In corroboration of this,
the little black eye of Judge Mondelet brightly twinkled, and he nodded
his head in dignified approbation. Judge Van Feloon, who seemed more
phlegmatic, quietly settled the matter by saying, that he supposed if a
man _did_ work for another, and the other had agreed to pay him,
he was entitled to the money, and that therefore the court would have
to see that a bargain had been made, and the work duly performed, and
then decide. The next case argued arose out of a fraudulent assignment;
and in this, too, French authorities, in the old language of a hundred
and fifty years since, were often appealed to--Chardon being apparently
the standard book of reference. The mixture of custom evidently caused
embarrassment, and it was clear that no fixed decisions could regulate
disputes concerning property, while the precedents relied upon were
based upon the differing laws of two separate countries--laws, perhaps,
not now operating in those very countries themselves.
"The tenure of property in Lower Canada is still in part based upon the
old French feudal system. There are still 'seigneurs' who hold lands,
and have 'censitaires' or tenants, paying fee-rent in produce,
services, and money. It is true that a law has been passed enabling a
fixed commutation, in money, of these seigneurial rights; but I am told
that the parties adhere in most cases to the old usage, and despise
innovation.
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