The Sun.
London, England, 1841-03-12 00:00:00

MORNING EDITION

CANADA•

COPY OF A DESPATCH FROM THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL
OF BRITISH NORTH AMERICA TO LORD JOHN RUSSELL.
Government House, Montreal, June 28, 1840.
My Lord,—ln my despatch of the 13th March last,
No. 68, I informed your Lordship that it was rey in-
tention to re-introduce into the Special Council, at its
meeting, with such modifications as I deemed necessary,
the ordinance for incorporating the ecclesiastics of St.
Sulpice, and providing for the gradual extinction of
seignorial rights within their possessions, which was last
year passed by Sir John Colborne and the Council ;
but which could not be rendered effective under the
powers of the Council as then constituted. I accord-
ingly sent down to them on the 30th ult. the draft of
an ordinance for that purpose, which, after the fullest
discussion, was passed, and having received my assent,
is included among the ordinances which accompany my
despatch of the 27th instant.

I have already stated to your Lordship, in my des-
patch, No. 68, my views as to the general policy of
this measure and my concurrence in the opinion of the
Commissioners of Inquiry, that after so long an ac-
quiescence by the Government in the claims of the
seminary, it would be impossible with justice now to
take advantage of any defect in their legal title to in-
terfere with their property, or to impose on them terms
of a rigorous nature. It is only necessary, therefore, that I
should direct your attention to the alterations in the present
ordinance, introduced with a view to bring it more into
conformity with the heads of the ordinance proposed in
Mr. C. Buller's Report to the Earl of Durham, all
which alterations, I may remark, are restrictions upon
the seminary, and in favour of the public or the
censitaires.

In the first clause of the ordinance passed by Sir John
Colborne and the Special Council, it was provided that
all rules, &c. for the temporary government of the
corporation," save only those which are now followed
and in force," should, before coming into operation, be
approved by the Executive Government. The present
ordinance requires that not the future rules only, but
those also which already exist, should be submitted for
the approval of the Government.
The second clause of the present ordinance defines
the purposes and objects to which the property of the
seminary may be applied, which was omitted in the
forme-.

In the fifth clause, a slight alteration is introduced in
the terms of eommut ition, by which an advantage is
confared on the censitaires.

By the Bth clause the priority of the hypothcc of the
seminary for the commutation-money, as for the rights
it represents, is expressly secured, and the droit de ba-
naliie is nbotslied with regard tl each lot of which the
tenure is commuted. The object of the agreement
being to put an end to all seignorial rights at the option
of each individual censitaire, I considered even the par-
tial reservation of any one of these rights by the semi-
nary as improper.

By the I It 6 clause the maximum of arrears which may
be received by the semirary for the fief and seignory of
Montreal is hmited to 44,0001. currency, and for the
eignories of the Lake of Two Mountains and St.
Sulpice to 12,700/. currency, any surplus to be paid
over to the provincial treasury.
The 12th clause provides that the farm of St. Gabriel
shall be sold by puble sale, after notice in the news-
papers for one month.
In the 13th clause, respecting the investment of the
disposable moneys of the corporation, the authority to
invest them in cia-tered and incorporated bodies in the
colonies i 3 omitted.

13; the 14th clause, tho seminary is required to fur-
ni:sh " a full, clear and detailed st itement" of their re-
venue and expenditure, in such manner and form, and
with such aties!.ation of ‘• correctness, as the Governor
Abell prescribe, instead of the summary st,,tement re
quired under the former ordinance ; and finally, under
the exttnduti powers of the Governor and Special
Council, the o:dinance is made permanent. _

Your Lordship will perceive that none of these
alterations i..ff,!et the principle of the ordinance, and
that the:r object and tendency is to bring it as
much as possible into accordance with the agree-
ment made under Mr. Charles Buller's media-
tion. The ordinance pa,sed last year undoubtedly
failed to carry it to etre..:t some of the provisions of that
agreement, and the conditions imposed on the seminary
werel- as stringent than they should have been to be in
accord:ln, e w.th his Report. This ob;ection has 1101 V
bet n completely renwved by the changes introduced by
the speeiial coursed.
I have every reason to believe that, notwithstanding
the clamour raised by a few individuals in this city,
and the violence of the press, the measure is approved
by the moderate men of all parties. In the special
council there were but two members who voted against
it, and although ti.c persons who signed the address
to the Throne transmitted in my despatch, No. 68,
have since sent an aqent to liegl Ind, they declined, in
answer to en unofficial communication which I made to
them, to suggest any alterations or modifications of the
ordinance.
_ _

In fact, it is not possible to deny that the terms of
.agreemcot with the seminary are most advantageous to
the censitaires, and such as no other seigneur within the
province, whether the Crown, or an individual, would
consent to accept, and this accordingly is not denied by
the parties. For years past the loudest complaints have
been made by the inhabitants of Montreal. and more
especially by the British community, of the injury which
they suffered born the seignorial tenure possessed
by the seminary.
The strongest representations were repeatedly made
to induce the Legislature or the Government to favour,
if not to compel, a settlement of the matter ; and this
settlement is now effected, upon terms far more favour-
able, in a pecuniary sense, to the censitaires and the
possessors of property under the seminary, than could
have been anticipated, and to which, last year, accord-
ing to Mr. I3uller's Report, they assented.
The only ground, therefore, on which, as I under-
stand it, the parties who have signed the petition to
the Queen, oppose this settlement now, is that they
set up an objection to any settlement at all with the
seminary, al:eging that that body has no legal right to
the property, and that the matter must be considered
as entirely new, and, therefore, not authorising the
establishment of a corporation for such purposes, or
with such an amount of property at its disposal.
Upon this, I have only to remark, that if the legal
title of the seminary be a bad one, the property be-
longs to the Crown, and the faith of the Crown being
pledged to the seminary, by repeated Acts for the last
sixty or seventy years, as is sufficiently shown in the
Report of the Commissioners, it would not be possible
for the Ministers of the Crown to resume the property,
or assent to any Act which should deprive the seminary
of it, without a fair and equitable compensation.
Less than what is now given to them would not pro-
bably be considered sufficient for this purpose, and
thus the only effect of now refusing to ratify their con-
tract would be (so far as mere pecuniary considerations
are involved), not to reduce the advantages to the se-
minary, but to place the Crown in the position of
Seigneur, compensating, as it is in honour bound to do,
the latter, but offering very different and less advan.
tageous terms to the censitaires, for the right of com-
mutation.

But in a political point of view, the disallowance of
this ordinance would be most disastrous. After years
of contention, the matter was at last finally adjusted
between the contending parties, through the mediation of
Mr. Buller ; the bargain thus made was ratified by the
Legislature here ; it was approved by her Majesty's
Government and by both Houses of Parliament, and a
special clause introducedinto the Canada Government Bill
by the Duke of Wellington, I believe, enabling that settle-
ment to receive legal force. After all this, upon the
representation of some few individuals, now to break
up all that has thus
.passed, and to leave. the question
open to fresh discussion and
being
excitement, without
the possibility of the Crown agabletoeotnosenst to
the measure which the petitioners affect eck,
namely, the abandonment
.of the seminary, would en-
tail the most disa.strous. consequences upon the colony.
Upon these consideratlons,ladhere to the opinions of
my predecessors, Lord Durham and Lord
oSfeatthone,and
earnestly recommended the confirmation
ordi-
nance by her Majesty.
Undoubtedly, if I considered the
.Crown to be free
from any obligation, and that (supposing the strict legal
right to be with it and not with the seminary),
I was at liberty to recommend the appropriation
that I thought best, I should not make the
P rc-
sent one. Although the seminary is a most
useful body, and manages its affairs greatly to
the advantage of the province, I would willingly,
under such.circumstances, adopt a less exclusive dis-
tribution of such large Crown funds ; and, above all, I
would increase them greatly by making those who
would then be the censitaires of the Crown purchase
their freedom at a much higher rate. But lam not in
a situation, hampered as the Crown is by its previous
engagements, to take such a course, and therefore, for
the same reasons, I come to the same conclusion as
those to whom I have above referred have done.
I have, &c.,
(Signed) C. POULETT THOMPSON.

On Wednesday of last Wea—tr---ie oath 'of office was
taken by Lord S)denham, at Montreal, on assuming the
government of Canada, in the presence of the Special
Council, the Judges, the Clergy, and the Heads of De-
partments. Salutes were fired, a numerously attended
levee was held, and in the evening a grand ball was given
by his Lordship.
After thelaking, of the oath the following proclama-
tion was issued ;
" A PROCLAMATION.

" In obedience iotliecommands of the Queen I have
this day assumed the government of the province of Ca-
nada. Upper and Lower Canada, separated for fifty
years, are once more re-united, and henceforward will
form but one province, under one administration.
one
of On my arrival in Lower Canada I declared that
of the main objects of my rni.ion was to put an end to th o
suspension of the constitution in that province, and to to its inhabitants the full benefits of British institu-
ti,ns. That object is accomplished. By the Impetial Act
which fixes the union, represeracive gS Ug"in
established, and that control by the pe overnment
op ile over their OWR

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affairs which is deemed the highest privilege of Britons is ►
once more restored to them. The Act which provides for
this affixes certain conditions to the grant over which the
Provincial Legislature can exercise no authority; while it
leaves to the final arbitration of that Legislature all ques-
tions but those which the Imperial Parliament in its wis-
dom has deemed essential itself to determine—the legisla-
tive reunion—the establishment of a secure and firm admi-
nistration of government—and the maintenance of the due
relations of colony and parent state. Efforts have been
sedulously made to deceive the unwary, and especially some
of our fellow-subjects of French origin, upon this point, to
represent these provisions as injurious—to treat them as
susceptible of change here—and to excite opposition which
can only prove as mischievous as it must be useless.
" I rely, however, on these efforts proving unavailing ;
and appeal with confidence to the loyalty and good sense
of the inhabitants of Lower Canada, of whatever origin,
so to use the power which is now again committed to
their hands as to justify the trust which our Sovereign and
the Imperial Parliament have reposed in them, and cor-
dially to join in an endeavour to promote the common in-
terest of the united province.
" In Upper Canada the sense of the people was declared
fully and freely, through their constitutional organs, upon
the great question of the union itself and on the principles
on which it should be based. Those principles have been
adopted by the Imperial Parliament. and it will ever be
matter of the utmost gratification to me, that my humble
efforts have aided in perfecting a measure, securing, as
firmly believe, to that province, which I regard with feel—
ings of affection, as well as interest, advantages which it
could attain by no other means.
Inhabitants of the province of Canada ! Hencefor-
ward may you be united in sentiment as you are from this
day in name I Who can visit, as it has been my good for-
tune to do, the extensive regions which are now united in
one common denomination, and fail to acknowledge the
♦ast resources they present for all that can conduce to
the comforts and happiness of man ? A part of the
mighty empire of England—protected by her arms—
assisted by her treasury—admitted to all the benefits of
trade as her citizens—your freedom guaranteed by her
laws, and your rights supported by the sympathy of your
fellow-subjects there—Canada enjoys a position unsur-
passed by any country in the world.
" It is for you, its inhabitants, to cultivate these advan-
tages—to avail yourselves of the new era which now opens
upon you. Our gracious Sovereign and the people of
England watch with anxiety the result of the great change
which has to-day received its completion. It is the first
wish of the Queen to rule in the hearts cf her subjects,
and to feel that they are contented and prosperous under
her mild and just sway; her Parliament and Govern-
ment, in conferring on you new institations, have sought
only your happiness and advantage. In your bends rests
now your own fate, and by the use which you will make of
the opportunity must it be decided. May the al'. wise
Disposer of events so order your acts that they may tend
to the promotion of peace and happiness among you, and
may He pour His blessing upon Oa union of which it is
my pleasing duty this day to announce to you tie com-
pletion.
Given under my hand and seal at arms, a. the Go-
vernment House in the city of 'Montreal, in the said
province of Canada, the 10th day of February, in the
year of our Lord Peel, and in the fourth year of her
Majesty's reign. " By command,
" D. DALY, Secretary of the Province."