11
Again, in the treaty of 1763 it is said:—
"Sa Majesté Britannique consent d'accorder la liberté de la religion Catholique aux habitants du Canada, et leur permet de professer le culte de leur religion, autant que les lois de l'Angleterre le permettent."
And lastly, by an Act of Parliament passed in 1774 (14 Geo. III, c. 83), intituled, "An Act for making more effectual Provision for the Government of Quebec, in North America," it was declared by section 5 that, for the more perfect security and ease of the minds of the inhabitants of the said province, His Majesty's subjects professing the religion of the Church of Rome, of and in the said Province of Quebec might have, hold, and enjoy the free exercise of the religion of the Church of Rome, subject to the King's supremacy, declared and established by an Act made in the first year of the reign of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth, over all the dominions and countries which then did, or should thereafter belong to the Imperial Crown of this realm, and that the clergy of the said Church might hold, receive, and enjoy their accustomed dues and rights with respect to such persons only as should profess the said religion.
And by the 8th section it is enacted:
"That all His Majesty's Canadian subjects within the Province of Quebec the religious orders and communities only excepted, may also hold and enjoy their property and possessions, together with all customs and usages relative thereto, and all other their civil rights, in as large, ample, and beneficial a manner as if the said proclamation, Commissions, Ordinances, and other Acts and Instruments had not been made, and as may consist with their allegiance to His Majesty, and subjection to the Crown and Parliament of Great Britain; and that in all matters of controversy, relative to property and civil rights, resort shall be had to the laws of Canada as the rule for the decision of the same," &c.
From these documents it would follow that, although the Roman Catholic Church in Canada may on the conquest have ceased to be an Established Church in the full sense of the term, it, nevertheless, continued to be a Church recognized by the State; retaining its endowments, and continuing to have certain rights (e.g., the perception of "dimes" from its members) enforceable at law.
It has been contended on behalf of the Appellants that the effect of the Act of Cession, the Treaty, and subsequent legislation, has been to leave the law of the Roman Catholic Church as it existed and was in force before the Cession, to secure to the Roman Catholic
