xii.] DISTRIBUTION OF LAND IN ENGLAND. 4 .9 



With reference to the general state of England 

 in the fourteenth century, during the whole of which 

 the statute De Donis remained in almost entirely 

 unimpaired force, Lord Macaulay says : 



" Every yeoman from Kent to Northumberland 

 valued himself as one of a race born to victory and 

 dominion, and looked down with scorn on the nation 

 before which his ancestors had trembled. . . . France 

 had no infantry that could face the English bows 

 and bills. . . . Nor were the arts of peace neglected 

 by our fathers during this stirring period. While 

 France was wasted by war, until she at length found 

 in her own desolation a miserable defence against 

 invaders, the English gathered in their harvests, 

 adorned their cities, pleaded, traded, and studied in 

 security." Macaulay's History of England, i. p. 18. 



The effects of the statute De Donis upon the 

 distribution of land, have> I think, been greatly 

 exaggerated. That very large estates existed in 

 England long before the statute was passed has, in 

 the preceding pages, been abundantly demonstrated. 

 Its effects in preventing division have been dwelt 

 upon, whilst its operation in checking accumulation 

 has been almost wholly overlooked. The main 

 causes of accumulation in ancient, as in modern 

 times, will be found in the marriage of heirs with 

 heiresses, and the investment in land of fortunes 



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