CHAPTER XLIV.
Prince Edward Island was first called by the French St. John's Island, on account of the day on which the French landed on it; but in 1799 its name was changed, and it was called Prince Edward's Island in honour of the Duke of Kent, (William Edward) afterward William IV. After the close of the American Revolution in 1783, a considerable number of the exiled Loyalists went to Prince Edward's Island and became merchants and cultivators of the soil.
"In 1763 the island was incorporated with Nova Scotia; but in 1770 it was made a separate province, in fulfilment of a curious plan of civilization. It was parcelled out in sixty-seven townships, and these were distributed by lottery among the creditors of the English Government, each of whom was bound to lodge a settler on every lot of two hundred acres that fell to him. The experiment was not at first very successful, but gradually the shares passed from the original speculators to men who knew how to use the rich soil and usually healthy climate of the island."[150]
FOOTNOTES:
[150] Bourne's "Our Colonies and Emigration," Chap. viii., p. 105.
CHAPTER XLV.
Lower Canada was first possessed by the French, and under the rule of France the government was purely despotic, though not cruel or harsh. On the conquest of Lower Canada in 1759, and its final ceding to England by the Treaty of Paris, 1763, a military government was instituted, which continued until 1774, when the famous "Quebec Act" was passed by the Imperial Parliament, known as the 14th George the Third, Chapter 83; or as "the Quebec Act"—it was introduced into the House of Lords on the 2nd of May, 1774—"for Making more Efficient Provision for the Province of Quebec." By the provisions of this famous Act, the boundaries of the province of Quebec were extended from Labrador to the Mississippi, embracing in one province the territory of Canada, together with all the country north-west of the Ohio to the head of Lake Superior and the Mississippi, and consolidating all authority over this boundless region in the hands of a Governor and Council of not less than seventeen or more than twenty-three members, with power to pass ordinances for the peace, welfare, and good government of the province. At the close of the war between England and France by the Peace of Paris, 1763, English emigration was invited to Lower Canada, with the promise, by Royal Proclamation, of representative government, as in the other colonies. That promise, however, was not fulfilled by the Act of 1774; but the Catholics were not displeased that the promise of a Representative Assembly was not kept, as a Representative Assembly, to which none but Protestants could at that time be chosen, was less acceptable to them than the despotic rule of a Governor and Council nominated by the Crown. The Quebec Act authorized the Crown to confer places of honour and business upon Catholics. The owners of estates were further gratified by the restoration of the French system of law. The English emigrants might complain of the want of jury trials in civil processes, but the French Canadians were grateful for relief from statutes which they did not comprehend. The nobility of New France, who were accustomed to arms, were still further conciliated by the proposal to enrol Canadian battalions, in which they could hold commissions on equal terms with English officers. The great dependence of the Crown, however, was on the clergy. The capitulation of New France had guaranteed to them freedom of public worship, but the laws for their support were held to be no longer valid. By the Quebec Act they were confirmed in the possession of their ancient churches and their revenues; so that the Roman Catholic worship was as effectually established in Canada as the Presbyterian Church in Scotland.[151]