130 ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH IN ENGLAND, 



society from its foundation, has been inserted in the third 

 volume. Here there are two great heads of receipt ; the rents, 

 properly so called, i.e. customary and fixed or fee farm-rents, and 

 those derived from short leases or annual holdings. The 

 account is for two years. The payments made by those who 

 had been tenants in villenage and are now tenants by custom 

 are annually 8 lys. 7,d. The rents of assize are 3 izs. id. 

 There are other payments of the same kind, and besides the 

 familiar rents of capons, hens, and ploughshares. As before, all 

 the rental is treated as a liability of the collector. 



Besides, there are lands let to farm. Three manors, let an- 

 nually, are on a lease often years at the several rents of ^8 13^.4^., 

 12, i$s. 4</., and 16. It appears that in these no stock is 

 leased with the land. And there are besides certain fixed 

 perquisites of the manor court, and certain casualties of a pro- 

 fitable character. The annual profit of the estate is altogether 

 6$ i2s. 6d., though this is not only the gross income, apart 

 from expenses, but inclusive of irrecoverable claims, which are 

 annually reckoned as income. The debit side of the collector^ 

 account is not only swollen by these items but by 2,2,0 is. 

 of arrears. 



On the debit side are stated certain sums which have not 

 been, or cannot be collected, owing to the uncertainty which 

 existed as to what were the lands liable to distraint, a trifling 

 sum for repairs to the manor house, some charges for enter- 

 taining the warden and fellows on progress, to view th< 

 property (from which it seems that the warden rode to all th< 

 college estates once a year, accompanied by one of the fellow* 

 and two other fellows made a second, probably a spring visita- 

 tion), some small casual payments, connected with the ordinal 

 business of the estate, the expenses of the seneschal or stewarc 

 and the fee of this official of the college, Sir Thomas Monl 

 gomery. The net receipts of the college for each year amount 

 to 51 2,s. $d. But the collector remains formally liable tc 

 240 43. 4\d. One of these liabilities is for an annual renl 

 which has been unpaid for ninety-five years, i.e. almost froi 



