ORDERS AND INSTRUCTIONS to Our Trusty and Wellbeloved Sir James Henry Craig Knight of the Most Honorable Order of the Bath Our Captain general and Governor in Chief in and over Our Province of Nova Scotia Our Islands of Prince Edward and Cape Breton and the Territories thereunto belonging or in his absence to the Lieutenant Governors or Commanders in Chief for the time being of the said Province and Islands respectively. Given at Our Court at Saint James’s the Twenty-ninth day of August 1807 In the Forty-Seventh year of Our Reign.
Sir. Jas. Hy Craig K.B.
Trade Instructions.
1st. You shall inform yourself of the several Laws relating to the Plantation Trade and for the Encouragement of the Trade and Navigation of Our United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and shall take the Oath ordained by Law to do your utmost that all the Clauses Matters and Things therein contained or which shall be enacted in any Act of Parliament hereinafter to be made relating to Our Colonies or Plantations or to the Trade and Navigation of Our said Kingdom be punctually and bona fide observed according to the true Intent and Meaning thereof and in particular you are to take especial Care that the several Acts of Parliament of Great Britain for allowing the Importation and Exportation of certain Goods Wares and Merchandizes into and from Our Kingdom of Ireland from and to Our Colonies and Plantations in America in like manner as the same are exported and imported from and into Our Kingdom of Great Britain from the said Colonies and Plantations be strictly complied with in your Government.
2nd. And Whereas an Act was passed in the Twenty sixth year of Our Reign Intituled “An Act for the further Increase and Encouragement of Shipping and Navigation” It is Our Will and Pleasure that you do cause the Provisions of the said Act to be strictly enforced within your Government And you are to be particularly attentive to such Duties as are therein required to be done and performed by you so that the Regulations thereby made and enacted be punctually complied with. 3rd. And Whereas in pursuance of the Power vested in Us by an Act made in the Twenty third year of Our Reign Intituled “ An Act for preventing certain Instruments from being required from Ships belonging to the United States of America ” and to give His Majesty for a limited Time certain Powers for the better carrying on Trade and Commerce between the Subjects of His Majesty’s Dominions and the Inhabitants of the said United States “the Provisions of which said recited Act have been continued and enforced by other Acts since passed We by several Orders passed by Us in Our Council have made such Regulations and given such directions for regulating the Trade between Our Dominion and the United States of America as the Interest and Welfare of Our Subjects and the preservation and Encouragement of the Trade and Navigation of Our Kingdoms have from time to time made necessary and expedient it is therefore Our Will and Pleasure that you do in all Things conform yourself as well to the Provisions of the above mentioned Acts of Parliament as to the regulations and direction contained in Our said Orders in Council or such further Regulations and Directions as may be contained in any future Order or Orders made by Us in Council for the purposes aforesaid And that you do give the proper Orders to the several Officers concerned that due Obedience be paid thereunto.
4th. You shall take care that the Naval Officers within Your Government do give such Security to the Commissioners of Our Customs for the true and faithful performance of their Duty as is by Law required.
5th. And Whereas it is necessary for the greater convenience of Merchants and others that the Naval Officers and the Collectors of the Customs should reside at the same Ports or Towns you are therefore to take care that this Regulation be observed and to consult with the Collector of the Customs in what Places it may be most convenient to have the Custom House fixed for the Despatch of Business if the same shall not have been already done and to take care that the Collector and Naval Officer reside within a convenient distance of the Custom House.
6th. You shall every three Months or oftener as there shall be opportunity of Conveyance transmit to the Commissioners of Our Treasury or Our High Treasurer for the time being and to the Commissioners of Our Customs in London a List of all Ships and Vessels Trading in your Government according to the Schedule hereunto annexed together with a List of the Bonds taken in pursuance of the several Acts hereinbefore mentioned and you shall cause demand to be made of every Master at his Clearing of an Invoice of the Contents and Quality of his Lading &c. according to the Schedule hereunto also annexed and you shall moreover direct the several Naval Officers within your Government to furnish you with Quarterly Lists of such Ships and Vessels together with the Tonnage and Names of the Masters and Owners thereof and of the Cargoes according to the Schedule before mentioned which you are to transmit to Us through One of Our Principal Secretaries of State by the first opportunity that shall offer after expiration of each Quarter And it is Our Will and Pleasure that you be particularly attentive to Our directions in this respect and that you do take due care that the several Naval Officers do strictly comply therewith.
7th. You shall give Directions that the Collector of the Customs within your Government be permitted to have recourse to the said Bonds as well as to the Book or Books in which they are or ought to be entered and to examine as well whether due Entry be made as whether they are regularly taken and discharged And where it shall appear that Bonds are not regularly discharged you are to order that such Bonds be put in Suit.
8th. “I ou shall not assent to any Act of Assembly or allow any Usage to prevail within your Government which shall be repugnant to the Acts of Parliament hereinbefore mentioned or to any that may hereafter be made as far as the same relate to Our Plantations in America.
9th. You shall be aiding and assisting to the Collectors and other Officers of Our Customs appointed or who shall hereafter be appointed by the Commissioners of Our Customs in this Kingdom by and under the Authority and Direction of the Commissioners of Our Treasury or Our High Treasurer for the time being and also to the Officers of the Court of Vice Admiralty in your Government appointed or who shall hereafter be appointed by Our High Admiral of Our United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland or the Commissioners for executing the Office of High Admiral or by you or Our Commander in Chief for the time being as Vice Admiral within your said Government in putting in Execution the several Acts of Parliament before mentioned and you shall cause due prosecutions of all such Persons as shall any way resist or hinder any of the said Officers of Our Admiralty or Customs in the Performance of their Duty.
10th. Whereas the Commissioners appointed for collecting the Six pence per month from Seamen’s Wages for Our Royal Hospital at Greenwich pursuant to the Act of Parliament for that purpose have given Instructions to their Receivers in Foreign Parts for their Conduct therein It is Our Will and Pleasure that you be aiding and assisting to the said Receivers in your Government in the due execution of their Trusts.
11th. You shall take care that upon any actions suits and Informations that shall be brought commenced or enter’d in any Court within your Government upon any Law or Statute concerning Our Duties or Ships or Goods to be forfeited by reason of any unlawful Importation or Exportation there be not any Jury empannelled but of such as are Natives of Great Britain and Ireland or some of Our Plantations and entitled by Law to the Privileges of British Subjects.
12th. You shall from time to time advise the Commissioners of Our Customs in London of all Frauds Neglects and Misdemeanours of any of the Officers of Our Customs within your Government and shall also communicate to them all Occurrences which you may think necessary for their Information relating either to any of the Acts hereinbefore mentioned or to Our Revenue under their Management.
13th. If you shall discover that any Person claiming Right or Propriety in any Island or Tract of Land within your Government by Charter Letters Patent or other Grant shall at any time hereafter alien sell or dispose of such Right or Propriety other than to Our Natural born Subjects of Great Britain Ireland or Our Plantations in America without the Licence or consent of Us Our Heirs and Successors signified by Our or Their Order in Council first had and obtained you shall give notice thereof to Us through one of Our Principal Secretaries of State and to the Commissioners of Our Treasury or Our High Treasurer of Great Britain for the time being.
14th. And Whereas notwithstanding the many good Laws made from time to time for preventing Frauds in the Plantation Trade it is manifest that very great Abuses have been and still continue to be practised to the prejudice of the same which Abuses must needs arise either from the insufficiency or Insolvency of those Persons who are accepted as Securities in Bonds required by Law or from the remissness or Connivance of Our Governors who ought to take due care that those Persons who execute such Bonds should be sued for breaches of the Conditions of such Bonds you are to take notice that We consider the Good of Our Plantations and the Improvement of the Trade thereof by a strict and punctual observance of the several Laws in force concerning the same to be of so great Importance to the Benefit of this Kingdom and to the advancing of the Revenue of Our Customs that if We shall hereafter be informed that at any time there shall be any failure in the due observance of those Laws and of these present Instructions by any Wilful Neglect or Fraud on your part We shall esteem such Neglect to be a Breach of the same and We think it proper to apprize you that it is Our fixed and determined Will and Intention to remove you or Our Commander in Chief for the time being from your Employments for any such Offence and that We will strictly levy and inflict as well the Fine of One Thousand Pounds imposed by an Act passed in the seventh and eighth of King William the 3rd Cap. 22 as all other Fines Forfeitures Pains and Penalties to which you shall for such Offence be liable by any Acts of Parliament now in force or otherwise and that you will further on the same account receive the most rigorous Marks of Our Highest Displeasure.
C. O. Despatch Entry Book, 1801-1811. (In Secretary of State’s dispatch No. 1, 31 Aug Aug. 1807).
INSTRUCTIONS to Our Trusty and Well beloved Sir James Henry Craig Knight of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath Our Captain General and Governor in Chief in and over Our Province of Upper Canada or in his Absence to Our Lieutenant Governor or Commander in Chief of Our said Province for the time being Given at Our Court at Saint James’s the 29th day of August 1807 in the Forty seventh Year of Our Reign.
Sir Jas. Hy. Craig K.B.
Instructions
These Instructions corrected by subsequent ditto to Prevost, &c.1st. With these Our Instructions you will receive Our Commission under Our Great Seal of Our United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland constituting you Our Captain General and Governor in Chief in and over Our Provinces of Upper Canada and Lower Canada bounded as in Our said Commission is particularly expressed in the execution therefore of so much of the Office and Trust We have reposed in you as relates to Our Province of Upper Canada you are to take upon you the Administration of the Government of the said Province and to do and execute all things belonging to your Command according to the several Powers and Authorities of Our said Commission under Our Great Seal of Our United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland And of the Act passed in the 31st Year of Our Reign therein recited and of these Our Instructions to you and according to such further Powers and Instructions to you as you shall at any time hereafter receive under Our Signet and Sign Manual or by Our Order in Our Privy Council.
2d. And you are with all due Solemnity before the Members of Our Executive Council to cause Our said Commission to be read and published which being done you shall then take and also administer to each of the Members of Our said Executive Council the several Oaths and subscribe the declaration therein required.
3d. You shall also administer or cause to be administered the oaths mentioned in Our said Commission to all Persons except as hereafter mentioned that shall be appointed to hold or exercise any Office or Place of Trust or Profit in Our said Province previous to their enté ring on the Execution of the duties of such Office and you shall also cause them to make and subscribe the aforesaid declaration but in case where any such Office Place of Trust or Profit in Our said Province of Upper Canada shall be conferred on any of Our Subjects who may profess the Religion of the Church of Rome, You shall, so often as any such person shall, or may be admitted in any such Office, Place of Trust or Profit, administer, or cause to be administered to him the Oath prescribed in, and by an Act of Parliament passed in the 14th year of Our Reign, Intituled “ An Act for making more effectual Provision for the Government of the Province of Quebec in ÿorth America ” and also the usual Oath for the Execution of such Office, Place of Trust or Profit, in lieu of all other Tests and Oaths whatsoever.
4th. Whereas We have thought fit that there should be an Executive Council for assisting you or Our Lieutenant Governor, or Person administering the Government of Our said Province of Upper Canada for the time being, We do by these Presents nominate, and appoint the undermentioned person, to be of the Executive Council of Our said Province.
And Whereas by an Ordinance passed in the Province of Quebec, the Governor and Council of the said Province, were constituted a Court of Civil Jurisdiction for hearing and determining Appeals in certain cases therein specified, and Whereas, by An Act passed in the 31st year of Our Reign, It is declared that the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, or Person administering the Government of the said Province, together with such Executive Council, shall be a Court of Civil Jurisdiction within Our said Province for hearing and determining Appeals within the same in the like cases and in the like manner, and form and subject to such Appeal therefrom, as such Appeals might have been before the passing of the above recited Act, heard and determined by the Governor and Council of Quebec. In order therefore to carry the said Acts into Execution, Our Will and Pleasure is, that you do, in all Civil Causes on Application being made to you for that purpose permit and allow Appeals from any of the Court of Common Law, in Our said Province, unto you, and the Executive Council of the said Province of Upper Canada, in manner prescribed by the above mentioned Act, And you are further for that purpose, to issue a Writ, as nearly in the accustomed manner before the passing of the above mentioned Act in respect of such Appeals, as the case will admit, returnable before yourself and the Executive Council of the said Province, who are to proceed to hear and determine such Appeal, wherein such of the said Executive Council as shall be at that time Judges of the Court from whence such Appeal shall be so made to you, Our Captain General and to Our said Executive Council, as aforesaid, shall not be admitted to vote upon the said Appeal but they may nevertheless be present at the hearing thereof, to give the reasons of the Judgment given by them in the Causes wherein such Appeal shall be made ; Provided nevertheless, that in all such Appeals the sum or Value appealed for, do exceed the Sum of Three Hundred Pounds Sterling, and that Security be first duly given by the Appellant to answer such Charges as shall be awarded, in case the first Sentence be affirmed : and if either Party shall not rest satisfied with the Judgement of you, and such Executive Council as aforesaid, Our Will and Pleasure is that they may then Appeal unto Us in Our Privy Council, provided the Sum or Value appealed for unto Us, do exceed Five Hundred Pounds Sterling, and that such Appeal be made within fourteen days after Sentence, and good Security be given by the Appellant that he will effectually prosecute the same, and answer the Condemnation as also Pay such Costs and Damages as shall be awarded by Us in case the Sentence of you, and the executive Council be affirmed ; Provided nevertheless, where the Matter in Question relates to the taking, or demanding any Duty payable to I is, or to any Fee of Office or Annual Rents, or other such like Matters, or Things, where the Rights in future may be bound, In all such Cases, you, and the said Executive Council are to admit an Appeal unto Us in Our Privy Council, tho’ the immediate Sum, or Value appealed for be of a less Value : and it is Our further Will and Pleasure, that in all Cases, where, by your Instructions, you are to admit Appeals unto Us in Our Privy Council, execution shall be suspended until the final determination of such Appeal, unless good and Sufficient Security be given by the Appellee to make ample restitution of all that the Appellant shall have lost by means of such Decree, or Judgment, in case, upon the determination of such Appeal, such Decree or Judgment should be reversed and restitution ordered to the Appellant, You and Our Executive Council are also to admit Appeals unto Us in Our Privy Council, in all Cases of Fines imposed for Misdemeanours provided the Fines so imposed, amount, to or exceed the Sum of One Hundred Pounds Sterling, the Appellant first giving good Security that He will effectually prosecute the same, and answer the Condemnation if the Sentence by which such Fine was imposed in your Government shall be confirmed.
5th. And that We may always be’informed of the Names and Characters of Persons fit to supply the Vacancies which may happen in Our said Executive Sbuncil, you are, in case of any Vacancy in the said Council, to transmit to Us, thro’ One of Our Principal Secretaries of State, the Names and characters of such three Persons, Inhabitants of Our said Province of Upper Canada whom you may esteem the best qualified for fulfilling the trust of such Executive Councillor.
6th. And in the choice and selection of such persons proposed to till such Vacancy in Our said Executive Council as also of the Chief Officers, Judges, Assistants, Justices of the Peace, and other Officers of Justice, you are always to take care that they be Men of Good Life, well affected to Our Government and of Abilities suitable to their Employments.
7th. And Whereas We are Sensible that effectual care ought to be taken to oblige the Members of Our Executive Council to a due attendance It is Our Will and Pleasure in order to prevent the many inconveniences which may happen for want of a Quorum of the Council to transact Business as occasion may require that if any of the Members of Our said Executive Council residing in Our said Province, shall hereafter wilfully absent themselves from the Province, and continue Absent above the Space of six Months together, without leave from you first obtained under your hand and seal, or shall remain absent for the space of One year without Our Leave, given them under Our Royal Signature their places in the said Executive Council shall immediately thereupon become Void, And We do hereby Will and require you that this, Our Royal Pleasure be signified to the several Members of Our said Executive Council, and that it be entered in the Council Books of the said Province as a standing Rule.
8th. And to the end that Our said Executive Council may be assisting to you in all Affairs relating to Our Service, you are to communicate to them such, and to many of these Our Instructions wherein their advice is mentioned to be requisite, and likewise all such others, from time to time, as you shall find it convenient for Our Service to be imparted to them.
9th. You are also to permit the Members of Our said Executive Council to have and enjoy freedom of Debate and Vote in all Affairs of Public concern which may be debated in the said Executive Council.
10th. Whereas by the aforesaid recited Act passed in the 31st Year of Our Reign it is provided that the Seats of Our Members of Our Legislative Council shall become vacant in certain cases mentioned in the said Act, It is Our Will and Pleasure, that if any Member of Our said Legislative Council shall at any time leave Our said Province and reside out of the same, You shall report the same to Us by the first opportunity thro’ One of Our Principal Secretaries of State and you are also in like manner to report whether such Member of the said Council is absent by your permission, or by the permission of Our Lieutenant Governor, or Commander in Chief of the said Province for the time being ; and you are also, in like manner to report, if it shall come to your knowledge that any such Member shall at any time take or have taken the Oath of Allegiance or obedience to any foreign Prince or Power or shall be attainted for Treason in any Court of Law within any of our Dominions, that We may take such Measures thereupon as We shall think fit And you are to take especial care that the several Provisions in the said Act respecting the several Cases in which Persons may or may not be entitled to receive Writs of Summons to the said Legislative Council, or to hold their places therein shall be duly executed.
11th. And for the Execution of so much of the Powers vested in you by Our said Commission, and by virtue of the said Act as relates to the declaring that you assent, in Our Name, to Bills passed by the Legislative Council and House of Assembly, or that you withhold an assent therefrom, or that you reserve such Bills for the signification of Our Royal Pleasure thereon. It is Our Will and Pleasure that you do carefully observe the following Rules, directions and Instructions, vizt
That the Style of enacting all the said Laws Statutes and Ordinances, be by Us Our Heirs and Successors by and with the advice and Consent of the Legislative Council and Assembly of Our Province of Upper Canada, constituted and assembled by virtue and under the Authority of an Act passed in the Parliament of Great Britain Intituled An Act to repeal certain parts ot An Act passed in the 14th year of His Majesty’s Reign Intituled “ An Act for making more effectual Provision for the Government of the Province of Quebec in North America, and to make further Provision for the Government of the said Province,” and that no Bill in any other form shall be assented to by you in Our Name.
That each different Matter be provided for by a different Law, without including in One and the same Act such things as have no proper relation to each other.
That no Clause be inserted in any Act or Ordinance which shall be foreign to what the Title of it imports, and that no perpetual Clause be part of any temporary Law. That no Law or Ordinance whatever be suspended, altered, continued, revived or repealed by General Words, but that the Title and Date of such Law or Ordinance shall be particularly mentioned in the enacting part.
That in case any Law or Ordinance respecting private Property shall be passed without a saving of the Right of Us, Our Heirs and Successors and of all Persons or Bodies Politic or Corporate except such as are mentioned in the said Law or Ordinance, you shall declare that you withhold your Assent from the same ; and if any such Law or Ordinance shall be passed without such Saving, you shall in every such Case declare that you reserve the same for the Signification of Our Royal Pleasure thereon.
That in all Laws or Ordinances for levying Money or imposing Fines, Forfeitures or Penalties, express mention be made that the same is granted or reserved to Us, Our Heirs and Successors for the Public uses of the said Province, and the support of the Government thereof, as by the said Law shall be directed, and that a Clause be inserted declaring that the due Application of such Money, pursuant to the directions of such Law, shall be accounted for unto Us, thro’ One of Our Own Secretaries of State for the time being, in such manner and form as We shall direct,
12th. And Whereas We have by Our said Commission given you full Power and Authority, subject as therein is specified, and to these Our Instructions, in that Behalf to issue Writs of Summonses and Election, and to call together the Legislative Council and Assembly of Our said Province of Upper Canada, and for the purpose of electing the Members of the Assembly of Our said Province of Upper Canada, have also given you full Power and Authority to issue a Proclamation dividing the said Province of Upper Canada into districts and Counties, or Circles and Towns, or Townships and” declaring and appointing the Number of Representatives to be chosen by each of such districts or Counties, or Circles and Towns or Townships, Now Our Will and Pleasure is that You shall issue such Proclamation as soon as may be, allowing nevertheless a reasonable time between the issuing thereof, and the time of issuing the Writs of Summons and Election above mentioned.
13. That all Laws assented to by you in Our Name, or reserved for the signification of Our Royal Pleasure, thereon shall, when transmitted by you, be fairly abstracted in the Margins, and accompanied with very full and particular observations upon each of them, that is to say whether the same is introductory to a new Law, declaratory of former Law, or does repeal a Law then before in being. And you are also to transmit, in the fullest manner, the reasons and occasion for proposing such Laws, together with fair Copies of the Journals and Minutes of the Proceedings of the said Legislative Council and Assembly, which you are to require from the Clerks, or other proper Officers in that behalf of the said Legislative Council and Assembly.
14th. And Whereas in the said Act it is provided that, in certain cases Acts passed by the Legislative Council and Assembly of the Province shall, previous to any signification of Our Assent thereto, be laid before both Houses of Our Parliament of this Kingdom, And Whereas it is also provided in the said Act that in certain cases Provision may be made by the Acts of the Legislative Council and Assembly of the Province, assented to by Us, Our Heirs and Successors, (thereby reversing the Power of giving such Assent to Us, Our Heirs and Successors, only) you are to take especial care that in every such Case, you are to declare that you reserve such Bills for the signification of Our Pleasure thereon and you will likewise reserve for such signification every other Bill which you shall consider of an extraordinary or unusual Nature, or requiring Our special consideration and decision thereupon, particularly such as may affect the Property, Credit and Dealings of such of Our Subjects as are not usually resident within the said Province or whereby duties shall be laid upon British or Irish Shipping, or upon the products or manufactures of Great Britain and Ireland.
15. And Whereas Laws have formerly been enacted in several of Our Plantations in America, for so short a time, that Our Royal Assent or Refusal thereof could not be bad before the time for which such Laws wore enacted did expire, you shall not Assent in Our Name to any Law that shall be enacted for a less time than two years, except in Cases of imminent necessity or immediate temporary expediency ; and you shall not declare your Assent to any Law containing Provisions which shall have been disallowed by Us without express leave for that purpose first obtained from Us upon a full representation by you to be made to Us, thro’ One of Our Principal Secretaries of State, for the reasons and necessity for passing such Law.
16. Whereas We have thought fit by Our Orders in Our Privy Council to disallow certain Laws passed in some of Our Colonies and Plantations in America for confirming the Privileges of Naturalization on Persons being Aliens, and for divorcing persons who have been legally joined together in Holy Marriage, And Whereas Acts have been passed in others of Our said Colonies to enable Persons who are Our Liege Subjects by birth or Naturalization to hold and execute Lands, Tenements and real Estates, Although such Lands, Tenements and real Estates had been originally granted to, or purchased by Aliens antecedent to Naturalization, It is Our Will and Pleasure that you do not upon any pretense whatsoever give your Assent to any Bill or Bills that may hereafter be passed by the Legislative Council and Assembly of the Province under your Government, for the Naturalization of Aliens nor for the divorce of Persons joined together in Holy Marriage, nor for establishing a Title in any Persons to Lands Tenements and real Estates in Our said Province, originally granted or purchased by Aliens antecedent to Naturalization.
17. You are to give Warrants under your hand for the issuing of Public Monies for all Public Service and We do particularly require you to take care that regular Accounts of all receipts and Payments of Public Monies be duly kept, that the same from time to time be Audited by Our Executive Council, and that copies thereof, attested by you, be transmitted every half Year or oftener if there should be occasion to Our Commissioners of Our Treasury, or to Our High Treasurer for the time being, and Duplicates thereof by the next Conveyance in which Accounts shall be specified every particular sum raised or disposed of, to the end that We may take such Measures as We may deem necessary for the examination of the said accounts And that We may be satisfied of the right and due application of the Revenues of Our said Province of Upper Canada and with the probability of the Increase or diminution of it under every head and Article thereof.
18th. Whereas by An Act of Our Parliament of Great Britain passed in the 4th year of Our Reign Intituled “ An Act to prevent Paper Bills of Credit hereafter to be issued in any of His Majesty’s Colonies or Plantations in America from being declared to be a legal Tender in payment of Money and to prevent the legal Tender of such Bills as are now subsisting from being prolonged beyond the periods limited for calling in and sinking the same ” it is enacted that no Paper Bills, or Bills of Credit should he created or issued by any Act, Order Resolution or Vote of Assembly in anyof Our Colonies or Plantations in America to be a legal Tender in payment ; and that any such Act, Order, Resolution or Vote for creating or issuing such Paper Bills, or Bills of Credit, or for prolonging the legal Tender of any such then subsisting and current in any of the said Colonies or Plantations, should be null and void : And Whereas by Another Act of Our said Parliament, passed in the 13th year of Our Reign, Intituled “ An Act to explain and amend the above recited Act passed in the fourth year of Our Reign as aforesaid,” It is enacted that any Certificates, Notes, Bills or Debentures which shall or may be voluntarily accepted by the Creditors of the Public within any of the Colonies in America as a security for the payment of what is due and owing to the said Public Creditors may be made and enacted by the general Assemblies of the said Colonies respectively to be a Tender to the Public Treasurers in the said Colonies for the discharge of any Duties, Taxes or other debts whatsoever due to à payable at or in the said Public Treasuries of the said Colonies, in virtue of Laws passed within the same, and in no other case whatsoever, It is Our Will and Pleasure that you do in all things conform yourself to the Provisions of the said recited Acts, both with respect to the not assenting to any Bills which may be presented to you for the purpose of issuing or creating Paper Bills or Bills of Credit to be a legal Tender in payment, and the assenting to any Bills by which Certificates, Notes or Debentures which may be voluntarily accepted in payment by the Public Creditors, shall be made a legal Tender to the Treasury for Taxes, Duties and other Payments to the Public Treasury.
19th. You shall not remit any Fines or Forfeitures whatsoever above the Sum of Ten Pounds, nor dispose of any Forfeiture whatsoever until upon signifying unto the Commissioners of Our Treasury, or Our High Treasurer for the time being, the nature of the Offence, and the occasion of such Fines and Forfeitures with the particular sums or value thereof (which you are to do with all speed), you shall have received Our directions thereon, but you may in the mean time suspend the payment of the said Fines and Forfeitures.
20th. And you are on every occasion to transmit to Us thro’ one of Our Principal Secretaries of State with all convenient Speed, a particular Account of all new Establishments of Jurisdiction, Courts, Offices and Officers Powers, Authorities Fees and Privileges granted and settled within Our said Province of Upper Canada, as likewise An Account of all the Expenses (if any) attending the Establishment of the said Courts and Offices.
21st. It is Our further Will and Pleasure that all Commissions to be granted by you to any Person or Persons to be Judge, Justice of the Peace or other necessary Officer be granted during Pleasure only.
22nd. You are not to suspend any of the Members of Our said Executive Council, or to suspend or displace any of the Judges, Justices, Sheriffs or other Officers or Ministers within Our said Province of Upper Canada without good and sufficient Cause, and in case of such Suspension or Removal, You are forthwith to transmit your reasons for the same to One of Our Principal Secretaries of State.
23rd. And Whereas frequent Complaints have been made of great delays and undue proceedings in the Courts of Justice in several of Our Plantations, whereby many of Our good Subjects have very much suffered, and it being of the greatest Importance to Our Service, and to the Welfare of Our Plantations that Justice be everywhere speedily and duly administered, and that all disorders, delays and other undue practices in the Administration thereof be effectually prevented, We do particularly require you to take especial care, that in all Courts where you are authorized to preside, Justice be impartially administered, and that in all other Courts established within Our said Province All Judges and other Persons therein concerned, do likewise perform their several duties without delay or partiality.
24th. You are to take care that no Courts of Judicature be adjourned but upon good Grounds, as also that no Order of any Court of Judicature be entered, or allowed, which shall not be first read & approved of by the Justices in open Court. Which Rule you are in like manner to see observed with relation to all Proceedings of Our Executive Council of Upper Canada, and that all Orders there made be first read and approved in such Council before they are entered upon the Council Books.
25th. You are to take care that all Writs within Our said Province of Upper Canada be issued in Our Name.
26th. You shall take care, with the Advice and Assistance of Our Executive Council, that such Prisons as may at any time be necessary, be erected, and that the same, or any other already erected, be kept in such a Condition as may effectually secure the Prisoners which now are, or may hereafter be confined therein.
27th. You shall not suffer any Person to execute more Offices than one by Deputy.
28th. You shall not by Colour of any Power or Authority hereby or otherwise granted or mentioned to be granted unto you, take upon you to give, grant or dispose of any Place or Office within Our said Province which now is, or shall be granted under the Great Seal of this Kingdom, or to which any person is, or shall be appointed by Warrant under Our Signet and Sign Manual, any further than that you may, upon the Vacancy of any such Office or Place, or upon the Suspension of any such Officer by you as aforesaid, put in any fit Person to officiate in the Interval, till you shall have represented the Matter unto Us thro’ One of Our Principal Secretaries of State, which you are to do by the first opportunity ayd till the said Office or Place is disposed of by Us Our Heirs or Successors under the great Seal of this Kingdom, or until some Person shall be appointed thereunto under Our Signet and Sign Manual, or until Our further directions be given therein, And It is Our express Will and Pleasure, that you do give reasonable support unto the Patent Officers in the enjoyment of their legal and established Fees Rights Privileges and Emoluments according to the true Intent and Meaning of their respective Patents.
29th. And Whereas several Complaints have been made by the Officers of Our Customs in Our Plantations in America that they have frequently been obliged to serve on juries and personally to appear in Arms whenever the militia is drawn out and thereby are much hindered in the Execution of their several Employments, Our Will and Pleasure is, that you take effectual Care, and give the necessary directions, that the several Officers of Our Customs be excused and exempted from serving on any Juries or personally appearing in Arms in the Militia, unless in cases of absolute necessity, or serving any parochial Offices, which may hinder them in the Execution of their duties.
30th. And Whereas nothing can more effectually tend to the speedy settling of Our said Province of Upper Canada, the Security of the Propeity of Our Subjects and the advancement of Our Revenue than the disposal of such Lands as are Our Property upon reasonable Terms and the establishing of a regular and proper Method of Proceeding with respect to the passing of Grants of such Lands It is therefore Our Will and Pleasure that all and every Person and 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 shall upon a consideration of the Circumstances of the Person or Persons applying for such Grants think it adviseable to pass the same ydu are in such Case to cause a Warrant to be drawn up directed to the Surveyor General or other 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 thereunto annexed 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 therein And It is Our Will and Pleasure that the said Grants shall be registered within Six months from the date thereof in the Register’s Office and a Docket thereof be also entered in Our Auditor’s Office Copies of all which Entries shall be returned regularly by the proper Officer to Our Commissioners of Our Treasury.
31st. And for the further Encouragement of Our Subjects It is our Will and Pleasure that the Lands to be granted by you as aforesaid shall be laid out in Townships and that each inland Township shall as nearly as circumstances shall admit consist of Ten Miles Square and such as shall be situated upon a navigable River or Water shall have a front of Nine Miles and be Ten Miles in depth and subdivided in such manner as may be found most advisable for the accommodation of the Settlers and for making the several reservations for Public Uses and particularly for the Support of the Protestant Clergy agreeable to the above recited Act passed in the Thirty first Year of Our Reign.
32nd. And Whereas great Inconveniences have heretofore arisen in many 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 Industrious from improving such Lands. In order therefore to prevent the like Inconveniences in the future It is Our Will and Pleasure that you observe the following directions and regulations in all Grants to be made by you as aforesaid that is to say
That no Town Lot shall be granted to any one Person being Master or Mistress of a Family in any 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 Master or Mistress of a Family in any Township so to be laid out which shall contain more than Twenty-four Acres.
That no Farm Lot shall be granted to any one Person being Master 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 unto every 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 Land to be made by you as aforesaid you are to take care that due regard be had to the Quantity and comparative Value of the different parts of Land comprised within any Township so that each Grantee may have as nearly as may be a proportionable Quantity of Lands of such different quantity and comparative Value as likewise 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 t.he main Land that thereby the said Grantee may have such a convenient share of what accommodation the said River may afford for Navigation or otherwise.
33rd. And as a further Encouragement to our Subjects who shall become Settlers as aforesaid It is Our Will and Pleasure that the said Townships and the respective Allotments within the same together with the Lands to be reserved as aforesaid shall be run and laid out by Our Surveyor General of Lands for the said Province or some Skilful Person authorized by him for that purpose which Surveys together with the Warrants and Grants for the respective Allotments shall be made out for and delivered to the several Grantees free of any Expense or Fees whatever other than such as may be payable to the different Officers according to the Table of Fees established upon Grants of Land made in the said Province.
34th. And in order to prevent any persons disaffected to Us and to Our Government from becoming Settlers in Our said Province of Upper Canada It is Our Will and Pleasure that no Warrants for Surveying 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 or his presence of such Person or Persons as shall by you or him be appointed for that purpose that is to say I “ A 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 this Province.”
35th. Whereas the reserving such Bodies of Land within Our said Province of Upper Canada where there are considerable Growths of Timber fit for the use of Our Royal Navy is a Matter of the Utmost Importance to Our Service It is Our Will and Pleasure that no Grants whatever be made of Lands within any district or Tract in Our said Province of Upper Canada until Our Surveyor General of Woods or his Deputy lawfully appointed shall have surveyed the same and marked out as reservations to Us Lur Heirs and Successors such Parts thereof as shall be found to contain any considerable 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 Province from time to time with all due diligence to complete the Surveys and mark out the Reservations as aforesaid in the most convenient parts of the said Province And you are from time to time to report the number, extent and situation of such Reservations and you are further to direct Our Surveyor General not to certify any Plots of Grounds ordered and surveyed for any Person or Persons whatever in order that Grants may be made out 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 for Us Our Heirs and Successors as aforesaid for the purpose herein before mentioned and in order to prevent any deceit or Fraud from being committed by the persons applying for Lands in this respect It is Our Will and Pleasure that in all Grants to be hereafter made for Lands in Our said Province of Upper 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 General 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 forever as aforesaid and which shall upon a Survey thereof being made be found within any such reservation shall be Null and void and of none effect anything herein contained to the contrary notwithstanding.
n contained to the contrary notwithstanding. 36th. 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 said Province of Upper Canada in manner prescribed in and by the said Act passed in the 31st Year of Our Reign 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 the said Terms and Conditions respecting the 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 its peculiar Conveniences for Trade and Navigation.
37th. 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 Lands in conformity to the said Act passed in the Thirty first year of Our Reign be entered upon Record for the information of all parties whatever that may be concerned therein.
38th. And Whereas it hath been represented to Us that many parts of Our Province under your Government are particularly adapted to the Growth and Culture of Hemp and Flax It is therefore Our Will and Pleasure that in all Surveys for Settlements the Surveyor be directed to report whether there are any or what Quantity of Lands contained within such Survey fit for the production of Hemp and Flax.
39th. And Whereas it hath been represented to Us that several parts of Our Province of Upper Canada have been found to abound with Coals, It is Our Will and Pleasure that in all Grants of Land to be made by you, a Clause is inserted, reserving to Us Our Heirs and Successors all Coals and also all Mines of Gold Silver Copper Tin Iron and Lead which shall be discovered upon such Lands.
40th. You shall cause a Survey to be made of all the considerable Landing Places and Harbours of our said Province in Case the same shall not have already been done and report to Us by One of Our Principal Secretaries of State how far any fortifications be necessary for the Security and advantage of the said Province.
41st. And Whereas it appears from the representations of Our late Governor of the District of Trois-Rivières that the Iron Works at Saint-Maurice in that District are of great Consequence to Our 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 Iron Works was procured or which shall appear to be necessary or convenient for that Establishment either in respect of a free passage in the River Saint Lawrence or for producing a necessary supply of Wood Corn and Hay or for Pasture of 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 direct and appoint.
42nd. Whereas the Establishment of proper Regulations in Matters of Ecclesiastical concern is an object of very great importance it will be your Indispensable Duty to take care that no Arrangements in regard thereto be made but such as give full satisfaction to Our New Subjects in every point in which they have a right to any Indulgence on that head always remembering that it is a Toleration of the free Exercise of the Religion of the Church of Rome only to which they are entitled but not to the Powers and Privileges of it as an Established Church that being a preference which belongs only to the Protestant Church of England.
43rd. Upon these Principles therefore and to the end that Our just Supremacy in all Matters Ecclesiastical as well as Civil may have its due scope and Influence It is Our Will and Pleasure.
First that all appeals to or correspondence with any Foreign Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction of any nature or kind soever be absolutely forbidden under very severe Penalties.
Secondly that no Episcopal or Vicarial Powers be exercised within Our said Province by any person professing the Religion of the Church of Rome but such only as are essentially and indispensably necessary to the free exercise of the Romish Religion and in those Cases not without a Licence and Permission from you under the Seal of Our said Province for and during Our Will and Pleasure and under such other limitations and restrictions as may correspond with the Spirit and Provisions of the Act of Parliament of the Fourteenth year of Our Reign for making more effectual Provision for the Government of the Province of Quebec And no person whatever is to have Holy Orders conferred upon him or to have the Cure of Souls without a Licence for that purpose first had and obtained from you.
Thirdly that no person professing the Religion of the Church of Rome be allowed to fill any Ecclesiastical Benefice or to have and enjoy any of the Rights or Profits belonging thereto who is not a Canadian by Birth (such only excepted as are now in possession of any such Benefice) and who is not appointed thereto by Us or by or under Our Authority and that all Right or Claim of Right in any other person whatever to nominate present or appoint to any Vacant Benefice other than such as may lay Claim to the Patronage of Benefices as a Civil Right be absolutely abolished no person to hold more than one Benefice or at least not more than can reasonably be served by one and the same Incumbent.
Fourthly—That no person whatever professing the Religion of the Church of Rome be appointed Incumbent of any Parish in which the Majority of the Inhabitants shall solicit the appointment of a Protestant Minister In such Case the Incumbent shall be a Protestant and Entitled to all Tythes payable within such Parish but nevertheless the Roman Catholicks may have the use of the Church for the free Exercise of their Religion at such times as may not interfere with the Religious Worship of the Protestants and in like manner the Protestant Inhabitants of every Parish where the Majority of the Parishioners are Roman Catholics shall notwithstanding have the free use of the Church for the Exercise of their Religion at such times as may not interfere with the Religious Worship of the Roman Catholics.
Fifthly, That no Incumbent Professing the Religion of the Church of Rome appointed to any Parish shall be entitled to receive any Tythes for Lands or Possessions Occupied by a Protestant but such Tythes shall be received by such persons as you shall appoint and shall Ire reserved in the hands of our Receiver General as aforesaid for the support of Our Protestant Clergy in Our said Province to be actually resident within the same and not otherwise according to such directions as you shall receive from Us in that behalf and in like manner all growing Rents or Profits of a Vacant Benefice shall during such Vacancy be reserved for and applied to the like Uses.
Sixthly That all persons professing the Religion of the Church of Rome who being under the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction of the Bishop of Quebec shall hold their respective Benefices during their good behaviour subject however in Case of any Conviction for Criminal offences or upon due proof of Seditious attempts to disturb the Beace and tranquillity of Our Government to be deprived or suspended by you.
Eighthly That such Ecclesiasticks as may think fit to enter into the Holy State of Matrimony shall be released from all Penalties to which they may have been subjected ln such Cases by any Authority of the See of Rome.
Ninthly, That freedom of the Burial of the Dead in the Churches and Church yards be allowed indiscriminately to every Christian Persuasion.
Tenthly That the Royal Family be prayed for in all Churches and Places of Public Worship in such manner and form as is used in this Kingdom and that Our Arms and Insignia be put up not only in all such churches and Places of Holy Worship but also in all courts of Justice and that the Arms of France be taken down in every such Church or Court where they may at present remain.
Eleventhly That the Society of Romish Priests called the Seminaries of Quebec and Montreal shall continue to possess and occupy their Houses of Residence and all other Houses and Lands to which they were lawfully entitled on the thirteenth of September 1759 and it shall be lawful for those Societies to fill up Vacancies and admit New Members according to the Rules of their Foundations and to Educate Youth in Order to qualify them for the Service of Parochial Cures as they shall become Vacant. It is nevertheless Our Will and Pleasure that not only those Seminaries but all other Religious Communities so long as the same shall continue be subject to Visitation by you Our Governor or such other person or persons as you shall appoint for that purpose and also subject to such other Rules and Regulations as you shall with the advice and consent of Our said Executive Council think fit to establish and appoint.
Twelfthly_It is also Our Will and pleasure that all other Religious Seminaries and communities (that of the Jesuits only excepted) do for the present and until We can be more fully informed of the true state of them and how far they are or are not essential to the free Exercise of the Religion of the Church of Rome as allowed within our said Province remain upon their present Establishment but you are not to allow the admission of any New Members into any of the said Societies or Communities (the Religious Communities of Women only Excepted) without our express orders for that purpose that the Society of J esuits be suppressed and dissolved and no longer continued as a Body Corporate or Politic and all their Rights Possessions and Property shall be Vested in Us for such purposes as We may hereafter think fit to direct and appoint but We think fit to declare Our Royal Intention to be that the present Members of the said Society as Established at Quebec shall be allowed Sufficient Stipends and Provisions duripg their natural lives that all Missionaries amongst the Indians whether Established under the Authority of or appointed by the Jesuits or by any other Ecclesiastical Authority of the Romish Church be withdrawn by Degrees and at such times and in such manner as shall be satisfactory to the said Indians and consistent with the Public safety and Protestant Missionaries appointed in their Places. That all Ecclesiastical Persons whatever of the Church of Rome be inhibited upon pain of deprivation from influencing any person in the making of a Will from inveigling Protestants to become Papists or from tampering with them in Matters of Religion and the Romish Priests be forbidden to inveigh in their Sermons against the Religion of the church of England.
44th. It is Our Will and Pleasure to reserve to you the granting the Licences for Marriages Letters of Administration and Probates of Wills as heretofore Exercised by you and your Predecessors and also to reserve to you and all others to whom it may lawfully belong the Patronage and Right of Presentation to Benefices but It is Our Will and Pleasure that the person so presented shall be Instituted by the Bishop or his commissary duly authorized by him.
45th. You are to permit liberty of conscience and the free Exercise of all such Modes of Religious Worship as are not prohibited by Law to all persons who inhabit and frequent the Province of Upper Canada provided they be contented with a quiet and peaceable enjoyment of the same without giving offence or Scandal to Government.
46th. You are to take especial Care that God Almighty be duly and devoutly served throughout your Government That the Lord’s day be duly kept and that the Services and Prayers appointed by and according to the Book of Common Prayer be publicly and solemnly performed and read throughout the year.
47th. You are to be careful that the churches which are or may be hereafter Erected in Our said Province of Upper Canada be well and Orderly Kept.
48th. You shall recommend to the Legislative Council and General Assembly of the Province of Upper Canada to Settle the Order of Parishes in such a manner as shall be deemed most convenient.
49th. You are to use your best endeavours that every Minister be constituted one of the Vestry in his respective Parish and that no Vestry be held without him except in Case of Sickness or that after Notice given of a Vestry he omit to come.
50th. It is Our Will and Pleasure that you recommend to the Legislative Council and Assembly to make due provision for the Erecting and maintaining of Schools where Youth may be Educated in competent learning and in knowledge of the Principles of the Christian Religion.
51st. And It is Our further Will and Pleasure that no person shall be allowed to keep a School in the Province of Upper Canada without your License first had and duly obtained in granting which you are to pay the most particular attention to the Morals and proper Qualifications of the persons applying for the same and in all cases where the School has been founded Instituted or appointed for the Education of Members of the Church of England or where it is intented that the School Master should be a Member of the Church of England you are not to grant such Licences except to persons who shall first have obtained from the Bishop of Quebec or one of his Commissaries a Certificate of their being properly qualified for that purpose.
52nd. And It is Our further Will and Pleasure that in Order to suppress every Species of Vice Profaneness and Immorality you do forthwith cause all Laws already made against Blasphemy Profaneness Adultery Fornication Polygamy Incest Profanation of the Lord’s Day Swearing and Drunkenness to be strictly put in Execution in every part of the Province of Upper Canada and that for this purpose you do direct that the Constables and Church Wardens of the several Parishes do make Presentment upon Oath of any of the Vices above mentioned to the Justices of the Peace in their Session or to any of the other Temporal courts and you are earnestly to recommend to the Legislative Council and Assembly to provide effectual Laws for the restraint and Punishment of all such of the aforementioned Vices against which no Laws are as yet provided and in Case where the Laws already made are found to be insufficient and in order to discountenance Vice and promote the practice of Virtue to the utmost of your power We do hereby strictly command and enjoin you to appoint no person to be a Justice of the Peace or to any Trust or Employment whose Notorious 111 life and Conversation may occasion Scandal.
53rd. You are not to present any Protestant Minister to any Ecclesiastical Benefice within our said Province by Virtue of the said Act passed in the Thirty first year of Our Reign and of Our Commission to you without a proper Certificate from the Bishop of Quebec or his Commissary of his being conformable to the doctrine and discipline of the church of England.
54th. And you are to take especial Care that a Table of Marriages Established by Canons of the Church of England be hung up in all places of Public Worship according to the Rites of the Church of England.
55th. It is Our Royal Intention that the Peltry Trade of the Interior Country shall be free and open to all Our Subjects Inhabitants of any of Our Colonies who shall pursuant to what was directed by Our Royal Proclamation of 1763, obtain Trading Licences from the Governor of any of Our said Colonies under Penalties to observe such Regulations as shall be made by Our Legislative Council of Our Province of Upper Canada for that purpose—These Regulations therefore when established must be made Public throughout all Our American Possessions and they must have for their object the giving every possible facility to that Trade which the nature of it will admit and which may be consistent with fair and just dealing towards the Native Indians with whom it is carried on The fixing stated times and places for carrying on the Trade and adjusting Modes and settling the Tariffs of the Prices of Goods and Furs and above all the restraining the sale of Spirituous ‘ Liquors to the Indians will be the most profitable and effectual means of answering the ends proposed.
56th. The Fisheries on the Coast of Labrador and the Islands adjacent thereto are objects of the greatest Importance not only on account of the Commodities they produce but as Nurseries of Seamen upon whom the strength and security of Our Kingdom depends.
57th. Justice and Equity demand that the real and actual possession and Property of the Canadian subjects which existed at the time of the Cession of the said Province on that Coast should be preserved entire and that they should not be molested or hindered in the Exercise of any Sedentary Fisheries they may have established there.
58th. These Claims however extend to but a small District of the Coast on the greatest part of which district a Cod Fishery is stated to be impracticable.
59th. On all such parts of the Coasts where there are no Canadian Possessions and more especially where a valuable Cod Fishery may be carried on It will be your Duty to make the interest of Our British Subjects going out to Fish there in Ships fitted out from Great Britain the first object of your Care and as far as Circumstances will admit to Establish on that Coast the Regulations in favour of Brtish Fishing Ships which have been so wisely adopted by the Act of Parliament passed in the Reign of King William the Third for the Encouragement of the Newfoundland Fishery and by the several Acts passed in the Fifteenth, Twenty-sixth, Twenty-Eighth, and Twenty-Ninth years of Our Reign for that purpose and you are on no account to allow any Possessions to be taken or Sedentary Fisheries to be Established upon any parts of the Coast that are not already private Property by any persons whatever except only such as will produce Annually a Certificate of their having fitted out from some Port in Great Britain.
60th. Whereas it will be for the general benefit of our Subjects carrying on the Fishery in the Bay of Chaleur in the Province of Upper Canada that such part of the Beach and Shore of the said Bay as is ungranted should be reserved to Us Our Heirs and Successors It is therefore Our Will and Pleasure that you do not in future direct any Survey to be made or Grant to be passed for any part of the ungranted Beach or Shore of the said Bay of Chaleur except such parts thereof as by Our Orders in Council dated the Twenty-ninth of June and Twenty-first of July 1786 were directed to be granted to John Shoolbred of London Merchant and to Messrs Robin Pipon and Company of the Island of Jersey Merchants but that the same be reserved to Us Our Heirs and Successors together with a Sulficient quantity of Wood Land adjoining thereto necessary for the purpose of carrying on the Fishery the limits of such Wood Land so to be reserved to be determined upon and ascertained by you aud Our Executive Council of Our said Province of Upper Canada in such manner as from the most authentic information shall appear to you and them most Convenient and proper for that purpose It is nevertheless Our intention and We do hereby Signify to you Our Will and Pleasure that the free use of such Beach or Shore and of the Wood Land so to be reserved shall be allowed by you or any person or persons authorized by you to such of Our Subjects as shall resort thither for the purpose of carrying on the Fishery in such Proportions as the Number of Shallops We or they shall respectively Employ shall require Provided that if any Fisherman who shall have permission to occupy any part of the said Beach or Shore and Land for the purpose of the said Fishery shall not during an)’ one season continue so to occupy and employ any part of the said Beach and Shore and Wood Land so allotted to him you or any person authorized by you as above may and shall allow the Use of such part to any other Fisherman who shall apply for the same for the purpose of carrying on the Fishery And Whereas it may be necessary to establish local Regulations to prevent abuses as well as disputes and misunderstandings between the Fishermen resorting to the said Beach or Shore It is Our Will and Pleasure that you by and with the Advice and Consent of Our said Executive Council do frame such Regulations from time to time as to you shall appear necessary to answer those salutary purposes and that you transmit the same to Us thro’ one of Our Principal Secretaries of State for Our Pleasure therein and Copies thereof to Our Committee of Our Privy Council for Trade and Foreign Plantations by the first opportunity.
61st. And Whereas It is expedient for Our Service that We should from time to time be informed of the State of the Trade and Fisheries as well as of the Population of Our said Province of Upper Canada It is Our Will and Pleasure that you do transmit to us thro’ one of Our Principal Secretaries of State and to our committee of Our Privy Council for Trade and Foreign Plantations for their Information Yearly and every Year a full and particular Account of the state of the Fur and Peltry Trade the nature and extent of the several Fisheries carried on by Our Subjects or others either on the Coasts Lakes or Rivers of the said Province the State of the Cultivation particularly specifying the quantity of Grain Hemp and Flax Produced and of every other Important branch of Trade which may in your Opinion lie advantageously under-taken and carried on by Our Subjects the number of Our Inhabitants distinguishing them under different Heads of Men Women and Children inserting in such account the number of persons Born Christened and Buried and any Extraordinary Influx or Emigration from Our said Province specifying at the same time the number of Slaves and the number of Our Subjects capable of bearing Arms in the Militia the Number and Tonnage of Shipping and Craft Employed upon the Lakes or Rivers in or Contiguous to the Province of Upper Canada and of the Number and Tonnage of the Shipping entering Inwards and clearing Outwards from the Ports of Our Province of Upper Canada together with any other Information on these or any other points of the like nature which may be proper to be communicated to Us.
62nd. And Whereas for some years past the Governors of some of Our Plantations have seized and appropriated to their own use the produce of Whales of several kinds taken upon these coasts upon pretence that whales are Royal Fishes which tends greatly to discourage that branch of Fishery in our Plantations and to prevent persons from settling there It is therefore Our Will and Pleasure that you do not pretend to any Claim nor give any manner of discouragement to the Fishery of Our Subjects upon the Coasts of the Province under your Government but on the contrary that you give all possible Encouragement thereto.
63rd. And Whereas you will receive from Our Commissioners for executing the office of Our High Admiral of Our United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and for the Plantations a commission Constituting you Vice Admiral of Our said Province of Upper Canada you are required and directed carefully to put in Execution the several Powers thereby granted you.
64th. And Whereas We are desirous that Our Subjects in the Plantations should have the same ease in obtaining the condemnation of Prizes there as in this Kingdom you are to signify Our Will and Pleasure to the officers Of our Admiralty Court in Upper Canada that they do not presume to demand or exact other Fees than what are taken in this kingdom which amount to about Ten pounds for the condemnation of each Prize according to the List of such Fees.
65th. And there having been great Irregularities in the manner of granting Commissions in the Plantations to Private Ships of War you are to govern yourself whenever there shall be Occasion according to the Commissions and Instructions granted in this Kingdom but are not to grant commissions of Marque or Reprisal against any Prince or State in Amity with Us to any person whatsoever without Our especial Command.
66th. Whereas Commissions have been granted in Our Colonies and Plantations for trying Pirates in those parts Pursuant to the several Acts for the more effectual suppression of Piracy and a Commission will be prepared empowering you as Our Captain General and Governor in Chief of Our Province of Upper Canada with others therein mentioned to proceed accordingly in reference to the said Province Our Will and Pleasure is that in all Matters relating to Pirates you govern yourself according to the Intent and Meaning of the said Acts.
67th. Whereas it is absolutely necessary that We be exactly informed of the State of Defence of all our Plantations in America as well in relation to the Stores of War that are in each Plantation as to the Forts and Fortifications there and what more may be necessary to be built for the’defence and Security of the same you are from time to time to transmit an Account thereof with relation to Our said Province of Upper Canada in the most particular manner and you are therein to express the present State of the Arms Ammunition and other Stores of War belonging to the said Province either in any Public Magazines or in the Hands of Private persons together with a State of all Places either already Fortified or that you may judge necessary to oe Fortified for the Security of Our said Province and you are to transmit the said Accounts to Us by One of Our Principal Secretaries of State and also Duplicates thereof to Our Master General or Principal Officers of Our Ordnance which Accounts are to express the Particulars of Ordnance Carriages Balls Powder and all other sorts of Arms and Ammunition now in Our Public Stores and so from time to time of what shall be sent to you or bought with the Public Money and to specify the time of the disposal and Occasion thereof and other like Accounts Half yearly in the same manner.
68th. And in Case of distress of any other of Our Plantations you shall upon application of the respective Governors thereof to you assist them with what Aid the condition and safety of Our said Province under your Government can spare.
69th. If anything shall happen which may be of advantage or Security to Our Province under your Government which is not herein or by your Commission provided for We do hereby allow unto you with the advice and consent of Our said Executive Council to take order for the present therein Provided nevertheless that what shall be done be not repugnant to Our Commission and Instructions and to the said Acts passed in the Fourteenth, and Thirty-first years of Our Reign giving unto Us by One of Our Principal Secretaries of State speedy Notice thereof that you may receive our Ratification if We shall approve the same Provided always that you do not by Colour of any Power or Authority hereby given you commence or declare War without Our knowledge and particular commands therein except it be for the purpose of preventing or repelling Hostilities or unavoidable Emergencies wherein the consent of Our Executive Council shall be had and speedy Notice given thereof to Us by one of Our Principal Secretaries of State.
70th. You shall as often as you shall judge it Expedient Visit the other parts of your Government in Order to Inspect the Management of all Public Affairs and thereby the better to take Care that the Government be so administered that no disorderly practice may grow up contrary to Our Service and the welfare of Our Government.
71st. And Whereas We have made sufficient provision for the support of Our Lieutenant Governor of Our said Province of Upper Canada for the time being It is Our Will and Pleasure when it shall appear that you shall be absent from Our said Province that no part of the Salary or any Perquisites and Emoluments which are due unto you, shall during the time of your absence be claimed by or paid and satisfied to such Lieutenant Governor and it is Our further Will and Pleasure that if Our Lieutenant Governor of Our said Province of Upper Canada should happen to die during your Absence and the administration of the Government thereby or otherwise devolve on the President or Senior Member of Our Executive Council or on such other Executive Councillor as by Virtue of this our Commission in that behalf shall be appointed by you under the Great Seal of Our Province to the Administration of the Government thereof such President or Councillor shall during his Continuing in the said Command receive the Salary or Allowance hereby provided for Our Lieutenant Governor and no other allowance Perquisite or Emolument whatever.
72nd. And Whereas great prejudice may happen to Our Service and the Security of Our said Province by the absence of you Our Governor in Chief or Our Lieutenant Governor for the time being you shall not upon any pretence whatever come to Europe without having first obtained leave for so doing from Us under Our Sign Manual and Signet or by Our Order in Council.
73rd. And Whereas We have thought fit by Our Commission to direct that in Case of your Death or Absence from Our said Province and in Case there be at that time no person commissioned or appointed by us to be Our Lieutenant Governor, or Appointed by Us to administer the Government within the Province in the Event of the Death or absence of you and of Our Lieqtenant Governor of the said Province the Senior Member of the Executive Council who shall be at the time of your death or Absence residing within Our said Province of Upper Canada subject to such other Nomination and appointment by you under the Great Seal of Our said Province as in Our said Commission is in that behalf mentioned Shall take upon him the Administration of the Government and execute Our said commission and Instructions and the several I owers and Authorities therein contained in the manner thereby directed It is nevertheless Our express Will and Pleasure that in such Case the person administering the Government shall forbear to pass any acts but what are immediately necessary for the welfare of the said Province without our Particular Order for that purpose and that he shall not take upon him to dissolve the Assembly then in being nor to remove or suspend any of the Members of Our said Executive Council nor any Judges Justices of the Peace or other officers Civil or Military without the advice and consent of the majority of the said Executive Council and he is by the first opportunity to transmit to Us by One of Our Principal Secretaries of State the reasons for such alterations signed by him and the Council And Our Will and Plea-sure is that the above Instructions with respect to such Senior Counsellor shall also be equally observed by and binding upon such other Executive Councillor as may be nominated and appointed by you under the Great Seal of Our said Province by Virtue of Our said Commission in that behalf.
74th. And Whereas by our different Commissions We have appointed you to be Our Governor and Commander in Chief of Our Province of Upper Canada and of Our Province of Nova Scotia Our Islands of Prince Edward and Cape Breton as well as of Our Province of New Brunswick And it is Our Intention that the Lieutenant Governors Commanding in the said Provinces of Upper Canada Nova Scotia and New Brunswick and the Islands of Prince Edward and Cape Breton should have and enjoy the full Salaries Perquisites and Emoluments granted to them and arising from the respective Governments in as full and ample a manner as if the said Governments were under distinct Governors in Chief—It is therefore Our Will and Pleasure that you shall not at any time or times when you shall be resident and Commanding in Chief in either of Our said Provinces of Upper Canada Nova Scotia and New Brunswick or the Islands of Prince Edward and Cape Breton have or receive any part of the said Salaries Perquisites or Emoluments but that the same shall continue* to be paid and satisfied to the Lieutenant Governors of the said Provinces and Islands respectively in like manner as they usually are during your absence therefrom.
75th. And you are upon all Occasions to send to Us by one of Our Principal Secretaries of State a Particular Account of all your Proceedings and of the Condition of Affairs within your Government.
C. O. (Despatch Entry Book) 1801-1811. In Secy of State’s despatch No. 1, of 31 August, 1807.