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ROBERT  STUART   WOODS 


IlAkklSc^X     HALL 


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HARRISON     HALL 


AND  lis  ASSOCIATIONS, 


OR 


A    HlSrORV    OF     IllE    MUNICIPAL,    JUS>1CIA1-,    AND 

ICDUCATIONAL    INTERESTS    OF     THE 

WESTERN  PENINSUEA, 


BY 


R.  S.  WOODS,  O.  C, 


JUNIOR  JUDGE  Ol'-   KENT. 


CHATHAM: 
Planet  Hook  and  Jdh  Dki  r. 


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D  E  b  I  C  A  T  I  O  N. 


'  •) 


To  flicxanden  Jfl.  JVIason,  Esq.,  Wafden  of  the  County  of  K«fit,  and 
IVIonson  Campbell,  Esq.,  Mayor  of  the  City  of  Chathann  : 

Oentlkmen,— The  erection  of  Harrison  Hull  by  tlio  two  Municipalities,  r»f 
which  ynu  are  the  respective  heads,  with  its  name  and  purpose,  of  which  (he 
County  and  City  may  f.el  justly  proud,  demanded  a  fuller  and  more  permanent 
record,  representing  as  it  docs  one  of  the  most  rcmaikable  counties  in  Canada, — 
territ  iriaily  greater  at  one  time  than  some  of  the  king.loms  of  Europe,  and  so 
Lrge  as  to  inclu.lc  wliat  now  makes  tne  States  of  Michitran,  Ohio,  Indiana, 
Illinois  and  Wisconsin,  besides  a  large  portion  of  Ontario,  now  distributed  over 
many  couuties  and  districts,  embracing  Detroit  and  Mackinaw  as  the  teats  of  «ur 
courts  and  landboards  ;  going  southward  to  the  Ohio,  westward  to  the  Mississippi 
and  northward  to  Hudson  Jiay. 

While  having  taken  the  liberty  of  piesenting  these  pages  for  your  acceptance, 
I  have  to  express  my  regret  that  a  memorial  volume  like  this  should  not  have 
fallen  to  a  more  experienced  pen,  but  am  comforted  with  the  thought  that  it  may 
lead  to  further  study  and  in(juiry  by  some  of  my  younger  readers  and  a  furtlier 
and  more  detailed  history  of  the  County  and  Western  District  at  a  future  day. 

Trusting  ihnt  both  County  and  City  may  maintain  their  proud  position 
among  their  sis; >?r  municipalities  of  Ontario, 

I  am,  gentlemen, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

R.  S.   WOODS. 
Harkison  Hall,  January,  1896. 


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II 

P  R  E  F  A  C  R, 


The  following  pages  meet  the  reader  in  an  entirely  different  form  from  that 
which  the  author  first  intended. 

The  original  purpose  as  far  as  there  was  any  definite  intention,  was  to  publish 
the  history  in  a  series  of  newspaper  articles. 

When  the  manuscript  had  been  completed  a  iminbcr  of  prominent  gentlemen 
were  invited  to  liear  portions  of  it  read.  Tli(>y  were  unanimous  in  tlieir  decision 
to  have  the  woili  put  into  more  perm.nncnt  form  limn  the  new.spapcr  wcidd 
permit  of.  ("ommittccs  were  appointed  to  wait  upon  the  County  and  City 
Councils  with  tiic  suggestion  that  tlic  worii  Ik-  pniilis-hed  in  book  foim,  under  the 
joint  auspices  of  these  corporations,  and  the  publication,  now  in  the  hands  of  tiie 
reader,  is  the  result. 

It  is  eent  forth  witii  a  twofold  object  in  view,  vi/.,  to  piesuit  to  tiie  |)ul)lic 
the  early  and  unicpie  history  of  the  County  of  Kent,  and,  imddentally,  of  Hk^ 
Western  District;  and  to  impress  upon  our  people  the  slrug^Us  of  our  foref.itiurs 
in  acrpiiring  tiie  great  heritage,  of  wliich  IJiis  is  a  part,  ;ind  transmitting  it  to  ns 
with  liic  mural,  intellectual,  commercial  and  con.stitHtional  blessings  now  enjoyed 
by  us,  and  the  duty  imposed  upon  all  of  maintaining  tliem  in  their  integrity  and 
purity. 


K.  S.    WOODS. 


Harkimon  Hatj.,  April,  ISitfi. 


CHAPTER  I. 


3i 


lIAIMtlSOX    HALL    AND    ITS    ASSOCIATIONS. 

AVING  often  been  asked  to  p;ive  my  recollections  of  the 
County  of  Kent  iind  the  Western  District  to  the  |)ul)lic, 
and  as  "  Harrison  Hall  "  {)r(\sents  a  suitable  occasion  and 
a  f^ood  point  of  departure  for  a  survey  of  the  past,  I  have  felt 
that  my  compliance  with  this  request  mi^^ht  add  a  further  prestige 
to  our  pi.ljlic  buildings,  and  su])ply  an  informat  or;  that  would 
have  to  be  sought  from  many  ijufirtcrs  ami  ])('rlia})s  not  with  a 
success  commensurate  with  the  laboi'  of  the  iiuipiry. 

It  is  .  urprisin^  how  difficult  it  is  to  get  reliable  data  of  some 
of  the  most  important  (events  and  incidents  in  our  history,  and 
what  time  and  research  are  called  for  in  the  pursuit  of  this  pur- 
pose. 

Many  of  my  younger  readers,  and,  I  doubt  not,  some  of  the 
older  ones,  will  have  clearer  impressions  of  the  time  and  nature 
of  certain  events  in  our  local  and  general  history,  than  they  have; 
had  in  the  past  and  will  leaiTi  of  some  things  that  they  wot  not 
of  before. 

The  opening  of  a  building  like  Harrison  Hall  is  at  all  times 
an  event  of  gi'eat  interest  arw]  importance  as  marking  the  progress 
and  purpose  of  a  people.  To  trace  the  developii)ent  of  our 
present  condition,  is  to  run  back  through  all  our  Colonial  period, 
including  the  thirteen  colonies,  now  tlus  United  States — the 
Anivlo-Furitan  one — Biitain's  laws  and  customs  even  to  Ain>:lo- 
Saxon  times,  and  Fnaich  laws  and  customs  with  all  their  ])ecu- 
liarities. 

The  historic  association  is  far  reaching  and  the  backward 
])erspective  a  distant  one. 

Here,  in  our  Hall,  we  shall  not  only  ste  the  every  day  work- 
ing of  our  constitutional,  judicial  and  municipal  systen  s,  but 
learn  of  their  source,  progress  and  succtess,  and  of  events  and  inci- 
de        of  the  highest  interest  coimected  with  them. 

Harrison  Hall,  it  may  be  said,  represents  (1)  an  empii..i  won  ; 
(2)  an  empire  lost ;  (8)  an  empire  whose  supremacy  is  world- 
wide, and  of  which  we  ai-e  an  integral  pai't ;  and  it  tells  us  (.f 
seven  forins  of  changes  of  g(.  .  ernment  in  our  land  :  (1)  the  occu-" 
pation  of  Canada  by  France  utider  the  Governcrs  frtin  Cham- 
plain,  1008,  down  to  the  capitulation  in  1700;  (2)  fwu^  1700  to 


8 


17<J1',  British  Militiii-y  niic  ;  {:])  1704  1774,  the  laws  of  i*]ii^l;ui»l : 
(4)  1774  I7!)l,  the  (,)iu-Ir-c  Act;  (o)  17!)l  IS4!.  the  Coii.stitutiuiiul 
Act;  {{'))  liS4l  to  IM(;7,  u:non  of  l/j)|)('i-  uiul  Lower  Canadii,  and 
(7)  1<S()7  to  the  present  Ferleral  or  J)>iiiiinioii  Sy^•teln.  IJut  let  us 
''roj)  tl.e  ciiUjiies  m,ii»I  n'cvernnieiits  for  tlie  present,  and  turn  to 
tiie  hunihler  prcjportions  juuI  purp(j-.',;s  of  our  historic  buiidin;.'. 

First,  it  says  that  this  tine  structure  is  tin;  joint  product  of 
two  Municipal  (Jorpor.itions,  one  the  County  of  Kent,  the  other 
the  'J'own  of  Chathuui ;  fo)'  the  Judicial,  municipal  and  other 
functions  of  both. 

It  means  that  suitable  Law  chambers  have  been  ])rcvided  for 
the  Judges;  that  the  Sheritl',  Crown  .Attorney,  Clerk  of  the 
Peace,  Alaster  in  Chancery  and  (Aw!^A^i  of  the  Crown  and  Pleas 
and  (Merk  of  tlie  Count\'  and  vSurro<rate  Courts  have  fittinu' 
apartments  for  their  work  ;  tiiat  the  County  Clerk  aii'.l  the  City 
Clerk  and  the  County  and  City  Treasurers  liave  their  oHices ; 
that  tlie  County  Council  has  its  tine  Chambers  for  its  delibera- 
tions ami  legislative  diities,  as  the  City  Council  his  its,  with  ad 
tlie  accessories.  Then  there  are  the  Electoral  Franchise  de})art- 
ments  of  both  the  Dominion  and  Provincial,  as  well  as  of  County 
auvl  City.  Then  the  oifice  of  the  Board  of  Health  witli  its 
authority  over  the  City;  the  County  Board  of  Ivlucation  ;  the 
non-denominational,  non-sectarian,  but  eminently  catholic  and 
Clu'istian  Chamber — the  upper  Chamber— where  the  successors 
of  Dorcas,  of  Joppa,  do  their  i^ood  works  and  alms  <leeds,  witliout 
regard  to  class,  color,  race,  reli<rion  or  other  limitation  and  dis- 
]K'nse  their  blessin^^s  through  the  community  far  and  wide  ;  and 
further  hallowed  l>y  beinj^  the  Chamber,  too,  in  which  have  been 
held  nieetiny,'s  liavino-  for  their  object  the  carrymj;-  out  of  the 
beneficent  Act  wdiich  seeks  to  protect  the  Neglected  and  Dependent 
Children  of  Untai-io,  the  "  (MiiKlren's  Protective  Act,  18U;j,"  and 
under  which  an  organization  has  been  eti'eeted  to  that  end  for 
City  and  County. 

"  Harrison  Hall"  is  the  outward  and  visible  sign  of  a  cordial 
unity  and  co-operation  between  the  two  dominant  Municipalities 
of  the  County.  Not  that  there  has  been  the  same  niunici])al 
organic  connection  between  them  that  subsisted  prior  to  the  year 
liSJSO,  for,  for  municipal  purposes,  they  then  became  divided, 
under  that  pi-ovision  in  the  Municipal  Act  that  allows  a  town  to 
withdrav  from  its  original  association  with  the  County,  even  as  a 
village  '  ops  out  of  the  township  with  its  new  rights  and  respon- 
se biliti( 

Having  in  their  co-operative  efforts  ^rought  about  the  con- 
struction of  this  fine  buildipig  with  its  co-ordinate  functions  so 
entirely  to  the  comfort,  convenience  and  economy  of  the  officials, 
municipalities  and  public,  and  the  .security  of  their  records  and 


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9 


properties,  we  may  feel  assured  tliat  wlieii  their  common  interests 
are  to  lie  materially  beneHtted,  whether  by  roads  or  other  enter- 
i)rises,  thev  will  aijain  be  found  wo''UiiiiX  together,  as  in  this 
instance — the  'J'own  in  its  receipt  development  into  a  City  by  the 
omnipotent  power  of  the  Lej^islature,  havin<^  increased  responsi- 
l)ilities  and  capacities  thrown  upon  it 

Hirouj^h  the  courtesy  of  Mr.  Flemin<^,  tlie  County  Clerk,  I 
am  enabled  to  present  your  readers  with  this  sketch  of  Harrison 
Hall  and  am  sure  that  all  will  accord  it  a  full  measure  of  praise 
for  its  style,  design,  purpose  and  position. 


HARRISON  HALL. 


It  stands  on  the  trianoular  block,  No.  87,  Old  Survey,  S,  S. 
of  King  street  ami  between  -Hh  and  Gth  streets,  fronting  on  them 
and  on  Wellington  street  and  looking  \\\)  Centre  street. 

By  deed  of  19th  Juno,  ](S.S!),  between  Charles  R.  Atkinson, 
of  Chatham,  escpiire,  of  the  first  part,  and  the  Corporation  of 
Kent  and  the  Corporation  of  the  "^I'own  of  Chatham,  of  the  second 
part,  and  John  McCregor,  of  Tilbury  East,  gentlenian,  Hugh 
Malcolmson,  of  the  Town  of  Chatham,  merchant,  and  John  A. 
Langford,  of  Harwich,  gentleman,  o*'  the  thiivl  part,  in  consider- 
ation ol  $*),')0().00,  it  Was  conveyed  to  the  last  named  parties  of 
the  third  part  on  certain  trusts.  The  position  is  the  most  central 
in  the,  Town,  and  preferable  to   the   proposed  one  in  Tecuciseh 


10 


Park.  The  eust  .)i'  tliu  l»uil(lMi<>'.  with  its  hcutiii^i'  und  water 
systeiDs  and  its  Hno  vaults  for  tliu  several  otlices  was  .SJ^*S,''^0;}.UD, 
the  County  paymir  ^:i.S,<i.')2.:52,  aii.l  the  Town  !i5:>,o 00.77. 

The  huiltliuL;-  is  liv/antiue  in  its  architcetui'e,  with  heavy 
stoiu,'  I'ountlation,  pressed  Wrick  siiperstiucture,  triniuied  with 
Ohio  free  stone,  slate  root,  with  its  towers,  turrets,  dormers,  etc., 
liavinu  a  front.i^xe  of  one  ImndretJ  and  twelve  feet  on  Fiftii  street, 
one  hundred  feet  (;n  i."5i.\th  Street,  and  a  circular  frontage  of 
forty  eight  feet  on  Wellington  Street,  extreme  width,  eighty-one 
feet.  The  streets  are  ilagged  and  |»lante(l  v\ith  trees  and  a 
spirited  fountain  refreshes  the  neighboihood  ;  begun  in  the  Spring 
of  I  >S,S!),  it  was  h'nished  in  LSUO  and  occu|)ied  on  the  First  of  July 
of  that  year.  .     ■ 

TlIK    LAVlNO   OK   THK    FOUNDATION'    STONE. 

The  corner  stone  was  laid  by  the  (irand  Lodge  of  Ancient, 
Free  and  Accepted  Masons  of  (JaiUKla,  on  the  •^7th  day  of  August, 
A.  1).  iSiS!),  A.  L.  ;"8!S1J,  1  give  an  txtract  from  the  oflicial  report 
of  their  proceedings  : 

'■  Prayer  having  been  wiid  l)y  the  Grand  (chaplain,  the  acting 
Grand  Master  read  the  following  scroll,  which  was  deposited 
beneath  the  foundation  stone:  In  tin;  name  and  by  the  favor  of 
the  glorious  Architect  of  heaven  and  earth,  on  this  27th  day  of 
August,  A.  D.  1889,  and  in  the  era  of  Freemasonry,  Anno  Lucis 
r)889,  and  the  5'h'd  year  of  the  reign  of  our  gracious  sox'ereign, 
Victoria,  Queen  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  Kmpress  of  India 
and  the  dependencies  in  Europe,  Asia,  Africa,  Aust  alia.  Dominion 
of  C^anada,  etc.,  etc. 

His  Fxcellency  the  Rt.  Hon.  Baron  Staidey  of  Preston,  G. 
C.  B..  beino-  Governor-General  of  Canada. 

Hon.  Sir.  Alexander  Campbell,  K.  C  M.  G.,  being  Lieutenant- 
Governor  of  Ontario. 

Rt.  Hon.  Sir  John  A.  Macdonaid,  G.  C.  B.,  beinu'  President  of 
the  Council  and  Premier  of  the  Donunion  of  Canada. 

Hon.  Oliver  Mowat,  Q.  C,  being  Attorney  General  and 
Pren)ier  of  Ontario. 

Archibald  Campbell,  Esq  ,  M.  P.  for  Kent. 

Hon.  David  Mills,  M,  P.  for  Both  well. 

James  Clancy,  E.sq.,  M.  P.  P.  for  West  Kent. 

Robert  Ferguson,  Es({ ,  M.  P.  P.  for  East  Kent. 

Archibald  Bell,  Es(<.,  Ijeing  Judge  for  Ki  nt. 

Robert  Stuart  Wood.s,  Q.  C.,  being  Junior  Judge. 

.lohn  Mercer,  Esc) ,  Sheriff. 

Sidney  J.  Arnold,  Treasurer. 

William  Douglas,  Esip,  Clerk  of  Peace  and  Crown  Attorney, 

Robert  O'Hara,  Escp,  Master  in  Chajicery. 


11 


inion 


Win.  A.  Canipboll,  Dopnty  Clerk  of  ^.ho  Crown,  otc. 

The  Joint  Buildinif  (yoninnttee — Kor  the  County  of  Kont: 
John  A.  Langford.  ehiiirnian  ;  John  Howut,  L.  E.  Voijfler,  Jolm  Iv. 
Morris,  Thos.  L.  Fardo,  Geor;jfe  Jolms,  T.  15.  ( Jillnrd,  .John  Turner, 
W.  A.  Mills  and  Jolin  Me(Jrei;or:  for  the  Town  of  Chatham: 
Hiiirh  Malcolnison,  Mayor:  Jolin  A.  Walker,  Donald  M.  Christie, 
Andrew  Northwood  and  Manson  Canipliull. 

Architect — Thos.  J.  J{\itley. 

Cleric  of  the  Works — James  C.  Fleniini^. 

Contractor — Hi'othei-  Courtney  L.  Hahcock. 

Town  Council — Huoh  Malcfjhnson,  Mayor;  John  Flook. 
Manson  Cain])l)ell,  Jolui  A.  Walker,  John  Wanless  Andrew 
Northwood,  George  K.  Atkinson,  John  Carpenter,  N.  J.  Bogarb 
Donald  M.  Christie  and  O.  B.  Hulin,  Councillors. 

John  Tissiu'an,  Clerk. 

Robert  C  i' leining.  Treasurer. 

This  corner  stone  of  Ha'-rison  Hall  was  laid  by  Richard  T. 
Walkeni,  Esq.,  Q.  (/.,  Most  Worsliipful  Grand  Master  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  A.  F.  and  A.  Masons  of  Canada,  attended  and  assisted 
by  the  Grand  OHficers  and  a  laigi;  concourse  of  the  Brethren,  in 
accordance  with  the  ancient  usages  of  Masonry,  which  may  God 
prosper." 

The  Grand  Master,  in  the  course  of  his  addre.=s,  said  : 

"It  is  peculiarly  appropriati;  tlie  cornerstone  of  such  an 
edifice  as  this  .should  be;  hiid  by  a  body  possessed  of  theanticpiity, 
history  and  origin  which  1  have  mentioned.  The  principles  of 
Freemasonry  are  identical  in  character  with  those  of  whicli  this 
building  is  a  .symbol — the  spread  of  law  and  of  wisely  ordered 
government  anc^  civil  lil)ei'by." 

The  "  Hall  "  we  see  is  a  representative  one,  composite  in  its 
inception,  as  it  is  in  its  arcliitecture,  Jiiaterial  and  purpose,  the 
fruitage  of  a  very  happy  relationship  between  the  1'own  and 
Count3'. 

And  now  what  of  the  name  "Harrison  Hall"?  Why  so 
called  ?  I  might  almost  say  the  motif  for  my  paper  ari.ses  from 
this  inquiry.  So  many  p(^o])le  do  not  know  why  it  is  so  called, 
and  think  it  oui»'ht  to  havi;  liad  anothei'  name.  It  is  W(;ll  named 
after  our  honored  Chic'f  Justi<  (!  of  the  (Queen's  liencli,  the  Hon. 
Roberf  Alexander  Harrison,  and  yet,  aa  the  serpiel  will  show,  it 
might  with  jvs  good  reaison  have  been  callerl  after  the  Hon. 
SanuKil  Bealy  Harrison. 


THR    NAMESAKES. 


There  i.s  a  striking  parallelism  in   the  lives  and  pursuits  of 
the  two  men.     The  Chief  Justice  was  a  Canadian,  an  able  .ludjje 


Ifli 


12 


ant]  a  legal  author  of  distinction.  He  was  taken  direct  from  the 
Bar  to  the  CJhief  Justiceship,  of  the  Queen's  Bench,  with  the 
title  of  "  Chief  Justice  of  Ontario,"  hy  the  Hon.  Edward  I^iake, 
as  Minister  of  Justice,  althoufi^h  differinnr  in  political  sentiment, 
an  appointment  alike  honorable  to  i)oth.  His  i^reat  work,  the 
Municipal  Manual,  made  his  name  a  household  word  wherever 
Municipal  matters  were  heard  of.  In  some  respects  it  was  with- 
out precedent  in  En<(land  or  the  United  States,  and  pccidiar  to 
him.  Then  the  Common  Law  Procedure  Act,  a  work  of  ^a-eat 
labor,  research  and  value,  followed,  as  indispensable  to  the  lawj-er 
as  the  other  was  to  the  municipal  man  ;  the;  County  Courts  ^^ro- 
cedurc  Act,  the  New  Hides  of  Court  ami  a  Dii^est  of  the  llcports 
of  the  several  Courts  of  Ontai-io  from  the  earliest  days,  and  otlier 
volumes  made  him  known  in  En<;land,  the  United  States  and  the 
British  Colonies  as  an  author  of  repute.  Then,  in  1 877,  he  was 
one  of  the  three  arbitrators  who  fixed  the  northern  and  western 
boundaries  of  Ontario,  Sir  Edward  Thornton,  tlio  iJritish  Minister 
at  Washington,  and  Sir  Francis  Hincks  l)eini,'  the  otlu^"-  arbitrators. 

He  was  al.so  the  member  for  Voronto  in  the  J)ominion  l^arliament, 

* 
and  died  in  l<S7tS,  at  the  <'arly  nj^o  of  forty-five. 

And  now  comes  the  namesake^ — the  Hon.  Samuel  He-dey 
Harrison.  Ho  was  -an  Knulish  lawyer  of  distinction,  and  known 
lon<j  before  he  came  to  Canada  to  h've,  as  ho  did  in  l!S.'}7, 
as  the  Author  of  Harrison's  ])i<;est  ri  the  decisions  in  tlu^ 
Enf^li.sh  Courts  from  tlie  year  l7-i0  lo  1.S.S4,  an  edition  of 
Woodfall's  Landlord  and  Tenant  and  other  works  of  inei-it.  In 
f8.*jn  he  became  private  secretary  to  our  Lieutenant  Governor, 
Sir  Geori^e  Arthur.  In  1841  he  cnteied  fjord  Sydeidiant's  (}<<)v- 
(!rnment  as  Provincial  Secretary,  and  in  July  of  that  y(^ar  intro- 
duced the  bill  which  pive  to  Upper  Canada  her  Municipal  I.isti- 
tutions,  as  well  as  the  celebrated  Resolutions  v/lich  irave  us 
Responsible  Government;  and  the  first  p;enerid  School  Bill  for 
Upper  Canada,  and  was  the  Minister  of  Public  Works,  and  was, 
later,  Chairman  of  the  l>oard  of  Education  for  Upper  Canada  in 
1848.  In  1841  he  contcstMl  Kent  against  my  brother,  Mr. 
Joseph  Woods,  who  defeated  him,  wdien  he  was  returned  for 
Kinii;ston,  then  the  seat  of  (ioverimicnt  of  United  Canada,  but  in 
1844  he  again,  and  this  time  successfully,  conte-ted  the  County 
against  my  laother,  but  never  took  his  seat,  for,  before  the  meet- 
ing of  Parliament,  he  accepted  the  Judgeship  of  the  Surrogate 
Court  of  the  Home  District,  and  later  became  Judge  of  the  Home 
District,  including  the  City  of  Toronto,  which  he  held  until  his 
death  in  1807,  in  the  66th  year  of  his  age.  He  was  called  to  the 
Bar  of  this  Province  in  1889,  was  made  a  Queens  Counsel  in 
1845.  It  was  his  conscientious  .sciuples  as  to  the  infliction  of  the 
death  penalty  that  prevented  his  acceptinj>  a  seat  on  tlie  Superior 


^^roat 


13 

Court  nonch,  but  upon  ll,o  County  Court  he  conl-errcl  a  urw 
(Ji<,mity  l.y  becoiniriir  one  of  its  ju(l«>es. 

1  .    ??•■  Pt"'"1"  ^V""  '^'^"'•"'il.'in  "peakin.r  of  the  J)i.rcst  of  the 
ate  Ch.et  Justice  (Robinson  fe  Harrison  srsavs.  not  t7,e  la  t     ? 
the  clanns  whi.h   that  most  e.tin.abie  and  ace mnplishe.l  .-■  -nt  e 

This  nr^""  ^-  K  H'V;''^'^"-  '^  ""  ^"'^  ^-tefuf  .eu.eLb.'ln^e 
L  r  r.T'''"'''  "-^^thren,  ahUe  of  the  English  a.ul  Ontario 
Jiar,  IS  that  he  vva.s  the  hrst  author  of  a  thoro..>;i)|y  oood  J)i,.est 
winch  was  not  only  l^st  in  his  own  ,l,-,y.  l,ut  the  Wireet  an c^; tor 
of  the  best  in  ours.  Ha.l  th.re  l,een  no  "  Ifarrison."  there  wouhl 
have  been  no  ';  FYsher,"  an.l  worse  still,  to  the  Onhrio  lawye 
least,  no  "  Robinson  and  Harrison."  ^ 

.In  -e,s,  both  were  Members  of  Parliament:  both  w.iv  k-al 
authors;  both  reporters  of  the  Queen's  Reneh  •  both  closely 
relate(    to  our  IV  nnic.pal  institutions,  the  one  as  the  father  of 

moTAf  H  ^''/ '1'  commentator;  both  .i,^reat  workers  an< I  boMi 
men  of  the  hi^^hest  character.     P.dmam  mil  n.cult 

Bomoastes  says,  "1  can't  ulvise.  Ton  n.y  soul,  I  can't."  As 
the  hyphen  IS  so  much  in  vo^^ue  these  days  why  shouhl  it  no. 
solve  the  problem,  and  evolve  the  euphonious  duality  of 

"  irAHHIHOX-flARUrsoX  IIALI,." 

What  do  you  say,  impartial  reader  '. 


->^^ 


'/^^^ 


*^-^{q-^ 


14 


CHAPTKIl  IF. 


MU\Trn>AL   OIKSANIZATION   AND    DEVELOPMENT. 

~l/'()\V  Kent,  in  contniDn  with  hor  sister  iimnieipalities  of  On- 
'gV  tario,  has  frrown  !  Wiiat  a  system  the  innnicipal  one  is  and 
^^  ^  how  apt  we  are,  ftoiii  our  familiarity  with  it,  to  niuler-rate 
or  forii^et  its  excellencies.  It  is  a  machine  of  infinite  capacity  and 
expansion  so  facile  and  a<laptative  to  every  demand,  tliat  it 
enables  you  with  ecjual  ease  to  make  a  cidv'ert  over  a  ditch  or 
hoi'row  a  million  of  dollars,  as  has  hcen  shown  in  our  own  County 
with  the  iirain>r^e  laws. 

An  American  Statesman  lias  said  of  Municipal  Institutions : 
"  Profound  investii>ation  has  been  made  from  time  to  time  a.s  to 
the  historical  orii^in  of  these  little  municipal  organizations,  but  I 
am  content  to  leave*  the  (picstion  where  Joiin  Milton  l,:ft  it  200 
years  ajjo.  'But  I  say,' said  Milton,  '  even  towns  and  liurrou^lis 
are  more  ancient  than  kin^s  and  thnt  the  people  is  the  people 
though  they  should  live  in  the  open  fields.'  The  rinht  and  the 
duty  of  the  citi/-en  to  understand  and  manai>e  tlieir  own  local 
affairs;  to  estal)lish  and  su])printend  their  own  schools;  to  organ- 
ize and  enforce  their  own  police  ;  and  lay  and  levy  their  own 
taxes,  and  to  regulate  and  control  the  cxjienditure  of  the  moneys 
raiseci  by  taxation  ;  freely  choosini;-  their  ownajfents  for  all  these 
local  ])urposes,  and  their  owni  representatives  for  the  larger  con- 
cerns and  counsels  of  the  connnonwi^alth — the  possession  and 
exercise  of  these  special  powers  and  obligations  of  municipalities 
have  done  more  than  all  other  things  to  (piicken  the  intelligence 
of  the  Avhole  jienple  and  make  tliem  ca]>able  of  achieving  and 
upholdijig  the  prosperity  and  the  lil)erty  in  which  we  now  rejoice." 

(ireen,  in  his  History  of  l:Cngland,  says:  •' In  England  the 
history  of  the  town  and  of  the  country  are  one — the  privilege  of 
the  burgei"  has  spet'dily  widened  into  the  lii)erty  of  the  peo])le  at 
large — the  municijial  charter  has  mergeci  into  the  great  charter 
of  the  realm. 

"All  the  little  troubles  over  toll  and  tax,  all  the  little  claims 
of 'custom  '  an  1  franchise,  have  told  on  tlie  general  advance  of 
liberty  and  law.  The  town  motes  of  the  Norman  reigns  tided 
free  di.scussion  and  .'•elf-govei'nment  over  from  the  Witanagemot 
(or  asseird)ly  of  wis(>  men)  of  the  old  England  to  the  Parliament 
of  the  new. 


15 


"  Tlu!  liustiiin- coui-t  with  its  i-t'sc^lutc  jissiTtiuii  ot"  Justiee  liy 
one's  pt'i'iN,  iTiwi".  us  tli<'  wlioli'  raliric  of  our  judic-lal  loi^'i.slatioii. 
Tlif  foiitiiit  iital  ti  uii  lost  its  itii|i\iilufility  by  sinkiii;^'  to  the  Ii;vi'l 
ot  tlu'  l.iiid  I'roiii  \viii(;li  it  Imd  isolated  itself.  'Ilie  b^iij;lisli  town 
lost  its  indi\  idua'ity  l»y  liflinj;  the  country  ut  lar^e  to  its  own 
le\el  of  freedom  and  law." 

Fii/hlx  /nit'/'il  far  fnctloni,  he  calls  these  efforts. 

(•OAIMISSlOMi:US'    UKI'OKT. 

An  interesting  study  of  our  nnniicipal  liistory  is  here  open 
to  us,  and  the  ('anailian  student  will  find  liiniself  aifreealily  aided 
in  it  hy  the  reports  of  the  Ooinnnssioners,  a[)pointi'd  i>y  tlie 
( )iitaii(j  (lovernnient  in  l.S(S7,  to  collect  information  and  report 
with  refeience  to  certain  munici|)al  and  otlier  matters,  which 
reports  appeai'ed  in  I  .SSN,  the  Conunissioners  hein^- tiie  Hon.  'V. 
\\ .  An^lin,  K.  K  li  dohnson,  (^.  ('.,  and  William  Houston,  M.  A., 
name's  well  kn(nvn  in  Ontario  and  Liivimr  every  !JUii'"'i"tee  of  an 
exhaustive  and  ])rofital»le  in([uiry. 

'I'he  Commissicners  s.",y  they  vvei'e  directeil  hy  Connnission 
under  the  ^^reat  seal  of  the  I'rovince  to  collect  ami  rejiort  on,  foi- 
the  information  of  the  Lei^islature  and  the  (loverinnent  of  this 
I'l-ovince.  the  constitution,  •'ove'rnment  and  laws  afi"eclni2-  muni- 
ciprd  institutions  in  otlier  counti'ies  and  ])rovinces,  and  the  work- 
iiii^-  of  tlie  same  and  any  {)roposals  which  have  bi'en  made  and 
not  yet  adopted  for  their  improvement,  witli  special  reference  to 
any  material  ))articulars  in  wdiich  such  constitution,  goverjnnent 
and  laws,  especially  in  the  case  of  cities  and  counties,  ilifl'tM-  from 
the  ccjnstiiution,  /government  and  laws  of  municipal  institutions 
in  this  I'rovince  and  also  to  make  (MUjuiries  with  reference  to  and 
report  on  the  local  machinery  in  use  or  necessary  to  secure  the 
due  administi'atio'i  of  criminal  justice. 

The  scope  ot*  the  enquiry  we  were  thus  instructed  to  make 
is  manifestly  verj'  wide.  We  found  the  materials  within  our 
ran<4e  very  meaf^re.  The  works  on  municii)al  institution  to  he 
found  in  the  Leifislative  Libi'ary  are  tew  in  nundjer,  none  of  thetn 
were  written  for  the  purjiose  of  facilitatin»if  such  an  en(juiry,  and 
nearly  all  of  them  were  published  before  some  ot  the  important 
amendments  of  the  laws,  Avhich  liave  materially  changed  the 
character  of  ttie  municipal  institutions  of  (Jreat  Britain  an«l  of 
many  cities  of  the  United  States  were  made. 

We  endeavored  to  procure  copies  of  the  recent  Acts  of  State 
Lejfislation  and  of  State  works  bearinf^  upon  this  subject  and 
such  information  "[enerally  as  we  believed  to  be  necessary  in 
order  to  carry  out  our  instructions  fully,  but  our  ettbrts  in  this 
direction  have  not  been  as  successful  as  we  could  wish. 

We  find  a  more  profitable  field   for  enquiry  in  the  United 


IG 


Status.  I'Voiii  tliiit  country  vvu  luive  hiorc  irmiu'diattly  recoiviMl 
our  systoin,  at  li'iist  in  (jutline.  The  circuinstaiiccs  (jf  tliu  ju'opltj 
of  tlwit  couutrv  more  iioirlv  rcscuiblo  our  own  in  url»un  and  in 
rural  distrifts  and  wu  can  reasonahly  conclude  that  whatever 
works  satisfactorily  amorij^st  them  is  not  wholly  unsuited  to  us. 
The  township  system  as  distin<fuished  from  what  is  some- 
times called  the  county  system,  was  adopted  in  New  England 
from  its  s'iiYy  first  settlement.  How  this  came  t'j  pass  no  one 
seems  precisely  to  know.  The  system  had  hecome  ohs(;lete  and 
almost  f()r!.;otten  in  Kii^land  and  there  appears  to  have  been  no 
attempt  to  restore;  it  durinjj^  the  time  of  the  Commonwealth.  In 
their  second  report  the  Commissioners  say:  In  our  first  re])ort  of 
March,  i(SSS,  we  endeavored  as  well  as  tluitinie  and  nutans  at  our 


d(J 


disposal  would  allow,  to  ])lace  uetore  the  lje;j[islature  and  iio\ern- 
meiit  of  tins  Pi-ovince,  accurate  and  detailed  infcn'mation  res])ect- 
iiiif  the  tiatnre  and  workin-^  of  municipal  institutions  m  other 
countries.  Our  iiKpiiries  covered  (ireat  Jiritain,  Ireland,  (ler- 
many,  France,  the  ITnited  States  of  America,  and  the  Canadian 
Provinces  of  Quehec,  New  Brunswick.  Nova  Scotia  -.wvy  Pi-ince 
Edward  Island.  We  dealt  also  to  some  extent  with  municipal 
institutions  in  Ontario,  takin<f  the  opinions  of  many  exj.erts  on 
tliiiir  workinif  and  alleired  defects.  In  the  course  of  our  investi- 
Ration  of  the  Ontario  system,  we  were  forced  to  the  conclusion 
tliat  the  system  is  now  one  of  (lie  best  m  the  wtrld  and  that  it  will 
continue  to  he  one  of  the  best,  if  from  time  to  time  we  make 
those  chan.<.jes  and  only  tiiose  wdiicli  the  most  dijliherate  consider- 
ation shows  to  he  necessary  or  desirable.  To  facilitate  such  con- 
sideration by  artbrding  a  comprehensive  view  of  the  pr()>ri-e.s.s  of 
the  Ontario  system  we  have  made  a  thorouifh  search  of  the 
statutes  and  Parliamentary  proceedinns  of  tlie  Province."  Ar'd 
then  follows  an  Historical  resume  of  the  Jesuit  of  their  incjuiries 
in  a  volume  of  \i'2*.)  pages,  ineludini^  the  first  report,  to  which  1 
have  much  pleasure  in  referring  tlie  reader. 

Mit.  m'evov's  essay. 

The  essjuy  of  J.  M.  McEvoy,  of  London,  Barrister-ut-law,  on 
"The  Ontario  Township,"  and  its  introduction  by  Professor  VV.  i. 
Ashley,  then  of  Toront*^  University  and  now  of  Harvard,  Cam- 
bridu*',  n>'iv  be  also  read  and  studied  with  much  beneHt. 

Professor  Ashley  says  that  "nothiii'f  is  more  striking  (o  the 
intellectual  history  of  our  own  time,  nothing  more  full  of  hope 
than  the  growing  interest  excited  by  political  science.  It  mat- 
ters luit  little  wliether  it  is  called  by  that  name  or  diviJed  into 
its  various  elements,  1  istory,  econoimes,  administration,  public 
finance  and  the  like."  Certaiidy,  the  recent  battle  that  has  just 
been  waged  in  Toronto  University,  by  th<;)  Political  k^cience  Club 


17 


ami  its  synipiithi/ers,  with  the  iiutlioritifs  (4*  t'lc  C' illcijo,  ro<'  t- 
itii^  in  )i  (Jovi'rntiii'nt  ('OHi mission  with  tlic  ('hicf  Jus  ice  ol*  Mnn- 
itoba  Its  its  chiiii'iiian,  i^ivc^  cil^jc  to  this  ()[)ini()n. 

Mr.  Mcl^voy  hc^^ins  his  iiitcrfsti'i^  nioiio^^iMph  wit  i  ihi-  Act 
of  17!)3,  innpoworiii}^  thf  inhahitnuts  of  townships  to  t'h'ct  cfitain 
officers,  and  says  it  is  custonwiry  to  sav<h»tiirio  is  divided  into 
counties,  and  that  these  counties  are  suh-<Iivi(h'd  into  town■^hips. 
It  wouhl  he  nearer  thi;  truth  to  say  that  Dntaiio  is  divided  into 
townships  and  that  those  townships  are  ;rrouped  into  counties; 
the  first  ijjroupini^  havin^f  taken  phic.i  in  17iSN  into  tlie  Districts 
of  fjunenhur;.',  rilecklinl)ur^di,  Nassau  and  Ilessc;  thest>  hcin<; 
changed  filter  into  the  Eastern,  iVlidhmd,  Home  and  Western,  with 
later  <jjroupin<j[s, 

"The  township  is  th.e  unit  to  whicli  much  of  the  centralized 
power  and  authority  of  tlie  State  has  steadily,  thoULdi  sh)wdy, 
iilt(!red  (h)wn  ;  and  while  it  has  always  hf*;n  the  smalL'st  unit  of 
self-}^overnment,  it  has  also  ()een  that  in  which  tlie  people  have 
most  directly  participated  in  the  work  of  jjfovernment. 

To  persons  who  to-day  see  the  extensive  and  intricate  work 
done  hy  our  County  and  Township  Councils,  the  (juestion  arises, 
'  How  was  this  work  done  under  the  town-meetini^  system  V  A 
larjifc  proportion  of  it  was  not  done  at  all.  The  Pn)vinci)il  Le<^is- 
lature  did  some  of  it,  the  j^reat  trunk  roads  havini^  been  built  by 
comnnssioners  aj)pointed  and  paid  by  the  (Jovernment.  But  tlu^ 
great  part  of  the  administration  of  local  afiairs  was  in  the  hands 
of  the  Magistrates  in  Quarter  Sessions.  They  possessed  wide, 
judicial  as  well  as  administrative,  and  taxing  powers." 

I  can't  agree  with  Mr.  McEvoy  in  his  depreciation  of  this 
Court  or  of  its  members. 

QUAUTEIl  SESSIONS  AND  J   P.'s  OF  THE  WESTERN  DISTillCT,  1841. 

In  the  Western  District,  in  my  early  years,  they  were  as 
intellectual  and  re[)resentativo  a  body  of  men  as  could  well  bo 
found  in  any  country  and  I  hrve  endeavored  to  preserve  their 
names  by  ^dving  the  list  of  th  Justices  of  the  Peace  for  the 
Western  District  in  1841  : 


Charles  Eliot, 
James  Gordon, 
Francis  Buby, 
(jioorge  Jacob, 
Jean  B.  Baby, 
Wm.  Duff, 
John  Dolson. 
Wm.  McCrae, 


Francis  Caldwell, 
Duncan  Warren, 
James  W.  Little, 
Joseph  Smith, 
Robert  Innes, 
Henry  VanAllen, 
James  Read, 
Wm.  Gaspe  Hell, 


Wni.  L.  Baby, 
John  F.  Elliott, 
l^rooke  Young, 
*George  Duck, 
David  H.  Gesner, 
R.  E.  Vidal, 
Rowland  Win<ifield 
Wm.  Taylor, 


tJ^uI/ 


*Y\o\\\  this  downwards  are  new  magistrates. 


Ks 


Wm.  JoncH, 
Isaac  liell, 
(Jc'or^'o  P.  KinN^y, 
Ihincan  McCircj^Dr, 
Alatthow  Klliott. 
('harlcs  Kortier, 
Win.  K.  Wri-lit, 
Jolin  Prince, 


Will.  Giflord. 
(it'or^t!  Ironsidt'H, 
Will.  Dntr, 
Win.  Klek-licr, 
Lioiu'l  H.  .lolinHon, 


T,  Southorlatiil,  si„ 
tlainos  IvUtldlt', 
Alt'xaii(l(!r  .1.   W'allcti, 
David  M.  Coll, 
Will.  Cos^ravo 


Danit'l  T.  McDonald,  Suinucl  Arnold, 


Tlios.  Williaiii.s, 
Tlio.M.  McChao,  jr., 
.Ioso])li  Woods,  .lolin  A.  Wilkinson, 

'/mm  Alfred  P. 'I^iv1h><*<>u,  Charles  Askin, 
Fronie  'i'alfouid.  Robert  jjacldan, 

Oor^e  Durand,  James  ])ou<;all, 

Matthew  W.  Fuar,      Robert  Reynolds, 
Thos.  W.  Rotlnvell,     John  Ferri.s, 
John  Scratch,         .      Horatio  Nelson. 

\clectvtje  IHidmiH-H  (S>i-ily;^^r/^ Benjamin  [javalle, 
John  C  Watson,         Samuel  Gaidiner, 
Lewis  Cordon,  Robert  Mercer, 

James  Askin,  Thomas  Renwick, 


Thos.  W.  Smith, 
Henry  Han  well, 
.lames  Raby, 
Josiah  Stronj;, 
John  (J.  W^eir, 
Charles  R.  Nixon, 
Charles  A.  Smith,     ' 
John  K.   VanAUen, 
Jlichard  Dobbyn, 
Norman  L.  Freeman, 
Archibald  Voun<;, 
Thos.  Hill, 
John  Sloan. 


The  t'ollowinir  names  are  omitted  in  the  new  commission  : 


Wm.  Ambridi^e, 

Henry  Jones,  sr. 

V.  Sumner  (deceased), 

Win.  Anderton, 

Daniel  O'Reilly, 

(Jordon  Buchanan, 

Win.  McCormick  (dcceascil), 

Nathan  Cornwall. 


Claude  Gouin  (resig.), 
H(>nry  Jones,  jr., 
Goorije  Hyde  (resij^.), 
Robert  Watson, 
A.J.  E.  Vidal. 
Field  Talfourd, 
Louis  Rendt, 
Harry  Allison, 

Until  IS4.")  the  Chairman  was  not  required  to  l)c  a  profes- 
sional man,  but  after  that  the  Jud;j;e  had  to  be  a  barrister  of  five 
years'  standinfij,  but,  as  a  rule,  the  most  experienced  and  able 
Magistrate  of  the  District  was  appointed  and  re-appointed  from 
year  to  year  for  a  succession  of  years,  just  as  I  remember  one  of 
our  Wardens  of  this  County,  ]\Ir.  .lames  Smith,  of  Dawn,  beint^ 
continued  in  the  office  of  Warden  for  ton  consecutive  years  with- 
out opposition. 

But  what  is  remarkable  is  that  up  to  this  day  in  Enfjhmd  a 
large  portion  of  the  administrative  work  of  the  parish  i>  done  by 
the  Quarter  Ses.uon8,  in  conjunction  with  the  Parish  Counci's, 
showing  that  England,  with  all  her  progressiveness,  appre- 
ciates the  capacity  of  the  Sessions,  both  as  a  legislative  and 
administrative  body ;  and  then  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  the 
Parish  Councils  have  only  recently  been  brought  into  existence, 
even  in  the  City  of  London  (1888),  while  Canada,  since  1841,  has 
had  her  County  Councils. 


10 


'' 


T.onnS   DUUIIAM    ANO   SYDENHAM. 

\Vliil(!  lionl  Durham,  in  his  cclchriiteil  ri'port  iJ])on  CjuukIu, 
l.S.'Ji),  rotVirod  to  un<l  recoinim'ndcd  thi;  adoption  ol"  niunieipiU 
institutions,  tlio  Act  of  l^nion  eontainud  no  reference  to*  tnis 
important  measure. 

His  Excellency  Lord  Syd((nliam,  however,  in  the*  speech 
from  the  throne  on  t^e  o])eninu;  of  Parliament  on  the  2()th  of 
May,  1.S41,  first  I'arliii  i'  iit  of  United  Canada,  made  it  the  sub- 
ject of  s])ecial  reference  ii;  these  words: 

It  ajjpears  liiL^hly  desirable  that  the  principles  of  local  self- 
ijovernmt'nt,  which  already  prevail  to  some  extent  throu<,du)ut 
that  part  of  the  Province  M'hich  was  formerly  Upper  Canada, 
shoultl  receive  a  more  extended  a])plication  there,  and  that  tlio 
])eople  should  exercise  a  j^reater  degree  of  power  over  their  own 
local  affairs.  1  havo  directed  a  measure  upon  this  .subject  to  be 
submitted  to  you,  and  I  solicit  your  earnest  attention  to  the 
establishment  of  such  n  form  of  local  <rovernment  for  tliose  diH- 
tricts  of  the  Province  which  are  unprovided  with  it,  as  may 
insure  satisfaction  to  the  peo{)le,  whilst  it  j)reserves  inviolate  the 
the  preroijative  of  the  Crown,  and  maintains  the  administration 
of  justice  pure  from  party  and  popular  excitement." 

This  was  folhnved  by  the  introduction  of  a  Bill  on  the  14th 
of  July,  by  the  Hon.  Mr.  Harrison,  as  already  stated.  . 

FIRST   MUNICIPAL   ACT. 

From  personal  observation  as  a  young  man,  attending  the  first 
Session  of  United  Canada,  at  Kingston,  I  can  recall  the  passage 
of  this  Municii)al  Act,  and  the  fierce  struggle  on  the  floor  of  the 
House  in  which  it  was  carried.  A  very  erroneous  imi)ression  is 
still  prevalent  in  Ontario  witli  reference  to  this  important  Act, 
and  as  to  which  ])arty  we  are  indebted,  for  its  adoption,  most 
people  referring  it  to  the  Hon.  Robert  Baldwin  and  his  Govern- 
ment for  its  paternity.  But  it  came  from  Mr.  Draper's  Govern- 
ment, from  which  Mr.  Baldwin  had  retired  the  first  day  of  the 
Session.  The  order  of  the  House  was:  "That  the  Honourable 
Mr.  Harrison  have  leave  to  bring  in  a  Bill  to  provide  for  the 
better  internal  Government  of  that  part  of  this  Province,  hereto- 
fore Upper  Canada,  by  the  establishment  of  local  or  municipal 
authorities  therein." 

It  was  resisted  with  great  bitterness  as  a  measure  introduc- 
ing democracy  with  universal  sufferage  and  all  its  attendant 
evils,  while  some  opposed  it  as  a  matter  of  "tyranny"  and  as  "a 
fatal  enlargement  of  the  powers  of  the  Executive."  It  was  called 
"  liberal  without  precedent,"  "  republican  and  democratic,"  "  an 
abominable  measure,"  "  a  monstrous  abortion."  Sir  Allan  Mac- 
Nab,  the  Hon.  S.  Cartwriglit,  Hon.  Robert  Baldwin  and  others 


20 


under  tlie  rule  of  these  leaders  opjwsed  it.  Mr.  Baldwin  moved 
tile  .si.x  months  hoist.  He  al.s«>  opposed  the  Couneds  iiaviui,'  the 
power  to  horiow  any  sum  or  sum.s  of  money  whatevei*  u})on  the 
credit  *(»f  their  lespective  numicipal  districts  or  of  the  pro|)e)'ty 
l)eloni;iii<>;  to  them  in  their  coi'poi'atc  capacity  or  in  any  way 
Vvdiatevei-."     And  this  power  was  not  oivcm  to  them. 

A.i;aiii,  Mr.  lialdwin  moved  that  the  8th  clause  of  the  ]3ill  he 
amended  bv  strikinir  out  the  nords,  "  .'}()()  inhabitants  and  house- 
holders  on  assessment  list  as  aforesaid,"  and  inserting  in  lieu 
thereof  the  words,  "  JJOOO  souls."  "         :       • 

Mr.  Baldwin  also  moved,  "That  the  said  Bill  he  reconunitted 
with  instructions  to  the  connnittee  'to  limit  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  local  authorities  thercoy  proposed  to  be  established  to  can- 
ties  and  ridings,'"  And  yet  lie  was  in  favor  of  municipal  institu- 
tions, and  gave  us,  in  184!),  the  more  enlarged  system. 

So  jealous  was  the  House  of  the  prerogatives  of  tiie  Cro\v'n 
that  the  Executive  retained  in  its  own  hand  the  appointment  of 
the  Wardens.  I  have  often,  in  the  long  interval  since  the  pass- 
age of  this  Act,  reflected  upon  the  extreme  conservatism  that 
marked  the  Governments  and  peoples  of  the  world  in  viewing 
tverything  in  the  way  of  reform,  or  I  had  almost  said,  of  pro- 
gress. This  was  in  ipient  Home  Rule,  and  the  Home  Rule  ques- 
tion of  the  present  day  in  Imperial  politics  has  hardly  been 
regarded  with  more  aversion,  or  greater  fears  for  existing  insti- 
tutions anu  the  integrity  of  the  Empire,  than  this  moderate 
municipal  measure,  and  I  can  recall  many  other  questions  in 
which  the  same  fears  have  been  expressed,  notably  Res])onsible 
Government,  wdiich  provoked  as  much  political  rancour  and 
dread  as  the  rebellion  itself;  the  Rebellion  Losses  Act,  which 
nearly  led  the  Conserviitives  into  rebellion  on  the  passage  of  that 
Act  in  April,  184!),  and  did  lead  to  the  burning  of  the  Parliament 
buildings  and  the  removal  of  Parliament  from  Montreal  for  all 
time  to  come.  And,  perhaps  it  is  not  generally  known,  that  side 
by  side  with  this  Municipal  Bill,  were  the  Resolutions  of  Parlia- 
ment which  gave  us  that  great  change  in  our  constitutional  life, 
known  as  "Responsible  Government."  or  the  administration  of 
affairs  in  accordance  with  the  well  understood  wishes  of  the 
people. 

The  Act  4  and  o  Vic,  Chap.  10,  entitled:  'An  Act  for  the 
better  internal  government  of  that  part  of  this  Province,  which 
formerly  constituted  the  Province  of  Upper  Canada,  by  the 
establishment  of  local  or  municipal  authorities  therein,"  went  into 
operation  on  the  first  of  January,  1842. 

FIRST  COUNTY   COUNCIL   OF  TH3  WESTERN   DISTRICT. 

Sandwich   was  thrn  the  county  town  of  the  Counties  of 


21 


Essex  and  Kent,  united  iiuinicipally  and  judieiiiliy,  but  si»[)!ir<ited 
for  electoral  purposes.  The  Council  met  at  .Sandwich  in  the 
Cour*;  House.  There  were  'H\  uiend)i'rs.  The  Warden,  who,  as 
before  said,  was  appointed  by  the  CJovernment,  was  John  Dolsfii, 
Es(i.,  of  Dover,  Deputy-Registrar  of  Kent,  the  Reoistrar  of  Kent, 
the  late  Mr.  Wni.  Jones,  of  IJaldoon,  doini;  the  work  of  the  oflice 
wholly  through  his  Deputy,  who  kept  his  otlice  at  his  residence, 
about  thi'ee  miles  down  the  river.  Mr.  Dolsen,asoiieof  that  lar<^e 
and  influential  family  still  prominent  in  this  county,  was  one  o* 
the  most  silent  men  I  ever  met,  but  he  made  a  good  Warden  and 
was  at  the  head  of  a  Council  from  which  material  for  either  the 
Lej^islative  or  Executive  Council  mi<^ht  have  been  chosen— ctdti- 
vated,  intelli<;ent  men  with  large  ex])erience  in  township,  (^)uarter 
Sessions  and  other  duties,  well  <jualifying  them  for  their  duties  in 
this  Held.  I  <five  a  list  of  them  as  the  patren  cmscnptt  of  our 
municipal  history: 

WESTERN  DISTRICT  COUNCIL — COUNCILLORS  OT  1842. 


Anderdon, 

Colchester,  ■    . 

(jrostield, 

Mersea, 

Maidstone, 

Maiden, 

Rochester,         *. 

S/indwich,    - 

Sandwich, 

Tilbury  West, 

Caujden. 

Dawn  and  Zone, 

Dover  E.  and  W 

Chatham, 

Harwich, 

Howard, 

Moore, 

Orford.       - 

PIym[)ton, 

Raleigh, 

Ronniey. 

Sombra,     - 

Sarnia, 

Tilbury  East,     ■ 

Bosanquet,     - 

Warwick 


John  Dolsen,  Warden. 

-     John  Sloaii 

-  -         -         -         John  Ferris 
-         :•         Josiah  Strong 

-  -         -         -     John  Jackson 
-         -         -         -         Duncan  Grant 

Robert  Reynolds 


George  Elliott 

John  G.  Watson 

Dominicpie  Langlois 

laomas  Hirons 

David  Sherman 

James  Smith 

Robert  Crow 

John  Crow 

-  William  Thotnson 

George  Duck 

-     James  Baily 

David  H.  Gesner 

-  Thomas  L.  Crooke 

Joseph  Smith 

Thomas  Renwdck 

Duncan  Macdonald 

George  Durand 

Henry  McNeil 

Neal  Eastman 

-     Abraham  Infjlis 


They  were  aided  in  their  labors  by  an  able  Solicitor,  the  late 


')•) 


Judfife  Cliewett,  and  Mr.  Jolm  Cowan,  tlioir  Clerk,  fornierly  the 
editor  and  ])r()|)ri(4or  of  the  tirst  newspaper  i)ul)li.shed  in  ihe 
Western  Di.^triet — '"  The  Eniijjrant " — ^])ul)li.slied  in  Sandwich  from 
l<s;iO  to  18;37.  The  Solicitor  used  to  liave  IiIh  seat  on  the  iloor  of 
the  Council  ready  at  all  times  to  aid  with  his  advice.  This  was 
contituKMJ  when  I  left.  Upon  Mr.  Chewett's  appointment  as 
Judi^e  of  the  District  Court,  in  184').  he  was  succeed(;d  by  Mr. 
Alexander  Dull'  of  Amlierstbur^,  upon  whose  de.ith,  i*i  1840,  I 
became  the  Solicitor  and  continued  so  till  1841),  and  I  recall  the 
fact  that  the  Collectors'  rolls  bein;;'  placed  in  my  hands  for  col- 
lection not  less  than  twenty  of  the  Collectors  were  in  arrear, 
which  made  it  somevhat  serious  for  tliem  and  their  sureties,  and 
not  a  biid  thing  for  tlie  Solicitor. 

THE    POUND-KEEl'ER. 

I  am  thus  the  ohlest  Municipal  Officer  in  the  three  counties, 
but  1  have  an  additional  claim  to  this  distinction ;  for  I  had  the 
honor  of  bein<;  unanimously  elected  to  the  ancient  and  honour- 
able office  of  Pound-keeper  for  the  town  of  Sandwich  for  the 
year  1845.  This  followed  upon  the  election  of  our  candidate. 
Major  Watson,  into  which  were  carried  all  the  heat  and  bitterness 
of  the  Parliamentary  elections  of  October,  18i4,  wdien  the  coun- 
try was  inflamed  upon  the  Baldwin-Lafontaine  resignation  under 
Lord  Metcalfe's  alleged  departure  from  the  Constitutional  Rule 
of  Responsible  Government,  in  his  appointment  to  office  without 
consulting  or  following  the  advice  of  his  Ministry.  Major  Wat- 
son's opponent  was  the  late  Sheriff  William  D.  Baby,  of  Sand- 
wich, the  law  partner  of  Col.  Prince,  who  had  in  the  general 
election  <lefeated  our  candidate.  Major  Lachlan.  After  electing 
Major  Watsjn  we  left  tl\e  polls  before  the  election  of  the  pound- 
keepers,  and  then  came  the  triumph  of  the  enemy,  and  to  punish 
me  for  my  suppol't  of  both  Majors,  I  was  nominated  as  one  of  the 
honorable  order  of  pouridkec.'per.-;,  and,  I  needn't  say,  the  proposal 
was  heartily  received.  1  took  it  quietly,  issued  my  proclamation 
promising  a  faithful  discharge  of  my  duties,  posted  up  my  bills 
myself  and  prepared  for  work.  The  Nemesis  soon  followed.  The 
pigs  of  both  mover  and  secomler  got  into  the  pound,  were 
redeemed,  got  in  again  and  were  sold.  So  their  horses  and 
almost  everyone  else's  horses  and  cattle,  so  that  my  well  fenced 
premises  and  capacious  barns  would  hardly  meet  the  demand  for 
room,  so  po])ular  became  "  Woods'  pound  "  ;  and  the  revenues  cor- 
responded. That  joke  was  never  played  again.  I  remembej' 
applying  to  the  April  Sessions  and  getting  the  by-law  amended 
restraining  the  running  at  lai'ge  of  every  four-footed  beast  and 
there  was  great  wailing  in  the  good  old  town  by  reason  of  t)  ? 
phigue.     Then  there  was  an  indictment  and  a  conviction  for  pound 


a 


C7<« 


J3 


brcacli  and  a  iinc  of  'i*20,  so  that  luy  administration  became  (|uite 
memorable. 

DISTRICT  OF  KKNT. 

In  184-7,  Mr.  Woods,  the  member  for  Kent,  carried  a  bill 
tlu'ough  the  House  tbrmino'  Kent  into  a  separate  di .-.tkict,  known 
as  tlie  Distr'ict  of  Kent,  and  under  it  a  provisional  (-ouncil  was 
or«'ani/ed  for  the  purpose  of  pn.'vidiiii^-  the  new  district  vvith  a 
suitable  <>aol  and  court  house,  and  on  the  17th  day  of  Au^jjust  of 
tliat  year  it  hehi  its  first  session  in  Chatham,  at  the  Oddfellows' 
Hall,  and  continued  to  sit  at  'lillerent  periods  until  it  accom- 
plished its  pu)'pos(3;  but  not  without  trying  experience  and  vexa- 
tion in  its  elTorts  to  i^ive  the  district  the  tine  gaol  and  court  house 
it  did,  at  a  cost  of  €4755  2.s.  2d.  The  members  present  of  thi.s 
(/ouncil  at  its  first  opening  were:  Messis.  Aubry,  Crow,  Duck, 
Henry,  JMawlam,  Mitchell,  Ruddle,  McKellar,  Simpson  and 
Thom])son.  Their  constituencies  are  not  given.  None  of  the  men 
of  the  ten  northern  tov.  nships  appeal  jis  pnisent,  and  at  tlu;  next 
meeting  in  October  the  abent  Councillors  are  mentioned  as  being: 
Campbell,  Durand,  Fisher,  Heatherington,  Hyde,  Kelchum,  Mfiw- 
lauj,  McKellar  and  Moorchouse — both  northern  and  southern 
members.     Mr.  Duck  was  Chaii'man  of  this  Council. 

In  1849,  by  12  Vic,  c.  78,  Mr.  Baldwin's  Municipal  Act,  dis* 
tricts  were  al)olished  and  counties  substitutcl,  and  Essex,  \\vA\t 
and  Lambton  united  by  chap.  7!>  of  the  same  session,  and  the  old 
relation  with  the  County  of  Essex  continued  until  the  proclama- 
tion of  the  Governor  General  at  the  end  of  the  year  1850,  a  period 
of  S  years  and  4  months,  declarina-  the  separation  of  the  County 
of  Kent  from  Essex,  prior  to  which,  in  184!),  the  ten  northern 
townships  had  been  taken  from  her  and  set  apai't  as  the  County 
of  Lambton  and  united  to  Essex  for  judicial  and  municipal  pur- 
poses, but  retained  for  electoral  purposes,  and  tlie  Hon.  George 
Brown  was  elected  in  1851  for  the  two  counties,  Kent  and  fjamh- 
ton,  defeating  Mv'ljim.it*  Njiiv«»*»i»  Lambton  was  proclaimed  a 
separate  county  on  tiie  30th  of  Septendier,  1853,  and  since  then 
has  had  her  own  M.  P.,  M.  P.  P.  and  County  Councils. 

On  the  27th  of  February,  1851,  the  first  meeting  of  the 
County  Council  took  place  in  the  court  house,  the  change  from 
district  to  county  having  been  made,  as  just  mentionetl,  by  Mr. 
Mr.  JJaldwin's  Act,  which  gave  us  the  more  extended  .system  of 
Municipal  Government,  including  countie.s,  townships,  cities, 
towns  and  villages. 

The  new  members  of  the  County  Council  in  1851,  under  the 
new  regime,  the  old  ha\'ing  lasted  eight  years,  were  : 

Tilbury  West.  -         -         -         Pierre  Charron 

Tilbury  East  and  Romney,    -         -        .lohn  Wilson 


24. 


llaleii^h, 
Harwich, 
Howard, 
Orfor.l, 
Chatham  Tp., 
(.aniden  and  Zone, 
Dover  E.  and  W., 
Chatham  Town, 


Nathaniel  Hughson 

-  John  W.  Shack  leton 

George  Duck 
Daniel  Moorehouse 
William  A.  Everitt 

-  :       -         James  Smith 

Robt.  Mitchell 
-    Geor<i;e  Weatherspoon 


George  Duck,  Esquire,  was  elected  Warden.  Mr.  Duck  had 
sat  in  the  Western  District  from  its  first  session.  January,  1842, 
and  l.een  Warden  of  it,  and  now  became  the  first  W^arden  of 
Kent,  and  was  one  of  the  most  useful  men  in  the  Councils,  as  his 
son,  Mr.  John  Duck,  also  Warden,  has  been. 

Mr.  William  Cosgrave  was  made  Clerk  and  continued  so 
until  his  death  in  18G7,  when  Mr.  James  Hart  succeeded  till  1872, 
when  Mr.  Daniel  Kerr  succeeded  him  and  continued  till  1887 
when  Mr.  Fleming,  the  present  office'',  followed  him. 

I  recall  the  fact  that  I  had  in  the  previous  month  come  from 
Sandwich  to  live  m  Chatham,  and  addressed  a  letter  to  the 
Council  at  their  session  upon  the  expediency  of  aidirg  the  Great 
Western  Railway  by  taking  £50,000  of  stock  in  it,  and  at  the 
recjuest  of  the  Council  spoke  in  its  support  at  the  bar  of  the 
Council.  Tliey  did  not  subscribe,  and  six  years  afterwards  I  had 
the  satisfaction  of  pointing  out  to  them  that  if  they  had  followed 
n-iy  advice  they  would  have  had  an  income  that  would  have  paid 
the  entire  expenses  of  the  County  during  the  period  and  given 
tliem  all  their  money  back. 

That  montli  our  new  Court  House  was  opened  and  his  Honor, 
William  Benjamin  Wells,  pi'esided  as  the  first  Judge  of  the  County 
of  Kent  at  the  Quarter  Sessions  and  County  Court,  and  I  remem- 
ber making  the  first  speech  in  the  Chamber.  Mr.  George  lAick, 
Jr.,  had  become  a  barrister  and  was  Clerk  of  the  Peace,  while  Mr. 
Peter  Paul  l^acroix  was  the  first  Deputy  Clerk  of  the  Crown  and 
Clerk  of  thr  ^  4)unty  jvnd  Surrogate  Courts. 

I  avail  myself  of  a  page  in  Dr.  Bourinot's  last  work,  "  How 
Canada  is  Governed,"  which  I  think  sho'^ld  be  read  in  every 
household,  to  give  the  historic  cirigin  of  names  of  municipal  div- 
ision.y  and  of  their  offices. 

HISTORKJ  ORIGIN  OF    NAMES  AND  OFFICES   OF  MUNICIPAL  DIVISIONS 

AND    AFFAIRS. 

In  the  names  of  the  municipal  divisions  and  of  the  machinery 
of  municipal  administration,  we  see  examples  of  the  closeness  with 
which  Canadians  cling  to  the  names  and  usages  of  primitive 
times  of  English  Government.  The  "township"  carries  us  back 
to  the  early  days  wlien  our  English  forefathers  lived  in  their 


25 


luck, 
Mr. 
and 

How 


IIONS 


village  conitnunitios,  of  which  the  "  tun,"  or  rouj^h  fence,  or  hedge, 
that  surrounded  them   was  a  feature. 

The  chief  ollicer  or  head  man  of  the  township  was  the  *'eeve, 
who  as  an  "active"  or  "excellent"  mendjer  of  his  community, 
took  part  in  the  various  asseml)lies  (moots)  of  the  people.  The 
"  alderman  "  from  "  earldorinan,"  or  elder  man,  is  a  link  connect- 
ing us  with  the  early  government  of  shires,*  and  was  an  ofhce  of 
high  dignity,  still  represented  by  the  English  lord  lieutenant  of 
present  times. 

Our  "  riding "  or  electoral  division  (as  the  East  and  West 
Ridings  of  Kent,  in  the  Ontario  Elecioivil  Subdivision)  is  a 
changed  form  of  "  thriding,"  or  "  triding,"  or  a  local  district  made 
and  named  by  the  Danes  in  English  Vork.shire.  The  ancient 
English  shire,  which  was  under  an  "  earldorman,"  for  civil  and 
military  ])urposes,  became  a  "county"  in  Norman  times,  because 
a  count  (comte)  or  earl  replaced  tlie  former  functionary. 

Our  representative  body  for  the  local  government  of  a  county 
is  no  longer  called  the  "  folk  moot,"  but  tlie  "  council,"  which 
comes  to  us  from  the  Normans,  who  again  adopted  it  from  the 
Latin  concilium,  (or  a  "  collection  "  of  people). 

The  mayor  was  an  important  officer  connected  with  the 
royal  palace  of  France,  and  has  also  come  to  us  from  Norman 
times — it8  original  meaning  of  "greater"  {major}  having  been 
gradually  applied  to  a  principal  officer  of  a  local  community  or 
municipality. 

The  "'  parish  "  iias  its  origin  in  a  Greek  word,  iirst  applied  in 
early  English  and  Fi'cnch  times  to  a  "  circuit,"  or  district,  pre- 
sided over  by  a  priest  or  vicar,  and  which,  for  convenience  sake, 
was  formed  into  a  civil  division. 

"  Bydaw  "  means  simply  the  law  made  for  the  government 
of  a  "  bye,"  which  was  a  name  given  by  the  Danes  to  the  old 
English  "  tun,"  or  township. 

MUNICIPAL   PURITY. 

There  is  no  question  that  is  occupying  more  attention  than 
the  municipal  one  in  Canada,  the  United  States  or  England. 

The  conflict  that  has  raged  in  New  York,  both  in  the  City 
and  the  Legislature,  in  order  to  the  remedy  of  the  great  evils 
disclosed  by  the  labors  of  Dr.  Parkhurst  and  others,  has  com- 
manded the  attention  of  the  world  ;  and  to-day  we  see  the  result  in 

*The  sheriff  was  in  Saxon  times  the  judicial  president  of  the  ncir-gemot,  or 
assembly  ;  (gemot)  of  the  shire  (scir)  one  ot  the  divisions  of  the  English  iiingdoma. 
He  was  the  "reeve"  or  headin'tn  of  tlie  shire,  the  Hfir-ye.rafa,  which  has  in  *!ie 
course  of  centuries  been  softened  to  sheriff.  In  Norman  times  the  shiri  became  a 
county  and  its  government,  judicial,  military,  and  financial,  was  practically 
excecuted  by  the  sheritf,  who  was  directly  responsible  to  the  king.  In  the  course 
of  time  he  was  deprived  of  his  large  powers,  and  became  a  purely  civil  officer. 


2G 

«f  purtrthis^reat  c'rtbrt  at  reform,  in  thesulnncrj^ing  of  Tain:;iuny, 
and  tlie  installatioii  of  a  man  f-uch  as  Colonel  Strong  a"^  Mayoi", 
and  ^^oliee  Conimissioner.s,  with  a  Roosevelt  at  their  head.  As  in 
New  York  so  in  Ciiicairo,  Detroit  and  elsewhere.  Anil  as  we 
liave  seen  on  our  .side,  hoth  in  Toronto  and  Montreal.  What 
stru^^des  liave  taken  phice  over  the  valuable  franchises  that 
Municipal  Governments  have  now  to  deal  with,  and  liow  neces- 
sary it  is  to  exercise  caution  in  the  selection  -jf  municipal  men. 
The  temptations  to  .sell  and  buy  corruptly  are  very  ^reat  mid 
demand  the  closest  watchinfj;  on  the  part  of  the  jmblic  to  see  that 
only  competent  and  howorable  men  are  chosen  as  repiesei.tatives. 
That  corrupt  practices  prevail  in  our  municijialities  comes  from  a 
want  of  care  uii  the  i)art  of  tlie  electors  and  too  ready  an  accept- 
ance of  whoever  may  be  bold  enouf^h  to  seek  election  ;  but  when 
the  corrupt  conduct  is  di.scovered  there  .should  be  no  hesitation 
shown  in  brin<^ing  the  ofi'enders  to  Justice  in  the  most  summary 
and  resolute  way. 

Mr.  Stead's  move  in  Chicago  of  gettinjj;  tlie  church  to  take 
up  municipal  reforn  has  given  the  question  a  great  impetus;  and 
when  we  have  women  enfranchised,  both  municipally  (as  in  Eng- 
land) and  politically  (as  in  some  of  the  States  and  Australia),  and 
as  I  hope  to  see  in  Canada,  then  wo  may  look  with  cortidence  to- 
a  higher  municipal  and  political  life  and  a  not  less  pui'e  .social  one. 

Woman  to-day,  in  the  activities  of  the  church  and  charitable 
associations,  is  receiving  an  education  and  oxercisitig  an  intiuence 
that  will  fit  her  for  a  larger  sphere  of  i>;efulne.ss,  and  be  most 
persua.sively  enforced  at  the  ballot-box,  but  is  sure  to  be  felt  in 
the  dominion  of  the  household,  where  for  moral  and  religious 
agency  she  will  always  be  supreme. 

TEMPERANCE  REFORM. 

To  municipal  administration  we  shall  have  to  look  for  the 
mcst  ef?ective  means  for  aiding  the  great  cause  of  tempei'ance 
which  has  made  such  wonderful  progress  in  the  Canadian  and 
American  worlds  within  the  past  ten  years.  It  is  not  merely 
having  good  laws,  but  the  enforcement  of  them  that  is  wanted  as 
seen  in  New  York  with  Mr.  Commissioner  Roosevelt  to-day. 

We  have  had  our  Crooks  Act,  Duncan  Act  and  Scott  Act 
and  plenty  of  strong  earnest  Christian  feeling  in  behalf  of  tem- 
perance, and  indeed  of  prohibition,  but  without  eti'ectual  enforce- 
ment they  become  worse  than  no  law — because  a  law  disiegarded 
and  dishonored — a  result  most  injurious  and  demoralizing  upon 
all  affected  by  it,  whether  in  th»!  person  of  the  offender,  the  execu- 
tive oflScers  or  .the  public.  1  believe  as  fully  in  legislation  in  aid  of 
temperance,  as  I  do  in  behalf  of  any  other  virtue  and  against  any 
other  vice,  but  you  must  have  the  full,  faithful  a  id  vigorous 


27 

enforcement,  or  tho  ropoal ;  .ind  tin;  i-epeal  you  can  not  have 
because  in  ovciy  well  reniilMtL'.!  community  thero  must  be 
redmint  When  yoii  Imve  liiolier  loirislativo  ami  ndminishalive 
elements  in  the  municipality  then  you  will  have  efficient  admin- 
istration in  all  tho  departments.  Let  this  be  the  nira  of  every 
municipality  and  tlie  beneficial  results  will  soon  be  manifest. 


28 


CHAPTER  III. 


llESl'ONSUiLE   (JOVEIINMENT. 

^l/'AV'^lNG  thus  dealt  witli  oui-  municipal  institutions  asolven 
g\  to  us  by  the  Act  of  lcS41,  and  that  of  1840,  givino-  us  the 
^-^  ^  more  extended  system,  and  having  placed  the  Hon.  Mi*. 
Harrison  and  the  Hon.  Mr.  Baldwin  in  such  close  relationship  with 
them,  I  think  it  would  be  well  here,  before  passing  to  the  judicial 
branch  of  our  inquiry  and  history  in  connection  with  the  Hall, to  hiy 
before  our  readers  the  celebrated  resolutions  upon  which  tests 
our  system  of  Constitutional  Government  accordin<;  to  the  well- 
understood  wishes  of  the  people,  in  which  these  tfentlemen  took 
so  pron)inent  a  part.  And  I  think  I  may  safely  say  that  few 
persons,  if  any,  in  our  county  associate  this  ;^reat  bulwark  of  our 
])olitical  freedom,  with  the  distinguished  gentleman,  as  one  of  its 
members. 

The  Municipal  Bill  having  become  law  on  the  12th  of  Jidy, 
1841,  on  the  8rd  of  September  Mr.  Baldwin  moved  the  first  of 
his  resolutions  on  Responsible  Govi-rnment.  Some  explanation 
took  place  between  Mr.  Baldwin  and  Mr.  Secretary  Harrison, 
who  stated  that  a  series  of  resolutions  had  been  prepareil  by  him- 
self and  cdllengues,  in  which  Mr.  Baldwin  had  concurred  and  that 
he  expected  that  these  would  have  been  proposed  by  that  gentle- 
man. Mr.  Baldwin  stated  that  he  wished  his  own  resolutions  put 
on  record,  but  as  he  considered  those  I'cferred  to  by  the  learned 
number  for  Kingston  substantially  the  same,  he  should  not 
oppose  them. 

I  therefore  give  the  amendments  of  Mr.  Harrison  as  the 
resolutions  of  the  House  and  as  the  lex  scripta  of  this  great  con- 
stitutional change. 

Mr.  Baldwin's  resolutions  wei-e  seconded  by  the  Hon.  Mr. 
Vigor,  while  the  amendments  of  Mr  Hari'ison  were  seconded  by 
Col.  De  Sallabury. 

RESOLUTIONS  UPON  RESPONSIBLE   GOVERNMENT. 

1.  "That  the  most  important,  as  well  as  the  most  undoubted, 
of  the  political  rights  of  the  people  of  this  Province,  is  that  of 
having  a  Provincial  Parliament,  for  the  protection  of  their  liber- 
ties, for  the  exercise  of  a  constitutional  inlluence  over  the  execu- 


29 


live  (lepartrncnts  of  llioir  Government  ivnil  for  legislation  uponull 
mutters  of  internal  irovernnient," 

2.  "That  the  heail  of  the  Executive  Government  of  the 
Province  heinj^,  within  the  limits  of  his  Governfuent,  the  rejire- 
sentative  of  the  Sovereitrn,  is  responsilih'  to  the  imperial  author- 
ity alone,  but  that,  nevertheless,  the  manai^ement  of  our  local 
affairs  can  only  be  conducted  by  him,  by  and  with  the  assistance, 
counsel  and  information  of  subordinate  otlicers  in  the  Province." 

8.  "That  in  order  to  preserve  between  theditierent  l)ranches 
of  the  Provincial  Parliament  that  harmony  whicli  is  ess(!ntial  to 
the  peace,  welfare  and  oood  ^fovernment  of  the  Province,  the 
chief  adviser  of  the  representative  of  the  Sovereign,  constituting 
a  provisional  administration  under  him,  ought  to  be  men  possessed 
of  the  confidence  of  the  representatives  of  the  people,  thus  afford- 
ing a  guarantee  that  the  well  understood  wishes  and  interests  of 
the  people,  which  our  gracious  Sovereign  has  declared  shall  be 
the  rule  of  the  Provincial  Goverinnent,  will,  on  all  occasions,  be 
faithfully  represented  and  advocated." 

The  ([uestion  b^ing  ))ut  upon  the  motion  of  amendment  a 
division  was  had  thereon  witli  a  result  of  ')()  for  and  7  ajjainst. 
Among  the  yeas  were  Mr.  Baldwin,  Colonel  Pi'iiice  and  the  mem- 
ber for  Kent,  n>y  brother,  Joseph  Woods.  The  nay.s  were 
represented  by  Sir  Allan  MaeNab,  Hon.  George  MottUtt,  Mr. 
Cartwright,  Mr  Burnet,  Mr.  Watts,  Mr.  McLean  and  Mr.  Sher- 
wood. 

4.  "That  the  people  of  this  Province  have  moroovc.-  a  right 
to  expect  fi'om  such  Provincial  administration,  the  exertion  of 
their  best  endeavors  that  the  Jmi)erijii  authority,  within  its  con- 
stitutional linats,  shall  beexer'^ised  in  the  manner  most  consi-stent 
with  their  well  understood  wishes  and  interests." 

And  here  is  the  foundation  of  popular  government  as  we 
know  it  in  Canada  to-day. 

HON.  S.  B.  HARRISON. 

So  closol}^  connected  witii  the  history  of  this  county  was  Mr. 
Harrison  that  I  cannot  let  him  go  yet  without  a  furth(;r  refeience 
to  his  first  election  contest  in  Kent  in  1.S4J.  Party  feeling  ran 
very  high.  Lord  Sydenham  was  supposed  to  represent  Lord 
Durham's  views  and  they  were  not  acceptable  to  a  large  portion 
of  the  country.  Toronto  had  lost  the  seat  of  (jrovcrnmcnt,  and 
Upper  Canada  her  Legislatui'e,  and  Kingston  wa.s  to  be  the  seat 
of  Government  for  United  Canada.  Mr.  Harrison  was  Lord 
Sydenham's  right  hand  man  and  associated  with  Attorney-Gen- 
eral Draper  in  the  leadership  for  Upper  Canada,  and  had  sought, 
unsuccessfully,  to  carry  the  City  of  Hamilton  against  Sir  Allan 
MacNab.     Over  the  bad  roads  of  that  day  he  came  to  Chatham, 


80 


just  before  tlio  noinination,  and  nlthounjh  there  were  several  cnn- 
(lidiitfs  in  the  field  all  nitirivl  in  his  favor  except  my  hrother. 
The  constitiu'ncy  consisted  of  20  townships  and  extended  from 
the  Township  of  llochester,  for  then  we  had  Tilltiiry  West  a  part 
of  the  county,  to  the  Township  of,  and  includinir,  liosat)(|uet,  a 
distance  of  180  miles,  with  only  a^ic  polling  puicc  and  tlud  in 
Chaihiiin.  The  lon<^'  winter  had  Just  broken  up  and  the  streams 
were  Hooded  and  the  bridj^es  carried  away.  This  was  the  last 
election  under  the  old  law,  when  the  polling  bej^an  at  9  o'clock 
on  Monday  mornitiff  and  ended  at  12  o'clock  Saturday  nii,dit,  and 
as  in  this  case,  even  later,  for  the  returnine;  otTicer  at  the  close  of 
the  polls  declined,  under  the  advice  of  Mr.  Harrison,  who  wanted 
a  scrutiny,  and  which  I  opposed,  to  declare  th;it  Mr.  Woods  had 
a  majority  of  43  votes.  It  was  not  till  after  a  sharp  contlict  of 
two  hours  that  he  was  induced  to  make  the  statement,  when  Mr. 
Woods  was  cairied  away  on  the  shoulders  of  his  a»'d(!nt  and 
impatient  supporters  to  the  balcony  of  Probett's  Hotel,  where 
speeches  were  made  and  great  rejoicin<^s  had  and  cheers  j^iven, 
and  amonjij  others,  at  3  o  clock  in  the  n)ornin<(,  for  youn^'  Bob 
Woods  for  having  forced  the  returnin^^  ofKcer  to  make  the  declar- 
ation. 

I  was  then  a  student-at-law  in  Sandwich  and  had,  with  some 
2')  odie'"  voters,  ridden  from  Sandwich  to  this  place  takinj^ 
nearly  two  days  to  do  it  and  havinn'  to  swim  our  horses  over  the 
streams  and  make  our  way  throu^^h  the  ice  on  the  plains  and 
through  the  woods,  breaking  throu<fh  at  almost  every  step,  under 
the  direction  of  a  guide.  Our  good  sheriff,  John  Mercer,  Esquire, 
was  one  of  the  party  and  tells  us  some  good  stories  about  it. 

That  was  a  uiemorablo  ride.  I  recall  how  well  mounted  I 
was,  for  my  horse  was  a  noble  grey  with  the  historic  name  of 
"  Barnet, "  and  owned  by  the  Rev.  Thomas  Earle  Welby,  then 
Rector  of  Sandwich,  and  now  Bishop  of  St.  Helena,  who  kindly 
offered  him  to  me  for  the  occasion.  Some  of  the  riders,  25 
in  number,  were  old  loyal  oflicials  who  liad  been  notified  that 
those  having  votes  in  Kent  must  come  to  Chatham  and  give  their 
votes  and  influence  to  the  Government.  Only  a  reasonable 
request  and  yet  it  was  an  awful  pill  to  take;  and  the  first  time 
such  a  doctrine  had  been  heard.  Mr.  Robert  Berrie,  the  Clerk  of 
the  Peace  at  Hamilton,  had  refused  to  support  Mr.  Harrison  in 
preference  to  his  old  friend  Sir  Allan  MacNab  and  was 
summarily  dismissed.  And  this  was  to  be  the  rule.  What 
consternation  and  indignation !  Support  a  Government  that 
was  going  to  give  us  Responsible  Government,  just  after  all 
they  had  gone  through  in  saving  the  country  from  the  disaffected 
and  rebellious  as  well  ris  from  the  incursions  of  their  sympath- 
izers in  the  States,  and  vote  against  their  old  and  loyal  fiiend. 


:n 


Josi'pli  Woods,  for  a  iiiciii^erof  sucli  a  (loverimiont !  Thcii^oltK'n 
iinaijo  of  tin;  new  constitution  had,  liovvciVcr,  lict'ii  set  up  and  tlu; 
l)a:d<'ls  WL'i'u  rL'(|uin'(l  to  fall  down  and  vvui'.shij)  it  or  losti  tlieir 
otlieial  heads  and  hv.  Hurried. 

What  a  l>ruezo  fcjMovvod  that  eloction  from  Satidvvicli  tj 
(Jaspe!  Tiio  nt!vvsj)apt'rs  and  (torropoiKh-nts  croppi'd  up  as  thick 
as  hhickherrics,  as  one  editor  said  ;  not  onlyii>  the  local  papers,  hut 
all  the  papers  and  niaj;a/ines  of  the  day  in  I'ppcr  and  Lower 
Canada,  from  the  President  of  the  PiXecutive  Coiuieil  tlown. 

I  then  took  my  first  ilip  into  political  letter  writinj^f  and 
hrou>;lit  upon  myself  a  threat  of  prosecution  for  lilxd  l>y  the 
returnini;  otlieer,  which,  however,  was  not  followed  uj).  The 
House,  on  meetini.^  in  the  followinjjj  Afay,  instructed  the  C'lerk  of 
the  Crown  in  C'hancery  to  amend  the  insuHicient  and  illej^al 
rtiturn  of  the  returnini;  otlicer  and  Mr.  Woods  took  his  seat  while 
Mr.  Jiai'i'ison  took  his  for  the  City  of  Kingston  for  which  lu;  hail 
heen  returned  in  the  meantime. 

Another  n)arked  effect  was  presented  in  the  case  of  Col. 
Pi'ince,  the  M.  P.  of  Essex,  am!  for  whom  I  had  votiMl  thepnivious 
week  (as  in  those  (hiys  the  elections  were  not  held  on  on(,'  day  or 
week),  and  who  was  then  the  most  popular  man  in  Canada.  He 
wrote  a  letter  to  my  brother  advising  him  to  retire  and  let  Har- 
rison take  the  county.  It  was  read  at  the  liustin;^s.  It  indicated 
the  Colonel's  inclination  towards  the  afhnin'.stration,  and  was  the 
beijinninix  of  an  cstran<>ement  between  himself  and  the  Conser- 
vative  party,  that  letl  to  his  being  opposed  at  the  next  general 
election  by  Major  Luchlan  and  his  old  Conservative  friends  and 
supporters,  but  unsuccessfully.  Mr.  Harrison  afterwards  took 
the  Western  BiMwit  and  we  often  met. 

C'OLONEL   PRINCE. 

Talkinfj  of  Col.  Prince  I  cannot  omit  a  fuller  reference  to 
him,  for  Ins  advent  in  the  Western  District  marked  an  ejjoch  in 
its  history.  He  came  to  Sandwich  in  August,  1 83*3,  with  hi.s , 
wife,  family  and  servants  and  w^as  the  first  man  of  fortune  wdio 
had  settled  in  the  district.  He  had  been  a  solicitor  in  Eniiland  ; 
was  a  man  of  fine  presence  and  most  genial  maimers  and  one  of 
the  most  elocjuent  speakers  in  the  Province ;  a  great  sportsman 
and  lover  of  agriculture  and  took  to  farming  with  much  zeal ; 
importing  thorough-bred  stock  and  keepnig  the  finest  dogs  which 
he  brought  from  England.  In  the  general  election  of  183G,  under 
Sir  Francis  Bo.iJ  Head's  appeal  to  the  country  he  was  returned 
for  Essex  with  Mr.  Francis  Caldwell,  and  his  impression  upon  the 
Lejfislature  was  most  favorable,  The  Rebellion  broke  out  the 
following  year  and  the  Colonel  (for  he  was  at  once  appointed 
such)  really  became  not  only  the  Prince  but  the  Kmg  of  the 


32 


Wo^tciii  District,  it*  not  of  ITppia'  Canu<la,  so  popular  was  lie 
diinnL,'  and  after  tlie  Ht;l»ellioii.  His  joui'iicN's  tlir<)ii,di  from 
SautlNvicli  to  Toronto  weiv  eontinui'd  ovations  He  was  admitted! 
to  the  Itur  and  eni'olled  as  an  Attorney  in  I  SMS,  in.ide  a  (,»)utHrr.s 
Counsel  and  occupied  a  j)roud  i)osition  at  llu;  bar  and  in  tli(5 
Province,  and  continued  to  represent  Kssex  till  he  lu'canie  a  can- 
didati'  lor  the  ljf<rislative  C'ouncil  in  IS.')(i,  when  lu;  contested  the 
Western  J)ivision  ai^ainst  Colenel  Rankin,  an<l  was  returned  and 
sat  in  the  Council  till  his  appointment  to  the  Jud^'eship  of  the 
District  of  Alj^onia  in  ISOO,  whi'jh  was  virtually  provided  for 
h 
I 


inn,  and    where   he   contnuiously   lived,   rejoicmn'    m   Ins  hyper 


)orean  iso 


lati 


on  at 


id  freeilom,  and  died  in   IS7().      Miss  Trince,  Irs 


only  dauifhter,  is  the   last  nuMuher  of   his  family  and  still  keeps 


'1' 


The  Tark  F 


D  "  1  lie  I'aric  i<arm     with  all  its  traditions. 

'J'ht;n  there  is  no  douht  that  his  summary  sliootlni,'  of  the 
prisoners  taken  at  the  bi.ttle  of  Windsor,  4th  Deeemher,  IS.'{!S,  in 
connection  with  Sir  Allan  MacNah's  order  of  the  previous  Decem- 
ber to  cut  out  the  Caroline,  did  more  to  put  an  end  to  the  inva- 
sion of  tl.e  western  portion  of  the  Province  by  the  Patriots  and 
Sympathizers  of  that  day  than  anything  done  l)y  the  (iovernmeiit 
or  the  re;4ular  forces.  The  act  led  to  an  important  debate  in  the 
House  of  Lords  with  Lord  Brou^diam  critici/inj^,  ami  the  Duke  of 
Wellington  justifyin<jf  the  measure,  in  which  he  was  supported  by 
the  House:  and  there  was  also  the  ccanmission  of  iiKjuiry  in 
Canada,  whose  re[)ort  wholly  nupiitted  the  Colonel  from  the 
chari^es  made  aj^ainst  him,  foundin<;  their  report  upon  the  fact 
that  the  act  was  liio  determination  of  the  inhabitants  expressed 
at  a  public  meetini;  when  it  was  di^termined  that  no  prisoners 
should  be  taken.  To  show  the  state  of  f(!elini^  at  that  time 
against  the  Colonel,  placards  were  posted  uj)  alonj^-  the  public 
streets  in  Detroit  oifering  a  reward  of  8800  for  his  dead  body  and 
i?l,0()()  for  his  livinnr  body,  and,  to  protect  himself  after  dark,  he 
had  to  have  an  advt  isement  in  the  public  papers  warning  all 
persons  a<^ainst  comir;;i'  to  The  Park  J'^arm  after  ni;iht  as  he  had 
spring  guns  and  man  ti-aps  set  for  his  protection. 

KENT—  AND  DETROIT  AS  THE  DISTRlcri'  TuWN. 

Hy  the  wa\',  while  I  am  referring  to  Kent  let  me  state  that 
wi\ile  for  many  years  we  were  a  subordinate  county  in  the  Wes- 
tejn  ])istrict  or^ani/ation,  we  were  in  earlier  years  the  dominant 
ore  and  entitled  to  send  two  members  to  Parliament,  wliile  Essex 
could  only  send  one  and  that  in  connection  with  tlu)  County  of 
Suii'ilk  ;  and  to  Kent  at  one  time  belonged  all  that  territory  that 
lay  to  iho  nor<"h  up  to  the  boundary  line  of  Hudson  Bay,  and 
south  to  the  (Jhio,  and  westward  to  the  Mississippi.  The  first 
two  members  were  elected  from  Detroit,  one,  William   Macomb, 


88 


)S 


act 
ssed 


>lic 


ad 


Hi  at 
jes- 

Imt 

kex 

of 

liat 

liid 

j-st 
lb, 


tlio  other  the  celei.rated  David  William  Smith,  afterwards  Sur- 
veyor General  of  llj)per  Canada,  and,  later.  Sir  J)avi(I.  I  am  able 
to  j^ivo  thi:-  sketch  of  tin*  life  of  our  tirst  memlier,  and  it  is  otdy 
witiiin  the  past  foitni^dit  that  even  Mr.  D.  H.  Head  thou;.dit there 
must  have  been  two  J),  VV.  Smiths,  but  I  have  establislied  his 
identity  as  the  first  M.  P.  P.  of  Kent,  elected  at  Detroit  in  1702 
with  Mr.  Macomb,  and  this  I  do  throuj^h  a  passa;:;e  in  Kin^^sford. 
vol.  7,  p.  '{47,  in  which  (Governor  Simcoe  speaks  of  the  return  of 
Mr.  Attornev  (ieneial  White  and  Lieutenant  Smith,  the  son  of 
Major  Smitli  the  Commandant  of  Detroit  for  the  Detroit  district, 
a.s  Hesse  used  to  be  called. 

Sir  David  was  born  4th  Septendu-r,  1704,  only  child  oi' John 
Smith,  esquire,  sometime  of  Salisbury,  Lieut.-Col.  of  ')th  Regi- 
ment of  Foot,  who  died  Commandant  of  the  Fortress  of  Niat^ara 
in  1795,  by  Anne,  dauj^hter  of  William  Wayler,  Es(j.,  of  Rowde 
Hill  and  Devizes,  County  of  Wiltshire  At  an  early  aj;e  he  was 
appointed  by  Karl  Percy  as  Ensiijn  in  his  father's  rej^iment.  He 
roiii^ned  his  position  in  the  Hej^ulars  and  held  at  various  times 
the  followin<ij  offices  in  the  militia,  viz.:  C  »l.  of  Lincoln  Militia, 
Col.  of  2nd  Battalion  of  York  Militia  and  Lieut.-Col.  of  the  Percy 
Tenantry  of  RiHemen,  of  Northumberland.  England,  On  the 
27th  of  August,  1792,  Mr.  Smith  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
first  Canaciian  Parliament  and  was  re-elected  to  the  two  succeed- 
ing Parliaments. 

As  a  member  of  Parli  iment,  in  which  capacity  he  served  his 
country  for  twelve  years,  his  abilities  made  him  one  of  the  most 
distinguished  mt  n  of  his  time ;  he  was  chosen  speaker  to  that 
body  in  1797,  and  re  chosen  in  1801.  Called  to  the  bar  on  the 
7th  July,  1794;  he  bore  at  various  times  the  titles  of  Deputy 
Judge  Advocate,  Justice  of  the  Peace,  Judge  of  the  Court  of 
Requests,  Master  in  Chancery  and  Privy  Councillor.  He  was  the 
first  Surveyttr  General  of  Upper  Canada,  under  the  Act  of  1791, 
and  Vice-President  of  the  Agricultural  Society.  I  am  indebted 
to  my  friend  Mr.  James,  Deputy  Minister  of  Agriculture,  for  the 
additional  information  that  our  first  member  was,  on  the  27th  of 
July,  1821,  created  a  Baronet;  that  up  to  the  time  he  left  Can- 
ada in  1804  he  had  received  33  appointments,  and,  on  his  return 
to  England,  he  received  30  more.  We  may  well  be  proud  of  Sir 
David  us  our  first  member. 

NOT  GENERALLY   KNOWN. 

The.se  facts  are  not  generally  known.  Macdonald,  the  pub- 
lisher of  the  "  Illustrated  Atlns  of  the  Dominion  of  Canada,"  in 
1881,  .says  of  this  county  and  its  representation  in  1792  :  "There 
was  evidently  no  representative  for  Kent  in  that  Parliament,  as 
the  full  number  of  sixteen  appears  without  mention  of  a  member 


■|! 


jiiii 


for  Kent,  which  leads  to  the  impression  that  Mr.  Bahv,  the  mem- 
ber for  Essex,  represented  the  entire  Western  Dis^trict.  This 
appears  the  more  probable  when  we  consider  that  Kent  did  not 
then  contain  more  than  half  a  dozen  of  fau.ilies,  if  even  that 
number  inhabited  its  wilds.  The  almost  entire  absence  of  ,fot<i 
hearin<r  on  the  early  political  history  of  Kent  has  precliKled  the 
pcss'bility  of  gaining  any  intimate  knowledge  of  their  details  dur- 
ing a  long  p-riod  following  the  establishment  of  representative 
government." 


t:-t:^::i 


35 


CHAPTKU  IV. 


DISTRICT   OF   HESSE. 

^OORD  DORCHESTER  as  Govornor-Gemral,  by  procbima- 

y        tion  issued   from  the  Castlo  of  8t.  Louis,   in  tlu;  City  of 

^^^  Quebec,  on  24bh  July,  17HS,  divided  the  Province  of  Quebec 

into   five   districts,  namely :    (nispe,    Lunenber<(,    Mecklenl)uri^h, 

Nassau  and  Hesse. 

Tliere's  a  ;j;ood  deal  of  German  here  and  not  much  of  either 
French  or  En^lisli,  but  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  Jloval 
Family  were  Germans,  and  Bell  says,  "  there  was  prol)ably  noth- 
in<^  fortuitous  in  the  adoption  of  tliis  (piaternion  of  appellations; 
for  tliey  indicated  Roynlist  and  Protestant  ideas.  The  grand- 
ducal  family  of  Hrunswiek-Luiicnburg  was  a  branch  of  the  Sov- 
ereign House  of  Hanover ;  Queen  Charlotte  had  been  Princess  of 
Mecklenburg  Strelitz;  William  III.,  the  champion  of  Protestant- 
isui  and  overcoming  antagonist  of  Louis  XIV.  and  Jesuitry,  was 
head  of  the  illustrious  House  of  Orange — Nassau ;  and  the  Prin- 
cess of  Hesse  sent  auxiliary  forces  to  combat  American  rebels." 

The  District  of  Hesse  comprehended  all  the  residue  of  the 
Province  in  the  western  or  in'and  parts  thereof  from  the  southerly 
to  the  northerly  boundary  of  the  same,  and  included  Detroit  and 
Mackinaw  and  the  country  south  of  them  to  the  Ohio,  and  west- 
ward to  the  Mississippi ;  and  on  the  10th  day  of  July,  1792,  Gov- 
ernor Simcoe,  in  his  proclamation  from  Kingston,  divided  Upper 
Canada  into  nineteen  counties  and  the  Provincial  Legislature  at 
its  first  session  at  Newark,  on  the  loth  October  1792,  (82  Geo. 
III.  c.  <S)  re-named  the  above  four  last  named  districts  in  their 
order,  the  Eastern,  Midland,  Home  and  Western. 

KENT 

beintj  the  ninetetnth  and  last  named  of  the  above  nineteen  coun- 
ties  was  described  as  "  comprehending  all  the  country  not  being 
territories  of  the  Indians  nor  already  included  in  the  several 
counties  hereinbefore  described,  extending  northward  to  the 
boundary  line  of  Hudson  B;>y  including  all  the  territory  to  the 
westward  and  southward  of  the  said  line  to  the  utmost  extent  of 
the  country  commonly  known  by  the  name  of  Canada,"  and 
given  two  members.     Hy  the  same  last  mentioned  proclamation 


Essex  was  made  the  eighteenth  county  and  was  to  be  bounded  on 
the  east  by  the  County  of  Sufiblk,  on  the  south  by  Lake  Erie, 
on  the  west  by  Detroit  River  to  Masonville's  Mill,  from  thence  by 
a  line  running  parallel  to  the  River  Detroit  and  Lake  St.  Clair  at 
the  distance  of  four  miles  until  it  meets  the  River  Tranche,  or 
Thames,  thence  up  the  said  river  to  the  northwest  boundary  of 
the  County  of  Suffolk. 

The  seventeenth  county,  called  Suffolk,  was  to  be  bounded  on 
the  east  by  the  County  of  Norfolk,  on  the  south  by  Lake  Erie  until 
it  meets  the  Carrying  Place  (Communication  Roadj  from  Pointe 
Aux  Pines  unto  the  Thames,  on  the  west  of  the  said  carrying 
place,  thence  up  the  said  River  Thames  until  it  meets  the  north- 
western most  boundary  of  the  County  of  Norfolk.  These  two 
counties,  Essex  and  Suffolk,  were  united  for  Electoral  purposes 
and  entitled  to  send  one  member  to  Parliament.  There  is  no  map 
in  the  Crown  Land's  Office  showing  the  County  of  Suffolk  and  it 
no  doubt  dropped  out  after  this  and  passed  into  Kent.  Although 
it  will  be  seen  by  the  list  of  the  Magistrates  given  by  w  ?  Uer  on 
in  the  year  1802,  taken  from  Tiffany's  Almanac  of  tliao  ^  tai,  Suf- 
folk still  appears  as  one  of  the  counties  of  the  Western  District, 
but  it  subsequently  became  part  of  Kent  and  part  of  London  Dis- 
trict. Ey  the  38th,  Geo.  III.,  c.  5  :  An  Act  for  the  better  division 
of  th"  Province,  promulgated  by  proclamation  1st  January,  1800, 
the  County  of  Kent  is  to  be  composed  of  the  Townships  of  Dover, 
Chatham,  Camden  distinguished  by  being  called  Camden  West, 
the  Moravian  track  of  land  called  OrfonI,  distinguished  by  Orford 
North  and  South,  Howard,  Harwich,  Raleigh,  Romney,  Tilbury, 
divided  into  Eastern  and  Western  with  the  Town.ships  on  the 
River  St.  Clair,  occupied  by  the  Shawney  Indians,  together  with 
the  islands  in  the  Lakes  Erie  and  St.  Clair,  wholly  or  in  greater 
part  opposite  thereto  to  constitute  and  form  the  County  of  Kent 

And  that  the  Townships  of  Rochester,  Mersea,  Gostield,  Ma^;! 
stone,  Sandwich,  Maiden,  and  the  tracts  of  land  occupied  by  ^h 
Hurons  and  other  Indians  upon  the  Strait,  together  with  such  of 
the  islands  as  are  in  Lakes  Erie,  St.  Clair  and  the  Straits,  do  con- 
stitute and  form  the  County  of  Essex. 

Sec.  40  provides  that  Essex  and  Kent,  together  with  so  much 
of  this  Province  as  is  not  included  within  any  other  district 
thereof,  do  constitute  the  Western  District. 

Under  this  clause — carried  from  that  attaching  to  the  Coanty 
of  Keni  in  the  former  decade — the  Sheriff" of  the  Western  District 
used  to  serve  process  at  the  Sault  Ste.  Marie  and  Lake  Superiqr, 
n,nd  our  present  worthy  Sheriff,  John  Mercer,  used  to  do  this  when 
acting  as  Deputy  of  the  late  Sheriff  Foott,  while  living  at  Wind- 
sor before  coming  to  live  in  Kent,  which  he  did  in  1851,  himself 
becoming  Sheriff  as  successor  to  Sheriff  Waddell  in  1864,  continu- 


Iiuch 
brict 

inty 
trict 

'iqr, 
|heu 
ind- 

self 
Inu- 


37 

inrr  so  to  this  present  hour  and  proving  one  of  the  liest  officials  in 
our  wcll-^uhninistered  Province. 

Sec.  7  of  the  Act  of  October,  1792,  authorized  the  Justices  of 
the  Peace  in  Quarter  Sessions  assembled  to  procure  plans  an<l 
specifications  and  elevations  of  a  g^ol  and  court  house,  and  to  con- 
tract for  same  to  be  completed  within  eigliteen  months,  and  that 
the  rjaol  and  court  house  for  the  Western  District  shall  be  built  in 
the  manner  afoiesaid  as  near  to  the  present  court  house  as  conven- 
iently may  be.     This  of  course  was  in  Detroit. 

By  33,  Geo  III.,  c.  G,  1793,  it  was  provided  that  the  Courts 
of  Quarter  Sessions  of  the  Peace  for  the  Western  District  should 
commence  and  be  holden  in  the  Town  of  Detroit,  and  that  Special 
Sessions  of  the  Peace  should  con)mence  and  be  holden  yearly  and 
in  every  year  in  the  Town  of  Machilmackinac. 

AmontT  other  of  the  stranj^e  and  interestin<jj  thinj^s  that  pre- 
sent themselves  at  this  time  is  the  Ace  of  3id  June,  179G,  which 
may  be  called  the  Exodus  Act  as  it  provides  for  the  departure  of 
British  authoiity  from  Detroit  to  Sandwich,  and  enacts  that  so 
much  of  the  above-mentioned  Act  which  directs  that  the  Courts 
of  Quarter  Sessions  of  the  Peace  for  the  Western  District  shall 
commence  and  be  holden  in  the  Town  of  Detroit  on  such  days  and 
times  as  are  thei'ein  mentioned  ;  and  that  a  special  Session  of  the 
Peace  sha'l  commence  and  be  holden  yearly  and  in  every  year  in 
the  'i'own  of  Machilmackinac  at  certain  times  therein  mentioned, 
be  repealed ;  and  that  from  the  passing  of  the  said  Act  the  Court 
of  General  Quarter  Sessions  of  the  Peace  for  the  Western  District 
shall  be  held  in  the  parish  of  Assumption,  in  such  place  a.s  may  be 
now  found  most  convenient  to  the  magistrates  of  said  district  or 
major  part  of  them,  on  the  second  Tuesday  in  the  months  of  July, 
October,  January  and  April,  until  such  time  as  it  sha  1  seem 
expedient  to  the  Justices  or  major  part  of  them  to  remove  and 
hold  the  same  nearer  to  the  island  called  the  Isle  of  Bois  Blanc, 
being  near  the  entrance  of  the  Detroit  River  ;  and  if  it  shall  appear 
expedient  to  the  said  Justices  to  hold  the  said  General  Quarter 
Sessions  nearer  to  the  said  island,  it  shall  and  may  be  lawful  for 
them  to  remo\e  the  same  having  given  three  months'  notice  of 
such  removal. 

A  similar  provision  is  made  as  to  the  County  Court  which, 
with  the  Sessions  by  the  Act  just  referred  to,  had  been  held  in 
Detroit  in  1794,  and  it  was  to  be  held  where  the  Quarter  Sessions 
were  held  as  above  provided  The  last  court  of  Quarter  Sessions 
held  in  Detroit  was  in  January,  1796,  as  the  removal  took  place 
to  Sandwich  that  summer.  And  as  there  never  was  a  removal  to 
Bois  Blanc  or  Amherstburg,  the  court  house  was  erected  in  Sand- 
wich on  the  ground  where  the  present  court  house  stands,  adjoining 
our  old  homestead.    It  is  here  that  the  sceptre  passed  from  Kent  to 


38 


Essex,  inasmuch  as  .Saii<lvvich  became  the  permanent  seat  of  tlio 
courts  and  has  continued  so  till  to-day,  despite  the  efforts  of 
Windsor  to  liave  them  removed  ;  but  Kent  continued  to  have  her 
two  representatives  until  the  Act  of  liS20  was  passed,  which 
required  a  population  of  4000  souls  to  give  two  members,  whii-h 
she  then  had  not,  but  which  she  recovered  in  1834  and  a^ain  lo-t 
ill  1841  under  the  Union  Act. 

DETROIT — SEAT^bF   COURTS   FOR   HESSE. 

Ami  now,  havin<r  crossed  the  Detroit  River  and  found  our- 
selves over  there,  with  our  courts  ami  judt^es  and  all  that  is 
implied  by  the  crossin<^  of  the  boundary,  we  shad  be  compelled 
to  <;o  back  to  the  days  when  and  how  it  became  ours,  and  when 
and  how  we  lest  it,  and,  as  a  consequence,  when  and  how  we  lost 
the  thirteen  orii^inal  Provinces  or  Colonies  and  why  it  continued 
so  lonjjf  in  our  possession  after  the  Treaty  of  Versailles,  178;j — 
recoixnizini;  the  Independence  of  the  United  States  and  <rivin<x 
them  this  territory — as  we  did  not  quit  Detroit  till  thi  llth  of 
July,  179(),  thirteen  years  after,  during,'  which  time  our  Courts 
anil  Lan('  Board  and  Members  of  Parliament  dealt  with  the  wants 
and  interests  of  the  District  of  Hesse  and  the  Western  District  as 
represented  by  the  Counties  of  Kent  and  Essex  ;  Kent  enjoyinj^ 
the  honor  of  having  the  first  of  our  courts  of  Quarter  Sessions, 
County  Court,  Common  Pleas  and  Queen's  Bench  Many  of  our 
farms  in  this  county  as  well  as  Essex  liavint;-  been  ^ranted  by 
that  Board  in  Detroit.  And  we  shall  be  surprised  to  see  our 
Lieutenant-Governor  Simcoe  comin<f  up  overland  from  Newark, 
in  February,  1793,  to  Detroit  to  inspect  the  oarrison  and  the 
24th  Reo'iment  of  Foott  (luartered  there,  and  a<>ain  the  follow in«r 
year  cnmip<r  up  under  direction  ot  Lord  Dorchester,  the  (lovernor 
General,  to  construct  a  fort  at  the  foot  of  the  Miami  Rapids,  oO 
miles  from  Detroit,  which  he  did;  and  to  find  that  it  needed  a 
second  treaty — Jay's,  of  19th  Novend)er,  1794 — to  bring  about 
the  evacuation. 

The  name  of  the  old  district  will  be  endeared  to  us  in  rccall- 
ing  the  sad  death,  a  few  years  ago,  of  the  Princess  Alice  of  Hesse, 
the  second  daughter  of  our  beloved  Queen,  who  became  the  vic- 
tim of  diphtlieria  from  kissing  the  lips  of  her  dying  child. 


39 


CHAPTER  V. 


FRANCES  SURRENDER  OF  CANADA. 

\\N  ndditioM  to  the  thirteen  American  Provinces  which  Kn<;- 
Oy*  hmd  held,  the  triuriiph  of  Wolfe  at  (Quebec  0!i  the  18th  of 
^■^  September,  I7o0,  and  the  capitulation  of  Montreal  on  the 
8rd  of  September,  1700,  in  the  words  of  the  ^reat  Commoner,  Pitt, 
added  an  empire  to  England's  rule ;  and  as  New  France  included 
as  M'c  have  seen  all  the  country  from  Quebec  south  to  the  Ohio 
and  west  to  the  Mississippi  and,  of  a  consecpience,  Detroit  and 
Mackinaw,  as  most  important  posts  with  which  our  courts  and 
county  officials  t^re  associated,  we  niust  now  make  the  capitulation 
our  starting'  point  in  the  retrospect. 

Dr.  Kinusford  has  said  : 

"There  are  few  portions  of  our  bistory  of  which  we  are  so 
ijjnorant  as  that  of  the  years  intervening  between  the  Con(juest 
and  the  passage  of  the  Quebec  Act  of  1774,  and  of  the  further 
interval  to  the  Constitutional  Act  of  17!)1,  which  divided  the 
country  into  Upper  and  Lower  Canada  and  extended  representa- 
tive institutions  into  the  two  Provinces." 

And  in  his  grand  history  of  "Canada  from  the  earliest  date 
of  French  rule,"  which  I  recommend  most  warndy  to  my  readers, 
he  has  sought  to  supply  the  fullest  information  and  lead  to  the 
soundest  conclusions;  and  with  the  opinions  of  other  writers  I 
have  sought  to  njake  this  period  of  our  history  better  understood 
than  it  is  by  the  general  reader.  /s^;    -vv 

Kingsford  again  says  :  "  The  capitulation  of  Montreal  surren- 
dered the  whole  of  Canada  to  Great  Britain,  and  it  accordingly 
became  necessary  to  establish  a  form  of  Government  by  which 
order  would  be  preserved.  It  was  indispensable  to  provide 
machinery  by  which  the  business  of  life  should  proceed  with 
decency  and  security.  Whatever  system  v/as  introduced  could 
only  be  regarded  as  temporary,  but  however  short  the  period  it 
had  to  endure,  it  had  to  be  well  considered  and  efficient.  The 
problem  to  some  extent  had  been  assisted  by  the  year's  possession 
of  Quebec  by  Murray.  That  period,  however,  had  been  one  of 
war.  The  period  has  come  down  to  us  under  the  name  of  the 
reffne  riilitire  as  given  by  the  French  Canadian  writers  and  the 
term  to  a  certain  extent  luis  become  accepted.  It  lasted  nearly 
four  years,  from  September,  17(50,  to  October,  1764. 


f3! 


40 


"There  are  those  who  havinj^  never  investigated  the  facts  and 
imperfectly  recoi^ni/ing  tlie  necessity  for  the  establishment  of  some 
institutions  for  the  maintenance  of  law  and  o"der,  have  accepted 
its  nomenclature  as  an  indication  of  the  harshest  and  most  unjust 
domination,  and  the  Government  has  been  misrepresented  as  one 
of  continual  wron<T  and  persecution.  No  opinion  could  be  more 
illfounded.  The  iijreatest  care  was  taken  to  conduct  the  Govern- 
nu  nt  in  accordance  with  the  old  systems  of  the  Province  and  in 
conformity  with  the  law  which  had  hitherto  prevailed  in  Canada, 
the  one  desire  was  to  provide  for  the  well-being  and  contentment 
of  the  peonle.  There  was  no  attempt  to  introduce  English  laws 
and  still  less  to  judge  by  military  lavv^.  All  that  these  courts  had 
of  the  military  element  was  the  name.  Between  the  capitulation 
and  the  peacf.,  Canada  was  occupied  as  a  corujuered  country  and 
the  basis  of  authority  was  the  force  with  which  it  was  held.  A 
more  correct  title  would  have  been  the  period  of  the  Governor's 
Courts  or  temporary  Government ;  for  the  name  given  is  in  all 
respects  a  niisnomer.  It  is  an  act  of  injustice  to  identify  the 
principles  of  Government  laid  down  by  Amherst  as  those  of  nuli- 
tary  rule,  which  means  coercion  at  the  bayonet's  point." 

Watson,  in  his  Constitutional  History  of  Canada,  says : 
"  After  the  capitulation  the  formative  pressure  of  military  rule 
began  to  work,  but  the  system,  which  lasted  about  four  years,  was 
never  before  nor  since  so  tenderly  administered." 

TREATY   OF  PARIS,  17()3. 

The  T.  aty  of  Paris  was  signed  on  the  7th  of  February, 
1703,  but  eighteen  months  passed  before  any  change  in  the  Gov- 
ernment took  place. 

I  think  I  ought  to  state  here  for  the  information  of  those  who 
have  not  access  to  the  treaties  or  to  Dr.  Kingsford's  fine  volumes 
in  which  they  appear  and  from  which  I  take  this,  the  parties  to 
this  Treaty  of  Pans  and  some  of  its  provisions :  and,  more  partic- 
ularly, in  view  of  the  close  relationship  in  which  Newfoundland 
is  seeking  to  stand  to  the  Dominion  and  the  new  internation  ■}  rela- 
tion in  which  we  should  stand  to  France,  and  it  is  curious  to  see  how 
the  questions  of  that  day  are  conspicuous  today.  Newfoundland 
lish  and  French  ajjfffression  are  as  active  elements  of  contention  as 
then,  while  the  seals  of  Behring  Sea  come  in  as  the  equivalent  of 
this  fur  trade  and  its  jealousies  and  contentions.  And  when  we 
see  Spain  and  her  Nootka  Sound  pretentions  on  the  Pacific  Coast 
in  17tiO,  and  see  Russia  to-day  seeking  Spain  as  a  referee  in  the 
Chino-Japanese  complication,  we  see  how  history  repeats  itself. 
The  parties  to  it  were  Great  Britain,  France,  Spain  and  Portugal, 
and  by  it  England  became  the  possessor,  not  only  of  Canada,  but 
of  Nova  Scotia  and  Cape  Breton,  and  the  West  India  Islands  of 


41 


we 
Foast 

the 
Iself. 

but 
of 


Saint  Vincont,  Dominica,  Tol)a<j:o  and  Grenada.  Minorca  was 
restored  to  (ireat  Britain.  She  likewise  obtained  possession  of 
Senegal  in  Afrie.i,  and  France  was  l>ound  to  keep  no  troops  and 
raise  no  fortiticaiions  in  Beni^al.  The  Spanish  pretensions  were 
abandoned — the  (piestions  of  capture  were  referred  to  the  British 
courts  of  law.  The  British  were  athiiitted  to  cut  loij-wood  nt 
HoJiduras.  S|)ain  nlincpiished  ad  claim  to  tish  oti'  Newfoundland. 
Havana  (Cuba)  was  <rivcn  buck  to  Spain  and  in  return  the  pn^sent 
State  of  Florida  was  ceded  to  the  British  Pr  »vinces,  and  France 
a.s  conipensation  transferred  Louisiana  to  Spain.  France  and 
Enjxland  a«freed  to  abstain  from  prosecntinii'  tlie  war  in  Gei-many. 
The  Frencn  to  restore  territories  held  by  them  in  Hesse  and 
Hanover.  Dunkirk  was  to  be  redu  ei!  to  tlie  state  of  whicli  it 
was  after  the  Peace  of  Aix-la-Chapille.  TIhj  cession  of  Canada 
was  accouipanied  by  the  condition  that  the  King  of  Great  Britain 
would  <rive  the  most  effectual  orders  that  his  new  Roman  Cath- 
olic subjects  may  profess  the  worship  of  their  religion  accortling 
to  the  rule  jf  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  as  far  as  the  laws  of 
Great  Britain  permit. 

The  inhabitants  had  also  the  liberty  of  returning  from 
Canada  to  France  with  their  property  unrestrained  within' eigh- 
teen months.  France  received  the  Islands  of  Gaudaloupe,  Mar- 
trin(|ue  and  Saint  Lucia  and  w^as  allowed  the  right  of  tishing  in 
Newfoundland  and  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence.  Her  fishermen,  how- 
ever, were  unable  to  approach  within  fifteen  lengues  of  Cay)e 
Breton.  Bute  not  only  renewed  the  conditions  of  Utrecht,  i)ut 
he  ceded  the  Islands  of  St.  Pierre  and  Miquelon.  Only  50  men 
to  be  kept  on  the  island,  and  an  English  commission  was  to  have 
the  right  of  inspection  that  the  condition  was  complied  with.  In 
the  articles  of  the  treaty  the  latter  point  was  not  admitted. 

TREATY  OF   UTRECHT,   13TH   ARTICLE  OF. 

The  L3th  article  of  the  Treaty  of  Utrecht,  ITL?,  between 
France,  England  and  the  Dutch,  to  which  allusion  is  made  in  the 
Treaty  o^'  Paris,  is  as  follows : 

13.  "The  i'-.land  called  Newfoundland  with  the  adjacent 
islands  shall  from  this  time  forward  belong  of  right  wholly  to 
Britain,  and  to  that  end  the  town  and  fortress  of  Placentia  and 
whatever  other  places  in  the  said  island  are  in  the  possession  of 
the  French  shall  be  yielded  and  given  up  within  seven  months 
from  tlie  exchange  of  the  ratification  of  this  treaty  or  sooner  if 
possible,  by  the  most  Christian  King,  to  those  who  have  a  coni- 
mi-sion  from  the  Queen  of  Great  Britain  for  that  p  irpose.  Nur 
shall  the  most  Christian  King,  hia  h^irs  and  successors,  or  any  of 
their  subjects,  at  anytime  liereafter,  lay  claim  to  any  right  to  the 
said  island  or  islands  or  tc  any  part  of  it,  or  them.     Moreover  it 


42 


shall  not  be  lawful  for  the  .subjcctH  of  France  to  fortify  any  place 
in  tlio  said  Island  of  Newfoundland,  or  to  erect  any  huildino'  tlieiv, 
besides  sliops  made  of  boards,  and  huts  necessary  and  usi  ful  for 
dryin<^  iish  ;  or  to  resort  to  tlic  said  island  beyond  the  time  neces- 
sary for  fishini,^  and  dryini^  of  fish,  but  it  shall  be  allowed  t«>  the 
subjects  of  France  to  catch  fish,  and  to  dry  them  on  land  in  that 
part  only,  and  in  no  other  besides  that  of  tin  said  Island  of  New- 
foundland, which  stretches  from  the  place  called  Cape  Bonavista 
to  the  northern  point  of  the  said  island  called  Point  Kiche.  But 
the  island  called  Cape  Breton,  as  also  all  others,  both  in  the  mouth 
of  the  River  St.  Lawrence  and  in  the  Gulf  of  the  same  name  shall 
hereafter  belong  of  rifjht  to  the  French,  and  the  most  Christian 
King  shall  have  all  manner  of  liberty  to  fortify  any  place  oi'  plans 
there." 

The  season  prevented  the  immediate  transmission  of  the 
proclamation,  for  it  only  reached  Canada  on  the  JOth  of  August, 
1704,  at  which  date  Murray  assumed  the  Government  and  the 
system  hitherto  followed  ceased  to  pievad.  The  proclaumtion 
establish(>d  four  new  provinces  in  the  'territory  ceded  as  distinct 
and  separate  Governments.  Quebec,  East  Floiida,  We  t  Florida 
and  Grenada, 

At  the  time  Murray  received  his  comm's^ion  two  civil  officers 
arrived  from  England,  William  Gregory  apjjointed  Chief  Justice, 
and  George  Suckling,  Attorney  G'.nei al.  N either  knew  a  word  of 
French.     They  were  soon  superseded. 

In  Se[)tember  the  ordinances  establishing  the  courts  were 
published.  They  consisted  of  the  Queen's  Bench  holding  sessions 
twice  a  year,  in  January  and  June,  to  try  civil  and  criminal  cases 
according  to  the  law  of  England,  with  appeal  to  the  Governor  in 
Council  when  tlie  sum  involved  exceeded  £.SOU  and  to  the  King 
when  exceeding  £000. 

The  Chief  Justice  was  to  hold  a  Court  of  Assize  and  Goal 
Delivery  once  a  year  after  Hilary  term  in  Montreal  and  Three 
Rivers.  In  February,  1700,  Murray  received  instructions  to 
modify  the  practice  of  the  courts.  He  was  directed  to  pass  an 
ordinance  admitting  Canadians  of  French  origin  to  .serve  on  juries. 
In  suits  affecting  British  contestants  only,  the  jui\y  should  be 
British.  When  one  was  French  Canadian  the  jury  should  be 
mixed.  When  both  parties  were  French  the  jury  should  be  so 
constituted.  Canadians  were  likewise  admitted  to  practice  in  the 
courts. 

Trial  by  jury  and  habeas  corpus  were  a  great  advance  in  a 
French  community.  Justices  of  the  Peace  were  appointed  for 
these  districts,  one  Justice  of  the  Peace  with  jurisdiction  in  dis- 
putes to  the  value  of  £5,  £10  by  two.  These  Justices  of  the  Peace 
would  form  a  quorum  to  hold  Quarter  Sessions  to  adjudicate  in 


43 


cases  from  €10  to  £;]0.  Two  justice.s  to  sit  wMM'kly  in  rotation  in 
Quebec  and  Montreal.  An  ordinance  estaUlished  tl\i!  j^iiinja  at  €1, 
88.,  and  tlie  sliillin<f  at  Is,  4d.  The  ordinances  were;  le^il'zed 
wlien  proclaimed  l)y  beat  of  drum  in  Quebec,  Three  River-  and 
Montreal.  They  were  published  in  the  Quebec  lia/ette  in  French 
and  En*(lisli.  It  was  at  this  time  that  printirii^  was  introdnei'd 
into  Canada,  no  press  havinjjf  been  in  operation  durinyj  Fn-nch 
rule.  The  Quebec  Gazette  wasfii'st  published  on  2 1st  June,  17<)4, 
there  beinj^  no  printers  in  Canada,  they  were  t'oiuid  in  Philadel- 
phia, William  Brown  and  Thomas  Gilmore,  tiie  latter  sailed  to 
Enjjfland  to  make  arrani^ements  for  the  type,  pn;ss  and  paper. 
Brown  came  to  Quebec  to  obtain  .subscribers.  The  paper  was 
published  in  columns  of  French  and  Enirlish.  No  book  or  docu- 
ment had  been  previously  printed  in  Canadi.  The  Gazette  was 
the  only  published  pap(!r  in  Quebec  for  a  (piarter  of  a  century 
until  1788.  Subscription  $'S  a  year.  It  continued  to  be  i.-sued 
weekly  until  1818,  when  it  appeared  twice  a  week  and  was  .so 
continued  until  18.']2.  This  reminds  me  of  what  the  late  Dr. 
Ryerson  experienced  when,  as  editor  of  the  Christian  Guardian, 
he  had  to  oo  to  New  York  to  get  type,  press  and  paper  and  when, 
as  he  savs,  he  travelled  bv  sta<re  at  the  rate  of  one  mile  an  hour 
through  the  State  of  New  York.  The  worthy  doctor  must  have 
offered  up  a  lamentation  that  no  Macadam  hail  found  his  way 
into  the  Empire  State.  George  Brown,  too.  hau  'o  go  to  New 
York  for  his  press  and  type  for  the  Globe.  I  musuadd  here  that 
the  Halifax  Gazette  had  apjieared  in  17') 2.  Governor  Murray 
who  had  lived  much  among  the  Canadians  of  Quebec  since  17o9, 
formed  a  liigh  opinion  of  them  as  a  body  and  would  in  no  way  be 
a  party  to  thair  being  treated  with  injustice  or  wrong  by  those 
whom  he  described  a.s  "licentious  fanatics."  Have  they  yet 
passed  away  ? 

Sir  Guy  Carh^ton  succeeded  Murray  and  matters  went  on 
with  a  fairly  contentented  people  until  the  passage  of  the  Quebec 
Act  ot  1774,  and  as  we  are  more  interested  in  what  happened  at 
this  western  end  of  the  Province,  i.  e.,  Detroit  and  Mackinaw,  we 
will  hear  what  the  late  Chief  Justice  Campbell,  in  his  Political 
history  of  Michigan,  has  to  say  of  it.  But  before  doing  so  let  me 
say  that  Detroit  was  surrendered  on  the  8th  of  September,  17G0. 
Major  Robert  Rogers,  the  celebrated  officer  connnanding  the 
"  Queen's  Rangers,"  with  a  force  consisting  of  part  of  the  60th 
(Royal  Americans)  and  8()th  Regiments,  appeared  before  the  town 
and  demanded  its  surrender,  which  was  granted  by  M,  Bellestre, 
the  commandant.  Rogers  came  to  Detroit  from  Montreal,  by  way 
of  Cleveland,  O.,  where  he  met  Pontiac,  the  great  conspirator,  and 
informed  him  of  the  surrender  of  Canada  and  hia  mission  to 
Detroit. 


44 


CIlIEl'  JUSTICE  CAMriJELL  AND  DETUOIT  DISTIIICT. 


The  Chief  Justice  says :  "  In  1774  an  Act  was  passed  by  the 
British  Parliament,  calle*!  the  Quebec  Act,  by  wliich  the  entire 
British  possession  west  of  New  York  ;  north  of  the  Ohio,  and 
east  of  the  Mississippi  River,  were  incorporated  into  the  Province 
of  Quebec  and  made  subject  to  its  Government. 

"  By  this  Act  the  Council  had  the  power  to  impose  such 
taxes  as  the  inhabitants  of  the  various  local  districts  should  vote 
for  roads,  buildings  and  other  local  purposes,  but  this  was  all. 

"  Althou<,di  in  the  lower  parts  of  the  Provinrie  (Montreal  and 
Quebec)  where  the  .settlements  were  more  dense,  the  .system  of 
Government  assumed  an  external  appearance  of  legal  formality, 
no  attempt  or  pretence  was  made  to  relieve  the  western  region 
from  martial  law.  A  Lieutenant-Governor  was  sent  to  Detroit, 
who  had  almo.st,  if  not  absolute  authoritv.  Henrv  Hamilton  was 
first  appointed  in  this  capacity  and  arrived  in  Detroit  in  l77o. 
The  old  .system  was  to  terminate  May  Lst,  1775.  It  was  not  till 
1788  that  any  courts  whataver  were  established  in  Upper  Can- 
ada. In  that  year,  on  24th  July,  Lord  Doche.ster  by  proclamation 
created  the  four  districts  in  Upper  Canada,  Lunenburg,  Mecklen- 
burgli,  Na.s.sau  and  He.sse.  The  latter  embraced  all  the  country 
west  of  Long  Point  on  Lake  Erie,  and  as  Detroit  was  still  retained 
in  British  possession  it  came  within  the  jurisdiction  of  that  dis- 
trict. The  courts  were  called  Courts  of  Comn.on  Pleas,  being 
courts  of  record  with  a  clerk  and  sheriff.  Their  jurisdiction  was 
plenary  with  no  appeal  unless  to  the  Governor- General.  These 
indtres  vvere  not  bred  to  the  law,  as  there  were  no  lawvers  in 
Upper  Canada  until  1794.  They  were  generally  men  of  wealth 
and  inluience,  and  in  civil  matters  their  judgments  were  probably 
just.  They  knew  nothing  of  criminal  law  and  banished, 
imprisoned,  whipped  or  pilliored  such  unlucky  culprits  as  were 
convicted  before  them.  It  is  erroneously  stated  by  Caniff  that 
the  first  person  hanged  in  Upper  Canada  was  convicted  before 
Judge  Cartwright  of  the  Mecklenburgh  District.  The  honor  or 
dishonor  of  that  judicial  exploit,  belongs  to  Judge  Dejean, 
although  there  were  perhaps  some  court-martial  convictions 
before.  The  first  Judge  of  Common  Pleas  for  the  District  of 
Hesse  was  the  Hon.  Wm.  D.  Powell.  He  was  appointed  in  1789 
and  assujned  his  functions  in  the  same  year.  All  the  other  Judges 
and  the  Clerk  of  Hes.se  were  appointed  in  1788.  Gregor  McGregor 
of  Detroit,  was  appointed  by  Lord  Dorchester,  Sheriff"  and  Thomas 
Smith  of  the  .same  place  as  Clerk  and  Commissioner  of  the  Peace 
on  the  24th  of  July,  1788,  the  day  when  the  districts  were  created. 
The  Court  held  its  first  session  in  1790,  and  an  execution  sale  of 
lands  (an  innovation  on  the  common  law)  was  made  by  Sheriff 


45 


McOrof^or  under  a  jinl^inont  rendered  in  Aiij^ust,  I7!H).  (It  may 
he  ineiitiotied  here  that  the;  three  JuHtices  of  th(^  Court  oi:*  Coimnoii 
PleiiH  who  hud  heen  ii|)i)()iiite<l  on  24tli  July,  I7>S<H,  were  Duper-wi 
Baby,  Alexander  MeKeo  and  William   llohertson.) 

"Until  the  action  ot"  the  Governor-iJeneral  in  17NS,  th<!  De- 
troit .settlement  and  its  dependencies,  including;  all  the  westei-n 
posts,  remained  without  ar  y  civil  Government.  Allhoujfh  the 
preamble  of  the  Quebec  Act  gave  us  a  reason  for  its  enactment, 
the  fact  that  under  the  King's  proclamation  of  I70li,  there  were 
several  colonies  and  settlements  which  had  been  left  w  ithout  any 
provision  for  civil  Goviirinnent,  neither  the  Act  itself,  nor  the 
administration  under  it,  made  any  approach  toward  such  a  pro- 
vision, until  five  years  after  the  Treaty  of  Peace  of  17^.*}  had  ren- 
dered the  retention  of  Detroit  by  the  l^ritish  a  wron«^ful  and 
arbitrary  usurpation.  In  the  bej^inninu'  of  177^^  we  see  the  ti:st 
step  taken  for  preventinj^  the  sale  of  I'um  to  the  Indians.  This 
proceeded  from  the  merchants  of  Detroit,  a  penalty  of  ClOO  New 
Vork  currency  was  imposed  for  any  infraction. 

"  It  is  an  interestinj;  fact  that  the  Boston  Port  l»ill  which 
changed  the  Government  of  Massachusetts  and  that  for  trying 
American  offenders  in  England  and  depriving  them  of  trial  by 
a  jury  of  the  Vicinage,  were  introduced  with  the  Quebec  Bill  and 
as  [)arts  of  one  scheme,  l-etroit  commanded  the  whole  Indian 
country.  Several  land  grants  were  made  by  the  Connnander  at 
Mackinaw  on  the  mainland,  and  Bois  Blanc  Island,  Grosse  Isle  and 
Hog  island  in  the  Detroit  River,  were  granted — the  former  to 
Alex   Macomb  and  the  latter  to  Geo.  McDougall. 

"The  change  of  allegiance  made  no  change  in  the  socijd  rela- 
tions of  most  of  the  citizens.  They  had  been  old  associates  and 
good  neighbors  and  had  no  personal  quarrels,  it  was  generally 
felt  that  in  the  main  the  course  of  the  British  sympathizers  was 
such  as  might  fairly  have  been  expected  from  those  who  liad  felt 
no  poliiicul  grievances,  and  it  was  also  known  that  the  British 
Ministry,  in  its  extreme  courses,  did  not  fairly  represent  the  Brit- 
ish people,  from  whom  the  entire  heritage  of  American  liberty  had 
<lescended." 

THE   QUEIJEC   ACT,    1774. 

It  has  to  be  admitted  that  this  Act  was  a  source  of  extreme 
dissatisfaction  not  only  to  the  British  subjects,  but  to  the  Frencli 
Canadians. 

Chatham  pronounced  it  "a  most  cruel,  oppressive  and  odious 
measure,  tearing  up  by  the  roots  justice  and  every  good  principle  ; 
that  the  whole  of  it  seemed  to  him  to  be  destructive  of  that  liberty 
which  ouijht  to  be  the  iiround  work  of  everv  constitution,  and  that 
it  would  shake  the  ati'ections  and  conditions  of  His  Majesty's  sul)- 


46 


jocts  in   En;:;liiii(l  >ukI   Irebuul,  and  finally  lose  hitn  tlu'  lieartu  of 
all  tlm  Aiiioricans." 

Watson,  in  his  Constitutional  History,  says  :  "Thus  pa^soil  a 
nieasui'c  vvliidi  in  its  t'ar-rcacliiu^  disastrous  results  was,  not  oven 
cxce[)tin^  the  Stiinij)  Act  of  I7()'),  whicli  lu'i^an  to  j^ond  the  thir- 
teen colonies  to  revolution,  the  worst  Act  the  British  I'ailianient 
ever  iinposiMl  on  an  American  colony." 

Kin;j;sfotd  says:  "No  one.  I  think,  can  fairly  deny  that  the 
Act  was  wise  and  just  in  its  main  provisions,  one  ohjtction  against 
it,  in  my  humhlu  o[)inion,  may  he  Justly  taken:  the  comprehen- 
.sion  into  the  newly-created  province  of  th<!  territory  v  est  (»f  the 
.settled  parts  of  Canada,  at  the  period  of  French  -nle.  The  Act 
really  enforce<l  upon  the  inhahitants  passing  into  this  territory 
the  same  laws  which  prevailed  in  Canada,  and  all  sucli  inimi<fra- 
tion  must  have  heen  from  the  l^ritish  Government." 

The  Con<;re.ss  (not  Congress  as  it  now  is,  for  this 
was  hefore  the  little  Leyin(rton  unpleasantness  which  hap- 
pened in  April,  177'),  hut  the  Con<:fressj  of  the  deleoates  of  the 
Colonies  of  New  Han.pshii-e,  Massachusetts  Bay,  Rhode  Island 
and  Providence  Plantations,  Conn(!cticut,  New  York,  New  Jersey, 
Pennsylvania,  the  Counties  of  New  Castle,  Ken'  vnd  Sussex  on 
the  Delaware,  Maryland,  Virginia,  North  Ca?  v,  and  South 
Carolina,  deputed  hy  the  inhahitants  of  the  .saiu  ^^onies  to  rep- 
resent them  in  a  general  Congress  at  Philadelphia,  in  the  State  of 
Pennsylvania,  to  consult  together  of  the  hest  nsethods  to  ohtain 
revlre.ss  of  their  atHicting  grievances)  on  the  24th  Octoher,  1774, 
drew  up  an  address  to  the  people  of  Great  Britain  enumerating 
their  grievances.  They  said  :  "  Several  cruel  and  aggressive  Acts 
have  heen  passed.  Also  an  Act  for  extending  the  Province  of 
Quehec  so  as  to  horder  on  the  western  frontiers  of  these  Colonies, 
estahlish  an  arhitrary  Government  therein,  and  (H.^courage  the 
.settlement  of  British  subjects  in  that  wide  extended  country  ; 
thus  hy  the  influence  of  civil  principles  and  ancient  prejudices,  to 
dispose  the  inhahitants  to  act  with  'n)stility  against  the  free  Pro- 
testant colonies  whenever  a  wicked  ministry  shall  choose  so  to 
direct  thtm." 

Professor  Seeley  says  that  with  the  triumph  o"*  Wolfe  on  the 
Plains  of  Ahraham  began  the  history  of  the  United  States. 

Baron  Meseres  in  1779  said  that  the  Act  "had  not  only 
offended  the  inhabitants  of  the  Province  itself,  in  a  degree  that 
could  hardly  be  conceived,  but  had  alarmed  all  the  English 
Provinces  in  America  and  contributed  more,  perhaps,  tlian  any 
other  measiu'e  whatsoever,  to  drive  them  into  rebellion  against 
their  Sovereign."  This  di.scontent  both  in  Canarlaand  the  Amer- 
ican Colonies  led  no  doubt  to  the  action  of  the  latter  in  .sending 
in  their  army  under  Arnold  and  Montgomery  against  Canada, 


the 

lonly 
1  til  at 

[lish 
any 
Linst 
liier- 
linijf 
Ma, 


*7 


which,  throuj^h  th»'  heroic  devotion,  couraj^o  and  wisdom  of  Carle- 
tun,  resulted  so  disastrously  to  them  in  the  death  of  Montnonujry, 
l»efort!  Quebec  in  Decetnher,  177").  Kin^'sford  says,  it  looked  as  if 
Hritish  possession  of  Canada  was  to  c(;ase  iti  a  few  weeks  and  as 
if  one  of  the  t;arli*'st  triumphs  of  the  Revolution  would  he  the 
dismcmherment  ot"  the  lately  constituted  Province  from  its  con- 
nection with  the  {empire. 

And  here  we  ou^ht  to  ])ause  and  rejoice  that  there  was  one 
man  in  Canada — he,  the  Governor, — who  was  determined  that 
Canada  should  not  he  lo-t  to  the  Kmpire  and  who,  in  so  heroic  a 
way,  went  from  Montreal,  which  had  surrendered  to  Arnold,  to 
Quebec  under  the  (greatest  dillieulties,  and  there,  in  the  last 
stronL,diold  of  the  Province,  saved  it  from  the  haruls  of  the 
invader."*.  (Jh  that  the  spirit  of  that  hrave  Enj^lish  General  ani- 
mated every  man  in  Canada  and  there  would  be  no  Indepiin- 
dence,  or  Annexation,  or  Commercial  Union,  or  Unrestricted 
Reciprocity,  or  any  other  political  or  commercial  fad,  but  a  Car- 
leton-Spartan  resolution  to  hold  Canada  as  she  is  with  no  prouder 
herita;^e  than  that  of  bein"  a  part  of  England's  Empire. 

1  contiime  the  hi.sto!-  of  this  period  by  ^ivin;^  in  part  Mr. 
Read's  concise  and  clear  review  of  it  in  the  intro(hicti,^n  to  Ids 
"  Lives  of  the  Jud<^es."     He  ."ays  : 

"Previous  to  the  passin<j;  of  the  Constitutional  Act  of  17!) I, 
the  condition  of  affairs — civil,  political  and  judicial — was  ,so 
widely  different  at  different  epochs  that  it  will  be  profitable,  if 
not  necessary,  to  pass  in  reviev.'  the  state  of  affairs  legal  in  the 
Province  of  Quel)ec  durinij  this  ante  1791  period. 

The  old  Province  of  Quebec  was,  by  an  Act  of  the  Im])erial 
Parliament  passed  in  1791  (81st  Geo.  Ill  c.  81  /  divided  into  the 
two  Provinces  of  Upper  and  Lower  Canada.  The  perioil  e.\tund- 
ing  from  17o9,  the  date  of  the  conquest,  nuiy  well  be  ternied  the 
revolutionary  peiiod  of  the  law  of  Canada. 

It  can  easily  be  conceived  that  in  a  jiart  of  this  intervening 
period,  viz.,  the  period  between  17')9  and  17(58,  in  which  latter 
yeai-  the  Treaty  of  Peace  was  come  to  by  Great  Britain  and 
France,  by  which  the  Province  of  Quebec  was  ceded  to  Great 
Bi'itain  by  France,  the  .state  of  the  law  and  its  aduunistration  in 
the  Province  were  in  a  very  satisfactory  state.  The  population 
wa.s  a  mixed  one,  comprising  French  of  France  ;  French  Canadians, 
born  in  the  Province;  Indian.s ;  Metis,  or  half-breeds;  English 
officers ;  English  soldiers,  and  English  traders ;  a  large  majority, 
however,  being  native-born  French  Canadians. 

MIGHT   RATHER   THAN    RIGHT. 

Up  to  the  Treaty  of  Peace  in  17G3  the  law  which  governed 
was  rather  the  law  of  might  than  of  right.     The  French  Cana- 


m 


cliatis  had  Ijecoino  »i  conquerof^  rncc  and  were  in  the  power  of  the 
con(iueror.s.  There  was  rothin^'  to  show  timt  the  law  was 
improperly  or  harshly  administered  durinii^  this  period.  Never- 
theless, with  a  French  population  not  understar.slin'r  Eni^lish  and 
an  En.olish  trihunal  not  understandin<f  French,  it  cjuld  not  oe 
otherwise  than  that  differences  and  altercations  of  a  serious  char- 
acter shouici  occur.  On  the  one  hand,  the  Fiench  dearly  loved 
their  oan  laws,  and  did  not  at  all  relish  the  chauLije  in  (Jovern- 
nient  The  Englisji  were  of  opinion  that  British  sultjects,  as  the 
French  had  become  hy  conquest,  should  he  governed  by  and  be 
willino-  to  submit  to  English  law  pure  and  simple. 

The  case  stood  thus:  By  the  21st  article  of  the  Articles  of 
Capitulation,  entered  into  at  Montreal,  8th  September,  1700,  be- 
tween Cieueral  Andierst,  Commande'--in-Chief  o^'  Hi.s  Britannic 
Majesty's  troops  in  North  America,  and  the  ManjUis  of  Vandreuil, 
for  the  French,  it  was  provided  that  the  English  General  should 
furnish  ships  for  carrying  to  France  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Justice,  Police  and  Admiralty. 

Military  rule  was  finally  brought  to  an  end,  the  Treaty  of 
1703  was  signed. 

There  is  nothing  in  the  treaty  which  gave  the  French  Cana- 
dians, or  French  of  France,  the  old  laws  and  customs  of  Canada — 
those  which  prevjdled  before  the  conquest.  There  was  a  clause 
(clause  4)  by  which  His  Britannic  Majesty  agreed  to  grant  the 
liberty  of  the  Catholic  religion  to  the  inhabitants  of  Canada. 
"  He  will  conserpiently  give  the  uiost  precise  and  effectual  orders 
thnt  his  now  Catholic  subjects  may  profess  the  worship  of  their 
religion  according  to  the  rights  of  the  Roman  Church  as  far  as 
the  laws  of  Great  Britain  will  permit."  There  is  not  a  line  in 
the  treaty  about  laws  and  customs,  though  special  regard  was 
paid  to  the  matter  of  religion.  Reading  the  capitulation  articles 
and  the  treaty  together,  it  is  uppjirent  that  the  French,  both  by 
negotiation  and  treaty,  had  the  greatest  solicitude  for  their 
church  ai'.d  their  religion  ;  that  the  English,  appreciated  this,  giv- 
ing tncm  very  exclusive  religious  privileges  and  rights,  but 
alvvays  reserving  the  rights  of  British  Law. 

in  October,  1708,  a  proclamation  was  issued  by  Governor 
Murray,  the  Commander-in-(ihief  of  Canada,  establishing  four 
separate  Governments  out  of  the  territory  in  America  ceded  by 
the  Treaty  of  Paris.  They  were  Quebec,  comprising  the  whole  of 
Canada;  East  Florida,  West  Florida  and  Grenada.  This  proc- 
lamation stated  that  as  soon  as  the  circumstances  of  the  Colonies 
would  permit,  general  assemblies  of  the  people  would  be  convinced 
in  the  same  niann  '  as  in  the  American  Provinces.  In  the  mean 
time  the  laws  of  Lv  ^and  were  to  be  in  force.  The  proclamation 
adds  that  until  such  an  assemblage  could  be  called  the  royal  pro- 


Cana- 

natla — 

clause 

nt  the 

an  ad  a. 

rdeivs 

tlieir 

Ifar  as 

no  in 

I  was 

tides 

h  by 

their 

r.  Siv- 

but 

lernor 
four 

by 

loot* 
)roc- 
lonies 
jnced 
nean 
^tion 
Ipro- 


49 


tection  was  promised  to  all  resorting  to  the  Province,  and  authority 
N.'as  given  for  the  establishment  of  Courts  of  Justice,  jivil  and 
criminal,  with  right  of  appeal  to  the  Privy  Council. 

The  Treaty  was  signed  on  10th  February,  1 703,  but  no  change 
war:  made  in  the  Government  of  Canada  for  eighteen  months 
after.  Governor  Murray  was  appointed  on  the  20th  Oc*^.ober,  and 
he  may  accordingly  be  considered  the  first  Governor-in -Chief  of 
Canada.  Two  years  had  not  elapsed  after  the  signing  of  the  tre^^ty 
when  the  Governor-General,  acting  under  instructions,  formed  a 
new  Executive  Council  composed  of  the  two  Lieutenant  Governors 
of  the  two  Districts  of  Montreal  and  Three  Rivers,  into  which  the 
Province  had  l)een  divided,  the  Chief  Justice,  che  Inspector  Gen- 
eral of  Customs,  and  eight  other  persons  chosen  from  among  the 
inhabitants  of  the  colony,  who,  with  himself,  should  possess  all 
executive  legislative  and  judicial  functions.  This  Act  was  a  re- 
modelling of  the  whole  previous  system. 

A  court  called  the  King's  Bench  and  another  called  the 
Common  Pleas  were  established.  Both  were  to  render  decisions 
based  on  the  law  and  practice  of  England,  subject  to  appeal  to  the 
Executive  Council. 

The  French  soon  manifested  their  dissatisfaction  with  this 
state  of  things  and  on  petition,  all  was  changed  by  the  Quebec 
Act  of  1774,  "  An  Act  for  making  more  effectual  provision  for  the 
government  of  British  North  America." 

The  8th  clause  provided  that  "  His  Majesty's  Canadian  sub- 
jects within  the  Province  of  Quebec,  the  religious  orders  and 
communities  only  excepted,  may  Ik  and  enjoy  their  property 
and  possessions,  together  with  all  customs  and  usages  relative 
thereto,  and  all  other  their  civil  rights,  in  as  large,  ample  and 
beneficial  a  manner  as  if  the  proclamation,  commissions,  ordinances, 
and  other  Acts  and  instruments  had  never  been  made,  and  as  may 
consist  with  their  allegiance  to  His  Majest}'^  and  subject  to  the 
Crown  and  Parliament  of  Great  Britain,  and  in  all  matters  of 
controversy  relative  to  property  and  civil  rights  resort  shall  be 
had  tc  the  laws  of  Canada  as  the  rule  for  the  decision  of  the 
same ;  and  all  causes  that  shall  hereafter  be  instituted  in  anv  of 
the  Courts  of  Justice  to  be  appointed  for  and  within  the  said 
Province  by  His  Majesty,  his  heirs  and  successors  shall,  with 
respect  to  such  privileges  and  rights,  be  determined  agreeably  to 
t)>e  said  laws  and  customs  of  Canada  until  they  shall  be  varied  or 
altere<l  by  any  ordinances  that  shall,  frotJi  time  to  tiire,  be  passed 
in  the  said  Province  by  the  Governor,  Lieutenant  Governor,  or 
Commander-in-Chief  for  the  time  beinor,  bv  and  with  the  advice 
and  consent  of  the  Legislative  Council  of  the  same  to  be  appointed 
in  manner  hereinafter  mentioned." 

By  enacting  that  "  in  all  matters  of  controversy  and  civil 


oO 


rights  resort  shall  be  had  to  the  laws  of  Carada  as  the  rule  for 
the  dccisi'  i  of  the  same,"  the  Old  Canada  or  French  law  was 
restored,  iid  all  His  Majesty's  subjects,  French  and  English  in 
the  Colonies  wera  in  civil  matters  placed  under  laws  totally 
foreifrn  to  British  immigrants  and  those  of  the  old  firitish  settlers 
who  had  been  accustomed  to  British  law. 

Ills  Majesty's  speech  to  Parliament  gives  the  reason  for  pass- 
ing the  Act.     He  says  : 

"  The  very  peculiar  circumstances  of  embarrassment  in  which 
the  Province  of  Quebec  is  involved  had  rendered  the  proper  Ad- 
justment and  regulation  of  the  Government  thereof  a  matter  of  no 
small  difificulty.  The  Bill  which  you  prepared  for  that  purpose 
and  to  which  I  have  given  my  assent,  is  founded  on  the  clearest 
principles  of  justice  and  humanity  and  will,  1  doubt  not,  have  the 
best  effect  in  quieting  the  minds  and  promoting  the  happiness  of 
my  Canadian  .subjects.  I  have  seen  with  concern  a  dangerous 
spirit  of  resistance  to  my  Government  and  the  execution  of  the 
laws  in  the  Province  of  Massachusetts  Bay  in  ]Sew  England." 

The  Act  of  1774  enlarged  the  boundaries  of  the  Province  of 
Quebec  south  of  the  Ohio  and  westward  to  the  Mississipp-,  thus 
taking  into  the  Province  of  Quebec  a  territory  and  people  of  one 
of  the  British  North  America  Colonies  to  the  south  of  the  Great 
Lakes  and  which  afterwards,  by  the  treaty  of  Versailles  in  \7<^li 
recognizing  the  independence  of  the  thirteen  American  Colonies, 
became  part  of  one  of  the  free  and  independent  United  States  of 
America,  and  a  population  of  some  20,000  who  had  come  thithei- 
from  other  States.  Now  came  the  turn  for  discontent  on  the  part 
of  the  British  subjects.  The  discontented  Colonies  of  the  New 
England  Provinces,  themselves  bent  on  rebellion,  were  not  slow  to 
urge  the  people  of  Canada  to  join  them  in  their  intended  resist- 
ance to  Imperial  authority.  The  Congress  of  the  New  England 
States  which  met  at  Philadelphia  on  the  oth  of  September,  1774, 
addressed  the  Colonists  in  Canada  as  "  friends  and  fellow  citizens, ' 
and  then  endeavored  to  impress  them  with  the  advantage  of  their 
confederation  and  the  following  year  sought  to  force  them  by 
con(}uest  under  General  Montgomery.  During  the  American 
Revolutionary  War,  beginning  wi'h  the  affair  of  Lexington  and 
ending  in  the  tieaty  of  1783,  the  law  was  administered  in  Quebec 
under  the  Act  of  1774- — the  French  law — and  was  most  distaste- 
ful to  the  British  residents. 

At  the  time  of  the  passing  of  the  Quebec  Act  of  1774,  by 
which  the  oonndaries  were  extended  as  already  stated,  so  as  to 
include  the  inhabitants  of  the  Ohio  Valley,  there  were  as  many 
as  20,000  people  in  that  region  who  had  emigrated  thitherward 
from  other  States.  These  people  had  enjoyed  the  benelits  nl' 
British  Law  as  administered  in  the  colonial  courts.     They  were 


51 


rule  for 

law  was 

itjlish  in 

totally 

settlers 

[OF  pass- 

n  which 
oper  od- 
ter  of  no 
purpose 

clearest 
have  the 
)iness  of 
mgerous 
1  of  the 
intl." 
)vince  of 
ppi,  thus 
ie  of  one 
be  Great 
in  urn 
Jolonies, 
states  of 

thither 

the  part 
he  New 
i  slow  to 

1  resist- 
England 
er;i774, 
,'itizens/' 

of  their 
leni  by 

luerican 

ton  and 
Quebec 

listaste- 

774,  by 
so  as  to 
IS  many 
lerward 
lie  fits  nl' 
ey  were 


not  then  disposeil  to  accept  in  their  plar'e  the  "  Coubuino  dc  Paris," 
or  any  other  system  of  French  law  in  place  of  the  law  to  whicii 
they  had  been  accustomed.  Thus  a  very  lar^e  auxiliary  force 
was  added  to  the  small  nuinlter  of  Ani^lo-Canarlian  subjects  set- 
led  in  the  Districts  of  Montreal  and  (Quebec,  to  aid  in  protesting 
against  the  Quebec  law. 

In  17H4,  following)  the  Treaty  of  Peace  between  the  United 
States  and  Groat  Britain,  a  large  number  of  subjects  of  the  King 
in  the  now  enfranchised  colonies  south  of  the  St.  Lawrence  and 
the  Great  Lakes  who  preferred  Monarchial  to  Republican  Gov- 
ernment, and  came  <"0  Canada,  settled  on  the  banks  of  the  St. 
Lawrence.  These  emigrants  into  Canada,  called  the  United 
Empire  Loyalists,  on  their  arrival  in  Canada  soon  found  that  the 
situation  was  not  much  improved  if  they  were  to  be  relegated  to 
the  old,  an.l,  in  their  view,  anti(;[uated  laws  of  France.  They  left 
the  United  States  especially  to  place  themselves  under  British 
law,  and  this  thoy  determined  to  have.  In  this  particular  they 
only  held  to  the  same  opinion  as  Iia-l  influenced  the  people  of  the 
Ohio  Valley  :.hen  they,  between  1774  and  1783,  made  their  pro- 
test agair  st  being  governed  by  French  law. 

In  r^88  Lord  Dorchester,  acting  for  the  King,  styling  His 
Majesty  -^ing  of  Great  Britain,  France  and  Ireland,  issued  a  pro- 
clamation recitino;  the  ordinances  of  the  Province,  dividing  the 
Province  into  two  districts  and  proclaimed  that  thereafter  the 
Province  should  be  divided  into  five  Provinces,  viz.,  Lunenhurgh, 
Mecklenburgh,  Nassau,  Hesse  and  Gaspe.  By  Provincial  Act  of 
Upper  Canada,  passed  in  1792,  the  four  districts  with  those  Pro- 
vinces, viz.,  Lunenburgh,  Mec  i^lenburgh,  Nassau  and  Hesse  were 
re-named  in  the  order  of  these  names:  Eastern,  Midland,  Home 
and  Western  Districts.  The  boundary  of  Lunenburgh  shows 
that  there  was  another  River  Thames,  now  known  as  the  River 
Gananoque. 

The  period  between  1774  and  1791  has  generally  been  termed 
"  The  Legislative  Council "  period.  This  arose  from  the  fact  that 
by  the  Quebec  Act  a  legislative  Council,  who  were  appointees  of 
the  Crown,  governed  in  the  Province.  In  1777  an  ordinance  was 
passed  by  this  Legislative  Body  dividing  the  Province  into  two 
districts  and  establishing  two  courts,  a  Court  of  Queen's  Bench 
and  a  Court  of  Common  Pleas  for  each  district.  These  two  dis- 
tricts corresponded  to  what  became  the  Provinces  of  Upper  and 
Lower  Canada,  with  a  greater  western  extension  of  Upper  Canada, 
viz.,  to  the  Ohio  River  on  the  south  and  the  Mississippi  on  the 
west.  The  condition  of  affairs  under  this  Act  of  1774  was  very 
unsatisfactory,  alike  to  French  and  English,  ami  perplexing  to  the 
Government  at  home.  Upon  the  advice  of  Mr.  Pitt  the  Govern- 
ment decided  to  divide  the  Province  into  two  Provinces  so  that 


52 


each  could  have  the  laws  n\o.st  agreeable  to  the  majority  of  the 
peo])le  of  the  respective  Provinces. 

Our  Constitutional  Act  of  31st,  George  III.,  chap.  31,  was 
passed  which  replaced  the  Legislative  clauses  of  the  Act  of  1774 
and  divided  the  Province  into  two  Provinces,  one  of  Upper  Can- 
ada (now  Ontario)  and  the  other  Lower  Canada  (now  Quebec)  and 
went  into  operation  25th  December,  1791. 

The  Legislature  of  Upper  Canada  at  its  first  session  held  at 
Niagara  on  the  17th  of  September,  1792,  enacted  that  the  laws  of 
England  instead  of  the  laws  of  Canada  were  to  govern  in  matters 
of  property  and  civil  rights  in  Upper  Canada. 

The  United  Empire  Loyalists  had  much  to  do  in  bringing 
about  this  state  of  things  and  the  English  law  in  the  Province, 
in  which  they  had  come  to  settle  on  being  expatriated  from  the 
States.  These  settlers  in  the  Province  were  imbued  with  very 
strong  ideas  on  the  subject  of  Monarchial  Government  and  British 
laws.  The  French  in  the  Province  of  Quebec  retain  the  laws 
guaranteed  to  them  by  the  Act  of  1774,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  the  Act  of  1774  was  passed  after  diligent  inquiry  as  to  its 
propriety,  and  this  is  only  in  harmony  with  England's  beneficent 
policy  in  other  portions  of  her  vast  Empire." 

The  Act  of  1791,  dividing  the  Province,  enabled  the  French 
to  mould  their  laws  to  their  liking.       :       ;  >,   ; 


63 


CHAPTER  VI. 


USURPATION — THE   ISLANDS  AND   INDIANS. 

eHIEF  JUSTICE  CAMPBELL  spe;»k,s  of  the  period  between 
tlie  Treaty  of  Versailles,  17<S3  and  179(5,  as  one  of  "  wronj^- 
ful  and  arbitrary  usurpation  "  on  En^dand's  part.  VVe 
must  make  allowance  for  his  view,  and,  thank  God,  I  can  look 
upon  the  separation  of  the  colonies  without  bitterness.  I  trust  I 
duly  appreciate  the  noble  efibrts  that  are  bein<;  made  wiihin  the 
great  Republic  for  a  high  and  Christian  civilization  and  have  no 
doubt  that  in  God's  Providence  they  will  attain  unto  it.  But  the 
honored  Chief  Justice's  statement  is  too  strong  in  the  eye  of  the 
Canadian  loyalist.  The  terms  of  the  treaty  were  not  observed 
and  hence  the  retention. 

Kingsford  says:  "After  the  conclusion  of  the  Treaty  of 
Peace  an  attempt  was  made  by  Congress  in  1788  to  obtain  pos- 
session of  the  western  posts  ceded  to  the  United  States.  Wash- 
ington made  a  demand  upon  Haldimand.  The  State  of  New  York 
did  so  also,  and  other  demands  wer?  made,  but  the  transfer  was 
withheld  on  the  ground  that  Haldimand  had  no  order  to  give 
them  up  and  the  reason  was  in  no  way  concealed,  viz.,  the  failure 
of  the  United  States  to  carry  out  the  5th  and  0th  clauses  of  the 
treaty  by  which  Congress  had  engaged  to  obtain  restitution  of 
the  property  of  British  subjects  which  had  been  confiscated  and 
tha\.  there  should  be  no  further  confiscations  or  persecutions  by 
reason  of  the  part  taken  in  the  war. 

Dr.  Ryerson  says  •  "  Dr.  Franklin,  the  most  experienced  and 
ablest  of  the  American  diplomatists,  was  the  most  crafty  and 
overbearintr  ajjainst  England. 

"  At  the  beginning  of  the  negotiations  for  peace  he  demurely 
proposed,  and  half  converted  Mr.  Oswald  to  his  proposition  to 
concede  Canada  (which  at  that  time  meant  all  British  North  Amer- 
ica) to  the  United  States,  though  his  commission  related  simply  to 
the  independency  of  the  thirteen  colonies ;  and  when  the  British 
Cabinet  vetoed  this  extra-official  and  extravagant  proposition, 
Dr.  Franklin  and  his  colleagues  over-reached  the  ignorance  and 
weakness  of  the  British  diplomatists  by  carefully  prepared  maps 
for  the  purpose  of  marking  the  boundary  lines  between  the  pro- 
posed possessions  of  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  on  their 


5^ 


northorn  and  north-western  frontiers.  These  lines  were  so  in- 
geniously drawn  as  to  take  from  Great  ]>ritain  and  inchidc  in  the 
United  States  the  immense  and  valuable  territories,  back  settle- 
ments and  the  whole  country  between  the  Allci^hany  Mountains 
and  the  Mississippi,  and  which  have  since  become  the  States  of 
Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Iowa,  Wisconsin,  Missouri,  Michigan,  and 
Minnesota,  etc. — to  not  one  foot  of  which  the  thirteen  American 
Colonies  had  the  slightest  claim — territories  ample  to  compensate 
Loyalists  for  their  losses  and  banishments,  but  whose  interest 
with  those  most  valuable  possessions  w^rc  lost  to  Great  Britain  by 
the  subserviency  of  the  British  Commissioner  Oswald  (a  London 
and  American  merchant)  who  looked  to  his  own  interests,  and  was 
the  subservient  tool  and  echo  of  Dr.  Franklin.  The  above  terri- 
tories were  a  part  of  the  domain  of  Congress,  irrespective  of  any 
State,  and  thertfore  at  the  absolute  disposal  of  Congress.  Yet 
with  these  immense  accessions  of  resources,  the  American  Com- 
missioners professed  that  the  Congress  had  no  power  or  means  to 
compensate  the  United  Empire  Loyalists  for  the  confiscation  and 
destruction  of  their  property.  One  knows  not  at  which  most  to 
marvel.  The  boldness,  skill  and  success  of  the  American  Com- 
missioners, or  the  cowardice,  ignorance  and  recklessness  of  the 
American  diplomatists." 

Professor  Goldwin  Smith  says :  "  Civil  war,  as  well  as  inter- 
national war,  there  will  sometimes  be,  but  it  ought  always  to  be 
closed  by  amnesty. 

"  For  amnesty  Cromwell  declared  on  the  morrow  of  Worces- 
ter. Amnesty  followed  the  second  civil  war  in  America.  The 
first  civil  war  was  not  followed  by  amnesty,  but  by  an  outpouring 
of  the  vengeance  of  the  victors  upon  the  fallen. 

"  Some  Lioyalists  were  put  to  death.  Many  others  were  de- 
spoiled of  all  they  had  and  driven  from  the  country.  Several 
thousands  left  New  York  when  it  was  evacuated  by  the  King's 
troops  (November,  1783).  Those  who  remained  underwent  vio- 
lent persecution.  The  several  slates  banished,  confiscjited,  pro- 
scribed persons  and  estates. 

"  Or  fifty-nine  persons  attainted  by  New  York  three  were 
married  women,  guilty  probably  of  nothing  more  but  adhering  to 
their  husbands  and  members  of  the  council,  or  law  officers  who 
were  bound  in  personal  honor  to  be  faithful  to  the  Crown. 

"Upon  the  evacuation  of  Charleston,  the  Loyalists  were 
imprisoned,  whipped,  tarred  and  feathered,  dragged  through 
horse  ponds  and  carried  about  the  town  with  "  Tory  "  on  their 
breasts.  All  of  them  were  turned  out  of  their  houses  and  plun- 
dered, twenty-four  of  them  were  hanged  upon  a  gallows  facing 
the  quay  in  sight  of  the  British  fleet  with  the  army  and  refu:iees 
on  board.     '  However,  we  will  say  with  Mr.  Sabine  to  those  who 


55 


o 


protested ;  to  General  Greene,  who  said  that  it  would  be  the  ex- 
cess of  intolerance  to  prosecute  opinions  which  twenty  years  he- 
fore  had  been  the  uni\ersal  belief  of  every  class  of  society;  to 
Alexander  Hamilton,  who  nobly  stood  uj)  ai^ainst  the  torrent  of 
hatred  as  the  advocate  of  its  victims  in  New  York  ;  John  Jay, 
who  said  he  had  no  desire  to  conceal  the  opinion  that  to  involve 
the  Tories  in  indescriminate  punishment  and  ruin  would  be  an  in- 
stance of  unnecessary  rigour  and  unmanly  revcn«jje  without  a 
parallel,  except  in  the  annals  of  rt li;^ious  raoe  in  the  time  of 
bigotry  and  blindness.'  By  right-minded  men  the  violence  of 
the  separation  nuist  ever  be  deplored.  The  least  part  of  the  evil 
was  the  material  havoc.  Of  this  the  larger  share  fell  as  usual 
upon  the  country  which  was  the  scene  of  the  war,  England 
came  out  at  last  with  her  glory  little  tarnished.  She  had 
yielded  not  to  America,  but  to  America,  France,  Spain  and  Hol- 
land. While  she  was  losing  nominal  empire  in  America,  illus- 
trious adventurers  hi>u  enlarged  her  real  empire  in   Hindostan. 

"The  Colonists  by  their  emancipation  won  commercial  as 
well  as  fiscal  freedom,  and  the  still  more  precious  freedom  of 
develupment :  political,  social  and  spiritual.  But  their  liberty  was 
baptized  in  civil  blood,  it  was  cradled  in  confiscation  and  massacre, 
its  natal  hour  was  the  hour  for  exile  of  thousands  of  worthy  citi- 
zens whose  conservatism,  though  its  ascendency  was  not  desirable, 
might  as  all  true  Liberals  will  allow,  have  usefully  leavened  the 
Republican  mass.  A  fallacious  ideal  of  political  character  was  set 
up,  Patriotism  was  identified  with  rebellion,  and  the  young 
Republic  received  a  revolutionary  bias  of  the  opposite  of  which 
.she  stood  in  need. 

"  The  sequel  of  the  Bjston  Tea  Parti/  wm  the  firing  on  Fort 
Sumpter." 

These  are  some  of  the  reasons  why  England  held  back,  for 
the  territory  was  in  truth  that  of  the  Indians  and  they  looked  to 
England  to  maintain  their  ri^jhts. 

And  the  wrong  was  never  righted.  My  grandfather  lost 
7000  acres  of  his  properties  that  were  granted  to  and  bought  by 
him  and  it  is  a  tradition  in  our  family  that  the  City  of  Platts- 
burg  to-day  stands  on  a  portion  of  his  estate,  forfeited  and  sold 
without  compensation. 

CAPITAL   PUNISHMENT. 

Let  us  call  attention  to  another  of  the  Chief  Justice's  remarks 
when  referring  to  the  hanging  of  a  party  by  Judge  Dejean,  "  the 
honor  (or  dishonor)  of  that  judicial  exploit  belongs  to  Judge 
Dejean,"  although  there  were  perhaps  some  court-martial  convic- 
tions. Were  the  worthy  Chief  Justice  with  us  now  he  would 
hardly  be  found  among  the  opponents  of  capital  punishment  for 


56 


iiiunler.  Tie  efforts  made  to  secure  the  desired  chanp;o  in  the 
law  in  the  last  session  of  the  Li'<,nslatiire  of  his  State,  would  show 
him  how  {^reat  a  change  had  taken  place  in  public  opinion  on 
this  suhject.  It  is  said  upon  <^ood  authority  tint  durin<r  1894 
there  were  9,S00  murders  in  the  United  States.  During  thesd'.nc 
year  thirty  in  Canada.  The  population  of  the  States  is  14  times 
larger  than  that  of  Canada,  and  in  proportion  to  population  there 
.should  have  been  fourteen  times  as  many  murders  there;  instead 
of  420  murders,  however,  9,800  took  place  there,  that  is  there 
were  twenty-three  times  as  many  murder.s  in  the  United  States 
in  1894,  in  proportion  to  population,  as  in  Canada.  Life  is  there- 
f(jr  twenty-three  times  as  secure  against  murder  north  of  the 
international  line  as  .south  of  it.  We  have  only  three  offences 
involving  the  death  penalty,  viz.,  treason,  murder  and  rape,  but 
the  latter  is  seldom  the  .subject  of  the  extreme  penalty. 

The  Detroit  Tribune  of  the  24th  of  April,  1895,  says:  "The 
Dominion  cf  Canada,  with  a  population  of  nearly  5,000,000  peo- 
ple scattered  from  Newfoundland  to  the  wild  frontier  of  the 
unexplored  Northwest  Territories,  has  had  less  than  five  murder.s 
for  each  100,000  of  her  population  during  the  past  ten  years. 
Michigan,  with  about  2,000,000  inhabitants,  nearly  every  one 
within  gun.shot  of  a  school  house  and  a  church,  has  had  over 
twenty-three  murders  for  each  100,000  of  her  population  during 
the  .same  period. 

In  ten  years  Canada  has  tried  223  people  fo)-  the  crime  of 
murder.  Michigan,  with  le.ss  than  one-half  the  population,  has 
tried  i84  people  for  the  crime  during  the  same  period. 

Canada  in  ten  years  has  hanged  forty-nine  people  for  mur- 
der,    Michigan  has  hanged  none. 

Under  the  Michigan  system  of  punishing  murder  the  state 
has  during  ten  years,  at  great  expense  to  her.self  preserved  the 
worthle.ss  lives  of  122  convicted  murderers.  As  an  offset  the 
state  has  mourned  the  untimely  end  of  over  300  more  victims  of 
the  crime  than  would  have  been  murdered  if  the  Canadian  ratio 
of  le.ss  than  five  to  100,000  population  during  the  period  had  pre- 
vailed in  Michigan." 

THE   ISLANDS   OF  THE   DETROIT  RIVEU. 

The  Chief  Justice  refers  to  the  grant  of  the  islands.  It  is 
interesting  to  know  that  the  grant  of  Belle  Isle,  or  Isle  Aux 
Cauchons.  Hog  Island,  as  it  was  then,  nnd  down  to  1845,  called, 
to  Mr.  McDougall  who  was  a  British  officer,  was  after  he  had 
bought  the  Indian  title  to  it,  for  which  he  had  paid  about  Sl^ODin 
rum  and  tobacco.  Then  we  read  that  the  large,  fine  island  of 
Grosse  Island  was  on  oth  July,  1793,  granted  by  Governor  Simcoo 
to  Mr.  William  Macomb,  who  was  oiie  of  the  two  first  members 


al 

b| 


^1 


W 
ti 


67 


;he 
:he 

of 
Itio 

•e- 


elected  to  the  Upper  Canada  Parliament  for  this  County.  He 
liatl  previously  been  allowed  by  Lieutenant  Governor  Hamilton 
to  occupy  it.  Mr.  Macomb  chanj^cd  his  allegiance  and  remained 
on  his  island  home,  and  I  knew  his  widow  and  her  family  inti- 
mately, and  a  <^rand-dau<^hter  of  his  to-day  is  the  wife  of  the  first 
Commoner  in  Ontario,  the  Hon.  W.  D.  Balfour,  Speaker  of  the 
Ontario  Legislature,  who  represents  the  South  Riding  of  E.ssex, 
and  from  her  home  this  latly  can  at  all  times  look  out  upon  the 
beautiful  island,  and  with  a  pardonable  pride  recall  it  as  a  royal 
gift  to  her  ancestor.  A'.u  it  is  a  remarkab'e  circumstance  that^- 
while  our  Government  thought  of  making  Bois  Blanc  Ishind  thefc_^ 
seat  of  the  courts  and  a  military  station,  the  Americans  tiiought 
of  doing  the  same  with  Grosse  Isle.  Boi.  Blanc,  which  we  see  re- 
ferred to  in  connection  with  the  courts,  belonged  to  the  Hurons, 
and  was  occupied  by  them  in  177+,  was  intended  as  a  military  \ 
post,  but  on  the  remonstrance  of  the  American  Government  this 
was  changed,  and  the  fort  built  at  Amherstburg,  which  was  laid 
out  in  170G.  The  Hurons  and  their  Mission,  with  Fathers  Hubert 
and  Pothier,  removed  to  Sandwich  and  had  their  church  in  the 
Parish  Church  at  Assomtion.  This  island  it  will  be  remembered 
wfts  sold  by  our  Government  to  the  late  Col.  Rankin,  and  is  now 
the  property  of  some  Americans. 

Peach  Island  (or  Isle  aux  Pecl.os)  used  to  be  prominent  in 
those  early  days  as  the  summer  home  of  the  great  chief  and  con- 
spirator, Pcntiac,  and  has  been  sold,  like  Bois  Blanc,  to  Mr.  Hiram 
Walker,  whose  tine  summer  residence  adds  so  much  to  its  beauty. 
Governments  to-day  are  muci  vvh.iL  they  were  in  the  latter  part 
of  the  last  century  in  selling  and  giving  away  lands  to  M.  P.'sand 
M.  P.  P.'s  and  other  favorites. 

I  confess  that  if  the  sale  of  Bois  Blanc  to  a  private  individual 
could  be  justified  it  was  in  that  instance,  for  the  Colonel's  wife 
was  the  grand  daughter  of  Colonel  Thomas  McKee,  who  occupied 
so  prominent  a  position  in  the  history  of  the  County  at  the  close 
of  the  past,  and  beginning  of  the  present,  century.  He  was  the 
Deputy  Superintendent  and  Deputy  Inspector  General  of  Indian 
Affairs,  and  from  his  relation  to,  and  influence  with,  the  Indians, 
was  ecjUil  to  bringing  about  any  agreement  between  the  Crown 
and  the  Indians,  as  was  hie  father.  Colonel  Alexander  McKee,  also 
Deputy  Superintendent  and  Deputy  Inspector  General  of  Indian 
Affairs,  whom  Simcoe  wanted  to  have  made  an  Executive  Coun- 
cillor for  Upper  Canada,  and  constituted  the  president  of  a  super- 
intending committee,  controlling  the  policy  to  be  observed  towards 
the  Indians,  reporting  through  Simcoe  to  Dorchester.  .  ... 
Dorchester,  embarrassed  by  the  absence  in  England  of  the  Super- 
intendent General,  Sir  John  Johnson,  in  December,  1794,  ap- 
point;d    McKee    Superintendent    General,    and    requested    his 


58 


tttteiidance  at  Quu1)l'C.  Tlic  former  was  also  meiiil>cr  tor  Essex  and 
Kent.  The  McKees,  Habys,  Askinsand  Klliotts  stand  oul  promi- 
nently in  those  days  of  trial  anfl  conHlct,  and  there  is  no  more 
striking  instance  of  loyalty  and  devoti(jn  to  a  soverci^'ii  than  was 
shown  by  Jud<re  .Iac(iues  Dupercn  Hal)y,  who,  although  liimself  a 
Frenchman,  was  the  faithful  ally  of  England  in  her  stru<,'gle  at 
Detroit  wit)\  both  French  ami  Indian^,  and  e.>-])ecially  durinL>-  the 
critical  period  of  Pontiiic's  conspiiacy,  diii-in<^  which  he  supplied 
the  jjarrison  with  cattle,  ho^s  and  supplies  fron>  his  farm  on  the 
opposite  side  by  ni^ht,  by  way  of  avoidinL?;  tie  Indians.  Of  this 
cons])iracy.  by  winch  Detroit,  then  held  by  Col.  (Jladwin,  of  the 
00th  Rciriment,  wis  nearly  caj)turetl,  and  the  massacre  in  J|ily, 
170;J,  of  Ca])tain  Dal/ell  and  a  lar^^je  number  of  his  detatchment 
of  2oO  men,  at  Bloody  J\un,  1  mu.'^t  refer  the  reader  to  the  ])a<i;es 
of  Park nuin,  and  the  interesting^  story  of  "Wacousta"  by  Maj(.)r 
Richardson.  The  spot  is  indicated  by  a  tablet  in  a  tree  on  the 
rij^ht  side  of  Jetierson  Avenue,  al)Out  a  ndle  above  Woodward. 
Major  Richardson  was  the  eldest  son  of  Di.  Kichardson,  of  Am- 
herstburtj.  one  of  the  District  Judijes  in  oui  District,  and  brother 
of  the  late  Mr.  Johnstone  Richardscn  of  Wimisor,  brother-in-law 
of  our  Sheriti".  I  am  j.;Iad  to  see  the  union  of  tw:)  of  these  <ifrand 
families  in  the  persons  of  n)y  friend,  Mr.  W.  -J.  McKee,  M.  P.  P., 
and  his  charming  wife,  t!  e  eldest  daughter  oi  the  late  Mr.  Charles 
Baby.  May  they  long  be  spared  to  enjoy  the  memories  and 
traditions  of  an  ancestry  so  loved  and  honored.  And  my  friend, 
Mr.  William  L.  Baby,  of  Her  Majesty's  Customs  at  Windsor,  the 
last  surviving  .son  of  the  late  the  Hon.  James  Baby,  is  still  active 
in  the  discharge  of  his  duties  upon  the  scene  of  his  noble  grand- 
father's fidelity  and  patriotisu),  and  may  he  yet  be  long  spared 
with  his  historic  pen  to  relate  the  earlier  history  of  the  country, 
us  he  has  done  so  well  in  the  past. 

Mr.  Thomas  McKee,  too,  who  has  so  long  tilled  the  office  of 
County  Clerk  to  the  County  of  Essex  and  its  associate  counties,  is 
the  grand-son  of  the  Indian  Superintendent  and  father  of  the 
M.  P.  P.  The  honored  name  of  Askin  is  refjiesented  in  the  Regis- 
trar of  Essex,  Mr.  J  Wallace  Askin,  the  present  Registrar,  and 
Mr.  Alexander  Askin,  of  "  Strabane,"  the  name  of  the  family  .seat 
of  the  grandfather,  John  Askin,  both  in  Canada  and  Ireland. 

And  I  am  glad  to  record  the  further  union  of  the  Baby  and 
Askin  families  by  the  marriage  of  the  Registrar  to  Mr.  Baby's 
second  daughter,  whc  with  her  .six  daughters,  make  a  lovely  ad- 
dition to  any  circle  in  which  they  may  be  met,  and  let  me  a<hl, 
with  pride,  that  the  Registrar  in  his  honorable  and  lucrative  othce 
is  the  .succes.sor  of  his  father,  and  of  his  late  grandfaiher.  Colonel 
James  Askin,  in  the  office  which  they  have  held  by  tepaiate 
appointments  for  G4  years. 


.->*' 


of 

es,  is 
the 


and 
seat 

and 

iby's 

ad- 

ladd, 

lone  I 
hate 


/77^.  i^  I 


so 


Colonel  Matth(!\v  Elliot  came  to  Atnlierstlmr^  in  the  intfuior- 
ablc  year  (ifc<17>S4  from  Virj^iTiia,  when  s'  many  other  United 
Empire  Ijoyafists  (IPd,  und  took  u])  l.i<  lionic  on  the  hcuutifiil  spot 
known  as  "  Elliot'.s  Point,"  opposite  Hois  IJianc  Island,  and  was 
proniinent  as  Indian  Superintendent,  (^'ol.  E  liott  is  to-  lay  rep- 
resented at  the  old  iioniestead  l»v  his  LjrandsMn,  Frederick  Elliot, 
Es(j.,  and  Ids  ^M-andson,  Miister  Fraid<  Elliot  of  our  town, 
onlv  son  of  the  late  liev.  Francis  Gore  Elliot,  and  the  grandson 
of  Sheriff  Mercer.  It  is  said  of  the  Colonel  that  he  saved  General 
Proctor's  life  at  Moraviantown  hy  throwing  up  the  ritle  of 
Tecuniseh,  who,  exa'^perated  hy  Proctor's  contemplated  retreat 
hefore  the  battle  was  fairly  lost,  accused  him  of  treachery  and 
would  have  killed  him  on  the  spot  but  lor  the  protection  then 
offered. 

INDIANS. 

Refeirin^  to  the  Indians  calls  for  some  rellections  upon  the 
f^reat  prominence  of  the  tribes  in  the  long-protracted  contests  be- 
tween France  and  Encj^land,  and  the  latter  and  her  own  Colonists 
in  the  war  of  1  SI 2.  They  were  a  power  and  ever-present  element 
in  every  ncj^otiation  or  operation. 

On  the  conclusion  of  the  'J'reaty  of  1763  the  Indians  were 
informed  that  the  determination  had  been  come  (o  by  the  Imperial 
Government  to  permit  no  grants  of  land  within  the  fixed  bounds 
of  the  Indian  territory  ,  under  purcha-(i  or  any  pretext  whatever, 
and  that  a  proclamation  would  be  i.ssued  to  this  effect. 

The  Imperial  policy  protecting  the  Indians  was  extremely 
unpopular  in  the  British  Provinces.  The  Albany  [)oliticians  eon- 
tended  that  the  nianaoeujent  of  the  Indian  lands  should  rest  with 
the  Province,  with  agents  dispersed  throughout  the  country.  The 
proclamation  following  t)ie  treaty  and  dated  the  7th  of  October, 
1 708,  says : 

"  We  do  therefore  declare  it  to  be  our  royal  will  and  pleasure 
that  no  Governor  or  Commander  in  Chief  in  any  of  our  Colonies 
of  Quebec,  East  L"  lorida  or  West  Florida  do  presume  upon  any 
pretence  whatever,  to  grant  warrants  of  survey,  to  pa.ss  any 
patents  for  lands  beyond  the  bounds  of  their  respietive  Govern- 
ments as  described  in  their  commissions  ;  as  also  that  no  Governor 
or  Commander  in  Chief  of  our  other  colonies  or  plantations  in 
America,  do  presume  for  the  present,  and  until  our  further  pleas- 
ure be  known,  to  grant  warrants  of  surveys  or  pass  any  patents 
for  land  beyond  the  heads  or  sources  of  any  of  the  rivers  which 
fall  into  the  Atlantic  Ocean  from  the  west  or  northwest ;  or  upon 
any  lands  whatever,  which  not  having  been  ceded  to,  or  pur- 
chased bv  us,  aforesaid,  are  reservetl  to  the  said  Indians,  or  any 
of  them.'' 


60 


Kingsfortl  says:  It  is  a  proof  of  the  wisdom  ami  justice  of 
these  provisions  that  the  principle  then  laid  down  has  always 
been  acted  upon  in  the  Queen's  dominions.  In  the  Northwest  it 
its  now  enforced.  It  is  from  this  just  and  riijhteous  provision 
that  tumult  and  turmoil  have  been  avoided  since  the  con(jUest. 
It  was  from  the  first  denounced  by  the  old  British  Provinces,  and 
no  little  aided  to  that  unfriendly  feelinij;  towards  the  troops  that 
led  them  to  refuse  even  shelter  and  assistance  to  them  when  en- 
Cfnged  in  h'ghting  their  battles. 

With  Governor  Simcoe  they  were  always  amonjif  the  most 
important  problems  with  which  he  had  to  deal  and  his  military 
instincts  and  p;reat  administrative  capacity  led  him  to  view  all 
the  pros  and  cons  of  their  relation  to  the  Province ;  and  how 
skilfully  he  did  it,  is  attested  by  the  happy  relation  in  which 
they  have  always  stood  to  their  sovereifrn.  Joseph  Brant,  or 
"  Tliayendanogea,"  the  great  Iroquois  chief  and  head  of  the  Six 
Nations  was  a  man  of  great  inlluence  and  capacity  whose  loyalty 
and  devotion  to  tht;  Crown  are  everywhere  acknowledged.  The 
people  of  Brant  have  so  testified  by  the  names  of  their  city  and 
county,  their  monument  and  other  evidences  of  regard,  and  we 
know  that  when  in  England,  he  was  received  with  all  honor,  and 
that  two  tablets  of  the  commandments  and  the  royal  arms  for  his 
church  were  given  to  him,  making  it,  in  fact,  a  chapel  royal  and 
where  royalty  itself  in  the  persons  of  Her  Majesty's  sons,  the 
Prince  of  Wales  and  Duke  of  Connaught ;  and  her  representa- 
tives in  the  Governors  of  Upper  Canada  and  Canada,  Simcoe, 
Sir  John  Colborne,  Sir  Isaac  Brock  and  Sir  Geo.  Murray,  and 
Lord  and  Ladv  Dufi'erir   stc  ,  was  often  seen. 

And  what  a  beautii..i  and  interesting  locality  is  the  reserv(! 
and  the  Indian  Mission  Church  there  founded  by  the  great  chief 
as  early  as  1784,  the  first  Protestant  Church  in  Upper  Canada, 
and  the  first  church  bell  that  was  rung  in  Canada !  Their  com- 
munion service  of  solid  silver  and  the  bible,  presented  by  Queen 
Anne  to  them  while  still  in  their  native  valley  of  the  Mohawk  in 
1712,  are  still  preserved  and  used  by  them.  I  first  visited  the 
Mis>ion  in  183o,  then  under  the  incumbency  of  the  Rev.  Abraham 
Nelles,  afterwards,  Archdeacon,  who  continued  to  officiate  there 
for  50  years,  and  which  is  still,  as  then,  under  the  patronage  of 
the  New  England  Society,  as  is  the  Mohawk  Institute,  for  many 
years  and  now,  under  the  management  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Ashton. 

And  talking  of  the  Six  Nations,  with  their  beautiful  names 
of  Tuscaroras,  Oneidas,  Senecas,  Mohawks,  Cayugas  and  Onan- 
dagas,  of  whom  my  relative.  Col.  Gilkison,  was  for  many  years 
superintendant  at  Brantford,  I  must  recall  the  Hurons  or  Wyan- 
dotts  of  the  Detroit  River,  with  their  large  reserve  at  Sandwich 
and  their  further  one  at  Anderton,  where,  among  others,  the  ven- 


Gl 


cniKlo  Split  fiOjir,  so  well  known  in  tlio  war  of  1812  lo  n.s  onn  of 
I'] I iL' land's  most  faithful  allies,  used  to  live  and  did  up  to  I.S:}7, 
when,  with  others  of  the  tribe,  he  removed  to  his  own  tribe  in 
the  Western  States. 

Often  was  he  a  truest  at  our  house  with  his  friend  and  inter- 
pretor,  (jeori^e  Martin,  and  often  have  1  seen  them  nt  dinner  on 
their  way  to,  or  return  from.  Detroit. 

We  first  read  of  the  tribe  on  the  Lower  St.  Lawrence  in  tho 
re<;ion  of  Montreal,  and  learn  the  tradition  of  their  seeini,'  the 
ships  of  Jac(|Ues  Cartier  comin;:]r  up  and  their  bein<;  reported  as 
•ijreat  dark  animals  with  broad  white  win^s — spitting  out  fire  and 
utterinj^  the  voice  of  thunder — the  gallant  explorer's  cannon 
belching  forth,  as  it  proved,  from  his  vessels.  Tho.sc  on  tho  De- 
troit River  were  Christians  professinj^  the  Roman  faith. 

Our  friend,  Mr.  Solomon  White,  of  Windsor,  Barrister  and 
ex-M.  P.  P.,  i.s  now  a  Chief  of  this  interestinj^  tribe. 

The  popular  impression  of  the  Indians  is  that  they  were 
chioHy  nomadie,  or  livin;^  by  huntint;  or  fi  hin^-,  but  Chief  Justice 
Campbell  says:  "History  shows  that  for  a  couple  of  centuries 
after  the  first  settlement  in  Canada,  the  Indian  tribes  were  in 
.several  instances  the  only  farmers  in  the  country,  and  supplied 
the  whites.  In  Michi<i[an.  Ohio  and  Indiana  their  villages  were 
great,  and  their  lands  laid  out  and  were  well  tilled." 

Our  own  Indians  of  the  Moravinntown  reservation  and  Wal- 
pole  Island  are  good  illustrations  of  what  kind  and  Christian 
treatment  has  accomplished. 

The  former  came  to  us  in  17f)2  and  were  able  in  Februarv, 
1793,  on  Governor  Simcoe's  visit  to  the  fort  at  Detroit,  to  enter- 
tain him  and  his  suite,  which  consisted  of  Captain  Fitzgerald, 
Lieutenant  Smith  of  the  5th  Regiment,  afterward.^  our  member, 
Lieutenants  Talbot,  afterwards  Colonel  Talbot,  formerly  of  the 
Queen's  Rangers,  so  well  known  by  the  great  highway  and  .settle- 
ment bearing  his  name  through  Kent  and  the  ailjoining  counties, 
Gray,  Givins,  and  Major  Lettlehales  in  sleighs,  both  g<'ing  and 
coming.  This  noble  body  of  Christian  Delaware  Indians  had 
reached  their  Canaan  after  journeying  through  the  wilderness 
between  the  Ohio  and  the  Thames  for  ten  years,  'i'he  first  year 
they  passed  at  a  point  where  Mount  Clemens  now  is,  1783-4  they 
lost  their  corn  crop  and  the  winter  was  one  of  the  severest  on 
record.  The  ice  on  Lake  St.  Clair  was  three  feet  two  inches  thick 
and  the  snow  five  feet  deep,  which  interfered  with  hunting  and 
the  ice  with  fishing.  But  they  succeeded  in  getting  a  large  quan- 
tity of  venison  from  a  herd  that  strayed  into  the  neighborhood, 
and  with  the  surplus  bought  corn,  and  their  residence  there  led  to 
the  n.aking  of  the  first  inland  road  out  of  Detroit,  which  was 
made  by  Mr.  John  Askin  and  Major  Arcum.     The  Mission  repre- 


(52 


Hi 


sents  the  historic  churcli  of  'loi  ivia  (for  the  Indians  are  not  so 
called  froiii  any  tribe  of  that  name)  and  Bohonda,  founded  in 
1467,  nearly  threc-f|unrters  of  a  century  before  Luther's  Reforma- 
tion. It  is  now  in  cliar<^e  of  the  Rev.  A.  liarlman  and  numbers 
about  300  .souls.  The  Walpole  Mi.ssion,  under  the  charjre  of  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Jacobs,  numbers  some  800,  ooO  of  whom  are  mendjers  of 
the  Church  of  England,  while  others  are  Methodists. 


yH    i 


6d 


CHAPTER  Vll. 


*  *• 


:■■  ,i 


OUR  CONSTITUTIONAL  AOT,  1701-2. — UPPER  CANADA. — YORK. 


"31' 


()W  is  tlie  winter  of  our   discontent    made  giurious 
summer  bv  this  sun  of  York." 

Here  we  are  in  the  liglU  of  our  Constitutiomil 
Act  of  1791,  dividin<»  the  Province  of  Quebec  into  Upper  and 
Lower  Canada  and  giving  to  both  the  benefits  of  representative 
Ciovernnient.  , 

The  «^That  we  have  been  reviewing  at  some  length  has  been 
somewhat  misty,  alike  fron»  a  judicial,  Juunicipal  or  constitutional 
view ;  but  we  are  now  within  the  clear  light  of  a  popular  and 
representative  governii-ient  and  the  laws  of  England.  Here  we 
have  seen  an  Empire  won.  There  we  have  seen  an  Empire  lost. 
We  have  seen  how  the  winning  of  the  one  tended  to  the  loss  of 
the  other.  What  a  struggle  was  that  great  colonial  duel  between 
England  and  France  tor  North  America,  and  witli  what  hopes, 
disappointments,  losses,  sorrows,  fears,  and  stupendous  results  it 
was  attended.  It"  the  thirteen  colonies  liad  not  been  relieved 
from  the  terror  of  French  power  and  their  possible  conquest  by 
France,  they,  in  all  probability,  v.'o.;!d  not  have  revolted.  Again, 
if  England  had  not  conquered  at  Quebec,  France  might  have  over- 
powered these  colonies  and  reversed  the  order  of  events,  making 
Puritan  New  England  and  her  sister  colonies,  to  accept  alike 
French  rule  and  Rome's  faith  or  be  a  second  Acadia.  Groat  is 
our  triumph  in  having  gained  and  retained  Canada.  And  we 
nmst  remendjer  that  while  we  lost  the  United  States  we  gained 
the  great  Empire  of  India. 

Under  the  French  governors,  from  Champlain  (1008)  down 
to  the  capitulation,  was  100  years,  the  period  of  French  rule,  or, 
as  Dr.  Bourinot  says,  of  "al)solute  government." 

From  the  capitulation  to  the  Treaty  of  170IJ,  and  a  year  and 
more  after,  military  rule,  or,  as  Mr.  Kingsford  would  say,  "  the 
period  of  governors'  courts,"  or,  as  Dr.  Bourinot  says,  '  a  new  era 
of  political  liberty  in  the  history  of  French  Canada,"  lasting  four 
years. 

Thence  to  the  Act  of  1774,  with  nominally  French  and 
English  law,  by  a  military  governor  a-ssi-^ted  l>y  a  council,  ten 
years ;  thence,  undei'  the  Quebec  Act,  which  took  eti'ect  in  May, 


n 


(34 


^I'i 


I77i>  to  1792,  seventeen  years,  known  as  the  "  Lefjislative  Coun- 
cil "  ])eriotl. 

The  Act  of  1791  passed  the  Imperial  Parliament  on  the  14th 
of  March,  1791,  and  our  first  Governor  under  it  was  Lieutenant 
Colonel  John  Graves  Simcoe,  a  distinf^uished  soldier  of  the 
American  Revolution,  who  reached  Quebec  in  October  of  that 
year,  where  he  was  detained  for  several  months,  only  leavin^j;  it 
in  June,  1792,  and  reaching  Kingston  in  July,  when  he  organized 
his  Government. 

Kingsford  says :  "  Certain  appointments  had  been  made  in 
En<;land  to  constitute  the  Legislative  Council  and  four  mend»ers 
had  be^n  nominated,  Chief  Justice  Osgoode,  and  Messrs.  Rober^- 
.son,  Grant  and  Russell,  Only  one,  however, of  them  was  present 
in  Canada,  Alexander  Grant,  spoken  of  as  Commodore  Grant. 

The  consefjuence  was  that  there  was  not  a  majority  of  the 
Cnuncil  present  at  Quebec.  Chief  Justice  Smith  pointed  out  that 
so  soon  as  General  Alured  Clarke's  proclamation  was  issued  for 
the  division  of  the  Province,  Clarke  himself,  as  Lieutenant  Gov- 
ernor of  Lower  Canada,  would  have  no  powers  in  the  civil  gov- 
ernment of  the  other  Province,  and  that  his  duties  in  that  respect 
would  he  confined  to  his  own  Government  and  as  the  officer  in 
chief  command. 

As  there  w'as  no  majority  of  the  Council  present  to  admin- 
ister the  oaths,  Simcoe  could  not  be  sworn  in,  and  hence  could  not 
legally  act.  No  power  had  been  given  '  3  him  as  Lieutenant 
Governor  to  appoint  ex  officio  any  Legislc«,tive  Councillors.  Sim- 
coe accordingly  brought  the  matter  to  the  attention  of  the  Home 
Government,  anrl  recommended  that  James  Baby,  of  Detroit, 
vshould  be  so  named,  and  that  authority  be  given  to  supply  the 
other  two  re(|uired  by  the  Act,  which  enforced  that  the  number 
should  not  be  less  than  seven. 

Subsequently,  20th  January,  1792,  John  Munro,  of  Matilda, 
was  appointed,  and  in  August  following  Richard  (Jartwright, 
Robei't  llanulto »  and  Richard  Duncan  were  added;  the  list 
signed  by  Provincial  Secretary  Littlehales,  dated  August  24th, 
1792,  sununoning  to  the  Council  the  several  members,  includeil 
these  new  names. 

The  Legislative  Council  was  assembled  to  its  full  number 
— nine — the  new  members  being  Mr.  Mtmro,  of  Matilda; 
Mr.  Duncan,  of  Rapid  Plot;  Mr.  Baby,  of  Letroit;  Mr.  Richard 
Cartwright,  junior,  of  Kingston,  and  Mr.  Hamilton,  of  Niagara. 
Simcoe  I'emainc'l  here  during  July,  and  meetings  of  the  council 
were  held  from  the  8th  to  the  2 1st.  He  himself  took  the  oath  as 
governor  on  the  iSth.  0-good  Russell  and  Baby  were  sworn  in 
as  executive  councillors  on  the  following  day,  Grant  on  the  11th. 


06 


nher 
ilda ; 

^ara. 
mcil 

h  as 
in  in 

Ith. 


A  proclamation  which  continued  the  judges  and  civil  officers  in 
their  official  duties  was  issued. 

Coumiodore  Grant  was  my  grandfather  and  lived  on  his 
estate  ten  miles  ahove  ])btroit,  at  Grosse  Pointe,*  and  Mr.  Baby 
was  the  Hon.  James  Baby,  eldest  son  of  Judge  Jacques 
Duperon  Baby  and  father  of  my  former  ])artner  the  late 
Mr.  Chai-les  Baby,  Clerk  of  the  Peace,  Sandwich,  and  Mr.  Wm.  L. 
Baby,  of  Windsor,  already  referred  to,  then  living  on  the  Detroit 
River,  both  sides  of  which  were  then  spoken  of  as  "  Detroit." 

On  10th  July  the  militia  returns  were  laid  before  the  coun- 
cil, and,  in  accordance  with  them,  the  province  was  divided  into 
counties  and  districts  to  admit  of  the  distribution  of  the  mem- 
bers, sixteen  in  number,  a  duty  which  occupied  the  council  from 
the  10th  10  the  loth.  On  the  IGth  the  proclamation  was  issued 
for  holding  the  elections  and  the  meetincr  of  the  Lesfialature ;  the 
first  Parliament  being  called  to  assemble  at  Niagara  on  the  en- 
suing 17th  September,  1792 

The  Governor  reached  Newark  in  August.  The  house  met 
on  the  appointed  day,  the  sixteen  members  were  as  follows : 
John  Macdonell,  who  was  elected  speaker;  Jean  5.  Baby;  Alex- 
ander (ampbell ,  Philip  Dorland,  who,  being  a  Quaker,  would  not 
be  sworn  in  and  did  not  take  his  seat ;  Peter,  Van  Alstine  elected 
in  Mr.  Dorland's  place;  Jeremiah  French;  Ephraim  Jones  ;  William 
Macomb  ;  Hugh  Macdonell ;  Benjamin  Rawling  ;  Nathaniel  Pettit; 

I'avid  William  Smith;  Ha/.elton  Spencer;  Isaac  Swayzy  ;  

Young;  John  White,  Mr.  Whit"'  being  the  first  Attorney  General 
of  Upper  Canada,  making,  with  the  Executive  and  Legislative 
Councillors,  the  Puires  Patrae  of  our  noble  Province.  (The  Cen- 
tennial of  the  organization  of  the  Government  of  Upper  Canada  was 
held  at  Niagara  on  the  17th  of  July,  1892.  I  was  present  tind 
His  Honor,  Lieut  nant  Governor  Klrkpatrick,  took,  occasion  to 
say  how  near  we  were  brought  to  it,  as  there  was  present  the 
gran  I  son  of  the  third  member  of  Simcoe's  Government.) 

T  '  Session  lasted  to  the  loth  October  and  passed  eight  Acts. 
The  mc  t  important  abrogated  the  ancient  laws  of  Canada.  No 
existing    ight  or  contract  was  to  be  affected  by  the  change  ;  in  all 


*The  Commodore  was  the  fourth  son  of  the  seventh  laird  of  Grant  of  (Jlen- 
miriston,  Inverness,  Scotland.  In  1757  he  came  to  Canada  with  (leneral  Amherst, 
as  an  officer  in  a  line  regiment ;  but  the  General  finding  it  necesso.'-v  to  have  a 
naval  force  on  Lakes  Champlain,  (ieorgf,  etc.,  called  for  officers  who  had  been  in 
the  navy,  and.  as  Grant  was  one  of  these,  he  received  command  of  a  sloop  of  six- 
teen guns.  Later  he  was  in  command  from  Chippewa  to  Mackinaw,  with  liead- 
(juarters  in  Detroit,  where  he  married  in  1774,  and  so  continued  till  his  death  in 
I  SI. '{—leaving  ten  daughters  and  one  son,  the  latter  dying  unmarried,  anrl  the^  * 
daughters  being  represented  throughout  Caniula  by  the  Dicksons,  Duffs,  WTighisJnCniffff 
NiooU,  McMickeus,  MilUra,  Jdijobs,  Hichardsous  and  Woods'.  For  fifty-seven 
years  he  was  in  the  «orviue  of  hid  sovereign.  Mr.  Baby's  father  beat  the  Com- 
modore, a»  be  left  twenty  children. 


Ofi 


V, 

hi 


future  controversy  resort  shoulil  be  had  to  the  laws  of  Enj^hirul. 
The  forms  of  hiw  and  eijuity  were  to  be  roi^uhited  by  the  British 
rulers  of  evidence ;  the  law  not  to  interfere  with  the  provisions 
afiectin;;  ecclesiastical  riuhts  within  the  Province  or  ihe  main- 
tenance  of  the  poor.  Trial  by  jury  was  established.  A  law  was 
passed  for  the  recovery  of  small  debts.  Millers  were  restricted  to 
one-twelfth  fcr  millinijj  and  boltinj.;-,  and  provision  was  made  for 
buildin<(  a  mniol  or  court  house  in  each  of  the  four  districts,  East- 
ern or  Johnstone  ;  Middle  or  Kingston  ;  Home  or  Niaj^ara  ;  West- 
ern or  Detroit. 

The  proposal  to  meet  revenue  by  a  tax  of  six  pence  a  <;allon 
on  wine  and  spirits  was  carried  in  the  Lower  House,  but  thrown 
out  by  the  Council ;  this  event  caused  some  vlisagreement  between 
them,  vv'hich,  however,  in  no  lonnj  time  subsides).  The  introduc- 
tion of  the  county  tax  on  land  was  rejected,  the  plea  beinj^  that  it 
would  discourage  emigration.  One  serious  (juestion  of  the  day 
was  the  Marriage  Bill.  A  measure  had  been  introduced  into  the 
Council  to  make  all  irregular  marriages  valid.  It  was  withdrawn 
on  an  agreement  being  entered  into  that  an  act  should  be  pre- 
pared in  the  recess  and  submitted  to  England  in  order  that 
legislation  might  effect  the  object  aimed  at. 

The  difficulty  had  come  into  prominence  since  the  foundation 
of  Upper  Canada  in  1784.  In  the  old  Province  of  Quebtc  the 
Protestants  had  been  few  in  number,  and  confined  to  the  cities  or 
to  localities  were  clergy  were  present ;  and  there  had  been  no 
cause. 

It  is  to  be  remembered  that  at  this  date,  bv  English  law  no 
marriage  was  legal  unless  performed  by  a  Church  of  England 
minister ;  consecpiently  the  children  by  other  marriages  were  by 
law  illegitimate.  In  many  cases,  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
forts,  no  clergyman  was  present,  the  service  had  been  read  by 
the  commanding  officer,  or  by  an  office  appointed  by  him.  In 
other  parts  of  the  country  at  the  time  of  the  first  settlement,  the 
justice  of  the  peace  had  performed  the  ceremony.  Many  districts 
were  imperfectly  provided  with  clergymen  and  in  these  cases  lay- 
men had  officiated.  A  strong  feeling  had  grown  up,  whatever 
the  moral  character  of  the  relationship,  that  the  children  from 
these  marriages  had  no  legal  right  to  the  inheritance  of  the  prop- 
erty of  their  sires.  This  was  remedied  in  the  next  session,  by 
33  Geo.  Ill,  c.  1,  making  such  marriages  valid  and  providing  for 
future  ones.  By  the  33  Geo.  Ill,  c.  4,  Presbyterian,  Lutheran  and 
Calvanist  ministers  were  authorized  to  celebrate  marriage  be- 
tween certain  persons,  provided  they  were  not  under  any  legal 
disqualification  ;  but  they  did  not  include  Methodists,  nor  did 
they  see  that  the  Methodists,  before  the  century  was  out,  would 
number  thirty  millions.     And,  as  late  as  1804,  my  own  parents 


ivv  no 
land 
e  by 

the 
(1  by 
In 
,  the 
;rict8 

ay- 
ever 
roiii 
)rop- 

by 

tor 

and 

be- 

egal 

did 

ould 

ents 


67 

were  married  at  Sandwicli,  before  Judge  Selby,  and  there  are 
not  kss  than  ei<f^*^  '-"bscribini;  witnesses  to  the  uuiiriaiie  certiti- 
cate,  a  copy  of  which  I  have  before  me. 

The  establishment  of  an  official  journal  took  place  a  few 
months  after  prorogation.  "  The  Upper  Canada  Gazette  or 
American  Oracle"  appeared  on  the  18th  April,  1798,  and  was 
published  at  Niagara,  until  171)S.  The  printer  was  Louis  Koy, 
who  accompanied  Simcoe  from  Quebec  on  oth  November,  171)2. 
Simcoe  sent  a  requisition  for  what  was  required  for  the  printing 
office  of  Upper  Canada,  a  proof  of  the  establi.shment  of  the  print- 
ing press  as  coeval  with  Constitutional  Government.  Strange  to 
say,  our  friend  Sheriff  Mercer  has  a  copy  of  the  first  number  of 
this  interesting  paper  to  which  I  .shall  refer  later  on. 

The  second  session  was  held  81st  iviuy,  1798,  and  passed 
eleven  Acts. 

In  this  session  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  Upper  Canada  took 
place.  There  were  both  Indian  and  negro  .slaves,  the  former 
being  known  as  Panis,  or  captives  from  the  Pawnee  nation,  and  I 
can  remember  that  one  of  the  freed  slaves  of  my  grandfather's 
household  used  to  come  from  Detroit  and  visit  my  mother,  down 
into  the  thirties,  and  this  reminds  me  of  wliat  both  Kent  and 
Essex  have  done  in  behalf  of  the  fugitives  fiom  slavery  in  the 
adjoining  States.  The  Rev.  VVm.  King  and  the  Elgin  A.ssociation, 
with  the  attendant  blessings  of  his  labors  in  this  County,  and  the 
efforts  of  my  own  father,  who  set  apart  1000  acres  of  land  in 
Essex  to  provide  homes  for  these  refuge  slaves,  some  of  whose 
descendants  are  still  to  be  found  in  Essex. 

JOHN    HUOWN    AND    HIS   FOLLOWERS. 

The  immortal  John  Brown,  too,  found  in  our  town  among  the 
large  body  of  respectable  colored  peoi)le  then  here,  and  in  the 
Buxton  Settlement,  an  inspiration  and  sympathy  that  led  him  to 
his  Quixotic  or  prophetic  action  at  Harj)er's  Ferry  in  18')!),  and 
we  have  been  honored  by  the  visit.«  of  that  noble  and  eloquent 
slave,  Frederick  Douglass,  and  I  recall  not  only  the  pleasure  I  had 
in  hearing  him  in  his  glowing  addresses  before  the  great  war,  but 
also  in  entertaining  him  at  my  own  house.  And  Kent  and  Chat- 
ham enjoyed  the  residence  and  influence  for  a  consideralile  period 
of  the  late  John  Scoble,  M.  P.,  and  his  accomplishei]  family,  who 
was  the  friend  and  co-worker  of  Wilberforce,  Sir  Fowle  Buxton, 
and  Clarkson.  and  Secretary  to  the  Abolition  Society  of  England  ; 
arul  there  was  the  Dresden  colonv,  with  the  shrewd  old  father 
Henson  at  its  head,  the  reputed  prototype  of  Uncle  Tom  in  Mrs. 
Beecher's  celebrated  book  :  and  I  myself  have  the  honor  to  be 
called  after  my  god-father,  Captain  Charles  Stuart,  of  the  East 


I 


68 

India  Company's  Service,  one  of  the  most  active  of  England's  dis- 
tinguished band  of  workers  for  freedom  of  the  slave. 

THE   MAllllIAGE   ACT. 

As  before  said,  the  Marriage  Act  was  passed  which,  among 
other  things,  provided  that  when  the  contracting  parlies  were 
18  miles  from  a  clergyman,  the  ceremony  could  be  performed  by 
a  Justice  of  the  Peace,  the  form  of  the  Church  ot  England  being 
followed  ;  a  Road  Act  and  also  an  Act  for  payment  of  Members 
of  Parliament.  And  in  the  third  session,  among  other  Acts,  was 
one  establishing  the  Courts  of  Queen's  Bench  and  Appeal. 


At 

ii 


69 


's  dis- 


mong 
were 
ed  by 
being 
rubers 
?,  was 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


OUR  JUDGES  AND  COURTS.  . 

gf  \UR  first  Chief  Justice  was  William  O.sgoodo,  an  equity 
V^^  draftsman,  of  Lincoln's  Inn,  but  esteemed  well  versed  in 
^^  Enoli.sh  law,  which  had  superseded  the  French  law,  and  the 
choice  was  a  <^ood  one,  and  after  him  was  named  the  scat  of  the  law 
courts  at  Toronto.  The  first  menticr.  of  him  in  !  »s  Judicial  capa- 
city is  on  the  2'ird  of  August,  171'2,  when  he  presided  in  the 
Court  of  Oyer  and  Terminer  and  General  Ciaol  Delivery  held  in 
the  Town  of  Kino-ston  in  the  District  of  Mecklenburijjh.  His 
associates  on  that  occasion  were  Richard  Cartwright  and  Hector 
McLeod,  Es(iuires,  Justices  of  the  Common  Pleas  of  the  district. 
Read  says :  "  There  were  twenty-four  grand  jurors  sworn  in  ; 
petit  jurors,  tip  staffs  and  all  the  incidenta  and  impedimenta  of 
the  English  courts  of  that  day.  He  only  continued  Chief  Justice 
till  December,  1793,  a  year  and  three  months  or  so  and  then  be- 
came Chief  Justice  of  Lower  Canada  upon  the  death  of  Chief 
Justice  Smith,  of  Quebec.  It  is  to  Chief  Justice  Osgoode  we  owe 
it  that  no  slaves  were  allowed  in  Lower  Canada,  although,  unlike 
Upper  Canada,  there  was  no  Legislative  prohibition.  On  a  case 
presenting  itself  the  Chief  Justice  declared  thtit  British  law  did 
not  recognize  slavery — following  the  precedent  in  the  case  of  the 
slave  Somerset  in  England  by  Lord  Mansfield  in  1772  And  our 
Act  against  slavery  was  the  result  of  a  charge  of  his  to  the  grand 
jury  in  1792. 

He  was  succeeded  by  Chief  Justice  William  Dummer  Powell, 
of  whom  mention  has  been  made  as  being  one  of  the  judges  of 
the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  appointed  under  the  Quebec  Act  of 
1774,  in  1789,  as  a  judge  of  the  Detroit  District,  or  District  of 
Hesse,  who  came  there  in  1789  and  continued  there  till  he  be- 
came a  puisne  judge  of  the  Queen's  Bench  and  continued  so  till 
1812,  and  in  1815  became  Chief  Justice  and  so  remained  till  1 825, 
when  he  retired  and  Sir  William  Campbell  became  Chief  Justice 
of  Upper  Canada. 

Niagara  or  Newark  continued  to  be  the  .seat  of  Government 
till  1796,  when  Governor  Simcoe  had  it  removed  to  York,  which 
was  then  a  forest  with  but  the  fort;  the  Governor  spending  the 
winter  of  17V 4-5  there  in  a  canvas  tent,  which  by  the  way  was  an 


/'7;'V 


70 


intcrcstino;  one,  an  it  had  beloiifred  to  tlio  ct'lelji-ated  Captain  Cook, 
the  discoverer  of  .so  much  of  En<j;hind's  domain,  wlio  was  killed  in 
1779  in  Owhyliee  (Hawaii),  and  he  hin).self  saw  active  service  in 
the  capture  of  Quebec  by  Wolfe,  wliere  also  his  father  was  an 
officer  in  His  Majesty's  service.  Here  His  Excellency  dispensed 
a  regal  hospitality,  anfl,  amonjx  other  distinguished  guests,  was 
Edward,  Duke  of  Kent,  father  of  our  ,^racious  Queen.  And  just 
hero,  we  have  the  funnit  t  incident  in  the  whole  history  of  that 
day,  and  that  is  ihe  Duke's  setting  oti"  from  tha  City  of  Quebec, 
where  he  was  stationed,  to  visit  Upper  Canada  with  a  French 
cnleche  and  French  pony,  as  Mr.  Reail,  in  his  Life  of  Governor 
Simcoe,  tells  us  he  did.  RecuUing  the  caicchc  and  pony  and 
French  driver,  as  I  first  saw  them  in  184G — where  thev  are  still 
found  in  primeval  vigor — and  the  pleasant  drives  to  Mont- 
morenci,  &c.,  I  have  greatly  enjoyed  this  first  stage  of  his  Royal 
Highness  in  his  long  journey  to  our  fine  Province.  It  may  be 
mentioned  in  this  place  that  the  (jrovornor,  on  his  first  \isit  to 
Toronto,  had  determined  that  the  old  Indian  name  of  Toronto 
should  be  changed  to  that  of  York,  in  honor  of  the  Duke  of  York. 
There  is  no  official  record  of  how  the  name  became  to  be  changed. 
It  is  sufficient  to  say  that  the  Governor  so  ordered  and  it  was 
done  accordingly. 

On  the  29th  August,  1793,  the  following  order  was  Issued 
from  the  Governor's  headquarters : 

"  YoiiK,  Upper  Canada,  2Gth  August,  1793. 

"  His  Excellency  the  Lieutenant  Governor  having  received 
information  of  the  success  of  His  Majesty's  arms  under  His  Royal 
Highness,  the  Duke  of  York,  by  which  Holland  has  been  .saved 
from  the  invasion  of  the  French  armies,  and  it  appearing  that  the 
combined  forces  have  been  successful  in  dislodging  their  enemies 
f'"om  an  entrenched  camp  supposed  to  be  impregnable,  from  which 
the  most  important  conse(|uences  may  be  expected,  and  in  which 
arduous  attempt  the  Duke  of  York  and  His  Majesty's  troops  sup- 
ported the  national  glory ;  it  is  His  Excellency's  orders  thfft  on 
raising  the  union  flag,  at  twelve  o'clock  to-morrow,  a  royal  salute 
of  twenty-one  guns  be  fired,  to  bo  answered  by  the  shipping  in 
the  harbor,  in  respect  to  His  Royal  Highness,  and  in  commenio.- 
ation  of  the  naming  of  this  harbor  from  his  English  title,  York,' 

"  E    B.  LiTTLEHALES, 

"  Major  of  Brigade."  J 
But  I  cannot  let  Judge  Powell  go  yet,  for  he  is  sj  closely 
associated  with  the  exodus  from  Detroit  to  Sandwich,  of  our 
people  and  courts,  that  he  is  peculiarly  the  representative  of  a 
new  era.  He  was  born  in  Boston,  Mass.,  1755,  sent  to  England  at 
nine  to  be  educated,  and  thence  to  Holland  to  learn  the  French 


71 


lo  in 

MUO.- 

'ork. 


)sely 

our 

lot'  M 

1(1  at 
lench 


and  Dateli  lani'iuiiies.  He  was  called  to  tlu;  bar  in  En<flaiul  in 
1779,  liad  resided  in  Lower  Canada,  and  iiad  reniiered  valuable 
aitl  to  the  LJnit(,'<l  Knii)ire  Loyalists  in  ulitainini;  our  Constitutional 
Act  of  171)1.  He  had  been  ajipointed  a  Conuuissioner  of  the 
Peace  of  the  Province  of  Quebec  in  l7<Si),  and  in  January,  171)1, 
he  was  ajtpointed  Connnissioner  of  Oyei'  and  Terminer  and  (jaol 
Delivery  for  Quebec,  and  in  171)2  to  the  same  otlice  in  and  for 
Uj)])er  Canada.  From  an  entry  founrl  at  Os^ooile  Hall  it  ai)i)ears 
that  he  held  a  Court  of  Connuon  Pleas  at  L' Assumption  on  the 
11th  of  Au<.mst,  171)1,  by  adjournment. 

On  .*}rd  September,  171)2,  we  havi;  him  presiditiij  at  His 
Majesty's  Court  of  Oyer  and  Terminer  at  Satidwich,  for  the  Dis- 
trict of  Hesse,  and  in  Octol)er,  171)'},  we  find  him  presidin<^  Judt^e 
of  Oyer  and  Terminer  for  the  Western  District,  held  at  the  court 
house  of  the  "  Township  of  Assumption,"  (this  should  be  the  pai  ish 
of  L'Assum))tion)  in  which  the  Town  of  JSandwich  is  situate.  The 
District  of  Hesse  havin*;-  been  in  the  meantime  changed  to  the 
Western  District,  1.5th  October,  1792. 

At  this  second  court  held  in  U|)per  Canada,  he  has  as  asso- 
ciates on  the  Bench,  the  Hon.  James  Baby  and  tlie  Hon.  Alexander 
Grant,  the  two  gentlemen  whom  we  i-ecognizo  as  niember.s  of 
Governor  Simcoe's  first  Executive  and  Legislative  Councils,  and 
both  of  whom  we  see  before  the  month  is  out,  viz ,  on  the  17th  of 
September,  taking  their  seats  in  the  first  Session  of  the  first  Par- 
liament as  Legislative  Councillors,  and  whom  later  we  shall  see  as 
County  Lieutenants,  the  Connnodore  for  Essex  and  Mr.  Baby  for 
Kent. 

At  this  court  a  pri.soner  was  tried  and  convicted  of  man- 
slaughter, the  sentence  of  the  court  as  (expressed  in  the  record,  is 
"  to  be  burned  in  the  hand,  and  accordingly  put  in  execution,  be- 
fore the  court." 

Chief  Justice  Sir  William  Campbell  was  the  grandfather  of 
our  worthy  friend  and  official,  William  A  Campbell,  Deputy  Clerk 
of  the  Crown,  and  Clerk  of  the  County  ami  Surrogate  Courts, 
with  his  fine  offices  in  Harrison  Hall.  The  Chief  Justice  retired 
in  1821)  and  was  then  kni;^hted,  and  sui'ceeded  in  the  Chief  Jus- 
ticeship  by  the  late  Sir  John  Beverley  Robinson.  Sir  William 
died  in  1884  at  Toronto,  and  his  funeral  was  one  of  unusual 
impressiveness  The  Legislature  was  in  session  at  the  time  and 
attended  in  a  body,  with  the  Bar  and  the  Judges. 

SIR   .JOHN    BEVERLEV    ROBINSON. 

My  first  recollections  of  the  judges  and  court  room  take  mo 
back  to  when  the  judge  walked  in  his  robes  and  cocked  hat  from 
the  hotel  to  the  court  house,  headed  by  the  constabulary  with 
their  staves,  accompanied  by  the  Sheriff  and  Grand  Jury;  when 


Is. 


72 


m 


W 


tho  readin*^  in  clue  form,  by  the  Clerk  of  Assize,  one  of  whom  was 
Mr.  VVm.  ('amphell,  the  father  of  our  present  Clerk,  of  the  several 
imposin;^  comaiissions  of  the  juil^es  took  place,  1st,  of  Assize  and 
Nisi  Prius;  2n'l,  of  Oyer  and  Terminer;  .*Jrd,  of  (lenernl  Gaol 
Delivery.  These  coinmissions  recounted  the  names  of  the  .hidj^es 
and  the  associate  Justices  of  the  l^eace,  winch  I  reinemher  quite 
distinctly.  'J'he  Hon,  Tohn  lieverley  Ilohinson,  Chief  Ju>tice  ;  the 
Hon.  Levius  Peter  Sherwooil,  and  the  Hi>n  James  Buchanan 
Macaulay  as  puisne  Judges.  This  would  he  a.s  early  as  IHIJO.  I 
began  n)y  practice  in  IHVA  before  the  Chief  Justice  and  thf  Hon. 
Justices  Miicaulay,  McLean,  Jones  anil  Haiferman.  What  nohle 
men!  All  sons  of  United  lOmpire  Loyalists,  atid  all  havinjT  been 
en<^a<^ed  in  the  tlefence  of  their  country  in  its  earlier  stru!:fj,des 
and  tlio  war  of  1812,  as  well  as  in  18:{7,  for  I  can  recall  sceini;  Sir 
John  and  Sir  James  Macaulay  untU-i-  arms  at  the  ujarl.et  in 
Toronto,  the  ni<^ht  w(;  "  men  of  r,ore" — 50  in  nuio"  I'r — arrived 
there  in  the  steamer  under  Col.  MacVab,  and  when  our  presence 
saved  the  city  an<l  the  Province,  for  there  was  not  a  rc:^ular  in 
llp|)er  Canada,  Sir  Francis  havin<^  unwisely  sent  all  the  troops  to 
Montreal. 

I  had  the  honor  of  kuowiiiij  Sir  John  early,  as  havinp^  been 
accjuainted  with  n)y  lather  and  eldest  brother,  who  vv.  re  both 
barristers,  he  always  came  to  see  njy  good  mother,  who  was  then 
a  widow,  and  from  that  day  to  this  J  have  always  regarded  him 
as  the  most  perfect  man  I  ever  met.  Sir  Francis  Bond  Head  says 
of  hiai  that  "  he  was  the  ornament  of  the  North  American 
Colonies,"  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  he  was  so,  and  if  he  had  had 
the  higher  sphere  of  Knglish  life  in  which  U)  exhibit  his  great 
talents  and  attractions  of  person,  manner  and  elo(juence,  he  would 
have  reached  the  woolsack  and  been  the  Copley  (Lord  Lydhurst) 
of  Canada. 

Byron,  in  his  grand  monody  on  the  death  of  Sheridan,  has 

th.esti  two  lines  and    1   have  always    thoughc    they   were   more 

appropriate  to  o'lr  noble  Chief  Justice  tha'i  to  tlie  eloquent  and 

gifted  subject  of  his  verse  : 

Sighing  thiU  nature  formed  but  one  such  man,  v 

And  broke  the  die— in  moulding  Sheridan. 

It  is  interestinij  to  know  that  while  yet  a  student  and 
twenty-oni  years  of  age,  he  was,  on  the  lOth  November,  IN  1 2, 
appointed  acting  Attorney  General  and  was  maih'  Solicitor  Gen- 
eral three  years  after,  the  Solicitor  General,  D'Arcy  Boulton, 
being  then  a  prisoner  of  war  in  France;  and  in  .Sl7  was  again 
appointed  Attorney  General,  which  office  he  held  when  appointed 
Chief  Justice  in  1820.  At  the  convocation  of  Benchers  in 
Michaehnas  Term,  181  o,  he  (Mr,  Robinson)  was  nwidea  Barrister, 
Solicitor  General  and  Bencher.     R  ipid  promotion  ?    I  ought  here, 


73 


])erha[»s,  to  say  that  our  Law  Society  was  organizeil  at  Nia^'ara 
on  the  17th  of  July,  17!J7,  with  ten  nictnbers. 

Kent  had  the  honor  of  having  the  Chief  Justice  appointed 
Registrar  of  the  County,  (as  will  be  seen  by  a  reference  ()  the 
schedule  of  officials  for  the  Western  District  in  the  appendix  al- 
most as  f^rc'it  an  honor  as  the  proposal  of  the  British  Uovern- 
inent  to  sei.  I  the  Earl  of  Chatluim  as  Governor  to  Canada,  with 
£0,000  a  year.  The  date  i^dven  is  the  12th  Noveujber,  1S2U,  but 
his  coninnssion  as  Chief  Justice  bears  date  the  1.3th  July,  l?S2y, 
and  there  is  a  manifest  mistake  here.  This  office  he  held  up  to 
18G2,  when  resignint^  he  went  to  the  Court  of  Appeal  as  its  Pres- 
ident, and  there  continued  till  his  death  on  the  last  day  of  Jan- 
uary, iHG.'i,  in  the  72nd  year  oi"  his  age. 

I  give  the  following  beautiful  tribut(  to  the  nol>.e  Chief 
Justice  from  the  Toronto  Globe  of  June,  187'i,  the  day  following 
the  banquet  given  to  him  on  his  retirement  from  the  Queen's 
Bench,  by  the  Bar  of  Ontario. 

.:  .  THE  (JLOHE's   TRIBUTE. 

"  We  are  not  of  the  school  of  politics  to  which  Sir  John  B. 
Robinson  belonged,  and  were  he  in  public  life  now,  it  is  certain 
that  we  should  differ  widely  from  his  views.  But  this  ought  not  and 
sliall  not  prevent  us  paying  a  tribute  of  praise  to  a  well  spent  and 
honored  life.  Sir  John  Robinson,  in  his  .speech  of  last  evening, 
gave  cordial  thanks  to  the  late  Rtv.  Dr.  Stewart,  of  Kingston, 
and  to  the  Rev.  Di,  Strachan,  who  sat  beside  h'uu,  a  hale  man  of 
84  years,  for  their  kind  protection  and  training  bestowed  on  him 
in  his  early  years,  wlien  left  an  orphan  ;  and  doubtless  to  them  ho 
owed  something  of  his  early  rise.  But  it  is  evident  that  the  youth 
who  distinguished  himself  on  the  field  of  Queenstown  at  the  age 
of  25,  and  was  thereaftei'  made  Attorney  General,  ere  he  had  been 
actually  called  to  the  Bar  in  a  formal  manner,  needed  but  little 
help  in  life.  He  was  the  architect  of  his  own  fortune.  Possessed 
of  a  ready  and  clear,  if  not  a  profound  intellect,  a  steady 
will,  great  activity,  will  and  perseverance,  Mr.  Robinson 
would  doubtless  have  succeeded  in  any  country,  but  in 
a  backwoods  region  like  Canada,  it  is  not  wonderful 
that  he  rapidly  took  the  first  honors  of  the  profession, 
and  was  called  to  the  Bench  at  the  early  age  of  forty.  He  was, 
at  that  time  and  rcjnained  for  .some  time  after,  the  head  of  a 
powerful  political  party,  and  showed  invincible  determination 
and  courajje  in  advocatinji  its  views.  Doubtless,  he  was  often  in 
the  wrong — who  has  not  been  proved  by  time  to  be  in  the 
wrong  r — but  no  one  will  deny  to  him  the  credit  of  being  per- 
lectly  sincere  and  lionest  in  his  convictions,  and  having  labored 
for  them  with  conscientious  zeal  and  assiduity.     In  reference  to 


74 


one  part  of  }iis  career  no  limit  need  be  j)lace(l  on  our  praises.  He 
was  a  .strong  friend  of  Hritisli  connection  and  defencled  this  out- 
post of  Knj^land  with  a  coura<^e  which  knew  no  difficulty.  As 
the  acknowIed<fed  head  of  society  in  this  Province,  Sir  John  11 
Robinson  lias  exercised  as  ^reat  an  influence  as  in  his  political 
sphere  and  has  usetl  it  in  an  eminently  Ijenelicial  manner.  Inliis 
own  personal  liabits,  temperate,  frugal,  chaste  and  di<^nified, 
liberal  in  his  hospitality,  a  friend  of  morality,  and  an  enemy  of 
excess,  there  can  be  no  (juestion  that  his  exam[)le  Ims  had  a  pow- 
erful influence  on  social  habits,  not  only  in  the  city  but  through- 
out the  whole  Province.  As  subject,  parent  and  member  of 
society,  he  stands  before  his  countrymen  sans  peur  d  sana  reprochc, 
worthy  of  the  honors  bestowed  upon  him  by  his  sovereign,  and 
of  the  esteem  and  resj)ect  of  his  fellovv-citi/ens." 

THE    FAMILY    COMPACT. 

The  Chief  Justice  was  the  acknowledged  head  of  the  widely 
denounced  "  Family  Compact ";  but  may  Canada  always  have  as 
honorable,  independent  and  able  men  to  administer  her  affairs. 
I  have  great  pleasure  in  giving  what  Mr.  Read  says,  in  his  "  Lives 
of  the  Judges,"  as  to  this  much  assailed  body  of  gentlemen. 

After  saying  that  the  Hon.  Robert  Baldwin  Sullivan,  Hon. 
William  Allan,  Hon.  Augustus  Baldwin,  Hon.  John  Elmsley, 
,  Hon.  \Vm.  Henry  Draper  were  the  Executive  Council  on  the  18th 
April,  1838,  he  adds:  "I  do  not  call  tliis  a  Family  Compact 
viouncil,"  and  "  there  are  not  wanting  writers  who  have  laid  at 
the  door  of  the  Family  Compact  all  the  sins  that  Hesh  was  heir 
to  in  those  days,  including  the  non-reprieve  of  Lount  and  Mat- 
thews. After  all,  what  was  the  Family  Compact  ?  It  was  an 
organization  composed  of  those  who  had  originally  settled  in  the 
Province,  and,  no  doubt,  thought  they  had  at  least  a  pre-emptive 
right  to  it,  many  of  them  having  occupied  positions  of  trust  in 
the  colony.  They  were  men,  not  of  the  same  family  or  always  of 
kin  to  each  other,  but  like  the  soldiers  of  old  when  they  had  con- 
quered a  place  they  meant  to  hold  it.  The  government  of  the 
country  got  into  their  hands,  and  they  weie  determined  to  hold 
it  against  all  comers.  The  citadel  had  many  defenders  ;  Beverley 
House,  one  of  the  principal  bastions  no  doubt,  being  held  by  the 
Chief  Justice,  who  never  surrendered  till  the  last  gun  was  fired." 

Considering  what  was  said  of  appointments  generally 
by  the  Family  Compact,  and  as  they  go  at  the  present 
day,  it  can't  be  said  that  ours  was  a  very  bad  one.  But 
let  me  turn  to  another  registrar's  appointment  in  this  Dis- 
trict, that  of  the  late  Colonel  James  Askin,  of  Sandwich, 
to  the  Essex  registrarship  in  1831,  by  the  Family  Compact.  We 
got  full  Responsible  Government  in  1841,  and  yet  in  185G  the 


75 


Colonel  rosignoil  and  his  oldtst  son,  John,  was  apiiointcd  \>y  tht; 
Executivo  of  United  Canada,  ami  continued  to  hold  tht;  oflici'  till 
1872,  when  he  resi<^ned  and  his  sou  was  l»y  a  Reform  Governiiuint 
of  Ontario,  appointed,  and  is  now  the  occupant  of  the  otHce. 
What  a  trihute  to  the  first  recipient  an<l  the  selection  of  tlio 
Family  Compact,  and  v;hat  an  honor,  too,  to  the  ^ood  nam^  of 
Askin,  sixty-Hve  years'  tenure  of  the  same  office  in  the  sam»! 
family  and  not  done  yet!  If  the  {>resent  worthy  incumhent  had 
a  son  in  addition  to  Ids  six  dau<^hters,  the  reversion  mi^ht  bo 
continued  in  the  family — nil  (lespcrnndum — as  the  ladies  are  j^et- 
ting  into  the  Church,  the  Bar  and  Medicine,  why  ma\'  they  not 
with  the  progress  of  the  franchise  look  to  the  spoils  of  otlice,  and 
then  what  of  the  Ilec;istrarship  of  Essex  with  six  such  fair 
petitioners  ? 

As  a  native  Canadian,  having  had  a  large  experience  and 
acquaintance  in  Upper  Canada  since  I  first  saw  Toronto  in  June, 
liS8G — ^just  before  the  general  election  of  that  year  when  Sir 
Francis  Head  was  so  fully  sustained  by  the  new  House — I 
rejoice  that  my  native  Province  had  an  Executive  and  Legislative 
Council,  whether  called  the  Family  Compact  or  otherwise,  of 
which  the  subject  of  the  above  admirable  tribute  was  the  recog- 
nized chief,  and  wdiose  counsels,  no  doubt,  were  paramount ;  and 
I  humbly  express  the  hope  that  every  coloiy  of  Her  Majesty's 
vast  empire  may  enjoy  the  same  blessing.  I  say  this  because 
under  the  Proclamation  of  l7'J'i  which  gave  the  colonists  the 
right  to  have  assemblies  such  as  the  thirteen  English  colonies  had, 
the  privilege  was  never  exercised  and  the  Act  of  1774  declared  it 
inexpedient  to  call  an  Assembly  and  vested  the  Legislative  power  in 
persons  appointed  wholly  by  His  Majesty  and  removable  at  his 
pleasure,  so  that  during  the  twenty-eight  years  no  Legislature 
was  asked  for.  Then  our  Constitutional  Act  of  1791 
didn't  give  us  Responsible  Government.  This  was  only 
got  in  18tl,  and  the  complaint  of  an  irresponsible  Exec- 
utive was  wholly  unwarranted  so  far  as  the  Constitution 
went,  for  their  was  no  power  to  make  the  Executive  responsible 
to  the  House.  It  was  responsible  to  the  Crown,  and  the  Sove- 
reign was  jealous  enou  >h  to  wish  to  hold  it,  and  in  no  way  desirous 
of  relin(|uishing  this  prerogative,  and  especially  to  a  Canadian 
Legislature  so  likely  to  be  infected  with  the  adverse  spirit  of 
177().  Then  see  how  even  in  England  with  Responsible  Govern- 
ment nominally  in  full  operation,  the  views  and  voice  of  the 
House  were  continually  thwarted  by  the  influence  of  the  Sove- 


reign. 


MICHIGAN    UNDER  THE   JUDCiES. 
Again  look  at  the  Territory  of  Michigan  after  we  left  it  in 


76 

July,  1790,  and  see  what  its  administration  under  the  Governor 
and  Judges  as  the  Executive  and  Legislative  bodies,  was.  Matters 
could  hardly  have  been  worse,  and  as  compared  with  the  way  in 
which  Upper  Canada  was  administered  by  Governor  Simcoe  and 
his  successors,  was  one  hundred  years  behind  us.  This  period  of 
the  Governor  and  Judges  presents  some  strange  constitutional  and 
municipal  history.  But  look  to-day  at  the  Federal  Government 
of  the  United  States  and  that  of  the  forty-five  States,  and  the 
element  cf  responsible  Government  is  wanting  in  all,  no  further 
advanced  than  Upper  Canada  during  the  days  of  the  Family 
Compact  and  yet  Bid  well,  liolph,  MacKenzie,  etal,  could  only  see 
constitutional  freedom  in  things  American,  while  everything  was 
tyranny  in  Canada.  They  all  lived  to  be  wiser  men,  and  Upper 
Canada  before  the  Union  and  Responsible  Government,  was  as 
prosperous  and  happy  a  people  as  it  has  been  since  the  Union, 
and,  up  to  1841,  while  the  population  of  the  United  States  had 
increased  twenty  fold,  that  of  Upper  Canada  had  increased  nearly 
one  hundred  fold. 

OUR   JUDGES. 


Then  follows  a  long  Hue  of  judges,  whose  names  will  be  found 
in  Read's  "  Lives  of  the  Judges,"  down  to  the  late  Mr.  Justice 
O'Connor,  1887,  and  I  would  again  earnestly  rccomn)end  this 
interesting  volume  to  my  readers  as  a  I'eservoir  of  judicial,  polit- 
ical and  social  history ;  and  these  names  with  othcis  down  I  give 
as  an  appendix.     (See  appendix.) 

Have  we  not  reason  to  be  proud  of  our  judges  and  courts  ? 
And  as  of  our  judges  so  of  our  bar,  from  whom  they  are  drawn. 
Kent  has  great  reason  to  be  proud  of  her's.  Already  two  of 
them,  Mr.  William  Douglas,  Q.  C.,  and  Mr.  Matthew  Wilson,  Q. 
C,  have  appeared  before  the  Judicial  Committee  of  the  Privy 
Council  in  England,  to  argue  the  important  (juestjons  involved  in 
the  drainage  case  of  Williams  v.  the  Municipality  of  Raleigh. 

And  how  suggestive  is  this  word  drainage.  It  first  appeared 
in  our  statutes  in  1834  (4  Wm.  IV,  c.  12,  s.  IG)  as  the  Ditches 
and  Watercourses  Act  with  i\\Q  fence  viewers  as  the  court,  without 
appeal.  It  has  gone  on  expanding  with  its  engineer  and  appeal 
to  county  judge,  and  into  the  government  drain  and  the  muni- 
cipal drainage  system,  until  it  has  reached  the  dimensions  of  a 
"Little  Holland"  under  the  Forbes  scheme,  and  the  enlarged 
views  of  Mr.  Augustine  McDonell,  C.  E.,  of  this  place,  and  the 
entire  range  of  colonial  judicial  tribunal,  until  it  has  further 
attained  to  the  dignity  of  an  appeal  before  the  Committee  of  the 
Privy  Council  in  England  as  just  stated.     Tempora  mutantur. 

And  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  to  the  act  of  the  Hon. 


^'     •    ■  77  ■ 

Archibald  McKellar  as  M.  P.  for  Kent,  in  l.S6(),  the  great  chantro 
took  place,  through  the  debenture  system. 

Then  we  have  the  referee,  Byron  ivl.  Brition,  C^.  C,  discharg- 
ing the  functions  of  the  judge  and  arl)itrator  as  a  special  officer 
in  the  interests  of  those  seeking  the  benefits  of  drainage ;  and  the 
Government  has  also  appointed  a  commission  to  consider  this 
great  question  and  promote  the  necessary  legislation  which  has 
been  so  fully  and  ably  carried  out  under  the  direct  on  and  pro- 
fessional 5,kill  and  ability  of  oar  friend  the  Chairman,  John 
Brown  Rankin,  Es(iuire;  the  tether  members  of  the  commission 
being  Mr.  Balfour,  IvJ.  P.  P.,  honorary  member;  Mr.  W.  G.  Mc- 
Georgc,  C.  E.,  Mr.  Robert  Lamarsh  and  Mr.  A.  Mclntyre. 

THE   LOCAL   OSfiOODE. 


[ared 
Iches 
pout 
[peal 
luni- 
|of  a 
rged 

the 
Ither 

the 

[on. 


Harri.son  Hall  is  our  local  Osgoode  p.nd  may  it  ever  maintain 
the  high  character  of  the  parent  seat  of  justice.  Sacred  is  the 
building  consecrated  to  the  administration  of"  justice  whether  civil 
or  criminal.  There  is  nothing  that  more  distinctly  characterizes 
a  people  than  its  judiciary.  In  this  England  stands  pre-eminent 
among  the  nations  of  the  earth,  and  Canada  has  sought  to  uphold 
the  high  standanl  presented  by  the  Mother  Country.  This  high 
tone  was  no  doubt  owing  to  the  fact  that  as  a  Crown  colony  our 
Judges  and  Crown  officers  were  appointed  in  England.  I  can  re- 
member thai/  as  late  as  1835  Mr.  Jamieson  .  ime  out  here  as 
Attorney  General,  and  was  made  our  first  Vice-chancellor  on  the 
formation  of  the  Court  of  Chancery  in  1837 — the  Lieutenant 
Governor  Sir  Francis  Bond  Head  being  the  Chancellor  ex  officio — 
and  being  the  firs*-  purely  civil  Governor  Canada  had  had  up  to 
that  day. 

Now  we  appoint  our  own  Judges,  and  our  Bar  presents  as 
good  a  field  for  choice  as  could  be  found  anywhere  ;  ami  it  early 
became  such,  for  1  recall  the  fact  that  the  Hon.  Henry  John 
Boulton  who  unsuccessfully  contested  Kent  in  1845  with  my 
brother,  was  the  ex-Chief  Justice  of  Newfoundland,  to  which  high 
office  he  had  been  called  while  Attorney  General  of  Upper  Canada. 

Sacred  as  this  hall  then  is  in  its  dedication,  let  it  know 
neither  race,  creed,  nor  color.  The  goddess  of  Justice  with  the 
Romans  was  represented  as  being  blindfolded  and  holding  the 
.scales  of  Justice  with  an  impartial  hand,  blind  to  all  surrounding 
persons  and  circumstances  from  which  undue  influence  might 
come  ;  and  may  we  not  hope  that  in  Ontario  and  Canada  at  large, 
this  judicial  blindness  may  ever  prevail'^  The  arms  and  motto 
of  our  honorable  Society  suggest  the  administration  of  justice 
with  golden  scales  and  the  freedom  that  Magna  Chorta  proclaims. 


78 


LOCAL   COURTS, 


In  this  connection  I  must  speak  of  our  local  courts.  The 
fiist  court  held  in  Kent  after  the  old  court  of  Hetjuests  with  its 
coniniissionors  had  passed  away,  was  under  the  Act  of  Unite<l 
Canada,  4  and  5  Vii,.,  c.  53  (1841)  on  the  piece  of  oround  directly 
opposite  Harrison  Hall,  where  the  Central  School  now  stands 
and  where  the  first  >)ublic  school  was  re-established.  It  was  held 
by  the  late  Charles  Eliot,  Esquire,  who  for  many  years  had  been 
judge  of  the  Western  District  and  chairman  of  the  Quarter  Ses- 
sions. He  was  a  most  accomplished  gentleman,  had  been  an 
officer  in  one  of  His  Majesty's  regiments  of  Foott,  and  was  the 
uncle  of  our  late  friend,  Mr.  A.  R.  McGregor,  of  this  city. 

I  myself  in  the  .spring  of  1(S43,  the  first  year  of  my  practice, 
took  the  circuit  wliich  extended  from  Sandwich  to  Sarria  and 
and  held  court  in  Chatham,  and  thence  to  Dawn  Mills  and  on  to 
Sarnia,  reaching  home  by  way  of  Michigan,  after  having  very 
nearly  lost  my  life  and  horse  in  crossing  a  stream  in  Michigan 
after  dark,  the  bridge  over  which,  or  rather  the  approaches  to 
which,  had  been  carried  away  by  the  spring  freshets.  Quite  a 
contrast  to  my  present  circuit  which  I  make  wholly  by  rail. 

And  yet  even  now  there  are  some  drawbacks.  I  recall  that 
last  year  to  reach  Merlin — .sixteen  miles  from  this — and  return 
the  same  day,  I  had  to  use  four  railways — the  Erie  &  Huron,  the 
Lake  Erie  &  Detroit  River,  the  Michigan  Central  and  the  Cana- 
dian Pacific  Railways — with  two  sleighs  and  a  tlrive  of  six  nules. 

As  I  have  Vjefore  stated  our  separate  court  organization  took 
place  in  lcS.50,  and  in  January,  1851,  our  first  County  Court  and 
Quarter  Sessions  were  opened  by  William  Benjamin  Wells, 
Esquire,  our  first  judge,  and  I  had  the  honor  of  making  the 
first  speech  within  its  walls  and  successfully  defending  some 
fellow  for  larceny,  for  there  were  no  civil  cases.  The  late  judge 
and  I  came  here  together,  he  from  the  east  and  I  from  the  west. 
The  judge  had  represented  Leeds  in  the  Upper  Canada  Legisla- 
ture for  some  years  and  was  an  active  politician  and  among  the 
very  few  literary  men  then  in  Canada,  and  was  the  author  of  a 
work  on  Canada,  entitled  "  Canadiana,"  containing  sketches  of 
Upper  Canada  and  Upper  Canadians  in  its  political  affiiirs,  1837. 
He  resigned  in  1878  and  was  succeeded  by  His  Honor  Judge  Bell. 
The  other  officials  were  John  Waddell.  SheriflT;  George  Duck,  jr., 
Clerk  of  the  Peace.  The  Crown  Attorney  was  not  known  at 
that  time  and  the  office  was  only  created  in  1857.  Peter  Paul 
Lacroix,  Deputy  Clerk  of  the  Crown  and  Clerk  of  the  County 
Court  and  Surrogate  Clerk,  and  good  old  Mr.  Robert  Payne,  as 
jailer,  while  Captain  Glendening  was  Clerk  of  the  Fir.st  Division 


79 


some 
judge 
west, 
gisla- 
'f   tlio 

of  a 
es  of 
1.S37. 

Bell. 

n  at 
Paul 
unt^y 
e,  as 
ision 


Court,  and   Mr.  Win.  B.  Wells,  the  late  judt^e's  eldest  .son,  has 
been  and  still  i.s  the  .second. 

Since  I  began  practice  I  have  known  four  .systems  of  plead- 
ing, and  seen  the  establishment  of  live  new  courts:  The  Court 
of  Common  Pleas ;  the  Supreme  Court  of  Canada ;  the  Exchecjuor 
Court;  the  Maritime  Court;  an  Admiralty  Court,  and  the  Speedy 
Trials  Court  for  Criminals.  (1)  The  pleadin<>  prior  to  the  Reyulae 
Generales,  consisted  of  numberless  counts  and  innumerable  pleas, 
with  its  "general  issue  of  unbounded  and  illogical  efi'ect,"  special 
den)urrers,  declarations,  pleas,  replications,  rejoinders,  rebutters 
and  surrebutters.  (2)  That  of  the  Regulae  Generctles,  1843,  by 
which  the  general  issue  was  greatly  curtailed  in  its  operation,  and 
the  counts  reduced  to  one  for  each  cause  of  action  and  one  plea 
to  each  separate  ground  of  defence.  (3)  That  of  the  Common 
Law  Procedure  Act,  1850,  combining  both  law  and  equity  under 
the  right  (o  add  an  eijuitable  plea,  and  providing  that  a  pleading 


need   not   be   signed   by   counsel    nor    should   wager   of    law    l)e 


allowed  ;  a  great  advance  upon  the  old  .system,  relieving  the 
courts  from  the  reproach  of  sending  suitors  like  shuttle  cocks 
from  one  court  to  another  and  being  sent  to  chancery  to  be 
enabled  to  go  to  common  law  ;  and  it  was  in  this  new  .system 
that  our  Chief  Justice  Harrison  so  distinjruished  himself  as  a 
legal  author.  (4)  The  great  and  radical  change  under  the  Judi- 
cature Act  of  1881,  preceded  by  the  amendment  tending  to  this 
change  in  the  Act  of  1873,  which  was  in  advance  of  the  English 
Judicuture  Acts,  and  which  shewed  a  strong  desire  on  the  part  of 
the  Attorney  General,  Sir  Oliver  Mowat,  to  fuse  as  much  as  pos- 
.sible  law  and  equity.  These  were  all  progressive  and  amelior- 
ative steps  in  the  great  cau.se  of  Justice.  In  the  Judicature  Act 
we  find  more  than  a  change  in  pleading  and  see  there  the  great- 
est changes  in  the  constitution  and  practice  of  the  courts.  The 
venerable  Court  of  Queen's  Bench  extending  in  England  over 
1000  years,  and  extended  to  Canada  by  the  proclamation  of  1704 
and  the  Constitutional  Acts  of  1774  and  1701  and  continued  by 
our  Provincial  Act  ci!  1704,  was  by  the  Judicature  Act  of  1881, 
abolished  and  absorbed  in  the  High  Court  of  Justice  for  Ontario, 
and  so  with  the  Court  of  Chancery  established  in  1837,  and  so 
with  the  Connnon  Pleas  established  in  1840,  and  all  j)ut  upon  a 
common  footing,  doing  away  with  the  dual  .system  and  the  great 
vice  of  a  divided  jurisdiction  with  its  anomalies  and  incon- 
veniences, and  largely  with  the  Jury  .system. 

And  the  Acts  of  the  last  Session  to  consolidate  the  Acts 
governing  the  Supreme  Court  of  Judicature  and  the  Law  Courts 
Act,  180;"),  of  great  importance,  relating  to  appeals,  proc(^dure  in 
in  the  Court  of  Appeal,  divisional  sittings  of  the  High  Court,  ap- 
peals to  and  from  Divisional  Courts  and  the  sittings  and  consti- 


80 


jr. 


tution  of  Divisional  Courts,  and  the  reduction  of  the  cost  of 
evidence,  that  will  go  into  operation  as  soon  as  a  proclamation  is 
issued,  provide  great  reforms  and  must  make  great  changes  for 
the  better. 

The  County  Courts  have  usually  partaken  largely  of  tlie 
practice  of  the  Superior  Courts,  except  where  the  restraint  of 
jurisdiction  has  been  imposed. 

But  it  is  when  you  come  to  the  Division  Courts,  truly  called 
"  The  Poor  Man's  Court,"  tliat  you  find  a  very  simple  and  effec- 
tive mode  of  a(hninistering  justice  between  man  and  man,  and 
taking  in  almost  all  the  ordinary  transactions  of  life,  with  a  juris- 
diction reachinii  to  $200  in  certain  cases,  sittings  at  all  the  chief 
points  in  the  County — in  ours — nine  towns  and  villages  almost 
monthly,  attended  by  the  best  lawyers,  the  record  a  simple  "  state- 
ment of  claim"  and  "dispute,"  as  comprehensive  as  the  "general 
issue  "  of  ancient  days,  a  fair  regard  for  the  rules  of  evidence, 
execution   within   fifteen  days,  with  "immediate"  or  "speedy" 
judgment  by  leave  of  the  Judge,  Judgment  Summons  with  power 
of  committal  for  forty  days,  jury,  and  appeals  in  drainage,  fence- 
viewers.  Master  and  Servant,  &c.,  with  direct  appeal  to  the  Court 
of  Appeal  of  Ontario,  in  cases  over  $100,  and  suitors  having  little  to 
desire  or  complain  of.     In  this  Court  and  in  this  County  more 
than  $100,000  have  been  sued  for  in  a  year,  a  sum  greater  than 
that  adjudicated  on  by  all  the  Superior  and  County  Courts  for  the 
same  time.     This  Court,  it  is  thought,  v  ill  be  made  still  more  use- 
ful by  an  increase  of  its  jurisdiction  p  '     ips  at  the  expense  of  the 
County  Court ;  but  whatever  the  chang    may  be,  we  may  reason- 
ably suppose  that  with  so  experienced  a  legislator  as  Sir  Oliver 
Mowat,  it  will  be  in  the  right  direction,  and  giving  the  public 
fresh  reason  for  congratulation.     This  Court  dates  back  to  the 
reign  of  Henry  the  VIII.,  as  the  "  Court  of  Conscience  "  is  found 
in  operation  under  the  Governor  in  Quebec  and  Detroit,  and  on 
our  Statute  Book  as  the  Court  of  Requests  as  early  as  1792. 

And  as  it  has  been  in  civil  matters,  so  it  has  been  in  criminal 
the  Speedy  Trials  Act,  before  the  County  Judges ;  the  extended 
jurisdiction  of  Police  Magistrates,  of  whom  there  are  three  in  this 
County,  who  may  try  for  felony  and  misdemeanor,  the  dispensing 
with  jurors,  and  other  Acts  and  provisions  simplifying  criminal 
procedure  are  among  the  evidences  of  a  determination  on  the  part 
of  the  Legislature  to  make  criminal  procedure  what  it  should  be. 
It  was  only  the  other  day  that  I  astonished  (*r\  Amftrican  friend 
familiar  with  criminal  trials  on  the  other  p'de.  liv  ';»  ;i\'  him  that 
a  party  charged  with  and  imprisoned  for  '^'  Ji  >'  >n'  mi:.'.'  '..^eanor, 
could  on  the  same  day  of  his  arrest  b«^  at  his  v  \  wil,  u  r«:gned, 
tried,  convicted  and  sent  to  the  penii    .liary  f  r  dfje'  k  years. 


more 


81 


CHATHAM   HISTORICAL. 


Anything  of  a  historical  nature  connected  with  the  Town  has 
been  so  fully  supplied  in  connection  with  its  inauguration  as  a 
City,  that  I  may  be  excused  from  saying  much  on  the  subject. 

There  is  nothing  of  historical  interest  attaching  to  the  lot  on 
which  our  building  stands,  but  just  there  at  the  Merchants  Bank 
a  bridge  once  stood,  connecting  the  military  reserve  with  this  side 
of  the  Creek,  and  over  that  humble  bridge  passed  the  brave 
Shawnee  Chief,  Tecumseh,  on  the  3r(l  of  October,  1818,  to  the 
military  ground  now  our  beautiful  Tecum^eh  Park,  where  with 
his  men  he  lay  that  night,  while  the  regular  British  forces  under 
General  Proctor  lay  on  the  north  side  of  the  Thames,  between 
what  is  now  the  line  of  the  Erie  &  Huron  Railway  down  to  the 
Cosgrave  farm  at  the  lower  end  of  the  town.  Here  the  great 
Chief  wanted  to  n:ake  his  stand  and  give  battle  to  the  Americans 
under  General  Harrison,  the  grandfather  of  the  late  President  of 
the  United  States,  and  who  himself  became  President  in  1840  for 
the  short  peiiod  of  one  month. 

In  our  vaunted  superiority  we  are  prone  to  say,  "  Lo,  the 
poor  Indian,"  with  all  that  this  implies ;  but  may  we  not  draw  a 
valuable  lesson  from  the  example  of  this  "  untutored  "  but  faithful 
Indian  warrior,  and  show  the  patriotism  which  he  exhibited  in 
laying  down  his  life  for  his  adopted  country ;  choosing  rather  to 
suffer  affliction  with  the  people  of  Canada,  than  enjoy  the  pleas- 
ures of  the  United  States  for  a  season,  and  esteeming  the  reproach 
of  being  a  British  ally  greater  riches  than  the  treasures  of  Uncle 
Sam's  Republic  with  all  its  vastness  and  wealth  ?  Better  to  be  an 
Indian  Chief,  with  such  a  record,  than  even  a  Goldwin  Smith, 
with  his  odious  itch  for  annexation,  and  his  distempered  doctrines 
of  "  manifest  destiny,"  &c. 

But  to  pursue  our  recollections.  What  shall  we  say  of  the 
minor  municipality  in  this  happy  work  of  co-oncr.ition  ^  Chat- 
ham is  not,  that  I  know,  remarkable  for  anything  in  a  historical 
way,  except  the  Tecumsf>h  incident  and  that  portion  of  it  known 
as  Tecumseh  Park,  whic.i  we  must  ever  associate  with  the  loyalty 
and  devoted  patriotism  of  our  aboriginal  allies.  It  wai  laid  out 
on  this  side  in  a  block  of  600  acres  on  Lots  1  and  2,  Harwich,  and 
24,  Raleigh,  extending  from  McGregor's  Farm  on  the  east  to 
Lacroix  street  on  the  west,  by  Governor  Simcoe  in  1795,  and 
added  to  in  1851  by  taking  in  Lots  23,  1st  Concession,  and  24, 
2nd  Concession,  Raleigh,  Robinson  Estate,  and  No.  1,  Ist  Conces- 
sion, Chatham,  and  No.  24,  1st  Concession,  Dover. 

Chatham  will  yet  vindicate  the  sagacity  and  sound  judgment 
that  chose  it  as  an  important  centre,  and  the  day  is  not  far  off 
when  she  will  have  her  true  position  among  the  cities  of  our  great 


82 


Dominion  and  go  forward,  as  she  deserves  » do,  as  the  metropolis 
of  Kent,  the  Garden  of  Canada. 

There  was  no  permanent  settlement  here  for  many  years 
after  the  survey  and  not  till  1830,  althouf^h  Governor  Simeoe  had 
a  shipyard  at  this  point,  and  built  a  block  house  on  the  reserve, 
and  although  Abram  Iredell,  P.  L.  S.,  who  laid  out  the  town, 
built  a  house  and  planted  an  orchard,  some  trees  of  which  may 
still  be  seen  on  Lot  17,  on  the  corner  of  William  and  Water 
streets,  where  Mr.  John  Smith  and  Mr.  Colby  live.  The  first  pei- 
manent  settler  was  the  late  William  Chrysler,  the  father  of  our 
good  old  collector,  after  whom  the  ward  was  named  in  1855,  who 
settled  and  built  on  Lot  C,  now  occupied  by  our  esteemed  fellow 
citizen.  Dr.  Holmes,  as  his  fine  residence. 

It  first  took  its  place  in  the  municipal  organization  of  On- 
tario as  an  incorporated  village  in  1852,  with  five  Councillors,  and 
taking  in  Chatham  North,  which  had  been  laid  out  by  my  late 
brother,  Joseph,  in  1837.  Its  next  stage  was  to  become  an  incor- 
porated town  in  1855,  with  nine  Councillors,  and  with  A.  D. 
McLean,  Barrister,  as  its  first  Mayor,  and  Duncan  McCoU  as 
Clerk,  as  he  had  been  of  the  village.  Its  members  were :  Thomas 
A.  Ireland,  Archibald  McKe'Iar,  Alexander  D.  McLean,  Joseph 
Northwood,  John  Smith,  John  Waddell,  John  S.  Vosburgh,  John 
Winter,  and  myself.  Mr.  Henry  Smyth,  representing  the 
Mayor  at  the  inauguration  of  our  City  on  the  1st  July,  took 
occasion  to  say  that  I  was  the  only  survivor  of  the  whole  number. 
And  it  is  somewhat  remarkable  that  of  these  gentlemen  one  be- 
came Senator  Northwood,  another  the  Hon.  Archibald  McKellar, 
as  a  member  of  Sir  Oliver  Mowat's  Cabinet,  and  later  Sheriff  of 
the  County  of  W^entworth,  as  he  had  been  M.  P.  for  Kent,  and 
M.  P.  P.  for  Bothwell  through  several  years ;  Mr.  Smith  became 
the  member  for  Kent  in  18G7,  and  Mr.  McLean  became  Crown 
Attorney  and  Clerk  of  the  Peace  in  1859,  while  I  have  become  one 
of  the  Judges  of  the  County. 


83 


CHAPTER  IX. 


&i 


CONFEDERATION. 

said  when  speaking  of  Lord  Sydenham's  Government 
and  tlie  introduction  of  our  Municipal  Institutions  and 
Responsible  Government,  we  got  complete  self-govern- 
ment with  the  Union  of  Upper  and  Lower  Canada  in  1841,  which 
continued  to  Confederation,  1 807,  with  the  four  Provinces  of 
Upper  and  Lower  Canada,  Nova  Scotia  and  New  Brunswick,  now 
extended  to  all  the  Provinces  except  Newfoundland  (which,  in 
the  colonial  system,  is  not  considered  a  part  of  British  America) 
with  a  progress  and  development  on  every  line  of  national  growth, 
until  Canada  to-day  is  as  prominent  in  the  world  as  any  other 
portion  of  it.  But  this  is  the  su^ij 'Ct  of  every  day's  report  and 
discussion  and  does  not  call  for  any  special  reference  from  me  in 
connection  with  my  subject,  except  that  it  is  the  first  attempt  at 
Confederation  between  a  group  of  liritish  Colonies,  and  it  is  to  be 
hoped  it  will  be  followed  by  the  other  great  colonies  and  that  all 
may  be  brought  into  imperial  co-operation  as  indicated  by  the 
Ottawa  Conference  in  June,  1894,  and  by  Mr.  Chamberlain,  our 
new  Colonial  Minister.  I  present,  however,  the  members  of  the 
first  ministry  under  Confederation  : 


President,         .         .         . 
Minister  of  Justice 
Secretary  of  State  of  Canada, 
Finance  Minister,     -         -         - 
Minister  of  Pul)lic  Works,     - 
Postmaster-General, 
Minister  of  Agriculture, 
Receiver-General,   -         -         - 
Minister  of  Militia,     - 
Minister  of  Customs, 
Minister  of  Inland  Revenue, 
Minister  of  Marine  and  Fisheries,  - 


-     Hon.  A.  J.  Blair 

Hon.  Sir  John  A.  Maedonald 

Hon 


L.  Langevin 

-     Hon.  A.  T.  Gait 

Hon.  Wm.  McDougall 

-     Hon.  Alex.  Campbell 

-     Hon.  J.  C.  Chapais 

Hon  E.  Kenny 

Hon.  Sir.  Geo.  E.  Cartier 

-     Hon.  L.  L.  Tilley 

-  Hon.  W.  H.  How  land 

Hon.  P.  Mitchell 


Secretary  of  State  for  the  Province,       Hon.  A.  G.  Archibald 


ONTARIO. 


But  of  this  constellation   our  noble   Province   of    Ontario 
stands  out  pre-eminently  as  the  bright  particular  star  and  a 


84 


review  of  it  under  its  centennial  effulgence  would  enable  us  to 
present  it  in  successful  rivalry  with  any  other  portion  of  the 
globe,  not  excepting  England,  or  the  Empire  State  of  the  Repub- 
lic. But  we  are  not  surprised  at  this  when  we  rcmeiMber  the  high 
character  of  our  Governors-General  and  Lieutenant-Governors, 
Let  us  recall  the  words  of  Governor  Sinicoe  on  the  prorogation  of 
the  first  session  of  the  first  Parliament  of  Upper  Canada  and  see 
if  we  cannot  find  in  them  the  key  to  the  high  character  of  our 
institutions,  people  and  country. 

"I  cannot  dismiss  you  without  earnestly  desiring  you  to  pro- 
mote by  precept  and  example  among  your  respective  counties  the 
regular  habits  of  piet}-  and  morality  the  surest  foundations  of  all 
public  and  private  felicity ;  and  at  this  juncture  I  particularly 
recommend  to  you  to  explain  that  this  Province  is  singularly 
blessed,  not  with  a  mutilated  constitution,  but  with  a  constitution 
which  has  stood  the  test  of  experience  an<l  in  the  in.age  and  tran- 
script of  Great  Britain,  by  which  she  has  long  established  and 
secured  to  her  subjects  as  nmch  freedom  and  happiness  as  it  is 
possiMe  to  be  enjoyed  under  the  subordination  necessary  to  civil- 
ized society." 

And  the  words  of  Sir  Francis  Bond  Head  in  his  farewell  ad- 
dress to  Parliament  in  March,  1888,  are  equally  deserving  of 
recall :  "  May  the  resplendent  genius  of  the  British  Constitution 
ever  continue  to  illuminate  this  noble  land,  and  animated  by  its 
influence,  may  its  inhabitants  continue  to  be  distinguished  for 
humility  of  demeanor,  nobility  of  mind,  fidelity  to  their  allies, 
courage  before  the  enemy,  mercy  in  victory,  integrity  in  com- 
merce, reverence  for  their  religion,  and  under  all  circumstances 
implicit  obedience  to  their  laws." 

On  the  4th  of  April,  1893,  our  present  popular  and  able  Lieu- 
tenant Governor,  the  Honorable  George  A.  Kirkpatrick,  on  the 
opening  of  the  new  Parliament  buildings,  said  :  "  It  gives  mo  great 
pleasure  to  meet  you  as  a  Legislative  Assembly  for  the  first  time 
since  my  appointment  as  Lieutenant  Governor,  and  it  is  par- 
ticularly gratifying  that  I  am  privileged  to  do  so  in  these  beauti- 
ful buildings  now  so  recently  completed,  and  so  well  adapted  for 
your  accomodation  and  the  convenience  of  the  public  service.  I 
regret  that  the  condition  of  the  work  did  not  admit  oi  my  caliir;^; 
you  together  at  an  earlier  day.  It  is  to  me  a  source  of  historical 
interest  to  remember  that  I  am  addressing  the  Legislature  of  this 
Province  in  the  f^rst  year  of  the  second  century  of  the  existence 
of  representative  Government  in  Canada.  The  progress  of  events 
from  the  first  Parliament  opened  by  His  Excellency  Governor 
Simcoe  at  Niagara  in  1792,  to  the  opening  of  this  Parliament  to- 
day, shows  what  great  strides  have  been  made  towards  the 
development  of  the  country  and  the  enlargement  of  the  privileges 


85 


the 
great 
time 
par- 
all  ti- 
for 
I 

llirp: 
)hcal 
this 
ence 
/ents 
jinor 
t  to- 
the 


of  citizenship  under  tlie  Constitution  ^'iven  to  us  by  the  Imperial 
Parliament.  As  a  native  of  Ontario  and  for  many  years  con- 
nected with  the  public  life  of  Canada,  I  rejoice  to  believe  that 
under  our  present  relations  with  the  Empire  we  can  enjoy  every 
right  and  privilege  necessary  to  the  fullest  exercise  of  self- 
government." 

Professor  Wm.  Draper  in  his  Civil  War  in  America,  says : 
"  There  is  a  period  in  the  life  of  a  nation  when  it  i*^  ashamed  of 
the  opinions  handed  down  to  it." 

I  am  proud  to  say  that  in  this  long  review  of  our  young 
coiintry  we  find  no  room  I'or  shame,  for  the  record  is  a  most 
honorable  one — slavery  put  an  end  to  at  once,  marriage  jealously 
guarded,  virtue  invoked,  and  vice  denounced,  liberty  of  the  person 
and  security  of  life  and  property  promoted  b\'  the  wisest  legisla- 
tion, verifying  the  words  of  Sir  Wm.  lilackstonc,  when,  in  speaking 
of  England,  he  says:  'A  land,  perhaps  the  only  one  in  the  uni- 
verse, in  which  political  or  civil  liberty  is  the  very  end  and  scope 
of  the  Constitution." 

And  my  prayer  is  that  the  righteousness  enjoined  by  our 
good  Governor  Simcoe  may  ever  increase,  and  exalt  us  as  a 
nation  and  save  us  from  those  sins  which  are  a  reproach  to  any 
people.         -     .  -        .  •  •  •  •    ' 

PllOCLAMATION  OF  SIMCOE,  APIIIL,  1793. 

I  should  like  to  .say  that  so  rapid  was  the  growth  of  the 
country  after  the  closing  of  the  American  War  in  IT^SS,  that  by 
1700  the  population  of  Canada  had  reached  probably  over  IGO,- 
000,  and  by  1708,  when,  after  Canada  was  divided  into  nineteen 
counties  and  districts,  the  four  originiil  districts  of  the  Province 
contained  twenty-three  counties  and  158  townships.  To-day  as 
a  further  evidence  of  our  continued  growth  Ontario  has  forty-Hve 
counties  and  over  800  townships.  And  it  should  not  be  forgotten 
that  while  the  population  of  the  United  States  has  increased 
twenty-one  fold  since  1700,  that  of  Canada  has  increased  eighty 
fold ;  although  the  United  States  had  a  century  and  a  half  start 
of  us,  aided  by  British  credit  and  wealth.  And  even  by  the  cen- 
sus of  18f)i)  and  1891  in  each  country,  while  their  population  has 
increased  eighteen  times,  ours  has  increased  twenty  times  over 
the  census  of  1880  and  1881.  I  must  give  the  names  of  the  Gov- 
ernors-Gei  n-al  of  Canada  from  the  first  down  to  the  present,  and 
the  Lieutenant-Governors  of  Upper  Canada.     (See  appendix.) 

I  now  again  refer  to  the  first  number  of  the  "  Upper  Canada 
Gazette  or  American  Oracle,"  the  first  newspaper  published  in 
Upper  Canada  on  the  18th  April,  1793,  at  Newark,  and  "think 
myself  happy  "  in  having  the  opportunity  to  repeat  this  admir- 
able appeal  to  the  people  of  Kent,  and  thank  Sheriff  Mercer  for 


86 

placing  it  at  my  disposal.  It  is  a  somewhat  striking  circumstance 
that  (he  last  criminal  statute  of  Canada  -the  lamented  Sir  John 
Thompson's  Code — provides,  for  the  first  time,  a  punishment  for 
the  offence  of  incest,  which  hitherto  has  been  regarded  as  an 
ecclesiastical  one,  not  punishable  by  a  Civil  Court. 

PEOCLAMATION. 


JOHK  GRAVES  SIMCOE. 


PROCLAMATION   FOR  THK  SUPPRKSSION  OF  VICE,  PROFANENE.SS 

AND  IMMORALITY 


-BY — 


His  Excellency  John  (Jraves  Simcoe,  Esquire,  Lieiitknant-Oovkrnoh  and 

Colonel  Commandino  His  Majesty's  Forces  in  the  Province 

OK  Ui'PER  Canada. 


WHEREAS,  it  is  the  indispensable  duty  of  all  people,  and  more  especially  of 
all  Christian  nations,  to  ptiMerve  and  advance  the  honor  and  service  of  Almighty 
(lod,  and  to  discourage  and  suppress  all  vice,  profaneness  and  imH\orality,  which 
if  not  timely  prevented  may  justly  drav  c*wn  the  Divine  vengeance  upon  us  and 
our  country.  And  His  Majesty  having  r  tlio  promotion  of  virtue  and  in  tender- 
ness to  the  best  interests  of  his  subjects,  given  command  for  causing  all  laws  made 
against  blasphemy,  profaneness,  adultery,  fornication,  polygamy,  incest,  profana- 
tion of  the  Lord's  day,  sweatintt  and  drunkenness,  to  be  strictly  put  in  execution 
in  every  part  of  the  Province,  I  do,  therefore,  direct,  require  and  command  the 
peace  officers  and  constables  of  the  several  towns  and  townships,  to  make  present- 
ment upon  oath,  of  any  of  the  vices  before  mentioned,  to  the  justices  of  the  peace 
in  their  section,  or  u^  any  of  the  other  temporal  courts.  And  for  the  more  effec- 
tual proceeding  herein,  all  judges,  justices  and  magistrates,  and  all  other  officers 
concerned  for  putting  the  laws  against  crimes  and  offences  into  execution  are 
directed  and  commanded  to  exert  themselves  for  the  d\.f  prosecution  and  punish- 
inent  of  all  persons  who  shall  presume  to  offend  in  any  of  the  kinds  aforesaid  ; 
and  also  of  all  persons  that  contrary  to  their  duty,  shall  be  remiss  or  negligent  in 
putting  the  said  laws  into  execution.  And  I  do  further  charge  and  command, 
that  the  Proclamation  be  publickly  read  in  all  courts  of  justice  on  the  first  day  of 
every  session  to  be  held  in  the  courts  of  tl  •;  present  year,  and  more  especially  in 
such  of  His  Majesty's  courts  as  have  the  cognizance  of  crimes  and  offences; 
recommending  the  same  to  all  Christian  ministers  of  every  denomination,  to  cause 
the  same  Proclamation  to  be  read  four  times  in  the  said  year,  immediately  after 
divine  services  in  all  places  of  public  worship  and  that  they  do  their  utmost 
endeavor  to  incite  their  respective  auditors  to  the  practice  of  piety  and  virtue,  and 
the  avoiding  of  every  course,  contrary  to  the  pure  morality  of  the  religion  of  the 
holy  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ. 

(Jiven  under  my  hand  and  seal  at  arms,  at  thi'  *!overnment  House,  Navy 
Hall,  the  eleventh  day  of  April,  in  the  year  of  Our  Lou  I  one  thousand  seven  hun- 
dred anil  ninety-three,  and  in  the  thirty-third  year  of  His  Majesty's  reign. 

By  His  Excellency's  command,  J.  G.  S. 

Wm.  Jar  vis,  Secretary. 

KENT'S  llEOISTttY  OFFICE  AND  ST.  JOSEPH'S  ISLAND      ' 

t*flP  H^''^^  piitry  in  our  registry  office  here  relate^  to  the  ap- 
pointi/it'lii  ui  iDitor  to  the  estate  of  one  Campeau,  by  Judge 
Powell,  on  tfie  2nd  of  July,  1789,  which  would  .show  that  the 


87 


.Tu<l^e  had  lost  no  ^ime  in  onteriiinr  upon  the  duties  of  his  cifHce, 
as  he  arrived  in  Detroit  on  the  1  otli  of  June.  And  we  see  on  SOth 
June,  170S,  the  registry  of  a  transfer  of  tie  Ishind  of  St.  Joseph 
or  Cariboux,  in  Lake  Huron,  by  the  principal  chiefs,  warriors  and 
people  of  the  Chippewa  nation  to  Alexander  McKee,  Deputy 
Superintendent  and  Deputy  Inspector  General  of  Indian  Attiiirs 
for  and  in  behalf  of  His  Majesty    leorge  HI. 

The  case  of  Fields  v.  Miller  in  our  own  Courts,  27,  T^.  C.,  Q. 
B.,  },nves  some  interesting'  particulars  of  the  grant  Wi^^  and  survey- 
ing uf  Lot  17,  2nd  Concession,  Harwich,  by  the  l^and  Board  of 
Hesse,  described  in  the  grant  as  Lot  17,  2ad  township  south  .side 
River  La  Tranche,  and  of  the  townsldp  as  well.  Deputy  Surveyor 
Iredell  was  the  surveyor,  a  well  known  nam.  here  at  that  time, 
and  the  same  as  laid  out  the  Town  of  Chatham  in  179o.  I  give  a 
copy  of  the  Land  Board  certificate  in  this  case. 

"At  a  meeting  of  the  Land  Board  of  the  D'^^trict  of  Hc.s.se,  at 
the  Council  House  at  Detroit,  on  Friday,  28th  .-)eptember,  1702, 
Lieutenant  Colonel  England.  President;  John  Askin,  Esq.,  Lou- 
vigney  Montigney,  E.s(|.,  members,  James  O'Brien,  petitioner  for 
Lot  17,  Second  Township,  Second  Conce.s.sion,  south  side  River  La 
Tranche,  having  appeai  d,  the  Board  grant  him  said  lot,  having 
administered  the  oath  of  fidelity  and  allegiance  to  him  as  by  law 
directi'd.     Signed  by  the  President  and  members." 

The  Township  later  on  received  the  name  of  Harwich,  and 
the  name  of  the  river  was  changed  in  ./uly  of  that  year  at  King- 
ston by  Simcoe  to  its  present  name,  and  it  will  be  observed  that 
the  first  Parliament  of  Upper  Canada  had  been  ten  days  in 
session. 

In  September,  1789,  an  order  was  issued  from  Quebec  to  the 
Board  of  Justices  in  the  District  of  Hesse,  defining  the  lands  for 
settlement  in  Canada,  beginning  at  the  western  boundary  of  the 
last  purchase  from  the  Indians  west  of  Niagara. 

Chief  Justice  Campbell  says  :  "  In  1789  provision  was  made 
for  granting  lands  in  the  Province  to  American  refugees,  and  the 
region  lying  east  of  the  Detroit  River  and  north  of  Lake  Erie 
was  largely  settled  by  Dutch  Tories  from  New  York.  The  result 
was  to  excite  among  the  Americans  who  afterward  settled  in 
Michigan  a  fierce  animosily  against  that  cla.ss  of  these  neighbors 
which  was  of  long  standing.  In  regard  to  the  other  British  peo- 
ple, the  feeling  was  more  kindly,  except  as  to  the  Indian  agents 
and  emissaries,  who  were  never  forgiven  for  thoir  .share  in  me 
massacres  of  the  Americans," 

In  1792  there  were  but  five  surveyors  in  the  Province  and 
these  were  sent  by  Lord  Dorchester  to  Governor  Simcoe  to  aid 
him  in  laying  out  his  grants  and  townships. 

In  the  earliest  days  of  the  settlement,  lands  were  surveyed 


T 


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IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-S) 


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Sciences 
Corporation 


33  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTEH.N.Y.  14580 

(716)  872-4503 


T 


88 


under  the  direction  of  the  King,  by  an  officer  appointed  for  that 
purpose  and  the  same  method  prevailed  under  British  rule.  I  am 
able  to  give  a  copy  of  one  of  these  appointments  taken  from 
Farmer : 

"  In  consequence  of  repeated  complaints  made  by  several  of 
the  inhabitants  that  their  neighbors  have  encroached  on  their 
farms  and  that  they  do  not  actually  possess  the  quantity  specified 
in  the  primitive  grants  and  for  n-hich  they  pay  rents  to  His 
Majesty  ;  therefore,  Mr.  James  Sterling,  being  an  experienced  and 
approved  surveyor,  I  have  appointed  him  King's  Surveyor  at 
Detroit ;  and  for  the  future  his  surve;/s  shall  be  looked  upon  as 
valid  and  decisive,  and  whom  it  may  concern  are  hereby  ordered 
to  conform  thereto. 

"  Given  under  my  hand  and  seal  at  Detroit,  April  21st,  1774. 

"Henry  Bassett, 

"  Major  and  Commandant." 

From  other  old  records  it  appears  that  Philip  Frye  was  the 
surveyor  March  27th,  1785.  He  appointed  Thomas  Smith  his 
deputy  on  May  8th,  178V.  Peter  McNiff  acted  as  surveyor  m 
1794  and  1799. 

My  brother  Joseph  studied  surveying  under  Thos.  Smith  who 
came  to  live  on  the  Canadian  side  and  who  was  so  highly 
esteeviied  by  the  citizens  of  Detroit,  that  upon  Detroit  being  burnt 
down  in  1805,  they  sent  for  him  to  lay  out  the  city  under  the 
direction  of  the  governor  and  Judges'  plan  ;  and  the  historian 
adds,  "  His  Britanic  Majesty's  Surveyor  Thos.  Smith  was  brought 
over  from  Tipper  Canada  to  assist  in  that  arduous  undertaking." 

LORD  SELKIRK. 

In  addition  to  the  very  rapid  settlement  of  the  Province  in 
this  part  of  the  country  through  the  United  Empire  Loyalists 
and  others,  there  was  one  exceptional  and  remarkable  one,  that 
of  the  Earl  of  Selkirk,  in  1804,  at  the  Chenal  Ecarte,  and  Big 
Bear  Creek,  now  the  Sydenham,  know  as  Baldoon.  Baldoon 
farm  consisted  of  950  acres  and  other  lots  were'  taken  up  on  the 
Sydenham  and  the  Earl  brought  out  111  of  his  sturdy  Highland- 
ers, many  of  whose  descendants  are  still  with  us.  In  addition  to 
this  he  got  the  lots  at  this  end  of  the  townline,  24,  1st  concession, 
Dover,  and  1,  1-t  concession,  Chatham,  578  acres,  both  of  which 
my  father  bought  from  him  and  which  form  the  north  part  of  our 
city.  I  called  Selkirk  street  after  the  Earl  and  Baldoon  street 
after  the  settlement  to  which  it  leads.  My  father  was  His  Lord- 
ship's solicitor,  and  I  recall  the  large  trunks  an<l  boxes  containing 
the  papers  of  the  estate  and  those  of  the  officials  connected  with 
it.  My  father  came  from  the  Montreal  Bar  in  1800,  and  being 
master  of  the  French  language  was  enabled  to  make  himself  very 


89 


useful  between  the  people  of  the  laroe  French  settlements  and 
the  En<^li.sh  speakinjjj  settlers  ;  and  the  merchant  princes  who 
came  across  the  Detroit  River  and  settled  in  Sandwich  with  these, 
made  a  fine  f-Iientanfe — The  Pattinsons,  Maclntoshs,  Meldrums, 
Parks,  Innes,  Dutfs,  Leiths,  McGre^^ors,  Babys,  etc.  How  well  I 
remembei'  the  enormous  warehouses  and  other  buildings  on  the 
river  front  and  on  their  own  premises,  all  of  which  as  the  fur 
trade  passed  away  were  just  allowed  tostan<l  empty  from  year  to 
year  ard  go  to  ruin.  Those  at  Moy  on  the  Macintosh  estate  were 
oniy  displaced  on  the  Great  Western  Raihvay  getting  its  right  of 
way  along  the  river  front  in  1851.  What  a  vast  trade  was  done 
through  those  old  storehouses.  It  is  a  matter  of  record  that  Mr. 
Richard  Pattinson  made  as  much  as  £100,000  in  one  seasons  sale 
of  furs  owing  to  Napoleon's  demand  for  the  article  in  his  campaigns. 
And  iti  is  said  that  when  Detroit  surrenderetl  to  Major  Rogers  in 
1700,  he  found  there  i;f)00,000  of  furs,    f^^oo-oo^ 

I  ought  to  mention  that  a  wrongful  act  on  the  part  of  General 
Hull,  when  in  possession  of  Sandwich  in  July,  1812,  towards  this 
Selkirk  settlement,  led  to  severe  charges  being  made  against  him 
both  by  his  ow- n  people  as  well  as  by  the  Canadians ;  he  sent  an 
officer  to  Baldoon,  who  seized  and  carried  off  several  hundreds  of 
Merino  sheep,  which  were  valued  very  highly,  and  took  them  to 
Detroit,  but  which  it  is  said  he  did  not  use  for  the  maintenance  of 
his  army  but  for  his  own  purposes.  This  was  done  in  the  very 
face  of  his  own  proclamation :  "  1  promise  you  protection  to  your 
persons,  property  and  rights."  But  he  little  thought  the  heroic 
Brock  would  so  soon  be  upon  his  trail  and  hold  him  to  a  full 
account  as  he  did.  I  mention  the  above  facts  as  well  to  show  the 
prosperity  of  the  people  at  that  early  day  as  the  losses  they  were 
exposed  to  by  Hull's  invasion,  which  through  General  McArthur 
extended  as  well  to  Moraviantown  as  to  the  Selkirk  settlements, 
and  the  subsecpient  ones  of  Harrison  and  McArthur  whose  de- 
structive work  went  as  far  east  as  the  Grand  River. 


00 


CHAPTER  XI. 


THE   RIVER   DETROIT   NAVIGATION. 

^i/^AVING  had  our  chat  about  the  islands  oi"  the  river  let  us 
"/V  ask  when  we  first  hear  of  the  navigation  of  it.  As  to 
^^  ^  vessels,  the  Griflon  must  be  first  named  and  for  the  fol- 
lowing particulars,,  as  for  much  more  in  these  pages,  I  am  inaebted 
to  Farmer's  valuable  history  of  Detroit.  Her  tonnage  is  variously 
stated  at  from  forty-five  to  sixty  tons.  She  carried  five  canon 
and  was  built  by  LaSalle  at  the  mouth  of  the  Cayuga  Creek  near 
Niagara  in  the  spring  of  1679.  After  several  short  trial  trips,  on 
7th  August  with  Chevalier  LaSalle,  Father  Louis  Hennepin  and 
soire  others,  thirty-two  in  all,  she  started  on  her  first  real  voyage, 
arriving  at  the  mouth  of  the  Detroit  on  August  10th. 

Two  days  after,  on  the  festival  of  Sainte  Claire,  she  entered 
the  little  lake  which  was  christened  Lake  St.  Claire,  in  honor  of 
the  founder  of  the  Franciscan  nuns.  Two  cer*  ties  later  a  gath- 
ering at  Grosse  Pointe  rechristened  the  lake  with  various  exer- 
cises, including  poems  by  D.  B.  DuflSeld  and  Judge  Campbell  and 
an  address  from  Bella  Hubbard.  On  her  return  trip  the  Griffon 
left  Washington  Island,  in  Lake  Michigan,  on  18th  September. 
Two  days  after  a  storm  arose  and  she  was  lost.  Prior  to  this,  in 
16G9,  Joliet  was  the  first  Frenchman  to  descend  Lake  Erie  from 
Detroit.  In  1721  Charlevoix,  the  great  pioneer,  came  up  Lake 
Erie  on  his  way  !>o  the  Mississippi. 

After  this  no  sailing  vessels  are  known  to  have  passed  De- 
troit for  nearly  half  a  century.  The  first  we  hear  of  are  those 
engaged  in  conveying  troops,  provisions  and  furs  between  Detroit 
and  Niagara.  In  1763  and  1764  the  Schooners  Beaver,  Gladwin 
and  Charlotte  went  to  and  fro  constantly,  the  trip  varying  from 
six  to  nine  days. 

The  first  vessel  knov.'n  to  have  been  built  at  Detroit  was  the 
Enterprise.     She  was  launched  in  1769. 

In  1778  the  British  brig  of  war,  General  Gage,  arrived  mak- 
ing trip  from  Buffalo  in  four  days.  On  account  of  the  Revolu- 
tionary War,  none  but  Government  vessels  were  then  allowed 
upon  the  lakes. 

In  1780  the  captains  and  crews  of  nine  vessels  were  under 
pay  at  Detroit  and  a  large  dock-yard  was  maintained.      The 


91 

names  of  the  vessels  were  the  Gage,  Dunmore,  Faith,  Angelica, 
Hope,  Welcome,  Felicity  and  Wyandotte. 

On  August  1st,  17«S2,  the  following  named  vessels,  all  in  good 
or'-ler  a,nd  all  built  in  Detroit,  were  on  duty  in  Lakes  Erie,  Huron 
and  Michigan : 


Names. 


Brig  (!age 

Schooner  Dunmore 
Schooner  Hope  . . . 
Sloop  Ange  ica. .  . . 
Sloop  Felicity  ... 
Schooner  Faith  , . . 
Sloop  Wyandotte. 
Sloop  Adventure  . 
Gun  Boat 


Men 

on 
Board. 

Guns, 

Burth'u 

Carrying 
Men. 

Capacity 
15arls. 

27 

14 

l.')4 

160 

200 

14 

10(5 

100 

200 

11 

81 

80 

70 

7 

, 

66 

60 

200 

0 

i>5 

40 

50 

48 

10 

61 

60 

100 

7 

47 

30 

30 

8 

M 

30 

30 

11 

1 

When 
Built. 


1772 
1772 
1772 
1771 
1774 
1774 
1779 
1776 


In  the  spring  of  1793,  four  Government  vessels  were  lying  in 
front  of  the  town.  Of  these  the  Chippawa  and  the  Ottawa  were 
new  b'igs  of  about  200  tons  each  and  carrying  eight  grns ;  another 
was  the  Dunmore,  an  old  brig  of  the  same  size  with  six  guns ;  the 
4th  was  the  sloop  Felicity,  armed  with  two  swivels.  All  of  these 
were  under  command  of  Commodore  Grant.  There  were  also 
several  sloops  and  schooners  owned  by  trading  firms. 

Three  years  later  in  179G,  twelve  merchant  ves.sels  were 
owned  in  Detroit ;  also  several  brigs,  ftloops  and  schooners  from 
fifty  to  one  hundred  tons  each.  After  the  surrender  to  the 
United  States  (July,  1790)  the  Schooner  Swan,  then  owned  by 
James  May,  was  hired  to  conve}'  the  first  United  States  troops  to 
Detroit,  and  was  the  first  vessel  on  the  lakes  to  bear  the  United 
States'  fiag.  The  second  to  convey  the  United  States'  ttag  was 
probobly  the  Detroit,  she  was  purchased  by  the  Government  of  the 
Northwest  Fur  Company. 

The  first  steamboat  that  sailed  Lr  ke  Erie,  the  Walk-in-the- 
Water,  after  the  chief  of  the  Wyandot  Indians,  reached  Detroit 
from  Buffalo,  17th  August,  1818,  leaving  there  on  23rd,  and  tak- 
ing in  sailing  about  44  hours  and  10  minutes.  In  1825  there  was 
still  but  one  steamer  on  the  lakes.  The  first  steamer  that  we 
had  on  the  lakes  was  built  here  by  Duncan  McGregor  called  the 
"  Western,"  a  vessel  of  some  fifty  tons  and  twenty-five  horse 
power  which  McGregor  had  converted  out  of  the  Rob  Roy,  on  the 
river  fiats  nnmediately  below  Judge  Bell's  residence,  about  the 
year  1830-1,  and  which  was  put  on  the  route  between  Chatham 
and  Amherstburg.  The  next  year  was  built  at  the  same  place 
the  Steamer  Thames,  of  about  200  tons  and  fifty  horss3  power, 
and  was  ruu  as  a  leading  boat  between  Port  Stanley  and  Buffalo 


92 


until  burned  by  the  rebels  and  patriots,  at  Windsor,  on  the  4th 
Dtcember,  183(S.  At  the  same  time  was  also  built  the  "  Cvnthia 
McGregor,"  called  after  tiie  wife  of  the  late  Duncan  McCirejifor, 
who,  with  Henry  VanAllen,  his  brother-in-law,  built  her  and  she 
ran  between  this  and  Detroit.  She  was  a  100  ton  vessel  and 
forty  horse  power,  and  ran  on  the  Chatham  and  Andierstburg 
route  till  she  was  unfortunately  burned  ;  and  then  came  the 
Brothers,  by  the  Eberts'  brothers,  the  lirst  of  thei  long  line  of 
steam  and  sailing  vessels. 

My  recollection  goes  back  to  when  we  used  to  cross  the  De- 
troit River  in  a  canoe,  which  was  succeeded  in  1825  by  the  hoise- 
boat,  and,  in  1830,  by  the  Steamer  Argo,  the  fir.st  steamer  belong- 
ing to  Detroit,  and  then  we  had  the  canoe,  sail- boat,  horse-boat 
and  steamer  all  at  work.  The  Argo  was  the  first  steamer  to 
come  up  the  Thames,  which  she  did  in  1828.  Our  old  friend,  the 
late  William  Ryan,  used  to  be  the  engineer  on  the  Argo  as  he  has 
often  told  me. 

As  with  the  ferry,  so  with  everything  else  in  modern  use,  I 
have  seen  pass  from  the  primitive  stage — from  the  lucifei  match, 
which  came  in  in  the  thirties,  in  place  of  the  Hint  and  .'^teel ;  the 
perc'iRsion  cap,  instead  of  the  flint  gun  which  cauie  in  1880;  the 
double-barreled  gun,  instead  of  sinojle ;  the  bu£fO[V,  instead  of  the 
gig — and  Sheriff' Mercer  vvas  the  first  person  in  the  thtas  Counties  of  /^y 
Essex,  Kent  and  Lambton  to  drive  a  top  buggy — and  so  with 
the  carrying  of  the  mail  between  Toronto  and  Amherstburg,  on 
foot,  on  horseback,  stage  and  railway. 

But  what  are  the  changes  in  navigation  ?  Look  at  it  to-day, 
with  a  tonnage  pa.ssing  over  this  river  of  30,000,000  annually  and 
with  vessels  carrying  as  high  as  150,000  bushels  of  grain. 

In  the  fifties  and  up  to  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  in  18G1, 
the  tonnage  was  still  of  the  300  ton  vessel,  and  to  some  extent 
long  after  it.  They  are  to-day  carrying  4500  tons  and  the  new 
tonnage  is  larger  every  year,  and  it  is  said  that  when  the  Detroit, 
St.  Clair  and  St.  Mary's  Rivers  are  made  twenty  feet  deep,  now 
more  than  half  completed,  there  will  scarcely  be  a  limit  to  the 
size  of  the  lake  craft. 

The  Detroit  River  for  many  years  has  seen  more  tonnage  in 
a  single  day  than  any  other  spot  in  the  world,  for  the  whole  of 
the  craft  trading  between  the  upper  and  lower  lakes  must  pass 
this  point. 

The  average  size  of  lake  vessels  is  larger  than  of  ocean  ones, 
and  this  is  shown  by  a  comparison  of  the  number  and  aggregate 
tonnage  of  thj  vessels  of  all  classes  visiting  New  York  with  tliose 
that  go  to  Cleveland.  If  the  cargo  were  made  the  basis  of  com- 
parison instead  of  the  registered  tonnage,  this  would  appear. 

The  records  of  the  Sault  Canal  show  that  the  tons  carried 


93 


4th 
tliia 

^or, 

she 

and 

.ur<r 

the 

3    of 


^/ 


through  it  exceed  the  official  tonnage  of  the  vessels.  The  United 
States  Government  has  documented  about  4,000  lake  craft  of  all 
classes  and  sizes,  and  the  Lloyd's  Register  has  admitted  2, 100  of 
these  as  worthy  of  rating  for  insurance.  Of  these  150  are  of 
steel  and  iron,  and  those  of  more  thun  4,000  tons  measurement  are 
Ijecoming  common. 

In  liSDO,  during  tlie  8()o  davs  of  navigation  of  the  Sue'^c  Canal. 
'■],')Hd  vessels  of  t',S00,O14  tons  measurement  passed  through.  In 
the  280  days  of  Sault  Canal  navigation,  10,557  vessels  of  <S,4'54,4:;}5 
tors  passed  through  it.  Latest  returns  give  tiie  increase  for  1  !S94 
at  five  millions  of  tons  beyond  that  of  the  Suez. 

BELLE  ISLE  PARK. 

When  we  kok  at  Belle  Isle  now,  in  all  its  splendor,  as  De- 
troit's island  park,  and  perhaps  without  a  rival  in  all  the  Union, 
with  its  circular  canal,  club  and  l-oat  houses,  bridges,  docks, 
woods,  meadows,  gardens,  flowers,  pavilions,  electric  lights  and  all 
the  other  attractions,  at  a  cose  of  over  81,000,000,  we  can  hartlly 
fancy  it  the  pasture  ground  of  good  King  George's  cattle,  but 
such  it  was  up  to  the  time  of  tlie  surrender  in  17!>0  ;  but  even  in 
that  day  it  was  the  scene  of  the  picnic,  as  it  is  to-day,  but  not  on 
so  grand  a  scale,  and  I  am  going  to  give  you  an  account  of  one 
which  took  place  there  in  17M9,  written  by  Miss  Ann  Powell,  the 
sister  of  Judge  Powell,  of  whom  I  have  spoken  as  having  come 
with  his  family  to  Detroit  that  year  from  Montreal  to  do  duty  as 
a  Judge  of  the  Common  Picas  just  then  established,  having  taken 
from  the  10th  of  May  to  the  5th  of  June  to  make  the  journey, 
•  She  says:  "As  soon  as  our  vessel  anchored  several  ladies  and 

gentlemen  came  on  board,  they  had  agreed  upon  a  house  for  us, 
till  my  brother  could  meet  with  one  that  would  suit  him,  so  we 
found  ourselves  at  home  immediately.  The  ladies  visited  us  in 
full  dress,  though  the  weather  was  boiling  hot.  What  do  you 
think  of  walking  about  when  the  thermometer  is  above  ninety  ? 
It  was  as  high  as  ninety-six  the  morning  we  returned  our  visits. 
While  we  stayed  at  the  Fort  several  parties  were  made  for  us — 
a  very  agreeabL  one  by  the  G5th,  to  an  island  a  little  way  up  the 
river.  Our  party  was  divided  into  five  boats ;  one  held  the 
music,  in  each  of  the  others  were  two  ladies  and  as  many  gentle- 
men as  it  could  hold.  Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald  (then  at  Detroit) 
and  his  friend  arrived  just  in  time  enough  to  join  us;  they  went 
around  the  lake  by  land  to  see  some  Indian  settlements  and  were 
highly  pleased  with  their  jaunt.  Lord  Edward  speaks  in  raptures 
of  the  Indian  hospitality.  He  told  me  one  instance  of  it  which 
would  reliect  honor  on  the  most  polished  society.  By  some  means 
or  other  the  gentlemen  lost  their  provisions  and  were  entirely 
without  bread,  in  a  place  where  they  could  get  none.     Some  In- 


94 


dians  travelling  with  them  had  one  loaf  which  they  offered  to  his 
lord.ship,  but  he  would  not  accept  it;  the  li  lians  gave  him  to 
understand  tiiat  they  were  used  to  doing  witliout  and  that  there- 
fore, it  was  less  inconvenient  for  them.  They  still  refused  and 
the  Indians  then  disa])peared  and  left  the  loaf  of  bread  in  the 
road  the  travellers  must  pass  and  the  Indians  were  seen  no  more. 

"  Our  party  on  the  island  proved  very  pleasant,  which  that 
kind  of  a  party  seldom  does.  The  day  was  tine,  the  country 
cheerful  and  th.e  band  delightful.  We  walked  some  time  in  the 
shady  part  of  the  island  and  then  were  led  to  a  bower,  where  the 
table  was  spread  for  dinner.  Everything  here  is  on  a  grand 
scale ;  do  not  suppose  we  dined  in  an  English  arbor.  This  one 
was  made  of  forest  trees  and  bushes,  which  being  fresh  cut,  you 
could  not  see  where  they  were  put  together,  and  the  boughs  were 
the  whole  height  of  the  trees  though  (juite  close  at  the  top.  The 
band  was  placed  without  and  played  whilst  we  were  at  dinner 
We  were  hurried  home  in  the  evening  by  the  appearance  of  a 
thunder  storm.  It  was  the  most  beautiful  I  ever  remember  to 
have  seen." 

Let  us  row  have  a  little  further  testimony  to  the  beauty  of 
the  Detroit  River,  and  this  time  from  the  celebrated  Mrs.  Jame- 
son, the  authoress,  and  wife  of  our  tirst  vice-cliancellor,  who,  in 
1837,  visited  it,  and  when  Mr  .  Woods  had  the  pleasure  of  meet- 
ing her,  as  she  knew  her  uncie  the  American  Consul  in  Vienna, 
Austria. 

She  says :  ''  The  day  has  been  intolerably  not,  even  on  the 
lake  there  was  not  a  breath  of  air,  but  as  the  sun  went  down  in 
his  glory  the  breeze  freshened  and  the  spires  and  towers  of  the 
City  of  Detroit  were  seen  against  the  western  sky.  The  schoon- 
ers at  anchor,  or  dropping  into  the  river,  the  little  canoes  Hitting 
across  from  side  to  side,  the  lofty  buildings,  the  enormous  steam- 
ers, the  noisy  port  and  bus^-  streets  all  bathed  in  the  light  of  a 
sunset  such  as  I  had  never  seen,  not  even  in  Italy,  almost  turned 
me  giddy  with  excitement."  '  , 

I  myself  in  coming  up  from  Amherstljurg  last  week  on  the 
Steamer  Wyandotte  in  her  evening  trip,  witnessed  a  scene  on  our 
approach  to  the  city  that  in  its  brilliant  panoramic  effect  sur- 
passed anything  I  ever  saw,  except  at  the  Lagoon,  at  the  World's 
Fair,  when  the  gondolas  were  flitting  about,  the  fountains  flash- 
ing their  colored  lights  and  the  search-light  illumining  all  with 
its  gorgeous  splendor. 

DETROIT.  . 

Let  us  take  a  coup  d'  aeil  of  the  Queen  City  of  the  Straits,  as 
she  sits  there  in  the  pride  of  beauty  and  historic  charm.  We  can 
only  glance  at  what  sLe  was,  and  are  unable  to  speak  of  what  she 


95 

is.  The  city  was  founded  in  1701,  l>y  the  Chevalier  Antoine  do 
la  Mothe  Cadillac,  before  Peter,  the  Great,  had  built  St.  Peters- 
bur^f.  When  Cadillac  came  the  East  India  Company  and  the 
South  Sea  iiubble  had  not  been  lieard  of  and  there  was  not  a 
newspaper  or  a  post  office  in  the  United  States.  Tiie  first  colony 
here  established  was  like  a  bit  of  France  m  the  wilds  of  the  Now 
World.  The  early  French  colonists  applied  the  name  Detroit — 
strait — to  tlie  settlement  on  both  sides  of  the  river.  One 
North  Detroit,  the  other  South  Detroit.  Some  of  the  old  records 
read  like  a  page  of  Froissart  and  visions  of  medieval  scenes  and 
pictures  of  savage  life  are  strangely  intermingled  with  the 
records  of  the  past.  Cradled  in  romance,  nurUirod  in  war  and 
trained  in  the  school  of  conservatism,  the  city  now  glories  in  her 
position  as  the  most  attractive  and  most  substantial  of  all  t'^o 
cities  whose  traditions  reach  back  to  the  crand  monarch — Louis 
XIV. 

The  early  colonists  called  all  the  waters  between  Lake  Erie 
and  Lake  Huron  the  Detroit,  and  TladiHac  was  shrewd  enough  to 
lay  claim  to  the  whole  extent  of  it  for  himself. 

Detroit  lies  in  latitude  42  19'  50.28"  north,  and  longitude 
83"  2'  47.08"  west  of  Greenwich.  Rome  and  Constantinople  are 
in  nearly  the  same  latitude,  and  Havana  and  Calcutta  are  longi- 
tudinally in  the  same  range.  On  an  air  line  it  :„  about  1000 
miles  northeast  of  New  Orleans  and  700  west  of  New  York. 
The  first  newspaper  published  in  Detroit  was  as  late  as  25th 
July,  1817.  The  Michigan  Essay  was  issued  in  1809,  out  only 
one  number  of  it  appeared.  Canada's  first  paper  being  sixty-one 
years  before  this.  • 

wiNDsnp, 

Has  become  a  suburb  of  Detroit,  and  in  its  make-up  partakes 
largely  of  the  latter  and  comes  in  for  all  the  advantages  attach- 
ing to  the  larger  city,  both  in  a  business  and  residential  way.  It 
was  laid  out  in  1834,  and  I  can  remember  my  schoolmaster,  ti.e 
Rev.  Mr.  Johnson,  father  of  the  Rev.  Cancn  Johnson  now  of 
Windsor,  saying  at  the  time  that  a  cabbage  would  not  grow 
under  an  oak  ;  but  could  he  see  it  now,  he  would  find  that  the 
cabbage  had  attained  very  fair  proportions,  and  is  now  far 
ahead  of  what  the  oak  was  then.  Windsor  is  about  to  erect 
county  and  city  buildings  jointly  with  the  county  as  we  have 
done,  and  I  have  no  doubt  they  will  be  creditable  to  both,  though 
I  doubt  their  succeedinof  in  having  the  court  house  and  other 
public  buildings  withdrawn  from  Sandwich.  The  fine  system  of 
electric  street  railway  between  the  two  places  has  wholly  over- 
come the  inconvenience  of  earlier  days ;  and  it  ought  to  be 
repeated  here  that  Winiisor  had  the  first  electric  street  car  in 
America. 


90 


THE  llOUNDAHY:   OUR  ALAI5AMA. 


I  wonld  just  like  to  stop  licro  and  exclaim  :  How  sonsih'e  a 
boiindfiry  !  How  natural  a  one!  And  how  much  better  than 
the  Ohio  on  the  .south  and  the  Mississippi  on  the  west !  How 
frauf^ht  with  conilict  would  that  boundary  have  been  !  True,  we 
losi.  what  makes  the  five  States  of  Michif^an,  Ohio,  Indiana, 
Illinois  and  Wisconsin,  but  better  that  than  tlie  renewal  of  the 
warfare  of  1770-83  and  all  its  attendant  evils.  Canada  has  ter- 
ritory enough  for  all  purj)0,ses.  I  have  never  been  of  those  who 
gi-ieved  at  tha  loss  of  this  great  territory.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  the  possession  of  our  fine  peninsula  between  the  Detroit  and 
Niagara  Rivers,  if,  indeed,  not  the  whole  of  Canada,  was  the  chief 
object  of  the  wanton  war  of  1812-15,  but  it  failed  ;  and  if  within 
that  short  interval  of  peace  our  cousins  on  the  south  could  become 
so  aggressive  north  of  the  line,  what  would  they  have  been  if  the 
western  posts  and  territories  had  been  retained  i  In  the  one  case 
thej-  had  no  excuse,  i.i  the  other  they  would  have  had  many 
plausable  and  potent  ones.  We  have  reached  our  Alabama  and 
let  us  be  forever  content. 

Dr.  Kingsford  shews,  too,  tfiat  had  the  offer  of  our  commis- 
sioner, Mr.  Oswald,  on  that  occasion  been  accepted,  we  should 
have  lost  a  large  portion  of  what  is  now  Ontario,  but  for  some 
inexplicable  reason  the  American  commissioners  did  not  accept  it, 

I  am  glad  to  say  that  Dr.  Kingsford  ti'.kes  the  same  view  of 
the  boundary,  and  says :  "  One  of  the  wisest  provisions  in  the 
Treaty  of  Versailles  was  the  establishn.ent  of  the  boundary  where 
it  is,  and  that  this  decision  was  formed,  I  consider,  is  in  no  small 
degree  attributable  to  the  unfortunate  expedition  of  Hamilton." 

This  expedition,  I  may  say,  is  referred  to  by  Chief  Justice 
Campbell,  in  his  political  history  of  Michigan,  in  the  following 
remarkable  way:  "  Major  De  Peyster,  of  Mackinaw,  st-nt  out  in 
spiing  of  1770  a  second  exjjedition  to  join  Hamilton  in  Illinois, 
but  his  capture  foiled  it  and  that  country  remained  in  American '' 
hands  thereafter.  Had  it  not  been  for  this  the  boundary  might  have 
been  fixed  at  the  Ohio  instead  oj  the  lakes." 

Again,  what  a  boundary  it  is  !  Look  at  its  co'umerce,  aver- 
aging during  the  seven  months  of  navigation  a  vessel  passing 
every  '2h  minutes  and  exceeding  the  vast  commerce  of  the  Suez 
Canal,  with  its  full  season  of  twelve  months,  and  all  Europe  and 
Asia  as  its  patrons,  by  five  millions  of  tons.  Then  look  at  our 
grand  system  of  canals,  beginning  Kt  the  Sault,  opened  in  June 
last,  and  ending  with  the  Lachine  at  Montreal,  and  who  will  say 
it  is  not  the  grandest  water-way  in  the  world  ?  And  we,  the  five 
millions  of  Canadians,  the  possessors  of  it !  Let  us,  indeed,  be 
content. 


!)r 


ROCKS   TO    HE    AVOIDKI'. 

The  United  States  may  envy  us.  Don't  K't  u.«  envy  tlioin. 
They  may  covet  us,  don't  let  us  covet  them.  L(!t  us  recall  the 
heroic  sacrifice  of  our  forefathers  in  seekinuj  tin  forests  and  frosts 
and  savanjes  of  Canada,  rather  than  dwell  anioni^st  a  disloyal  and 
rehellous  people,  although  their  own  kith  and  kin,  at  the  loss  of 
beautiful  homes  and  fine  estates.  Contentment  is  j^reat  riclies. 
Better  fidelity  to  country  than  covetousness  of  the  uncertain 
riches  of  the  Great  Republic. 

In  the  past  year  on  the  simple  political  question  of  tarif  we 
have  seen  them  shrink  and  disappear  by  thousjjnds  of  millions — 
a  loss,  it  was  said,  in  six  months  of  one  thousand  millions  of 
dollars. 

Then  recall  the  awful  conflict  of  the  nation  in  18G1-5,  sur- 
passing tliat  ever  witnessed  in  the  world  and  estinjate<l  by  their 
ablest  statician,  Hon.  Da\  i(^  A.  Wells,  to  have  cost  the  nation  one 
million  of  men  and  a  loss  of  len  thousand  mllliona  of  dolUva.  Now, 
that  was  for  slavery  and  the  root  of  the  slave  question  was  the 
tariff',  and  the  tariff"  is  still  largely  in  evidence  as  the  battle  cry  at 
the  next  election,  and  have  they  not  now  the  seven  and  a  half 
millions  of  Africans  in  another  form,  and  how  is  this  negro  cjues- 
tion  to  be  settled  ?  Peaceably  or  by  another  revolution  ?  But 
look  at  th  3  "  silver  question,"  wdiich  twenty-fiv  years  ago  was 
not  heard  of,  and  see  if  it  does  not  promise  to  be  as  disintegrating 
a  force  as  that  of  slavery  ?  Then  it  was  the  south,  now"  it  is  the 
south  and  west,  and  with  a  project  that  involves  the  loss  of  mil- 
lions and  thousands  of  millions  to  the  working  classes  and  all  others 
depending  upon  salaries  and  pensions.  Again,  look  at  the  question 
of  divorce !  What  a  shock  has  been  given  the  nation  by  the 
laxity  of  the  marriage  tie  and  the  operations  of  (he  divorce 
courts — forty-five  separate  States  presumably  with  a  soparate 
divorce  law  in  each  one,  as  is  the  case  with  their  criminal  law, 
and  it  is  said  with  an  aggregate  last  year  of  40,000  divorces. 
Within  twenty  years,  up  to  188G,  there  were  888,706  divorces 
and  if  we  judge  by  last  years  report  those  astounding  figures  may 
have  been  doubled  in  the  past  nine  years,  while  in  all  Canada,  in 
twenty-five  years,  there  have  only  been  203.  If  marriage  be  the 
high  estate  assigned  it  by  God's  law,  then,  surely,  there  has  been 
a  great  wave  of  immorality  through  the  Republic,  directly  affect- 
ing more  than  a  million  of  households  and  more  than  five  million 
of  persons  of  all  ranks  and  classes.  No  doubt  we  of  Canada  owe 
our  condition  largely  to  our  Roman  Catholic  friends,  and  I  have 
lonir  felt  that  the  United  States  would  be  deeply  indebted  to  this 
branch  of  the  Christian  Church  for  the  resistance  offered  by  it  to 
the  great  tidal' wave  of  divorce  that  has  deluged  the  Union. 


d8 

Then  look  at  the  foroij^n  nationalities,  then  at  tlio  lej)ro.sy  of 
universal  .suft'ra<^o  and  an  elective  judiciary  and  all  other  officials 
in  connection  witjj  the  administration  of  ju.stico.  We  <lon't  want 
unity  with  a  people  having  such  alarniinn;  problems  menacing 
their  national  integrity.  Besides  we  have  unity  with  a  greater 
power.  They  have  a  Unit«'d  States  of  seventy  millions.  We 
have  a  United  States  of 

THREE  HUNDRED  AND  SEVENTY  MILLIONS. 

Old  England  is  the  first  in  order,  with  Ireland,  Scotland,  Wales, 
Australia,  India,  South  Africa,  the  Isles  of  the  Seas — anrl  the 
seas  themselves  auxiliaries — while  we  in  Canada  have  half  this 
continent  at  our  back  with  all  its  vast  resources  and  a  territory 
in  the  Mackenzie  basin  larger  than  Australia,  and  equal,  as  Pro- 
fessor Seeley  says,  to  the  support  of  a  thousand  millions  of  popu- 
lation, and,  to-day,  acknowledged  to  be  the  great  military  high- 
way betM'een  this  group  of  Empires. 

I  here  subjoin  a  list  of  England's  possessions,  giving  her  one- 
fifth  the  territory  of  the  earth  and  one-quarter  its  entire  pop- 
ulation.    (See  appendix.) 

The  Americans  have  never  appreciated  the  vigor  of  mind  or 
body  of  the  Canadians,  and  have  regarded  us  as  a  young  and  an 
immature  group  of  colonists.  They  have  forgotten  that  we  are 
of  the  same  stock  and  to-day  the  Greater  Britain.  But  while 
they  have  been  dissevered  from  England  and  her  liigh  standards 
of  life,  we  have  been  in  the  closest  relationship  and  drawing  from 
it  the  highest  inspiration  of  which  a  young  nationality  is  suscep- 
tible. I'll  give  one  striking  instance  of  this  inability  of  the 
Americans  to  understand  us  as  colonists,  even  with  their  first 
statesmen.  General  Cass,  who,  in  his  distinguished  career,  was 
twice  Secretary  of  State  and  once  the  Democratic  candidate  for 
the  Presidency  in  1848,  and  with  whom  I  enjoyed  friendly 
social  relations,  said  to  me  in  1854:  'Tell  me  what  that  great 
trunk  railway  is  of  what  I  hear  so  much."  I  explained  to  him 
that  it  was  intended  to  run  from  Quebec  to  Sandwich,  and  as  a 
trunk  road  to  have  other  roads  leading  into  it.  His  reply  was : 
"Too  great  an  undertaking  for  a  young  country.  It  cannot  suc- 
ceed." Before  1859  he  saw  that  road  not  only  constructed 
through  the  whole  of  Canada,  but  across  the  boundary  line  at 
Port  Huron  and  run  down  seventy  miles  past  his  own  door,  in 
the  City  of  Detroit,  to  a  point  westward,  and  in  that  year  saw 
the  mails  from  Chicago  received  by  a  Canadian  train  and  drawn 
to  Quebec  and  then  dispatched  to  Europe  by  a  Canadian  steamer. 
Our  progress  to-day  with  five  millions  is  far  in  advance  of  what 
theirs  was  in  1865  with  thirty-five  millions;  for  the  New  York 
Herald  then  admitted  that  without  the  aid  of  British  capital  and 


DU 


Bri*ifh  enterprise,  they  would  be  unable  to  build  their  Union 
Pacific  Railway  of  1700  miles,  from  On)aha  to  the  Pacific.  Con- 
trast this  with  what  Canada  has  done  in  the  Canadian  Pacific 
Railway,  with  its  strai^dit  line  from  ocean  to  ocean  of  JJ8.S5  miles, 
and  a  total  of  71  Go  miles,  with  the  Grand  Trunk  and  its  5000 
miles,  besides  other  roads. 

No  portion  of  the  Government  money  that  went  to  make  the 
1700  miles  has  been  repaid  and  not  even  the  interest  paid,  while 
we  have  the  Canadian  l*acilic  Railway  borrowinif  twenty  millions 
from  our  Government  and  returnintf  it  within  two  years  ;  and  we 
have  the  additional  fact  tliat  (!ven  before  the  depression  of  1803 
there  were  140  American  railways  in  the  hands  of  receivers. 

We  lie  side  by  side  for  4000  miles,  not  always  with  the 
natural  boundary  that  we  enjoy  in  our  beautiful  Detroit  River 
and  the  lakes,  but  much  of  it  an  artificial  one,  even  coming  down 
to  the  chain  and  post,  and  let  us  in  a  s])irit  of  self-reliance,  and 
self-appreciation  and  friendly  competition  incite  each  other  to  a 
higher  standard  of  civilization  in  Government,  liberty,  morals, 
religion  and  justice  ;  developing  on  the  one  hand  the  excellencies 
of  an  aristocratic  Republic  and  on  the  other  those  of  a  democratic 
Monarchy. 

Hear  what  Dr.  Bourinot,  our  grerit  constitutional  author, 
>fki*fee4l  a  F«emA  OanHcKaii,  has  to  say  in  the  May  number  of  the 
Forum : 

"  So  loLg  as  Canada  adheres  to  existing  principles  of  sound 
government  and  is  not  misled  by  unsafe  political  agitators — to  be 
found  in  every  country — to  adopt  the  dangerous  methods  of 
party  in  the  Republican  States,  her  people  mey  continue  to  have 
confidence  in  the  future  of  their  Federal  Union.  At  present, 
assuredly,  they  can  see  no  reason  for  a  political  union,  in  such 
weaknesses  and  evils  of  the  purely  democratic  system  of  their 
neighbors,  as  have  been  set  forth  in  this  paper  with  much  brev- 
ity. When  Canadians  are  invited,  even  on  the  floor  of  Congress 
itself,  '  to  cast  in  their  lot  with  their  own  continent,'  and  are  as- 
sured, '  that  they  shall  have  all  that  the  continent  can  give,'  they 
refuse  to  considv3r  the  offer  seriously,  not  because  they  have  no 
interest  in  the  progress  of  their  American  cousins,  who  aic  also 
the  inheritors  of  English  institutions,  but  because  they  know  they 
are  working  out  those  institutions  on  principles  far  more  condu- 
cive to  the  pure  and  efJ'ective  administration  of  public  affairs — 
that  in  this  respect,  at  all  events,  they  are  already  in  advance  of  a 
great  and  prosperous  people  who  have  been  led  in  the  course  of 
years,  by  reckless  politicians  into  methods  of  government  which 
have  lowered  the  standard  of  public  morality  and  created  scan- 
dais  of  far-reaching  intluence  on  the  nation. 


100         V 

"  Canadians  lmvi>.  higher  aspirations  at  tins  critical  period  of 
their  political  development,  whon  they  are  laboring  ainid  many 
difficulties  to  form  a  new  power  otj  this  continent,  one-halj  of 
which  they  now  jwssess  an  their  territorial  domaiv." 


101 


CHAPTER  XII. 


THE  WAR   OB^   1812. 


■  ■  "  Arma  Virumqvi'  Cano."  ■ 

'/  r\\^  oannot  at  a  more  suitable  moment  refer  to  the  War  of 
iUJ  1812-15  tlian  when  speakinj^  of  these  incidents. 
^^^  I  do  not  purpose  to  do  more  than  (^ive  some  prominent 

events  in  this  section  of  the  Province^  as  illustratint^  tlie  h)yalty 
of  our  people  and  with  what  limited  means  a  brave  and  loyal 
people  could  accomplis.h  such  striking  results  against  an  enen)y 
having  a  hundred-fold  greater  resources. 

On  the  18th  of  June,  1812,  the  unprovoked  declaration  of 
war  was  issued  by  Congress  against  Great  Britain,  and  our 
frontier  received  the  first  shook  of  the  contlict. 

General  Hull,  with  some  2300  men,  crossed  from  Detroit  on 
the  7th  or  July,  to  a  point  where  Windsor  now  stands  and  tov.k 
possession  of  Sandwich,  and  issued  his  celebrated  proclamation, 
which  I  subjoin  to  show  what' insolent  nonsense  this  Governor  of 
Michigan  and  commander  of  the  army  of  the  west  could  talk  : 

hull's  PROCLAMATION — INHABITANTS  OF  CANADA. 

After  thirty  years  of  peace  and  prosperity,  the  United  States 
have  been  driven  to  arms.  The  injuries  and  aggressions,  the  in- 
ijults  and  indignities  of  Great  Britain,  have  once  more  left  them 
no  alternative  but  manly  resistance  or  unconditional  submission. 

The  army  under  my  coi  imand  has  invaded  your  counfry,  and 
the  standard  of  Union  now  waves  over  the  tcritory  of  Canada. 
To  the  peaceable,  unoffending  inhabitant,  it  brings  neither  danger 
nor  difficulty.  I  come  to  find  enemies,  not  to  make  tliem.  I 
come  to  protect,  not  to  injure  you. 

Se])arated  by  an  innnense  ocean,  and  an  exten.^ive  wilder- 
ness, from  Great  Britain,  you  have  no  participations  in  her  coun- 
cils, no  interest  in  her  conduct ;  you  have  fell  her  tyranny,  you 
have  seen  her  injustice ;  but  I  do  not  ask  you  to  avenge  the  one 
or  redress  the  other.  The  United  States  are  ;:nfl[iciently  poweiful 
to  afford  you  every  security  consistent  with  their  rights  and  your 
expectations.  I  tender  you  the  invaluable  blessings  of  civil, 
political  and  religious  liberty,  and  their  necessary  result,  individ- 
ual and  general  prosperity;  that  liberty  which  gave  decision  to 
our  councils  and  energy  to  our  conduct,  in  a  struggle  for  indepen- 


102 


dence,  and  which  conducted  us  safely  and  triumphantly  through 
the  stormy  period  of  the  revolution ;  that  liberty  which  has 
raised  us  to  an  elevated  rank  among  the  nations  of  the  world, 
and  which  as  afforded  us  a  greater  measure  of  peace  and  security 
of  wealth  and  improvement,  than  ever  fell  to  the  lot  of  any 
country. 

In  the  name  of  my  country,  and  by  the  authority  of  Gov- 
ernment I  promise  you  protection  to  your  persons,  property  and 
rights.  Remain  at  your  homes ;  pursue  your  peaceful  and  cus- 
tomary avocations;  raise  not  your  hands  against  your  brethren. 
Many  of  your  fathers  fought  for  ihe  freedom  and  independence 
we  now  enjoy.  Being  children,  therefore,  of  the  same  family 
with  us,  and  heirs  to  the  same  heritage,  the  arrival  of  an  arm}  of 
friends  must  be  hailed  by  you  with  a  cordial  welcome.  You  will 
be  emancipated  from  tyranny  and  oppression,  and  restored  to  the 
dignified  station  of  freemen.  Had  I  any  doubt  of  eventual  suc- 
cess, I  might  ask  your  assistance,  but  I  do  not.  I  come  prepared 
for  every  contingency.  I  have  a  force  which  will  look  down  all 
opposition,  and  that  force  is  but  the  vanguard  of  a  much  greater. 
If,  contrary  to  your  own  interests  and  the  just  expectations  of 
my  country,  you  should  take  part  in  the  approaching  contest }  ou 
will  be  considered  and  treated  as  enemies,  and  the  horrors  and 
calamities  of  war  will  stalk  before  you.  If  the  barbarous  and 
savage  policy  of  Great  Britain  be  pursued,  and  the  savage  let 
loose  to  murder  our  citizens  and  butcher  our  women  and  children, 
this  war  will  be  a  war  of  extermination.  The  first  stroke  of  the 
tomahawk,  the  first  attempt  with  the  scalping-knife,  will  be  the 
signal  of  one  indiscriminate  scene  of  desolation  !  No  white  man 
found  fighting  by  the  side  of  an  Indian  wid  be  taken  "prisoner;  instant 
destruction  will  be  his  lot.  If  the  dictates  of  reason,  duty,  justice 
and  humanity  cannot  prevent  the  employment  of  a  force  which 
respects  no  rights  and  knows  no  wrong,  it  will  be  prevented  by  a 
severe  and  relentless  system  of  retaliation.  I  doubt  not  your 
courage  aud  firmness ;  I  will  (not)  doubt  your  attachment  to 
liberty.  If  you  tender  your  services  voluntarily,  they  will  be 
accepted  readily.  The  United  States  offer  you  peace,  liberty  and 
security ;  your  choice  lies  between  these  and  war,  slavery  and 
destruction"  Clioose  then,  but  choose  wisely  ;  and  may  He,  who 
knows  the  justice  of  our  cause  and  who  holds  in  his  hand  the  fate 
of  nations,  guide  you  to  a  result  the  most  compatible  with  your 
rights  aud  interest,  your  peace  and  happiness. 

Head(iuarters,  Sandwich,  July  8th,  1812. 

W.  Hull, 

Bv  the  General  A.  P.  Hull, 
Captain  of  the  13th  U.  8.  Regt.  of  Infantry  and  Aide  de-Camp. 


103 


After  a  fruitless  attempt  to  capture  the  garrison  at  Amherst- 
burnrli,  which  consisted  then  of  about  200  men  of  the  First  Bat- 
talion of  the  41st  Regiment;  a  very  weak  detachment  of  the 
Royal  Newfoundland  Fencibles,  and  a  subaltern's  command  of 
artillery,  and  in  A'hich  the  first  British  blood  of  the  war  was 
shed,  he  withdrew  on  the  Ttli  of  August,  and  recrossed  the 
Detroit  River  and  ro-occupiad  Detroit. 

On  the  22nd  of  July,  ](S12,  General  Brock  issued  the  follow- 
ing proclamation,  which  it  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  present  to 
my  readers  as  a  most  patriotic  and  defiant  response  to  the  bom- 
bastic one  of  the  American  General : '  ;  •'  <f 

GENERAL  BHOCK's  PROCLAMATION. 

The  unprovoked  declaration  of  war,  by  the  United  States  of 
America,  against  the  United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ire- 
land  and  its  dependencies,  has  been  followed  by  the  actual  inva- 
sion of  this  Province,  in  a  remote  frontier  of  the  Western  Dis- 
trict, by  a  detachment  of  the  armed  forces  of  the  United  States. 
The  officer  commanding  that  detachment  has  thought  proper  to 
invite  His  Majesty's  subjects,  not  merely  to  a  quiet  and  unresist- 
ing submission,  but  insults  them  with  a  call  to  seek  voluntarily 
the  protection  of  his  Government.  Without  condescending  to 
repeat  the  illiberal  epithets  bestowed  in  this  appeal  of  the  Amer- 
ican commander  to  the  people  of  Upper  Canada,  on  the  adminis- 
tration of  His  Majesty,  every  inhabitant  of  the  Province  is  desired 
to  seek  the  confutation  of  such  indecent  slander,  in  the  review  of 
his  own  particular  circum.stances.  Where  is  the  Canadian  sub- 
ject who  can  truly  affirm  to  himself  that  he  has  been  injured  by 
the  Government  in  his  person,  his  liberty,  c:  his  property  ? 
Where  is  to  be  found  in  any  part  of  the  world  a  growth  so  rapid 
in  wealth  and  prosperity  as  this  colony  exhibits  ?  Settled  not 
thirty  years,  by  a  band  of  veterans,  exiled  from  their  former  pos- 
sessions on  account  of  their  loyalty,  not  a  descendant  of  these 
brave  people  is  to  be  found,  who,  under  the  fostering  liberality  of 
their  Sovereign  has  not  acquired  a  property  and  means  of  enjoy- 
ment superior  to  what  were  possessed  by  their  ancestors.  This 
unequalled  prosperity  could  not  have  been  attained  by  the 
utmost  liberality  of  the  Government,  or  the  persevering  industry 
of  the  people,  had  not  the  maritime  power  of  the  mother  country 
secured  to  its  colonies  a  safe  access  to  every  market  where  the 
produce  of  their  labor  Was  in  demand. 

The  unavoidable  and  immediate  consequence  of  a  separation 
from  Great  Britain,  must  be  the  loss  of  this  inestimable  advan- 
tage ;  and  what  is  ottered  you  in  exchange  ?  to  become  a  territory 
of  the  Unite«l  States,  and  share  with  them  that  exclusion  from 
the  ocean  which  the  policy  of  their  present  government  enforces. 


104 


You  are  not  even  flattered  with  a  participation  of  their  boasted 
independence,  and  it  is  but  too  obvious,  that  once  exclianged  from 
the  powerful  protection  of  the  United  Kingdom,  you  must  be  re- 
annexed  to  the  Dominion  of  France,  from  which  the  Provinces  of 
Canada  were  wrested  by  the  arms  of  Ureat  Britain,  at  a  vast  ex- 
pense of  blood  and  treasure,  from  no  other  motive  but  to  relieve 
her  ungrateful  children  froTn  the  oppression  of  a  cruel  neighbor; 
this  restitution  of  Canada  to  the  Empire  of  France,  was  the  stip- 
ulated reward  for  the  aid  afforded  to  the  revolted  colonies,  now 
the  United  States ;  the  debt  is  still  due,  and  there  can  be  no 
doubt  but  the  pledge  has  been  renewtd  as  a  consideration  for 
commercial  advantages,  or  i-ather  for  an  expected  relaxation  in 
the  tyrann}.  of  France  over  the  commercial  world.  Are  you  pre- 
pared, inhabitants  of  Upper  Canada,  to  become  willing  subjects, 
or  rather  slaves,  to  the  despot  who  rules  the  nations  of  Europe 
with  a  I  oil  of  iron  ?  If  not,  arise  in  a  body,  exert  your  er.ergies, 
co-operate  cordially  with  the  King's  regular  forces  to  repel  the 
invader,  and  do  not  give  the  cause  to  your  children,  when  groan- 
ing under  the  oppression  of  a  foreign  master  to  reproach  you 
with  having  too  easily  parted  with  the  richest  inheritance  of  this 
earth — a  participation  in  the  name,  character  and  freedom  of 
Britons. 

The  same  spirit  of  justice,  which  will  make  every  reasonable 
allowance  for  the  unsuccessful  efforts  of  zeal  and  loyalty,  will  not 
fail  to  punish  the  defalcation  of  principle ;  every  Canadian  free- 
holder is,  by  deliberate  choice,  bound  by  the  most  solemn  oaths 
to  defend  the  monarchy  as  well  as  his  own  property  ;  to  shrink 
from  that  engagenient  is  a  treason  not  to  be  forgiven  ;  let  no  jnan 
suppose  that  if  in  this  unexpected  struggle,  His  Majesty's  arms 
should  be  compelled  to  yield  to  an  overwhelming  force,  that  the 
Province  will  be  eventually  abandoned  ;  the  endeared  relations  of 
its  first  settlers,  the  intrinsic  value  of  its  commerce,  and  the  pre- 
tensions of  its  powerful  rival  to  re-possess  the  Ca^adas,  are 
pledges  that  no  peace  will  be  established  between  the  United 
States  and  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  of  which  the  restoration  of 
these  Provinces  docs  not  make  the  most  prominent  condition. 

Be  not  dismayed  at  the  unjustifiable  threat  of  the  commander 
of  the  enemy's  forces,  to  refuse  (juarter  should  an  Indian  appear 
in  the  ranks.  The  brave  bands  of  natives  which  inhabit  this 
colony  were,  bice  His  Majesty's  subjects,  punished  for  their  zeal 
and  fidelity,  by  the  loss  of  their  possessions  in  the  late  colonies, 
and  reward  by  His  Majesty  with  lands  of  superior  value  in  this 
Province  ;  the  faith  of  the  British  Government  has  never  yet  been 
violated,  thev  feel  that  the  soil  that  they  inherit  is  to  them  and 
their  posterity  protected  from  the  base  arts  so  frequently  devised 
to  over-reach  their  simplicity.     By  what  new  principle  are  they 


105 


n 


to  1)0  prevented  from  defending  their  propei-ty  ?  If  their  wai- 
fare,  from  being  different  from  that  of  the  wliite  people,  is  more 
terrific  to  tlie  enenjy  let  him  retrace  hi.s  stei)s — they  seek  him 
not — and  cannot  expect  to  find  omen  and  cliildren  in  an  invad- 
ing army  ;  hui-.  they  are  men  and  have  equal  rights  with  all  otlu  r 
n»en  to  defend  themselves  and  their  property  when  invadeil,  more 
especially  when  they  find  in  the  enemy's  a  ferocious  and  morcal 
foe,  using  the  warfare  which  the  American  connnander  affects  to 
reprobate.  This  inconsistent  and  unjustifiable  threat  of  refusing 
quarter  for  such  a  cause  as  being  found  in  arni.^  which  a  j'-other 
sufferer  in  defence  of  invaded  rights,  must  be  exercised  with  a 
certain  assurance  of  retaliation,  not  only  in  the  limited  operations 
of  war  in  this  part  of  the  King's  dominions,  but  in  every  quarter 
of  the  globe,  for  the  national  character  of  Britain  is  not  less  dis- 
tinguished fur  humanity  than  strict  retributive  justice  which  will 
consider  the  execution  of  his  inhuman  threats  as  deliberative 
murder,  for  which  every  subject  oi  the  offending  power  must 
make  expiation. 

.■^^  ■>■-':::->- :-  Isaac  Brock,  -,^- ..>:•*..■•-..;  .■■:.'/■ 

Maj.  Gen.  and  President. 

Headquarters,  Fort  George,  22nd  July,  1812.  '   " 

By  order  of  His  Honor  the  President, 

J.  B.  Glegg,  Capcain,  A.  D,  C. 

Meanwhile  General  Brock,  then  at  York,  I'oronto,  fully 
sensible  of  the  danger  of  Amherstburg,  threatened  as  he  knew  it 
to  be,  by  an  overwhelming  force,  lost  no  time  in  re{)airing  to  its 
assistance.  The  General  himself  eud)arked  on  the  oth  of  August 
for  Fort  Georoe  and  Lon<j  Point,  wdiere  he  had  directed  the 
militia  and  the  Indians  to  be  collected,  and  leaving  Long  Point  on 
the  8th  with  no  other  force  than  forty  men  of  the  41st,  who  had 
fieen  previously  despatched  thither,  and  about  two  hundred  and 
fifty  militia,  principally  volunteers  from  the  Home  and  Niagara 
Districts,  the  General  coasted  the  shore  of  Lake  Erie,  on  his  wav 
to  Amherstburi;,  which  he  reached  on  the  13th. 

On  the  12th  ot  August  we  find  him  at  a  point  in  our  ovn 
County,  Point  Aux  Pins  (llond  Eau)  where  he  issued  this  order  : 

I.  MCDONELL,  P.  A.  1).  C, 

Point  Aux  Pins, 
Lake  Erie,  August  12th,  1812. 
General  Orders : 

It  is  Major  General  Brock's  intention,  should  the  wind  con- 
tinue fair,  to  proceed  during  the  night,  Officers  commanding 
boats  will   therefore  pay   attention  to  the  order  of   sailing  as 


lOG 


directed  yesterday.     The  (greatest  care  and  attention  will  bo  re- 
quested to  prevent  the  boats  from  scattorin<^  or  falling  behind. 

A  great  part  of  the  bank  of  the  Lake  where  the  boats  will 
this  day  pass  is  much  more  dangerous  and  difficult  of  access  than 
we  have  passed,  the  boat  (i.  e.,  the  one  in  which  was  headquarter.^ 
and  leading)  therefore  will  not  land,  excepting  in  the  most  ex- 
treme necessity,  and  then  great  care  must  be  taken  to  choose  the 
best  places  for  landing. 

The  troops  being  now  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  enemy, 
every  precaution  must  be  taken  to  guard  against  surprise. 
By  Order  of  the  Major  General. 

'     J.  B.  Clegg,  A.  D.  C. 

The  General  reached  Amherstburg  the  next  day,  and  at  once 
began  to  carry  the  war  into  Africa,  by  undertaking  and  on  the 
]Gth  accomplishing,  the  capture  of  Detroit  and  the  surrender  of 
General  Hull,  his  entire  army  of  some  3,000,  and  the  State  of 
Michigan,  which  continued  in  our  possession  for  some  fifteen 
months,  while  the  General  was  carried  to  Montreal  as  a  prisoner 
of  war.  The  British  had  various  successes  with  the  enemy  in 
Michigan  and  Ohio  during  that  year  and  the  following.  On  the 
23rd  of  September,  1813,  the  unfortunate  naval  battle  between 
Captain  Barclay,  of  our  service,  and  Commodore  Perry,  of  the 
United  States,  took  place  at  Put-in-Bay,  Lake  Erie,  the  result  of 
which  was  to  compel  the  retreat  of  General  Proctor  from  Am- 
herstburg, and  Detroit  which  was  effected  in  the  last  week  of 
September,  it  being  int'^nded  to  make  Moraviantown  the  point  at 
which  battle  would  be  given  the  enemy,  should  he  follow,  which 
he  did  with  a  force  of  some  5,000,  including  his  celebrated  Ken- 
tucky riflemen. 

It  was  on  the  3rd  of  October  that  the  Indians,  under 
Tecumseh,  rested  in  what  is  now  our  beautiful  Park,  and  where 
the  Indians  expected  and  desired  that  the  impending  battle 
would  take  place.  We  all  know  the  disastrous  result  of  it,  and 
with  it  ended  all  further  operations  on  the  Western  frontier. 

The  invasions  of  the  Americans  into  both  Tipper  and  Lower 
Canada  were  eleven  in  number,  with  an  aggregate  of  some  45,000 
men,  but  as  Detroit,  Queenston,  Fort  Toronto,  Fort  George, 
Chrysler's  Farm,  Chataqua,  Lundy's  Lane,  Stony  Creek,  are  re- 
called, we  see  without  any  gain,  but  on  the  contrary  defeated  and 
driven  back  with  great  loss.  On  England's  getting  free  after 
landing  Bonaparte  at  Elba,  and  being  able  to  help  us  in  earnest, 
the  Americans  were  forced  to  sue  for  peace  and  to  get  it  without 
having  gained  a  foot  of  Canadian  territory,  nor  one  of  the  alleged 
grounds  on  which  they  pretended  to  go  to  war,  vis.,  right  of  search 
of  foreign  vessels  by  Britain  for  her  own  subjects  as  deserters  from 


107 


her  navy,  the  neutrality  of  their  flaf,',  etc  I  am  chiefly  indebted 
to  Major  Richardson's  War  of  1812  for  these  particulars,  in  which 
he  personally  partici noted,  »in<Lfi»  account  of  the  invasion  at 
Sandwich  v.ritten  b^father,^ whom  vdalii  the  Hon.  Mr.  Baby 
and  Dr.  Richardson  were  held  in  Detroit  as  prisoners  of 
war.  This  was  a  great  triumph  for  the  Provinces,  when 
we  consider  the  relative  populations  of  the  two  countries. 
At  that  time  Lower  Canada  had  225,000  souli— 200,000  of  whom 
were  French  ;  Upper  Canada  had  75,000.  The  United  States  had 
upwards  of  .S,000,000  ;  so  that  the  population  of  the  two  Canadas 
was  to  that  of  the  United  States  as  1  to  27 ;  and  the  popu- 
lation of  Upper  Canada  was  to  that  of  the  States  as  1   to  lOG. 

Dr.  Ryerson  says:  "The  war  between  (ireat  Britain  and  the 
United  States  from  1812  to  1815  fiirni.shes  the  strongest  exau)ple 
of  the  present  century,  or  of  any  age  or  country,  of  the  attach- 
ment of  a  people  to  their  mother  country,  and  of  their  determin- 
ation, at  whatever  sacrifice  and  against  whatever  disparity,  to 
maintain  the  national  life  of  their  connection  with  :.  The  true 
spirit  of  the  Loyalist''  oj  America  was  never  exhibitf^d  with  greater 
force  and  brilliancy  than  during  the  war  1812-5." 

Let  us  now  hear  Christie,  in  his  fine  history  of  the  war  of 
1812,  speak:  "No  country  or  people  ever  exhibited  greater 
unanimity  or  patriotism  than  did  the  people  of  Lower  Canada  of 
both  origins,  in  the  war  of  1812,  by  the  United  States  against 
Great  Britain — a  stand  the  more  to  be  remembered  by  her  Gov- 
ernment as  these  colonies,  almost  destitute  of  troops,  wholly  so  of 
money,  and  scarcely  possessing  even  a  sufficiency  of  arms  and 
other  munitions  of  defence,  owing  to  the  more  imperious  calls 
from  other  quarters  upon  the  Home  Government,  were,  at  the 
outset  of  the  war,  in  a  manner  left  to  their  own  action  and 
resources,  and  which  they  nobly  exemplified  single-handed,  as  it 
were,  throughout  the  first  two  campaigns." 

General  Brock  says  that  their  avowed  purpose  was  the  con- 
quest of  Canada.  Of  this  there  is  no  doubt.  General  Cass,  who 
was  with  Hull  at  Sandwich,  in  his  impeachment  of  his  general 
officer,  say-i  under  date  of  the  lOth  September,  1812  :  "  When  the 
force  landed  in  Canada,  they  landed  with  an  ardent  zeal,  and 
stimulated  with  the  hope  of  conquest."  The  general  in  speaking 
thus  was  but  giving  the  traditional  hope  and  purpose  of  Congress 
from  1775,  when  the  Congress  sent  Montgomery  and  Arnold  to 
accomplish  the  capture  of  Quebec  and  Canada.  Again,  when  Dr. 
Franklin  and  his  associates  souglit  to  induce  the  English  Govern- 
ment to  surrender  all  Canada  at  the  Treaty  of  Versailles  to  the 
United  States,  and  did  seduce  that  Government  into  surrendering 
the  vast  territory  from  the  Detroit  River  to  the  Ohio  on  the 
south,  and  the  Mississippi  on  the  west,  although  ti:e  States  had 


108 


not  tlie  least  claim  to  any  part  of  it.  As  in  177o  and  as  in  1783, 
as  in  1812  and  as  in  1837,  and  again  with  the  Fenian  raids;  in 
188G,  so  now  the  hearts'  wish  of  the  politicians  and  capitalists  of 
the  United  States  is  the  po.«session  of  Canada,  so  that  the  American 
Eagle  may  fly  from  the  Gulf  to  the  Arctic. 

THE   KEHELLION   OF    1837-8. 

Although  having  taken  an  active  part  in  this  as  a  young 
volunteer  in  maintenance  of  British  supremacy,  and  particularly 
in  the  cuttint;  out  of  the  Steamer  Caroline,  which  nearly  led  to  a 
war  between  England  and  the  United  States,  I  don't  intend  to  say 
more  than  that  without  the  aid  of  a  sinj;le  soldier  of  the  regular 
army,  we  put  down  that  n)ad  attempt  in  a  few  weeks.  ]  am 
further  able  to  say  that  in  no  portion  of  the  Western  District, 
large  as  it  was,  embracing  what  is  now  the  three  Counties  of 
Essex,  Kent  and  Lambton,  was  one  rebel  or  disaffected  man 
found  within  its  borders.  How  is  that  for  Kent's  traditional 
loyalty?  Apropos  of  this  loyalty,  I  have  before  me  in  the  Cana- 
dian Archives,  reference  to  a  letter  from  Governor  Gore  to  the , 
Hon.  James  Baby,  who  was  County  Lieutenant  of  Kent,  of 
December,  1809,  speaking  of  the  loyalty  of  the  men  of  Kent,  and 
saying  that  should  further  reinforcements  be  made  to  the  garrison 
at  Detroit,  one-fourth  of  the  militia  should  be  called  out  and  the 
Government  will  direct  Lieutenant  Colonel  Grant  to  receive  them 
into  the  garrison  at  Andierstburg.  .         ' 


lOiJ 


CHAPTia?  Xlll. 


(a- 


EDUCATION   AND   THE   CHUULH. 

NI)  now  for  our  educational  system  which  has  reached 
such  grand  ^  roportions  and  results,  "  the  evolution,  if 
it  may  be  so  called,"  says  Dr.  Hodgins, "of  our  three 
fold  scheme  of  education — primary,  intermediate  and  superior." 
In  answer  to  his  own  (|uestion,  wliat  first  awakened  the 
desire  to  establish  schools  and  promote  education  in  this  Province  ? 
Dr.  Strachan  in  his  opening  address  at  the  opening  of  the  King's 
Colle<Te,  (now  Toronto  University)  in  1848,  answers  the  question 
thus  T"  When  the  Independence  of  the  United  States  of  America 
was  recognized  by  Oreat  Britain  in  the  peace  of  178S,  this  Prov- 
ince became  the  a>-!ylum  of  those  faithful  subjects  of  the  Crow'n 
who  had  during  the  Uevolutionary  war  adhered  to  their  King 
and  the  "  Unity  of  the  Empire.     And  it  is  pleasing  to  remark  that 

i„  1789 a  little  more  than  five  years  after  their  first  settlement — 

they  presented  a  memorial  to  His  Excellency  Lord  Dorchester 
(Sir  Guy  Carleton)  their  Governor  General  of  British  North 
America,  on  the  subject  of  education ;  in  which  after  lamenting 
the  state  of  their  children  growing  up  without  any  instruction, 
religious  or  secular,  they  requested  His  Lordship  to  establish  a 
respectable  seminary  at  Kingston,  which  was  at  that  early  period 
the  principal  town  in  their  division  of  the  colony.  To  this  repre- 
sentation Lord  Dorchester  paid  immediate  attention,  and  gave 
directions  to  the  Surveyor  General  to  set  apart  eligible  portions 
of  land  for  the  future  support  of  schools  in  all  the  new  settle- 
ments. 

"  Animated  by  the  same  spirit  as  possessed  these  early  colon- 
ists, the  United  Empire  Loyalists  established  schools  of  a  superior 
class  early  in  the  century  in  the  chief  centres  of  their  settlements, 
such  as  Kingston,  Cornwall,  Bath,  York,  St.  Catharines,  and  after- 
wards at  Newburgh.  Soon  a  grammar  school  was  established  in 
every  District,  1807,  and  ultimately  the  common  school,  181 G, 
fashioned  by  the  United  Empire  Loyalists  on  the  New  England 
pattern,  was  put  into  operation  in  every  settled  township  of  this 

Province.  .  ^_  .     ,    ,^      , 

"Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  through  the  United  Empire 
Loyalists  and  their  English  forefathers,  we,  as  a  Province  have 


110 


coinu  honestly  and  honorably  by  our  zeal  for  education  in  thia 
Cana(hi  of  ours." 

The  MiuniHcent  Royal  ^nini  in  1707  of  over  half  u  million  of 
acres  of  land  has  funned  the  financial  basis  of  Toronto  University, 
of  the  lioyal  Oranwnar  School,  and  Upper  Canada  College,  and  of 
the  (Church  of  En^^land  National)  Central  Sciiool  of  Upper 
Canada.  > 

I  attended  the  Grammar  School  of  Sandwich,  which  when 
first  erected  was  a  large  building  of  limestone,  a  central  huildiiig 
situated  on  one  of  Survevor  General  Smith's  fine  reservations  in 
the  town  overlooking  the  Detroit  River  and  which  must  have 
been  erected  as  early  as  1814. 

Dr.  Hodgins  reports  that  after  the  close  of  the  Session  of 
1806,  His  Honor  President  Grant  in  proroguing  the  Session  in 
March,  1800,  in  his  speech  said  : 

"  The  encouragement  which  you  have  given  for  the  procur- 
ing; of  the  means  necessary  for  communicatin<r  of  useful  an<l  or- 
namental  knowledge  to  the  rising  generation  meets  with  my  ap- 
probation, and  I  have  no  doubt  will  produce  the  most  salutary 
effects." 

Dr.  Scadding,  in  his  Toronto  of  old,  says:  "The  Parliauient 
that  sat  during  President  Grant's  brief  administration  appropri- 
ated £400  to  the  purchase  of  instruments  for  illustrating  the 
principles  of  natural  prilosophy,  to  be  deposited  in  the  hands  of  a 
person  employed  in  the  education  of  youth." 

This  President  Grant  is  the  commodore  who,  on  the  death  of 
His  Excellency  Lieut.-Guvernor  Hunter,  in  September,  1805,  be- 
came as  Senior  Legislative  Councillor  President  of  Upper  Canada 
and  Administrator  of  the  Government. 

We  are  indebted  to  the  celebrated  Robert  Gourlay  for  the 
information  given  of  om*  schools  in  the  towns  and  townships  of 
Upper  Canada.     He  says  : 

"  Sandwich. — There  is  one  school  in  Sandwich  with  one  mas- 
ter, who  draws  a  salary  from  the  Provincial  fund  of  £100  per 
annum,  besides  tuition  fees.  There  are  two  inferior  schools  the 
teachers  of  which  receive  from  the  same  fund  £25  per  annum, 
beside  moderate  fees, 

'  Maiden. — There  were  three  schools  here  and  the  rate  per 
quarter  is  20s. 

"  Raleigh. — There  is  one  conjmon  school,  the  teacher  of  which 
receives  15s.  for  each  scholar,  and  the  Legislature  by  a  late  Act, 
1816,  grants  the  teacher  of  ..ich  common  school  in  the  Province  a 
further  sum  of  £25  per  annum,  provided  there  are  taught  in  the 
said  school  at  least  20  scholars. 

"  Dover  East  and  West,  Chatham,  Camden,  Orford,  Howard 
and  Harwich. — The  inhabitants  of  these  townships  at  a  meeting 


Ill 


reportc'l  that  there  were  four  scliools  in  tlie  tovvnslnps  and  tliat 
the  rate  was  los.  per  quarter.  In  a  supplementary  statement  it 
was  added  that  there  was  an  Indian  school  in  Orford,  kept  in 
Knjrlish  and  Inrlian.  No  doubt  this  was  the  Moravian  Church 
Mission  School." 

In  ISoO  the  Parliament  of  United  Canada  endowed  forever 
the  public  schools  of  the  tlien  Province  of  Canada  with  the  rich 
dowry  of  one  million  acres  of  tliC  Crown  Lands. 

To-day  we  have  in  Kent  181  schools — 4(i  brick,  and  70 
frame — and  17')  teachers,  outside  the  city;  while  in  the  city  we 
have  the  Collejriate  Institute  and  six  other  schools,  apart  from 
separate  schools,  with  29  teachers — 4  of  whom  are  male  iind 
2')  female — and  an  estimated  expenditure  for  the  year  of  S17,350 
$10,000  of  which  is  for  teachers'  salaries. 

Prominent  in  this  good  wo'k  has  been  my  friend  Judge  Bell, 
who  for  nine  years  has  been  the  active  promoter  of  the  school 
work  and  chairman  of  the  Collegiate  Institute  Board.  As  the 
young  domine  in  the  country  school  room,  he  early  learned  to 
appreciate  the  formative  power  of  education  as  an  elevating  and 
inspiring  force  in  a  new  country  and  illustrates  its  potency  in  his 
own  life  and  honorable  position  to-day,  and  he  points  with  pride 
to  some  of  his  pupils  even  within  the  walls  of  Harrison  Hall,  Mr. 
J.  C.  Fleming,  Clerk,  and  City  Treasurer  Fleming,  and  to  our 
esteemed  fellow  citizens.  Dr.  Fleming,  Mr.  S.  F.  Gardiner,  and  his 
brother,  as  among  others. 

How  honored  and  honorable  should  be  the  teacher  of  youth  ! 
Who  can  estimate  the  debt  that  Ontario  owes  to  the  public 
schools  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Ryerson,  and  his  able  and  faithful 
assistant.  Dr.  John  George  Hodgins,  and  the  great  army  of  teachers 
who  have  aided  in  the  faithful  administration  of  the  .system  ? 
What  great  forces  have  the  church  and  the  school  been  in  our 
history ;  and  may  they  continue  to  go  hand  to  hand,  for  civiliza- 
tion without  the  elevating  and  controling  influences  of  religion,  is 
a  false  and  unsoui  d  progress.  Let  our  cry  be  forward  and 
upward.  Don't  let  us  fight  over  separate  schools,  or  oppress  the 
conscience  of  any  portion  of  our  fellow  subjects.  Let  us  rest  our 
education  upon  a  Christian  ba.sis  and  leave  the  issue  with  God, 
the  great  Disposer  of  all  human  events. 

THE   CHURCH. 

Progressive  as  has  been  the  question  of  Education,  that  of 
the  Church  has  not  been  behind. 

The  Roman  Catholic  clergy  of  course  were  the  first  (as  they 
have  been  everywhere)  to  occupy  the  ground  at  both  ends  of 
Canada. 


112 


In  Quebec  nnd  Montreal  there  were  in  17I).*i  l>ut  six 
clern^ymen  of  the  Church  of  En^'land,  inchulinp;  the  military 
chai)iains ;  hut  in  neither  of  these  had  the  Prole.stants 
a  church.  In  Quehec  the  Recollect  Church  was  uskI,  and  in 
Montreal  the  Ursuline  Nuns  onmted  them  the  use  of  their  ch  ipel 
In  Upper  Canada  there  were  hut  three  cleiv^ymen. 

Kinj^^sford  .states  an  interestino  incident  in  connection  with  the 
arrival  of"  Bishop  Niountain  at  (.^wi^Ihic  in  179*J,  as  th(!  first  Anglican 
Bi.shop.  On  hein^^  met  hy  the  Roman  Catholic  Bishop,  Mon,si<,'nieur 
Briand,  the  latter  welcomed  hiuj  on  his  arrival  and  ^ave  hnn  a 
kiss  on  each  cheek,  sayiui^  it  was  time  he  had  come  to  take  charge 
of  his  peoplo. 

Oh,  tliat  such  were  the  relation  to-day  between  the  Bi.shopa 
and  Clergy  of  these  churchas  as  well  as  all  otheis. 

Hon.  Richard  Cartw right  in  his  report  to  the  House  in  its 
tir.st  Session,  says,  "Although  the  two  lower  districts  have  liad  each 
of  them  a  Protestant  clergyman  since  17«S0,  it  is  but  a  few  months 
since  this  (Nassau  or  Home)  District  has  been  provided  with  one  ; 
and  the  Western  District  in  which  the  settlement  of  Detroit  is 
included,  is  to  this  day  destitute  of  that  useful  and  respectable 
order  of  men,  yet  the  Town  of  Detroit  is  and  has  been  since  ilie 
conquest,  inhabited  for  the  most  part  by  traders  of  the  Protestant 
religion,  who  reside  there  with  their  families. 

"  In  the  Eastern  District  the  most  populous  part  of  this 
Provincfc  there  is  no  church  clergyman.  They  have  a  Presbyterian 
minister,  formerly  cha])lain  to  the  8kh  Regiment,  who  receives 
from  the  Government  £50  per  annum.  They  have  also  a  Lutheran 
minister,  who  is  supported  by  his  congregation,  and  the  reverend 
priest  at  St.  Regis  occasionally  officiates  for  the  Scotch  High- 
landers, who  are  very  numerous  and  all  Catholics. 

"  In  the  Midland  District  there  are  two  church  clergymen  who 
are  allowed  CI  00  sterling  per  annum  each  by  the  Government, 
and  £50  each  by  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel. 

In  the  Home  District  there  is  one  clergyman  who  has  been 
settled  there  since  the  month  of  July  last.  The  Scotch  Presbv- 
terians,  who  are  pretty  numerous  here  and  to  which  sect  the  most 
resj)Gctable  part  of  the  inhabitants  Ijelong,  have  built  a  meetin;!' 
house  and  raised  a  subscription  for  a  minister  of  their  own  who 
is  shortly  expected  among  them. 

In  the  Western  Division  there  are  no  other  clergv  than 
those  of  the  Church  of  Rome. 

Dr.  Ryerson,  quoting  Bishop  Strachan,  says:  "That  down  to 
the  close  of  the  war  of  1812-15  there  were  but  fcur  resident 
clergymen,  or  missionaries  of  the  Church  of  England  in  all  Upper 
Caiiada,  and  that  till  1818  there  was  but  one  clergyman  of  the 
Church  of  Scotland  in  Upper  Canada,  and  that  in  1827  there 


iia 

were  but  two,  and  the  doctor  fairly  says  that  it  is  clear  that 
durinrr  the  first  half  of  its  sixty  years'  existence,  Upper  Canada 
must  have  been  indebted  ahsiost  entirely  to  others  than  cler^^y- 
men  of  the  Churches  of  Elngland  or  Scotland  for  reli'^ious 
instruction.  Yet  during  tluit  thirty  years  it  is  admitted  that  the 
people  of  Upper  Canada  were  a  ruhgious,  an  intelligent  and  loyal 
people.  Th<'  Methodists,  ho  adds,  ha<l  in  18.')()  180  re^^uiar  minis- 
ters in  Upi  r  Canada,  about  1,100  churches  and  preuiching  place.-i, 
and  embraced  in  its  congregation  142,000,  or  more  than  one-fifth 
of  the  entire  population." 

The  first  centennial  of  the  Church  of  England  was  held  at  St. 
Mark's,  Niagara,  in  July,  18{)2,  commemorating  the  organization 
of  that  church,  but  Miss  MMjii^H-  in  her  brochure  upon  "  St.  An- 
drew's Church,  Niagara,"  says  St,  Andrew's  was  the  second 
Protestont  church  in  Upper  C'jinada,  the  first  being  that  below 
VVilliamstown,  below  Cornwall,  17<S7,  Just  seven  years  earlier  than 
St.  Andrews;  she  adds,  I  have  shown  indisputably  that  while  the 
first  organized  body  of  worshippers  in  Niagara  was  that  of  the 
English  ChurJi,  under  its  first  missionary,  the  subsequent  rector, 
the  Rev.  Robert  Addison,  the  first  church  erection  was  that  of  St. 
Andrew's. 

Kent  in  this,  as  in  some  other  things,  takes  precedence,  as 
the  centennial  of  the  Moravian  Church  in  Orford,  Moraviantown, 
took  place  on  the  8th  of  May,  1 892. 

St.  Peter's  Church  (R.  C.)  River  Road,  was  erected  in  1803, 
about  three  miles  below  the  present  site,  where  the  latter  was 
built  in  1822. 

We  are  all  familiar  with  the  Clergy  Reserves  and  Rectories' 
questions  in  Ontario,  and  the  final  disposition  of  them  by  the 
Legislature  of  united  Canada  in  185  !•,  and  their  influence  upon 
all  branches  of  the  Church ;  and  that  to-day  all  the  churches 
stand  upon  their  own  resources  and  are  in  no  way  connected  with 
the  State. 

As  evidence  of  the  remarkable  progress  of  the  Church,  I  give 
the  following  table,  taken  from  the  Star  Almanac  for  1895.  It 
will  be  seen  that  the  Roman  Church  population  largely  exceeds 
that  of  any  other  denomination,  though  the  actual  preponderance 
over  other  sects  is  confined  to  the  Province  of  Quebec,  where,  out 
of  a  population  of  1,448,335,  1,291,709  return  themselves  in  the 
census  papers  as  Roman  Catholics.  The  French  speaking  Cana- 
dians in  the  Province  of  Quebec  in  1891  were  1,180,340,  and  for 
the  whole  Dominion  only  1,404,974.  Between  1881  and  1891  the 
percentage  of  Protestants  in  the  whole  Dominion  increased  from 
56.34  to  56.80 : 


Janet  Ccirncc  hcort' 


114 


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IN 


Oj   &  'U'SJijnSti'ii   ded   3   ill   0   <?■•-■   -, 

tfOP-eiSoSpQ-Oa3MHPah4oQ«tJti 


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115 


A  suipnmry  <•£  tlie  yariou.s  .sections  shows  tho  following  re- 
sult,— the  growth  of  tho  Jewish  population  between    18SI    and 


1891  being  an  interesting  factor: 


Number. 

FROrORTION.S   PER   CENT. 

Year. 

Roman 
Catholics. 

Protest- 
ants. 

2436544 
2745463 

Jews 

2393 
6414 

Pagans  and 

not 
specified, 

98881 
B9335 

Roman 
Catholics. 

Protest- 
ants. 

56  •  34 
56.80 

Jews 

Pagans  and 

not 
specified. 

i83i.. 
1891,. 

1791982 
I 99201 7 

4'-43 
41 .21 

.(5 
•«3 

tl() 


CHAPTER  XIV 


(^ 


AGRICULTURE. 

S  Sir  David  Smith,  our  first  member,  was  the  Vice- 
President  of  the  first  Agricultural-  Society  formed  in 
Upper  Canada,  we  must  havt^  somewhat  to  say  of  this 
important  branch  of  Ontario's  many  lines  of  prosperity,  and  see 
whether  in  this,  as  in  other  respects,  Canada  has  held  it?  own, 
even  against  the  great  Republic,  and  how  Kent  stands  in  com- 
parison with  her  sister  counties. 

Kent,  then,  apart  from  Detroit,  was  a  forest  with  such  oaks, 
walnuts,  hickoriies,  beeches,  maples,  &c.,  as  were  only  to  be  found 
here.  These  great  forests  continued  largely  with  us  all  the  way 
down  into  the  50's. 

I  find  nothing  about  agricultural  societies  till  the  Act  of 
March,  1830,  11,  George  IV.,  c.  10,  an  Act  to  encourage  the  estab- 
lishment of  Agricultural  Societies  in  the  several  districts  of  this 
Province.  It  was  introduced  by  Mr.  Charles  Fothergill,  the 
publisher  of  Toronto's  Almanac  and  the  Palladium  newspaper, 
and  from  it  may  be  dated  the  first  effectual  impulse  that  was 
given  to  the  holding  of  fairs  and  public  markets  for  cattle,  etc., 
in  the  country  situations  tnroughout  the  Province. 

It  provided  that  when  any  agricultural  society  for  the  pur- 
pose of  importing  valuable  live  stock,  grain,  gra.ss  seeds,  useful 
implements,  or  whatever  else  might  conduce  to  the  improvement 
of  agriculture  in  the  Province,  shall  be  established  in  any  district 
and  shall  have  subscribed  and  paid  in  £50  to  a  regularly  ap- 
pointed treasurer  and  the  president  and  directors  shall  petition 
the  governor  for  aid  in  support  of  the  said  society,  the  governor 
may  issue  his  warrant  for  £100  annually  during  the  continuance 
of  the  said  society. 

I  find  that  Kent  had  her  society  as  early  as  1837,  first  in 
the  Township  of  Howard  and  next  in  the  Town  of  Chatham. 

In  a  letter  written  by  the  late  Wm.  Thomson,  Councillor  for 
Harwich,  in  May.  1842,  inquiring  as  to  the  funds  of  the  society, 
we  learn  that  in  1837  associations  were  instituted  all  over  the 
Province  for  the  purpose  of  improving  the  breed  of  cattle,  horses, 
sheep,  hogs,  etc.,  and  amongst  the  rest  an  agricultural  society  had 
been  formed  in  Chatham  for  which  a  grant  of  £40  was  obtained 


117 


from  the  pjov^Timent  which  sum,  toi^ether  with  the  subscription 
raised  amounted  to  £00. 

In  reply  to  this  inquiry  we  find  a  letter  from  the  late  Thos. 
Smith,  of  the  2Gth  of  May,  saying  that  lie  had  on  the  17th  of 
October,  1837,  paid  into  the  hands  of  Wm.  Cosgrave,  Esq.,  the 
then  Secretary  of  the  Agricultural  Society  of  Chatham,  £85. 

Kent  IS  referred  to  by  the  Directing  President  of  the  Agri- 
cultural Society  as  having  two  associations  in  1837,  viz.,  Howard 
and  Chatham. 

Then  there  was  the  society  knovn  as  the  Western  District 
Agrictdtural  Society,  which  also  seems  to  have  had  no  want  of  funds, 
for  th  J  President  acknowledges  having  £157  (!t?628)  on  hand,  al- 
though he  complains  that  so  little  intei-est  or  spirit  of  competition 
is  taken  in  the  association  that  the  whole  amount  of  the  pre- 
miums fall  short  of  £20,  leaving  a  balance  in  treasurer's  hands  of 
£125  7s. 

It,  no  doubt,  was  owing  to  the  disturbed  state  of  the  Pro- 
vince, from  the  Rebellion  of  December,  1837-8,  that  nothing  was 
done  for  some  years.  Nothing  seems  to  have  been  done  up  to 
the  time  of  Mr.  Thomson's  letter. 

We  find  in  the  Chatham  Journal  which  had  been  established, 
as  the  first  newspaper  in  Kent  in  1841,  that  the  first  fair  held  in 
Chatham  was  first  October,  1842.  And  an  advertisement  of 
December,  1842  gives  a  list  of  premiums  to  be  given  at  the  cattle 
show  and  fair  to  be  held  in  Chatham  on  the  last  Friday  in  Janu- 
ary, 1843. 

An  editorial  in  the  Journal  of  28th  January,  1843, says"  The 
establishment  of  fairs  in  this  town  has  been  recommended  by  a 
Committee  of  the  Executive  Council  and  approved  by  His  Excel- 
lency the  Governor  General,  so  their  occurrence  in  future  will  be 
neither  precarious  nor  doubtful.  We  beg  to  direct  the  attention 
of  the  public  to  the  following  extiact  from  a  report  of  ihe  com- 
mittee, dated  23rd  December,  1842. 

"  '  On  the  applicamn  of  Geo.  W.  Foott,  that  fairs  for  the  sale 
of  all  kinds  of  cattle  may  be  held  quarterly  in  the  Town  of  Chat- 
ham, viz.,  on  the  22nd  October,  January,  April  and  July,  the 
committee  recommend  the  application. 

'Certified. 

'(Sg'd)  W.  H.  Lee.'" 

The  subscription  was  $1  to  each  member. 

The  Chatham  Journal  of  4th  February,  1843,  says:  "At  a 
meeting  held  27th  January,  1843  at  the  British  Hotel,  Chatham, 
for  the  purpose  of  organizing  an  Agricultural  Society  in  the 
County  of  Kent,  the  following  resolutions  were  unanimously 
adopted.     Mr.  Joseph  Smith  in  the  chair : 


118 


"  1.  Resolved,  that  Mr.  Joseph  Smith,  of  Talbot  Street,  be 
President  of  the  Society. 

"  2.  That  the  Society  be  called  the  County  of  Kent  Agricul- 
tural Society. 

"3.  That  Dr.  Fulford  be  appointed  Treasurer  and  receive 
subscriptions. 

"4.  That  John  Prince,  Esq,  John  Stewart,  T  M.  Taylor, 
Charles  Eliot  and  Councillor  Crookes,  Esq.,  be  Vice  Presidents." 

I  myself  remember  attendinrr  what  our  friend  J.  W.  Bartlet, 
P.  M.  of  Windsor,  says  was  the  first  lair  held  in  Amherr>tburg,  in 
1845,  and  driving  my  tanUem  down  from  Sandwich  on  the  occa- 
sion and  writing  an  account  of  it  for  the  local  paper.  Mr.  James 
Dougull,  who  then  lived  at  "  Rosebank,"  in  Anderdon,  was  the 
chief  exhibitor  as  he  was  tirst  in  almost  everything  relating  to 
fruits  and  flcwors;  and  there  was  also  Mr.  Robert  Reynolds,  earlier 
in  point  of  time  than  Mr.  Dougall,  known  far  and  wide  as  an  en- 
thusiastic horticulturist  and  floriculturist  farmer,  as  well  as  one 
of  the  mobi;  cultured  and  accomplished  gentlemen,  and  closely 
connected  with  the  early  history  of  the  country.  His  wife  was  a 
.sister  of  that  honored  gentleman,  Robert  Bouchette,  the  Surveyor 
General  of  Lower  Canada,  and  who,  in  his  Typography  of 
Canada,  gives  us  the  first  sketch  of  Toronto  which  he  laid  out. 

This  was  the  first  fair  that  I  remember  to  have  seen  in  the 
Western  District,  though  from  Major  Lachlan's  report  as  Presi- 
dent of  the  WVstern  District  Society,  there  was  one  hold  at  Sand- 
wich as  early  as  the  spring  of  1837. 

My  friend,  Mr.  James,  Deputy-Minister  of  Agriculture  for 
Ontario,  in  writing  to  me  says : 

"  Since  receiving  your  letter  some  time  ago,  in  regard  to 
agricultural  societies  in  the  southwestern  part  of  Ontario,  espec- 
ially in  the  Chatham  vicinity,  I  have  been  making  several  searches 
but  so  far  have  found  nothinff  that  would  be  labelled  "historical." 
Tho  first  record  I  find  is  in  the  Agriculture  and  Acts  Report  for 
1848.  The  Provincial  Exhibition  for  that  year  was  heltl  at 
Cobourg,  and  among  the  receipts  is  the  following  :  '  Kent  County 
Agl.  Soc.,  £10. 

The  first  report  on  record  is  for  1854: 

Bal.  from  1853  £  51     Ss.   lOd. 

Subscriptions  and  donations 19 

Township  branch 185 

Gov't  grant 225 

Premiums  at  shows  and  ploughing  matches £120    '.^a.     6d. 

Agriculturist 14     7        6 

Tp.  branches 319  19 

Total     £480     38.   lOd.        £525    4.'.      4d. 

480    3      10 

Bal.  due  Treasurer £  45    Os.     6d. 


119 


Tliere  is  one  omission  in  disbursements  of  £70  los.  4d. 

The  following  branches  were  then  in  existence:  ChaAam, 
Harwich,  Howard,  Orl'ord,  Raleigh,  Romney,  Tilt)ury  East,  Zone. 

There  must  have  been  some  societies  in  existence  shortly 
after  1880.  If  I  can  tind  time  I  shall  make  further  search  and 
may  be  able  to  fill  in  something  in  the  blank  from  1830  to  1848. 
This  blank  is  but  another  proof  of  what  I  have  often  stated,  viz., 
that  agricultural  development  has  been  overlooked  by  nearly 
every  historian  of  our  country." 

Kent  is  practically  an  agricultural  county  and  has  grown  to 
her  present  pro.sperity  entirely  through  her  own  products  for  it 
has  not  been  our  good  fortune  to  have  had  any  men  of  moans 
settling  in  our  midst. 

I  regret  to  see  from  the  report  of  Mr.  Walker,  the  President 
of  the  Peninsular  Fair  Association,  of  January,  1895,  the  com- 
plaint that,  "Owing  to  the  lack  of  interest  taken  in  spring  +"airs 
for  a  number  of  years  past,  and  the  conse(]uent  financial  loss  to 
the  Society  resulting:  therefrom,  it  was  thoucjh*^.  prudent  to  sus- 
pend  the  holding  of  it  for  a  time.  And,  therefore,  no  spring 
fair  was  held  last  year  by  the  Society." 

When  in  the  County  Council  myself  in  18(53,  as  Reeve  for 
Chatham,  I  got  a  committee  to  inquiie  into  the  best  mean;,  of 
promoting  the  agricultural  interests  of  *he  county  and  found  that 
the  county  was  only  giving  $20  in  aid  of  them  and  all  I  could  do 
was  to  get  this  increased  to  $35.  Had  the  county  adopted  my 
view  and  made  that  sum  $1000,  or  even  $500,  what  a  change 
would  have  taken  place  in  the  stock-raising  and  other  interests 
of  the  county  in  the  next  three  or  four  years. 

With  the  Farmers'  Institutes,  Dairymen's  Associations, 
Creameries'  Associations,  Poultry  Associations,  Bee-keepers'  and 
Fruit-growing  Associations,  Breeders'  Associations  of  all  kinds, 
the  encouragement  given  by  the  Local  and  Dominion  Govern- 
ments in  their  valuable  reports  and  bulletins,  and  all  the  other 
agencies  and  facilities  towards  an  advanced  system  of  agriculture 
and  breeding,  with  Kent's  unrivalled  soil  and  geographical  posi- 
tion, she  ought  to  hold  the  first  place  among  her  ^ister  counties, 
and  I  am  glad  to  see  by  Mr.  Walker's  report,  which,  in  part,  I 
subjoin,  that  she  does  occupy  a  first  position  among  the  six  coun- 
ties of  Lambton,  Oxford,  Perth,  Ontario,  Lanark  and  Kent : 


120 


CoUNTIEf. 


Kent 

l.ambton 
Oxford  , 
Perth.. 
Ontario  . 
Lanark  . . 


Area  of 
cltared 

Value  of 

Value  of 

Bus.  of  fall 
wheat 

Bus.  of 

Bus.  of 

Bus.  of 

liind  in 

farm  lands 

live  stock 

raised 

wheat 

corn  raised 

in  93. 

acres. 
332581 

^23434525 

in  '93. 

412000 

??34i53i8 

1341451 

1624-^ 

2400906 

334672 

18886706 

27»>37 

901898 

9463 

708566 

12745 

355500 

21507881 

4083492 

1041788 

12887 

380512 

4061 

3879U 

20211990 

4200756 

890908 

47789 

30856 

405 

352559 

"8539785 

39068 1 1 

124954 

372246 

87690 

2604 

300263 

8438222 

2348659 

27600 

1306892 

65272 

4166 

Bus.  of 
roots 
raised 


261193 
562600 
3893»94 
3346872 
7290586 
2232476 


•r. 

Am't  of 

C"    .IES. 

Bus.  of 

No.  of 

No.  of 

No.  of 

No.  Df 

^.,.2 

Value  of 

cheese 

manufac'd 

chattel 

T3 

barley 

horses 

hoKs. 

cattle. 

sheep. 

No.  0 
chees( 
factor 

0  ■& 

2.  t 

Z  0 

mtgs.  reg. 

on  Dec.  31, 

1893.' 

Acres 
under 
orchai 

Kent 

143008 

23777 

46040 

50^81 

38922 

••?  9683 

9405188 

9065 

Lambton  . . . 

178049 

18537 

22547 

62863 

60970 

-3 

69186 

I 

179244 

7376 

Oxford 

23S880 

20511 

38374 

75370 

29575 

43 

661366 

5 

233091 

8111 

Perth 

309000 

22355 

32053 

79440 

58821 

23 

325230 

2 

10I0Q4 

5115 

Ontario 

518469 

21958 

31632 

52565 

48560 

6 

21516 

2 

I73M2 

5909 

Lanark 

51526 

12420 

19198 

534>5 

64964 

34 

261518 

70401 

1198 

As  we  are  supreme  in  the  bean  product,  exceeding  that  of  all 
the  rest  of  the  Dominion  put  together,  v;e  ought  to  be  so  on 
other  lines,  and  as  Canada  has  surpassed  the  United  States  in  the 
product  of  cheese,  so  Kent  should  aspire  to  surpass  any  portion 
of  the  Dominion  in  the  making  of  cheese  and  butter  for  which 
she  is  so  well  adapted.  The  "  ecord  of  Canada  upon  the  cheese 
question  is  a  remarkably  instructive  one,  »xs  showing  what  a 
young  country  of  five  millions  can  do  by  a  spirit  of  patriotic  com- 
petition against  one  of  seventy  millions. 

In  1860  Canada  started  to  export  cheese  and  sent  out  124.-. 
322  pounds,  while  the  United  States  exported  15,515,799,  or 
nearly  fifteen  and  a  half  millions  of  pounds  more  than  ourselves. 
This 'went  on  till  1880,  when  Canada  had  risen  to  84,173,507 
pounds,  while  the  States  had  88,008,408  pounds.  In  1893  Can- 
ada had  133,940,365  pounds,  and  the  States  only  84,350,923 -an 
excess  over  the  United  States  of  forty- nine  millions  of  pounds 
with  a  value  of  $13,497,470. 

I.ITERARY  AND  PHILOSOPHICAL. 

Besides  her  Agricultural  Society  the  Western  District  had  its 
literary,  philosophical  and  agricultural  club.  1  am  enabled  to 
give  the  record  of  its  first  meeting  ot  Amherstburgh,  in  the  read- 
ing room  of  that  tovvi,  on  the  15th  of  July,  1842. 

Among  those  present  were  :  Major  Robert  Lachlan,  Rev. 
George  Cheyne,  Hon.  James  Gordon,  Robert  Reynolds,  Rev. 
Thomas  Earle  Welby,  Dr.  George  R.  G  assett,  Lewis  G.  Gordon, 
Wm,  Anderton,  Henry  C.  Grant,  Rev.  F.  Mack,  Charles  Baby,  W. 


liiis.  of 
roots 
raised 


.261193 
5626cx> 

3346872 
7291^586 
2232476 


of 

el 

13 

eg. 
31. 

Acres 
under 
orchar 



88 

9065" 

44 

7376 

91 

8111 

94 

5115 

42 

5909 

ox 

1198 

^  Committee. 


The  reso- 
I  i^ive  one 


121 

R.  Wooil,  R.  Peden,  James  Dougall,  John  Wright,  Thomas  Paxton, 
Alexander  McCormick,  Dr.  R.  Ironside,  George  Ironside,  The  fol- 
lowing were  the  office  bearers : 

Robert  Lachlan President 

Rev.  T.  E.  Welby  ....  Vice  President 
James  Dougall  .  .  .  .  .  Treasurer 
R.  Peden      -      Recording  and  Corresponding  Secretary 

The  Hon.  James  Gordon, 
Rev.  F.  Mack, 
Rev.  Geo.  Cheyne, 
Dr.  R.  Ironside, 
Thomas  Paxton, 
Wm.  Anderton, 
Charles  Baby,  • 

Henry  C.  Grant, 

These  are  among  the  best  names  of  the  District, 
lutions  were  appropriate,  practical  and  far-reaching, 
of  the  six. 

Moved  by  the  Rev.  T.  E.  Welby,  seconded  by  Dr,  Grassett, 
"  Tliat  the  diversified  range  of  the  Society's  researches,  like  the 
noble  scope  of  the  first  British  literary  association  established  in 
Asia,  shall  embrace  at  once  '  man  and  nature,'  or  in  othoi-  words, 
'  wtiatever  is  performed  by  the  one  or  produced  by  the  other  ;'  and 
thpt  the  only  qualification  required  in  a  candidate  for  admi.ssion 
shall  be  a  love  of  knowledge,  and  a  patriotic  desire  to  forward  the 
prosperity  of  the  Province  in  general  and  of  the  District  in  par- 
ticular, by  promoting  the  advancement  and  difFa.'}ion  of  literary, 
philosophical  and  agricultural  knowledge." 

And  as  with  the  above  mentioned  societies  there  was  also  the 
Western  District  Medical  Society,  which  held  one  of  its  meetings 
in  Chatham  on  the  7th  of  June,  1842,  at  which  our  old  friends, 
Dr.  R.  Ironside,  Dr.  Grassett,  Dr.  A.  Ironside,  Dr.  A.  R.  Robertson, 
Dr.  Pegley,  Dr.  Cross  and  Dr.  Thos.  Hawkins  were  present. 
Among  letters  read,  one  from  Dr.  Widmer,  of  Toronto,  and  Dr. 
Houghton,  of  the  University  of  Ann  Arbor,  expressive  of  their 
gratification  in  joining  the  society  as  honorary  members,  paper  on 
pneumonia,  and  discussion  on  scarlatina,  and  adjournmeiii/  to 
Sandwich  in  November  for  next  meeting. 


12^. 


CHAPTER  XV. 


'-P  ■' 


& 


;::■,;,  RAILWAYS.     ".-'.■■^'.■'^      •'-'•.■-•;;      ';. -,  ■' 

Nl)  as  with  the  waterways  so  with  the  railway.  In  Decem- 
ber, I8o0,  when  I  came  to  Chatham  to  live,  Ontario  had  not 
a  mile  of  railway,  and  Lower  Canada  only  twenty  miles. 
And  in  February  of  that  year  I  went  throuu^h  the  peninsula  hold- 
ing public  meetinf]j.s,  beirinning  at  Chatham  (as  I  lived  then  at 
Sandwich)  fretting  petitions  seeking  to  displace  the  proposed  line 
of  the  Great  Western  as  it  was  chartered  and  had  been  surveyed, 
and  substituting  for  it  the  Niagara  ard  Detroit  Rivers  Railway 
line,  which,  too,  had  been  charteied,  and  which  is  now  the  line  of 
the  Michigan  Central ;  my  pr.ject  being  to  bring  it  forward  to 
the  towns  of  Chatham,  London,  Woodstock,  Ingersoll  and  Brant - 
ford,  and  so  to  the  Niagara  River,  avoiding  the  descent  to  Ham- 
ilton, and,  again,  the  ascent  of  the  mounta  n  at  Suspension 
Bridge.  Durin^j  that  summer  we  had  a  great  battle  before  Par- 
liament,  at  Toronto,  where,  for  the  first  time  since  the  Union, 
Parliament  sat.  We  were  too  near  Hamilton  and  Dundurn,  and 
Sir  Allan's  hands,  too,  well  supported  for  a  successful  fight,  antl 
we  lost  our  bill  by  one  vote ;  and,  long  after,  my  friend,  the  late 
Chancellor  Vankoughnel,  told  me  how  he  had  been  the  means  that 
night  of  inducing  the  member  for  Cornwall  (Mr.  McLean)  to  give 
his  vote  against  us. 

What  expectations  were  defeated  by  that  vote !  But  it  had 
the  desired  effect  of  bringing  the  railway  into  existence,  for,  Mr. 
afterwards,  Sir  Francis  Hincks,  as  Finance  Minister,  gave  the 
Great  Western  people  to  understand  that  if  the  road  were  i  ot 
under  way  by  next  session  we  should  have  our  charter.  The 
work  was  immediately  undertaken  and  the  Great  Western  was 
running  its  cars  through  Chatham  in  the  fall  of  1853,  and  the 
road  was  opened  for  traffic  in  January,  1854,  the  event  beinjj 
made  to  us  memorable  by  a  grand  bancjuet  in  Detroit,  at  the 
Michigan  Freight  Depot,  where,  among  other  good  things  there 
were  "  cords  of  champagne."  It  was  a  great  event  for  Detroit, 
and  was  the  result  of  the  Michigan  Central  Railway  reaching 
New  Buffalo,  on  Lake  Michigan,  in  April,  1849,  and  Chicago  in 
M.iy,  1851.  All  travel  up  to  this,  in  the  winter,  between  the 
Michigan  and  New  York  Railways  wtis  by  stage  from  Windsor  to 
Queenston,  through  Chatham. 


12:) 


I  remember  tlio  Mayoi'  of  Lori'lon,  on  my  ask'm;^  him  lo  aii- 
tend  the  meetinof  and  Ki<>n  tlu;  petition,  liuvin'j  so  litth;  I'uith  in 
the  step  as  to  say  to  me:  "  Wliy,  Mr,  Woods,  have  we  not  been 
^'or  fourteen  years  trying  to  get  a  railway  from  Hamilton  to  this 
place;"  but  he  failed  to  appreciate  the  great  fact  that  Detroit 
was  in  railway  communication  with  the  west,  and  wanted  the 
link  between  the  Detroit  and  Niagara  Rivers,  which  I  promised 
would  be  supplied  within  two  years  if  the  Great  Western  were 
put  aside  and  we  allowed  to  run  over  its  line,  avoiding  Hamilton. 
In  speaking  in  this  way  I  had  the  Michigan  Central  at  my  back. 
And  it  is  a  reniarknble  fact  that  the  Great  Western  never  recov- 
er('('<  itself  from  the  extraordinary  expense  which  attended  the 
dc-cent  to  Hamiltun,  and  that  the  item  of  this  appeared  in  the  re- 
pott  at  the  time  of  the  transfer  of  the  road  to  the  Grand  Trunk, 
twenty  years  after.  It  was  in  connection  witli  this  road  that  the 
municipalities  were  first  enlisted  in  aiding  a  railway.  Hai.-ilton 
being  the  first  and  Oxford  being  the  second  municipality  to  act, 
and  the  Great  Western  Company  were  indebted  to  my  friend 
and  relative,  Mr.  Jasper  Gilkison,  now  Col.  Gilkison,  of  Brant- 
ford,  then  its  secretary,  for  the  suggestion. 

What  development  since  then!  15,000  miles  of  railway 
now  in  the  Dominion  at  a  cost  of  .1?802,0G2,868.  The  M.  C.  R., 
opened  in  1873;  E.  &  H.  R.,  in  1883;  the  C.  F.  R.,  opened  in 
1889  ;  L.  E.  &  D.  R.  R.,  opened  to  Ridgetown  in  1894. 

ROADS.  ' 

The  first  we  heard  in  the  western  peninsuia  about  road  im- 
provement— apart  from  statute  labor  and  an  occasional  govern- 
grant  under  commisLioners — plank,  gravel,  macadam,  or  otherwise, 
was  on  Lord  Sydenham's  arrival  as  Governor  General  in  1841, 
for  he  brought  Canada  a  credit  of  £1,500,000  for  public  improve- 
ments in  Upper  and  Lower  Canada ;  and  a  mighty  deal  of  im- 
portance was  attached  to  this  now  relatively  small  financial  ar- 
rangement. 

Then  the  road  from  London  to  Hamilton  was  made  macadam, 
and  plank  from  London  to  Port  Stanley ;  then  the  London  and 
Chatham  made  straight  and  turnpiked,  for  the  old  road  had 
followed  the  banks  of  the  river  and  other  crooked  ways ;  and  so 
the  road  from  Chatham  to  the  Rond  Eau  Harbor,  both  known  as 
the  "  Board  of  Works  Road,"  making  the  line  divert  from  Char- 
ing Cross  to  Blenheim  and  turnpiking  it  from  Chatham  to  Blen- 
heim and  Shrewsbury.  I  can  recall  going  out  of  Chatham  in  a 
four-horse  stage  over  the  ne  v  road  and  taking  three  hours  to 
reach  Louisville,  whicli,  however,  was  twice  as  fast  as  Dr.  Ryer- 
son's  journey  through  York  State  by  stage  in  1828. 

But  the  work  done  here  prepared  the  way  for  the  gravelling 


124 


which  the  St.  Clair  and  Ronil  Eau  Road  Company  undertook  in 
1853,  and  another  company  the  phxnk  road  to  Kent  Bridj^e, 
These  roads  were  made  under  the  Act  passed  in  1852,  known  as 
the  Limited  Liability  Act,  which  relieved  stockholders  from  the 
Conmion  Law  Liability  for  all  the  debts  of  a  company,  and 
limited  it  to  the  amount  subscribed  by  each  stockholder.  This 
Act  was  taken  from  the  celebrated  English  Act,  of  which  the  late 
Baron  Bramwill,  of  the  English  Bench,  was  the  author,  whose 
death  took  [ilace  last  year,  and  under  which  everything  in  the 
commercial  world  was  so  changed. 


I  remember  when  in 


England 


in  1871  a  young 


'I 

■i 


American 
lady  saying:  "Do  tell  me,  Mr.  Woods,  what  that  word  '  Limited  ' 
means,  that  I  see  everywhere  ? "  From  a  very  sad  experience  I 
could  tell  her  all  about  it,  and  particularly  that  while  she  would 
not  be  liable  for  anyone  else's  subscription,  she  might  lose  all  the 
money  she  had  put  in  herself. 

The  Gravel  Road  Company  spent  about  .$100,000  on  the  two 
portions,  south  and  north  sides,  and  got  nothing  from  it  directly 
but  the  improvement  of  the  town,  while  the  other  spent  about 
S28,000  with  no  greater  financial  benefit.  Chatham  has  never 
since  had  good  roads,  and  it  is  only  by  good  roads  that  .she  can 
be  made  a  city  de  facto  as  well  as  de  jure.     "  Up,  guards,  at  'em." 

The  Ontario  Good  Roads  Association,  formed  in  Toronto  in 
February,  1894,  gives  promise  of  bringing  about  a  general  and 
popular  system  of  road  improvement,  the  necessary  legislation  in 
aid  of  which  we  may  look  for  at  the  next  Session  of  the  Legisla- 
ture, 

My  first  letter  on  good  roads  in  Kent  was  written  in  Decem- 
ber, 1849,  to  the  Kent  Advertiser,  before  I  came  to  live  here,  and 
advocated  the  making  of  a  plank  or  gravel  road  from  the  St. 
Clair  to  Chatham  by  the  Town  Line. 

LAKE   ERIE   AND   LAKE   ST.   CLAIR   SHIP   CANAL. 

Over  and  above  our  direct  interest  in  the  great  stream  of 
commerce  and  transportation  through  the  lakes  we  have  the  fur- 
ther one  of  a  proposed  canal  through  our  peninsula  and  county, 
whereby  a  large  portion  of  it  will  be  drawn  aside  from  the  main 
channel,  alike  to  the  relief  of  the  former  and  the  benefit  of  the 
latter. 

This  is  an  exceedingly  attractive  enterprise,  and  so  great  is 
the  commerce  and  so  rapid  is  its  increase  annually,  and  so 
obstructed  is  it  now  that  any  and  every  channel  of  transportation 
that  promises  ridief  will  be  welcomed  by  the  great  lake  carrying 
interest. 

In  1857,  before  the  present  St.  Clair  Flats'  Canal  was  con- 
structed, and  when  it  was  supposed  to  be  beyond  the  line  of  ex- 


12/) 


vn  as 
11  the 
,  and 
This 
e  late 
whose 
n  the 


pectation  that  the  difficulties  oF  the  St.  Clair  Flats  could  bo  ade- 
quately overcome,  I  jMoposed  the  scheme  of  the  St.  Clair  and 
Kond  Eau  ship  canal,  which  became  a  mo-it  popular  project  and 
received  the  sanction  of  an  Act  of  the  Parliament  of  United 
Canada,  and  of  the  several  Boards  of  Trade  of  Chica;,'o,  Butialo, 
Cleveland,  Toronto,  etc.  The  ^'reat  financial  cri-is  of  that  year 
so  aHected  every  public  enterpris?  in  America  that  our  schenje 
could  not  be  floated  in  the  En<,d;-ih  market,  and  before  we  could 
do  anythin<r  the  American  War  broke  out  which  stoi)ped  every- 
thintr  in  the  way  of  public  improvement  while  it  lasted,  and  lon*^ 
after  the  war.  The  preseni  St.  Clair  Canal  was  construeted,  an(l 
the  niore  acceptable  to  Canadians,  as  it  was  and  still  is  said  to  be 
in  our  waters.  At  all  events,  it  did  away  with  the  necessity  for 
the  St.  Clair  and  Rond  Eau,  which  would  have  passed  from  the 
St.  Clair  through  Chatham  to  the  Rond  Eau  Harbor 

The  following  year  and  the  scheme  known  as  the  Two 
Creeks'  Canal  was  started  and  chartered,  but  nothing  came  of  it 
likewise. 

Again,  in  IHIjO,  another  company  was  chartered,  of  which  I 
was  one  of  the  corporators,  purposing  to  take  up  the  line  of  what 
is  now  the  St.  Clair  and  Loke  Erie  ship  canal  in  which  Col.  Tis- 
dale,  M.  P.  for  Norfolk,  Mr.  Olney  and  Mr.  Crawford  are  taking 
so  great  an  interest. 

It  is  not  to  be  (juestioned  that  K»nt  is  deeply  interested  in 
the  work,  and,  if  matured,  will  become  a  great  factor  in  the  pros- 
perity of  both  counties.  The  tonnage  in  1857  was  estimated  at 
200,000 ;  lo-day,  as  shown  elsewhere,  it  is  the  greatest  line 
of  transportation  in  the  world. 


THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE — ITS  GENESIS. 


We  have  nothing  to  fear  from  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  for  it 
it  <loes  not  apply  to  Great  Britain.  It  is  interesting  to  enquire 
into  this  as  yet  uninforced,  though  much  proclaimed,  doctrine ; 
and  strange  to  say  we  tind  its  paterrdty  laid  at  England's  door, 
♦hrouirh  the  suuijestion  of  the  Rii^ht  Hon.  George  Canning,  For- 
eign  Secretary,  to  Mr.  Rush,  the  American  Minister  to  England, 
in  1823.  Wharton,  in  his  International  Law  Digest,  mak  \s  the 
following  statement  and  among  other  correspondence  gives  the 
following  letter  from  ex-President  Jefferson  : 

"  Mr.  Canning,  in  his  correspondence  with  Mr.  Rash  having 
sufT'i^ested  th'it  the  United  States  should  take  decided  ground 
against  the  introduction  of  the  Holy  Alliance  in  South  America, 
Mr.  Monroe  sent  the  papers  to  Mr.  Jefferson,  asking  his  advice. 
To  this  request  Mr.  Jefferson  answered  as  follows : 


120 


"MontiHlo  Octol)cr24.  182.1. 

"  Dkaii  Sir,—  The  (juostion  prosontiMl  by  tluj  Icittorn  you  hnvc 
sent  u\v.  is  tlio  niosi  inomciitous  winch  liiis  iwvv  heon  oll't'ieMl  to 
my  contompliitioii  siiicc^  tluit  of  Irxlt'ixMnionce.  That  inido  us  a 
niitiou  ;  this  sots  our  compass  iirid  points  the  couiso  which  wc  arc 
to  steer  throui,'h  the  Ocean  of  Time  openin;^  on  us.  And  never 
couM  he  emhaik  upon  it  under  eiicumstances  more  auspicious. 
Our  lirst  and  fundamental  maxim  should  he  never  to  entau'de 
ourselves  in  tlie  hroils  of  Kurojie;  our  second,  never  to  sutler 
Europe  to  intermeddle  with  cis-Atlantic  affairs.  America,  North 
and  South,  has  a  set  of  interests  distinct  from  those  of  Kurope, 
and  peculiarly  her  own.  She  should,  therefore,  have  a  system  of 
fier  own,  separate  and  apart  froMi  that  of  Europe.  While  the  last 
is  lahorin<!f  to  hccome  the  domicile  of  despotism,  our  endeavor 
should  surely  he  to  make  our  hemisphere  that  of  freedom. 

"  One  nation,  most  of  all,  could  disturb  us  in  this  pursuit ;  she 
now  offers  to  lead,  aid  and  accompany  us  in.  By  accedini^  to  her 
proposition  we  detach  her  from  the  bands,  brin^  her  mighty  \\ei<;ht 
into  the  scale  of  free  government,  and  emancipate  a  continent  at 
oi^e  stroke,  which  mijjht  otherwise  linger  lono-  in  doubt  and  ditfi- 
culty.  Great  Britain  is  the  nation  which  can  do  us  the  most  harm 
of  any  or  all  on  earth,  and  with  her  on  our  side  we  need  not  fear 
the  whole  world.  With  her,  then,  we  should  most  sedulously 
cherish  a  cordial  friendshi]),  and  nothino;  would  tend  more  to  knit 
our  afiections  than  to  be  h^jhtino:  once  more  side  bv  side  in  the 
same  cau.se.  Not  that  I  would  purchase  even  her  amity  at  the 
price  of  taking  part  in  her  wars. 

"  But  the  war  in  which  the  present  proposition  might  engage 
us,  .should  that  be  its  consequence,  is  not  her  war,  but  our^.  Its 
object  is  to  introduce  and  establish  the  American  system  of  keep- 
ing out  of  our  land  all  foreign  powers — of  never  permitting  those 
of  Europe  to  Titermeddle  with  the  affairs  of  our  nations.  It  is  to 
maintain  our  own  principle,  not  to  depart  from  it;  and  if  to 
facilitate  this,  we  can  effect  a  division  in  the  body  of  the  European 
powers  and  draw  over  to  our  side  its  most  powerful  member,  surely 
we  shovtid  do  it.  But  I  am  clearly  of  Mr.  Canning's  opinion  that 
it  will  prevent  instead  of  provoking  war.  With  Great  Britain 
withdrawn  from  their  scale  and  shifted  into  that  of  our  two  con- 
tinents, all  Europe  combined  would  not  undertake  such  a  war,  for 
how  would  they  propose  to  get  at  either  enemy  without  superior 
fleets  ?  Nor  is  the  occasion  to  be  slighted  which  this  proposition 
offeis  o'l  decluring  our  protest  against  the  atrocious  violations  of 
the  rights  of  nations  by  the  interference  of  any  one  in  the  internal 
affairs  of  another  so  flagitiously  begun  by  Bonaparte,  and  now 
continued  by  the  equally  lawless  alliance  calling  itself  Holy, 

"  But  we  have  tirst  to  ask  ourselves  a  question.     Do  we  wish 


127 


to  acquire  to  our  own  confotleracy  any  one  or  more  of  tlio  Spanish 
provinces?  I  camlidly  confess  that  I  have  ever  looked  on  Cuha 
as  the  most  intei-estin^  aildition  which  could  even*  \m  iiui(hj  to  our 
system  of  states.  The  control  which,  with  Florida  Point,  this 
i-^land  wcuild'^dve  us  over  the  (iulf  of  Mexico  a!id  the  countries 
and  isthmus  hor  !erin<.'  on  it,  as  well  as  all  those  whose  waters 
How  into  it,  would  fill  up  the  measure  of  our  political  well-l)ein<,^ 
Yet,  as  I  am  sensihh;  that  this  can  never  he  ohtaineil,  even  with 
her  own  consent,  but  hy  war,  and  its  independence,  which  is  our 
second  interest  (nnfl  especially  its  independence  of  England),  can 
he  secured  without  it,  1  have  no  hesitation  in  al)andoninLr  my  first 
wisli  to  future  chances,  and  accepting  its  independence,  with  peace 
and  the  friendship  of  Knj^land,  rather  than  its  association  at  the 
expense  of  war  and  her  enmity. 

"  I  couM  honestly,  therefore,  join  in  the  declaration  proposed 
that  we  aim  not  at  the  acquisition  of  any  of  those  possessions — 
tliat  we  will  not  stand  in  the  way  of  any  amicable  arrangement 
between  them  aiid  the  mother  c;)untry — l)ut  that  we  A'ill  oppose 
with  all  oui'  means  the  torcibh;  interposition  of  any  other  power 
auxiliary,  stipendiar}',  or  under  any  other  form  or  pretext,  and 
most  (jspecialiy  their  transfer  to  any  power  by  concjuest,  cession, 
or  ac(piisiti(,n  in  any  other  way.  1  should  thirdc  it,  therefore, 
advisable  that  the  executive  should  encoura<i:e  the  British  (lov- 
ernment  to  a  continuance  in  the  dispositions  expressed  in  these 
letter,  by  an  assurance  of  his  concurrence  with  them  as  far  as  his 
authority  f^oes,  and  that  as  it  may  lead  to  war,  the  declaration  of 
which  requires  an  Act  of  Con<,a'ess,  the  case  shall  be  laid  before 
them  foi'  consideration  at  their  first  meetinLj,  and  under  the 
reasonable  aspect  in  which  it  is  seen  by  himself. 

"  I  have  been  so  lonc^  weaned  from  political  subjects,  and  have 
so  lono  ceased  to  take  any  interest  in  them,  that  I  am  sensible  I 
atn  not  quulitied  to  offer  opinions  on  them  worthy  of  any  atten- 
tion ;  but  the  ([uestion  now  proposed  involves  consequences  so 
lasting,  and  effects  so  decisive  of  our  future  destinies,  as  to  re- 
kindle all  the  interest  I  have  heretofore  felt  on  such  occasions, 
and  to  induce  me  to  the  hazard  of  opinions  which  will  prove  only 
my  wish  to  contribute  still  my  mite  tovvanl  anything  which  may 
be  useful  to  our  country.  And,  praying  you  to  accept  it  at  only 
what  it  is  worth,  I  adil  the  assurance  of  my  constant  and  affec- 
tionate friendship  and  respect." 

The  Holy  Alliance  took  shape  in  a  treaty  signed  at  Paris, 
26th  September,  1815,  between  Austria,  Russia  and  Prussia. 
Great  Britain  took  no  part  in  this  Alliance.  The  ostensible  object 
of  the  Alliance  was  the  subordination  of  politics  to  the  Christian 
religion  ;   the  real  principle,  however,  was  the  establishment  of 


128 


jure  divino  iiubocracios,  each  .sovereiji;n  incorporatit:tjj  in  himself 
"tile  Christian  religion"  as  well  as  supreme  political  power. 

IN   CONCLUSION. 

If  every  state  should  have  a  dominant  idea,  then  should 
Canada's  be — Loyalty. 

We  are  a  peculiar  people.  Starting  with  a  conquered  race 
of  d!ti*erent  faith  and  langunge,  representing  England's  traditional 
enemies,  but  who  proved  loyal  and  faithful  adherents  of  British 
power  in  its  extremity,  and  to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  suprem- 
acy in  three  critical  periods  of  Oiir  history;  while  ou''  owi 
colonies  on  the  south — British  and  Protestant — rebelled  against 
us  and  established  a  hostile  state  instead,  out  of  whom,  however, 
thank  God,  came  the  remnant  of  100,000  loyalists  forsaking 
homes  and  kindred  to  tind  a  resting-place  here. 

Shall  we,  the  representatives  of  this  conunon  heritage,  not 
be  willing,  freely  and  fully,  to  share  it  with  our  fellow  colonists, 
irrespective  of  race  or  cned  1  Shall  not  gratitu'leand  patriotism 
be  our  watchwc^'ds?  And  shall  wo  net  ay-ain  jjive  each  other  a 
renewed  pledge  of  fidelity,  proclaim  a  united  fealty  to  our  Sov- 
ereign and  Empire,  and  maintain  our  allegiance  to  its  unity 
against  all  infiuences  no  matter  whence  they  come  ? 

In  view  of  the  blessings  we  enjoy  and  the  glorious  future 
presenting  itself  to  our  colonial  vision,  let  me  earnestly  enjoin 
upon  every  Canadian  an  inalienable,  an  unalterable  and  an  incor- 
ruptible attachment  to  our  Sovereign  and  country ;  and'  may 
Harrison  Hall  ever  remain  a  monument  of  the  liberty  and  loyalty 
ot  Keni  and  Canada. 


129 


POSTSCRIPT, 


unity 


THE  VENEZUELA  MESSAGE. 

Since  writinn;  the  t'oregoin<^  pages  Mr.  Cleveland,  as  President 
of  the  United  States,  has  sent  his  celebrated  Venezuelan  message 
to  the  Senate,  and  the  world  knows  with  what  effect.  To  us  of 
Canada,  J  may  truthfully  say,  and  of  England  as  well,  it  was 
read  with  pain  and  grief;  not  because  of  its  threatened  results  to 
us  as  colonists,  or  to  England  as  the  mother  country,  but  that  it 
could  be  received  by  both  the  Senate  and  Congress  with  the  un- 
seemly joy  with  whicli  it  was  welcomed ;  to  use  the  words  of  a 
prominent  divine  of  the  City  of  New  York  :  "  As  if  they  had 
been  invited  to  a  game  of  skittles  instead  of  a  war  with  tl  e  most 
powerful  nation  of  the  earth,"  and  that  the  one  from  whose  loins 
they  had  come,  and  upon  a  question  with  which  the  United  States 
had  nothing  to  do  so  far  as  England  was  concerned.  We  con- 
gratulate ourselves  upon  the  message,  despite  its  hostility  and 
the  levity  of  its  reception  by  Congress,  because  it  revealtMl  to  us 
the  dangers  to  which  we  may  at  any  time  be  exposed  from  our 
proximity  to  the  Republic;  and  because  we  found  ourselves  as 
one  man  determined  to  stand  by  England  and  resist  to  the  death 
any  attempt  to  take  Canada,  even  with  the  million  of  men  with 
which  the  next  day  their  generals  said  they  could  occupy  and 
hold  Canada,  and  hold  it  for  good — for  that  was  to  be  the  tirst 
fruits  of  the  message — the  permanent  occupation  and  retention 
of  Canada.  But  there  was  no  scare  in  Canada,  not  the  slightest 
disturbance  of  its  serenity  or  security,  political,  financial,  or 
social ;  in  the  even  tenor  of  its  way  it  went  on  as  if  there  had 
been  no  Message,  or  Congress,  cr  Republic.  Let  me  give  the 
words  of  the  Premier  of  Ontario,  Sir  Oliver  Mowat,  speaking  in 
Butfalo  shortly  after,  for  they  so  faithfully  describe  our  state  of 
mind  at  the  time  : 

"  With  all  our  differences,  racial  and  sectarian,  we  are  a  unit 
when  wa  appear  to  be  in  danger.  French  Canadians  joined 
heartily  with  Protestant  Ontario  and  demonstrated  how  little  real 
sentiment  there  is  for  annexation  to-day.  Never  in  my  whole 
public  career  have  I  seen  so  much  loyalty  to  Great  Britain.  I 
prav  God  such  a  dire  calamity  as  war  may  be  honorably  avoided. 
You  know  the  United  States  has  many  good  reasons,  apart  from  our 
common  language,  to  bo  friendly  towards  Great  Britain.  We  are 
really  brothers,  and  such  a  war  would  be  cruel,  wicked  and  tra- 


130 


i 


tricidal.  Still  it  is  wonderfiil  how  quickly  Canada  responded  to 
the  call  of  danger,  and  how  all  races  and  creeds  joined  together  in 
a  determination  to  show  their  solid  strength  and  patriotism  on 
behalf  of  the  Motherland.  Of  course  we  do  not  believe  theie  will 
be  war.  We  have  no  reason  to  be  other  than  friendly  and  neigh- 
borly, but  Canadians  are  not  cowards  you  know.  We  have  had 
friction  with  the  United  States  before  on  manv  issues,  but  never 
without  cause,  and  I  do  not  see  why  all  disputes  cannot  be 
amicably  settled.  We  claim  only  the  right  to  live  neighborly  and 
do  our  business  honorably  with  the  United  States,  but  we  also 
claim  the  right  to  know  what  is  best  for  ourselves  and  to  be 
allowed  to  manage  our  own  affairs  as  we  deem  fit.  This  Cana- 
dians will  always  do.  We  are  not  cowards  you  know,  nor  are 
we  alarmed  even  now.  England's  splendid  isolation  is  the  admir- 
ation of  the  world.  There  is  no  mistaking  her  temper  or  her 
power.  She  seems  doubly  proud  and  heroic  as  she  stands  out 
alone  against  the  great  powers,  as  if  she  's}ori  d  in  her  friend less- 
ness.  She  stands  out  a  splendid  spectach  .:.  if  she  should  be 
called  upon  to  fight,  I  venture  to  think  she  will  not  be  alone,  or 
she  will  be  equal  to  the  occasion." 

Then  we  have  to  further  congratulate  ourselves  and  the 
world  upon  the  noble  stand  taken  by  the  great  body  of  the  Am- 
erican people  against  the  rash  act  of  the  President  and  Congress, 
protesting  as  they  did  that  there  should  be  no  war  and  that  war 
between  England  and  the  United  States  would  be  a  disgrace  to 
the  Christian  feelings  of  both  countries ;  and  further  congratu- 
late ourselves  that  the  sentiment  in  England  was  equally  strong 
and  that  that  cry  from  the  two  nations  will  be  found  crystalized 
in  a  court  of  arbitration  by  which  all  questions  between  them 
shall  in  the  future  be  settled. 

We  have  been  face  to  face  with  a  great  and  di  ia!  conflict, 
but  the  hallowed  memories  of  our  United  Empire  i  ;  "I'St  fore- 
fathers have  flamed  up  with  such  intensity  as  to  ma',..'  c  all  one 
in  our  determination  to  hold  to  Old  England  and  cleave  uO  her  in 
weal  or  in  woe. 


i 


OOD  SAVE   THE  QUEEN 


i:tl 


APPENDICES. 


OFFICIALS  OF  THE  DISTRICT  OF  HESSE  AND  WESTERN  DISTRICT- 
DETROIT. 


Henry  Hamilton  w  as  the  first  Lieutenant  Governor,  appointed  in  177o,  for  the 
Detroit  District,     The  Coinmamlant  was  no  doubt  the  first  Judge. 

In  1767  the  first  formal  appointment  of  a  Judge  was  made  by  Captain  Ceorge 
TurnbuU  of  the  60th  or  Royal  America  Regiment  Commandant  of  Detroit  and 
the  Dependencies,  who  on  24tli  April  of  that  year  appointed  Philip  Dejean,  a 
imrchant,  as  Justice  of  the  T'eace,  Notary  Public,  Tabillion  and  Vendue  Master 
of  Sales  that  might  take  place  there,  and  on  '2Sth  July  following.  Major  H.  Robert 
Bayard  commanding,  gave  him  on  the  petition  of  the  inhabitants  the  further  com- 
mission to  decide  all  actions  of  debts,  boLds,  bills,  contracts  and  trespasses  above 
the  sum  of  £5  Os.  Od.  New  York  currency.  This  is  the  Judge  Dejean  so  sharply 
referred  to  by  Chief  Justice  Campbell,  and  strange  to  say  I  have  two  original  docu- 
ments from  his  hand  and  seal  among  my  old  papers.  The  District  of  Hesse 
having  been  set  apart  in  1788  and  courts  established  Lord  Dorchester  on  24th 
July  of  that  year  appointed  the  following  officers  :  Jacques  Duperon  Baby, 
Alexander  McKee  and  William  Robertson,  Judges  of  tlie  Court  of  Common 
Pleas;  Gregor  McGregor,  Sherifl";  William  Roe,  Clerk  of  the  Peace;  Thomas 
Smith,  Clerk  of  the  Court  of  C.  P.  and  Clerk  of  the  Peace  and  Sessions  of  the 
Peace  ;  and  (4eorge  Meldrum,  Coroner  ;  and  eight  Justices  of  the  I'eace  who  were 
Alexander  (irant,  Guillanme  La  Motte,  St.  Martin  Adhernan,  William  Macomb, 
J(mcaire  de  Chabert,  Alexander  Maisonville,  William  Caldwell,  Matthew  Elliot. 
In  1789  William  Dummer  Powell  was  appointed  Judge  of  Common  Pleas  and 
Probate. 

DETROIT   AND  SANDWICH. 

The  following  is  the  return  kindly  furnished  me  by  the  Secretary  of  State  at 
Ottawa  of  all  appointments  made  in  and  after  1792  when  Governor  Simcoe 
organized  the  (Jovtrnment  of  Upper  Canada,  with  which  and  information  from 
other  f  ources  and  the  aid  of  Mr.  James  Soutar,  I  have  been  enabled  to  make  these 
lists  which  I  hove  good  reason  to  believe  have  never  before  appeared  in  this  form. 


9  July 1794. 

1  January 1800. 

1  January 1800. 

12  June 1807. 

5  April    1826. 

30  November....  1832. 

9  March 1833. 

26  May   1845. 


JUDGES  OF  DISTRICT  COURT. 

.Thomas  Harffy Western  District 

,  Thomas  Harffy n 

.  Prideaux  Selby .i 

.  Robert  Richardson h 

.Robt   Richardson  and  Wm.  Berczy  >, 

.William  Berczy  and  Chas.  E'iot. .  .  .^ 

.  Chas.  Eliot n 

.  Alexander  Chewctt ii 


JUDGES  OF  SURROGATE  COURT. 

No  date     (1793  or  '94) lamea  Baby  (Hon. ) 

30  August.   ..    .    1796...  Walter  Roe 

I  January   1880. . .  .James  Baby 

29  August 1801 Richard  Pollard 

20  Dejember 1824 William  Hands 

9  March    1836 Tohn  Alex.  Wilkinson 


132 


i 


IB  July. 


I 

7 
10 


January 
June. . . 
September 
August .  . 
August.  . 

23  October  . 

]()  January  . 


1 


()  May 

11  January. 
17  P^ebruary 


SHERIFFS. 

.  1792 Richard  Polland Essex  and  Kent  Counties 

.  1800   . . .  Richard  Pollard Western 

.1802....  William  Hands „ 

.  1833 . . .   Ebenezer  Reynolds m 

.  1837 Robert  Lachlan n 

.  1839 ....  Raymond  Haby m 

.  1840 ....  (ieorge  Wade  Foot 

.  1849.... John  Waddell 

1851 Wm.  Duperon  Baby Esl'px  and  Lambton 

.  18.% John  McEwan Essex  County 

1851 John  Waddell Kent  County 

.  1854 John  Mercer n 


CLERKS  OF  THE  PEACE. 


0  September 1794 Walter  Roe Western 

1  January 1800 ....  W^alter  Roe n 

29  August 1801.... William  Hands 

5  June 1802. . .  .James  Allan n 

(None  on  record  for  Western  District  after  this  date). 
I  '.dd  these      1817 . . .  .Geo.  T.  F.  Ireland 

1824...   Charles  Askin 

1835.... Charles  Baby 

187) S  S.  Macdonell,  and  Crown  Attorney. 


CLERKS  OF  DISTRICT  COURTS, 


James  Allan 
Charles  Askin 


George  T.  F.  Ireland 
Wm.  R.  Wood. 


TREASURERS  OF  DISTRICTS. 


November. . . .  1833. . .  .Jean  Baptiste  Baby 

14  February.    . .  .1842 Jean  Baptiste  Baby Western— After  County 

1808-33 ....  Wm.  Hands  (added).  [Council  Act 


REGISTRARS  OF  COUNTIES. 


1793 ... . Richard  Pollard Essex  and  Kent 

1825....  Wm.  Hands , 


12  November. 


.John  Beverley  Robinson. .  .  Kent 

.  James  Askin Essex 

.  John  Askin „ 

■  John  Askin n 

.  J.  Wallace  Askin „ 

1825 James  Richardson Kent 

1829 Robert  Rist , 

3  July 1830. . . .  William  Jones ,, 

13  January 1849. . .  .Henry  (»lass. 


1829., 
1831 . , 

July 1840. 

December  ....  1 858 . 
1872. 


29 


November. 

8  May 

4  December 
8  July 

(Walter  Roe  on  3rd  May,  1796,  was  appointed  Deputy  of  the  Registrar  of  the 
Province  of.  Upper  Canada  for  Western  District). 


1853. 
,1854. 
1858., 
1862. 


,  Arthur  Acland . . . 
.  Alexander  Knapp 
,  Edwin  Larwill  .  . . 
.  Peter  McKellar  . . 


■1' 


1  January . 
2U  August.  . 

27  April  ... 
11  January 
11  February 


133 

REGISTRARS  OF  SUBRO(iATE  COURT. 

1794 Richard  Pollard   Western 

1  HiH) ....  Richard  Pollard » 

1801 ... .  William  Hands 
18.31 James  Askin 

COMMISSIONERS  OF  CUSTOMS. 

Robprb  Richardson 

1 824 Charles  Askin Western 

William  Duff 

Charles  Askin 

1826 Robert  Rist Western 

James  W.  Little 

Charles  Askin 

1831 ....  Charles  Eliot Western 

Charles  Baby 


COLLECTORS  OF  CUSTOMS. 


AMiiERSTBrRO.— John   Wilson,  1818;  Edwin  Caldwell,  1831  ;  E.   Anderson, 

1857. 

Sandwich —Wm.  Hands,   1800;  John  Askin,  jr.,   1801  ;  Wm.  Duff,    1807; 

Wni   Anderton,  1837. 

WiNDSOK.— Major  J.  F.  Elliot,  1841;  Wm.  Benson,  1850;  Johnstone 
Richardson,  appointed  after  1886. 

Chatham.— Wm.  Cosgrave,  1833;  J.  G.  Pennefather,   1862;  R  Stephenjon. 

Saknia.— Captain  Vidal ;  R.  E.  Vidal,  1850;  D.  C.  O'Brien,  1863. 

Wali.acehuho.— In  March,  1846,  Col.  Bell  was  made  first  Collector  of 
Customs.  Jamts  Wilson  succeeded  him  in  1862,  followed  by  Mr.  Charles 
fraser,  followed  by  1).  B.  Gdlard. 

Rondeau  was  made  a  point  of  entry  in  1844,  with  M.  Cronyn  as  Collector. 
In  1852  Morpeth  was  added  thereto  with  (iteorge  Duck,  sr.,  as  Collector.  Hugh 
Calder  fol  owedl  n  1863  as  Collector,  with  whose  incumbency  the  Collector's  post 
was  discontinued. 

RiDGETOWN  and  Morpeth — John  Duck. 

Bi-ENHEiM  and  Rondeau— W.  R.  Fellows. 


POST  MASTERS. 


Amherstburo.— Charles  Berczy  ;  James  Kevill,  1831  ;  Ernest  Park,  1872. 
Sandwich.— Wm.  Hands;  John  Gentle,    1834;   Ed.  Holland,  1838 ;  P.  H. 

Morin,  1843. 

Windsor.— John  Mercer,  1842  ;  John  M.  Crae,  1845  ;  Demis  Ouelette,  1850; 

A.  H.  Wagner,  1862. 

CHATHAM.-Wm.  McCrae,  1820,  *Rilcigh;  Dunc.n  Mc(;regor,   1831  ;  James 
Read,  1839;  John  Crow,  1851-4;  Benj.  Barfoot,  1856;  Saml.  Barfoot,  1865. 

Sarnia  —Geo.  Durand,  1835  ;  A   Fisher,  1862. 

♦Only  chansjed  from  "  Raleigh  P.  O."  to  "  Chatham  P.  0."  in  1851. 


INSPECTORS  OF  INLAND  REVENUE. 

Windsor— G.  W.  Hall. 

Chatham— Wm.  A.  McCrae,  1847  to  1851,  appointed  for  Kent  and  Lambton  ; 
George  Thomas  succeeded  him  in  1852;  Geo.  W.  Foott,  1860;  Dr.  Thod.  Cross  in 
1869  ;  Charles  Dunlap,  1873. 


13^ 


CROWN  LANDS'  A(JENTS. 


Colonel  Talbot  in  the  east  was  the  first  agent ;  Henry  John  Jones  folloMed 
him  ;  succeeded  by  Thomas  Steers,  who  had  charge  of  Kent  and  Lambton  ;  fo'- 
lowed  by  J.  B.  Williams  in  IS-W;  John  K.  Brooke  abo  .t  185();  Richard  Monck 
in  1801.     Dr.  Patrick  McMullin,  and  his  son  Duncan,  acting  for  Essex. 


JUSTICES  OF  THE  PEACE  FOR  1802 


Justice<i  of  the  Peace  in  1802  for  Western  Division,  including  Essex,  Kent 
and  Suffolk  :  Francis  Baby,  Prideaux  Selby,  Wm.  Hands,  Daniel  Fields,  Wm. 
Park,  (iregor  Mc(iregor,  Wm.  Shaw,  Abram  Irad^ll,  John  Askin,  U'ln.  Caldwell, 
Wm.  Hearffy,  Matthew  Eliott,  James  Urquhart,  Geo'ge  Meldrum,  Jean  Baptiste 
Baby. 


Mr.  Wm.  Hands  was  Sheriff,  Treasurer,  Portmaster,  Customs  Officer,  Surro- 
gate Judge  p,nd  Registrar  of  Surrogate. 

SALARIES. 

District  Judge,  £15  ;  Sheriff,  £100  ;  Clerk  of  the  Peace,  £120;  Clerk  of  Dis- 
trict Court,  £25.  Registrars  of  Deeds — Kent,  £75  ;  Essex,  £59.  Collector  of 
Customs  at  Amherstburg,  £58.  Postmaster  at  Sandwich,  £100;  Amherstburg, 
£118.  Those  of  Surrogate  Judge,  £25;  District  Treasurer,  £Cfi ;  Inspector  of 
Licenses,  &c. ,  £75  ;  Inland  Revenue  and  Collector  of  Customs,  £50,  aie  calculated 
from  those  of  another  District  and  were  all  held  by  Mr.  Hands. 

ENGUSli  CHURCH. 

Salaries  paid  by  Government  to  the  ministers  of  the  English  Church  were: 
Sandwich,  £100;  Amherstbi:rg,  £111  (5s.  3s.  ;  (  hatham,  £111  6s.  8d.  The  Gram- 
mar school  teaclier  at  Sandwich  £100,  who  from  1827  to  1840  was  the  clergyman, 
and  so  got  a  good  allowance.  Rev.  Richard  Pollard,  who  died  in  1820,  was  the  first 
Protestant  minister  in  the  West. 

CHCRCH  OF  SCOTLAND. 

Atn*"'-- stburg — Rev.  Mr.  Gale  and  Rev.  Mr.  Cheyne  received  £64. 

CHURCH  OF  ROME. 

Paid  by  tithes,  which  was  1  -26  bushel  of  grain  only. 


M.  P.  P.'S  FOR  WESTERN  DISTRICT  FROM  1792  TO  1841. 


David  CowaBu 1805 

J.  B.  Bc^jk.  Ai^iu 1809-'20 


ESSEX 

J.  B.  Baby 1792 

Thos.  McKee 1801 

Matthew   Eliot     1801-'05-'09 

Wm.  McCormick. .'. 1813-'17 

Geo.  B.   Hall 1817 

Francis  Baby 1828-'29 

William  Elliott 1831 

Jean  B.  Macon 1831 

Jno.  Alex.  Wilkinson 1825-'29-'35 

Francis  Caldwell 1 835  '40 

John  Pririce 1836-'56 

In  1834  Kent  became  ent'tled  to  two  members,  and  William  McCrae  and 
Nathan  Cornwall  were  returned.     Changed  to  one  in  1841. 

The  n&me  of  Mr.  James  Baby  as  given  in  the  list  of  members  to  the  first 
Parliament  of  Upper  Canada  in  Mr.  Yeigh's  vfiluable  history  of  "  Ontario's  Pnr- 
liament  Buildings,"  Appendix  page  15,  calls  for  notice.  There  whs  but  the  one 
James  Baby,  and  he  was  the  Honorable,  appointed  a  member  of  Governor  Simcoe's 
Executive  Council  on  the  8th  day  of  July,  1792,  and  a  member  of  the  Legislative 


KENT 

David  Wm.  Smith 1792 

Wm.  Macomb 1792 

Thos.  McK»e 1796 

Thos.   McCrae   1801 

John  McGregor 1805 -'09- 13 

Joshua  Cornwall 1817 

James  (Jordon 1820-'5 

Nathan  Cornw  all 1835 

William  McCrae 1835 


135 


Council,  and  sworn  in  on  8th  Ju'y,  as  shown  by  Mr.  Yeigh  at  page  10,  and  so  sat 
in  f/lie  Legislative  Council  and  not  in  the  Assembly,  and  continued  in  the  Legisla- 
tive and  Executive  Councils  to  the  time  of  his  death  in  1833.  Mr.  Baby's  father 
was  . Jacques  Duperon  Baby,  one  of  the  .(udges  of  Common  Pleas,  appointed  by 
Lord  Dorchester  in  1788,  but  he  died  in  1789.  Mr.  Baby  had  two  brothers,  Jean 
Biptiste  and  Francis,  both  of  whom  later  appear  by  Mr.  Yeigh 's  list  to  have  sat 
in  the  Assembly,  and  I  dare  say  one  of  tliese  was  the  Mr.  Baby  who  sat  in  the 
Assembly  in  1792,  as  given  in  Mr.  Yeigh'a  list  at  page  11,  This  would  be  my  own 
onclusion,  and  on  looking  into  Macdonakl's  Illustrated  Atlas  I  find  that  he  says, 
after  full  incjuiry,  that  Mr.  Jean  Baptiste  sat  in  the  Assembly  in  1792.  Of  course, 
constitutiondlly,  Hon.  Ja'iics  Baby  could  not  bit  in  the  Lower  House  while  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Upper. 

M.  P's.  FOR  KENT  FROM  1841  TO  18()7. 

Joseph  Woo-ls 1841-1848 

Hon.  S    B.  Harrison '. 1844  rei^ued  without  taking  his  seat 

Malcolm  Cameron. .*    i  :i48 

Ueoige  Brown   1851 

K  Iwiu  Larwill 1854 

Archibald  McKellar 1857-'67 


AFTER  CONFEDERATION— IN  DOxMINION  PARLIAMENT. 

COUNTY   OF    KENT. 

Rufus  Stephenson 1867-1882 

Henry  Smyth 1882-'86  .     . 

Archibald  Campbell 1886- '95  ; 

ELECTORAL  DISTRICT  OF  BOTHVVELL.  ' 

David  Mills  1867-1895 

LEGISLATIVE  COUNCIL  OF  HESSE  AND  WESTERN  DISTRICT. 

Hon.  Alexander  Grant 1792  181.H 

Hon.  James  Baby 1792-18.33 

Hon.  James  Gordon   1824 

WESTERN  DIVISION,  ELECTION  LEGISLATIVE  COUNCIL. 

Hon.  John  Prince 1856 

Hon.  Sir  Allan  N.  MacNab  1860 

Hon.  Walter  McCrea 1872 

Mr.  McCrea  remained  in  the  Council  till  December,  1870,  when  he  was 
appointed  Judge  of  Algoma,  succeeding  Col.  Prince.  Hon.  Joseph  Nortiiwood 
was  called  to  the  Senate  in  1880  for  this  section,  and  on  his  death  in  1886,  was 
succeeded  by  the  Hon.  Charles  E.  Casgraiu,  of  Windsor. 

ONTARIO  LEGISLATURE. 


WEST  KENT. 

John  Smith IST^T.^^. 

J  imes  Dawson 1 87 1   ^ 

Alexander  Coutts 1875 

Ed.  Robinaon 1879-1883 

James  Clancy 1883 

T.  L.  Pardo 1895 

EAST  KENT. 

Hon,  Aich.  McKellar 1867-1879 

Daniel  McCraney 1879  1885 

Rrbert  Ferguson 1885-1895 


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KLKcTMN  RETrRNS  (BOUNTY  OF  uoTUWELL  (Continued). 

Until  1H()7  the  County  of  Kent  returned  l)at  one  member.  At  confederal  ion 
new  electoral  districts  were  formed,  the  Townships  of  Howard,  Orford,  Camden, 
and  Zone  (in  Kent),  and  Sombra,  Dawn  and  Euphemia  un  Lambton),  being  con- 
stituted the  electoral  distiiut  of  Hothwell,  Kent  comprising  the  balance  of  tlie 
county.  This  arrangement  also  applied  to  the  representation  in  the  Ontario 
Assembly  until  1874,  wiien  the  county  was  divided  into  two  Ridings — the  lOast 
comprising  Harwich,  Howard,  Orford,  Zone,  Camden,  Dresden,  Kidgctown, 
IMcnheim,  Hothwell  and  Thamesville— the  West,  the  balance  of  the  county.  In 
1882  the  boundaries  of  the  House  of  Commons  constituencies  were  again  chang«!d, 
Howard,  Orford,  and  Hidgetown  being  a^tached  to  West  Klgin,  Kuphemia  to 
West  Middlesex,  and  Chatham  Township  and  Wallaceburg  to  Hothwell. 


LIST  OF  THE  JUDGES  OF  THE  SUPERIOR  COURTS  FROM  1791. 


Taken  from  Read's  Lives  of  the  Judges  (now  deceased^. 

Chief  Justice  Osgoode appointed  1701 

Judge  Powell appointed  1789  1792 

Chief  Justice  Elmsley appointed  1790 

1802 

„  1804 

„  1803 

„  1805 

I.  1811 

„  1818 

„  1825 

n  1827 

1829 

,.  1829 

1837 

M  1837 

,,  1837 

,.  1840 

1847 

.,  1848 

1848 

, ,  1848 

1850 

1850 

M  1862 

1863 

1863 

„  1862 

1875 

,.  1875 

„  1878 

„  1884 


Chief  Justice  Alcock , 

Chief  Justice  Scott 

Judge  Cochrane 

Judge  Thorpe 

Chief  Justice  Campbell  ,  . 

Judge  Boulton 

Judge  Sherwood 

Judge  Willis 

Chief  JusLice  Robinson  . . 
Chief  Justice  Macaulay . . 
Chief  Justice  McLean  . . . 

Judge  Jones 

Vice-Chancellor  Jameson 

Judge  Hagerman 

Chief  Justice  Draper 

Judge  Sullivan  

Chancellor  Blake 

Vice-Chancellor  Eaton . . . 

J  udge  Burns ... 

Chief  Justice  Spragge . 
Chancellor  VanKoughnet 

Judge  Connor 

Judge  John  Wilson 

Judge  Morrison   

Chief  Justice  Harrison . . . 

Chief  Justice  Moss 

Chief  Justice  Cameron  . . 
Judge  O'Connor 


CHIEF  JUSTICES  AND  JUDGES  OF  THE  SUPREME  AND  EXCHEQUER 
COURTS  OF  CANADA  AND  THE  SUPERIOR  COURTS  OF  ONTARIO. 


SUPREME   AND   EXCHEQUER  COURTS. 


Chief  Justices. 

Hon.  Sir  Wm.  Bruell  Richards appointed  Oct. ,  1875 

Hon.  Sir  Wm.  Johnstone  Ritchie  (Knight) appointed  Uth  Jan.,  1879 

Hoi.  Sir  Samuel  Hen  y  Strong „        18th  Sep.,  1892 


139 


Judgen. 

Hon.  Samuel  Henry  Strong appoMitrd 

Hon.  TeleHpliore  Fournier. .      .  .  ,i 

Hon.  Wni.  Alexander  Henry ...    n 

Hon.  Henri  Kl/t'-ar  Taachereau m 

Hon.  John  Wullington  ( J wynne „ 

Hon.  Chriatopher  Salmon  I'atterson   n 

Robert  Sedgewick m 

(Jeorge  Kdwin  King it 

(Jeorge  VV.  Uurbidge  (Kxchequer) „ 


Hill  Oct. 

8lh  Oct. 

Stli  ();t  , 

7th  Oot., 
14th  Jan.. 
*27tli  Oct  , 
iMth  Kel). 
2l8t  Sep., 

Ut  Oct., 


IHTf) 

1875 

187H 
187!> 

1888 

mvA 

1887 


SUPERIOR  COURTS  OF  ONTARIO  AND  THK  SUPREME  COURT  OF 

JUDICATURE. 


COURT  OK  APPEAL  FOR  ONTARIO. 


Chief  Justices. 

Hon.  Tliomas  Moss appointed  30th  Nov. ,  1 877 

Hon.  John  Godfrey  Spragge „  2nd  May,  1881 

Hon.  John  Hawkins  Hagarty „  0th  May,  1884 

Judges. 

Hon.  George  VVm.  Burton appointed  30th  May,  1874 

Hon   Christopher  Salmon  I'atterson n  (ith  June,  1874 

Hon.  Jos.  Curran  Morrison „         30th  Nov.,  1877 

Hon.  Featherston  Osier ,.         17th  Nov.,  18.33 

Hon.  James  Maclennan m         27th  Oct.,  1888 


COURT  OF  QUEEN'S  BENCH  AND  QUEEN'S  BENCH  DIVISION  OF 
THE  HIGH  COURT  OF  JUSTICE. 


Chief  Justices  and  Presidents. 

Hon.  John  Hawkins  H*garty appointed  13th  Nov.,  1878 

Hon.  Sir  Adam  Wilson  (Knight) ,  6th  May,  1884 

Hon   John  Douglas  Armour m         loth  Nov.,  1887 

Judges. 

Hon.  John  Douglas  Armour appointed  30th  Nov. ,  1877 

Hon.  Sir  Matthew  Crooks  Cameron  (Knight) 15th  Nov.,  1878 

Hon.  John  O'Connor i  1 1th  Sep.,  1884 

Hon.  Wm.  Glenholme  Falconbridge m  2l8t  Nov.,  1887 

Hon.  Wm.  Purvis  Rochfort  Street i.  30th  Nov.,  1887 


COURT  OF  COMMON  PLEAS  AND  COMMON  PLEAS  DIVISION  OF  THE 

HIGH  COURT  OF  JUSTICE. 


Hon. 
Hon. 
Hon. 
Hon. 


Hon. 
Hon. 
Hon, 
Hon. 


Chief  Justices  and  Presidents. 

Sir  Adam  Wilson  (Knight) appointed  13th  Nov.,  1878 

Sir  Matthew  C.  Cameron  (Knight) m  13th  May,  1884 

Sir  Thomas  Gait  (Knight) ..         7th  Nov.,   1887 

Wm.  R.  Meredith appointed  Oct.,  1894 

Judges. 

Sir  Thomas  Gait  (Knight) appointed  7th  June,  1869 

Featherston  Osier «  5th  Mar.,  1879 

John  P:d ward  Rose n  4th  Dec,  1883 

HughMcMahon ..        30th  Nov.,  1887 


140 


COURT  OF  CHANCERY    AND   CHANCKKY   DIVISION   OF   THK  HIGH 

COURT  OF  .lUSTICK. 


Chancellors  and  Presidents. 

Hon.  John  (Jodfrey  Spragge appointed  27th  Doc,  IHfiO 

Hon.  John  Alexander  Boyd n  IkdMay,    IHHI 

Judses. 

Hon.  Samuel  Hume  Blake appointed  2nd  Dec  ,  1H72 

Hon.  William  Proudfoot 30th  May,  1874 

Hon.  Thomas  Ferguson 24th  May,  18K1 

Hon.  Thomas  Robertson »  1 1th  Feb.,  1887 

Hon.  Richard  Martin  Meredith -t  l»t    Oct.,    181K) 

Hon.  Oliver  Mowat  appointed  14th  Nov.,  1884 resigned 


4    ' 


l^ 


MARITIME  COURT. 


Judges. 

Kenneth  McKenzie,  Esq.,  Q.  C appointed  12th  July,  1887 

John  lioyd,  Esq.,  Q.  C 28th  Mar.,  1883 

Joseph  Easion  Mel  >ougall,  Esq. ,  Q.  C 17th  Sept. ,  1885 


COURT  OF  ADMIRA      Y. 


Joseph  Easton  McDougall. 


GOVERNORS  GENERAL  OF  CANADA  PRIOR  TO  CAPITULATION. 


1540  Jean  F.  de  la  Roque,  Sieur  de  Roberval. 

1598  Marquis  de  la  Roche. 

1612  Samuel  de  Champlain. 

1630  Marc  Ant.  de  Bras  de  fer  de  Chateaufort. 

1636  Chevalier  de  Montmagny. 

1648  Chevalier  d'Aillebout  de  Coulonge. 

1651  Jean  de  Lauzon. 

1656  Charicb  de  Lauzon  Charny. 

1657  D'Aillenout  de  Coulonge. 

1658  Viscount  de  Voyer  d'i  rgenson. 
1661  Baron  de  Boia  d'Avangour. 
1663  Chevalier  de  SaflFray  Mesy. 

1663  Alex,  de  Prouville  Tracy  (acting). 

1665  Chevalier  de  Courcelles. 

1672  Count  de  Frontenac. 

1682  Sieur  de  la  Barre. 

1685  Marquis  de  Denonville. 

1689  Count  de  Frouteuac. 

1699  Chevalier  de  Callieres. 

1703  Marquis  de  Vaudreuil. 

1725  Baron  de  Longueuil  (acting). 

1726  Marquis  de  Beauhamois. 
1747  Count  de  Galissonniere. 
1749  Marquis  de  la  Jonquiere. 

1752  Marquis  Duquesne  de  Menneville. 
1755  Marquis  de  Vaudreuil-Cavagnal. 


141 


HIGH 


10.,  1869 
y.    1881 


AFTKR  THE  CAPITULATION. 


1872 
1874 
1881 


c  , 

ilS[.',  1887 
b.,  1890 
resigned 


ly,  1887 
ir.,  1883 
[)t.,  1885 


ION. 


17W) 

I7»n 

1778 

178() 

17!»7 

1807 

1811 

181.') 

1810 

1818 

1819 

1820 

18'28 

1830 

18.35 

18.38 

18.39 

18.39 

1842 

1843 

1845 

1847 

1855 

1861 


(Jpn.  .lames  Murray. 

(Jeu.  SirOuy  ('arlftoii  (Lord  Dorchester). 

(icn.  Frederick  Haldiniund. 

Lord  Dorche.stcr 

Maior  (Jeneral  I'reacott 

Sir  James  C'raig. 

Sir  (Jeorge  Prevost. 

Sir  (lordon  Drummond  (acting). 

Sir  .lohn  ('ope  Shoihrooko. 

Duke  of  Iliclimond. 

Sir  Peregrine  Maitland  (acting). 

Earl  of  Dalhoiisie. 

Sir  James  Kemp. 

Lord  Aylmer. 

Lord  Gosford. 

Earl  of  Durham. 

Sir  John  Colborne  (Lord  Seaton). 

Hon.  C.  P.  Thompson  (Lord  vSydenham). 

Sir  Charles  Hagot. 

Sir  Charles  Metcalfe. 

Earl  (Jathcart. 

Earl  of  Elgin. 

Sir  Edmond  Walker  Head. 

Lord  Monck. 


GOVELsORS  GENERAL  SINCE  CONFEDERATION. 


1.  Rt.  Hon.  Viscount  Monck,  June  1,  1867. 

2.  Rt.  Hon.  Lord  Lisgar  (Sir  John  Young)  December  29,  1868. 

3.  Rt.  Hon.  the  Earl  of  Dufferin  (now  Man|uis  of  DufTerin)  May  22,  1872. 

4.  Rt.  Hon.  the  Marquis  of  Lome,  Oct.  5th,  1878. 

,5.  The  Most  Hon.  tlie  Marquis  of  Lansdowne,  August  18,  1883. 

6.  The  Hon.   Lord  S'.aaley  of  Preston,  May  1,   1888,  who  succeeiled  to  the 
Earldom  of  Derby  on  the  death  of  his  brotlier,  April  21st,  1893. 

7.  Rt.  Hon.  Lord  Aberdeen,  our  present  most  excellent  (iovernor  General. 


THE  LIEUTENANT  GOVERNORS  OF  U1:'?ER  CANADA  FROM  1792  TO  1841 


Hon.  John  Graves,  Simcoe, 1791 

Hon.  Peter  Russell,  Presideat . .    1796 

Hon.  Peter  Hunter 1796 

Hon.  Alexander  Grant,  President 1805-6 

His  Excellency  Francis  Gore 180()  to  1818  less  5  yra.  in  England. 

Major  General  Sir  liaac  Brock,  PresiJeutl811-12 

Sir  Perigrine  Maitland. 1818 

Sir  John  Colborne 1828 

Sir  Francis  Bond  Head 1 836 

Sir  George  Artliur 1838 

AFTER  CONFEDERATION. 

Major  General  Sisied 1867 

Sir  William  P.  Howland 1868 

Hon.  John  Crawford 1873 

Hon.  D.  A.  Macdonald 1877 

Hon.  John  Beverly  Robinson 1881 

Hon   Sir  Alexander  Campbell 1888 

Hon.  George  A.  Kirkpatrick   1892 


142 


COUNTY  LIEUTENANTS. 


(lovernor  Simeoe  ar. .on^  his  many  other  appointment*  after  the  English 
model,  gave  ua  County  Lieutenants  correaponding  to  the  Lords  Lieutenant  in 
England  and  Ireland,  in  the  latter  of  which  tl't-y  were  introduced  as  late  as  1831. 
The  following  is  the  list  : 

John  Macdonell ". Glengar^ 

William  Fortune Prescott 

Archibald  Macdonell Stormount 

Hon.  Richard  Dunjan Dundas 

Peter  Drummond (irenville 

James  Breakenbridge Leedi 

Hon.  Richard  (^artwright Froutinac 

Hazellon  Spencer Lenox 

William  Johnson Addingtnn 

,  John  Ferguson      Hastings 

Archibald  McDonell Maryaburg,  Prince  Edward 

-  '      Alexander  Chisholm Norihumberland 

Robert  Baldwin  Durban 

Hon.  David  \Vm.  Smith York  . 

,     Hon.  Robert  Hamilton   Lincoln  . 

Samuel  Ryerse Norfolk  ;■  W    :' 

Willicm  Claus Oxford  _.        .  ; 

Hon.  Alexander  Grant   Essex 

.  Hon.  James  Baby Kent. 

This  he  did  to  relieve  himself  of  some  of  the  responsibiliiies  of  granting  lands 
to  settlers  and  seeing  that  justice  was  done  them.  They  possessed  the  right  of 
appointi'.ig  magistrates  and  officers  of  militia.  Besides  this  a  magistrate  could, 
I'.iider  his  direction,  assign  in  the  King's  name  200  acres  of  land  to  every  settler 
whom  he  knew  to  be  worthy,  and  the  Surveyor  of  the  District  was  to  point  out  lo 
the  settle^  the  land  allotted  to  him.  In  appointing  these  Lieutenants  of  Counties 
the  Governor  evidently  had  in  viev7  the  organization  in  time  of  a  militia  force  for 
the  defence  of  the  country.  As  we  see  the  Hon.  Mr.  Baby  was  the  County  Lieu- 
tenant for  Kent,  and  I  have  an  important  letter  addressed  to  him  by  Pre^'dent 
Russell  in  August,  1796,  indicating  the  responsibilities  of  his  position,  and  how 
military  considerations  pervaded  everything  in  those  days,  and  so  it  continued 
down  as  late  as  1849,  for  it  was  only  in  that  year  that  the  Government  woald  allow 
a  bridge  acros"  the  Thames  in  Chatham  to  be  built  west  of  the  Barrack  ground 
at  Sixth  Street. 


<•»'! 


143 


Table  of  the  British  Bmpli'e  and  Its  Depend  sncles.  18^. 

From  Hazell's.  Annual  for  1894. 


he  English 
ulenant  in 
ite  as  1831. 


>ting  lands 
le  right  of 
ate  could, 
ery  settler 
oint  out  1  o 
f  Counties 
a  force  for 
mty  Lieu- 
Prep'dent 
,  and  how 
continued 
Oil  id  allow 
jk  ground 


in  The  Irish  Channel 
In     The     English   \ 

Channel.    J 

In  The  Mediterranean 


InTheCulf  of  Aden 


In  Tha  L.dian  Ocean. 


In  Asia. 


In  Asiatic  Archipelago 


In  Australasia 


Name  and  Date  of  Acquisition 


«   c8 
00    ? 

5hH 


>  .2 
o  3 


The  United  Kingdom   of   (ireat 

Hritain  and  Ireland 

Isle  of  Man,  or  Mona  (1765). .... 

Jersey  I.  (10G6) 

(iuerusey,  etc.,  Is.  (106(5) 

Gibraltar  (1704) 

Maltese  Is.  (1800) 

Cyprus  I.  (1878) 

Aden  (1839) 

Ferim  I.  (1855) 

Kuria-Muria  lb.  ().S54) 

North  Somali  Coast  (1885) 

Socotra  I.  (1886) 

Mauritius  I.  (1810) 

Rodriguez  I.  (1810) 

Seychelles     and     Amirante     Is. 

1810)  

ChagoandOil  Is.  (1810) 

Ceylon  (1795) 

Maldive  Is 

Empii'ft  of  India.  (Empire,  77).  . 
f  Bengal 

Assam    .  .    

North- West  and  Oudt 

Punjab 

Central  Provinces  

Burmah 

Madras 

Bombay 

j  Ajmir 

\  Berar 

iCo.      

Native  Slates  (see  India,  Native 

States  of) .... 

Andaman  &  Nicobar  Is.  ('58)   . 

Stiaits  Settlements 

Singapore  (1819) 

Penanga786) 

Province  of  Wellesley 

TheDindings  (1826 

Malacca  (1795) 

Cocos  or  Keeling  Is.  ('85) 

Christmas  I.  (1889) 

Perak  (1875)  

Selangor(1873) 

Sungei  Ujong  (1873) 

Jelebu(1885) 

Negri  Sembi Ian  (1886) 

Pahang  (1888) 

Labuan  I.  (1847) 

North  Borneo  (1877) 

Hong-Kong    I. ,    with    Kowloon 

and  Lema  Is.  (I84n 

New  South  \VttlieB(l788)  .... 
Victom(1851) 


Capital 


London  . . . . 
Douglas  .  . . 
St.  Heliers. 
St.  Pierre. 
Gibraltar  . . 
Vuletta . .  . 
Nikosia  .  . 
Aden 


Berbera. . 
Tamarida  . 
Port  Louis 


PortVictor'a 
Diego  Garcia, 
Colombo  .... 


Calcutta(tot'l) 

Calcutta 

Ganhati 

Allahabad;  Luck- 
Lahore       ["-Jw 

Nagpore 

Mandalay 

Madras 

Bombay 


Ellichpore. 


Port  Blair. .  . 

Singapore. . . . 

Singapore .... 
\  (ieorgdtown 
/    or  Peuang 


Malacca. 


Taiping  .  . . 
Kuala  Lumpor 

>  Seremban 

Kuala  Pilah . . 

Pekan 

Victoria  Karb. 
Sandakan  .... 


Victoria  .  . 
Sydney  ... 
Melbouiue 


Population 


7888153 

55598 

54518 

35339 

'25869 

177225 

2092S6 

41910 

150 

34 


10300 
368163 


18000 


3008239 


287223431 
7 J  346987 \ 

5476833 
46931010 
20807020 
10784294  [ 

7605560  I 

35591410  I 

18901123/ 

541890 

2896670 
172630 

66167860 

abo't  25000 

512342 

184554> 

123886 

108117 

.1615 

92170 

554 

214254 
81592 

23002 

41617 

64000 

5853 

200000 

221441 
1134207 
U40411 


144 


Table  of  the  British  Bmplre  and  Its  Dependencies,  1884.  (Continued.) 


In  The  Pacific  Ocean , 


In  America. 


InThe  North  Atlantic 


Name  and  Date  of  Acquisition 


Isles 


South  Australia  (1836)  .  . . 
Northern  Territory  (1864) 

Queensland  (1859) 

Western  Australia  (1829). 

Tasmania  (1825) ... 

New    Guinea    (part)    and 

(1888) 

New  Zealand  (1840) 

Fiji  Isles  (1874)..   

Rotumah  Is.  (1881) 

Tonga  Isles  (1881) 

The  Dominion  of  Canada  (1763). 

Ontario  (1763) 

Quebec  (1763) 

Nova  Scotia  and  ('ape  Hreton 
1.(1714) 

New  Biunswick  (1761)   

Prince  Edward  I.  (1798) 

Manitoba  (1870) 

North-WestTerritories(1870) 

British   Columbia   and   Van- 
couver I.  (1859) 

Newfoundland  (17 13) 

Labrador  

British  Guiana  (1814) 

British  Honduras  (1786) 

Bermuda  Is.  (1609) 

Bahama  Is.  (1783) 

Leeward  Is.  (Fed.  1871) 

Antigua  (1632) 

Barbuda  and  Redonda 

Montserrat  (1632) 

St.  Kitt8(1632) 

Anguilla(1632) 

Nevis  (1632) 

Dominica  ( 1 763) 

Virgin  Is.  (1666) 

Windward  Is.  (Fed.  1871). 

,  to  /"Grenada  and  Grenadine  Is. 

'^Zl      (^763) 

-  N  jSt.  Lucia  (1803) 


In  Thu  South  Atlantic 


In  Africa. 


^  i.St-  Vincent  (1763) 


(1783) 


Jamaica  I.  ( 1 655) 
Turks  and  Caicos  Is. 
Barbados (1625)  ... 

/Trinidad  (1797)   

t Tobago  (1763) 

Ascension  I.  (1815)   .... 

St.  Helena  (1673) 

Tristan  D'Acunha  (1815) 
Trinidade  Is.  (1815).... 

Falkland  Is.  (1771) 

South  Georgia  (18.33)... 

Capo  Colony  (1 815) 

Basutoland  (1868) 


Capital        Population 


Adelaide .  . . . 
Palmerston. . . 

Brisbane 

Perth 

Hobart 

Port  Moresby. 
Wellington .  .  . 
Suva 


Tonga tabu 
Ottawa  . .  . 
Toronto  . . 
Quebec  . . . 


Halifax 

Fredericton  .  . 
Charlottetown 
Winnipeg .... 
Regina 


Victoria 

St.  John's.  .| 
Hopedale . .  .  / 
Georgetown  . . 

Belize 

Hamilton  . . . . 

Nassau 

St.  John 

St.  John 


Plymouth . 
Bass-sterre. 


Charlestown . 

Roseau 

Roadtown. .  . . 
St.  (iJeorge  .  .  . 

St.  George  .  . . 

Castries 

Kingstown. .  . 

Kingston 

(irand  Turk . . 
Bridgetown  .  . 
Port  of  Spa'n . 

Scarbro' 

Georgetown . . 
Jamestown . ,  . 
New  Edinb'gh 


Stanley 


323109 

in.  in  above 

393938 

58000 

152619 


489000 

634058 

127444 

2409 

230(X) 

4833239 

2112989) 

1488586 

450523 
321294 
109088  \ 
154442 
99722 

92767  J 
202100 

278328 
31471 
15884 
48000 

129760 

.36700 
11760 

47660 

29000 

4640 

135976 


51427^ 
41713  V 
4 1054  J 
G39491  \ 
4785  / 
182322 
214496 
19534 
360 
4116 
100 
15 
1789 


Capetown , .  . 


1527224 
218902 


145 


Table  of  the  British  Empire  and  Its  Dependencies,  1894.  (Continued.) 


Name  and  Date  of  Acquisition 


British  Bechuanalahd,  etc.,  ('85). 

Natal  (1856) 

Zululand(1887) 

British  South  Africa  Co.  (1888) 
and  British  tJentral  Africa 
(Nyassaland)  (1889) 

British  East  Africa  Co.  (1888).  . , 

Zanzibar  and  Pemba  (1888) 

Royal  Niger  Co.  (1886) 


Niger  Coast  Protectorate  ('84). 

Gold  Coast  Colony  (1808) 

Lagos (1861) 

The  Gambia  (1664) 

Sierre  Leone  (1791) 

VValfisch  Bay  (1878) 


Capital 


Pietermaritzburg . 

Eshowe 


Fort  Salisbury 
Mombasa  .... 

Zanzibar 

Asaba 


Population 


72700 
543913 
142038 


Lngos . 


25000000 


1905000 

107000 

50000 

180000 


The  foUov/iug  are  the  latest  returns  :  The  United  Kingdom,  its  colonies  and 
dependencies  have  an  area  of  9,180,700  square  miles  and  a  population  of  345.282,- 
960.  In  addition  Britain  holds  protectorates  and  spheres  ot  influence  over 
2,240,400  square  miles,  with  a  population  of  36,122,000.  This  makes  the  total  area 
of  the  whole  British  Empire  11,421, 100  square  miles  with  a  population  of  381,404,960. 


WARDENS  OF  KENT. 


The 

1850 

)851 

1852 

1853 

1854 

1855 

1856 

1857 

1858 

1859 

1860 

1861 

1862 

1863 

1864 

1865 

1866 

1867 

1868 

1869 

1870 

1871 

1872 

1873 

1874 

1875 

1876 

1877 

1878 

1879 

1880 


Wardenij  and  Municipalities  they  represented  were  as  follows 
George  Duck,  Reeve,  Township  of  Howard. 

II  H  M  II  II 

James  Smith,  Reeve,  Townships  of  Camden  and  Zone. 

II         II  II  II  II         II        M 

II         II  II  II  M         II        II 


Township  of  Camden. 


L.  H.  Johnson,  Reeve,  Township  of  Chatham. 
George  Young,  Deputy  Reeve,  Township  of  Harwich. 

II  II  M  II  II  M 

John  McMichael,  Reeve,      *  n  n 

Caleb  Coatsworth,       ,i      Township  of  Romney. 

John  Duck,  m  n  Howard. 

Geo.  W.  Foott,  II  II  Dover. 

Stephen  White,  ^,  ^^  Raleigh. 

Israel  Evans,  m      Town  of  Chatham. 

Dr.  D.  J.  VanVeleor,  Reeve,  Township  of  Harwioh. 

Joseph  Roberts,  n  ,<  Zone. 

Arthur  Anderson,  Deputy  Reeve,  Township  of  Camden. 

John  Lee,  Reeve,  Township  of  Orford, 

J.  A.  Langford,  Deputy  Reevo,  Township  of  Harwich. 

Robert  Ferguson,  Reeve,  Township  of  Camden. 

Alexander  Trerice,  Reeve,  Village  of  Dresden. 

T.  R.  Jackson,  n  h  Blenheim. 

i^r.  Jacob  Smith,         n  n  Ridgetown. 


146 


1881 
1882 
18S3 
1884 
1885 
1886 
1887 
1888 
1889 
1890 


William    Hickey,  Reeve,    Township  of  Tilbury  East 

B.  W.  Willson,  -- 

L.  E.  Vogler, 

David  Caughill, 

Dr.  Geo.  Mitchell, 

John  Wright, 

Francis  GifFard, 

W.  A.  Mills, 

J.  A.  McGregor, 

D.  H.  Gesner, 


Howard. 

II  Zone. 

II  Harwich. 

Village  of  Wallaceburg. 
Township  of  Dover. 

II  Camden. 

II  Chatham. 


II  It  Tilbury  East. 

^  ,  II  II  Orford. 

Who  died  previous  to  tha  June  Sessioc,  when  George  Johns,  Reeve  of 
Bothwell,  was  elected  Warden  for  the  balance  of  the  year. 
T.  B.  Gillard,  Reeve  of  Wallaceburg. 


1891 
LIST  OF  BARRISTERS  AND  SOLICITORS  IN  THE  COUNTY  OF  KENT 


Atkinson  &  Atkinson. 
W.  H.  Robinson. 
A.  M.  Lafferty. 
J.  B.  O'Flynn. 
J.  W.  White. 
J,  Warren. 
Pegley  &  Sayer. 
Edwin  Bell. 
G.  G.  Martin. 
W.  J.  Martin. 
C,  J.  O'Neill. 
J.  A.  Walker. 

W.  R.  Hickey. 

John  Coutts. 

H.  D.Smith. 
O.  K.  Watson. 

R.  L.  Gosnell. 

J.  S.  Fraser. 
A.  McDougall. 

J.  W.  Sharpe. 
F.  E.  Nelles. 


CHATHAM. 

W.  F.  Smith.      . 

Lewis  &  Richards. 

Wilson,  Rankin,  McKeough,  Kerr  &  Pike 

Thrasher  &  Arnold. 

Scane,  Houston,  Stone  &  Scane. 

Geo.  B.  Douglas. 

Douglas  &  Ireland. 

John  Reevft. 

J.  D.  Lamont. 

J.  P.  Duulop. 

Ward  Stanworth. 

BOTHWELL. 

Geo.  Taylor. 

THAMESVILLfc. 
RIDGETOWN. 

Ridley  &  Guudy. 
W.  Mills. 

BLENHEIM. 

R.  M.  Thompson. 

WALLACEBURG. 

C.  B.  Jackson. 

DRESDEN. 

G.  E.  Weir. 

TILBURY  CENTRE. 


THE  PRESENT  OCCUPANTS  OF  HARRISON  HALL. 


Judge  Bell. 

Judge  Woods. 

Sheriff  Mercer. 

William  Douglas,  Q.  C. 

Archer  Ireland,  Barrister. 

^ym.  A.  Campbell,  D.  C.  C  «&  P.  &c. 

Th  8.  Scullard,  Barrister,  Assistant. 

Robert  O'Hara,  Master  in  Chancery, 


William  Rannie,  Collector. 
A.  L.  Shambleau,  County  Treasurer. 
James  G.  Fleming,  County  Clerk. 
Robert  G.  Fleming,  City  Treasurer. 
John  Tisaiman,  City  Clerk. 
James  Weir,  Aasistant  Clerk. 
Charles  E.  Beeston,  Sheritf  s  Otrice. 
J.  H.  Blackburn!  Janitor. 


147 


INDEX. 


Dedication 

t'RKKACE  .  .  . 


CHAPTFR   1. 

Harrison  Hall  and  its  Associations 

Sketch  of 

The  laying  of  the  Foundation  Stone 

The  Namesakes . 

Hon.  Robert  Alexander  Harrison 

Hon.  Samuel  Bealey  Harrison 


CHAPTER   II. 


Municipal  Organization  and  Development  . . , 

Fights  Fought  for  Freedom 

Canadian  Commissioners'  Report 

Mr.  McEvoy's  Essay 

Justice  of  the  Peace  for  1841 

Lords  Durham  and  Sydenham 

First  Municipal  Act  1841 

First  Municipal  Council  of  Western  District. 

The  Solicitor 

The  Poundkeeper  

District  of  Kent .    

I'rovision  Council  of 

Mr.  Baldwin's  Municipal  Ac*^  1849 

Kent's  first  County  Council    ...    

Its  Members 

(ieorge  Duck,  1st  Warden 

Histoiic  Origin  of  Municipal  Names 

Municipal  Purity 

Temperance  Reform 


CHAPTER  III. 


Responsible  Government 

The  Resolutions  upon 

Hon,  S.  B.  Harrison. 

Kent  Election  of  1841    

Colonel  Prince 

Kent — Detroit  as  the  District  Town 

Sir  David  Wm.  Smith  and  Wm.  Macomb  first  Members 
Not  Generally  Known   


CHAPTER  IV. 

District  of  Hesse . 

Kent,  Essex  and  Suffolk 

Building  Court  House  in  Detroit 

Detroio  and   Michilmackinac 

Exodus  Act,  1796 

Courts  to  be  near  Bois  Blanc  Island 

Last  Court  of  Quarter  Session  held  in  Detroit  . 

Seat  of  Courts  changed  to  Sandwich 

Detroit— Seat  of  Courts  for  Hesse 


1 
9 
10 
11 
12 
12 


14 

15 
15 
16 
17 
19 
19 
20 
22 
22 
23 
23 
23 
23 
23 
24 
24 
25 
26 


28 
28 
29 
30 
31 
32 
33 
33 


3(5 
37 
37 
37 
37 
37 
37 
38 


148 


CIIAI'TEU  V. 

France's  Surrender  of  Canada 39 

Kingfcford's  Review 3S 

Treaty  of  Paris,  170.3 40 

Treaty  of  Utrecht '. . .  .  41 

Newfoundland 41 

(Jeneral  Murray,  1st  (iovernor  General 42 

Chief  Justice  Campbell  and  Detroit  District 44 

The  Quebec  Act,  1 774 4.') 

Watson,  Kmgsford  and  Read 46-7 

(CHAPTER  VI. 

Ustirpation — Islands  and  Indians 53 

The  v\  astern  Posts 53 

Dr.  Ilyerson's  Statement 53 

Professor  Goldwin  Smith's ....  54 

Sequel  of  the  Boston  Tea  Party 55 

Capital  Punishment 55 

Tke  Islands  of  the  Detroit  River 5(5 

Indians 59 

OHAPTKR    VII. 

Our  Constitutional  Act,  1791-2,  Upper  Canada,  Newark,  York.    63 

Organization  of  Government 64 

First  Legislative  Councillors— (Jhief  Justice  Osgoode  and  Messrs.  Robertson, 

Grant  and  Russell 64 

First  Session  U.  C.  Legislature 65 

Slavery  Abolished    67 

First  Newspaper,  U.  C.  Gazette  or  American  Oracle 67 

John  Brown  and  his  followers 67 

Marriage  Act 68 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

69 

69 

69 

70 


Our  Judges  and  Courts. 
Chief  Justice  Osgoode  . 

J  udge  Powell 

York 


Chief  Justice  Sir  VVm.  Campbell     71 

Chief  Justice  Sir  John  Beverley  Robinson 71 

The  Family  Compact 74 

Sir  John  as  Registrar  of  Kent ...  74 

Michigan  Under  the  Judges 75 

Our  J  udges 76 

The  Local  Osgoode ..........  77 

Local  Courts 78 

Chatliam  Historical 81 

Tecumseh,  the  Great  Shawnee  Chief 81 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Confederation 83 

Members  of  first  Ministry 83 

Ontario 83 

Simcoe's  Proclamation   85 

Kent's  Registry  Office  and  St.  Joseph's  Island 85 

Land  Board  of  Hesse — Fields  v    Miller 87 

Lord  Selkirk— Baldoon 88 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Tne  Detroit  River  Navigation 90 

Lake  St.  Clair 91 

Belle  Isle  Park 93 

Detroit 94 

Windsor 95 


,  .  39 

. .  38 

. .  40 

.   41 

,  .  41 

.  42 

..  44 

. .  45 

.  46-7 

....  53 

..  53 

.  53 

.  54 

.  55 

. .  55 

..  56 

•  • 

.  59 

....  63 

....  64 

Lson, 

...  64 

....  65 

•  •  • 

.  67 

.  , 

.  67 

,  , 

..  67 

..  68 

....  69 

.   69 

..  69 

.  70 

.  71 

. .  71 

..  74 

..  74 

. .  75 

..  76 

.  77 

..  78 

. .  81 

.   81 

..  83 

..  83 

..  83 

. .  85 

..  85 

.  ,  87 

..  88 

..  90 

. .  91 

.  93 

.  94 

..  95 

149 

The  Boundary — Our  Alabama 96 

Rocks  to  be  avoided 97 

Our  U.  S.  of  370  Millions ', ,  98 

Dr.  IJourinot  on  political  union  with  the  U.  S 99 

CIIAVTER    XII. 

The  War  of  1812 101 

Hull's  Proclamation   ....    101 

General  Brook's  Proclamation 102 

The  Rebellion  of  1837-8 108 

CIIAPTKR   XIII. 

Education  and  the  Church 109 

The  Church Ill 

Kent's  first  Centennial — Moraviantown  Mission,  May,  1892 1 13 

Table  of  the  Religions  of  the  Dominion  by  Provinces 114 

A  summary  of  the  various  sections  .    . .   ' 115 

ClI.Al'TKR  XIV. 

Agriculture ....  116 

Act  of  183')  for  encouraging  agricultural  societies 1 16 

Kent's  first  agricultural  society 116 

Kent'a  bean  product  greater  than  all  the  Dominion 120 

Canada's  cheese  product  greater  than  that  of  the  U.  S 120 

Literary  and  IMvlosophical  Societies  of  the  Western  District 120 

Western  District  Medical  Society 121 

CIIAI'TER  XV.  \ 

Railways— G.  W.  R.,  G.  T.  R.,  C.  P.  R.,  M.  C.  R  ,  E.  &  H.,  and  L.  E.  &  D. 

R.  R.  and  others 122 

Roads— Plank  and  Gravel 123 

Lake  Erie  and  Lake  St.  Clair  Ship  Canal 124 

The  Monroe  Doctrina — Its  Genesis 125 

England's  Proposal -'•ex- President  Jefferson's  Letter 126 

Conclusion— Our  Watchwards 128 

Postscript — The  Venezuela  Message 129 

Sir  Oliver  Mowat'd  Testimony  to  Canada's  devotion  to  England 129 


I3^TDE;X    TO     A-FIPKISTDICES. 


Officials  of  the  District  of  Hesse  and  Western  District — Detroit 131 

Judges  of  District  Court 131 

Judges  of  Surrogate  Court , 131 

Clerks  of  tne  Peace ]  32 

Clerks  of  District  Courts 132 

Treasurers  of  Districts 132 

Registrars  of  Counties 132 

Registrars  of  Surrogate  Court 133 

Commissioners  of  Customs    133 

Collectors  of  Customs 183 

Tost  Masters  ; 133 

Inspectors  of  Inland  Revenue 133 

Crown  Lands'  Agents 134 

Justiced  of  the  I  eace  for  1802 134 

Salaries 134 

M,  P.  P.'s  for  Western  District  from  1792  to  1841 134 

M.  P.'s  for  Kent  from  1841  no  1867 135 

After  Confedf^ration — in  Dominion  Parliament 135 

Electoral  District  of  Bcthwell 135 

Legislative  Council  of  Hesse  and  Western  District 135 


160 

Western  Division,  Election  Legislative  Council 135 

Ontario  Legislature 1 3'''> 

Election  Returns  County  of  Kent  136 

Election  Returns  (.ounty  of  liothwell 137 

List  of  the  Judges  of  the  Superior  Courts  from  1701    138 

Chief  .Justices  and  .7 udges  of  Supreme  ami  Exchequer  Courts  of  Canada  and 

the  Superior  Courts  of  Ontario 1 38 

Ciovernors  (Jeneral  of  Canada  prior  to  Capitulation 141 

After  the  ('apitulation 141 

Governors  General  siuce  Confederation 141 

The  Lieutenant  Governors  of  Upper  Canada  from  1792  to  1841 141 

After  Confederation 141 

County  Lieutenants 142 

Tables  of  the  lirilish  Empire  and  its  Dependencies,  1894 143 

Wardens  of  Kent 145 

List  of  Barristers  and  Solicitors  in  the  County  of  Kent 146 

The  present  occupants  of  Harrison  Hall 146 


I,  and 


135 
135 
13() 
137 

138 

138 
141 
141 
141 
141 
141 
142 
143 
145 
146 
146 


ERRATA. 


At  page  17,  last  line  from  bottom,  for  Hull  read  Hall. 

At  page  18,  line  10  from  top,  for  To,nHnson  read  Toulmin. 

At  page  18,  line  18  from  top,  for  Pudeaiix  Girly  read  Predeaux  Oirty. 

At  page  63,  on  line  7,  for  fact  read  past. 

At  page  69,  last  line  of  page,  for  1774-5  read  1794-5. 

At  page  89,  16  lines  from  top,  for  £600,000  read  $500,000. 

At  page  92,  line  23  from  top,  for  then  read  three. 

At  page  107,  4th  line  fiom  top,  for  whom  irith  read  with  ivhom. 

At  page  110,  line  .'     'rom  top,  for  prilosoj)hy  read  jtMlosophy.