ears and receive a new one for forty years. As prices rose
tenants were willing to pay a consideration for the renewal known as a
"fine"--this was calculated on the full letting value of the estate at
the time of the renewal, the rent reserved remaining at its traditional
amount. At first this fine-money was regarded as a species of surplus,
and grants were made from it to Fellows or scholars who were ill or in
special need of temporary assistance. The cost of entertaining royalties
or other distinguished visitors, and part of the cost of new buildings,
were defrayed from this source. In the year 1629 the practice arose of
dividing this fine-money up among the Master and Fellows in certain
shares, and the money so paid became known as the "dividend." At the
present time the College property is managed like any other landed
estate, and after the necessary expenses of management and maintenance
have been met, and certain fixed sums paid to the scholars and
exhibitioners, and to the University, the remainder is by the statutes
divided up into shares called dividends, each Fellow getting one
dividend, the Master and the members of the College Council receiving
certain additions calculated in dividends; there is a general
restriction that the dividend shall not exceed L250 a year. The fall in
the value of land at present automatically provides that this limit is
not exceeded; if the revenues become more than sufficient for the
purpose, additional fellowships and scholarships must be established.

The reader will gather that the chief endowment of the College arises
from land. The College estates lie scattered over most of the eastern
side of England, from Yorkshire to Kent. There is no large block of
property anywhere. The estates in past times, when means of
communication were poor, must have been difficult to visit. In the
leases of the more distant farms it was usual to stipulate that the
tenant should provide "horse meat and man's meat" for the Master and
Bursar and their servants while on a tour of inspection. That some care
was bestowed on the management is clear from the regular entries, in the
books of accounts, of the expenses of those "riding on College
business." Probably the estates were visited when leases came to be
renewed, and an effort made to discover the actual letting value of the
property. Land agents seem to have been first employed to make formal
valuations towards the end of the eighteenth century, and