is humble obedience, wearing neither sword nor spur, fell
on his knees before him and declared that he performed faith and homage
for the seigniory to which, on his father's death, he had become the
heir. He then took an oath on the gospels to be faithful to the king and
to be no party to anything against his interests; to hold his own
vassals to the same obedience; and to perform all other duties required
by the terms of his holding.

The Crown required very little of the seigneur and so, in truth, did the
seigneur of his tenants. Their annual payment of _cens et rentes_ rarely
amounted to more than a very few dollars. When it fell due in the autumn
they were given abundant notice. Still in the Canadian parishes, when
the Sunday morning mass is over, the crier stands on a raised platform
near the church door, the people gather round, and the announcement is
made of tithes and taxes due, of articles lost or found, of anything
indeed of general interest to the community. It was in this way that as
St. Martin's day, November 11th, approached the people were reminded of
the falling due of the _cens et rentes_. The meaning of the two terms is
somewhat obscure. The _cens_ was a trifling payment by the _censitaire_
in recognition of the seigneur's position and rights as landowner; while
the _rentes_ represented a real rental based in some degree on the
supposed value of the land. But the rate was usually conventional and
very small. In early Canada the river was the highway and upon it
therefore every settler desired to have a frontage. There was, also,
greater safety from Indian attacks in having the houses close together
at the front of the farms. So these became long narrow strips, with the
houses built so close together that the country side often seems like a
continuous village. The habitant paid usually in _cens et rentes_ twenty
sols (about twenty cents) for each arpent (192 feet) of frontage;
instead of cash usually he might pay in kind--a live capon or a small
measure (demi-minot) of grain for each arpent. He paid also about one
cent of rent for each superficial acre. Thus for a farm of 100 acres,
with two arpents of frontage, a habitant might pay $1.00 in cash and two
capons. If each of 400 such tenants paid for their frontage in capons,
800 of these fowls would he brought to the seigneur's barn-yard each
autumn!

Though payment was due on November 11th, the habitants usually waited
for the first winter days when t