egislative Council were present. No Chief Justice
appeared to fill the office of Speaker of the Council. Instead of
sixteen members of the Legislative Assembly, five only attended. What
was still more embarrassing, no more could be collected. The House was,
nevertheless, opened. A guard of honour, consisting of fifty soldiers
from the fort, were in attendance. Dressed in silk, Governor Simcoe
entered the hall, with his hat on his head, attended by his Adjutant
and two Secretaries. The two members of the Council gave notice of his
presence in the Upper House to the Legislative Assembly, and the five
members of the latter having appeared at the Bar of the two Lords, His
Excellency read his speech from the throne. He informed the honorable
gentlemen of the Legislative Council and the gentlemen of the House of
Assembly, that he had summoned them together under the authority of an
Act of Parliament of Great Britain, which had established the British
constitution, and all that secured and maintained it to Upper Canada;
that the wisdom and beneficence of the sovereign had been eminently
proved by many provisions in the memorable Act of Separation, which
would extend to the remotest posterity the invaluable blessings of that
constitution; that great and momentous trusts and duties had been
committed to the representatives of the province, infinitely beyond
whatever had distinguished any other British Colony; that they were
called upon to exercise, with due deliberation and foresight, various
offices of civil administration, with a view of laying the foundation
of that union of industry and wealth, of commerce and power, which may
last through all succeeding ages; that the natural advantages of the
new province were inferior to none on this side of the Atlantic; that
the British government had paved the way for its speedy colonization;
and that a numerous and agricultural people would speedily take
possession of the soil and climate. To this speech the replies of the
Council and Assembly were but an echo. The seven gentlemen legislators
proceeded actively to business. An Act was passed to repeal the Quebec
Act, and to introduce the English law as the rule of decision in all
matters of controversy relative to property and civil right; an Act to
establish trials by jury; an Act to abolish the summary proceedings of
the Court of Common Pleas in actions under ten pounds sterling; an Act
to prevent accidents by fire; an Act for the mor