iri 



TITHING. 



TITLES OK HONOUR 



particular monasteries from the payment of tithe*, which would not 

 otherwise bare been exempt ; by which means much land hai been 

 erer since tithe-free. Another mode by which lands belonging to 

 religiou* houses became not liable to the payment of tithes wu that of 

 unity of poMnwion / a* whore the land* and the rectory belonged to the 

 UUP MtiblUhmrnt, which would not, of coune, iy lithe* to itself. 

 Yet the land* were not absolutely discharged by this unity of posses- 

 aion, for, upon any disunion, the payment of tithes was revived ; no 

 that the union only suspended the payment. The act 31 Hen. VIII. 

 c. IS, which dissolved several of the religious houses, continued the 

 discharge of their lands from tithes, though in the possession of the 

 king or any other person by grant from the crowu ; and, in conse- 

 quence of this, the lands of many laymen which were granted by the 

 crown are tithe-free, and the right to tithe and the property in many 

 rectories are vested in laymen. Many monasteries had previously been 

 dissolved by act of parliament, but aa no such clause as that contained 

 in the 31 Hen. VIII. had been introduced into other acts, the lands of 

 the monasteries dissolved by them became chargeable with tithes. 



The payment of tithes in kind has been a cause of constant dispute 

 between clergymen and their parishioners. With the best intentions 

 on both sides, the very nature of tithes is such, that doubts and diffi- 

 culties must arise between them : and even where there is no doubt, 

 the form and principle of payment are odious and discouraging. Com- 

 mutation of the tithes has accordingly been attempted and has been 

 found most successful. Dr. Paley, who saw so clearly the evils of 

 tithes, himself suggested this improvement. " No measure of such 

 extensive concern appears to me so practicable, nor any single altera- 

 tion so beneficial, as the conversion of tithes into corn-rente. Tbia 

 commutation, I am convinced, might be so adjusted as to secure to 

 the tithe-holder a complete and perpetual equivalent for his interest, 

 and to leave to industry its full operation and entire reward." (' Moral 

 and Political Philosophy,' chap, xii.) This principle of commutation 

 was first proposed to be applied by the legislature to Ireland. In 

 addition to the common evils of a tithe system, that country was 

 labouring under another. The mass of the people, who are Koman 

 Catholics, were paying tithes to a Protestant clergy. Resistance to 

 the payment of tithe* had become so general that a commutation was 

 deemed absolutely necessary for the safety of the church of Ireland. 

 It was recommended by committees of both houses of parliament in 

 1882, but not finally carried into effect until 1838. 



The statutes for the general commutation of tithes in England ore 

 the 6 & 7 Win. IV. c. 71, the 7 Wm. IV., and 1 Viet c. 69, the 1 & 2 

 Viet. c. 64, the 2 & 3 Viet c. 32, and the 5*6 Viet c. 64. Their 

 object is to substitute a rent-charge, payable in money, but in amount 

 varying according to the average price of corn for seven preceding 

 years, for all tithes, whether payable under a modus or composition, or 

 not A voluntary agreement between the owners of the land and of 

 the tithes is first promoted, and in cone of no such agreement, a com- 

 ry commutation is effected by tithe-commissioners; provision 

 made for the valuation and apportionment of tithe in every 

 i of England and Wales. Land not exceeding 20 acres may also 



> given by a parish, on account of any spiritual benefice or dignity, 

 as a commutation for tithes to ecclesiastical persons, but not to lay 

 impropriators. 



The complete and final commutation of tithes must be regarded as a 

 most valuable measure. It is perfectly fair to all parties, and is calcu- 

 lated to add security and permanence to the property of the church, 

 and to remove all grounds of discord and jealousy between the clergy 

 and their parishioners. Nor must we omit to mention an improve- 

 ment in the mode of recovering tithes, consequent upon the commuta- 

 tion. There were formerly various modes of recovery, in the ecclesi- 

 astical as well as in the civil courts, and before justices of the peace, 

 all more or lees leading to unseemly litigation. The present mode of 

 recovering the rant-charge, if in arrear, is by distraining for it upon 

 the tenant or occupier, in the name manner as a landlord recovers his 

 rent; and if the rent-charge shall have been forty days in arrear, 

 possession of the land may lie given to the owner of the rent-charge 

 until the arrears and costs are satisfied. Indeed, the whole principle 

 of the Tithe Commutation Act is to strip tithes of the character of a 

 tax, and to assimilate them as much as possible to a rent-charge upon 

 the land. [Tmiiso ; SIIIHK.] 



TITHING (Tithinr/a. from the Saxon, Thtothungc] is an ancient 

 municipal division of land in England under the .Saxon, kings. The 

 whole country was divided into tithings and hundreds by Alfred the 

 Croat The former was a district containing ten heads of families ; 

 the latter comprised ten tithings, or one hundred heads of families. 

 Every tithing had iU chief man annually appointed to preside over the 

 rest, who was called the tithing-mon or borsholder, and sometimes the 

 headborough or borough's elder. Each of these little communities 

 was bound to keep the peace within their own jurisdiction, and the 

 members were responsible for each other. So important were these 

 associations) deemed to be, that no man was allowed to abide in England 

 above forty days without being enrolled in some tithing. Although 

 the institution has long ceased, the name and division are still retained 

 in many iiorts of England. 



TITLE. [VEXDOM ATO PDBCHAEM.] 



TITLE-DEEDS. [Vcxooi* AD PCRCHAMBS.! 



TITLES OF HONOUR are words or phrases which certain persons 



are entitled to chum as their right, in consequence of certain dignities 

 being inherent in them. They vary in a manner corresponding to the 

 variety of the dignities, or, in other words, with the rank of the 

 possessor. Thus Emperor, King, Czar, Prince, are titles of honour, and 

 the possessors of the high dignities represented by these words are, by 

 the common consent of the civilised world, entitled to be so denomi- 

 nated, and to be addressed by such terms as Your Majesty an<! 

 Royal Highness. These are the terms used in England, and the 

 phrases in use in other countries of Europe do not much differ from 

 them. In fact one European nation seems to have borrowed from 

 another, or all to have taken their titles of honour for this exalted 

 rank from a common original ; so that little of the peculiar genius of 

 the European nations can be traced in the terms by which they show 

 their reepect for the persons of, highest dignity. But it in different 

 when we come to compare them with the Oriental nations. In those 

 eats of ancient civilisation the most extravagant terms of compliment 

 are in use, and a little sovereign of a wandering tribe rejoices in titles 

 of honour numerous and inflated in the highest degree. In the series 

 of Roman emperors, the word Ciesar, originally the name of a family, 

 became a title of honour ; Augustus was another ; and Pater Patriot a 

 third. 



The five orders of nobility in England are distinguished by the titles 

 of honour, Duke, Marquess, Earl, Viscount, and Baron ; and the persons 

 in whom the dignity of the peerage inheres are entitled to be desig- 

 nated by these words, and in any legal proceedings are to be thus 

 designated ; that is, the law or the custom of the realm guarantees to 

 them the possession of these terms of honour, as it does of the dignities 

 to which they correspond. They are also entitled to be addressed by 

 such phrases as My Lord, My Lord Marquess, My Lord Duke, and they 

 have usually prefixed to their titles, properly so called, certain phrases, 

 as High and Mighty Prince, Most Noble, Right Honourable, v 

 with the kind and degree of the dignity possessed by them. The 

 other members of the families of peers have also their titles of honour. 

 Thus the lady of a peer has rank and titles corresponding with those of 

 the husband. All the sons and daughters of peers are Honourable, 

 but the daughters of earls and peers of a higher dignity are entitled to 

 the distinction of being called Lady, and the younger sons of dukes and 

 marquesses ore by custom addressed as My Lord. 



The orders of nobility in other European countries differ little from 

 our own. They have their Dukes, Marquesses, Counts, Viscounts, and 

 Barons. We cannot enter into the nice distinctions in the dignities of 

 foreign nations, or in the titles of honour which correspond to tl 



The Baronet, which is a new dignity, not having been known 

 before the reign of James I., has, besides its name, which is placed 

 after the name and surname of the person spoken of, the privilege of 

 prefixing Sir ; and their wives are entitled to the prefix of Dame, and 

 to be addressed as My Lady and Your Ladyship. The title is, like 

 the titles of peers, hereditary. 



Another dignity which brings with it the right to a title of honour is 

 that of Knighthood, and this is not hereditary. This dignity is of 

 ancient origin, and, in the form in which we now see it, may be 

 traced far into the depths of the middle ages, if it be not, as some 

 suppose, a continuation of the Equites of Rome. Persons on whom 

 this honour is conferred take rank above the gentlemen and esquires, 

 and are entitled to the prefix Sir to their former name and surname. 

 Their wives are also entitled to prefix the word Dame, and to be 

 addressed by the compellation Your Ladyship or My Lady. The 

 knights of particular orders, as of the Garter, the Thistle, St. Patrick, 

 the Bath, are a kind of select number of the body of the knighthood ; 

 and the name of the order to which they belong i ordinarily used by 

 and of them, and thus becomes of the nature of a title of honour. The 

 Bannerets of former ages were a class of knights superior to the ordi- 

 nary knight-bachelor, forming in fact an order intermediate between 

 the knight, in its ordinary sense, and the baron. 



Besides these, there are the ecclesiastical dignities of Bishop and 

 Archbishop, which bring with them the right to certain titles of 

 honour besides the phrases by which the dignity itself is designated. 

 And custom seems to have sanctioned the claim of the persons who 

 possess inferior dignities in the church to certain honourable titles or 

 compeUations ; and it is usual to bestow on all persons who are 

 admitted into the clerical order the title of Reverend. 



There are also academical distinctions which are of the nature of 

 titles of honour, although they ore not usually considered to fall under 

 the denomination. Municipal offices have also titles accompanying 

 Uiem ; and in thu law there ore very eminent offices the names of 

 which Income titles of honour to the possessors of them, and which 

 bring with them the right to certain terms of distinction. 



All titles of honour appear to have been originally names of office. 

 The earl in England had in former ages substantial duties to ]>. 

 in his county, as the sheriff (the Vice-Comes or Vice-Earl) has now ; 

 but the name has remained while the peculiar duties are gone, and so 

 it is with respect to other dignities. The emperor or king, the highest 

 dignity known in Europe, still j>crforras the duties which originally 

 belonged to the office, or at least the most important of them, as well 

 as enjoys the rank, dignity, and honours ; and on the Continent there 

 are dukes and earls who have still an important political character. 



Whoever wishes to study this subject in all its details, will do well 

 to resort to two great works : one, the late ' Reports of the Lords' 



