- 14 V Ri'inciv Of teeuLcs Sur-vey. Majr 



'-.y a fmall Ipark of the efprit dii corps, n-lien he difcufies the 

 ^khe qiieilioii ; bat let hiiii fpeak for himfelf. 



* Conflitutions, apparently opprefilve, arc often more fo in appear- 

 ance than in reality; ivich, in all probability, is the cafe with the tithes 

 in England. To the Scots landholder, privileged as he is, it may ap- 

 pear hard, that the tithe of the Clergy fliould rife upon him, in con- 

 ''eqiicnce of improvements made folely at his expence, and to which 

 iiey have contributed no Ihare. As, however, the clergy will, doubt- 

 \fs, in general, find it convenient to hve upon good terms with their 

 ^.rilhioner.s, it is prefumcable that they will ordinarily confent to accept 

 faveiyeafy coinpolition. The farmer (wlio, in taking his leafc, 

 •.luft. no doubt, make allowance for the pofiible exaftion of the whole 

 tithe) will, therefore, always find himfelf eafier, under the moderate com- 

 pofition of the clergyman, than he could have done under the pro- 

 prietor, fuppoling there was no inch thing as tithes; becaufe the latter 

 lies under no re'lraints of this nature, to prevent him from exading 

 full rent for the whole value of the fubjec^l. Thus would it feem pro- 

 bable, that tithe fo far operates to the encouragement of the farmer, 

 in preventing him from being difabled to carry on his improvements 

 by a rent racked to an exorbitant ftretch ; But the improvements 

 which fuit a fiirmer, upon any proper length of leafe, are of equal im- 

 portance to the increafe of the productive powers of the foil, as thofe 

 jongcr-fighted im.provcments of more diftant return that are fuited to 

 tlie more permanent intereft in the fubjeft of the perpetual proprietor. 

 Without doubt, the clergyman, as well as the proprietor, experts to 

 reap where he has not fown ; and, upon a renewal of leafe, will look 

 for a rife in compoiltion, as the other will for a rife of rent, propor- 

 tioned to the increafed value of the fubjedl ; though improved entirely 

 by the proper outlay of the farmer's capital, and though neither have 

 contributed one farthing to the improvement If, however, the lands 

 ihall have, meanwhile, been improved in produ6t:ive value, it mud be a 

 matter of fmall concern to the public, whether he who reaps the im- 

 mediate benefit fliall be a fox-hunter or a preacher. Extraordinary 

 things arc alone thought worth reporting ; and the inllances of op- 

 preffii)n of the farmers by the Clergy, which reach us in Scotland, 

 candxjur mull: therefore difpofe us to confider as the exceptions from 



le general rule.' 



We '^vould liere remind our author of the maxim itatcd in the 

 Jntrodu6lion to the work, and inquire whether the occupier of 

 land has th fnfficient perfonal iiitcrejl in the invention and execu- 

 tion of improvements, if a third perfon can legally come and 

 carr}' ofF a tentli part of the fruit of his labours. It is no argu- 

 ment to fay, that if the tithe-holder did not carry off this tenth, 

 the landlord would require fo much more rent, for the landlord 

 could not, during the currency of a leafe, demand a halfpenny 

 more rent than was covenanted, or even, if the tenant pollc-lTed 

 uithout fccurity of that tenure, he could not demand an extra 



rent 



