. LaFontaine did not deny the necessity for a radical change in
the system, but he was too much wedded to the old institutions of his
native province to take the initiative for its entire removal. Mr.
Louis Thomas Drummond, who was attorney-general in both the
Hincks-Morin and MacNab-Morin ministries, is deserving of honourable
mention in Canadian history for the leading part he took in settling
this very perplexing question. I have already shown that his first
attempt in 1853 failed in consequence of the adverse action of the
legislative council, and that no further steps were taken in the matter
until the coming into office of the MacNab or Liberal-Conservative
government in 1854, when he brought a bill into parliament to a large
extent a copy of the first. This bill became law after it had received
some important amendments in the upper House, where there were a number
of representatives of seigniorial interests, now quite reconciled to
the proposed change and prepared to make the best of it. It abolished
all feudal rights and duties in Lower Canada, "whether hearing upon the
_censitaire_ or _seigneur_," and provided for the appointment of
commissioners to enquire into the respective rights of the parties
interested. In order to enable them to come to correct conclusions with
respect to these rights, all questions of law were first submitted to a
seigniorial court composed of the judges of the Queen's Bench and
Superior Court in Lower Canada. The commissioners under this law were
as follows:--

Messrs. Chabot, H. Judah, S. Lelievre, L. Archambault, N. Dumas, J.G.
Turcotte, C. Delagrave, P. Winter, J.G. Lebel, and J.B. Varin.

The judges of the seigniorial court were:--

Chief Justice Sir Louis H. LaFontaine, president; Judges Bowen,
Aylwin, Duval, Caron, Day, Smith, Vanfelson, Mondelet, Meredith,
Short, Morin, and Badgley.

Provision was also made by parliament for securing compensation to the
seigniors for the giving up of all legal rights of which they were
deprived by the decision of the commissioners. It took five years of
enquiry and deliberation before the commissioners were able to complete
their labours, and then it was found necessary to vote other funds to
meet all the expenses entailed by a full settlement of the question.

The result was that all lands previously held _en fief, en arriere
fief, en censive_, or _en roture_, under the old French system, were
henceforth placed on the foot