6-7 EDWARD VII., A. 1907 of Opinion that Your Majesty's Right to the Country between the River St Croix, and the River Penobscot (the ancient Limits of the said Province) ought to be reserved in a more publick manner than by an Entry in the Council Books, do therefore propose that the following alteration should be made in the said Draught of a Commission for that purpose. Viz' After the Appointment of Montagu Wilmot to be Captain General and Governor in Chief in and over the Province of Nova Scotia, the description of the Boundarys of the said Province to be left out, and the following words inserted in lieu thereof "Which "we have thought proper to restrain and comprize within "the following limits-Vizt: to the Northward, Our said Province "shall be bounded by the Southern Boundary of Our Province "of Quebec as far as the Western extremity of the Bay des Chalare the same "eurs; To the Eastward by the said Bay and the Gulph of S* "Lawrence, to the Cape or Promontory called Cape Breton in "the Island of that Name including that Island, the Island of Com dated "St Johns, and all other Islands within Six Leagues of the Coast; These boundaries as those des- Montagu 21. Nov. 1763. "To the Southward by the Atlantick Ocean from the said "Cape to Cape Sable, including the Island of that Name, and all "other Islands within forty Leagues of the Coast, with all the "Rights, Members and Appurtenances whatsoever thereunto "belonging; And to the Westward altho' Our said Province "hath anciently extended, and doth of Right extend as far as "the River Pentagouet or Penobscot, it shall be bounded by a "Line drawn from Cape Sable across the Entrance of the Bay "of Fundy, To the mouth of the River St Croix, by the said "River to its source, and by a Line drawn due North from thence "to the Southern Boundary of Our Colony of Quebec." And their Lordships are further of Opinion that it will be proper to make the following Addition at the end of the Article empowering the said Governor to make Grants of Lands Viz "Provided "the same be made conformable to the Instructions herewith "delivered to you, or to such other Instructions as may hereafter "be sent to you under Our Signet and Sign Manual, or by "Our Order in Our Privy Council." The Lords of the Committee have therefore caused the said alteration and Addition to be made in the said Draught of a Commission accordingly, and do agree humbly to lay the same before Your Majesty for Your Royal Approbation SSIONAL PAPER No. 18 Halifax to Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations B. N° 5. & W. I. 1. 268 261 1763 t. 8. St JAMES'S Oct. 8, 1763. Lords CommissTM for Trade & Plantations— MY LORDS, Having laid before the King your Lordships Letter of the 6th instant with the Drat of a Proclamation therein inclosed, and His Majesty having been pleased to approve the said Draught, & to order it to be printed, & passd under the great Seal, in the usual Form, I send your Lordships herewith a number of printed Copies of the said Proclamation & am to signify to your Lordships His Majesty's Pleasure that you should transmit them to the Governors of His Majesty's several Colonies & Plantations in America & to the Agents for Indian Affairs. I am, &c., DUNK HALIFAX. endorsed: October 8. 1763. GEORGE R. Drat to Board of Trade Signifying the King's Pleasure that they should transmitt BY THE KING.1 A PROCLAMATION WHEREAS We have taken into Our Royal Consideration the extensive and valuable Acquisitions in America, secured to our Crown by the late Definitive Treaty of Peace, concluded at Paris, the 10th Day of February last; and being desirous that all Our loving Subjects, as well of our Kingdom as of our Colonies in America,2 may avail themselves with all convenient Speed, of the great Benefits and Advantages which must accrue therefrom to their Commerce, Manufactures, and Navigation, We have thought Taken from the text as contained in the "Papers Relative to the Province of Quebec," 1791, in the Public Record Office. Copied in the Canadian Archives Q 62 A, pt. I., p. 114. The attitude of the Home Government at this time, on the subject of immigration, the kind of immigrants to be favoured, and even the need of an outlet for surplus population on the part of some of the older colonies in America, may be gathered from a report of the Lords of Trade, Nov. 5, 1761, upon the proposal to transport a number of Germans to the American Colonies after the peace. They point out that as "regards colonies possessed before the war, the increase of population is such, 'as scarce to leave room in some of them for any more inhabitants.' The encouragement and advantages of the less populated southern colonies are such as to induce sufficient migration without burdening the public. Our own reduced sailors and soldiers would be more proper objects of national bounty, and better colonists, than foreigners, whose ignorance of the English language, laws, and constitution cannot fail to increase those disorders and that confusion in our Government, which the too great migration of people from Germany has already fatally introduced in some of our most valuable possessions." Calendar of Home Office Papers of the Reign of George 111. 1760-1765. No. 349. 6-7 EDWARD VII., A. 1907 fit, with the Advice of our Privy Council, to issue this our Royal Proclamation, hereby to publish and declare to all our loving Subjects, that we have, with the Advice of our Said Privy Council, granted our Letters Patent, under our Great seal of Great Britain, to erect, within the Countries and Islands ceded and confirmed to Us by the said Treaty, Four distinct and separate Governments, styled and called by the names of Quebec, East Florida, West Florida and Grenada, and limited and bounded as follows, viz. First-The Government of Quebec bounded on the Labrador Coast by the River St. John, and from thence by a Line drawn from the Head of that River through the Lake St. John, to the South end of the Lake Nipissim; from whence the said Line, crossing the River St Lawrence, and the Lake Champlain, in 45. Degrees of North Latitude, passes along the High Lands which divide the Rivers that empty themselves into the said River St Lawrence from those which fall into the Sea; and also along the North Coast of the Baye des Chaleurs, and the Coast of the Gulph of St Lawrence to Cape Rosieres, and from thence crossing the Mouth of the River St Lawrence by the West End of the Island of Anticosti, terminates at the aforesaid River of St John. Secondly-The Government of East Florida, bounded to the Westward by the Gulph of Mexico and the Apalachicola River; to the Northward by a Line drawn from that part of the said River where the Chatahouchee and Flint Rivers meet, to the source of St. Mary's River, and by the course of the said River to the Atlantic Ocean; and to the Eastward and Southward by the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulph of Florida, including all Islands within Six Leagues of the Sea Coast. Thirdly-The Government of West Florida, bounded to the Southward by the Gulph of Mexico, including all Islands within Six Leagues of the Coast, from the River Apalachicola to Lake Pontchartrain; to the Westward by the said Lake, the Lake Maurepas, and the River Mississippi; to the Northward by a Line drawn due East from that part of the River Mississippi which lies in 31 degrees North Latitude, to the River Apalachicola or Chatahouchee; and to the Eastward by the said River. Fourthly-The Government of Grenada, comprehending the Island of that name, together with the Grenadines, and the Islands of Dominico, St Vincent's and Tobago. And to the end that the open and free Fishery of our Subjects may be extended to and carried on upon the Coast of Labrador, and the adjacent Islands, We have thought fit, with the advice of our said Privy Council, to put all that Coast, from the River St John's to Hudson's Streights, together with the Islands of Anticosti and Madelaine, and all other smaller Islands lying upon the said Coast, under the care and Inspection of our Governor of Newfoundland. SESSIONAL PAPER No. 18 We have also, with the advice of our Privy Council, thought fit to annex the Islands of St John's and Cape Breton, or Isle Royale, with the lesser Islands adjacent thereto, to our Government of Nova Scotia.1 We have also, with the advice of our Privy Council aforesaid, annexed to our Province of Georgia all the Lands lying between the Rivers Alatamaha and St Mary's. And whereas it will greatly contribute to the speedy settling our said new Governments, that our loving subjects should be informed of our Paternal care, for the security of the Liberties and Properties of those who are and shall become Inhabitants thereof, We have thought fit to publish and declare, by this Our Proclamation, that We have, in the Letters Patent under our Great Seal of Great Britain, by which the said Governments are constituted, given express Power and Direction to our Governors of our Said Colonies respectively, that so soon as the state and circumstances of the said Colonies will admit thereof, they shall, with the Advice and Consent of the Members of our Council, summon and call General Assemblies2 within the said Governments respectively, in such Manner and Form as is used and directed in those Colonies and Provinces in America which are under our immediate Government; and We have also given Power to the said Governors, with the consent of our Said Councils, and the Representatives of the People so to be summoned as aforesaid, to make, constitute, and ordain Laws, Statutes, and Ordinances for the Public Peace, Welfare, and good Government of our said Colonies, and of the People and Inhabitants thereof, as near as may be agreeable to the Laws of England, and under such Regulations and Restrictions as are used in other Colonies; and in the mean Time, and until such Assemblies can be called as aforesaid, all Persons Inhabiting in or resorting to our Said Colonies may confide in our Royal Protection for the Enjoyment of the Benefit of the Laws of our Realm of England; for which Purpose We have given Power under our Great Seal to the Governors of our said Colonies respectively to erect and constitute, with the Advice of our said Councils respectively, Courts of Judicature and public Justice within our Said Colonies for hearing and determining all Causes, as well Criminal as Civil, according to Law and Equity, and as near as may be agreeable to the Laws of England, with Liberty to all Persons who may think themselves aggrieved by the Sentences of such Courts, in all Civil Cases, to appeal, under the usual Limitations and Restrictions, to Us in our Privy Council. We have also thought fit, with the advice of our Privy Council as aforesaid, to give unto the Governors and Councils of our said Three new Colonies, upon the Continent full Power and Authority to settle and agree Nova Scotia would thus include the three present maritime provinces of Nova Scotia New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island. 1 With reference to the reasons given and provisions made for calling Assemblies in the new Provinces, see Report of the Lords of Trade, Oct. 4th, 1763, p. 156, also report of the Lords of the Committee of Council for Plantation Affairs, Oct. 6th, 1763, p. 159. See also the Commission to Hon. James Murray to be Governor of Quebec, p. 175, and the Instructions to Governor Murray, sec. 11, p. 185. 6-7 EDWARD VII., A. 1907 with the Inhabitants of our said new Colonies or with any other Persons who shall resort thereto, for such Lands, Tenements and Hereditaments, as are now or hereafter shall be in our Power to dispose of; and them to grant to any such Person or Persons upon such Terms, and under such moderate Quit-Rents, Services and Acknowledgments, as have been appointed and settled in our other Colonies, and under such other Conditions as shall appear to us to be necessary and expedient for the Advantage of the Grantees, and the Improvement and settlement of our said Colonies. And Whereas, We are desirous, upon all occasions, to testify our Royal Sense and Approbation of the Conduct and bravery of the Officers and Soldiers of our Armies, and to reward the same, We do hereby command and impower our Governors of our said Three new Colonies, and all other our Governors of our several Provinces on the Continent of North America, to grant without Fee or Reward, to such reduced Officers as have served in North America during the late War, and to such Private Soldiers as have been or shall be disbanded in America, and are actually residing there, and shall personally apply for the same, the following Quantities of Lands, subject, at the Expiration of Ten Years, to the same Quit-Rents as other Lands are subject to in the Province within which they are granted, as also subject to the same Conditions of Cultivation and Improvement; viz. To every Person having the Rank of a Field Officer.5,000 Acres. To every Subaltern or Staff Officer. 3,000 Acres. . 2,000 Acres. 200 Acres. 50 Acres. We do likewise authorize and require the Governors and Commanders in Chief of all our said Colonies upon the Continent of North America to grant the like Quantities of Land, and upon the same conditions, to such reduced Officers of our Navy of like Rank as served on board our Ships of War in North America at the times of the Reduction of Louisbourg and Quebec in the late War, and who shall personally apply to our respective Governors for such Grants.1 And whereas it is just and reasonable, and essential to our Interest, and the Security of our Colonies, that the several Nations or Tribes of Indians with whom We are connected, and who live under our Protection, should not be molested or disturbed in the Possession of such Parts of our Dominions and Territories as, not having been ceded to or purchased by Us, are reserved to them, or any of them, as their Hunting Grounds.-We do therefore, with the Advice of our Privy Council, declare it to be our Royal Will and Pleasure, that no Governor or Commander in Chief in any of our Colonies of 1 On Oct. 13th, 1763, the Earl of Halifax wrote to the Attorney General, inquiring "as to the means which should be used to nullify the doubtfulness of a paragraph in H. M's proclamation, which makes it appear that only those officers which served both at Louisbourg and Quebec are entitled to grants of land, such not being Mis Hajesty's intention." Calendar. of Home Office Papers, 1760-1765, No. 1036. |