OF LANDHOLDING IN ENGLAND. BY JOSEPH FISHER, F.R.H.S., 29 66 AUTHOR OF "THE FOOD SUPPLIES OF WESTERN EUROPE,' THE TAXATION OF "Much food is in the tillage of the poor, but there is that is destroyed for want of judgment." "Of all arts, tillage or agriculture is doubtless the most useful and necessary, as being the tion of the Government, not only on account of the invaluable advantages that flow from it, but LONDON: LONGMANS, GREEN, & CO. 1876. INTRODUCTION. THIS work is an expansion of a paper read at the meeting of the Royal Historical Society in May 1875, and will be published in the volume of the Transactions of that body. But as it is an expensive work, and only accessible to the Fellows of that Society, and as the subject is one which is now engaging a good deal of public consideration, I have thought it desirable to place it within the reach of those who may not have access to the larger and more expensive work. I am aware that much might be added to the information it contains, and I possess materials which would have more than doubled its size, but I have endeavoured to seize upon the salient points, and to express my views as concisely as possible. I have also preferred giving the exact words of important Acts of Parliament to any description of their objects. If this little essay adds any information upon a subject of much public interest, and contributes to the just settlement of a very important question, I shall consider my labour has not been in vain. WATERFORD, November 3, 1875. JOSEPH FISHER. THE HISTORY OF LANDHOLDING IN ENGLAND. I Do not propose to enter upon the system of landholding in Scotland or Ireland, which appears to me to bear the stamp of the Celtic origin of the people, and which was preserved in Ireland long after it had disappeared in other European countries formerly inhabited by the Celts. That ancient race may be regarded as the original settlers of a large portion of the European continent, and its land system possesses a remarkable affinity to that of the Slavonic, the Hindoo, and even the New Zealand races. It was originally Patriarchal, and then Tribal, and was Communistic in its character. I do not pretend to great originality in my views. My efforts have been to collect the scattered rays of light, and to bring them to bear upon one interesting topic. The present is the child of the past. The ideas of bygone races affect the practices of living people. We form but parts of a whole; we are influenced by those who preceded us, and we shall influence those who come after us. Men cannot disassociate themselves either from the past or the future. In looking at this question there is, I think, a vast difference which has not been sufficiently recognised. It is the broad distinction between the system arising out of the original occupation of land, and that proceeding out of the necessities of conquest; perhaps I should add a third-the complex system proceeding from an amalgamation, or from the existence of both systems in the same nation. Some countries have been so repeatedly swept over by the tide of conquest B |