Metayers. 
an engine of oppression ; for, under the pretence 
that the work might be done without in ion, 
those who were liable to the corvee had it frequently 
allotted to them at some leagues from their habitations. 
Besides these corvées, which were an ion to agri= 
culture over the whole of France, there were the military 
corvées, which fell noe erahae os. lying in the route 
of the troops ; the inhabitants of which were obliged to 
leave their occupation, however inconvenient and injuri- 
ous it might be, and repair the roads along which the sol» 
diers were to travel. Such area few of the i 
under which agriculture in France laboured, previously 
to the Revolution, arising either from the fi tenures, 
or from the more general o ion of the laws and 
measures of government, the privileges of the nobility 
and clergy, and the usages of the country. 
The fourth mode of occupying land, resembled that 
which is common fe Tavlomets and which is there com- 
plained of as a great grievance, and as the source of 
much misery and oppression. Men possessed of some 
P y, hired great tracts of land at a money rent, 
relet it in small divisions to metayers, who paid half 
the produce. This mode of occu land was most 
common in La Manche, Berry, Poitou, and Angoumois, 
but it was also met with in-other provinces. 
ra spogastf icine thes geobglp eliestet nthe 
are a species of farmers that ys to the 
slave cultivatory of ancient times, and who, in Latin, 
are called colont partiarii, have been so long in disuse 
in England, that there is no English name for them. 
They may be generally described, as supplying the la« 
bour n to cultivate the land, while the proprie- 
tor furnished yp bry Na gk 6p aE 
of husbandry, and, in short, w stock necessary 
for cultivating the farm. The common agreement was, 
that the produce should be equally divided between the 
proprietor and farmer, after setting aside what was ne- 
cessary for keeping up the stock, which was restored 
to the proprietor, when the farmer either quitted, or 
was turned out of his farm. F 
Before the Revolution, seven-ei of the lands in 
France were ane ae this tenure. It pervaded al+ 
most every part of Sologne, Berry, La Manche, Limo- 
sin, Anjou, Burgundy, Bourbonnois, Nivernois, Au» 
vergne, &c. and was found in Brittany, Maine, Pro- 
vence, and all the southern districts. In general, the 
half of the produce was paid to the ietor ; but in 
Champagne only a third. There were varia- 
tions: in some parts, the proprietor found half the cat- 
tle and seed, and the metayer the labour. and imple- 
ments, besides paying the taxes ; the last, in other dis- 
tricts, were partly paid by the proprietor. | In Norman- 
dy, a singular ies of this tenure prevailed, viz. on 
the farms which the proprietors kept in their own 
hands, 
1 
696 FRANCE. 
ing to the decision of judges, who were absolutely It is scarcely necessary to point out the miserable Statistics: 
cuiGesenlgatiols. state of agriculture, which must exist in a country 
SaaS hilet Re meats See Since, So pedlees i Saehaaae aan abla seanedtl 
taxes iarly oppressive and injurious to agriculture, place, it proves a agricultural 
: not confined to the tenure we are now consider+ > sear beret prog = omar 
ing. By the corvées, individuals were obliged tomend dency to perpetuate this and to keep the tenant in 
the by their 1 labour; hence it is evident the lowest, state of dependence, misery, and poverty. 
that this tax must have fallen exclusively on the poor ; pach prone senate or ns Bom a 
or if it was performed by those who kept labourers, it and consequently so dependent on thei , that 
must have deprived them of the means of fully attend- they were almost every year obliged to borrow from 
impolitic, in so much as it placed the repair ofthe | Such were the tenures of land before the Revolution. 
ape the care of those who were destitute Let us now enquire what effects that event has 
of the little skill requisite for such a task, but it was duced on them, -and-oti the condition of die wptishiae 
exposed to sale during the pecuniary the 
revolutionary government. For the ation of 
the lowest order of purchi they were divided into 
small portions, five years were allowed for com- 
; nd of yee de ae to aoe 
, an 
Ls Tarte ie eee a 
prietors, possessing from one to ten acres. They 
ease i by ree pers Notch 
at same time, neighbou 
mers. The number of small i Me ae ee 
creased from another cause, since the Revolution. Be- 
fore that event, it seems to have been the law, . 
least the invariable custom, in some of France, 
to divide the landed all the children. | 
inbtts eihiginonaeiens  --— 
ution, to w ingdom ; so the pre- 
seat law of Featon bends Of dandioth of bite ieee, . 
is divided, by the law itself, among his The 
deplorable consequences which must ‘ultimately result 
from this division and subdivision of little ies 
in a country like France, already so fully opri : 
ty has been affected by the Revolution ot 
n second place, hiring at money rent is much 
more genetal since the Revolution ; and if France con« : 
tinues quiet, and recovers from the injurious conse- : 
quences of the Revolution, it ma‘ be ex- 
pected that this species of tenure will become more and 
pay a es 2 
In the third place, feudal tenures are done away, as 
Pe apr rao he pach ~ ; ‘hired t 
is, ly, W men : 
ceeniiat Gnd na Gancoty-sent, aiovadne eR 
visions, and the system of metaying, still exist, 
not nearly to such an extent, or in such an 
and ruinous form, as before the Revolution. — a 
when we consider that these species of tenure were the 
unavoidable and necessary s of inadequate 
agricultural capital, we cannot expect that they should 
be abolished by the mere operation of law, or by’ the 
direct effects of any revolution, however wisely planned 
and carried into execution, If, however, we find that 
