The Sun.
London, England, 1838-05-04 00:00:00

CHURCH PROPERTY.

Lord JOHN RUSSELL, inrisiiigtOl;;POse a Select Committee
to inquire into the mode of granting and renewing Leases of
the landed and other property of the Bishops, Deane, and Chap-
ters, and other ecclesiastical bodies of England and Wals,
and into the probable amount of any increased value, which would be
obtained by an improved management, with due consideration of the in-
terests of the Established Church, and the present lessees of the Property,
said this was a subject of great importance, and one which had not been
brought forward in the present Parliament; and he had therefore
at first thought it would be desirable to state generally the nature
of the propositions which had been brought forward by the Go-
vernment, either in conjunction with or separately from the Eccle.
siastical Commissioners, with regard to the Established Church
of England and Wales. But upon further consideration he thought
that this would be inconvenient, as tending to mix up with the sub-
ject under their consideration other and various questions, lie thought,
however, that in bringing forward this subject, that was rendered neces-
sary, by frequent appeals which were made to the public, representing the
Government as disposed to deprive the Church of that which legitimately
belonged to it. There was no proposition which had ever emanated
from the Government, which would deprive the Church, which
had hitherto enjoyed it, of that income which belonged tither to
the hierarchy or to the lowest Curate of the Establishment. He would
now proceed to state shortly the amount of the revenues of the Church,
as stated in the returns of toe Ecclesiastical Commission appointed
before the Government of Lord Grey came into office. By
those returns it appeared that the gross annual revenue of the
Are piscopal and Episcopal Sees was 181,6311; that the gross an-
nual revenue of the Cathedral and Collegiate Churches was 9.84,241/.,
and the gross annual separate revenues of the members of the
Cathedral and Collegiate Churches was 75,854/., and that the
gross annual revenues of the benefices was 3,197,4251, making altoge-
ther the gross annual sum of 3,728,9511—(Hear, hear.) Very nearly
the whole of those revenues were appropriated to those purposes—to
the repair of the cathedrals, and to pay other expenses properly belong.
ing to the Church. The net revenues of the Archbishops and Bishops
amounted to 160,2921., giving an average income to each of 2,956/-
The annual revenues of the cathedrals and abbeys were 208,287/. giving
for the support of each of the members on an average 6641. (as we
understood). The net annual revenue of the benefices was
340,7241. Now, neither by the Act respecting the commutation of
tithes,, nor by the Act providing for the disposal of the episcopal reve-
nue, nor by the Act which they introduced last year respecting Bishops'
leases, had they (the Government) proposed that this gross income
of the Church should be in way diminished.—(hear, hear, hear.)
'raking the increase which had taken place in many of the
rent charges, owing to the Tithe Commutation Act, and taking
also into account the fees whirls had been taken in places
where small incomes had been returned to the Commissioners,
he thought that the gross annual revenues of the Church
might be stated at about 4,000,0004, or the nett annual revenues at not
less than 3,500,000/. That was the property which the Commissioners
proposed to distribute, still maintaining the Church in the possession it.
Whether it is fit or right that the Archbishop of Canterbury and the
Archbishop of Durham should have 20,0001. a year each, or that those
incomes should be diminished as the Commissioners recommended,
or whether the Chapters should be reduced from the present num-
ber of twelve, down to four Members, as the Government had proposed;
this at least could not be doubted or disputed, that however the revenue'
of the Church were te be distributed, that income, according
to all the
propositions which the present Government had ever brought forward,
was continued to!the Church—to be still the property of the Church—
for all the purposes of religious instruction, for which it tva'
originally conflded to the clergy.—(llear.) He must say, that he
should have thought, such being the case, some of the vitu-
peration that had been lavished on Ministers might have been
spared, and those who attended political dinners might have
stated
what really was the fact, instead of stating the direct contrary.—
(Cheers.) Supposing it was said there should be no reform in the Church
and ecclesiastical matters, the sum arising from Church Le"'
might be made productive of great benefit to the Church. It
was said if the property of the Church were directed by Act of
Parliament into other channels, it might be appropriated to carry on
the war in Canada, or any other secular purpoSe. Into that argument
it was quite unnecessary that he should enter, because without attempt-
ing to say in what way the increased property to be derived from the
better management of the church lands should be hereafter applied, he
and his colleagues held it a fixed principle that it should be devoted to
a purpose clearly anti deeply connected with the church.—(Cheers )
Many Hon. Members opposite,
he believed, were of opinion that these
funds should be applied to the education of the people. Her Majesty's
Government, on the contrary, thought that the preferable application
would be to devote them to getting rid of what had constituted for
many years past a subject of contest, dissension, and dispute--he meant
church-rates; and with this view to dedicate them to a purpose which
nobody could deny was connected with the church, namely, to the re •
pairs of the fabric of the church itself—(Bear, hear, hear.) Having
stated thus much with respect to the general object he and his colleagues
had in view, and presuming that it was neither necessary, or indeed ex.
pedient, that they should then discuss or decide what should be the
eventual application of the fund which it was expected would be
created, he should at once address himself to
what he consi-
dered were the two prints for their immediate consideration
...—the one being, that some change in the system of leasing Church