[riddell] PRE-ASSEMBLY LEGISLATURES IN BRITISH CANADA 123 



Councillors (3). He was directed to notify the Secretary and the 

 Board of Trade of all vacancies and to send to the Secretary the names 

 and characters of those whom he thought best fitted to fill the vacancies. 



The Quebec Act, Sec. 7, relieved all persons "professing the 

 religion of the Church of Rome and residing in the .... 

 Province" from the Oath of Supremacy &c; but the Instructions 

 limited this relief to (French) Canadians professing the religion of the 

 Church of Rome — no English, Scottish, Irish or American Catholic 

 was privileged. (4). 



Specific instructions were also given as to the Appellate juris- 

 diction; these were incorporated in an Ordinance of February 26, 

 1777, (5); an Appeal was given from the "Inferior courts of civil 

 jurisdiction ... in all cases where the matter in dispute 

 should exceed the sum of £10 sterling or a duty payable to the 

 Crown, or annual rents or other such like matter or thing where the 

 rights in future might be bound." The Governor, Lieutenant Gover- 

 nor or Chief Justice with any five members of the Council were to be 

 a quorum, Judges who had given the judgment appealed from to be 

 excluded. Where the matter in dispute exceeded £500 a further 

 appeal was given to the King-in-Council. 



The Royal Instructions to Haldimand July 16, 1779, directed 

 that the Court of Appeal "shall consist of four persons besides the 

 Chief Justice to be nominated by the Governor or Commander in 

 Chief . . . from among the Members of the Council 

 together with the Judges of the Court of that District from which the 

 Appeal does not come, the Lieutenant Governor . . not to be 

 one . . five to be a quorum . . . the Chief Justice (or 

 acting Chief Justice) . . . to be one." This instruction, how- 

 ever, was not carried into execution by the enactment of an ordin- 

 ance (6). 



As we have seen, Carleton as early as 1766 tried to ignore some 

 of his Councillors whenever possible. In the new state of the Con- 

 stitution, he continued, perhaps aggravated, this practice: the Second 

 Article of his Instructions (7) providing that "any five of the . 

 Council shall constitute a Board of Council for transacting all Business 

 in which their Advice and consent may be requisite, Acts of Legislation 

 only excepted," he interpreted as authorizing him to select and appoint 

 five Councillors by name to form such Quorum constituting thereby 

 an Executive Council and to exclude the remainder from the deliber- 

 ations except in case of desired legislation. 



The excluded Councillors protested; and this dispute formed at 

 least a part of the troubles of the Governor. Chief Justice Peter 

 Levius (8) moved in the Council that an address should be presented 



