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years of age. As Mrs. Simcoe was residing at Exeter, young Simcoe, who was but four years old at his father's death, having been born in 1752, was sent to the free grammar school of that city; at fourteen he was transferred to Eton. He afterwards entered at Merton college, Oxford, where he remained until gazetted to the 35th regiment in his nineteenth year. Owing to this circumstance he took no degree. He landed at Boston on the day of the attack of Bunker's hill, as it is called, on the 17th of June. Shortly afterwards he obtained his company in the 40th regiment. He accompanied Howe in his expedition to the south in 1777, and was present at the battle of Brandywine, and at the occupation of Philadelphia. In October of this year, Simcoe, with the rank of major, was placed in command of the Queen's Rangers, a regiment of provincial loyalists originally raised in Connecticut and New York. No regiment during the war performed more important services, and its zeal and high discipline were the reflex of the character of its commanding officer. On Clinton assuming the chief command, Simcoe was appointed lieutenant-colonel. It was Simcoe's fate to be included in the unhappy capitulation of Cornwallis, in 1781, at Yorktown. From his regiment being composed of loyalists, it was among the number sent in the "Bonetta" sloop to New York. His services were recognised, on the 18th of December, 1782, by his appointment to the substantive rank of lieutenant-colonel, and the "Queen's Rangers was placed on the roster of the British army. The honour was nominal rather than real, for at the peace the regiment was disbanded. Several of the officers and soldiers proceeded to Nova Scotia, from which province many subsequently followed Simcoe to Canada. Towards the end of 1782, he returned to England. He was still on parole in January, 1783, at which time, through the influence of the committee. for the relief of the American prisoners of war, he was released, his papers having been signed by Franklin.

Shortly afterwards, Simcoe, then in his thirty-first or second year, married Miss Guillen, a distant connection, who after

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wards accompanied him to Canada. We have a portrait of this lady by the duc de Rochefoucault, who visited Niagara in 1795. He describes her as in every way charming, acting as her husband's private secretary, working at the maps with which Simcoe busied himself, and he conveys the impression of her strong good sense and ability. She had considerable dexterity in the use of the pencil, and some of her drawings are yet in preservation.* She remained with her husband

the whole period he was in Canada.

In 1790, Simcoe entered the house of commons as member for Saint Maw, Cornwall. By these means he obtained the notice of Mr. Pitt, as available for any position where his services would be of value. Office in point of emolument was a secondary matter to him, and he himself states that he accepted the appointment of lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada as an introduction to a higher position. †

Simcoe's appointment must have been coincident with the passage of the Canada act, which became law on the 14th of March, 1791. As early as February, in a letter he entered into the policy he held essential to the prosperity of Upper Canada in March he proposed that he should, on his way to his government, wait upon congress at Philadelphia to mediate on the part of the Indians. The correspondence was continued until his departure in September. In June, he wrote at length to Dundas, the secretary of the colonies, giving in detail his view of the requirements of the new province, one of which was that a force should be raised for service within its limits, with a corps of artificers. He recommended, also, the appointment of a bishop, mentioning as fit for the office a loyalist clergyman formerly at Connecticut. The letter remaining without consideration, Simcoe again

Three of these drawings are given in Read's life of Simcoe. One after a pen and ink sketch of Canixe, an Indian; the second, a distant view of Navy Hall, at the entrance to the river Niagara, Simcoe's residence; and a view of Montreal, taken above Longue-point in 1791.

+ [Can. Arch., Q. 278, p. 271, London, 3rd of August.]

[Can. Arch., Q. 278, p. 228, 2nd of June.]

wrote that without the preliminary arrangement for the embodiment of the corps, as he had asked, he must decline the appointment.* Dundas replied that the government would be sorry to lose his services, and he hoped soon to have the matter settled. This corps was subsequently formed under the title of the "Queen's Rangers." He particularly dwelt on the advisability of the appointment of a bishop, and offered £500 annually out of his own pay towards the appointment, which, with £200 allowed by the government, he considered would furnish an ample stipend. In the middle of August, Simcoe again brought to the minister's notice the condition of the province. He suggested several names for appointments, and recommended that ample provision should be made for settlers arriving. He dwelt upon the necessity of having a supply of tools and implements to be disposed of at cost price, and enforced the necessity of a plentiful copper coinage; likewise, that books should be furnished for a library. Previous to his departure, he also applied to have the local rank of major-general.

Simcoe was the bearer of a letter to prince Edward, afterwards duke of Kent, the father of her present majesty. His royal highness had arrived in Quebec in August of that year, in command of the 7th Fusiliers. He took his place at once in Quebec society with the simplicity which marked his character, and had established himself in the house built by Haldimand at the falls of Montmorency. It was the commencement of his friendship with the de Salaberry family, which lasted for so many years. Simcoe, previous to his departure from London, had declined the rank of brigadier, from the circumstance that the prince had only the rank of colonel.

On arriving at Quebec, he brought up the subject of his military rank. The design was to appoint him colonel of the "Queen's Rangers," the regiment destined for service in Upper Canada; he had, however, been informed that he could not assume the rank until the arrival of the corps. He asked

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Dundas to refer the matter to Dorchester, so that his military authority could be precisely defined, and that sir Alured Clarke, then in command of the forces, should be notified of it.

The

Certain appointments had been made in England to constitute the legislative council, and four members had been nominated, chief justice Osgoode, Robertson, Grant, and Russell; one only, however, of them was present in Canada, Alexander Grant, spoken of as commodore Grant. consequence was that there was not a majority of the council present. Chief justice Smith pointed out that so soon as general Clarke's proclamation was issued for the division of the province, Clarke himself, as lieutenant-governor of Lower Canada, would have no powers in the civil government of the other province, and that his duties in that respect would be confined to his own government and as the officer in chief command. As there was no majority of the council present to administer the oaths, Simcoe could not be sworn in, and hence could not legally act. No power had been given to him, as lieutenant-governor, to appoint ex-officio any legislative councillors. Simcoe accordingly brought the matter to the attention of the home government, and recommended that Jacques Baby, of Detroit, should be so named, and that authority be given to supply the other two required by the act, which enforced that the number should not be less than seven. Subsequently, John Munro, of Matilda, was appointed.* In August of that year, Richard Cartwright, Robert Hamilton, and Richard Duncan were added. The list signed by Littlehales, dated 24th of August, 1792, summoning to the council the several members, included these

new names.

So soon as the division of the provinces was proclaimed, a second proclamation was issued, in January, by sir Alured Clarke, continuing the powers of the judiciary of Lower Canada as it was then constituted. As some cases were to be tried at Kingston in December, judge Powell suggested * [20th January, 1792.]

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that a proclamation giving authority under the new bill should also be issued. From want of possession of the requisite authority, Simcoe could not act. It was feared that under such circumstances Powell might refuse to sit, and in such a case it was thought possible that the magistrates might follow his example. Much anxiety was felt in this respect. Powell, however, did not raise the question, and there is ground for belief that in this course he was influenced by the chief justice Smith. In June, Osgoode and Russell arrived, when the quorum of councillors was present to administer the necessary oaths.

Owing to these circumstances Simcoe remained at Quebec until June, 1792. Although titular lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada, from the neglect of the provision for his taking the oath he remained stationary in Lower Canada. He did not, however, neglect the duties he had assumed. One of his early efforts was to satisfy sir John Johnson. Dorchester had strongly recommended him for the appointment of lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada, and Johnson had felt his disappointment at Simcoe's nomination. Simcoe succeeded in removing all feeling of dissatisfaction on Johnson's part, no slight matter in consideration of the influence Johnson could exercise.

At this early date Simcoe's attention was directed to the river la Tranche, now known as the Thames. He had found a map of this river at Quebec, and he conceived that by means of the Grand river, whence a portage could be made to the la Tranche, an easier communication between lakes Ontario and Huron could be obtained than by passing through lake Erie and the river Detroit. He was also greatly impressed by what he heard of the excellent harbour of Toronto. In February, he issued a proclamation for the disposal of the crown lands, similar to that which Clarke had published in Lower Canada. In February he received an address from the magistrates of the district of Nassau, dated from Niagara, speaking hopefully of the prospects of the

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