BOOK II. their income for this purpose; nor could they acquire money by other means, being wholly converfant in matters of arms; nor, by the nature of their tenure, could they charge their lands with this, or any other incumbrances. From bearing their proportion to these aids no rank or profeffion was exempted and therefore even the monafteries, till the time of their diffolution, contributed to the knighting of their founder's male heir (of whom their lands were holden) and the marriage of his female descendants. And one cannot but obferve, in this particular, the great refemblance which the lord and vafal of the feodal law bore to the patron and client of the Roman republic; between whom also there fubfifted a mutual fealty, or engagement of defence and protection. With regard to the matter of aids, there were three which were usually raised by the client; viz. to marry the patron's daughter; to pay his debts; and to redeem his person from captivity'. BUT befides these antient feodal aids, the tyranny of lords by degrees exacted more and more; as, aids to pay the lord's debts, (probably in imitation of the Romans) and aids to enable him to pay aids or reliefs to his fuperior lord; from which laft indeed the king's tenants in capite were, from the nature of their tenure, excused, as they held immediately of the king who had no fuperior. To prevent this abuse, king John's magna carta" ordained, that no aids be taken by the king without confent of parliament, nor in any wife by inferior lords, save only the three antient ones above-mentioned. But this provifion was omitted in Henry III's charter, and the fame oppreffions were continued till the 25 Edw. I; when the statute called confirmatio chartarum was enacted; which in this refpect revived king John's charter, by ordaining that none but the antient aids fhould be taken. But though the species of aids was thus reftrained, yet the quantity s Philips's life of Pole. I. 223. t Erat autem haec inter utrofque officiorum viciffitudo- -ut clientes ad collocandas fenatorum filias de fuo conferrent; in aeris alieni diffolutionem gratuitam pecuniam ero garent; et ab hoftibus in bello captos redimerent. Paul, Manutius de fenatu Roma no. c. I. u cap. 12, 15. of of each aid remained arbitrary and uncertain. King John's charter indeed ordered, that all aids taken by inferior lords fhould be reasonable; and that the aids taken by the king of his tenants in capite should be settled by parliament *. But they were never completely afcertained and adjusted till the ftatute Westm. 1. 3 Edw. I. c. 36. which fixed the aids of inferior lords at twenty fhillings, or the fuppofed twentieth part of every knight's fee, for making the eldest son a knight, or marrying the eldest daughter; and the fame was done with regard to the king's tenants in capite by ftatute 25 Edw. III. c. II. The other aid, for ransom of the lord's person, being not in it's nature capable of any certainty, was therefore never ascertained. 2. RELIEF, relevium, was before mentioned as incident to every feodal tenure, by way of fine or compofition with the lord for taking up the estate, which was lapsed or fallen in by the death of the last tenant. But, though reliefs had their original while feuds were only life-eftates, yet they continued after feuds became hereditary; and were therefore looked upon, very justly, as one of the greatest grievances of tenure: especially when, at the first they were merely arbitrary and at the will of the lord; fo that, if he pleased to demand an exorbitant relief, it was in effect to difinherit the heir ". The English ill brooked this confequence of their new adopted policy; and therefore William the conqueror by his laws ascertained the relief, by directing (in imitation of the Danish heriots) that a certain quantity of arms, and habiliments of war fhould be paid by the earls, barons, and vavafours respectively; and, if the latter had no arms, they hould pay 100s. William Rufus broke through this composition, and again demanded arbitrary uncertain reliefs, as due by the feodal laws; thereby in effect obliging every heir to new-purchase or redeem his land: but his brother Henry I. by the charter before-mentioned restored his father's law; ጌ w cap. 15. x Ibid. 14. y Wright. 99. VOL. II, z c. 22, 23, 24. E and and ordained, that the relief to be paid fhould be according to the law so established, and not an arbitrary redemption ". But afterwards, when by an ordinance in 27 Hen. II. called the affife of arms, it was provided that every man's armour fhould defcend to his heir, for defence of the realm: and it thereby became impracticable to pay these acknowlegements in arms, according to the laws of the conqueror, the compofition was univerfally accepted of 100s. for every knight's fee; as we find it ever after established. But it must be remembered, that this relief was only then payable, if the heir at the death of his ancestor had attained his full age of one and twenty years. 3. PRIMER feifin was a feodal burthen, only incident to the king's tenants in capite, and not to thofe who held of inferior or mefne lords. It was a right which the king had, when any of his tenants in capite died feised of a knight's fee, to receive of the heir (provided he were of full age) one whole year's profits of the lands, if they were in immediate possesfion; and half a year's profits, if the lands were in reversion expectant on an eftate for life". This feems to be little more than an additional relief: but grounded upon this feodal reafon; that, by the antient law of feuds, immediately upon a death of a vafal the superior was entitled to enter and take feifin or poffeffion of the land, by way of protection against intruders, till the heir appeared to claim it, and receive inveftiture: and for the time the lord fo held it, he was entitled to take the profits; and unless the heir claimed within a year and day, it was by the ftrict law a forfeiture. This practice however seems not to have long obtained in England, if ever, with regard to tenures under inferior lords; but, as to the king's tenures in capite, this prima feisfina was expressly declared, under Henry III and Edward II, to belong to the king by prerogative, in contradiftinction to other lords. And the king was entitled to enter and receive the whole profits of the land, till livery was fued; which fuit being commonly within a year and day next after the death of the tenant, therefore the king used to take at an average the first fruits, that is to fay, one year's profits of the land. And this afterwards gave a handle to the popes, who claimed to be feodal lords of the church, to claim in like manner from every clergyman in England the first year's profits of his benefice, by way of primitiae, or first fruits. h 4. THESE payments were only due if the heir was of full age; but if he was under the age of twenty one, being a male, or fourteen, being a female ", the lord was entitled to the ward-fhip of the heir, and was called the guardian in chivalry. This wardship confifted in having the custody of the body and lands of fuch heir, without any account of the profits, till the age of twenty-one in males, and fixteen in females. For the law fuppofed the heir-male unable to perform knight-service till twenty-one; but as for the female, she was supposed capable at fourteen to marry, and then her husband might perform the fervice. The lord therefore had no wardship, if at the death of the ancestor the heir-male was of the full age of twenty-one, or the heir-female of fourteen: yet, if she was then under fourteen, and the lord once had her in ward, he might keep her fo till fixteen, by virtue of the ftatute of Weftm. 1. 3 Edw. I. c. 22. the two additional years being given by the legislature for no other reason but merely to benefit the lord i. THIS wardship, so far as it related to land, though it was not nor could be part of the law of feuds, fo long as they were arbitrary, temporary, or for life only; yet, when they became hereditary, and did confequently often defcend upon infants, who by reafon of their age could neither perform nor ftipulate for the services of the feud, does not feem upon feodal principles to have been unreasonable. For the wardship of the land, or custody of the feud, was retained by the lord, that he might out of the profits thereof provide a fit perfon g Staundf. Prerog. 12. b Litt. §. 103. i Ibid. E 2 to to fupply the infant's fervices, till he should be of age to perform them himself. And, if we confider a feud in it's original import, as a ftipend, fee, or reward for actual fervice, it could not be thought hard that the lord should withhold the ftipend, fo long as the service was fufpended. Though undoubtedly to our English ancestors, where fuch ftipendiary donation was a mere fuppofition or figment, it carried abundance of hardship; and accordingly it was relieved by the charter of Henry I before-mentioned, which took this cuftody from the lord, and ordained that the custody, both of the land and the children, should belong to the widow or next of kin. But this noble immunity did not continue many years. THE wardship of the body was a consequence of the wardship of the land; for he who enjoyed the infant's estate was the propereft person to educate and maintain him in his infancy: and also, in a political view, the lord was most concerned to give his tenant a fuitable education, in order to qualify him the better to perform those services which in his maturity he was bound to render. WHEN the male heir arrived to the age of twenty-one, or the heir-female to that of fixteen, they might fue out their livery or oufterlemain *; that is, the delivery of their lands out of their guardian's hands. For this they were obliged to pay a fine, namely, half a year's profits of the land; though this feems expressly contrary to magna carta1. However, in confideration of their lands having been fo long in ward, they were excufed all reliefs, and the king's tenants alfo all primer feifins". In order to ascertain the profits that arose to the crown by these fruits of tenure, and to grant the heir his livery, the itinerant juftices, or justices in eyre, had it formerly in charge to make inquifition concerning them by a jury of the county", commonly called an inquifitio poft mortem; which was inftituted to inquire (at the death of any man of fortune) the value of his estate, the tenure by which it was |