The Sun.
London, England, 1837-03-04 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

Mr. Spring Rice, it will be seen by our P'nellamentary report,
eid before the House of Commons last nigh';, the leading points of
he measure for the abolition of Church-r Aes. Upon the whole
it appeared to give great satisfaction to the
11eformcrs, while it was
objected to by the Tories. Mr. Humeoiid, r
" It appeared to him
that a more healing measure could not l-
and that if carried it would put an end. ease been brought forward,
for ever to the general dis-
content which prevailed on the subj,
sort of security to the Church Es Ut, and thereby give the hest
lblishment." Mr. Aglionby
" strongly hoped and believed tha'e the
measure would give great satisfacti 0n to general principle of the
the country at large, and '
he esteemed one of the most heal's,. 'ls and wise measures that ever
was brought forward in Parliar f
Mr. Thonias Duncoinbe
also expressed himself in fave ant of the measure. Satisfaction
seemed to be the predomina at feeling with Liberal Members,
though different Members star
.ted objections to different parts of the
plan. Of the plan itself we r shall endeavour as well as we can to
put our readers in possessior In future the repairs of the fabric of
the Church, and the provh
,ion for the celebration of its services,
are to be defrayed entirel- f out of the property of the Church, out
of the parish estates now . applied in aid of the Church-rates, and
by the rent of a
one-fifth in some cases,
ttion of the pews ; the other portion,
cases, one-third in others, and one-
fourth in the rest being assigned as free sittings for the
use of the poor. Dissenters are exempted from serving the
office of churchsve eden, which officer is to be elected in future by
the pew-renters., .who,instead of the vestries, will also elect the
clerk, sexton,
of the Churcl- cradle, and other persons connected with the services
But coupled with this purpose is another, which
all real frie'' dof the Church have been most anxious to accomplish.
When, the
.tund out of which the Church-rates are in future to be
Paid 5na.,..1 have reached a certain amount, it is proposed to apply the
surritr se after defraying the above expenses, to the increase of
small . 'livings, for the benefit of that hardly-treated class, the work-
inclergy. But whence are to come the resources, for these pur-
-1 ',totes.' It is proposed to raise them by abetter management of the
land revenues cf the Archbishops, Bishops, and Deans and Chap-
ters. At present these properties are let on lease, renewable, by
usage,'for ever, on the expiration of the life or lives inserted in the
lease, or at certain recurring intervals, where the lease is held for a
term of years. But the Chancellor of the Exchequer considers
that although long-continued possession has created in the tenants'
minds a feeling of ownership, and right of perpetual renewal on the
old terms, this has not been uniformly respected when it was the
interest of the Bishop to refuse it, and, as the right is not founded
on any law, there are no means of enforcing it. But though the
interest of the tenant is thus precarious, that of the Church is not
' so much the better. The Bishop or ecclesiastical person having
the life interest, and, temporally speaking, no inte est in the suc-
cession, is anxious to make the most of the estate as long as he
lives. He does not, therefore, impose a rack-rent, which he may
not live to enjoy, but stipulates for a low one, with the payment in
hand of as large a fine as he can raise. The two parties arc thus
put in the position of the spendthrift and the usurer; each strug-
gling to make the best bargain, the one to make the most of his re-
version, and the other to pay as little as possible for a precarious estate.
The tenant cannot he supposed to expend money on improvements
with the same liberality as if he possessed a more certain title ; for he
knows that the value of these improvements may be wrested from him
with the estate by a more grasping successor, and the present in-
cumbent has little concern in improvements, which may never
yield to him, nor to any one belonging to him, an increased reve-
nue. The Government propose, as they have already done 'with
Crown lands and with the Church property in Ireland, to give the
property an increased value for the interests of the Church, saving
the interests of existing incumbents on the one hand, and of the
lessees on the other. Thus present Church tenants may either, if
they are so minded, take a new lease for 31 years, at a rack-rent,
the value of their existing lease being allowed to them ; or they
may buy a perpetual, indefeasible ownership in the land, in extent
equal to fee-simple, by making themselves subject to the payment
of a perpetual rent, varying, as in the case of the tithe-rents in the
Tithe Bill of last year, with the price of corn. This rent will be
computed with reference to the interest the tenante already possess
in the estate. The value of the estate in fee-simple will be com-
puted at 25 years' purchase, from which will be deducted filo-value
of the lease, which the tenant now has calculated at the rate
of 4 per cent.; lessees for lives will be allowed the advantage of
having the value of the lives computed from the Government
tables, by which the fullest amount will be allowed for them. The
value having been thus ascertained, the rent will be the interest of
that sum, at 4 per cent. subject to future variation according to the
price of corn. This will best be understood by a practical files-
tration :—Assuming the rental of the Church property now let on
renewable lease to be, as stated by the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer, 1,323,0001., the tenants' share of it is represented by the
difference between the whole rental and the sum which they an-
nually pay to the Church ou an average for fines, which is 261,000/.
The tenants! annual interest is therefore represented by, the diffe-
rence of these two, or a rental of 1,062,000/. Supposing an addi-
tional sum of 250,000/. to be raised by the sale of reversions, the
share left to the tenants is reduced by that amount; or that their
future interest will be represented by a rental of 812,000/. ; showing
a reduction of about 24 per eent. An equivalent for this reduc-
tion will be given by the increased value of the estate
which the tenants will then. possess in their portion of the
rental. Thus, suppose a tenant to have a Church lease worth
eighteen years' purchase of property of the value of 10W. per an-
num, the saleable value of that lease is therefore 1,800/. By the
additional reserved rent, amounting to 241., his leasehold 10e/. is
turned into a freehold of 761. ; which, being saleable at thirty years'
purchase, is worth 2,289/., or 480/. more than before. If, how-
ever, any lessee should prefer to enjoy his present estate, he will
have the option of suffering his lease to run do for the whsle term
' for which it was granted. In that case the funds which will not be
forthcoming from the sale of the reversion will be procured by sell-
ing annuities secured on those lends, and guaranteed by the Go-
vernment. This part of the scheme, however, is not likely, we
should think, to come much into operation. The measure is to be
carried into effect by a Commission, consisting of five dignitaries of
the Church, three Great Officers of Stare, and three paid Commis-
sioners, two of whom are to be nominated by the Crown, and the
other by the Archbishop of Canterbury, on the plan which was
adopted in the Tithe Bill of last year. The Church Commis-
sioners are to be the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Archbishop
of York, the Bishop of London, the Dean of St. Paul's, and the
Dean of Westminster. The other official Commissioners 'are the
Lord Chancellor, the Secretary of State, and the First Com-
missioner of Woods and Forests. A Minister of the Crown is sure
to be favonreblv received when he comes forward to announce the
abolition of a tax ; but the measure of which we have just given an
imperfect outline offers a subject of congratulation beyond the'mere
pecuniary relief from an odious imposition, which both Churchman
and Dissenter will rejoice to have paid for the last time. We allude
to the cessation of those unseemly and angry brawls which have
uniformly accompanied the agitation of the question of Church-
rates ; arid much will have been effected if the devotions of a Chris-
tian congregation nerd never again be disturbed by the thought
that the means of performing their public worship were purchased
by the desecration of the temple in which they were assembled.
We have already alluded to the opinions expressed by several Libe-
ral Members in favour of the measure. The impression seemed to
be, that whilst, On the one hand, the plan seeks a fund for the sup-
ply of the wants of the Church from the Church itself, on the other
it respects existing interests. It was, however, observed by Mr.
Aglionby, that there was an important distinction between lease-
holders under Bishops, and leaseholders under Deans and Chap-
ters. The distinction arose from this, that while a young.
Bishop would very often run his life against that of a tenant,
in the case of Dears and Chapters there was almost a
moral ,certainty that the lease would be renewed. It was
stated, in answer to a question put by that Hon. Gentleman
to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, that no distinction was made
between the two descriptions of ecclesiastical property ; that the
whole of the calculations were made in reference to ecclesiastical
property generally, Which it was eupposed was subject to precisely
the same rules. •In practice, however, we have occasion to know
that considerable difference is made, for constant usage has so
settled the proportion between the fines and rents in Dean 'end
Chapter lands, that a mortgagee invests his. money with perfect
confidence in the safety of his advance, on the principle of the usual
calculation. However, upon the whole, it seems to have been thought
by the House that sufficient allowance has been made in the scheme
for the interests of the lessee. One circumstance yet remains to
he noticed. Church-rates arc to be abolished ; but in the case
of particular parishes, in which debts have been already con-
tracted on the security of the rates, a parochial rate is to
be continued till the debt is liquidated. A plain principle of
justice requires that these persons who have lent their money on
the faith of an existing law shculd not have their security di-
minished, and, though in many parishes there may have been a pro-
digal expenditure, still the burden must be thrown somewhere.
Considerable apprehension seemed, however, to be entertained by
several Hen. Members with respect to the propriety of that part of
the plan which continues a parochial rate in particular parishes till
the debt is liquidated. The two Members for Lambeth. for in-
stance, assert that great injustice would be done to the Dissenters
of the parish of Lambeth, which was subject to a heavy debt. Mr.
Forster " saw in this arrangement a fruitful source of discontent,
and he did not think the dissatisfaction would be at all mitigated by
applications being made to the Court of King's Bench for writs of
mandamus to enforce a rate, instead of rates being voted in vestries
as heretofore." The care of superintending the repairs of paro-
chial churches and chapels will devolve on the Ecclesiastical Com-
missioners, who will apportion among the several dioceses the sum
which will be annually paid over to them from the managers of the
Church lands. It is not necessary to enter now into a discussion of the
details of that superintendence, which will probably resemble those of
Lord Althorp's Bill on the same subject. Little difficulty will be
found in this part of the measure. The hard problem was to raise
the means of expenditure in a manner which, while it should satisfy
every scruple of the most conscientious Dissenter, yet contained no
principle which has not been already recognised and defended by
those who are prone to assume to themselves the credit of being the
warmest friends of the Establishment. The Tories have incapa-
citated themselves from opposing tha measure now before the
House by sanctioning its principle applied to Ireland. They
are fond of telling us when it suits them, that the Irish and
English Churches are one, and, being one, the proportion be-
tween the Protestants and other sects in both kingdoms ought
to guide them, and not the proportion between the Pro-
testants and Catholics in one division of the Union. But
there seemed to be a disposition in some of them last night to
discover that there was really no 'analogy between England and
Ireland. Sir Robert Inglis communicated the important discovery
that many Dissenters were anxious to continue the payment of
Church-rates, and, by way of encouraging the general manifesta-
tion of this fondness, he quoted the authority of their great leader,
Matthew Henry. With all deference to the Hon. Member for
Oxford, and all due respect for Matthew Henry, we think we can
take it upon us to say, that the extinction of Church-rates will be
viewed as a calamity by very few Dissenters indeed throughout the
kingdom. It now remains to be seen how far the plan will give
satisfaction to the country generally. In the House, as we have
said, the prevailing feeling was one of satisfaction • and if greater
objections are not started by the country than by 'Hon. Members,
it may be concluded that the object of Ministers will be answered.
To please all parties, in a matter of this kind, is an affair Of no
small difficulty.—Morning Chronicle.
Mr. Rice, it will be seen, announced last night his own precious
plan for getting rid of Church-rates. It is, as we expected it would
be, a pure piece of thimble-riggery—another hocus-pocus of sur-'
plus-snaking. The Church lands are to be put into the ,hands of
Commissioners, who are to manage to screw and squeeze out of the
tenants an additional 250,000/. a year, and that sum is to be de-
voted to the purposes for which Church-rates are at present raised.
Three of the Commissioners are to be paid Commissioners—of
course. We say "of course," because, after an experience of five
or six years, the public may now be quite certain that the Whigs,
who came into office with a pledge that they would govern " with-
out patronage," never will suffer to pass, as they never have suffered
to pass, a single session, without increasing their patronage by the
creation of a number of new and costly places. We must defer
till another day all examination of the details of the scheme.
We were going to say that, in the mean time, we refer our
readers to Air. Rice's speech, but we are afraid our readers would
think we were laughing at them. Mr. Rice actually " occu-
h"tdatiVilfoor " (as his namesake, Jim Crow, would say) for two
The Duke of Cleveland, we understand, is seriously
fifty minutes, and we will venture to say that _ any man
indisposed at the house of his son-in-law, Mr. Mark Milbanke, with a taste, with the least pretension to knowledge
at Thorpe Perrow, near Bodale,..Durlaam Advertiser. I of business, and who was not eaten up with self-conceit, would