Sir Guy Carleton and his First Council

NOTES AND DOCUMENTS SIR GUY CARLETON AND HIS FIRST COUNCIL 1 HE publication in theConstitutional Documents of Carleton's letter to Shelburne, October 26, 1766, the remonstrance of members of the Council to Carleton, and Carleton's reply,•'have probablyleft a totally wrongimpression of the relationsbetween Carleton and his Councilin the openingmonthsof his administration . The custom,established by Murray, of holdingregularweekly councils was roughly broken by Carleton. After the formal sessions of September24, 25, and 26, therewasonly onemeeting until December 1, and it was irregularly constituted. This sessionof October 0 was the cause of the remonstrance, which was followed by a seriousquarrel. The incidentwhichprecipitatedthe troublewasa sortof commercialwar betweentwo groupsof merchants. In 1762,Murray had givenThomasDunn and John Gray a leaseof the King's Domain, or the King's Posts,the most important of which were Tadoussac and Chicoutimi. In 1765, however, other merchants, appealingto the Proclamationof October7, 1768, invaded the preserveof Dunn and Gray. The resultwasconfusion and strife. Shouldthe Proclamation,whichwasgeneral,apply to something sospecialandapart asthe King'sPosts? In 1768,it wasdecided at home that Dunn and Gray shouldbe undisturbedin their lease, and they were given compensationfor the injury they sufferedfrom the operations of independent merchantsin the King's Domain from 1765. Meanwhile the Council in Canada was continually strugglingwith this knotty problem. Before Murray's departure, in defianceof the orders of the Governor and Council, GeorgeAllsoppand someof his friendsproceeded to erect rough buildingsin the IGng's Domain. In 1786,in the • Apart from the Constitutional Documents, edited by Shortt and Doughty, the Canadian Archives Report,1888,andan earliernumberof thisREVIEW,all the references are to documents in the ManuscriptRoomof the CanadianArchives. • 2nd ed., pp. 12711-270. 821 322 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW interval between the departure of Murray and the arrival of Carleton, the matter was discussedin council presidedover by Lieutenant-ColonelIrving, who wasin chargeof the government'. On August 8, the Council orderedthe removal of the buildings, by forceif necessary. • This action of the Councilwas unassailable . If the Proclamationdid not apply to the disputedterritory, Allsoppandhisfollowers wereclearlywrong. On the otherhand, if it did apply, they were just as much in the wrong, for the Proclamation forbade any buildings on the lands reserved for the Indians. Here the matter stood when Carleton landed. As soonasCarleton had taken over the government,the independentmerchantsappealedto him againstthe decreeof August8. What did Carleton do? Did he summon the whole Council, and lay the matter beforethem for a full discussion?No, but through Cramah•, his private secretary,he calledtogetherhalf of the Council,and with this half proceeded to business. •' The record of this meetingwas entered in the councilbook as the minutes of an ordinary councilmeetingduly signedby Carleton. This truncatedCouncilsuspended the just order of the full Council of August 8, and appointed themselves,minus the lieutenantgovernor ,a committeeto investigatethe wholeproblem. Such was the meeting of October 9, 17667 What of the other half of the Council? One of these was Dunn, and his absenceis not surprising. But the other four, Adam Mabane, Walter Murray, Francis Mounier, and James Cuthbert, were not interested parties. Naturally they were greatly alarmedby their exclusionfrom this first meetingfor regular business, a meetingwherea seriousdecisionhad been taken. Two rumours now heightened their alarm. One was that a mandamus fromthe King gaveprecedence in the Council. None of thesegentlemenhad a mandamus. The other rumour wasstill moreserious. It wasspreadby EleazarLevy, who had been at outs with Murray, but was now in with Carleton and Mas•res, and was to the effect that thesefour were to be left off the Council permanently.4 • QuebecLegislativeCouncil, B, Part II, p. 200. "Shelburne MSS.,Vol. 0-i,p. 115,1Vrabane to Murray,Oct.21, 1700;Q. 7, p. 202, Memorial of IrvingandMabane,in Irvingto Hillsborough, Oct. 1, 1770. Cramah• hadby thistimedeserted hismuchabused friend,Governor Murray. 8Que. Leg. Coun., B, Part II, pp. 282, 283. 4Q.7, p. 220,MemorialCit.; Shelburne MSS., Vol. 04, p. 112, Copy of a Lette fromQuebec, Sept.30,1700. Thisunsigned letterisundoubtedly by Maseres. The NOTES AND DOCUMENTS 323 But how did Irving become associated with this nervous quartet in the remonstrance? It occurred quite naturally. He was their friend, and they appealed to him. As the officer who had just turned over to Carleton the responsibility of government...