OF DUES OF TOLLS, CROSSINGS, AND OTHERS. 159 



passages for the indication of dues being claimed shall be 

 taken away and broken up. 



' 2. With regard to tolls and dues established more than 

 a hundred years by legal titles, the possession of which 

 has never been interrupted, we order that ecclesiastics, 

 seigneurs, and proprietors, of whatever rank they may be, 

 shall establish before the Grand -Master their right and 

 their possession in order that the minutes may be approved 

 by us in our Council, on the report of the Comptroller- 

 General of our Finances, as he shall advise. 



' 3. We forbid to the proprietors, farmers, receivers, and 

 tollmen, to seize and stop horses, equipages, boats, and 

 barges in default of payment of the dues which shall be 

 comprised in the posted list which shall be made and 

 approved : they can only seize moveables, merchandise, 

 and commodities sufficient to meet what may be legiti- 

 mately due according to a reasonable estimate, and hand 

 these over to the Commissary to proceed with the sale of 

 them, if they be awarded to them. 



' 4. In case of contravention, there shall be prepared 

 immediately a minute, and the matter shall be prosecuted 

 summarily to decision, by the first officer of waters 

 and forests of the place ; and if there be none such, 

 by the ordinary Judge, without fee and without expense, 

 save what may be incurred at the Court of the Maitrise 

 in case of vexation, where we will that it be promptly 

 and severely rectified with a sentence of fine, and of 

 damages and compensation for loss through detention 

 and stay of the passengers, against the farmers and toll- 

 keepers who may be found to have been unjustified in 

 what was done by them. 



' 5. We do not design that any of these dues shall be 

 continued, even where there may be title and possession, 

 where there are no causeways, ferry-boats, sluices, and 

 bridges, to be maintained, and this at the charge of the 

 seigneurs and proprietors. 



'G. All orders and judgments by Grand-Masters and 

 Officers of the waters and forests, in regard to dues of 



