may, by virtue of the various statutes relative to those subjects, deduct the amount which he may be obliged to pay, out of the rent first becoming due by him; but it seems that such deduction must be made out of the rent becoming due for the first year of his tenancy; for in a late case, decided in the Court of Common Pleas, it was held, that if a tenant in possession does not deduct the amount of rates and taxes of this description from the rent of the current year, he cannot deduct them, or recover back their amount from the landlord, in any subsequent year. And though the taxes (assessed and parochial) which may be in arrear, cannot legally, as it is erroneously and commonly supposed, be recovered from an incoming tenant (or probably from the landlord of the premises), yet he may be put to some trouble to exonerate himself from the under-hand exactions of tax-gatherers and collectors, who not unfrequently pocket arrears of taxes of this description, and return the outgoing tenant as a defaulter, without taking notice of the little circumstance, that, by dint of threats and other ma

noeuvres, they have found the incoming tenant so weak or timid, as to be duped or frightened into a compliance with their illegal demands. But to obviate any imposition of this sort, or the inconvenience and loss of time and money in resisting the illegal exaction of outgoing tenants' arrears of rates and taxes, or the obligation of paying any arrears of landlord's rates or taxes, incoming tenants should invariably require an indemnification, and, for greater security, in the presence of one or two witnesses, from the landlord on these accounts, as also from all arrears of rent, if they take possession from an outgoing tenant without having previously taken the precaution of being accepted by the landlord; and though it is not absolutely necessary, yet it is a prudent precaution, and will, at least, save their time, to get themselves accepted by the respective tax-gatherers and collectors*.

It is a precautionary measure of no less import, that outgoing tenants should take care to discharge all arrears of taxes, or give notice to the respective tax-gatherers and collectors, of the place to which they are about to make removal, otherwise they incur penalties, and may be subject to expensive Exchequer prosecutions for their recovery.

Besides these precautionary measures, an incoming tenant should next ascertain what fixtures belong to the landlord, and what to the tenant, in case he has to purchase fixtures; for should the outgoing tenant or vender sell any fixtures belonging to the landlord, or which he has himself put in or erected, the purchaser or incoming tenant cannot remove them, if they, as the lawyers term it, savour of the realty, that is, are so attached to the premises, that they cannot be removed without defacing or otherwise occasioning them an injury. But as in forming a correct opinion in this particular, it requires a very nice and exact judgment of the LAW OF FIXTURES, to determine what fixtures and erections are, and what are not "landlord's fixtures," so as to enable a true valuation to be made of that part of a purchase of the goodwill in the PUBLIC LINE, it is advisable, in all cases of the kind, particularly where any difficulty occurs out of the usual routine of business, to take a legal opinion on the subject. Nor is the precaution less neces

sary, that the party letting, assigning, or granting an under-lease, has a sufficient title for that purpose, as, in the absence of such title, the purchaser or incoming tenant is liable to be sued by the party having the legal title, as a trespasser (a case not of unfrequent occurrence), and to forfeit not only all fixtures and repairs he may have put in or done, but of course he runs the hazard of losing the purchasemoney for the goodwill; his only remedy being an action against the vender, who, if he be "a man of straw," or without principle, relieves himself from all responsibility to the "Law's angry visitations," by a matriculation in "His Majesty's College of Justice-Banco Regis,"-where, in his "low estate and fallen circumstances," he is rapidly initiated and rendered adroit in all "the mysteries of the temple of credit system"-the "law's quirks, quibbles, uncertainties, and delays," and learns the whole art and legerdemain of flooring" a poor wight of a creditor, or an inexperienced or a short-sighted purchaser of goodwills. From these homely

and simple truths, every sensible man must be convinced of the folly of being his own lawyer; and that it is far better economy to give a few pounds to an honourable and a skilful professional man, than to incur the hazard of putting in jeopardy more than as many hundreds of his property.

Having premised these precautions, which I am willing to believe my readers will not deem "a work of supererogation," I shall proceed to state the necessary preliminaries for obtaining a license. But it seems necessary to observe, that, in order to prevent fruitless expenditure, loss of time, and probable inconvenience, every person should, before he determines to enter into the PUBLIC LINE, consider within himself, whether he is aware of any legal disability, or any imputation or misconduct to exist, which may possibly disqualify him, in the opinion of the Magistrates, from having a license granted him; for if it be shown, that by any misconduct or moral delinquency, he is not a fit and proper person to be entrusted with the ma

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