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Show !.jO TRAVELS THROUGH LOWER CANADA: L E T T E R XXVII. !llbabitaJ:ts of Lo7.oer Cmwd.t.-Of th.. Tenures by 'l.obicb Lands are held. - Not jf>voumb!e to tl1e Improvemt!llt q/ tl1e C:;?/1/t'}.-Some 0/flrvatiom tf,··rcoli.-Advm tan·es q/.J~tt!.izg 1i1 Canada am! the United States c;;mjJmwl.-JVlry Em/gmtio11s to tl.e latter Cowlt7J are ;mre gmcra!.D'!) cnj,tion of a Jour,tq to Stombam 'To'WI!)hip mrtr f<.!J.cb ·c .-D~'/ nption oft be P ivcr St. Cl,arlcs.-OJ Lake St. c.:·arlt!s.-Of Stombam 'To'W7ljbip. ~cbcc. A B 0 U T five-fix ths of the inhabitants of Lower ~~1nada are of French extr:1Ction, the bulk of whom arc peafants, bv111g upon the lands o[ the feigniors. Amou_:;il: the Engli£h inbabit1nts devoted to agriculture, l>ut few, how vcr, arc to be fc)und occu1 yi ng L nd under feigniors, notwithftanding that fcvcra.l of the feignior;es have fallen into the hands of EngliDHnen; the gr at m ;-~jority of them hold the lands which they cult"v. tc by virtue of certificates from the gov rnor, and thcfc 1 coplc for the morl: part refide in the wdl:ern part of the province, bor1kring upot the upper parts of the river St. Lawrence. The fcigniors, both French and Englifl1, live in a plain fimple ftyle; for altho 1gh the fcio-niorics in ·cncral arc ex.tcnfive, but few of them afford a very larlle inc0mc to the proprietors. Tl.e revenues of a fei gniory :uife from C(:rtJ.in fines cal cd lods and vents, which arc paid by the v.tffals on the alie ,l:Hion of property, a!» when a farm, or any p.trt of it, is divide l by a v:tfLd,, during his lifetime, amongfr. hi fon s, or when any other than the immedi. te ifr te of a vaffal fu, ccds to his db.le, &c. &c. The rev·cnues ::trifc alf from certain fines puid Oil the 6ranting of fi-c01 Lnds t the v:1fEtls, and fron) the profits o:· the mil ls ,f the fi·i~n io r, to which the vaiTals ar\.:0 bot.:nl to fc1 d all t 1 ir corn 'o b~ tr rou.Jd. ~ This b{l obli·~ation is fcnnclimcs extremely jrJd()mC to the vaflitl, when, fo1 in fLt •C ', on a large fcigniory there is not more tb ;ln one mill; for altho .tL.,Il it D10ul i b tel} miles difbnt from his 1 ,tbit.ttJOn, and he could get his corn ground on better terms clofe to his o,vn 9 door, T E N U R E 0 [i' L N D S, door, yet he cannot fend it to Ui1Y other mill lhan th~lt bclongin; to the feigni r, under ~ heavy pcn:tlty. The c tent of fci ~.1 iorial rigl'tS in Canada, particularly in what relates to the levyinr_; of the lo,ls 8nd vent , fccms to be l>y no means clearly af; crtaineLl, fo that whc;·' the {cignior ha1 pens to be a man of a rapacious dif .Jolltion, the vaffitl is fomciimcs co•·'pdlcd to p:ty .fines, whi ·h, in fhi 3: jllfl:ice p--:rhai's, ought not to b~ demand ..: L In the firfl: provincial afrcmbly t 1at was callcJ, this bufincfs was brought for vard, and the equity and rolicy wa fi: ,·ong1y urgcJ by fome of the Engli01 m mbers that poffcn· d confidcr.tble nbilities, of havi 1g proper bounds fixed to the power of the fci:;niors, and of having all the fines and fervices due from their vafhls accura~.cly afccrtaincd, and made generally known; but th~ Prench members, a great number of whom were themfdves feigniors, ein:; fhongly attached to old habits, ~llld t 1inking that it was conducive to their intcreil: that their authority fl1otdd fl:ill continue undefined, oppofcd the meafure with great warmth, and nothing was done. Nearly all thofe parts of Canada which were i 1habited when the country was under French "'Ovcrnment, as weil as the unoccupied - b lands granted to individuals during the fame 1 cried, arc comprized under different f..:igniorics, and thdc, with all the uf1ges and cuftoms thereto formerly pertaining, were con.firm::c.l to tho i'roprietaries by the ~cbec bill, which began to be in force in May 1775; th fc land , therefore, arc held by unquei1ionable titles. All the wafl:e lands~ however, of the crown, that have been allotted fince the conquefl:, have been granted .fimply by certificates of occupation, or liccnfe from the governor, giving pcrmif1ion to perfons who applied for thcfc I.mds to fettle upon them; LO patcllt , conveying a clear poflc ,J~on of them, have ever been made out; it ~s merely by courtcfy tl1<lt th.;y :'rc held; ani if a governor thought prop"r to n:cLti n them on the p.lrt of thr.: c1 own, he has only to fty the word, a.1J the titl es of the o cupiLrs link into air. T.;.- l<; it i, hat althoLt ' h fcvc •. ll .Krfon · have CX 1)CntcJ hrge fums of u .l money in procuring, and afterwards im pi oving town[hi s ·~', none of ., r ·>t Tmcls of wallc IanJ> ufually ten m1.CS tquarc. them |
