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Title: Letter to Sir Joseph Banks,
   (President of the Royal Society of Great Britain)
   written by Lieut.-Governor Simcoe, in 1791,
   prior to his departure from England for the purpose
   of organizing the new province of Upper Canada;
   to which is added five official speeches delivered by him
   at the opening or closing of Parliament in the same province
Author: Simcoe, John Graves (1752-1806)
Editor: Scadding, Henry (1813-1901)
Date of first publication: 1890
Edition used as base for this ebook:
   Toronto: Copp Clark, 1890
Date first posted: 8 December 2009
Date last updated: 8 December 2009
Project Gutenberg Canada ebook #428

This ebook was produced by:
David T. Jones
& the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
at http://www.pgdpcanada.net

This file was produced from images generously made available
by the Internet Archive




LETTER

TO

SIR JOSEPH BANKS,

(PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF GREAT BRITAIN)


WRITTEN BY

LIEUT.-GOVERNOR SIMCOE, IN 1791,

PRIOR TO HIS DEPARTURE FROM ENGLAND FOR THE PURPOSE OF ORGANIZING THE NEW PROVINCE
OF UPPER CANADA; TO WHICH IS ADDED FIVE OFFICIAL SPEECHES DELIVERED BY HIM
AT THE OPENING OR CLOSING OF PARLIAMENT IN THE SAME PROVINCE,
WITH A PREFATORY NOTICE BY THE REV. DR. SCADDING.

=For Private Circulation=.


TORONTO:

THE COPP, CLARK COMPANY, LIMITED, PRINTERS.

1890.




LETTER

TO

SIR JOSEPH BANKS,

(PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF GREAT BRITAIN)


WRITTEN BY

LIEUT.-GOVERNOR SIMCOE, IN 1791,

PRIOR TO HIS DEPARTURE FROM ENGLAND FOR THE PURPOSE OF ORGANIZING THE NEW PROVINCE
OF UPPER CANADA; TO WHICH IS ADDED FIVE OFFICIAL SPEECHES DELIVERED BY HIM
AT THE OPENING OR CLOSING OF PARLIAMENT IN THE SAME PROVINCE,
WITH A PREFATORY NOTICE BY THE REV. DR. SCADDING.

=For Private Circulation=.


TORONTO:

THE COPP, CLARK COMPANY, LIMITED, PRINTERS.

1890.




PREFATORY NOTICE.


The accompanying letter is printed from a manuscript copy furnished to
me many years ago by a member of the Simcoe family in Devonshire; it
was written by Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe immediately after his
appointment to the new Province of Upper Canada in 1791, and before
his departure from England to undertake the duties of his
governorship. He addressed it to Sir Joseph Banks, the then President
of the Royal Society of Great Britain, in an informal and confidential
manner, setting forth his own views in regard to what should be done
by the introducer of the British Constitution and British habits of
thought--into a region up to the moment of writing, an unbroken forest
and a wilderness of lakes and rivers, frequented almost exclusively by
the red Indian; asking for the ideas of that very eminent and
intelligent scientist on the subject.

In the Parliamentary Library at Ottawa, many Simcoe papers are
preserved, copied at the expense of the Canadian Government from the
family archives in England, but this letter to Sir Joseph Banks does
not appear amongst them, and I have preserved it with all the more
care as it admits us to a view of the very first movements in several
great and philanthropic minds, towards the establishment on the soil
of North America of a new province on principles more enlightened and
more constitutional in a political sense than any province that had
been previously organized. From time to time I have elsewhere made use
of portions of its contents. Rather curiously in a catalogue of
autograph historical documents offered for sale by Mr. John Waller, in
London, only a few months since, the original of this letter was named
and described among innumerable other manuscripts from the library of
Sir Joseph Banks, just broken up and dispersed. I endeavored to secure
it, but failed. Mr. Waller could not remember to whom he had sold it.

The newly appointed governor's words in this letter respecting the
Great Peninsula Region, surrounded by the Lakes Ontario, Erie, and
Huron, have proved prophetic. From _a priori_ considerations he
asserted of it at this early period that, "it was destined by nature
sooner or later to govern the interior world." He had evidently been
examining his maps to some purpose, such maps as could then be
procured of this portion of North America.

As a scholarly man, Governor Simcoe had probably often dwelt upon the
ideal commonwealths of Plato and Bacon, and consequently he would be
pleasantly excited at being called on to undertake the inauguration of
a community of a somewhat similar description. He showed himself,
however, sufficiently practical, proceeding as he did to base all his
plans upon the well-tried constitution of England.

He felt deeply the loss to the Empire of the thirteen American
colonies, a sentiment natural enough in a soldier, who had taken an
active part in the endeavors to prevent that catastrophy. He
apparently considered that England had undergone a humiliation in the
rending asunder of her Empire on the continent of North America. But
how different after the lapse of a few years do such events appear.

That rupture was in reality no humiliation, but was destined to
redound to the glory of England. The severance was not affected
through the act of a foreign foe; it was the result of a dispute among
the sons of the Great British Household, and a new nation was called
thereby into being. As long as freedom of will and freedom of action
are permitted to rational beings it is to be expected that an
evolution of new communities will take place from time to time
somewhat in this way.

At the time of writing his letter to Sir Joseph Banks, the new
Governor seems to have been under the impression that the lost
colonies would be recovered, the people themselves becoming
dissatisfied with their new situation. To help forward such an event
he purposed to establish in the new province of Upper Canada a
political state of things which should contrast strongly with a
republican constitution. In order to accomplish the noble object in
view he was ready to undergo a species of banishment, as he expresses
it, that is to say, an exile for a term of years from England and
pleasant Devonshire, where his home and ample estates were situated.
_Non sibi sed patri_--"Not for himself, but for his country," was the
motto worthily appended to the coat-of-arms of his family.

He hoped to win back the revolted colonies by the sheer attraction of
a better government. He seems to have expected that by a voluntary act
on the part of the people of the United States, a return might take
place to the protection and rule of the Mother Country.

All this seems to be implied in the expression, _Volentes in Populos_,
a partial reminiscence of Virgil's "_Volente per Populos in Georgics
IX_," where the poet boasts of Caesar's dispensing law throughout the
willing nations on the banks of the far Euphrates.

Latin was in the air in those days, apt expressions in that language
were constantly coming to the lips of statesmen. Another instance of
this is to be found in the motto placed on the Public Seal of the
Province of Upper Canada itself: "_Imperii porrecta magestas, custode
rerum Cesare,_--"The greatness of the Empire extended, under the
guardianship of Caesar."

The advance of the British system into a region previously unoccupied
by the organization of a new province seems to be glanced at. Horace
is here laid under contribution. See Ode 15, Book IV. The legend on
the Seal for the Lower Province was, _Ab ipso ducit opes animunque
ferro--_"From the sword itself come fresh sources of public wealth and
vigour." This is from Horace's 4th Book, IV Ode. On the seal is seen
the rock of Quebec, surmounted by the British flag; below is a forest
of masts; in the foreground a sturdy oak tree, putting forth branches
apparently in the direction of the fortress--imagery foreshadowing new
developments of British "Ships, Colonies, and Commerce" on the Western
Continent. There is a classical ring also in the reference to himself
as a Romulus about to engage in the foundation of a great state. The
name also of Georgina, which he proposed to affix to the capitol city
of his new state has likewise a classical sound. Some such word as
_Pollis_ or _Civitas_ being understood, being formed from Georgias,
the name of the reigning king, somewhat as the local name Carolina was
formed from Carolus, Charles also a reigning king. Had the name
Georgina been actually applied to the town contemplated, it would
probably have continued in use to this day, and although somewhat
peculiar in form, it would have been at this time as familiar to us as
Regina in the North West, which has become a now household word; but
unhappily the name finally adopted for this city was London, giving
rise in after times to innumerable ambiguities, and destined yet
probably to be exchanged for the more definite appellation of
Tecumseh. (The proposed Georgina has been curiously preserved to this
day in the name of a Township on Lake Simcoe, the Township of
Georgina.)

Governor Simcoe, in his letter to Sir Joseph Banks, throws a clear
understanding of the real state of feeling existing in the minds of
many citizens in the newly-formed United States. This arose from his
intercourse with colonists of New England, Pennsylvania and Virginia
during his lengthened presence there as a military commander in the
war of the Revolution. The project of making a portion of the
legislative body hereditary in the new Province of Upper Canada was
probably not so much his own as that of Pitt, who in the debate on the
Constitutional Act of 1791, had suggested such an arrangement
regardless of the grave inconveniences likely to follow. Happily this
idea was never carried into effect. (It was expected possibly also to
be a kind of counterpoise to a certain grade of noblesse already
existing in Lower Canada.)

Many years had to elapse before the Society for the Promotion of
Science, similar to that over which Sir Joseph Banks presided which
entered into the governor's plans, could be established. The idea was
ultimately realized in our Canadian Institute, founded in 1849,
incorporated in 1851; and as for the college contemplated, a delay of
nearly fifty years was destined to take place, when the intention was
grandly fulfilled by the institution of King's College, 1842,
transformed now into the noble University of Toronto. A good beginning
was made in regard to schools of a superior class as preparatory to a
university in 1806, by the establishment of four Royal Grammar Schools
at Kingston, Niagara, Cornwall, and Sandwich, respectively. As for
schools of a humbler class they were for the most part left to the
enterprise of private individuals, and were quite inadequate to the
wants of the population until our present world-wide public school
system came into operation, also in 1842. The Public Library which the
new governor hoped to see founded actually came into existence on a
very small scale in his own time, in connection apparently with his
parliament. It included, as is shown by a brief contemporary
catalogue, the encyclopedia suggested by the Marquis of Buckingham.

The expected bishop of whom Governor Simcoe speaks proved to be the
Rev. Dr. Mountain, previously rector of Buckden in Huntingdonshire,
and Holbeach, in Lincolnshire, he was appointed in 1793 to superintend
the spiritual interests of both the new provinces, with the title of
Anglican Bishop of Quebec. The high legal functionary with whom the
province was to be provided was Chief Justice William Osgoode, from
whom the well known Osgoode Hall, of Toronto, has its name.

The young surgeon to whom he alludes of scientific proclivities as
about to be attached to the governor's household and suite was Doctor
Macaulay, eventually father of Chief Justice Sir James Macaulay, and
the distinguished engineer officer, Lieutenant-Colonel John Simcoe
Macaulay.

The letter to Sir Joseph Banks shows the newly appointed Governor of
Upper Canada to have been a lover of the arts and sciences, a man of
letters anxious to establish systems of education adapted to every
class among the people committed to his charge: favoring the study of
Botany with a view to the introduction of plants of an economic value;
flax and hemp, for example, he probably suggests as being likely to
render the empire less indebted to Russia and other countries for the
cordage and canvas required for the equipment of its ships. The five
official speeches which follow, the only ones at this time
recoverable, delivered at the opening or closing of parliament,
present him to us in another aspect. He is no longer enjoying the task
imposed, simply as a thing in prospect, but now we see him in the
midst of his work. With the hand of a wise master builder he is laying
the foundation of a state.

The terrible French revolution which was convulsing all Europe at the
period had deepened in his mind, as it had also done in that of Edmund
Burke and many others, the conviction that Christianity and its
precepts afforded the only true guarantees for the stability and
happiness of human society. He guided himself accordingly; and the
whole Anglo-Canadian nation extending now from the Atlantic to the
Pacific feels to this day the moulding effect of measures suggested by
Governor Simcoe and enacted under his eye into laws in Upper Canada
during his ever memorable administration of that normal province, now
the Province of Ontario, from 1791 to 1796.

As in the case of the journal of Major Littlehales, reprinted by me a
few years since in pamphlet form, the purport of the present
collection also is to suggest the propriety of the erection of a
public monument to the memory of the first organizer of the Province
of Upper Canada, and to point out as a fitting site for such monument
the ground in front of the main entrance to the new Parliament
Buildings now erecting in Toronto.




LETTER TO SIR JOSEPH BANKS, Etc.


     SIR,--I was much disappointed that the variety of
     business in which my good friend Sir George Yonge was
     engaged, and my own avocations, prevented me from
     having the honour of being introduced to you, as soon
     as it was generally made known that I was to be
     appointed to the Government in Upper Canada. But, sir,
     as it is possible that I may be hurried off, without
     having much time to spare, in endeavoring to procure in
     person such advantages for the community I am to
     superintend, as must necessarily result from the great
     encouragement this nation under His Majesty's auspices,
     affords to those arts and sciences which at once
     support and embellish our country. I am emboldened by
     letter to solicit that assistance from you, and on
     those subjects which I venture to point out,
     preparatory to my return to London, when I shall hope
     to have the honour of frequent communication with you,
     and to avail myself of your ideas and patronage.

     The liberality of your character, the high station you
     fill and the public principles which I apprehend that
     you entertain, leave upon my mind no hesitation in
     communicating to you _confidentially_, my views, and
     the object which irresistibly impels me to undertake
     this species of banishment, in hopes that you will see
     its magnitude and in consequence afford your utmost
     support to the undertaking.

     I am one of those who know all the consequence of our
     late American dominions, and do not attempt to hide
     from myself the impending calamity in case of future
     war, because neither in council nor in the field did I
     contribute to their dismemberment. I would die by more
     than Indian torture to restore my King and his family
     to their just inheritance and to give my country that
     fair and natural accession of power which an union with
     their brethren could not fail to bestow and render
     permanent. Though a soldier, it is not by arms that I
     hope for this result; it is _volentes in populos_ only,
     that such a renewal of empire can be desirable to His
     Majesty--and I think even now, though (I hold that the
     last supine five years and every hour that the
     Government is deferred detracts from our fair hopes)
     even now, this event may take place.

     I mean to prepare for whatever convulsions may happen
     in the United States; and the method I propose is by
     establishing a free, honourable British Government, and
     a pure administration of its laws, which shall hold out
     to the solitary emigrant, and to the several states,
     advantages that the present form of Government doth not
     and cannot permit them to enjoy. There are inherent
     defects in the congressional form of Government, the
     absolute prohibition of any order of nobility is a
     glaring one. The true New England Americans have as
     strong an aristocratical spirit as is to be found in
     Great Britain; nor are they anti-monarchical. I hope to
     have a hereditary council with some mark of nobility.

     For the purpose of commerce, union, and power, I
     propose that the site of the colony should be in that
     Great Peninsula between the Lakes Huron, Erie, and
     Ontario, a spot destined by nature, sooner or later, to
     govern the interior world.

     I mean to establish a capital in the very heart of the
     country, upon the River La Tranche, which is navigable
     for batteauxs for 150 miles--and near to where the
     Grand River which falls into Erie, and others that
     communicate with Huron and Ontario, almost interlock.
     The capital I mean to call Georgina--and aim to settle
     in its vicinity Loyalists who are now in Connecticut,
     provided that Government approve of the system.

     I am to have a Bishop, an English Chief Justice,
     etc.--This, sir, is the outline of my plan, and I trust
     it will force its way, notwithstanding what
     circumscribed men and self-interested monopolists may
     allege against it. It must stand on its own ground, for
     my extensive views are not what this country is yet
     prepared for, though the New England Provinces are by
     no means averse to them and they are the strength of
     America.

     Now, sir, not to trespass on your time, you will see
     how highly important it will be, that this colony,
     (which I mean to show forth with all the advantages of
     British protection as a better Government than the
     United States can possibly obtain) should in its very
     foundations provide for every assistance that can
     possibly be procured for the arts and sciences, and for
     every embellishment that hereafter may decorate and
     attract notice, and may point it out to the
     neighbouring States as a superior, more happy, and
     more polished form of Government. I would not in its
     infancy have a hut, nor in its maturity, a palace built
     without this design.

     My friend, the Marquis of Buckingham, has suggested
     that Government ought to allow me a sum of money to be
     laid out for a Public Library, to be composed of such
     books as might be useful to the colony. He instanced
     the encyclopedia, extracts from which might
     occasionally be published in the newspapers. It is
     possible private donations might be obtained, and that
     it would become an object of Royal munificence.

     If any Botanical arrangement could take place, I
     conceive it might be highly useful, and might lead to
     the introduction of some commodities in that country
     which Great Britain now procures from other nations.
     Hemp and flax should be encouraged by Romulus. In the
     literary way I should be glad to lay the foundation
     stone of some society that I trust might hereafter
     conduce to the extension of science. Schools have been
     shamefully neglected--a college of a higher class would
     be eminently useful, and would give a tone of
     principles and of manners that would be of infinite
     support to Government.

     Sir George Yonge has promised me my old surgeon--a
     young man attached to his profession, and of that
     docile, patient and industrious turn, not without
     inquisitiveness, that will willingly direct itself to
     any pursuit which may be recommended as the object of
     enquiry.

     I am sure, sir, of your full pardon for what I now
     offer to you from the design with which it is written,
     and I am anxious to profit from your enlarged ideas. I
     shall therefore beg leave to wait upon you when I
     return to London.

         I am sir, with the utmost respect,
             Your most obedient and faithful,
                 J. G. SIMCOE.

SIR JOSEPH BANKS, BART,
_President of the Royal Society_.

January 8th, 1791.




OFFICIAL SPEECHES.


I.

AT THE OPENING OF THE FIRST SESSION OF THE FIRST PARLIAMENT
OF UPPER CANADA, SEPTEMBER 18TH, 1792.

_Honourable Gentlemen of the Legislative Council, and Gentlemen of the
House of Assembly_.

I have summoned you together, under the authority of an Act of the
Parliament of Great Britain, passed last year, which has established
the British Constitution, and all the forms which secure and maintain
it, in this distant country.

The wisdom and beneficence of our most gracious Sovereign and the
British Parliament have been eminently proved, not only in imparting
to us the same form of government, but also in securing the benefit by
the many provisions that guard this memorable act: so that the
blessings of our invaluable constitution thus protected and amplified,
we may hope, will be extended to the remotest posterity.

The great and momentous trusts and duties which have been committed to
the representatives of this province, in a degree infinitely beyond
whatever, till this period, have distinguished any other colony have
originated from the British nation, upon a just consideration of the
energy and hazard with which its inhabitants have so conspicuously
supported and defended the British Constitution.

It is from the same patriotism you are now called upon to exercise,
with due deliberation and foresight, the various offices of civil
administration, that your fellow subjects of the British Empire expect
the foundations of that union of industry and wealth, of commerce and
power, which may last through all succeeding ages.

The natural advantages of the Province of Upper Canada are inferior to
none on this side of the Atlantic; there can be no separate interest
through its whole extent. The British form of government has prepared
the way for its speedy colonization, and I trust that your fostering
care will improve the favorable situation; and that a numerous and
agricultural people will speedily take possession of the soil and
climate, which under the British Laws, and the munificence with which
his Majesty has granted the lands of the Crown, offer such manifest
and peculiar encouragement.


II.

AT THE CLOSING OF THE FIRST SESSION OF THE FIRST PARLIAMENT OF UPPER
CANADA, OCTOBER 15TH, 1792.

_Honourable Gentlemen of the Legislative Council, and Gentlemen of the
House of Assembly._

It is with great satisfaction that I have considered the acts which
you have found it expedient to frame and to which in consequence of
the power delegated to me, have this day given my assent, that they
shall become laws of the Province of Upper Canada.

As the division which his Majesty, in his wisdom, thought proper to
make of the late Province of Quebec obviated all inconveniencies, and
laid the foundation for an establishment of the English laws in the
province, it is natural to presume that you would seize the first
opportunity to impart that benefit to your fellow subjects, and by the
act to establish trial by jury, and by that which makes the English
law the rule of decision, in all matters of controversy, relative to
property and civil rights, you have fully justified the public
expectation. Your other acts seem calculated to promote the general
welfare and convenience of the province.

His Majesty in his benevolence, having directed a seventh from such
lands as shall be granted to be reserved to the Crown for the public
benefit, it will become my duty to take those measures which shall
appear to be necessary to fulfil his Majesty's gracious intentions;
and I make no doubt, but as citizens and magistrates, you will give
every assistance in your power to carry into full effect a system from
which the public and posterity must derive such peculiar advantages.

_Honourable Gentlemen and Gentlemen._

I cannot dismiss you without earnestly desiring you to promote by
precept and example, among your respective counties, the regular
habits of piety and morality, the surest foundations of all private
and public felicity; and at this juncture, I particularly recommend to
you to explain, that this province is singularly blest, not with a
mutilated constitution, but with a constitution which has stood the
test of experience, and is the very image and transcript of that of
Great Britain; by which she has long established and secured to her
subjects as much freedom and happiness as is possible to be enjoyed
under the subordination necessary to civilized society.

III.

AT THE OPENING OF THE SECOND SESSION OF THE FIRST PARLIAMENT OF UPPER
CANADA, MAY 31ST, 1793.

_Honourable Gentlemen of the Legislative Council, and Gentlemen of the
House of Assembly._

The persons who at present exercise the supreme authority in France
having declared war against his Majesty, I think it proper to
recommend to your early attention the new modelling of a Militia Bill,
which the more urgent business of the last session prevented you from
accomplishing.

I have the firmest reliance that it will be framed in a manner
suitable to the principles of the British Constitution so as to unite
the interest and convenience of individuals with an establishment
necessary to the public protection.

It is with great satisfaction I am able to communicate to you that the
insidious attempts of those who envy the prosperity of the British
nation, or are avowedly disaffected to the principles of its
Constitution, have been completely counteracted and defeated by the
wisdom of his Majesty's counsels, and by the affectionate attachment
and spirited resolves of all ranks and descriptions of his Majesty's
subjects; and it is manifest that upon this important occasion Britons
have acted with that unanimity and loyalty which might be expected
from men who know how to estimate the vain assumptions of innovators,
and from the virtue, the wisdom, the struggles and experiences of
their ancestors inherit those civil and religious blessings which are
derived under a free constitution, equally abhorrent of absolute
monarchy, arbitrary aristocracy, or tyrannical democracy.

The principles on which those who exercise authority over the French
nation support the war which they have so unjustly begun against his
Majesty's allies cannot fail to call to your recollection how often it
has been necessary for Great Britain to stand forth as the protector
of the liberties of mankind, and we may entertain a pious confidence
that under the guidance of the Almighty Giver of all victory, his
Majesty's arms directed to the security of his allies, will ultimately
be crowned with success, and that it will be the felicity of the
British Empire to maintain the independence of Europe against all
modern aggressions upon those equitable principles which our ancestors
so wisely contributed to establish.

I am happy to congratulate you upon the success which has attended his
Majesty's arms in the protection of his allies in the East Indies, and
I am sure you will readily concur in the observation that a war which
has been carried on with consummate vigour and ability under the
conduct of Marquis Cornwallis, so prosperous and decisive in its
events should be terminated with such justice and moderation is a
fresh proof to the universe of that magnanimity which has so long
characterized the British nation.

_Honourable Gentlemen and Gentlemen._

I have to recommend to you to proceed in that laudable course of
unanimity with which you have begun your legislative functions, and to
continue all your consultations to advance the interests and happiness
of this colony by making those provisions for the due support of
public justice, for the encouragement of morality, and the punishment
of crime, which are necessary to the existence of society.

In all these measures that may promote the real welfare of his
Majesty's subjects in this country, which may tend to the most
intimate union with every part of the British Empire, you cannot fail
of meeting with his Majesty's paternal and beneficent approbation, and
you may be assured that my best endeavors will always be exerted to
forward the public prosperity, not only from the duty which I owe to
the King, but from the most sincere attachment which I bear to the
inhabitants of this province.


IV.

AT THE CLOSING OF THE SECOND SESSION OF THE FIRST PARLIAMENT OF UPPER
CANADA, JULY 9TH, 1793.

_Honourable Gentlemen of the Legislative Council, and Gentlemen of the
House of Assembly._

It gives me great satisfaction that by your unremitting diligence the
public business of the session has been so far transacted that I am
enabled to consult your personal convenience and to dismiss you at an
early period to your respective residences.

It is with pleasure I perceive that agreeably to my recommendation you
have modelled a Militia Bill, and have provided such salutary laws as
are suitable to the present condition of the Province.

The act for the gradual abolition of slavery in this colony which it
has been thought expedient to frame, in no respect meets from me a
more cheerful concurrence than in that provision which repeals the
power heretofore held by the Executive Branch of the Constitution and
precludes it from giving sanction to the importation of slaves; and I
cannot but anticipate with singular pleasure that such persons as may
be in that unhappy condition which sound policy and humanity unite to
condemn, added to their own protection from all undue severity by the
law of the land, may henceforth look forward with certainty to the
emancipation of their offspring.

_Honourable Gentlemen and Gentlemen._

Should the necessity of any further provision or amendments of the
ordinances of the late Province of Quebec attract your notice during
the recess, I doubt not but in the next session by carrying such
improvements into execution you will exemplify that distinguished
excellence in the British Constitution of which we daily experience
the benefit and which has been transmitted to us by our ancestors as
the firmest security of the public prosperity.


V.

AT THE CLOSING OF THE FIFTH SESSION OF THE FIRST PARLIAMENT OF UPPER
CANADA, 1796.

_Honourable Gentlemen of the Legislative Council, and Gentlemen of the
House of Assembly._

The public business of the session being brought to a conclusion, it
is with pleasure I consider your proceedings therein have been marked
with the same attention to the welfare of the province which has
distinguished your conduct throughout the whole of this, the first
Provincial Parliament of Upper Canada; and which draws near to its
termination agreeably to the law.

It is not possible for me, without emotion, to contemplate that we
will have been called upon to execute the most important trust that
can be delegated by the King and British Parliament during a period of
awful and stupendous events, which still agitate the greater part of
mankind, and which have threatened to involve all that is valuable in
civil society in one promiscuous ruin. However remote we may have been
happily placed from the scene of these events, we have not been
without their influence; but by the blessing of God, it has only been
sufficient to prove that this province, founded upon the rock of
loyalty, demonstrates one common spirit in the defence of their King
and their country.

In the civil provisions for the establishment and maintenance of our
Constitution, and the benefits flowing therefrom, we shall, I trust,
always recollect with great satisfaction, that we have been actuated
and guided by a fair and upright desire to lay the foundation of
private right and public prosperity.

I humbly believe that his Majesty, the Father of his people, and the
beneficent founder of this loyal province, will accept our endeavours
to perpetuate these blessings, which it is his wish should attend his
faithful subjects and their remotest posterity.

_Honourable Gentlemen and Gentlemen._

It is our immediate duty to recommend our public acts to our fellow
subjects by the efficiency of our private example; and to contribute
in this tract of the British Empire, to form a nation, obedient to the
laws, frugal, temperate, industrious;--impressed with a steadfast love
of justice, of honour, of public good; with unshaken probity and
fortitude amongst men, with Christian piety and gratitude to God.

Conscious of the intention of well-doing, I shall ever cherish, with
reverence and humble acknowledgment, the remembrance that it is my
singular happiness to have borne to this province the powers, the
privileges, the principles and the practice of the British
Constitution; this perpetual monument of the good will of the Empire,
the reward of tried affection and loyalty, can best fulfil the just
end of all government, as the experience of ages hath proved by
communicating universally, protection and prosperity, to those who
make a rightful use of its advantages.

    *    *    *    *    *

It will be interesting to the Canadian people to have on record the
two following inscriptions, taken from memorial tablets in England:--

          (_Inscription in Exeter Cathedral, Devon._)

                  Sacred to the memory of
                    JOHN GRAVES SIMCOE,
               Lieutenant-General in the Army,
           And Colonel of the 22nd Regiment of Foot,
           Who died on the 26th day of October, 1806,
                          Aged 54.
    In whose life and character the virtues of the Hero, the
    Patriot, and the Christian were so eminently conspicuous,
              that it may justly be said he served
              his King and his country with a zeal
                  exceeded only by his piety
                       towards his God.

This inscription is surmounted by a medallion of the General in high
relief; and on the left and right, respectively, are full length figures
of a soldier in the uniform of the Queen's Rangers, and of a North
American Indian in native costume holding a tomahawk in his right
hand.

On the exterior wall of a private chapel at Wolford, the family
residence of General Simcoe:--

                   Sacred to the memory of
              LIEUT.-GENERAL JOHN GRAVES SIMCOE,
                 Who died October 26th, 1806,
                           Aged 54.

 His mortal remains were buried at the foot of this stone six
    years after he had erected this chapel to the glory of
         God, and the manifestation of the purpose in
                 which he lived and died.

As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.--_Joshua_, xxiv, v. 15.
                 He left a widow and nine
                    children to lament
                        his loss.

This private chapel at Wolford is referred to in the following letter
addressed by General Simcoe to the clergyman of the parish, on the
subject of celebrating his fiftieth birthday:--

     DEAR SIR,--On the 22nd of this month I shall have lived
     half a century; you will, therefore, much oblige me if
     you will spend the day with me and will celebrate
     Divine service at 12 o'clock in our chapel. I should
     esteem it as a favor if you would take for your text,
     "Remember your Creator in the days of your youth,"
     etc.,--the advantages of being a Christian, of having
     been educated by a most pious and excellent mother, (my
     father dying whilst I was yet an infant, in the service
     of his country), assisted by the companions of my
     father's youth, and the protectors of my own--the
     advantages of being an Englishman, and of that church
     where Christianity is administered in its parent
     form--the advantages of being a member of that
     Government where laws are most _equal_, and I wish them
     to be recommended to my children: there is a text in
     Leviticus, I believe, that particularly enforces purity
     of heart to those who aspire to military command; as
     mine in all views is a military family, it may not be
     amiss in a more especial manner to inculcate the
     remembrance of the Creator to those who shall engage in
     the solemn duties of protecting their country, at these
     times, from foreign usurpation.

                        I am, truly yours,
                                             J. G. S.

  Feb. 14th, 1801.

    *    *    *    *    *

In accordance with the anticipation expressed in this note, the
General's eldest son became an officer in the army; a very brief
career, however, as will be gathered from the following inscription on
the south wall of the private chapel already spoken of:--

                   Sacred to the memory of
                   FRANCIS GWILLIM SIMCOE,
           Lieutenant in the 27th Regiment of Foot,
                        Eldest son of
              Lieut.-General John Graves Simcoe,
                   And Elizabeth, his wife.
                            Born
                     At Wolford Lodge,
         Fell in the breach at the siege of Badajoz,
                     April 6th, 1812,
               In the 21st year of his age.

"Be of good courage, let us behave ourselves valiantly for our
      people, and let the Lord do that which is good in
              His sight." 1 _Chron._, xix, 13.

It will not be deemed out of place to add that the touching letter
addressed by the Military Chaplain to the mother of the young soldier,
breaking to her the sad intelligence of his fall in the trenches in
Badajoz:--


     "Though perfectly unknown, yet my feelings dictate that
     I should in the present melancholy season address you,
     as I am aware your anxiety must be great respecting the
     fate of my most esteemed friend, your son: sincerely
     lamented by all who knew him, he fell on the night of
     the 6th, in the midst of several others, his brother
     officers, and hundreds of his fellow-countrymen, while
     storming the town of Badajoz: to state the details of
     this circumstance would be needless. In him I have lost
     a promising young friend, an agreeable companion, and a
     good Christian; and allow me most sincerely to
     sympathize and condole with you in the great loss you
     have sustained by the death of an affectionate and
     dutiful son.

     On the morning of the 7th, I went in search of my
     esteemed and valued young friend, and was so fortunate
     as to find him lying in the breach, where (as I am sure
     it will be satisfactory for a friend and parent to be
     informed), I performed the last offices over him, and
     got him as decently interred as the great confusion of
     our most melancholy situation would admit. He has left
     no memorandum behind him, though frequently entreated
     by me in case of accident; neither did he make any
     requests when I parted with him, but committed his fate
     entirely to Him who is the disposer of all events.
     Proffering to you and your afflicted family my future
     services in any way I can be useful, allow me to
     subscribe, etc.,

                                     GEORGE JENKINS,

       Chaplain to the Forces, 4th Division,
         Badajoz Camp, April 9th, 1812.

A reminiscence of the young officer whose untimely but honourable fate
is here referred to, remains in the name, "Castle Frank," very
familiar still to the inhabitants of Toronto. Castle Frank was a
rustic chateau, constructed entirely of wood, in the midst of a forest
on a high ridge, commanding a view of the picturesque valley of the
Don. It was situated in a parcel of ground afterwards known as the
Castle Frank Farm, comprising 225 acres lying between the modern
Parliament Street and the River Don, patented under the Governor's
authority to his eldest son Francis. The building was never intended
for public purposes, it was undertaken solely as a matter of
recreation, it was never occupied by the family of the Governor, but
was left in an unfinished state at the time of his departure in 1796.
It survived down to 1829, when it was destroyed by fire. A depression
clearly visible in the soil a few feet north of the wire fence forming
the boundary of St. James' Cemetery shows to this day the exact site
of Castle Frank.


Transcriber's Note:

Several instances of spelling, punctuation, and grammar have been
preserved as in the original, although not in conformance with modern
usage.

The following obvious typos were corrected:

1. page 8--'Goverment' changed to 'Government'

2. page 15--'conspicious' changed to 'conspicuous'




[End of _Letter to Sir Joseph A. Banks_ by John Graves Simcoe]
