erty of the Catholic religion. He will in consequence give the most exact and effectual orders that his new Roman Catholic subjects may profess the worship of their religion according to the rites of the Roman Church as far as the laws of Great Britain permit."

As finally ratified, February 10, 1763, the treaty of Paris contained this same stipulation.

The position of the Catholics dwelling in Northern Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin-to use our present names-was thus guaranteed by articles of capitulation, and by a treaty long and carefully considered. It was conceded at the time that the clause, "as far as the laws of Great Britain permit," did not mean permit in England, for that would have swept away all liberty whatever, but as far as the laws of England permitted it to be professed in territories that lay without the realm. Provinces, and cities, and islands occupied by Catholics, had by the fortune of war passed at times under English rule, so that the distinction was well known, and the case of Minorca was familiar and recent.

"In 1765 the Lords of Trade sent the following query to Sir Fletcher Norton and Sir William De Grey, then Attorney and Solicitor-General. Whether his Majesty's subjects, being Roman Catholics and residing in the countries ceded his majesty in America by the treaty of Paris, are not subject, in those colonies, to the incapacities, disabilities, and penalties, to which Roman Catholics in this kingdom are subject by the law thereof?' To which query those great men answered on the 10th of June: That they were not.' And the advocate, attorney, and solicitor-general, in their joint report to the Privy Council upon the propositions of the Board of Trade, presented on the 18th of June, 1768, state it to be their opinion: That the several acts of parliament, which

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TOLERATION.

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impose disabilities and penalties upon the public exercise of the Roman Catholic religion do not extend to Canada: and that his Majesty is not by his prerogative enabled to abolish the dean and chapter of Quebec, nor to exempt the Protestant inhabitants from paying tithes to the persons, legally entitled to demand them from the Roman Catholics.'"'

Lord Thurlow too declared: "The free exercise of their religion by the laity, and of their function by the clergy, was also reserved." "

By the highest legal opinion in England therefore the Catholics in our Northwestern territory were by the Treaty of Paris secured in the full and complete enjoyment of their religion as under the French rule, and of course in the possession of their churches and ecclesiastical property, to such an extent that not the King himself by his royal prerogative could deprive the priest of his tithes, even from those not of his faith.

The only restraint was that the Jesuits were not assured of permanence in their Indian missions, but in point of fact the three remaining Fathers, Potier, du Jaunay, and Lefranc were never disturbed.

The English authorities had very naturally refused to concede to the King of France the nomination of future Bishops of Quebec; but the Episcopate was recognized, and the Dean and Chapter were, by sound legal authority, held to be beyond the power of the English throne to suppress them. The jurisdiction of the Bishop of Quebec and of the Vicars

"The Justice and Policy of the late Act of Parliament for making more effectual Provision for the Government of the Province of Quebec," etc. London, 1774, pp. 30-31.

? Consult as to the effect of the Treaty of Paris in Canada, "The Treaty of Paris, 1763, and the Catholics in American Colonies," "American Catholic Quarterly," x., p. 240.

Capitular during the vacancy of the see over our northwest territory, was thus fully recognized by England. Priests were maintained in their parochial and other rights, the religious orders and communities retained their property, and the people were free to enjoy the ministrations of their religion.

The first step in regard to the Catholics of the West was a proclamation issued at New York by General Thomas Gage, Commander-in-Chief of his Britannic Majesty's forces in

America:

"Whereas, by the Peace concluded at Paris, the 10th of February, 1763, the country of the Illinois has been ceded to his Britannic Majesty, and the taking possession of the said country of the Illinois, by the troops of his Majesty, though delayed, has been determined upon; we have found it good to make known to the inhabitants

"That his Majesty grants to the inhabitants of the Illinois, the liberty of the Catholic religion, as it has already been granted to his subjects in Canada. He has consequently given the most precise and effective orders, to the end that his new Roman Catholic subjects of the Illinois may exercise the worship of their religion, according to the rites of the Romish church, in the same manner as in Canada.

"That his Majesty, moreover, agrees that the French inhabitants or others, who have been subjects of the most Christian king, may retire in full safety and freedom wherever they please, even to New Orleans, or any other part of Louisiana; although it should happen that the Spaniards take possession of it in the name of his Catholic Majesty, and they may sell their estates, provided it be to subjects of his majesty, and transport their effects, as well as their persons, without restraint upon their emigration, under any pretence whatever, except in consequence of debts, or of criminal

processes.

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"That those who choose to retain their lands and become subjects of his Majesty, shall enjoy the same rights and privileges, the same security for their persons and effects, and the liberty of trade, as the old subjects of the king.

That they are commanded by these presents to take the oath of fidelity and obedience to his Majesty, in presence of Sieur Stirling, Captain of the Highland Regiment, the bearer hereof, and furnished with our full powers for this purpose.

"That we recommend forcibly to the inhabitants, to conduct themselves like good and faithful subjects, avoiding by a wise and prudent demeanor, all cause of complaint against them.

"That they act in concert with his Majesty's officers, so that his troops may take peaceable possession of all the forts, and order be kept in the country. By this means alone they will spare his Majesty the necessity of recurring to force of arms, and will find themselves saved from the scourge of a bloody war, and of all the evils which the march of an enemy into their country would draw after it.

"We direct that these presents be read, published, and posted up in the usual places.

"Done and given at headquarters, New York-signed with our hand-sealed with our seal at arms, and countersigned by our secretary, this 30th of December, 1764.

"By his Excellency, G. Maturin."1

"THOMAS GAGE.

It was apparently intended to include in the term Illinois country all the territory northwest of the Ohio. The fall of Canada had created a kind of panic in this part, and many supposing that France would retain Louisiana crossed the

1 Brown, "The History of Illinois," New York, 1844, pp. 212-13.

Mississippi River. The administrative Council at New Orleans seized the Jesuit Fathers in the portion subject to Louisiana, and ordered the destruction of their churches, after selling all the personal property at their missions. The Rev. Forget Duverger, assuming an authority he did not possess, pretended to give a title for the property of the Seminary of Quebec and left the country. No priests were left anywhere in the northwest except Father Simplicius Bocquet, Recollect Father, at Detroit, which had capitulated to the English under Major Rogers, November 29, 1760; the Jesuit Father du Jaunay, at Arbre Croche, Father Lefranc, at Mackinac, and the Recollect Father, Luke Collet, at Fort Chartres.'

The French in the West submitted, but the Indians could not brook the defeat. Pontiac, the Ottawa chief, organized an immense conspiracy, embracing tribes from Lake Superior to Georgia. A simultaneous attack was made on all the English frontier posts, and settlers were butchered and houses given to the flames. Fort Sandusky, Fort St. Joseph, Fort Michilimackinac, Fort Ouiatenon, Fort Miami and Fort Presquile, Fort Le Boeuf and Fort Venango, were all taken. In some cases not a soul escaped to tell the tale of the surprise or defence. In others a few survivors remained as prisoners in the hands of the excited red men.

The English authorities, as we have seen, in speaking of the Articles of Capitulation, had peremptorily refused to permit the Jesuits to maintain their Indian missions, full of the ignorant prejudice which prevailed against the devoted mem

1 Fort Michilimackinac was occupied by the English September 28, 1761, and Green Bay in October, but Fort Chartres, in Illinois, did not lower the French flag till 1765. See Farmer, "History of Detroit and Michigan," Detroit, 1884, p. 234; Kelton, "Annals of Fort Mackinac," 1884, pp. 36-7.