Sentence:  This power of <WSD>distress</WSD>, as anciently used, became as oppressive as the feudal forfeiture. It was as hard for the tenant to be stripped in an instant of all his goods, for arrears of rent, as to be turned out of the possession of his farm. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  To retain someone's property against the payment of a debt; to distrain.