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*>- 
 
EXTRACT 
 
 noM tH> 
 
 ROYAL INSTRUCTIONS 
 
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 HIS EXCELLENCY THE RIGHT HONORABLE 
 
 etovqt ISatl ot JBaVbou^itf ^. ■€. U. 
 
 CAPTAIN GENERAL AND GOVERNOR IN CHIEF, &c. &c. &o. 
 
 RELATING TO THE GRANTS 
 
 OF XHE 
 
 WASTE LAND OF THE CROWN, 
 
 WITH OTHER PAPERS ON THE ?AME SUBJECT 
 
 LAID BY ORDER OF HIS EXCELLENCY, 
 
 BEFORE THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY, 
 IHX 5th februaht, 
 1 S23. 
 
 i! 
 
 
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EXTRACT from the Royal Instructions to His Ex- 
 cellency the Right Honourable George, Earl of 
 D-^lhousie, G. C. B. Captain General and Go- 
 vernor in Chief, &c. &c. &c. 
 
 AND whereas nothing can more effectually tend to | 
 
 the speedy settling of our said Province of Lower j 
 
 Canada, the security of the property of our Subjects I 
 
 and the advancement of our Province, than the disposal | 
 
 of such Lands as are our property, upon reasonable | 
 
 terms, and the establishing of a regular and proper | 
 
 method of proceeding with respect to the passmg of 
 Grants of such Lands, it is therefore our will and > 
 
 pleasure, that all and every person or persons who shall 
 apply for any Grant or Grants of Land, shall, previous 
 to their obtaining the same, make it appear that they 
 are in a condition to cultivate and improve the same ; 
 and in case you shall, upon consideration of the cir- 
 cumstances of the person or persons applying for such 
 Grants, think it advisable to pass the same, you are in 
 such case to cause a Warrant to be drawn up, directed 
 to the Surveyor-General, or other Officers, empowering 
 him or them to make a faithful and exact Survey of 
 the Lands so petitioned for, and to return the said 
 Warrant within six months at furthest, from the date 
 thereof, with a Plot or Description of the Lands so sur- i 
 
 veyed, thereunto annexed, and when the Warrant 
 shall be returned by the Surveyor or other proper Offi- 
 cer, the Grant shall be made out in due form, and the 
 terms and conditions required by these our Instruc- 
 tions be particularly and expressly mentioned. 
 
 And it is our will and pleasure, that the said Grants 
 shall be registered within six months, from the date 
 thereof, in the Register Office, and a Docket thereof 
 be also entered in our Auditor's Office. Copies of all 
 which Entries shall be returned regularly by the proper 
 Officer tq pur Commissioners of our Treasury. 
 
 i 
 
 > 
 

 4, 
 
 ll 
 
 And for the further encouragement of our Subjects, 
 it is our will and pleasure that the Lands, to be granted 
 by you as aforesaid, shall be laid out in Townships, and 
 that such Inland Township shall, as nearly as circums- 
 tances will admit, consist of ten miles square, and such 
 as shall be situated upon a navigable River or Water, 
 shall have a front of nine miles and be ten miles in 
 depth, and subdivided in such a manner as may be 
 found most advisable for the accommodation of the 
 Settlers and for making the several Reservations for 
 Public Uses, and particularly for the Support of the 
 Protestant Clergy, agreeably to the above recited Act 
 passed in the thirty first year of our Reign. 
 
 And whereas great inconveniences have heretofore 
 arisen in many parts of the Colonies in America from 
 the granting excessive quantities of Land to particular 
 persons who have never cultivated or settled the same, 
 and have thereby prevented others more industrious 
 from improving such Lands, in order therefore to 
 prevent the like inconveniences in future, it is our 
 will and pleasure, that you observe the following direc- 
 tions and regulations in all Grants to be made by you 
 as aforesaid, that is to say. That no Town Lot snail 
 be granted to any one person being Master or Mistress 
 of a Family in any Township to be laid out as afore- 
 said, which shall contain more than one acre of Land. 
 
 That no Park Lot shall be granted to any one per- 
 son being Master or Mistress of a Family in any Town- 
 ship to be laid out, which shall contain more than twen- 
 ty four acres. 
 
 That no Farm Lot shall be granted to any one per- 
 son being Master or Mistress of a Family in any Town- 
 ship so to be laid out, which shall contain more than 
 two hundred acres. It is our will and pleasure, and 
 you are hereby allowed and permitted to grant unto 
 any such person or persons such further quantity of 
 Land as they may desire, not exceeding one thousand 
 acres over and above what may have heretofore been 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
■ 
 
 granted to them, and in all Grants of Lands to be 
 made by you as aforesaid, you are to take care that due 
 regard be had to the quality and comparative value of 
 the different parts of Land comprised within any 
 Township, so that such Grantee may have, as nearly as 
 may be, a proportionate quantity of Land of such dif- 
 ferent quality and comparative value, as likewise that 
 the breadth of each tract of Land to be hereafter 
 granted, be one third of the length, and that the length 
 of such Tract do not extend along the Banks of any 
 River, but towards the main Land, and that thereby 
 the said Grantees may have a convenient sharis of wha- 
 accommodation the said River may afibrd for naviga- 
 tion or otherwise. 
 
 And as a further encouragement to our subjects who 
 shall become Settlers as aforesaid, it is our will and 
 pleasure, that the said Townships and the respective 
 allotments within the same, together with the Lands to 
 be reserved as aforesaid, shall be seen and laid out by 
 our Surveyor General of Lands for the said Province, 
 or some skilful persons authorized by him for that pur- 
 pose, which Survey, together with the Warrants and 
 Grants for the respective allotments, shall be made out 
 for and delivered to the several Grantees free of any 
 Expense or Fee whatsoever, other than such as may be 
 payable to the different Officers according to the Table 
 of Fees established upon Grants of Lands made in the 
 said Province. 
 
 And in order to prevent any persons disaffected to 
 lis and to our Government from becoming Settlers in 
 our said Province of Lower Canada, it is our will and 
 pleasure, that no Warrants for Surveying Lands be 
 granted by you, or the Lieutenant Governor, or the per- 
 son Administering the Government for the time being, 
 unless the person or persons i*pplying for the same do 
 9t the time of making such application, besides taking 
 the several Oaths directed by Law, also make and sub- 
 scribe the following declaration in your or his presence 
 
 I ! 
 
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6 
 
 or in the presence of such person or persons as shall 
 by you or him be appointed for that purpose, that is to 
 say \ 1 A. B. do promise and declare that I will main- 
 tam and defend to the utmost of my power the autho- 
 rity of the King in his Parliament, as the Supreme Le- 
 gislature of the Province. 
 
 Whereas the reserving of such bodies of Land with- 
 in our said Province of Lower Canada, where there are 
 considerable growth of Timber fit for the use of our 
 Royal Navy, is a matter of the utmost importance to 
 our Service, it is our will and pleasure, that no grants 
 whatevever be made of Lands within any District or 
 Tract in our said Province ol Lower-Canada until our 
 Surveyor General of Woods, or his Deputy lawfully ap- 
 pointed, shall have surveyed the same and. marked out 
 as reservations to us, our Heirs and Successors, such 
 parts thereof as shall be found to contain any consider- 
 able growth of Masting or other Timber fit for the use 
 of our Royal Navy, and more especially upon the Ri- 
 vers ; and you are hereby instructed to direct our Sur- 
 veyor General of Lands in our said Province, from time 
 to time, with all due diligence, to complete the Surveys 
 and mark out the reservations as aforesaid, in the most 
 convenient parts of our said Province. And you are 
 from time to time to report the number and situation of 
 such reservations, and you are further to direct our 
 Surveyor General not to certify any Plots of Ground, 
 ordered and surveyed for any person or persons what- 
 ever, in order that Grants may be made for the same, 
 until it shall appear to him, by a Certificate under the 
 hand of our Surveyor of Woods or his Deputy, that the 
 Land so to be granted is not part of or included in a::y 
 District marked out as a reservation to us, our Heirs 
 and Successors as aforesaid, for the purposes herein- 
 before mentioned. And in order to prevent any deceit 
 or fraud from being committed by the person applying 
 for Land in this respect, it is our will and pleasure, 
 that in all grants to be hereafter made for Lands in our 
 

 flaid Province of Lower Canada, the following Proviso 
 and exception be inserted, tliat is to say, " And provi- 
 ded also that no part of the parcel or tract of Land 
 
 hereby granted to the said and his heirs be 
 
 within any reservation heretofore made and marked for 
 us, our Heirs and Successors by our Surveyor General 
 of "Woods or his lawful Deputy, in which case this our 
 Grant for such part of ths Land hereby given and grant- 
 ed to the said and his Heirs for ever as 
 
 aforesaid, and which shall, upon a Survey thereof being 
 made, be found within any such reservation, shall be null 
 and void and of none effect, any thing herein contained 
 to the contrary notwithstanding.,, 
 
 And whereas it is necessary that all persons v;ho may 
 be desirous of settling in our said Province should be 
 fully informed of the terms and conditions upon which 
 such Lands will be granted within our said Province of 
 Lower Canada, in manner prescribed in and by the said 
 Act passed in the Thirty-first year of the reign of our 
 Dearest Father His late Majesty King George the 
 Third, You are therefore as soon as possible, to cause a 
 Publication to be made, by Proclamation or otherwise 
 as you in your discretion shall think most advisable, of 
 the said terms and conditions respecting the granting of 
 Lands, in which Proclamation it may be expedient to 
 add some short description of the natural advantages 
 of the soil and climate, and the peculiar convenience 
 for trade and navigation. 
 
 And it is our further will and pleasure, that all the 
 foregoing Instructions to you, as well as any which you 
 may hereafter receive, relative to the passing Grants of 
 Land in conformity to the said Act passed in the Thir^. 
 ty-first year of the Reign of King George the Thirds, 
 be entered upon record for the information of all par- 
 ties whatsoever that may be concerned therein." 
 
 Certified to be a true Extract. 
 
 A. W. COCHRAN, Secy. 
 
^■l 
 
 ' 
 
 8 
 
 To His Excellency Sir Robert Shore Milnes, Bart. 
 Lieutenant Governor of the Province of Lower- 
 Canada, &c. &c. &c. 
 
 Report of the Permanent Committee of the whole 
 Council. 
 
 Present, The Chief Justice, the Lord Bishop of 
 Quebec, Messrs. Finlay, Baby, Dunn and Young. 
 
 On the Memorial of Samuel Gale to the Lords of 
 His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, on be- 
 half of sunary Applicants for Grants of various Tracts 
 and Parcels of the Waste Lands of the Crown, in this 
 Province, which Memorial was by His Grace the Duke 
 of Portland transmitted to Your Excellency, to be re- 
 ferred to the Executive Council of Lower Canada. 
 Ma^ it I lease Your Excellency, 
 
 In obedience to the order of reference signified by 
 His Majesty's Secretary of State, and communicated 
 by Your Excellency, of the 'Viemoriai of Samuel Gale, 
 to the Lords of His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy 
 Council, respecting the Waste Lands of the Crown in 
 this Province, the Committee have taken the same in- 
 to their serious consideration, and they cannot but ex- 
 Eress thei: regret, that after the toilsome hours they 
 ave employed in permanent Committee, during a pe- 
 riod of fourteen months, in arranging, considering, 
 and from time to time reporting upon the many hun- 
 dred claims referred to them, and in such Reports care- 
 fully assigning the principles on which their opinions 
 were framed j and that after having submitted to Your 
 Excellency their concluding and summary Report, con- 
 taining a detail of their progress, together with an Ap- 
 pendix, presenting a Synoptical Table of the Result of 
 their whole Proceedings, by which they well hoped that 
 the discretion and diligence manifested therein, would 
 be both creditable to themselves and satisfactory to His 
 Majesty, they should at this day be called upon to vin- 
 dicate their Conduct against the Charges of an Indi\ i- 
 
 
9 
 
 dual, the particulars of whose authority to interfere 
 they know not. When they reflect on the motives by 
 which tliey have been actuated, of the purity of whicn 
 they are conscious, and on the station to which it has 
 pleased His Miiiesty to call them in His Councils in 
 this Province, where their integrity ought to be above 
 suspicion ; it becomes a question whether it be fitting 
 they should condescend to give any other answer to the 
 imputations urged against them, than by referring to 
 the whole of their proceedings as they appear upon Re- 
 cord ; but when they consider the respect due to the 
 quarter from which the Memorial before them was 
 transmitted, and the possibility that a statement of de- 
 tached facts, partially selected from a mass of proceed- 
 ings, may be so artfully arranged, as to give a plausible 
 appearance to a charge of inconsistency, that the falla- 
 cy of such charge cannot be detected but by those who 
 have a distinct, complete and comprehensive knowledge 
 of the business in question, and that the minute research 
 requisite to the attainment of such information, can 
 neither be expected from the Lords of His Majesty's 
 Most Honourable Privy Council, nor possibly from any 
 party by them employed for such purpose, the Com- 
 mittee induced by a desire of standing justified in 
 the opinion of His Majesty's Council, will not hesi- 
 tate to enter into that detail, ii. vindication of their 
 conduct, which they would deem it unbecoming to 
 adduce before a less dignified Tribunal. 
 
 After an attentive perusal of the Memorial in ques- 
 tion it appears that the complaints made against His Ma- 
 jesty's Executive Council in this Province may be re- 
 duced to three general heads, in the course of which 
 some specific cases are mentioned. 
 
 1st The first respects the delays in issuing legal 
 Grants to those possessed of Certificates or Copies of 
 Orders passed by the Governor and Council, and of 
 Warrants of Survey j and more especially to the Ap- 
 
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 plicants for the Townships of Shefford, Orford and 
 Stukely. 
 
 2d Tlie hiconsistency of the Executive Council res- 
 pecting the encouragement for actual Settlement. 
 
 3d The conduct of the Executive Council with res- 
 pect to the requisite of taking the Oaths. 
 
 The Committee propose to make some observations 
 on each of these general heads, and to give a distinct 
 answer to every special case stated in said Memorial. 
 
 With regard to the first complaint, namely, the 
 delay of giving legal Grants to those possessed of Lo- 
 cation Certificates with directions to the Surveyor Ge- 
 neral's Department to give them possession thereof- 
 After premising that many hundreds are, or might be 
 in actual possessio'i of their Lands under such Certi- 
 ficates and that their right has ever been deemed so 
 unquestionable that comparatively speaking they have 
 evinced little anxiety to obtain formal Titles, the 
 Committee are ready to admit that very few actual 
 Grants have been made out, a circumstance for which, 
 they trust, they can account upon grounds that will not 
 involve any imputation upon the good faith of this 
 Government 
 
 During the late War the 84th Regiment had been 
 raised upon the express promise that each Individual 
 should obtain a specific portion of Land on their being 
 reduced, settling and becoming Inhabitants of this 
 Province — When that period arrived. Certificates were 
 granted and possession taken whenever the parties 
 thought proper, and several Provincial Corps obtained 
 specific portions in consequence of Royal Instructions 
 to that end. 
 
 Some time after, the Canada Act was passed, in 
 which the Legislature deemed it expedient to enact 
 in the most posiiive term, " That no future Grant of 
 •* Lands should be valid or effectual uiiiess the same 
 ** shall contain a specification of Land to be allotted 
 
11 
 
 
 *« and appropriated for the purposes therein mentioned 
 ** in respect to the Land to be thereby granted." 
 
 Hence Questions arose whether the Grants of Cer- 
 tificate Lands came within the operations of the Act, 
 the Certificates having been granted previously to the 
 passing thereof by Tenure en Seigneurie upon the first 
 application made to the Committee upon this subject, 
 they drew up a Report of which the following is an 
 Extract : 
 
 " The next Memorial referred to this Committee is 
 " marked No. 240, and is the Memorial of Malcolm 
 Fraser, a Captain in the late 84th Regiment, praying 
 Patents for 8,000 Acres of Land in the Township of 
 Chatham, being the King's bounty to himself and 
 others, upon which the Land Committee observe that 
 the prayer raises a question which the Officers and 
 ** Privates of that corps have long earnestly wished 
 ** might be decided, namely, whether under the Act 
 " of the 31st of His Majesty any Patent for Land can 
 *' pass to any person whatever under any circumstance, 
 ** before an actual Survey of the Township and a sub- 
 ** division thereof into Lots of 200 acres shall have 
 *< been made and laid out, in conformity to the Dia- 
 " gram D or E, as the case may require, and the re- 
 " servations for the maintenance of a Protestant Cler- 
 y and for the future disposition of the Crown, shall 
 ave been admeasured and marked in the Field, not- 
 ** withstanding Location Certificates have been grant- 
 " ed for portions of Land therein to the Officers and 
 *• and Privates of the late 84th Regiment or to other 
 *' persons, and therefore the Land Committee hum- 
 " bly request, that the said Petition may likewise be 
 ** referred to a Committee of the whole Council^ with 
 ** which request Your Excellency has been pleased to 
 ** comply. 
 
 " This Committee humbly beg leave to observe to 
 " Your Excellency, that they are well aware the ques- 
 <• tion \\o\f referred to them not only involves points 
 
 
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 of considerable nicety and importance, but also that 
 some points connected with this question may by 
 possibility be brought before them when sitting in a 
 different capacity, in which case it might be incon* 
 venient to have delivered any previous opinion, but 
 as the Committee are desirous of removing the doubts 
 ofso numerous a Class of His Majesty's most deservr 
 ing Subjects, they are willing to submit their senti- 
 ments to Your Excellency's consideration, at the 
 same time laving in their claim not to be bound by 
 them in case of their seeing a necessity of departing 
 therefrom, upon fuller information, should they be 
 called upon at any future period to determine by so- 
 lemn adjudication. 
 
 " The Committee apprehend that with respect to 
 the Reserves, the provisions of the Act 31st of the 
 King, Cap. 31, are peremptory, and that no Grant 
 of Lands thai shall be made after the passing of that 
 Act can be valid or effectual, unless such Grant con- 
 tains a specification of the Reserves allotted and ap- 
 propriated in respect of the Land to be thereby 
 granted ; and with respect to reservations, the Com- 
 mittee apprehend this distinction is to be taken. 
 " That in those cases when Location Certificates 
 shall have been granted previously to the passing of 
 the said Act in certain specific Townships in number 
 sufficient to exhaust one or more Townships, so that 
 no space remains for reserved allotments withm the 
 said Townships, recourse must be had to the directi- 
 ons in the said Act contained, whereby the Gover- 
 nor, the Lieutenant-Governor or person Administer- 
 ing Government, is authorized to make from and 
 out ot the Lands of the Crown, such allotment 
 and appropriation of Lands for the support and main- 
 tenance of a Protestant Clergy, within the Province, 
 as may be in a due proportion to the amount of 
 such Lands within the same as have at any time 
 been granted by or under the authority of his Ma- 
 
13 
 
 " jesty ; and that in all Patents to be granted for 
 Lands situated in Townships completely covered by 
 Location Certificates as aforesaid, the reserves to 
 be specified in respect thereof, should be taken 
 from the general allotment and appropriation so di- 
 rected to be made out of the said Act, the 3 1st of 
 the King, Cap. 31st, and in order to enable such 
 persons as have already received His Majesty's 
 Bounty by Location Certificates in manner herein- 
 before mentioned to obtain their Patents in confor- 
 mity to the said Act. 
 
 " The Committee are of opinion that it is absolute- 
 ly necessary forthwith to pursue the directions given 
 by the said Act for the purpose of providing a suf- 
 ficient appropriation of Lands for the use of a Pro- 
 testant Clergy, from which the reserves to corres- 
 pond with the Lands already granted by Certificates, 
 " should be taken, and to that end the Committee res- 
 " pectfuUy propose, that the Surveyor General should 
 •* he directed to lay before Your Excellency a Report 
 " of the number of Acres of the Waste Lands of the 
 Crown for which Location Certificates have already 
 been granted, in order that Your Excellency may be 
 enabled to ascertain the extent of the general appro- 
 priation and allotment necessary to be made for the 
 purpose aforesaid, and further that the said Surveyor, 
 General be directed to report his opinion on the most 
 convenient mode of subdividing such general allot- 
 ment into such portions as shall be best calculated 
 to answer th*^ purposes aforesaid, and thereby ena- 
 ble the Law Officers of the (\own to prepare the 
 «* Patents with a distinct specification of the Reserves 
 *< to be set apart in respect of the Lands for which Cer- 
 " tificates have already been granted." 
 
 On perusal of this Extract the Committee apprehend 
 that instead of being censurable for endeavouring to ob- 
 struct tht passing of formal Grants, they may be liable 
 to the charge of indiscretion, for having travelled be- 
 
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 yond their province, by hazarding opinions wi 
 
 sire of giving satisfaction to so meritorious a class of 
 
 His Majesty's subjects. 
 
 In addition to the delays and difficulties which must 
 obviously arise from a performance of those requisites 
 without which all Titles will ever remain impeachable, 
 some delay has been occasioned by the precautions 
 which the Committe have found it needful to exert, 
 in order to prevent the provision of the Act from being 
 eluded — ^and that the conduct of the Land Surveyors 
 have given just occasion for the exercise of such vigi- 
 lance, will appear from the extract of two several Re- 
 ports subjoined in the Appendix, and marked with 
 the Letters A. and B. respectively. 
 
 From a perusal of these documents, the Committee 
 humbly apprehend that whatever delay may have ta- 
 ken place, it ought not to be imputed to any negligence 
 on their part. 
 
 Having made these observations, the Committee will 
 proceed to give distinct answers, to the several cases 
 mentioned in this part of the Memorial, which are 
 those of Shefford, Orford and Stukely ; with respect 
 to the Township of Shefford, in order to show how ve- 
 ry ineffectual all schemes and plans have been in con- 
 templation, for obtaining to tiie behoof of other per- 
 sons, the legal Grant of this Township, the Commit- 
 tee will beg leave to transcribe the preamble to their 
 Report respecting this Township, as it now stands on 
 the Minutes of the Council of the J28th November last. 
 
 "The Commiitee pn)ceeded to take into considera- 
 *'tion the case of the Claimants of the T wnship of 
 "ShefJbrd, whereof John Savage is Leader, and inasmuch 
 "as the said John Savage is well known to have been 
 " the first of His Majesty's subjects who suffered im- 
 *• prisonment on account of his loyalty in the County of 
 "Albanv; that he was impriscmed during the space of 
 " four years, and that he after his enlargement was 
 " employed in many confidential services in behalf of 
 
15 
 
 "Government, of which he acquitted himself with dis- 
 •* tinguished fidelity, the Committee have deemed them- 
 «* selves at liberty to make some slight deviation from 
 " their general rules, in favour of a character so truly 
 ** meritoriously and to adopt and admit upon the Files the 
 •* account delivered in and signed by himself, ofthecha- 
 <* racter and qualifications of his several Associates,and 
 " do therefore report and recommend that, &c.*' 
 
 In regard to the Township of Orford, notwithstand- 
 ing the various allegations that have been made con- 
 cerning the expenses, time and labour, that have been 
 employed upon this as upon many other Townships, 
 it appears by reference to authentic documents, that 
 the mere outlines only of the Township had been run — 
 a Report bearing date 7th .March 1800, has been made 
 to Your Excellency, respecting this Township, in the 
 following terms : 
 
 " On the Petition of Luke Knoulton for the Town- 
 « ship of Orford." 
 
 "On perusing the documents accompanying this 
 "Petition, it appears that the case of the Petitioner falls 
 " under the third Class: the Committee therefore re- 
 " commend, that a Warrant of Survey and Subdivision 
 " do issue for the Township of Orford, and in conside- 
 ** ration of the expenses incurred by the Petitioner, 
 " that he and his Associates do obtain a quarter part of 
 " the said Township at the old Fees." 
 
 And a final Report upon the Return of the Warrant 
 of Survey, has been made on the 23d February 1801, 
 
 Book E. page 140 whereby 
 
 <* It appears that a portion of the said Township si- 
 tuate in the South Easterly part thereof, consisting of 
 sixty-eight Lots, exclusive of the Reserves for tlie 
 Church and Crown, is contained within a line in the 
 said Diagram drawn and distinguished by a yellow 
 edge, which said portion the Committee humbly 
 recqmmend maybe divided among Luke Knoul- 
 ton, the Leader of the said Township and his fifteen 
 
 « 
 it 
 « 
 
 !i 
 
 ! ij 
 
 'ill 
 
 ; 1 
 
 ♦ I, 
 
in 
 
 f 
 
 I 
 
 ',! 
 
 d 
 
 Id 
 
 " Associates in the proportions herein after set fovih, 
 *• that is to say, &c." 
 
 The case of the Township of Stukely has been re- 
 solved upon ever since the fifth December one thousand 
 seven hundred and ninety nine, as appears by entry on 
 the minutes, Land Book D. page 375, wherein the 
 Committee report their opinion that this case comes un- 
 der the second class, and on the nineteenth September 
 one thousand eight hundred, it is ordered that a Patent 
 do issue in favour of Samuel Willard and his Associates 
 for one half of the Township of Stukely, and the Pa- 
 tent has issued accordingly. 
 
 Before they quit this part of the subject, the Com- 
 mittee cannot refrain from observing, that after all the 
 complaints that have been made, respecting the num- 
 ber of Settlers who have embarked their labour and 
 property on the Waste Lands of the Crown, it appears 
 from the result of an actual Survey, that five Town- 
 ships only fall under this predicament ; and in regard 
 to the expense, it is a principle generally admitted and 
 confirmed by experience, that all new settlers are fully 
 indemnified by the Ashes produced by clearing, and 
 the first crop. 
 
 2 ® . The second charge turns upon the inconsisten- 
 cy of the Executive Council, respecting the encourage- 
 ment for actual settlement. 
 
 The merits of this charge have been amply discussed 
 in the proceedings of the Executive Council, which 
 proceedings were made public in certain Pamphlets 
 published in the year 1798. 
 
 The Committee will give a brief outline of the cause 
 and the nature of this inconsistency, and among other 
 particulars, refer to an Extract from a Report of the 
 Executive Council, 27th August 1798, subjoined in 
 the Appendix, and marked with the Letter C. 
 
 Early in the year 1792, when the Land granting bu- 
 siness was entered upon in consequence of the Royal 
 instructionsi framed in conformity to the provisions of 
 
 I 
 
V 
 
 of 
 
 17 
 
 who had been long conversant in the practice of the 
 Land Granting Department, in the former Colonies of 
 New- York and New- Hampshire: at the outset of the 
 business, the Chairman, after observing that ** An aburi' 
 " dant papulation of these 1 olonies was the main object 
 " of the Koyal Instructions,*' proposed a detailed plan 
 of proceedings, and the Committee concurred in the 
 mode of proceeding suggested by the Chair, 
 
 In consequer 2e of the mode thus adopted, and be- 
 fore many of the most essential points connected with 
 the business, such as the expenses of the Survey, the 
 position of the Reserves, or the appointment of Com- 
 missioners had been ascertained and adjusted. War- 
 rants of Survey were in the course of a few months is- 
 sued to divers persons, for upwaids of 150 Townships 
 of 10 miles square. 
 
 The uncertainty respecting the particulars above- 
 mentioned and other causes, suspended the further pro- 
 gress till towards the close of June 1794, when the bu- 
 siness was resumed by order of His Excellency Lord 
 Dorchester; at this period the former Chairman, Wil- 
 liam Smith, Esquire, had paid the debt of nature, and 
 the duty of presiding in Committees of the whole 
 Council, devolved on his Successor in the Chief Jus- 
 ticeship, and soon after five additional Members were 
 called to the Executive Council. 
 
 The very important business of the Land granting 
 Department being a novelty as well to the succeeding 
 Chairman as to the new Members, it became their 
 Duty to acquaint themselves both with the Rules as- 
 signed for their conduct by His Majesty's Royal 
 Instructions, and with the anterior proceedings of the 
 Board from its first Institution as they appeared upon 
 the records of the Council. 
 
 Upon perusing the very elaborate Report drawn up 
 by the, late Chairman introductory to the Plan of pro- 
 ceedings by him suggested, and after observing the 
 
 b 
 
 ii 
 
 iP 
 
 • H 
 
 i 
 
' i 
 
 u 
 
 'I 
 
 18 
 
 numerous orders that had been issued in consequence! 
 thereof, it appeared evident to the Committee, that 
 both the Theory laid down and the Practice adopted 
 were in manifest violation of His Majesty's Instruc- 
 tions. For whereas the 35th Article of the said Ins* 
 tructions is of the tenor following : 
 
 '* And in order to prevent any persons dissaffected 
 to us and our Government from becoming Settlers 
 in our said Province of Lower Canada, it is our 
 will and pleasure that no Warrants for Surveying 
 Lands be granted by you, or the Lieutenant Go- 
 vernor or Person administering the Government for 
 the time being, unless the Person or Persons apply- 
 ing for the same do at the time of making such appli- 
 cation, besides taking the usual Oaths dire cted by 
 " Law, also make and subscribe the following de- 
 claration in your or his presence or in the pre- 
 sence of such person or persons as shall by you 
 or him be appointed for that purpose, viz : 1. A, B* 
 do promise and declare that I will maintain and de- 
 fend to the utmost of my power the authority of the 
 King in His Parliament as the Supreme Legislature 
 of this Province;** 
 Nevertheless in direct opposition to the Royal Will 
 and Pleasure, Warrants of Survey for upwards of 150 
 Townships have been issued at a time when no Com- 
 missijners for the purpose in the said instruction had 
 been even appointed. 
 
 To rectify this manifest mistake, to preserve the 
 Faith of Government as implied by the Grant of the 
 Warrant of Survey, and to prevent the like evil in fu- 
 ture, the most effectual remedy that occurred to the 
 Committee, was to recommend the issuing oIl certain 
 Orders in Council as set forth in the Appendix (D.) 
 and since that time no W^arrant of Survey has been is- 
 sued, but in conformity to the Royal Instructions. 
 
 The existence of the Error as well as the detection 
 of it, together with the eiibrts of His Majesty*s Council 
 
 c< 
 « 
 «( 
 (I 
 
 <{ 
 
 <( 
 
 « 
 
 « 
 (( 
 
 « 
 
19 
 
 to obviate any prejudice that might arise therefrom, 
 were well known to tlie Memorialist, altho* it might 
 not suit his purpose to state them, and also to the par- 
 ties interested, so that the repeated endeavours of the 
 Council to restrain unauthorized Settlement .by their 
 repeated Order issued during the course of several 
 years, and the public notoriety of the fact may well 
 justify the assertion of the Committee on which an in- 
 consistency is attempted to be established. 
 
 The Committee are ready to admit that, prima faciei 
 there appears to be an inconsistency of declaration 
 between the Extracts of the years 1792 and 1798, as 
 stated by the Memorialist, but they humbly apprehend 
 that the charge of inconsistency cannot in reality at- 
 tach upon the conduct of His ^ Majesty's Executive Go- 
 vernment in respect to the Applicants for Lands, "vhen, 
 instead of adopting a rigorous course, they studiously 
 endeavoured to remedy the inconvenience by allowing 
 an ample period to that end and by Public Notice in- 
 viting all the parties concerned to avail themselves of it. 
 
 Tht; Committee conceive they would have been much 
 more censurable had they persisted in an error after it 
 had been discovered, and humbly persuade themselves 
 that under those circumstances the chief objects for 
 their attention were to secure the faith of Govern- 
 ment from merited reproach, and the conduct of the 
 Executive Council from the charge of disobedience. 
 
 The third general topic of complaint against the 
 Executive Council regards their conduct with respect 
 to the requisite of taking the Oaths 
 
 On this head the Committee humbly persuade them- 
 selves they are exempt from reproach, and that their 
 conduct is justifiable on the clearest Grounds, not only 
 because it was regulated by a sense of Duty, but be- 
 cause it was their peculiar Duty to exert their vigi- 
 lance at that particular time, as a point of Duty they 
 are ordered by the King's Instructions to take pledges 
 
 b 2 
 
 1 ; 
 
 I! 
 : I 
 
 : 'i 
 
 
i20 
 
 m 
 
 for the Allegiance of the Applicants before the issuing 
 ofany Warrant of Survey ; tliey were therefore bound 
 upon a principle of obedience to exact the Oaths at all 
 times. But by those who can recollect the condition 
 of this Province from the begiiming of the year 1794, 
 to the final ratification of the Treaty with the United 
 States of America, the period complained of, when ap- 
 prehensions of the most serious nature were excited in 
 the minds of the truly Loyal among His Majesty's 
 Subjects at the probable effects to be expected from 
 this " abundant population** of questionable charac- 
 ters who were to occupy one hundred and fifty Town- 
 ships of t^ miles square, and who were all to come 
 from a Government with whom there were daily expec- 
 tations of hostility, it will be admitted that that was not 
 precisely the period for His Majesty's Government in 
 Canada to relax those restrictions so wisely established 
 to prevent them from being overwhelmed by a torrent 
 of disaftection. 
 
 On the contrary it was their peculiar duty to hold 
 out every species of discouragement consistent with 
 Public Justice and good faith against the inroads of 
 such enterprising neighbours, and the Committee are 
 disposed to flatter themselves that their perseverance 
 in this respect by their constant admonitions was not 
 altogether without a beneficial consequence, although 
 they are ready to admit that in some cases this vigi- 
 lance has been eluded. 
 
 But although the Committee feel no difficulty in thus 
 explaining their motives to Your Excellency for the in- 
 formation of the Lords of His Majesty's Council, yet 
 they are by no means disposed to allow that in the ap- 
 plication of the said Orders of Council, they have dealt 
 harshly or rigorously in any case where the party had 
 equitabe merits to disclose. 
 
 On the contrary, although they have had recourse to 
 those Orders, as they necessarily must, in discussing the 
 many hundred unsupported claims and groundless pre- 
 

 tensions that have been laid before them, and were well 
 content to have such general rules to resort to, in their 
 decision upon matters involving interests and expecta- 
 tions, which would be supported by much eagerness 
 and anxiety, yet they held themselves at liberty to 
 pass, and actually have passed an equitable construction 
 in all cases, when the party had claim to produce either 
 of known personal loyalty, or real improvement on the 
 Lands. 
 
 The specific cases of the Townships of Stukely and 
 Orford are mentioned under this head, and the hard- 
 ships sustained by the respective Leaders enlarged upon, 
 the Committee have good reasons to assign, to excuse 
 themselves from the imputations of having inflicted 
 those hardships: but the detail were now useless, as the 
 original Leaders and Associates of those Townships, and 
 numbers of others, are now in actual possession under 
 legal Grants, or may obtain possession under the Or- 
 ders passed in Council, since the commencement of 
 Your Excellency's administration, to the amount of 
 nearly One Million Eight Hundred Thousand Acres. 
 
 Having submitted these remarks to Your Excellency, 
 in the order and manner proposed, the Committee 
 humbly hope that they now stand justified from the 
 charges adduced against them. 
 
 They do not understand themselves as calle 1 upon 
 to offer any opinion on the several prayers contained in 
 the said Memorial, as the same are addressed to His 
 Majesty's Royal Munificence, further than lo submit 
 to Your Excellency's serious consideration the great 
 inconvenience and confusion which must unavoidably 
 follow from the adoption of any new regulations. 
 
 They will only take occasion to mention, that as the 
 sixth prayer contains the specific cases of the Town- 
 ships of Shipton and Brompton, that Orders of Coun- 
 cil have already passed for the same, and that the par- 
 ties are in actual possession of the said Townships as 
 stated in the said prayer. b 3 ' 
 
 ( 
 
 ! 
 I 
 I 
 
 »■' - 
 
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 I' 
 
 i 
 
 S2 
 
 The only remaining observation with which the 
 Committee propose to trouble Your Excellency, is, that 
 having already in permanent Committee considered 
 the whole mass of cases, both for Townships and of In- 
 dividual applications which stood referred to them, and 
 having according to the best of their Judgment report- 
 ed thereon, conformably to the late regulations trans- 
 mitted by His Majesty's Secretary of State, before the 
 receipt of the Memorial now under consideration, 
 which several Reports have been approved of by Your 
 Excellency in (Jouncil ; and should such their proceed- 
 ings meet with the gracious and ^nal confirmation of 
 His Majesty, the whole business will of course be so 
 far understood to be settled and adjusted, and the Lords 
 of His Majesty's Most Honourable Privjr Council will 
 thereby be exempted from the trouble of reporting, on 
 the expediency of granting the several prayers of the 
 said Memorial, in so far as they may interfere with the 
 arrangements already made, and now acting upon in this 
 Province. 
 
 All which is humbly submitted to Your Excellen- 
 cy's wisdom. 
 
 By Order, 
 (Signed) 
 
 Wm. OSGOODE, Chairman. 
 
 Council Chambers, > 
 
 Quebec, 26 May, 1801 
 Certified. 
 
 HERMAN W. RYLAND. 
 
23 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 Newport : — On Inspection of the Diagram returned 
 with the papers relating to this Township, it was sug- 
 gested by a iVI ember, that the said Diagram was sign- 
 ed by a person not duly qualified, and it being also re- 
 marked that Exhibits of the sort now produced were 
 most easily fabricated and afforded no satisfactory evi- 
 dence that any actual subdivision had really been 
 made in the Field, it was thought expedient to endea- 
 vour to obtain further information on the subject, and 
 was therefore 
 Resolved, That Mr. Vondenvelden, Assistant to the 
 
 Surveyor General, be requested to attend, 
 
 Mr. Vondenvelden attended accordingly. 
 
 Q. Please to look at the Exhibit now produced 
 marked No. 5, purporting to be a Diagram or the out- 
 lines and subdivision of the Township of Newport and 
 signed by Christopher S. Bailey, Deputy Provincial 
 Surveyor — has the said Bailey a Provincial Commis- 
 sion? 
 
 A. He has not. 
 
 Q. Can you from inspection of this paper, which 
 purports to be a Diagram, undertake to determine 
 whether it was made from actual Field work or drawn 
 up in the Closet ? 
 
 A. It is impossible to judge. 
 
 Q. Is it not necessary that a Field-Book should be 
 returned with the Diagram into the Surveyor General's 
 Office ? 
 
 A. It is — but as no Warrant of subdivision has is- 
 sued from the Surveyor General's Office, he has refused 
 to receive any such Field- Book, should it be made. 
 
 Q. Has any Patent issued for Lands in the Town- 
 ship of Farnham ? 
 
 A. There has. 
 
 Q. Did such Patent issue in consequence of actual 
 Survey or otherwise ? 
 
 A. I cannot tell. b 4f * 
 
 !l 
 
 .1 
 
 
 !l !i 
 
1 
 
 in 
 
 k 
 
 i 
 
 k 
 
 m 
 
 m 
 
 
 U 
 
 Q. Is it not a direction in the Warrant of Survey, 
 that an actual Survey should be made ? 
 
 A. It is. 
 
 Q. How then did you make your Return respecting 
 Farnham ? 
 
 A, The Return of Survey and Diagram was deliver- 
 ed to me by Mr. Gale, so worded as if Instructions had 
 been given to somebody to make the Return — I can 
 produce it. 
 
 Do so. 
 
 Q. Whose hand writing is the Paper you now pro- 
 duce ? 
 
 A. Mr. Gale's. 
 
 Q. Is there any Signature to it ? 
 
 A. There is none. 
 
 Q. Was it in consequence of this Return his Patent 
 was made out ? 
 
 A. It was — there is no other in the Office but the 
 one now produced. 
 
 Q. Can you say, whether that Diagram was or was 
 not made in consequence of an actual Survey? 
 
 A. I cannot. 
 
 Q. Did a Warrant of subdivision issue for the 
 Township of Farnham ? 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Did any Field-Book accompany the Return ? 
 
 A. No. 
 
 Q. If any Field-Book had been offered should you 
 have held yourself bound to accept it ? 
 
 A. Yes, after a Warrant of Survey had regularly 
 passed. 
 
 Q. ave you any means of knowing whether Dia- 
 grams such as are now returned and lie upon the Table 
 were or were not made in consequence of a . Actual 
 Survey. 
 
 A. No — it is impossible to tell. 
 
 Q. Ought not Field-Books to have been returned 
 with those Diagrams •* 
 
sd 
 
 A. There regularly ought. 
 
 Q. When a Diagram is returned without a Ficld- 
 Book, is it or not presumptive evidence, that the Dia- 
 gram was not made in consequence of an actual Survey 
 
 A. It is. I would not have returned the Diagram ? 
 of an actual Survey, without a Field- Book. 
 
 Mr. Vondenvelden withdrew. 
 
 The Committee deliberate. 
 
 Resolved, That the Committee will suspend their 
 determination on this case, until more satisfactory evi- 
 dence be produced to them, that an actual Survey of 
 Subdivision has been made of the Township of New- 
 port. And the Clerk of the Council be directed forth- 
 with to give notice to the parties concerned. 
 
 On considering the testimony given by Mr. Vonden- 
 velden, Assistant to the Survevor General, at the last 
 Meeting, respecting the Diagram annexed to the Pa- 
 tent for Lands in Farnhara, and reflecting on the faci- 
 lity of the transaction, the Committee have great rea- 
 son to suspect that many of the Diagrams produced, 
 purporting to set forth the subdivisions of Townships 
 as from real admeasurement, have not been projected 
 from actual Survey in the Field, in which case they are 
 altogether useless and illusory ; and foreseeing that un- 
 less proper measures be adopted, to ascertain and dis- 
 tinguish by lasting tokens, the whole of the allotments 
 Reserved for the Church and Crown in every Township, 
 conformably to His Majesty's instructions, much strife, 
 confusion and fraud will unavoidably take place in 
 time to come. 
 
 The Committee do therefore 
 
 Resolve, That it is highly expedient to represent to 
 His Excellency the necessity of giving specific In- 
 structions to the Surveyor General, that he do in no 
 case whatever certify any Diagram, to be annexed to a 
 Patent for granting any part of the Waste Lands of 
 the CrovC^n, until he be duly satisfied that a Survey of 
 the Lands to be granted has been really made by a Dcr 
 
 ; i 
 
rnri 
 
 26 
 
 ■ 
 
 i: 
 
 I I 
 
 !li 
 
 f 
 
 puty Provincial Surveyor, by actual admeasurement 
 in the Field, and that he do accept of no Return of Sur- 
 vey unless the same be accompanied by a Field-Book, 
 setting forth that the Allotments reserved for the 
 Church and Crown, have been duly made and ascer- 
 tained, and specifying the spots where, and the particu- 
 lar Marks and Tokens by which such Reserves have 
 been distinguished, in order that vhe same may remain 
 of Record in his Office, for the security and protection 
 of the Lands so reserved, incase of future litigation. 
 
 APPENDIX B. 
 
 On inspecting the Diagram annexed to the Return 
 of the Warrant of Survey of the Township of Orford, 
 it was suggested that the Diagram was not conforma- 
 ble to His Majesty's Royal Instructions, or the War- 
 rant of Survey. It was proposed to call in Mr. Von- 
 denvelden, acting for the Surveyor General, who at- 
 tended accordingly, and the following examination 
 took place : 
 
 Q. Is Mr. Holland the Surveyor General in a ca- 
 pacity to act for himself ? 
 
 A. No. 
 
 Q. Who acts for him ? 
 
 A. I do. 
 
 Q. Has this Warrant of Survey come regularly into 
 your Office ? 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Who made the Return to it ? 
 
 A. I did. 
 
 Q. Are the Return and Diagram now shewn to you 
 of the Township of Orford conformable to the direc- 
 tions given in the Warrant of Survey ? 
 
 A. No. 
 
 Q. Can you assign the reason why ? 
 
 A. I suppose because the Surveyor has not applied 
 to our Office. 
 
27 
 
 Q. Would he have been supplied with proper ins* 
 tructions had he made such application ? 
 
 A. He would. 
 
 Q. Do you know of any other Townships in the 
 same predicament ? 
 
 A. Almost every one. 
 
 Q, How comes it to pass that the Surveyor General 
 imiformly has certified both by his Return and Dia- 
 gram that they were conformable to the Warrant of 
 Survey ? 
 
 A. Because there w^-re a great many Townships al- 
 ready surveyed, and there was no other means of pro- 
 ceeding. 
 
 Upon further examination it appears that, as the ge- 
 nerality of Surveys that have already been made, have 
 been of detached Townships, no very serious inconve- 
 nience will arise, but the Examinate apprehends that, if 
 the practice of surveying without receiving proper Ins- 
 tructions from the Surveyor GeneraPs Office be con- 
 tinued, and every Surveyor be allowed to run his Lines 
 without specific Instructions, the utmost confusion 
 and litigation must necessarily ensue, and whereas 
 there is good reason to apprehend that many Surveys 
 are now carrying on in the like irregular manner, the 
 Committee apprehend it to be their duty to take the 
 earliest means of representing the matter to Your Ex- 
 cellency, and humbly submit the expediency of issuing 
 forthwith a Public Advertisement to the following ef- 
 fect : 
 
 ; 1 1 
 
 I . 
 I 
 
 
 EXECUTIVE COUNCIL OFFICE. 
 
 Whereas inconvenience has arisen from the negli- 
 gence of Surveyors in not applying to the Surveyor 
 General's Office for general or specific Instructions, as 
 the case may require, previously to their proceeding on 
 the Survey of Townships or any part thereof. And where- 
 as much confusion and strife may hereafter ensue from^ 
 
28 
 
 
 i' 
 
 such neglect : it is hereby ordered, that every Sun'eyor 
 shall, before he enters upon the execution of any War- 
 rant of Survey, apply to the said Office for such In- 
 structions as shall at the said Office be deemed requisite 
 to be given in such behalf, and that from and after the 
 dateof this Order, no Returner Diagram of Survey 
 shall be certified by the said Surveyor General or any 
 other person acting in such capacity, unless it shall 
 appear that such Survey has been made in consequence 
 of Instructions received from the said Office, and that 
 the lleturn and Dia^jram are conformable thereto. 
 
 APPENDIX C. 
 
 It appears by an Entry in the Council Book, (mark- 
 ed C.) of the 20th February 1792, that a Land Com- 
 mittee was on that day named in Council 
 
 On the 17th March 1792, a Report of a Committee 
 of the whole Council upon certain doubts suggested 
 by the Land Committee, is entered. 
 
 In this Report after observing that " An abundant 
 " Population of these Countries seem to be the main 
 •* object of the Royal Instructions'* the Chairman of the 
 Committee proposes a plan for tlie ordinary progress of 
 the business of the Land Office Department, as 
 follows : 
 
 1st. A Petition to the Governor for the vacancy de- 
 sired, under a description to be accurately ascertained 
 by a future Survey. 
 
 2d. The rcfereuce of it to a Committee of the Coun- 
 cil for their Report. 
 
 3d. Judgment in Coimcil thereon; and when for the 
 Grant, an Order for issuing a Warrant to the Sur- 
 veyor General's Office, for the Return of a Survey 
 agreeable to the Royal Instructions ; this Warrant to 
 be under the Governor's Hand and Seal at Arms. 
 
 4th. Then the adjustment in Council of the oI:ares 
 of each of the Patentees. 
 
 I 
 
 ! 
 
29 
 
 5th. A transmission of the List by the Clerk of the 
 Council to the Commissioners for taking their quaUfi- 
 cations, under standing instructions for that purpose, 
 within the time limited by an Act or Minute of Coun- 
 cil. 
 
 6th. A Report from the Commissioner to the Coun- 
 cil Office, whence those papers are to go into the hands 
 of the Attorney General for his report to the Secreta- 
 ry's Office of the draft of a Patent. 
 
 7th. The Patent to be there engrossed and issued 
 under the Great Seal, upon payment of the Fees due 
 to all the Officers concerned, and to be accordingly dis- 
 tributed by the Secretary, who is to record the Patent, 
 and preserve all the detached papers in due files. 
 
 After which it is recorded, that the Committee con- 
 cur in the mode of proceeding aforementioned, sug- 
 gested by the Chair. 
 
 And that this Report was finally concurred in Coun- 
 cil. 
 
 From some cause which it were now useless to en- 
 quire into, it so happened that the progress proposed 
 by the Chairman of that day, directly inverted the 
 course commanded by His Majesty's Instructions : for 
 it appears that by the progress proposed, the order for is- 
 suing a Warrant for the Return of a Survey, precedes 
 the transmission of the List for taking the qualifica- 
 tions : whereas by His Majesty's Royal Instructions, 
 N ® . 35, it is expresly directed that, " In order to pre- 
 "vent any persons disaffected to us and our Govern- 
 *• ment from becoming Settlers in our said Province of 
 " Lower-Canada, it is our will and pleasure, that no 
 •* Warrants for surveying Lands be granted by you or 
 " the Lieutenant Governor or the person administering 
 " the Government for the time beiiig, unless the person 
 ** or persons applying do, at the time of making such 
 " application, besides taking the usual Oaths directed 
 **by Law, also make and subscribe the following Decl^- 
 " ration in your or his presence, or in the presence of 
 
i 
 
 so 
 
 " such person or persons as shall by you or him be ap- 
 « pointed, &c." 
 
 In consequence of the mode thus adopted, upwards 
 of 150 Warrants of Survey for Townships were issued, 
 even before any Commissioners were appointed to ad- 
 minister the solemnities previously required by the said 
 Instructions : but notwithstanding the number of War- 
 rants thus issued, the business of settlement went on 
 veiy tardily, even at the time when it was understood 
 that Government was to discharge half the expense of 
 running the outlines, which delay, as appears by Re- 
 ports from the Land Committee and the Surveyor Ge- 
 neral's Office, arose from the uncertainty of the Sett- 
 lers with respect to three material points. 
 
 First, — With regard to the position of the Reserves 
 intended for the benefit of the Crown and the support 
 of the Protestant Clergy; — Secondly, the amount of 
 the Fees to be paid on obtaining a Patent, and third- 
 ly, the quantity of Land which the Petitioners and 
 their Associates may expect. — A considerable portion 
 of time elapsed before these points were settled. How- 
 ever towards the close of the year seventeen hundred 
 and ninety four, the objects of the Reserves and Fees 
 being brought forward by His Excellency Lord Dor- 
 chester were ascertained and determined by His Lord- 
 ship in Council, and afterwards were made known to 
 the Public. 
 
 At this period the former Chairman of the Com- 
 mittee of the whole Council was no more, and within 
 a short time afterwards every Member of the present 
 Council had a Seat at the Board. 
 
 The business of the Land granting began seriously 
 to be resumed and Commissioners for giving effect 
 to His Majesty's Instructions were duly appointed. 
 
 Upon a view of former proceedings the error that 
 had heretofore occurred was noticed and immediate 
 course was taken to repair it, and this in the opinion of 
 the Committee is the true period at which an effective 
 
$i 
 
 commencement of the Land Granting Department 
 ought to be fixed, not only because the former pro- 
 ceedings being contrary to the express Instructions of 
 Government (altho* Government with becoming di- 
 gnity did not mean to vacate them) were null, but 
 also because the essential powers to put the business 
 into motion Were not 'till this juncture combined or 
 even created. From this time the Executive Council 
 being aware of the mischiefs arising from actual settle- 
 ment without a compliance with the previous formali- 
 ties, have uniformly endeavoured to inhibit it, and have 
 employed themselves to carry His Majesty's Instruc- 
 tions into execution, with respect to past proceedings, 
 if not in the order in which they had been directed, 
 at least to their full extent ; and with respect to the 
 future proceedings duly to observe the order prescrib- 
 ed by His Majesty to prevent actual Settlement 
 *till all previous requisites, should be faithfully observed, 
 and as evidence, that such was both their resolve and 
 practice, they beg leave to refer Your Excellency to a 
 Public Notice, bearing date the tenth October seven- 
 teen hundred and ninety four, recorded in the Coun- 
 cil Book (C), page 367, in which the distinction be- 
 fore alluded to is plainly made, namely, that those 
 who had obtained Warrants of Survey ihould comply 
 with the directions therein stated, prior to the issuing 
 of any Grant of Land ; and that they who meant to 
 apply for any such Warrant should also conform there- 
 to, and this was published with a direct view of pre- 
 venting the unauthorized Settlement of any person in 
 future, as no Warrant of Survey would be issued or 
 has since been issued without a previous compliance 
 with such directions ; and with a view to quicken the 
 attention of those who, having taken possession under 
 their Warrant of Survey, were contented with their 
 occupancy and did not seem disposed to give them- 
 selves any further trouble. Public Notice was given 
 fi'om the Executive Council Office, on the seven. 
 
' a 
 
 V 
 
 
 32 
 
 tecnth January seventeen hundred and ninety five, 
 to all persons who have obtained Warrants of Survey 
 or Orders of His Excellency the Governor in Coun- 
 cil, for any part of His Majesty's ungranted Lands in 
 this Province, to comply with the requirements con- 
 tained in the said Advert sement, on or before the first 
 day of August next, and that in default of such com- 
 pliance they will be considered by Government to 
 have relinquished their pretensions under any Order of 
 Council or Warrant of Survey, that may have been 
 directed in consequence. 
 
 At the expiration of this period it appeared by the 
 Schedules annexed and the Returns of the Commission- 
 ers, that of upwards of 300 Leaders and ten thousand 
 proposed Associates, the number of those who had 
 complied with the directions did not exceed 550 ; go 
 that the number of persons who had duly qualified 
 themselves bore a very small proportion, not only to 
 the amount of the applicants, but even to those who 
 were supposed to have made actual Settlement on the 
 Land, who having neglected to comply with the terms 
 of the notice were clearly subject to the penalty there- 
 by announced. — After these forfeitures had accrued 
 it was generally understood that in addition to these 
 persons who had satisfied themselves with a bare War- 
 rant of Survey of the outlines of a Township, a number 
 of others, under various pretexts, some from having 
 purchased pretensions and others because it suited their 
 interest, had made actual Settlement in various quar- 
 ters, and many upon Lands reserved for the Support of 
 a Protestant Clergy and the future disposition of the 
 Crown. 
 
 To check this propensity it was thought expedient to 
 issue a Procl.imation as mentioned in the former Report, 
 but this Proclamation never was intended by the Exe- 
 cutive Council, nor could upon any principle of sound 
 construction be supposed to affect the parties alluded 
 to in Your Excellency's Order of reference, who might 
 
 ■ 
 
 
as 
 
 have an equitable claim upon Government, but those 
 only who having forfeited their claim or having no 
 claim at all had made actual Settlement without suffici- 
 ent authority. 
 
 These successive measures would be alone sufficient 
 to evince the anxiety of the Executive Council to resist 
 actual Settlement without authority from the first mo- 
 ment that the necessary powers to carry the Granting 
 of Lands into effect were in existence ; but the most 
 convincing proof of their disposition as well as of the 
 influence of that disposition upon the public opinion, 
 arises from the conduct and forbearance of a numerous 
 body of applicants who, possessed of that operative In- 
 strument, a warrant of Survey, have, from a principle of 
 decency, refrained from taking possession. This is a 
 fact which added to their Public Notices affords in the 
 opinion of the Committee the strongest proof of the po- 
 sition they have asserted. 
 
 APPENDIX D. 
 
 Whereas several Warrants of Survey of the ungranl- 
 ed Lands of the Crown have been directed to be made 
 out on behalf of divers persons who have applied for the 
 same and their Associates; And whereas it is expedi- 
 ent, that prior to the issuing of any Grant of Land, en- 
 quiry should be made into the principles and character 
 of such persons as may be desirous of becoming Settlers 
 in this Province, before they are admitted to take the 
 Oaths and subscribe the Declaration by His Majesty's 
 Instructions directed to be required, Public Notice is 
 hereby given that for the purpose aforesaid His Excel- 
 lency Guy Lord Dorchester the Governor in Council 
 has been pleased to nominate and appoint the following 
 persons to be Commissioners : 
 
l^- 
 
 34> 
 
 William Lindsay, Sen. 
 
 Louis Deschenaux, Esquires, 
 
 Le Chevalier Tonnancour, 
 
 George Dame, Esquires, 
 
 James Sawyers, 
 
 rran9ois Corbin, Esquires, 
 
 James M'Gill, 
 
 Pierre Guy, Esquires, 
 
 Patrick Conroy, Esquire, 
 
 Rene Boileau, Esquire, 
 
 Henry Ruiter,"^ 
 
 John Ruiter, >Esquires, and 
 
 Philip Luke, } 
 
 Mr. Jesse Pennoyer, 
 
 at Quebec. 
 at Three Rivers. 
 > at William Henry. 
 
 > at Montreal. 
 
 at St. Johns, 
 at Chambly. 
 
 at Missisquoui 
 Bay. 
 
 and Public Notice is hereby further given, that all per- 
 sons having obtained a Warrant of Survey as herein be- 
 fore mentioned, or meaning to apply for any such War- 
 rant of Survey, do give unto one of the Coinmissioners 
 herein before mentioned, a List containing the following 
 particulars respecting them and each of them, and also 
 respecting each and every Associate connected with 
 them, that is to say ; the name, place of abode, and oc- 
 cupation, the religious denominatiun, the numbers of 
 persons contained in the family, distinguishing the 
 Males from the Females, and also the number of those 
 who are under the age of fourteen from that of those 
 who are above, and the Township and place wherein he 
 proposes to settle ; and likewise that the said parties 
 do transmit a Duplicate of the said List, containing 
 such particulars as aforesaid, to the Clerk of the Execu- 
 tive Council, and due consideration being had thereof, 
 the said Commissioners shall with all convenient dis- 
 patch receive Instructions, specifying the names of the 
 parties whom they shall be authorized to admit to take 
 and make the Oaths and Subsc, iption aforesaid, in or- 
 der to their becoming Settlers in this Province. And 
 Public Notice is hereby further given, that no person 
 
 
35 
 
 shall be deemed qualified to partake of His Majesty's 
 Bounty, whose name together with the particulars 
 herein before required, shall not be included in a List 
 to be delivered in as aforesaid, or to receive any Grant 
 of Lands within this Province, who shall not have given 
 in or caused to be given in a statement of the particu- 
 lars herein before set forth. 
 
 Whereas divers persons have heretofore petitioned 
 His Excellency the Governor in Council for Grants 
 of various parcels of the vacant Lands of the Crown 
 in this Province, stating that they with their several 
 Associates were desirous of becoming Settlers therein, 
 upon which Warrants of Survey have been issued, for 
 running the outlines of several Townships as specified 
 in various Petitions ; 
 
 And whereas by an Advertisement bearing date the 
 10th October last, inserted in the Quebec Gazette. 
 Public Notice was given that all persons having obtain- 
 ed Warrants of Survey as therein me »tiotied, or mean- 
 ing to apply for any such Warrant, should give in to 
 one of the Commissioners therein named, a List con- 
 taining the particulars therein set forth ; 
 
 And Whereas by an Advertisement bearing date 
 the twentieth of the same month, inserted in the Que- 
 bec Gazette, Public Notice was given that certain 
 parts of the particulars required to be stated in such 
 lists would be dispensed with ; And Whereas a few 
 only of the applicants have hitherto complied with the 
 tenor of the said Advertisement, and several other per- 
 sons have lately petitioned His Excellency the Gover- 
 nor in Council for Grants of some of the Town hips 
 for which Warrants of Survey have been ordered ; 
 
 Public Notice is therefore now given to all persons 
 who have obtained Warrants of Survey or Orders of 
 His Excellency the Governor in Council, for any 
 part of His Majesty's ungranted Lands in this Pro- 
 vince, to comply with the requirement contained in 
 the said Advertisements, on or before the first' day of 
 
 ■I' 
 
S6 
 
 August next, and that in the default of such compliance 
 they will be considered by Government to have relin- 
 quished their pretensions under any Order of Coun- 
 cil or Warrant of Survey that may have been directed 
 in consequence, and that His Excellency the Gover- 
 nor in Coimcil will thereafler proceed upon such sub- 
 sequent Pet tions as may have been presented for 
 Grants of the same Township. 
 
 By Order of His Excellency the Governor iq 
 Council. 
 
 (Signed) J. WILLIAMS, 
 
 C. Ex. C, 
 Certified, 
 
 HERMAN W. RYLAND. 
 
 I If: .