of which I must possess a better knowledge than they can possibly have. As, however, they have given confident opinions upon matters which lie very little in their way, I may be allowed simply to state the impression upon my mind respecting the alleged fact of which I am now speaking-until I saw the Appendix to the Commissioners' Report. That impres sion, my Lord, certainly was-that the insecurity, as to the validity of moduses, presented no such difficulty in point of practice-that the title to the estate could not be thereby affected, but only the title to a collateral relief-that the value of such relief was seldom demanded or paid, in the transfer of lands by sale—that the best Conveyancers and most extensively employed Attorneys disapproved of a security, on the one hand, or of a payment in respect of the prescrip tive relief, on the other-that consequently the disappointment sometimes experienced by the purchaser of an estate, who hoped that a reputed modus would have continued, is not unlike the disappointment of him who expected to have discovered a lead or coal mine, without having paid any consideration for the imaginary treasure-and that, even if cases have occurred of an opposite nature, they would be found to have been comparatively rare. But although I was justified in this opinion by instances which came with. in my own knowledge, and by information, which I received from men of greater experience, I readily admit that my opinion in this matter is of no conse quence whatever, in comparison with that of Mr. Tyrrell and others. There is one remark, however, which I am competent to make, viz., that the asser

tion, respecting the harm occasioned to the land-owner by the privilege of the Church, is too broadly stated -for a large portion of the lands in England has not passed through any sale whatever in modern times a very large portion, indeed by far the greater part is subject to the payment of Tithes in kind-and nearly one-third of the existing moduses are not due to the Church, but to Lay impropriators. Besides moduses very seldom cover corn-tithe, but only hay or milk, or lamb and wool, or some species of small Tithes; and, therefore, when an extensive property is for sale, ne consideration is given to a modus extending only to a part, or a modus for certain descriptions of small Tithes, even if it extend over the whole estate-and although, in a very few instances, a question as to the validity of a modus may be made the excuse for nonfulfilment, yet the true cause is, that the purchasing party has begun to discover that he is about to conclude a bargain, which on other accounts is undesirable. Upon the whole, I cannot see that the privilege enjoyed by the Church is likely to affect many sales, and certainly not so many as to justify the very great stress, which has been laid upon it, as an objectionable part of the present Law.

Again, it is said that a limitation must be put to the claims of the Church-because the Title of the Clergy improves with time, whilst that of the owner of the estate to the protection is daily getting worse. My Lord, I know enough of Tithe-law to be able to give this assertion the most unqualified contradiction; and I do affirm that it is the Landowner's title, and not that of the Church, which improves with time.

C

The Common-law right of the Rector, and the endowment of the Vicar, (either expressed or from circumstances to be inferred,) are all the advantages which, according to the present law, are peculiar to the church-but these convey only the Title-they have no effect whatever upon a modus, which is held to be a legal rendering of Tithes; and it is, therefore, absurd to say that time improves the Title of the Church. But a reason is attempted to be given in the Appendix for the assertion, and a strange enough one it is-that there may have been a Composition real, which, like other ancient documents, may have perished, or its existence have become unknown to a modern proprietor. Is there, then, my Lord, an intuitive knowledge, confined to Clergymen, of the existence and lurking-places of documents ?—Is there some property in the ink and skins or paper, used by the Clergy, of a peculiarly imperishable nature, or a principle of vital re-productiveness in their writings, which enables them periodically to throw off fac-similes of themselves-for how otherwise are these, any more than other writings, unlikely to perish? Those Gentlemen ought to have known, at the very moment when they were writing, that if an ancient composition had been the origin of any existing modus, such fixed payment would, generally speaking, be more easily established upon subsequent evidence, as a modus-than as a composition real, on the production of the original deed-for such deed would immediately be subjected to a severe scrutiny; and from all we know of existing documents of that nature, it would, in general, be destructive of the pro

tecting claim, owing to some informality attending it. Such documents, although they gave rise to many payments, which are continued to this day, were very rarely indeed any thing more than a composition between the Incumbent and a Proprietor; sometimes the patron was a party, especially if he had lands in the parish, but the ordinary seldom was. The proprietor is, therefore, a gainer by the presumption, which the law, as it now stands, allows in favour of a modusand every Attorney's Clerk can tell a Client that no safer ground of defence can be taken.

If we consider what are the documents, which come down to the two parties, the Incumbent and the Proprietor, and the different circumstances which attend their transmission, we shall find it extremely difficult to divine what those legal respondents meant, when they affirmed that the title of the Church improved, whilst that of a protection from tithes was weakened by time. For myself, I am inclined to suspect that they had no meaning at all-but I will, nevertheless, give their case the benefit of a fair trial.

I will suppose, then, that a payment, in lieu of Tithes, has subsisted so long, that many documents, which might have thrown light upon its origin, are likely to have perished-does the title to the protecting payment become more doubtful by such antiquity, whilst that of the Clergyman to tithes in kind improves ?—and would the title to the protection have been comparatively stronger, if the origin of the payment had been more modern? A modus is the defence and there is not an advantage, or a class of evidences in support of the Clergyman's claim, which

is not greatly overbalanced by corresponding advantages and evidences on the other side. Has the Church the privilege of bringing forward proof from any period since the time of Richard I., and may not the Laity do the same thing, in support of a modus ? The great public offices, where documents are preserved, are as open to the one party as the other. Does the Bill set forth the plaintiff's title ?—the answer upon oath is sufficient to meet it on the part of the defendant. Are Predecessors' books admitted ? so are those of Stewards in favour of the protection. Are Terriers referred to ?-so may Terriers be, on the other side. Are ancient surveys used these can seldom be made to affect a modus; and if they could, little or no credit is given to them-but bargains of sale, and old receipts may be used, with effect, on the other side. Are former trials, if they have taken place, liable to be produced by the plaintiff?-they may be equally useful to the defendant. And, in general, if no time run against the Church, no time, on the other hand, runs against the length of presumption founded on living testimony. This is the great advantage which always belongs to the defence. A few living witnesses, even if their perfect recollections had not returned to them till the day before their examination, are presumed to tell the only true story of the days of Richard the First-and every document on the part of the plaintiff is explain ed away or softened down, and every evidence of the defendant is interpreted and strengthened, so that the tale of these old people, and it alone, may be the true one at last. Again-if the modus had been of