WILLIAM the FOURTH, by the Grace of GOD, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, King Defender of the Faith, &c. &c. &c.

To all to whom these Presents shall come; GREETING:

WHEREAS by an Act of the Parliament of this Province, passed in the first year of our Reign, entitled “An Act to erect the County of Prince Edward into a separate District.” It is amongst other things enacted, that so soon as the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, or person administering the Government of this Province for the time being, shall be satisfied that a good and sufficient Gaol and Court House has been erected therein, for securing Prisoners and for accommodating such Courts as shall or may be held within the said County, it shall and may be lawful to and for the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, or Person Administering the Government of the said Province for the time being, by and with the advice of His Majesty’s Executive Council in this Province, to declare by Proclamation the said County of Prince Edward a separate and distinct District, by such name as he shall think fit.

And Whereas it appears to us satisfactorily, that the provisions of the said in part recited Act, in respect to such Gaol and Court House, have been fully complied with.

Now Know Ye, that We taking the promise into our Royal consideration, and be in pursuance of the provisions of the said Act, and by and with the advice of our Executive Council in the said Province, do hereby declare and proclaim it to be our Royal will and pleasure, that the said County of Prince Edward shall, from the day of the date of this our Royal Proclamation, be a separate and distinct District, and shall henceforth be called or known by the name of the DISTRICT OF PRINCE EDWARD.

And We do hereby require all our Judges, Sheriffs, Coroners, Justices of the Peace, and other Peace Officers, and all other our loving Subjects, to take due notice of this our Royal Proclamation.

In Testimony Whereof, We have caused these our letters to be made patent, and the Great Seal of our said Province to be hereunto affixed—Witness our trusty and well beloved SIR JOHN COLBORNE, K. C. B. Lieutenant Governor of our said Province, and Major General Commanding our Forces therein, at York, the Sixth day of February, in the year of our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-four, and in the Fourth year of our Reign. J. C.

Hallowell Free Press Editorial

We present our readers this day with a copy of the Lieutenant-Governor’s Proclamation, declaring the former County of Prince Edward a separate district. Hope deferred, maketh the heart sick, and truly, never did any body of men wait with more patience for the attainment of a desired object, than the inhabitants of this District have done. The matter has now been in agitation for upwards of eight years; and every year our expectations were excited only to be again disappointed, but they are at length realized, and this District, so long tributary to another, is now independent. Our neighbors will in future, be spared the heavy expenses attendant upon periodical visits to Kingston, and Adolphustown, and many other legal costs will be considerably diminished; while various sums of money, which have hitherto gone to enrich the Midland District Treasury, without a corresponding benefit to us, will now come into our own keeping.

We hail the separation, as an omen of increased prosperity: and we are persuaded, that were this District more generally known to emigrants they would on many accounts give a very decided preference to it. No other District can boast of so many scenes of surpassing beauty as we of Prince Edward can;—a collection of peninsulas, surrounded with navigable waters; there are few, it any farms on the shores of the Bay, which do not present to the admirer of nature, a view on which his eye may rest with feelings of delight.— Among the numerous emigrants who annually leave the shores of Great Britain to seek in Canada that prosperity which is denied them at home, there are many who anxiously seek for a farm, large enough to satisfy their wants, and which with a moderate outlay, and proper industry, will secure to them an agreeable and comfortable abode for the remainder of their days. To such we would say, just take a trip up the Bay of Quinte, on a fine Summer’s day in one of our Steam-Boats, and we will stake our reputation for veracity (no mean one by the by) that you will be induced to make some exertion to obtain a location in this District. Nor will it be difficult for you to do so, for farms which have been under successful cultivation for some years, in situations sufficiently beautiful to please the most fastidious gentleman, are continually offered for sale at a price considerably below that asked in some other Districts, by persons who in the true spirit of clearers, are no sooner comfortably settled with everything in order around them than they get tired of the monotony, and wish themselves again in the bush, chopping, clearing, logging & burning as before. Others of our farmers, find their farms too of small for them, they have families of children springing up around them, and they prefer going again into a newly settled tract where at small expense they can procure additional lots for their children, and we repeat that the person desirous of purchasing a farm will have no difficulty in finding those who are willing to sell. It is a great mistake to suppose, that in a few years the land becomes so worn out that it will no longer produce good crops, for by proper attention it is as fit for use as it ever was. The quality of the land in this District is excellent; the Kingston and Montreal merchants will tell you, that they do not get any wheat superior, or even equal in quality to that grown in Prince Edward District. The extreme facility of water communication, and the excellence of the roads together with our proximity to Kingston, the second Town in the Province, are advantages which ought not to be lost sight of.

That this District offers equal advantages to the merchant and mechanic, may be inferred from the fact that this Town, which a few years ago was without a single inhabitant, now contains between 1100 and 1200, and our stores are well supplied with every article of convenience and comfort, at prices fully as low as those in Kingston. We do not mean to say that an idle man may come here and find all that he could wish for; but we do say that an industrious man with a small capital would find it to his advantage to come and settle amongst us, whether as a farmer, a merchant, or a mechanic; we should gladly welcome him on his arrival, and we feel assured that on a future day he would have no reason to repent of his choice. We know it is the fashion of the present day to recommend an emigrant to go up—up—up—he is told he cannot go too far; but we are of a very different opinion, and whenever we meet one of those gentlemen, who is undecided as to his future course, we advise him to visit our District, before he incurs further travelling expenses. To conclude, we have no hesitation in saying, that if many of those, dissatisfied with the upper part of the Province, have returned back to Great Britain; if many of these had first made trial of this part of the country, they would have remained in Canada even to this very day.

PROCLAMATION OF THE DISTRICT
A Parody on “Oft In The Stilly Night.”

Oft when the paper came,
  With news from every nation,
I’m do it all my aim,
  To find the Proclamation.
    From page to page
    ’Twixt hope and rage,
I turned with expedition;
  Intent to find,
  What to my mind
Would better our condition.

Thus time has passed away,
  And week by week has glided,
In wishing that each day,
  The thing might be decided.
    As I am true,
    I never knew,
A time that pleased me better
    Than when my friend
    For some good end,
Enclosed it in a letter.

-BAZIL.