The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-10-08

| age.
In speech winch he made some time ago, Mr.
| Bright referred TO the land law In England 80
the law Of primozeniture. This term il onel
eminently likely to mislsad. What Mr. pr,gnt
means by a law of pcmOgeniture Ia that WHOM
In the event Of m,u's dying interstate. gives
his landed estate to his eldest male heir, 80 thas
IL is law which any man may avoid by writing
| half a dozen words before two witnesses.
| A great deal has been said Of the small num-
| Der OF landh Oidofs in England, and complete
| misappreh ensiOn was caused on this head BY
| the census when put down under the head Oh
| Lam holders those only who so described tnem~
selves. very large number OF whom were,
women, whereas had all landholders pursuing
other vocatlons essrlbed themselves a. land
| holders In the census, the figures would have
! been widely different. as tho actual return nov
| made has shown. They are far more numerous
| than was supposed.
| As regards tbs great bulk Of the middle and
upper middle class OF Engllshmen, it may
| be safely laid down that the possession Of land
Is no object to them, unless they can afford to
! hold great dlal. Il is comparatively unre-
munerdtivc properly and does not offer com<
p,nsatioI In he sh pc OF position unless held IN
great quantities. Laud pays from two to three
per cent. Interest. while the indian railway. In-
dian lolu. aud solid Gebentures Will give, with
| equal security, double the amount. Thus tho
notion has of l,te wears grown up. and not witbs
out reason, that Land Is a luxury for the rcbs
Every year, too. agriculture Is more and moro
recognized IS a science and one whcn IL rec
| quires heavy outl a. to prosecute successfuliys
There Is not CON. nv In the world whore m ore
complete freedom exists in the matter Of be-
! queathing prJpeft, ihan In England, or where q
testatOr's wishes are SO Vigorously carried into
effect; and il exs-inx law US to the dcvolution
! OF real ~ W. abQl-
ished tomorrow, 10 would lead To little else
thln people being more careful as TO making
| their wills.
Since the passage OF what lie known as tho
Thelusson act, the power of entail has been SO
| limited that IL is now scarcely greater than in
| New YORK, and is. we believe, identical with
| that Of Massachusetts English property can
| now be entdiled Only on persons actually living
at the time the entail Is made, and for twenty-
one years after. Moreover, supposinG Mrs
Browne TO entail hts estate on his eldest SON
and grandson, these may, when the last comes
| Of age, cut OF the entail II they please. Tha
son often consents to this course to obtain sup-
| plies Of ready money. The Thellusson act arose
| from the will of London merchant of Swisa
origin, made about &c injury ago, by wi len he
b. queathed great sum OF money to accumu-
late until It would, nd 1t been honestly and ins
diligently managed, have amounted, before 10
reached the heir la dictated, to fli0,O00.000 Tbs
Government, decmng It und esirable that wealth.
so enormous sho uld be In the hands OF any subs
iect (for the Interest on this at three per cent?
would yield income OF e4200,0oO a year,,
brought In the bill to limit entail. However, so
far as Mr.. Theilusson concerned, there need
have been no necessity, for, between litigation
and culation, the property, when il reached
the present Lord Rendlesham, on whom " ultis
mately devolycd. WIS only two estates Of about
H.HlM0a In N
are E2i715.
30 far as the real income Of the persons down
in The Acre-Vcracy OF England" (Which is tho
name given by its compiler to an abridgemenr
OF the modern D)omsday Book, and contains
the returns relating to all those who have three
thousand acres and upward Is concerned, OF
course very little Information Is derived. Many
Of the wealthiest people appear as having only
few thousands md others who ppear TO have
/ immense Incomes really derive little from them.
their estates being bardened with jointures aud
their forbears' Indebtedness. II seems very
difficult to explain why the ground landlord
should have been credited with the rent Of
property which VIII not bo his until the building
leases fail in perhaps ninety years hence Thug
the Duke OF NGIolk. whose real income ID
abou; tsOEJ year. Is credited with e2890ess
because large part OF Sheffield is built on land
let on building lease on his estate, and Sir John
st. Aubyn, who owns great deal OF land az
Plymouth, is credited with 100000 year, When
his income f. nearer $4,000.
Sir Johns name suggests the number OF large
estates in England which are held by natural
sons OF their sons 10 whom the fathers have
given their names and property. Where this ID
done, scarcely ID AIDE OF stigma attaches to .ha
bar sinister. Sir Jon st. Aubyn whose grand.
son will have so enormous an income Ia ths
son Of the natural son OF former baronet, and
his nephew aud legitimate heir only inherited
comparatively very small income. The natural
son was created oaronet. Sir Henry Ferguson
DAVE (&l0sj2l is the illegitimate son of Cob Fer
cuson. lie married Miss Dlvle, heiress of her
brother, Sir John, and the baronetcy was re-
vived in his person. Lord Leconneld. whose in
come is returned a. f67369, ana who mas e25,UI
more in Ireland Il tho sou Of the Late lord an
illegtimate son. who, inheriting the u cntailed
estates OF his father, the Earl OF Egremont. was
made peer. The entailed estates about
$1,000 year, passed t. a cousin.
Sir Henry Tuition tRii0}D ia the son Of the
iuegitimate sou of the last ri of rhanet. Sin
Robert Sheffield Csl]4SW inheriis the estates
OF his ancestor, tin illeEitimate son OF the last
Duke OF Blckinshamshire. Ii was from his an
c stor, Sir Charles sheffield, that George Ill.
bought buckingham House, now palace. Sir
Thomas Barrett Leonard (f3,1ii. and some elO,-
600 in lrelsnu derives from the iuegitimata
son Of Lord Dacre. Henry Savile (el0,eibl is thu
llegitimate son Of the late Earl OF Scarborough.
These are principal instances, but many othsra
misht ho mentioned.
The Acre ocrioy,' giving, as it does only
those who hold upward of 5000 acres. necesaa-
riiy omts great many Of the most ancient
landholders. Three Of the very Oldest VINO de-
rive their name from their seats, thus and no
place here Kelly OF Kelly, Fursden OF z irsden,
and Fultord of fulford. The late BisnOp OF
Montreal was of the last family aud 1t conveys
anotion of its antiquity to state that they have
held their lands for period long antecodent to
the crusades, aud that they bear a. supporters
to their arms, an honor rarely accorded TO COM
moners. two Saracens, In special COM
memoration Of crusade services. The
splendid old mansion Of the Fufords
stands in a remote corner Of their county, but
railroad ia now at length penetratin, the dis
trlct, and may serve to revive the declining for
tunes Of this very ancient and honorable
house, Mr.. Gladstone is down In the list at
Rls,OOO year-in right of his wife-0ut his