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bark, and the busy hum of commerce which now rises from the fertile bottoms, and the thousand ships and smoking palaces which now furrow the surface of those inland seas!"-American Tourist.

No. LXIV.

MILITIA OF CANADA BEFORE THE CONQUEST IN 1760.

"All the inhabitants of the colony, by virtue of the Law of Fiefs (except such gentlemen and other persons who, by their employments, had the privilege of nobles), were militia-men, and enrolled in the several companies of militia of the province. The captains of militia were the most respectable persons in the country parishes, and were entitled to the first seat in the churches; they also received the same distinctions as the magistrates in the towns; they were held in great respect, and government exacted from the inhabitants obedience to the orders they signified to them on the part of government. If any of the inhabitants did not obey orders, the captains were authorized to conduct them to the city, and, on complaint, they were punished according to the nature of the delinquency. When the government wanted the services of the militia as soldiers, the colonels of militia, or the town majors, in consequence of a requisition from the governor general, sent orders to the several captains of militia in the country parishes to send a certain number of militia-men, chosen by those officers who ordered the draughts, into town, under an escort commanded by an officer of militia, who conducted them to the town major, who furnished each militia-man with a gun, a capot or Canadian cloak, a cotton shirt, a cap, a pair of leggins, a pair of Indian shoes, and a blanket; after which they were marched to the garrison to which they were destined. The militia were generally reviewed once or twice a year to inspect their arms. The militia of the city of Quebec were frequently exercised, and the company of artillery every Sunday were exercised at the great gun practice, under the orders and directions of the artillery sergeant major of the king's troops. To excite the emulation of the militia-men, a premium was given to such as excelled. The captains in the country were obliged to execute all orders addressed to them by the governor general, and also all processes from the intendant respecting the police, and also with regard to suits touching fiefs. They were also obliged to execute all orders respecting the roads from the grand voyer. It was customary for the governor general to deliver to the several captains of militia every year, by way of gratification, a quantity of powder and ball."-General Murray's Report.

No. LXV.

"When the French began their settlements in Canada, the country exhibited one vast and unbounded forest, and property was granted in extensive lots called seigneuries, stretching along either coast of the St. Lawrence for a distance of ninety miles below Quebec, and thirty miles above Montreal, comprehending a space of three hundred miles in length.

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The seigneuries each contain 100 to 500 square miles, and are parceled out into small tracts on a freehold lease to the inhabitants, as the persons to whom they were granted had not the means of cultivating them. These consisted of officers of the army, of gentlemen, and of communities, who were not in a state to employ laborers and workmen. The portion to each inhabitant was of three acres in breadth, and from seventy to eighty in depth, commencing on the banks of the river, and running back into the woods, thus forming an entire and regular lot of land.

"To the proprietors of seigneuries some powers, as well as considcrable profits, are attached. They are by their grants authorized to hold courts and sit as judges in what is termed haute and basse justice, which includes all crimes committed within their jurisdiction, treasons and murders excepted. Few, however, exercised this privilege except the ecclesiastical seigneurs of Montreal, whose right of jurisdiction the King of France purchased from them, giving them, in return, his droit de change. Some of the seigneurs have a right of villain service from their tenants.

"At every transfer or mutation of proprietor, the new purchaser is bound to pay a sum equal to a fifth part of the purchase money to the seigneur or to the king; but if this fine be paid immediately, only one third of the fifth is demanded. This constituted a principal part of the king's revenues in the province. When an estate falls by inheritance to a new possessor, he is by law exempted from the fine.

"The income of a seigneur is derived from the yearly rent of his lands, from lots et vents, or a fine on the disposal of property held under him, and from grist mills, to whose profits he has an exclusive right. The rent paid by each tenant is considerable; but they who have many inhabitants on their estates enjoy a tolerably handsome revenue, each person paying in money, grain, or other produce, from five to twelve livres per annum. In the event of a sale of any of the lots of his seigneurie, a proprietor may claim a preference of repurchasing it, which is seldom exercised but with a view to prevent frauds in the disposal of the property. He may also, whenever he finds it necessary, cut down timber for the purpose of building mills and making roads; tithes of all the fisheries on his domain likewise belong to him.

"Possessed of these advantages, seigneurs might in time attain to a state of comparative affluence were their estates allowed to remain entire. But by the practice of divisions among the different children of a family, they become, in a few generations, reduced.

The most am

ple share, which retains the name of seigneurie, is the portion of eldest son; the other partitions are denominated feofs. These are, in the next generation, again subdivided, and thus, in the course of a few descents, a seigneur is possessed of little more than his title. This is the condition of most of those estates that have passed to the third or fourth generation.

"The inhabitants, in like manner, make divisions of their small tracts of land, and a house will sometimes belong to several proprietors. It is from these causes that they are in a great measure retained in a state of poverty, that a barrier to industry and emulation is interposed, and that a spirit of litigation is excited.

"There are in Canada upward of 100 seigneuries, of which that of Montreal, belonging to the seminary of St. Sulpicius, is the richest and most productive. The next in value and profit is the territory of the Jesuits. The members of that society who resided at Quebec were, like the priests of Montreal, only agents for the head of their community. But since the expulsion of their order from France, and the seizure by the Catholic sovereigns of Europe of all the lands of that society within their dominions. the Jesuits in Canada held their seigneurie in their own right.

"Some of the domiciliated savages held also in the province land in the right of seigneurs.

"Upon a representation of the narrow circumstances to which many of the noblesse and gentlemen of the colony were reduced, not only by the causes already assigned, but by others equally powerful, Louis XIV. was induced to permit persons of that description to carry on commerce by sea or land without being subjected to any inquiry on this account, or to an imputation of their having derogated from their rank in society.

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"To no seigneurie is the right of patronage to the Church attached ; it was upon the advancement of the pretensions of some seigneurs, founded on their having built parochial churches, that the king in 1685 pronounced in council that this right should belong to the bishop, he being the most capable of judging concerning the qualifications of persons who were to serve, and the incomes of the curacies also being paid from the tithes, which belonged to him alone. The right of patronage was at the same time declared not to be reputed an honor."-Heriot's Canada, p. 98.

No. LXVI.

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Louis Joseph, marquis de Montcalm de St. Véran, lieutenant général, naquit au château de Candiac, près de Nîmes, en 1712. famille, originaire du Rouerque, joint ordinairement à son nom celui de Gozon.* L'éducation du Marquis de St. Véran fut confiée, ainsi

"La famille de Montcalm joint ordinairement à son nom celui de Gozon, sous lequel elle s'illustra au quatorzième siècle; le grand-maître de l'ordre de St. Jean de

que celle de son frère aîné, enfant célébre,* aux soins de Dumas, l'inventeur du bureau typographique. Quoiqu'il fut sorti à l'âge de quatorze ans des mains de cet habile instituteur, pour entrer dans la carriére militaire, il avoit si bien profité de ses leçons qu'il conserva le goût de l'étude jusque dans le tumulte des camps; et l'étendue de ses connaissances justifia son ambition et son espérance d'être admis à l'Académie Royale des inscriptions et belle-lettres de Paris. vécut pas assez pour jouir de cette honneur.

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"Sa vie militaire a jetté un grand éclat. Il se distingua dès les premiers pas dans la carrière, reçut trois blessures à la bataille de Plaisance, et deux au funeste combat d'Exilles (ou de l'Assiette).† It étoit alors colonel d'infanterie. Devenue brigadier il passa dans la cavalerie et fut fait mestre-de-camp d'un régiment de son nom. Maréchal-decamp en 1756 il alla commander en chef les troupes chargées de la défense des colonies Françaises dans l'Amérique Septentrionale.". Biographie Universelle, art. Montcalm.

The French troops that served in Canada, being desirous of erecting a monument in honor of Montcalm, their general, who fell in the acJérusalem, qui obtint cette dignité pour avoir délivré l'ile de Rhodes d'un dragon qui la ravageoit. Les grans bois de la terre de Gozon, vendu domainalement, portent encore le nom de dragonnières, d'après la tradition que c'est là que le chevalier Dieu Donnè exerçoit ses chiens à la poursuite d'un dragon artificiel avant d'attaquer celui que désoloit l'ile de Gozon. La même tradition de la famille Montcalm a conservé le nom du fidèle domestique qui accompagna ce héros; il se nomma Roustan. On grava sur son tombeau cette courte inscription, 'Draconia Extinctor. Plusieurs critiques ont cherché a jeter des doutes sur le combat de Gozon. On peut voir dans le Dictionnaire de Chaufepié, les raisons qu'on leur oppose, tirées de l'existence de serpents monstreux, prouvée par l'accord des historiens anciens, et par les récits des voyageurs, comme par le témoignage des monuments contemporains, des Chroniques de l'Ordre de Malte, et enfin d'une tapisserie sur laquelle est représenté le mémorable combat de Gozon."-Biographie Universelle, art. Gozon.

"Le frère aîné de Montcalm, Jean Louis Pierre Elizabeth de Montcalm de Candiac, etoit un enfant célébre, qui attira l'attention et les hommages des savants à Nîmes, à Montpellier, à Grenoble, à Lyons, à Paris. Sa vie n'eut que sept ans de durée, et cependant outre sa langue maternelle qu'il connoissait par principes, il avoit des notions assez avancées de Latin, de Grec, et d'Hébreu, il possédoit toute l'arithmétique, savoit la fable, le blason, la géographie et plusieurs parties importantes de l'histoire sacrée et profane, ancienne et moderne. Il étoit l'élève de Dumas aussi bien que son frère; sa mort fut causée par une hydropisie de cerveau.' "-Biographie Universelle, art. Candiac.

"Le Comte de Belleisle avoit la promesse du bâton de Maréchal de France s'il réussissait de pénétrer dans le cœur du Piémont avec l'armée du Dauphiné. Le 19 Juillet, 1746, à la pointe du jour, il commença l'attaque mémorable et sanglante, où tous les prodiges de la valeur Française furent vains. Quatorze bataillons Piémontais défendaient le col de l'Assiette qui couvroit, à la fois, Exilles et Fenestrelles. Désespéré du mauvais succés d'une attaque désapprouvée par les généraux les plus expérimentés, le Comte de Belleisle se mit à la tête des officiers de l'armée, dont il forma une colonne, et qui, presque tous, vinrent se faire tuer au pied des retranchemens. Blessé aux deux mains, Belleisle tachoit d'arracher les palisades avec les dents, lorsque il reçut un coup mortel. Les François repoussés et sans chef firent leur retraite sur Briançon."-Biographie Universelle, art. Belleisle,

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tion at Quebec, when we also lost the brave Wolfe, a French colonel wrote to the Academy of Belles-Lettres for an epitaph to be placed over Montcalm's tomb, in a church in that city, which occasioned the following letter from M. de Bougainville, member of the academy, to Mr. Pitt: Sir,—The honors paid, under your ministry, to Mr. Wolfe, assure me that you will not disapprove of the grateful endeavors of the French troops to perpetuate the memory of the Marquis de Montcalm. The body of their general, who was honored by the regret of your nation, is interred in Quebec. I have the honor to send you an epitaph made for him by the Academy of Inscriptions. I beg the favor of you, sir, that you will be pleased to examine it, and, if not improper, obtain leave for me to send it to Quebec, engraved on marble, and to be placed on the Marquis de Montcalm's tomb. Should such leave be granted, may I presume, sir, that you will be so good as to inform me of it, and at the same time to send me a passport, that the marble, with the epitaph engraved upon it, may be received into an English ship, and Mr. Murray, governor of Quebec, allow it to be placed in the Ursuline Church. You will be pleased, sir, to pardon me for this intrusion on your important occupations; but endeavoring to immortalize illustrious men and eminent patriots is doing honor to yourself.

"I am, with respect, &c.,

Mr. Pitt's answer :

DE BOUGAINVILLE."*

"Sir,—It is a real satisfaction to me to send you the king's consent on a subject so affecting as the epitaph composed by the Academy of Inscriptions at Paris for the Marquis de Montcalm, and which it is desired may be sent to Quebec, engraved on marble, to be placed on the tomb of that illustrious soldier. It is perfectly beautiful; and the desire of the French troops which served in Canada to pay such a tribute to the memory of their general, whom they saw expire at their head in a manner worthy of them and himself, is truly noble and praiseworthy.

"I shall take a pleasure, sir, in facilitating every way such amiable intentions; and on notice of the measures taken for shipping this marble, I will not fail immediately to transmit you the passport you desire, and send directions to the governor of Quebec for its reception.

"I withal beg of you, sir, to be persuaded of my just sensibility of that so obliging part of the letter with which you have honored me relating to myself, and to believe that I embrace as a happiness the opportunity of manifesting the esteem and particular regard with which I have the honor to be, &c., W. PITT.

"London, April 10th, 1761."

* Jean Pierre de Bougainville was Secretary to the French Academy of Inscriptions. He died in 1763, at the age of forty-one, of asthma, brought on by intense application. His brother, Louis Antoine, the celebrated circumnavigator, who had been Montcalm's aide-de-camp, retired from the service in 1790. He was afterward made a count and a senator by Bonaparte, became member of the National Institute, and of the Royal Society of London. He died at Paris in 1811, at the age of eightytwo.

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