40 ON THE STATE OF IRELAND. [BOOK I. 



of their conquests among their generals or chief 

 officers, under a condition of receiving from them 

 in return military service. But this general law 

 had not throughout the same application. In the 

 mountainous countries of the south of Europe, the 

 lands capable of cultivation lie in narrow valleys, 

 difficult of access. The new proprietors, not wishing 

 to fix their dwellings in these spots, granted them 

 to their vassals on payment of tribute, which was 

 eventually commuted into a sum of ready money. 



In other countries, as France and Germany, the 

 vassals, who had the grants in perpetuity, obtained 

 them only on condition of paying in perpetuity 

 tributes in money or in labour. This system still 

 exists in Germany, but in France the Revolution 

 has abolished it, with more or less injustice. 



In England the system has been altogether dif- 

 ferent. The conquerors have remained proprietors 

 of the soil, and when the successors of William 

 the Conqueror invaded Scotland and Ireland, they 

 followed the same system. 



A characteristic of the three kingdoms, to the 

 investigation of whose condition these Inquiries are 

 directed, is, that the conquerors have retained the 

 lands, and that the number of landholders has 

 continued very small, in comparison with what we 

 know to be the case on the continent of Europe. 

 But the feature which distinguishes Ireland from 

 England and Scotland is, that in the former country 



