Montreal, might be established between Lake Huron and the
River St. Lawrence. Unfortunately for the Province, Governor Simcoe did
not remain long enough in it to put his admirably conceived projects
into execution. These schemes when conceived, could not be very easily
brought under public notice. There was in all Upper Canada only one
newspaper, and that very far from being an organ of public opinion. The
Newark Spectator, or Mercury, or Chronicle, or whatever else it may
have been, was but a loose observer of men and manners, printed weekly.
Had it not been supported by the government, not a fourth part of the
expenses of the proprietor would have been refunded to him by the sale
of his newspaper. It was a short abstract of the newspapers of New York
and Albany, "accommodated" to the anti-American principles of the
Governor, with an epitome of the _Quebec Gazette_. It was the medium
through which the Acts of the Legislature, and the Governor's notices
and orders were communicated to the people. It was _par excellence_ the
government organ.

The Second Session of the First Provincial Parliament of Upper Canada
was held at Niagara, on the 31st of May, 1793. There is no copy of the
speech from the throne to be found, unless it may have been in the
Newark _Spectator_, which is not within reach. Its contents may be
gleaned from the nature of the Bills passed during the Session, and
assented to by the Lieutenant Governor. An Act was passed for the
better regulation of the militia; the nomination and appointment of
parish and town officers were provided for; the payment of wages to the
members of the House of Assembly, at a rate not exceeding ten shillings
per diem, was authorized and provided for; the laying out, amending,
and keeping in repair the public high roads was regulated, the roads
not to be less than thirty nor more than sixty feet wide; marriages
solemnized by justices of the peace, before the separation, were to be
valid, and in future justices of the peace were empowered to marry
persons not living within eighteen miles of a parson of the Church of
England, the form of the Church of England to be followed; the times
and places of holding Courts of Quarter Sessions were fixed; the
further introduction of slaves was prevented, and the term of contracts
for servitude limited; a Court of Probate was established in the
Province, and a Surrogate Court in every district; Commissioners were
appointed to meet Commission