THE TENANT-FARMER, 1583-1702. 805 



earlier entries were certainly written by the clerk who engrossed 

 the commons' books of the College at the beginning of the 

 century, for I instantly detected a handwriting which had 

 been so familiar to me in examining the King's College 

 accounts. 



The other is a manuscript volume, kindly lent me by the 

 Warden of New College. It is a similar record for this College, 

 beginning about the middle of the seventeenth century, and 

 carried on to the last quarter of the eighteenth. Dr. 

 Sewell tells me that it was always, during the time of the 

 beneficial leases, the duty of the Warden to fix the fine on 

 renewal. This book contains divers tables intended to assist 

 the Warden in fixing the fine, if he could only get at the 

 important factor: what was the rent at which the College 

 estate was sublet by the lessee, or middle-man ? If he could 

 find this out, it was the practice, after deducting the fixed rent 

 in money and corn, to take one and a-quarter year's improved 

 or rack-rent value for a renewal after a short lapse, as four or 

 five years, and a year and a half if the renewal was required 

 after seven years of the lease had elapsed. 



These leases, rightly called beneficial, were eagerly sought 

 after by the great landowners, who made a considerable profit 

 on subletting them. Thus in 1612 King's College let its manor 

 of Ruislip in Middlesex to the second Lord Salisbury, and 

 two others to Sir Justinian Lewyn in 1606. The puzzle for 

 the head of the College was to find out what was the rate at 

 which the land was sublet, and the note-book is full of hints as 

 to the means adopted in order to arrive at this important in- 

 formation. The progresses of the head and fellows were in 

 later years undertaken for this end. But even when they 

 gained or guessed at the information (and their own incum- 

 bents frequently helped them in the enquiry), it was not 

 always easy to give effect to their knowledge. The tenant 

 often threatened that he would not renew, though almost in- 

 variably he gave in at last. Perhaps too the corporation was 

 unwilling to offend a great man, who was their tenant, by 



