UNIVERSAL HISTORY—THE MODERN WORLD.

modeled after that Feudal System with which the founders were acquainted from their European antecedents. We have already seen how, in New Amsterdam, and before New Amsterdam in Virginia, attempts were made by the primitive American fathers to set up Feudalism in the New World. Signal was the failure in all those parts included within the present limits of the United States. Nor was the success of the experiment much greater in the North. Before the middle of the seventeenth century an Order of Nobility, so-called, was planted on the banks of the St. Lawrence. But the grand seigneurs who flourished in that region had nothing but their swords and unpeopled tracts of land to indicate their social elevation above the rest of mankind.

The early nobles of Canada, however, were not so absolute in their rights and prerogatives as were those of Europe. As time went by, the unsuitableness of the system to the social conditions of the New World became more and more apparent, and the Northern feudalism, like the similar absurd societies attempted in Virginia and Carolina, fell into desuetude. The shadow of the Canadian Feudal System remained until the middle of the present century when, in 1854, it was formally abolished by the Legislature. The seigneurs, however, received an equitable compensation for the alleged rights which they had inherited from their fathers.

The civil and military history of New France down to the year 1867 is contained in the annals of the two provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It will be recalled that, in 1629, these countries of the St. Lawrence, which until then had been the possession of France, were for a brief period secured by England. The French had never regarded their colonies as of much importance, and at the time of the first English conquest it was seriously debated in the council of Louis XIII. whether Canada should be again accepted or be left as a burden in the hands of its conquerors. It was decided to retain the province, and by the treaty of St. Germain-en-Laye, in 1632, the country was re-ceded to France.

The next important event in the history of the country of the St. Lawrence was the great and disastrous earthquake of 1663. The shocks began on the 5th of February, in that year, and continued until the dose of summer. They are represented as having been the most severe ever experienced in the New World, at least within the historic period. The whole face of the country—such is the record of tradition—was changed by the cataclysm. Mountains sank down to the plain. Rivers disappeared, and other streams were altered in appearance. The waters took new colors, and lakes were formed in various districts. Even the course of the St. Lawrence was changed by the precipitation of two mountains, near Three Rivers. Doubtless tradition has exaggerated the disaster; for the loss of life is represented as having been but trifling.

In the civil administration of these early days the French governors were the military commanders as well as the chief executives of the province. The division of Canada in the latter half of the seventeenth and beginning of the eighteenth century was threefold. The principal province was Quebec, having for its capital the city of the same name. The second was called Three Rivers, and the third Montreal. Each had its own provincial governor and local administration. The religion of the country was Catholic, and the Jesuits continued to exercise a dominant influence in affairs.

In the course of time Quebec gained a kind of supremacy over the other two colonies, and the French king established the Supreme Council of Quebec as a kind of court of final appeal for all the districts of Canada. By this Council all the royal edicts, ordinances, declarations, and letters patent issued by the king and the Parliament of France were registered and enforced. The Council was composed of the Governor, the Bishop of Quebec, five associate judges, and the king's attorney. Though the seat of the court was generally at Quebec, its sittings were sometimes held at Three Rivers, Montreal, and even less important towns. It was not long under this system of administration until a conflict occurred between the ecclesiastical and the secular branch of the government, and in some instances the Bishop proved to be sufficiently powerful to effect the deposition of the Governor.

The story of the Anglo-American invasion of Canada by Sir William Phipps, in 1690,