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Oaeen Anne, when grants were perpetual, the perſons to whom they were made became immediately independent of the Crown, and not unfrequently gave very early proofs of that independence: whereas, by the meaſure adopted on the acceſſion of the Queen, every grantee, or the perſon repreſenting him, became dependent on the miniſter for a renewal of his leaſe, for which applications were generally made at ſuch times, and on ſuch occaſions, as were thought to afford the beſt hope of their being attended to, on terms favourable to his intereſt.
Under this ſyſtem Mr. Pitt, on coming into office, found the whole landed property of the crown, and the income ariſing from it, in every way, very little exceeding 4,000l a-year. He therefore, after long enquiries, and moſt attentive conſideration, applied a remedy in 1794, when an act[1] was paſſed, by which it is provided that no leaſe ſhall be renewed till within a ſhort period of its expiration, nor till an actual ſurvey ſhall have been made by two profeſſional men of experience and character, who are required to certify the
- ↑ 34 Geo. III. c. 75.
