2 Meteorological Diaries for December, 1794, and January, 1795. 16S calm 92 48 30 42 70 42 39 14 1.8 blue fky, fine day .3 black sky, rain at night .6 blue sky, fun, showers P.M. 0.9 dark fky, rain at night, very flight showers 1.2 blue fky, delightful day .5 dark sky, no fun .5 black clouds, fun and pleasant .6 dark fky, cold day, fnow and fleet at night .7 clouds, thaw, but fair .6 obfcure sky, mist 36 &NW moderate 77 42 .3 26 N calm clear fky, boisterous night 2; N calm 28 N calm overcaft, mild thaw, frost at night 29 N calm bine clouds, mild and pleafant 30 NE calm overcast, mild and pleasant 38 31/N calm .9 fome blue, mild and pleasant 7. Flocks of fieldfares on the wing.-10. Hoar frost.-14. Gossamer floats. Infecis fporting in the air. A very mild conclufion of the year. Calmness and serenity has been prevalent. The froft has been remarkably mild, and has afforded an opportunity for several agricultural operations heretofore impracticable, the lands being fo foaked with continual rains. Different works have been prosecuted with great ardour. Fall of rain this month, 1 inch 7-10ths. Evaporation, 1 inch 9-1oths. Fall of rain the whole year, 39 inches 9-1oths. Evaporation, 29 inches 2-10ths. N.B. No account of evaporation in the month of January last, the veffel being burst with the froft.Walton, near Liverpool. METEOROLOGICAL TABLE for January, 1795. Height of Fahrenheit's Thermometer. W. CARY, Optician, No. 182, near Norfolk-Street, Strand. THE (3 Gentleman's Magazine: For JANUARY, 1795. BEING THE FIRST NUMBER OF VOL. LXV. PART I. Mr. URBAN, I Jan. 2. CANNOT exprefs the pleafure I experienced in reading the very liberal and excellent let ter of your worthy correfpondent, Caledonienfis, in your truly valua ble Magazine (LXIV. 987). Surely the poor clergy must be much obliged to you, fir, for your rea dinefs to infert in it whatever may tend to meliorate their fituation. They are very much to be pified indeed. Pitied, indeed, they are, but not relieved. If "every clergyman in Scotland, of the Established Church," by a late regulation, will" have a clear annual income of 100l. or guineas, independent of his houfe, garden, and glebe," why thould not the poor curates in England be im proved a country, where there is fuch a wide difference in the manner of Ir ving, and the price of every neceffary of life? Surely fomething ought to be done for them: for fuch, I mean, as have no fellowship, nor private fortune, nothing but a poor curacy to fubfift, or rather farve, upon; for here, I think, a diftinction ought to be made. With regard to their petitioning parliament for relief, it may be objected, perhaps, that this is not a proper time, when innovation of every kind is fo much and truly to be dreaded. It would, however, be fome alleviation of their diftress, to be affured that their grievances fhould be redreffed at the return of peace. In the mean time, it would be no bad policy to confider how much influence they have on the people, and whether the doing of fome thing for them immediately may not at tach them more firmly to Government than fome of them appear to be, and prevent the prevalence of leveling principles in the Church, which mult certainly endanger it, and, confidering the very close alliance between Church and State, the latter too perhaps. Having entertained the higheft fentiments of esteem and respect for the truly worthy Bishop of Landaff, ever fince his kind endeavours to better the fituation of the inferior clergy, I was furprized to find from Caledonienfis that his lordfhip refused to interest himself in the favour of those gentlemen who met forie years ago at Prefion, in Lancashire, to perition for relief. As I am unacquainted with what paffed on the occafion, I fhould be much obliged to any of your correfpondents, Mr. Urban, to inform me of the particulars, and what realons his lordship affigned, if any, for his refufal. The good bishop, if I mistake not, once withed every clergyman to have tool. a year. This would certainly make them very comfortable, and, even in thefe days, refpected, as well as refpe&table. They might then be able to fave fomething for the day of ficknefs, and confequent incapacity for difcharging their duty. The fituation of the poor clergy, under thefe diftreffing circumftances, is peculiarly wretched. I could fay much on this fubject; but will no longer detain Mr. Urban at prefent, as A. B. has anticipated me in a letter, which appeared in your Magazine (LXIV. 233.), and which I am sorry to fee fo long unnoticed, as every one muft with fomething to be done for the inferior clergy in this kingdom, who is, like your prefent correfpondent, A FRIEND TO THE CHURCH. P. S. A. B. laments that, while fuch liberal provifion is made in many parts of the kingdom for clergymen's widows, there is none, at least that he knows of, for poor clergymen them!elves, and particu arly thofe who are unable, through ill health, to difcharge their functions. I wish I could inform him of a fuitable provifion made for thofe of the clergy, who are so peculiarly unfurtunate. Mr. Urban, however, will have the goodness to inform him, that there is an annual donation of 101, each to ten poor Plan fuggefled for bonorary Premiums to Farmers, poor curates, left by a Mr. Stock, and g ven fomewhere in London. I find that this year it has been beñowed on ten clergymen, not one of whole lalaries a mounts to more than 30l. a year, and one to only 131. Add to this, that they have all large and young families!! In fhort, the total amount of their falaries is 221. and the number of their children 69 !!! Are there thing to, Mr. Urban or, rather, should they be fo? I must leave it to fome other of your correspondents, who are better acquainted with fuch matters, to inform A. B. who Mr Stock was; and will only add, that I have heard, or read, of a Mr. Browfter's charity for poor clergymen, Dr. Bulby's, and Bishop Crew's. The laft is, I believe, confined to the hundred of Sparkenhoe, in Leicestershire; but fome one will be fo good, perhaps, through the medium of your very valuable Mifcellany, to give him a full and accurate account of thefe excellent charities. Jan. 5. Mr. URBAN, FR valuable Magazine I ROM your receive monthly no fmall thare of pleafure and inftruction, and in my turn have occafionally contributed to the amufement and information of some of your numerous readers. From your name alone (letting afide former experience) I need not doubt your urbanity to spare a column for the fo low. ing letter, which has certainly fomething of the utile, in it if not of the dulce; but I hope that it will prove to feveral as well delegando as monendo. I am one of those unfortunate beings, who, from fome peculiarities of fenti ment, am not a pleafing companion to the world in general, and, being thus a good deal fecluded from fociety with the living, of course I affociate not a Jittle with the dead, by reading and reflecting upon their litere fcripta, and tometimes have recourfe to the fame means of perpetuating fuch thoughts as occur to myfelf. Now, the fame caufe which fo much debars me of fociety will probably debar me from ever attaining to the honours and advantages of the world; for I cannot flatter, nor fay yes! when I think no! but always fpeak with that upright and downright fincerity which with others to fpeak to me. If I could play the fycophant a little better, perhaps I might fucceed as well as fume other of my brethren have done in different ages, and now do; and, be [Jan fore long, fhould fee my name among по However, thould fuch an event ever take place, I mean to adopt the followipe plan; but; as I fee na likelihood of its being foon, and as many good ichemes hve been rendered abortive by the intervention of death, I thall not wait for the actual accomp ithurent of my defign, but be as well contented with the merit of having fi fuggeted it, as if I had been the first to put it in practice. It necd not be faid by me, for it is felfevideat to all pen, that it is one effen. tia! part of every minifter's duty to exdeavour to be upon good terms with his parishioners, and it poflible (for in lome infiances may not) to live peaceably with al men. He should ftudy every bonourable method to conciliate the affections of is people towards him, that they may both refped the office and love the man; and certainly there are meny ways of effecting to defirable an obje, which will be attended with very little inconvenience, and not much expence. Now, fuppofing that I was the rector of a country parith, the majority of my flock would probably be in the agricul tural line. Some upon a larger scale, and others in gradation, down to the cottager. The plan I fhould have recourfe to would be to publish on the church-door, that to the farmers who produced the beft ten acres of wheat, barley, or oats, I would relinquish refpectively the tithes of those acres for that year, and either give it them in current cath, or in an honorary filver cup or medal of equal value, as thould beft fuit their own withes. The award fhould be by proper judges, viz Skilful and impartial; and on Michaelmas day would requeft the whole of them (if my houfe could contain them) to take their goofe, plum-pudding, and home-brewed Odober, at the rectory, and then receive at leaft the award, if not the reward, of their indußry. Now, Mr. Urban, can you difcover any thing in this plan that is objectionable. In my opinion, this would be a much better method of dwelling amongst my parishioners, than behaving with a jupercilious rejerve, as though they were a race of beings unworthy of my company; (fuppofing the farmers in general not to be as karned as as their priests, yet they may be of as good principles, and as found natural uzderfanding, as he is!) and by affociating with them in this friendly manner, if I acted with a dignity becoming my profeffion (fuch as checking their riba dry and blasphemy), they would infenfibly acquire a polish of manners very different to that boorifhnefs and obfcenity, which, (1 am forry to fay it!) too generally prevail among them now, because they affociate chiefly amongst themselves, or with men of profligate morals. The clergy themselves would, in the courfe of a few years, find the good effects of acting in this manner. They would not have so much grumbling as they now are obliged to hear, about Murmurs payment of their tithes. there would certainly be from thofe whofe leading chracteristic is avarice; but they would be much less frequent than they are at prefent. As to an abolition of tithes, which feems now to be fo ardently wished for by many, it would then (I think) fcarce ever be defired by any but fuch as thofe 1 just mentioned. For my part, Sir, I am fo thoroughly convinced of the jure divino right to fitbes, and that it is the most equitable and faireft mode of payment, that if ever the ftate concedes fo far to popular clamour (clamour raised by far tion, and Supported by ignorance and avarice) as to decres a commutation for tithes, the ftare fhall have a formal refignation of my letters of orders, nor will I ever exercife the paftoral office fo long as fuch a decree continues in force: but I trust that our legiflators have too much wildom ever to be the dupes of fuch-iniquitous artifice as to introduce fuch an innovation in our laws: which would in all probability produce fimilar troubles in this country to thofe which France has woefully experienced, originating from a fimilar caufe. The abolition that I fhould vote for is the abolition of avarice both in the clergy and laity; and then tithes will not feem fuch a burthen to the one, nor be too auxioufly fought after by the other. But I have here briefly touched upon a fubject which I did not defign when I fat dowu to write; therefore, to return to the object I had primarily in view, do you not think Sir, that fuch annual parish prizes from the rector (whether clergy or laynian) would be productive of great national benefit. Such an inflitution would be a ftimulus to indußry, and make almost every parish a little agricultural fociety. Now, whoever 9 ; SUGGESTOR. To |