HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE [IT. 



part, commuted for an annual money payment ; and 

 so powerful was the influence of custom, that it came 

 to be established law, that the villein, if he rendered 

 his accustomed rent and other services, if any, in 

 respect of his holding, could not be ejected from it, 

 nor could his rent or services be increased. He 

 obtained, by custom, fixity of rent and fixity of 

 tenure. 



A list was kept of these tenants on the estate and 

 their holdings by the steward of the owner, and at 

 every change of a tenant, the fact was notified at a 

 court or assembly of tenants held under the presi- 

 dency of the steward, and an entry on this list or roll 

 became evidence of the right of the tenant to hold 

 his land. A copy of the entry was given to him, and 

 he was said to hold his land by copy of court- roll ; 

 but tolerably conclusive evidence of the original 

 infirmity of his title, was preserved in his legal 

 designation, which was, and still is, "tenant at the 

 will of the lord) by copy of court roll, according to 

 the custom of the manor." 



The disappearance of the class which in England 

 corresponded to the peasantry of the Continent has 

 been much deplored by some politicians. I will not 

 stop to inquire whether it was a desirable state of 

 things, that the agricultural proprietors should be 

 sharply divided into two classes, having distinct 

 customs, interests and opinions, as has been usually, 

 if not invariably, the case, wherever peasant 



