II.

"What shame or what bounds can there be to our lamentations for one so dear?"-Horace, Ode i. xxiv. i.

If I forget thee for awhile,

Then, like some mournful strain,

Thine image seems to chide my smile,
And o'er me comes again.

O'er each still hour it comes from far,
With thoughts of childish years,
Reflected, like a heavenly star,

In the deep fount of tears.

"Concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope."-1 Thess. iv. 13.

That fount of tears, it hidden lies
Within my Saviour's breast,

And I will leave thee in the skies
And that deep fount to rest.

O Thou who know'st our secret frame
And every inmost grief,

In Thee I leave that long-loved name,
And find in Thee relief.

III.

"Children cannot attain the perfection of virtue, nor the happiness attending it; we call them happy in hope.”—Aristotle, Ethics, L. 1, c. 9.

Still virtue labours 'mid the sky

To set her citadel,

Where visitants may come from high,

And Contemplation dwell.

She climbs; hill rises after hill;

The sun seems to alight;

Ever before, but distant still,

It sinks, and leaves to night.

"Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of heaven."-St. Mark, x. 14.

The weary, weak, and leaning child,

Upon a parent's breast,

Which lays, o'ercome with wanderings wild,

Its head, and is at rest:

Sole emblem such, to young or old,

Of all on earth we find;

Which angels may with joy behold;

Faith's meek reposing mind.

"Quis desiderio sit pudor aut modus
Tam cari capitis."

The Editor begs to remind his readers that he is not responsible for the opinions
of his Correspondents.

TITHE COMMUTATION ACT.

SIR,-In pursuance of the recent "Act to Regulate Parochial Assessments," 6 and 7 Will. 4, cap. 96, one uniform mode of rating for the relief of the poor throughout England and Wales will be established after the 21st day of March next, founded upon the net annual value of the several hereditaments rated thereunto; subject, however, to the proviso that nothing in that act contained shall be construed to alter or affect the principles, or different liabilities, (if any,) according to which different kinds of hereditaments are now by law liable. It therefore is important that the true nature of those principles and liabilities should be clearly understood, in order that the expense, and other evil consequences of litigation may be prevented. And this appears more desirable with regard to ecclesiastical benefices, when we consider the extensive change which will shortly be effected in property of that description. I have lately paid much attention to this subject; and now offer the result to your consideration, with the assurance that I most conscientiously believe the principles laid down to be those' which are, of necessity, deduced from the several statutes and decided

cases.

"The Court of King's Bench can lay down no general rule for the proportion to be observed in rating; the proportion must ever depend upon local circumstances."*

In estimating the assessable rent of a farm, the gross value of the yearly produce being ascertained, certain deductions must be made thereform; the

* R. v. Sandwich.

remainder will be the rent for which the farm would let, by which rent the rate for the poor will be regulated; and “whatever be the proportion of rating in a parish, whether to the full value or otherwise, the rate must be equally made on all persons; there cannot be one medium of rating for one class of persons, and another for another class."

"And the same principle of rating must be adopted whether the party be owner and occupier, or occupier only." "The principle of the decision (of the Court of King's Bench) is, that the same rule is to be applied to all occupiers, and that the rent, or sum at which the land will let, is the criterion of the value of the occupation;"-" that part of the rent which goes into the pocket of the landlord, and which is the rent paid by the tenant, after deducting taxes and charges of collection."§

In estimating the relative assessable values of a farm and an ecclesiastical benefice, either "the farmer's share of the profit ought to be rated, or, which is the same thing, the incumbent should be rated proportionally less. Of the whole annual profits or value of land, a part belongs to the landlord in the shape of rent, and part to the tenant; and, whenever a rate is according to the rack-rent, (the usual and most convenient mode,) it is in effect a rate on a part of the profit only. It must, therefore, in the next place, be ascertained what proportion the rent bears to the total annual profit or value, and that will shew in what proportion all other property ought to be rated. If, for instance, the rent is one-half or two-thirds of the total annual profit or value of land, the rate on all other property should be on a half or two-thirds of its annual value The ecclesiastical dues ought to be allowed to the incumbent, because they are payable by him in respect of his rectory, and the profits of the rectory constitute the only fund out of which they can be paid; but the expenses of providing for the duties of incumbency ought not to be deducted, because the duties are personal, and ought to be performed personally by the incumbent.",

If we apply the foregoing data to the rating of a farm and of tithes, making similar deductions from the gross value of each, the remainder will be the rateable value of the respective tenements at a rack-rent.

R. v. Mast.

3. Poor rates, county rates, highway rates, repair of chancel, ecclesiastical dues; also the average annual cost of the repairs, insurance, and other expenses (if any) of house and buildings. (See 6 & 7 W. IV. c. 96, s. 1.)

4. Profit as remuneration for superintendence, i.e., maintenance of occupier, bearing the same proportion to the value of the tithes, after the foregoing deductions have been made, as the profit of the occupier of a farm bears to the net value of the landlord's rent. 5. Remainder, or rateable value of tithes.

+ R. v. Trustees of Duke of Bridgewater. R. v. Oxford Canal Company; see also R. v. Adames. $ R. v. Tomlinson. || R. v. Joddrell.