Louis-Joseph Papineau and John Neilson

“ Petitioners, therefore, would rather resign the representative right altogether, than have the House of Assembly established on such principles, and be told of every Act which we could not accord, that it was their own, through our Representatives, when they might, and frequently would be, under the necessity of choosing persons no other way qualified but that of holding large tracts of wild land, which is itself one of the greatest nuisances in the Province. ”

“ To sum up all, your Petitioners are of opinion, that the different origin of the population of the two Provinces, the difference of their language, habits, manners, customs, and religion, together with their varied interest, will necessarily produce efforts for ascendency, create jealousies, strifes, animosities, and contentious, which may break out in consequence, of an alarming nature, and all without answering one desirable object which Petitioners can foresee, or that may balance against the least of the evils that to Petitioners appear so obvious. ”

“ That the said statute, modelled upon the Constitution of the parent state, by some of the best and wisest of her statesmen, provides sufficient powers for the remedying of abuses, redressing of grievances, allaying discontents, and promoting the general welfare of the Province, without the necessity of those legislative interferences on the part of the supreme Government, which, in similar cases, have been found so pernicious by transforming discontent, purely local and temporary, into dangerous misunderstandings between the Colonies and the Mother Country. ”

“ Clauses 24 & 25 These two clauses have excited much animadversion in Lower Canada. Two languages in common use, is an incumbrance; in many instances it is unavoidable; it was so in England after the Norman Conquest; and the ill-advised measure of those barbarous times proscribing the Saxon tongue met with the fate which it deserved; the language of the majority among a people having intercourse with each other always prevails. ”

“ At the time of the Union between Scotland and England, or Great Britain and Ireland, had the population of England been told that Scotland or Ireland, or both together, were to have a number of Members in the House of Commons equal to that of England, and with such a restriction, it is probable that an alarm fully as great as that which this Bill has excited in Lower Canada, would have prevailed in England. ”

“ That the requisition likewise made upon the Legislature to make permanent provision for the administration of justice and support of the civil government, would at once render the Legislature a nominal and unsubstantial body, and deprive the House of Assembly of the only proper and effectual check necessary to balance the otherwise overwhelming force of the executive power; for Petitioners' short history has taught them that times of plenty are times of profusion ”

“ In cases where changes of their established constitutions are contemplated, it surely cannot be expedient to proceed the almost unanimous and humble Petitions of all ranks and descriptions of men in an avowedly loyal colony.
But in such a case it would at least be necessary for those who propose such changes, to show to the Government and Parliament some very strong grounds for interference, founded in actual evils resulting from the existing Constitutions; instead of alleging contemplated advantages, which woeful experience has proved to be seldom realized. ”

“ That notwithstanding various obstacles and difficulty which the powers and operation of the Constitution, established by the said statute, are gradually removing, the population of the Province has been progressive, in a ratio fully equal to that of the United States of America, without a proportionate increase from emigration; the public revenue has proved nearly sufficient to cover all necessary Colonial expenditure, and Trade and Agriculture, notwithstanding the extraordinary pressure of the present times, have, in the aggregate, greatly improved. ”

“ No calumny, no misrepresentation, has been spared against those who have uniformly walked in the path of honour and of duty, and who, if they were unfortunately torn from that allegiance, which connects them with the British Empire, could not fail to perceive, that as natives and inhabitants of North America, they would partake in its fortunes. ”

“ Every person in the Canadas readily acknowledges, that it is essential to the connexion and welfare of the British Dominions, that the supreme Legislative Authority should exist at the sent of empire, subject to the restrictions which it has itself imposed; the inhabitants of Lower Canada have supported this authority when every other British Colony in North America was in successful rebellion against it. ”

“ These tow Provinces having been separated into different governments for more than thirty years, Petitioners do not believe that two bodies so heterogeneous and discordant in all their parts, as the Legislature of Upper and Lower Canada, must necessarily be, can unite, cement, and become one, so as to render equal advantages to both Provinces, which each has a right to expect from its own separate Legislature; and if any ascendency should be given to the representation of this Province over Lower Canada, Petitioners do not feel entitled to it from their population ”

“ It ought, it is presumed, never to be forgotten that the security of the person and property of the subject depends on the established Constitution of a country, and that the very existence of ideas of sudden and important constitutional changes, particularly without the participation, consent, or even knowledge, of those who are to be chiefly affected thereby, is destructive of their quiet and of the general welfare. ”

“ In Lower Canada it has been considered only as a singular deviation from the principles and practice of the British Constitution, and as conveying a very unjust opinion of the people, or a censure upon the Colonial Government and its officers. There is nothing to prevent executive councillors from being elected into the Assembly of either province, unless that the measures of the Colonial Administration, or the conduct of its officers, should be such, as to render them peculiarly obnoxious to the Electors. ”

“ If a few individuals have petitioned in its favour, it must be recollected, that no person in either colony ever publicly proposed or supported such a measure, or even perceived the evils which they now pretend to exist, and render this measure necessary, till such time as they had notice of the present Bill being before Parliament. If it has received any countenance from unprejudiced and disinterested persons, permanently connected with the Colonies, it is more owing to its being supposed a Government measure, than from their opinion of its merits. ”

“ The English language will unavoidably become the prevailing language of North America, with or without positive enactments. There are probably not ten Members of the present House of Assembly of Lower Canada, who do not understand English; several of them speak English fluently; there is no person of any wealth or station in the Colony who does not cause his children to learn English. It is thus people vary with time, and yield to circumstances ”

“ Every circumstance that has arisen during the period elapsed, has tended to unfold its benefits, by bringing its enactments into practical operation, raising our administration of, and attachment to, a Constitution so well adapted to our feelings, and contributing so largely to our happiness. ”

“ It is probably, indeed, that the spirit of liberality and justice, which, it is well known, distinguishes the majority of the people of Upper Canada, and the common feeling which prevails between them and Lower Canada, in opposition to this Bill, would find means of preventing the excess of injustice which might result from its provisions ”

“ That to withdraw the public records from Upper Canada, or to remove her executive Government, would be attended with the most injurious consequences to the Province in general, and more particularly to the western part of it, inasmuch as emigrants and settlers would be discourage from proceeding to that part of the Province, and the inhabitants must, should such a change take place, sustain great injury and inconvenience from the very great distance they must necessarily travel to transact their public business. ”

“ If local circumstances and institutions permitted a complete re-union of the Provinces, it could only be rendered useful by the seats in the Legislative Council and in the Assembly becoming vacant, and by appointing Legislative Councillors, who would generally attend in their places, who would not be composed almost exclusively of executive Officers, and particularly of the Judges, whose duties, as such, are sufficient in Canada to occupy the whole of their time ”

“ It is an onerous public duty; and it is well known that there is scarcely an individual to be found in any of the North American Colonies, who is not forced to engage in some industrious pursuit for the support of himself and his family; the Members of the Legislature can, therefore, only attend to their legislative duties, in the winter season, when they have some relaxation from their private occupations. In Upper Canada the winter sets in, and the winter travelling is practicable, a month an half later than in Lower Canada ”

“ In fine, a sense of imperious duty must lead us humbly to represent to your Majesty, that were this measure to take place, it would tend to weaken that deep feeling of interest which so powerfully enforces that of gratitude and fidelity with which the people of this Province are impressed towards your Majesty's Government and sacred person. ”

“ Upper Canada has, therefore, an interest in continuing to raise the supplies upon such articles as are still consumed in Lower Canada, and it is natural that each should wish to have as large a proportion of them appropriated to its own local uses, as can be procured. The distribution of a colonial revenue for local objects, within a very limited extent of territory, is always difficult in a colonial legislature ”

“ The existence of the present Constitutions of the two Provinces for nearly thirty years without any misunderstanding with regard to trade and revenue, is the best proof that these differences were not a necessary consequence of the division of the late Province of Quebec. It is neither necessary nor practicable that the inhabitants of countries lying on the same extensive rivers, forming their natural outlet to the sea, should be under the same Government. ”

“ Petitioners, therefore, most earnestly beseech your Honourable House to abstain from placing Petitioners in a situation so perilous, so contrary to their wishes, and (as they fear) so destructive of their best interest; and that your Honourable House would forbear passing the said or nay other Bill of a like nature into a law for uniting the Legislatures of Upper and Lower Canada, at any future Session of the Imperial Parliament. ”

“ The distance at which the Colonies are placed deprives them of all direct participation in the representative branch of the supreme Legislature, and the differences between the state of property, of society, and local circumstances, in Great Britain and the Colonies, render it very difficult for a Legislature, solely constituted in the Mother Country three thousand miles distant, to legislate for the internal affairs of the Colonies with advantage. ”

“ That the legislative business of Upper Canada cannot, without great and unavoidable delays, difficulties, and embarrassments, be carried on at the distance of several hundred miles where the Legislature, if united, must probably meet, from the public records, and the sources of information relative to many of the public affairs of the Province, on which they may be called upon to decide. ”

“ Lawrence a greater population than that of all British America. The present Constitution of the Canadas has, however, provided for the settlement of any differences which accidentally might arise between the two Provinces respecting trade or revenue. It is perhaps to be regretted by both Provinces, that the recent complaints of Upper Canada were not laid before the Legislature of Lower Canada, and that the latter Province had not, as well as the Upper Province, a Commissioner in England to support its interests, before any decision is, however, made, and the law is now in operation ”

“ It has hitherto been the happiness of Canada to find in her own case, that, amongst those interests, the most highly prized has always been the established rights and happiness of every portion of His Majesty's subjects. ”

“ Il faut toujours observer comme une règle constante, que l'Évêque est le collateur ordinaire de tous les bénéfices de son diocèse, à moins qu'on établisse le contraire, ou par des titres précis, ou par une possession constante, qui fait présumer ce titre. ”

“ Resolved, That the present Representatives of the people do not feel themselves justified in expressing the opinion of their constituents on a matter so materially affecting the constitution of the country, having been elected previous to the contemplation of so great a change; and do not feel themselves called upon in their representative capacity to express any opinion, the great body of the people having themselves made known their sense thereon by petitions and remonstrances direct to the foot of the throne, and the Two Houses of the Imperial Parliament. ”