We have now brought the historical part of our labours to a close, and proceed to what is more interesting to the general reader—the social and moral condition of this interesting people. The inhabitants of Canada are divided into three classes, among which no complete amalgamation has yet been formed. These are, the original French colonists, commonly called _habitans_, the British settlers, and the Indian tribes. The _habitans_, at the time of the conquest, formed almost the whole of the European population. They had occupied the best lands along the banks of the St. Lawrence, between Quebec and Montreal; a considerable extent of those upon the Richelieu; and a small space on the Chaudière, the Yamaska, the St. Maurice, and other tributaries of the great river, as well as a detached settlement on the fertile shores of the Detroit. These tracts had been granted to persons of distinction and to favourites, usually in large blocks, which, as already stated, they held under the title of seigneurs. But it accorded not with their habits to clear and cultivate for themselves grounds covered with an unbroken forest; nor would the task be undertaken by farmers on the terms of an ordinary lease. The proprietors were therefore obliged to make them over, in small lots, under the feudal title of fiefs, to hardworking men, who, on receiving this permanent interest, were willing to encounter the toil. The annual payment, or quit-rent, is in general exceedingly small, amounting, on some properties, only to 10_s._ a-year, with a bushel of wheat and two fowls. The seigneur has, besides, certain feudal claims—a tithe on fish, mill-dues, and, more especially, payments on sale or transference, which in some cases amount to a fifth of the purchase-money. The occupants of these fiefs or farms, under the burdens now specified, are virtual proprietors of the soil, which they cultivate with their own hands, aided by their families. They are described as a particularly contented, industrious, and amiable race of people; and the lots, though much subdivided in the course of succession, are still sufficient to maintain them in simple plenty. They till their land with diligence, though without skill, having scarcely adopted any of the modern improvements. Their study is to produce from the farm every thing they need; not only the whole of their food, but their candles, soap, and even sugar. From flax of their own raising, too, and the wool of their own sheep, they are enabled to manufacture almost every article of clothing. Their houses, though generally built of wood, and only one story high, are whitewashed, and tolerably commodious. A partition in the middle separates the kitchen from the principal apartment, at one end of which are the bed-rooms. There is a garden, which, though in a somewhat rude and straggling state, and cultivated by the females only, yields a comfortable supply of the more common fruits and vegetables.