which conferred a right of protection, and raise the tenant to a kind of estate superior to downright flavery, but inferior to every other condition. This they called villenage, and the tenants villeins, either from the word vilis, or else, as Sir Edward Coke tells us, à villa; because they lived chiefly in villages, and were employed in rustic works of the most fordid kind: like the Spartan belotes, to whom alone the culture of the lands was configned; their rugged masters, like our northern ancestors, esteeming war the only honourable employment of mankind.

These villeins, belonging principally to lords of manors, were either villeins regardant, that is, annexed to the manor or land; or else they were in gross, or at large, that is, annexed to the perfon of the lord, and transferrable by deed from one owner to another. They could not leave their lord without his permiffion; but if they ran away, or were purloined from him, might be claimed and recovered by action, like beasts or other chattels. They held indeed finall portions of land, by way of fullaining themselves and families; but it was at the mere will of the lord, who might dispossess them whenever he pleased; and it was upon villein services, that is, to carry out dung, to hedge and ditch the lord's demesnes, and any other the meaneft offices; and these fervices were not only bafe, but uncertain both as to their time and quantity. A villein, in short, was in much the same state with us, as lord Molesworth describes to be that of the boors in Denmark, and Stiernhook attributes also to the traals or slaves in Sweden; which confirms the probability of their being in some degree monuments of the Danish tyranny. A villein could acquire no property either in lands or goods; but, if he purchased either, the lord might enter upon them, oust the villein, and seize them to his own use, unless he contrived to difpose of them again before the lord had feized them; for the lord had then loft his opportunity.

In many places also a fine was payable to the lord, if the villein prefumed to marry his daughter to any one without leave from the lord: and, by the common law, the lord might alfo bring an action against the huf"band for damages in thus purloining his property. For the children of villeins were alfo in the same state of bondage with their parents, whence they were called in Latin, nativi, which gave rise to the female appellation of a villein, who was called a neife. In cafe of a marriage between a freemin

and a neife, or a villein and a free-woman, the issue followed the condition of the father, being free if he was free, and villein if he was villein; contrary to the maxim of civil law, that partus fequiter ventrem. But no bastard could be born a villein, because by another maxim of our law he is nullius filius: and as he can gain nothing by inhe. ritance, it were hard that he should lose his natural freedom by it. The law however protected the persons of villeins, as the king's subjects, against atrocious injuries of the lord: for he might not kill or maim his villein; though he might beat him with impunity, since the villein had no action or remedy at law against his lord, but in case of the murder of his ancestor, or the maim of his own perfor. Neifes indeed had also an appeal of rape, in case the lord violated them by force.

Villeins might be enfranchised by manumiffion, which is either express or implied: exprefs; as where a man granted to the villein a deed of manumiffion: implied; as where a man bound himself in a bond to his villein for a fum of money, granted him an annuity by deed, or gave him an estate in fee, for life or years: for this was dealing with his villein on the footing of a freeman; it was in fome of the instances giving him an action against his lord, and in others vefting an ownership in himentirely inconsistent with his former itate of bondage. So alfo if the lord brought an action against his villein, this enfranchised him; for, as the lord might have a short remedy against this villein, by seizing his goods (which was more than equivalent to any damages he could recover) the law, which is always ready to catch at anything in favour of liberty, prefumed, that by bringing this action he meant to fet his villein on the fame footing with himself, and therefore held it an implied manumiffion. But in cafe the lord indicted him for felony, it was otherwise; for the lord could not inflicta capital punishment on his villein, with out calling in the afsistance of the law.

Villeins, by this and many other means, in process of time gained confiderable ground on their lords; and in particular strengthened the tenure of their estates to that degree, that they came to have in them an interest in many places full as good, in others better than their lords. For the good-nature and benevolence of many lords of manors, having, time out of mind, permitted their villeins and their children to enjoy their possellions without interruption, in a regular course of defcent,

the

the common law, of which custom is the life, now gave them title to prescribe against the lords; and, on performance of the fame services, to hold their lands, in spite of any determination of the lord's will. For, though in general they are still faid to hold their eftates at the will of the lord, yet it is such a will as is agreeable to the custom of the manor; which customs are preferved and evidenced by the rolls of the several courts-baron in which they are entered, or kept on foot by the conflant immemorial usage of the several manors in which the lands lie. And, as fuch tenants had nothing to thew for their estates but these customs, and admillions in pursuance of them, entered on those rolls, or the copies of fuch entries witnessed by the steward, they now began to be called tenants by copy of court roll,' and their tenure itself ' a copyhold.'

Thus copyhold tenures, as Sir Edward Coke observes, although very meanly descended, yet come of an ancient house; for, from what has been premised, it appears, that copyholds are in truth no other but villeins, who, by a long feries of im memorial encroachments on the lord, have at last established a customary right to those estates, which before were held absolutely at the lord's will: which affords a very substantial reason for the great variety of customs that prevail in different manors, with regard both to the defcent of the estates, and the privileges belonging to the tenants. And these encroachments grew to be so universal, that when tenure in villenage was abolished (though copyholds were referved) by the statute of Charles II. there was hardly a pure villein left in the nation. For Sir Thomas Smith testifies, that in all his time (and he was secretary to Edward VI.) he never knew any villein in gross throughout the realm; and the few villeins regardant that were then remaining were such only as had belonged to bishops, monafteries, or other ecclefiaftical corporations, in the preceding times of popery. For he tells us, that "the holy fathers, monks, and friars, had, in their confeffions, and specially in their extreme and deadly fickness, convinced the laity how dangerous a practice it was, for one Christian man to hold another in bondage: so that temporal men by little and little, by reason of that terror in their confciences, were glad to manumit all their villeins. But the faid holy fathers, with the abbots and priors, did not in like fort by theirs;

for they also had a fcruple in confcience to empoverish and despoil the church so much, as to manumit such as were bond to their churches, or to the manors which the church had gotten; and so kept their villeins still." By these several means the generality of villeins in the kingdom have long ago sprouted up into copyholders: their perfons being enfranchised by manumiffion or long acquiescence; but their estates in strictness, remaining subject to the fame fervile conditions and forfeitures as before; though, in general, the villein services are usually commuted for a small pecuniary quit-rent.

As a further confequence of what has been premised, we may collect these two main principles, which are held to be the supporters of a copyhold tenure, and without which it cannot exist: 1. That the lands be parcel of, and situate within, that manor, under which it is held. 2. That they have been demised, or demiseable, by copy of court-roll immemorially. For immemorial custom is the law of all tenures by copy: so that no new copyhold can, strictly speaking, be granted at this day.

In fome manors, where the custom hath been to permit the heir to fucceed the ancestor in his tenure, the estates are stiled copyholds of inheritance; in others, where the lords have been more vigilant to maintain their rights, they remain copyholds for life only for the custom of the manor has in both cafes so far superseded the will of the lord, that, provided the services be performed or stipulated for by fealty, he cannot, in the first instance, refuse to admit the heir of his tenant upon his death; nor, in the second, can he remove his present tenant so long as he lives, though he holds nominally by the precarious tenure of his lord's will.

The fruits and appendages of a copyhold tenure, that it hath in common with free tenures, are fealty, services, (as well in rents as otherwise) reliefs, and escheats. The two latter belong only to copyholds of inheritance; the former to those for life also. But, besides these, copyholds have also heriots, wardthip, and fines. Heriots, which I think are agreed to be a Danish custom, are a render of the best beast or other good (as the custom may be) to the lord on the death of the tenant. This is plainly a relic of villein tenure; there being originally lefs hardship in it, when all the goods and chattels belonged to the lord, and he might have seized them even 3 K 2

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have been faid but by such an exact observer of life, in gratification of malignity, or in oftentation of acuteness. Every hour produces instances of the neceffity of terms of art. Mankind could never confpire in uniform affectation; it is not but by neceffity that every science and every trade has its peculiar language. They that content themselves with general ideas may rest in general terms; but those whose studies or employments force them upon closer inspection, must have names for particular parts, and words by which they may express various modes of combination, such as none but themselves have occafion to confider.

Artists are indeed sometimes ready to suppofe, that none can be strangers to words to which themselves are familiar, talk to an incidental enquirer as they talk to one another, and make their knowledge ridiculous by injudicious obtrusion. An art cannot be taught but by its proper terms, but it is not always necessary to teach the art. That the vulgar express their thoughts clearly is far from true; and what perspicuity can be found among them proceeds not from the easiness of their language, but the shallowness of their thoughts. He that fees a building as a common spectator, contents himself with relating that it is great or little, mean or splendid, lofty or low; all these words are intelligible and common, but they convey no diftinct or limited ideas; if he attempts, without the terms of architecture, to delineate the parts, or enumerate the ornaments, his narration at once becomes unintelligible. The terms, indeed, generally displease, because they are understood by few; but they are little understood only, because few that look upon an edifice examine its parts or analyse its columns into their members.

The state of every other art is the fame; as it is cursorily surveyed or accurately examined, different forms of expression become proper. In morality it is one thing to difcuss the niceties of the cafuift, and another to direct the practice of common life, In agriculture, he that instructs the farmer to plough and fow, may convey his notions without the words which he would find ne.. cessary in explaining to philosophers the process of vegetation; and if he, who has nothing to do but to be honest by the shorteft way, will perplex his mind with fubtle speculations; or if he whose task is to reap and thrash, will not be contented without examining the evolution of the feed and

§59. Discontent, the common Lot of all Mankind.

Such is the emptiness of human enjoyments, that we are always impatient of the present. Attainment is followed by neglect, and possession by disgust; and the malicious remark of the Greek epigrammatist on marriage, may be applied to every other course of life, that its two days of happinefs are the first and the last.

Few moments are more pleasing than those in which the mind is concerting measures for a new undertaking. From the first hint that wakens the fancy to the hour of actual execution, all is improvement and progress, triumph and felicity. Every hour brings additions to the original scheme, suggests fome new expedient to secure fuccess, or discovers consequential advantages not hitherto foreseen. While preparations are made and materials accumulated, day glides after day through elysian prospects, and the heart dances to the fong of hope.

Such is the pleasure of projecting, that many content themselves with a fucceffion of visionary schemes, and wear out their allotted time in the calm amusement of contriving what they never attempt or hope to execute.

Others, not able to feast their imagination with pure ideas, advance somewhat nearer to the grosiness of action, with great diligence collect whatever is requifite to their design, and, after a thousand researches and consultations, are snatched away by death, as they stand in procinctu waiting for a proper opportunity to begin.

If there were no other end of life, than to find some adequate folace for every day, I know not whether any condition could be preferred to that of the man who involves himself in his own thoughts, and never fuffers experience to show him the vanity of speculation; for no fooner are notions reduced to practice, than tranquillity and confidence forfake the breast; every day brings its task, and often without bringing abilities to perform it: difficulties embarrass, uncertainty perplexes, oppofition retards, cenfure exasperates, or neglect depresses. We proceed, because we have begun; we complete our design, that the labour already spent may not be vain: but as expectation gradually dies away, the 3 K 3

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