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'yoAwmwi'^ ^ I IOr-1 — < '^J'iliDNV SOV<^ "V/SJiJ AINM 3ftV .•tn^.wrnfr. .-.vtip.parYi?/' .^x^irESARY/?/- r^ >^ .^ME■llNIVERy/A ^lOSANCEl£j> aMLIBRARYO^ ition on the " Riglit of .lurisdiction in Peerage Successions, particularly the Peerage of Scotland," published by Uideway, Piccadilly, 1830. 8 NARRATIVE OF OPPRESSIVE PROCEEDINGS to gratify others' malice ; for were that the fact, what would such opposition amount to ? Would it be any thing better than useless annoyance, offered at the instigation of a hidden enemy, who wished to wound my feelings and to inflict an injury? 1 have no desire to injure the noble Lords who have made me the object of their attacks ; nor should 1 have animadverted on their past conduct towards me, but in self-defence, and because it certainly is now required to shew the public what has been the true nature of the opposition 1 have met with. Every man of sense — every impartial and unpre- judiced Englishman — will at once admit that I ought to ha,\e /air pla^, — that I ought not to be singled out for persecution, insult, and denial of right, when it is unquestion- able that I have done as much as any of the Scotch Peers to whom allusion has been already made, and infinitely more than several amongst them, to shew and establish my rio-ht to the peerage. They have long enjoyed their titles and privileges unchallenged either by Scotch or English authorities ; and pray, why am I denied the same advan- tages? Is it meant for me to understand that there is one measure of justice for those Peers, and another for me ? That because they have been for a long series of years un- disturbed, and have powerful connexions, wealth, and influence to protect them, their situations are different from mine ? Tliose who shall use such arguments may depend upon it they will not satisfy me, or drive me from the vantage ground I have obtained. If any distinctions could with propriety be made, they would rather be expected in favour of the succession of the son to his mother, by law a Peeress, and in whose parti- cular branch tlie honours had been vested from the year 1739, than in favour of such instances of collateral succession. What says Wallace, an eminent writer upon the Scotch peerage ? Why, that " honours " are not enjoyed by any person to whom they devolve, under the will or right " of inheritance of his ancestor; but are derived, by every possessor of them, solely " from the favour of the King, as if each successive individual possible to come into " being, and inherit them, had been distinctly foreseen, particularly named, and origi- " nally called, in the royal charter which granted them. In consequence, a Peer re- " quires not a service, a conveyance, or the using of any form, to acquire a dignity that " is cast on him by descent ; but, on the death of his ancestor, is fully vested in it " merely by existence, and may assume it at pleasure" Upon this principle, the collateral heirs in question conformed to the laws and usages of Scotland only, in taking up the titles which devolved upon them, without applying to the House of Lords for allowance of dignity. In the right of succession to their honours, they justly deemed it unnecessary to do more than the laws of their own country required them to do. They were not questioned or challenged by any other parties, and therefore became entitled to them merely by descent. The House of AGAINST THE EARL OF STIRLING. 9 Lords cannot alter the course of trial of descent, the laws and customs of Scotland beinj^ confirmed by the articles of the Treaty of Union. A vast deal more might be added, to shew what has been invariably the practice in Scotland in peerage cases, except in a few instances where convenience was consulted, or where there were competitors ; but 1 think 1 have sufficiently shewn, for my present purpose, that on the bare grounds of ancient custom in the Scottish peerage, and of precedent, 1 am entitled to equal favour in the enjoyment of my rights and privileges, with the existing Peers who are similarly circumstanced. But if my position on those grounds be so strong, it certainly is ren- dered inexpugnable by the various acts I have now to mention, of the highest authori- ties in the realm ; and although sinister attempts have been subsequently made by some of those very authorities to cancel what they formerly did, I maintain that such injustice has only exposed their disregard of principle, without destroying the validity of their first recognitions. ]\Iy title has been recognised by the acts of The King in Council, The Lord High Chancellor, His Majesty's Ministers, The Law Tribunals in Scotland, The Law Tribunals in England. It was on the occasion of his present Majesty's coronation that I petitioned the King in Council to be allowed to do homage at that ceremony, as hereditary Lieutenant of Nova Scotia, or that his Majesty would be graciously pleased to dispense with the said homage, under a salvo jure for any future occasion. This petition was dated C9th August 1831, and the very next day was replied to by the Lords of the Committee of Council, acquainting me, that as his Majesty had already approved of a ceremonial, he was pleased to grant a dispensation, under a salvo jure for any future occasion, as prayed for. The letter addressed to me as " Earl of Stirling " bears the seal of the Council Office. The recognition of Lord Chancellor Lyndhurst was on the occasion of an approach- ing election of Representative Peers iu Scotland, when his Lordship certified ('JOth August 1S30) that the " Earl of Stirli?ig" had appeared before him in the Court of Chancery, and had taken the oaths to qualify him to vote, by signed list, at the general election. I have a right to lay, and do lay, particular stress upon this act of the Chan- cellor, who took ten days to consider, and summoned my counsel to attend him, before he would sign the certificate ; and after his Lordship had signed it, he wrote me the following note, in which all who have the honour of knowing that great luminary of the English law, will admire the polite attention and gentlemanly feeling which dic- tated it. B 10 NARRATIVE OF OPPRESSIVE PROCEEDINGS " The Lord Chancellor presents his compliments to Lord Stirling, and has directed " the Great Seal to be affixed to the writ certifying his Lordship's having taken the •* usual oaths. The Lord Chancellor will regret very much if the delay has put Lord " Stirling to any inconvenience. " George Street, mth August 1830." The recognitions of his Majesty's ministers are contained in numerous official letters, during a correspondence with thcni in the months of September and October 1831, and in ]\Iarch, July, September and November 1833, when I was addressed as Earl of Stirling by the First Lord and the other Lords of the Treasury, by the Secretary of State for the Colonies, and by other heads of Government departments. The law tribunals in Scotland specially, by a judgment of the Lords of the Second Division of the Court of Session, (after consulting the Lords of the First Division,) dated 9th February 1831, acknowledged my status as Earl of Stirling. Their Lordships pronounced judgment, after hearing the arguments of counsel on both sides, in an action then pending at my instance, and " sustained instance in the name of Alexander, Earl of Stirling *." In the English law courts, on two occasions, when opposing parties attempted to proceed against me as a commoner. Lord Tenterden, in the Court of King's Bench, and Chief-Justice Tindal, in the Court of Common Pleas, ordered the bail-bonds to be re- called, and common, instead of special, bail to be filed, on the ground of peerage t. The following excellent opinion of a learned Scotch advocate, who is now Chief Judge and President of the Court of Appeal at the Mauritius, though given nearly seven years ago, and then only upon consideration of the first steps I had taken, accord- ing to the ancient custom of Scotland, will, I think, be particularly valuable to enforce and conclude my arguments on that branch of the subject. * As it is probable tbat certain evil-minded persons will at present be disposed to cavil about tliis decision of the Supreme Court, in consequence of tlie result obtained last January by the parties who made a trial of my privileges in the same Court, I wisb to observe, tbat although the Judges then declined pronouncing upon such a point of peerage law, their doing so does not cancel the former judgment as to my right of suing as Earl of Stirling; and, moreover, that if I had then been as well prepared as I siiall hereafter be, to meet my enemies iMi the ground of peerage privileges in the Court of Session, they would not have succeeded in their nefarious jiiirposes. -f Tlie extraordinary failure of a plea in abatement, which, at the suggestion of my legal advisers, was resorted to some months after the first decision of the Court of Common Pleas in my favour, was caused by a misia/ie or omission of the gentleman who drew the plea, of a veri/ serious nature, and altogether unaccounlable on the part of a professional man, who ought to have known better, and been aware that what he left out was the pith of the plea. By that act, and the negligence of other parties, I lost the benefit of the first great advantages 1 had sained. AGAINST THE EAKL OF STIRLING. 11 Copy of Mr Wilson's Opinion, on a case submitted to him as to the titles of the Earl of Stirling. " Lincoln's Inn, 15. .Sehle Street, " l-2lh November 1829. " I am of opinion, that, by the service and retour in the preceding page, the claimant " has established his character as nearest heir, &c. and acquired and vested in his per- " son the dignities possessed by his ancestors. Having so clothed himself, in the form " required by law, with that character, the peerage rank and dignity of his ancestors " drop on him by descent. He does not require any further or ulterior proceedings " for the purpose of completing the investiture of these honours. I see no authority •' in the law of Scotland for requiring that a claimant to a Scotch peerage must, in order *' to complete or perfect his rights, apply to the House of Lords for allowance of dignity, " No person disputes or challenges the right and title of the claimant. On the con- " trary, he is known and recognised as the Earl of Stirling, has publicly exercised the " privilege of a Peer by voting in the election of a Representative Peer of Scotland, and " his vote has been received without dissent by the assembled Peers. In my humble " opinion, were he to go to the House of Lords by petition for allowance of dignity, " he would be confessina; a doubt of his own character, surrendering; the riixhts of the " Scotch nobility, and recognising a jurisdiction in this particular not made imperative " by the Treaty of Union. Still, a party claiming the dignity of a Scotch peerage may, " if he choose, try the experiment, whether the House will entertain his claim and de- " cide upon it ; and there are instances in which the party has so applied and the " House so acted. But, as far as Scotch authorities enable me, on principle, to judge, " I consider such applications, except in cases utterly distinct and different from the '* present, to have been merely optional in the party, and probably resorted to from " motives of convenience. " If the present Earl of Stirling has formally, legally, and on sufficient evidence, " proved his character, as ex facie appears from the service and rctoui', &c. he, until " successfully challenged by a competitor nearer in blood, is, and must remain, the Earl *' of Stirling, whether he seeks for and obtains from the House of Lords the allowance " of dignity, or not. *' The opinion of (Signed) •' James Wilson." From all that has now been stated on the subject of my peerage, I cannot doubt that every candid reader will be of opinion that 1 have been shamefully and unjustitiably treated. I shall now proceed to expose the inconsistency of those who deny my right, B 2 12 NARRATIVE OF OPPRESSIVE PROCEEDINGS while they acknowledge that of other Peers similarly situated, and none of whom have passed through the ordeals to which the envy, fear, jealousy, hatred and persecution I have encountered year after year obliged me to submit. The party of whose oppressive and arbitrary conduct I shall first take notice are his Majesty's Government. AGAINST THE EARL OF STIRLING. 13 SECTION II. UNJUST AND INCONSISTENT CONDUCT OF THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT. On the subject that has been just announced I shall unavoidably be somewhat diffuse ; and I must premise by observing, that, from the time of my first appearing at the elec- tion of a Representative Peer of Scotland, in June 182.-5, until all my legal titles were completed by a fourth and special service of heirship, followed by seisin and infeftment of my American property, at the castle of Edinburgh, in July 1831, I had never been noticed, nor had any attempt ever been made, by the agents of the Crown in Scotland, to interfere with my proceedings, which, from the first, were as public and open to at- tention as it was possible to make them. AV'hen I approached Government, therefore, in the autumn of the last-mentioned year, it was with confidence, nay, even with strong prepossessions in favour of ministers, from whom I expected an attentive hearing, and, in the end, justice. I was unsupported, it is true, by wealth or influence, but I hoped to be sufficiently recommended by an unsullied character and a good cause. JMy legal titles, as above mentioned, had just been completed, and I was, as far as the law could effect, in full legal possession of my property, and the official dignities and offices at- tached thereto. Thus, although I had, anteriorly to that period, met with some oppo- sition at Peers' elections in Scotland, and on the same subject of peerage had been, to my great surprise, also opposed in my wish to be presented to my Sovereign, I had no misgivings about an application for leave to submit 7«_y proijciijj riglits and titles (which were distinct from, and, in fact, had nothing whatsoever to do with the question that had been raised as to my peerage) to Earl Grey's Government. Whatever may have been the intentions and resolves of the whole Cabinet, as to my just demands, previously/ to anij direct application on vuj part, 1 imagine that few per- sons will think the Colonial Secretary was justified in re/'usi?ig to hear irhat I (or my agents and counsel in my name) had to sai/ ; or even to look at the papers, docume?its, and evidences I was prepared to lay before him. jNIy overtures had been made in the following words. I quote from the letter of my solicitors, in December 1831, to the Earl of llipon, then Lord Goderich. ** We are instructed, on the part of Lord Stirling, to open a negociation with the " Government, having for its object a full and satisfactory adjustment of claims and " titles on principles of reciprocal advantage. The Government and his Lordship " united have clearly the undisputed power over the territories contained in the char- " ter, to deal with them as may be deemed expedient : the interests of each appears " to be best consulted and secured on a basis of mutual accounuodution ; so also the 14 NARRATIVE OF OPPRESSIVE PROCEEDINGS " object for wliicli the charters were originally designed. If your Lordship shall be of " opinion that an amicable adjustment is desirable, we shall then most readily and re- •' spectfully attend to any suggestion your Lordship may make, with a view to the ac- " complishment of the proposed end. Our most anxious wish is to combine the public " service with the great duty we owe to our noble client's interest, and we think they " are intimately blended together." The answer to such an overture was a letter, dated the 31st of January 1832, in which Lord Howick, by directions of Lord Goderich, expressed himself thus : " Lord Goderich directs me to say, for your information, that his Majesty's Govern- " ment decline to enter into any negociation with yourself or your client on the sub- '• ject of his claims. Lord Goderich is of opinion that no advantage, public or private, " is to be anticipated from prolonging the correspondence which your client has opened " with this department respecting his claims ; but that he should be distinctly apprised " that they are, and will be, altogether denied and resisted." So, without having ever heard a single word uttered by myself or my agents on the subject of my claims, without having seen what statements and proofs in support of them I possessed, and was quite ready to produce, the Government of England, (that self-styled free country,) composed of men whose high rank, education, gentlemanly feelings, and official power, ought to have made them the natural protectors of my here- ditary rights, considered it sufficient to meet the respectful application made by me to be heard, as if, instead of being the heir of the noble founder of Nova Scotia, I had been some noisy ruffian, clamorously demanding what I had no right to ; and who, as such, and disturbing the important labours of these official personages, was ordered to be driven away by their underlings. This comparison may not be very agreeable to the noble Lords of whose discourteous treatment I complain, but it is most true ; and I will add, that no beggar at the door of a stately mansion ever had it slapped in his face with less ceremony than, without deigning to listen or inquire, my honest, just, and well-supported claims were summarily rejected by England's Colonial Minister. This was the beginning ; but my solicitors not being able to persuade themselves that my Lords Goderich and Howick could act in so unjustifiable a way towards me without there being some extraordinary misapprehension as to my situation, and the grounds of claim which they had been asked to examine, determined to make another attempt. Accordingly, on the 3d of February 1832, a most excellent and sensible letter was written by Mr Burn, (the head partner,) in which he endeavoured to remove all objec- tion to negociate with me, by clearly shewing, that if, as it appeared, the Colonial Se- cretary considered the peerage question a bar thereto, he was prepared to clear up every doubt previously/ on that subject. He stated, indeed, a few leading arguments to satisfy Lord Goderich that he could do so. He lamented that any mistake as to the title of his client should be the cause of such claims to property being cast aside ; deprecated the necessity of resorting to other means of redress, if the objection were maintained ; AGAINST THE EARL OF STIRLING. 15 but most properly hinted, that if I wore driven to tliat extremity, the very circum- stance of so vast a power being centred in my opponent, was tliat which more loudly called for the strictest adherence to equity and justice. Mr Burn further observed, that, " beyond all doubt, the theory of British legislation and government is laid on the sure " foundation of perfect and impartial justice to every one." Alas ! how rarely is it so in practice. He stated, that, had an opening been left for negociation, he was instructed and prepared, on my part, to make the most ample concessions, &c. On the 4th of February, with singular dispatch. Lord Howick wrote again ; but it was only to inform Mr Burn, by Lord (ioderich's directions, that it never had been, and was not tiien, his intention to intimate any opinion respecting the validity of ray claim to the Earldom of Stirling; that he conceived, until my right to that title was established to the satisfaction of his Majesty or the House of Peers, it could not with propriety be recognised in any official communication written by the King's Secretary of State, or by his direction. The letter concluded, by again declining any further dis- cussion of the other topics in Mr Burn's letter. My advisers still thinking that misapprehensions existed on this important subject at the Colonial Office, wrote, on the 6th of February, to the following effect, viz. That al- though they had no disposition to prolong a correspondence little likely to lead to fa- vourable results, yet they considered, that the evident misapprehension of circumstances on the part of the Office ought to be set right. They then most distinctly stated, that my title as a Peer, and my title as the heir of the first Earl of Stirling to the territories claimed, were totalljj and erdirely distinct rights, but seemed to be considered by Lord Goderich as identical; that they should not comment on, or reply to, the distinction taken for not recognising my peerage title * ; that, for the present, might therefore be left out of consideration : the most important interest of the territorial property, was the only one they would venture to press on his Lordship's attention : they did so respectfully, at this period of the correspondence, lest the decision given against my claim, being mixed up with that against my title, might have induced the refusal to negociate. A few more appropriate remarks concluded their final attempt to make the Colonial Minister sensible of the injustice he was doing me : I say final, for as no reply was ever received, tlie correspondence ended there. Now, let me ask. Are British subjects freemen or slaves ? Have we a constitution to affi)rd us protection from the rod of tyrants, and the oppressor's contumely and violence ; or is it all mere folly to believe that such fine theories are any thing with us but the veriest farce in existence? Poor John Bull is always very fond of ranting about his love of liberty, his independence of mind, his unbounded liberality, and so forth ; yet if a * How little ground there was fur Lord (ioderich's frivolous objection to the recognition of niv peerage status lias been fully shewn in another part of lliis Narrative. 16 NARRATIVE OF OPPRESSIVE PROCEEDINGS " pretty considerable" portion of John's numerous progeny were not, in spite of such boasting, the most unfeeling, selfish mortals to be found on the earth's surface, the most devoted idolaters of Mammon, and men more subservient to power than the Persians or Chinese, surely, when the treatment 1 met with from Government, not only on the first occasion just described, but on others which I shall have to notice, was the subject of general conversation at an after period, I should have heard something like indigna- tion expressed by those, who, possessing influence as well as colossal fortunes, might have done great things in my favour. Such men there are, who bawl and bluster fear- fully at public meetings ; and, when it suits their purpose, their political views, or their vanity, can make speeches in Parliament which gain them credit for the most generous, humane, and kindly feelings ; yet who, having no such objects in view, cover their wilful blindness to an abuse of authority, in such a case as mine, with a few unmeaning ejacu- lations, or an affectation of not knowing who in the world 1 am ; and " sorry not to " have it in my power to interfere ; but, you know, 1 have so much on my hands !" &c. I do not wish by this sarcasm, which I unhesitatingly apply to men of the class referred to, to be understood as denying that there is a large portion also of most worthy, ami- able, and influential members of the Bull family, who are always ready to do any good actions in their power, only it has hitherto strangely happened that I have not had the good fortune to meet with the latter, I have found many, without either great wealth or sufficient influence, whose excellent hearts and well-ordered minds would have prompted them to do any thing and every thing I desired ; but, alas ! what could they do against the overwhelming influence and power of my oppressors ? In England, (it cannot be denied,) nothing in such a case can be effectually done but by those whose riches, family connexions, and political influence, enable them to wield arms which even the ministry cannot long resist. Assured, at present, of generous co-operation from some of these individuals, and from others who, though not English, have power to serve me, I proceed with my Narrative. After making my overtures, in the manner stated, to Lord Goderich, and being so rudely, so imperiously denied a hearing, a question arises as to the legality/ of refusal, on the part of a minister of the Crown, to allow a British subject to state his case to him. Is not a ministry formed for the administration of the affiiirs of the nation ? Was not the exposition of the most extensive and valuable chartered rights {unexpired and unextinguishahle, as is clearly shewn in the course of this work, while a lawful heir of Sir William Alexander is in existence,) truly a national affiiir, and a subject for mature consideration, instead of one to be hastily and petulantly got rid of by a minister's sic volo, sicjubeo, on the instant, as was done by my Lord Goderich ? Was he justified in thus endeavouring to trample upon rights established by the law, according to all the custo- mary forms, after many years' perseverance, and at an immense expense to me, without deigning to investigate, and merely because he was prompted to do so by his prejudices AGAINST THE EARL OF STIRLING. 17 or caprice ? Such conduct, I think, must be open to impeachment. At all events, it' there be in these times a tithe of the honour, generosity and good feeling, which, in times gone by, distinguished my countrymen, I need not fear that my oppressors, in the plenitude of their power, will be able to shelter themselves from the animadversions which a faithful exposition of their tyranny, and of the paltry means more than once re- sorted to, by them or their agents, to accomplish the destruction of an honourable family, will call forth. Even those who form their parties, support their general measures, and ply them with adulation, if they be honest and sincere in their desire to reform abuses, cannot approve of the manner in which I have been treated. The first wicked and truly disgraceful act of oflicial hostility towards me requiring notice, is that of a ministerial underling. It is one that would appear incredible to my readers, and, indeed, is of such a nature, that if there were not ample means of proving all that will be stated respecting it, I should not be so mad as to allude to it in any way. It was nothing less than an attempt made, by the private secretary of the Earl of Ripon, (when his Lordship was Viscount Goderich, and Secretary of State for the Colonies,) to entrap me, hy means of a forged letter, into the hands of a merciless enenvj, whose unprovoked, deadly hate, and espousal of another person's quarrel, had, for twelve months preceding, been the cause of infinite distress and annoyance to me and my family. The real object of the private secretary must have been, not only to assist that person, but to make himself acceptable to his patron, by doing what he expected would have operated as a quietus upon me and my claims. It will be seen in the able exposition of this dark affair, written subsequently by my solicitor, and which I have the satisfaction of republishing in the Appendix to this work, liow the vile attempt was defeated, but how narrowly I escaped falling into the snare. By comparing the lithographic copies of the forged letter, which was dated 2'2d August \S32, and of the secretary's letter to Mr Burn, dated 24-th of the same month, any one accustomed to such a mode of veri- fying handwriting will be satisfied, as more than a dozen of gentlemen in public offices in London were, that the same individual wrote iioth letters. In consequence of the observation more than once made to me, that Mr Burn's account did not go far enough, to enable an impartial reader to form a correct opinion of the part which Lord Kipon's secretary is accused of having taken in it, I have yielded to the advice of my friends, in publishing further the ivhole correspondence on the subject. The Earl of Ilipon himself was no doubt ignorant of the act done in his name, and, I dare say, it was because his Lordship could not bring himself to believe his protege capable of such a criminal and dishonourable scheme for another's destruction, that he unguardedly be- came the champion and defender of the accused. But will not the public think, that instead of thus entering the lists with me, it would have been more dignified and con- sistent for his Lordship, as the proper authority on the occasion, to express disgust at the prostitution of his name for so vile a purpose, and readiness to allow of the strictest in- c 18 NARRATIVE OF OPPRESSIVE PROCEEDINGS vestigation ? Would not that have been the preferable course for the Secretary of State to take, from whose office the forged letter was dated ? Little as my Lord Ripon may be inclined to give me credit for generosity and for- bearance, I solemnly declare, that I was urged at the time by many gentlemen to pur- sue the affair farther than I did ; but I refused to do so, in the hope — alas ! ground- less — that if I refrained, I should afterwards find the Government disposed to listen to any renewed overtures I might be advised to make. How was my forbearance reward- ed ? Why, by multiplied outrages and provocations; the most atrocious of which was a deliberate attempt to rob me of what is dearer to me than my life — my good name ! — and to revenge the discovery of tJie real forgeru at the Colonial Office, by instructing the agents of the Crown in Scotland to accuse me of putting in forged papers to sup- port my claims. I shall animadvert on this last-named atrocity just now ; but I have not yet done with Lord Ripon and his private secretary. 1 am compelled, by having found no mercy, no moderation, no desire whatever manifested by his Majesty's ministers to pursue a more praiseworthy course of proceed- ings respecting me, as a necessary part of this narrative of my wrongs, to complete my exposition of the forged letter business by the following remarks : The public will learn with astonishment, that the private secretary, who could thus wantonly lend himself to be made the criminal instrument of private revenge, after doing what would have been quite sufficient to send any individual, less powerfully pro- tected, to expiate his crime at Sydney or Van Diemen's land, was, through his patron's influence, actually rewarded with knighthood, and a high appointment in the Ionian Islands, — a convenient removal from the scene of danger. What then are the natural inferences ? A careful perusal of Mr Burn's memoir, and of the correspondence, will lead to them. To countenance the commission of an act so wicked and dishonour- able, by heaping honours upon the offender, and sending him in great haste out of the country, is not the best way of disclaiming all knowledge of the league of that party with my private enemy. That league was only part of a widely extended conspiracy to effect my ruin, the existence of which I have already shewn ; and the acts of other Government agents, to which I shall have occasion to allude, unfortunately warrant sus- picion, that an understanding with my private enemies has been, to a certain extent, kept up ever since. The next act traced, like the former, to the Colonial Office, was one of obstruction to a sale of lands in New Brunswick, which, as Sir William Alexander's proved heir, and BY LAW in possession, I was fully authorised to effect, on the plan that had been recommended to me. This sale was to have taken place on the 7th of November 1832, but was stopped by the insertion of a demi-official advertisement in the Times news- paper of that date, and by preventing the insertion of another which I had sent re- specting the sale. Now, without entering here into arguments, as convincing as they AGAINST THE EARL OF STIRLING. 19 were poweifuJ, used by my solicitor, in a letter on the subject which appeared in the newspapers of that period, I shall merely observe, that ministers liad no more light to stop the sale as they did, than they would have at present to interfere with the Duke of Sutherland, the Marquis of Westminster, or any other Peer or Commoner in the realm, to prevent the sale of any of their estates. I denounce the interference as altogether unwarrantable ; and equally so the directions sent to the local authorities in the Ame- rican provinces, to oppose any entry that might be made upon the unoccupied lands there by my grantees. 1 indeed maintain, that the latter abuse of their power was a direct violation of the special clauses in the royal charters of grant to my ancestor. But these are solitary instances, among many, of the manner in which Government influence was misused to bias public opinion at the same period, with the evident inten- tion of bearing me down, and inflicting such injury as might annihilate me and my claims. It would be waste of time to notice particularly these minor acts of oppression. I shall only mention, that Government, and numerous individuals who have, from inte- rested motives, seconded their views as much as possible, seem always to have been aware, that if I obtained the command of large pecuniary resources, I should also obtain, in ex- act proportion, power to resist their tyrannical proceedings. Hence, one of their chief objects all along has been to prevent my obtaining money ; and the stabs given to my credit, by the swindling transactions of agents employed by me in the years IS^^O-SO-Sl, rendered the execution of their plans comparatively easy. Circumstances having obliged me to attempt the negociation of loans, the parties applied to for that purpose, though cautioned as to the inevitable consequence of going to the Government offices for infor- mation, invariably did so, and by that means afforded the opportunities desired, in those quarters, of expressing opinions which when reported to me, would have roused my utmost indignation, if I had not felt that such conduct was worthy rather of silent contempt. Passing from allusions to petty acts of malevolence, I now return to the consideration of that most malicious and vindictive course of proceeding in Scotland, which 1 have already noticed, as shewing, by the instructions that were sent to the Crown agents there, that even the limited publicity given by my friends to the Jorged letter business had suggested, as a means of vengeance, an attempt to sap the very foundation of my hereditary rights, by accusing me of using forged documents to suj)port them. ^My readers will see in this proceeding, undoubted evidence of the wish of the Government party not only to despoil me of my inheritance, but to ruin my character. Ought it to be tolerated in the nineteenth century, — in this age of Re/'o>-)ii, — that without the shadow of a just pretext, a British subject, who had proved his descent, and established his legal character of heir before four impartial juries of his countrymen, should be attacked, on a sudden, in this way, by the worthless satellites of an arbitrary ministry ? That in the Supreme Court of Scotland, where he had previously defeated them in every instance, c ^ 20 NARRATIVE OF OPPRESSIVE PROCEEDINGS his expectations of an early and favourable decision should be blighted, and his efforts to proceed in the exercise of his powers be paralysed, by having an infamous, false, and abominable accusation o{ forgery alleged against him. Virtuous and honourable men will, I am sure, answer with indignation, " Assuredly not." The most serious consequences of this charge have heen, first, profractedHtigation, at an expense which, under the circumstances, it was almost impossible to comj^ass by any ar- rangements 1 could make. To increase those expenses, and, as was unscrupulously avowed, " to make a run upon my resources" in the hope of triumphing in that dishonourable way, every scheme that their ingenuity and the practices of chicane could devise was had recourse to, for the purposes of delay. From term to term, during three years and a half, the final pleadings of the cause have been put off, and of course no judgment obtained. Enormous additional expenses have been incurred, by the necessity of col- lecting a complete body of new evidence to support the points of pedigree, rendered doubtful by the documents originally used to prove them being impugned. In this ob- ject I have, however, succeeded, though the undertaking appeared at first to be one of insuperable difficulty. The second serious consequence has been injury to my charac- ter, by the aspersions of those private enemies, who, ever on the watch for new oppor- tunities of doing mischief, gladly seized upon the one afforded them by tlie atrocious charge to misrepresent all that occurred in Court, magnify the evil, and thus increase my sufferings. These demons, who, for the gratification of private animosity, arising out of bitter disappointment at being checked in the execution of their own worst de- signs against me, have done their utmost to second those of the Crown party, were enabled, by such an occurrence in Scotland, to circulate their calumnies with more suc- cess than was possible before that time. Their sinister object was promoted by the practice in Scotland of printing papers for the Court, by which means the charges brought against a defendant, and the knowledge of which, before trial, is confined, in England, to the parties chiefly interested in the suit, can, with the printer's assistance, be made known all over the kingdom, by multiplying the copies of such papers. The men who oppose me had recourse to that expedient ; and by sending many of the papers to the wretches leagued with them in London, their calumnies were handed about to effect the ruin of my character. From all that has been stated respecting the acts of Earl Grey's administration, the reader will perceive that an unparalleled system of injustice and persecution was organ- ised, for the tyrannical purpose of overpowering me. The members of that Government were unscrupulous as to the means of accomplishing their object. Though I had never disgraced my character, sullied my name, or done any thing of which I ouglit to be ashamed, they hesitated not to accuse, vilify, persecute and oppress me. The meekest spirit would revolt under such treatment as I have met with ; and as I cannot boast of any superiority on the score of meekness or patience, it is no wonder, I think, that in-^ AGAINST THE EARL OF STIRLING. 21 dignation, and a deep sense of my wrongs, have at last demanded free utterance. They could no longer be smothered by those " considerations of expediency " which, for years, have been impressed on my mind by well-meaning, timid persons, and have kept me silent and snttering, till I have been driven, by the atrocious system of my enemies, from house and home in my father-land. So strong has been the tide of injustice set in against me since the completion of my legal titles in 1831, that nothing but a miraculous interposition of Providence, in raising up from time to time a few kind friends to assist my cause, has enabled me to stem the current, which threatened to sweep away each prop and barrier on which I depended for protection. 1 found myself at one moment driven into a narrow and dangerous pass, with a knowledge that my formidable enemies were endeavouring, as they are again now, to close in upon me on every side. But I was roused to a proper sense of my perilous situation ; and though the struggle was certain to be an unequal one, I fearlessly engaged in it. And why did I so ? Because I was upheld, as I still continue to be, by the dignity of right. 1 have not hoped in vain that a just Providence would enable me to baffle my enemies, and steadily persevere in so noble a cause. After finding my overtures and remonstrances, when renewed at each partial or total change of ministry, disregarded by the heads of Government departments, it is clear I could gain nothing by adhering to the former patient and forbearing system, in which 1 have persisted too long. I must take up a higher position, and, by all lawful means, determine energeti- cally to resist both ministerial and private persecution. Had ministers met, with but common civility, candour, and impartiality, my first over- tures of arrangement, made as they were on the sound basis of justice and good policy, of liberal concession, and respect for the rights of others, the evils which have been the consequence of their injustice would not have ensued. Even the present agitation in Canada would have been unknown, because nothing could have arisen to give a pretext for agitation. There could have been no discontent, and therefore no spirit of revolt in tliat valuable colony. But the same statesmen who professed to be the friends of liberal measures, to wish, by wholesome reforms, to strengthen the great palladium of English liberty, and to regard all British subjects as entitled to an equal dispensation of justice, scrupled not to refuse me a hearing, when I approached them with confidence, and a disposition to yield whatever might be necessary, under existing circumstances, provided my own and my children's rights were duly considered and protected. I was spurned at as if the doors of their official residences would have admitted a being infect- ed with some direful pestilence, had they opened them to me. And why all this contumely, baseness, and oppression ? I never appealed to them until after devoting the best part of my life, and spending a considerable fortune, I found myself clothed with all those essentials that perfect the legal character of heir. TJien 1 certainly did come, and with the proper authority, to demand the attention of Govern- 22 NARRATIVE OF OPPRESSIVE PROCEEDINGS ment to ray claims. The shameful attempt to rob me of the whole advantages of my situation, as Sir William Alexander's heir, by a reduction of my services of heirship, and to gain that iniquitous end by blasting my character, will recoil upon its authors, as it displays the corrupt and abominable motives by which they were actuated. The league with one of my private enemies, which the correspondence before referred to establishes, is perhaps as glaring and scandalous an act as ever was brought home to a Government office. Is such conduct befitting the members of an English ministry ? Is there dignity, or lofty feeling, in employing such means of crushing a loyal and unoffending subject of the King, whose only crime was his happening to be the lineal descendent and heir of that noble and enterprising man, ivJio spent all his large Jbrtune in his persevering attempts to colonise the territories which his Sovereign granted as the well-earned recompense Jbr his services f The ministers were not ignorant of that fact ; neither could they be that ; when I appealed to them, I expected they would have had the magnanimity and courage to do, as the rulers of a great empire, impartial justice. Ignorant prejudices, raised and fostered by malignity, — contemptible jealousies, the offspring of little-mindedness, — and party-spirit, fomented by wealthy and powerful private persons, had been previously arrayed against me ; but could I suppose the British Government would make common cause with such opponents, and use their influence also to destroy me ? I should wish it to be clearly understood, that in making such complaints and such grave charges as the preceding, I am not roused to do so by political or party zeal. So far from being influenced by any motives except those of self-preservation and tJie maintenance of mj/ rights, 1 have not the slightest hesitation in declaring, that, ante- cedently to the opening of a correspondence with Earl Grey's Government on the sub- ject of my claims, I was one of those who hailed his Lordship's accession to power, and the appointment of some of his colleagues, with satisfaction ; because I had always heard them spoken of, not merely as men of distinguished talent, but as humane, liberal, and honourable statesmen ; and, in short, I imagined that persons, who were also reported to be so estimable in every relation of private life, would be sure to receive me with courtesy, and give to my legal advisers and agents a patient hearing. After this declaration no one will doubt, that if I liad not received the grossest pro- vocations — if I had not been treated with contumely, which I consider was accompanied with peculiar demonstrations of violent hostility, I should have shrunk from my present task. I act independently. I am of no party, and incline to none but to that which, perhaps, is at the present day the least numerous in the kingdom ; the party which, strictly speaking, cannot be designated either as Toi-y or Whig, though partaking of the best principles of both ; which prefers prudent, liberal, and just measures to those of expediency merely ; which would seek to effect the general good without bias or pre- judice, — without disturbing what is yet pure and salutary in our institutions ; and whose AGAINST THE EARL OF STIRLING. 23 adherents are loyal to the King, and hold in abhorrence the anti-English system of oppression, as well as ministerial jugglery. My oldest friends are well acquainted with my moderate views, and disposition to yield any points that might stand in the way of an adjustment of my claims, which reason and good sense could shew to be expedient and necessary. Thus, when the appointment of Mr (now Lord) Stanley to be Secretary for the Colonies gave me an opportunity of appealing to that high-minded statesman for justice, one of those friends* wrote a letter to him ; and as the most important part of the contents, which were com- municated to me, cannot fail to be as useful now as it was then, I am sure he will not disapprove of my introducing that part here, with the precautions I shall observe. When I requested him to address Mr Secretary Stanley on that occasion, I informed him of the wicked attempts that had been made to asperse my character ; and expressed my conviction, that if Mr Stanley had received any unfavourable impressions respecting me, they would be instantly removed by the observations he might, as my friend from boyhood, have the goodness to make on such a subject. The kind and feeling terms in which his opinion of me is given, will, at the present crisis, be read with great warmth of interest by those who may shrewdly guess the name of the gallant and distinguished writer of such a letter ; and those who cannot possibly know my friend will neverthe- less perceive, in the language of the highly-educated military man, the gentleman, the scholar, enough to make them loudly cry, " Shame ou Lord Stirling's calumniators !" These are his words ; " My friend and schoolfellow, Lord Stirling, has requested me to bear testimony to " his private character, and the respectability of his family. 1 cannot refuse tin's for a *' moment. The only regret I feel is, that the position of one I so sincerely value *' should render such a testimony, on my part, for a moment necessary. Into the " abstract question of Lord Stirling's rights I do not presume to enter. These have " been, or will be, decided by higher authority ; but as regards the question of personal " integrity and uprightness, I should do violence to the best feelings of my heart if I " did not say, that a more conscientious, moderate-minded, and honourable man, than " the Earl of Stirling, does not exist, in my estimation. I have known him from his *' earliest years, and had the happiness of passing some of the happiest days of my youth " in the society of his family, than which none could be more respectable, or more '* respected. I believe Lord Stirling to be incapable of desiring any thing but the " barest justice ; I know myself to be incapable of asking more ; and I think I know * I cannot, without permission, publisli liis name ; Uut I may state, that he is as mucli respected by all who have the honour of knowing liim, as lie is beloved by those who have the happiness to be numbered among his friends. He is a colonel in the army, and discharges the duties of a high military oflSce with distinguished talent. 24 NARRATIVE OF OPPRESSIVE PROCEEDINGS " Mr Stanley well enough to believe that he is incapable also of refusing it, either " to the highest or the humblest individual who appeals to his impartiality or his "power," &c. Now, my excellent friend expressed his opinion of my views, in applying to Mr Secretary Stanley, quite of his own accord, for 1 had not explained them to him except in the most general terms ; but he judged they were moderate from his own knowledge of me, and he judged most correctly. With such credentials preceding my own direct application to Mr Stanley, leave to state my claims was granted, (September 1833,) in a manner which, I will only say, presented a striking contrast to the rude, ungracious repulse I had met with from Viscount Goderich in January 1832. If the disposition manifested by Mr Secretary Stanley to give me a fair and impartial hearing was afterwards rendered unavailing to me, I am persuaded the decision he came to was entirely attributed to his colleagues in ofhce 5 and, more especially, to Viscount Melbourne and Lord Brougham. The former acting, I have reason to believe, upon the suggestions of Mr S. March Phillipps, one of the Under Secretaries of State, had treated me with every degree of contumely and indignity when at the head of the Home Department ; the latter had shewn a constant and petulant opposition to my claims, on every occasion of their coming under his con- sideration, which was one of those mysteries 1 never could satisfactorily unravel. While his Lordship, as Mr Henry Brougham, was so eminent as a barrister, I had consulted him, and obtained an opinion favourable to my object ; but when he became Lord High Chancellor of England it was no longer the same thing. Three letters which I successively addressed to him never obtained the honour of his slightest notice ; and to his Lordship's inexplicable conduct I attribute two of the most unwarrantable acts of power of which I have had to complain. One of these was his refusal to grant letters missive to me as a Peer, by which I was left at the mercy of a person who desired the opportunity of injuring me ; and who, by that act of the Chancellor, was enabled to make me pay L.500 to him, witliin a few hours, instead of about L.80, which would have been the extreme amount of his lawful claim. The second act of authority alluded to, was his Lordship's advice to the King, not to receive me at Court as Earl of Stirling. By that advice he did me, and I am entitled to add he intended, the most serious injury. I leave my readers to judge, from the explanations I have laid before them respecting my peerage, in a preceding section of this narrative, whether 1 complain without sufficient reason of Lord Brougham's conduct. At present I shall only add, that some persons have positively assured me, all this bitterness was any thing but the result of particular investigation into my case, followed by legal conviction that I had no grounds of claim to be otherwise treated ; and, if my informants were not mistaken, the mystery is indeed strangely unravelled, and in a manner that reflects no credit on the noble Lord. From AGAINST THE EARL OF STIRLING. 25 the digression into which 1 have been led by the preceding remarks, I must now return to state what course was at length pursued by Mr Secretary Stanley. It must be borne in mind by the reader, that, on this occasiun, as in the first instance of applying to Government, one of my principal objects was to preiient the necessity of inclining luti/ more ruinous hiiv e.rpenscs, unit of bcinfr kept in Unfjering suspense iy protracted litigation. j\Jr Secretary Stanley was, however, advised not to comply with my request, that the proceedings in Scotland should be stayed. On the 1 Ith of Novem- ber 1833, I received the following answer to a letter of mine, in which I had strongly urged his interference to put an end to the distress occasioned by the demand of more money for that suit : " My Loud, Downing Street, November II. 1S33. " I have the honour to acknowledge your Lordship's letter of the 8th instant, and to •' express my regret, that I do not feel myself at liberty in any way to interfere in the " legal proceedings now pending with reference to your Lordship's claims. I have the •' honour to be, your Lordship's obedient servant, " The Earl of Stirling. (Signed) E. G. Stanley." I do not attach the slightest blame to the distinguished Secretary, now so much better known as Lord Stanley, for the above decision against my wishes. He was advised by the highest law ofHcer of the Crown not to interfere ; but should this statement meet his eyes, I wish his Lordship to know, that I had another and still more important ob- ject in applying for the proceedings to be stayed. It was, that he, as Colonial Minister, should have heard the question at issue, and the general merits of my case, well argued, for the jjurpose of ascertaining, whether there /lad been suj/icienf, or, indeed, a\y Just and legal ground of action in Scotkaul. I maintain there was no just or legal ground for it. It has been, from the commencement, an iniquitous, expensive, and harassing suit, by which 1 have been kept, during many years, at bay, and prevented from exer- cising the rights I had previously established in the most formal and legal maimer. This answer I fearlessly make to the adviser or advisers of the Colonial Secretary's re- fusal to comply with my request ; and further, I assert that 1 have been kept out of my estate by unlawful and arbitrary measures. Mere assertions, 1 am fully aware, will not suffice ; neither do I mean to rest upon them. But, first, it is necessary that the value of the legal title I had accpiired, before any action on the part of the Crown was thought of, should be \\c]\ understood. Now, this object cannot be accomplished without careful perusal of the protecting clauses in the princely charters granted to my ancestor ; as well as submitting to equally careful examination the numerous acts done, and proceedings taken, by me, to perfect D 26 NARRATIVE OF OPPRESSIVE PROCEEDINGS the title and render it unassailable *. Any one who will take this tronble must, I think, be satisfied that a better title to property could not be obtained. I suppose, lor a moment, one of my readers arrived at this point of the inquiry ; and 1 then ask liim to consider, next, the value of tlie principal legal argument used by the Officers of the Crown in Scotland, in support of this suit against me. I say the princi- pal argument, because there are other pleas, but which, God knows, are as shallow as was the whole pretext for annoying me, and attempting to despoil me of my inheritance. Their only plausible argument, which is two-fold, is this : first, " That his Majesty has " an undoubted right and title to the superiority or sovereignty of the lands, and was " entitled to see that my title of vassal was good." Secomf/j/, " That the Crown had " an interest in setting aside my services, so far as they might be used for founding a " title of vassal in the aforesaid lands." My readers will find appended a paper of considerations on the law proceedings at the suit of the Crown against me, to which, and some reasoning on the aigument above cited, I take leave to refer : and in addition I must be pardoned for saying, that the argument itself, under both heads, is all the merest pretence and affectation. Indeed, I have no hesitation in believing it to be true that the inquiry, as to who is the " proper " vassal " in the lands, was all the while, in the estimation of the Crown, of just so much moment only, as by prosecuting it an object was intended very different from the real one ; that the Crown liad made up its mind not to hear of cuii/ party being vassal or proprietor, except itself; and that its Officers insist in the suit for setting aside my ser- vices as a means to their end, which is neither less nor more than that the Crown, ha- ving somehow, and WITHOUT A title, gotholdof the property, would arbitrarilij go all hmgtlis to keep it, as well as the sovereignfi/, and to resist the right vested in my per- son as the subject vassal. This is, throughout all the bitter enmity and untiring hos- tility that my powerful opponents have followed me with, the real object wb.ich they proposed to themselves for obstructing my best efforts to regain the use and enjoyment of the lawful rights of my family, and which made all the ingenuity of their legal ad-, visers and others be put in requisition. Justice, however, is not to be thus disregarded, I deny, in the most peremptory terms, both the Crown's title to interfere with me in re- lation to the lands in question, and that there is any right of property in the lands re- maining in the Crown, in any character of superior, sovereign, or otherwise, t Now, 1 might confidently ask any candid reader, whether he thinks the Crown, or its Officers, had a right to disturb such a title as I completed on the 2d and 8th of July * Those readers who may desire to satisfy themselves, are referred, Ist, to the Royal Charters, and transla- tions of them wliicli are given in the Appendix ; 2d, To the particular references to my different services of heirship ; 3d, And chiefly, as the completion of my legal title, to the last of these, the special service, followed by the royal precept, and instruments of seisin of the territories belonging to nie, as the heir found by the service. AGAINST THE EARL OF STIRLING. 27 1831 ? There may be other cases in which, perhaps, the Crown's interference is perfectly reguh'ir and legal. I am not competent to form an opinion as to other cases ; but I feel perfectly assined that a aiimlur case to mine is not in existence. Any unpreju- diced and uninfluenced reader will acquit me of presumption, or exaggeration, (after studying the case in all its bearings,) in asserting that my title of heir has been chal- lenged without either just or legitimate grounds for so doing. But I proceed to shew, further, why the attack was unjustifiable ; and let me direct particular attention to the following clause and kingly promises in the Koyal Charter of P2lh July W25, viz. " Which lands and privileges, &c. specially and generally above mentioned, together " with all right, title, &c. which we, or our predecessors, or successors, have, had, or any " way may have, claim, or pretend thereto, &c. or the maills, farms, profits and duties '• thereof, of whatsoever years or terms bygone, for Avhatsoever cause or occasion, we, " with advice foresaid, &c. of new give, grant and dispone to the foresaid Sir "William «' Alexander, his heirs and assignees, heritably, for ever ; renouncing and exoneratiny " the same simpliciter, icifh all action and instance hereto/ore competent to, and in "favour of the said Sir William Alexander, and his heirs and assignees, as loellfor " non- payment of the duties contained in the original infeftments,asfornon-per- "formance of due homage conform tlicreto, or for nonfulfilment of ani/ point of the " said original infeftment, or for commission of any fault, or deed of omission or " comitiission, prejudicial thereto ; and whereby the said original infeftment may in " any way be lawfully impugned or called in question, for ever acquitting and remit- " ting the sniiie simpliciter, with all title, action, instance and interest heretofore com- " petent, or that may be competent to us, and our heirs and successors, renouncing " the same simpliciter, jure lite et causa cum pacta de non petendo, and with supple- " ment of all defects, as well not named as named, which we will to be held as ex- " pressed in this our present charter. To be Jiolden in free blench farm, as said is, " and dispensing with non-entry, whensoever it shall happen, in manner foresaid." Who can say, after reading the above clause, that the Crown had any remaining right or interest in the lands granted to my family, except the right of sovereignty ? And if no other right and interest could exist, so long as any heir of the original granter was in being, what right could the Crown have, at any time, before or after the perfecting of my legal titles as heir, to interfere with me ? It certainly has no competing title ; its Officers admit that. But it is said, tJie King, as superior and over-lord, has a rii::ht to ascertain whether I, his vassal, have a good title. This, I repeat, is the only plausible argument used on the part of the Crown ; and if there existed any right at all to interfere with me, it would, to a certain extent, be true. But if his Majesty had any reason to doubt of my character as the heir of my ancestor, there were my services in that charac- ter, to resolve every such doubt ; or otherwise, I ask, why w;is I not opposed bv the D 2 28 NARRATIVE OF OPPRESSIVE PROCEEDINGS Officers of the Ciovvn,y/-ow2 the first moment of my coming forward to prove my heir- ship, at the service of 'Jth February IS'iG ; or, if not then, at the more important services of Vlth October 1830 and 30th May 1831, and finally, at the special service ofldJidy 1831 ? Why was 1 allowed to proceed, as I did, in the most public manner, in all these legal acts, without any opposition? Why did the Sovereign, in the person of the Sheriff of Edinburgh, give me seisin and civil possession of my estates ; and why was I allowed to continue unmolested for six or eight months after the completion of my legal titles ? Supposing, for a moment, the right of the Crown to interfere, was it proper, was it correct or humane, to let me consume so many years, and spend such large sums of money, without any hint being given, or pretension of right to oppose being asserted by ministers and agents of the Sovereign ? Who can affirm that I might not have been deterred from exposing myself to the danger and expense of pursuing an object, which, under such circumstances of inevitable contest and litigation with the supreme power, I shoukl have considered one of doubtful issue ? What have the advocates of the right of the Crown who attacked me, after all my labour and expense had been incurred, to say to the equity of such a proceeding ? But again and again I must deny that there could possibly exist any such right as is pretended. I was fully protected by the clauses in the royal charters. I was farther protected, by taking seisin, and receiving infeftment of my property, from the King's lawful representative, otherwise there can be no meaning in the following clause of the Canada charter. After providing for taking seisin " upon any part of the ground of " the said lands, or at our castle of Edinburgh, or in both manners, as shall appear to " him and his foresaids best," &c. the concluding words are, " Which seisin, so to be " delivered, by our said bailies in that part, to the foresaid Sir William, and his foresaids, " or to their attornies, holding and producing this our present charter, tee, for us and " our successors, decern and ordain to be good, lawful, valid and sufficient, in all *' time coming ; dispensing, as ice, by our present charter, dispense, as to all that can " he objected against the sa)ne, ivhether inform or in effect," S)-c. Let any one, after reading the above clause, be good enough to turn to the Appendix, and examine the contents of the following documents : 1*/, Proceedings at my service, as nearest and lawful heir in special of William, the first Earl of Stirling, with the ver- dict of the jury of the 2d July 1831 ; and, M, The royal precept for giving me seisin, and the instruments of seisin of the lordship and barony of Nova Scotia, and of the lordship of Canada, on the 8th day of the same month of July 1831. This done, I am persuaded a little consideration will bring such person to the same conclusion, that I have been illegally and unwarrantably interfered with, persecuted, and kept out of my property. Much as 1 have had reason to complain of the Earl of Ripon, in his public capacity, as Secretary of State for the Colonies, I have heard enough to convince me that a more AGAINST THE EARL OF STIRLING. 29 estimable man in private life is rarely to be met with j and I can scarcely imagine that either his Lordship, or others who were his colleagues in office, if they took the trouble to understand what was my real situation, would persist in thinking that their reasons for repulsing and afterwards persecuting me, were praisewortliy, or in any respect capa- ble of justification. That a most extraordinary prejudice against the case was early imbibed, as well by the King's ministers, as by a large portion of the nobility and gentry in England and Scotland, I know from sad experience. In the common course of things, it would ap- pear almost inconceivable, that the very natural endeavours of an anxious father, to re- cover for himself and children an inheritance rightfully belonging to them, should only give occasion to the violent hostility and prejudice of so many individuals, without ex- citing in the minds of at least an equal number of liberal and independent persons the deepest interest and sympathy. But perhaps this strange anomaly may be accounted for by the proceeding I had adopted in IS'25, which, although it undoubtedly was the proper one for me to have ultimately taken, some of my best friends thought I should have deferred until I had completed my legal titles, which ought to have been obtained before instead of after my public resumption of the peerage. Out of that first mistaken course of proceeding came incalculable mischief, which was heightened by the conduct of those in opposition to me ; by the bad management ot persons I employed ; by insertions of a most injurious nature in various pamphlets after- wards published ; reckless attacks on noble families and individuals, whose concerns had nothing to do to be mixed up with mine ; failures innumerable in negotiations for loans of money ; and the combined attacks of swindlers, bill-brokers, pettyfogging lawyers, and other unprincipled persons. Hence that apathy, which would otherwise be inex- plicable, and those prejudicies which, I believe, have prevented many generous, liberal, and independent persons from offering me their assistance. I trust, nevertheless, that when the true state of my case is known and understood, — when I shall have set myself right with the well-thinking and respectable classes of my countrymen, unjust and groundless prejudices of all kinds will cease to influence them ; and when they perceive what are my real objects, wishes, and intentions, I shall have the comfort of experiencing the wholesome effects of their convictions in my favour. It would be more than ex- traordinary if a result such as I anticipate, and therewith a complete revulsion of public feeling as to the merits of the case, were not the consequence of clearly seeing how much and how shamefully I have been maligned and misrepresented. The infamous designs of my enemies have too long found sanction among those who, could they have understood them, would have held them and their authors in abhorrence. 1 do not believe there is another country in Europe where such a case as mine would have been subjected to so much obloquy, in consequence of cabals and prejudices created by its opponents. Availing themselves of such a state of things, ministers, who ought to have 30. NARRATIVE OF OPPRESSIVE PROCEEDINGS been, by their situations, the natural protectors of my legal rights, preferred the course of injustice and inhumanity. In other countries, when any thing of this kind happens, the oppressed subject is permitted to appeal to the magnanimity and power of the Sovereign ; and it is well known how often in Austria, in Holland, in Prussia, &c. the statements of injured individuals, on the days when all are allowed to approach the throne for that purpose, have satisfied the royal mind, and stopped the ruthless proceedings of men in power. With us, on the contrary, the avenues to the throne are as impenetrable as the fields of ice to the hardy navigator, who seeks to approach the polar basin ; and thus it happens, in this " land of liberty," which boasts of its pre-eminence in all that is noble, great, and good, that the ministers who govern, can, with perfect impunity, and on their responsibility, be as refined in cruelty, persecution, and insult as they please, towards a fellow subject who has not the good luck to possess equal wealth, or to be protected by others who have that advantage, and with it counterbalancing influence and power. 1 am bound to acknowledge, that on every occasion of addressing Earl Grey himself, I met with courtesy of reply, and even much that was obliging in his expressions ; nor was there any want of civility in the communications of one or two of the noble col- leagues of his Lordship, when they were applied to. But others were less scrupulous, and knowing, I dare say, all they might expect from the vast number of their servile and ever-attending and obsequious partisans, who are always ready to applaud and de- fend their measures, they took care that the course they pursued respecting me should be rendered more extensively injurious, by making those ministerial satellites give the impressions they desired to their hearers in general society. One grand object of the Government party, from the commencement of their oppo- sition to me, has been to talk a great deal about the manner in which I was recom- mended to take up my family titles in 1825. They have been pleased to stigmatise it by epithets that would apply most correctly to their own manner of doing things ; and an outcry has been raised, (in which, alas ! several Scotch as well as English Peers have joined,) that it was, on my part, audacious to resume (assume, they sai/,) those titles in so vnprecedented, improper and illegal a way ! Further, it was not enough to make the public believe all those absurd and groundless assertions ; but it served the particular purposes of Government, to make the same public also believe that my ter- ritorial rights and hereditary offices were inseparahlij connected ivitli. my peerage rights and pn'ivileges ! They knew very well that such was not the case ; but what did that signify? It added immensely to the prejudices and unfavourable impressions already created ; and that was all those equitable personages desired. Such was the effect of these reports, that, I verily believe, the commonly-received opinion to this day is, that the rights of peerage and the rights of property are, in my case, quite inseparable. Now, this last consideration, joined to other equally potent reasons, induces me to AGAINST THE EARL OF STIRLING. 31 explain, in as'dear and inteliigii)]e words as I can, vvliy it is absolutely impossible there should be any connexion whatever between the peerage and the property. It is only necessary to request my readers to observe, that the royal charters, by which the territorial property in America, claimed by me, was granted to my ancestor, whose heir I have been found to be, were dated in 1G21, lG25 and lOSS ; and that Sir William Alexander, as he then was, continued to be known by that name till the 4th of September 1630, when he was first raised to the peerage, by the titles of Viscount of Stirling, and Lord Alexander of Tullibodie. On the 14th of June 1633, he was fur- ther advanced to the dignities of Earl of Stirling and Viscount of Canada. It follows, that as the whole territorial property was acquired ic/iile f/ie Earl ivas a Commoner, and my services of heirship have enabled me to obtain seisin and infeftment of the lands so granted, and i^ot under any subsequent grants to him when a Peer, the rights are perfectly distinct. More cannot be wanted than has already been adduced in the first sec- tion of this Narrative, to set the question, as to that point, for ever at rest. I am neither so stupid, nor so blind, as not to understand why a senseless clamour has been raised against me for daring to defend my right, and the propriety of the course I have pursued, — why my private opponents have resorted to dark intrigues, conspira- cies, false statements, infamous accusations, (bandied about with perfect recklessness by men they ought to have been ashamed of employing,) and every kind of degrading arti- fice, to impede my progress, and if possible cflect my ruin. It is because I am en- titled to a princely Jhrttme, with vice-regal powers and privileges. Yes; this, this is the secret a'.ul only true cause of all the opposition I encounter. It is not my being Earl of Stirling that any one would care about ; if I were not, at the same time, the j)roved heir to the great landed possessions of my family. But what a shame that in England, in the reign of a mild and patriotic Sovereign, and in the boasted days of reform, when all persons and things are presumed to be so purified, so good, so just, so liberal — when every Government man ought to be half a saint, and shudder at the bare suspicion of his doing an illegal or oppressive act — that a British subject can be put out of the pale of justice at the nod of a minister, because he happens to be fully entitled to a large for- tune. The very idea of such an abuse of ministerial power is too monstrous to find admis- sion into the mind of a thoroughbred, unsophisticated Englishman ; for he is too gene- rous and upright himself to believe that he is governed by men who laugh to scorn all laws and institutions that interfere with their own ambitious views. The laws have placed me in the strong position I hold ; and I ought to be, under such protection, safe from any attempts made to dislodge me. Independently of the gross absurdity of connecting the rights of property with those of peerage, which I have before shewn are quite distinct, there can be no hesitation, on my part, in declaring that I set a much higher value on the fornur than on the latter. But if my enemies could 32 NARRATIVE OF OPPRESSIVE PROCEEDINGS succeed in depriving me of the Stirling peerage, they would not enjoy the poor triumph of reducing me in rank ; for I should be, under a different charter and limitations. Earl of Dovan in Scotland ; and always in Nova Scotia and Canada, either as a Peer or a Com- moner, his Majesty's hereditary Lieutenant, and should retain all the other heredi- tary offices, powers, privileges and immunities tliereto belonging, with the proprietor- ship of the soil. Any further arguments would lead to repetitions. Government, it is clear, can only oppose to such incontestable and amply proved facts their own arbitrary will. The abet- tors of their schemes meanwhile have, as they conceive, a sufficient pretext for continu- ing their base practices, and I am exposed to have them like so many hornets buzzing about my ears, and seeking new opportunities of stinging without danger to themselves. AGAINST THE EARL OF STIRLING. 39 SECTION IIL CNREASONABLE HOSTILITY OF I'RIVATE PARTIES TREACHERY OF A MALEVOLENT AND MERCENARY AGENT. The uniformly bad treatment I have met vvitli from such persons as those I have al- luded to, and indeed from more inliuential classes in London, now come to be noticed at this point of my statement, after the shameful exhibition I have given of ministerial injustice and oppression. With the former, the grand object has been to effect, 6y aray possible means, my degradation and ruin. There were no delicate scruples, no feelings of respect or attachment, no conscientious objections standing in the way of their law- less and unjustifiable efforts to injure and destroy. A deep scheme of villany was con- cocted : they were favoured by the pressure of my wants, and my extreme anxiety to raise ample supplies for the various purposes of my important claims, as vvell as other objects I had in view ; and thus, the minor agents of these conspirators (for such they truly were) had a wide field of action before them, upon which they found too many opportunities of displaying their science, in operations of swindling and robbery. I was unsuspicious and confiding ; and to men who had surprised the judgment, and over- come the caution of many noblemen and gentlemen before my time, under nearly simi- lar circumstances, that was the state of mind most favourable to their sinister views. Perhaps the most atrocious means, adopted by the schemers in question to draw me m- to their snares, may be considered by the attentive reader to be the successive introduc- tions of intriguing and unprincipled men and women, who, by their connexion with noble ftunilies and other persons of influence, and their admission into good society, were able, each for a time, to conceal their plans, and make me and my family believe them our devoted friends. But, happily, such persons have been stamped by the hand of Providence on their perverted minds, which invariably leads them, sooner or later, to betray their true characters and dispositions ; and thus it has happened, that being discovered and indignantly shunned by us, those people now feel all the rage of disap- pointed villany. I have no intention of disgusting my readers, by entering into further explanations on such a subject. It would be improper besides to do so, since there arc ti-ibunals to which I can hereafter appeal. What 1 have mentioned is merely for the purpose of elucidating the conduct and motives of the leading individuals, who have always kept as much as possible behind the curtain, while their disreputable agents have been made the instruments of evil, discredit, and suflcring to me, their chosen prey. By the transactions in which they got me entangled, they laid the foundation for suits 34 NARRATIVE OF OPPRESSIVE PROCEEDINGS at law, and a regular series of attacks upon my credit, my honour, and my peace of mind. They created such prejudice against my cause, as rendered all my struggles to overcome it, in those quarters where it was most desirable that my rights should be well understood and appreciated, altogether powerless. These atrocious means were aided by the tittle-tattle of gossips and fools, the insinuations of more accomplished idlers, and the open slander of others, who, in the mazes of London society, are always exer- cising their talent at backbiting and mischief. In short, the great objects of the chief con- spirators, (whose connexion with Government, and powerful families hostile to my claims, sufficiently shews whom they were adulating and serving,) by degrees were partly at- tained to the extent they wished. I say partlij attained, because, most assuredly, they are mistaken, if they flatter themselves with having annihilated either my claims or me by any of their schemes. They have been too successful in deeply injuring me, — they have harassed, tormented, distressed, and occasionally alarmed my family, — they have, assassin-like, stabbed my reputation in the dark, and imposed for a brief space on a portion of the public, who have had no opportunities of knowing, and consequently none of estimating, either my real character, or the just and honourable motives of my actions. Finally, they have been able to set at work on their side, those useful tools to the wicked, the chatterpie lovers of scandal and deAimation, who care not what wounds they inflict, provided they can be permitted to rattle on without interruption, and attract some degree of attention to their venomous reports. But let not the leaders of so ably arranged and well-connected a conspiracy exult too soon over its intended victim. The ass plucked up courage enough to kick the disabled lord of the forest, according to fable, while the fever wasted his strength and dimmed his eye ; and so, in my depres- sion, and while struggling almost alone against a host of foes, I have been made the butt for every fool to aim at. This unnatural state of things cannot last for ever, A trifling occurrence in the life of man often leads to great events, and to changes as for- tunate as they were unexpected a short time before. I venture to hope that such a de- sirable turn in my affairs is close at hand : and when it shall take place, let my perse- cutors look to themselves for the revulsion of public opinion as to my rights ; and the unjust sufferings I have been made to undergo, will be annihilation to them and their schemes. ■ 1 must now describe the treatment I experienced from a very different class of per- sons, also in London ; but who certainly acted under the influence of such impressions respecting my case, as they received from the infamous agents and prime movers in the great conspiracy against me, to whom allusion is made in the preceding paragraph ; and not, I imagine, because they bore me any ill-will, or had private motives for repelling me. For instance, there were several Companies, who had obtained grants of land in Canada and New Brunswick, the members of which, if they would have given them- selves the trouble to study my case without bias or prejudice, might have seen the good policy of helping it forward, in consideration of the immense increase of profit and ad- AGAINST THE EARL OF STIRLING. 35 vantage which they had it then in their power to stipulate for. So much convinced were my friends that this woukl be the view to be taken of my situation and prospects, that, by their advice, 1 sought an opportunity of improving my acquaintance with a very intclh'gent and gentlemanly man, whom I had seen at Liverpool, and who was so deeply interested in the success of a Company then forming, that he intended to go out to America and settle upon the lands granted to them. At first we met on the most friendly terms, and every thing seemed to promise an arrangement with the directors on terms of mutual advantage ; but during an interview he had appointed to take place at his lodging in town, I was introduced to a stranger, whom he described as tiie most active member of the new Company. I shall not mention names ; but, as the object of this last important personage was to tmdo all that had been done, I shall sum up all ray allusions to him and the Company to ivhose interests he was so much alive, by observing, that a very few minutes only had passed, when I saw there was no hope of calm and fair discussion on the subject of our meeting ; and, indeed, the conversation was brought abruptly to a close, by the cold indifference of manner, and the forced smiles of the stranger, which did not conceal, as he intended, the sneer that each remark of mine drew forth from him. While I still recall to mind with pleasure my communications with the former gentleman, 1 think only with disgust of the conduct of the " iniluential " member." The agents I deputed to wait upon the secretaries or directors of other trading and emigration Companies, described the reception they met with as almost insulting ; and in short, though quite unacquainted with my case, or the proposals 1 wished to make, it seemed too evident that prejudices of so violent a nature had been imbibed, that there was no disposition to listen, for a single moment, to my friends or deputies. For a series of years my mind was kept in a state of irritation, and my spirits were jaded even to a certain degree of discouragement ; first, by the unremitting persecu- tions of the parties who had conspired against me ; secondly, by so much disappointment in attempting to negociate with Companies, who, by their pursuits, and the property they had acquired within my hereditary possessions, had, though they denied it, the greatest inducements for lending me their cordial support ; thirdli/, by the manner in which my applications were met by other individuals possessing wealth, with good con- nexion and influence, which, if enlisted on my side, would have dispersed all the obsta- cles frivolously and A'exatiously raised by my enemies, as chaff is dispersed by the wind. Instead of this, however, or even behaving with common civility, almost all the persons alluded to, (generally under the influence and advice of the lawyers they consulted,) treated me, or those I employed to wait on them, in the most abrupt and ungracious manner ; giving no valid reasons for a refusal to listen, but rather displaying total igno- rance of the merits of my case, and prejudices the most despicable. Their ignorance refused to be enlightened : it was of that dogged, stupid, headstrong nature, which is E 2 36 NARRATIVE OF OPPRESSIVE PROCEEDINGS peculiar to thorough-bred, money-getting, untravelled Londoners, when their prejudices have been once excited. The refusal to look into the case was frequently accompanied by an avowal of servile deference to parties whom they, forsooth, would fear to offend, if they consented to assist the oppressed Earl of Stirling. 1 cannot forbear remarking here, as a singular fact, that, during my long and painful struggle, single-handed, against the power and influence of Government, and against private opponents who, besides their own wealth and power, have brought to bear upon me the united strength of the family connexions they have in all parts of the empire, and the harassing annoyances of their agents, I have never found amongst the high no- bility, or the far-famed English gentlemen of great estate and ancient lineage, one noble example of sympathy, courage to defend, generosity of motive, independence of feeling, desire of understanding my real situation, with willingness to protect and assist me in so good and just a cause. Not one in those highly favoured classes (although I have an undoubted right to be considered as belonging to their order) has endeavoured to serve me. I speak not of money — that is out of the question with them ; but I do dis- tinctly refer to such assistance as some of them might have offered to render me, by up- holding my rights in the Senate, at Court, and in society. Such marks of interest in my favour, under the circumstances of oppression that have been detailed in these pages, would, nevertheless, have done honour to any members of Britain's aristocracy. Then why have no such instances been found ? Have I ever done any thing unworthy of my character as a gentleman, a man of honour, or a Christian ? I am sure that no man, unless he be as reckless, malicious, and unprincipled as are some of my dastardly calumniators, would risk a similar charge against me, still less against my family, who are deservedly my hope and pride. I know that erroneous views have been taken by many respectable individuals of my conduct and proceedings on various occasions ; but they must be infatuated if 1 do not convince them, and all whose respect and esteem I am anxious to deserve, of the purity of ray motives and intentions, from my first coming forward to assert my claims, to the present hour. When I shall have obtained posses- sion of my property, and overcome the difficulties in which I have been involved by so protracted a struggle, it will be seen whether this be not the indubitable truth. Mean- while, 1 have a consciousness of right, an honest pride of having done all I could do amidst such extraordinary trials, to maintain my position without deviation from the path of honour ; and I know that I have protected my family, and the interests of those who have assisted me, to the utmost of my power. Under these circumstances, 1 cer- tainly expected more sympathy and support from a wealthier class than 1 have hitherto found. They have disappointed me ; but my reflections are still my consolation, and serve as the best stimulants to continued exertion. " It is only among that middle and truly English class, who occupy an enviable station, equally distant from the extremes of lordly influence, wealth, and fashion, as from those AGAINST THE EARL OF STIRLING. 37 of commercial arrogance and selfishness, that I have found support. They possess much the largest share of those amiable qualities of the heart, those graces of mind and person, that good faith and good feeling, that love of virtue, and those noble and honourable sentiments, which, in days of yore, used also to distinguish so considerable a portion of the higher and lower classes in Britain. It will be my pride, as long as I live, to acknowledge, that many of the persons to whom 1 allude have assisted me to the fullest extent of their limited means, and have heightened the value of such timely succour by their generous sympathy. Deeper villany than has been practised by some, who are for the most part either agents in the great conspii'acy of my private enemies, or men who were formerly employed by mc, and who betrayed my confidence, never was practised in the case of an unoffending individual. Many attempts have been made to conciliate certain parties whose violence was supposed to proceed from erroneous opinions rather than any bad motives ; but I am compelled to entertain a perfect conviction, that such persons, like their advisers, have really no object so much at heart as to effect my ruin ! "Were it otherwise, they would not have refused me the extension of time I required to settle with them, — they would not have put themselves to useless expense, and harassed me by commencing proceedings which had for their sole object the infliction of the deadliest injury, without a chance of arriving, by such means, at the pretended and ostensible object. In fact, the hostile conduct of many persons, who have acted similarly to those alluded to above, has been sufficiently explained by their connexion with the agents of my more powerful opponents, and their employment of the very men who had treacher- ously abandoned my cause, and poured forth their malevolence in falsehoods and calumny. I have been able to trace the particulars of several plots against me, and to secure the means of bringing their authors to public shame and punishment, should it be found necessary. jVIeantime, I warn such persons of the danger to which they are exposing themselves. Those who fear not to make use of traitors and impostors to for- ward their plans, should at all events remember, that the same treachery lurks in their own camps, and is most likely to convey to mc, at any turn of events, what will cover them with shame and ignominy. I have never asked, but from the best and most honourable motives, for time, and con- fidence in my promises. It is very certain that ijears have passed away in expectation, when «iOM//(S only were originally looked forward to; but facts are stubborn things, and it is an absolute fact that 1 have not, in a single instance, wilfully occasioned delay. 1 have not done one individual intentional wrong; nor will any one, having /m.*^ claims against me, find me defer a single day the settlement he is entitled to, when the means of so douig are in my power. I fling back, with undisguised indignation and scorn, the infamous, lying, abominable charges which are, 1 know, made against me ; and to 38 NARRATIVE OF OPPRESSIVE PROCEEDINGS him who may ask me why I have not then sooner given proof of my intentions, I reply in those lines of Mother Hubbard's Tale, which pithily describe my feelings : Full little koowest thou, that hast not tried, What Hell it is in suing long to bide ; To lose good days that might be better spent ; To waste long nights in pensive discontent; To speed to-day, to be put back to-morrow. To feed on hope, to pine with fear and sorrow ; To fret thy soul with crosses and with cares, To eat thy heart, through comfortless despairs. When, to the cause of delay in acting justly, which is truly set out in the preceding lines, I add, that the most clamorous advocates of the persecution I have undergone, are, almost without exception, the same men who have used every art and means that vil- lany could suggest, to increase the prejudice and discredit then ^^^^ themselves first produced, in order therehj to jyreiient my obtaini/ig the advances of funds I required to settle with their employers, the public will comprehend, that to overwhelm me was their real object, not to enforce the payment, which was the hollow pretext. ■ I commit this Narrative of my long sufferings to a just and discerning public, with confidence that it will excite attention, set me right with such as have allowed them- selves to be temporarily influenced by defamatory reports, and cause all whose good opinion is worth having to raise their voices in my defence. As for those who have used the supreme power of Government to crush me, and those families who have abused their wealth and high connexions to direct the weight and ascendancy obtained by such inestimable advantages against me, I hope they too will return to moi-c praiseworthy sentiments and pursuits. Wiiat I asserted almost at the beginning of my statements may properly be repeated here, namely, that I and my family are not the only sufferers by such horrible injustice. The business, the views, and prospects of a few Colonial Companies, of intending emigrants, and actual settlers, and even the interests of the late Duke of York's credi- tors, are deteriorated by the suspension of an adjustment of my claims. How can the latter expect any settlement of their demands while the suit in Chancery, brought by me ao-ainst the lessees of the Nova Scotia Mining Company, is pending ? The legal advisers of those creditors appear to have considered, as do, I believe, the majority of their profession, that any application to nie, or notice of my proceedings, was not worth their while. Be it so : it is their business, not mine, to ascertain how far they may be right or wrong in the course they pursue. In respect to the litigation so uselessly provoked by the lessees of the Company, 1 think they have had time enough to judge whether it would not be in- finitely more for their advantage to coalesce with me than to oppose my object. In the AGAINST THE EARL OF STIRLING. 39 Colonies, people are beginning to be aware that the titles to recently purchased lands there are incomplete without my confirmation, and are likely to be disputed. Hence much distrust, which, coupled with their uncertainty as to the consequences of my pro- ceedings, and with the great political agitation in Canada, will more and more expand the ideas of Colonial proprietors, and furnish reasons for mature reflection on the merits of my case. At home, what has Government gained by such tyranny and injustice towards me ? Nothing whatever, unless loss and embarrassment be, in their estimation, gain. But I beg pardon : I forgot the teiiiporari/ triumphs they have gained. Yes, they have indeed succeeded in foiling me hitlicrto, by the show of contempt for my rights, by using the arm of power to intimidate all who have dared to raise their voices in my favour, by availing themselves of the subserviency of some, the pride and jealousy of others who might have upheld my rights, and done themselves immortal honour by defending the privileges and independence of their order and country. Ves, they have done all this ; and if report be true, they did more, at one critical moment, by conferring military and civil appointments on persons whose interests would otherwise naturally have indu- ced them to co-operate in my proceedings. Nay, 'tis said they silenced, in their pecu- liar way, writers who were disposed to take up my cause in periodical works. To the high-minded editors of several well-conducted journals, 1 have only thanks to return for the kindness and impartiality shewn respecting me and my affairs. A small number have indeed permitted scurrilous attacks to disgrace their columns from time to time ; but I flatter myself, the directors of these journals could not know how much the pur- veyors of such trash deceived them, and exposed their own venal and corrupt motives. A right understanding of my case, and impartial justice, are the two points I have at this moment in view. Those among my countrymen who have the courage to stand forward in the defence of an ill-used and oppressed fellow-subject ; those honourable and high-spirited foreigners, whose independence of feelings and interest secure them /fz4^ from-l^ will equally be on my side. All men whose own honour and integrity are in- corruptible will be my friends, after reading the work 1 have been recommended to prepare particularly for their consideration ; and I hope some will be found, in Old England, disposed at length to lend their cordial support in Parliament, and out of it, near the throne, and among the people. My appeal to them will not be cast aside with indifference. Mo ; they will give it full consideration, and it will rouse them to prompt and effective exertion in the cause of Justice. 40 NARRATIVE OF OPPRESSIVE PROCEEDINGS POSTSCRIPT. Since the foregoing Narrative was written, I have made important discoveries both in France and America. One most important document for establishing my descent has been restored to me ; and in addition to these advantages, I have had the satisfac- tion to hear that the miserable and inglorious attempt of the advisers of the Crown, al- ready sufficiently descanted upon, to impugn an old affidavit and other papers, forming part of the evidence first produced in support of my rights, has proved a total failure. Thus, in the short space of a few months, I find my position so much strengthened, that I cannot but regard as a visible interposition of Providence all the extraordinary- occurrences by which the very endeavours of my enemies to ruin and disgrace me, have been overruled to produce the opposite effect. I understand that one vindictive, treacherous being, who, during eleven years, tookaa. active part in establishing my rights, and, till he forfeited all claims to it, possessed my confidence, has for some time past had recourse to means of inflicting deadly injury on me and my family, so consummately wicked and perfidious, that a man of good principles would think such conduct almost too bad to be believed. Unhappily, I cannot doubt the correctness of the information that has been conveyed to me. What he was not afraid to threaten fifteen or eighteen months ago, if I did not supply him with money, he is now trying, with all the malice of a fiend, to accomplish, namely, to pull down the structure he had assisted in raising. But his ownn earest connexions say, that such is and has been his invariable practice in every case in which noblemen or gentlemen have had the misfortune to employ him. The system which he has followed up with such wonderful industry, in the hope of extorting money from me, will scarcely be cre- dited by respectable and reflecting persons. He began by making fallacious representa- tions of his difficulties, and then by threats of self-desti'uction ; and I should have been deceived by the ingenuity of his statements, had I not been made aware by those who knew him better than I did, that the jail he was about to enter, and the exposures he seemed to dread from week to week, were but the fruits of his own invention, to make me part with the money which he well knew was most inconvenient. Another favourite scheme of his was that of conveying notice to me of competitors coming forward, some-; times from one end of the world, sometimes from another ; furnishing him, on each occa- sion, with an excuse for asking money, as he had frequently before had large sums to go here and there to obtain further evidence to strengthen that part of my descent which he pretended was threatened to be assailed. That he has tried to bring forward various persons, from the first time of my employment of him, is now very well known to me ; but those persons knew too well how perfectly hopeless their appearance would AGAINST I'lli; KAllL OF STIULIXG. 41 1)0 ill realising his ingenious representations. Failing, by these means, to wound either my honour or my peace of mind, he next threw doubts and insinuations upon one part of my evidence after another, just as my progress compelled him to abandon the different points ; and wrote letters, not only to persons of rank and influence in England, Scot- land and America, making statements respecting me and my claims, which he calculated would tend to paralyse the exertions of those who were inclined to serve my interest, and make nie appear to the rest of the world in a most equivocal light ; but also to many of my private friends, threatening, that unless money were provided for him, he would destroy my case entirely, and that he cared not if it were to be ruin to himself, so as he could drag me down with him. This person repeatedly asserted, that he had docu- ments in his possession, with the help of which, if he chose, he could triumphantly carry through my case, (I long had the strongest reasons for supposing that,) and again, usually on the same page, asserted that he could as easily destroy it. For the information of all those, however, whose opinions, formerly favourable to me and my claims, may have been shaken by the defamatory letters received by them from this person, I feel myself called upon thus publicly to state, that as I have numerous old and kind friends, who could and would, were it necessary, vouch for the upright and honourable tenor of my actions through life, I may safely affirm, that this person's calumnies are pure invention, and as such, deserve to be viewed with contempt. It is proper that the public at the same time should undeistand, that so far from my having ever given him the slightest provocation or just cause of enmity, I and ray family, du- ring the eleven years that he was employed as my agent, did every thing in our power, by repeated attentions, acts of kindness and real services, to attach him to our cause, be- lieving, notwithstanding the reports of his conduct towards others, that he was sincerely desirous of discharging his duty zealously towards us. In lSi2(J, I gave him the strong- est proof of my intention most amply to reward his services if he continued faithful, by executing deeds in his favour, which he still holds ; and though I am assured he dares to maintain, that I had no other object in doing so than to deceive him, my family and most intimate friends are perfectly aware how anxiously 1 looked forward to the fulfil- ment of what these deeds engaged me to. Some of the plans that he formed by the assistance of persons of worthless principles and character were of the most wicked sort. They had a double object, — the extorting of money or securities from me, and far worse than that, the ruin of the character and respectability of my famil}% by endeavouring to entangle them in their own schemes. To accomplish these ends, false nanus were adopted, and introductions from persons of rank and icputation in the world ; and 1 have been informed, that nothing can ecjual the rage and disappointment of those beings, and that their hatred seeks to revenge itself, for the failure of their plans, in the most horrible calumnies. 1 am greatly indebted to some friends for the disclosures they have made to me, in reference to the person 1 have chiefly had occasion to notice ; but 1 could 42 NARRATIVE OF OPPRESSIVE PROCEEDINGS have wished tliat they, despising the ordinary way of the world, under such circum- stances, had boldly come forward at the first, and declared his true character, instead of leaving to me and my family the uncertain task of ascertaining the disreputable or dangerous qualities of a man, whom all by their timid silence appeared to approve. I have heard now, indeed, though late, that my employing him was considered at the Public Offices as certain ruin to my case, and it has been also considered wonderful that I could have extricated myself from him ; and when I look back and compare his cor- respondence of former years with the information since conveyed to me, I see a thousand mysterious circumstances explained that it never was before in my power to account for. Recent proceedings in Scotland, to which sufiBcient allusion has already been made, and the exasperating conduct of this vindictive person, who, it seems, is closely leagued with the parties or their agents, and the counsellor of their obnoxious measures, compel this lengthy notice of him. I should have infinitely preferred consigning him and all his acts for ever to oblivion ; but such extraordinary reports continue to be made to me of the treatment my family in my absence experienced, even in Scotland, arising out of the slanders caused to be spread by his correspondents, that 1 could not refrain from making the statement. He has been heard to express the bitterest sarcasms, and to avow his hatred of me in terms which disgusted those he addressed himself to, and which proved the truth of the remark, that " the wicked hate those they have injured." * I have alluded elsewhere to the chance of a judgment being pronounced in the Court of Session last term, as one of the causes which influenced me to suspend awhile the publication of my present work. So much, however, required to be done in a short time after the restored document was received, for the perfect verification of the signa- tures upon it, that my friends completed their labours rather too late in the month ; and the consequence was, that on moving the Court to circumduce the term for proving, and to appoint parties to debate, (plead,) the counsel for the Officers of State, according to their custom, not approving of a onarch at quick time, opposed the motion. When required to state their reasons, they alleged, that they should have evidence to lead ; — an allegation which I feel fully warranted by past experience in treating as a mere sub- terfuge, recurred to for the sole purpose of gaining time. The learned Judge, on the principle of impartial justice, could not do otherwise than allow the cause to stand over till November. Happily, my Narrative need not await the end of proceedings in Scotland. Its main * I cannot finisli tliis notice of him, witliout requesting those who may imagine tliat I am too Iiard upon a man who was so many years employed by me, to satisfy themselves as to his true disposition, by referring to his numerous genealogical works and his political writings, but especially to his pamphlets against other fami- lies ; and let his dedications to illustrious individuals, his attacks on the noble houses of Howard, Lascelles, Courtenay, &c. and the opinion of the College on Bennet's Hill, establish whether the statement of his own re- latives respecting him be not founded on a perfect knowledge of his general conduct. AGAINST THE EARL OF STIRLING. 43 objects arc wholly independent of, and unconnected with them. It can appear with equal, indeed with greater propriety before, than after any decision of the Scotch Jud<»^es. This, I am persuaded, every attentive reader will at once admit ; and I might have passed without inconvenience from the consideration of what occurred in the Lord Ordinary's court, on the occasion in question, to other subjects, had it not appeared to me that the manoeuvre, by which my opponents have obtained a further suspension of final judg- ment, ought to be submitted to some examination. I think it has been clearly shewn in the Narrative that my being a British subject, claim- ing no more than what was in law and justice my own, was viewed bv the Government of this great country as giving me no title to its fostering care and protection, nor even so much as common courtesy in the manner of treating me. No, after spurning me from them on every renewed application, the leading members of the Government had recourse, at the suggestion of some concealed enemy of mine, to an action of reduc- tion of my services and to the plea, as the chief ground of the whole proceeding, in which recently they have signally fixilcd. It might have been with reason expected that such a failure of the object on which their hopes of destroying me principally rested, would have satisfied them of the uselessness of protracted litigation ; but, on the con- trary, they seem as intent on it as ever. Let me ask, what can be the object of the Crown or Government in delay ? Is it that their case has been strengthened by it ? No. Have they any case at all, without the infamous plea which they failed to substantiate ? No. ^Vhat then do they expect from prolonging the suit ? To ruin me by its expenses, — to wear me out, — to destroy my ener- gies, — to drive me to madness or despair. Yes, I have no hesitation in declaring that I firmly believe such are the real views of the Government, or of " that complex person " called the State," in his dealings with me. The words I have just quoted are from a very remarkable and clever article in the Standard newspaper, written on the occasion of Mr Warburton's speech, a few weeks since, in the House of Commons, on presenting the petition of Catherine Robson and Isabella Ainsley, the heiresses of the late ^Ir Samuel Troutbeck of Madras. Grave in- deed are the refiections to which that speech, and the able article of the Standard upon it, give rise. I fear there never was drawn a truer character of the State, alias the Go- vernment of Great Britain. " That complex person " is brought before the mind's eye in all his hideous deformity. We see " this abominable rogue," and at once recognise in him the " bad neighbour," the " niggard master," the '* dishonest, harsh, griping " and ungenerous " person, who " never pays a debt if he can help it, nor surrenders *' any thing of which he is in possession, without having recourse to every dilatory and " vexatious expedient." But the reasons of so much roguery and bad faith are de- scribed by the writer of the article in ([uestion, to be hatred of " trouble and responsi- " bilifj/" felt by the managers for the State; their belief that, " to encourage or connive F 2 44 NARRATIVE OF OPPRESSIVE PROCEEDINGS " at claims upon the public purse, though never so well founded, would be to invite no " small share of trouble and responsibility. They therefore assign the consideration " of all claims upon them to the lawyers ; and every one must see what the effect is when " lawyers get into their hands a defensive case, maintained and provisioned by the Trea- " sury, and armed with all those outworks and defences, not contrived for the protec- " tion of nations, but of the poorest individuals, — all must see what is the effect when " lawyers get such a post so well sustained to hold out against an unfriended, and it " may be, a pennyless plaintiff"," &c. Again, the writer wishes it to be remembered, that it is thought no disgrace to " a minister to be hard-hearted. On the other hand, " what would be the infamy of an individual grasping money quocunqice modo, is too " often regarded as a merit in a financier," &c. What a portrait of " tlie complex person." 1 believe no one who reads the Standard will think that I have written too much or too harshly respecting his dealings with me, nor will any who honour this Narrative with their consideration think so, after perusing the foregoing extracts. If it be true, as stated by the writer of the article, that, to avoid " trouble and responsibility/," the " managers for the State," or, in other words, the ministers appointed by the King to conduct the affairs of the kingdom, and who, by virtue of the offices they hold, are each and all responsible for their acts, and are paid for the trouble they are bound to take in the administration of Government, yet shrink from their highest duties because they " hate trouble and responsibilitj/," then assuredly they ought to be called to a severe account, and as unjust stewards of the country, be punished as they deserve. Can any thing more atrocious be conceived than the turn- ing over to merciless lawyers the claims of an individual justly entitled to property, which that complex person, the State, has wrongfully, and by an abuse of power during the incapacity of the righteous owner, got possession of, because, were they them- selves to do their duty honestly and according to justice, they would " invite no small "share of trouble and responsibility?" For what then are they honoured by the Sovereign with dignity, power, influence and all the attributes of government ? Is it only to gratify their vanity, and enable them to play the part of tyrants ? In my case, however much these inanagers for the State dislike trouble, it is very certain they have taken trouble enough to harass, to injure, to insult, to persecute, to destroy me. Their conduct is infinitely worse, because, in my repeated overtures to them, I have endeavoured to convince them of the moderation of my views, and to shew that an ad- justment of my claims could have been effected, without making a call upon the nation for any large sums of money, or putting themselves to any great expense of time or trouble. I have not only thus bitterly to complain of the managers for the State of England in their dealings with me ; the consequences of their injustice affect my honour and peace most seriously in various other ways, and in none more so than by the encourage- AGAINST THE EARL OF STIRLING. 45 ment it gives to the knot of conspirators, described in my Narrative, whose persecu- tions have been unceasing ever since the Government attacked me. Scarcely has the Scottish law term ended, and tiie fact that judgment of the Court of Session cannot be had before November become known to some of those parties, than fresh efforts are made to overvvhehn me during suspension of tlie proceedings. Amongst other means resorted to, the individual particularly noticed before as acting like an infuriated maniac, has recommenced his system of writing to my friends, making in his letters the most false and defamatory statements respecting me, and hazarding assertions about my de- scent, my evidence, and the imagined difTiculty of proving the tenor of the charter of 1639, which my new discoveries will enable me at a convenient season to do. In the meantime, he is to be found connected with others actively engaged in schemes, (of the infamous nature of which I have been most unexpectedly and fortunately apprised,) for the purpose of still more protracting the litigation, in the vain hope that time may effect the destruction of a fiunily, whom he seems to hate in proportion to the kindnesses he has received from them. He may rest assured that, sooner than he at present believes, measures will be taken to bring his whole conduct respecting me before a competent tribunal, where it will depend upon the wisdom and justice of the presiding Judge, to pronounce upon the case that will be laid before him. It will then be seen how far / have broken any written contract, or failed to perform any engagement with that reck- less, malignant man. He has himself supplied me with the means of refutation of all his calumnies, and of proving the extent of his revengeful acts against me. The course he is pursuing renders it now absolutely necessary to protect himself from its continua- tion by such an appeal to a court of law. I should have done so much sooner, but was averse to any extreme measures while there was the slightest chance of his desisting from his unprovoked attacks upon me. A little more than four years ago, the same man expressed himself thus on the subject of my case, and respecting me : " The endeavours of malevolence have been most active to misrepresent his right of " succession, to detract from his indubitable evidence in support thereof, and to asperse " his character personally, with the most illiberal, invidious and contumelious rcHec- " tions. Convinced of the propriety of the grounds on which the Earl of Stirling rc- " sumed the rank of his ancestors ; confident in the ample, genuine and legal proofs of " which he is possessed, to shew and maintain his descent ; and confirmed in my opinion " by the similar sentiment of several barristers of high professional practice and know- " ledge who have been consulted and advised with, I have been induced to the compila- " tion of this pamphlet," &c. It will appear almost incredible, that a person who could write of me and my case in such terms at the period in question, and in language equally strong on many other oc- casions, should have been capable of turning round, and have adopted a line of conduct 46 NARRATIVE OF OPPRESSIVE PROCEEDINGS so opposite, and observations so contrary, as to call upon me, though with the utmost pain to myself, to expose the one, and repel the other. SECOND POSTSCRIPT. September 1836. 1 cannot permit this work to go forth to the public without soliciting attention to a few additional particulars which have just come to my knowledge, and which throw an unexpected light upon the dark schemes and the real motives of a powerful family, whose opposition, from an early period, has been violently manifested on every favourable opportunity. The chief of the family in question has no possible right of claim to the titles or estates of the house of Stirling, — no interest whatsoever in any thing that concerns me or mine, — no cause of hostility or liatred, since we never gave him or any of his, pro- vocation, — never offended or thought of offending, — never attempted to do them an in- jury, and, indeed, never noticed their acts or those of their unprincipled agents, but when compelled to do so, to protect ourselves from their wanton and lawless attacks. 'Yet have these persons been untired in malignity, active at all times in doing mischief, in stirring up the great and powerful, as well as the lowly and contemptible, to all imagi- nable persecution, insult, and injury, in the avowed hope of destroying me. No one acquainted with them has ever been able to account to me for their extraordinary con- duct, or to assign a single reason worth my attention for their fiendish hate. It appeared necessary thus to premise what I have now to mention, lest motives similar to their own should peradventure be attributed to me by some unscrupulous censurer. To such appreciations of mi/ actions I would, however, as boldly as indig- nantly reply, " No, my principles and feelings partake not of malignity, or revenge, or " pride, or hatred. 1 should be ashamed to think or act in any way unbecoming my " character, and that station of life which I was born to occupy. I abandon to the " worldly slanderer, to the time-serving flatterer, to the cowardly detractor from others' " fame, that course which is pursued most naturally by them, and by the low-minded " rufEan who fulfils the evil behests of " the foul fiend," to whom he has given himself " up, both in body and soul." What will the world think, then, of a man of high rank, vast wealth, powerful connexion and influence, recently — yes, I am assured, very recently — speaking of me as the object of his hate, and publicly avowing his determina- tion never to desist from opposition to me until he can effect my own and my family's destruction ? This explosion of the noble person's violent feelings having been reported to one of AGAINST THE EARL OF STIRLING. 47 my sons but a few days since, I feci that I must so far notice the statement, as that, should it be a calumny, the noble individual in question may have an opportunity of declaring it to be such ; and that should it be, in substance at least, true, he may know that 1 am unappalled by his violence and threats. He will find in me what, perhaps, past occurrences, and the modes of misrepresentation adopted by the wretches who deceived, and those who conspired against me, have made him suppose I could not possess, — I mean, Hufficient energy and courage to defend my position against such warfare. To add more on the above subject at present would be wrong. I have already alluded to the failure of the attempt to blast my character by the infamous charge of forgery ; and shall further merely observe, that the result of the proof served only the more to confirm the genuineness of my documentary evidences ; which indeed is so manifest, that the advisers of the Crown have not ventured to report the proof into Court, Notwithstanding all this, however, its over-zealous agents, my readers will not now feel surprise to learn, as actively engaged as ever in their vocation of misleading the public, have not scrupled to misrepresent what took place, and in what manner the investigation so signally broke down. In conclusion, I just wish to throw out the hint to certain individuals, that I appre- ciate their worldly estimation of my own and my family's sufferings, as such manifesta- tion deserves. We are above tlie meannesses and the time-serving of such people, and shall firmly hold on the tenor of our course despite their feelings or behaviour. " This " is our brazen wall of defence, To be conscious of no crime, and to turn pale at no " accusation." While we look forward to the coming change in our position, and con- fidently rely on a complete revulsion of public feeling, we do not forget, that " La " patience est amere ; mais le fruit en est doux." APPENDIX. SfO APPENDIX. No. I. Original Charter in favour of Sir William Alexander, Knight, of the Province of Nova Scotia, in A?nerica. Jacobus Dei gratia Magnae Britanniae Franciae et Hyberniae Rex &c. Fideiqiie De- fensor Omnibus probis liominibus totius terrae suae clericis et laicis salutem Sciatis nos semper ad quamlibet quae ad decus et emolumentum regni nostri Scotiae spectaret oc- casionem amplectandum fuisse intentos nullamque aut faciliorem aut magis innoxiam acquisitionem censere quam quae in exteris et incultis regnis ubi vitae et victui suppetunt commodo uovis deducendis coloniis facta sit praesertim si vel ipsa regna cultoribus prius vacua vel ab infidelibus quos ad Christianam converti fidem ad Dei gloriam interest plurimum insessa fuerunt sed cum et alia nonnuila regna et haec non ita pridem nos- tra Anglia laudabiliter sua nomina novis terris acquisitis et a se subactis indiderunt quam numerosa et frequens Divino beneficio haec gens hac tempestate sit nobiscum re- putantes quamque honesto aliquo et utili cultu eam studiose exerceri ne in deteriora ex ignavia et otio prolabatur expediat plerosque in novam deducendos regionem quam coloniis compleant operae pretium duximus qui et animi promptitudine et alacritate corporumque robore et viribus quibuscuuque difficultatibus si qui alii mortalium uspiam se audeant opponere hunc conatura huic regno maxime idoneum inde arbitramur quod virorum tantummodo et mulierum jumentorum et frumenti non etiam pecuniae trans- vectionem postulat neque incommodam ex ipsius regni mercibus retributionem hoc tempore cum negotiatio adeo imminuta sit possit reponere hisce de causis sicuti et propter fidele et gratum dilecti nostri consiliarii Domini Willelmi Alexandri equitis servitium nobis pracstitum et praestandum qui propriis impensis ex nostratibus primus externam banc coloniam ducendam conatus sit diversasque terras infra-designatis limi- tibus circumscriptas incolendas expetiverit Nos igitur ex regali nostra ad Christianam religionem propagandam et ad opulentiam prosperitatem pacemque naturalium nostro- rum subditorum dicti regni nostri Scotiae acquirendam cura sicuti alii principes ex- tranei in talibus casibus hactenus fecerunt cura avisamento et consensu praedilecti nostri consanguinei et consiliari Joannis Comitis de Mar Domini Erskyn et Gareoch &c. summi nostri thesaurarii computorum rotulatoris coUectoi-is ac thesaurarii novarum nostrarum augmentationum luijus regni nostri Scotiae ac reliquorum dominorum nos- trorum commissionariorum ejusdem regni nostri Dedimus concessimus et disposuimus tenoreque praesentis cartae nostrae Damus concedimus et disponimus praefato Domino Willelmo Alexander haeredibus suis vel assignatis quibuscuuque haereditarie Omnes et singulas terras continentis ac insulas situat et jaccn iii America intra caput seu pro- APPENDIX. 51 No. I. Charter of Nova Scotia. 1621. James, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King, &c. and Defender of tlie Faith, To all good men of all his territories, clergy and laity, greeting. Know ye, that we have always been intent on embracing every occasion which might tend to the honour and advantage of our kingdom of Scotland, and that we are of opinion that no acquisition is more easy, or less hurtful, than that which is made by planting new colonies in foreign and uncultivated countries, where commodities of life and food are ready at hand, especially if either those same countries have been there- tofore destitute of cultivators, or have been inhabited by infidels, whose conversion to the Christian faith very much redounds to the glory of God ; but seeing that both some other kingdoms, and not long since this our kingdom of England, have laudably given their own names to new lands, by them acquired and conquered, reflecting with ourselves how, by Divine beneficence, this nation is, at this time, numerous and thronged, and how expedient it is that it should be studiously exercised in some honest and useful employment, lest, by indolence, and lack of employment, it lapse into evil, it may be expedient, and we have thought it worthy of endeavour, that many should be conveyed to a new country, which they may fill with colonies, who, both by prompti- tude and alacrity of mind, and by strength and power of body, may dare, if any other mortals elsewhere may, to encounter any difficulties, we think this endeavour herein especially useful for this kingdom, because it requires only transport of men and women, beasts of burden and corn, not also of money, and may not make a disadvan- tageous return from the merchandise of the kingdom itself at this time, when trade is so diminished, as to its returns : For these causes, as well as on account of the faithful and acceptable service of our beloved counsellor. Sir "William Alexander, Knight, to us rendered, and to be rendered, who, first of our subjects, at his own expense, endeavoured to plant this foreign colony, and sought out for colonization the divers lands circumscribed by the limits herein-after designated. We, therefore, out of our royal care for the propagation of the Christian religion, and for promoting the opulence, prosperity, and peace of our natural subjects of our said kingdom of Scotland, as other Ibreign princes have heretofore done in such cases, with the advice and consent of our right well-beloved cousin and counsellor, John, Earl of Mar, Lord Erskyn and Gareoch, &c. our High Treasurer, Comptroller, Collector, and Treasurer, of our new- augmentations of this our kingdom of Scotland, and of the other Lords, our Commis- sioners of the same our kingdom, have given, granted, and disposed, and, by the tenor of our present charter, do give, grant, and dispose to the aforesaid Sir "William Alex- ander, his heirs or assigns, whomsoever, hereditarily, all and singular the continent- lands and islands, situate and lying in America, within the cape or promontory, com- g2 5-2 APPENDIX. montorium comnuiniter Cap de Sable appellat jacen prope latitudinem quadraginta trium graduum aut eo circa ab equinoctiali linea versus septentrionem a quo promon- torio versus littus maris tenden ad oocidentem ad stationem navium Sanctae Mariae vulgo Santmareis hay ct deinceps versus septentiionem per directam lineam introitum sive ostium magnae illius stationis navium trajicien quae excurrit in terrae orientalem plagam inter regiones Suriquorum ac Stecheminorum vulgo Suriquois et Stechemines ad fluvium vulgo nomine Sanctae Crucis appellat et ad scaturiginem remotissimam sive fontem ex occidentali parte ejusdem qui se primum praedicto fluvio immiscit unde per imaginariam directam lineam quae pergere per terram seu currere versus septen- trionem concipietur ad proximam navium stationem fluvium vel scaturiginem in magno fluvio de Canada sese exonerantem et ab eo pergendo versus orientem per maris oras littorales ejusdem fluvii de Canada ad fluvium stationem navium portum aut littus communiter nomine de Gathepe vel Gaspie notum et appellatum et deinceps versus euronotum ad insulas Bacalaos vel Cap Britton vocat relinquendo easdem insulas a dextra et voraginem dicti magni fluvii de Canada sive magnae stationis navium et terras de Newfundland cum insulis ad easdem terras pertinentibus a sinistra et deinceps ad caput sive promontorium de Cap Britton praedict jacen prope latitudinem quadraginta quinque graduum aut eo circa et a dicto promontorio de Cap Britton versus meridiem etoccidentem ad praedict Cap Sable ubi incepit perambulatio iucluden et comprehenden intra dictas maris oras littorales ac earura circumferentias a mari ad mare omnes ter-. ras continentis cum fluminibus torrentibus sinubus littoribus insulis aut maribus jacen prope aut intra sex leucas ad aliquam earundem partem ex occidentali boreali vel orien- tali partibus orarum littoralium et praecinctuum earundem et ab euronoto (ubi jacet Cap Britton) et ex australi parte ejusdem (ubi est Cap de Sable) omnia maria ac insu- las versus meridiem intra quadraginta leucas dictarum orarum littoralium earundem magnam insulam vulgariter appellat He de Sable vel Sablou includen jacen versus Car- ban vulgo south-south-eist circa triginta leucas a dicto Cap Britton in mari et existen in latitudine quadraginta quatuor graduum aut eo circa Quaequidem terrae praedict omni tempore affuturo nomine Novae Scotiae in America gaudebant quas etiam prae- t'atus Dominus Willelmus in partes et portiones sicut ei visum fuerit dividet eisdem- que nomina pro bene placito imponet Una cum omnibus fodinis tam regalibus auri et argenti quam aliis fodinis ferri plumbi cupri aeris stanni aliisque mineralibus quibuscun- que cum potestate effodiendi ac de terra efFodere causandi purificandi et repurgandi easdem et convertendi ac utendi suo proprio usui aut aliis usibus quibuscunque sicuti dicto Domino Willelmo Alexander haeredibus suis vel assignatis aut iis quos suo loco in dictis terris stabilire ipsum contigerit visum fuerit (Reservando solummodo nobis et successoribus nostris decimam partem metalli vulgo oore auri et argenti quod ex terra in posterum effodietur aut lucrabitur) Relinquendo dicto Domino Willelmo suisque praedict quodcunque ex aliis metallis cupri chalibis ferri stanni plumbi aut aliorum mi- neralium nos vel successores nostri quovismodo exigere possumus ut eo facilius raagnos sumptus in extrahendis praefatis metallis tolerare possit Una cum margaritis vulgo APPENDIX. 53 monly called Cap de Sable, lying near the latitude of forty-three degrees, or thereabout, from the equinoctial line, northward, from which promontory, toward the sea-coast, verging to the west, to the harbour of Sancta Maria, commonly called Sanctmarcis Bay, and thence northward, traversing, by a right line, the entrance or mouth of that great naval station, which runs out into the eastern tract of the land between the countries of the Suriqui and Stechemini, commonly called Suriquois and Stechemines, to the river commonly called by the name of Santa Crux, and to the remotest source or foun- tain on the western side of the same, which first discharges itSi^'.f into the aforesaid river, and thence, by an imaginary right line, which might be conceived to proceed through the land, or to run northward to the nearest naval station, river, or source, discharging itself into the great river of Canada, and proceeding from it by the sea shores of the same river of Canada, eastward to the river, naval station, port, or shore, commonly known and called by the name of Gathepe, or Gaspie, and thence south eastward to the islands called Baccalaoes, or Cap Britton, leaving the same islands on the right, and the gulf of the said great river of Canada, or great naval station, and the lands of Newfoundland, with the islands pertaining to the same lands, on the left, and thence to the capo or promontory of Cap Britton aforesaid, lying near the latitude of forty-five degrees, or thereabout, and from the said promontory of Cap Britton, toward the south and west to the aforesaid Cap Sable, where the circuit began, inclu- ding and comprehending within the said sea-coasts, and their circumferences, from sea to sea, all continent-lands, with rivers, torrents, bays, shores, islands, or seas, lying near, or within six leagues to any part of the same, on the western, northern, or eastern parts of the coasts, and precincts of the same, and on the south-east, (where Cap Britton lies,) and on the southern part of the same, (where Cap de Sable is,) all seas and islands towards the south, within forty leagues of the said sea coasts of the same, including the great island, commonly called Isle de Sable, or Sablon, lying towards the Carbas, south-south-east, about thirty leagues from the said Cap Britton, in the sea, and being in the latitude of forty-four degrees, or thereabout : Which lands aforesaid, in all time to come, shall enjoy the name of Nova Scotia, in America, which also the aforesaid Sir William shall divide into parts and portions, as to him may seem meet, and give names to the same, according to his pleasure ; together with all mines, as well royal of gold and silver, as other mines of iron, lead, copper, brass, tin, and other minerals whatso- ever, with power of digging them, and causing them to be dug out of the earth, of purifying and refining the same, and converting and using them to his own proper use, or to other uses whatsoever, as to the said Sir William Alexander, his heirs or assigns, or those whom it shall have happened that he shall have established in his stead, in the said lands, shall seem meet, (Reserving only for us and our successors the tenth part of the metal, commonly called ore of gold and silver, which hereafter shall be dug up or gained.) Relinciuishing to the said Sir William, and his aforesaids, whatsoever of other metals, copper, steel, iron, tin, lead, or other minerals, we, or our successors, can in any wise claim, that he may by so much the more easily bear the great expenses of extracting the aforesaid metals : Together with the margaritcs, commonly called /it'ar/t'. U APPENDIX. pearle ac lapitlibiis praeciosis quibusciinque aliis lapicidinis silvis virgultis mossis mar- resiis lacubiis aquis piscationibus tam in aqua salsa quam recenti tain regalium piscium quam aliorum venatione aucupationc comniotlitatibus et haercditamentis quibusciinque Una cum plcnario jure privilcgio et jurisdictione liberae regalitatis capellae et cancel- Jaiiae imperpetuum cuniqiie donatione et patronatus jure ecclesiarum capelianiarum et beneficiorum cum tenentibus tenandriis et libere tenentium servitiis earundem una cum officiis justiciariae et admiralitatis respective infra bondas respective supra mentio- nat Una cum potestate civitates liberos burgos liberos portus villas et burgos baroniae erigendi et f'ora et nundinas infra bondas diet terraruni constituendi curias justiciariae et admiralitatis infra limites diet terrarum fluviorum portuum et marium tenendi una etiam cum potestate imponendi levandi et recipiendi omnia tolonia custumas anchoragia aliasque diet burgorum fororum nundinarum et liberorum portuum devorias et eisdem possidendi et gaudendi adeo libere in omnibus respectibus sicuti quivis baro major aut minor in hoc regno nostro Scotiae gavisus est aut gaudere poterit quovis tempore prae- terito vel futuro cum omnibus aliis praerogativis privilegiis immunitatibus dignitatibus casualitatibus proficuis et devoriis ad dictas terras maria et bondas earundem spectan et pertinen et quae nos ipsi dare vel concedere possumus adeo libera et ampla forma sicuti nos aut aliquis nostrorum nobiliura progenitorum aliquas cartas patentes literas infeofinnenta donationes ant diplomata concesserunt cuivis subdito nostro cujuscunque qualitatis aut gradus cuivis societati aut communitati tales colonias in quascunque partes extraneas deducenti aut terras extraneas investiganti in adeo libera et ampla forma sicut eadem in hac praesenti carta nostra insereretur Facimus etiam constituimus et ordinamus dictum Dominum Willelmum Alexander liaeredes suos aut assignatos vel eorum depu- tatos nostros HiEiiEDiTARios Locum tenentes generales ad representandum nostram personam regalem tam per mare quam per terram in regionibus maris oris ac finibus prae- dict in petendo diet terras quamdiu illic manserit ac redeundo ab eisdem ad gubernandum regendum et puniendum omnes nostros subditos quos ad dictas terras ire aut easdem in- habitare contigerit aut qui negotiationem cum eisdem suscipient vel in eisdem locis re- manebunt ac eisdem ignoscendum et ad stabiliendum tales leges statuta constitutiones di- rectiones instructiones formas gubernandi etmagistratuum ceremonias infra dictas bondas sicut ipsi Domino Willelmo Alexander aut ejus praedict ad gubernationem dictae regionis et ejusdem incolarum in omnibus causis tam criminalibus quam civilibus visum fuerit et easdem leges regimina formas et ceremonias alterandum et mutandum quoties sibi vel suis praedictis pro bono et commodo dictae regionis placuerit ita iit dictae leges tam legibus hujus regni nostri Scotiae quam fieri possunt sint Concordes Volumus etiam ut in casu rebellionis aut seditionis legibus iitatur militaribus adversus delinquentes vel imperio ipsius sese subtrahentes adeo libere sicuti aliquis locum tenens cujusvis regni nostri vel dominii virtute officii locum tenentis habent vel habere possunt excludendo omnes alios officiarios hujus regni nostri Scotiae terrestres vel maritimos qui in poste- rum aliquid jurisclamei commoditatis authoritatis aut interesse in et ad diet terras aut APPExNDIX. 55 and other precious stones whatsoever, stone quarries, woods, coppices, mosses, marshes, lakes, waters, fisheries, as well in salt water as in fresh, as w'ell of royal fishes as of others, chases, decoys, commodities, and hereditaments whatsoever: Together with full power, privilege, and jurisdiction of free regality of chapel and chancery, in perpetuity; and with right of donation, and patronage of churches, chapelries, and benefices, with the tenants, tenandries, and services of free tenants, of the same, together with the offices of justiciary and admiralty respectively, within the boundaries respectively above men- tioned : Together with power of erecting cities, free burghs, free ports, villas, and burghs of barony, and of appointing fairs and markets, within the boundaries of the said lands, of holding courts of justiciary and admiralty, within the limits of the said lands, rivers, ports, and seas, together also with power of imposing, levying, and receiving all tolls, customs, anchorages, and other duties of the said burghs, fairs, markets, and free ports ; and of possessing and enjoying the same, as freely, in all respects, as any greater or lesser Baron in this our kingdom of Scotland hath enjoyed, or shall be able to enjoy, at any time, past or future, with all other prerogatives, privileges, immunities, digni- ties, casualties, profits, and duties, belonging and pertaining to the said lands, seas, and the boundaries of the same ; and which we ourselves have power to give or grant, in form as free and ample, as we, or any of our noble progenitors, have granted any charters, letters-patent, infeftments, donations, or diplomas, to any one of our subjects, of what quality or degree soever, to any company or community planting such colonies in foreign parts whatsoever, or exploring foreign lands, in form as free and ample as if the same were inserted in this our present charter. We make also, constitute, and ordain the said Sir William Alexander, his heirs or assigns, or their deputies, our Hereditary Lieutenants-General, to represent our royal person, as well by sea as by laud, in the regions, sea-coasts, and boundaries aforesaid, in voyaging to the said lauds, so long as he shall tarry there, and in returning from the same ; to govern, rule, and punish all our subjects who shall have chanced to go to the said lands, or to be inhabiting the same, or who shall have entered into tiade with the same, or shall sojourn in the same places ; and to grant pardon to the same, and to esta- blish such laws, statutes, constitutions, directions, instructions, forms of govern- ment, and ceremonies of magistracies within the said boundaries, as to him. Sir William Alexander, or his aforesaid, for the government of the said region, and the inhabitants of the same, in all causes, as well criminal as civil, it shall seem meet ; and to alter and change the same laws, regulations, forms and ceremonies, as often as to himself or to his aforesaid, for the good and advantage of the said region, shall be pleasing ; so that the said laws be as consonant to the laws of this our kingdom of Scotland as they can be made. We will, also, that in case of rebellion or sedition he may use martial law against delin(pients, or persons revolting from his command, as freely as any Lieutenant of any of our kingdoms or lordships have, or can have, by virtue of the office of Lieutenant, excluding all other otiicors of this our kingdom of Scotland, as well of the land as of the seas, who hereafter may pretend any claim of right, connnodity, authority or interest, in and to the said lands, or the province afore- 56 APPENDIX. provinciam praedict vol aliquam inibi jurisdictionem virtute alicujus praecedentis dispo- sitionis aut diplomatis praetendere possunt Et ut viris honesto loco natis sese ad ex~ peditionem istam subeundani et ad coloniac plantationeni in dictis terris addatur ani- mus nos pro nobis nostrisque liaeredibus et successoiibus cum avisamento et consensu praedict viitute praesentis cartae nostrae damus et concedimus liberam et plenariam potestatem praefato Domino Willelmo Alexander suisque praedict conferendi favores privilegia uiunia et honores in demerentes cum plenaria potestate eisdem aut eorum alicui quos cuin ipso Domino Willelmo suisque praedict pactiones vel contractus fiicere pro eisdem terris contigerit sub subscriptione sua vel suorum praedict et sigillo infra mentionato aliquam portionem vel portiones dictarum terrarum portuum navium sta- tionum fluviorum aut praemissorum alicujus partis disponendi et extradonandi erigendi etiam omnium generum machinas artes facultates vel scientias aut easdem exercendi in toto vel in parte sicuti ei pro bono ipsorum visum fuerit Dandi etiam concedendi et attribuendi talia officia titulos jura et potestates constituendl et designandi tales capi- taneos officiarios balivos gubernatores clericos omnesque alios regalitatis baroniae et burgi ofRciarios aliosque ministros pro administratione justiciae infra bondas dictarum terrarum aut in via dum terras istas per mare petunt et ab eisdem redeunt sicuti ei ne- cessarium videbitur secundum qualitates conditiones et personarum merita quos in aliqua coloniarum dictae provinciae aut aliqua ejusdem parte hubitare contigerit aut qui ipso- rum bona vel fortunas pro commodo et incremento ejusdem periculo committent et eosdem ab officio removendi alterandi et mutandi prout ei suisque praescript expediens videbitur Et cum hujusmodi conatus non sine magno labore et sumptibus fiunt mag- namque pecuniae largitionem requirant adeo ut privati cujusvis fortunas excedant et multorum suppetiis indigeant ob quam causam praefatus Dominus Willelmus Alexan- der suique praescript cum diversis nostris subditis aliisque pro particularibus periclita- tionibus et susceptionibus ibidem qui forte cum eo suisque haeredibus assignatis vel de- putatis pro terris piscationibus mercimoniis aut populi transportatione cum ipsorum pecoribus rebus et bonis versus dictam Novam Scotiam contractus inibunt volumus ut quicunque tales contractus cum dicto Domino Willelmo suisque praescript sub ipsorum subscriptionibus et sigillis expedient limitando assignando et affigendo diem et locum pro personarum bonorum et rerum ad navem deliberatione sub poena et forisfactura cujusdam monetae summae et eosdem contractus non perficient sed ipsum frustrabunt et in itinere designato ei nocebunt quod non solum dicto domino Willelmo suisque praedict prout esse praejudicio et nocumento verum etiam nostrae tam laudabili inten- tioni obstabit et detrimentum inferet tunc licitum erit praeftito Domino Willelmo Alexander suisque praedict vel eorum deputatis et conservatoribus inframentionatis in eo casu sibi suisve praedict quos ad hunc effectum substituet omnes tales sumnias mo- netae bona et res forisi'actas per talium contractuum violationem assumere Quod ut facilius fiat et legum prolixitas evitetur dedimus et concessimus tenoreque praesentis cartae nostrae damus et concedimus plenariam licentiam libertatem et potestatem dicto Domino Willelmo suisque haeredibus et assignatis praedict eligendi nominandi assig- APPENDIX. 57 said, or any jurisdiction therein, hy virtue of any former disposition or diploma : And for encouragement of men of jfood birtli to undertake that expedition, and the plant- inj^ of a colony in the said hinds, we, for ourselves, and our heirs and successors, with the advice and consent aforesaid, by virtue of our present charter, give and grant free and plenary power to the aforesaid Sir William Alexander, and his aforesaid, of conferring favours, privileges, charges and honours upon the deserving ; with plenary power to the same, or any of them, who shall chance to make covenants or contracts with Sir William himself, and his aforesaid, for the same lands, under his signature, or the sig- nature of his aforesaid, and the seal hereafter mentioned, of disposing and of subgrant- ing any portion or portions of the said lands, ports, harbours, rivers, or of any part of the premises ; also, of erecting machines, arts, faculties or sciences, or of exercising the same in whole or in part, as to him for their good shall seem meet : Also, of givin<'- and granting, and attributing such offices, titles, rights and powers of appointini' and designating such captains, officers, bailiffs, governors, clerks and all other officers of regality, barony and burgh, and other ministers for the administration of justice within the boundaries of the said lands, or on the voyage while they are sailing through the sea to those lands, and are returning from the same, as to him shall seem needful, according to the qualities, conditions and merits of the persons who shall happen to dwell in any of the colonics of the said province, or in any part of the same, or who shall adventure their goods or fortunes for the advantao'e of the same, and of removing from office, altering and changing the same, as shall seem expedient to him and his aforesaid : And since enterprises of this kind are not made without great labour and expense, and require great outlay of money, so that they go beyond the fortunes of any private person, and have need of the succours of many, by reason whereof the aforesaid Sir William Alexander, and his afore written, will enter into contracts for particular adventures and undertakings to the said place, with divers our subjects, and others who haply will (enter into contracts) with him and his heirs, assigns or deputies, for lands, fisheries, merchandise or transport of peo- ple, with their cattle, property and goods, toward the said Nova Scotia, we will, that whosoever shall execute such contracts with the said Sir William, and his afore written, under their signatures and seals, by limiting, assigning and hxing day and place for delivery on ship board, of persons, goods and property, under penalty and forfeiture of any sum of money, and shall not perform the same contracts, but shall disappoint him and damage him in the intended voyage, which not only will be as prejudice and damage to the said Sir William, and his aforesaid, but also will be an obstacle and de- triment to our so laudable intention, then it shall be lawful to the aforesaid Sir William Alexander, and his aforesaid, or their deputies and conservators under nientiouod, in that case, to take to himself or to his aforesaid, whom he shall substitute to this etlect, all such sums of money, goods and property, as forfeited by violation of such contracts : For the more easy doing whereof, and that delay of law may be avoided, we have triven and granted, and, by the tenor of our present charter, do give and grant to the said Sir William, and to bis heirs and assigns foresaid, plenary licence, liberty and power of electing, nominating, assigning and ordaining a conservator of the liberties and H 58 APPENDIX. nandi ac ordinandi libertatum et privilegioium per praesentem hanc nostram cartam sibi suisque praedict concessorum conservatorcra qui expeditae executioni leges et sta- tuta per ipsum suosquc praedict facta secundum potestatem ei suisque praedict per dictam nostram cartam concessam demandabit volumusque et ordinamus potestatem dicti conservatoris in omnibus actionibus et causis ad personas versus dictam planta- tionem contrahentes spectantibus absolutara esse sine uUa appellatione aut procrastina- tione quacunque quiquidem conservator possidebit et gaudebit omnia privilegia immu- nitates libertates et dignitates quascunque quae quivis conservator Scoticorum privile- giorum apud extraneos vel in Gallia Flandria aut alibi hactenus possiderunt aut gavisi sunt quovis tempore praeterito Et licet omnes tales contractus inter dictum Dominum Willelmum suosque praedict et praedictos pcriclitatores per periclitationem et trans- portationem populorum cum ipsorum bonis et rebus ad statutum diem perficientur et ipsi cum suis omnibus pecoribus et bonis ad littus illius provinciae anirao coloniam du- cendi et remanendi appellent et nihilominus postea vel omnino provinciam Novae Scotiae et ejusdem confinia sine licentia dicti Domini Willelmi cjusque praedict vel eorum deputatorum vel societatem et coloniam praedict ubi primum combinati et con- juncti fuerant derelinquent et ad agrestes aborigines in locis remotis et desertis ad ha- bitandum sese conferent quod tunc amittent et forisfacient omnes terras prius iis con- cess omnia etiam bona infra omnes praedictas bondas et licitum erit praedicto Domino Willelmo suisque praedict eadem fisco applicare et easdem terras recognoscere eadera- que omnia ad ipsos vel eorum aliquem quovismodo spectantia possidere et suo peculiari Usui suorumque praedict convertere Et ut omnes dilecti nostri subditi tarn regnorum nostrorum et dominiorum quam alii extranei quos ad dictas terras aut aliquam earun- dera partem ad raercimonia contrahenda navigare contigerit melius sciant et obedientes sint potestati et authoritati per nos in praedictum fidelem nostrum conslliarum Domi- num Willelmum Alexander suosque praedict collatae in omnibus talibus commissioni- bus vvarrantis et contractubus quos quovis tempore futuro faciet concedet et constituet pro decentiori et validiori constitutione officiariorum pro gubernatione dictae coloniae concessione terrarum et executione justiciae dictos inhabitantes periclitantes dcputatos factores vel assignatos tangen in aliqua dictarum terrarum parte vel in navigatione ad easdem terras nos cum avisamento et consensu praedicto ordinamus quod dictus Do- minus Wijlelmus Alexander suique praedict unum commune sigillum habebunt ad ofEcium Locum tenentis justiciariae et admiralitatis spectan quod per dictum Dominum Willelmum Alexander suosque praedict vel per deputatos suos omni tempore futuro custodietur in cujus uno latere nostra insignia insculpentur cum his verbis in ejusdem circulo et margine Sigillum Regis Scotie Anglie Francie et Hybernie et in altero latere imago nostra nostrorumque successorum cum his verbis (Pro Nove Scotie Locum tenente) cujus justum exemplar in manibus ac custodia dicti conservatoris re- maiiebit quo prout occasio requiret in officio suo utatur Et cum maxime necessarium sit ut omnes dilecti nostri subditi quotquot dictam provinciam Novae Scotiae vel ejus confinia incolent in timore Omnipotentis Dei et vero ejus cultu simul vivant omni conamiue intentus Cluistianam religionem inibi stabilire pacem etiam et quietem cum 21 APPExXDIX. 9» privileges granted to him, and his aforesaid, by this our present charter, who shall carry into expeditious execution the laws and statutes made by him, and his aforesaid, ac- cording to the power granted to him, and his aforesaid, l)y our said cliarter ; and will and ordain that the power of the said conservator, in all actions and causes belonging to persons contracting to the said plantation, be absolute, without any appeal or pro- crastination whatsoever; which conservator shall possess and enjoy all privileges, immu- nities, liberties, and dignities wliatsoever, which any conservator of Scottish privileges, in foreign nations, either in J' lance, Flanders, or elsewhere, hitherto have possessed or enjoyed, in any time past : And although all such contracts between the said Sir Wil- liam, and his aforesaid, and the aforesaid adventurers, shall be performed at the appointed day, by adventure and transport of people, with their goods and property, and they, with all their cattle and goods, shall arrive at the shore of that province, with the intention of planting a colony, and remaining ; and, nevertheless, shall either en- tirely desert the province of Nova Scotia, and the conliues of the same, without licence of the said Sir AVilliam, and his aforesaid, or their deputies, or the society and colony aforesaid, wherewith they were first combined and conjoined, and sliall betake them- selves to the savage Aborigines, to dwell in remote and desert places, that then they shall lose and forfeit all lands theretofore granted to them, and all goods within all the aforesaid boundaries ; and it shall be lawful to the aforesaid Sir W illiam, and his afore- said, to confiscate the same, and to recover the same lands, and to possess all the same things which in any wise belong to them, or any of them, and to convert them to the peculiar use of himself and his aforesaid : And that all of our beloved subjects, as well of our kingdoms and dominions, as others, foreigners, who shall chance to navigate to the said lands, or any part of the same, for bargain of merchandise, may better know and be obedient to the power and authority conferred by us upon our aforesaid faithful coun- sellor, Sir William Alexander, and his aforesaid, in all such commissions, warrants, and contracts, which at any future time he shall make, grant, and constitute, for the more decent and valid appointment of officers for the government of the said colony, granting of lands, and execution of justice, touching the said inhabitants, adventurers, deputies, factors, or assigns, in any part of the aforesaid lands, or in navigation to the same lands, we, with the advice and consent aforesaid, ordain, that the said Sir WiU liam Alexander, and his aforesaid, shall have one common seal belonging to the office of Lieutenant of justiciary and admiralty, which shall be kept by the said Sir William Alexander, and his aforesaid, or by his deputies, in all time to come, on one side whereof our insignia shall be engraven with these words, in the circle and margin of the same, Sigillum Regis Scotie Anglie Fuancie et Hybernie, and on the other the effigy of ourselves and our successors, with these words, Puo Nove Scotie Locum tenente, of which an exact copy shall remain in the hands and custody of the said conservator, which he may use in his office, as occasion shall require : And since it is most necessary that all our loving subjects, as many as shall inhabit the said pro- vince of Nova Scotia, or its confines, may live together in the fear of Almighty God, and the true worship of him, we, intent upon establishing the Christian religion therein, II ^' (;o APPENDIX. nativis incolis et agrestibus indigenis earum terranim colere (unde ipsi et eoruni quilibet mercimonia ibi exercentes tuti cum oblectamento ca quae niagno cum labore et peri- culo acqwisiverunt quiete possidere possiiit) nos pro nobis nostrisque haeredibus et suc- cessoribus volumus nobisque visum est per pracsentis cartae nostrae tenorem dare et concedere dicto Domino Willehno Alexander suis(jue praedict et eorum deputatis vel aliquibus aliis gubernatoribus officiariis et ministris quos ipsi constituent liberam et ab- solutam potestatem tractandi et pacem atfinitatem amicitiam et mutua colloquia ope- ram et communicationem cum silvestris illis aboriginibus et eorum principibus vel qui- buscunque aliis regimen et potestatem in ipsos habentibus contrahendi observandi et alendi tales affinitates et colloquia quae ipsi vel sui praedict cum iis contrahent modo foedera ilia ex adversa parte per ipsos silvestres fideliter observentur quod nisi fiat arma contra ipsos sumendi quibus rcdigi possunt in ordinem sicuti dicto Willelmo suisque praedict et deputatis pro honore obedientia et Dei servitio ac stabilimen- to defensione et conservatione authoritatis nostrae inter ipsos expediens videbitur Cum potestate etiam praedicto Domino Willelmo Alexander suisque praedict per ipsos vel eorum deputatos substitutes vel assignatos pro ipsoriim defensione et tutela omni tempore et omnibus justis occasionibus in posterum aggrediendi ex inopinato invadendi expellendi et armis repellendi tarn per mare quam per terram omnibus modis omnes et singulos qui sine speciali licentia dicti Domini Willelmi suo- rumque praedict terras inhabitare aut mercaturam facere in dicta Novae Scotiae provincia aut quavis ejusdem parte conabuntur et similiter omnes alios quoscunque qui aliquid damni detrimenti destructionis laesionis vel invasionis contra provinciam illam aut ejusdem incolas inferre praesumunt quod ut iacilius fiat licitum erit dicto Domino Willelmo suisque praedict eorum deputatis factoribus et assignatis contributiones a peri- clitantibus et incolis ejusdem levare in unum cogere per proclamationes vel quovis alio ordine talibus temporibus sicuti dicto Domino Willelmo suisque praedict expediens videbitur omnes nostros subditos infra dictas limites dictae provinciae Novae Scotiae inhabitantes et mercimonia ibidem exercentes convocare pro meliori exercituum neces- sariorum supplemento et populi et plantationis diet terrarum augmentatione et incre- mento Cum plenaria potestate privilegio et libertate diet Domino Willelmo Alexander suisque praedict per ipsos vel eorum substitutes per quaevis maria sub nostris insigniis et vexillis navigandi cum tot navibus tanti oneris et tam bene munitione viris et victua- libus instructis sicuti possunt parare quovis tempore et quoties iis videbitur expediens ac omnes cujuscunque qualitatis et gradus personas nostri subditi existentes aut qui imperio nostro sese subdere ad iter illud suscipiendum voluerint cum ipsorum jumentis equis bobus ovibus bonis et rebus omnibus munitionibus machinis majoribus armis et instrumentis militaribus quotquot voluerint aliisque commoditatibus et rebus necessariis pro usu ejusdem coloniae mutuo commercio cum nativis inhabitantibus earum provin- ciarum aut aliis qui cum ipsis plantatoribus nierciraonia contrahent transportandi et APPENDIX. 61' by every endeavour, and also upon cultivating peace and quiet with the native and wild original inliat)itants of those lands, (whence they and every of them following mercliandise there in safety may (juietly possess, with enjoyment, those things which, with great labour and peril they have acquired,) we, for ourselves and our heirs and successors, do will, and it hath seemed good to us, by the tenor of our present charter, to give and grant to the said Sir William Alexander and his aforesaid, and their de- puties or any others, governors, officers and ministers, whom they shall appoint, free and absolute ])0wer of treating and contracting peace, alliance, friendship and mutual conferences, help and communication with those wild Aborigines and their chiefs, or others whomsoever, having rule and power over them, of observing and cherishing such alliances and conferences, which they or their aforesaid shall contract with them, provided those compacts, on the other part, be faithfully observed by tiie savages themselves, unless which be done, of taking up arms against them, whereby they may be reduced to order : As to the said .Sir William and his aforesaid, and deputies, for the honour, obe- dience and service of God, and the establishment, defence and conservation of our au- thority among them, sliall seem expedient, with power also to the aforesaid Sir William Alexander, and his aforesaid, by themselves or their deputies, substitutes or assigns, for their defence and safeguard at all times, and on all just occasions hereafter, of attacking by surprise, going against, expelling and repelling with arms, as well by sea as by land, by all means, all and singular, those who, without special licence of the said Sir William, and his aforesaid, shall essay to inhabit the lands, or to carry on merchandise in the said province of Nova Scotia, or in any part of the same, and in like manner all others who presume to bring any damage, detriment, destruction, hurt, or invasion against that province, or the inhabitants of the same, that which may be more easily done, it shall be lawful for the said Sir William, and his aforesaid, their deputies, factors, and assigns, to levy contributions from the adventurers and inhabitants of the same, to make collection by proclamations, or by any other order, at such times as to the said Sir William, and his aforesaid, shall seem expedient, to convoke all our subjects inhabiting within the said limits of the said province of Nova Scotia, and car- rying on merchandise there, for the better sup|)ly of the necessary armies, and the augmentation and increase of the people, and plantation of the said lands, with plenary power, privilege, and liberty, to the said Sir William Alexander, and his aforesaid, by themselves, or their substitutes, of navigating through any seas imder our ensigns and flags, with as many ships, of as great burden, and as well furnished with ammunition, men, and victuals, as they can provide, at any time, and as often as to them shall seem expedient, and of transporting all persons, of whatever quality and degree, being our subjects, or who shall choose to submit themselves to our authority for the undertaking of that voyage, with their beasts of burden, horses, cattle, sheep, goods, and property, and munitions, engines, heavy arms, and military instruments, as many as they shall choose, and other commodities, and things necessary for the use of the said colonv, in mutual commerce with the native inhabitants of those provinces, or with others who shall carry on merchandise with the planters themselves, and of importing thence all 62 APPENDIX. omnes commoditates et mercinionia quae iis videbuntur necessaria in regnum nostrum Scotiae sine alicujus taxationis custumae aut inipositionis pro eisdem solutione nobis vel nostris custuniariis aut eoruni deputatis indc portandi eosdemque ab eorum officiis in hac parte pro spatio septeni annorum diem datae pracseiitis cartae nostrae immediate sequen inhibendo quamquidem solam connnoditatem per spatium tredecim annorum in posterum libere concessimus tenoreque praesentis cartae nostrae concedimus et disponimus dicto Domino Willelmo suisque praedict secundum proportionem quinque pro centum postea mentionat Et post tredecim illos annos linitos licitum erit nobis nostrisque successori- bus ex omnibus bonis et mercimoniis quae ex hoc regno nostro Scotiae ad eandem pro- vinciam vel ex ea provincia ad dictum regnum nostrum Scotiae exportabuntur vel im- portabuntur in quibusvis hujus regni nostri portubus per dictum Willelmum suosque praedict tantum quinque libras pro centum secundum antiquam negotiandi morem sine ulla alia impositione taxatione custuma vel devoria ab ipsis imperpetuum levare et exi- gere quaequidem summa quinque librarum pro centum sic soluta per diet Dominum Willelmum suosque praedict aliisque nostris officiariis ad hunc effectum constitutis exinde licitum erit dicto Domino Willelmo suisque praedict eadem bona de hoc regno nostro Scotiae in quasvis alias partes vel regiones extraneas sine alicujus alterius custumae taxa- tionis vel devoriae solutione nobis vel nostris haeredibus aut successoribus aut aliquibus aliis transportare et avehere proviso tamen quod dicta bona intra spatium tredecim mensium post ipsarum in quovis hujus regni nostri portn appulsionem navi rursus im- ponantur Dan et conceden absolutam et plenariam potestatem dicto Domino Willelmo suisque praedict ab omnibus nostris subditis qui colonias ducere mercimonia exercere aut ad easdera terras Novae Scotiae et ab eisdem navigare voluerint praeter dictam sum- mam nobis debitam pro bonis et mercimoniis quinque libras de centum vel rations ex- portationis ex hoc regno nostro Scotiae ad provinciam Novae Scotiae vel importationis a dicta provincia ad regnum hoc nostrum Scotiae praedict in ipsius ejusque praedict proprios usus sumendi levandi et recipiendi et similiter de omnibus bonis et mercimoniis quae per nostros subditos coloniarum ductores negotiatores et navigatores de dicta provincia Novae Scotiae ad quaevis nostra dominia aut alia quaevis loca exportabuntur vel a nostris regnis et aliis locis ad dictam Novam Scotiam importabuntur ultra et supra dictam sum- mam nobis destinatam quinque libras de centum Et de bonis et mercimoniis omnium extraneorum aliorumque sub nostra obedientia minime existentium quae vel de provincia Novae Scotiae exportabuntur vel ad eandem importabuntur ultra et supra diet summam nobis destinatam decem libras de centum dicti Domini Willelmi suorumque praedict propriis usibus per tales ministros officiarios vel substitutes eorumve deputatos aut factores quos ipsi ad hunc effectum constituent et designabunt levandi sumendi ac reci- piendi Et pro nieliori dicti Domini Willelmi suorumque praedict aliorumque omnium nostrorum dilectorum subditorum qui dictam Novam Scotiam inhabitare vel ibidem mercimonia exercere voluerint securitate et commoditate et generaliter omnium aliorum qui nostrae authoritati et potestati sese subdere non gravabuntur nobis visum est vo- lumusque quod licitinn erit dicto Domino Willelmo suisque prftedictis unum aut plura APPENDIX. 63 commodities, and mcicliandisc, wliicli to them shall seem necessary, into our kingdom of Scotland, without payment of any tax, customs, or imposts for the same, to us, or our receivers of customs, or their deputies, and inhibiting them from their offices on this part, for the space of seven years, innnediately following the day of the date of our present charter, which sole advantage we have freely granted, and, by the tenor of our present charter, do freely grant and dispose, for the space of thirteen years hereafter, to the said iSir William, and his aforesaid, according to the proportion of five per cent, after mentioned : And after those thirteen years ended, it shall be lawful to us and our successors, out of all goods and merchandise, which out of this our kingdom of Scot- land, to the same province, or out of that province to our said kingdom of Scotland, shall be exported or imported by the said Sir William, and his aforesaid, in any ports of this our kingdom, to levy and demand from them for ever five pounds per cent, only, according to the ancient manner of trading, without any other impost, tax, custom, or duty ; which sum of five pounds per cent, being so paid by the said Sir William, and his aforesaid, and others our officers to this effect, appointed thenceforth, it shall be lawful to the said Sir William, and his aforesaid, to transport and carry the same goods from this our kingdom of Scotland, into any other foreign parts or regions, without payment of any other custom, tax, or duty, to us, or our heirs or successors, or to any other persons ; provided, however, that the said goods shall be again shipped within the space of thirteen months after their arrival in any port of this our kingdom : Giving and granting absolute and plenary power to the said Sir William, and his afore- said, of taking, levying, and receiving from all our subjects, who shall choose to plant colonies to carry on merchandise, or to navigate to the same lands of Nova Scotia, and from the same, beside the said sura due to us for goods and merchandise, five pounds out of the hundred, cither on account of export from this our kingdom of Scotland to the province of Nova Scotia, or import from the said province to this our kingdom of Scotland aforesaid, for the proper use of himself, and his aforesaid ; and in like manner with regard to all goods and merchandise, which shall be exported by our subjects, planters of colonics, traders, and navigators from the said province of Nova Scotia, to any our dominions, or any other places, or shall be imported from our kingdoms and other places to the said Nova Scotia, over and above the said sum of five pounds out of the hundred, destined for us ; and of levying, taking, and receiving from the goods and merchandise of all foreigners and others, not being under obedience to us, which either shall be exported from the province of Nova Scotia, or shall be imported to the same, over and above the said sum destined for us, ten pounds out of the hundred, for the proper use of the said Sir William, and his aforesaid, by such ministers, officers, or their substitutes, or deputies, or factors, as they shall appoint and designate to this effect. And for the better security and convenience of the said Sir William, and his aforesaid, and of all others our beloved subjects, who shall choose to inhabit the said Nova Scotia, or to carry on merchandise there, and generally of all others who shall not be reluctant to submit themselves to our authority and |)ower, it hath seemed meet to us, and we will that it shall be lawful to the said Sir William, and his aforesaid, to m APPENDIX. munimina propugnacula castella loca fortia specula armamentaria lie hlokhoussis alia- que aedificia cum portubus et navium statioiiibus aedificare vel aedificari causare una cum navibus bellicis easdemquo pro dcfensione diet locorum applicare sicut dicto Do- mino Wiilelmo suisque praedict pro dicto conamine perliciendo necessarium videbitur p'oque ipsorum dcfensione militum catervas ibidem stabilire praeter pracdicta supra- mentionata et generaliter omnia facere quae pro conquaestu augmentatione populi in- habitatione preservatione et gubernatione dictae Novae Scotiae ejusdemque orarum et territorii intra onines Inijusmodi limites pertinentias et dependentias sub nostro nomine et authoritate quodcunque nos si personaliter essemus praesentes facere potuimus licet casus specialem et strictum magis ordinem quam per praesentes praescribitur requirat cui mandato volumus et ordinamus strictissimeque praecipimus omnibus nostris justici- ariis officiariis et subditis ad loca ilia sese conferentibus ut sese applicent dictoque Do- mino Wiilelmo suisque praedictis in omnibus et singulis supra mentionatis earum sub- stantiis et circumstantiis intendant et obediant eisque in earum executione in omnibus adeo sint obedientes ut nobis cujus personam representat esse deberent sub poena dis- obedientiae et rebellionis Et quia fieri potest quod quidam ad dicta loca transportandi refractarii sint et ad eadem loca ire recusabunt aut dicto Domino Wiilelmo suisque prae- dict resistent nobis igitur placet quod omnes vicecomites senescalli regaiitatum balivi pacis justiciarii praepositi et urbium balivi eorumque officiarii et justiciae ministri qui- cunque dictum Dominum Willelmum suosque deputatos aliosque praedict in omnibus et singulis legitimis rebus et factis quas f'acient aut intendent ad efFectum praedict similiter et eodem modo sicuti nostrum speciale vvarrantum ad hunc effectum haberent assistent fortisficient et eisdem suppetias f'erant Declaramus insuper per praesentis cartae nostrae tenorem omnibus Christianis regibus principibus et statibus quod si aliquis'vel aliqui qui in posterum de dictis coloniis vel de earum aliqua sit in dicta provincia Novae Scotiae vel aliqui alii sub eorum licentia vel mandato quovis tempore f'uturo piraticam exercentes per mare vel terram bona alicujus abstulerint vel aliquod injustum vel indebitum liosti- liter contra aliquos nostros nostrorumve haeredum et successorum aut aliorum regum principum gubernatorum aut statuum in foedere nobiscum existen subditos quod tali injuria sic oblata aut justa querela desuper mota per aliquem regem principem guberna- torem statum vel eorum subditos praedict nos nostri haeredes et successores publicas proclamationes fieri curabimus in aliqua parte dicti regni nostri Scotiae ad hunc effectum magis commoda ut diet pirata vel piratae qui tales rapinas committent stato tempore per praefatas proclamationes limitando plenarie restituant quaecunque bona sic ablata et pro dictis injuriis omnimodo satisf'aciant ita ut dicti principes aliique sic conquaerentes satis- factos se esse reputent et quod si talia faciuora committent bona ablata non restituent aut restitui faciant infra limitatum tempus quod tunc in posterum sub nostra protectione et tutela niinime eruut et quod licitum erit omnibus principibus aliisque praedict delin- APPENDIX. 65 build, or to cause to be built, one or more strong holds, fortresses, castles, forts, towers, depots of arms, lie bloldiousis, and other edifices, with ports and harbours, together with ships of war, and to apply the same for the defence of tiic said places, as to the said 8ir \\ illiaui, and his aforesaid, sliull seem necessary for performing the said enterprise, and for their defence to establish regiments of soldiers there, beside the afore- said things above mentioned, and generally to do all things which for the con- quest, augmentation, inhabitation, preservation, and government of the people of the same Nova Scotia, and of the coasts and territory of the same, within all the li- mits, appurtenances, and dependencies of the same, under our name and authority whatsoever, we, if we were personally present, could have done, although the case may require special and more strict ordering, than such as is prescribed by these presents ; to which mandate we will, and ordain, and strictly enjoin all our justiciaries, officers, and subjects, betaking themselves to those places, that they apply themselves, and at- tend upon, and obey the said Sir William, and his aforesaid, in all and singular the things above mentioned, with their substances and circumstances, and be as obedient to them in the execution thereof, as they ought to be to us, whose person he represents, under pain of disobedience and rebellion : And because it may be, that some to be transported to the said places may be reiractory, and will refuse to go to the same places, or will resist the said Sir William, and his aforesaid, it is, therefore, our pleasure, that all sheriffs, seneschals, bailiffs of regalities, justices of the peace, mayors, and bailiffs of towns, and their officers, and ministers of justice whosoever, shall assist, reinforce the said Sir William, and his deputies, and others aforesaid, in all and singular the lawful things and acts which they shall do, or intend to the foresaid effect, in like method, and in the same manner as if they had our special warrant to this effect, and shall bring sup- plies to the same. We declare, moreover, by the tenor of our present charter, to all Christian Kings, Princes, and States, that if any person or persons, who in time to come shall be of the said colonies, or of any of them, in the said province of Nova Scotia, or any other persons under their licence and command, at any future time carrying on piracy, or any thing unjust or undue, hostilely against any persons, being the subjects of ourselves, or of our heirs and successors, or of other Kings, Princes, Governors, or States in alliance with us, shall carry off the goods of any person by sea or land, that upon such injury so committed, or just complaint thereupon, moved by any King, Prince, Governor, State, or their subjects aforesaid, we, our heirs and successors, will take care that public proclamation be made in some part of our said kingdom of Scotland, most convenient for this effect, that the said pirate or pirates, who shall commit such plunder- ings, at a fixed time, to be limited by the aforesaid proclamations, may plenarily restore the goods whatsoever so taken away, and in every way give satisfaction for the said in- juries, so that the said princes, and others, so complaining, shall admit themselves to be satisfied, and that, if committing such crimes, they shall not restore, or cause to be re- stored, the goods carried off within the time limited, that then, for the future, they shall in no wise be under our protection and safeguard, and that it shall be lawful to all princes, and others aforesaid, hostilely to pursue and go against those delinquents : I m APPENDIX. quentes eos hostiliter prosequi et invadeie Et licet neminem nobilem aut generosum de patria hac sine licentia nostra decedere statutum sit nihilominus volumus quod praesens hoc diploma sufficiens erit licentia et vvarrantum omnibus qui se huic itincri committent qui laesacmajestatis non sunt rci vel aliquo alio speciali mandato inhibiti atque etiam per praesentis cartae nostrae teuoreni declaramus volumusque quod nemo patria hac dece- dere permittatur versus dictam Novam Scotiam nullo tempore nisi ii qui juramentum supremitatis nostrae primum susceperint ad quern cfFectum nos per praesentcs dicto Domino Willelmo suiscjue praedict vel corum conservatori vel dcputatis idem hoc juramentum omnibus personis versus illas terras in ea colonia sese conferentibus requirere et exhibere pleuariam potestatem et authoritatem damns et concedimus Praeterea nos cum avisamento et consensu antedict pro nobis et successoribus nos- tris declaramus decernimus et ordinamus quod omnes nostri subditi qui ad dictam Novam Scotiam proficiscentur aut earn incolent eorumque omnes liberi et posteritas (jui ibi nasci contigerit aliique omnes ibidem periclitantes habebunt et possidebunt omnes libertates immunitates et privilegia liberorum et naturalium subditorum regni nostri Scotiae aut aliorum nostrorum dominiorum sicuti ibidem nati i'uissent Insuper nos pro nobis et successoribus nostris damns et concedimus dicto Domino Willelmo Alex- ander suisque praedict liberam potestatem stabiliendi ct cudere causandi monetam pro commercio liberiori inhabitantium dictae provinciae cujusvis metalli quo modo et qua forma voluerint et eisdem praescribent Atque etiam si quae questiones aut dubia super interpretatione aut constructione alicujus clausulae in hac praesenti carta nostra conten- tae occurrent ea omnia suraentur et interpretabuntur in amplissima forma et in favorem dicti Domini Willelmi suorumque praedict Praeterea nos ex nostra certa scientia pro- ])rio niotu authoritate regali et poteslate regia fecimus univinius annexavimus ereximus creavimus et incorporavimus tenoreque praesentis cartae nostrae facimus uninius annexa- mus erigimus creamus et incorporamus totam integram dictam provinciam et terras Novae Scotiae cum omnibus earuudera limitibus et maribus ac mineralibus auri ct ar- genti plumbi cupri chalibis stanni aeris ferri aliisque quibuscunque fodinis margaritis lapidibus praeciosis lapicidinis silvis virgultis mossis marresiis lacubus aquis piscationibus tam in aquis dulcibus quam salsis tam regalium piscium quam aliorum civitatibus liberis portubus liberis burgis urbibus baroniae burgis maris portubus anchoragiis machinis mo- lendinis officiis et jurisdictionibus omnibusque aliis generaliter et particulariter supra mentionatis in unum integrum et liberum Dominium et Baroniam per praedict nomen Novae Scotiae omni tempore affuturo appellandum Volumusque et concedimus ac pro nobis et successoribus nostris decernimus et ordinamus quod unica sasinanunc per dictum Dominum Willelmum suosque praedict omni tempore affuturo super aliqua parte fundi diet terrarum et provincia praescript stabit et sufficiens erit sasina pro tota regione cum omnibus partibus pendiculis privilegiis casualitatibus libertatibus et immunitatibus ejus- dem supranientionatis absque aliqua alia speciali et particuliari sasina per ipsum suosve praedict apud aliquam aliam partem vel ejusdem locum capienda penes quam sasinam omniaque quae inde secuta sunt aut sequi possunt nos cum avisamento et consensu supra APPENDIX. 67 And although there be a statute that no nobleman or gentleman depart from this country without our licence, nevertheless, we will that this present diploma shall be a sufficient licence and warrant to all who shall undertake this voyage, who are not guilty of treason, or inhibited by some other special mandate : And also we declare and will, by the tenor of our present charter, that no person may be permitted to depart from this his country, for the said Nova Scotia, at any time, except those who shall first have taken the oath of our supremacy, to which effect we, by these presents, do give and grant to the said Sir ^Villiam, and to his aforesaid, or their conservator or deputies, plenary power and authority to require and administer this same oath from all persons betaking themselves to those lands in that colony : Moreover, we, witli the advice and consent aforesaid, for ourselves and our successors, declare, decree, and ordain, that all our subjects who shall proceed to the said Nova Scotia, or shall inhabit it, and all their children and posterity who shall chance to be born there, and all others adventuring thither, shall have and possess all liberties, immunities and privileges, of free and na- tural subjects of our kingdom of Scotland, or of other our dominions, as if they had been born therein : ^loreover, we, for ourselves and our successors, do give and grant to the said Sir William Alexander, and his aforesaid, free power of establishing, and causing to be coined, money, for tiie more free commerce of the inhabitants of the said province, of any metal, in what manner and in what form they shall, will and prescribe for the same : And also, if any questions or doubts upon the interpretation or construc- tion of any clause contained in this our present charter shall occur, they shall all be taken and interpreted in the most ample form, and in favour of the said Sir \\'illiam, and his aforesaid : jNIoreover, we, of our certain knowledge, proper motive, regal authority and royal power, have made, iniited, annexed, erected, created and incorporated, and, by the tenor of our present charter, do make, unite, annex, erect, create and incorporate, whole and entire, the said province and lands of Nova Scotia, with all the limits and seas of the same, as well as minerals of gold and silver, lead, copper, steel, tin, brass, iron, and other mines whatsoevei-, margarites, precious stones, stone-quarries, woods, coppices, mosses, marshes, lakes, waters, fisheries, as well in fresh waters as in salt, as well of royal fishes as of others, cities, free ports, free burghs, towns, burghs of barony, sea ports, anchorages, machines, mills, offices and jurisdictions, and all other things ge- nerally and particularly above mentioned, into one entire and free lordship and barony, to be called by the aforesaid name of Nova Scotia, in all time to come : And we will, and grant, and, for ourselves and our successors, do decree and ordain, that one seisin, at this time, by the said Sir William, and his aforesaid, upon any part of the soil of the said lands and province above written, shall, in all time to come, stand, and be a suffi- cient seisin for the whole region, with all parts, appendages, privileges, casualties, liber- ties and immunities above mentioned, of the same, without any other special and parti- cular seisin, to be taken by him, or his aforesaid, on any other part or place of the same ; concerning which seisin, and all things which have ensued thereupon, or can ensue, wc, with the advice and consent above expressed, for ourselves and our succes- 1 i2 68 APPENDIX. expresso pro nobis et successoribus nostris dispensavimus tcnoreque praesentis cartae nostrae modo subtus mentionat dispensamus in peipetuum Tenen et Haben totarn et iiitegram dictam vegionem et dominium Novae Scotiae cum omnibus cjusdem limitibus infra praedicta maiia mineralibus auii et argenti cupri chalibis stauni plumbi aeris f'erri aliisque quibuscunque fbdinis margaritis lapidibus praeciosis lapicidinis silvis virgultis mossis marresiis lacubus aquis piscationibus tam in aquis dulcibus quam salsis tarn rega- lium piscium qiuuii aliorum civitatibus liberis burgis liberis portubus urbibus baroniae burgis maris portubus anchoragiis machinis molendinis officiis ec jurisdictionibus omni- busque aliis generaliter et particulariter supra mentionat cumque omnibus aliis privile- giis libertatibus immunitatibus casuaiitatibus aliisque supra expressis praefato Domino Wiilelmo Alexander hacredibus suis et assignatis de nobis nostrisque successoribus in feodo haereditate libero dominio libera baronia et regalitate imperpetuum per omnes rectas metas et limites suas prout jacent in longitudine et latitudine in domibus aediliciis aedi- ficatis et aedificandis boscis planis moris marresiis viis semitis aquis stagnis rivolis pratis et pascuis molendinis multuris et eorum sequelis aucupationibus venationibus piscationi- bus petariis turbariis carbonibus carbonaiiis cuniculis cuniculariis columbis columbariis fa- brilibus brasinis brueriis et genistis silvis nemoribus et virgultis lignis tignis lapicidiis lapi- de et calce cum curiis bludewitis placitis haerezeldis furca fossa sok sac thole theme infang- theifFoutfangtheiff' vvrak wair veth vert vennesoun pitt et gallows ac cum omnibus aliis et singulis libertatibus commoditatibus proficuisasiamentis ac justis suis pertinentiis quibus- cunque tam non nominatquam nominat tam subtus terra quam supra terram procul et prope ad praedict regionem et dominium spectan sen juste spectare valen quomodolibet in futu- rurn libere quiete plenarie integre honoriMce bene et in pace absque ulla revocatione contra- dictione impedimento aut obstaculo quocunque Solvendo inde annuatim dictus Dominus Willelmus Alexander suique praedict nobis nostrisque haeredibus et successoribus unum denarium monetae Scotiae super fundum diet terrarum et provinciae Novae Scotiae ad fes- tum Nativitatis Christi nomine albae firmae si petatur tanturn Et quia tentione diet terra- rum et provinciae Novae Scotiae et alba firma supradict deficiente tempestivo et legitime introitu cujusvis haeredis vel haeredum dicti Domini Willelmi sibi succeden quod difficul- ter per ipsos pracstari potest ob longinquam distantiara ab hoc regno nostro eaedem terrae et provincia ratione non-introitus in manibns nostris nostrorumve successorum devenient usque ad legitimum legitimi haeredis introitum et nos nolentes dictas terras ct regionem quovis tempore in non-introitu cadere neque dictum Dominum Willelmum suosque praedict beneficiis et proiicuis ejusdem eatenus frustrari idcirco nos cum avisa- mento praedict cum dicto non-introitu quandocunque contigerit dispensavimus tenoreque ejusdem cartae nostrae pro nobis et successoribus nostris dispensamus ac etiam renun- ciavimus et exoneravimus tenoreque praesentis cartae nostrae cum consensu praedicto renunciamus et exoneramus dictum Dominum Willelmum ejusque praescript praef'atum non-introitum dictae provinciae et regionis quandocunque in manibus nostris deveniet APPENDIX. 69 sors, have dispensed, and, by the tenor of our present charter, in manner under men- tioned, do dispense for ever ; To hold, and to have, whole and entire, the said region and lordship of Nova Scotia, with all the limits of the same, within the aforesaid seas, minerals of gold and silver, coj)[)er, steel, tin, lead, brass and iron, and other mines whatsoever ; niargarites, precious stone-stones, quarries, woods, coppices, mosses, marshes, lakes, waters, fisheries, as well in fresh waters as in salt, as well of royal fishes as of others, cities, free burghs, free ports, towns, burghs of barony, sea ports, anchor- ages, machines, mills, offices and jurisdictions, and all other things, generally and par- ticularly above mentioned ; and with all other privileges, liberties, immunities and casualties, and other things above expressed, to the aforesaid Sir William Alexander, his heirs and assigns, of us and our successors, in free inheritance, free lordship, free barony and regality, for ever, through all their just boundaries and limits, as they lie in length and breadth, in liouses, edifices, built and to be built, boscages, plains, moors, marshes, highways, paths, waters, pools, rivulets, meadows and pastures, mills, mul- tures, and their sequels, hawkings, huntings, fisheries, peat mosses, turf bogs, coals, coal-pits, coneys, warrens, doves, dove-cotes, workshops, maltkins, breweries, and broom, woods, groves and coppices, buried wood, timber, stone-quarries, stone and lime, with courts, fines, pleas, heriots, unlaws, and raids of women, with free ingress and egress, and with fork, foss, sok, sac, toll, theme, infangtheifT, outfangtheifT, wrak, weir, veth, forestry, venison, pit and gallows ; and with all other and singular the liberties, commodities, profits, easements, and their rightful appurtenances wiiatsoever, as well not named as named, as well beneath the earth as above the earth, far and near, belonging, or which can in any wise justly belong, to the aforesaid region and lordship, for the future, freely, quietly, plenarily, entirely, honourably, well, and in peace, without any revocation, contradiction, impediment or obstacle whatsoever : The said Sir "William Alexander, and his aforesaid, paying yearly thereout to ns, and to our heirs and successors, one penny of Scottish money upon the soil of the said lands and province of Nova Scotia, at the festival of the Nativity of Christ, under the name of quit rent only, if it be demanded : And because, by the tenure of the said lands and province of Nova Scotia, and by the aforesaid quit rent, in default of timely and lawful entry of any heir or heirs of the said Sir W^illiam, succeeding to him, which may with difficulty be performed by them, on account of the fur distance from this our kingdom, t!ie same lands and province, by reason of non-entry, will come into the hands of us or our successors, until the lawful entry of the lawful heir : And we being unwilling that the said lands and region should at any time fall into non-entry, or that the said Sir William, and his aforesaid, should be so far deprived of the benefits and profits of the same, therefore we, with the advice aforesaid, have dispensed with the said non-entry, whensoever it shall have occurred ; and by the tenor of the same, our charter, for ourselves and our successors, do dispense, and also have renounced and exo- nerated, and, by the tenor of our present charter, with the consent aforesaid, do renounce and exonerate the said Sir A\'illiam, and his aforesaid, the aforesaid non-entry of the 70 APPENDIX. aut ratione non-introitus cadet cum omnibus quae desuper sequi possunt proviso tameii quod dictus Dorainus Willelmus suique haeredes et assignati infra spatium septem an- norum post decessum et obitum suorum praedecessoruni aut introituni ad possessionem diet terrarum aliorumque praedict per ipsos vel eorum legitimes procuratores ad liunc efFectum potestatem habentes nobis uostrisque successoribus homagium faciant et dictas terras dominium et baroniam aliaque praedict adeant et per nos recipiantur sec\mdum leges et statuta dicti regni nostri Scotiae Denique nos pro nobis et successoribus nostris volumus deccrnimus et ordinamus praesentem banc nostram cartam et infeof'amentum supra script praedict terrarum dominii et regionis Novae Scotiae privilegia et libertates ejusdem in proximo nostro Parliamenta dicti regni nostri Scotiae cum contigerit ratifi- cari approbari et confirmari ut vim et efficaciam decreti inibi habeat penes quod nos pro nobis et successoribus nostris declaramus banc nostram cartam sufficiens fore warrantum et in verbo Principis eandem ibi ratificari et approbari promittimus atque etiam alterare renovare et eandem in amplissima forma augere et extendere quoties dicto Domino Willelmo ejusque praedict necessarium et expediens videbitur Insuper nobis visum est ac mandamus et praecipimus dilectis nostris Vicecomitibus nostris in hac parte specialiter constitutis quatenus post hujus cartae nos- trae nostro sub magno sigillo aspectum statum et sasinam actualem et realem praefato Domino Willelmo suisque praedict eorumve actornato vel actornatis terrarum dominii baroniae aliorumque praedict cum omnibus privilegiis immunitatibus libertatibus aliisque supra expressis dare et concedere quam sasinam nos per praesentis cartae nostrae teno- rem adeo legitiuiam et ordinariam esse declaramus ac si praeceptum sub testimouio nos- tri mao-ni sigilli in amplissima forma cum omnibus clausulis requisitis ad liunc effectum praedict haberet penes quod nos pro nobis et successoribus nostris imperpetuum dispen- samus In cujus rei testimonium huic praesenti cartae nostrae magnum sigillum nostrum apponi praecepimus testibus praedilectis nostris consanguineis et consiliariis Jacobo Marchione de Hamiltoun comite Aranie et Cambridge domino Aven et Innerdaill Georgio Mariscali comite domino Keith &c. regni nostri mariscallo Alexandre comite de Dumfermeling domino Fyvie et Urquhart &c. nostro cancellario Thoma comite de Melros domino Bynning et Byres nostro secretario dilectis nostris familiaribus consilia- riis dominis Ricardo Cokburne juniore de Clerkingtoun nostri secreti sigilli custode Georgio Hay de Kinfawins nostrorum rotulorum registri ac consilii cleiico Joanne Cokburne de Ormestoun nostrae justiciariae clerico et Joanne Scott de Scottistarvet nostrae cancellariae directore militibus Apud castcllum nostrum de Windsore decimo die mensis Septembris anno Domini millesimo sexcentesimo vigesimo primo regnorum- (jue nostrorum annis quinquagesimo quinto et decimo nono respective. APPENDIX. 71 said province and region, wliensoever it shall come into our hands, or fall, by ix-ason of non-entry, with all things which can ensue therefrom, provided, however, that the said Sir AVilliani, and his heirs and assigns, within tlie space of seven years after the decease and death of tlieir predecessors, or entry into possession of the said lands, and other things aforesaid, by themselves, or their lawful procurators, to this efiect empowered, do homage to us and our successors, and come and receive, through us, the said lands, lordship and barony, and other things aforesaid, according to the laws and statutes of our said kingdom of Scotland : Finally, we, for ourselves and our successors, do will, decree and ordain, that this our present charter and infeftment above written, of the aforesaid lands, lordship and region of Nova Scotia, the privileges and liberties of the same, shall be ratified, approved and confirmed in our next Parliament of our said king- dom of Scotland, when it shall happen, that it may therein have the force and efficacy of a decree ; with regard whereto, we, for ourselves and our successors, declare, that this our charter shall be a sufficient warrant ; and, on the word of a Prince, we promise that the same shall be there ratified and approved, and also to alter, renew, and to aug- ment and extend the same, in the most ample form, as often as to the said Sir William, and his aforesaid, shall seem necessary and expedient : JMoreover, it hath seemed good to us, and we command and enjoin our beloved Our sheriffs, on this part specially con- stituted, in so far as to give and grant, after sight of this our charter under the Great Seal, possession and seisin, actual and real, to the aforesaid Sir William, and his afore- said, or their attorney or attorneys, of the lands, lordship, barony and other things afore- said, with all privileges, immunities, liberties, and other things above expressed ; which seisin, we, by the tenor of our present charter, declare to be as lawful and orderly, as if he had a precept under witness of our Great Seal, in the most ample form, with all the clauses requisite for this effect aforesaid, with regard to which, we, for ourselves and our successors, do for ever dispense. In witness whereof, we have commanded our Great Seal to be affixed to this our present charter ; witnesses, our right well-beloved cousins and councillors, James, jNIarrpiis of Hamilton, Earl of Aran and Cambridge, Lord Aven and Innerdaill ; George, Earl Marischal, Lord Keith, &c. Marshal of our kingdom ; Alexander, Earl of Dumfermeling, Lord Eyvie and Uripduut, &c. our Chan- cellor ; Thomas, Earl of i\Ielros, Lord Bynning and Byres, our Secretary ; our beloved familiar councillors. Sirs Richard Cokburne, the younger, of Clerkingtoun, our Keeper of the Privy Seal ; George Hay of Kinfawins, our Register of the Rolls and Clerk of the Council ; John Cokburne of Ormestoun, Clerk of our Justiciary ; and John Scott of Scottistarvet, our Director of the Chancery, Baronets ; At our castle of ^\'indsor, the 10th day of September, anno Domini lG'21, and of our reigns the fifty-fifth and nhieteenth years respectively. 72 APPENDIX. Per Signaturam manu S. D. N. Regis suprasciiptam manibusqiie nostri Cancel- larii Thesaurarii Principalis Secrctarii reliquonnnq Doniinorum nostroriim Commissionariorum ac Secreti nostri Consilii dicti Regni Scotiae subscript. Writtin to the Great Seall, 29. Septemb. l621. J. Scott, gratis. ) Sigellat. Edinburgi, > «9. Septemb. 1621, Ja. Raithe, grs. •; : > . > ., . .' . ) APPENDIX. 73' By Signature, by the hand of our Sovereign Lord the King, superscribed, and by the hands of our Chancellor, Treasurer, Principal Secretary, and of the other Lords, our Conimi.ssioncrs, and of our Privy Council of the said king- dom of Scotland, subscribed. Writtin to the Great Seall, 29. Septemb. 1621, J. Scott, gratis. Sealed at Edinburgh, 29. Septemb. IG21, Ja. Raithe, APPENDIX. No. II. Charter of Novodavms in favour of Sir William Alexander of Menstrie, Knight, of the Lands, Lordship and Barony of Nova Scotia, in America. Carolus Dei gratia Magnae Britanniae Franciae et Hiberniae Rex Fideique Defensor Omnibus probis hominibus totius terrae suae clericis et laicis salutem Sciatis nos semper ad quamlibet quae ad decus et eraolumentum regni nostri Scotiae spectaret occasionem amplectandum fuisse intentos nullamque aut fliciliorem aut magis innoxiam acquisitionem censere quam quae in exteris et incultis regnis ubi vitae et victui suppetunt commoda novis deducendis coloniis facta sit praesertim si vel ipsa regna cultoribus prius vacua vel ab infidelibus quos ad Christianam converti fidem ad Dei gloriam interest plurimum in- sessa fuerunt sed cum et alia nonnulla regna et haec non ita pridem nostra Anglia lauda- biliter sua nomina novis terris acquisitis et a se subactis indiderunt quam numerosa et frequens Divino beneficio haec gens hac tempestate sit nobiscum reputantes quamque honesto aliquo et utili cultu earn studiose exerceri ne in deteriora ex ignavia et otio pro- labatur expediat plerosque in novam deducendos regionem quam coloniis compleant operae praetium duximus qui et animi promptitudine et alacritate corporumque robore et viribus quibuscunque difficultatibus si qui alii mortalium uspiam se audeant opponere hunc conatum huic regno maxime idoneum inde arbitramur quod virorum tantummodo et mulierum jumentorum et frumenti non etiam pecuniae transvectionem postulat neque incommodam ex ipsius regni mercibus retributionem hoc tempore cum negotiatio adeo imminuta sit possit reponere hisce de causis sicuti et propter bonum fidele et gratum dilecti nostri consiliarii Domini Willielmi Alexander equitis servitium nobis praestitum et praestandum qui propriis impensis ex nostratibus primus externam banc coloniam du- cendam conatus sit diversasque terras infra designatis limitibus circumscripta incolendas expetiverit Nos igitur ex regali nostra ad Christianam religionem propagandam et ad opulentiam prosperitatem pacemque naturalium nostrorum subditorum dicti regni nostri Scotiae acquirendam cura sicuti alii principes extranei in talibus casibus hactenus fecerunt cum avisamento et consensu praedilecti nostri consanguinei et consiliarii Joannis Comitis de Mar Domini Erskyn et Garioche &c. summi nostri thesaurarii computorum rotulatoris collectoris ac thesaurarii novarum nostrarum augmentationum hujus regni nostri Scotiae ac reliquorum dominorum nostrorum commissionariorum cjusdem regni nostri Dedimus concessimus et disposuimus tenoreque praesentis cartae nostrae Dam us concedimus et disponimus praefato Domino Willielmo Alexander haeredibus suis vel assignatis quibuscunque haereditarie Omnes et singulas terras continentis ac insulas si- tuatas et jacen in America intra caput seu promontorium communiter Cap de Sable APPENDIX. 75 No. II. Novodamus of Nova Scotia. 1G25. Charles, by the Grace of God, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland, and De- fender of the Faith, To all good men of his whole land, clergy and laity, greeting. Know ye. That we always have been intent to embrace every occasion that might tend to the honour and profit of our kingdom of Scotland, and have been of opinion, that there is no acquisition, either easier or more unprejudicial, than what may be made by conducting new colouies into foreign and uncultivated realms, where conveniences for life and food are sufficient, especially if either those realms were before destitute of cul- tivators, or were settled in by infidels, whom it is of the greatest concern that they be converted to the Christian faith, to the glory of God ; but when both some other kinc- doms, and not long since, this our (kingdom of) England, have laudably imposed their names on new lands acquired and subdued by them, considering how numerous and dense this people, by the Divine blessing, at this time, arc, and how they may be dili- gently exercised in any honourable and useful employment, lest, from sloth and indo- lence, they decline into worse, it may be expedient, and we have reckoned it an object of estimation, that many of them should be conducted into a new country, which they may fill with colonies, who, both by readiness and alacrity of mind, and by strength and ability of body, may dare to oppose themselves to whatsoever diiliculties beset other mortals any where. We thence judge this undertaking to be exceedingly suitable to this kingdom, which calls for the transportation of men only, and women, beasts of burthen and corn ; not so of money ; and may not make a disadvantageous return from the merchandise of the kingdom itself, at this time, when trade is so diminished : For these causes, namely, and on account of the good, faithful and grateful service rendered, and to be rendered to us by our well-beloved councillor. Sir William Alexander, Kni 108, 109, 110 and 111th leaves thereof, conform to the act of Parliament made thereanent in June l6l7, by uie, depute-keeper of said Register. Ar. Wishaut. APPENDIX. iaa ' purpose. Witness myself at Edinburgh, the 7th day of July, and in the second year ' of our reign, 1S31. ' To the Sheriff of Edinburgh and his Bailies, for Alexander, Earl of Stirling and • Uovan, to his great-great-great grandfather. (Signed) ' William Campbell J^ Sub.' After reading and interpreting which precept of seisin, in the common speech, to the witnesses present, the foresaid Sheriff, in virtue of the said precept of seisin, and of the dispensation therein contained, and the ofTice of bailiary therein committed to him, GAVE and UEHVERED heritable state and seisin, actual, real and corporal possession of the said lands and others above specified, with the pertinents, to the before-named Alexander, Earl of Stirling and Dovan, heir aforesaid, and that by delivery of earth and stone of the ground of the said Castle into the hands of the said attorney, for and in name of the said Alexander, Earl of Stirling and Dovan, after the tenor of the said precept of seisin above inserted, and dispensation contained in the same, in all points. Whereupon, and upon all and sundry the premises, the foresaid attorney asked instru- ments from me, the undersigned notary-public. These things were so done at the said Castle of Edinburgh, within the outer gate there, in virtue of the dispensation foresaid, between the hours of eleven forenoon and twelve noon, on the day of the month, in the year of our Lord, and of the reign of our sovereign lord the King, above written, in presence of David Byars, clerk in the ofHcc of the clerk of the sheriffdom of Edinburgh, and William Wilson, second son of me, notary-public, residing in Lyn- doch Place, at Edinburgh, witnesses to the premises specially called and required, and this public instrument with me subscribing. And I truly, James Wilson, clerk of the diocese of Edinburgh, and clerk of the sherifTdom of Edinburgh, and notary-public, by royal authority, and by the Lords of Council and Session, acconiing to the tenor of the act of Parliament admitted, because at all and sundry the premises, whilst thcv were, as is before stated, so said, done and performed, 1 was, together with the before-named witnesses, personally piescnt, and all and sundry these premises I saw, knew, and heard so performed and said, and took a note of them ; therefore I, being called and recpiired, prepared therefrom this present public instrument, by another hand, upon this and the six foregoing pages of parchment, duly stamped, with the marginal addition on page third, faithfully written, and have rendered it in this form of a public instrument ; and in faith, corroboration and testimony of the truth of all and sundry the premises, have signed and subscribed the same with my sign, name and surname, used and wont. Veritas. Ja. Wilson, N. Pi Dav. Bj/ars, witness. > JVm. Wilson, witncas. • - . . . • 122 APPENDIX. No. V. Original Charter in favour of Sir William Alexander of Menstrie, KnigJd, of the Lordship of Canada, Sfc. Carolus Dei Gratia Magne Britannic Francie et Hibernie Rex Fideique Defensor Omnibus probis hominibus totius terre sen clericis et laicis salutem Sciatis quia nos per- fecte diligentes quo pacto fidelis ac praedilectus noster consiliarius Dominus Willielmus Alexander de Menstrie miles noster Principalis Secretarius pro regno nostro Scotiae ac Haereditarius Locum tenens regionis et dominii nostri Novae Scotiae in America variis suis susceptis navium machinarum bellicarum tormentorum et munitionum provisione deduc- tione coloniarum necnon in dicta regione perspicienda peragranda et possidenda magnos sumptus et impensas sustinuerit et quo melius ipse ceterique nostri subditi dictae regionis inhabitationeni secum experturi corroborentur pro ulteriore nostrorum in istis partibus dominiorum dilatatione Christianae religionis inibi propagatione viaeque seu transitus sperabili revelatione et detectione ad ista maria quae Americac ab occidente incumbunt vulgo lie South Sea nuncupata unde magni istius fluniinis seu sinus Canadae vel ali- cujus in eundem defluentis fiuvii caput seu scaturigo non procul distare existimatur ac quoniam ex specimine per dictum Dominum Willielmuin in dictae regionis Novae Scotiae ad praefatum sinum et fluvium Canadam terminantis perspectione et peragratione hactenus exhibito spectata plantationis in istis partibus mitia ad propagationem dictae religionis magnumque antiqui regni nostri Scotiae decus et emolumentum tantum ten- dentia sibi stabilieuda proposuit ex quo fieri potest ut dictae coloniae per ipsum suosque successores plantandae bac ope praef'atam viam seu transitum ad dicta maria multum hue usque praegravibus considerationibus desideratum totiesque per varias personas suscep- tum processu teraporis detegant Igitur ac pro dicti Domini Willielmi haeredum suorum assignatorum suorumque participum et associatorum ad ulteriorem in tali tantoque sus- cepto progrcssum flagrantioribus accendendis animis nos cum specialibus avisamento et consensu praefidelis et praedilecti nostri consanguinei et consiliarii Joannis Comitis Marriae Domini Erskene et Gareoch magni nostri thesaurarii nostrorum compu- torum rotulatoris coUectoris et thesaurarii novarumque nostrarum augmentationum regni nostri Scotiae fidelis et praedilecti nostri consiliarii Archibald! Domini Naper de Merchingstoun nostri in dictis officiis deputati ac reliquorum dominorum nostri secreti consilii nostrorum commissionariorum dicti regni nostri Scotiae Dedimus con- cessimus et disposuimus tenoreque praesentis cartae nostrae Damns concedimus et disponimus praefato Domino Willielmo Alexander haeredibus suis et assignatis haere- ditarie imperpetuum Omnes et singulas insulas infra sinum Canadae jacentes inter Novam Scotiam et Terram Novam ad ostium et introitum pracdicti magni fiuminis Canadae ubi decidit et intrat in dictum sinum (includendo inibi magnam insulam Anti- costi) necnon dedimus concessimus et disposuimus tenoreque praesentis cartae nostrae damns concedimus et disponimus praenominato Domino Willielmo Alexander suisque praedictis omnes et singulas insulas infra dictum fluvium Canadam jacentes a dicto ostio APPENDIX. No. V. Charter of Canada, 1628. Charles, by the Grace of God, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland, and De- fender of the Faith. To all good men of his whole land, clergy and laity, greeting : Know ye, that we, being perfectly mindful by what engagement our faithful and well- beloved Councillor, Sir A\'illiam Alexander of Menstrie, Knight, our Principal Secretary for our kingdom of Scotland, and Hereditary Lieutenant of our country and dominion of Nova Scotia, in America, has sustained great charges and expenses in his various under- takings, in the providing of ships, engines of war, ordnance and munitions, in the con- ducting of colonies ; as also, in exploring, settling and taking possession of the said country ; and, whereby, he, and our other subjects, who alongst with him were to find a settlement in the said country, might be assisted for the further diffusion of the Chris- tian religion, in those parts of our dominions, its propagation therein, and the expected revealing and discovery of a way or passage to those seas, wliich lie upon America on the west, commonly called the South Sea, from which the head, or source of that great River or Gulf of Canada, or some river flowing into it, is deemed to be not far distant ; and since by the example already exhibited by the said Sir William in the exploring and settling of the said country of Nova Scotia, terminating at the foresaid Gulf and River Canada, he has proposed establishments by him in those parts of the plantation, which seem to be favourable for the propagation of the said religion, and tending only to the great honour and profit of our ancient kingdom of Scotland, whence it may come to pass that the said colonies to be planted by him and his successors, may by this means, in process of time, discover the foresaid way or passage to the said seas, much hitherto, for very weighty considerations, desired, and so often by various persons undertaken. Therefore, and for exciting the more earnest resolutions of the said Sir William, his heirs, assignees, portioners and associates, to further progress in such and so great an enterprise, we, with the special advice and consent of our very faithful and well-beloved Cousin and Councillor, John, Earl of Mar, Lord Erskene and Gareoch, our High Treasurer, Comptroller, Collector and Treasurer of our new augmentations of our king- dom of Scotland ; our faithful and well-beloved Councillor, Archibald, Lord Naper of Merchingstoun, our deputy in the said offices, and the remanent Lords of our Privy Council ; our Commissioners of our said kingdom of Scotland ; have given, grantcil and disponed, and, by our present charter, give, grant and dispone to the foresaid Sir Wil- liam Alexander, his heirs and assignees, heritably, for ever, all and sundry islands with- in the Gulf of Canada, lying between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, at the mouth and entrance of the great river (Canada aforesaid, where it falls and enters into the said Gulf (including therein the great island Auticosti.) Also, we have given, granted and disponed, and, by our present charter, give, grant and dispone to the before-named Sir William Alexander, all and sundry islands, lying within the said river Canada, from the a Q 124 APPENDIX.- et introitu ad caput usque primum ortum et scaturiginetn cjusdem ubicunque sit aut lacum unde fluit (qui putatur esse versus itiagnum sinum Califbrniae a quibusdam Mare Vermeis nuncupatuin) aut infra quosvis alios fluvios in dictum fluviuni Cauadam de- fluentes vol iu quibuscunque lacubus aquis sive fretis per quae vel dictus niaguus Huvius Canada vel aliqui alii dictorum fluvioruni decurrunt aut in quibus exeunt ac praeterea dedinius et concessimus tenoreque praesentis cartae nostrae damus et concedimus prae- fato Domino Willielmo suisque antcdictis quinquaginta leucas bondarum ab utroque latere antedicti Huvii Canadae a dicto ostio et introitu ad dictum caput foatem et scatu- riginem ejusd necnon ab utroque latere dictorum aliorum fluviorum in eundem defluen- tium ac etiam ab utroque latere dictorum lacuum fretorum seu aquarum per quas quilibet dictorum fluviorum decurrunt aut in quibus exeunt et similiter dedimus et concessimus tenoreque praesentis cartae nostrae damus et concedimus praefato Domino Willielmo Alexander suisque praedictis totas et integras bondas et transitus tam in aquis quam in terra a praedicto capite fonte et scaturigine Canadae ubicunque sit aut a qnocunque lacu unde labitur ad praef'atum sinum Californiae quantacunque comperta f'uerit esse distantia cum quinquaginta leucis omnimodo ab utroque latere ejusdem transitus ante dictum caput Canadae et sinum Californiae et similiter omnes et singulas insulas infra eundem sinum Californiae jacentes ac etiam totas et integras terras et bondas eidem sinui ab occidente et austro adjacen sive reperiantur pars continentis sive terrae firmae sive insula (ut putatur esse) quae Californiae nomine vulgo nuncupatur et indigitatur insLiper dedimus et concessimus tenoreque praesentis cartae nostrae damus et concedi- mus ac j)ro nobis et successoribus nostris cum avisamento et consensu praedict pro per- petuo confirmaraus praefato Domino Willielmo Alexander haeredibus suis et assignatis quibuscunque haereditarie omnes et singulas alias terras bondas lacus fluvios freta silvas forestas aliaque per ipsum suosve successores eorum participes associates aut alios eorum nomine seu potestatem ab his habentes quocunque tempore futuro invenicnda conquerenda seu detegenda super utroque latere integrarum bondarum et transitus antedict ab ostio et introitu dicti fluvii Canadae ubi in dictum sinum Canadae se exonerat ad dictum sinum Californiae aut insulas in maribus eidem adjacentibus quae per alios nostros sub- ditos aut subditos alterius alicujus Christiani principis seu ordinum nobiscum in foedere et amicitia constitutorum hactenus realit et actualit possess non sunt Cum plena et absoluta potestate ipsi dicto Domino Willielmo Alexander suisque praedict (nullisque aliis) eorum factoribus servis et aliis eorum nomine colonias stabiliendi ac utendi com- mercio in praenominatis locis seu bondis vol qualibet earundem parte particularit clesignat omnesque alios ab iisdem arcendi seu j)rohibendi Necnon proportiones teirarum earun- dem cuicunque personae seu quibuscunque personis prout sibi commodum vidcbitur elocandi ac super iisdem terminis conditionibus restrictionibus et observationibus infra omnes praenominatas bondas sicut in Nova Scotia per quascunquc literas patentes seu diplomata ipsi per quond nostrum charissimum patrem vel nosmetipsos concess facere potest cum talibus etiam et tantis privilcgiis libertatibus et immunitatibus in omnibus praedictis locis seu bondis insulis aliisque suprascriptis tam in niari aqua dulci quam irt terra quales quantasque dictus Dominus Willielmus Alexander habet in Nova Scotia perpriores suas literas patentes seu diplomata de Nova Scotia de data apud •APPENDIX. \2', said mouth and entrance, up to tlie liead, fountain and source thereof, wheresoever it be, or the lake whence it flows, (which is thought to be towards the Gulf of Cah'fornia, called by some the Vermilion Sea,) or within any other rivers flowing into the said river Canada, or in vvliatsoever lakes, waters, or arms of the sea, through which either the said great river Canada, or any of the said other rivers pass, or in which they discharge themselves. And further, we have given and granted, and, by our present charter, give and grant to the foresaid Sir William, and his foresaids, fifty leagues of bounds, on both sides of the foresaid river Canada, from the said mouth and entrance, to the said head, fountain and source thereof; also on both sides of the said other rivers flowing into the same ; as also, on both sides of the said lakes, arms of the sea, or waters, through whidi any of the said rivers have their course, or in which they terminate ; and, in like man- ner, we have given and granted, and, by our present charter, give and grant to the fore- said Sir William Alexander, and his foresaids, all and whole the bounds and passages, as well in waters as on land, from the foresaid head, fountain, and source of (the river) Canada, wheresoever it is, or from whatsoever lake it flows, down to the foresaid Gulf of California, whatsoever the distance shall be found to be, with fifty leagues altogether on both sides of the said passage, before the said head of (the river) Canada, and Gulf of California ; and likewise, all and sundry islands lying within the said Gidf of Cali- fornia ; as also, all and whole the lands and bounds adjacent to the said Gulf, on the West and South, whether they be found a part of the continent or main land, or an ■island, (as it is thought they are,) which is commonly called and distinguished by the name of California. Moreover, we have given and granted, and, by our present char- ter, give and grant, and for us and our successors, with advice and consent foresaid, perpetually confirm to the foresaid Sir William Alexander, his heirs and assignees what- soever, heritably, all and sundry other lands, bounds, lakes, rivers, arms of the sea, woods, forests, and others that shall be found, coiujuered or discovered, at anv future time, by him or his successors, their partners, associates, or others in their name, or ha- ving power from them, upon both sides of the whole bounds and passages foresaid, from the mouth and entrance of the said river Canada, where it discharges itself into the said Gulf of Canada, to the said Gulf of California, or the islands in the seas thereto adja- cent, which are not yet really and actually possessed by others, our subjects, or the sub- jects of any other Christian Prince, or constituted Orders in alliance and friendship with us, with full and absolute power to him the said Sir William Alexander, and his fore- saids, (and to no others,) their stewards, servants, and others in their name, of esta- blishing colonies, and engaging in commerce, in the before-named places or bounds, or any part of them particularly designed, and of expelling or debarring all others from the same : also, of leasing out proportions of the lands thereof, to whatsoever person or persons shall seem to him fit, and on the same terms, conditions, restrictions, and ob- servances, within all the before- named bounds, as he can do in Nova Scotia, by whatso- ever Charters or Patents granted to him by our late dearest father or by ourselves: Also, with such, and as great privileges and immunities, in all the foresaid places, or bounds, islands, and others above written, as well in the sea and fresh water, as on land, as the said Sir William Alexander has in Nova Scotia, by his prior Charters or Patents of Nova Scotia, dated at 10 APPENDIX. Quaeqiiid privilegia in dictis prioribus Uteris patentibus contenta et unumquodque eorum adeo sufficientia ct valida fore ordinamus ae si singula hie particularit et sigillatim concessa et expressa fuissent de verbo in verbum ejiisdem oninimodo roboris fortitudinis et efficaciae fore volentes penes quorum particu- larem iiic non insertionem nos pro nobis et successoribus nostris dispensavimus tenoreque praesentis cartae nostrae dispensamus imperpetuum Declarando etiam sicut nos cum avisamento et consensu pi-aedicto ordinamus et declaramus pro nobis et successoribus nostris quod hae praesentes nostrae literae paten seu diploma nullatenus erit praeju- dicabile nee derogativum quibuscunque juribus cartis seu diplomatibus praefato Domino Willielmo Alexander suisve antedictis de aut super Nova Scotia quocunque tempore datam praesentium praecedente concessis aut alicui capiti clausulae articulo seu condi- tioni in iisdem expressis ac etiam sine praejudicio prioris alicujus literae patentis per nos antehac quibuscunque Baronettis infra Scotiam de regione Novae Scotiae concess seu concedend quovis tempore futuro Prohibendo et vetando prout nos tenore praesentis cartae nostrae specialit prohibemus et vetamus omnes et singulos nostros subditos cujus- cunque gradus seu conditionis in quolibet nostrorum regnorum seu dominiorum ne ullam faciant plantationem nee ullo utantur commercio in dictis locis seu bondis sinubus fluviis lacubus insulis et fretis suprascriptis aut in aliqua earund parte absque specialibus avisa- mento licentia et consensu praefati Domini Willielmi Alexander suorumve praedictorura ac cum speciali potestate dicto Domino Willielmo Alexander suisque praedictis attachi- andi arrestandi et deprehendendi omnes et singulas personas quae negotiari et com- mercio uti in aliqua dictorum locorum seu bondarum parte contra banc prohibitionem inventae fuerint eorumque naves et bona confiscandi ac desuper in suos proprios usus pro libito disponendi absque ullo compute seu ratione de eisd vel aliqua earund parte reddenda quomodolibet omniaque alia adeo libere et large in omnibus intentionibus pro- positis et instructionibus facieudi infra totas et integras praenominatas bondas seu spatia sicuti praefatus Dominus Willielmus Alexander suique praedicti infra dictam regionem Novae Scotiae seu dictum regnum nostrum Scotiae fecisse potuit seu facere potest vir- tute cujuslibet dictarum literarum patentium priorum cartarum seu diplomatum Tenen- DAS et Habendas totas et integras praenominatas terras spatia seu bondas insulas alia- que generalit et particularit expressa cum singulis suis privileges immunitatibus et com- moditatibus quibuscunque generalit et particularit supramentionat praefato Domino Willielmo Alexander suisque praedictis de nobis et successoribus nostris de corona et regno nostro Scotiae in libera alba firma imperpetuum per omnes rectas metas antiquas suas et divisas prout jacent in longitudine et latitudine in domibus aedificiis boscis pla- nis moris maresiis viis semitis aquis stagnis rivolis pratis pascuis et pasturis molendinis multuris et eorum sequelis aucupationibus venationibus piscationibus petariis turbariis carbonibus carbonariis cuuiculis cuniculariis columbis colurabariis fabrilibus brasinis brueriis et genistis silvis nemoribus et virgultis lignis tignis lapicidiis lapide et calce cum curiis et earum exitibus herezeldis bludevitis et mulierum merchetis cum communi pas- tura liberoque introitu et exitu ac cum omnibus aliis et singulis suis libertatibus com- moditatibus proficuis asiamentis ac justis suis pertinen quibuscunque tam non nominat quam nominat tam subtus terra quam supra terram procul et prope ad praedict terias cum pertinen spectan seu juste spectare valen quomodolibet in futurura libere quiete APPENDIX. 127 which privileges, contained in the said prior charters, and every one of them, we ordain to be equally sufBcicnt and valid, and altogether of the same strength, force and effect, as if each had been herein, word fur word, particularly, and by itself, granted and expressed ; as to the not particular insertion of which herein, we, for us and our successors, have dispensed, and, by our present charter, for ever dispense ; declaring also, as we, with advice and consent foresaid, ordain and declare, for us and our successors, that this our present Charter or Patent shall in no wise be prejudicial or derogatory to whatsoever rights. Charters or Patents, granted to the foresaid Sir Wil- liam Alexander, or his foresaids, of, or concerning Nova Scotia, at whatsoever time preceding the date of these presents, or to any head, clause, article or condition therein expressed, as also shall be, without prejudice, to any prior charter granted by us ere now, or to be granted at any time to come to whatsoever Baronets within Scotland, of the country of Nova Scotia ; prohibiting and forbidding all and sundry our subjects, of whatsoever degree or condition, wheresoever, in our kingdoms or dominions, to make any plantation, or engage in any connnerce in the said places or bounds, gulfs, rivers, lakes, islands and arms of the sea above written, or in any part thereof, without the special advice, permission and consent of the foresaid Sir William Alexander, or his foresaids ; and with special power to the said Sir William Alexander, and his foresaids, of seizing, arresting and apprehending all and sundry persons, who shall be found to be in trade, and engaged in commerce in any part of the said places or bounds, contrary to this prohibition, and of confiscating their ships and goods, and disposing thereof at pleasure, to their own proper uses, without rendering any count or reckoning in any manner, for the same, or any part thereof j and of doing all other things within all and whole the before-named bounds or spaces, as freely and fully, to all intents, purposes and instructions, as the foresaid Sir William Alexander and his foresaids could have done, or can do within the said country of Nova Scotia, or our said kingdom of Scotland, in virtue of any of the said letters-patent, prior Charters or Patents : To be holden, and to hold all and whole the before-named lands, spaces or bounds, islands and others, generally and particularly expressed, with their sundry privileges, immunities and com- modities whatsoever, generally and particularly, above mentioned, by the foresaid Sir William Alexander and his foresaids, of us and our successors, of the Crown and our kingdom of Scotland, in free blench farm for ever, by all their right, meiths, old and divided, as they lie in length and breadth, in houses, buildings, thickets, plains, muirs, marshes, roads, foot-paths, waters, pools, rivulets, meadows, grazings and pastures ; mills, multures and their sequels; fowlings, huntings, fishings, peat ground, turf grounds, coals, coal pits, rabbits' warrens, pigeons, dovecots, forges, kilns, breweries and broom woods, groves and shrubs, buried trees, timber, quarries, stone and lime ; with courts and their dues ; herezelds, fines and raids of women ; with common pasturage, and free ish and entry ; and with all other and sundry liberties, commodities, profits, easements and just pertinents thereof whatsoever, as well not named as named, under ground as above ground, fiir and near, belonging, or which may justly belong, in any manner, for the future, to the foresaid lands, with the pertinents, freely, quietly, fully, entirely, 128 APPENDIX. plenarie integre honorifice bene et in pace cum furca fossa sok sac thole theme wert wrack wair weth vennysoun infangtheif outfangtheif pit et gallows sine aliquo impedi- menlo revocatione contradictione aut obstacnlo aliquali Reddendo inde annuatim dictus Doniinus Wiiiielmus suique praedicti nobis et successoiibus nostris unum dena- 1 ium monetae Scotiae super solo diet tcrraruni aut alicujus partis earund ad fostum Nati- vitatis Domini nomine albae firmae si petatur tanturn Quasquidem totas et integras praenominatas terras spatia sen bondas iiisulas aliaque generalit et particularit supra ex- pressa ut dictum est nos cum specialibus avisamento et consensu praedicto pro nobis et successoribus nostris ereximus et univimus tenoreque praesentis cartae nostrae erigimus et unimus in unum integrum et liberum Dominium de Canada nuncupandum ad me- moratum Dominum Wiilielmum Alexander suosque praedict haereditarie spectan et pertinen imperpetuum Nobis etiam tenore praesentis cartae nostrae gratiose placet quod quandocunque dictus Dominus Wiiiielmus Alexander suique antedicti vel aliquis eorum banc praesentem nostram cartam cum omnibus et singulis beneficialibus clausulis et conditionibus quae in dictis prioribus Uteris patentibus cartis sen diplomatibus de Nova iScotia renovari voluerit et desideraverit vel prout ipse sui antedicti vel eorum qui- libet ex advocatorum consultatione aut speciali aliqua ulterioris seu certioris dictorum locorum seu bondarum fluviorum lacuum fretorum seu transituum aliorumque supra mentionat detectionis cognitione magis commodum et expediens videbitur tunc et in eo casu nos diet cartam praefato Domino Willielmo Alexander suisque antedictis in optima et amplissima quae comminisci poterit forma renovaturos et translaturos promittimus in verbo Principis Insuper nos tenore praesentis cartae nostrae cum avisamento et consensu praedict decernimus declaramus et ordinamus quod sasina per diet Dominum Wiiliel- mum Alexander suosve praedictos apud castrura nostrum de Edinburgh tanquam emi- nentissimum et principalem dicti regni nostri Scotiae locum aut super solo et fundo praefat terrarum bondarum et insularum vel cujuslibet earund partis ad placitura et libitum ejusdem Domini Willielmi suorumq praedict capienda omni tempore futuro suf- ficiens erit pro totis et integris praenominatis terris bondis insulis aliisque supra speeifi- cat aut aliqua parte seu portione earund et quod haeredes praefati Domini Willielmi suorumq praedict in omnibus et singulis praenominatis terris bondis insulis aliisq prae- dictis vel per praecepta e cancellaria dicti regni nostri Scotiae aut cancellaria per dictum Dominum Wiilielmum suosque autedictos in praefata regione et dominio de Canada in- stituenda pro libito sasiantur aut etiam prout haeredes sui per dictas priores suas con- cessiones in Nova Scotia sasiri possunt penes quod nos cum avisamento et consensu praedicto ])ro nobis et successoribus nostris dispensavimus tenoreque praesentis cartae nostrae dispensamus imperpetuum ac penes omnia et singula praenominata privilegia aliaque generalit et particularit supra mentionata Et praeterea fccimus et constituimus tenoreque praesentis cartae nostrae facimus et constituimus et eorum quemlibet conjunctim et divlsim balivos nostros in hac parte dan et conceden iis et eorum cuilibet nostram plenam potestatem et speciale warrantum statum et sasinani haereditariam parit et possessionem actualem realeni et corporalem praefato Domino Willielmo Alexander suisque antedictis vel suis certis actornatis banc praesentem cartam nostram habentibus seu producentibus dandi coneedendi et deliberandi de omnibus et singulis praenominatis terris bondis fluviis lacubus insulis fretis seu transitibus aliisque APPENDIX. 129 honourably, well and in peace, with gibbet, ditch, suit, liberty of pleas, toll, power of having servants, forestry, sea-wreck, ware, waif, venison ; jurisdiction over thieves taken within and without the liberties ; pit and gallows, without any impediment, revocation, contradiction or obstacle whatsoever ; paying therefor yearly, the said Sir William, and his foresaids, to us and our successors, one penny, Scots money, upon the ground of the said lands, or any part thereof, at the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord, in name of blench farm, if asked only; which whole and entire forenamed lands, spaces or bounds, islands and others, generally and particularly, above expressed, as said is, we, with the special advice and consent foresaid, for us and our successors, have erected and united, and, by our present charter, erect and unite into one entire and free lordship for ever, to be called of Canada, heritably belonging and pertaining to the before-mentioned Sir William Alexander, and his foresaids ; Also, we, by our present charter, are graciously pleased, that whensoever the said Sir William Alexander, and his foresaids, or any of them, shall wish and desire this our present charter to be renewed, with all and sundry beneficial clauses and conditions, as in the said prior charters or patents of Xova Scotia, or as he, his foresaids, or any of them, on consultation of counsel, or by any special exa- mination towards the further or more certain discovery of the said places or bounds, rivers, lakes, arms of the sea or passages, and others above mentioned, shall see to be more advantageous and expedient, then, and in that case, we, on the word of a prince, promise, that we will renew and alter the said charter to the foresaid Sir William Alex- ander and his foresaids, in the best and most ample form that can be conceived : j\lore- over, we, by our present charter, with advice and consent foresaid, decern, declare and ordain, that seisin to be taken by the said Sir William Alexander, or his foresaids, at our Castle of Edinburgh, as the most eminent and principal place of our said kingdom of Scotland, or upon the soil and ground of the foresaid lands, bounds and islands, or any part thereof, at the pleasure and will of the said Sir William, and his foresaids, sliall, in all time coming, be sufficient for all and whole the before-named lands, bounds, islands and others above specified, or any part or portion thereof; and that the heirs of the foresaid Sir William, and his foresaids, nuiy be seised in all and sundry the before- named lands, bounds, islands and others foresaid, by precepts out of either the chancery of our said kingdom of Scotland, or the chancery to be instituted by the said Sir Wil- liam, and his foresaids, in the aforesaid country and lordship of Canada, as they incline, or also as their heirs can be seised, by their said prior grants in Nova Scotia, as to which we, with advice and consent foresaid, for us and our successors, have dispensed, and, by our present charter, for ever dispense, and as to all and sundry the before-named privi- leges and others, generally and particularly above mentioned : And further, we have made and constituted, and, by our j)resent charter, make and constitute, and any of them, conjunctly and severally, our bailies in that part, giving and granting our full power and special warrant to them, and any one of them, for giving, granting and delivering to the foresaid Sir William Alexander, and his foresaids, or to their certain attornies, holding or producing this our present charter, heritable state and seisin, as well as actual, real and corporal possession of all and sundry the before-named lands, bounds, rivers, lakes, islands, arms of the sea, or passages, and others whatsoever, generally and particularly above expressed, of the said 130 APPENDIX. quibuscunque generalit et particularit supra expressis dictae region is et dominii de Canada apud diet castrum nostrum de Edinburgh vel super solo et fundo cujuslibet partis prae- dict terrarum et bondarum sen locorum vel utrocjue modo ad placituin dicti Domini Willielmi Alexander suorumque praedict mandan iisdem et eorum cuilibet quatenus visis praesentibus indilate statum et sasinam haereditariani parit et possessionem actualem realem et corporalem omnium et singularum praenominat terrarum locorum sea bonda- rum insularum fluviorum lacuum aliorumque praedict generalit et particularit supra express praefato Domino Willielmo Alexander suisque praedictis vel suis certis actorna- tis banc praesentem cartam nostram habentibus seu producentibus super qualibet parte fundi diet terrarum vel apud castrum nostrum de Edinburgh vel utroque modo prout ipsi suisque praedictis melius apparebit dent tradant et deliberent seu aliquis eorum det tradat et deliberet per terrae et lapidis deliberationem praefato Domino Willielmo suis- que antedictis vel eorum actornatis banc praesentem nostram cartam habentibus seu producentibus apud diet castrum vel super solo et fundo diet terrarum aliorumq supra script vel utroque modo pro libito dicti Domini Willielmi suorumque pniedictorura quamquidem sasinam ita per dictos nostros balivos in hac parte praeAito Domino Willi- elmo suisque antedict vel eorum actornatis banc praesentem cartam nostram habentibus seu producentibus tradendam nos pro nobis et successoribus nostris decernimus et ordi- namus bonam legitimam validam et sufficientem fore in omni tempore futuro dispen- sando sicuti nos tenore praesentis cartae nostrae dispensamus penes omnia quae adversus eand objici possunt sive in forma sive in efFectu Denique nos pro nobis et successori- bus nostris cum avisamento et consensu praedict volumus decernimus declaramus et ordinamus banc praesentem cartam nostram cum omnibus et singulis privilegiis liberta- tibus clausulis articulis et conditionibus supradictis in proximo nostro Parliamento regni nostri Scotiae seu quolibet alio ejusd regni Parliamento posthac tenendo ad libitum et placitum dicti Domini Willielmi Alexander suorumque praedict ratificandam appro- bandam et confirmandam roburque fortitudinem et efficaciam decreti ejusd supremi fori habituram ad quod faciendum nos pro nobis et successoribus nostris volumus et declara- mus eand nostram cartam et clausulas inibi content sufficiens fore mandatum seu war- rantum idem ita fieri et perfici promittentes in verbo Regis In cujus rei testimonium huic praesenti cartae nostrae magnum sigillum nostrum apponi praecepimus testibus in aliis a nostris consanguineis et consiliariis Jacobo marchione de Hamiltoun comite Arranie et Cantabrigie domino Aven et Innerdaill W"" Mariscalli comite domino Keyth &c. reo-ni nostri mariscallo George vicecomite de Duplin domino Hay de Kinfawins nostro concellario Thoma comite de Haddingtoun domino Bynning et Byres &c. nostri secreti sigilli custode dilectis nostris familiaribus consiliariis Dominis W^'"° Alexander de Menstrie, n~ro secretario principali Jacobo Hamiltoun de Magdalenis nostrorum rotulorum registri ac consilii clerico Georgio Elphingstoun de Blythiswod nostre justitiarie clerico et Joanne Scot de Scottistarvett militibus nostre cancellarie directore Apud regiam nostram de Whythall secundo die mensis Februarij anno Dni millesirao sexcentesimo vigesimo octavo et regni nostri tertio. APPENDIX. 181 country and lordship of Canada, at our said Castle of Edinburgh, or upon the soil and ground of any part of the foresaid lands and bounds, or places, or in both manners, at the pleasure of the said Sir William Alexander, and his foresaids, commandin" them, and any one of them, that, on sight of these presents, they, or any one of them, forth- with give and deliver heritable state and seisin, as well as actual, real and corporal pos- session of all and sundry the before-named lands, places or bounds, islands, rivers, lakes and others foresaid, generally and jjurticularly above expressed, to the foresaid Sir Wil- liam Alexander, and his foresaids, or to their certain attoniies, holding or producing this our present charter, upon any part of the ground of the said lands, or at our Castle of Edinburgh, or in both manners, as shall appear to him and his foresaids best, by de- livery of earth and stone to the foresaid Sir M'illiam Alexander, and his foresaids, or to their attornies, holding or producing this cur present charter at the said Castle, or upon the soil and ground of the said lands and others above written, or in both manners, as the said Sir William, and his foresaids, incline, which seisin so to be delivered by our said bailies in that part to the foresaid Sir William, and his foresaids, or to their attor- nies, holding or producing this our present charter, we, for us and our successors, de- cern and ordain to be good, lawful, valid and sufficient in all time coming, dispensino-, as we, by our present charter dispense, as to all that can be objected against the same, whether in form or in effect. Lastly, we, for us and our successors, with advice and consent foresaid, will, decern, declare and ordain this our present charter, with all and sundry privileges, liberties, clauses, and conditions, above mentioned, to be ratified, ap- proved and confirmed, in our next Parliament of our kingdom of Scotland, or in any other Parliament of the said kingdom hereafter to be holden, at the will and pleasure of the said Sir William Alexander, and his foresaids, and to have the strength, force, and effect of a decree of that supreme court, which to do, we, for us and our successors, will and de- clare our said charter, and clauses therein contained, to be a sufficient mandate or war- rant, promising, on the word of a King, that the same shall be so done and performed. In witness whereof, we have ordered our Great Seal to be appended to this our present charter, the witnesses being, as in other (charters,) our cousins and councillors, James, Marquess of Hamiltoun, Earl of Arran and Cambridge, Lord Avon and Innerdaill, A^'illiam, Earl Marishal, Lord Kcyth, &c., Marishal of our kingdom, George Viscount of Duplin, Lord Hay, of Kinfawins, our Chancellor, Thomas, Earl of Hadingtoun, Lord Jiynning and Byres, &c., Keeper of our Privy Seal, our beloved fann'liar council- lors, Sir William Alexander, of Menstrie, our principal Secretary, Sir James Hamiltoun, of Magdalenis, Clerk of our Rolls, Register, and Council, Sir George Elphingstoun of Blythiswode, our Justice Clerk, and Sir John Scot, of Scottistarvett, Director of our Chancery, Knights, at our jialace of Whythall, the !2d day of Eebruai'v, anno Domini 1G28, and the third of our reign. General retour of the service of Alexander, Earl of Stirling, as heir of M'illiam, Earl of Stirling, 11th October 1830. (Records, Register House, Edinburgh.) R 2 132 APPENDIX. No. VI. Instrument of Seisin in favour of Alexander, Earl of Stirling and Dovan, of the Lands, Country and Lordship of Canada. In Dei nomine, Amen. Per hoc praesens publicum instrumentum cunctis pateat evi- denter et sit uotum Quod anno incarnationis Domini millesimo octingentesimo et tri- cesimo primo raensis vero Julii die octavo regnique serenissimi domini nostri Gulielmi Quarti Dei gratia Britanniarum regis fideique defensoris anno secundo, In mei notarii publici et testium subscribentium praesentia personaliter coniparuit Epliraini Lockhart scriba signeto regio tanquam procurator et actornatus pro ac in nomine praehonorabilis Alexandri Comitis de Stirling et Dovan, Vicecomitis de Stirling et Canada Domini Alexander de Tullibodie et cetera adnepotis et haeredis quondam Domini Willielmi Alexander militis primi Comitis de Stirling specialiter constitutus cujus procuratoriae potestas mihi notario publico subscribenti lucide constabat et ibidem etiam accessit Thomas Christophorus Banks armiger residen. in No. 19- He Duke Street Edinburgh balivus in hac parte specialiter constitutus virtute cartae subtus meutionat. ac praecepti sasinae inibi content, ad Castrum de Edinburgh quodquidem Castrum est locus pro danda sasina terrarum aliorumque subscriptorum virtute unionis et dispensationis in diet, carta et praecepto sasinae subscripto content, habens diet, actornatus et tenens in ejus manibus quoddam extractum registratae cartae fact. dat. et concess. per Carolum Mag- nae Britanniae Franciae et Hiberniae regem sub suo magno sigillo praeceptumque sasi- nae in eadem continen. pro sasina danda praefato Domino Willielmo Alexander suo Haereditario Locumtencnti regionis et dominii Novae Scotiae in America haeredibus suis et assignatis haereditarie imperpetuum omnium et singularum insularum intra sinum Canadae jacentium inter Novam Scotiam et Terram Novam ad ostium et introi- tura masni fluminis Canadae ubi decidit et intrat in dictum sinum (includendo inibi raao-nam insulam Anticosti) : Necnon omnium et singularum insularum intra dictum fluvium Canadam jacentium a dicto ostio et introitu ad caput usque primum ortum et scaturiginem ejusd. ubicunque sit aut lacum unde fluit (qui putabatur esse versus mag- num sinum Californiae a quibusdam Mare Vermeis nuncupatum) aut intra quosvis alios fluvios in dictum Huvium Canadam defluentes vel in quibuscunque lacubus aquis sive fretis per quae vel dictus magnus fluvius Canada vel aliqui alii diet, duviorum decurrunt aut in quibus exeunt : Ac praeterea quinquaginta leucarum bondarum ab utroque latere antedicti fluvii Canadae a dicto ostio et introitu ad dictum caput fontem et scaturiginem ejusd. necnon ab utroque latere diet, aliorum fluviorum in eund. defluentium ; ac etiam ab utroque latere dictorum lacuum fretorum seu aquarum per quas quilibet dictorum fluviorum decurrunt aut in quibus exeunt : £t similiter totarum et integrarum bon- darum et transituum tarn in aquis quam in terra a praedicto capite fonte et scaturigine Canadae ubicunque sit aut a quocunque lacu unde labitur ad praefatum sinum Califor- niae quantacunque comperta fuerit esse distantia ; cum quinquaginta leucis omnimodo ab utroque latere ejusd. transitus ante dictum caput Canadae et sinum Californiae ; et appendix: 133 No. VI. Instrument of Seisin in favour of Alexander, Earl of Stirling, 4'c. of Canada. '■ In the name of God, Amen. Be it known to all men by this present public instrument, That on the 8th day of July, in the year of our Lord 1831, and of the reign of our sovereign lord, William the Fourth, hy the grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, the second year, In presence of me, notary-public, and the witnesses subscribing, appeared personally Ephraim Lockhart, writer to his Majesty's signet, as procurator and attorney, specially constituted, for and in name of the Right Honourable Alexander, Earl of Stirling and Dovan, Viscount of Stirling and Canada, Lord Alexander of Tullibodie, &c. great- sreat-srreat grandson and heir of the deceased Sir William Alexander, Knight, the first Earl of Stirling, whose power of procui'atory was sufficiently known to me, the under- signed notary-public ; and there also appeared Thomas Christopher Banks, Esquire, residing in No. 19- Duke Street, Edinburgh, bailie in that part specially constituted, in virtue of the charter under mentioned, and precept of seisin therein contained, to the Castle of Edinburgh, the place for giving seisin of the lands and others under written, in virtue of the union and dispensation contained in the said charter and precept of seisin under written ; the said attorney having and holding in his hands a certain extract registrate charter, made, given and granted by Charles, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland, under his Great Seal, containing therein the precept of seisin for giving to the foresaid Sir William Alexander, his Majesty's Hereditary Lieutenant of the country and lordship of Nova Scotia in America, and his heirs and assigns, heri- tably for ever, seisin of all and sundry islands lying within the gulf of Canada, between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, at the mouth and entrance of the great river Canada, where it falls and enters into the said gulf, (including therein the great island Anticosti) : Also of all and sundry islands lying within the said river Canada, from the said mouth and entrance up to the head, first rise and source thereof, wheresoever it is, or the lake whence it Hows, (which was thought to be towards the great bay of California, called by some the Vermilion Sea,) or within any other rivers falling into the said river Canada, or in whatsoeA'cr lakes, waters, or straits, by which either the said great river Canada or any of the said other rivers pass, or in which they run out : And further, of fifty leagues of bounds on both sides of the aforesaid river Canada, from the said mouth and entrance to the said head, spring and source thereof; also on both sides of the said other rivers falling thereinto; as also on both sides of the said lakes, straits or waters by which any of the said rivers pass, or in which they terminate : And likewise, of all and whole the bounds and passages, as well on the waters as on the land, from the foresaid head, spring and source of the river Canada, wheresoever it is, or wliatsoever lake it has its course from, to the foresaid bay of California, whatsoever shall be I'ound to be the distance ; with fifty leagues altogether on both sides of the said passage over against the said head of the river Canada and bay of California ; and like- 134 APPENDIX. similiter omnium et sincularum insularum intra eund. sinum Californiae jacentium ; ac etiam totaruw et integrarum terraruin et bondarum eidcm sinui ab occidente et austro adjacen. sive experiantur pars continentis sive terrae firmae sive insula (ut puta- batur esse) quae Californiae nomine vulgo nuncupabatur et indigitabatur : Insuper om- nium et siNGULARUM aliarum terraruni bondarum laciium fluviorum fretorum silvarum forestarum aliorumque per ipsum praef'at. Dominum Willielmum Alexander suosve suc- cessores eorum participes associatos aut alios eorum nomine sen potestatem ab liis ha- bentes quocunque tempore futuro inveniendorum conquerendorum sen detegendorum super utroque latere integrarum bondarum et transitus antedict. ab ostio et introitu dicti fluvii Canadae ubi in dictum sinum Canadae se exonerat ad dictum sinum Californiae aut insulas in maribus eidem adjacentibus, quae per alios subditos dicti regis aut subdi- tos alterius alicujus Christiani principis seu ordinum cum dicto rege in foedere et ami- citia constitutorum hactenus realit. et actualit. possessa non erant : Cum plena et ab- soLUTA POTESTATE ipsi dicto Domino Willielmo Alexander suisque praedict (nullisque aliis) eorum factoribus servis et aliis eorum nomine colonias stabiliendi ac utendi com- mercio in praenominatis locis seu bondis vel qualibet earund. parte particulariter desig- nat. omnesque alios ab eisdem arcendi seu prohibendi ; nee non proportiones terrarum earund. cuicunque personae seu quibuscunque personis prout sibi commodum videbitur elocandi ac super eisdem terminis conditionibus restrictionibus et observationibus intra omnes praenominatas bondas sicut in Nova Scotia per quascunque literas patentes seu diplomata ipsi per quond. patrem diet, regis vel diet, regem ipsum concess. facere potuit, cum talibus etiam et tantis privilegiis libertatibus et immunitatibus in omnibus praedictis locis seu bondis insulis aliisque supra scriptis tarn in mari aqua dulci quam in terra quales quantasque dictus Dominus Willielmus Alexander habebat in Nova Scotia per priores suas literas patentes seu diplomata de Nova Scotia ; quaequidem privilegia in dictis prio- ribus Uteris patentibus contenta et unumquodque eorum adeo sufficientia et valida fore ordinan, ac si singula in diet, carta particulariter et sigillatim concessa et exjiressa fuis- sent de verbo in verbum ejusdemque omnimodo roboris fortitudinis et efficaciae fore volen. penes quorum particularem in diet, carta non insertionem dispensan. imperpe- tuum : Per quam cartam etiam ordinatur et declaratur quod ea nullatenus esset praeju- dicabilis nee derogativum quibuscunque juribus cartis seu diplomatibus praefato Domino Willielmo Alexander suisve antedictis de aut super Nova Scotia quocunque tempore datam ejusd. cartae praecedente concessis aut alicui capiti clausulae articulo seu condi- tioni in eisdem expressis ; ac etiam sine pracjudicio prioris alicujus literae patentis per diet, regem quibuscunque Baronettis intra Scotiam de regione Novae Scotiae concess. seu concedend. quovis tempore futuro : Et diet, rex specialiter prohibuit et vetavit om- nes et singulos suos subditos cujuscunque gradus seu conditionis in quolibet suorum reg- norum seu dominiorum ne ullam facerent plantationem nee ullo uterentur commercio in dictis locis seu bondis sinubus tiuviis lacubus insulis et fretis supra scriptis aut in aliqua eorund. parte absque specialibus avisamento licentia et consensu praefati Do- mini Williclmi Alexander suorumve praedictorum ; ac cum speciali potestate dicto Domino Willielmo Alexander suisque praedictis attachiandi arrestandi et deprehendi omnes et singulas personas quae negotiari et commercio uti in aliqua dictorum APPENDIX. 135 wise of ALL and sundry islands lying within the said bay of California ; as also of all and WHOLE the lands and bounds adjacent to the said bay on the west and south, whether they be found a part of the continent or main land, or an island, (as it was thought to be,) which was commonly called and distinguished by the name of Cali- fornia : Moreover, of all and sundry other lands, bounds, lakes, rivers, straits, woods, forests and others that shall have been explored, conquered or discovered at any time to come by him the foresaid Sir William Alexander, or his successors, their confederates, associates, or others in their name, or having power from them, upon both sides of the whole bounds and passage aforesaid, from the mouth and entrance of the said river Canada, where it discharges itself into the said gulf of Canada, to the said bay of Cali- fornia, or islands in the seas thereto adjacent, which were not heretofore really and actually possessed by others, either the subjects of his said Majesty, or the subjects of any other Christian prince or constituted orders in alliance and friendship with iiis Majesty : With full and absolute power to him the said Sir William Alexander, and his foresaids, (and to no others,) their stewards, servants, and others in their name, of planting colonies and engaging in trade in the before-named places or bounds, or any part of them particularly marked out, and of expelling or debar- ring all others from the same ; also of allocating proportions of the lands thereof to whatsoever person or persons shall seem to him lit, and upon the same terms, conditions, restrictions and regulations within all the forenanied bounds, as he could do in Nova Scotia, by whatsoever charters or patents granted to him by his said Majesty's father, or his Majesty himself, also with such and as great privileges, liberties and immunities in all the foresaid places or bounds, islands and others above written, as well in the sea and fresh water as on land, as the said Sir William Alexander had in Nova Scotia by his prior charters or patents of Nova Scotia ; which privileges, contained in the said prior charters and every one of them, his said Majesty ordained to be equally sufficient and valid, and willed to be altogether of the same strength, force and effect, as if they had severally been particularly and one by one granted and set forth word for word in the said charter, as to the not particular insertion of which in the said charter his said Majesty for ever dispensed : 13y which charter also it is ordained and declared, that it should in nowise be prejudicial or derogatory to whatsoever rights, charters or patents granted to the foresaid Sir William Alexander, or his aforesaid, of or concerning Nova Scotia, at whatsoever time preceding the date of the said charter, or to any head, clause, article or condition therein set forth ; as also, that it should be without prejudice to any prior charter granted by his said Majesty, or to be granted at any time to come, to whatsoever Baronets within Scotland of the country of Nova Scotia : And his said Majesty specially prohibited and debarred all and sundry his subjects, of every degree or condition, in any of his kingdoms or dominions, from making any plantation, or en- gaging in any trade in the said places or bounds, bays, rivers, lakes, islands and straits above written, or in any part thereof, without the special advice, permission and consent of the foresaid Sir William Alexander, or his foresaids ; and with special power to the said Sir A\ illiam Alexander, and his foresaids, of seizing, taking and apprehending all and sundiy persons who shall be found to be in business and engaged in trade in any part 136 APPENDIX. locorum seu bondarum parte contra diet, prohibitioneni inventae fuerint eorum- que naves et bona confiscandi ac desuper in suos proprios usus pro libito dispo- nendi absque ullo computo seu ratione de eisd. vel aliqua eorund. parte reddendo quomodolibet ; omniaque alia adeo libere et large in omnibus intentionibus propositis et instr\ictionibus faciendi intra totas et integras praenominatas bondas seu spatia sicut praefatus Dominus Willielmus Alexander suique praedicti intra dictam regionem Novae Scotiae seu dictum regnum Scotiae fecisse potuerunt virtute cujuslibet dictarum litera- rum patentium priarum cartarum seu diplomatum : Quaequidem totae et integrae terrae spatia seu bondae insulae aliaque supra expressa erect, sunt et unit, in unum in- tecrrum et liberum dominium de Canada nuncupandum ad memoratum Dominum Willielmum Alexander suosque praedict. baereditarie spectan. et pertinen. imperpe- tuum ; ordinan. sasinam per diet. Dominum Willielmum Alexander suosve praedictos apud diet. Castrum de Edinburgh aut super solo et fundo praefiit. terrarum bondarum et insularum vel cujuslibet earund. partis capiendam onini tempore futuro sufBcientem fore pro totis et integris praenominatis terris bondis insulis aliisque supra specificat. aut aliqua parte seu portione earund. penes quod dispensan. imperpetuum ; prout in diet, carta praeceptoque sasinae in fine ejusd. inserto comprelienden. diversas alias clausulas latius continetur : Ac etiam habens actornatus praedict. et tenens in ejus manibus quendam generalem retornatum deservitionis praenominati Alexandri Comitis de Stir- lino- et cetera tanquam propinquioris et legitimi haeredis praefati Domini Willielmi Alexander primi Comitis de Stirling sui atavi expedit. coram balivis regalitatis burgi vici Canonicorum prope Edinburgh undecimo die mensis Octobris anno Domini mil- lesimo octingentesimo et trigesimo et debite ad capellam regiam retornat. Habens atque quendam specialem retornatum deservitionis dicti Alexandri Comitis de Stirling et cetera tanquam propinquioris et legitimi haeredis antedict. expedit. coram vicecomite substituto vicecomitatus de Edinburgh secundo die mensis Julii anno prius supra scripto et simili- ter ad diet, capellam retornat. ; quae deservitio generalem deservitionem includit ejus- dem generis et characteris ; per utram quarum deservitionum diet. Alexander Comes de Stirling et cetera inivit jus ad praedict. cartam et ad praeceptum sasinae nondum execut. omnesque alias clausulas in se content, prout in retornatibus diet, deservitionum respective item continetur ; quodquidem extractum cartae cum diet, retornatibus ac- tornatus praedict. exhibuit et diet, balivo in hac parte ut praefertur legitime constituto obtulit eumque rogavit ut maiidatum et ofRcium per diet, praeceptum sasinae sibi com- missa debite praestaret ; quemque uogatuim diet, balivus percipiens esse justum ratio- nique consonan. diet, extractum cartae et retornatus in manibus suis reeepit et raihi notario publico tradidit testibus astantibus perlegend. publicand. et in vulgari sermone explicand. Quod feci et cujus praecepti sasinae in diet, extraeto cartae content, tenor sequitur et est talis : ' ET preterea fecimus et eonstituimus tenorcque presentis carte ' nostre facimus et eonstituimus ' et eorum quemlibet conjunctim et divisim balivos nostros in hac parte dan. et conceden. ' iis et eorum cuilibet nostram plenam potestatem et speciale warrantum statum et sasi- APPENDIX. i:i7 of the said places or bounds contrary to the said prohibition, and of confiscating their ships and goods, and disposing thereof at pleasure to their own proper uses, without rendering any count or reckoning in any manner for the same, or any part thereof ; and of doing all other things within all and whole the forenamed bounds or spaces, as freely and fully to all intents, purposes and ends as the foresaid Sir William Alexander, and his foresaids, could have done within the said country of Nova Scotia, or the said king- dom of Scotland, in virtue of any of the said letters-patent, prior charters or patents : All and whole which lands, spaces or bounds, islands and others above set forth, were erected and united into one whole and free lordship, to be called of Canada, belon'nn"- and pcrtannng to the before-mentioned Sir William Alexander, and his foresaids, heri- tably for ever ; ordaining seisin at the said Castle of Edinburgh, or upon the soil and ground of the foresaid lands, bounds and islands, or any part thereof, to be taken by thu said Sir William Alexander, or his foresaids, to be in all time to come sufficient for all and whole the forenamed lands, bounds, islands, and others above specified, or any part or portion thereof, as to which his said Majesty for ever dispensed ; as in the said charter and precept of seisin inserted in the end thereof, comprehending divers other clauses, is more fully contained : As also the foresaid attorney having and holding in his hands a certain general retour of the service of the before-named Alexander, Earl of Stirling, &c. as nearest and lawful heir of the foresaid Sir William Alexander, the first Earl of Stirling, his great-great-great grandfather, expede before the bailies of the borough of Canongate, near Edinburgh, the 11th day of October, anno Domini ISoO, and duly retoured to his Majesty's chancery ; and having a certain special retour of the service of the said Alexander, Earl of Stirling, &c. as nearest and lawful heir afore- said, expede before the Sheriff-substitute of the sheriffdom of Edinburgh, the 2d day of July in the year first above written, and likewise retoured to the said chancery; which service includes a general service of the same kind and character ; by either of which ser- vices the said Alexander, Earl of Stirling, &c. acquired right to the foresaid charter, and to the precept of seisin still unexecuted, and all the other clauses therein contained ; as in the retours of the said services respectively is also contained ; Which extract charter, with the said retours, the foresaid attorney exhibited and presented to the said l)ailie in that part, lawfully constituted as is before stated, and desired him duly to execute the command and office committed to him by the said precept of seisin ; Which desire the said bailie finding to be just and reasonable, he received the said extract charter and retours into his hands, and delivered them to me, notary-public, to be read, published and explained in the common speech to the witnesses present ; Which I did, and of which precept of seisin, contained in the said extract charter, the tenor follows in these words : ' AND further, we have made and constituted, and by the tenor of our present ' charter we make and constitute ' and any one of tliem, jointly and severally, our bailies in that part, giving and granting ' to them, and any one of them, our full power and special warrant lor giving, granting 138 APPENDIX, ' nam hereditariam parit et possessionem actualem realem et corporalera prefato Domino ' Willielmo Alexander suisque antedictis vel suis certis actornat.is banc presentem car- ' tam nostram habentibiis sen producentibus dandi concedendi et deliberandi de omni- ' bus et singulis prenominatis terris bondis fluviis lacubus insulis fretis seu transitibus ' aliisque quibuseunque generalit. et particularit. supra expressis dicte regionis et do- ' minii de Canada apud diet. Castrum nostrum de Edinburgh vel super solo et fundo ' cujuslibet partis predict, terrarum et bondarum seu locorum vel utroque modo ad pla- ' citum dicti Domini Willielmi Alexander suorumque predict, mandan. iisdem et eorum ' cuilibet quatenus visis presentibus indilate statum et sasinam hereditariam parit et pos- ' sessionem actualem realem et corporalem omnium et singularum prenominat. terrarum * locorum seu bondarum insularum fluviorum lacuum aliorumque predict, generalit. et ' particularit. supra express, prefato Domino Willielmo Alexander suisque predictis vel ' suis certis actornatis banc presentem cartam nostram habentibus seu producentibus ' super qualibet parte fundi diet, terrarum vel apud Castrum nostrum de Edinburgh vel ' utroque modo prout ipsi suisque predictis melius apparebit dent tradant et deliberent * seu aliquis eorum det tradat et deliberet per terre et lapidis deliberationem prefato ' Domino Willielmo suisque antedictis vel eorum actornatis banc presentem nostram ' cartam habentibus seu producentibus apud diet. Castrum vel super solo et fundo diet. ' terrarum aliorumq. supra script, vel utroque modo pro libito dicti Domini Willielmi ' suorumque predictorum quamquidem sasinam ita per dictos nostros balivos in hac parte ' preflito Domino Willielmo suisque antedict. vel eorum actornatis banc presentem car- ' tam nostram habentibus seu producentibus tradendam nos pro nobis et successoribus ' nostris decernimus et ordinamus bonam legitimam validam et sufficientem fore in omni ' tempore futuro dispensando sicuti nos tenore presentis carte nostre dispensamus penes ' omnia que adversus eand. objici possunt sive in forma sive in efFectu : Denique nos ' pro nobis et successoribus nostris cum avisamento et consensu predict, volumus decer- ' nimus deciaramus et ordinamus banc presentem cartam nostram cum omnibus et sin- ' gulis privilegiis libertatibus clausulis articulis et conditionibus supradictis in proximo ' nostro Parliamento regni nostri Scotie seu quolibet alio ejusd. regni Parliamento post- ' hac tenendo ad libitum et placitum dicti Domini Willielmi Alexander suorumque ' predict, ratificandam approbandam et confirmandam roburque fortitudinem et effica- ' ciara decreti ejusd. supremi fori babituram ; ad quod fiiciendum nos pro nobis et suc- ' cessoribus nostris volumus et deciaramus eand. nostram cartam et clausulas inibi con- ' tent. sufBciens fore mandatum seu warrantum idem ita fieri et perfici promittentes in ' veibo Regis. In cujus rei testimonium buic praesenti carte nostre magnum sigillum ' nostrum apponi preccpimus, testibus in aliis a nostris consanguineis et consiliariis Ja- ' cobo Marcliione de Hamiltoun Comite Arranie et Cantabrigie Domino Aven et In- ' nerdaill AV""" Mariscalli Comite Domino Keyth &c. regni nostri mariscallo George ' Vicecomite de Duplin Domino Hay de Kinfavvins nostro cancellario Thoma Comite ' de Hadingtoun Domino Bynning et Byres &c. nostri secreti sigilli custode dilectis ' nostris familiaribus consiliariis Dominis W"'° Alexander de Menstrie n'^^ro secretario ' principali Jacobo Hamiltoun de Magdalenis nostrorum rotulorum registri ac consiiii ' clerico Georgio Eipbingstoun de Blythiswod nostre justitiarie clerico et Joanne Scot APPENDIX. 130 ' and delivering to the foresaid Sir William Alexander, and his aforesaid, or to their ' certain attornies, having or producing this our present charter, heritable state and ' seisin, and also actual, real and corporal possession of all and sundry the forenanied ' lands, bounds, rivers, lakes, islands, straits or passages, and others whatsoever, generally • and particularly above set forth, of the said country and lordship of Canada, at our said • Castle of Edinburgh, or upon the soil and ground of any part of the foresaid lands ' and bounds or places, or in both manners, at the pleasure of the said Sir William ' Alexander, and his foresaids, commanding them, and any one of them, that on sight ' hereof they, or any one of them, forthwith give and deliver heritable state and seisin, • and also actual, real and corporal possession of all and sundry the forenamed lands, • places or bounds, islands, rivers, lakes and others foresaid, generally and particularly • above set forth, to the foresaid Sir William Alexander, and his i'oresaids, or to their ' certain attornies, having or producing this our present charter, upon any part of the ' ground of the said lands, or at our Castle of Edinburgh, or in both manners, as shall ' appear best to him and his foresaids, by delivery of earth and stone to the foresaid • Sir William, and his aforesaid, or to their attornies, having or producing this our ' present charter at the said Castle, or upon the soil and ground of the said lands ' and others above written, or in both manners, at the pleasure of the said Sir • William, and his foresaids ; which seisin so to be given by our said bailies in that ' part to the foresaid Sir William, and his aforesaid, or to their attornies having or ' producing this our present charter, we, for us and our successors, decree and or- ' dain to be good, lawful, valid and sufficient in all time coming, dispensing, like as ' we, by the tenor of our present charter, dispense, as to all that can be objected ' against the same, whether in form or in effect : Finally, we, for us and our successors, ' with advice and consent foresaid, will, decree, declare and ordain, that this our pre- ' sent charter, with all and sundry privileges, liberties, clauses, articles and conditions ' above mentioned, be ratified, approved and confirmed in our next Parliament of our ' kingdom of Scotland, or, at the will and pleasure of the said Sir William Alexander, ' and his foresaids, in any other Parliament of the said kingdom hereafter to be holden, ' to have the strength, force and effect of a decree of that supreme court ; for doing ' which, we, for us and our successors, will and declare our said charter, and the clauses • therein contained, to be a sufficient mandate or warrant, promising, on the word of a ' King, the same shall be so done and performed. In witness whereof we have ordered ' our Great Seal to be appended to this our present charter, before witnesses, as in ' others, our cousins and counsellors, James Marquess of Hamiltoun, Earl of Arran and ' Cambridge, Lord Aven and Innerdaill, William, Earl iNIarischal, Lord Keyth, cS:c. • marischal of our kingdom, George Viscount Uuplin, Lord Play of Kinfawins, our ' chancellor, Thomas Earl of Hadingtoun, Lord Bynning and JByres, ^c. keeper of • our Privy Seal, our beloved familiars and counsellors Sir W'illiam Alexander of j\len- ' strie, our principal secretary. Sir James Hamiltoun of JNIagdalenis, clerk of our rolls, • register and council, Sir George Elphinstoun of Blythiswod, our justice-clerk, and Sir 140 APPENDIX. ' de Scottistarvett niilitibus nostre cancellarie dircctore ; apud rcgiam nostrara de ' Wliythall secundo die mensis Februarij anno DnI millesinio scxcentesinio vigesimo ' octavo et regni nostri tertio.' Post quorumquidem extract! cartae preceptique sasi- nae et retornatuuni perlectionem publicationem et in vulgari sermone testibus as- tantibus explicationem praefatus Thomas Christophoi-us Banks balivus in liac parte antedict. iterum diet, extractum cartae et I'etornatus in manibiis suis rccepit ac virtute et vigore eorund. et officii baliatus sibi commis. statum et sasinam haereditariam ])ariter et possessionem actualem realem et corporalem memorato Alexandro Coniiti de Stirling et cetera haeredi antedict. pro se haeredibus suis et assignatis omnium et singulakum praenominat. terrarum bondarum fluviorum lacuum insularum fretorum sen transituum aliorumque quorumcunque generaliter et particulariter supra express, dictae regionis et dominii de Canada secundum tenorem antedict. cartae unionis et dispensationis in eadem content, ac dicti praecepti sasinae supra insert, in omnibus per terrae et lapidis fundi dicti Castri traditionem et deliberationem in manibus diet. Ephraim Lockhart actornati praedict. pro ac in nomine memorati Alexandri Comitis de Stirling et cetera dedit TRADiDiT pariter et deliberavit : Super quibus omnibus et singulis praemissis actor- natus praedict. a me notario publico sibi fieri petivit instrumenta. Acta erant iiaec apud dictum Castrum de Edinburgh intra exteriorem portam ibidem virtute unionis et dispensationis antedict. horam inter undecimam ante meridiem et ipsum meridiem die mensis anno incarnationis et S. D. N. Regis regni quibus supra, Praesentibus Davide Byars clerico in camera clerici vicecomitatus de Edinburgh et Gulielmo Wilson scriba ibidem testibus ad praemissa specialiter rogatis et requisitis ac liocce publicum instru- mentum mecum subscriben. Veium ciede. £-j- qcto vero Joanues M'Grcijor clericus Edinbursensis dioceseos ac notarius publicus Jx. M'Gkegiui, N. p. ° . ,. TT^ • /-. -I-- L. • ■ 1 J)av. B!/ars, ^^\u>ess. auctoritatc rcgali ac per Domnios Loncilu et Sessionis secundum tenorem acti Wm. Wilson, wiiiieis. Parliameuti admissus quia praemissis omnibus et singulis dum sic ut praemittitur dicerentur agerentur et fierent una cum praenominatis testibus praesens perso- naliter interfui eaque omnia et singula praemissa sic fieri et dici vidi scivi et audivi ac in notam cepi ideoque hoc praesens publicum instrumentum manu aliena super hanc et duas praecedentes paginas pergamenae debite impressae fidcliter scriptum exinde confeci ac in hanc publici instrumenti formam redegi signoque nomine et cognomine meis solitis et consuetis signavi et subscripsi in fidem robur et testimonium veritatis omnium et singulorum praemissorum roga- tus et requisitus. J. M'G. N. P. At Edinburgh, the twelfth day of August one thousand eight hundred and thirty- one years, this sasine was presented by Ephraim Lockhart, writer to the signet, and is recorded in the one thousand six hundred and forty-sixth book of the new General Register of Sasines, Reversions, &c. and on the Hi, 112, ll'i, 114, 115, llG, 117, 118 and 119th leaves thereof, conform to the act of Parliament made thereanent in June 1617j by me, depute-keeper of said Register. Ar. Wishart. APPENDIX. 141 ' John Scott of Scottistarvctt, director of our chancery, Knif^lits ; at our palace of ' Whythall, the 2d day of February, in the year of our Lord 1G28, and of our ' reign the third.' After reading, publishing, and explaining which ex- tract cliartcr, and precept of seisin and retours, in the common speech, to the witnesses present, the foresaid Thomas Cliristophcr ]5anks, bailie in that part aforesaid, again received the said extract charter and retours into his hands ; and, in virtue and by the strength of the same, and of the office of bailiary committed to him, GAVE and delivered to the before-mentioned .Alexander Earl of Stirling, &c. heir aforesaid, for himself, his heirs and assigns, heritable state and seisin, and also actual, real, and corporal possession of all and sundry the forenamed lands, bounds, rivers, lakes, islands, straits or passages, and others whatsoever, generally and particularly above expressed, of the said country and lordship of Canada, after the tenor of the aforesaid charter, the union and dispensation contained in the same, and the said precept of seisin above inserted, in all points, by delivery of earth and stone of the ground of the said Castle into the hands of the said Ephraim Lockhart, attorney foresaid, for, and in name of, the before-mentioned Alexander Earl of Stirling, &c. Whereupon, and upon all and sundry the premises, the foresaid attorney asked instruments from me, notary-public. These things were so done at the said Castle of Edinburgh, within the outer gate there, in virtue of the union and dispensation aforesaid, between the hours of eleven fore- noon, and twelve noon, on the day of the month in the year of our Lord, and of the reign of our sovereign lord the King, above written, in presence of David Byars, clerk in the office of the sheriff-clerk of Edinburgh, and AVilliam ^Vilson, writer there, witnesses to the premises specially called and required, and this public instrument with me subscribing. And I truly, John IM'Gregor, clerk of the diocese of Edinburgh, and notar\-- public, by royal authority, and by the Lords of Council and Session, according to the tenor of the act of Parliament admitted, beaiuse at all and sundry the premises, wdiilst they were, as is before stated, so said, done, and performed, I was. together with the before-named witnesses, personally present, and all and sundry the premises I saw. knew, and heard so per- formed and said, and took a note of them ; therefore I, beiiu'- called and required, prepared therefrom this present public instrument, by another hand, upon this and the two foregoing pages of parchment, dulv stamped, faithfully written, and have rendered it in this form of a public instru- ment ; and in faith, corroboration and testimony of the truth of all and sundry the premises, have signed and subscribed the same with my sign, name and surname, used and wont. Verum crede. Jn. M'Gregor, N.P. Dav. Bijars, witness, Win. Wilsou, witness. T 142 .' APPENDIX. No. VII. Precept of Charter of Resignation, Confirmation, 4*c. in favour of TViUiam Eart of Stirling, and fVilliam Lord Alexander, S)-c. oftlie Earldom of Dovan. Carolds, &c. — Quia, &c. Dedimus concessimus et disponimus nee non tenore presentinm eum avisamento ct eonsensii predict, damns concedimiis et disponimus predilecto nostro consanguineo ac consiliario "Willielmo Comiti de Stirling Domino Alexander de Tillibodie nostri Secretarij infra hoc dictum fegnum nostrum Scotias in vitali redditu duran. omnibus sue vitie diebus ac dilecto nostro consanguineo et consiliario Willielmo Domino Alexander ejus filio legittimo natu maximo et heredibus suis masculis de corpore suo legittime procreatis veil procreandis quibus deficientibus heredibus masculis dicti Willielmi Comitis de Stirling et assigiiatis quibuscunque Omnes et singulas terras baronias aliaque particulariter subscript, viz. Totas et integras terras et baroniam de Tillibodie cum tenentibus tenandriis et libere tenentium servitiis earundem molendinis multuris silvis carbonibus carbonarus partibus pendiculis annexis connexis dependentiis et singulis suis pertinen. Ac totas et integras terras de Banclirie cum domibus edificiis hortis loftis crof'tis partibus pendiculis et suis pertinen. qufe sunt partes et pertinen. dictarum terrarum baronie de Tillibodie et totam et integram salmonum pisca- tioncm super aqua de Dovan jacen. ante et prope predictas terras viz. ab aqua de Forth ad lie Cobilcruik dictaj acquas de Dovan cum potestate illis liabcndi {lie cruives) infra bondas predictas et iisdem vtendi cum omnibus privilegiis liberta- tibus et commoditatibus ad easdem pertinen. et spectan. omnes vnit. ad dictam baroniam jacen infra vicecomitatum nostrum de Clakmannan ac omnes perprius vnit. annexat. erect, et incorporat. in vnam integram et liberam baroniam Baroniam de Tillibodie nuncupat. Necnon totas et integras terras et baroniam de Tu.llicultrie viz. terras de Balhart Druminy Schannoche Cosnachtoune Colunisdannache cum molendino granario Cairntoun cum molendino fuUonio Ellokis Dauok et Hawis Dauok terras de Hiltoun et montem de Tullicultrie cum turre fortalicio maneriei loco domibus edificiis hortis pomariis partibus pendiculis et pertinen. earui.dem quibuscunque jacen. infra dictum vicecomitatum nostrum de Clakmannan Ac etiam totas ct integras terras de Wester Tullicultrie cum monte ejusdem molendino terris molendinariis astrictis multuris cum pertinen. earimdem jacen. infra vicecomitatum predict, et similiter carbones de presenti super dictis terris existen. cum omnibus necessariis operibus et instrumentis ejusdem ad easdem spectan. cum omni vtilitate commoditate et beneficio earundem et omnia ad dictum opus carbonari um pertinen. Necnon totam et integram ecclesiam de Tullicultrie rectoriam et vicariam ejusdem ac etiam totas et integras illas decem acras terrarum et clebam terrarum ecdesiasticarum de 'i'uUicultrie cum domibus edificiis et pertinen. earundem que per abbates et conventum de Cambuskenneth APPENDIX. 143 No. VII. Privy Seal Precept oftlic Earldom of Dovan, 1637. Charles, &:c. — Forasmuch as, &:c. we have given, granted, antl disponed, and "by these presents, with advice and consent foresaid, give, grant, and dispone, to cur well-beloved cousin and counsellor, William Earl of Stirling, Lord Alexander of Tnllibodic, our Secretary within this our kingdom of Scotland, in liferent durino- all the days of his life, and to our beloved cousin and counsellor. Will am Lord Alexander, his eldest lawful son, and his heirs-male lawfully procreate or to be procreate of his body, whom failing, to the heirs-male and assignees whatsoever of the said William Karl of Stirling, xVll and sundry the lands, baronies, and others particularly underwritten, viz. All and whole the lands and barony of Tullibodie. with tenants, tcnandries, and services of free tenants thereof, mills, multures, woods, coal, coallieughs, ])arts, ])endicles, annexes, connexes, dependencies, and their sundry pertinents ; And all and whole the lands of Eanchrie, with houses, buildings, yards, tofts, crofts, parts, pendicles, and their pertinents, which are parts and pertinents of the said lands and barony of Tullibodie; and all and whole the salmon fishing upon the water of Dovan, lying opposite and near to the tbresaid lands, viz. from the water of Forth to the Cobilcruik of the said water of Dovan, with power to them of having cruives within the bounds foresaid, and using the same, with all privileges, liberties, and commodities pertaining and belonging thereto, all united to the said barony, lying within our slicriffdom of C'lakniannan. and all formerly united, annexed, erected, and incorporated into one entire and free barony called the Barony of Tullibodie ; And also, all and whole the lands and barojiy of Tullicultric, vi/. the lands of IJalhart, l^runnny, Schannoche, Cos- nachtoune, Cohmisdannaclu" with the corn mill, Cairntomi with the waulk mill, Ellokis Dauok and llawis Dauok, the lands of Hiltoun and hill of Tullicultric, with the tower, fortalice, manor place, houses, buildings, yards, orchards, parts, pendicles, and pertinents thereof whatsoever, lying within our said sheriffdom of Clakmannan ; As also, all and whole the lands of Wester Tullicultric, with the hill thereof, mill, mill lands, and astrictcd multures, with the pertinents of the same, lying within the sherift'dom foresaid, and likewise the coal at present on the said lands, with all Avorks and instruments thereof necessary thereto belonging, with all advantage, commodity, and benefit thereof, and all things to the said colliery })ertaining ; And also, all and whole the church of Tullicultrie, parsonage, and vicarage thereof; as also, all and whole those ten acres of land, and glebe of church lands of Tullicultric, with houses, buildings, and pertinents thereof, which wx're let in feu farm by the abbots and convent of Cambu.skenneth to the deceaseil 144 APPENDIX. in feiidifirmam locabantur quondam Jacobo Domino Colvcll de Culros avo Jacobi nunc Domini Colvell jacen. infra predict, vicecomitatum nostrum de Clackmannan ac more in infeofamcntis desuper fact, et concess. bondat. cum omnibus et singulis decimis garbalibus aliisque decimis tarn rectoriis quam vicariis fructubus redditubus emolumentis et devoriis earundem quibuscunque ad easdem spectan. et ab antique ad abbates de Cambuskenneth pcrtinen. cum omnibus et singulis carbonibus et carbonariis dictarum terrarum aliorumque supra recitat. cum pertinen. et omnibus operibus necessariis et instrumentis earundem quibuscunque ad easdem spectan. cum omni beneficio redditibus et commoditatibus earundem cum omnibus et singulis partibus pendiculis tenen. tenan. libere tenen tium servitiis totarum et integrarum predictarum terrarum aliorumque respective particulariter suprascript. jacen. vt prefertur Quequidem terraj baronite aliaque prescript, ad prefatum Willielmum Comitem de Stirling Willielmum Dominum Alexander ejus filium et Dominum Alexander Scbaw de Sauche militem perprius hereditarie pertinuerunt per ipsos de nobis immediate in capite tent, ac per illos eorumque procuratores suis nominibus ad hunc effectum spealiter constitutos per eorum severales literas patentes in manibus dictorum dominorum nostri scaccarij nostrorum commissionariorum ad resignationes recipiendas novaque infeofamenta desuper danda constitutorum tanquam in manibus nostris eorum immediate superiore apud Edinburgum duodecimo die mensis Junii proximo elapsi pure et simpliciter per fustum et baculum vt moris est resignate et extradonate fuerunt vnacum omni jure titulo interesse jurisclameo proprietate possessione actione et instantia que seu quas illi aut eorum aliquis eorumque successores et assignati respective in et ad easdem aut aliquam earundem partem habuerunt babent aut quovismodo in futurum babere pretendere seu clamare poterit et hoc in favorem dictorum Willielmi Comitis de Stirling in vitali redditu duran. omnibus sua? vitas diebus et prenominat. Willielmi Domini Alexander ejus filis ac heredum suorum masculorum de corpore suo legittime procreat. veil procreand quibus deficientibus in favorem h^eredum masculorum dicti Willielmi Comitis de Stirling et assignatorum quorumcunque et pro novo infeofamento illis de iisdem nostro sub magno sigillo in debita et competenti forma retrodand prout autentica instrumenta in manibus Georgij Halden notarij public! desuper suscepta latius proportant Preterea ratificavimus et approbavimus necnon tenore presentium cum avisamento et consensu predict, ratificamus et approbamus omnes cartas infeofamenta prajcepta et sasina^ instru- menta prefatarum terrarum baroniarum aliorumque predict, prefato AVillielmo Comiti de Stirling veil suo filio aut eorum authoribus aliquibus jus habent per nos nostrosve predecessores aut per quamcunque personam vel quascunque personas hereditarios earundem pro tempore concess. Necnon ratificamus et approbamus jus alienationem et dispositionem factam per quondam Joannem Comitem de Mar, Dominum Erskeine et Garioche, &c. hereditarium proprietarium decimarum rectoriarum et vicariarum dictarum terrarum et baronite de Tillibodie pro tempore Domino Jacobo Erskeine de Tillibodie militi heredibus suis et APPENDIX. 145 James Lord Colvell of C.ulros, ^raiidfatlier of James, now Lord Colvell, lyinj^ within our sheriirdoni of Clakmaniiaii foresaid, and Ixnnided in manner mentioned in the infeftments thereupon made and granted, witli all and sundry teind sheaves, and otlier teinds, as well parsonage as viearage, fruits, rents, cmohnnents, and duties thereof whatsoever thereto belonging, and of old jjertaining to the abbots of Cambuskerineth, with all and sundry coal and coallieughs of the said lands and others above recited, with the pertinents and all works and instruments tliereof whatsoever necessary thereto belonging, with all benefit, rents, and com- modities thereof", with all and sundry parts, pendicles, tenants, tcnandries, and services of free tenants of all and whole the foresaid lands, and others resjiectively and particularly above written, lying as aforesaid ; Which lands, baronies, and others before written, formerly pertained heritably to the af()resaid William Karl of Stirling, William Lord Alexander, his son, and Sir Alexander Schaw of Sauchie. Knight, holden by them immediately of us in chief, and were by them, and their procurators in their names to that effect, specially constituted by their several letters patent, resigned ajid surrendered in the hands of the said Lords of our Exchequer, our commissioners appointed to receive resignations, and thereupon to give new infeftments, as in the hands of us their immediate superior, at Edin- burgh, the twelfth day of June last past, purely and simply by staff and baton as use is, together with all right, title, interest, claim of rigiit, property, possession, action, and instance, which they, or any of them, their successors and assigns respectively, had, have, or any way in future n)ight have, pretend, or claim thereto, or to any part thereof, and that in favour of the said William Earl of Stirling, in liferent during all the days of his life, and the before-named William Lord Alexander, his son, and his heirs-male lawfully procreate, or to be procreate, of his body, whom failing, in favour of the heirs-male and assigns whatsoever of the said ^Villiam Earl of Stirling, and for new infeftmcnt to be auain ffivcn to them thereof under our Great Seal, in due and competent form, as authentic instruments taken thereupon in the hands of George Maiden more fully ])ro[)ort. Moreover, we have ratified and approved, and by these presents, with advice and consent foresaid, ratify and approve all charters, infeftments, precepts, and instru- ments of seisin of the aforesaid lands, baronies, and others foresaid, to the afore- said AVilliam Earl of Stirling, or his son, or any persons their authors, having right granted by us or our predecessors, or by any person or j)ersons heritors of the same at the time; And also, we ratify and approve the right, alienation. and disposition made by the deceased John Earl of Mar, Lord Erskine and Garioche, kc. heritable proprietor at the time, of the teinds, parsonage and vicarage, of the said lands and barony of Tullibodie. to Sir James Erskine of TuUibodie, Knight, his heirs and assigns, which is dated the 14G APPENDIX, assignatis que est de data die meiisis anno Domini millesimo sexcentessimo vnacum juribus et dispositionil)us per prefatum Dominum Jacobum memorato Williebno Coiniti de Stirling ejusque authoribus dictaruin decimanim rectoriariim et vicariarum prefataruni terrarum et baroniie de Tillibodie in onmibus capitibus et articulis eariim, &;c. Ac volumus et concedimus quod liec prescns nostra confirmatio et ratificatio sit et erit tanti valoris et efficacia) quamsi predicti* cartae infeof amenta dispositiones aliaque prescript, in liac presenti carta nostra per expressum inserta fuissent penes quam nos pro nobis et successoribus nostris dispensavimus tenoreque presentium dis- pensamus imperpetuum. Ulterius nos pro bono fideli et gratuito servitio nobis nobilissimisque nostris progenitoribus dignissime memorie per memoratos Willielmum Comitem de Stirling et Willielmum Dominum ^Vlexander ejus tilium temporibus retroactis prestito et impenso ac pro diversis aliis magnis respectibus bonis causis et considerationibus nos ad hoc inoven. ex nostra certa scientia proprioque motu de novo dedimus concessimus et disposuimus necnon tenore presentium cum avisamento et consensu predict, de novo damus concedimus et dispnnimus memorato Willielmo Comiti de Stirling in vitali redditu duran. omnibus sue vitie diebus et prefato Willielmo Domino Alexander ejus filio et hercdibus suis mascalis de corpore suo legittime procreatis veil procreandis quibus deficientibus heredibus masculis dicti Willielmi Comitis de Stirling et assicnatis quibuscunque omnes et singulas terras baronias aliaque particulariter subscript. viz. Totas et integras predict, terras et baroniam de Tullibodic comprehenden. terras dc Banchrie cum tenentibus tenandriis et libere tenent.ium servitiis earundem molendinis multuris silvis carbonibus carbonariis partibus pendiculis annexis connexis dependentiis et singulis suis pertinen. et totam et integram salmonum piscationem super aqua de Dovane jacen. ante et prope predictas terras infra bondas predictas cum omnibus privilegiis libertatibus et commoditatibus ad easdem pertinen. et spectan. omnes perprius unit, ad dictam baroniam de Tulli- bodic A^nacum decimis rectoriis et vicariis dictarum terrarum et baronie de Tullibodie comprehenden. terras et piscationes prescriptas necnon nominatione miuistri apud dictam ecclesiam de Tullibodie ejusque successorum quandocunque vacare contigerit Ac totas et integras prtedictas terras et baroniam de Tullicultrie comprehenden. terras molendina aliaque supra speciticat. necnon totas et integras pjredictas terras de Wester Tullicultrie cum monte ejusdem molendino terris molendinariis astrictis multuris et pertinen. earundem ac carbones de presenti super dictis terris de Tullicultrie et suj>er eisdem et infra easdem lucrandas cum omnibus necessariis operibus et instrumentis ejusdem ad easdem spectan. cum omni vtilitate commoditate et beneficio earundem omnibusque aliis ad dictum opus carbouarium |>ertineii. ac etiam totam et integram dictam ecclesiam de Tullicultrie rectoriam et vicariam ejusdem et decimas tam rectorias quam vicarias hujusmodi vnacum advocatione donatione et jure patronatus ecclesie parochialis et paroclu;e de Tullicultrie cum jure nominationis miuistri curam dictie ecclesise omni tempore futuro inserviendi cum potestate dicto nostro consanguineo suoque , ^\PPENDiX. 147 day of " ' Anno Domini, one thousand six hundred and , together with the rights and dispositions by the aforesaid Sir James to the above mentioned WiUiani Karl of StirUng, and his authors, of the said teinds, parsona^^ Z^'^->^ .^^^yX^^^-^ ^ .-C^ ^^ ^ ^iZ^.^^ Z ^:^ ■^ ^ APPENDIX. 139 as circumstances appeared to justify. Tiiesc circumstances were, tliat a man of rank had obtained a judgment against Lord Stirling, in an action in wliicli the plea of privilege had not been pleaded in a sufficient manner to insure it. This left his lordship liable to an execution in that action, and thus to have his person incarcerated. The forged letter seemed to be the plan to get hold of his lordship's person, and was defeated in the maimer before narrated. The name and circum- stances were then detailed in the letter enclosing the forgery. John Ilderton Burn, Esq. to Charles Douglas, Esq. Private Secretary to Viscount Goderich. Raymond Buildings, Ghay's Inn, August 23, 1832. Sir, — I send you the enclosed letter to make such use of towards detectiu"- the forgery, as you may think fit. It was left last evening in Portland I'lace, by a gentleman in a gig, with Lady Stirling. Sir Henry Digby has lately broufht an action against Lord Stirling, and received, or rather got. judgment for a sum of money, whicii he is anxious to enforce. I mention this circumstance, coupled Avith the agency of a man named John Tyrell, who acted for Sir Henry, as, perhaps, leading to a guess in the business. It is no doubt a scandalous proceeding. If I can, in any Avay, render farther assistance in the inquiry, I shall be happy to do so, and remain, &c. (Signed) ,J. I. Burn. P.S. Messrs Potts and Son of Serjeant's Inn, were the attornies of Sir II. Digby. Now, at this point of the case, would not any man, and every man have concluded and expected, as a matter of course, an indispensable obligation indeed, that the investigation would have been carried on with something like a chance of detecting the cheat — with a degree of earnestness that would have left no ordinary — no, nor extraordinary means untried to achieve the object ? Would not this be the natural expectation of Lord Stirling in confiding the letter to the party for his investigation ? Most assuredly so ! And now. reader, mark well the result of this doughty commission. AVhy, truly, on the 2ith. the very dav after, inquiry ends where it begins. Mr Douglas to Mr Burn. Colonial Office, August '24., 1832. Sir, — I am desired by Lord Goderich to return the enclosed yo^'i^^^/'j/. Mr lialfour is now, and has been, in Ireland some time. Lord Goderich has no seal resembling the one used ; and I may farther add. that Lord Cioderieh. either privately or as Secretary of State, has not ever acknowledged the individual styling liimself as Earl of Stirling, by that title. — I have the honour to be. Sir, ■ your most obedient humble servant, (Signed) Charles Douglas. To J. Burn, Esq. 160 APPENDIX. Is this the way, we ask, that any of the readers of this narrative would proceed to detect a forgery ? Is this the earnest endeavour to discover the perpetrator ? Is this, in short, genuine ? ]\Ir Douglas was applied to, to return the envelope, so necessary in such an inquiry, and which had been retained. Mr Burn to Mr Douglas. Raymond Buildings, August 25, 1832. Sill, — You have not returned me the envelope to the forged letter sent you the other day. I suspected the fraud, and the seal may enable me to make progress in detecting it. Indeed, I am led to expect a discovery in a quarter not anticipated. Your office, I presume, will afford facilities to the inquiry. Indeed, I thought you would have taken it up without me, as it affects the public as well as the individual. I was quite aware of my Lord Goderich's refusal to recognize the title to peerage in my client. That part of Balfour's letter then excited suspicion. This was a clumsy part of the machinery. Pray have the goodness to return the envelope. — I have the honour, &c. (Signed) J. I. Burn. Mr Burn to Earl Grey. Raymond Buildings, August 25, 1832. ]My Loud, — A forgery has been recently committed in the name of Mr Balfour, of the Colonial Office, to which it should seem that your lordship's seal, or one like it, is affixed. The purpose of this letter is to ask your lordship to have the condescension to order a single line in reply, with the small seal affixed. This will probably aid in detecting the cheat. — I have the honour, &c. (Signed) J. I. Burn. 3Ir Burn to Mr Douglas. Sir — Not having heard from you with the envelope to the forged letter to Lord Stirling, I again trouble you on the subject. It is quite clear that such a material document for discovery of the cheat is indispensable. The impression taken from the original is not such good evidence, but how Lord Granville's seal could be procured, as is suspected, for the purpose, is a mystery. Perhaps you could throw some light on this point, by pointing out the probable channels for coming at such a thing improperly. Thinking it might be Earl Grey's, I wrote to that nobleman on Saturday, requesting a single line in reply, with his lordship's small seal affixed. Thus, you see, 1 have not been idle. The inspector to the post office, and other parties, have been applied to respecting hands. All who have hitherto seen them agree in opinion, and a warrant at Bow Street will, doubtless, elicit still more. Your cordial assistance, herein, will be very acceptable, as the culprit must and shall be fully exposed. I could shew you APPENDIX. 161 documents that leave no doubt of the writer. Perliaps I^ord Goderich himself might be disposed to lend his aid. AMicn a little more advanced, I siiall venture probably to ask it, and have the honour to be, &c. Raymond Buildings, (Iray's Inn, (Signed) J. I. Hurx. August 28, 1833. Things wanting. — 1. How the seal, whether of Lord Granville, or Earl Grey, could be had ? Would J^ord Ilowick take the trouble to intjuirc ? 2. AVho delivered the letter to Lady Stirling ? 'i'he party suspected will perhaps be discovered to-day, and be forced to speak out. 3. ^\'ho wrote the forgery, and by whose dictation ? The writer is known, and before a magistrate he may be forced to give up his principal, -k How many parties to the conspiracy to wound the peace of a family, and injure an innocent man? Mr Douglas's reply to the application to return the envelope, was such as may now be anticipated. Mr Douglas to Mr Burn. CoLONiAi, OriacE, August 28, 1832. Sir, — In reply to your note, I beg leave to say that, as I did not think the envelope which you request me to return was of consequence, I fear it has been lost or burnt. I hope it will not signify. As the forged letter could not have come from any one in this office, Ijord Goderich had no means of detecting the author, and, consequently, I returned the letter to you. — I have the honour, is.c. (Signed) Chakles Douglas. The same person wrote another letter of the 29th of August. Mr Douglas to 3Ir Burn. Colonial Office, August 29, 1832. Sir, — I am desired, by Lord Goderich, to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 28th instant, which reached me in Bruton Street, by the twopenny post, yesterday evening. iVs I had no reason to suppose that the envelope of the letter to which you refer was of any consequence, and as 1 was quite unaware of the existence of any such conspiracy as you allude to. the envelope was thrown aside, together with other papers of the same description, and I am not sure that it can now be found. I can, however, distinctly assert that the seal attached to it (a viscount's coronet with a G. under it) was not Lord Goderich's, who had not, and never had, either individually or oilicially, any such seal. Lord Goderich directs me to add, that he will be very ready to promote any inquiry as to the author of this forgery, but he has no ground whatever for 162 APPENDIX. fixing suspicion upon any particular person. The seal could not be Lord Grey's, as it was uot an Earl's coronet. — I have the honour to be, &c. (Signed) Charles Douglas. P.S. If the envelope can be found, it will be sent to you. I shall be here to-morrow, if you wish to see mc, at one o'clock. — C. D. It may be proper to state here, that ISIr Burn had written to Earl Grey asking for a reply ■with tlie small seal affixed, but none was ever given. Although the party alluded to " had no reason to suppose that the envelope was of any consequence," and it " was thrown aside," it is not a little curious and worthy of the reader's attention, to remark how very minutely the seal of it had been noticed. 3Ir Burn to Mr Douglas. Sib, — The writer of the forged letter is as well known to me now as you are. I have competent parties ready to prove it. If you Avill give me all the informa- tion in your power as to the author and concocter, it may save an exposure that cannot be very agreeable. It is impossible, I think, that you can mistake my meaning ; and really, sir, it would be much more acceptable to my feelings to repress than to proclaim the degradation that awaits the writer, if this hint be not taken, and properly acted on without delay. It is a serious joke, you see, and now demands serious attention. — I remain sir, &c. (Signed) J. I. Burn. Raymond Buildings, Gray's Inn, August 29, 1832. P.S. A full disclosure, within twenty-four hours, may prevent one of a different character within two days. I am far more indifferent about the reply, than you can be luider the circumstances. — J. I. Burn. Mr JBiirn to Viscount Goderich. Raymond Buildings, August 29, 1832. My Lord, — It is fit that your lordship should be informed that a forgery has been committed in the name of INIr Balfour, and that your lordship's seal (a small seal) was affixed to the letter. The letter is dated the 22d instant, from the Colonial Office, and addressed to Lord Stirling, inviting his lordship to attend the next day at twelve, to meet your lordship. It was delivered to Lady Stirlino-, by a man in a gig, in Portland Place. I attended, without the letter, before twelve the next day, and was surprised to learn that Mr Balfour, the pretended writer, was in Ireland, and tliat, consequently, there was reason to suspect that all was not right. I frustrated the view of the writer, and having obtained the letter, returned with it to the Colonial Office. The person in APPENDIX. IflSr attendance seemed to think the seal was rijfht, — that is, your lordship's — and referred me to Mr Douglas in Eruton Street for further information. On proceeding to that person's house, he assured me the letter was a fbr<^ery, and wished to have it for the purpose of detecting the cheat. I could not then leave it, but promised to send it, at his request, by post, which I did, giving such information as seemed to me undoubted in circumstances likely to end in a discovery. Mr Douglas replied on the 24th, returning mc the letter, witlund the seal and envelope, merely reiterating that it was a forgery, and that your loi-dsliip had no seal resembling the one used. Not caring to be baffled in a search for the writer, and having suspicion excited in a quarter never before dreamt of, I wrote to Earl Grey, asking merely a line in reply, with his lordship's sinall seal affixed, stating my reason lor the request. The seal not haviu"- been returned, although again applied for, this part of the business is not yet completed. If your lordship should think fit to aid in this discovery, and seal the reply hereto witli a small seal, I should feel obliged. I am quite certain of the writer of the letter ; not so of the author, unless the writer were author too. I am equally sure that an exposure of the whole \vill be corroding to the parties. It would ill become me, not at once and explicitly, to acquit your lordship of all knowledge of, oi- participation in, tliis aft'air ; and equally so, not to explore the extent of the guilt, if more than one, as I expect, has been concerned. How far your lordship may think fit to assist in the matter rests with yourself, and 1 have the honour to be, my lord, &c. &c. &c. (Signed) J. I. Burn. Raymond Buildings, Gray's Inn, August 29, 1832. Mr Douglas to Mr Burn. Colonial Office, August 30, 1832. Sir, — I have just received your letter dated 29th instant. In consequence of its contents, I must beg leave to withdraw the offer I made in my letter yesterday of seeing you, as it is now quite impossible for me to hold any communication whatever with you, except by tlie expressed desire of Lord Goderich. — I have the honour to be, sir, &:c. &c. (Signed) Charles Douglas. To J. I. Burn, Esq. ■ • Mr Burn to Mr Douglas. ItAYMOND Buildings, August 30, 1832. Sir, — Rest assured, that I had not the slightest intention of accepting your offer, as you call it, to see you at the Colonial Office to-day. 1 am Lord Stirling's advocate, to get justice for him, if it is to be had, and nothing that I can do to attain so fair an object shall be left undone. My motives, my conduct. 164 APPENDIX. my most earnest exertions, all tend to honourable ends. I may be defeated, but not easily. It would ill suit me, then, to let any inroad be made in the sanctuary of that justice to which I believe Lord Stirling entitled, or to suffer insult to be added to injury in the late attempt, and not express my sense of it. I court no favour at your hands wliatever, and am not without feeling for the situation in Avhich you have chosen to place yourself. If the thing be not the mere motion of your own mind, as I suspect it is not, the principal will find it difficult to elude me. My expose is gone to the press on the receipt of your note ; therefore, you will understand that this letter is merely to correct any misapprehension as to my having the slightest wish for an interview. The opportunity for your own sake is lost, and as to what is to follow, " nous verrons." — I am. Sir, &c. &c. (Signed) J. I. Burn. Charles Douglas, Esq. Lord Goderich's reply to ISIr Burn's letter, cited above, was as follows: — Viscount Goderich to Mr Burn. Carlton Gardens, August 31, 1832. Sir. — I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 29th instant, upon the subject of a certain letter adressed to an individual styling himself Earl of Stirling, and purporting to be written by my private secretary, Mr Balfour. This letter was of course sheAvn to me on the day on which JNIr Douglas received it from you. Its hand-writing and signature bore no resemblance whatever to that of JNIr Balfour : and, as Mr Douglas informed you by my direction on the 29th instant, the seal with which the letter had been sealed (a Viscount's coronet with the letter G. under it) was not mine, as I have not now, and never had at any time, any such seal. Mr Balfour could not be the writer of the letter, as it is dated Colonial Office, August 22, and he has been absent from London for some weeks. The seal could not be Lord Grey's, as he is an Earl, and the seal had a Viscount's coronet. As to the writer and author of this piece of impudence, I have not even a guess ; and as you wish my aid in prosecuting your inquiries, I observe with surprise, that although in your letters to JNIr Douglas, as well as in that to me, you speak with great confidence of your knowledge of the writer, and of your suspicion of the author, you have not thought proper to impart to me any circumstance by which I can even conjecture to whom you refer. How ready, therefore, I may be to assist in discovering by whom the pretended letter from JNIr Balfour was written, it is clear that you alone can furnish me with the means of doing so. I am sorry that the envelope has been mislaid ; but I cannot see in what way the loss of it can affect the means of tracing the writer of the letter. — I am. Sir, 6cc. kc. (Signed) Goderich. APPENDIX. HB Mr Burn to Viscount Goderich. Raymond Buildings, Septemler 1, 1832. My Lord, — I have a host of witnesses, who can pro\e, when broiu'ht forward, that the fortred letter referred to in this correspondence is in the hand- writing of Mr Douglas. Had lie shewn your lordship :tll my letters, there could ■have been no d()ul)t that he was meant as beinjf the writer. Mr Douglas himself furnished the proof that led to the detection. The instant 1 got his letter, enclosing the forged one, the exact similarity of the hands struck me very forcibly. Before this, not the least suspicion existed in my mind, as to him. Not choosing, in an affair of this nature, to trust my own eyes, I applied to the inspector at the Post Office, from him to the inspector at the Bank of England, whose province it is more particularly to detect forgeries. This was also done at some public offices. There was neither hesitation nor difference of opinion among any of them on tliis point ; and so far, then, my case was made out. I did not suspect Mr Douglas to be the author, nor do I now suspect this ; and by and by, without the euA elope, a little more light may be thrown on this part of the subject. That your lordship, in looking at the forgery, to see that it was not in Balfour's hand, did not recognize whose it was, I can only account for, (the resemblance being so striking.) in the unsuspicious nature of an honourable mind, that could not imagine delinquency in one who sliould have been so far above it. Your lordship says you could not even guess at the party ; con- sequently, I have nothing more to say on this head. Xow, as to the envelope and seal not being supposed to be of consequence in such a case, this must arise from a very slight decree of attention to the matter. In an investijiation of this kind, every thing pertaining to the letter is of consequence. That 31r Douglas thought so, in not returning the cover, I cannot doubt. The seal, for instance, is some one's, a Viscount's — with a G under the coronet. This would apply to your lordship, as was intended ; to Viscount Granville, and to not manv more parties. No difficulty would have existed with the seal to find out Avhose it was. Well, then, that fact attained, how could it be obtained, and by whom ? But I should pay an ill compliment to your lordship's understanding to go further, as it must occur to the mind of every one, that a material link in the chain of inquiry is wanting. Withholding the seal, however, is evidence another way, were it needed, to fix the writer, for his most earnest desire should have been to remove the burthen, were it practicable, from his own shoulders. Your lordship Avill pardon my having said so much in reply to that |)art of your lordship's letter. As to prosecuting the inquiry. I did naturally expect that something more would have been done than merely to return tiie forgery, with the intimation that it was a forgery, told to me before, and that your lordship diil not know the writer. This, again, fixed, were it wanting, the Avriting of it on Mr Douglas. He might well desire to quash further investigation, knowing where it might end ; and tiic Y WB APPENDIX. affected carelessness of throwing aside the cover of a letter — not addressed to him- self, recollect, but anotJier, and sent to Jiimjor a very 'particular purpose — is quite of a piece with tlie rest of his conduct. I suspect other ])arties are yet to be discovered in this business ; but, under present circumstances, 1 cannot feel that I am called on to state more. JNIeans are taking, and will be taken, to detect and bring them to light ; for, in an attempt so base, as to sport wantonly with the misfor- tunes or the miseries of a fallen family, every nerve should be strung for the exertion ; and every honourable minded man in this empire will herein be mv friend. — I have the honour to be, my lord, &c. &c. (Signed) J. I. Burn. F'iscoimt Goderich to Mr Burn. HiGHGATE, September, 3, 1832. Sir, — I have to acknowledge your letter of the 1st inst. ; in reply to which I have only to state, that lilr Douglas is my ])rivate secretary, and a gentleman of the strictest honour and integrity ; quite incapable of being guilty of any thing so shameful as that which you have imputed to him. As to the hand-writing being his, his word to the contrary is quite sufficient to satisfy me ; and I state, further, that there is not the slightest resemblance between his hand-writing and that of the letter signed B. T. Balfour, which you brought to the Colonial Office, and which I saw. I have already told you that the seal could not be mine, and that it could not be Lord Grey's. Lord Granville is not in England ; but 1 presume you have some reason for supposing that it might be his. I will, how- ever, endeavour to ascertain whether his lordship is known to have such a seal. If this transaction has given pain to the parties in whose behalf you are acting, I regret it, as a matter of course ; but nothing that you have communicated to me suggests what possible motives any person could have had in forging that letter ; still less, what could have induced any person connected with me, or with my office, to take part in so trumpery a fraud, so easily and necessarily detected from the moment that the individual to whom the forged letter was addressed, or any person in his behalf, should present himself at the office, by virtue of that invita- tion. Of course, Mr Douglas communicated to me every letter or note which he received from you ; and I have equally, as a matter of course, put into his hands that to myself, which I now acknowledge. — I am, Sir, &c. &c. (Signed) Goderich. P.S. As you have now thought proper to charge a particular individual, you will doubtless proceed to bring it to proof In this I shall be most happy to join ; but as I totally disbelieve the charge, and positively deny the ground upon which it rests, (viz. tlie alleged resemblance of the hand-writing,) it is more clear than ever that it is from you that I must expect to receive the means of going on. y^n. APPENDIX. Mr Burn lo Viscount Goderich. Kaymon'd Buildixgs, Septemher 4, 1832, My Loud, — It is with no small degree of pain that I both read and reply to your lordship's letter of yesterday, just come to hand. It is difficult, with the respect due to your lordship's rank and character, to state freely, as my dutj* requires, when I presume to differ from any opinion expressed by your lordship in this affair. Your lordshii)'s simple assurance, on all points within your own perfect knowledge, suffices for me. In the assertion, however, that there is not the slightest resemblance between the hand-writing of ]Mr Douglas and that of the forged letter, I must, to admit it, surrender, not my own conviction merclv, but that of many competent parties, who are prepared on oath to substantiate the identity. This is painful : it is embarrassing. In every thing alleged in regard to Mr Douglas, I should have willingly acquiesced also up to the dav of mv receiving his letter. How a gentleman so circumstanced could be induced, by any means whatever, to lend himself to such a measure, is totally out of my power to explain. A forgery is clearly committed. It had for its object, I l)clieve, the incarceration of my client. It had nearly, very iiearlv. succeeded. But for my prompt attention, it would have succeeded ; and then, what assignable motive could actuate Mr Douglas in such a base attempt, I cannot tell ; but I may yet discover one, — no good one, certainly ; but here is the main business of further inquiry. I believe the conspiracy is planned by others. Mv first letter, enclosing the forgery, to jMr Douglas, gives the means of making inquiries : and I did suppose, that all I am doing, and intend doing, would have been done better for me at the Colonial Office. There, however, I am baffled, bv the loss, at starting, of one material link in the chain of inquiry and detection ; and not only thrown back upon my own thus diminished resources, but called upon somewhat prematurely to come to the proof as against Mr Douglas. Surelv it is not necessary to say, in the progress of an important inquirv. where guilt unquestionably rests on some one or more parties, that a premature disclosure may disconcert the whole. It is for him who pursues guilt to choose the time for fixing it with the most effect. I think, in any other case, this would appear manifest to your lordship. I have no objection to attend your lordship on the business, painful as it is, if you thought fit, and to bring all the letters with me; for nothing on earth should deter me from following what I believe to be my duty in this matter. — I have the honour to be, my lord, &c. cVc. (Signed) J. I. BcKN. 168 APPENDIX. His lordship answered in the following terms : — Viscount Goderich to Mr Burn. HiGHGATE, September 5, 1832. Sir, I have received your letter of yesterday. I retain my opinion: you retain yours. Of course, therefore, I have only to say, that, if you will indicate to me throu Newburgh. Saltoun. Buchan. Kilmarnock. Gray. Glencairn. Dundonald. Ochiltree. Eglinton. Dunbartoun. Cathcart. Cassilis. Kintore. Sinclair. Caithness. Breadalbane. Mordingtoun. Moray. Aberdeen. Sempill. Nithsdale. Dunmore. Elphingstone. Wintoun. Melvill. Oliphant. Linlithgow. Orkney. Lovat. Home. Ruglen. Borthwick. Perth. March. Ross. Wijjtoun. Marchmont. Somerville. Strathmore. Seafield. Torphichen. Abercorn. Hyndford. Spynie. Kellie. Cromarty. Lindores. Haddintoun. Stair. Balmerinoch. Galloway. Rosebery. Blantyre. Lauderdale. Glasgow. Cardross. Seaforth. Portmore.. Colville of Culross. APPENDIX. 175 Lords. ■ Cranstoun. IJurglilic. Jedburgh. Madertie. Dingwall. Coupar. Napier. Cameron. Crammond. Keay. Forrester. Lords. — Pitsligo. Kircudbright. Fraser. IJargany. Banir. " Elibank. Halkertoun. Belhaven. Abercrombic. Duff'us. liollo. Lords. — Colville. Kuthven. llotherfurd. Ballenden. Newark. Nairn. Eymouth. Kiiinaird. Glassfurd. 140 GENERAL ELECTION, 2d September, 1830. Duke of Buccleuch and Queens- berry. Earls. — Home. Strathmore. Lauderdale. Leven & Melville. Selkirk. Northesk. The Peers present who voted, were — Earls. — Kintore. Lords. Roseberj'. Hopcloun. Viscounts. — Arbutlinott. Strathallan. Lords. — Forbes. Saltoun. ■ Gray. Sinclair. Elphinstone. Colville of Culross. Cranstoun. Napier. Kinnaird. The Peers who voted by Proxy, were — Dukes. — Argyll. Atholl. Marquis. — Tweeddale. Earls. - Morton. Breadalbane. Lords. — Belhaven. Nairn. The Peers who voted by signed Lists, were — Dukes. — Hamilton. Lennox. Giordon. Montrose. Marquises. — Queensberry. Lothian. Earls. — Errol. Mar. Cassilis. Caithness. Moray. Kinnoull. Dumfries & Bute. Earls. — Stirling. Viscounts. — Dunblane. Elgin&Kincardine Lords. — Cathcart. Wemyss Sc March. Senipill. Airlie. Somerville. ]3alcarres. Torphichen. Aboyne. Blantyre. Aberdeen. Reay. Dunmore. Forrester. Stair. Rollo. Glasgow. Ruthven. Viscounts. — Falkland. Stormont. Ken more. 64 176 APPENDIX. Duke of Buccleuch and Queens- berry. Marquises. — Queensberry. Twecdtlale. Lothian. Earls. — Errol. Morton. Buclian. Home. Strathmore. Haddington. GENEIiAL ELECTION, 3d June, 1831. The Peers present wlio voted, were — Earls. — Lauderdale. Lords. Stirling. : Airlie. Leven and Melvill. Selkirk. Kintore. Hopetoun. Viscounts. — Falkland. Arbuthnott. Strathallan. , - Forbes. Saltoun. Elphinstone. Torphichcn. Colville of Culross. Napier. Belhaven. Rollo. Ruthven. Kinnaird. Dukes. — Lennox. Argyll. Montrose. Earls. — Cassilis. Breadalbane. The Peers who vt)ted by Proxy, were- Earls. — Aberdeen. Dunniore. Rosebery. Glasgow. Portmore. 17 Lords. — Gray. Cranstoun. Reay. Nairn. The Peers who voted by signed Lists, were — Dukes. — Hamilton. Gordon. Earls. — Caithness. : Moray. Kinnoull. Dumfries & Bute. Elgin&Kincardine Earls. — Wemyss & March. Viscounts. — Dunblane. Balcarres. Lords. — Soinerville ' Aboyne. Forrestei-. Stair. Viscounts. — Stormont. Kenmore. Kirkcudbriglit. 61 The preceding return, extracted from the records in his Majesty's General Register House, at Edinburgh, is attested by me, clerk to his Majesty's Councilsj Registers, and Rolls. W. DuNDAs, CI, Reg. ArNISTON, ^M^2(5i! 31, 1831. .:'.:.' PEDIGREE OF THE FAMILY OF ALEXANDER, EARLS OF STIRLING AND DOVAN. so^rERLED, T*i KUIcJ iribtliuu. =E1'TRICA, DiEahttrorOuTi'iibeSnnJre, T«mp, Milcoln IV'- I nA Gnaddaniihwr of '■'■—'- ^—'16*. Hirold iiuftger, KiDg of Dcaniuk. in nitb hit bihu, 1 IGi. H uid ibg IiLU, = FoNiA, DiaghMr I. Oi.tivi, Kino nf Mm u 2. DavBHjkLP er Doku.d, Kimii d( Ibe IsLxt, s fif-C tit, Loud orihc ■ho rate- bnx S,Mtu,d ncniir o Jn.Lord> Hia mild, £* ■ of A kctu-ht. S. Albuhdki Macdokui), foiiDd«d iho tnin «r duu of MioJuwr of Loop, id Ar^lf- liltkogbiu = WiHU'-D, EulsFMonr. 2d dangler. Dun BAH d* Yuk or AlbuHDir, Binili of Mtmlrio,' >1 6J> March MOS. Ulb Dusn of Miuina. = JaNIT Mam BALI. o 2. Jonn Albiakdi o 'of Mvn>l'.<^. KDigbi, Mulrr of Khiii»u Id Ki'og Jiraci Vl.^ Kn.ghitd 1614. SlOlh S«pt loai. iraid.lari/Liiulef>onl.i,e.qfJVe.. Scolia, until prccfitcnry ef all ixbStfi. 1630. Lord AIa^ere/Tull,lodit.md r.«»u«l«/.S«„/.-j,, Ulb Joan Ifl33. I'ucvunto/ Canada, and Earl of Vnrf Ceooti1l*r, lod PriocipBl Stcrruiy for Seoiluid, lOt K«pn of Ibo RigBCI, NoiomWr Ifi/T. A Lord ol Smioo, Si Jnly IQ3L Died at Loodoit, lltb pEbiDiry lUO, and n buned .t Slirllntt. Sir WilllBiD EnhiB*. Knlgbc, AicbtiihoporciugflT. i( llobcn, 4ib Eul of Mu- aiiliJin. lfi3S. T Worlu in ir Pcur Vinlop ofTjIrhar.., («. Dcih., *. J-o-.. Hobi. G..I.UD p»i 1(1*3. E«,.^ ^^ I1e!l Ncmowor-'- ^ John lloliby of [li.hgi>i, = IIaxmii. f I ilioiiblvt o( ' Rof. John Ilic '. , sb Sill OcL ..j.":;^ Sill Caii. lb Sopi. Ob. OtL 1137, CocMiu of =:Wlt.LiAU HiiyFiinM 9ib And nnwDi I ooblo Milancts EaBL or StIBLIHO flDlIly of 1(10 ■UOS ■nd DaiA*. nuit. CUIILU. EOOINI. WiLUUI. JoilN. GENEALOGICAL ACCOUNT OF THE FAMILY OF ALEXANDER, IN SCOTLAND, EARLS OF STIRLING AND DOV^N, kc. INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. The following account of my family is now for the first time laid before the public, by the particular desire of several influential friends, to supply the want of such information in the modern Peerages of Debrett, Lodge, and others, whose editors have constantly refused to notice my title, and, I am told, are even pleased to consider it as not existing ! With remarkable consistency, those gentlemen insert in their works, without the slightest comment or observation, all the Scottish titles borne (certainly with perfect pro])riety and rio-ht) by Peers, who, as I have shewn in my separate Narrative, hold precisely the same tenure of tbem as I do of mine, and never had them con- firmed or " admitted" by the House of Lords. If those writers were asked to assign one fair and valid reason for excluding my titles, they would be not a little puzzled ; though, I dare say, their ingenuity would suggest plenty of invalid ones, which might appear satisfactory to some of their readers. But believino- that I understand their motives, I Avant no explanations. I cannot suppose any of these gentlemen really desirous of injuring me, as I never had the honour of communicating in a direct manner with them, and therefore cannot have provoked their hostility ; but I think they have imbibed the world's preju- dices on the subject of my peerage ; and I also think that representations have been made to them by persons in power, as well as by certain noble families, for the express purpose of preventing that sort of enrolment of my honours and lineage in the same books which contains theirs. Fortunately, such books are not authorities, or otherwise valuable than for occasional reference : and, compared with questions of more importance, I find it easy to reconcile my temper and feelings to such anomalies. I only protest against the exception made, on the score of its invidious character and unfairness. As for the arrogance whicli looks upon mc as unworthy to be enrolled with other Peers, I pity the littleness of mind and Avant of judgment which such conduct betrays. Such persons ought to know that no omission of my titles in books of Peerage, or in the Kalendars of the year, can, or will despoil me of them. GENEALOGICAL ACCOUNT OF THE NOBLE FAMILY OF ALEXANDER. IN SCOTLAND. Antiquaries and Genealogists trace this family from a very early period, deducing it from Somcrlcd, King of the Isles, uho lived in the time of ^Malcolm the Fourth, and was slain in battle about the year 1164. lie loft by his wife, Effrica, dau<,diter of Olavus the Swarthy, King of Man, a son, Keginakl. King of Man and the Isles,* father of Donald, wdiose eldest son, Angus, Lord of the Isles, was ancestor of the Earls of Koss and of Antrim, and of the Lords ^lacdonald. His second son, Alexander Macdonald. founded the tribes or clans of iMacalistcr of Loup, in Argyllshire, and of Alexander of Menstrie. This Alexander INIacdonald was lineal ancestor to •• • Vide Sir Walter Scott's very entertaining and curious notices of this tiiniilv. in the notet to his Poem, " The Lord of the Isles." 4 GENEALOGICAL ACCOUNT OF THE NOBLE Thomas Alexander, of Menstrie, in the shire of Clackmannan, Avho flourished in the reion of Kini>- James the Fourth of Scotland. His son, Andrew, was father of i\-lcxander .Vlexander, who, by his wife, Elizabeth, grand-daughter of Sir Ilobert Douglas of Lochleven, had a son, Andrew, father of another Alexander Alexander, who lived to an advanced age, and left issue at his death in 1594, beside a younger son Andrew, "William, afterwards Sir AVilliam, his eldest son and heir, founder of the Stirling honours. This Sir AVilliam iVlexander, from his infancy, was much distinguished for quickness of parts and pregnancy of talent, which led to his introduction at Court, where his accomplishments, and particularly his poetical taste, speedily raised him to a h'liAi degree of favour with his Sovereimi. On the accession of King James the Sixth to the throne of England, he followed the Court to London, and there, in 1604, published a quarto volume of Poems, Plays, &:c. ; and afterwards wrote a variety of other works. He was soon advanced to be one of the Gentlemen Ushers of the presence to Prince Charles, and further was appointed by his Majesty, Master of Requests, and knighted. From this period, he is lost sight of as a poet, but he is found busily engaged in a series of Avorldly projects and engagements. The object which first attracted his attention was the settlement of a colony in North America, in apart of the Council of New England's patent from King James, which they were desirous of surrendering. Of this great tract of country he had a Royal Grant, dated at Windsor, the 10th September, 1621, by which the said country Avas then given to him to hold liereditarily, Avith the office of hereditary Lieutenant, and other high offices, and was thenceforth to be called Nova Scotia. This grant, after the death of King James, was confirmed by King Charles the First, who, by a charter dated at Oatlands, the 1^2th July, 1625, ordained Sir William Alexander, and his heirs, in the office of Lieutenant aforesaid, to have prececk'tice of all Baronets of the recently instituted order of Nova Scotia, or more- correctly, perhaps, to be the hereditary Grand Masters of the order. His Majesty likewise, by letter to his Privy Council of Scotland, dated 19th July, 1625, fixed the quantity of land that Sir William might grant to the said Baronets as the qualifica- tion, and to sustain the title, to be ' thrie myles in breadth, and six in lenth, of landis ' within New Scotland, for their several proportions.' A few of the patents by which Sir William Alexander exercised his power of creating Baronets of Nova Scotia are preserved ; but, as some persons have attempted to deny that such extensive privilege was ever given to him, it may not be amiss to quote the clause in the Charter, by which he and his heirs were empowered to do so, and even to confer any titles they might please in Nova Scotia. These are the words: ' And that ' men of honourable birth may be incited to the undertaking of that expedition, ' and the setiling of planters in the said lands, Ave, for us, and our heirs and ' successors, with advice and consent aforesaid, in virtue of our present Charter, ' give and grant free and full poAver to the aforesaid Sir W^illiam Alexander ' and his foresaids of conferring favours, privileges, offices, and honours, on the FAMILY OF ALEXAN'UEK, IN SCOTLAND. i ' deservinjT, with plenary poAvcr of disponing and overgiving to them, or any of ' them wlio shall happen to make the foresaid agreements or contracts for the ' said lands with him, Sir William, and his foresaids, under his subscription or " theirs, and the seal under mentioned, any portion or portions of the said lands, ' ports, naval stations, «S:c. Also of giving, grantinir. and bestowing, such offices, ' titles, rights, and powers, ikc. as shall seem to him and his foresaids expedient,' &c. And again, in another clause, they were authorized to make grants and infeftments, &c. by ' whatever styles, titles, and designations, shall seem to them ' fit, or be in the will and option of the said Sir William ^Mexandcr and his • foresaids, which infeftments and dispositions shall be approved and confiniied ' by us and our successors, freely, without any composition to be paid therefor.' More evidence of the power granted to Sir W'illiam and his heirs, to confer titles, cimnot be needed. The fact has been disputed, probably on the ground that the grants of such title of Baronet, though foUoAving, in the first instance, in consequence of the voluntary surrender of Sir \\'illiam, before or after he became Lord Stirling, were afterwards held of the Crown, by charter of iiovodaiiius to the respective parties. That is certain ; but no Baronet obtained such grant from the King, without having previously obtained the portion of lands for its qualification, from the grantee of the Crown, who was lord proprietor of the country. In 1626, Sir AVilliam Alexander was appointed I'l-incipal Secretary of State for Scotland. On the 2d of February, 1628, he had another Charter, under the Great Seal of Scotland, in which he was described as the King's Hereditar)- Lieutenant of Nova Scotia, and had a grant of certain islands and territories, the bounds of which were most extensive ; and the Avhole were erected into an entire and free Lordship, then, and at all times thereafter, to be called and designated the " Lordship of Canada," xrom the great river then bearing that name, and on both sides of which lay the territories granted. This colony, and likewise that of Nova Scotia, were founded and established at the sole private expense of Sir William Alexander, the grantee ; and both grants were confirmed to him by the Parliament of Scotland in 163;J. On the -Ith of September, 1630, he Avas created Lord Alexander of Tullibodie, and Viscount of the town of Stirling, in the kingdom of Scotland ; and after- wards, with a view to perpetuate the name of the lordship of Canada in his family, the King, by other letters patent, dated the 1-tth June, 1633, created him Viscount of Canada, and Earl of Stirling. In 1637, by a Privy Seal precept, dated 30th July, the Earl was created Earl of Dovan in Scotland, with precedency from June, 1633 ; but the year following, his eldest son and heir. William, Lord Alexander, having died, he made a surrender of all his honours and estates into the hands of King Charles, who, by a charter o\' novodciinus. under the Great Seal of Scotland, dated the 7th of December. 1639. regrantetl them to the i^rl. to hold to himself and the heirs male of his body, whom failing, to the eldest heirs female, without division, of the last of such heirs male, and to the heirs male « GENEALOGICAL ACCOUNT OF THE NOBLE of the bodies of such heirs female respectively. Shortly after this, he died, in February, l640. By Janet, his wife, daughter and heiress of Sir William Erskine, Knight, the Earl had seven sons and three daughters. Of the sons, Anthony, the second, was knighted, and died before his father, without issue ; Henry, the third, became Earl, as hereafter mentioned ; John, the fourth, was ancestor to the present Earl ; Charles, the fifth, had an only son, Charles, who died without issue ; Ludovick, the sixth, died in infancy ; and James, the youngest, died without issue male. William, \^iscount Canada and Lord Alexander, the eldest son, died, as before mentioned, in 1638, in the lifetime of his father, leaving an only son, William, who succeeded his grandfather as the second Earl, but Lirch, 1835, to William Wilberforce Pearson, Esquire of Scraptoft Hall, county of Leicester. 4. Eugene- John, born 23d December, 1810. .'■- 5. Lady Clara-Sophia-Fortunata, born l6th October. 1818 ; died 25th January, 1823. 6. Alfred-AVilliam, born 24th October. 1820: died 31st January, 1823. 7. AVilliam-Donald-Stapk'ton, born lyth March, 1826". 8. John-Hamilton, born 5th August, 1829. His Lordship succeeded to the Peerage upon the decease of his mother. 12th September, 1814, but did not publicly resume the titles until his Majesty's procla- mation, dated 20th April, 1825, for summoning the Peers of Scotland to assemble and meet at Holyrood House, on the 2d of June following, appeared in the Gazette. 9 GENEALOGICAL ACCOUNT, &c. Name and Titles. — Alexander Alexander, Earl of Stirling and Dovan, Viscount of Stirling and Canada, Ijord iUcxander of TuUibodie, His Majesty's heredi- tary Lieutenant of Nova Scotia, -, in Scpfcinbcr 1()21, containinTants made to Sir WilHam Alexander, or to others, thereby lapsed, and were not revived when the province was retroceded, or, if he ever had attained possession, he was com- pletely and for ever deprived of it in consequence of his own act. Both of these alternative jiositions, distant as they are alike from the truth and from each other, have been taken up, it must be acknowledged, not without a semblance of authority. One historian sets forth, that by the treaty of St Germain, " King Charles gave up all Canada and Nova Scotia, " with Port Royal and Cape IJreton, to the French *." Further, the Agent of the United States, in conference with the British Commissioners actinir under the treaty of Cihent, of 24th December 1814, maintained, that by the peace of St Germain " the King had ceded all Acadia to the French f." But the supporters of that hypothesis omitted to explain how King Charles came to be in the right of the territory of Nova Scotia, so that it was in his power to deliver it to the French ; or how, seeing Sir William Alexander, and not his j\hf)esty, was truly in the right of Nova Scotia, any effective cession of it could be made under a compact to which Sir William Alexander was not a concurring party. In the next place, and as if to escape from the dilemma involved in the theory just mentioned, another historian states, that Sir William Alexander, * Prince. t Memorial of Agent of the United States, Foreign Office, London ; and Secretary of State's Office, Boston. iv PREFACE. " in the year 1630, aliened his patent and government to the French Crown, " and upon selling his patent the King of France granted to Mons. De la " Tour all the country of Acadie and Nova Scotia *." This statement has at least the merit of being consistent with the fact, that Sir William Alexander continued to retain his right of property in Nova Scotia. Still there never existed a particle of ground for asserting that he, in any manner, or at any time, in 1630 or afterwards, divested him- self of his patent. On the contrary, the assertion is disproved by various cir- cumstances of real evidence ; but to give a just and exact relation of these, a considerable minuteness of detail seemed to be required. All contro- versial discussion of the opposite statements has been, for the most part, avoided; but in respect only to what the author last referred to has ad- vanced, let it be remarked, that it is supposed he had some information that Mons. De la Tour obtained a grant connected with Nova Scotia, which it is certain that person did of a portion of lands lying there ; but it was from Sir William Alexander that he obtained it. A full copy of the grant will be found in the Appendix f. In the last place, the attention of the reader is requested to a description of the o-rants which were conferred on Sir William Alexander, as it is given by M. D'Anville, the accurate French geographer, in his great chart or map of North America, published in 1755, and JNIemoir relative thereto. " Nova " Scotia usurped by the French in 1603, — they forced out by Argal in " 1613; granted in 1621 to Sir William Alexander; and the boundaries " were St Lawrence river on the north, and the west St Croix. By a second " grant, in 1635, it was enlarged to Kenebec river, to co-extend Nova " Scotia with Acadia." Hence it follows incontestably, that the assertion that Sir William Alexander, in the year 1630, alienated or sold his patent of Nova Scotia must fall to the ground, as he could not have wanted the grant in 1635 to enlarge a country that he had already disposed of The compendious account of the first settlement of Canada has been taken in great part from the recital in the Edinburgh Encyclopjedia, which appeared to be at once the most apposite and comprehensive on the subject. * Sullivan, p. 174. t No- A IX. .■ CONTENTS. Page Chap. I. History of the Province of Nova Scotia, granted by King James VI. of Scot- land to Sir Wdliain Alexander, on the surrender of the Pljinouth Companv, and conveyed by charter in the 55th year of his reign, ..... 1 ( II. Account of the territories conveyed by charter in the 55th year of King James VI. to Sir William Alexander, . . . . . . . .10 III. Account of the offices, &c. and privileges thereby granted, . . . .12 IV. History of the Lordship of Canada, granted by King Charles I. of England and Scotland, to Sir William Alexander, and conveyed by charter in the 3d year of his reign, . . . . . . . , . . . .15 V. Account of the territories conveyed, and the powers, &c. granted, by charter of the Lordship of Canada to Sir William Alexander, . . . . .19 VI. History of a part of Maine, and islands, granted by the Plpnouth Companv, at the command of King Charles I. to William, Earl of Stirling, and conveved by let- ters-patent in the 11th year of his Majesty's reign, . . . . .20 VII. Account of the territory and islands conveyed by letters-patent of a part of Maine, &c. to William, Earl of Stirling, ........ 25 APPENDIX. No. I. Letter from King Charles I. to the Privy Council of Scotland, anent Baronets, 19th July 1(525, 27 II. Commission by King Charles to certain of the Privy Council for creating Baronets, 25tli July 1(326, 28 III. Warrant to the Baronets to wear a cognizance or badge, 17th November 1629, 35 IV. Act of the Convention of Estates, 31st July 1630, 36 V. Letter from King Charles to the Privy Council, 12th July 1631, . . .37 VI. Letters-patent by Iving Charles, concerning the delivering up to the French King of the fort and place of Port Royal, in Nova Scotia, 28th July 1631, . .38 VII. Petition of Alexander, Earl of Stirling, to King William IV, 21st November 1832, to direct payment to be made to him of a warrant of King Charles to William, Viscount Stirling, communicated to the Privy Council 19th February 1632 ; and proceedings following on the petition, . . . . .40 VIII. Excerpt from Treaty of St Germain, 29th March 1632, . . . .45 IX. Letter from King Charles to the Lord Advocate, 14th June 1632, . . 46 X. Letter from King Charles to the Baronets of Nova Scotia, 15th August 1632, ib. XI. Act of Ratification of the Charters granted to William, Viscount of Stirling, of the territories of Nova Scotia and Canada, &c. 9. Chai'les I. cap. 28, . . 48 CONTENTS. No. XII. XIII, XIV. XV. XVI. XVII. XVIII. XIX. XX. XXI. XXII. XXIII, XXIV. XXV, XXVI. XXVII XXVIII, XXIX. XXX. Act of the Privy Council, 15tli February 1634, ..... Roll of Baronets of Nova Scotia who had territorial grants there, Assignation and Disposition in trust by William, Earl of Stirling, to Messrs Kynneir and Gordoun, 29th January 1C40, Excerpt from Treaty of Breda, 2 1-3 1st July 1GC7, .... Excerpt from Treaty of Ryswick, 20th September 1697, Excerpt from Treaty of Utrecht, nth April 1713, .... Excerpt from Treaty of Paris, 10th February 1763, .... Grant by Sir William Alexander to Sir Claude St Estienne, Knight, De la Tour, &c. 30th April 1630, Patent of Baronetage by William, Viscount of Stirhng, to John Browne, Esq. 17th June 1636, Excerpts from the act ratifying and approving the Treaty of Union, 5. Annse, cap. 7, Description of the offices granted by the Charters of Nova Scotia, 55. Ja. VI, and 1. Cha. I, .......... Excerpt from the Quebec or Canadian Act, 14. Geo. Ill, cap. 83, Grant by James Farrett, deputy of the Earl of Stirling, to Thomas Mayhew, elder and younger, 13th October 1641, Patent by King Charles II. to James, Duke of York, 12th March 1664, Excerpt from Report on the Lands in Maine, 1814, Grant by James Farrett to Lieutenant Gardiner, 10th March 1640, Patent by Governor Nicolls to David Gardiner, 5th October 1665, Grant by James Farrett to Daniel How, &c. 17th April 1640, Remonstrance of the inhabitants of South Hampton to Governor Lovelace, 15th February 1670, Page 49 50 53 58 59 ib. ib. 60 63 64 65 67 68 69 72 73 74 ib. 77 Distance in English Miles from Quebec to Halifax. Annapolis. Wilmot Gibbon. 31 Kentville. 29 60 Windsor. 27 56 87 Halifax. 45 72 101 132 Quebec. Frederickton. 355i St Johns. 82 437^ )igby. 36 118 473i 20 56 138 4931 51 87 169 5241 80 116 198 553i 107 143 225 5801 152 188 270 6251 ERRATA. Page 19, last line but four, delete ' of SO, last line but ii\ne, for degree, state, read degree, dignity, state. r 63, line 20, for liiten read in the. AN HISTORICAL VIEW, &c. CHAPTER I. HISTORY OF THE PROVINCE OF NOVA SCOTIA, IN AMERICA, GRANTED BY KING JAMES THE SIXTH OF SCOTLAND TO SIR WILLIAM ALEXANDER, ON THE SURRENDER OF THE PLYMOUTH COM- PANY, AND CONVEYED BY CHARTER, IN THE 55tH YEAR OF HIS REIGN. The continent of North America was discovered in June 1 197. ^y Sebastiano Cabota or Cabot, a Venetian, who took possession of Newfoundland, and the whole coast from that island to Cape Florida, in the 25th degree of nortli latitude, for the Crown of England. The King of England, Henry VH, notified to the powers of Europe the possession so taken ; and in this light they understood Cabot's discovery, and that it excluded their commissions and navigators from all the coast ; for until a thirst ot do- minion, and a rivalship in trade and navigation, prompted the French to set on foot commissions for wresting from other Christian nations their possessions in the New World, no attempt of that sort was made within the above-mentioned limits. In 1601', how- ever, favoured by the indolence of the English, and their want of attention to the im- provement of their American acquisitions, the French, under the conduct of Samuel Champlain, a naval officer, stole up the Gulf and River of St Lawrence, and having settled at, and abandoned, by turns, various places, they, in 160S, founded Quebec, on the north bank of the river, and there fortified themselves; by the effect of which, they obtained possession, in that quarter, of an extensive tract of country, thereafter called Canada. Under the discovery by Cabot, the continent was at one time and another divided into several provinces and districts, of which Nova Scotia is the most eastern. It was first settled by the English before the year 1602. On 10th April ICOG, King James before mentioned, by letters-patent, granted A 2 AN HISTORICAL VIEW that part of the continent of America which lay between 34 and 45 degrees of north latitude, and all the northern and larger part of which appears to have been then known by the name of New England, to Sir Thomas Gates and others, with permission to divide themselves into two companies or corporate bodies, the first to be called the South Virginia or London Company, and the second, the North Virginia or Plymouth Company. In the year I6l3, Sir Samuel Argal, governor of the southern part, called Vhyinia, made a cruizing voyage round the coast, as far as Cape Cod, in latitude 42.2, when the Indians informing him that some white men like himself were come to inhabit to the north of them, on Mount Desert Island, in latitude 44.20, he being sensible that all the country, as far northwards as it had been discovered by Cabot, belonged to the Plymouth Company, his employers, sailed thither, and found a French settlement and a fort ; and having summoned the French, they surrendered themselves, cancelling the patents that had been granted for their settlement by the French King. Argal being thereafter informed that the French had another station on a bay beyond the former settlement, proceeded thither without delay, and obliged them also to surrender themselves ; when, quitting the country, they betook themselves more to the northward, and high up St Lawrence River. On 3d November 1G20, King James granted a separate patent to the Plymouth Company, by the name of " The Council established at Plymouth, in the county of " Devon, for the planting, ruling, ordering and governing of New England, iu " America," for all that part of the continent lying between 40 and 48 degrees of north latitude, and extending from sea to sea. In 1621, that company surrendered to the Crown every part of their patent situate to the north of the River St Croix ; whereupon the King granted a charter of this country to Sir William Alexander, dated 10th Septem- ber that year, and passed under the Great Seal of Scotland, in which it was first named Nova Scotia ; and King Charles I. granted to him a charter oi novodamus, dated 12th July 1625, conform to which he was duly vested and seised, 29th September thereafter. • Sir William Alexander forthwith took possession of the territory granted to him, planted, and began to settle a colony at Port Royal, and built a fort there. King Charles having engaged to support the Huguenots, he entered into a war with France in 1627, which continued until April 1629, when it was terminated by articles of peace, concluded at Suza, in Piedmont, out of which articles, it was thought, the circumstances arose which gave occasion to the following letter from his Majesty to the Lords of Privy Council in Scotland : " Right, &c. There being at this time some controversie between us and the French, " concerning the title of lands in America, and particularlie New Scotland, it being " alledged that Port Royal, where the Scottish colonic is planted, should be restored, as " taken since the making of the peace, by reason of the articles made concerning the OF NOVA SCOTIA, &c. 3 " same ; as we are bound in diitie and justice to discharge what we owe to cverie neigh- " hour prince, so we must have a care that none of our subjects do suffer in that which " they have undertaken, upon just grounds, to do us service, neither will we determine in " a matter of so great moment, till we understand the true estate thereof: Therefore, " our pleasure is, tliat you take this business into your considciation, and because we " desire to be certified how far we and our subjects are interested therein, and what " arguments are fit to be used, when any question shall occur concerning the same, for " the defence thereof, that, after due information, we may be furnished with reasons " how we are bound to maintain the patents that our late dear father and we have given. " So, expecting that having informed yourselves sufficientlie of this business, you will " return us an answxn- with diligence," &c. " Whitehall, 3d July IGSO »." The Lords, with the other Estates of the realm, being assembled in Convention, 31st July 1630, unanimously agreed that his Majesty should " be petitioned to maintain his " right of New Scotland, and to protect his subjects, undertakers of the said plantation, " in the peaceable possession of the same, as being a purpose highlie concerning his " Majestie's honour, and the good and credit of this his ancient kingdom." The removal of the colony planted at Port lloyal was nevertheless commanded by his Majesty, together with the destruction of the fort built for its protection, and the evacuation of Port Royal itself, by the following letter to Sir William Alexander, then Viscount of Stirling : » " Right, cS:c. Vriiereas there is a final agreement made betwixt us and our good-bro- " ther, the French King ; and that, amongst other particularities for perfecting thereof, " we have condescended that Port Royal shall be put in the state it was before the be- " ginning of the late war, that no partie may have any advantage there during the con- *' tinuance of the same, and without derogation to any preceding right or title, by vir- ^' tue of any thing done, either then, or to be done, by the doing of that which we •* command at this time ; it is our will and pleasure, and we command you hereby, that " with all possible diligence you give order to Sir George Home, Knight, or any other " having charge from you there, to demolish the fort which was builded by your son •' there t, and to remove all the people, goods, ordnance, munitions, cattle and other . * Earl of Stirling's Register of Letters of King Charles I. &c MS. \ Sir William Alexanilei- " erected a fort on tlie site of the French coni-fields, previous to the treaty of St " Germain. The remains of this fort may be traced wilii i;rcat ease ; tiio old parade, tlie embankment and *' ditch have not been tlisturbed, and preserve their original form." — Ilalibiirlon's Uistori/ of »Voi'a Scotia- Halifax, 18'2y, vol. ii. p. I5G. - A 2 4 AN HISTORICAL VIEW " things belonging unto that colonie, leaving the bounds altogether waste and un- " peopled, as it was at the time when your son landed first to plant there, by virtue of " our commission. And this you fail not to do, as you will be answerable unto us. «' Greenw^ich, lOth July iGSl *." The command to remove the colony from Port Royal, although it was declared to have only been " for the present," or " for a time," occasioned a great private loss to Lord Stirling, and operated as an indisputable discouragement also to the planting and settling of Nova Scotia. At the same time, his Majesty wrote to the Lords of the Council, 12th July lG3I, " We will be verie careful to maintain all our good subjects " who do plant themselves there ;" and granted letters-patent, 2Sth July aforesaid, wherein his ISIajesty declared, that he agreed to give up the fort and place of Port Royal, without prejudice nevertheless to his right or title, or that of his subjects, for ever ; and even held out the prospect of its garrison, colonies and inhabitants returning, in consequence of approbation to that effect, to be obtained from the French King. King Charles also wrote to their Lordships in terms equally strong and explicit, in the following letter, with a warrant in Lord Stirling's favour for L.10,000 : «' Rif>ht trustie, &c. Whereas we send herewith inclosed unto you a signature often " thousand pound sterling, in favour of our right trustie the Lord Viscount of Stirling, *' to be past and expede by you under our Great Seal ; lest any mistaking should ensue <' thereupon, we have thought it good to declare unto you, that (as it may appear by " itself) it is no ways for quitting the title, right, or possession of New Scotland, or of " any part thereof, but only for satisfaction of the losses that the said Viscount hath, " by giving order for removing of his colonie at our express command, for performing " of an article of the treatie betwixt the French and us : And we are so far from ahan- " doning of that business, as we do hereby require you, and everie one of you, to afford " your best help and encouragement for furthering of the same, chieflie in persuading " such to be Baronets, as are in qualitie fit for that dignitie, and come before you to " seek for favour from us, but remitting the manner to your own judgment, and expect- «' in at which time he ceased to make them, intelligence having reached him that the French had overrun the country, and held it in their possession. He, notwithstanding, never relinquished any of the rights vested in him under his patents, as is proved by an assignment of them in trust, that he executed in 1640, only two weeks before his death. The French maintained their usurped possession of Nova Scotia, certainly, as has been said, with little or no molestation, until 1654, when, by command of Cromwell, military re-occupation of the country was taken by Colonel Sedgwick. King Charles II, however, in 1662, without the consent of Parliament, and also in opposition to the urgent representations of the adjoining settlement of New England, against admit- ting the French so near to the English colonies, commanded it to be re-delivered to them ; and under the treaty of Breda, in July I667, the French alleged that they were actually put again in possession of Acadia, comprehending Nova Scotia, and, besides, the lands called or known by the names of St Croix and Sagadahock, lying between the river St Croix and Penobscot, in the state of Maine, New England ; and they built a small fort at Port Royal, for the security of certain settlements made by them along the coast, where they traded with the inhabitants. But, at any rate, the French having made those settlements, and the settlers in New Eng- land labouring under great disadvantages in consequence of the occupation by the French OF NOVA SCOTIA, &c. 7 of any parts of the country in their neighbourhood, they seized the first opportunity of a rupture with tliat people to force every place in their possession out of their grasp. Great Britain declared war against France 7th May 1089, and Sir William Phipps, commander- in-chief of the forces of New England, appeared, on 1 1th May iGyo, before Port lloval, the garrison of which was surrendered, upon condition of a safe conduct to Canada. Having dismantled the fort, and sent away the French garrison agreeably to the capitu- lation, Sir William Phipps left the country in the possession of those who remained behind, placing over them a governor under their Majesties, King William and Queen Mary, and they kept undisputed possession of the country on that footing. Further, on 7th October IG'JI, King William and Queen ^lary, by charter to the inhabitants of the province of Massachusetts Bay *, granted to them " all the lands and " hereditaments lying and being in the country or territory commonly called Acadia or " Nova Scotia," for the purpose of asserting, keeping up, and preserving the right of the British Crown to the sovereignty of the country ; judging, which this act of sovereignty evinced, that the country had not been validly ceded by the treaty of Breda, but that the possession had by the French was deemed a violent, usurped, and vitious possession. By the treaty of Ryswick, of 20th September 1697> it was agreed between the King of Great Britain and the French King, merely that matters should be placed in the same state as before the declaration of war ; and the sense which the British Crown entertained as to what was comprehended in the treaty, in respect to the country of Nova Scotia, was lelt by no means doubtful ; because, so soon afterwards as in June 1698, King William, in pursuance of the grants that had been made to Sir ^^'illiam Alexander, confirmed a conveyance of a portion of lands lying in that country, and holden of his Majesty as the inunediate overlord t, for doing which the King could have had no pretence, if the country had been considered as having passed Irom under his * Prefixed to Laws of the MassachimU-Binj in New Tlnyland. Loud. 172t. f Sir William Alexander surrendiMed into the liands of the Crown certain of liis lands lying in Nova Scntia, in favour of Sir llobert Gordon of Gordonstouue, who thereupon obtained a new charter of them, under the Great Seal of Scotland, on 28th May 1625, containinir a grant of the title and diirnity of Baronet. Sir Robert died in 1G5G ; and his grandson, also called Sir Robert Ciordon, thereafter obtained a grant of the dignity and the same portion of lands, bearing that they had been again surrendered into the hands of the Crown, in ferour of a new and different series of licirs, appointed by a deed of settlement, dated 26tli January 1697, and that the surrender had been duly received ; and the dignity and lands were de novo confiiined and re-granted, on 27th June 1698; B. Ixxvi. No. 5. Referring to the records for other instances of a settlement or devise of lands and titles of honour being contirmed by the Crown, one remark occurs to be offered, that any nomination or appointment of new heirs to titles now, otherwise than by the Crown, would be inefficacious ; such an appointment made by John, the second Earl of Stair, after the Union of Scotland and England, of his lionours and dignities, having been adjudged by the House of Lords, Ith JMay 1718, to be not valid iu law. 8 AN HISTORICAL VIEW right of feudal superiority or sovereignty, in consequence of possession being resumed by the French, and their possession being acquiesced in as lawful and just. The time at length arrived to fix the possession of Nova Scotia according to its orio-inal and inviolate title. The country, wheresoever it was occupied by the French, was reduced, in I7IO, by Colonel Francis Nicholson, with united forces from Old and New England ; and the treaty of Utrecht, of 11th April 1713, confirmed to the Crown of Great Britain, for ever, Nova Scotia, comiweliended in " its ancient limits^ as also " the city of Port Royal, now called Annapolis Royal, and all other things in these " parts which depend on the said lands." After this treaty, it became matter of dispute between Great Britain and France, What were the ancient limits of Nova Scotia? The treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, in IV'iS, by which that question ought to have been determined, committed it, with various other matters, to the decision of Commissaries ; and, in the course of their discussions, the Commissaries on the part of France alleged, that the French had a just claim to the pos- session of the country, contending that it was borne out by the treaty of St Germain ; as to which, on the other hand, the British Commissaries, Messieurs Shirley and Mild- may, shewed that it gave no countenance whatsoever to such claim *. In the meantime a plan for the better peopling and settling of Nova Scotia was proposed to the Privy Council in England, and approved of by an order in Council, 7th March 174-9. But the French, in April 1750, having renewed their encroachments on the settlers in this province, from which they refused peaceably to desist, it was totally reduced to obedience to the British Crown in June 1755, by the lieutenant-governor. Major Charles Law- rence, assisted by troops from New England under the orders of Colonel Monkton. The treaty of Paris, of 10th February 1763, ensued, by Article 4. of which the French King renounced all pretensions which he had heretofore formed, or might form, to Nova Scotia in all its parts, and guaranteed the whole of it, and with all its depen- dencies, to the King of Great Britain. Thus, upon the quit-claim of the French at the peace of Utrecht, and anew upon the renunciation at the peace of Paris, the sovereignty of Nova Scotia was re-acquired by the British Crown ; and, in like manner, upon the reduction of the whole territory by Governor Lawrence, all the rights of private persons also, the subjects of the King of Great Britain, revived ; the possession of the country by the French having been a usurpation, which created only a suspension of the property of the former owners, and not an extinguishment of it. At the peace of Paris the right of inheritance to William, the first Earl of Stirling, was in the person of his great-great-grandson, John, the seventh Earl. He died within three years thereafter, on 29th December 1705, and his brother and successor, Benja- * Memorials of tbe British and French Commissaries under tiie Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. Lond. 1748. OF NOVA SCOTIA, &c. 9 iiiiti, the eighth Earl, died on 18th April I7G8, from which time the right was in the person of females, until 12th September 1814, when Alexander, the present Earl of Stirling and Dovan, succeeded to it by the decease of his mother. The present Earl completed his titles in 18^1. Having been proved to be the heir to the property, he obtained a precept from his Majesty as overlord, for givinf him seisin as heir aforesaid, directed to the Sheriff of Edinburgh, who, on his Majesty's behalf, gave hereditary state and seisin of Nova Scotia, with its dependencies, to the Earl, on 8th July 1831, at the castle of Edinburgh, in the manner prescribed by the foundation charters of the province. 10 AN HISTORICAL VIEW CHAPTER II. TERRITORIES CONVEYED BY CHARTER IN THE 55tH YEAR OF KING JAMES THE SIXTH OF SCOT- LAND, AND BY A FURTHER CHARTER OF NOVODAMUS IN THE FIRST YEAR OF KING CHARLES THE FIRST OF ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND, TO SIR WILLIAM ALEXANDER. The province of Nova Scotia, granted by King James to Sir AVilliam Alexander, and granted again by his son and successor King Charles, formed a middle portion of a tract of country in America, which, it is said, was named by the French, prior to 1613, Acadie, and reached from Penobscot, (by the French named Pentagoet,^ in the state of Maine, to the north of the River St Lawrence. It includes Nova Scotia proper ; New Brunswick ; Gaspe, a district now comprehended in Lower Canada ; Islands. The islands are those lying within six leagues of the west, north, or east coast, such as the islands of Cape Breton and Prince Edward ; and those lying within forty leagues of the south-east and south coasts, of which the Isle de Sable is one ; also certain parts of the island Anticosti, in the Gulf of St Lawrence, were considered as belonging to Nova Scotia. The northern boundary of Nova Scotia proper is a line drawn from the head of Bay de Vert to Cumberland Basin. The length of the country is about 320 miles, and its average breadth about 70, containing 14<,03l square miles. New Brunswick extends from the Bay de Chaleur and the River Restigouche south- wards to the River St Croix. It was disjoined from Nova Scotia in 17S3 ; is about 145 miles from north to south, and contains 26,704) square miles. The district of Gathepe or Gaspe, lying to the north of New Brunswick, was added to the province of Quebec. It contains about 18,000 square miles. The province of Quebec was erected in 1760. The island of Cape Breton is mentioned in 1632, in the treaty of St Germain, signed that year, as one of the places which were ordered by King Charles to be delivered to such as the French King should appoint to receive them. It thereafter shared the fate of Nova Scotia, from the mainland of which it is separated by the Gut of Canseau, about one mile only in breadth, and twelve in length. It remained unplauted until 1714, when the French, from Newfoundland and neighbouring parts of the continent, denying that it depended on Nova Scotia, made some settlements upon it, and had it included OF NOVA SCOTIA, &c. 11 in their province of New France. This island was called by the IVench Me Royale, whilst they held it, which they did until lyth June 111-5, when it was taken from them by the British, under Commodore Warren, assisted by a body of COOO troops from New England, under the command of Mr William Peppercl ; but it was restored to France by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapclle. It was afterwards taken by General Amherst, com- manding the British land forces, and i)y Admiral Boscawcn, to whom the governor, the Chevalier Drucor, surrendered himself and the garrison of Louisbourg, 2Gth July 1758 ; and the island was ceded by the French King, by the treaty of Paris, in 1703. It is about 100 miles long by about GO broad, and contains 3125 square miles. Coal mines abound in it, and it also possesses abundance of iron. Prince Edward's Island, in the Gulf of !St Lawrence, had its name changed from that of St John, in 1799. It is separated from Nova Scotia by Northumberland Strait, which is nine miles broad. Cabot met with this island after leaving Newfoundland, but the English neglected it. The French took possession of it, as being alleged by them to be within the limits of New France, and as having been re-discovered, in 1523, by Verazani, a Florentine, who was employed by Francis I. of France to go in quest of places for new settlements. The French government, however, afterwards discouraged its settlement to force that of Cape Breton, and it also was yielded by the French King by the treaty of Paris. Its length is 140 miles, and its greatest breadth 34, containing 2159 square miles. The province of Nova Scotiu was annexed to the kingdom of Scotland for the conve- nience of taking seisin of it, and likewise, as a letter from King Charles to the Baronets, 15th August 1632, already referred to, expresses it, ' out of his late dear father's royal " care for the honour and weal of that his ancient kingdom — that the use of the domi- " nion of New Scotland might arise to the benefit of that kingdom ;" and the place for taking seisin was appointed to be the castle of Edinburgh in Scotland, within the baili- wick of the Sheriff of Edinburgh. B VJ 12 AN HISTORICAL VIEW CHAPTER III. OFFICES, &C. AND PRIVILEGES GRANTED. After the description of the territories, the charters contain the grant to Sir William Alexander, and his successors, of the power, privilege and jurisdiction of free regality and chancery, (chancellary) ; the right of patronage of churches, chapels and benefices, and the functions of justiciary and admiralty ; and more particularly, certain great ofHces with high jurisdictions, and large privileges or powers under written, all to be exercised within the bounds of Nova Scotia, and in reference thereto. 1. The office of his Majesty's Hereditary Lieutenant-General, to represent his royal person, with the power of making, sanctioning and establishing laws, statutes and instructions for the government of the country in all causes civil and criminal ; such laws to be consistent, as much as they could be made, with those of the kingdom of Scotland. '-2. The offices of Justice-General ; High- Admiral ; Lord of Regality ; Hereditary Steward. 3. The power of erecting corporations, free boroughs, free ports and boroughs of barony, with markets and fairs, and of holding courts of justiciary and admiralty within the bounds, ports and seas, and of imposing, levying and receiving customs and dues of the corporations, boroughs, markets, fairs and ports, with sufficient magistrates, justices of the peace, provosts, aldermen, constables and other officers, deacons of crafts and others requisite. 4. The power of bestowing favours, privileges, employments and honours on deserving persons, and of making sub-grants of any portion or portions of the lands to those who should covenant and contract for the same*. 5. The power of giving, granting and conferring offices and titles, and of constituting and appointing office-bearers, bailies, clerks, barony and borough officers, and other assistants for the administration of justice, according to the qualities, conditions and merits of the persons who should reside in the said country, or who should adventure their means or fortunes for the profit thereof. * Grants or patents to Sir Claude St Estienne, Charles St Estienne, and John Browne. App. Nos. XIX. and XX. OF NOVA SCOTIA, &c. 13 6. The privilege of export from and import into Scotland, or any other places, of all goods and merchandises, on payment to the Crown of an ad valorem duty of 5 per cent., and exemption from any other duty or custom in respect to such import or export. 7. The power of building churches, chapels and hospitals, and of planting the said churches, and providing them with suilicient preachers, pastors and ministers. S. The power of erecting, founding and constructing common schools, colleges and universities, sufficiently provided with masters, rectors, regents and professors ; also of instituting prelates, and rectors and vicars of parishes and parish churches, and of distri- buting and dividing all the bounds of the country into different and distinct shires, pro- vinces and parishes. 9. The power of founding, erecting and instituting a college of justice, with senators or judges thereof, for the administration of justice therein, and other places or courts of justice. 10. The power of erecting and appointing a privy council, and of giving and granting titles, honours and dignities to the members, and creating the clerks thereof; also of ap- pointing seals and registers, with their keepers, 11. The power of erecting and instituting Officers of State ; Chancellor ; Treasurer ; Comptroller ; Collector ; Secretary ; Advocate or Attorney-General ; Clerk or Clerks Register and Keepers of the Rolls ; Justice-Clerk ; Director or Directors of Chancery ; Conservator or Conservators of Privileges, as in Flanders or elsewhere ; Advocates, procurators and pleaders of causes ; Solicitors and law agents. 12. The power of appointing convocations and assemblies of ecclesiastical persons for church discipline, and of authorising and ratifying the same, and their acts and decrees. 13. The power of appointing governors and commandants of the ports, naval stations and bays, and captains of castles and forts. li.. The power of appointing clerks, officers and Serjeants or macers of the several ju- dicatories and jurisdictions. \5. The power and privilege of having and lawfully establishing and coining current money, with the instruments and officers necessary for that purpose. It is to be remarked, as to the offices, powers and privileges above written, that in the 14 AN HISTORICAL VIEW surrenders by the grantee to the Crown of portions of the lands, and in the new grants thereupon made to others, it was declared that the following should be excepted and reserved to Sir William Alexander and his heirs : The office of his Majesty's Lieutenant of the whole of the country and lordship of Nova Scotia ; The power and privilege of coining money j The office of Justice-General ; • The office of Admiralty ; The making of Officers of State ; The conferring of titles of honour ; The power and jurisdiction of free regality and chancery ; The privilege of making laws concerning the public state, good and government of the country. Accordingly, the portions of lands in question were actually surrendered, and the re- grants of them from the Crown made, with and under the exceptions and reservations which have just been specified. OF CANADA. 15 CHAPTER IV. HISTORY OF THE DOMINION OH LOnDSIIIP OF CANADA IN AMEniCA, GRANTED BY KING CHARLES THE FinST OF ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND TO SIR WILLIAM ALEXANDER, HIS MAJESTY'S " HERE- " DITARY LIEUTENANT OF THE COUNTRY AND DOMINION OF NOVA SCOTIA," AND CONVEYED BY CHARTER IN THE THIRD YEAR OF HIS REIGN. The extensive country, the subject of the grant above mentioned, being a part of the continent of North America discovered by Cabot in 1497. is properly within the limits of the possession that was then taken by him. In the beginning of the sixteenth century the northern parts of it were visited by some French mariners, who were fishing on the banks of Newfoundland ; and in 1523 the French King, Francis I. sent four ships, under tlie command of Verazani before mentioned, to make discoveries in North America ; but having, after two unsuccessful attempts, sailed on a third expedition, he was never lieard of more. In 1531-, Jaques Cartier, a native of St Malo, sailing under a commission from the French Kin^r, landed at various places on the coast of the Gulf of St Lawrence, and took possession of the country in the name of his sovereign. In the year following, Cartier made a second voyage, with a more formal commission, and with a much larger force ; sailed up the lliver St Lawrence as fin- as the island of Orleans ; experienced the most hospitable treatment from the natives ; and after winter- ing at St Croix, returned to France. His failure in the discovery of the precious metals brought him into some degree of disgrace ; and in 1540 he was sent out, only in the capacity of pilot to IM. de Roberval, who was appointed viceroy of Canada, — who made various attempts to discover a north-west passage to the East Indies, — who frequently returned to France for new recruits, and who was lost, with a numerous train of adven- turers, in 1549, without any tidings ever being received of his fate. By this calamitous event the government of France was so much discouraged, that for nearly fifty years afterwards no measures were employed to support the few French settlers who still remain- ed in America. At last King Henry I\'. appointed the ^Marquis de la Koche lieutenant- general of Canada ; but that nobleman sailing from France in 159S, having injudiciously attempted a settlement on the Isle de Sable, and cruized for some time on the coast of Nova Scotia without any success, returned home in disgrace, and died of grief. Other governors, however, were more successful in their expeditions, and by the increasing attractions of the fur trade, were enabled to collect great numbers of settlers, and to form A settlement in Canada, or New France, as it was then by that name designated. 16 AN HISTORICAL VIEW It very soon became as much a missionary station as a commercial settlement. A very general zeal for the Christian instruction of the Indians was excited through the kingdom of France, and many individuals of rank and property devoted their lives and their fortunes to the cause. The Jesuits, however, soon engrossed the sole direction of this undertaking, and were greatly instrumental in obstructing the prosperity of the colony, by their perpetual contentions with the governors, and by the pernicious effects which their labours produced upon the character of the natives. Even when they were successful in their ministrations, they may be said to have made allies to the French, rather than converts to Christianity. These lost in a great degree the useful qualities of tlie savage, without acquiring the virtues of the Christian, — relaxed their wonted courage and vigilance, — depended upon their new allies in many instances both for pro- tection and for subsistence, and thus became a heavy burden, instead of proving a use- ful barrier to the colony. The degraded appearance also, and enfeebled spirit of the Indian tribes who thus submitted to the tuition of the Catholic colonists in Canada, com- pared with the industrious pursuits, orderly conduct, improved habitations and increas- ing comforts of those who were instructed by the Protestant missionaries on the borders of New England, tended greatly to inspire the natives in general with a growing re- spect and attachment to the English, whilst it confirmed their contempt and dislike of the French. The English colonists naturally exerted their endeavours to encourage this predilection, and many of the Indians became still more partial to their intercourse, for this additional reason, that they found in these states a better price for their furs than what the French merchants could afford. The principle which the French adopted, of treating all those Indian tribes as ene- mies who carried their commodities to the traders of New England, or who received English missionaries among them, as well as religious dissensions amongst the colonists themselves, greatly retarded the prosperity of the settlement; but, in the year 1627, the French minister. Cardinal Richelieu, who cordially hated the Protestants, put the province of New France under the management of a chartered company, which he endowed with great privileges, upon condition that they should exclude the Huguenots, and establish Catholic priests in every district. It was in that year that the King of England, Charles I, entered into a war with France to support the Huguenots ; and, in the following year, being moved by a desire for the " diffusion of the Christian religion," and in order that Sir ^Villiam Alexander, " and our other subjects who, alongst with him," had gone to make " a settlement in" the country of Nova Scotia, " might be assisted for" that purpose, " and in the expect- " ed discovery of a way or passage to those seas which wash America on the west, com- " monly called the South Sea, from which the head or source of that great river, or Gulf " of Canada, or some river flowing into it, is deemed to be not far distant, and because " that, by the example already shewn by the said Sir William in the exploring and set- OF CANADA. 17 " tliiig of the said country of Nova Scotia, terminating at the aforesaid Gulf and River *' Canada, he has proposed establishments in those parts of the plantation which seem to " be favourable to the propagation of the said religion, and as tending so much to the " great honour and profit of our ancient kingdom of Scotland, whence it may come to " pass that the said colonies, to he planted by him and his successors, may, by this means, " in process of time, discover the foresaid way or passage to the said seas, much hitherto " for weighty reasons sought for, and so often by various persons undertaken : There- •' fore, and for exciting the more earnest resolutions of the said Sir William, his heirs, " assigns, joint undertakers and associates, to further progress in such and so great an " enterprise," his Majesty granted a charter to Sir William Alexander, bearing date 2d February 1628, and passed under the Great Seal of Scotland, of certain islands and extensive tracts of land on both sides of the River Canada or St Lawrence, all to be called the dominion or lordsiiip of Canada, from the name of the great river aforesaid. In these tracts was partly comprehended a portion of lands of which King James had granted a patent to the Plymouth Company in 1620. One part of their patent, as before stated, was surrendered by that company, in 1621, to his ^Majesty, by whom it was re-granted to Sir William Alexander, on 10th September the same year: And a grant of another part of the aforesaid patent was obtained by him from the Plymouth Company on 22(1 April 16J5, which, by construction of law, the above-mentioned char- ter of 2d Tebruary 1628 corroborated, and will be more particularly noticed hereafter. The expedition of Sir David Kertk against the country of Canada took place in that year 162S ; and he, considering it as within the limits of the dominions of the King of England, attacked Quebec with the English under his command, who made themselves masters of the French settlements, and, particularly, of the fort of Quebec, built by Champlain in l608, which however King Charles, by the treaty of St Germain, order- ed to be given up to such as the French King should appoint to receive delivery of it. Parliament solemnly ratified the grant to Sir A\'illiam Alexander, " of the River and " Gulf of Canada, bounds and priviledges thereof," 2Sth June 1633 ; and on his being advanced by King Charles to the dignity of Earl of Stirling, it was appointed in the patent that he should take for the second title " Viscount of Canada," from this country. The French, when they obtained possession of tiie fort of (Quebec, thought fit to usurp possession also of the circumjacent country, and they contrived to maintain that usurpation by force, until it w'as conquered by a British army under General Amherst, and finally surrendered by the French general, the jMarquis do Vaudreuil, 8th Septem- ber 1760. Ry the treaty of Paris consequent on that event. Article 4, the French King ceded to his Britannic Majesty, in full right, Canada, with all its dependencies, and with all rights which the Crown of France had till then over the same. The country, as the conquerors found it, was not only in a very impoverished condi- tion, and the inhabitants in many places requiring to be supplied with provisions tiom c 18 AN HISTORICAL VIEW the stores of the army, but was besides in a very unsettled state, which continued for some years after the cession. The Indian tribes, in particular, either not considering the French government as having been sufficiently authorised to transfer their allegiance to the British Crown, or excited against their new masters by the Catholic missionaries who resided among them, carried on for some time a desultory and destructive warfare, and rendered all intercourse with the interior extremely hazardous ; but, in 17(ji, a formidable confederacy of the natives having been thwarted in tiieir hostile designs, they soon afterwards returned to their different districts, and gradually became reconciled to the conquerors of the country. During the first four years after its cession, Canada was divided into three military governments, and the officers of the army acted in the double capacity of commanders and judges. The laws of England were soon established in the country, but those in respect to civil matters were not received with approbation by the old colonists. When Canada was ceded, it contained above sixty-five tiiousand inhabitants, who were of the church of Rome, and had always been governed by the customs of Paris. Accordingly it was both just and prudent to indulge the inhabitants with the exercise of their religion, and to make the laws of the country the rule of decision there in all matters of controversy relative to property and civil rights ; but the constitution of Great Britain would not permit the criminal laws of a despotic government, which were enforced with- out the intervention of a jury, to continue in any of its plantations, and therefore the statute 14. Geo. III. chap. 83, was made, (restoring in the place of the English civil laws the old coutume de Paris,) which, after establishing the boundaries of Quebec or Canada, provides for the government of the province ; permits to the inhabitants the exercise of the Romish religion, subject to the King's supremacy ; makes the laws of Canada the rule of decision there in all matters of controversy relative to property and civil rights, but establishes the criminal law of England in that province j whilst, at the same time, (by sect. 3,) it saves all former rights therein. Alexander, the present Earl of Stirling, made up his titles to the Lordship of Canada by seisin, as heir of Sir William Alexander, upon 8th July 1S31, taken at the castle of Edinburgh, as appointed by the charter thereof. OF CANADA. jg CHAPTER V. TEHRITORIES COXVEYED, AND POWERS, &C. GRANTED, BY CHARTER OF THE LORDSHIP OF ■ CANADA TO SIR WILLIAM ALEX^VNDER. In the east parts of this country lay the northern portion of Acadia. The grant from King Charles to Sir William Alexander comprehends altogether, Islands lying in the Gulf of St Lawrence, and at the mouth of the river of that name, including generally the island Anticosti : Islands lying within the river St Lawrence, from its mouth to its source, or within any rivers falling into the river St Lawrence, or in whatsoever lakes in which either the river St Lawrence, or any of those other rivers terminate : Fifty leagues of bounds on both sides of the river St Lawrence, from its mouth to its source ; also on both sides of the said other rivers ; also on the sides of the said lakes : Fifty leagues on both sides of the passage, from the source of the river St Lawrence to the Gulf of California, by some called the Vermilion Sea: Islands lying in the Gulf of California : Lands and bounds adjacent to the Gulf of California on the west and south, com- monly called and distiiiguislied by the name of California : Lands which at any time to come should be discovered by Sir William Alexander or his successors, or others in their name, on both sides of the whole bounds and passage aforesaid, and not hitherto in the occupation of others, the subjects of his Majesty, or of any of his allies. The place of taking seisin was directed to be the castle of Edinburgh, as was appoint- ed in the case of Nova Scotia, or the ground of any part of the lands, bounds and islands conveyed. The particular charter under consideration contains the grant to Sir William Alex- ander, and his successors, heritably, of the powers under written : 1. The power of planting colonies, and engaging in trade in the bounds conveyed, or any part of them, and of expelling and debarring all others from the same : 2. The power of making allocations, or sub-grants of proportions of the lands, to whatsoever person or persons he should see fit, and upon the same terms as he could do in Nova Scotia ; also with such and as great privileges, liberties and immunities in all the bounds and islands conveyed, as he had power of in Nova Scotia, by his charters or patents thereof: Lastlij, There is a declaration, that the said charter should be in no wise prejudicial or derogatory to whatsoever rights, charters or patents granted to him of or concerning Nova Scotia, or to any head, clause, article or condition therein set forth. c 'J 20 AN HISTORICAL VIEW CHAPTER VI. HISTORY OF A PART OF MAINE, IN AMERICA, LYING BETWEEN THE RIVERS ST CROIX AND KENF-BECK, AND ISLANDS, GRANTED BY THE PLYMOUTH COMPANY, AT THE COMMAND OF KING CHARLES THE FIRST OF ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND, TO WILLIAM, EARL OF STIRLING, AND CON- VEYED, BY LETTERS-PATENT, IN THE 1 ItII YEAR OF HIS MAJESTy's REIGN. On 3d November lC20, a patent for a part of the continent of America was granted by King James to the Plymouth Company, every part of which, north of the river St Croix, as before stated, was surrendered by that Company to the Crown, and of new granted to Sir William Alexander, in 1621. Another part of the patent of the Plymouth Company, south of the river St Croix, con- sisted of a tract comprehended within the Lordship of Canada, which was granted by King Ciiarles in favour of Sir William Alexander, on 2d February lG28 ; but as, at the time that the Crown made this grant to him, the tract in question remained the pro- perty of the Plymouth Company, without having been surrendered back to the Crown, King Charles, to apply a remedy for the feudal irregularity, commanded the Company to make over that tract to Sir William Alexander, then Earl of Stirling ; which conveyance would accresce to, and be corroborated by his Majesty's previous grant above-mentioned, of the Lordship of Canada. Accordingly, the Plymouth Company, Corporation or Council of New England, " by and with the consent, direction, appointment and com- ^' mand" of King Charles, issued letters-patent to William, Earl of Stirling, his heirs a:5d assigns, dated 22d April lG35, for a tract of the Maine land of New England, be- ginning at St Croix, and from thence extending along the sea-coast to Pemaquid and the river Kencbeck*, to which was added the island of Long Island, with all the islands thereto adjacent. • The tract of land and islands thus conveyed to the Earl were soon afterwards taken possession of by him. He appointed his deputy for that ])urpose, 20th April l63o, and he himself and his heirs were at a very great expense in planting and settling the bounds thereof. Mr Savage, in his work on New England, mentions as follows : «' This year " (an. 1()4-I,) mon. 4, divers families in Linne and Ipswich having sent to view Long ♦' Island, and finding a A'ery commodious place for plantations, but challenged by the *' Dutch, they treated with the Dutch governor (Kiefc) to take it from them. He " offered them very fair terms ; as, that they should have the very same liberties, both * " The space between tlie St Croix anil Pemaquid, held by him, (Sir William Alexander,) as one of tlie " Council of I'lymoHlh, under anoliier grant, by an agreement among the grantees.'' — Hahhurlon's History of Nora Scotia, vol. i. p. \\i. OF LANDS IN MAINE, &c. 21 " civil ami ecclesiastical, wliich they enjoyed in the Massachusetts, only liberty for ap- " pcal to the Dutch, and, after ten years, to pay the tenth of their corn. The Court *' were offended at this, and sought to stay tiicni ; not for goii;;^ from us, but for strength- " eiiiug the Dutcli, our doubtful neighbours, and taking that from them which our " King challenged and had granted a patent of, with Martha's Vineyard and other is- " lands thereby, to the Earl of Stirling. On this representation they were convinced, «' and desisted." — (Savagc^s WintlLrop'n Neio England, vol. ii. p. SI.) Mr Neal also mentions to much the same purpose : " The inhabitants of Lyn being ♦' straitned for room, went over into Long Island, and having agreed with the Lord *' Stirling's agent and with the Indian proprietors, they began a settlement at the west " end of it ; but the Dutch giving them a great deal of disturbance, they deserted their " plantation in those parts, and settled, to the number of an hundred families, at the " east end of the island, where they built the town of South Hampton ; and by the ad- »• vice of the Government of the Massachuset-Bay, erected themselves into a civil go- " vernment." — (Neal's New England, p. 189.) Li the same year, 13th October, the deputy of the Earl made a grant, under the au- thority of the letters-patent aforesaid, of the island of Nantucket and two small islands adjacent, which bears special reference to his commission from the Earl. On 12th ISIarch l6'Gl<, James, Duke of York, obtained from his brother. King Charles II. a patent for the province of New York, granting to him, " his heircs and assigns, «' all that part of the Maine land of New England, beginning att a certain place, called •' or knoicne by the name of St Croix, next adjoining to New Scotland, in America, •' and from thence extending along the sea-coast unto a certain place called Petnaquine " or Pemaquid, and so up the river thereof to the furthest head of the same as it tend- " eth northwards, and extending from tlience to the river of Kenebeque, and so up- " wards by the shortest course to the river Canada northwards ; and also, all that " island or islands commonly called by the severall name or names of Meitowacks or Long " Island, situate, lying and being towards the west of Cupe Codd and the Narrhagh- " gansetts, abutting upon the Maine land, between the two rivers called or knowne by *' the severall names of Conecticott and Hudson's river, together also with the said " river called Hudson's, and all the land from the west side of Conecticott to the east side " of Delaware Bay ; and also, all those severall islands called or knowne by the name of *' Martin's (Martha's) Vineyards, and Nantukes, otherwise Nantnckett." The tract of land lying between St Croix and the river Kencbcck, it has been seen, was conveyed by the Plymouth Company to William, Earl of Stirling ; and from its be- ing included in the patent from the King to the Duke of York, it might be inferred, that the successors of the Earl h.ad bargained to dispose of their right or title to his Royal Highness. It is not true, however, that the then Earl of Stirling, or his father, Henry, the third Earl, did so, or that they ever divested themselves of the same; but •22 AN HISTORICAL VIEW the inclusion of that tract in the patent to the Duke of York is to be attributed alto- oether to the circumstances now to be related. The Duke having a design to establish the province of New York, which before had the name of Nova Belgia, and hearing much of the goodness of the soil of the conti- guous island of Long Island, he applied to Henry, the fourth Earl of Stirling, for the purchasing of his right to that island. From the time of the civil wars in England, subsequent to the death of Henry, the third Earl of Stirling, which took place in iGli, the American possessions of his family were almost totally neglected. The above-mentioned Henry, his son, the fourth Earl, having, in consequence, very little benefit arising from them, while a great expenditure was necessary for their protection, consented, for a valuable consideration, to a surrender of Long Island in favour of the Duke of York, who would be better enabled to secure and advance its prosperity ; and, at the same time, the Earl should receive a more certain and beneficial income, in return for the surrender, than at that juncture was derivable by him from having the island in his own possession. The stipulated consideration is said to have been L.300 sterling /)er annum, of which, it is further said, no part was ever paid. The conditions of surrender being agreed to, the Duke or his agents received the Earl's title-deeds, so as the boundaries of Long Island might be properly described in the Duke's patent ; but as, in the same instrument by which that island was made over by the Plymouth Company to William Earl of Stirling, the aforesaid tract of land, lying between St Croix and the river Kenebeck, was likewise conveyed to him, not only the description of the boundaries of Long Island was taken into the patent to the Duke, but, by mistake, or otherwise, the description of the tract in question was also inserted. The patent to his Royal Highness contains a declaration, which certainly is of an unusual tenor, and might warrant the suspicion that a fraudulent purpose of some sort was contemplated : " And lastly, our will and pleasure is, and wee doe hereby declare " and graunt, that these our letters-pattents, or the inrollment thereof, shall be good " and effectuall in the law to all intents and purposes whatsoever, notwithstanding the •' not reciting or mentioning of the premisses, or any part thereof, or the rneeths and •' bounds thereof, or of any former or other letters-pattents or graunts heretofore made " or graunted of the premisses, or of any part thereof, by us or any of our progenitors, " unto any other person or persons whatsoever, bodyes politique or corporate." Still the Duke never allowed his deputies or agents to enter upon possession of the said tract, and it has remained ever since, to a great extent, unoccupied, both by the Crown of Great Britain, and, as it is understood, by the United States, under whose govern- ment it was appointed to be fixed by the provisional articles of peace which served as the basis of the second treaty of Paris, 3d September 17S3. During the possession of Long Island by the Eai'ls of Stirling, they continued to OF LANDS IX MAINE, &c. 23 {Ti-ant patents for land to settlers. " In June l639, Forrest, (Farrett,) the agent of " Earl Stirling, transferred a eonsiderable part of the eastern extremity of Long Island " to Hovvel and his associates, (inhabitants of Conecticut,) with such powers of govern- " ment as had been connnunicatcd to that nobleman by the Plymouth Company. New " York Tapers. Plantation Office, Whitehall, vol. i. p. 1." ( Chalmcm' PulUical An- nals, p. 571.) Gardiner's Island, to the north of Long Island, and the lands belong- ing to the inhabitants of South Hampton, were purchased of the natives, and the pro- prietors severally had their purchases confirmed by the deputy of the Earl of Stirling. In 1GG5, Colonel Nicolls, deputy-governor under the Duke of York, required that new patents should be taken out by the proprietors to hold the lands of his Royal Highness, and a patent for Gardiner's Island was taken out from the governor. But the inhabitants of South Hampton remonstrated against wliat had been required of them, and represented to the new governor, Francis Lovelace, that they liad " already " the patent right" for their lands " lawfully obtained and derived from the Honourable " Earl of Stirling," which they conceived superseded the necessity of their taking out any further patent. Nevertheless they were refused any redress ; and on 8th October IG70, the Court of Assize, an arbitrary tribunal, composed of the governor and his council, attended by more or fewer magistrates, declared the titles to lands in that town invalid, unless the patent required was obtained within a limited period. In the time of the aforesaid Henry, the fourth Earl of Stirling, the country of Maine was greatly harassed and overrun by the Indians and the French, insomuch that the colonists were obliged to apply to the JVIassachusetts-Bay government for assis- tance. An historian of America, ISIr Sullivan, observes, " All the eastern country was " abandoned. The people could obtain no assistance from the ^lassachusetts-Bay '* colony, because the jurisdiction of tliat government over them was denied by those " who contended to hold it under the Duke of Y^ork, and part of the country which was " east of Penobscot was said to be under the jurisdiction of the Earl of Stirling." ( Histonj of Mabie, p. I72.) For want of protection, therefore, the territory fell into the hands of the French, who, whilst they held Nova Scotia, included it in their governors' commissions. On 7th October l6yi. King William and Queen Mary granted the charter before mentioned to the inhabitants of Massachusetts-Bay *, whereby their Majesties gave to the legislature of that province the jurisdiction of the country embraced within the limits of the tract or territory above described, but with a saving clause as to all former grants or conveyances ; and with an express proviso, that no grants of the lands, nay " of " any lands lying or extending from the river of Sagadahock to the Gulf of St Lawrence • Vide supra, page 7. 24 AN HISTORICAL VIEW " and Canada river, and to the main sea, northward and eastward," should be of any force, validity or efFect, until the royal approbation of the same should have been signified. This territory was finally reconquered, with Nova Scotia, from the French, in 17 10 ; and upon the rcconquest, and its definitive cession to Great Britain by the treaty of Utrecht, it remained under the government of the province of Massachusetts-Bay ; and the property of the soil remains the right of the heir of the patentee, which Alexander, the present Earl of Stirling, was proved to be, by the verdict of a Jury at Edinburgh, 11th October 1830, on an inquest made for that purpose. OF LANDS IN MAINE, &c. 25 CHAPTER VI r. TERRITORY AND ISLANDS, CONVEYED BY LETTERS-PATENT, OF A PART OF MAINE AND OTHERS, TO WILLIAM, F.ARL OF STIRLING. That part of the Maine land of New England, beginning at a certain place called or known by the name of St Croix, next adjoining to Nova Scotia in America, and from thence extending along the sea-coast to a certain place called Petnaquine or Pemaquid, and so up the river thereof to the furthest head of the same as it tends northwards, and extending from thence, at the nearest, to the River Kencbekike of Kenebeck, and so upwards by the shortest course which tends to the River Canada or St Lawrence north- wards. The island or islands commonly called by the several name or names of Meitowacks or Long Island, with all and every the islands thereunto adjacent, lying or being situate, or bounded, between forty and forty-one degrees of north latitude, or thereabouts. Long Island, some time called by the Dutch Nassau Island, and afterwards, whilst in the possession of the Stirling family, the Island of Stirling* , is 110 miles long, and from 1 to 15 broad. It is separated by Long Island Sound from the State of Conecti- cut, and by the East River from Mahanatocs or Manhattan, or York, Island, on which stands New York, that formerly bore the name of Hew Amsterdam. Gardiner's Island, to which the Indians gave the name of Manchuyiach, lies to the north of Long Island. Great Bay, on the east side of Long Island, contains Shelter and Robin Islands. Martha's Vineyard is an island lying nearer to the shore of the State of Massachusetts. It is sixteen miles long and eight broad. The island of Nantucket, also near to the shore of ^lassachusetts, is fifteen miles long and four broad. Elizabeth Islands are formed by a row of islands about eighteen miles long. * The larpe hay, too, which, and the river Restigoucbe, on tlie north of New Bruns-wirk, divide that pro- vince and Gasp6 distiict, now commonly called tlie Bay de Chaleur, is distinguislied in the maps of 17G3, aod prior thereto, by the name of Slirlhig Buy. APPENDIX. No. I. Letter from K'lns^ Charles I. to the Prir-nf Council of Scotland, anent Baronetis. Charles R. Right trustie and riglit vvcl-ljcloucd counscllour, riglit trustic and right wcl-beloued cosens and counsellouris, and trustie and wcl-bcloiied counsellouris, ue greete you WELL. Understanding that our late deare father, after due deliberatioun, for fur- thering the plantatioun of New Scotland, and for sindrie other good consideratiounes, did determine the creatting of Knight Baronetis thair ; and that a proclamatioun wes maid at the mcrcat croce of Edinburgh, to gif notice of this his royall intentioun, that those of the best sort knowing the same might haif tyme to begin first, and be preferred unto otheris, or than want the said honnour in their awne default : And understanding likewayes, that the tyme appointit by the Counsell for that purpois is expyred, We being willing to accomplishe that whiche wes begun by our said deare father, haif preferred some to be Knight Baronetis, and haif grantit unto thame sio^na- touris of the said honnour, togither with thrie mylis in breadth and six in lenth of landis within New Scotland, for their severall proportiounes : And now that the saidis plantatiounes intendit thair, tending so much to tlie honnour and benefite of that our kingdome, may be advanced with diligence, and that preparatiounes be maid in due tyme for setting furthe a colonic at the next spring, to the end that those who are to be Baronetis, and to help thairunto, may not be hinderit by comeing unto us for pro- cureing their grantis of the saidis landis and dignitie, bot may haif thame thair with lesse trouble to themselifis and unto us. We haif sent a coinmissioun unto you for ac- cepting surrenderis of landis, and for conferring the dignitie of Baronet upon suche as salbe fund of qualitie fitt for the samine, till the nomber appoynted within the said commissioun be perfited : And therefore our pleasure is, That you expede the commissioun through the sealis with all diligence, and that you, and otheris of our Privie Counsell thair, give all the luwfull assistance that you can convenientlie affoord for accomplisheingthe said worke, whereby colonies sould be sett furthe ; and certihe from us, that as we will respect thame the more who imbrace the said dignitie and further the said plantatioun, so if ony Knight who is not Baronet prcsoome to tak place of one who is Baronet, or if ony who is not Knight stryve to tak place of one who hes the honnour from us to be a Knight, inverting the order usuall in all civill pairtis, we will that you censure the pairty transgressing in that kynd, as a manifest contempnar of our authoritie, geving occasioun to disturb the pul)lict peace. So recommending this earnestlic to your care, ^\'e bid you farewell, ll'indsore, the 19th ofJulij 1G2J. (Public Records of Scotland, Edinburgh.) 28 APPENDIX. No. ir. Litera pro creandis Baronettis. See p. 6. Carolus Dei gratia Magne Britannic Francie et Hibernie Rex Fideique Defensor Omnibus probis hominibus suis ad quos presentes litere pervenerint Salutem Sciatis Quia nos ex nostra regali et sincera afFectione quani erga decus et reputationem anti- qui et nativi regni nostri Scotie gerimus ut plantationes et colonic per subditos nostros dicti regni in ilia regioue et loco in America vulgo nuncupat per nomen Nove Scotie constituantur hactenus opera et labore predilecti nostri consiliarii Domini Willielmi Alexander de Menstrie Militis nostri Secretarii ac infra diet regionem nostri Locum- tenentis detect et perlustrat ubi prius nomen Scotie neque notum neque auditum fuit nos pro meliori adjumento et incremento nostre regalis resolutionis (que resolutio pro- pagationem Christiane religionis verumque Dei cultum vice cecitatis et barbarismi pro- portat quibus dicta loca perprius misere et totaliter infecta fuerunt) jam ereximus quendam hereditarium gradum statum dignitatem nomen ordinem et stilum Baronetti infra diet regnum Scotie et regionem Nove Scotie remansurum pro perpetuo quemqui- dem gradum nos in hujusmodi nostros subditos dicti regni nostri Scotie jamjam collo- cavimus ac postea coUocabimus qui suis propriis sumptibus dictam plantationem assis- tent Ac etiam consideran quod quidem generosi sufficien redituum qualitatis et status infra diet regnum nostrum Scotie e generoso et laudabili suorum dispositione et emu- latione in hoc puncto dignas molitiones ullorum nostrorum subditorum sequendo con- currere cumque iis in dicta plantatione semetipsos conjungere vehementei' desiderabunt nos etiam volen recipere et admittere eosd in diet ordinem et statum Baronetti tan- quam argumentuni nostre gratiose acceptationis eorum inteutionum et resolutionum secundum conditiones prefate plantatioiiis inchoate semper et donee plenus et consti- tutus numerus centum et quinquaginta Baronettorum impleatur nee non consideran quod tediosum et suniptuosum foiet pro eo negotio ad aulam nostram itei- facere ac similiter quod nobis omni tempore ob alia gravia et magna negotia diet resignationes expedire non vacabit Idcirco nos pro adjumento et relevamine nostrorum subditorum a molestia quam eorum ad aulam nostram profectio rainime necessaria pro diet negotio- rum expeditione afferre possit nobis visum est quendam numerum nostri Secreti Con- silii dicti regni nostri Scotie constituere ad quem omnes nostri subditi volen conjun- gere semetipsos dicte plantationi dummodo sint honesto loco nati sufficien reditibus nistructi venire et recipere possunt eand dignitatem et ereationem eorumque literas patentes ob efFeetum predict semper et donee diet certus numerus constitutus diet cen- tum et quinquaginta Baronettorum impleatur et ad hunc effectual nominavimus desig- navimus fecimus et constituimus tenoreque presentium nomiuamus designamus facimus APPENDIX. , 29 No. II. Commission by his Majesty to certain of the Privy Council of Scotland. Charles, by the Grace of God, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland, and Defender of the Faith, To all his good men to whom the present letters shall come, Greeting. Know ye, whereas we, of our royal and sincere affection which we bear to tlie honour and reputation of our ancient and native kingdom of Scotland, that there may be established some plantations and colonies by our subjects of the said kingdom in that country and place in America commonly called by the name of Nova Scotia, already discovered and surveyed by the pains and travel of our well-beloved counsellor, Sir William Alexander of Menstric, Knight, our Secretary, and our Lieutenant in the said country, where before the name of Scotland was neither known nor heard, we, for the better help and advancement of our royal resolution, (which resolution proports the propagation of the Christian religion, and the true worship of God, instead of blindness and barbarism with which the said places were miserably and altogether before infected,) have already erected a certain hereditary degree, state, dignity, name, order and style of Baronet, for ever to remain within the said kingdom of Scotland, and country of Nova Scotia, which degree we have already bestowed, and are hereafter to bestow upon such of our subjects of our said kingdom of Scotland who will assist the said plantation upon their own charges : As also, considering that sundry gentlemen of sufficient revenues, quality and estate, within our said kingdom of Scotland, out of their generous and laudable disposition and emulation to follow in this point the worthy enterprises of others our subjects, will earnestly desire to concur, and to join themselves with them in the said plantation, we also being willing to receive and admit them into the said order and state of Baronet, as an argument of our favour- able acceptance of their intentions and resolutions, conform to the conditions of the said plantation begun, ay and until the full and appointed number of one hundred and fifty Baronets be completed ; and also, considering that it would be tedious and expensive for that matter to repair to our Court, as likewise that wc will not always be at leisure for expeding of resigiiations foresaid, for other great and weighty business : Therefore we, for the help and relief of our subjects from the trouble which their unnecessary coming to our Court might bring to them for expeding of such busi- ness, have thought good to appoint a certain number of our Privy Council of our said kingdom of Scotland, to whom all our subjects who are willing to join themselves to the said plantation, so that they be well born, and of sufficient means, may come and receive the said dignity and creation, and their letters-patent for the effect foresaid, ay and until the said certain appointed number of the said one hundred and fifty Baronets be completed ; and to this effect we have nominated, designed, made and appointed, and by these presents nominate, design, make and appoint the most reverend father in m APPENDIX. et constituimus reverendissimum in Christo patrem Johannem Sancti Andree Archie- piscopum predilcctum nostrum consiliarium Dominum Georgium Hay de Kinfaunis Militem dicti rcgni nostri Scotie Cancellarium predilcctos nostros consiliarios Johan- nem Comitem Marre dicti regni Thesauraiium Willielmum Comitem de Mortoun Robertum Comitem de Nithisdaill Georgium Comitem de Wintoun Robertum Comi- tem de Roxburgh Joliannem Comitem de Annandaiil Willielmum Vicecomitem de Air reverendum in Christo patrem Patricium Episcopum Rossen predilectos nostros consiliarios Dominos Archibaldum Naper de Merchinstoun Militem Thesaurarium-de- putatum Georgium Elphingstoun de Blythiswod nostre Justiciarie Clericum Alexan- drum Strauchane de Thorntoun Militem Baronettum et Johannem Scott de Scottis- tarvet nostre Cancellarie Directorem Miletes omnes de Scaccario nostro existen vel quoscunque eorum sex nostros Commissionarios ad etFectum subscript dan conceden et committen prefatis nostris Commissionariis nostram plenam potestatem et commissio- nem conveniendi hujusmodi temporibus diebus et locis prout iis visum fuerit et ibidem audiendi petitiones diet nostrorum subditorum qui diet plantationem intendent et eand amplecti volent ac conferendi agendi et desuper concludendi cum iisdem ad recipiend resignationes omnium terrarum jacen infra diet regionem Nove Scotie quas in eorum manibus tanquam in manibus nostrorum Commissionariorum per prefiit Dominum Willielmum Alexander suosve legitimos procuratores suo nomine in favorem alicujus persone vel aliquarum personarum resignari contigerit et dandi et concedendi nova hereditaria infeofamenta sub nostro magno sigillo dicti regni nostri Scotie iis quibus dicte resignationes diet terrarum et diet gradus status ordinis dignitatis nominis tituli et stili concesse sunt cum hujusmodi privilegiis prerogativis immunitatibus libertatibus aliisque quibuscunque concess et concedend per nos in cartis jam expeditis Baronettis dicti regni gaudere et possidere hereditarie tanquam speciale signuni nostri regalis in eos favoris super quibus diet gradus et dignitas Baronetti per diet Commissionarios conceditur et qui habebunt iis infeofamenta concess ut dictum est hujusmodi locis et precedentiis secundum teinpus datamque eorum literarum paten et infeofamen- torum iis concedend et non aliter fruentur et gaudebunt Proviso omnimodo sicuti nos volumus et ordinamus quod dicti nostri Commissionarii nullas literas paten sea infeofamenta quarumcunque terrarum infra diet regionem Nove Scotie concedent nisi super resignatione diet Domini Willielmi Alexander suorumque heredum et assignatorum eorumve legitimorum procuratorum eorum nominibus potestatem ha- ben neque diet gradum dignitatem statum nomen titulum et stilum Baronetti cui- cunque persone vel quibuscunque personis dabunt concedent vel impendent literas- que paten seu infeofamenta concedent nisi iis qui per diet Dominum Willielmum Alex- ander suosque heredes et assignatos eorumve legitimos procuratores et commissionarios per eos ad hunc efFectum constituendos et eorum potestatem haben nominabuntur et qui coram diet Commissionariis testimonium diet Domini Willielmi Alexander suo- rumve procuratorum et commissionariorum eorum potestatem (ut dictum est) haben subscript habebunt et producent declaran et ostenden eos conditiones dicte planta- tiones diet Domino Willielmo Alexander suisque predict implevisse pro eorum propriis partibus pro incremento plantationis dicte regionis Nove Scotie £t si placuerit diet APPENDIX. 31 Christ, John, Archbishop of St Andrews, our well-beloved counsellor. Sir George Hay of Kinfaunis, Knight, Chancellor of our said kingdom of Scotland, our well-beloved counsellors, John, Earl of Mar, Treasurer of the said kingdom, William, Earl of Mortoun, llobert, Earl of Nithisdaill, George, Earl of Wintoun, Robert, Earl of lloxburgh, John, Earl of Annandaill, William, Viscount of Ayr, the reverend father in Christ, Patrick, Bishop of Ross, our well-beloved counsellors, Sir Archibald Naper of Merchinstoun, Knight, Treasurer-depute, Sir George Elphingstoun of Blythisvvod, Knight, our Justice-Clerk, Sir Alexander Straucliane of Thorntoun, Knight Baronet, and Sir John Scott of Scottistarvet, Knight, Director of our Chan- cery, all being of our Exche(]uer, or any six of them, our Commissioners, to the effect under written, giving, granting and committing to our said Commissioners our full power and commission to meet at such times, days and places as they shall think expe- dient, and there to hear tlie petitions of our said subjects who intend the said planta- tion, and are willing to embrace the same, and to confer, make, and thereupon con- clude with them to receive resignations of all lands lying within the said country of Nova Scotia which shall happen to be resigned in their hands, as in the hands of our Commissioners, by the said Sir William Alexander, or his lawful procurators in his name, in favour of any person or persons, and to give and grant new heritable iufeftmcnts under our great seal of our said kingdom of Scotland, to those to whom the said resi"-- nations are granted of the said lands, and of the said degree, state, order, dignity, name, title and style, with such like privileges, prerogatives, immunities, liberties and others whatsoever, which are granted and to be granted, in the charters already passed, to the Baronets of the said kingdom made by us, to be enjoyed and possessed hereditarily, as a special token of our royal favour, and that those to whom the said degree and dignity of Baronet is given by the said Commissioners, and shall have the infeftments granted to them, as said is, shall enjoy and keep such places and precedencies, conform to the time and date of their letters-patent, and infeftments to be granted to them, and no otherwise : Providing always, likeas we will and ordain, that our said Commissioners shall grant no letters-patent, or infeftments of any lands within the said country of Nova Scotia, ex- cept upon resignation of the said Sir William Alexander, and his heirs and assigns, or of their lawful procurators in their names, having their power, neither shall they give, grant or bestow the said degree, state, name, title and style of Baronet to any per- son or persons whatsoever, or shall grant the letters-patent, or infeftments, except to those who shall be nominated by the said Sir William Alexander, and his heirs and assigns, or their lawful procurators and commissioners, to be established by them to this effect, and having their power, and who shall have and jiroduce before the said Commissioners a testimonial subscribed of the said Sir M'illiam Alexander, or his heirs and assigns, or of their lawful procurators and commissioners, having their power, (as said is,) declaring and shewing that they have fulfilled the conditions of the said plan- tation to the said Sir William Alexander, and his aforesaid, for their own parts, for the advancement of the plantation of the said country of Nova Scotia : And if it please 32 APPENDIX. Domino Willielmo Alexander suis heredibus et assignatis vel eorum legitimis procura- toribus eorum potestatera (ut dictum est) haben pro meliori incremento dicte planta- tionis resignare et extradonare aliquas terras infra diet regionem Nove Scotie in nostris nostrorumve successorum manibus in favorem alicujus persone seu aliquaruni persona- rum pro novo earum infeofamento iis concedend vel de dicto titulo Baronetti in hoc casu dannis et concedimus prefat Commissionariis potestatem diet resignationes recipi- endi et desuper nova liereditaria infeofamenta de novo de eisd terris sic resignat conce- dendi in et ad favorem diet personarum in quarum personarum favorem concipiuntur et conceduntur per diet Dominum Willielmum Alexander suosque predict Tenend de nobis et successoribus nostris cum simili modo tentionis ac cum hujusmodi privilegiis ]ibertatibus et commoditatibus quibuscunque sicuti in literis paten diet Baronettorum hactenus per nos concess continetur except solummodo gradu dignitate statu nomine ordine titulo et stilo Baronetti Insuper volumus concedimus et ordinamus quod da- bunt et concedent omnes hujusmodi literas paten et infeofamenta per diet Conimissio- narios modo predicto concedend vel de terris et titulo conjunctim vel de terris tantum vel de dicto titulo Baronetti libere et absque aliqua pecuniali compositione nobis pro Thesaurario seu Thesaurario-deputato diet regni nostri Scotie per eos eorumve aliquem eo circa solvend Preterea nos consideran quod necessarium et expediens est pro de- core et dignitate dicte regionis Nove Scotie quod eadem propria et particularia insig- nia per nos constituend et concedend haberet oranique tempore futuro nostra speciali gratia certa scientia proprio motu menteque deliberata declaravimus concessimus con- stituimus et ordinavimus tenoreque presentium declaramus concedimus constituimus et ordinamus hee insignia sequen insignia fore Nove Scotie viz Argentum lie Argent antiqua insignia diet antiqui regni nostri Scotie in cruce cerulea vulgo nuncupat Saltiere azure supportat per unicornem in latere dextro et sylvestrem in sinistro ac pro crista ramum laureum et carduum e manu armata et nuda conjuncta proceden cum hoc elogio jVluNiT HiEC ET ALTERA viNCiT ad candcm regionem et dominium Nove Scotie tan- quam illius propria insignia pertinere et spectare Insuper nos dedimus et concessimus tenoreque presentium damns et concedimus nostram plenam potestatem et commis- sionem prefat Commissionariis alterandi et renovandi sigillum dicte regionis Nove Scotie jamdudum prefato Domino Willielmo Alexander nostro in dicta regione et do- minio Loeumtenenti dat et concess ac vel insculpi causandi in unolatere dicti sigilli dicte regionis Nove Scotie tantum vel aliquam aliam formam et impressionem super idem sicuti prefat Domino Willielmo Alexander suisque predict expediens videbitur dictumque sigillum sic renovatum et mutatum hujusmodi forma et modo prout dicti Commissionarii nostri cum avisamento diet Domini Willielnii Alexander suorumque predict volunt et constituunt quod idem per nostros Commissionarios diet Domino Willielmo Alexander suisque predict dabitur et concedetur per ipsum suosque heredes et assignatos seu deputatos nostros nostrorumque successorum in eadem regione Nove Scotie Locumtenentes fruend et possidend ad eifectum mentionat et content in eorum infeofamento diet terrarum bondarum et regionis Nove Scotie iis concess Firmum et stabile haben et habitur totum et quicquid diet nostri Commissionarii in premissis aut eo circa rite faciend duxerint et hac presenti nostra commissione absque revocatione APPENDIX. no the said Sir William Alexander, his heirs and assigns, or their lawful procurators, havinjr their pouter (as said is) for the better advancement of the said plantation, to resign and upgive any lands within the said country of Nova Scotia, in the hands of us or our successors, in favour of any person or persons, for their new infeftment thereof to be granted to them, or of the said title of Baronet, in that case we give and grant to the said Commissioners power to receive the said resiirnations, and thereupon to grant new heritable infeftments again of the said lands so resigned, to and in favour of the said persons in whose favour they are conceived and granted by the said Sir William Alexander and his foresaids ; To be holden of us and our successors, with the like manner of holding, and with the like privileges, liberties, and commodities whatsoever as are contained in the letters patent of the said Baronets already granted by us, except only the degree, dignity, state, name, order, title, and style of Baronet. Moreover, we will, grant, and ordain, that they shall pass and grant all such letters patent and inrcftments which shall be granted bv the said Commissioners, after the manner above written, either of the lands and title conjunctly, or of the lands only, or of the said title of Baronet, freely, and without any pecuniary composition to be paid therefor to our treasurer, or treasurer-depute, of our said kingdom of Scotland, by them or any of them. Further, we, considering that it is necessary and expedient, for the honour and dignity of the said country of Nova Scotia, that it should have proper and particular arms, to be appointed and granted by us in all time hereafter, out of our special grace, certain knowledge, proper motive, and deliberate mind, have declared, granted, appointed, and ordained, and by these presents declare, grant, a|)point, and ordain these insignia to be the arms of Nova Scotia, as follows, namely : Argent, the ancient arms of our said ancient kingdom of Scotland, on a blue cross, commonly called a saltier azure, to be supported by the unicorn on the right side, and a savage man on the left, and for the crest a laurel branch, and a thistle proceeding out of an armed hand and a naked conjoined, with this motto, jmumt hckc et altera vincit, to pertain and belong to the said country and dominion of Nova Scotia, as the proper arms thereof. Moreover, we have given and granted, and, by these presents, give and grant, our full power and commission to the said Conunissioners to alter and renew the seal of the said country of Nova Scotia, already given and granted to the aforesaid Sir William Alexander, our lieutenant in the said country and dominion ; and either to cause be engraven in the one side of the said seal (the said arms) of the said country of Nova Scotia only, or any other form and imj)ression thereupon as shall seem expedient to the said Sir William Alexander and his foresaids, and that the said seal, so renewed and altered in sticli form and manner as our said Conunissioners, with advice of the said Sir William Alexander and his foresaids, will and appoint, shall be given and granted by our Commissioners to the said Sir William Alexander and his foresaids, to be enjoyed and possessed by him and his heirs, and assigns or deputies, being our and our successors' lieutenants in the said country of Nova Scotia, to the effect mentioned and contained in their infeftment of the said lands, bounds, and country of Nova Scotia granted to them : Firm and stable holding, and To hold, all and whatsoever our said Couimissioners righteously load to be done in E Bi APPENDIX. semper et donee completus numerus diet. Baronettorum iinpleatur diiratura. In cujus rei testimonium presentibiis magnum sigillum nostrum apponi precepimus apud Hali/rud hous, vigesimo quinto die mensis Julis, anno Domini millesimo sexcentesimo vigesimo sexto, et anno regni nostri secundo. Per signaturam signo. S D. N. Regnis supra signatam ac manibus quorund Dominorum Secreti Consilii Commissionariorum subscriptam. (Public Records of Scotland, Edinburgh.) APPENDIX. 35 tlic premises or tlicreaneiit ; and this our present Commission to endure without revocation, ay, and until the complete number of the said Baronets be fulfilled. In witness whereof we have directed our Cireat Seal to be affixed to these ])resents at Holyrood House, the twenty-fifth day of July, in the year of our Lord, one thousand six hundred and twenty-six, and of our reign the second year. liy signature above ntiarked with the sign of our Sovereign I.,ord the King, and subscribed with the hands of certain of the Lords Commissioners of the I'rivy Council. No. III. Warrant to t/te Baronets to wear a Cognizance or Badge. CiiAKLES R. Right trustie and right well-bcloued cousin and counsellour, right trustie and well-beloued cousins and counsellouris, and right trustie and well-beloued counsellouris, We geeete you avell. Whereas, upon good consideration, and for the better advancement of the plantatioun of New Scotland, which may much import the good of our service, and the honour and benefite of that our auncient kingdonie, our royall father did intend, and w^ee have since erected the order and title of Barronet in our said auncient kingdome, which wee have since established, and conferred the same upon diverse gentlemen of good qualitie : And seeing our trustie and well- l)eloued counsellour, Sir William ^Vlexander, Knight, our Prlncipall Sccretarie of that our auncient kingdome of Scotland, and our Lieutenant of New Scotland, who these many years by past hath been at greate charges for the discoverie thereof, hath now in end settled a colonic there, where his sone Sir \Villiam is now resident : ^Vnd wee being most willing to afford all possible uieanes of encouragement that convenientlie wee can to the Barronets of that our auncient kingdome, for the furtherance of so good a workc, and to the effect they may be honoiu-cd, and have place in all respects according to their patents from ws, wee have been pleased to authorize and allow, as by these presents for ws and our successouris, wee authorize and allow the said Lieutenant ;iiid Barronets, and euerie one of them, and their heircs-male, to weare and carie about their ncckis in all time cuming, ane orange tannic silke ribban, whereon shall being pendant in a scutcheon argent a saltoire azur thereon, ane inscutcheon of the amies of Scotland, with ane imperiall crowne aboue the scutcheon, and encercled with this motto. Fax Mentis IIoxESTiE (ii.ouiA ; which cognoissance our said present Lieuten- ant shall delyver now to them from ws, that they may be the better knowen and distinguislied from otiier persounis. And that none pretend ignorance of the respect due unto them. Ouii rT.EAsruE thekeeoke is, that by open proclamatioun at the marcat croces of Edinburgh, and all other head brughs of our kingdome, and such other places as you shall tliinkc necessar, you cause intimate our rovalt pleasure and intentioun herein to all our subjects: And if any persoun. out of 36 APPENDIX. neglect or contempt, shall presume to tak place or precedence of the said Barronets, their wyffes or children, which is due unto them by their patents, or to weare . their cognoissance, Wee wii.i,, that upon notice thereof given to you, you cause punishe such offenderis, by fyning and imprisoning them as you shall thinke fitting, that otheris may be terrified from attempting the like : And wee ordaine. that from time to time, as occasioun of granting and renewing their patents or their lieires succeiding to the said dignity shall offer, that the said power to them to carie the said ribban and cognoissance, shalbe therein particularlie granted and insert : And wee likewise ordaine these presents to be insert and registrat in the books of our Counsell and Exchequer, and that you cause registrat the same in the books of the Lyon King at Armes and Heraulds, there to remain ad fulurain rei memoriam, and that all parties having interesse may have authcntik copies and extracts tliereof ; and for your so doing, these our letters shalbe unto you, and euerie one of you from time to time, your sufficient warrant and discharge in that behalffe. Given at our court of WhythalU the 17th of November, 1629- To our right trustie and right well-beloued cousin and counsellour ; to our right well-beloued cousins and counsellouris ; to our right trustie and well- beloued counsellouris, and trustie and well-beloued counsellouris, the Viscount of Dupleine, our Chancellour of Scotland, the Earle of Monteith, the President, and to the remanent Earls, Lords, and otheris of our Privie Counsell of our said kingdome. ( Public Records of Scotland, [Edinburgh. ) No. IV. y^cts of Convention q/'Entates. See p. "3. Aj)iid Holijrood House, ultimo die mensis Julii 1650. The estates presentlie convened all in one voice, ratifies, allows, approves, and confirms the dignitie and order of Knights Baronets, erected by his ilajestie, and his late dear father of blessed meinorie, and conferred by them upon sundrie gentlemen of good qualitie, for their better encouragement and retribution of tlieir undertakings in the plantation of New Scotland, with all the acts of secret council and proclamations following thereupon, made for maintaining of the said dignitie, place, and precedence due thereto, to continue and stand in force in all time coming ; and that intimation be made hereof to all his IMajestie's lieges, by open proclamation at the mercat cross of Edinburgh, and other places needful. The estates presentlie convened having dulie considered the benefit arising to this kingdom by the accession of New Scotland, and the successful plantation already made there by the gentlemen undertakers of the same, in regard whereof, and that the said lands and territories of New Scotland are, by the patent thereof, made in favour of Sir William Alexander of JNIenstrie, Knight, his IMajesty's Secretarie annexed to the Crown, therefore the said estates, all in one voice, has APPENDIX. ;37 concluded and agreed that his Majestic- siiall be petitioned to maintain his right .of New Scotland, and to protect his subjects, undertakers of the said plantation, in tlie peaceable possession of the same, as being a purpose liighlie concerning his Majestie's honour, and the good and credit of this his ancient kingdom. (Acts of Parliament. J No. V. Letter from King Charles I. to the Lords of Council. See p. -l. RuiiiT, ,ords, can the pure fountain of honour be the impure fountain of injustice also? And is the debt admitted, and the payment refused, because it is of long standing ? ]Jy what statute ? for the King's rights are not pre- judiced by time, and it would be monstrous if his obligations were thereby cancelled. My Lords, I request that, if my just claims are really such that they cannot be entertained, the reasons for so singular a decision may be given to me. I have the honour to be. &c. (Signed) Srini.iXG. loth February/, 1833. Letter from Mr Stew.\iit. My Loud, — I am commanded by the Lords Commissioners of his Majesty's Treasury to acquaint your Lordship, in answer to your letter of the loth ult., that Government cannot entertain any claim of the nature ])referrcd by you after a period of two hundred years. — I am, my Lord, your Lordship's obedient servant. (Signed) J. Stewart. Treasury Ckambera, 26th March, 1833. The Earl of Stirijxg. Letter to the Lords Cofnmissioners of the Treasury. My Lords. — In the absence of any other reason being assigned for rejecting the prayer of my petition to the Crown for the debt due to me, than that it cannot be entertained, because it is two hundred years old, 1 conclude no other can be given. I am the move confirmed in this conclusion from having referred your Lordships to the legitimate sources for verifying the payment, had it ever been made. I stand, then, my Lords, on the clear ground of proving to your Lordships the value of my ancestor's sacrifices, in respect whereof the sum of ten thousand pounds was to have been, but never has been, paid. The Crown originally had the benefit arising from the sacrifices, and has had, from that time to the present, the benefit of them, and my family, and noAv myself, the unrepaired loss and injury thence arising; but the Crown cannot now attend to the claim, because it is of so old a date, which, in tifect, increases the injury to me, while it equally, and, in truth, in a great degree, increases the advantage to the Crown. >Iy Lords, this is so subversive of all the principles of moral and legal obligation, and of reciprocal duties, that I c-mnot bring my mind to the admission of its being your Lordships' meaning, but that the rejection of my claim must be foimded on some U APPENDIX. indistinct notion that it may have been compensated, and that evidence of the compensation is lost. Neither can I bring my mind to the admission that your Lordships would blink a CroAvn debt, by pleading limitation of time, when the evidence is in your own hands to shew that this debt has never been paid ; and, moreover, that other Crown debts have been ])aid after a period of three hundred years. If, however, I am to be told the plea of limitation is good, may I, in this case, venture to request a reference to the usage, or statute, or law. that warrants the decision ? and I promise your Lordships not to press that farther which any such usage, statute, or law repels. My claim I believe to be founded strictly according to law, upon a valuable consideration given, and that it can only be cancelled by payment. Though I agree to drop my claim, then, and put up with the injury done, on being referred to valid authority for its rejection, as 1 have said, it will never be in my power, nor in that of any indifferent party, to think it ri<>ht, that the most powerful monarch on earth should benefit by the destruction of any property of a subject, for State purposes, and undertaken to be paid for by the State, though clearly never done. From this feeling your Lordships cannot dissent, for it is the universal feeling of all mankind on the simple and ))roved fact on which I address your Lordships : — ' I have got your property ; I have ' promised you payment for it ; I have never paid the money, and never will, ' because the debt is of long standing.' This answer is such, my Lords, as to be equally abhorrent to the oldest as to the newest code of moral obligation. I trust vour Lordships will honour me with a letter, and not drive me to an appeal to a more extended and efficient tribunal. — I have the honour to be, &c. (Signed) Stirling. 9th ^pril, 1833. Letter to the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury. My Lords, — My letter to your Lordships of the 9th of April being yet unan- swered, I venture again to invite attention to it. That my claim to the debt unquestionably due to my ancestor from the Crown as before stated, and never paid, should be refused on the simple allegation that it was of longstanding, does certainly afford no satisfaction to the injured party. If any doubt of the facts relative to it existed, and required to be removed ere your Lordships could admit and pay the amount, I should be prepared to remove that doubt. In truth, I have referred to the channels through which that may be done most satisfactorily. The facts are in evidence under your Lordships' own power and control, and these not only shew the origin of my claim, and the consideration for the grant of £ 10,000 of equivalent value at the time, but by going through them to the present time, they shew also that the debt still exists. If payment of principal and interest be refused, by reason of its excessive accumulation, and that no claim has for many years been made by any branch of my family for its liquida- APPENDIX. 45 tion, T am fully prepared to meet that objection, and to meet it in the true spirit of conciliation. I am prepared to give up to the public a part, as a penalty ior past laches, but surely it were the extreme of injustice to require a sacrifice of the whole. Is there, then, no course, no medium, nor any reply deemed requisite, but such as I last received ? If tliere be no reason assigned, no rule or usage referred to and shewn for justification of so chilling and unsatisfactory an answer, I must, as a last resort, endeavour to bring my claim before a more liberal and considerate tribunal. — T have the honour to be, iScc. (Signed) Stiri.inc;. 47, Bryanston Square, 'id July, 1833. Letter from Mr Steiiart. My Lord, — I am commanded by the Lords Commissioners of his Majesty's Treasury to acquaint your Lordship, that they can only reply to your letters of the 9th April and 2d instant, by referring you to tlie answers already given to your Lordship's applications. — I am, my Lord, your Lordship's most obedt. servt. (Signed) .J. Stewakt. Treasury Chambers, ^3d July, 1833. The Earl of Stirling. No. VIII. 2 reai)/ of St Germain, 29tk 31arc//, 1632. See p. 5. Traitc, cVc. Art. 3. De la part de sa Majeste de la Grande Bretagne Icdit Sieur Ambassadeur en vertu du pouvoir tju'il a, lequel sera insere a la fin de ces presentes, a promis et promet pour et au nom de sadite Majeste de rendre et restituer tous les lieux occupees en la Nonvclle France, la Cadie, et Canada, par les sujets de sa Majeste do la Gi-and Rrctagnc, iceux faire retircr dosdits licux : Et pour cet effet, ledit Sieur Ambassadeur dclivrera, lors de la j)assation et si<>na- ture des presentes, aux Commissaires du Roi tr^s Chretien, en bonne forme, Ic pouvoir qu'il a de sa Majeste de la Grande Bretagne pour la restitution desdits lieux, ensemble les commandemens de sadite INIajestd a tous ccux qui commandent dans le Port Roial, Fort de Guebec, et Cap Breton, pour etre Icsdites places et Fort rendus et remis es mains de ceux qu'il plaira a sa Majeste tr^s Chretiemie ordonner, 6iC. 46 APPENDIX. No. IX. Letter from King Charles I. to the Lord Advocate. See p. 5. TiiusTiE, &c. Whereas, upon the late treatie betwixt Us and the French King, we were pleased to condescend, that the colonie Mdiich was latelie planted at Port Royal, in New Scotland, should be for the present removed from thence, and have accorclinglie given order to onr right trustie the Viscount of Stirling, our principal Secretaiie for Scotland ; although, by all our several orders and erections concerninp- that business, we have ever expressed that we have no intention to quit our right and title to any of these bounds, yet, in regard our meaning perchance Avill not be sufRcientlie understood by those our loving subjects who hereafter shall intend the advancement of that work, — for their satisfaction therein, we do hereby require you to draw up a sufficient w^arrant for our hand, to pass under our Great Seal, to our said right trustie the Viscount of Stirling, to go on in the said work whensoever he shall think fitting, whereby for the encouragement of such as shall interest themselves with him in it, he may have full assurance from us, in rerho 2>rincipis, that as we luwe never meant to relinquish our title to any part of that country which he hath by patents from us, so we shall ever here- after be rcadie, by our gracious favour, to protect him, and all such as have, or shall hereafter at any time concur with him for the advancement of the plantation in these bounds foresaid. And if at any time, by order from us, they shall be forced to remove from the said bounds, or any part thereof where they shall happen to be planted, we shall fully satisfie them for all loss they shall sustain by any such letters or orders from us. And for your so doing, &c. Greenwich, \Uh Jimii, 1632. {Earl of Stirling's Register.) No. X. Letter from his Majesty to the Baronets. See p. 5. Trustie, he. Whereas our late dear father, out of his pious zeal for advancement of relioion in the remote parts of his dominions, where it had not been formerlie known, and out of his royal care for the honour and weal of that our ancient kingdom, was pleased to annex to the Crown thereof the dominion of New Scotland, in America, that the use might arise to the benefit of that kingdom. We, being desirous that the wished effects might follow by the continuance of so noble a design, were pleased to confer particular marks of our favour upon APPENDIX. 47 such as should vohmtarilie contribute to the furtherance of a plantation to be established in these bounds, as a])|)eared by our erecting- of that order of Baronets wherewith you are dignified ; whereunto we have ever since been willing to add what further Ave conceived to be necessarie for the testifying our respect to those that are alreadie interested, and for encouraging of them who shall hereafter interest themselves in the advancement of a work which wesoreallie consider for the glorie of God, the honour of that nation, and the benefit that is likclie to flow from the right prosecution of it. But in regard that, notwitlistanding the care and diligence of our right trustic the V^iscount of Stirling, whom we have from the begimiing entrusted will) the prosecution of this work, and of tlie great charges alreadie bestowed upon it, it hath not taken the root which Avas expected, ])artlie, as we conceive, by reason of the incommodities ordinarilie incident to all new and remote beginnings, and partlie, as we are informed, by want of the timelie concurrence of a suflicient number to assist in it, but espcciallie the colonic being forced of late to remove for a time, by means of a treatie we liave had with the French : Therefore have taken into our royal consideration, by ^\■\\at means again may this work be established : And conceiving that there are none of our subjects whom it concerns so much in credit to be affectioned to the progress of it as those of your number, for justifying the grounds of our princelie favour which you have received by a most honoiu'able and generous Avay, we have thought fit to direct the bearer hereof. Sir William Alexander, Knight, unto you, who halh been an actor in the former proceedings, and hath seen the country, and known the commodities thereof, who will communicate unto you such propositions as may best serve for making the right use hereafter of a i)lantation and trade in these bounds, for encouraging such as shall adventure therein ; and, we doubt not, but if you find the grounds reasonable and fair, you will give your concurrence for the further prosecution of them : ^Vnd as Ave have alreadie gi\'en order to our Advocate for draAving such Avarrants to pass under oiu* seals there, Avhereby our loAdng subjects may be freed from all misconstruction of our proceedings Avith the French anent Ncav Scotland, and secured of our protection in time coming in their undertakings into it, so Ave shall be readic to contribute Avhat we shall here- after find avc may justlie do for the adA'ancement of the Avork, and the encourage- ment of all that shall join Avitli them to that i)urpose. Which reconunending unto your care, Ave bid you farewell. Beaulie, 1.5th August, 1632. (Earl of Stirling s Register.) 48 APPENDIX. No. XI. Ratification in favour of the Viscount of Stirling of the iifeftments and signature granted to him of the dominions of New Scotland and Canada in America, and privileges therein contained, and of the dignity and order of Knight Baronets ; and Act of Convention of Estates made thereanetit. See p. 5. Our Soveraigne Lord and Estates of this present Parliament, ratifie and approve all letters patents and infeltments granted by King James the Sixth, of blessed memory, or by our said Soveraigne Lord, to William Viscount of Sterling, and to his heires and assigneis, of the territories and dominions of New Scotland, and Canada in America ; and especially the patent charter and infeftment granted by his Majestie's umwhile dearest father, of worthie memorie, of New Scotland, of the tenth day of September, the year of God 1631 : Item, another charter of the same, granted by his INIajestie under the great scale, of the date the twelfth day of July, 1625 yeares : Item, another charter and infeftment granted by his Majestic of the countrey and dominion of New Scotland, under the great scale, of the date the third day of May, 1627 yeares : Item, another charter and infeft- ment granted by his JNIajestie, under the great scale, of the river and gulf of Canada, bounds and priviledges thereof mentioned in the said patent, of the date the second day of Februarie, 1628 years: Item, a signature past under his Majestie's hand of the said eountrie and dominion, which is to be Avith all diligence expede through the seals, of the date at Whitehall, the twen tie-fourth day of April, 1633 yeai-es : With all liberties, priviledges, honours, jurisdictions, and dignities respective therein mentioned ; together with all execution, precepts, instruments of seasings, and seasings following, or that shall happen to follow thereupon. And also ratifies and approves the act of general convention of estates at Holy-rude- house, the sixth day oi July, the year of God 1630, whereby the saids estates have ratified and approved the dignities and order of Knight Baronet, with all the acts of Secret Council and proclamations following thereupon, made for the maintaining of the said dignitie, place, and precedencie thereof. And his INIajestie and Estates aforesaid will statute and ordaine that the said letters patents, charters, and infeltments, and the said dignitie, title, and order of Barronets, and all letters patents and infeftments of lands, and dignities granted therewith to any person whatsoever, shall stand and continue in full force, with all liberties, priviledges, and precedencies thereof, according to the tenour of the same : And in als ample manner, as if the bodies of the said letters patents, infeftments, and signature above-mentioned, were herein particularly ingrost and APPENDIX. 49 exprest. And ordaine intimation to be made hereof by open proclamation to all his Majesties's lieges at the market crosse o^ Edinbtirglb, and olher p!acx-s needful, that none pretend ignorance hereof. {Acts of Parliament.) P. Acte No. 28. made in the Parliament held by King Charles the First (in 'person) at Edinburgh, the tweniie eight day of June, Anno Domini one thousand sis hundred and thirty three. No. XI r. ^4ct of Council. See p. 5. Apud Edinburgh, loth February, lG.3i. Sederunt, Chancellor, Treasurer, Privie Seal, Marishall, Roxburgh, Annandaill, LauderdaiU, Southesk, L. Areskine, Clerk Register, Advocat. FoRSAiNiEiKLE as his Majestie's late dear father of blessed memorie, for the honour of this his ancient kingdom of Scotland, did grant the first patent of Xew Scotland to his Majestie's right traist cousin and counsellor, William Eric of Sterline, and was willing to confer the title of Knight Baronet upon such of his well-cleservin JNIagna; Britanni;e, ejusdemque Coronjv, in per- petuum cedi constabat et transferri, prout eadeni omnia nunc cedit ac transt'crt Rex Christianissimus. No. XVIII. Treaty of Paris, February 10, 1763. See p. 8. Art. 4. His most Christian Majesty renounces all pretensions which he has heretofore formed, or might form, to Nova Scotia, or Acadia, in all its parts, and guarantees the whole of it, and with all its dependencies, to the King of Great IJritain : Moreover, his most Christian Majesty cedes and guarantees to his said Britannic Majesty, in full right, Canada, with all its dependencies, as well as the 60 APPENDIX. island of Cape Breton, and all the other islands and coasts in the gulf and river St Jjawrence ; and, in general, every thing that depends on tlie said countries, lands, islands, and coasts, with the sovereignty, property, possession, and all rights acquired by treaty or otherwise, which the most Christian King, and the Crown of France have had till now, over the said countries, islands, lands, places, coasts, and tlieir inhabitants. No. XIX. Record Translation of Grants by Sir William Alexander, to Sir Claude St Estienne and Charles St Esticnne. Records of Suffolk County, Massachusetts, Lib. No. 3, fo. 265. See p. 12. Tn the name of God, Amen. KnoAV all those who these letters pattent shall see or shall heare read, that upon this present thirtie day of Aprill, in the yeare of our Lord one thousand sixe hundred and thirtie, before me. Josh. Maynet, notary and tabellion royall, dwelling in London, admitted and sworne by the authoritie of our sovereign lord the King, and in the presence of the witnesses hereunder named, were present in person, my Lord William xUexander, Knight, Lord of Menstrie, and Chief Secretary of State for the Kingdome of Scotland for his said Majestic of Great Bretany, Privy Councillor of State, and Lieutenant unto his said INIajestie in New Scotland in America, on the one parte, who haveing, by letters-pattents from his said Majestie, under the Great Seale of Scotland, the donation of all the said countrey of New Scotland, called by the French the countrey of ^^.ccadye in America, unto him and his heyres in fief and perpetuall inheritance, bearing date the tenth of the moneth of September, in the yeare one thousand six hundred twenty and one, he hath, out of the respect and amitie which he beareth unto Sir Claude de Sainct Estienne, Knight, Lord of la Tour and of Vuarre, and unto Charles de Sainct Estienne, Esq. Lord of Sainct Denicourt, his sonne, on the other part, the said Sir Claude de St Estienne being present accepting, and by these presents stipulating, for his said sonne Charles being absent, and for theire heyres, and as well for the merit of theire persons, and for theire assistance to the better discovery of the said countrey, and upon other consideracons, the said Lord Alexander hath given, and by these presents franckly and freely doth give unto the said Knight De la Tour, and unto his said sonne, and unto theire heyres, they seeing cause perpetually and for ever to dispose of, as of theire own property, true and loyall acquest and conquest, all the countrey, coasts, and islands, from the cape and river of Ingogon, nere unto the Cloven Cape, (Cap Fourchu,) in the said New Scotland, allied the coast and countrey of Accadye, following the coast and islands of the said countrey towards the east, unto Port De la Tour, formerly named I'Omeroy, and further beyond the said Port, following along the said coast unto Mirliguesche, {liod. Lunenburg.) nere unto, and beyond the Port APPENDIX. 61 and Capo of L'Hevc, drawing forward fifteen leagues within the said lands towards the north, of all the which said lands and seas, the said Knight De la Tour and his sonne, shall receive all the fruits, profits, emoluments, that may provene generally, and Avhatsoever, as of theire owne proper and loyall acquest, in all right and jurisdiction, and privilcdges whatsoever, as much or more then anv Mar<|uiss, Erie, or Baron holds, or rayscth from the Crowiie of Scotland according to the laws or letters pattents unto the said Lord Alexander, and unto them graunted by the Kings of Scotland, within the which countrcy. lands, and seas above named, they may make, build, and erect villages, townes, and castles, and fortresses, as they shall see good, which said Knight De la Tour, and his said sonne shall hold and enjoye, all the said countrey here above, within the said limits named, from the King and the succession of the said Crownc of Scotland in fief and title of honour and right of inheritance, (which) the said Sir VVilliam Alexander to them, by vertue of the power to him by the said pattents given, hath erected and entitled by two barronies, namely, the liarrony of Saixct Estienxe, and the Barrony of De LA TouK, which may be liniitted and bounded equally betsveene the said Knight De la Tour and his said sonne, if they shall see cause, upon condition that the said Knight De la Tour and his said sonne, as he hath promised, and for his said sonne by these presents doth promise, to be good and faithfull vassalls of the said Sove- raigne Lord, the King of Scotland, and theire heyres and successors, and to give unto him all obedience and assistance to the reduceing of the people of the said countrey, and to entertaine good amitie and correspondencie with the said Lord Alexander and his heyres, and all his subjects which there shall be planted and resident, and shall maintaine good and faithfull societie and union, and the respect due unto the said Lord Alexander, as unto the Lieutenant of the Kinff, the said Lord Alexander promiseing also on his part, amitie, societie, correspondency, assistance, and protection from his said Majestic, and from himselfe his Lieutenant. Furthermore, and over and above, the said Lord Alexander graunteth unto the said Knight De la Tour and unto his said sonne, and unto theire heyres and successors, and assignees, for ever, the right of admiraltie in all the extent of theire said lands and limitts; the said Lord Alexander and Knight De la Tour to hold and fulfill the contents of what is above, without ever in any sort what- soever violating thereof, and u})on the obliging of all theire goods present and to come upon the penaltie of the ordinances appointed by the lawes established on the one part, and the other, to the violater hereof; the said Lord ^Vlexander promiseing, over and above, to make, or cause to be made, more ample writing in good and due forme, according and conformably unto the said letters pattents unto him graunted by his said INLajestie. Avhereof a coppy collationed with the originall shall be given unto the said Knight De la Tour and his said soinie. And the said Lord .Vlexander shall cause these presents to be agreed luito. and ratified by his said jSLijestie luider the Great Scale of Scotland, if need shall require. In witness of the truth hereof, there are two writings of the same tenor made and indented, Avhich each partic hath respectively signed, sealed, and delivered. This 62 APPENDIX. made and passed in 3Iart'm's Lane, nere unto this cittie of London, in the pre- sence of Sir Alexander Strachan Baronet of Thornton, George Angush, Peter, James and Richard Grimes, witnesses hereunto called and admitted. (Signed.) W. ALEXANDER. A little seal. A. Strachan Rich. Grames Peter James The mark A of George Angush In testimony of the premises, I, the above A great scale in named notary, being green wax affixed, required, have signed and pendant below, this present instrument with my manuall usuall signe. 1 doe approve of these words, (theire heyres and Rich. Grimes,) being interlined. Endorced. Wee, the under signers, doe certifie, that Josh. Maynet, who hath under- signed this instrument here before written, with his owne hand, is a Notary Royall dwelling in London, by the authoritie of the King, our Soveraigne, sworne and admitted, and that full faith and credit ought to be given both in judgement and out of the same, unto the acts, instruments and other writings, by him so undersigned. Made at London the 30th day of Aprill, 1630. (Signed) Caholus Demetrius, Not. Pub. Tho. De Wainter, Not Pub. This deede before mentioned, being translated, hath beene read and compared with the originall in French by me, and I find it no way differing in substance therefrom. 27. 6. 1659- (27th Augt.) (Signed) Jo. Endecott, Governor. [The foregoing Record has not the signature of the person of whom it is certified, that he is a " Notary Royall ;" but the Record of " the originall in French," (which now is hardly, if at all, legible, on account of the peculiarity of the orthography, and numerous contractions,) is signed Joshua Maniet, Not. Pub. Cur° 1630.] {Hazard's Collections, p. 30?.) APPENDIX. 63 No. XX. Patent by tohich John Browne, younger of the Neale, vas created a Baronet of Nova Scotia, hy William Viscount Stirling. 17th June, 1G3G. See p, 12. We, William ^'iscount Stirling. &c. IVoprietor of the country of New Scotland and Canada, and liis Majesty's Lieutenant Avithin the same, Forasmuch as by the feoffment granted to me by (jur late Sovereign, King James, and by our Sove- reign, King Charles, I have full power to dispose of any part thereof to such as do undertake to plant there ; and understanding the willingness of John Browne. Esquire, eldest son to .Tosias IJrowne, of the Neale. in Ireland, for the advance- ment of the said plantation, we liavc granted inito the said .John IJrowne, and to his heirs male, lawfully descended of his body, that part of the said country of N^ew Scotland bounded as follows : Beginning twelve miles from the northern- most part of the Island Anticosti, within the gulph of Canada, extending westward along the north side of the island six miles, and from thence northward, keeping always three miles in breadth ; to have the salmon, and other fishings, as Avcll in salt as fresh water: And I do hereby incorporate the said proportion of land into a free barony and regality, to be called, in all times, the Barony and Regality of Neale, To hold the same, by the yearly payment of one penny, usual money of Scotland ; And whereas, I have full poAver and authority granted to me by his INIajesty, to confer titles of honour within the said country of New Scotland, upon all persons concurring to the advancing of the said plantation thereof, I do confer upon the said John Browne, and his heirs male, lawfully descended, or to be descended, of his body, the hereditary dignitv and style of Baronet of New Scotland, with all and sundry prerogatives, privileges, prece- dencies, conditions, and others, whatsoever, that any Baronets of Scotland or New Scotland have had at any time granted to them : And we give and grant unto the said Sir .rohn Browne license to wear and carry an orange tawnv ribbon, the badge of a Baronet of New Scotland, bearing the arms of New Scotland in gold enamelled. Avith the crown royal above, and this circumscription, Fax Mentis HonestcB Gloria. Sealed with the Great Seal of New Scotland, 21st .Tune. 1636 ( Collins' Peerage of England — Sir Egerton Bnjdges' Continuation. Xo\. 9. p. 276.) 64 APPENDIX. No. XXI. ^ct Ratifying and Approving the Treaty of Union of the two Kingdoms of Scotland and England. January 16, 1707. See page 13, as to Privilege of export and import. VI. Article. That all parts of the United Kingdono, for ever from and after the Union, shall have the same allowances, encouragements, and drawbacks, and be under the same prohibitions, restrictions, and regulations of trade, and liable to the same customs and duties on import and export ; and that the allowances, encouragements, and drawbacks, prohibitions, restrictions, and regulations of trade, and the customs and duties on import and export, settled in England when the Union commences, shall, from and after the Union, take place throughout the whole United Kingdon, excepting and reserving the duties upon export and import of such particular conunodities from which any persons, the subjects of either kingdom, are specially liberated and exempted by their private rights, which after the Union are to remain safe and entire to them in all respects as before the same. XVIII. That the laws concerning regulation of trade, customs, and such excises to which Scotland is, by virtue of this treaty, to be liable, be the same in Scotland, from and after the Union, as in England ; and that all other laws in use within the kingdom of Scotland, do after the Union, and notwithstanding thereof, remain in the same force as before, (except such as are contrary to, or inconsistent with, this treaty,) but alterable by the Parliament of Great Britain ; with this difference betwixt the laws concerning public right, policy, and civil government, and those which concern private right, that the laws which concern public right, policy, and civil government, maybe made the same throughout the whole United Kingdom, but that no alteration be made in laws which concern private right, except for evident utility of the subjects within Scotland. {Acts of Parliament.) APPENDIX. 65 No. XXII. Description of the Offices granted hy the Charters of Nova Scotia. See pp. 12, 13. His Majesty's Lieutenant-General — Lord Lieutenant. Viceroy, and General Governor of the country and its Inhabitants ; having the executive authority in all matters, civil, military, &c. Justice-Geneuai. — President of the Supreme Criminal Court. High-Admiral — His Majesty's Lieutenant and Juslice-Geneial upon the seas, and in all ports, harbours, or creeks of the same, and upon fresh waters or navigable rivers below the first bridges, or within the flood marks. 1681. c. 16. Lord of Regality — Grantee from the King of rights of lands subject to a special and extraordinary jurisdiction, in contradistinction to lands subject to the regular and ordinary administration of justice by Sheriffs. Steward — Having the care of the official persons serving immediately under the Crown. Chancellor — Is by Act of Parliament, and in virtue of his office, to preside in all public judicatories where he is present, the Exchequer excepted. 1661, c. 1. Treasurer — AVas declared, 1663, President of the Court of Exchequer. He is to receive the casualties arising to the King, either as Sovereign, or as feudal Superior. Comptroller — An ofHcer of the Exchequer ; to levy the rents of the Crown lands, borough rents and customs, and examine the Sheriffs" accounts. Collector — (Of the New Augmentations.) — Another officer of the Exchequer. Secretary — (Of the Province ) Advocate or Attorney-General — Public Prosecutor. Clerk-Register — Keeper of the Public Records. .JrsTJCK-Ci.EiiK — President of the Supreme Criminal Court, in the absence of the Justice-General, I 66 APPENDIX. Director of Chancery — Is to direct precepts upon a retour, provided they who were upon the inquest or assize depone in favour of him who raised the brieve, that the lands and tenements contained in the retour are in the hands of the King, or of another overlord, by the decease of him to whom he claims to be nearest and lawful heir. Robert III. c. 1. Conservator or Conservators of Privileges — of the privileges of merchants of Xova Scotia. This Officer's jurisdiction was manifestlv intended to be according to the pattern of the Court of the Conservator of Scots Privileges at Campvere, in the Low Countries. The latter was to " have jurisdiction to do justice among merchants, our Sovereign Lord's lieges, that is to say, betwixt merchant and merchant, in parts beyond sea ; and that the said conservator proceed not upon any matters, but if there be six of the best and most honest merchants of most knowledge of the realm, they shall sit and have power with him, and if there be not to the numl>er of six, that there sit four merchants with him at the least, that shall have such like power with him to minister justice ; and that no merchant pursue another before another judge beyond the sea, under the pain of £5, to be paid to the King by the pursuer, and payment of the expenses to the party pursued." 150.3, c. 81. " All clerks of the cocquet shall particularly expreeme (express) and specify in the cocquets given by them, the particular quantities of the goods and merchan- dises; the special kinds and sorts thereof; the names of the merchants and owners of the same ; how much of the same goods pertains to each merchant ; and that the conservator in the Low Countries do not admit or allow any cocquet, except it be written and formed in manner foresaid, but shall confiscate all the said goods not expreemed particularly as said is, and make count and reckoning thereof yearly to the treasurer, as he will answer upon his office." 1597. c. 259- " The conservator shall fence and arrest all ships not having a cocquet, or not having a cocquet formally written, and escheat the whole goods and gear being in the said ship to our Sovereign Lord's use, and make count thereof yearly in the Exchequer to the treasurer." 1597, c 260. " The conservator shall not receive or admit any cocquet, although the same be lawfulljr given, except the merchants, skippers, factors, and every one of them, before the loosing of any of their goods, make faith, and swear solemnly by God himself, his Creator, that he has no forbidden goods or gear, nor any other lawful merchandises, besides that v/hich is contained in the cocquet, nor knows of any to be in the same ship pertaining to others, and that, so far as he understands, the wliole goods and gear pertain properly to freemen, and no part thereof to unfree- men : As also, at their back returning Irom the Low Countries towards Scotland, they shall likewise give their solemn oaths, before the lading of the ship, or inputting of any goods, that the goods properly pertain to themselves, and not to strangers ; and if they loose any goods and gear coming from Scotland, before the giving of the said oath, or put any goods in ship board to be transported towards APPENDIX. 67 Scotland, ;ill tlio same goods to bo confiscated ; and if the said oath be refused by them all, and they no wise will make the same, it shall be leasum (allowable) to the conservator to arrest the said ship, and all the goods contained there, n ; and if some make oath, and others refuse, he shall arrest all goods pertaininf to the party refusing, and make count thereof as said is; and whatsoever goods are not contained in the cocquet, to be confiscated as said is." 1.597, c. 2G1. " Every particular merchant coming forth of the Low Countries to this realm, shall give up to the conservator the special quantity of his goods, and the quality thereof, before the embarking of the same goods, under the pain of confiscation thereof; and the conservator to inspect and try the same at his pleasure, to the effect that he may send home a cocquet of the same, particularly to his Majesty's treasurer, subscribed by himself or his deputy, for eschewing of the fraud which may be used towards his Majesty in his customs." 1597, c. ^64. " An incorporation shall be made of this nation and i)ri\ileges thereof, specially ordaining, that whatsoever person resident or remaining within the parts foresaid, (the parts of the Low Countries where this nation keeps their staple.) intendinf to use factory or any other trade with the said nation, and willing to enjoy the fruit and commodity of the said privileges, in whole or in part, shall give his oath of obedience to the King's JNIajesty and his laws, before his Highness's conservator, resident in the said Low Countries, and shall pay, for his entrv. to the Kino-'s INIajesty's use, ten pounds Flemish : ^Vs also, shall be ready to underlie (submit to) all such charges and commandments, as shall happen to be directed and come from his Highness, in the same form and manner as if they were dwellino- in Scotland ; and who refuse to give the said oath, and pay the said entry, that they shall be called by the said conservator, and upon their refusal or delay, deprived to have, or enjoy thereafter, any benefit of his Majesty's subjects ; and that none of his Highness's subjects have trade, traffick, or use of factory, with any the persons so deprived thereafter, under the same pain." 1579, c. 96. No. XXHI. An Act for maJcivg more effectual protmon for the government of the Province of Quebec in North America. 14 Geo. III. cap. 83. See p. 18. Section 3. Provided always, and be it enacted, that nothing in this act con- tained shall extend, or be construed to extend, to make void, or to vary, or alter any right, title, or possession, derived under any grant, convevance, or otherwise howsoever, of or to any lands within the said province, or the provinces thereto adjoining, but that the same shall remain, and be in force, and have effect, as if this act had never been made. {Statutes at large.) 68 APPENDIX. No. XXIV. Grant by James Farrett, deputy of the Earl of Stirling, to Thomas Mayhew, elder and younger, of Nantucket Island. See p. 21. These presents do witness, that I, James Farrett, gentleman, who was sent over unto these parts of America by the Honourable Lord Sterling, with a commission for the ordering and disposing of all the lands that lie between Cape Cod and Hudson's river, and have hitherto continued my agency without any contradiction, do hereby grant unto Thomas JNIayhew, of Water Town, merchant, and to Thomas INIayhew, his son, free liberty and full power to them and their associates to plant and inhabit upon Nantucket, and two other small islands adjacent,* and to enjoy the said islands to them, their heirs, and assigns for ever ; provided that they, the said Thomas Mayhew, and Thomas Mayhew, his son, or either of them, or their associates, do render and give yearly unto the Honourable the Lord Sterling, his heirs and assigns, such an acknowledgment as shall be thought fit by John Winthrop the elder. Esquire, or any two Magistrates in the Massachusetts Bay, being chosen for that end and purpose by the Honourable Lord Sterling or his deputy : And by the said Thomas ISlayheAv, and Thomas Mayhew, his son, and their associates, it is agreed, that the government that the said Thomas Mayhew, and Thomas INIayhew, his son, shall set up there, shall be such as is now established in the INlassachusetts aforesaid ; and that the said Thomas Mayhew, and Thomas Mayhew, his son, and their associates, shall have as much privilege, touching their planting inhabitants, and enjoying of all and every part of the premises, as by patent is granted to the patentees of the Massachusetts aforesaid, and their associates. In witness whereof, I, the said James Farrett, have hereunto set my hand and seal, this 13th day of October, 1641. (Signed) James Fakrett. (L. S.) Signed, sealed, and delivered in presence of us, Robert Carne. Nicholas Davinson. Robert Stileman. {Records of Toicn (f Nantucket.) *• The islands of Tuckanuck and Muskeget, lying between Nantucket and Martlia's Vineyard. APPENDIX. OH No. XXV. Patent by King Charles the Second of England and Scotland to his Royal Highness, James, Duke of York, of the Province of New York. See p. 21. Charles the Second, by the grace of God King of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, he. To all to Avhom these presents shall come, Greeting : Know yee that we, for divers good causes and considerations, us thereunto men eing, have, of our spcciall grace, ccrtaine knoAvledge and meer motion, given and grauntcd, and by these presents, for us, our heires and successors, do give and graunt unto our dearest brother James, Duke of Yorke, his heires and assignes. all that ])art of the JNIaine land of Ncav England, begin- ning att a ccrtaine place called or knowne by the name of St Croix, next adjoining to New Scotland, in iVmerica, and from thence extending along the sea coast unto a certaine place called Petnaquine or Pemaquid, and so up the river thereof to the furthest head of the same, as it tcndeth northwards, and extending from thence to the river of Kenebequc, and so ui)wards by the shortest course to the river Canada northwards ; and also all that island or islands commonly called by the severall name or names of JNleitowacks or Eong Island, scituate, lying and being towards the west of Cape Codd and the Ntirrhaghgansetts. abutting upon the Elaine land between the two rivers there called or knowne by the severall names of Conecticott and Hudson's river, together also with the said river called Hudson's, and all the land from the west side of Conecticott to the east side of Delaware Bay ; and also all those several islands called or knowne by the name of Martin's Vineyards, and Nantukes, otherwise Nantuckett, together with all the lands, islands, soyles, rivers, harbours, mines, mineralls, quarryes, woods, marshes, waters, lakes, fishing, hawking, hunting, and fowling, and all olher royall profitts. commodities, and hereditaments to the severall islands, lands, and premisses belonging and appertaining, with their and every of their appurtenances, and all our estate, right, title, interest, benefitt, advantage, claime, and demand of, in. or to the said lands and premisses, or any jiart or jiarcell thereof, and all the rever- sion and reversions, remainder and remainders, together with the vearlv and otlier the rents, revenues, and other profitts of all and singular the said premisses, and of every part and jiarcell thereo'". To have and to hold all and singular the said lands, islands, hereditaments and premisses, with their and every of their appur- tenances hereby given and grauntcd, or herein before mentioned to bee given and grauntcd nnto our dearest brother James. Duke of Yorke, his heires and a.ssigncs, for ever, to the only proper use and behoofe of the said James. Duke of Yorke, his heires and successores, as of our mannor of East Greenwich, in our county of Kent, in free and commoji soccage, and not ii capi!c. nor bv knight service : Yeilding and rendring, and the said James, Duke of Yorke. doth, tor 70 APPENDIX. himself, his heires and assignes, covenant and promise to yeildandrender unto us, our heires and successors, of and for the same yearly, and every year, forty beaver skinns, when they shall be demanded, or within ninety days after: And Avee do further of our speciall grace, certaine knowledge, and meer motion, ibr us, our lieires and successors, give and graunt unto our said dearest brother James, Duke of Yorke, his heires, deputies, agents, commissioners, and assignes, by these presents, full and absolute power and authority to correct, punish, pardon, governe, and rule, all such the subjects of us, our heires and successors, as shall from time to time adventure themselves to any of these parts or places aforesaid, or that shall or doe att any time hereafter inhabitt within the same, according to such laws, orders, ordinances, directions, and instructions as, by our said dearest brother or his assignes, shall be established, and in defect thereof, in cases of necessity, according to the good discretions of his deputies, commors, officers, or assignes, respectively, as well in all cases or matters capitall and crirainall as civill, both marrine and others, so always as the said statutes, ordinances, and proceedings be not contrary to, but as neer as conveniently may bee agreable to the lawes, statutes, and governments of this our realme of England, and saveing and reserving to us, our heires and successors, the receiveing, heareing, determining, of the appeale and appeales of all or any person or persons of, in, or belonging to the territoryes or islands aforesaid, in or touching any judgment or sentence to bee there made or given : And further, that it shall and may be huvfull to and for our said dearest brother, his heires and assignes, by these presents, from time to time, to make, nominate, constitute, ordaine, and confirme, by such name or names, stiles or stile, as to him or them shall seeme good ; and likewise to revoke, discharge, change, and alter as well all and singular governours, officers, and ministers, which hereafter shall bee by him or them thought fitt and needfull to be made and used within the aforesaid parts and islands. And also, to make, ordaine, and establish his manner of orders, lawes, directions, instructions, formes, ceremonyes of government and magistracy, fitt and necessary for and concerning the govern- ment of the territoryes and islands aforesaid, so alwayes as the same be not contrary to the lawes and statutes of this our realme of England, but as neer as may be agreeable thereunto ; and the same att all times hereafter to put in execution, or abrogate, revoke, or change, not only within the precincts of the said territoryes or islands, but also upon the seas, in goeing and comeing to and from the same, as hee or they, in their good discretions, thinke to be fittest for the sood of the adventurers and inhabitants there: And wee doe further of our speciall grace, certaine knowdedge, and meer motion, graunt, ordaine, and declare, that such governours, officers, and ministers, as from time to time shall be authorised and appointed in manner and forme aforesaid, shall and may have fidl power and authority to use and exercise marshall law, in cases of rebellion, insurrection, and mutiny, in as large and ample manner as our lieutenants in our counties within our realme of England have, or ought to have, by force of their commission of lieutenancy, or the law or statutes of this our realme : And wee doe & APPENDIX. 71 further, by tlicsc presents, for us. our lieires and successors, graunt unto our said dearest brother Jaincs, J)uke of Yorke, his heires and assigncs, in his or tiieir discretion, from time to time, to admitt sucii, and so many person or persons, to trade, trafficke unto and witliin tlie territoryes and islands aforesaid, and into every, or any part or parcell thereof, and to liavc, possessc, and injov any lands or hereditanieJits in tlie parts and phices aforesaid, as they sliall thincke fitt, according to the Uiwes, orders, constitutions, and ordinances, by our said brotlier, his heires, deputies, commissioners, and assignes, from time to time, to be made and established by virtue of, and according to the true intent and meaning of these presents, and under such conditions, reservations, and agreements, as our said dear brother, his heires or assignes, shall sett, ordaine, order, direct, and appoint, and 7iot otherwise, as aforesaid : And wee do further of our speciall grace, certaine knowledge, and meer motion, for us, our heires and successores, give and graunt to our said dear brother, his heires and assignes, by these presents, that it shall and may be lawfull to and for him, them, or any of them, att all and att every time and times hereafter, out of any our reahnos or dominions whatsoever, to take, Icade, carry, and transport, in and unto theire voyages for and towards tiie plantations of our said territoryes and islands, all such and so many of our loveing subjects, or any other strangers, being not prohibited or under restraint, that will become our lov'eing subjects, and live under our allegiance, or shall Avilliuglv assist them in thcii'e said voyages, together with such cloatliing. implements, furniture, and other things useally trans))orted, and not prohibited, as shall be necessary for the inhabitants of the said islands and territoryes. and for their use and defence thereof, and mannaging and carrying on the trade with the people there, and in passing and returning to and fro, yeilding and paying to us. our heires and successores, the customcs and dutyes therefor due and payable according to the lawes and customes of this our realme : ^Vnd wee doe also, for us our heires and successors, graunt to our said dearest brother James, Duke of Yorke, his heires and assignes, and to all and every such governor or governors, or any other officers or ministers, as by our said brother, his heires and assignes, shall be appointed to have power and authority of government and command in or over the inhabitants of the said territoryes or islands, that they and cverv one of them shall, and lawfully may, from time to time, and att all times hereafter for ever, for their severall defence and safety, encounter, expulse. and resist, by force of armes. as well by sea as by land, and all waycs and mcanes whatsoever, such person and persons as, without the licence of our said deare brother, his heires and assignes, shall attempt to inhabit within the several precincts and limits of our said territoryes and islands, and also, all and every such jierson anil persons whatsoever, as shall interfaire or attempt, att any time hereafter, the destruction, invasion, detriment, or annoyance to the parts, j)laces, or islands aforesaid, or any part thereof: And lastly, our will and pleasure is. and wee doe hereby declare and graunt, that these our letters pattcnts. or tiie inrollment thereof, shall be good and effectual in the law, to all intents and purposes whatsoever, iiotwith? 72 APPENDIX. standing llie not reciting or mentioning of the premisses, or any part thereof, or the meeths and bounds thereof, or of any former or other letters pattents or graunts heretofore made or graunted of the premisses, or of any part thereof, by us, or any of our progenitors, vmto any otlier person or persons whatsoever, bodj'es poHtiqiie or corporate, or any act, law, or any otlier restraint, incertainty, or imperfection whatsoever, to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding, although expresse mention of the true yearly value or certainty of the premisses, or of any of them, or of any other gifts or graunts by us, or of any of our pro- genitors or predecessors heretofore made to the said James, Duke of Yorke, in these presents is not made, or any statute, ordinance, provision, proclamation, or restriction, heretofore, had, made, enacted, ordained, or provided, or any other matter, cause, or thing whatsoever, to the contrary hereof, in any wise notAvith- standing. In witness whereof, wee have caused these our letters, to be made pattents. Witnesse ourselfes att Westminster, the 12 day of March, in the l6th year of our reign. (1664.) By the King (Signed) Howard. (^Historical Library, New York. Stirling 31SS. and Papers.) [ No. XXVI. Memorandum in respect to the Lands in Maine. See p. 22. Amount of sales and grants of lands from 1791 to 1st June, 1813 : — Sold, 3 millions. 790.381 acres, for D. 1,085,9 15, 62 cents, after deducting D.55, 281, 71 cents for expenses, producing, on an average, 28 cents per acre. Granted to colleges and academies, &c. 969,794 acres. Total, 4,760,175 acres. Remaining reserved, about 8,646,000 acres. INIuch the largest quantity, and the best of the public lands, are situate about the head waters of the Kenebeck and Penobscot rivers, and in the neighbourhood of the British .settlements on the St John's and Chaudier rivers. ■{Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1814. Report from the Committee on the Management of the Lands in Maine.) APPENDIX. 73 No. XXVII. Grant by J amen Farrett, deputy of the Earl of Stirling, to Lieutenant Gardiner, of Gardiner's Maud. See p. 23. Know all men whom this present writing may concc rn, tliat I, James Farrctt, of liong Island, gent. (Icpiity to the Right Honourable the Earle of Starling, secretary for the kingdome of Scotland, doc, by these presents, in the name and behalfe of the said Karlc of Starling, and in my owne name also as his deputy, as it doth or may concerne myselfe, give and grant free leave and liberty to I>ion Gardiner, his heirs, executors, and assignes, to enjoy that island which hee hath noAV in possession, called by the Indians, Manchonack ; by the P2nglish, the Isle of Wight; I say, to enjoy botfi noAV^ and for ever; which island hath been purchased before my coming, from the auncient inhabitants, tlie Indians ; nevertheless, though the said Lion Gardiner had his possession first from the Indians before my coming, yet is hee noAV content to hold the tenor and tytle of the possession of the aforesaid island from the Earle of Starling, or his successors whomsoever, wlioo hath a grant from the King of England, under the great seale of the aforesaid kingdome : Be it knowne, therefore, that I, the said James Farrett, doe give, and hath given, free liberty and power to the said Lion Gardiner, his lieirs, executors and assignes, and their successors for ever, to enjoy the possession of the afforcsaid island, to build and plant thereon as best lyketli them, and to dispose 'thereof as they thinke fitt, and alsoe to make, execute, or jiut in practize, such lawes for church and civil government as are according to God, the King's, and practize of the country, without giving any accompt thereof to any whomsoe\cr ; and the afforesaid right and title both of land and government to remavne with and to them and to their successors for ever, without anj- trouble or molestation from the said Earle, or any his successors, for now and ever: And forasmuch as it has pleased our royal King to give the pattcnt of Long Island to the afforcsaid Earle of Starling, in consideration whereof, it is agreed upon, that the trade with the Indians shall remavne with the said Earle and his successors, to dispose upon from time to time, and at all times as best likcth him, notwithstanding the said Jjion Gardiner, to trade with the Indians for corne, and any kind of victuals, for the use of the plantation, and no further ; and if the said Lion Gardiner shall trade in wampom from the Indians, he shall pay for e\"cry fadomc twentv shillings ; as also, the said Lion Gardiner, and his successors, shall pay to the said Earle, or his deputies, a yearly acknowledgement, being the sum of five pounils (being law- fully demanded) of lawful money of England, or such commodities as at that time shall pass money in the country, and the first payment to begin upon tlie last of K 74^: APPENDIX. October, IG-IS, the three former years being advanced for the use of the said James Farrett. In witness whereof, the party has put his hand and seale, the 10 day of March, 1639, (1640.) (Signed,) James Fakrett, (L. S.) Sealed and delivered, in the presence of FuLK Davis, Benjamin Price. (M.S. Book, in the possession of David Johnson Gardiner, Esq.) No. XXVIII. Patent hy Governor Nicolls to David Gardiner, of Gardiner's Island. See p. 23. Richard Nicolls, Esquire, Governor under his Royal Highness, James, Duke of York, of all his territories in America, To all to Avhom these presents shall come, Greeting, Whereas there is a certain island lymg to the north of East Hampton, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, upon Long Island, formerly called by the name of Manchonack by the Indians, and by the English the Isle of AVight, and now commonly known by the name of Gardiner's Island, which said island was here- tofore purchased from the Indians by Lyon Gardiner, deceased, and was likewise conveyed unto him by graunt from James Farrett, agent for the late Earl of Stir- ling, upon such terms and conditions as in the said graunt is expressed, — Now know ye, that, by virtue of commission and authority given unto me by his Royal Highness the Duke of York, I do hereby confirm and graunt unto David Gardiner, son and heir of Lyon Gardiner, deceased, the said island, &c &c. rendering and paying unto the present governor under his Royal Highness, and his successors, at New York, the sum of £5 yearly, &c. &c. At New York, the 5th day of October, 1665. (Signed,) Richard Nicolls. {Records of the Notary Public of tJie Massachusetts Colony. Vol. V. pp. 181, 182.) No. XXIX. Grant by James Farrett, deputy of the Earl of Stirling, to Daniel How, and others, oj South Hampton, in Long Island. See p. 23. Know all men, whom this present writeing may concerne, That I, James . Farrett, of Long Island, gent, deputy to the Right Honourable the Earle of Starling, secretary for the kingdom of Scotland, doe by these presents, in the name and behalf of the said Earle, and in mine owne name allso as his deputy, as. APPENDIX. ?« it doth or may any vvay concernc myself, give and grant free leave and liberty to Daniel How, Job Sayrs, George Wiilby, and ^V''illiam llarkcr, together with their assosiates, to sitt down upon Long Island afforcsaid, there to possess, improve, and enjoy eight miles square of land, or soe much as shall contuin the said quantity, not only upland, but alsoe whatsoever meadow, marisli ground, harbours, rivers, and creeks lye within the bounds or limitts of the said eight miles, the same and every part thereof quietly and peaceably to enjoy, to them and thcirc heyres for ever, without any disturbance, lett, or mollestation from the said Earle, or any by his appoyntment or procurement for him, or any of his ; and that they are to take theire choise to sit down upon as best lyketh them ; and allsoe that they and theire assosiates shall enjoy as full and frcc' liberty in all matters that doe or may con- cerne them or theircs, or that may conduce to the good and comfort of them and theires, both in church order and civill government, together with all other ease- ments, conveniences, and accommodations whatsoever, which the said place doth or may afford, answerable to what other plantations enjoy in Massachusetts Bay. But inasmuch as it hath pleased our royall King to give and grant the pattente of Long Island to the alForesaid Earle, in consideration thereof it is agreed uppon, that the trade with the Indians shall rcmaine to the said Earle of Starling, to diss- pose of, from time to time, and at all times, as best Ivketh him, onely the aforesaid Daniel How and his copartners shall have liberty to make choise of one man amongst them that shall freely trade with the Indians, in their behalf, for any victuals within theire owne plantation, but not for wampam ; and if any of the afforesaid persons, or any for them, shall secretly trade with the Indians for wam- pam, whether directly or indirectly, without leave or licence from the said Earle or his assignes, the person or persons soe offending, shall pay, for every fathom soe traded, to the said Earle or his assignes, the sume of twenty shillings : Further, it is agreed uppon, that whatsoever shall be thought meete by the right worshipful John Winthrop, Esq. governor of the JMassachuseits Bay, to bee given to the Earle of Starling in way of acknowledgement as the patentee of the place, shall be duely and truely paid : Furthermore, it is agreed upon, that noe man shall, by vertue of any gift or purchase, lay any claime to any land lying within the compass of the eight miles before mentioned, but onely the affbresaid inhabit- ants shall make purchase in theire owne names, at theire owne leisure, fri>m any Indians that inhabbit, or have lawfuU right to, any of the aforesaid lands, all or any part thereof, and thereby assure it to themselves, and theire heyres, as their inheritance for ever. In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands ami seales the 17 day of April, 1640. Memouandum. That the trew meaning of Mr Farrett is, that whereas hee hath formerly pur- chased sartaine lands in Lon<>- Island for the Earle of Starling or himself, that hee doth, by these presents, fully release all claime and interest in the land above- 76 APPENDIX. mentioned, or persons that shall sitt downe upon it, with all title to government, wliether in church or in comonwealth ; all which is to be clearly and fully drawn up according to the trew meaning of this agreement, when things shall bee settled and concluded by the rigiit worshippful John Winthrop above mentioned. James Faruett, (scale.) Sealed and delivered in the presence oflF Theoph. Eaton, John Davenport. I John Winthrop, within named, having seriously considered of tliat within this writeing is referred to my determination, although I am very unwilling to take it upon me, and as unfit alsoe, the rather being to seeke of any rule or approved presedent to guide mee herein, yet being called hereunto, I shall express what I conceive to bee equal upon the considerations here insueing, viz. — The land within granted being a meere wilderness, and the natives of the place pre- tending some interest which the planters must purchase, and they might have had land enough gratis (and as convenient) in the Massachusetts, or other of the collonies, with liberty to trade with the Indians, (which they are here debarred from,) and for that they had possessed and improved this place before any actuall claime made thereto by the Right Honourable the Earle of Starling, or had any knowledge of his Lordship's pattent ; and whereas his Lordship, in consideration, I suppose, of the premisses, requires nothing of them but in way of acknowledge- ment of his interest, I doe hereuppon conceive, and doe accordingly (soe farre as power is given mee) order and sette downe, that the inhabitants of the tract of land within mentioned, or the plantation now called Southampton upon Long Island, and theire successours for ever, shall pay yearly to the said Earle of Star- lin"-, his heyres or assignes, upon the last day of September, at Southampton afforesaid, foure bushells of the best Indian corne there growing, or the value of soe much, in full satisfaction of all rents and services, (the fifth part of gold and silver ore to the King's Majestic reserved allwayes excepted.) In testimony whereof, I have herevuito set my hand. Dated 20. 8. 164.0. (20th October.) (Signed) John Winthrop. (Records Suffolk County, Long Island,) APPENDIX. 77 No. XXX. Remomtrance of tlie Inhabitants of South Hampton against the order requiring them to take out a new patent. See p. 23. To THE GOVERNOK. South Hampton, Feb. 1.5. 1670. Honourable Sir, — We, the inhabitants of this town, do hereby present unto you our humble service, &c., to shew our respect to your lionour's pleasure, and our obedience to the order of the honourable Court of Assize, we are bold to manifest herein unto you some reasons why we are unwilling to receive any further patent for our lands as foUoweth. 1st. Because, as we have honestly purchased them of the natives, (the proper and natural owners of them,) so also we have already tiie patent right lawfully obtained and derived from the Honourable Earl of Stirling, we being to pay one-fifth part of gold and silver ore, and four bushels of Indian corn yearly. 2dly. Because the injunction laid on persons and plantations by the laws in 1666, to take fox'th the patents for their lands from our then governor, we groundedly conceive intended not the plantations on this east end of the island, but only those at the west end, who were reduced from a former Government, even as heretofore. &c. &;c. Signed by Thomas Halsey, junior, and forty-nine others. {Silas Wood's Sketch of Long Island, p. 107.) /^'li' Wtlfj-^ ^ ^ i/U '''aojiivjjo- ''>'<^OJI1V3-J0^ '\ OV^""^" V/saMINild\V^' HI l| . ^wM'N'ivrp.r/,., .x-invANT,i-if r> ■^ > ir^ %V \'n]\\v •^ ,# % sOl"-"' '^/ia3AI,\,l^i\V ■ , i\^^ Is 1^ (7/ ^ •^\^FI'Kl\Ti:V/ ..^ . f\f TAiimD,, '('.irr^.'i\-ppi:/> ■!\!FI" .Kin-.wr.Fifr. i i-n AINlViftv' "'JaOJIIVJ-JO^' , Y^"^ snv'^"' VAHJAiviinw ^oxiw '■^■Si]vmm\^^^ ■sivittV ^? 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