ng; and that the estates
in mortmain--that is to say, delivered into the hands of the
priesthood--have been increasing at the yearly rate of from L60,000 to
L80,000 a year. Is _mortmain_ indeed the hand which kills?

I submitted this delicate question to a very intelligent, very
honourable, and very wealthy man, who farms several thousand acres of
Church property. He is one of the _Mercanti di Campagna_, mentioned in
a former chapter (Chap. VI.). The following is the substance of his
reply.

"Six-tenths of the Agro Romano are held in mortmain.
Three-tenths belong to the princely families, and the
remaining tenth to different individuals.

"I hold under a religious community. I have a three-years'
lease of the bare land. The live and dead farm-stock is my
own property. It represents an enormous capital, which is
liable to all sorts of accidents. But in our dear country
one must risk a great deal to gain a little.

"If the land, which is almost all of fine quality, were my
own, I should bring nearly the whole of it under the plough;
but I am expressly forbidden by a clause in my lease to
break up the best land, for fear of exhausting it by growing
corn. No doubt such would be the result in the course of
time, because we apply no manure; but of course the inferior
land which I _am_ allowed to break up will be worn out much
sooner, and will in the end become almost worthless. The
monks knowing this, take care that the best land shall not
lose its quality, and oblige me to keep it in pasture for
cattle. Thus I grow little corn merely because the good
fathers will not let me grow a great deal. I cultivate first
one piece of land, then another. On my farm, as throughout
the Agro Romano, cultivation is but a passing accident; and
so long as this continues, the country will be unhealthy.

"I raise cattle, which, as you will presently see, is
sometimes a profitable pursuit, sometimes quite the
contrary. On the whole of my farm I have no shelter for my
cattle. I asked the monks to build me some sheds, offering
to pay an increased rent in proportion to outlay. The monk
who acts as the man of business of the convent, shrugged his
shoulders. 'What can you be thinking of?' he said; 'you know
we have only a life interest in the property. To comply with
your request, we m