edented in Canadian history.' The colony was now entirely free
to manage its own affairs, well or ill, to misgovern itself if it chose
to do so. Lord Elgin had almost laid down his life for this idea;
henceforth it was never to be called in question.

Two outstanding grievances were finally removed by the Great
Administration during this session. They were both land questions; one
afflicted the English, and the other the French, half of the province.
For a whole decade the grievance of the Clergy Reserves had slumbered;
now it came up for settlement. The Clergy Reserves were finally
secularized. Hincks, the astute parliamentary hand, led the House in
requesting the British parliament to repeal the Act of 1840. This was
the first step, preliminary to devoting the unappropriated land to the
maintenance of the school system. In voting on this measure LaFontaine
opposed, while Baldwin supported it. The divergence of opinion marked
the weakening of the ministry.

The other question, which affected French {140} Canada, was the
seigneurial tenure of the land. The system was an inheritance from the
time of Richelieu. Unlike the English, who allowed their colonies to
grow up haphazard, the French, from the first, organized and regulated
theirs according to a definite scheme. Upon the banks of the St
Lawrence they established the feudal system of holding land, the only
system they knew. There were the seigneurs, or landlords, with their
permanent tenants, or _censitaires_. There were the ancient
usages--_cens et rentes, lods et ventes, droit de banalite_.[1] the
seigneurs' court, and so on. Seigneuries were also established in
Acadia; but they were bought out by the Crown about 1730, after the
cession of that province to Great Britain. In the opinion of such
authorities as Sulte and Munro the seigneurial system answered its
purpose very well. At first the French would not have it touched. In
the troubles of '37 the simple habitants thought they were fighting for
the abolition of the seigneurs' dues. By the middle of the nineteenth
century it had become almost as complete an anomaly as trial by combat.
But the question of reform bristled with difficulties. {141} Which
were the rightful owners of the eight million arpents of land--the
seigneurs, or the _censitaires_? To whom should all this land be
given? Was there a third method, adjustment of rights with adequate
compensation? The Reformers were not agreed