indeed, were the rule in all the old colonies of England on this continent-even in proprietary governments like that of Maryland. On the other hand, in the French! colony, a legislative system was never enjoyed by the inhabitants. The first government which was established by Samuel Champlain, the founder of Quebec, was invested with large authority. For over half a century, whilst the country was practically under the control of trading corporations, the governor exercised all the powers of civil and military government, necessary for the security and peace of the colony. Though he had the assistance of a council, he was under no obligation whatever to follow its advice, on all occasions. After some years' experience of a system of government which made the early governors almost absolute, Colbert effected an entire change in the administration of colonial affairs. From 1663, the government of Canada was brought more directly under the control of the king, and made more conformable to the requirements of a larger population. But in all essential features the government resembled that of a French province. The governor and intendant were at the head of affairs and reported directly to the king. Of these two high functionaries, the governor

1 Garneau I., 87 (Bell's Translation). The "Instructions" in the early commissions ordered: "And according as affairs occur, you shall, in person, with the advice of prudent and capable persons, prescribe-subject to our good pleasure-all laws, statutes and ordinances; in so far as they may conform to our own, in regard to such things and concernments as are not provided for by these presents."

2 The governor was styled in his commission, "Gouverneur et Lieutenant-Général en Canada, Acadie, Isle de Terre Neuve, et

was the superior in position; he commanded the troops, made treaties with the Indians, and took precedence on all occasions of state. The intendant came next to him in rank, and, by virtue of his large powers, exercised great influence in the colony. He presided at the council, and had control of all expenditures of public money. His commission also empowered him to exercise judicial functions, and in certain cases to issue ordinances having the force of law whenever it might be necessary.1

When the king reorganized the government of Canada, in the month of April 1663, he decreed the establishment of a supreme council at Quebec.2 This body, afterwards called the superior council, consisted of the governor, the bishop, the intendant and five councillors, subsequently increased to seven, and eventually to twelve. This council exercised legislative, executive and judicial powers. It issued decrees for the civil, commercial, and

3

autres pays de la France Septentrionale;" and the intendant, "Intendant de la Justice, Police et Finances en Canada," etc. Doutre et Lareau, Histoire du Droit Canadien I., 130.

1 See Commissions of Intendants in Edits et Ordonnances, III. 2 Edit de création du conseil souverain de Quebec, Ib. I. 37.

3 In 1675, when the king confirmed the decree of 1663 (I. Ib. 83), and revoked the charter of the West India Co., to which exclusive trading privileges had been conceded in 1664. Doutre et Lareau, Histoire du Droit Canadian I., 118, 184.

* In 1703. The councillors were rarely changed, and usually held office for life. They were eventually chosen by the king from the inhabitants of the colony on the recommendation of the governor and intendant. The West India Co. made nominations for some years. The first council, after the edict of 1663, was selected by the governor and bishop, but practically by the latter, Monseigneur Laval. Parkman, pp. 135–6.

financial government of the colony, and gave judgment in civil and criminal causes according to the royal ordinances and the coutume de Paris, besides exercising the function of registration borrowed from the Parliament of Paris. An attorney-general sat in the council, which was also empowered to establish subordinate courts throughout the colony. From the decisions of the intendant or the council there was no appeal except to the king in his council of state. Local governors were appointed at Montreal and Three Rivers, but their authority was very limited; for they were forbidden to fine or imprison any person without obtaining the necessary order from Quebec. Neither the seigneur nor the habitant had practically any voice whatever in the government; and the royal governor called out the militia whenever he saw fit, and placed over it what officers he pleased. Public meetings for any purpose were jealously restricted, even when it was necessary to make parish or market regulations. No semblance of municipal government was allowed in the town and village communities. Provision had been made in the constitution

1

1 Il ne laisse pas d'être de très grande conséquence de ne pas laisser la liberté au peuple de dire son sentiment. (Meules au Ministre, 1685.) Even "meetings held by parishioners under the eye of the curé to estimate the cost of a new church seem to have required a special license from the intendant.” (Parkman, The Old Régime in Canada, p. 280.) "Not merely was the Canadian colonist allowed no voice in the government of his province or the choice of his rulers, but he was not even permitted to associate with his neighbour for the regulation of those municipal affairs which the central authority neglected under the pretext of managing." Lord Durham's R., p. 10.

of 1663 for the election of certain municipal officers called syndics, to note any infraction of public rights in the large communities; but, after a few futile attempts to elect such functionaries, the government threw every obstacle in the way of anything like a municipal system, and the people finally were left without any control whatever over their most trivial local affairs.1 The very social fabric itself rested on feudal principles modified to suit the condition of things in a new country. The habitant held his lands on a tenure which, however favourable to settlement, was based on the acknowledgment of his dependence on the seigneur. But at the same time, the lord of the manor, and the settler on his estate, were on an equal footing to all intents and purposes as respects any real influence in the administration of the public affairs of the colony. The very name of Parliament had to the French colonist none of that significance it had to the Englishman, whether living in the parent state or in its dependencies. The word in French was applied only to a body whose ordinary functions were of a judicial character, and whose very decrees bore the impress continually of royal dictation. In Canada, as in France, absolutism and centralization were the princi

1 Doutre et Lareau, Histoire du Droit Canadien, 138. The regulations of 1647 show that such officers existed in Quebec, Montreal and Three Rivers, but they had ceased to be appointed by 1661. The first elections held in 1663 were allowed to miscarry, and from that time forward, says Garneau, “There was no further question of free municipal government in Canada, so long as French dominion endured, although a nominal syndicate existed for a short time after that now under review." Garneau I., 189-90.

ples on which the government was conducted. The king administered public affairs through the governor and intendant, who reported to him as frequently as it was possible in those times of slow communication between the parent state and the colony.' The country prospered or languished, according as the king was able or disposed to take any interest in its affairs; but even under the most favourable circumstances, it was impossible that Canada could make any decided political or material progress with a system of government which centralized all real authority several thousand miles distant.2

1 "The whole system of administration centred in the king, who, to borrow the formula of his edicts,' in the fullness of our power and our certain knowledge,' was supposed to direct the whole machine, from its highest functions to its pettiest intervention, in private affairs." Parkman, Old Régime, pp. 285–6.

2 For accounts of system of government in Canada till the Conquest, see Garneau I., book iii., chap. iii. Parkman's Old Régime in Canada, chap. xvi. Reports of Attorney-General Thurlow (1773), and Solicitor-General Wedderburne (1772), cited by Christie, I., chap. ii.