LETTERXXV.

Of the Constitution, Government, Laws, and Religion of the Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada.—Estimate of the Expenses of the Civil List, of the Military Establishment, and the Presents to the Indians.—Salaries of certain Officers of the Crown.—Imports and Exports.—Taxes.

Quebec.

FROM the time that Canada was ceded to Great Britain until the year 1774, the internal affairs of the province were regulated by the ordinance of the governor alone. In pursuance of the Quebec Bill, which was then passed, a legislative council was appointed by his Majesty in the country; the number of members was limited to twenty-three. This council had full power to make all such ordinances and regulations as were thought expedient for the welfare of the province; but it was prohibited from levying any taxes, except for the purpose of making roads, repairing public buildings, or the like. Every ordinance was to be laid before the governor, for his Majesty’s approbation, within six months from the time it was passed, and no ordinance, imposing a greater punishment on any person orpersons than a fine, or imprisonment for three months, was valid without his Majesty’s assent, signified to the council by the governor.

Thus were the affairs of the province regulated until the year 1791, when an act was passed in the British parliament, repealing so much of the Quebec Bill as related to the appointment of a council, and to the powers that had been granted to it; and which established the present form of government.

The country, at the same time, was divided into two distinct provinces; the province of Lower Canada, and the province of Upper Canada. The former is the eastern part of the old province of Canada; the latter, the western part, situated on the northern sides of the great lakes and rivers through which the boundary line runs that separates the British territories from those of the United States. The two provinces are divided from each other by a line, which runs north, 24° west, commencing at Point au Baudet, in that part of the river St. Lawrence called Lake Francis, and continuing on from thence to the Utawas or Grand River. The city of Quebec is the capital of the lower province, as the town of Niagara is of the upper one.

CONSTITUTION OF CANADA.

The executive power in each province is vested in the governor, who has for his advice an executive council appointed by his Majesty.The legislative power of each province is vested in the governor, a legislative council, and an assembly of the representatives of the people. Their acts, however, are subject to the controul of his Majesty, and in some particular cases to the controul of the British parliament.

Bills are passed in the council and in the assembly in a form somewhat similar to that in which bills are carried through the British houses of parliament; they are then laid before the governor, who gives or withholds his assent, or reserves them for his Majesty’s pleasure.

Such bills as he assents to are put in force immediately; but he is bound to transmit a true copy of them to the King, who in council may declare his disallowance of them within two years from the time of their being received, in which case they become void.

Such as are reserved for his Majesty’s assent are not to be put in force until that is received.

Moreover, every act of the assembly and council, which goes to repeal or vary the laws or regulations that were in existence at the time the present constitution was established in the country respecting tithes; the appropriation of land for the support of a protestant clergy; the constituting and endowing of parsonages or rectories; the right of presentationto the same, and the manner in which the incumbents shall hold them; the enjoyment and exercise of any form or mode of worship; the imposing of any burdens and disqualifications on account of the same; the rights of the clergy to recover their accustomed dues; the imposing or granting of any farther dues or emoluments to any ecclesiastics; the establishment and discipline of the church of England; the King’s prerogative, touching the granting of waste lands of the crown within the province; every such act, before it receives the royal assent, must be laid before both houses of parliament in Great Britain, and the King must not give his assent thereto until thirty days after the same has been laid before parliament; and in case either house of parliament presents an address to the King to withhold his assent to any such act or acts, it cannot be given.

By an act passed in the eighteenth year of his present Majesty’s reign, the British parliament has also the power of making any regulations which may be found expedient, respecting the commerce and navigation of the province, and also of imposing import and export duties; but all such duties are to be applied solely to the use of the province, and in such a manner only as the laws made in the council and assembly direct.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.

The legislative council of Lower Canada consists of fifteen members; that of Upper Canada of seven. The number of the members in each province must never be less than this; but it may be increased whenever his Majesty thinks fit.

The counsellors are appointed for life, by an instrument under the great seal of the province, signed by the governor, who is invested with powers for that purpose by the King. No person can be a counsellor who is not twenty-one years of age, nor any one who is not a natural born subject, or who has not been naturalized according to act of parliament.

Whenever his Majesty thinks proper, he may confer on any persons hereditary titles of honour, with a right annexed to them of being summoned to sit in this council, which right the heir may claim at the age of twenty-one; the right, however, cannot be acknowledged if the heir has been absent from the province without leave of his Majesty, signified to the council by the governor, for four years together, between the time of his succeeding to the right and the time of his demanding it. The right is forfeited also, if the heir takes an oath of allegiance to any foreign power before he demands it, unless his Majesty, byan instrument under the great seal of the province, should decree to the contrary.

If a counsellor, after having taken his seat, absent himself from the province for two years successively, without leave from his Majesty, signified to the council by the governor, his seat is also thereby vacated.

All hereditary rights, however, of sitting in council, so forfeited, are only to be suspended during the life of the defaulters, and on their death they descend with the titles to the next heirs[32].

32.No hereditary titles, with this right annexed, have yet been conferred on any persons in Canada by his Britannic Majesty.

In cases of treason, both the title and right of sitting in the council are extinguished.

All questions concerning the right of being summoned to the council are to be determined by the council; but an appeal may be had from their decision to his Majesty in his parliament of Great Britain.

The governor has the power of appointing and removing the speaker of the council.

The assembly of Lower Canada consists of fifty members, and that of Upper Canada of sixteen; neither assembly is ever to consist of a less number.

THE ASSEMBLY.

The members for districts, circles, or counties,are chosen by a majority of the votes of such persons as are possessed of lands or tenements in freehold, in fief, in boture, or by certificate derived under the authority of the governor and council of Quebec, of the yearly value of forty shillings, clear of all rents, charges, &c. The members for towns or townships are chosen by a majority of the votes of such persons as possess houses and lands for their own use, of the yearly value of five pounds sterling, or as have resided in the town or township for one year, and paid a rent for a house during the time, at the rate of ten pounds yearly.

No person is eligible to serve as a member of the assembly, who is a member of the legislative council, or a minister, priest, ecclesiastic, or religious personage of the church of England, Rome, or of any other church.

No person is qualified to vote or serve, who is not twenty-one years of age; nor any person, not a natural born subject, or who has not been naturalized, either by law or conquest; nor any one who has been attainted of treason in any court in his Majesty’s dominions, or who has been disqualified by an act of assembly and council.

Every voter, if called upon, must take an oath, either in French or English, that he is of age; that he is qualified to vote accordingto law; and that he has not voted before at that election.

The governor has the power of appointing the place of session, and of calling together, of proroguing, and of dissolving the assembly.

The assembly is not to last longer than four years, but it may be dissolved sooner. The governor is bound to call it at least once in each year.

The oath of a member, on taking his seat, is comprised in a few words: he promises to bear true allegiance to the King, as lawful sovereign of Great Britain, and the province of Canada dependant upon it; to defend him against all traitorous conspiracies and attempts against his person; and to make known to him all such conspiracies and attempts, which he may at any time be acquainted with; all which he promises without mental evasion, reservation, or equivocation, at the same time renouncing all pardons and dispensations from any person or power whatsoever.

The governors of the two provinces are totally independent of each other in their civil capacity: in military affairs, the governor of the lower province takes precedence, as he is usually created captain general of his Majesty’s forces in North America.

QUEBEC BILL.

The present system of judicature in each province was established by the Quebec billof 1774. By this bill it was enacted, that all persons in the country should be entitled to hold their lands or possessions in the same manner as before the conquest, according to the laws and usages then existing in Canada; and that all controversies relative to property or civil rights should also be determined by the same laws and usages. These old laws and usages, however, were not to extend to the lands which might thereafter be granted by his Britannic Majesty in free and common socage: here English laws were to be in full force; so that the English inhabitants[33], who have settled for the most part on new lands, are not subject to the controul of these old French laws, that were existing in Canada when the country was conquered, except a dispute concerning property or civil rights should arise between any of them and the French inhabitants, in which case the matter is to be determined by the French laws. Every friend to civil liberty would wish to see these laws abolished, for they weigh very unequally in favour of the rich and of the poor; but as long as the French inhabitants remain so wedded as they are at present to old customs,and so very ignorant, there is little hope of seeing any alteration of this nature take place. At the same time that the French laws were suffered by the Quebec bill to exist, in order to conciliate the affections of the French inhabitants, who were attached to them, the criminal law of England was established throughout every part of the country; “and this was one of the happiest circumstances,” as the Abbé Raynal observes, “that Canada could experience; as deliberate, rational, public trials took place of the impenetrable mysterious transactions of a cruel inquisition; and as a tribunal, that had theretofore been dreadful and sanguinary, was filled with humane judges, more disposed to acknowledge innocence than to suppose criminality.”

33.I must observe here once for all that by English inhabitants I mean all those whose native language is English, in contradistinction to the Canadians of French extraction, who universally speak the French language, and no other.

The governor, the lieutenant governor, or the person administering the government, the members of the executive council, the chief justices of the province, and the judges of the court of king’s bench, or any five of them, form a court of appeal, the judges however excepted of that district from whence the appeal is made. From the decision of this court an appeal may be had in certain cases to the King in council.

TOLERATION.

Every religion is tolerated, in the fullest extent of the word, in both provinces; andno disqualifications are imposed on any persons on account of their religious opinions. The Roman Catholic religion is that of a great majority of the inhabitants; and by the Quebec bill of 1774, the ecclesiastics of that persuasion are empowered by law to recover all the dues which, previous to that period, they were accustomed to receive, as well as tithes, that is, from the Roman Catholic inhabitants; but they cannot exact any dues or tithes from Protestants, or off lands held by Protestants, although formerly such lands might have been subjected to dues and tithes for the support of the Roman Catholic church. The dues and tithes from off these lands are still, however, to be paid; but they are to be paid to persons appointed by the governor, and the amount of them is to be reserved, in the hands of his Majesty’s receiver general, for the support of the Protestant clergy actually residing in the province.

By the act of the year 1791, also, it was ordained, that the governor should allot out of all lands belonging to the crown, which, should be granted after that period, one-seventh for the benefit of a Protestant clergy, to be solely applicable to their use; and all such allotments must be particularly specified in every grant of waste lands, otherwise the grant is void.

With the advice of the executive council, the governor is authorized to constitute or erect parsonages or rectories, and to endow them out of these appropriations, and to present incumbents to them, ordained according to the rites of the church of England; which incumbents are to perform the same duties, and to hold their parsonages or rectories in the same manner as incumbents of the church of England do in that country.

The clergy of the church of England, in both provinces, consists at present of twelve persons only, including the bishop of Quebec; that of the church of Rome, however, consists of no less than one hundred and twenty-six; viz. a bishop, who takes his title from Quebec, his “coadjuteur élu,” who is bishop of Canathe, three vicars general, and one hundred and sixteen curates and missionaries, all of whom are resident in the lower province, except five curates and missionaries.

The number of the dissenting clergy, in both provinces, is considerably smaller than that of the clergy of the church of England.

PRESENTS AND SALARIES.

The expences of the civil list in Lower Canada are estimated at £.20,000 sterling per annum, one half of which is defrayed by Great Britain, and the remainder by the province, out of the duties paid on the importation of certain articles. The expence of thecivil list in Upper Canada is considerably less; perhaps not so much as a fourth of that of the lower province.

The military establishment in both provinces, together with the repairs of fortifications, &c. are computed to cost Great Britain annually £.100,000 sterling.

The presents distributed amongst the Indians, and the salaries paid to the different officers in the Indian department, are estimated at £.100,000 sterling more, annually.

Amongst the officers in the Indian department are, superintendants general, deputy superintendants, inspectors general, deputy inspectors general, secretaries, assistant secretaries, storekeepers, clerks, agents, interpreters, issuers of provisions, surgeons, gunsmiths, &c. &c. &c. most of whom, in the lower province, have now sinecure places, as there are but few Indians in the country; but in the upper province they have active service to perform. Of the policy of issuing presents to such a large amount amongst the Indians, more will be said in the afterpart of this work.

IMPORT DUTIES.

The following is a statement of some of the salaries paid to the officers of government in Lower Canada.

The pensions, between January 1794 and January 1795, amounted to £.1,782. 6s.7d.

A Statementof the Articles subject to Duty on Importation into Canada, and of the Duties payable thereon.

N.B. Wine can be imported directly from Madeira, or from any of the African islands, into Canada; but no European wine or brandy can be imported, except through England.

N.B. The minot is a measure commonly used in Canada, which is to the Winchester bushel, as 100 is to 108,765.

SOIL AND MANUFACTURES.

The imports into Canada consist of all the various articles which a young country, that does not manufacture much for its own use, can be supposed to stand in need of; such asearthen ware, hardware, and household furniture, except of the coarser kinds; woollen and linen cloths, haberdashery, hosiery, &c.; paper, stationary, leather and manufactures of leather, groceries, wines, spirits, West Indian produce, &c. &c.; cordage of every description, and even the coarser manufactures of iron, are also imported.

The soil of the country is well adapted to the growth of hemp, and great pains have been taken to introduce the culture of it. Handbills, explaining the manner in which it can be raised to the best advantage, have been assiduously circulated amongst the farmers, and posted up at all the public houses. It is a difficult matter, however, to put the French Canadians out of their old ways, so that very little hemp has been raised in consequence of the pains that have been thus taken; and it is not probable that much will be raised for a considerable time to come.

Iron ore has been discovered in various parts of the country; but works for the smelting and manufacturing of it have been erected at one place only, in the neighbourhood of Trois Rivieres. These works were erected by the king of France some time before the conquest: they are now the property of the British government, and are rented out to the persons who hold themat present. When the lease expires, which will be the case about the year 1800, it is thought that no one will be found to carry on the works, as the bank of ore, from whence they are supplied, is nearly exhausted. The works consist of a forge and a foundry: iron stoves are the principal articles manufactured in the latter; but they are not so much esteemed as those from England.

Domestic manufactures are carried on in most parts of Canada, consisting of linen and of coarse woollen cloths; but by far the greater part of these articles used in the country is imported from Great Britain.

The experts from Canada consist of furs and pelts in immense quantities; of wheat, flour, flax-seed, potash, timber, staves, and lumber of all sorts; dried fish, oil, ginseng, and various medicinal drugs.

The trade between Canada and Great Britain employs, it is said, about seven thousand tons of shipping annually.

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