appear to be neceffary and convenient for that establishment, either in respect to a free paffage to the river Saint Lawrence, or for producing a necessary fupply of wood, corn, and hay, or for pasture for cattle, be granted to any private perfon whatever; and also that as large a district of land as conveniently may be, adjacent to and lying round the faid iron-works, over and above what may be neceffary for the above purposes, be referved for our ufe, to be difpofed of in fuch manner as we shall hereafter direct and appoint.

NUMBER

AS

NUMBER XXVIII.

S all the following grants of land are made with a reservation of fealty and certain rent, it may be proper to infert in this place a fhort account of the oath of fealty and the manner in which it ought to be taken, together with the words of the oath itself.

An ACCOUNT of the OATH of FEALTY according to the Law of ENGLAND.

ALI

LL the freehold lands in England are at this day held by fealty either of the King or fome other lord, notwithstanding the abolition of military tenures by the ftatute of the 12 Car. II. And every new tenant of a piece of freehold land ought regularly, when he comes to the poffeffion of it, to take the oath of fealty to the lord of whom it is held. This he ought to do in all cafes, whatever be the title by which he claims the land, whether, it be by descent upon the death of his father or other ancestor, by devise, or by purchase: though it must confeffed that this ceremony is now very much neglected and almost gone out of ufe; which is owing in great measure to its being a naked ceremony unaccom panied by any pecuniary advantage to the lord. Yet perhaps it would be better to revive it, and to require it to be univerfally observed, as it would tend to keep in fight that fundamental maxim of the British conftitution, that all lands are held of the King either mediately or immediately, and may efcheat or fall back to him as the original owner or lord of them, either upon the extinction of the family of the laft poffeffor and thofe of the other intermediate. lords between him and the crown, or upon their committing those more atrocious crimes which the law of England has diftinguished by the name of felonies; a maxim very useful in a monarchical government, and obviously tending to preferve union and fubordination throughout the kingdom. This oath of fealty was taken in the following manner.

The freeholder who was to take the oath of fealty went to the Manner of lord's manor-court, or court-baron, and holding his right hand taking the of th of fealty.

upon

The oath of fealty.

Difference be

tween fealty and komage.

The preamble of the grant,

upon a book containing the holy gofpels, pronounced these words to the lord of whom he held the land, or, if the lord himself was abfent, to the fteward of the lord's court in his ftead.

"Hear you this, my lord, that I will be faithful and true to you, and bear you faith for the tenements I claim to hold of you, and that I will truly perform to you the customs "and fervices which I ought to perform unto you, and at "the times affigned for the fame.

And then he kiffed the book.

So help me GOD."

But (faith Littleton) he shall not kneel when he maketh his fealty, nor make fuch humble reverence as in doing homage. • For homage may not be made but to the lord himself; but the fteward of the lord's court or the lord's bailiff may take fealty ⚫ for the lord. Alfo tenant for term of life fhall make fealty, but he fhall not do homage: and there are many other differences ⚫ between fealty and homage."

*

See Littleton's Tenures, book 2, chap. 2.

A GRANT of a fmall Plot of Ground, of Three Hundred Feet in Length and One Hundred Feet in Breadth, fituated in the Peninsula on the North Side of the Bay of GASPEY in the Province of QUEBEC, to Mr. EDWARD MANWARING, his Heirs and Affigns, for ever, under the Public Seal of the Province of QUEBEC.

GEORGE the THIRD, by the Grace of God, King of Great Britain and the Territories thereunto belonging, To all to whom thefe Prefents fhall come, fendeth Greeting:

W

HEREAS our loving fubject Edward Manwaring, waiter and fearcher of our port of Quebec, and principal officer of our customs for the port of Gafpey in our province of Quebec in

America,

lieutenant-go

council.

tion of it as to

America, did by a petition prefented to our trufty and well-beloved Petition to the Guy Carleton, Efquire, our lieutenant-governour and commander vernour and in chief of our faid province of Quebec, and our council of the fame, on the eleventh day of April laft, humbly requeft us to grant unto him 'the said Edward a certain piece of land fituated in the peninsula on the north fide of the bay of Gafpey in our faid province of Quebec; and our faid lieutenant-governour and council of our Their approbaprovince aforefaid, having duly and maturely confidered the faid part of the land petition, did approve thereof as to a part of the land petitioned for, petitioned for. and did adjudge it to be reasonable and adviseable that we should grant the faid part of the faid land to the faid Edward and his heirs and affigns for ever upon the terms and conditions prescribed by our royal inftructions in this behalf, and did thereupon, on the Their order o third day of this inftant month of May, make an order that our veyor-general to furveyor-general of our faid province of Quebec, or his deputy, part for the pefhould fet off for him the said Edward the faid part of the land in titioner. the faid petition mentioned; and in pursuance of the faid order our The deputy-furloving and faithful fubject John Collins, Efquire, the deputy furveyor- off of the faid general of our faid province of Quebec, hath fet off for him the faid part for the peEdward the faid part of the land in the faid petition mentioned certificate confrom an original plan of Gafpey taken by him upon an actual fame. furvey, and hath alfo certified to our lieutenant-governour and council aforefaid, that the faid part or piece of land fo fet off did not appear to him to interfere with the lands referved for our ufe:

L

the deputy für

veyor's fetting

titioner, and his

cerning the

NOW KNOW YE that we, judging this request of the faid Grant. Edward Manwaring, fo far as it relates to the faid part or piece of land fo fet off, to be reafonable, and being therefore willing to gratify him therein, and of our efpecial grace, certain knowledge, and mere motion, have given, granted, and confirmed, and by thefe our prefent letters under our public feal of our province of Quebec aforefaid, do give, grant, and confirm unto the faid Edward Manwaring the faid part or piece of land fo fet off as aforesaid, being a rectangular plot of ground of three hundred feet in length Defcription of and one hundred feet in breadth, fituated in the peninfula on the granted. -north fide of the bay of Gafpey in our province of Quebec aforefaid, beginning at a cedar-poft ftanding at the upper corner of a ftore-house erected by the faid Edward Manwaring, and thence running due north one hundred feet to a fecond poft as aforefaid, which makes the first corner boundary; thence due caft three hundred

3

J

the land

Habendum and

tenure of the faid land.

Quit-rent.

Refervation of mines of gold and filver.

hundred feet to a third poft, which makes the second corner boundary; thence due fouth one hundred feet to a fourth post, which makes the third corner boundary; and thence to the first ftation or cedar-poft aforefaid, which makes the fourth and last corner boundary; as by a certain plan thereof made by the faid John Collins, deputy-furveyor of our faid province, and given under his hand on the fifth day of this inftant May (which is hereunto annexed) may more clearly appear:

To have and to hold the faid plot or piece of land of us, our heirs and fucceffors, to him the faid Edward Manwaring, his heirs and affigns for ever, in free and common focage, to wit, by fealty, and the rent of one farthing of lawful money of Great Britain in lieu of all manner of services, to be paid every year at the Feast of Saint John the Baptift to our receiver-general of our revenue for our faid province of Quebec, or, in cafe of his abfence from the faid province, to the deputy of our furveyor and auditor-general of our revenues arifing in America appointed by the said surveyor and auditor-general to infpect and audit the accounts of our revenue in our province of Quebec aforefaid, or, in cafe of the abfence of both the faid receivergeneral and deputy-auditor from the faid province, to our captaingeneral and governour in chief, or our lieutenant-governour, or other our commander in chief of our faid province for the time being, for the use of us, our heirs and fucceffors.

And we do hereby give and grant for us, our heirs and fucceffors, to the aforefaid Edward Manwaring, his heirs and affigns for ever, full power and liberty to ufe, occupy, cultivate, and enjoy the premises aforesaid, in any manner he or they shall think fit, as well by cutting down any trees growing upon the faid premises (large timber-trees fit for building fhips not excepted) and by digging for, opening, and working any mines that may happen to be found in the faid premises, excepting only mines of gold and filver, as by cultivating the furface of the ground therein, and to apply the produce and profits thence arifing to his and their own use and benefit, paying only to us, our heirs and fucceffors, the rent aforefaid of one farthing of lawful money of Great Britain every year.

But if any mines of gold or filver fhall be found upon the faid premises, we do hereby expressly referve them to ourselves, our