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diff --git a/3799-h/3799-h.htm b/3799-h/3799-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..17fbe78 --- /dev/null +++ b/3799-h/3799-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,4265 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="us-ascii"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + The History of Landholding in England By Joseph Fisher + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Landholding In England, by Joseph Fisher + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Landholding In England + +Author: Joseph Fisher + +Release Date: January 8, 2010 [EBook #3799] +Last Updated: January 26, 2013 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LANDHOLDING IN ENGLAND *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Franks, Robert Rowe, David Widger, +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h1> + THE HISTORY OF LANDHOLDING IN ENGLAND. + </h1> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Joseph Fisher, F.R.H.S. + </h2> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Much food is in the tillage of the poor, but there is that + which is destroyed for want of Judgment."—PROV. 13: 23. + + "Of all arts, tillage or agriculture is doubtless the most + useful and necessary, as being the source whence the nation + derives its subsistence. The cultivation of the soil causes + it to produce an infinite increase. It forms the surest + resource and the most solid fund of riches and commerce for + a nation that enjoys a happy climate.... The cultivation of + the soil deserves the attention of the Government, not only + on account of the invaluable advantages that flow from it, + but from its being an obligation imposed by nature on + mankind."—VATTEL. +</pre> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + Contents + </h2> + <p> + <a href="#link2H_INTR"> INTRODUCTION. </a> + </p> + <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto"> + <tr> + <td> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> I. THE ABORIGINES. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> II. THE ROMAN. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> III. THE SCANDINAVIANS. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> IV. THE NORMANS. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> V. THE PLANTAGENETS. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0007"> VI. THE TUDORS </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0008"> VII. THE STUARTS. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> VIII. THE HOUSE OF HANOVER. </a> + </p> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_INTR" id="link2H_INTR"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h2> + INTRODUCTION. + </h2> + <p> + This work is an expansion of a paper read at the meeting of the Royal + Historical Society in May, 1875, and will be published in the volume of + the Transactions of that body. But as it is an expensive work, and only + accessible to the Fellows of that Society, and as the subject is one which + is now engaging a good deal of public consideration, I have thought it + desirable to place it within the reach of those who may not have access to + the larger and more expensive work. + </p> + <p> + I am aware that much might be added to the information it contains, and I + possess materials which would have more than doubled its size, but I have + endeavored to seize upon the salient points, and to express my views as + concisely as possible. + </p> + <p> + I have also preferred giving the exact words of important Acts of + Parliament to any description of their objects. + </p> + <p> + If this little essay adds any information upon a subject of much public + interest, and contributes to the just settlement of a very important + question, I shall consider my labor has not been in vain. + </p> + <p> + JOSEPH FISHER. + </p> + <p> + WATERFORD, November 3, 1875. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + I do not propose to enter upon the system of landholding in Scotland or + Ireland, which appears to me to bear the stamp of the Celtic origin of the + people, and which was preserved in Ireland long after it had disappeared + in other European countries formerly inhabited by the Celts. That ancient + race may be regarded as the original settlers of a large portion of the + European continent, and its land system possesses a remarkable affinity to + that of the Slavonic, the Hindoo, and even the New Zealand races. It was + originally Patriarchal, and then Tribal, and was communistic in its + character. + </p> + <p> + I do not pretend to great originality in my views. My efforts have been to + collect the scattered rays of light, and to bring them to bear upon one + interesting topic. The present is the child of the past. The ideas of + bygone races affect the practices of living people. We form but parts of a + whole; we are influenced by those who preceded us, and we shall influence + those who come after us. Men cannot disassociate themselves either from + the past or the future. + </p> + <p> + In looking at this question there is, I think, a vast difference which has + not been sufficiently recognized. It is the broad distinction between the + system arising out of the original occupation of land, and that proceeding + out of the necessities of conquest; perhaps I should add a third—the + complex system proceeding from an amalgamation, or from the existence of + both systems in the same nation. Some countries have been so repeatedly + swept over by the tide of conquest that but little of the aboriginal ideas + or systems have survived the flood. Others have submitted to a change of + governors and preserved their customary laws; while in some there has been + such a fusion of the two systems that we cannot decide which of the + ingredients was the older, except by a process of analysis and a + comparison of the several products of the alembic with the recognized + institutions of the class of original or of invading peoples. + </p> + <p> + Efforts have been made, and not with very great success, to define the + principle which governed the more ancient races with regard to the + possession of land. While unoccupied or unappropriated, it was common to + every settler. It existed for the use of the whole human race. The process + by which that which was common to all became the possession of the + individual has not been clearly stated. The earlier settlers were either + individuals, families, tribes, or nations. In some cases they were + nomadic, and used the natural products without taking possession of the + land; in others they occupied districts differently defined. The + individual was the unit of the family, the patriarch of the tribe. The + commune was formed to afford mutual protection. Each sept or tribe in the + early enjoyment of the products of the district it selected was governed + by its own customary laws. The cohesion of these tribes into states was a + slow process; the adoption of a general system of government still slower. + The disintegration of the tribal system, and dissolution of the commune, + was not evolved out of the original elements of the system itself, but was + the effect of conquest; and, as far as I can discover, the appropriation + to individuals of land which was common to all, was mainly brought about + by conquest, and was guided by impulse rather than regulated by principle. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Locke thinks that an individual became sole owner of a part of the + common heritage by mixing his labor with the land, in fencing it, making + wells, or building; and he illustrates his position by the appropriation + of wild animals, which are common to all sportsmen, but become the + property of him who captures or kills them. This acute thinker seems to me + to have fallen into a mistake by confounding land with labor. The + improvements were the property of the man who made them, but it by no + means follows that the expenditure of labor on land gave any greater right + than to the labor itself or its representative. + </p> + <p> + It may not be out of place here to allude to the use of the word property + with reference to land; property—from proprium, my own—is + something pertaining to man. I have a property in myself. I have the right + to be free. All that proceeds from myself, my thoughts, my writings, my + works, are property; but no man made land, and therefore it is not + property. This incorrect application of the word is the more striking in + England, where the largest title a man can have is "tenancy in fee," and a + tenant holds but does not own. + </p> + <p> + Sir William Blackstone places the possession of land upon a different + principle. He says that, as society became formed, its instinct was to + preserve the peace; and as a man who had taken possession of land could + not be disturbed without using force, each man continued to enjoy the use + of that which he had taken out of the common stock; but, he adds, that + right only lasted as long as the man lived. Death put him out of + possession, and he could not give to another that which he ceased to + possess himself. + </p> + <p> + Vattel (book i., chap, vii.) tells us that "the whole earth is destined to + feed its inhabitants; but this it would be incapable of doing if it were + uncultivated. Every nation is then obliged by the law of nature to + cultivate the land that has fallen to its share, and it has no right to + enlarge its boundaries or have recourse to the assistance of other + nations, but in proportion as the land in its possession is incapable of + furnishing it with necessaries." He adds (chap. xx.), "When a nation in a + body takes possession of a country, everything that is not divided among + its members remains common to the whole nation, and is called public + property." + </p> + <p> + An ancient Irish tract, which forms part of the Senchus Mor, and is + supposed to be a portion of the Brehon code, and traceable to the time of + St. Patrick, speaks of land in a poetically symbolic, but actually + realistic manner, and says, "Land is perpetual man." All the ingredients + of our physical frame come from the soil. The food we require and enjoy, + the clothing which enwraps us, the fire which warms us, all save the vital + spark that constitutes life, is of the land, hence it is "perpetual man." + Selden ("Titles of Honor," p. 27), when treating of the title "King of + Kings," refers to the eastern custom of homage, which consisted not in + offering the person, but the elements which composed the person, EARTH and + WATER—"the perpetual man" of the Brehons—to the conqueror. He + says: + </p> + <p> + "So that both titles, those of King of Kings and Great King, were common + to those emperors of the two first empires; as also (if we believe the + story of Judith) that ceremonies of receiving an acknowledgment of regal + supremacy (which, by the way, I note here, because it was as homage + received by kings in that time from such princes or people as should + acknowledge themselves under their subjection) by acceptance upon their + demand of EARTH and WATER. This demand is often spoken of as used by the + Persian, and a special example of it is in Darius' letters to Induthyr, + King of the Scythians, when he first invites him to the field; but if he + would not, then bringing to your sovereign as gifts earth and water, come + to a parley. And one of Xerxes' ambassadors that came to demand earth and + water from the state of Lacedaemon, to satisfy him, was thrust into a well + and earth cast upon him." + </p> + <p> + The earlier races seem to me, either by reasoning or by instinct, to have + arrived at the conclusion that every man was, in right of his being, + entitled to food; that food was a product of the land, and therefore every + man was entitled to the possession of land, otherwise his life depended + upon the will of another. The Romans acted on a different principle, which + was "the spoil to the victors." He who could not defend and retain his + possessions became the slave of the conqueror, all the rights of the + vanquished passed to the victor, who took and enjoyed as ample rights to + land as those naturally possessed by the aborigines. + </p> + <p> + The system of landholding varies in different countries, and we cannot + discover any idea of abstract right underlying the various differing + systems; they are the outcome of law, the will of the sovereign power, + which is liable to change with circumstances. The word LAW appears to be + used to express two distinct sentiments; one, the will of the sovereign + power, which being accompanied with a penalty, bears on its face the idea + that it may be broken by the individual who pays the penalty: "Thou shalt + not eat of the fruit of the tree, for on the day thou eatest thereof thou + shalt die," was a law. All laws, whether emanating from an absolute + monarch or from the representatives of the majority of a state, are mere + expressions of the will of the sovereign power, which may be exacted by + force. The second use of the word LAW is a record of our experience—e.g., + we see the tides ebb and flow, and conclude it is done in obedience to the + will of a sovereign power; but the word in that sense does not imply any + violation or any punishment. A distinction must also be drawn between laws + and codes; the former existed before the latter. The lex non scripta + prevailed before letters were invented. Every command of the Decalogue was + issued, and punishment followed for its breach, before the existence of + the engraved tables. The Brehon code, the Justinian code, the Draconian + code, were compilations of existing laws; and the same may be said of the + common or customary law of England, of France, and of Germany. + </p> + <p> + I am aware that recent analytical writers have sought to associate LAW + with FORCE, and to hold that law is a command, and must have behind it + sufficient force to compel submission. These writers find at the outset of + their examination, that customary law, the "Lex non scripta," existed + before force, and that the nomination to sovereign power was the outcome + of the more ancient customary law. These laws appear based upon the idea + of common good, and to have been supported by the "posse comitatus" before + standing armies or state constabularies were formed. Vattel says (book i., + chap. ii.), "It is evident that men form a political society, and submit + to laws solely for their own advantage and safety. The sovereign authority + is then established only for the common good of all the citizens. The + sovereign thus clothed with the public authority, with everything that + constitutes the moral personality of the nation, of course becomes bound + by the moral obligations of that nation and invested with its rights." It + appears evident, that customary law was the will of small communities, + when they were sovereign; that the cohesion of such communities was a + confirmation of such customs of each, that the election of a monarch or a + parliament was a recognition of these customs, and that the moral and + material FORCE or power of the sovereign was the outcome of existing laws, + and a confirmation thereof. The application of the united force of the + nation could be rightfully directed to the requirements of ancient, though + unwritten customary law, and it could only be displaced by legislation, in + which those concerned took part. + </p> + <p> + The duty of the sovereign (which in the United Kingdom means the Crown and + the two branches of the legislature) with regard to land, is thus + described by Vattel: + </p> + <p> + "Of all arts, tillage or agriculture is doubtless the most useful and + necessary, as being the source whence the nation derives its subsistence. + The cultivation of the soil causes it to produce an infinite increase. It + forms the surest resource, and the most solid fund of riches and commerce + for a nation that enjoys a happy climate. The sovereign ought to neglect + no means of rendering the land under his jurisdiction as well cultivated + as possible.... Notwithstanding the introduction of private property among + the citizens, the nation has still the right to take the most effectual + measures to cause the aggregate soil of the country to produce the + greatest and most advantageous revenue possible. The cultivation of the + soil deserves the attention of the Government, not only on account of the + invaluable advantages that flow from it, but from its being an obligation + imposed by nature on mankind." + </p> + <p> + Sir Henry Maine thinks that there are traces in England of the commune or + MARK system in the village communities which are believed to have existed, + but these traces are very faint. The subsequent changes were inherent in, + and developed by, the various conquests that swept over England; even that + ancient class of holdings called "Borough English," are a development of a + war-like system, under which each son, as he came to manhood, entered upon + the wars, and left the patrimonial lands to the youngest son. The system + of gavel-kind which prevailed in the kingdom of Kent, survived the + accession of William of Normandy, and was partially effaced in the reign + of Henry VII. It was not the aboriginal or communistic system, but one of + its many successors. + </p> + <p> + The various systems may have run one into the other, but I think there are + sufficiently distinct features to place them in the following order: + </p> + <p> + 1st. The Aboriginal. + </p> + <p> + 2d. The Roman, Population about 1,500,000. + </p> + <p> + 3d. The Scandinavian under the ANGLO-SAXON and Danish kings—A.D. 450 + to A.D. 1066. The population in 1066 was 2,150,000. + </p> + <p> + 4th. The Norman, from A.D. 1066 to A.D. 1154. The population in the latter + year was 3,350,000. + </p> + <p> + 5th. The Plantagenet, from 1154 to 1485; in the latter the population was + 4,000,000. + </p> + <p> + 6th. The Tudor, 1485 to 1603, when the population was 5,000,000. + </p> + <p> + 7th. The Stuarts, 1603 to 1714, the population having risen to 5,750,000. + </p> + <p> + 8th. The Present, from 1714. Down to 1820 the soil supported the + population; now about one half lives upon food produced in other + countries. In 1874 the population was 23,648,607. + </p> + <p> + Each of these periods has its own characteristic, but as I must compress + my remarks, you must excuse my passing rapidly from one to the other. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + I. THE ABORIGINES. + </h2> + <p> + The aboriginal period is wrapped in darkness, and I cannot with certainty + say whether the system that prevailed was Celtic and Tribal. An old French + customary, in a MS. treating upon the antiquity of tenures, says: "The + first English king divided the land into four parts. He gave one part to + the ARCH FLAMENS to pray for him and his posterity. A second part he gave + to the earls and nobility, to do him knight's service. A third part he + divided among husbandmen, to hold of him in socage. The fourth he gave to + mechanical persons to hold in burgage." The terms used apply to a much + more recent period and more modern ideas. + </p> + <p> + Caesar tells us "that the island of Britain abounds in cattle, and the + greatest part of those within the country never sow their land, but live + on flesh and milk. The sea-coasts are inhabited by colonies from Belgium, + which, having established themselves in Britain, began to cultivate the + soil." + </p> + <p> + Diodorus Siculus says, "The Britons, when they have reaped their corn, by + cutting the ears from the stubble, lay them up for preservation in + subterranean caves or granaries. From thence, they say, in very ancient + times, they used to take a certain quantity of ears out every day, and + having dried and bruised the grains, made a kind of food for their + immediate use." + </p> + <p> + Jeffrey of Monmouth relates that one of the laws of Dunwalls Molnutus, who + is said to have reigned B.C. 500, enacted that the ploughs of the + husbandmen, as well as the temples of the gods, should be sanctuaries to + such criminals as fled to them for protection. + </p> + <p> + Tacitus states that the Britons were not a free people, but were under + subjection to many different kings. + </p> + <p> + Dr. Henry, quoting Tacitus, says, "In the ancient German and British + nation the whole riches of the people consisted in their flocks and herds; + the laws of succession were few and simple: a man's cattle, at death, were + equally divided among his sons; or, if he had no sons, his daughters; or + if he had no children, among his nearest relations. These nations seem to + have had no idea of the rights of primogeniture, or that the eldest son + had any title to a larger share of his father's effects than the + youngest." + </p> + <p> + The population of England was scanty, and did not probably exceed a + million of inhabitants. They were split up into a vast number of petty + chieftainries or kingdoms; there was no cohesion, no means of + communication between them; there was no sovereign power which could call + out and combine the whole strength of the nation. No single chieftain + could oppose to the Romans a greater force than that of one of its + legions, and when a footing was obtained in the island, the war became one + of detail; it was a provincial rather that a national contest. The brave, + though untrained and ill-disciplined warriors, fell before the Romans, + just as the Red Man of North America was vanquished by the English + settlers. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + II. THE ROMAN. + </h2> + <p> + The Romans acted with regard to all conquered nations upon the maxim, "To + the victors the spoils." Britain was no exception. The Romans were the + first to discover or create an ESTATE OF USES in land, as distinct from an + estate of possession. The more ancient nations, the Jews and the Greeks, + never recognized THE ESTATE OF USES, though there is some indication of it + in the relation established by Joseph in Egypt, when, during the years of + famine, he purchased for Pharaoh the lands of the people. The Romans + having seized upon lands in Italy belonging to conquered nations, + considered them public lands, and rented them to the soldiery, thus + retaining for the state the estate in the lands, but giving the occupier + an estate of uses. The rent of these public lands was fixed at one tenth + of the produce, and this was termed USUFRUCT—the use of the fruits. + </p> + <p> + The British chiefs, who submitted to the Romans, were subjected to a + tribute or rent in corn; it varied, according to circumstances, from one + fifth to one twentieth of the produce. The grower was bound to deliver it + at the prescribed places. This was felt to be a great hardship, as they + were often obliged to carry the grain great distances, or pay a bribe to + be excused. This oppressive law was altered by Julius Agricola. + </p> + <p> + The Romans patronized agriculture—Cato says, "When the Romans + designed to bestow the highest praise on a good man, they used to say he + understood agriculture well, and is an excellent husbandman, for this was + esteemed the greatest and most honorable character." Their system produced + a great alteration in Britain, and converted it into the most plentiful + province of the empire; it produced sufficient corn for its own + inhabitants, for the Roman legions, and also afforded a great surplus, + which was sent up the Rhine. The Emperor Julian built new granaries in + Germany, in which he stored the corn brought from Britain. Agriculture had + greatly improved in England under the Romans. + </p> + <p> + The Romans do not appear to have established in England any military + tenures of land, such as those they created along the Danube and the + Rhine; nor do they appear to have taken possession of the land; the tax + they imposed upon it, though paid in kind, was more of the nature of a + tribute than a rent. Though some of the best of the soldiers in the Roman + legions were Britons, yet their rule completely enervated the aboriginal + inhabitants—they were left without leaders, without cohesion. Their + land was held by permission of the conquerors. The wall erected at so much + labor in the north of England proved a less effectual barrier against the + incursions of the Picts and Scots than the living barrier of armed men + which, at a later period, successfully repelled their invasions. The Roman + rule affords another example that material prosperity cannot secure the + liberties of a people, that they must be armed and prepared to repel by + force any aggression upon their liberty or their estates. + </p> + <p> + "Who will be free, themselves must strike the blow." + </p> + <p> + The prosperous "Britons," who were left by the Romans in possession of the + island, were but feeble representatives of those who, under Caractacus and + Boadicea, did not shrink from combat with the legions of Caesar. Uninured + to arms, and accustomed to obedience, they looked for a fresh master, and + sunk into servitude and serfdom, from which they never emerged. Yet under + the Romans they had thriven and increased in material wealth; the island + abounded in numerous flocks and herds; and agriculture, which was + encouraged by the Romans, flourished. This wealth was by one of the + temptations to the invaders, who seized not only upon the movable wealth + of the natives, but also upon the land, and divided it among themselves. + </p> + <p> + The warlike portion of the aboriginal inhabitants appear to have joined + the Cymri and retired westward. Their system of landholding was + non-feudal, inasmuch as each man's land was divided among all his sons. + One of the laws of Hoel Dha, King of Wales in the tenth century, decreed + "that the youngest son shall have an equal share of the estate with the + eldest son, and that when the brothers have divided their father's estate + among them, the youngest son shall have the best house with all the office + houses; the implements of husbandry, his father's kettle, his axe for + cutting wood, and his knife; these three last things the father cannot + give away by gift, nor leave by his last will to any but his youngest son, + and if they are pledged they shall be redeemed." It may not be out of + place here to say that this custom continued to exist in Wales; and on its + conquest Edward I. ordained, "Whereas the custom is otherwise in Wales + than England concerning succession to an inheritance, inasmuch as the + inheritance is partible among the heirs-male, and from time whereof the + memory of man is not to the contrary hath been partible, Our Lord the King + will not have such custom abrogated, but willeth that inheritance shall + remain partible among like heirs as it was wont to be, with this exception + that bastards shall from henceforth not inherit, and also have portions + with the lawful heirs; and if it shall happen that any inheritance should + hereafter, upon failure of heirs-male, descend to females, the lawful + heirs of their ancestors last served thereof. We will, of our especial + grace, that the same women shall have their portions thereof, although + this be contrary to the custom of Wales before used." + </p> + <p> + The land system of Wales, so recognized and regulated by Edward I., + remained unchanged until the reign of the first Tudor monarch. Its + existence raises the presumption that the aboriginal system of landholding + in England gave each son a share of his father's land, and if so, it did + not correspond with the Germanic system described by Caesar, nor with the + tribal system of the Celts in Ireland, nor with the feudal system + subsequently introduced. + </p> + <p> + The polity of the Romans, which endured in Gaul, Spain, and Italy, and + tinged the laws and usages of these countries after they had been occupied + by the Goths, totally disappeared in England; and even Christianity, which + partially prevailed under the Romans, was submerged beneath the flood of + invasion. Save the material evidence of the footprints of "the masters of + the world" in the Roman roads, Roman wall, and some other structures, + there is no trace of the Romans in England. Their polity, laws, and + language alike vanished, and did not reappear for centuries, when their + laws and language were reimported. + </p> + <p> + I should not be disposed to estimate the population of England and Wales, + at the retirement of the Romans, at more than 1,500,000. They were like a + flock of sheep without masters, and, deprived of the watch-dogs which + over-awed and protected them, fell an easy prey to the invaders. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + III. THE SCANDINAVIANS. + </h2> + <p> + The Roman legions and the outlying semi-military settlements along the + Rhine and the Danube, forming a cordon reaching from the German Ocean to + the Black Sea, kept back the tide of barbarians, but the volume of force + accumulated behind the barrier, and at length it poured in an overwhelming + and destructive tide over the fair and fertile provinces whose weak and + effeminate people offered but a feeble resistance to the robust armies of + the north. The Romans, under the instruction of Caesar and Tacitus, had a + faint idea of the usages of the people inhabiting the verge that lay + around the Roman dominions, but they had no knowledge of the influences + that prevailed in "the womb of nations," as Central Europe appeared to the + Latins, who saw emerging therefrom hosts of warriors, bearing with them + their wives, their children, and their portable effects, determined to win + a settlement amid the fertile regions owned and improved by the Romans. + </p> + <p> + These incursions were not colonization in the sense in which Rome + understood it; they were the migrations of a people, and were as full, as + complete, and as extensive as the Israelitish invasion of Canaan—they + were more destructive of property, but less fatal to life. These migratory + hosts left a desert behind them, and they either gained a settlement or + perished. The Roman colonies preserved their connection with the parent + stem, and invoked aid when in need; but the barbarian hosts had no home, + no reserves. Other races, moving with similar intent, settled on the land + they had vacated. These brought their own social arrangements, and it is + very difficult to connect the land system established by the aborigines + with the system which, after a lapse of some hundreds of years, was found + to prevail in another tribe or nation which had occupied the region that + had been vacated. + </p> + <p> + Neither Caesar nor Tacitus gives us any idea of the habits or usages of + the people who lived north of the Belgae. They had no notion of + Scandinavia nor of Sclavonia. The Walhalla of the north, with its terrific + deities, was unknown to them; and I am disposed to think that we shall + look in vain among the customs of the Teutons for the basis from whence + came the polity established in England by the invaders of the fifth + century. The ANGLO-SAXONs came from a region north of the Elbe, which we + call Schleswig—Holstein. They were kindred to the Norwegians and the + Danes, and of the family of the sea robbers; they were not Teutons, for + the Teutons were not and are not sailors. The Belgae colonized part of the + coast—i.e., the settlers maintained a connection with the mainland; + but the Angles, the Saxons, and the Jutes did not colonize, they migrated; + they left no trace of their occupancy in the lands they vacated. Each + separate invasion was the settlement of a district; each leader aspired to + sovereignty, and was supreme in his own domains; each claimed descent from + Woden, and, like Romulus or Alexander, sought affinity with the gods. Each + member of the Heptarchy was independent of, and owed no allegiance to, the + other members; and marriage or conquest united them ultimately into one + kingdom. + </p> + <p> + The primary institutions were moulded by time and circumstance, and the + state of things in the eleventh century was as different from that of the + fifth as those of our own time differ from the rule of Richard II. Yet one + was as much an outgrowth of its predecessor as the other. + </p> + <p> + Attempts have been made, with considerable ingenuity, to connect races + with each other by peculiar characteristics, but human society has the + same necessities, and we find great similarity in various divisions of + society. At all times, and in all nations, society resolved itself into + the upper, middle, and lower classes. Rome had its Nobles, Plebeians, and + Slaves; Germany its Edhilingi, Frilingi, and Lazzi; England its Eaorls, + Thanes, and Ceorls. It would be equally cogent to argue that, because Rome + had three classes and England had three classes, the latter was derived + from the former, as to conclude that, because Germany had three classes, + therefore English institutions were Teutonic. If the invasion of the fifth + century were Teutonic we should look for similar nomenclature, but there + is as great a dissimilarity between the English and German names of the + classes as between the former and those of Rome. + </p> + <p> + The Germanic MARK system has no counterpart in the land system introduced + into England by the ANGLO-SAXONs. If village communities existed in + England, it must have been before the invasion of the Romans. The German + system, as described by Caesar, was suited to nomads—to races on the + wing, who gave to no individual possession for more than a year, that + there might be no home ties. The mark system is of a later date, and was + evidently the arrangement of other races who permanently settled + themselves upon the lands vacated by the older nations. And I may suggest + whether, as these lands were originally inhabited by the Celts, the + conquerors did not adopt the system of the conquered. + </p> + <p> + Even in the nomenclature of FEUDALISM, introduced into England in the + fifth century, we are driven back to Scandinavia for an explanation. The + word FEUDAL as applied to land has a Norwegian origin, from which country + came Rollo, the progenitor of William the Norman. Pontoppidan ("History of + Norway," p.290) says "The ODHALL, right of Norway, and the UDALL, right of + Finland, came from the words 'Odh,' which signifies PROPRIETORS, and + 'all,' which means TOTUM. A transposition of these syllables makes ALL + ODH, or ALLODIUM, which means absolute property. FEE, which means stipend + or pay, united with OTH, thus forming FEE-OTH or FEODUM, denoting + stipendiary property. Wacterus states that the word ALLODE, ALLODIUM, + which applies to land in Germany, is composed of AN and LOT—i.e., + land obtained by lot. + </p> + <p> + I therefore venture the opinion that the settlement of England in the + fifth and sixth centuries was not Teutonic or Germanic, but SCANDINAVIAN. + </p> + <p> + The lands won by the swords of all were the common property of all; they + were the lands of the people, FOLC-LAND; they were distributed by lot at + the FOLC-GEMOT; they were ODH-ALL lands; they were not held of any + superior nor was there any service save that imposed by the common danger. + The chieftains were elected and obeyed, because they represented the + entire people. Hereditary right seems to have been unknown. The essence of + feudalism WAS A LIFE ESTATE, the land reverted either to the sovereign or + to the people upon the death of the occupant. At a later period the + monarch claimed the power of confiscating land, and of giving it away by + charter or deed; and hence arose the distinction between FOLC-LAND and + BOC-LAND (the land of the book or charter), a distinction somewhat similar + to the FREEHOLD and COPYHOLD tenures of the present day. King Alfred the + Great bequeathed "his BOC-LAND to his nearest relative; and if any of them + have children it is more agreeable to me that it go to those born on the + male side." He adds, "My grandfather bequeathed his land on the spear + side, not on the spindle side; therefore if I have given what he acquired + to any on the female side, let my kinsman make compensation." + </p> + <p> + The several ranks were thus defined by Athelstane: + </p> + <p> + "1st. It was whilom in the laws of the English that the people went by + ranks, and these were the counsellors of the nation, of worship worthy + each according to his condition—'eorl,' 'ceorl,' 'thegur,' and + 'theodia.' + </p> + <p> + "2d. If a ceorl thrived, so that he had fully five hides (600 acres) of + land, church and kitchen, bell-house and back gatescal, and special duty + in the king's hall, then he was thenceforth of thane-right worthy. + </p> + <p> + "3d. And if a thane thrived so that he served the king, and on his summons + rode among his household, if he then had a thane who him followed, who to + the king utward five hides, had, and in the king's hall served his lord, + and thence, with his errand, went to the king, he might thenceforth, with + his fore oath, his lord represent at various needs, and his and his plant + lawfully conduct wheresoever he ought. + </p> + <p> + "4th. And he who so prosperous a vicegerent had not, swore for himself + according to his right or it forfeited. + </p> + <p> + "5th. And if a 'thane' thrived so that he became an eorl, then was he + thenceforth of eorl-right worthy. + </p> + <p> + "6th. And if a merchant thrived so that he fared thrice over the wide sea + by his own means (or vessels), then was he thenceforth of thane-right + worthy." + </p> + <p> + The oath of fealty, as prescribed by the law of Edward and Guthrum, was + very similar to that used at a later period, and ran thus: + </p> + <p> + "Thus shall a man swear fealty: By the Lord, before whom this relic is + holy, I will be faithful and true, and love all that he loves, and shun + all that he shuns, according to God's law, and according to the world's + principles, and never by will nor by force, by word nor by work, do aught + of what is loathful to him, on condition that he me keep, as I am willing + to deserve, and all that fulfil, that our agreement was, when I to him + submitted and chose his will." + </p> + <p> + The Odh-all (noble) land was divided into two classes: the in-lands, which + were farmed by slaves under Bailiffs, and the out-lands, which were let to + ceorls either for one year or for a term. The rents were usually paid in + kind, and were a fixed proportion of the produce. Ina, King of the West + Saxons, fixed the rent of ten hides (1200 acres), in the beginning of the + eighth century, as follows: 10 casks honey, 12 casks strong ale, 30 casks + small ale, 300 loaves bread, 2 oxen, 10 wedders, 10 geese, 20 hens, 10 + chickens, 10 cheeses, 1 cask butter, 5 salmon, 20 lbs. forage, and 100 + eels. In the reign of Edgar the Peaceable (tenth century), land was sold + for about four shillings of the then currency per acre. The Abbot of Ely + bought an estate about this time, which was paid for at the rate of four + sheep or one horse for each acre. + </p> + <p> + The FREEMEN (LIBERI HOMINES) were a very numerous class, and all were + trained in the use of arms. Their FOLC-LAND was held under the penalty of + forfeiture if they did not take the field, whenever required for the + defence of the country. In addition, a tax, called Danegeld, was levied at + a rate varying from two shillings to seven shillings per hide of land (120 + acres); and in 1008, each owner of a large estate, 310 hides, was called + on to furnish a ship for the navy. + </p> + <p> + Selden ("Laws and Government of England," p. 34) thus describes the + FREEMEN among the Saxons, previous to the Conquest: + </p> + <p> + "The next and most considerable degree of all the people is that of the + FREEMEN, anciently called Frilingi, [Footnote: This is a Teutonic, not an + ANGLO-SAXON term; the ANGLO-SAXON word is Thane.] or Free-born, or such as + are born free from all yoke of arbitrary power, and from all law of + compulsion, other than what is made by their voluntary consent, for all + FREEMEN have votes in the making and executing of the general laws of the + kingdom. In the first, they differed from the Gauls, of whom it is noted + that the commons are never called to council, nor are much better than + servants. In the second, they differ from many free people, and are a + degree more excellent, being adjoined to the lords in judicature, both by + advice and power (consilium et authoritates adsunt), and therefore those + that were elected to that work were called Comites ex plebe, and made one + rank of FREEMEN for wisdom superior to the rest. Another degree of these + were beholden for their riches, and were called Custodes Pagani, an + honorable title belonging to military service, and these were such as had + obtained an estate of such value as that their ordinary arms were a + helmet, a coat of mail, and a gilt sword. The rest of the FREEMEN were + contented with the name of Ceorls, and had as sure a title to their own + liberties as the Custodes Pagani or the country gentlemen had." + </p> + <p> + Land was liable to be seized upon for treason and forfeited; but even + after the monarchs had assumed the functions of the FOLC-GEMOT, they were + not allowed to give land away without the approval of the great men; + charters were consented to and witnessed in council. "There is scarcely a + charter extant," says Chief Baron Gilbert, "that is not proof of this + right." The grant of Baldred, King of Kent, of the manor of Malling, in + Sussex, was annulled because it was given without the consent of the + council. The subsequent gift thereof, by Egbert and Athelwolf, was made + with the concurrence and assent of the great men. The kings' charters of + escheated lands, to which they had succeeded by a personal right, usually + declared "that it might be known that what they gave was their own." + </p> + <p> + Discussions have at various times taken place upon the question, "Was the + land-system of this period FEUDAL?" It engaged the attention of the Irish + Court of King's Bench, in the reign of Charles I., and was raised in this + way: James I. had issued "a commission of defective titles." Any Irish + owner, upon surrendering his land to the king, got a patent which + reconvened it on him. Wentworth (Lord Stafford) wished to SETTLE + Connaught, as Ulster had been SETTLED in the preceding reign, and, to + accomplish it, tried to break the titles granted under "the commission of + defective titles." Lord Dillon's case, which is still quoted as an + authority, was tried. The plea for the Crown alleged that the honor of the + monarch stood before his profit, and as the commissioners were only + authorized to issue patents to hold in capite, whereas they had given + title "to hold in capite, by knights' service out of Dublin Castle," the + grant was bad. In the course of the argument, the existence of feudal + tenures, before the landing of William of Normandy, was discussed, and Sir + Henry Spelman's views, as expressed in the Glossary, were considered. The + Court unanimously decided that feudalism existed in England under the + ANGLO-SAXONs, and it affirmed that Sir Henry Spelman was wrong. This + decision led Sir Henry Spelman to write his "Treatise on Feuds," which was + published after his death, in which he reasserted the opinion that + feudalism was introduced into England at the Norman invasion. This + decision must, however, be accepted with a limitation; I think there was + no separate order of NOBILITY under the ANGLO-SAXON rule. The king had his + councillors, but there appears to have been no order between him and the + FOLC-GEMOT. The Earls and the Thanes met with the people, but did not form + a separate body. The Thanes were country gentleman, not senators. The + outcome of the heptarchy was the Earls or Ealdermen; this was the only + order of nobility among the Saxons; they corresponded to the position of + lieutenants of counties, and were appointed for life. In 1045 there were + nine such officers; in 1065 there were but six. Harold's earldom, at the + former date, comprised Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, and Middlesex; and + Godwin's took in the whole south coast from Sandwich to the Land's End, + and included Kent, Sussex, Hampshire, Wilts, Devonshire, and Cornwall. + Upon the death of Godwin, Harold resigned his earldom, and took that of + Godwin, the bounds being slightly varied. Harold retained his earldom + after he became king, but on his death it was seized upon by the + Conqueror, and divided among his followers. + </p> + <p> + The Crown relied upon the LIBERI HOMINES or FREEMEN. The country was not + studded with castles filled with armed men. The HOUSE of the Thane was an + unfortified structure, and while the laws relating to land were, in my + view, essentially FEUDAL, the government was different from that to which + we apply the term FEUDALISM, which appears to imply baronial castles, + armed men, and an oppressed people. + </p> + <p> + I venture to suggest to some modern writers that further inquiry will show + them that FOLC-LAND was not confined to commonages, or unallotted + portions, but that at the beginning it comprised all the land of the + kingdom, and that the occupant did not enjoy it as owner-in-severalty; he + had a good title against his fellow subjects, but he held under the + FOLC-GEMOT, and was subject to conditions. The consolidation of the + sovereignty, the extension of laws of forfeiture, the assumption by the + kings of the rights of the popular assemblies, all tended to the formation + of a second set of titles, and BOC-LAND became an object of ambition. The + same individual appears to have held land by both titles, and to have had + greater powers over the latter than over the former. + </p> + <p> + Many of those who have written on the subject seem to me to have failed to + grasp either the OBJECT or the GENIUS of FEUDALISM. It was the device of + conquerors to maintain their possessions, and is not to be found among + nations, the original occupiers of the land, nor in the conquests of + states which maintained standing armies. The invading hosts elected their + chieftain, they and he had only a life use of the conquests. Upon the + death of one leader another was elected, so upon the death of the allottee + of a piece of land it reverted to the state. The GENIUS of FEUDALISM was + life ownership and non-partition. Hence the oath of fealty was a personal + obligation, and investiture was needful before the new feudee took + possession. The state, as represented by the king or chieftain, while + allowing the claim of the family, exercised its right to select the + individual. All the lands were considered BENEFICIA, a word which now + means a charge upon land, to compensate for duties rendered to the state. + Under this system, the feudatory was a commander, his residence a barrack, + his tenants soldiers; it was his duty to keep down the aborigines, and to + prevent invasion. He could neither sell, give, nor bequeath his land. He + received the surplus revenue as payment for personal service, and thus + enjoyed his BENEFICE. Judged in this way, I think the feudal system + existed before the Norman Conquest. Slavery and serfdom undoubtedly + prevailed. The country prospered under the Scandinavians; and, from the + great abundance of corn, William of Poitiers calls England "the + store-house of Ceres." + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IV. THE NORMANS. + </h2> + <p> + The invasion of William of Normandy led to results which have been + represented by some writers as having been the most momentous in English + history. I do not wish in any way to depreciate their views, but it seems + to me not to have been so disastrous to existing institutions, as the + Scandinavian invasion, which completely submerged all former usages. No + trace of Roman occupation survived the advent of the ANGLO-SAXONs; the + population was reduced to and remained in the position of serfs, whereas + the Norman invasion preserved the existing institutions of the nation, and + subsequent changes were an outgrowth thereof. + </p> + <p> + When Edward the Confessor, the last descendant of Cedric, was on his + deathbed, he declared Harold to be his successor, but William of Normandy + claimed the throne under a previous will of the same monarch. He asked for + the assistance of his own nobles and people in the enterprise, but they + refused at first, on the ground that their feudal compact only required + them to join in the defence of their country, and did not coerce them into + affording him aid in a completely new enterprise; and it was only by + promising to compensate them out of the spoils that he could secure their + co-operation. A list of the number of ships supplied by each Norman + chieftain appears in Lord Lyttleton's "History of Henry III." vol. i., + appendix. + </p> + <p> + I need hardly remind you that the settlers in Normandy were from Norway, + or that they had been expelled from their native land in consequence of + their efforts to subvert its institutions, and to make the descent of land + hereditary, instead of being divisible among all the sons of the former + owner. Nor need I relate how they won and held the fair provinces of + northern France—whether as a fief of the French Crown or not, is an + open question. But I should wish you to bear in mind their affinity to the + ANGLO-SAXONs, to the Danes, and to the Norwegians, the family of Sea + Robbers, whose ravages extended along the coasts of Europe as far south as + Gibraltar, and, as some allege, along the Mediterranean. Some questions + have been raised as to the means of transport of the Saxons, the Jutes, + and the Angles, but they were fully as extensive as those by which Rollo + invaded France or William invaded England. + </p> + <p> + William strengthened his claim to the throne by his military success, and + by a form of election, for which there were many previous precedents. + Those who called upon him to ascend it alleged "that they had always been + ruled by legal power, and desired to follow in that respect the example of + their ancestors, and they knew of no one more worthy than himself to hold + the reins of government." + </p> + <p> + His alleged title to the crown, sanctioned by success and confirmed by + election, enabled him, in conformity with existing institutions, to seize + upon the lands of Harold and his adherents, and to grant them as rewards + to his followers. Such confiscation and gifts were entirely in accord with + existing usages, and the great alteration which took place in the + principal fiefs was more a change of persons than of law. A large body of + the aboriginal people had been, and continued to be, serfs or villeins; + while the mass of the FREEMEN (LIBERI HOMINES) remained in possession of + their holdings. + </p> + <p> + It may not be out of place here to say a few words about this important + class, which is in reality the backbone of the British constitution; it + was the mainstay of the ANGLO-SAXON monarchy; it lost its influence during + the civil wars of the Plantagenets, but reasserted its power under + Cromwell. Dr. Robertson thus draws the line between them and the vassals: + </p> + <p> + "In the same manner Liber homo is commonly opposed to Vassus or Vassalus, + the former denoting an allodial proprietor, the latter one who held of a + superior. These FREEMEN were under an obligation to serve the state, and + this duty was considered so sacred that FREEMEN were prohibited from + entering into holy orders, unless they obtained the consent of the + sovereign." + </p> + <p> + De Lolme, chap. i., sec. 5, says: + </p> + <p> + "The Liber homo, or FREEMAN, has existed in this country from the earliest + periods, as well as of authentic as of traditionary history, entitled to + that station in society as one of his constitutional rights, as being + descended from free parents in contradistinction to 'villains,' which + should be borne in remembrance, because the term 'FREEMAN' has been, in + modern times, perverted from its constitutional signification without any + statutable authority." The LIBERI HOMINES are so described in the Doomsday + Book. They were the only men of honor, faith, trust, and reputation in the + kingdom; and from among such of these as were not barons, the knights did + choose jurymen, served on juries themselves, bare offices, and dispatched + country business. Many of the LIBERI HOMINES held of the king in capite, + and several were freeholders of other persons in military service. Their + rights were recognized and guarded by the 55th William I.; [Footnote: "LV.—De + Chartilari seu Feudorum jure et Ingenuorum immunitate. Volumus etiam ac + firmiter praecipimus et concedimus ut omnes LIBERI HOMINES totius + Monarchiae regni nostri praedicti habeant et teneant terras suas et + possessiones suas bene et in pace, liberi ab omni, exactione iniusta et ab + omni Tallagio: Ita quod nihil ab eis exigatur vel capiatur nisi servicium + suum liberum quod de iure nobis facere debent et facere tenentur et prout + statutum est eis et illis a nobis datum et concessum iure haereditario + imperpetuum per commune consilium totius regni nostri praeicti."] it is + entitled: + </p> + <p> + "CONCERNING CHEUTILAR OR FEUDAL RIGHTS, AND THE IMMUNITY OF FREEMEN. + </p> + <p> + "We will also, and strictly, enjoin and concede that all FREEMEN (LIBERI + HOMINES) of our whole kingdom aforesaid, have and hold their land and + possessions well and in peace, free from every unjust exaction and from + Tallage, so that nothing be exacted or taken from them except their free + service, which of right they ought to do to us and are bound to do, and + according as it was appointed (statutum) to them, and given to them by us, + and conceded by hereditary right for ever, by the common council + (FOLC-GEMOT} of our whole realm aforesaid." + </p> + <p> + These FREEMEN were not created by the Norman Conquest, they existed prior + thereto; and the laws, of which this is one, are declared to be the laws + of Edward the Confessor, which William re-enacted. Selden, in "The Laws + and Government of England," p. 34, speaks of this law as the first Magna + Charta. He says: + </p> + <p> + "Lastly, the one law of the kings, which may be called the first MAGNA + CHARTA in the Norman times (55 William I.), by which the king reserved to + himself, from the FREEMEN of this kingdom, nothing but their free service, + in the conclusion saith that their lands were thus granted to them in + inheritance of the king by the COMMON COUNCIL (FOLC-GEMOT) of the whole + kingdom; and so asserts, in one sentence, the liberty of the FREEMEN, and + of the representative body of the kingdom." + </p> + <p> + He further adds: + </p> + <p> + "The freedom of an ENGLISHMAN consisteth of three particulars: first, in + OWNERSHIP; second, in VOTING ANY LAW, whereby ownership is maintained; + and, thirdly, in having an influence upon the JUDICIARY POWER that must + apply the law. Now the English, under the Normans, enjoyed all this + freedom with each man's own particular, besides what they had in bodies + aggregate. This was the meaning of the Normans, and they published the + same to the world in a fundamental law, whereby is granted that all + FREEMEN shall have and hold their lands and possessions in hereditary + right for ever; and by this they being secured from forfeiture, they are + further saved from all wrong by the same law, which provideth that they + shall hold them well or quietly, and in peace, free from all unjust tax, + and from all Tallage, so as nothing shall be exacted nor taken but their + free service, which, by right, they are bound to perform." + </p> + <p> + This is expounded in the law of Henry I., cap. 4, to mean that no tribute + or tax shall be taken but what was due in the Confessor's time, and Edward + II. was sworn to observe the laws of the Confessor. + </p> + <p> + The nation was not immediately settled. Rebellions arose either from the + oppression of the invaders or the restlessness of the conquered; and, as + each outburst was put down by force, there were new lands to be + distributed among the adherents of the monarch; ultimately there were + about 700 chief tenants holding IN CAPITE, but the nation was divided into + 60,215 knights' fees, of which the Church held 28,115. The king retained + in his own hands 1422 manors, besides a great number of forests, parks, + chases, farms, and houses, in all parts of the kingdom; and his followers + received very large holdings. + </p> + <p> + Among the Saxon families who retained their land was one named Shobington + in Bucks. Hearing that the Norman lord was coming to whom the estate had + been gifted by the king, the head of the house armed his servants and + tenants, preparing to do battle for his rights; he cast up works, which + remain to this day in grassy mounds, marking the sward of the park, and + established himself behind them to await the despoiler's onset. It was the + period when hundreds of herds of wild cattle roamed the forest lands of + Britain, and, failing horses, the Shobingtons collected a number of bulls, + rode forth on them, and routed the Normans, unused to such cavalry. + William heard of the defeat, and conceived a respect for the brave man who + had caused it; he sent a herald with a safe conduct to the chief, + Shobington, desiring to speak with him. Not many days after, came to court + eight stalwart men riding upon bulls, the father and seven sons. "If thou + wilt leave me my lands, O king," said the old man, "I will serve thee + faithfully as I did the dead Harold." Whereupon the Conqueror confirmed + him in his ownership, and named the family Bullstrode, instead of + Shobington. + </p> + <p> + Sir Martin Wright, in his "Treatise on Tenures," published in 1730, p. 61, + remarks: + </p> + <p> + "Though it is true that the possessions of the Normans were of a sudden + very great, and that they received most of them from the hands of William + I., yet it does not follow that the king took all the lands of England out + of the hands of their several owners, claiming them as his spoils of war, + or as a parcel of a conquered country; but, on the contrary, it appears + pretty plain from the history of those times that the king either had or + pretended title to the crown, and that his title, real or pretended, was + established by the death of Harold, which amounted to an unquestionable + judgment in his favor. He did not therefore treat his opposers as enemies, + but as traitors, agreeably to the known laws of the kingdom which + subjected traitors not only to the loss of life but of all their + possessions." + </p> + <p> + He adds (p. 63): + </p> + <p> + "As William I. did not claim to possess himself of the lands of England as + the spoils of conquest, so neither did he tyrannically and arbitrarily + subject them to feudal dependence; but, as the fedual law was at that time + the prevailing law of Europe, William I., who had always governed by this + policy, might probably recommend it to our ancestors as the most obvious + and ready way to put them upon a footing with their neighbors, and to + secure the nation against any future attempts from them. We accordingly + find among the laws of William I. a law enacting feudal law itself, not EO + NOMINE, but in effect, inasmuch as it requires from all persons the same + engagements to, and introduces the same dependence upon, the king as + supreme lord of all the lands of England, as were supposed to be due to a + supreme lord by the feudal law. The law I mean is the LII. law of William + I." + </p> + <p> + This view is adopted by Sir William Blackstone, who writes (vol. ii., p. + 47): + </p> + <p> + "From the prodicious slaughter of the English nobility at the battle of + Hastings, and the fruitless insurrection of those who survived, such + numerous forfeitures had accrued that he (William) was able to reward his + Norman followers with very large and extensive possessions, which gave a + handle to monkish historians, and such as have implicitly followed them to + represent him as having by the right of the sword, seized upon all the + lands of England, and dealt them out again to his own favorites—a + supposition grounded upon a mistaken sense of the word conquest, which in + its feudal acceptation signifies no more than acquisition, and this has + led many hasty writers into a strange historical mistake, and one which, + upon the slightest examination, will be found to be most untrue. + </p> + <p> + "We learn from a Saxon chronicle (A.D. 1085), that in the nineteenth year + of King William's reign, an invasion was apprehended from Denmark; and the + military constitution of the Saxons being then laid aside, and no other + introduced in its stead, the kingdom was wholly defenceless; which + occasioned the king to bring over a large army of Normans and Britons who + were quartered upon, and greatly oppressed, the people. This apparent + weakness, together with the grievances occasioned by a foreign force, + might co-operate with the king's remonstrance, and better incline the + nobility to listen to his proposals for putting them in a position of + defence. For, as soon as the danger was over, the king held a great + council to inquire into the state of the nation, the immediate consequence + of which was the compiling of the great survey called the Doomsday Book, + which was finished the next year; and in the end of that very year (1086) + the king was attended by all his nobility at Sarum, where the principal + landholders submitted their lands to the yoke of military tenure, and + became the king's vassals, and did homage and fealty to his person." + </p> + <p> + Mr. Henry Hallam writes: + </p> + <p> + "One innovation made by William upon the feudal law is very deserving of + attention. By the leading principle of feuds, an oath of fealty was due + from the vassal to the lord of whom he immediately held the land, and no + other. The King of France long after this period had no feudal, and + scarcely any royal, authority over the tenants of his own vassals; but + William received at Salisbury, in 1085, the fealty of all landholders in + England, both those who held in chief and their tenants, thus breaking in + upon the feudal compact in its most essential attribute—the + exclusive dependence of a VASSAL upon his lord; and this may be reckoned + among the several causes which prevented the continental notions of + independence upon the Crown from ever taking root among the English + aristocracy." + </p> + <p> + A more recent writer, Mr. FREEMAN ("History of the Norman Conquest," + published in 1871, vol. iv., p. 695), repeats the same idea, though not + exactly in the same words. After describing the assemblage which encamped + in the plains around Salisbury, he says: + </p> + <p> + "In this great meeting a decree was passed, which is one of the most + memorable pieces of legislation in the whole history of England. In other + lands where military tenure existed, it was beginning to be held that he + who plighted his faith to a lord, who was the man of the king, was the man + of that lord only, and did not become the man of the king himself. It was + beginning to be held that if such a man followed his immediate lord to + battle against the common sovereign, the lord might draw on himself the + guilt of treason, but the men that followed him would be guiltless. + William himself would have been amazed if any vassal of his had refused to + draw his sword in a war with France on the score of duty toward an + over-lord. But in England, at all events, William was determined to be + full king over the whole land, to be immediate sovereign and immediate + lord of every man. A statute was passed that every FREEMAN in the realm + should take the oath of fealty to King William." + </p> + <p> + Mr. FREEMAN quotes Stubbs's "Select Charters," p. 80, as his authority. + Stubbs gives the text of that charter, with ten others. He says: "These + charters are from 'Textus Roffensis,' a manuscript written during the + reign of Henry I.; it contains the sum and substance of all the legal + enactments made by the Conqueror independent of his confirmation of the + earlier laws." It is as follows: "Statuimus etiam ut OMNIS LIBER HOMO + feodere et sacramento affirmet, quod intra et extra Angliam Willelmo regi + fideles esse volunt, terras et honorem illius omni fidelitate cum eo + servare et eum contra inimicos defendere." + </p> + <p> + It will be perceived that Mr. Hallam reads LIBER HOMO as "vassal." Mr. + FREEMAN reads them as "FREEMAN," while the older authority, Sir Martin + Wright, says: "I have translated the words LIBERI HOMINES, 'owners of + land,' because the sense agrees best with the tenor of the law." + </p> + <p> + The views of writers of so much eminence as Sir Martin Wright, Sir William + Blackstone, Mr. Henry Hallam, and Mr. FREEMAN, are entitled to the + greatest respect and consideration, and it is with much diffidence I + venture to differ from them. The three older writers appear to have had + before them the LII of William I., the latter the alleged charter found in + the "Textus Roffensis;" but as they are almost identical in expression, I + treat the latter as a copy of the former, and I do not think it bears out + the interpretation sought to be put upon it—that it altered either + the feudalism of England, or the relation of the vassal to his lord; and + it must be borne in mind that not only did William derive his title to the + crown from Edward the Confessor, but he preserved the apparent continuity, + and re-enacted the laws of his predecessor. Wilkins' "Laws of the + ANGLO-SAXONs and Normans," republished in 1840 by the Record + Commissioners, gives the following introduction: + </p> + <p> + "Here begin the laws of Edward, the glorious king of England. + </p> + <p> + "After the fourth year of the succession to the kingdom of William of this + land, that is England, he ordered all the English noble and wise men and + acquainted with the law, through the whole country, to be summoned before + his council of barons, in order to be acquainted with their customs, + Having therefore selected from all the counties twelve, they were sworn + solemnly to proceed as diligently as they might to write their laws and + customs, nothing omitting, nothing adding, and nothing changing." + </p> + <p> + Then follow the laws, thirty-nine in number, thus showing the continuity + of system, and proving that William imposed upon his Norman followers the + laws of the ANGLO-SAXONs. They do not include the LII. William I., to + which I shall refer hereafter. I may, however, observe that the + demonstration at Salisbury was not of a legislative character; and that it + was held in conformity with ANGLO-SAXON usages. If, according to Stubbs, + the ordinance was a charter, it would proceed from the king alone. The + idea involved in the statements of Sir Martin Wright, Mr. Hallam, and Mr. + FREEMAN, that the VASSAL OF A LORD was then called on to swear allegiance + to the KING, and that it altered the feudal bond in England, is not + supported by the oath of vassalage. In swearing fealty, the vassal knelt, + placed his hands between those of his lord's, and swore: + </p> + <p> + "I become your man from this day forward, of life and limb, and of earthly + worship, and unto you shall be true and faithful, and bear you faith for + the tenements at that I claim to hold of you, saving the faith that I owe + unto our Sovereign Lord the King." + </p> + <p> + This shows that it was unnecessary to call vassals to Salisbury to swear + allegiance. The assemblage was of the same nature and character as + previous meetings. It was composed of the LIBERI HOMINES, the FREEMEN, + described by the learned John Selden (ante, p. 10), and by Dr. Robertson + and De Lolme (ante, pp. 12, 13). + </p> + <p> + But there is evidence of a much stronger character, which of itself + refutes the views of these writers, and shows that the Norman system, at + least during the reign of William I., was a continuation of that existing + previous to his succession to the throne; and that the meeting at + Salisbury, so graphically portrayed, did not effect that radical change in + the position of English landholders which has been stated. I refer to the + works of EADMERUS; he was a monk of Canterbury who was appointed Bishop of + St. Andrews, and declined or resigned the appointment because the King of + Scotland refused to allow his consecration by the Archbishop of + Canterbury. His history includes the reigns of William I., William II., + and Henry I., from 1066 to 1122, and he gives, at page 173, the laws of + Edward the Confessor, which William I. gave to England; they number + seventy-one, including the LII. law quoted by Sir Martin Wright. The + introduction to these laws is in Latin and Norman-French, and is as + follows: + </p> + <p> + "These are the laws and customs which King William granted to the whole + people of England after he had conquered the land, and they are those + which KING EDWARD HIS PREDECESSOR observed before him." + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [Footnote: The laws of William are given in a work entitled + "Eadmeri Monachi Cantuariensis Historia Novorum," etc. It + includes the reigns of William I. and II., and Henry I., + from 1066 to 1122, and is edited by John Selden. Page 173 + has the following: + + "Hae sunt Leges et Consuetudines quas Willielmus Rex + concessit universo Populo Angliae post subactam terram. + Eaedum sunt quas Edwardus Rex cognatus ejus obscruauit ante + eum. + + "Ces sont les leis et les Custums que le Rui people de + Engleterre apres le Conquest de le Terre. Ice les meismes + que le Rui Edward sun Cosin tuit devant lui. + + "LII. + + "De fide et obsequio erga Regnum. + + "Statuimus etiam ut omnes liiben homines foedere et + sacramento affirment quod intra et extra universum regnum + Anglias (quod olim vocabatur regnum Britanniae) Willielmo + suo domino fideles esse volunt, terras et honores illins + fidelitate ubique servare cum eo et contra inimicos et + alienigonas defendere."] +</pre> + <p> + This simple statement gets rid of the theory of Sir Martin Wright, of Sir + William Blackstone, of Mr. Hallam, and of Mr. FREEMAN, that William + introduced a new system, and that he did so either as a new feudal law or + as an amendment upon the existing feudalism. The LII. law, quoted by + Wright, is as follows: + </p> + <p> + "We have decreed that all FREE MEN should affirm on oath, that both within + and without the whole kingdom of England (which is called Britain) they + desire to be faithful to William their lord, and everywhere preserve unto + him his land and honors with fidelity, and defend them against all enemies + and strangers." + </p> + <p> + Eadmerus, who wrote in the reign of Henry I., gives the LII. William I. as + a confirmatory law. The charter given by Stubbs is a contraction of the + law given by Eadmerus. The former uses the words OMNES LIBERI HOMINES; the + latter, the words OMNIS LIBERI HOMO. Those interested can compare them, as + I shall give the text of each side by side. + </p> + <p> + Since the paper was read, I have met with the following passage in + Stubbs's "Constitutional History of England," vol. i., p. 265: + </p> + <p> + "It has been maintained that a formal and definitive act, forming the + initial point of the feudalization of England, is to be found in a clause + of the laws, as they are called, of the Conqueror, which directs that + every FREEMAN shall affirm, by covenant and oath, that 'he will be + faithful to King William within England and without, will join him in + preserving his land with all fidelity, and defend him against his + enemies.' But this injunction is little more than the demand of the oath + of allegiance taken to the Anglo-Saxon kings, and is here required not of + every feudal dependant of the king, but of every FREEMAN or freeholder + whatsoever. In that famous Council of Salisbury, A. D, 1086, which was + summoned immediately after the making of the Doomsday survey, we learn, + from the 'Chronicle,' that there came to the king 'all his witan and all + the landholders of substance in England, whose vassals soever they were, + and they all submitted to him and became his men, and swore oaths of + allegiance that they would be faithful to him against all others.' In the + act has been seen the formal acceptance and date of the introduction of + feudalism, but it has a very different meaning. The oath described is the + oath of allegiance, combined with the act of homage, and obtained from all + landowners whoever their feudal lord might be. It is a measure of + precaution taken against the disintegrating power of feudalism, providing + a direct tie between the sovereign and all freeholders which no inferior + relations existing between them and the mesne lords would justify them in + breaking." + </p> + <p> + I have already quoted from another of Stubbs's works, "Select Charters," + the charter which he appears to have discovered bearing upon this + transaction, and now copy the note, giving the authorities quoted by + Stubbs, with reference to the above passage. He appears to have overlooked + the complete narration of the alleged laws of William I., given by + Eadmerus, to which I have referred. The note is as follows: + </p> + <p> + "Ll. William I., 2, below note; see Hovenden, ii., pref. p. 5, seq., where + I have attempted to prove the spuriousness of the document called the + Charter of William I., printed in the ancient 'Laws' ed. Thorpe, p. 211. + The way in which the regulation of the Conqueror here referred to has been + misunderstood and misused is curious. Lambarde, in the 'Archaionomia,' p. + 170, printed the false charter in which this genuine article is + incorporated as an appendiz to the French version of the Conqueror's laws, + numbering the clauses 51 to 67; from Lambarde, the whole thing was + transferred by Wilkins into his collection of ANGLO-SAXON laws. + Blackstone's 'Commentary,' ii. 49, suggested that perhaps the very law + (which introduced feudal tenures) thus made at the Council of Salisbury is + that which is still extant and couched in these remarkable words, i. e., + the injunction in question referred to by Wilkins, p. 228 Ellis, in the + introduction to 'Doomsday,' i. 16, quotes Blackstone, but adds a reference + to Wilkins without verifying Blackstone's quotation from his collection of + laws, substituting for that work the Concilia, in which the law does not + occur. Many modern writers have followed him in referring the enactment of + the article to the Council of Salisbury. It is well to give here the text + of both passages; that in the laws runs thus: 'Statuimus etiam ut omnis + liber homo foedere et sacremento affirmet, quod intra et extra Angliam + Willelmo regi fideles esse volunt, terras et honorem illius omni + fidelitate eum eo servare et ante eum contra inimicos defendere' (Select + Charters, p. 80). the homage done at Salisbury is described by Florence + thus: 'Nec multo post mandavit ut Archiepiscopi episcopi, abbates, comitas + et barones et vicecomitas cum suis militibus die Kalendarum Augustarem + sibi occurent Saresberiae quo cum venissent milites eorem sibi fidelitatem + contra omnes homines jurare coegit.' The 'Chronicle' is a little more + full: 'Thaee him comon to his witan and ealle tha Landsittende men the + ahtes waeron ofer eall Engleland waeron thaes mannes men the hi waeron and + ealle hi bugon to him and waeron his men, and him hold athas sworon thaet + he woldon ongean ealle other men him holde beon.'" + </p> + <p> + Mr. Stubbs had, in degree, adopted the view at which I had arrived, that + the law or charter of William I. was an injunction to enforce the oath of + allegiance, previously ordered by the laws of Edward the Confessor, to be + taken by all FREEMEN, and that it did not relate to vassals, or alter the + existing feudalism. + </p> + <p> + As the subject possesses considerable interest for the general reader as + well as the learned historian, I think it well to place the two + authorities side by side, that the text may be compared: + </p> + <p> + LII. William I., as given by Eadments. "De fide et obsequio erga Regnum. + </p> + <p> + "Statuimus etiam ut omnes LIBERI HOMINES foedere et sacramento affirment + quod intra et extra univereum regnum Anglise (quod olim vocabatur regnum + Britanniae) Wilhielmo suo domino fideles ease volunt, terras et honores + ilius fidelitate ubique servare cum eo et contra inimicos et alienigenas + defendere." + </p> + <p> + Charter from Textus Roffensis, given by Mr. Stubbs. + </p> + <p> + "Statuimus etiam ut omnis liber homo feodere et sacramento affirmet, quod + intra et extra Angliam. Willelmo regi fideles ease volunt, terras et + honorem illius omni fidelitate cum eo servare et ante eum contra inimicos + defendere." + </p> + <p> + I think the documents I have quoted show that Sir Martin Wright, Sir + William Blackstone, and Messrs. Hallam and FREEMAN, labored under a + mistake in supposing that William had introduced or imposed a new feudal + law, or that the vassals of a lord swore allegiance to the king. The + introduction to the laws of William I. shows that it was not a new + enactment, or a Norman custom introduced into England, and the law itself + proves that it relates to FREEMEN, and not to vassals. + </p> + <p> + The misapprehension of these authors may have arisen in this way: William + I. had two distinct sets of subjects. The NORMANS, who had taken the oath + of allegiance on obtaining investiture, and whose retinue included + vassals; and the ANGLO-SAXONS, among whom vassalage was unknown, who were + FREEMAN (LIBERI HOMINES) as distinguished from serfs. The former comprised + those in possesion of Odhal (noble) land, whether held from the crown or + its tenants. It was quite unnecessary to convoke the Normans and their + vassals, while the assemblage of the Saxons—OMNES LIBERI HOMINES—was + not only to conformity with the laws of Edward the Confessor, but was + specially needful when a foreigner had possesed himself of the throne. + </p> + <p> + I have perhaps dwelt to long upon this point, but the error to which I + have referred has been adopted as if it was an unquestioned fact, and has + passed into our school-books and become part of the education given to the + young, and therefore it required some examination. + </p> + <p> + I believe that a very large portion of the land in England did not change + hands at that period, nor was the position of either SERFS or VILLEINS + changed. The great alteration lay in the increase in the quantity of + BOC-LAND. Much of the FOLC-LAND was forfeited and seized upon, and as the + king claimed the right to give it away, it was called TERRA REGIS. The + charter granted by King William to Alan Fergent, Duke of Bretagne, of the + lands and towns, and the rest of the inheritance of Edwin, Earl of + Yorkshire, runs thus: + </p> + <p> + "Ego Guilielmus cognomine Bastardus, Rex Anglise do et concede tibi nepoti + meo Alano Brittanias Comiti et hseredibus tuis imperpetuum omnes villas et + terras qua nuper fuerent Comitis Edwini in Eborashina cum feodis militise + et aliis libertatibus et consuetudinibus ita libere et honorifice sicut + idem Edwinus eadem tenuit. + </p> + <p> + "Data obsidione coram civitate Eboraci." + </p> + <p> + This charter does not create a different title, but gives the lands as + held by the former possessor. The monarch assumed the function of the + fole-gemot, but the principle remained—the feudee only became tenant + for life. Each estate reverted to the Crown on the death of him who held + it; but, previous to acquiring possession, the new tenant had to cease to + be his own "man," and became the "man" of his superior. This act was + called "homage," and was followed by "investiture." In A.D. 1175, Prince + Henry refused to trust himself with his father till his homage had been + renewed and accepted, for it bound the superior to protect the inferior. + The process is thus described by De Lolme (chap, ii., sec. 1): + </p> + <p> + "On the death of the ancestor, lands holden by 'knight's service' and by + 'grand sergeantcy' were, upon inquisition finding the tenure and the death + of the ancestor, seized into the king's hands. If the heir appeared by the + inquisition to be within the age of twenty-one years, the King retained + the lands till the heir attained the age of twenty-one, for his own + profit, maintaining and educating the heir according to his rank. If the + heir appeared by the inquisition to have attained twenty-one, he was + entitled to demand livery of the lands by the king's officers on paying a + relief and doing fealty and homage. The minor heir attaining twenty-one, + and proving his age, was entitled to livery of his lands, on doing fealty + and homage, without paying any relief." + </p> + <p> + The idea involved is, that the lands Were HELD, and NOT OWNED, and that + the proprietary right lay in the nation, as represented by the king. If we + adopt the poetic idea of the Brehon code, that "land is perpetual man," + then HOMAGE for land was not a degrading institution. But it is repugnant + to our ideas to think that any man can, on any ground, or for any + consideration, part with his manhood, and become by homage the "man" of + another. + </p> + <p> + The Norman chieftains claimed to be peers of the monarch, and to sit in + the councils of the nation, as barons-by-tenure and not by patent. This + was a decided innovation upon the usages of the Anglo-Saxons, and + ultimately converted the Parliament, the FOLC-GEMOT, into two branches. + Those who accompanied the king stood in the same position as the + companions of Romulus, they were the PATRICIANS; those subsequently called + to the councils of the sovereign by patent corresponded with the Roman + NOBILES. No such patents were issued by any of the Norman monarchs. But + the insolence of the Norman nobles led to the attempt made by the + successors of the Conqueror to revive the Saxon earldoms as a + counterpoise. The weakness of Stephen enabled the greater fudges to + fortify their castles, and they set up claims against the Crown, which + aggravated the discord that arose in subsequent reigns. + </p> + <p> + The "Saxon Chronicles," p. 238, thus describes the oppressions of the + nobles, and the state of England in the reign of Stephen: + </p> + <p> + "They grievously oppressed the poor people with building castles, and when + they were built, filled them with wicked men, or rather devils, who seized + both men and women who they imagined had any money, threw them into + prison, and put them to more cruel tortures than the martyrs ever endured; + they suffocated some in mud, and suspended others by the feet, or the + head, or the thumbs, kindling fires below them. They squeezed the heads of + some with knotted cords till they pierced their brains, while they threw + others into dungeons swarming with serpents, snakes, and toads." + </p> + <p> + The nation was mapped out, and the owners' names inscribed in the Doomsday + Book. There were no unoccupied lands, and had the possessors been loyal + and prudent, the sovereign would have had no lands, save his own private + domains, to give away, nor would the industrious have been able to become + tenants-in-fee. The alterations which have taken place in the possession + of land since the composition of the Book of Doom, have been owing to the + disloyalty or extravagance of the descendants of those then found in + possession. + </p> + <p> + Notwithstanding the vast loss of life in the contests following upon the + invasion, the population of England increased from 2,150,000 in 1066, when + William landed, to 3,350,000 in 1152, when the great-grandson of the + Conqueror ascended the throne, and the first of the Plantagenets ruled in + England. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + V. THE PLANTAGENETS. + </h2> + <p> + Whatever doubts may exist as to the influence of the Norman Conquest upon + the mass of the people—the FREEMEN, the ceorls, and the serfs—there + can be no doubt that its effect upon the higher classes was very great. It + added to the existing FEUDALISM—the system of Baronage, with its + concomitants of castellated residences filled with armed men. It led to + frequent contests between neighboring lords, in which the liberty and + rights of the FREEMEN were imperilled. It also eventuated in the formation + of a distinct order-the peerage—and for a time the constitutional + influence of the assembled people, the FOLC-GEMOT, was overborne. + </p> + <p> + The principal Norman chieftains were barons in their own country, and they + retained that position in England, but their holdings in both were feudal, + not hereditary. When the Crown, originally elective, became hereditary, + the barons sought to have their possessions governed by the same rule, to + remove them from the class of TERRAREGIS (FOLC-LAND), and to convert them + into chartered land. Being gifts from the monarch, he had the right to + direct the descent, and all charters which gave land to a man and his + heirs, made each of them only a tenant for life; the possessor was bound + to hand over the estate undivided to the heir, and he could neither give, + sell, nor bequeath it. The land was BENEFICIA, just as appointments in the + Church, and reverted, as they do, to the patron to be re-granted. They + were held upon military service, and the major barons, adopting the Saxon + title Earl, claimed to be PEERS of the monarch, and were called to the + councils of the state as barons-by-tenure. In reply to a QUO WARRANTO, + issued to the Earl of Surrey, in the reign of Edward I., he asserted that + his ancestors had assisted William in gaining England, and were equally + entitled to a share of the spoils. "It was," said he, "by their swords + that his ancestors had obtained their lands, and that by his he would + maintain his rights." The same monarch required the Earls of Hereford and + Norfolk to go over with his army to Guienne, and they replied, "The tenure + of our lands does not require us to do so, unless the king went in + person." The king insisted; the earls were firm. "By God, sir Earl," said + Edward to Hereford, "you shall go or hang." "By God, sir King," replied + the earl, "I will neither go nor hang." The king submitted and forgave his + warmth. + </p> + <p> + The struggle between the nobles and the Crown commenced, and was + continued, under varying circumstances. Each of the barons had a large + retinue of armed men under his own command, and the Crown was liable to be + overborne by a union of ambitious nobles. At one time the monarch had to + face them at Runnymede and yield to their demands; at another he was able + to restrain them with a strong hand. The Church and the barons, when + acting in union, proved too strong for the sovereign, and he had to secure + the alliance of one of these parties to defeat the views of the other. The + barons abused their power over the FREEMEN, and sought to establish the + rule "that every man must have a lord," thus reducing them to a state of + vassalage. King John separated the barons into two classes—major and + minor; the former should have at least thirteen knights' fees and a third + part; the latter remained country gentlemen. The 20th Henry III., cap. 2 + and 4, was passed to secure the rights of FREEMEN, who were disturbed by + the great lords, and gave them an appeal to the king's courts of assize. + </p> + <p> + Bracton, an eminent lawyer who wrote in the time of Henry III., says: + </p> + <p> + "The king hath superiors—viz., God and the law by which he is made + king; also his court—viz., his earls and barons. Earls are the + king's associates, and he that hath an associate hath a master; and + therefore, if the king be unbridled, or (which is all one) without law, + they ought to bridle him, unless they will be unbridled as the king, and + then the commons may cry, Lord Jesus, pity us," etc. + </p> + <p> + An eminent lawyer, time of Edward I., writes: + </p> + <p> + "Although the king ought to have no equal in the land, yet because the + king and his commissioners can be both judge and party, the king ought by + right to have companions, to hear and determine in Parliament all writs + and plaints of wrongs done by the king, the queen, or their children." + </p> + <p> + These views found expression in the coronation oath. Edward II. was forced + to swear: + </p> + <p> + "Will you grant and keep, and by your oath confirm to the people of + England the laws and customs to them, granted by the ancient kings of + England, your righteous and godly predecessors; and especially to the + clergy and people, by the glorious King St. Edward, your predecessor?" + </p> + <p> + The king's answer—"I do them grant and promise." + </p> + <p> + "Do you grant to hold and keep the laws and rightful customs which the + commonalty of your realm shall have chosen, and to maintain and enforce + them to the honor of God after your power?" + </p> + <p> + The king's answer—"I this do grant and promise." + </p> + <p> + I shall not dwell upon the event most frequently quoted with reference to + the era of the Plantagenets—I mean King John's "Magna Charta." It + was more social than territorial, and tended to limit the power of the + Crown, and to increase that of the barons. The Plantagenets had not begun + to call Commons to the House of Lords. The issue of writs was confined to + those who were barons-by-tenure, the PATRICIANS of the Norman period. The + creation of NOBLES was the invention of a later age. The baron feasted in + his hall, while the slave grovelled in his cabin. Bracton, the famous + lawyer of the time of Henry III., says: "All the goods a slave acquired + belonged to his master, who could take them from him whenever he pleased," + therefore a man could not purchase his own freedom. "In the same year, + 1283," says the Annals of Dunstable, "we sold our slave by birth, William + Fyke, and all his family, and received one mark from the buyer." The only + hope for the slave was, to try and get into one of the walled towns, when + he became free. Until the Wars of the Roses, these serfs were greatly + harassed by their owners. + </p> + <p> + In the reign of Edward I., efforts were made to prevent the alienation of + land by those who received it from the Norman sovereigns. The statute of + mortmain was passed to restrain the giving of lands to the Church, the + statute DE DONIS to prevent alienation to laymen. The former declares: + </p> + <p> + "That whereas religious men had entered into the fees of other men, + without license and will of the chief lord, and sometimes appropriating + and buying, and sometimes receiving them of gift of others, whereby the + services that are due of such fee, and which, in the beginning, were + provided for the defence of the realm, are wrongfully withdrawn, and the + chief lord do lose the escheats of the same (the primer seizin on each + life that dropped); it therefore enacts: That any such lands were + forfeited to the lord of the fee; and if he did not take it within twelve + months, it should be forfeited to the king, who shall enfeoff other + therein by certain services to be done for us for the defence of the + realm." + </p> + <p> + Another act, the 6th Edward I., cap. 3, provides: + </p> + <p> + "That alienation by the tenant in courtesy was void, and the heir was + entitled to succeed to his mother's property, notwithstanding the act of + his father." + </p> + <p> + The 13th Edward I., cap. 41, enacts: + </p> + <p> + "That if the abbot, priors, and keepers of hospitals, and other religious + houses, aliened their land they should be seized upon by the king." + </p> + <p> + The 13th Edward I., cap. 1, DE DONIS conditionalitiis, provided: + </p> + <p> + "That tenements given to a man, and the heirs of his body, should, at all + events, go to the issue, if there were any; or, if there were none, should + revert to the donor." + </p> + <p> + But while the fiefs of the Crown were forbidden to alien their lands, the + FREEMEN, whose lands were Odhal (noble) and of Saxon descent, the + inheritance of which was guaranteed to them by 55 William I. (ANTE, p. + 13), were empowered to sell their estates by the statute called QUIA + EMPTORES (6 Edward I.). It enacts: + </p> + <p> + "That from henceforth it shall be lawful to every FREEMEN to sell, at his + own pleasure, his lands and tenements, or part of them: so that the + feoffee shall hold the same lands and tenements of the chief lord of the + fee by such customs as his feoffee held before." + </p> + <p> + The scope of these laws was altered in the reign of Edward III. That + monarch, in view of his intended invasion of France, secured the adhesion + of the landowners, by giving them power to raise money upon and alien + their estates. The permission was as follows, 1 Edward III., cap. 12: + </p> + <p> + "Whereas divers people of the realm complain themselves to be grieved + because that lands and tenements which be holden of the king in chief, and + aliened without license, have been seized into the king's hand, and holden + as forfeit: (2.) The king shall not hold them as forfeit in such case, but + will and grant from henceforth of such lands and tenements so aliened, + there shall be reasonable fine taken in chancery by due process." + </p> + <p> + 1 Edward III., cap. 13: + </p> + <p> + "Whereas divers have complained that they be grieved by reason of + purchasing of lands and tenements, which have been holden of the king's + progenitors that now is, as of honors; and the same lands have been taken + into the king's hands, as though they had been holden in chief of the king + as of his crown: (2.) The king will that from henceforth no man be grieved + by any such purchase." + </p> + <p> + De Lolme, chap. iii., sec. 3, remarks on these laws that they took from + the king all power of preventing alienation or of purchase. They left him + the reversionary right on the failure of heirs. + </p> + <p> + These changes in the relative power of the sovereign and the nobles took + place to enable Edward to enter upon the conquest of France; but that + monarch, conferred a power upon the barons, which was used to the + detriment of his descendants, and led to the dethronement of the + Plantagenets. + </p> + <p> + The line of demarcation between the two sets of titles, those derived + through the ANGLO-SAXON laws and those derived through the grants of the + Norman sovereigns, was gradually being effaced. The people looked back to + the laws of Edward the Confessor, and forced them upon Edward II. But + after passing the laws which prevented nobles from selling, and empowering + FREEMEN to do so, Edward III. found it needful to assert his claims to the + entire land of England, and enacted in the twenty-fourth year of his + reign: + </p> + <p> + "That the king is the universal lord and original proprietor of all land + in his kingdom; that no man doth or can possess, any part of it but what + has mediately or immediately been derived as a gift from him to be held on + feodal service." + </p> + <p> + Those who obtained gifts of land, only held or had the use of them; the + ownership rested in the Crown. Feodal service, the maintenance of armed + men, and the bringing them into the field, was the rent paid. + </p> + <p> + The wealth which came into England after the conquest of France influenced + all classes, but none more than the family of the king. His own example + seems to have affected his descendants. The invasion of France and the + captivity of its king reappear in the invasion of England by Henry IV., + and the capture and dethronement of Richard II. The prosperity of England + during the reign of Edward had passed away in that of his grandson. Very + great distress pervaded the land, and it led to efforts to get rid of + villeinage. The 1st Richard II. recites: + </p> + <p> + "That grievous complaints had been made to the Lords and Commons, that + villeins and land tenants daily withdraw into cities and towns, and a + special commission was appointed to hear the case, and decide thereon." + </p> + <p> + The complaint was renewed, and appears in Act 9 Richard II., cap. 2: + </p> + <p> + "Whereas divers villeins and serfs, as well of the great Lords as of other + people, as well spiritual as temporal, do fly within the cities, towns, + and places entfranched, as the city of London, and other like, and do + feign divers suits against their Lords, to the intent to make them free by + the answer of the Lords, it is accorded and assented that the Lords and + others shall not be forebound of their villeins, because of the answer of + the Lords." + </p> + <p> + Serfdom or slavery may have existed previous to the ANGLO-SAXON invasion, + but I am disposed to think that the Saxon, the Jutes, and the Angles + reduced the inhabitants of the lands which they conquered, into serfdom. + The history of that period shows that men, women, and children were + constantly sold, and that there were established markets. One at Bristol, + which was frequented by Irish buyers, was put down, owing to the + remonstrance of the Bishop. After the Norman invasion the name of Villein, + a person attached to the villa, was given to the serfs. The village was + their residence. Occasional instances of enfranchisement took place; the + word signified being made free, and at that time every FREEMAN was + entitled to a vote. The word enfranchise has latterly come to bear a + different meaning, and to apply solely to the possession of a vote, but it + originally meant the elevation of a serf into the condition of a FREEMAN. + The act of enfranchisement was a public ceremony usually performed at the + church door. The last act of ownership performed by the master was the + piercing of the right ear with an awl. Many serfs fled into the towns, + where they were enfranchised and became FREEMEN. + </p> + <p> + The disaffection of the common people increased; they were borne down with + oppression. They struggled against their masters, and tried to secure + their personal liberty, and the freedom of their land. The population rose + in masses in the reign of Richard II., and demanded— + </p> + <p> + 1st. The total abolition of slavery for themselves and their children + forever; + </p> + <p> + 2d. The reduction of the rent of good land to 4d. per acre; + </p> + <p> + 3d. The right of buying and selling, like other men, in markets and fairs; + </p> + <p> + 4th. The pardon of all offences. + </p> + <p> + The monarch acted upon insidious advice; he spoke them fair at first, to + gain time, but did not fulfil his promises. Ultimately the people gained + part of their demands. To limit or defeat them, an act was passed, fixing + the wages of laborers to 4d. per day, with meat and drink, or 6d. per day, + without meat and drink, and others in proportion; but with the proviso, + that if any one refused to serve or labor on these terms, every justice + was at liberty to send him to jail, there to remain until he gave security + to serve and labor as by law required. A subsequent act prevents their + being employed by the week, or paid for holidays. + </p> + <p> + Previous to this period, the major barons and great lords tilled their + land by serfs, and had very large flocks and herds of cattle. On the death + of the Bishop of Winchester, 1367, his executors delivered to Bishop + Wykeham, his successor in the see, the following: 127 draught horses, 1556 + head of cattle, 3876 wedders, 4777 ewes, and 3541 lambs. Tillage was + neglected; and in 1314 there was a severe dearth; wheat sold at a price + equal to L30 per quarter, the brewing of ale was discontinued by + proclamation, in order "to prevent those of middle rank from perishing for + want of food." + </p> + <p> + The dissensions among the descendants of Edward III. as to the right to + the Crown aided the nobles in their efforts to make their estates + hereditary, and the civil wars which afflicted the nation tended to + promote that object. Kings were crowned and discrowned at the will of the + nobles, who compelled the FREEMEN to part with their small estates. The + oligarchy dictated to the Crown, and oppressed and kept down the FREEMEN. + The nobles allied themselves with the serfs, who were manumitted that they + might serve as soldiers in the conflicting armies. + </p> + <p> + From the Conquest to the time of Richard II., only barons-by-tenure, the + descendants of the companions of the Conqueror, were invited by writ to + Parliament. That monarch made an innovation, and invited others who were + not barons-by-tenure. The first dukedom was created the 11th of Edward + III., and the first viscount the 18th Henry VI. + </p> + <p> + Edward IV. seized upon the lands granted by former kings, and gave them to + his own followers, and thus created a feeling of uneasiness in the minds + of the nobility, and paved the way for the events which were accomplished + by a succeeding dynasty. The decision in the Taltarum case opened the + question of succession; and Edward's efforts to put down retainers was the + precursor of the Tudor policy. + </p> + <p> + We have a picture of the state of society in the reign of Edward IV. in + the Paston Memoirs, written by Margaret Paston. Her husband, John Paston, + was heir to Sir John Fastolf. He was bound by the will to establish in + Caister Castle, Fastolf s own mansion, a college of religious men to pray + for his benefactor's soul. But in those days might was right, and the Duke + of Norfolk, fancying that he should like the house for himself, quietly + took possession of it. At that time, Edward was just seated on the throne, + and Edward had just been reported to Paston to have said in reference to + another suit, that + </p> + <p> + "He would be your good lord therein as he would to the poorest man in + England. He would hold with you in your right; and as for favor, he will + not be understood that he shall show favor more to one man to another, not + to one in England." + </p> + <p> + This was a true expression of the king's intentions. But either he was + changeable in his moods, or during these early years he was hardly settled + enough on the throne always to be able to carry out his wishes. This time, + however, in some way or another, the great duke was reduced to submission, + and Caister was restored to Paston. + </p> + <p> + In 1465 a new claimant appeared; and claimants, though as troublesome in + the fifteenth as the nineteenth century, proceeded in a different fashion. + This time it was the Duke of Suffolk, who asserted a right to the manor of + Drayton in his own name, and who had bought up the assumed rights of + another person to the manor of Hellesdon. John Paston was away, and his + wife had to bear the brunt. An attempt to levy rent at Drayton was + followed by a threat from the duke's men, that if her servants "ventured + to take any further distresses at Drayton, even if it were but of the + value of a pin, they would take the value of an ox in Hellesdon." + </p> + <p> + Paston and the duke alike professed to be under the law. But each was + anxious to retain that possession which in those days seems really to have + been nine points of the law. The duke got hold of Drayton, while Hellesdon + was held for Paston. One day Paston's men made a raid upon Drayton, and + carried off seventy-seven head of cattle. Another day the duke's bailiff + came to Hellesdon with 300 men to see if the place were assailable. Two + servants of Paston, attempting to keep a court at Drayton in their + master's name, were carried off by force. At last the duke mustered his + retainers and marched against Hellesdon. The garrison, too weak to resist, + at once surrendered. + </p> + <p> + "The duke's men took possession, and set John Paston's own tenants to + work, very much against their wills, to destroy the mansion and break down + the walls of the lodge, while they themselves ransacked the church, turned + out the parson, and spoiled the images. They also pillaged very completely + every house in the village. As for John Paston's own place, they stripped + it completely bare; and whatever there was of lead, brass, pewter, iron, + doors or gates, or other things that they could not conveniently carry + off, they hacked and hewed them to pieces. The duke rode through Hellesdon + to Drayton the following day, while his men were still busy completing the + wreck of destruction by the demolition of the lodge. The wreck of the + building, with the rents they made in its walls, is visible even now" + (Introd. xxxv.). + </p> + <p> + The meaning of all this is evident. We have before us a state of society + in which the anarchical element is predominant. But it is not pure + anarchy. The nobles were determined to reduce the middle classes to + vassalage. + </p> + <p> + The reign of the Plantagenets witnessed the elevation of the nobility. The + descendants of the Norman barons menaced, and sometimes proved too + powerful for the Crown. In such reigns as those of Edward I., Edward III., + and Henry VI., the barons triumphed. The power wielded by the first Edward + fell from the feeble grasp of his son and successor. The beneficent rule + of Edward III. was followed by the anarchy of Richard II. Success led to + excess. The triumphant party thinned the ranks of its opponents, and in + turn experienced the same fate. The fierce struggle of the Red and White + Roses weakened each. Guy, Earl of Warwick, "the king-maker," sank + overpowered on the field of Tewkesbury, and with him perished many of the + most powerful of the nobles. The jealousy of Richard III. swept away his + own friends, and the bloody contest on Bosworth field destroyed the flower + of the nobility. The sun of the Plantagenets went down, leaving the + country weak and impoverished, from a contest in which the barons sought + to establish their own power, to the detriment alike of the Crown and the + FREEMEN. The latter might have exclaimed: + </p> + <p> + "Till half a patriot, half a coward, grown, We fly from meaner tyrants to + the throne." + </p> + <p> + The long contest terminated in the defeat alike of the Crown and the + nobles, but the nation suffered severely from the struggle. + </p> + <p> + The rule of this family proved fatal to the interest of a most important + class, whose rights were jealously guarded by the Normans. The Liberi + Homines, the FREEMEN, who were Odhal occupiers, holding in capite from the + sovereign, nearly disappeared in the Wars of the Roses. Monarchs who owed + their crown to the favor of the nobles were too weak to uphold the rights + of those who held directly from the Crown, and who, in their isolation, + were almost powerless. + </p> + <p> + The term FREEMAN, originally one of the noblest in the land, disappeared + in relation to urban tenures, and was applied solely to the personal + rights of civic burghers; instead thereof arose the term FREEHOLDER from + FREE HOLD, which was originally a grant free from all rent, and only + burdened with military service. The term was subsequently applied to land + held for leases for lives as contradistinguished from leases for years, + the latter being deemed base tenures, and insufficient to qualify a man to + vote; the theory being that no man was free whose tenure could be + disturbed during his life. Though the Liberi Homines or FREEMEN were, as a + class, overborne in this struggle, and reduced to vassalage, yet their + descendants were able, under the leadership of Cromwell, to regain some of + the rights and influence of which they had been despoiled under the + Plantagenets. + </p> + <p> + Fortescue, Lord Chief-Justice to Henry VI., thus describes the condition + of the English people: + </p> + <p> + "They drunk no water, unless it be that some for devotion, and upon a rule + of penance, do abstain from other drink. They eat plentifully of all kinds + of flesh and fish. They wear woollen cloth in all their apparel. They have + abundance of bed covering in their houses, and all other woollen stuff. + They have great store of all implements of household. They are plentifully + furnished with all instruments of husbandry, and all other things that are + requisite to the accomplishment of a great and wealthy life, according to + their estates and degrees." + </p> + <p> + This flattering picture is not supported by the existing disaffection and + the repeated applications for redress from the serfs and the smaller + farmers, and the simple fact that the population had increased under the + Normans—a period of 88 years—from 2,150,000 to 3,350,000, + while under the Plantagenets—a period of 300 years—it only + increased to 4,000,000, the addition to the population in that period + being only 650,000. The average increase in the former period was nearly + 14,000 per annum, while in the latter it did not much exceed 2000 per + annum. This goes far to prove the evil from civil wars, and the oppression + of the oligarchy. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0007" id="link2H_4_0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VI. THE TUDORS + </h2> + <p> + The protracted struggle of the Plantagenets left the nation in a state of + exhaustion. The nobles had absorbed the lands of the FREEMEN, and had thus + broken the backbone of society. They had then entered upon a contest with + the Crown to increase their own power; and to effect their selfish + objects, setup puppets, and ranged under conflicting banners, but the + Nemesis followed. The Wars of the Roses destroyed their own power, and + weakened their influence, by sweeping away the heads of the principal + families. The ambition of the nobles failed of its object, when "the last + of the barons" lay gory in his blood on the field of Tewkesbury. The wars + were, however, productive of one national benefit, in virtually ending the + state of serfdom to which the aborigines were reduced by the Scandinavian + invasion. The exhaustion of the nation prepared the way to changes of a + most radical character, and the reigns of the Tudors are characterized by + greater innovations and more striking alterations than even those which + followed the accession of the Normans. + </p> + <p> + Henry of Richmond came out of the field of Bostworth a vistor, and + ascended the throne of a nation whose leading nobles had been swept away. + The sword had vied with the axe. Henry VII. was prudent and cunning; and + in the absence of any preponderating oligarchical influence, planted the + heel of the sovereign upon the necks of the nobles. He succeeded where the + Plantagenets had failed. His accession became the advent of a series of + measures which altered most materially the system of landholding. The Wars + of the Roses showed that the power of the nobles was too great for the + comfort of the monarch. The decision in Taltarum's case, in the reign of + Edward IV., affected the entire system of entail. Land, partly freed from + restrictions, passed into other hands. But Henry went further. He + destroyed their physical influence by ridigly putting down retainer; and + in one of his tours, while partaking of the hospitality of the Earl of + Oxford, he fined him L15,000 for having greeted him with 5000 of his + tenants in livery. The rigid enforcement of the laws passed against + retainers in former reigns, but now made more penal, strengthened the king + and reduced the power of the nobles. Their estates were relieved of a most + onerous charge, and the lands freed from the burden of supporting the army + of the state. + </p> + <p> + Henry VII. had thus a large fund to give away; the rent of the land + granted in knights' service virtually consisted of two separate funds—one + part went to the feudee, as officer or commmandant, the other to the + soldiery or vassals. The latter part belonged to the state. Had Henry + applied it to the reestablishment of the class of FREEMEN (LIBERI + HOMINES), as was recently done by the Emperor of Russia when he abolished + serfdom, he would have created a power on which the Crown and the + constitution could rely. This might have been done by converting the + holdings of the men-at-arms into allodial estates, held direct from the + Crown. Such an arrangement would have left the income of the feudee + unimpaired, as it would only have applied the fund that had been paid to + the men-at-arms to this purpose; and by creating out of that land a number + of small estates held direct from the Crown, the misery that arose from + the eviction and destruction of a most meritorious class, would have been + avoided. Vagrancy, with its great evils, would have been prevented, and + the passing of the Poor laws would have been unnecessary. Unfortunately + Henry and his counsellors did not appreciate the consequence of the + suppression of retainers and liveries. By the course he adopted to secure + the influence of the Crown, he compensated the nobles, but destroyed the + agricultural middle class. + </p> + <p> + This change had an important and, in some respects, a most injurious + effect upon the condition of the nation, and led to enactments of a very + extraordinary character, which I must submit in detail, inasmuch as I + prefer giving the ipsissima verba of the statute-book to any statement of + my own. To make the laws intelligible, I would remind you that the + successful efforts of the nobles had, during the three centuries of + Plantagenet rule, nearly obliterated the LIBERI HOMINES (whose rights the + Norman conqueror had sedulously guarded), and had reduced them to a state + of vassalage. They held the lands of their lord at his will, and paid + their rent by military service. When retainers were put down, and rent or + knights' service was no longer paid with armed men, their occupation was + gone. They were unfit for the mere routine of husbandry, and unprovided + with funds for working their farms. The policy of the nobles was changed. + It was no longer their object to maintain small farmsteads, each supplying + its quota of armed men to the retinue of the lord; and it was their + interest to obtain money rents. Then commenced a struggle of the most + fearful character. The nobles cleared their lands, pulled down the houses, + and displaced the people. Vagrancy, on a most unparalleled scale, took + place. Henry VII., to check this cruel, unexpected, and harsh outcome of + his own policy, resorted to legislation, which proved nearly ineffectual. + As early as the fourth year of his reign these efforts commenced with an + enactment (cap. 19) for keeping up houses and encouraging husbandry; it is + very quaint, and is as follows: + </p> + <p> + "The King, our Sovereign Lord, having singular pleasure above all things + to avoid such enormities and mischiefs as be hurtful and prejudicial to + the commonwealth of this his land and his subjects of the same, + remembereth that, among other things, great inconvenience daily doth + increase by dissolution, and pulling down, and wilful waste of houses and + towns within this his realm, and laying to pasture lands, which + continually have been in tilth, WHEREBY IDLENESS, THE GROUND AND BEGINNING + OF ALL MISCHIEF, daily do increase; for where, in some towns 200 persons + were occupied, and lived by those lawful labors, now there be occupied two + or three herdsmen, and the residue full of idleness. The husbandry, which + is one of the greatest commodities of the realm, is greatly decayed. + Churches destroyed, the service of God withdrawn, the bodies there buried + not prayed for, the patrons and curates wronged, the defence of the land + against outward enemies feebled and impaired, to the great displeasure of + God, the subversion of the policy and good rule of this land, if remedy be + not hastily therefor purveyed: Wherefore, the King, our Sovereign Lord, by + the assent and advice, etc., etc., ordereth, enacteth, and establisheth + that no person, what estate, degree, or condition he be, that hath any + house or houses, that at any time within the past three years hath been, + or that now is, or heretofore shall be, let to farm with twenty acres of + land at least, or more, laying in tillage or husbandry; that the owners of + any such house shall be bound to keep, sustain, and maintain houses and + buildings, upon the said grounds and land, convenient and necessary for + maintaining and upholding said tillage and husbandry; and if any such + owner or owners of house or house and land take, keep, and occupy any such + house or house and land in his or their own hands, that the owner of the + said authority be bound in likewise to maintain houses and buildings upon + the said ground and land, convenient and necessary for maintaining and + upholding the said tillage and husbandry. On their default, the king, or + the other lord of the fee, shall receive half of the profits, and apply + the same in repairing the houses; but shall not gain the freehold + thereby." + </p> + <p> + This act was preceded by one with reference to the Isle of Wight, 4 Henry + VII., cap. 16, passed the same session, which recites that it is so near + France that it is desirable to keep it in a state of defence. It provides + that no person shall have more than one farm, and enacts: + </p> + <p> + "For remedy, it is ordered and enacted that no manner of person, of what + estate, degree, or condition soever, shall take any farm more than one, + whereof the yearly rent shall not exceed ten marks; and if any several + leases afore this time have been made to any person or persons of divers + and sundry farmholds whereof the yearly value shall exceed that sum, then + the said person or persons shall choose one farm, hold at his pleasure, + and the remnant of the leases shall be void." + </p> + <p> + Mr. Froude remarks (History, p. 26), "An act, tyrannical in form, was + singularly justified by its consequences. The farm-houses were rebuilt, + the land reploughed, the island repeopled; and in 1546, when the French + army of 60,000 men attempted to effect a landing at St. Helens, they were + defeated and driven back by the militia, and a few levies transported from + Hampshire and the surrounding counties." + </p> + <p> + Lord Bacon, in his "History of the Reign of Henry VII., says: + </p> + <p> + "Enclosures, at that time, began to be more frequent, whereby arable land + (which could not be manured without people and families) was turned into + pasture, which was easily rid by a few herdsmen; and tenancies for years, + lives, and at will (whereupon much of the yeomanry lived) were turned into + demesnes. This bred a decay of people and (by consequence) a decay of + towns, churches, tithes, and the like. The king, likewise, knew full well, + and in nowise forgot, that there ensued withal upon this a decay and + diminution of subsidies and taxes; for the more gentlemen, ever the lower + books of subsidies. In remedying of this inconvenience, the king's wisdom + was admirable, and the parliaments at that time. Enclosures they would not + forbid, for that had been to forbid the improvement of the patrimony of + the kingdom; nor tillage they would not compel, for that was to strive + with nature and utility; but they took a course to take away depopulating + enclosures and depopulating pasturage, and yet not by that name, or by any + imperious express prohibition, but by consequence. The ordinance was, that + all houses of husbandry, that were used with twenty acres of ground and + upward, should be maintained and kept up for ever, together with a + competent proportion of land to be used and occupied with them; and in + nowise to be severed from them, as by another statute made afterward in + his successor's time, was more fully declared: this, upon forfeiture to be + taken, not by way of popular action, but by seizure of the land itself, by + the king and lords of the fee, as to half the profits, till the houses and + land were restored. By this means the houses being kept up, did of + necessity enforce a dweller; and the proportion of the land for occupation + being kept up, did of necessity enforce that dweller not to be a beggar or + cottager, but a man of some substance, that might keep hinds and servants, + and set the plough a-going. This did wonderfully concern the might and + mannerhood of the kingdom, to have farms, as it were, of a standard + sufficient to maintain an able body out of penury, and did, in effect, + amortise a great part of the lands of the kingdom unto the hold and + occupation of the yeomanry or middle people, of a condition between + gentlemen and cottagers or peasants. Now, how much this did advance the + military power of the kingdom, is apparent by the true principles of war, + and the examples of other kingdoms. For it hath been held by the general + opinion of men of best judgment in the wars (howsoever some few have + varied, and that it may receive some distinction of case), that the + principal strength of an army consisteth in the infantry or foot. And to + make good infantry, it requireth men bred, not in a servile or indigent + fashion, but in some free and plentiful manner. Therefore, if a state run + most to noblemen and gentlemen, and that the husbandman and ploughman be + but as their workfolks and laborers, or else mere cottagers (which are but + housed beggars), you may have a good cavalry, but never good stable bands + of foot; like to coppice woods, that if you leave in them standing too + thick, they will run to bushes and briars, and have little clean + underwood. And this is to be seen in France and Italy, and some other + parts abroad, where in effect all is nobles or peasantry. I speak of + people out of towns, and no middle people; and therefore no good forces of + foot: insomuch as they are enforced to employ mercenary bands of Switzers + and the like for their battalions of foot, whereby also it comes to pass, + that those nations have much people and few soldiers. Whereas the king saw + that contrariwise it would follow, that England, though much less in + territory, yet should have infinitely more soldiers of their native forces + than those other nations have. Thus did the king secretly sow Hydra's + teeth; whereupon (according to the poet's fiction) should rise up armed + men for the service of this kingdom." + </p> + <p> + The enactment above quoted was followed by others in that reign of a + similar character, but it would appear they were not successful. The evil + grew apace. Houses were pulled down, farms went out of tillage. The + people, evicted from their farms, and having neither occupation nor means + of living, were idle, and suffering. Succeeding sovereigns strove also to + check this disorder? and statute after statute was passed. Among them are + the 7th Henry VIII., cap. 1. It recites: + </p> + <p> + "That great inconveniency did daily increase by dissolution, pulling down, + and destruction of houses, and laying to pasture, lands which customarily + had been manured and occupied with tillage and husbandry, whereby idleness + doth increase; for where, in some town-lands, hundreds of persons and + their ancestors, time out of mind, were daily occupied with sowing of corn + and graynes, breeding of cattle, and other increase of husbandry, that now + the said persons and their progeny are disunited and decreased. It further + recites the evil consequences resulting from this state of things, and + provides that all these buildings and habitations shall be re-edificed and + repaired within one year; and all tillage lands turned into pasture shall + be again restored into tillage; and in default, half the value of the + lands and houses forfeited to the king, or lord of the fee, until they + were re-edificed. On failure of the next lord, the lord above him might + seize." + </p> + <p> + This act did not produce that increased tilth which was anticipated. + Farmers' attention was turned to sheepbreeding; and in order to supply the + deficiency of cattle, an act was passed in the 21st Henry VIII., to + enforce the rearing of calves; and every farmer was, under a penalty of + 6s. 8d. (about L3 of our currency), compelled to rear all his calves for a + period of three years; and in the 24th Henry VIII. the act was further + continued for two years. The culture of flax and hemp was also encouraged + by legislation. The 24th Henry VIII., cap. 14, requires every person + occupying land apt for tillage, to sow a quarter of an acre of flax or + hemp for every sixty acres of land, under a penalty of 3s. 4d. + </p> + <p> + The profit which arose from sheep-farming led to the depasturage of the + land; and in order to check it, an act, 25 Henry VIII., cap. 13, was + passed. It commences thus: + </p> + <p> + "Forasmuch as divers and sundry persons of the king's subjects of this + realm, to whom God of His goodness hath disposed great plenty and + abundance of movable substance, now of late, within few years, have daily + studied, practised, and invented ways and means how they might gather and + accumulate together into few hands, as well great multitude of farms, as + great plenty of cattle and in especial sheep, putting such lands as they + can get to pasture and not to tillage: whereby they have not only pulled + down churches and towns, and enhanced the old rates of the rents of + possessions of this realm, or else brought it to such excessive fines that + no poor man is able to meddle with it, but have also raised and enhanced + the prices of all manner of corn, cattle, wool, pigs, geese, hens, + chickens, eggs, and such commodities almost double above the prices which + hath been accustomed, by reason whereof a marvellous multitude of the poor + people of this realm be not able to provide meat, drink, and clothes + necessary for themselves, their wives, and children, but be so discouraged + with misery and poverty, that they fall daily to theft, robbery, and other + inconveniences, or pitifully die for hunger and cold; and it is thought by + the king's humble and loving subjects, that one of the greatest occasions + that moveth those greedy and covetous people so to accumulate and keep in + their hands such great portions and parts of the lands of this realm from + the occupying of the poor husbandmen, and so use it in pasture and not in + tillage, is the great profit that cometh of sheep, which be now come into + a few persons' hands, in respect of the whole number of the king's + subjects, so that some have 24,000, some 20,000, some 10,000, some 6000, + some 5000, and some more or less, by which a good sheep for victual, which + was accustomed to be sold for 2s. 4d. or 3s. at most, is now sold for 6s., + 5s., or 4s. at the least; and a stone of clothing wool, that in some shire + of this realm was accustomed to be sold from 16d. to 20d, is now sold for + 4s. or 3s. 4d. at the least; and in some counties, where it has been sold + for 2s. 4d. to 2s. 8d., or 3s. at the most, it is now 5s. or 4s. 8d. at + the least, and so arreysed in every part of the realm, which things thus + used to be principally to the high displeasure of Almighty God, to the + decay of the hospitality of this realm, to the diminishing king's people, + and the let of the cloth making, whereby many poor people hath been + accustomed to be set on work; and in conclusion, if remedy be not found, + it may turn to the utter destruction and dissolution of this realm which + God defend." + </p> + <p> + It was enacted that no person shall have or keep on lands not their own + inheritance more than 2000 sheep, under a penalty of 3s. 4d. per annum for + each sheep; lambs under a year old not to be counted; and that no person + shall occupy two farms. + </p> + <p> + Further measures appeared needful to prevent the evil; and the 27th Henry + VIII., cap. 22, states that the 4th Henry VII., cap. 19, for keeping + houses in repair, and for the tillage of the land, had been enforced on + lands holden of the king, but neglected by other lords. It, therefore, + enacted that the king shall have the moiety of the profits of lands + converted from tillage to pasture, since the passing of the 4th Henry + VII., until a proper house is built, and the land returned to tillage; and + in default of the immediate lord taking the profits as under that act, the + king might take the same. This act extended to the counties of Lincoln, + Nottingham, Leicester, Warwick, Rutland, Northampton, Bedford, Buckingham, + Oxford, Berkshire, Isle of Wight, Hertford, and Cambridge. + </p> + <p> + The simple fact was, that those who had formerly paid the rent of their + land by service as soldiers were without the capital or means of paying + rent in money; they were evicted and became vagrants. Henry VIII. took a + short course with these vagrants, and it is asserted upon apparently good + authority that in the course of his reign, thirty-six years, he hanged no + less than 72,000 persons for vagrancy, or at the rate of 2000 per annum. + The executions in the reign of his daughter, Queen Elizabeth, had fallen + to from 300 to 400 per annum. + </p> + <p> + 32 Henry VIII., cap. 1, gave powers of bequest with regard to land; as it + explains the change it effected, I quote it: + </p> + <p> + "That all persons holding land in socage not having any lands holden by + knight service of the king in chief, be empowered to devise and dispose of + all such socage lands, and in like case, persons holding socage lands of + the king in chief, and also of others, and not having the lands holden by + knight service, saving to the king, all his right, title, and interest for + primer seizin, reliefs, fines for alienations, etc. Persons holding lands + of the king by knight's service in chief were authorized to devise two + third parts thereof, saving to the king wardship, primer seizin, of the + third paid, and fines for alienation of the whole lands. Persons holding + lands by knight's service in chief, and also other lands by knight's + service, or otherwise may in like manner devise two third part thereof, + saving to the king wardship of the third, and fines for alienation of the + whole. Persons holding land of others than the king by knight's service, + and also holding socage lands, may devise two third parts of the former + and the whole of the latter, saving to the lord his wardship of the third + part. Persons holding lands of the king by knight's service but not in + chief, or so holding of the king and others, and also holding socage + lands, may in like manner devise two thirds of the former and the whole of + the latter, saving to the king the wardship of the third part, and also to + the lords; and the king or the other lords were empowered to seize the one + third part in case of any deficiency." + </p> + <p> + The 34th and 35th Henry VIII., cap. 5, was passed to remove some doubts + which had arisen as to the former statute; it enacts: + </p> + <p> + "That the words estates of inheritance should only mean estates in + fee-simple only, and empowers persons seized of any lands, etc., in + fee-simple solely, or in co-partnery (not having any lands holden of + knight's service), to devise the whole, except corporations. Persons + seized in fee-simple of land holden of the king by knight's service may + give or devise two thirds thereof, and of his other lands, except + corporation, such two thirds to be ascertained by the divisor or by + commission out of the Court of Ward and Liveries. The king was empowered + to take his third land descended to the heir in the first place, the + devise in gift remaining good for the two thirds; and if the land + described were insufficient to answer such third, the deficiency should be + made up out of the two thirds." + </p> + <p> + "The next attack," remarks Sir William Blackstone, vol. ii., p. 117, + "which they suffered in order of time was by the statute 32 Henry VIII., + c. 28, whereby certain leases made by tenants in tail, which do not tend + to prejudice the issue, were allowed to be good in law and to bind the + issue in tail. But they received a more violent blow the same session of + Parliament by the construction put upon the statute of fines by the + statute 32 Henry VIII., cap. 36, which declares a fine duly levied by + tenant in tail to be a complete bar to him and his heirs and all other + persons claiming under such entail. This was evidently agreeable to the + intention of Henry VII., whose policy was (before common recovery had + obtained their full strength and authority) to lay the road as open as + possible to the alienation of landed property, in order to weaken the + overgrown power of his nobles. But as they, from the opposite reasons, + were not easily brought to consent to such a provision, it was therefore + couched in his act under covert and obscure expressions; and the judges, + though willing to construe that statute as favorably as possible for the + defeating of entailed estates, yet hesitated at giving fines so extensive + a power by mere implication when the statute DE DONIS had expressly + declared that they should not be a bar to estates-tail. But the statute of + Henry VIII., when the doctrine of alienation was better received, and the + will of the prince more implicitly obeyed than before, avowed and + established that intention." + </p> + <p> + Fitzherbert, one of the judges of the Common Pleas in the reign of Henry + VIII., wrote a work on surveying and husbandry. It contains directions for + draining, clearing, and inclosing a farm, and for enriching the soil and + reducing it to tillage. Fallowing before wheat was practised, and when a + field was exhausted by grain it was allowed to rest. Hollingshed estimated + the usual return as 16 to 20 bushels of wheat per acre; prices varied very + greatly, and famine was of frequent recurrence. Leases began to be + granted, but they were not effectual to protect the tenant from the entry + of purchasers nor against the operation of fictitious recoveries. + </p> + <p> + In the succeeding reigns the efforts to encourage tillage and prevent the + clearing of the farms were renewed, and among the enactments passed were + the following: + </p> + <p> + 5 Edward VI., cap. 5, for the better maintenance of tillage and increase + of corn within the realm, enacts: + </p> + <p> + "That there should be, in the year 1553, as much land, or more, put wholly + in tillage as had been at any time since the 1st Henry VIII., under a + penalty of 5s. per acre to the king; and in order to secure this, it + appoints commissioners, who were bound to ascertain by inquests what land + was in tillage and had been converted from tillage into pasture. The + commission issued precepts to the sheriffs, who summoned jurors, and the + inquests were to be returned, certified, to the Court of Exchequer. Any + prosecution for penalties should take place within three years, and the + act continues for ten years." + </p> + <p> + 2 and 3 Philip and Mary, cap. 2, recites the former acts of 4 Henry VII., + cap. 19, etc,, which it enforces. It enacts: + </p> + <p> + "That as some doubts had arisen as to the interpretation of the words + twenty acres of land, the act should apply to houses with twenty acres of + land, according to the measurement of the ancient statute; and it appoints + commissioners to inquire as to all houses pulled down and all land + converted from pasture into tillage since the 4th Henry VII. The + commissioners were to take security by recognizance from offenders, and to + re-edify the houses and re-convert the land into tillage, and to assess + the tenants for life toward the repairs. The amount expended under order + of the commissioners was made recoverable against the estate, and the + occupiers were made liable to their orders; and they had power to commit + persons refusing to give security to carry out the act." + </p> + <p> + 2 and 3 Philip and Mary, cap. 3, was passed to provide for the increase of + milch cattle, and it enacts: + </p> + <p> + "That one milch-cow shall be kept and calf reared for every sixty sheep + and ten oxen during the following seven years." + </p> + <p> + The 2d Elizabeth, cap. 2, confirms the previously quoted acts of 4 Henry + VII., cap. 19; 7 Henry VIII., cap. 1; 27 Henry VIII., cap. 22; 27 Henry + VIII., cap. 18; and it enacts: + </p> + <p> + "That all farm-houses belonging to suppressed monasteries should be kept + up, and that all lands which had been in tillage for four years + successively at any time since the 20th Henry VIII., should be kept in + tillage under a penalty of 10s. per acre, which was payable to the heir in + reversion, or in case he did not levy it, to the Crown." + </p> + <p> + 31 Elizabeth, cap. 7, went further; and in order to provide allotments for + the cottagers, many of whom were dispossessed from their land, it + provided: + </p> + <p> + "For avoiding the great inconvenience which is found by experience to grow + by the erecting and building of great number of cottages, which daily more + and more increased in many parts of the realm, it was enacted that no + person should build a cottage for habitation or dwelling, nor convert any + building into a cottage, without assigning and laying thereto four acres + of land, being his own freehold and inheritance, lying near the cottage, + under a penalty of L10; and for upholding any such cottages, there was a + penalty imposed of 40s. a month, exception being made as to any city, + town, corporation, ancient borough, or market town; and no person was + permitted to allow more than one family to reside in each cottage, under a + penalty of 10s. per month." + </p> + <p> + The 39th Elizabeth, cap. 2, was passed to enforce the observance of these + conditions. It provides: + </p> + <p> + "That all lands which had been in tillage shall be restored thereto within + three years, except in cases where they were worn out by too much tillage, + in which case they might be grazed with sheep; but in order to prevent the + deterioriation of the land, it was enacted that the quantity of beeves or + muttons sold off the land should not exceed that which was consumed in the + mansion-house." + </p> + <p> + In these various enactments of the Tudor monarchs we may trace the anxious + desire of these sovereigns to repair the mistake of Henry VII., and to + prevent the depopulation of England. A similar mistake has been made in + Ireland since 1846, under which the homes of the peasantry have been + prostrated, the land thrown out of tillage, and the people driven from + their native land. Mr. Froude has the following remarks upon this + legislation: + </p> + <p> + "Statesmen (temp. Elizabeth) did not care for the accumulation of capital. + They desired to see the physical well-being of all classes of the + commonwealth maintained in the highest degree which the producing power of + the country admitted. This was their object, and they were supported in it + by a powerful and efficient majority of the nation. At one time Parliament + interfered to protect employers against laborers, but it was equally + determined that employers should not be allowed to abuse their + opportunities; and this directly appears from the 4th and 5th Elizabeth, + by which, on the most trifling appearance of a diminution of the currency, + it was declared that the laboring man could no longer live on the wages + assigned to him by the Act of Henry VIII.; and a sliding scale was + instituted, by which, for the future, wages should be adjusted to the + price of food. The same conclusion may be gathered also indirectly fom the + acts interfering imperiously with the rights of property where a + disposition showed itself to exercise them selfishly. + </p> + <p> + "The city merchants, as I have said, were becoming landowners, and some of + them attempted to apply their rules of trade to the management of landed + estates. While wages were rated so high, it answered better as a + speculation to convert arable land into pasture, but the law immediately + stepped in to prevent a proceeding which it regarded as petty treason to + the state. Self-protection is the first law of life, and the country, + relying for its defence on an able-bodied population, evenly distributed, + ready at any moment to be called into action, either against foreign + invasion or civil disturbance, it could not permit the owners of land to + pursue, for their own benefit, a course of action which threatened to + weaken its garrisons. It is not often that we are able to test the wisdom + of legislation by specific results so clearly as in the present instance. + The first attempts of the kind which I have described were made in the + Isle of Wight early in the reign of Henry VII. Lying so directly exposed + to attacks by France, the Isle of Wight was a place which it was + peculiarly important to keep in a state of defence, and the 4th Henry + VII., cap. 16, was passed to prevent the depopulation of the Isle of + Wight, occasioned by the system of large farms." + </p> + <p> + The city merchants alluded to by Froude seem to have remembered that from + the times of Athelwolf, the possession of a certain quantity of land, with + gatehouse, church, and kitchen, converted the ceorl (churl) into a thane. + </p> + <p> + It is difficult to estimate the effect which the Tudor policy had upon the + landholding of England. Under the feudal system, the land was held in + trust and burdened with the support of the soldiery. Henry VII., in order + to weaken the power of the nobles, put an end to their maintaining + independent soldiery. Thus landlords' incomes increased, though their + material power was curtailed. It would not have been difficult at this + time to have loaded these properties with annual payments equal to the + cost of the soldiers which they were bound to maintain, or to have given + each of them a farm under the Crown, and strict justice would have + prevented the landowners from putting into their pockets those revenues + which, according to the grants and patents of the Conqueror and his + successors, were specially devoted to the maintenance of the army. Land + was released from the conditions with which it was burdened when granted. + This was not done by direct legislation but by its being the policy of the + Crown to prevent "king-makers" arising from among the nobility. The dread + of Warwick influenced Henry. He inaugurated a policy which transferred the + support of the army from the lands, which should solely have borne it, to + the general revenue of the country. Thus he relieved one class at the + expense of the nation. Yet, when Henry was about to wage war on the + Continent, he called all his subjects to accompany him, under pain of + forfeiture of their lands; and he did not omit levying the accustomed + feudal charge for knighting his eldest son and for marrying his eldest + daughter. The acts to prevent the landholder from oppressing the occupier, + and those for the encouragement of tillage, failed. The new idea of + property in land, which then obtained, proved too powerful to be altered + by legislation. + </p> + <p> + Another change in the system of landholding took place in those reigns. + Lord Cromwell, who succeeded Cardinal Wolsey as minister to Henry VIII., + had land in Kent, and he obtained the passing of an act (31 Henry VIII., + cap. 2) which took his land and that of other owners therein named, out of + the custom of gavelkind (gave-all-kind), which had existed in Kent from + before the Norman Conquest, and enacted that they should descend according + to common law in like manner as lands held by knight's service. + </p> + <p> + The suppression of the RELIGIOUS HOUSES gave the Crown the control of a + vast quantity of land. It had, with the consent of the Crown, been devoted + to religion by former owners. The descendants of the donors were equitably + entitled to the land, as it ceased to be applied to the trust for which it + was given, but the power of the Crown was too great, and their claims were + refused. Had these estates been applied to purposes of religion or + education they would have formed a valuable fund for the improvement of + the people; but the land itself, as well as the portion of tithes + belonging to the religious houses, was conferred upon favorites, and some + of the wealthiest nobles of the present day trace their rise and + importance to the rewards obtained by their ancestors out of the spoils of + these charities. + </p> + <p> + The importance of the measures of the Tudors upon the system of + land-holding can hardly be exaggerated. An impulse of self-defence led + them to lessen the physical force of the oligarchy by relieving the land + from the support of the army, and enabling them to convert to their own + use the income previously applied to the defence of the realm. This was a + bribe, but it brought its own punishment. The eviction of the working + farmers, the demolition of their dwellings, the depopulation of the + country, were evils of most serious magnitude; and the supplement of the + measures which produced such deplorable results was found in the permanent + establishment of a taxation for the SUPPORT of the POOR. Yet the nation + reeled under the depletion produced by previous mistaken legislation, and + all classes have been injured by the transfer of the support of the army + from the land held by the nobles to the income of the people. + </p> + <p> + Side by side, with the measures passed, to prevent the Clearing of the + Land, arose the system of POOR LAWS. Previous to the Reformation the poor + were principally relieved at the religious houses. The destruction of + small farms, and the eviction of such masses of the people, which + commenced in the reign of Henry VII., overpowered the resources of these + establishments; their suppression in the reigns of Henry VIII. and + Elizabeth aggravated the evil. The indiscriminate and wholesale execution + of the poor vagrants by the former monarch only partially removed the + evil, and the statute-book is loaded with acts for the relief of the + destitute poor. The first efforts were collections in the churches; but + voluntary alms proving insufficient, the powers of the churchwardens were + extended, and they were directed and authorized to assess the parishioners + according to their means, and thus arose a system which, though benevolent + in its object, is a slur upon our social arrangements. Land, the only + source of food, is rightly charged with the support of the destitute. The + necessity for such aid arose originally from their being evicted + therefrom. The charge should fall exclusively upon the rent receivers, and + in no case should the tiller of the soil have to pay this charge either + directly or indirectly. It is continued by the inadequacy of wages, and + the improvidence engendered by a social system which arose out of + injustice, and produced its own penalty. + </p> + <p> + Legislation with regard to the poor commenced contemporaneous with the + laws against the eviction of the small farmers. I have already recited + some of the laws to preserve small holdings; I now pass to the acts meant + to compel landholders to provide for those whom they had dispossessed. In + 1530 the act 22 Henry VIII., cap. 12, was passed; it recites: + </p> + <p> + "Whereas in all places through the realm of England, vagabonds and beggars + have of long time increased, and daily do increase, in great and excessive + numbers by THE OCCASION OF IDLENESS, THE MOTHER AND ROOT OF ALL VICES, + [Footnote: See 4 Henry VII., cap, 19, ante, p. 27, where the same + expression occurs, showing that it was throwing the land out of tilth that + occasioned pauperism.] whereby hath insurged and sprung, and daily + insurgeth and springeth, continual thefts, murders, and other heinous + offences and great enormities, to the high displeasure of God, the + inquietation and damage of the king and people, and to the marvellous + disturbance of the commonweal of the realm." + </p> + <p> + It enacts that justices may give license to impotent persons to beg within + certain limits, and, if found begging out of their limits, they shall be + set in the stocks. Beggars without license to be whipped or set in the + stocks. All persons able to labor, who shall beg or be vagrant, shall be + whipped and sent to the place of their birth. Parishes to be fined for + neglect of the constables. + </p> + <p> + 37 Henry VIII., cap. 23, continued this act to the end of the ensuing + Parliament. + </p> + <p> + 1 Edward VI., cap. 3, recites the increase of idle vagabonds, and enacts + that all persons loitering or wandering shall be marked with a V, and + adjudged a slave for two years, and afterward running away shall become a + felon. Impotent persons were to be removed to the place where they had + resided for three years, and allowed to beg. A weekly collection was to be + made in the churches every Sunday and holiday after reading the gospel of + the day, the amount to be applied to the relief of bedridden poor. + </p> + <p> + 5 and 6 Edward VI., cap. 2, directs the parson, vicar, curate, and + church-wardens, to appoint two collectors to distribute weekly to the + poor. The people were exhorted by the clergy to contribute; and, if they + refuse, then, upon the certificate of the parson, vicar, or curate, to the + bishop of the diocese, he shall send for them and induce him or them to + charitable ways. + </p> + <p> + 2 and 3 Philip and Mary, cap. 5, re-enacts the former, and requires the + collectors to account quarterly; and where the poor are too numerous for + relief, they were licensed by a justice of the peace to beg. + </p> + <p> + 5 Elizabeth, cap. 3, confirms and renews the former acts, and compels + collectors to serve under a penalty of L10. Persons refusing to contribute + their alms shall be exhorted, and, if they obstinately refuse, shall be + bound by the bishop to appear at the next general quarter session, and + they may be imprisoned if they refuse to be bound. + </p> + <p> + The 14th Elizabeth, cap. 5, requires the justices of the peace to register + all aged and impotent poor born or for three years resident in the parish, + and to settle them in convenient habitations, and ascertain the weekly + charge, and assess the amount on the inhabitants, and yearly appoint + collectors to receive and distribute the assessment, and also an overseer + of the poor. This act was to continue for seven years. + </p> + <p> + The 18th Elizabeth, cap. 3, provides for the employment of the poor. + Stores of wool, hemp, flax, iron, etc., to be provided in cities and + towns, and the poor set to work. It empowered persons possessed of land in + free socage to give or devise same for the maintenance of the poor. + </p> + <p> + The 39th Elizabeth, cap. 3, and the 43d Elizabeth, cap. 2, extended these + acts, and made the assessment compulsory. + </p> + <p> + I shall ask you to compare the date of these several laws for the relief + of the destitute poor with the dates of the enactments against evictions. + You will find they run side by side. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [Footnote: The following tables of the acts passed against + eviction, and enacting the support of the poor, show that + they were contemporaneous: + + Against Evictions. + 4 Henry VII., Cap. 19. + 7 Henry VIII, Cap. 1. + 21 Henry VIII, + 24 Henry VIII, Cap. 14. + 25 Henry VIII, Cap. 13. + 27 Henry VIII, Cap. 22. + 5 Edward VI., Cap. 2. + 2 and 3 Philip and Mary, Cap. 2. + 2 and 3 Philip and Mary, Cap. 3. + 2 Elizabeth, Cap. 2. + 31 Elizabeth, Cap. 7. + 39 Elizabeth, Cap. 2. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Enacting Poor Laws. + 22 Henry VIII., Cap. 12. + 37 Henry VIII., Cap. 23. + 1 Edward VI., Cap. 3. + 5 and 6 Edward VI., Cap. 2. + 2 and 4 Philip and Mary, Cap. 5. + 5 Elizabeth, Cap. 3. + 14 Elizabeth, Cap. 5. + 18 Elizabeth, Cap. 3. + 39 Elizabeth, Cap. 3. + 43 Elizabeth, Cap. 2.] +</pre> + <p> + I have perhaps gone at too great length into detail; but I think I could + not give a proper picture of the alteration in the system of landholding + or its effects without tracing from the statute-book the black records of + these important changes. The suppression of monasteries tended greatly to + increase the sufferings of the poor, but I doubt if even these + institutions could have met the enormous pressure which arose from the + wholesale evictions of the people. The laws of Henry VII and Henry VIII., + enforcing the tillage of the land, preceded the suppression of religious + houses, and the act of the latter monarch allowing the poor to beg was + passed before any steps were taken to close the convents. That measure was + no doubt injurious to the poor, but the main evil arose from other causes. + The lands of these houses, when no longer applicable to the purpose for + which they were given, should have reverted to the heirs of the donors, or + have been applied to other religious or educational purposes. The bestowal + of them upon favorites, to the detriment alike of the State, the Church, + the Poor, and the Ignorant, was an abuse of great magnitude, the effect of + which is still felt. The reigns of the Tudors are marked with three events + affecting the land—viz.: + </p> + <p> + 1st. Relieving it of the support of the army; + </p> + <p> + 2d. Burdening of it with the support of the poor; + </p> + <p> + 3d. Applying the monastic lands to private uses. + </p> + <p> + The abolition of retainers, while it relieved the land of the nobles from + the principal charge thereon, did not entirely abolish knight's service. + The monarch was entitled to the care of all minors, to aids on the + marriage or knighthood of the eldest son, to primerseizin or a year's rent + upon the death of each tenant of the Crown. These fees were considerable, + and were under the care of the Court of Ward and Liveries. + </p> + <p> + The artisan class had, however, grown in wealth, and they were greatly + strengthened by the removal from France of large numbers of workmen in + consequence of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. These prosperous + tradespeople became landowners by purchase, and thus tended to replace the + LIBERI HOMINES, or FREEMEN, who had been destroyed under the wars of the + nobles, which effaced the landmarks of English society. The liberated + serfs attained the position of paid farm-laborers; had the policy of + Elizabeth, who enacted that each of their cottages should have an + allotment of four acres of land, been carried out, it would have been most + beneficial to the state. + </p> + <p> + The reign of this family embraced one hundred and eighteen years, during + which the increase of the population was about twenty-five per cent. When + Henry VII. ascended the throne in 1485 it was 4,000,000, and on the death + of Queen Elizabeth in 1603 it had reached 5,000,000, the average increase + being about 8000 per annum. The changes effected in the condition of the + farmers' class left the mass of the people in a far worse state at the + close than at the commencement of their rule. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0008" id="link2H_4_0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VII. THE STUARTS. + </h2> + <p> + The accession of the Stuarts to the throne of England took place under + peculiar circumstances. The nation had just passed through two very + serious struggles—one political, the other religious. The land which + had been in the possession of religious communities, instead of being + retained by the state for educational or religious purposes, had been + given to favorites. A new class of ownership had been created—the + lay impropriators of tithes. The suppression of retainers converted land + into a quasi property. The extension to land of the powers of bequest gave + the possessors greater facilities for disposing thereof. It was relieved + from the principal feudal burden, military service, but remained + essentially feudal as far as tenure was concerned. Men were no longer + furnished to the state as payment of the knight's fee; they were cleared + off the land, to make room for sheep and oxen, England being in that + respect about two hundred years in advance of Ireland, though without the + outlet of emigration. Vagrancy and its attendant evils led to the Poor + Law. + </p> + <p> + James I. and his ministers tried to grapple with the altered + circumstances, and strove to substitute and equitable Crown rent or money + payment for the existing and variable claims which were collected by the + Court of Ward and Livery. The knight's fee then consisted of twelve + plough-lands, a more modern name for "a hide of land." The class burdened + with knight's service, or payments in lieu thereof, comprised 160 temporal + and 26 spiritual lords, 800 barons, 600 knights, and 3000 esquires. The + knight's fee was subject to aids, which were paid to the Crown upon the + marriage of the king's son or daughter. Upon the death of the possessor, + the Crown received primer-seizen a year's rent. If the successor was an + infant, the Crown under the name of Wardship, took the rents of the + estates. If the ward was a female, a fine was levied if she did not accept + the husband chosen by the Crown. Fines on alienation were also levied, and + the estates, though sold, became escheated, and reverted to the Crown upon + the failure of issue. These various fines kept alive the principle that + the lands belonged to the Crown as representative of the nation; but, as + they varied in amount, James I. proposed to compound with the + tenants-in-fee, and to convert them into fixed annual payments. The nobles + refused, and the scheme was abandoned. + </p> + <p> + In the succeeding reign, the attempt to stretch royal power beyond its due + limits led to resistance by force, but it was no longer a mere war of + nobles; their power had been destroyed by Henry VII. The Stuarts had to + fight the people, with a paid army, and the Commons, having the purse of + the nation, opposed force to force. The contest eventuated in a military + protectorship. Many of the principal tenants-in-fee fled the country to + save their lives. Their lands were confiscated and given away; thus the + Crown rights were weakened, and Charles II. was forced to recognize many + of the titles given by Cromwell; he did not dare to face the convulsion + which must follow an expulsion of the novo homo in posession of the + estates of more ancient families; but legislation went further—it + abolished all the remaining feudal charges. The Commons appear to have + assented to this change, from a desire to lessen the private income of the + Sovereign, and thus to make him more dependent upon Parliament, This was + done by the 12th Charles II., cap. 24. It enacts: + </p> + <p> + "That the Court of Ward and Liveries, primer seizin, etc., and all fines + for alienation, tenures by knight's service, and tenures in capite, be + done away with and turned into fee and common socage, and discharged of + homage, escuage, aids, and reliefs. All future tenures created by the king + to be in free and common socage, reserving rents to the Crown and also + fines on alienation. It enables fathers to dispose of their children's + share during their minority, and gives the custody of the personal estate + to the guardians of such child, and imposes in lieu of the revenues raised + in the Court of Ward and Liveries, duties upon beer and ale." + </p> + <p> + The land was relieved of its legitimate charge, and a tax on beer and ale + imposed instead! the landlords were relieved at the expense of the people. + The statute which accomplished this change is described by Blackstone as + </p> + <p> + "A greater acquisition to the civil property of this kingdom than even + Magna Charta itself, since that only pruned the luxuriances that had grown + out of military tenures, and thereby preserved them in vigor; but the + statute of King Charles extirpated the whole, and demolished both root and + branches." + </p> + <p> + The efforts of James II. to rule contrary to the wish of the nation, led + to his expulsion from the throne, and showed that, in case of future + disputes as to the succession, the army, like the Praetorian Guards of + Rome, had the election of the monarch. The Red and White Roses of the + Plantagenets reappeared under the altered names of Whig and Tory; but it + was proved that the decision of a leading soldier like the Duke of + Marlborough would decide the army, and that it would govern the nation; + fortunately the decision was a wise one, and was ratified by Parliament: + thus FORCE governed LAW, and the decision of the ARMY influenced the + SENATE. William III. succeeded, AS AN ELECTED MONARCH, under the Bill of + Rights. This remarkable document contains no provision, securing the + tenants-in-fee in their estates; and I have not met with any treatise + dealing with the legal effects of the eviction of James II. All patents + were covenants between the king and his heirs, and the patentees and their + heirs. The expulsion of the sovereign virtually destroyed the title; and + an elected king, who did not succeed as heir, was not bound by the patents + of his predecessors, nor was William asked, by the Bill of Rights, to + recognize any of the existing titles. This anomalous state of things was + met in degree by the statute of prescriptions, but even this did not + entirely cure the defect in the titles to the principal estates in the + Kingdom. The English tenants in decapitating one landlord and expelling + another, appear to have destroyed their titles, and then endeavored to + renew them by prescriptive right; but I shall not pursue this topic + further, though it may have a very definite bearing upon the question of + landholding. + </p> + <p> + It may not be uninteresting to allude rather briefly to the state of + England at the close of the seventeenth century. Geoffrey King, who wrote + in 1696, gives the first reliable statistics about the state of the + country. He estimated the number of houses at 1,300,000, and the average + at four to each house, making the population 5,318,000. He says there was + but seven acres of land for each person, but that England was six times + better peopled than the known world, and twice better than Europe. He + calculated the total income at L43,500,000, of which the yearly rent of + land was L10,000,000. The income was equal to L7, 18s. 0d. per head, and + the expense L7, 11s. 4d.; the yearly increase, 6s. 8d. per head, or + L1,800,000 per annum. He estimated the annual income of 160 temporal peers + at L2800 per annum, 26 spiritual peers at L1300, of 800 baronets at L800, + and of 600 knights at L650. + </p> + <p> + He estimated the area at 39,000,000 acres (recent surveys make it + 37,319,221). He estimated the arable land at 11,000,000 acres, and pasture + and meadow at 10,000,000, a total of 21,000,000. The area under all kinds + of crops and permanent pasture was, in 1874, 26,686,098 acres; therefore + about five and a half million acres have been reclaimed and added to the + arable land. As the particulars of his estimate may prove interesting, I + append them in a note. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [Footnote—Geoffrey King thus classifies the land of England and + Wales: +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Acres. Value/Acre Rent + + Arable Land, 11,000,000 L0 5 10 L3,200,000 + Pasture and Meadow, 10,000,000 0 9 0 4,500,000 + Woods and Coppices, 3,000,000 0 5 0 750,000 + Forests, Parks, and Covers, 3,000,000 0 3 6 550,000 + Moors, Mountains, and Barren Lands, 10,000,000 0 1 0 500,000 + Houses, Homesteads, Gardens, Orchards,) 1,000,000 (The Land, 450,000 + Churches, and Churchyards, ) (The Buildings, 2,000,000 + Rivers, Lakes, Meres, and Ponds, 500,000 0 2 0 50,000 + Roadways and Waste Lands, 500,000 + ————— ———- ————— + 39,000,000 L0 6 0 L12,000,000 + + He estimates the live stock thus: + Value without + the Skin + Beeves, Stirks, and Calves, 4,500,000 L2 0 0 L9,000,000 + Sheep and Lambs, 11,000,000 0 8 0 4,400,000 + Swine and Pigs, 2,000,000 0 16 0 1,600,000 + Deer, Fawns, Goats and Kids, 247,900 + + 15,247,900 + + Horses, 1,200,000 2 0 0 3,000,000 + Value of Skins, 2,400,000 + —————- + L20,647,900 + + The annual produce he estimated as follows: + + Acres Rent Produce + Grain, 10,000,000 L3,000,000 L8,275,000 + Hemp, Flax, etc., 1,000,000 200,000 2,000,000 + Butter, Cheese, and Milk, ) ( 2,500,000 + Wool, ) ( 2,000,000 + Horses bred, ) ( 250,000 + Flesh Meat, )- 29,000,000 6,800,000 -( 3,500,000 + Tallow and Hides, ) ( 600,000 + Hay Consumed, ) ( 2,300,000 + Timber, ) ( 1,000,000 + ————— —————- —————- + Total 39,000,000 L10,000,000 L22,275,000] +</pre> + <p> + He places the rent of the corn land at about one third of the produce, and + that of pasture land at rather more. The price of meat per lb. was: beef 1 + and 1/8d.; mutton, 2 and 1/4d.; pork, 3d.; venison, 6d.; hares, 7d.; + rabbits, 6d. The weight of flesh-meat consumed was 398,000,000 lbs., it + being 72 lbs. 6 oz. for each person, or 3 and 1/6 oz. daily. I shall have + occasion to contrast these figures with those lately published when I come + to deal with the present; but a great difference has arisen from the + alteration in price, which is owing to the increase in the quantity of the + precious metals. + </p> + <p> + The reign of the last sovereign of this unfortunate race was distinguished + by the first measures to inclose the commons and convert them into private + property, with which I shall deal hereafter. + </p> + <p> + The changes effected in the land laws of England during the reigns of the + Stuarts, a period of 111 years, were very important. The act of Charles + II. which abolished the Court of Ward and Liveries, appeared to be an + abandonment of the rights of the people, as asserted in the person of the + Crown; and this alteration also seemed to give color of right to the claim + which is set up of property in land, but the following law of Edward III. + never was repealed: + </p> + <p> + "That the king is the universal lord and original proprietor of all land + in his kingdom, and that no man doth or can possess any part of it but + what has mediately or immediately been derived as a gift from him to be + held on feodal service." + </p> + <p> + No lawyer will assert for any English subject a higher title than + tenancy-in-fee, which bears the impress of holding and denies the + assertion of ownership. + </p> + <p> + The power of the nobles, the tenants-in-fee, was strengthened by an act + passed in the reign of William and Mary, which altered the relation of + landlord and tenant. Previous thereto, the landlord had the power of + distraint, but he merely held the goods he seized to compel the tenant to + perform personal service. It would be impossible for a tenant to pay his + rent if his stock or implements were sold off the land. As the Tudor + policy of money payments extended, the greed for pelf led to an alteration + in the law, and the act of William and Mary allowed the landlord to sell + the goods he had distrained. The tenant remained in possession of the land + without the means of tilling it, which was opposed to public policy. This + power of distraint was, however, confined to holdings in which there were + leases by which the tenant covenanted to allow the landlord to distrain + his stock and goods in default of payment of rent. The legislation of the + Stuarts was invariably favorable to the possessor of land and adverse to + the rights of the people. The government during the closing reigns was + oligarchical, so much so, that William III., annoyed at the restriction + put upon his kingly power, threatened to resign the crown and retire to + Holland; but the aristocracy were unwilling to relax their claims, and + they secured by legislation the rights they appeared to have lost by the + deposition of the sovereign. + </p> + <p> + The population had increased from 5,000,000 in 1603 to 5,750,000 in 1714, + being an average increase of less than 7000 per annum. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0009" id="link2H_4_0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VIII. THE HOUSE OF HANOVER. + </h2> + <p> + The first sovereign of the House of Hanover ascended the throne not by + right of descent but by election; the legitimate heir was set aside, and a + distant branch of the family was chosen, and the succession fixed by act + of Parliament; but it is held by jurists that every Parliament is + sovereign and has the power of repealing any act of any former Parliament. + The beneficial rule of some of the latter monarchs of this family has + endeared them to the people, but the doctrine of reigning by divine right, + the favorite idea of the Stuarts, is nullified, when the monarch ascends + the throne by statute law and not by succession or descent. + </p> + <p> + The age of chivalry passed away when the Puritans defeated the Cavaliers. + The establishment of standing armies and the creation of a national debt, + went to show that money, not knighthood or knight's service, gave force to + law. The possession of wealth and of rent gave back to their possessors + even larger powers than those wrested from them by the first Tudor king. + The maxim that "what was attached to the freehold belonged to the + freehold," gave the landlords even greater powers than those held by the + sword, and of which they were despoiled. Though nominally forbidden to + take part in the election of the representatives of the Commons, yet they + virtually had the power, the creation of freehold, the substance and + material of electoral right; and consequently both Houses of Parliament + were essentially landlord, and the laws, for the century which succeeded + the ascension of George I., are marked with the assertion of landlord + right which is tenant wrong. + </p> + <p> + Among the exhibitions of this influence is an act passed in the reign of + George II., which extended the power of distraint for rent, and the right + to sell the goods seized—to all tenancies. Previous legislation + confined this privilege solely to cases in which there were leases, + wherein the tenant, by written contract, gave the landlord power to seize + in case of non-payment of rent, but there was no legal authority to sell + until it was given by an act passed in the reign of William III. The act + of George II. presumed that there was such a contract in all cases of + parole letting or tenancy-at-will, and extended the landlord's powers to + such tenancies. It is an anomaly to find that in the freest country in the + world such an arbitrary power is confided to individuals, or that the + landlord-creditor has the precedence over all other creditors, and can, by + his own act, and without either trial or evidence, issue a warrant that + has all the force of the solemn judgment of a court of law; and it + certainly appears unjust to seize a crop, the seed for which is due to one + man, and the manure to another, and apply it to pay the rent. But + landlordism, intrusted with legislative power, took effectual means to + preserve its own prerogative, and the form of law was used by parliaments, + in which landlord influence was paramount, to pass enactments which were + enforced by the whole power of the state, and sustained individual or + class rights. + </p> + <p> + The effect of this measure was most unfortunate; it encouraged the letting + of lands to tenants-at-will or tenants from year to year, who could not, + under existing laws, obtain the franchise or power to vote—they were + not FREEMEN, they were little better than serfs. They were tillers of the + soil, rent-payers who could be removed at the will of another. They were + not even freeholders, and had no political power—no voice in the + affairs of the nation. The landlords in Parliament gave themselves, + individually by law, all the powers which a tenant gave them by contract, + while they had no corresponding liability, and, therefore, it was their + interest to refrain from giving leases, and to make their tenantry as + dependent on them as if they were mere serfs. This law was especially + unfortunate, and had a positive and very great effect upon the condition + of the farming class and upon the nation, and people came to think that + landlords could do as they liked with their land, and that the tenants + must be creeping, humble, and servile. + </p> + <p> + An effort to remedy this evil was made in 1832, when the occupiers, if + rented or rated at the small amount named, became voters. This gave the + power to the holding, not to the man, and the landlord could by simple + eviction deprive the man of his vote; hence the tenants-at-will were + driven to the hustings like sheep—they could not, and dare not, + refuse to vote as the landlord ordered. + </p> + <p> + The lords of the manor, with a landlord Parliament, asserted their claims + to the commonages, and these lands belonging to the people, were gradually + inclosed, and became the possession of individuals. The inclosing of + commonages commenced in the reign of Queen Anne, and was continued in the + reigns of all the sovereigns of the House of Hanover. The first inclosure + act was passed in 1709; in the following thirty years the average number + of inclosure bills was about three each year; in the following fifty years + there were nearly forty each year; and in the forty years of the + nineteenth century it was nearly fifty per annum. + </p> + <p> + The inclosures in each reign were as follows: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Acts. Acres. + Queen Anne, 2 1,439 + George I., 16 17,660 + George II., 226 318,784 + George III., 3446 3,500,000 + George IV., 192 250,000 + William IV., 72 120,000 + —— ————- + Total, 3954 4,207,883 +</pre> + <p> + These lands belonged to the people, and might have been applied to relieve + the poor. Had they been allotted in small farms, they might have been made + the means of support of from 500,000 to 1,000,000 families, and they would + have afforded employment and sustenance to all the poor, and thus rendered + compulsory taxation under the poor-law system unnecessary; but the + landlords seized on them and made the tenantry pay the poor-rate. + </p> + <p> + The British Poor Law is a slur upon its boasted civilization. The unequal + distribution of land and of wealth leads to great riches and great + poverty. Intense light produces deep shade. Nowhere else but in wealthy + England do God's creatures die of starvation, wanting food, while others + are rich beyond comparison. The soil which affords sustenance for the + people is rightly charged with the cost of feeding those who lack the + necessaries of life, but the same object would be better achieved in a + different way. Poor-rates are now a charge upon a man's entire estate, and + it would be much better for society if land to an amount equivalent to the + charge were taken from the estate and assigned to the poor. If a man is + charged with L100 a year poor-rate, it would make no real difference to + him, while it would make a vast difference to the poor to take land to + that value, put the poor to work tilling it, allowing them to enjoy the + produce. Any expense should be paid direct by the landlord, which would + leave the charge upon the land, and exempt the improvements of the tenant, + which represent his labor, free. + </p> + <p> + The evil has intensified in magnitude, and a permanent army of paupers + numbering at the minimum 829,281 persons, but increasing at some periods + to upward of 1,000,000, has to be provided for; the cost, about L8,000,000 + a year, is paid, not by landlords but by tenants, in addition to the + various charities founded by benevolent persons. There are two classes + relieved under this system, and which ought to be differently dealt with—the + sick and the young. Hospitals for the former and schools for the latter + ought to take the place of the workhouse. It is difficult to fancy a worse + place for educating the young than the workhouse, and it would tend to + lessen the evil were the children of the poor trained and educated in + separate establishments from those for the reception of paupers. Pauperism + is the concomitant of large holdings of land and insecurity of tenure. The + necessity of such a provision arose, as I have previously shown, from the + wholesale eviction of large numbers of the occupiers of land; and, as the + means of supplying the need came from the LAND, the expense should, like + tithes, have fallen exclusively upon land. The poor-rates are, however, + also levied upon houses and buildings, which represent labor. The owner of + land is the people, as represented by the Crown, and the charges thereon + next in succession to the claims of the state are the church and the poor. + </p> + <p> + The Continental wars at the close of the eighteenth and the commencement + of the nineteenth century had some effect upon the system of tillage; they + materially enhanced the price of agricultural produce—rents were + raised, and the national debt was contracted, which remains a burden on + the nation. + </p> + <p> + The most important change, however, arose from scientific and mechanical + discoveries—the application of heat to the production of motive + power. As long as water, which is a non-exhaustive source of motion, was + used, the people were scattered over the land; or if segregation took + place, it was in the neighborhood of running streams. The application of + steam to the propulsion of machinery, and the discovery of engines capable + of competing with the human hand, led to the substitution of machine-made + fabrics for clothing, in place of homespun articles of domestic + manufacture. This led to the employment of farm-laborers in procuring + coals, to the removal of many from the rural into the urban districts, to + the destruction of the principal employment of the family during the + winter evenings, and consequently effected a great revolution in the + social system. Many small freeholds were sold, the owners thinking they + could more rapidly acquire wealth by using the money representing their + occupancy, in trade. Thus the large estates became larger, and the smaller + ones were absorbed, while the appearance of greater wealth from exchanging + subterranean substances for money, or its representative, gave rise to + ostentatious display. The rural population gradually diminished, while the + civic population increased. The effect upon the system of landholding was + triplicate. First, there was a diminution in the amount of labor + applicable to the cultivation of land; second, there was a decrease in the + amount of manure applied to the production of food; and lastly, there was + an increase in the demand for land as a source of investment, by those + who, having made money in trade, sought that social position which follows + the possession of broad acres. Thus the descendants of the feudal + aristocracy were pushed aside by the modern plutocracy. + </p> + <p> + This state of things had a double effect. Food is the result of two + essential ingredients—land and labor. The diminution in the amount + of labor applied to the soil, consequent upon the removal of the laborers + from the land, lessened the quantity of food; while the consumption of + that food in cities and towns, and the waste of the fertile ingredients + which should be restored to the soil, tended to exhaust the land, and led + to vast importations of foreign and the manufacture of mineral manures. I + shall not detain you by a discussion of this aspect of the question, which + is of very great moment, consequent upon the removal of large numbers of + people from rural to urban districts; but I may be excused in saying that + agricultural chemistry shows that the soil—"perpetual man"—contains + the ingredients needful to support human life, and feeding those animals + meant for man's use. These ingredients are seized upon by the roots of + plants and converted into aliment. If they are consumed where grown, and + the refuse restored to the soil, its fertility is preserved; nay, more, + the effect of tillage is to increase its productive power. It is + impossible to exhaust land, no matter how heavy the crops that are grown, + if the produce is, after consumption, restored to the soil. I have shown + you how, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, a man was not allowed to sell + meat off his land unless he brought to, and consumed on it, the same + weight of other meat. This was true agricultural and chemical economy. But + when the people were removed from country to town, when the produce grown + in the former was consumed in the latter, and the refuse which contained + the elements of fertility was not restored to the soil, but swept away by + the river, a process of exhaustion took place, which has been met in + degree by the use of imported and artificial manures. The sewage question + is taken up mainly with reference to the health of towns, but it deserves + consideration in another aspect—its influence upon the production of + food in the nation. + </p> + <p> + An exhaustive process upon the fertility of the globe has been set on + foot. The accumulations of vegetable mould in the primeval forests have + been converted into grain, and sent to England, leaving permanent + barrenness in what should be prolific plains; and the deposits of the + Chincha and Ichaboe Islands have been imported in myriads of tons, to + replace in our own land the resources of which it is bereft by the civic + consumption of rural produce. + </p> + <p> + These conjoined operations were accelerated by the alteration in the + British corn laws in 1846, which placed the English farmer, who tried to + preserve his land in a state of fertility, in competition with foreign + grain—growers, who, having access to boundless fields of virgin + soil, grow grain year after year until, having exhausted the fertile + element, they leave it in a barren condition, and resort to other parts. A + competition under such circumstances resembles that of two men of equal + income, one of who appears wealthy by spending a portion of his capital, + the other parsimonious by living within his means. Of course, the latter + has to debar himself of many enjoyments. The British farmer has lessened + the produce of grain, and consequently of meat; and the nation has become + dependent upon foreigners for meat, cheese, and butter, as well as for + bread. + </p> + <p> + This is hardly the place to discuss a question of agriculture, but + scientific farmers know that there is a rotation of crops, [Footnote: The + agricultural returns of the United Kingdom show that 50 and 1/2 per cent + of the arable land was under pasture, 24 per cent under grain, 12 per cent + under green crops and bare fallow, and 13 per cent under clover. The + rotation would, therefore, be somewhat in this fashion: Nearly one fourth + of the land in tillage is under a manured crop or fallow, one fourth under + wheat, one fourth under clover, and one fourth under barley, oats, etc., + the succession being, first year, the manured crop; next year, wheat; + third year, clover; fourth, barley or oats; and so on.] and that as one is + diminished the others lessen. The quantity under tillage is a multiple of + the area under grain. A diminution in corn is followed by a decrease of + the extent under turnips and under clover; the former directly affects + man, the latter the meat-affording animals. A decrease in the breadth + under tillage means an addition to the pasture land, which in this climate + only produces meat during the warm portions of the year. I must, however, + not dwell upon this topic, but whatever leads to a diminution in the labor + applied to the land lessens the production of food, and DEAR MEAT may only + be the supplement to CHEAP CORN. + </p> + <p> + I shall probably be met with the hackneyed cry, The question is entirely + one of price. Each farmer and each landlord will ask himself, Does it pay + to grow grain? and in reply to any such inquiry, I would refer to the + annual returns. I find that in the five years, 1842 to 1846, wheat ranged + from 50s. 2d. to 57s. 9d.; the average for the entire period being 54s. + 10d. per quarter. In the five years from 1870 to 1874 it ranged from 46s. + 10d. to 58s. 8d., the average for the five years being 54s. 7d. per + quarter. The reduction in price has only been 3d. per quarter, or less + than one half per cent. + </p> + <p> + I venture to think that there are higher considerations than mere profit + to individuals, and that, as the lands belong to the whole state as + represented by the Crown, and as they are held in trust TO PRODUCE FOOD + FOR THE PEOPLE, that trust should be enforced. + </p> + <p> + The average consumption of grain by each person is about a quarter (eight + bushels) per annum. In 1841 the population of the United Kingdom was + 27,036,450. The average import of foreign grain was about 3,000,000 + quarters, therefore TWENTY-FOUR MILLIONS were fed on the domestic produce. + In 1871 the population was 31,513,412, and the average importation of + grain 20,000,000 quarters; therefore only ELEVEN AND A HALF MILLIONS were + supported by home produce. Here we are met with the startling fact that + our own soil is not now supplying grain to even one half the number of + people to whom it gave bread in 1841. This is a serious aspect of the + question, and one that should lead to examination, whether the development + of the system of landholding, the absorptions of small farms and the + creation of large ones, is really beneficial to the state, or tends to + increase the supply of food. The area under grain in England in 1874 was + 8,021,077. In 1696 it was 10,000,000 acres, the diminution having been + 2,000,000 acres. The average yield would probably be FOUR QUARTERS PER + ACRE, and therefore the decrease amounted to the enormous quantity of + EIGHT MILLION QUARTERS, worth L25,000,000, which had to be imported from + other countries, to fill up the void, and feed 8,000,000 of the + population; and if a war took place, England may, like Rome, be starved + into peace. + </p> + <p> + An idea prevails that a diminution in the extent under grain implies an + increase in the production of meat. The best answer to that fallacy lies + in the great increase in the price of meat. If the supply had increased + the price would fall, but the converse has taken place. A comparison of + the figures given by Geoffrey King, in the reign of William III., with + those supplied by the Board of Trade in the reign of Queen Victoria, + illustrates this phase of the landholding question, and shows whether the + "enlightened policy" of the nineteenth century tends to encourage the + fulfilment of the trust which applies to land—THE PRODUCTION OF + FOOD. + </p> + <p> + The land of England and Wales in 1696 and 1874 was classified as follows: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + 1696. 1874. + Acres. Acres. + Under grain, 10,000,000 8,021,077 + Pastures and meadows, 10,000,000 12,071,791 + Flax, hemp, and madder, 1,000,000 ————- + Green crops, ————- 2,895,138 + Bare fallow, ————- 639,519 + Clover ————- 2,983,733 + Orchards, 1,000,000 148,526 + Woods, coppices, etc, 3,000,000 1,552,598 + Forests, parks, and commons, 3,000,000| + Moors, mountains, and bare land, 10,000,000|- 9,006,839 + Waste, water, and road, 1,000,000| + —————- —————- + 39,000,000 37,319,231 +</pre> + <p> + The estimate of 1696 may be corrected by lessing the quantity of waste + land, and thus bringing the total to correspond with the extent + ascertained by actual survey, but it shows a decrease in the extent under + grain of nearly two million acres, and an increase in the area applicable + to cattle of nearly 8,000,000 acres; yet there is a decrease in the number + of cattle, though an increase in sheep. The returns are as follows: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + 1696. 1800. 1874. + Cattle 4,500,000 2,852.428 4,305,440 + Sheep 11,000,000 26,148,000 19,859,758 + Pigs 2,000,000 (not given) 2,058,791 +</pre> + <p> + The former shows that in 1696 there were TEN MILLION acres under grain, + the latter only EIGHT MILLION acres. Two million acres were added for + cattle feeding. The former shows that the pasture land was TEN MILLION + ACRES, and that green crops and clover were unknown. The latter that there + were TWELVE MILLION ACRES under pasture, and, in addition, that there were + nearly THREE MILLION ACRES of green crop and THREE MILLION ACRES of + clover. The addition to the cattle-feeding land was eight million acres; + yet the number of cattle in 1696 was 4,500,000, and in 1874, 4,305,400. Of + sheep, in 1696, there were 11,000,000, and in 1874, 19,889,758. The + population had increased fourfold, and it is no marvel that meat is dear. + It is the interest of agriculturists to KEEP DOWN THE QUANTITY AND KEEP UP + THE PRICE. The diminution in the area under corn was not met by a + corresponding increase in live stock—in other words, the decrease of + land under grain is not, PER SE, followed by an increase of meat. If the + area under grain were increased, it would be preceded by an increase in + the growth of turnips, and followed by a greater growth of clover; and + these cattle-feeding products would materially add to the meat supply. + </p> + <p> + A most important change in the system of landholding was effected by the + spread of RAILWAYS. It was brought about by the influence of the trading + as opposed to the landlord class. In their inception they did not appear + likely to effect any great alteration in the land laws. The shareholders + had no compulsory power of purchase, hence enormous sums were paid for the + land required; but as the system extended, Parliament asserted the + ownership of the nation, over land in the possession of the individual. + Acting on the idea that no man was more than a tenant, the state took the + land from the occupier, as well as the tenant-in-fee, and gave it, not at + their own price, but an assessed value, to the partners in a railway who + traded for their mutual benefit, yet as they offered to convey travellers + and goods at a quicker rate than on the ordinary roads, the state enabled + them to acquire land by compulsion. A general act, the Land Clauses Act, + was passed in 1846, which gives privileges with regard to the acquisition + of land to the promoters of such works as railways, docks, canals, etc. + Numbers of acts are passed every session which assert the right of the + state over the land, and transfer it from one man, or set of men, to + another. It seems to me that the principle is clear, and rests upon the + assertion of the state's ownership of the land; but it has often struck me + to ask, Why is this application of state rights limited to land required + for these objects? why not apply to the land at each side of the railway, + the principle which governs that under the railway itself? I consider the + production of food the primary trust upon the land, that rapid transit + over it is a secondary object; and as all experience shows that the + division of land into small estates leads to a more perfect system of + tillage, I think it would be of vast importance to the entire nation if + all tenants who were, say, five years in possession were made "promoters" + under the Land Clauses Act, and thus be enabled to purchase the fee of + their holdings in the same manner as a body of railway proprietors. It + would be most useful to the state to increase the number of tenants-in-fee—to + re-create the ancient FREEMEN, the LIBERI HOMINES—and I think it can + be done without requiring the aid either of a new principle or new + machinery, by simply placing the farmer-in-possession on the same footing + as the railway shareholder. I give at foot the draft of a bill I prepared + in 1866 for this object. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [Footnote: A BILL TO ENCOURAGE THE OUTLAY OF MONEY UPON LAND + FOB AGRICULTURAL PURPOSES. + + Whereas it is expedient to encourage the occupiers of land + to expend money thereon, in building, drainage, and other + similar improvements; and whereas the existing laws do not + give the tenants or occupiers any sufficient security for + such outlay: Be it enacted by the Queen's Most Excellent + Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords + Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons in Parliament assembled, + and by the authority of the same: + + 1. That all outlay upon land for the purpose of rendering it + more productive, and all outlay upon buildings for the + accommodation of those engaged in tilling or working the + same, or for domestic animals of any sort, be, and the same + is hereby deemed to be, an outlay of a public nature. + + 2. That the clauses of "The Land Clauses Consolidation Act + 1845," "with respect to the purchase of lands by agreement," + and "with respect to the purchase and taking of lands + otherwise than by agreement," and "with respect to the + purchase money or compensation coming to parties having + limited interests, or prevented from treating or not making + title," shall be, and they are hereby incorporated with this + act. + + 3. That every tenant or occupier who has for the past five + years been in possession of any land, tenements, or + hereditaments, shall be considered "a promoter of the + undertaking within the meaning of the said recited act, and + shall be entitled to purchase the lands which he has so + occupied, 'either by agreement' 'or otherwise than by + agreement,' as provided in the said recited act." + + Then follow some details which it is unnecessary to recite here.] +</pre> + <p> + The 55th William I. secured to freemen the inheritance of their lands, and + they were not able to sell them until the act QUIA EMPTORES of Edward I. + was passed. The tendency of persons to spend the representative value of + their lands and sell them was checked by the Mosaic law, which did not + allow any man to despoil his children of their inheritance. The possessor + could only mortgage them until the year of jubilee—the fiftieth + year. In Switzerland and Belgium, where the nobles did not entirely get + rid of the FREEMEN, the lands continued to be held in small estates. In + Switzerland there are seventy-four proprietors for every hundred families, + and in Belgium the average size of the estate is three and a half hectares—about + eight acres. These small ownerships are not detrimental to the state. On + the contrary, they tend to its security and well-being. I have treated on + this subject in my work, "The Food Supplies of Western Europe." These + small estates existed in England at the Norman Conquest, and their + perpetual continuance was the object of the law of William I., to which I + have referred. Their disappearance was due to the greed of the nobles + during the reign of the Plantagenets, and they were not replaced by the + Tudors, who neglected to restore the men-at-arms to the position they + occupied under the laws of Edward the Confessor and William I. + </p> + <p> + The establishment of two estates in land; one the ownership, the other the + use, may be traced to the payment of rent, to the Roman commonwealth, for + the AGER PUBLICUS. Under the feudal system the rent was of two classes—personal + service or money; the latter was considered base tenure. The legislation + of the Tudors abolished the payment of rent by personal service, and made + all rent payable in money or in kind. The land had been burdened with the + sole support of the army. It was then freed from this charge, and a tax + was levied upon the community. Some writers have sought to define RENT as + the difference between fertile lands and those that are so unproductive as + barely to pay the cost of tillage. This far-fetched idea is contradicted + by the circumstance that for centuries rent was paid by labor—the + personal service of the vassal—and it is now part of the annual + produce of the soil inasmuch as land will be unproductive without seed and + labor, or being pastured by tame animals, the representative of labor in + taming and tending them. Rent is usually the labor or the fruits of the + labor of the occupant. In some cases it is income derived from the labors + of others. A broad distinction exists between the rent of land, which is a + portion of the fruits or its equivalent in money, and that of improvements + and houses, which is an exchange of the labor of the occupant given as + payment for that employed in effecting improvements or erecting houses. + The latter described as messuages were valued in 1794 at SIX MILLIONS per + annum; in 1814 they were nearly FIFETEEN MILLIONS; now they are valued at + EIGHTY MILLIONS. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [Footnote—A Parliamentary return gives the following information + as to the value of lands and messuages in 1814 and 1874: + + 1814-15. 1873-74. + Lands, L34,330,463 L49,906,866 + Messuages, 14,895,130 80,726,502 + + The increase in the value of land is hardly equal to the + reduction in the value of gold, while the increase in + messuages shows the enormous expenditure of labor.] +</pre> + <p> + The increase represents a sum considerably more than double the national + debt of Great Britain, and under the system of leases the improvements + will pass from the industrial to the landlord class. + </p> + <p> + It seems to me to be a mistake in legislation to encourage a system by + which these two funds merge into one, and that hands the income arising + from the expenditure of the working classes over to the tenants-in-fee + without an equivalent. This proceeds from a straining of the maxim that + "what is attached to the freehold belongs to the freehold," and was made + law when both Houses of Parliament were essentially landlord. That maxim + is only partially true: corn is as much attached to the freehold as a + tree; yet one is cut without hindrance and the other is prevented. + Potatoes, turnips, and such tubers, are only obtained by disturbing the + freehold. This maxim was at one time so strained that it applied to + fixtures, but recent legislation and modern discussions have limited the + rights of the landlord class and been favorable to the occupier, and I + look forward to such alterations in our laws as will secure to the man who + expends his labor or earnings in improvements, an estate IN PERPETUO + therein, as I think no length of user of that which is a man's own—his + labor or earnings—should hand over his representative improvements + to any other person. I agree with those writers who maintain that it is + prejudicial to the state that the rent fund should be enjoyed by a + comparatively small number of persons, and think it would be advantageous + to distribute it, by increasing the number of tenants-in-fee. Natural laws + forbid middlemen, who do nothing to make the land productive, and yet + subsist upon the labor of the farmer, and receive as rent part of the + produce of his toil. The land belongs to the state, and should only be + subject to taxes, either by personal service, such as serving in the + militia or yeomanry, or by money payments to the state. + </p> + <p> + Land does not represent CAPITAL, but the improvements upon it do. A man + does not purchase land. He buys the right of possession. In any transfer + of land there is no locking up of capital, because one man receives + exactly the amount the other expends. The individual may lock up his + funds, but the nation does not. Capital is not money. I quote a definition + from a previous work of mine, "The Case of Ireland," p. 176: + </p> + <p> + "Capital stock properly signifies the means of subsistence for man, and + for the animals subservient to his use while engaged in the process of + production. The jurisconsults of former times expressed the idea by the + words RES FUNGIBILES, by which they meant consumable commodities, or those + things which are consumed in their use for the supply of man's animal + wants, as contradistinguished from unconsumable commodities, which latter + writers, by an extension of the term, in a figurative sense, have called + FIXED capital." + </p> + <p> + All the money in the Bank of England will not make a single four-pound + loaf. Capital, as represented by consumable commodities, is the product of + labor applied to land, or the natural fruits of the land itself. The land + does not become either more or less productive by reason of the transfer + from one person to another; it is the withdrawal of labor that affects its + productiveness. + </p> + <p> + WAGES are a portion of the value of the products of a joint combination of + employer and employed. The former advances from time to time as wages to + the latter, the estimated portion of the increase arising from their + combined operations to which he may be entitled. This may be either in + food or in money. The food of the world for one year is the yield at + harvest; it is the CAPITAL STOCK upon which mankind exist while engaged in + the operations for producing food, clothing, and other requisites for the + use of mankind, until nature again replenishes this store. Money cannot + produce food; it is useful in measuring the distribution of that which + already exists. + </p> + <p> + The grants of the Crown were a fee or reward for service rendered; the + donee became tenant-in-fee; being a reward, it was restricted to a man and + his heirs-male or his heirs-general; in default of heirs-male or + heirs-general, the land reverted to the Crown, which was the donor. A sale + to third parties does not affect this phase of the question, inasmuch as + it is a principle of British law that no man can convey to another a + greater estate in land than that which he possesses himself; and if the + seller only held the land as tenant-in-fee for HIS OWN LIFE and that of + HIS heirs, he could not give a purchaser that which belonged to the Crown, + the REVERSION on default of heirs (see Statute DE DONIS, 13 Edward I., + ANTE, p. 21). This right of the sovereign, or rather of the people, has + not been asserted to the full extent. Many noble families have become + extinct, yet the lands have not been claimed, as they should have been, + for the nation. + </p> + <p> + I should not complete my review of the subject without referring to what + are called the LAWS OF PRIMOGENITURE. I fail to discover any such law. On + the contrary, I find that the descent of most of the land of England is + under the law of contract—by deed or bequest—and that it is + only in case of intestacy that the courts intervene to give it to the next + heir. This arises more from the construction the judges put upon the + wishes of the deceased, than upon positive enactment. When a man who has + the right of bequeathing his estate among his descendants does not + exercise that power, it is considered that he wishes the estate to go + undivided to the next heir. In America the converse takes place: a man can + leave all his land to one; and, if he fails to do so, it is divided. The + laws relating to contracts or settlements allow land to be settled by deed + upon the children of a living person, but it is more frequently upon the + grandchildren. They acquire the power of sale, which is by the contract + denied to their parents. A man gives to his grandchild that which he + denies to his son. This cumbrous process works disadvantageously, and it + might very properly be altered by restricting the power of settlement or + bequest to living persons, and not allowing it to extend to those who are + unborn. + </p> + <p> + It is not a little curious to note how the ideas of mankind, after having + been diverted for centuries, return to their original channels. The system + of landholding in the most ancient races was COMMUNAL. That word, and its + derivative, COMMUNISM, has latterly had a bad odor. Yet all the most + important public works are communal. All joint-stock companies, whether + for banking, trading, or extensive works, are communes. They hold property + in common, and merge individual in general rights. The possession of land + by communes or companies is gradually extending, and it is by no means + improbable that the ideas which governed very remote times may, like the + communal joint-stock system, be applied more extensively to landholding. + </p> + <p> + It may not be unwise to review the grounds that we have been going over, + and to glance at the salient points. The ABORIGINAL inhabitants of this + island enjoyed the same rights as those in other countries, of possessing + themselves of land unowned and unoccupied. The ROMANS conquered, and + claimed all the rights the natives possessed, and levied a tribute for the + use of the lands. Upon the retirement of the Romans, after an occupancy of + about six hundred years, the lands reverted to the aborigines, but they, + being unable to defend themselves, invited the SAXONS, the JUTES, and the + ANGLES, who reduced them to serfdom, and seized upon the land; they acted + as if it belonged to the body of the conquerors, it was allotted to + individuals by the FOLC-GEMOT or assembly of the people, and a race of + LIBERI HOMINES or FREEMEN arose, who paid no rent, but performed service + to the state; during their sway of about six hundred years the + institutions changed, and the monarch, as representing the people, claimed + the right of granting the possession of land seized for treason by BOC or + charter. The NORMAN invasion found a large body of the Saxon landholders + in armed opposition to William, and when they were defeated, he seized + upon their land and gave it to his followers, and then arose the term + TERRA REGIS, "the land of the king," instead of the term FOLC-LAND, "the + land of the people;" but a large portion of the realm remained in the + hands of the LIBERI HOMINES or FREEMEN. The Norman barons gave possession + of part of their lands to their followers, hence arose the vassals who + paid rent to their lord by personal service, while the FREEMEN held by + service to the Crown. In the wars of the PLANTAGENETS the FREEMEN seem to + have disappeared, and vassalage was substituted, the principal vassals + being freeholders. The descendants of the aborigines regained their + freedom. The possession of land was only given for life, and it was + preceded by homage to the Crown, or fealty to the lord, investiture + following the ceremony. The TUDOR sovereigns abolished livery and + retainers, but did not secure the rights of the men-at-arms or replace + them in their position of FREEMEN. The chief lords converted the payment + of rent by service into payment in money; this led to wholesale evictions, + and necessitated the establishment of the Poor Laws, The STUARTS + surrendered the remaining charges upon land: but on the death of one + sovereign, and the expulsion of another, the validity of patents from the + Crown became doubtful. The PRESENT system of landholding is the outcome of + the Tudor ideas. But the Crown has never abandoned the claim asserted in + the statute of Edward I., that all land belongs to the sovereign as + representing the people, and that individuals HOLD but do not OWN it; and + upon this sound and legal principle the state takes land from one and + gives it to another, compensating for the loss arising from being + dispossessed. + </p> + <p> + I have now concluded my brief sketch of the facts which seemed to me most + important in tracing the history of LANDHOLDING IN ENGLAND, and laid + before you not only the most vital changes, but also the principles which + underlay them; and I shall have failed in conveying the ideas of my own + mind if I have not shown you that at least from the Scandinavian or + ANGLO-SAXON invasion, the ownership of land rested either in the people, + or the Crown as representing the people: that individual proprietorship of + land is not only unknown, but repugnant to the principles of the British + Constitution; that the largest estate a subject can have is + tenancy-in-fee, and that it is a holding and not an owning of the soil; + and I cannot conceal from you the conviction which has impressed my mind, + after much study and some personal examination of the state of proprietary + occupants on the Continent, that the best interests of the nation, both + socially, morally, and materially, will be promoted by a very large + increase in the number of tenants-in-fee; which can be attained by the + extension of principles of legistration now in active operation. All that + is necessary is to extend the provisions of the Land Clauses Act, which + apply to railways and such objects, to tenants in possession; to make them + "promoters" under that act; to treat their outlay for the improvement of + the soil and the greater PRODUCTION OF FOOD as a public outlay; and thus + to restore to England a class which corresponds with the Peasent + Proprietors of the Continent—the FREEMAN or LIBERI HOMINES of + ANGLO-SAXON times, whose rights were solemnly guaranteed by the 55th + William I., and whose existence would be the glory of the country and the + safeguard of its institution. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Landholding In England, by Joseph Fisher + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LANDHOLDING IN ENGLAND *** + +***** This file should be named 3799-h.htm or 3799-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/7/9/3799/ + +Produced by Charles Franks, Robert Rowe, David Widger, +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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