All three forms of feudal obligation—service, incidents, and aids—have long been obsolete in England. The statute 12 Charles II. c. 24 swept away the feudal _incidents_ along with the feudal system; centuries before, _scutages_ in lieu of military _service_ had become obsolete in the transition from the system of feudal finance to that of national finance, effected by the Crown in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Feudal _aids_ were also long obsolete, although James I., in desperate straits for money, had attempted to revive two of them. In France the feudal system, with all its burdensome obligations, remained in full vigour until it was abolished in one night by the famous decree of the National Assembly of 4th August, 1790. In Scotland, the feudal system of land tenure still exists, and certain of its incidents (_e.g._ reliefs and compositions or fines for alienation) are exacted at the present day. ----- The very essence of the feudal relation between the King as overlord and the Crown tenant as vassal consisted in the liability of the latter to render “suit and service,” that is, to follow his lord’s banner in time of war, and to attend his court in time of peace. It will be more convenient, however, to reserve full consideration of these services until the comparatively uncomplicated obligations known as incidents and aids have been first discussed. I. _Feudal Incidents._ In addition to “suit and service,” the lord reaped, at the expense of his tenants, a number of casual profits, which thus formed irregular supplements to his revenue. These profits, accruing, not annually, but on the occurrence of exceptional events, came to be known as “feudal incidents.” They were gradually defined with more or less accuracy, and their number may be given as six, viz.: Reliefs, Escheats, Wardships, Marriages, Primer seisins, and Fines for Alienation.[84] ----- Footnote 84: Blackstone, _Commentaries_, II. 63, however arranges these in a different order, and mentions as a seventh incident “aids,” which are here reserved for separate treatment.