military and civil authority by the royal instructions, he had ever by
his side a vigilant guardian in the person of the intendant, who
possessed for all practical purposes still more substantial powers,
and was always encouraged to report to the king every matter that
might appear to conflict with the principles of absolute government
laid down by the sovereign. The superior council of Canada possessed
judicial, administrative and legislative powers, but its action was
limited by the decrees and ordinances of the king, and its decisions
were subject to the veto of the royal council of the parent state. The
intendant, generally a man of legal attainments, had the special right
to issue ordinances which had the full effect of law--in the words of
his commission "to order everything as he shall see just and proper."
These ordinances regulated inns and markets, the building and repairs
of churches and presbyteries, the construction of bridges, the
maintenance of roads, and all those matters which could affect the
comfort, the convenience, and the security of the community at large.
While the governmental machinery was thus modelled in a large measure
on that of the provincial administration of France, the territory of
the province was subject to a modified form of the old feudal system
which was so long a dominant condition of the nations of Europe, and
has, down to the present time left its impress on their legal and
civil institutions, not even excepting Great Britain itself. Long
before Jacques Cartier sailed up the River St. Lawrence this system
had gradually been weakened in France under the persistent efforts of
the Capets, who had eventually, out of the ruin of the feudatories,
built up a monarchy which at last centralized all power in the king.
The policy of the Capets had borne its full, legitimate fruit by the
time Louis XIV ascended the throne. The power of the great nobles,
once at the head of practically independent feudatories, had been
effectually broken down, and now, for the most part withdrawn from the