6-7 EDWARD VII., A. 1907 Exception of the Party's Beasts of the Plough, Implements of Husbandry, Tools of his Trade, and one Bed and Bedding, unless his other Goods and Chattels should prove insufficient, in which Case such Beasts of the Plough, Implements of Husbandry and Tools of his Trade, shall be sold, but not the Bed and Bedding. The Judge or Judges, may, if they think proper, order the Debt to be levied by Installments, provided the Time allowed shall not exceed the Space of Three Months from the Day of issuing the Execution. Art XXI. In Matters, as well above as of or under the Value of Ten Pounds Sterling, if the Defendant shall convey away or secrete his Effects, an Execution shall go against his Person, to be taken and detained in Prison until he satisfies the Judgment. Art XXII. For the Satisfaction of all Judgments given in Commercial Matters between Merchants, as well as of all Debts due to Merchants for Goods, Wares, and Merchandizes, by them sold, Execution shall issue not only against the Goods, Chattels, Lands, and Tenements of the Defendant, but also, in case they shall not produce the Amount of the Plaintiff's Demand, against his Person, to be taken and conveyed into the Prison of the District, and there detained until he pays the Amount of the Judgment, or otherwise settles with and satisfies the Plaintiff: Provided, that if the Defendant after remaining one month in Prison, shall make Application to the Court, and make an Affidavit that he is not worth Ten Pounds, the Plaintiff shall pay to the Defendant the Sum of Three Shillings and Sixpence weekly, for his Maintenance as long as he shall be detained in Prison at the Suit of the Plaintiff; such Payment shall be made in Advance on Monday in every Week, in Failure of which the Court from whence the Execution issued shall order the Defendant to be released; but the Plaintiff shall not be obliged to make such Payment, if he can prove, to the Satisfaction of the Court by which the Defendant stands committed, that the Defendant has secreted or conveyed away his Effects to defraud his Creditors. Art XXIII. When any Person against whom Judgment shall be given in any of the Courts of Common Pleas shall not have sufficient Goods, Chattels, Lands, or Tenements, to satisfy such Judgment within the Jurisdiction of the Court wherein such Judgment shall have been obtained, but shall have Goods, Chattels, Lands or Tenements within the Jurisdiction of the other Court of Common Pleas, it shall be lawful for the Judge or Judges of the Court wherein Judgment shall have been obtained to award Execution to the Sheriff of the other District, who, after getting the Writ indorsed by one of the Judges of the Court for the District in which the Goods, Chattels, Lands, or Tenements are situated, shall execute the same, and make Return thereof to the Court from which it issued; and such Writ and Return shall be by him sent to the Sheriff of the District from whence the Writ was originally awarded, to be delivered into the Court that issued the same. The Sheriff executing such Writ shall be answerable for his Doings relative thereto before the Court from which it was originally awarded; and the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas for the one District may, in like manner, award Execution against the Body of a Person residing in the other in Cases where such Execution is by Law allowed; and the Sheriff executing the Writ to him in such case directed shall convey the Body of SESSIONAL PAPER No. 18 such Person into the Prison of the District wherein such Person shall be arrested. Art XXIV. This Ordinance, and the several Provisions and matters therein contained, shall remain in Force only during the Space of Two Years from the Publication thereof. GUY CARLETON. Ordained and Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, and passed in By His Excellency's Command J: WILLIAMS C.L.C. Establishment of a Supreme Court of Criminal Justice, AN ORDINANCE FOR ESTABLISHING COURTS OF CRIMINAL It is Ordained and Enacted by His Excellency the Captain General and Governor in Chief of this Province, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council of the Same, That, Art. I. There shall be, and hereby is erected, constituted and established for the Province at large, a Supreme Court of Criminal Justice and Jurisdiction, to be called and known by the name of the Court of King's Bench, for the Cognizance of all Pleas of the Crown, and for the Trial of all manner of Offences whatsoever; the said Court shall be held before the Chief Justice of the Province, or Commissioners that may be appointed for executing the Chief Justice Office of Chief Justice for the Time being, who shall hear and determine or Commis- the said Pleas of the Crown, and of all manner of Offences whatsoever, executing that according to the Laws of England, and the Ordinances of the Government and Legislative Council of the Province. to be held before the sioners for Office. Times of And for the Speedy Administration of Justice, and the preventing Four Sessions; long Imprisonments, there shall be held, in every Year, Four Sessions of Two at Quebec Two at Mont- the said Court of King's Bench, whereof Two Sessions sh 1l be held at the real. City of Quebec, and the other Two at the City of Montreal, at the Times hereafter following, to wit, at the City of Quebec on the First Tuesday of May and the First Tuesday of November, and at the City of Montreal on the First Monday of March and the First Monday of September in every year but nothing herein contained shall extend to Special Com- prevent the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, or Commander in Chief for missions to be the Time being, to issue Commissions of Oyer and Terminer and Gaol issued if neces- Delivery at any other Time or Times, when he may think it necessary and expedient so to do. sary. 1 Canadian Archives, Q 62 A-2, p. 594. 6-7 EDWARD VIL, A. 1907 ment of the Court of Places and Tue of Sittilik. Two Commis Art. II. In each of the Districts of Quebec and Montreal, there shall be held and kept, Four Times in every Year, a Court of General Quarter Sessions of the Peace, by the Commissioners of the Peace of each respective District, or so many of them as are or shall be limited in the Commission of the Peace, who shall hear and determine all matters relative to the Conservation of the Peace, and whats ever is by them cognizable, according to the Laws of England, and the Ordinances of the Governor and Legislative Council of the Province. The said Sessions for the District of Quebec, shall be held at the City of Quebec, and the said Sessions for the District of Montreal shall be held at the City of Montreal, on the days hereafter following, to wit, on the second Tuesdays of the Months of January, April, July and October, in every year. And Two of the said Commissioners of the Peace shall sit weekly in sioners to sit Rotation, in the Cities of Quebec and Montreal, for the better Regulation weekly. of the Police, and other matters and Things belonging to their Office; and the names of the Commissioners who are to sit in each Week shall be posted up on the Door of the Sessions House, by the Clerk of the Peace, Two Days before their respective Sittings. Captains of Militia impowered in their oners. respec Art. III. As the great extent of this Province may render it often impracti cable for the Coroner of the District to give his attendance at the different tive Parishes Places where it might be necessary, the Captains of Militia shall be and to act as Cor- hereby are impowered, in their respective Parishes, when any marks of Violence appear on any dead Body, to summon together Six respectable Householders of his Parish, to inspect the same; and he shall, according to their Opinion, report the manner and cause of such Death in writing, to the nearest Commissioner of the Peace, that a further examination may be made therein, if necessary. Art. IV. Captains of appointed in their respective And as great Inconveniences might arise from the want of Peace Officers in different parts of the Province, the said Captains of Militia shall Peace Officers be and hereby are impowered to arrest any Person guilty of any Breach of the Peace, or any Criminal offence, within their respective Parishes, and to convey or cause to be conveyed, such Person before the nearest Commissioner of the Peace, to be dealt with according to Law. Parishes. (signed) GUY CARLETON Ordained and Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, and passed in Coun cil under the Great Seal of the Province at the Council Chamber, in the Castle of St Lewis, in the City of Quebec, the Fourth Day of March, in the seventeenth year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George the Third, by the Grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith and so forth, and in the Year of Our Lord One thousand seven hundred and seventy seven. By His Excellency's Command. J: WILLIAMS C.L.C. SESSIONAL PAPER No. 18 PETITION OF MERCHANTS FOR REPEAL OF QUEBEC ACT.1 To The Right Honorable Lord George Germain, One of His Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, &c &c &c The Petition of the Merchants & such Inhabitants of the Province of Quebec as are at present in London- - Sheweth, That His Majesty's British subjects in that extensive Colony apprehending the inconveniences which have since really arisen from the operation of an act of Parliament passed in the Year 1774 for establishing the Government of the Province of Quebec, did in the same year Petition his Majesty, and both Houses of Parliament, that it might be repealed or at least amended.2 We beg leave to inform your Lordship, that from the reduction of Canada till May 1775 when the above mentioned act took place, the inhabitants as well Canadians as English lived with great satisfaction in the enjoyment of their liberty and Property under the Protection of the English Government, and that they received the new regulations contained in the act with surprize, and reluctance; for them saw themselves at once deprived of that inestimable priviledge of the English constitution, that grand Bulwark against Injustice and Oppression, the trial by Juries, and of the benefit of the Commercial Laws of England, so wisely calculated to promote a spirit of Trade and Industry and so generally known and understood; instead of which they found themselves obliged to have recourse to the Laws of Canada scarcely, if at all, understood by any Pers n in the Province, and consisting chiefly of occasional Mandates issued, from time to time, by the French Governors. In consequence of this subjection to the arbitary command of their superiors, many of the Canadians have been ordered out upon the public Service, without any pay or emolument whatever, and upon refusal have been thrown into prison under a Military Guard. It cannot be wondered at if under such circumstances, Discontents, and even Dissatisfaction to his Majesty's Government should have crept in. The ordinances lately made by the Governor and Council, in aid of the French Law, have contributed to increase the General dissatisfaction. This Council, when only twelve members were present, and each of them bound by an Oath of Secrecy, proceeded to make laws without requiring the least Information, and with the most Total disregard of an Application from the Merchants who petioned, upon Grounds of general utility, that they might not be deprived of the Mercantile Laws of England. The Ordinances furnish further matter of Complaint because of the ambiguous terms in which they are expressed, of the indefinite Power which they give to the Judges, and of the Prejudice which prevails in them, without exception, in favor of the Laws of Canada, whose forms are tedious, expensive and unnecessary. In particular the ordinance regulating the Indian Trade," without yielding any revenue or advantage whatever to Government, subjects the Trader to insuperable Difficulties, for the pass he obtains is upon Conditions frequently out of his Power to comply with, and his whole Property is in consequence liable to confiscation, by the civil or seizure by the military 1 Canadian Archives, Haldimand Papers, B 43, p. 13. 2 Referring to the petitions of Nov. 12th, 1774, See pp. 414 & 417. 3 Referring to the restoration of the French feudal system under the Quebec Act, and the consequent exaction of corvées and other compulsory services. See notes 1 and 2, p. 461. See also Burgoyne to Carleton, as to enforcing corvées; Q. 13, p. 212. Four members of the Council had been captured and were prisoners in the colonies. See Q 12, p. 172. Some of the others were absent, and one or two had died. In Carleton's letter to Germain, of June 27th, 1777, he stated that, having found a sufficient number of Councillors in the Province to proceed upon the business of legislation, he had not nominated any others. 5 Being No. 7 in the list given on p. 463. This is given in full in, "Ordinances made and passed by the Governor and Legislative Council of the Province of Quebec. And now in Force in the Province of Lower Canada. Quebec, 1795." p. 9. The portion more particularly complained of is section V, which requires every trader among the western Indians to have a pass, in default of which he is subject to a penalty of £50. Conviction may be secured on the testimony of one credible witness, other than the informer who is to receive one half the penalty. 6-7 EDWARD VII., A. 1907 power, upon an information laid against him by any person tempted by a prospect of the reward. Nor though the information be false, is there any provision to redress the Trader, though he may be equally ruined by the Expence, and the delay of his Journey in the proper Season. These difficulties are so alarming that though this Trade is by far the most considerable in the Province since the commencement of the Present Rebellion, whenever the communication from Albany shall be open a great part of it will be carried on from the Province of New York, notwithstanding the situation of Canada be in all respects more convenient. We beg leave to assure your Lordship that these causes originating chiefly from the Quebec act, have concurred to spread a general discontent throughout the Province, without any advantage to the present state, and so far as to alienate the affections of His Majesties subjects as to give great reason to apprehend a disposition in them to change their present form of Government, should such an Opportunity unhappily offer. We therefore humbly entreat your Lordship to take into your consideration the dangerous, and confused situation of this Colony, and grant us your Patronage and assistance in endeavouring to obtain a repeal of the Quebec Act, the Source of these grievances and an Establishment, in its stead, of a free Government by an assembly or Representation of the People, agreable to His Majesty's Royal Promise contained in the Proclamation made in the year 1763. This measure alone, which we are firmly persuaded is founded equally on the Principles of Justice and good Policy is adapted to conciliate the minds of a dissatisfied People, to confirm their wavering Disposition, and to restore that mutual confidence between the Governors and the Governed which is essentially necessary to the happiness of both. (signed) London 2 April 1778. Instructions to Our Trusty and Welbeloved Frederick Haldimand Esquire, First. With these Our Instructions You will receive Our Commission under Our Great Seal of Great Britain, constituting you Our Captain General & Governor in Chief in and over Our Province of Quebec in America, & all Our Territories thereunto 1 Canadian Archives, M. 230, p. 213. For some time there had been an obvious lack of harmony between Germain and Carleton, but when Burgoyne was selected instead of Carleton to conduct the expedition to Albany, the latter's indignation knew no bounds and his despatches to his chief, the Colonial Secretary, became anything but respectful. Thus, though Carleton was in favour at Court, it was decided to remove him. The King, in writing to Lord North and referring to a subsequent appointment for Carleton, says "Carleton was wrong in permitting his Pen to convey such asperity to a Secy of State, and therefore has been removed from the Govt of Canada. But his meretorious defence of Quebec made him a proper object of military reward, and as such I cd not provide for any oo Gen1 till I had paid the Debt his services had a right to claim." Brougham's "Statesmen of the Time of George III. p. 107. It was not, however, so easy to find a suitable successor for Carleton. On Feb. 24th, 1777, the King writes to North," Ld G. G. will tomorrow propose Clinton for Canada, " ibid. p. 97. This proposal however was not realized. Meantime |