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CANADA

PUBLIC ARCHIVES

ARCHIVES PUBLIQUES

LIFE AND LETTERS

OF THE LATE

HON. RICHARD CARTWRIGHT,

MEMBER OF LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL IN THE FIRST PARLIAMENT
OF UPPER CANADA.

EDITED BY REV. C. E. CARTWRIGHT.

BORN 1759, DIED 1815.

"A man with head, heart, hand
Like one of the uimple gveat one's gone,
Forever and ever bj*.
Whatever they call him what care I,
Aristocrat, Autocrat, Democrat, one
Who can rule, and dare not lie."

Tbnnybon.

P
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TORONTO, CANADA: SYDNEY, N.S.W.:

BEL,F:QRD BROTHERSi

MDOCCLJCXVl.

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PRINTHD AND BOUND

UUNTIR, ROSE AND CO.,

TORONTO.

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CONTENTS.

Preface.

Life of Hon. R. Cartwright, by Rev. J. Strachan-1759 to 1815.

Chapter I— Indian Campaign— 1778 to 1780.

Chapter II.— Letters on Politics— 1792 to 1794.
Chapter III.— Speech on Judicature Bill— 1794.
Chapter IV.— Letters on Trade— 1797 to 1806.
Chapter V.— Letters on Land— 1795 '>o 1800.
Chapter VI.— Letter on Population— 1799.
Chapter VIL— Letters on Duties— 1795 to 1801.
Chapter VIIL— Proceedings of Parliament— 1801 to 1809.
Chapter IX.—MisceUaneous- 1808.

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PREFACE.

presenting the following letters and papers to the public,

have been influenced by the idea that they might prove

'considerable value to any one who was desirous of presenting

the world a true picture of the political or social history of

[Janada.

For the nature and variety of the subjects treated of in these
ages the reader is referred to the table of contents, which
iclude a good deal of information not easily obtainable, on
K trade, revenue, politics, &c., supplying a tolerably vivid
pure of the early days of Ontario, in the words of one of the
Miest settlers and most intelligent men of the time.
I A short sketch of his life, taken from the funeral sermon
Reached by the late Bishop of Toronto, is added to the
Iper.

I Kingston, July, 1876.

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CONTENTS.

PREFACE.

LIFE.

Bom at Albany— Studies for the Church— Revolution— Joins Butler's
iiangers— Serves two Campaigns— Partnership with Mr. Hamilton—
His DUfiiness principles— ^lade Judge of Common Pleas— Member of
Legislative Council — Declines Seat in Executive Council— His Patriot-
ism in war of 1812— Loss of his Children— His Death Page 9

CHAPTER I.

Expedition to Wyoming, so called massacre a fight— Brant destroys German
Flats— Butler destroys Cherry Valley — Canabalism— Governor Hamil-
ton captured by Americans and put in irons — Americans bum Anondagci
— McDonald lays waste the Shamokin settlements — Brant dcToats Col.
Flurstin— Gen. Sullivan's campaign— Buttler Defeated — Say's Ambus-
cade, it fails — Butler retreats to [Niagara— Minor operations.. . .Page 29

CHAPTER IL

Ijetter to Mr. Todd— First Parliament— Establishment of English Law —
Custom House Bill thrown out by Upper House— Objections to fixing
the Seat of Government on the Tranche — Second Letter to Todd —
Commissioners on Revenue — Defeat of Marriage Law — His disgust at
Politics — Governor Simcoe at York — His Canvas House — Building Re-
,gulations — Third Letter — Indignation at charge of disloyalty — Depre-
cates establishment of Ecclesiastical Courts — Address to Grand Jury-
Proceedings of Third Session — Judicature Bill — Lawyers by Act of
■^*arliament— Revenue Commissioners — Skirmish at Detroit — Canadians
^%illed — Letter to Major Southbridge — Lord Dorchester's Speech — Skir-
imish near Detroit— Pork — curing for troops Page 47

CHAPTER III.

ict Courts suitable for Province — Expense of proposed system — Blacli:-
'one on County Courts— Distance an objection .% Page 67

vni

CONTENTS.

I '

^ CHAPTER IV.

Letter to Daviwon & Co. — Scarcity of labour — HesHian fly — Price of Flour
and PeaH— Discontent in Lower Canada —Execution of McLean — Exjwrt
of Potash and Staves — Letter to General l}£unter — Transport to Mxin
real - Improvement of Lachine rapids — Cultivation of Hemp— List o»

iiroduce— Letter from General Hunter — Bruyere's survey of Lachine —
jkstt^T to Mr. Hamilton— Lachine improvements accomplished.. Pajje 73

CHAPTER V.

Letter to General Simcoe— Grants of Land — Action of Land Board — Delay/
in issuing Patents- -Proposed measures of relief — Letter to James/
McGill— -Patents to issue— Deeds destroyed — Recent Acts— Quarrel f '
Houses Page 8

CHAPTER VI.

Letter to General Hunter— First settlers — Loyalists and disbanded troops-
Relatives of Loyalists admitted 1788 — Emigrants invited by Gemr.
Simcoe — Objections — Pro >sed remedy — Improper Emigration.. Pago '.'

CHAPTER VIL

Keport of Commissioners — Duties on Wines — Proportion settled on basi-
population — Letter to Hon. J. Lees — Duties on American goods ii
possible- -Letter to Mr. McGill — Deprecates Protection Page 1

CHAPTER VIII.

Session of 1801 — Election of Speaker — Disputed election — Appropriaiioa--
Bounty on Hemi:) — Letter to Rev. J. Strachan — Grant for Roadr
Grant for purchase of Hemp — Act against Aliens — Act against enticL
soldiers to desert- Letter to Chief Justice Alcock — Conduct of .U'
Thorpe— Duty on Tea — On Hawkers — Establishment of Distn:
Schools — Letter supposed to be written by Lt. -Governor — Mr. Thorji
sent to Sierra Leone — Character of Attorney General Page L

CHAPTER IX.

Incorporation of Kingston — Letter to His Excellency F. Gore — Objects
fee for Militia Commissions — Letter to Mayor McKenzie — Amerii;
troops on the frontier— Ship of War building at Oswego — U. S. Na\
Officers in Kingston Harbor Page !

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LIFE

N. RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

ABRIDGED FROM FUNERAL SERMON

REV. JOHN STRACHAN.

BORN AT ALBANY — EDUCATIOX — STUDIES FORJHE CHURCH — REVOLU-
nois — JOINS gUEEN's RANGERS — SERV£« TWO CAMPAIGNS — PART-
NEUShlP WITH MR. HAMILTON* — HIS BUSINESS PRINCIPLES — MADE
JUDGE OP COMMON PLEAS— MEMBER OF LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL —
DECLINES SEAT IN EXECUTIVE COUNCIL — HIS PATRIOTISM IN WAR
OF 1812 — LOSS OF HIS CHILLREN — HIS DEATH.

tCHARD Cartwright was born at Albany, in the State of
[ew York, tlien a British colony, on the 2nd of February,
r59. His father, an emigrant from England, was highly re-
)ectable, of great hospitality, and possessed of the most agree-
)le convivial talents. His mother, born of a loyal Dutch
lily, was remarkable for her strength of mind, excellent
Igraent, and tenacity of memory — gifts which descended
Ith increased vigour to her aflfectionate son. His education
oianinenced at a private school, and much pains were taken by
parents to gratify that strong desire of information which

♦Tliis Mr. Hamilton was the father of the Hon. John Hainiltau, of Kinjfston, Senator.

LIFE OF HON. RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

he exhibited from his earliest infancy. He was permitted to
peruse every book which came in hio way, nor was such pro-
miscuous reading found injurious to his taste, nor inimical to
his progress in useful learning ; for the accuracy of his judg-
ment soontau( 'it him to distinguish the useful from the trifling.
So retentive was his memory, that he seldom forgot anything
thct he read ; when, therefore, he removed to another school,
where the clabsics and higher branches of education were
taught, his industry and abilities secured to him the affection
of his teacher, who saw with admiration and delight his rapid
progress in Latin and Greek. Indeed his retention of memory
gave him a facility in acquiring languages which has been sel-
dom equalled.

To these attainments he fc.dded, by private study, an inti-
mate acquaintance with almost all the classical works in the
English tongue. Arrived at an age when ho v.az to look for-
ward to his exertions for an honourable support, he began to
consider of a profession. The extent of his knowledge, and
the pleasures which he had reaped from the cultivation of his
mind, had given him, as frequently happens, a distaste for mer-
cantile pursuits.

The law was not congenial to his mind ; in that lucrative
profession there are many transactions which open rather a
sombre view of human nature. The various apparatus ne-
cessary to secure property and reputation, rights public and
private, become a severe satire on mankind ; and as he knew
that much talent is employed in delaying justice and defending
wrong, he could not reconcile his mind to such exertions. This
did not prevent him from admiring many in this profession, nor
blind him to the great gooa which a lawyer of superior talents
and inflexible integrity might effect in preventing wrongs and

LIFE OF HON. RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

terminating contentions, directing the doubtful and instructing
the ignorant. Possessing those qualities in a most eminent de-
gree which constitute a great character and a virtuous man, he
had no ambition to figure in public life, and after mature deli-
beration he turned his views to the Church. Perhaps a mis-
fortune which had befallen him early in life assisted in leading
him to this determination. A boy, in playing, struck liim with
a stone in his left eye, which deprived him almost entirely of
its use, and turned the ball outwards, by which his counte-
nance, otherwise remarkably fine, was somewhat deformed.

Of a parish priest, such as his imagination presented, he
spoke always with enthusiasm. He considered him a person
appointed to preserve among his people the spirit of vital re-
ligion, to be their moral guardian, to keep them in unity and
in the constant practice of mutual love and good offices one
towards another. The clergyman should be a pattern of mode-
ration, temperance and contentment to all his parishioners; by
this he will extend his influence among them, increase their feli-
city, and prt'pare them, by aliving example, for securing that bless-
ed immortality which the Gospel announces. Not that he was
ignorant of the difficulties which a clergyman has to surmount
in this country, from the laxity of religious principles, from
the want of early impressions, and the general indifference to
and total neglect of Gospel (jnlinances. But those difficulties, he
was accustomed to say, would rather stimulat i than impede the
conscientious priest, who would find infinite d ilight in forming
a congregation where there had been none before; changitM'
darkness into light ; promoting industry, sobrioty and humanity
among his people, and proving to them that even in this life
the sincere Christian enjoys infinitely more happiness than any
other man, and this in a great measure independent of transient

LIFE OF HON. RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

things. Other stations might, he said, possess greater pomp and
show, but he knew no social condition which united so many
sources of the highest enjoyment — so many objects for gratifying
those passions which lead to self-satisfaction. Animated by these
sentiments, he turned his vigorous mind to a full preparation for
discharging with ability and success the duties of a parish priest.
He read the works of the most eminent divines ; he applied him-
self to the study of Hebrew ; he could not bear the idea of
mediocrity, and being able to read with care the New Testa-
ment in the original Greek, he was desirous of reading the
Old Testament as it had been revealed. He was proceeding
with his accustomed rapidity, and had even ventured upon
biblical criticism, when the American Rebellion broke out, and
changed the objects of his life. In love with retirement, and
turnin*^ his whole attention towards a station which made peace
and harmony the foundation of its exertions, he had never
taken any interest in the various disputes which divided Great
Britain and her colonies. But the time was now come when
neutrality could no longer be maintained, and when it became
necessary for him to take a side. Brought up in habitual rever-
ence to the King and Parliament by his loyal parents, he did
not hesitate a moment in making his choice. Well acquainted
with the history of his country, he knew that Great Britain
had been involved in two long and expensive wars to defend
the colonies, and that they had contributed little or none of the
expense : he thought it but reasonable that they should give
something towards remunerating the parent State for the vast
burdens she had incurred. It is not prcbable that his early
age enabled him to ascertain the degree of authority which
might be rightfully exercised by the mother country over her co-
lonies. It had always been asserted that Parliament possessed

LIFE OF HON. RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

the power of binding them in all cases ; this was the opinion
of the best informed ; it was recognised in many States, and
admitted by the Legislatures of all the colonies, nor was it ever
controverted by argument till the colonists had been taught,
by the opposition in the British Parliament, the subtle distinc-
tion between acts for the regulation of commerce, and those
which regulate their interior arrangements. The first opposi-
tion to the mother country originated from that republican
disposition of the New England people which always submitted
with reluctance to the constitutional authority of a government
in which monarchy made a considerable part. Ever discon-
tented and jealous of usurpation, they were continually at
variance with their governors, and claiming exemptions and
privileges which could not be granted. But, active in diffusing
their sentiments through the other colonies, the spirit of dissatis-
faction became at length so general as to enable them to break
out in open rebellion. The various artifices made use of to de-
ceive the people, the false news invented, the cruelties exercised
on those attached to the King, did not escape the notice of our
excellent friend, who was disgusted with their proceedings,
and more zealous in defending the side which he had chosen.
He was convinced that the rebellion originated from a restless
democratic spirit, and that it gained ground only by the im-
becility of the measures taken to crush it, the assistance of the
Opposition in Parliament, and the treacherous conduct of the
commanders employed by sea and land. Displeased with the
selfish views of the disaffected, feeling no oppression from
Parliament, nor greater restrictions than appeared necessary
for the unity of all parts of the empire, and convinced that if
any grievance existed rebellion was not the proper remedy, he
maintained his loyalty. He had no interests to serve ; he

LIFE OF HON. RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

sought not for power or emolument from commotions and
bloodshed ; yet he was the steady friend of rational freedom,
and as ready as any man to stand up in its defence. Actuated
by these principles he accompanied his parents into Canada,
and for a time attended Colonel Butler, of the Queen's Rangers,
as his Secretary. In this station he had several opportunities,
during two campaigns, of giving specimens of the penetration
and courage which were such prominent parts of his character.
After the conclusion of the war, which, by giving success to
the rebels, has produced so many miseries to mankind, there
appeared no prospect for him in the church ; he was therefore
obliged to relinquish his favourite pursuits and to engage in a
profession by no means congenial to his mind. At the solici-
tation of a near and worthy relation, he formed a connection
with the Honourable Robert Hamilton, a gentleman of such
varied information, engaging manners, and princely hospita-
lity, as to be justly esteemed an honour to the Province. His
memory is gratefully remembered by thousands whom his
magnanimous liberality rescued from famine. The connection
subsisted with great satisfaction to both parties for several
years, when, on account of the extent of their business, a
separation took place by mutual consent, Mr. Hamilton going .
to Niagara, and Mr. Cartwright remaining at Kingston ; but
their mutual regard and friendship was only dissolved by death.
Although Mr. Cartwright had found it necessary to relinquish
his views of becoming a minister of the Gospel, yet he indulged
always in a serious turn of mind and a strong predilection for
the sacred character. Often has my venerable friend, who was
accustomed to address you from this sacred place, with much
profit to your souls, lamented that circumstances had prevented
a person of such eminent abilities from entering the Church, of

LIFE OF HON. RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

which he must have become its chief ornament. The excellence
of his disposition, his discrimination of character, his acquain-
tance with the human heart, would have made him singularly
useful. That elevation of mind which accompanies high prin-
ciple and extensive knowledge, while it presided over his mer-
cantile pursuits, prevented him from strictly attending to petty
gains, or from being tenacious of always obtaining what may
be deemed, in common language) his just rights. He knew
that justice, unless mixed with benevolence, may frequently
become cruelty ; and therefore he was lenient to his debtors,
and notwithstanding his extensive concerns, seldom had re-
course to law. Riches are not everything ; they may be too
dearly bought ; and I may ventur3 to say that never was he
the cause of misery to any family. But, though this inflexible
integrity and honourable dealing, which produced the same
uniform conduct with young and old, ignorant and knowing,
and which was more ready to recede than to be severe, had
made him less wealthy than he would have otherwise been,
he was possessed of all he desired — a liberal competence ; and
by his honourable conduct he gave a complete example of those
liberal views and magnificent principles which have raised
the character of the British merchant so high in the eyes of the
world. Soon after his settlement in Kingston he was appoint-
ed Judge of the Common Pleas, the duties of which he dis-
charged, without any emolument, in a way most honourable to
himself and beneficial to the public. His patient attention to
the causes before him, his inflexible impartiality, his singular
penetration, and the strength of his judgment, added to the
energetic firmness of his character, enabled him to perform, in
a most correct manner, the duties of this important ofiice.
One of his brethren in another district used to say, with much

LIFK OF HON. RICHARD CARTWRTGHT.

naivete, that ** Mr. Cartwright was worth them all ; while we
were poring and studying, he sees a thing almost intuitively,
overawing us by his very manner, giving dignity to the < ourt,
and inspiring a respect for its decisions." On the bench l^e had
no prejudice or predilection of any kind ; accordingly, he was
most attentive, mild and discriminating, for he aspired to no
praise but that which might be given to the conscientious dis-
charge of his duty. In performing the more humble, but va-
rious and useful duties of a magistrate, you are all witnesses of
his eminence. His addresses to the grand juries at the Quarter
Sessions will be long remembered for their sound principles,
liberal views, and tempered dignity. In exerting himself to
keep the peace, in apprehending and committing felons, and per-
forming all the troublesome duties of this office, he was indefa-
tigable. He did not drive away the injured who came to com-
plain of the oppress or, nor did he attend to his private affiiirs
in preference to theirs. Very few un ^erstand the duties of a
magistrate ; they are so numerous, and embrace so great a va-
riety of objects, that the country is under great obligations to
any worthy man who shall prepare himself for this office, and
discharge its duties without any sinister motives of his own.
No sooner were the provinces divided than he was appointed a
member of the Legislative Council ; and I believe was never,
during the remainder of his life, absent from a single session
of Parliament except one. In a pecuniary point of view this
attendance, every season for twenty-three years, was accom-
panied with great expense, besides the loss of time in conduct-
ing his private business. Nor was it merely while at the seat
of government that he was occupied in legislation ; many an
hour did he spend in collecting and preparing materials for use-
ful laws, in order to render the Province prosperous and happy.

LIFE OF HON. RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

He was not one of those intuitive legislators who cUn sit down
of a morning and write a law upon any whim that strikes their
fancy ; such crude excrescences could only raise his contempt
and indigr; ktion. He deliberated coolly ; he collected informa-
tion with care ; he weighed the words and sentences with the
most scrupulous anxiety, that the meaning might be plain and
simple, and that each clause should express that meaning per-
spicuously, and no other. Nor was he one of those narrow-
minded though well-intentioned statesmen who look for an
immediate effect from their legislative labours ; he knew that,
from the nature of mankind, many evils, after the law had
afforded a remedy, disappeared slowly ; that there were many
enactments of the most useful kind which seemed to take no
effect, but which proceeded in silence, with slow but steady
pace, to produce the most beneficiai results.

Possessing great comprehension of thought, and the most
vigorous talents, attended with a patience of research and a
self-control highly advantageous, he was frequently content to
give way to the less extended views oi his colleagues, and to
accept of an imperfect measure rather than lose it altogether.
You can never, he would say, bring all into the same way of
thinking ; some measures of great and lasting advantage to a
State are slow in their operation, and appear to produce, for a
season, no- beneficial effect, which are yet in the end pregnant
with the most precious advantages. But you cannot expect in
a public assembly always to transfuse your own views and
sentiments into the minds of others. Some are too ignorant
to comprehend the force of your arguments ; some too lazy to
attend to them ; many are blinded by prejudices, and some
have already adopted the contrary side, which they are deter-
mined, at all hazards, to maintain. If, therefore, you remain

LIFE OF HON. RICHAIID CARTWRTOHT.

inflexible, even in the attainment of good, nothing will be
accomplished ; you must concede, and leave a good measure
to make its own way after it has began to operate. Nor is it
just that you should carryall your plans, however disinterested
your intentions. Others may be equally so, though differing
in opinion, and it is right that they should sometimes decide
agjiinst you, even though wrong, that they may know from
exjDerience that they are in possession of liberty. To tho.se
who complained of the little interest many took in preparing
for their legislative duties, and their narrow views in turning
everything to their own county, or their own village, he used
to say, that the great imperfection of national as well as do-
mestic government arose from the little virtue and soundness
of principle, not only in making laws, but in putting them in
execution ; that, instead of finding fault, it would be much
better to act, and to remember that the wisest laws are of no
use unless executed by virtue. Almost every statute that goes
into general operation must be delegated to many different
persons, judges, juries, constables, &c., who, if not governed by
conscience, will abuse their discretionary power. Make a
nation virtuous, and the laws will be wise and their execution
sure. He looked for more good from a rational plan of edu-
cation, disseminating moral and religious principles among the
people, than from legislative enactments. He had been fre-
quently offered a seat in the Executive Council, which he
declined, not only from a conscientious feeling that he could
not discharge its duties strictly, living at a distance from the seat
of government, but also because he was convinced that he could
do more good as a magistrate and legislator by not being
identified with the Government, as an Executive Councillor
must frequently be. Though never aspiring to popularity, his

LIFE OF HON. RICHARD CARTWRIOHT.

known probity had given him a degree of influence which no
other man possessed. This made him anxious to gaard the
independence of his character from any possibility of imputa-
tion. His great ambition was to be useful to the Province,
and to [yromote the prosperity of its inhabitants. In every
situation in which he was placed, we behold the same dignity
of character maintained, the same forgetfulness of self, the
same elevation of principle, which, satisfied with the approba-
tion of conscience, and future hopes, depended net upon the
applause of men, but, on the contrary, sometimes exerted itself
when friends and acquaintances were displeased, and even
amidst frowns and menaces. It is true, that those did not
continue long ; his inflexible probity shone through transient
clouds, and many who had determined to find fault were left
in admiration. It was in this elevated situation, long at the
head of this Society, and possessing the love and esteem of
good men, and the respectful homage of the vicked, that the
late war found him ; for though taught from former experience
to look for everything base and degrading from the faction that
ruled our unhappy neighbours, yet he could hardly believe that
open war would have been the consequence. Sound policy,
interest and affection were in favour of peace ; much might be
lost, but nothing could be gained by hostilities. When he
found himself mistaken, all the enthusiasm of former times
kindled in his bosom, and though sinking under domestic
afflictions, his love for his country gave him new life. His
patriotism during the whole war burnt with the most noble
brightness. Not satisfied with the active «lischarge of his duties
as colonel of the militia, he endeavoured by his writings to
inspire every inhabitant of the colony with sentiments and
reflections suitable to the dangerous situation of the country.

LIFE OF HOxN. RICHARD CARTWRIGIIT.

Writing from tho heart, and with tho most lively zeal, in
the important cauBe, he contributed in an eminent !i;»c5ree to
preserve that noble spirit of independence which eucabled us to
close the contest so gloriously. When our vindictive enemy
thioatened to drive us from the fertile fields that wo had
gained from the wilderness, to sever us from our parent state,
to deprive us of ail that gives dignity to man and renders life
valuable, he was found actively employed in animating the
militia to resistance, pointing out the folly of the boastings of
the foe, and the certainty of their defeat. His unremitting
exertions were continued long after the disease that destroyed
him had made great progress ; the strength of his body was not
equal to the firmness of his soul ; but he continued till within
a few weeks of his death to discharge public duties of the
most important nature. Should any suppose that because he
was always found on the side of the Government, and strenu-
ous in protecting it from the machinations of secret and the
attacks of open enemies, that he was not friendly to liberty,
they would be much mistaken. No man ever displayed more
firmness and independence than he in every situation. As a
legislator, he thought always for himself, and was even some-
what jealous of his liberty. But when he differed from his
colleagues, and opposed a measure desired by the Government,
it was a difference arising from conviction ; it was not a fac-
tious opposition to exhibit his power and gain popularity ; nor
did he ever allow a spirit of insolence and contradiction to
thwart any measure in agitation.

His opposition was therefore equally honourable as his sup-
port, and such was the conviction of his pure integrity that it
extended his influence, and, consequently, his usefulness.
Always a supporter of the liberty and independence of the sub-

LIFE OF HON. RICHARD CARfWRlGHT.

ject, and a steady assorter of all those privileges which every
Briton enjoys by our happy constitution, he knew how easily
they were reconciled to the tirmest loyalty and patriotism. It
was at this time that his situation appeared to combine every-
thing tliat was desirable upon earth. Possessing a rare com-
bination of excellent qualities, the most inflexible integrity,
and th(i fairest reputation, derived from a long and uninter-
rupted course of steady and meritorious conduct, 1 could not help
mentioning to him that he derived even in this life tlie most
grateful rewards of virtue, the esteem, the love, and the vene-
ration, not oidy of those who were intimately connected with
him in the l)onds of friendship and i<iMdred, but of all who
were witnesses of his actions and capable of appreciating the
motives which produced them. lu his memorable rejdy, he
says : " This day closes my fifty-second year, and I can, I think,
safely say that I have lived as much aiul almost as happily as
anybody in the same time. What Providence may prepare for
me in the remainder of my course it is impossible to foresee,
but I shall always have the consolation that hitherto my life
has not been idly or uselessly spent."

Enjoying so much domestic comfort, and that singleness of
mind which accompanies the consciousness of well-doing, it
seems that such a state was too happy for man, and by one of
those mysterious decrees of Providence which astonish and
confound human calculations, he was doomed to suffer tiie most
severe calamities that could be inflicted ; the blows of ad-
versity were aimed at his heart. That cheerful and promising
family, in the bosom of which he saw rising the most engaging
virtues, and from which he anticipated great happiness, was
doomed to wither away before him. He was to mark the
slow but certain progress of death prevailing over lives that

UFE OF nON. RTCTIARD CARTWRKIHT.

fH'l

were dearer to him than his own. First, his second son left a
blank in this house of domestic felicity, and his death was
accompanied with circumstances that give it an interest which
cannot fail to fciigage the warmest sympathy of every feeling
heart. It was the reaction of virtuous principh's warring
against a degrading habit, which had prevailed over his good
dispositions at a time when he was not under the eye of
parental restraint. The grief, the agitation of contending
passions, and Uie firm determinatiun never again to deviate
from the true path, was too much for his i)hy8ical i)ower to
sustain. The conflict threw him into a decline, life ebbed
slowly away, but virtue continued to triumpli. It was this
victory over temptation, which had been accustomed to prevail,
though purchased with his life, that rendered his death so
bitter to his affectionate father ; his sorrow was the more deep
and heartfelt, as it must be concealed from a censorious and
unfeeling world.

From this severe blow he might have returned to the world ;
for while be lamented the loss of a son who displayed in his
last moments a firmness of soul capable of raising his character
to the highest rank in human excellence, he had still many
children of the fairest promise. But, alas ! his first-born was at
that very time slowly sinkrig under a decline, with little or
no hopes of a recovery. I am sure I may with confidence ap-
peal to ail who knew this amiable young man, whether they
ever saw one so universally beloved ; the most affectionate of
sons, the kindest of brothers, joining to the strictest moral and
religious principles a heart expanding to every benevolent
thought, with a temper of uncommon sweetness : his under-
standing was clear, and his views noble. Never did a more ex-
cellent young man claim the sympathy of his friends. Social,

LIFE OF HON. HICHAUD CAUTW'UICJHT.

cheerful and affectionate, he was loved by those who knew
him almost to enthusiasm, for his cheerfulness, arising from a
mind at peace within itself, never failed to enliven his friends
and make them happy. Uniforndy good-humoured, easy in his
conversation, of purity of disposition never surpassed, and of
habitual piety, he had been for some years the most j)leasant
and instructive companion that hi.s father ever enjoyed. Judge
then of his feelings, and of the bitt'ir tears he shed over him,
when the hand of a relentless disease was leading him to the
grave. He could not behold the brightest of his sublunary
hopes vanishing away without unutterable anguish ; the prop
of his declining years, the protector of the family to whom they
might have applied with confidence as their kiml and faithful
guardian, when from the course of nature his own head should
be laid low. From this terrible calamity he never recovered
entirely. The consolations of religion were his, but the fondest
hopes of his heart were blasted ; and although resigned, the
world had lost its charms. His grief undermined his health ;
food was loathsome ; he became too abstemious, and laid the
foundation of that afflicting disorder which brought him to the
grave. His declining health appeared for a time rather a
source of joy than of sorrow, and while employed in his usual
avocations, nothing appeared capable of interesting his heart,
till a new calamity taught him that he had still duties to per-
form, and, rousing anew his tender affections, seemed to give
him new life and energy, and again to awaken in him a wish
to live. His eldest daughter was seized with a cruel disorder
which threatened her speedy dissolution. All the tender feel-
ings of the father were again called into action ; every exertion
was made for her recovery, and for a time with success, but it
was only a transient return to health. The remedies given for

LIFE 01' HON. RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

her recovery undermined a constitution naturally delicate, and
while they cured one disorder, laid the foundation of another
still more fatal. He had the misery to behold his amiable and
affectionate child put to death by >» disorder at once painful and
lingering. In her departure was seen, in the strongest light,
the peculiar blessings of a peaceful end. But, alas ! her parents
were overwhelmed by this new and terrible calamity ; they
were deprived of a diamond that gladdened their hearts, and
possessing all those excellencies of beauty and mind which
they could desire. Her figure was elegant, her action graceful ;
the timid modesty of her countenance showed the ingenuous-
ness of her soul. Her disposition was so friendly, humane, and
gentle, that it was impossible to know and not to love her.
Above all, she had a well-grounded assurance of the truth of
Christianity, which smoothed her path to the grave. Endowed
witli uncommon sweetness of temper, her premature death
filled this place with deep concern. All sighed at the depar-
tuie of a person so richly gifted with every requisite to make
her lovely ; no wonder that her parents severely felt her loss.
A model of filial piety, she spoke not of the progress of her
disease lest she should give her parents uneasiness, and suffer-
ed without a mwrmur the most excruciating pain. It was at
this period that she displayed that Christian patience and forti-
tude which resulted from deep reflection and habitual devotion,
and which not only strengthened the gentle qualities of her
nature, but enabled her to submit with meek resignation to
the Divine will. " It has pleased Heaven," says her heart-
broken father, " to take from me those who knew me best and
loved me most — those whom parental affection mellowed into
the tenderest friendship had entwined most clocely around my
heart. I, however, claim no exemption from the calamities of

LIFE OF HON. RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

life, and pretend not to murmnr at the dispensations of Provi-
dence ; but the wounds made by this revulsion will bleed.
Where can I expect another James and another Hannah on
this side of the grave ] the sources of our most delightful an-
ticipations, the ornament and pride of our house." And again
he observes : " Young was James in years, but mature in virtue
Since he was capable of reflection, he never gave, by his con-
duct, a moment's pain to his parents, and the only consolation
tJ'ey can have for his loss is the hope that their surviving
children will imitate his example." And he observes of Han-
nah, " It ever child repaid a parent's care or merited their fond-
est love, it was her. Beautiful, kind, unassuming, unaff*ected,
she was adored and beloved by all her acquaintance, and almost
doated on by her parents." The progress of the war threw upon
Mr. Cartwriglit so many duties that we thought his mind would
be so nmch occupied as in time to divert his grief ; he ceased
indeed to complain, but his constitution was impaired and his
heart was broken. With that dignity and firmness which
were the basis of his character, he seemed to a stranger to liave
recovered from his misfortunes, but the wounds which they in-
flicted never ceased to bleed. Never did he omit a particle of
his duty ; by night and day he was ready, with his pen and
sword, to defenck this happy Province ; and his incessant appli-
cation to business undoubtedly aggravated his disorder. A
fresh calamity was threatening him : his fourth son, the most
promising in poin*: of intellectual talents of all, fell into a con-
sumption. " It pleased God," says this excellent man, " to
take to himself my dear Stephen ; and though I had long ex-
pected this termination of his disorder, I was not the less af-
fected by it when it did arrive. Our children seem to entwine

themselves about our affections in proportion to their helpless-
B

LIFE OF HON. RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

ness, and he was withal so patieut and considerate, that the
separation was like tearing my heart-strings asunder. When I
compare the present state of my family with what it was but
three short years ago, I am ready to sink under those repeated
visitations which have destroyed my fairest prospects of earthly
happiness."

Little more than a year intervened between Stephen's death
and his own, yet during that period he shrunk not from busi-
ness. He attended his duties in the Legislature, he assisted at
the Board of Claims, and while scarcely able to articulate or to
swallow food sufficient to support him, he continued to per-
form the most important functions. At length the progress of
his disorder threatened his immediate dissolution. He was
prepared to die, but always alive to the claims of his family.
He was willing to try every means to continue a little longer
among them. With this intention he went to Kamouraska to
bathe in the sea ; this aggravated the symptoms, and on his re-
turn he died in Montreal. To strangers, Mr. Cartwright was
distant and reserved ; there appeared even a coldness in his
manner at your first approach ; but this vanished by degrees,
and his conversation was unrivalled in its power of varied
amusement, in rich display of original observations, and facility
of quotation from the best classical authors, English and Latin.
His opinion on literary productions was exceedingly correct,
for he was an excellent judge of style, and his acute discern-
ment easily detected a fallacy in reasoning. He loved poetry,
and was extremely sensible to its charms ; he had even culti-
vated a poetical turn, which he possessed from nature, to a con-
siderable extent. He relished in a high degree all our best
classical poems, and there was hardly a passage of excellence in
Shakespeare, Milton, Dryden, Pope, Thomson and Goldsmith,

LIFE OF HON. RICHARD CARTWRIOHT.

or any other celebrated poet, that he could not repeat. In
social discussion he possessed powers of no common stamp,
combining accuracy of science with precision of method and
richness of illustration. His character was bold, energetic and
firm. Seldom do we find such a combination of eminent talents,
such extensive knowledge, added to so fine and excursive an
imagination. Possessing an innate love of justice and abhor-
rence of iniquity, he enforced upon all occasions the strictest
integrity. An enemy to affectation and insincerity, he despised
intrigue of every kind, or what in modern language is termed
address. From the steadiness of. his character, it naturally
followed that he was constant in his attachments. Never did
he desert any of his triends, whom, after trial and selection, he
had pressed to his heart. Enjoying his invaluable friendshiD
without interruption from our first acquaintance, I feel his loss
as that of an elder brother; my wisest counsellor and surest
protector, to whom I could always apply for instruction and
consolation. With the warmest affection for his friends, ho
joined an eagerness to do them good which no difficulties could
diminish ; is it then to be wondered though he carried to the
grave their love and veneration 1 In their bosoms his memory
will be cherished while their hearts beat and their souls are
capable of reflection. His strict probity and inviolable love of
truth gave him an influence in the country which no other
person ever attained. Never did any man court popular applause
less, and never was any person so much esteemed by the general
voice of the Province ; it was a homage paid to virtue. Those
virtues throw a lustre over his character, and it was the study
of his life to transmit so precious an inheritance to his children.
To accomplish this most important object, and to give them a
proper foundation, he laboured unceasingly to inculcate the

■"l

LIFE OF HON. RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

principles of our holy religion upon their hearts, which he justly
deemed the root of all true virtue. His was a practical religion,
transfused into his life and governing his actions ; not only
directing his intercourse with the world, and penetrating the
retirement of the closet, but entering the secret recesses of the
heart. He was aware of his situation long before his death,
but not a murmur escaped him ; no repinings, no forgetfulness ;
all was peace and composure, and a steady resignation to the
will of God.

His anxiety was only for his family and his friends ; for him-
self he was ready, nay, joyful, as going from a world of pain
and suffering to another of infinite happiness and duration.
In a letter addressed to his friend, but not to be opened till
after his decease, he says : " My infirmities are increasing so
fast upon me that it would be infatuation in me to expect to
live long, and I may very possibly be called away in a few days.
To me this is no otherwise an object of anxiety than as it may
affect my family. Adieu, my dear friend ; before this reaches
you I shall have finished my earthly career, which has been
shortened by the afflicting events which have in the three last
years prostrated my fairest hopes. I shall, without dismay,
resign my soul into the hands of its Creator, trusting to the
merits of our Saviour for all the blessings which Christianity
offers to her friends."

LIFE AND LETTERS

RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

CHAPTER I.

EXPEDITION TO WYOMING — 80-CAlLED MASSACRE A FIGHT — BRANT
DESTROYS GERMAN FLATS — BUTLER DESTROYS CHERRY VALLEY
— CANNIBALISM — GOV. HAMILTON CAPTURED BY AMERICANS AND
PUT IN IRONS — AMERICANS BURN ONONDAOO — CAPTAIN m'DON-
ELL LAYS WASTE THE SHAMOKIN SETTLEMENTS — BRANT DEFEATS
COL. FLURSTIN — GEN. SULLIVAN's CAMP.UGN — RANGERS DEFEAT-
ED — LAY AMBUSCADE — IT FAILS — BUTLER RETREATS TO NIAGARA —
MINOR OPERATIONS.

MEMORANDUM OF INDIAN OPERATIONS FROM 1778 TO 1780,
MADE AT NIAGARA IN 1780.

After the loss of many of their principal Chieie near Fort
Stanwix, the Indians, ever eager for revenge, were easily pre-
vailed upon to continue their hostilities against the rebels, in
which they had at first engaged with a great deal of reluctance.
It was, however, thought most prudent that they should con-
tinue quiet during the winter, and begin their depredations
on the frontier early in the spring. In consequence of this
resolution, the principal of the Six Nation Chiefs and a number
of others came to Niagara early in the season, who, after receiv-
ing very liberal presents, marched from thence on the 1st of

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

May with Major Butler aud the Rangers, having the fertile set-
tlement of Wyoming, a frontier of Pennsylvania, for the object
of their expedition.

That tardiness which usually attends all their operations
kept them inactive for more than a month ; a great part of this
time was spent in deliberations, in which some adherents of
the rebels frequently occasioned much perplexity, and it cost
Major Butler some pains to prevent the other Indians from
being diverted by them from their purpose. They, however, at
length determined to proceed, and on the 1st of July entered
the settlement, the party consisting in the whole of 464 In-
dians and 110 Rangers. That day and the next, two small forts,
in which were a number of women and children and a few men,
surrendered on condition of having their lives spared and be-
ing allowed to retire into the country. The Indians at first,
seeing the inhabitants shut up in forts, and in some measure
secured from their fury, thought of nothing but of scattering
through the settlement to vent it upon the cattle and buildings,
and at the same time to collect as much plunder as they could.
Major Butler, however, by his earnest entreaty, prevailed upon
them to keep in a body till he tried what effect a flag of truce
would have, and finding it attended with such unexpected suc-
cess in the two first instances, they were desirous of getting
possession of all the rest of the forts by the same method, and
a fiv^g was accordingly sent to the principal fort on the 3rd ;
but was insulted, and soon after the greatest part of that garri-
son, and some small ones below it, in all about 450 men, com-
manded by a Colonel Butler, came out to attack them, on
which a very warm engagement ensued, and lasted for about
fifteen minutes, when the rebels retreated with precipitation,
uutj were hotly pursued by the Indians, who took 226 scalps

LIFE AND LETTEPS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

and three prisoners, and several were besides drowned in
attempting to pass the river.

Major Butler's loss was only seven wounded, two of whom
died of their wounds. This victory made them entire masters
of all the settlement, as it occasioned such a panic that all the
forts were either abandoned or surrendered, on the same condi-
tions as the two first, before the 7th instant. Most of the houses
were burnt except such as belonged to people under the name
of Loyalists ; a very large number of cattle were driven off ;
and eflfects to a great amount brought away in plunder by the
Indians.

All this was said to be done without any acts of cruelty be-
ing committed by the savages ; for the deliberate murder of
prisoners after they are brought into their camp is not, it seems,
reckoned among acts of cruelty by these barbarous wretches. On
the 10th, Major Butler arrived at Tioga, and on the 14th set
out for Niagara with a party of the Rangers and several families
of Loyalists ; having previously detached Captain Caldwell, with
part of the Kangers and also some of the Indian officers, to
Aughquagct co assist Captain Brant, and at the same time engage
recruits for the corps of Rangers from the people who were
at that time flocking in from different parts of the frontiers to
avoid serving in the militia. Captain Brant had gone from
Niagara in April, destroyed the settlement of Cobuskill, in the
upper part of Tryon County, and some other settlements in its
neighbourhood, and was keeping that part of the country in a
constant alarm, when hearing that the rebels intended to send
a force into the Indian country, he retired to Aughquaga, where
Captain Caldwell joined him, and they continued some time
under continual apprehensions of being, attacked. He had re-
(juested the Senecas to come to his assistance and join in his

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

III

operations ; but through some jealousies and animosities which
now began to break out, they refused. About this time Cap-
tain Tire, with a party of Mohawks, arrived at Niagara, and
proceeded to Aughquaga.

Towards the latter end of September, their alarms being
pretty well ({uieted. Captain Brant prevailed on his coadjutors,
not without some difficulty, to go against the German Flats,
which they destroyed without meeting any opposition, and
drove oflf a great number of cattle, but the inhabitants had all
taken shelter in the fort. Captain Butler, going into the In-
dian country at this time with a party of Rangers, was, agree-
able to orders, joined by Captain Caldwell and his detachment
at Tioga ; Captain Tire returned immediately to Canada ; and
Captain Brant, with his volunteers and only seven or eight In-
dians, went down towards the Minisink, where he burnt a
number of houses and barns, destroyed a large quantity of
grain, and did much other mischief. While this was doing, a
party of riflemen burnt the village of Aughquaga, and about
the middle of October a Colonel Hartley with a immber of men
came up the river from Wyoming, and put the camp above
Tioga into a good deal of constern:<tion ; but being himself
frightened by the appearance of a force he did not expect, he,
without doing much mischief, retreated ha-^tiiy back to Wyo-
ming, which tiie rebels had again taken possession of in force
soon after Major Butler left it. Abjut the 1st of Novdnber
Captain Butler, being joined by a riumber of Seneca t'^nd other
Indians, and also by Captain Brant, marched against Cherry
Valley, which they reached oq the 11 th. This sel.^lement v/as
soon destroyed, a number of the inhabitants and some officers
and soldiers^ who happened to be out of the fort, killed and

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

tJ^kcn, and such acts of wanton cruelty committed by the blood-
thirsty savages as humanity would shudder to mention.

These are the principal Indian operations in this quarter for
1778, but a number of small parties were constantly going to
and from different parts of the frontier, and excited such a
general terror that the inhabitants abandoned a great part of
the frontier settlements entirely. In the autumn of 1788,
about 1,500 men, including militia, were sent by the rebels t«
Fort Pitt, under the command of a Colonel Gibson, in order to
secure the frontiers of Pennsylvania, and intimidate and bring
to terms the Indians in that quarter, to do which the more
effectually it was thought proper to send forward a part of
these forces to build a fort at the Tuskarawas, but this by no
means had the desired effect. The Indians were continually
hovering about this post, and not a man could stir out of it
without falling into their hands, so that they at last abandoned
it early in the summer of 1779.

In the course of the winter, one Davis or Mesuray, and a
German doctor, with some soldiers, left Fort Pitt, intending
to come to Niagara, but having consumed all their provisions,
and destitute of the hope of a further supply, some of the
soldiers attempted to return ; four, however, remained behind
besides Davis and the doctor, two of whom soon died with
cold and hunger, and the other two, eating very ravenously of
the flesh of their comrades, expired immediately after the
horrid me^l ; and the other two survivors, both deprived of
\he use of their limbs by the frost, were left under the cruel
alternative of either starving or subsisting on the carcases of
their late companions. The latter, however hard, was, of
course, their choice, and they dragged on their existence in
this miserable im^inner for several weeks, when they were

LIFE AND LETTEUS OF RICHARD CARTWRKJHT.

found by a party of Indians, in the month of February, with
some of the human flesh about them, and brought to Niagara.
In order to cover the frontiers of Virginia, and bring, if pos-
sible, the Western Indians over to the rebel side. Colonel
Clarke, with a number of picked men, set out from the back
parts of that Province in the summer of 1778, took possession
of the Illinois, where he found a number of friends in the
French inhabitants of the place, and it was apprehended that he
might advance still further, and by his success draw over the
Indians, and finally endanger Detroit itself. Governor Hamil-
ton, to prevent these bad consequences, and from some other
motives of a private nature, which made h^m wish to leave
Detroit, set out in the fall with a very few soldiers. La
Motte's company of volunteers, some militia and a number of
Indians, and took possession of Port St. Vincent without
opposition, though the inhabitants had before declared in
favour of Clarke. In this place he remained till the begin-
ning of March, 1779, in great security, when Clarke came
upon him by surprise, and the Governor was under the neces-
sity of surrendering himself and party as prisoners of war, and
was sent into the interior part of the country, where he has
ever since remained shut up in prison and loaded with irons.
This disaster occasioned a great alarm at Detroit, and Captain
Lemoult, the commanding officer there at that time, imme-
diately set about building a strong though small fort on a
commanding ground for the better security of the place, and a
company of Rangers was sent from Niagara to reinforce his
garrison. During all the winter the rebels had been making
depots of provisions on the frontiers, and every other prepara-
tion for a western expedition, the object of which was thought
to be Detroit both bv the Commander-in-Chief and General

ill

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT. 35

Iliildiraand — and consetiuently every precaution was taken to
secure that place — while the parts against which it was really
intended were left in a manner unguarded. The Indians of
the Six Nations, after the close of their campaign, if it may be
so called, came in crowds to Niagara to receive the presents
intended for them, and indulge their passion for liquor, in both
of which they were liberally gratified. At the same time
several councils were held with the chiefs, wherein every argu-
ment was used to make them persevere in the active part they
had taken, and promises of support given to encourage them ;
and they were exhorted in the meanwhile, as being a matter of
consequence, to keep a strict watch upon all the motions of the
enemy along the frontiers.

Some months elapsed in transactions of this kind, and the
Indians had scarcely returned to their villages when they were
all thrown into the greatest consternation by the destruction
of Onondago, which was burnt by a party of the rebels about
the 20th of April, 1779, and several of tlie Indians carried off
as prisoners. J^Iessengers wei -i hourly coming in from the In-
dians, whose fears had multipl ed 600 men to C,000, request-
ing immediate assistance, and reproaching Colonel Bolton with
having abandoned them to the resentment of people whom
they had made their enemies merely on our account and at
our most earnest solicitations. Colonel Bolton resolved upon
sending them immediately suoh succour as he was able. Major
Butler accordingly set out to their assistance on the 1st of May
with about 200 men, including Rangers, and a small detach-
ment of the 8th Regiment, and the officers, ^'ic, of the Indian
Department. Part of this force was sent by water to Ironde-
quot with provisions. This alarm soon blew over, as the
rebels retired immediately, having at that time had nothing

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT,

further in view than to destroy the Onondago village, which
lay nearest to them, and get some prisoners into their hands
that might serve as hostages at least for that nation. How-
ever, it was thought best that this small force should continue
in the Indian country, to be ready to oppose any other attempts
that the rebels might make that way, and the village of Onon-
dago was judged the most proper place of rendezvous for that pur-
pose. While here, Major Butler received letters from General
Haldimand enclosing a speech to the Six Nations and Con-
federates, promising them that he would send Sir John John-
son and a number of men early in the summer to take post at
Oswego, which was what the Indians had very much at heart,
and had several times requested to have done. He also sent
a menacing speech to the Oneidas, and deputies from the dif-
ferent nations of Canada and some of the western nations, at
his request, to hold a meeting with them, and endeavour by
persuasions and threats to draw them off from the rebels ; but
to no purpose, as the Oneidas refused to meet them except at
their own village, whither it was not thought prudent to let
them go. They therefore returned again to Canada, and one of
the principal chiefs of the Six Nations was sent with them, in
the njvme of the whole Confederacy, to urge the General on the
subject of taking post at Oswego. While these deputies were
in the country of the Six Nations, they, in conjunction with
them, addressed a very spirited speech to the western Indians,
who, it was apprehended, were at that time wavering, which
was said to have had a very good effect. The want of provisions,
which was in a great measure irremediable, made it impossible
for Major Butler to attempt anything material; however, it
was resolved at all events to send a party into the country, in
order, if possible, to procure some cattle to subsist upon , and,

^wmnnwiTrai-aiiM*

LIFE AND LKTTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIOHT. 37

.icconlingly, fifty Rangers, under the command of Captain Mc-
Donell, were sent otl" on tlie Utn of July to the west branch of
♦ho Susquehanna, and were joined on their way by about 120
Indians.

Tiiey came upon the settlements near the Shamokin on the
27th, and the next day they took a small fort called Fort Free-
land, which was defended by thirty men, who surrendered on
promise of being stnt prisoners to Niagara, and that their wo-
men and children, of which there were many in the fort,
should be allowed to retire into the country, which was punc-
tually fulfilled. The same day he defeated a party of about
eighty rebels that came to attack him, killing the captain and
between thirty and forty privates, with the loss of only one
Indian killed ; and, after having burnt thirty miles of a close-
settled country, which the inhabitants in general had abandon-
ed at his approach, and driven off 116 head of cattle (many of
which the Indians afterwards stole), he returned on the 10th
of August with part of the cattle, affording a very seasonable
relief. Captain Brant also, who came into the Indian country
the latter end of June, collected together a party of Indians,
with whom and some of his volunteers he went towards the
Minisink, but found the people of that settlement so well upon
their guard that he could do nothing more than burn a few
houses. On his retreat he was attacked by a party of the
militia, under the command of Colonel Flurstin, whom he de-
feated with the loss of their colonel and many others ; the loss
on his side was four or five killed, and ten or twelve wounded,
some of whom afterwards died of their wounds. In the mean-
time the rebels were assembling a large body of troops at Wy-
oming and Lake Otsego, and, having everything in readiness by
the beginning of August, began their march and appeared at

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

Tioga on the 9th of that month, but a day or two after Captain
McDonell had Ijft it, and before it was known that they were
even in motion.

They immediately began to build a fort, and on the 14th a
large party of them advancing burnt Shimong, and were pro-
ceeding further when they were waylaid by some Delawares,
who killed and wounded several of them, but were obliged to
retreat leaving one man dead on the field. The rebels, however,
thought proper to advance no further for the present, but re-
turned in some haste to Tioga, and applied themselves with
great industry to complete their fort. On the first notice of
the appearance of the enemy, runners were sent oflF to all the
villages to alarm the Indians and hurry them as fast as possible
to Canadasago, the place of general rendezvous ; an express was
also dispatched to Captain Butler, who, with such of the
Raugers as had not gone with Captain McDonell, was removed
to the mouth of the Genesea River for the convenience of being
supplied with provisions; he arrived on the 15th, as did also a
great part of the Indians the same afternoon. The next day
being take a up in performing the ceremonies of the war feast
and war dance, on the 17th the whole, amounting to between
400 and 500 marched from Canadasago, and on the 22nd en-
camped at Chuchnut, or New Town, twelve miles distant from
the enemy. Captain Brant and party, who were lying here,
and the Delawares and others in the neighbourhood, increased
the force that was to oppose the rebels to about 700 men.
Every endeavour of the Indians and Rangers to get a prisoner
or obtain any certain information of their number was ineffec-
tual ; however, it was found that they had pushed a consider-
able part of their force to Oswego, a place sixteen miles east of
Tioga, with the design, as was supposed, to facilitate their

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD OARTWRIGHT.

junction with the troops under General Clinton, who were to
come from Lake Otsego. This they effected without any inter-
ruption. On the 27th, Major Butler was. informed that the
enemy were on their march towards him, and as the Indians
had determined to make one general attempt to stop their pro-
gress, he, in concert with them, took possession of a rising
ground about a mile from the camp at Chuchnut, and threw
up a slight breastwork of logs, which was covered with bushes,
the whole better calculated to conceal his men than to protect
them from the fire of the enemy. Here he waited the coming
of the enemy, who made their appearance earlj in the after-
noon of the 29th. They were commanded by General Sullivan,
who, having discovered the situation of Major Butler and the
Indians, sent some riflemen to amuse them at long shot while
he made dispositions for a general attack. He sent two bri-
gades, commanded by Clinton and Poor, to encompass a moun-
tain that lay to the left of Major Butler's lines, in order to gain
his rear ; and another along the bank of the Cayoga River,
which lay to his right, to attack him on that side ; while under
cover of the wood he placed his artillery, consisting of four
small pieces of cannon, a royal and a howitzer, in front, where
he had also posted the riflemen, and kept a brigade commanded
by a General Maxwell as a reserve. As soon as he supposed
the troops to the right and left had reached their appointed
stations he ordered his artillery to fire, which they did in so
good a direction that many of the Indians fled immediately, and
in a few minutes Major Butler was obliged to make a general
retreat. The greater part took to the mountain, where the
enemy had got before them, and maintained a kind of running
fight along the side of it ; keeping the rebels at bay for a con-
siderable time, till at length finding themselves on the point of

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

being surrounded, every man made the best of his way to
escape as he could. Many of the Indians never stopped till
they reached their own villages, and took away in their flight
several of the baggage horses that had been sent forward some
miles to be out of the way in case of accidents. Major Butler
halted at the Nanticoke Town, a village five miles distant from
the place of action, till evening, and proceeded, with such of the
Kangers and Indians as he could then collect, five miles further
and then halted till the morning. In the night Captain Butler,
with several other officers and about forty men, who it was
feared were lost, joined him, and upon strict inquiry it was
found that there were only four Raugers and five Indians killed
and taken, and three Rangers and nine Indians wounded.
General Sullivan, by too great haste in firing his artillery, in a
manner forced his prey out of his hands ; for had he delayed
this till Clinton and Poor got around the mountain, it would
have been impossible for Major Butler and party to have
escaped, and they all must have inevitably been either killed
or taken. The Indians were so intimidated by this defeat that
they could not be brought again to face the enemy, and Major
Butler was obliged to retreat as the rebels continued to advance,
which they did so rapidly that on the 11th of September they
reached Candargo. Major Butler, with the Rangers and part
of the Indians, was then at Canawagoras, where they arrived
on the 9th, and the rest of the Indians that had not fled to
Niagara were at Genesea, about nine miles distant, but so
dispirited that they could hardly be got to send small scouts
to observe the motions of the enemy. Major Butler had written
to Colonel Bolton an account of what had happened as soon as
he was able, which was nqt till the 1st of September. He
here received an answer from him, acquainting him that he had

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

sent the Light Infantry Company of the 8th by water, with

orders to land at the Genesea River, and join him immediately

and that the Light Company of the 34th, and emigrants who

were hourly expected at Niagara, should follow them as soon as

possible. The Indians, who, at Major Butler's instance, had

agreed once more to face the rebels, began to recover their

spirits at this intelligence ; and that they might not have time

to relapse into their former despondency, Captain McDonell

was immediately despatched to the mouth of the Genesea

River to bring up the reinforcements with all expedition. But

before this could be done the enemy drew so near that Major

Butler, with the Rangers and Indians, only in all about 350,

was obliged to march with all expedition to the place chosen

for an simbuscade, to prevent the rebels getting there before

him. This spot was about the side of a hill opposite to the

Village of Conighsas, at the foot of which was a deep morass

extending far to the right, and a lake to the left, and the path

through which the rebels must of necessity pass wound along

the hill that the Rangers and Indians were to take possession

of. Major Butler reached this on the 13th, in the morning, and

found the rebels employed very busily in making a bridge over

the morass.

His small force was posted to the best advantage, and lay

till about noon, expecting the rebels to advance, when they

were alarmed by a firing in their rear at the right of the line,

on which the whole moved to that quarter, those to the left

making a circuit to get beyond where it was imagined, from

the firing, the rebels had begun an attack. In a few minutes

it was discovered that it was only a rebel scout of 26 men

that had been sent the night before to Genesea, and on its

return had fallen in with the right of the Rangers and Indians,
O

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

that had occasioned this alarm. The whole of this party were
killed except a lieutenant and one private, who were taken
prisoners, and one or two others who made their escape. The
lieutenant stated that the army under General Sullivan con-
sisted of between 4,000 and 5,000 men, and that they intended
to advance no farther than Genesea. This information and a
certainty of being discovered made it necessary for Major
Butler, without loss of time, to retreat, and crossing the
Genesea River he remained at the Genesea Village that night,
the rebels being encamped about three miles off, on the oppo-
site side of the river, which it was at that time difficult to
pass. The two prisoners were stripped and beaten, and treated
with every kind of indignity by the Indians ; and when at
last they were given in care of a guard of Rangers, and sent
before the rest to Genesea, as soon as they entered that village,
in spite of what the guard could do, they were immediately
tomahawked by some Indians who had been afraid to venture
out, and their bodies treated in too indecent a manner to be
described. Tnis, however, was no more than a just retalia-
tion ; the party the lieutenant commanded had the night before
killed an Indian at Coshequa, a village three miles from
Genesea, and exercised the most shocking and scandalous in-
dignities on his dead body. Early on the morning of the 14th
Major Butler quitted Genesea to make the best of his way to
Niagara, and marched that day near 30 miles. The next morn-
ing he was joined by the detachment of the 8th, who, from
the route they came, must have barely escaped falling in with
the rebels ; the detachment of the 34th and the emigrants met
him soon after, having marched from Niagara by land.

Some thoughts were then entertained of turning back, but
as there was no prospect of effecting anything against such

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIOHT.

superior numbers, and his provisions of every kind being nearly
expended, Major Butler determined to proceed to Niagara, where
he arrived on the 18th with the troops, Rangers, and a swarm
of Indians. General Sullivan entered Genesea, the last of
the Indian towns towards Niagara, on the 14th, soon after
Major Butler left it, which was the eighteenth day from the
time of his leaving Tioga. After burning the town and de-
stroying the corn, he returned to Tioga with all expedition,
and without the smallest interruption, and having demolished
the fort he had built there, hastened to join General Washing-
ton. A part of his army returned by the way of Fort Stanwix,
and destroyed Skaias, Cayouga, and such other villages as lay in
their route. While the country of the Six Nations was thus
overrun on this side, the Delawares and Upper Senecas set-
tied in the neighbourhood of Presque Isle, and lower down
towards the Ohio, were invaded with the same success. As
soon as the General was informed of the progress of the rebels,
he sent off Sir John Johnson with the greater part of his own
and the 34th Regiment, and a company of German Chasseurs,
and Captain Fraser with the Canada Indians ; and Colonel
Johnson came also at I'je same time to the assistance of the
Six Nations ; but the mischief was done, and the rebels had
retreated before they reached Carleton Island. On receiving
this intelligence. Sir John determined to convey his troops to
Great Asserotus, where he requested Major Butler to join him
with the Indians and Rangers, and bring with him all the
horses he could collect, intending from thence to march by the
shortest route to attack the fort, which was supposed to be
still kept at Tioga.

With this design he left Carleton Island; but being obliged by
the wind to make sail for Niagara, he was there soon convinced

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

of the impossibility of putting his plan in execution. However,
as soon as the Oneidas had taken an active part in the rebel
invasion, it was thought that the other Indians would readily
concur in an enterprise against them, which was accordingly
resolved on ; and about 150 Rangers being added to his force,
he, accompanied by Colonel Johnson, set sail for Oswego on
the 10th of October, and landed the troops on the 13th, at
night, and Major Butler, who came along the Lake with some
Indians, arrived there a few days after. Captain Brant, who
conducted a party of Indians by land, did not come up as was
expected, and it was found that the Indians, particularly those
from Canada, were much averse to go against the Oneidas.
Under these circumstances, directions came from the General
to Sir John to put the troops into winter quarters, in conse-
quence of which he quitted Oswego on the 26th October, in the
evening, having occasioned a great alarm in the country and
taken three Oneidas that had been reconnoitring the camp, as
also a rebel sergeant from Fort Stanwix, who fell in with one
of his scouts. In the course of the summer several parties of
Canadian Indians had been on excursions to Mohawk River
and German Flats, one of which surprised and took an officer
and twenty men, near Fort Stanwix, cutting hay. In the spring
Captain Bird also set out from Detroit with a large number of
Indians, at their desire, to go against the rebel post at Tuskara-
was ; but the Indians being rather backward, he was under a
necessity of returning without doing anything material. Lieut.
Bennett also, some time in the summer, went with a large
party of the Western Indians from Mishilimacinac to St
Joseph's, with an intention of doing something against Mr.
Clarke, who continued about the country of the Illinois, but
was in a manner abandoned by the Indians, and obliged to re-

!!!

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

turn. In the month of October a party of Indians from Detroit,
conducted by Simon Gertie, an interpreter, fell in with a party
of rebels under a Colonel Rogers, going down the Ohio in
boats. They killed forty and took the Colonel, and all the
boats but one fell into their hands. Colonel Johnson, on his
return from Oswego, by desire of the General, and at the
instance of Colonel Bolton, endeavoured to prevail on part
of the Indians to remove to Canada and Carleton Island, in
order that the rest might be more conveniently supplied.

Between 500 and 600, chiefly Delawares and Onondagos,
consented, not without reluctance, to go ; the rest, amounting
to upwards of 3,000, exclusive of those whose villages and com
escaped, were maintained at Niagara during the winter.

At first there was much murmuring and complaining, but
as every means was used to quiet them, this soon subsided, and
in the month of February, 1 780, several parties — and one pretty
large one, conducted by Captain Brant — went out on the
frontiers.

About this time the rebels, under pretence of writing to
Colonel Johnson concerning an exchange of prisoners, sent four
of the principal Sachems, in their interest, to endeavour to
engage the Six Nations to a neutrality. Though these on their
arrival were confined in the fort, yet after some time, at the
desire of the Indians, they were allowed to open their business
in public, which they did, but apparently to no purpose; and in
a speech delivered by Aaron, the Mohawk Chief, in reply to
what they had said, they were reproached in the severest terms
for their defection from the confederacy, and their servile adher-
ence to the rebels. Had deputies been sent to them by the rebels,
while in that consternation which their first appearance and
successes in the Indian country had raised, they might in all

LIIK AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

probability ha/e brought the Indians to terms ; but it was now
too late — they had no longer anything to lose, and their only
care was how to be revenged for the destruction of what they
held most dear. The first parties returning successful encou-
raged others; and so myny were for going out to war, that it was
found difficult to prevail on any large number of them to go
and plant corn at proper places for their subsistence. In
this, however, indolence might have a considerable share.
Numbers of them were almost every day going to different parts
of the country, in larger or smaller parties, and the rebelfj must
have found that their grand Western Expedition, attended
with such vast labour and enormous expense, instead of con-
quering, had only served to exasperate the Indians.

In taking a view of the Indian war, it is certain that it has
very much distressed the rebels by destroying some of their
best settlements, drawing off vast quantities of their cattle,
and obliging them to leave the greatest part of their frontiers,
from Canada to Virginia, uncultivated, besides laying them
under the necessity of keeping several thousand men embodied
merely to oppose the Indians.

But, besides that, the expenses of carrying it on have hitherto
at least been fully adequate to these advantages. The cruelties
that have attended it, and been exercised indiscriminately on
friend and foe, without distinction of sex or age, when seriously
considered, must make it be regarded with general abhorrence.

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

CHAPTER II.

LETTER TO ISAAC TODD, ESQ. — FIRST PARLIAMENT — ESTABLISHMENT OF

ENGLISH LAW CUSTOM-HOUSE BILL THROWN OUT BY UPPER HOUSE

— OBJECTIONS TO THE SEAT OF GOVERNMENT ON THE TRANCHE
— SECOND LETTER TO TODD — COMMISSIONERS ON REVENUE — DE-
FECT OF MARRIAGE LAW — HIS DISGUST AT POLITICS — GOVERNOR
SIMCOE AT YORK — HIS CANVAS HOUSE — BUILDING REGULATIONS
— THIRD LETTER — INDIGNATION AT CHARGE OF DISLOYALTY —
DEPRECATES ESTABLISHMENT OF ECCLESIASTICAL COURTS — AD-
DRESS TO GRAND JURY — PROCEEDINGS OF THIRD SESSION —
JUDICATURE BILL — LAWYERS BY ACT OF PARLIAMENT — REVENUE
COMMISSIONERS — ALARM AT DETROIT — CANADIANS KILLED —
LETTER TO MAJOR LOTHBRIDGE — LORD DORCHBSTER's SPEECH —
SKIRMISH NEAR DETROIT — PORK CURING FOR TROOPS.

To Isaac Todd^ Esq.

Kingston, 21st October, 1792.
Dear Sir, — I was favoured with a letter from you by the
spring ships, and am much obliged to you for the kind men-
tion you were so good as to make of me to some of the officers
of the new government. The Chief Justice appears to be a
very worthy and respectable man, and I am extremely sorry
that his necessary attendance at head-quarters, which at present
is at Navy Hall, opposite Niagara, will deprive me of the
pleasure and benefit of much of his company and conversation.
It is but a few days since I returned from thence, the first
session of our Legislature having ended only on the 15th.
Some useful regulations of police have been enacted, but

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRiaiTT.

the material part of the business has been to establish the
English laws as the rule of decision in all cases of controversy-
relating to property and civil rights, excluding, however, the
bankrupt and poor laws, and those relative to ecclesiastical
rights and dues, which are manifestly inapplicable to the situa-
tion of this country. The trirl by jury is also established in
all causes above forty shillings, according to the English mode ;
but it has not been thought advisable to change our Writ of
Summons, or rules of proceeding in our Courts, for the English
Capias^ and the complicated, elaborate, and artificial systems of
Westminster Hall ; ' which have always appeared to me the
most fruitful sources of oppression and chicanery, and to be
rather calculated to swell the importance and fill the pockets
of the professors of the law, than for the speedy and effectual
administration of justice. Thus far all is very well, but some
of the proceedings of the Lower House have a tendency to
show that the objections made to the division of the Province
as likely to obstruct their trade, and create separate interests
between its two portions, were better founded than I at first
thought them. A Bill passed the House almost unanimously
for establishing custom-houses and appointing officers at the
Point of Bodet and ou the Ottawa river, for the purpose of
levying a duty of sixpence per gallon on all run and wine
that should enter the Province of Upper Canada. Not to
mention the impolicy and inexpediency of the tax even so far
as it would operate upon the trade and consumption of the
settled parts of the country, it appeared so highly unjust
as levying a contribution upon our fellow-subjects in Lower
Canada who come to trade within our geographical limits, in-
deed, but far beyond the sphere of our influence, and where
we 'can neither protect nor facilitate their commerce, as for gx-

LIFE AND LETTEllS OF lUCHAllD CARTWRiaUT.

ample, to the North- West and Mississippi, that it met with but a
single friend in the Upper House. However, these gentlemen
are so full of the idea of getting money, even for county
charges, without any apparent expense to themselves, that they
cannot, or will not see the injustice and impropriety of the
measure, and I have no doubt will renew the attempt at
the next session ; not considering that if they should succeed,
which is not at all probable, the Lower Province would have
it in their power to retaliate upon them most severely.

The River Trancke is still talked of as the seat of govern-
ment, but I hope this plan will not be persisted in, for it ap-
pears to me as complete a piece of political Quixotism cas I re-
collect to have met with, and will be going out of the way of
the iiihabited part of the country, instead of coming to govern
it. The maxim to follow nature not to face it is as proper for
our guide in politics as in all other concerns ; and however
splendid the pr "t may be of establishing a capital that shall
give laws to a numerous population which is to cover the im-
mense peninsula formed by the lakes, and the Ottawa and St.
Lawrence rivers, it is a scheme perfectly Utopian, to which na-
ture has opposed invincible obstacles ; unless Mongolfier'a in-
genious invention could be adapted to practical purposes, and
air balloons be converted into vehicles of commerce.

To what is to be ascribed the present state of improvement
and population of this country 1 Certainly not to its natural
advantages, but to the liberality which Government has shewn
towards the Loyalists who first settled it ; to the money spent
by the numerous garrisons and public departments established
amongst us ; and the demand for our produce which so m£i,ny
unproductive consumers occasion on the spot. As long as the
British Government shall think proper to hire people to eome

60 LIFE AND LKTTERS OF RICHARD CAUTWItKJHT.

over to eat our flour, we shall go on very well, and continue
to make a figure, but when once we come to export our pro-
duce, the disadvantages of our remote inland situation will
operate in their full force, and the very largo portion of the
price of our produce that must bo absorbed by the expense of
transporting it to a place of exportation, and the enhanced
value that the same cause must add to every article of Euro-
pean manufacture, will give an effectual check to the improve-
ment of the Cx^untry beyond a certain extent ; the farther we
go, the more powerfully must those causes operate ; and when
we go beyond the banks of Lake Ontario, it will cost as much
to bring our rude produce to market, as it will be worth, and
yet from such exports alone it is that we can become beneficial
to the mother country, who certainly can have no intention to
make us manufacturers. T believe, indeed, that the origin of
our settlements took its rise from motives more noble than
views of commercial advantages ; namely, to provide a com-
fortable asylum for the unfortunate Loyalists reduced to poverty
and driven into exile by their attachment to Britain ; and it
was, perhaps, necessary to crown the generous conduct which
has been held with r to them, that they should have the

benefit of the Er ws and form of Government. But on

the present pla ^ object is lost sight of for an ignis fatuuSy
and the Government will " waste its sweetness on the desert
air j " the energy will be spent where it has nothing to operate
upon ; and much money will be lavished away, where it can
be of little permanent advantage to the Province, however use-
ful it may be to some individuals. Whereas, had the Governor
fixed his residence at this end of Lake Ontario, between which
and the Point of Bode'o, lies the greatest mass of our popula-
tion, its influence, co-operating with the comparative advantages

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIOHT. 51

of £he situation, would have had a powerful, beneficial, and
lasting effect. And much chagrin would have been spared to
the inhabitants of the two lower district:?, who compose full
three-fourths of the population of the Prov^ince, and who can-
not be pleased to find that they are to be neglected, and left
to themselves, while Government is pursuing, at a very great
expense, imaginary advantages. I could say a great deal more
on this subject, but my letter is already swelled to an immode-
rate length, and I should not have gone even ^o far, had it not
been to satisfy you that my sentiments, however uncourtly,
are founded in reason and truth, and do not proceed from
prejudice or interested considerations. I have given you this
sketch of politics rather in compliance with your request, than
from an expectation of its attracting much of your attention ;
while you are so near such important scenes as are now acting
on the continent of Europe ; where the worthy triumvirate of
Russia, Prussia and Austria seem determined to rivet the fet-
ters of despotism upon mankind, and show themselves equal
enemies to the tamperate reforms of Poland, and the extrava-
gant republicanism of France.

To Isaac Todd^ Esq.

Kingston, Oct. 14th, 1793-
Dear Sir, — Your request, and the flattering reception you
have given my former letter, induces me to attempt to give you
Fome further account of the public business of the Province.
The inclosed paper, containing the titles of Bills passed during
the second session of our Legislature, will show that it has not
been an idle one. Some of these Acts are very well calculated
for arranging the police of the country, and the one authoriz-
ing the Lieutenant-Governor to appoint Comr^ doners is

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

intended as a means of amicably adjusting with the Lotrer
Provinces every matter of revenue in which both may be con-
cer;i€d. So far is very well. But, as I foresaw, the Custom
House Bill was again revived and again rejected, and there are so
many private views blended with this measure, that it will not
be easily relinquished bv its partisans. For instance, now that
the members of the Lower House are to have ten shillings per
diem, to be paid by their respective Counties, during their at-
tendance, the Speaker thinks he ought to have a handsome
salary ; and how else is the money to be raised without excit-
ing public clamour ? Besides, two or three appointments in this
department, with a good salary annexed, would afford a very
comfortable provision for some of the members; and, for so young
a country, I assure you we are beginning to have a wonderful
acuteness in making discoveries of this kind.,. The Marriage
Act was necessary, and is useful as far as it goes, but it is de-
fective in omitting to make provision for the marriages of Dis-
senters ; and every effort will be made at the next meeting of
the Legislature to put this business on a more liberal footing.
Amendments to that effect were only ^rithdrawn in the last ses-
sion on the most positive assurances that representations
would be made at home relative to the propriety of relaxing in
this particular. Indeed, the caution with which everything
relative to the Church or Dissenters is guarded in the Act of
Parliament which establishes our constitution, and the zeal and
tenaciousness of the Executive Government in this country on
this head, has always astonished me. When a particular sys-
tem has been long adopted and acted upon, some evil may
perhaps result from a change, although in its principles it may
be neither liberal nor just, and at all events there is the bug-
bear innovation to ^uard the abuse | but to ms^ke this abuse an

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

essential principle, and where a new Government is to be formed,
as in the present case, among a people composed of every re-
ligious denomination, and nineteen-twentieths of whom are of
persuasions different from the Church of England, to attempt
to give to that Church the same exclusive political advantages
that it possesses in Great Britain, and which are even there the
cause of so much clamour, appears to me to be as impolitic as it
is unjust. In the present times one would expect better things
from Ministers. That these remarks may not be imputed to
prejudice, I think it necessary to mention that I am one of the
small number of churchmen in the country. For my part, I
assure you I begin to be disgusted with politics. On the divi-
sion of the Province, as we had no previous establishments in
our way, I fondly imagined that we were to sit down cordially
together to form regulations solely for the public good ; but a
little experience convinced me that these were the visions of
a novice, and I found our Executive Government disposed to
calculate their measures as much with a view to patronage and
private endowment as the prosperity of the colony. In this
I doubt not they will be sufficiently successful, from the
interested complaisance of some of our legislators, and the ig-
norance of more, who are incapable of foreseeing the conse-
quences of their concessions. But such policy is as short-
sighted as it is illiberal ; and however little it may be noticed
at present, if persisted in and pushed very far will unquestion-
bly be sowing the seeds of civil discord, and perhaps laying
the foundations of future revolutions. For though almost
everybody is now too much taken up with providing the means
of subsistence to have leisure for canvassing public measures,
yet as we advance in population and improvement they will
become objects of more general attention, and in sound policy

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

ought to be so calculated as not to furnish cause of disgust to
the real patriot, or pretext for clamour to the pretended one.
In the course of our proceedings I have found how completely
the spirit of that part of the Act might be evaded which pro-
fesses to make the Legislative Council entirely independent,
by giving the members their seats for life. It is only to com-
pose the majority of it — as has in fact been done — of Executive
Councillors and officers of Government dependent for their
salaries on the good pleasure of the Governor. The Governor
is at present at Toronto, where he has laid out a town plot,
which he has called York, and where I am told he intends to
pass the winter in his canvas house, for there is yet no other
built, nor preparations for any ; his regiment is also to hut
themselves there.

This situation for the capital unites many advantages, as it
will contribute to the more speedy settling of the vacant lands
on both sides of it, and be a means of sooner uniting the settle-
ments above the Bay of Kenty and below the head of Lake
Ontario, and also as it lays at the entrance of a communication
into Lake Huron by Lake La Claye, which may by-and-bye
be found practicable and useful. But, notwithstanding this, he
does not scruple to say that he has his eye still fixed on the
River Trancke ; and though he may for awhile put up with

the Town of York and the River Humber, he seems to be satis-

•

fied with nothing less than another Thames and a second London.
You will smile perhaps when I tell you that even at York a
town lot is to be granted in the front street only on condition
that you shall build a house of not less than forty-seven feet
front, two stories high, and after a certain order of architecture.
In the second street they may be somewhat less in front, but
the two stories and the mode of architecture are indispensable ;

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

and it is only in the back streets and alleys that the tinkei-s
and tailors will be allowed to consult their taste and circum-
stances in the structure of their habitations, upon lots of one-
tenth of an acre. Seriously, our good Governor is a little wild
in his projects, and seems to imagine that he can in two or three
years put the country into a situation that it is impossible it
can arrive at in a century ; and I fear that a great deal of ex-
pense will by this means be thrown away, which, under the
management of a less sanguine temper, would have been pro-
ductive of solid benefit to the colony. For example, how use-
ful might the Rangers have been, had they been employed in
the service for which they were ostensibly raised, of opening
roads and building bridges between the diflferent settled parts
of the country ; but this is a business that the inhabitants are
left to do of themselves as well as they can, and the only piece
of work of this kind that these folks, who were " to level moun-
tains and make valleys rise," have been employed in at all, is
in cutting a road from the head of Lake Ontario to the River
Trancke, where there is yet not a single inhabitant, and in
this duty there is at present a captain and one hundred men
engaged. But while I am thus free in my strictures, I must
also say that the Governor merits very great praise for his in-
defatigable industry in exploring in person the communication
between the different parts of the country. Last winter he
went to Detroit on snow shoes ; early this spring he coasted the
Lake from Niagara to Toronto ; he has now gone to look into Lake
Huron by the way of Lake La Claye, and next winter we expect
a visit from him here, by way of the Bay of Kenty. You will,
before now, have been informed that the American Commis-
sioners have failed in the purpose of their embassy to make
peace with the India'is, who would not agree to meet them at

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

all, unless they would previously consent to make the River
Ohio the boundary between them and the United States.
This is much to be regretted, from motives of humanity as well
as the political consequences that may attend it, by making the
Government of the States more urgent for the delivery of the
posts, in order to overawe the Indians, and whenever this hap-
pens it will make a material change in the situation of the two
Canadas, certainly not to their advantage.

To Isaac Todd, Esq.

Kingston, 1st October, 1794.

Dear Sir, — It was with a mixture of surprise and indigna-
tion that I read an extract of a letter of yours this spring to
the House in Montreal, and part of the one of 1st August to
me, mentioning that Governor Simcoe had represented both
Mr. Hamilton and myself as inimical to Government, and Mr.
King's instance of the Marriage Act convinces me that it is
not from the Minutes of the Council that the people at home
could form such suspicions ; for there it will appear that this
Act was brought into the House by myself, and that I was one
of a Committee of Conference that induced the Lower House
to withdraw their amend.nent.

It seems, then, that every man who will not be a mere tool,
and pay implicit respect to the caprice and extravagance of a
Colonial Governor, must be an object of jealousy and malevo-
lence, not only here but at home. Yet ask these gentlemen
for what purpose they gave me a seat in the Legislative Coun-
cil ? I presume they will tell you it was from a desire to avail
themselves of my knowledge of the country and acquaintance
with the inhabitants, derived from long residence and familiar
intercourse with them, to assist in framing such laws as might

LIFE AND LETIERS OF KICHARD CARTWRIOHT.

be most applicable to the situation of the colony ; not merely
to show my complaisance to the person at the head of the
Government. Such, at all events, is the duty which I conceive
that my appointment imposes on me ; and do they expect that
I should either approve of or be silent upon measures that are
totally inapplicable to the state of society in this country, that
are inconsistent with its geographical situation, and must shock
the habits and prejudices of the majority of its inhabitants ?

In the intercourse of private life I am disposed to be as ac-
commodating as any uiui, b:;t in the discharge of a public
trust I must follow m; ,wn sense of duty and propriety, I
do not doubt the disposition of the Governor to consult the
welfare of the Province, yet this disposition sometimes puts on
an odd appearance. He is a man of warm and sanguine tem-
per, that will not let him see any obstacles to his views ; he
thinks every existing regulation in England would be proper
here. Not attending sufficiently, perhaps, to the spirit of the
constitution, he seems bent on copying all the subordinate
establishments without considering the great disparity of the
two countries in every respect. And it really would not sur-
prise me to see attempts made to establish among us Eccle-
siastical Courts, tithes and religious tests, though nine-tenths
at least of our people are of persuasions different from the
Church of England, though the whole have been bred in a
country where there was the most perfect freedom in religious
matters, and though this would certainly occasion almost a
general emigration , One would, however, have thought that
politics in the abstract would by this time have been suffi-
ciently out of repute. I did not expect or wish for the place
I hold in the Legislature, nor do I care how soon I resign it;
but while I do retain it I will most certainly do my duty, re-

k.-.

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

gardless of the smiles or frowns, the favours or the calumnies of
any person whatever. Were I to act differently, I am sure
you would be the first to despise me, and I certainly should
despise myself — a degradation that would be poorly compensated
by all the emolument or favour that could flow from a different
line of conduct. All my prospects, as well for myself as my
family^ are confined to this Province ; I am bound to it by the
strongest ties, and with its welfare my interest is most essen-
tially connected. On this account, too, I cannot look tamely
on and see measures pursued that by sowing the seed of dis-
content among us may ultimately avert from us the favour of
Great Britain, which is so necessary to our prosperity. It is
much to be regretted that Government seldom receives colonial
information but through persons who too frequently are dis-
posed to misrepresent both men and things.

Perhaps they were last spring reading imputations on my
loyalty, while, in the discharge of my duty as a magistrate, I
was addressing the following language to a Grand Jury : —

"We T-re happily exempt from those political dissensions
that are now covering Europe with crimes and blood. Happy
in a liberal constitution, and reposing under the protection of
a Government from whose bounty we possess a soil that fur-
nishes to the industrious every necessary of life — a Govern-
ment that hath liberally assisted us in converting our forests
into comfortable habitations and fruitful fields— we seem little
disposed to forget, and base would we be if we could forget, the
ties of gratitude as well as duty by which our allegiance is
secured. We have therefore no public incendiaries to point
out for your animadversion ; and I trust that the conduct of
you, gentlemen, and others, in your private capacities, by dis-
countenancing every insidious whisper or more open discourse

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

loi

is-

that may tend to lessen in the people their attachment to the
Government, will ever prevent the public peace from being
disturbed in this way, with the necessity of judicial inter-
ference."

Such has been uniformly the tenor of all my public ad-
dresses, and also my private conversation when such topics
have occurred. And though I do not think it necessary to
bow with reverence to the wayward fancies of every sub-
delegate of the Executive Government, I will not hesitate to
assert that His Majesty has not two more loyal subjects, and
in this Province certainly none more useful, than Mr. Hamil-
ton and myself, nor shall even the little pitiful jealousy that
exists with respect to us make us otherwise. And though I
hope we shall always have fortitude enough to do our duty, we
are by no means disposed to form cabals, and certainly have
not, nor do, intend wantonly to oppose or thwart the Governor.
I am ashamed to have said so much on this subject, but I can2
not help being provoked by such unhandsome conduct, and,
besides, I am anxious to lay open to you my motives, for your
approbation has always been of importance to me, and has be-
come more so since my conduct is deemed of consequence
enough to become the subject of misrepresentation among the
people -in power. It is, however, high time for me to proceed,
in compliance with your wishes, to give you some further ac-
count of our legislative proceedings. In the transactions of
our late session, the object most deserving of notice is our
Judicature Bill, and two other Bills connected with it, for
completing the scheme of administering civil justice among us.
By the first all the foimer Courts are abolished, and every pro-
cess for certain matters arising in any part of the Province
above iorty shillings mjist now be sued out and returned for

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

trial at the Court which is to be held four times in the year at
tlio seat of government. But a Court of concurrent jurisdic-
tion has been established in every district, for the cognizance of
matters of account and simple contract only, to the amount of
£15, 80 that the plaintiff, if he pleases, may resort to the
Supreme Court in every case, and must in all cases of trespass,
or when damages are only consequential, or when special bail
has been put in, be they ever so trifling. But pressed by the
total want of professional men to set the machinery in motion,
they have, at the very outset of the business, been reduced to
the miserable expedient of qualifying by another Act, certain
persons, to the number of sixteen, who are to bo nominated by
the Governor, to act as lawyers ; and who, without any pre-
vious study or training, and by the mere magic virtue of the
Privy Seal, are at once to start up adepts in the science of the
law, and proficients in the intricate practice of Westminster
Hall. This Bill was hurried through in a manner not very de-
cent. My proposal to have it printed previous to discussion
was overruled with some warmth and blustering; and you will
be astonished to hear that a law of such importance, and, in
conversation at least, disapproved by several of the members of
the Lower House, should be passed through that House with-
out debate, and in a single day. We are too much in a corner
to pay any great respect to public opinion, or to trouble our-
selves about saving appearances.

It is not yet in print, but I am sure, when it does appear,
it will bear evident marks of its precipitate progress. The
Court is to consist of the Chief Justice and two Puisne Judges,
and to have all the powers incident to the King's Bench, Com-
mon Pleas, and Exchequer in England. The presidency of the
Chief Justice in this Court renders our Court of Appeals a mere

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RTCHART) CARTWRIGIIT.

name. Neither the Governor himself, nor our frionds Mr.
Baby and Mr. Grant, nor the other members of the Executive
Council, are very deep lawyers. The Chief Justice will na-
turally be called on for his opinion, on which the decision must
be founded, and the business then is simply an ai)peal from
the Chief Justice in the King's Bench to the Chief Justice in
the Court of Appeals. The enclosed speech and protest will
show you the part I took in the business, and explain it to you
more fully. In the protest, Mr. Hamilton and myself had it
chiefly in view that the people at hom^ should know the real
grounds of our opposition — a duty we owe ourselves, especially
since there exists a disposition to represent it as factious. The
same expense that this arrangement will occasion, by holding
the late District Courts only once in six months, and appoint-
ing one Judge of professional respectability to preside over two
districts, would have provided as eflfectually, and with infi-
nitely more ease, for the due administration of justice, than the
present mode. And indeed, with the aid of all our new created
attorneys, I cannot yet see how business can be done with any
degree of convenience under this system in a country where the
intercourse between the different districts is casual at best, and
where, for five months in the year, the most populous parts (J
the Province could more easily communicate with Europe than
with the seat of our government. Some further regulations
have been made respecting our militia, enabling the Governor
very properly to call them out by detachmsnts, and to keep
them employed six months, either by land or upon the lakes ;
the other business related chiefly to matters of municipal
arrangement, except a tax on stills, very proper in itself,
and that may in time become productive. But the prodigality
of our Lower House will, I fear, greatly exceed our sources of

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD OARTWRIGHT.

revenue. The trait I before mentioned of their passing the
Judicature Bill in a single day must give you a butter idea of
these worthies than I could otherwise convey to you by writing
a volume. And although we have yet no certain funds for the
payment of the clerks and other officers of the two Houses, they
have had the liberality to vote £G00 to the Speaker for his
past services, and a salary of £200 per annum in future. It is
true the vote is conditional " if there are funds," but I fear it
will be considered a sufficient pledge for creating them, and
how this is to be done without greatly embarrassing our own
little business, or involving us in difficulties with the Lower
Provinces, exceeds my penetration to discover. Indeed, expe-
rience has almost made me a convert to Mr. Lymburner's
opinion with respect to the division of the late Province of
Quebec ; and his assertion that the country would be found
unequal to support the expense of two Governments, at the
rate our gciitr}' proceed, will soon prove to have been too well
founded. We are shortly to have a conference with the Lower
Province on the subject of revenue, and in order to ascertain
our share of the duty on wines imposed by the House of As-
sembly. Their commissioners have been nominated for some
time, and are our friends James McGill, J. Pichardson, Mr. J.
Walker, Mr. Papineau, and another Frenchman whose name
I do not recollect ; who ours are to t^e I know not, for our
Governor has been lately so full of war and warlike arrange-
ments as not to have thought much of the civil branches of his
government, and no person having yet taken Mr. Osgoode's
place the latter can at best go on but indifferently.

You are not unacquainted with Lord Dorchester's speech to
the Indians, which I see has been the subject of parliamentary
discussion, nor with the other causes of discontent existing

UFE AND LKITERS OF Rlt^HARD CAUTWRIOHT. G3

between Great Britain and America, as well arising from
transactions at sea as respecting the western posts and fron-
tiers. Our Governor this spring erected a fort at the Miamis,
of considerable strength, which has given great umbrage to our
neighbours. General Wayne lately, after defeating the In-
dians, encamped around the fort a few days, but without at-
tempting hostilities ; he has withdrawn to the Glaize, where it
is said he intends to fortify. In the meantime the militia of
Detroit and Niagara were drafted, and reinforcements from the
Rangers and 5th Regiment pushed on to Detroit, and we are
in expectation that war would be kinaled among us imme-
diately. From this, however, we are relieved for the present ;
and as the season for action is almost over, I trust that all diffi-
- culties between the two Governments will be adjusted during

I the winter. In this hope I am strengthened by the accounts in

the public prints of Mr. Jay's favourable reception ; for how-
ever an American war might terminate in a national point of
view, it must, at all events, be ruinous to this Province were it
to have no other effect than that of merely calling away the
inhabitants from the plough to the sword. In the action be-
tween the Americans and Indians, some of the Detroit militia,
with Colonel Caldwell at their head, very imprudently joined
the Indians ; they had five men killed and several wounded.
Among the former were McKillop, my quondam correspondent,
and Charles Smith, Clerk of the Court at Detroit, both of
whom, I believe, you knew. I send you two of our newspapers,
in cne of which you will find a list of the Acts passed during
our late session, and the Governor's speech at the conclusion of
it ; the other, in the Loyal Association of the Home District,
at the head of which is our friend Hamilton, contains a curious
example to show how people can be led by a spirit of imitation,

LIFE AND LKTTEKS OF RK^HARD CART^'HIOIfT.

witliout regard to circumstances. This flourish, however, is, 1
believe, confined to head-quarters, and is certainly singular in
its kind. I am afraid you will by this time be sick of so ver-
bose a correspondent, but remember it is your own seeking,
for I certainly should not otherwise have had the conscience to
have obtruded upon you such a voluminous packet.

To Major Lothhridge.

Kingston, 10th Oct., 1794.

My Dear Sir, — 1 have been some time your debtor for
your very friendly letter of 7th February last, which reached
me in the latter end of June, at Niagara. I am much obliged
by your political communications, and sorry that events would
not warrant a more favourable account ; and from those still
more untoward ones that have reached us through the medium
of the public prints, there seems reason to apprehend that the
issue of the contest is not likely to prove favourable to the com-
bined Powers. For, however glorious our naval victories, they
seem rather to have ensured our own safety than to tend
greatly to subdue the French. While occupied with the
interesting scenes that are acting around you, in which the
fate of Europe seems to be involved, our little local affairs can
hardly claim your notice. To us, however, they lately ap-
peared under a very unpleasant aspect ; and some weeks ago
we expected to have been ere now at war with our neip;hbours,
the States. You have doubtless heard of Lord Dorchester's
speech to the Indians, for I see it has been the subject of dis-
cussion in Parliament, and will naturally suppose that it would
not make a very favourable impression on the Americans, who
were still further irritated by our building a fort about twelve

LIFE AND LETTERS OF Rir?HARD fARTWRKSIIT.

miles up th« Miamis River. On both these subjects very
strong remonstrances were made to Mr. Hammond, and it was
rather expected that under the immediate impulse of the ill-
humour which th(!y created, or at least fomented, some un-
warrantable acts would have been committed on the frontiers.
Indeed, they did go the lengths of stopping boats and seizing
goods that were coming into the country by the way of
Oswego, not, however, with the sanction of the Government.
In the meantime General Wayne was advancing into the
Indian country, and, either more prudent or more fortunate
than his predecessors, baffled any attempts of th<^ savages — and
they made some pretty strong ones — to stop his progress. At
length, about the latter end of August, he had got within a
league of the fort ; he was here attacked by the Indians,
whom he had the address to draw into an ambuscade, and
defeat, with considerable loss, however, on his side ; while that
of the Indians is said not to have exceeded twenty killed and
about as many wounded. Among these, however, were some of
the bravest of their Chiefs ; and it seems to have discouraged
and dispersed them as effectually as though the victory had
been much more bloody. In this engagement some of the
De^.roit militia very imprudently, and contrary to the orders
of Major Campbell, who commanded the fort, mixed with the
Indians and had five killed, one taken prisoner, and several
wounded. On the same day General Wayne encamped within
a mile of the fort, and small parties of his people came oc-
casionally very near and carried away some corn and hay from
an island within ^ mshot. During these transactions, the
Grvernor, as you may suppose, was not idle. Part of the
iiangers and 5th Regiment were pushed on to Detroit ; the
Detroit and Niagara militia embodied, and we were in hourly

66 LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIOHT.

expectation of being engaged in actual hostilities. But the
removal of General Wayne t( the Glaize, a principal settle-
ment of the Indians, where it is said he is fortifying, has for
the present re«:tored quiet, and we now learn with satisfaction
that Mr. Jay is to return with the olive branch ; for, however
the war might terminate as a national concern, to this Province
it must at all events have been ruinous.

Our Chief Justice, Mr. Osgoode, removed to Quebec in July
last, to take Mr. Smith's place, and his successor, if appointed,
has not yet made his appearance among us.

York, alias Toronto, it is said is to be the seat of govern-
ment. The Governor and Mrs. Simcoe actually spent the last
winter there in their canvas house ; she has gone to pass the
ensuing one at Quebec ; he is at present at Detroit. Our
Province still continues its progress in improvement, and we
begin to think seriously of attempting to facilitate the export
of our produce to Montreal by means of scows and rafts ; for,
to say nothing of the expense by return batteaux, they are
really inadequate to the object. We cured here the last
season 480 barrels of pork for the use of the troops, and it is
thought double the quantity may be furnished this year. To
a brother member of a Land Board, we may be allowed, you
know, to talk of these things.

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

CHAPTER III.

SPEECH ON JUDICATURE BILL — DISTRICT COURTS SUITABLE FOH PRO-
VINCE — EXPENSE OF PROPOSED SYSTEM — BLACKSTONE ON COUNTY
COURTS — DISTANCE AN OBJECTION.

SPEECH ON THE JUDICATURE BILL, IN THE LEGISLATIVE COUN-
CIL, MONDAY, 16TH JUNE, 1794.

There is no maxim more incontestable in politics than that a
government should be formed for a couul-ry, and not a country
strained and distorted for the accommodation of a preconceived
or speculative pcheme of government ; that in all the several
departments of it the arrangements should be calculated for
performing the business of the department in a manner the
least tedious and embarrassing to the public, rather than for
conferring splendour and emolument upon individuals. This is
a principle that every man who is called to the important busi-
ness of legislation should bear constantly in mind, but more
especially so when he comes to- deliberate respecting the mode
of administering justice, in which every individual is, more or
less, immediately interested. And as the British Legislature
has left us i.nrestrained in everything that does not militate
with the constitution they have given us, I apprehend we are
at perfect liberty, in the present instance, to pursue this prin-
ciple to its full extent. xe the settlements which were
formed in this country after the American War began to
acquire any degree of stability, that part of the administration
of justice which relates to property and civil rights has been

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

managed by Courts of original and exclusive jurisdiction (sub-
ject to the revision of a Court of Appeals) erected in each of
the districts into which it has been divided. In these Courts
every cause might be, and has been, decided with very little
expense of time and money to the suitors ; how greatly to
their general satisfaction, let the solitary instance of a single
appeal determine. This arrangement was formed under the
auspices of a noble Lord who has ever bestowed the most
friendly and paternal attention to the welfare of this Proviiice ;
and though I feel, from the experience of my own personal in-
capacity, that the Judges who preside in these domestic tribunals,
as I may without impropriety call them, may in one instance
at least be changed with advantage ; yet I do not hesitate to
affirm that, regard being had to the circumstances of the Pro-
vince, the constitution of the Courts themselves can be altered
only for the worse. Y et this establishment, so well adapted
to the nature of the country, the present Bill is intended
totally to overturn, and to erect in its stead a system which,
by the expense, delays and embarrassments that must necessarily
attend it, will infallibly operate as a denial of justice in nine
out of ten, I lijid almost said ninety-nine out of a hundred
cases that our small and uncomplicated affairs are likely to
produce. In England, where the system now proposed to us
has long obtained, the " law's delay " has been frequently and
pathetically declaimed on as one of the great evils of life ; yet,
in point of size, England is hardly equal to the smallest of our
districts ; the territory is compact and crowded with an immense
population ; the intercourse from the centre to the extremities,
and from one part to the other, is easy and expeditious ; profes-
sional men swarm in every quarter ; and the City of London,
the great emporium of the commercial world, where the Court,

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTAVRIGHT. 69

is fixed, furnishes of itself at least nineteen-twentieths of all
the suits in the kingdom. But let us look around and see if
there be in our situation the smallest analogy to this.
With a thin population scattered over an immense extent of
country, interrupted by inland seas and large tracts of unir-
habited lands of from two to three hundred miles in extent,
without communication or intercourse for at least five months
in the year, with but a single lawyer within the compass of
more than seven hundred miles, and where every part is equally
barren of intricate or important subjects of litigation; — is there
any similarity in the circumstances of the two countries?
Can the same judicial arrangements be at all applicable to
both ? To persist in the attempts to make them so will
literally be bringing the mountain to Mahomet ; or saying, like
the famous tyrant of antiquity, " Here is our standard ; if you
are too long we will lop you, if you are too short we will stretch
you to our dimensions." But let us hear Mr. Justice
Blackstone, with all the prejudices of a professional man
about him, on the subversion of the County Courts in Eng-
land ; for even in England itself, for its infinitely smaller sub-
division of counties, the system that now actually obtains in this
Province was the original one, and was overturned, not by the
calm, deliberate voice of legislation, but by the violence of in-
vasion and conquest. After speaking of other changes that
had been attended with the most injurious consequences, he
says : " A third alteration in the English laws was by narrow-
ing the remedial influence of the County Courts, the great seats
of Saxon justice, and extending the original jurisdiction of the
King's Ju'='^iciars to all kinds of causes arising in all parts of
the kingdom. The constitution of this Court, and the Judges
themselves who presided there, were brought from the Duchy

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

of Normandy ; and instead of the plain and easy method of
determining suits in the County Courts, the chicanes and sub-
tleties of Norman jurisprudence were introduced into the
King's Courts, to which every cause of consequence was drawn."
Here behold the change in contemplation completely anticipated.
And if this Bill should pass, our posterity will find some
future historian of the colony deploring, in similar language,
the pernicious innovation, and reprobating the folly of our ill-
judged acquiescence. For most unquestionably it will have the
same effects upon our mode of administering justice that the
Norman invasion had upon the English, except that from the
great difference of local circumstances already stated, its ope-
ration must be proportionably much more injurious. For
see it comes with all the glorious uncertainties of the law in its
train, holding out wealth and distinction to the man of law,
but poverty and distress to the unfortunate client. It comes
with its multifarious actions of debt, covenant, account, as-
sumpsit, case, trespass, trover and detinue — distinctions with-
out essential difference, running into endless mazes where even
the sages of the profession have themselves been fre-
quently bewildered. It comes with all its hydra of demurrers,
replications, rejoinders, surrejoinders, rebutters and surrebut-
ters, and all the monstrous offspring of metaphysical subtlety
begotten upon chicane, to swallow up our simple forms and
modes of process which are easy to be understood and followed
by any man of plain sense and common education. Here let
us pause a moment and ask ourselves if this be indeed a desir-
able change. But admitting — what, however, is not intended —
that these technical perplexities might be done away, let us ex-
amine simply the consequences that must inevitably result from
the cojistitutiou of the Cpuit itself. It is to be fixed, if we are to

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT. 71

»»

jsir-

ex-
com
leto

judge what has hitherto been, and what has been talked of as
the seat of government, rather in the geographical centre of the
colony than with any attention to its population. The eastern
district at least, if not the western, far outnumbers in in-
habitants the other districts, and, consequently, are likely to fur-
nish the greatest number of lawsuits ; yet the man who has cause
of action in the eastern or in the western district must travel
from the River Raisin perhaps, or the River Trancke, across
Lake Erie, or a hundred miles up the River St. Lawrence and
across Lake Ontario, to sue out his process at Newark or York ;
he must travel back with it, to put it into the hands of the
Sheriff of the district whence he came ; the process must go
back again to the place from whence it issued ; the defendant
must resort thither to put in his pleas, and the plaintiff trudge
back again to make his reply. Six months afterwards, it may
be nine or twelve months, a Court of Assize may be held in
the district where the cause originated, and the issue be tried
by a jury if both parties are disposed to come to trial. But the
matter ends not here ; the plaintiff or defendant, as either may
have been so far successful, must the next term go back again
and move for judgment, which he will probably obtain, unless he
should be opposed by a motion for a new trial, or in arrest of
judgment, which, if his money and patience holds out for an-
other journey or two, may possibly be settled in a couple of
terms more ; so that, on a moderate computation, if the parties
do neither of them wish to protract the business, and are toler-
ably diligent, after spending a great deal both of their time
and money, they may probably bring it to a conclusion in
about two years. And with respect to the two most distant
districts which 1 have named, it is hardly possible for the rou-
tine to be completed in a shorter time. But should any

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

studied delay be interposed, it is impossible to foretell how long
it may last. But gentlemen will perhaps say that this ar-
rangement will soon bring lawyers among us, and then the
business may be managed more expeditiously. Yes, we all
know how anxious gentlemen of the law usually are to bring
suits to a speedy termination. Yet, were this not the most
palpable irony, as the same circle must be trodden round, I can-
not see that, with their utmost diligence, the time I have cal-
culated for the duration of a cause could be at all shortened.
But admitting that it might in some degree, the business of the
country is by no means equal to support respectable charac-
ters of the profession, and the House need not be told that
the understrappers of it are the greatest pest that a society can
be cursed with. I have thus endeavoured to point out some,
for it is impossible to foresee and enumerate all the evils with
which, under our circumstances, this Bill is pregnant. I
trust, however, I have said enough to convince the House of
its inexpediency, and to induce them to set their faces against
it, as a measure, I will not say calculated, but certainly tending,
to swell the importance and fill the pockets of the professors
of the law, rather than promote the speedy and effectual ad-
ministration of justice ; and that they will support me in the
motion I now make, that this Bill be committed for this day
three months.

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT. 73

CHAPTER IV.

'^y

LETTER TO DAVIDSON & CO. — SCARCITY OF LABOUR — HESSIAN FLY —
PRICE OF FLOUR AND PEAS— DISCONTENT IN LOWER CANADA — EX-
ECUTION OF M'LBAN — EXPORT OF POTASH AND STAVES — LETTER
TO GENERAL HUNTER — TRANSPORT TO MONTREAL — IMPROVEMENT
OF LACHINE— HEMP — LIST OF PRODUCE — LETTER ^ROM GENERAL
HUNTER — BRUYERE's REPORT — LETTER TO MR. HAMILTON, LA-
CHINE — IMPROVEMENTS ACCOMPLISHED.

Messrs. Davison & Co.,
London.

Kingston, Upper Canada,

4th Nov., 1797.

Gentlemen, — I have been duly favoured with your Mr.
Palgrave's letter of the 10th March, aiid yours of the 27th
April and 11th July last, together with the public prints men-
tioned in the two first, for which and for your able and inte-
resting sketch of public affairs be pleased to accept my sincere
thanks. 1 would gladly hope that before this time the convul-
sions which have so long agitated Europe have subsided, and
that the negotiations at Lisle have terminated in restoring that
peace so necessary to all the belligerent powers, and which
the withholding of specie at the bank, the late alarming meet-
ing among the seamen, and the enormous expense of carrying
on the war, are very serious mementos that it will be prudence
on our part to purchase by any sacrifices consistent with the
national safety and honour. Independent of our general inte-

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RTCTTART) CARTWRTGHT.

rest as a part of the British Empire, we look forward to a peace
as to a period of particular prosperity for this Province, not
only on account of the very considerable fall that it will occa-
sion in the price of every article of our importations, but from
the expectation that on the reduction of the navy and army we
shall receive a large accession of inhabitants better calculated
for becoming orderly and well-affected settlers than the emi-
grants from the American Republic. In the present state of
the country labour is not to be had at almost any price. The
raising of two Provincial regiments has drained us of every
man that would work for hire, and the cultivation of the
farmer must consequently be circumscribed within the limits of
that labour which his own family can supply. This cause has
concurred with the ravages of the Hessian fly, and unfavour-
able seasons, to diminish very considerably our surplus produce.
I believe the agent for purchases did not collect quite two
thousand quintals of flour, though he got nearly a sufficiency of
peas this spring ; the former he paid for at $4 per cwt., the
latter at $1 per bushel, casks included, and no pork was adver-
tised for. This, however, is not now a just criterion of what
we have had to spare. The American garrisons and their set-
tlements on Lake Ontario and Lake Erie have been almost
wholly supplied with bread from this Province, at a rate consi-
derab' ' higher than the price paid by our Government. And
our breweries and distilleries have consumed no inconsiderable
portion of our grain ; the prices by this means have been so
kept up that at this moment flour sells at 22s. 6d. per cwt.
Indeed, although we have not suffered so much from the fly
this season as we have done for a year or two before, a wet and
backward spring and a very hot and dry summer have occa-
sioned our wheat to be very much shrunk indeed, and to be

K I

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD C'ARTWIUGHT.

3 has
vour-
duce.
I two
cy of
the
dver-
what
' set-
11 est
onsi-
And
rable
n so
cwt.
fly
tand
occa-
o be

consequently light and unproductive. Our peas and Indian
corn, I understand, have turned out better, and I look forward
to an increase of that valuable article, pork, in another year.
I fear it is not at this time more abundant than it was last
year, but the quantity is not now to be so easily ascertained as
it was heretofore. The high prices given for this article in the
new American settlements, and by the people engaged in the
lumber business, have induced many of the principal farmers
and the shopkeepers in the country to undertake the curing of
it themselves. For this purpose it is not necessary to be so
particular as when it is put up for the troops, and what there
was to spare last year has generally been sold at $26 per bbl.,
and in some instances it has been sent to Lachine at that
price for the purpose of victualling the batteau men in the
merchants' service. Under these circumstances, you will see
that the sending out provisions from England for the troops
cannot be prejudicial to the Province just at this juncture, and
in the situation that Lower Canada was in last winter, border-
ing upon revolt, it was certainly a matter of proper precaution
in the Governor-General not to be in a state of dependence
upon it for victualling the army. The execution of a Mr.
McLean, one of Mons. Adet's emissaries, and other vigorous
measures of General Prescott, have, however, effectually
checked every seditious symptom among the Lower Canadians
for the present. The demand for our produce at the American
garrisons, and for their settlers, will of. course be but tempo-
rary ; their own settlements near and along the lakes, it must
be expected, will soon furnish enough for their troops, and
become in a few years our competitors in the markets of this
and the Lower Provinces. There being no place in the Pro-
vince where lumber or potash are entered, it is impossilbe to

LIFE AND LKTTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

give you any accurate information of the quantity of these ar-
ticles which we export. In estimating them at about one hun-
dred and fifty tons of potash, and four hundred thousand
staves, exclusive of a largo quantity of square oak timber, I
think I do not overrate them. The staves are principally of
that valuable kind called double butts, and are hewn smooth.
These are all sent to England, but there is a large quantity of
pine boards, plank and scantling, annually sent to Montreal,
and consumed there. The rafts into which these boards and
lumber are formed for the purpose of floating them down the
river have been occasionally used as vehicles for transporting
the potash to Montreal, and may be applied to any extent that
the circumstances of the Province may hereafter require for
the exportation of every article of its produce, from this and
other places further down the St. Lawrence, to the ports of
Lower Canada. About two-thirds of the potash, and nearly
the whole of the lumber, is supplied by the Eastern District,
which lies between this and Point au Bodet, the boundary of
the Lower Province. No potash has yet been manufactured,
nor has any person engaged in the lumber business, higher up
than the Bay of Kenty, an inlet extending from hence to the
westward about GO miles, and from three-fourths of a mile to
two miles wide, with several deep bays branching from it in
diiferent directions, bordering upon which are the principal
settlements that form what is called the Midland District. I
am much flattered by the obliging tender of your good oflSces,
which I shall not hesitate to avail myself of if anything should
occur that will require them. Not having a seaport in our
Province, it would be impossible or extremely inconvenient
for any person here to import goods except through the me-
dium of a Montreal house. Goods must be there received, the

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIQHT. 77

damages they have sustained at sea (as this sometimes hap-
pens) looked into and authenticated ; from thence they must be
carted to Lachine, where boats and men are to be procured
to transport them this far. On the other hand, payments can
be made there in bills or money when it would be difficult to
convert tliem into remittances for England. Furs must be
there examined, sorted and baled ; potash inspected, and lum-
ber culled. The mode usually practised here is this : the mer-
chant sends his order for English goods to his correspondent
at Montreal, who imports them from London, guarantees the
payment of them there, and receives and forwards them to this
country for a commission of five per cent, on the amount of
the English invoice. The payments are all made by the Up-
per Canada merchant in Montreal, and there is no direct com-
munication whatever between him and the shipper in London.
The order, too, must be limited to dry goods, and he must
purchase his liquors on the best terms he can in the home mar-
ket ; and if he wishes to have his furs or potash shipped for
the London market, he pays a commission of one per cent, on
their estimated value ; if sold in Montreal, he is charged two
and one-half per cent, on the amount of the sales. This mode
of business seems necessarily to be imposed upon us by our
inland situation, but the terms upon which it has hitherto been
conducted will become less burdensome when the mercantile
capital of the country comes to bear a greater proportion to
the trade of the country than it does at present. In speaking
of the situation and trade of the Province, these particulars of
its mercantile intercourse with Europe naturally offer them-
selves to me, and to you they may not have been so obvious,
and will not perhaps be unacceptable.

When we turn our view to New York, still greater difRcul-

LIFE AND LETl'EUS OF lUCHAUD CARTWUIGIIT.

ties occur ; among these arc the very considerable duties laid
upon almost every article entering the Atlantic ports, and
which it is, from local circumstances, impossible to drawback
upon exporting into this Province, without sul)jecting their
revenue to frauds which no vigilance or custom-house restric-
tions could prevent. And besides, I do not think, from the
experience we have yet had, that the American treaty is likely
to oi)erate unfavourably upon the trade of even Lower Canada.
Notwithstanding all the vapouring of our neighbours about the
communication by the Mohawk Kiver, it can never be made equal
to that by the St. Lawrence even in its present state. No mer-
cantile house in the States has yet embarked in the trade of
this country, and though there has been a number of petty
adventurers, they have not frequently found their enterprises
profitable, and in this part of the country they have latterly
disappeared altogether. On the contrary, some of the Ameri-
can merchants at Detroit are supplied with liquors and goods
from Montreal, and I have seen casks of wine sent from thence
directed for General Wilkinson, their Commander-in-Chief.
Those merchants who were settled there while the place was
under our jurisdiction have also considerably increased their
importations through Montreal, and I mention with plea-
sure that they have almost unanimously elected to remain
British subjects. Whatever arbitrary or irregular acts may
have occasionally been committed by some of our own military
officers in that remote part of the country, they were soon
effaced by the conduct of the Republican chiefs, who have at
once declared the town of Detroit subject to military law, and
have conducted themselves accordingly.

LIFE AND T.KTTKIIS OF lUcnARI) CARTWRIOHT.

To His Excdkncy General Hunter.

Kingston, 24th Oct., 1801.
yiu, — I have the honour herewith to transmit to your Ex-
cellency an account of the ift'erent articles of provision, and
the potash exported since the 20th April last, from this dis-
trict, and from otlu^r parts of the Province to the westward,
which may bo relied on as accurate as far as it goes. The
exports from that part of the Province which is situated be-
tween this and Lower Canada has been, in proportion, at
least equally consideral)le, but I have no materials from which
to form even a satisfactory conjecture of their amount. For
there is no place there, as there is here, in which everything
must centre previous to its exportation, and a great part is
transported by the farmers themselves in sleds during the win-
ter. Their average value in this account is stated rather below
than above the truth, and when the price of the provisions fur-
nished to Government for the use of the troops is added, it will
compose a sum which, though a mere trifle in the immense
aggregate of British commerce, will not appear contemptible
when considered as arising from the rude produce of so recent
an establishment. A large portion of these articles have been
transported to Montreal on rafts of boards and tir ber and in
scows, for the boats which transport the merchandise which we
require ho longer suffice for the export of articles of such compara-
tively great bulk and little value. Of these two modes of trans-
port, that by scows will in future be preferred, as the flour on
rafts cannot be kept dry, whereas in the scows it is equally secure
as in common batteaur. These scows have carried to Montreal,
and of course could carry to Quebec, from 350 to 400 barrels
each, and might have taken 100 more as far as Lachine ; but
the water having been higher than usual during this summer,

li M

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

has made the passage of the Lachine rapids more easy than is
to be expected in common seasons. These rapids have been
found the principal if not the only material obstruction in the
river to the safe and easy conveyance of our produce to the
ports of Lower Canada. The difficulties arising from ' the
scarcity of labour, which at present very much increase the
expense, time can only remove. But we hope, throjgh the
assistance of your Excellency, that the navigation itself will
soon be facilitated. The improvement of the canals will do
much for the transport up, but the transport down is an object
at least equally important, and in this the canals are of no ser-
vice. It will probably be found, upon examination by some
skilful engineer, that the channel in the Lachine rapids may,
without very great expense, be so improved as to render it per-
fectly safe for our scows and rafts in all seasons. But they lay
beyond the jurisdiction of our Legislature, and if they did not,
we have little in our pov/er. From the Legislature of Lower
Canada I am not sanguine enough to expect much, and we can at
present look with confidence only to the liberality of Great
Britain for this among other means necessary to make this
Province as valuable to its inhabitants, and as useful to herself
n a commercial point of view, as its remote inland situation
will admit. Those who have been concerned in the sco'^s, state
the expense,' after deducting the price received for this vehicle
in Lower Canada, at about four shillings per uarrel, but, as is
the case in all new undertakings, much expense has been
incurred that experience will now enable them to save ; and
they say that by getting the materials prepared in the winter,
and contracting with workmen in time, the expense of con-
structicin may be lessened nearly if not entirely one-half, and
that flour may in another season be floated down in this way

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

to Montreal at the comparatively moderate rate of half a dol-
lar per barrel. Nor is this the only benefit to be expected ; for
by getting them built in the neighbourhood of the mills, and
other deposits of flour in the Bay of Kenty, they will save a
great part of the expense now incurred for transport in the
small vessels which have hitherto been used to carry it to this
place. By means of large grooved cases reaching from side to
side, they may be fitted for transporting wheat and other
grain in bulk, and may be adapted by-and-bye for the secure
transportation of our hemp, which I expect will be added to
our exports at no very distant period. There is every dis-
position to give it a fair trial in this district, and Alexander
Fisher, Esq., of Adolphustown, is preparing to sow from twelve
to fifteen acres in the manner that is pointed out by the Society
for the Encouragement of Arts, &c., and in the hope of obtain-
ing the premium ofiered by that patriotic Society ; but seed is
wanting. I some time since wrote to Mr. McGill, whom your
Excellency has appointed, jointly with Mr. Smith, to apply and
distribute the Provincial grant for this purpose. His answer,
which I send herewith, is not very encouraging ; and as I learn
from another quarter that their agent, Mr. Swezy, had not,
unless very lately indv^ed, proceeded on his mission, I fear
much that th^s part of the Province is not likely to benefit in
time by any supplies which he may procure ; and I take the
liberty to suggest the expediency of sending us some in the
meantime from Lower Canada, to prevent our ardour from
cooling.

I intended to have ni your Excellency this account sooner,
but some of the ge men from whom I was to collect my
information were absent.

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

il J '

I have the honour to be, with the greatest respect and es-
teem,

Sir,

Your Excellency's very obedient servant,

Richard Cartwright.

Account of Flour and other Articles of Produce
Shippi:d for Montreal ry the respective Merchants
of Kingston in 1801.

Produce of Kinjfston and
parts adjacent.

From
Niaj^ara,

From
Detroit,

By Whom Forwarded,

o a

•I

(£

Bbls.

9'i

100

R. Cartwrifrht

Bbls.

2453
729
905
719
250
342
803
260

431
523
249

100
140
150

Bbls.

282

Bus.

"156*
75

Bbls

1150

1375

524

298

Bbls.
"ii

Bbls.
(513
773

1103
2489

Bbls,

J, Cumniing

Peter Siuitli

T. Marklaiid

L, Herkiinar

John Kirbj' & Co

J. Forsyth, for self and Robins

Do for B. Seymour . . .

J. Robins, for self, Son and E.

Smith

"36'

9
34

8
40
65

D. McDonell

Do for W. Washburn
Do for B. Seymour..
Do for J. McNab ....
Do for J . Barton

Total

8084

322

427

352

3390

Note. — There is besides 350 bushels wheat from Mr. Crooks, and 500 lbs. cheese from
Mr. Hamilton, of Niagara, 72 lbs. hojfs' lard from R. Cartwrig-bt, and 1000 lbs. butter from
Mr. Smith and others from Kingston, besides staves, boards and lumber.

Recapitulation.

13.963 bbls. Fine and Superfine Flour, @ 35s £24,435 5

322 " Middlings, or 2nd Flour,
350 bus Wheat,
852 " Peas,
484 bbls. Pt.tash,
1,000 lbs. Butter, 500 lbs. Cheese,

78 " Hogs' lard,
17,000 Oak Staves,

Pine and Cedar timber, quantity not ascertained, sold for about 120

23s. 4d 376 13

6s. 8d 110 13

58 88

90s r 2,178

Is 75

8d 2

£28 476

Provinco Currency £27,867 3 8

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CAJITWRIGHT.

. es-

UCE
NTS

ibis.

from
from

From His Excellency General IJimter.

Quebec, 24th Nov., 1801.
Dear Sir, — It gives me pleasure to find, from the return
enclosed in your letter to me of 20th Oct., that the articles of
provisions, potash, &c., exported from Kingston during the
last summer, amount to so considerable a sum as you have
therein stated. Under circumstances of equal industry and
success, there is no doubt but the farmers and others concerned
in the export trade will be rendered easy and affluent in the
course of a few years. I lost no time, upon the receipt of your
letter, in ordering a careful examination of the Lachine rapids
by Captain Bruyere, Royal Engineer, assisted by two of the
best pilots, on the communication between Lachine and Mon-
treal. A copy of Captain Bruyere's report to Colonel Mann
upon that subject I enclose herewith for your information.
Although it appears from Captain Bruyere's report that the
removing the rocks and shoals, for the purpose of rendering the
navigation for loaded boats and rafts more easy and safe, is
nearly if not quite impracticable, yet the report affords some
useful hints to all concerned in the construction of rafts, scows,
&c. As Colonel Mann will, early in the ensuing spring, visit
the works now carrying on at the Cascades, I shall direct him
to inspect the Lachine rapids himself, and if his report should
be favourable to the removal or lessening the present ob-
structions, I shall have much pleasure in doing everything in
my power towards facilitating so desirable an object. I have
no doubt but the cultivation of hemp in Upper Canada will
succeed beyond our most sanguine expectations, when the
difficulty of procuring good seed in sufficient quantities can be
got over. I have the firmest reliance on the exertions of the
Commissioners appointed by me for that purpose. When

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

:llt ! .

sleighing begins, they will, no doubfc, distribute among the
farmers in the several districts of the Province what seed they
have purchased, which will be in sufficient time for sowing it
in the spring. In Lower Canada no hemp seed can be pro-
cured for any price ; Mr. Clarke, at Montreal, raised about 40
bushels of hemp seed, but the whole of that quantity must
remain for the disposal of Sir Robert Milnes, who advanced

money for the experiment.

I am, &c.,

P. Hunter.
To R. Hamilton.

Kingston, 14th May, 1806.
Dear Sir, — You will be pleased to learn that, notwithstand-
ing the impracticability stated by Lt. Bruyere, in his report to
Col. Mann, the three large rocks which formed so considerable
an impediment in the rapids of Lachine have been blown to
pieces and removed ; and that by making a dyke or embank-
ment upon the principles stated by you and Mr. Clarke in
summer of 1804, the water was at once raised from ten inches
to three feet. All this has been done for £600, and the work
has stood the test of one winter. It is proposed to extend it
considerably this summer, and Mr. Auldjo, who is one of the
Commissioners, tells me that he has no doubt that by this
means there will always be at least three feet of water in
the channel. They have remaining £400 of last year's appro-
priation, to which the Legislature have this season added
£1,000, so that there is £1,400 for this object alone ; and they
have besides given the sum of £500, if I recollect aright, for
other parts of the river between that and Coteau du Lac. Say,
therefore, what they will of the House of Assembly of Lower
Canada, these are no bad specimens of their public spirit.

R. C.

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHAIID CARTWRIGHT. 85

CHAPTER V.

LETTER TO GEN. SIMCOE — GRANTS OF LAND — ACTION OF LAND BOARD —
DELAY IN ISSUING PATENTS — PROPOSED MEASURES OF RELIEF —
LETTER TO MR. M*GILL— PATENTS TO ISSUE — DEEDS DESTROYED —
RECENT ACTS — QUARREL OF HOUSES.

REPESENTATION RESPECTING THE STATE OP LANDED PROPERTY,
IN UPPER CANADA, DELIVERED TO GENERAL SIMCOE, JULY,
1795.

The settlements in the now Province of Upper Canada were
begun in the year 1784, after the 24th of June in that year,
when the lands, by the bounty of His Majesty, were distributed
in certain regulated proportions to the disbanded troops and
loyalists who had joined the royal standard. Each person, or
more frequently two persons in conjunction, received a cer-
tiHcate signed by the Governor, and countersigned by the Sur-
veyor General or Deputy Surveyor General, declaring that
A. B. being, by His Majesty's instructions, entitled to a certain
quantity of land, had drawn Lot No. 1, or part of said lot, as
the case might be, in a certain concession of a certain township
or seigniory, and being settled and having improved thereon,
he should at the end of twelve months receive a deed of con-
cession authorizing him to alienate the same. The grantee
having complied with the condition, by settling and improving
his location, became evidently entitled to his dee<l, and had,
in equity and justice, at least a right to dispose of the lands
so ceded to him. From the very mistaken plan of generally

iir-^

i !

1! i

LIFE AND LETTERS OP RICHARD CARTWRTGHT.

giving but 100 acres together to any persons, the people soon
found themselves straitened in their locations, which were too
small to make good farms ; various exchanges were made in
consequence, upon principles of mutual accommodation, in order
to increase the size of the ftirms to two hundred acres and
upwards.

Besides the very numerous transfers that were made for this
principle, persons who had obtained land for their families, or
on other accounts, had a larger portion than they immediately
wanted, were disposed to sell a part in order the better to en-
able them to improve the remainder, and a variety of other
causes which constantly operate in shifting property from hand
to hand induced the loyalists to part with a portion of theirs,
or frequently to mortgage it, to enable them to obtain the con-
veniences or even the necessaries of life. Thus matters were
conducted till the year 1789, when, upon suggestions from the
Land lioards, which had been appointed in the preceding year
in the several districts, " that people came in from the States
to apply for lands without any intention to settle them, but
merely to make money by the sale of them," certificates were
sent up to be issued by them, declaring lands so granted to be
forfeited if not settled upon within the year, and particularly
expressing that they and all others of a similar nature were not
transferable unless bv the sanction of the Land Board. This
was principally intended to prevent the abuse above-mentioned,
and was further useful, as far as it went, to authenticate sales or
assignments among the settled inhabitants. But this had no
retrospective operation, and could not attach upon the large
additional grants of lands to officers, to whom the Boards could
regularly issue no certificates, nor to those townships where,
through the neglect of the Surveying Department, the settlers

LIFE AND LETTKRS OF RICHARD CARTWUIGHT.

had nothing but a ticket barely expressing the number of the
lot. Ten years had thus elapsed before any preparations for
granting the patents were in forwardness, and such have been
the mutations of landed property, if indeed it can be so called,
that very few inliabitants of the Province are unconcerned in
them. That patents were not issued agreeable to the tenor of
the certificates was not the fiiult of the people, and if they
should now be delivered to the original holders of the certifi-
cates, the whole country will be thrown into confusion. The
strongest temptations will be held out to fraud and avarice,
and all the mutual confidence between the people destroyed,
and such heats and animosities be kindled as may be attended
with the most pernicious consequences ; for although, on com-
plying with the terms of the certificate, the holder had in jus-
tice the entire and complete property of the soil, to do there-
with as he pleased, yet, in the technical precision of the law,
the delivery of the patent completely overturns every prior
sale or exchange — even those sanctioned by the Land Boards
perhaps not excepted — invalidates every mortgage, and gives a
power to the party, his heirs or subsequent assigns, to eject
the person who may have made a bona fide purchase, and who
may have expended in improvements twenty-Hve times the
original value of the soil. These are evils that every friend to
the Province must deprecate, and should interpose to prevent
if possible, and the attempt would come forward with peculiar
propriety under the auspices of the Executive Government, as
a most agreeable and popular measure. Indeed, from the 44th
and 45th clauses of the Act of Parliament establishing the
Constitution of this Province, it would seem that the
Legislature of Great Britain considered the certificates as
actual grants, and so .did the Legislature of Lower Canada,

88 LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

I / '

for in an Act passed in the 33rd year of His Majesty's
reign, intituled " An Act to continue the ordinances regu-
lating the practice of the law, and to provide more
eflfectually for the dispensation of justice, and especially
in the new districts," part of the 12th clause establishes
regulations for the mode of advertising the sale of real
estates seized in execution. But as the certificates have
not, either in the one case or the other, been declared to
convey an assignable title, they still rest upon their own
foundation, only that these Acts seem strongly to countenance
the propriety of confirming all fair and honest alienations made
under these certificates. For this purpose it is proposed to be
enacted, "That all bona fide sales or mortgages of lands to
which the settler or mortgagor had a just claim by having com-
plied with the conditions on which the lands were ceded to him
by His Majesty's instructions, shall be good and valid in law,
although no patent had actually been granted for the same,
and that no patent which shall hereafter be granted for such
lands shall be deemed to invalidate any title or claim under
such sale or mortgages as aforesaid. That it shall be sufficient
evidence of such bona fide sales if the same shall have been
made under the sanction of the Land Board, regularly endorsed
on the certificate, or by deed of sale under the hand and seal
of the Sheriff when sold by process of law, or by a written in-
strument under the hand and seal of the party, subscribed by
two witnesses, or by assignment on the certificate itself under
the hand of the party, and attested by two subscribing witnesses.
And that it shall be sufficient evidence of such- bona fide mort-
gages, that they have been given under the hand and seal of
the party, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses : Pro-
vided that such sales and mortgages shall be entered in the

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIOHT.

Register Office of the district in which the lands are situated,
within one year after the passing of this Act, or within one
year from the establishment and opening of such office, other-
wise the holders shall be deprived of the benefit of this Act.
That all lands held under certificates of occupation shall be
liable to claims under judgment of a Court of law, rights of in-
heritance, or otherwise, in the same manner as they would have
been i^ held by patent under the Great Seal. That these pro-
visions shall have only a retrospective operation from the pass-
ing of this Act, or refer only to such transactions as may have
taken place before the 1st of January last. That the lands so
transferred or assigned shall be liable to the payment of all
fees due for grants of the said lands to the officers of the Crown,
provided they were originally held by such persons as were
liable to the payment of such fees, and the possessor shall have
recourse upon the vendor for repayment of such fees, provided
there has been no stipulation between them to the contrary."
• The claims to lands as above stated have been provided for in
a different and perhaps a better mode by laws passed from time
to time to authorize commissioners to hear and report on such
claims, and allowing the patents to issue in favour of the per-
son whose claim was [duly established before such commis-
sioners.

James McGilly Esq.

Kingston, 12th July, 1800.

Dear Sir, — My letters to the House will have informed you

of my arrival once more under my own shed on the 10th instant,

where I had the satisfaction of finding all well. I have been at

Niagara and saw H. W. Dickson, who savs the patents shall be

sent me as soon as they can be made out. The whole winter's
F

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

la))our at the different offices lias been thrown away, and about
eight hundred deeds prepared for the Governor's signature have
become waste paper, from his refusal to put his name to them.
He has determined that they shall be upon parchment, that
they shall contain the comj)lete and legal designation of the
grantee, be expressed as to the number of acres, i^'c, in letters
instead of figures, and free from those erasures and interline-
ations with which they have too generally been disgraced.
That General Hunter should make a point of this will not sur-
prise you ; the wonder rather is, that such culpable negligence
should be tolerated l:o long. I have already inforniiMl you that
we had passed a temporary law to authoT-ize the Executive Gov-
ernment to take such steps as might be deemed expedient to
collect such duties as we were by treaty authorized to levy on
articles imi)orted from the United States, and which I presume
will be speedily acted upon. We have also passed a law for
arranging the representation of the Province more conform-
able to existing circumstances, and by which the members of
the Assembly are augmented to twenty, and in which it is pro-
vided that none but bona fide British subjects shall vote at the
ensuing election who have not been four years personally resi-
dent in the Province and taken the oath of allegiance, nor at
any subsequent election unless they have been seven years pre-
viously resident. Some others of less importance have also been
agreed on, but General Hunter has thought it necessary to re-
serve two of the most consequence for His Majesty's pleasure :
one of which defines the different objects to be rated in our
County assessments, and fixes their value ; and the other calcu-
lated to prevent an effect which certainly was not intended, and
which yet must necessarily follow from several persons having
been frequently joined as grantees of certain parcels of land in

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD (!ARTWUICaiT.

0110 deed, by which they becomf joint tenants, and which gives
a right to the survivor to tako the wlioU>, instead of eacli hav-
ing in severalty their distinct and separate portions, which was
evidently the intentiovi of the Crown. The Council and the
Assembly have parted on very ill terms with each other, and I
was unfortunate enough to differ with the majority of my bre-
thren, and to think our conduct towards the House of Assembly
neither decent or wariantable. I see that in your Province,
though the fund is raised by the Legislature in general, the ap-
propriations are annually made by vote of the House of Assem-
bly, and paid in consequence of an address from them to the
Governor to issue his warrant, &c. Now, this point was given
up by our Commons, and a Bill brought in for the appropriations,
specifying the salaries of the officers of the two Houses, <fcc. To
this, amendments were carried in our House to strike out £150
for printing the Journals of the Assembly ; £i 10s. incurred
for printing an Act brought forward in the course of the pre-
ceding session, that the public might become acquainted with
its purport and tendency ; and £5 odd to the Sergeant-at- Arras
for contingencies, under pretence that the particular items of
the account had not been submitted to our inspection. It has
not, I beUeve, been very usual for a House of Commons to be
so treated ; and without entering into the question about our
right to control the expenditures of the Assembly in matters
particularly relating to their own proceedings, I could not help
thinking that in the case before us the attempt to exercise it
was neither necessary nor proper. On receiving back the Bill
with our amendments, the Commons were all in a flame, and
voted that their proceedings relative to it should be expunged
from their journals, and we were the next day prorogued ; so
that unless healing measures be adopted in our next Parliament,

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92 LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARI) CARTWRIGHT.

we have a comfortable prospect before us. At the hazard,
however, of the imputaticn of sacrificing to popularity, I must
say that I think our House were the aggressors ; and the best
way of supporting our own consequence and privileges is cer-
tainly not to encroach on the privileges of the Assembly. I did
not think, when I began, that my letter would have been of its
present length, but you will probably have no objections to have
some idea of what we have been doing, and I have been as brief
as possible.

I remain, my dear Sir,
Yours very sincerely,

ElCKARD CaRTWRIGHT.

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

CHAPTER VI.

LETTER TO GENERAL HUNTER — FIRST SETTLERS LOYALLSTS AND
TROOPS — RELATIVES OF LOYALISTS ADMITTED, 1788 — EMIGRANTS
INVITED BY GOVERNOR SIMCOE — OBJECTIONS — PROPOSED REMEDY
— IMPROPER EMIGRATION.

To His Excellency General Hunter.

Kingston, 23rd August, 1799.
Sir, — From the conversations with which I have been honoured
by your Excellency, I am induced to present you with the fol-
lowing sketch of the history and present state of the population
of this Province, together with some suggestions respecting the
means of its amelioration. Your Excellency is already aware
that the settlement of this Province was originally suggested
by the propriety and necessity of providing an asylum tor the
American Loyalists after the peace of 1783. Those who were
already in the Province of Quebec were afterwards joined by a
considerable number from New York, who preferred this coun-
try to Nova Scotia, and there were further added to them
several of the German troops, and some of the disbanded
soldiers of the British regiments. The great mass of this
population was settled between the Point of Bodet and the
head of the Bay of Kenty ; for except the single regiment of
Butler's Rangers, and the persons attached to the Indian De-
partment, there were none to settle the country in the neigh-
bourhood of Niagara and Detroit, and the North sides of Lake
Erie and Lake Ontario were left wholly uninhabited. For the

•<l '

LIFE AND LETTEllS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

four first years the strictest attention was paid, not to admit
any other description of persons as settlers ; but in the year
1788 some little relaxation took place in this particular, and it
having been represented to Lord Dorchester that there were
in the States many relations of the Loyalists as well as other
persons, who, although they had not joined the Royal standard,
were, however, well affected to the British Government, his
Lordship was pleased to give it as an instruction to the Boards
which he at this time established in each of the four dis-
tricts into wliich the new settlements had been recently di-
vided, for the purpose of inspecting the details of the land
granting business therein, to examine into the loyalty and good
character of such persons as were disposed to become settlers,
and if they appeared to be unexceptionable in these respects,
to give them a certificate of location for a lot of not more than
two hundred acres, under the express condition of becoming
bona fide settlers. Thus many useful inhabitants were gradu-
ally acquired ; and if now and then any improper character
slipped in by surprise, the danger was small, as he would be
kept in order by a well-disposed neighbourhood. In this train
affairs continued till this country was made a separate Province,
and General Simcoe sent over to govern it. He appears to
have thought that the immediate peopling of the country was
an object of sufficient importance to supersede the regulations
which had been hitherto observed in distributing the waste
lands of the Crown. A proclamation was immediately issued
for the purpose of inviting emigrants, and the speculations in
lands being about this time at their height in the American
States, jobbers flocked in from every quarter, proposing to
bring a large number of settlers, and the Loyalists heard, with
astonishment and indignation, persons spoken of as proprietors

I Ml';
MM

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHAllD CARTWRIGHT. 95

of townships whom they had encountered in the field under
the banners of the rebellion, or who had been otherwise no-
toriously active in promoting the American revolution. For-
tunately, ho.vever, their diligence or ability to fulfil their pro-
mises was not equal to their assurance in making their ••.ppli-
cations ; and so little was done in the course of several years
towards the actual settlement of a large number of townships
which had been reserved for these speculators and their associ-
ates, that the Government in 1797 considered themselves at
liberty to dispose of them otherwise. In the meantime a con-
siderable number of people were brought into the country of a
very diffi^rent description from the original settlers, and the
functions of the Land Boards having been put an end to in the
year 1794, every application for lands was afterwards made
immediately to the Executive Council, who of course ex-
ercised a discretion with respect to the character of the appli-
cant, and the quantum of the grant that the Boards were not
competent to, and it has so happened that a great portion of
the population of that part of the Province which extends from
the head of the Bay of Kenty upwards is composed of persons
who have evidently no claim to the appellation of Loyalists.
I will not disguise from your Excellency the opinion which I
have always entertained, and on every proper occasion expressed,
that this ought never to have been permitted. One necessary
consequence has been to dispel the opinion fondly cherished by
the Loyalists, that the donation of lands to them in this coun-
try was intended as a mark of peculiar favour and a reward
for their attachment to their So/ereign ; for how could such an
idea remain upon their minds, when they afterwards saw them
lavished upon persons who had such pretensions ?

This, however, is not the greatest evil. In all establish-

.1 . i-

\i-

¥ '

96 - LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

monts of a poh'tical nature, it is of more consequence to lay a
solid foundation than to give them a sudden and premature
celebrity. In the founding of a colony, tlie character of the in-
habitants seems to be much more material than their numbers ;
these, in the course of time, will be suificiently multiplied by
natural causes, tha^, if originally faulty, is not so easily changed.
It must be admitted that the Americans understood the mode of
agriculture proper for a new country better than any other peo-
ple, and being, from necessity, in the habit of providing with
their own hands many things which in other countries the
artizan is always at hand to supply, they possess resources in
themselves wliich other people are usually strangers to ; and
boldly began their operations in a wilderness, when the dreary
novelty of the situation would appal an European. But their
political notions in general are as exceptionable as their intel-
ligence and hardihood are deserving of praise. I am not, how-
ever, inclined to impute to such of them as emigrate to this
Province either hostile or treacherous views ; but it would be
an error equally as great to suppose that they are induced by
any preference they entertain for our government. They
come probably with no other intent than to better their cir-
cumstances, by acquiring lands upon easy terms. Now, it is
npt'to be expected that a man will change his political principles
orprejuxlices by crossing a river, or that an oath of allegiance
is at once to check the bias of the mind, and prevent the pre-
dilection for those maxims and modes of estimating and con-
ducting the concerns of the public to which he has been trained,
from displaying itself, even without any sinister purpose,
whenever an opportunity shall be presented. It would be
cruel and invidious to point this to individual instances. But
the principle is founded on human nature, and its operation

i t

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

ought to be calculated upon in every political combination.
Indeed, the Government, even while throwing wide the door
to invite them, seem to have been in some measure aware of
this, for an Act was brought forward by the Attorney-General
in the House of Assembly, and passed in the year 1795, to pre-
vent such persons from being eligible to a seat in that House
till after a residence of seven years within the Province — a
feeble and temporary palliative to a radical disease which it
would have been easier to prevent than it will be to cure. Let
us see, however, if any more effectual remedy can be applied.
The best that occurs to me will be to settle among the emi-
grants of this description men of tried loyalty, and who have
been bred up in habits of subordination, in sufficient num-
bers to discountenance that affectation of equality so discernible
in the manner of those who come to us from the American re-
public. It would seem that the French will not be able much
longer to disturb the repose of the world, and it is probable
that a peace which will crown Great Britain with everlasting
laurels will also leave her with a number of deserving men to
provide for. And here I cannot but regret that the whole of the
first range of townships along Lake Ontario and Lake Erie are
preoccupied. Those, however, extend only twelve miles to-
wards the interior part of the country, and there is beyond
them land equally fertile, though not so conveniently situated.
To those who can and will cultivate them, they will soon furnish
a comfortable subsistence. In the meantime the high price of
labour, which is not less than eight or ten dollars per month for
common servants, and from a dollar to a dollar and a quarter
for carpenters, masons, etc., per day, will soon enable a man who
comes without anything but his health, and frugal and industri-
ous habits, to acquire a few cattle and other articles necessary

tmm

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

!•: la: I

I II

for improving and stocking a farm. If Government, therefore,
gives him the land, and provides a passage, together with a
few months' provisions to guard against contingencies, it will
not be necessary to go to any further expense. Indeed, there
is at this moment in the public stores of the Province a
large quantity of various kinds of implements of husbandry and
materials for building that cannot be so well disposed of in
any other manner as by being distributed to this description
of persons. Should they have families, they will thrive the
faster, for here, instead of being a burden, a numerous family
of children ensures the prosperity of their parents — the boys,
by their labour in the field ; the girls, by their assistance in the
dairy and the coarser kinds of household manufactures. If
there should be a few persons of a liberal education, and manners
calculated to make them respectable, part of the reserves of
the Crown in some of the townships already occupied could
not, perhaps, be better disposed of than by being allotted to
thdm. These reserves are so situated that the occupants would
be interspersed in the most desirable manner among the other
settlers, and would enable the Government to make a proper
selection of Justices of the Peace and other officers necessary
for the support of good order in the different parts of the
colony. In the distribution of lands not less than two hun-
dred acres should be given to every man — a smaller quantity
will not be sufficient to make him a good farm — and fifty acres
more for each member of his family, if he has one, will not be
an improper augmentation. Supposing that a scheme of this
kind should be approved of by His Majesty's Ministers, I think
the number of persons sent at one time should not be very
great, and that measures should be previously concerted with
the Colonial Government for their reception and accommoda-

iii i

LIFK AND LKTTEllS OF RICHARD CAR'nVRir.TIT.

tion. A very large number might not at once be properly accom-
modated or fall into immediate employment, and in that case
the time unavoidably taken up in marking out to each their
locations would be tedious and discouraging ; and it would bo
desirable to avoid everything likely to increase that discomfort
which, however favourable his future prospects may be, the
needy emigrant must inevitably encounter for a while in every
strange country. The greatest precaution also should be used
to exclude improper persons from the projected emigration. I
take the liberty of mentioning this from a notorious instance
of the neglect of it which occurred in the year 1792. In that
year a considerable number of persons were sent from England,
under the denomination of Loyalists, provided in the most
ample manner with bedding and clothing, with nails, hinges,
&c., for building, and with th necessary implements of husban-
dry, and with orders to be victualled for three years from the
King's stores. With a few exceptions, one would have supposed
that London had been ransacked to collect the idle and the
profligate. The donations of the Government were very gene-
rally disposed of to procure the means of gratifying their pas-
sion for ardent spirits, and when they could no longer resort to
the King's stores for provisions, some of them enlisted, others
' abandoned the Province, or in some instances became a burden
upon the inhabitants for support. I am perfectly warranted
in asserting that there are not more than a dozen families of
them now settled in the Province, and some of these are in no
very good repute. Thus has the liberality of the Government
been perverted, and a very considerable expense been throwr.
away, which, applied to proper objects, would have plpr^^d tuem
in easy circumstances, and added greatly to the flourishing state
of the colony.

"ill

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I ill

100 LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

I have thus candidly given your Excellency my sentiments on
this subject ; but while I have expressed them without reserve,
It has been far from my intention to cast the slightest degree
of obloquy upon any of those who may not have viewed it pre-
cisely in the same light with myself.

I am, &c.,

ElCHARD CaKT WRIGHT.

:' n

■A'.

LIFE AND LKTTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRKUIT. 101

bson

ITVG,

(giee
pre-

CHAPTER VII.

REPORT OP COMMISSIONERS — DUTIES ON WINES — PROPORTION SET-
TLED ON B\SIS OF POPULATION — LETTER TO MR. LEES — DUTIES
ON AMERICAN GOODS IMPOSSIBLE — LETTER TO MR. M'cJILL — DE-
PRECATES PROTECTION.

REPORT OF 'illE PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMISSIONERS FOR
SETTLING DUTIES, &C., IN 1795.

After some preliminary correspondence relitive to the place
of meeting, the undersigned Commissioners met the Commis-
sioners of the Province of Lower Canada at Montreal on the
13th day of February, and continued their conferences till the
18th day of the same month, when they were terminated by
the provisiovial agreement now before the House, to which we
also beg leave to submit the principal motives and arguments
by which we were induced to subscribe to this agreement.

The first object of our appointment being to ascertain our
proportion of certain duties collected upon wines in the Lower
Province during the years 1793 and 1794, the Commissioners
of that Province produced an account, a copy of whioli is here-
to annexed, containing an accurate statement, as far as could
be collected, of all the wines sent into this Province, distin-
guishing those sent by the Ottawa River from tbose sent by
the River St. Lawrence. We claimed the duty on the whole
qufintity, insisting that the passing into our geographical limits
was the proper criterion for determining our proportion ; and
as we could establish custom-houses to enforce our demands,

102 IJFl-: AND LKTTHUS OF UK'HAIU) CAUTWUKJIIT.

there could bo no pretence for disputing them. To this it was
answered, that however true these positions might be in gene-
ral, and when applied to sovereign and indejKMident State's, yet
they would not always hold good between dependencies of the
same rhni)ire, especially under the peculiar circumstances and
relations of these two Provinces ; that if power and right were
to be considered as synonymous, they were not accountable to
us for any part of the present duty, or any other that tliey
might be disposed to lay hereafter, but upon this principle
each Province must be left to pursue their own plans, regard-
less of the other ; that though they had notliing to fear irom a
contest of this kind, they, however, were disposed to do every-
thing that could reasonably be expected to shun 't, and were
willing to give us as large a share of the revenue arising from
the duties upon their imports as we could in justice claim ; that,
therefore, they had no objections to our receiving the duty
upon every article of this kind transported by the Kiver St.
Lawrence, whether for the consumption of the inhabitants or
for the Indian trade, but that they could not make us any such
allowance upon articles transported by the Ottawa liiver,
which barely passed along the extreme limits of our Province,
and through a very small and uninhabited portion of it, to be
traded with remote and independent tribes of Indians ; for that
this would, in fact, be taxing their capital and industry for our
benefit, and deriving a revenue from a source which, but for
their exertions, would have no existence. We replied that
our negotiation was to be conducted upon principles of equity ;
and, though we were not disposed to give up the just claims
of our Province, we had no wish to involve the two Provinces
in a contest that would be injurious and disreputable to both,
by insisting upon demands that were not reasonable ; but that

LIFE AND LKTrEHS OF RICIIAIIO CARTWRIOIIT. 103

if the distinction of geographical limits was once laid aside, it
would not be easy to make any proper discrimination ; that it
migl: })t'rluips, as well })o said that the trade by the St. Law-
rence was carried on by the capital of Lower Canada as the
trade by the Ottawa River, and that we could rn>t see that
there were just grounds fur making the difference they
contended for.

To this they answered that the difference wjis palpable and
striking ; that the trade by the former route not only found
convenience and protection from the exttuisive tract of ttled
country which it passed through, but was for the most part
carried on by the industry and for the benefit of persons resi-
dent in the Upper Province ; and whenever the trade by the
Ottawa Kiver should derive the same benefit from establish-
ments of ours, and be carried on by the agency of persons resi-
dent amongst us, they should be very willing to admit our
claims to their full extent, but that at present they deriv
not the smallest protection or advantage from any establish-
ment of ours ; that every person engaged in this business was
brought from Lower Canada ; and with respect to the particu-
lar article in question, that it was not even made an article of
trade, but was carried as the private stores of the persons em-
ployed in this trade. To put this question in a proper light,
they would ask, Was it reasonable,' was it just, that the
Province of Lower Canada should pay a sum of money to the
Province of Upper Canada for liberty to trade with the In-
dians in the country about the Hudson's Bay or on the Mis-
sissippi 1 The arguments prevailed with us to give up our claim
for the present upon articles transported by the Grand
River ; and as they forebore to urge any allowance for leakage
or abatement on account of wines sent into this Province pa

'HI

mm 1

104 LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

which no duty had been paid, we agreed to accept of uhe sum
of £333 4s. 2d. as our proportion of the duty upon wines.
The next object was *o fix upon a priaciple for arranging our
future proportion of this or sue) other duties as might be here-
after imposed. For this end various expedients were mentioned,
such as a declaration upon oath to be made by persons forward-
ing goods to Upper Canada, or tnat every bill of lading should
express the quantity of dutiable articles, and duplicates of these
be deposited with some person to be appointed for that purpose
at Lachine ; but ':hese were found to be liable to too much
uncertainty, and could not possibly attach upon that part of.
jhe trade carried on by the farmers, or other persons not es-
tablished merchants, who resort themselves w Montreal for
their supplies. An officer at the Point of Bodet was next
proposed ; but besides the exi)ense of such an establishment,
which was a very material objection, it was considered as likely
to occasion much delay and embarrassment to the trade of the
two Provinces, and to become a source of discord between them,
for to make it effectual there must be a power to stop, to
search and consficate, and besides, by a change in the road in
the eastern district which is in contemplation, it would be
rendered wholly useless in the winter. A certain determinate
proportion was then recurred to, and it was unanimously agreed
that, all circumstances considered, the respective population of
the two Provinces would form the most eligible, if not the
most equitable principle of agreement, and that this might be
considered in the proportion of one to seven. This at once super-
sedes the necessity of officers and salaries that must otherwise
have absorbed, unavoidably, a large portion oi ^he revenue, and
probably have created dissensions between the Provinces. It re-
moves at once every clog to their intercourse, and takes away

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD (ARTWRKillT. 105

all the grouiius of jealousy and distrust that appeared insepar-
able from any other plan, and we are persuaded that, on de-
liberate examination, it will not be thought that these benefits
have been obtained by any material sacrifices on our part.
The number of men on the militia returns of the Lower Pro-
vince in June, 1792, amounted to 37,44G, which, on a very
moderate computation, may be considered as augmented to
40,000 by the 24th June, 1794, at which time the militia returns
of Upper Canada, amounted to 5,350 ; and we must further
consider the religious communities, the numerous parochial
clergy, and no less numerous practitioners of physic and law in
the Lower Province, as still increasing this disproportion, to
say nothing of the diminution of our numbers by the re-
cruits engaged in the Provincira corps. We are aware that it
will be objected that the Indian trade, joined to our other
demands, consumes a much larger proportion of liquor than an
eighth. We are, however, induced to believe that the quantity so
consumed is overrated in the estimation of the public. Let it be
considered that the extensive settlements of Vermont are sup-
plied with this article through Montreal, and that the fisheries
at Chaleur and Gaspe, and the canoeing and batteauing busi-
ness, take off a large quantity for the people so employed, over
and above their ordinary consumption. Besides, from an attentive
examination and inquiry, it appeared to us that the same number
of inhabitants of Lower Canada consumed a far more consider-
able quantity of spirits, perhaps double, of what would be used by
an equal number in this Province. Instead of tea, so gener-illy in
use among us, a glass of rum and a crust of bread is the usual
breakfast of the French Canadian. The rigour of their climate
is alleged as the cause of their having frequent recourse to it at

other times in the day, and their numerous holidays lead to
G

10() LIFIO AND LETTERS OF lUCllARl) CARTWRIGHT.

such habits of idleness and dissipation as are favourable to the
consumption of rum. And let it also be considered that upon
this plan we participate in the articles transported by the Ottawa
Kivcr. But whatever doubt m.ay exist with respect to this
particular article, in every other that is likely to become liable
to taxation our consumption will be far less than an eighth ; for
besides the articles of this description that will enter into the
very considerable trade which the Lower Province carries on
with Vermont, the luxury- of its towns will consume more than
merely in proportion to the number of its inhabitants. While
we were thus receiving a proportional share of the duties levied
at Quebec, we considered it as no unreasonable concession on
our parts to agree to suspend the exercise of our right to lay
duties upon any articles coming into this country from Lower
Canada, and thus to satisfy their Commissioners that while we
were participating in die revenues collected by them, we would
not embarrass their trade with any additional impositions. In
thus resigning to them for a time the right to impose and levy
duties for us, as well as for themselves, we had the best
of all securities that this confidence would not be abused —
namely, that they could do nothing to injure us that would not in-
jure themselves much more. Besides, we were well assured before
we consented to this Article, that such a sum was about to be
raised as would afford fOr our part a sufficiency to defray our
necessary expenditure. In a business so entirely new and un-
tried, we judge it expedient to make the term of our agreement
short, as the relative situation between the two Provinces may
probably in a little time undergo such a change that regula-
tions wliich would be highly reasonable and expedient might
in a few years be inconvenient and improper, and under the
expectation that the experience of a couple of years would en-

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT. 107

may
^gula-
iiight
[y the
Id en-

able us to rectify whatever may have beeu mistaken or over-
looked in the present agreement.

All of which is most respectfully submitted, &c.

John Munro.

John McDowell.

Richard Cartwright.
To the Hon John Lees.

Kingston, 10th August, 1708.
Dear Sir, — As we shall meet in a few months to discuss
the subject of the provisional agreement between our respective
Pro"'nces, it may probably facilitate and forward the business
to enter into some previous explanation, and indeed it is in-
cumbent on us to account for our non-compliance with this
agreement. Though individually I cannot send you anything
formal or authentic, and my brother Commissioners are at too
great a distance to be consulted, yet I have reason to believe
that they \yill not disavow either my principles or facts, and
indeed these appear too evident and conclusive to derive addi-
tional importance from any diplomatic sanction. Being, how-
ever, myself a convert (for you know my bias was originally
the other way), I may possibly, like other converts, have too
much zeal for my new opinions, and shall therefore be glad to
receive any remarks or strictures on them from you or any
of your colleagues previous to our personal conference. But to
proceed to the question : Our rights to a portion of the duties
collected at Quebec, under the authority of the Legislature of
Lower Canada, arises ^r*om the plainest principles of equity,
and is -not derived from any positive stipulations between the
two Provinces. This was so obvious, that the Act for laying
such duties was immediately followed by one for appointing
Commissioners to treat with Commissioners from this Province,

; i

1': 1 fjj |i i

1 '

f''i.

': " i ,

■"I 'fH

108 LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CJARTWRIGIIT,

whose object was nob to discuss this right, but to ascertain the
proportion of the duties justly applicable to each Province. This
was in the first instance adjusted agreeably to the respective
population of each, it being supposed to imply the same rela-
tive trade in, and consumption of, the dutiable articles, and at
the same time occasion was very properly taken to make such
regulations as would prevent the Legislatures of the two Pro-
vinces from clashing with each other in matters of revenue.
Before the expiration of the agreement under the first commis-
sion, the treaty with the United States of America took place,
which rendered this plain and simple criterion no longer pro-
per or just, and it required a more complicated plan to ascer-
tain the quantity of the dutiable articles consumed with us or
passing up the St. Lawrence for the purposes of trade ; but our
right to the amount of the duties on such articles, when ascer-
tained, hath been unequivocally recognised under the Commis-
sioners. It rests, indeed, on the solid foundations of justice
and candour ; and though the amount may be varied, the prin-
ciple cannot be affected by the state of our intercourse with the
United States. This being premised, I am equally ready to
declare that it results as an indisputable duty, from our political
relation as a dependency of the British Empire, to adopt and
enforce, as far as practicable, every regulation of trade that
may tend to employ British ships and enrich British subjects,
and exclude or discourage the interference of aliens. On this
principle, and not on any idea of its being a sine qua non to our
receiving a share of the duties, we assented without hesitation
to the proposal made by the Commissioners of the Lower Pro-
vince, that we should, agreeably to the power given us by the
Treaty, impose the same duties on articles coming into this
Province from the American States as they would be liable to

LIFE A:SD letters of RICHARD CARTWRIGHT. 109

tain the
je. This
spective
me rela-
, and at
ike such
wo Pro-
revenue,
commis-
ik place,
ger pro-
bo ascer-
bh us or
but our
m ascer-
poramis-
f justice
le prin-
vith the
ready to
pohtical
opt and
ide that
lubjects,
On this
n to our
sitation
v^er Pro-
s by the
nto this
iable to

at the port of Quebec, and take measures for the collecting of
them, as far as our local circumstances vmuld admit. It was sup-
posed at this time that the Government of the United States
would on their parts have immediately proceeded to avail
themselves of the power given them by this Treaty to check our
intercourse with their territory, by making establishments at
Detroit and elsewhere for collecting the Atlantic duties ; and
yet it is evident, from the penning of the article, that difficul-
ties respecting its being carried into effect were even then fore-
seen, but certainly not to the excent in which they prosecuted
themselves when the measure came under the discussion of the
Legislature, and when gentlemen assembled from every part of
the Province could point out the facility with which every
regulation might be eluded. Indeed, when our geographical
situation comes to be attentively considered, and the unlimited
participation given to the citizens of America in the use of our
portages, and in the navigation of the lakes and rivers which
are common boundary between them and us for more than a
thousand miles, it is not easy to point out how the collection of
duties could be at all enforced ; and it will be readily agreed
that it would require a much larger sum than the amount of all
our revenues to support the establishments necessary for this
purpose, and it would not only be absurd and ridiculous in the
extreme to pass a law without providing for the execution of
it, but in this case would be a fraud upon the Lower Province,
by a compliance merely in words, and not in effect, with the
article in question. In a Bill for this purpose which made
some progress in our Legislature, about sixteen places were
fixed upon for the residence of custom-house officers, and even
these were thought too few. Another necessary consequence
of such provisions must have been, to subject the trade cf

no LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWUIGHT.

Lower Canadji with this country to all the expense, delay, and
embarrassment of custom-house form.alitirs, at every place of
lading or unlading, whether in vessels or boats, or in carriages
on the portages, in order to ascertain whether they were really
what they were declared to be, and not a cloke for dutiable
articles brought from the States. The effect of this upon
the trade will be best understood by the commercial gen-
tlemen of Montreal, who are so greatly and justly alarmed at a
Bill brought into the Legislative Council of the then Province
of Quebec in 1787, entitled " A Bill to explain and amend the
Act entitled ' An Act or Ordinance for promoting the inland
navigation.' " The declarations, manifests, and entries then
contemplated were full as easy and simple as they could be ad-
mitted to be in the present case, and they were considered so
harassing and vexatious as to call forth the united remon-
strance of all the mercantile people concerned in the uade, in
consequence of which they were very properly given up.

These considerations would of themselves, perhaps, be
allowed to be sufficient to have made us pause, but they are
at present the less necessary to be insisted upon, as, however
weighty and important, they were not the predominant ones to
induce our Legislature to postpone the ratification of the
Provincial agreement, and to request a further conference with
the Lower Province on that part of it which respects the im-
position of duties on articles coming from the American States.
In taking a view of the present state of our commercial inter-
course with these States, I believe I am much within the bounds
in asserting, that we annually send into their territory in the
neighbourhood of Detroit, and towards the Illinois and Mis-
sissippi, to the amount of £60,000 sterling in articles of British
manufacture ; wine, and the produce of our West Indian islands ;

LIFE AND LE'ITKRS OV RICHARD CARTWRKJHT. Ul

111

ull of which, according to the tabic of American duties, would bo
liable to the exactions of from 25 to 50 cents per gallon on
spirits ; from 20 to 56 cents per gallon on wine ; 9 cents per lb*
on loaf sugar ; 5 cents per lb. on coffee ; 15 per cent, ad valm'em
on arms, leather, and several articles; 12i per cent, on others ;
and not less than 10 per cent, on any. Compared with these,
our scale of duties is low indeed, limited at present to a very
few articles, and 1 presume will neyer be extended to British
manufactures, which greatly exceed in value all the other
articles which are used in this trade. What we receive from th®
States is really almost nothing, and of that little but a part is
liable to pay duty. What is broi ght in is by adventurers who
can only be considered as mere peddlers ; even they seldom ap"
pear a second time, and no established mercantile house
among them, great or small, hath yet engaged in the trade of
this country. Let the mercantile gentlemen of Montreal say
whether, since the Treaty, the quantity of goods, evea wines and
spirits not excepted, sent to Detroit and Machinac has not
rather increased than diminished. The demand for spirits
and sugar for our internal consumption, indeed, is probably
lessened, as the first has been in a considerable degree supplied
by our distillations from grain, and the latter from the domes-
tic manufacture of maple sugar. But the imports of all kinds
for what may be called our foreign trade, if I may judge by the
quantity of goods that pass this place, are annually increasing,
and as the American settlements along the St. Lawrence and
the Lakes increase, will go on augmenting. The natural, I had
almost said the only outlet for all the produce of these set-
tlements is by the St. Lawrence, whose waters are sufficient to
carry the largest rafts of lumber to your sea-ports, and this
lumber, which is itself a valuable article of commerce, may

112 LIKK AND LKTTKRS OF UICHAllD CAUTWUKJHT.

1 liliii

at the same tim(! be made a vehicle for transporting their
wheat, flour, and potash to a market. This by the way of
Oswego is utterly impossil)le, as besides going against the
current, no raft could be got through Wood Creek, and there
is moreover the land carriage from Schenectady to Albany
Now, it is a matter of course to purchase our supplies where
we sell our surplus produce, particularly when these supplies
are to be had on as good terras and can be more easily trans-
ported than from other markets ; and the price of transport
from Albany to Oswego is actually double the expense of that
from Montreal to Kingston, and consequently to any place not
more distant on the American shore. Such are the advantages
we possess, which, co-operating with the high duties in the
American ports, give us a superiority that we should be cau-
tious of depriving ourselves of. Could the United States
enforce the collection of their Atlantic duties on our inland
commerce with them, they must necessarily operate as a
bounty to take the trade from us, and turn it into their own
channels; or at best we should have to pay a pound where we
could collect a penny. It is therefore greatly to our own
advantage, for the Lower Province in a still greater degree
than for us, that the intercourse between us and the States
should remain unrestrained. But it will be said that we have
no security that the Government of America will allow it to
remain so. This is true, and it is so much their interest that
it should not, that they have probably been passive on the
occasion, only from the difficulty and expense of enforcing
revenue laws under the circumstances we are placed in with
regard to each other. But as we must lose more than we can
well calculate should they make the experiment, it does not
seem consistent with common prudence for us, by first adopting

LIFE AND LETTKHS OF KICHAUD CAIITWIUOHT. 113

the measure, to provoke tlieni to it, for we cannot suppose that
they would be slow in attempting to retaliate.

From this view of tlio subject, which has presented itself in
the course of the lengthy and deliberate discussion which it has
undergone in our Legislature, and which, though [)erhaps not
the most obvious, is the true point in which it ought to be re-
garded, the Lower Province will see that it is not beeauso we
are unwilling to concur with them in any necessary or useful
regulations of trade, or from any partial or selfisli motives, that
we have not proceeded to confirm in its fullest extent the Pro-
vincial agreement entered into in January, 1797, but because
our compliance appeared likely to produce the very evils it was
intended to guard against, and instead of operating to establish
and promote trade in the hands of British subjects, to have a
direct tendency to make it of less value to them, and to encou-
rage aliens to sup))lant them in a very valuable and growing
branch of it. Indeed, their very liberal conduct in voting us
our proportion of the duties last year, previous to any formal
reconsideration of the agreement, leaves us no reason to doubt
of their candour in the prosecution of the business, and of their
willingness to concur in such modifications as shall appear best
calculated to meet the exigencies of the case. For my part, I
am impressed with the fullest conviction that they will depre-
cate rather than urge us to begin a war of revenue regulations
with the L^nited States, by which they may lose a great deal
and can certainly gain very little.

To this lengthy epistle about matters of public concern, per-
mit me to add assurances of my personal regard and esteem.

I am, (fee,

Richard Cartwrkiht.

lil

114 LIFK AND LE'rrKllS OF IIICIIAUD CAUTWUmUT.
To J. Mi-am, Esq. ,, .., . T. ,uni

■'■ klN(iSTUN, 31.st Dec, 1801.

My Dear Sir, — I hope your Legislature will not be too
much in haste to multiply duties upon imports, for though I
do not consider them as any breach of the Treaty with tlie
Americans, to whom they will still leave all their relative ad-
vantages, they will bear hard upon this Province, who, from
the nature of their returns, which consist chiefly in bulky ar-
ticles, can have little direct intercourse with the United States.
For my part, I have never had a single article from thence, and
the duty on tobacco, as far as I am concerned, may be con-
sidered a duty on British manufacture rather than an article
of trade with America. I am, however, very ready to aban-
don this and tea to the discretion of your Legislature ; but iron
and leather Jire articles of such general and indispensable ne-
cessity as should induce the Legislature to give every en-
couragement to render them plenty aiul cheap. Such evidently
is the interest of the public, and the manufacture of leather at
L' Assumption, and of iron at Bastican and St. Maurice, are
certainly not of that importance as to warrant them in levying
a contribution of ten per cent, on the consumption of these
Provinces for their support, whatever Messrs. Craigie, Coffin,
Bell, and Badgley may say to the contrary. In addition to the
articles of the peace which you mention, I understand that Por-
tugal, Naples, and Turkey remain as before the war. I should
certainly have rejoiced at any further acquisitions that Great
Britain had retained, but however highly we may be disposed
to rate her strength and resources (and they have in this strug-
gle been displayed to an extent that would heretofore have
been deemed romantic), on a cool consideration of circum-
stances, I think it will be agreed that the present peace has

in no degree blasted her laurels,

R. 0.

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CART^VRt^.IIT. 115

CHAITKII VIII.

HESSION OF 1801 — KLEOTION OF SPEAKER — DISPUTED ELK«TION —
APPKOPRIATIONS — BOUNTY ON HEMP — LETTER TO REV. J.
STRAOUAN — ORANT FOR ROADS — GRANT FOR PUR(!HA8E OF HEMP —
ALIEN ACT — DESERTION ACT — LETTER TO CHIEF JUSTICE AICOCK —
CONDUCT OF MR. THORPE — DUTY ON TEA ON HAWKERS- -ESTAULISH-
MENT OF DISTRICT SCHOOLS — LETTER SUPPOSED TO HE WRITTEN BY
LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR — MR. THORPE SENT TO SIERRA LEONE —
CHARACTER OF ATTORNEY-GENERAL.

have
cum-
has

MEMOKANDUiM OF TRANSACTIONS IN FIRST SESSION OF THE
THIRD PROVINCUL PARLIAMENT OE UPPER CANADA.

The election of a Speaker gave rise to considerable intrigue.
Some part of the private conduct of D. W. Smith, Es((., wliich
was supposed to have occasioned the fall of the late Attorney-
General, and to have produced other breaches in the society
at York, was made use of with such success that he who had
been unanimously called to the chair on a former occasion, had
now the majority of but a single voice. Three members, how-
ever, who would have voted for him, did not arrive till the
election was over. The session began with a considerable de-
gree of warmth in the House of Assembly respecting the ap-
pointment of a new Clerk to that House. On some contro-
versy between the emigrant French general, Count de Puisaye
and Mr. Angus McDonell, which had been examined before a
Committee of Council in the month of August, the Committee,
in their report to the Governor, had declare^ Mr, Mc-

J If

ri'lhl

I 1

IK) LIKK AND LKTTKUH OF lUCIIAHD CAKTWIIK;IIT.

Doiiell's conduct to luivo been such as to render him unworthy
of any olhce under the (lover. .ment. The Governor hereupon
signified to Mr. McDoik;!! that he was no longer Clerk to the
House of Assembly, and appointed a Mr. McLean in his stead.
At the meeting of the Assembly both Clerks took their seats at
the table, Mr. McLean by virtue of his recent commission
from the Governor, which wps the only notice the House had
of his appointment, and Mr. McDonell under his old commis-
sion, which he contended could not be set aside without the
consent of the House. Tn these pretensions ho was warmlj'^
supported by several members, and it was not till after some
days spent in the controversy that the point was given up : yet
the House did not allow Mr. McDonell to retire without pass-
ing a vote which expressed their approbation of his con-
duct, and thanked him for his diligence in the discharge of
the duties of the office he had filled. That the appointment
rests in the Governor is without dispute ; yet, hi filling it, some
regard should be had to the body under which it is to be ex-
ercised, and it is probable that had the Governor signified by
a message to the House that he could not with propriety allow
Mr. McDonell to hold hi? office, and had therefore appointed
another, which was an act of civility they had a right to ex-
pect, in all probability there would have been an immediate
and silent actpiiescence. The House of Assembly were next
occupied in settling the mode of proceeding on a petition of
the inhabitants of York and Northumberland respecting a dis-
puted election, and examining into the merits of the petition.
The result was that Mr. Justice Alcock, the sitting member,
was declared not duly elected, and the election itself void. It
appeared in evidence that very unwarrantable steps had been
ta'cen by the friends of Mr. Alcock to procure him to be re-

LIFK AND LHTTEllS OF lUC'IIAHD CAUTWUIonT. 117

turned. A largo majority of tlic electorH w»)ro evidently
against him ; but while those on his side were giving him votes,
a drunken man of the opposite party was ordered to be taken
into the custody of a consta' 'e for somo noisy behaviour which,
on such an occasion, might rory well have been passed over.
This act of authority gave such ott'ence to some of the bystand-
ers that they interposed themselves between him and the oflicer
after he had been arrested, by which means the man made
hJ.s escape in the crowd. While this was doing, two or three
people were hastily called up to vote for Mr. Alcock, which gave
him a small majority ; and hereupon a ' Ir. Weeks, an Irish
lawyer, the Judge's most active agent, cried out, " A riot ! a
riot ! " and prevailed with the returning otlicer to close the poll.
During the whole of this investigation, Mr. Alcock behaved in
a most extraordinary manner, being constantly present in the
House and taking notes, but pertinaciously declining to reply
to the attorney for the petitioners, or to enter at all upon a
vindication of his election. Before the House had come to a
determination, he handed to some of the members, while the
House was sitting, a paper, drawn up by his friend the Attor-
ney-General, stating doubts of the competency of the House to
decide the case, as no law had been enacted in the Province re-
lative to this subject, and the law that regulated such pro-
ceedings in England being wholly inapplicable here from the
paucity of members, and concluding with the insinuation that
the Governor might very probably not agree to the issuing
another writ. When all the evidence had been gone through,
and the result was to be determined upon, Mr. Alcock was, at
the request of the House, desired by the Speaker to withdraw ;
but he replied that " he was still a member of that House,
and would not withdraw unless they threw him out ntck and

118 IJFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRTOHT.

II!

heels," and he actually kept his seat while the resolutions re-
specting himself were determining. Such conduct requires no
comment. It is allowed that some of the members had, indi-
vidually, little claim to respectability, and that some others
held doctrines respecting the extent of their authority that no
reasonable man would subscribe to ; yet, as a public body, they
have, unquestionably, a claim to at least the appearance of re-
spect, and when this is so glaringly withheld by persons high
in office, it tends evidently to excite opposition against the
Government itself, and to raise an idea that they wish to con-
trol, in an authoritative manner, the freedom of their delibera-
tions. It seems hardly proper for a Judge of the Court of
King's Bench to become a candidate for a seat in a popular
Assembly. The usual mode of canvassing for such a situation
but little accords with the gravity and dignity expected in such
a character, and it might be feared that in the administration
of criminal law he would not be altogether unbaissed should
any of his opponents be convicted before him in cases where
the penalty is undefined and left to the discretion of the
Judge. But there seemed to be a peculiar degree of indecorum
in a person of this description tal *ng his seat in the House of
Assembly under a return which had been obtained by the most
glajing violation of law. While these transactions were go-
ing on in the House of Assembly, some attempts were made
there to repeal so much of an Act passed in the 4th session of
the second Provincial Parliament, entitled "An Act for the more
equal representation of the Commons of the Province in Par-
liament, and for the better defining the qualification of elec-
tors," as made a previous residence of seven years in the
Province a necessary qualification for an elector, and also to
abolish the mode of summ&jy convictions before the magistrates

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIOIIT. 119

for selliug of spirits, &c., without license, under pretence of
its being a dangerous encroachment on the privilege of
trial by jury ; but these attempts proved ineffectual, and
were rejected by a considerable majority of the House. The '
measure that was first passed in tliat House, and brought up
to the Council in the shape of a Bill, was for paying the wages
of the members of ihe AsstMul)ly out of the Provincial fund ;
and because tb t Bill was rcj<cted by the Council, they were
so highly offended that isuuic of the most violent had nearly
prevailed upon the majority uf the House to do no more busi-
ness ; and although they did not succeed to the extent of their
wishes, yet they prevailed so far as to procure their concur-
rence to an attempt to force the Council to a compliance with
this selfish measure, by tacking it to the Bill for ratifying the
provisional agreement with Lower Canada relating to duties,
(fee. But this attempt being unanimously repulsed by that
body with proper steadiness, though without asperity, as cal-
culated to infringe the constitutional freedom of their delibera-
tions, another fit of ill-humour succeeded ; and it was not with-
out allowing some time for this to subside, and using a consi-
derable degree of management, that a majority of three could
be procured to prevent the public business from being wholly
impeded. With this feeble majority the provisional agreement
with the Lower Province was carried through, as well as the
necessary measures consequent thereto of establishing ports of
entry and proper ofl&cers for collecting, on articles coming into
this Province from the United States, the same duties that are
payable at Quebec. The business of appropriating the money
in the hands of the Receiver-General, arising from various
luDds, which had till General Hunter's administration been
done simply by a vote of the House of Assembly, was also put

120 LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

upon a proper footing by a Bill specifying the different items
of expenditure. And though these articles were again inserted
which had been struck out by the Council in the last session
of the preceding Parliament as amendments, and which occa-
sioned the different branches of the Legislature to separate in
very ill humour, that body had recovered sufficient temper
and moderation to give them no opposition on the present oc-
casion. The reasons which induced the Legislative Council
not to accede to the wishes of the Assembly in changing the
mode of paying their allowance of 10s. per diem, which they
now receive by a direct assessment on their constituents, to a
charge on the general revenue, were that this sum, if taken
from the Provincial fund, would require to be replaced by
some other tax, at which the public, as is generally the case
on the imposition of any new tax, would be dissatisfied and
pt.y it with reluctance ; whereas they were reconciled by long
usage to the one at present applied to this purpose. Besides,
it appeared highly probable that could the members of the
Assembly take their allowance immediately from the Provin-
cial treasury, they might be less inclined to dispatch than to
protract business ; the temptation to which was much weaker
at present, as their payment was attended with some delay,
and beiug immediately felt by their constituents, they would
be cautious of any unnecessary augmentation. The plan of
allowing wages to any branch of the Legislature seems to be
reprehensible under any form. The honour of such a situation
ought to bo considered as a sufficient compensation, and per-
sons who, from circumstances of fortune and education, can be
influenced by such motives, are likely to discharge their duty
better than the needy and the ignorant, with whom, perhaps,
the allowance is the principal object, and who are often the

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARnVHIGHT. 121

items
iserted
session
I occa-
rate in
iCmper
int oc-
youncil
ing the
h they
,s, to a
taken
led by
\e case
?d and
)y long
Jesides,
of the
Provin-
lan to
w^eaker
delay,
would
Dlan of
to be
tuation
id per-
can be
r duty
erhaps,
ien the

favourites of a majority of the electors, though generally inca-
pable of understanding the tendency of public measures, and
liable consequently to be influenced, by artful management, to
support alike such as may be either factious or oppressive.
The only remedy left for this evil is, that as the electors now
feel immediately the burden of paying their representatives,
they may be induced to prefer those who would decline any
pecuniary compensation. The Council would therefore have
ill discharged their duty were they to have given up a point
so beneficial in its tendency, and which would have been lost
for ever by yielding to the wishes of the A^isemby, which pro-
ceeded evidently from motives of mere personal advantage to
the individuals who composed it. During these proceedings a
new writ was issued for the Counties of York and Northum-
berland, and Mr. Angus McDonell, the late Clerk of the House
of Assembly, was elected by a large majority, and took his
seat as a member. Mr. Alcock declined becoming a candidate
on this occasion, yet the people, whose zeal was occasionally
heightened by the effect of ardent spirits during this exercise
of their sovereign authority, showed a strong disposition at
intervals to insult him and his friends.

Two days before the time at which it was generally under-
stood that the business of the session was to close, a Bill passed
the Assembly to encourage the growth of hemp by a bounty,
but so loosely drawn up as to make it njcessary for the Council
to new-model it entirely. On returning it thus altered to the
Assembly, it was rejected under the; pretence of its being a
Money Bill, in which it was trenching upon their privileges tor
the Council to make alterations, and they passed a vote au-
thorizing the Lieutenant-Governor to expend several hundred
pounds in bounties, and for the purchase of seed, at his diacre-

r #f .

1 1

II
i j

i i
f

122 LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

tion. Though the present Governor had hitherto constantly
refused to advance money upon a vote of the House, and in-
sisted that this could only be done by a legislative act, yet in
this instance he seemed to have abandoned his own principles;
for under sanction of this vote he appointed, by proclamation,
commissioners to dispose of this money for the purpose therein
expressed. Influenced by a favourite measure that had also
been pressed upon him by His Majesty's Ministers, he perhaps
overlooked the inconsistency of his conduct, and the improper
weight he was giving to the democratic branch, by now coun-
tenancing their former pretensions, and thus encouraging them
again to regard the Council, in money matters, as mere cyphers.
Probably he might have thought himself at liberty to act in
this manner from a knowledge that the Council were full as
much disposed as the Assembly to promote the object in view.
But in matters of legislation and government nothing should
be assumed as the will and intention of any public body, in the
exercise of such functions, that is not sanctioned by its formal
and official act. It was the general wish of the Legislature to
make the Court of King's Bench more easily accessible, and
an Act was passed to allow all proceedings preparatory to the
trial, and previous to judgment and execution, to be transacted
in the office of the Clerk of the Crown, which was erected in
each District of the Province. Another Act on the subject of
hohling to bail also passed both Houses.

As it was the intention of the Legislature not to allow of
imprisonment for debt except in cases of meditated fraud by
leaving the Province, which the plaintiff' was to avow his sus-
picion of upon oath, they considered that such fraud should be
a sufficient ground for arrest in all cases, however small the
amount, and that to carry this into effect it was necessary to

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CAUTWRIGHT. 123

tantly
id in-
yei in
siples ;
lation,
herein
,d also
erhaps
proper
r coun-
g them
yrphers.
act in
full as
n view,
should
, in the
formal
ure to
|le, and
to the
sacted
ted in
►ject of

[low of
(aud by
iiis sus-
)uld be
lall the
sary to

authorize the Justices of the Peace, upon oath made before
them of suspicion of such meditated fraud, to grant a warr.ant
for the temporary detention of the party till the regular pro-
cess of the Clerk's office could be obtained, and detention in
no case to exceed eight days. This last provision was, how-
ever, so carelessly worded, that upon strict construction it was
considered to extend only to cases where a suit had been pre-
viously commenced, aud the former, by a very arbitrary con-
struction of the Court of King's Bench, in the face as well of
the spirit as the letter of the Act, was made to extend only
to sums above £10 sterling. To explain these, and to prevent
all possibility of misconstruction for the future, was the sole
purport of the Act in question ; but though brought into the
House of Assembly by the Solicitor-General, and supported
and amended in the Council by the Chief Justice, the Gover-
nor refused his assent to it. It was but too evident that he
was influenced in this, as well as in some other measures, by
Mr. Justice Alcock, seconded by the Attorney-General, his
most obsequious friend ; and it was equally notorious that Mr.
Alcock was so much at enmity with the Chief Justice that the
support of any measure by the latter was sufficient to draw
upon it the hostility of the former, who was, besides, deter-
mined to resist every departure from the established rules of
English practice. It seems not very consistent with the sound
understanding usually displayed by our Governor to allow any
man to have so much his ear as to lead him to oppose the
wishes of the other branches of the Legislature in measures
from which no ill consequences could possibly follow, and
which were merely explanatory of a former law ; and it may
be regarded as a singularity that a mar bred to the profession
of a soldier should appear to have so much reverence for the

fM;

I !

124 LIFK AND LKTTKUS OF RICHARD CARTWRKiHT.

intricacies of legal chicanery. \ Bill was carried tliron^li the
House of Assembly to prevent lands from being taken in exe-
cution, and declaring that they should be no otherwise liable for
debt than they were in England. This Bill was rejected by
the Council, who, in consequence thereof, passed another, which
was concurred in by the Assembly, " to regulate the sale of
lands taken in execution," wherein it was directed that per-
sonal chattels should be sold in the first instance, and resort
had to the land only in cases where these were insufficient for
the discharge of the debt, and that they should in no case be
sold till a year after they had been seized and advertised by
tko Sherifi'. This Bill was reserved by the Governor for His
Majesty's pleasure, merely because it appeared, as he expressed
hims<df in private conversation, " to confirm by a side wind
the decision of the Court of King's Bench." The decision here
referred to was, that lands in this Province were liable to be
selaed and sold in execution for debt, in which Mr. Alcock had
dissented from the other two judges, and which it was under-
stood would be put in train for being appealed to the King in
Council for their final determination. 'J'he promoters of the
Bill, however, had no such view, nor could the Bill in candour
be so considered ; it contained no declaratory clause upon the
subject, but left the question where it found it, and was merely
calculated to remedy the inconvenience complained of by a ma-
jority of the Assembly, that lands might be seized and sold
with such a rapidity as to afford little hope of its yielding more
than Ji small part of its value.

Whatever may be the final determination of this question,
it appears but just that a man's property of every description
should be liable to the payment of his debts. It is not only
more consonant to our notions of equity, but in my opinion

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIOHT. 125

more agreeable to souikI policy, than to shut him up i;i a prison,
by which his labour is lost to society, and his fjimily often re-
duced to the utmost distress ; and as this imprisonment has no
other limitation than the will of the creditor, or an occasional
Insolvent Act, he is frequently made to suffer for his in-
discretion, or perhaps misfortune, a severer punishment than
the law inflicts on many crimes. In other instances, again, the
profligate wretch lives in luxury within the limits of his con-
finement, while the law has placed his property out of the reach
of his creditors. The mode pointed out in England of levying
a third part of the yearly value of an estate cannot api)ly hero,
where lands are yet but in the first stage of cultivation, and
where all being proprietors, it would not, at all events, be easy
to find lessees for an improved farm. Yet even in England real
property is sold in cases of bankruptcy, and recently to satisfy
debts due to Government ; and why the principle of the bank-
ruptcy laws should not in this particular be applied to all
other cases, no reason could probably be assigned that would
appear valid to those who have not been in the habit of re-
specting precedent more than justice. A Bill brought in by
the Chief Justice for enabling married women to alienate landed
property without levying a fine, also passed both Houses ; this,
while it retained the practice of private examination, to prevent
a surprise upon the party and to make her sensible of the sacri-
fice she was about to make, retrenched such forms as tended
only to create expense, and which, under the peculiar situation
of this Province, would be productive of great embarrassment.
This Bill, however, was reserved for His Majesty's pleas *e,
and, with others formerly sent home under the same circum-
stances, will probably be heard of no more. His Majesty's
Ministers have matters of more importance to attend to than

'IJf , i --^

126 LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

investigate nicely those coni]:)jiratively so minute, and are, be-
sides, not likely to be in haste to sanction measures the pro-
priety of which seemed to be doubtful to their agent upon the
spot, to whose control they were constitutionally committed.
A Bill to define what should be deemed and taken to be pub-
lic roads throughout this Province was rejected by the Gover-
nor, it having been omitted therein expressly to except the
rights of the Crown. Tliese were the only things worthy of
notice that passed during this session, which began on the
28th of May and ended the 9th day of July, 1801. In the
meantime very rapid progress was making in passing the
patents for lands which had hitherto been very much neglected,
to the great disgust of the people. This neglect was in part
owing to the subject itself, which, from the lapse of time, was
involved in some difficulty ; but much more to the indolence,
ignorance and perverseness of the officers employed in the
principal departments through which they must pass, of whom
scarcely one seemed to possess either talents or inclination for
business except the Surveyor-Greneral, whose diligence was
always exemplary, and to whose methodical correctness the
Province is much indebted. The zeal of the Governor in
urging this business was well seconded by the Attorney-Gene-
ral, who seems to be as diligent and regular as his predecessor
was indolent and incorrect.

To the Rev. J. Strachan.

March 17th, 1804.
Dear Sir, — The late session of our Legislature will, I think,
be found to have been useful to the public, and, consequently,
honourable to the members. They have passed an Act for ap-
propriating £1,000 towards opening and repairing the public

LTPK AND LETTKRS OF RTCFIAIID rAllTWUIGHT. 127

are, be-
bho pro-
pon the
imittcd.
be pub-
! Gover-
;ept the
)rthy of
on the
In the
ing the
3glected,
in part
me, was
idolence,
I in the
)f whom
\tion for
nee was
ness the
ernor in
ey-Gene-
decossor

1804.

I think,

quently,

;t for ap-

6 public

ro.ids. As it M'as foreseen tliat, from local attachments and
partialities, it would be difficult foi the members of the Coun-
cil and Assembly to agree in opinion respecting the distribution
of this sum, in order to avoid this source of discord, which
might probably have proved fixtal to the measure, it was pru-
dently left with the Governor and Executive Council to appoint
Commissioners to lay out the money in such places as they
should deem most generally useful. By another Act, the sura
of £400 has been appropriated annually towards the erecting
of public buildings in the town of York, for the accommodation
of the Legislative Council and House of Assembly, the Execu-
tive Council, the Courts of Justice, and the several public
offices of the Province. By another Act, a sum (about .£190)
has been appropriated for purchasing a set of the Statutes of the
British Parliament for each of the several districts of the Pro-
vince. Under a former Act the sum of £300 had been annually
appropriated for printing the laws and journals, and the latter,
with the merits of which you are acquainted, have actually cost
the Province £800. The House of Assembly, sensible at last
of this waste of public money, passed a Bill for apf.lying on the
present occasion this sum of £300 for printing a complete edi-
tion of all the Provincial Statutes, including those of the pre-
sent session, to be distributed for the information of the public,
and reserving the sum of £80 for the printing of the laws in
future, and left the remaining £220 to be disposed of hereafter
as the Legislature should think proper. From such a Bill you
will naturally conclude that the other branches of the Legisla-
ture would not withhold their assent, and I think it likelv that
better use will hereafter be made of the money than publishing
the Journals of the Assembly, which are about as useful and
entertaining as the log-book of a ship. It was also thought ex-

I m

I5.S MFK AND T^KTTKRS OF UrcHAUD OAllTWUKJUT.

pediciit to hold out somo fiirtlu'i* encourafjt'int'nt for tlio culti-
vation of lionip, and it was agreed on all hands that the most
successful expedi(Mit for this purpose would be to put it in the
power of the cultivator to obtain on the spot a reasonable
price in ready money. This the scarcity of mercantile capital
in the country h^ft no room to expect without legislatives aid.
An Act was therefore passed to jiuthorize the Governor to ap-
ply the sum of £1,000 together with the further sum of about
j£400 remaining of a former grant, for ])aying a bounty on the
growth and exportation of ln^mp, to purchase hemp at £iO per
ton. 'J'his money is to be laid out by Commissioners to be
appointed in different parts of the Province, and it is supposed
will be fully ccjual to the purchase of all the hemp that lias
been raised. This is to be shipped under the direction of the
Commissioners, and the proceeds returned to the Provincial
Treasury, so that the Province is not likely to lose by the mea-
sure even in a pecuniary point of view. In the meantime, the
cultivation of the article will be more generally attended to,
and the Government at home, it is hoped, will take the hint
and adopt some similar plan for purchasing the hemp of the
country, without which the business will infallibly languish ;
though under such an arrangement it would probably be pushed
to considerable extent, and be of much benefit to the Province*
particularly to the western parts of it, where the soil and
climate appear best adapted to the growth of the article, and
the remote situation of which must prevent them from export-
ing wheat, flour, &c. Government, through the medium of
their Commissary and Naval Departments, might purchase and
send it to England without any, or at very little, extra expense.
The renewal of the war with France having been mentioned in
the JGovernor's speech, and the necessity thence inferred of

LIFE AND LETTKUS UF HlCHAUD (AirrwjlKJII I

12!)

guanlin^f the iiitenuil tiaiMjuillity of the Province against the
insidious attempts of secret eneniicis, the subject was consid-
ered with tlie attention that so weighty a .natter deserved. In
the courHe of the investigation it was uiuhjrstood that the Ex-
ecutive Government already possessed snfUcient power of
coercion and restraint over alien enemies ; but it appeared likely
that other instruments might be employed, and some upon
whom it would be difficult to fix the proposed discriminating
term of alien. It was agreed also, that »!very political society
ought to possess the power of excluding from its limits all
strangers who evinced a disposition to excite dissensions and
inflame discontents among its respective orders ; or, in other
words, to disturb the established government thereof; and on
this principle a law was framed, authorizing persons in certain
public situations — namely, the Governor, members of the Legis
lativc and Executive Council, Judges of the Court of King's
Bench, and others, to be commissioned by the Governor —
on complaint being made against any person not a stated
resident in the Province (that is, who had not been an inhabi-
tant for six months before, and had not taken the oath of
allegiance), to call such person before them and require him
to give an account of himself; and if he appeared to have been
guilty of improper conduct in this respect, or to have given just
cause of suspicion of having sinister views of this kind, to
order him out of the Province, or to make him find sureties
for his good behaviour while remaining therein, and the neces-
sary provisions were added for enforcing obedience to such
orders. An Act has also passed for the more exemplarj'
punishment of persons enticing soldiers to desert, and of those
who harbour or conceal deserters. The peculiar circumstances
of this country required a law of this kind, and it does little

130 rjFR AND LKTTKIIS OF RICHAUD CAKTWRKJIIT.

more than authorize the detention of persons charged with
such offences, by a warrant from a magistrate, till they can be
tried before the Judge of Assize or Court of King's Bench, and
if found guilty by a jury, they are to suffer six months' im-
prisonment, and in very flagiant cases a fine of £40 besides,
and in case of inability to discharge the fine, public whipping.
This punishment is little different from what is already inflicted
by the English statute law ; and the principal advantage of the
Provincial law is, that it no longer leaves a doubt whether the
provisions of the English law extended to this Province, and
takes away the hope of escape from the offender, who might
otherwise brave the law, and till the very moment of conviction
withdraw beyond its reach. These are the matters of chief
importance upon which the Legislature were employed, and it
will be readily granted that they must have been tolerably
diligent to have brought them to a close in a short session of
four or five weeks. It is hardly necessary to take notice of Mr.
Washburn's extravagant project for making Quebec a free port,
or the zealous attempt of Mr. Rogers and a few others, in
order probably to secure their re-election, to repeal the law
which makes a residence of seven years in the Province neces-
sary, before any person who does not come immediately from
some other part of His Majesty's dominions can legally vote
for a member of the House of Assembly, a? they were both re-
jected in the Assembly itself. The Legislature were convened
on the 1st of February, but there was not a quorum of the
Assembly till the 8th ; they were prorogued on the 9th of
March. This will be their last session, as there must be a new
election in July next, the present members of the House of
Assembly having there continued for four years.

R. C.

LIFE AND LErrFIlK OF IlICHAHD CAHTWRKJIIT. 'i-W

To the lion. Chief Just'ie Alcoch

KiN(;sTON, l^.th MarcJi, 1807.
Dkar Sir, — Our Session of Pailinincnt hath terminated in
a manner thj most (]esiral)le to the friends of p;ood order, and
tlie most mortifying to Mr. Thorpe, who hna been completely
foih^d in his attempts to do mischief. The House of Assembly,
by their Into conduct, have made amends for the improprieties
of the preceding session. Mr. Thor|)e endeavoured to per-
suade them that the duties levied under Acts of the British
Parliament were at the disposal of the Provincial Legislature,
and that tints Province was entitled to a proportion of such of
those duties as were received at the port of Quebec, in the
same manner as it was to a proportion of those levied under
the authority of the Legislature of Lower Canada ; and they
were sufficiently inclined to listen to a doctrine which would
place a large additional sum of money at their disposal. But
after attentively considering the Slst of the King, they, to a
man, saw the absurdity of such a pretension, and gave up the
point. Driven from this broad ground, he then insisted that
the duties imposed by the 14th of the King, on licenses for re-
tailing spirits, were certainly at their disposal, and had actual-
ly been appropriated by a Provincial statute passed in the 33rd
year of His Majesty's reign ; but it was contended that the
words of this statute would not bear the construction which
the Judge laboured to give it, and that the constant usage ever
since showed that in passing that law the Legislature had no
such object in contemplation ; or, granting him both these
points, it was shown that by the 31st of the King the Provin-
cial Legislature had not the power, if they had the intention,
to do so. He was here again left alone, notwithstanding his
pathetic exclamation, that " if they gave up this they gf.ve up

132 LIFE AND LRTTEIW OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

' :i

Jil: I i:i

their freedom," and his ahuost treasonable aUusioiis to the
American revohitioti, produced, as he said, by parliamentary
taxation. The only one of his factions measures on which
there was a close division was a motion for an address respect-
ing the U. E. Loyalists and milita?7 claimants, couched in in-
sidious and inflammatory language,and wliich, being on a popu-
lar subject, he prevailed on Nelles, Washburn, Howard, Dor-
land, and a few others of equal capacity to support, and his
motion was negatived by a majority of one only. On a question
respecting the appointment of trustees to schools, he declaimed
most v(;heinently against their being made Government jobs,
and insisted that as five was to be the number, the House of
Assembly should appoint three and the Legislative Council
two ; but here he had only Mr. Clinch and Mr. Rogers on his
side. You know the clamour raised by Mr. Weeks about a
sum of money charged, very improperly we must allow, against
the Provincial Fund, but on the order of General Hunter, without
the concurrence of the otiier branches of the Legislature. This
the Governor ordered to be replaced, and mentioned it in his
speech. The House of Assembly, to show that it was not the
money, but the principle, they had been contending for, on the
7th inst., passed a resolution to give back the money, and pre-
sented a handsome address to the Governor, expressing them-
selves satisfied that it had been expended for the benefit of the
Province. On this occasion Mr. Thorp© was almost furious ;
he accused them of sacrificing their freedom, giving up their
constitution, &c. But in vain he declaimed and raved ; every-
body but himself declared in favour of the resolution and ad-
dress. It is impossible for me to speak of this man's conduct
without indignation and contempt ; but our friend the Chief
Justice has so much of the milk of human kindness in his dis-

jmi

LIFE AND LfyrTERS OF IIK'HARD CARTWRIGHT. 133

J to the
mentary
11 which
respect-
id in in-
a popu-
,rd, Dor-
and his
question
jclairaed
?nt jobs,
louse of
Con ncil
rs on his
about a
against
without
•e. This
t in his
not the
, on the
and pre-
ig them-
it of the
'urious ;
up their
every -
and ad-
conduct
le Chief
his dis-

position, that neither the personal indignities which he has re-
ceived from Mr. Tliorpe and his family, nor his political con-
duct, have been sufficient to rouse him into anything like hos-
tility. Indeed, his tameness and condescension M'ith respect
to him are almost criminal in a person in his situation, besides
being derogatory to his dignity. He endeavours, too, to per-
suade the Governor that as long as Mr. Thorpe does not act
corruptly as a Judge, the other parts of his conduct are not
sufficient grounds for suspending him. 1 have strenuously
combated this doctrine, and insisted that he ought to have
been suspended the moment his answer to the London address
appeared ; but as that was not done, that his conduct in the
House of Assembly would justly wairant this step as soon as
the Legislature should be prorogued. The Governor, how-
ever, seems inclined to wait till he hears from home, in the
hope that he will be recalled, as he wishes, in common with
every good subject, that the Province should be rid of him ;
and Mr. Thorpe, it seems, has expressed himself as if he were
indifferent about holding his situation as a Judge, alleging that
he could make more by practising as a lawyer in this country.
You see that I write you with the utmost freedom ; but I
should not, perhaps, have entered so minutely into all these
matters nad not the Governor requested me to give you a par.
ticular account of our transactions, as he has not leisure to
write himself. 1 left York on the 8th, and the Legislature was
to be prorogued on the 10th. The business of the session was
considered as finished when I came away. We have passed a
law imposing the additional duties on teas, tfec, laid by the
Legislature of Lower Canada two years ago, for the purpose of
building their gaols, solely, however, on the principle of expe-
diency, and from a wish to preserve a good understanding be-

ill

1 • ll

I -I

■• ,!i

134 LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

tween the two Provinces, and in full confidence that the duties
upon such of these articles as have passed Coteau du Lac since
the operation of the above-mentioned law will be accounted
for to this Province. If it be said that this ought not to be
done, except from the time in which we co-operated in this
measure, I consider it in the first place as a matter of right, and
independent of any stipulation, that we are entitled to a draw-
back on everything consumed within the Province ; and, at all
events, we could not, without degrading ourselves, take up the
measure till it had been formally announced by y uir Govern-
ment to ours, which it never was till late in the last year. We
have also passed a law imposing a duty on licenses to hawkers,
peddlers, etc., and one for establishing a school in every dis-
trict which gives <£100 per annum to the master of each such
school, who is to be selected by trustees nominated by the
Lieut. -Governor, with a power in the latter to approve or re-
ject the person they recommend. It expires in four years if
not renewed, and this circumstance will probably very much
lessen its good effects. These, and the law which modifies and
renews our laws for imposing and levying rates and assess-
ments in each district, are the only ones of material import-
ance that have been passed. A Bill was brought in by Mr.
Sherwood, to repeal the law for establishing courts of jus-
tice and regulating their proceedings, and to introduce a new
system in its stead. That you may have a perfect idea of his
plan, I enclose } ou a copy of the Bill, which has been printed,
and which, by common consent, is to lie over till the next ses-
sion. That our present system is not well adapted to the situ-
ation of the Province, we all feel ; but a single Judge invested
with all the powers of the Court of King's Bench, Common
Pl.eas and jE;i[chequer, would be a bold innovation, and there

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT. 135

are other parts of the scheme that I have very strong objec-
tions to. If you could find leisure to communicate to me your
opinion upon it, I should esteem it a particular favour. I be-
lieve the Legislature would be very ready to supply the ex-
pense of any establishment that might be necessary to make
our judicial system more applicable to our geographical situa-
tion. I fear I have trespassed upon your patience, but I am
disposed to consider you as still interested in what is passing
amongst us, and, on that account, anxious that you should not
be informed by halves.

The following letter may be supposed to have been written
by the Lieutenant-Governor immediately after the prorogation
of the Legislature in March, 1809 : —

The removal of Mr. Thorpe has unquestionably relieved the
Government of the Province from an active and indefiitigable
instrument of mischief; yet his friends here boast of his
appointment at Sierra Leone as an unequivocal proof of the
approbation of his conduct by His Majesty's Ministers ; and
this view of the subject is industriously obtruded upon the
public, through the press of Mr. Wilcox, his bosom, friend and
most zealous partizan. The eftects of his residence in this Pro-
vince, however, will long be felt ; for although we no longer
hear the Government abused from the Bench by one of
His Majesty's Judges, yet his example has given a degree of
audacity to the factious that they would otherwise never have
assumed. One of the most prominent characters among these
is the before mentioned Mr. Wilcox, the printer, who, although
once imprisoned by the House of Assembly for a libel on the
majority of that House, and prosecuted, by the advice of the
Attorney-General, for a most impudent libel on myself, still
persists in attempting, by the grossest misrepresentations, to

WF^

! I

136 lifp: and LF/rrERs of rkhard cartwrioht.

lessen the confidence of the people in the Government. In the
prosecution for a libel, though its application was so pointed
that its drift could not have been more clearly understood had
my name been inserted at full length, he was acquitted ; and
such is the disposition of some of the people of this Province,
that he has been returned a member of the House of Assembly
for one of the Counties without opposition. It is, indeed, much
to be regretted that while every demagogue has a probable
chance of obtaining a seat in that House, the Government have
it not in their power to return a single member. This is owing
t<> a want of proper foresight and precaution on the part of the
late General Simcoe, who, on entering upon his administration,
had it in his power to have made such arrangements with
vegard to the representation of th^ Province as might have
always ensured the return of one of the Law Officers of the
Crown to that House, which would have given great facility in
conducting the business of the House, without aflfording any
ground of complaint of undue influence on the part of the
Governor. But such opportunity having been once lost will
never be recovered, as the 34th of the King directs all subse-
quent arrangements to be made by the Provincial Legislature.
During the session of 1808, a circumstance took place unpre-
cedented, I believe, in any legislative body. On a question that
arose in the House of Assembly respecting some modification
of a law for establishing schools, three of Mr. Thorpe's friends,
who were opposed to the majority of the House, were deter-
mined, at all events, to carry their point, and rather put a stop
to all the business of the session than submit to the determi-
nation of the majority. With this view, when the question
was about to be put, they withdrew from the House,
leaving it without a quorum, and immediately set oflF for their

HT.

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT. 137

t. In the

3 pointed

stood had

:ted ; and

Province,

Assembly

Bed, much

probable

nent have

3 is owing

)art of the

listration,

ents with

ight have

ers of the

faciUty in

rding any

,rt of the

lost will

all subse-

gislature.

ce unpre-

tion that

dification

s friends,

re deter-

>ut a stop

determi-

question

House,

for their

respective homes, which were at a very considerable distance.
This happened near the close of the session, and after several
of the members had obtained leave of absence. Some of these
it became necessary to recall in order* to give efficiency to the
business that had actually been finished by the two Houses,
and this could not be done till after an interval of several days.
1 thought it my duty to show the sense I entertained of the
extraordinary conduct of these refractory members by taking
from them some appointments they held under Government,
and their conduct would of course be reprobated by every sen-
sible man. These, however, are, unfortunately, not everywhere
the majority, and the gentlemen in question have been returned
to the present Parliament, in which they seem determined ta
be as troublesome as possible. Amidst all these perplexities,
however, several measures of importance to the prosperity of
the Province have been accomplished. The education of youth
hath been provided for on a liberal scale ; considerable sums of
money have been obtained for improving the public roads ; the
culture of hemp hath been liberally encouraged, and collision
with the Legislature of Lower Canada on the subject of revenue
hath been avoided. I have also been able to obtain such a
modification of the Militia Law, as abolishes the Lieutenancies in
Counties, which were not only inapplicable to the circumstances
of the Province, from the want of characters sufficiently distin-
guished to fill them, but by interposing the person in that situa-
tion to commission the officers, and issue all orders in their re-
spective Counties, kept the Governor too much out of sight. The
Legislative Council, originally nine in number, is now reduced to
five members, including the Speaker, whose attendance can be re-
lied on. Mr. Grant's age and infirmities and his distant residence
render it impracticable for him to attend at the season when

irr

138 LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIQHT.

the Legislature is usually convened, and Mr. Duncan hath
vacated his seat, he residing in a foreign State beyond
the term prescribed by law. It has therefore become necessary
to appoint some new members, in order to give this body,
which forms so useful a counterpoise to the rashness of the House
of Assembly, its proper weight and influence. To recommend
the persons who may occur to me as best qualified for this
purpose will be the subject of another letter. I had flattered
myself that in the Attorney-General I should have found an
able and faithful adviser, and that his conduct would have
added strength and respectability to the Government, but in
this I have been most miserably disappointed. He not only
has the most ungovernable temper that ever man was cursed
with, but is withal self-sufficient, mercenary and rapacious. I
give you the following as one among many instances of his
indiscretion. In the session of the Legislature that was held
in Feb., 1808, a Bill was introduced into the House of Assem-
bly to alter the present mode of administering justice in civil
cases by establishing in each district Courts of concurrent
jurisdiction with the King's Bench in such cases. Without
waiting to see what was likely to be the fate of the Bill, or
what shape it would assume in its progress, he immediately
presented a petition to the House, in his capacity of Attorney-
General, requiring to be heard at their bar against the Bill, and
this not only without my concurrence, but contrary to my
remonstrances and even injunctions. His petition was treated,
as might have been expected, with contempt ; but it was not
easy to remove the impression which it gave rise to, that this
egregious piece of folly of Mr. Firth was a measure of the
Government. As for the Bill in question it came to nothing.
Jnstead of setting an example to the rest of the bar, of decent

.iillll!

mill"

ill

IHT.

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWiUQHT. 139

ncan hath
be beyond
! necessary
this body,
the House
ecommend
)d for this
i flattered
I found an
ould have
mt, but in
! not only
vas cursed
>acious. I
ices of his
: was held
of Assem-
ice in civil
concurrent

Without
le Bill, or
imediately
Attorney-
e Bill, and
ry to my
as treated,
b was not

that this
re of the
) nothing,
of decent

language and demeanour in Court, and a proper respect for the .
Bench, he indulges in the most intemperate sallies and insolent
abuse against his opponents, and has on this account been more
than once involved in very serious personal difficulties. Should
the Bench not concur with him in his opinions, which are full
as often wrong as right, he does not abstain from the most
indecent reflections, exclaiming that he has no chance of obtain-
ing justice, and uttering other insinuations equally improper
and disrespectful to the Judges. Nothing, indeed, has withheld
them from making the strongest representations to me, in form,
of his improper conduct, but the fear lest His Majesty's Minis-
ters, from the frequency of my complaints against the public
officers they send to the Colony, should form an opinion that I
was improperly hard, harsh and unreasonably difficult in the
article of their behaviour. His accounts are swelled with
charges unknown in those of his predecessors, and though these
are, of course, struck out at the audit, yet they evince a disposi-
tion not very creditable to the character of any man, and
might, without any great breach of charity, lead one to suspect
that it might induce the person in question to avail himself of
his official position to multiply prosecutions with a view to his
own emolument. From this sketch, which is very far from
exaggeration, you will readily believe that instead of leaning
upon him for support, or recurring to him for advice, I am
obliged to be always upon my guard against him, and to exert
my authority, which is not always sufficient to keep him
within proper bounds.

The situation of the Governor of a distant Colony has, with
the best aid that is possible for him to derive from his subordi-
nate officers, enough of perplexity and vexation ; but when those
who are sent expresslj to assist him in the administration,

140 LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

Jbecome the principal sources of the embarrassments he meets
with, it is hardly in human nature to support it with com-
posure. On the opening of the session of the Legislature which
hath just teminated, I received the most respectful and loyal
addresses from both Houses in reference to the present posture
of our affairs with the American States, and the representations
of the dispositions of the Militia received from various parts of
the Province are flattering. That their loyalty in general is to
be relied on, I am ready to believe ; but unsupported by a com-
petent military force, it would be too much to say that they are
equal to defend the Province against the force that may be
brought against it by the Americans. At present we have in
all the different posts of the Province, on a frontier of more
than five hundred miles, only the 41st Regiment, whose strength

upon paper amounts only to , but whose efficient force,

from the number of old and worn-out men, is in reality much
less. This weakness of our military establishment has not
escaped the notice of the Indian tribes who have been hitherto
friendly to'us,'and my information from the agents of Government
among them, as well as from other sources, leads me to believe
that unless this establishment is very considerably augmented
we must not rely on their co-operation in the event of a rupture
with America.

Your friend Mr. Bond,* who is deservedly in no great repute
in this country, and who has completely imposed on the Lords
of the Committee of Trade and Plantations, not satisfied with

!i !

ill

1 1

i )

* This man, a hatter b}' trade, but too idle for his business, of character the very re-
verse of respectable, went to England in 1807 with some communication from Mr.
Thorpe's Agricultural Society, and without any recommendation from the Governor
procured an introduction to the Board of Trade, and under pretence of growing hemp,
and extending the culture, by his example and instructions, cajoled them into an ap-

Sroval of hia project, and through their recommendation obtained an order from Lord
astlereagh for 1,200 acres of land, one-half of which was to be cleared, and if the Gov-
emor had not any such in his gift he was to purchase it.

IT.

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT. 141

tie meets
ith com-
re which
ind loyal
t posture
entations
s parts of
leral is to
by a com-
t they are
t may be
e have in
r of more
B strength
ent force,
lity much
has not
1 hitherto
vernment
o believe
gmented
la rupture

[at repute
Lhe Lords
med with

the very re-
bn from Mr.
Jie Governor
^wing hemp,
into an ap-
; from Lord
i it the Gov-

the 1,200 acres of land which I shall most certainly give him,
agreeably to Lord Castlereagh's order, now applies to me for
money about which His Lordship is silent, and which I cer-
tainly should not give to a better man than Mr. Bond without
further authority for so doing. He would be more likely to
spend it in some other way than in the culture of hemp. I
would not, however, be surprised if the gentleman should in
consequence complain of being thwarted and ill-used. The cul-
ture of hemp is in a better train than Mr. Bond is likely to
place it. The Legislature have appropriated a sum of money
to pay the growers of hemp in every part of the Province a
liberal price for it on the spot, and through commissioners ap-
pointed for that purpose two considerable parcels have been
consigned to Messrs. Brickwood & Daniels, in London, one in
1807 and another in 1808, and during the present year a
larger and better sample will be shipped.

142 LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

CHAPTER IX.

! I

INCORPORATION OF KINGSTON — LETTER TO HIS EXCELLENCY FRANCIS
GORE — OBJECTS TO FEE FOR MILITIA COMMISSIONS — LETTER TO
MAJOR m'KENZIE — AMERICAN TROOPS ON THE FRONTIER — SHIP
OF WAR BUILDING AT OSWEGO — U. S. NAVAL OFFICERS IN KING-
STON HARBOUR.

IDEAS ON THE SUBJECT OF INCORPORATING THE TOWN OF
KINGSTON ARE SUBMITTED TO LIEUT. -GOVERNOR SIMCOE.

First, — That the corporation should consist of a certain
number of persons, suppose four, to be increased in proportion
to the future population of the town, to be appointed by the
Governor, or elected by the inhabitants, or partly one and
partly the other, for the purpose of regulating the police of the
town under the following heads :

Regulations for preventing accidents by fire.

The times and places of holding the public markets.

Establishing the price and weight of bread.

Regulations for improving streets and keeping them clean.

Fares of carters within the limits.

Second. That the power of granting town lots should be vest-
ed in them, under the same instructions as were formerly laid
down for the Land Board, with a small fee for their clerk, who
is to be appointed by themselves.

Third. That a certain part of these lots, suppose one-sixth,
shall be reserved, and, together with the water lots and the
vacant ground beyond the limits of the town plot, and such as

IT.

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT. 143

Y FRANCIS
LETTEE TO
riER— SHIP
3 IN KINO-

TOWN OF
SIMCOE.

a certain
proportion

ited by the
one and
)lice of the

may hereafter become vacant by the dereliction of Government,
be vested in them, with power to lease or ahenate the same
reserving always a certain ground 'rent, and the money so
raised to serve as a fund to be applied to the improvement of
the town. That they should be empowered to purchase ground
contiguous to the town, for the same purpose, if they should
deem it expedient. That in the event of the town increasing
beyond its present limits, their authority shall alsoextend over
such addition, and include what is usually understood by the
suburbs of a town. And it might also be expedient that they,
or any three of them, should, six times in the year, hold Pleas
of all causes under a certain sum, suppose .£10, arising within
their limits, to be tried by a jury, following, as nearly as cir-
cumstances will admit, the rules laid down for the proceedings
in the District Court. I would not deem it expedient that
this corporation should possess ^^y power to prohibit any per
son whatever from exercising any kwful profession or calling
within their limits, or to require any fee for the admission of
any such persons.

LS.

em clean.

uld be vest-
•rmerly laid
clerk, who

one-sixth,
)ts and the
and such as

To His Excellency Francis Gore.

Kingston, 18th April, 1808.
Sir, — The post some days ago, brought me a letter from
the Adjutant General, enclosing the new MiHtia Law, and the
schedule of fees intended to be charged on the commissions to
be issued from your Excellency's office in consequence of it,
As commissions in the Militia have heretofore been given free
of expense, as well while we were a part of the late Province
of Quebec as since we were made a separate Province, this
measure, however trivial in itself, will give very general dis-
satisfaction, and b'd made the subject of much obloquy and mis-

144 LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CARTWRIGHT.

representation. Of the persons most concerned, some observe
that however proper it might be that they should pay for a
commission for any new aCppointment, yet for the mere renewal
of the same commission under a different form they ought not
to be put to any charge, and that if the Legislature have made
this necessary, they ought to provide for the expense attending
it. Others say facetiously that thej' have no objection to the
price of their oommiss.ju being deducted from their first
muster's subsistence. That those who wish, at all events, to
find fault with your Excellenoy's^administration, will say worse
of it, you will hardly doubt. However disposed I may be to
acquiesce in this or any other regulation you may deem ex-
pedient, I consider it as my duty, and what you will expect
from me, to acquaint you with the public sentiment on the
occasion. What weight it ought to have is for your Excel-
lency to judge. As it has become necessary to form another com-
pany, this and the details required respecting the ages, &c., of
the different officers will take up some time, and prevent me
from replying at present to the Adjutant General.

It would seem that the C iment at home deem the
Militia of the Canadas of nsiderable importance, from

their sending out for th* .x inspecting field ofi&cers with
the rank and pay of lieutenant-colonels.

I Sill
i ill

To Majm- McKenzie.

Kingston, 2nd Nov., 1808.
Sir, — Soma movements of troops and other transactions are
taking place on the American frontier along the St. Lawrence
and Lake Ontario, that ought not to escape observation. Within
a few ^eeks more than 200 regular troops have been stationed
between Great Sodus, about 20 miles to the westward of Os-

GHT.

me observe

I pay for a
are renewal
r ought not
have made
e attending
ction to the

their first

II events, to
1 say worse
[ may be to
y deem ex-
will expect
ent on the
our Excel-
lother com-
,ges, &c., of
prevent me

deem the
iance, from
icers with

v., 1808.
actions are
Lawrence
m. Within
1 stationed
ard of Os-

LIFE AND LETTERS OF RICHARD CVRTWRIGIIT. 145

wego and Ogdensburg, of whicli there are two full companies
at this liittor place, wliich is at the head of the rapids, on the
site of the old fort of Oswegatchie, and other troops are stated
to be actually on their march to augnuMit these several detach-
ments to a thousand men. Colonel Simmons, who is to com-
mand these troops, is said to have declared puljlicly that they
would be augmented to 2,000 men before t' e spring. He is an
officer high in the confidence of the American Government, and
is now actually examining the banks of the St. Lawrence for
the most proper military stations. The ostensible object of
all this is, more completely to enforce the embargo ; but the
vessel building at Oswego, which is to carry 18 guns, besides a
24-pounder in the bow, is much less adapted to this service
than armed boats ; and it is now known that there were on
board a small American schooner which put in here a few days
ago, under pretence of being driven in by stress of weather,
two officers of the American navy, who came for the express
purpose of informing themselves of the different entrances to
this port. She came through the passage at the head of the
Isle Tont6, and anchored in that neighbourhood a day or two.
It is, in short, considered by some of the most intelligent men
among whom these preparations are carrying on, that they
proceed from views not altogether relating to the embargo, and
at all events they appear to merit the notice of the Commander-
in-Chief.

I am, &c.,

Richard Cartwright.