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America, that are under his immediate government, to wit, by a governour, council, and affembly of the freeholders and planters of the fame, and in the mean time, shall enjoy the benefit of the laws of England ;-fourthly, the commiffion of captain-general and governour in chief of the said province under the great feal of Great-Britain, given to major-general Murray in November, 1764, impowering him, amongst other things, to call an affembly of proteftants in the faid province, as foon as he fhall find it practicable, and, with the confent of fuch affembly and of the council of the province, to make laws and ordinances for the benefit of the faid province, but not giving him any power to make any laws, or ordinances, whatsoever by the advice and confent of the council of the province only; and impowering him likewife to collate perfons (proteftant priests, as it is fuppofed) to all the ecclefiaftical benefices in the faid province;and fifthly, the ordinances made by the faid governour of that province, with the confent of the council of the fame only, by virtue of an inftruction for that purpose under the King's fignet and fign manual (purporting to impower him to make rules and regulations in the faid province, by the advice and confent of the council of the faid province only, provided that the said rules and regulations do not tend to affect either the life, or limb, or liberty of the fubject, or to the raifing any duties or taxes) for erecting courts of juftice in the faid province; in which ordinances the chief juftice of the faid province, who is the only judge of the court of King's Bench thereby erected, is directed to determine all matters, criminal and civil, according to the laws of England;

and fixthly, the commiffion of vice-admiral, granted to the faid major-general Murray, whereby all the laws of the English court of admiralty were introduced into the faid province; and feventhly and laftly, the ftatute of the firft of Queen Elizabeth, for restoring to the crown of England the antient jurisdiction over the eftate ecclefiaftical and fpiritual; which prohibits all exercise of the Pope's pretended power and jurisdiction in all the dominions of the crown of England, as well in those that hereafter fhould belong to it, as in those that belonged to it at that time, and confequently in the faid province of Quebec; and fome other acts of parliament both before and fince the conqueft of the faid province, which manifeftly extend to and bind it. All these inftruments are evidently neceffary to be carefully confidered upon this occafion by the members of his Majefty's privy-council; and, if (as there is good reafon to hope it will) this important fubject fhould be brought before the two houses of parliament, to be confidered alfo by the members of those. houses. Now this could not easily be done without the help of fome fuch collection as the prefent: because the above-mentioned instruments are no where else to be found printed together; and many of them are not printed at all in any other book, but lie difperfed in the original manufcripts only, or in the records of the feveral public offices; from which it would be very expensive, and be attended with great delay, to cause a sufficient number of copies for the use of fo many perfons to be transcribed. is therefore hoped that the prefent collection of them will be thought a proper and useful work. It contains, besides the important instruments above-mentioned,

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fome other papers of a public nature, or that have a tendency to explain the present condition of the province of Quebec. Such are the reports concerning the state of the laws in the faid province, and the administration of justice in the fame, in pages 1-48, and 50-56; the plan for the administration of juftice in the faid province, in pages 58-67; the draughts of two intended ordinances concerning the laws and the administration of juftice, the one for continuing the French laws relating to landed property, in pages 6868-70, the other for establishing monthly feffions of the fupreme court of juftice in the faid province, in pages 71-74; the account of the King's iron mines near Three Rivers in the faid province, in pages 207, et feq. and the account of the French duties on wine, rum, and brandy, imported into the faid province before the conqueft of it, and of the trials of the fuits instituted at Quebec for the recovery of those duties for the crown in October, 1766, and July, 1769, in pages 288-311; and a few more papers of the like kind, which, it is hoped, will be found to be of fome ufe towards attaining a right knowledge of the condition of the faid province. But for a more particular account, of the matters comprized in this collection, I must refer the reader to the following table of contents.

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