettlement will be misunderftood ; and as the opinion of the peo- 
 ple is greatly influenced by words, that the very terms effectual 
 Settlement, fo congenial to their notions, will dwell upon their 
 ears, and that they will be mifapplied by future applicants, who 
 will continue to think that actual settlement is the firft ftep to fe- 
 cure the lands they petition for, which muft neceflarily produce 
 the pernicious confequences pointed out in the former Report. In 
 firm conviction of the truth of this opinion, and in full persuafion 
 that whatever is fuggefted by purity of intention and fubmitted in 
 terms of refpeét, will meet witha candid aceeptance on the part of 
 His Majesty’s Minifters ; they will prefume to fuggeft that all the 
 beneficial effects gracioufly intended to the description of appli- 
 cants included in the fecond regulation, may be equally fecured 
 to them by fubftituting other terms for effectual {ettlement, in the 
 form of the regulation to be made public ; the Committee pledging 
 themselves to a due obfervance of the Spirit, and trufting that 
 much inconvenience may be avoided by changing the Letter of 
 the Regulations: On the fifth article, refpecting the purchafe of 
 pretenfions, the Committee have already expreffed their fenti- 
 ments, perhaps with too much anxiety; they will therefore only 
 repeat their ferious requeft, that as they are convinced its execu- 
 tion will be attended with difficulties almoft infuperable, and with 
 confequences moft mifchievous, fo they humbly hope it may re- 
 ceive fuch temperament as His Majefty’s Minifters in their wis- 
 dom may think it expedient to advife. 
 
 19. Upon a reconfideration of the matters referred to them, 
 and of the conclufion contained in their former report, the Com- 
 mittee find no caufe to depart therefrom ; and have therefore to 
 requeft of your Excellency that it may be fubmitted to the confi- 
 deration of His Majefty’s Minifters, before the Committee under- 
 take to propofe any means of communicating to the parties con- 
 cerned, His Majefty’s gracious intentions as contained in theregu- 
 lations. 
 
 20. Having laid before your Excellency their deliberate opinion 
 on the matter referred to them, the Committee, before they con- 
 clude in the ufual terms of fubmiffion, regret that they are under 
 the neceffity of trefpafling fomewhat further on your Excellency’s 
 patience from a circumftance connetted with the prefent order of 
 Reference. By the correfpondence and examination ftated in the 
 Journal of the 25th and 30th ult. refpectively, it appears that 
 your Excellency has referred to fome authority of His Majefty, 
 other than the 38th inftruction, of which the Committee have not 
 hitherto been apprized ; and that by your Excellency’s conftruc- 
 tion thereof, the Order of Reference on which the prefent report 
 
 n 
 

 
 ©90 
 
 is founded became fubjeét. to public ‘inspection, ‘and. was ac» 
 tualiy perufed by various perfons before it came to the pofleflion of 
 ‘the Committee to whom it had been referred for deliberation, and 
 ‘of neceflity before the report could be framed thereon. The Com- 
 mittee apprehend this courfe to be fo repugnant to the firft prin- 
 ciples of propriety even in the ordinary tranfagtions of life, that 
 they can with difficulty perfuade themfelves it would be fanctioned 
 when applied to the important concerns of the Executive Govern- 
 ment. On the prefent occafion however, the Committee cannot 
 _ but express their regret and furprize at the fmall regard paid to 
 their Council, when, after having received their deliberate and 
 unanimous Report that it was not advisable for the prefent to make 
 the regulations public, your Excellency fhould have been advifed 
 to direct that both the regulations and the report thereon fhould 
 ‘be made public; and further, that when your Excellency was 
 pleafed to require the Executive Council to confider of the mot 
 proper means of communicating to the parties concerned, His 
 Majefty’s gracious intentions, your Excellency fhould at the fame 
 time, before it were poffible for the Committee to report on the 
 fubject, peremptorily direct that Copies of the regulations fhould 
 be made out for fuch as chofe to apply for them; of which order 
 many perfons have already availed themselves, By thefe meafures 
 -the eftimation in which your Excellency is pleafed to.hold the 
 -Executive Council has become public and notorious ; and they can- 
 not reflect on their fituation. without confiderable uneafinefs. It 
 is a condition to which no one having the honour to reprefent His 
 _Majesty heretofore in this Province, has thought it prudent to re- 
 duce them ; and they are confcious that the integrity of their con- 
 duct, their attachment to His Majefty’s interefts, and their zeal 
 -for the credit of your Excellency’s adminiftration, demanded a 
 More regardful treatment. The Committee beg your Excellency 
 to reflect, that fhould His Majefty’s Executive Council be degra- 
 ded in the public efteem, the contempt of the King’s Government 
 will have but one ftage farther to complete its progrefs. Being fa- 
 ‘tisfied therefore, that. it imports His Majefty’s interefts'as well as 
 their own feelings, that the opinions of the Executive Council 
 fhould be entitled to fome attention, they humbly requeft your 
 Excellency that regard may be had to this confideration in all fu- 
 ture directions; that the Committee may affemble in confidence 
 in discharge of their duty to the King, without being reduced to 
 the painful neceflity of concerting meafures in fupport of. their 
 own dignity. , 
 
 The Committee have accompanied this Report with a Journal of 
 their proceedings, which they pray may be confidered as forming 
 @ part of their Report ; to which they have annexed various other 
 documents. | 
 
 
 
aE ee ae eae a eS eS Lee ee ee eee ee ee eS ll = 
 
 4 
 
 OEE OO 
 
 91 
 
 » AlDwhich-is-humbly fubmitted to your Excellency’s wisdom. 
 
 By Order, - 
 (Signed) WILLIAM OSGOODE, 
 . | Chairman.) _ 
 Councit CHamser, Bifhop’s Palace, | 
 Quebec, 9th Augutt, ef 
 
 THE ANNEXATIONS are 
 
 Ist. The Journal of the Committee. Viz : 
 1798: 
 16th July, containing 
 
 Orders on the Clerk of the Council, and Surveyor General, re- 
 
 quiring certain compilations, 
 23d July. 
 
 Further Orders on the Surveyor General. 
 
 25th July. 
 
 A Correfpondence between the Governor’s Private Secretary, 
 the acting Clerk of the Council, and the Chief Juftice, refpect- 
 ing the proceedings being open to all parties interefted. And in-, 
 terrogations from the Committee to the Acting Clerk of the. 
 Council, with his anfwers on the fame fubject. 
 
 30th July. 
 
 Further interrogatories and anfwers of the fame parties on the 
 
 fame fubject. 
 4th August. 
 
 Respecting the compilations required from the Surveyor Genes 
 ral, and acting Clerk of the Council. 
 
 8th August. 
 
 The Committee proceeded to take into confideration the Draft 
 of their Report. 
 
 9th. August. 
 
 Refpecting a correspondence between Mr. Chief Juftice Monx 
 and the acting Clerk of the Council, and an addrefs to the Govers. 
 nor on the fubject. 
 
 Motion of Chief Juftice: Monk, to fubftitute a Report prepared 
 by him, in the place of the one prepared and propofed by the 
 Chairman of the Committee; which was rejected, there being 
 three yotes for the motion and four againft it. | 
 
 2d. A ftatement of the number of perfons who had taken the 
 Oaths, &c, prior tothe Ist of Auguft, 1795. 
 
 3d. Ditto of the whole number of perfons who had taken the 
 Oaths, &c. fo far as the returns of the Commiffioners have been. 
 received, | | | i? behvds 
 
 on? 
 

 
 92 
 
 4th. A Letter from the Surveyor-General to the Acting Clerk 
 of the Council, dated 18th July, 1798. 
 
 5th. A ditto from ditto to ditto—4th Auguft, 1798. 
 
 6th. An unfinifhed Schedule of applications for Townthips, 
 with the proceedings thereon, fubfequent to the 7th February, 
 1792. a sit) ; 
 
 
 
 THE GOVERNOR’S REMARKS 
 
 On the Report of the Committee of the whole Council of thé 
 9th of Auguft, 1798, upon the Reference of the 9th of July, 
 
 - © to confider of the moft proper means ‘of communicating to 
 “‘ the parties concerned, His Majefty’s gracious intentions, 
 ** contained in the Regulations laid before the Board on the 
 “* Lithof June, refpecting the Waite lands of the Crown.” 
 
 Ist. The Governor obferves the *¢ thankful acknowledgments” 
 of the Committee for his explanation of the import of the Regu- 
 lations, and confiders the other bufinefs with which the Me:nbers 
 of the Committee were occupied, asa fufficient reafon for the dis- 
 tance of time between the date of the Reference, and that of the 
 Report. ‘Ihe Report was not delivered till feven days after its 
 date; during which the Mails for England were clofed, and the 
 Fleet had left the Port. 
 
 2d. ‘The Governor very readily admits that differences of opi- 
 nion do not neceffarily imply cenfure, nor fair difcuffion produce 
 difcord among benevolent men: Much may depend upon the 
 _ manner in which thofe opinions may be exprefied, with refpeét to 
 conveying cenfure; and the benevolence of men’s minds may 
 fometimes be judged of by the truth and candour with which 
 they may ftate ana reprefent the Facts on which their opinions 
 may be founded. ! | 
 
 _ $d. The Governor will be very glad to receive that “ zealous 
 co-operation” which ‘the Committee truft he will meet with” 
 on the part of the Members of the Council, ** to keep His Majes- 
 «< ty’s facred word inviolate, and to perform whatever in juttice 
 «¢ and honour may be required of the Executive Government :? 
 That the honour and good faith of His Majefty’s Government in 
 this Country may be preferved and supported, (or rather reftored 
 _and fupported, for it has been greatly impaired in the minds of 
 many of his faithful people) is, fo far as relates to the prefent fub- 
 ject, the fummit of the Governor’s wifhes. The Committee 
 might have {pared their fears of the liberality of Government being 
 abufed ; the Governor’s difpofition to prevent abuses, is by no 
 means inferior to that of the Committee. 
 
 
 
93 
 
 4th. The Governor.is senfible of the attentions of the Commit~ 
 tee ‘in the obfervance of refpectful ufages.” 
 
 5th. The extract from the Minutes of Council cited by the Go- 
 
 > vernor on the 9th of July laft, contains explicit and irrefiftible 
 evidence, that the Applicants were de facto invited, encouraged, 
 and advifed, by the Executive Government, to come in and fettle 
 upon the lands they had petitioned for, without waiting for any 
 further forms prefcribed for iffuing legal titles: | That the then 
 immediate object, was to procure a fupply of Surveyors, is true: 
 But the record contains the moft exprefs and incontrovertible evi- 
 dence of the caufes from whence the want of that fupply of Sur- 
 veyors arofe: to wit:—Ihe invitations and aflurances that had 
 been given by the Executive Government to the applicants, encou- 
 raging them to come on and fettle; and the expectations enter- 
 tained by the Executive Government, that they would so come 
 on, upon the faith of thofe invitations and affurances. 
 
 How fuch a piece of written evidence of matter of fact, folemn- 
 ly given and delivered by two Committees of the Executive Coun- 
 cil, and solemnly and deliberately recorded by the Executive Go- 
 vernment itfelf, in Council convened, fhould, after the people had 
 fo come on and fettled, be * confidered as a nullity” and * looked 
 upon as a dead letter,” quite surpafies the Governor’s comprehen- 
 
 A fion. 
 
 " How far the Executive Government of that day, might have 
 laboured ‘¢ under the prevalence of a temporary miftake,” the 
 Governor does not think it decent in him, at this day, to in- 
 quire: But it would afford him pleafure that the Executive Go- 
 vernment of the present day fhould not labour “ under the preva- 
 lence of temporary miftakes.” 
 
 6th. The Governor had perufed the plan of the ordinary 
 « progrefs of the bufiness of the Land Office Department” adop- 
 ted in Council (and publifhed inthe Gazette) in March 1792, ci- 
 ted in the prefent Report of the Committee; and he had obfer- 
 ved that a part of the expenfe of the furveys was thereby charge- 
 able to the Crown ;_ which he conceived, (as. do the Committee) 
 to have been unneceflary : neither had it escaped the Governor’s 
 notice that the plan fo adopted, varied from the directions con- 
 tained in His Majefty’s Royal inftructions, in the inftance of is- 
 juing the Warrants of furvey previous to the Applicants taking 
 and {ubferibing the required oaths and declaration, inftead of di- 
 recting the oaths and declaration to be taken and fubfcribed pre- 
 
 | vious to the iffuing of the Warrant of Survey. 
 
 * - th. The Governor had likewife underitood that upwards of 
 an hundred and fifty Warrants of Survey for Townthips, were is- 
 sued, long before any Commiffioners were appointed to adminifter 
 the oaths and receive the declarations, mentioned in His Majefty’s 
 
 —————————————————————S_S_ 
 
= =m . = 
 pao : ===. “=- 
 —————— 
 
 
 
 Ps wy a ay * = > 
 —- a “an 
 nae aa es 
 
 i TT 
 
 94 
 inftructions ; as alfo, that the Settlements went on very tardily, in 
 confequence principally of the uncertainty of the Applicants with: 
 regard to the three points mentioned in report of the Committec, 
 to wit :— 
 ift. ‘The pofition of the lands intended to be referved for the fup- 
 port of a Proteftant Clergy, and for the future difpofition of the 
 Crown ; , 
 2d. The amount of the fees: and i 
 3d. The quantity of land the Petitioners and their Affociates 
 might expect. | : 
 ‘The firft of the above mentioned points, although no doubt of 
 very confiderable weight, was however thought much lefs of 
 than the ¢hird; becaufe it was naturally taken for granted, that if 
 on the final determination of the pofitions of the Refervations, any: 
 part or parts thereof fhould fall upon any of the lots that might in 
 the intermediate time be fettled on, the Settlers would be allowed 
 to'hold them on the fame terms as might be granted to future Oc- 
 cupants of the referved lands. | 
 The Second point was of much lefs moment than the other 
 two : Thofe of the applicants whofe views were directed bona fide 
 to the actual Settlement of the land, perfonally, did not confider 
 the fees to be any very material object, although uncertainty there- 
 in was doubtlefs unpleafant. | 
 
 - The Third of the above mentioned points was by fat the moft 
 importants to the applicants, it being indifpenfably neceflary for 
 the carrying on of a new fettlement in an inland country with vi- 
 gour, that the quantity of land fo to be granted, fhould be suffi- 
 cient to reimburse, to thofe who firft engage therein, the extra 
 expenfes to which they muft be put, in opening roads through a 
 pathlefs wildernefs, and in bringing forward those neceflaries that 
 are effential to the formation of a new eftablifhment: Burthens 
 from which future fettlers are exempt. 
 
 - 8. The Governor was also acquainted with the time which elap- 
 sed before the above points were fettled, but the Committee are 
 not quite correct in this part of their ftatement. 
 
 The Third of the above mentioned three points was determined 
 in Council on the 17th of March, 1794, in confequence of a me= 
 morial prefented to the late Governor (Lord Dorchefter) by Afa 
 Porter and Nicholas Auttin, * on behalf of themfelves and other 
 « leading Petitioners for lands in Lower-Canada, refiding in the 
 se States of America.” 
 
 The First of the above mentioned three points was finally de- 
 termined on in Council on the 10th of October, 1794; the se= 
 cond was not determined on till the 19th of Auguft, 1795. 
 
 o~ 
 
 
 

 
 es 
 
 The Governor. had. likewife observed that no Commiflioners 
 were appointed for adminiftering the Oaths to the Applicants, and 
 receiving their Declarations, until the month of October, 1794: 
 But every principle of common reafon and common juttice, as 
 well as every principle of honour and good faith, unite together 
 in forbidding the Governor to admit that ‘ the former pro- 
 ceedings” containing the encouragement and aflurances given 
 in the name and on the behalf of his Royal matter. were, 
 (on account of any or every of thefe delays or defects in the 
 conduct of his Servants) rendered  yul/:”’ The former pro- 
 ceedings can be * uli” only with refpect to thofe who did 
 not evince their acceptance of the encouragement and aflurances 
 held out to them: Any perfon who would be guilty of fucha vio- 
 lation of His Majefty’s facred honour and good faith, as to har- 
 bour even for a moment, within his breaft, a defire that the for- 
 mer proceedings fhould be * nudl” with refpect to fuch as had 
 embarked their labour and property upon the faith of the encou- 
 
 95 
 
 agement and affurances fo given, would ill deferve His Majefty’s 
 
 Royal favour or protection. , 
 
 The Governor had likewife feen the advertisements from the 
 Council-Office, of October, 1794, and January, 1795, notifying 
 the applicants of the appointment of Commiflioners for adminis- 
 ing the Oaths, &c. and requiring them to send in Lifts of their 
 names. The Governor notices what is mentioned by the Commit- 
 tee with refpect to the advertifement of the 17th January, 1793, 
 having been publifhed with a view to quicken the attention of 
 “© thofe who having taken pofleflion under their warrants of fuy- 
 “¢ vey, were contented with their occupancy, and did not feem 
 ‘¢ dispoied to give themfelves any further trouble :” Ifa Judgment 
 might be formed from the trouble thofe applicants have taken time 
 after time, as well before that period as fince, in journies to Que- 
 bec, in. order to obtain a completion of their grants ; the Govern- 
 or would be induced to believe that the Committee mutt have la- 
 boured under a miftake, in fuppofing there were any fuch people 
 
 as thofe they speak of. It is indeed true that there were only a 
 
 few aflociations, (fix the Governor has feen) the lifts of which 
 were received at Quebec previous to the publication of the 
 Advertisement of the 17th January, 1795. But the delay 
 in this refpect might be very rationally accounted for, by con- 
 fidering the fituation of a new fettlement in a_wildernefs: 
 The inhabitants of the new {fettlements might not (and pro- 
 
 -bably did not) become acquainted with the advertifements of 
 
 Oétober, 1794, fo early as gentlemen who refide in a Poft Town 
 
 might imagine: this the Governor believes to be the true reafon 
 why a greater number of the lifts were not received between the 
 
 dates of the advertifements of Ociober, 1794, and January, 1795, 
 
ee i ee nn een rae 
 ~ ee ee ~ Pe 7 
 
 i *. ~~ < 
 os ee ee 
 
 a ae ee a 
 > Jase es 
 
 wee at 
 
 erg ae ee eg 
 SS == 
 
 sa 
 
 —~ —— - - —_ toe > Sean me yi ee ——— ae 
 PS I IE EE DOE I OC = na ms - ee 2 toe ee 4 = > —_e 
 o ~~~ ae ae. TS gs | Sa = Ss . 
 = > 1a 4 . : P Som a ar —— ; + - — — — — --— — — 
 = — = ae —_—— > —— ——. —--. ——- — a -: 
 : “ — : = = = —- —— - oe wm 
 
 
 
 ime ee 
 
 SSS —EEeE eee 
 SS Sse eee Se yee =e 
 
 96 
 
 The Governor had alfo obferved (conformably to what is mention- 
 ed by the Committee) that by the laft of thofe advertifements it 
 was directed that the applicants who had before that time obtain- 
 ed warrants of Survey, or orders of the Governor in Council, 
 fhould give in the above mentioned lifts of their names on or be= 
 fore the Ift day of Auguft then enfuing, on pain of being con- 
 fidered to have relinquifhed their pretenfions to the land. 
 
 g- The Governor will not conceal from the Board the furprize _ 
 and aftonifhment he felt, at being told in the Report of the Com- 
 
 ‘mittee “ that at the expiration of this period, it appeared from the 
 «€ Schedules annexed, and the returns of the Commiffioners, that, 
 
 ‘ of upwards of three hundred Leaders and ten thoufand propo- 
 «fed Affociates, the number of thofe who had complied with the 
 “‘ directions did not exceed five hundred and fifty.” And that 
 the reft had « neglected to comply with the terms of the notice” 
 and were therefore « fubject to the penalties thereby announced.” 
 The Governor affures the Board that the number of applicants 
 comprehended in the returns actually received from the Commis- 
 fioners and referred by the then Governor (with the Commiffion- 
 ers’ reports thereon) to the Committee of Council, prior to the 
 above mentioned Ift day of Augult, exceeded two thousand ; on 
 the third day of Auguft it exceeded three thousand: On the 
 twenty-fifth day of Auguft (which is certainly not an unreafona- 
 ble length of time to be allowed for the Commiffioners to make 
 their inquiries and reports, and for the fame to be received at 
 Quebec) it exceeded four thousand ;and many others were recei- 
 ved and referred afterwards. More than one third part of the 
 above numbers (over and above the cafes of fpecific quantities, in 
 which the faith of Government was confidered to be pledged by 
 
 ‘the Report of the Committee of the 24th of May, 1797,) were 
 
 recommended by the Commiffioners as perfons of good character, 
 
 and approved of as fuch by the Committee of Council : The cha- 
 
 racters of the rest were reported to be unknown to the Commis- 
 fioners ; but this could certainly amount in juftice, only to atem- 
 porary fufpenfion, not to a rejection, in refpect to thofe whofe 
 characters were fo reported to be unknown. 
 
 The Governor would not however be underftood to mean, that 
 he confiders all the perfons mentioned in thofe lifts to have had 
 
 ‘an intention of fettling on the land, conformably to His Majefty’s 
 
 Royal and gracious intentions: on the contrary, he confiders it 
 to be very probable that a part of them might have been people 
 who had only lent their names to others, for the purpofes of mo- 
 nopoly: What proportion this part might bear to the reft, the 
 Governor cannot undertake to fay; but be this as it might, the 
 reft could not in any poffible principle of reafon, or of juftice, be 
 
 - in the remoteft degree affected thereby: Their giving in the lifts 
 
 ~-_~ 
 
 
 
ON ON ee ae eel Ce 
 
 > 
 
 
 
 97 
 
 of their names was all that the above mentioned advertifements 
 required of them, and all they could do confiftently with thofe 
 advertisements, until further directions fhould be received by the 
 Commiffioners from the Council-Office, and communicated to 
 them; then, but nor till then, were any of them (not even thofe 
 who had actually settled upon the land, in confequence of the 
 former invitations of the Executive Government) allowed to tefti- 
 fy their loyalty and attachment to His Majefty, by taking the 
 oaths and iubfcribing the declaration of fidelity to his Govern- 
 ment, although their fo taking the oaths and subfcribing the de+ 
 claration, was a sine qué non of their obtaining the grants that 
 had been fo long promifed them: Inftances are not wanting of 
 perfons taking long journies for that exprefs purpofe, and being 
 refufed : and yet, notwithftanding all this, they are confidered by 
 the Committee as having * neglected to comply with the terms 
 ‘“‘ of the notice” and as being « fubject to the penalties thereby 
 «© announced.” 
 
 The Governor cannot help remarking that it would redound 
 more to His Majefty’s Service, and much more to the honour of 
 the Committee, if the more active Members thereof (in whom the 
 lefs active mult neceflarily place a confidence) were more correct 
 in their ftatements, and more juft in their conclufions. 
 
 ‘The Governor has the fulleft reason to believe that the circum- 
 ftances {tated by the Committee with refpect tothe Settlements 
 made on the lands by intruders, are a good deal fimilar in point 
 of correctnefs to the ftatements noticed above ; although he would 
 not be underftood to fuppofe that the new fettlements in this 
 Province were fo entirely different from thofe in any other Pro- 
 vince, as to be without any inftances at all of that fort; thefe 
 inftances, however, do not come within the benefit of the Regu- 
 lations lately communicated to the Board. | 
 _ ‘The Governor will not omit to return his thanks to the Com- 
 mittee for their declaration that the Proclamation (meaning the 
 
 - Proclamation of the 22d Auguft, 1797, by which those who had 
 
 gone onto the Lands without fufficient authority were directed 
 to depart) was never intended by the Executive Council to affect 
 the parties alluded to in the Governor’s communication to the 
 Board of the 9th of July laft, who might have an equitable claim 
 upon Government ; but thofe only who had no fuch claim. The 
 Governor feels himfelf the more obliged by this declaration from 
 the Committee, collectively, not only becaufe he was unable to 
 deduce it from the report of the 20th June laft on his re-examina- 
 tion thereof; but likewise, becaufe endeavours had been hereto- 
 fore made to obtain fuch an interpretation from fome of the Mem- 
 bers individually, which proved unfucceffful. The Governor 
 | : Ce) 
 

 
 ad 
 
 98 
 however, having fully fhewn that the ftatements contained in the 
 Report are not correét, he is of courfe unable to acquiefce in the: 
 
 opinion of the Committee, with repect to their. proof of the 
 position they had afserted. ) 08 
 
 10th. The Governor will not withhold his thanks for the dé= 
 claration now made by the Committee in favour of thofe of the ap=) 
 plicants “* who come ftrictly under the description fet forth in the’ 
 “«-fecond Regulation and have alfo obeyed the notices iffued by» 
 “‘ the Executive Council: to wit. « that the Committee never 
 *¢.entertained a doubt but they had an equitable claim, which the: 
 “« the Committee have ever been ready to confirm.” | 
 
 The Governor is exceedingly forry at his happening to be un- 
 able to discover this difpofition of the Committee from either of 
 their Reports of the 24th of May, 1797, or 20th June, 1798; 
 and at his not having happened to learn it from fome of the 
 Members individually ; this dispofition being, however, now de- 
 clared by the Committee collectively, the Governor would wil- 
 lingly conceive that the mifconceptions which have taken place, 
 may have arifen principally, from the circumftance of its having 
 been fupposed by the Committee, that the numbers that had. 
 obeyed thofe notices, were infinitely fhort of what they really are, 
 as pointed out above : And it would appear to the Governor, from 
 this declaration, that there can no longer remain in the breafts of 
 the Committee, any rational cause of hefitation or further delay, 
 with respect to the propriety of proceeding to carry His Majefty’s 
 gracious intentions, contained in the Regulations laid before the 
 Board on the 11th of June laft, into execution. 
 
 Thofe of the Settlers who do not, on the cleareft principles of. 
 reafon and of jufticey come within the clafs which the Committee 
 have thus declared in favour of, are fo few in number, that no 
 material difficulty camarife therefrom, unlefs Gentlemen fhould 
 be difpofed to create difficulties where none in reality exift. The 
 Governor has already obferved ' that obtrufive Settlers. (by which 
 he means fuch as are neither connected with any known and. ac- 
 knowledged Affociation, nor have any order of the Governor in 
 Council in favour of themfelves) individually, do not come with- 
 in the regulations; fo that the difficulty which the Committee 
 reprefent themfelves to labour under, with refpeét to knowing 
 whether fuch fettlers ‘* are to partake or be excluded fromthe be- 
 
 ‘“s nefit of the regulations,” is removed. wiih 
 _ . 11th. The Governor likewife returns his thanks for the ac- 
 knowledgment made by the Committee, refpecting his explana=. 
 tion of that part of the regulations which allows thofe who are 
 
 
 
99 
 
 feated on lots reserved, to hold them on the fame terms’ as may 
 hereafter be granted to other occupants of referved Lots : to 
 wit, “ That the Committee are ready to admit that it may ap- 
 » “¢ ply to the {mall number of Townfhips alluded to,” which muft 
 . of courfe mean thofe that were begun to be fettled prior to the fi- 
 ‘nal determination of the pofition of the refervations in October, 
 1794. This‘¢{mall number of Townfhips” is, however, almoft 
 the whole that have at this day any confiderable Settlements on 
 them. So few are the inftances of Townfhips having any confider- 
 able fertlements, that have been begun to be fettled fince that 
 time, that “the queflion with the Committee, whether it applies 
 «© to the remaining Townthips ?” will be better folved when the 
 terms and regulations for difpofing of the referved lots to occu- 
 pants fhall te received.——Till then nothing further can be done 
 with refpect to the lands referved, except merely to defignate them 
 in the Patents, as the law requires. | 
 
 12th. The extent of the pretenfions comprehended in the re- 
 gulations, is fo clearly defcribed in the regulations themfelves, 
 that no compilations from other documents could render it more 
 clear, for any purpofe appertaining to the immediate queftion in 
 reference; ‘The purchafes of pretenfions as connected with the 
 4 second, third and fourth articles of the regulations, are thofe on- 
 A ly where the Purchafers, ‘or thofe they purchafed from, have 
 evinced their fincerity by embarking their labour and property, 
 either in the actual fettlement and cultivation of the land, or in 
 furveying or exploring preparatory thereto. ‘The compilations de- 
 fired by the Committee could throw no light on the question re- 
 lative to their extent; nor indeed was that queftion connected with 
 the queftion in reference. ‘Khe Governor could by no means con- 
 fider it to be confiftent with his duty, to refer to the confideration 
 of the Committee, whether it might, or might not be proper, that 
 the commands of his Royal Mafter fhould be obeyed ; he referred 
 only, for the confideration of the Committee, the moft ready fteps 
 for yielding obedience tothofe commands. ‘The compilations de- 
 fired by the Committee, could haveno connection with the ques- 
 tion referred ; however ufeful they might hereafter become, for 
 facilitating the examination of what might be ftated by the res- 
 pective applicants. It will naturally be obferved from this remark, 
 that the “concern” which the Committee mention to have felt 
 for the ‘ familiar ufe made of his (the Governor’s) name,” in this 
 
 refpect, might have been fpared. | 
 It is moreover conceived that the Committee ftepped fomewhat 
 out of their Province in iffuing orders without being thereunto au- 
 
 thorized by the Governor. | Y 
 Had thé Committee really found themfelves in want of docu- 
 
 o 2 
 
 ——— Oo ——————Ee————EE—EEEE———EE 
 

 
 100 
 
 mer part of their Report, they were pleafed to term an « obfer= 
 vance of refpectful ufages,” if they had reprefented the fame, in- 
 ftead of undertaking to issue orders which could not fail to inter- 
 rupt the neceflary bufinefs then on hand for the Governor. 
 
 13th. If the quantity of ungranted land on the fouth fide of 
 the St. Lawrence were really what the Committee ftate it to 
 have been eftimated at, to wit, 20,700,000 acres ; the fulfilment 
 of all claims and pretenfions in that quarter (over and above the 
 orders of the Governor in Council for fpecific quantities of land 
 to particular individuals) comprehended in His Majefty’s gracious 
 regulations communicated to the Board on the 11th ot June laft, if 
 carried into immediate execution, would not in all probability (al- 
 though it is not indeed poffible to fpeak with abfolute certainty) 
 require fo much as the one twentieth part thereof to be granted 
 on the old Fees; In all probability therefore, more than nine- 
 teen twentieth parts thereof would be applicable, as a fource of 
 revenue, to the defraying of the public expenfes of the Province. 
 The Governor may likewife obferve, that the labour and ex- 
 pense which has (in confequence of the encouragement heretofore 
 given by the Executive Government) been laid out by the appli- 
 cants, upon the parts fo to be granted for the fulfilment of His 
 Majefty’s above mentioned gracious intentions, have rendered the 
 value of the remainder, many times greater than the value of the 
 whole would have been, if that labour and expenfe had not been 
 fo laid out. The Governor muft therefore be unable to agree 
 with the Committee in apprehending «that the unclaimed refidue 
 ‘* would not afford a very productive fource of revenue to anfwer 
 «« His Majefty’s gracious purpofes.” 
 
 In regard however, to the quantity of land mentioned, (20,700- 
 000 acres), the Governor had long underftood, or elfe he mis- 
 underftood, that fome (if not the whole) of the Members of the 
 Board were fo fully acquainted with the incorrectnefs of the old 
 Maps, on which that eftimate was founded, as to be entirely 
 convinced that the eftimate had been formed « under the 
 prevalence of a temporary miftake,” of fuch magnitude, that no 
 man poffefling actual knowledge of the fubject, whereby to be en- 
 titled to any regard therein, could at this day confider fuch efti- 
 mate to contain “ matters of fact” which any one would deem it 
 “« neceflary His Majefty’s Minifters fhould be apprized of,” unlefs 
 it fhould be for fome purpofe altogether different from that of gi- 
 ving them real information with refpect to the true ftate of the 
 cafe. ‘The truth is, that although the interior Geography of the 
 Province, has within the laft five or fix years been much better 
 ments, it would have been more. confiftent with what, in a for- 
 
 
 
idl 
 
 underftood than before, yet, even at this day, no eftimate to be 
 in any tolerable degree depended on, could be formed, without 
 firft afcertaining (what we have hitherto very little knowledge of) 
 the fituation of the heighth of land, which divides this Province 
 from the Governments of New-Brunfwick and New-Hamphthire ; 
 till then, all eftimate in that quarter muft be mere random guefs. 
 
 Were the quantity of ungranted land, fit for cultivation, on 
 the fouth fide of the River St. Lawrence, equal only to the one 
 half of the quantity ftated in the above-mentioned eftimate, the 
 refidue after the fulfilment of all the claims and pretenfions com~ 
 prehended in the regulations lately communicated to the Board, 
 would afford a very important fource of revenue towards an{wer- 
 ing His Majefty’s gracious purpofes. 
 
 14th. If there fhould be any actual difficulty in adjudging of 
 the purchafes of any of the pretenfions that come within the Re- 
 gulations, it can only be in fome of thofe old cafes, where 
 the orders of Government in favour of the Applicants were pafled 
 ten or fifteen years ago; and where the parties who were there- 
 by originally entitled to the Grants, may be dead, or removed 
 from the Province: If fuch inveftigations fhould be too laborious 
 for the Members of the Council, Commiffioners might be eafily 
 appointed for that purpofe; for it is certainly high time that the 
 people fhould have legal titles to the lands that have been fo long 
 folemnly promifed in His Majefty’s facred name, as Rewards for 
 the loyalty and fervices of the original Donees. 
 
 The claims and pretenfions under the proceedings of the Exe- 
 
 cutive Government relative to aflociated companies, are limited 
 by the Regulations, as has been obferved before, to thofe cafes © 
 where the applicants, or thofe they purchafed from, fhall have 
 actually embarked their labour and"property in the settlement and 
 cultivation of the lands or in surveying or exploring preparatory 
 thereto: The Governor cannot admit that there, can be an pofli- 
 ble difficulty in afcertaining the Facts, in regard to thols who 
 have actually fo done; and nore other come within the regula- 
 tions. 
 If, in any of thefe cafes, the parties fhould be found not to have 
 had a phyfical exiftence,” the Governor’s furprife would be 
 greater than what he has already felt at reading the report of the 
 Committee. No real difficulties can arife in the bufinefs of carrying 
 His Majefty’s gracious regulations into effect, confidered in it- 
 {elf; the only real difficulties that can take place therein, mutt 
 arife, not from any thing in the bufinefs itfelf, but from the en- 
 deavours that may be made to find out vifionary pretexts where- 
 on to build imaginary difficulties, 
 
 
 

 
 102 
 
 ' By carrying the Regulations into immediate execution, that « de 
 Jage of iniquity” as the Comunittee exprefs it, in the traffic of 
 ‘pretenfions, will be at once put an end to: A further, and (the 
 Governor may add) an infinitely greater deluge of iniquity, 
 fraught with the moft dangerous confequences to the tranquility 
 of the Province, as well as repugnant to the facred honour, dig- 
 nity, and good faith of His Majefty, namely, the endeavours of 
 one fet of people to obtain grants of the Townfhips which another 
 fet of people have (in confequence of the encouragement hereto- 
 fore given them by the Executive Government for that purpofe) 
 tranformed from a wildernefs into a ftate of habitation, would 
 likewile be put an end to by the fame ftroke: But the longer the 
 ‘iffuing of the legal titles fhall be procraftinated, the more may 
 thefe «deluges of iniquity” be expected to increafe. “When the 
 Governor confiders the repeated public invitations that have been 
 ‘given by the Executive Government fince the conclufion of the 
 American war, for people to come into this Province to settle on 
 the wafte lands; when he likewife confiders that many hun- 
 dreds of families embraced thofe invitations, and, that the fyftem 
 of practice adopted and purfued by the Executive Government, 
 ‘was such, that although the people were thereby authorized and 
 encouraged to enter into immediate poffeflion, yet, until the year 
 1796, there was not one fingle inftance of a legal title being is- 
 sued, notwithftanding their continued applications to obtain regu- 
 Jar grants; when the Governor confiders thefe things, he cannot 
 but feel aftonifhed at the manner in which the Committee (feveral 
 of whom were Members of the Executive Council during the 
 whole time) now exprefs themfelves, with refpect to « loofe no- 
 ‘tions of property” which tend * to confound pofieflion with 
 right?” nor can the pe aftonifhment fail to be increafed, 
 when he confiders that in the midft of their disapprobation of 
 thofe ‘loofe notions of property” which fo tend “ to confound 
 pofleffion with right” (and which were de facto created by the 
 practice adopted and purfued by the Executive Government itself) 
 the Committee fhould ftill remain defirous that the iffuing of le- 
 gal titles, the only poflible remedy which the nature of the cafe 
 can admit of, fhould be ftill longer procraftinated, whereby thofe 
 very evils which they fo emphatically complain of, muft of ne- 
 ceflity be prolonged and increafed. | : 
 15th. ‘I'he Governor cannot but be forry that any paffage con- 
 tained in his late communication to the Board fhould have given 
 caufe of disquietude to the Committee, or reduced them to any 
 embarrafsment. The paflage to which the Committee allude muft 
 be thatin which, fpeaking of obtrufive Settlers coming in *€ to 
 make their pitches” as they term it, and as noticed by the Com- 
 
 
 
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 wo  - © SF SH | 
 
 Ei ea See 
 
 SES Ss eS -— Cl OS. Ll”. CUS 
 
 103 
 
 mittee in their Report of the 20th June laft, the Governor 
 happened to mention that “ from the operation of certain caufes” 
 which he did not think it necefsary to explain, he confidered that 
 there was ** more reafon to apprehend inftances of that fort of late 
 «¢ than formerly 3” as aifo that were thofe cafes to be laid fully » 
 “open, many of the people whom there was reafon to expect: 
 ‘‘ might undertake long journies upon that errand, would be’ 
 ‘¢ found to merit commiferation not reproach. 
 
 The pain which the Governor feels at having by this paffage, . 
 given the Committee any caufe of disquietude, will induce him to » 
 make all the atonement that may be in his power, confiftently 
 with the avoidance of all future caufes of disquietude that might 
 at any time hereafter be given to any individuals. And he 
 will accordingly enter fo far into an explanation of the above quo- 
 ted paflage, as he fhall confider to be neceflary for removing all 
 juft canfe of difquietude under which the Committee may labour- 
 and: for fhewing the reafonablenefs of the opinions therein laid 
 down: But he will by no means (at leaft for the prefent) go so far 
 into an explanation thereof as to enable any perfon or persons that 
 might be difpofed, to wound the feelings of any other perfon or 
 perfons, by faying that fuch or fuch particular individuals, were 
 in this, that, or the other degree, concerned in the tranfactions 
 or connected therewith. ‘The Governor’s fole object is to prevent 
 as far as may be poffible, any kind of injury or oppreffion from 
 being carried into effect ; and he would with, if ic might be prac- . 
 ticable, . that this object fhould be accomplifhed without injuring 
 the feelings of even thofe perfons that might be defirous of enjoy 
 ing the fruits of the labour of others, who would in fuch an event 
 have caufe to complain of being injured and opprefled. 
 
 - The circumftances to which the Governor alluded in the pas 
 sage above quoted, were thefe: Inthe years 1794 and 1795, (af- 
 ter the wafte Lands had become of fome value from the labour 
 and expenfe that had been laid out in the fettlement of fundry of 
 the new Townfhips, in purfuance of the encouragement and af- 
 {urances given to the applicants by the Executive Government, in 
 1792 and 1793), views were contemplated by different perfons, 
 fundry of whom had till then confidered the land not to be an 
 obje&t worth their attention, for the purpofe of obtaining mono- 
 polies thereof, entirely contrary to the {pirit and intention of his 
 Majefty’s Royal inftructions in that behalf. ‘Thefe views were not 
 confined to lands that had till then remained unapplied for, or. 
 to Townfhips where doubts might be entertained in regard to the 
 fincerity. of the intentions of the former applicants with refpect to 
 the fettlement and cultivation thereof conformably to His Majes-: 
 
 
 

 
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 104 
 
 ty’s gracious intentions: Had they ftopped here, the bufinefs 
 might, not improbably, have been carried into effect without be- 
 ing much noticed: But they did not ftop here: The views were 
 extended likewife to townfhips in regard to which no fuch doubts 
 could be reafonably entertained: And {till further: They exten- 
 ded even to the obtaining, or endeavouring at leaft to obtain, 
 thofe very townfhips, one or two only excepted, which the former 
 applicants (in purfuance of the advice, encouragement, and 
 affurances, given them by the Executive Goverment) had 
 actually fettled on, and by great jabour and expenfe render- 
 ed valuable: nor did the circumftance of the former applicants 
 obeying the notices iflued from the Council Office in October 
 1794, and January, 1795, nor the circumftance of their being 
 thereupon approved of by the Commiffioners, and by the Council, 
 prevent further fteps from being taken upon the above mentioned 
 views of monopoly, for the purpofe of obtaining grants thereof to 
 the behoof of other perfons. This, if carried into effect, would 
 not only be a moft grievous and intolerable oppreffion with regard 
 to the former applicants, accompanied with a great violation of 
 His Majefty’s facred honour and good faith, but would likewite 
 be fraught with the moft dangerous consequences to the peace and 
 tranquility of His Majefty’s Government. 
 
 But to come immediately to the point particularly alluded to in 
 the above quoted paflage of the Governor’s communication to the 
 Board on the 9th of July laft ; perfons were employed on the part 
 of thofe who were concerned in the above mentioned plans of in- 
 tended monopoly, to gointo different parts, in this Province and 
 the neighbouring States, to find people (to the amount of fome 
 thoufands) who would lend their names as nominal Grantees, and 
 who might be depended on for the purpofe of conveying over the 
 land, orthe greater part thereof, when granted, to the perfons 
 concerned in the above mentioned plans. ‘The perfons thus em- 
 ployed (owing perhaps to fome imperfections in their inftructions, 
 or to their not perfectly comprehending the nature and intention 
 of their miffion) gave to thofe with whom they so engaged, certi- 
 ficates, importing that the Bearers thereof were entitled to cer- 
 tain quantities of land inthe new Townfhips in Lower-Canada : 
 Many thoufands of thefe certificates were given; and fuch were 
 the credentials with which the perfons fo employed were vefted, 
 that the certificates were looked upon by great numbers of well 
 
 - dispofed people to be little inferior to Patents under the Great 
 
 Seal: Many of His Majefty’s faithful old fubjects who had re- 
 mained in the ftates after the end of the American War, and re- 
 tained their affections to ther ancient Sovereign, under whofe al- 
 
 
 
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 ed 
 
 _s 
 
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 * 
 
 
 
 105 
 
 legiance they were born, conceiving (from the Credentials which 
 the perfons fo employed bore) that there could not be any decep- 
 tion, hefitated not to purchafe, for valuable confiderations, from 
 others who from time to time changed their minds with refpect 
 to coming in to fettle, a number of thefe certificates as provifions 
 for their children, whom they intended fhould fix themfelves in 
 this Province, under the Government of their anceftors ; fome of 
 thefe certificates were fo purchafed at the rate of a quarter of a 
 dollar an acre ; the Governor himfelf has feen the copy of one 
 which he believes was purchafed at that very price. But although 
 many of thefe Certificates were thus purchafed by faithful old fub- 
 jects of His Majeity, with pure intentions of fettling on the lands 
 conformably to His Majefty’s Royal inftructions in that behalf, 
 yet, it may reafonably be expected that many likewife were pur- 
 chafed by people of a different defcription, on principles of mere 
 fpeculation. 
 
 _' Thefe circumftances, the Governor hopes, will be fufficient to 
 fatisfy the Board, that he had fufficient reafon for entertaining the 
 opinion, that there was greater caufe “to apprehend the 
 “coming in of people to make their pitches as they termit, of 
 ‘late, than formerly ;” andthe Governor cannot but conceive 
 that this circumftance ought to operate as an additional and very 
 weighty reafon, for proceeding to carry His Majefty’s gracious re- 
 gulations lately laid before the Board into execution, in the cafes 
 to Which they actually apply, with as much expedition as may be 
 practicable; in order to avoid that mixture of extraneous cafes, 
 which, from the above mentioned caufes, might, not improbably, 
 take place, if the bufinefs fhould be longer delayed. ‘The Gover- 
 nor likewife conceives that the above mentioned circumi{tances 
 will equally evince to the Board , the reafonablenefs of his fur- 
 ther opinion, that‘* many of the people whom there was reafon 
 “to expect might undertake long journies upon that errand, 
 <‘ would be found to merit commiseration, not reproach,” Thofe 
 who, with upright intentions, had given valuable confider'ations 
 for the above mentioned Certificates, upon the faith of the cre- 
 dentials which the perfons who were employéd in the buiinefs 
 bore, arid had thereby loftthe property which during an upright 
 life of labour and care they had gathered together, would cer- 
 tainly be entitled to commiseration from every feeling breaft, 
 
 Thé Governor notices what the Committee mention refpecting 
 his having, in their idea, followed the advice of some pérfon or 
 perfons unnaméd, in regard to the mentioning of the above opi- 
 nions, in his late communication to the Board; The Governor 
 
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 106 
 
 cannot conceive himfelf to-have given any juft caufe for that idea 
 of the Committee, and he would wifh the Committee to under: 
 ftand, and to believe, that he is not dispofed to follow the unjuft 
 advice of any perfon or perfons whatever. 
 
 16. The Governor cannot eafily conceive what ‘ more ample and 
 {pecific information,” the Committee would with for on the 
 prefent fubject, beyond what he has laid before them. The 
 Governor has laid before them His Majefty’s inftruction under 
 His Royal Signet and Sign Manual, directing that the fees are in 
 future to be fuch as His Majefty fhall be from time to time pleaf- 
 ed to eftablifh, either « under his Royal Signet and Sign Manual,” 
 or by his “ order in that behalf, fignified by one of his principal 
 *< Secretaries of State.” It was His Majefty’s pleafure to fignify 
 his orders in that behalf by one of his principal Secretaries of 
 State, according to the latter part of his Royal inftruction; and 
 the Governor has accordingly extracted from the Difpatches he 
 has received, fuch parts as relate to the fubject, and laid the fame 
 before the Board: Thefe defignate the amount of the different 
 fees to be taken, together likewife with the different proportions 
 of land to be granted upon the payment of thofe different fees, in 
 the feveral and refpective cafes in which they are direéted to be 
 applied. The Governor really cannot fee what more the Com- 
 mittee can defire; for he cannot allow himfelf to fuppofe that 
 any Member of the Board would think it confiftent with his (the 
 Governor’s) duty, to. lay his Difpatches at large upon the table : 
 ‘The Governor alone is refponfible for the juftnefs of the extracts 
 he takes from them, whether on this or on any other subject. 
 
 The Committee exprefs “their regret that among the repeated 
 
 enquiries” which the Governor made, ¢¢ it was not thought ne- 
 
 “© cessary to demand any opinion on the fubject from a particular 
 «« Body,” meaning the * Executive Council.” Did not the Go- 
 vernor requeft the opinion of the ‘ Executive Council,” and did 
 
 _ he not receive-their Report on the subject ? The Minutes of the 
 
 Board of the 7th of June, 1797, will fhew that he did. That 
 Report of the Council gave general diffatisfaction and. uneafinefs. 
 The Governor likewife, by the advice of the Council, iffued foon 
 afterwards (22d of Auguft, 1797,) a Proclamation, which turned 
 that general difsatisfaction and uneafinefs which had been excited 
 by the above mentioned Report, into a caufe of alarm, in the minds 
 
 of many of His Majefty’s faithful people. It became from thence, 
 _a duty, onthe part of the Governor, to examine more ftriétly into 
 
 the nature of the bufinefs himfelf perfonally ; and as thefe exami- 
 nations did not require the affistance of the Council, (in as much 
 
 
 
us the Governor had then already been favoured with the refult 
 of their deliberations,) he forbore to trouble them unneceffarily. 
 The ftatements and conclufions contained in the Report which the 
 Governor had then already received, fufficiently evinced, on the 
 re-examination thereof, that “ any difquietude which might have 
 «¢ arifen from the conflict of discordant fentiments,” on that sub- 
 ject, was not likely to be relieved by giving unneceflary trouble. _ 
 17th. The Committee admit as a fact, that it was generally 
 inferred from the above mentioned Report, that Government 
 (meaning the Government of Lower-Canada,) “ did not mean to 
 “‘ attend to the equitable Claims of Individuals :” ‘This inference 
 is now called by the Committee “ An error which was almoft 
 s univerfally prevalent” and they would feem to confider it asa 
 proof « that men of eager minds when warped by intereft, are as 
 « liable to fall into miftake, as thofe of confufed intellect.” The 
 Governor cannot readily difcern the connection between the 4n- 
 tecedent in this inftance, and the consequent drawn by the Com- 
 mittee. The real truth is, that it was not conceivable from that 
 Report, that there could be any body, except the {mall number 
 therein defcribed, that had any equitable claims :” fuch was the 
 general (it may be faid the aniverfal) interpretation given to that 
 Report: It was not the interpretation of People only who 
 might in poffibility be fuppofed to be “ warped by intereft,” or if 
 thofe who could be confidered “ of confufed intellect :” It was 
 equally the interpretation given to it by People who had no inter- 
 eft or connection in the bufinefs, as by thofe who had; It was 
 equally the interpretation ae to it by Gentlemen who where 
 never within feveral thoufand miles of this Country, as of thofe 
 who were immediately on the fpot : Nay, it was ’tull very lately 
 the avowed interpretation of fome whom the Governor will de- 
 cline naming : And, little as the Committee may appear to ap- 
 prehend, with refpeét to His Majefty’s Honour and Dignity be- 
 ing injured ; the fact is, that from the manner in which the 
 Land bufinefs has been conducted, the faith of His Majefty’s Go- 
 vernment in Lower Canada, has long been equally proverbial 
 with the Punic Faith of ancient ftory. It is high time that His 
 Majefty’s facred Honour and Good faith fhould be refcued from — 
 
 fuch a Stigma. 
 
 107 
 
 18th. There is little reafon to apprehend that any of the well 
 difpofed Applicants who have not proceeded to the Settlement of 
 the Lands they petitioned for, will confider themfelves aggrieved 
 on account of its being His Majefty’s gracious pleafure that a 
 greater proportion of the refpective ‘Townthips fhould be grant- 
 
 ed on the Old fees to thofe who did proceed to the Settlement, 
 p 2 
 
 
 

 
 ad 
 
 108 
 
 than to themfelves; They well know that the Lands which they 
 ‘applied for are become increafed in value, in confequence of the 
 Settlements that have been made in the other Townthips, infinitely 
 beyond the amount of the additional fees to which they are fub- 
 ject by the late Regulations : and although it would have afford- 
 ed the Governor great pleafure, to have been able to put the 
 really fincere Applicants, who had been bond fide, waiting for 
 their Grants in order to go on faithfully with the Settlement, 
 upon the fame footing with thofe who had actually gone on there- 
 with upon the faith of the encouragement and affurances that 
 were given them ; yet, he has the pleafure to inform the Board, 
 that he has received full affurances, that the Regulations give 
 general fatisfaction in that refpect ; and that the endeavours that 
 have been tried, in order to excite jealoufies among the different 
 clafles of Applicants, on account of the juft and reafonable dis- 
 tinctions which His Majefty was gracioufly pleafed to make, have 
 had no other effect than that of increafing the public difefteem 
 towards thofe who were defirous of exciting thofe jealonfies, 
 Some of the Applicants who fall under the third Article of the 
 Regulations lately communicated to the Board, have already pe- 
 titioned the Governor for the Grants of the Townships they have 
 furveyed preparatory to the Settlements, the ove half thereof up- 
 on the O/d fees and the other half upon the new fees conforma- 
 bly to the Tenor of that article ; fo that the apprebentions of 
 the Conimittee with refpect to the diffatisfaction of that clafs o 
 the Applicants, are without foundation, But even were any of 
 thofe Applicants diffatisfied in the manner the Committee would 
 have it fuppofed, fuch circumftance could certainly furnifh no 
 kind of reafon, why fo much as fhall, by the Regulations, be 
 grantable upon the o/d feces fhould not be immediately granted to 
 thofe who have been fo long waiting in a ftate of direful fufpense 
 and infecurity. Neither could it furnifh any kind of reafon for 
 further delay with refpeé to granting fuch further parts as fhall 
 by His Majefty’s gracious Regulations, lately communicated to the 
 Board, be grantable.on the new fees to. thofe of the Applicants 
 who are fatisfied therewith, and who would rather pay thofe dd- 
 ditional fees whereby to go on in fecurity with the Settlement im- 
 mediately, than wait longer in uncertainty and fufpenfe ; which 
 is in fact the case with all thofe of the Applicants falling under 
 the third-and fourth Articles of the Regulations, whofe views are 
 really directed to the actual fettlement and cultivation of the 
 Lands they petitioned for, conformably to the gracious intentions 
 of His Majeity, as laid down in His Royal Inftructions, The pay- 
 ment of the additional fees, being optional with the Applicants, 
 can weither be opprefiive nor injurious to any; but delay muft in- 
 
 
 
iy 
 
 
 
 109 
 
 fallibly be not only Injurious and oppreffive, but even ruinous, to 
 thofe of the Applicants who have difpofed of their property. elfe- 
 where, preparatory. to their fetthing in conformity to His Majefty’s 
 gracious intentions, on the Lands heretofore promitfed them in 
 this Province. 
 
 Thofe of the Applicants who are not farmers by. profeffion, and 
 have little or no intention to put themfelves to any trouble or ex- 
 pense towards the Settlement and Cultivation of the Lands they 
 petitioned for, might not (and probably would not) be injured by 
 any. delays the Committee might wifh for: But to thofe of them 
 who are farmers by profeflion, and who have prepared themfelves 
 for the immediate Settlement of the Land conformably to His 
 Majefty’s Intentions, delay and ruin muft be terms nearly. fyno- 
 nimous. 
 
 ‘The Governor cannot but remark the difapprobation which 
 the Committee exprefs in regard to the Terms in which His Ma- 
 jefty’s Royal and gracious intentions. refpecting the Granting 
 of the Lands are conveyed ; nameiy the terms “ actual and e f- 
 fectual Settlement’ of the Lands fo to be granted : nor can the 
 Governor fail to remark the difference between the ideas which 
 the Committee entertained on that head in the years 1792 and 
 1793, and thofe which they have of late entertained. 
 
 In the years 1792 and 1793, the Applicants from the late 
 Colonies (exclufive. of thofe who might be denominated mere 
 Speculators, and who had no view. to.the actual Settlement of the 
 Lands) were reprefented to be, what would feem unqueftionably 
 natural, compofed in a very confiderable meafure of two clafles 
 of People, which in all Revolutions of Government, ever were, 
 and ever will be, numerous and refpectable ; The frséconfifting 
 of people whofe hearts and affections were always attached to 
 their former Sovereign ; andthe second confifting of people who 
 having departed for a time from their former allegiance, became 
 afterwards induced by a little experience to confider their former 
 fituation preferable to their new one, and were therefore defirous 
 of returning to it again. ‘These (while the Lands were confider- 
 ed to be of no value) were represented by the Committee as skil- 
 ful and induftrious farmers, who would be as it were a gold mine 
 to the Province, and who merited every encouragement. that 
 could be given them, to come in and fettle: But when in confe- 
 quence of that encouragement they had so come inand fettled, and 
 when by the exertions of their ¢¢ ikill and induftry” they had ren- 
 dered the Land fomewhat valuable, their characters, it would feem 
 in the opinion of the Committee, had become {fo entirely changed, 
 as to amount to a transformation of them from “skilfal and induftri- 
 ous farmers,” meriting every encouragement to come in and fettle, 
 

 
 4 oe 
 LU 
 “= 
 bf 
 
 110 
 
 into a  lawlefs and obtrusive race” meriting only to be driven 
 out as it were with a fcourge. This want of confiftency cannot 
 but be exceedingly unpleasant. If however, the Committee now 
 mean only to exprefs their difapprobation of that fyftem of irregu- 
 larity in bufinefs, fo long purfued in this Province, by which the 
 Settlements were carried on without any legal titles being iffued 
 for the Land, the Governor's ideas and thofe of the Committee 
 will fo far coincide : But, after the encouragement that has been 
 given to the Applicants by the Executive Government of this 
 Province under that fyftem, nothing can now put an end to that 
 irregularity excepting only the iffuing of the legal titles, in con- 
 formity to His Majefty’s gracious Regulations, to thofe who have 
 embarked their labour and property therein. 
 
 The Governor observes what the Committee mentioned in regard to 
 “* pledging themselves to a due observance of the spirit of the Regula- 
 “ tions” hereafter : But. it ought to be observed that in the mean time 
 Ruin stares many of the faithful Applicants in the face: Besides, what 
 security could there be, after what we have already seen, that such a 
 pledge might not be hereafter ‘¢ considered as a sullity aud looked upon 
 as a dead letter ?”?. It would tend infivitely more to the restoration of 
 the Honour, the Dignity, and the good faith, of His Majesty’s Govern- 
 ment in this Country, that the old promises should be fulfilled, than that 
 new pledges should be given, which could in no degree be more depend- 
 ed on than those that were given before. The Governor would not 
 however have the smallest objection against « substituting other terms 
 “ for effectual Settlement in the form of the Regulation to be made pub- 
 lic ;”” provided only that the sense be the same as that contained in the 
 Regulations he has received by order of His Royal Master, and lately 
 communicated to the Board. - 
 _ It has been before observed that the f/ih article of the Regulations 
 (as being connected with the second, third and fourth articles) is already 
 confined to those cases where labour or Property has been actually em- 
 barked by the parties, either in the actual Settlement and Cultivation of 
 the Lands, or in surveying or exploring preparatory thereto : This, His 
 Majesty is graciously pleased to consider as a Proof of the sincerity of 
 the intentions of the parties to proceed in the business conformably to 
 the intent and meaning of His Royal Instructions, so far as to entitle 
 them, in His Royal Benevolence, to Grants, in the respective degrees 
 specified in the Regulations : This /fth article therefore, can admit of 
 no temperament that shall confine it within narrower limits (which must 
 evidently be the temperament alluded to by the Committee) without 
 bereaving the People of their Property so embarked. s 
 
 This, the Governor can by no means think just, and even could he 
 bring himself to propose sucha thing, he dves not believe that it could 
 produce any other effect, than that of rendering him, in the eyes of his 
 upright, just, and Royal Master, less worthy of the situation with which 
 His Majesty has been graciously pleased to honour him, than His Ma- 
 
 esty had before supposed. 
 
 
 
1ll 
 
 t9th. The Governor has already informed the Board that the whole 
 subject has been submitted to the consideration of His Majesty and his 
 Ministers, and the decision has been communicated to the Board ;, Nei- 
 ther have any actual facts, nor any new lights deduced from actual facts, 
 beyond what have been already submitted, been either stated by the 
 Committee, or received from any other quarter, that could justify the 
 Governor in requesting a reconsideration of that decision ; moie espe- 
 cially as the Committee, in their Report of the 20th of June last, so 
 unhesitatingly declare that they consider it * to be sufficiently liberal,’” 
 and as the parties concerned (those of them meaning that have seen the 
 Regulations) are gratefully satisfied therewith ; so much so at least, 
 that the Governor has heard of no instance where the parties would not 
 infinitely rather pay the additional fees for the support of Government, 
 than wait longer in ruinous uncertainty and suspense : If there should 
 be any instances of that sort, the parties might certainly be left to their 
 own option in that respect. 
 
 If the Board do not think proper to advise any other mode for making 
 the Regulations more speedily and generally known to the Parties con- 
 cerned, the Parties may probably content themselves with that mode 
 which His Majesty has commanded, by having recourse to Public Ree 
 cords where his Majesty has graciously directed His Instructions to be 
 entered for their information and satisfaction. 
 
 20th. The 38th Article of His Majesty’s General Instructions, re- 
 quires in addition to any other notification by Proclamation or otherwise 
 “¢ that all Instructions from His Majesty relative to the passing Grants of 
 “« Lands in conformity to the Act passed in the thirty first year of His 
 *“ Reign, be entered upon record for the Information and Satisfaction of 
 *¢ all Parties whatever that may be concerned therein,” ) 
 
 The Regulations received through His Majesty’s Secretary of State 
 in conformity to His Majesty’s special Instruction of the 15th of August 
 1797, communicated to the Board onthe 11th of June last, are certain- 
 ly of the most essentjal concern, to the parties therein interested. It 
 would therefore be disobedience in the extreme, were they not entered 
 upon record for their information and satisfaction. Moreover, were the 
 parties not to have free access to the records with regard to the Proceed- 
 ings that might be from time to time had, in pursuance of His Majesty’s 
 Royal instructions, their having free access to the Record of the Instruc- 
 tions, considered by itself, could be of no possible use to them. His 
 Majesty’s gracious commands in that respect would in such case be ren- 
 dered a mere nullity. 
 
 The Governor is exceedingly sorry at finding the opinions of the Com- 
 mittee so very different from those entertained by himself : From the 
 
 manner in which the Committee seem to consider things, it may not per- 
 
 haps be improper to inform them that it is the Governer’s duty to com- 
 municate to the Council certain parts of his Instructions, together with 
 such of certain other partsas he may from time to time find convenient 
 
 “for His Majesty’s Service to be imparted : Of this the Governor must be 
 
 the judge s The Governor must be in this respect his own Interpreter of 
 the Instructions he receives from His Royal Master : ‘The Governor 
 could not (as he has observed already) consider it to be consistent with 
 
 
 

 
 112 
 
 his duty, to refer to the consideration of the Committee, whether it tas 
 proper that the Commands of His Royal Mastér should be obeyed : He 
 referred only, for the consideration of the Committee, what might be 
 the most ready and satisfactory steps to be taken, for rendering obedi- 
 ence to those commands : If the Commititee, eirher by extending into 
 matters which the Governor may not consider it consistent with his Du- 
 ty to refer, or by taking positions different from the actual facts, shall 
 thereupon build advice which the Governor may not consider to be con- 
 sistent with his duty to follow ; And the Committee after being so in- 
 formed, shall claim to have that advice entered upon public Record ; the 
 Governor can by no means consider himself blameable, if in any such 
 mstances they should become lessened in the public esteem ; however 
 
 sorry he may be (and sorty he really is) that it should so happen, 
 Whatever justification the Governor’s conduct might in general re- 
 ceive, from its being founded on the advice of the Council 3 it could re- 
 ceive no degree of justification therefrom, in cases where, from the Go- 
 vernor’s own Knowledze of the actual state of facts, he should find that 
 advice to be founded on a mistake. It is the Governor’s duty to exa. 
 mine, as faras he may be able,intu the actual state of facts upon which 
 the advice he receives may be foundéd: Were it his duty (as the Com- 
 mittee would seem to imply) to follow the advice of the Council without 
 any consideration on his own part, the Governor would be merely a Man 
 of Straw: This, he would wish the Committee to believe, is by no 
 means the case. : 9 -s 
 ~The Governor cannot suppose it possible that the Committee could 
 eally believe; that the Statetnents made in the report now on the Ta le 
 in support of the position on which the report of the 20th of Juné fast 
 was founded, could contribute in any the smallest degree towards sup- 
 porting that position: The Statements likewise made by the Committee 
 
 Office of the 17th of January 1795: their Statément of the quantity 
 of ungranted Land oh the South side of the River St. Lawrence, and 
 
 pleased to express for the honour and interest of His Majesty’s Govern- 
 ment, and that zeal they aré pleased to express for the Credit of the Go- 
 vernor’s adininistration, as might be wished. HoWever justifiablé such 
 statements might from custom be considered, when made 
 
 - 
 
 cil, whose duty it is to advise the Governor according to the best of their 
 abilities, for the Interest and Honotr of His Mai sty’s Government. IF 
 
 i how the truth in those 
 casés actually stood, they had not the smallest occasion to mention them, 
 as they did not appeitain to the point in question : If the Committee 
 felt disposed to say any thing thereon for the purpose of giving the Ge- 
 vernor real information, any one of the Members might, in a very few 
 minutes, have satisfied himself so far, as to be sufficiently convinced that 
 those Statements were entirely erroneous, 
 
 
 
oY 
 
 The Committee complain that no Governor of this Province had 
 heretofore paid so little regard to the advice of the Council, as was paid 
 to the Report of the Committee of the 20th June last; This the Go- 
 
 113 
 
 _vernor conceives may be very true ; but the Governor believes itto be 
 
 equally true, that no Council ever before built their advice upon so great 
 anerror in regard toactual facts: ‘These circumstances therefore ba- 
 lance one another, : 
 
 Any disesteem which the Committee may labour under on that ac- 
 count is yet retrievable : and the Governor would willingly hope that it 
 might be retrieved; It would be retrieved at once, by acknowledging 
 (what every body knowsto bethe truth) that the Report of the 20th 
 of June last was founded on a mistake ; and by giving a cheerful assist- 
 ance in carrying His Majesty’s gracious regulations into execution. 
 
 It is infinitely more honourable in every station of life to acknowledge 
 an Error (all Men being at times liable thereto) than to’endeavouir to 
 defend it ; should the Governor at any time fall into a similar error, he 
 would only desire the same means of retrieving it. If the Committee 
 shall chuse to do this, all will yet be well ; But if on the contrary, they 
 shall persist in endeavouring to support one error by running into an o- 
 ther, the Governor will not consider himself blameable for any disesteem 
 to which they may thereby be reduced ; nor will he in that case hold 
 himself answerable that such Errors may not become exposed to the 
 Werld. : 
 
 (Signed) ne ee 
 
 The Governor informs the Board that he received an Address from the 
 Committee, containing a Complaint against Mr, Cary, acting Clerk of 
 the Council, conformably to the Journal annexed to the Report. And 
 that Mr. Cary had expressed his readiness to make an Apology on the 
 occasion to the following effect: To Wit: ‘ That the offensive parts 
 “< of the Letter complained of, were occasioned entirely by the uncom- 
 «‘ mon degree of trouble and difficulty that was (unnecessarily as he con- 
 ** ceived) thrown upon him ; which greatly interrupted the necessary bu- 
 
 ‘siness then on hand for the Governor ; and that he (Mr. Cary) was 
 
 “ sorry that the offensive parts were inserted.” 
 
 Under all the Circumstances’ of the case, the Governor is of Opinion 
 that this Apology should be ae as sufficient. Ie 
 _ And the Governor would willingly hope that ona review of the whole 
 business, all disagreements that have hitherto taken place may be done 
 away, and Unanimity and Concord in future prevail, both between the 
 Governor and Council, and all others concérned, 
 
 (Signed) | » RP. 
 
 < 
 
 A true Extract, | A 
 (Signed) THOMAS CARY. “2 
 baa ua @2 Bx ee! 
 
 
 

 
 114 
 ( F.) 
 
 Province of Lower-Canada, { , 
 
 District of ————. 
 
 On the day of ———-in the Year of our Lotd 
 Christ —_ = _ personally came and appeared before us 
 M. N. and P. Q. Public Notaries, duly admitted and Sworn as sueh 
 forthe Province of Lower Canada, residing in 
 the said Province, A. B. of  —— and C. D. of 
 —— — who, in the presence of us the said Notaries, did and 
 do hereby admit, acknowledge and declare, as follows, that is to say, 
 that the said A. B. had, at great expense and trouble, obtained a War- 
 rant of Survey for himself and his associates of a certain Tract of Land 
 in the said Province, now commonly called and known by the name of 
 Z. and is still liable and subject to the payment of considerable sums of 
 money for the Survey and subdivision of the said Tract of Land, and 
 for Fees of Office, to be paid previous to the obtaining of Letters Pa- 
 tent for erecting the said Tract of Land intoa Township, and granting 
 the same to him the said A. B. and his associates ; That it had been a- 
 greed by aud between them the said A. B, and C. D, that the said A. 
 B. should, on his part, at his own proper cost and charge, obtain the-said 
 Letters Patent, and also cause to be inserted therein, as one of the 
 Grantees, the saidC. D. and that, in consequence of the said premises, 
 the said C. D. om his part, upon being inserted in the said Letters Pa- 
 - tent, as one of the Grantees of the Land thereby granted, after the is- 
 suing of the said Letters Patent, and upon the first demand of the said 
 A. B. should convey unto the said A. B. and his Heirs, all and singu. 
 lar the Lot and Lots, Parcel and Parcels of Land, which shall be grant- 
 ed unto him the said C.D. by the said Letters Patent, save and except 
 one Lot of the contents of two hundred Acres, to be chosen and selected 
 by him the said C. D. out of and from among the several Lots and Par- 
 cels of Landy which shall be so as aforesaid to him granted ; which Lot 
 so chosen and selected shall be and remain the proper Estate of him, the 
 said C, D. his Heirs and Assigns for ever. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 And in order to carry into effect their several agreements above menti- 
 oned, the said A. B. and C. D. in the presence of us the said.Notaries, 
 _did, and hereby do covenant, promise, and agree to and with each other, 
 in manner following, that is to say, the said A. By, on his part, for him. 
 self, his Heirs, Executors, Curators, Administrators and Assigns did 
 and hereby doth covenant, promise and agree to and with the said C, ), 
 his Heirs, Executors, Curators, Administrators and Assigns, that he will 
 at his own proper cost and charge sue out and obtain Letters Patent, 
 erecting the abovementioned Tract of Land intoa Township ; and will 
 cause to be inserted, therein the name. of the said C. D. as one of the ~ 
 Grantees of the said Tract of Land, for a certain portion thereof, not 
 less than two hundred acres. 
 
 
 
115 
 
 And the said C. D. on his part, in consideration of the trouble and 
 expense already sustained by the said A. B. in and about the abovemen- 
 tioned Tract of Land, and also in consideration of the aforesaid Covenant 
 and Agreement so as aforesaid made and entered jnto by the said Ass 
 for hitaself, his Heirs, Executors, Curators, Administrators and Assigns, 
 did, and hereby doth covenant, promise and agree to and with the said 
 A. B, his Heirs, Execntors, Curators, Administrators and Assigns 
 that, after the said Letters Patent shall have issued (if he the said C. D. 
 be included therein as a Grantee for any quantity of Land exceeding two 
 hundred acres) he the said C. LD). will upon the first demand made unto 
 him by the said A. B. by good and sufficient conveyances in Law, con- 
 vey and assure unto the said A. B. and his Heirs, or unto such Person 
 as he the said A, B. sha'l appoint, all and singular the Lot and Lots, 
 Parcel and Parcels of Land, which shall be granted unto him by the 
 said Letters Patent save and except one Lot of two hundred acres, which 
 he the said C. D. his Heirs, Executors, Curators, Administrators or 
 Assigns, on such demand of the said A. B. will forthwith choose and 
 select and which Lot so chosen and selected, it was by the said Parties, 
 in the presence of us the said Notaries, and herehy is agreed, shall be’ 
 and remain the proper Estate of him the said C. D, his Heirs and As- 
 signs for ever. > 
 
 And, for the due performance of the Covenants, Promises, and agree 
 ments above mentioned, and eyery of them, the said A. B. and C. D. 
 for themselves respectively, and for their and each of their Heirs, Execu- 
 tors, Curators, Administrators and Assigns, respectively, in the pre- 
 sence of us the said Notaries, did, and do hereby further covenant, pros 
 mise and agree to and with each other, that if either of them the said A. 
 B. or C. D. or either of their Heirs, Executors, Curators, Administrators 
 or Assigns shall make default in any manner or way in performing the 
 above mentioned Covenants by them, or either of them respectively to 
 be performed, the Party, his Heirs, Executors, Curators, Administra- 
 tors or Assigns, so making default, shall forfeit and pay unto the other, 
 his Heirs, Executors, Curators, Administrators or Assigns, the sum 
 of current money of the said Province of Lower-Cana- 
 da; which said sum ot in the presence of us the said 
 Notaries, the said A. B. and C. D. did, and do hereby declare, is not 
 by them meant or intended to be Comminatory, but is by them meant 
 and intended to be an “ obligation alternative,” to be recovered against 
 and paid by the Party making such default, as aforesaid, to the other, 
 wholly and entirely without any deduction whatever. And therefore, 
 in the presence of us the said Notaries, the said Parties to these Presents 
 lastly did, and hereby do severally and respectively, each tothe other, 
 bind and oblige themselves, their Heirs, Executors, Curators, Adminis- 
 trators and Assigns, severally and respectively, in case of such default, 
 as aforesaid, to the payment of the said sum of in man- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ner aforesaid, wholly and entirely without any deduction whatever 5 And 
 for securing such payment did, and do hereby severally and respective- 
 ly bind, mortgage and hypothecate all and every their Property and Fs- 
 tates, real and personal, moveable and inmoveable, acquired and to be 
 acquired, q 2 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 116 
 
 And for the exccution of these Presents, the said Parties there‘o, 
 have respectively made election of their domicile at the Office of M. N. 
 one of the subscribing Notaries, in the City of —— — afore- 
 said. 
 
 Thus done and passed in the City of in the Province 
 of Lower Canada, in the Office of M. N. one of the subscribing Nota- 
 tries, the day and year first above written, and the said parties a to 
 these presents set and subscribed their names in presence of the said No- 
 raries, on the same being first duly read. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 td i. 
 P. Q. Not. Pub, A. B. 
 
 M. N. Not. Pub. 
 
 
 
 Whereas C, D. of one of the Associates in 
 the Township of Z, situate, lying and being in the District of 
 —-——_—. in the Province of Lower Canada, hath by a pre- 
 vious Act or deed for certain causes and considerations him thereunto 
 moving, relinquished his proportion of Lands in the said Township, one 
 sixth part excepted. 
 
 And Whereas A. B. of in the Province of Low- 
 er-Canada aforesaid, doth in addition to his other charges and burthens 
 on account of the said Township undertake at his own and proper charge 
 and expense, to cause a Road to be cut from the Parish of S. to the said 
 Township of Z. Now Knowall Men that the said C. D. in consideration 
 of the above undertakingon the part of the said A. B. doth hereby bind and 
 oblige himself, his Heirs, Executors, Administrators and Assigns to 
 clear of his remaining portion of Land in the Township aforesaid, two 
 acres yearly for three successive years, the first year to commence from 
 the date of the Patent for the said Township of Z. Also within the 
 first year aforesaid, to build and construct on the said remaining portion 
 of Land a House and Grange. On failure of which or either ot the 
 said conditions the said remaining portion of Land to become forfeit to 
 the said A. B, 
 
 Further ia case the said C, D, should at any time be inclined to dis- 
 pose of the said remaining portion of Land, he hereby also binds him- 
 self, his Heirs, Executors, Administrators and A ssigns to make the first 
 offer thereof to the said A. B. on failure of which the Land to become 
 liable to the forfeitures aforesaid. In Witness whereof I have hereunto 
 set my Hand and Seal, at ~— this —— day 
 of, ——-—.—-—— in the Year of our Lord one thousand -hbun- 
 dred and and in the — — Year of His Majes- 
 
 ty’s Reign. 
 “ . (Le, 8.) Cc. D. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Signed and. Sealed 
 in the presence of 
 
 P. Q, Not. Pub. 
 M. N. Not. Pub. - 
 
 
 
117 
 
 Province of Lower-Canada, 
 Diftrict of to wit. 
 
 
 
 On the ———-— day of in the year of our Lord 
 Chrift, one thoufand hundred and Before us 
 M. N. and P. Q. Public Notaries duly admitted and fworn for 
 the Province of Lower-Canada, refiding in the in the 
 faid Province, perfonally came and appeared A. B. of the 
 of the one part and C. D. ————— of —-———of the 
 other part, who in the prefence of us the said Notaries, 
 did, and do hereby respectively declare, acknowledge and’ admit 
 as follows, that is to fay, Tnat by a certain agreement between 
 them the faid A. B. and the said C. D. duly made and executed 
 at aforefaid, the day of now laft 
 paft, before the aforefaid M. N. and P. Q. Notaries, and bearing 
 date the fame day and year, in confideration of the trouble and 
 expense then already fuftained by the faid A. B. in and about a 
 certain tract of Land in the faid agreement mentioned, and that 
 the faid A. B. in and by the faid agreement, did covenant, pro 
 mife and agree to and with the faid C. D, that he, the faid A. B. 
 would at his proper coft and charge fue out and obtain Letters 
 Patent erecting the faid tract of Land in the faid agreement 
 mentioned, into a Townfhip, and would caufe the name of the 
 faid C. D.to be inferted in the faid Letters Patent as one of the 
 Grantees of the said tract of Land for a portion thereof not lefs 
 than two hundred acres ; the faid C. D. did, in and by the faid 
 agreement, covenant, promife and agree to and with the faid A. B. 
 that after the faid Letters Patent fhould be iffued, if the faidC. D. 
 fhould be included therein as a Grantee for any quantity of Land 
 exceeding two hundred acres, he the faid C. D. would upon the 
 firft demand made unto him by the faid A. B. by a good and fuf- 
 ficient conveyance in Law, convey and affure unto the faid A. B. 
 and his Heirs for ever, or unto fuch perfon as he fhould appoint, 
 all and fingular the Lot and Lots, parcel and_ parcels of Land, 
 which fhould be granted unto him the faid C. D. by the faid Let- 
 ters Patent, fave and except one Lot of two hundred acres which 
 he the faid C. D. on fuch demand of the faid A. B. would 
 forthwith choofe and felect ; to have and to hold the faid Lot fo 
 chofen and feleéted unto him the faid C. D, and to his Heirs and 
 Affigns for ever as andfor his and their proper eftate. That he 
 the faid A. B. had in every refpect fulfilled, performed and ac- 
 complifhed, all the undertakings, conditions, promifes, covenants 
 and engagements in the faid last mentioned agreement contained, 
 and which on his part were to have been performed, fulfilled or 
 accomplifhed ; and more particularly, that the faid A. B. had, at 
 his own proper coft and charge, fued out and obtained certain Let- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 _ 
 
 Sy 
 
 118 
 
 ters Patent, duly made and paffed under the Great Seal of the — 
 faid Province of Lower-Canada, and bearing date at the Caftle 
 of Saint Lewis, in the City of Quebec, the ———_ 
 ~ day of this’ prefent month of ‘whereby 
 His Majesty had been moft gracioufly pleaféd to erect the traét? 
 of Land in the aforefaid agreement mentioned, into a Townfhip 
 to be called and known by the name of the Townfhip of Z, and 
 to grant unto the faid A. B. and to him the faid-C. Dy and to 
 the other feveral Grantees in the faid Letters Patent named, and 
 unto their and each of their Heirs and Affigns for ever, five fe-' 
 venths of the faid ‘Townthip of Z, in the faid Letters Patent par- 
 ticularly fet forth and defcribed, to have and to hold one full and 
 equal forty fourth part of the traét of Land and premifes by the 
 faid Letters Patent granted (the fame into forty four equal parts 
 being divided) and every part and parcel thereof, with their and 
 every of their appurtenances, except as in the faid Letters Pac 
 tent is excepted, unto each of them the faid Grantees and unto 
 their Heirs and Affigns refpectively to their only proper and fepa- 
 rate ufe and behoof, respectively, forever, as tenants in common, 
 and not as joinr tenants, in free and common foccage. All which, 
 recourfe being had to the faid Letters Patent, will more fully and 
 at large appear. | 
 
 That by a certain Deed or Act of Partition duly made and exe- 
 cuted by and between the faid Grantees in the faid Letters Pa- 
 tent named at the faid — of before Mr. M. N. 
 and his confrere Notaries, on the day of 
 , a partition of the faid undivided five feventh parts of the 
 faid Townfhip of Z. fo as aforefaid granted, was in due form of 
 Law made and perfected by and between them the feveral Grane 
 tees in the said Letters Patent named, and that, by virtue of the 
 faid Deed or Act of Partition, he the faid C. D. was now the on- 
 ly owner and proprietor of the feveral Lots, parts and parcels of 
 the faid Townthip of Z. herein after mentioned, that is to fay, of 
 the Lots, numbers — a nes 
 to have and to hold the faid laft mentioned Lots of which the 
 faid C. D. is fo as aforefaid lawful owner and proprietor, unto 
 him the faid C. D. and unto his Heirs and Atligns in feveralty, to 
 and for his and their own ufe and benefit for ever, fubject, never- 
 thelefs, to the terms and conditions, provifos, limitations, reftric- 
 tions, and refervations, in the faid Letters Patent fet forth and 
 contained. All which, recourfe being had to the faid Deed: of 
 Partition, will more fully and at large appear. 
 
 That therefore in purfuance of the above mentioned agreement 
 of the faid day of — now laft paft, the faid C. D. 
 had chofen and felected and in the prefence of us the faid Nota 
 ries the faid C. D. did and doth hereby choofe and feles& out of, 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
119 
 
 trom and among the faid Lots of Land fo as \aforefyid to him af 
 figned by the aforefaid Deed or Act of Partition, the Lot No. 
 7 containing two hundred acres, to be and. remain 
 the proper Eftate of him the faid C. D. and of his Heirs and Af 
 figns for ever; and in further purfuance of the faid laft mention- 
 ed agreement, he the faid C. D. in the prefence of us the faid 
 Notaries, did and doth hereby declare his intentions forthwith to 
 convey and affign unto the faid A. B. the feveral remaining Lors 
 fo as aforefaid to him afligned by the faid Deed or Act of Parti- 
 tion, that is to fay the faid Lots Numbers — ——— 
 in the faid ‘Townthip of Z. 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 And therefore in the prefence of us the faid Notaries; the said 
 C. D. in confideration that the faid A. B. has in every refpect 
 fulfilled, performed and accomplifhed all the undertakings, con- 
 ditions, promifes, covenants and engagements in the faid agree- 
 ment of the faid day of contained, which on his 
 part were to have been performed, fulfilled or accomplifhed, and 
 more particularly in confideration that he the faid A. b. at his 
 own proper coft and charge fued out and obtained Letters Patent 
 erecting the tract of Land in the faid agreement aforefaid menti- 
 oned into a Townfhip, and has caufed to be inferted in the faid 
 
 
 
 
 
 Letters Patent the name of the faid C. D. as one of the Grantees 
 
 of the faid tract of Land for a portion thereof exceeding two hun- 
 dred acres, and in confideration of the great trouble and expenfe 
 fuftained by the faid A. B. in the premifes and in the further con- 
 fideration of. fhillings to him the faid C, D. in hand, in 
 the prefence of us the faid Notaries, paid by the faid A. B. to 
 him the faid C.D. (the receipt whereof the faid-C. D. doth here- 
 by acknowledze) the said C. D. did and doth hereby grant, bar- 
 gain, fell, alien, convey and confirm unto thefaid A. B. and to 
 his Heirs and Affigns for ever the Lots Nos, ———— 
 —————— with their and every of their appurtenances, and 
 alfo ali and every the Eftate and Eftates, property, rights,’ titles, 
 interefts, claims and demands whatfoever of him the faid C. D. 
 of, in, to or out of the faid Lots of Land and, premifes» hereby 
 granted, bargained and fold, or intended fo to be and every part 
 thereof, to have and to hold the faid Lots of Land and all other 
 the premifes hereby granted, bargained and fold, or mentioned 
 or intended to be hereby granted, bargained and fold, and every 
 part and parcel thereof, with their and every of their appurtenan- 
 ces unto the faid A. B. his Heirs and Affigns for ever, to the 
 only proper ufe and behoof of him the faid A. B. his Heirs and 
 Affigns for ever, {ubject neverthelefs, co the terms and conditi- 
 ons, provifos, limitations, reftrictions and refervations:im the a- 
 forefaid Letters Patent fet forth and contained, 
 
 
 
 
 
 —— 
 
 
 

 
 120 
 
 And he the faid C. D. in the prefence of us the faid Notaries, 
 for himfelf and his Heirs, Executors and Curators and Adminis- 
 trators, did and doth hereby promite and grant to and with the 
 faid A. B. his Heirs Executors, Curators, Adminiftrators and 
 Affigns, that he the faid C.D. and his Heirs the faid Lots of 
 Land and all fingular other the premifes herein before mentioned 
 to be hereby granted, bargained and fold and every part and paf- 
 cel thereof, with their and every of their appurtenances, unto the 
 faid A. B. and unto his Heirs and Affigns for ever, againft him 
 the faid C. D. and his Heirs and againft ail and every other per- 
 fon or perfons whatfoever {hall and will warrant and ever defend 
 by thete prefents. 
 
 And the faid C. D. in the prefence of us the faid Notaries, 
 for himfelf, his Heirs, Executors, Curators and Adminiftrators, 
 and each and every of them did and doth hereby promife, co- 
 venant and grant toand with the faid A. B. his Heirs, Executors, 
 Curators, Administrators and Affigns and to and with each and 
 every of them, that he the faid C. D. his Heirs and Affigns and 
 alland every other perfon or perfons and his and their Heirs 
 having or claiming any Eftate, title or intereft of, in, or to, the 
 faid Lots of Land and premifes hereby granted, bargained and 
 fold, or mentioned fo to be, or of, in or to any part or parcel 
 thereof, fhall and will from time to time and at all times hereaf- 
 ter upon the reafonable requeft and at the coft and charges in the 
 Law of the faid A. B. his Heirs, Executors, Curators, Adminif- 
 trators or Affigns, or fome one of them, make, do and execute 
 or caufe to be made, done and executed all and every fuch fur- 
 ther and other lawful and reafonable Act and Acts, thing and 
 things, devife and devifes, affurance and affurances, conveyance 
 and conveyances, in the Law whatsoever, for the further, better, 
 _ and more perfect granting, conveying and affuring unto the faid 
 A. 8. and to his Heirs and Afligns for ever, the faid Lots of 
 Land and premifes hereby granted, bargained and fold, or menti- 
 oned to be granted, bargained and fold, with their and each and 
 every of their appurtenances, asby the faid A. B. his Heirs or 
 Affigns or any of them fhall be reafonably devifed, advifed or 
 required. f 
 
 Thus done and paffed the day and year firft above written at 
 
 ——-—~— in the office of M. N. one of the fubfcribing 
 Notaries, the aforefaid parties having to these prefents firft duly 
 read according to Law in the prefence and hearing of them the 
 {aid parties and of us the Notaries fet and fubfcribed their names 
 in the prefence of us the faid Notaries, who have alfo hereunto 
 fet and fubfcribed our names and fignatures in faith and teftimony 
 of the premifes. CD. .2 
 
 
 
 1218 6 00M, OB aa03 
 P, Q. Not. Pub. M. N. Not. Pub. 
 
 
 
oa o£. 
 
 a ~~” oo fe 8 
 
 = = co. F- 
 
 ee a 
 
 a oe 
 
 121 
 (G) 
 
 Copy of the Table of Fees eftablifhed by order of the Governor 
 in Council, on the 4th December, 1797, to be taken upon 
 
 Grants of the Wafte Lands of the Crown. 
 Per Thoufand Acres.. 
 £ 
 
 
 
 The Governor, - - - 010 90 
 Attorney General, - . 010 0O 
 Surveyor General, . ~ 015 0 
 Secretary of the Province, - 010 0 
 Clerk of the Council, - - 010 O 
 Auditor, _- - - a ee 
 Regifter, - - 0 5 0 
 
 £3 6 8 Cy. 
 Certified, 
 H. W. RYLAND. 
 
 The following Queries were sent to different perfons refiding in 
 the Townfhips, whofe anfwers will be found immediately fol- 
 
 lowing : 
 
 1. Have you refided for any and what length of time, in the 
 Townthip of ————— in the Diftrict of 
 
 2. Have you caufed to be cleared and enclofed any and what 
 quantity of land, and at what price and where ? | 
 
 3 What is the quantity of Stock in your pofsefsion, and have 
 you erected any and what buildings upon the faid land, and of 
 what value ? 
 
 4, Have you paffed through any and what Townfhips, and 
 what is the extent of the cleared lands in the fame and the popu- 
 lation thereof refpectively, and are there any and what Townfhips 
 on the fouth fhore in which there are no clearings or fettlements ? 
 
 5. What is the ftate of the roads in the faid Townfhips, and 
 are there any and what caufes which ferve to advance or retard 
 the improvement of the Internal Communications of the faid 
 Townthips ? | 
 
 6. Are there any and what number of persons in the faid 
 Townfhips, who have fettled upon and improved Wafte Lands 
 of the Crown in the fame, which faid Lands have, fince the faid 
 Settlement, been granted by Patent under the Great Seal of the 
 Province, to other individuals, and what is the number of the 
 faid Settlers, and to what bufinefs, profeffion or occupation were 
 
 : | 
 
 
 
 
 
 ~ oe \ 
 AN 
 
 
 

 
 VF 
 122 
 they educated, and what generally were the places of refidence, 
 rofeffions or occupations of the Grantees of the Crown, and 
 hive these latter made or attempted to make any fettlement or 
 fettlements upon the fame? 
 
 7, What are the caufes which in your eftimation have contri- 
 buted to advance or retard the Settlement of the said Townships, 
 and the profperity of the fame ? 
 
 8. What is the distribution of the faid Lands—are they gene- 
 
 rally diitributed equally or otherwife, and what is the ufual fize 
 and dimenfions of the farms in the {aid Townthips? 
 
 
 
 Mr. Cus. KinBorn. 
 
 1. Ihave refided in the Townfhip of Stanftead, in the Diftir& 
 of Montreal, about twenty years. 
 
 2. 1am now proprietor of Lots numbers one in the eighth and 
 ninth ranges, containing together four hundred acres, on which 
 Ihave cleared and enclosed about one hundred—The cofts of 
 clearing and enclofing is about three pounds per acre. 
 
 3d. I poffefs upwards of two hundred head of cattle, (inclu- 
 ding Sheep) and have ereéted on my farm three Dwelling-Houses, 
 two Barns, a Grift-Mill, Saw-Mill, Fulling-Mill, Carding-Ma- 
 chine, and other buildings, which are now worth but about fe- 
 ven hundred and fifty pounds, but have coft me upwards of fifteen 
 hundred—There are alfo many other persons in this Townthip 
 whofe farms are more improved, have greater numbers of cattle, 
 and whofe buildings are far more valuable than my own. 
 
 4. Since my refidence in this part of the country I have had 
 occafion to pals through moft of the Eaftern Townthips, particu- 
 larly through thofe between Stanftead and Montreal, viz: Bol- 
 ton, Brome, Farnham, Granby, Stukely and Shefford ; alfo 
 through Barnfton, Hatley, Compton, Ascott and Shipton on the 
 St Francis River—The Townthip of Stanftead contains about 
 three hundred and fifty Lots, containing each two hundred acres, 
 on which there are now fettled (at least) five hundred families, 
 and contains a as Secrctie of about three thoufand inhabitants, 
 Hatley, Barnfton, Compton, Afcott, Eaton, Shipton and Mel- 
 bourne are alfo thick fettled, though not quite fo much as Stans- 
 
 tead. 
 
 With refpeét to the cleared lands and population of the refpect- 
 _ ive Townthips, it is difficult to ftate it corre@ly, biit it is suppofed 
 | ee they contain altogether upwards of three thoufand five hun- 
 dred families, who have (on an average) about forty acres each, 
 under cultivation, and form a population of twenty-five thoufand 
 nhabitants, . 
 
 
 
123 
 
 5. The roads through the Townfhips are generally in a very 
 bad ftate—that from Shipton to Ascott is the oaly road practica- 
 ble for wheel carriages, there are roads leading through differ- 
 ent parts of the ‘Townfhips, and in many directions, but thefe 
 have been opened by those who were in abfolute want of them, 
 and confequently are merely kept in a ftate to admit paffing and 
 re-pafling with Ox Teams—The Road A&ét not being applicable 
 to the Townfhips, owing to the quantity of unfettled land, and 
 the number of Crown and Clergy Referves, there are no means 
 of compelling the inhabitants to contribute in any manner to the 
 opening and repairing the roads 5 confequently each perfon contri-~ 
 butes that fhare of labour only, which he conceives to be necefsary 
 for his own private intereft, and the interefts of individuals refi- 
 ding in different parts of a Townfhip differ fo much, that with- 
 out fome law is enacted to compel the inhabitants to contribute 
 
 _their quota of labour and expenfe to the opening and repairing of 
 
 roads to the principal market Towns, and fubject them to cer- 
 tain regulations tending to unite the exertions of all, there is lit- 
 tle profpect of improving the internal communications through 
 thefe Townfhips, and it is principally owing to the want of thefe, 
 that their improvements have been {fo long retarded. 
 
 6. There are between fixty and feventy Families who have fet- 
 tled and improved wafte lands of the Crown, in the Townfhip of 
 Stanftead, which lands have fince been granted to the late Sir 
 Robert Shore Milnes, who did not to my knowledge attempt to 
 to make any fettlement on them—The Settlers alluded to were 
 generally farmers. 
 
 7. With regard to the causes which have contributed to 
 retard the fettlement and profperity of the Townships, it is 
 impoffible for a perfon who is not perfonally acquainted with 
 them, to become informed of the true ftate of the country, and 
 it is equally impoflible for me to reduce to writing in a way to be 
 generally underftood, the great difadvantages under which the 
 Inhabitants labour—the principal caufe is however in my humble 
 opinion, owing to the Inhabitants not being reprefented in the 
 Houfe of Affembly in the fame manner as the other inhabitants 
 ef Lower-Canada are, and as thofe in this part of the country 
 humbly conceive themfelves as faithful fubjects entitied to. They 
 are, it is true, reprefented, but by perfons who are elected in 
 diftant parts, where of the twenty-five thoufand above alluded 
 to, not one thoufand have an opportunity of giving their votes, 
 owing to the diftance at which the Pollis held. One other great 
 difadvantage is the want of Laws for the opening and repairing 
 public Highways, as mentioned in my anfwer to the fifth Query, 
 and a further difadvantage is owing to the adminiftration of juftice 
 
 . r 2 
 
 
 

 
 124 
 
 being attended with fo great an expenfe as it now is, that is, the 
 diftance that a perfon from thefe parts has to travel to ob- 
 tain the neceffary recourfe in cafesof debt, &c. The Lots through- 
 out the Townfhips as granted by the Letters Patent, contain ge- 
 nerally two hundred acres each. | 
 
 Having ftated the want of Roads, I beg leave to ftate that a di- 
 rect road from Stanftead through Hatley to within four miles of 
 the north end of Lake Memphremagog, (of which an idea may 
 be had by referring to the Map) there to form’a jun¢tion 
 with the roads from Barnfton and Hatley, continuing through 
 Bolton, Stukely, Shefford and Granby, to the Yamaska Moun- 
 tain, thence acrofs to the foutherly point of the Rougemont Moun- 
 tain, and from there in as direét a line as poffible to Montreal ; 
 another from Stanftead through Hatley, Compton and Afcott, 
 from thence down the St. Francis to Three-Rivers, and alfo from 
 Shipton to Quebec, would greatly tend to the fettlement and prof- 
 perity of the Townfhips—But thefe roads will pafs through fo ex- 
 tenfive tracts of unfettled lands, and referved lots, that the inhabi- 
 tants will be in need of pecuniary afliftance to be applied in a man- 
 ner beneficial to the public at large, and not for the convenience 
 of any private individual, 
 
 I further beg leave to mention that there is now a good road 
 _ from Bofton to this Townfhip, through which there arrives two 
 {tages every week, but cannot proceed further through this coun- 
 try owing to the want of roads. 
 
 
 
 Mr. P. A. Barker. 
 
 Quebec, 24th February, 1821. 
 SIR, 
 
 I am extremely forry to acquaint you that it is not in my power 
 to give you the information you are fo defirous of obtaining a 
 correct knowledge of, relative to perfons eftablifhing themfelves 
 upon wild lands in the Townfhips under the Patronage of Mr. 
 Fitch ; but with due deference beg leave to acquaint you of seve- 
 ral perfons refiding in the ‘Townfhip of Barnfton, that were affo- 
 ciated with Mefirs. Robert Lefter and Robert Morrogh, Efqrs. 
 of this City, for a grant of the faid Townfhip, that have cultiva- 
 ted and cleared fifty acres of Land, erected buildings, &c. and 
 from fome circumftances unknown to them, their names were 
 left out of the Letters Patent, which iffued for a grant of only 
 one moiety of the Townfhip aforefaid, and the perfons who came 
 
 
 
125 
 
 into the Townfhip of Barnfton at fo early a period, did not at that 
 time entertain the fmalleft doubt that Government would ulti- 
 mately grant portions of the wafte lands of the Crown to fuch as 
 
 > had fettled thereon, and as an encouragement and remuneration 
 
 | for the hardfhips and privations which they, thus, encountered, 
 infeparable with the fettlement of a wildernefs country; and that 
 under thefe impreflions they continued to remain upon their se 
 veral Lots of Land, which have fince been patented to Sir Rober 
 Shore Milnes, and they can get no redrefs. 
 
 The perfons, or many of them who I fhall hereafter defignate 
 had been approved of as Affociates by His Excellency the Gover- 
 nor in Council, and ordered the accuftomed portion of the wafte 
 lands of the Crown, they having previoufly been recommended by 
 the Commiffioners of the Land Board, taken the oath of allegi- - 
 ance, and made and fub{cribed the Declaration as by law required. 
 
 Lemuel Rofs located and entered upon Lot number eighteen, 
 in the third range of Lots as early as the year 1798, and erected 
 a convenient dwelling houfe and barn, and cleared and cultivated 
 fifty acres of land.—And 
 
 ¢ J. Hibbard, upon Lot No. 18, in the Ift Range. 
 J. Sanders, 17, lft do. 
 S. Heath and Bickford. 16, _1ft do. 
 S. & J. Norton, 15, 2d. do. 
 J. Parker & Butterfield, 17%, 3d. _— do. 
 J. Thurber, 20, 3d. do. 
 Elifha ‘Thomas, 20, 4th, do. 
 Dunbar & H. Wheeler, ja 5th. do. 
 R. Baldwin, 6, 16th. do. 
 J. Kilborn, ay ith. do. 
 Marth & Gray, 7s 8th. do. 
 Young, 16, 9th. do. 
 
 P. S.. There are many others in the Townfhips of Compton 
 and Stanftead that have loft their lands, and which has been pa- 
 tented to Sir R. S. Milnes. 
 
 
 
 Mr. W. B. Feuron. 
 
 s 1, I have refided five years in the Townfhip of Afcot. 
 2. Ihave cleared and enclofed nearly feven hundred acres of 
 wild lands ; the price of clearing by contract has been twelve 
 
 
 

 
 = 
 
 126 
 
 dollars per acre, and that of enclofing about five dollars per acre ; 
 the whole of it is in Afcot; many imaller improvements have 
 been made to other detached Farms in various places. 
 
 3. A Dwelling Houfe and Offices, with feveral Barns have 
 been erected on the lands newly cleared, at the expenfe of 10,000 
 dollars; the Stock on the Farm at prefent is only two hundred 
 head of large Cattle, with a {mall flock of Sheep. 
 
 4. I have vifited many Townships, but the materials I have col- 
 lected do not enable me to give a precife account of the quantity 
 of land cleared, nor of the exact population: And the Commit- 
 tee will be much deceived if they rely on information from any 
 other fource than a Public Cenfus carefully executed; there are 
 few individuals in the Country who know the extent. of their 
 own clearings. As to the Townships on the South Shore which 
 contain no clearings, it may fafely be afferted, that with the 
 exception of part of the Townships of Shipton and Melbourne, 
 and the front lots on the River Yownfhips, all the Country on 
 the River St. Francis is unfettled, as is alfo the cafe with the 
 Townthips lying to the Eaft, and to the Weft of that River in 
 this Diftrid. 
 
 5. There is nothing deferving the appellation of a Road — 
 through the Townfhips of this Diftri@. The High Roads laid 
 out and contracted for by the Commiffioners for Internal Com- 
 munications remain upfinifhed. There is nothing I am acquaint- 
 ed. with to advance the improvement of the Internal Communi- 
 cations of the Townfhips, but there are not wanting impediments 
 to their amelioration, ‘The want of a Population and of Laws, 
 are of courfe the principal obftacles to the improvement of the 
 Internal Communications. 
 
 6. Upon the fubject of this Queftion my means of informa- 
 tion do not enable me to lay before the Committee facts where- 
 upon they may rely. 
 
 7, The ftate of property as refpects Wafte Lands appears to 
 have retarded the fettlement of the Country, and continues to- 
 prefent difficulties of a nature extenfive and almoft infuperable ; 
 
 Firft—Becaufe nine-tenths of the granted Jands are in the 
 hands of abfentees. | 
 
 Secondly—The dispofable Wafte Lands of the Crown are 
 inacceflible, and 
 
 Thirdly—Becaufe the Public Referves, comprifing nearly one 
 third of the whole Country, and which (bya fingularly injudi- 
 cious arrangement, admirably calculated to obftruct the Settlement 
 of a Country,) come in contact with every Settler on one or more 
 fides of his Farm, are barred to improvement by the exa¢tion ‘of 
 rent. ‘Lo appreciate the effects of thefe impediments, it is ne» 
 
 
 
127 
 
 ceflary to underftand, that to afford to the Emigrant. arriving in 
 this Country any reafonable hope of fuccefs, it is indifpensable to 
 locate him in the neighbourhood of a Settlement, or at leaft on 
 a Road or Path of Communication; but it becomes imprattica- 
 ble to effect this object on the remaining unlocated lands of ‘the 
 Crown, by reafon of their remote and inacceflible pofition, all 
 the wild lands furrounding the Farms or Villages and on the 
 Roads having long fince been granted, and the proprietors are 
 generally abfent and unknown. He is precluded from the Referves 
 by the neceflity of taking out a Leafe, a mode of occupancy 
 to which all new Settlers appear to entertain a well-ground 
 ed and unconquerable averfion. 
 
 The remedy for thefe obftruétions appear to be the compulfo- 
 ry fulfilment of the conditions of the Patents by the Grantees 
 of the Crown Lands. The opening of Roads of Communication 
 through the ungranted Wafte Lands; and finally, by granting 
 or affording for longer Leafes and on more reafonable Rents, 
 the Crown Referves. 
 
 Another caufe which militates againft the profperity of the 
 Country is the want of General Communications with the Mar- 
 kets of the Capital and other places. In the prefent ftate of the 
 population, the grand Roads of Communication mutt, if made 
 at all, be made at the Public Expenfe; and it will require a ju- 
 dicious modification of the exifting Road Law to uphold the 
 great Roads without oppreffion. 
 
 Among the caufes which operate againft the fettlement of the 
 Townfhips by refpectable » the moft important is the 
 want of protection and ity for perfons and property. 
 As a proof of this pofition, wey te cited the undeniable 
 fact that no refpectable man poffleffing property that can be inju- 
 red or deftroyed, will or dare execute the duties of a Magiftrate. 
 This ftate of things arifes from the diftance of the Courts of Judi- 
 cature, the abfence of means of confining offenders, the trouble, 
 expenfe and lofs of time in conduéting criminal profecutions, and 
 the confequent impunity for all offences. 
 
 
 
 
 In the decifion of civil caufes the diftance of the Courts has a 
 moft injurious effect, and contributes more than any other circum- 
 {tance to retard the improvement of the Country, by fubjecting 
 all the inhabitants to enormous charges, expenfes and lofs of time, 
 
 In fhort, it is the eftablifhment of a permanent and refpeétable 
 Court of Juftice in the Townfhips, or of a fyftem of Circuit Courts 
 taking cognizance of all fuits and caufes of every description and 
 amount, that alone is capable of counteracting the multiplied ob- 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 ws 
 
 128 
 
 ftructions to the profperity of this Country, that will give a pro- 
 per and decorous tone to public opinion, and that will aflimilate 
 to the reft of the Province its prefent population. 
 
 8. The diftribution of lands viewed as to the proprietorfhip of 
 wild lands, is exceedingly unequal, varying from one hundred to 
 forty-thoufand acres: but as it refpects the occupation of lands 
 partially cleared, the ftate of property may be ftated as very 
 equal; the confideration of the fact, that every fettler is limited 
 in his operations to the extent of his perfonal labour and that of 
 his Family, will make this apparent—Few farmers exceed fixty or 
 feventy acres cleared on a lot of two hundred acres, and the ave- 
 rage is below that quantity. 
 
 
 
 
 
— 
 
 THIRD REPORT. 
 
 
 
 CCORDING to the best information which your Committee 
 
 have been able to obtain, there still remain very extensive 
 tracts of Land fit for Settlement, unconceded in the different Sei- 
 gniories, granted by His Most Christian Majesty, anterior to the 
 conquest of this Province. 
 
 Your Committee, in pursuance of the general order of reference, 
 and in consequence of the Testimony which has already been sub- 
 mitted, have thought it expedient also to direct their attention to the 
 nature and conditions of these grants. 
 
 Your Committee caused to be examined the original grants of the 
 said Seigniories, which grants are recorded, and to be found in the 
 Office of the Secretary of the Province. They appear to be all sub- 
 stantially in the same form, with the exception of the Seigniory of 
 Lauzon. Besides the original grant of that Seigniory, there will be 
 subjoined the original grants of three Seigniories, copied indifferently, 
 viz. one of the earliest grants of His Most Christian Majesty, and 
 one from the latest grants of His Most Christian Majesty, and the 
 third at about the middle of the intermediate time, between these 
 two extremes. (A.) On referring -to these grants it will be found 
 that the condition of all was the conceding of the lands to the in- 
 habitants of the Country, on the accustomed rents. 
 
 Your Committee next directed their researches to the principal 
 Acts to the French Government, as well Legislative as Judicial, 
 relating to this condition. ‘The former are to be found subjoined to 
 this Report, under the letter (B.) and the latter under the letter 
 (C.). It appears to your Committee, that whatever well grounded 
 complaints the people of this Country had to offer against the Go- 
 vernment of His Most Christian Majesty, by reason of the exactions 
 of his high Functionaries within the Colonies, and by reason also of 
 the heavy Military Services to which they were subjected, they 
 had every reason to be satisfied with the wisdom and care which His 
 Most Christian Majesty bestowed upon this branch of the adminis. 
 tration. Since the Conquest, the Colonial administration have 
 allowed these Laws to be as a dead letter, andin the opinion of-your 
 Committee the principal obstacle to the settling of the unconceded 
 Seigniorial Lands of this Province, has been the neglect of the Co- 
 lonial Administration to enforce the Laws of the Land relating to 
 grants en Censive of the different Seigniories of this Province. 
 
 Quebec, 2d March, 1821. 
 
 ANDREW STUART, 
 Chairman. 
 
 
 

 
 2 
 
 (A.) 
 
 Title Deed of the HE Company of New France, to all to 
 oe. East whom these presents shall come, Greeting. 
 
 / Our desire to enlarge the Colony of New France, 
 eausing us toadmit such Persons as can further that laudable Entere 
 prise, and being willing asa further Inducement thereto, to bestow 
 on them certain Portions of the Lands granted unto us by the King, 
 being assured of the good intentions of Mr. S. Le Maitre, the King’s 
 Councillor, Receiver General of the Decimes in Normandy, for 
 these causes and others us thereunto moving, and by virtue of the 
 Power unto us given by Ilis Majesty, we have granted and do here. 
 by grant unto him, the Tract of Lands hereinafter described, that 
 is to say, the River Bruyante, situate in the Country of New France, 
 witha depth of six leagues in the Interior of the Lands, and three 
 leagues on each side of the said River, to hold to him the said Le-« 
 maitre his Heirs or Assigns, in full Property, Jurisdiction and Seie 
 gniory for ever, with the like rights with whichit hath pleased His 
 Majesty to grant the Country of New France, reserving Fealty and 
 
 Homage which the said Lemaitre, his Heirs or Assigns shall be holden © 
 
 to perform at Fort Saint Louis at Quebec, or such other place as 
 shall be appointed by the said Company, by one single Act of 
 liege Homage on every mutation of the Possessor of the said places, 
 with a Bullion of Gold weighing half an ounce, and one year’s pros 
 duce of whatever the said Lemaitre shall have reserved to himself, 
 after having granted in Fief or cens et rentes the whole or part of the 
 said Tract, and that Appeals from the Judge of the said place shall 
 lie to the Prevét or Bailli who shall be .established by the Company 
 at Quebec, and Appeals from the said Prevét or Bail& shall lie to 
 the Supreme Judges whoshall be established at Quebec or elsewhere. 
 Thatthe number of men whom the said Lemaitre and his Heirs shall 
 send to New France shall de accounted in deduction from the num- 
 ber of men whom the said Company is bound to send thither, ac. 
 cording to the said establishment, and to this end the persons by 
 whom they shall be shipped, shall annually transmit to the Office of 
 the said Company, the roll of the men shipped, in order to 
 
 repair to and settle in the said Country, so that the said Company. 
 
 be certified thereof, without any power in the said Lemaitre, his 
 Heirs or Assigns, or in any persons whom they may have sent to the 
 said Country, to trade with the Indians for Furs and Peltry other« 
 wise than according to the conditions of the said Edict, and in case 
 the said S. Lemaitre desires that some higher Name or Title be an- 
 nexed to the said Tract of Land, he shall make application to the 
 King, and the Lord Cardinal de Richelieu, Peer of France, Grand 
 Master, Chief, Superintendant General of the Navigation and Trade 
 of the Realm, to be provided for in that behalf according to the said 
 Edict. We enjoin the Sieur de Montmagny, Knight of the Order of 
 Saint John of Jerusalem, Governor for the said Company, under 
 
 (22> 
 
 
 
 
 
. —_— ’ 
 
 pos = te eae a Weg he 
 ‘ . 
 
 3 
 the authority of the King, and of the said Cardinal Duke de Riches 
 
 Jieu, of Quebec and other places along the River Saint Lawrence, 
 that he do put into and maintain in possession of this Grant the said 
 Sieur Lemaitre duly assigning to him the Bounds and Limits of the 
 Premises. | 
 
 Done in the General Assembly of the Company of New France, 
 holden at Paris in the Hétel of Mr. de Lauzon, Councillor of the 
 King, in his Councils, Intendant of the said Company, this fifteenth 
 day of January, one thousand six hundred and thirty-six. Signed by 
 the Company of New France, Lamy with Paraphe, and lower down 
 is written, collated with the original, which is on paper, exhibited 
 tome by M. Jean, Seignior of Lauzon, Knight Grand Seneschal of 
 the Country of New France and thereupon returned to him by the 
 Notary undersigned, this twenty.cighth day of August, one thou- 
 sand six hundred and fifty.cight. 
 
 (Signed) PEUVRET, Notary. 
 
 The foregoing Grant hath been collated with an exemplification on 
 
 ’ Paper, remaining of Record in the Office of the undersigned Royal 
 
 Notary, in the Prevdté of Quebec, residing there, by Mr. George 
 Keynard Duplessis, Seiguior of Lauzon, Treasurer of the Navy, 
 Receiver of the Droits of the Lord Admiral of France, and Agent- 
 General for the King’s Farms in this Country. At Quebec this 
 twenty-third day of September 1705. 
 
 (Signed) CHAMBALON. 
 
 The Marquis DUQUESNE, &c. 
 
 3 + Athan grant FRANCOIS BIGOT, &c. 
 
 in fromtby nine indepth PON the Petition of Joseph Perthuis, 
 in rear of the Fief of Councillor in the Superior Council of 
 Portneuf. this Country, setting forth that in the rear 
 
 of the Seigniory of Portneuf, which has a front of one league anda 
 half along the River Saint Lawrence, by three leagues in depth, 
 there are Lands very advantageous for settlement, and therefore 
 praying that we do please to grant unto him nine leagues in depth, 
 in rear of the depth of the said Seigniory, We, by virtue of the 
 Power to us jointly given by His Majesty, have given, granted and 
 conceded, and do hereby give, grant and concede unto the said 
 Sieur Perthuis the aforesaid Land of one league and a half in front 
 by nine leagues in depth, beginning at the extremity of three leagues, 
 which form the depth of the said Seigniory of Portneuf, to be hol- 
 den by him, his Heirs and Assigns for ever in Fief and Seigniory, 
 with superior, mesne and inferior Jurisdiction, the right of Fishing 
 and Hunting, and that of trading with the Indians throughout the 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 said Seigniory, on condition that Fealty and Homage be rendered 
 at the Castle of Saint Louis at Quebec, of which it shall hold upon 
 the accustomed Dues and Renders, according to the Custom of Paris 
 followed in this Country. That appeals from the Judge who shall 
 be therein established shall lie to the Prevété of Quebec. That he 
 shall preserve and cause to be preserved by his Tenants all Oak 
 Timber fit for the building of His Majesty’s Ships, That he shall 
 inform His Majesty of any Ores, Mines and Minerals which may be 
 found within the extent of the said Grant, shall reside actually there 
 
 and shall-oblige his Tenants to actual residence, and shall clear the. 
 
 said land, and cause the same to be cleared, in default whereof, 
 the said Grant shall be and remain void; that he shall leave High- 
 ways and roads which may be deemed of public necessity and 
 utility, and shall cause to be inserted the like Conditions in all 
 Grants which he may make to his Tenants for the cens, rents and 
 renders customary for every arpent of land by forty indepth. That 
 he shall leave the beaches free for all persons, with the exception 
 of such part thereof as he may require for his fishery. And in case 
 His Majesty shall hereafter have occasion for any part of the said 
 Jand for the construction thereupon of any Forts, Batteries, Places 
 d’ Armes, Magazines aud public works, His Majesty may take the 
 same, as also the ‘limber necessary for the said works, and fire wood 
 for the Garrisons of the Forts, without being held to make any 
 compensation. We doalso in His Majesty’s name reserve the right 
 of taking such Oak Timber, Timber for Masts, and.in general all 
 such other Timber as shall be necessary for the building and fitting 
 out of his Ships without being liable to any indemnification. The 
 whole subject to His Majesty’s pleasure, the confirmation whereof 
 he shall obtain within a year. In witness whereof, &c. Given at 
 Quebec, the Eleventh October, one thousand seven hundred and 
 fifty-three. Signed, Duquesne and Bigot. Counter-signed and 
 sealed. . 
 A true Copy, 
 
 (Signed) BIGOT. 
 
 aiaecat ad mae whom these presents shall come, Greer- 
 nis. inc: Our desire to advance the Colony in New 
 France according to the King’s pleasure, inducing us to receive 
 those who have the means of contributing thereto on their part, and 
 intending to distribute the Lands of the said country among those 
 who participate with us in that laudable design, and who shall have 
 the means of having them cleared and cultivated in order to induce 
 frenchmen to repair thither, through whose example the people 
 of the said country who have hitherto lived without rule may be in- 
 
 structed in the knowledge of the true Government, and reared in 
 
 Title Deed of a i ene Company of New France, to all to 
 
 | aN 
 
 
 
 
 
 So” se so se SS CS Bee ees Slee CU lt 
 
5 
 
 obedience to the King, from what appears unto us of the good inten. 
 tions of Robert Giffard, and of his zeal for the Catholic, Apostolic 
 and Roman Religion and for the King’s service, we have for these 
 considerations and by virtue of the power granted unto us by His 
 Majesty, given and granted and by these presents do give and grant 
 unto the said Giffard the tract of Lands herein after described with 
 the appurtenances thereof, that is to say; one league of land infront 
 along the bank ofthe River St. Lawrence, by one league anda halfin 
 depth, and in the depth at the place where the River called Notre 
 Dame de Beauport joins the said River, including the same, to hold 
 the said tract to him the said Giffard, his heirs or assigns in full jurise 
 diction, Property and Seigniory forever, with all the rights with which 
 it hath pleased His Majesty to invest the said Company with respect 
 to New.France, reserving Fealty and Homage which the said Giffard, 
 his heirs or assigns, shall perform at Fort St. Louis in Quebec, or 
 such other place as shall be appointed by the said company, a single 
 act of liege Homage on every change of the possessor of the said 
 tract, with one Bullion of gold, weighing one ounce, and ove year’s 
 produce of whatever the said Giffard shall have reserved to himself 
 after having granted en Fief or d Cens et Rentes, the whole or part 
 of the said tract ; and that the appeals from the Judge of the said place 
 shalllie to the Supreme Court of Judicature hereafter to be esta« 
 blished in the said Country. That the number of men whom the said 
 Giffard or his heirs shall send to New-France, shall be accounted in 
 deduction from the number of men which the said Company is bound 
 to send thither, and that he shall, to that end, annually transmit 
 the rolls of such men to the oflice of the said company, to be certified ; 
 That the said Giffard shall not, nor shall his heirs, trade in furs and 
 and peltry at the said place, nor at any other place in New-France, 
 otherwise than according to the conditions of the Edict establishing 
 the Company. That in addition to the matters herein premised, the 
 company hath granted to the said Giffard, his heirs or assigns, a 
 piece of ground near the Fort of Quebec, containing two acres, for 
 the erection of a House and the accommodations of a Court Yard 
 and Garden, which he shall hold by cens of Quebec aforesaid, so 
 _that the said Giffard, his heirs or assigns shall not without the assent 
 of, the said Company dispose of the whole or part of the abovemene 
 tioned places unto him granted duringa term often years, to be com- 
 puted from the date hereof, after which term he may dispose of the 
 same in favor of such person as shall possess the qualilication required 
 by the Edict establishing the said Company, and without any power 
 in the said Giffard, his heirs or assigns, to fortify the places herein 
 before granted to him without permission from the said Company, 
 We enjoin the Sieur Champlain, Commandant for the said Company, 
 under the authority of the King, and of the Lord Cardinal de Riche« 
 lieu, Grand Master, Chief and Superintendant General of the Na« 
 vigation and Trade of France, at the Fort and settlement of Quebec, 
 and in the extent of the said River St. Lawrence and lands adjacent, 
 
 
 

 
 6 
 
 that he do cause the said Sieur Giffard to have, and do put him in 
 
 possession of the places herein before granted unto him, whereof he 
 shall certify the said Company by the first return to France. 
 
 Given at the General Assembly of the Company of New-France, 
 holden at the Hotel of the President de Lauzon, Councillor of the 
 King in His Councils of State, and Intendant privé of the said Com- 
 pany, at Paris the fifteenth day of January, sixteen hundred and 
 thirty-four ; and lower down, by the Company of New-France, and 
 the undersigned Lamy, with paraphe, and sealed with the Seal of 
 the said Company in red wax ; and on the other side is written : This 
 Jast day of December, sixteen hundred and thirty-five, before us 
 Marc Antoine de Bras de fer, Esquire, Sieur of Chateaufort, Lieute- 
 nant-General, throughout the extent of theRiver St. Lawrence in New- 
 France, for Lord Cardinal, the Duke de Richelieu, Peer of France 
 and Grand Master, Chief and Superintendant General of the Navi- 
 gation and Trade of the Kingdom, Mr. Robert Giffard, Sieur of Beau- 
 port, who hath undertaken to observe the Laws and Ordinances, 
 which shall be imperative on him, and of which he shall be notified, 
 wherein he shall not fail, performing Fealty and Homage by reason 
 of his land at Beauport, holding of the Fort and Castle of Quebec. 
 Done the day and year above mentioned. Signed, Bras de fer Cha- 
 teaufort, with paraphe. 
 
 Examined and compared by me, the undersigned Paul Vachon, 
 Notary Royal, in New-France, residing at Beauport, with the ori- 
 ginal on parchment to me exhibited by Joseph Giffard, Esquire, Sei- 
 gnier of Beauport, and to himimmediately returned. Done this 14th 
 day of May, sixteen hundred and seventy-five. 
 
 , ep imate ” of the Kingin his Privy Councils of State, 
 Mr. Giffard. Governor and Lieutenant-General for His Ma- 
 jesty in New-France throughout the extent of the River Saint Law- 
 rence : ‘l'o allto whom these Presents shall come, Greeting : 
 
 The Company of New-France having on several occasions recog- 
 nized the zeal which the Sicur Giffard, Esq. Sieur of Beauport, hath 
 always had for the Settlement of the Colony of New-France, the 
 great expenses which he hath incurred in order to attain that end, 
 the losses which he hath sustained on that subject, even when he was 
 made prisoner by the English, with the Fleet, in one thousand six 
 hundred and twenty-eight, the Company by way of acknowledgment, 
 erdeayvoured to gratify the said Sieur Giffard, and especially at the 
 Assembly holden on the fifteenth day of January, one thousand 
 six hundred and thirty-four, at our Hételin France, did grant unto 
 him one league in front along the River Saint Lawrence, beginning 
 at the mouth of the River Notre-Dame de Beauport, with one league 
 and ahalf in depth, having caused to be transmitted to him a Grant 
 
 Deed of rm EAN LAUZON, Councillor in Ordinary 
 
 thereof, in posession of which he was put by the late Monsieur 
 
 
 
 
 
7 
 
 ROT Wee to whom as Governor, the same was directed. The said 
 ud was then bounded on one side by the said River Notre-Dame 
 de Beauport, and on the other by the River of the Fall of Montmo- 
 rency, as appears by a Deed signed A. Duchesne, and (as ascer- 
 taining the Signature and Hand-writing of the late Sieur de Cham- 
 plain) by the Sieurs Letardif de la Porte and A. Duchesne de la Ville, 
 by L’Epinasse, appointed Clerk, by Monsieur de Montmagny and 
 by himsigned. And further by certain Deeds of the sixteenth April 
 and fifteenth of May, one thousand six hundred and forty-seven, 
 signed Lamy, and sealed with the Seal of the said Company, there 
 Was moreover granted unto him two leagues in front by ten leagues 
 in depth, either near the former Concession or between other places 
 which should be designated for him by the Chevalier de Montmagny, 
 which he not having had in his power to do, he hath not given any 
 portion to the Reverend Ladies Hospitallers, and hath moreover 
 prayed us to extend his Concession of Beauport, of which the depth 
 is already one league anda half, and to grant unto him as far as four 
 leagues in the interior of the lands, until meeting some other tract of 
 land convenient for him, the grant heretofore made to him can be 
 accomplished. Wherefore acceding to the prayer of the said Giffard 
 and until we shall have it in our power to grant a larger tract, We, 
 by virtue of the power unto us granted by the Company of New- 
 France, have given, granted and conceded, and hereby do give, 
 grant and concede unto the Sieur Giffard, Seignior of Beauport, two 
 leagues and a half in depth by the one league of the said Seigniory of 
 Beauport, bounded on one side by the River Notre-Dame de Beau- 
 port, including the River, and on the other by the River of the Fall 
 of Montmorency, to hold to him, his heirs and assigns for ever in full 
 property, jurisdiction and seigniory, with the like rights with which 
 he hath heretofore possessed, and now doth possess the said Seigniory 
 of Beauport, to form a single Fief and render a single Fealty and 
 Homage, and as if the former concession had granted to him four 
 leagues in depth, whereas the same contains only one league anda 
 half ; and inasmuch as the Sieur Giffard is in possession of the said 
 tract which is contiguous to that which we have hereby granted unto 
 him, no further taking of possession is necessary. We enjoin the 
 Grand Seneschal of New~France, or his Lieutenants, to cause these 
 presents to be duly enrolled, to deliver untohim Actes thereof, and 
 duly to maintain him, his heirs and assigns in possession of the said 
 tracts. In faith whereof we have signed these presents, and caused 
 our Seal at Arms to be hereunto affixed, and the same to be counter= 
 sigaed by one of our Secretaries at Fort Saint Louis of Quebec, this 
 thirty-first day of March one thousand six hundred and fifty-three. 
 Signed De Lauzon, and lower down, by Monseigneur, Peuvret, and 
 lower down is written, after the present collation : 
 
 Examined and compared by the undersigned Paul Vachon, Notary 
 Royal in New-France, residing at Beauport, with the original on 
 parchment, unto me presented by Joseph Giffard, Esquire, Seignior 
 
 
 

 
 8 
 
 ef Beauport, and to him immediately returned. Done this fourth 
 May, one thousand six hundred and seventy-five. 
 
 (Signed) VACHON, Notary, with Paraphe. 
 
 
 
 This fourth day of April, one thousand seven hundred and fifty- 
 three, the foregoing grant was by me the Clerk to the Sénéchaussée of 
 the Jurisdiction of Quebec in New-France, enrolled in the Office of 
 the said place, at the instance of the said Seignior of Beauport there- 
 in named, Acte whereof was taken. Done the same Day and Year, 
 signed, Roland Godet, Clerk, with Paraphe ; also signed, Vachon, 
 Notary, with Paraphe. 
 
 Grant to Mr. de Gan.) LOUIS DE BUADE, &c. 
 
 a ee JEAN BOCHART, &c. 
 
 Fief audar ville, 
 
 Deise ek hee, T NOW all to whom these presents shall 
 homme. J come, that on the petition of Alexandre 
 
 Peuvret, Esquire, Sieur of Gaudarville, praying a grant of three 
 leagues in depth in rear of the Fief Gaudarville, with all the lands 
 adjacent which are in rear of the Fiefs of the Sieurs Demaure and 
 Guillaume Bonhomme, as far as the depth of the same line 
 from the North East tothe South West, where the said three 
 leagues are to terminate, so that the whole tract included in this 
 grant is bounded at one extremity in front by South East of the lines 
 which terminate the depth of the said Fiefs of Gaudarville, Bon- 
 homme and Demaure, and in rear on the North West by a line run- 
 ning North East and South West, which terminates the depth of the 
 said three leagues in rear of the said Fief of Gaudarville, and is to 
 be prolonged as far as the *Fief of Neuville, and on one side on the 
 North East, by part of the Lands of the Fief of Sillery, by part of 
 those of Gaudarville and by the Lands of the said Bonhomme, and 
 on the other side on the South Westby the Lands of the said Fief de 
 Neuville, praying a Grant of the said tract of Land, whereof part is 
 ‘uninhabitable, also the Lakes, Streams, and Isles there situate, in 
 Fief and Seigniory, and with Superior, mesne and ioferior jurisdic- 
 tion, with the rights of Hunting and Fishing with instruments of 
 every description, and that of trading throughout the said tract ; and 
 also that of having Fisheries with instruments of every description 
 on the beach as far as low water mark, in front of the Fief of Gau- 
 darville, which Grant he wishes should bear the name of Faussem~- 
 bault.° 
 
 By virtue of the Power to us given by His Majesty, we have given, 
 granted and conceded, and hereby do give, grant and concede unto 
 the said Sieur Gaudarville, three leagues in depth, in rear of the said 
 Fiefs of Gaudarville, with all the Lands adjacent which are in rear of 
 the Fiefs of the Sieurs Demaure and Guillaume Bonhomme, and as 
 far as the depth of the same line from the North East to the South 
 
 l oN 
 
 
 
| a. — 
 
 9 
 
 West, which shall terminate the said three leagues, so that all that 
 is included in the said Grant, shall be bounded at the South East 
 end in front by the lines which terminate the depth of the said Fiefs 
 of Gaudarville, Bonhomme and Demaure, and in the rear to the 
 North West by a line drawn also North East and South West, which 
 shall terminate the depth of the said three leagues in rear of the said 
 Fief Gaudarville, and shall be prolonged in a right line as far as the 
 said Fief de Neuville, and at one side onthe North East by part of 
 the Lands of the said Fief of Sillery, by part of those of Gaudarville 
 and by the Lands of the said Bonhomme, and on the ether side to 
 the South West, bounded by the Lands of the Fief de Neuville. To 
 hold unto the said Sieur de Gaudarville, his heirs and assigns for ever, 
 in full property, in Fief and Seigniory, with the right of trading and 
 of hunting and fishing, even in front of the said Fief Gaudarville, 
 with instruments of every kind, as far as low water mark, with su- 
 perior, mesne and inferior jurisdiction in the tract herein before 
 described, on condition of Fealty and Homage which he, his heirs 
 and assigns shall perform at the Castle of Saint Louis in this City, 
 and of dues according to the Custom of Paris followed in this country, 
 and that appeals from the Judge who shall be established on this 
 Grant which shall bear the name of Fossambault, shall be to the 
 Lieutenant-General in the Prevdté of this City, that he shall obtain 
 His Majesty’s confirmation of this Grant within two years, shall pre- 
 serve and cause to be preserved by his Tenants the Oak Timber grow- 
 ing on the said tract fit for the building of Ships, and shall inform 
 His Majesty or the Governor General of the Country of any Ores, 
 Mines, or Minerals which may be found there, and shall cause the 
 like conditions to be inserted in the Grants which he shall make to 
 Tenants, who shall be obliged to an actual residence on the spot, 
 in default whereof he shall become reinvested with the possession of 
 the said Lands; and that he shall cause to be left the highways which 
 may be necessary for the public utility, and shall within six years 
 from thisdate cause the clearing of the said Land to be commenced, 
 on pain of being divested thereof. 
 
 In witness whereof we have signed this Grant, have caused to be 
 thereunto affixed our Seal at Arms, and the same to be countersigned 
 by our Secretaries.—Given at Quebec, this twentieth day of Februa- 
 
 ry 1693. 
 . (Signed) FRONTENAC, 
 BOCHART CHAMPIGNY. 
 
 | GB: isi 2 
 Extract from the Registers of the Council of State. 
 
 Revocation of the uncleared Grants. 
 
 The King having caused to be laid before him, in his Council, his 
 Edict, of the present month, whereby his Majesty, in consequence 
 of the grant and surrender by the persons interested in the Company 
 

 
 
 
 10 
 
 ef New-France, resumed all the rights which had heen granted to 
 them by the deceased King, in consequence of the Treaty of the 
 twenty-ninth of April one thousand six hundred and twenty-seven, 
 and His Majesty having been informed, that one of the chief causes 
 of the said Country not having become as populous as might be de- 
 sired, and even that seyeral settlements have been destroyed by the 
 Iroquois, is to be found in the grants of large quantities of Land, 
 which have been given to all persons inhabiting the said Country, 
 who not having ever had, nor having the power of clearing the same, 
 and having established their residence in the midst of the said Lands, 
 have by that means been placed at a great distance from each other, 
 and incapacitated from aiding and assisting each other, and even from 
 obtaining succour from the officers and soldiers of the Garrison of 
 Quebec, and other places in the said Country, and thus it eyen hap- 
 pens that in a very great extent of country, what little Land there 
 is in the environs of the dwellings of the Grantees being cleared, 
 what remains can never become so—which requiring a remedy, His 
 Majesty, being in his Council, hath ordained, and doth ordain that, 
 within six months from the date of the publication of this Arrét, 
 in the said Country, all Persons so being inhabitants thereof shall 
 cause the Lands designed in their Grants to be cleared, in default 
 whereof, at the expiration of that time, His Majesty doth ordain 
 that all Lands remaining uncleared shall be distributed by new Grants 
 in his Majesty’s name either to the former or to the new Inhabitants 
 thereof—His said Majesty revoking and aonulling all Grants of the 
 said Lands not as yet cleared by those of the said Company.—His 
 Majesty doth enjoin and command the Sieurs de Mezy, Governor, 
 the Bishop of Petrée, and Robert, Intendant to the said Country to 
 see to the punctual execution of this Arrét 7 even to make a distribu. 
 tion of the said uncleared Lands and to grant them in the name of His 
 said Majesty.—Given in the Council of State in presence of the King 
 oa the twenty-first day of March one thousand six hundred and sixty 
 three.—Signed, de Lomerie, Mézy, Francois, Bishop of Petrée, 
 Rouer, Villeray, Juchereau de Laferté, Ruelle, Dauteuil, D’Amour, 
 
 Bourdon, , 
 
 Arrét of the King, for reducing the- Concessions which are too ex~ 
 tensive, and for making a Census, 
 
 The King having been informed that all the Subjects who have 
 gone from Old to New France have obtained Grants of a very great 
 quantity of Land along the Rivers in the said Country, which they 
 haye been unable to clear by reason of their too great Extent, which 
 is an Inconvenience to the other Inhabitants of the said Country, and 
 even prevents other Frenchmen from going thither to. settle, which is 
 entirely contrary to the intentions of His Majesty as to the said 
 Country, and to the attention he has been pleased to bestow for eight 
 er ten years on the extension of the Colonies which are settled there- 
 
—_ 
 
 1] 
 
 in, inasmtich as a part only of the Lands bordering on the Rivers is 
 cultivated, the rest not being so, nor admitting of becoming so, by 
 reason of the too great Extent of the said Grauts and a want of means 
 in the Proprietors thereof, which requiring a remedy, His Majesty in 
 his Council hath ordained and dothordain, that by the Sieur Duches- 
 neau, Councillor in His Councils, and Intendant of Justice, Police and 
 Finance in the said Country, there shall be made an accurate statement 
 of the quality of the Lands granted to the principal Inhabitants of the 
 said Country, of the number of Arpents (or other measure used in the 
 said Country) which they contain on the borders of the Rivers and in 
 the interior of the Lands, of the number of Persons and Cattle, fit for 
 and employed in cultivating and clearing the same, in consequetice of 
 which statement one half of the Lands which were granted before the 
 Ten last years and which are not cleared and cultivated as arable or 
 as meadow Land, shall be struck out of the grants and given to such 
 persons as shall come forward to cultivate and clear them. His Ma- 
 jesty ordaineth, that such Ordinances as shall be made by the said 
 Sieur Duchesneau shall be executed according to their Fort and 
 Tenor as being supreme and of ultimate resort as Decrees of a Supe- 
 rior Tribunal, His Majesty to that end attributing to him plenary 
 Jurisdiction and Cognizance. His Majesty doth further ordain that 
 the said Sieur Duchesneau do give provisionnally Grants of the 
 Lands which shall so have been struck off to new Settlers, on condi. 
 tion however, that they do completely clear the same within the 
 four néxt ensuing years, in default whereof at the expiration of the 
 said time, the said Grant shall be and remain nall. His Majesty 
 enjoineth the Sieur Comte de Frontenac, Governor and Lieutenant 
 General of His Majesty in the said Country, also the officers of the 
 Sovereign Council therein, to see to the execution of this Arrét, 
 which shall be executed, any opposition or hindrance whatever not- 
 withstanding, 
 
 Given in the King’s Council of State, holden in the Camp of Lu- 
 ting near Namur, on the fourth day of Jute one Thousand Six Hun- 
 
 dred and Seventy-five. 
 7 (Sigtted) COLBERT. 
 Power to Messrs. De Frontenac & Duchesneau to make Grants. 
 
 Louis by the Grace of God, King of France and Navarre :—To 
 our dear and well beloved Sieurs Comte de Frontenac, our Lieute- 
 
 nant-General in Canada or New France, and Duchesneau, Intendant 
 
 of Justice, Police and Finance, in the said Country, Greeting :— 
 There being a necessity for making provision for the granting of new 
 Lands to the Inhabitants at present residing in the said Country, or 
 to such as may repair thither on our behalf to settle there, we have 
 given and do give to you jointly by these presents under our hand, 
 power to make concessions of Lands as well to the Inhabitants of 
 
 the said Country as to such as may repair thither in order to settle, 
 
 
 
 ee 
 Oe - 
 

 
 2 
 
 on condition that the said concessions be laid before us within a year 
 from their date for confirmation, in default whereof, at the expira. 
 tion of the term aforesaid, we declare the same henceforth null. 
 
 We will moreover that such grants be not made except upon condi- 
 tion of clearing the Lands and bringing them under cultivation within 
 six years next ensuing, otherwise they shall remain null, and you shall 
 not grantthem, unless within short distances of each other, and ad- 
 jacent tothe concession hereupon made and cleared. Whereunto we 
 do especially authorize and enjoin you. And in order that the matter 
 be fixed and established for ever ; we have caused our Seal to be 
 hereunto affixed.—Given at the Camp of Heurtebise, near Valencien- 
 nes, the twentieth day of May, in the year of Grace, one thousand 
 six hundred and seventy-six, and of our Reign the thirty-fourth. 
 
 (Signed) LOUIS. 
 
 And lower down, by the King, COLBERT, and the Seal of 
 Yellow Wax appending. 
 
 Inrolled in order to be put in execution according 
 to the Arrét of this date, the nineteenth day of 
 October 1676. 
 
 (Signed) BECQUET. 
 
 Extract from the Registers of the Council of State. 
 
 5 
 4 
 - 
 4 
 7 
 ? 
 
 Revocation of the grants which are of too great extent, and order 
 to dispose of them, October 1679. 
 
 mane a ; 
 7 =_—— _ ’ A a= nll ete Ao ti ice A Ne nape 
 Ate te ee ante ll a eee et a : - - ee a ee - _ 
 — . — na 
 sea 61k Jie EES SE Te SS OP ae = 2a 2E3 ShisBtss2s 
 = onl Rain ti oe ove 
 t 
 
 The King in Council having before him the Arrét therein rendered 
 on the fourth day of June one thousand six hundred and seventy 
 five, importing that, by the Sieur Duchesneau, Councillor in his 
 Council, Intendant of Justice, Police and Finance in Canada, an 
 accurate statement shall be made of the quality of the Lands grant- 
 ed to the principal Inhabitants of that Country, and of the number 
 of arpents (or other measure there used) which they contain, in 
 consequence of which statement, one half of the Lands which had 
 been granted previous to the ten last ears, and which arenot cleared 
 and cultivated as arable or meadow Tand, shall be struck out of the 
 Grants, and given to such persons as shall effer to clear and culti- 
 vate them, the statement accordingly made by the said Sieur 
 Duchesneau, containing the extent of each concession and the 
 number of arpents thereof which are cleared and settled, by which 
 it appears that those concessions are of such great extent that the 
 larger portion of them remain useless to the Proprietors for want of 
 
 
 
13 
 
 men and cattle to clear and cultivate them ; and Ilis Majesty con- 
 sidering that the lands remaining to be granted in the said Country, 
 are less conveniently situated, and admit with greater difliculty of 
 being cultivated, by reason of their situation and remoteness from 
 navigable rivers, insomuch that such of his Majesty’s subjects as 
 repair to the said Country do for that reason alone abandon the idea 
 of remaining and settling there, which requiring a remedy, His Ma- 
 jesty in Council hath ordained anddoth ordain that the Arrét therein 
 rendered on the fourth day of June one thousand six hundred and 
 seventy-five, shall be put in execution according to its form and 
 tenor, and doth accordingly declare one fourth of the lands conceded 
 before the year one thousand six hundred and sixty-five, which are 
 not as yet cleared and under cultivation, henceforth taken away 
 from the Proprietors and Possessors thereof—His Majesty doth 
 
 ‘further ordain, that henceforth in each year, beginning with the 
 
 ensuing year one thousand six hundred and eighty, there shall be 
 taken one twentieth part of the lands forming a portion of the said 
 concessions which shall remain uncultivated, in order to their being 
 distributed to His Majesty’s subjects, inhabiting the said Country, 
 who have the means of cultivating them, or to Frenchmen repairing 
 to the said Country to settle therein. His Majesty doth enjoin the 
 Comte de Frontenac, Governor and Lieutenant-General, and to the 
 said Duchesneau, to see the execution of this Arrét, and to proceed 
 to the distribution and granting anew of the said lands, according to 
 the power to them granted by Letters Patent, of the 20th May 
 1676. Givenin the King’s Council of State in His Majesty’s pre- 
 sence, at St. Germain ea Laye, the ninth day of May one thousand 
 
 six hundred and seventy-nine, 
 
 (Signed) COLBERT. 
 
 Extracts from the Registers of the Council of State. 
 
 ARRET Confirming the grants made by the Governor, and the 
 Lord Intendant, from the 12th day of October 1676, to the 5th 
 day of September 1679 ; 
 
 The King having before him in his Council, His Majesty’s Letters 
 Patent of the twentieth of May, one thousand six hundred and 
 seventy-six, empowering the Comte de Frontenac, His Majesty’s 
 Governor and Lieutenant-General in Canada, and the Sieur Du- 
 chesneau, Intendant of Justice, Police and Finance in the said 
 Country, jointly, to make grants of land, both to the old Inhabit- 
 ants of the said Country, and to such as may come to settle thereia 
 anew, on condition that the grants be laid before them for confirma 
 tion within a year from their date, and that the lands granted be 
 cleared and brought under cultivation, in six years from the date of 
 
 r 
 — Lense SS eee 
 
 in ii eo 
 
 — 
 
 ax. « 
 
-~ - a o - 
 = ~~~ a ee Oe ees ie hE oe aes 
 GDR SAA ne Aa OE, 
 
 
 
 14 
 
 their grants, on pain of nullity ; the said letter, inrolled in the So- 
 vereign Council of Canada, on the nineteenth of October one 
 thousand six hundred and seventy-six.—Having also before him the 
 statement of the grants made by the Sieur Comte de Frontenac, 
 jointly with the said Sieur Duchesneau from the twelfth of October 
 one thousand six hundred and seventy-six, to the fifth of September 
 one thousand six hundred and seventy-nine inclusive, of Fiefs, 
 Lands, Islands and Rivers, to the persons called Pierre de J oybert, 
 Damoiselle de Sowlange et de Marson, iKandin, de la Valliéres, de 
 Repentigny, Berthier, Damoiselle Marie Anne Juchereau widow of 
 the Sieay de La Combe, de Bécancourt, Marie Guillemette Robert, 
 widow of the late Sieur Couillard, Dameiselle Couillard, Nicolas 
 Rousselot dit La Pruisier, Noel Langlois, Francois Belanger, 
 d’Amours, Deschaufour, Crevier, de Verchéres, Bizarre, Romain 
 Becquet, de Boyuinet, Jacques de La Lande, Louis Jolliet, Nico- 
 Jas Juchereau de Saint Denys for Joseph Juchereau his son, André 
 de Chaume, Antoine Caddé, Charles Marquis, Jean Levrard, and 
 to the Superiors and Ecclesiastics of Saint Sulpice of Paris ;—And 
 His Majesty being willing to confirm the said grants, in order to 
 render the possession of the same, quiet and perpetual to the Persons 
 #bove mentioned, their heirs and assigns, upon hearing the report of 
 the Sieur Colbert the King’s Councillor in ordinary, in his Royal 
 Council, and Comptroller General of Finance, the King in his 
 Council hath confirmed and doth confirm the grants made to the 
 said de Joybert, Randin, de ta Valliéres, Repentigny, Berthier, 
 the widow La Combe, de Bécancourt, the widow Couillard, Gene- 
 viéve Couillard, Rousselot, Langlois, Bellanger, d’Amours, Des-. 
 chaufour, Crevier, de Verchéres, Bizarre, Becquet, de Boyuinet, 
 Lalande, Jolliet, de Saint Denys for Joseph Juchereau his Son, 
 tle Chaume, Caddé, Marquis, Levrard and the Superiors and Eccle- 
 siastics of the Seminary of Paris, by the said Sieur Count de Fron- 
 tenac, jointly with the said Sieur Duchesneau, doth ordain that 
 they, their heirs and assigns, shall hold the same in the manner and 
 form stated in the letters of grant, also the said Langlois, his heirs 
 and assigns, of the house he hath caused to be built, without dis- 
 turbance in their possession and holding for any Cause or occasion 
 whatsoever, on condition of clearing and bringing the lands to them 
 granted into cultivation within six years, to be computed from the 
 date of the said Grants, on pains of nullity thereof, and also on 
 condition of paying the dues thereon, It is His Majesty’s pleasure 
 that this Avrét with the said grants be enrolled in his Sovereign 
 Council of New France, holden in the City of Quebec, in order 
 that recourse may be had thereto when necessary. Given in the 
 King’s Council of State, holden at Fontainebleau, in presence of His 
 Majesty, the twenty-njnth day of May one thousand six hundred 
 and eighty, nape’ . 
 
 
 
 (Signed) COLBERT. 
 
| 15 
 
 Arrét of the King divesting the Inhabitants of the property of the 
 Jands which may have been granted to them, unless they bring 
 them into cultivation, having their residence there, within a year 
 and day from the Publication. of the said Arrét. 
 
 _ The King being informed that Lands have been granted to the In- 
 habitants of New France which are not settled or cleared, on which 
 they merely make a few imperfect clearings, supposing that by those 
 means and by the Grants made to them by. the persons to whom his 
 Majesty hath granted Lands as Seigniories, they will secure to them- 
 selves the property whereby it becomes impossible to grant them to 
 other more laborious Inhabitants who might occupy and bring them 
 into cultivation, which is also very injurious to the other inhabitants 
 settled on those Seigniories, because persons not inhabiting nor bring+ 
 ing their Lands into cultivation, do not work at those public works 
 which are ordered for the good of the country and of the said Sei- 
 gniories, which is quite contrary to the intentions of His Majesty, 
 who permitted those Grants only with a view to causing the Country 
 
 to be settled, and on condition that the Lands shall be settled and. 
 brought into cultivation ; and it being necessary to remedy such an, 
 
 abuse, His Majesty being in his Council, hath ordained and doth 
 ordain that within one year from the publication of this Arrét, as the 
 ultimate delay to be granted, the Inhabitants of New France, not 
 residing on the Lands which have been granted them, shall establish 
 their residence thereon and bring them into cultivation, in default 
 whereof, at the expiration of the said term, itis His Majesty’s plea- 
 sure that upon the certificates of the Curates and Captains, that the 
 said Inhabitants have omitted for one year to reside on the said Lands, 
 and have not brought them into cultivation, they shall be divested of 
 the Property, and the same shall be re-united to the Domaine of the 
 Seigniories upon the Ordinances which shall be rendered by the 
 Sieur Begon, Intendant of the said Country of New France, whom 
 His Majesty doth enjoin to enforce the execution of this Arrét, and 
 to cause the same to be enrolled in the office of the Superior Council 
 of Quebec, and published and posted up wherever need shall be, in 
 order that no person be ignorant thereof. Done in the King’s Coun- 
 cil of State, at Marly, on the sixth day of July, in the year of our 
 Lord, one thousand seven hundred and eleven. 
 
 - (Signed) PHELIPPEAUX. 
 
 Arrét of the King’s Council of State for the Re-union of the Lands 
 granted by the Gentlemen of the Seminary of Saint Sulpice. 
 
 ' The King in his Council haying before him the Petition of the Ec- 
 clesiastics of the Seminary of Saint Sulpice of Paris, Seigniors of the 
 [sle of Montreal, the Land or Céte Saint Sulpice in Canada, their 
 appurtenances and Dependencies, in which Petition they have set 
 forth that as Seigniors of the said Isle they have made several Grants 
 of Inheritances upon the cliarges, renders and dues stated in the said 
 
 _ ee Se ee 
 
CRT na ne te ee Suh ee Oe: r= = = = és. rs ae a a 
 
 
 
 
 
 16 
 
 Grants, that several Proprietors of the said conceded Settlementé 
 having left them uncultivated and abandoned, the Superiors have 
 been obliged for the preservation of their Rights to have recourse to 
 the first Intendant of New France, in order to obtain permission to 
 resume the same, which hath been granted them by divers Ordinan- 
 ces of the twenty-second of June 1706, twenty-fifth of May 1707, 
 twenty-sixth of May 1708, and fifth of July 1710, after having 
 laid before the said Intendant certificates in proper Form of the A- 
 bandonment of the said Concessions. That the late King having 
 been informed of the negligence of the Proprietors of the said Con- 
 cessions and that the same would prove materially detrimental to the 
 Settlement of the Colony, ordained by Arrét rendered on the sixth 
 of July 1711, that within one year from the date of the Publica- 
 tion of the Arrét, the inhabitants of New F rance not residing upon 
 the Lands which have been granted to them should be held, to cause 
 the same to be actually settled and brought under cultivation, in de- 
 fault whereof at the expiration of the said Term, it is ordained that 
 upon certificates of the Curates and Captains of the Cote, shewing 
 that the inhabitants have been one year without making actual set- 
 tlement upon the said Lands, and have not brought them under culti- 
 vation, they be divested of the property, and the same re-united to 
 the Domains of the Seigniors, according to such Ordinances as shall 
 be rendered by the Sieur Begon, Intendant of the said Country of 
 New France. That in Execution of the said Arrét published in the 
 town of Montreal, on the twenty-ninth of January 1713, the Pett- 
 .tioners have prayed the Sieur Begon to be admitted to resume more 
 than forty-eight settlements, which appear by the certificates of the 
 Curates and Captains of the Céves to be abandoned and uncultivated, 
 at the foot of which Petition the said Intendant hath ordained, that 
 the parties shall be summoned. But inasmuch as many of the pro- 
 prietors of those inheritances are deceased without Heirs, that others 
 have been absent many years, and that to compel them to comply 
 with the Formalities of Proceeding respecting all abandoned and un- 
 cultivated Concessions would be to render it impossible for them-to 
 procure re-union to their Seigniories, the aforesaid Ecclesiastics of 
 the Seminary of St. Sulpice have most humbly prayed His Majesty to 
 make known his intentions respecting the Arrét of the sixth of uly 
 1711, and to determine what are the cases in which they may re- 
 sume the abandoned and uncultivated Concesssions Without other 
 Formality than that of presenting the certificates required by the said 
 Arrét : And His Majesty taking into consideration that if the said. 
 Ecclesiastics were compelled to have recourse to the Intendant of 
 the said Country respecting the said uncultivated or abandoned Con- 
 cessions, they would become exposed to lengthened Proceedings by 
 their remoteness from the City of Quebec, where the said Intendant 
 resides, whose stay at Montreal is not long enough for the discussion 
 of such matters, moreover in case of Appeal from his Ordinances, the 
 parties interested therein are held to institute them in France. For 
 
17 
 
 all which His Majesty being willing to provide, having heard the Re- 
 port, and having taken the whole into consideration, His Majesty in 
 Couucil, by the advice of the Duke of Orléans, Regent, hath or- 
 dained and doth ordain that upon the Demands of the Ecclesiastics 
 of the Seminary of St. Sulpice, for the reunion to their Seigniory of 
 the Concessions by them made, they shall proceed before the Royal 
 Judges of Montreal, and by Appeal to the Superior Council of Que- 
 bec for their Decree in the Premises. Provided nevertheless that the 
 said Officers shall not take cognizance of Ordinances heretofore ren- 
 dered by the Intendant of the said Country, with respect to which 
 Proceedings shall obtain in the usual manner, and according to the 
 Terms of the Ordinances, in cases wherein the Proprietors of the 
 said Concessions or their Assigns seek a remedy against them. His 
 Majesty doth nevertheless ordain that the said Ordinances shall be 
 put in Execution according to their form and tenor provisionally, un- 
 til it be otherwise ordained. 
 Given in the King’s Council of State, in His Majesty’s Presence, 
 at Paris, on the fifth day of May 1716. 
 
 . (Signed) PHELIPPYAUX, with Paraphe. 
 
 The foregoing Arrét hath been enrolled in the Office of 
 the Superior Council of Quebec, according to Arrét 
 of this date, by me the undersigned King’s Council- 
 lor and Secretary, Chief Clerk of the said Council at 
 
 , Quebec, this Ist December 1716. 
 
 (Signed) DE MONSEIGNAT, 
 
 ARRET of the Council of State, enjoining the Seigniors to 
 cause actual settlements to be made on their Seigniovies, 
 and prohibiting their selling uncleared Lands. 
 
 Extract from the Registers of the Council of State. 
 
 The King having caused to be laid before him in his Council the 
 Arrét therein rendered on the sixth day of July 1711, importing that 
 such Inhabitants of New France as having obtained grants of Land 
 in Seigniory, had not therein any cleared Domain nor Inhabitants 
 settled, should be held to bring them into cultivation and to settle 
 Inhabitants thereon within one year from the publication of the Arrét 
 aforesaid, after which period they should remain reunited to His 
 Majesty’s Domain, and that the said Seigniors should also be held 
 to concede to such Inhabitants as should demand the same for rent, 
 and without exacting any sum of money, that otherwise such Inhabi- 
 tants should be permitted, in case of refusal after one application, to 
 
 apply to the Governor, Lieut, Geneml and Intendant of the said 
 
 EE 
 
 : 
 : 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 I8 
 
 Country for Grants of them, with the same dues as are imposed upen 
 other conceded Lands, which dues should be paid to the Receiver 
 of His Majesty’s Domain, without any Power in the Seigniors to 
 claim any thing upon the Lands so granted. Also another Arréé of 
 the same sixth day of July 1711, importing that the Grantees of 
 Lands en Réture should be held to actual settlement thereon, and to 
 bring them into Cultivation within one year from the date of the 
 publication, on pain of Reunion to the Domain of the Seigniors 
 upon the Ordinance of the Intendant. His Majesty having also been 
 informed that contrary to the exigence of both those Arré¢s certain 
 Seigniors have reserved to themselves extensive Domains within their 
 Fstates, that they sell Tracts of Wood Land, instead of merely con- 
 ceding them for Rents, and that some Inhabitants having obtained 
 Grants from the Seigniors have sold them to others, who succes- 
 sively sold them again, whereby a Traffic adverse to the good of the 
 Colony is effected, and it being necessary to remedy such pernicious 
 abuses, His Majesty in Council hath ordained and doth ordain that 
 within two years from the date of the publication of this Arréé, all 
 proprietors of Lands in Seigniory, as yet uncleared, shall be held to 
 bring them into cultivation and settle inhabitants thereon, otherwise 
 after the expiration of that time, the said Lands shall be reunited 
 to His Majesty’s Domain by virtue of this Arrét, without a neces- 
 sity for any other. His Majesty doth most expressly prohibit all 
 Seigniors and other Proprietors from selling any Wood Land on pain 
 of the nullity of the Deeds of Sale and restitution of the Price of the 
 Lands sold, which Lands shall in like manner become reunited to 
 His Majesty’s Domain, and further both the Arréts aforesaid, of 
 the sixth of July 1711, shall be put in execution according to their 
 form and tenor, and this shall be enrolled in the Office of the Superior 
 Council of Quebec, and read and published, wherever it shall be 
 necessary. Given before His Majesty, in His Council of State, 
 holden at Versailles the 15th day of March 1732, 
 
 (Signed) PHELIPPEAUX, with Paraphe. 
 Enrolled, the Attorney General being heard and demanding 
 the same, according to Arrét of this Date, by us Council- 
 lor of the King, principal Clerk of the said Council at 
 Quebec, the 4th September 1732. 
 
 (Signed) DAINE, 
 
 DECLARATION of the King concerning Grants in the Colonies. 
 
 Louis, by the Grace of God, King of France and Navarre. To all 
 to whom these presents shall come, Greeting. We have, after the 
 example of the Kings our ancestors, authorized the Goyernors and 
 
19 
 
 {ntendants of our Colonies in America, not only themselves to grant 
 the Lands which we cause to be distributed to such of our Subjects as 
 are willing to settle thereon, but also to proceed to reunite to our Do- 
 main such granted Lands as are liable to reunion, by not having 
 been brought into cultivation ; and they have also cognizance, to the 
 exclusion of the ordinary Judges, of all differences arising between 
 the Grantees or their Assigns, as well with respect to the validity 
 and execution of the Grants, as to theirsituation, extent, and limits, 
 but we are informed that, up to this time, there hath been scarcely 
 any thing certain, either with respect to the Form of Proceeding, in 
 cases of the reunion of Grants,or of the trial and adjudication of suits 
 between the Grantees or their Assigns, or with respect to the method 
 to be adopted for obtaining relief against the Ordinances rendered by 
 the Governors and Intendants on this matter, so that not only have 
 different customs been introduced in the several Colonies, but also 
 in one and the same Colony there have been frequent variations in 
 this respect. In order to put an end to that state of uncertainty, upon 
 matters of such interest to the security and tranquillity of families, 
 we have resolved on establishing by express law, fixed and invariable 
 
 rales to be observed throughout our Colonies, both as to form of pro- 
 
 ceeding to the reunion to our Domain of the Concessions which are 
 liable to be thereunto reunited, and to the proceedings on the ques 
 tion they may occasion, also to the modes of recourse to be pursued 
 by those who may deem themselves aggrieved by the judgment which 
 may be rendered. For these causes and others, us thereunto mov- 
 ing, with the advice of our Council and of our certain knowledge, 
 full power and Royal Authority, we have declared and ordained, 
 and by these presents under our sign manual do declare and ordain, 
 and our will and pleasure is as followeth : 
 
 Arr. I.—The Governors, our Lieutenant Generals and the In- 
 tendants of our Colenies, orin default ofthem, or in their absence 
 from the Colonies, the Officers representing them shall continue 
 jointly to make Grants of Land to the Inhabitants who apply for 
 them, in order to bring them iato cultivation, and shall give them 
 titles on the usual and accustomed terms and conditions. 
 
 II.—They shall in like manner proceed to reunite to our Domain 
 the Lands which are liable to be reunited thereto, and this shall be 
 at the diligence of our Attornies, in the ordiuary jurisdiction within 
 the limits of whose cognizance the said lands shall be situate. 
 
 ILI. They shall not grant Lands which have once been conceded, 
 although liable to reunion, until after their reunion shall have been 
 adjudged, on pain of nullity of the new Concessions, without preju~ 
 dice nevertheless tothe reunion which may always be sued for against 
 the first Grantees. 
 
 
 

 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 20 
 
 1V.—Our Governors and Lieutenant Governors and the Inten« 
 dants, or in default of them, or in their absence from the Colonies, 
 the Officers representing them shall also contiuue to have cognizance, 
 to the exclusion of all other Judges, of all the differences arising be- 
 tween the Grantees or their Assigns, as well as to the validity and 
 executiou of the Grants, ason the subject of their situations, extent 
 and limits, and in case of there being Minors who are party to the 
 said differences, such differences shall be communicated to our At- 
 tornies in the ordinary Jurisdictions within which the Governors and 
 Totendants shall reside, in order that they may there take their con- 
 clusions, in the same manner as if the said differences were instituted 
 in the said Jurisdictions. Itis not nevertheless intended to include in 
 this article differences arising on Family Partitions, of which the 
 Judges of our ordinary Jurisdictiens shall continue to have cogni- 
 zance. 
 
 V. We declare to be null andof none effect all Grants which shall 
 not be made by the Governor and Intendant jointly, or by the offi- 
 cers respectively representing them, as also all reunions which shall} 
 not be pronounced, and all Judgements which shall not be rendered 
 in common by them or their representatives. Nevertheless we em- 
 power either of them in case of the decease of the other, or of his 
 #bsencefrom ihe Colony, and a defect of Officers capable of repre- 
 
 *, Senting such as may be dead or absent, to make the Grants alone, 
 _ and even proceed to the reunions to our Domain, and to the Adju- 
 
 dication of suits between the Grantees, calling nevertheless upon 
 such Officers of the superior Councils or Jurisdictions as he shall 
 think fit. And he shall be held to make mention as well on the 
 Concessions and Reunions, asin the Judgements upon private suits, 
 of the necessity in which he may have been so to proceed ; on pain 
 of nullity. 
 
 VI.—In cases in which the Governors and Intendants shall be of 
 different opinions on applications made to them for Grauts of Land, 
 it is our pleasure that they do suspend the issuing of Grants until 
 they receive our Orders, upon the statements they shall make to us 
 of their motives, and in cases of a division of opinion between them, 
 whether as to Judgements of Reunion, or upon differences between 
 Proprietors of Grants, they shall call in the Senior Member of the 
 Superior Council, or in case of absence or lawful impediment, two 
 Councillors next following him in the order of the list, the whole 
 without prejudice to the preponderance of the vote of the Governors 
 in matters concerning our service, in which it is to obtain. 
 
 VII. In matters in which it shall happen that local visitations, 
 and nominations and Reports of Experts or Inquests are ordered, the 
 Knactments in that behalf of the twenty-first and twenty-second ti. 
 tles of the Ordinance of 1667, shall >e observed on pain of nullity. 
 
 
 
21 
 
 VILL. The parties may have their remedy by appeal to our Council 
 fromJ udgements rendered by the Governors and Intendauts upon the 
 said private differences thy upon Reunions to our Domain. The 
 said Appeals may be instituted by mere ‘‘Acées,” and the Petitions 
 which shall be presented accordingly, shall together with the paper 
 writings of the parties be transmitted to the Secretary of State for the 
 Marine Department, in order that upon his Report thereon in our 
 Council, we may do therein as shall be meet. 
 
 Wherefore we enjoin our beloved and faithful the Members of our 
 Superior Council of Canada, that they do cause these presents to be 
 read, published and enrelled, and that the contents thereof they do 
 keep, observe and execute according to their form and tenor, any 
 Edict, Declaration, Arrét, Ordinance or other thing to the contrary 
 thereof notwithstanding, all such being hereby derogated from. For 
 such is our pleasure. In Witness whereof we have caused our Seal 
 to be hereunto set. 
 
 Given at Versailles, this seventeenth day of July, in the year of 
 our Lord 1743, and of our Reign the 28th. 
 
 (Signed) LOUIS. 
 
 And lower down 
 (Signed) PHELIPPEAUX. 
 Enrolled, the Attorney-General being heard and demanding the 
 same, according to the Arrét of this date, by us the undersigned, 
 Councillor and Secretary of the King, Principal Clerk of the Coun- 
 cil aforesaid. : 
 At Quebec, this fifth day of October 1744. 
 
 (Signed) DAINE. 
 
 DECLARATION of the King in Interpretation of that of 17th 
 - July 1743, concerning Grants of Land in the Colonies. 
 
 Louis, by the Grace of God, King of France and Navarre. To 
 allto whom these presents shall come, Grecting. By our Declara~ 
 tion of the seventeenth day of July one thousand seven hundred and 
 forty-three, we have regulated the form of proceeding whether as to 
 Concessions of lands in our French Colonies, or as to the reuniting 
 to our Domain, of such conceded land as are Jiable to be reunited 
 thereunto, or as to the trial and adjudication of differences arising 
 between the grantees or their assigns, and by the eighth Article of the 
 same declaration,we have ordained that the parties may have their re- 
 course by appeal to our Council against the judgements which shall be 
 rendered by the Governors and Intendants of the said Colonies,on al! 
 
 
 
 A fey “weg 
 

 
 
 
 
 22 
 
 those matters of which the cognizance devolves upon them to the ex- 
 clusion of all other Judges,that the said Appeals may be instituted by 
 mere Actes aud that the Petitions which shall be presented according- 
 fy, shall be transmitted together with the paper writings of the par- 
 ties to our Secretary of State for the Marine Department in order 
 that upon his Report to our Counctt we may do that which shall be 
 meet. But upon the last Article it hath been represented unto us, 
 that by reason of the distant situation of Places, it would be expe- 
 dient for the sake of Justice, to render provisionally executory the 
 Judgement pronounced by the said Governors and Intendants, and 
 that such new provision would prevent many Appeals which are in- 
 strtuted by the Parties merely in order to maintain their unjust Pos- 
 session. For these causes and others, us thereunto moving, with the 
 Advice of our Council and of our certain knowledge, full power and 
 Royal authority, we have in Interpretation of our Declaration of 
 the 17th of July 1743, declared and ordained and do declare and 
 ordain and itis our will and pleasure that the Judgements which shali 
 be rendered in consequence of our Declaration by the Governors 
 our Lieutenant Generals and the Intendants in our Colonies, or by 
 the Officers representing them, upon the said matters of which they 
 have the Cognizance tothe exclusion of all other Judges, shall be 
 provisionally executory notwithstanding any Appeal which may be 
 instituted and without prejudice thereto. We nevertheless leave it 
 at the discretion of the said Governors and Intendants, in the cases 
 in which tlhiey shall deem it proper, not to direct the provisional Ex- 
 ecution of their Judgements unless upon good and sufficient Security 
 being entered into by the Party in whose faveur they shall have 
 Been rendered. Our said Declaration shail moreover be put in ex- 
 ecution according to the form and Tenor thereof. Wherefore we 
 enjoin our beloved and faithful the Members of our Superior Coun- 
 cil of Quebec that they do cause these presents to be read, publish- 
 ed and enrolled, and the Contents of the same observed and put in 
 Execution according to their form and Tenor, any Edict, Declara- 
 tion, drrét, Ordinance, Regulation and other things to the con- 
 trary notwithstanding, all which we have derogated from and do 
 hereby derogate from. For such is our pleasure. In Witness where- 
 ef we have caused our Seal to be hereunto affixed, Given at Ver- 
 sailles this first Day of October, in the year of our Lord, 1747, and 
 
 of our Reign the 33d. 
 (Signed) LOUIS. 
 And lower down 
 Signed, PHELIPPEAUX, with Paraphe. 
 
 / 
 
 And sealed with the great Seal of yellow wax, 
 
 Enrolled, the King’s Attorney General being heard and demand- 
 ing the same, according to Arrét of this Date, by us, undersigned 
 Councillor and Secretary of the King, principal Clerk of the Coun. 
 
——— 
 
 OCC 
 
 oS eye ea Pw 
 
 23 
 
 cil, at Quebec, this nineteenth day of June one thousand seven 
 hundred and forty-eight. 
 
 (Signed) BOISSEAU., 
 
 Arrét enjoining Communication to the Trustee (Syndic) for the In- 
 habitants, of the Arrét concerning the Reunion of the uncleared 
 Lands, before rendering Judgement. [avant faire Droit.) 
 
 The Governor and Bishop having laid before the Council the Ay- 
 rét of the King’s Council of State of the 21st of March 1663; en- 
 joining that within six months from the publication thereof, all the 
 inhabitants shall cause to be cleared all the Lands contained in their 
 Concessions, in default whereof ali those which shall remain unclear. 
 ed shall be distributed by new Grants in His Majesty’s name, His 
 Majesty revoking and annulling all grants of the said Lands not yet 
 cleared, made by the persons heretofore interested in the Company 
 of New France, whereby it is enjoined them to see to the punctual 
 execution of the said Arrét, and evento make a distribution of the 
 said uncleared Lands and to make Grants thereof in His Majesty’s 
 name, they demand that the said Arrét be put in execution in every 
 respect, according to its Form and Tenor. And that in so doing all 
 the Lands which are notat present cleared and brought under culti- 
 vation, be declared reunited to the King’s Domain, to be disposed 
 of in His Majesty’s name, by new Grants in favour of persons de- 
 manding them as aforesaid, the said Governor and Bishop declar- 
 
 ing that they do not in any way pretend to influence [ intéresser | the 
 
 people inhabiting this Country, nor to compel them to quit theirhou- 
 ses and settlements, consenting that these do remain in the state in 
 which they are, but that with respect to those of which Grants are to 
 be made, they will take care that the King’s instruction be thereia 
 followed, and that they be reduced into Hamlets and Boroughs, 
 (Bourgs et Bourgades) as far as can be done, as also that it be fore 
 bidden to all pretended Seigniors to dispose by Grant of any waste 
 Lands on pain of nullity: the King’s Attorney being heard, who hath 
 prayed that all the Tracts of Wood Land be reunited to the King’s 
 Domain, the Council before adjudication, hath ordained that the 
 said Arrét shall be communicated to the Trustee for the Settlers, at 
 the diligence of the King’s Attorney General, in order to such De- 
 cree upon his answer as shall be meet. 
 
 PROJECTS and REGULATIONS made by Messrs. de Tracy and 
 Talon concerning the Settlement of the Country of Canada. 
 
 Whereas by Monsieur de Tracy and Monsieur de Courcelles, it is 
 deemed of utility to the King’s Service and benefit to the Country, 
 
 that the Supreme Council (Conseil Souverain) which was established 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 24 
 by the King in 1663, and interrupted by the late Monsieur de Mézy 
 in 1664, benow reestablished by retaining the same Persons who 
 were placed therein at its creation, or by placing others in their stead 
 to compose the same, Talon demands that after the said Sieurs shall 
 have been assured of the probity and capacity of His Majesty’s Sub. 
 jects inhabiting Canada above mentioned, the reestablishment of 
 the said Council be proceeded to according to the orders and inten- 
 tions of His Majesty ; that the matters whereof the same shall have 
 cognizance, shall be specifically declared, the place and day on 
 which they shall meet designated and the power thereof extended or 
 regulated as it shall seem meet unto the Sieurs above-mentioned. 
 
 And inasmuch as the King’sintention is not that his Subjects should 
 ruin each other by protracted suits, and that it is highly expedient 
 for the Country of Canada that there should be therein established a 
 brief, clear and inexpensive Form of distributive J ustice; that there 
 be established in every Céte, Ward or J urisdiction, Judges having 
 original Jurisdiction over all civil matters to the extent of Ten Livres 
 and over all others of the said Judgements from which an Appeal may 
 lie to three other Judges of the four who shall be established at Que- 
 bec, to determine all matters within the Consular Jurisdiction 3 and 
 to decide all differences arising among the inhabitants whether mer- 
 chants or not, by reason of Notes, Bills, Undertakings, Obliga- 
 tions, Balances of Account by Mercantile Books, according co and in 
 the mode prescribed by the annexed Regulation ; in order that at all 
 times the parties who are often froma distance be regulated, and that 
 by such facility and prompt despatch they may saye that time which 
 is so useful in the culture of Land and those expenses which another 
 Form of Justice might occasion, ifthe present one were not intro- 
 duced, unless the Sieurs above-mentioned should deem it preferable 
 to establish the Sieurs Chartier as Lieutenant General to which ap- 
 pointment he had been nominated by the West-India Company which 
 hath granted him procuration to that effect. . 
 
 That the Fees [ Vacations] and Salaries of these four J udges, if 
 established, shall be regulated rather for the sake of Honour than of 
 Emolument, inasmuch as they ought chiefly to regard the Public 
 Good to which they are pleased to devote a small portion of their 
 Time. 
 
 Be it ordained that Parties shall summon those against whom the 
 may have an Action, by notice given by themselves, unless ncbrd 
 ing to circumstances or the exigency of the case, the J udge. should 
 deem it meet to send them ex officio a note giving a day for their ap- 
 pearance wherefore there shall be appointed one day or more in the 
 week for presenting petitions; the Sundays and Holidays (the four 
 principal Holidays of the year excepted,) appear fittest for saving that 
 time for labour which is so valuable to the Inhabitants of Canada. 
 
 That such Notice so given by the party or ex officio by the Judge, 
 and certified by any neighbour of credibility shall have the same force 
 and virtue as a Summons ; and that upon non-appearance, default 
 
== 
 
 . Cow eu 
 
 
 
 25 
 
 Shall be given in like manner as if there had been a Summons, in 
 which case the ministry of the Bailiff may be used to serve the 
 same at the expense of the person to whom it shall appertain. 
 
 That before any Prosecutor or Plaintiff, inhabiting the Céte, shall 
 seek a judicial remedy at Quebec by suit, he shall try the effect of an 
 arbitration, by summoning the adverse party by one or two neigh- 
 bours of credibility, to submit his interests to one or more Arbitra- 
 tors, or to the determination of the Captain of the Ward, in matters 
 alittle under fifteen Livres, slight quarrels, disputes or opprobrious 
 language, and upon his refusal, he shall proceed as is hereinbefore 
 stated after the party refusing shall have been condemned to pay the 
 expenses of the first Summons previous to being permitted to plead, 
 upon his refusal being ascertained by proof, inasmuch as by refusing 
 that fair method (honnéteté ) and that settlement by arbitration which 
 was proposed respecting the interest claimed by him, he has evinced 
 an inclination for litigation which cannot be otherwise than censura= 
 ble. 
 
 Because there are too frequently complaints by Masters against 
 temporary Domestics, old or new (Valets passagers, anciens ow not= 
 veaux, ) and Domestics against Masters. 
 
 That the same Judges who are established at Quebec shall have 
 cognizance of all differences existing, or which may arise between 
 Masters and Domestics, old or new, by reason of service, allowances 
 and wages. 
 
 That forthe provisional Regulation of matter of the said Masters 
 or Valets it be ordained 
 
 N.B. The Leaf which is wanting, that is to say, folio 32, con- 
 tains nothing else than a continuation of the Projects of Regulations 
 which are commenced at folio 31, R° . and end at folio 34, V °.see 
 Letter A, Register of Edicts, Arréts, &c. First volume, fifteenth 
 folio. 
 
 One and the same Surgeon shall have the Care of two or three 
 Communautés. 7 
 
 VI. Thatone common Herdsman forthe keeping of cattle in Com- 
 mon, may save the Grain from the injury which such Cattle usually 
 do in the Fields of such Settlements as are not incorporated, Com- 
 munautés, and for several other reasons which it would be useless to 
 adduce. 
 
 After it shall have been deemed expedient to form incorporated 
 Villages, en corps de Communauté, it is right to remark that is is most 
 material for the King’s service and the safety of the Country of Ca- 
 nada to place them, as far as may be practicable, in the vicinity of 
 Quebec, for the following reasons : 
 
 I. For the mutual Aid which Quebec and its Settlements afford 
 each other, the latter supplying the former with the productions of 
 the Lands, Wood, Grain, Pulse, Vegetables, and the profits of rural 
 economy and of the Farm-Yards, Ménageries, for feeding Cattle 
 and for Poultry, Eggs, a Milk, Cheese and other necessaries ef 
 
 
 
 —, 
 
 oR SE NET EE Re UT eS aE SR mt 
 
26 
 
 life, which are so rare at Quebec, that they are there sold excessively 
 dear ; in exchange for which they will receive from Quebec aforesaid 
 the merchandize, the stuffs, linen, shoes and other articles brought 
 from France for the use of the Colonies. 
 
 II. That as the proximity of Quebec, besides the protection it 
 affords those Villages merely because it is secure from the Iroquois, 
 that they may be easily assisted in case of attack, will greatly facilie 
 tate that real and salutary relief which the said Villages might require ; 
 Quebec, on its part, if attacked by the Europeans, or by Indian 
 Nations may be strongly supported by the great number of Inhabj« 
 tants, which those Villages will furnish, who on the firing of the 
 first Cannon, shall be ordered to repair to the Castle of Saint Lewis, 
 the Rendez-vous common to all. 
 
 IITt. The same proximity of Quebec, with respect to Settlements 
 ought to be much regarded, if it be considered, that the families 
 which will besent from France, will thence derive great advantages 
 for their Instruction in the manner of living in Canada, in Spiritual 
 and Temporal concerns. And to speak in its Order of the Villages 
 to be formed for the Settlement of the new families which are to be 
 sent by His Majesty ; having ascertained that it js of importance to 
 place them near Quebec, it must be admitted that as their form must 
 be according to the nature and situation of the ground, it is not easy 
 to determine the same ; that a round or asquare form appears nevere 
 theless to be most convenient if the situation permits, and that the 
 extent of each Settlement should be so much land as, when distribut- 
 ed into twenty, thirty, forty or fifty shares, shall give for each of 
 them forty arpents and this varying and unequal number of settlements 
 will form Boroughs, Villages and Hamlets, according te the adap. 
 tation of the ground, | 
 
 
 
 Ce ii ce ee tee - 
 ity = ." = J oP ._—. — 
 s 
 
 — eee 
 
 Tt must also be determined, that after having reserved in these 
 Hamlets or Villages, the Settlements necessary for the families which 
 are to be sent out this year, it appears that the remainder ought to 
 be distributed among old Settlers, competent to instruct such heads 
 of families as are newly arrived and settled in the most useful methed 
 of cultivating the land by labouring in the proper seasons, either by 
 conversation or by the example of their assiduity in labour, and I add 
 if there be persons of various trades usually serving to provide some- 
 thing in their line, which is adapted to the common use of the inha- 
 bitants of these Villages, as Carpenters, Masons, Cordwainers and 
 others, it will be very proper to introduce them therein, in order that 
 without going out of the Village, every thing necessary either for the 
 food or the lodging and clothing of man may be found therein for 
 the convenience of the person inhabiting the place. 
 
 With respect to the terms and conditions which are to be stipu- 
 fated in the Contracts to be made in favour of the Grantees, it ap- 
 pears that they ought to be various according io the difference among 
 the Persons on whom they are to be bestowed, 
 
 er 
 
 SS 
 
 Sa nace 
 
 | 
 
 NM 
 
 
 
—— ss 
 
 i ee ee 
 
 27 
 
 The Soldiers of the Regiment CarignansSaliére, or of the Garri- 
 sons of the Forts of Quebec, Three-Rivers and Montreal, being in 
 right andin fact bound to the King, by the pay they have received, 
 not having it in their power to exempt themselves from continuing to 
 render their services on future occasions to His Majesty, whether 
 for the defence of the Country, in which they will be interested as in 
 the common weal and security ofall, or for all enterprises having im 
 view the utility and benefit of Old and New-France, so there is 
 nothing inexpedient in granting to them the Lands which they may 
 clear upon this condition which will not be burdensome to then 
 since it will not take them out of that in which they now are, and 
 because they cannot settle themselves by their labour alone, it is new 
 cessary to aflord them assistance in the first years, It appears to His 
 Majesty as usefal as it is just to give them some assistance in provisions 
 and tools proper for their work, and to pay them for the cultivation’ 
 of the two first arpents of land which they shall cut down and burn, 
 although upon their own account and for their own profit, obliging 
 them to cultivate in exchange two others in the three or four years: 
 following, in favour of the families who shall come hither from F rancey 
 without any payment therefore. By this expedient, they are prow 
 vided with the means of forming a stock for subsistence in the winter, 
 and lands are prepared for the families which the King appears to 
 intend to settle at his expense. 
 
 This mode of granting a newly acquired Country, has its example 
 in Roman Antiquity, and may correspond with that in which among 
 the Romans the ‘Territories of subdued Provinces which were called 
 Predia Militaria were formerly given. ‘The practice of that politic 
 and warlike people may in my opinion be judiciously introduced inte 
 a Country, a thousand leagues distant from its Sovereign, and the 
 State of which it is but a very detached member, and may be after 
 under the necessity of supporting itself by its own resources. This 
 
 method appears to me the more to be valued, as it will one day form 
 
 for the King a body of old troops, who will no lenger be a charge to 
 His Majesty, and will nevertheless be able to preserve the infant 
 state of Canada, with all the augmentationsit may receive against the 
 inroads ef the Indians, or the violent incursions of the Europeans, 
 
 and even in the urgent necessities of Old France, afford His Majesty: 
 
 considerable aid. 
 In addition to these first motives, it is well to allow weight tocon- 
 
 siderations of the public peace and tranquillity, to maintain which’ 
 
 all human prudence ought to be exerted, there being nothing in civil 
 life whose preservation isso precious as matters which tend to mains 
 tain the union and repose of people, which peculiarly depend on their 
 fidelity towards their Sovereign, and therewpon the preservation of 
 the newly discovered and acquired Provinces in remote Countries 
 
 under the subjection and dominion of that Sovereign.— Wheres 
 
 fore the first of our Kings, whose policy was superior to what 
 
 has been supposed, introduced jnto newly acquired Countries, mili« 
 
 
 
 
 
 , 
 : 
 

 
 e, 
 
 tary men of well known fidelity, and born their Subjects, in order 
 
 internally to keep the Inhabitants in their duty, and externally to. 
 ward off their common enemies. And with a view to maintain and 
 
 Support them therein, granted them Lands in these Countries to be 
 
 cultivated and supply all the necessaries of life. _ A practice equally | 
 economical and politic, for on one hand it saved the public Funds and 
 on the other it gave the Officer and Soldier an interest in the preser- 
 vation of the Country, as in that of his own inheritance. 
 
 The old Settlers claiming Lands might less relish this condition of 
 serving Ilis Majesty than Soldiers might do, if on one hand the na- 
 tural duty which require them to take the field when called out, and 
 on the other that honour by which they may be stimulated, and the 
 remission which may be made them of the other onerous dues, usual- 
 ly annexed to Grants, did not sufficiently induce them to comply 
 therewith. It might then be stipulated in the Grants. 
 
 And as His Majesty appears to intend to defray the whole expense 
 of commencing the Settlements, by clearing the woods, tilling and 
 Sowing two acres of ground, advancing meal to the families coming 
 out, that may be required of them in the first instance, which is 
 required of the old Settlers ; that having received twoacres ina state. 
 fit for yielding the fruits of the tillage and sowing of the soil, they 
 should cultivate two others in the three or four years next after their 
 arrival, so as not to require of them such. return for the first or second 
 year which would divert them too much from the improvement of 
 their Settlement, at a time when all their exertions are necessary for 
 acquiring that establishment on which that of ther whole family de- 
 pends. And for the benefit they desire from the Grant of the Land, 
 they shall in lieu of cens sur cens, censtves or other renders which are 
 annexed tothe Grants in that Country, engage their first born son in 
 the King’s service, when he shall have attained the age of sixteen, 
 and he shall commeuce his noviciate in a Garrison of the Forts, with- 
 out having claim to any other stipend than his subsistance, or such 
 as may be ordered for him by His Majesty’s States, during the ser- 
 vice he shall render; this obligation hardly adds to that which atrue 
 Subject incurs at his birth, but it appears that when the condition is 
 stipulated it is less harsh when required than when nothing is said of 
 it in the Grants of the Lands which are given as all those in Canada 
 are given. 
 
 As in the whole of this distribution nothing is reserved in favour 
 of the West India Company, on which His Majesty is willing to con- 
 fer the benefit which in such case arises from the right of Seigniory 
 where the Settlements hold immediately of them, andin this case 
 they might be invested with superior, mesne and inferior jurisdiction, 
 with the dues of lods et ventes, suisines and fines, and even a small 
 ground rent if it be thought expedient, or if His Majesty deeming it 
 more expedient that they should have as Vassals Officers of his Troops 
 who having over the Peasantry, roturiers, the useful and domanial 
 Scigniory, he may create for them some inconsiderable ground rents, 
 
 
 
= 
 
 
 
 29 
 
 rather as Tokens of Honour than as useful Income, and may grant 
 them mesne and inferior Jurisdiction, reserving the superior Juris- 
 diction, which he may annex to a supreme Court of Fiefs or to Of- 
 ficers instituted for the rights of the Seignior Paramount, (Suzerain ) 
 or Dominantissime. 
 
 The foregoing articles, treating only of dues to be established in 
 the Hamlets, Villages and Bourgades, which His Majesty hath in- 
 stituted or may institute at his expense, to be distributed among the 
 poor families which he may send from France, and with which he 
 intends to people Canada, or which ( Hamlets, &c.) he intends to 
 distribute among the Soldiers who may choose to settle therein, it is 
 very proper to inquire by what Titles and on what conditions the 
 Lands are to be distributed, and Grants made to the persons who 
 
 will be at the expense and labour of the cultivation of Canada, they 
 
 forming Hamlets, Villages or Bourgades. 
 
 Assuming always the same principle that the obedience and fidelity 
 due tothe Prince, being more liable to be impaired in remote Coun- 
 tries than in thosenear the supreme authority chiefly vested in the 
 person of the Prince, and having therein more force and efficacy than 
 in any other, it is prudent to prevent in the establishment of the 
 infant state of Canada, all those deplorable revulutions which might 
 either render the same aristocratic or democratic instead of monar- 
 chical, or by means of a balanced power and authority among its 
 subjects, might separate it into parts and occasion a dismemberment, 
 such as has occurred in France by the erection of Sovereignties in 
 the Kingdoms of Soissons, Orléans, the Counties of Champagne and 
 ethers. 
 
 (Signed) TALON & TRACY. 
 
 Read, published and enrolled at the instance of the 
 Attorney General, to be put in execution accord- 
 ing to Arrét of this date. At Quebec, in the Su- 
 preme Council, the twenty.fourth of January one 
 thousand six hundred and sixty-seven. 
 
 (Signed) PEUVRET. 
 (C.) 
 ORDINANCE reuniting several Lands to the Domain of Lauzon, 
 for default by the Inhabitants to make actual settlements: 
 Dated 30th March 1730. 
 
 GILLES HOCQUART, &c. 
 
 Upon reading the Arrét of the King’s Council of State, of the 6th 
 of July 1711, whereby His Majesty hath ordained that for Default 
 by the Inhabitants of New France, to bring their Lands into culti- 
 vation, and to make actual settlements thereon within one year from 
 
 ieee ae a SD TE ae ER 
 

 
 eo 
 
 the date of their Grants, they shall be divested of all property in 
 the said Lands, and that the reunion thereof to the Domains of the 
 Seigneurs shall be made by the Intendants, upon the Certificates and 
 Attestations of the Curates and Captains of Militia, that the said 
 inhabitants have not obeyed the said Arrét. Also our Ordinance of. 
 the 18th of February 1730, whereby on complaint made to us by the 
 Sieur Etienne Charét, Seignior of the Céte de Lauzon, that divers 
 Individuals to whom for some years past Lands have been conceded 
 in the said Seigniory, have not made actual settlements thereon, nor 
 have brought them into cultivation, although the Lands of the said 
 persons were at that time liable to reunion, it was nevertheless our 
 pleasure to grant them a further delay of ten months, in order to 
 enable them to comply with the said Arrét of the Council of State, 
 under the Penalties thereof. The Publication of our said Ordi- 
 nance, and the posting thereof at the door of the Church of St. Jo< 
 seph, a Parish in the said Seigniory, on the 26th of the said month 
 of February in the year aforesaid, by Benoit The Petition pre- 
 sented to us by the Sieur Charet on the 16th of the present month, 
 containing renewed complaints against the said persons therein« 
 named, all Proprietors of Land in the said Seigniory of Lauzon, 
 who have not made actual settlement in all the time we had granted 
 them, which elapsed nearly three months since—that is to say, the 
 Heirs and Assigns of the late Dumont, for eight Arpents in front by 
 forty in depth in the first Range ; Charles Gautier, for ten Arpents 
 in front, by forty in depth, also in the first Range ; Eustache Samson, 
 for three Arpents in front by thirty in depth in the second range ; the 
 widow Grenet for two Lands in the second Range, of three Arpents 
 each, by thirty in depth ; Joseph Girard, for one of three Arpents, in the 
 second Range, by thirty in depth ; Frangots Brulot, for two Arpents 
 and a half in front, by thirty in depth; Louis Fagot, for three Ar- 
 pentsin front, by thirty in depth; Joseph Fagot, also for three Ar- 
 pents in front, by thirty in depth ; Michel Jourdain, also for three 
 Arpents in front, by thirty in depth ; Joseph Jourdain, also for three 
 Arpents in front, by thirty in depth; Louis Marchand, also for three 
 Arpents in front, by thirty in depth; Charles Guay, in the third 
 Range also, for three Arpents in front, by thirty in depth ; Joseph 
 Guay, also for three Arpents in front, by thirty in depth ; Michel 
 Guay, also for three Arpentsin front, by thirty in depth ; Jean Bap- 
 liste Girard, also for three Arpents in front, by thirty in depth; 
 Charles Girard, in the third Range, for three Arpents in front, by 
 thirty in depth ; Claude Girard, also for three Arpents in front, by 
 thirty in depth ; Jacques Girard, also for three Arpents in front, by 
 thirty in depth—by which Petition the said Sieur Charét prayeth that 
 we do proceed to the reunion of the said Lands to his Domain, upon 
 the certificates of the Curates and Captains of the Cétes of the said 
 Seigniory which he hath laid before us. And upon reading the said 
 certificates of the Sieurs Larue, Curate, and Coudure, Captain of 
 Militia of the said Cote and Seigniory of Lauzon, both bearing date 
 
 
 
 
 
Me 
 
 31 
 
 the 12th day of February last, by which they attest that all the In- 
 habitants above-mentioned, have not for many years had any actual 
 settlement on the Lands they have obtained in the said Seigniory of 
 Lauzon. The whole matter being taken into cousideration, We, by 
 virtue of the power to us given by His Majesty, and in execution of 
 the said Arrét of the King’s Council of State, of the 6th of July 
 1711, have declared all the persons above-mentioned, that is to say : 
 the Heirs or Assigns of the late Dumont, Charles Gautier, Eustache 
 Samson, the widow Grenet, Joseph Girard, Francois Brulot, Louis 
 Fagot, Joseph Fagot, Michel Jourdain, Joseph J ourdain, Louis 
 Marchand, Charles Guay, Joseph Guay, Michel Guay, Jean Bap- 
 tiste Girard, Charles Girard, Claude Girard, Jacques Girard, well 
 and duly divested of all property in the said Lands to them conceded, 
 and situate in the said Seigniory of Lauzon, for their default to have 
 made actual settlement thereon, and to have resided thereon, and 
 brought them into cultivation within the time ordained, both by the 
 said Arrét of the Council of State, and by our Ordinance of the 18th 
 of February 1730, and the same we have reunited to the Domain 
 of the said Sieur Charét, and the said Ordinance shall be read, pub- 
 lished and affixed at the door of the Church of the said Seigniory 
 at the close of Divine Service, in order that no one of the persons 
 above-mentioned may beignorant thereof. We enjoin, &c. : 
 Given at Quebec, the 30th day of March 1730. . 
 
 (Signed) HOCQUART. 
 
 ORDINANCE reuniting the Lands of the Persons therein named 
 to the Domain of the Sieur Boucher de Niverville, by virtue of 
 the Ordinance of the 24th July 1730, which obliges them to ac- 
 tual residence, and prohibits them and all others from selling, as- 
 signing or exchanging their Lands to prevent all surprise, Dated 
 27th Suly 1732. 
 
 GILLES HOCQUART, &c. 
 
 Upon our Ordinance of the 24th of July 1730, rendered on the 
 Petition of the Sieur Jean Baptiste Boucher de Niverville, Esquire, 
 Seignior of Chambly, whereby we have ordained that all the Settlers 
 therein named shall actually reside upon their Lands and cause a 
 
 clearing to be made thereon within eight months at the latest, com- 
 
 puting from the date of our said Ordinance to the first day of April 
 one thousand seven hundred and thirty one inclusive, after which 
 time and upon the certificates of the said Curate and Captain of Mili- 
 tia of the place, that they shall not have actually resided on the 
 Spot, nor made a clearing, we shall proceed to the reunion of the 
 said Lands to the Domain of the said Sieur De Niverville, with pro- 
 hibition to the said settlers and all others to Assign, Exchange, or 
 Sell their Lands without previous notice to their Seignior, in order 
 that such Assignments, Exchanges or Sales may be by him ratified te 
 
 SN gee ee 
 

 
 CT) 
 
 avoid all surprise—The said Ordinance published on three successive 
 Sundays, beginning on the 30th J uly in the said year, by Laloire and 
 Lavalé, Officers of Militia. The Petition unto us presented by the 
 said Sr. de Niverville, setting forth that since the said delay granted by 
 the above mentioned Ordinance and which expired more than a year 
 since, the said Settlers therein mentioned have not fulfilled the dut 
 
 of actually residing upon their said Lands, and praying that it be our 
 pleasure to decree the reunion of the said Lands to his Domain upon 
 the Certificates of the Curate and Captain of Militia of the said Sei- 
 gniory, to the said Petition annexed, and according to the Arrét of 
 the King’s Council of State of the sixth J uly one thousand seven hun- 
 dred and eleven, in order that the Petitioner may do with and dis- 
 pose of the same in favour of such persons as it shall seem meet unto 
 him, and moreover to condemn the said inhabitants to pay to the 
 Petitioner the Cens et Rentes which they owe him for the whole time 
 - of their possession, and upon the said certified statement of the Mis- 
 sionary and Captain of Chambly of the twelfth instant, whereby it 
 appears that since the publication of our foregoing Ordinance, the 
 said Settlers therein named have not actually resided, nor have done 
 any thing to their Lands—thai is to say, Marien Lebault, for three 
 arpents in front by thirty in depth, L’Epine, fora Land of like ex- 
 tent, Nicolas Favereau, for three arpents and a half by thirty in 
 depth ; Michel Charbonneau, also for three arpents and a half by 
 thirty in depth; André Languedoc, J oseph Labrie, Etienne Petit, An- 
 toine Roy, Pierre Marié, Jean Archambault, Joseph Lorion, Jean 
 _ Milet, André Archambault, F rangois Chrétien, Pierre Groux, Fran- 
 cois Sérat L’Espagnol, Pierre Avare, Jean Baptiste Cousinean, I- 
 gnace Martin, all thé Settlers above mentioned for three arpents in 
 front each by thirty in depth ; Réné La Fleur, for three arpents by 
 forty in depth ; the widow Latulipe, for four arpents in front by for- 
 ty in depth; Louis Languedoc, Antoine Languedoc, Francois Lan- 
 guedoc, each for a Land of three arpents in front by thirty in depth ; 
 Jean Baptiste Cousineau, for two Lands of three arpents by thirty 
 in depth ; Francois Voyer dit Labrie, for three arpents by thirty in 
 depth ; Pierre Groux, fortwo Lands of three arpents by thirty in 
 depth 5 Francois Sérat also for two Lands of three arpents in front, 
 by thirty in depth ; Antoine Lorion, for three arpents by the same 
 depth ; René Lorion, for three arpents by thirty in depth ; Louis 
 and André Archambault each for three arpents by thirty in depth ; 
 the whole being taken into consideration, we, by virtue of the pow- 
 er unto us given by His Majesty, and in execution of the said JArrét 
 of the Council of State of the sixth of J uly one thousand seven hun- 
 dred and eleven, have declared all the said Persons herein-before 
 named well and duly divested of the Property of the said Lands unto 
 them granted by the Sieur de Niverville, and situate in the said Sei- 
 gniory of Chambly for their default of actual residence on the spot, 
 and of having performed any work thereon within the times appoint- 
 ed both by the said Arrét of the said Council of State and our said 
 
 
 
 ~~ 
 
53 
 
 Ordinance of the 24th July one thousand seven hundred and thirty, 
 and we have reunited the same to the Domain of the said Sieur de 
 Niverville : and this Ordinance shall be read and published in the 
 accustomed manner, tothe end that no Person therein-mentioned 
 may be ignorant thereof. We enjoin &c. Done at Montreal the 
 
 twenty-seventh of July 1732. 
 (Signed) TLOCQUART. 
 
 ORDINANCE reuniting to His Majesty’s Domain all Seigni- 
 ories which are not under cultivation. Dated 10th May !741. 
 
 CHARLES, MARQUIS OF BEAUHARNOIS, &c. 
 GILLES HOCQUART, &c. 
 
 Between the King’s Attorney General of the Supérior Council of 
 Quebec, Plaintiff, according to his Request, answered by us on the 
 twentieth day of February last, on one part, and the Sieurs Francois 
 Daine, Principal Clerk of the said Council, De Lusignan, Lieute- 
 nant of the Troops, De Laronde Denis, Captain of the said Troops, 
 De Beaujeu, Major of the Troops, Péan, Major of the Town and 
 Castle of Quebec, and Foucault, Keeper of the King’s Stores, De- 
 fendant, all personally present, Mr. Dosquet, formerly Bishop of 
 Quebec, one of the Directors of the Seminary of Quebec appearing, 
 De St. Vincent, an Ensign on service, appearing by the Sieur Ss- 
 tebe, holding his procuration, dated the 27th of April 1740, De 
 Beauvais the younger, appearing by the Sieur Chaussegros De Léry, 
 Chief Engineer, De Contrecceur, the younger, Ensign, and La- 
 
 erriére, Captain of the said Troops, appearing by the said Sieur 
 Péan, Major of Quebec, holding their’ Procuration, passed before 
 Mr. La Tour, Royal Notary, on the 24th of March last, De Sabre- 
 vois, Lieutenant of the Troops, and De Sabrevois De Bleury, 
 appearing by the Sieur Parent of this City, Merchant, holding 
 their Procuration under their hands, bearing date the 5th of this 
 month, the Chevalier d’Argenteuil, appearing by Dubreuil, Usher 
 to the Council, holding his Procuration also under his hand, dated 
 the eleventh of the said month, Lafontaine, Councillor of the said 
 Superior Council, appearing by the Sieur Lévrard, holding his Procu- 
 ration also under his hand, of the fourth of the said month, Rochert, 
 Keeper of the King’s Stores at Montreal, appearing by the said Sieur 
 Foucault, holding his Procuration received before Mr. Danré, Nota- 
 ry at Montreal, of the twenty-seventh of March last, all the per- 
 sons abovementioned being Grantees of Lands along the River Cham- 
 plain, Lake Champlain and other places, Defendants, and Summoned 
 on the sixth and eleventh day of March last, and on the ninth day of 
 this month, and the Sieurs Douville, De N oyan and De Lagauche- 
 tigre, also Defendants and in Default, not having appeared them- 
 selves nor any person for them to the Summonses which were served 
 
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 upon them on the eleventh of the said month of March, also on the 
 other part. The said ‘ Request” of the King’s Attorney General 
 being read, whereby for the reasons therein stated, he prayeth that 
 we do permit him, to cause the persons abovementioned to be sum= 
 moned to be and appear before us at the Castle of St. Louis at Que- 
 bec, within the delay of the Ordinance, in order that it be adjudged 
 and ordained, that for Default of their having according to the Forms 
 of the drréis of the King’s Council of State of the 6th of July 1711, 
 and 15th of March 1732, and within the time therein specified, brought 
 Ynto cultivation the said Lands in the Seiguiories which have been 
 granted to them, and placed and settled Inhabitants thereon, they be 
 and remain reunited to his Majesty’s Domain in this Country. The 
 answers of the said Defendants present, by which the Sieur Daine 
 hath stated that he ceded his Seigniory to the Sieur Gosselin, Cu- 
 rate of the River Chambly, about two years since, that the said Sieur 
 Daine had then made several Grants, and among others to the per- 
 sons named Guarguilleau and Boileau, that he knows that one of 
 them is actually settled, that he is also informed that the said Sieur 
 Gosselin on his part had placed another Inhabitant there, who is ac- 
 tually settled on the spot—that it is his intention to settle the same 
 
 
 
 been able to find any, and that he is at present actually occupied in 
 that endeavour, wherefore he prays for a suflicient delay. The Sieur 
 de Laronde Denis, that being occupied at the Post of Chagouamigon, 
 in exploring for Copper Mines, he hath not hitherto been able to at- 
 tend to the settlement of his Seigniory, but that he will next year 
 send his oldest son, who is at Chagouamigon aforesaid, from thence, 
 in order to have a Saw Mill made there, and a Domain established, 
 until he shall be able to have a Grist Mill made, and Inhabitants sete 
 tle there ; the Sieur de Beaujeu, that he hath hitherto done every 
 thing in his power to procure Inhabitants to settle on his Seigniory, 
 and that no one hath come forward 3 that his duty having called him 
 to Quebec, he hath been obliged to sell all he possessed at Montreal, 
 even his Harness ; that he intends to go to France to put his Affairs 
 in order, and that at his return he hopes he shall be able to settle his 
 
 said Seigniory ; The Sieur Peéan, that he hath not hitherto been able 
 
 to find any Inhabitant to place on his Seigniory, that if he found 
 any, ne is ready to supply them with Axes, Hoes for clearing, and a 
 year’s Provision, that he will continue to seek for, and will do his 
 utmost to procure Settlers, and that he intends to establisha Domain | 
 there ; and the Sieur Foucault,that he has made it a point of duty to 
 settle the Land granted to him, that he hath caused the same to be 
 bounded and surveyed, as he proves by one hundred and four Proces 
 
 
 
ee ee 
 
 35 
 
 Verbaux of Survey numbered, by two Deeds of Grant made by 
 him to Jean and Louis Vigean, passed on the 14th of August 1739, 
 before Barolet, Notary at Quebec, and the general Procés Verbal of 
 Survey of the said Seigniory, which he hath caused to be made by 
 Jean Vrin, Surveyor, the said Procés Verbaux produced to us ;—— 
 The paper dated 15th March last, signed by the Sieur Ranconnet, 
 whereby, among othcr things, he states that he hath not ever held 
 any Procuration from Mr.’ Dosquet in this Country, and consequent- 
 ly that the Ordinance rendered without any other Summons, is ren« 
 dered Ex parte. That possibly Mr. Dosquet will, at a proper time, 
 allege in his defence, that the negligence imputed to him is entitled 
 to some indulgence—-that in the same year in which the said Arrét 
 of the King’s Council of State bears date, the Affairs of his Diocess 
 called him to France, that he hath imported from France certain Mill 
 works [ moulanges | which were at length spoiled without having been 
 used ; that new business, or rather such as necessarily arose out of 
 _ the former affairs, induced Mr. Dosquet to perform a second voy- 
 age, that he hath ceased to be Bishop ef Quebec only since his Sucs 
 cessor took possession, the said Sieur Ranconnet (without warrant« 
 ing facts of which he is not sufficiently informed) declaring that Mr. 
 Dosquet hath probably given part of his Seigniory to the Seminary 
 of Montreal, that he now learns that Mr. Gosselin, Missionary at the 
 River Chambly, hath lately declared to the Attorney General, that 
 he hath at present several Inhabitants actually settled upon his land. 
 Further answer of the Sieur Estebe appearing as aforesaid, stating 
 that the said Sieur St. Vincent, is actually detached to command at 
 the Post des Ouyatanons, that he has already made some Grants 
 upon his Seigniory, for instance to an Inhabitant from the Céte de 
 Beaupré ; that the said Sieur St. Vincent, before his departure told 
 him, he intended to establish a Domain there torthwith, the said 
 Sieur Estebe, in the behalf aforesaid, further praying that in conside- 
 ration of the absence of the said Sieur St. Vincent in the King’s ser- 
 vice, there be granted unto him sufficient delay : Further answer of 
 the Sieur De Léry on behaif of the Siear De Beauvais, stating that 
 the said Sieur De Beauvais hath placed an Inhabitant upon his Sei- 
 gniory, who hath made an extensive clearing on the said Concession, 
 
 on which he, his wife and children reside, and further that on the - 
 
 behalf aforesaid, he prayeth delay in order to make more extensive 
 settlements: A paper without date, intituled, ‘* Summary Remon- 
 strance” produced by the said Sieurs De Contrecceur, the elder and 
 the younger, and La Perriére, through the said Sieur Péan on their 
 behalf, setting forth among other things, that they have taken every 
 step in order to settle their Grant, that they have not been able to 
 find persons willing to accept Lands, although offered to them on 
 very advantageous conditions, and although they have been willing 
 to give them as muchas Three Hundred Livres to engage them; that 
 the said Sieur Contreceeur the elder hath performed Fealty and Ho- 
 mage for his said Seigniory, and that he, as also the said Sieurs La 
 
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 56 
 
 Perriére and Contrecccur the younger, have been exposed to various 
 expenses ; that they are moreover about to do their utmost in order 
 to procure Inhabitants to settle the said Seigniories, and are in hopes 
 of succeeding, praying that we do grant them delay, on their propos« 
 ing to conform within the same to His Majesty’s intentions, Another 
 Paper writing in answer, dated the 5th of April last, from the Sieurs 
 De Sabrevois and De Bleury, by the said Sieur Parent on their behalf, 
 stating among other reasons, that they have already conceded three 
 Lands in their Seigniories, to Inhabitants who have begun clearings 
 thereon ; That in order to engage those Inhabitants, they have likes 
 wise begun a Domain, and caused the wood necessary for building 
 to be squared ; that they undertake to send this summer, and build: 
 the houses and barns necessary for the settlement, and to cause the 
 cultivation of their said concessions to be followed up; another pa- 
 per writing dated the eleventh of April last, laid before us by the 
 said Dubreuil, Usher, appearing for the Sieur d’Argenteuil, intituled, 
 
 
 
 Summary Representations,” wherein the said Sieur d’Argenteuil 
 
 states; first, that he hath requested the Sieur De ta Valtrie to cause to 
 be drawn the line of the continuation of the Seigniory De la Valtrie, 
 by which continuation the Land to him granted is bounded without. 
 having been able hitherto to compel the said Sieur De la Valtrie so 
 to do, although called on by Summons on the 15th of March also 
 last past, to the said Paper writing annexed, that such refusal on the 
 part of the said Sieur De la Valtrie hath been the cause of his having 
 been unable to have any work done, or to make any concessions 
 in his said Seigniory, but that he is about to institute a Suit at Law 
 against the said Sieur De Ja Valtrie, in order that a Surveyor may be: 
 appointed at their joint Expense to draw the said Line; Secondly, 
 That he is ready to conform to His Majesty’s intentions, that he un- 
 dertakes to send in the course of next summer to have a Domain 
 laid out on his said Seigniory, and that he will at the same time cone 
 cede several Lands for which the Inhabitants are applying to him, . 
 and for all these reasons he prays delay in order to conform to rule $. 
 another Paper writing from the Sieur Lafontaine without date, and 
 signed by him, by the Sieur Levrard on his behalf, whereby he offers 
 with our assent to go this spring upon his Grant, with three men, to 
 build there and commence clearings, and to give to such persons as 
 he may be able to procure and as may be willing to settle them, 
 wheat and even money without requiring any return, in order to ob« 
 tain that of them by the influence of the gift, which he cannot obtain 
 by compulsion ; a Paper writing from the said Sieur Rocbert, by the 
 Sieur Foucault on his behalf; also without date, wherein he states, 
 that as soon as his concession was granted to him, he sent Mr. Jan- 
 vrin Dufréne, a sworn Surveyor, with six men to survey, and mea~ 
 sure and lay down the boundaries of the said Grant, who were forty 
 days on their Journey, at an expense of seven hundred livres and ten 
 sols, according to the Certificate of the said Dufréne, which he pres 
 duces, and that he hath not neglected any thing in order to induce 
 
 
 
 
 
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 some yourlg persons to go and settle there, by procuring to them great 
 advantages and accommodatien, and therefore praying that we do ac- 
 cord him delay, to enable him to comply with his Majesty’s inten- 
 tions. Having also read his Majesty’s Ordinances, bearing date 
 the sixth day of July 1711, and the 15th day of March 1732, and 
 his orders to us directed last year, whereby His Majesty doth most, 
 strictly enjoin us, to cause proceedings to be taken for reuniting to 
 His Domain the Lands granted of old and recently, for default by the: 
 Proprietors thereof to fulfil the conditions expressed in their Deeds. 
 We, proceeding to adjudge upon the prayer of the King’s Attorney-~, 
 General, have reunited and do hereby reunite unto His Majesty’s 
 Domain, the Lands hereinafter.mentioned ; That is to say,that grant- 
 ed to the Sieur Daine on the 5th of April 1733, of one league and a 
 half in frontin Missisquouy Bay on Lake Champlain, by three leagues 
 in depth---'That in like manner granted on the 6th of April 1733, to 
 the Sieur de Lusignan, in the Bay of Missisquouy, on Lake Cham- 
 plain aforesaid, of two leagues in front by three in depth. That 
 granted on the 8th of April of the said year 1733, to the Sieur Las, 
 ronde Denis, of two leagues in front by three leagues in depth, along, 
 the River Chambly, and the small Island above the Isle aux Tétes. 
 That granted to the Sieur de Beavjeu on the 9th of April of the said, 
 year 1733, of two leagues in front by three in depth, on the River, 
 Chambly. That in like manner granted on the 10th of April of the 
 said year 1733, to the Sieur Péan, of two leagues or two leagues and, 
 a half in front, by three in depth, along the said River Chambly and, 
 Lake Champlain, including the River Chazy and [Isle @ Lamotte. 
 That granted on the 15th of October 1731, to Mr. Dosquet, of four 
 leagues in front on each side of the River Yamaska, including that 
 River, by four leagues in depth also along each side of the said River, 
 That granted to the Sieur St. Vincent, on the 12th of April 1733, of, 
 two leagues in front by three leagues in depth, on Lake Champlain. 
 Another of the Sieur de Beauvais, on the 20th of July 1734, of two. 
 leagues in front by three leagues in depth, on Lake Champlain afore- 
 said, also the Peninsula included in froat of the said Land.— 
 Another conceded on the first of July 1734, to the Sieur de Con- 
 trecceur the elder, of an Island situate in Lake Champlain, common- 
 ly called La Grande Isle, with the Isles, Islets and Shores thereon 
 depending. Another conceded on the 7th of July of the said year 
 1734, to the Sieur de Contreceeur the younger, along Lake Chame, 
 plain, beginning at the mouth of the River aux Loutres, one league 
 and a half above and one league and a half below, being two leagues, 
 in front by three leagues in depth, also the extent of the said River 
 aux Loutres included thereins with three Isles or Islets in front of, 
 the said Grant, and depending thereon. Another granted on the 
 6th of July of the said year 1734, to the Sieur de la Perriére, on the 
 margin of fake Champlain, being at the mouth of the River Ouy- 
 mouski, one league above and one league below, being two leagues 
 in froitt by three leagues in depth, with the extent of the said River 
 
 _—-- 
 

 
 38 
 
 included therein, also the adjacent Isles and Shores. Another grant~ 
 ed on the 4th of April 1733, to the Sieur de Sabrevois, of two leagues 
 in front by three leagues in depth, along the RiverChambly. Ano- 
 ther granted to the Sieur Sabrevois de Bleury, on the Ist of April of 
 the said year 1733, of three leagues in front along the River Cham- 
 bly, by three leagues in depth. Another granted to the Sieur @’Ar- 
 genteuil, on the 6th of October 1736, of one league and a half in 
 front by four leagues in depth, at the termination of the depths of 
 the Seigniory of La Noraye. That granted to the Sieur Lafontaine, 
 on the 5th of April 1733, of one league and one fourth in front on 
 the River Chambly, by the depth existing between that and Missis- 
 quouy Bay. That granted on the 13th of June 1737, to the Sieur 
 Rocbert, of three leagues in front by two leagues in depth, on the 
 west side of Lake Champlain, beginning half a league below the Ri- 
 ver Bosquet proceeding downwards, and two leagues and a half above 
 the said River proceeding upwards. And that granted to the Sieur 
 Foucault, on the 3d of April 1733, of two leagues in front by the 
 depth existing between that and Missisquouy Bay. We have accord« 
 ingly declared all the Grantees herein before-pamed divested of all 
 Right and Property in the said Lands. We do, nevertheless, having 
 regard to the Representations made by some of the said Defendants, 
 reserve the power (subject to his Majesty’s pleasure) of giving new 
 Letters of Grant of the same Lands to such of the said Defendants, 
 as shall within one year prove, that they have in earnest and with 
 actual expense and labour, brought into cultivation a considerable 
 portion of the said Lands, or placed Inhabitants thereon, in the course 
 of the year aforesaid, after which time, by virtue and in execution of 
 these Presents, and without any need of others, the said Lands shall 
 be granted to whom and in such manner as shall be meet, We give 
 default against the Sieurs Deuville, De Noyan et De la Gauchetiére, 
 and that the same may avail, we have declared the J udgement com- 
 mon to the Lands to them in like manner granted ; thatis to sa > as 
 to the said Sieur Douville, that granted to him on the 8th of ore 
 ber 1736, of two leagues in front by three leagues in depth, on the 
 east side of Lake Champlain. Also that granted on the 2d of April 
 1733, to the said Sieur de Noyan of two leagues in front along the 
 River Chambly, by two leagues in depth, beginning at the little Ri. 
 ver du Sud, including the same, proceeding upwards towards Lake 
 Champlain, with the Isle aux Tétes, and other adjacent Isles and 
 Islets. Finally that granted to the Sieur La Gauchetiére, on the 11th 
 of April of the said year 1733, of two leagues in front by three 
 Teagues in depth, on Lake Champlain aforesaid. We enjoin, &c. 
 Given at the Castle of Saint Louis of Quebec, this 10th day of May 
 
 
 
 1741. } . 
 (Signed) BEAUHARNOIS & HOCQUART. 
 Countersigned and Sealed. | 7 
 A true Copy 
 
 (Signed) HOCQUART. : 
 
 
 
aoe ey a 
 
 39 
 
 FOURTH REPORT. 
 
 
 
 HEN, at the close of the long and sanguinary contest which 
 
 had for more than twenty years agitated and desolated Eu- 
 rope, anew order of things arose in 1815, the United Kingdom in 
 common with the other nations of Europe suffered greatly from the 
 sudden transition from a war unexampled in the histories of man- 
 kind, to a state of Peace, her government naturally looked to the 
 North American Colonies, asa refuge for her distressed subjects 
 thrown out of employ. The landholders of England expected that by 
 means of the emigration of the poor to the Colonies, the encreased 
 
 _ pressure of the poor laws would be diminished. The poor thei- 
 
 selves had a right to expect, from the vast and interminable waste 
 lands of the Crown in these Colonies, a refuge and an honest inde- 
 pendence ; all classes might indulge a hope, that this would be one 
 of the most powerful means.te allay discontents and to restore tran- 
 quillity. How far these hopes have been realized in our Sister Co. 
 lonies, it belongs not to your Committee to enquire, their attention 
 was necessarily confined to this Province. Your Committee ‘find 
 that there arrived at the Port of Quebec, in the year 1817, 6796 
 settlers ; in the year 1818, 8221: in the year 1819, 12907, and 
 in the year 1820, 11239, making altogether 39163 ; that a great 
 majority ef these, intimidated by the length and rigour of the winter 
 of this Country, and unacquainted with the laws, institutions and 
 language thereof, have ascended the Saint Lawrence, and are now 
 dispersed over the lands of Upper-Canada and the United States, 
 where they have founda more genial climate, their own language, 
 and laws and institutions analagous to those to which they had been 
 accustomed. | i 
 
 Although the proportion are unknown to your Committee, your 
 Committee have however ascertained that a very large number have 
 gone into the United States, a very small number of the total num- 
 ber of emigrants have remained in this Province, and this less from 
 inclination thau from accident, sickness or want of pecuniary means 
 to proceed further up into the interior. The only lands within the. 
 disposition of the Crown, upon which these individuals could have 
 been located, were :— 
 
 First.—On the ungranted lands of the Crown, within the Town- 
 ships on the Southern and Northern shore of the Saint Lawrence. 
 
 Secondly.—On the ungranted lands of the Crown situate in the 
 rear of those Townships, or in the rear of the old Seigniories of the 
 Country. 
 
 Thirdly.—On the ungranted lands of the estates heretofore belong~ 
 
 ing te the late order of the Jesuits, and now administered bya 
 Commission, 
 

 
 
 
 As to the first, the large quantities of land held by private indivi« 
 duals who have never settled or cultivated the same, and the want of 
 roads of Communication rendered them inaccessible to these poor 
 Emigrants, and if this obstacle had not subsisted, the quantity ten- 
 dered by the Colonial Administration being but one hundred acres, 
 afforded no sufficient encouragement to induce the Emigrants to en- 
 counter the privations and hardships incident to anew settlement in a 
 wilderness. % t 
 
 The Crown and Clergy reserves, interspersed as they are amongst 
 the other lots, offered another insuperable barrier. 
 
 To all these was superadded an exaction unwarranted, as. your 
 Committee believes, by law, of fifteen shillings and six pence on the 
 name of each Petitionerinserted inany Petition before the same could 
 be laid before the Executive Council, an exaction required as well 
 from the Emigrants as from His Majesty’s Canadian subjects, to 
 whom His Majesty was graciously pleased to order that grants of land 
 should be made for their Services during the late American War. 
 
 Under all these obstructions, your Committee have reason to bes 
 lieve that of the above mentioned 39163 Emigrants who arrived at 
 the Port of Quebec, during the years 1817, 1818, 1819 and 1820, 
 not more than one hundred families have found a refugé and sybsis- 
 tence upon the waste and ungranted lands of the Crown. (See 
 Appendix to the second Report). | 
 
 It appears to your Committee, that the ungranted lands heretofore 
 belonging to the late order of Jesuits, and now administered by a 
 Commission, from their proximity to actual settlements, and from va- 
 rious other causes, constituted the most advantageous situation for 
 tocating such of the Emigrants as could not proceed to the Upper 
 Province. | 
 
 Those lands are under the administration of a Board of Commis- 
 sioners, and their advantages in this respect were fully felt by a Com- 
 mittee of Gentlemen associated at Quebec for the purpose of affording 
 relief to the distressed Emigrants.—And in the Jast autumn, an appli- 
 cation was made to that Honourable Board, by the said Committee, to 
 forward these views : that application was not successful to the extent 
 that might have been wished. Information respecting it will be found 
 in the Appendix to this Report under the letter (A.) but the causes 
 which led to the failuce of this application, your Committee do not 
 deem it their province to explore. 
 
 As connected with the subject which has-been referred to your 
 - Committee, they think it proper to observe that in the course of their 
 enquiries, they have found that Emigrants, arriving in the ports of 
 _ this Province, on their way to their intended places of Settlement, 
 re subjected to various oppressions on the part of Masters of Ves- 
 sels, from the want of sufficient authority in the Courts of Law for 
 their protection, and to give due effect to the Statute to regulate the 
 Vessels carnying Passengers from the United Kingdom to certain of 
 His Majesty’s Coloniesin North America. Your Committee there~ 
 
4l 
 
 fore deem it necessary that a Bill should be introduced vesting juris- 
 diction in His Majesty’s Court of King’s Bench, in the several Dise 
 tricts of this Province, for the recovery of the penalties in the said 
 Statute contained, and further, that to relieve the Emigrants from the 
 ingonveniences to which they are not unfrequently subjected, by 
 being conveyed to Ports and places different to and at a distance from 
 the Ports and places to which the Masters had engaged to convey 
 them, a heavy penalty should be imposed upon this offence, and fur- 
 ther, to relieve them from the occasional exactions from the Masters 
 and the detention of their effects by the said Masters, to carry into 
 effect the said exactions, which your Committee haye reason to be- 
 lieve are not unfrequent, that a summary jurisdiction within limits 
 as to amount, should be vested in one or more Magistrates. 
 
 Upon the whole of this branch of the subject, your Committee are 
 of opinion that the manner in which the Crown and Clergy reserves 
 are interspersed among the other lands, contributes greatly to retard 
 the Settlement of the Country, and that from the errors and vices of 
 the System of granting the waste lands of the Crown, which has bi- 
 therto obtained within the Colony, not only has the settlement of 
 those lands and the advancement and prosperity of the Country been 
 retarded, but also that relief to the distressed Emigrants withheld, 
 
 which it must have been the desire of His Majesty’s Ministers to 
 afford. | 
 
 All which, nevertheless, is humbly submitted. 
 Quebec, 6th March 1821. 
 ANDREW STUART, 
 Chairman. 
 
 ( A.) 
 
 Axprew Win1iaM Cocuran, Esquire, appeared before your Com- 
 mittee and answered as follows to the questions which were put 
 to him : | 
 
 Q. Is there established in Quebec a Society for relieving distress- 
 
 ed Emigrants. When was the said Society established and of what 
 Members igit now composed ? 
 
 A. A Society was established in Quebec in the month of July 
 1819, for the relief of distressed Emigrants—And it is yet in exis- 
 tence and operation. It was sanctioned by the support of the Per- 
 sons at different times at the head of the Government, and consisted 
 
 of the principal inhabitants of Quebec, of whom, such as gave an 
 
 annual Subscription to a certain amount became Members of the So- 
 
 —————-: SS meee oe 
 
42 
 ciety, a list of these was published in the Quebec Gazette of the 21s 
 October last and can be referred to. 
 
 Q. Who is the Secretary of the said Society ? 
 
 A. Lieut. Smith of the Royal Engineers has undertaken the duty 
 of Secretary. 
 
 Q Has the said Society received any Contributions and to what 
 amount? | 
 
 A. The subscriptions raised by the Society in 1819 and 1820 
 amounted to about 570, and since Nov. 1820, I believe about 
 £300 has been collected. 
 
 Q. What number of Emigrants have been supported or assisted by 
 the said Society, and whence did the Committee derive their means ? 
 
 A. It is from these funds, and by the assistance afforded by differ- 
 ent Military Departments of Government, that the Committee of the 
 Society have been enabled to grant relief or support to Emigrants, 
 but I cannot state the number of these with any accuracy.—I am sa. 
 tisfied, however, that of the 20,000 Emigrants who have arrived here 
 during the last twoSummers, a very considerable proportion has re- 
 ceived information, assistance or support from theSociety ; andI know 
 that in the winter of 1819 and 1820, more than 500 cases of sickness 
 were treated among those on the Society’s lists, and that during afew 
 days attendance last Autumn, when the operations of the Society 
 : were renewed, I saw some hundreds applying forrelief or assistance. 
 
 Q. Of what description of persons did they consist ? 
 
 A. The greater part of these Emigrants have been men with large 
 families and small means, or in absolute indigence. 
 
 Q. Did any number of them express a desire to obtain Lands in ° 
 this Province, or in the Upper Province ? 
 
 A. Almost all have expressed a desire to obtain Lands from Go- 
 vernment in this or the Upper Province, but principally in the latter. 
 
 Q. Did any of the said Emigrants express a wish to obtain un- 
 granted Lands of the Seigniories heretofore belonging to the late 
 Order of Jesuits, and now in the custody and possession of His Ma- 
 jesty, or have any applied for, or obtained any ? 
 
 A. I should imagine not more than 10 or 12 families have at dif- 
 ferent times, since the establishment of the Society, obtained, or had 
 the promise of obtaining, Lands in the Seigniories of the Jesuits’ 
 Estates, and many others have been desirous of the same advantage, 
 and applications have been accordingly made either for or by them to 
 the Commissioners of those Estates. 
 
 Q. By whom arethe said Estates administered ? 
 
 A. These Estates are administered by a Board of Commissioners, 
 which, in November last, when I was requested by the Emigrant 
 Society to communicate with them, consisted of the Honble. Mr. 
 Ryland, Chairman ; the Honble. Col, Ready, Mr. Coltman, Mr. 
 Smith, and J. Stewart and L. F oy, Esqrs. Mr. G. Ryland is Secre- 
 tary to the Board. And Mr. Foy is or lately was Procurator and was 
 also styled visiting Inspector and discharged the duties of an Agent. 
 
 
 
 % 
 
 
 
 ! m™N 
 

 
 . 43 
 
 I cannot state with certainty who is the Treasurer of the Board. 
 Q. Were there any and what applications made by the said Com- 
 
 mittee of the Society for the relief of Emigrants to the said Commis. 
 
 sioners, for Lands to be settled upon by the said Emigrants ? 
 
 A. An application was made by a Committee of the Emigrant So. 
 ciety to the Commissioners for lands to be settled upon by Emigrants, 
 A plan was submitted to the Society on the part of certain Gentle- 
 men of Quebec for the employment of a number of Emigrant fami- 
 lies during the winter on certain vacant Lots of the Seigniory of St. 
 Gabriel, belonging to the Jesuits’ Estates, on which, if a grant 
 thereof could be ensured to them, they proposed to expend a sum of 
 money equal to £30 for each lot, which sum was to go to the cloth- 
 ing, lodging and support of the Emigrants employed in labour on 
 such Lots, and would give to each a small sum of money at the end 
 of their winter. 
 
 Q. Was any and what application made in consequence to the said 
 Commissioners, and what was the result of the said application ? 
 
 A. A communication having been made to the Commissioners of 
 those Estates, they agreed to put a certain number of the Lots ap- 
 plied for, at the disposal of the Society. A number of Emigrants 
 were accordingly sent out to the land in question by the Society, to 
 be employed and supported in the manner proposed, and I have rea- 
 son to believe that they are now labouring there. This plan being 
 found useful and practicable, and many other industrious families of 
 Emigrants offering to go out on the same terms, it was proposed to 
 the Committee of the Emigrant Society to whom the management of 
 this matter was left, to apply to the Commissioners for an extension 
 of the plan. This was accordingly done. It was stated to them that 
 if certain vacant Lots on the same Seigniory which were designated 
 to thein could be placed at the disposal of the Emigrant Society in the 
 mode already adopted and in actual operation, it would be in their 
 power to enter into engagements with individuals to the extent of 
 four or five hundred pounds to be expended in the employment of 
 Emigrants in the clearing of those Lots during winter. And that for 
 this purpose Dr, Blanchet owning the Lands adjacent, had consented 
 (in order to enlarge the Lots in question to a sufficient extent of cul- 
 tivable Land) to surrender a part of his Land, on condition of re- 
 ceiving from the Society, if the vacant Lotsin question were placed 
 at their disposal, so much thereof as would be a compensation to him 
 for the expenses already incurred on the Land so surrendered by him. 
 To this application the Committee have not as yet received any an- 
 swer, some of the Commissioners being of opinion, as | have been 
 verbally informed by individuals of the Board, that they could not 
 enter into a correspondence with the Committee, or that the Lots ap~ 
 plied for were not vacant, or that the proposal was objectionable as 
 including the stipulation between the Society and Dr, Blanchet, who 
 had failed in performing the conditions of the concessions already 
 . made to him, 
 
 
 

 
 AA 
 
 FIFTH REPORT. 
 
 
 
 
 
 ya. Committee, after examining the Reports and Proceed- 
 ings of the Committee named by this House in the last Session 
 of this Parliament, on that part of the Speech of His Excellency the 
 Governor in Chief which relates to the Settlement of the Waste 
 Lands of the Crown, and which constitutes the subject of the pre- 
 sent reference, proceeded carefully to examine the documents re- 
 ceived since the close of the last Session, and which, therefore, had 
 not come under the consideration of that Committee. 
 
 These consist in the answers of a large number of the Curates of 
 the different Parishes of this Province, to the Queries transmitted — 
 to them in the last Session of this Parliament. 
 
 The anticipations of valuable information from this respectable 
 source, have been fully realized ;—so much thereof as is suscep- 
 tible of being exhibited in the form of a Table, will be found in the 
 Synoptical Table hereunto subjoined. 
 
 For other and valuable information upon the causes which have 
 hitherto retarded the settlement of this Country, your Committee 
 must refer to the answers themselves which are upon the fyles of this 
 House. 
 
 Your Committee had occasion to believe that the intentions of His 
 
 Excellency the Governor in Chief, the Earl of Dalhousie, to cause to 
 be laid before this House, copies of such parts of the Royal Instruec- 
 tions for the granting of Crown Lands in this Province, as may have 
 been given since the year one thousand seven hundred and eighty- 
 six, also a table of the Fees of the Office of the Clerk of the Executive 
 Council and other Officers relating to the said Grants, as expressed in 
 His Excellency’s answer to the Message of this House of the 13th 
 February 1821, have not been fully carried into effect. 
 _ Without adequate information upon these subjects, your Commit- 
 tee could not feel any confidence in the accuracy of the conclusions 
 which they might be led to form, and they, therefore, suspended 
 their labours until this information could be procured. 
 
 Accordingly, on the thirteenth of the present month of February, 
 this House was pleased to order, ‘¢ That an humble Address be pre- 
 *¢ sented to His Excellency the Governor in Chief, representing that 
 ** on the thirteenth day of February one thousand eight hundred and 
 ‘* twenty-one, an humble Address was voted by this House to His 
 Excellency, praying His Excellency would be pleased to order to 
 ** be laid before this House, Copies of such Royal Instructions res- 
 “¢ pecting the granting of the Crown Lands in this Province, as may 
 have been given since the year one thousand seven hundred and 
 eighty-six, also a Table of the Fees of the Office of the Clerk of 
 the Executive Council and other public Officers relating to the 
 
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 45 ; 
 
 said Grants; to which His Excellency was pleased to give for an- 
 swer, ‘* That he should cause to be laid before the House Copies 
 of such parts of the Royal Instructions for the granting of Crown 
 Lands, as His Majesty has caused to be made public, and Copy 
 of the Table of Fees to the Officers named in the Address ;” that 
 this House have reason to believe that the intentions of His Ex- 
 cellency the Governor in Chief to afford information to the House 
 relative to the Public Instructions of His Majesty respecting the 
 granting of Crown Lands in this Province, and relative to the said 
 Table of Fees have not been fully carried into effect, and praying 
 His Excellency will be pleased to order such of the above Docu- 
 ments as have not already been laid before this House to be laid 
 before the same, and that His Excellency will be further pleased 
 to order a Copy of the Report of the permanent Committee of the 
 whole Council to His Excellency Sir Robert Shore Milnes, then 
 Lieutenant Governor of this Province, bearing date the twenty- 
 sixth day of May one thousand eight hundred and one, to be laid 
 before this House.” 
 
 To which His Excellency was pleased to give for answer : 
 
 *¢ That he will give orders that such papers as have not been laid 
 before the House conformably to his {ormer commands, be laid 
 before it.” 
 
 That the advanced state of the Session leaves no hopes to your » 
 
 Committee that it will be in their power further to investigate the 
 subject referred to them, and they have, therefore, lost no time in 
 
 laying before the House the present Report. 
 
 The whole nevertheless humbly submitted. 
 Quebec, 18th February 1822. 
 ANDREW STUART, 
 
 Chairman. 
 

 
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 | , 
 
 
 
SIXTH REPORT. 
 
 IS Excellency the Governor in Chief having, early in the pre- 
 
 sent:Session, laid before the House papers and documents 
 
 prayed for in the last Session of this Parliament, your Committee 
 commenced their enquiries. 
 
 Their first object was to ascertain what had been His Majesty’s 
 Instructions upon this important matter of administration from the 
 first cession of the Country down to the present time. 
 
 The Royal Instructions, with other papers relative to the then Pro- 
 vince of Quebec, were in the year 1791 printed in obedience to an 
 order of the House of Commons, bearing date the 21st day of April 
 of that year. 
 
 From this authentic document all the Instructions relating to the 
 waste Lands of the Crown down to that period have been extracted. 
 The subsequent Instructions upon this matter appear to have been 
 the same as those to His Excellency the Earl of Dalhousie, trans- 
 mitted by him to this House. 
 
 These, with the Royal Instructions of the fifteenth August 1797, 
 which have already been reported to the House, form the whole bo- 
 dy of the Royal Instructions relative to Lands, and will be found 
 in the Appendix to this Report under the Letter (A.) . 
 
 The general heads under which these Instructions may be distri- 
 bated, are— 
 
 ¥inst—Instructions to obtain a knowledge of the true state of 
 the Province, of the measures necessary for the making of Settle- 
 ments, the nature and quality of the soil and climate, the Rivers, 
 Bays, and Harbours, and every other circumstance attending the 
 natural state of it. (Anstructions for James Murray, Esquire, Gover- 
 nor of the Province of Quebec, dated the seventh December 1763, 
 Art. 44 and Art. 72. 
 
 Srconpiy-—Instructions to prevent the granting of excessive 
 quantities of Land to particular persons, never intending to culti- 
 vate or settle it, and thereby preventing others more industrious 
 from improving the same. 
 
 Turrpty—lInstructions to render public the Royal Instructions 
 given from time to time, respecting the waste Lands of the Crown, 
 and reporting the proceedings had thereupon, from time to time as 
 the same occurred, to His Majesty’s Governmentin England. 
 
 Fourruty—lInstructions, directing that no Fees should. be taken 
 within the Colony upon the granting of Lands, except such as should, 
 from time to time, be established by His Majesty, under his Sigua- 
 

 
 48 
 
 ture and Sign Manual, or by his order in that behalf, signified by one 
 of his principal Secretaries of State. (Instructions of the fifteenth 
 
 August 1797.) 
 
 Upon the first head— 
 
 Little has been done since the cession of the Country, and there 
 is reason to believe that that portion of Lower-Canada which lies 
 upon the north side of the Saint Lawrence, either in the rear 
 of or below the actual Settlements, is now less known than it was 
 a century back. 
 
 Before adopting any plan of settlement, it would be necessary in 
 the opinion of your Committee, that accurate information should be 
 obtained upon the various matters mentioned in the seventy-second 
 Article of His Majesty’s Royal Instructions of the year 1763. 
 
 Upon the second head— 
 
 His Majesty’s Instructions have been entirely frustrated, and 
 large quantities of Lands have been accumulated in the hands of in- 
 dividuals who never cultivated or settled them. 
 
 Here your Committee have been relieved from a large branch of 
 the Enquiry, by the Report of the permanent Committee of the whole 
 Council to His Excellency Sir Robert Shore Milnes, Baronet, Lieu- 
 tenant Governor of this Province, bearing date the twenty-sixth May 
 1801, which is subjoined to this Report under the Letter (B.) 
 
 By the Honourable Chairman’s exertions whose name is subjoined 
 to that Report, and of Members of the Council who acted either 
 with him or under his guidance or control, the sacrifice of the whole 
 of the waste Lands of the Crown was prevented, and the evils which 
 the proceedings of his predecessor in Office were calculated to inflict, 
 appear to have been mitigated to as large an extent as was consistent 
 with the maintenance of the public faith. 
 
 After the return to England of that Honourable Chairman of the 
 Executive Council, and Chief Justice of the Province, large Grants 
 of Land appear to have been made to divers individuals. How far 
 these were so made in fulfilment of promises given whilst the late 
 Honourable Mr. Smith presided over the Council, your Committee 
 have not the means of ascertaining. The Table subjoined to this 
 Report, extracted from the Topography of Canada, by Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Bouchette, furnishes the names of the Grantees of Waste 
 Lands of the Crown, granted in the years 1796 to 1814, inclusive, and 
 of the quantities granted to them respectively, (C.) 
 
 Upon the third head— 
 
 Obvious considerations of expediency would have rendered it ne- 
 cessary that the directions accompanying His Majesty’s Instructions 
 of the fifteenth day of August, 1797, should not have been rendered 
 public before they were carried into effect. This case, however, from 
 the very peculiar circumstances of the Country, as disclosed in the 
 above-mentioned Report of the permanent Committee of the whole 
 Council, bearing date the twenty-sixth May 1801, was to have been 
 
 7 
 
 
 
— 
 
 49 
 
 considered in the light of a justifiable exception to the general rule. 
 
 But your Committee are of opinion, that the observance of the ge- 
 neral rule laid down by His Majesty’s Instructions, that the said In- 
 structions should be entered of Record for the information and satis- 
 faction of all parties concerned therein, affords the best security for 
 the fulfilment of His Majesty’s said Instructions, and that the want 
 of publicity has facilitated the introduction of abuses into this de- 
 partment of the Government, which have greatly retarded the set- 
 tlement of this Country. 
 
 Upon the fourth head— 
 
 Your Committee are of opinion that the gracious Instructions of 
 His Majesty of the fifteenth August 1797, have not been complied 
 with by the servants of His Majesty within the Colony, and that 
 Fees have been exacted and received, coutrary to the provisions of the 
 said Instructions, and that this circumstance has also retarded the 
 settlement of the Waste Lands of the Crown. 
 
 Your Commitiee are also of opinion that the manner in which the 
 Crown and Clergy Reserves are located has operated as a great bar 
 to settlement. | 
 
 Your Committee next proceeded to obtain all the information which 
 was within their reach relative to the new settlements, which have 
 latterly been attempted in this Country, and to the amount of the 
 surplus produce of the staple commodity of Wheat therein. The exa- 
 mination of a number of Witnesses upon these and other matters con- 
 nected with the subject of this reference will be found in the Appen- 
 dix, under the letter (D.) | 
 
 Upon that part of the reference which relates to Militia Lands, 
 your Committee have examined several Witnesses, but have not ob- 
 
 , tained all the information which it would have been desirable to them 
 to have had. 
 
 As, at this late period of the Session, they cannot expect to obtain 
 any further information upon this head, they have humbly to report, 
 that in consequence of various charges to which Militia men have 
 been subjected in the prosecution of their claims, and journies and 
 attendance at Offices at a distance from their homes, and in conse- 
 quence also of the lands destined for them being located ata distance 
 from the usual places of their residence, and the places of residence 
 of their friends and relatives, a very small part of the whole number 
 of Militia men haye received their Lands, and that an extension of 
 time within which the application for Lands might be made, would 
 be highly desirable. 
 
 Your Committee, upon the whole, are of opinion, that the diso- 
 bedience to His Majesty’s Instructions, and the absence of any eflec- 
 iual system of checks or of responsibility within the Colony, upon the 
 exercise of the power of granting Lands, have, hitherto, greatly re- 
 tarded the settlement of the Waste Lands in this country. 
 
 Your Committee here close their labours; and, notwithstanding 
 the extent and inveteracy of the aan which they have been con- 
 
 
 

 
 50 
 
 strained to point out, they feel a confidence in the wisdom and jus- 
 tice of His Majesty’s Government, which convinces them that His 
 Majesty, once satisfied of the existence of these abuses, equally in- 
 jurious to His Majesty’s Rights and to the welfare of His Majesty’s 
 Subjects, will provide an ample and efficacious remedy for them. 
 
 All which is, however, humbly submitted. 
 
 ANDREW STUART, 
 Chairman. 
 Quebec, 17th March 1823. 
 
 (A) 
 
 COPY of Instructions for James Murray, Esquire, Governor of 
 the Province of Quebec, dated seventh December 1763. 
 
 Grorce R. 
 
 (1. 8.) Instructions to our trusty and well beloved James Mur- 
 RAY, Esquire, Our Captain General and Governor in Chief in and 
 over our Province of Quebec, in America, and of all our Territories 
 depending thereupon.—Given at our Court, at St. James, the 7th day 
 of December 1763, in the fourth year of our Reign. 
 
 Art. 42. And it is our further will and pleasure, that all and 
 every the French inhabitants in our said Province, who are now pos- 
 sessed of Lands within the said Province, in virtue of Grants or Con- 
 cessions made before the signing of the preliminary articles of peace | 
 on the 3rd day of November 1762, do, within such limited time as 
 you in your discretion shall think fit, register the several Grants or 
 other deeds or titles by which they hold or claim such Lands in the 
 Secretary’s Office, which said Grants, deeds or otber titles shall be 
 entered at large in the said Office, so that the particular quantity of 
 Land, its scite and extent, the conditioris upon which it is granted, 
 either as to rents, services or cultivation, may appear fully and at 
 length. ey 
 
 43. And in case it shall appear, upon a strict and accurate exa- 
 mination of the said Grants and title deeds to be taken in such manner 
 as you shall think proper, that any of the Grantees or persons claim- 
 ing Lands under such Grants and title deeds are in possession of more 
 Land than is contained within such Grant or other concessions, or that 
 the terms and conditions upon which the Lands were granted, have 
 not been complied with, agreeable to what is stipulated in such Grants 
 or coucessions, it is our will and pleasure, that you forthwith repre= 
 sent the same to us by our Commissioners for trade and plantations, 
 to the end that you may receive such directions thereupon as the na- 
 ture and circumstances of the case shallappear to require. 
 
 > >» 
 
 
 
5] | 
 
 44. And whereas it is necessary, in order to the advantageous 
 and effectual settlement of our said Province, that the true state of 
 it should be fully known, you are therefore, as syon as conyenient- 
 ly may be, to cause an accurate survey to be male of the said 
 Province, by such able and skilful person as is or shall be appointed 
 for that service, who is to report to you in writing, for your judge- 
 ment in the measures which you may in general pursue for the mak- 
 ing of Settlements, not only the nature and quality of the soil and 
 Climate, the Rivers, Bays, and Harbours, and every other circum- 
 stance attending the natural state of it, but also his opinion in what 
 manner it may be most conveniently laid out into Countics, and to_ 
 annex to his Report a Map of such survey, with the seyeral divisions 
 proposed marked upon it; but as the making such survey will be a 
 work of greatlength, youare in the mean time to carry on settle- 
 ments upon that plan which shall appear to you to be most expedi- 
 ent from the best information you can collect, 
 
 45. And whereas it has been found by experience that settling 
 Planters in Townships hath very much redounded to their advantage, 
 not only with respect to the assistance they have been able to afford 
 each other in their civil concerns, but likewise with regard to the 
 security they have thereby acquired against the insults and incurs 
 sions of neighbouring Indians, or other enemies, you are therefore. 
 to lay out Townships of a convenient size andextent in such places 
 as youin your discretion shall judge most proper: and it is our 
 will and pleasure that each Township do consist of about twenty 
 thousand Acres, having, as far as may be, natural boundaries ex- 
 tending up into the Country, and comprehending a necessary part 
 of the River St. Lawrence where it can conveniently be had. 
 
 46. You are also to cause a proper place, in the most conveni- 
 ent part of each Township, to be marked out for building a Town, 
 sufficient to contain such a number of families as you shall judge pro- 
 per to settle there, with Town and pasture lots, convenient to each 
 Tenement, taking care that the said Town be laid out upon, .or as 
 near as conveniently may be, to some navigable River on the Sea 
 Coast: and you are also to reserve to us proper quantities of Land 
 in each Township for the following purposes, viz. for erecting forti- 
 fications and barracks where necessary, or for other military or 
 naval services, and more particularly for the growth and production 
 of naval timber, if there are any wood Lands fit for that purpose. 
 
 47, -And itis our further will and pleasure, that a particular spot, 
 in or as near such Town as possible, be set apart for the building a 
 Church, and four hundred acres adjacent thereto, allotted for the 
 maintenance of a Minister, and two hundred for a Schoolmaster. 
 
 48. And you are to give strict orders to the Surveyors, whom 
 you shall employ to mark out the said Townships and Towns, to 
 make returns to you of their Surveys as soon as possible, with a 
 particular description of each Township and the nature of the soil 
 within the same. 
 
 
 
14 
 ! 
 - 
 
 ‘ 
 
 } 
 ‘ 
 
 | 
 })i 
 } 
 
 “2 Se 
 
 
 
 52 
 
 49. And you are to oblige all such persons as shall be appointed 
 to be Surveyors of the said Lands in each Township, to take an 
 oath for the due pérformance of their Offices, and for obliging them 
 to make exact Surveys of all Lands required to be set out. 
 
 50. And whereas nothing can more effectually tend to the speedy 
 settling of our said Colony, the security of the property of our Sub- 
 jects, and the advancement of our Revenue, than the disposing of 
 such Lands as are our property upon reasonable terms, and the 
 establishing a regular and proper method, with respect to the pass- 
 ing of Grants of such Land : It is, therefore, our will and pleasure, 
 that all and every person and persons who shall apply to you for 
 any Grant or Grants of Land, shall, previous to their obtaining the 
 same, make it appear before you in Council, that they are in con- 
 dition to cultivate and improve the same, by settling thereon, in 
 proportion to the quantity of acres desired, a sufficient number of 
 white persons and negroes ; and in case you shall, upon a consider- 
 ation of the circumstances of the person or persons so applying for 
 such Grants, think it advisable to pass the same, in such case, you 
 are to cause 2 Warrant to be drawn up, directed to the Surveyor 
 General or other proper Officers, empowering him or them to make 
 a faithful and exact Survey of the Lands so petitioned for, and to 
 return the said Warrant within six months at farthest from the date 
 thereof, with a plot or description of the Lands so surveyed there- 
 unto annexed ; provided that you do take care, that, before any 
 such Warrant is issued as. aforesaid, a Docquet thereof be entered 
 into the Auditor’s and Register’s Office; and when the Warrant 
 shall be returned by the said Surveyor or other proper Officer, the 
 Grant shall be made out in due form, and the terms and conditions 
 required by these our Instructions be particularly and expressly 
 mentioned in the respective Grant ; and it is our will and pléa- 
 snre that the said Grant shall be registered within six months from 
 the date thereof, in the Register’s Office there, and a Docquet 
 thereof be also entered in our Auditor’s Office there, in case such 
 establishment shall take place in our said Province, or that, in de- 
 fault thereof, such Grant shall be void, copies of all which entries 
 shall be returned regularly by the proper Officer to our Commission- 
 ers of our Treasury, and to our Commissioners for Trade and Plante 
 ations, within six months from the date thereof. 
 
 51. And whereas great inconveniences have arisen in many of 
 our Colonies in America, from the granting excessive quantities of 
 Land to particular persons, who have never cultivated or settled it, 
 and have thereby prevented others, more industrious, from improving 
 the same ; in order, therefore, to prevent the like inconveniences for 
 the future, you are to take especial care, that in all Grants to be 
 made by you, by and with the advice and consent of our Council, 
 to persons applying forthe same, the quantity be in proportion to their 
 ability to cultivate ; and you are hereby directed to observe the fol- 
 lowing directions and regulations in all Grants to be made by you, viz: 
 
 (E> 
 
 
 
53 
 
 That one hundred acres of the Land be granted to every person 
 being Master or Mistress of a Family, for himself or herself, and 
 fifty acres for every white or black maa, woman or child, of which 
 such person’s family shall consist, at the actual time of making the 
 Grant; and in case any person applying to you for Grants of Land 
 shall be desirous of taking up a larger quantity than the actual num. 
 ber of persons in his or her family would entitle such persons to take 
 up, it is our will and pleasure, and you are hereby allowed and per- 
 mitted to grant unto every such person or persons such farther quan- 
 tity of Land as they may desire, not exceeding one thousand acres _ 
 over and above what they are entitled to by the number of persons 
 in their respective families, provided it shall appear to you that they 
 are in a condition and intention to cultivate the same, and provided 
 also that they do pay to the Receiver of our Quit Rents, or to such 
 other officer as shall be appointed to receive the same, the sum of 
 Five shillings only, for every fifty Acres so granted, on the day of 
 the date of the Grant. 
 
 That all Grantees be subject to the payment of two shillings ster- 
 ling, for every hundred Acres, to commence at the expiration of two 
 years from the date of such Graut, and to be paid yearly and every 
 year, or in default ofsuch payment the Grant to be void. 
 
 That every Grantee upon giving proof that he or she has fulfilled 
 the terms and conditions of his or her Grants, shall be entitled to 
 another Grant in the proportion and the conditions above mentioned, 
 
 That for every fifty Acres of Land accounted plantable, each Pa- 
 tentee shall be obliged within three years after the date of bis Patent 
 to clear and work three acres at the least, in that part of his tract 
 which he shall judge mest convenient and advantageous, or else to 
 clear and drain three Acres of swampy or sunken ground, or drain 
 three Acres of marsh, if any such be within the grounds of his Grant. 
 
 That for every fifty Acres of Land accounted barren, every Paten- 
 tee shall be obliged to put and keep on his Land within three years 
 after the date of his Grant, three Neat Cattle, which number he 
 shall be obliged to continue on his Land until three acres for every 
 fifty be fully cleared and improved. 
 
 That if any person shall take up a Tract of Land wherein there 
 shall be no part fit for present cultivation, without manuring and 
 improving the same, every such Grantee shall be obliged within three 
 years from the date of his Grant to erect on some part of his Land 
 one good dwelling House, to contain at least twenty feet in length 
 and sixteen feet in breadth; and also to put on his Land the like 
 number of three neat Cattle for every fifty acres. 
 
 That if any person who shall take up any stony or rocky grounds, 
 not fit for planting or pasture, shall within three years after the pass- 
 ing of his Grant begin to employ thereon, and so continue to work 
 for three years then next ensuing, in digging any stone quarry or o- 
 ther mine, one good and able hand for every hundred acres of such 
 tract, it shall be accounted a suflicient cultivation and improvement. 
 
 
 

 
 o4 
 
 That every three acres which shall be cleared and worked as ae 
 foresaid, and every three acres which shall be cleared and drained 
 as aforesaid, shall be accounted a sufficient. seating, planting, culti- 
 
 vation and imiprovemen,t to save for ever from forfeiture fifty acres 
 of Land in any part of the tract contained within the same Patent, 
 and the Patentee shall be at liberty to withdraw his Stock, or to 
 forbear working in any quarry or mine, in proportion to such culti- 
 yation and improvement as shall be made upon. the plantable lands, 
 or upon the swamps, sunken grounds and marshes, which shall be in- 
 cluded in the same Patent. | 
 
 . That when any person who shall hereafter take up and patent a- 
 
 ny lands, shall have seated, planted, and cultivated, or improved 
 the said Land or any part of it, according to the directions and con- 
 ditions above mentioned, such Patentee may make proof of such 
 seating, planting, cultivation and improvement in the general Court 
 of the County, District or Precinct where such Lands shall lie, and 
 have such proof certified to the Register’s Office and there entered 
 with the record of the said Patent, a copy of which shall be admits 
 ted on any trial to prove the seating and planting of such Land, 
 
 And lastly in order to ascertain the true quantity of plantable and 
 barren Laud contained in each grant hereafter to be made within our 
 said Province, you are to take especial care that in all surveys here- 
 after tobe made, every Surveyor be required and enjoined to take 
 particular notice, according to the best of his judgement and under- 
 standing, how much of the Land so surveyed, is plantable and how 
 much of itis barren and unfit for cultivation, aud accordingly to in- 
 sert in the survey and plot by him to be returned into the Register’s 
 Office the true quantity of each kind of Land. 
 
 52. Anditis our further will and pleasure, that in all Grants of 
 Land to be made by you as aforesaid, regard be had to the-profita- 
 ble and unprofitable acres, se that each Grantee may have a propor- 
 tionable number of one sort and the other, as likewise that the 
 breadth of each tract ef Land to be hereafter granted be one third 
 of the length of suchtract; and that the length of each tract do not 
 extend along the banks of any River, but into the main land, that 
 _thereby the said Grantees may have each aconvenient share of what 
 accommodation the said River may afford for navigation or otherwise. 
 
 53. And whereas it hath been represented to us that many parts 
 of the Province under your Government are particularly adapted to the 
 culture of hemp and flax, itis therefore our will and pleasure, that in 
 all surveys of Land for settlement, the Surveyor be directed to report 
 whether there isany, or what quantity of Lands contained within 
 such survey fit forthe production of hemp and flax ; and you are to 
 take particular care to insert a clause in every Grant of Land where 
 any part thereof if fit for such production, obliging the Grantee an- 
 nually to sow a proportionable part of his Grant with hempand flax seed, 
 
 54. And whereas it hath been further represented to us that a 
 great part of the Country in the neighbourhood of Lake Champlain 
 
 | EN 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 and between that Lake and the River St. Lawrence abounds with 
 woods producing Trees fit for masting for our Royal Navy, and other 
 useful and necessary timber for naval construction, you are therefore 
 expressly directed and required to cause such parts of the said Couns 
 try or any other within your Government that shall appear upon a 
 survey to abound with such trees, and shal) lie convenient for water 
 carriage, to be reserved to us, and to use your utmost endeavour to 
 prevent any waste being committed upon the said tracts, by punish- 
 ing in due course of Law any person who shall cut down or destroy 
 any trees growing thereon; and you are to consider'and advise with 
 our Council, whether some regulation that shall prevent any Saw 
 Mills whatever from being erected within your Government without 
 a Licence from you, or the Commander in Chief of the said Province 
 for the time being, may not be a means of preventing all waste and 
 destruction in such tracts of Land as shall be reserved to us for the 
 purposes aforesaid. 
 
 55. And whereas it appears from the representations of our Go- 
 vernor of the District of Three Rivers, that the Iron Works at St. 
 Maurice, in that District, are of great consequence to our service : it 
 is therefore our further will and pleasure,that no part of the Lands upon 
 which the said [ron Works were carried on, or from which the Ore 
 used in such Works was procured, or which shall appear tobe neces+ 
 sary and convenient for that establishment, either in respect to a free 
 passage to the River St. Lawrence, or for producing a necessary sup- 
 ply of wood, corn and hay, or for pasture for cattle, be granted to any 
 private person whatever, and also that as large a District of Land, as 
 conveniently may be adjacent to and lying round the said Iron works, 
 over and above what may be necessary for the above purposes, be 
 reserved for our use, to be disposed of in such manner as we shall 
 hereafter direct and appoint. | 
 
 56. And whereas it is necessary that all persons who may be de- 
 sirous of settling in our said Province, should be fully informed of 
 the terms and conditions upon which Lands will be granted in our 
 said Province ; you are, therefore, as soon as possible, to cause a 
 publication to be made, by Proclamation or otherwise, as you in 
 your discretion shall think most advisable, of all and every the fore- 
 going terms, conditions, and regulations of every kind respecting 
 the Grants of Land; in which Proclamatien it may be expedient to 
 add some short description of the natural advantages of the Soil and 
 Climate and its peculiar convenierices for trade and navigation, and 
 you are to take such steps as you shall think proper for the publish 
 ing such Proclamation in all the Colonies in North America. 
 
 57. And itis our further will and pleasure, that ail the foregoing 
 Instructions to you, as well as any which you may hereafter receive 
 relative to the form and method of passing Grants of Land, and the 
 terms and conditions to be annexed to such Grants themselves, be 
 eutered upon record for the information and satisfaction of al] parties 
 whatever that may be concerned therein. 
 
56 
 
 58. And it is our further will and pleasure, that you do consider 
 of a proper and effectual method of collecting, receiving and ac. 
 counting for our Quit Rents, whereby all frauds, concealment, irre- 
 gularity or neglect therein may be prevented, and whereby the re- 
 ceipt thereof may be effectually checked and controlled; and if it 
 shall appear necessary to pass an act for the more effectually ascer- 
 taining, and the more speedily and regularly collecting our Quit Rents, 
 you are to prepare the heads ef such a Bill as you shall think may 
 most effectually conduce to the procuring the good ends proposed, 
 and to transmit the same to our Commissioners for Trade and Plan- 
 tations, in order to be laid before us for our further directions therein. 
 
 59. And it is our further will and pleasure, that the Surveyor-Ge- 
 neral or such other person or persons as you shall think proper to ap- 
 point, do, once in every year, or oftener, as occasion shall require, 
 inspect the state of all Grants of Land made by you, and make Re- 
 port thereof to you, in writing, specifying whether the conditions 
 therein contained have or have not been complied with, or what pro- 
 gress has been made towards fulfilling the same ; and you are annu- 
 ally to transmit Copies of such Reports to our Commissioners for 
 Trade and Plantations. 
 
 60. And whereas our Province of Quebec is in part inhabited 
 and possessed by several nations and tribes of Indiars, with whom 
 it is both necessary and expedient to cultivate and maintain a strict 
 friendship and good correspondence, so that they may be induced 
 by degrees noton)y to be good neighbours to our subjects, but 
 likewise themselves to become good subjects to us; you are there- 
 fore, assoon as youconveniently can, to appoint a proper person to 
 assemble and treat with the said Indians, promising and assuring 
 them of protection and friendship on our part, and delivering them 
 such presents as shall be sent to you for that purpose. 
 
 61. And you are to inform yourself with the greatest exactness 
 of the number, nature and disposition of the several bodies or 
 tribes of Indians, of the manner of their lives and the rules and 
 constitutions by which they are governed and regulated; and you» 
 are upon no account to molest or disturb them in the possession of 
 such parts of the said Province as they at present occupy or possess, 
 but to use the best means you can for conciliating their afiections 
 and uniting them to our Government, reporting to us, by our Com- 
 missioners for trade and plantations whatever information you can 
 collect with respect to these people, and the whole of your proceed- 
 ing with them. 
 
 62. Whereas we have by our Proclamation, dated the seventh 
 day of October in the third year of our Reign, strictly forbid, on pain 
 of our displeasure, all our subjects from making any purchases or set- 
 
 _ tlements whatever, or taking possession of any of the Lands reserved 
 to the several nations of Indians with whom we are connected and 
 who live under our protection, without our especial leave for that pur- 
 
 pose first obtained, it is our express willand pleasure, that you take 
 
 
 
 | AEN 
 
57 
 
 the most effectual care that our Royal Directions herein be punctually 
 complied with, and that the Trade with such of the said Indians as 
 depend upon your Government, be carried on in the manner and un- 
 der the Regulations prescribed in our said Proclamation. 
 
 72. And youare to report to us, by our Commissioners for Trade 
 and Plantations, 
 
 What is the nature of the soil and climate of the Province under 
 your Government? [fit differs in these circumstances from our other 
 Northern Colonies ; in what that difference consists ; and what benefie 
 cial articles of commerce the different parts of it are capable of pro- 
 ducing? 
 
 What Rivers there are, and of what extent and convenience to the 
 Planters ? 
 
 What are the principal harbours, how situated, of what extent, 
 and what is the depth of water and nature of the anchorage in each 
 of them? : 
 
 What quantity of Landis now under actual improvement and set- 
 tlement? 
 
 What are the chief articles of produce and culture, the annual 
 amount of the quantity of each, and upon what terms and conditi- 
 ons the Inhabitants hold their Lands, either of cultivation, Rent or 
 personal service. 
 
 What is the quantity, nature and property of the Land uncultivat- 
 ed, how much of it capable of culture, and what part thereof is pri- 
 vate property ? 
 
 What is the number of Inhabitants, whites and blacks, distin- 
 guishing each? What number of the former is capable of bearing 
 Arms, and what number of the latter is annually necessary to be sups 
 plied in proportion to the Land cultivated ? : 
 
 What was the nature, form aad constitution of the Civil Governe 
 ment? What Judicatures were there established, and under what Re- 
 gulations did the French Inhabitants carry on their Commerce ? 
 
 COPY of Instructions to Guy Carteron, Esquire, Captain General 
 and Governor in Chief iu and over the Province of Quebec, in 
 America, and of all the Territories dependent thereupon, Dated 
 St. James’s, 3d January 1775. 
 
 Grorce R. 
 
 (L.S.) Instructions to our trusty and well-beloved Guy Carle- 
 ton, Esquire, our Captain General and Governor in Chief in and over 
 our Province of Quebec in America,and of all our Territories depene 
 dant thereupon. Given at our Court at St. James, the third day 
 of January 1775, in the ean o> of Our Reign. 
 
 
 

 
 58 
 
 Art. 38. By Our Commission to you under our Great Seal of 
 Great-Britain, you are authorized and empowered with the advice 
 and consent of our Council, to settle and agree with the Inhabitants 
 of our said Province of Quebec for such Lands, Tenements and He- 
 reditameuts, as now are or shall hereafter be in our power to dispose 
 of; it is, therefore, our will and pleasure, that all Lands which now 
 are or hereafter may be subject to our disposal, be granted in Fief or 
 Seigniory, in like manner as was practised antecedent to the con. 
 quest of the said Province ; omitting, however, in any Grant that 
 shall be passed of such Lands, the reservation of any judicial powers 
 or privileges whatever : And it is our further will and pleasure, that 
 all Grants in Fief or Seigniory, so to be passed by you as aforesaid, 
 be made subject to our Royal ratification or disallowance, and a due 
 Registry thereof within a limited time, in like manner as was prac- 
 tised in regard to Grants and Concessions held in Fief and Seignio- 
 ry under the French Government. 
 
 39. It is our will and pleasure, however, that no Grants be made 
 of any Lands on which there is any considerable growth of White 
 Pines fit for masting our Royal Navy, and which lie convenient for 
 water carriage, but that you do cause all such Lands to be set apart 
 for our use, and proper regulations made and penalties inflicted, to 
 prevent trespasses on such ‘Tracts and the cutting down or destroy- 
 ing the trees growing thereon. 
 
 _ 40. And whereas it appears from the representations of our late 
 Goveruor of the District of Trois Riviéres, that the lron Works of 
 St. “laurice, in that District, are of great consequence to onr Service ; 
 it is, therefore, our will and pleasure, that no part of the Lands upon 
 which the said Iron Works were carried on, or from which the Ore 
 used in such works are procured, or which shall appear to be necessa- 
 ry and convenient for that establishment, or for producing a neces- 
 sary supply of wood, corn and hay, orfor pasture for cattle, be granted 
 to any private person whatever ; andalsothatas large a District of Land 
 as conveniently may be, adjacent to and lying round the said Iron 
 Works, over and above what may be necessary for the above pur- 
 poses, be reserved for our use, to be disposed of in such manner as 
 we shall hereafter direct and appoint. 
 
 41. And it is our further will and pleasure that you do consider 
 of a proper and effectual method of collecting, receiving and account- 
 ing for our Quit Rents, whereby all frauds, concealment, irregularity 
 or negligence therein may be prevented, and whereby the receipt 
 may be effectually checked and controuled ; and if it shall appear 
 necessary to pass an Act forthe more effectually ascertaining and 
 the more speedily and regularly collecting our Quit Rents, you are 
 to prepare the heads of such a Bill as you shall think may most ef- 
 fectually conduce to the procuring the good ends proposed, and to 
 
 7 
 
 ee ee 
 
 
 
— SE eS 
 
 
 
 59 
 
 transmit the same to us by one of our Principal Secretaries of State, 
 for our further directions therein ; and you are also to transinit a Dus 
 plicate thereof to our Commissioners for Trade and Plantatious for 
 their information. 
 
 COPY of such Articles in the Instructions to Lonp Dorcnester, 
 in 1786, as are not contained in the Lnstructious to Guy Cai leton, 
 Esquire, in 1775; also Copy of such Articles or parts thereof in 
 the same Instructions in 1786, as are altered from the Instruc- 
 tions to Guy Carleton, Esquire, in 1775. 
 
 Arr. 40. Whereas many of our loyal subjects, Inhabitants of our 
 Colonies and Provinces now the United-States of America, are desi- 
 rous of retaining their allegiance to us, and of living in our Domi- 
 nions, and for this purpose are disposed to take up and improve 
 Lands in our Province of Quebec; and we being desirous to encou- 
 rage our said loyal subjects in such their intentions, and to testify 
 our approbation of their loyalty to us and obedience to our Govern- 
 ment, by allotting Lands for them in our said Province ; and whereas 
 we are also desirous of testifying our approbation of the bravery and 
 loyalty of our Forces serving in our said Province, and who may 
 have been reduced there, by allowing a certain quantity of Lind to 
 such of the non commissioned officers and private meu of our said 
 Forces who are inclined to become settlers therein: itis our will and 
 pleasure, that immediately after you shall receive these our Instruc- 
 tions, you do direct our Surveyor General of Lands forour said Pro- 
 vince of Quebec, to admeasure and lay out such a quantity of Laud 
 as you, with the advice of our Council, shall deem necessary and con- 
 venient for the settlement of our said loyal subjects, and the non- 
 commissioned Officers and private men of our Forces, which may 
 have been reduced in our said Province, who shall be desirous of 
 becoming settlers therein ; such Lands to be divided into distinct 
 Seigniories or Fiefs, to extend from two to four leagues in front, 
 and from three to five leagues in depth, if situated upon a navigable 
 River, otherwise to be run square, or in such shape and in such quan- 
 tities as shall be convenient and practicable, and in each Seigniory 
 a Glebe to be reserved and laid out in the most convenient spot, to 
 contain not less than three hundred acres nor more than five hundred 
 acres, the property of which Seigniories or Fiefs shall be and remain 
 vested in us, our heirs and succéssors, and you shall allot such parts 
 of the same as shall be applied for by any of our said loyal sub- 
 jects, non-commissioned Officers and private men of our Forces, re- 
 duced as aforesaid, in the following proportions ; that is to say, 
 
 To every master of a family one hundred acres, and fifty acres for 
 each person of which his family should consist, 
 
 To every single man fifty acres, | 
 - To every non-commissioned Officer of our Forces, reduced in Que 
 bec, two hundred acres. 
 
60 
 
 To every private man, reduced as aforesaid, one hundred acres, 
 and for every person in their femilies fifty acres. 
 
 The said Lands to be held under us, our heirs and successors, 
 Seigniors of the Seigniory or Fief in which the same shall be situated, 
 upon the same terms, acknowledgements and services, as Lands are 
 held in our said Province under the respective Seigniors holding and 
 possessing Seigniories or Fiefs therein, and reserving to us,. our heirs 
 and successors, from and after the expiration of ten years from the 
 admission of the respective Tenants, a Quit Rent of one half. penny 
 per acre. 
 
 41. And whereas upon the raising and establishing the Corps late 
 the Fighty-fourth Regiment of Foot, we did promise and declare, that 
 the Officers and Privates of the said Corps should, when reduced, be 
 entitled to and receive grants for certain allotments of Lands in pro- 
 protion to their respective ranks therein; it is our will and pleasure, 
 that you do in manner as herein before directed grant Warrants of 
 allotment and survey to such of the Officers and Privates of the 
 said late Kighty-fourth Regiment of foot, now reduced, who shall 
 be willing to settle and become inhabitants of our Province of Que- 
 bec, and shall apply for tie same, for such quantities of land as 
 they shall be respectively entitled to in consequence of our said 
 promise and declaration contained in our instructions to our Govern- 
 ors of New York and North Carolina, dated the third of April 1775, 
 (that is to say) 
 
 rn Sas ~ - 
 
 SE ee ee ee ——— 
 7 
 
 Lo Field Officers, «  s0i00:< sae a -5,000 Acres, 
 Captains, .s.» «000.000 a00¢0.,+3,000 do, 
 Subalterns,...... ee eeseeceeee2,000 do, 
 Non Commissioned Officers,..... 200 do. 
 
 a iw ES oe 
 
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 to them respectively free of expense, as herein before directed, 
 provided nevertheless that every commissioned Officer, non commis- 
 sioned Officer or Private belonging to the said late Eighty-fourth Re- 
 giment of foot, who shall claim and apply for Land in our Province 
 of Quebec as aforesaid, shall declare upon oath that no Land has been 
 obtained by him in any of our other Provinces in America under 
 our Royal Declaration as aforesaid, 
 
 42, Itis our further will and pleasure, that every person within 
 the meaning of these our Instructions, upon making application for 
 Land shall take the Oaths directed by Law, before you or our Com- 
 mander in Chief for the time being, or some person by you or him 
 authorized for that purpose, and shall also at the same time make 
 and subscribe the following declaration (viz.) * 14. B. do pro- 
 “¢ mise and declare that I will maintain and defend, to the utmost 
 ** of my power, the authority of the King in His Parliament, as 
 ** the supreme Legislature of this Province :” which Oaths and De- 
 claration shail also be taken, made, and subscribed, by every future 
 
 
 
 oo 
 
61 
 
 tenant before his, her or their admission, upon alienation, descent, 
 marriage or otherwise howsoever, and upon refusal the Lands to be- 
 come re-vested in us, our Heirs and Successors. Andit is our fur- 
 ther will and pleasure, that the expense of laying out and surveying 
 as well the Seigniories and Fiefs aforesaid as the several allotments 
 within the same, and of the deed of admission, shall be paid by the 
 Receiver General of our Revenue in the said Province of Quebec, 
 out of such monies as shall be in his hands, upon a certificate from 
 you or our Commander in Chief for the time being, in Council, 
 Oath being made by our Surveyor General to the account of such 
 expense: provided howeyer that only one half of the usual and 
 accustomed Fees of Office shall be allowed to our said Surveyor Ge- 
 neral or auy other of our Officers in the said Province entitled there- 
 unto, upon any survey or allotment made, or upon admission into a- 
 ny Lands, by virtue of these our Instructions. 
 
 43. And whereas we have some time since purchased the Sei-~ 
 gniory of Sorel from the then proprietors, the Lands of which are 
 particularly well adapted for improvement and cultivation and the 
 local situation of the said Seigniory makes it expedient that the 
 same should be settled by as cousiderable a number of Inhabitants 
 of approved loyalty as can be accommodated therein with all possi- 
 ble dispatch ; It is therefore our will and pleasure, that you do 
 cause all such Lands within the same, as are undisposed of, to be run 
 out into small allotments, and that you do allot the same to the nom 
 commissioned Officers and Private men of our Forces, who may have 
 been reduced in our said Province, or to such other of our loyal 
 subjects as may be inclined to settle and improve the same, in such 
 proportions as you may judge most conducive to their inter. 
 est and the more speedy settlement of our said Seigniory, the 
 Lands so allotted to be held by us, our Heirs, and Successors, Sei- 
 gniors. of Sorel, upon the same conditions, and under the same re- 
 served Rent at the expiration of ten years, as the other tenants of 
 Seigniories now hold their lands, and pay to us, and also of taking 
 the Oaths, and making and subscribing the Declaration as herein- 
 before is mentioned and directed; the expense of making the said 
 allotments, and of admission thereunto, to be also paid and defrayed 
 in like manner as those in the Seigniories directed to be laid out by 
 these our Instructions ; it is nevertheless our will and pleasure, that 
 the allotments to be made to such of our loyal subjects from the 
 Provinces or Colonies now the United States of America, as may be 
 disposed to settle and improve Lands in our said Province of Quebec, 
 shall be limited to those only who may have withdrawn themselves 
 from the said Provinces or Colonies after the Signing of the defini- 
 tive Treaty of Peace with the said United States and no other ; and it 
 is our further will and pleasure, that a record be kept in the Office of 
 our Receiver General of our Revenue, of every admission into Lands 
 as well by virtue of these our Instructions with respect to our loving 
 subjects retiring from the Provinces and Colonies now the United 
 
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 62 
 
 States of America, and to our Forces disbanded as aforesaid, as in 
 cases of future admission, by alienation or otherwise, a docquet of 
 which shall be transmitted yearly to us through one of our princi- 
 pal Secretaries of State, and alsu a duplicate thereof to our High 
 Treasurer, or the Commissioners of our Treasury for the time being. 
 
 EXTRACT from the Royal Instructions to His Excellency the 
 Right Honourable Grorcr, EArt or Darynousizr G. C. B. 
 Captain Genera’ and Governor in Chief, &c. &c. &c. 
 
 And whereas nothing can more effectually tend to the speedy 
 settling of our said Province of Lower Canada, the security 
 of the property of our Subjects and the advancement of our Pro- 
 vince, than the disposal of such Lands as are our property, upon 
 reasonable terms, and the establishing of a regular and proper me- 
 thod of proceeding with respect to the passing of Grants of such 
 Lands, it is therefore our will and pleasure, that all and every per- 
 sou or persons who shall apply for any Grant or Grants of Land, 
 shall, previous to their obtaining the same, make it appear that they 
 are in a condition to cultivate and improve the same; and in case 
 you shal}, upon consideration of the circumstances of the person or 
 persons applying for such Grants, think it advisable to pass the 
 same, you are in such case to cause a Warrant to be drawn up, di- 
 rected to the Surveyor General, or other Officers, empowering him 
 or them to make a faithful and exact Survey of the Lands so petiti- 
 ened for, and to return the said Warrant within six months at fur- 
 thest, from the date thereof, with a Plot or Description of the 
 Lands so surveyed, thereunto annexed, and when the Warrant shall 
 be returned by the Surveyor or other proper Officer, the Graat 
 shall be made out in due form, and the terms and conditions re- 
 quired by these our Instructions be particularly and expressly men- 
 tioned. 
 
 And it is our will and pleasure, that the said Grants shall be re« 
 gistered within six months, from the date thereof, in the Register’s 
 Office, and a Docquet thereof be also entered in our Auditor’s 
 Oflice. Copies of all which Entries shall be returned regularly by 
 the proper Officer to our Commissioners of our Treasury. 
 
 And for the further encouragement of our Subjects, itis our will 
 and pleasure, that the Lands, to be granted by you as aforesaid, 
 shall be laid eut in Townships, and that such Inland Township shall, 
 zs nearly as circumstances will admit, consist of ten miles square, 
 and such as shall be situated upon a navigable River or Water, 
 shalt have a front of nine miles and be ten miles in depth, and sub- 
 divided in such a manner as may be found most advisable for the 
 accommodation of the Settlers and for making the several Reserva- 
 tions for Public Uses, and particularly for the Support of the Pro- 
 testant Clergy, agreeably to the above recited Act passed in the 
 thirty-first year of our Reign. | 
 
 ~~ 
 
 
 
63 
 
 And whereas great inconveniences have heretofore arisen in ma- 
 ny parts of the Colonies in America from the granting excessive 
 quantities of Land to particular persons who have never cultivated 
 or settled the same, and have thereby prevented others more indus- 
 trious from improving such Lands, in order therefore to prevent the 
 like inconveniences in future, it is our will and pleasure, that you 
 observe the following directions and regulations in all Grants to be 
 made by you asvaforesaid, that is to say, That no Town Lot shall be 
 granted to any one person being Master or Mistress of a Family 
 inany Township to be laid out as aforesaid, which shall contain 
 more than one acre of Land. 
 
 That no Park Lot shall be granted to any one person being Mas- 
 ter or Mistress of a Family in any ‘Township to be laid out, which 
 shall contain more than twenty-four acres. 
 
 That no Farm Lot shall be granted to any one person being Mas- 
 ter or Mistress of a Family in any Township so to be laid out, 
 which shall contain more than two hundred acres. It is our will 
 and pleasure, and you are hereby allowed and permitted to grant un- 
 to any such person or persons such further quantity of Land as they 
 may desire, not exceeding one thousand acres over and above what 
 may have heretofore been granted to them, and in all Grants of 
 Lands to be made by youas aforesaid, you are to take care that 
 due regard be had to the quality and comparative value of the differ- 
 ent parts of Land comprised within any Township, so that such 
 Grantee may have, as nearly as may be, a proportionate quantity 
 of Land of such different quality and comparative value, as like- 
 wise that the breadth of each tract of Land to be hereafter granted, 
 be one third of the length, and that the length of such ‘Tract do not 
 extend along the Banks of any River, but towards the main Land, 
 and that thereby the said Grantees may havea convenient share of 
 whatever accommodation the said River may afford for navigation or 
 otherwise. | 
 
 And as a further encouragement to our subjects who shall become 
 Settlers as aforesaid, it is our will and pleasure, that the said Town- 
 ships and the respective allotments within the same, together with 
 the Lands to be reserved as aforesaid, shall be seen and laidout by 
 our Surveyor General of Lands for the said Province, or some skilful 
 persons authorized by him for that purpose, which Survey, together 
 with the Warrants and Grants for the respective allotments, shall be 
 made out for and delivered to the several Grantees free of any Ex- 
 pense or Fee whatsoever, other than such as may be payable to the 
 different Officers according to the Table of Fees established upon 
 Grants of Lands made in the said Province. 
 
 And in order to prevent any persons disaffected to us and to our 
 Government from becoming Settlers in our said Province of Lower 
 Canada, it is our will and pleasure, that no Warrants for Surveying 
 Lands be granted by you, or the Lieutenant Governor, or the person 
 Administering the Government for the time being, unless the pere 
 
 
 

 
 \ | 
 64 
 
 son or persons applying for the same do at the time of making such 
 application, besides taking the several Oaths directed by Law, al- 
 so make and subscribe the following Declaration in your or his pre- 
 sence or in the presence of such person or persons as shall by you 
 or him be appointed for that purpose, that is to say ; “I 4. B. do 
 *¢ promise and declare that I will maintain and defend to the utmost 
 “¢ of my power the authority of the King in his Parliament, as the 
 *¢ Supreme Legislature of the Province.” 
 
 Whereas the reserving of such bodies of Land within our said 
 Province of Lower-Caiiada, where there are considerable growth of 
 Timber fit for the use of our Royal Navy, is a matter of the ut- 
 most importance to our Service, itis our will and pleasure, that no 
 grants whatever be made of Lands within any District or Tract in 
 our said Province of Lower-Canada until our Surveyor-General of 
 Woods, or his Deputy lawfully appointed, shall have surveyed the 
 same and marked outas reservations to us, our Heirs and Succes- 
 sors, such parts thereof as shall be found to contain any considera- 
 ble growth of Masting or other Timber fit for the use of our Royal 
 Navy, and more especially upon the Rivers; and you are hereby 
 instructed to direct our Surveyor-General of Lands in our said Pro- 
 vince, from time te time, with all due diligence, to complete the 
 Surveys and mark out the reservations as aforesaid, in the most con- 
 venient parts of our said Province. And you are from time to time 
 to report the number and situation of such reservations, and you 
 are further to direct our Surveyor-General not to certify any Plots 
 of Ground, ordered and surveyed for any person or persons whate« 
 ver, in order that Grants may be made for the same, until it shall 
 appear to him, by a certificate under the hand of our Surveyor of 
 Woods or his Deputy, that the Land so to be granted is not part 
 of or included in any District marked out as a reservation to us, our 
 Heirsand Successors as aforesaid, for the purposes herein-before 
 mentioned. And inorder to prevent any deceit or fraud from be- 
 ing committed by the person applying for Land in this respect, it is 
 our will and pleasure, that in all grants to be hereafter made for 
 Lands in our said Province of Lower-Canada, the following Proviso 
 and exception be inserted, that is to say, “ And provided also that 
 no part of the parcel or Tract of Land hereby granted to the 
 said and his Heirs, be within any reservation heretofore made 
 and marked for us, our Heirs and Successors by our Surveyor Ge- 
 neral of Woods or his lawful Deputy ; in which case this our Grant 
 for such part of the Land hereby given and granted to the said 
 ——-and his Heirs for ever as aforesaid, and which shall, 
 upon a survey thereof being made, be found within any such re- 
 servation, shall be null and void and of none effect, any thing 
 herein contained to the contrary notwithstanding.” 
 
 And whereas it is necessary that all persons who may be desirous 
 of settling in our said Province should be fully informed of the terms 
 and conditions upon which such Lands will be granted within our 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
a ee eo 
 65 — 
 
 said Province of Lower-Canada, in manner prescribed in and by the 
 said Act passed in the thirty-first year of the reign of our Dearest 
 Father, His late Majesty King George the Third, You are theres 
 fore as soon as possible, to cause a Publication to be made, by 
 Proclamation or otherwise, as you in your discretion shall think 
 most advisable, of the said terms and conditions respecting the 
 P granting of Lands; in which Proclamation it may be expedient to 
 add some short description of the natural advantages of the soil and 
 climate, and the peculiar convenience for trade and navigation. 
 And it is our further will and pleasure, that all the foregoing 
 Instructions to you, as well as any which you may hereafter receive, 
 relative to the passing Grants of Land, in conformity to the said Act 
 passed in the thirty-first year of the Reign of King George the 
 Third, be entered upon record for the information of all parties 
 whatsoever that may be concerned therein. 
 
 Certified to be a true Extract. 
 A. W. COCHRAN, Secy. 
 
 (B.) 
 
 To His Excellency Sir Rosert Snore Mrtnes, Bart. Lieutenant 
 Governor of the Province of Lower-Canada, &c. &c. &c. 
 
 Report of the Permanent Committee of the whole Council. 
 Present, The Chief Justice, the Lord Bishop of Quebec, Messrs. 
 ‘ _ Finlay, Baby, Dunn and Young. 
 
 On the Memorial of Samuel Gale to the Lords of His Majesty’s 
 Most Honourable Privy Council, on behalf of sundry Applicants 
 for Grants of various Tracts and Parcels of the Waste Lands of the 
 Crown, in this Province, which Memorial was by His Grace the 
 Duke of Portland transmitted to Your Excellency, tobe referred 
 to the Executive Council of Lower-Canada, 
 
 May itt Please Your Excellency, 
 In obedience to the order of reference signified by His Majesty’s 
 _ Secretary of State, and communicated by Your Excellency, of the 
 Memorial of Samuel Gale, to the Lords of His Majesty’s. Most 
 Honourable Privy Council, respecting the Waste Lands of the 
 Crown in this Province, the Committee have taken the same into 
 their serious consideration, and they cannot but express their re-~ 
 gret, that after the toilsome hours they have employed in permanent 
 Committee, during a period of fourteen months, in arranging, con- 
 sidering, and from time to time, reporting upon the many hundred 
 claims referred to them, and in ‘such Reports carefully assigning the 
 principles on which their opinions were framed ; and that after having 
 submitted to Your Excellency their concluding and summary Report, 
 containing a detail of their bi Si together with an Appendix, 
 
 
 

 
 e 
 
 presenting a Synoptical Table of the Result of their whole Pro- 
 ceedings, by which they well hoped that the discretion and dili- 
 gence manifested therein, would be both creditable to themselves 
 and satisfactory to His Majesty, they should at this day be called 
 upon to vindicate their conduct against the Charges of an Indivi- 
 dual, the particulars of whose authority to interfere they know not. 
 When they reflect on the motives by which they have ben actuated, 
 of the purity of which they are conscious, and on the station to which 
 it has pleased His Majesty to call them in his Councils in this Pro- 
 vitice, where their integrity ought to be above suspicion ; it becomes 
 a question whether it be fitting they should condescend to give any 
 other answer to the imputations urged against them, than by refer- 
 ring to the whole of their proceedings as they appear upon Record ; 
 but when they consider the respect due to the quarter from which 
 the Memorial before them was trasmitted, and the possibility that a 
 statement of detached facts, partially selected from a mass of pro- 
 ceedings, may be so artfully arranged, as to give a plausible ap- 
 pearance to a charge of inconsistency, that the fallacy of such charge 
 cannot be detected but by those who have a distinct, complete and 
 comprehensive knowledge of the business in question, and that the 
 minute research requisite to the attainment of such information, can 
 neither be expected from the Lords of His Majesty’s most Honourable 
 Privy Council, nor possibly from any party by them employed for 
 such purpose, the Committee, induced by a desire of standing justified 
 in the opinion of His Majesty’s Council, will not hesitate to enter 
 into that detail, in vindication of their conduct, which they would 
 deem it unbecoming to adduce before a less dignified Tribunal. 
 
 After an attentive perusal of the Memorial in question, it appears 
 that the complaints made against His Majesty’s Executive Council 
 in this Province may be reduced to three general heads, in the 
 course of which some specific cases are mentioned. 
 
 Ist. The first respects the delays in issuing legal Grants to those 
 possessed of certificates or copies of Orders passed by the Governor - 
 and Council, and of Warrants of Survey ; and more especially to the 
 Applicants for the Townships of Sheflord, Orford and Stukely. 
 
 2d The inconsistency of the Executive Council respecting the en- 
 couragement for actual settlement. ) 
 
 3d The conduct of the Executive Council with respect to the re- 
 quisite of taking the Oaths. 
 
 _ The Committee propose to make some observations on each of 
 these general heads, and to give a distinct, answer to every special 
 case stated in the said Memorial. | 
 
 With regard to the first complaint, namely, the delay in giving 
 legal Grants to those possessed of Location Certificates with directions 
 to the Surveyor General’s Department to give them possession there- 
 of, after premising that meny hundreds are, or might be in actual 
 possession of their Lands under such certificates, and that their right 
 has ever been deemed so unquestionable, that comparative)y speaking 
 
 > 
 
 
 
— "Ss | ii J > el 
 
 
 
 67 
 
 they have evinced little anxiety to obtain formal Titles, the Commit- 
 tee are ready to admit that very few actual Grants have been made 
 out, a circumstance for which, they trust, they can account upon 
 grounds that will not involve any imputation upon the good faith of 
 this Government. 
 
 During the late war, the 84th Regiment had been raised upon the 
 express promise, that each individual should obtain a specific portion 
 of Land on their being reduced, settling and becoming inhabitants of 
 this Province. When that period arrived, certificates were granted 
 and possession taken whenever the parties thought proper, and 
 several Provincial Corps obtained specitic portions in consequence of 
 Royal Instructions to that end. 
 
 Some time after, the Canada Act was passed, in which the Legis- 
 lature deemed it expedient to evact in the most positive terms— 
 ** That no future Grant of Lands should be valid or effectual, unless 
 ** the same shall contain a specification of Land to be allotted and 
 ‘“ appropriated for the purposes therein-mentioned in respect to the 
 ** Land to be thereby granted.” 
 
 Hence questions arose whether the grants of certificate Lands came 
 within the operations of the Act, the certificates having been granted 
 previously to the passing thereof by Tenure en Szigneurie. Upon the 
 first application made to the Committee upon this subject, they drew 
 up a Report of which the following is an Extract : 
 
 *¢ The next Memorial referred to this Committee is marked No. 
 *¢ 240, andis the Memorial of Malcolm Fraser, a Captain in the 
 *¢ late 84th Regiment, prayingPatents for 8,000 acres of Landin the 
 ** Township of Chatham, being the King’s bounty, to himself and 
 ‘* others, upon which the Land Committee observe that the prayer 
 * raises a question which the Officers and Privates of that corps have 
 *¢ long earnestly wished might be decided, namely, whether under 
 ** the Act of the 31st of His Majesty any Patent for Land can pass 
 ‘¢ to any person whatever under any circumstance, before an actual 
 *¢ Survey of the Township and & subdivision thereofinto Lots of 200 — 
 ‘¢ acres shall have been made and laid out, in conformity to the Dia- 
 ‘¢ gram D or E, as the case may require, and the reservations for the 
 *¢ maintenance of a Protestant Clergy, and for the future disposition 
 *¢ of the Crown, shall have been admeasured and marked in the field, 
 ** notwithstanding Location Certificates have been granted for por- 
 “ tions of Land therein to the Officers and Privates of the late 84th 
 ** Regiment or to other persons, and therefore the Land Committee 
 ‘* humbly request, that the said Petition may likewise be referred 
 *¢ to a Committee of the whole Council, with which request Your 
 s¢- Excellency has been pleased to comply. 
 
 “ This Committee humbly beg leave toobserve to Your Excellen- 
 “¢ cy, that they are well aware the question now referred to them 
 “not only involves points of considerable nicety and importance, 
 ‘* but also that some peints connected with this question, may by 
 ** possibility be brought before them when sitting in a different capa« 
 
 
 

 
 i 
 hs 
 
 \, 
 68 
 
 city, in which case it might be inconvenient to have delivered any. 
 previous opinion ; but asthe Committee are desirous of removing 
 the doubts of so numerous a class of His Majesty’s most deserving 
 subjects, they are willing to submit their sentiments to Your 
 Excellency’s consideration, at the same time laying in their claim . 
 not to be bound by them in case of their seeing a necessity of 
 departing therefrom, upon fuller information, should they be 
 called upon at any future period to determine by solemn adjudi- 
 cation. 
 
 ‘* The Committee apprehend that with respect to the Reserves, 
 the provisions of the Act 31st of the King, cap. 31, are peremp- 
 tory, and that no Grant of Lands that shall be made after the 
 passing of that Act, can be yalid or effectual, unless such Grant 
 contains a specification of the Reserves allotted and appropriated 
 in respect of the Land to be thereby granted ; and with respect to 
 reservations, the Committee apprehend this distinction is to be ta- 
 ken, that in those cases where Location Certificates shall have been 
 granted, previously to the passing of the said Act, in certain specific 
 Townships, in number sufficient to exhaust one or more Townships, 
 so that no space remains for reserved allotments within the said 
 Townships, receurse must be had to the directions in the said Act 
 contained, whereby the Governor, the Lieutenant-Governor or 
 person Administering the Government, is authorized to make from 
 and out of the Lands of the Crown, such allotment and appropri- 
 ation of Lands for the support and maintenance of a Protestant 
 Clergy, within the Province, as may be in a due proportion to the 
 
 * amount of such Lands within the same as have at any time been 
 * granted by or under the authority of His Majesty ; and that in all 
 
 Patents tobe granted for Lands situated in Townships com- 
 pletely covered by Location Certificates as aforesaid, the re- 
 serves to be specified in respect thereof, should be taken from the 
 general allotment and appropriation so directed to be made out of 
 the said Act, the 31st of the King, cap. 31st ; and in order to 
 enable such persons as have already received His Majesty’s bounty 
 by Location Certificates in manner hereinbefore mentioned to ob- | 
 tain their Patents in conformity to the said Act, The Commit- 
 tee are of opinion that it is absolutely necessary forthwith 
 to pursue the directions given by the said Act for the purpose 
 of providing a sufficient appropriation of Lands for the use 
 of a Protestant Clergy, from which the reserves to correse 
 pond with the Lands already granted by Certificates, should be 
 taken, andto that end the Committee respectfully propose, that 
 the Surveyor General should be directed to lay before Your Ex- 
 cellency a Report of the number of Acres of the Waste Lands of 
 the Crown for which Location Certificates have already been 
 granted, in order that Your Excellency may be enabled to ascer- 
 jain the extent of the general appropriation and allotment ne- 
 
 l=» 
 
 
 
 
 
69 
 
 cessary to be made for the purpose aforesaid, and further that 
 the said Surveyor General be directed to report his opinion on 
 the most convenient mode of subdividing such general allotment 
 into such proportions as shall be best calculated to answer the 
 purposes aforesaid, and thereby enable the Law Officers of the 
 Crown to prepare the Patents with a distinct specification of. 
 the Reserves to be set apart in respect of the Lands for which 
 Certificates have already been granted.” 
 
 On perusal of this Extract the Committee apprehend that ins- 
 tead of being censurable for endeavouring to obstruct the passing of 
 formal Grants, they may be liable to the charge of indiscretion, for 
 having travelled beyond their province, by hazarding opinions with 
 a desire of giving satisfaction toso meritorious a class of His Ma- 
 jesty’s subjects, 
 
 In addition to the delays and difficulties which must obviously a- 
 rise from a performance of those requisites without which all ‘Titles 
 will ever remain impeachable, some delay has been occasioned by 
 the precautions which the Committee have found it needful to ex- 
 ert, inorder to prevent the provision of the Act from being eluded ; 
 and that the conduct of the Land Surveyors have given just oc- 
 casion for the exercise of such vigilance, will appear from the ex- 
 tract of two several Reports subjoined in the Appendix, and marked 
 with the Letters A. and B. respectively. 
 
 From a perusal of these documents, the Committee humbly ap- 
 prehend that whatever delay may have taken place, it ought not to 
 be imputed to any negligence on their part. 
 
 Having made these observations, the Committee will proceed to 
 give distinct answers, to the several cases mentioned in this part 
 of the Memorial, which are those of Shefford, Orford and Stuke- 
 ly. With respect to the Township of Shetlord, in order to show 
 how very ineffectual all schemes and plans have been in contempla- 
 tion, for obtaining tothe behoof of other persons, the legal Grant 
 of this Township, the Committee will beg leave to transcribe the 
 preamble to their Keport respecting this Township, as it now stands. 
 on the Minutes of the Council of the 28th November last. 
 
 ** The Committee proceeded to take into consideration the case of 
 *¢ the Claimants of the Township of Shefford, whereof John Savage 
 is Leader, andinasmuch asthe said John Savage is well known 
 ** to have been the first of His Majesty’s subjects who suffered im- 
 prisonment on account of his loyalty in the County of Albany, that 
 he was imprisoned during thespace of four years, and that he after 
 his enlargement was employed in many confidential services in 
 ** behalf of Government, of which he acquitted himself with dis- 
 ‘¢ tinguished fidelity, the Committee have deemed themselves at 
 “¢ liberty to make some slight deviation from their general rules, 
 ‘¢ in fayour of a character so truly meritorious, and to adopt and 
 admit upon the Files the acéount deliveredin and signed by him- 
 
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 70 
 
 ‘€ ‘self, of the character and qualifications of his several Associates, 
 * and do therefore report and recommend that, &c.” 
 
 In regard to the Township of Orford, notwithstanding the yari- 
 ous allegations that have been made concerning the expenses, time 
 and labour, that have been employed upon this as upon many o- 
 ther Townships, it appears by reference to authentic documents, 
 that the mere outlines only of the Township had beenrun. A Re- 
 port bearing date 7th March 1800, has been made to Your Excel- 
 Jency, respecting this Township, in the following terms : 
 
 ** On the Petition of Luke Knoulton for the Township of Or- 
 “* ford.” 
 
 ** On perusing the documents accompanying this Petition, it ap+ 
 ** pears that the case of the Petitioner falls under the third Class : 
 ** the Committee therefore recommend, that a Warrant of Survey 
 *<-and Subdivision do issue for the Township of Orford, and in con- 
 sideration of the expenses incurred by the Petitioner, that he 
 ** and his Associates de obtain a quarter part of the said Township 
 *¢ at the old Fees.” 
 
 And a final Report upon the Return of the Warrant of Survey, 
 has been made on the 23d February 1801, Book E. page P40—— 
 whereby, 
 
 *¢ It appears that a portion of the said Township, situate in the 
 ** South Easterly part thereof; consisting of sixty-eight Lots, ex. 
 ‘* clusive of the Reserves for the Church and Crown, is contained 
 ‘< within a line in the said Diagram drawn and distinguished bya 
 ** yellow edge, which said portion the Committee humbly recom. 
 ** mend may be divided among Luke Knoulton, the Leader of the 
 ** said Township and his fifteen Associates in the proportions here- 
 ‘* in after set forth, that is te say, &c.” 
 
 The case of the Township of Stukely has been resolved upon e- 
 ver since the fifth of December One thousand seven hundred and 
 ninety-nine, as appears by entry on the Minutes, Land Book D. 
 page 375, wherein the Committee report their epinion that this 
 case comes under the second class ; and on the nineteenth Septem. 
 ber one thousand eight hundred, it is ordered that a Patent do issue 
 in favour of Samuel Willard and his Associates. for one half of the 
 Township of Stakely, and the Patent has issued accordingly. 
 
 Before they quit this part of the subject, the Committee cannot. 
 refrain from observing, that after all the complaints that have been 
 made, respecting the number of Settlers who have embarked their 
 labour and property on the Waste Lands of the Crown, it appears 
 ‘vom the result of an actual Survey, that five Townships only fall 
 under this predicament; and in regard to the expense, it is a prin- 
 ciple generally admitted and confirmed by experience, thatall new — 
 settlers are fully indemnified by the Ashes produced by clearing, 
 and the first crop. | | : 
 
 20. The second charge turns upon the inconsistency of the Exe- 
 eutive Council, respecting the encouragement for actual settlement, 
 
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 [E> 
 
 
 

 
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 The merits of this charge have been amply discussed in the pro- 
 seedings of the Executive Council, which proceedings were made 
 public in certain Pamphlets published in the year 1798, . 
 
 The Committee will give a brief outline of the cause and the na« 
 ture of this inconsistency, and among other particulars, refer to an 
 Extract from a Report of the Executive Council, 27th August 
 i798, subjoined in the Appendix, and marked with the Letter C, 
 
 Early in the year 1792, when the Land granting business was 
 entered upon, in consequence of the Royal Instructions framed in 
 conformity to the provisions of the Canada Act, the Committees of 
 the whole Executive Council were presided by William Smith, Es- 
 quire, His \'ajesty’s Chief Justice of the Province, a Gentleman 
 who had been long conversant in the practice of the Land Gran- 
 ting Department in the former Colonies of New-York and 
 New-Hampshire : at the outset of the business, the Chairman, 
 after observing that “* An abundant population of these Colonies 
 ** was the main object of the Royal Instructions,” proposed a de« 
 tailed plan of proceedings, and the Committee concurred in 
 the mode of proceeding suggésted by the Chair. 
 
 In consequence of the mode thus adopted, and before many of the 
 most essential points connected with the business, such as the ex- 
 penses of the Survey, the position of the Reserves, or the appoint- 
 ment of Commissioners had been ascertained and adjusted, Warrants 
 of Survey were in the course of a few months issued to divers persons, 
 for upwards of 150 Townships of 10 miles square. 
 
 The uncertainty respecting the particulars abovementioned and 
 other causes, suspended the further progress till towards the close of 
 June 1794, when the business was resumed by Order of His Excele 
 Jency Lord Dorchester; at this period the former Chairman, Wil- 
 liam Smith, Esquire, had paid the debt of nature, and the duty of 
 presiding in Committees of the whole Council, devolved on his Suc- 
 cessor in the Chief Justiceship, and soon after five additional Mem 
 bers were called to the Executive Council. 5 
 
 The very important business of the Land Granting Department 
 being a novelty as well to the succeeding Chairman as to the new 
 Members, it became their Duty to acquaint themselves both with the 
 Rules assigned fortheir conduct by His Majesty’s Royal Instructions, 
 and with the anterior proceedings of the Board from its first Lustita- 
 tion, as they appeared upon the records of the Coancil. 
 
 Upon perusing the very elaborate Report drawn up by the late 
 Chairman, introductory to the Plan of proceedings by him suggested, 
 and after observing the numerous Orders that had been issued ia 
 consequence thereof, it appeared evident to the Committee, that 
 both the Theory laid down and the Practice adopted were in manifest 
 violation of His Majesty’s Instructions. For whereas the 35th Arti- 
 cle of the said Instructions is of the tenor following : 
 
 ‘¢ And ia order to prevent any persons disaffected to us and our 
 *¢ Government from becoming settlers in our said Proviace of Lower 
 
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 72 
 
 ¢ Canada, it is our will and pleasure, that no Warrants for Survey- 
 c 
 
 ey 
 
 ing Lands be granted by you, or the Lieutenant Governor or 
 «¢ person Administering the Government for the time being, unless 
 ‘¢ the Person or Persons applying for the same, do at the time of 
 ‘¢ making such application, besides taking the usual Oaths directed 
 “¢ by Law, also make and subscribe the following declaration in your 
 ** orhis presence, or in the presence of such person or persons as 
 ‘¢ shall by you or him be appointed for that purpose, viz. **I 4. B. 
 «¢ do promise and declare that I will maintain and defend, to the ut- 
 *¢ most of my power, the authority of the King in His Parliameat, as 
 “¢ the supreme Legislature of this Province ;” 
 
 Nevertheless in direct opposition to the Royal Will and Pleasure, 
 Warrants of Survey for upwards of 150 Townships have been issued at 
 a time when no Commissioners for the purpose in the said Instruction 
 
 ta 
 
 -had been even appointed. : 
 
 To rectify this manifest mistake, to preserve the Faith of Govern- 
 mentas implied by the Grant of the Warrant of Survey, and to 
 prevent the like evil in future, the most effectual remedy that occur 
 red to the Commitee, was to recommend the issuing of certain Orders 
 in Council as set forth in the Appendix (D) and since that time no 
 Warrant of Survey has been issued, but in conformity to the Royal 
 Instructions. 
 
 The existence of the Error as well as the detection of it, together 
 with the efforts of His Majesty’s Council to obviate any prejudice 
 that might arise therefrom, were well known to the Memorialist, altho” 
 it might not suit his purpose to state them, and also to the parties 
 interested, so that the repeated endeavours of the Council to restrain 
 
 unauthorized Settlement by their repeated Order issued during the © 
 
 course of several years, and the public notoriety of the fact, may 
 well justify the assertion of the Committee on which an inconsisten- 
 cy is attempted to be established. ) 
 The Committee are ready to admit that, prima facie, there ap» 
 pears to be an inconsistency of declaration between the Extracts of 
 the years 1792 and 1798, as stated by the Memorialist, but they 
 humbly apprehend that the charge of inconsistency cannot in reality 
 
 attach upon the conduct of his Majesty’s Executive Government in 
 
 respect to the Applicants for Lands, when, instead of adopting a 
 rigorous course, they studiously endeavoured to remedy the incon- 
 venience by allowing an ample period to that end, and by Public 
 Notice inviting all the parties concerned to avail themselves of it. 
 
 The Committee conceive they would have been much more censu- 
 rable had they persisted in an error after it had been discovered, and 
 humbly persuade themselves that under those circumstances the chief 
 objects for their attentiom were to secure the faith of Government 
 from merited reproach, and the conduct of the Executive Council 
 from the charge of disobedience. 
 
 third general topic of complaint against the Executive Council 
 
 eee their conduct with respect to the requisite of taking the 
 
 aths. . 
 
 7~ 
 
 - 
 
 
 
73 
 
 On this head the Committee humbly persuade themselves they are 
 exempt from reproach, and that their conduct is justifiable on the 
 clearest Grounds, not only because it was regulated by a sense of 
 duty, but because it was their peculiar Duty to exert their vigilance 
 at that particular time, As a point of Duty they are ordered by the 
 King’s Instructions to take pledges for the Allegiance of the Appli« 
 eants before the issuing of any Warrant of Survey; they were theres 
 fore bound upon a principle of obedience to exact the Oaths at all 
 times. But by those who can recollect the condition of this Province 
 from the beginning of the year 1794, to the final ratification of the 
 Treaty withthe United-States of América, the period complained of, 
 when apprehensions of the most serious nature were excited in the 
 minds of the truly Loyal among His Majesty’s subjects at the proba- 
 ble effects to be expected from this ** abundant population” o} ques 
 tionable characters who were to occupy one hundred and fifty Town- 
 ships of ten miles square, and who were all to come from a Governe 
 ment with whom there were daily expectations of hostility, it will be 
 admitted that that was not precisely the period for His Majesty’s 
 Government in Canada to relax those restrictions so wisely establish- 
 ed to prevent them from being overwhelmed by a torrent of disaffection. 
 
 On the contrary it was their peculiar duty to hold out every spe. 
 cies of discouragement, consistent with Public Justice and good faith 
 against the inroads of such enterprising neighbours, and the Com. 
 mittee are disposed to flatter themselves that their perseverance in 
 this respect by their constant admonitions was not altogether without 
 a beneficial consequence, although they are ready to admit that in 
 some cases this vigilance has been eluded. 
 
 But although the Committee feel no difficulty in thus explaining 
 their motives to Your Excellency for the information of the Lords of 
 His Majesty’s Council, yet they are by no means disposed to allow 
 that in the application of the said Orders of Council, they have dealt 
 harshly or rigorously in any case where the party had equitable mes 
 rits to disclose. 
 
 On the contrary, although they have had recourse to those Or. 
 ders, as they necessarily must, in discussing the many hundred un- 
 supported claims and groundless pretensions that have been laid 
 before them, and were well content to have such general rules to 
 resort to, in their decision upon matters involving interests and ex- 
 pectations, which would be supported by much eagerness and anxiety, 
 yet they held themselves at liberty to pass, and actually have passed 
 an equitable construction in all cases, when the party had claim to 
 produce either of known personal loyalty, or real improvement on 
 the Lands. | 
 
 The specific cases of the Townships of Stukely and Orford are 
 mentioned under this head, and the hardships sustained by the res- 
 pective Leaders enlarged upon : the Committee have good reasons to 
 assign, to excuse themselves from the imputations of having inflicted 
 those hardships ; but the detail — now useless, as the original 
 
gan ™ 
 
 74 
 
 Leaders and Associates of those Townships, and numbers of others, 
 are now in actual possession under legal Grants, or may obtain pos- — 
 session under the Orders passed in Council, since the commence- 
 ment of Your Excellency’s administration, to the amount of nearly 
 one million eight hundred thousand Acres. 
 
 Having submitted these remarks to Your Excellency, in the order 
 and manner proposed, the Committee humbly hope that they now é 
 stand justified from the charges adduced against them. | 
 
 They donot understand themselves as called upon to offer any - 
 opinion on the several prayers contained in the said Memorial, as the 
 same are addressed to His Majesty’s Royal Munificence, further 
 than to submit to Your Excellency’s serious consideration the great 
 inconvenience and confusion which must unavoidably follow from the 
 adoption of any new regulations. 
 
 They will only take occasion to mention, that asthe sixth prayer 
 contains the specific cases of the Townships of Shipton and 
 Brompton, that Orders of Council have already passed for the same, 
 and that the parties are in actual possession of the said Townships as 
 stated in the said prayer. 
 
 The only remaining observation with which the Committee pro- 
 pose to trouble Your Excellency, is, that having already in perma- 
 nent Committee considered the whole mass of cases, both for Town- 
 ships and of Individual applications, which stood referred to them, and 
 having according to the best of their Judgement reported thereon, 
 conformably to the late regulations transmitted by His Majesty’s 
 Secretary of State, before the receipt of the Memorial now under 
 consideration, which several Reports have been approved of by Your 4 
 Excellency in Council ; and should such their proceedings meet with . 
 the gracious and final confirmation of His Majesty, the whole business 
 will of course be sofar understood to be settled and adjusted, and 
 the Lords of His Majesty’s Most Honourable Privy Council will 
 thereby be exempted from the trouble of reporting on the expedien- 
 cy of granting the several prayers of. the said Memorial, in so far as 
 they may interfere with the arrangements already made, and now 
 acting upon in this Province. | 
 
 All which is humbly submitted to Your Excellency’s wisdom. 
 
 
 
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 By Order, 
 
 (Signed) Wm. OSGOODE, Chairman. 
 
 Council Chambers, } 
 Quebec, 26 May 1801. 
 
 Certified. 
 HERMAN W. RYLAND. 
 
 
 
 IN 
 
75 
 APPENDIX A, 
 
 Newport :—On Inspection of the Diagram returned with the pa- 
 pers relating to this Township, it was suggested bya Member, that 
 the said Diagram was signed by a person not duly qualified, and it 
 being also remarked that Exhibits of the sort now produced were 
 most easily fabricated and afforded no satisfactory evidence that any 
 
 actual subdivision had really been made in the Field, it was thought 
 
 expedient to endeavour to obtain further information on the subject, 
 
 atid was therefore | 
 
 Resolved, That Mr. Vondenyelden, Assistant to the Suryeyor-Ge- 
 neral, be requested to attend. 
 
 Mr. Vondenvelden attended accordingly. 
 
 Q. Please tolook at the Exhibit now produced marked No. 5, 
 purporting to bea Diagram of the outlines and subdivision of the 
 Township of Newport, and signed by Christopher S. Bailey, Deputy 
 Provincial Surveyor—has the said Bailey a Provincial Commission ? 
 
 A. He has not. 
 
 Q. Can youfrom inspection of this paper, which purports to be 
 a Diagram, undertake to determine whether it was made from actu- 
 al Field work or drawn up in the Closet ? | 
 
 A. Itisimpossible to judge. 
 
 Q. Is it not necessary that a Field-Book should be returned 
 with the Diagram into the Surveyor General’s Office? 
 
 A. Itis—but asno Warrant of subdivision has issued from the 
 Surveyor General’s Office, he has refused to receive any such Field- 
 Book, should it be made. 
 
 Q. Has any Patent issued for Lands in the Township of Farn- 
 ham? 
 
 A. There has. 
 
 Q. Did such Patentissue- in consequence of actual Survey or 
 otherwise ? 
 
 A. I cannot tell. : | nan 
 
 Q. Isit nota direction in the Warrant of Survey that an actual 
 Survey should be made? . 
 
 A. Itis 
 
 Q. How then did you make your Return respecting Farnham ? 
 
 A. The Return of Survey and Diagram were delivered to me by 
 Mr. Gale, so worded as if Instructions had been given to somebody 
 to make the Return—I can produce it. 
 
 Do so. 
 
 Q. Whose hand writing is the Paper you now produce ? 
 
 A. Mr. Gale’s. 
 
 Q. Is there any Signature to it ? 
 
 A. There is none. 
 
 Q. Was it in consequence of this Return his Patent was made 
 
 A . It was—there is no other inthe Office but the one now pro- 
 

 
 76. 
 
 Q. Can you say, whether that Diagram was or was not made in 
 consequence of an actual Survey ? 
 
 A. I cannot 
 
 Q Did a Warrant of subdivision issue for the Township of 
 Farnham? 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. ve any Field-Book accompany the Return? 
 
 A. No 
 
 Q. If any Field-Book had been offered should you have held 
 yourself bound to accept it? 
 
 A. Yes, aftera Warrant of Survey had regularly passed. 
 
 Q. Have youany means of knowing whether Diagrams. suchas 
 are now returned and lie upon the Table were or were not made in 
 consequence of an actual Survey. 
 
 A. No—itis impossible to tell. 
 
 Q. Ought not Field-Books to have been returned with those 
 Diagrams? 
 
 A. There regularly ought. 
 
 Q. Whena Diagram is returned without a Field-Book, is it or 
 not presumptive evidence, that the Diagram was not made in con- 
 sequence of an actual Survey? 
 
 _ A. Itis. Lwould not have returned the Diagram of an actual 
 Survey, without a Field-Book, 
 
 Mr Vondenvelden withdrew. 
 
 The Committee deliberate. 
 
 Resolved, That the Committee will suspend their determination 
 on this case, until more satisfactory evidence be produced to them, 
 that an actual Survey of Subdivision has been made of the Town- 
 ship of Newport, and the Clerk of the Council be directed forth. 
 with to give notice to the parties concerned. 
 
 On considering the testimony given by Mr. Vondenvelden, As- 
 sistant to the Surveyor General, at the last Meeting, respecting 
 the Diagram annexed to the Patent for Lands in Farnham, and res” © 
 flecting on the facility of the transaction, the Committee have great 
 reason to suspect that many of the Diagrams produced, purporting 
 to set forth the subdivisions of Townships as from real admeasure- 
 ment, have not been projected from actual Survey in the Field, in 
 ‘which case they are altogether useless and illusory ; and foreseeing 
 that unless proper measures be adopted, to ascertain and distinguish 
 by lasting tokens, the whole of the allotments reserved for the 
 Church and Crown in every Township, conformably to His Majesty’s 
 instructions, much strife, confusion and fraud will unavoidably 
 
 _ take place in time to come. 
 
 The Committee do therefore 
 
 Resolve, That it is highly expedient to represent to His Excel- 
 lency the necessity of giving specific Instructions to the Surveyor 
 General, that he doin no case whatever certify any Diagram, to be 
 annexed to a Patent for granting any part of the Waste Lands of 
 
 7o~ 
 
 
 
 
 
77 
 
 the Crown, until he be duly satisfied that a Survey of the Lands to 
 be granted has been really made bya Deputy Provincial Surveyor, 
 by actual admeasurement in the Field, and that he do accept of no 
 Return of Survey unless the same be accompanied by a Field-Book, 
 setting furth that the Allotments reserved for the Church and Crown, 
 have been duly made and ascertained, and specifying the spots where, 
 and the particular Marks and Tokens by which such Reserves have 
 been distinguished, in order that the same may remain of Record in 
 his Office, for the security and protection of the Lands so reserved, 
 in case of future litigation. 
 
 APPENDIX B, 
 
 On inspecting the Diagram annexed to the Return of the Ware 
 rant of Survey of the Township of Orford, it was suggested that 
 the Diagram was vot conformable to His Majesty’s Royal Instruc= 
 tious, or the Warrant of Survey. It was proposed to callin Mr. 
 Vondenvelden, acting for the Surveyor General, who attended ac- 
 cordingly, and the following examination took place : 
 
 Q. Is Mr. Holland, the Surveyor General, in a capacity to act 
 for himself ? , 
 
 A. No. a 
 
 Q. Who acts for him ? a 
 
 A. Ido, 
 
 Q. Has this Warrant of Survey come regularly into your Office ? 
 As. Yes: 
 
 Q. Who made the Return to it? 
 
 A. I did. 
 
 Q. Are the Return and Diagram now shewn to you of the 
 
 Township of Orford conformable to the directions given in the 
 Warrant of Survey ? 
 
 A. No. a ener 
 
 Q. Can youassign the reason why ? : 
 
 A. Isuppose because the Surveyor has not applied to our Office. 
 
 Q. Would he have been supplied with proper instructions, had he 
 made such application ? 
 
 A. He would. 
 
 Q. Do you know of any other Townships in the same predicament? 
 ' A. Almost every one. 
 
 Q. How comes it to pass that the Surveyor General uniformly has 
 certified both by his Return and Diagram, that they were conforma. 
 ble to the Warrant of Survey ? 
 
 A. Because there were a great many Townships already surveyed, 
 and there was no other means of proceeding. 
 
 Upon further examination it appears that, as the generality of 
 Surveys that have already been made, have been of detached Town- 
 Ships, no very serious inconvenience will arise, but the Examinate 
 apprehends that, if the practice of surveying without receiving proper 
 

 
 
 
 78 
 
 Instructions from the Surveyor General’s Office be continued, and 
 every Surveyor be allowed to run his Lines without specific Instrac- 
 tions, the utmost confusion and litigation must necessarily ensue, and 
 whereas there is good reason to apprehend that many Surveys are 
 now carrying on in the like irregular manner, the Committee appre- 
 hend it to be their duty to take the earliest means of representing 
 the matter to Your Excellency, and humbly submit the expediency 
 of issuing forthwith a Public Advertisement to the following effect : 
 
 EXECUTIVE COUNCIL OFFICE. 
 
 Whereas inconvenience has arisen from the negligence of Surveys 
 ors in not applying to the Surveyor General’s Office for general or 
 specific Instructions, as the case may require, previously to their pro- 
 ceeding on the Survey of Townships or any part thereof. And 
 whereas much confusion and strife may hereafter ensue from such neg- 
 lect : it is hereby ordered, that every Surveyor shall, before he en- 
 ters upon the execution of any Warrant of Survey, apply to the said 
 Office for such Instructions as shall at the said Office be deemed re- 
 quisite to be given in such behalf, and that from and after the date of 
 this Order, no Return or Diagram of Survey shall be certified by the 
 said Surveyor General or any other person acting in such capacity, 
 unless it shall appear that such Survey has been made in conse : 
 quence of Instructions received from the said Office, and that the 
 Return and Diagram are conformable thereto. | 
 
 APPENDIX C. 
 
 It appears by an Entry in the Council Book, (marked C.) of the 
 20th February 1792, that a Land Committee was on that day name 
 ‘ed in Council. 2 
 
 On the 17th March 1792, a Report of a Committee of the whole 
 Council upon certain doubts suggested by the Land Commitree, is 
 entered. . 
 
 In this Report, after observing that “‘ An abundant Population of 
 ‘¢ these Countries seem to be the main object of the Royal Instruc- 
 <¢ tions,” the Chairman of the Committee proposes a plan for the or- 
 dinary progress of the business of the Land Office Department, as 
 follows : | 
 
 Ist. A Petition tothe Governor for the vacancy desired, under a 
 description to be accurately ascertained by a future Survey. 
 
 2d. The reference of it toa Committee of the Council for their 
 
 Report. Bast 
 
 ~ 3d. Judgement in Council thereon ; and, when for the Grant, an 
 Order for issuing a Warrant to the Surveyor General’s Office, for the 
 Return of a Survey agreeable to the Royal Instructions; this War- 
 rant to be under the Governor’s Hand and Seal at Arms. 
 
 (>> 
 
 
 
a aM : os 
 
 79 
 
 4th. Then the adjustment in Council of the shares of each of the 
 Patentees. 
 
 5th. A transmission of the List by the Clerk of the Council to the 
 Commissioners for taking their qualifications, under standing Instruc- 
 tions for that purpose, within the time limited by an Act or Minute 
 of Council. 7 
 
 6th. A Report from the Commissioners to the Council Office, whence 
 those papers are to go into the hands of the Attorney General for his 
 Report to the Secretary’s Office of the draft of a Patent, 
 
 7th. The Patent to be there engrossed and issued under the Great 
 Seal, upon payment of the Fees due to all the Officers concerned, 
 and to be accordingly distcibuted by the Secretary, who is to record 
 the Patent, and preserve all the detached papers in due files. 
 
 After which it is recorded, that the Committee concur in the mode 
 of proceeding aforementioned, suggested by the Chair. 
 
 And that this Report was finally concurred in Council. 
 
 From some cause which it were now useless to enquire into, it so 
 happened that the progress proposed by the Chairman of that day, 
 directly inverted the course commanded by His Majesty’s Instructions: 
 for it appears that by the progress proposed, the Order for issuing 
 a Warrant for the Return of a Survey, precedes the transmission of 
 the List for taking the qualifications : Whereas by His Majesty’s 
 Royal Instructions, No. 35, it is expressly directed that, “ In order 
 ** to prevent any persons disaffected to us and our Government from 
 becoming Settlers in our said Province of Lower-Canada, it it our 
 will and pleasure, that no Warrants for surveying Lands be grant- 
 ed by you or the Lieutenant-Governor, or the person administer- 
 ing the Government for the time being, unless the person or per- 
 sons applying do, at the time of making such application, besides 
 ** taking the usual Oaths direeted by Law, also make and subscribe 
 the following Declaration in your or his presence, or in the pre- 
 sence of such person or persons as shall by you or him be appoint 
 $8 eds-iec." 
 
 I n consequence of the mode thus adopted, upwards of 150 War- 
 rants of Survey for Townships were issued, even before any Com- 
 missioners were appointed to administer the solemnities previously 
 required by the said Instructions ; but notwithstanding the number of 
 Warrants thus issued, the business of settlement went on very tardi- 
 ly, even at the timie when it was understood that Government was to 
 discharge half the expense of running the outlines, which delay, as 
 appears by Reports from the Land Committee and the Surveyor Ge-~ 
 neral’s Office, arose from the uncertainty of the Settlers with respect 
 to three material points. 
 
 First, — With regard to the position of the Reserves intended for 
 the benefit of the Crown and the support of the Protestant Clergy ; 
 Secondly, the amount of the Fees to be paid on obtaining a Patent, 
 and thirdly, the quantity of Land which the Petitioners and their 
 Associates may expect: A considerable portion of time elapsed be- 
 
awe ~ 7 me — - . + 
 
 z za si = ——S—— SS =: = — ee 
 
 7 SS =: = SS SSS = 2s - >= 
 —- 
 
 a —— 3 aed . oho = eS aioe ee Ea 
 — ss iar anes = . ae a =o : rs = ee ie aa. 
 —= = > ee se eee — 
 EE SS | Le Ne Oe eee sae eee — 
 gee ee nn ee ee ee r S 4 es e- 
 = y = - —-- = > = — 
 
 
 
 80 
 
 fore these points were settled. However, towards the close of the 
 year seventeen hundred and ninety-four, the objects of the Reserves 
 and Fees being brought forward by His Excellency Lord Dorchester 
 were ascertained and determined by His Lordship in Council, and 
 afterwards were made known to the Public. 
 
 At this period the former Chairman of the Committee of the whole 
 Council was no more, and within a short time afterwards every Mem. 
 ber of the present Council had a Seat at the Board. 
 
 The business of the Land granting began seriously to be resumed, 
 and Commissioners for giving effect to His Majesty’s Instructions 
 were duly appointed. 
 
 Upon a view of former proceedings the error that had heretofore 
 occurred was noticed, and immediate course was taken to repair it, 
 and this in the opinion of the Committee, is the true period at which 
 an effective commencement of the Land Granting Department ought 
 to be fixed, not only because the former proceedings being contrary 
 to the express Instructions of Government (although Government 
 with becoming dignity did not mean to vacate them) were null, but 
 also because the essential powers to put the business into motion were 
 not till this juncture combined or even created. From this time the 
 Executive Council being aware of the mischiefs arising from actual 
 settlement without a compliance with the previous formalities, have 
 uniformly endeavoured to inhibit it, and have employed themselves 
 to carry His Majesty’s Instructions into execution, with respect to 
 past proceeding, if not in the order in which they had been directed, 
 at least to their full extent ; and with respect to the future proceed- 
 ings duly to observe the order prescribed by His Majesty to prevent 
 actual Settlement titl all previous requisites should be faithfully ob- 
 served, and as evidence thatsuch was both their resolve and prac- 
 tice, they beg leave to refer Your Excellency to a Public Notice, 
 bearing date the tenth October seventeen hundred and ninety-four, 
 recorded in the Council Book (C), page 367, in which the distinc- 
 tion before alluded to is plainly made; namely, that those who had 
 obtained Warrants of Survey should comply with the directions there- 
 in stated, prior to the issuing of any Grant of Land; and that they 
 who meant to apply for any such Warrant should also conform there- 
 to, and this was published with a direct view of preventing the un- 
 authorized Settlement of any person in future, as no Warrant of Sur. 
 vey would be issued or has since been issued without a previous com- 
 pliance with such ‘directions ; and with a view to quicken the atten- 
 ‘tion of those who, having taken possession under their Warrant of | 
 Survey, were contented with their occupancy and did not seem dis- 
 posed to give themselves any further trouble, Public Notice was given 
 
 from the Executive Council Office, on the seventeenth January 
 
 seventeen hundred and ninety-five, to all persons who have obtained 
 Warrants of Survey or Orders of His Excellency the Governor in 
 Council, for any part of His Majesty’s ungranted Lands in this Pro- 
 vince, to comply with the requirements contained in the said Adver- 
 
 | ee 
 
 
 
ee IE oe UL tent 
 
 s = = 
 
 2 ———_ 
 
 81 
 
 tisement, on or before the first day of August next, and that in de- 
 fault of such compliance they will be considered by Government to 
 have relinquished their pretensions under any Order of Council or 
 Warrant of Survey, that may have been directed in consequence. 
 
 At the expiration of this period it appeared by the Schedules an- 
 nexed and the Returns of the Commissioners, that of upwards of 300 
 Leaders and ten thousand proposed Associates, the number of those 
 who had complied with the directions did not exceed 550; so that 
 the number of persons who had duly qualified themselves bore a very 
 small proportion, not only to the amount of the applicants, but even 
 to those who were supposed to have made actual Settlement on the 
 Land, who having neglected to comply with the terms of the notice 
 were clearly subject to the penalty thereby announced. After these 
 forfeitures had accrued it was generally understood that in addition 
 to these persons who had satisfied themselves with a bare Warrant of 
 Survey of the outlines of a Township, a numberof others, under va- 
 rious pretexts, some from having purchased pretensions and others 
 because it suited their interest, had made actual Settlement in vari- 
 ous quarters, and many upon Lands reserved for the Support of a 
 Protestant Clergy and the future disposition of the Crown. 
 
 To check this propensity it was thought expedient to issue a Pro- 
 clamation as mentioned in the former Report, but this Proclamation 
 never was intended by the Executive Council, nor could upon any 
 principle of sound construction, be supposed to affect the parties al- 
 luded to in Your Excellency’s Order of reference, who might have 
 an equitable claim upon Government, but those only who having for- 
 feited their claim, or having no claim at all, had made actual settle- 
 ment without sufficient authority. 
 
 These successive measures would be alone sufficient to evince the 
 anxiety of the Executive Council to resist actual Settlement without 
 authority from the first moment that the necessary powers to carry 
 the Granting of Lands into effect were in existence 5 but the most 
 convincing proof of their disposition as well as of the influence of 
 that disposition upon the public opinion, arises from the conduct 
 and forbearance of a numerous body of applicants who, possessed 
 of that operative Instrument, .a Warrant of Survey, have, from a 
 principle of decency, refrained from taking possession. This is- a 
 fact which added to their Public Notices affords in the opinion of 
 the Committee the strongest proof of the position they have asserted. 
 
 APPENDIX D. 
 
 “Whereas several Warrants of Survey of the ungranted Lands of 
 the Crown. have been directed-to be made ovt on behalf of divers 
 persons who have applied for the same and their Associates ; and 
 whereas it is expedient, that prior to the issuing of any Grant of 
 Land, enquiry should be made into the principles and character of 
 such persons as may be desirous ag becoming Settlers in this Pro- 
 

 
 \ 
 2 . 
 
 vince, before they are admitted to take the Oaths and subscribe 
 the Declaration by His Majesty’s Instructions directed to be re- 
 quired, Public Notice is hereby given that for the purpose aforesaid 
 His Excellency Guy Lord Dorchester the Governor in Council has 
 been pleased to nominate and appoint the following persons to be 
 Commissioners : 
 
 William Lindsay, Sen. | } 
 Louis Deschenaux, Esquires, : ys atti 
 Le Chevalier Tonnancour, 
 George Dame, Esquires, 
 
 ¢ at Three Rivers. 
 James Sawyers, ‘ 
 
 at William Henry. 
 
 Francois Corbin, Esquires, 
 James M’Gill, 
 
 Pierre Guy, Esquires, at Montreal. 
 Patrick Conroy, Esquire, at St. Johns. 
 René Boileau, Esquire, at Chambly. 
 Hlenry Ruiter, ) _ 
 
 John Ruiter, Esquires, and 
 Philip Luke, 
 
 Mr. Jesse Pennoyer, 
 
 at Missisquoui Bay. 
 
 and Public Notice is hereby further given, that all persons having 
 obtained a Warrant of Survey as herein before mentioned, or mean- 
 ing to.apply for any such Warrant of Survey, do give unto one of 
 the Commissioners herein before mentioned, a List containing the 
 following particulars respecting them and each of them, and also 
 respecting each and every Associate connected with them, that is to 
 say ; the name, place of abode, and occupation, the religious de- 
 nomination, the number of persons contained in the family, dis- 
 tinguishing the Males from the Females, and also the number of 
 those who are under the age of fourteen from that of those who 
 are above, and the Township and place wherein he proposes to set- 
 tle ; and likewise that the said parties do transmit a Duplicate of 
 the said List, containing such particulars as aforesaid, to the Clerk 
 of the Executive Council, aud due consideration being had thereof, 
 the said Commissioners shall with all convenient dispatch receive 
 instructions, specifying the names of the parties whom they shall 
 be authorized to admit to take and make the Oaths and Subscription 
 aforesaid, in order to their becoming Settlers in this Province. 
 And Public Notice is hereby further given, that no person shall be 
 deemed qualified to partake of His Majesty’s Bounty, whose name 
 together with the particulars herein before required, shall not be in- 
 cluded in a List to be delivered in as aforesaid, or to receive any 
 Grant of Lands within this Province, who shall not have given in 
 or caused to be given in a statement of the particulars herein before 
 set forth. . 
 
 (>> 
 
 ~*t 
 
 
 
 aes 
 

 
 83° 
 
 Whereas divers persons have heretofore petitioned His Excellency 
 the Governor in Council for Grants of various parcels of the vacant 
 Lands of the Crown in this Province, stating that they with their 
 several Associates were desirous of becoming Settlers therein, upon 
 which Warrants of Survey have been issued, for running the out- 
 lines of several Townships as specified in various Petitions ; 
 
 And whereas by an Advertisement bearing date the 10th October 
 last, inserted inthe Quebec Gazette, Public Notice was given that 
 all persons having obtained Warrants of Survey as therein mentioned, 
 or meaning to apply for any such Warrant, should give ia to one of 
 the Commissioners therein named, a List containing the particulars 
 therein set forth ; 
 
 And Whereas by an Advertisement bearing date the twentieth of 
 the same month, inserted in the Quebec Gazette, Public Notice was 
 given that certain parts of the particulars required to be stated in such 
 lists would be dispensed with ; and Whereas a few only of the appli- 
 cants have hitherto complied with the tenor of the said Advertise- 
 ment, and several other persons have lately petitioned His Excellen- 
 cy the Governor in Council, for Grants of some of the Townships for 
 which Warrants of Survey. have been ordered ; 
 
 Public Notice is therefore now given to all persons who have ob- 
 tained Warrants of Survey or Orders of His Excellency the Gover. 
 nor in Council, for any part of His Majesty’s ungranted Lands in 
 this Province, to comply with the requirement contained in the said. 
 Advertisements, on or before the first day of August next, and that; 
 in the defau!t of such compliance they will be considered by Govern-. 
 ment to have relinquished their pretensions under any Order off 
 Council or Warrant of Survey that may have been directed in conse - 
 quence, and that His Excellency the Governor in Council will there». 
 after proceed upon such subsequent Petitions as may have been pre. 
 sented for Grants of the same ‘Township. 
 
 By Order of His Excellency the Governor in Council. 
 (Signed) J. WILLIAMS, 
 C. Ex. C. 
 
 Certified, 
 HERMAN W. RYLAND. 
 

 
 (Cc. ) 
 
 GENEP * 
 
 AL Statement of the Lands granted in free and common Soccage in the Province of 
 
 Lower-Canada, within the undermentioned Townships, which have been laid out and subdivid- 
 ed since the year 1795, shewingalso the Proportional Reservations for Crown and Clergy. 
 
 
 
 | Number Rie Se 
 
 ) citions forjtiens for 
 of Acres the the | 
 granted. | Crown. | Clergy. | 
 
 
 
 
 
 By whom granted.|Leaders of Townships.| Date of the 
 ‘Patent: 
 
 Townships. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1/Dunham ...+....... Lord Dorchester./Thomas Dunn, Esq. . Feb. 2, 1796. ..| 
 
 2 Brome. .........+..\General Prescott Asa Porter, Esq.....)Aug. 18, 1797. 
 3 Bolton ......2..2.00+|/Ditto...... «Nicholas Austin, ... . Ditto. ro ce 5 
 4'Potton.....cs00s+++|Ditto...++.+» 4 Lauchlan M‘Lean. . .\Oct. 31...... 
 5\Farnham...........\Ditto........+./Samuel Gale, &c. .. .|Oct.22, 1798. . 
 ‘Gilbert Miller..... Jan. 3, 1799. .| 
 Robert Gordon. ... March | Se 
 David Stewart. .:..June 13...... 
 Thompson and Blais, July 13... .... 
 James Sawer. ......(Do.. cose evel 
 | Satpal ee 
 | Fortune. ...... 
 
 Sir R, S. Milnes .\Capt. Robertson. .../Nov. 27...... 
 Toitromet. 0... Pee ee Ms Cn oe Joho Black...+..°.|Decs 30...... 
 Ditto........4JJohn Jones. ......./April 29, 1800. 
 ..|Ditto. .......4Kenelm Chandler, . ..|May 14...... 
 .|Ditto....... Capt. Wulf........(Sept. 18....- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 7\Hemmingford,......'Ditto ...... 0 
 Clifton. ......+.2+.. (Ditto os oe wee 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 | 17\Stanbridge...s««+... Ditto 
 | i3Grantham. ideodenet 
 
 19 Upton. orene ene wee 
 
 
 
 21 
 
 
 
 GiAtonie< nc cstces we 
 seth tibiae ean 
 
 
 
 | @8)Orford. .... see 000+ Ditto 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 35 
 S6\Inverness.....esce« 
 37 
 
 Wolfstown . wsescees 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 => — OO —OE—E——e— Oe ee | OS ee 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 «eeeeee Hugh Finlay, Esqr... Sept. 1....... S610} 
 Ditio.....++..|William Grant......|May 14..... 52.50 
 [Ditto oceans. Dd. Alex. Grant... . lMay 21... ree. 5000} 
 | 20/Tewkesbury eaes.-- “|Ditto es « .|Denis Létourneau. ...)/May 14...... 4620) 
 Stamstead. 6... 0.000 - Ditto heme eee «Isaac Ogden... ...-qoept 27. 0. 5040 
 22,Broughton . .....+.+\Ditto..+.+++.H. Jenkin & W. Hall. ct. SO. vik © i 534 
 nf Stukeley ....csees . [Ditto «oee ee» samuel: Willard. ....|Nov. 3..... 4650 
 - 5 -haaetghgates eucne . Ditto cor... > Wames Ragkin....%. -ANov. 6. ar ee 4410 
 [Ditto ........Josia Sawer. a 2c OAS tear 4620 
 Ditto........John Savage......./Feb. 10, "1801. 7098) 
 27\Barnston.. «606 000-|DItO «pose . Lester and Morrogh. JApril 11...... 4693 
 .».+..-.+.+Luke Knoulton...,../May 5... 2487, 
 29|Newport...........(Ditto........ . Edmund Heard..... July..4..020.- 2310 
 30\Stoke ......+...+-.|Ditto ........James Cowan..... "TReb. 13, 1802. 8919 
 $1 Barford,,....+50+++-(DiNO <eceses AI. W. Clarke, Esq. ..|April 15. ee m0 of 5670 
 Officers and Pri-) | ay 
 SZ Windsor, ..6cceee5s(DittO osse..., vates, Canadian > July 14.. 1066 
 ‘ | @ Militia........ a 
 33 Chester.....+e+ee+. Ditto ..;.....Simon M°Tayish, "Esq. July 17. «2. 2310 
 | ( Officers and Pri- : 
 SIMPSON + oncce. ose sms . +e +! =f vates, Canadian > |Do........»- 8387 
 3 a Militia........ 
 HAMAS sons sce se - [Ditto eeeeese. Benjamin Jobert...../August 7... . .| 2310) 
 (Ditto coo... Wm. M‘Gillivray....|August 9..... 2310 
 Ditto ........Nicholas Montour.. ./August. 14... . 231 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 865586 [175225171640 
 
 C8 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 : 5 | Townships. By whom granted.|Leaders of Townships.| Date of the 
 a . : Patent. 
 | a: Amount | brought over.. 
 38\ Leeds. .....+e0ess.\5ir R.S. Milnes .jfsaac Todd ........ ‘August 14.... 
 
 
 
 | 39/Stoke . Foce oder oe | 
 
 | 40iTreland 2... .cesccae 
 41)Dorham .....ccces 
 ST 
 43;\Compton.......000.! 
 | ree ES a | 
 
 
 
 | 45 Arthabaska ee 
 
 _4 Minor Childrenof 
 ee ; Wm. Boutillier. 
 
 ) 40( Thetford... .....~..|Ditto ..... .».jJ0hn Mervin Nooth. .| November 10.. 
 PATIEY. .0.0--0ee+eses|Dilto ..~ ++» .|Amos Lay, junior... .jNovember 13.. 
 48 Roxton ............|Ditto .....+.../Sundry Persons. .....\Jan, 8, 1803.. 
 
 
 
 | 49\Ixworth ee ee 
 
 Ditto . 
 
 yates, 
 Militia... 
 
 52IMilton...cecvcvcnece Ditto a ee . « «Ditto cee ww oo ee vevan. 29, ee 
 53 Clifton .....++.... |Ditto ....... |Sundry Persons. +++. «(March ee 
 
 
 
 | 55 
 
 56lAscot.. Bi an:s edie ~ + UR ” “oo v7 8 (Gilbert Hyatt. ee oe a 
 
 
 
 L 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ce eee 
 
 I amber Reserva-| Reserva. 
 of Acres 
 
 granted, 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 865586 
 11760 © 
 
 1890 
 
 11550 
 21991 
 39900 
 26460 
 23753 
 11550 
 23100 
 
 11550 | - 
 
 24784 
 
 1260 | 
 
 14910 
 
 oo1l52 
 
 24518 | 
 23546 | 
 
 11550 
 23493 
 20188 
 
 ‘ions toritions for 
 the the 
 Crown. 
 
 
 
 
 
 175225 171640} 
 2420! 2630 
 
 Clergy.| 
 
 
 
 
 
L STDIN 6 avec co's wine o's 
 S8CHinton ...sseecnens 
 59 Bulstrode ooeeenewee 
 Gh sia OE aa 
 | 61 Hemmingford....... 
 ad I 
 63)Ctifton Gob badkvduas 
 
 64 Potton.......eeeees 
 
 } 65 Newport. «y.seeeses 
 Géi Brompton « «scssace. 
 C7ISHIDGOM donk dedes sce 
 68 Stanstead.......++-- 
 
 | GO Tingwicksccccecsees 
 | 70, Warwick... seesses- 
 eA re 
 72 Westbury. ..iss.eee. 
 73 Hemmingford....... 
 
 | 74 Nelson nro es oem 
 
 75 Somerset. ...e.. om 
 | 
 PG, WikkdsOr 3506s. 2... 
 
 TOTLOD s/he dhadae «s+ 
 78 Hemmingford . . | 
 
 cy 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ditto .......«M. H. Yeomans..... 
 \Ditto . tye 
 
 Putt®) «gehts» 
 Ditto ..++...+.«George Longmore. 
 
 .|Ditto <a JP. 
 
 ‘Ditto .. 
 
 Ditto one 
 Ditto one eo 8 om ow Ditto ooo 8 8 on m 
 
 .- J.-F. Holland... 
 
 - (May 24...... 
 - Patrick Langan...... 
 
 May 27...... 
 ~ddune 7... 
 
 . Sundry Persons. ,. . June 17. 
 M. De La Valtrie.June 24. 
 Ditto .......-Mary Barnet.......\July 23..... 
 Ditto «.9+.-. . «Henry Ruiter...... July OF ian, 
 © LEz Geis gp mej sc » ot 4. 
 
 LW iliam Barnard. ...|November 27 
 
 
 
 Ditto 
 
 one oo ® eo ww 
 
 oooew we 
 
 Ditto ..e... 
 Ditto «.5.. . 
 Ditto ........Richard Adams. ..../December 6. . 
 ..Sundry Persons. ... Jan. 23, 1804. 
 | - «(Ditto oe we 
 Ditto ........Isaac Ogden... <. . _-es|March ers ovis 
 Ditto ........Henry Caldwell.... March 13..... 
 
 Ditto ........Dn, M‘Naught.. March 27.4... 
 Officers and gid | 
 a * 
 
 vates of the Ca- 
 nadian Militia. , 
 DTT, cae s - « - Ditton 010s gee einpnd EIEEEOs ow hb oe @ 
 ? MaryCharlotte de). 
 Ditto vee Ce eg May 17 
 Ditters mia os .Sundry Persons .... 
 Ditto ........ Mathew Scott.... 
 
 | 
 
 oo eee eo 
 
 . December 24.. 
 
 . Elmer Cushing. .....! December 4. ..| 
 
 April 21 ono eo 
 
 uly 20 vo 
 
 11550 | 2310) 
 11550 2510 
 24463 | 4894 
 11478 | 2448) 
 8536 | 1/07) 
 11486 | 1990 
 7035 | 1594 
 .| 27580 | 5516) 
 12600 | 2400, 2400 
 .| 40753 | 7800 ( 
 | 58692 | 11725) 11739 
 | 1976 210. | 
 | 23730 | 5040) 
 23940 | 4830, 
 6300 | 1680 90 
 12262 | 2701, 2469 
 420 84 
 38326 era 7743 
 38790 | 7483 7619) 
 420 84 
 4400 
 
 
 
 
 
 11628193 |331200 326558} 
 
 
 
 LS 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 
 
 roe 
 
 Barnston «.....esce 
 
 | . Sir R. 5. Milnes.\Sundry Persons.... .Jan. 7, 1805.4. 
 
 
 
 ! vise R.. Henry Bruyere : | 
 es iia Roy a ; and Bothy. ii | January 14.. | 
 LUCY ee cee eer canMtito oe eee ees eae | January 28 owe 
 
 sna eb vnceveccces (Litto ... +» «doses: Holt’s family. I Repianes a1. i 
 
 | 33\Newton.. BineeeeenstO <0 on A, De Lotbiniére... .|March6.... | 
 BARINSIOW <\0:s0.<0-cces.{DHtO ,. +0 oleic ct Forsyth & Richardson.' March 9. bol 
 
 8 Melborne Pb micacke ees a NELO. « © ow dna Henry Caldwell. -April 3. . | 
 
 | 86/Chester,.... 22... | Sundry Persons. ... | April ees 
 87|Dudswell...........|Ditto ..... --sJohn Bishop.......! May i i 
 88 Wendover. ...... .|Ditto ....... “Sundry Persons.....Juue 24.... . 
 CE oy cingie-sw neve MMttO .. > ces « - Mathew Scott...... tl teneas ee ae i 
 90 Durham. ... .|Ditto ........St. Francois Indiaus. .| Jane 26. | 
 Stanstead...........|Ditto ........Sundry Persons...../August 2.-... 
 
 92 Hon.J eae 
 
 President. 
 93 ‘Hull. Sees "Ses se Wright... .jJan. 3, 1806. . 
 DS ASTONS. 06.000 00's al -»+eee- Sundry Persons...../February 17 .. 
 Fleury Descham- 
 
 95/Auckland ..........\Ditto...... 3 ait & a t Aories .... 5% 
 96\Aston Hite War chwevana'e ory] GREER o-eie os “haan Neilson....../June 27. 
 
 
 
 91 
 
 
 
 Farnham. ........., Jane Cuyler, &c....September 9.. 
 
 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 32! | | : | | Number 
 33 Townships. By whom granted, Tecdees of Townships. | Date of the | of Acres 
 ZG | Patent. | granted. 
 
 Amount brought over. 4 1628193 
 
 3150 
 
 11198 
 
 2304 
 12961 
 1073 
 
 26153 | 
 11707 | 
 
 11632 
 12558 
 
 11243 | 
 8150 | 
 
 3578 
 
 5040 | 
 
 13701 | 
 27127 | 
 
 23100 
 
 1260 | 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 | Reserva-l Reserva- 
 tions for|tions for} 
 
 the 
 
 Crown. 
 
 
 
 '331200 325558) 
 2310 | 
 
 152 
 630 
 
 2132 
 
 374 
 2331 
 
 210 
 5932) 
 2320 
 2247 
 
 EE re = 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(— ==" 
 
 
 
 97 Frampton « . ceca ePAROLO sca es * 5 E. Desbarats, &c. ‘July a 11569 | 9919 99 
 Jn. Margaret Isa- By) S 
 1 sien ego an aia Sameees s | ; bella Simpson. ie uly 3. 420 
 OD Actom . +++ veeveee .\Ditto ........(Gother Mann, &c. jJuly 22.. 22859 
 100) EKardley.....+.-++--|Ditto ...+..- Sundry Persons..... August 22. 5250 
 , | 12182 
 
 101 Buckland Le sverenes ihe »ee>ee-(sundry Persons... ../November 26. 
 
 Fe Di Rob a 
 
 ‘Chatham ......+++++|Ditto son and Dr. §S Lame 31 «| 5250 | 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ‘ees | Faun)... 
 1103, Lingwick.....++-.+.+ Ditto .......+. Sundry Grantees. . 
 
 , 1807.. 13650 | 
 104) Lochaber...+0eee0. 
 
 . (Sir R. S. Milnes. Archd, ae &e. [March 26 ow ie by 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 105 Templeton.. oss eee (BHO ae». +. - «Ditto. ae ease (Ditto .... 2.) 8949 | 
 | His Excel- ota 
 : | , lencySirJ.H.{ |. | ; 
 of | 106 Grenville.. ooo oon Craig, K. B. Ditto. A ee ee Oe Jan. 28, 1808. * 1260 
 G.Genl. Kc. 
 
 107 Ham ...... .eeeeeee{Ditto «s.-....(Partial Grant. Mehirwacy 6. 1260 
 
 108 Stanfold...,........|Ditto ........ Jenkin Williams, &e. July 8, 1807 . . 26810 
 = 1109 Maddington ........\Ditto......../G. W. Allsopp...,. .,./Dec. 24, 1808. 6005 
 
 110 Ditto. ........ oo pe Gis » = oe “Sundry Persons. ....|December 1. ; 6033 
 
 PETIA COO: vcs «se oss 0s Thomas Dunn ..G. Waters Allsopp. Waly 22, 1806. 24004 
 P e ] : | 
 7 TC os! al 4 Ditto ........Sundry Persons.... ae ee | 2520 | 
 ; | 113 Hull. iro eeemee ee ee he Ditto * .. ore oe 8 Robert Randall. owe Sept. 21, 1807. 630 | 
 _ 12380 | 
 
 
 
 114 Frampton..........|Sir J. H.-Craig .Sundry Grantees. .. . «Sept. 9, 1808 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 ae ? i ra 1990730 387555 381793) 
 
 
 
 
 68 
 
eee 
 
 Cate tna cin ~~ am = 
 
 ee 
 
 
 
 | a | Number Reserva-|Reserva : 
 Townships. |By whom granted Leaders of Townships.| Date of the | of Acres “estat pies 
 Patent. granted. 1 Crown. Clergy. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Amount brought over . . 1990730 1387555 381793 
 115|Wendover.......,..(Sir J. H. Craig. |Renj. & Alex Hart. .September 26 . 200 
 116,Onuslow........4,. [Ditto .... 2 +. Roswell Minor, &c... November 12..| 126672 
 | | Windsor, Simp-) | | | x 
 pLL7 don, Somerset, &> |Ditto .,..... Sundry Persons...... December 27..) 37801 | | 
 
 { Nelson. yeas 6. ( 
 LIS ESI Ve rres ADitto ... ices Allsopp, &c. ..Feb. 11, 1809. 10176 ( 
 119Sherrington........ [Ditto ........ Frs. Baby and others. February 22. ..| 19278 
 120 Upton...... eseeees (Ditto .. 2460. shy Schmidt and family. May 27..... . 678 . 
 
 121 Sherrington teeveveeeiDitto ... eos es SuSanand Met. Finlay. May G0 ae 8395 | 5 
 122)Wentworth.......,.|Ditto .......d.de Montmoulin, &c. June 3...... .| 12390 
 PZ a7 CMO)... 56 Ditto... 2. -- Sundry Grantees....| November 29. .| 8620 | 
 
 sh 124Stanstead........... Ditto ........SirR. S. Milnes. ... .|March 12,1810. 21406 | 
 1254 Pati e ree ere ee CLD . . 660 cee MMEEOS. oss pees ce ee «|DittOs ose cece 13110 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 126|Barnston..... ePeTIttO . ..s-Suin WEMELO. . .s:, 2.6 oss Sa ee . 13546 
 
 127/Shenley.....,..++..|Ditto James Glenny. dues -|May 1 ..:. «...o8| . 10298 
 IQS /SHIPION . 20 see ees es Ditto... . oes -James Barnard...... July 10........ 210 
 129 Potiony...< «vveeeesofhli Thomas Shepherd.... July 18....... 210 \ 58512) 58512 
 
 of © * eh 2 he oe 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ’ 130/Grenville ..........|Ditto......««.4Archibald Campbell. .|December i2.. 616 
 Li Si: -/Doceas Higgins..... \Jan.21, 1811 . 630 
 132\Newton,......0.... Ditto ....... JSaveusede Beaujev,&c! April 25....... Liss ; 
 \ 133 Godmanchester. . .. , - Ditto ......../Robert Ellice, &c...|May 10.......| 25592 | ‘ 
 , 134|Barnston. eee ll William Somerville.. June 18...... .| 3200 
 
 
 

 
 \S, 
 
 92 
 (D.) 
 
 Louis Montizameert, Esquire, Acting Secretary of the Province, 
 appeared before your Committee : 
 
 Q. How long have you acted as Provincial Secretary ? 
 
 A. Since the beginning of June last. 
 
 Q. Are there any other or further charges upon applications for 
 Lands, eitherin respect of certificates, or stationery or enrollments, 
 or inany other manner or way than the Fees established in Decem- 
 ber 1797, taken in your Office? 
 
 A. The Fees established in the year 1797 relate to the passing 
 ofthe Patent. There are two sorts of certificates relating to Lands 
 delivered in my Office : the one is to certify whether particular Lots 
 have been granted or not, the other is to certify that certain Lots 
 have been granted, that is to say, after the passing of the Patent. 
 
 The Fees charged upon this, are regulated by a Tariff which I 
 found huag upin the Office and of which I will send the Committee 
 an extract, these Fees were exacted by my predecessors in Office. — 
 The three last items in this Tariff, I consider to relate to Certificates 
 granted after the passing of the Patent. 1 do not recollect having 
 granted any Certificates under these last mentioned Items. 
 
 Q. Are these certificates required in all cases where application is 
 made for Waste Lands of the Crown ? ’ | 
 
 A. Yes, where Grants have already been made; the object of the 
 Certificate being to prevent other persons from obtaining Grants of 
 the same Lot from the Crown. There is a third kind of Certificate 
 granted in my Office, to certify that no Patent has issued for a par- 
 ticular Township. The Fee of Enrollment is established by an 
 Act ofthe Provincial Legislature : it was originally established, by 
 an old Act of the Provincial Parliament, that the Secretary of the 
 Province should enroll all Patents, at the rate of Ten Shillings per 
 Patent. By the Act passed two or three years ago, the Legislature 
 augmented the Fees of the Secretary of the Province, by allowing 
 him for every Patent containing more than two thousand words, six 
 pence for every hundred words. Previous to the passing of the latter 
 Statute, the Secretary of the Province, had been in the habit of re- 
 quiring and receiving Six Shillings and eight pence for each Skin of 
 Parchment used in the Enrollment; altho’ nothing is said of the 
 expense of Parchment, in either of the above-mentioned Statutes, 
 I have continued like my predecessors in office, to require and re- 
 ceive Six Shillings and eight pence, conceiving that the Fee allowed — 
 by law was not intended to comprise the expenses of Parchment, as 
 in some cases the expense of Parchment would swallow up a very 
 considerable part of the Fees. 
 
 Q. Are these Certificates required for each applicant, or may they 
 comprise Lots applied for by many ? 
 
 A. They may comprise any number of Lots in the same Township, 
 
 e 
 
 ee oN 
 
 
 
) 
 
 % 
 
 
 
 93 
 without producing any augmentation in the Fees. Ifthe Lands are 
 in many Townships, the Fee is higher, as regulated by the before- 
 mentioned Tariff. , 
 Q. At what time, and by what authority was the said Tariff estab- 
 lished ? 
 
 A. I do not know under what authority, but this will appear by 
 the Tariff itself, of which a copy will be sent. | 
 
 The Tariff mentioned above is as follows : 
 
 Extract from a Table of Fees taken in the Provincial Secretary’s 
 Office, and posted up therein. 
 For a Land Certificate, for one or two persons in one Township— 
 Two Shillings and Six pence. 
 In two Townships—Five Shillings. 
 For more than two persons in one Township—Five Shillings. 
 And in two Townships—Ten Shillings. 
 
 A true Extract, 
 Ls. MONTIZAMBERT, 
 Quebec, 10th March 1823, 
 
 The Honourable Herman Witstus Ryxianp, appeared before your 
 Committee : 
 
 Q. How long have you been Clerk of the Executive Council, and 
 what are the duties of that Office ? 
 
 A. It was about the month of June or July, shortly before Lord 
 Dorchester went home, that | was commissioned by him as Clerk 
 of the Executive Council. The Duties of this Office are divided 
 into two Branches, the one relating to Waste and reserved Lands of 
 the Crown, and the other relating to matters of State. 
 
 Q. What was the Salary of that Office when you entered upon it, 
 have there been any and what changes therein, and what is the ex~ 
 pense of the existing establishment of the Executive Council Office : 
 
 A. The Salary when I entered the Office was One Hundred 
 
 _ Pounds per Annum, with an allowance of Fifty Pounds for Station- 
 
 ery, Firewood and Printing ; the Clerks were provided by Govern- 
 ment, sometimes one, sometimes two or three, as the duties of the 
 Office required, some changes were made about the year 1799, 
 when I was in England ; at that time a letter was written by the 
 Secretary of State, the Duke of Portland, directing an allowance of 
 Four Iiundred Pounds sterling a year, in lieu of the former Salary 
 and allowance. A second change took place in the year 1813, on 
 my resigning the situation of Governor's Secretary, when a letter af- 
 terwards was received from the Secretary of State, directing that a 
 
 :, 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 94 
 
 Salary of five hundred Pounds sterling a year should be given te 
 me, fifty pounds sterling a year allowance for contingent expenses ; 
 one hundred pounds a year, for an Assistant Clerk. A subsequent 
 change took place in the time of the Duke of Richmond, in conse- 
 quence of a Report made by the Council, without any application 
 from me, recommending that a Salary of Ten Shillings a day should 
 be granted to the Assistant Clerk, 
 
 Q. Were there any and what Fees received in the said Office dur- 
 ing the time that the Honourable W. Osgoode was Chief Justice of 
 this Province ? 
 
 A. In consequence of an application from me, about the year 
 1797, an Order of the Governor in Council was made, renewing, in 
 my favour, the Fees that were established by the Ordinance of the 
 year 1780, more particularly with respect to applications for Waste 
 Lands of the Crown. This application was made on my part, in 
 consequence of the excessive number of Petitions that were presente 
 ed, when, comparatively speaking, few of the applicants had a chance 
 of obtaining Grants of the Waste Lands of the Crown, which occa- 
 sioned me an overwhelming accumulation of business without any re~ 
 muneration. The only other Fee was two shillings and six pence for 
 each Money Warrant, which had been received from the earliest es- 
 tablishment of the Council. There was also a Fee of six pence for 
 every hundred words for transcripts of proceedings had on applications 
 from Individuals. Since that period, transcripts of Reports have al- 
 ways been furnished without any additional charge, the fifteen shil- 
 lings and six pence having always been considered as a remuneration 
 for such service. 
 
 Q. Were there any changes made in the said Fees during the 
 times that the Honourable Mr. Elmsley and the Honourable Mr. All- 
 cock were severally Chief Justices of this Province ? | 
 
 A. None that I recollect. 
 
 Q. Were the matters concerning Lands originally enregistered ia 
 Books exclusively appropriated to that purpose ? 
 
 A. Only subsequently to the year 1791. : 
 
 Q. Have they continued to be so, and are the said Books open 
 and public, and were they so at any previous time, and when did 
 they cease to be so? ) | 
 
 A. Previous to my being Clerk of the Council, the Land proceed- 
 ings were open for general inspection, but for the last twenty years . 
 they have not been so; but I consider it as part of my duty to give 
 the fullest information of all proceedings relative to applications of 
 Individuals. | 
 
 Q. Do the said Books contain copies of all such parts of His Ma. 
 jesty’s Instructions as relate to the Waste Lands of the Crown ? 
 
 A. I believe they do, as it has been usual with Governors on their 
 entering upon their Office to communicate to the Council their In- 
 structions relative to the granting of the Waste Lands of the Crown, 
 as by those Instructions no Grant can be made without the advice of 
 the Council. 
 
 => 
 
 
 

 
 ee lle eel ee lL el SS eS ee leh = 
 7 
 " ‘ 
 “ 
 
 95 | 
 
 Q. Do they contain His Majesty’s Instructions of the fifteenth of 
 August 1797, and is there any subsequent Instruction contained 
 therein revoking or setting aside the said Instructions of the fifteenth, 
 of August 1797? , 
 A. There are Copies or Extracts of Letters from the Secretary of 
 State, changing, ina certain degree, the Orders contained in what is 
 called - Royal Instructions with regard to the Waste Lands of the. 
 Crown ; 
 
 Q. Are there any such Letters cancelling or setting aside the par- 
 ticular Instructions in question ? 
 
 A. I cannot say. 
 
 Q Have any and what measures been taken to render public as 
 well the Royal Instructions relative to the Waste Lands of the Crown 
 as any changes or modifications thereof which may have been made 
 by any Letter or Letters from His Majesty’s Secretary of State, for 
 the time being ? 
 
 A. I do not recollect any publication of the Royal Instructions 
 since I came into Office. 
 
 Q. Do the Royal Instructions to His Excellency the late Lord 
 Dorchester, after the passing of the Constitutional Act, correspond 
 with the Instructions to His Excellency the Earl of Dalhousie ; and 
 have the Royal Instructions to each successive Governor since that 
 period corresponded with the said Instructions to His Excellency the 
 Karl of Dalhousie ? 
 
 A. I believe they are all word for word the same. 
 
 : Q. Have the Letters from His Majesty’s Secretary of State, chang- 
 ing or modifying the Royal Instructions been kept private, or have 
 the same, in any manner and how, been published ; and in what par. 
 ticulars do they change or modify the said Royal Instructions ? 
 
 A. I consider them as communicated for the information and gui- 
 dance of the Executive Council in their proceedings upon applica- 
 tions for Grants of Waste Lands of the Crown, and not intended to 
 be published, unless specially ordered by the advice of the Council. 
 . I cannot take upon myself to say how far and in what manner they 
 j change or modify the Royal Instructions. 
 
 Q. Are they Orders in particular cases, or general Orders intended 
 to apply to all cases and to modify or change the Royal Instructions 
 generally ? } . 
 
 A. I think that any changes directed in them apply generally. 
 
 Q. Are the Instructions and Orders sent by His Excellency the 
 Earl of Dalhousie, relative to the Waste Lands of the Crown, at the 
 prayer of the House of Assembly,as well in the last as in the present 
 Session of the Provincial Parliament, and certified by you as Clerk 
 of the Executive Council and by the Secretary of Llis Excellency the 
 Governor in Chief, all His Majesty’s Instructions and Orders in that 
 behalf ? 
 
 A. I cannot take upon myself to say whether they are or not. 
 
 Q. At what time were His Majesty’s Instructions relative to the 
 
 
 

 
 YY . 
 
 Grant of Lands to discharged Soldiers and Militia Men who served 
 during the last war with the United States received, and did the 
 same contain any Order that the Lands should be granted as a reward 
 for services and without Fees or not? 
 
 A. I cannot say. 
 
 Q. Have you required and received fifteen shillings and six pence 
 upon applications for Land by the said discharged Soldiers and Mi- 
 litia Men at any time and when ? 
 
 A. I should have thought myself authorized to have taken fifteen 
 shillings and six pence upon the Petitions of such persons, until an- 
 Order was made by the Governor in Council reducing the Fee to five 
 shillings; but if that Fee has been demanded previous to that Order 
 it has been in very few instances indeed. 
 
 Q. Was there at any time, and when, and by whom presented to 
 His Excellency the Governor in Chief, a Petition of divers Militia 
 Men relative to this claim of fifteen shillings and six pence, and what 
 was done thereupon ? 
 
 A. A Petition was presented, to the best of my recollection, in 
 the month of June 1821, by Mr. Vallieres de St. Réal, on behalf of 
 sundry Officers, non-commissioned Officers and Privates of Militia, 
 stating their inability to pay the Fee of fifteen shillings and six pence 
 each on their applications for Grants of Waste Lands, which Petition 
 was reported on by a Committee of the whole Council, and with my 
 entire consent the Fee was reduced to five shillings each. 
 
 Q. Were there any and what measures taken to render the said 
 change public, and how and when was the same communicated to 
 the said Petitioners ? ) 
 
 A. None ; but since that time, I have confined myself to that Re- 
 portin all Fees taken from non-commissioned Officers and Privates 
 of Militia. A copy of that Report was not applied for ’till about a 
 few weeks ago, and upon my hearing that it was applied for, I imme- 
 diately furnished Mr. Vallieres de St. Real, as Agent for the Peti- 
 tioners, with an attested copy of that Report. 
 
 Q. Were the contents of the said Report made known to the par- 
 ties in any manner, and how, or to any and what Officer or Officers 
 of Government ? 
 
 A. It has been the invariable practice in the Office not to furnish 
 copies of Reports unless by special Order of the Governor, or on ap- 
 plication from the parties interested. 
 
 Q. Is the charge of fifteen shillings and six pence inscribed upon 
 the Table of Fees for Land or upon any other Table hung up in the 
 Office as required by His Majesty’s Instructions ? 4 
 
 A. Yes; this charge is inscribed upon a Table of Fees relating to 
 Land business as well as to other matter of Office which is hung up in 
 the Office. 
 
 Q. Since the Order of His Excellency in Council, in June 1821, 
 reducing the charge from fifteen shillings and six pence to five shil- 
 lings in respect of Militia Men has any alteration been made in the 
 
 : {> 
 
 
 
97 
 
 said public Table of Fees and any notice given of the said charges 
 thereby or in any other manner? 
 
 A. No; except by communicating the Report to Mr. Valliéres as 
 above stated, but ever since, the Fees taken have corresponded with 
 that Report ; the Table has been ever since stuck vp in the Office 
 with the former. 
 
 Q. Does the said Report in Council of June 1821, extend to Of. 
 ficers of Militia and to discharged Soldiers ? 
 
 A. [ have not considered it to extend to Officers when they apply 
 separately, but when petitioning en Corps with non-commissioned 
 Officers and Privates it has invariably been extended to them also. 
 
 Q. Has there been any, and what number of Petitions for Lands 
 by Militia Men and discharged Soldiers ? 
 
 A. Very few have applied for Lands as discharged Soldiers to my 
 knowledge, there have been Orders in favour of aconsiderable number 
 of Militia Officers, within the last four years, but very few Orders in 
 favour of Privates, indeed very few applications for Privates have been 
 made with the exception of the above mentioned one, made by Mr. 
 Valliéres de St. Réal ia behalf of a hundred and ten Officers, non- 
 commissioned Officers and Privates of the Militia and the discharged 
 corps of Voltigeurs. 
 
 Q. Do you think that the applications by Militia Men, with the 
 exception of the aforesaid application of Mr. Valliéres, amounted in 
 number to twenty-eight ? 
 
 A. With respect to this question I cannot say ; but I think there 
 cannot be more than seven since the late Order in Council. 
 
 Q. Are you now, and have you been for any, and what length of 
 
 time, a Commissioner and Treasurer of the Board for managing the 
 
 Estates heretofore belonging to the late Order of the Jesuits, and 
 during any and what period oftime also Chairman of that Board ? 
 
 A. [ have been a Commissioner since the year 1807 or 1808. I 
 have been Chairman of that Board about seven or eight years by se- 
 niority. 
 
 Q. Is there any, and what quantity of ungranted Land fit for culti- 
 vation within the Seigniories belonging to the said Estates, and are 
 there any and what Fees required and received, and by whom, upon 
 Grants of Land within the same ? 
 
 A. I believe there are very considerable quantities of ungranted 
 Lands within those Seigniories ; no Fees are taken that lam acquaint- 
 ed with ; the conditions are the same with those of other Seigniories. 
 
 Q. Was there at any time and when made by the said Board an 
 Order that no Petitions for Grants of Land within the said Seigniories 
 would be received or any other Order of a like purport ? 
 
 A. As those Seigniories are in possession of the Crown and under 
 the immediate direction of His Majesty, Ido not feel myself autho- 
 
 -yized to enter into any particulars respecting them, without the ex- 
 
 press permission of His Majesty’s Representative. 7 
 ~ Q. Are not the said Seigniories _ by His Majesty in trust to ap- 
 
 
 
 ee 
 

 
 ply the rents, issues, and profits thereof to the purposes of Educatiau, 
 A. I must return the same Answer to this question, 
 Q. Have the same been so applied, or haye they been applied te 
 any other and what purposes, and to what amount | 
 A. I return the same Answer, | 
 Q. Have not portions of the said estates been latterly alienated 
 
 and disposed of, and to what purposes were the prices for what the. 
 
 same were sold applied ? 
 
 A. Same Answer. 
 
 Q. What is the average amount of the revenues of the said Estates ? 
 
 A. Same Answer. 
 
 Q. Have the Commissioners for managing the said Estates taken 
 charge of the College situate in this City, and do they receive any 
 and what rent for the same as Barracks or use to which it is now 
 applied ? 
 
 A. Same Answer. 
 
 Q. Have the said Commissioners ever applied for or received from 
 His Majesty’s Government in England any Order or Instructions to 
 
 apply the said rents, issues and profits to any other purpose than the 
 
 purpose of education ? 
 
 A. Same Answer. | 
 
 Q. Is there not in the Office of His Majesty’s Council an Order 
 directing that the same shall be applied to the purpose of Education, 
 and what is the date of the said Order, and why has the same been 
 disobeyed ? 
 
 A. Same Answer. | 
 
 The Honourable Josern Remy VAuuieres pe St. Rear, Spea- 
 ker of the House of Assembly, gave the following information : 
 
 In the course of 1820 I was charged by some Officers of the late 
 
 Embodied Militia, to make application to Government for Lands for - 
 
 them and some Militia Men, and in fact obtained some for one Ser- 
 jeant and two Militia Men upon a first Petition, I paid two shillings 
 and six pence for each person to the Surveyor-General for the Cer- 
 _tificate of Vacancy, fifteen shillings and Ssix-pence to the Clerk of 
 the Executive Council for his F ees, and seven shillings and six-pence 
 to the Surveyor-General for the Location Certificate : finding those 
 disbursements large, I resolved to present no new Petitions without 
 first asking for a reduction in favour of the Officers & Militia Men, and 
 T accordingly presented a Petition to his Excellency the Governor in 
 Chief, about the month of May 1821, on behalf of several Officers 
 of Militia and Militia Men, praying his Excellency would order that 
 they should be exempted from the disbursement of any monies, for 
 obtaining their Lands. I received no answer to that Petition until 
 towards the early part of last week, when having presented a Peti« 
 tion to his Excellency the Governor in Chief, on behalf of several 
 Officers of Militia for Lands in the Townships of Norton and Warwick 
 and having carried that Petition to the Executive Council, to which it 
 was referred by his Excellency, I received, on the part of the Clerk 
 
 [> 
 
ee er ay 
 
 99 
 of the Executive Council, the Paper Writing which Y now produce, 
 containing a Resolution of the Council, grounded as I believe on my 
 
 Petition aforesaid, presented in May 1821, and approved so early 
 as the 2d June 1821. | 
 
 The Paper Writing produced by Mr. Valliéres de St. Réal is as 
 follows : ‘ 
 Extract of a Report dated 8 May 1821, made by a Committee of 
 the whole Council, and approved by his Excellency the Governor 
 in Chief in Council 2d June 1821. | 
 
 ‘¢ The Committee have proceeded to the consideration of the Peti- 
 tion of the Officers and Privates of the Militia respecting the Fees to 
 be paid upon their application for Land, as well as the representation 
 of the Clerk of the Executive Council thereon.” 
 
 ** The Committee are humbly of opinion, that the Fee of Five shil< 
 lings to the Clerk of the Council, for all his proceedings in each case, 
 as proposed in his representation, is a yery moderate and reasonable 
 cowpensation for his trouble ; and they conceive that the same sum’ 
 to the Surveyor General for his services, antecedent to the issuing of 
 the Letters Patent, would be sufficient if in each of the Militia 
 Townships an Agent was appointed as in Hull, Rawdon, Kildare,&c» 
 
 “ With respect to the Patent Fees, the Committee are humbly 
 of opinion, that as the Lands ordered to be granted to Militia are in 
 reward of services rendered to the Crown, the Patent Fees cannot 
 be charged against them.” 
 
 Certified. 
 H. W. RYLAND. 
 
 Copy of the Representation from the Clerk of the Executive Coun- 
 cil referred to in the foregoing Report. 
 
 “ On the Petition of sundry Officers and Privates of the Militia, 
 “ to be relieved from the payment of the usual Fees to the Clerk of 
 ¢¢ the Executive Council on Petitions for Grants of the Waste Lands 
 “ of the Crown, that Officer begs leave to observe: 
 
 ‘© That he has always been disposed to wave a strict application 
 “ of the Orders in Council, respecting his Fees of Office in cases of 
 ‘¢ this nature. 
 “ That in the year one thousand eight hundred, when the Colonels 
 of the British and Canadian Militia came forward for the purpose 
 of obtaining Grants of Land for the Officers, Non-Commissioned 
 Officers and Privates who had served during the Siege of Quebec, 
 ‘¢ he most willingly acceded to a proposal that the Fee to be paid to 
 “ the Clerk of the Council should be commuted for five shillings for 
 “ each individual included in the Petitions of the Commanding 
 “ Officers, and he is disposed to acquiesce with cheerfulness in any 
 
 “~~ 
 
 nw 
 
 é 
 ¢ 
 - 
 
 anna a4 
 
 
 
 
 
| 
 1 
 hy 
 : 
 
 
 
 \ 
 100 
 
 “ regulation which the Governor and Council may think proper te. 
 « adopt on the present occasion. 
 
 ‘* He will only,further remark that the business done in the Exe- 
 *¢ cutive Council Office at the instance of Individuals, and with a 
 *¢ view to their personal benefit, lays upon him a burthensome duty, 
 “¢ and obliges him, at his own expense, to provide additional assis- 
 ** tance beyond what the establishment of the Council Office affords,” 
 
 (Signed) HERMAN W. RYLAND. 
 
 Executive Council Office, | 
 Quebec, 19th Feb. 1821. 
 
 Certified. 
 H. W. R, 
 
 Marcex Dionne, of Nicolet, Yeoman, appeared and stated, that 
 he is married, and has a wife and three children, that he served 
 during the late war in the Fourth Battalion of Embodied Militia, 
 commanded by Colonel Voyer, during twenty months ; he produced 
 a discharge signed by Colonel Voyer, which certifies that he served 
 from the month of May 1813 until the fourth of November 1814; 
 he is proprietor of a Land at Nicolet by virtue of a Donation for an 
 annuity made to him by one of his Uncles. ) 
 ee you ever made any application for Lands:as a Militia 
 
 an 
 
 A. I made application about four years ago, being then a Bache- 
 lor, jointly with seventeen or eighteen other young men who had 
 served in the Militia, for Lands in a Township in rear of Nicolet ; 
 I, and also the others went to inspect the Lands, we even paid the 
 Surveyor thirty-three, Dollars to point them out to us, and surve 
 them if we should find that they suited us; but having heard that 
 we should be obliged to make and keep up all the roads and make 
 the clearings, ditches and works along Division lines between such 
 of our Lands as might border on the Crown and Clergy Lands, we 
 abandoned our project of settling there : this information we acquired 
 of the Surveyor above-mentioned, who had in his hand a Diagram 
 of the Township, and pointed out to us the Lands by referring to the 
 
 _ Diagram : we moreover incurred other expenses to obtain those 
 _ Lands ; we paid a Notary for drawing up a Petition, we paid an 
 
 Agent to repair to Quebec to solicit on our behalf, and obtain our 
 Lands; he made several trips thither, for each of which we were 
 obliged to pay him, I had besides, as well as several others, incurred 
 some expense for procuring Instruments to work with in opening 
 those Lands, and for Provisions, in the hope of soon commencing the — 
 settlement, and all those expenses. became useless, and this project 
 being abandoned by most of us, we sought to procure Lands elses 
 
 >> 
 
_ we — 2 — 
 
 
 
 101 
 
 where in the neighbouring Seigniories, where they might be: settled 
 with greater facility, and the road labour and other works above- 
 mentioned be so performed jointly with their neighbours. and with, 
 the other Inhabitants thereabout. P< 
 
 The object of my present journey to Quebec, was to procure fur- 
 ther information respecting the means of obtaining Lands as having 
 served in the Militia, and J performed the journey at this season. 
 having heard that we have only until the month of May for coming 
 forward: having heard since my arrival here that it was necessary to 
 pay something further in order to obtain them, and having already. 
 expended much money, I think I shall be obliged to give the matter 
 up—lI now hold the discharge of another Militia Man who has ree 
 quested me to act for him respecting the same object, in procuring 
 Lands for him, but I shall not do so because he will not disburse 
 any money, he has told me to sell his share if I could, and to get for 
 it what I could. I know a great number of young men in the Parish 
 of Nicolet, in which I live, and in the neighbouring Parishes, who 
 are situated as I am and who have abandoned their endeavours to. pro« 
 cure these Lands for the same reasons as mine; discouraged by the 
 obstacles and expenses, many of them have gone to settle in the Sei- 
 gniories in which they have been able to procure Grants of Land, and 
 the others are endeavouring to procure some. 
 
 Jean Baptiste Des Ixers, of Nicolet, Yeoman, appeared and 
 says, that he is married and has a wife and one child, that he was a 
 Serjeant in the First Battalion of Embodied Militia, commanded by 
 Colonel Taschereau, during thirteen months, from the eleventh 
 February 1814 to the eight March 1815, and he makes precisely 
 the same statements, adding that he is the bearer of two discharges 
 besides his own, that the persons to whom those discharges were 
 given have also directed him to try to sell their claims if he could 
 get a fair price, and to get forthem as much as h get for his own. 
 
 ALexANnpRE Prnarp, of Nicolet, Yegman, then appeared and 
 stated that he isa Bachelor, and that he served as Militia Man in 
 the First Battalion of Embodied Militia, from the twenty-fourth 
 February 1814 to the eighth of March 1815, and he makes exact 
 ly the same statements as in the two foregoing depositions, adding 
 that he is the bearer of another discharge besides his own, and espe 
 cially of one from his brother, who was a Corporal in the Fifth Batta- 
 lion of Embodied Militia, and who directed him not to sell his lot if 
 it should be near the Parish of Nicolet, which is his place of resi- 
 dence, but otherwise to get for it the price at which he mightsell his 
 own. 
 
 Jaceurs Morin, of the Parish of St. Vallier, Yeoman, a Captain of 
 Militia, appeared before your Committee, and being examined made 
 answer as follows : 
 
 Q. Have you a knowledge of the quality of the Crown Lands ia 
 rear of the Seigniories of St. Gervais and Ste. Anne du Sud inclusive, 
 and what is their quality ? 
 
 ea 
 
 
 
 se 
 

 
 t 
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 ! 
 BF 
 eri 
 er 
 ai 
 rit 
 Bh. 
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 S 102 
 
 A. T know those Lands, having been in the habit of hnnting there 
 seven or eight days at a time, almost every year for the last twenty- 
 five years: the Land in general is fine, it is mountainous in rear of 
 L'llet, St. Thomas, and St. Frangois, but it is level in rear of St. 
 Valier, where the Lands at the distance of four Leagues are the 
 finest I have seen in our parts; those which are mountainous, contain 
 much good Land, very fit for cultivation. I have gone fourteen 
 leagues into the Interior, and found the Lands good: were the Crown 
 to grant to the Militia Men of each Parish the Lands along the rear 
 of each Parish, it would be beneficial to the Militia Men, and the 
 country would thereby be enlarged, for a removal to the Upper parts 
 of the country is considered by the Militia Men to be a removal to 
 too great a distance, and being inthe neighbourhood of their relations 
 would contribute more to their support, it would also do them an 
 honour to keep those Lands as having been given them by the King 
 for their services. The men of my Company wish to have their 
 Lands at the extremity of the Seigniory, to be enabled to settle them, 
 and they would go thither immediately, and it is their intention soon 
 to present a Petition to His Excellency the Governor in Chief for 
 permission so to do. 
 
 Josern Boucuerre, Esquire, Surveyor-General of Lower-Canada, 
 appeared before your Committee. 
 
 Q. What is the entire quantity of Land required for the Militia 
 who served during the last war with the United States, according to 
 the proportions ordered by His Majesty ? 
 
 A. Not knowing the exact number of men who served in the Six 
 Battalions of Incorporated Militia and Voltigeurs, I cannot speak 
 with certainty, it must however exceed seven hundred thousand 
 Acres. 
 
 Q. What is the quantity of Land which has been laid out for this 
 purpose, and the quantity under Location Certificate or Patent ? 
 
 A. The quantity of Land surveyed and laid out in the Field for 
 
 ‘the Militia, amounts to two hundred and fifty-seven thousand acres, 
 
 the quantity located, sixty-three thousand six hundred, the greater 
 part thereof to Officers, some of whom having fulfilled the conditions 
 of settlement, have obtained their Grants under Letters Patent. 
 
 Q. What proportion of Land is granted to Officers, and what to 
 Non-Commissioned Officers and Privates ? 
 
 A. The quantity of Land to be granted to Officers, Non-Com- 
 missioned Officers and Privates who have served in the late Ameri- 
 ean War, in the Incorporated Corps of Militia is as follows : 
 
 . Lieutenant Colonel........Twelve hundred Acres. 
 Major.....+eeeeeeeeeeee.Onethousand do. 
 Captain: ...,.............Kight hundred do. 
 
 Sabaltern «os vee «00s éeessPive hundred do. 
 Serjeant Major..........+.Three hundred do. 
 Quarter Master Serjeant....Three hundred do. 
 Serjeant s eeesseceeeeeees Two hundred do. 
 Private. ...cessceeseseesOne hundred do. 
 
 LE» 
 

 
 103 
 
 Q. What Fees were originally required and received by the dif. 
 ferent Officers of Government on Grants of Land ? 
 
 A. I cannot positively answer in respect to the Fees required and 
 received by other Officers of Government, more especially as they 
 may be called upon, and are the most fit to state the same, but with 
 respect to my Fees as Surveyor General of this Province, I beg to 
 refer to the following statement : 
 
 Fees received by the Surveyor General by virtue of several Orders 
 in Council. 
 
 First order in $0, Patent Grants, per thousand acres £0 15 
 
 Council dated 
 
 Fourth Decem 408 Water Lots, per per hundredfeet front 2 6 $ 
 ber 1797. Proportional encrease above that quantum. 
 
 Second order ( Upon every Diagram..... eee Wameiee debe 10 O 
 to Council, | \Every Certificate of Vacancy........ .. 0 2 6 
 dated eleventh ¢ 
 
 December Every Search... sccssseccceecceccess O 1 3 
 1805, Every Description, per Lot..........6. O 1 3 
 Be Boe ere ey every Location Certificate........8 6 8 
 November 1818, ¢And for Priating and Stationery......... O 1 @ 
 Pte A ap hrs ; For every Location Certificate to the . 
 
 May Iszl. MUN Sis ccpatvesstuchese cs Freerereae 5 0 
 
 Q. Can you say what are the number of Applications made by the 
 Militia for Lands ? | eras 
 
 A. I cannot state the number of Applications that have bees 
 made by the Militia for Lands, however upon an average calculation 
 about one hundred and sixty thousand acres were certified to them, 
 chiefly to Officers. 
 
 Q. Have the Militia obtained Lands in any other Townships tha 
 those specially set apart for that purpose ? - 
 
 A. Yes, in several other Townships, namely, Upton, Aston, 
 Kingsey, Stukely, Kilkenny, Horton, Warwick and Dudswell. 
 
 Q. Have there been any and what changes taken place in the 
 Fees, taken in the different Offices for Lands so applied for, when, 
 and how ? 
 
 A. The only changes which have tomy knowledge taken place, is 
 latterly in respect to the Militia, and that by an Order of Council of 
 theeighth May 1821, by which the Fee allowed to the Clerk of the 
 Executive Council is reduced from fifteen shillings and six pence 
 per Application, to five shillings; and my Fee as Surveyor General is 
 also reduced from seven shillings and eight pence te five shillings: with 
 respect to other changes they have already been stated in my answer 
 to the third question. 
 
 Q. What causes in your estimation have retarded the Grants te 
 the Militia ? 
 
 A. I cannot positively say; perhaps it may be attributed to the in- 
 tricate forms which Militia Men must go through, previous to ob- 
 taining their Location, and the necessity of employing Notaries and 
 ethers to draw up Petitions for them at considerable expense. Were it 
 
 
 

 
 LS, 
 104 
 
 possible to simplify the present system of granting Lands to the Mi- 
 litia, it would not only obviate those difficulties and delays, but be 
 an inducement for them to come forward. 
 
 Q. Do you not apprehend that if Lands had been ‘tendered to the 
 Militia without Fees, and in the proximity of the respective Parishes 
 where they reside, as much as possible, settlements of Militia Men 
 might and would have been effected ? : 
 
 A. I do not conceive that a tender of Lands to the Militia without 
 Fees would have materially promoted settlements of Militia Men in 
 the proximity of the Parishes they reside in, nor dol conceive the 
 Fees as now reduced can prevent them from coming forward for 
 their Locations, especially when the Patent Fees are not to be char- 
 
 ‘ged them, therefore that compensation is as little as can be reason- 
 ably allowed to Officers of Government for additional Duties. With 
 respect to laying out Lands in the proximity of the Parishes in which 
 Militia Men reside, itis not practicable in many parts of this Province, 
 especially in the Districts of Montreal and Three-Rivers, but might 
 be carried into effect in this, on the South side of the Saint Lawrence, 
 below Quebec ; although the Lands may be found sufficiently good, 
 they are not equal in quality to those appropriated for the Militia, in 
 the vicinity of Craig’s road; besides were Grants to the Militia 
 made in the rear of the respective Seigniories, it might be attended 
 with considerable expense ; but admitting that Lands were tendered 
 without Fees to the Militia, the greater part of them are destitute 
 
 of the means of entering upon, and fulfilling the conditions of 
 
 ‘their Location, although moderate, and also a great majority thereof, 
 who are not at all inclined to settle on new Lands ; which induces 
 me to observe that if Militia Establishments are to be encouraged, a 
 
 <listinction should .be made between those who are desirous of boné 
 fide settling, and those who (equally entitled to the King’s bounty) 
 after receiving their Location dispose of the same; if therefore a 
 ‘Township in each District was appropriated for the sole purpose of 
 immediate settlement under superintendance, and that one year’s 
 provisions together with implements of Agriculture, &c. were allowed 
 tosuch as would settle therein, I entertain no doubt of the most 
 beneficial effect resulting therefrom. | 
 
 Q. Do you think that the Militia Men of the District of Mont- 
 real could be induced to remove the distance from their homes that 
 ‘several Militia Townships stand in ? 
 
 A. For the reason already stated, I do not conceive that Militia 
 ‘Men would be induced to move from the District of Montreal to the 
 
 ‘Townships already allotted for them in the Districts of Quebec and 
 Three-Rivers, unless a provision were made to enable them to do so, 
 nor even then would it be as convenient as if the Lands were situated 
 ‘in their District. ‘2 | 
 
 Mr. Wirxrr1am Kemere, Lieutenant on Half-Pay of the late 
 Glengary Fencibles, then appeared before your Committee: _ 
 ‘Q. Have you had any and what means of becoming acquainted 
 
 | aN 
 
a 
 
 105 
 
 with the amount of Fees required and received upon the granting of 
 Lands in the adjoining Province of Upper-Canada ? 
 
 A. Yes, this paper produced by me contains the Table of Fees 
 exacted in Upper-Canada. 
 
 Fees on Land in Upper-Canada., 
 
 Fifty Acres........Gratis, 
 One hundred do.....Twelve pounds Sterling, 
 Two hundred do...,.'Thirty do. do. 
 Three hundreddo....Sixty do. do, 
 Four hundred do... ..Seventy-five do. do. 
 
 Five hundred do..... One hundred and twenty-fivedo. do. 
 Six hundred do...... One hundred and fifty do. do. 
 Seven hundred do... .One hundred and seventy-five do, do. 
 Hight hundred do....T wo hundred do. do. 
 Nine hundred do....Two hundred and twenty-five do. do. 
 One thousand do..... Two hundred and fifty do. do. 
 Eleven huudred do...'T'wo hundred and seventy-five do. do. 
 *Twelve hundred do. Three hundred do. do. 
 
 Q. Are they the same Fees which were required and received 
 previous to the last general pacification of Europe, or have they 
 been augmented and to what extent ? 
 
 A. Up to the year 1817, the Fee taken upon a Grant of twelve 
 hundred Acres, was Fifty Pounds sterling, it is now encreased to 
 Three Hundred Pounds sterling : these Fees do not apply to the 
 Military settlements. 
 
 Lieutenant Colonel Vassar pr Monvrer, Adjutant General of 
 the Militia of Lower Canada, appeared before your Committee : 
 
 Q. How long have you been Adjutant General? 
 
 A. Since the year 1812. 
 
 Q. When was His Majesty’s Order to grant Lands to the Mili-’ 
 tia Men made public in this Province ? tis 
 
 A. I donot recollect the date, but it was after the war. 
 
 Q. Has that Order been communicated to you officially ? 
 
 A. Ido not recollect that it has been communicated to me offi- 
 
 cially, there is in my Office an Order respecting discharged Soldiers 
 
 to whom His Majesty has given and granted Lands, 
 
 Q. What is the Militia Force of Lower Canada for the year 1822? 
 
 A. Seventy thousand four hundred and forty-three men. 
 
 Q. Have any applications for Lands been made through you by 
 Militia Men who served during the late war ? 
 
 A. Very few since the last Proclamation, however a greater num- 
 ber of them have come forward, to whom I have given certificates of 
 service. 
 
 Q. What course do the Militia Men follow for obtaining their Lands? 
 
 A. First, they must present a Petition to the Commander in Chief; 
 Secondly, they must have a certificate of the Surveyor General de- 
 
 
 
 
 
 * Before the Establishment of this Table, the Fees on twelve hundred Acres 
 7 _ were Fifty Pounds sterling, ue new Tariff was not acted upou before 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 106 
 
 elaring that such a Lot in such a Township is vacant ; Thirdly they 
 must have a Certificate from the Secretary of the Province, that such 
 anumber in such a Township has not been granted by Patent ; 
 Fourthly, a certificate from the Adjutant General, declaring that 
 the statements in their Petition are true, and that they have in fact 
 served as stated ; the whole ought to be annexed to the Petition 
 and presented to the Commander in Chief who orders that a refe- 
 rence to the Council be indorsed upon the Petition by the Civil Se- 
 cretary, upon which Petition the Committee of the Council make 
 report, and then the Petitioner, laying before the Surveyor General 
 that Report approved by His Excellency, receives from the said Sur- 
 veyor General his Location Ticket. | 
 
 D. Do you know the existing Fees which the Militia Men are 
 liable to pay ? 
 
 A. Yes, they are as follows : I do not know how much the Notary 
 has of them for preparing their Petition : for obtaining at the Sur- 
 veyor General’s a certificate of vacancy, two shillings and six pence : 
 for a number whatever it may be at the Office of the Secretary of the 
 Province, two shillings and six pence ; to the Clerk of the Executive 
 Council when the Petition is presented by one ore more persons, five 
 shillings for each person named in the Petition ; and at the Surveyor 
 General’s for the Location Ticket, five shillings each. 
 
 Q. Does the same rule with respect to Fees extend to the Officers 
 of Militia ? 
 
 A. I paid for myself, and for several Officers who forwarded their 
 Petitions to me, at the Office of the Executive Council, fifteen shil- 
 lings and six pence on each Petition. It is true that I do not recol- 
 lect whether in those several Petitions there were several persons 
 interested or not, and I do not remember at what time I paid the 
 Clerk of the Executive Council fifteen shillings and six pence for the 
 said Petitions. 
 
 Q. Were those Petitions presented after the mouth of J une 1821? 
 
 A. I believe they were, especially one, which I presented for Mr. 
 E. N. L. Dumont. | 
 
 Q. Is there any Office in the other Districts at which Militia Men 
 may apply to obtain their Lands, or are they under the necessity of 
 applying at Quebec personally or by their Agent ? | 
 
 A. Yes, I believe they are under that necessity, for I do not be- 
 lieve there is any other Office at which they can apply to obtain their 
 Lands. 
 
 Q. Has not that manner of granting Lands to the Militia Men oc- 
 casioned delays and lessened the value of His Majesty’s gift ? 
 
 A. Yes, and I am persuaded that is what has prevented most of 
 the Militia Men from claiming their Lands, especially upon their 
 learning that so many proceedings and the disbursement of so much 
 money were necessary. ; 
 
 Q. What necessity is there for a certificate of service from each 
 Militia Man, and what has prevented a General Return from each 
 
 > 
 
i ee et _| 
 
 ” 
 ft 
 
 ’ a 
 
 
 
 107 
 Battalion of Militia which served in the late war from being made 
 to His Excellency, in order to proceed and carry into effect His Ma- 
 jesty’s Orders for granting Lands to the Militia ? 
 
 A. [conceive that the certificate of the Adjutant General was 
 only required for ascertaining positively whether the Militia Men 
 Who come forward did actually serve, by examining their discharge 
 and finding whether the description thereunto annexed corresponds 
 perfectly with the person : such I conceive to be the reason why that 
 has been required and is necessary. 
 
 Q. Is then the presence of each Militia Man at Quebec necessary 
 for identifying his person by the description ? 
 
 A. No, because when he appoints an Attorney he ought on forwarde 
 ing to him his discharge to annex thereto a certificate of the Officer 
 commanding the Battalion of Militia iu which he served. 
 
 Q. What difficulty do you perceive in there being a General Order 
 passed in the Executive Council, after a General Return from each 
 Battalion of Militia, directing the granting to each Militia Man there- 
 in named of the respective quantities of Land which it has pleased His 
 Majesty to order should be granted to them, such Order of Council 
 being afterwards delivered to the Surveyor General, to be by him 
 carried into effect, under such regulation as it might be found expe- 
 dient to make ? 
 
 A. The Militia Men having been embodied and called out in turn 
 for actual service, I think it would be difficult to make a perfectly 
 correct Return of all those who have served. The Officers command- 
 ing the several Corps of Embodied Militia never having returned to 
 me a Return of the names of the Militia Men who composed their 
 respective Corps, application should be made to them for such 
 Returns which I think they would find it very difficult to do, whereas 
 on producing their discharge or causing it to be produced by their 
 Attorney no mistake can occur: and the General Order which you 
 speak of might equally be forwarded to the Surveyor General, and to 
 the Adjutant General who might then carry it into effect. 
 
 Q. Is there any particular allowance for the additional service 
 renderedin the Otfice of the Adjutant General in comparing the Mi. 
 litia Men with theirdescription, and in giving them certificates ? 
 
 A. No, there is no Fee for that. 
 
 Q. Do you know at what price the right of the Militia Mento 
 two hundred acres has generally been sold 2 
 
 A. No, I do not know positively, but I have heard several per- 
 sons say, that from six to ten dollars had been given for the Lots of 
 the Militia Men ? 
 
 Francis Kain, a discharged Soldier in the Welch F usileers, 
 Twenty-third Regiment, discharged at Chelsea after having passed a 
 Board, being disabled by wounds, appeared before your Committee 
 and says, that he joined his Regiment at Colchester and was at the 
 Battle of Copenhagen in 1807. 'T hey then proceeded to Halifax and 
 wenton the Expedition, under Sir George Prevost, against the Island 
 ef Martinique, from that he returned to Halifax, and then went to 
 
 
 
 a 
 
 , - te oe < 
 
 iE 
 If 
 I 
 i 
 

 
 SH, 
 108 
 
 Portugal. Our Regiment there was a flank Regiment, we fought our 
 way through Portugal up to Spain ; we were at Ciudad Rodrigo, at 
 Salarica, Salamanca, the Plains of Albuera, where I received nine 
 wounds, two sabre cuts in the head, and one through the shoulder 
 blade, one gun shot in the thigh, and a tramp of a horse on the breast, 
 the others were trifling hurts. My instructions from Chelsea are that 
 *¢ Francis Kain is totally disabled by wounds.” I landed here on the 
 first of July, in the year that the Duke of Richmond died, with a 
 wife and three children, the youngest of whom was at the breast, and 
 the oldest a girl of thirteen or fourteen years ofage. I hada free 
 passage from His Royal Highness the Duke of York. They told me at 
 the Office that I should get Lands and Rations from the Duke of 
 Richmond, and that a letter to that effect had been written to him.— 
 Upon my arrival here I was sent by the assistance of Captain Browne 
 who served in the same Regiment, and Captain Fowler, to the settle- 
 ment of Drummondville, with a letter to a gentleman there, to place 
 me on some Lands until His Grace the Duke of Richmond should be 
 down from Upper Canada whither he had gone. Ilremainved there 
 about two months and then returned to Quebec, my wife washed 
 for three or four gentlemen of the Commissariat, and I was Coachman 
 to a gentleman during winter, and worked at the King’s works during 
 
 Summer. I have since lost my wife and eldest child, and purpose to 
 
 go home next Spring. About the middle of June last when my wife 
 got very bad, £ applied to Colonel Bouchette for Land and he made 
 ‘me present of a certificate for nothing ; the Petition was then given 
 to the Governor, the Duke’s letter wasalso enclosed with Colonel 
 Bouchette’s certificate in my Petition, I was answered at Mr. Mon- 
 ‘tizambert’s office, that the Land was granted to me. I was then sent 
 to Mr. Lane’s Office to get a certificate which cost half a Dollar, Mr. 
 Campbell the Notary paid it for me ; I then came back to Mr. 
 Montizambert’s Office who signed it, and told me to leave it at Mr. 
 Ryland’s Office up stairs ; I called there three or four times, but I 
 could never get any satisfaction. The gentlemen in that Office told 
 me that the Council had not sat onit ; [ have not called there for the 
 last eight or ten days, and I give it up. The Clerk in the Office told 
 me that I should get a certificate from my Captain, I got this from 
 Captain Browne who knew that I was a wounded and disabled Sol- 
 ‘dier, and I returned it to the Clerk in the Office who pinned it to 
 the other papers. I asked the Clerk in the Office what there was to 
 ‘pay, he said fifteen shillings: I told him that I was not able to pay 
 unless I got somebody to pay it for me, and how much I had suffered 
 ‘during last summer from the ill ess of my wife ; he said that if I would 
 let the Committee know of my distress and that I had had no em- 
 
 oyment during the summer, they might perhaps, forgive itme.— 
 
 never looked about it since, 
 
 Mr. Wirxrram Merxrsoun then appeared before your Commit- 
 tee, and stated that he had been reared to the Mercantile Pro- 
 
 L> 
 
eret_- 
 
 109 
 
 fession, and resided upwards of twenty years at Quebec, bestowing 
 his time during a large part of that period upon Trade and Mer- 
 cantile Affairs. 
 
 Q. What has been the Surplus Agricultural Produce annually 
 exported from Lower-Canada, and supplied by its own resources 
 
 - from the year 1774 downward, so far as you have had any means 
 
 of information upon this subject ? 
 
 A. In the years 1779, 1780, 1781 and 1782, so great was the 
 scarcity occasioned by bad Crops, and the troubles in Canada by 
 the Revolutionary War, that Exportation was prohibited, and Sup- 
 plies of Bread, Flour and Provisions sent from England. 
 
 From 1788 to 1792, the Crops were considered a fair average, 
 and considerable Exportations made of Wheat and Flour, but I 
 have no account. of the quantities. The ten years from 1793 to 
 1803, without Foreign Supplies, exported as follows : 
 
 
 
 1793 | 1.9% | 1795 | 1796 | 1797 |} 1795 | 1799 1800 | 1801 | 1802 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 WHueat, 487000'414000/ 395000}. 3106} 31000}, 9 2000) 129000) 2 17000)473000) 1010033 
 Frovur, (Bbls.) 10900! 18700) 18000} 4300) 14000] 9500) 14400} 20000) 38000) 28300 
 Brsourt, (cwt.) gunn! 15000) 20000; 3800) S000] 12000! 2150 50001 32300 22051 
 : Bush, Wheat, Bbls. Flour, ewt Biscuit, 
 Amounting to 3,251,139 171,100 169.451 
 Annual Average  —_ 325,114 17,100 16,945 
 
 Do. of Flaxseed, 7.590 hushis.and of Pease, Oats and Barley. 4,000 bushlIs, 
 
 From 1802 forward, Crops were favourable, and the American 
 Embargo following, Exportations, in consequence of United- 
 
 States Flour and Provisions passing through Canada to a Market, 
 
 were large; but I cannot at present lay my hand on the Account 
 of the Amounts, nor of the opentiy. from the United-States passing 
 through Canada. During the late War, Supplies from the United- 
 States were but trifling, and Exportations small. 
 
 In June 1815, the Governor and Council permitted the free Im- 
 portation of Flour and Provisions from the United-States. Pre. 
 vious to the American Embargo, the Genessee (that is the Western 
 Section of the State of New-York,) was not well settled, and the 
 quantity of United-States Flour, &c. passing down the Saint Law- 
 rence was not considerable ; but 1 think (indeed it is certain,) the 
 Embargo produced a great annual encrease of the Trade in Flour 
 and Provisions up to the commencement of the War. 
 
 The Agriculture of Upper-Canada was unavoidably much nes 
 glected during the War, and that Country was so much wasted, that 
 the Distillers were, by the authority of the Government, not pere 
 mitted to work until or after the year 1818; then Upper-Canada 
 reviving, began sending down a little Flour, and notwithstanding 
 the great influx of Emigrants. last year, exported about 20,000 bare 
 
 rels of Flour, 
 
 
 

 
 \ 
 - . 
 
 The Exports of Bread Stuffs from the Port of Quebec for the 
 Jast seven years 1816 to 1822 inclusive, in something near round 
 numbers, is as follows : 
 
 SS 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1817 & | 
 1816 |’ so | 1819 | 1820 | 1821 | 1822 
 Wueat, (Bushels.) 546500, 37800 wee see 0 
 Frour, (Bbls.) 1137| 69100, 12100) 45000, 22600} 47700 
 Brscurr, (Cwt.) 456] 22700] 11200] 8800 11200] 13500 
 Ss <a Ee his i aa a ad Sak a Sant nate! 
 Bush. Wheat, Bbls. Flour, Cwt. Biscuit, 
 Amounting to 1,367,700 197,637 67,856 
 Annual Average, 195,386 28,233 9,694 
 
 - Barley, Oats and Peas near the Average of the ten years, ending 
 in 1802, Flaxseed less: the previous ten years give an average on 
 seven years of Two Million Two Hundred and Seventy-five Thou- 
 sand Bushels of Wheat, and Two Hundred and twenty-seven Thour 
 
 sand Barrels of Flour. I consider from the resources of Canada a- © 
 
 lone. The ditference now I ascribe to the great encrease of Popula- 
 tion and the stationary state of Cultivation. Biscuit first ten years 
 is nearly doubled to that of last seven years in proportion. 
 
 The Importations during the last seven years (mostly from the U- 
 nited States) are in Flour and Grain, to my conviction equal to the 
 Exportations, and Provisions, Live Stock, &c. far exceeding, and un~ 
 less the encouragement and stimulus afforded by the Agricultural 
 Societies promote improvement, things will continue getting worse. 
 As the Habitaus go on with a Succession of Scourging Crops ex 
 hausting the Soil, that is White Crops, Wheat, Oats and Weeds, with- 
 out a Succession of Green Crops, and not bare Summer Sallowing 
 or drillings, and laying down with sown or artificial Grasses. 
 
 It has been reported (I hope erroneously) that a reverend and 
 most respectable Body discourage the introduction of Green Crops : 
 mistaken views of immediate private interest ought not to stand 
 in the way of Patriotism and the general good, as Green Crops re- 
 fresh and prepare the Soil for yielding more abundant Wheat Crops. 
 I doubt not but those enlightened Gentlemen have discrimination te 
 see, and Public spirit to encourage all substantial improvements. 
 
 ~The Soil and Climate of Canada come the nearest of any part of 
 the World we are acquainted with, those of the Hemp Countries of 
 to Europe : the judicious and extensive introduction of that article 
 would bea mine of Wealth to this Country, and there wonld be a 
 certainty, under the fostering assistance of the most beneficent of 
 all Governments, of a constant demand and liberal prices. 
 
 ==> 
 

 
 —— sre 
 
 ~ No, uf 
 
 111 
 
 The honest and innocent Peasantry of this Country most unfore 
 tunately have a dislike to Corn Spirits: until the Manufacturing and 
 Consumption of this is generally introduced, there will be a want 
 of demand for the native Grain; this Branch of Business would 
 afford employment to many hands, and the offals is the best Feed 
 for Bestial : let us look to the United-States, to Great-Britain or 
 Ireland, and the other Eastern or Corn Countries in Europe, and 
 there we see how this Branch aids the operations of the Cultivator 
 of the Ground, and in Upper-Canada the People may now be said 
 to deny themselves the use of Foreign Spirits, not by legal enact- 
 ment, but by their patriotism and good sense, in finding a Home 
 Market for their Grain by distillation and brewing. Tf five thousand 
 puncheons of good Whiskey were annually made in Lower-Canada, 
 the Country would be independent of Foreign Demand for Grain, 
 which is at the best precarious, and this quantity is not half of our 
 yearly Supply of Rum now adays. The Manvfacture of Barley 
 into Beer and Spirits, of late years, I estimate from forty to fifty 
 thousand minots, and did not, at any period, reach one hundred 
 thousand minots, 
 
 The Census taken in 1784 is as follows : 
 
 ——$——_—_—_— — 
 ——_ 
 
 Land in 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Bush, of Grain : TREE Tw _ jwoung). 
 Souls. | sown yearly. | Cultivation, |HOrses|Oxen |Cows |G, (4, | Shee, | Hogs, 
 113,012 383,349 1,569,818 | 30,096] 22 094) 44,991] 39,206] 84.6466} 70.466 
 
 [ consider the Population now quadrupled, the encrease of Bes- 
 tial not doubled, and the encrease of cultivated Land about one- 
 third. If this view is near the truth, and I think it will be so found, 
 it establishes what appears from the Amount of Exports and Imports, 
 that the Country does not produce subsistence, in the way of Pro- 
 duction, to its native Population ; but computing on this datum, the 
 Amount will be found as follows: 
 
 A52,048 511,132 2,093,091 60,192 44,188 88,582 64,412 169,392 140,999 
 
 Of the above gross Population suppose 400,000 are Bread 
 Eaters, and allowing one with another one pound per day; it is 
 known to intelligent Millers and Bakers that a pound of good clean 
 Canada Wheat yields just on2 pound of good Household Bread: 
 hence the consumption of 400,000 times 365, making 146,000,000, 
 divided by 60, as the number of good clean pounds of Wheat in 
 the minot, (allowing for Mill Waste, &c.) gives 2,433,333 minots 
 of Wheat consumed by the resident Inhabitants in Bread. 
 
 The quantity of Pease used in Soup, is also very considerable, as 
 also Pease, Barley and Oats milled (broke down,) into Goudriole, 
 and Potatoes for fattening 140,000 Pigs, and the Oats as part of 
 the feed of 60,000 Horses is very great, with Offals of Wheat, Brau, 
 &c. It appears to me of importance to ascertain this nearly, which 
 

 
 112 
 
 can be explained with the assistance of some of the Country Mem- 
 bers, (perhaps named of this Committee,) so as to shew as nearly 
 as possible the actual Produce of the Soil, and hence to estimate 
 the loss by the injudicious system of cropping the Lands. 
 
 By Acres in cultivation [ understand the Pasture as well as 
 Tillage Lands, as they are white cropped and pastured in alternate 
 succession, and in many parts of the Country in nearly equal por- 
 tions. The following Table will give a general Vidimus : 
 
 Acres in Culfiyation.... 00009 004m'«05 9.05006 %,000,0,0.90.0es eee 
 Deduct Acres of Pasture Lands.........+-..1,046,545 - 
 
 
 
 Roots, (Potatoes, &c.). eeeteereeveeeeereee ees 240,000 See ern. ee 
 | 1,286,345 
 In Crop... .806,546 
 minots. 
 Sown yearly,..... Sees eeiuls Oy cet iNaup eho. Ttectee 
 Barley made into Beer, &c..cee.seeeeees ee- 50,000 
 
 Wheat made into Bread, &c....4- «6.24000 4+2,433,333 
 Oats.to Horses, Be... oi os iso cike vée'e'e oe 0a tOOOO 
 Pease in Families for Soup, &c........4+..++ 400,000 
 Pease, Barley and Oats made into Goudriole, for 
 
 feeding Pigs, Fowls, &c.....eecceccceces - 420,000 
 Exportation, allow. ...ccessesecccecsesscee+- 105,535 
 ——— 5,000,000 
 cpa encceme nce 
 
 Amount, 5,000,000 minots, as the Produce of 806,000 Acres 
 under Tillage, (not including Potatoes, ‘Turnips and other Roots, 
 and Flax.) On the general average, six minots per Acre. 
 
 Want of Roads I consider the greatest obstacle to improvement 
 in any Country ; nothing exemplifies this more forcibly, even in 
 old Countries, than the present state of France and England. In 
 the former there are only four great Public Roads, and from want 
 of intersecting Roads, Grain and other bulky Articles are often 
 dearer in one place than in another, twenty or thirty per cent, at a 
 distance of only so many miles ; whereas in England there are great 
 Roads and Canals in all directions, and a good Road to every 
 Farm ; hence in a great measure arises the wealth and prosperity 
 of that Country; nor do I see how this stop can be obviated while 
 the Clergy Reserves remain in the way as they are at present, and for 
 time past have been, and large Grants of Land without intermediate 
 and successive annual clearing, and cultivating and settling : until 
 these contribute their just and equal proportion, the best and most 
 beneficent intentions for the prosperity of Lower-Canada are de- 
 feated, and settling and improving the Country much retarded, if 
 not entirely put a stop to. 
 
13 
 
 ~ Perer Burnerr, Esquire, Merchant, appeared before your Com- 
 mittee, and stated that he had been reared to the Mercantile Profes- 
 sion, and resided since 1810 at Quebec, bestowing his time during 
 that period upon Mercantile Affairs. i i 
 Q. What has been the surplus Agricultural produce annually ex- 
 ported from Lower-Canada, and supplied from its own resources 
 from 1810 downward, so far as you have had any means of informa- 
 tion upon this subject ? 
 A. I have only made calculations for the last five years, which are 
 as followeth : 
 Statement of Imports and Exports since 1818. 
 Barrels 
 Exported in 1818—401,791 Minots of Wheat, 5 Minots 
 of which equal to 1 Barrel of fine Flour, is.......... 80358 
 8461 Quintals Bread, each Quintal equal to 22 Minots 
 of Wheat is 20,306 Minots and 5 of which is equal to 
 a ee ofan 0 eel & crewed Pelnne C80dS 0% 4061 
 30,543 Barrels Flour exported in 1818,....eesee++. 30543 
 
 
 
 The total Exports of 1818, equal to Bbls.. 114962 
 (Deduct) Imported in 1818, Bbls...... eejs 45236 
 
 
 
 Barrels 69726 
 Exported in 1819—37,895 Minots of Wheat, | 
 5 Minots equa! to 1 Barrel ..... andes he 
 11,256 Quintals of Bread, each Quintal equal 
 to 22 Minots of Wheat is 27014 Minots of 
 which 5 equal to 1 Barrel......... jmabae 5403 
 12,086 Barrels of Flourexported in 1819. | 12086 
 
 7579 
 
 
 
 Total Exportation of 1819, equal to, bbls... 25068 
 
 
 
 Imported in 1819... SS iii? SEO . 
 3335 
 1820— 319048 Minots of Wheat, 8732 quintals 
 of Bread, 45369 barrels of Flour, equal to, bbls, 113369 
 Imported in 1820..... ashe anieie We OR ee te 45252 
 68117 
 
 
 
 1821—Exported, 318483 Minots Wheat, 11281 
 quintals Bread, 22635 Barrels of Flour, 
 Equal t0.......ccccceveccccsecsesDbIS.. 91745 
 Imported. in 1821.......ccecccecceese-- 66956 
 
 ; ——— + 24789 
 
 1822—Exported, 147285 Minots Wheat, 11492 
 quintals of Bread, and 47247 barrels of Floar, 
 EQUAL C0. ccc, ccc ctpecccccecs cbecevames 
 
 Imported in 1822. ...+eseesceessvvceees 62571 : 
 . ————-. 19649 
 
 
 
 Barrels of fine Flour..scsescoccecccecseese 135616 
 
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 Brought over, 185,616 
 The above Statements are partly taken from the 
 
 Custom House Returns here and in Montreal, 
 
 but a considerable quantity of Flour and Wheat 
 
 has been imported without being entered at the 
 
 Custom House ; this quantity is variously esti- 
 
 mated at from 4,000 to 8,000 Barrels, I shall 
 
 therefore allow it to be equal to 6,000 Barrels 
 
 annually, which for five years will Amount to 30,000 
 
 
 
 Barrels fine Flour..... PV riety tee 155,616 
 
 Itthus appears that the Exportation of F lour, Bread and Wheat 
 for the last five years has exceeded the Importation equal to One 
 Hundred and Fifty-five Thousand Six Hundred and Sixteen Barrels 
 of fine Flour or Thirty-one Thousand One Hundred and Twenty- 
 three Barrels annually. 
 
 In making these calculations I have endeavoured to follow the 
 rules acted on by most practical Men who are in the habit of Manu- 
 facturing, Baking, &c. and I believe also the usual mode of ascer- 
 taining the quantity of Agricultural produce furnished for Exporta- 
 tion by Lower-Canada: I must however state, that I doubt the 
 principle being afair one on which these calculations are founded, 
 as it appears to me that in place of bringing the Wheat into its com- 
 parative value in fine Flour, it ought to be brought into such a 
 quantity of Flour as is generally brought to market, and in fact 
 such as isin use all over the Country by the Inhabitants; E shalt 
 therefore go on to show what the surplus produce would be in that 
 way ; but as the Importation of fine Flour has considerably exceed- 
 ed the Exportation, I allow that an equal quantity of fine Flour 
 might reasonably be supposed to be manufactured for the consum p=: 
 tion of the Country if the Wheat was not exported or that the Im. 
 portations of fine Flour did not exceed the Exports. 
 
 I therefore calculate a sufficient quantity of Wheat to make up the 
 difference in the Importation of fine Flour (at the rate of five Min- 
 ots of Wheat to one Barrel fine Flour) and the remainder of the 
 Wheat exported: I calculate as one Minot to produce forty-seven 
 pounds of good Flour, and that two and two fifth parts Minots 
 Wheat could be manufactared into one Quintal of Bread equal to 
 
 _ what is generally exported. 
 
 The Importation of Flour into Lower«Canada during the last 
 five years. 7 
 
 1818—45236 : | | wo 
 1819—21733 
 
 1820—45252 
 
 1821—66956 © 
 
 1822—692571 9 
 
 ———— 241748 Barrels of Flour per Custom House Re- 
 
 turns, 
 
OU 
 
 115 
 
 6000 atela 30000 § Barrels—the quantity not. entered 
 annually, supposed equal to this. 
 
 Total, 271748 Barrels. 
 
 as: “ nae niet The Importation exceeding 
 1819 ~ 12086 the Exportation 113868 bbls. ' 
 1820—45369 fine Flour, the difference is 
 1821—22635 * course consumed in the 
 1822—47247, ountry. 
 
 ———157880, 
 —-——-113868. 
 
 Wheat exported. 
 1818—-401791 
 1819— 37895 
 
 1820—319048 
 1821—318483 
 1822—147285, 
 
 
 
 | — 1224502 quantity of Wheat exported: ’ 
 
 Of which is calculated 
 at 5 minots equal toone> 569340——~-113868 
 Barrel of Flour, 
 
 Leaving of wheat, Bbls. 655162 
 Which at 47\bs. of Flour 
 each minot, is 157105. 
 
 Consequently it requires 569340 minots Wheat to make the Imports 
 and Exports of Flour exactly the same, and this quantity of wheat 
 being deducted from the whole Exportation ; what remains added to 
 the bread exported and brought to their comparative value, wheat at 
 47 \bs. to one minot, and bread at 22. minots to one quintal will shew 
 how much the Exports exceeds the Importation in good Farine entire, 
 
 It thus appears that if the surplus quantity of wheat and bread 
 exported during the last five years be reduced to its comparative 
 value in Flour, the result will be one hundred and eighty-six thousand 
 five hundred and eighty-three barrels or thirty-seven thousand three 
 hundred and twelve barrels, of good Farine entire annually exported, 
 and which is the produce of Lower-Canada. In the above calculae 
 tion, not having the Returns by me, I have not included the quanti. 
 ties of Bread and Flour which have been exported for the Fisheries 
 and to several small Ports within the Province ; and satisfied that 
 the results in so far as regards mercantile purposes are sufliciently ese 
 tablished on the principle that the state of Agriculture will be shewa 
 by the average exportation, [ have not taken the encrease of popula- 
 tion at all into consideration, nor entered into further detail. 
 
 Joun Macniper, Esquire, Seignior of Mitis, in the District of 
 Quebec, then appeared before your Committee. 
 
 Q. How long have you been Seignior of Mitis, what are its dimen« 
 sions and where is it situated ? 
 
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 Ly, 
 116 
 
 A. I have been Seignior of Mitis sixteen years—it is situated in 
 the county of Cornwallis, it has two leagues in front on the River 
 Saint Lawrence by two leagues in depth. 
 
 Q. At what distance are the hearest Settlements from the Seignio- 
 ry of Mitis? 4 | 
 
 A. Mitis joins Rimousky to the Westward, Rimousky is thinly 
 settled to within three Leagues of Mitis with about One Hundred 
 Families : to the Eastward is the Settlement of Matane at the dis- 
 tance of Eight Leagues, but thinly settled with about thirty Fami- 
 fies’: in the rear of Mitis there is a tract of ungranted Lands of 
 about one hundred Miles, some Seigniories however have been 
 granted but not occupied. 
 
 Q. Have any Settlements been effected in your Seigniory, by 
 what Class of Persons, when were the same commenced, and what 
 is the actual number therein ? 
 
 A. Forty Families are settled there, consisting of English, Scotch 
 and Canadians, but principally Scotch; the settlement commenced 
 in the year Kighteen hundred and eighteen. 
 
 Q. Were the first Settlers on your Seigniory persons with or with- 
 out Capital ? 
 
 A. Without Capital. 
 
 Q. In what way did these Settlers surmount their difficulties 
 without Capital, and what are those difficulties to which Settlers so 
 circumstanced are liable, so far as youhave had occasion to ob- 
 serve ? 7 
 
 A. These Settlers were supplied by myself with Provisions and 
 so forth, for the two first years, after which the produce of the 
 Soil fully supported them, and the industrious part of them have 
 produce for Sale: many of these Settlers (the most industrious of 
 them) refused aid after the first year. . 
 
 Q. To what Amount was assistance afforded to these Settlers, in 
 what Articles, andin what manner ? 
 
 A. Each Family consisting of five in number had one Barrel and 
 a half of Pork, Six Quintals of Flour, two Quintals of Biscuit, ten 
 Bushels of Potatoes, ten pounds of Butter, one pound of Green 
 Tea, six pounds of Sugar, a hundred weight of dried Cod Fish 
 and one Carron Stove and Pipe, as also each Man had one Axe, one 
 Hoe and one Spade, and one Grindstone to each four Families ; 
 three pair of Blankets, one Counterpane and two pair of Mocassins 
 for each Family—Such coarse Clothing as was necessary for each 
 Family was furnished by me, and paid for in Labour. 
 
 . q. ble might have been the value of the said Articles for each 
 amily : epee: 
 
 A. On opening the Seigniory, I was not so attentive until that 
 object was acquired ; the expenses upon an average may amount to 
 from fifteen to twenty Pounds for each Family including therein the 
 expense of Clothing which was paid for in work, and every thing 
 else. The adyance made to Settlers, five Scotch Families that went 
 
 l IN 
 
Te 
 
 117 
 
 down last year, amounted to Ten Pounds each per Annum for two 
 years—I left a Plan of the Seigniory at Mr. Deguise, Notary at 
 Kamouraska, who writes to me that he can procure a number of Ca- 
 nadians willing to settle on my Seigniory if I should advance Ten 
 Pounds per Annum to each for two years. 
 
 Q. What are the Rents charged ? 
 
 A. A money Rent of Twelve Shillings and six pence for each 
 Lot of One Hundred and forty to Two Hundred Acres ; the first 
 two years free of Rent. 
 
 QQ. What arrangements did you make for the distribution of these 
 advances andthe general superintendance of the Settlements, you 
 residing generally at Quebec? 
 
 A. By my Agent upon the Spot. 
 
 Q. Did you lay out any and what amount in improvements 
 within the Seigniory, and labour for yourself ?- 
 
 A. I held two Farms in my own hands of which I cleared about 
 Seventy Acres, I built two Dwelling Houses, two Barns, two Sta- 
 bles, one Cooperage, one Salt House, one large Cooking House for 
 the Fisheries, one Grist Mill and one Saw Mill. 
 
 Q. Was the labour employed in these Works paid for in Money 
 or Goods? 
 
 A. I paid in both, half and half. 
 
 Q. What was the common rate of Labour at which these buildings 
 were erected ? | 
 
 A. Three Shillings per day, the Workmen feeding themselves and 
 payable as aforesaid. 
 
 . Q. What was the rate at which you paid for the Clearing of the 
 and? 
 
 A. Three Dollars for cutting and burning, then for rooting and 
 making it fit for the Plough, twelve Dollars; fencing we did our- 
 selves. ower . 
 
 Q. What was the amount expended in buildings ? © 
 
 A. About twelve hundred Pounds. 
 
 Q. During what period were these Monies expended ? 
 
 A. They were expended from the first begining of the Settle- 
 ment at the rate of three hundred Pounds per Annum. 
 
 Q. At what rate were the Goods sold ? 
 
 A. At five per Cent Commission upon selling prices, provisions at 
 first cost and charges without commission: there was no other advance 
 upon the original price, freight and charges, than the above five per 
 Cent. 
 
 Q. Have you travelled through the country between Cacona and 
 Mitis, what is the quality of the Land, the course of Rivers and the 
 susceptibility of the settlement of that country ? 
 
 A. [ have travelled frequently between Cacona and Mitis, the 
 land from Cacona to the end of Trois-Pistoles appears very fine; and 
 they report favourably of the rear Concession, particularly that of 
 Trois-Pistoles. The Seigniory of Ha Ha which is between Trois- 
 
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 SY 118 
 
 Pistoles and Bic is thinly settled, there appears-to be a good Soil 
 between the Mountains which appear to me to be distant only a~ 
 bout thirty or forty A7pents, Grants are principally situated upon this 
 new Road; Bic has a few Settlers on the Coast only, none on the 
 above Road. The Rivers are twoin number about twenty feet wide, 
 Bic River is but small and well bridged, neither of them is navi- 
 gable for Boats and Canoes, and the Fails prevent Timber from be- 
 ing floated down, the Road is pretty good from this Road to Ri- 
 mousky : the Seigniory of River Oty is thinly settled, mountainous 
 with very light sandy Soil. Rimousky River is navigable for small 
 Craft up to Mr. Trudel, this last Seigniory is well settled on the 
 front and second Concession : the Roads on the River side are very 
 good to Anse du Coq, the distance of five Leagues, where they be- 
 come heavy until Mitis; the Soil is excellent but more so in the 
 Concession, From 0’ Anse du Cog to Mitis, the distance of two Lea- 
 gues, it is thinly settled, the remaining three Leagues are granted to 
 Grand Mitis River, which River is navigable for Vessels of One 
 Hundred and forty Tons up to my House, the River will admit of 
 Timber being floated down; from Grand Mitis to Little Mitis, a 
 distance of five Miles, the Roads are passable on the Beach ; from 
 Little Mitis to Matane they are very difficult, no Road having been 
 traced. | 
 
 Q. What from your own observations or from general report is 
 the quality of the Land from Mitis to Ristigouche, and from Mitis to 
 Matane ? | 
 
 A. Having travelled over the Settlement of Mitis, I found the 
 Soil of an excellent quality, and from what I have collected from se« 
 veral travellers between Ristigouche and Mitis, they report fayoura- 
 bly of the Soil: the latter Soil is reported fit for any Cultivation, 
 there are a few Rivers that can be bridged easily and one that will 
 admit of a ferry Boat: the distance from Mitis to Ristigouche is es- 
 timated at Kighty~six or Ninety Miles ; my information was derived 
 from a number of Canadian Hunters and Indians whom I wasin 
 the habit of interrogating whenever opportunities were afforded me 
 in my several visits to Mitis, and whose statements generally correse 
 ponded with each other. 7 | 
 
 Q. What are the different kinds of Vegetables and Grain culti- 
 vated in Mitis and what has been the average produce per Acre ? 
 
 A. amin daily expectation of a return from the Seigniory re- 
 garding the quantity.of produce, which will be laid before the Com- 
 mittee on its arrival. The samples of Grain and Green Crop sent up 
 this Fall were very fine, Fall Wheat weighed Sixty-eight pounds 
 per Minot, Fall Rye Sixty-two pounds, Oats Forty-six pounds, 
 bald Barley Sixty pounds, Barley Forty-five pounds, ‘Turnips mea- 
 sured Thirty-five Inches round, Carrots, Onions, Cabbages and Po- 
 tatoes of an excellent quality and size, tad 
 
 Q. Haye the Settlers yet paid off the advances made them in 
 money or produce, and what proportion haye done so ? | 
 
 = 
 
 f=» 
 

 
 119 
 
 A. Four Families, settled three years, paid in produce, last year, 
 the whole of the advances made to them, the remainder being settled 
 only two years have not paid any part thereof. | 
 
 _Q. Are there any Fisheries carried on at Mitis, what number of 
 Boats, Vessels, and Men are employed therein, and did the said 
 Fisheries contribute in any manner and how to facilitate the ob- 
 taining any means of subsistence to the actual Scttlers directly or 
 indirectly ? 
 
 A. There is a Fishing Ground about a Mile from the Shore for 
 Cod Fish, Hollibut and Ling. I have made a trial of fishing and 
 found it very beneficial to the Settlement, and I am of opinion, from 
 this trial, a quantity of Cod Fish may be taken from the first May 
 to the first October. Herring is in great abundance, Salmon and Eel 
 plenty, but from the want of Men of experience little has been 
 done. The Inhabitants I wish to prevent from fishing, because, 
 the Season for fishing is the Season for Agriculture, and encourages 
 habits of Idleness. 
 
 Q. Could the Fisheries be made in any way conducive to the set. 
 tlement of the Seigniories and Lands contiguous to the fishing ground? 
 
 A. Lam of opinion that a small bounty on Herring and Cod-fish 
 would encourage Fishermen to adopt their whole time to that branch 
 and afford a cheap and steady supply of Fish to the Farmer, whilst on 
 the other hand the Farmer would supply the Fisherman with Agri- 
 cultural produce in return for himself and family. 
 
 Epwarv Isaac Man, Esquire, of Ristigouche, in the District 
 of Gaspé, Merchant, appeared before your Committee and answered 
 the following questions : | 
 
 Q. Did your Father and your Family reside in any and which of 
 the old British Colonies in North America, and when did he leave 
 the same and for what cause ? | : , 
 
 A. My Father and his Family were natives of the State of New- 
 York : at the breaking out of the American Revolutionary War he 
 was a Colonel of Militia, and held other appointments under the 
 Crown ; he was the first in the State of New-York who was brought 
 before a Rebel Committee at Albany, and upon his declaring his 
 sentiments was sent as a Prisoner into the State of Connecticut, with 
 a married brother of mine named John, he was there kept thirteen 
 months and then sent into Canada, under an Act of Banishment ; 
 my brother Joha was liberated at the end of six months and joined 
 Burgoyne’s Army as Lieutenant ofa Provincial Corps shortly before 
 it surrendered : in the same army I had two other brothers, Thomas 
 a Captain of Guides and Isaac a Lieutenant in a Provincial Corps ; 
 myself and my brother William did duty as Volunteers in Sir Jobn 
 Johnson’s First Battalion of the Royal Regiment of New-York. In 
 
 _ the Autumn of 1784 and Spring 1785, my father, two married bro- 
 
 thers and myself, with their wives and families and with my other 
 two brothers unmarried, amounting altogether to about eighteen pere 
 sons, went to Chaleurs Bay, and settled at New-Carlisle. 
 

 
 \ 
 ‘ 120 
 
 _Q. What was the number of Loyalists and others settled in the 
 District of Gaspé about that time, exclusive of the old settlers, what 
 allowancesin Land and otherwise was made to them by His .Majes- 
 ty’s Government and what was the fate of the said settlement ? 
 
 A. There were about two hundred and fifty families and loyalists 
 settled at New-Carlisle, in Chaleurs Bay, and Douglas Town inthe 
 Bay of Gaspé, and there were besides these, sixty or eighty disband. 
 ed Soldiers, mostly unmarried, of the Kighty.fourth Regiment, and 
 some few of the Thirty-fourth and other Regiments. There was allow- 
 ed to each headof a family and full grown person of the family, two 
 hundred acres, and to the femalesand minor children fifty.acres each ; 
 at New-Carlisle, whither we went, a Town was laid out in Acre Lots, 
 which were distributed amongst the heads of families and grown male 
 settlers, under which last denomination, boys of sixteen years and 
 upwards were included, upon them the Loyalists built houses for 
 their residence. The survey of the Country Lots commenced in the 
 Autumn of 1784 and was continued through 1785 and 1786, when 
 the same was chiefly completed, and a Land Board composed of the 
 Lieutenant Governor Mr. Cox, Mr. Charles Robin, Isaac Man, Jr. 
 and one or two others, was in 1786 or 1787 appointed, by which said 
 Board, Location Tickets for Lots in Town and Country were given: 
 It was not till 1786 and 1787 that the Country Lots were allotted. 
 
 Q. How were the Loyalist Families in the interval of time which 
 elapsed from 1784 to 1786 supported ? | 
 
 A. There were allowed from His Majesty, Rations to each Man 
 and his Family, for three years, besides which a very liberal supply 
 was given by their Majesties the King and Queen of the Materials 
 for necessary Raiment, Bedding &c. also Farming Utensils and e- 
 very thing that was necessary for building and clearing Lands, which 
 were distributed among the Loyalists by Commissaries and Com- 
 missioners for which they rendered Accounts to the Government at 
 Quebec. r 
 
 Q. What was the value in your estimation of the said Rations, 
 aud other donations ? | nisbies tient 44 
 
 A. It was very great. I have been after informed, and it was 
 generally said and believed that it exceeded Eighty-two thousand 
 Pounds, but from want of proper management in the Commissioners 
 that bountiful donation was far from producing the good which was 
 intended. It certainly did not give general satisfaction, but we had 
 no right tocomplain of Government. atte 
 
 Q. What was the fate of the said Settlements, and what were 
 the circumstances which in their infancy served to advance or retard 
 their Prosperity ? 
 
 A. Immediately upon the arrival of the Loyalists in Chaleurs Bay 
 to the number of about Two Hundred Families, they expressed their 
 wish to be immediately settled upon their Country Lots, which they 
 were not allowed to do. | | ' 
 
 Q. Why? ) a i 5 
 
 A. It was thought proper by Lieutenant Governor Cox and o- 
 thers who had the management of thé Settlement of Loyalists te 
 
 l=» 
 
121 
 
 confine them to the Cultivation of their Town Lots during the 
 whole period that we were supported by His Majesty’s Government, 
 this, however, with the exception of a very few, perhaps half a do- 
 zen Families, who were indulged with the privilege of settling up< 
 on their Country Lots. These last had the advantage of making 
 great progress in improving their Lands during the period they 
 were supported : and at the endof three years, some of them had 
 from thirty to fifty Acres in a cleared and productive state, with 
 comfortable buildings, whilst the other Loyalists were afterwards 
 obliged to commence the clearing and settling of their Country Lots 
 without any aid and under great privations and difficulties, abandon- 
 ing the Houses which they had built at N ew-Carlisle, and the greater 
 and most industrious and enterprising part leaving the Country and 
 going, some to Upper-Canada, and others to Nova-Scotia and New« 
 Brunswick. I do not think that one half of the Men who partici- 
 pated in the Bounty of the Government, effected Settlements in 
 the Country Lots, and this principally from the delay which occurred 
 in obtaining allotments and anticipations of other and greater de- © 
 lays on obtaining the Patents. 
 
 Q. When were the Patents, in point of fact, obtained for those 
 Lands? 
 
 A. Not yet, with the exception of that portion of the District of 
 Gaspé lying in the Vicinity of Gaspé Bay. A Statute was lately 
 passed in the Provincial Legislature under which the claims of 
 the occupiers and possessors of Lands in the District of Gaspé will 
 be adjusted and Patents issue. 
 
 Q. Have you had any and what means of becoming acquainted 
 with the Amount of the Fees upon Land Patents taken in the adjoin- 
 ing Province of New Brunswick ? 
 
 A. Ihave, these thirty-four years past, been an Inhabitant of Ris- 
 tigouche which divides the Provinces of Lower-Canada and New- 
 Brunswick, and have traded extensively in that Province, in the 
 course of which Trade I have been employed to apply for and take 
 out Grants fora great number of two hundred Acres Lots of Land 
 in the Province of New-Branswick, for persons who declared to me 
 their intentions of settling there, which Grants I have with great 
 facility obtained by making application only to the Surveyor Geners 
 al of that Province, stating the character and intention of the appli- 
 cants of making actual settlement: these Grants were issued some 
 twelve years ago in block to twelve or forty applicants which cost 
 them from six'to seven Dollars for each Lot of two hundred Acres. 
 
 Q. What are the said Fees now, and have there been any 
 and what changes inthem, andif so, at what time did those change 
 es take place ? | 
 
 A. I'donot know exactly what are the present Fees, but I am 
 credibly informed that they have been very much encreased since the 
 Death of that worthy and respectable Officer, George Sprowl, Sur- 
 veyor General, as the system a his Death has altered (as I ani 
 
 
 

 
 Jy, 
 122 
 
 informed) and each Lot of two hundred Acres is now granted se- — 
 parately at the rate of twelve to fourteen Pounds, This charge has 
 taken place recently, I should think within the last five or six years. 
 
 Q. Have you had any and what means of becoming acquainted 
 with the quality of the Land lying between the hither boundary 
 line of New-Brunswick and the old Settlements of this Colony ? 
 
 A. Yes, I have, inthe pursuit of my private concerns, travelled 
 since the year 1787 fourteen journies from Chaleurs Bay to Quebec, 
 through the interior of the Country lying between the Saint Law- 
 rence and Ristigouche, passing by the Route of Matapedia out to Mi- 
 tis, and by another Route up the Ristigouche to its source, thence to 
 the River Saint John, coming out to the Saint Lawrence over the 
 Temiscouata Portage. Ihave also had another opportunity of be- 
 coming acquainted with that part of the Country, from having ex- 
 plored several hundred Miles as Surveyor of the King’s Forests un- 
 der Commission dated in Halifax, (Nova-Scotia) in the year 1813, 
 from Sir John Wentworth, Baronet. | 
 
 Q. What is the quality of the said T.ands, are there any and 
 what Navigable Streams therein, and any and what means of Com- 
 munication ? : ; 
 
 A. The Lands in that part of the Country is broken and moun- 
 tainous in many places, but there are many extensive tracts of level 
 Land fit for actual settlement and the Soil of excellent quality ; 
 the Ristigouche which divides this Province from New Brunswick 
 has a close communication with a branch of the River Saint John, 
 say a portage, over a level tract of about two and a half Leagues to 
 the Green River, which discharges in the Saint John six Leagues 
 below the Madawaska Church: there is also a more direct and 
 shorter communication by the Matapedia River, which discharges in 
 the Ristigouche about three Leagues above the Indian Village cal- 
 led New Mission Point which is six Leagues up the River Risti- 
 gouche, at the headof the Ship Navigation; the said River takes 
 its source in the Lake Matapedia which is about five Leagues long 
 and one League broad, and is. about twenty-one Miles from the 
 Saint Lawrence, South South East of Mitis Seigniory, the portage 
 to which wiil admit of a Road; the distance to Mitis from Risti- 
 gouche Settlement is about ninety-eight Miles and a half, and from 
 the Report of an exploring party fitted out last Winter it appears 
 that that Route is the most convenient from this to Chaleurs Bay. 
 
 _ Q. Dothe Settlements advance with more or less rapidity on this 
 side of the New-Brunswick Boundary Line, or on the other, and 
 upon what causes in your estimation does thisdepend?. __ " 
 
 A. With much greater rapidity on the other side, and this for 
 causes which are very obvious ; the chief has been the people of the 
 District .of Gaspé having been so long destitute of any secure Title 
 to their Lands; that alone has been the means of driving away a 
 great many of our best Settlers : the administration of Justice and 
 the want of proper regulations of our Fisheries have also retarded 
 
 => 
 
123 
 
 : the progress of the Country; in all.these matters they are vastly 
 . better off in the Province of: New Brunswick, though our Climate 
 { and Soil are superior to theirs. | 
 | Lieutenant Colonel Cocksurn, Deputy Quarter Master General, 
 ! appeared and answered the following questions : a ee ais 
 
 Q. Have you had any and what means of becoming acquainted 
 with the formation of new settlements in these Provinces by Emi- 
 4 grants from Great Britain or others ? 
 | A. The entire superintendence of the Military Settlements from 
 December 1817 to Christmas 1822, besides an occasional superinten= 
 dence in 1816 whilst the late Colonel Myers who was then Deputy 
 Quarter Master General was absent from the Province. 
 
 Q. Have the Settlers whom you have had occasion to observe, been 
 ’ persons with or without capital ? | 
 ; A. Both thé ene and the other. 
 , Q. What are the difficulties to which new Settlers either without 
 
 any capital or with very small funds are exposed, and in what way are 
 d those difficulties surmounted ? 
 7 ~ A. Settlers placed on Land without any capital, or with very 
 small ones, cannot in my opinion by any exertion of their own, suc» 
 
 le ceed in obtaining the means of existence. 
 d Q. What in your estimation is the minimum of capital upon which 
 3; a settlement may be attempted with a fair chance of success bya 
 
 k labouring man with a family ? | 
 
 Ny A. This must depend very much on the price of provisions, fora 
 0 : Settler must have the means of supplying himself and family with food 
 fs for at least one year after he has actually arrived on his Land : imple= 
 d ments, clothing, the coarser articles of Bedding, and some articles 
 0 to be used in fitting up his Hut, such as glass, nails and hinges, [ also 
 , consider as absolutely necessary. I have generally considered twenty 
 I to twenty-five pounds for each individual of a family asthe mivimum 
 
 ! ' a settler ought to be posséssed’of in money on his leaving Quebec 
 
 ; to proceed to place himself on Landin the neighbourhood of Perth. ° 
 
 Q. To what amount was assistance afforded to the discharged Sol- 
 
 diers composing the Military Settlements upon the Ottawa and the 
 
 } Rideau, and was the same in money or provisions or other necessary 
 
 : articles, and which of these two modes is most advantageous in your 
 : estimation to the actual settler? 
 
 A. In the first instance Government supplied the means of trans 
 
 : port to the Settlement : Officers and Non-Commissioned Officers had 
 
 | an extension in the number of Acres granted to them according to 
 
 their Rank ; one hundred Acres of Land, one year’s Rations for 
 
 himself and family (the same as a discharged Soldier with the excep- 
 
 tion of Rum) Implements of Husbandry and some articles for fitting 
 
 up the Huts to each Head of a family—Emigrants were received at 
 
 y the time of commencing the Perth Settlement on the same terms as 
 
 Military Settlers, but by subsequent regulations this indulgence was 
 
 done away with, and Land was then granted to Emigrants only wha 
 
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 124 
 
 were possessed of funds, and the extent regulated by their means 
 of bringing the same into cultivation. ‘Two years ago however a 
 number of Emigrants were sent out from the County of Lanarkshire 
 under Instructions to receive Eight Pounds Sterling for each Indivi- 
 dual of their families. The first Instalment of which was Three 
 Pounds and to be paid on their reaching the place of Settlement ; a 
 second Instalment of Three Pounds was to be paid at the expiration 
 of three months, and the third Instalment of Two Pounds at the ex- 
 piration of another three months: they were also to receive Corn, 
 Implements and Transport from the place of landing to the Settle- 
 ment; the sum of ‘I'wo Pounds was however to be charged against 
 each of them for the latter [¢em,making the total advanced to them by 
 
 Government, Ten Pounds, and which sum they are bound to repay 
 in ten years—I am of opinion it would in all cases be better to sup- 
 ply Provisions than to advance money. 
 
 Q. What were the arrangements made for the distribution of the 
 advances ? 
 
 A. Answered in the fifth Answer. 
 
 Q. Were there any and what measures taken to locate the Settler 
 upon his particular ot with the least possible delay and of summarily 
 enforcing the condition of Settlement ? 
 
 A. Occasional assistance was afforded to the Settlers to find out 
 the situation and boundary of their Lots by an experienced Woodman 
 employed for that purpose, this was however seldom found to be ne- 
 cessary. The conditions of Settlement were read to each Settler pre 
 vious to being located, when it was fully explained to him that any 
 deviation from, the established regulations or misconduct on his part 
 would be the means of rendering null,and void his Location Ticket, 
 and of expelling him from the Settlement. _ ; en ee 
 ~ Q. What is the common rate of Wages in those Settlements ? 
 
 _ A. Payment for Labour in the Settlements is seldom made in Mo- 
 ney.-— Food, Cattle, Goods, or a return of Labour are the more 
 general means of remuneration, but I am of opinion a person placed 
 on Land will never succeed unless he devotes his undivided Labour 
 
 nd attention to his own Lot, the system of earning wherewithal 
 y exist by working occasionally for others experience has proved 
 to be bad, ee a om 
 
 Q. What is the number of Military Settlers and of Emigrants 
 respectively provided for in these Settlements ? | 
 
 A. Military Settlers, Men....,.,.. 1307 oka 
 
 | Women. eeore . 509. . ont 
 
 Children.,.... 1001 
 
 Total, 2817 
 
 iHesS 
 
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 i 
 
 125 
 
 Emigrants, Men......... 2263 
 
 Women...... 1346 
 Children...., 4297 
 
 
 
 Total Emigrants, 7906 . 
 \ Total Soldiers, 2817 
 
 
 
 Grand Total, 10723 
 QQ. What was the Amount of Patent Fees paid to the Colonial 
 Government ? | 
 st A. Six Hundred and Thirty Pounds, Thirteen Shillings and Four 
 
 y Pence Sterling, Settlements in Upper-Canada, 
 
 y Eighty Pounds and Five pence Currency, Drummondville Set- 
 
 p tlement, Lower-Canada. 
 
 Some additional information having been requested as concerns 
 
 ¢ the seventh Question, I consider the most satisfactory mode will be to 
 lay before the Committee a brief Account of the course established for 
 the Location of Settlers at the Military Settlements, adding thereto 
 tr such general remarks as may appear to bear on the point upon which 
 ly information is required. 
 
 Immediately after landing, the Emigrants were in the habit of ap- 
 ut plying at my Office in Quebec, where, provided they had suflicienc 
 m means to defray the expense of their conveyance to the Military Set- 
 tlements and to supply them with the requisites of existence for one 
 ee year after their arrival there, they received from me a Location Tick- 
 5s et on producing which at the Office of the Settlement to which they 
 it { had proceeded, the Diagrams of the T ownships were shewn to them, 
 , from which they had an unrestricted choice of all the vacant Lots. 
 
 \ In forming new Settlements however, where large Tracts are laid out 
 and numerous Applicants appear at the same time, some other mode 
 . of distribution must be had recourse to, as were if "left 16° choice ma- 
 . ny might fix on the same Lét?*these Diagrams were by express order 
 i considered as public Documents and open to the inspection of all 
 those belonging to the Settlement, thus excluding the possibility of 
 : any favour or partiality being ever suspected in the distribution of the 
 Lands, the Settlers having decided in what part of the Township he 
 would prefer having his Land, was furnished with the numbers of 
 the vacant Lots in that neighbourhood, and was then directed to 
 proceed there for the purpose of ascertaining both from his own obe 
 servations and the best enquiries he could make, whether he could 
 find a Lot there, the Land of which was good, and with the posses- 
 sion of which he should be fully satisfied, it being clearly explained 
 that tho’ in the first instance, the choice of the Lot was left to hime 
 self, yet that having once made his election, no exchange could be 
 permitted. 
 In the commencement of the Settlement, the exchange of Lots 
 was sometimes admitted, but subsequent experience proved the 
 necessity of this species of indulgence being entirely done away with. 
 
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 126 
 
 Tt was a rule of the Military Settlements not to reserve Lots for per- 
 sons who had not arrived there, which rule was persisted in, though 
 the Settlers and others often asked this indulgence in behalf of 
 friends whom they stated had made known their intentions of coming 
 to the Settlement. 
 
 A Settler once placed on his Land was not authorized on any ac- 
 count or pretence to absent himself therefrom without the sanction of 
 the Settling Department. It having been previously explained to 
 him that if he did so, his Lot would be appropriated to some one else. 
 —It sometimes however happened that Individuals did act in oppo- 
 sition to this rule, and on such occasions, if any improvement had 
 been made on the Lots, the same was valued by two uninterested 
 Settlers, and the person succeeding to the Lot was bound to pay the 
 Amount to the former possessor, in the event of his returning to the 
 Settlement ; care was however taken that previous to relocating a 
 Lot, every possible enquiry should be made respecting the person 
 who had left it, and in no instance were Lots regranted unless they 
 had been left for at least a year. 
 
 I am however of opinion that the less indulgence which is shewn 
 to Absentees the better, both as concerns the Individuals and the Set~ 
 tlement. ‘The first object of every rule and regulation should be to 
 convince the Settler that his prospects of success depend upon his 
 giving his sole and undivided attention to the Lot upon which he 
 has been placed : in this respect the enforcing residence is of more 
 importance than specifying any particular exteut of clearance as en- 
 titling the Settler to his deed, for I have always found the improve- 
 
 _ment of the Lot progressively going on, when occupied by its owner, 
 
 yror can a Settler continue for any time to reside on and improve a 
 spot of Land which he knows must ultimately become his own 
 without acquiring~an-habitual and encreasing attachment for it— 
 Settlers should on no account receive from the Settling Department 
 any written authority for the Land they are to occupy, such Tickets 
 sometimes leading to a belief on the part of a person located that 
 he has a possession of his Lot which puts him beyond the control of 
 the Rules and Regulations of the Settlement, and [I have moreover 
 known instances where the Tickets have been used for fraudulent 
 purposes : in lieu therefore of what is commonly called a Location 
 Ticket I would recommend a Book being kept as-a public document 
 accessible to the Settlers, in which the names of the party Located, 
 a description of himself and family the date of his Location, the 
 riod of his arrival in the Canadas and the Lot upon which he has 
 een placed should be specified, such rules and regulations as it may 
 be deemed necessary to establish for any new Settlement should in 
 my opinion be printed and the Settler previous to being placed on 
 
 _ his Land should sign his name as having heard and understood them 
 
 and in testimony of his willingness to abide by them, after which 
 not the slightest deviation from them should in any case be admit- 
 ted. , na. tote a . ' ‘4 2 ea: ee inn del al ae bts 
 
 LE>> 
 
127 
 
 No Settler should receive his Deed until he has opened the Road 
 along the front of his Lot, and this should be made one of the Rules 
 of the Settlement. | 
 
 No part of the Settling Department should ever receive Land in 
 the Settlement over which their superintendence extends. : 
 
 The period generally fixed for residence previous to putting a 
 Settler in possession of his Deed is three years, if during this time he 
 has continued to fulfil the conditions of Settlement, the same should 
 be given to him at once ; itis to the possession of it that he looks as 
 a reward for all his exertions and privations, and the withholding it 
 unnecessarily would be an act of cruelty and injustice. 
 
 Should any of the foregoing regulations appear harsh, it should be 
 remembered that their continuance is but for three years, at the end 
 of which time a compliance with them puts the Settler in full and 
 uncontroled possession of his Lot, which they in all probability 
 will have been the means of rendering tenfold more valuable. 
 
 Epwarp Hace, Esquire, gave answer to the following questions : 
 
 Q. Have youhad any, and what means of becoming acquainted 
 with the formation of new Settlements in these Provinces by Emi- 
 grants from Great Britain or others ? 
 
 A. L have had some means of becoming acquainted with the for- 
 mation of new Settlements iu this Province, in consequence of ha- 
 ving lately opened some new concessions in the rear of the Seignio- 
 ry of Port-Neuf which [ have grauted to Emigrants. | 
 
 Q. To what distance from the Saint Lawrence do the old Settle« 
 ments within those Seigniories extend, have any new Settlements 
 been effected in the said Seigniories latterly and by what class of 
 persons, when were the same commenced, and what is the num« 
 ber of Grantees and of actual Settlers therein ? 
 
 A. The Parish of Cap-Santé comprehends the Barony of Port- 
 Neuf, the Seigniory of D’Auteuil and part of Jacques-Cartier and 
 Neuville, the three la (or French) Settlements to a dis. 
 tance of about three Leagues from the River Saint Lawreuce, but as 
 yet, there are no European Settlers in those Seignories ; on the 
 Fast side of the Barony of Port-Neuf the old Settlements extend 
 two Leagues from the Saint Lawrence, but on the West side little 
 exceeding one League: It is in the rear of the last that I commenced 
 my new Settlement of Emigrants from Great Britain in the F all of 
 1821; the class of persons are principally Farmers from Ireland, the 
 number of Grantees are twenty, of whom with the exception of two 
 or three all are now actual Settlers on their respective Lots. = 
 _ Q. Were the persons who effected the said new Settlements with 
 or without Capital ? 
 
 A. Of all the Settlers, one only, to my knowledge, was possessed 
 of any Capital. 
 
 Q. In what way did the said Settlers surmount the difficulties in- 
 cident to new Settlements and the want of Capital, and what are 
 those difficulties so far as you have had occasion te observe them : 
 
 
 

 
 . 128 
 
 had the said Settlers any means of obtaining employment as La- 
 bourers or otherwise, and where and for what employments and at 
 what rate of Wages and for what length of time? 
 
 A. In the Summer Season some of the Settlers (leaving their Fa- 
 milies on their Lands) have gone to Quebec, where as Labourers they 
 have earned from Two Shillings and Six Pence to Three Shillings 
 and Six Pence per day, which has enabled them to maintain their Fa- 
 milies and save sufficient for the purchase of Provisions fér the Winter, 
 others having their Sons or Daughters in Service in Quebec have re- 
 ceived some assistance from them, which together with occasional 
 work obtained inthe immediate neighbourhood of the Settlement 
 has enabled them to subsist and proceed in clearing their Lands 
 without leaving the spot. Even without Capital I apprebend no impe- 
 diment toa certain annual progress being made in clearing and cule 
 tivating the Lands which will eventually enable the Settler to sub- — 
 sist altogether on the produce of the Soil. A Road is now nearly 
 completed to the very heart of the Settlement, the greatest difficul- 
 ty therefore to be apprehended is from the Climate. 
 
 . Q. Was any and what assistance afforded to the said Settlers in 
 Provisions, or Seed, or Clothing, or Instruments of Agriculture ? 
 
 A. There has not to my knowledge been any assistance afforded 
 to my Settlers either in Provisions, Seed, Clothing or Instruments of 
 Agriculture. 
 
 Q. What might have been the value of the adyances made to the 
 various Settlers either by yourself or by the Emigrant Society ? 
 
 A. I have occasionally made some small advances of Provisions 
 to the Settlers, but they have hitherto always reimbursed me in La- 
 bour or otherwise. I am not aware that any of them have received 
 assistance from the Emigrant Society. 
 
 Q. What are the Rents charged ? | 
 
 A. The Annual Rent of the Lands is one Penny per superficial 
 Arpent, each Lot containing one Hundred Arpents ; and I oblige the 
 Settler to reimburse me the expense of Survey. 4 
 
 Q. What quantity of Land has been cleared in the said new Set 
 _ tlement, and what has been the rate or price of clearing as well 
 where the stumps of the Trees have been taken as where they have 
 been left standing ? 
 
 A. I cannot state very correctly the quantity of Land which has 
 been cleared, but from the progress and preparations I observed mak- 
 ing in the early part of the Winter, I may compute the quantity 
 which may be cleared by the Month of June next at not less than 
 Two Hundred Arpents: the price which had been paid for clearing 
 (leaving the stumps) is Ten Dollars per Arpent ; 1 do not know the 
 value of taking out the stumps, no job of that nature having been 
 undertaken in the Settlement. : 
 
 Q. Are the Settlers generally satisfied with their situation ? 
 
 A. The Settlers have generally expressed themselves to me af 
 well satisfied with their situation. eae te 
 
 - ae 
 
 => 
 
129 
 
 _ Q. Would there be any difficulty in obtaining more Settlers if you 
 had Land similarly situated to give them at the same rates ? 
 
 A. There are from Two to Three Thousand Arpents of Land in 
 the Seigniory of Port-Neuf yet unconceded for whichI do not 
 apprehend there can be any difficulty in obtaining Settlers. I have 
 indeed refused several applications of laté, being desirous of suspend. 
 ing further Grants till I can become fully convinced of the success 
 of those who have now commericed atrial of the Soil and Climate, 
 and the result will be proved the ensuing Summer. 
 
 Q. Have you had occasion to explore any part of the unsettled 
 Country in the neighbourhood of Quebec: what was the face of the 
 Country, was it susceptible of Cultivation ? 3 
 
 A. I have had no means of becoming acquainted by observation 
 with the quality of any of the Lands in the rear of the Seigniories on 
 the North Shore of the Saint Lawrence, except the Barony of 
 Port-Nevf, those I have explored to the depth ofthe Barony, which 
 is three Leagues from the Saint Lawrence and extends at one point 
 to the River Saiut Ann’s ; the Lands to the extent of about threé 
 quarters of d@ League approaching the said River are remarkably 
 fine, I believe superior to any of the old conceded Lands in the 
 Barony. 
 
 The Honourable W. B. Frevron made answer to the following 
 Questions : 
 
 Q. Have you had any and what means of becoming acquainted 
 with the formation of new Settlements in these Provinces by Emi- 
 grants from Great Britain or others ? MBM Se> 
 
 A. Ihave had all the means of becoming acquainted with the 
 formation of new Settlements that can be acquired by a residence of 
 seven years in anew Country, 
 
 Q. Have the Settlers whom you have had occasion to obsetve been 
 Persons with or without Capital? | 
 
 A. The Séttters-that have engaged my attention have for the most 
 part been Persons without Capital: some few of superior means 
 have falleu under iny observation. ' | 
 
 Q. What are the difficulties to which new Settlers either without 
 any Capital or with very small Funds are exposed, and in what way 
 are those difficulties surmounted ? 
 
 A. The difficulties to which new Settlers with or without means 
 are exposed, depend entirely on the local position of the Land they 
 purpose improving. ‘To have a distinct comprehension of the varying 
 uature of these difficulties it is necéssary to keep in view the differ- 
 ént circumstances under which Settlements are undertaken. In 
 cases where Establishments are commenced in the Wildersess ih 
 places remote from the settled Country it may be assumed with safe- 
 ty that no European Settler can entertain hopes of success unless 
 supported by the funds of a large Capitalist or by the means of Go- 
 vernment : in either case the advantages resulting from the undertak- 
 ing are rarely, if ever, suflicient by compensate for the outlay, and 
 
 
 
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 should be considered as only useful in so far as they may effect some 
 other object : under these circumstances all difficulties are resolved 
 into expense, and the measure of this expense will be the cost of 
 Provision and Tools. and the freight or transport from the nearest 
 Settlement, influenced of course by the economy or negligence of 
 the conductor. In the more usual and practicable mode of settling, 
 and that by which the labouring Man can expect to succeed, it is 
 customary to commence on Lands adjoining to others already es- 
 tablished : when the Soil is goodand the continuity of the Settlement 
 is not interrupted by reserved Lands, very few difficulties are found ; 
 but as these circumstances are rarely united, and as the obstructions 
 opposed by the reserves and by Land of inferior quality exist more 
 or less in every part of the country, they form difficulties that are 
 always serious and frequently insuperable. As however all these obs- 
 tructions and difficulties are to be evercome by the application of 
 labour, it may be assumed that the expense of Labour by which any 
 Settler can establish himself on any given Lot of Land, is to be es- 
 timated by the outlay (in money or labour) required to open his 
 communication with the nearest neighbour, added to the usual exe 
 pense of settling under more favourable circumstances. The necessity 
 of this commuzication with his neighbour will be apparent when it 
 is considered that the new Settler without Funds can only gain 
 his bread by working for his neighbour. This in truth is the only 
 way of surmounting difficulties in the new Settlements : every new 
 Settler accustomed ‘to labour can gain sufficient Provision to sup. 
 port himself by working, at the utmost, for one half of his time 
 for his neighbour ; if encumbered witha Family, he is yet aided by 
 the care or labour of his wife, and the saving of time compensates 
 for the additional expense of Provision. | dog: 
 
 It is always to be observed that some priority of establishment and 
 residence is understood to exist between the Settlers, ds it is evident 
 that some must possess a surplus of food beyond their immediate 
 wants, toenable them to hire and pay the needy new comer. 
 
 Q. What in your estimation is the minimum of capital upon which 
 a Settlement may be attempted with a fair chance of success by a 
 Jabouring man with a family ? 
 
 A. The smallest capital required for a labouring man with a family 
 must depend on the foregoing circumstances ; when most favourably 
 situated in the vicinity of a settlement, and having market for his 
 labour, the practical necessity for capital disappears : the comfort of 
 the Settler will be encreased, and his progress accelerated by the 
 possession of capital, but numbers are daily establishing themselves 
 without other property than steady habits of labour. To afford a 
 prospect of certain success to the Settler under ordinary circumstan- 
 ces (always meaning the European Settler) the possession of a sum 
 sufficient to purchase six months provision, including a Cow, is fully 
 adequate : the purchase of Seed Grain and Potatoes is included in the 
 estimate which gives from eighteen to twenty-two pounds for Provi- 
 sion and Cow, viz : 
 
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 Estimate of Food required for one man, one woman and one child 
 for six months, ' 
 
 18 Bushels Wheat at 5s.......£4 10 
 
 270 Lbs. Pork at 6d.......... 6 15 
 
 100 Bushels Potatoes atis.3d.. § 5 
 A Cow..e- soeccces ts eeeresee 3 15 
 ——— £21 5 
 
 Q. What is the common rate of Wages in those Settlements ? 
 
 A. The usual Wages given in the Townships to good men acquaint~ 
 ed with country work and chopping, is from twelve to fourteen dole 
 Jars per month with provision, washing and mending for the six 
 Summer mouths: such men are rarely engaged by the year, being 
 principally young men occupied in establishing themselves, they em- 
 ploy the Winter months in clearing their Farms, orrather in making 
 Salts from the Ashes of the Timber felled at that season : many pass 
 their Winters at School. To the Europeans who engage themselves 
 by the year, from seven to ten dollars a month with provision, wash-’ 
 ing, mending and lodging are usually given : after the first year many 
 of these people gain as much as the native Labourers. 
 
 Q > What in your estimation would be the best means of settling 
 and providing for the poorer class of Emigrants coming to this coun- 
 try, and of remedying or diminishing the inconveniences and harde’ 
 ships to which they are exposed? 
 
 A. The best but most expensive system of settling and establish- 
 ing the poorer ciass of Emigrants in a body, or located together on en- 
 tirely new Lands, is undoubtedly that of placing them under the 
 control of a person of competent skill and judgement, and provid- 
 ing forthem at the public expense by the advance of Rations and 
 Tools, inthe understanding that the amount advanced remains a, 
 debt upon the property until liquidated. It is impossible to throw 
 a numerous-and needy population of Emigrants into-an- isolated 
 Settlement by any otha? teers “2Be most judicious measures tha 
 could be adopted for establishing the Waste Lands, not remote from 
 Settlements, would be granting extensive tractsof Land to individuals 
 possessing capital on condition of Residence and the bond fide ameli« 
 oration of a specified qnantity of Land by a determinate number of 
 families thereon located. 
 
 The Honourable Anrorne Louis JucuereAu Ducursnay made 
 answer as follows : 
 
 Q. How long have you been Seignior of Beauport, what is the 
 extent ofthat Seigniory and where is it situated ? . 
 
 A. I have been Seignior of Beauport since the Fall of 1806. The 
 Seigniory is of the extent of one league by four. 7 
 
 Q. How far from the River Saint Lawrence do the old Settlements 
 in that Seigniory extend ? | 
 
 A. The old Settlements extend from the River about a League and 
 a half, beyond which lie Lands which have been conceded to the 
 extent of about half a League, but which are not under Cultivation. 
 

 
 eo 
 132 
 
 @. Have there been any new Settlements of Jate in that Seigniory 
 and by what class of persons, is it long since they were commenced 
 and how many Tenants and persons are settled there? . 
 
 A. Inthe fall of 1821 1 commenced a Settlement immediately 
 _ beyond the Lands above mentioned, below the Lake called the Lake 
 of Beauport: the said Lake is included in the first concession of 
 the new Settlement ; there are four concessions taken beyond that. 
 I cannot exactly state the number of Tenants composing that Set- 
 tlement, I refer the Committee to Mr Shadgett my Agent. 
 
 Q. Had the persons who made _ those new Settlements some Capi- 
 tal or not ? . 
 
 A. Some of the Tenants had some little pecuniary means. 
 
 Q. How did the said Inhabitants surmount the difficulties inci- 
 dent to new Settlements, and without any command of Capital, and 
 what were those difficulties so far as you have had an opportunity 
 of remarking them? 
 
 A. By referring the Committee to Mr. Shadgett my Agent on 
 this question, more satisfactory information may be obtained. 
 
 Q. Were the said Settlers able to procure work as Labourers or 
 otherwise, and where, and what work, and’at how much per day, 
 and for what space of time ? : 
 
 A. The Gentleman above mentioned can giye the best informa- 
 tion. I know, however, that some of the Tenants have procured 
 work as Tradesmen or as Labourers in the City of Quebec, that o~ 
 thers have earned as much as ten or twelve Dollars of the other 
 Settlers for each Acre they have cleared without extracting the large 
 stumps. | 
 
 Q. Has any and what aid been granted to the said Settlers either 
 in Provisions or Seed Grain, Clothing or Instruments of Agricul- 
 ture: CR ee ae TI ae, , | 
 
 A, To my knowledge no aid has heen granted to those Settlers. by 
 the Emigrant Society, they have had no other aid than what I have 
 chosen to advance them this Winter, according to their wants, which 
 was in Provisions. by 
 
 Q. What may have been the value of the advances made to the 
 several classes of Settlers by yourself or the Emigrant Society ? 
 
 A. Refer to the foregoing answer. | 7 : 
 
 Q. What is the amount of the Rents ? 
 
 A Each lot of three Arpents by twenty in depth, pays about 
 twenty-five shillings Rent, three pence Cens and a Corvée, the 
 Tenants hold those Lands without apy payment until N ovember 1824, 
 
 Q. At how much do you estimate the quantity of Land cleared in. 
 the said new Settlements, and what is the rate or price of clearing an 
 Arpent, whether the stumps have been extracted or not ? wad 
 
 A. I request the Gentlemen of the Committee toe send for Mr. 
 Shadgett, he could give the best information on this juestion, I am, 
 however well assured that more than one hundred Lots are taken 
 eitheir by grantor ticket of grant: Mr. Shadgett could also give 
 
 i= ‘4 
 

 
 a gate 
 
 ~~ ee 
 
 133 
 
 with accuracy the number of resident Settlers as also the quantity of 
 Land already cleared ? . 
 
 Q. Are the Settlers in general satisfied with their situation ? 
 
 A. All the Settlers appear to me quite satisfied with their situa. 
 tion, what they have to regret is the very great difficulty of commu. 
 nication, which forms a very serious impediment, especially to that 
 large portion of them who have not the pecuniary means necessary to 
 meet the expense of procuring the attendance of the Grand-Voyer 
 and of defraying his travelling charges, to lay out front Roads and the 
 bye Roads necessary in that Settlement. Your Committee must well 
 know that the Fees claimed by the Grand-Voyers and their trae 
 velling charges are very high, nevertheless in order to oblige all 
 Tenants to labour on their Highways and bye Roads they are by 
 Law obliged to require the ministry of the Grand-Voyer of the 
 District, whereby they necessarily incur expenses beyond the means 
 of a great part ofthem, especially as they have been obliged, in order 
 to have access to this Settlement, to have a Road traced by that 
 Gentleman across the Seigniory Notre Dame des Anges, now belong- 
 ing to the King, and heretofore to the J esuits, which they have been 
 obliged to pay for and to have it made. 
 
 Q. Would it be difficult to procure a larger number of Settlers if 
 you had Lands similarly situated, to give aud grant them under the 
 same rates and conditions ? 
 
 A. I should find it easy to encrease that Settlement for I have 
 refused many applications because the persons who came forward, 
 were not known and did not appear to have the necessary means 
 
 of fulfilling the obligations imposed by the. ‘Licket of Grant, such 
 
 as that of actual residence, my intention being to have actual Ten. 
 ants and not speculators of Land, All the Proprietors in that new 
 Settlement uglish, Scotch and LIrishy there is*but-one-Ganadian 
 Merchant and Pro Tried / among the others, some of 
 them also are Proprietors and Merchants, others Merchants only, 
 Artificers and Labourers, several of the latter are employed in the 
 King’s Works. | 
 
 Mr. Suapcerr made answer to the following Questions : 
 
 Q. How long have you been Agent to the Honourable A. LL, J 
 Duchesnay, Seignior of Beauport ? 
 
 A. [have been Agent to the Honble. A. L. J. Duchesnay since 
 the Spring of 1821, the circumstance of my acting as such origin. 
 ated out of an application on my part to be permitted, in the first 
 instance, to form an English Village near the Lake Beauport, now 
 Lake Duchesnay, and afterwards to setile the unconceded parts of 
 the Seigniory with British Emigrants; and I derive much satisfacti= 
 on in stating that my proposal was received by the Honble. Mr. Du- 
 chesnay in the most friendly manner, and every advice and infor. 
 mation promptly rendered. 
 
 Q. Have any new Settlements been effected in the said Seignios 
 ry latterly, and by what class of persons; when were the same come 
 
 
 
 
A, 136 
 
  Q. |To what distance from the Saint Lawrence do the old Settle: - 
 ments within those Seigniories extend ? ‘ 
 
 A. Nearly three Leagues in Gaudarville, begining immediately 
 at the Saint Lawrence. Fossambault is three Leagues distance from 
 the River, its two first ranges settled by natives of the Country and 
 a third is conceded also to natives but is unoccupied or unsettled. 
 
 Q. Have any new Settlements been effected in the said Seignio- 
 ries latterly, and by what class of persons: when were the same 
 commenced, and what is the number of Grartees and of actual 
 Settlers therein ? | 
 
 A. Yes in both, mostly all of Irish Emigrants, begun in Octo- 
 
 ‘ber 1820, the number of Grants amount to two hundred and thir- 
 ty-two, there are about two hundred and twenty-five actual resid* 
 ing Proprietors of Lots, about eighty children or more, and about 
 seventy or eighty Labourers employed. Sat 
 
 Q. Were the persons who effected the said new Settlements with 
 or without Capital ? 
 
 A. Very few indeed had any Capital, the most of them hardly 
 any thing. 
 
 Q. In what way did the said Settlers surmount the difficulties in- 
 cident to new Settlements and the want of Capital, and what are 
 those difficulties so far as you have had occasion to observe them ? 
 
 A. By great privation, living with extreme economy, from time te 
 time labouring for money to provide Provisions, working industri- 
 ously while provided, and’ when unprovided repeating the same 
 means. As to the difficulties incident to new Settlements under sim 
 ilar disadvantages of having no Capital, they are innumerable, but 
 
 would all be got over with the assistance of Laws, &c. by the Le- 
 gislature. The first and the greatest difficulty is the means of com* 
 munication between ranges and ranges, Seigniories and Seigniories, 
 Townships and-Seigniori e- Second, the immediate expenses 
 attending on asking for Roads, such as» Feces to the Grand Voyer 
 ~orhis Deputy, Sous-Voyers, Inspectors, Clerks of the Peace, Courts 
 of Homologation, &c. Roads are generally wanted by the people in 
 the out or back ranges, who are always the poorer class, in which case 
 poverty effectually either puts a stop to a new Settlement or keeps 
 ‘it in a state’of misery a véry long time. This is felt toa discouraging 
 ‘degree in a new Settlement were several Settlers together come on 
 Land to reside immediately much more than when one or two per- 
 sons take Lots several years previous to their residing thereon, as 
 usual hitherto in this Country ; for when two, three or four ranges 
 and more are conceded in one or two years time (which is my case) 
 
 _ they labour under great hardships, for they are at an immense dis- 
 tance from Roads for a long time, what little money they have 
 is employed in getting the urgent wants or necessaries of Life, by 
 which most of their time is taken up in carrying the same on their 
 backs through Forests, so discouraging particularly to strangers of 
 bur Climate. Other difficulties are the want of places of Worship 
 
 —_— —— 
 é Te ie eee ee Se aes < = 
 PREP SST RT EER ae aT awh. ats ae 
 =— : = 30 a eS. * ete - > ae — 7 - 
 ; =. 2 © “ ey a 2 2S “te Ls 
 > SAanawg Se oS ey a = = E = — = _——— ’ - 
 
 — nose a 
 ee 
 
 SSS Ses Ea ee 
 
 ee ee 
 
 a as 
 
 " oy Ay £6 = 
 
 
 
 f 
 
137 
 and Schools, and the want of public institutions in the Country for 
 bringing up children, who are expensive to the industrious parents, to 
 trades or professions. ’ 
 
 Q. Had the said Settlers any means of obtaining employment as 
 Labourers or otherwise, and where and for what employment, and 
 at what rat. of wages. and for what length of time? _ ae 
 
 A. During the Summer season numbers of Settlers have obtained 
 employment as Tradesmen or Labourers in the King’s works in 
 Quebec, otbers could not, from tiie number of people wanted being 
 filled up; the rates of wages to Tradesmen were I believe from 
 four to five shillings per diem, and to Labourers, from two to two 
 and six pence. 
 
 Q. Was any and what assistance afforded to the said Settlers in . 
 
 Provisions, or Seed, or Clothing, or Instruments of Agriculture ? 
 
 A. The Quebec Society of Emigrants has, through me, given to 
 the Emigrant Settlers of my Seigniories of Fossambault and Gaudar- 
 ville, Five Pounds Currency for provisions to those in urgent neces« 
 sity, and lent others Ten Pounds Currency, for the purchase of Seed. 
 Provisions were besides given to four or five Families, some of the 
 women were also assisted by the Quebec Benevolent Society : some 
 clothing were charitably given by Mr. Le Frangois, Curate of Saint 
 Augustin, to some of the men, women and children of the Settle 
 ment ; as to Instruments of Agriculture, none. | 
 
 Q. What might have been the value of the advances made to the 
 various Settlers, either by yourself or by the Emigrant Society ? 
 
 A. The assistance I have been happy to give them has been in ad- 
 vancing them Provisions, Seed, opening Roads for them, procuring 
 them work and employing them. Here [ must. observe that ‘l wenty- 
 five Pounds currency have been laid out by the Commissioners for the 
 Internal-Communications to assist in cutting a.xoad to the Settlement. 
 
 Q. Whata FRI: aS 
 
 A. The Rents are thirty shillings currency per Lot of ninety Ar. 
 pents, having deducted the usual charges of the difference of money, 
 (Argent tournois, ) Wheat, Chapons, Corvées, &c. and further giving 
 nearly four years without any Rent at all. 
 
 Q. What quantity of Land has been cleared in the said new Sete 
 tlements, and what has been the rate or price of clearing as well 
 where the stumps of the trees have been taken, as where they have 
 been left standing ? ) 
 
 A. I am nearly certain that six hundred and seventy A-pents of 
 Land have been cleared in Saint Patrick Settlement and upwards, 
 the stumps have not been rooted out as yet, and for such clearing 
 Two Pounds ten Shillings are generally paid. 
 
 Q. Are the Settlers generally satisfied with their situation ? 
 
 A. I have often asked the question, and have always had the exe 
 treme pleasure to hear they were highly pleased, both with their 
 Lands and its ‘Tenure, from the circumstance of the great advantage 
 ef no Capital being requisite to ee Lauds for themselves and 
 
 i 
 
 
 
s a, } 
 138 
 
 shildren, and having no Rents for three or four years to pay, &c. &c. 
  Q. Would there be any difficulty in obtaining more Settlers if you’ 
 had Land similarly situated to give them at the same rates ? ) ; 
 
 A. No difficulty whatever. AsI observed before, the only difficulty 
 now is that the Lands tobe conceded are at a greater distance, which» 
 still would be no impediment if Roads were made, &c. 7 | 
 
 Lieutenant Skene, of the Royal Engineers, appeared before your 
 Committee— 
 
 Q. Have you had occasion to explore any part of the unsettled. 
 Country in the neighbourhood of Quebec, and for what purpose ? 
 
 . A. Twelve months ago I went from the Settlement of Petit Bois 
 de’ Ail, in Mr. Allsopp’s Seigniory, Hampshire County, through 
 about twenty-eight miles of unsettled country, in a direction nearly 
 North, for the purpose of examining a Bridge, which was described 
 as being built of Masonry, across the décharge of a small Lake ; also 
 last Autumn I went up a stream called Rivitre Blanche, through 
 about eighteen miles of unsettled country, in a Northerly direction 
 from Mr, Burnett’s Mill, in the Seigniory of Grondines. 
 
 Q. What was the face of the Country, was it susceptible of culti- 
 vation, and did you in fact find the said Bridge ? 
 
 A. In both instances I found the face of the Country hilly, 
 with occasional level places of no great extent, through which 
 the natural drains of various small Lakes wind their way towards the 
 Sainte Anne River. To judge of the Land fromthe Timber every 
 where covering it, it seemed, with very little exception, capable of 
 cultivation. The said Bridge is a rock of Gneiss, which once pro« 
 bably formed an obstruction to the course of a stream twelve feet 
 wide, and having been undermined now exhibits the appearance of 
 an arch of twenty-six feet span, seven: feet above the water, eight 
 feet thick at the top, including a covering of soil, and nearly eight 
 feet wide. 
 
 Q. Have you had any means of becoming acquainted with the si- 
 tuation and the wants of the poorer classes of labouring Emigrants 
 who have come to this Country these latter years? LEA Lecdd Fas SE 
 
 A. I was the Senior Officer of the Royal Engineer Department in 
 the District of Quebec for two years, ending November one thousand 
 eight hundred and twenty-two, and a Member of the Society for the 
 relief of distressed Emigrants. ’ 
 
 Q. To what extent and in what numbers have they derived the 
 means of subsistence by labouring at the King’s works, and have 
 these afforded them temporary or permanent means of living, and 
 
 _ what have become of them, as far as you have. had any means of 
 knowing, after they have left the said works? ES. a 
 
 A. Between November 1821 and November 1822 about seven 
 hundred persons applied to me for employment on the King’s works, 
 of that number about three hundred had arrived at Quebec, chiefly 
 from Ireland, in the Summer of 1822, ts | 4 
 Binding that a little employment was a great object with them om ; 
 
 Bi 
 te 
 a 
 fi 
 ah 
 | 
 . : i 
 
 : 
 \ 
 
 a eee eS 
 
 — a -e Bei ne - ~ — = _ _ - 
 - : == ee eo saee es ahem He oe rea _— 
 -— ——s * . = — > ~ . ss — > = = 
 i a ere A ee tg B Baa ws = fy e r parte * 
 = - - - —~ > DS ae ~~ ea _ ~ -— - 
 
 oe 
 35 <a 
 
 —4 
 
 cana 
 
 
 
 Ss 
 = 7 
 
 | ON 
 
_——— om —“S £22 a.“ 
 
 y" 
 
 ee ae 
 
 139 
 
 their first landing, it was arranged to give one month’s employment 
 to the same individual, which was done from the twenty-fourth July : 
 this measure could not be extended to the Artificers. As the appli. 
 cants were mostly mere labourers, this changing about one hundred 
 of them once a month answered the purpose intended; the rate of 
 wages for mere labour was 2s. 3d. Halifax currency, per day, during 
 the last Summer. I have reason to say that few of the people who 
 arrived here from Europe last Summer were even landed at Quebec, 
 for instance the Brig Brilliant, of London, Capt. Scott, arrived at 
 Quebec the seventh June last, with above two hundred Emigrants, 
 from ————— about five of whom only landed, and the rest were 
 transshipped on board a Steam Boat to go to Upper-Canada. 
 
 Many of those who obtained a few weeks employment on the 
 King’s works were enabled to move up the country, and those who 
 from unthriftiness or misfortune have not done so, are no better off, 
 after being employed even for a twelvemonth, than they were when 
 they landed. The establishment of a Savings Bank has contributed 
 to induce and enable poor Emigrants to accumulate enough in some 
 ncn to leave Quebec, and settle upon Lands in the neighbours 
 hood. | 
 
 Q. What in your estimation would be the best means of providing 
 for the Emigrants coming to this Country, and of remedying or di- 
 minishing the inconveniences and hardships to which they are now 
 exposed? Aas 
 
 A. The readiest mode which suggests itself to me of assisting the 
 poorer Emigrants, and of diminishing the hardships to which they 
 are now exposed, is contained in the following remarks : 
 
 Information and immediate employment seem to be the first things 
 requisite on the poor Emigrants landing. An Office might be opened 
 in a Convenient part of the City, where on landing the Emigrant 
 might 0 Berge Rl for Labour, &c- in various - 
 parts of the Country, and as” é easiest method of obtaining a 
 Concession of Land, to which object his attention requires to be ef- 
 fectually and constantly pointed. 
 
 It is well known how much the poorer Emigrants have been assis- 
 ted during the last three years by a Society composed of Gentlemen 
 who yolontarily and gratuitously undertook to raise and distribute a 
 charitable fund for their relief. : 
 
 It seems to me that the business of assisting the sort of Emigrants 
 in question would be best conducted by such a Society: that if its 
 Funds enabled it to establish the Office above alluded to, there 
 would be little opportunity for introducing imposition into the nature 
 of the information to be conveyed or for making the thing a Job for 
 the interest of Individuals; thatifits Funds enabled it to pay good 
 wages for work done either on public Roads, or on the neighbouring 
 Government Lands, enough would be done in the way of assisting 
 that particular description .of Emigrants we speak of. It is not for 
 me to consider, but simply to hint, how far its funds might be aided 
 

 
 140 
 
 and how far it could be trusted with the application of a Grant ig 
 
 aid of them from the Legislature, and for the express purpose above 
 
 mentioned under such regulations as might seem necessary. 2 
 Captain Fenwick, Assistant Harbour Master, appeared before 
 
 your Committee and stated that the number of Emigrants arrived 
 
 from Great Britain and Ireland, were | 
 
 In 1821..., 8056 
 1822....10470 
 
 
 
 7 18526 Emigrants. A 
 _ He cannot say whether these persons were wealthy or otherwise, 
 They proceeded mostly in the Steam Boats to the Upper Country. _ 
 
 bad 
 
 No. 1. 
 
 Extract of a Dispatch from the Right Honourable the Earl Bathurst 
 to His Excellency Lieutenant-General Sir George Prevost, Ba- 
 ronet, &§c. &c. &c. dated Downing-street, 12th July 1814. 
 
 “¢ When I stated in my Dispatch No. 58, the objection which I 
 *¢ felt in making Grants of Land to the Glengary Fencibles and 
 ** the Canadian Voltigeurs, out of the Crown Reserves, | was ine 
 §* duced to do so from an apprehension that if a precedent were 
 $6 once formed, on light grounds, for the abandonment of those Re- 
 
 “¢ serves on the part of the Crown, it would be difficult to resist 
 
 other applications for similar indulgence when the Reserves.might 
 
 “ rington. he reasons however, which you bave stated in your 
 ‘* Dispatch No. 152, for wishing to establish on that part of the 
 ** Canadian frontier the men who compose the Corps in question, 
 - © appear to me so forcible, that I no longer feel any difficulty in 
 “¢ acceding to your request on this subject; trusting, however, that 
 <¢ you will not consider this deviation from the general practice of 
 “ maintaining the Reserves inviolate, as encouraging avy similar dee 
 ‘¢ viations in other cases. With reference to the subject of granting 
 Lands, I have to communicate to you the intention of His Mas 
 $¢ jesty’s Government to. grant, at the close of the War, to the Of- 
 “¢ ficers and Men of Meuron’s and Watteville’s. Regiments, pro- 
 “ portionate quantities of Lands on those parts of the Frontiers of 
 “¢ Lower-Canada which may be most exposed toattack.? 
 
 » 
 
 i he 
 aes 
 
 A. W. COCHRAN, 
 Secret 
 
 * be more valuable than they appear to be in the Township of Sher- 
 
 ry 
 
Ss. s 
 
 : 
 
 “ae OR, 
 
 141 
 
 No. 2. 
 
 Extract of a Dispatch from the Right Honourable the Earl Bathurst 
 . to His Excellency Lieutenant-General Sir George Prevost, da- 
 ted Downing-streel, 8th September 1814. 
 
 «© Inmy Dispatch No. 72, of the 12th July, I stated to you the 
 ‘¢ intention of Government to grant to the Officers and Men of Meus 
 “ ron’s and Watteville’s Regiments, Grants of Land in Canada, at ~ 
 «¢ the close of the War. The prospect of a similar advantage, it is 
 “ conceived, may produce a good effect amongst the regular Troops 
 «“ under your command, and you are therefore authorized to signify 
 ‘6 to them that a certain proportion of each Regiment, in which 
 ¢¢ number those who have families shall be first reckoned, shall, if 
 ‘< desirous of settling in Canada after the termination of hostilities, 
 <¢ obtain Grants in eligible situations, and their families, if in this 
 * Country, shall be sent to join them.” 
 
 Cer tified. 
 
 A. W. COCHRAN, 
 Secretary. 
 
 No. 3. 
 
 Adjutant General’s Office, 
 Montreal, 6th December 1814. 
 
 ‘6 The Commander of the Forces has received Instructions from the 
 « Right Honourable the Earl of Bathurst, one of His Mojesty’s prin- 
 
 G.0. 
 
 cipal Secretaries of State, to aunounce to the Troops serving under 
 
 «his pean, ame ot His Royal Lighness the 
 “ Prince Regent,after the -of hostilities in consequence of a 
 
 “ definitive Treaty of Peace, to grant to a certain portion of each 
 «‘ Regiment, in which number those who have families are to be first 
 “‘ reckoned, and who are desirous of settling ia the Canadas, Grants 
 
 46 of Land not exceeding one hundred acres to each person, in eligible 
 
 « situations, and that those whose families are in Europe will be sent 
 « to join them in this Country at the expense of the public. 
 
 “* His Royal Highness has been further graciously pleased to signi~ 
 ‘¢fy his munificent intention to continue, fora period, the issue of 
 “ Rations, and moreover to supply Implements of Husbandry, either 
 ‘6 gratis or at a reduced price, as the circumstances and necessities of 
 6¢ the Settlers may require.” 
 
 (Signed) EDWARD BAYNES, 
 Adjt. Genl. N.A. 
 
 A. W. COCHRAN, 
 Secretary. 
 
 Certified. 
 

 
 
 
 ae 
 
 142 
 
 No. 4, 
 
 Extract of a Dispatch from the Right Honourable the Earl Bathurst 
 to Lieutenant-General Sir Gordon Drummond, K. C. B, dated 
 Downing-street, 31st May 1815. , 
 
 “* With-espect to the encouragement you Propose giving to dise 
 ** charged Soldiers, who prefer a Settlement in the Province, your 
 * views are perfectly in unison with those of Hlis Majesty’s Govern- 
 ** ment, and I have much pleasure in conveying to you authority 
 ** to give them such Grants of Land as have been usually made to 
 “* persons in a similar sitaation, and to give them such other advan. 
 * tages as it was, previous to the change of affairs in Europe, pro- 
 *¢ posed to give to Settlers proceeding to Canada, from the United 
 * Kingdom.” 
 
 Certified. 
 A. W. COCHRAN. 
 
 | Secretary. 
 ee 
 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY, - 
 Monday, 17th March 1823: 
 
 Mr. Stuart, from the Special Committee to whom was referred 
 that part of His Excellency the Governor in Chief?s Speech, at the — 
 opening of the Session of the Legislature of one thousand eight hun 
 dred aud twenty, relating tothe Waste Lands of the Crown, report- 
 ed that he was directed by the Committee to submit to the CONSis 
 deration of the House certain Questions proposed by the said Com. 
 mittee to the Honourable Mr. Ryland, and to which he had refused 
 to give any Answer ; and he read the said Questions in his place, and 
 
 afterwards delivered the same fy at the Clerk’s Table, where they 
 were again read, as followeth -__ 
 
 Q. Are you now, and have you been for any and what length of 
 time a Commissioner and Treasurer of the Board for managing the 
 Estates heretofore belonging to the late Order of the Jesuits, and 
 during any and what period of time also Chairman of that Board? 
 
 A. Ihave been a Commissioner since the year 1807 or 1808. 
 T have been Chairman of that Board about seven or eight years by 
 seniority. : 
 
 Q. Is there any and what quantity of ungranted Land fit for cultiva- 
 tion within the Seigniories belonging to the said Estates, and are 
 there any and what Fees required and received, and by whom, 
 upon Grants of Land within the same? _ ee ee 
 
 A. Ibelieve there. are very considerable quantities of ungranted 
 Lands within those Seignioriés—No fees are taken that I am ace 
 quainted with—The conditions are the same with those of other Sei- 
 gniories. | | es 
 
 _ Q. Was there at any time, and when, made by the said Board, 
 
 a a 
 
= a 
 
 =f Piss 7 a = 
 
 
 
 143 
 
 an Order that no Petitions for Grants of Land within the said Sei- 
 gniories would be received, orany other Order of a like purport ? 
 
 A. As those Seigniories are in possession of the Crown and under 
 the immediate direction of His Majesty, [ do not feel myself author- 
 ized to enter into any particulars respecting them without the express 
 permission of His Majesty’s Representative. 
 
 Q. Are not the said Seigniories held by His Majesty in trust,toapply 
 the Rents, Issues and Profits thereof to the purposes of Education ? 
 
 A. I must return the same answer to this Question. 
 
 Q. Have the same been so applied or have they been applied to 
 any other and what purposes, and to what amount ? | 
 A. I return the same Answer. | 
 
 Q. Have not portions of the said Estates been latterly alienated 
 and disposed of, and to what purposes were the prices for what the 
 same were sold applied ? 
 
 A. Same Answer. 
 
 Q. What is the average amount of the Revenues of the said Estates ? 
 
 A. Same Answer. 
 
 Q. Have the Commissioners for managing the said Estates taken 
 charge of the College situate in this City, and do they receive any 
 and what Rent for the same as Barracks, or use to which it is now 
 applied ? 
 
 A. Same Answer. 
 
 Q. Have the said Commissioners ever applied for or received from 
 His Majesty’s Government in England, any Order or Instructions 
 to apply the said Rents, Issues and Profits to any other purpose than 
 the purpose of Education ? 
 
 A. Same Answer. 
 
 Q. Is there not, in the Office of His Majesty’s Council, an Order 
 direvting that the same shall be applied to the purposes of Education, 
 and what is the date-vfthe said ( Order, and why has Mié same been 
 
 disobeyed ? 
 
 A. Same Answer. : 
 On motion of Mr. Stuart, seconded by Mr. Dessaulles, 
 Orperep, That the subject matter contained in the information now 
 given to this House be referred to the Committee of Privileges, 
 
 —_ 
 
 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY, 
 Thursday, 6th March 1893. 
 
 Resotvep, That the Settlement of the waste and uncultivated 
 Lands, the promotion of Education, the due administration 
 of Justice and a prudent and constitutional management of 
 the Revenue and Financial Resources of this Province,thereby 
 encouraging industry, diffusing knowledge and wealth, and 
 securing the just Rights of all classes of His Majesty’s Subjects 
 in this Province, are the surest means of augmenting the 
 _ numbers and encreasing the happiness and well being of His 
 
 Majesty’s said Subjects, : : 
 
 / 
 
 
 
144 
 
 Resorveo, That Grants have been heretofore, from time to time, 
 made by the Provincial Administration of excessive quantities, — 
 of the Waste Lands of the Crown to particular individuals 
 who have never cultivated or settled them, and have prevents” 
 ed others, more industrious, from improving ~s well the said 
 Lauds as other Lands adjoining such excessive Grants, or 
 accessible ouly through the same, and that thereiu the wise 
 and gracious liustructions of His Majesty on that behalf have 
 been disobeyed, and the Settlement of the said Waste Lands 
 hath been retarded. 
 
 Resotven, That the Provincial Administration hath not enforced 
 the condition of actual Settlement contained in all Grants 
 made of the said Waste Lands by His Majesty, and, upon 
 breach of the said condition, no legal measures have been if 
 taken for the escheating of the said Lands, whereby the “4 
 gracious intentions of His Majesty, in this behalf, have been 
 frustrated, the Grantees of the Crown openly encouraged in 
 their neglect to fulfil the said condition, and the Settlement — 
 of the said Waste Lands retarded. ; 
 
 Resotvev, That large ‘sums of money have been, with the sanction _ 
 of the Provincial Administration,exacted and received as Fees ‘Y 
 from Applicants for the said Waste Lands, before that their : 
 Petitions for Grants of the same would be received or taken _ 
 into consideration ; and other sums of money with the like — 
 
 sanction also exacted and paid, also as Fees, before that a 
 Location Certificate could be had or obtained, without that — 
 the said pretended Fees had been established by His Majesty 
 under his Signet and Sign Manual or by his Order on that — 
 behalf, signified by one of His principal Secretaries of State, — 
 whereby theo—grecious Instructions of His Majesty in that — 
 behalf, bearing date at Saint James, the fifteenth day of — 
 August one thousand seven hundred and ninety Seven, have — 
 been disobeyed, His Majesty’s Subjects in many instances 
 deterred from applying to His Majesty for Grants of Lands, — 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 and the Settlement of the said Waste Lands retarded. | 
 
 - Resorvep, That His Excellency the Governor in Chief has given — 
 his serious attention to this important subject by referring the _ 
 
 same to the consideration of the Legislature in his Speech of 
 
 the sixteenth December one thousand eight hundred and. 
 
 twenty, delivered from the Throne to both Houses, and ¢#at 
 
 _ this House are assured that His Excellency js disposed to 
 
 + fulfil His Majesty’s gracious views in that behalf. ie 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 gles? Wednesday, 19th March 1993, 
 
 Resoryep, That this House will, at an “; Period in the tees | 
 
 Session, continue the enquiry into the state of the Province, : 
 
 and willalso take into their most serious Consideration the 
 commonly called the Canada Trade Act.” 4 
 
 
 
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