Jeune Lorette, part of Ancienne Lorette, St. Foi, and of Quebec. Population 32,640.

MONTMORENCY - comprehending the parishes of St. Féréol, St. Joachim, St. Anne, Chateau Richer, and L'Ange Gardien. Population 4210.

SAGUENAY - comprises part of the seigniory of Beaupré, Gouffre, Eboulements, Murray Bay, and Mount Murray, and the township of Settington, Population 9225. ORLEANS - comprehending the whole of the island of that name. Population 4870.

The first Provincial Parliament, elected agreeably to the new scale of representation, assembled in December, 1830.

The office of the Governor of Canada is both civil and military, and he is Captain-General of all British America. There is also a lieutenant-governor, who, in the absence of the governor-general, succeeds to the administration, and, in the absence of both, the President of the Executive Council, which represents the Privy Council in England, administers the go

vernment.

The Legislative Council, representing the Lords, and the House of Assembly, now consisting of eighty-four members, representing the Commons, form the Provincial Parliament of Canada. Bills passed by both Houses become laws when assented to by the governor or his representative. Some bills require to be sent to his Majesty for the royal allowance. Acts of the Provincial Parliament, which repeal or annul such laws and customs as were formerly established respecting tithes, or laws respecting the appropriation of land for the support of Protestant clergymen; the right of the clergy to recover dues to ecclesiastics; the constituting and endowing of parsonages and rectories; the right of presentation to the same; and the establishment and discipline of the Church of England, are to be laid before the Imperial Parliament, before receiving the royal allowance. The Provincial Parliament has the exclusive right of raising a revenue for the expenses and exigencies of the colony.

The members of the Legislative Council must be natural-born subjects; or they must be naturalised according to act of Parliament. Their appointment is for life, unless they be at one time five years absent from the province. The members of the House of Assembly for the counties, are elected by those who possess landed property of the clear yearly value of forty shillings; and for the towns, by five-pound freeholders, or 10l. annual-rent payers: clergymen are not eligible: men of all religions, by the constitution, are tolerated to sit. About thirty years ago, Mr. Hart, a Jew, was elected to represent Three Rivers; but the House of Assembly expelled him on account of his religion, agreeably to the opinion of the crown lawyers, and not, as is supposed, through the bigotry of the Catholic members, as often stated. He was reelected, and again expelled, in accordance with the opinion given during the previous Parliament by the first crown lawyers and the judges of the province, who were then members of the House of Assembly.

CHAP. XII.

COURTS OF JUSTICE. - DISTRICTS. - JUDGES.

LAWYERS.

NOTARIES. - CANADIAN LAWS. - ESTATES. - TENURES.

In the Supreme Court of King's Bench, all civil matters over 10l. sterling, except those of admiralty jurisdiction, and all criminal offences, are adjudi

cated.

The province is divided into the superior districts of Quebec, Montreal, and Three Rivers, and the inferior districts of Gaspè and St. Francis. In the Court of King's Bench at Quebec, and also at Montreal, a chief justice and three puisne judges preside.

In the court at Three Rivers the several judges of the court of King's Bench for the districts of Quebec and Montreal preside, and take precedence according to the date of their respective commissions. The judge of the district also sits in this court; but on hearing criminal matters, the chief justice of the province or the chief justice of Montreal must preside. Inferior courts, in which a judge of the King's Bench presides, are also held in each of the districts, for deciding causes not exceeding 10l.

The provincial court for Gaspè has, however, cognisance of all matters not exceeding 1007.; appeals from its decision may be made to the court at Quebec.

The provincial court for the district of St. Francis

is only empowered to decide matters of dispute not exceeding 201.

There is also a Provincial Court of Appeals, which decides according to the usage of the House of Lords. The governor, the chief justice of the province, the chief justice of Montreal, and the executive council form this court.

There is no Court of Chancery in Lower Canada, nor is such a court necessary in the province. There is a Court of Vice-Admiralty; and in each of the districts quarter-sessions of the peace are held. The duties of the high and under-sheriffs and coroners are nearly the same as in England. The Court of King's Bench has also a clerk of the crown, prothonotaries, commissioners for receiving evidence, French translator and interpreter, with the usual officers, such as criers, constables, gaolers, &c.

In the seigniories and townships there are commissioners appointed for the summary trial of small causes, and justices of the peace take cognisance of offences, as in England. There are about 200 lawyers on the rolls of the Court of King's Bench, all of whom are solicitors, proctors, and attornies, as well as advocates. Many of them are men of learning and talent; and to become an able lawyer in the courts of Lower Canada assuredly requires not only superior abilities, but great application, both in English and French, to the study of the complex laws of the province. The barristers acted formerly as notaries; but the latter now form a distinct profession, which may be said to monopolise the engrossing of all records that may, by any possibility, ever become subject of dispute. Each notary's office is in fact a sort of register-office; but uncertainty must

exist in respect to tenures that may or may not be encumbered, until a general provincial record office be established. There are nearly 300 notaries in the province, and mostly Canadians.

The laws of Lower Canada may be classed under the following general heads :

1. The criminal law, which consists of the code of England in full, with some provincial statutes.

2. The admiralty laws, which are wholly English. 3. The laws which affect matters of trade in the province, or transactions that may have originated in places or countries not within the limits of Canada, are governed by the lex loci, and by the commercial laws of Canada under the French government (les anciennes lois du pays; enfin, les lois Françoises); but the rules of evidence are those established by English law.

4. The French laws and jurisprudence of the Parliament of Paris, as it existed in 1666, when the Conseil Supérieure was created.

5. The civil or Roman law, where the French law is silent.

6. The ordonnances, edicts, and declarations of the French governors of Canada.

7. The provincial legislative laws.

Criminal matters are tried by juries according to English practice, and, in mercantile transactions and personal wrongs, either party may demand a jury for trying the case. The persons summoned by the sheriffs, as grand and petit jurors, have generally been objected to by the Canadians; and this circumstance has for many years been the subject of complaint (plaintes les plus vives). A provincial ordinance made in the year 1785 absurdly limits the summoning of jurors, in civil matters, in the courts of Montreal and