24. Vassalage succeeds to slavery, annexed to the land, and
the slave becomes a proprietor. Third method; alienation of the
land for a certain service.
The administration of an estate, cultivated by slaves,
requires a careful attention, and an irksome residence. The
master secures to himself a more free, more easy, and more secure
enjoyment of his property, by interesting his slaves in the
cultivation of it, and by abandoning to each of them a certain
portion of land, on condition of their paying him a portion of
the produce. Some have made this agreement for a time, and have
only left their serfs, or slaves, a precious and revocable
possession. Others have assigned them lands in perpetuity,
refining an annual rent payable either in provisions or in money,
and requiring from the possessors certain services. Those who
received these lands, under the condition prescribed, became
proprietors and free, under the name of tenant, or vassal; and
the ancient proprietors, under the title of lords, reserved only
the right of exacting payment of the rent, and other stipulated
duties. Thus it has happened in the greater part of Europe.
