IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 7 ^ / (meaning "CON- TINUED"), or the symbol V (meaning "END"), whichever applies. Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les images suivantes ont 6t6 reproduces avec le plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et de la nettet6 6s l'exemplaire film6, et en conformity avec les conditions du contrat de filmage. Les exemplaires origlnaux dont la couverture en papier est imprimde sont film6s en commenpant par le premier plat et en terminant soit par la dernidre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration, soit par le second plat, selon le cas. Tous ies autres exemplaires originaux sont film6s en commen^ant par la premidre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la dernidre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un des symboies suivants apparaftra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbols — ► signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbols V signifie "FIN ". Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre filmds d des taux de reduction diffdrents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clich6, il est fllrn^ A partir de Tangle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 8 6 .^!^ n I^i ■' :..*■-. .\ _ ■■ V l * V - illi- --«%^ *;| J^yc /^ . ' fi ■ ^, C-it^,. THE QUEBEC ACT AND THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. \, :;^o I A PAPER BY VICTOR COFFIN. .1 ;[■• I % 5 f [From the Yale Review, August, 1895.] J .■I. ) ■9 7/. OZ '^ ^,-BL.N£Tr7^ V ^/»/. //Jf'^JL ^hrsit y of New Bt»^!i ivt'^,.' /6> THE QUEBEC ACT AND THE AMERICAN REVO- LUTION. THE conclusions of the present paper are drawn from a somewhat extended investigation' of the introduction of English rule into French Canada 1 760-1 774. They seem to me appropriate for this use, because of the belief induced by that investigation that, on the one hand, the place held by Canada in the early Revolutionary history is in our day much underrated, and has, at all times, been much misunder- stood, and that, on the other hand, our historians have unanimously assumed a connection between the measures of the British Government in Canada and in the other colonies for which there seems to be no basis in fact. It is to this latter error that I shall especially address myself in this paper. One of the earliest expressions of these misconceptions is found in the Declaration of Independence ; the latest that I have met is put forward with much emphasis by the reviewer of Prof. Eggleston's Life of John Patterson in the N. Y. Nation of July 19th, 1894. The reviewer asserts that from its conquest in i76o,rCanada was regarded by the British Ministry as a point aappui " for the support of the ministerial policy in asserting British parliamentary supre- macy over the Colonies " ; and that this position was expressed in and intensified by the Quebec Act of 1774,] " which had for its object, as the Continental Congress chargedrto substitute the institutes of French customary law for the common law of England, and thereby ' to make Canadians proper instruments for assisting in the oppression of such as differ from them in modes of government and faith.' '*^ The first part of this statement my limited space compels me to leave with the remark, that an examination of 1 Based mainly on the very complete materials furnished by the Canadian Archives at Ottawa. A more extended statement of the condition of Canada at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War and of its connection with the earlier phase of that struggle, will be published shortly in the BulUtin of the University of Wisconsin. A^ V 172 Yale Review. [Aug. 1*: the pamphlet and other party literature, and of the diplo- matic and parliamentary proceedings during the last years of the war and at the Peace of 1763, will show it to be thoroughly mistaken, and will convince the candid enquirer that the main, if not the sole, (motive for the retention of Canada, was the security and unhampered progress of the colonies and of colonial trade.'} As to the latter part, the reviewer simply restates the accepted tradition ; namely, that the character of the rela- tions between the colonies and the mother country led in 1774 to the joining with the Acts for the punishment of the Province of Mass. Bayt^an Act (the Quebec Act) which was designed to restore to the Canadians the despotic system of government under which they had grown up, and thus to pave the way for using them as docile instruments in the extinguishing of the liberties of the colonies.; In this view the Act is denounced in the Declaration of Independence, as 1" abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring Province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, ana enlarging its boundaries so as to render it at once an exam- ple and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule in these colonies."J This denunciation is the sober reitera- tion of the charges contained in the earlier " Address to the People of Great Britain" (October 21st, 1774), in which, among the ministerial measures " for enslaving us " is men- tioned the Act by which "the dominion of Canada is to be so extended, modeled and governed as that they might become formidable to us, and on occasion be fit instruments in the hands of power, to reduce the ancient free Protestant colonies to the same state of slavery with themselves." These emphatic statements have been accepted and repeated without question by our historical writers from that time to the present ; and it does not become us to let this hoary- headed error go longer undisturbed. The limits of this paper will not permit me to point out reasons for believing 'Even Bancroft admits that England at this crisis "proudly accepted the counsels of ' magnanimity,' with the thought of ' filling the wilderness, instruct- ing it with the products of her intelligence and blessing it with free institu- tions.' " {Hist. Last revision, II. 597.) ^.\ ■it* : [Aug. ^ of the diplo- the last years show it to be andid enquirer 5 retention of rogress of the r restates the r of the rela- ountry led in hment of the :t) which was 'tic system of and thus to ments in the In this view pendence, as neighboring rnment, ana ce an exam- bsolute rule ber reitera- Iress to the in which, 1895] The Quebec Act, etc. 173 iS I i» IS men- is to be so ht become ents in the Protestant emselves." repeated at time to lis hoary, ts of this believing ccepted the :ss, instruct- free institu- that the error was one which hac' a very considerable influ- ence in directing the course of the early revolution ; but most students of the period will probably accept the fact without much demur. In giving some reasons for my entire dissent from these > long-held opinions, 1 can now notice only the most promi- .- nent points, and these but in the briefest manner. We have ^ three main features of the Quebec Act' to consider; (i) the H substitution of French for English law, (2) the withholding of the representative institutions which existed in the other Provinces, (3) the great territorial extension of the Province. And in expressing my belief that these provisions were not due to or intended to affect the condition of affairs in the other provinces, I must not be understood as denying the arbitrary and tyrranical spirit of the administration by which they were enacted, nor the fact that that administration was at the moment largely inspired by hostility to the free spirit of American self-government. Its animus is sufficiently seen .in the other American Acts of the same session ; my object here is simply to show that, in spite of appearances, it was not guilty of the more far-reaching and treacherous attack on liberty imputed to it on account of the Canada measures." The Quebec Act was founded on misconception and false information, and was probably one of the most disastrous measures in English colonial history ; but a close examina- tion of its genesis has convinced me that it was the result of an earnest and comparatively generous effort for the welfare of the French Canadians, and that it was not to any appre- ciable degree affected by tyrannical ideas in regard either to them or to the rest of America. And first, as to the change in civil laws. It will be remembered that in October 1763 a royal proclamation was issued for the purpose of establishing civil government in the ' For the Act see Statutes, 14 Geo. III. c. 83. Printed in full in Kingsford, Hist, of Can. v. 256-61, ' It is to be noted that the Mass. Acts, avowedly temporary and exceptional, are not necessarily indicative of a purpose to permanently subvert free institutions in America ; whereas the main provisions of the Quebec Act, more permanent in nature, could easily be regarded as of the most far-reaching consequence. \\ 174 Yale Review. [Aug. newly acquired provinces of Quebec, Granada, East and West Florida. This Proclamation was then, and has been since, understood, as subverting in Canada the whole system of French law and administration ;' and in this view Ban- croft denounces it as an act of extreme tyranny, declaring that " the history of the world furnishes no instance of so rash injustice." " And yet in the measures taken fourteen years later to redress this supposed injustice, he and others can. see nothing but a reaching after " unmixed arbi- ". trary rule." Lord Mansfield, on the other hand, in his X famous Gre^iada decision of 1774, refers to the Proclamation ♦ as an irrevocable charter of liberties granted to all who did then or might thereafter reside in the regions in question ; on the ground that the King had thereby divested himself of his direct legislative authority, and given solemn promises of the establishment of English law and representative institutions.' These promises, however, were not fulfilled in Canada, and government remained there on an insecure basis until 1774. During this whole period the official cor- respondence and reports are largely occupied with repre- sentations as to the disastrous state of things that exists in consequence of this delay and uncertainty, and with urgent, adjurations to hasten the settling of the constitution. j'^It was found impossible to put English civil law into practice except in commercial matters ; and, as a matter of fact, there can be little doubt that the great body of the French customary law ^ It is not possible or necessary here to enter into the once much controverted point as to the real intent and result of this Proclamation. The point, however, is of importance with regard to the question whether the imperial policy m Canada was changed later in consequence of the existing' relations with the other colonies ; and it is to be noted, therefore, that the Earl of Hillsborough, Secretary of State, writes to Gov. Carleton, March 6, 1768 (Can. Ar. Q. 5. I. p. 344) that, as one of those who had drawn up the Proclama- tion of 1763, he could state " that it never entered into our idea to overturn the laws and customs of Canada in regard to property;" adding that those who had administered the Proclamation had " expounded it in the most absurd manner, entirely contrary to the Royal intention." « Hist. III. 87. "The Proclamation is printed by Kingsford, Hist. Can., V. 142-5. For the Grenada decision, see English law Reports, or Houston, Canadian Constitutional Documents. C( b(! E til J^- [Aug. lada, East and . and has been e whole system his view Ban- inny, declaring instance of so taken fourteen stice, he and 'unmixed arbi- ■ hand, in his Proclamation to all who did » question ; on ed himself of -mn promises epresentative »ot fulfilled in an insecure 5 official cor- I with repre- that exists in with urgent, ion. (^It was ctice except there can be Jtomary law ch controverted point, however, erial policy '"n reilations with the Earl of larch 6, 1768 the Proclama- overturn the lat those who most absurd -5. For the Constitutional 1895] The Quebec Act, etc. 175 continued practically undisturbedr) Consequently the Que- bec Act did not "substitute" this law for the "abolished" English ; it merely removed all doubt as to which should be the basis of the permanent code. And that doubt was removed, so far as those in authority were concerned, long before the year 1774; for an exami- nation of the official correspondence shows that the return to the French law and custom was to a large extent resolved on at least as early as 1767. Down to. 1766 the colonial officials were evidently under the impres- sion that the home government aimed to fulfill the assumed promises of the Proclamation by thoroughly assimilating the province to the English form of the other colonies. But in that year Murray was superseded by Carleton in the gover- norship ; and the latter came to his duties believing, if not officially instructed, that the Ministry intended to restore the French civil law. Murray had already strongly urged this course, and from the very first Carleton does not cease to impress upon the home government its justice and advisa- bility.' We find among the state papers of this year (1766) a report of the Crown lawyers,' which speaks of the disorder occasioned in the province of Quebec in consequence of the idea that it was intended " to abolish all the usages and cus- toms of Canada," and urges that it " would be oppressive " hastily to disturb the •' local usages and customs " in regard to real property. In June, 1767, we find Shelburne, the Secre- tary of State, writing to Gov. Carleton that the affairs of the province are under serious consideration, the main problem being, " how far it is practicable and convenient to blend the English with the French laws " ; ' and in August of the same year the Privy Council, resolving, on consideration of reports from the Board of Trade, that fuller information was desirable, (" it being unwise and dangerous to frame or ^ These representations from both Governors are based invariably on grounds of justice and policy toward the Canadians, without reference to any idea of making Canada a model or a weapon in regard to the other colonies. . ' In answer to a reference to them of recommendation made by the Board of Trade Sept. 1765. See Can. Ar., Cal. Hald. Coll. I. 23. 8 Can. Ar., Q. 4, p. 129. .X. 176 Yale Review. [Aug. i8( ftj reform laws in the dark,") orders a thorough preliminary investigation.' In December Carletop send home a recom- mendation for the continuance of the entire French civil code in use at the Conquest, together with a draft of a spe- cific ordinance to do this in regard to landed property ; and Hillsborough (who had succeeded Shelburne as Secretary), replies, March, 1768, that this introductory ordinance is approved of, but that for the present it is to be held in reserve pending a general settlement.' We thus see that at least six years before the Quebec Act, the home government, apparently uninfluenced by anything except representations as to the state of the province, had resolved to go almost as far as that Act went in regard to the system of laws. The investigation ordered was at once entered upon, ''nd the information collected was put into the hands of the Crown lawyers (Thurlow, Wedderbourne, and Marriott) with orders to make exhaustive reports and recommendations. These were delayed from various causes, and it was not till 1774 that this much deliberated matter was ready to be legislated upon. A The Quebec Act was unquestionably framed in accordance with the able reports of the Crown lawyers ; ' and we cannot read them without being convinced that they are almost entirely inspired by a sincere and generous, if somewhat mistaken, concern for the best interests of the province. Whatever the degree of their influence, however, it should appear from this short statement that the provi- sions of the Quebec Act, on this point at least, were neither hastily determined upon nor caused by extraneous couw 'sra- tions. ' Next, let us consider the withholding of representative institutions. It was on this ground, I think, that was mainly based the not unreasonable opinion (considering contem- porary events), prevailing throughout the old colonies, that the constitution given to the province of Quebec was the ' Can. An, Q. 4, p. 327. « lb. Q. 5-1, p. 344. * For brief abstract of these, see Kingsford, Hist, of Canada, V. 232-6. ■• I cannot delay here to show that the final reverting to the French forms was by no means as complete as was generally supposed at the time, and that provision was made for the gradual engrafting upon them of English ones. hei adi dir^ to ter^ Bu^ suc| hac caul the] no of ingi (Ca| of the! No' offi( Soli abo| witl ent the gre lies [Aug. igh preliminary I home a recom- re French civil a draft of a spe. I property ; and R as Secretary), y ordinance is to be held in thus see that at ne government, representations o go almost as of laws. The upon, nnd the of the Crown tt) with orders tions. These s not till 1 774 ) be legislated ly framed in wn lawyers ; ' ced that they generous, if erests of the ice, however, It the provi- were neither Liscou. 'sra- presentative was mainly ng contem- )lonies, that 3ec was the 344. 232-6. ich forms was ime, and that ish ones. 1895] T/ie Quebec Act, etc. 177 herald of a direct attack on old established liberties ; and I admit that there would seem to be little question, apart from direct evidence, that the state of feeling in England in regard to American legislative assemblies did influence the minis- terial mind in this matter. It surely was to be expected. But even if there were an unwillingness to establish another such assembly until the difficulties v.-ith the existing ones had been somewhat appeased, we can scarcely regard such caution as indicative of a deep laid and systematic attack on the institution. The facts show that there could have been no such intention. The first reference to the matter is one of Sept. 2d, 1765, when we find the Board of Trade report- ing that the "situation and circumstances of the colony (Canada) have not hitherto been thought to admit of a house of Assembly," but that the only objection they can find is the difficulty in regard to admitting Catholics as members.' No further mention is made of this, and the next important official document is the report on Cana'^ian affairs by Solicitor General Wedderbourne, Dec, i ^ (referred to above), which sets forth very clearly the main reasons for withholding an Assembly. He contends that it is at pres- ent wholly inexpedient to form one in Canada, on account of the peculiar difficulties presented by the religion of llie great mass of the inhabitants. To admit the Roman Catho- lics to seats in it would be a dangerous and unconstitutional experiment, and would lead to inexhaustible dissensions between them and the old subjects, while to exclude them would cause a feeling of inequality and a fear of being exposed to injustice. The question of the franchise is involved in equal difficulties ; for to deny it to the Canadians would leave the Assembly no more representative than a Council, while to grant it indiscriminately would be offensive to the upper classes, and not beneficial to the lower. On these grounds he advises, instead of an assembly, the form of government by a large appointed Council that was actually established by the Quebec Act. ' For the public attitude of the Ministry in this matter we may go to the debate in the Can. Ar., Cal. Hald. Coll., p. 94. i^ V -X '.,- ' 178 Va/e Review. [Aug. Commons on the Quebec Act itself.* "^ The main impression which a study of this spirited and protracted debate leaves with us as to the point, is that the Opposition were very care- ful not to press for an immediate Assembly, and that the Ministry was very carefyl to "defend its withholding of it purely on the grounds/(i) that it would be unjust to exclude from the franchise the French Roman Catholic majority, and (2) that it would be unsafe to admit it. j Attorney General Thurlow serted without contradiction that (no one had claimed- that it was at present fit to give an Assembly to Canada A and Fox admitted that he would not explicitly assert that such a step was then expedient. Lord Beau- champ, a Government supporter, affirmed that no member had advocated the appointment of a council because of the conduct of the popular assemblies in America, or had ven- ».ared to say that an assembly would always be advisable. It is evident, on the whole, that the Opposition could not offer a solution of the difficulties that were in the way, and that the Government, whatever secret motives may have influ- enced it, was quite able to defend its position by pointing to these difficulties. ( It would be more correct to say, however, that the Quebec Act deferred \\i2ca. that it denied 2ca. Assembly ; for the words are " whereas it is at present inexpedient." There was not at any time any serious question of the per- manent refusal to the Canadians of representative institu- tions ; ' and the position of the Government was clearly stated by Lord North in the following terms : " That it is desirable to give the Canadians a constitution in every respect like the constitution of Great Britain, I will not say ; but I earnestly hope that they will, in the course of time, enjoy as much of our laws and as much of our constitution as may be beneficial to that country and safe for this. But that time has not yet come." To sum up, it is quite prob- ■ Cavendish's Report (London, 1839). ^ It is impossible to believe that the administration could have supposed that the province could long be satisfactorily governed by a Legislature which had only municipal money powers and which was expressly prohibited from making effective, even for a day, any enactment imposing a greater punishment xhan fine or imprisonment for three months. See Quebec Act, sec. XIII, XV. ab sej ha] otl ref C( diz pel coi inti VV5 th( se( ( [Aug. 1895] 77^1? Quebec Act, etc. 179 iiain impression i debate leaves were very care- U and that the thholding of it 'just to exclude c majority, and torney General it (110 one had n Assembly to not explicitly Lord Beau- at no member because of the a, or had ven- be advisable. :ould not offer way, and that ay have influ- )y pointing to say, however, n Assembly ; expedient."' of the per- itive institu- was clearly " That it is in every ivill not say ; rse of time, constitution this. But quite prob- supposed that ure which had 1 from making lishment ihan [I, XV. >n I able, { as I have said above, that, before establishing repre- sentative institutions in Canada, the Ministry wished first to have settled the difficulties to which the assemblies in the other provinces were giving rise. But I see no ground for going further. The Ministry was encouraged to delay representative institutions, because it was assured by the Colonial officials that the great body of the French Cana- dian people had no desire for them, and could safely and perhaps beneficially be left without them for a few years to come ; but there is no evidence to show that this delay was intended as the first step of a system of oppression which was ultimately to be extended to the other colonies through the instrumentality of the docile slaves that had been secured in Canada. r Finally, we have to examine the subject of the extension of the bounds of the province. The Proclamation of 1763 limited it to an area of not more than 100,000 sq. miles along the central St. Lawrence, and, as thus fixed, it remained until 1774, when the Quebec Act restored to it the regions ex- tending to the Ohio and Mississippi over which the French had exercised sovereignty. The curtailing was from the beginning a prominent subject of Tcomplaint among all classes of the inhabitants, on the ground that thereby great injury was done to the Canadian fur trade on the West and to the Canadian fisheries on the East. ) The action was never regarded as final, however, and was intended to be forthwith supplemented by special provisions for the government of the Western territory. Owing to the general inattention to Canadian matters, and to the unstable nature of the admin- istrations of the day, these provisions were never made, and on the eve of the Quebec Act (Dec. ist, 1773), Dartmouth, Secretary of State, writes that " there is no longer any hope of perfecting that plan of policy in respect to the iiterior country which was in contemplation when the proclama- tion of 1763 was issued.'" That plan, as we learn elsewhere," was the institution of a semi-military government admin- ' Can. Ar., Q. 9, p. 157. ' Can. Ar., App. to Carleton's Instructions, 1775. i8o Yale Review. [Aug. istered in a summary manner by a superintendent and deputies, and intended almost solely for the regulation of the fur trade. And here we have the key-note of the Imperial policy in this matter throughout. The Province of Quebec was curtailed in 1763, and extended in 1774, not through insidious designs against the other colonies, but^ mainly, if not entirely, from considerations conntv'^ted solely with the Indians and the fur trade. This would be more clearly seen if my space allowed me to show the importance, or supposed importance, of this trade to Great Britain, and its exceptional relations to Canada and its government. It had been the mainstay of the French government in Quebec, and there can be no doubt that the provisions of the Proclamation of 1763 were mainly due to regard for it. In the debate in the House of Lords in 1775 as to the repeal of the Quebec Act, Shelbourne, forn:.erly Secretary of State (in favor of the repeal), used th-; following language : "The peltry or skin trade is a matter .... of the last im- portance to the trade and commerce of the colonies and this country. The regulation of this business has cost His Majes- ty's ministers more time and trouble than any one matter I know of."* It will be readily seen that the general relations with the Indians were closely and inextricably bound up with the trade, and that anything which affected the latter was likely to have the most essenval bearing on the dis- position of the savages. This fact had been pressed home by the Pontiac outbreak of 1763, and hence perhaps the special measures then meditated. In the delay of effective regulations from 1 763-1 774 the trade was subject to a vari- ety of injurious impediments. It became every year more and more disorganized and unproductive, and complaints as to the insecurity of life and property throughout the trading grounds daily increased in volume and vehemence. March 3d, 1773, Gage, Commander-in-Chief, was ordered to bring to England everything required to explain, " as well the causes as the effects of those abuses and disorders which in some of your former dispatches you say had prevailed to a » Pari. Hist. XVIII., 671. 1895; great | the c( Minis| existii have milital other] small ing n periall to whj and frl brougl others adminl ample| Comi in the! life anl who h to thai Fro that, i growl unusu shoul This of thi popu grow these over try. wen govc wou witl: tl [Aug. 1895] The Quebec Act, etc. 181 erintendent and he regulation of key-note of the The Province ded in 1774, not Jr colonies, but connected solely* would be more the importance, eat Britain, and ts government, government in e provisions of -o regard for it. ts to the repeal :retary of State ing language : of the last im- 'lonies and this :ost His Majes- ' one matter I u elations with nd up with I the latter g on the dis- )ressed home perhaps the y of effective ect to a vari- year more omplaints as t the trading nee. March red to bring as well the ers which in •evailed to a great degree of enormity in that country.*" The result o* the consideration of the matter was that it appeared to tne Ministry that the whole territory must be annexed to some existing civil government. To have kept it separate would have meant merely the continuance of a military or semi- military control, sure to be productive of friction with the other provinces and of discontent on the part of the various small settled communities throughout the region. Ara hav- ing reached this conclusion, it was inevitable that the Im- perial authorities should choose for this purpose the Province to which (it was assumed) the region had before belonged, and from which it could be governed most easily. We are brought, then, to the conclusion that on this point, as on the others, whatever may have been the secret designs of the administration, it was able to put forward what seemed ample justification for its measures. Lord North in the Commons upheld the extension of Quebec as made simply in the interests of the fisheries in the East, and of security to life and trade in the West ; and even the Opposition speakers who hinted at the " secret designs " of the bill did not point to that extension as proof of them. From the above examination we must at least acknowledge that, if the Quebec Act was dictated by hostility to the growth and liberties of the other colonies, its authors took unusual pains to keep its real purpose hidden. But why should such concealment have been thought necessary ? This same government had just carried through three bills of the most stringent and repressive nature, striking, to the popular view, heavier blows at American freedom and growth than anything contained in the Quebec Act ; and in these measures it had found itself backed by a consistent and overwhelming support both in Parliament and in the coun- try. Why should they now have scrupled to say that they were also taking measures of precaution in Canada? The government of that day was not an enlightened one, and would have been well content to secure popular support, without looking to the future ; and it might well have con- Can. Ar., Cal. Hald. Coll., p. 232. l82 Yale Review. [Aug. eluded that the preserving of the fur trade and the vast regions of the West from the encroachments of the rebellious colonies would have proved a popular measure. Rather than concealed, indeed, we should expect to see this feature, if occupying a prominent position in the ministerial mind, put forward with prominence. We sliould expect it to have been used to explain and defend before a bigoted public that apparent establishing of the Popish worship which so aroused the horror of the Continental Congress, and which was as unpopular in England as in America. That it was not so used must be considered as strongly corroborative of the position I have taken in this paper. A concluding word as to the Quebec Act in general. Its genesis and results are worthy of close examination, and in another place I shall attempt to give reasons for the belief that instead of being the ^//