and expedient, so that the same be not repugnant to these presents, or to the laws of this Our Realm." Regulations were added as to the mode of making, altering, and repealing by-laws.

The parts of the by-laws material to the argument and judgment, and not mentioned in the body of the case, were the following.

Chapter I.

"Section I. Every fellow who intends to propose any person to be a fellow of the Society, shall, before such person be proposed, make known to him the nature of the obligation into which he is to enter, in the event of his being elected; and also the sum which is to be paid for admission money, the rate of annual payments, *and the sum to be paid in lieu of annual payments, for the use of the Society."

[*796 "VII. No person elected shall be admitted a fellow of the Society, until he shall have paid his admission fee, and signed the usual obligation for the payment of yearly contributions, or paid the sum appointed in lieu of such contributions."

"X. No person shall be deemed an actual fellow of the Society, nor shall the name of any person be printed in the annual list of the fellows of the Society, until such person shall have paid his admission fee, and signed the usual obligation for the payment of annual contributions, or paid the sum appointed in lieu of such contributions; and no such person shall have liberty to vote at any election or meeting of the Society, before he shall have been admitted as directed in the preceding section." Chapter II.

"Sect. I. All fellows elected on or before the twenty-fourth day of May, 1802, who have already paid their admission fees, but have not paid the sum of ten guineas at one payment, in lieu of all annual contributions, shall pay to the use of the Society the annual sum of one guinea; the first payment to become due on the 24th day of May, 1803. Provided, however, that every such fellow may, at any time, compound for all future annual payments by paying the said sum of ten guineas, including the annual guinea which may be due at the time such composition shall be paid."

Sects. II., III., IV., V., make provisions for the payments of admission fees, annual contributions, or compositions, in the cases of fellows elected at times later than 24th May, 1802.

*VI. All yearly contributions shall be considered due and [*797 payable at each anniversary meeting for the year preceding; but no fellow elected on or after the first day of February in any year, shall pay the annual contribution at the anniversary meeting which shall immediately follow his election."

"VII. If any fellow paying yearly contributions should fail to bring, or send in the same to the treasurer, within twelve months after each anniversary meeting, unless the said payment be remitted in whole or in part by special order of the council, his obligation shall be put in suit VOL. III.-62

for the recovery thereof, and he shall be liable to ejection from the Society; upon which the council shall proceed as they may see cause." Chapter VI.

"Section II. No fellow shall be understood to have withdrawn himself from the Society, until he shall have signified such his intention by letter, under his hand, addressed to the president; and if such letter be not left at the apartments of the Society, between the twenty-fourth day of May in any year and the first day of February next following, the contribution of such fellow shall be understood to be continued for the whole of the year in which he shall have so withdrawn himself.” Chapter XV.

"Sect. I. The transactions of the Society shall be printed at such times, and in such manner, as the council for the time being shall direct, at the sole charge, and for the sole use and benefit of the Society." "II. Every fellow, whose payments to the Society shall have been paid up to the time of publication of *each volume of the Society's *798] transactions, shall be entitled to one copy of such volume; but no fellow who shall not have paid the sum appointed in lieu of all annual payments, or paid at least one yearly contribution at the time of publication, shall be considered as entitled thereto."

The Society was duly certified, by the barrister authorized for that purpose, to be entitled to the benefit of the statute. The by-laws of the Society provide that it shall not make any dividend, gift, division, or bonus in money unto or between any of its members, and have also been duly certified.

The officers of the Society are a president, a treasurer, a secretary, a clerk, librarian, and housekeeper, and a porter.

The business of the Society is managed by the president and such fellows as are members of the council in the manner prescribed in chapter XIV. of the by-laws: and meetings are held periodically, at which papers regarding natural history are read and discussed; and such of them as it is the sense of a standing committee of the Society should be published (by-law, chap. XIV.), are printed in their transactions.

Between 300 and 400 copies of the transactions are circulated amongst the fellows. Others are sold to the public. And about 50 other copies are gratuitously distributed amongst other institutions both at home and abroad. The printing, publication, and sale of these transactions do not defray their own expenses; and the only object of the Society, in so selling, is to reduce the expenses incurred by them in such printing, publication, and sale.

*799]

*Some of the fellows pay annual contributions. Others pay the sum appointed in lieu of annual contributions. The Society is partly supported by these several contributions. No contribution or payment of any kind is made by honorary members, foreign members, or associates.

The fellows are entitled to have gratis a copy of all those transactions which are published subsequently to their having paid the first annual subscription, or the sum in lieu of all annual contributions. The transactions are published by Longman & Co., booksellers, who sell them to the public by commission, at a fixed price, making to the purchaser, if he be a bookseller, the usual allowance of 25 per cent. Other copies of these publications are kept at the Society's house for sale, where they may be purchased by the public on the same terms as if bought at Longman & Co's. But all those fellows who may wish to have those volumes which may have been published before they became subscribers are allowed the booksellers' privilege of purchasing them at a reduction of 25 per cent. The only object in making an allowance to fellows on the purchase of volumes or parts of the transactions is to enable them to purchase at a reduced price those volumes or parts which were published before their admission as fellows.

The clerk, librarian, and housekeeper of the Society occupies, as his dwelling, two rooms within the house, No. 32 Soho Square, and wholly lives there. The library, museum, and other matters of the Society under the care of this officer are very valuable. The porter of the Society also dwells in the house No. 32. And it is admitted by the parish officers that it is convenient *and reasonably necessary [*800 that the porter should so dwell there. The clerk, librarian, and housekeeper, and the porter, respectively, receive salary or wages for their services, and pay no rent for the use of the rooms in which they dwell, the value of the permissive use of such rooms being however taken into account in fixing the amount of salary. The remainder of the apartments is entirely appropriated to a museum, library, and other rooms suitable to and necessary for the purposes of the Society: and no part of them is unoccupied.

The premises included in the rate were originally one house only, and formed the town mansion of the late Sir Joseph Banks, and were rated as one tenement (viz. as No. 32, Soho Square), in one sum of 1847. per annum. Sir Joseph's principal apartments were in the part fronting Soho Square; but the whole of that part of the house which was in Dean Street was also occupied by him; part of it consisting of his library, and the rest of it of apartments appropriated for the use of different portions of his family. Sir Joseph Banks, by his will, left the residue of a term which he had in this property to Mr. Robert Brown. Soon after his death, Mr. Brown underlet to the Linnean Society, not the whole house, but a certain portion of it fronting Soho Square, and reserved to himself the remainder, which he occupied. In 1851, Mr. Brown's lease expired. And, at the latter end of that year, the Society took from the freeholder a lease, for twenty-one years, from Michaelmas, 1851, of the whole property included in the respective assessments on the Society and Mr. Brown, and which had been pre

viously held by Mr. Brown; and on 6th May, 1851, by lease (which formed part of the case), underlet to Mr. Brown, for twenty-one years, wanting two days, *from Michaelmas, 1851, the same premises which he had reserved to himself when he underlet to the Society; that is to say:

*801]

66

Firstly: All that messuage or tenement, dwelling-house and private museum, outbuildings, part of yard, area, stairs to basement, enclosed passage, and other the premises coloured," &c., in the plan in the margin, which said premises are on the east side of Dean Street, in the parish of St. Ann, Soho, in the county of Middlesex, numbered 17 in the same street, and are situate at the rear of a certain messuage or dwelling-house hereinafter mentioned, situate and being at the southwest angle of Soho Square, in the said parish of Saint Ann, Soho, and at No. 32 in the same Square." And, secondly: "All such rooms and accommodations in the said messuage, No. 32 in Soho Square, as are hereinafter mentioned; that is to say, two rooms on the ground floor, marked," &c., on the plan; "one room on the second floor, on part of the same site, called the northern back room, the windows of which face to the west; two small back rooms (on the attic floor over the great room), the windows of which face to the west; together with the use, in common with the said Linnean Society, their successors and assigns, of the hall, staircase, and passages forming part of the said dwelling-house No. 32, leading to the said rooms and premises demised, for the purpose of passing and repassing at all times to and from the same."

*802]

The premises No. 17 Dean Street, firstly above demised, are wholly, and are alone, included in the assessment on Mr. Brown above set forth. Under such underlease, Mr. Brown has ever since *occupied and enjoyed the premises and rights so demised and granted to him. If the Court shall be of opinion that the Society are not exempted from the rate, the rating of 1247. is to stand as confirmed against them. If the Court shall be of opinion that such exemption exists as to all the property except the rooms used as residences by the clerk and by the porter as aforesaid, then the rate on the Society to be reduced to the sum of 247. rateable value in respect of such rooms only. But, if the Court shall be of opinion that there is a complete exemption from liability to poor rate in respect of all such premises, then the rate is to be amended by striking out the sum of 1247. inserted as rateable value in the said assessment on The Linnean Society: the parties agreeing that a judgment, in conformity with the decision of this Court, and for such costs as this Court shall adjudge, may be entered on motion by either party at the general quarter sessions of the peace for Middlesex.

Pashley, for the respondents.-It must be admitted that this Society is instituted for purposes of science exclusively, and, so far, is within the exception given by stat. 6 & 7 Vict. c. 36, s. 1. But a question

arises, whether it is supported wholly or in part by annual voluntary contributions," which, by the same section, is also necessary to the exemption. It appears that either annual contributions are paid, or a sum in lieu thereof, under ch. II. of the by-laws. There is nothing else in the nature of contribution; and this is not voluntary; for, if any fellow refused to pay, he would of course be ejected, under ch. II. 8. 7. [Lord CAMPBELL, C. J.-No one is compelled to continue [*803 a fellow. Suppose a party gave a bond, conditioned for the payment, would the payment be the less voluntary? If the undertaking to contribute be voluntary at the outset, does it become compulsory afterwards?] In Russell Institution v. Vestry of St. Giles, ante, p. 416, this Court, in a case not materially differing from the present as to this point, doubted whether the contributions could be called voluntary. By the by-laws, ch. VI. s. 2, the contributions are required for the whole year in the course of which the fellow withdraws himself, unless he has given notice in the manner and during the time there specified. The payment of rent by a tenant from year to year is not voluntary, though, by taking proper steps, he can put an end at once to the tenancy and liability. [CROMPTON, J.-Payment of rent is not contribution in any sense of the word. ERLE, J.-Suppose a man directs by will that his executor shall pay 1001.] That is voluntary on the part of the testator, but not on the part of the executor. The next question is, Whether the underlease of a part of the premises to Brown does not put an end to the exemption. As to the part let, the exemption seems not to be insisted on. [Cowling, contrà, admitted that there must be a rate in respect of so much.] The question still is, whether this does not destroy the exemption as to the whole. The premises must be occupied solely for the scientific purpose; it is not enough that the rent be applied to the purpose; Purvis v. Traill, 3 Exch. 344,† The Earl of Clarendon v. The Rector, &c., of St. James's, 10 Com. B. 806 (E. C. L. R. vol. 70). Regina v. Overseers of Manchester, 16 Q. B. 449 (E. C. L. R. vol. 71), may be cited on the other side but *The Earl of Clarendon v. The Rector, &c., of St. [*801 James's, a later case, appears to decide that in such a case the exemption is put an end to as to all the premises. Lastly, the occupation by the librarian and porter cannot be considered as an occupation for the scientific purposes of the Society: they hold, partly, in lieu of salary; and the case falls within the principle of Gambier v. Overseers of Lydford, ante, p. 346, which agrees with Regina v. Temple, 2 E. & B. 160 (E. C. L. R. vol. 75).

Cowling, contrà, was not called on.

Lord CAMPBELL, C. J.-I think the appellants are entitled to the exemption from rate. It is conceded that the Society is instituted exclusively for scientific purposes: that fulfils one condition of stat. 6 & 7 Vict. c. 36, s. 1: the case is very different from that of a musical