and the rich rector enjoys the income of many thousands, enough to maintain all the families of all the curates of his diocese. Now, making an allowance for exaggeration, there is truth, and too much truth in this statement; and while we believe that the incomes of the prelates are rated a great deal too high, and perhaps that of the working clergy too low: and while we do not see any very good reason that the same argument might not be applied by a radical to the splendid income of the Duke of Northumberland or Devonshire, and his own starving condition, still there is matter-of-fact truth in the statement, and just so much as the public can apprehend, and the public will complain of. Every one who has eyes can see the anomalous splendour of the heads of that Church, which names itself by His name, whose spirit says, "give me neither poverty nor riches;" and every one who possesses feelings, has had these feelings harrowed up by representations, too true, of the penury and poverty of the working clergy.

“In vain shall we look through every order of civil society, or of military life, for such reprehensible discrepancies as disfigure, in this respect, our venerable and beloved church.... ....There is an incongruity in this state of things, contemplated in this one light. That a single minister of that church which, though in the world, is not,' (if a true church,) of the world,' should draw from the country far larger emoluments than those of any of its civil or military dignitaries, is truly and absolutely incongruous....And here, where is the gentleman so low, so poverty-stricken, so depressed, as a very large portion of the active and efficient labourers in the rich and beautiful vineyard of the Church of England? In the sacred profession, as in others, it is to be expected that those who cannot obtain employment, or who have lost it, should be exposed to pecuniary distress. We speak not of these. We speak only of those who are spending their full strength in her service; and we believe in no profession-army, navy, law, physic-is such poverty and destitution to be found and that among those who have peculiarly and eminently the weight of the labour laid upon them. Where is the gentleman, in any of the other professions, who would receive cast-off raiment? And yet there are multitudes of gentlemen (gentlemen in every sense of the word,) in this holy calling, who are now receiving with tears of thankfulness old clothes which our footmen and maid-servants would not wear.”—Riland, pp. 78, 79, 80.

And we would trace much of the evils that beset the church, much of the relaxation of discipline, much of the progress of dissent to this very cause, when the working clergy are forced to eke out their wretched* income, by having recourse to expedients which impede their spiritual occupations, and thereby scatter dissent, and immorality, and infidelity through their neighbourhood. It is not for us to say how these evils are to be met;the existence of the evil is certain, its withering effect equally on the internal state of the Church, and its external consideration is equally so; and we believe that not one even of those who consider the present state of our Church perfect, would say that thirty pounds a year is sufficient for the maintenance of a clergyman, or even, if he be a curate, seventy-five pounds Irish. We confess that it is with deep feelings of regret that we look at these things; and when every morning lays on our table, and every day presents in our newspapers, petitions from the widows and fami lies of deceased clergymen, left destitute, and thrown upon the benevo

"Dr. Yates (to whom the friends of religion are so much indebted for drawing the attention of the public and of government to the want of church room,) after carefully examining the returns of all benefices not exceeding £150, made by the Archbishops and Bishops to his Majesty in couucil, tells us, that, notwithstanding the operation of Queen Anne's bounty since the year 1703, assisted as it has been to a large amount by private munificence as well as by Parliamentary grants, there are still 3,589 parochial benefices not exceeding £98 per aunum; that there are 4,809 without fit habitations for the residence of the incumbents; and that there are still more than 1000 livings under £60 per annum, and 422 under £30 pounds. There are, I believe, few thinking men in the country who do not wish that the incumbents of these benefices could have a more ample provision."-Church Reform, pp. 61, 62.

lence of the public, we feel that notwithstanding the exaggeration used too commonly in speaking of the Church of Ireland and its income-we feel that such is not the attitude in which her ministers should be seen by the public, that she is not entitled to solicit alms from that public, which has, in spite of all her spoliations, left her enough to serve the cause of God and of man.

It may then be asked with reason, are not the evils connected with the unequal distribution of Church property plain and obvious? What remedy can be suggested, if the difficulty of interfering with the vested rights of individuals prevents the application? Must not the legislature assume a power of control to render any plan efficient. It is not for us to suggest the remedy; but we would use the language of one of the authors we have cited, and let him show that the evil is not so inveterate but that it can be provided for:

"It is, thence, a question deserving very serious investigation, whether a portion of sinecure and of cathedral estates should not be applied to the support of the Church, adding to it the fund already in the hands of the commissioners. The measure would probably tend to allay the public irritation; and would coincide with one great object of the hierarchy, the provision of opportunities for religious worship among our increasing population.

"About forty years ago, certain prebends in the cathedral of Lichfield were abolished, and their proceeds applied to the repair and decoration of the fabric. After the fire at York Minster, it was proposed to pursue a correspondent plan, in the restoration of the choir. If these things are allowable for the mere shells of the Establishment, why should not the salaries of indigent clergymen be augmented by similar measures ?"— Riland, p. 112.

"One of its first steps should be the permanent annexation of the secondary sinecures in cathedrals to those parochial benefices which have attached to them the largest amount of work, and the least amount of emolument The stalls, which I would permanently annex to small livings, are the SECONDARY stalls, of which there appears to be about 342....There is something painful and revolting in the idea of a clergyman anticipating pecuniary benefit to himself from the death of a fellow-creature, or talking, according to the common expression, of running his own life against the life of his tenant. Again, the whole system bears the uncertain character of a gambling transaction. It has much the nature of a lottery, in which one man gets a prize, (a prize occasioned by the death of a fellow-creature,) when perhaps he does not particularly want it; and another man nothing, when the chance of the prize has led him into acts of improvidence. Clerical income should, as much as possible, be reduced to certainty, the life of order and good management.

"I am confident that such annexation of apparent sinecures, to the ill-endowed and laborious parochial benefices in the diocese in which the cathedral is situated, would be conducive to the promotion of the best interests of religion, and would be highly satisfactory to the public.

“A similar arrangement might be made with respect to sinecure rectories. The very name of sinecure contributes to lower and to weaken the Church in public estimation, "Something of the spirit of the arrangement which I have suggested, has recently been exemplified in Ireland. In the cathedral of Connor were three dignitaries, the Chancellor, the Archdeacon, and the Precentor. They had no duties to perform, but their emoluments arose from the great tithes of thirteen parishes. The present exemplary Bishop of Down and Connor procured an act of parliament, by which those tithes were restored to the churches of the parishes in which they accrued. The three best of the livings thus endowed were annexed to the three dignities; but the three dignitaries, in return for their emoluments, have each a laborious parochial charge to attend to, instead of possessing a mere sinecure. From my recollection of the act, which stands among the public acts of the year 1824, it seems that, before this measure, the thirteen livings averaged about £100 a year each, and that they now average about £300."—Church Reform, pp. 64, 65, 66, 71, 72, 73.

In truth, the reasoning and feeling portion of the public is not difficult to satisfy; let but the heads of the Church show the inclination to sympathise with, and to relieve distress, and they are content; let not the large incomes of the prelates-incomes assuredly given for pious works, for the maintenance of religion, for the support of hospitality, not that which vies with the nobles and the princes of the world, but which collects around them their clergy

of all ranks, and which "becomes a reservoir to feed the poor;" let not their incomes appear to be directed exclusively to the aggrandisement of their family, and abstracted from the public service, as if it were not in the bishops' hands a sacred trust for that public, and in larger measure to be employed for its necessities. The remedy, the immediate remedy, is in the prelates' hands; let a portion of their income, according to its magnitude, be allocated for the purpose of increasing the poorer livings and curacies;* let this be placed under proper securities for their incumbency; let the principle extend, and each man, whose income exceeds a certain sum, tax himself in proportion to that income, and the sum would soon gain in each diocese a sufficient amount to meet the crying evil which has made more. men Church Reformers, than all the other complaints against the Establishment; but let it come from above. If the bishops do not set the example-and we know there are many who would gladly do it the inferior clergy cannot be expected to pursue this course, while they see their superiors in the Church, without apparently a thought upon the sad situation of those around them and beneath them; the very intimation of a wish for the formation of such a fund, would be deemed an insult to their superiors; and thus, the timidity of some, and the indifference of others, call down upon the Church the censure of the well-judging public. Hence too, the evil of pluralities: many parishes are incapable of supporting a clergyman, and meeting the demands upon his bounty; and to remedy this, another parish is given to him, at such a distance perhaps, that he cannot possibly superintend its spiritual concerns; and the example of that which originated in mistaken benevolence, becomes influential for evil; and unions, and pluralities, and all the train of spiritual miseries consequent upon them, follow. Every parish should have its resident minister; and if the duties require it, assistant curate; and where the income, tithe, and glebe, do not support the clergyman, the residue should be made up from the superfluities of others: at first, during the present incumbency, a voluntary tax; but perhaps it might subsequently be deemed expedient to give the benefice subject to such allottment. All sinecures, with very rare exceptions, might, as they dropped, be applied to such a purpose, and thus one other great ground of complaint be removed. We are no advocates for equality; we must deem any plan that would prevent the aristocracy from becoming interested in the Church and its prosperity, that would offer no rewards for honourable and literary exertion, that would present no resting-place for the laborious defender of the rights of the Church, or the interests of our common Christianity-we would deem such a plan peculiarly liable to objection; but, on the other hand, we know the feeling of the time, and we know the demands of charity, and benevolence, and Christian feeling: and while we see that the whispering of policy, and the interests of the Church, and the common principles of our common humanity, protest against the evils now existing, we have no hesitation in saying, that if a remedy he not applied by those who can do it, those who either feel the

* In some instances the large livings might be divided, as few of them have been; the right of patronage remaining untouched and in every instance, the larger ecclesiastical incomes and benefices, of all descriptions, might be assessed for the augmentation of the less. A gradual scale of contribution might be made, an advancing rate of per centage, in proportion to the value of the benefice, and entrusted to the management of a special board. And this plan would involve no new principle; a precedent is already formed in the payment of first-fruits and tenths, which are now become not only comparatively trifling, but altogether disproportionate to the values of the respective liv ings.-Slade on Church Reform, p. 13.

evil, or pretend to do so, will be induced to attempt it; and woe to the Church, if the reforming hand of economists, and radicals, and pseudophilanthropists once be applied to its possessions and its privileges.

Upon another and a delicate subject connected with the revenues of the Church, we do not presume to speak; but we would present our readers with the sentiments of "The Churchman," whose tract upon the subject of reform is highly praised by the prebendary of Chester:

"Under the system of fines all is uncertain. Perhaps the expectation of the fine leads one Bishop into expenses which he is at last unable to liquidate. To another a large fine falls in, when he is just quitting this world; and what was intended for the decent support of one of the high officers of religion, goes to purposes altogether secular. A third, perhaps, is tempted, from regard for his own family, to make such arrangements with respect to leases and renewals, as (to adopt the language of Charles the First) almost undo his successors.'

All these evils would be remedied, if for the future (for I always make a saving for vested interests) all the landed property annexed to any bishopric, were to be administered by the chapter of the cathedral, assisted by the chancellor of the diocese....The sooner fines are got rid of the better... In the event of the continuance of fines, in consequence of the failure of such an arrangement as I have suggested, the chapter (as administrators of the revenues of the see) should receive the fine, and apply it to the permanent increase of the episcopal revenue. Surely it is desirable that a Bishop should be relieved from having any thing to do with such bargains."-Church Reform, pp. 105, 106, 107, 108.

We shall speedily return to the continuation of this subject, except our reforming legislature anticipates our monthly appearance. In all that we have said and quoted upon the subject, it has been with the most perfect conviction of the necessity of some such plan as that proposed, and with the equal conviction, that it belongs to the heads of the Church to carry it into effect. Responsible indeed are they before God for the use of the influence and power they possess; and it is our earnest and fervent prayer that they may be led by his wisdom to see what is needful for the present awful and threatening crisis, and be given energy to act equally indifferent to the suggestions of the false friends who would whisper peace, and to the threatenings of the open foe, who would "cry havoc and let slip the dogs" of reform at the possessions, and immunities, and spiritualities of the Church.

A few observations on the history and effect of tithes may not be quite irrelevant to the subject of this paper. We shall pot consider the vexata quæstio of a church establishment; to our apprehension the importance and value of it seems as clear as its scriptural character is obvious; and while we see an union of church and state rcognized in the civil and religious arrange ments provided for God's ancient people, we can no more understand why that union is deemed by modern dissenters to be unchristian, than we can conceive a chief magistrate converted to Christianity and not desirous of providing for his people, the permanent means of instruction in the religion which he had found to be conducive to his own spiritual welfare. We do not uphold the Warburtonian hypothesis of an alliance between the abstract ideas of church and state, for in truth the very individuals whom in one relation we would call the state, become under another consideration, the church; nor do we found the spiritual claims of the church upon its union with the state, or on that mode by which the state is pleased to support that mode of instruction which they deem the most perfect form of religion. The necessity for the ministers of religion devoting themselves entirely to the sacred office soon became so apparent, that even before the end of the second century, the custom of be. stowing permanent endowments on peculiar churches began to prevail, and Father Paul suggests, that cupidity had as much influence as bigotry in the early persecutions.

Without stopping to consider this point, or argue on the divine right of tithes, we are content to rest them on the plain ground of hereditary property. Laws and charters remain from the Saxon kings and nobles, endowing the clergy with them in England; and from the period of the conquest a series of legislative enactments, recognitions, and confirmations have deduced a title to this mode of support almost as old as the existence of a Christian priesthood; which in Ireland, as we have mentioned, the act of Henry II. confirms that possession which dates far anterior to any other property in this country. The reformation fully confirmed this right. If this be true, it would seem that the right to tithe is precisely the same that all private and public property possesses; and while we do not say that it is not susceptible of being modified or regulated by the legislature, or even resumed, it is no more liable to it than any other property, which being but a political creation is always liable to vary with law; and we add, that its being a gift, implies no more right of resumption than is contained in the nature of a gift. If it can be clearly proved that in its present state and character it is injurious to that society it was intended to benefit, or that the purpose for which it was given is impeded by its distribution, the public may think it necessary to regulate or to resume it; but by the same right it would interfere with all other property, which is just as liable to be influenced by what Burke calls "the Euripus of funds and actions." Is tithe in its existence an evil? To whom does its existence prove an injury? Not to the landlord, for he and his ancestors never possessed, or else gave it away; if he has purchased, it has been the nine tenths only that he purchased; if he inherit, it was the same he inherited. Not to the tenant, for he only pays rent for nine tenths, and has obtained a proportionable diminution in the rent. Abolish tithes, and the landlord claims an equivalent. It is not a tax on improvement, for the return of improvement to the agriculturer is always in a far greater proportion than the increase of tithe; and it is not a tax on the consumer, for the money price of the market is influenced by other elements than the manner in which the residue of return is apportioned. Tilhe is not a tax imposed by the legislature for the support of the church, but a vested right as old as the legislature itself, and which never has been the property of either landlord or tenant, which has been indeed guaranteed and sanctioned, never granted by the legislature. It has the advantage of keeping a fair proportion with the value of money, and thereby producing a varying income for the clergy, and being as it were intangible, it presents less temptation to cupidity than if embodied in any other shape. It is true that "violenti non fit injuria," and the clergy of the present day may consent to any commutation for themselves; but it may be doubted how far this should bind their successors to their prejudice; and the laity should hesitate at calling for a change that may give the clergy an excuse for converting their clerical into agricultural functions. We speak perhaps without information, but we should deem a composition far more likely to be permanently useful, answering as many good purposes, and liable to fewer objections than any commutation yet proposed.

• See 27 Henry VIII. 32 Henry VIII. 2 and 3 Edward VI. intended specially to meet the prejudices that might arise from the rejection of the papal authority,