Sect. VI. THE COUNTY OF FIFE. ICQ 



may be necessary for the satisfaction of either 

 party, can be more readily obtained by a personal 

 conversation than by the tedious process of a dis- 

 tant correspondence ; and, should any difficul- 

 ties or objections occur on the one side or on 

 the other, they can be instantly stated and soon 

 discussed, and a final agreement, or a final part- 

 ing, effected without delay. 



3</, Another point in leases, which deserves 

 consideration, is the stipulated rent and the 

 terms of payment. An inclination in proprie- 

 tors to draw the highest possible rent from their 

 estates, though natural, may, nevertheless, be 

 carried to an extreme. To accept indiscrimin- 

 ately of the highest offer, or to screw up even a 

 substantial and industrious farmer to a rent a- 

 bove the real value of the land, must be an im- 

 prudent measure, and ultimately hurtful to them- 

 selves. Besides discouraging the efforts of in- 

 dustry, by removing the most powerful stimulus 

 to exertion, and checking and retarding the im- 

 provem'ent of their lands, they subject them- 

 selves to the risk of serious losses from the fai- 

 lure of tenants, or at least to the uneasiness and 

 inconvenience of delay, uncertainty, and irregu- 

 larity, in the payment of their rents. Tli claims 

 of justice can never extend beyond the real va- 

 lue of the ground. And a liberal and generous 

 heart will never, grudge to sacrifice a few pounds 

 of his rental for the satisfaction of beholding his 

 tenants easy, contented and happy. 



If the scheme of fixing the rent in kind, and 

 making it payable in money according to the 

 1 of fiars, proposed under the article respect- 

 rent, shaU not meet with general approba- 



