THE PROaEESS AND PEOSPEOTS OT PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND, WRITTEN DURING THE LEISURE OE A VISIT IN 1861 . A SKETCH INTENDED TO SUPPLY TNPORMATION UPON WHICH ENQUIRING EMIGRANTS MAY RELY, AND ACTUAL SETTLERS ADOPT AS THE BASIS OP A WIDER KNOWLEDGE OP THEIR BEAUTIPUL ISLAND HOME, BY C. BIUCH BA.GSTER, Connected during 20 years with the Island interests. OHAELOTTETOWN, I*IS.INCE ED W A.RI> ISIoAJVD, PRINTED BV JOHN INGS, QUEEN S PRINTER, 1861, (Entered at Stationers' Hall.) Prince Edward Island. Be it remembered, that on this 16th day cf September, A. D., 1861, C. Birch Bagster, of Charlottetown, in the said Island, has deposited in this Office the title of a Book, the copyright whereof ho claims in the words following : *‘The Progress and Prospects of Prince Edward Island, written during the leisure of a visit in 1861, a sketch intended to supply information upon which en- quiring Emigrants may rely, and actual settlers adopt as the basis of a wider knowledge of their beautiful Island home, by C. Birch Bagster, connected during 20 years with the Island interests,” in conformity with the Act for the protection of copy- right. W. H. POPE, Colonial Secretary. PREFACE. The narrow limits of a Book that for economy of price contracted itself into only about one hundred and eighty pages, necessarily shut out from con^dera- tion many subjects, and much detail, that ^ould otherwise have been introduced; but it is hoped that what has found its way into print under the title in which this manual appears will be acceptable to the general reader, as well as the intending Emigrant, for whose information the labor attending its prepara- tion was chiefly devoted. The work is now, with all its imperfections and deficiencies, before the public, and it rests with that tribunal to say whether they will honor the produc- tion with a place upon their book shelves, or doom to the waste-paper basket. In either case the Author will be content, knowing that the discerning reader will give a righteous verdict. To those wlio have shewn their sympathy and kindness to the writer, during his present agreeable visit to the old garden of British Nortli America, he offers his grateful thanks and acknowledgments. If health and strength are continued to him he hopes to make another effort in the same Editorial direction, and to deserve more favor than he can reasonably expect under the present circumstances. That every prosperity may attend the Island, is the sincere wish of THE AUTHOR. O' ^ The following letter was received by the Author during His Royal Highness, Prince Alfred’s, short visit to Prince Edward Island in July, 1861 : “ C. Birch Bagster, Esq,. “ Major Cowell is desired by His Royal Highness, Prince Alfred, to thank Mr. C. Birch Bagster in his name, for his kind attention in forwarding for his acceptance that portion of his work upon Prince Edward Island which has been printed. ^^His Royal Highness has much pleasure in accept- ing this, which will form an interesting addition to the souvenirs which he has collected in the Colonies of British North America. Major Cowell is further desired, by His Royal Highness, to say that he is very sensible of Mr. C. Birch Bagster’s kind expressions with regard to his short visit to this Island.” “Charlottetown, 16th July, 1861.” ^ f GENERAL CONTENTS. CHAPTER. PAGES. Title, Preface, Letter from Prince Alfred, and Contents, 1 — 6 I: Introductory remarks, 7 — 11 II. What’s in a name ? 11 — 14 III. Legislative Topics, 1773 to 1831, 15 — 24 IV. Do. do. 1832 to 1841, 24 — 27 V. Do. do. 1842 to 1850, 28 — 31 VI. Do. do. 1851 t) 1860, 31 — 39 VII. Charlottetown, &c., 39 -47 VIII. Acreage and the Proprietary, 48 — 53 IX. Coast line. West Cape to Cape Bear, 54 — 56 X. Do. Bear Capo to East Point, 56 - 60 XI. Do. East Point to West Cape, 61 — 67 XII. Population, 67 — 73 XIII. Census, 1861, 73 — 80 XIV. A remedy suggested for a great evil, 81 — 83 XV. Natural History, 83 - 88 XVI. Ornithology, 88 — 91 XVII. Entomology, 91 — 92 XVIII. Ichthyology, 93 — 98 XIX. The Seasons, 99 — 105 XX. Botany, 106—112 XXL Farming, 112—116 Turnips, Queen’s County, 117 Do. Prince County, 118 Do. King’s County, 119 Farming continued. 119 — 125 XXII. Religion, Morality and Worship, XXllI. Missionary, Bible, Scientific, Literary 125 — 127 and Benevolent Societies, 128 — 131 Militia, Volunteers, and Courts of Law, 132—134 Public OfiQcers, 135 XXIV. Education, 135 — 136 XXV. Conclusion, 137 — 139 Appendix Contents. General Exports, 1860, i — iii Prices Current, Charlottetown, winter of 1860, iv Exports of Oats, Barley and Wheat, 1829 to 1859, v Do. Potatoes, Turnips, Cattle, Sheep and Hogs, 1829 to 1859, vi Do. Flour and Meal, Dry Fish, Pickled Fish and Beef and Pork, 1829 to 1859. vii Government, Revenue and Expenditure, 1829 to 1859, viii Sources of Revenue, 1859 and i860, ix Notes of a Geological excursion, x — xiv Agricultural Geology, xv — xx Analysis of Island soils, sxi — xxii Continuation of Agricultural Geology, xxiii Geological specimens in the Legislative Library, xxiv Mr. Howe’s statement of the Land Commissioners Award, xxv — xxxiv Gull Fisheries, xxxv xxxvi CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. “ It is utterly futile to talk of the settlement of a country with- out making it known at home and abroad. — Monro, Emigration, page 374. The geographical discovery of a country, is sim- ply the initiation of a knowledge of it. Yet the simple discovery of it is sufficient to the adventurer who loves exploration only for its own sake; much more knowledge is, however, necessary to ensure the second step towards a complete acquaintance with its adaptation to the general want. It may take lime to collect, and energy to promulgate the infor- mation to be gained, and need evidence that it is authentic, to convince of its practical bearing (if it have any) upon the requirements of the age; but if a new country really has aptitudes for settlement, and is able to satisfy the enquiries of the practical man, it will not be long, after the information is made known, before the tide of Immigration will set in, to realize what is believed in concerning it. Prince Edward Island, the subject of the present sketch, appears to have been initiated on the world’s surface on St. John’s Day, A. D. 1497, and to have entered upon her apprenticeship as a namesake of that saint. Three centuries after, the Island took her second degree in the mysteries of progression, under the worshipful mastership of Brother Edward Guelph, whose regal progenitor, approving the loyal aspiration, allowed and confirmed a change of name the 1st February, 1799. It will be conceded too by those who are versed in the science of Colonial pro- B ( 8 ) gressiveness, that Prince Edward Island, since the advent of H. R. H. the Prince of Wales to her shores in 1860, to visit and ‘ lodge’ there, has passed through her third degree, and stands now raised before the world, a brother among the colonies of Old England, free and accepted, as she industriously labors at the architecture of her own fortunes, and worthily sits in a master’s place, governing with equity and justice, and satisfying, with her good things, so that none need go away dissatisfied. It is the ivant of knowledge which stands in the way of the settlement of new countries.* This will be seen if we suppose Cabot, in 1497, navigating what are now called the Straits of Northumberland, and Seuev Doublet only in 1663, on the highest peak (perhaps T Hill) of Prince * In a cum privilegio’’ Geography and Atlas, anno 1666, by one John Speed, we find the following information, (?) which if it does not much enlighten us on the world’s history, will at least teach us to feel sympathy for the world’s ancient inhabitants: In PtoLomy^s time (about an hundred and forty years after Christ) we hear not of either Land or Sea known more than was contained in Asia, Africa and Europe. And of that he never knew the East and North parts of AsiOf nor the South of Africa, no nor the most Northerly parts of Europe: hut placed the end of the world that way in ultima Tfmlef about sixty degrees from the JEquator. And Southward the other way not above 17 degrees, P rosso per motor io: which at this day is called Mosambique Kecks. So the whole latitude of the world, then known did not reach the fourth part of the Compass. In the Longitude indeed they came not so far short; yet loft they just half to the search of their posterity. For they placed their first Meredian in the Fortunate Islayids. and ended their reckoning in Region Sinarum of the Eastern Indies, and that is distant but 180 degrees toward the 360, which is the compass of the whole. ^ But God in these later times hath enlarged our possessions, that his Gospel might be propagated, and hath discovered to us Inhabi- tants almost in every corner of the earth. Our later Geographers have set their mark beyond Ptolomy^s 60 degrees Eastward. And Westward to the utmost parts of America. So that there are already known 340 of the earth’s Longitude. Toward the North Pole we have gained more in proportion, as far as Nova Zembla, and the Sea IS known to bo navigable to the eighty -first degree: whether w appeared to any (as I hear of) Sr proVfor' U ^ ( 9 ) £dward Island, monarch of all he surveyed.” For 150 years the Island hardly knew its own name— for another 100 years the immigrating principle only played over this “ granary of North America,” like the fitful northern lights, rising from a unit to from 4,000 to 6,000 inhabitants, and falling again in the year 1770 to 150 families.* It contains nowin 1860, nearly 100,000 souls. But the difference of the 6lden time and now will be still more apparent by consult- ing once more, John Speed’s Geography and Atlas of 1666 — speaking of “ tho regions contained in this western hemisphere, under the name of the New World or America,” he says, “ What lyeth from the toward each Pole appears as yet but as waste ground in our Maps: for the experience of our Travellers have not reached so far, as to search fully into the Commodities of the Countries, or nature of their Inhabitants, yet ques- tionless there are many, and may hereafter yield as much profit as any other. ‘'Of the quality of this region in general we can speak but little. For by reason of her length and breadth, she lyeth at such several distance in respect of the Heavens, that she admits indeed all variety almost either of plenty or want, which we have hith- erto found in Asia, Africa, or Europe. Here admi- rable for the fertility of soyl; then again as barren: here temperate, there scorching hot, elsewhere as extream cold. Some regions watered with dainty rivers, others again infested with perpetual drouth. Some plains, some hills, some woods, some mines, *The period in which England corresponds in its history with the state of P. E. Island in 1770 is about a century less than 2000 years ago. Charles Dickens says, speaking of ancient England then, “Tho whole country was covered with forests and swamps, the greater part of it was very misty and cold; there were no roads, no bridges, no streets, no houses that you would think deserving of tho name.’* If old England was once thus, surely England’s sons may plant effectively some of their noble purposes in P.E. Island, without much doubt of a reasonable success and benefit. b2 ( 10 ) and what not in some tract or other within the com*» pass of America? Yet nothing almost common to the whole but barbarism of manners, idolatry in religion, and sottish ignorance, such as hardly distinguisheth them from brutes: else they would not have taken rea- sonable men to be immortal Gods, as at first they did: yet yhat either God was, or immortality, they knew no more than instinct of nature gave them, only a confused thought they had of some place or other (God knows where) behind some hill, or where the blessed resided after their death. And from thence they supposed the Spaniards came at their first ar- rival. But it was not long before the tyrants cudgel- led their simplicity, and by their cruelty appeared to them rather devils from hell, than saints from heaven. ‘‘ Yet still the Inland countries retain for the most part their in-bred blindness: and worship the sun, moon and stars, and they have their other spirits, which they call their ZemeSj and adore them in images made of cotton-wooll, which oft times by the delusion of Satan seem to move, and utter an hideous noise, that works in these poor Idolators a great awe, lest they should harm them. “ The rest of their customs are answerable to their religion, beastly. They go naked and are very lust- ful people without distinction of sex. In many places they are jinthropophagi* and prey upon each other like wolves. They labour not much to sustain them- selves: but are rather content to take what the earth can yield without tillage. This in general. “ Time hath not given way to many divisions of this America. I find one only in the best authors; and that it seems nature marked out to their hands; for she hath severed the continent into two Peninsul(z. The one lieth Northward from *^guinoctialj and is called Meocicana, The other for the most part South- ward, toward the Magellanich Straits, and is called Feruviana. Each of them are subdivided info their rrovinces.*' * Cannibals, ( 11 ) Now having consulted John Speed,*’ of anno 1660, let us take a look at CundalTs new Map of P. E. Island; or turn over a few leaves of John Ings’ ‘‘Islander,” anno 1860, and we shall then see that Mr. Henry Cundall, one of the natives, and the pre- sent Queen’s Printer, have rat/ier the best of it, and that Emigraters may do worse than direct their in- telligent attention to the third degree of prosperity to which natural fertility, the diffusion of useful know- ledge, and the blessing of God, has conducted the Prince Edward Island of 1861, the making of which deserving little Colony, better known and appreciated, is the respectful intention of the writer of these pages — believing in the truth of the quotation at the head of this introductory chapter. CHAPTER II. What's in a name? ” — Juliet. * ♦ * My name, dear Saint, is hateful to myself.” — Romeo. Act II, Scene 2. The story of the discovery of this “ tight little Island,” on the feast of St. John, A.D. 1497, by the navigating Cabot, or Cabbot, may contain much that is picturesque, and easily furnish a good moral, but while it lacks confirmation, it must be ranged with the fables of history. It is one of those stories that has been shifted from the possible to the probable till it has become, to the credulous — true. While in the same mood, we may further indulge our fancies and say, it may or it may not be true, that pala- tial residences in Newfoundland and New Brunswick e3 ( 12 ) were planned out for the Cabotian patron, Saint John, and the most fertile district between the two sites selected for his Saintship’s rural recreation and profit — for it is not unlikely that old European Town and Country” ideas were working like leaven in the nomenclature of the early discoverers, and producing in their imaginations the city of St. John’s, Newfoundland; the city of St. John, New Brunswick; St. John on the Labrador coast, and fairest of all, the Island of St.John, afterwards styled “ the garden of British North America.” But the tutelary Saint, after three hundred years, was trespassed upon, and his Zoological Garden con- verted into a colony for human beings, under circum- stances which must have annoyed Saint John, for it seems his Saintship still puts the Island ‘‘ on the limits” for a few months, under King Frost, every year; but his ire is relaxing, the periods of his com- mission to King Frost are getting shorter and shorter, and the Island, notwithstanding the disownment of her first master, is promised submarine communica- tion, through the agency of electricity, with both his cities. Three hundred years after the first christening a second took place, and Saint John was, by legislative enactment, deprived of his nominal honors and pos- sessions, which were then given to a live Prince. The excuses to St. John were two — 1st, the similarity of the names of distant places, all called “ St. John;” and 2ndly, to show loyalty to her sovereign lord by a sort of making friends with the head gardener, for choice cuttings, a virtue which remains to this day not only firm, but practical and unhesitating — through all “ the diggins” of America. But the honor done to Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, has never been repented of, and subsequent events have proved that there was something in a NAME, when the Island of Prince Edward, thus ele- vated herself in the scale of Colonies, and thus look- ed forward to a glorious future. ( 13 ) From 1799 to 1861, Prince Edward Island has struggled through vicissitudes of management and mismanagement; the cares of privation and plenty; the anxieties of failure and success; the chances of unfavourable and prolific seasons; and more than all, the animose encounters of good and bad opinion; and she has borne herself bravely, — for at the present time there is more power, benevolence, religion and loyalty, and less* pauperism, crime and misery, in this tight little Island, than perhaps in any other por- tion, the same in size and population, of all our gra- cious Queen’s dominions. The past is linked memorably with the present* In the year 1798, in Lieut. Governor Fanning’s time, the Legislature passed “ An Act for altering and changing the name of this Island from ‘ Saint John’ to that of ‘ Prince Edward Island,’ ” among other reasons, “ to perpetuate the grateful remembrance of that peculiarly auspicious and happy period of this Island having been under the command of Lieutenant General, His Royal Highness Prince Edward, Commander-in-chief of His Majesty’s (Geo. HI.) Forces in the District of Nova Scotia, and Islands St. John, Cape Breton and Newfound- land, Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, and of the most Illustrious Order of St. Patrick, etc., etc., etc.” The Island thus re-baptized by the representatives of her loyal inhabitants, was confirmed in her new honor, as before said, by the Royal allowance on the 1st of February, 1799, and has since maintained an honorable membership, always “ in good stand- ing,” among the Colonies of the ancient homestead, becoming conspicuous as occasion offered, in evi- dences of attachment and hope. * In 1860 there was expended by the Legislature £500 currency, for paupers, and £62 currency, for indigent Indians, equal to £562 currency, or £374 13s. 4d., sterling, or in sterling pence, 89,920. Now if it be borne in mind that the population is slightly in excess of this numerical strength, it will be seen that the pauper tax is less than a sterling penny per head per annum upon the whole colony. In 1842, the birth of an heir apparent to the crown of these realms furnished the House of Assembly, and the Legislative Council, with an auspicious opportu- nity of congratulating the noblest woman on the face of the earth upon the greatest event that could hap- pen either to herself or them. Lieut. Governor Huntley, on the occasion of an Address, observed to the members of the House of Assembly, “ The language which conveys your feelings tow'ards our beloved Sovereign well becomes the representatives of this *loyal Colony.’’ Gratifying as these two leading events were and are in the history and welfare of Prince Edward Island, another of equal magnitude and more appre- ciable interest was reserved for the year whose requiem has just been chanted. The Prince of Wales, who as a birthling only, in 1842 evoked the congratulations of the representatives of the people, in 1860 witnessed a reception, which, for enthusiasm, loyalty and devotion, was second to none which His Royal Highness experienced in all North America. ♦ Editors of newspapers are good judges of what suits the taste of their readers, and when anecdotes are current in the cheaper periodicals of a place, calculated to foster a loyal spirit, it may be correctly inferred in what direction the popular mi^d turns. For instance — I quote it in corroboration of the justness of Lieut. Go- vernor Huntley’s opinion of P. E. I. loyalty — in the number of a late paper, in March 1861, it is not secession, nor annexation, nor amalgamation, but the English nation (of which we are happily part) he illustrates by shewing tho “ Stability op things in England. — In one of his lectures Mr. Emerson tells a story to exemplify the stability of things in England. He says that William of Wykeham, about the year 1050, endow- ed a house in the neighbourhood of Winchester, to provide a mea- sure of beer and a sufficiency of bread to every one that asked it, forever ; and when Mr. Emerson was in England, he was curious to test that good man’s credit; and he knocked at the door, preferred his request,and received his measure of beer and quantum of bread, though the owner had been dead 8u0 years.” Tupper may well remark of England that it is Great in the stability of tho earth.” ( 15 ) CHAPTER III. LIIGISLATIVE TOPICS.— i 77 3 TO 1831. GOVERNOR PATTERSON TO LIEUT. GOVERNOR READY. The first business of the Legislature, when it met for the first time in l773, was, as might be expected, a confirmation of the proceedings of the Governor and Council, antecedent to calling a House together. This was followed by an Act to make valid in law process and proceedings in the Law Courts, and this confirmation reached as far back as the first of iVlay^ one thousand seven hundred and sixty nine. The times and places of holding the Supreme Court of Judicature were established, and an authority issued for the record and publication of all the Laws This done, a remedy appears to have been sought against the fraudulent habit of raising money on uncertain bills of exchange; and it is singular to notice the different damages “ ascertained;” foreign bills of exchange were subject to ten percent, damages on protest; but bills drawn on other colonies, to only five per cent, damages; that is to say, where the greater facility of collection existed, the more dama- ges were laid on. A lot of minor troubles appear to have agitated the * collective wisdom’ of the Island at this time, and we can fancy boats aground in rivers and creeks, in consequence of the discharge of ballast, and considerable irritation caused thereby; but not only frbm this cause, but from brush and rubbish upon the lands, small bushes, rotten wind- falls, and decayed leaves, all of which were at this time, subjects of legislation. They conferred upon the Governor the power of making public roads, scrutinise jurors, brought criminal offenders to trial and prohibited masters of ships from letting any one slip away from them without a Pass. Small debts and rum appear to have been hyphened together, as they always are, and there were steps taken for thei effectual recovery of His Most Gracious Majesty’s quit rents, under St. John. In 1774, Governor Patterson again met his parlia- ment. The want of ferries must have been a con- siderable inconvenience, and the non-attendance of members was loudly complained of, but “ all other kind of lumber was brought under survey. The idea one has of a county is a subdivision. In this sense the Island was at this time subdivided into one county, but this is no matter. The proceedings in the Supreme Court were better regulated; Quakers were granted privileges, and retailers of rum encou- raged. In 1776, the President and Commander-in- Chief, Callbeck, determined that no ofRcers should receive greater ‘ fees’ than allowed by law, but an examination of the list of correct fees gives an im- pression that there must have been a disproportion of greedy people among the inhabitants. To trespass on Crown Lands at this time, appears to have been a great sin, although some members of the present Government (1861) have bought similar lands, for about an English half-crown an acre. Lieut. Go- vernor DesBrisay reigned in 1779, and put fresh breath into some expiring laws, regulated weights and measures; and while he imposed the duly of rum drinking, he put a curb on the tavern keeper. Go- vernor Patterson again at the helm, (1780) is indig- nant at persons “ forestalling the market,” makes Justices of the Peace regulate the price of provision, rates of entertainment; prevents improper horses running about, tries to keep hogs cltiar of Charlotte- town, and is mercifully inclined towards partridges. The Militia (1780) become organised, and an allow- ance to widows and children, whose masters may have fallen in their military clothes, was made a matter of grant. There was no penalty however on those who would fight without ‘arms,* for woe betide the invader who met an islander’s toe in those belligerent times, for in those days there was no fear, ( 17 ) or at least none has been put on official record, ex- cept we may infer from the known consequences of rum and red cloth, and the fact that at this time there was a sort of shaking among the dry bones, which were made more steady by neutralising the “ shame- ful violation of public decorum and good order,” by a legislative revival-observance of the Lord’s Day. In new countries and new legislatures, a great deal of the impossible becomes matter for law, and at this time even, (1861) it would be impossible to carry out the intentions of the early law givers, in regard to salmon and eel fisheries, which have in reality little or no existence in the industries of the people. At this time this mountain in labor brought forth a mouse, for St. John smiled on the “New Ireland” idea, which was choked to death under the operation of a “suspending” clause, and not approved of by His Majesty. Bothered creditors and nimble debtors had a game of bo-peep about this time, but in case they hurt one another, there was three years reser- ved to heal the bruises. The subjects of Wills and Legacies, Executors and Intestates, Arbitration and Umpirage, Bears and Brandy, Drawbacks and Duties, Streets and Wells, Carts and Sleds, Vestries and the baptism of Slaves, Assault and Battery, Trespass and Slander, and divers others must have kept the House of Assembly pretty busy in 1781, if we take their law records as an evidence. The year 1785 again found tlic old law shop at work, and the graving tools of the carvers touching up old chisellings, dipping their fingers in wine, rum, and brandy; interfering with contracts for goods; admitting depositions from persons unable to travel; accommodating departing witnesses; and permitting Quakers not to swear. All these things happened and consumed doubtless a great deal of stationery, for we find His Majesty in Council frowning the sub- ject of another supply of stationery under his royal footstool. This was hardly justice to the legislature which expended for the support of His Majesty’s Go- vernment, the munificent sum of .£161 2s. lid. 1786 comes in with more mercy than some of its predecessors. Cold water is provided for the inha- bitants more abundantly in Charlottetown j streets are repaired; insolvent debtors relieved; defects in pleas, processes, and records amended; the years 1780 and 1781 attempted to be patched up, but three years afterwards disallowed by His Majesty; reformation in regard to arrests; the “better advance- ment ofjustice;” quieting the minds and establishing the privileges of subjects professing the Popish reli- gion; lessening the expense of selling mortgages; the prevention of what is frivolous and vexatious; the appointment of sheriffs; and finally the presenta- tion to the economists of His Majesty’s Government, of twice as much money as the preceding year, viz: £305 las. lOd. The first session of the fifth General Assembl}' convened in this Island, opened under the Fanning Lieut. Governorship, 1788. It seems that at this time the prosperity of the Island w’as associated a good deal with the milling interests, for there seems to hav« been a necessity for the Legislature to regu- late the business of grist millers, and there ap- pears to have been a desire to authenticate copies ol records. Persons were suspected of making vexa- tious and frivolous arrests; loyalists and disbanded troops were suspected of having claims upon the Government; dissenting Protestant subjects were suspected of having unea.sy minds; proprietors of townships were suspected of not contributing anything towards the improvement of the Island; persons were suspected of maliciously killing or wounding cattle; and the bar was in all simplicity, suspected of put- ting clients to unnecessary expense and delay; mer- chants were suspected of wanting to swear to their own accounts; dowagers were suspected of having an eye on their dowers; the Royalties were suspec- ted of wanting Pounds^ the suburbs of Charlottctow'ii ( 19 ) \ver6 suspected cf making too much noise with fire- arms; magistrates and constables were suspected of thinking about their fees; rams were suspected of running about at improper seasons; and persons owning lands were suspected of neglecting their fences— so that altogether, taking a legislative view of matters, there was at this time considerable sus- picion in the Island; but as the public credit was endorsed on certain bills and debentures, the Island interests tided themselves over very comfortably to the year 1792, when treasons and felonies were brought under notice, and fresh efforts made, with- out effect, to sew another patch on ihe law garments of 1780 and 1781. In 1795, confirming titles, and quieting of pos- sessions, initiated the business of the Legislative halls; the high roads received attention; servants received some wholesome regulations; geese, of which there could not have been many at this time in Charlottetown, were prevented cackling abroad for the space of three years; lands taken in execution were protected for two years; cattle, sheep and hogs were ordered to be shut up; the standard of weights and measures was ascertained; porter, ale, and strong beer were put in companionship with the duties on spirituous liquors, and £400 was written off to the use of His Majesty. In 1796 the unruly element seems to have cropped out rather extensively, for it became necessary to preserve sheep; to prevent the robbing of gardens, orchards and fields, as well as the malicious throwing down of fences. Also, to render valid, conveyances by married women; and to enable proprietors to divide their lands; disorderly persons tooK to their own use, horses without permission, yet in the midst of all these irritating elements, the sanitary condition of the Island became mixed in, and Commissioners of Sewers were appointed. c (20 ) Eight years had only passed over the heads of the Legislature, when the name of ‘ St. John* was chang- ed to ‘ Prince Edward,’ and as small bushes, rotten wind-falls, decayed leaves, and other rubbish had, we suppose, gone the way of all flesh, the Act of Indem- nification relating thereto was repealed. Cultivation of hemp in 1801 was entitled to a bounty, and its ex- portation encouraged. The inhabitants of Charlotte- town assessed themselves for repairing pumps and wells; elections were better regulated; small debts more easily collected; and colony agents appointed. In 1802 quit rents; trial of actions in a summary way; the high roads; rams; and the Church of Eng- land, all received legislative attention. In 1803, fire wards in Charlottetown were appoint- ed. 1805, Des Barres Lieut. Governor. In 1808, a new colony agent was appointed. The funds attempted to be raised at this time, were for the purpose of defraying the contingent expenses of the General Assembly, for making and keeping in repair the pumps, wells and streets of Charlottetown, and for printing the Laws. A meridional line to regulate surveyors in this colony was established American loyal emigrants and disbanded troops were permitted to locate in quietness; rum and brandy took their place again on the statute book, and the sum of £1600 was raised lur public offices in Charlottetown, and for gaols in Prince and King’s Counties. • In 1810, the malicious still continued their old tricks of killing or maiming cattle, and a reward for apprehending deserters was necessary. Expediting-Commissioners in 1812 were appointed, to give the pot of government printing ink a stir up; rum and brandy got another lift, and the pumps and wells of Charlottetown got another clean out. In 1813, Lieut. Governor Smith at the head of affairs. In 1817 the complicated affairs of co-partnership and joint debts were made more easy of settlement, ( 21 ) and barristers, attorneys, and solicitors got thetr ad- mission regulated. In 1818, building gaols and court houses, prevent- ing Acts running backwards and taking effect; limit- ing terms of Supreme Court; examining witnesses out of the Island; regulating juries, jurors, elections, lease-holdings, and merchant seamen, preceded the Act of barring estates tail. In 1820, incumbrancers of real estate initiated His Majesty George the Fourth’s supervision of Island affairs by opposing “claims of dower,” but as His Majesty could have no sympathy with any oppressors of the fair sex, he very properly disallowed it on the ninth of June, i82l. In 1825, Lieut. Governor Ready commenced his reign by rewarding the bear hunters and killers of wild cats, and by way of balance, moved his thoughts from his organ of destructiveness to that of the (self . ) preservation of oysters; but bears, wild cats and oysters were not the only subjects of His Excellency s thoughts. He appointed hog reeves, and encouraged education . He revived witnesses and destroyed dogs. He shut up boar pigs, and put his signet on travelling swine. He considered that canoes ought not to be taken away without the consent of the owners; and that piloting ought to be systematized. He gave en- couratrementto the fisheries; and discouragement to trespassers. He limited the jurisdiction of justices of the peace, and revived the idea that sheep were a nuisance when they were at liberty to upset buckets in a back porch in Charlottetown. He provided a remedy for injuries arising from playing with fire, and a remedy of another kind, by the issue of Trea- sury notes. To diminish the use of rum and brandy there was a duty put on tea; and the solace of man- kind, tobacco, became a contributor to the revenue. Marriages, baptisms, and polygamy, which was made felony, stirred his mind, but he did not succeed in convincing his master, George the Fourth, that poly- gamy was felony. However, rum and pumps are T i^) the order of the day, and tea and tobacco are not forgotten . About this time some small change ‘ ‘ came o’er the spirit of his dream,’’ and notes of the value of ten shillings were issued. After regulating appren- tices and establishing an assize of bread, he counted the population of the Island, gave some legal direc- tions about driving carts on the highways, and au- thorised the formation of a fire engine company. Cases of replevin, and the support of light houses, and once more the spring water Act is brought upon the carpet, in company with her brother, the rum Act, Mobile the tobacco and tea Act smoke and steam be- side them. We are now in the year 1828, and several expiring laws have to be set on their feet. Grain and pulse ask for proper officers. Education claims encou- ragement. Ferries want licensing. The Court of Judicature wants to issue commissions for examining witnesses out of this Island. Boar pigs and swine without rings, have not attended to former sugges- tions, and continue grunting against interference. Statute labor is necessary on the highways; and once more rum, tobacco, and tea pass under review in high spirits in the absence of their sister, the pump Act, whom they don't like to be mixed up with. An impost duty on all goods, wares, and merchan- dize was attempted, which, one would think, would have enabled Governor Ready to relieve the House from further attendance and take upon his own shoulders the public Treasury; but his Royal master withholding his Royal consent, the matter dropped. Coincidently with the appointment of jail limits, the streets of Charlottetown are cleansed, and obstruc- tions removed, so that, no doubt, those debtors vviio were allowed to take the air, got along with more comfort. Tenants in tail were permitted to make leases for any term of years, and to be good at law, ,but at the same time, they are restricted to 999 years, with liberty of repossession after that. His Majesty, who would have liked such a long life, gave his Royal (23) allowance to this enjoyment, on the seventh of December, 1829. Persons owning adjoining lands were compelled to put up fences, and viewers were nominated by Grand Juries. The fisheries were encouraged by bounties, the size of barrels regulated, the strength ol pickle in- spected, and passengers in vessels properly intro- duced. In this year Charlottetown gloried in the establishment of an academy; the laying out of high- ways was regulated; compensation to lliose injured thereby was provided for, and contributions from the benefited were levied. Navigation was made more secure, and ships, vessels and goods, when wrecked upon the coasts, were preserved, anathemas hurled against wreckers, and sufierers by them and the elements relieved. Election matters were altered, certain marriages confirmed, the Treasurer forgiven for paying out un- authorised moneys, and rum and tobacco were again discussed, while commissioners w’ere appointed to negotiate a loan to build the Government House. In 1S30, pilots, passengers, and schools led off the discussions, and marriages, baptisms and other acci- dents follow. His Majesty’s Homan Catholic sub- jects want relief, and get it, and the duties of Excise are made secure. Boundary lines receive attention, and pounds are provided in the royalties, and as if by way of anticipating consequences, an Act is passed for tl^ summary conviction and punishment of persons committing Common assaults and batteries. A jail is built in Charlottetown, hawkers and pedlars talien notice of, and as tea and tobacco yield a good duty, that Act is continued. More Treasury notes are wanted, and a fund for erecting public buildings, licenses to inn-keepers, pump niOney, and increase of revenue from the introduction of molasses ajid sugar, and the old subject of rum, comes in for its usual share of notice. c3 T 1 In 1831, the health of jail birds, by giving them rutside exercise, was provided for by giving them a five years’ furlough. Tax on dogs repealed, and ooinmissioners for public works appointed, sheep reeves nominated, litigation discouraged, while bears and wild cats again come to grief. More Treasury notes are wanted, inn-keepers require to be regulated, and the pumps, wells and streets of Charlottetown looked after. Governor Ready’s legislative reign oloses by appropriations for the service of the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and thirty- one. LEGISLATIVE TOPICS.* J832 TO 1841. LfEUT. Governor Young, like his predecessor, begins with oysters, objects to their destruction, and does not like their shells made into lime. He thinks certain persons should put tiieir marriages on record, wishes the removal of nuisances from the streets of Charlottetown, and retains, by summary capias, per- sons about to leave the Island. The rivers come in for a share of amendment. Prince County gets a Court House, and Princetown objects to swine. Soldiers stay too long in taverns, and get inn-keepers iato trouble. The “don’t-you-wish-you-may-get-it r ” Act, requiring proprietors to put their titles on proper record, is found to he no go, and steps are taken to prevent the importation and spreading of (other) in- fectious diseases. * Aa aameaty on a email scale, on the aoceeeion of William the Fourth. CHAPTER IV. (25) Justices of the Peace, hitherto, could impose pe- nalties, but in some cases there was no provision for the enforcing thereof. This finds a remedy. I he minister and trustees of St. James’ Church, Char- lottetown, become a corporation, and the minister and elders of St. John’s Church, Belfast, receive a similar ratification. The Court of Escheat Bill was shelved in the Royal presence. The revenue is at- tempted to be increased, and a fresh lease given to the rum Act. The collector of Impost and Excise is allowed £98 17s. Jd., more than was granted in 1785 for the whole support of His Majesty’s Go- vernment in this Island. Georgetown comes in for a share of preservation, and the mails are conveyed by a steam vessel between ('liarlotletown and Pictou. In 1833, the census is taken, and statistical infor- mation collected. The Registry of Deeds Act passed the sixth of April, 1833. Times and places for hold- in