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Montreal: WHNTB© AT THB IfORMmG COURIER OFrttNB, 1839. c. •. •B REPRESENTATION, 6ec. At a Meeung of Proprietor, of Beal Property, In Ai, Seigniory, hotd In h,s Cyonthe 17U.i„s.a„.,,oW.e into consideration ZtmU he Wary to the Seigniory of thia Inland and tite objections to Ac Ordmance now before the Special Council, for the exinction if po,med Cha,rma„ and W. B.Bd..r,E^. SecretaryVl Meeting^ lid 1 "^r r" *' M-ing Representain which „d adopted, ordered to be printed and generally circulated:- feudal Tenure, as they more immediately affect this City and Island and to expose the grounds of objection to the Ordinancef now S «.e Speca Council for approval, to '< Incorporate tie EcclZtZZ ikey andSngntOry of tie Island of Montreal, the Fief and Sngnunjofth. Lake of the Tv. Mountains, an^ ike fZ ^J Seigmon, of St. Sulpice, in this Province ,-TomL7^ <^.*«/ e^inction of Seigniorial lUgits and ^^tfZ ti. :'^^'^^f'^'nii> of the eaid Fiefs and Seigniories, aZ^Jt Tenure in ge„e,.l,.beyaresotn:elra:e:Tr^^^^^^^^^ parties, and are so obvious a chprk t. ;,„ admitted by all .atlon of property, as ^.Z^^tm^ZZl^l "^ '"' ''""" ever, be improper to notice some of h ' " """^ "°'' '"'»'- Civil slavery", wlch hatllTso Ju HtlCT'T' t'" T "''' posed briefly to advert to the n».„j7!l ' " **''^''*'* P-*" feudal retrlt, tan^t^UlT ™""'"-"- »"«*i »' ««<^, And first, W, e< »e»<es.— This is a ri.ht of ih« <!.••. u ".ent, from every purchaser of real estate! of a ol^r",'?"''''^- every mutation thereof, to the amount ofX tSoft , T •■me of the alienation, and upon everv -.,» T~- - """ *" period than nin. yea. to tbramounVof.^^^—;:-- annual rent. This fine ia not only exigible upon the value of the groutidy but upon all improvements of whatever description made at any time iubaequent to the original concession of the ground, whether those im- provements be in the nature of buildings, or cultivation ; and in its effects, it acts not only as a tax upon industry, but as an exorbitant exaction from the hard earnings of years of labour and economy, acquired for the comfort and support of old age, and the maintenance and education of a family. Figures will clearly exhibit the enormity of this exaction: A. purcha- ses fromB. a piece of ground of little or no value, say of the value of JS120, whereupon B., by the mere effect of Law, becomes personally liable to pay to the Seignior, the sum of J610, in addition to the amount of his purchase money. B. afterwards improves his purchase, and erects upon it buildings at his own expense and from his own earnings, to an amount sufficient \yith that of his purchase, to make his proper- ty actually worth to him, iJl,200. When he sells it, he is compelled lo lose one-twolfth of that sum, because, being only worth that amount, the purchaser from B., aware of the Feudal exaction, would pay him thatvalue less jG 100, the amount of tlie fine for which his purchase would render him personally liable to the Seignior. If the same pro- perty be sold twelve times in as many months or days, for a sirailgr amount, the Seignior would receive its entire value ; or, if at each suc- cessive sale, it were found to have been improved to a similar, a greater or less amount, by each successive purchaser, the same proportional fine would be exigible by the Seignior from each successive purchaser, as well upon the value of his purchase, as upon the money laid out by him in the itoprovements. The same principle applies to land under cuUivaticMi, and improvements in agriculture and the wages of labor are alike made to contribute to this extortionate oppression. As a further proof of the gross injustice of this Feudal exaction, it maybe observed, (hat if houses and buildings covered to their full value by insurance, be consumed by fire, the proprietor is entitled to receive the whole amount of the insurance money, without any drawback for lods et ventesy or, the insurance money may be received by the assignee of the proprietor without any such drawback, er, an individual may take down his house and buildings erected on gi-ound held under Feudal tenure, and can not be compelled by the Seignior to erect similar or other buildiflgs, nor pay him lods et ventes upon the value of the build- ing taken down : examples these, which conclusively establish the ._ji! _r*l V 4gi gjjj^^'^rj t»f» loudlv comnlained of-^ )f the groutidy at any time er those im- in its effects, tant exaction acquired for nd education : A. purcha- the value of !s personally > the amount irchase, and vvn earnings, 3 his proper- is compelled Lhat amount, uld pay him ^is purchase e same pro- for a similar at each suc- ar, a greater proportional ^e purchaser, y laid out by land under ! of labor are exaction, it eir full value d lo receive rawback for the assignee lividual may mder Feudal ct similar or of the build- jstablish the -!v It sbouM likewise be borne in mind, that the value of the fine in- ereases with the improvements made, and the income of the Seignior increases with the increased value, from whatever cause, of real estate held under Seigniorial Tenure, and without any contribu- tion or assistance on the part of the Seignior to augment the value of his Seigniory, and without any outlay, further than is required for public purposes, from every inhabitant of the Province. Feudal retrait is the next in order of oppression, and is a right of pre-emption, by the Seignior, to assume to himself any purchase made by his tenant, (censitaire,) of real property in his Seigniory, however advantageous it may be to the purchaser, upon payment to him by the Seignior, of the actual purchase money and the expenses of the pur- chase. This right is only exigible within forty days, from the time of the exhibition to the Seignior of the purchaser's litle, which the Law requires him to do in that time, a period which is extended .or thirty years after the purchase if the title be not exhibited, unless the Seignior, during lhat period, divest himself of his right by receiving the lods ei venies of the purchase. If the propertv have changed hands fifty times In that interval, and no title have been exhibited and no lods et ventes received by the Seignior, he may deprive the last purchaser of the properly, either for the amount of his purchase or for that of the first oar any intervening acquisition. As a familiar illustration, A. sells a property to B., for JElOO, B. to C, for £200, C. to D., for £300, and no titles have been exhibited nor lods et ventes paid, the Seignior with- in 30 years after the sale from A., may deprive D. of his purchase upon payment toD. of £100, the amount of A.'s sale and the expenses in- curred by D. on his purchase. It must at the same time be remarked, that however valuable or extensive may be the amount of the improve- ments since the date of A.'s sale, the Seignior is not liable to pay any part of them, and can only be compelled to refund such expenses as may have been incurred for the necessary protection and preservation of the property under the first sale, from ruin and destruction, leaving to D. his recourse as he may be advised against his vendor for the re- eovery of the balance of his purchase money. The infamy of this exaction is too gross to jieed any remark. BanaliU is a right enjoyed by the Seignior, to compel all persons re- siding within the limits of his Seigniory to grind at his mill all grain in their possession, and wJiich they require to have ground, whe- ther it be the produce of the Seignorial land, or have been imported by -icc^Tviicie, lu uc suizca, if th(>m. otnA in HAraiih in M^n<u* all H. mil* mn^A^ found on the high road, and confiscated to his profit. In the exeicm of this right, the Seignior may likewise prevent Millers living beyond his Seigniory, from seeking grain within its limits, to grind at their mill out of his Seigniory. A vassallage more oppressive than this can scarcely be conceived, especially in a trading country ; and it is pe- culiarly aggravating in this province, inasmuch as it not only tends to check agricultural improvement, but also to repress enterprise in the manufacture of the products of the soil, and at the same time to cramp the interests of commerce. Other exactions equally as oppressive as the foregoing might be en- umerated, ')ut it is believed that these suffice to shew the evils of this iniquitous tenure. It. is this system which it is intended to legalize and practically enforce, by the operation of the Ordinance above men- tioned, which, professing to relieve the censitaires of this City and Island from its exactions, more closely rivets chains already too op- pressive, by giving to the Seminary of Montreal, a title to the Seig- niory which they never previously possessed. The grounds upon which rest the objections to the title of the Semi^ nary to the Seigniory of Montreal, are so substantial and have so fre- quently been before the public, that they only now require to be briefly recapitulated. 1st. The fair and undeniable conclusion to be drawn from the terms of the three articles of the Capitulation of Montreal, in reference to the religious communities and Priests then existing, among the number whereof was the House of St. Sulpice at Montreal, is that their exist- ence depended upon the pleasure of the King ; and it is a fact that no such existence has since been legally acknowledged by the Sovereign. 2d. At the time of the Capitulation of Montreal, the Ecclesiastics of St. Sulpice at Paris were the actual and acknowledged proprietors and possessors of the Seigniory of Montreal, and the Sulpicians established in this city were merely their agents or receivers. By the subsequent treaty of peace of 1763, the French inhabitants or others who had been the subjects of the French King, were allowed to sell the estates which they possessed in the Province, provided it were to the subjects of His Britannic Majesty. That condition was not observed in this case, and the Members of the Seminary of Montreal were so satisfied of their want of that distinguishing characteristic to enable them to pur- chase or take real property in this province, that after the executing of the Deed of Cession by the Seminary at Paris to them in 1764, the Ecclesiastics of Montreal obtained letters of deniisenship from theCrown. 8(1. At tho Capitulation above referred to, the Ecclesiastici of St. Sulpico at Montreal neither had nor professed to have any corporate capacity, nor was any claim or reservation made therefor on their behalf either in the terms of the Capitulation, or in the subsequent treaty of peace of 1763, whereby, as a corporate-body, they could ac- quire real estate in the Province ; and no act of incorporation has since that time been conferred upon them, nor did they, at the Capi- tulation nor at any time before or since, obtain any legal right to hold the said Seigniory in mort-main, nor obtain Sovereign permission there- for. The pretended cession in the Deed of Gift of 1764. from the community at Paris, could not, therefore, confer upon the Seminary here any title to the Seigniory of Montreal. 4.th. Assuming, for the sake of argument, that rights and privileges may have been reserved at the Capitulation, it is common sense sup- ported by public notional law, that a subsequent treaty, which is the fi- nal decree, may modify or set aside any such reservations. By the 4th Article of the definitive treaty of peace of 1763, it is evident that the pretended reservations in the Capitulation of Montreal were altogether done away with, as far as the possessions of the religious orders were concerned, and the Province became subject to the British Govern- ment under the same laws as the remainder of the kingdom, namely the laws of England, subject to subsequent modification by competent Legislative authority. 5th. Not only did the community of Sulpicians at Montreal possess no corporate capacity at the time of the Capitulation nor of the treaty of Peace, but His Majesty could not by the laws of England, and conse- quently in fact did not, confer upon them such an incorporation. By the terms of the treaty of 1763, the full exercise of their religious wor- ship on/y, is secured to His Majesty's new Roman Catholic subjects, as far as the laws of Great Britain permit, and the Act of 1774, and the subsequent Royal instructions in 1775 and since, amply confirm, that religious tolerance, subject [however to the same limitations and to the King's supremacy according to the laws of England. 6th. In confirmation of the dependent existence of the community of Sulpicians at Montreal upon the King's pleasure, as gathered from the articles of the Capitulation, the Act of 1774, secures to His Majes- ty's Canadian subjects in this Province, the enjoyment of their proper- ty and possessions, in as ample and beneficial a manner as before any BriUsh regulations on the subject had been made ; but thepmmims of. ikt religiofu orders and communUies were expressly excepted. More- r 8 ^k' over, by the inslructiona to the Governo« of Canada from 1775 donm- wardi), the Seminariea of Quebec and Montreal were only allowed to " continue to possess and occupy their houses of residence, and their other houses and lands, to which they were lawfully entitled, on the 15thof September, 1759." It would be a gross perversion of plain lan- guage, to extend the simple meaning of these terms, to the possession and exercise of the right of Seigniory over the Island of Montreal. 7th. The invitation to Hia Majesty's subjects, contained in the Roy- al proclamation of 1763, to settle in this colony and to acquire such lands as might be in His Majesty's power to dispose of upon grants to Buch settlers, upon the terms and moderate quit rents, services and ac- knowledgments appointed and settled in the other colonies — the sub- sequent confirmation of the rights of such settlers acquired under that proclamation — the positive exception of the iwssessions of the re- ligious orders coupled with the subsequent suppression of two of them and the assumption of their estates by the Crown — and the mere per- jTiission of occupan^cy given to the Seminaries of Quebec and Montreal, •ncur in establishing His M?»jesty's power over the Seigniory of Mon- t,oal, and confirm the vested rights of those settlers under the letter of the proclamation, to grants of land in the said Seigniory which it was actually in His Majesty's power to bestow upon persons inhabiting mix resorting to the colony, and specially upon the moderate rents and services appointed and settled in the then other colonies of the Crown. 8th. In confirmation of the above objections, reference may also be had to the opinion given at different times, by the eminent law-officers of the Crown, of tTie absolute want of title in the Seminary of Montreal to the Seigniory of this Island ; and as if to corroborate and strengthen tbo«e objections, the provisions of the proposed Ordinance, which it is well; known were prepared by a learned Counsel of this city under the ex- press direction of the heads of the Seminary, not only give them a title to the Seigniory, which they themselves acknowledge in the preambte to be doubtfal, but likewise invest them with a corporate ecclesiasti- cal capacity, which they never possessed nor were allowed to possess. Other objections equally if not more forcible than the foregoing, might be advanced against the pretensions of the Seminary, but it is be- lieved that these will suffice for the present purpose. IPhe oppressive and vc^tious character of the Feudal Tennve, hav- ing been Constantly and ^erally felt by ill classes of the British inha- bitants dfthis City and Island, iformed one of their most promrnfint'griev- anees. Petitions and remonstrandeB tipon this subject were frequentiy 1775 dowm- ' allowed to ce, and their iticd, on the of plain lan- le possession ontreal. i in the Roy- icquire such pon grants to ices and ac- es — the sub- uired under ns of the re^ two of them ie mere per- id Montreal, ory of Men- tha letter of 'hich it WHB labiting mix e rents and 'the Crown. jT also be had ifficersof the ntreal to the ngthen those ch it is well ; nder the ex' them a title he preamblie i ecclesiasti- 1 to possess. e foregoing, but it is be- fenui«, hav- BritiiShlhha- nrrtenfgriev- re frequently add««ed by U,em to .he Crown anj .0 their fellow subject., and a. a,, gave „,e .0 a determinaUon on tbo par, of .He Govern™^, ,„ pmvde for the extmo.ion of feudal burden, in this City and l"l n Upon a .«cen. occaaion, n petition as respectable from .he nu^tr of .asupporers as from their character and possessions, was prTn,^ o a h,gh provincial authority, deprecating the con inuanrtf tte obnox.ous tenure, and denying the claim of the Seminary. This Pe .u^n hke prevous remonstrances, «>ceived none ofTha, attembn wh,eh,t,s,gne. had been encouraged to expect, andthesuyec Z peared .0 have been altogether dropped, when it became accU wC known that an Ordinance, .0 legalise the title of the Se^^T^^a the same fme professing to provide forthegradual extincion o's ig monal burdens had been submitted by Sir John Colbohnb to the ^ed and of rece.v.ng His Excellency's sanction, of the terms of were a, slake, had no knowledge and had received no i„ti„,a,ion. of iir-*K .•''''''°"'"'"^""* '"«'• wanting to enforce the objection, of Che ,„hab,tan,s, except in a .^spectful but hasty remon tTce tt eZl ^r '"' "" ''*'"'™"' """*« Seigniorial difficulties, the exuaordmary character of the pretensions of the Seminary, as em «tepr,v,lege however extravagant will be claimed, and that every feu- estto Iril"''''!^ : ""'"'""'"' °'""' ^"*™»'"=^ "> 'hose ec- Zm 1 1 "' '"^'™" "f*" ^''■■S"i<"y «f ">- Wand. .he^ranT2d;rcrr.:/tr; ^^^'«™p°- -^-^-y nance that if ITwu' P"™'™ """^ined in the Ordi- nance that t shoold be sanctioned by the Imperial Parliament it did notbe^me.aw.b«.ap.ci.ely simiia, OniinaL was Ut^yt mi edtoAe Special Council for approval by His Excellency Charts le "JlIfTrt*""™"" of which has been sJspenTdt ierdttat^ii^tfrd^r ''^'''-'" -'^''-^^- .he"dZtft"f*°' "' °''""""" P"^'™"-f the Ordinance, and destgn of confemng upon ,he Seminary of Montreal, powe.^ ,„d -J^, I,' I 10 privileges utterly at variancs with the security and eujoyment of real property in this City and Island, are bo generally and so little under- Btood, that it has been considered expedient to point out and expose die substantial objections which may be urged by the inhabitants to the claim of the SerJnary now attempted to be legalized, as well as the pal- pable defects in the Ordinance itseit : and as His Excellency could not be aware of the paramount objection to the principle as well as to the details of the proposed law, a petition ia in course of preparation, pray- ing His Excellency to withdraw the obnoxious Ordinance from before the Special Council, in which the interests of the inhabitants and their bpinioTis are altogether unrepret?ented, and to refer it to the wisdom of theUn'ted Provincial Legislature, wherein alone those inhabitants will be properly represented, and where the merits of the question will be fully and openly discussed and ample justice done to all parties. The objections to the Ordinance rest upon the following among ma- ny other equally substantial grounds. 1st. Because it erects the Seminary of Montreal into an ecclesiasti- cal corporation or body corporate ecclesiastical, with all the rights and privileges incident thereto, and which by law might or could be used and possessed by any other EcclesioMical Corporation^ but leaves those rights and privileges undefined and unknown, thereby enabling the Se- minary to claim and possibly to acquire the oppressive and absolutely despotic privileges exercised in Europe, in some of the darkest ages of Christianity ; privileges which no enlightened modern community could have contemplated or would endure, and which the liberal prin- ciples of Her Majesty's Ministers, at open variance with even civil corporate rights and powers in Great Britain, could not with any con- sistency to their characters as Statesmen, sanction or enforce in this Province. 2d. Because the Provincial Legislature of Lower Canada, as now constituted j has no power or authority to erect or create cny ecclesias- tical corporations in this Province, inasmuch as exercising only the same power and privileges in legislation, which were possessed by the late Provincial Legislature, that Legislature did not possess the absolute power of establishing such ecclesiastical bodies : and the recent statute of 2d and 3d Vict. ch. 53, enlarging the previous Legislative powers of the Governor and Special Council, enacts that no law shall be made altering or affecting the temporal or spiritual rights of Ecclesiastics in tniQ V'r'^'"**'''^ l-nflFOHw' t\loir»l»f 1»/»clf*i/»4it»/» 4Ka T.AiMCi1atiirX^ mr\r\m\.^Aim AiAtn i erectinj^ I ally in < I ^'^ I this Pr< ? Soverei I tained i I tiers, u] I other C Tenure that ves * the Brit Free an specific 4. B strance! the Fei firming I tions a % moreov belongii f poratioi 3 that Co ' as fully Paris 01 I ofSept( without those S< sion, 63 which t 5. B ous to t tations < been hi themsel that the ver»ime comper questioi txrillinrrl '"&' ance, tl m "^r Ji oj^ment of real o little under* and expose die abitants to the !ve\\ as the pal- cellency could s well as to the )aration; pray- ce from before tants and their the wisdom of ibi tants will be >n will be fully s. ig among ma- lii ecclesiasti- the rights i^nd could be used ut leaves those abling the Se- and absolutely e darkest ages :n community e liberal prin- ith even civil with any con- nforce in this na.la, as now cny ecclesias- ising only the jsessed by the IS the absolute recent statute live powers of hall be made icclesia^tics in 11 erecting' any such ecclesiastical corporation in this province, and speci- ally in this ibiand. 3. Because the said Seigniory of Montreal, since the Conquest of this Province, has always of right and justice been in the power of the Sovereign to dispose of, and been subject to the Royal promise con- tained in the Proclamation of 1763, for the grant of the same to set- tlers, upon the moderate Quit Rents appointed and settled in the then other Colonoies of the Crown, and without any reference to Seigniorial Tenure ; and because the Ordinance not only deprives the Crown of that vested right, but at the same time abrogates the rights acquired by the British settlers, to grants from the Crown in the said Seigniory in Free and Common Soccage,which the subsequent Imperial Act of 1791 specifically allowed them to claim and demand* 4. Because, contrary to the constant and reiterated respectful remon- strances of the said settlers to the Sovereign, against the continuance of the Feudal Tenure, the said Ordinance would have the effect of con- firming the Seigniory of this Island as a Seigniory, with all the exac- tions and oppressions of the Feudal Tenure incident thereto ; and moreover of investing that Seigniory and all the rights and privileges belonging or in anywise appertaining thereto, in the Ecclesiastical Cor- poration thereby constituted ; confirming those rights and privileges in that Corporation and declaring them to be good and valid in the Law as fully and to the same extent, as the Seminary of Saint Sulpice at Paris or the Seminary of Montreal or both together, before the 18th day of September 1759, might or could have held or enjoyed the same, without any definite or kno\7n specification of the extent or nature of those Seigniorial rights and privileges : in the generality of the conces- sion, establishing in favour of the Corporation, every Feudal exaction which the most Feudal times of Old France could have enforced. 5. Because it establishes a right of commutation exceedingly oner- ous to the inhabitants, and infinitely greater in amount than the expec- tations or the previous demands of the Seigniors themselves, which had been hitherto limited to securing the competent means of support for themselves and for their establishment ; and because it is well known 4hat the Seminary at no very distant period, were in treaty with the Go- ver«iment to abandon their claim, in consideration of a fixed money compensation, for the special purpose of effecting a settlement of the question, at which time, the sum of £100,000 would have been twillinmtr onnnr\^aA Kir ♦!■>/% C^wv^JMnM** ««.U£>m*^»««^ U-. ♦Ui* — -^ — .--. — J /^-J:. , B'j "••'wptT.U i/jf mu i^utiiiuorv ^ tYiicicas, Uy ilic UlVpuSCU \JrUUl- ance, they will be at once invested with triple that amount. m "^iir 13 W6. Because the Ordinance specifically provides for the continuance of the right ofbanalitd, until after a majority of the censitaires in each of the Seigniories of Montreal, St. Sulpice and Lake of the Two Mountains, ehali have effected a commutation of the Seigniorial Ten- ure, thereby limiting a period for the cessation of the obnoxious Feudal privilege, virhich is not only delusive but can scarcely be anticipated to arrive within any given reasonable time. 7. Because it confirms to the Seminary all and every the Seigniori- al exactions which have been already described and which have not hitherto been enforced from their want of title, an impunity of which the Ordinance will at once and for ever deprive the inhabitants and which they feel confident will not be allowed to continue beyond the passing of the Ordinance. 8. Because though the Ordinance professes to require the invest- ment in public stocks of the monies arising from the commutation of Seigniorial burdens, with the exception of je30,000 which may be by the Ecclesiastics invested in purchase of real estate affording income, it contains no provision as to what period those investments are to be made, while at the same time authority is given to the Ecclesias- tics to purchase and hold any other real property, and to any amount destined for purposes of religion, charity or education, provided the same produce no income, whereby with the command of the capital which will be at their disposal, an incalculable amount of real estate upon this island may become subjected to mort-main, and municipal as well as general improvement, be thereby greatly retarded. 9. Because the moving consideration ofthe original concession of the Seignioiy, confirmed by the subsequent public acts and frequently ac- knowledged by the Ecclesiastics,was for the instruction and edification of the inhabitants generally of Canada, then comprehending both Provinces and with the intent that the net income of the Seigniory and the in- crease thereof should be employed for the advancement of those ob- jects, a consideration affirmed in the strongest terms by the House of Assembly in 1830, in a petition to His late Majesty deprecating the diversion of that income to any other purpose ; whilst by the terms of the Ordinance, the proceeds and revenue of the Seigniory will be ab- solutely and altogether diverted from Upper Canada, and will be appli- ed in Lower Canada, only in such a manner and for such purposes as the said Ecclesiastics may think proper, or if applied at all for instruc- on and ( nstructio 10. B jcal Cor ith the < f the pr ivil and ut parti xceedin; 11. B( nsions ( al estati ge to th ecause arliamei nd imme :|legally p ;|bsolutel] mnuance |Bes partiz fvery ad Feudal bi I 12. ar |fthe Or Hie wisdc w'ictoria, •tituting t by confiri treal, thei private pi further th of Feudal and dues lar preten Lake of gislation Seigniorie controul Statute 2c m he continuance itaires in each i of the Two eigniorial Ten- loxious Feudal anticipated to the Seigniori- lich have not y of which the ints and which [ the passing of re the invest- >mmutation of zh may be by irding income, lents are to be he Ecclesias- o any amount provided the •f the capital of real estate ind municipal ;d. cession of the Irequently ac- edification of )th Provinces and the in- of those ob- he House of )recating the the terms of Y will be ab- vill be appli- purposes as 11 for instruc- ^on and edification, will be applied towards the sectional education and ^istruction of a portion only of the population. I 10. Because the contemplated establishment of the said Ecclesias' fical Corporation without definite or known powers, and its investment ^ith the command of immense wealth in proportion to the general wealth 4f the province, will confer upon the Ecclesiastics an influence both pDivil and Ecclesiastical, which when possessed by any corporate body, but particularly by one of the nature in question, cannot fail of being Exceedingly dangerous. 11. Because the Ordinance contains no reciprocity between the pre- jnsions of the Ecclesiastic? and the claimants to the free possession of ;al estate in this Island, inasmuch as its provisions secure every privi- ;ge to the former without any corresponding advantage to the latter; because it is at utter variance with the intention of the Imperial Parliament declared in the 2d and 3d Victoria, cap. 53, for the general ^i\ immediate extinction of Feudal rights and dues in this Island, by plegally providing only for their gradual extinction, thereby not only |bsolutely and illegally creating Feudal burdens but affirming their con- pnuance for an indeterminate period ; and because it illegally authori- ses partial commutations, whereby the inhabitants will be deprived of |very advantage anticipated to arise from the general extinction of ITeudil burdens in this Island. f 12. and last. — Because the Provincial Legislature in the provisions %f the Ordinance has exceeded the limited authority intrusted to it by flie wisdom of the Imperial Parliament in the Statute of 2d and 3d "iTictoria, cap. 53, and which it did not possess under the Statute con- itituting that Lsgislature in the year 1837, 1st and 2d Victoria cap. 9, by confirming the pretensions of the Seminary to the Seigniory of Mon- treal, thereby assuming a right of legislation between individuals as to private property over which the Legislature could exercise no controul, further than to provide for the liberation of that property from the effect of Feudal burdens, by the absolute extinction of the Seigniorial rights and dues claimed by the Seminary ; and moreover by confirming simi- lar pretensions of the Seminary to the Seigniories of Saint Sulpice and Lake of the Two Mountains, thereby assuming a similar right of Le- gislation as to private property in those Seigniories, over both of which Seigniories the Legislature is expressly restricted from exercising any controul in this respect by the express exception contained in the said Statute 2d and 3d Victoria, cap. 53. 14 The f(n«going reasons independent of the impolicy and inexpediency of establishing the Feudal tenure in this City and Island, being con- sidered sufficiently powerful to warrant the most strenuous and deter- mined exposition to the pretensions of the Ecclesiastics, have been published with a view to make the inhabitants in general of this island acquainted with the objections which exist, both in principle and detail to the proposed Ordinance. idiency g con- deter- e been I island detail