2GT
through detectable gross negligence or dishonesty. * But eitherof these alternatives might prove ruinous ; he is obliged, there-fore, to relinquish the lease to the landlord, to whom it wouldindeed revert as a forfeiture, were he to attempt disposing of itto the highest bidder. If he has only daughters, by the Scotslaw of heritages they would succeed equally as heirs portioners,with small prospect, indeed, of the farm turning to any account,either under countertliwarting management, if they jointly oc-cupy, or under.the delegated management of a manager, actingwithout risk of his o wn ; but as they cannot sell, there is no al-ternative but to throw up the lease; not to mention, that, ac-cording to feudal notions, it may be doubtful whether the mar-riage of a daughter, Without consent of the proprietor;'mightnot infer forfeiture, as placing the lease under the /as mariti, andof course being equivalent to an assignation. If the tenant, too,should leave none behind him but helpless infants, of what availcould it be to them to occupy the farm by servants or a mana-ger, whom they are incapable of calling to account ? If not al-lowed to sell the lease to the best bidder, it must be relinquished.
But further: Suppose the tenant wishes to quit his farm, forwant of health,—or to betake himself to some other profitableprofession,—or to take lands in lease in some distant unimproveddistrict, where, from want of competitors, his superior skill wouldbe amply rewarded, and his example might also prove useful; hecannot, like an unfettered manufacturer or merchant, withdrawhis capital, by disposing of his present concern to the best bid-der : he must either remain where he is, as an adscript,us glebtz,or trust to the necessarily more remiss management of servants,(if, indeed, he is not bound to actual residence by his lease);for he can neither withdraw his capital, by assignation; nor sub-letting, by grassum, (fine at entry), given at once; nor gradual-ly, in shape of over-rent.
Partnerships, too, so convenient in other professions, wheredifferent talents may be combined to mutual advantage, are alto-gether ineligible in a lease thus fettered as to its free disposal.
In this manner, through the legal torturing of the contract oflease into a most unnatural conformity to the original tenure ofMilitary benefice, and the prevalent absurdity of enhancing upon,instead of counteracting this legal tendency, in the terms of pri-vate bargain, agricultural credit is annihilated, and capital ba-nished from agricultural improvements. Under such circum-stances, it is ridiculous to hear landed proprietors complain ofthe reluctance of tenants to lay out expense upon improvements.Their tenants must be cast in a mould different from what is com-mon to other men, if they employ much industry or capital wherethere is such insecurity of reaping the fruits of such application,
* Sec the last note.—Such decisions, to which our Judges are constrained tv■he feudal genius of Scots law, however repugnant to their own concepfi' i ns ofEquity or utility, would strongly indicate the necessity of an alteration of tin' lav*.