The National Register. — London, England, 1813-12-12 00:00:00

79(i T WATCHMAN: No. 5. - •••••••••••••••••.. Ah, •ed restrse ! a stripling of the gown Neer holds. the vicarage, hat lira in town.—LT NCH: NON-RESIDENT CLERGYMEN. PARLIAMENT has repeatedly felt it imperatiie to inter fere -respecting the discussion that now solicits our consi deration. If the implied compact still subsisting between Church and State, in this realm, be indeed a virtual one, as some have assumed it to be—resting on the adequacy of the ecclesiastical establishment to supply the spiritual neces sities of the population of the country,—then the Non-re sidence of Clergymen, being calculated to defeat the great ends for which their order was originally founded, is nothing less than a national grievance, and nearly alike injurious to themselves and to the state. Notwithstanding the " Provi sions of the Act for Enforcing the residence of Spiritual Persons on their Benefices," however, and the clear and urgent manner in which our " Bishops, in their Charges de livered to all their Clergy, on their respective Visitations, have, for many years past, endeavoured to inculcate the ne cessity of ftesidence, together with a more frequent petf,rm once of Divfne Service," and notwithstanding that their • I.o7dship, the Bishops, have recently laboured to direct the attention of their respective Clergy more particularly to the provisions of the before-mentioned Act, still it would appear that the Non-relidence of Clergymen is one of those public evils which have already been described as having increased,' being increasing, and which, therefore, ought speedily to be diminished ! It is evidently of little avail, ecclesiastically con-. templattd, n hat provisions ate legislatively made for the ivotection and permanence of an Established Church—unless t )e.tninisters- of that church, impressed with their responsi tility, will conscientiously devote themselves to the interests sof the establi , innent by which they are thus fostered, pro- reeled, and supported. \ I Lord Redesdale, it may be recollected, was somewhat ' • • . rrontL7ally reproved, according to the reporters of our de bates, for some strictures on the clergy, which he took an pppot tunity of expressing, 'during the evening of the 17th of May last, in his place•in Parliament, upon the order of the day being read for taking into consideration the Report • on what was then called 1 The Curates' Bill.' It was easier to-ridicule, than to invalidate, the statements his Lordship had made. Every one who is actually acquainted with the manner in which the duties of the clerical calling are too frequently performed,—independently of the mischiefs aris ing out of non-residence !—nitist have known instances in which, as his Lordship then said, " curates would ride from parish to parish," sabbath after sabbath, 44 with such' pre cipitancy as to render their conduct indecent, 1111(1 . 13ring dis grace on their profession ;" while such an observer might have seen, what his Lordship also stated as fact, the "cler gyman who so far neglected his duty, from his anxiety to proceed and return, that he would asceid the reading-desk, and so rapidly dispose of the service" as to induce a farmer's wife to rise up in her pew, and insist upon his resuming the desk, in order to the dee performance of his duty. Such are, and too many there are, those our • %hipping clerks, Who, with a jockey's speed, trom morn to night, Gallop amain throng,' sermons, s ervices, And dirty roads ; and barely nd the day Sufficient for their toil!' Reflections of. this nature are again forced on the public mind, by the cireu.nstance of the Legislative ilaviitz m:s WE NATIONAL REGISTER. DEC. cently passed Mr: Bathurst's Bill for the Staying of all Pro secutions against the Clergy, however instituted, under the. Act of the 43d of his present Majesty, on the score of Non-residence.. 'Upon the introduction of Mr. Bathurst's Noli-Prosequi Bill, one Mr. William W right, formerly acting as Secretary to dive's Bishops, and who, availing himself of his official knowledge, had commenced Actions against cer tain Nonresidents, not only pc titioned . the two Houses of Parliament, that Mr. Bathurst's Bill might not piss into a law, but, at the same tune, explained the grounds on wioch this prayer wsa . prefer red. The contents of this Petition would be considered at any petiod as sufficiently inlet esti ng ; but they appear to be pcculiarly important at the present hour. Respecting the point of Nun-residence, it is ex. pressly stated, by Mr. Wright, that thci e tee 10,301 Benefices in England and Wales, of whi:...11 -6311 were without any resident Incumbent.; while ;:s few , resident Curates wee left to supply their piace;—that 4734 Benefices were destitute of any kind A' resider 4 Minister ! The mischief does not ter initiate 11. re. Non residence is stated to have lessened the pert ice of the Es tablished Church ; so that some 46 Churches have had the Duty diminished from Twice, on each Su,.d.-.y. to Once ;" and,. Moreover, that whet e the Duty (Oh, this h .ekneyed phrase!) hid been pet formed but once in the coins:. of the Month, the Incumbents even refused to accept an augmen tation of stipend, though offered them, on condition of per. forming Duty once . a thrinight ! Others, it seems, declined to accept such angmentation_ for increasing the duty, from once a Fortn:ght to - once a Week ; and, indeed, says mr. Wright, " to such in alarming extent has a Neglect of the Performance of the sacred Duty of the Church arisen, that one Parish, wherein the Sacrament was formetly admit three times every year, to.about ten Communicants at each time, it is this year (1S13) returned to the Lord Bishop-- that this sacred Rite has not been administered for Six Years!" Parsonage-houses, accordingly, have, in many places, become utterly dilapidated,—some being now described as 64 unfit houses" or " metre cottages," others as 44 hovels ;' while, within the environs of London, some are let out as taverns, eating houses, offices. for traffick, and gin-shops ; and one or two, here and there, have been, until very lately, " occupied in a manner not proper to be named." Cdr tainly all this is likely enough "to prove the-ruin of the Ecclesiastical Establishment" of this realm, if it be not re sisted and remedied. Can reasonable men wonder that Sectarists flourisb in our isle, when such is the fatal situation of the Established Church ? Not only is the ordinary provision of this church barely sufficient for the wants of those committed to its care ; but what' it possesses of the heavenly manna, the bread of life, is not even distributed so as to benefit the souls it was intended to feed. "• Tell it not in Gath !" • Yet these evils, concerning the Establishment, cannot be -denied ; and, where this is the case, 'it is better that they should be candidly confessed, and forcibly pointed out. Silence mostly begets suspicion. Let us, therefore, on this occasion at least, acknowledge the dilemma, to which, as defenders of the national church, we are reduced ; let tss, also, whilst we oppose innovation, endeavour after amelioration ; since, by conceding that which we are conscious to be wrong, wej shall be emboldened more effectually to maintain that which we are convinced is right. * -4' There are, I am sorry to say," ohserves one Lord Bishop, now in the Henri!, to Mr. Wright, 66 more than two or three Cler gymen, in this Diocese, who undertake the care of fonr,.and, in some eases, of five Churches : it is unnecessary to add, that when ever this happens, the principal Past►►rai Duties must be sadly performed, if not totally neglected," 64. e.