APPENDIX A
The JoHuit»' l>e€lfiratioii ol' l{iKlit«4 provioiiN to the M»jziir«».
On May 24th 1770, Lord Jeffery Amherst's petition for the Jesuits' Estates was referred by the King to the Lord of the Committee of Council. In spite of innumerable reports and other endless proceedings, nothing definite had been concluded in the matter for sixteen years. On August i8th 1786, the King's order was issued directing Lord Dorchester to form a commission within the jjrovmce, as it was hoped that being on the spot such commissioners would be better able to bring the work to completion than the Crown Lawyers residing in England. To fully comprehend the workings of this commission and the duplicity of Chandler, its chairman, it would be well to consult the protest of Messrs. Panet and Taschereau, embodied in the Report of Education in 1824, page 152 (French version), under the heading *• Des procédés des neuf commissaires."
On August 26 178S, both the Commissioners and the Jesuits were summoned by Hugh Finlay, the president of the Legislative Council, to appear before that body on September 15th following. The subjoined letter is the answer of ihe Jesuit Superior.
Endorsed.: Answkr or Lkiteu ok F. dk CiLapion, Jesiit. to M»t\>.
Hu»;h Finlav, mfmher of thk Lrui^i.ATivt Colncil,
10 Sept. 17SS.
MoNSiEi R i.K Président,
\ oft'er you an apology for having so long delayed answering the letter you were pleased to address me on the 26lh of last August.
If you deem indisi)cnsiblc our presenting ourselves before vour honorable Committee, we shall appear before it on the .•5th of the present month, at the hour indicated, lîul we can say nothing more than uhat I have now the honor of submitting to you :
1. Since we passed under English rule, we have been and arc still, and always will remain docile and faithful subjects of His Britannic
Majesty. We dare flatter ourselves that the English Governors, who have ruled this province, would not refuse us attestations of our fidelity and obedience.
II. It would appear that at the present juncture there is less question of our persons than of our temporalities.
Our Estates or landed possessions have come to us from three different sources: i» The Kings of France gave us a portion of them* 2» Private individuals another portion. These donations were made with the intent of affording sustenance to the Jesuit Missionaries employed in the instruction of the Indians and Canadians. Most of them ceased to devote themselves to these works of charity then only when they ceased to live; and those who have survived them are engaged in the same labors, and persevere in the determination of so doing until their death, which in the course of nature cannot be far removed. 30 Finally our predecessors acquired with their own funds the third portion of our Estates.
III. All our title-deeds of possession, which are well and duly registered at the provincial record-ofiice show that all these Estates or landed possessions have always belonged to us in fee-simple ; and we have always managed and administered them as our own without let or hinderance.
IV. Our proprietorship was clearly recognized in the Capitulation of Canada signed at the camp before Montreal, the 8th of September 1760; since, in virtue of the 35th article. Lord Amherst allowed us to sell our landed estates and movables in whole or in part, and to transmit the proceeds to France.
V. Be this as it may. Sir, we are in the hands of his Majesty who will decide according to his good pleasure. But irreproachable subjects and children can await a favorable decision only from so gracious a King and so kind a father as is his His Majesty George III.
I have the honor to be with profound respect, Sir, Your most humble and obedient servant,
Augustin L. de Glapion, Superior of the Jesuits in Canada.
Quebec, the loth of September 1788.
(The autograph letter is preserved in the Archives of St. Mary's College, Montreal.)
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