n on the best
possible terms with General Simcoe, would not hear of it, and he,
notwithstanding the boast of the Lieutenant Governor that Upper Canada
had obtained the exact image and transcript of the British
Constitution, exercised a powerful influence in the state. Lord
Dorchester insisted that Kingston should be the capital of the Upper
Province. He was determined, moreover, that if he could not prevail on
the Imperial Government to convert Kingston into the provincial
capital, that the seat of government should not be at the London of
General Simcoe. He was not favorable to York. A muddy, marshy,
unhealthy spot, it was unfitted for a city. Lord Dorchester, peevish
from age, was, to some extent, under the influence of the Kingston
merchants, and was inclined, by a feeling of gratitude, to grant the
wishes of Commodore Bouchette, who resided at Kingston, with his
family, and to whom Lord Dorchester was indebted for safe conduct
through the American camp, after Montreal had fallen into the hands of
Montgomery. Kingston, as a town, was then inferior even to Newark, but
the back country was in a more advanced state, as far as cultivation
was concerned. The number of houses in the two towns was nearly equal,
but the houses in Kingston were neither as large nor so good as those
of Newark. Many of the houses in Kingston were merely log-houses, and
those which consisted of joiners work were badly constructed and
painted. There was no Town Hall, no Court House, and no Prison. The
trade consisted chiefly in furs, brought down the Lake, and in
provisions brought from Europe. There were only three merchant ships,
that made eleven voyages in the year. In the district, three or four
thousand bushels of corn were raised, and the surplus of that required
for the feeding of the troops and inhabitants was exported to England,
the price of flour being six dollars per barrel. In 1791, a thousand
barrels of salt pork were sent from Kingston to Quebec, at a price of
eighteen dollars a barrel. In selecting a site for the seat of
government, then, as now, local interests were brought into play, but
General Simcoe ultimately succeeded in obtaining the permission of the
Imperial authorities to fix it at York.

The revenue of Upper Canada, in 1793, was only L900, and the pay of the
members of Assembly was $2 a day. There was a Chief Justice and two
Puisne Judges, the members of the Executive Council, five in number,
being a Court of Appeal;