The “Régime Militaire”, 1759-64 is Chapter IV in The Constitution of Canada, An Introduction to its Development and Law by W.P.M. Kenedy, M.A., Litt.D.; Oxford University Press, 1922 French colonial possessions on the North American continent only gradually passed under the British flag1 and the introduction of British institutions was equally gradual. It is best to postpone the constitutional history of those possessions, known in British history as the Maritime Provinces, as it fits in with the general discussion of representative and responsible government, and to continue the history under British rule of the settlements along the valley of the St. Lawrence. After the fall of Quebec in 1759, delay over the final peace made a period of military rule inevitable.2 This period, known in Canadian history as the ‘régime militaire’ did not leave permanent marks on the development, but it is important that it should be considered for several reasons. Round this earliest point of contact between British officers and Canadian civilians has gathered an unfortunate tradition which needs examination. The actual history has become somewhat obscured and requires disentangling. Finally, within these years sprang up a friendship between the military chiefs and the French-Canadians which cannot be overlooked in the background of evolution. In 1759 General Monckton, who had assumed command of the forces at Quebec, was granted leave on account of his _____ 1 Nova Scotia in 1713, Cape Breton in 1758, Citadel and district of Quebec in 1759, the remaining French possessions in 1760. 2 Military rule lasted from September 18, 1759, to the establishment of civil government, August 10, 1764. The peace of Paris Avas signed February 10, 1763, but the introduction of civil government was delayed, because the terms of the peace allowed eighteen months to any Canadians who might wish to leave the country. / 26 wounds, and he appointed the next senior brigadier, James Murray, military governor of Quebec, with Colonel Burton as lieutenant-governor, until the king’s pleasure should be known.1 As soon, however, as Montreal capitulated, General Amherst issued a ‘placard’ appointing Colonel Burton governor of the administrative district of Three Rivers, and General Gage governor of the administrative district of Montreal.2 The arrangements of Monckton and Amherst thus continued the three French divisions of government. Murray had already begun his work and made his plans for the district of Quebec, and he was not bound by Amherst’s instructions to Burton and Gage. The date and source of his appointment produced in Quebec a type of military rule quite different from that in Three Rivers and Montreal. While Murray was penned within the ramparts of Quebec in the months following Wolfe’s victory, he appointed one of his officers, Colonel Young, to act as judge in civil and criminal cases within the city and its environs. A little later, on January 16, 1760, he extended the administrative machinery by appointing a seignior, Jacques Allier, civil and criminal judge ‘for the well-being and profit of the inhabitants of the parish of Berthier and […]
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