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242 WILLIAMS' CASE.
the houses erected upon it, where the title is unquestionable; and
in cases of setting a value upon a life interest in land in proportion
to the estate in remainder or reversion in the same land under the
same tide, no contingencies, affecting its value, need be consi-
dered other than those of the expectation of the life. But, in mak-
ing an estimate of the value of other kinds of life interests, there
are other circumstances to be attended to besides the uncertainty
of the life during which they were to be held; the frailties of the
securities by which they are to be sustained during that time must
also be considered. For instance, what an annuity is worth de-
pends, in a great degree, upon the security given for its regular
payment; and in examining that security it will be proper, not
only to consider the pecuniary circumstances of the grantor; but
his expectation of life, the hazardous nature of the business in
which he may be engaged; (m) and also his prudence; for, al-
though he may, at the time, be in circumstances altogether unex-
ceptionable; yet his death, his misfortunes, or his indiscretion in
the management of his affairs may, in a short time, greatly impair,
or totally destroy the security for the payment of the annuity. In
these respects therefore, an annuity granted by a legally incorpo-
rated company must, in general, be considered as of much greater
value than one of the same amount depending upon personal se-
curity alone; because there is a steadiness in the transactions of
such bodies politic which, being the foundation of their credit,
gives a value to their security greater than that of an individual, (n)
In addition to all these various circumstances relative to the ex-
pectation of life, and the securities by which a life interest is to be
continued and sustained, it will be necessary moreover to ascertain
the annual product of the life interest in order to make a proper
estimate of its present value; for, apart from those things having
an imaginary value, such as jewels and the like, the true criterion
of the value of all property is the actual profit it may be made to
produce; and hence, it has always been considered most correct
to estimate the value of lands, annuities, &c. at so many years
purchase; or, in other words, that the whole estate may be esti-
mated as equivalent to so many years of its income paid at the
time of the purchase, (o) There is almost every where a material
(m) Ringgold's Case, 1 Bland, 26.—(n) Gibson v. Jeyes, 6 Ves, 274, 279; Ex
parte Thistlewood, 19 Ves, 236.—(0) Freemoult v. Dedire, 1 P. Will. 420; Flud v.
Flud, 2 Freem. 210; Badger v. Badger, Mosely, 117; Barnardiston v. Lingood, 2
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