Franklin's letter to his father explains very clearly the steps in the development of the plan up to that time. It is necessary, however, to examine other sources in order to ascertain details concerning the proposition. The Articles of Agreement as outlined by Governor Franklin contains the tentative proposal that application be made to the crown for a grant in the Illinois country of 1,200,000 acres or "more if to be procured." [203] Provision was also made in the original draft for ten equal shareholders, the stipulation to be subject to change in case others desired to enter the company. [204] The original draft was sent to Sir William Johnson who was requested to consider the proposals and make any alterations he saw fit. [205] The articles were then to be returned to Governor Franklin, with Johnson's recommendations to the ministry. [206] Through Franklin the papers were to be forwarded to Dr. Franklin in London, to whom was intrusted the task of negotiating with the ministry. [207]
In his recommendations Johnson urged upon the ministry the adoption of the proposals and in addition offered a number of suggestions among which the following are of interest. [208] 1. The crown should purchase from the Indians all their right to the territory in the Illinois country. 2. A civil government should be established. 3. The proposed land grants should be laid out in townships according to the practice in New England. 4. Provincial officers and soldiers who served in the French war should receive grants. 5. The mines and minerals should belong to the owners of the land in which they may be found, except royal mines, from which the crown might receive a fifth. 6. In every township 500 acres should be reserved for the maintenance of a clergyman of the Established Church of England. 7. Finally the lands of the colony were suggested as follows:—From the mouth of the Ouisconsin (or Wisconsin) River down the Mississippi agreeable to Treaty, to the Forks, or Mouth of the Ohio. Then up the same River Ohio to the River Wabash, thence up the same River Wabash to the Portage at the Head thereof. Then by the said Portage to the River Miamis and down the said River Miamis to Lake Erie. Thence along the several Courses of the said Lake to Riviere al Ours (or Bear River) and up the said River to the Head thereof, and from thence in a straight Line, or by the Portage of St. Josephs River & down the same River to Lake Michigan then along the several Courses of the said Lake on the South and West Side thereof to the point of Bay Puans, and along the several Courses on the East Side of the said Bay to the Mouth of Foxes River, thence up to the Head thereof and from thence by a Portage to the Head of Ouisconsin River, and down the same to the Place of Beginning.
Benjamin Franklin exerted every effort to advance the project in England, but with little success. Lord Shelburne, who was at this time Secretary of State for the southern department, was also ready and anxious to see the new colony established, and he was able to influence the ministry to take a favorable view. Others in authority, however, and particularly members of the Board of Trade, were opposed to the proposition. [209] In 1768, the Board, under the presidency of Hillsborough, reported adversely and the question of the Illinois colony was dropped. Attention of land speculators was now called to the new Vandalia colony in the upper Ohio region.
CHAPTER VI.
EVENTS IN THE ILLINOIS COUNTRY, 1765-1768.
In the foregoing chapters an attempt has been made to point out certain general aspects relating to the West and to the Illinois country, with special reference to the governmental status of the old French settlements after the conquest, the extension of the English law to the conquered territory, some of the problems of the Indian and trade relations, and finally attention has been called to some of the projects for the colonization of the Illinois country after 1763. What were the actual events taking place in the Illinois after the occupation has always been problematical. Previous writers have almost without exception dismissed with a sentence the first two or three years of the period. Indeed the whole thirteen years of British administration have generally been crowded into two or three paragraphs. Although the available historical material relating to the material to the period in general has recently been considerably augmented, there yet remain gaps which must be bridged before a complete history of the colony under the British can be written.
Among the first duties of the British commandant after taking formal possession of Fort de Chartres in October, 1765, was to announce to the inhabitants the contents of Gage's proclamation. It is only from this document that we know anything of the status of the individual inhabitants of Illinois. One of its leading features was a clause granting to the French the right of the free exercise of the Roman Catholic religion "in the same manner as in Canada," [210] which was the fulfillment on the part of the British government of the pledge stipulated in the IVth article of the treaty of Paris, containing the following clause: "Brittanick Majesty agrees to grant the liberty of the Catholic religion to the inhabitants of Canada; he will consequently give the most precise and effectual orders, that his new Roman Catholic subjects may profess the worship of their religion, according to the rites of the Roman Catholic Church, as far as the laws of Great Britain permit." [211] This provision appertained to the whole western territory as well as to Canada proper. Prior to the treaty of cession the Illinois and Wabash settlements were subject to the jurisdiction of Louisiana, while approximately the country north of the Fortieth parallel had been within the limits of Canada. But in the treaty all the territory lying between the Alleghanies and the Mississippi river was described as a dependency of Canada. The government was thus commited to religious toleration within the whole extent of the ceded territory. This meant, however, that only the religious privileges of the church had been secured, for the clause in the treaty, "as far as the laws of Great Britain permit," meant that papal authority would not be tolerated within the British empire.
Other clauses provided that all the inhabitants of Illinois who had been subjects of the king of France, might if they so desired, sell their estates and retire with their effects to Louisiana. No restraint would be placed on their emigration, except for debt or on account of criminal processes. [212] This was also a fulfillment of the pledges made in the treaty of Paris. [213] All the inhabitants who desired to retain their estates and become subjects of Great Britain were guaranteed security for their persons and effects and liberty of trade. [214] Finally they were commanded to take the oath of allegiance and fidelity to the crown in case they remained on British soil. [215]