The quarDel aroused mainly by the Quiberon affair

6. William Robertson, writes Mr. C. €. James, had been selected as a member, but he does not appear to hâve been sworn in or to hâve taken his seat. (First Lcgislators of Upper Canada, Tr. R. S. C, 1902 ; this first dealimo- with the ori^înation of the Legiislature has been followed by the Second Législature of Upper Canada, 1796-1800. Tr. RjS.C., 1903).

FIEST PAULIAMENT OF UPPEK CA2^ADA 131

Edward Bums was appoint ed Clerk of the Crown, Major Littlehales, Clerk of the ExecntÎYe Council, William Jarvis, Secretary of the Counoil. During the same month of Julji the Lient.-CoYemor issned a procHamation dividing the proyince into nineteen coiinties (7).

The first session of the new législature sat at Newark (now Niagara on the Lake) from 17th September to the 15th of the next month. The following list of its memhers has been prepared with a good deal of labor, and published by Dr. C. C. James in the volume of the Royal Society for 1902, accompanied by a biographical sketch for each member:

Glengarry, Hngh Macdonnell, John Macdonnell; Stormont, Jeremiah French ; Blindas, Alexander Campbell ; Grenyille, Ephraim Jones; Leeds and Frontenac, John White; Addington and Ontario, Joshna Booth; Lennox, Hastings and Northumberland, Hazelton iSpencer; Prince Edward and Adolphnstown, Philip Borland, replaced by Peter Vanalstine; Bnrham, York and Is't Lincoln, Nathaniel Pettit ; 2nd Riding Lincoln, Benjamin Pawling ; 3rd Lincoln, Isaac Swayzie ; 4th Lincoln and (Norfolk, Parshall Terry; Snffolk and Essex, Francis Baby; Kent, Bavid William (Smith and William Macomb.

John Macdonnell was the Speaker (8). Philip Borland

7. Kent, Essex, Suffolk, Xorfolk, Lincoln, York, Burham, Northumberlanid, Hastinefs, Prince Edward, Lennox, Addington, Ontario, Frontenac, Leeds, Grenville, Dundas, Stormont, Glengurry.

8. Neither he nor €uny member understood parliamentary debates. Knowing- this. Lient .-Go ver nor Simcoe had appointed Mr. Baldwin as dlerk of the House becanse he could, at Iteast theoritically supi^y the required information and even put a hand to the helm. Contrary to this, in the Québec Assembly, sevien or eig^ht Fren<îh members, besides the Eng-lish Clerk, were fully capable of conducting- the business, and they, very

vacated his seat by refusing to take the oath prescribed by the Act, and a new writ was issued for the county to retum another member. This matter came up for considération immediately lafter Colonel Maodonnell had been elected Speaker. Dorland was one of the Loyalists who landed at A'dolphustown at the end of the war. He belonged to a band of Quakers or Friends from Dutchess County, New York, many of whom had been fighters on the British side. In September 1792 when the élection took place, Philip Dorland was the leading Quaker, and he beeing elected, started for Nswark, but he objected to the oath, and his seat was declared vacant. When the people met once more to consider the situation they selected Major Peter Vanalstine who was the leader of the soldier settlers, and he appeared and took his seat at the second session which ofpened on the 31st May 1793. There is a curions letter from Simcoe concerning John White the représentative of Leeds and Frontenac which expresses clearly the sentiment of the popullation in regard to the new political life. It is as foUows: "In my passage from Montréal to Kingston, I understand that the gênerai spirit of the country was against the élection of half-pay officers into the Assembly, and that the préjudice ran in favour of men of a lower order, who kept but one table, that is, who dined in common with their servants. It was by great good fortune that the temporary résidence I made at Kingston created sufficient influence to enable us to bring the Attomey- General, M. White, into the House" (9).

soon, sliowed that they had taken care to study the matter long before the meeting- of the first Législature.

9. At the s-ame time the haibitants of Lo^ve^ Canada voted, as a gênerai rule, for edaioated m.en and also men of substance and well settled. Ont of sixteen elected in Upper Canada, two only had enoiigh of political or other éducation to be

FIEST PAELIA^IEXT OF UPPER CANADA 133

The book and registers containing the records, producings, etc., of the first parliament cannot be found and were never seen after 1796. According to local tradition, Govemor Simcoe sent them to England and the vessel was captured by the French (10). Thèse documents were the property of the province; no one had the right to remove them from there. We are, theref ore, withont information concerning the varions eubjects dealt with by our early legislators, except a few détails, such as the Borland épisode which hâve been handed down in a more or less state of aocuracy.

Ist session 17th September to 15th October 1792

2nd " 31®t May " 9th Jnly 1793

3rd " 2ndJune " 9th Juiy 1794

4th " 6th Jniy " lOth Angust 1795

5th " 16th May " 3rd June 1796

'Colonel John Macdonnell (Speaker) and David William Smith were the onlly two members of this assembly who sat in the second one (1796) and Smith was elected Speaker. In 1800 the province was rearranged to provide for 19 members. In the county of Lincofljn was Newark the capital of TJpper Canada named after the town of Newark in Lincolnehire, East coast of England.

Let us see who were the members of the first Législature named above:

of some use to thiemselves and to tlie commumty : John Macdonell and Francis Baby. Thèse two, with Hugh Macdonell were the only Catholics in the Honse.

10. The Eeports of the Bureau of Archivas for the Province of Ontario (by Alexander Fraser) 1919-10, contain the proceedings of the Législative Assembly of Ijpper Canada for the years 1792, 1793 and 1794 (partly), and of the Législative Council for 1792, 1793 and 1794. There is no record available of the others sessions, See also the Eeport of the Dominion Archives for 1891, by Douglas Brymner.

In GMengarry, the people had sent two brothers. Alexander Maodonnell of Aberchalder, aide-de-caimp to Prince Charles Stuart in 1745, became a captain in the celebrated body of Loyalists raised in New York by Sir John Johnson. Later on his 'Sons John and Hmgh settled along with other Seottish soldiers. In 1796 the Boyal Canadian Volnnteer Eegim'eait of Foot was organized and John was appointed lieutenant^colonel of the 2nd battalion (11). It may be worth calling attention to the fact that the first Speaker of the first Législature of Upper Canada was a Roman Catholic, for at that time such a sélection conld not hâve taken place in the Législature of Nova Scotia. Ile died at Québec and his re- . mains were buried in that city.

ïïis brother Hngh was lieutenant in the same Régiment as his father. When the Royal Canadian Volunteer Régiment was organized he commanded a company under his brother, then was appointed lieut.^colonel of the Grlengari'y Millitia of which John was colonel. Governor Simcoe made him first adjutant-general of Militia in Upper Canada. In 1805 he was appointed assistant commissary-general at Gibraltar and from 1811 to 1820 consu'l-general at Algiers.

Lieutenant Jeremiah French had a large holding of land in Vermont when he enlisted in the corps of Sir John Johnson. He emigrated to Canada and drew lands in Cornwall and in Montagne. His son Benjamin and Dr. St'rachan were marri ed to gisters. Jeremiah French died in 1805.

Alexanider Campbell was présent at the fir&t and second sessions and then left the riding and moved to Montréal.

Ephraim Jones came from a family established at West-

11. This was the first corps raised in Upper Oamada. The first battalion, adds Mr. James, was naised in Lower Ca^ na-da under Lieut.-Colonel de Longueuil and Major Louis de Salaberry.

OU, Mass., in 1666. He settied in Augusta township; was a member of the Land Board for Leeds and Grenvilk; had charge of the Govemment stores, and was known as ^'Commissary Jones''. He married Mis® Coursol, of Montréal, and left a large fanidiy.

John White came ont from England in 1792, probably along with Simcoe, who appointed him Attorney- General. He was' shot in a duel, as I will exp-lain hereafter.

The ancestors of Joshua Booth were English and settled in Orange Connty, New York. At the ontbreak of the Revolutionary War he served as a sergeant on the British side, and later on oarnse to Emestown. During the war of 1812 he took service as captain with his two sons. He died on the battle field, October 31st, 1813.

Hazieton Spencer was bom at East Grenville, Ehode Island, on 29th August, 1757. He joined the Régiment of Sir John Johnson and became lieutenant in the 2nd battalion. Haying settled on a tract of land in Fredericksburg, he was elected member for Lennox and when the Royail Oanadian Volunteer Eegiment was raised got appointed Major. From 1797 to 1803, he was commandant of the garrison at Kingston. He died in February 1813.

Major Peter Vanalstine, of Dutch ancestry, came from near Albany, New York, and spoke English with qnite a foreign accent. After serving with the Hessian troops, he moved to the bay of Prince Edward where he had large holdings of land and started a mill there. He died at Adolphustown in 1811.

Nathaniel Pettit was from Pennsylvania. Part of the family estate was in New York. In Canada he owned the land on which Grimsby now stands. He was commonly known a? Judge Pettit (12).