An Account of Prince Edward Island in 1806 By John StewartDiscovery and Settlement
Map of PEI in 1806. Click on map for larger version (270k)
It is said that there were near ten thousand people on the Island in 1758, but it is evident from the appearance of the remains of their improvements, that the greater part of them could have been but a few years settled, many of them were probably driven from the Continent on the loss of the French fortified posts in Nova Scotia in 1755, and 1756, and retired to the Island as a place of security, from which they could fit out privateers to cruize upon the English commerce. At this time it appears that the garrison of Louisbourgh drew a great part of their subsistence from this Island, besides an officer who was called the Governor, the French had two commissaries on the Island for collecting cattle and vegetables for Louisbourgh, which the people were obliged to deliver at whatever price these gentlemen were pleased to fix, eight and ten dollars was the value generally allowed for a fat ox. The French had never erected any fortifications on the Island, and had only a few guns mounted in an open battery at the mouth of the harbour of Charlotte Town, which by them was called Port le Joie, from its safety and beautiful appearance, they had also a trifling breast-work on the north side of the Hillsburgh River, nine miles above Charlotte Town; where the channel of the river is much contracted by an Island; this situation commanded the access by water to their principal settlements, which lay round the head of this river; and at St. Peter's eight miles distant on the north side of the Island; there being at that time no road from the harbour better than an Indian path, which led along the south side of the Hillsburgh through the forest. The French settlements round Hillsburgh Bay on what now forms the townships, Nos. 49, 50, 57, and 58, were also considerable and extended from the mouth of the harbour to Point Prim, both sides of which being a very fine-piece of land, and also part of lot 60 appear to have been occupied; the quantity of cleared land in this district was very considerable, though a great part of it is again grown up with wood; from the remains of their improvements it must have been a beautiful settlement, and the people are said to have been in good circumstances, and had a great many vessels: from the number of creeks and small harbours in the district, almost every settler would be enabled to have one at his own door. The other principal settlements were in the district which now comprehends Townships 25, 26, 27, and 28, between the two first lies the fine harbour of Bedeque or Dunk River, on the two last there are considerable tracts of marsh land along several beautiful creeks that run into their fronts; the lands in all these Townships are remarkably good and well timbered. Townships l3 and l4 had also on their fronts a large tract of cleared and cultivated land, which was the only considerable settlement to the westward of Richmond Bay. The north fronts of Townships 34 and 35 seem to have been well settled, particularly near the entrance of Bedford Bay, where there was a handsome settlement soil and situation being both very good. In general the oldest and most considerable the French settlements will be found in the neighbourhood of extensive tracts of marsh grounds, where they could easily procure food for their cattle; the fine harbour of George Town, seems to have been overlooked by them from the circumstance of there being very little marsh ground in its vicinity: their only settlement on it was on the point between Brudnell and Montague rivers which is said to have been made at the expence of their government, upon some scheme which was afterwards abandoned, the situation a fine peninsula of sound land lying between two navigable rivers, with deep water in both, and the ground very commanding, on this there seems to have been about 200 acres of cleared land.
In l758 the Island was surrendered to Great Britain by the capitulation of Louisbourgh and a detachment under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Lord Rollo, was sent by General Amherst to take possession thereof, on which occasion, it is said, that a considerable number of English scalps were found hung up in the French Governor's house; the Island having been for two preceding years, the head quarters of the Meekmak Indians, and it is not denied by the old Accadian French still resident on the Island, that they were very partial to this savage practice of their Indian neighbours, with whom indeed they were very much assimilated in manners and customs. It having been found after fifty years experience, that no dependance could be placed in the Accadians ever becoming good subjects to Great-Britain; they were by order of Government, removed from this Island, and also from Nova Scotia; some were permitted to go to Canada, part were sent to the southern Colonies, and a good many were sent to France, where they were very ill received, and much blamed for their obstinate hostility to the British Government. This measure was not executed so strictly as was intended, and a good many families by concealing themselves in the forest escaped this transportation; and were afterwards allowed to remain undisturbed in the Country, in confidence that their diminished numbers would oblige them to desist from all future hostility, and the conquest of Canada soon after removed all apprehension on the subject.
At the conclusion of the Peace in 1763, upon the arrangement of the conquests made from France, this Island and Cape Breton were annexed to the Government of Nova Scotia, but no plan for the settlement of either was immediately adopted; In 1764 a general survey of the British Empire in North America was begun by order of Government, and an annual estimate to defray the expence thereof was granted by Parliament, which was continued until the commencement of the American War stopped the further progress thereof The immense extent of Country, which this survey was intended to embrace, made it necessary to divide it into two districts, the Northern including Canada, Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, Island, St. John, the New England, Provinces, New York, the Jerseys, and Pennsylvania, were allotted to Captain Holland, the Surveyor General of Canada, and his Assistants, who arriving in America early in the Summer of this Year, commenced their operations by order of Government, with the survey of this Island, which was compleated in 1766. In the mean time various schemes were proposed for the cultivation and settlement of the Island, among others the late Earl of Egmont, then first Lord of the Admiralty, proposed settling it on a feudal plan, his Lordship to be Lord Paramount of the Island, which was to be divided into a certain number of Baronies to be held of him, every Baron to erect a strong Hold or Castle, to maintain so many Men in arms, and with their under-tenants to perform suit and service, according to the custom of the ancient feudal tenants in Europe; it seems hardly necessary to say that his Lordship's plan could not have answered his expectations; the time for reviving feudal establishments was even then gone by, and whoever will advert to the state of the neighbouring continent at the time, will find in it circumstances that must have rendered success in such a plan almost impossible, and it appears to me a very fortunate thing for his Lordship's family, that he did not obtain a grant to have enabled him to try the experiment, which could not fail being attended with an enormous expence, unless his Lordship should, like the greater part of those to whom it was finally granted, forget after he got his patent, that it was necessary to perform the terms and conditions on which it was to be held.
Upon the rejection of Lord Egmont's scheme, it was determined to grant the Island to individuals upon a plan recommended by the Board of Trade and Plantations, and there being a great many applications, it was thought proper that the different Townships should be drawn for by way of Lottery, which took place before that Board; some obtained a whole township, to others half a township was given, and in some instances a Township was alloted among three but the whole, with two exceptions, were drawn for by way of lottery; * many of the grantees were officers of the army and navy who had served in the preceding war.
* The two Townships not drawn for, were 40 and 59, which were then partly occupied by a fishing company, who had sat down upon them with the consent of Government.
The terms and conditions of settlement under which the lands were to be held, are expressed in the following resolutions of the Board of Trade and Plantations, which have been introduced into the respective patents by which the different Townships were granted. " Resolved, that a quit-rent of six shillings per hundred acres be reserved to His Majesty his Heirs and Successors, on townships Nos. 5, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 24, 25 26, 32, 33, 34, 35, 37, 39, 40, 54, 55, 56 57, 58, 59, 63, and 64.
" That a quit-rent of four shillings per hundred acres be reserved on townships 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 21, 22, 23, 27, 28, 29, 31, 36, 38, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 53, 61, 62, and 65.
" That a quit-rent of two shillings per hundred acres be reserved on townships Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 20, 30, 51, 52, 60, and 67.
" That the several foregoing quit rents be payable on the feast of St. Michael or within fifteen days after in every year, to commence and become payable upon one half the lands on the said feast of St. Michael, which shall first happen after the expiration of five years
from the date of the grant, and to be pay able on every ensuing feast of St. Michael, or within fourteen days after, and the whole quantity to be subject in like manner to the like quit-rent at the expiration of ten years.
" That there be a reservation to His Majesty his Heirs, and Successors, of all such parts of each township respectively as have already been set apart, or shall hereafter be thought necessary to be set apart, for erecting fortifications, building wharfs, inclosing naval yards, or laying out highways for the convenience of communication from one part of the Island to another.
" That there be also a reservation in a proper part of each township of one hundred acres for the scite of a church, and as a glebe for a Minister of the Gospel; and thirty acres for a school-master.
" That in order to promote and encourage the Fishery for which many parts are conveniently situated there be a clause in the grant of each township that abuts upon the sea-shore, containing a reservation of liberty to all His Majesty's subjects in general of carrying on a free Fishery on the coasts the said township, and of erecting stages and other necessary buildings for the said fishery within the distance of 500 feet from high-water mark.
" That there be a reservation to His Majesty, His Heirs, and Successors, of all mines of gold, silver, and coals.
" That the Grantees of each Township do settle the same within ten years from the date of the Grant, in the proportion of one person for every two hundred acres.
" That if one-third of the land is not settled in the above-mentioned proportion, within four years from the date of the grant, the whole to be forfeited to His Majesty, His Heirs, and Successors.
" That the settlers so to be introduced, be Protestants from such parts of Europe as are not within His Majesty's dominions, or such persons as have resided in His Majesty's dominions in America for two years antecedent to the date of the Grant."
The Island being at this time annexed to the Province of Nova Scotia, a mandamus for each township under His Majesty's manual and signet was issued to the individuals by whom the same had been drawn, which were directed to the governor of that province, commanding him to pass grants of the respective townships to them, their heirs, and assigns, on the above-recited terms and conditions. These mandamus's generally bear date August 1767.
Thus was the whole Island, excepting the small reservations for the three intended county towns given away in one day, and great expectations were formed of the effect of this plan for its settlement, the reports of the Surveyor General, Captain Holland, concurring with all the previous information given by the Military and Naval Officers who had been on service there, respecting its natural advantages, little less than the immediate and complete settlement of the Island to the great benefit of the adventurers was looked for. It soon appeared however, that nothing was farther from the intention of many of those from whom the necessary exertions for that purpose were expected, than to venture either their time or their money on the subject, some had not the means, and very few of them any inclination to embark in such an undertaking, they had made use of their interest to obtain what was expected to be a saleable commodity, and accordingly we find, that in a very short time many of the mandamus's were sold, without even taking out the grants which were necessary to secure a compleat title to the property, which was the subject of the transaction; at first some of the townships sold for a thousand pounds a piece, but so many of them came into the market that they soon fell to less than half that amount, the greatest number of those that were sold, fell into the hands of a few individuals who appear to have purchased them on speculation, without any intention of fulfilling the terms and conditions of settlement on which they were held, trusting to the general forbearance of government on that subject, there being no instance of any very rigid enforcement of such in any of the colonies. In 1768 a great majority of the Proprietors presented a Petition to the King, praying that the Island might be erected into a separate Government from Nova Scotia, and proposing that in order to defray the expence of the establishment they were desirous to commence paying the one-half of their quit rent from the 1st of May 1769, which by the terms of settlement, were only to become payable on Michaelmas next, after five years from the date of their respective Grants, and as to the other half it was proposed to postpone the payment thereof for twenty years.
This proposal of the proprietors appearing to Government to be well calculated to accelerate the settlement of the Island, was accepted, and the prayer of their petition in every respect complied with; the offices on the new establishment were soon after filled up, and accepted on the faith of having their salaries regularly paid out of the quit rents, according to the proposal and undertaking of the proprietors, at whose instance the establishment had been created. In 1770 the governor and the other officers arrived on the Island, at which time there were not above 150 families thereon, and only five proprietors, and it soon appeared, that having succeeded in procuring the establishment of the separate government many of the proprietors relied on the operation of that measure for the settlement of the colony, as few of them made any attempt to comply with the terms of settlement On which their lands were held; and the payment of the quit rents was as little thought of, for in five years after the arrival of the officers on the Island, the receipts of the Receiver General amounted to little more than would discharge two years salary to the establishment, which as may be easily conceived brought the officers into great distress and materially retarded the progress of the settlement.
What were the reasons that induced so many of the proprietors to abandon their engagements it is not easy to determine, unless it were that having received their lands from the favour of the Crown, their plan was either to sell them as soon as possible, or relying On the usual indulgence of Government with respect to the terms of settlement they expected to hold them until the exertions of the few proprietors and others who had or might settle in the Island, should render the country of more value of which they would benefit without expence, risk, or exertion; be this as it may, it is certain that a great majority of them have never made any attempt to comply with the terms of settlement. in the mean time many of the townships in a totally unsettled state have been repeatedly sold, and have passed through various hands, most of whom have equally neglected the terms on which they are held, and the same system of speculating on the exertions, and future prospects of the colony has been too generally continued. By looking back at the terms of settlement it will be seen that the lands were to be settled in the proportion of one person to two hundred acres within ten years from the date of the Grant, and that if one-third of them was not settled in that proportion within four years from the date of the Grant, the whole was to become forfeited to His Majesty, His Heirs, and Successors. The following statement will shew what was done by the proprietors from l769 to 1779 in compliance with the terms of settlement: I take the townships numerically.
Lot 1 . . . . . . . . . . . .Nothing
2 . . . . . . . . . . . . ditto
3 . . . . . . . . . . . . ditto
4 . . . . . . . . . . . . ditto
5 . . . . . . . . . . . . ditto
6 . . . . . . . . . . . . ditto
7 . . . . . . . . . . . . ditto
8 . . . . . . . . . . . . ditto
9 . . . . . . . . . . . . ditto
10 . . . . . . . . . . . . ditto
11 . . . . . . . . . . . . ditto
12 . . . . . . . . . . . . ditto
13 . . . . . . . . . . . . ditto
14 . . . . . . . . . . . . ditto
15 . . . . . . . . . . . . ditto
16 . . . . . . . . . . . . ditto
On No. 17, Governor Patterson as agent for the proprietors, settled a number of
Accadian French who were before living on an adjoining township, and were part
of the inhabitants who were on the Island at the conquest; how far this was
complying with the terms of settlement, I shall not pretend to say.
No. 18, two of the proprietors of this township came to the Island in 1770, and another in that and the following year sent near three hundred people from Scotland to the Island.
Lot 19, on this township the proprietor settled a number of French Accadian Families in 1773, who had before been settled on a different part of the Island.
Lot 20, nothing done.
Lot 21, on this township a handsome settlement was begun in 1773, and carried on for several years at a considerable expence.
Lot 22, nothing done.
Lot 23, the settlement of this township was begun in l 773.
Lots 24, 25, 26, and 27, nothing done.
Lot 28, on this township a handsome settlement was begun by the proprietor, immediately after the same was granted.
Lots 29 and 30, nothing done.
Lot 3l, on this township eight or ten families were settled by the proprietor in l773.
Lots 32 and 33, nothing done.
Lot 34, on this township a handsome settlement was begun in l770, and a considerable number of people sent out from Scotland by the proprietor.
Lot 35, On this township nothing done.
Lot 36, on this township between 1770 and 1772, about three hundred people were settled by the proprietor.
Lot 37, two families only were settled on this lot, by the proprietor in this period
Lots 38 and 39, these townships belonged to the same person at this period, they were both considerably improved by the French, and at the first settlement of the Island, offered several advantages over most others, the proprietor early settled on the last, and acquired a number of settlers from other parts of the Island, particularly from among those brought to the Island by the proprietors of Townships Nos. 18 and 36.
Lot 40, this township like the two preceding, having been much improved by the French, the settlement of it was early begun but very few people was ever brought to the Island by its proprietors.
Lots 41 and 42, nothing done.
Lot 43, on this township a number of Accadian French were settled before the date of the Grant, and were permitted by the proprietor to remain, but nothing else towards its settlement was done during this period.
Lots 44, 45, 46, 47, 48,49, 50, and 5l, nothing done.
Lot 52, the proprietors of this township sent out a considerable number of valuable settlers from Scotland in 1775, but unfortunately confided the management of their affairs to a person by whom they were either neglected, or so badly managed, that the settlement broke up in a year, and most of the people left the colony.
Lots 53, 54, 55, and 56, nothing done.
Lots 57 and 58, the proprietors of these townships sent nearly as many people to them in 1775, as would have settled them according to the terms of settlement, but like the proprietors of Lot 52, they confided the management to a person totally unqualified for such an undertaking, and the people were obliged to abandon the settlement; part of them left the Island, and the rest settled on other lands.
Lot 59, two-thirds of this township, the property of the late Sir James Montgomery, Lord Chief Baron of the Court of Exchequer in Scotland, was early settled, and large sums of money advanced for that purpose.
Lots 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, and 67, nothing done.
Thus it appears that in the first ten years after the commencement of the settlement only nineteen of the 67 Townships were attempted to be settled, and of these only the proprietors of lots 18, 21, 31, 34, 36, 52, 57, 58, and, 59, ever brought any considerable number of people to the Island.
The people settled on Townships No. 17, l9, 24, and 43, were French Accadians previously on the Island.
The proprietors of 23, 38, 39, and 40, brought but very few people to the Island.
One of the proprietors of lot 37 brought two families from New England, the other never did any thing; the greater part of the people settled on this township were brought to the Island by the proprietor of Township No. 36.
Of the 48 townships which were neglected during this period by their respective proprietors, the Lots 13, 14, and 35, were partly occupied by the people brought to the Island by the proprietors of Lots 18 and 36.
It may easily be conceived, that so many of the proprietors neglecting their lands was very injurious to the Island, and extremely discouraging to the few who had commenced the settlement on the faith of the whole taking their just proportion of the burthen thereof, and, in fact, the active proprietors were all great sufferers, though at this day, I believe there is no person acquainted with the Island, but what will readily admit. that if the whole of the proprietors had been equally active, all must have been great gainers by the colony, which by this time would have been a populous, well-settled country: it has been alleged in excuse for this general failure on the part of the proprietors in performing their terms of settlement, that they were prevented by the American war, from engaging in the settlement of the Island; on which I have to observe, that by these terms one-third of the required population was to be settled in five years from the date of the Grants, the mandamus for which, were issued in 1767, and all the Grants were or might have been taken out in that and the following year, it will not then be unreasonable to say, that active exertions might have been expected from all the proprietors immediately after they had procured the Island to be erected into a separate government, at all events the American war did not commence till April 1775, and it surely was not more difficult for the whole to make a beginning before that period, than for the few who actually commenced the settlement, and who were by no means, with one or two exceptions, of the wealthiest class of the proprietors, at the same time a great majority of those who failed in performing their terms of settlement, were people of large fortune who were well able, had they been inclined to disburse the necessary sums required for that purpose.
This very extensive defalcation on the part of so many of the proprietors in performing the terms of settlement, was very distressing and severely felt by most of those who had engaged therein, they had to begin mostly on new lands, and to import a great part of their daily subsistence from other countries, they were scattered in small settlements at a great distance from each other, in a country totally without roads, and many of the first settlers either from their own ignorance, or that of those by whom they were sent to the Island, were landed without provisions or any means of support, and many on that account were obliged to abandon the settlement, which brought much unjust odium on the colony, for as too often happens, men were willing to attribute their failure to any thing but their own misconduct or imprudence. Though a good many people were thus lost to the Island, industry and perseverance enabled those who remained gradually to surmount their difficulties, and as they acquired experience of the climate and soil, they became more firmly attached to the country.
His Majesty having been graciously pleased by His Royal commission to the Governor, under the Great Seal of Great-Britain, to grant a complete Constitution to the Colony, and the Royal Instructions having directed the Governor to put the same in operation, by calling a General Assembly as soon as he should judge the Island to be in such a state of settlement as to admit thereof: His Majesty's gracious intentions were carried into effect in 1773, by the meeting, of the first legislature of the Island, since which it has met regularly as in the other colonies. Various laws suited to the situation and circumstances of the colony have been passed, and a foundation laid for raising a permanent revenue for the support of Government. One of the first objects which engaged the attention of the legislature was the failure of the proprietors in paying their quit rents for the support of the officers on the civil establishment, to remedy which, an act was passed to regulate and enforce the future payment of the quit rents, which soon after received His Majesty's Royal Assent: but the Governor unwilling at that time to disoblige the proprietors, many of whom were people of his rank and consequence, did not venture for some time to execute this law: and soon after returning to England himself, meetings of the proprietors were held in London, at which it was determined to apply to Government to place the civil establishment of the Island on the same footing as the other new colonies. Accordingly in 1776, at a time when most of them had failed in paying their quit rents, and the officers were suffering much for want of their salaries, the proprietors presented a memorial to Lord George Germain, then Secretary of State for the Colonies, stating therein, that they had paid their quit rents, but that some of the proprietors had failed in such payment, whereby the distress of the officers had happened, and proposing that in future the civil establishment of the Island should be put on the same footing as the other colonies, and provided for by an annual grant of parliament, and what seems very extraordinary, the said memorial was signed indiscriminately, as well by those who had not, as those who had paid their quit rents. It having become evident, that the establishment could not be supported on so precarious a fund as that arising from the quit rents, Government was pleased to approve of this proposal, and the establishment of the Island has ever since been provided for by parliament upon an annual estimate. At this time, however, large arrears of salary were due to the officers on the establishment who had been reduced to such distress, that the Governor was obliged to make use of the sum of three thousand pounds granted by Parliament in 1772 for the erection of public buildings in the Colony, for the support of himself, and the other officers: that this sum might be replaced, and applied to the purposes for which it was granted, and provision made for paying off the arrears due to the officers on the civil establishment. The Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury were pleased to direct by a minute dated August 7th, 1776, "That the arrears of the quit rent now due, and the growing quit rents until the first of May 1779, to which term His Majesty has relinquished the same for the benefit of the Island, should be applied in the first place, to the payment of the Officers of the Civil Establishment of the Island up to the first of January next,* and if after discharging the same, there shall be any surplus, their Lordships order the same to be applied to the making of roads, and other public works within the Island, and My Lords direct the former, as well as the present Receiver-General of the Island, to apply all such sums of money as shall be in their hands to the above purposes, and to take all proper means to enforce the payment of the arrears, and the accruing quit rents, and recover the same. And My Lords direct, that such of the Civil Officers as shall have received any money out of the sum of three thousand pounds, granted by Parliament for the benefit of the Island, after receipt of their arrears do refund the same, in order that the whole of that money may be applied to the purposes for which the same was granted." A copy of this minute was delivered to the Governor for his information and guidance, but having so recently succeeded in getting the establishment provided for in the manner mentioned, chiefly through the interest of some of the proprietors, he did not think proper immediately to enforce the measures directed by this minute, nor was there any receiver of the quit rents then on the Island to carry the directions thereof into effect, so that nothing was attempted to be done under the authority of this minute till four years afterwards; of the transactions which then took place, an account shall be given in its proper place.
* On which day the estimate voted by Parliament commenced
Upon Governor Patterson's return to England in 1775, the government of the Island devolved upon the late Mr. Attorney General Callbeck as Senior Member of His Majesty's Council, the Lieutenant-Governor being also absent. Towards the close of the year, two occurrences happened, which were at the time very distressing to individuals, and injurious to the progress of the settlement. In the beginning of November a ship valuably loaded from London, with a number of settlers on board, suffered shipwreck on the north side of the Island; the people were saved, but their effects and the cargo were almost totally lost; the small part that was recovered, having been long under water, turned out of very little value, the effects of this disaster were for a long time severely felt. Soon after two American armed vessels which had been sent by Congress to cruize in the Gulph of St. Lawrence for the purpose of intercepting some ordnance store ships then supposed to be on their voyage for Quebec, having failed in that object, thought fit to visit Charlotte Town the Capital of the Island, which was at this time totally unprotected; they landed before the hostile nature of their visit was known or even suspected, and immediately made prisoners of Mr. Callbeck, the President, and the other officers of Government, and proceeded to plunder the place, taking every thing that was of any value, they also carried off Mr. Callbeck and Mr. Wright a member of the Council, and Surveyor-General of the Island: upon the arrival of these gentlemen at the headquarters of the American army then at Cambridge in New England, it appeared that the rebel officers had acted in this manner totally without any orders from their superiors; they were immediately dismissed from their commands, and told by General Washington, in their own style, "That they had done those things which they ought not to have done and left undone those things which it was their duty to have done;" their prisoners were immediately discharged with many polite expressions of regret for their sufferings, and the plundered property was all honourably restored.
From this descent, and our lying so near the tract to Quebec, it became evident, that without protection, the colony would become liable to many such visits, to guard us against which the admiral commanding in America was directed by government early in the ensuing year, to station an armed vessel in Charlotte Town, for the protection of the Island, and in May the Diligent armed brig, commanded by Lieutenant, now Admiral Dodd, arrived for that purpose. In the month of November Mr. Dodd was relieved by the Hunter sloop of war, Captain Boyle, who wintered with us, and remained on the station till November 1777. This ship arrived at a very critical period for our protection, as our neighbours in the county of Cumberland in Nova Scotia, encouraged by the arrival among them of about thirty rebels in two whale boats, from Machaias in Massachusetts, broke out into open rebellion and laid siege to Fort Cumberland, then garrisoned by a newly-raised provincial corps under the command of Colonel, afterwards Major-General Goreham, at that time in a very incomplete state. By these rascals a second plundering expedition to Charlotte Town was intended, but having no craft to carry off a number of dismounted cannon then lying about the ruins of Fort Amherst, which was one of their objects, they first paid a visit to the Harbour of Pictou in our neighbourhood, where several of the inhabitants joining them they got possession of a valuable armed merchant ship, then loading at that port for Scotland, but not knowing exactly what state of defence the Island might be in, they stood up into the Bay of Verte, in order to receive from their associates, then engaged in the siege of Fort Cumberland, a reinforcement of men; just at this period the Hunter arrived, and in her way to Charlotte Town having retaken a sloop which had become one of their prizes at Pictou, she was immediately fitted out by Captain Boyle, and sent after the ship under the command of Lieutenant, now Admiral George Keppel, who coming up with the ship next day in the Bay of Verte, found that in consequence of the defeat of the rebels at Fort Cumberland by the arrival of reinforcements from Halifax, she had been given up to the Mate; the rebels making their escape on shore. She was then brought into Charlotte Town by Mr. Keppel, and given up to her commander, who not thinking it safe in the then state of that part of Nova Scotia to return to Pictou, she remained the winter with us.
In 1777 besides the protection afforded us by the Hunter sloop of war, Mr. Callbeck, the president, was directed by Lord George Germaine, then Secretary of State for the Colonies, to raise an independant company for the defence of the Island, but most of those who were inclined to become soldiers, had previously enlisted with different recruiting officers who had come to the Island to raise men for the two new regiments commanded by Colonels Maclean and Goreham, from which circumstance and the small number of people then in the colony, this company, which was always weak never was compleated: this deficiency was, however, amply made up to the Island in the ensuing year by the care and attention of government; four provincial companies being sent from New York under the command of Major Hierliky, an old officer; and at the same time the commanding engineer in Nova Scotia was directed to erect barracks for their accommodation, and also such necessary works of defence as were suitable to the situation and circumstances of the Island. From this period, excepting now and then a few sheep taken at distant parts of the Island, by the enemy's privateers men, and the robbery of some valuable property from the Harbour of George Town, the Island remained perfectly undisturbed during the remainder of the war; the frigates which annually brought out the Quebec convoys, generally spent part of the summer with us, by them and other cruizing ships which were occasionally sent into the Gulph, several of the enemy's armed ships captured our neighbourhood were brought into Charlotte Town and their crews landed, and afterwards sent over to Nova Scotia, and marched through the woods to Halifax, under the escort of detachments from our small garrison.
In the latter end of October 1779, part of the Hessian regiment of Knyphausen, on their way from New York to Quebec under convoy of the Camilla twenty gun ship, commanded by Captain, afterwards Sir John Collins. meeting with very hard gales of wind, in the River St. Laurence, were obliged to give up the attempt to get to Quebec, and came into the harbour of Charlotte Town, where the troops were landed, as being the nearest spot to their place of destination in which they could be accommodated; there was no barracks for them, but being a veteran corps, commanded by Colonel De Borck, an experienced officer, they soon hutted themselves in a most comfortable manner, many of them when landed were ill with intermittent fevers, and I have already had occasion to notice the rapid effect our climate had in restoring them to health.
So great an accession to our numbers not having been foreseen at head-quarters, our commissaries' stores were of course not provided for them, but the deficiency was amply made up from the produce of the Island, which was purchased by Government for their supply, a circumstance which considering the infant state of the colony and our small numbers may be mentioned to the credit of our agriculture in that early period of the settlement. The Hessians staid with us till the month of June following: both officers and men were much pleased with the Island, and some of the latter found their way back to it many years afterwards, from the heart of Germany.
In 1780 Governor Patterson returned to the Island from England; and there being no receiver of the quit rents on the Island, he appointed Mr. Nisbet, his brother-in-law, then Clerk of the Council, to the office of Receiver of the Quit Rents, and under colour of the Treasury Minute, dated the 7th of August, 1776, which has been already given, he directed him early in 1781, to commence proceedings in the Supreme Court of the Island, against all the townships enumerated in the Act of 1773, which were then in arrear of quit rents, and in November following, brought nine whole, and five half townships to the hammer; these sales were soon after complained of to government, and upon some enquiry into the transaction a bill for regulating the future proceedings in the recovery of the quit rents was prepared in 1783, and sent to the Island, and the Governor was directed to lay the same before the legislature to be enacted into a colonial law; in this bill a clause was inserted, making the sales of 1781 voidable, and allowing the original proprietors to re-enter into possession of the lands then sold under the Quit-Rent Act of 1773, upon the repayment of the purchase money, interest, and charges incurred by the purchasers and a fair allowance for such improvements as might have been made on the lands since the sale thereof: the purchasers on their parts accounting with the original proprietors for the receipts, issues, and profits. In the recital which led to this enacting clause, the circumstances attending the sales in 1781, were stated differently from what really took place. Taking, advantage of this mistatement, the Governor instead of obeying the order, and laying the bill before the Assembly, submitted the business to the consideration of the Council, who were equally implicated with himself by this recital, and it was finally resolved to transmit to the Secretary of State, a representation of all the circumstances attending the sales in 1781, and to rely on that representation as a justification for not obeying the order to lay the bill before the Assembly.
This representation when taken into consideration by the Committee of the Privy Council for Trade and Foreign Plantations, did not appear to justify in the opinion of the Board, the conduct of the Governor in with-holding the bill from the Assembly, but no order was for sometime made thereon.
In the mean time the Governor who was resolved to make every exertion to retain the lands, determined to be provided with an House of Representatives if possible, such as he could rely upon for supporting his views, in case he should be again ordered to propose to the Legislature an act for making the sales voidable; accordingly early in 1784 he dissolved the Assembly by proclamation, and in March following a general election took place, and the Legislature soon after met, when it soon appeared, that the Governor had not succeeded in his object, for the House of Representatives entered into enquiries respecting different acts of his administration, and seemed particularly disposed to condemn the management at the sale of the lands sold in 1781, although neither they, nor any other person in the Island, were then acquainted with the proceedings that had taken place in England on the subject, which had only been communicated by the Governor to the council under their oath of secrecy; after various sharp messages and replies between the House of Representatives, and the Governor, that body resolved upon presenting a complaint to the King, and were employed in preparing the same when they were dissolved by Proclamation.
The Governor spent the remainder of 1784 in taking more effectual measures for securing at the next general election the return of a House of Representatives which should be more favourable to him than the last, besides the object of being prepared for an order which he had reason to expect from England directing him to lay before the Assembly the bill for making the sales of 1781 voidable; he had now to provide for taking off any impression which the charges made against him by the last House of Representatives, might make at office in this country; this he naturally thought would be most effectually done by their successors putting his conduct in an opposite light in their addresses and proceedings, and a variety of circumstances concurred which were favourable to his views and interest: in consequence of the evacuation of New York the preceding autumn a number of the loyalists and disbanded troops came to seek a settlement on the Island, who were chiefly dependent on him in respect to the distribution of the donations allowed by the bounty of Government to enable them to commence their new settlements with advantage, he had also the direction of locating them on the lands on which they were to be placed, no inconsiderable part of which, consisted of the lands sold in 1781. From these circumstances, by far the greatest part of these new settlers became interested in his support, he also found means to divide his opponents, and to buy some of them off, and in March 1785, he again ventured to try the success of a general election, on which occasion he succeeded in securing the return of a House of Representatives which was perfectly to his mind, and ready to support all his measures, this was not accomplished however without a severe struggle, much illegal conduct, and an enormous expence, considering our small numbers and the infant state of the colony *
* It will no doubt surprise my English readers to be told that this election cost the Governor and his friends near two thousand pounds sterling.
The Legislature met in a few days after the election, but no farther directions respecting the lands sold in 1781 having been yet received from England, the subject was not mentioned during the session, which was chiefly spent in adopting such measures as were deemed necessary to do away any impression the proceedings of the last House of Representatives might make against the Governor, who was represented in their addresses and proceedings as the best of men, while all that opposed him were stigmatized as factious and unprincipled. At the next session which commenced in March 1786, the Governor being still without any orders from England relative to the sales of 1781, and being now secure of the unanimous support of the Legislature, determined on a measure which he expected would secure against all future attempts, the purchasers at these sales; for this purpose a bill was brought into the Lower House and soon after passed into a law, entitled, " An Act to render good and valid in law, all and every of the Proceedings in the years one thousand seven hundred and eighty, and one thousand seven hundred and eighty- one, which in any respect related to, or concerned the suing, seizing, condemning, or selling of the Lots or Townships herein-after mentioned, or any part thereof." This audacious attempt immediately decided Government with respect to Mr. Patterson, who was soon after superceded; His Majesty's disallowance of the act being at the same time signified, and the bill for making the sales voidable also returned, with directions to lay it before the Assembly. Before the arrival of Lieutenant-Governor Fanning, who was appointed to succeed Mr. Patterson, the latter met the assembly, and laid the bill before them which they immediately rejected; it was not indeed to be expected, that the same men who had only six months before passed all act to confirm these sales should so soon adopt a directly contrary measure which would have deprived them of all pretence to propriety or consistency of conduct. It appears however; that Mr. Patterson was at last seriously alarmed, and determined to make an effort to satisfy the proprietors of the sold lands, and if possible to conciliate government, for which purpose a private bill was brought forward, stated to be at the request of the purchasers in 1781, and passed into a law for restoring, the lands then sold, to their original proprietors: but this mode of proceeding, was entirely disapproved of, and the act disallowed; besides the objections to the manner in which the measure was brought forward, the provisions of this act left it much in the power of the purchasers at the sale in 1781, to load the property to be restored with such an accumulation of expence as might perhaps equal its full value: and it also confirmed all alienations of any parts of the lands while in the hands of the purchasers, whether the same had been made for a valuable consideration or otherwise.
Thus disappointed the proprietors preferred a criminating complaint to His Majesty against Lieutenant Governor Patterson and others therein named, being members of His Majesty 's council in the Island, in respect to their conduct with regard to these sales and their resistance to the measures directed by Government for the relief of the complainants, and in 1789 an investigation of the said complaint took place before the Right Hon. Committee of the Privy Council for trade, plantations, when it was determined by the committee, that the reasons alleged in behalf of the respondents, did not justify their conduct in the transactions complained of: in consequence of this decision the members of the Colonial Council implicated in the complaint were dismissed from their seats at that board, and the Attorney General of the Island from his office; Mr. Patterson having been previously dismissed, and the object of the complaint in regard to him obtained, no farther notice was taken of his conduct. It was expected that this proceeding would have been followed by a final determination respecting the fate of the lands which were the object of so much controversy, yet neither on this occasion nor at any time since, has any directions been given by Government on the subject, and the proprietors on their parts have been equally silent thereon.
But in 1792, when the Committee of the Privy Council for Trade and Plantations, were engaged in investigating certain other complaints from the Island which I shall have occasion to notice hereafter, an attempt was made to charge the then Colonial Government, with being confederated with their predecessors in opposition to the restoration of the lands sold in 1781 and it required some exertion to repel the charge though the same was perfectly groundless. It appearing on this occasion to be still the opinion of that Board, that these lands should be restored to the original proprietors or their representatives: at the next meeting of the Colonial Legislature, an act was passed for rescinding annulling and making void the sales in 1781 and permitting the original proprietors or their representatives to reenter into possession; but as this measure was adopted without any directions from office on the subject, merely in consequence of what passed on the above occasion it was thought necessary to annex to the act a clause suspending its operation in every respect, until His Majesty's Royal Assent thereto should be signified, in the usual form.
When this proceeding was known in this country, a petition was presented on the part of some of the purchasers under the sales in 1781, praying to be heard by their council against the passing of this law, which petition with the act being referred to the consideration of the Committee of His Majesty's most honorable Privy Council for trade and foreign plantations, Doctor Lawrence was heard before the Committee on behalf of the late Mr. Richard Burke, junior, who had become a purchaser under the sales in 1781, on this occasion the opinion of the Right Hon. Committee seemed to be much changed with respect to these sales from what it had formerly been, and the result has been that the act passed by the legislature of the Island in 1792 never received His Majesty's royal assent, and has been entirely laid aside; nor has any other proceedings been adopted on the subject either on the part of Government or the original proprietors, of course the lands which were the object of this measure have ever since remained in the quiet and peaceable possession of those claiming under the sales in 1781; some of them have passed through various hands and are parcelled out among a number of purchasers, and they have in some instances become securities for debts, and in others the objects of testamentary and family settlements, in perfect confidence that the claims of the original proprietors whatever may be their grounds, cannot now after the lapse of so many years, be again brought forward with any effect. *
* It appears by the different proceedings before the Privy Council to have been always the intention of Government. That in the event of these lands being restored to the original proprietors by any legislative proceeding in the Island that they or their representatives should on such restoration pay to the purchasers under the sales in 1781, the amount for which these lands were then sold, a measure which necessarily grew out of the circumstance of their having been sold for the arrears of quit then due on them. This many of the original proprietors or those acting for them do not seem at any time willing to have complied with and it would appear that since the rejection of the act passed in 1792 for their relief, they have given up all ideas of any farther proceedings on the subject not thinking the property worth their acceptance on the proposed terms. Of the lands sold in 1781, the half Township, No. 18 was confirmed to the purchaser at these sales for a valuable consideration. The half Township No. 26 has been restored to the representative of the original proprietor on the terms of the bill sent out in 1783 for making the sales voidable The Township No 32 has been restored to the representative of the original grantee by a compromise with the person into whose hands it fell since the sale of 1781. The Township No 35 has also been restored to the original proprietor by a private agreement. The half Township, No 48, not having been improved by the purchaser the original proprietor finding no person in possession re-entered without opposition. The Township. No 49 was recovered by the original proprietor by a suit at law. The half Township No 65, has been confirmed to the possessor under the sale in 1781 by a private agreement with the representative of the original grantee. And the half Townships Nos. 17 and 25 and the Townships, No. 24, 31, 33, 57, and No. 67 remain in the hands of proprietors deriving their titles under the sales of 1781.
As these sales, with the different proceedings to which they have given rise agitated the colony for some years and were much talked of in this country among those connected with the Island, and having also become an object of inquiry before the Privy Council, I thought that this account of the proceedings to which they have given rise, would be acceptable to people interested in the colony.
Having already stated what was done towards complying with the terms of settlement from the commencement thereof, until 1779, inclusive, I shall now proceed to state what attempts were made during the next twenty years for complying with these terms as the surest criterion on which a judgment can be formed how far the progress of the settlement has answered the exertions that have been made; this seems to me the more necessary, as on one hand the proprietors are said to have done nothing towards settling the colony and on the other some of them have claimed much credit for expenditure and exertions, of which nothing has ever been known in the Island but which have been clamorously stated to Government as a ground of farther indulgence with respect to the payment of their quit rents.
It has been already shewn, that of the sixty-seven Townships into which the Island is divided that on ten only were the terms of settlement in respect to population complied with in the first ten years from the commencement of the settlement, and that forty-eight Townships were totally neglected during this period by their respective proprietors. During the period now under consideration, I may be permitted to say without offence that the exertions of the proprietors were feeble in proportion to their obligations, and the length of time the period embraces, and the opportunities it afforded as the following summary will shew.
Townships Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, nothing done.
Township No. 5. The proprietor of this township, in 1783, resigned one fourth thereof for the accommodation of such American loyalists and disbanded troops as might claim the same; in consequence of which a few people under that description, had lands laid out to them thereon, but it being at that time at a great distance from any inhabitants they never settled upon them. In 1786 a fishery was established on this Township and in the course of a few years several vessels were built, a sawmill was erected and a considerable quantity of timber exported but little or nothing was done towards peopling or cultivating the soil which should certainly have had precedence of every other consideration if compliance with the terms on which it is granted was intended.
Township No. 6. this township has been claimed by the same proprietor as the preceding for many years past, but only three families were settled on it during this period.
Nos. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12, nothing done.
No. 13, On this lot it has been already observed that a few people brought to the Island by other proprietors settled early, but nothing was done during this period by the proprietors in compliance with the terms of settlement.
No. 14, On this lot like the preceding nothing was done by the proprietor during this period, but some people settled on it of their own accord.
No. 15, Nothing done.
No. 16, The proprietor of this township in 1783, resigned one fourth part thereof for the accommodation of such American loyalists and disbanded troops as might chuse to settle thereon, and some people of that description took up part of these resigned lands, but that and the acquisition of a few settlers from other parts of the Island, has been all that the proprietor ever did for its cultivation.
No. 17, Some loyalists were settled on this township in 1785, which, together with the French people we before-mentioned as settled on it has fully compleated the required amount of population.
Lot 18, The proprietors of this township having early in the settlement sent three hundred people to the Island, its cultivation and improvement has ever since been making gradual advances, in which respect however it has been much injured by the temptation which the neglected state of the neighbouring townships have offered to its settlers, many of whom have removed and settled on such lands, with the hope of acquiring a right to their possessions by time, or the default of the proprietors in performing their terms of settlement.
Lot 19, In 1783 one-fourth of this township was resigned for the benefit of the loyalists and disbanded troops, several of whom took up grants thereon.
Lot 20, On this township a considerable number of people were settled during this period, but they were such as came to the colony of themselves without any encouragement from, or connection with, the proprietors.
Lot 21, The settlement of this township was commenced early in our first period as we have already seen, and though from a concurrence of unfortunate circumstances it has not advanced in proportion latterly, i~ is still going on.
Lot 22, Nothing done.
Lot 23, though the settlement of this township began early it has yet made no great progress in comparison with many others.
Lot 24, This township is one of those which were sold for non-payment of quit-rents in 1781, and though the uncertainty with respect to the ultimate fate of these sales, for some time operated as a discouragement to those into whose hands it fell; considerable exertions have been made for its settlement and it is now one of the most populous on the Island.
Lot 25, The settlement of this township was begun in 1785, and it has since been making gradual advances. Its improvement has been much retarded by a dispute relative to the property of one half of the township which is not yet settled.
Lot 26, On this township a settlement was begun in 1785, and one of the proprietors * has advanced large sums for its improvement, the settlers on it have rendered themselves conspicuous by raising more wheat in proportion to their numbers than any other people on the Island. They are chiefly composed of American loyalists and their success proves, what might have been expected from that description of people, had any considerable numbers of them been brought to the Island, instead of being encouraged, and in some measure compelled, by the overbearing influence of a few individuals, to settle themselves on the barren foggy shores of the southern coast of Nova Scotia.
* Robert Gordon, Esq. of the Island of St. Vincent
Lot 27, This township was long neglected by its proprietors; but in 1790 a settlement on one half of it was begun, and it has now probably the required amount of population on it; the other moiety has been entirely neglected.
Lot 28, The settlement of this township early begun as has already been mentioned, has been making a steady progress in improvement and population.
Lot 29, On this township nothing done during this period.
Lot 30, On this township a settlement was begun in 1785, but has made very little progress, a circumstance chiefly to be attributed to its local situation, and the neglected state of the adjoining townships; its proprietor the late Lord Chief Baron of Scotland, having made great efforts for the settlement of his property in the Island, and advanced his money liberally for that purpose.
Lots 31 and 32, On the first of these townships, it has been seen that a settlement was early commenced, and it soon after spread to the other, but as they were both included in the sales of 1781, the uncertainty in which the property stood pending the proceedings consequent to that transaction, the improvement of them during this period was much retarded.
Lot 33, On this township nothing was done during this period more than permitting some families from the adjoining township, No. 34, to settle thereon.
Lot 34, The settlement of this township early begun at a considerable expence, has been steadily advancing ever since.
Lots 35 and 36, The first of these townships was one of those sold in 1781, and in 1794 restored to its original proprietor in consequence of a private agreement between the parties, it was early occupied as has been already mentioned by people brought to the Island by the proprietor of Lot 36, whose property it now is, both townships are considerably improved.
Lot 37, This township has been many years in an advancing state of improvement, though neither of its original proprietors ever contributed any thing farther to its population than the two families which one of them brought to the Island in an early stage of the settlement as I have already noticed.
Lots 38 and 39, These townships with one third of the adjacent Lot, No. 40, were at the commencement of the settlement the property of the same person (the late Captain George Burns) the most fortunate adventurer that has hitherto speculated in lands on the Island, for owing to the circumstance of a great part of the front of these townships having been cleared by the French previous to the conquest of the Island, they soon became in request, and for many years have been gradually selling off in small tracts for which large prices have been given.
Lot 40, This like the two preceding, having been early settled, has been gradually advancing in improvement.
Lots 41 and 42, The settlement of these townships did not commence till 1793, but they have since been advancing rapidly in population.
Lot 43, This Township as has been mentioned in the summary of the first ten years having been occupied early by the original French inhabitants, is now in a considerably advanced state of improvement and population.
Lot 44, The settlement of this Township only commenced in 1797.
Lots 45 and 46, Nothing done on these townships during this period.
Lot 47, The settlement of this township was begun in 1784, and for many years it made little progress, but has since advanced rapidly.
Lot 48, The settlement of this township commenced in 1784 and has been gradually advancing.
Lot 49, The settlement of this Township commenced only in 1792, but having been sold off in small lots, it has made a very rapid progress.
Lot 50, The settlement of this township commenced in 1784, and is now in a very forward state.
Lot 51, On this township nothing done.
Lot 52, Since the ill-managed attempt that has been already noticed to settle this township, nothing has been done.
Lot 53, Nothing done on this township during this period.
Lot 54 The settlement of this township commenced in 1788.
Lot 55, Nothing was ever done by the proprietor toward the settlement of this township; but in 1793, a considerable number of people sat down on it of their own accord without any agreement with the proprietor.
Lot 56, The settlement of this township commenced in 1784 by the proprietor giving up a fourth thereof to the American Loyalists and disbanded troops, some of whom obtained lands thereon.
Lot 57 and 58, The unsuccessful attempt to settle these townships in our first period has been already noticed, during this period they remained entirely unoccupied.
Lot 59, The early settlement of this township and the exertions made were noticed in our first period; in 1784 very considerable farther advances were made by the proprietor for that purpose.
Lot 60, Nothing done.
Lot 61, On this Township a few families were settled during this period, but these were people previously on the Island, and cost the proprietor nothing.
Lot 62, Nothing, done.
Lot 63 and 64, The settlement of these townships commenced in 1788, since which very considerable sums have been laid out in their improvement.
Lot 65, The settlement of this township commenced in 1784.
Lot 65, Nothing done.
Lot 67, Nothing, done.
Such was the state of the different townships into which the Island is divided in regard to population at the end of the year 1799 thirty years after the commencement of the settlement, and when I add that by far the greater part of those who settled in the last twenty years came to the Island without any expence or exertion on the part of the proprietors, some judgment may be formed of what might have been done in the improvement and cultivation of the country, had they been generally disposed to make any thing like reasonable exertions for that purpose; that their failure in this respect was generally and severely felt by every intelligent man in the colony may easily be conceived, they had seen in this period, thousands of their fellow-subjects from Great Britain and Ireland emigrate to the United States of America, either to perish by the effects of an unhealthy Climate, or to augment the numbers and strength of the enemies of their country and were sensible that a very little exertion on the part of the proprietors would have sent a great number of them to this Island, where their industry and prosperity would have been highly valuable to their country; and where in a maritime situation congenial to their habits they would have preserved the happiness of being still British subjects connected with their country protected by its power, and governed by its laws and to which a return would be comparatively easy if they should be so disposed *
* Advantages the loss of which I am confident are poorly compensated even on the fruitful banks of the Ohio, coupled with all the mortifications they have to submit to, among a people whose principal enjoyments appear to arise from insulting and abusing that country from which they derive their origin; and where a general deterioration of the morals of society is rapidly laying the foundations of new revolutions which must finally at no very distant period lay their turbulent republican liberty at the feet of some bold adventurer whose power and success may promise society a respite from the miseries of anarchy and civil war.
In 1797 two years short of the period to which I have brought up this summary of the state of the lands in point of settlement, applications were made to the assembly praying for some proceeding on their part which should bring the subject under the consideration of His Majesty s ministers, that body having taken the matter up, after a strict enquiry and mature deliberation, came to the following resolutions with the hope of putting the subject in as clear and forcible a light as possible.
1st Resolved that it appears to this house after having fully investigated with the strictest attention the state of the lands in this Island, That Lots or Townships, Nos. 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 15, 22, 29, 44, 45, 46, 51, 52, 53, 57, 58, 60, 62, 66, and 67 containing in the whole 458,580 acres, have not one settler resident thereon.
2d, Resolved that Lots or Townships, Nos. 4, 5, 6, 11, 23, 30, 31,55, 61, 63, 64, and 65 containing together 243,000 have only between them thirty-six families, which upon an average of six persons to a family, amount to two hundred and sixteen persons residing thereon, and that these lots, together with those above enumerated comprehend upwards of one half of this Island.
3dly, Resolved That Lots or Township, Nos. 13, 14, 20, 25, 27, and 42 comprehending one hundred and twenty thousand acres, are settled respectively as follows, viz. No. 13, nine families, No. 14, eight families, No. 20, nine families No. 25, nine families, No. 27, seven families, and No 42, eight families calculated at the foregoing average to consist of three hundred persons.
4th, Resolved, That the following townships are settled agreeable to the terms of the grants, viz. Nos. * 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 24, 26, 28, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 43, 47, 48, 49, 50, 54, 56, and 59.
* A Township is understood to be settled according to the terms of the grant, when its population amounts to one hundred souls, several of those enumerated in this resolution contained at this period two or three hundred souls each; though some of them, I am confident, were short of the required numbers, and it is also to be observed that the state of each township in respect to population, is put down without regard to the circumstance, that the same was obtained by the voluntary resort of people in some instances to different townships, without the interference or even the knowledge of the proprietors, from which it will evidently appear that there was no intention on the part of the house to exaggerate the evil complained of.
5th, Resolved, That it appears to this house, that although the Townships No. 7, half No. 12, No. 30, and No. 5l, are not settled according to the terms and conditions of the grants, the proprietor, the Right Hon. James Montgomery, Lord Chief Baron of His Majesty's Court of Exchequer in Scotland, has been ever active in his exertions, and has expended large sums of money in the settlement of other lands in this Island. Also that the following persons, Mr. Edward Lewis, and Mr. John Hill, proprietors of township, No. 5, and the late partnership of John Cambridge and company, proprietors of Townships, Nos. 63 and 64, have made different attempts to settle them beside expending considerable sums of money thereon.
6th, Resolved, That it appears to this house, that the failure of so many of the proprietors in performing the terms and conditions of their grants has been highly injurious to the growth and prosperity of this Island ruinous to its inhabitants, and destructive of the just expectations and views of Government in its colonization and settlement.
7th, Resolved, That it is the opinion of this house, that the various indulgencies and long forbearance of Government towards the proprietors who have failed in performing the terms and conditions of their grants, have had no other effect than enabling them to retain their lands without exertion or expence, speculating on the industry of the colony, and the disbursements of a few active proprietors in forwarding the settlement thereof.
8th, Resolved, That it appears to this house and seems universally admitted that this Island was it fully settled, is adequate to the maintenance of upwards of half a million of inhabitants; and in which case it would be of great importance to the mother country, not only in the consumption of its manufactures, but as a nursery for seamen from a very extensive fishery which might be carried on around its coasts independent of the commerce which from its other productions would naturally arise.
9th, Resolved, That it appears to this house that the progress which has been made in the neighbouring colonies, and their flourishing state and rapid increase in population since the close of the American war is chiefly to be attributed to the general escheat and forfeiture which has taken place of all the unsettled grants, and the regranting of such lands in small tracts to actual settlers.
10th, Resolved, That it appears to this house that the greatest part of the population and improvements in the neighbouring provinces, are situated upon lands escheated as above-mentioned, and which had been originally granted nearly at the same time, and on similar terms and conditions with the land of this Island.
The facts set forth in these resolutions were stated to Government in the form of a petition from the Assembly, concluding with a prayer; that such measures might be taken as were necessary to compel all the Proprietors to fulfil the terms and conditions on which their lands were granted, or that the same should be escheated, and regranted in small tracts to actual settlers, on such terms and conditions as His Majesty might be graciously pleased to direct. And the Lieutenant-Governor was requested to forward the said representation and petition to England, and at the same time to represent that the Assembly had no other views than bringing the facts stated in the resolutions fairly before His Majesty's ministers, confident that all His Majesty's subjects in the Island would chearfully and dutifully conform themselves to whatever determination might be made thereon.
This representation, which was addressed to his Grace the Duke of Portland, in whose department as Secretary of State, the management of colonial affairs then rested, was well received, and his Grace was pleased soon after to inform the Lieutenant-Governor had been taken into consideration by His Majesty's confidential servants, and that as soon as the state of public affairs admitted thereof, such a determination on the subject should be made as would not fail to remedy the evil complained of.
Though this proceeding was very agreeable to a great majority of the Island, and became to a certain extent a duty upon the Assembly, judging from what they had seen done in the neighbouring colonies; yet it must he confessed, that the cases were not perfectly similar, and that however faulty or inadequate the plan adopted for the settlement of the colony had hitherto proved, it had certainly made too great a progress to be materially changed without greatly injuring the proprietors who had hitherto carried on the settlement, who on their parts were decidedly against the proposed change while any other adequate means remained in the power of Government to compel all the proprietors to comply with the terms on which their lands were held.
This state of things placed the colonial government for many years in a very disagreeable and difficult predicament, it was impossible not to feel severely the extensive injury arising from the neglect of so many of the proprietors in leaving their lands in a waste and uncultivated state, whereby the colony was subjected to all the evils and inconveniences of a feeble and unnecessarily protracted state of infancy, at the same time any proceeding whereby such lands should generally become forfeited for non-performance of the terms of settlement, was liable to many weighty objections which could not be easily overlooked What was to become of the interest of the proprietors who had hitherto carried on the settlement of the colony in the event of such a proceeding taking place, many of them had invested their all in its success, and it was principally by their perseverance and exertions, that it was enabled to overcome all the early difficulties incident to such undertakings, difficulties of which it is not now easy to form an adequate idea, and which nothing could have enabled them to surmount but the most enthusiastic attachment to the country, and the hopes that a steady perseverance in their object would finally be crowned with success, whereby they would be enabled to leave handsome properties to their families; yet it is evident that they would be the first and principal sufferers by any proceeding whereby the lands on which the terms of settlement have not been fulfilled should become forfeited; though the greatest part of such lands it is true were the property of non-residents many of them unknown in the colony, and who on their part had generally as little intercourse or connection with the Island as with Japan or Formosa, and who would lose little more by having their lands escheated, than the uncertain prospect of being permitted to hold them without expence or exertion until they might perchance become of value: at the same time the forfeiture, and regranting of such lands in small tracts, to actual settlers as was aimed at by the Assembly, would have been immediately and severely felt by the proprietors whose lands were in a course of settlement, who must not only expect to lose a great part of the people they had already settled, and thereby the fruit of much expence and exertion, but they must also submit to the prospect of being unable either to sell or let their lands in future, * until a great part of what was likely to come into the hands of Government by this proceeding should be regranted and occupied, and when it is considered, and that the lands liable to this process comprehended very lately one-half of the Island; their fears with respect to the effect of such a measure will appear very reasonable, and their opposition thereto perfectly justifiable.
* Because every man will naturally prefer taking up a grant of lands from the Crown, either to purchasing or renting from his fellow subjects it has been said, indeed, that this objection might in part be got the better of by confining the grants of such lands entirely to such settlers as should come to the Island subsequent to the period in which these lands may come into the hands of Government, but this I think would be found a most invidious distinction, as it would have the appearance of putting those on whom much of the first difficulties of the settlement fell, on a worse footing than any other class of people who might now chuse to settle in the colony.
Such a contrariety of interest and views it may easily be believed would occasionally agitate the colony, and afford the means to factious and unprincipled individuals some of whom are every where to be found to propagate discontent and division in the colony: poorly as it may seem our public offices are likely to remunerate any man of common talents they have been as eagerly coveted as if each produced ten times its actual income, and most of those who have held them have been attacked by every means that the common routine of colonial affairs affords to the outs against the ins, and in no dependency of the British empire perhaps have such things been carried to a greater or more unjustifiable length, yet it is but doing justice to the colony to state that such conduct has been confined to a few ambitious turbulent individuals and that by far the greatest part of our population have firmly and decidedly supported those to whom the administration of the public affairs of the colony has been entrusted for the last twenty years, and notwithstanding the noise that a few factious discontented individuals have occasionally made, I believe I may venture to say, that for the greatest part of the period as much good will, harmony, and unanimity, has prevailed in the colony as is generally to be met with or can be expected where the most perfect enjoyment of British liberty enables men either to indulge their caprice or prosecute their views of personal interest according to their own inclinations, and with as little restraint as is consistent with the existence of society. And where from the circumstances of the colony, the government thereof was deprived of almost every means by which such practices are usually met and restrained in other countries.
Having thus brought up my relation of the different proceedings connected with settlement of the lands from the commencement of the government till the end of the year 1799, I shall now proceed to notice such other circumstances as may throw any light on the progress and present state of the Island.
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