The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1874-08-18

facts, which are here given on credible
testimony. There are thirty thousand
great English land owners, who together
derive land revenue OF some sixty mil.
lions Of pounds sterling There are con.
siderably moro than million peasants,
who have hitherto been totally dependent
for bare existence on the lords of the
soil, One quarter Of Scotland is owned
by eight noblemen. Of whom the chief
are the Dukes Of Hamilton, Bucceucb
and Sutherland, the Marquis Of Butte.
and the earl Of Broadalbane. The Eng.
lish county of East Sussex, embracing
more than eight hundred square miles, Is
almost exclusively the property of the
Duke Of Richmond aud the Baron of LIE.
contield. So extensive is the property Of
the young Marquis of Butte, whose in.
come is fully three hundred thousand
pounds year that not long ago his agent
spent nearly two millions in repairing and
altering his magnificent manor and estate
Of Crichton Mount Stuart, the MARQUIS
residence near Cardiff. Mr.. Bright once
instanced the case of nobleman with an
income of one hundred and twenty thou.
sand pounds, who annually spent forty
thousand, and laid the remaining eighty
thousand in "roundpg' his property, by
buying up every parcel Of ground con.
tiguous to his estate which he could iu
dueO the owners to sell This was one
example OF the pregnant fact that the
land has long been in process of eoncen
tration in the hands Of fewer and fewer
possessors, thus ever widening the gap
between the rich and poor This ten.
dency has been encouraged and protected
by the still enforced laws of primogeni.
ture and entail TO be sure. the law OF
prlmogenture, as it now stands, only
operates in the case Of proprietor dying
intcstate; and but very few large land.
owners do die intestate. Not one ont OF
ten, however, do as fact lelve the bulk
OF their real estate by will to the eldest
son to maintain the dignity and prestige
OF the family. The law Of euail is iar
more serious in its results, as tying up
land and pcrpetuating vast and ancient
estates beyond peradvcnturo Simply
stated, the present English law Of entai!
enables the owner Of landed property
to devise it for the term of Il life in liy.
ing, and for tweniy.one years after and
this entail can only be eat of by the
concurrent consent Of two parties the
existing occupan; aud the heir. IT,
thel eluic. Lord llardhuuter has u sou
sou two Years Old. and that son lives to
be eighty, Lord llardhunter may. by an
entail, easily cut the estate absolutely of
from the market for hundred years
In various ways ths,otten works other
injustlccs than that OF restricting land in
so small and overcrowded county. The
present Duke Of Newcastle, having ruu
through his fortune and greater part OF
that OF his duchess. went into banksuptcy
loaded down with debts, one alone Of
which amounted to eighty thousand
pounds. But the creditors could no,
touch his entailed estates. and so this no.
BILE bankrupt still finds himself in posses.
sion Of one Of the most enviable proper.
ties in the kingdom.
Among the other immense properties oi
the few rich may be mentioned that ~
the Duke Of Westminster, who owns, he
sides Belgrave and Eaton squares aud
q large part of the fashionable quarter Of
Westminster, the magnificent manor Of
Eaton Hall, near Chester, Halkin House
in Flntshre, and Motcombc House in
Dorsetshire, each surrounded bv thons.
ands Of arabic but, to some extent ii
least, uncultyated acres. The Duke OF
Bedford owns the extensive group Of
saaI SaHe1e' u that central part Of LopdEn
den Theatre and Covent Garden Market.
many streets leading from the Strand on
either side, and blocks OF houses at the
West End. and one Of the most splendid
Of English rural estates at Woburn Alb.
hey. The Earl of Derby may be said
to own almost square miles Of blocks in
Liverpool, and knowsley, his ancestral
country.seat, is larger than most New
England Townships. The Duke of Su!h.
erland Is said to be able to rde 5y rail
from sunrise to sundown on his Scottish
estates, and has five noble castles-Dun-
robin, House of Tongue Trentham,
Lilleshall, and Chlden. The Duke OF
Devonshirc is the lord of no less than
eight castles, all of which are rural pal
aces fit for royalty, among them peerless
Chatsworth and the only less superb
llardwickc Hall. In London he has
residence on Piceadilly. where land can
be worth scarcely less than ten pounds
square foot, which is surrounded by sng-
dens, and occupies broad square.
The eccentric Earl of Dudley, Ear
Brownlow, the illiterate Duke of Port
land, Baron Portman. the Duke Of North
umberland, the Earl of Abergavenny, the
Marquis Of Salisbury, the Duke Of Rut-
land, and Marquis Camden have immense
rural properties, which are only exceed
ed in value by the whole quarters which
they own in central parts Of the great
metropolis itself The Duke of Bucoleueh
has ten castles, in each Of which liberal
domestic establishment is kept up all the
year round. The Scottish Earls Of Mans
field, STAIR, and Glasgow possess each five
castles,vast and spacious edi6ces, the cen.
tres Of splendid estates, which are to
considerable degree shut off from cutiva.
tion, and used as deer parks and hunting
grounds The income probably, OF every
nobleman who has bceL named exceeds
fifty thousand pounds II majority of them
would show revenues OF one hundred
thousand, and at least three OF them, the
Dukes of Westminster and Sutherland
and the Marquis of Butte, receive annual
incomes OF more than three hundred thous-
and. Nor are the titled and hereditary
aristocracy any longer the only great
landowners. In comparatively recent
years the successful merchants, msnufac-
turers, and bankers have been eager to
secure what is called in England "a stake
in the country Again and again es-
tates which have belonged to noble fami-
| lies for centuries. and whose entails have