44 THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



and Justice" for that purpose. The "Quebec Act" of 1774 (14 Geo. Ill, 

 c. 83) reintroduced the French law in Civil matters, leaving the English 

 criminal law still in force. 



The Royal instructions to Carleton, the Governor, advised him to 

 constitute a Court of King's Bench for all Crown cases; and a Court of 

 Common Pleas in each of the Districts of Montreal and Quebec to decide 

 all civil suits and actions — further that in addition to these Courts for 

 the Province at large, there should be an inferior Court of Criminal and 

 Civil jurisdiction in each of the Districts of the Illinois, St. Vincenne, 

 Detroit, Missilimakinac and Gaspée, with authority to determine all 

 matters, civil and criminal — the Courts to be called the Court of King's 

 Bench for such district, and each to have one Judge, a native born 

 subject, and an Assistant or Assessor, a Canadian, to give advice to the 

 Judge but to have no voice in the decision. The only limitation to the 

 jurisdiction of these Courts was that in cases of Treason, Murder or 

 other Capital Felonies, the local Court could only arrest and commit to 

 the gaol at Montreal or Quebec for trial there. While these Courts 

 were in that part of the Instructions called "Courts of King's Bench" 

 they are in another part called "Courts of King's Bench and Common 

 Pleas." Provision is made for the payment to the Judge of each of 

 these five local Courts a salary of £100 and "to an assistant or assessor 

 at each post . . . £50 per annum." This was in January, 1775. 



Courts were accordingly established by Carleton in 1776 in Quebec 

 and Montreal; but the troublous times of the Revolution then set in 

 and Courts were a useless anomaly for the time being. 



The Revolutionary War resulted intlic loss of much of the western 

 territory ; and the five Courts were not necessary as most of the country 

 they were intended to serve had ceased to be British. Therefore we 

 find that in the Royal Instructions to Lord Dorchester of 23rd August, 

 1786, the provision for the salary of these Judges and assistants disap- 

 pears. On July 24th, 1788, Dorchester issued a proclamation making 

 a new District Gaspo to the far East and dividing all Canada west of 

 what was afterwards called Lower Canada, into four Districts, Luneburg 

 (not Lunenburg as it is generally spelled), Mecklenburg, Nassau and 

 Hesse — Hesse included Detroit. A Court of Common Pleas was estab- 

 lished in each of these Districts — and it was in the Court of Common 

 Pleas in and for the District of Hesse * in the Province of Quebec that 



* i'Jiis was not tlic first attempt to form a Court for the District of Hesse. Con- 

 temporaneously with the proclamation of July 24, 1788, Dorchester appointed as 

 Justices of the Common Pleas the following gentlemen of Detroit: Alexander McKce, 

 William Robertson and Dupcron Baby. In this he followed in principle the advice 

 contained in sec. 15 of his instructions of 3rd January, 1775 — he was there advised 

 to erect in each of the Districts of Montreal and Quebec a Court of Common Pleas 

 and "that there be three Judges in each of the said Courts of Common Pleas, that is 



