Lower Canada, however politically insignificant, with only some L47,000 of revenue, was yet gradually rising into something like commercial importance. In the course of 1805, one hundred and forty-six merchant vessels had been loaded at Quebec, and another newspaper, the Quebec Mercury, still existing, and published in the English language, was established by Mr. Thomas Cary. Montreal, only second in commercial importance to Quebec, had also its newspapers, and already began to exhibit that energy for which it is now preeminently conspicuous. Toronto, the present "Queen City of the West," was yet only surrounded by the primeval forest, and thirty years later could boast of but four thousand inhabitants, although, in 1822, "Muddy Little York" was not a little proud of its "Upper Canada Gazette," and Niagara of its "Spectator." Kingston had only twenty wooden houses, while Detroit was the residence of but a dozen French families. Upper Canada, indeed, contained scarcely a cultivated farm, or even a white inhabitant, sixty or seventy years ago.

Allusion has already been made to the division of Canada into two provinces. A more particular allusion to that circumstance will not be out of place. Already, General Simcoe, the Hon. Peter Russell, and Lieut. General Hunter have ruled over the Upper, and not the least interesting of the two provinces. The object of the separation may have been to keep the Lower Province French as long as possible, to prevent the consummation devoutly anticipated by Montcalm, and the Duc de Choiseul, and to raise up a conservative English colony in the Far West, to counteract the growing power of the now United States. By the Union, constitutions very distantly related to the British constitution were conferred upon the two provinces. The 31st Act of George the Third constituted a Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly for each province. The Council was to be composed of at least seven members, appointed by writ of summons, issued pursuant to a mandamus under the sign manual of the Sovereign. The tenure of appointment was for life, to be forfeited for treason or vacated by swearing allegiance to a foreign power, or by two years continual absence from the province without the Governor's permission, or four years of such absence without permission of the Sovereign. The King could grant hereditary titles of honor, rank or dignity. The Speaker of the Council was to be appointed by the Sovereign or his representative. The Assembly was to be elected by persons over twenty one years of age, subjects of the British Crown, by birth or naturalization, possessing property of the yearly value of forty shillings sterling, over and above all rents and charges, or paying rent at the rate of ten pounds sterling per annum. Here were, undoubtedly, three legislative branches; but as the Legislative Assembly could, at the most, only be composed of thirty members, many of whom would be half pay officers, the Crown, through its representative, had a direct and overwhelming preponderance. Yet, however unsuited such a Parliament would be for the present time, however uncongenial it might have been to the feelings of a Cobbett or Hunt-man, escaped from Spa Felds ten or twenty years afterwards, it undoubtedly well represented the conservative, semi-despotic feelings of the military settler, or United Empire loyalist, a kind of privileged being, whose very descendants were entitled to a free grant of two hundred acres of land. When the Separation Act was before the British Parliament, the public mind in England was to some not altogether inconsiderable extent contaminated by the spurious liberty-feeling of the French Revolution, and by the consequences of the American strike for independence. "The Rights of Man," as enunciated by Paine, had infected many among the lower orders in society, and not a few among the higher orders. Edmund Burke, Mr. Chancellor Pitt, and Charles Fox, were members of the British Parliament. By the Act, a provision for a Protestant Clergy, in both divisions of the province, was made, in addition to an allotment of lands already granted. The tenures in Lower Canada, which had been the subject of dispute, were to be settled by the local legislature. In Upper Canada the tenures were to be in free and common soccage. No taxes were to be imposed by the Imperial Parliament, unless such as were necessary for the regulation of trade and commerce, to be levied and to be disposed of by the legislature of each division of the former Province of Quebec. On the 9th of April, 1791, the Separation Bill was somewhat unexpectedly offered for the acceptance of the House of Commons. Mr. Fox declared that he had not had time to read it, and felt unwilling to express an opinion upon its merits. On a motion by Mr. Hussey, "that the Bill be recommitted," Mr. Fox, however, remarked, that many clauses were unexceptionable. The number of representatives, in his opinion, were not sufficient. An assembly to consist of 16 or 30 members seemed to him to give a free constitution in appearance, while, in fact, such a constitution was withheld. The goodness of a bill, making the duration of Parliaments seven years, unless dissolved previously by the Governor, might be considered doubtful. In Great Britain, general elections were attended with inconveniences, but in Canada, where, for many years, elections were not likely to be attended with the consequences which ministers dreaded, he could not conceive why they should make such assemblies, not annual or triennial, but septennial. In a new country the representatives of the people would, for the most part, be persons engaged in trade, who might be unable to attend Parliament for seven consecutive years. The qualifications necessary for electors in towns and counties were much too high. It seemed to him that ministers intended to prevent the introduction of popular government into Canada. While the number of the members of the Assembly were limited, the numbers of the Council, although they could not be less than seven members, were unlimited. He saw nothing so good in hereditary powers or honours as to justify their introduction into a country where they were unknown. They tended rather to make a good constitution worse, than better. If a Council were wholly hereditary, it could only be the tool of the King and the Governor, as the Governor himself would only be the tool of the King. The accumulation of power, confirmed by wealth, would be a perpetual source of oppression and neglect to the mass of mankind. He did not understand the provision made by the Bill for the Protestant clergy. By Protestant clergy, he understood not only the clergy of the Church of England, but all descriptions of Protestants. He totally disapproved of the clause which enacted that, "whenever the King shall make grants of lands, one seventh part of those lands shall be appropriated to the Protestant Clergy." In all grants of lands made to Catholics, and a majority of the inhabitants of Canada were of that persuasion, one seventh part of those grants was to be appropriated to the Protestant clergy, although they might not have any congregation to instruct, nor any cure of souls. If the Protestant clergy of Canada were all of the Church of England, he would not be reconciled to the measure, but the greatest part of the Protestant clergy in Canada were Protestant dissenters, and to them one seventh part of all the lands in the province was to be granted. A provision of that kind, in his opinion, would rather tend to corrupt than to benefit the Protestant clergy of Canada. The Bill, while it stated that one seventh of the land of Canada should be reserved for the maintenance of a Protestant clergy, did not state how the land so set aside should be applied. With regard to the Bill, as it related to the regulation of Appeals, he was not satisfied. Suitors were, in the first instance, to carry their complaints before the Courts of Common Law in Canada, to appeal, if dissatisfied, to the Governor and Council, to appeal from their decision to the King in Council, and to appeal from His Majesty's decision to the House of Lords. If the Lords were a better Court of Appeal than the King, the Lords ought to be at once appealed to. By such a plan of appealing, lawsuits would be rendered exceedingly expensive, and exceedingly vexatious. He did not like the division of the Province. It seemed to him inexpedient to distinguish between the English and French inhabitants of the province. It was desirable that they should unite and coalesce, and that such distinctions of the people should be extinguished for ever, so that the English laws might soon universally prevail throughout Canada, not from force but from choice, and a conviction of their superiority. The inhabitants of Lower Canada had not the laws of France. The commercial code of laws of the French nation had never been given to them. They stood upon the exceedingly inconvenient "Coutume de Paris." Canada, unlike the West Indies, was a growing country. It did not consist of only a few white inhabitants and a large number of slaves. It was a country increasing in population, likely still more to increase, and capable of enjoying as much political freedom, in its utmost extent, as any other country on the face of the globe. It was situated near a country ready to receive, with open arms, into a participation of her democratic privileges, every person belonging to Great Britain. It was material that a colony, capable of freedom, and capable of a great increase of people, should have nothing to look to among their neighbours to excite their envy. Canada should be preserved to Great Britain by the choice of her inhabitants, and there was nothing else to look to. The Legislative Councils ought to be totally free, and repeatedly chosen, in a manner as much independent of the Governor as the nature of a colony would admit. He was perfectly desirous of establishing a permanent provision for the clergy, but could not think of making for them a provision so considerable as was unknown in any country of Europe, where the species of religion to be provided for prevailed.

It is impossible to do other than admire the farsightedness of that great statesman, Charles Fox, with his blue coat and yellow waistcoat, in this manly, sensible, and telling address. Time has nearly brought round the state of things that he desired to see, and if disembodied spirits can take an interest in things earthly, it will be no small addition to his present state of bliss to discover almost the realization of suggestions made sixty years ago, before the Browns of this period were conceived, and while the Rolphs were puling infants.

Mr. Chancellor Pitt did not join issue with Mr. Fox, but did not consider it expedient to flash legislative freedom upon a people. He thought that if the Assembly were not rightly consolidated by the Bill, little harm was done, because there was nothing to hinder the Parliament of Great Britain from correcting any point which might hereafter appear to want correction. He did not like the elective principle of democratic governments, and with respect to the land appropriated to the clergy, like every thing else provided by the bill, it was subject to revision. Where land had been given in commutation of tithes, the proportion of one seventh had grown into an established custom. The Bill was re-committed. Next day the clauses of the Bill being put, paragraph by paragraph, Mr. Burke eloquently defended its provisions, ridiculed the "Rights of Man," and almost extinguished the light of the new lantern, which exhibited in the academies of Paris and the club-rooms of London, the constitutions of America and France as so much superior to that of Great Britain. The distinguished orator was certainly more declamatory than argumentative, and he was repeatedly called to order. It was alleged that Mr. Burke had no right to abuse the governments of France and America, as the "Quebec Bill" only was before the House. Nay, there was something like a scene. Mr. Burke complained of having been deserted by those, with whom he formerly acted, in his old age, and Mr. Fox, with tears in his eyes and strong emotion, declared that he would esteem and venerate Burke to the end of time. The same cries of "order," "order," "chair," "chair," "go on," "go on," that are heard in our most tumultuous debates, in the Assembly, were frequent in the course of the debate, and Mr. Burke was unable, on account of the tumult, to proceed with his account of "the horrible and nefarious consequences flowing from the French idea of the rights of man." The debating continued for a number of days, and the Bill was read a third time on the 18th of May. When the report of the Bill in Committee was brought up, on the 16th of May, the House divided upon an amendment by Mr. Fox, to leave out the clause of hereditary nobility, which amendment was lost by an adverse majority of forty-nine. It was then moved, in amendment to the Bill, by Mr. Chancellor Pitt, that the number of representatives in the Assemblies should be fifty instead of thirty, but that motion was also lost by an adverse majority of fifty-one.

The government of Upper Canada was assumed by General Simcoe, on the 8th of July, 1792. He carried out with him to Upper Canada the Act constituting it into a province, and on the 18th of September he was enabled to meet his Parliament. The capital of the Province was at Newark, now Niagara. The seat of Government, according to the Duke de la Rochefoucault Liancourt, who visited it in 1795, consisted of about a hundred houses, "mostly very fine structures." Governor Simcoe apparently did not occupy one of them, but a "miserable wooden house,"—formerly occupied by the Commissaries, who resided there on account of the navigation of the lake,—his guard consisting of four soldiers, who every morning came from the fort, to which they returned in the evening. It is difficult even to guess at the appearance of the Parliament building. Assuredly it did not require to be of great size. When the time arrived for opening the Session, only two, instead of seven members of the Legislative Council were present. No Chief Justice appeared to fill the office of Speaker of the Council. Instead of sixteen members of the Legislative Assembly, five only attended. What was still more embarrassing, no more could be collected. The House was, nevertheless, opened. A guard of honour, consisting of fifty soldiers from the fort, were in attendance. Dressed in silk, Governor Simcoe entered the hall, with his hat on his head, attended by his Adjutant and two Secretaries. The two members of the Council gave notice of his presence in the Upper House to the Legislative Assembly, and the five members of the latter having appeared at the Bar of the two Lords, His Excellency read his speech from the throne. He informed the honorable gentlemen of the Legislative Council and the gentlemen of the House of Assembly, that he had summoned them together under the authority of an Act of Parliament of Great Britain, which had established the British constitution, and all that secured and maintained it to Upper Canada; that the wisdom and beneficence of the sovereign had been eminently proved by many provisions in the memorable Act of Separation, which would extend to the remotest posterity the invaluable blessings of that constitution; that great and momentous trusts and duties had been committed to the representatives of the province, infinitely beyond whatever had distinguished any other British Colony; that they were called upon to exercise, with due deliberation and foresight, various offices of civil administration, with a view of laying the foundation of that union of industry and wealth, of commerce and power, which may last through all succeeding ages; that the natural advantages of the new province were inferior to none on this side of the Atlantic; that the British government had paved the way for its speedy colonization; and that a numerous and agricultural people would speedily take possession of the soil and climate. To this speech the replies of the Council and Assembly were but an echo. The seven gentlemen legislators proceeded actively to business. An Act was passed to repeal the Quebec Act, and to introduce the English law as the rule of decision in all matters of controversy relative to property and civil right; an Act to establish trials by jury; an Act to abolish the summary proceedings of the Court of Common Pleas in actions under ten pounds sterling; an Act to prevent accidents by fire; an Act for the more easy recovery of small debts; an Act to regulate the tolls to be taken in mills (not more than a twelfth for grinding and bolting); and an Act for building a Gaol and Court House in every district within the province, and for altering the names of the said districts, the district of Lunenburg to be called the Eastern District; that of Mecklenburg, the Midland District; that of Nassau, the Home District; and that of Hesse, the Western District.

Parliament was about a month in session, when it was prorogued by His Excellency. On the 15th of October he gave the assent of the Crown to the Bills passed, and in the prorogation speech, made on the same day, he intimated his intention of taking such measures as he deemed prudent to reserve to the Crown, for the public benefit, a seventh of all lands granted or to be granted; and he begged the popular representatives to explain to their constituents, that the province was singularly blest with a constitution the very image and transcript of the British Constitution! There being only thirty thousand inhabitants in the whole province, small as the Parliament was, the people, if not fairly, were at least sufficiently represented. It is somewhat doubtful, nevertheless, that a constitution which gave only a quasi-sovereign to Upper Canada, neither directly, nor, as the Governors of Canada now are, indirectly responsible to the people, could have been the very image and transcript of the British Constitution. There was a misty resemblance to that celebrated and unwritten form of government, in the erection of three estates—King, Lords, and Commons—and no more. But, as it is sometimes expedient to be thankful for small favors, it may have appeared to Governor Simcoe that the new constitution of the colony was superior to that of England before magna charta. Undoubtedly the Governor was an honest man, a good soldier, a prudent ruler, liberally educated, and of considerable mental capacity. He appears to have been a member of the Imperial Parliament at the time of the passage of the Separation Act, for when the report of the Bill was brought up in the Commons, on the 16th of May, 1791, it appears by the debate, that a Colonel Simcoe spoke in favor of the adoption of the report, pronounced a panegyric on the British Constitution, and wished it to be adopted in the present instance, as far as circumstances would admit. Aware of the advantages which such a colony as Upper Canada, if it attained perfection, might bring to the mother country, he accepted the government of a mere wilderness, to adopt means adequate for that purpose. Independent in means, high in rank, possessed of large and beautiful estates in England, Governor Simcoe, in the opinion of the Duke de la Rochefoucault Liancourt, could have had no motive of personal aggrandizement in view when he accepted the government of Upper Canada. The General, however, loathed the Americans of the United States. He had been with Burgoyne. He had tasted of that officer's humiliation. It was impossible for General Simcoe to speak of the "rebels" calmly. A zealous promoter of the American war, as well as participator in it, the calamitous issue of that unfortunate and most deplorable struggle increased the intensity of his bitterness. Although he did not hope for a renewal of the strife, he trusted that if it were renewed, he might have the opportunity of laying the country in waste, and of exterminating the canting, hypocritical, puritanical, independents. He soon perceived the folly of the Seat of Government being situated on the very frontier, the more especially as Detroit was to be surrendered to the very people whom he most detested. York, from its security, situation and extent, seemed, at first glance, to be the most desirable place. Determined, however, to do nothing rashly, General Simcoe weighed the matter well in his mind. It seemed to him that a town might be founded on the Thames, a river previously called De La Trenche, which rises in the high lands, between Lakes Ontario, Huron, and Erie, and flows into Lake St. Clair, which would be most suitable, and in process of time, most central. He even selected the site of a town upon the river, which he had named the Thames, and called the site London. Indeed it is somewhat astonishing that this excellent Anglo-tory, as the Americans, south of 45 deg., doubtless, esteemed him, did not call Sandwich, Dover; Detroit, Calais; and the then Western and Home Districts of the western section of the Province, which is almost an Island, England. The garden of Upper Canada, almost surrounded by water, Governor Simcoe did intend, that as England is mistress of the seas, so her offshoot, Canada, should be Queen of the Lakes. Whatever might have been, or may yet be the natural advantages of London, Canada West, for a seat of government, the Governor General of British North America, Lord Dorchester, not then on the best possible terms with General Simcoe, would not hear of it, and he, notwithstanding the boast of the Lieutenant Governor that Upper Canada had obtained the exact image and transcript of the British Constitution, exercised a powerful influence in the state. Lord Dorchester insisted that Kingston should be the capital of the Upper Province. He was determined, moreover, that if he could not prevail on the Imperial Government to convert Kingston into the provincial capital, that the seat of government should not be at the London of General Simcoe. He was not favorable to York. A muddy, marshy, unhealthy spot, it was unfitted for a city. Lord Dorchester, peevish from age, was, to some extent, under the influence of the Kingston merchants, and was inclined, by a feeling of gratitude, to grant the wishes of Commodore Bouchette, who resided at Kingston, with his family, and to whom Lord Dorchester was indebted for safe conduct through the American camp, after Montreal had fallen into the hands of Montgomery. Kingston, as a town, was then inferior even to Newark, but the back country was in a more advanced state, as far as cultivation was concerned. The number of houses in the two towns was nearly equal, but the houses in Kingston were neither as large nor so good as those of Newark. Many of the houses in Kingston were merely log-houses, and those which consisted of joiners work were badly constructed and painted. There was no Town Hall, no Court House, and no Prison. The trade consisted chiefly in furs, brought down the Lake, and in provisions brought from Europe. There were only three merchant ships, that made eleven voyages in the year. In the district, three or four thousand bushels of corn were raised, and the surplus of that required for the feeding of the troops and inhabitants was exported to England, the price of flour being six dollars per barrel. In 1791, a thousand barrels of salt pork were sent from Kingston to Quebec, at a price of eighteen dollars a barrel. In selecting a site for the seat of government, then, as now, local interests were brought into play, but General Simcoe ultimately succeeded in obtaining the permission of the Imperial authorities to fix it at York.

The revenue of Upper Canada, in 1793, was only L900, and the pay of the members of Assembly was $2 a day. There was a Chief Justice and two Puisne Judges, the members of the Executive Council, five in number, being a Court of Appeal; and the Governor, with an assistant, formed a Court of Chancery. Murders were of more frequent occurrence than other crimes, and were rarely punished. There were Quakers, Baptists, Tunkers, Presbyterians, and Roman Catholics without places of worship. The ministers of the Episcopal Church in connection with the Church of England, were the only clergymen paid by government.

Governor Simcoe's schemes for the improvement of the country and the development of its resources, are worthy of notice, as being "extremely wise and well arranged." The central point of the settlements he designed to be between the Detroit River and the plantations previously established in Lower Canada, within a square formed by Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, Detroit River, and Lake Huron. He conceived that Upper Canada was not only capable of satisfying all the wants of its inhabitants, but also of becoming a granary for England. He did not doubt but that the activity of Upper Canada, in agricultural pursuits, would operate as a powerful example in regard to Lower Canada, and arouse it from its then supineness and indolence. He conceived that the vast quantities of sturgeons in Lake Ontario would afford a successful competition with Russia in the manufacture of isinglass or fish-glue. The corn trade was, in his opinion, preferable to the fur trade, which threw the whole trade of a large tract of territory into the hands of a few. He detested military government without the walls of the forts. To the Lieutenants of each county he deputed the right of nominating the magistracy and officers of militia. A justice of the peace could assign, in the King's name, two hundred acres of land to every settler, with whose principles and conduct he was acquainted. The Surveyor of the District was to point out to the settler the land allotted to him by the magistrate. He did not care to enlarge his territory at the expense of the Indians. It appeared to him that a communication between Lakes Huron and Ontario might be opened, by means of the St. Joseph's river, which would relieve the fur traders of the Far West from the navigation of the Detroit River, of Lake Erie, of the Niagara River, and of a great part of Lake Ontario, and would disappoint the United States in their hope of receiving, in future, any articles across the Lakes, situated above Lake Huron. He was further of opinion, that a direct communication, the idea now entertained by the Honble. John Young, of Montreal, might be established between Lake Huron and the River St. Lawrence. Unfortunately for the Province, Governor Simcoe did not remain long enough in it to put his admirably conceived projects into execution. These schemes when conceived, could not be very easily brought under public notice. There was in all Upper Canada only one newspaper, and that very far from being an organ of public opinion. The Newark Spectator, or Mercury, or Chronicle, or whatever else it may have been, was but a loose observer of men and manners, printed weekly. Had it not been supported by the government, not a fourth part of the expenses of the proprietor would have been refunded to him by the sale of his newspaper. It was a short abstract of the newspapers of New York and Albany, "accommodated" to the anti-American principles of the Governor, with an epitome of the Quebec Gazette. It was the medium through which the Acts of the Legislature, and the Governor's notices and orders were communicated to the people. It was par excellence the government organ.

The Second Session of the First Provincial Parliament of Upper Canada was held at Niagara, on the 31st of May, 1793. There is no copy of the speech from the throne to be found, unless it may have been in the Newark Spectator, which is not within reach. Its contents may be gleaned from the nature of the Bills passed during the Session, and assented to by the Lieutenant Governor. An Act was passed for the better regulation of the militia; the nomination and appointment of parish and town officers were provided for; the payment of wages to the members of the House of Assembly, at a rate not exceeding ten shillings per diem, was authorized and provided for; the laying out, amending, and keeping in repair the public high roads was regulated, the roads not to be less than thirty nor more than sixty feet wide; marriages solemnized by justices of the peace, before the separation, were to be valid, and in future justices of the peace were empowered to marry persons not living within eighteen miles of a parson of the Church of England, the form of the Church of England to be followed; the times and places of holding Courts of Quarter Sessions were fixed; the further introduction of slaves was prevented, and the term of contracts for servitude limited; a Court of Probate was established in the Province, and a Surrogate Court in every district; Commissioners were appointed to meet Commissioners from the Lower Province, to regulate the duties on commodities, passing from one Province to the other; a fund for paying the salaries of the officers of the Legislative Council, and for defraying the contingent expenses thereof, by a duty of four pence a gallon on Madeira, and two pence on all other wines imported into the Province was established; the destruction of wolves and bears was encouraged by a reward of twenty shillings for a wolf's head, and of ten shillings for a bear's head; returning officers were appointed for the several counties; and a further fund for the payment of the House of Assembly and its officers was created, by an "additional" duty of twenty shillings to be levied on all licenses for the retail of wines or spirituous liquors. In the third Session of the Parliament, convened on the 2nd June, 1794, an Act was passed for the regulation of juries; a Superior Court of Civil and Criminal Jurisdiction was established, and a Court of Appeal regulated; a Court was established for the cognizance of small causes in every district; the Lieutenant Governor was empowered to license practitioners in the law; fines and forfeitures reserved to His Majesty for the use of the Province were to be accounted for; the Assessment Act for the payment of wages to the Assembly was amended; the militia was further regulated; horned cattle, horses, sheep, and swine were not to run at large; the Gaols and Court Houses Act was amended; a duty of one shilling and three pence per gallon was laid upon stills, and the manner of licensing public houses was regulated.

The Fourth Session of the First Parliament of Upper Canada having met for the despatch of business, on the 6th July, 1795, the practice of physic and surgery was regulated; an Act was passed to ascertain the eligibility of persons to be returned to the House of Assembly; the agreement between Upper Canada and Lower Canada, by which the latter were to collect all the duties on goods, wares and merchandize arriving at Quebec, giving the former one eighth of their nett produce, was ratified, approved, and confirmed; the Superior Court Act of the previous Session was amended and explained; and Registry Offices were established for the enregistering of deeds, lands and tenements. There were no private Bills. The measures for Parliamentary consideration were all of a public nature, and the legislation was eminently judicious and peremptory. Mr. Attorney General White was the great man in the Commons, and Mr. Speaker Chief Justice Powell in the Lords. The first Parliament died a natural death, and the members of it went quietly to their respective places of abode.

The second Parliament met at Newark, after a general election not productive of any very great degree of excitement, on the 16th of May, 1796, opened by the Governor in person, with the usual formalities. Certain coins were better regulated; the juries Act was amended; the Quarter Sessions Act was amended; the public houses Act was amended; the wolves and bears destruction Act was partially repealed, by the rewards for killing bears being withdrawn; the Lieutenant Governor was authorized to appoint Commissioners to meet others from the Lower Province, about duties and drawbacks on goods passing from one Province to the other; and the assessment Act was amended.

This Session of the second Parliament was hardly concluded, when Governor Simcoe was required to relinquish his Government and proceed to St. Domingo, in a similar capacity, the government of Upper Canada, until the arrival of a regularly appointed successor, devolving upon the Hon. P. Russell, President of the Council. Mr. Russell convened the second Session of the Provincial Parliament, at the new capital of York, selected by his predecessor, and in which a gubernatorial residence of canvass had been erected. The first Act passed during his very quiet reign of only three years, was one for the better security of the Province against the King's enemies. It provided that no person professing to owe allegiance to any country at war against the King, should be permitted to enter, remain, reside, or dwell in the province. The second Act was one to enable the inhabitants of the township of York to assemble for the purpose of choosing and nominating parish and township officers; an Act for securing the titles to lands; an Act for the regulation of ferries; an Act to incorporate the legal profession; the word "clergyman" in land grants to signify clergy; felons from other Provinces to be apprehended, and the trade between the United States and the Province to be temporarily provided for, by the suspension of an Act repugnant to the free intercourse with the United States, established by treaty of 1794. Several amendments to Acts and other Acts were passed, when the Session was prorogued in due form.

On the 5th of June, 1798, the third Session of the second Provincial Parliament met, and seven Acts received the gubernatorial assent. Among other things, the boundary lines of the different townships were to be determined, the ministers of the Church of Scotland, Lutherans or Calvinists, were authorized to celebrate marriage; and the method of performing statute labor on the roads was altered.

The fourth and last Session of this second Parliament of Upper Canada met at York, on the 12th June, 1799, and six Acts were assented to, among which was one providing for the education and support of orphan children; and another enabling persons holding the office of Registrar to be elected members of the House of Assembly, a member of which body accepting the office to vacate his seat, with the privilege, however, of being re-elected.

On the 17th August, 1799, General Hunter appeared and assumed the Lieutenant Governorship to which he had been appointed by the King. He was not, however, simply Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada; but also the Lieutenant, General commanding-in-chief, in both of the Canadas. He took possession of the Government of Upper Canada about a fortnight after the general government of British North America had been entrusted to His Excellency Robert Shore Milnes, Esquire. The Lieutenant General was well advanced in years. He had seen fifty-three summers, and it was not to be expected that his previous education and habits would give way to the new ideas of younger men in a new country. General Hunter was, nevertheless, connected with a highly talented family, his brother being the celebrated Dr. Hunter of London, and his talents for government were possibly better than the bills passed during his reign would indicate. There was, indeed, little, if any, advance in legislation. The Acts of former Sessions, relative to duties, the administration of justice, and to the militia, were patched and repatched, made more stringent, less liberal, and more complicated. In the first Session of the third Parliament, which met at York, on the 2nd June, 1800, six Acts of revival, regulation, or amendment were assented to, one of which, making a temporary provision for the regulation of trade between Upper Canada and the United States, established ports of entry. The second Session of the third Parliament was held on the 28th of May, 1801, at the now established capital. The Parliament, as usual, was recommended to look after the King's enemies, the militia, the Quarter Sessions, the Customs Duties, the Roads, and the payment of the Assembly and its officers. There was no change in the matters legislated upon, worthy of note, with the exception that Cornwall, Johnstown, Newcastle, York, Niagara, Queenston, Fort Erie Passage, Turkey Point, Amherstburgh, and Sandwich were declared to be Ports of Entry, collectors being appointed by the Governor to receive a salary of L50 per cent on duties, till the same amounted to L100, above which sum there was to be no advance, and having the privilege of appointing their own deputies; the Governor was authorized to appoint Flour and Ashes Inspectors, who were to receive three pence for every barrel of flour they inspected, and one shilling for every cask of pot and pearl ashes; and an Act was passed preventing the sale of spirituous or intoxicating drinks to the Moravian Indians, on the River Thames. The third Session of the third Parliament met on the 25th of May, 1802, when five Acts only were passed. Titles of lands were to be better ascertained and secured; the administration of justice in the Newcastle District was provided for; the rates which the Receiver General should take and retain for his own use out of the monies passing through his hands, subject to the disposition of the Province, was to be declared and ascertained; one or more ports of entry were established, and one or more collectors of Customs appointed; and an Act for applying L750 to encourage the growth of hemp, and L84 0s. 8d. for stationery for the Clerks of Parliament was adopted. On the 24th of January, 1803, the Parliament being again assembled for the despatch of business, an Act was passed, allowing time for the sale of lands and tenements by the Sheriff; a fund was established for the erection and repair of light-houses; the rights of certain grantees of the waste lands of the Crown were declared; married women were enabled to convey and alienate their real estate; attornies were enabled to take two clerks and "no more," the Attorney and Solicitor General excepted, as they could take three each, and "no more;" the swine and horned cattle restraint Act was extended; members of Parliament, having a warrant from the Speaker of attendance, were, for their own convenience, enabled to demand from justices of the peace, ten shillings a day, to be levied by assessment. After this, Parliament was prorogued, unless it be that a second fourth Session of the Parliament was held, which is not very probable, although Mr. Gourlay, in his account of Canada, gives two fourth Sessions to the third Parliament, and afterwards complains that the business of the first Session of the sixth Provincial Parliament was nowhere to be found.

Parliament next assembled on the 1st of February, 1804. Sedition was provided against; persons who should seduce soldiers into desertion were to be exemplarily punished; fees, costs, and charges were to be regulated by the Court of Kings Bench; the swine Act was amended, so that sheep might run at large, and rams only be restrained between the 1st December and 20th December; L300 was appropriated to the printing of all the Acts of the Province, and L80 a year was allowed for the annual printing of the laws, which were to be distributed among members of Parliament, judges, and militia officers; L100 was granted for the building of bridges and repairing old roads and laying out new ones; the Customs Act was explained; L175 was granted for the purchase of the Statute Laws of England; L400 per annum was granted to be applied in the erection of Parliament Buildings; L303 11s. 10-1/2d. was voted for the clerks and officers of the Parliament, including stationary, and to the government commissioners appointed to adopt means to encourage the growth of hemp a sum of L1,000 was granted. The Session of the fourth Parliament, next bent on the despatch of business, came together on the 1st February, 1805. It altered the time of issuing tavern and still licenses; afforded relief to heirs or devizees of the nominees of the Crown, entitled to claim lands in cases where no patent had issued for such lands; regulated the trial of contested elections; continued the Duty-Commissioners Act for four years; altered certain parts of the Newcastle-District administration of justice Bill; made provision for the further appointment of parish and town officers; relieved insolvent debtors, by an Act which enabled a debtor in prison to receive five shillings weekly from his creditor during his detention, if the prisoner were not worth five pounds, worthlessness being, in this instance, to a man's advantage; the curing, packing and inspection of pork was regulated by the appointment of inspectors, whose fees were to be one shilling and six pence per barrel, exclusive of cooperage, with six pence a mile to the Inspector, for every mile he had to travel; L45 9s. 8d., advanced by His Majesty, through the Lieutenant Governor, for the purchase of hemp seed, and L229 8s. 6d., advanced for contingencies, clerks of Parliament and so forth, were to be made good out of a certain sum applied to that purpose; and for the further encouragement of the growth and cultivation of hemp, and for the exportation thereof, it was by law determined that L50 per ton should be paid for hemp.

Lieutenant General Hunter died at Quebec on the 21st August of the same year, (1805) at the age of 59, and was buried in the English Cathedral at Quebec, where a monument in marble has been erected to his memory, by his brother, the physician. It is recorded on his tombstone, that General Hunter's life was spent in the service of his King and country, and that of the various stations, both civil and military, which he filled, he discharged the duties with spotless integrity, unwearied zeal, and successful abilities.

The Honorable Alexander Grant, as President of the Council, succeeded General Hunter in the administration of affairs. Mr. Grant reigned only one year, when he was succeeded by His Excellency Sir Francis Gore. During Mr. Grant's short rule, L50 a year each, was provided for eight years, to six Sheriffs; an Act was passed to regulate the practice of physic and surgery; L490 was appointed for the purchase of instruments to illustrate the principles of natural philosophy, to be deposited in the hands of a person employed in the education of youth; L1,600 was granted for public roads and bridges; the Acts for the appointment of Parish officers, for the collection of assessments, and for the payment of the wages of the House of Assembly were altered and amended; the Custom Duties' Act was continued; and L498 8s. 5d. was made good to the Commissioners treating with Lower Canada, and to the Clerks of Parliament.

The Governments, of both Upper and Lower Canada, were administered by residents of the country at the same period of time. While Mr. Grant, the administrator of Upper Canada, had convened the parliament of the province on the 4th of February, 1806, Mr. Dunn had convoked the parliament of Lower Canada for the 22nd of the same month in the same year. On opening the parliament of Lower Canada Mr. Dunn tellingly alluded to the important victory of Lord Nelson at Trafalgar and to the subsequent action off Ferrol, recommending the renewal of the acts deemed expedient during the previous war for the preservation of His Majesty's government and for the internal tranquillity of the province. By the address, in reply, he was assured that these acts would be renewed. Shortly after the assembly had met it occurred to them that their peculiar privileges, as an offshoot of the Commons of England, had been assailed. The proceedings of a dinner party given to the representatives of Montreal in that city had been printed and circulated in the Montreal Gazette of the 1st April, 1805. The dinner was given in Dillon's tavern, and the party were particularly merry with the abundant supply of wines. Mr. Isaac Todd, merchant, presided. After the customary toasts on all such occasions had been given, the president proposed:—"The honorable members of the Legislative Council, who were friendly to constitutional taxation as proposed by our worthy members in the House of Assembly;"—"Our representatives in parliament, who proposed a constitutional and proper mode of taxation, for building gaols, and who opposed a tax on commerce for that purpose, as contrary to the sound practice of the parent state;"—"May our representatives be actuated by a patriotic spirit, for the good of the province, as dependent on the British empire, and be divested of local prejudices;"—"Prosperity to the agriculture and commerce of Canada, and may they aid each other, as their true interest dictates, by sharing a due proportion of advantages and burthens;"—"The city and county of Montreal and the grand juries of the district, who recommended local assessments for local purposes;"—"May the city of Montreal be enabled to support a newspaper, though deprived of its natural and useful advantages, apparently, for the benefit of an individual." It is difficult to perceive where any breach of privilege was involved, but the assembly looked upon these aspirations and upon the compliments to the Montreal representatives as a false and scandalous and malicious libel, highly and unjustly reflecting upon His Majesty's representative and on both Houses of the Provincial Parliament, and tending to lessen the affections of His Majesty's subjects towards the government of the province. A committee of inquiry was appointed, and reported that the libellers were the printer of the Gazette, Edward Edwards, and the president of the dinner party, Isaac Todd. Nay, the libel was reported to be a "high" breach of the privileges of the Assembly and Messrs. Todd and Edwards were ordered to be taken into custody. But the Serjeant-at-Arms, or his deputy, could not lay his hands upon these gentlemen and the matter was no more thought of until the editor of the Quebec Mercury ridiculed the whole proceedings, when it was ordered that Mr. Cary should be arrested. Mr. Cary was afraid that such unpleasant investigations might give rise to other unpleasant investigations with regard to the powers of the House. He intimated that in France it was customary to tie up the tongue and lock up the press, and for so doing he was compelled either to submit to be himself locked up or apologize. On being arrested he apologized at the Bar of the House and was released. The time of the House was frittered away by empty discussions and wordy addresses upon the gaol tax, previously mentioned, which the king did not disallow as required by the mercantile community. Indeed the administrator of the government in his prorogation speech remonstrated with the Assembly for the non-completion of the necessary business. The civil expenditure of the year came to L35,469 sterling, including L2,000 to General Prescott, who was then in England, and L3,406 to Sir Robert Shore Milnes, with the addition of L2,604 currency, for salaries to the officers of the Legislature, the expenditure exceeding the revenue by L869.

General Prescott, the Governor General, absent in England, was yet in the receipt of L2,000 a year, and the year before he had L4,000; Sir Robert Milnes, the Lieutenant Governor, also absent, had received the salary above mentioned, while Mr. Dunn received L750, as a judge of the King's Bench, L100 for his services as administrator of the government, a pension of L500 sterling a year, on relinquishing the administration, and an additional allowance of L1,500 a year while he had administered the government. Beyond question their "Excellencies" and "His Honor," were amply remunerated. The Governor General and his Lieutenant were absent on business. Indeed, while the Legislative Assembly, in defence of imaginary privileges, were cutting such fantastic capers before high heaven, the confidential secretary of Lord Dorchester and of his successors so far, the Honorable Herman Witsius Ryland,—who, having been Acting Paymaster General to His Majesty's Forces captured by the Americans, went to England, when His Lordship, then General Sir Guy Carleton, evacuated New York, and returned with him to Canada, when that officer was appointed Governor-in-Chief in 1793, full of the sympathies, antipathies, prepossessions, and prejudices of the English conservative of that day,—had devised a scheme, which, had it been carried out, would have rendered their privileges not very valuable. He only designed to "anglify" the French-Canadians by compulsion. Before the separation of the province into Upper Canada and Lower Canada it was a matter of consideration whether all the Roman Catholic churches in the Province could not be converted into Reformed Anglo-Episcopal churches. The contemplated plan of doing so was to take from the "Vicaire du Saint Siege Apostolique" the power of nominating and appointing the parish priests; the appointment of subsequent bishops was to be given to the king; and the Popish Bishop then living, was to be succeeded by a Protestant Bishop, who would find an easy method of turning Cardinal Richelieu's church extension schemes to excellent account in a new mode of ordaining new "catholic" priests, who might be disposed to abandon, at least, some of the doctrines of Rome and embrace, at least, some of those of the Protestant religion. The religious principle involved in this interesting scheme would have done credit to the eighth Henry. It would have had the effect of erecting on a Popish foundation, of building up on the sainted Rock, a church militant as a more powerful safeguard to English influence and power in Canada than the citadel of Quebec has been. Together with the creation of a Provincial Baronetage, in the persons of the members of the Upper House, the honor being descendible to their eldest sons in lineal succession, and the raising of the most considerable of these eldest sons at a future period to a higher degree of honor, as the province increased in wealth, together with the recognition of Mr. DeBoucherville's old noblesse, it would have most certainly much sooner produced that state of things which Sir Francis Bond Head and the "family compact" so ably brought to a crisis. The secretary of all the governors Lower Canada had yet had, corresponded, most confidentially, with his home masters, somewhat, perhaps, to the prejudice of his honor the administrator. As general Simcoe loathed the nasal twang, attenuated appearance, and the vulgar republicanism of a downeast American, so Mr. Witsius Ryland abominated Romanism. Speaking of the Roman Catholic clergy of Canada, he says:—"I call them Popish to distinguish them from the clergy of the Established Church and to express my contempt and detestation of a religion, which sinks and debases the human mind, and which is a curse to every country where it prevails." Nay, he laid it down, as a principle, to undermine the authority and influence of the Roman Catholic Priests. It was or should be the highest object of a governor to crush every papist scoundrel. Following the line of conduct which had so widely established the authority of the Popes of Rome, it was the duty of governors to avail themselves of every possible advantage, and never to give up an inch but with the certainty of gaining an ell. He lamented that the seminary and perhaps some other estates had not been taken possession of by the crown, incorporated, and trustees appointed, out of which incorporated estates a handsome salary might have been paid to the King's Superintendent and Deputy Superintendent of the Romish Church! but the proceeds of which should principally have been applied to the purposes of public education. And he was deeply mortified that "a company of French rascals" had momentarily deprived the country of any hope of such a destiny of these estates. The private and confidential remarks of the secretary were not altogether without effect. His Grace of Portland, then His Majesty's Secretary for the Colonies, peremptorily ordered Governor Milnes to resume and exercise that part of the king's instructions requiring that no person whatever was to have holy orders conferred upon him, or to have cure of souls, without license, first had and obtained from the Governor, and Lord Hobart, the Duke's successor in the Colonial Department, intimated to Sir Robert Milnes that it was highly proper that he should signify to the Catholic Bishop the impropriety of his assuming any new titles or exercising any additional powers to those which he had as the Vicar of the Holy Apostolic See. The French Priests were also to be reminded that their residence in Canada was merely on sufferance, and that it was necessary for them to behave circumspectly, else even that indulgence would be withdrawn. Greatly alarmed at these proceedings the Bishop of Rome respectfully remonstrated. He humbly reminded His Most Excellent Majesty, the King, that nineteen-twentieths of the population were of the Roman Catholic religion; that the humble remonstrant was himself the fourteenth bishop who had managed the church since Canada had happily passed into the hands of the Crown of Great Britain; that the extension of the province was prodigious, requiring more than ever that the superintending bishop should retain all the rights and dignities which His Majesty had found it convenient to suffer the bishops to have at the conquest; and that in the Courts of Justice there should be no room to doubt their powers. It was indeed no wonder that the superintendent of the Church of Rome was alarmed at the aspect of affairs. The Attorney-General Sewell reported with regard to the nomination of Laurent Bertrand to be cure of Saint Leon-le-Grand, by the titular Roman Catholic Bishop of Quebec, in the case of one Lavergne, who having refused to furnish the pain beni, was prosecuted in the Court of King's Bench, that it was a usurpation in the bishop to erect parishes and appoint cures. He went farther and said that there was no such person as the Roman Catholic Bishop of Quebec. The title, rights, and powers of that office had been destroyed by the conquest. Nay, there could not, legally, be any such character, as, if he existed, the King's supremacy would be interfered with, contrary to the Statutes of Henry the Eighth and of Elizabeth. Not only was there a quiet but arbitrary denial of the right of the Roman Catholic Bishop to manage the affairs of his diocese, the possibility of negotiating the Reverend Coadjutor Plessis out of his influence was entertained. Mr. Attorney-General ultimately waited upon that ecclesiastic to explain his own private sentiments to him. The bishop was studiously guarded and significantly polite. The Attorney-General thought that a good understanding ought to exist between the government and the ministers of religion. Mr. Plessis was quite of that opinion. Mr. Attorney-General thought the free exercise of the Roman Catholic religion having been permitted the government ought to avow its officers, but not at the expense of the Established Church. Mr. Coadjutor Plessis said that position might be correct. Mr. Attorney-General thought that the government could not allow to Mr. Plessis that which it denied to the Church of England. Mr. Plessis saw that the government thought that the bishop should act under the King's commission, and could see no objection to it. The Attorney-General was strongly of opinion that the right of appointing to cures, which no bishop of the Church of England had, must be abandoned. Mr. Plessis thought that even Buonaparte and the Pope had effected a compromise on that matter. Mr. Attorney-General had no faith in Buonaparte and was but an indifferent Catholic, but the Crown only could select from a Bishop's own Priesthood, and a Bishop, once acknowledged, would be the head of a department. That said Mr. Plessis would be a departure from the Romish doctrine of church discipline. To some extent it would, but your clergy would be officers of the Crown, and you would obtain the means of living in splendour, said the Attorney-General. Splendour, said Mr. Plessis, is not suitable to the condition of a bishop; ecclesiastical rank and a sufficient maintenance is all he needs. The Attorney-General meant that a bishop should have the income of a gentleman. Mr. Plessis meant the same thing, but it was a delicate matter to pension a bishop, for relinquishing his right of nominating to the cures, as the public would not hesitate to say he had sold his church. Never mind, said the Attorney-General, if the matter is viewed aright, you have none to relinquish. I do not know, replied Mr. Plessis. Whatever is to be done must now be done, intimated the Attorney-General. You speak truly, was the modest reply, something must be done, and though we may differ in detail, I hope we shall not in the outline.

Not very long after this conversation Bishop Denaud died. Now was the time for Mr. Witsius Ryland to act or never. He did act most energetically. He ear-wigged Mr. President Dunn, concerning his proper line of conduct on the occasion. He attempted to dissuade Mr. Dunn from a formal acknowledgement of Mr. Plessis, as Superintendent of the Romish Church, till His Majesty's pleasure should be declared. He thought an order should be immediately issued from home, prohibiting the assumption, by a Roman Catholic prelate, of the title of Bishop of Quebec. It occurred to him that a French emigrant bishop, if one could be found, would be more easily managed than Mr. Plessis. But Mr. Plessis was too much for Mr. Ryland, and found favor in the President's sight. Mr. Dunn would not listen to the representations of his secretary, and the wrath of his secretary was kindled. He wrote to Sir Robert Milnes on the subject, and to "My dear Lord," the Right Reverend Jacob Mountain, D.D. Not only was Mr. Dunn determined upon formally recognizing the new Roman Catholic Bishop but he was determined to suffer the Reverend Mr. Panet to take the oath as Coadjutor, without either waiting for His Majesty's pleasure, or for any other sanction whatever. It was most distressing, but "where was the layman, free from vanity, who, at seventy-three years of age, would let slip an opportunity of making a bishop?" It was dreadful. His contempt and indignation rose to a height that nearly choked him. As an apology for the recognition of Mr. Panet, it was all very well to say that his brother was a mighty good sort of a man. A mighty good sort of a man! How devoted were such mighty good sort of men, those very loyal subjects, to His Majesty! From the Speaker himself, down to the "fellow" who held a lucrative office in the Court of King's Bench, and who had sent his son to join the banditties of Mr. Buonaparte, who was not, to suit his purpose, brimfull of loyalty! Things were wretchedly managed, but the wisest thing to be done under present circumstances was nothing.

The Home Government anxious to build up in some manner a Protestant Church establishment had appointed the Right Reverend Jacob Mountain, Doctor in Divinity, to the Diocese of Quebec. At the expense of the Imperial Government, a Cathedral was built in Quebec, which was consecrated in 1804, on the ruins of the Recollet Church of the Jesuits. To this day it is possibly the most symmetrical in appearance of any church of the Church of England in Canada. Exteriorly, it is 135 feet in length and 73 in breadth, while the height of the spire above the ground is 152 feet, the height from the floor to the centre arch, within, being 41 feet. The communion plate, together with the altar cloth, hangings of the desk and pulpit of crimson velvet and cloth of gold, and the books for divine service, was a private present from George the Third. There was then also a Rector of Quebec, having a salary, from the British Government, of L200 a year, such a sum as, Bishop Mountain reported to His Excellency the Governor, no gentleman could possibly live upon! a Rector of Montreal with the same salary, and L80 additional per annum made up by subscription from the parish; a Rector of Three Rivers with a like salary of L200 from home; a Rector of William Henry receiving L100 from home and L50 from the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel; an evening lecturer at Quebec, receiving L100 from the Imperial Treasury; the incumbent of Missisquoi Bay, obtaining L100 from government, L50 from the Propagation Society, and L30 from the inhabitants; and two vacancies in the "new settlements," requiring L150 to be paid to each. The building of a stone church in Montreal was commenced, but the structure which promised to be "one of the handsomest specimens of modern architecture in the province," was not finished, for want of funds, ten years afterwards. In Upper Canada, so late as 1795, no church had been built. Even in Newark, it is quaintly added by the Duke de la Rochefoucault Liancourt, in the same halls where the Legislative and Executive Councils held their sittings, jugglers would have been permitted to display their tricks, if any should have ever strayed to a country so remote. His Grace, quite correct with regard to Newark, was at fault in speaking of the whole province. At Stamford there was a Presbyterian Church, built in 1791, and another church built for the use of all persuasions, a kind of free and common soccage church, in 1795, which was destroyed in the subsequent war. It was in this year that one of the most remarkable men, and one of the most able and indefatigable of the colonial clergy, was strolling about Marischal College, in Aberdeen, studying philosophy. He was a very plain-looking Scotch lad and very cannie. Altogether wanting in that oratorical brilliancy so necessary for an efficient preacher of the great truths of Christianity, Mr. John Strachan had diligently acquired a dry knowledge of the humanities, to fit himself for a teacher of youth. He was, in a limited sense, a classical scholar. Greek and Latin, Hebrew and the Mathematics, were at his fingers' ends. Not long after leaving college, he obtained the place of a preceptor to the children of a farmer in Angus-shire. The situation of schoolmaster of Dunino, a parish situated foury miles south of St. Andrews, in Fifeshire, and six miles north of Anstruther, the school taught by Tennant, the orientalist, professor of Hebrew and other oriental languages in St. Mary's College, St. Andrews, and the author of the Poem of Anster Fair, became vacant, when Mr. John Strachan made application for the fat berth, the salary being nearly L30 a year, and obtained it. Mr. Strachan taught quietly at Dunino, attending St. Andrews College, in the winter, until he received the offer of L50 a year, as tutor to the family of a gentleman living in Upper Canada. He accepted it, left Dunino, and went to the wilderness. Mr. Strachan taught as a private tutor for some time and subsequently established a school for himself, when he married a widow possessed of cash and respectably connected. The Church of Scotland, in Canada, was then at a very low ebb. Even in Quebec, although there had been a regularly ordained clergyman of the church officiating since 1759, there was only, from 1767 to 1807, an apartment assigned to the Scotch Church for the purpose of divine worship, by the King's representative, in the Jesuits' College. Nay, in 1807, the Scotch Church was entirely sent adrift by Colonel Brock, to be afterwards permitted to meet in a room in the Court House. Until 1810 there was no Scotch Church in Quebec. What inducement was there for a progressive Scotchman to remain in connection with such a church? Mr. Strachan clearly perceived that the road to worldly preferment ran through the Church of England, and, having a wife, and the expectation of a family, he recognised the expediency of obtaining orders as a descendant of the apostles. It was not long before he obtained permission to officiate as a minister of the Church of England, and he abandoned the birch for the surplice. Mr. Strachan justified every expectation that may have been formed of him. He became a most zealous churchman, and a very short time elapsed until the Scotch schoolmaster was the Hon. and Revd. Dr. Strachan, Rector of York, now Bishop of Toronto, and he may go to the grave satisfied that he has done more to build up the Church of England in Canada, by his zeal, devotion, diplomatic talent, and business energy, than all the other bishops and priests of that church put together.

Some idea will now have been formed of the state of the Church of England "establishment," in Canada, about a time, when it was intended to amalgamate with it the fabrics of Rome. Bishop Mountain had a seat it in the Legislative Councils of both provinces. He only was the embodiment of Church and State.

Mr. Secretary Ryland, anxiously active against the Church of Rome, was very favorably disposed towards the Church of England. His creed with regard to the "Protestant Church Establishment," in the provinces, was for it to have as much splendour and as little power as possible. His chief desire was to make episcopalianism fashionable. He would have given to the Bishopric of Quebec a Dean, a Chapter, and all the other ecclesiastical dignitaries necessary for show, and he would have endowed the See with sufficient lands to support the establishment in the most liberal manner. But not a grain of civil power beyond their churches and churchyards was he inclined to give to the clergy. He even thought that in regard to the particular case at Montreal, and in any other case where a church should be, or was about to be built by private contribution, the bishop would exhibit infinite discretion, if he did not do more than wish to advise and to consecrate. The same rights, privileges, prerogatives and authority as bishops enjoy under the common Law of England could not safely be given to colonial bishops, nor could it be possible to obtain them. A more worldly view of church extension could not well be conceived, but the suggestion was not by any means an imprudent one. Bishops, being but men, are too apt to abuse power, and it is surely well that too much of it should not be granted to experiment upon.

While all this was quietly going on, sub rosa, in Lower Canada, the Methodists, Baptists, and Presbyterians, were quietly taking hold of the public mind in Upper Canada. Although the meeting houses were only few and far between, and churches and chapels were extremely rare, the most illiterate of the sects were itinerating, hither and thither, with wonderful success.

About this time there was also a disposition to diffuse education. His Majesty, the King, gave directions to establish a competent number of free schools in the different parishes, to be under the control of the Executive, but the project was strenuously opposed by the Roman Catholic clergy, and only grammar schools in Montreal and Quebec were provided for, which have languished and died. It was feared by Bishop Mountain that the want of colleges and good public schools would render it necessary for parents to send their children to the United States, to imbibe, with their letters and philosophy, republican principles. It was at his suggestion also that the idea of free schools was entertained. The Canadians were deplorably ignorant, and their children, it was designed, should be free from that reproach. It is only now, however, that they are emerging from the most debasing state of mental darkness, into something like enlightenment. Example has done that which force would have failed to accomplish.

As illustrative of the saying "there is nothing new under the sun," it is worthy of remark here that upon the arrival of the intelligence in Canada, respecting the breaking out of the war with France, in 1798, some of the leading members of the House of Assembly, which was then sitting, proposed to levy the sum of L20,000 sterling, by a tax on goods, wares, and merchandize, to be applied, as a voluntary gift to His Majesty, from the province, to enable the King the more effectually to prosecute the war. This was proposed by Mr. Attorney-General, Mr. Young, and Mr. Grant, and as far as the House was concerned, the measure was found practicable. But General Prescott, the Governor, having been informed of the matter, did not think it expedient to encourage a scheme which Lord Elgin would have jumped at.

In 1805, the whole revenue of the province was only L37,000, yet, it appears that Sir Robert Milnes, the Governor, did not think that he could sufficiently entertain to gain a due consideration from the principal persons in the province, on L4,000 a year. He sent a whining letter to Lord Hobart on the subject, begging for an increase of salary. L5,000 was not a sufficient sum to keep up the hospitality of Government House. It would hardly support the summer residence at Spencer Wood. He had said nothing about so delicate a matter, while the war lasted, though he had expended L1,000 a year out of his own private income. And he would rather resign than sacrifice the comforts and waste the means of his family.

Canada, now, continued steadily to advance, both politically and commercially. Neither her political advancement nor the extent of her commerce was great, but both were yearly becoming greater. During the summer of 1806, one hundred and ninety-one vessels, 33,474 tons of shipping, entered at Quebec. Coasters were in full and active employment, and shipbuilding was to some considerable extent carried on. The military of the garrison were still antiquated. The army made no perceptible progress, soldiers still plastered their hair, or if they had none, their heads, with a thick white mortar, which they laid on with a brush, afterwards raked, like a garden bed, with an iron comb; and then fastening on their heads a piece of wood, as large as the palm of the hand, and shaped like the bottom of an artichoke, they made a cadogan, which they filled with the same white mortar, and raked in the same manner, as the rest of the head dress.[11] The army wore cocked hats, knee breeches and gaiters. The habitants, or peasantry, had retrograded, and Volney found that, in general, they had no clear and precise ideas: that they received sensations without reflecting on them; and that they could not make any calculation that was ever so little complicated. If asked how far the distance from this place to that was; a French-Canadian peasant would reply:—"it is one or two pipes of tobacco off," or "you cannot reach it between sunrise and sunset." But the better classes, in close contact with the upper classes among the English, were rapidly improving, and began to entertain the idea that they had political rights. They even started a newspaper called "Le Canadien" and began most vigorously to abuse "les Anglais" and the government. The "Canadien" published entirely in French, first appeared in November 1806. Had it been less anti-British, possibly, it would have been less disagreeable; but the idea had strongly taken possession of its supporters that French-Canadians were looked upon, by the government and its satellites, as mere serfs, and they agitated accordingly. Not only that. They began to exhibit some sparks of independence. Their watchword became:—"Nos institutions, notre langue, et nos lois." They branded the British immigrants and the British population as "etrangers et intrus." Mr. Crapaud's temper was fairly up. There was cause. The worm will bite when trodden upon. Unless there had been substantial grievances, the Canadien could not by any possibility have become so popular as to have given not only umbrage, but uneasiness to the government. Yet it did cause such uneasiness and was peremptorily checked. It was impossible then for a native-born Canadian, whether of English or French extraction, to look a home-appointed government official in the face. "Tempora mutantur et nos mutamur in illis."

[11] See Duke de la Rochefoucault's Liancourt's travels through North America.

On the 21st January, 1807, Mr. President Dunn again met the Legislature of Lower Canada. That invaluable constitution enjoining on the ruler to meet his parliament once a year, rendered it imperative upon him to summon the Council and Assembly for the despatch of business. He recommended to the assembled wisdom before him the propriety of continuing several temporary acts then in force; congratulated them on the brilliant success of His Majesty's arms; alluded with pride to the conquest of the Cape of Good Hope; and touched upon the repeated victories obtained by Sir John Stuart in Calabria. The Assembly replied in terms most flattering to the President personally, promising to do as he required. On proceeding to business, the first subject which engaged the attention of the House was the propriety of defraying the expenses of members of the House residing at a distance from Quebec. The House was disposed to defray such expenses, but nevertheless, the further consideration of the matter was postponed by a majority of two. The expediency of having a Provincial Agent or Ambassador, resident in London, to look after the interests of the province at the metropolis of the empire was discussed, and it was resolved in the affirmative. The Alien Act was passed, and that for the better preservation of His Majesty's government continued for another year, together with several other acts, and on the 16th of April, the parliament was prorogued.

Serious apprehensions of a war between England and the United States now began to be entertained. American commercial interests were grievously affected by the war in Europe, and a kind of spurious activity, in the hostile preparations which would surely follow a declaration of war against England, on which country in peace the merchants of New York, Boston, and the other seaports of the United States principally depend, seemed to be the only incentive for such a war. But while the filibusters of "the greatest nation in creation," were looking for any cause of war, a good cause, in American eyes, arose. The American ships of war were mostly manned by British seamen. Men were greatly in demand for British war vessels, and it was conceived that the right to impress a British sailor anywhere on land or water belonged to His Majesty's naval officers. It having reached the ears of Admiral Berkeley, the Naval Commander in Chief, on the Halifax Station, that the American frigate "Chesapeake," was partly manned by British seamen, the Admiral, unthinkingly ordered Captain Humphreys, of the "Leopard," to recover them. The men on board of the "Chesapeake" were indeed known to be deserters from H.M.S. "Melampus." William Ware, Daniel Martin, John Strachan and John Little, British seamen, within a month after their desertion, had offered themselves as able seamen at Norfolk, in Virginia. Their services were accepted, and the "Chesapeake," on board of which they were sent, prepared for sea. Being made aware of the enlistment of these men, the British Consul at Norfolk, formally demanded their surrender by the Captain of the "Chesapeake." Their surrender was refused. Application for them was then made to the American Secretary of the navy. But he did not consider it expedient to give them up. Three of the men were natives of America, two had protection, and the other had merely lost his protection. The "Chesapeake" sailed on the 22nd of June, and on the same day was intercepted by the British frigate "Leopard," of 50 guns, off Cape Henry. Captain Humphreys, of the "Leopard," stepping on board of the "Chesapeake," demanded the muster of the crew of the American frigate. Captain Barron, in command of the American frigate, refused compliance. The British Commander returned and both vessels got ready for action, the American frigate only, it is said, anticipating hostilities. Then the Leopard fired upon the Chesapeake and, in thirty minutes, so disabled her that she struck, when Captain Humphreys boarded her and took, from among her crew, Ware, Martin, and Strachan, together with one John Wilson, a deserter from a British merchant ship. The United States now burned with indignation. Their outraged nationality could never brook such an insult. Every British armed vessel was ordered to leave the waters of the United States by the President. A special meeting of Congress was held. And the American Minister at the Court of St. James was ordered to demand satisfaction. He did do so. Mr. Canning, the British Minister, at once offered reparation, but he objected to any reference to the general question of impressments from neutral vessels being mixed up with an affair so unfortunate. Mr. Munroe was not authorized to treat these subjects separately, and further negotiation between the two ministers was suspended. Great Britain then sent a special minister to the United States, empowered to treat concerning the special injury complained of. Before he arrived most ample preparations were being made in the United States for war. Millions of dollars were appropriated towards the construction of 188 gun-boats, and the raising of horse, foot, and artillery. It was not until 1811 that this huge mistake was settled, when the British Minister communicated to the American Secretary of State that the attack on the Chesapeake was unauthorized by His Majesty's government; that Admiral Berkeley was recalled; that the men, taken from the Chesapeake, should be restored; and that suitable provision for the families of the six American seamen killed in the fight should be made. But, settled as this gross and deplorable mistake was to the perfect satisfaction of the President, the trading community of the United States were every day becoming more dissatisfied with the state of affairs in Europe and the consequent state of affairs at home. The situation of affairs, on this side of the Atlantic, was indeed gloomy and critical. France and England were fiercely at war, and were arraying against each other the most violent commercial edicts to the destruction of the commerce of neutral nations. There was the British blockade from the Elbe to Brest; Napoleon's Berlin decree; the British Order in Council prohibiting the coasting trade; the celebrated Milan decree; and the no less celebrated British Orders in Council, of November the 11th, 1807, together with the American Government's edicts respecting non-intercourse with Great Britain and France to set on edge the teeth of a people now little scrupulous as to what they did, provided money could be made, or power be obtained. Strife had introduced a disposition to intrigue; political cunning had become fashionable; and political duplicity had lost much of its deformity in the United States. The finger of derision was no longer pointed at meannesses; the love of honor, and manliness of conduct, was blunted; cunning began to take the place of wisdom; professions took the place of deeds, and duplicity stalked forth with the boldness of integrity. The American people wanted a quarrel that the whole boundless continent might be theirs. They had badgered France out of Louisiana, and they would badger England out of Canada and the West Indies. In New York and Boston, Philadelphia and Baltimore, it was customary to talk of walking into Canada and squat a conquest, as was afterwards carried into effect with regard to Texas. Mr. Dunn, the President of the Canadian government, looked upon the state of feeling in the adjoining republic with suspicion. He conceived it expedient to feel the public pulse in Canada. Like a skilful physician he approached the patient cautiously and good humouredly, to prevent flurry or agitation, and in putting his hand on the pulse of public opinion, he found it to be healthily strong and regular. He prescribed only a draft of one-fifth part of the whole militia of the province. The draft was taken immediately. The Roman Catholic Bishop of Quebec, or rather the yet only Superintendent of the Romish Church in Quebec, Mr. Plessis, now rapidly rising into favor with the Colonial Court, promptly issued a mandement to the faithful, concerning the war, and a "Te Deum" was sung in all of the churches under his control in Lower Canada. The Canadians turned out with great alacrity. His Honor the President and Commander-in-Chief expressed his satisfaction in general orders. Burn's artillery company volunteered. In ballotting, young bachelors procured the prize tickets of the married men. Some that were not drawn purchased tickets from some that were drawn, and there were not a few married people who refused to sell out, if all that is stated in a Quebec paper of that period can be credited. No doubt the glories of war were uppermost in men's minds. It is possible to make war popular and the braggart tone of the Americans had doubtless contributed considerably to its popularity with the Canadians.

Colonel Brock was then Commandant at Quebec. He was a man of much decision of character and of strong natural sense. With the President he made the most vigorous exertions to discipline the militia and to put the fortifications of Quebec into a good state of defence. Night and day men labored at the fortifications. Every addition that "science, judgment and prudence could suggest," was made.

The income this year was L36,417, and the civil expenditure L36,213.

In Upper Canada, Francis Gore, Esquire, it has been previously intimated, was Lieutenant-Governor. He first met Parliament on the 2nd of February, 1807. Twelve Acts were passed, the most remarkable of which were the Act to establish Public Schools in every district of the Province, L800 having been appropriated for that purpose, with the view of giving to each of the eight districts of the Province, a schoolmaster having a salary of L100 a year; the Act imposing licenses on Hawkers, Pedlars, and Petty Chapmen,—to the amount of three pounds for every pedlar, with twenty shillings additional for a hawker with a horse; eight pounds for every chapman sailing with a decked vessel and selling goods on board;—five pounds for the same description of traders sailing in an open boat; and eight pounds on transient merchants; and the Act for the Preservation of Salmon, which permitted that fish to be taken with a spear or hook, but prohibited the use of a net in the Newcastle and Home Districts.

When next the Parliament met, on the 20th January, 1808, the same fears that were felt in Lower Canada, being felt in Upper Canada, an Act was passed to raise and train the Militia; L1,600 was granted towards the construction of roads and bridges; L200 of yearly salary was granted to an Adjutant-General of Militia; L75 additional was given to the Clerks of the Assembly; L62 10s. per ton was to be the price of hemp purchased under an Act of Parliament for the encouragement of its growth in the Province; an Act for the more equal representation of the Commons was passed; and Collectors of Rates were to enter into bonds of L200 security.

On the 2nd February, 1809, the Parliament of Upper Canada was again convened. An Act was adopted for quartering and billeting the Militia and His Majesty's troops on certain occasions. Householders were to furnish them with house-room, fire, and utensils for cooking. Officers, in case of an invasion, having a warrant from a Justice of the Peace, could impress horses, carriages, and oxen, on regulated hire. Upper Canada was evidently preparing for an expected struggle, as well as Lower Canada. L1,045 was this session granted for the Clerks of Parliament and contingencies, including the erection of a Light House on Gibraltar Point; Menonists and Tunkers were permitted to affirm in Courts of Justice; L250 was appropriated for a bridge across the Grand River; and L1,600 was granted for bridges and highways. In the next session of the Fifth Parliament, which Governor Gore assembled at York, on the 1st of February, 1810, L2,000 were granted for the roads and bridges; the Common Gaols were declared to be Houses of Correction for some purposes; a duty of L40 a year was set upon a Billiard Table set up for hire or gain; L606 were applied to printing Journals, Clerks of Parliament, and building Light Houses. The Act establishing a Superior Court of Criminal and Civil jurisdiction, and regulating a Court of Appeals, was repealed; and L250 additional was granted for the erection of a bridge across the Grand River.

To return to Lower Canada, Lieutenant-General Sir James Henry Craig arrived at Quebec in the capacity of Governor General, on the 18th October, 1807, in the frigate Horatio, and relieved Mr. President Dunn of the government, on the 24th of October. Mr. Secretary Ryland was very busy at the time. He was flattering himself, he told the Bishop of Quebec, that the Secretary of State would have received from him a series of despatches which would "give that functionary a general and useful knowledge of the state of things in Lower Canada." There were some who had exerted themselves to defame and injure the President, with a view to their own private interests. He particularly alluded to that contemptible animal, Chief Justice Alcock; to his worthy friend and coadjutor, of whose treacherous, plausible, and selfish character, he had never entertained a doubt; and to that smoothfaced swindler, whom the Lieutenant-Governor had taken so affectionately by the hand, as the man, who, of all others, came nearest in point of knowledge, virtue, and ability, to the great Tom of Boston. He would add to these worthies a pudding-headed commanding officer (General Brock!) who, if the President had given in to all his idle "Camelian" projects, would have introduced utter confusion into the whole system, civil and military. He anxiously expected Sir James Craig, whose established fame assured him that a better choice could not have been made. And he thought it probable that if his dear, dear Lordship, should not have had an opportunity of honoring him with a recommendation to His Excellency of established fame, his services would be dispensed with, and then he could join his family in England. But should he remain as Secretary to General Craig, he had it in contemplation to lay before him a copy of his letter to Lord S., concerning ecclesiastical affairs, though it would not be prudent to do so until he had ascertained how far the General's sentiments accorded with his own. In a postscript to his letter to the dear Lord Bishop, Mr. Ryland goes into raptures. He had just received a message from Mr. Dunn, telling him that the Governor General had arrived. He dressed himself immediately and got on board the frigate with Mr. Dunn's answer to the General's despatch, before the ship cast anchor, and before any of the other functionaries knew even that the Governor General was at hand. He found the General ill in bed, but was so politely received, that the General begged that he would do him the favor to continue his secretary. He never was so pleased with any person at first sight. Although he saw him to every disadvantage, the General appeared to be a most amiable, a most intelligent, and a most decided character. He, (the General,) landed about one o'clock, but was so unwell that he begged to be left alone, and Mr. Ryland only saw him for an instant. But that curious beast, the Chief Justice, after intruding himself with unparalleled assurance, upon the General, before he landed, forced himself again upon him, at the Chateau, when every body but the President had withdrawn, and most impudently sat out the latter. He did so for the purpose of recommending as secretaries, his father-in-law, and a young man named Brazenson, or some such name, whom he had brought out with him from England, but his scheme entirely failed, and his folly would fall upon his own pate! Mr. Ryland had transacted business with the Governor every day since he had landed, and had even drawn up a codicil to his will, the poor, decided Governor, who had adopted Mr. Ryland, was so ill. Nay, Mr. Ryland, for the love of this one honorable and just man, could have almost forgotten that he was surrounded by scoundrels, and would bury in oblivion the mean jealousies of a contemptible self-sufficiency, and the false professions of smiling deceit. But should it please Almighty God to remove the incomparable man, and should there be a chance that the civil government of the province should be again disunited from the military command, he did hope that the dear, dear Lord, would favor him with his utmost interest towards enabling him to make the exchange which Mrs. Ryland would tell his dear Lordship, the Bishop, her husband had in contemplation.

Sir James Craig was an officer of good family. He was one of the Craigs of Dalnair and Costarton, in Scotland, but was born in Gibraltar, where his father had the appointment of Civil and Military Judge. He had seen much service in the camp and in the field. In 1770 he was appointed Aid-de-Camp to General Sir Robert Boyd, then Governor of Gibraltar, and obtained a Company in the 47th Regiment of the line. Having gone to America, with his regiment, in 1774, he was present at the battle of Bunker's Hill, where he was severely wounded. In 1776, he accompanied his regiment to Canada, commanding his company at the action at Trois Rivieres, and he afterwards commanded the advanced guard in the expulsion of Arnold and his "rebels." He was wounded at Hubertown, in 1777, and was present at Ticonderoga in the same year. He was wounded again at Freeman's Farm, and was at Saratoga with Burgoyne, and after that disastrous affair was selected to carry home the despatches. On his arrival in England, he was promoted to a majority in the 82nd Regiment, which he accompanied to Nova Scotia, in 1778, to Penobscot, in 1779, and to North Carolina, in 1781, where he was engaged in a continued scene of active service. He was promoted to the rank of Major General, in 1794, and the following year was sent on the expedition to the Cape of Good Hope, where, in the reduction and conquest of that most important settlement, with the co-operation of Admiral Sir G. K. Elphinstone and Major General Clarke, he attained to the highest pitch of military reputation. Nor were his merits less conspicuous, it is said, in the admirable plans of civil regulation, introduced by him in that hostile quarter, when invested with the chief authority, civil and military, till succeeded in that position by the Earl of Macartney, who was deputed by the King to invest General Craig with the Red Ribbon, as a mark of his sovereign's sense of his distinguished services. Sir James served, subsequently, in India and in the Mediterranean, where he contracted a dropsy, the result of an affection of the liver. This was the officer, of an agreeable but impressive presence, stout, and rather below the middle stature, manly and dignified in deportment, positive in his opinions, and decisive in his measures, though social, polite, and affable, who was sent out to govern Canada because a rupture with the United States was considered probable. Sir James on arrival at Quebec did not, however, consider hostilities imminent. Nor did he immediately organize the militia. But he lauded the Canadians for the heroic spirit which they had manifested. One of his first acts was to release from prison a number of persons convicted of insubordination, and sentenced to twelve months' imprisonment in the gaol of Montreal. The militia of the parish of L'Assomption, in the district of Montreal, had formed a painful exception in the spirit which they exhibited on being called upon to enrol for service, to that which had been exhibited everywhere else. But the rioting had been immediately suppressed, and the rioters punished by the ordinary Courts at Montreal. In gaol the rioters manifested contrition, promised good behaviour for the future, and Sir James, overlooking the faults of the few in consideration of the general merit, set the prisoners free. On the 29th of January, 1808, he convened the Legislature. He regretted, in his opening speech, that there was little probability of a speedy cessation of hostilities, in Europe. He congratulated the "honorable gentlemen," and "gentlemen," on the capture of Copenhagen and the Danish fleet, defending the morality of the offensive measures against Denmark. He lamented the discussions that had taken place between His Majesty's government and that of America. He hoped that the differences would be so accommodated as to avert the calamities of war between two nations of the same blood. He intended that no means should be neglected to prepare for the worst. Though the militia had been selected, he did not think it necessary to call them together, no immediate circumstance seeming to require it. He had appointed commissioners for the erection of new gaols in Quebec and Montreal. And he expected perfect harmony and co-operation between the legislative bodies and himself, as the representative of the sovereign. All that Sir James wished to be done the Assembly promised to do.