13th. "That appeals from the courts of justice in this province, to the crown, be made to a board of council, or court of appeals, composed of the right honourable the lord chancellor, and the judges of the courts of Westminster-hall.

pannel formed as in England, either in the case of an ordinary or a special jury, at the option of the party applying for the same; and that nine members out of the twelve may in civil causes be sufficient to return verdicts, subject to be modified by the legislature of Quebec, as in 4th article. 8th. "That the sheriffs be elected by the house of assembly, and approved and commissioned by the governor at the annual meeting of the legislature, that they hold their appointment during the period elected for, and their good behaviour, and that they find reasonable security for a faithful discharge of their duty. 9th. That no officer of the civil government, judge, or minister of justice, be suspended by the governor, or commander-in-chief for the time, from the honours, duties, salaries, or emoluments of his appointment, but with the advice and consent of his Majesty's council for the affairs of the province, which suspension shall not continue after the annual sitting of the council, unless it be approved by the same; the cause of complaint, if approved, to be thereafter reported to his Majesty for hearing, and judgment thereon.

10th. That no new office be created by the governor or commander-in-chief for the time, but with the advice and consent of his Majesty's said council, and to be approved at their annual meeting, as in the preceding article.

11th. "That all offices of trust be executed by the principal in the appointment, unless by leave of absence from the governor, with advice and consent of his council, which leave of absence shall not extend to more than twelve months, or be renewed by the governor, but with the approbation of the council at the annual session.

14th. The petitioners beg leave to represent to the House, that, from their proximity to the United States, who from situation and climate have many advantages over them, the internal regulations for promoting the trade, agriculture, and commerce of this province, are now become more intricate and difficult, and will require great care and attention, on the part of the legislature here, to watch over the interests of this country; they therefore request that the assembly may have the power of laying the taxes and duties necessary for defraying (the expenses of the civil government of the province, and for that purpose, that the laws now existing, laying taxes and duties to be levied in the province, may be repealed.

"Such are the intreaties and prayers of the loyal subjects of this province, and in full confidence they trust that the House will relieve them from the anarchy and confusion which at present prevail in the laws and courts of justice of this province, by which their real property is rendered insecure, trade is clogged, and that good faith which ought and would subsist among the people, and which is the life and support of commerce, is totally destroyed, and be pleased to secure to them a constitution and government on such fixed and liberal principles as may promote the desire the inhabitants of this province have of rendering this mutilated colony a bright gem in the imperial crown of Great Britain, and that may call on the present generation for their unceasing acknowledgments and gratitude, and upon the future to feel as the present that the security and happiness of the people and province of Quebec depend on an union with, and submission to, the crown and government of Great Britain."

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itself into a committee to consider of the said petitions, and that Mr. Lymburner be heard on the matter of the said petitions. This being agreed to, the House went into the Committee, Mr. Lymburner was then called to the bar,

and read a variety of written documents, stating the proceedings which had taken place before the judges in Canada, from whence it appeared, that their decisions had been formed on vague and indeterminate principles, one deciding according to the Roman law, another according to the French law, a third according to the English law, and a fourth, without regard to any code of law, but solely in conformity to the dictates of his conscience. The documents also afforded proof of the existence of a variety of acts of oppression and injustice in the practice of the law in Canada, which called aloud for remedy.

Mr. Powys now rose. He said, that he well knew that the subject to which he meant to call their attention was not, in spite of its magnitude, likely to engage the general attention of the House, because it did not immediately affect their interests, nor those of their constituents. It however involved the prosperity of a whole province; a province great in extent, considerable in population; a province which the House and the country had been taught to look up to as likely, in some measure, to recompense the loss of the colonies that now constituted the United States of America. The part of it called the province of Quebec was inhabited by three different descriptions of persons; first, the ancient inhabitants and natives; next, the multitude of settlers from Great Britain, and the other parts of Europe; and lastly, the great number of loyalists, who, having forfeited their estates, and been forced to abandon their situations, in consequence of their loyalty to the crown of Great Britain, and their affection and love for our government and laws, had fled for refuge to the province of Canada. These loyalists were of two sorts, those under sir John Johnson in the upper parts of Canada, who had requested his Majesty to form them into a distinct settlement; the others, persons of a different description, but who feeling equally the pressure of the law, as it now stood, had petitioned that House for relief, and had been joined in their prayer by the merchants resident in Canada, and trading to that province. The object of the petition was, to relieve them, and emancipate them from that absurd code of laws which was unjustly called the Constitution of Canada. Was there, among the various descriptions of persons resident in Canada, any to whom the principle of disloyalty could be imputed,

and on whom the stigma would attach? On the contrary, did not every inhabitant of that province avow the principle of loyalty? Were they not therefore entitled to protection? Mr. Powys mentioned, that Canada came into our hands in 1763, that soon afterwards Government published a proclamation, declaring, that as soon as circumstances would admit, British laws should be extended to Canada, and a suitable system of government adopted. Under the faith of that proclamation, many persons had settled in Canada. He then stated that rash and fatal measure, the Quebec Act (as it was called) which passed in 1774, that instituted a new form of government, creat ing a legislature, council, judges, and officers, under certain rules and regulations. No man had contended, when the Bill was under discussion, against its being merely a Bill of experiment, and meant only to have effect for a limited period. Having read some passages from the Act, and quoted the words "for a certain time," as an unanswerable proof, that the Bill was meant only to be a temporary law, Mr. Powys pointed out powers that the Bill gave, under which a certain number of persons were invested with peculiar authorities, without any limited time, and had the authority not only of making the law, but of declaring and administering it. He asked if that was not the precise criterion of a despotic government? He could quote one of the highest and most respectable opinions for declaring that it was. He alluded, he said, to Mr. Gibbon, who, speaking of the fall of the Roman Empire, stated, "that the form of a free government was totally lost, from the moment that the executive department became the legislative."-Mr. Powys next observed, that a variety of nice and interesting questions must necessarily depend on the due decisions of the courts in Canada, in cases of civil right; that personal liberty was a civil right; and what sort of security had the subject for his personal liberty where the law was undefined, loose, and unfixed? In cases of property, the laws of Canada were so vague and uncertain, that, from one or two of the documents read at the bar, it was proved, that neither the judges nor the lawyers pretended to know what the law there is. He reminded the Committee that it had been proved that some judges governed their decisions by the municipal or Roman law, others by the French law,

but he wished the British subjects in Canada to enjoy the Habeas Corpus Act as a matter of right, as we did at home, and not as a matter of favour, revocable at the will of the Crown. These were the chief points that he wished the Committee to take into their consideration. He next recapitulated the circumstances that had occurred on the subject, since the province of Canada was first ceded to Great Britain. He stated the reasons assigned for not before settling a regular form of government, and the manner in which the parties petitioning had noticed them. They had been aware that, during a long war, it was impracticable; the period of war was now over, and peace had been established for five years. The parties had the satisfaction also to see in places of the highest authority those persons to whom they owed gratitude for past favours, and to whom they looked for future support. The Committee well knew the ground on which the motion which he made in 1786 was negatived. Ministers had told the House they meant to send out full instructions for an inquiry in Canada, in order to procure the necessary information, and promised to lay the result before the House. Lord Dorchester went out in 1786, and, as soon as he arrived, he summoned the legislative council, communicated his instructions, and directed them to institute an inquiry. To aid them in that inquiry the assistance of a committee of merchants was called in. Such committees were instituted both in the districts of Montreal and Quebec. They made a report which was read in a full assembly of old and new subjects, without one dissenting voice. If the information that had been in consequence transmitted to England, was not deemed a

others by the English, and that another had declared he neither knew nor cared what the law was; there was no necessity for his knowing it, he should always decide according to his conscience. No country could be said to be well regulated that was suffered to remain in such a condition. The next question was, what ought to be done to cure these evils, to introduce order, and render the rules of legal decision regular and uniform? It required only a communication of those privileges which were the birth-right of every subject of the realm. If the inhabitants of the province of Canada were unworthy of those laws, let the grounds of that unworthiness be stated; but no man, surely, could controvert the reason, the propriety, the necessity of admitting the inhabitants of a British province to a full and free participation of the blessings of English laws.-Another material object necessary to be regulated would be the giving the judges a greater degree of independence, and lessening the servility and dependence of the superior officers. But a principal point among all the considerations was, the giving the province a house of assembly. What danger was there in following the examples this country had recently set in the colonies of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Did they imagine the ancient Canadians had still any violent prepossession for their own laws, or were disloyal? If they were well affected and loyal, they ought to be suffered to enjoy the blessings of our liberty, and feel the happiness of our security. Another consideration was, how far the institution of a House of Assembly was an object of revenue? Was the province of Canada always meant to be supported upon the bounty of this kingdom? If not, why should not the province of Canada tax themselves, and thus provide for the expenses of their own government? The inhabitants had strongly stated their ability, and their readiness to pay. Mr. Powys pointed out the distinction between this country attempting to tax its provinces, a power which that House had renounced, and suffering a province to tax itself, for the purpose of defraying its own internal charges of civil government. It was true ministers had advised his Majesty to command an ordinance to be published at Quebec, giving the inhabitants the benefit of the Habeas Corpus Act, for two years, and at the expiration of that period it had been continued for two years longer; [VOL. XXVII.]

sufficient body of information to ground a parliamentary proceeding upon, he begged to know what would be so considered, and what farther information that House was to look for? He spoke of the character of lord Dorchester, and said, be highly esteemed him in every capacity but that of a legislator, and therefore his own private opinion would be to him, of less consequence than that of any other individual conversant with the subject. The business had been taken up by merchants of the first character here and in Canada. It deserved every attention from the House, and more so, as it was, in his opinion, their peculiar duty to look to those parts of the empire which were not [2 L]

the benefits and blessings they would communicate to those to whom their operation was extended. But if he were asked, if he thought that precipitately pushing on the discussion of the subject then, without full information, would answer the purpose even of the hon. gentleman himself, who, he was persuaded, had brought on the discussion from the best and most honourable motives, he was compelled to say, he thought it would not. It was true, they had some information before them, that afforded them considerable light upon the subject, but not all the information necessary; and, therefore, to bring forward any proposition, that although, it promised to be beneficial to the province, when it could not be fully considered, was likely to lead to a system that might effectually destroy the position laid down by the hon. gentleman himself, was so preposterous, that he declared he felt himself obliged to move, "That the chairman do leave the chair."

fatal measure." When the circumstances of any colony would permit, it was his decided opinion that they ought to extend to it as much of the English laws as they could with propriety, but he was far from thinking that any well-digested proposal could be brought forward at that period of the session. With respect to the House of Assembly, two years ago the hon. gentleman had himself said, the subject was so delicate that he was not prepared to propose it; and at present, the deciding upon the measure was infinitely more delicate and difficult. The province was, according to the last advices, divided into parties of disputants, on the question, of which was the mode of government most fit to be adopted. To give Canada an House of Assembly, therefore, under the present circumstances, would be to change a solid blessing into a substantial curse, and to entail endless controversy and dispute, by erecting a seat for contest. As to what the hon. gentleman had said of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, those colonies bore not the most distant analogy to that of the province of Canada. With regard to the Habeas Corpus Act, it could not surely be urged, that there was much pressure in point of time in respect to that, because it had been admitted by the hon. gentleman, that in consequence of an ordinance, Canada was already in possession of that benefit, but not exactly in the manner stated by the hon. gentleman, because ministers had not recently sent out orders to grant them the benefit of the Habeas Corpus Act, but it had been long since granted, and the ordinance was almost an exact transcript of the act of Charles 2. It might possibly be contended, that the Habeas Corpus Act so granted, might be repealed at his Majesty's discretion. It was undoubtedly true, but did any man seriously suspect that there was any danger of his Majesty's ministers depriving the Canadians of the benefit of the Habeas Corpus Act? As to the necessity of applying English laws generally to the province, he could only say, that lord Dorchester had sent over to his Majesty two counter-petitions from most respectable persons, expressly deprecating the extension of the English laws to Canada, and praying the direct contrary from the object prayed for by the petitions on the table. As far as his opinion went, Mr. Pitt said, he wished for the introduction of English laws as extensively as possible, being perfectly convinced of the value of

Mr. For said, that he could not advert, without astonishment, to the circumstance of the King's minister having risen in that House, without shame to himself, to say he was waiting for more information, and was not prepared to meet the motion; a motion, the propriety of which he commended in general terms, and every one of the objects of which he appeared to approve. The right hon. gentleman had told them that he was waiting for the opinion of lord Dorchester. No man respected the noble lord's character as an officer more than he did. This country owed him much, but the Committee knew that the whole of his evidence on the Quebec Bill contained opinions wholly foreign to the spirit, and uncongenial with the nature of the English constitution. Lord Dorchester, therefore, was the last man living whose opinion he would wish to receive upon the subject. Two years ago his hon. friend had brought forward the question, and the right hon. gentleman had then said, that he was waiting for information; two years had since elapsed; and had not two years been sufficient to obtain the necessary information? What better period could occur for discussing the subject than at that moment? The petitions on the table gave them all the necessary information, and they ought to proceed so as to prevent the possibility of receiving more petitions. Would that Committee endure to be told, at a subsequent time, that ministers were still waiting for information, and yet, from any