King William the Conqueror reserved in his own hands, or in those of his farmers, or tenants at will, or for short terms of years, a great part of the lands of England; the same, as it is said, that was in the hands of his predecessor Edward the Confessor, for the support of his royal dignity, and the ordinary expences of government. The rest of the lands of England he granted away to his Norman and French companions in very large quantities, dispossessing, for the most part, the former English possessors of them.