the antient ſimplicity of feuds; and an inroad being once made upon their conſtitution, it ſubjected them, in a courſe of time, to great varieties and innovations. Feuds came to be bought and ſold, and deviations were made from the old fundamental rules of tenure and ſucceſſion; which were held no longer ſacred, when the feuds themſelves no longer continued to be purely military. Hence theſe tenures began now to be divided into feoda propria et impropria, proper and improper feuds; under the former of which diviſions were comprehended ſuch, and ſuch only, of which we have before ſpoken; and under that of improper or derivative feuds were comprized all ſuch as do not fall within the other deſcription: ſuch, for inſtance, as were originally bartered and ſold to the feudatory for a price; ſuch as were held upon baſe or leſs honourable ſervices, or upon a rent, in lieu of military ſervice; ſuch as were in themſelves alienable, without mutual licence; and ſuch as might deſcend indifferently either to males or females. But, where a difference was not expreſſed in the creation, ſuch new-created feuds did in all other reſpects follow the nature of an original, genuine, and proper feud[1].
But as ſoon as the feodal ſyſtem came to be conſidered in the light of a civil eſtabliſhment, rather than as a military plan, the ingenuity of the ſame ages, which perplexed all theology with the ſubtilty of ſcholaſtic diſquiſitions, and bewildered philoſophy in the mazes of metaphyfical jargon, began alſo to exert it's influence on this copious and fruitful ſubject: in purſuance of which, the moſt refined and oppreſſive conſequences were drawn from what originally was a plan of ſimplicity and liberty, equally beneficial to both lord and tenant, and prudently calculated for their mutual protection and defence. From this one foundation, in different countries of Europe, very different ſuperſtructures have been raiſed: what effect it has produced on the landed property of England will appear in the following chapters.
- ↑ Feud. 2. t. 7.
