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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. errata I to t i pelure. on ci D 32X 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 T L E T T E R B RELATIVE TO THE RIGHTS AND rRESE:NT POSIT I ON OF THE QUEBEC MINORITY ]*.\mi'iii,i;t (ii- tiik Im^ial IIkihts' A^^<»» iation 3 ANHur.it i!V Hon. II. Mi;i;( iku - "21 KK.IOl\l>Klf l?V Uul'.KliT SkLI.AI! - - SJ) TmK rAV-MKNTS IMtKH TllK .1 l>l IT KmA11>" A(T 121 A Rk.\1()NSTI!AN(I: AliAl.NST ("LKIiKAh DiCiATION 1 2S ZbZ'iV i J ANSWER OF THE TO THE PAMPHLET OF THE EOHAL RIMTS ASSOCIATION Against the majo-y'iiy of the inhabitants of the Province of Quebec THIS PAMPHLET CONTAINS : Istly The correspondence exchanged between the Hon. Mr Mercier and the Revd Mr Caven, Presideat of the Equal Rights Association ; 2ndly Letter liaving as its titles " Disabilities of Protestanti in the Province of Quebec," by Mr Seliar, editor o* tl»e Huntingdon Gkcmer-^ Srdly Answer to this letter, by the Horw Mt Mercier, Prime Minister of the Province of Quebeo, QUBBBO 1890 J -■"*»^'-;niiii- '^SkW.**^ \ l\ TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAOE Correspondence exchanged between the Hou- opable Mr. Mcrcior and the Revd. Mr. Caven, Presiduut of the Equal Rights Association IH Disabilities of Protestants in the Province of Quebec ,... 3 Answer of the Honorable Mr. Mercier to the pamphlet of the Equal Rights Asso- ciation 21 I. The so-callod (iomination and wealth of tbe Catholic Church m tlie Province of Quebec , . 25 II. The pari.sh syafe'ui and the so-called disabilfties of Piotestanbs 52 III. Titlies — English Courts ai-e degnuled by assisting in their collection 63 IV. The introduction of the parish system in those parts of the Piwvince situated outside of the seigniories is the violj^ion of a formel enga- gement and a usurpation 68 Analytical Index 86 ■h' 'I 5 . ' M' • 1 '^.■s „* f^^iSiJS-ifaiHi, / / ^ CORRESl'ONt»KNX'E OFI-ICK Ol' THE TRKMIER, Troviiice of Quebec. Qujbjc, Februiry 3^ili. 1S9O. Reverend Sir, I have before mo a copy of a pamphlet entitled : " Equal R lights Association for the Province of Onta' rio. Important letter by a resident of Quebec as to the disabilities of Protestants in that Province. This letter is dated 1st December. kSSq and sij^ned : *' A OuKiiEc Loyalist." This pamphlet contains the following notice : " EQUAL RIGHTS ASSOCL\TI0N FOR THE PROVINCK OF ONTARIO .! ■ fi. I ■ " Important letter of a resident of the Province of Quebec, on The Disabilities of Protestants in that Province. 1- 4< " EQUAL RIGHTS ASSOCIATION OF ONTAltIO •' 9| Adelaide Street East, " Toronto, 21st December, 1889. *' The accompanying letter, written by a well known English resident of the Province of Quebec, to member of the committee is submitted by the Exe- ■'''Hmmak^iti^ H ,s'>A J^' ■»** . / cutive Committee of the Association, for the earnest consideration of the people of the Dominion. E. D. ARMOUR, " Hon. Secretary. " W. A. CAVEN, " President.** ^ As the assertions contained in this letter are false and injust to the majority of this Province and as this pamphlet has been greatly circulated amongst the Protestant community, I think it is my duty to ask 3''ou if you would be kind enough to give me the name of the " Quebec Loyalist ", who has written this letter. I write to you officially and you will be kind enough to answer me so. I have the honor to be ' Yours truly, §H0N0EE MERCIER. Premier. Rev. W, Caven, Chairman, Equal Rights Association, 9| Adelaide Street East, Toronto. Ont. Eq^al Rights AssooiATiojf of Oiw'ario, Office.- 9^ Adelaide Street East. Toronto, Ont, \fcirch 7th 1S90. Honorable sir. I beg to acknowledge the receipt of a «omm^'m- catiow from ytu in which you ask for the name of a "CQUKBEC Lc««U,lST ", who has wsitten a pamphlet on ?%tm miiimMM EQUAL RiaHTS ASSOCIATION F'OI! THE PROVINCE OF ONTARIO 'HI Important letter by a resident of Quebec as to '' The Disabilities ol'Protei^tauts in that Province." EQUAL RIGHTS ASSOCIATION OF ONTAIUO. 9i Adelaide Stiieet East, TuKoN^ro, 21st December, 1889. The accompanying- letter, written by a well- known English residen J of the Province oi' Quebec to a member of tlie Committee, is .su)>mitted by the Executive Committee of the Association for the earnest consideration of the people of the Do- minion. E. D. ARMOUR, Hon. Secretary. W. CAVEN, President. Publislied by The Equal Rights Association, 9 J Adelaide Street East, Toronto. Copies of this letter and other litterature of the Association may be obtained on application to "W. Banks, Secretary, at the above address. Toronto Mail Job Print 1890. U» *1 ■ "I i .1 • ill f 'y ..*" 'd I I \ THE IN TJIE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC W II THE PARISH SYSTEM Sir, — I have your letter before me asking Ibi- a statement of the dissabilities rrot<\stants labor under in the Province ofOuebec. 1 answer "-ladlv, for I wish that every elector in the Dominion should know the state of matters here, being con- fident that if he did he would use his iulluence to have it changed. The subject will be treated from the stand- point of the Protestant farmer, and it is his disa- bilities I shall describe, the position of the Pro- testants in the towns and cities being somewhat different. To grasp the grievances of the Protes- tant farmer you need to understand the character of the church of Rome as it is developed in the Province of Quebec, and also the parish system. In the Province of Ontario that church is almost everywhere in a minority, and its policy is shaped to suit its surroundings, while the views of its members -and clergy arc insensibly modified by the reflected light ol" the communities that siir- rouud ihem. Its clergy are iar from rich and are dependent upon the vohiutary contributions of tlieir people, which, in itself is, a powerful mo- difying- ijiflu en ce upon their character and aspira- tions. As a rule you know them as you know Protestant ministers, as men who devote them- selves to the spiritual affairs of those with ^vhom they are concerned. In Quebec it is entire y '.liii'i-- reut. The Church of Kome is a compact onr.ni- zation, in which each priest; and congreg-ation have any distinctive features blotted out, and are simply cogs in a great machine which compels them to move in n Jixed way. Jn one sense it is a Church, in anothe]- it is a government, having the province divided into sections and controlled by its deputies, yet a government irresponsible to crown or people, claiming an authori y above and beyond that of the state. Her influence is felt in every sphere and walk of daily life, and she sha- dows every interest. Did you live here, you would s«v!? how absolutelv she is mistress of the province, bow everything is made subservient to her, and with what complacency she assumes that the people exist lor her and not she for the people. I doubt if eis<»where you will find the Ultramontane idea as highly developed, the Church regnant, the people and government at her feet. Her wealth is commensurate with her pow^er. She is the lar- gest real estate owaier on the continent, and her ' H lauds are placed on (side the jurisdiction of the laws governing real estate, for they are locked, up under mortmain, and on her property she pays no tax. One would need to travel from city to city and town to town for a month, before one would have an ade(|uate conception of the wealth of this Church. Her servants are in proportion. Count- ing ministers of all denominations, [ do not sup- pose you would find in Ontario many over 3,000. Quebec has a ihird kv^s population, yet nearly 8,000 men and women have taken the peri>etual vow of obedience to the Church of Rome. Add to these the lay servants and dependents, and there must be twenty thousand whose daily bread comes from this gigantic organization. Now, its wealth and overmastering inlluence are largely due to K-iA ^ THE IVVRISH SY8TEM. AVhen the King of 1 'ranee took possession of Canada, he did not give or s;ell its lands to those who wished to cultivate them ; he would have no dealings with the man who wished to clear the land and plow it. He waiited to give to Canada a nobility, and with that object in view divided up the countrv that faces the St. Lawrence into large blocks, each one containing several square miles, and presented them to his favorites. These grants of land were called seigniories, and the gentlemen to whom they were given seigniors HBBP 6 i>i / or lords, and they encouraged settlers to go upon theii estates, not selling them lots, but giving then perpetual possession on paying a small fixed rent and certain other dues. These seigniories were divided into parishes, and over each parish a priest \Yas plac^ed. Had the system stopped here all Avould have been well. Unfortunately the French king, instead of leaving the support of the priests to the voluntary contributions of their Hocks, ordained that the twenty-sixth bushel of all grain raiiscd be given to them, and that a tax be levied on all farm lands for the building and upholding of church and parsonage. The seigniorial system was broken up over thirty years ago, and now only a few fragments remain ; the parish system is untouched, and in a more highly developed and efficient state than in the days when a Louis was king of Canada. Let me sketch it to you as it exists to-day. The priest is the convener and chairman of all parish meetings and without his sanction nothing can be done by the people. Does he con- sider a new church to be necessary ? He obtains the consent of a majority of his people and that of his bishop, and forthwith a tax is imposed upon all the farm lands in proportion to their value, the ordinary municipal assessment roll being g6a<"rally used, payable in equal instalments spread over not les.s than three or more than eight years. Of late the priests have vied with one another in zeal for building churches, and nume- Tous substantial and sightly buildings have lieeu abandoned and replaced by splendid struct urep, oi'ten beyond the needs of the parish. There have been hundreds ol' churches built or re-modelled w ithin the past twenty year^ that have cost from twenty to thirty thousand dollars ; uot a few of iliem from thirty to seventy-iivo thousand. There are parishes where the church has ^jst as much money as the dwellings of ^the farmers who wor- ship within its walls would sell for. This buil- ding tax is so heavy, that 1 do not suppose one is levied that is not the cause of some of the habi- tants losing their farms. To pay the tax they have to borrow and the mortgage eats up their places and they drift to the cities or the United States. Where very costly churches are raised, such pitiful cases are numefous. (rcnerally the priest's house is in keeping with the church, and is built and maintained by a like tax levied on the lands of the parish. His living is also derived in part directly from the land. Out of every twenty-six bushels of grain (peas are included) the farmer raises, he must give one to the priest, delivering it, clean, menhantable grain, at the parsonage before Easter in each year, it is one of the fictions entertained by many outside Quebec, who form their estimate of the character of the habitant from reading " Evangeline, " that this tribute is paid gladly. If th*ere is a man in the Dominion who has an adequate sense of the value of a dollar, it is the habitant. The tithe is paid ■n 'I '//* 8 i > w'th a gnulgo. aud wero it not for tho information o^tllint'(l Irom neighbors and I ho throshing-mill lien, tho priest would comt' short. T know of one parish whero such inft^rior grain was drawn, that the priost roferrod to it in his sermon, and asked his hearers, as they passed out, to examine at tho door a specimen of the oats a certain farmer had delivered. At the rebellion of 183Y the habitants were stimulated to take part in it, because one of the reforms promised was the abolition of tithes. A misconcepliou to be avoided is, that the tithes represent all that the habitant contributes to tho support of his clergymnn. In truth, the payment of the tithe and building tax entitles him to very little — to standing room in the church he lielped to build and to a grave in the cemetery. A^s one poor man expressed it, he had to stand during grand mass " like a brute beast. " To secure a pew, he has to pay a yearly rental, and for all the rites and services of «hurch and jjriest he has to pay. The tithe is, in fact, an addition to the ordinary- revenue of the clergy, a supplement he now enjoys nowhere else outside of Quebec. AVere the payment of tithes and building tax the result of a mutual agreement among the members of the Church of Home in Quebec, were they in any sense voluntaiy contributions, the people of the Dominion ^vould have no right to interfere Avith them, but when you learn that they are levied and collected by virtue of statutes passed by the Legislature, aud voted for by many 9 Upper Canada inombors, yoii ^vill porcoivo that youreeir and (^very othor t^loctor oro parties to thorn and accountalilc lor tlioir inaintonanoe. There is not a circuit court in the province whose power has not been calhul upon by tlie Church of I'omo to compel payment of these assessments I was once present in a court, of whicli the Juda*** and all the oflicials were Protestants, when a number of Irish Catholic- farmers were sued by the priest for tithes, and when judi^'ment was rendered in his favor, I thought an outrage had been perpetrated, and that instead of the ]>ritisli coat of arms looking down on those assem])led, the insicrnia of the Vatican would have been more appropriate. Bear this well in mind, that tlie habitants pay the taxes in question to Iheir church, I:' I BECAU.se the whip OV IMMTlslI LAW COMPELS TIT KM. We have no business to intcrf. re wiUi the Church of Rome in what demands it may make of its followers, or what assessmcuis it may levy upon them, but as liritish subjci ts we have a right to say w^hether or not tlie courts of the Empire are to assist in maintaining those demands and in becoming collectors of those assessments. It is this backing given by the kState to which the peculiar development of that Churcli in Que- bec is due. Havincr the State as its servant in p im 10 coercing its peoplt», it assumes the attributes of 8 ipremacy. while its sources of income being larj^cly indcin-ndcut of the will of those to whom It ministers, it disregards their wishes and rules auttn ratically. To sum up in one sentence, it is the union of Church and State in Que])ec that menaces the peace of the Dominion. now THE PAIMSH SYSTF.M AK1''K(TS IMJOTK.STANTS. No land owned l)y a Protest ant is liable to j)arish assttssments, they are collected solely from Ixonian Catholics, who may be so only in name and wlio may not attend church, all the same they miisi pay tithes, and any buildinj? tax that may be levied. Their sorations at a low rateol' interest. A French store-keeper was brought in. a French doctor and linally a notary. Then the colonization soviieties lent their aid, and th<' I'liuds of these societies are sup])lemented by the gov- ernment. The work went on slowly, ))Ut it went on steadily. IT I were asked to name the most remarkable i'eature in llu' Church of Rome. I would answer, its deliberate movements, its unal- terable purpose (.'onabined with i)atience. Nothing is done openly, nothing rashly, nothing violently. The tide is creeping upward and remorselessly swallowing everything in its way, but on the placid lace ol' the waters there is not an eddy nor a ripple to indicate the resistless poAver that is impelling them. P'arm by farm dropped into Ca- tholic hands, and the area of lands lial)le to tax and tithe went on extending. In course of time the Protestants became so few that they found it ■U 12 difficult fo maintain schools, and were it not for aid from outside, they could not have retained a minister. Their farms were fertile, and, materially, they were doing better than they could elsewhere, 80 that so f;ir as dollars and cents are concerned they had no cause to move, yet when they consi- dered that their children were growing up im- perfectly educated, and that their neighbors were of different speech and creed, they were impelled to make a^ sacrifice and leave. Their farms were bought, and what was twenty-five years before an English-speaking settlement has become a French one, and from land that did not yield a dollar to the Church of Home, she now levies contributions that yield thousands. This is the history of scores of outlying settle- ments of Protestants in this province, and ifhat they were extinguished by set purpose is not con- cealed. Say- a Quebec paper the other day : " We " have not in vain absorbed many of the English " and Scotch settlements planted among us to " break up our homogeneity." So long as it is law that the land of the Province of Quebec shall vield tribute to the Church of Rome when owned by its adherent^ that Chun-h will work unceas- ingly to dispossess Protestants, for ev^ry acre it Avins enhances alike its income and its prestige. You may here ask, whether Protestants who took up land in Quebec did not do so with their eyes open, and knowing that it was subject to the parish system, have they a right to now complain ? ^ '■4 ■I 13 No sucli plea cau be urged. When the townships were settled they were not only free from the parish system, but there was an Imperial guar<3utee that they should never be subject io it. THE EXTENSION OF THE PAKLSH SYSTEM TO THE TOWNSHIP.^ IS A A'lOLATION OF A PLEDGE AND A I^SURPATION. I will set the facts before you and you will judge for yourself. AVhen Canada passed into the hands of the British, Qiie])ec bore no resemblance to the Quebec of to-day. It consisted of thinly- peopled settlements, which occupied narrow strips bordering the St. LaAvrence. A few miles back of the great river rose the bush, and the primeval Avilderness extended on ihe north shore to the A.rctic Circle, and on the south to the United States. Bear this in mind, that when General Murray set about constituting Quebec a British colony, it had only seventy thousand iuhabitauts, who lived in the narrow ribbon of cli'arauces that edged the St. Lawrence : that was all they occupied and that was all thv3y claimed. The British commander was a'^ked to leave the parish system to this handful ol people ; he refused. English law was established among them, andibr thirteen years no habitant was compelled to pay either tithe or tax. That state of j^tl'airs would have continued until our own day had it not been for the breakinii' out of the American Riwolution. m. ■n If- m mmt 14 The Imperial authoritiea were afraid the French people might join in it, and to avert that danger taey bribed their priests by giving them back the 30wer to levy Hieir dues. This was done in It 74 by the Oueb-c A^t, which, however, confined the privilege strictly to the seig'nioriex, or, more cor- rectly speaking, to the eighty-two parishes then in o':i tence, coitpling, however, the gift with the ])roviso that the priests were to become subject to the conditions of the sovereign's supremacy as laid down in the Act of 1 Elizabeth. As if fore- seeing what has actually happened, that the priests would api)ly'the privilege so granted to the entire province, this clause was added : " Provided alwavs that nothing in this Act " contained shall extend, or be construed to extend, '• to any lands that have been granted by His " Majesty, or shall hereafter be granted by His " Majesty, his heirs and successors, to be holden " in free and common socage." Surely this is plain enough. The parish sys- tem was restored to the seigiiiortj or fief land ; all laud granted bv the crown in free and common socage was to be clear of it. The Imperial Parlia- ment and G-eorge III. restored French law and usages to the thin chain of French settlements, and to them only; all the rest of the province was to continue as before, under l*^ii>-lish law. Every French Catholic writer and every French Catholic spe.aker on this subject invariably ignores the clause 1 have quoted, and speaks of the Quebec IT III wiipwii inminn I sys- all 15 Act as restoring French law and custom io the entire province and dare anybody to interfere with the Imperial concession. Nothing could be more dishonest. The Quebec Act merely restored French law and usage to the seig-niurirs, not a twei>tieth part of the province as now constituted, and to them only does it apply. All outside of that r >s- tricted strip of land was to hd settled and gov- erned like Ontario, Nova Scotia, or New Bruns- wick, namely, under English law. This was per- fectly understood and acted upon by succesfeive Governors. The crown lands of Quebec were surveyed and divided, not into seiii-niorics and parishes, but into counties and townships. In these townships English law prevailed, French law had no standing, and the priests had no more autho- rity to tithe and tax in thvMu than they have in Ontario. The result was that these townships ^became settled by English-speaking people, who would not have felled a tree in them had they known they would ever have been brought under the parish system. The pledge that English law would always rule where the land was granted in free and common socage was renewed in 182(3, when the imperial Parliament, in the Canada Tenure Act, declared that the law of England was the rule by which real property in the townships was to be regulated and administered. The two settlements thus grew side by side : one English- speaking, with English law and usages, prosperous and expansive ; the other French, with French .i«. 'J 'I- 'P Hi •Itl il law aud customs, poor aad staguaut. The rapid growth of what may be termed English Quebec excited Ihr tears and jealousy oi'the Auglophobes preceding the rebellion aud they endeavored to check it by adverse legishition. But despite all obstacles, English Quebec grew in wealth and population, progressing at such a rate that, at the date of the union with Upper Canada, it threatened in time to outstrip French Quebec. In those days the se/ ^'i.t;! to leg-Hlizt* certain arrangements between ili-.' bishops aud their peo- ple. The power thus o'Dtained to extend the parish system into the townships was cautiously used and the approaches wre exi-eedijigly slow. Here and there a parish wns formed where the Catholies were most nume'-ous, and the objection of the priesthood being removed lo their people taking up land in the townships, they were now as eager in urging th m to go as they were before in restraining them, mid, when Confederition came, the Legislature s»^eonded their effort^ by grants to colonization oi- ties aud departmental favors. At the prestiii lioi r the townships are overspread by a network o parishes, aud in eack of them the priests coIm- -t rithes and church taxes are levied off laud whi eh the Imperial G-overri- ment guaranteed should be forever free from such imposts. Indeed, it is uot necessary to quote statutes in support of the claim of the townships m i I T 18 to IrtHHloin IVom tlic parisli ^y^tem, lor the deed icraiit«'d by the soverfigu to each settlor hoars proot of the tact. Up to Couf'ederatiou tho pnteuis issnod by the Crown Lands Department i'or lands rranted under thi^ra contained these wordis ; • To have and hold in lilce manner a.s lands are holden in free and common soccagv in that " part of Great Britain called Englaiid." Oueen Victoria thus issued h-r letters patent lor a lot ol land, declaririL; that the yeom'Mi to vvhoui she granted it shall hold it tree irom all lien, and the same as if it were situated in En<^- land. And in lull i'uiih of thai assurance, the Siettler went on and sp.'Ut the vigor of his man- hood in clearitig that lot. In his old ago a i)riest comes and says, " Your land -was granted to you '• by the Queen, subject to a servitude held by my " Church, a perpetual ckiiin. a mortgage that cau- '• not 1)0 wiped out, as its payment is conditional " upon the creed of the occupant. You being a " Protestant, I will do what T can to gei you off it " and a Catholic put in your place, so that Holy " Church may enter into the full enjoyment of her '• patrimony," ^uch, sir, is the manner in which th(» i)arish system has been extended to the town.ships, and Heed I add that its introduction has tansed their decadence. Numerous settlements have been wiped out and everywhere the French increase, so that the English who could control twenty eonsti- tue«icies twoitv-five years aso are outnumbered ^ i ' W ii Wi «« W i"< WW i 19 Hours it'll (8 iiitls inds liiat ^"lU , to all ia all but four. It is for tlio eloctors of the Donii- niou to an-swer the qii«^stiou, .SHAIiL THE REMNANT HE WIPED OUT V If ih..' cxistiiri? law is continued, a law olfer- ing a substantial iuduoenient to each priest to drive the Protestant farmers out, it is as certain as that the St. Lawrence rolls to the sea, that before the eomiug- century is far advanced few will be left. Is the union of Chunvl^ and State to be con- tinued in the Province of Quebec ? Is the priest- hood to continue to have behind it British courts to enforce the collection of tithe and tax ? Is the Church of liome to sit in this vovince enthroned as a queen, panoplied with exciUsive i»riviieges, and with her foot on ihe neck of its Leiii-islalure ? If so, then over one hundred thousand loyal Bri- tish subjects will ieavethe lands they and their lathers redeemed from the bush and tollovv their brethren who hav^e ;^one before them. As it is in your power, and in th(> power of every elector of • the Dominion to continue or abolish this system, so upon //OH and th .»m, jointly with the priests, will rest the accountability for one of the gn^atest outrages ever wrouii'hl on English speaking peo- ple, for outrage and crime it sur«?ly is, to maintain a law that otters a bonus to the clergy of the Church of Rome to dispossess men and women of their homes on account of their creed and nationa- lity. There are other disabilities und^n- which the 3« non-Catholic people of Quebec labor, and these I may give in another letter. The parish system is 80 pre-eminent amotig" the <^rievances of which we complain, that I think it belter not to place it on the same parallel with the others. A QUEBEC LOYALIST. December 1, 1889. ill mUBg?rf0 1 ANSWER OF THE av TO THE PAMPHLET PUBLISHED BY m iim mm i; m™ m Ai^ainHt tlje iunji>r5t.v of tlie inlialiitautM of tbe I*rovIiict; of f JueJjec Sir, I have the honor to acknowledge the. receipt of your letter of the tt»nth of March instant, inform- ing mo that the author of the pamphlet signed: A Quebec Loyalist is Mr Rohert Sellar, editor of the newspaper called " The HuiUiH>j;don Gleaner. " Owing to press of business and the iiriportaace of parliamentary work, I h;.ve been compelled to delay my answer. Allow me to confess in all frankness that it does not s'l !>rise me to hear that Mr Sellar is this so-'tilled Quebec Loyalist ; this gentleman is a rabid fanatic, who never misses an opportunity to show his hatred against everything which is French and Catholic, without the slightest re- spect, which every honest and imi)artial man 22 owos to tin' truth. Tlu^ small .shoct \vhirh ho piibli.'-hcs iH not .sullii'ituit lor hi.s iii.satiable desire to roprt'sont iiiuh-r talso color.s every thing that i8 dear to the majority ol the population ol the Proviuce in which he lives, ;ind he has hastened to send you his letter, delighted to avail himself of the inlluenee and means of publication of your afcsoeiatiou in order to spread more widely false- hood and t;alumny concerning my fellow-coiuitry- meu, their clergy and their religious institutions. If the ediior of the Gleaner alone wore iu ques- tion, 1 would not take the trouble to notice him, for the very good reason that in our Province he is too well known to be able to injure any one, and that here his elu'^ubratioiis are too well ap- preciated at their true value by respectable Pro- testants and by Catholics to de-serv^ the honor of refutation. But as the Equal Rights Associntion, of which you are the president, has assumed the responsibility of the writing which is the object of this correspondence, that fact gives to it an importance which imposes upon me the duty of refuting it and of showing to tht> impartial public that the h tter in question is nothing but a tissue of errors as to facts, history and apprecda ion. If, after this refutation has been placed before your association, it does not repudiate the letter of Mr. Sellar and persists in spreading it abroad, honor- able people will be able to judge of the ways and means employed by you to rouse the Protestant population of the other provinces against the 23 clevon hundrod Ihousund C;ii holies who inhabit rhtf rrovincc of QiU'l)oc and wlio dt'siro nothing nioiv Ihiiu to live at pearo with thrir iVl low- tit iz»ms of oth'.-r race-< and creeds. Ifthf iilv-^i five Commit t<'" of the fiqnal Rigbrs Af^sofiation he jinimati'd by anything* liki? sentiments of justice and respiut for truth, it should eouMder it a duty to pubii>h th.' r-'futfition whii:laiin .luy rL';poiu-il);iity '• implied in tbei> n iaiion to 'hi^ pnmjdih t." I accept this d'-rhir. I ■ ', or ralher this cngage- iiiuit. and 1 ibrward vu wi'h this I tier a de- nlon^.tridion which will i>nt vou uu.],t the obli- gation of fuliil'ing it. I have the honor to be Your humble servtnt. (Signed) lIoN'oiii: Meiicieii. PREMlEIJ-MliXISTRE. To the Revd. Wm. Ca\ MX. President of th-.' Equal Rights A'-socialion, Toronto, Ont. 'f g ffii^i i mpjA aB 6 tiJt>t. i *:^ M » 24 ANSWKU OF Till-:, HON. MR. MERCIER t the iam/)/i/d of th(:__EqiHd Rights Association against (he vwjoriti/ of Hie iiihitl)i(anls of (he Provinve of Quebec. It would ivijiiir.' a luv^-*,' volumo to refute iu »uot;e>yioii tho crror.s and misroprrseutatious ibrm- iug- MrScllar's pauiphl/t. The publio could not have the [>atieuoe to r.:ad a woi'k ofsach a nature and Ihave uot the leisure to undertake sueh a work. I^uvint^ a«ide all useless and idle details, I take ihc huh.stanee of the pamphlet ; this can he sum- muriz 'd in the follovvinu- i)oint.s : Firs^tiy. The so-called douiiuation and wealth of the Catho'ie Ciiureh iu the Province of Quebec ; Secondly. The paru-h system and itsso-called inju,^ti''t» to I'rott'.stantjs ; Tliidlv. Tithrs — ihuL Eai?lish courts are defjradcd by b.'iug call d upon to enforce their collection ; Fourthly That the introduction of the pari.sh syalem in [^ai'ts of the IVoviucc situated outside of lac .^e. With respect to worship, Catholics are divided into groups know^u Uiider the name of parishes as Protestants are known under the m-avch^ oUxmgre^^'utwm ; but these divii-ions have only a reiiirions charact(>r, ;ind are not controlled by deputies, as falsely ass-M'tcd by th < editor of the Gleaner. What harm can there be, would I ask, in thus ji^roupinii- Catholics for purposes of worship ? Doi»s not this gronpiua- likewise exist among Prot<'stants, in our Province as well as in all the otii. r parts of the Dominion V Is there any reason- ai)le man w^ho can seriously see harm in it / P- is only the delirious fanaticism of Mr. S'Uar which ».t * i-i ii PH m 'm> I 26 ©biects of a state, of thiuii'sso natural, so nece.^sary to public ordt^r. Now to saj' thill tliis " g-ovemment is irros- " pousible to crowu or people, iilaimiiig' an au- " thority abo\ •' and beyond that of the State," is to state a thma' trae in itself, but false in the sense thai Mr. Sellar gives to his assertion, which is general and without resiriction. Catholic doc- trin<' teaches, that in parely spiritual matters, religious authority is of an order superior to that of the civil authorily, but that in temporal matters civil authority or the authority of the State transcends all other.s. That is lo say, that according to Catholic doctrine, the proponderance of authority is derired from th^ preponderance of the end at which such authority aims ; and as spiritual ends are superior to temporal ends, the authorily which provides for the former is, in its nature and in the strict lit'iits of its ends, of an order superior to that which provi uos for tem- poral ends. Fou are a minister of the Grospel, Mr. Caven, and you thoroughly understand protcstant theo- logy. I would now ask you : Is not Catholic doctrine, such as I have just exposed it, the doc- trine of all christian religions V Is it not simply the application of these words of the Gospel : ' Render unto G-od that which belongs to Grod and to Cesar that which belongs to Cesar ? " In order that there be no misunderstanding" about this part of Catholic dot?.trine, I will cite a ):' ^iii ':!■ ^,/ !• '■sai 27 few extracts from the work of MgT. Cavaguis, published at Rome in 1887. with the approbation of the highest Catholic authorities. These are th citations : " It is said : If the Church were sovereign, " there would be a State wiihin a State ; in other " word:^, in the same territory, there would be " two sovereignties and the same men would form " two perfect and iiidep'mdent societie.-!. But thi " cannot be, as the co-existence of two sovereigns, '• having jurii:di<'tion on the same territory and " over the same persons, i.s repugn r*:^;. The power " of the one would 7i«'ce-sariiy limit that of the " other, and ueith'-r would be sovereign iu the " full meaning of the term Sovereiguly there- " fore repels not only all superior jurisdiction but " iiho all equal jurisdiction. " To this objection an answer is 'Misily made " by distinguishing how two sovereignties may •' be in opposition iu the same territory and ov^r '• the f'^me persons. When two sovereignties aJce " of (he same ivind, have the same imtucaiaLc end, "the same object and the same subject-matter " on which they exercise their power, then we '■ meet with the inconveniences above mentioned ; " one imposes limits upon the other ; neither one " nor the other is truly sovereign, and the same '■ subjects would have to serve equally two " masters. " But it is not thus, when it is a question of " two sovereignties, whose order, object, end and . M f\ I ,4.) 28 subject-matter are distinct and different. In that case, the one imposes no limits upon the other in the sphere which belongs to it. In consequence there is not in the State another Suite ol" the same kind, but another State of a different kind. In this there can be nothing repugnant, for the reason that all created things are limited to one order and one kir>d. The sovereignty of the State is limited to the tem- poral order, that of the Church to the 'spiritual order. To God alone belongs absolute and uni- versal sovereignty " If the Church has many rights over the State, because it is a society of a sovereign order, it has no less duties to perform towards the State. And above all there is the duty as a mat- ter of justice not to encroach upon the province of the State. A// fhai irhidi is pure!?/ temporal hehmixs to the Slate The Church therefore cannot isiuder any proper claim meddle with matters purely temporal. It should render unto Coesar that which belongs to Ctcsar, and to Grod that which belongs to God. " In quef-tioiis which in nowise coucerii reli- gion and which are f-imply economical, political, ivil or military, Catholics form neither a body nor a party, but each can follow the party which apnenrs the best to him." (1) These are the principles which govern the Catholic clergy, in this Province as well as in (1) .Yotidus dc Droit Public, Xaturcl et Ecclfaiastiquef ««>• Mar Cavagnis, p, 3^8 et seq. ■MMNMKi mm mrng 29 & other parts of the world. Where can there be found in all this "the authority 'uperior to that of thp State " mentioned by Mr. Sellar ? This so- called domination of the Catholic clergy exists only ia the too vi^ad imagination of the Gleaner writer. I defy him to briug forward facts or writings to establish it. No; outside of purely religious matters, the Catholic Church does not claim an authority superior to that of the State ; on the contrary, one of the fundamental principles of its doctrine is its submi.s;-iou to civil authority. It is surprising that Mr. Sellar, who lives among Catholics and pretends to know them, should not yet know this. If he would only give himself the trouble to go over the debates on the Catholic Emancipation Bill, he would find that, nearly a hundred years ago, a distinguished Protestant bishop, Dr. Hors- ley, (English Parliamentary History, Vol. 29, page 67(^ declared in the House of Lords that " the Roman Catholics better understand than " the thing seems to be understood by many of " these who call themselves our Protestants " brethren, in what plain characters the injunc- «' tion of the unreserved submission of the indi- " vidual to the government under which he is " born is written in the divine law ot the Gos- " pel." I ne«d not add that in asserting that the mfti / Wf^, 30 Catholic Church " assumes that tho people exists for her aud not she Tor the people," Mr. Sellar is o-uilty of an untruth \vhi(;h does not deserve the honor of being refuted. J defy him to corroborate this altogether gratuitous assertion by facts or writings. Mr. Sellar asserts that the Catholic Church of the Province of Quebec " is the greatest real estate owner on the continent." This is simply u falsehood which must be apparent to the most limited vision. As a Church the Church of Rome does not own one inch of land in the Province of Quebec. I defy Mr. Sellar to prove the contrary. According to our law, real estate destined for Catholic worship does not belong to the Church but to the parishioners, aud the extent of real estate destined for that objtKit if. very limited. On the first point, the following' h what is stated by Judge Beaudry : '■ Parishioner^ are obliged to contribute to ' the purchase of land required for the building- Theij are Us proprietors.'' (1) As to the extent of the laud, it is lixed in the following manner by article 3450 of our Revised Statutes ; " The quantity of li^nd so acquir(>d for the " purposes aforesaid, within the walls of the cities " of Quebec and Montreal, respectively, shall not, " in the whole, exceed one arpent and outside " of the walls, but within the limits of the said (I) (\>i(.f dus ru/.'v, I tarijxUUifrs ft i^aroi.ssirns, P'lge 58. 81 '* cities, shall not excued eight arpents in Bupm-fi- " cies ; aud the quantity of land so held in any '' other place for the use of eucli parish, mission, " congreg-ation or religious society, .shall not. ex- " ceed two hundred English acres." There are not one thousand Catholic parishes or missions in the Province of Quebec, and I assert without fear that the extent of the land possessed by such jiarishes and missions does not exceed in the whole 20,000 acres. Is the Equal "Righis Association prepared to I'SSrrt with its fellow-laborer .Sellar, ihat there are iiot to be found in all America j)roprielors owing a greater extent of land or a greater real estate owner V Without going to foreign countries, compare these 20,000 acres with the'Jextent of the monopo- bes which the Ottawa Grovernment has established i the North-West^ Without speaking of the colon- ization societies, is it not known that the grants made to the Bell P'arm (,'ompany exceed 50,000 acres ? " Her lands, continue■^ Mr. Sellar. are placed '■ outside the jurisdiction of the laws governing '■ real estate, for they are locked up under mort- ' main, and on her property she pays no taxes." Wrong; ecclesiasticnl property is not placed outside the jurisdiction of the laws governing real estate ; when a congregation purt^hases or sells a property the title deeds are subject to the forma- lity of registration, in the same way as all other .-(■■■ ■11 82 real estate transactions, as proscribed by articles 3443, 3444 and 3450 of our "Revised Statutes, which only reproduce the old law. The real estate con- ceded or sold 10 Church Trustees or margui/Uers only acquires (he character of mortmain by the registration ol' the deed of acquisition. What is there extraordinary or wrong in this law ? The intent is m:^rely to place outside of the sphere of trade real estate acquired for reli- gious workship, and to prevent its expropriation without the consent or against the wish of the inhabitants o^ of the members of the congregation. At u ■•>, if this system be wrong and worthy vvl . ^nation, the Protestants of the Province of Quebec' are quite as blamable as the Catholics, r "^he l-v^' of which Mr. Seilar com- plains applies indi^tiii „iy to all religious congre- gations, Protestant as well as Catholic. Before casting stones at us, let Mr. Sellar and his friends give the example, by asking the Legislature to abolish mortmain in the case of properties belong- ing to Protestant congregations. I challenge him to have such legislation accepted by the m^ajority of the Protestants of the Province of Quebec. With what grace therefore does he dare to place among the so-called disabilities of the Pro- testants of Quebec legislation by which they benefit as well as Catholics and to which they hold as well as Catholics ? Is it in this way that an honorable man would act, who is animated by the noble sentiments which justice and equity should inspire ? i'l'. .. ■V. i 33 I can say the same thing' about exemption from taxation, which Mr. Sellar also gives as one of his disabilities. In our Province, all property destined for religious worship is, by article 712 of our Municipal Code, exempt from municipal and school taxation. Protestants as well as Catholics proiif by this exemption, and I think that they hold io. it as much as do the Catholi\:s. Then, how can the Gleaner man find in this a disability for the Protestants ? One may be fana- tical, but no sensible man has a right thus jauntily to make a mockery of the elementary rules oi logic and of the plainest common sense, WEALTH OF THE CATHOLIC OHUROH. But where this brave Mr. Sellar completely loses his head is when he speaks of the so- called wealth of the Catholic Church. " Counting ministers of all denominations ",says he, " I do not suppose you would find in Ontario " many over 3,000. Quebec has a third less popula- *' tion.yet nearly 8,000 men and women have taken " the perpetual vow of obedience to the Church of " Rome. Add to these the lay servants :v< 1 depen- " dants and there must be twenty thousand whose " daily bread comes from this gigantic organi- * zation." Like the monkey in Lafontaine's fable, who took the Pirasus for a man, the learned editor of the Gleaner takes, as members of the Catholic clergy, all members of religious communities, whether brotherhoods or sisterhoods, and with 3 'U •'I I UK-"' 'rr -sli 34 this ho forms the bi^" figure ol 8,000. Would you •wi^h to know why h'.' so chi'orruliy iii:^cribo.s thtin ;muu iiii' ill-' ( Icrgy ? Puroly b vanse th-'V havo nitidi' a vow ol" perpotiial obodieiK'o to the Church oC Komc ! In that caisc Ihc learned Mr. Selhir is I'ar from ihe tnith : if to J).' a member of th'» Catholic (."iergy, it i.s siillicieiit to have mad^ a vow of per- petual obedieiK-.' to the Church of Rome, there are in the Trovin* e of Quebec 1,170,718 ministers of Catholic worship, for thi' reason that 1,170,718 Catholics who inhabit it are obliged, in religious Matters, to absolute obedience to the Church of R ome Tl leri are lik ewise 820. mmisters of Catholic Avorshi}) in Ontario, for I see by the cen- sus of 1881 that there is that nu'iiber of Catholics in the Province of Ontario, and like those of Quebec, they are ln-ld to perpetual obedience to jhc Chiirl be uu- iiierons as there are in our Province almojit as many Protestr.nt as (.Vitholic churches. The ci'usus of 1881 gives ibr all the Province 1280 churcht's, oI'M'hich 712 are Catholic and 5<)8 Pro- t.'stant. The latter must he attended by 400 or ;300 ministers, which would leave 1000 or 1700 C'afhoiii- priests. OATIIOI.I'^ MMXSXC. But (here is an easier and more certain me- thod of establishing the number of Catholic priests m the Province of Quebec. If the worthy writer of the Gleaner had only given himself the trouble of readinij the calendars or almanacs for 1890, he would have seen that the Catholic clergy of the Province of Quebec, regular and secular, is com- posed of 1200 priests, one cardinal, seven arch- bishops and bishops, one prefect apostolic. The ca- lendars give the name, surname and ri'sid(>nce of all those priests, so that there can be no donbr or inistakt! about their number in the mind of an ho- norable wiiter. Thesis priests, howevm-, are not all engaged m parish work. The documents which 1 have just mentioned, show with the clearest evidence, ^n^en to the wilfully blind, ihat of these 1260 priests at least 250 are employed ai. teaching in our clas- iical and commercial eolleges and in our nor- ;»1 \ i wmmtm »>. \ 30 mal :>chool8 ; about one hiiiHlrod more arc ougagod as chaplains in our charitable institutions or as prol't'Siors in oar theological senainaries, leaving only about nine hundred in parish work. IT you divide the number ol' Catholics by the numbi-r ot priest > mini.'rtering to parish wants, yon will find thai i he average of each congregatioa und^r ihJ care of a Catholic priest is about thirteen hundred] souls. You are a minister of the (lospel, Mr. Caveii you know the duties imposed by th.» spiritual care of a congregation ; you know that in this! respect the task of a Catholic priest is two or three times greater than that of a Protestant minister ; in pref^euce of the figures which I have uow given, will you not admit, that far fronij being excessive, as Mr. Sellar pretends, the ummlM of Catholic prietts in the Province of Quebec is comparatively slight. Make the same calculations about the Prottstaut^clergy, and you will be sur- prised at the results at which you will arrive ! REVENUE OF THE CATHOLIC PRIESTS. And what are the revenues and resources of] this clergy which Mr. Sellar represents as so rieh The tithe alone and a very small amount of perj quisites commonly called " le casuel." What doesi the tithe represent ? It is quite easy to calculate! it by taking the data furnished by the census etl 1881, which can be seen by everybody. At thel rate of the twenty-sixth bushel, it forms aboutl the^following quantities : 58,889 bushels of wheat, " *- ""WMJM W wm» MMI SI tioas or as b.^Od on)arloy, (101,010 of o;iis, 142.208 of poas, |55,4n I of l)u«'kv\"h»'at and 12,.")7T of ryo.Til^timitiiig [tht'in ut ournnit rates, tlioy would rcprosoiit above S'lOO.OOO. in inoncy. Ijiit our priests aro not oxa<;t- iiiij', uotwithstaiulinij^ what Mr. .S.'llar may say, and i 'an assert without foar of contradiction thai on the average they remit or neglect to col- |l('ct ;it least 20 per cent of their tithe.s, which Kvoiild leave a real revenue of not more than §400 000, to be divided among nine hundred |prii>sts doing parish work, or m\ average, of UlaO.OO each. Adding another "tiundrod dollars for Uhc r/ianc/, which is certainly the highest amount ever received under that head, we have a total of ls^M).oo. A\^ould you pretend that this is too much, Mr. [0;n •^>n :* that Protestant ministers do not receive {as much, even more ^ And that is in truth the so-called w^'alth of jour Catholic clergy ! As you can perceive, our clergy does not e.ost the people so much. (iENEROSITY OF CATHOLIC PRIESTS. Let us not omit to add that our clergy returns [to the people a great part of this slender revenue. lit is thanks to the generosity of the clergy that jare lounded and maintained the numerous insti- tutions of charity — asylums, refuges and hospitals, au'l institutions of public instruction — which are seen all over our Province. You would be aston- ished, you Protestants, at the numbe. of young men belonging to poor families, whose educa- ;;r' i^ 38 tion, clai^hical andcomiui'vcial, is paid (or in whol*' or ill part b} our y-ood country priests ; you would be oqunlly a.stonishi'd at tbe iiuiubi'r of Icgiu-i*-, bi'quiathi'd by thost» good cnr6^ to our coIU'O'lvs on condition that interest th«Ttot' be employed rat'ot the tost of the cdVi'alion of poor children. All this, it must be admitted, ia in the inti ^e^t of the people, and for its bout^lit, and giv back to it in another form what it has paid out I') Co as tith e 01' rtmivl \ and. as I stated on a recent oc- casion, our Canadian clergy returns to the ])eople, ia one way or another, for pur, oses of education or charity, blessed and tanctilied by the Church, the tithe which it collects from. th(» peo: \ -. There is not a country in the wo; id whcr" classical and university education »-osts -o little as it does to the Catholics of our Province, w here it is so fully within the reach of all, even of thv; poore.-st ; there is not one serious and soii^ibl'' man who, knowing in the slightest our system of edu calio'j, would refuse to admit that it is solely to our clergy that wt^ owe thjse inestimable advau- t a ires. RELKrIOUS COJIM UNITIES. "With a sense of honesty more than doubtful, the editor of he Gleaner intdudes among the Ca- tholic clergy, all the members of our religious orders, not o' litting memb.^rs of brotherhoods and sisterhoods. This is a deception that it is uuueces- I '.,. ,!M ■nmim 30 I \Vll(,)lr u vvouM '0ll('0-,.,s;_ )lf)yi'd t'. kli't'u. Hl ••'IV aid ou; (X'Ut oc- j)i'Oplc, u. at ion Chunl), vvhei" () littli' ', where II of th'i )l'' man of odu Dlt'Iy to i<.dvaii- aibtful, he Ca- ligiousi ds and ueces- Hiiry spiuially to iviuiirk, ibr all W(?ll-iiifonn( <(, Frott'f-taiilH know prifts tly well tliat thfs.' bro- thtTs and >-istrrs aic no niort: iutMnl»ors of tho Ca- iho ir ( li ri>y tliun the lacmbvrs of thv' muuiiipal foiUK il of the city of London form part of the <^overnment ol Eiii^land. Thoy belonijf simply lu the body of tlio faithful, like all otht-r Caihoiii.i!, , who have absolutely Jiot hi ng to do with tho gov- rriimont or th«; managenitiit of religious alFair.--. The Chunh ixists in all its integ ity outride *>i thi 8e communities, whieh are, merely associatiou-s for the purposes of charity and public instruction. They might disappear without in ihe least utfco- ting the Chur.h of Romr*. The only difF-^renoe^ that would iheti bo felt, as regards Catholics of the Province of Quebec, is, that in place of having to take care of the sick and infirm as well as lor \ho, instruction of their rhildron, brother and sister who work gratuitously, without other remuneration than what is strictly necessary \o keep and clothe lh*m modestly, Catholics would have to pay laymen, who most certaiuely Wvuld co»t much more. Pt^rmit me to cite one t xi;mple,in ouhr fo>hoVv' the, truth of this assi'ftion. We have in this Province three asylums w^here the insane and idiots an- maintained at the expense of the Government. Two of those are under the care of nuns, and another, that of Beau- port, under laymen. In this asylum, the annual cost for eaeh patient is ^132. At the Longue- I ! ■ 40 Poiute. asylum, otherwise known as the Asylum of St. Jean de Dieu, which belongs to the Sisters of Providence, the Groverument only pays $100 per annum. And the Sisters of Charity, who have under their care the Asylum of Saint Ferdinand d'llalilax, for idiotic women, only receive iJiSO per annum for each patient. It is acknow^ledged that the Longue-Pointe asylum is at least as well kept as that of Beauport ; and yet the price is 1^32.00 less. As the Lougue-Pointe asylum contains more than a thousfand patients kept at the expense of the Grovernmeut, it is evident that the sisters enable the Province to economize to the extent of ■vC2,000 j)er annum, compared to the amount which it would have to pay, if the asylum were kept by laymen, as that of Beauport. Tile same remark applies to the other bene- volent institutions under the care of religious orders. It appears by the public accounts for 1889 that the number of benevolent institutions subsi- dized by the Province is 04, of which 73, or YY.Y per cent, are under the care of religious orders. The sum paid to all these institutions is $41,066, of which $24,480.33 to establishments maintained by religious orders, and li 7.475.07 for those kept by members of the laity, Protestant and Catholic. That is to say, that institutions under the care of religious orders, which represent 77.7 per cent in number and much more in importance, receive only 58.34 per cent of the sums voted by the Legislature for the maintainauce of benevolent instittitions. 41 i f Do not these figures give me the right to assert, that even from a material or pecuniary point of view, the religious orders, which have the care of these benevok^nt institutions, are not only not a burden upon the Catho'ic people but a real b'Ui'fit to it, a means of relieving it from heavy taxation ? In a Christian country, there must be means adopted, in one way or another, to provide for tht.' wants of the sick, th j infirm, the orphans, the poor, and of the thousand of unfortunate creatures, who, if not helped by somebody, would necessarily drag on a wretched existence or perish in the public streets. This is one of the first duties of society. In other countri s, this is provided for by taxation, by the State or municipalities ; in the Province of Quebec, Catholics are free from these ^ixes, because their religious orders provide for 'hese wants, and gratuitously, with the exception ol'thc small allowance voted by the Legislature. Where is there a reasonable man who con- siienciously and sincerely would say that such orders live at the expense ot the p-ople? It is iudeed the conlra^-y which is true ; it is the peopl«' who live to a great extent at the expense of these orders. I would appeal to you, Protestants of the oihi'r Provinces who do not know our insti- tutions ; you whom a shameless fanatic would wish to rouse au'ainst these reliu'lous orders which do so much good in our Province : you, who have in vour hearts sentiments of justice and Christian charity, come and see our convents, 1 I * ) I iij i ij wri i i" i j' wf iit'liawpi I AQ our asylums, our hospitals ; v^onn' and see them at work, see with your own eyes the ills they alleviate, the misery they soothe ; you will return, I am certain, t'ully eonvineecl that the^.^ order deserve anything' but the condemnation on the part of (^'hiistians worthy of the name, be they Prote.-tant or Catholic. You \vould be astonished at the sight of the g-ood done by thei^e orders with the small resourres at their disposal ; you would leave thc-e sanctuaries of Christian charity with the same sentiments as those of a distinguished Protestant of our Province, the Plon. J. Or. Eo1)ert- son, whose attachment to Protestantism i- un- doubted. This is what he said durinsr his budscet specih in 1884 : OPINION OF HOXOKABLE Mil IJOREIiTtiQN. •ii ^i 8ome years ago 1 visited these institutions in Montreal, and I was not only gratified and surprised ;it the impro 'ement manifested by fh'> pupils under th'' cavf and instiuctioas they received, but fuU of admiration at ♦hp CUiristiau and philanthropic spirit manif.'sted by those in chnrge of tho!>e institution-! an 1 then made up ray mind that evtuy assistance [ rould r«>nder them 1 would glady do to the best of my abili- ty. All honor to the philaiithropic individuals and communities who devote tlieir means and pergonal efl'ects in aid of those so grievously af- flicted by Pivine Providenctv" Such is the testimony of a Proestant who has 43 been engaged in prblir: life for almost a quarter of a rontury. Minister and Treasnror in six diffe- rent conservative governments. Should not the testimony of a man of that standing b'^ acecpted in preference to that of an obscure journalist, hardly known to the handful of readers who live in his nt'igliborhood .■* It may be allowabf^ to havti prejudices, but reason will permit no man to bi' at open war with logi<' and sound sense. ADVANTAGES OF THESE INSTITUTIONS. Our teaching communities secure to us also incontestable educational advantages. I do not hesitate to say that in our convents nnd aiirls' boarding schools, instruction does not cost half as much as it does in Protestant institutions of a like nature. The Christian Brothers and other orders also give to young men a superior educa- tion, almost for nothing, if we compare it withifs cost in other places. Act^ordins' to tin- repor* of the Superintendent of Public Instruction for 1888, there are in the teaching body 1804 sisters, 585 brothers and 322 members of the 'dfrgy, that is, 322 priests or ecclesiastics. A'icording to this rei^ort the average salary paid io lay tf^achers is !$303 per annum, and that paid to clerical teachers, brothers and ecclesiastics, is only ^205 or i|158 less ; so that these 907 tderical teachers cost yearly !|143,300 less than an equal number of lay teachers. Tl»ese figures arc founded in a public and olhcial document. ' i ' tW] li l" l |LlilB lliBi|ipijiii BM ii fili i j iH i i: '1 ilii 44 ■Vi And these are the membc^rs of religious orders whom Mr. SoHar represents to Protestants of the other Provinces as parasites, living at the expense of the p '^plc, a cause of ruin for the' Ca li >lic population of the Province of Quebec ! Is it possible to be guilty of a greater outrage against tjuih? TAX.VnOX OK RELUJIOUS PUOPKtJTIES. Wilfully confusing together the properties of religious communities with those of the churches, Mr. Sellar says that they are held iii mortmain and are " exempt from taxation." This again is nothing but misrepresentation. True it is that our religious orders possess their properties in mortmain, in the sense that these prui)erties b dong to the order as a collective bodv, as a moral b nnn\ and not to i'ts members in particuhir ; but this does not prevent these prop- erties from being within the domain of commerce, that is, of being susceptible of purchase and sale like prox)erty belonging to private individuals. As a question of fact. I know of many such sales. The Quebec Seminary, the Seminary of St. Sulpice and many other religious orders have sold their propu-iiis, when favorable opportunies were offer- ed : thev still continue such sales, as also do other communities of the same kind. At all events, this ownership in mortmain is not an attribute of the religious characters of these w. "^f'^mmmmm mmmmm gnBESTTTT^— ^ 45 orders; it is mer Ay the application of th(' ge- neral law whicli governs all corporations of this kind, whether Protestant or Catholic. Hence it is folly to seek to find in iJus order of things a disa- bility for Protestants who participate and bene- fit by the Inw, absoluiely in the same rranner as CathulicB. It is a matter of pu])li(' order, the appUc.tion of the geneMJ law of corporations, and it is only ii^norance or bad faith which would find therein something of whoio to complain. As to taxation, Mr. iSellar is fdmply nntruth- ful, when he says in a g;(ieral manner tint the property of religious corporations is exempt from taxes. This is what is laid down by arti ie 712 of our Municipal Code which refers to the matter : " *712. The following property is not taxable : " 1. Property belonging to her majesty, or " held in trust for her use ; " 3. Property belonging to Fahriquea, or reli- " gions, charitable, or educational i^istitutions or " corporations, or occupied by such Fabriques "institutions a corporations '(7;?,'v /or // pay- ment ol' taxes which municipalities sometimes endeavor to impose on their proprieties, exem[)r thouiih lh<>y are from taxes. Thus, this exemption ol' taxation which so jars upon Mr. kSellar"s\veak nerves does not apply to all reliii'ious pro[)erties and is not an ex ; the number of members of l)rotherhoods aud sisterhoods, devotiiii: themselves to teaching is given in the Jiejioii of Hu' ^^iiprriiiifuilatil of Pnblu- imtrtution, it is 2, -58!) ; add 1,000, \\ hioh is more than the actual number, for th" brothers and sis- ters, who devote themselves to works of charity, in hospitals, refuges and asylums of every kind, a'.id \w(i will have a total ol' -t,t);")H or about one hall' the number given by Mr. Sellar. As 1o servants, whom he e.stimates to be i i lllfflBiBil i pi l llllii i yjjfjji^ mmmmmm m ,'i-f .:,\j^ 'i'- ■:■' 48 12,000 ill number, I asstM't tliafc thoy do not oxce d 3,000 and I challenge him to prove the contrary. In almost all the communitieb, there are lay sisters and lay brothers engaged in the manual labors of their conimunities, so that the number of lay servants is almost nothing. The number ol' ser- vants of parish priests is quite as inconsiderabl.-, and most certainly doi s not exceed 1, ")00. By adding th«» sm'vants of the religious orders, \v,> have a total of 4,o00 or not more the third of the number given by Mr. Sidlar. That is to say, that far from n 'aching the ilgure of 20,000, the popu- lation ol' whivh this gentleman speaks, is at the uttnose i),l-')8. Simply an error of more than half SERVICES AND LABORS OF THESE PERSONS. What is returned to the Catholics of the Pro- vince of Quebec by these 9,158 persons'? Most perfect ndigious service, superior education in all its branches, commercial and agricultural instruc- tion, the care and maintainance of the poo:-, the orphans, the inllrm, the sick and of all these unfortunates who depend upon public charity. Are these works not sufficient usefully to employ 9,158 persons in a population of 1,170,718 people ? It is said that comparisons are odious. If I did not fear to expose myself to the reproach of making them, I would make one which would expose more .dearly the full extent of the injustice of whi-.h Mr. t^ellar has been guilty towards our clergy and the religious communities of Catholics in the Province of Ouebec. 49 To give greater eflfect to his false representa- tions, our Quebec Loyalist opposes the 3,000 Protestant ministers to the pretended 20,000 per- sons liviug on religion in the Province of Quebec. To arrive at the latter figure, he includes the brothers, the sisters, the servants, in fact everyone that his imagination can summon. Let us adopt the same method of calculation for Ontario. Your 3,000 ministers are heads of families and support their wives and children. It v/ould not be exag- o-eratins*, I think, to assume that these 8,000 families comi>rise at an average five i)ersons each, which gives at once a population of 15,000 souls. It is reasonable to suppose at. least one servant for each of these families, which gives 3,000 more, forming a total of 18,000 persons " whose daily bread comes from this gigantic organization." For the same ends, that is to say, for the care of souls or the service of public worship, we find in the Province of Quebec only 2,500 persons at the most ; that is to say 1000 priests and 1500 servants. The difference is great enough to render tan- gible the exaggeration and falsehood contained in Mr. Sellar's letter. Let us make another comparison. I have previously shown that the 1»,1'>8 priests, brothers, sisters and servants whom we have hea-e, provide us with religious service, education in all its branches for both sexes, and also with the care of our benevolent institutions, and as far as the latter are concerned at their own charge i' I IJtilwtWi*. mmm »,, ,, ■n'l 60 uiid tost. 1)1 Ont;iiio the people are fi])lig'ed to support a population twiee as great, nierolj'' to secure religious service ; they have further to support the members ol" their teaching ))odies as well lis those engMgi'd in benevolent establish- ments, who are at lea^t as numerous as those lAhesi' daily bread comes liom religious service.j 1 leave to impartial people the task oi draw- ang'the proper conclusions and ol judging what opinion .should be formed of the veracity of Mr. tSeilar, the worthy editor of the CI leaner and the iiuworthy co-worker of the J^^qual Uights Asso- ciation, if that body has the least respect for justice and truth. I may be here? allowed to indicate the cause of tiie ridiculous exaggerations into which certain persons allow themselves to be drawn when speak- ing of the sc-:alled wealth of the Catho]ic clergy. difi-erp:n('e in the expen>«es of cathoijo i'riehts and protestant ministers. There exists a decided dillerence as to the res- pective positions of the Catholic priest and of the Protestant minister. Owing to cjlibacy, the former has to provide only for his own support, whilst t.hc^ latter has to maintain a whole family. With an income of five or six hundred dol- lars, the Catholic priest, lives comfortably, can (r.^^ven pra •ti<.e a few small economies which eccle- s?ia6tical discipline obliges him to employ in good ■""^?*W y$\ 51 works. Tilt' Protestant minister, ou thi' coiitrciry, ouly liuds what is abssolutoly necessary for him- self and his family in an iiuornv' of .six hundred dollars, and if his salary is sufficiently larsfe to permit him lo economize, he very naturally em- ploys the amount of his savings for the benefit of his family in place of devotinir it exclusively to institutions of learning, benevolt.'uce and charity. f It is thus that are formed in great i)art, by our clergy, and without in the k-ast over-l)urden- ing the I'aithful, the.se resources with which are created and maintained the greater numbt»r of these Catholic institutions which are the admira- tion of every one not blinded by prejudiie. That which the Protestant minister gives to his own family, the Roman (\itholic priest devotes to the use of the people and to works of public bene- \*olence. AYhat is there in all this which can be taken as a cause of disability for Protestants, especially for Protestants of the other produces? Fs it our fault if, because of their marriage, the support of Protestant ministers is more (Expensive and uues not permit them to make, as do Catholic piit ^ls, ii'ifts and le"-acies to institutions of public bene- volence V It is to this that is reduced the so-called wealth oi the Catholic Church. I more or less undertstand that you. Mr. Caven, who live in a Protestant province and who can only know superficially our religious orga- # ii ma mi i BHi' M-^' 52 Tiization, .should allow yoursv^H' to bo drnwn into these oxiiLrgorations on this qnottion ; but as to 3'our co-la})oror S(>llar, wlio liws iu th<» midst of a C:itholic po[)ulatioii and protoids to know ihoir institution!";, it is unpardonabU^ dishou*\sty on his part, \vhi<^h should stamp U[)on his brow a stii^'ma which I'or charity sake I will not particularize. II Tin: PARISH SYSTEM AND ITS SO-CALLED INOONVEN- ; lENCES FOK PROTESTANTS Mr Cellar doos not like the Parish system. Were we to believe him, it is \ho principle disab- ility under which Protestants of oxir Province labor. He carps at our Parochial ori>'anizatioii and does it without the slightest regard ibr truth. I need not f^ay that he here gives proof of culpable ignorance or of inexcusable bad faith, iu representing the parochial and seignorial system as two correlative institui;ions ; they who have made the slightest study ot^ur institutions under the French domination know that the above state- ment is not correct. Opinion of Dr Dawson : (1) " ... It seems evident that the parish system " is not incompatible with the English tenure ; " that it is and always has been iudepcndent of " the feudal tenure and that there is now existing (1) Letters puljlishcJ iu tho Wec>i and rciiublisbed iii the Montreal Gazette in January and February, 1800, 58 " only ouo systom ol' lawo throui?hout the Pro viuce. " Hut such errors an) more triflt's ibr a maa of Mr. S^illar'is \' .'racily. I mast leave many of thorn aside to concern inys ill' o.ily with his n-roator errors. " The priest, say.s thi.s truljiful writer, is the couveiier and chainnau of all piri.sh meetings and without his sanction nolhiug can be done })y the people." This involuntarily reminds me of the young military cadet giving instructions in drill. — "What is ri^'ht lace ?" asks the recruit. — " It is turning to the right," answers the cad-^t. — " And what is left face ^" — " It ii the same thing, except that it is exactly the contrary." The good Mr. Seliar is like this young drill instructor, he states tliu ih • people can do nothing without the sanction of the prie.-jt ; just so, except that it is exactly the opposite which is true. The canonical and civil erection of parishes, the admi- nistration of paro'.hial matters and all alFairs of like nature are done only with the consent of the parishioners, so ma h so indeed that neither the bishop nor the parish priest can do auything with- out such consent. The part of the air^ is limited to presiding at thos3 meetings, whose decisions are made by the majority of votes. On this sub- ject, Sir Hector Laugevin says, in his Manuel des Paroisses ct Fabriques. " Fabrique meetings are convoked by the ^immm^immmimimmmimmm fss^swumim Ssh "M t ^l*.- .lU •!•'-» 54 c cui-6 or the priest replacing him ou the demand of the trustee in office, marguiller eji charge. The cure or the priest replacing him presides at the fabrique meeting... All business is decided by a plui-ality of votes. " In his Codeldes Cures, Marguilliers el Paroissiens, judge Beaudry fjays, on ptige 32 ; " It is to the bishop,, that belcigs the initiative of the (cauonical) erection of parishes, but he can proceed thereto only on the demand oj the proprietor si who inhabit the territory to be erected into a parish. We can easily understand this require- ment, especially uiider our form of govevnment where every thing is founded on th" wish o!" the majority "— " All these buildings, " f'l ^ same author goes on to say in citing Fremin^'ill,:', " their^ establishment,their erection and raaiiiienance are o great interest to the inhabitants in as much as none of thera can be made without their giving their consent. " With the bad faith which characterizes him, the writer ol the Gleaner insinuates that these pro- visions of the l-\\*7 are illuded by the cur6 who abuses his influence to extort the consent of his parishioners. Declaration of Du Dawson. To the insinuations of this ignorant write I will merely oppose the assertion of a protestant who is distinguished as much for his attachmen 55 to hig faith as by his science and honorable char- rcter. Dr S. E. Dawsou, of Montreal, in his letters io the Week, speaks as follows : " In reading many of the articles written. '■ upon the parish system in this Province, one " might be led to suppose that the Roman Catho- " lie Bishops possess the arbitrary power of erect- •' ing, dividing and uniting parishes of tteir " own mere motion ; and also of building churchei® " and presbyteres at the expense of the people " whenever and however they please. Such is not " the case The tithes and dues are collectable by " law ; bat assessments for other ecclesiastical pur- " poses cannot be levied without the censentof the '^ pe<'r>le, and the laity have more to say about it " than is usually supposed by Protestants. The' " while procedure is regulated by statute and " guarded by numerous formalities, the neglect of " any one of which is fatal " All jffoceedifigs under the intrislt sijstein orii^inaie ■' with the lait//, whether for the erection of a parith. " or for its subdivision or union with another , " The papers, with certilii-ates of (.'ompliance with' " all le■,. Still speaking with his customary good iaith, Mr. Sellar iiilbTms us that the taxes for the building ol' churt;hes, compel many farmers to sell their properties aud leave the country. This is another falsehood. Let him cite a single instance in support of this wicked insinua- tion. To Justify his odious calumnies and to excite hatred against the majority of the inhabitants of the i)rovinoe of Quebec, Mr. Sellar forgets the respect an honorable man owes to truth aud goes .-so far as to give the parochial system as the cause of the d'^populalion of the English and Protestant townships. In support of this audacious asser- tion, he cites a case which gives a good idea of his exactness as a writer and of his power as a logician. According to Mr. Sellar, a Koman Catholic bishop one day had the audacity to erect as a ca- nonical parish a colony of Catholic settlers, who had been increasing and prospering for twenty years past. Can you imagine how far they had advanced during these twenty years of progress 57 and prosperity ? They enjoyed the siiprems' hap- piness of forming a popuhitioii, " composed main- ly of laborers employed by Protestants. " Had they not reached perfect happiness,wheii the bishop had the crueltv to deprive them of this enviable position by erecting them into a canoni- cal parL-sh ? Can you imagine the misfortune which fell upon them, from this erection into a parish ? The cKre, if we would believe Mr.Sellar, was barbarous enough to find for thr»m money at a low rate of interest to Vmable them to buy the properties of their Protestant masters, who little by little disappeared, and this worthy man adds that such is the history of fully twenty Pro- testant settlements throughout the Prorin'H'. "t Exodus ov Pkotkstaxts I leave to Mr. Dawson the task of making known thy causes of this removal of our Protes- tant popuh\tion, w^iich has absolute';! y nothing to do with the parodiial system. " The Eastern towxiships of Quebec were " settled by English immigrants from Britain and " the United States. As, during recent years " the rich lands of the Northwest were opened up '■ the young people became restless. Th^^ pro 'ecus " of the sale of a farm will buy ten times as much '■ land in the Northwest, believed to bjof b.?tter '■ quality. The attraction of city life draw the " youth to the town, the profits of farming in th(^ <' east are destroyed by western competition, and " so the heads of rising fnmili-'s mu-t move west K ■^I^. I C.IAimi|l l |IL|J|l,).,|,J, l |||.i|.i|| ( |||t i ti,.,,. , ^mmmmmmmmmmmm iiin wmm ■■ T 'III 58 " or be left to mau ige their farm alone. Iti this " way, a constant movement is going on, an out- " flow of English and an inilow of French " The theory that the parish system was linked " with the seigniorial tenure will not avail. '' for it is not true. Nor would it be desirable " if true If the English farmers improve their " circurasiauces by selling out, it is surely bet " ter that ready purchasers should be found. It is " better than leaving the farms tenantless. The " movement is not pL^culiar to the Eastern Town- " ships of Quebec. In Vermont, New- Hampshire, " and other New-England States, the number of " deserted farm? lapsing into wilderness is so g.reat " as to cause serious alarm, and plans are projected " of get'ing up societies to promote immigration," This is the truth, frankly and honestly told by a Protestant writer, who-;e social position '-asts in deep shade that of the poDr writer of the Gleaner. As so wt'll stated by Di'. Dawson, what harm can there be in Catholics purchasing, at high prices, the properties of Protestants, when the atter find it to their advantage to sell out and seek their fortune in the great West ? Is it the fault of the Catholics ? is it the fault of the parish system, if a longing for Manitoba and Minnesota lauds has seized upon Protestant farmers ? It is but folly to advance sui:h a proposition, it is an insult to the common sense of Protestants, who would be guilty of most ridiculous fanaticism thus to abandon their farii. for the solo purpose f avoiding contact with Catholics. If they fear tm 59 >tholics, so much the 'worse for thera ; it cer- tainly is not the fault of the parish system. AVhat disability is there in all this ? Protestant schools % k:'^ Mr. Sellar states that Protestants have become |io ft^v that they find it diilicult to ke^p up thur khools. There is as little truth in this as in the other [issertious of Mr. Sellar. Sir John Rose, who j-epresented the county where Mr. Sellar displays lis s. holarship, knew, at least as well as this fcbscure journalist, the position of Protestants with f-espoct to their schools. In his speech on Confe- ieration, he contradicted in advance the untruth- ifnl assertions of the Gleaner man. I cite his words : ^' Now we, the English Protestant minority )i' Lower Canada, cannot forget that whatever Hght of separate education we have was at^corded jto us in the most unrestricted way before the Uuion of the Provinces, when we were in a mino- rity and entirely in the-hands of the French popu- laiioii. We cannot forget that in no way was there my altempt'to prevent his educating our rhildren In the manner we saw .fit and deemed best ; and would be untrue to what is just, if I forget to state I hat the distribution! of state funds for edu- Itational purposes was made in such a way. as to Icanse no complaint on the part of the minority. jl beleive we have always had our fair share of the Ipublic grants in so far as the^French element could [toiitrol them, and not only the liberty, but every ■ft 'i'\ > .p P ll l ..WlH l | i l i Ji. '- -wnwavuHHia 'llHff'd RHIMI / mmm wmmmrm •■ 7«K « •1*, f GO facility, for the establishmoni of separate disst-u- tiout schools wherever they were deemed adn- sable. A single person has the right mid 'r l!ie law, of establishing a dissentient school, and obtaiuinn' a fair share of the educational grant, if he can gather iiftoen children who desire instruction in it." (1) Is that clear enough :" Is it not a peremptory refutation of the reckless statements ofMr. Sellav? Ill regard to (nlucntion, Catholics in Ontario are far from b:nng a^ well treated by the. Protes- tant majority. And yet their position is much better than that of their co-reliu-ionists in Mani- toba or New Brunswick. What would happen it^ in the Province of Quebec, the majority were to set about organizing, in favor of the Catholic minorities of the other Provinces, a movement similar to the one your Association has organi^.'d against u> in lavor of the Protestant minority of Quebec.'' If you are acting as good citizens in rousing the Prote.stants of the other Proviu t-s against the Catholics of Q -ebec, you will admit, Mr. CavcTi. that wo would be fully justified, WtM^ it only on the plea of reprisals, to rouse the Ca- tholics of the other Provinces against the Protes- CD tant rainory of Qu >bec. What then would be the fate of that minority V But fear nothing : the Catholics of Quebec are not aggr.'ssive ; all they a?k is to live at peaci with their Protestant fellow-countrymen and to have the satisfaction of being able to say, that in (1) ConfiHhTiUiin Dc'ifitrn, p. Iio. / 61 the whole world there is not a siugLi country T^s-here the minority is treated with as much justice and liberality as the Protestant minority in our Province. \ III TITlIlvS— THAT E.XGLLSII COUnTS AKE DEGRADED BY BEING CALLED UPON TO ENFORCE THEIR COLLECTION 1 have already s t iorih the aiuouat paid over by the tithe system to the Catholic clergy, and shown that on an average it does not give more than $500.00 to each priest engaged in parochial duty. It is not excessive indeed ; and yet, accord- ing to Mr. Sellar, that amount of revenue allows the clergy to acctimulate consil.'rable wealth and to support tiiese bimevolent and odticalioin,] in.^ti- tutions whi^h are the strength of our na.ioiialiiy. In spite ot"himself,the publisher of the GJeanrr thea'c admits that the cltrgy makes a worthy use of the revenue derived from tithes. Howev('r, as a question of fact, it must be said, that the greater part of the resotirces of our oldest benevolent institutions are derived from donations made nudcr the French Grovernment without doing injury to any one. The Seminary of Montreal, that of Quebec, the TJrsuliues, the Ladies of the Congr'^gatio.i and the Sisters of the Hotel-Dieu at Moiitreal, who do so much good, m T! !i MB ! U ' j l . i W 62 *«• c: '■'^^^^ draw the g-reater part of their reveuue tVoni real| estate, llow cm that allect Protestaiit.s V Mr. 8eUar pretends that the introduction ofl the tithe system in parts of the Province situiUedl outside of the seigniories is a viohition of Eiiolisli| institutions, a usurpation of the privileo-es oirroj testants, be.cause this territory should be govcriiedl exclusively by English law. Further on I w^ill treat of the introduction uii English law iu the country, and I will show thati on this as on other points, Mr. Sellar is in •'iror; but, even were he right on this point, still would be wrong in stating that the iiitrc duction of the tithe system in the townshijvs is violation of English law, because that system: essentially a part of the institutions of (jivaj Britain. TITHi:S IN IRELAND. On this question also, I do not fear to vomj pare the conduct of my compatriots with that gI Protestants. Here, Catholics never dreamt of cicall ing a revenue for their clergy by compelling Pr testants to pay tithes. In Ireland it was quiJ ditierent. In many parishes exclusively catholi| meml)ers of that faith were obliged to pay til)it!| to a Protest ant minister, who did not even rcsid iu^the parish, for the very sufficient reason tliatij contained no Protestants. And in that case it wa not a tithe of the twenty-sixth part of certaii agricultural products, as with us, })ut it was 68 W lithe oT oiie^enth of the products of the soil, of cattle, and even of salaries. That i,s what Protestantism has done in Irelaudl And it is in the nam^ of Protet^tautism, which is gnilty of these abominations, of Protej?tantim which lor more than two ceuturies so cruelly oppressed tht> Catholics oi' Ireland for the benefit of sinecurists among- the Anglican clergy and that by the enforcing of tithes ; it is in the name of this same Protiistanti>m, that yon come to preach a crusade against the tithe system, as it exists iu the Province ol Qucbet-, wln^rt' it does not in the least affect Protestants. A person may be audacious — amlaces forhina juval — yet it seems to me that these considerations should lead you and your colleagues of the Equal Rights Association, to understand that if there are people who cannot with decency speak against tithes, it is assuredly English Protestants who entertain your ideas. ill 'I'lTHES IX ENOLAiVD. Indeed, if there be in the whole world a country where the tithe system has been and still IS a part of the public law, it is England. This is admitted by all th(> authors who have written on the laws of that country. This is what is said by v5tephens in his commenta-ries : " These (Tithes) are a ; ecies of incorporeal " hereditaments, and are capable of being held " either by laymen or by the cle.igy in right of " their churches Tithes are the tenth of the Hi IBSBSPWWiSBSW^P'PI wm / R, f"" 04 " inorenso. yearly arisin.i^ from the profits ami " fiftot'ks npon the lauds and on th«; p»'rsoiuii iii- " du-try of tho inhabitants of the parish. The " lir.'-t speri(>s being usually, called prcei/ia/, a« of " corn, grass, hops and wood, or mixetl^ as of wool, «' milk, pig's; th>^ other />^/'.so//'i/, as of manual oc- «' cupations, trades, fisheries and Uie like. Of the " pnjDdial and mixed tithes only the tenth part " must h?. paid in gross, but of pergonal rights *• only the tenth part of the clear profits."" (i) In virtue of commutation laws passed sime 1880, tithes payable in produce have been replaced by taxes — tUhe'rent-charge — payable in money but equivalent to the amount of tithe payable in pro- duce. This revenue, like the tithes which it re- present , is a privileged claim upon real estate. Tithes also exist in Scotland and the people of Ireland have good reasons to know of their exis- ence in their country. / Hence, tithes form part of English \.\\v and if this law had been applied to those parts of the Province situated outside of the seigniories, tithes would exist there also. AVhat harm can there b(? that it exists only 'concurrently with the Catholic Church ? How do vs it concern Protestants if Catholics pay their nir^s in wheat, oats, or barley, in place of paying them in money if it so please them 7 They only pay "the twenty-sixth bushel, whilst if under the English law for which Mr. Seilar displays such love, they would have to pay one tenth not only upon their grain, but on their cattle, their wool,[their wood, the j)roducts of their (i> /S/fi/7ic/.'i Commentaries cn'Jhe Laws o/En(jlantl. vol II,p,72i r : i ami 111 in- The as oi wool, 111 or- Ofth.' part rights 1)' I siuio 'pla'.'ed .'Y but in pro- it re- estate, :)plo of ir exis- nnd if oi" the J, tithes liere bo 'atholiu ;aiits if barley, o please bushel, h Mr. e to pay on their of their 1< 65 industry, in fact on verythij.T on thoi? fMrms. French Can.Klians do not loii^ to enjoy thi?^ libe- rality of KiiL,^li.sh law, which would make them pay tw^o aiul ahalfasmnch for ihe support of their cler'^y,and reasonable Piote.slants will admit that they are not far wrong. CANADIAN^ VM) TITHES "At the n-'bcllio.i o 18r.7, says Ml. i>«llar, the habitant ; W'Te stin)iilated to take part m it, because one of th;', reloriny x^""*i^'^'-' above simply proves that Mr. Sellar lies for the mere pleasure of lying or else that he is ignorant of plainest part of the question on which he writes. The pew rents belong to the Fahrique ; that which is paid for Church services and other rights — surplice fees, mortwiries of the English Church — also belongs to the Fahriqiie^ except a slight percentage in favor of the air6. In his :, ''' •ifC' ' ,41 V.i l ymij m Mmggfi^/jfgK^ S3 66 Mmiiel //rs Puromex, Sir Ilfctor Lungeviu i)()sil,ivolv aH.stMts " tlml tho <,^o()(ls and rovrniU'K ol' tin? I-'iibri- 'que luv compost'tl ol': lo real est iitc in owiuTship *' or tMiJoym'-iit ; 2o n'lits ; '^o pcw-Vi'iits; 4o '• umount orrolK'clious ; ')o amouiiL Uisjiositt'd in ••poor boxes; ('O donations; 7o t'urnitnr;' and *' moveable elfeels ; 80 Ihe nisurl Calholies have absolutely notliiiii^' flst- to pay. If th^•80 revouueB bidoug- to the fuihrii/nf\ which is irnaiiaii'- d by the Trustees or marfftn'f/ii'rs, as ui^viits and mandataiiies ol' the parishioners, what fshould we think of the assertion of Mr. Si'llar who states that they all l)elonp; to the cur^ ^ That the tithes may be ])ii(l in certain cases "with ropuii^iiance," is quite i)Ossiblc, for amon Catholics as well as amoui^ Protestants, th^-re are people who do not like to pay their debts. But th(»si,* are isolated eases, they are the exception and not the rule, and in speaking in general terms tr as he has done, th'* 01^ ealninnv, ^'imrr man is guilty o »f Apostle of iiirelkhon i. All these reckless assertions are ridiculous and can only injure the ropnfation of \\\\\ man wlio j)ub- lish'rs thein ; this jaitifi's ui" in not insisting furt4ier ou the subject ; but in speaking of the ool lection of tithes and of th" right to en,forco thi?ir payraeut by legal process b dbre the courts, Mr. fleliar openly becomes the a|>ostle of irreligiou apostai'y, and even of atheism. According to him, tha English courts arc guilty of a crime in lending Ih ii a^sistan(!e for the recovery of tithes, and he ■■M 67 wauts to know if tht» tribuaals of the British Enpiro should participat.j n ciilbroiii!^ '' these (ItMiiunds and bocouie th'^ collcrtors of those con tril)ntions." Two authorititvs havo the vii^ht to tnit'oroo the payment of tithes : civil authority and reliirious authority. Tf you remove the fti-st, the other aloiio will remain But the Oatholie, who eaten up by ayavice, would prefer hi.s uionoy to his relig-iou, need only apostatize in Old !r i,o I'rers himseUTrotu the reli^^'iouis authority of the Chur -h. To free him iroin the civil authority and submit him to eccle- siastical authority alone, would bv3 place him o)i the road which would nee 'ssarily l^ad to irreli- pon, aposta'-y and even atheism. And it is this whirh-Mr. Sellar claims, in th .iraeof Protestan- tism and Christian principles ! I do not hesitate to wav that in b^'omiui? the eharapion of this t^^ominahle doctrine, tin; GImner man pn^iches a theory which is immoral and i^nii-religious, whir-h deserves the r-'probation of »11 ^rood Christians and especially of the lilqual Ui<>hLs Associatiou.if it have the least re.sp-.ct for religious sentimnits. In suppo'-t of this ass -rt ion, will cite the opinioii,:- oi \Y<-dIerburnc, a Protestant, whose oj^tnious ar • at lea^t worth - much as ihose of the gviitieman of the Gleaner. In ihe course of thu 'l '})a! .' on the A(;t of 1774, soui' members of the Hoiis' of Commons proposed ikc yu,^pre;-sio!i. of titli.-s. This i-emarkable man. whom I have just nam '1, o^)po,>od ilu motion, or the reasoLi that it was of a nature to encourage nposlacy and irreligion. M I! i J' ' , ' at,aNi^.a!.:gj,'g « '- ' .: ^ ■ ■' -■'-«B¥ m iii i i iL i uij ii iii i iJj ii ttu i i* " 8 «*'v^^^' ^ '^ ^ 68 !» .^^ 4 '■■> " But then it is t^omplnined.says the Solicitor- " Q-eneral (I) that these clerts ? or Avonld you have " these priests subsist upou the casual beuefactious "of individuals V Is it isot better that they *' should subist under the authority of the State. " thau thos''priest8,Avho so zealously endeavour to ** gain an umpire over th^^ minds of the people, " should be plaeed in a state of dependence on " thein for their maintenance 1 " (2) First I agree that the Ivornan Catholic " religion ought be tiie established religion of tli« " ccuntry, in its ]>r«^sent state I do not mean " to assert that this should be perpetually the " state of Canada ; or that we are by law to " enact that the people are not to b( eonverted ; " or that the tithe shall remain ii' he Popish " clergy ; or that the tithe shall sink , ; would not " Jiohl out the lemplallon, that if you are avonvert, you " shall not jxty tithe,. If the majority of a parish are '• Popish, there ought to be a Popish clergy in that ''parish."' IV THE INTRODUCTION OF THE PARISH SYSfEM IN PAETS OF THE PROVINCE elTUATED OUTSIDE OF THE SEICrNIORIES IS A VIOLATION OF A FORMAL ENGAGEMENT AND A USURPATION The parish system forms part of the old French law. Mr Sell.ar claims that the introduction of tl] JAYHirsiau, Dekatesoii. tM c«n«da Sill •/ 1774, i;,M. [87 •• •• " >r a al« '^MC««*b.'''W-MMI*4lt»W<: ^M Amw m w um m a feA w ^ 69 this system in parts of lb..' Prorince situated out- side of tlie Seigniories is a vioiatiou of the Act of 1774 and a xiisnrpatioii. If I prove that this Act introduced French law throughout tht- whole ex- tent of the Province of Qtn'hec, I will be proving that Mr- Seliar is in erro;' and that the parish sys- t.Mn has, Miuee the passing: );' ; :ii-. \'-\., 'N:i^ted as of riijht throu-xho^it rh ^ whole - ,. of our coun- if Th- l>oundari -^ u'^v :i-e of QuebiM.' b}^ Act of 1774, ■■om!)i'!.s:*d aii our pr-^seut On- ^•[lli- .d:sc,i:;yippi. ■ iji'h law .'!• olher ■\.\'. Vl ' IS L,;,,. bis territory, '^^^ th" t.-rritory of th-. tar-io, Michigan, Wi ■• ■ ' ' ' uois, as they exteiidsi to i •^. '' that immense terriioi}' w'iUwii was to prevail t' '> law, exeert as to crimuiai i.!\\ part.s of lilugiish law. TSi - •■: l)\ fsitive on this point : Sect. Y " It i^ u^ r ^ " Majet^y's friubjeet-s pvo'e^^iii^r tb" r-li«rion of the " Ohurou of Rome oraiu ;:. ,n sm Pro^rince of ." Qaebi'C, may have, bold ae.d enjoy, the free '• vA^'v i.v' <^f sher :'l):;vion of the Chnrrhofliome ; ... "and th;il the rl ray of the said Chu''*-h may " bold, rtveive aufl enjoy their accufrtomed dues " and rights, with respect to such p.^rsons only as •' 8haU profess the said religion. (14 Geo. Ill (1774) " e. 83, s, v.) Sect, vill" that ail his Majesty's caua- " dum snbj^ cts Avithin the Province of Quebec ' may also hold and enjoy their property and ' posiiession-s, together with all cm.'ums rmd um^es ::-;«a?fflrt^s«?«"'" g»vw ^ i Mi}>, i ) i i.L iii u iii.ii !!i > ii ' ii' |^ ii | i n.i mi MwaiiiiDB' aMM vK)(!tieK&tsaiS0kfi^iS^& '^f? fr% to " retatire Iherelo and all other their civil rights; " and that in all matters of coiitrover.«y, relative " to property and civil rights, resort shall be had " to the laws of Canada, as the rule for the deci- " sion of the same ; and all causes that shall here- " alter be instituted in any of the Courts of Jus- " tice, to b^^ appointed within and for the said " Province by his Majesty, his heirs and succes- " sors, shall, with re pect to such property and " rights.be determined agreeably to the said laws "and customs of Canada... (14 Qeo III (im) " 0. 88. s. VIII. " Declaeation of Lord Thurlow The t.'xt is quit>3 positive ; bat its siMise be- comes much clearer, if we see the inte*" retation given to the Act by the Ministers ■^'^h ^ repart-d it as well as b}' other members of the liouse of Com- mons. In explaining the tenor of the Bill, attor- ney-general Thurlow said in ior»nal terras : (1) " In order to make an acc[uisition either " available or secure, this seems to mo to b« the line *' that oaght to be followed — you ought to change " those iavv's only which relate to the French '' Sovereignty, and in their place substitute laws " which should relate to the new Sovereign ; but " with respect to all other laws, all other customs " and institutions whatever, which are indilF^'reut •' to the state of subjects and sovereign, human- " ity, justi' e and wisdom equally conspire to " advise you to leave them to the i>eople just as the were." [ij CaTe^disr, JDibaHson CmnttlaliHl o/mi,p.3Q. tl Section IX of the act of 1774, reads as follow.s. ■' IX, Provided always that, nothing' in this " act contained shall extend, or be construed to •• extend, to any lands that have been granted " by His Majesty, his heirs and successors, to be •' hokLni in free and common soccage." (14 Oeo. •• III, (17V4) c. 83 s. IX.) It is upon this clause that Mr. Scilar grounds his claim that the Act of IV74 restricted Froach law and the parish system to the seigniories. Let us examine the illterpr^'tation which should be given to this article of the constitution of '774. OB.JEt r OF TiiE Acr of 1774. — Application of Skctiox VIII. No one will. I suppose, deny that the object of this law was to completely separate the Fr-nch Canadians from the English coloni.-^ts and to esta- blish the iatt'^r in th" Province of Nevv-Euo'limd, as much as possible on the borders of the sea. This was stated in <\xpress terms by solicitor-general Wedderburne. Hut the difhculty was to ascertaiu if tihe southern boundary, as deiiiu'd in the Bill, did not encroach on the territory of the province of New-York and if it were not of such a nature as to ali'ect the rights of the inhabitants of that colony, who possessed lands under english tenure and were goveriied by the law of England. It was asserted that by changing or defining the fronti' r. the King could deprive the colonists of New- York and of other Engliijh colonies of the advantages of English law and submit them to m f^^^^^ !■■ .i 12 ■•Ahat wiiscalkd lli.^ kuv ry of iheFrcucli reghiie, by including Ukiii in th ■ lerritory of the province oi'Quebic ^\]iicli wu- to bo txclnsively subjected toFn'Urh liiwF. To u'.'av thuhe fcaiv-, thoic were n trod lUi d ill till bill the vrovm) coniainid in aection II and ih.- on.' cit d by Mr. Selhir ^vhich ite y ito lOiolhuy.ljut '.h:.s i'iovit?o,as itclrurly and !p]>> a:t, ijy the debate in the House I'ld Oiiiv 10 the hinds above- on i^ vr -ir •J. )!> Ill th th J :( io\\ of {] d. at is to ay, to the border parts of -h colonics Avh'.eh miLiht ];e included in : f of Qu 'bt c bv ill ' delimiiation oi the and noi , 1 1 la 1.; tnal pan o f tin mnrisvd l.'..t\ve( >1 . in' sejiiiiiorieu an*.. 1 olaui ■•> ■wn.en to-d: iv forms the L'arki', \v;:o de>. o.ed himself specially !onh \eiv clcj'.r in the coarse uv>on Ihc ill L nXiOX uF Buiiivi:. — KxrLA^;ATio.N of TIU.N Vlll. 1 h tl earti I hat ( : ■' " Li th.' Ii5-r,t n^a e, \vhin thi.N bill \vao to ! o b.oiiyh: :n on thv prineiple th .1 [)i:ili;,ineL.t vrvie to d..^^v u line of ( irciun- and to eijta])lish a a a at O; ( 0.0..1 bCJLi- (il uiu-trai y ])cavci h cr.iiii^-un around about k' Canada i, la.- ol 'Ue L i\.l < /' Uh'r jK u_ le. different in manners, uL's, lum il.onxi of ihe inhabitants il, .U.I \ 1 1' l)«.^iUinvt- i\ \x A. .0 o. ;ht u of ihe hiu'hi'st ,1 1 endeaver to * iaKc im- ihis boundary : i .ear a- ptssiblc. i coiieeived it ne. ce>^8arv foi xh- s rur^tv oi ihos;-^ ^vho are to be .\i:: I'l-haiin t». the Cuu(((hi Uil' • of property ; but they represenr, it is a line ill-.suiied ibr a growing country.... This line, tli-y say, is only fifteen leagues dis'ant from Montreal, and yd it is oiily oa this side that the lands ar(^ fertile and that at>'riculture can be cUitivatt (.1 iomtidi advantage...... So iar as thi^ biil conveys to ihe n.'slivcs of that counrry every right, ciA^l and religious, hfld either by the gr. at rharter of nature, or by th - treaty of 1763. or by the King's proelamatiovi. or l.y \'.]i;tt above all il ought to he held by. the l-Jiity, the equity^ the Justice o!' a'ood governmein.— I would a'ive the enjoy meul of tli.e-.e m ih- largest and most beu4^ficial manner ; but the very same line of justice, which 1 would extend to the subjects of (heat Britain ought not, in my opinion, to be > needed to the old Canadians. '• llaA'ing drawn the line that best becomes !l mm^mn 14: n the reirulaliou oi" rig-ht, the question oomcs now — whether what tht^y ask is a favor which can be g-ranted them, without doing a material injury to the most substantial rig-hts of others ? whether the eiiect of thi^ power given by this clause may not be to reduce British free subjects to French slaves ? Now if the line drawn from. Lake Nipissing is to be altered, at whose expeus*j will it be altered ? The ^'olouy of New- York claims all the country south of that line till it meets with some other British colonies of known boundaries ; und these are claims which ought at least to be heard, brfare tlvi pcopte of thit r.olonii are handed over to the Frencli government. " '• How^ ver, after this line had been settled to forty-five degrees, it was found that the French and English maps differed very considerably as to the position of this degrej ; and this diifer- euce occasioned a great deal of confusion, so that tke rolouy of New- York, which bound next to Canada, had perpetual controversy about the limitary line, though they agreed that the line should be settled at fort^'^-five degrees, they never agreed where the forty fifth degree of latitude was. To remedy thi^ confusion, in 1*767, the colonies, by a very provident order of the Crown, determined to hold a meeting on the frontiers, at which they took an actual observation, and fixed the lati- tude of forty-five degrees to the head of the northern part of Lake Champlain. When they had fixed this limit, the colony of New- York gave up all that part included iu the triangle, 75 " the base of which was a liuo drawn at the angle " oi'forty-lh'-e deg'ree«... lluving got thai Une " drawn, a parallel was to be run from east to " wost, till stopped by some other colony ; but " when the line wa.s fixed of forty-five degrees, •' the line itself was not drawn bnt only the point " settled from which it shoald hd drawn. The '' east line is aclaally drawn on the niip ; but " the line in the north-west part was left totally " undeiiued, — the point being tixed simply to the " head of Lake Champlain. The consequenotj '' was that the whole 'vest boundary of New- " York extending above two hundred miles, a " little more or less, iaciudiag all the.ijeiL settled " part-s of that province a:id inhabited by various per- " sons, civil and militar/j, all this has been supposed to go " tinder that desmj)tio?i to the Province of Quebec by the " provisions of this bill. To those who objected t j so " frightful a co;iclui^ion, it was said, it was in the " power of the Crown after this Act, to adjudge to " this Province what belonged to it /// ihis /.»• a /"nic whirh is to ' sf'paraJe a man from /he, vv'<,''//,< (>f (in Enii;IUhman. ' Fir-t, the clause provides iio'Jiiiiq- •x\: all for the ' territorial jurisdiction of the province. Tiie ' Crown has the power of carrying l;ht» j^reatest ' portion of the. actually setth}d part of the Pro- ' vince of New York into Oanadi. It provides ' for individuals, that they may hold their pro- * p ■'"ty ; hutihc.ij mmf hnit il auhjed fo the French 'Ju/l^'es, lodhoutthe benefit of trial hij jimf Explanations of Loiid Noiitit, " Lord North spoke alter Burke : (1) " The " object ion I have is precisely wh-it th*, honorable " gentleman has mentioned. I am not clear whe- " tlier there are not upon the south-east part of '' th'^ Tliver St. Tj'uvreuce Canadian settlements. I * h"-e bt'en informed there are. I am sure there '" ar.' no Nt^w-York settlements in thd part of " th;^ world. 1 think it more prudent to have ''the boundary line settled on the spot ; resermnsi: " in the act all tliese ia/ids that have been granted under " tini^ antliorilij to the old seltlera.'] Protection of New- York, settlers " I shall satisfy the uoble lord, replied Burke " that there is no incoavenieuce in the world iu " drawing this line ; no injustice iu the w^orld to [1] C.VVExnrsii. Bebalcs 0/ thr Canndm Bill of 1774 p. 192. 11 *' Canadians, more inJiiHtice lu dnuvinsj^ an imai,'i- " mvy liM'\ that may involve th>i \vhol<' (^oJouy " of N'.\v-York in confusion. I shoald b.j extrouu'- »' ly t^-iidor of the privilogo of tho suhj '.>t ; und " thereiwe I would not disturb any man liviuir in " his property. But the fact; i , !io mm is injured '' by what I proiwac ; but by what th ; nobl^ lord " proposes, if Canada is in futunv to hav,; bonn- *' darif^s determinod by th:- choice of th ^ Crown ; '' the Crown is to ha\^^ th^ pow-T of puttiniy a " great part of the subjects of Engiaiid undfn- " Unvs, which are not the laws of fingland '' Upon the noble lord's proposition, half the colony " of New- York mav b.3 adjudged, and som • of it " must be adjudged, to belong to i\v^ colony of '' Canada. The late of forty or Hi'ty thousand souls " is involvv>'d in this quf.'stion. A;, present the " colony of New-York i^ the crown's. Tin noble " lord may adjudge it to belong to Pennsylvania, " but he cannot deprive it of the 1-aws ofEagl ind. " Now, however, by an act of Parliament h.^ is " going to do it. The Crown ha- tho power, at a " stroke to reduce that country to slavery The " parties here are English liberty and French law ; " and the ivJu)fe province of New-Yoi'k further than it " is defined by actual bounds, is in the power of the " Grown, not to adjudicate but to grant and hand " over to the French. I do not suppose if the " Crown were under the necessity of adjudging, " that it would adjudge amiss ; but it is in the " power of the Crown to grant even its x>ower of " adjudging. When put on the English side, they " ar« put in the power of the laws ; where put on 'ssssss^sf."^sss^saimmi>' - /^i mmmmmsm h ii, •78 t " the French J«ide. thoy ar*' piil out of the powor •' of the law.s. " Those citations are rathar long ; but it was necessary to i^ive thein in oa'der to show tliat the proviso mentioned by Mr. Selhir applies purely and exclusively to those parts of the Proviuco of New-York which the Kiu'Ji' niig'ht iiicliule in the Province of .Quebec, and that it applies only to the inhal)ita'ils of the territory which might thus be annexed to t^he Province of Queb;;M*, but not to non-disputod i)arts of that Province. On this point, Ih'-re can be no doubt and it is only people who are in ig'uorance or in 1)ad fnith who would pretend the ixintriiry. Sense (.)K Section viii As I have ])revioasly said, section VllF, on whi(.'h Ml-. Scllar fouiids his claim, is only the corollary of section 11 :t.nd was added only for the purpose of giving au a.ssuraiice, to colonists of that part of the Province of New-York which might be auu'^xcd to fhat of Quebec, bv th ? determiiiinir of tlie boundaries, that even ii' they became there- by inhabitants ofthe French province, they would still be governed by English law. Otherwise slause VII which assures to Catholics tht^ free exercice of their rdigion aiid implies tht; exis- tence of Ih jvirish system, would be void of sense. And at any rriic if the object of the bill had been to limit the application of French kws and cus- toms to the seigniories, it would have said so in formal terms. But it does not so say, and attor- le^-general "Rhudow as well as all who explained the tenor of the bill to the House of Commons, 19 state that it puts in forct^ Fnuioh law and customs ill the whoh; tatouL ot'th*^ Province, For the teuurd orhuid us vvoll as tor all othi-r purposes. irrrrjiPRET.VnO.V of the iM1>EIIIV1. (rUVKRr^.VIKXT If thnro rt^rnam any doubts ou thi.s point, th.^ proofs, whi'-h I will not cit^', should :nak'Uliem on- tirely di.sappt'ar aiul It-u-'" lUy .|U'sitn-i f'llly solved. No o]i(^ better kiifw th^ true mean i no;' of the A''i. ■>' 177 t. as (, I : ,, ■ i i ■ 1)1' i 1 1 ' ^m t|^ . imperial Govemm'-nt \v}ui'!i h:v\ ^c. ,» i,r ■([ .irul passed the Bill. In 1775, the Crovernmont r*^\'oked its previous instru'-tions with rojyard to the run ession of lands and i*Mv<' uiu lotions lo ;h' (colonial authoritif.s, ord^rius? th . future all concessions 0!' lands b\ Crown should be made aecordiug to the seig-norial ! '11. in fiefs and seigniories, that, is to say ! wi- ding to French lay; this clearly prov^^^ that the Act of 1774 appliv^d French law and customs, the parish system liks' the rest, to :)1] th' Province without any reserve. On Jthia point, we have the evideiic'e of John Davidson, the Commissioner of Lands, who was thoroughly c6)ivcrsant with the question. In the course of the enquiry insti- uted by Lord l.Kirhain, on th ' Inrid. 1 nure m 1889, this is what Mr. Davi«isoa .nulI ; " From the at qui>itioii of the Province in 17<33 . P to about 177"). land w;)?^' ^'ranted under instruc- " tions from the Crown iramed in England under ' location tickets in free and common saccage " T-si 1775. these instructions appear to have been IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) V /. ^ -'1 fc WJ.r i< C/a :/. 1.0 I.I U III 2.2 20 1.8 1.25 1.4 1.6 «« 6" — ► ^^ % /, o .•'*>■ o 7 ///. Photographic Sciences CoiDoration 33 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER NY 14580 (716) 872-4503 « A< s iV \ ^\^ O^ ^^ ^^ i "^s- i mm 80 "> -% *». "s " Biipersododby iustructioiisirom thi) Homo Cfov- '• ernmeiit, which directed that all lauds tht^u or " thorcai'tcr to be subject to the disposal of tho " Crown, sliould bo granted in iiel and seigniory, " in like manner as was practised antoeedent to " the conquest but omitting any reservation of "judicial powerfj. Under these instructions, three " seicfuiories appear to have been granted. These " instructions appear to have been modihed in " 1796, by instructions to Lord Dorchester, where- " by it was ordered that grants should be made " to immigrant U. E. Loyalist and to disbanded. " soldiers... These grants to be held under the " Crown as seignior, and subject to all seignioral " dities.-' (1) Is this clear enough ? In the face of such testimony, what becomes of the pretensions of Mr. Sellar concerning lands situated outside of the seigniories and of the ex- clusion of the parish system from such lands by the Act of 1774. For an hon-'st man, for a serious writer, the question is viot open to discussion. \ Declaration of Pitt All this moreover is corroborated by the Act of 1791. As the English settlers were complain- ing of being subjected to French laws, in the Province of Quebec, the Imperial Government divided it into Upper and Lower Canada, for the special purpose of satisfying the English settlers, by giving them a Province jwhere they would exclusively enjoy the benefit of English laws and institutions and also in order to preserve for the [11 Minutes o/ JEoidenee, CommUai9n ^ JUnquiry Jvr ©^•wn- Xn. to lUvi'b the '• Proviin <•, and to contrive that on.' division " should coui-'iL-t, as i. ^ \ ii< possible, of these wh o \v<'re w 1 t m towards the Enu-lish " laws, and th- otht-r <>" .Lu.-:.i> who were attnched " to the Frenidi laws, i was pcri'.M'y- ;>u^ that " in Lower Canada, there still remain d .i ;^ umber "of English subjects; li'it. these would hold a " much smaller proportion than if there \vas one *' from of government for every part of th' pi-( -< " viuce. It was for Upper Caiuida parti'Uilarly that " they were to expect a gn at addition of English *' inhabitants. (1) The pioclamation referred " to was made in 1V(33 ; and bij the act of 1*774, ail " English laws liad been abolished except the rrimiiful, " law. (2) " At present the Canadians were in poss<'ssiou " of thecriminal law of England and the civil law " in many respects, but not as to landed jiropert)/ " It was intended to continue the laws now in " force in Quebec (3) The Upper Canada " being almost entirely peopled by emigrants " from Great Britain or from America, the Protes- [1 ] ParUamentnry History of Fnflimd vol. 2". column 403, [21 Parliamintnry liisrtory of Englan 1 voi. 2i. coliini!i 4n', [3] Parliamrutaiy History of Kngliah. vol. 2 % column 1378. r i iiirfiffiiiriT i Mf'-"'^"**''*''*^"': ! '' '' i' • ■ "*"" '^<'*^'^^«^' 82 '- laiit religion woi^ld bo the OfetiiblishmjMi.t tiiid " ther would h:iv.' the benefit of the English "' feiiiu-e law (1)." Fox express* .1 himsoll even iji more positive terms : '• When liirc ProA'ince was divided it] was ** meant to leave the French laws in the one dis- '" tiict and the English laws in i.\u^ other ; the eon- " sequence of which woukl bj?, that in Lower • Oanada, which -onsisted prwici])aly oi Freuch " mhs-bitant^. all the Freutih laws would cou'tiwue "m force till altered by the leg sktion of the ""■ caiintry. (2) All this, it must be admitted, proves without aijsf doubt that thi» Act of 1774 established French iaws and the seigniorial tenure, rn the whole extent of the territorv ot the Province of Quc^)ec. witheut any reserve whatsoever. Mr. Cellar cannot therefore make good his a:-*fe4rtions about the Act of 1774, whose sense and bearing cannot leave any doubt, Ciin he rest his pretensions on the Art of 1791 V Certainly not. TIms statute does not establish English law as the iiKV of the land, as regards land tenure, but only re4i.«iers it. applifaition permis!*ble iai t)io Pr©Tince 'fsf Lower Canada. This rs its ^OKt : " aiid fhat in ererj'' ease where lands ' ^a.11 be herh .«y?tem a> well :is the rest. There were at that tiin-.-' in Upper Canada Freiich-Canadians and Catholics Avho wer-^ deprived of the free exercise of their institutio];s, fud if, in imitation of the evil exainide whi( h von "rive us, we desired, ab you and your iriends,1o rouse ]-)rejiulices of rae and religion, we could with every right claim, for the Catholics of Ontario, that which you urge upon the Equa: liights A^sociatioll of Ontin'io to claim without -"ifjlit 0" r r.soii for the Protestants ol" Quebec. PeOTEC'I IVi: PlJOYlSlONS Thus, the pari.^h system might biu-n forced in the whole Province of Quebec; but we have placed limils on this power by adopting, in favor ol the IVote.vtant minority, ])rotective nuafcures. It i(s k]owi) that according to our laws, the territory erectt d into a ])ari.^hby the ( ivil authority i n the bijiguiorics, bi comes tlier. by a municipal corx>oration. 85 The io\vii!sliij)j! liave been oxomptod from the above law by speciai provisions so as iioi to ali'eot their mu)U(;i]>a] ora-jjui/atioii ; the coiicurreuce of the two (birds ol' tlie membiirs oi" th.' county couiuii is required lor such a chani;-c. (S.» • article 20 ft seq. of the Mniiiripal Code ot lb.' I'rovince of Qnrliec.) Here wo see the careful attention which the majority of this Province displays in t\v^ exercise of its rights, in orJci- not to linrt tb • f'cling's and susceptibilities of the minority. And it is in prv\sence of facts lik - tlvse, that fanatics complain and insult us I FIXAL K1']MAUKS You will easily u-'ulerstand. iSir. that in the midst of tlic numerous and pressing occu- pations of a parliamentary session, it is impossible for me to nrepare as complete a refutation, as would wh-h to mak'\ of ihe errors, false represen- tations and calumnies which go to make up Mr Cellar's {^amphbt. I t-nly have touched upon the most serious ones. My iMlow couutrymeii under- stand it W'll and thi-y iv\' reasonable and just enough not to demand ibat I should further defciiil tb-m ; but they ;ir.' n-q nested to rom- ph^te my work. Incompbne as it may be, f trust thai: this rc^futation will show to the honest Protestants what they must think of th.' pamphlet which, has provoked it, aiul to the Equal jiights Associa tion, the comjiromisiug po-ition into which it has been placed by its fellow-laborer. M. tr^ellar. HONORl' MEECIER, Pi'ime-M mister. / ANALYTICAL INDEX L— The Disaiuijties of Protestants in the Pro^ viNcs: OI-' Quebec D^i ¥. Mu. Sella u's letter PAGE Question treated from the piwiit oC viesv of thi.< protestant farmer .'{ The Church of Ko;uo hi the Province of Ontiuio and tko Provinoe oi' Quebec 4 Absokiti.sm and wealth of the Churoh of Koine in the Pro- vince of Quebec 5 The pari.sh system 5 The Catholic Pri'St and the Inuldiag of Chui'ches 5() Tithes 7 Tithes and the Law 9 The Union of Church and State in the Province of Quebec endangers the peace of'/anala 10 Th e Church of Rouie and the Eastern Township.-s 11 Cause oi' Protestants leaving the Province of Quebec 12 The extending of tha parish system to the townships is the violation of an engagement and a usurpation 13 State of till- Province of Quebec at the time of its cession r.mto England 13 The Imjierial authorities corrupt ilie Clergy — The Act of 1774 ro-establishet-: tithes 14 The parish systoru was to apply only to the seigniorial do- main and not to land concedC'l in free and common soccage 14 Colonization in the Eastern Townships—" English Quebec" and" French Quebec" , 15 The erection of canonical pai'ishes and the Legislature Encroachments of the Church of Rome 16 Conclusions : — '• it is an outrage and a crime to maintain a law which oflfers a bonus to the (clergy of the Church of Rome to dispossess men and women of their homes on account of their creed and nationality.-' , 19 8t II.— Answer of mie honorable Mri Mercter. Tlio Bquiil Rijtdits Association and tlio letter of Mr. Sellar. __-lwo ntjasons pminpt Mv. >Coiviei- to rel'wto tliat lottet": Id The E<\\ud Kidits AsHooiution luis taken the i'esponsi»l)i!ity of tlu' W>ttiM' ; 2') 'i'his letter is a tissue of erKoi's of \\\eii, ofhi^ttory i\i\d apjwcoiiUion 22 TiK Cvrnouo Cui-'ucii : — The Catholic dootiMUt) as to the relaf.ji)ini'>n of Mgr. C'sivaguis 26-38 Subinis-^ioii of the Catliolic Cliureli to civil fnithority oat- Kide of the piiroly religious domain — Din^Iaration a? J<' lloi-sley, in tiie ([ounn of Lord' 29 Ak !i (1iui\?h, the Church of W;Oino do»\s not pos-ess ore inck of land in tho j-.i'ovincc of likieh'^c ;W liiniiiliirbion of the riglit to possess land for pia-poscs of r^ligiou** worship K-o vised StfrtiU.Q3 of the Provinoo of Quebec, artk'lo 34;W :?() Ecolesia^stioftl ]iropertt'">s »re not plaoRiJ outside of the law ro^pootiwg iimnoveublos..,. 31 Proportloe de.voted to religious wor«liip beoorae in mort- uifwn by the rc^istratio!! "f their piirchdrse d(ve Munu«:)>al Code, art. 712, us beneficial to Prdtestnnts as to <'atholies.- 33 iN-iRnlx^r of Catlmli^' (Jlergymeii aeeonliHg to the census of 1881 and ti>e Catliolic Cah^dnr....... 34 Revemies of Catholrt', prio.-ts. their ijonin'ouily ^fi-37 Kl-T,IOIOUS COMAIL.VITTKS: — lioligioius (JojuLUiuiities: — .th'dr iihM;>fninej»« as regards t^o work of es of'clinri table religious «o les ov^er lav establishnieiUs, as vc:'-'ii',t-; r'^)-t .'ui i ■ P i'>'.: ■ acoowntii of R^y ■ ■ ^ -'''W (lood work done b/ reli>ixioiis CA>muiurutie6 — Testknony of Mie Hon. J! (i. Ko!M'rH^*n 41-42 I'ublia Imtruct^-Mi and the trae'hitig orders from an econo- mical point of view • ... 4o Taxfmon and reWgious eoiuin-unities. In w.luil e.\(naption "f taxc*fi cortKists, ami tlic reasons MieretLMv 44-46 Ei^ti • L^ed number (i\' iu(MnlK>rs of Mie < 'lergy juid of reli- g..i* !*^ 88 Thm • a/su sy.>TK»i : — The pai'i'.i lystvm isiiulopoii.lontof the ^eiijiiioniil tenure. ( »)iiiii()n of Dr Dawson 5l; RoIh of till? Cant and of tlu^ hiity in rcganls tho c.ktioniciil anil I'lvil (Ui'Otion of pafislio-, tho a-liuiiiihtration of fahri/jnev, tlie ovilleotiou of t.'uos, oto — Opiiiiourf of Sir I-lo(!tor Ijvn.ijovin, .Ju-lgo I'nau Iry and Dr Dawson. ^^-rj^ Causes whicli, ac^•o^itant8 of the li)a-tt' an ('.s."2()\ It is untrnii tj say that tho authors of ilie revolution of 1S;;7 iii'^ riliod the abolition of tithes on their pro- gratnine of reforms Apart from tithes, all tlie revtuiues of the Chuitjh holong to tho Fdhri'jue ixnd not to tho ('irn^ 65 Why it is inM^'h^aiy lliat iho civil authority should enforce tlie i)ayiu«.'iit of tithe!« 0[>;uioii of Solicitor-tjeneral Wo'Ulorbnrno on tlio subject 66-68 The pauish systi^m and tji*! i,a\v :— - The Act of 1774 established fronch law as regartls tho Catholic loligioii, piopcrty and civil rights 69 Declaration of Lord Thurlow aa to the interpretation o the Act of 1771 70 What was the extent of the Province of Quebec at the time of tile coming into force of the Act of 1774. — Opinion of Burke and Lord ^orth 72-70 The proviso of the Act of 1774 regarding lands lield in free and common soccnge was inserted to protect the set- tlor,^ of New-Vork.."^ 76-78 Interpretation of the .\ct of 177 I by the Imperial Govern- ment —Opinion of Mr.'.Davidson 78*79 Opinion of i'itt .- " By the Act of 1774 all the English laws were abolished, except the criminal law " 81-8U Declaration of Fox in the same sense 82 The establishment of the parish system in those parts of the Province situated outside of the scugniories is the ■■.,;^" exercice of a right which always belonged to the Catholics 84 Protection of the Protestant minority 85 Mr SKLLAirs REPLY. To Dr Caven of Toronto SiK, — Whon, in compliance with the i('i|uest of the executive eonmiittee of tlie K(Hiiil lliifhts tus- sociation, of which you are president, I s^nit the first of a series of letters (h!scril)in;L( the position of the English minority in the Province of Quebec, I little dreamt that it would bring upon you the charge of having issued 'a tissue of errors as to facts, history, and appreciation." When such a charge is brought by no less a per.sonagf thnn the Premier of Quebec in his othcial capacity, I )-ealize the painful situation in which you, as a just and truthful man, are placed, and hasten to relieve you by supplying proof that you are not guilty of fanning prejudices against the French and Catho- lics of Quebec by publishing a tissue of falsehoods. In doing so, I wish it understood that I will confine myself to the charges that apply to the pan»phlet. Mr Mercier indulges in many digressions, drags in subjects the panjphlet does not mention, imputes to it statements it does not contain, and which he pro- ceeds to gravely refute. In this I will not follow him, for these digressions, as every reader of the pamphlet will see, find no occasion in it. 6 / fK) THE STI{KN(iTH »»F THK • H T l{('H. Mr Mciricr drvotcs most space to crltifisin of the statciiuTits relative to tlie strength and wealtli of tlie Church of Koiiw- in (^)iiel»ec. He ridicules the assertion that its priests and relij^^euses nundier MOOO. That is a (piestion of fact that can he d((- cisively settled i)y appeal to the eliief authority on the suhject, "Le Canada Kcelesiastit|Ue," the year- l)ook of the Konian ( *athoIie church. It jjjives the nundier of paiish jiriests at I')")!), re^fulai' dei-^y in orders 1:2()7. ami niendiei-s of fenuile coiuniunities 472.']. The hook says the riiturns are incomplete, and, as several new orders were not ineludev ta.xes to build and maintain churches and ]iresbyteries, no outsider can object. That is a matter atiectinj^ its members alone. But when that churcli o-oes l)e3'ond that, and demands that the Lieutenant-(?overnor-in-council shall put in force till' decrees of her bishops establishino- parishes and that the courts shall undertnke the collection of the tithes and taxes imposed, a new phase is pre- sented, for the concurrence of those who are not (yatholies is thereby- demanded to suppoi't Roman Catholicism. For instance: when a habitant says, "I am willing to give every twenty-sixth bushel of my grain to the ])i-iest," nobody has a right to interfere, but when the priest comes and says, "I have asked this habitant to give me each 2(Jth bushel of his grain and he refuses : I demand that the civil magistrate issue a summons to compel liim, and, if need be, that an execution in the name of the Queen be issued to collect the amount off his property,"' the (lUestion assumes an entirely different as]iect, for it ceases to be one solely affecting the })riest and the habitant. A third party is brouglit in, namely the State. Protestants are ecjually with ('atholics partners in the State, therefoi-e have f)5 the right to say for wliat purposes tlie power and Jiiachinery of the State sliall boused. Non-Catho- lics have no right to say that the parish system with its dues shall cease, but they have a right to say that the State shall not lend its aid to main- tain that system or to collect its dues. That the power of the State should .continue to be so used, is not a question of expediency with Protestants. To use the State for purposes repugnant to the moral sense of Protestants, is a violation of tlieir rights of conscience, for they are thereby brought in to help to keep up a church against who^e teaching they protest. Let nie supposii a ease. We see every summer a number of Jews, fleeing from the persecutions of the despots of the continent of Europe, seeking homes in our Northwest. It is within the realm of possil.ility that these Jews may come to form a majority of the population of one of those provinces into which the Northwest wall be divided. When that comes to pass, tliey may induce its legislature to pass an act authoriz- ing the levying of taxes on real estate for the sup- port of their religious observances. Would Mr Mercier let such an act cojnt into force under the pretence that it atiected Jews alone;" Would he not urge that, by t-mploying the agency and power of the State to collect that tax, it ceased to be a law solely affecting Jews aniealous for the honor of the founder of Christianity, boldly declare he could not consent to becoming a part}-, even indirectly, to the main- 96 '^. 10 ■',»n. '> 4? tenanee of a creed he protested against, and there- fore would demand that the federal government disallow the act ? In like manner, we Protestants of Quebec ask that the Dominion government lift from us this parish system, as being a burden upon our consciences, I wish to be clearly understood upon this im- portant point. It is not tithes or fabri(jue assess- ments, or canonical parishes I oppose. My protest is against the government and courts being used to compuisorily put them into force. For saying so Mr Mercier alleges that "Mr Sellar becomes the apostle of irreligion, apostacy, and even atheism." I have always understood that religion was a matter of conscience, so that, when a man failed to voluntarily respond to her claims, it was an outrage to use the civil power to constrain him. Mr Mercier thinks otherwise; the Catholic who refuses to submit to ecclesiastical authority he would hand over to the civil authority. The State, even in such a miserable task as the collection of a tax of grain off' poor habitants, is to be the ser- vant of the Church of Rome, and its executive is to be used in carrying out the decrees of her bishops. Such is the doctrine proclaimed by the premier of a British province in this nineteenth century. As a Protestant, I denounce the doctrine as an in- vasion of my rights of conscience ; as a British sul)ject, I resent it as an invasion of my birthright. Mr Mercier says: "The Catholic who, eaten up by avarice, would prefer his money to his religion need only apostatize to free himself," Mark that 97 word apostatize. Mr Mercier, to wliom the in- terests of over 200,000 non-Catholics are confided; Mr Mercier, who when it suits Ids purpose, has so many honeyed words for Protestants, here shows that in his heart he believes we are all apostates, and, if he dared, would treat us as such. .Surely, Dr Caven, wlien the objection is urged against the Board of French Evangelization that it has such small results to point to, you will comprehend the difficulties converts have in remaining in this pro- vince, when its Premier arraigns them as apos- tates. In defence of the tithe svstem, Mr Mercier ursfes that the United Kingdom is subject to it. Two wrongs do not make a rigid. Tithes there are a survival of the ante-Reformation period, and the day is not far distant when this last vestige of that time, different in form from tithes here, shall be rooted out in England and Scotland, as it has already been in Ireland. THE EXODUS OF ENGLISH FARMERS. The statement of the pamphlet, that the exodus of Protestants from the Townships is due to the operation of the parochial system, Mr Mercier de- nies, and says it is to be attributed to "a longing for Manitoba and Minnesota lands that has seized upon Protestant farmers." Land, as farming is practised among us, will not meet the require- ments of the natural increase of population, so that, of necessity, there is an emigration from the older settlements, the young men seeking in the West the farms they cannot obtain near their o.s liirthplacr. That Jiornuil and lu'cessaiy emigra- tion is not to bo corit'ounded, however, witli the movonient of an entire population. There is emi- gration from Ontario, yet its popuhition remains substantial! V the same. The emigration fi-om the Townships is the squeezing out of the English - s])eal that there was doubt as to the .southern boundary, and that the section was insei'ted to piv\ent any part of New Yoi-k State being includt.'d. \ow, if this theoiy be corivct it will conform with three points, with the act itself.with the country it was designed for, with its operation by the otHcials to whom it was entrusted. I take th<- last tii-st. Loi-d Dor- chester was the second governoj- appointed under the act, and found that tlie settlements in the Bay of Quinte and Niagara districts had grown to such an extent that it was necessary they should liave prcnision made for the administration of law. Mr Mercier sa^'s: The boundaries given to tlie province of Quebec by act of 1774 comprised all our present territory, all the territory of the province of Ontario, Michi- gan, Wi.scon.sin and even a ])art of Illinois, as they extended to the Ohio and Mi.ssissippi. In all that imnien.se territory it was French law which was to prevail to the exclusion of English law, except as to criminal law and some other parts of English 100 law. The text of tlio statute is positive on this point, p. 09. Very well, if that was the po.sitive retiuirenient of the statute, Lonl Dorchester must needs estab- lish French law in the U. E. Loyalist settlements. Now, what do we find he did ? He issued a pro- clamati(m from Quebec establishintr the province of Upper Canada and declaring that English law was to prevail. Dared lie have done that had the Canada act prescribed, as Mr Mercier declares it prescribed, that French law should prevail, not only in th(> seigniories, but over the territory that spread V)etween theuj and the Mississippi ? Then as to the country it was designed for. Mr Mercier writes: The difficulty was to ascertain if the southern bountlary, as detined in the bill, did not encroach on the territory of the province of New York and if it were not of such a nature as to afi'ect the rights of the inhabitants of tliat colony, who pos- sessed lands under English tenure and were gov- erned by the law of England, p. 71. The only portion of New York State that could possibly be afl'ected was that along the 45th par- allel. In 1774 that section of country, from Lake Champlain to St Regis, had not a single white in- habitant. Mr Mercier's "inhabitants" are myths. Now as to the act itself. Mr Mercier says the section I quoted was inserted to prevent the set- tlers on the border of New York State from beinjr included in the new territory. If that was -lo, would not the section have been bracketed with that defining the boundaries? It was not. It is 101 coupled witli the two sections rostorin;,'- Frencli law and the parish system, and thus palpably (jualifies them. I am sorry to say, as if to make it suit his theory, Mr Mercier misquotes the section, which should read : Provided always that nothin«( in this act con- tained shall extend or he construed to extend to any lands that have been granted hy His Majesty, or shall hereafter be granted h if His MajeMy, his heirs and successors, to be holde'n in free and com- mon soccage. The words in italics Mr Mercier leaves out, and these words prove beyond cavil that the intent of the act was that the two sections relative to French law and the parish system were not to apply to lands held in free and common soccasre. Mr Burke is (pioted by Mr Mercier in support of his ingenious theory, who says he gave a clear explanation of section 9. Mr Mercier has only forgotten three circumstances : that Mr Eurkts sat on the Opposition benches, and it is not the part of a member in opposition to give an explanation of a ministerial measure; that when he spoke the House was in committee on the bill ; and thirdly, that the section before it, when Mr Burke made the remarks quoted, was number 2, the section in question, number 9, not being reached until the following day. Were that distinguished Irishman now living, I can conceive the indignation with which he would regard his words being made to apply to justifying the depriving of free - born Britons of their rights and the vehemence with which he would plead their cause. m 102 Mr Mric'ii'i' .stiitt'*< (p. .S4) tliat the parish system miiflit 111' riitorciMl in tlie whole <>t' Ouchcc hut it has hceii hiuiU'd in t'axor of the I'rotestant minor- ity. One of these limitations he tells you is re- i(uii'in^' the coneiinvnce of two-thirds (»f the county council to clian;,fe a canonical jtarish outsidi; the seigniories into a municipal one. This does not ai;ree with what has lieen done. in the case of Ste Barhe a municipal palish was created out of non-tief land hy tlu' decree of the bishop and against tlu' miited protest of thi' county council. This is a sample of the "careful attention which till' nuijority disjilays in the exercise of its i-ights, in order not to hurt the feelings and susceptibili- ties of the minurity." In the Ste Jiarbe case there was a note of warning to Ontario, for what was done in our supposed free township lands of Que- bec may be done in your province. Mi" Mercier asserts (p. 84) that tlie French Canadians and Catholics of Quebec could, with every right, claim the revival of the parisii .system and the privileges that accompany it in Ontario. The foundei's of our townships would liave ti'eated the assertion as incredible that the day should come when they would be subject to the old Fivnch law and usage. Such of the people of Ontai'io as Hout the like happening to their province, I ask to look to what is taking place in their counties bordering the Ottawa. The pretensions of the majority in Que- bec is the measure of their designs. Mo\ements so insignificant that the people of Ontario pass as not reipiiring attention, a succeeding generation will lu! niml.K' t(. withstand. The thin walls oF sand and day whidi y„u sw today risin.u- in your eastern and northern townships will )..• Found to be adamant tomorrow, uidess the pcopl,. of On- tario awake and prevent the morrow tindiiio- tlimi in existence. I nn'(,djt rest here, for I think 1 Imw taken up the main ol.jeetions Mr Mercier luis made to the statements e(jntained in thr pamphK-t, l.iit tin- point, whether or not THE TOWXSHIl'S .\UE F15EK SOIF., is so imjKjrtant that 1 wish t.- mnk.- the evidence in sup]X)rtot' it ovei-whelmini''. Sevuntv vears a'^o the British i»arliament began to be pestered witli petitions and complaints of the state of afiairs in the province of Quebec ami tinally appointed a select committee to take evidence and report as to what oiinrht to be done. The Quebec assemblv de- puted Viger and Xeilson to represent the French interest. Before tlie committee considerable evi- dence was taken on tJiis very point, whether tlie act of 1774 applied French law to the townships in the province of Quebec. When all the witnesses bad been heard, the committee prepared its report, and this is what it laid down : To the provision in the act of 1774, providing 'that in all matters of controversy relating to pro- perty and civil rights ... be determined agreeal»ly to the laws and customs of Lower Canada," there is a marked exception to this concession of French law, namely, 'that it shall not a))ply to lands which 104 'I '0 <,, ,■'■ t ^ 11,;, had been or sliouM bo jifmntiMl in free and eonunon soccage.' — (Report of sidect connnittee, 182H.) No talk here of the section applying to New York State; the eonunittee apply it without hesi- tation to tlie lands granted in Iree and common soccage in the province of Quebec. Nor couhl the connnittee have given other deliverance than that the lands outside the seigniories were to be free from French law, for it had before it incontrovert- ible proof that Knglish law luid prevailed from their first settlement. Amont; others, the Hon J. \V. Horton, one of the earliest and most distin- guished si'ttlers of the Eastern Townshij)s, declared under oath, that by virtro of the proclamation of George III. in 1708. inviting settlers to Canada under the assurance that they "may confide in our royal protection for the enjoyment of the benefit of the laws of our realm of England," English law had been in force, and then he added significantly, "so far as the Townships, that has never been re- pealed." The report of the committee was accepted by the House, and therefore its interpretation of the Canada act must be accepted as final. Let me call another witness. If the province of Quebec ever had a man who thoroughly under- stood its customs, history, and laws, it was the late Judge McCord. He was a life-long resident; he had seen the Town.ships in their infancy and lived to see them in their maturity, yet he had had equal facilities for becoming familiar with the seign- iories, from having been associated in the man- agement of one. In a case brought before him, 105 involvin^:^ tho rinjht to collect tithes off fivo and ooiumoii S()ccaj]fe land, he <,oive his judgment in these nieniomhle words: Lands held in free anccair(', hein^ subject to the laws of H]n;,danpire and forming an integral part, a jiowerful mem In r. of that empire!* How can this noble purpose be re- alized if Canada riot merely ctmtinues to allow to exist but fosters, extends and consolidates, within her borders, claims and pretensions distinct 1\ an- tagonistic? Can Canada become strong and united if it be accepted that a .section of her people, be- cause of tlieir origin, creed and lan<'uay:e, have other privileges than tliose who are not of them — a caste to exact separate laws and treatment from parliament and legislature, whether they live by the St Lawrence or the Saskatchewan? Is it pos- sible for Canada to take the high place in the world tliat nature and providence have placeil in 108 1*^ litr reach, if she allows herself to be shackled by a hostile element within her, which jealously thwarts every movement towards attaining her liigh destiny? In brief, is it possible for Canada to become a nation, if there is to be a nation within her, especially when that subsidiary nation is incon- oruous and antagonistic? If Canada is to become *\ iiat she ought to be, it is indispensable that her jieople shall stand upon an equality, none claiming superiority over the other, and all subject to the same law and to the same administration of it. Tlie French Canadian is entitled to all the rights of a British subject and to no more. When he sets up the pretence that because he is French and Catholic he may claim privileges beyond those of the Englishman and the Protestant, loyalty to the Empire and the instinct of self-preservation incite the patriot to deal with the claim as treason against Canada. Surely the day is nigh when public sen- timent will make itself felt at Ottawa, and par- liament shall cease to draw distinctions between Frenchmen and Englishmen, Protestants and Ca- tholics, recognize all as Canadians, and legislate for them as such and such alone. I would not have it understood that the preten- sions set forth by Mr Mercier are supported by the French Canadians as a body. Left to themselves they would live amicably with their neighbors and on the same footing. The demands of Nationalists and Ultramontanes come from men who have either a pecuniary interest in perpetuating connection be- tween church and state or whose only hope of 109 «■ «., ( of political preferment lies in exacting it on the score of their representing a class. Professional poli- ticians in every country are a despicable body of men, but those of Quebec are peculiarly so, for to advance themselves they fan the lowest prejudices of race and make appeals to religious sentiments which their lives belie. The clergy and politicians have brought about a state of affairs full of menace to the peace an' are in- compatible with the spirit of Christianity, so that in the newspaper I control the doctrines, the the- ology, of the Church of Rome have been scrupul- ously avoided. My sole otfenci.' is that I have been outspoken when that church has gone be- yond her limits to make »iggressions upon the rights of conscience of those outside her comnnm- ion, and in opposing such of her people as claim to have privileges beyond those pertaining to them as British subjects. As to my circumstances and station in life, I fail to see what they have to do with the pamphlet Mr Mercier denounces. The humblest elector, even a country printer, has surely a right to a voice in the government of his country, and what I have written I ask to be judged upon its own merits, without regard to my character or station in life. I shall be gratified if, after reading this letter. you can assure me it has removed all doubt from your mind as to the propriety of having placed the imprimatur of the Ecpial Rights Association upon the pamphlet Mr Mercier so unreservedly condemns. If you cannot conscientiously do that, I ask that you publicly renounce and disavow any connection with the pamphlet, and so let the entire accountability fall upon my shoulders. Robert Sella u, Huntingdon, Que., May 28,1890. 114 NOTES ON Mil MERCIER'S ANSWER. I ' hi It is, thiinkH to the f^enerotiity of tlie clojxv, that are founded and maintained the numerous inntitutions i)f cliaiity — aHvlnms, letnfjes and hoHpitaln, and institutioiiH of puhlie instnirtion— which are seen all overour province. — 3Ir Meri'ier, paj;v 'M. The public accounts show that one-sixth of tiie revenue i»t' the province of Quebec goes yearly to those very institutions which Mr Mei'ciei" here de- clares "are founded and maintained" by the cleroy. The bluf books for 1.S90 show that the followino' grants of public money were made to educational institutions in which the teaching is distinctively Roman Catholic or to heads (jf religious coi'pora- tions towards the support of institutions under their charms : ro ASSIST IN miLDI.NO College at St Barthelmi | 200 €onventdele(,'ongregationNotreI)ame,Iierthier 150 Sanns des Petites Kcoles,Hiraouski 200 College at St Kemi 500 Orplielinat de Marieville, Jtouville 200 Asylum at St Henri 200 L'Ecole Indnstrieile. Jolliette 200 Academy nt Bejiuharnois 200 College at Roxton 200 Sd'urs Miiriiinistes de vSte Croix, Magog 500 Convent at St Cyprien 500 Convent de Jesus-Marie, Trois Pistoles 250 Convent du Bon Pasteur 200 College at Joliette 2000 Convent nt Roxton 200 Freres Maristes. I'pton 200 College fit Varennes 2000 College at Chieoutimi 1000 Les Clercs de St Viateur, college at Berthier 250 College at St Vincent de l»!iul.. 500 Convent du Bon Pasteur, Quebec 1000 11: Convent St Felix dn ( College at St Cn lOcole ties Freiet Kcole des Frere Keformntory at College at Artlii Convent at St .1 Convent at \/A College at St M College at St 1)( Aeatleniy at St Convent ITrsulii K(;ole (les Frert ('ollege St Jose Convent de Ste Pet its FrereH M Convent of St ) College at Bone Convent d School at Lam Convent de ( Academy at P College St Ber Hospital at F Hospital at T( Hotel Dieu, St Hospital of (ii Hospital liiclit Refuge at St Ci Hospital S(eur Convent of les . Uouge 500 ert..! lOOO Sauveur, at Quebec 2000 t St Koch 2000 )inteau.\ ICsqiiiinaux ToO skaville 2.'>0 1 de Matlia -1-00 raiition 2."jO '1 de Bellechasse 1,")0 aoo trice de liavvdon "tOO lioberval I2r>0 lel'Islet 'JOO le Levis 2."0 ix oOO itcs d'Uterville r»00 lel de Hellechasse l.'O ville ."iiXt ."00 ides r.OO elestin 2."»0 Pointe Claire 1(MM» aterloo 2r)0 rioo ig 500 e. 500 St Jerome 500 1000 500 )vidence, 1^'Assoniption 500 Sainte Anne, Kildare... 200 I) 128,000 (HA HI TV. St Patrick's Hospital, Montreal 1120 Su'urs de la Providence, Montreal 784 St Vincent de Paul As.ylnm. Montreal 420 St Patrick's Orphan Asylum, Montreal 448 Magdalen Asylum, ( Bon Pasteur), Montreal 504 Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum, Montreal 224 ScHurs de laCharite, Montreal r)<)0 do do for their foundling hospital 140 Lying in Hospital, care Siice, St»' Elizalu'tli 140 So'Ui'H (!«' la Providt'iico, N.D.del/AHHomption.. 140 Anile (1»» la Providonco, Stel'rHule 140 Hopital de Sto Anne de LapocatirTe, Ste Anne.. 140 ^>() Hospice de Yanuu'liiclie, Yamaehiche 140 S(FurH de la Chaiit*', Lanoraie 140 Hopital St Paiilin, St Paulin 140 Hopitnl de Lonj»:neuil, LonKueuil 140 Nazareth Asylum (Salle d'asile des petits en- fa ntn), T.on^uenil 70 Hopital de St Francois du Lae, St Franrois 140 Hopital St Louis. St Denis 140 S(purs (irises de Farnhani, Farnhani 140 Hopital de St Joseph de la Deliverance, Levis... 210 Hotel Dieu St Valier, Thiccaitimi 140 Hotel Dien d'Arthabaskaville. Arthabaskaville. 250 Hopital du Sacr.' (Veur, Quebec 480 Hospital Bav StPaul 250 Convent at Carleton 100 27,779 KEFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Sisters of the Good Shepherd, Mon- treal ^30,829 Brothers of Charitv, Montreal 37.896 Sisters of The (lood Shepherd , Quebec 7,091 Sisters of Charity, Levis 20,980 Sisters of Charitv, Pointe-aux-Esqui- maux : 2,289 Orphannffe Notre Dame de Montfort 3,970 102,555 LUNATIC ASYLUMS. Sisters of Providence $92,476 Sistersof Charitv 5,913 98,389 1 • 1 '■' Aiimcn/rriJAi, HrmMH.s. Hi'V L. (). Trcnihlay lor St«' Anne'H !|2.2.'({ lU'V \j. CnHiiiihon for L'AsHotnptioii 'J.4>'i>i ll»'V ('. l'.('liot|U»'tt»',»>xpt'iim»'iitiil iij;ri- • ultural Htntioii 1, (»."»-' r»jn KIM CATION. L'AHKom|»tioii College 1 ,404 St L;nin'i)l 7 .I()li»'tte 74 Jtonvillc do <).'»() St llyiiciiithe rltrook»> do 1,70."» Ste TluM-ese «lo 1,507 Thm' Rivers do 1.7r.() Hi^^iHid do 1,22.") Neniherew do SOO Dtlier s«> ftn* rt'juitriiititm and tor niylit schools are not includctl, iior is tlic loss to tln' proviiu'c on tin* loan of >*')().()()() to the Sisters of I'rovi.icncr uml of j^:\M)0 to Kuthcr I,a- hcllc for salary and ti"avcllin<,f expenses as dt'jtuty minister of aj;i'icultnre, are also i-xchided. lu-caustf exceptional. The schedule is a fair statement of the sums paif the puhlic funds to thos(5 "asylums, refuses, and hospitals and in^ti- tutions of public instruction" which Mr Mereier asserts "are foundcMl and maintained' hy "the j^onorosity of the clergy." THK cHAlUiKS i\V KAI.SEHnni). Air Mereier re]>eatedly i;nves me the lie. To take np eacli accusation W(juld he tedious, hut to show, with what slight reason ]\e s(t often imputes falso- liood to me I nd'er to a single instance: ".\t the rebellion uf ISIiT (huts Mi Sclhu) tlie habitiiiits \v('!o .stin\uliite 123 You have urged, however, that no practical in- justice is done, seein^^ that, as coinf)ensation, si.'.ty thousand doHars is to he ;^nven to the fund f(»r Vu<- testant superior education. Concurrent endowment of all creeds is no justitication wh(>ie there is no provision in the constitution for the endowment of any. But even the excuse of a system so inuiioral as concurrent endowment of all i-elioions is futile in this instance, for you are not jj^ivin^- the StJO.OOO to the minority of the province in their distinctive character as Pi-otestants. Although for conveni- ence the term "Protestant schools" has come int<» use, it is incorrect. The .schools so designated are not Protestant, they are non-.sectarian, the nearest approach to public and national schools in tlie pro- vince, conse(iuently there is no parallel between tlie government voting J?()(),()00 towaids their main- tenance ttnd giving .*54()(),0()0 to the Jesuits, to Ro- man Catholic mi.ssions, and to the hierarchy. Thv only possible e<|uivalent to the .'^4()(),000 would have been a pro{»ortionate grant to the Protestant churches. To pretend that a lump sum to schools that are pi-actically secular is a .set-oti' to bonuses to the Church of Rome impo.ses on nobody ac- (piainted witli the facts. Y the commonwealth, it is the duty of Protestants to pay whatever is necessary to maintain it, and the crovernment has tlie right of imposing and collect- ing taxes for that end. When the government goes beyond that, when it uses its power of taxa- tion to subsidize any church, it travels beyond its sphere and does violence to the consciences of all who do not believe in the teaching of the church so favored. Religion is a matter between each in- dividual and his God, and for the civil magistrate to step in and dictate what church I shall support is worse than tyranny — it is intolerance. Were you a resident of Ontario, and the government of that province so far forgot its functions as to pro- pose to divide $400,000 of public money among the several Protestant denominations, what would you do? Would you quietly submit? I am sure you would not, that you would represent, with all the great energy you possess, that the main injury done did not lie in your having to pay the small amount of your contribution to the grant, but in the violence done to your conscience in compelling you to support churches in whose teaching you did not believe. Now, sir, put yourself in our place, and ask why you should deal with the Protestants of Quebec as you would not wish to be dealt by? Because we are a feeble minority, does that justify your using the power conferred upon you by your position, to tax us to enable the Jesuits to extend their influence or to enlarge the domain of the Chui'ch of Rome through the agency of its mis- sions? Because you are six to one, because you 125 are so strong that you can do as you please i. ,t not cowardly to perpetrate such an ouL^e a to compel us to assist in maintaining a chureiragain UHch our very name indicates that we and our ahers have borne solemn protest for centuries^ \Vhoare you that you should trample upon the onscences of your fellowmen and treat the Pro- estants o tins province as existing in it on suffer- ance and to be treated as sponges, to be squeezed ot their honest earnings for the enrichment of the church of the ma^jority? Before such an instance ot disregard for the feelings and the rights of those Hho differ from you, such an exhibition of intoler- ance m this axlvanced century and in this new world, I stand amazed, and cannot tell which is worst, your audacity in seeking political support by such means, your fanaticism, or vour igno,-ance ot those natural rights with which God ha. .n- aowed all men. France has given to the world patterns of chivalry, knights tender in dealin<. with the weak and oppressed; there havt- Keen f ranch Catholics, like Fenelon and Pascal, consid- erate of those who differed from them in creed but you, sir, are the first French premier to treat the t.nglish-speaking minority as aliens, to disreo-ar.l their feelings on the tenderest of points.-what they believe to be their duty to their God,-nnd to extort Irom them money to strengthen the hands ot those who labor to expel them from the pro- vince. We are a mixed community in this proxinc-e. and there is only one way by which we can live in 126 amity, ami tliat is, l>y respecting tlie religious feel- ings of one another. That can he done hy tiie government confining itself to its proper duties and leaving everything pertaining to creed alone; extending to all the ciiurclies one and the same privilege, that of protection in the exercise of tlieir legitimate functions. So lontj as the oovernment favors one cinnch, by conferring upon it exception- al j)iivileges or hy grants of pul)lic money, there will be no peace, and the province will be divided into hostile camps, into a favored and a discoun- tenanced class, into a tyrannical majority and a w longed minority. Reverse that policy, let thi; government confine itself to its own domain an. 128 A REMONSTRANCE. .? pi' »H o--,, "'■} % To Bishop liourget: Rev, Sir, — It is one of the consequences of your high position that the voice of remonstrance sel- dom reaches you, and that you are encouraged to persist in what the judicious see to be an unfortu- nate course by the adulation of the sycophants who surround you. That you will scorn what one like myself may say is no excuse why I should not do my duty. You have done me an injury, and that in itself gives me a right to address you. Since last May your clergy in this county have striven to ruin me — the crowning incident in this effort beinc: that of last Sunday, when it was proclaimed, at service, with your authority, that whoever should even read the paper I publish, much less subscribe for it or contribute toward its volume of business in any way, would be visited with spiritual penalties. What cause have you for this outrageous act? Is the Gleaner an immoral paper — are your clergy only doing their duty as protectors of family virtue in ostracizing it? No one can say that I ever admitted even *This letter is added to show that tlie views expressed in the i)recedinft- i)aj?es are not the result of political or per- sonal feelinji;, they having been held by the writer before Mr Mercier was known in public life. iiji 120 to its advertizing columns anything calculate*! t(, suggest evil, nor can it be alleged with truth that I have ever discussed any of the doctrines of the Church of Rome. As a secular paper it has confined itself to secular matters. What it l>as had to say touching your church has been solely on tliose points wherein it has come in contact with interests which affect the common weal. With the religious, the spiritual features of your church it has not meddled; with its .secular or every-day policy, bearing as it does on tlie ma- terial and political welfare of the province, it has ha,l much to say. This, and this alone, is the Gleaner's offence. You interfere in politics, you thrust your liand into the public chest, and then denounce as .sacrilegious those who criticise you. By the act of your priests last Sunday you prac- tically declare that the Press has no right to ex- pre.ss its opinion on such subjects as the spending of the public money, the adoption of legislation, or the administration of Justice, when the Church of Rome is one of the parties interested. Tb.e Press may comment where laymen alone are par- ties, but the appearance of a black robe on the public arena is to be the signal for its silence. Taxes contributed by all alike have been diverted by our Local House to the support of institutions of the Church of Rome, laws have been passed giving it unequal privileges, yet though a member of the community affected by such legislation and a subject of Queen Victoria's, my paper is proscrib- ed by you for having expressed an opinion on It'; I;i0 those aiitl siiiiilar acts as tlicy tnmspiriMl. This is dt'spotisiir. this is a denial of the ri^^ht of free speech, and if you do not resort to any more suin- iiiary means to stamj) out the (Meaner it is Viecause the proj^ress of the age has loft in the annory of 3'our church no weapon more potent than its curse. What was said on Sunday sutticiontly indicated the will. You indignantly denumd that the voice of the Press he silenced ref^arding your church. Tliere is only one way by which you can attain your desire. Leave politics alone, seek not the pul>lic revenues, respect the supremacy of the State, con- Hne yourselves to your religious vocation, and then, if the Press refers to you at all, it will be with respect and commendation. Assuredly under such circumstances the (Meaner would be tlie last paper in the Dominion to say aught regarding you. But so long as you do not do this, so long as you are the most influential element in our political life, you will be subject to conmient. No system of priestly terrorism can secure silence. Even if every paper you have denounced were to be wiped out of existence, from your own ranks would spring champions of the rights of the people. Mark you, I would not have complained had the Catholics of this Di.strict given up the paper of theii- own motion. If it had become obnoxious to them they would have done right to stop it. What I do protest against, is your stepping between it and those who took it and who were willijiii to continue to do so — threatening them with the Ha l.'U eensurt' of tln' ihurcli W tiny refused to n-ive it up or even iv»ul it. It WdiiM l.c nrtectatioii t<» treat your act with iiKlirt'ereiice, However it nmv be with fity papers, which (haw support from the Dominion at hirr<' diverted to add to the wealth of your already t'uoruiously wealthy church. For it, in every sphere, you have claimed precedence; from the pulpit of your own cathedral we have heard it proclaimed that the •State is only second,* aiitl in our courts you have repeatedly fpiestioned the jurisdiction of the law where your church is defendant and not ])laintifr. The English-speakinjjf population are treated as in- truders, an>;e concourse of priests and laity, none of whom i)ublicly dissented fioni the views expreHsed. The ]>reacher laid down the ni-o{)ot met with little resistance so far. Those who should have withstood you have woiked with you. But beware of the coming years. Acquainted with your church only in countries like (Jreat JJritjiin, where it shows its best side, or remembcrini; the good-feeling which has existed in this pi-ovince until of late, it has taken time for the Enulish- speaking people to learn that it has assumed a new phase, and that the. change in our p<»litical connection with the sister-provinces has incited it to greater assumptions. But they ai'c fast realix,- ing the situation and adapting themselves to meet the dangers that menace them, and you will soon discover thei-e is a ])halan.\ who will n«'ver surren- der to your claims, and who will see to it that liere British rights uic maintained inviolable by 185 placin^r civil and reli^^ious liberty on a l.rcad an