Anweisungen an Gouverneur Carleton, 1775

Instructions to Our Trusty and Welbeloved Guy Carleton Esquire, Our Captain General in Chief in, and over Our Province of Quebec in America and of all our Territories dependent thereupon. Given at Our Court at St. James's the Third Day of January 1775. In the Fifteenth year of Our Reign

[...] 4. And whereas by an Act passed in the fourteenth year of Our Reign, intituled, "An Act for making more effectual provision for the “Government of the Province of Quebec in North America," it is enacted and provided, that no person, professing the Religion of the Church of Rome, and residing in the said Province, shall be obliged to take the Oath of Supremacy required by an Act passed in the first year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, or any other Oaths substituted by any other Act in the place thereof; but that every such Person, who by the said Statute is required to take the Oaths therein mentioned, shall be obliged, and is thereby required, under certain Penalties, to take and subscribe an Oath in the form and Words therein prescribed, and set down; It is therefore Our Will and Pleasure, that you do administer to each and every Member of Our said Council, being a Canadian, and professing the Religion of the Church of Rome, and cause each of them severally to take and subscribe the Oath mentioned in the said Act passed in the fourteenth year of Our Reign, intituled; "An Act for making more effectual provision for the “Government of the Province of Quebec in North America;" and also cause them severally to take an Oath for the due Execution of their places and Trusts, and for their equal and impartial administration of Justice.

5. And that We may be always informed of the Names and Characters of Persons fit to supply the Vacancies, which may happen in Our said Council, you are from time to time to transmit to Us, by one of Our Principal Secretaries of State, the names and Characters of such persons, Inhabitants of Our said Colony, whom you shall esteem the best qualified for that Trust; And you are also to transmit a duplicate of the said Account to Our Commissioners for Trade and Plantations, for their Information.

6. And if it shall at any time happen, that by the death or departure out of Our said Province, of any of Our said Councillors, there shall be a Vacancy in Our said Council, Our Will and Pleasure is: that you signify the same to Us by one of Our Principal Secretaries of State, and to Our Commissioners for Trade and Plantations, by the first Opportunity, that We may by Warrant under Our Signet and Sign Manual, and with the Advice of Our Privy Council, constitute and appoint others in their stead.

7. You are forthwith to communicate such and so many of these Our Instructions to Our said Council, wherein their Advice and Consent are mentioned to be requisite, as likewise all such others from time to time, as you shall find convenient for Our Service to be imparted to them.

8. You are to permit the Members of Our said Council to have and Enjoy Freedom of Debate and vote in all Affairs of Public Concern, that may be debated in Council.

9. And Whereas by the aforesaid Act passed in the fourteenth year of Our Reign, intituled, "An Act for making more effectual provision for “the Government of the Province of Quebec in North America," It is further enacted and provided, that the Council for the Affairs of the said Province, to be constituted and appointed in Manner therein directed, or the Major Part thereof, shall have power and Authority to make Ordinances for the peace, Welfare, and good Government of the said Province with the Consent of Our Governor, or, in his absence, of the Lieutenant Governor, or Commander in Chief for the time being; provided, that no Ordinance shall be passed, unless upon some urgent Occasion at any Meeting of the Council, except between the first day of January and the first day of May. And Whereas the State and Condition of Our said Province do require, that immediate provision should be made by Law for a Great Variety of Arrangements and Regulations essentially necessary to the Government thereof; It is therefore Our Will and Pleasure, that you do within a convenient time issue Summons for the Assembling of Our said Council in their Legislative Capacity either on the first day of April next, or as soon after as may be convenient, in Order to deliberate upon, and frame such Ordinances, as the Condition of Affairs within Our Said Province shall require, and as shall, in your and their Judgement, be fit and necessary for the Welfare of Our said Province, and the Territories thereunto belonging.

10. You are nevertheless to take especial Care. That no Ordinance be passed at any Meeting of the Council, where less than a Majority of the Council is present, or at any time, except between the first day of January and the first day of May, as aforesaid, unless upon some urgent Occasion; in which Case every Member thereof resident at Quebec, or within fifty Miles thereof shall be personally summoned to attend the same.

That no Ordinance be passed for laying any Taxes or Duties, such Rates and Taxes only excepted, as the Inhabitants of any Town or District may be authorized to assess, levy and apply within the said Town or District, for the making Roads, erecting and repairing public Buildings, or for any other purpose respecting the Local Convenience and Œconomy of such Town or District.
That no Ordinance touching Religion, or by which any punishment may be inflicted greater than Fine or Imprisonment for three Months be made to take effect, until the same shall have received Our Approbation.
That no Ordinance be passed relative to the Trade, Commerce, or Fisheries of the said Province, by which the Inhabitants thereof shall be put upon a more advantageous footing, than any other His Majesty's Subjects either of this Kingdom, or the Plantations.
That no Ordinance respecting private property be passed without a Clause suspending its Execution, until Our Royal Will and Pleasure is known; nor without a saving of the Right of Us, Our Heirs and Successors, and of all Bodies politic and corporate, and of all other persons, except such as are mentioned in the said Ordinance, and those claiming by, from, and under them; And, before such Ordinance is passed, proof must be made before you in Council, and entered in the Council-Books, that public Notification was made in the Party's Intention to apply for such Ordinance in the several Parish Churches, where the Lands in Question lye, for three Sundays at least successively, before any such Ordinance shall be proposed; and you are to transmit and annex to the said Ordinance a Certificate under your hand that the same passed through all the Forms abovementioned.
That no Ordinance shall be enacted for a less time than two years, except in Cases of imminent Necessity, or immediate temporary Expediency; and you shall not reenact any Ordinance, to which Our Assent shall have been once refused, without express leave for that purpose first obtained from Us, upon a full representation by you to be made to Us by one of Our Principal Secretaries of State, and to Our Commissioners for Trade and Plantations, for their Information, of the Reasons and Necessity for passing such Ordinance; nor give your Assent to any Ordinance for repealing any other Ordinance, which hath passed in your Government, and shall have received Our Royal Approbation, unless you take Care, that there be a Clause inserted therein suspending and deferring the Execution thereof, until Our Pleasure shall be known, concerning the same.
That in all Ordinances imposing Fines, Forfeitures, or Penalties, express Mention be made, that the same is granted or reserved to Us, Our Heirs and Successors for the public Uses of the said Province, and the Support of the Government thereof, as by the said Ordinance shall be directed; and that a Clause be inserted declaring, that the Money, arising by the Operation of the said Ordinance, shall be accounted for unto Us in this Kingdom, and to Our Commissioners of Our Treasury for the time being; and audited by Our Auditor General of Our Plantations, or his Deputy.
That all such Ordinances be transmitted by you within six Months after their passing, or sooner, if opportunity offers, to Us by One of our Principal Secretaries of State, and Duplicates thereof to Our Commissioners for Trade and Plantations, for their Information; that they be abstracted in the Margents, and accompanied with very full and particular Observations upon each of them, that is to say, whether the same is introductive to a new Law, or does repeal a Law then before in being; and you are also to transmit in the fullest manner the Reasons and Occasion for enacting such Ordinances, together with fair Copies of the Journals of the proceedings of the Council, which you are to require from the Clerk of the said Council.

11. In the Consideration of what may be necessary to be provided for by Law within Our said Province, as created and established by the aforesaid Act, Intituled, "an Act for making more affectual Provision for “the Government of the Province of Quebec in North America," a Great Variety of important Objects hold themselves forth to the Attention of the Legislative Council.

12. The Establishment of Courts, and a proper Mode of administering Civil and Criminal Justice throughout the whole Extent of Our Province, according to the Principles declared in the said Act "for making more effectual Provision for the Government thereof," demand the greatest Care and Circumspection; for, as on the one hand it is Our Gracious purpose conformable to the Spirit and Intention of the said Act of Parliament, that Our Canadian Subjects should have the benefit and use of their own Laws, Usages and Customs in all Controversies, respecting Titles of Land, and the Tenure, descent, Alienation, Incumbrances, and Settlement of Real Estates, and the distribution of the personal property of Persons dying intestate; so on the other hand, it will be the duty of the Legislative Council to consider well in framing such Ordinances, as may be necessary for the Establishment of Courts of Justice, and for the better Administration of Justice, whether the Laws of England may not be, if not altogether, at least in part the Rule for the decision in all Cases of personal Actions, grounded upon Debts, Promises, Contracts, and Agreements, whether of a Mercantile or other Nature; and also of Wrongs proper to be compensated in damages; and more especially where Our natural-born Subjects of Great Britain, Ireland, or Our other Plantations residing at Quebec, or who may resort thither, or have Credits, or Property within the same, may happen to be either Plaintiff or defendant in any civil Suit of such a nature.

13. Security to personal Liberty is a fundamental Principle of Justice in all free Governments, and the making due provision for that purpose is an object the Legislature of Quebec ought never to lose Sight of; nor can they follow a better Example than that, which the Common Law of this Kingdom hath set in the provision made for a Writ of Habeas Corpus, which is the Right of every British Subject in this Kingdom. 14. With Regard to the Nature and number of the Courts of Justice, which it may be proper to establish, either for the whole Province at large, or separately for its dependencies, and the times and places for holding the said Courts, no certain Rule can be laid down in a Case, in which the Judgment must in many Respects at least be altogether guided by Circumstances of local Convenience and Consideration.

15. In General it may be proper, that there should be a Superior or Supreme Court of Criminal Justice and Jurisdiction for the Cognizance of all Pleas of the Crown, and for the Trial of all manner of Offences whatsoever, to be held before the Chief Justice for the time being at such times and places, as shall be most convenient for the due and speedy Administration of Justice, and the preventing long Imprisonments; the said Court to be called and known by the name of the Court of King's Bench; That, for the more orderly establishment and Regulation of Courts of Civil Jurisdiction, the Province of Quebec, as limited and bounded by the aforesaid Act of Parliament "for making more effectual Provision for “the Government of the Province of Quebec in North America," be divided into two Districts by the names of Quebec and Montreal, each district to be limited and bounded in such manner, as shall be thought best adapted to the Object of the Jurisdiction to be established therein; That there be established in each of the said Districts a Court of Common Pleas to be held at such times and places, as shall be judged most convenient, and to have full power, Jurisdiction and Authority to hear and determine all Civil Suits and Actions cognizable by the Court of Common Pleas in Westminster Hall, according to the Rules prescribed by the said Act of Parliament "for making more effectual Provision for the Government of the “Province of Quebec in North America," and according to such Laws and Ordinances, as shall from time to time be enacted by the Legislature of the said Province in manner therein directed; That there be three Judges in each of the said Courts of Common Pleas, that is to say, two of Our natural-born Subjects of Great Britain, Ireland, or Our other Plantations, and one Canadian; and also one Sheriff appointed for each District; That besides the foregoing Courts of Criminal and Civil Jurisdiction for the Province at large, there be also an Inferior Court of Criminal and Civil Jurisdiction in each of the Districts of the Illinois, St. Vincenne, Detroit, Missilimakinac and Gaspée, by the names of the Court of King's Bench for such district, to be held at such times, as shall be thought most convenient, with Authority to hear and determine in all Matters of Criminal Nature according to the Laws of England, and the Laws of the Province hereafter to be made and passed; and in all Civil Matters according to the Rules prescribed by the aforesaid Act of Parliament "for making more effectual Provision for the Government of Quebec in North America;" That each of the said Courts shall consist of one judge, being a natural-born Subject of Great Britain, Ireland, or Our other Plantations, and of one other Person, being a Canadian, by the name of Assistant or Assessor, to give advice to the Judge in any Matter, when it may be necessary; but to have no Authority or Power to attest or issue any Process, or to give any Vote in any order, Judgement, or decree; That the said Judges so to be appointed, as aforesaid, for each District, shall have the same power and Authority in Criminal Cases, as is vested in the Chief Justice of Our said Province; and also the same Power and Authority in Civil Cases, as any other Judge of Common Pleas within Our said Province, excepting only that, in Cases of Treason, Murder, or other Capital Felonies, the said Judges shall have no other Authority, than that of Arrest and Commitment to the Goals of Quebec, or of Montreal, where alone Offenders in such Cases shall be tried before Our Chief Justice; That a Sheriff be appointed in each of the said Districts for the Execution of Civil and Criminal Process; That the Governor and Council (of which in the absence of the Governor and Lieutenant Governor, the Chief Justice is to be President) shall be a Court of Civil Jurisdiction for the hearing and determining all Appeals from the Judgement of the other Courts, where the matter in dispute is above the value of Ten Pounds; That any Five of the said Council, with the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, or Chief Justice, shall constitute a Court for that purpose; and that their Judgement shall be final in all Cases not exceeding the Value of £500 sterling, in which Cases an Appeal from their Judgement is to be admitted to Us in Our Privy Council. It is however Our Will and Pleasure, that no Appeal be allowed, unless security be first duly given by the Appellant, that he will effectually prosecute the same, and answer the Condemnation, as also pay such Costs and Damages, as shall be awarded by Us, in case the Sentence be affirmed; Provided nevertheless, where the matter in question relates to the taking or demanding any Duty payable to Us, or to any Fee of Office, or annual Rents, or other such like matter or thing, where the Rights in future may be bound, in all such Cases appeal to Us, in Our Privy Council is to be admitted, tho' the immediate sum or value appealed for be of less value. And it is Our further Will and Pleasure, that in all Cases, where Appeals are admitted unto Us in Our Privy Council, execution be suspended until the final determination of such Appeal, unless good and sufficient security be given by the Appellee to make ample restitution of all, that the Appellant shall have lost by means of such decree or judgement, in case, upon the determination of such Appeal, such decree or judgement should be reversed, and restitution awarded to the Appellant. Appeals unto Us in Our Privy Council are also to be admitted in all cases of Fines imposed for misdemeanors; Provided the fines, so imposed, amount to, or exceed the sum of £100 sterling, the Appellant first giving good Security, that he will effectually prosecute the same and answer the Condemnation, if the sentence, by which such Fine was imposed in Quebec, be affirmed.

16. It is Our Will and Pleasure, that all Commissions to be granted by you to any person or persons to be judges or justices of the peace, or other necessary Officers, be granted during pleasure only.

17. You shall not displace any of the Judges, Justices of the peace or other Officers or Ministers without good and sufficient cause, which you shall signify in the fullest and most distinct manner to Us by one of Our principal Secretaries of State, and to Our Commissioners for Trade and Plantations, for their Information.

18. And whereas frequent complaints have heretofore been made of great delays and undue proceedings in the Courts of Justice in several of Our Plantations, whereby many of Our good Subjects have very much suffered; and it being of the greatest importance to Our Service, and to the Welfare of Our Plantations, that Justice be every where speedily and duly administered; and that all disorders, delays, and other undue Practises in the Administration thereof be effectually prevented; We do particularly require you to take especial Care, that in all Courts, where you are or shall be authorized to preside, justice be impartially administered; and that in all other Courts established, or to be established within Our said Province, all Judges, and other persons therein concerned do likewise perform their several Duties without any delay or partiality.

19. You are to take care, that all Writs be issued in Our Name throughout the Province under your Government.

20. The establishment of proper regulations in matters of ecclesiastical concern is an Object of very great importance, and it will be your indispensable duty to lose no time in making such arrangements in regard thereto, as may give full satisfaction to Our new Subjects in every point, in which they have a right to any indulgence on that head; always remembering, that it is a toleration of the free exercise of the religion of the Church of Rome only, to which they are entitled, but not to the powers and privileges of it, as an established Church, for that is a preference, which belongs only to the Protestant Church of England.

21. Upon these principles therefore, and to the end, that Our just Supremacy in all matters ecclesiastical, as well as civil, may have its due scope and influence, it is Our Will and Pleasure,—

First, that all appeals to, or correspondence with any foreign ecclesiastical jurisdiction, of what nature or kind so ever, be absolutely forbidden under very severe Penalties.

Secondly, That no Episcopal or Vicarial Powers be exercised within Our said Province by any Person professing the Religion of the Church of Rome, but such only, as are essentially and indispensably necessary to the free exercise of the Romish Religion; and in those cases not without a Licence and Permission from you under the Seal of Our said Province, for, and during Our Will and Pleasure, and under such other limitations and restrictions, as may correspond with the spirit and provisions of the Act of Parliament, "for the making more effectual provision for the “Government of the Province of Quebec;" And no person whatever is to have holy Orders conferred upon him, or to have the Cure of Souls without a License for that purpose first had or obtained from you.

Thirdly, That no person professing the Religion of the Church of Rome be allowed to fill any ecclesiastical Benefice, or to have and enjoy any of the Rights or Profits belonging thereto, that is not a Canadian by birth, (such only excepted, as are now in possession of any such Benefice,) and that is not appointed thereto by Us, or by, or under Our Authority, and that all Right, or claim of Right in any other Person whatever to nominate, present, or appoint to any vacant Benefice, other than such as may lay claim to the patronage of Benefices, as a Civil Right, be absolutely abolished. No Person to hold more than one Benefice, or at least not more than can reasonably be served by one and the same Incumbent.

Fourthly, That no person whatever, professing the Religion of the Church of Rome, be appointed Incumbent of any Parish, in which the Majority of the Inhabitants shall solicit the appointment of a Protestant Minister; in such Case the Incumbent shall be a Protestant, and entitled to all Tythes payable within such Parish; But nevertheless the Roman Catholicks may have the use of the Church for the free exercise of their Religion at such time, as may not interfere with the Religious Worship of the Protestants: And in like manner the Protestant Inhabitants in every Parish, where the Majority of Parishioners are Roman Catholicks, shall notwithstanding have the use of the Church for the exercise of their Religion at such times, as may not interfere with the Religious Worship of the Roman Catholicks.

Fifthly, That no Incumbent professing the Religion of the Church of Rome, appointed to any Parish, shall be entitled to receive any Tythes for Lands, or Possessions occupied by a Protestant; but such Tythes shall be received by such Persons, as you shall appoint, and shall be reserved in the hands of Our Receiver General, as aforesaid, for the support of a Protestant Clergy in Our said Province to be actually resident within the same, and not otherwise, according to such directions as you shall receive from Us in that behalf. –And in like manner all growing Rents and Profits of a vacant Benefice shall, during such vacancy, be reserved for, and applied to the like uses.

Sixthly, That all Persons professing the Religion of the Church of Rome, which are already possessed of, or may hereafter be appointed to any ecclesiastical Benefice, or who may be licensed to exercise any Power or Authority in respect thereto, do take and subscribe before you in Council, or before such Person as you shall appoint to administer the same, the Oath required to be taken and subscribed by the aforesaid Act of Parliament passed in the fourteenth year of Our Reign, intituled, "An Act for making more effectual Provision for the Government of the Province of Quebec in North America."

Seventhly, That all Incumbents of Parishes shall hold their respective Benefices during good behaviour, subject however, in cases of any Conviction for Criminal Offences, or upon due proof of seditious Attempts to disturb the Peace and Tranquility of Our Government, to be deprived, or suspended by you with the Advice and Consent of a Majority of Our said Council.

Eighthly, That such Ecclesiasticks, as may think fit to enter into the holy state of Matrimony, shall be released from all Penalties, to which they may have been subjected in such Cases by any Authority of the See of Rome.

Ninthly, That freedom of Burial of the Dead in Churches and Church yards be allowed indiscriminately to every Christian Persuasion. Tenthly, That the Royal Family be prayed for in all Churches and Places of Holy Worship, in such manner and form, as are used in this Kingdom; and that Our Arms and Insignia be put up not only in all such Churches and Places of holy Worship, but also in all Courts of Justice; and that the Arms of France be taken down in every such Church or Court, where they may at present remain.

Eleventhly, That the Society of Romish Priests, called the Seminaries of Quebec and Montreal, shall continue to possess and occupy their Houses of Residence, and all other Houses and Lands, to which they were lawfully intitled on the 13th of September 1759; and it shall be lawful for those Societies to fill up Vacancies, and admit new Members according to the Rules of their Foundations, and to educate Youth, in order to qualify them for the Service of Parochial Cures; as they shall become vacant. It is nevertheless Our Will and Pleasure, that not only these Seminaries, but all other Religious Communities, so long as the same shall continue, be subject to visitation by You Our Governor, or such other Person or Persons, as you shall appoint for that purpose, and also subject to such Rules and Regulations, as you shall, with the Advice and Consent of Our Council, think fit to establish and appoint.

Twelfthly, It is also Our Will and Pleasure, that all other Religious Seminaries and Communities (that of the Jesuits only excepted) do for the present and until We can be more fully informed of the true State of them, and how far they are, or are not, essential to the free exercise of the Religion of the Church of Rome, as allowed within Our said Province, remain upon their present Establishment; but you are not to allow the admission of any new Members into any of the said Societies or Communities, the Religious Communities of Women only excepted, without our express orders for that purpose. That the Society of Jesuits be suppressed and dissolved, and no longer continued, as a Body corporate and politic, and all their Rights, Possessions and Property shall be vested in Us for such purposes, as We may hereafter think fit to direct and appoint; but We think fit to declare Our Royal Intention to be, that the present Members of the said Society, as established in Quebec shall be allowed sufficient stipends and Provisions during their natural Lives;—That all Missionaries amongst the Indians, whether established under the Authority of, or appointed by the Jesuits, or by any other ecclesiastical Authority of the Romish Church, be withdrawn by degrees, and at such times and in such manner, as shall be satisfactory to the said Indians, and consistent with the Public Safety; and Protestant Missionaries appointed in their places; That all ecclesiastical Persons whatsoever, of the Church of Rome, be inhibited, upon Pain of Deprivation, from influencing any Person in the making a Will, from inveigling Protestants to become Papists, or from tampering with them in matter of Religion, and that the Romish Priests be forbid to inveigh in their Sermons against the Religion of the Church of England, or to marry, baptize, or visit the sick, or bury any of Our Protestant Subjects, if a Protestant Minister be upon the Spot.

22. You are at all times and upon all occasions to give every Countenance and Protection in your Power to such Protestant Ministers, and School Masters, as are already established within Our said Province, or may hereafter be sent thither, to take care, that such Stipends and Allowances, as We may think fit to appoint for them, be duly paid; that the Churches already appropriated, or which may hereafter be appropriated to the use of Divine Worship according to the Rites of the Church of England, as by Law established, be well and orderly kept; and, as the Number of Protestants shall, by God's blessing, increase, to lay out new Parishes in convenient Situations, and set apart and appropriate proper Districts of Land therein for the Scite of Churches, and Parsonage Houses, and for Glebes for the Ministers and Schoolmasters.

23. You are to take especial Care, that God Almighty be devoutly and duly served in all Protestant Churches and Chapels throughout Our said Province, in which Divine Service is performed according to the Rites of the Church of England; the Book of Common Prayer, as by Law established, be read each Sunday and Holiday; and the Blessed Sacrament duly administered.

24. You are not to prefer any Protestant Minister to any ecclesiastical Benefice in the Province under your Government, without a Certificate from the Right Reverend Father in God the Lord Bishop of London, of his being conformable to the Doctrine and Discipline of the Church of England, and of a good Life and Conversation; and if any Person hereafter preferred to a Benefice shall appear to you to give Scandal either by his doctrine or manners, you are to use the best means for his Removal.

25. You are to give orders forthwith, that every Protestant Minister within your Government, be one of the Vestry in his respective Parish; and that no Vestry be held without him, except in case of Sickness, or, after Notice of a Vestry summoned, he omit to come.

26. And to the end, that the ecclesiastical Jurisdiction of the Lord Bishop of London may take place in Our Province under your Government, as far as conveniently may be; We do think fit, that you give all Countenance and Encouragement to the exercise of the same, excepting only the collating to Benefices, granting Licenses for Marriages, and Probates of Wills, which We have reserved to you Our Governor, and to the Commander in Chief of Our said Province for the time being.

27. And We do further direct, that no School-master, who shall arrive in Our said Province from this Kingdom, be henceforward permitted to keep School without the Licence of the said Lord Bishop of London; and that no other Person now there, or that shall come from other Parts, shall be admitted to keep School in your Government without your Licence first obtained.

[…]

30. The Extension of the Limits of the Province of Quebec necessarily calls forth your Attention to a Variety of new Matter and new Objects of Consideration; The protection and control of the various Settlements of Canadian Subjects, and the regulation of the Peltry Trade in the upper or interior Country on the one hand, and the protection of the Fisheries in the Gulph of St Lawrence, and on the Labrador Coast on the other hand, point to Regulations, that require deliberation and despatch.

31. The institution of inferior Judicatures with limited Jurisdiction in Criminal and Civil Matters for the Illinois, Poste St. Vincenne, the Detroit, Missilimakinac, and Gaspée has been already pointed out, and the Appointment of a Superintendent at each of these Posts is all, that is further necessary for their Civil concerns; But it will be highly proper that the Limits of each of those Posts, and of every other in the interior Country should be fixed and ascertained; and that no Settlement be allowed beyond those Limits; seeing that such Settlements must have the consequence to disgust the Savages; to excite their Enmity; and at length totally destroy the Peltry Trade, which ought to be cherished and encouraged by every means in your Power.

32. It is Our Royal Intention, that the Peltry Trade of the interior Country should be free and open to all Our Subjects, Inhabitants of any of Our Colonies, who shall, pursuant to what was directed by Our Royal Proclamation of 1763, obtain Licences from the Governors of any of Our said Colonies for that purpose, under Penalties to observe such Regulations, as shall be made by Our Legislature of Quebec for that purpose; Those Regulations therefore, when established, must be made public throughout all Our American possessions, and they must have for their object the giving every possible facility to that Trade, which the nature of it will admit, and as may consist with fair and just dealing towards the Savages, with whom it is carried on. The fixing stated times and places for carrying on the Trade, and adjusting Modes of settling Tariffs of the prices of Goods and Furs, and, above all, the restraining the Sale of Spirituous Liquors to the Indians will be the most probable and effectual means of answering the ends proposed. These and a variety of other regulations, incident to the nature and purpose of the Peltry Trade in the interior Country, are fully stated in a Plan proposed by Our Commissioners for Trade and Plantations in 1764, a Copy of which is hereunto annexed, and which will serve as a Guide in a variety of cases, in which it may be necessary to make provision by Law for that important Branch of the American Commerce.

33. The Fisheries on the Coast of Labrador, and the Islands adjacent thereto are objects of the greatest Importance, not only on account of the Commodities they produce, but also as Nurseries of Seamen, upon whom the Strength and Security of Our Kingdom depend.

34. Justice and Equity demand, that the real and actual property and possession of the Canadian Subjects on that Coast should be preserved intirely; and that they should not be molested or hindered in the exercise of any Sedentary Fisheries they may have established there.

35. Their Claims however extend to but a small District of the Coast, on the greatest part of which District a Cod Fishery is stated to be impracticable.

36. On all such parts of the Coast, where there are no Canadian Possessions, and more especially where a valuable Cod Fishery may be carried on, it will be your Duty to make the Interests of Our British Subjects going out to fish there in Ships fitted out from Great Britain the first object of your care, and, as far as circumstances will admit, to establish on that Coast the Regulations in favour of British fishing Ships, which have been so wisely adopted by the Act of Parliament passed in the Reign of King William the Third "for the encouragement of the New Foundland Fishery," and you are on no account to allow any possession to be taken, or Sedentary Fisheries to be established upon any parts of the Coast, that are not already private Property, by any persons whatever, except only such as shall produce annually a Certificate of their having fitted out from some Port in Great Britain.

37. We have mentioned to you the Fisheries upon the Coast of Labrador, as the main object of your attention; but the Commerce carried on with Savages of that Coast, and the state and condition of those Savages deserve some regard; the Society of Unitas Fratrum, urged by a laudable Zeal for promoting Christianity, has already, under Our Protection, and with Our Permission, formed Establishments in the Northern parts of that Coast for the purposes of civilizing the Natives, and converting them to the Christian Religion. Their success has been answerable to their Zeal; and it is Our express Will and Pleasure, that you do give them every countenance and Encouragement in your power and that you do not allow any Establishment to be made, but with their consent, within the limits of their possessions.

38. By Our Commission to you under Our Great Seal of Great Britain you are authorised and impowered, with the advice and consent of Our Council, to settle and agree with the Inhabitants of Our said Province of Quebec for such Lands, Tenements, and Hereditaments, as now are, or shall, hereafter be in Our Power to dispose of. It is therefore Our Will and Pleasure that all Lands, which now are, or hereafter may be subject to Our Disposal, be granted in Fief or Seigneurie, in like manner as was practiced antecedent to the Conquest of the said Province; omitting however in any Grant, that shall be passed of such Lands, the Reservation of any Judicial powers, or privileges whatever. And it is Our further Will and Pleasure, that all Grants in Fief or Seigneurie, so to be passed by you, as aforesaid, be made subject to Our Royal Ratification, or Disallowance, and to a due Registry thereof within a limited time, in like manner as was practised in regard to Grants and Concessions held in Fief and Seigneurie under the French Government.

Nachweis:

Kennedy, W. P. M., ed., Documents of the Canadian Constitution, 1759-1915, (Toronto: Oxford University Press,1918), 150-158.

Quellenbeschreibung

Die Anweisungen an Gouverneur Carleton folgen im Wesentlichen den Punkten des Quebec Act von 1774. Die Thematik der Religion wird besonders betont und in diesem Zusammenhang die freie Glaubensausübung. Des Weiteren sollen Kanadier ihr Land behalten und ihren Traditionen nachgehen, da die Absicherung der persönlichen Freiheit das höchste Gut aller freien Regierungen bilden würde. Somit sollte neben den bereits bestehenden kanadischen Gesetzen das englische Recht des habeas corpus eingeführt werden.