xviii Synopsis of Chapters. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 



THE DOMESTIC ACQUIREMENTS OF THE LANDED INTEREST, 



PAGE 



State of England as regards civilisation and education — John 

 Houghton and Gregory' King — The later Stuart writers on agri- 

 culture — Moore and Meager — Progress of turnip and potato 

 culture — ^Further agricultural inventions forshadowed from the 

 writings of various authors — Political animosity shown to he 

 the cause of the slow progress made in the national agriculture 

 — Statistics of the acreage, population, condition of cultivation, 

 and average incomes of the various classes — Comparison be- 

 tween the condition of the Landed Interest in Tudor and Stuart 

 times — Prevalence of crime — Inroad of gipsies — Revolution in 

 the administration of justice caused by the severance of landed 

 proprietorship from seignorial jurisdiction — King's Judges, Jus- 

 tices of the Peace, Courts Leet and Baron — Distinction between 

 the two last named as regards their business, ceremonies, and 

 administration of justice 368 



CHAPTER XXIX. 



THE BUSINESS OP THE COURT LEET. 



The Law of Torts — Distress, fixtures, repairs, rights to light and air, 

 etc. — A further attempt to explain the confusion apparent be- 

 tween Courts Leet and Baron during Mediaaval times — A brief 

 historical summary of the courts — Professor Rogers' favourable 

 view with regard to the old system of seignorial jurisdiction — 

 Highway repairs, and a short history of highway legislation — 

 Their defects illustrated by a reference to the Stuart thorough- 

 fares — Water rights — Riparian ownership— The direction in 

 which future legislation would tend foreshadowed by an exam- 

 ination of the Leet's jurisdiction over illegal distress — The 

 mollified views of the legislature regarding illegal sporting — ■ 

 Poaching offences and trespass in pursuit of game — The Ver- 

 derers Court — The advantages of the Court Leet over the 

 modern County Court 379 



CHAPTER XXX. 



THE BUSINESS OF THE COURT BARON. 



A sitting of the Court pictured — The effects of 12 Charles II. c. 24 on 

 the business of the Court Baron — Feudal incidents not entirely 

 obliterated by this Act — Instances where feudal customs had 

 been modified rather than abolished — A separation of the Court 

 Baron into the distinctions of Court of Ancient Demesnes, Court 

 of the Copyholders, Court of the Baron, and Court of the Free- 

 holders — The business of each carefully described — Effects of 

 the system — The steward's relationship with the manorial com- 

 munity — Analysis of tlie business during the 17th ccnttiry of 

 certain manorial cotirts in Lancashire — A brief retrospect of the 

 whole history of tlie Landed Interest from its beginning to the 

 period now reached 390 



