With this answer Mr. Elsee returned to Mr. Driver, who had left word that the report was to be made to Messrs. Jones and Green, the solicitors to the office of woods and forests, to whom Mr. Elsee repaired, and _was then informed by Mr. Jones that he did not_ think _the crown would require more rent than had been paid to_ Miss Ladbrook; but that he would see Mr. Pillar, and make enquiry at the office, and acquaint Mr. Elsee with the result; which, by the bye, he never did.
The Surveyor proceeded as he had threatened he would, with his action of ejectment; and during its progress, he forwarded a long agreement to Mr. Elsee for his signature, the effect of which was to put him in the place of the executors, when judgment should have been obtained against them, and leave him entirely at the mercy of the crown. This agreement, too, had been framed without any consultation with Mr. Elsee, upon its conditions, some of which were contrary to the custom of farming leases, and all of them framed in opposition to the situation and interest of a _tenant __at will_, which the Surveyor had declared him to be, _and not in any way a tenant of the crown_. This attempt to encrease the responsibility of Mr. Elsee was answered, of course, by a refusal to sign it; the agreement was returned, and Mr. Elsee waited upon the Surveyor, and pointed out to him that he was not liable to _any conditions_, and still less to the unreasonable ones attempted to be imposed upon him—that there was no legal claim upon him for dung { 25}—that he had paid for it on his entrance upon the farm, and it would be his property when he should give up possession. To this the Surveyor replied, _that he had let the farm on such conditions_, _and the new tenant was to do the same during his lease_. It was then enquired by _what right_ the Surveyor made such conditions with respect to _this farm in particular_, since _he had not made them with respect to Heaton’s_? The Surveyor made answer, that they “_would be made to leave all their dung_,” which, however, _was not the case_, for in the following summer the crops of that farm, and _also the dung_, _were sold by the owner_. { 26}
It was further remarked to the Surveyor in this conversation, that _spit dung_ was specified, and that it was not always to be procured; to which the Surveyor said it was so stated in all leases, meaning that, or an equivalent in other manure. Mr. Elsee again insisted that the dung was as much his property as the hay and corn; and further objected to the expence of the agreement as _unnecessary_, as the Surveyor _knew_ he was ready to quit the farm at any time. The Surveyor, notwithstanding all this, held to his purpose, { 27} and pretended that the thing must be done _regularly_; that the whole of the expence would not be more than 60_l._ or 70_l._ that the crown would pay half, and would further give time from Michaelmas 1819, to the following Lady-day, to thrash out the corn, and otherwise dispose of the property to the best advantage—that the crown besides would pay for all _improvements_, _laying down ploughed fields to grass_, _&c._ In spite of these temptations Mr. Elsee refused to sign; had he remained firm in this refusal, and acted upon the advice of his friends, many of whom recommended him not to put himself in the power of the Surveyor by his signature, he might have saved himself some thousands of pounds, and a degree of personal and family anxiety even more to be deplored than his pecuniary loss. { 28}