English Land Law. 
349 = 53 
he Courts are strict in upholding both the letter and the spirit 
t the Mortmain Act. No conveyance of land can be made to 
ny Corporation unless the Crown has granted it a licence to hold 
and. The Charity Commissioners, a public body appointed by 
he Crown, exercise large powers of control over incorporated 
harities in respect of any land held by them. The Ecclesi- 
stical Commissioners, a body similarly appointed, exercise a 
ike control over Church-lands, and themselves hold land for 
^^hurch purposes. A parish priest, or a Cathedral Chapter, or 
. Bishop, cannot give a mining or building lease of his Church- 
ands without the consent of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners ; 
nd the consent of the Charity Commissioners must in like 
nanner be obtained for such lease by the governors or managers 
if a Charity. The Board of Trade also has jurisdiction over 
he holding of land by companies. Every joint-stock company 
,egistered under the Joint-Stock Companies Acts has power to 
lold land, but no company, not being a trading company, can 
,iold more than two acres of land without the consent of the 
Board of Trade. 
CHAPTER 11. 
Yearly Tenancies. 
T has already been mentioned as one of the leading features 
>f the English agricultural system, that a fractional part only of 
he soil is ever in the hands of its absolute owners. The culti- 
ator is for the most part merely the occupier of the land which 
le tills, enjoying none of the rights of property, and in many 
ases those of possession only in name. The causes to which 
uch a state of things is due are many and various, but the 
)bvious fact that the English landowner has not chosen to em- 
)arrass himself with the actual culture of the soil, in whose 
early profits hi^ riches consist, has been prominent at all stages 
)f English history ; and the condition of modern society in 
his country promises no material alteration. At no time, in- 
leed, have the relations of English tenants or occupiers towards 
he owners of the soil shown at any time much susceptibility to 
udden or important change. The common law of the realm, 
ipon which they rest, has always been slow and stubborn in ad- 
nitting reform, and the attempts of the Legislature to modify 
nd control its operation are for the most part of comparatively 
ecent date. 
Tenants of land for agricultural purposes may be broadly Agricultural 
livided into three main classes: (1) tenants by a parol demise 
