should be required or demanded for or in respect of any such Grant or License, or any privileges given thereby, under the provisions of the said Act, for the first period of 21 years; and it was further enacted, that from and after the passing of the said Act, the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England trading to Hudson's Bay, and every body corporate and company, and person, to whom every such Grant or License should be made or given as aforesaid, should respectively keep accurate registers of all persons in their employ, in any parts of North America, and should once in each year return to our Principal Secretaries of State accurate duplicates of such registers, and should also enter into such security as should be required by us for the due execution of all criminal processes, and of any civil process in any suit where the matter in dispute shall exceed £200, and as well within the territories included in any such Grant as within those granted by Charter to the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England trading to Hudson's Bay, and for the producing and delivering into safe custody for the purpose of trial, all persons in their employ, or acting under their authority, who should be charged with any criminal offence, and also for the due and faithful observance of all such rules, regulations and stipu lations as should be contained in any such Grant or License, either for gradually diminishing and ultimately preventing the sale or distribution of spirituous liquors to the Indians, or for promoting their moral and religious improvement; or for any other object which we might deem necessary for the remedy or prevention of any other evils which have been hitherto found to exist: And whereas it was also in the said Act recited, that by a Convention entered into between his late Majesty and the United States of America, it was stipulated and agreed, that every country on the north-west coast of America, to the westward of the Stony Mountains should be free and open to the citizens and subjects of the two powers for the term of ten years from the date of the signature of that Convention; and it was therefore enacted, that nothing in the said Act contained should be deemed or construed to authorize any body corporate, company or person to whom His Majesty might, under the provisions of the said Act, make or grant or give a License of exclusive trade with the Indians in such parts of North America as aforesaid, to claim or exercise any such exclusive trade within the limits specified in the said article, to the prejudice or exclusion of any citizens of the said United States of America, who might be engaged in the said trade: Provided always that no British subject should trade with the Indians within such limits without such Grant or License as was by the said Act required.

And whereas the said Governor and Company of Adventurers of England trading into Hudson's Bay, and certain associations of persons trading under the name of the "Northwest Company, of Montreal," have respectively extended the fur trade over many parts of North America, which had not been before explored: And whereas the competition in the said trade has been found for some years past to be productive of great inconvenience and loss, not only to the said Company and associations, but to the said trade in general, and also of great injury to the native Indians, and of other persons our subjects: And whereas the said Governor and Company of Adventurers of England trading into Hudson's Bay, and William M'Gillivray, of Montreal, in the Province of Lower Canada, esquire, Simon M'Gillivray, of Suffolk Lane, in the City of London, merchant, and Edward Ellice, of Spring Gardens, in the County of Middlesex, esquire, have represented to us, that they have entered into an agreement, on the 26th day of March last, for putting an end to the said competition, and carrying on the said trade for 21 years, commencing with the outfit of 1821, and ending with the returns of 1841, to be carried on in the name of the said Governor and Company exclusively;

And whereas the said Governor and Company, and William M'Gillivray, Simon M'Gillivray, and Edward Ellice, have humbly besought us to make a Grant, and give our Royal License to them jointly, of and for the exclusive privilege of trading with the Indians in North America, under the restrictions and upon the terms and conditions specified in the said recited Act: Now KNOW YE, That we, being desirous of encouraging the said trade and remedying the evils which have arisen from the competition which has heretofore existed therein, do grant and give our Royal License under the hand and seal of one of our Principal Secretaries of State, to the said Governor and Company, and William M'Gillivray, Simon M'Gillivray, and Edward Ellice, for the exclusive privilege of trading with the Indians in all such parts of North America to the northward and westward of the lands and territories belonging to the United States of America as shall not form part of any of our pro

vinces in North America, or of any lands or territories belonging to the said United States of America, or to any European government, state or power; and we do by these presents give, grant and secure to the said Governor and Company, William M'Gillivray, Simon M'Gillivray, and Edward Ellice jointly, the sole and exclusive privilege, for the full period of 21 years from the date of this our Grant, of trading with the Indians in all such parts of North America as aforesaid [except as thereinafter excepted]; and we do hereby declare that no rent shall be required or demanded for or in respect of this our Grant and License, or any privileges given thereby, for the said period of 21 years, but that the said Governor and Company, and the said William M'Gillivray, Simon M'Gillivray, and Edward Ellice shall, during the period of this our Grant and License, keep accurate registers of all persons in their employ in any parts of North America, and shall once in each year return to our Secretary of State accurate duplicates of such registers, and shall also enter in and give security to us, our heirs and successors, in the penal sum of £5,000, for ensuring, as far as in them may lie, the due execution of all criminal processes, and of any civil process in any suit where the matter in dispute shall exceed £200, by the officers and persons legally empowered to execute such processes within all the territories included in this our Grant, and for the producing and delivering into safe custody, for purposes of trial, any persons in their employ, or acting under their authority within the said territories, who may be charged with any criminal offence.

And we do also hereby require, that the said Governor and Company, and William M'Gillivray, Simon M'Gillivray, and Edward Ellice shall, as soon as the same shall be conveniently done, make and submit for our consideration and approval such rules and regulations for the management and carrying on the said fur trade with the Indians, and the conduct of the persons employed by them therein, as may appear for us to be effectual for gradually diminishing or ultimately preventing the sale or distribution of spirituous liquors to the Indians, and for promoting their moral and religious improvement.

And we do hereby declare, that nothing in this our Grant contained shall be deemed or construed to authorize the said Governor and Company, or William M'Gillivray, Simon M'Gillivray and Edward Ellice, or any person in their employ, to claim or exercise any trade with the Indians on the north-west coast of America to the westward of the Stony Mountains, to the prejudice or exclusion of any citizens of the United States of America who may be engaged in the said trade: Provided always, that no British subjects other than and except the said Governor and Company, and the said William M'Gillivray, Simon M'Gillivray, and Edward Ellice, and the persons authorized to carry on exclusive trade by them on Grant, shall trade with the Indians within such limits during the period of this our Grant.

Given at our Court at Carlton House, the 5th day of December, 1821, in the second year of our reign. By His Majesty's command,

BATHURST.

V.

Official and Historical Descriptions of Boundaries of Canada.

FRENCH OFFICIAL DESCRIPTIONS.

1598.-The Letters Patent appointing SIEUR DE LA ROCHE, January 12, 1598,* make him Lieutenant-General of "Canada, Hochelaga, Newfoundland, Labrador, the River of the Great Bay, of Norembegue, and the lands adjacent to the said provinces

* Histoire de la Nouvelle France, par Marc L'Escarbot, ed. 1618, p. 408.

and rivers which are the whole length and depth of the country, provided they are not inhabited by the subjects of any other Christian Prince."

1603.-Description in the Commission of SIEUR DE MONTS, November 8, 1603* : -"We constitute and appoint you our Lieutenant-General, to represent our person in the countries, territories, coasts and confines of Acadia: Commencing at the fortieth degree of latitude and extending to the forty-sixth, and within these limits, or such part thereof as it may be possible to penetrate, and therein make known our name and extend our power and authority; and to bring into subjection, submission, and obedience all the people within the said limits and those of the adjoining country."

1605. The description in a declaration of the King on the subject of the Commission of DE MONTS, February 8, 1605, is in different wordst :-" to represent our person on the coasts and in the interior of the limits of Acadia, Canada, and other places in New France, and to colonize the country."

1612.-CHARLES DE BOURBON, Count de Soissons, Peer and Grand Master of France, the King's Lieutenant-General in New France, in virtue of the power which the King had conferred upon him, commissioned Champlain, October 15, 1612. to build forts"not only in Quebec, but in other places where our authority extends, and so far in the interior as he may be able, to establish and make known the name, power and authority of His Majesty, and therein to bring under subjection, submission and obedience, all the people of this and the surrounding country. for this purpose to make

discoveries and explorations in the said territories, especially above the place called Quebec, as far in the interior as he can penetrate, whether overland or by means of the rivers which discharge into the said great river, the St. Lawrence, with the view of attempting to find a practicable road through the said country to China and the East Indies, or taking another route as far as he can penetrate along the coasts or in the interior."

1651.--Provision in favour of SIEUR DE LAUZON, appointing him Governor and Lieutenant of the King, January 17th, 1651, 'over the whole extent of the River St. Lawrence, in New France, the isles and lands adjacent, on both sides of the river and the other rivers that discharge therein, as far as its mouth, taking in ten leagues near to Miscou on the South, and on the north as far as the lands of the said country extend, (du nord, autant s'étendent les terres du dit pays) in the same manner that it was held and exercised by Sieur Daillebout." §

1657.-The extent of the country mentioned in the Commission of Sieur de Lauzon, is repeated in the "Lettres Patentes du Gouverneur de la Nouvelle France," in favour of VICOMTE D'ARGENSON, of 26th January, 1657.

L'Escarbot, p. 419.

+ Ibid, p. 427.

+ Voyages du Sieur Champlain ed. 1830, pp. 307-8.
§ Commissions des Gouverneurs et Intendants, T. II.

1663-Letters Patent appointing SIEUR DE MEZY, Governor, for three years, over "the country traversed by the St. Lawrence, in New France," in the place of Sieur du Bois d'Avangour, recalled by the King on the 1st May, 1663.

1665. The Commission of M. TALON, of March 23, 1665, makes him Intendant of Justice, Police, and Finances, in "Canada, Acadia, Newfoundland, and other countries of Northern France (France Septentrionelle.)" *

1685. The expression, "depuis le Nord du Canada jusques à la Virginie," is used in the Commission of M. LE BARROIS, April 8, 1685, as agent-general for the Compagnie des Indes Occidentales.

1685. The description in the prolongation of the Commission of Governor and Lieutenant-General at Quebec, granted by the King to the SIEUR HUAULT DE MONTMAGNY, of the 6th of June, 1685, makes him Lieutenant-General representing the person of the sovereign at Quebec, "and in the Provinces watered by the St. Lawrence, and the rivers which discharge into it, and the places that depend thereon in New France."

1688. The commission of M. DE BOUTEROUE, April 8, 1688, Intendant, is in the same terms as that of M. Talon, (1665.)

1748. The commission of M. BIGOT, Jauuary 1st, 1748, makes him Intendant of Justice, Police, Finances, and Marine, in "our country of Canada, Louisiana, and in all the lands and islands dependent on New France."

BOUNDARIES BETWEEN NEW FRANCE AND LOUISIANA.

THE CHARTER GRANTED BY LOUIS XIV. TO M. CROZAT, SEPTEMBER, 1712.+

(Extracts.)

We by these presents, signed by our hand, have appointed and do appoint the said Sieur Crozat solely to carry on a trade in all the lands possessed by us and bounded by New Mexico, and by the lands of the English of Carolina, all the establishments, ports, havens, rivers, and principally the port and haven of the Isle Dauphine, heretofore called Massacre; the river of St. Lewis, heretofore called Mississippi, from the edge of the sea as far as the Illinois; together with the River of St. Philip, heretofore called the Missouri, and of St. Jerome, heretofore called Ouabache, with all the countries, territories, lakes within land, and the rivers which fall directly or indirectly into that part of the River St. Lewis.

An evident mistake; it should most probably be L'Amerique Septentrionale.

Edits, Ordonnances Royaux, déclarations et arrêts du Conseil d'Etat du Roi. Desbarats: Quebec, 1803, T. I., p. 328. See also French's Hist. Coll. of Louisiana, part III. p. 39. The Parliament of Paris and the Superior Council of New France were ordered to register this edict.-Crozat, Marquis du Chatel, one of the great financiers of the reign of Louis XIV., from whom he obtained this Charter. He died June 7th, 1738.

I. Our pleasure is, that all the aforesaid Lands, Countries, Streams, Rivers and Islands be and remain under the Government of Louisiana, which shall be dependent upon the General Government of New France, to which it is subordinate; and further, that all the lands which we possess from the Illinois be united, so far as occasion requires, to the General Government of New France, and become part thereof, reserving however to ourselves the liberty of enlarging, as we shall think fit, the extent of the government of the Country of Louisiana.

LETTERS PATENT GRANTED TO THE WESTERN COMPANY, 1717. *

(Extracts.)

II. We grant to the said Company, for the space of twenty-five years, beginning from the day of the registration of the present Letters,† the exclusive right of trading in our Province and Government of Louisiana, and also the privilege of receiving, to the exclusion of all other persons, in our colony of Canada, from the 1st of January, 1718, until and including the last day of December, 1742, all the beaver, fat and dry, which the inhabitants of the said colony shall have traded for, whilst we shall regulate, according to the accounts which shall be sent over to us from the said country, the quantities of the different sorts of beaver, that the company shall be bound to receive each year from the said inhabitants of Canada, and the prices they shall be bound to pay for them.

V. With a view to give the said Western Company the means of forming a firm establishment, and enable it to execute all the speculations it may undertake, we have given, granted and conceded, do give, grant and concede to it, by these present letters, and for ever, the same way and extent as we have granted them to M. Crozat, by our letters patent of 14th September, 1712, to enjoy.the same in full property, seigniory and jurisdiction, keeping to ourselves no other rights or duties, than the fealty and liege homage the said Company shall be bound to pay us, and to the kings our successors at every new reign, with a golden crown of the weight of thirty marks.

X. The said Company shall be at liberty to establish such governors, officers, majors and others as they may think fit to command the troops, and the said governors and major officers shall be presented to us by the directors of the Company, in order that we may deliver to them our commissions.

ILLINOIS ANNEXED TO LOUISIANA, 1717.

(Extract from the Registers of the King's Council of State.)

The King in Council, having under consideration the Letters Patent in form of an edict of the month of August last, establishing a commercial company under the name of the Western Company (Compagnie d'Occident), together with those of the 14th September, 1712, granted to Sieur Crozat, and being of opinion that it would be conducive to the service of the King, and of use and advantage to the Western Company, to extend the Government of the Province of Louisiana, by adding to it the country of the savages, called the Illinois; the report being read and everything considered, His Majesty in Council, on the advice of the Duke of Orleans, his uncle, Regent, has united and incorporated the

* Edt. Ord, etc., T. I. p. 377-8. See also French's Hist. Coll. of Louisiana, p. 50.

The letters were registered by the Parliament of Paris, September 6, 1717, The King issued a mandement, June 19, 1718, ordering the Superior Council of Quebec to register the above Letters Patent. (See Ed. Ord. etc. T. I. p. 387-9.)

Ed. Ord., etc., T. I.,pp. 375-6.

On the 19th June, 1718, the King notified the Marquis de Vaudreuil, Lieutenant-Governor of New France, le Sieur Begon, Intendant, and the officers of the Superior Council at Quebec, to read and publish this arrêt of the Council, and ordered it to be kept and observed according to its form and tenor, notwithstanding any edicts, declarations, arrêts, ordinances, rules, usages, and other things contrary thereto. It was Registered by the Greffier of the Superior Council of Quebec, Oct. 2, 1719.