The National Register. — London, England, 1808-05-01 00:00:00

.'" . THE , t• No. 18. / SUNDAY, POLITICAL DISQUISITION. Di UMBER EIGHTEEN. ON " THE BILL FOR BETTERING THE CONDI- TIOX OF STIPENDIARY CURATES." --.,,,,mi1.- The condition of the inferior Clergy in this kingdom has long been matter of lamentation with rational and equit able men : but except the donation which was made by Queen June, of certain revenues resulting to the Crown from rich benefices, (a donation commonly known by the name of Queen .zinne's Bounly,) nothing material has hitherto been effected for the amelioration of their cir cumstances. A Bill is at length however pending in the House of Commons, from which some benefit is undoubt edly to be expected : and although we are not of opinion that it remedies, in one tenth part, the grievances which are allowed to exist, yet we are glad to catch at a little benefit in the absence of complete alleviation, and we hail this Bill with the more satisfaction, because it does not ap pear to preclude the possibility of further reformation. This Bill enacts, that in all cases where a spiritual per son shall he non-resident for more than three months to rethei, or four months at several times in.one year, it shall be lawful for the Bishop to assign to the Curate a salary, which, with his former stipend, shall not exceed one-fifth of the usual value of the benefice, if that value shall exceed four hundred pounds clear of all expellees but the payment of the Curate; and it the spiritual person shall have omit ted to nominate a Curate, and shall neglect to do so after monition from the Bishop, the Bishop may appoint a Cu rate, with such salary as aforesaid, and may assign a resi ante in the Parsonage house, or an allowance not ex ceeding thirty pounds in lieu thereof—Provided nevertheless that in no case the salary shall exceed 250/. per annum, tnleis with consent of the incumbent, who shall have the power of returning to his residence at any time giving six months notice. The Bishop's authority is to be exercised in a summary way, and comprises powers of revocation : and from the Bishop there is an appeal to the Archbishop both for the Incumbent, and for the Curate, the appellant 'riving security for costs. Spiritual persons, in every no thiTrition of a Curate, are to state the amnia' sum agreed to he allowed, and the annual value'of the benefice : and all ii:;reenieuts whereby a Curate may undertake to accept 1 , -;, than the Bishop or Archbishop is enabled to grant, or than shall be stated in the nomination, shall be void, and the Curate shall be entitled in law to recover the re mainder. It will be easily seen that the number of persons who (in be benefited by this Bill must be very small indeed. For it makes no provision for any but Curates, and the provision th a t i t ma k es for Curates i 5 a provision only for i !t: Curates of benefices worth more than 400/. a-year. o w the number of benefices worth more than 4001. a-year s very'small in proportion to the number of benefices of Ac AVlll.—Vol. I. iataimil riacrg"T F f:. .~.. -A NATIONAL REGIST,ER. Our king, conAitution, anb • ~~# PIO "•+ -.4(1110. 4 4 i %IS 1.41,:i f Ptf• — , *2ll erltsi r 10040 0 -144 MAY 1 , 1808. . PRICK 84 • • all kinds existing in this country. It has been computed (and for the arithmetical statements in detail we refer our readers to Burn's Ecclesiastical Law), that of our 10,000 parishes upwards of five thousand furnish less than 50/. a-year to the incumbents of their respective benefices. What must be the number then of livings amounting in value to 400/. a-year, which is the sum specified in the pending Bill, our readers will easily guess. We have not been able to ascertain the precise number of such u s inns : but when we obsen e that more Ulan half the benefices of the country are of an annual value under 50/. and when we consider that, of the richer livings, a very large proportion is in the hands of Jay proprietors, for whose Vicars or Curates no provi sion is pointed out by this act, we cannot but fear that few, very few persons, will be materially benefited by the measure.. With regard to the exclusion of lay appropriators and their Vicars from the operations of this measure, we by no means approve the present Bill: for though we should k think it unjust to blame the Chancellor of the Exchequer Who introduced this Bill, for not having introduced a Bill that might thoroughly reform the Church, yet IYhen we see him proposing a measure for the remedy of grievandes which oppress two classes of people, namely, the Curates of the Clergy, and the Curates or Vic::rs of Laymen, anti see that the nu:attire propte;e4 ears ;is fact rentigy the grievance only inasmuch as relates to one of ttose classes, namely t...e Curates of the Clergy, leaving the Curates and Vicars of Laymen to complain of the unj:lst partiality by which they are excluded—then we do feel it our duty to vindicate the rights of the excluded class, and to represent the necessity of extending to them the privileges that are to bt. extended to their brethren. Perhaps it may be urged, that the Curates or Vicars of the laity can have no right to complain, because the certain permanency of their cures, which belong to then' for life, has placed them already in a better situation than the removeabie Curates, for whose benefit this Bill is in tended. But if we consider the principle of the Bill, we shall find that this is no answer at all to our claim in favour of the omitted class. For the principle of this Bill evidently is, That it is just and expedient that a par " lion of the !ergs rrrenues paid certain puri;hes for the " support of their churches, shall be taken away from those " who enjoy a ripenue without performing the duly, in " order to make a v.:plc:lent provision for the maintenance " of those by whom the duties of such churches are actually " perf'ormee." if this be the principle of the Bill, which' we believe will hardly be denied, then we ask—Ought not the person performing the duties of a Church for a Lay Appropriator to be as sufficiently and , respectably sup ported, as the person who performs the duties of the Church for a spiritual Parson ? And that, whether his pre seat insufficient maintenance be oily temporary, or whe ther it be the stipend upon which he may linger out :a miserable maintenance till death ? Nor let it be oNected • that this argument would apply to ail poor Rectors, and principals of livings, as well as to Curates sad Vicars. 444: lers -- .malpi 'M lot -17 ~ _ 4, l •' 1114 5 j Ant: