The St. Johns herald., 1894-02-15
OLD FEUDAL CUSTOMS.
Some That Still Survive in For
 tions Of Canada.
seigniories Near Quebec Still Run on the Principles Lajd Down in Paris Four Centuries Agc and Repealed as Long
 Ago as the French Revolution.

Parkman and others have told us all about the mild fcudal system which prevailed in French Canada down t. 1854. The seignior received q grant ot wild land from the king on condition that he should put settlers upon it. He had topreserve the oak timber for ship building, and the red pine for the man ufacture of tar, and to notify ,thc kings agents if he found nincrcls e. the seigniory. He had to go tarougl the form of paying homage and fealty to the kings representative at Quebec when he entered on possession. some times oftener, and to pay fifth of the purchase money if he sold the estate to the royal coffers, though he was al- lowed Q rebate of two-thirds for cash down. The censitaire or habitant, wlc held the land under the seignior, had to pay tho annual cens ct rentes, often a sol (cent), Or half a sol, with half a pint of wheat or Q few live capons CT eggs for each arpent. The land Of the censatairc passed to his heirs. but, in case he sold during his lifetime. the lods ct ventes came into play, and one twelfth of the purchase money went to the seignior. By the droit de re- trait the seignior could compel pur- chaser within forty days of the sale to transfer the property to him at the price paid if he thought it had not fetched enough.
 The censitaire had to get his wheat ground at the seignior's mill, and on some seigniories to have his bread baked at the seignior's oven, paying 9 toll in each case; to give tithe of the fish he caught to the seignior, to do cOrvee CT road work, and to get out stone and timber for public purposes. Seigniors who could afford to support 6 local magistrate were empowered to administer superior, mean and inferior justice on their estates. but as 8 class they were very poor and this right fell into desuetuda.
 In 1854, says the New York Post, the parliament Of Canada bought out the seigniors. There were 1G0 of them, in possession of 930 fefs. embracing G,O0G,- 600 acres of cultivated land. The censitaire was given his choice of two thinC5-the cens ct rentes were capl- taliZcd. and he could either pay the capifal e-..1i to the seignior, in which case, of course, he got a clear title to his holding, or continue on as a tenant at a rental equal to per cent. of the capitalization. The tenant 1 came across, or his father before him. had like many more, chosen the latter course. The other seigniorial rights were settled by the government at a cost of about S5,00C,CO The system would have been abolished before 1854 only the Roman Catholic church was afraid that in the dcbacle, as timid souls called it. the tithes and fabrique taxes which she collected by authority of law might be abolished, too
 The landlord of whom have spoken was good enough to let me look at the doings of his predecessors in the seigniory and of their censitaires are recorded for 150 years. These papers enabled one to form tolerably good idea of the sort of life the people led.
 First as to prices: In 1867, as other documents show, wheat sold in the markets of Quebec at 80 cents per bush el. A creditor was bound to accept it at that price Beef sold for cents and pork for cents per pound, the four pound loaf for 10 cents. Prices had dropped little by 1738 Wheat was then worth G2 cents. In 1742 it fell to 40 cents. There had been good crop in the region east of Quebec on the south shore of the St. Lawrence, which was regarded as the granary of New France. Capons sold for 10 cents each in 1746 but when paid as cens ct rentes their conventional price was 20 cents. Most of the deeds called for ''good fat capons of the brood of the month of May"
 In TAO carpenters and blacksmiths got from 50 to so cents a day, unskilled laborers 40 cents. Cloth of all kinds except homespun was dear. The for eign trade of the colony was confined to France and French possessions, but there was a good deal of smuggling by land and water from New England and New York. Twenty yards of fine woolen cloth" cost G215 cents a yard in 1746. The censitaires and the common people generally clothed themselves in homespun, Petoffe du pays, made boots out of green beef hides, got their sugar from the maple, and had, as a rule, plenty of game and fish. Most of them had a vegetable patch. They ex- changed timber or furs for store goods as they required. The well-to-do seig- niors imported wine, brandy, velvet, lace, jewelry, etc. An all-velvet sult with dress-sword, rufdes, buckles and a gilt snuff box thrown in, cost S52 in ITO. The poorer seigniors lived much as their censitaires lived. Their wives and daughters were forced to work in the fields to save the cost of hired la bor, which was scarce. Just before the British conquest the colony was flooded with depreciated paper money, and the crops failing at the same time the price of wheat ran up to S1.90.
 There were no books save among the clergy and seigniors; printing was not introduced until nearly century and a half after the first printing press I,o6 hoao cot 14T in Noxx, E,1Io,5