4i6 Tkansactions of the Canadian Institute. [Vol. VII. 



Express instructions were issued that the townships should not be 

 named, but merely numbered ; they were not even to be referred to as 

 townships, but as Royal Seigneuries.^ Thus did the government seek 

 in advance to head off the distrusted town meeting. 



In dealing with the malcontents among the loyalists, Haldimand, 

 writing on August 20th, 1784, recommends to Major Ross, then in 

 command at Cataraqui, to employ the civil power as far as possible, and 

 adds that he will send up commissions of the peace for Major Van 

 Alstine and Captain Sherwood, which he believes, in addition to those 

 already sent, will make a sufficient number.'^ 



As yet these justices were merely peace officers, there were still no 

 Courts of Quarter Sessions. In all matters not permitted to be disposed 

 of in a summary manner by one or more magistrates, recourse must be 

 had to the courts at Montreal. But in the following year, 1785, an 

 ordinance was passed " for granting a limited civil power and jurisdiction 

 to His Majesty's Justices of the Peace in the remote parts of this 

 Province."^ 



Meanwhile, the magistrates and chief men of the settlements, headed 

 by Sir John Johnson, began to send in those petitions already referred 

 to, for relief from the French-Canadian system, and for more extended 

 local administration. In their petition of April iith, 1785, sent directly 

 to the King in London, they submitted a plan for the government of the 

 new settlements. In brief, it provides for the forming of the territory 

 from Point Beaudet westward, into a district distinct from the Province 

 of Quebec. It was to be placed under the direction of a lieutenant- 

 governor and council, subordinate, how^ever, to the governor and council 

 in Quebec. This district, having Cataraqui as its metropolis, was to be 

 subdivided into smaller districts or counties, with courts of justice 

 appropriate to each. The petition expatiates at length upon the 

 advantages of such an arrangement, and upon the hardships of the 

 present situation. Those who signed this petition, ten in number, were 

 all officers who had served in the late revolutionary war.* 



The following year, the magistrates at Cataraqui and at New 

 Oswegatchie (Prescott), being requested to do so, sent their views as to 

 the needs of the Western settlements, in a memorial addressed to Sir 

 John Johnson, the superintendent of the district. In these memorials, 

 in addition to the usual prayer for deliverance from the French-Canadian 



1 Canadian Archives, B, 65, p. 34. 



2 Canadian Archives, B. 64, p. 182. 



3 Laws of Lower Canada, Vol. 1, p. 103. 



4 Canadian Archives, Q. 24-1, pp. 76-84. 



