to attend twenty days, and so in proportion. And there is reason to apprehend, that this service was the whole that our ancestors meant to subject themselves to; the other fruits and consequences of this tenure being fraudulently superinduced, as the regular (though unforeseen) appendages of the feodal system. THIS tenure of knight-service had all the marks of a strict and regular feud: it was granted by words of pure donation, dedi et concessi; was transferred by investiture or delivering corporal possession of the land, usually called livery of seisin; and was perfected by homage and fealty. It also drew after it these seven fruits and consequences, as inseparably incident to the tenure in chivalry; viz. aids, relief, primer seisin, wardship, marriage, fines for alienation, and escheat all which I shall endeavour to explain, and shew to be of feodal original (2). 1. AIDS were originally mere benevolences granted by the tenant to his lord, in times of difficulty and distress 9; but in process of time they grew to be considered as a matter of right, and not of discretion. These aids were principally three first, to ransom the lord's person, if taken prisoner; a necessary consequence of the feodal attachment and fidelity: insomuch that the neglect of doing it, whenever it was in the vassal's power, was by the strict rigor of the feodal law an absolute forfeiture of his estate. Secondly, to make the lord's eldest son a knight; a matter that was formerly attended with great ceremony, pomp, and expense. This aid could : o Litt. sec. 95. p Co. Litt. 9. q Auxilia fiunt de gratia et non de jure, cum dependeant ex gratia tenentium et non ad voluntatem dominorum. Bracton. 1. 2. tr. 1. c. 16. sec. 8. r Feud. 1. 2. t. 24. (2) Sir John Dalrymple, in his Essay on Feudal Property, p. 24, says, that "in England, before the 12th of Car. II, if the king had granted "lands without reserving any particular services or tenure, the law "creating a tenure for him would have made the grantee hold by "knight's service." Wright also says, that "military tenure was created by pure words ❝of donation." Wright's Ten. 141. not be demanded till the heir was fifteen years old, or capable of bearing arms: the intention of it being to breed up the eldest son and heir apparent of the seignory, to deeds of arms and chivalry, for the better defence of the nation. Thirdly, to marry the lord's eldest daughter, by giving her a suitable portion for daughters' portions were in those days extremely slender; few lords being able to save much [64]· out of their income for this purpose; nor could they acquire money by other means, being wholly conversant 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 profession was exempted: and therefore even the monasteries, till the time of their dissolution, contributed to the knighting of their founder's male heir (of whom their lands were holden) and the marriage of his female descendantss. And one cannot but observe, in this particular, the great resemblance which the lord and vassal of the feodal law bore to the patron and client of the Roman republic; between whom also there subsisted a mutual fealty, or engagement of defence and protection. For, 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 t. BUT besides these ancient 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 superior lord; from which last 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 superior. To prevent this abuse, king John's magna carta ordained, that no aids be taken by the king without consent of parliament, nor in any wise by infe r 2 Inst. 233. s Philips's life of Pole I. 223. t Erat autem haec inter utrosque officiorum vicissitudo--ut clientes ad collocandas senatorum filias de suo conferrent; in acris alieni dissolutionem gratuitam pecuniam erogarent; et ab hostibus in bello captos redime rent. Paul. Manutius de senatu Romano, c. f. u cap. 12. 15. rior lords, save only the three ancient ones above-mentioned. But this provision was omitted in Henry III's charter, and the same oppressions were continued till the 25 Edw. I, when the statute called confirmatio chartarum was enacted; which in this respect revived king John's charter, by ordaining that none but the ancient aids should be taken. But though the species of aids was thus restrained, yet the quan[65] tity of each aid remained arbitrary and uncertain. King John's charter indeed ordered, that all aids taken by inferior lords should be reasonable w; and that the aids taken by the king of his tenants in capite should be settled by parliament. But they were never completely ascertained and adjusted till the statute Westm. 1. 3 Edw. I. c. 36. which fixed the aids of inferior lords at twenty shillings, or the supposed twentieth part of the annual value of every knight's fee, for making the eldest son a knight, or marrying the eldest daughter: and the same was done with regard to the king's tenants in capite by statute 25 Edw. III. c. 11. The other aid, for ransom of the lord's person, being not in its 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 composition 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-estates, 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; so that, if he pleased to demand an exorbitant relief, it was in effect to disinherit the heiry. The English ill-brooked this consequence 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, should be paid by the earls, barons, and w cap. 15. x Ibid. 14. y Wright, 99. 7. c. 22, 23, 24. 1 vavasors respectively; and if the latter had no arms, they should pay 1008. 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 landa: but his brother Henry I, by the charter before mentioned, restored his father's law; and ordained, that the relief to be paid should be according to the law so established, and not an arbitrary [66] redemption. But afterwards, when, by an ordinance in 27 Hen. II. called the assize of arms, it was provided that every man's armour should descend to his heir, for defence of the realm; and it thereby became impracticable to pay these acknowledgments in arms according to the laws of the conqueror, the composition was universally accepted of 1008. 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 seisin was a feodal burden, only incident to the king's tenants in capite, and not to those who held of inferior or mesne lords. It was a right which the king had, when any of his tenants in capite died seised 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 possession; and half a year's profits, if the lands were in reversion expectant on an estate for life d. This seems to be little more than an additional relief, but grounded upon this feodal reason; that, by the ancient law of feuds, immediately upon the death of a vassal the superior was entitled to enter and take seisin or possession of the land, by way of protection against intruders, till the heir appeared to claim it, and receive investiture: during which interval the lord was entitled to take the profits; and, unless the heir claimed within a year and day, it was by the strict law a forfeiture. This a 2 Roll. Abr. 514. b" Haeres non redimet terram suam'sicut Roffens, cap. 34.) e Glanv. 1. 9. c. 4. Litt. sec. 112. e Feud. 1. 2, t. 24. practice however seems not to have long obtained in England, if ever, with regard to tenure under inferior lords; but, as to the king's tenures in capite, the prima seisina was expressly declared, under Henry III. and Edward II, to belong to the king by prerogative, in contradistinction to other lords f. The king was entitled to enter and receive the whole profits of the land, till livery was sued; which suit being com[67] monly made within a year and day next after the death of the tenant, in pursuance of the strict feodal rule, therefore the king used to take as an average the first fruits, that is to say, one year's profits of the lands. 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. 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 wardship of the heir, and was called the guardian in chivalry. This wardship consisted in having the custody of the body and lands of such heir, without any account of the profits, till the age of twenty-one in males, and sixteen in females. For the law supposed 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 service. 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 so till sixteen, by virtue of the statute of Westm. 1. 3 Edw. I. c. 22. the two additional years being given by the legislature for no other reason but merely to benefit the lordi. THIS wardship, so far as it related to land, though it was not nor could be part of the law of feuds, so long as they were f Stat. Maribr. c. 16. 17 Edw. II. c, 3. g Staundf. Prerog. 12. h Litt. see. 103, |