Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (3rd ed, 1768, vol II).djvu/108

 96 of cutoms that prevail in different manors, with regard both to the decent of the etates, and the privileges belonging to the tenants. And thee encroachments grew to be o univeral, that when tenure in villenage was virtually abolihed, (though copyholds were reerved) by the tatute of Charles II, there was hardly a pure villein left in the nation. For ir Thomas Smith tetifies, that in all his time (and he was ecretary to Edward VI) he never knew any villein in gros throughout the realm; and the few villeins regardant that were then remaining were uch only as had belonged to bihops, monateries, or other eccleiatical corporations, in the preceding times of popery. For he tells us, that "the holy fathers, monks, and friars, had in their confeions, and pecially in their extreme and deadly icknes, convinced the laity how dangerous a practice it was, for one chritian man to hold another in bondage: o that temporal men, by little and little, by reaon of that terror in their conciences, were glad to manumit all their villeins. But the aid holy fathers, with the abbots and priors, did not in like ort by theirs; for they alo had a cruple in concience to empoverih and depoil the church o much, as to manumit uch as were bond to their churches, or to the manors which the church had gotten; and o kept their villeins till." By thee everal means the generality of villeins in the kingdom have long ago prouted up into copyholders: their perons being enfranchied by manumiion or long acquiecence; but their etates, in trictnes, remaining ubject to the ame ervile conditions and forfeitures as before; though, in general, the villein ervices are uually commuted for a mall pecuniary quit-rent. Rh