Chapter 10 allowed the inhabitants of the Eastern District to build a gaol (it is called in the Statutes a goal") and Court House in Cornwall, as well as those in New Johnstown authorized by the Act. Chapter 11 laid a duty on "Stills for the purpose of distilling spirituous liquors for sale," 1 shilling and 3 pence per gallon of the capacity of the still. The owner must procure a license, paying a fee for it of course; no one could do anything in those days without paying a fee for it--except (possibly) die. Chapter 12 regulated the manner of licensing public houses, requiring the keeper to procure a certificate of his fitness from the magistrates of the District-the magistrates were given the power to limit the number of inns and the names of all licensees were to be published in the Upper Canada Gazette. A bill to regulate the practice of physic and surgery passed the Assembly, but the Council amended it in such a way that it did not suit the Assembly; a conference was directed to be held, but nothing seems to have been done, and the bill did not pass this year. It had better luck the following session, 35 Geo. III. ch. 1. He In the Council during this session the following Councillors are noted as taking part: Osgoode, Baby, Hamilton, Cartwright, Munroe, Grant, Russell and Aenéas Shaw, who presented his summons and was sworn in, June 10, 1794. was a Scotsman, the lineal descendant of Macduff, first Thane of Fife: of great mental and bodily vigor, he served in the Revolutionary war, and was created a Major-General in Upper Canada. At his house, Oakhill, he entertained the Duke of Kent, father of Queen Victoria, during his tour in Canada in 1799. The Major-General died in 1813 during the war with the United States, it is said from over-fatigue. We have not the complete record of the Assembly of this Session in full-the only available copy extending only to June 11th; in what is preserved, I find the names of twelve members mentioned as taking part-Speaker Macdonell, Hugh Macdonell, Alexander Campbell, Ephraim Jones, John White, Joshua Booth, Hazelton Spencer, Benjamin Pawling, Isaac Swayzie (this name is spelled Swayzé in the report), Parshall Terry, David William Smith; no trace is found of Jeremiah French, Peter Van Alstine, Nathaniel Pettit or William Macomb, although they all may have been in attendance. Fourth Paper. The fourth session of the first Parliament also met at Newark like its predecessors; it lasted from July 6th to August 10th, 1795. We have no records of the proceedings. except the statutes themselves. The first chapter regulates the practice of physic and surgery. I have thus spoken of it in a paper prepared for the Ontario Medical Association, and published in the “ Canadian Journal of Medicine and Surgery," September, 1911: "At the time of the separation of our Province, and for some time thereafter, there was no regulation as to who should practice medicine, or "physic," as it was called. Many of the practitioners were old army or navy surgeons; some were importations from the United States, but most of those who treated disease were mere empirics. There had, indeed, been an Act or Ordinance passed by the Council of the old Province of Quebec in 1788, forbidding anyone to practise without a license from the Governor-which license was to be granted without an examination to all graduates of any British university and to all surgeons of the army or navy; but this was largely a dead letter in the newer parts of the colony, as our country was at that time. In 1795 the Provincial Parliament of Upper Canada passed an Act, 35 Geo. III. ch. 1, forbidding the sale of medicine, prescribing for the sick and the practice of physic, surgery or midwifery by anyone who had not been licensed. The Governor was to appoint a board to examine all who should apply for a license, and those approved of by the Board, upon the examination were to be granted a license, the fee being £2 currency, i.e., $8. A penalty of £10, i.e., $40, was imposed for selling medicines, prescribing for the sick or practising physic, surgery or midwifery without a license. An exception was made for surgeons or surgeons' mates in the army or navy, and for those who had been practising at the time of the passing of the Act of 1791; these, however, were not to take apprentices or students. There is no record of anything ever having been done under these provisions; the Act was found unworkable, and it was accordingly repealed in 1806 by 46 Geo. II. ch. 2, and the profession was again much at large, although the Act of 1788, already spoken of, was still nominally in force. Much public dissatisfaction was the result, and at length a new Act was passed in 1815, 55 Geo. III. ch. 10, which forbade prescribing for the sick or the practice of physic, surgery or midwifery without a license -saving the case of graduates of a university in British Dominions, surgeons and surgeons' mates in the British Army or Navy, and those who had practised before 1791. The prohibition against these taking apprentices or students was not repeated in this Act, nor was the prohibition against selling, etc., medicines. And it was expressly provided that women might practise midwifery without a license. The Governor was to appoint an examining and licensing Board. Nothing seems to have been done under this Act either, and it was repealed in 1818 by 59 George III. ch. 13, which, however, contained much the same provisions." I do not here trace the legislation further. Chapter 2 prohibited any person coming from any place not within his Majesty's Dominions at the time of the passing of the Act, and not being a bona fide subject of His Majesty for seven years before the passing of the Act, from voting for a member of the House and from being a candidate. This was to meet what was then and for some years thereafter a very real danger. Americans coming into Upper Canada, with a hatred of monarchical institutions, obtruded themselves among the voters, preached, and, where they dared, practised disloyalty. Chapter 3 ratified an agreement entered into with Commissioners from Lower Canada as to the division of certain duties, and an agreement that the Upper Province would not impose duties upon goods imported into Lower Canada and passing into Upper Canada, receiving one-eighth of the duties levied thereon by Lower Canada. Chapter 4 gave jurisdiction to the Court of King's Bench similar to that of the Court of Exchequer in England in the case of goods seized or contraband. This jurisdiction proved of very great value: the old term books are full of cases of confiscation of goods seized as being smuggled. 14th, 1808, before Scott. C.J., and Powell, J.: In "The King v. John 'For example, we find in Michaelmas Term, 49 Geo. III., Nov. Young, on the information of Wm. Frith, Esquire, Atty.-Gen'l, proclamation is made in open Court for condemnation of goods Chapter 5 is the first of our Registry Acts, establishing a registry office for each county and riding. Memorials only were to be registered, not the deed, etc., itself. The fifth and last Session of this Parliament met May 16th, and lasted till June 3rd, 1795. No records of the proceedings other than the Statutes are extant. Chapter 1 regulated the weight, etc., of coins and their rating as legal tender. British Guinea .... weighing 5 dwt. 6 gr. Troy £1 3s. 4d. Johannes of Portugal.. weighing 18 dwt. 6 gr. Troy £4 0s. Od. Moidore of Portugal.. weighing 6 dwt. 18 gr. Troy £1 10s. Od. The milled Doubloon or four Pistole piece of od. 6d. od. American Eagle.. weighing 11 dwt. 6 gr. Troy=£2 10s. American Dollar =£0 5s. Od. Many other gold and silver coins are named and valued. The value of the American dollar shews that in Canadian currency 1 shilling=20 cents (what was known even in my day as Halifax currency). Counterfeiting was made felony, punishable with death on conviction" in His Majesty's Court of his Bench." Uttering, for a first offence, one year's imprisonment and one hour in and upon the pillory in some public and conspicuous place; a second offence was punishable with death as a felon without benefit of clergy. Importation of false coin was to be punished by twelve months' imprisonment. No one was to be compelled to take more than 1 shilling in copper; every payment exceeding £50 currency in gold coin was to be by weight. The Quebec Ordinance of 1777 was repealed. I shall speak of this more at length later on. seized as forfeited. The Atty.-Gen'l suggesting that it is his intention, on the part of the Crown, to take the goods in specie, this, on proclamation, is, by the Court, considered deficient." Trinity Term, 50 Geo. III., July 11th, 1810, proclamations were made for condemnation of goods seized as forfeited: 106 gals. of brandy, 75% gals. of rum, 1,000 lbs. of tobacco, 60 lbs. of tea, 50 lbs. of tobacco, called pegan, 88 lbs. of snuff, and 50 lbs. of cotton wool; also 226 gals. of whiskey, 1,600 lbs. of pork, 120 gals. of gin, and the boat tackle and furniture. In Michaelmas Term the proclamations were renewed and, finally, judgment was given for forfeiture. Chapter 2 provided for juries at the assizes. Chapter 3 made further provision for licensing innkeepers. Chapter 4 altered the place of meeting of the Quarter Sessions and the District Court of the Western District from Detroit, as has already been stated. Detroit was definitely abandoned by the British the following year, under the provisions of "Jay's Treaty," 1794. Chapter 5 abolished the bounty for killing bears. Chapter 6 provided for Commissioners to treat with Commissioners from Lower Canada as to duties, etc., and chapter 7 further secured these "wages," so often spoken of. This is the by no means discreditable or insignificant record of the first Parliament of Upper Canada, the only Parliament under Simcoe. I shall now say something as to some of these statutes. There was very great reason for the protest of Cartwright and Hamilton. They had caused to be entered upon the proceedings of the Council 3rd June, 1794, a formal protest against the proposed Act which effected the abolition of local Courts, in the geographical situation of the colony, "with a thin population scattered over so immense an extent of country"-all writs issuing from the "fixed place" at which the Court sat, and all proceedings to be there filed. It was indeed provided that where the first process went to the Sheriff of the Home District, fifteen days should elapse between the teste and return, forty days in any other District. But the necessity of "days' journeys" in procuring process, etc., must in then condition of the colony have been very annoying; and many must have wished the return of the old Common Pleas Court in their District. But in 1797, by 37 Geo. III. ch. 4, it was provided that the Clerk of the Crown and Pleas should have in every district an office and a deputy whom he should furnish with blank writs, and in which office pleadings should be filed; moreover, a form of writ where special bail should not be required was given. This was made quite clear in 1845 by Statute 8 Vic. ch. 36; it was enacted that the Clerk of the Crown should supply his deputies in every district with writs of mesne and final process, except writs in ejectment, and the deputies were directed to issue such writs in the same manner as might be done in the principal office at Toronto. They were also authorized to issue rules upon the Sheriff for return of mesne or final process. Then in 1849, the Act 12 Vic. ch. 63 |