The colleges were, in almost every case, founded by
private munificence, and in most cases were commenced during the
lifetime of the several founders; but when we come to look into the
sources of the college revenues we find that the actual gifts of
money, or indeed of lands, was less than at first sight appears. A
very large proportion of the endowments of these early colleges came
from the _spoliation of the parochial clergy_. Popular writers
in our own time declaim against the horrible sin of buying and
selling church preferment, as if it were a modern abomination. Let a
man only spend half an hour in examining the _fines_ or records
of transfers of property in England during the fourteenth century and
he will be somewhat surprised to discover what a part the buying and
selling of advowsons played in the business transactions of our
forefathers five centuries ago. Advowsons were always in the market,
and always good investments in those days, But not only so. A pious
founder could do a great deal in the way of making perpetual
provision for the mention of his name by posterity at a small cost if
he took care to manipulate ecclesiastical property with prudence.
There was a crafty device whereby the owner of the advowson could
_appropriate_ the tithes of a benefice to the support of any
corporation which might be considered a _religious_ foundation.
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