286 General View of the Jgricultllr^ July 



doubt, the evil of entails i<; much leiToneii by a hto net of 

 parliament-, but ItiU they are attended with injurious confe- 

 quences'to the profperity of Britain, whether confidcrcd as an 

 agricultural or commercial country. We I'clcft the whole of 

 this fedtion, as deferving fcricus attention. ■*"'' 



•* Tailzie, or entail, tlioiiah fomctimcs tifed to denote fimple 

 deitination, is chiefly ufed to fiirnify the fettlement of a land ellate 

 upon a long feries of heirs, fubftituted, in fiicceflion, to one ano- 

 ther, containing prohibitory and irritant claiifcs, which preclude 

 any of the heirs from alienating tlie eitate, by debt or deed, in pre- 

 judice of the fubllitutes fpecltied and fixed by the deed of entail. 

 What proportion of the land in Fife is under this kind of deitina- 

 tion, it is impoflible, from any information I have been able to 

 procure, exa^lly to Itate. It is well known, however, that a great 

 many cftates, and fome of thefe of the firft magnitude, are ftriclly 

 tailzied. 



♦' How far this mode of fettling the fucceflion of heritage is 

 wife and proper, may deferve confideration. To affume the power 

 of determination jull now, who fliall poffefs the ellate ^oo years 

 hence, when the prefcnt proprietor iliall have as little Intereft in it 

 as he had 500 years ago, has at leaft the appearance of abfurdity. 

 Perhaps, ambition to perpetuate the exiftence of a family called by 

 his name, at leaft for many generations to come, is the motive. 

 But, is vanity a principle of conduct which a virtuous and dignified 

 mind would wdh to adopt, or to avow ? Or, is it his objeft, in fe- 

 curing to his pofterity the unalienable poffefiion of his lands, that 

 they may be enabled to fupporr, with greater dignity and fplendour, 

 the titled rank to which he has raifed them ? But is it certain that 

 the poffeflion of tlie eftate will prevent them from difgracing the 

 mobility, fairly, and perhaps hardly won, by the illuftrious deeds of u 

 worthy anccllor ? 



" It m.erits confideration, alfo, whether entails may not be un- 

 friendly and injurious to the profperity of a great commercittx and 

 manufacturing nation. The free circulation of land property is a 

 ])ovverful fpur to entcrprize and exertion ; as, by that means, the 

 merchant or manufacturer has it In his power to retire, when he 

 thinks proper, from a hazardous empluyment, and to convert the 

 profits of his fuccefsful Induftry Into a more liable and permanent 

 inheritance. But, were all the eltates in the kingdom guaranteed by 

 entails to the prefeiit proprietors and their pollerity for ever, this 

 would be rendered impoflible. 



" Befides its being an unnat'iral reflraint upon property, it 

 not uafrequently puts it in the power of profligacy and diflipa- 



tion. 



