1 800. On Manorial Claim f. i.'J 



fituation at this Jay much inferior to that of the freeholder, 

 whofe payments are fmall and certain. Thefe annualrents, 

 or payments, are in fome copyhold manors doubtfully impofed, 

 and fines are levied at the end of a term of years, which, in 

 certain fituations, are fo high, as to render the fecurity of pro- 

 perty, expended in improvement of various kind, very dubious. 

 Thefe fines have ao indefinite profpe£l on any future value the 

 eftate may polTibly arrive to, by improvements, however exteii- 

 five or lucrative, to the great dlfcouragemeut of fuch imprrve- 

 ments: in fhort, they are fuch as, with the fuit and fervice, ^<c. 

 ufually exa£led, leave the copyholder in circumllances little re- 

 moved from the ftate of abfoiute vafliihge. The heritors of 

 Durham, and fome other parts of the country, are, in fome fort, 

 of this defcription ; where the lord of the manor feizes, for his 

 own ufe, the bell horfe, bull, or cow, or other beaft, which he 

 can find on the premifes at the demife of the holder. Under 

 this difagreeable tenure, are alfo levied, fines on death, or aliena- 

 tion, of various kinds and degrees; all which, with the burden- 

 fome forms of fome of the courts, the incidental expences of 

 various kinds, and th.e extortions of the attorney itewards, who 

 are continually racking their brains to invent pretences for in- 

 creafing their fees, &c. together with the very galling idea 

 and fenfe, in the mind of the holder, of the debafing nature of 

 this fpecies of dependence, — form a burden and grievance oa 

 the fubjeft, loudly calling for the interference of any Legiila- 

 ture which has a fincere intention of ailing on principles in- 

 diffolubly conne61:ed with the public .welfare. It were idle to 

 infill on any objedHon to a general alienation, by law, of all 

 rights or claims of this nature, by which every body would be 

 gainers, and nobody lofers: for it is the duty of individuals to 

 do this voluntarily, as much as in them lies: and if individuals 

 refufe, it is the bounden duty of the Legiflature, on 2 general 

 fcale, to do any thing, and every thing in its power, towards 

 the removal of grievances which may and ought to be remov- 

 ed, and to which nothing can be objected, but the pride and 

 caprice of a few individuals ; juilice being no furtlier concern- 

 ed than in pecuniary compenlation. The Crown has lately fet 

 a high example, by the fale of many, if not mole of its claims 

 of this nature, at a fixed and moderate rate ; an example which 

 it is very defirable may be enforced on all inferior lords, who 

 indeed themfelves, it mufl: be prefum.ed, in ht\ and law, held 

 only of the Crown. A curious ini'lance of facerdotalfeJfifli- 

 iiefs on this head, occurs from Sir Thomas Smith's (fecretary 

 to Edward VI.) Commonwealth, b. 3. c. 10.; where he tells 

 us, that " the holy fathers, monks, and friars had, in their con- 

 _'f fclhons, and efpecially in thdr extreme and deadly ficknefs^ 



" convinced 



