An act for making more effectual provision for the government of the province of Quebec, in North America.

WHEREAS his Majesty, by his royal proclamation, bearing date the seventh day of October, in the third year of his reign, thought fit to declare the provisions which have been made in respect to certain countries, territories, and islands in America, ceded to his Majesty by the definitive treaty of peace, concluded at Paris, on the tenth day of February, one thousand seven hundred and sixty-three: .. may it therefore please your most excellent Majesty that it may be enacted; and be it enacted by the King's most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the lords spiritual and temporal, and commons, in this present parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, That all the territories, islands, and countries, in North America, belonging to the crown of Great Britain, bounded on the south by a line from the bay of Chaleurs, along the high lands which divide the rivers that empty themselves into the river St. Lawrence, from those which fall into the sea, to a point in forty-five degrees of northern latitude, on the eastern bank of the river Connecticut, keeping the same latitude directly west, through the lake Champlain, until, in the same latitude, it meets the river St. Lawrence; from thence up the eastern bank of the said river, to the lake Ontario; thence through the lake Ontario, and the river commonly called Niagara; and thence along by the eastern and south-eastern bank of lake Erie, following the said bank, until the same shall be intersected by the northern boundary, granted by the charter of the province of Pensylvania, in case the same shall be so intersected; and from thence along the said northern and western boundaries of the said province, until the said western boundary strike the Ohio: but in case the said bank of the said lake shall not be found to be so intersected, then following the said bank, until it shall arrive at that point of the said bank which shall be nearest to the north-western angle of the said province of Pensylvania; and thence, by a right line, to the said north-western angle of the said province; and thence along the western boundary of the said province, until it strike the river Ohio; and along the bank of the said river, westward, to the banks of the Mississippi, and northward to the southern boundary of the territory granted to the merchants adventurers of England, trading to Hudson's Bay; and also all such territories, islands, and countries, which have, since the tenth of February, one thousand seven hundred and sixty-three, been made part of the government of Newfoundland, be, and they are hereby, during his Majesty's pleasure,

annexed to, and made part and parcel of, the Province of Quebec, as created and established by the said royal proclamation of the seventh of October, one thousand seven hundred and sixty-three.

IV. And whereas the provisions, made by the said proclamation, in respect to the civil government of the said province of Quebec, and the powers and authorities given to the governor, and other civil officers of the said province, by the grants and commissions issued in consequence thereof, have been found, upon experience, to be inapplicable to the state and circumstances of the said province, the inhabitants whereof amounted, at the conquest, to above sixty-five thousand persons professing the religion of the church of Rome, and enjoying an established form of constitution and system of laws, by which their persons and property had been protected, governed, and ordered, for a long series of years, from the first establishment of the said province of Canada; be it therefore further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said proclamation, so far as the same relates to the said province of Quebec, and the commission under the authority whereof the government of the said province is at present administered, and all and every the ordinance and ordinances made by the governor and council of Quebec for the time being, relative to the civil government and administration of justice in the said province, and all commissions to judges and other officers thereof, be, and the same are hereby revoked, annulled, and made void, from and after the first day of May, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five.

V. And for the more perfect security and ease of the minds of the inhabitants of the said province, it is hereby declared, That his Majesty's subjects, professing the religion of the church of Rome of and in the said province of Quebec, may have, hold, and enjoy, the free exercise of the religion of the church of Rome, subject to the King's supremacy, declared and established by an act, made in the first year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, over all the dominion and countries which then did, or thereafter should, belong to the imperial crown of this realm; and that the clergy of the said church, may hold, receive, and enjoy, their accustomed dues and rights, with respect to such persons only as shall profess the said religion.

VIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That his Majesty's Canadian subjects, within the province of Quebec, the religious orders and communities only excepted, may also hold and enjoy their property and possessions, together with all customs and usages

relative thereto, and all other their civil rights, in as large, ample, and beneficial manner, as if the said proclamation, commissions, ordinances, and other acts, and instruments, had not been made, and as may consist with their allegiance to his Majesty, and subjection to the crown and parliament of Great Britain; and that in all matters of controversy, relative to property and civil rights, resort shall be had to the laws of Canada, as the rule for the decision of the same; and all causes that shall hereafter be instituted in any of the courts of justice, to be appointed within and for the said province, by his Majesty, his heirs, and successors, shall, with respect to such property and rights, be determined agreeably to the said laws and customs of Canada, until they shall be varied or altered by any ordinances that shall, from time to time, be passed in the said province by the governor, lieutenant governor, or commander in chief, for the time being, by and with the advice and consent of the legislative council of the same, to be appointed in manner herein-after mentioned.

XI. And whereas the certainty and lenity of the criminal law of England, and the benefits and advantages resulting from the use of it, have been sensibly felt by the inhabitants, from an experience of more than nine years, during which it has been uniformly administered; be it therefore further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the same shall continue to be administered, and shall be observed as law, in the province of Quebec, as well in the description and quality of the offence as in the method of prosecution and trial; and the punishments and forfeitures thereby inflicted to the exclusion of every other rule of criminal law, or mode of proceeding thereon, which did or might prevail in the said province before the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and sixty-four; any thing in this act to the contrary thereof in any respect notwithstanding; subject nevertheless to such alterations and amendments, as the governor, lieutenant-governor, or commander in chief, for the time being, by and with the advice and consent of the legislative council of the said province, hereafter to be appointed, shall from time to time, cause to be made therein, in manner herein-after directed.

XII. And whereas it may be necessary to ordain many regulations for the future welfare and good government of the province of Quebec, the occasions of which cannot now be foreseen... and whereas it is at present inexpedient to call an assembly; be it therefore enacted by the authority aforesaid, That it shall and may be lawful for his Majesty, his heirs, and successors, by warrant under his or their signet, or sign manual, and with the advice of the privy council, to consti

tute and appoint a council for the affairs of the province of Quebec, to consist of such persons resident there, not exceeding twenty-three, nor less than seventeen, as his Majesty, his heirs, and successors, shall be pleased to appoint; and upon the death, removal, or absence, of any of the members of the said council, in like manner to constitute and appoint such and so many other person or persons as shall be necessary to supply the vacancy or vacancies; which council, so appointed and nominated, or the major part thereof, shall have power and authority to make ordinances for the peace, welfare, and good government, of the said province, with the consent of his Majesty's governor, or, in his absence, of the lieutenant-governor, or commander in chief, for the time being.

XIII. Provided always, That nothing in this act contained shall extend to authorise or empower the said legislative council to lay any taxes or duties within the said province, ..

44. THE MEETING OF THE FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS

Taken from the diary of John Adams, one of the delegates, September 5, 1774.

C. F. Adams, The Works of John Adams, Vol. 2, pp. 365–368. Boston, 1850.

5. MONDAY. At ten the delegates all met at the City Tavern, and walked to the Carpenters' Hall... Then Mr. Lynch arose, and...proposed that the Honorable Peyton Randolph, Esquire, one of the delegates from Virginia, and the late Speaker of their House of Burgesses, should be appointed Chairman, and he doubted not it would be unani

mous.

The question was put, and he was unanimously chosen.

Mr. Randolph then took the chair, and the commissions of the delegates were all produced and read.

Then Mr. Lynch proposed that Mr. Charles Thomson, a gentleman of family, fortune, and character in this city, should be appointed Secretary, which was accordingly done without opposition... Mr. Duane then moved that a committee should be appointed to prepare regulations for this Congress. Several gentlemen objected.

I then arose and asked leave of the President to request of the gentleman from New York an explanation, and that he would point out some particular regulations which he had in his mind. He mentioned particularly the method of voting, whether it should be by Colonies, or by the poll, or by interests.

Mr. Henry then arose, and said this was the first General Congress which had ever happened; that no former Congress could be a precedent; that we should have occasion for more general congresses, and therefore that a precedent ought to be established now; that it would be great injustice if a little Colony should have the same weight in the councils of America as a great one, and therefore he was for a committee.

Major Sullivan observed that a little Colony had its all at stake as well as a great one...

Mr. Henry. Government is dissolved. Fleets and armies and the present state of things show that government is dissolved. Where are your landmarks, your boundaries of Colonies? We are in a state of nature, sir...

The distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and New Englanders, are no more. I am not a Virginian, but an American...

Mr. Lynch... I think that property ought to be considered, and that it ought to be a compound of numbers and property that should determine the weight of the Colonies.

I think it cannot be now settled...

Mr. Gadsden. I can't see any way of voting, but by Colonies...

Mr. Jay... I can't yet think that all government is at an end. The measure of arbitrary power is not full, and I think it must run over, before we undertake to frame a new constitution...

I am not clear that we ought not to be bound by a majority, though ever so small, but I only mentioned it as a matter of danger, worthy of consideration.

45. THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION

The most important part of the work of the First Continental Congress was the adoption of a plan for a commercial boycott to bring the British government to terms. It was adopted October 20, 1774.

W. C. Ford, Journals of the Continental Congress, Vol. 1, pp. 75-80. Washington, 1904.

WE, his majesty's most loyal subjects, the delegates of the several colonies of New-Hampshire, Massachusetts-Bay, Rhode-Island, Connecticut, New-York, New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, the three lower counties of New-Castle, Kent and Sussex, on Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North-Carolina and South-Carolina, deputed to represent them in a continental Congress, held in the city of Philadelphia, on the 5th day