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Lea diagrammes suivants illustrent in m^thode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 t^ ■^^ • ^■^~«. — -"""^luif I ?ji!p; 1 i?s a^ o* >d S n a U3 ■a o « > ;tt Th Montre RIAL fr o s o i-^i 1 ^ ii n n 5- ='. . W o Lon March us Part •-#• < K' >- *^ 3 s 1 ^ O C UN UuSSE , transmitt espectiog s > a 5- 5- r a on ,.-«-)is5i»i/> -j»s,*:;. ianpivp O '/< fiJU^i COPY OP ■IP ,hcn •-!•■ tjufcbet'' A Despatch from the Right Honourable Charles Poulett Thomson to Lord John Russbll, dated Montreal, 13ih March 1840, trans- mitting Memorial from vaiious Parties respecting the Estates of St. Sulpice. (No. 68.) „ ■ ■ Government House, My Lord, Montreal, 13th March 1840. On my Return to Montreal I found that considerable Excitement had been raised among the Inhabitants on the Subject of the Extinction of Seignioral Rights and Dues within this City and Island, as provided for in the Ordinance passed by Sir John Colborne and the Special Council last Year, the Re-enactment of which, under ihe more extended Powers of the Council, I had annoimced my Intention to effect. The daily Press had been almost exclusively employed in discussing this Question, and various Publications respecting it had made their Appearance in other Forms. At last a Meeting was convened by the Party opposed to the Ordinance, at which the accoraparving Address to Her Majesty was adopted. This Address is signed by ' Persons, of whom I was iiifurmed, by tlie Oentleman who presented it, th ^,600 were Censitaires. From subsequent Inquiries, however, I learn that this Statement is erroneous, and that in reality not above 800 or 400 of the Censitaires have affixed their Names to it. In the meantime the opposite Party were, of course, not idle ; and I this ,Day received the Two Addresses of which Copies are enclosed, signed by 6,700 Persons, among whom it is stated that a large Majority of the Censit.iires of Montreal are numbered. These Addresses express Approval of the Terms offered by the Seminary, and accepted by the Government, and pray that the Ordinance of last Year may be passed into Law. It is not my Intention, in tliis Despatch, to reopen the long disputed Question as to the Right of the Seminary to the Seigniory of Montreal. That Question has, I think, been exhausted by the Report of the Commissioners of Inquiry of the 24th October 1836, who have shown, in a conclusive Manner, that although the legal Right oi' the Seminary may not be perfect, their equi- table Claim admits of no Dispute. TItis Claim ha» since been recognised both by the Local and Metropolitan Government and by the Imperial Parliament ; by the former in the Enactment and approval of the Ordinance of last Year, and by the latter in the Introduction into the Statute 2 & 3 Vict. cap. S3, of a Clause specially permitting the Re-enactment of the same Ordinance. Under these Circumstances, and adverting to tlie Opinion of the Law Officers of the Crown and your Lordship's Instructions on this Subject, I should not consider myself at liberty, even were I disposed, to refrain Trom proposing to the Special Council an Ordinance for concluding the Agreement entered into between the Seminary and the Local Government. But I am strongly impressed with the Necessity of bringing this Matter to a speedy Close, in order to put a stop to Dissensions wiiich must irritate and inflame the P'jblic Mind. Hitherto the Province has been free from Religious Dissensions ; but 1 liave observed, with Regret, during the late Discussions, a Spirit of Intole- rance, which cannot fail, if continued, to have the worst Effects. It is there- fore my Intention, at tlieir next Meeting, again to submit to the Special Council an Ordinance fur extinguisliing the Seignioral Dues in Montreal. There are, however, several Modifications which, in my Opinion, are necessary, (89.) A in ( « ) in order to bring the Terms more in accordance with the Conditions recom. mended by Mr. Buller in his Report, and these I shall feel it my Duty to introduce. They will not obviate some of the Objections entertained by the Memorialists who have addressed Her Majesty against the Ordinance, but others will be removed by lliem. I shall explain tiiose Modifications more lully »n transmitting to your Lordship the Ordinance itself. Lord John llussell, I have, &c. &^- ^^- ' (Signed) C. FouLETT Thomson. 1 V To tfie Queen's most Kxcellent Majesty. ,• -r. - r— Most Gracious Sovereign, The imdersigned Proprietors of Real Estate, Merchants, and others, Inlia- bitants of the City and Island of Montreal in the Province of Lower Canada, most humbly approach Your Majesty on the Subject of an Ordinance lately submitted by his Excellency the Right Honourable Charles Poulett Thomson, for the Reconsideration of the Special Council appointed tor the Affairs of this Province, intituled " An Ordinance to incorporate the Ecclesiastics of the " Seminary of Saint Suipice of Montreal ; to confirm their Title to the Fief " and Seigniory of the Island of Montreal, the Fief and Seigniory of the Lake •« of the I'wo Mountains, and the Fief and Seigniory of Saint Suipice in this " Province; to provide for the gradual Extinction of Seignioral Rights, and •• Dues within the Seignioral Limits of the said Fiefs and Seigniories, and for •• other Purposes;" the Provisions of which involve the Right of private J'roperty, the Welfare of this Province, and the general Interests of the Canadas. Your Petitioners represent that the Evils ami Inconveniences of the Feudal Tenure have been so generally acknowledged, that it will not be necessary to occupy the Attention «if Your Majesty witli a Detail of the various Oppressions and Exactions incident to its Exi»t«nce in Lower (Canada, in all Parto o4' which it has retarded the Extension of its Commerce and the Development of its natural Resources. The heavy Fines on Alienations, which impede the Trans- mission of Land^ and impose a burthensome Tax upon every Improvement ; the Feudal Privilege on every Purchase of Real Estate, which renders its Possession insecure, and |>revents Investment of Capital therein ; and the Seignioral Monopoly in the Manufacture of the Products of the Soil, whicit checks Improvement in Cultivation, and cramps Enterprise in Commerce, are not only injurious to tiie Use of Land tor Agriculture, but are infinitely more tiestructive to its Application for building Purposes. Your Petitioners submit that, however objectionable the continued Existence of thePeudal Tenure may be throughout tlie Province, its pernicious Influence is telt with augmented Force in the Island of Montreal, which includes the City of Montreal, together with the Ground on wliicli it must in Progress of Time extend itself; and is the admitted Cause of the slow Progress, both in Extent and Prosperity, oC a City which, from its local Position, and the increasing Resources of the Canadas, possesses every Capability of being one of the greatest Marts of Trade and most extensive Seats of Population in Your Majest\'s North American Dominions. Althoiigli repeated and respectful Remonstrances have been nuide at various Periods against the Continuance of the Feudal 'ienure, which has been un- wisely permitted to exist in full Force in this Province alone of all the wide Dominions of the Uritisli Empire, your I'ctitioners rejoice that it has been reserved to Your Majesty to be enabled to sanction the Aholilion of i's pernicious Influence in this Island, and to provide for its entire Extinction. Your Petitioners have no Desire to inip.de the legislative Powers of the Special Council appointed lor the making of Laws and Ordinances for the (ioverimieni of the I'rovince, but they entertain a firm Conviction that, from tiie jjecnliar Constitution of the Council, and the Want of an eifcctive System of Uei)resentalion therein, public Interests and private Riglits cannot at all Times reeeive tlie adequate Consideration that their Importance and Urgency demand; and lliat from these inherent legislative Defects the proposed Ordi- nance, altogether objectionable in Principle and in Detail, formerly received the I m ( 8 ) the Sanction of that legislative Body, and would have been now in force had not the temporary Character of the Ordinance necessitated its Reconsideration, for the Purpose of being endued with the Power of permanent Law. Your Petitioners are, therefore, rehictantly compelled to appeal to Your Majesty for Protection and Relief against the Provisions for tlie contemplated Ordinance, which not only perpetuates and aggravates the Feudal Tenure so loudly and so justly complained of, but at the same Time superadds Evils of a more general Character and of far greater Importance. Your Petitioners complain that, contrary to public Policy, contrary to the just Dependence of all Religious Orders andCommunitieM in the Province upon the Will and Pleasure of the Sovereign in as far as the Laws of Great Britain permit, and contrary to the express Exception contained in the Imperial Statute, 2d Victoria, Chapter 58, which enacts, •• That it should not be lawful " for the Governor General, with the Advice and Consent of the Special Sulpice at Montreal into an Ecclesiastical Corporation, with all the undefined Rights and Privileges which any Ecclesiastical Corporation might or could at anv Period exercise or possess, and which it is humbly conceived that no Authority less than that of the Imperial Parliament can institute in this Province. They complain that although by the mere Effect of the Conquest of the Province, confirmed by tiie Cession contanied in tlie subsequent Treaty of Peace, tlie Fief's and Seigniories before enumerated became the Property of the Crown, and in its Power to dispose of either for public Purposes or in such Manner as might be thereafter directed, the Ordinance provides for the Divestment of those Estates from the Crown, and for their Investment, con- trary to Law, in the Ecclesiastical Corporation intended to be erected under its ProvisionH, and thereby absolutely prevents their Application to Purposes of public Utility, as well' as unconditionally nbrogates any Dispositinn thereof which may have, hncn made by the lloyul IMeasure. They complain that, contrary to the Royal Assurance contained in the Pro- clamation of His lute Majesty King George the Third, and bearing Date in the Year 17^'^» which declared the Royal Intention to settle and agree with the Inhabitants of the Colony, and with all wiiu should become Inhahitants thereof, for Grants of such Lands, Tenements, and Hereditaments as were then or thereafter should he in tiie Power of His Majesty to dispose of, upon the moderate Quit Rents and Acknowledgments of the other Colonies, without any Reference to Feudal Tenure as a Condition of the Grant, whereby the Fiefs and Seigniories above enumerated in Right and Justice became freed and exempt from the Operation of Feudal Tenure, and although the Royal Promise continues unrevoked, and siiouid receive the large and favourable Construction afhxed toevery Assurance of Royal Grace and Favour, the Ordinance not only establishes Seignorial Rights and Dues in those Fiefs and Seigniories, but perpetuates their Existence by providing for their gradual ami voluntary Com- mutation only, in derogation of the express Enactment »)f the Imperial Parlia- ment for their general and immediate Extinction. They complain that, although at the Conquest of Quebec by the Biitisii Arms the said Fiifs and Seigniories were the acknowledged Property of the Community of Etclesiafics ot tlie Seminary of Saint Sulpice at Paris, and that tiie Missionaries and iWenihers o( the Order resident at Montreal did not possess any exclusive TiJe to the Property of those Estates, and acted merely in the Capacity of Agents in the Collection of their Revenues lor the BeneHt of the Community at Paris, ami that although the Ecclesiastics at Paris, neither at tiie Conquest nor at any subsequent Period, did or coidd convey any Title in tho.ie Estates to the Individual Members of the Order resident at Montreal, who were a dependent Section of that Community, and possessed of no independent corporate Capacity to receive such Conveyance, the Ordinance confirms to the Ecclesiastics at Montreal a Title to those Fiefs and Seigniories which they never possessed, and to which they can establish no Claim, and endows them with Powers and Privileges as Feudal Seigniors indefinite in their Extent, and embracing in the Generality of the Concession the worst Vassalage of the most Feudal Times, (89.) They ■^'-V. ( * ) They complain that, although the Ecclesiastica at Montreal are dependent for their Existence in this Province upon the Royal Will and Pleanure, restricted within the Limitation •• in as far as the Laws of Great Britain •• permit," and were and still continue subject to the same Royal Authority which suppressed the Communities of Jesuits and Recollets, and assumed the Possession of their Estates tor public Purposes, tlie Ordinance altogether liberates the Ecclesiastics at Montreal from such Royal Supervision, and renders them independent of Imperial Legislation, contrary lo the limited legislative- Powers of the Governor and Special Council in this respect, and in violulion oftiie Laws of Great Britain. They complain that, although tiie Ecclesiastics at Montreal have unjustly received from Alienation of Real Estate in this Island an Amount exceeding 300,000/., equal to Twenty Times the Value of the entire Island at the Pro- claniation of the Royal Promise, an Increase in Value mainly to be attributed to British Industry and Enterprise, the Ordinance proposes to invest them with additional Wealth, to be drawn chiefly from the same Sources of Improve- ment, in extreme Disproportion to the general Wealth of the Province, and infinitely greater than their previous Demands or Expectations ; and moreover enables them to purchase and take in Mortmain any Real Property, and to an unlimited Amount, without any Restriction by the Royal Authority or any Permission required for such Acquisitions; whereby municipal as well as general Improvement will be greatly retarded, and an Influence both civil and ecclesiastical conferred upon the Ecclesiastics, which cannot fail of being exceedingly dangerous to the future Tranquillity and Welfare of the Provinces. They complain that, although by the Imperial Statute, 14th George the Third, Chapter 83, making nio«'e effectual Provision for the Civil Govern- ment of Quebec, tlie Canadian Subjects were secured in the Enjoyment of their Properties and Tossessions, with the express Exception of the Religious Orders and Communities, and the Inhabitants professing the Religion of the Chinch of Rome were fully and freely tolerated in the Exercise of their Religious Faith, subject to the Supremacy of the Crown, and that although the Clergy of the said Church were restricted to claim and receive their accustomed Dues and Rights from such Persons only as should proless that Religious Faith, the Provisions of the Ordinance subject all other Inhabitants of this City and Island, professing a Belief different from that of the Church of Rome, to support and maintain the Ecclesiastics and Institutions of that Church, by the Payment to the proposed Ecclesiastical Corporation of a large Amount of the Commutation of Seignioral Tenure, in violation of the Pledge of the National Faith and Honour contained in the Imperial Statute, and in violation of the express Exception contained in the lecent Imperial Statute above referred to. Whatever be the gracious Dispositions of Your Majesty with respect to the Ecclesiastics of the Seminary oC Saint Sidpice at Alonireal, your Pethioners humbly conceive that the Royal Munificence in favour of the Ecclesiastics should not be effected at the Expense of British and Irish Commercial Enter- prise, practical Agricultural Improvement, and active untiring Industry ; and your Petitioners sliould not, either in Justice or in Equity, be required to pro- vide a Compensation to the Ecclesiastics for their Willingness to settle this important Question, hnwever desirable it may be ilefinitely to adopt and carry that Settlement into effect, or for their Ileacliciess to agree to a Commu- tation of tlie Feudal Rights in this Island, to which they enjoy no legal Title and over which they possess no legal Control. Your Petitioners ale sensible tiial by the mere Sufferance of the Crown the Ecclesiastics of Montreal have collecteil and rictiveil for many Years the Seignioral Revenues arising frou) the IsiantI of Montreal, but your Petitioners humbly conceive that meie Sufferance of Possession lor any Length of Time cannot confer upon the Ecclesiastics a Title in derogation of the Rights of the Crown, and tliat they cannot complain if that Sufferance should be withdrawn, inasmuch as they would not tliereby be deprived of Property previously secured to them, which they had cmitiniied to enjoy in good Faith and in Ignorance of their absolute VVant of'i'itle to possess tlie same. Your Petitioners submit that tiie Ecclesiastics at Montreal have not at any Time been in ignorance of the Justice of their I'retensions, but upon various Occasions Jf^ tm ( s ) Occasions have not only acknowledged the Absence of any Title, but likewise the precarious Nature of their Enjoyment to the Revenue of the Seigniory. By the Articles of Capitulation of Muntrcnl in tliu Year 17<)0, in wliicli nu express Claim or f iservation of Title wa^ made on their Behalf) by the Treaty of Peace in I76S, ind the Cession therein contained, in which no Reference in made to the Fropoiien and Possessions in the Province claimed by Religious Orders and Communities; by the Terms of the Deed of Gift executed at Paris in the Year 1764, between the Community at Paris and the Missionaries of the Order at Montreal, in which their Want of Title is admitted by them- selves ; by the Provisions of the Imperial Statute passed in the Year 1774> in which the Religious Orders and Communities are expressly excepted from the Enjoyment of Property and Possessions ; by their proposed Abandonment to thi Crown in 1826 of their Pretensions to the Property of the Island in con* sideration of an annual Allowance } and by their express Admission in the Preamble of the Ordinance itself, — their Want of Title is not only established but distinctly admitted ; while it is evident that the reiterated Royal Instruc- tions to the successive Governors of the Province in regard to the Sufferance enjoyed by the said Ecclesiastics, and especially the Instructions to his Excel- lency Lord Aylmer in 1834 to assume ihe Possession of the Island of Mon- treal, the Investigations of the Government with respect to the Title of the Ecclesiastics, and the Opinion, at different Periods, of the Law Advisers of the Crown, both in England and in the Colony, and the late Royal Commissioners, all adverse to the Pretensions of the Ecclesiastics, the repeated Complaints of the British Inhabitants, and their unavailing Attempts to obtain a Decision in the Courts of Law in this Province, all of which the Ecclesiastics at Montreal were perfiectly cognizant, all concur in establishing their Knowledge, as well as their Want of Title, as of the mere Sufferance of their Enjoyment of the Revenues derived from the Island, subject to the Interruption at any Time, upon the Pleasure of the Crown or by the Decision of a competent leg.:l Tribunal, — a Knowledge on their Part which is amply confirmed by the Policy they have constantly ailopted, of accepting a modified Composition from those who possessed the Means of contestii.g their Title, while they exacted at Sherifrs Sales the full Amount of Seigniorial Dues, from the Proceeds of the Property of those who, from Circumstances of Calamity or Misfortune, were deprived of the Means of contesting their Pretensions. For these Reasons, as well as from Motives of public Policy, from a due Appreciation of the Rights secured to them by the Royal Assurance and the Enactments of the Imperial Parliament, and from a sincere Wish to promote the Prosperity of the Provinces, the Extension of their Commerce, and their general Peace and Tranquillity, your Peti- tioners most humbly beseech Your Majesty to refuse your Sanction to any Law or Ordinance providing for the Incorporation of the Ecclesi- astics of the Seminary at Montreal, for Confirmation of their Pretension to the Seigniory of the Island of Montreal, or for a Continuance of the Feudal Tenure therein, and to direct its immediate Exemption from the Operation of that Tenure, and thereby relieve your Petitioners and the Inhabitants of the Island fi'om the degrading Vassalage to which tliey have been heretofore and still continue to be subjected ; and that if, contrary to good Policy, contrary to the Royal Assurance and the Remonstrances of the British Inhab'itants, the Exemption from Feudal Tenure shall be required to be purchased at the Expense of the Inhabittirts of the Island of Montreal, your Petitioners most humbly pray that the Proceeds thereof may be applied to those public Purposes from wl ich all Classes of the Population may derive equal and com- mensurace Advantage. And your Petitioners, as in Duty and Affection bound, will ever pray. Montreal, February 1840. (2,119 Signatures.) (89.) B ( 6 ) To hit Excellency the Riffht Honourable Charlei Poulett Tliomnon, one of Her Majesty'* Moat Honourable Privy Council, Governor General of British North America, &c. &Cr May it please your Excellency, We, Members of a Deputation acting for and in behalf of the Signers of the accompanying Petition tu your Excellency, praying for tho immediate Com- pletion of the Arrangement providing for the gradual Commutation and final Extinction of the Feudal Tenure in the Seigniories of Montreal, Saint Sul|>ice, and I^ake of Two Mountains, now pending b«twi>cn the Govornmont of Uer Majesty and the Ueverend EccJCRiastics of the Seminary of Saint Sulpice of Montreal, beg leave to congratulate your Excellency un your Excellency's Return to this Province, and to express our ardent Hopes that the Efforts of your Excellency to promote the Welfare and Prosperity of Her Majesty's Canadian Subjects may be crowned with the fullest Success. It is our Dutv to represent to your Excellency that the Extinction of the Feudal Tenure has long been earnestly desired by the industrious and inteU ligent Population of the Province, and that, more especially with reference tu the City and Island of Montreal, a Comm; ^ution, based upon equitable and liberal Terms, will meet with the Approbatioii as well of the Censitaires us of that large Body of Persons who are deterred, by the Continuance of an oppressive and obstructive System, from the Investment of Capital in Real Estate, and from prosecuting those Improvements which indicate an Advance in Civilization and in the Arts of Life. We have great Satisfaction in bein^ able to state to your Excellency, that the Signers to the accompanying Petition regard the Conditions of the Ordi- nance passed by the Special Council of his Excellencv Sir John Colborne, late Governor in Chief, and again submitted by your Excellency, in November last, to your Excellency's Special Council, as most equitable and highly liberal. We are instructed to express to your Excellency the deep Sense en. tertained by the Petitioners of the Honour and Wisdom of the British Govern- ment, in exerting itself to effect an amicable and satisfactory Adjustment of a Question in which the Feelings and Interests of the Petitioners are so largely involved. The Petition we lay before your Excellency is signed by 6,370 Persons, representing the great Mass of the Censitaires and Inhabitants of the Three Seigniories. Although it has not be<>n deemed necessary to distinguish Pro- prietors of Lots and Houses from other Signers, we bee leave to inform vour Excellency, that of 2,000 Censitaires, being the entire Number in and about the City of Montreal, a large Majority have affixed their Names to the Peti- tion ; and that the Signers from the Country Parishes, where the Petition was feubmitted to the People at public Meetings convoked according to Custom at tlie Church Doors, and where in no Instance was manifested any Difference of Opinion, are almost exclusively Censitaires and Heads of Families, repre- senting in each Case the Sentiments of the Parish to which they belong. We rejoice in having it in our Power to state further to your Excellency, that, although a Majority of the Signers are Roman Catholics of French Origin, the Petition has also been signet! by a large Number of English, Irish, and Scotch, of various Religious Persuasions. We are confident that your Excel- lency will perceive with Pleasure, tiiat Differences of Religion and Origin have not altogether banished from our Soil a Sense of Justice and Spirit of Liberality, and that while we seek by all legal and constitutional Means to forward our individual and collective Interests, we are not insensible to the sacred Nature pf established and possessory Rights, ^Iontrea], Idth March 1840. Signed by the Chairman, Secretary, and Forty-three others. : C 7 ) i » To hii Excellency the Right Honourable Charles Poulett Thomion, Governor General of BritUh North America, Captain General and Governor in Chief in and over the ProvinceH of Lower and Upper ''anada, &c. &c. Tub Petition of the undersigned Proprietors of Lands, Houses, and Lots in the City, and in the Seigniory of the Island of Montreal, in the Seigniories of Saint Sulpice and the Lake of the Two Mountains, and other Citizens and Ilexidents thereof, most respectfully reprcMents, That it is the anxious Desire of your Petitioners that tne projected Arrange- ment between the Government of Her Majesty and the Reverend Ecclesiastics of the Seminary of Saint Sulpice of Montreal, for the gradual Commutation and final Extinction of the Feudal Tenure on the said Seigniories, may be brought to immediate Completion ; and that it is the Opinion of your Peti- tioners that the Arrangement is liberal on the Part of the Seigniors, and advantageous to the Censitaires. Wherefore your Petitioners most respectfully pray that your Excellency may be pleased to exercise the high Powers confided to your Excellency by the Imperial Parliament, to the end that the said Arrangement may become completed by your Excellency's Sanction. And your Petitioners will ever pray, &c. &c. .1^- Montreal, Sd February 1840. (6,370 Signatures.) I , »r I . - ,, ,. »♦ . ->♦ .;• <(