The Sun.
London, England, 1831-05-20 00:00:00

THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

The Scotsman of Saturday last, in a review
of the extraordinary Black Book, which, it says,
" ought to be in the hands of all Reformers,"
gives the following account of the Church of
England :

The author devotes 120 pageg to the Churches
of England and Ireland, two establishments
which, it requires no second sight to discover,
must soon come under the Reformers pruning
knife. As we have not room for extracts, we
shall confine ourselves at present to a few facts
and observations culled from this part of the
work. At this present moment the question is
often asked, " What are the revenues of the
Church of England r The author has col-
lected various documents which throw light on
this subject ; and comes at last to the conclusion
that these revenues amount to nearly 9,500,0001.
This is startling ; but the truth seems to be that
in the estimates, which make them much lower,
what may be termed the casual and extraneous
revenues are generally omitted. An article ap-
peared in the 58th Number of the Quarterly
Review, which gives a statement of the income
of the Clergy, but 'framed on the principle of a
pleading for the Church, and underrating its
wealth. According to this statement there are
in England-
-13,853,000 acres of land subject to Rectorial
tithes—valued at 3s. 6d. per acre £2,424,000
12,084,000 acres subject to Vicarial tithes—
valued at Is. 3d. per acre
1,000 perpetual Curacies, averaging 751 75,000
659 Benefices, not Parochial, 501.
8,000 Glebes, at 201. each

Income of Parochial Clergy £3,447,000
Income of I3ishoprics 150,000
Ditto, of Deans and Chapters 275,000

£3,872,000
The author makes various corrections in this
estsmate, first he refers to Parliamentary papers
to prove, that the returns under the Property
Tax, in 1812, made the tithes amount to
4,700,0001., notwithstanding evasions and
omissions. Secondly, the average of both kinds
of tithe, which in this table is 2s. sd. per acre,
was estimated in returns to the circular inquiries
of the Board of Agriculture at 4s. in 1790 ; at
ss. 30. in 1803 ; and Is. 94d. in 1813.
Taking the second of these as the present rate.
and deducting one-third of the soil of England
from the calculation as tithe free, or paying
tithes to lay impropriators, he estimates the pro-
duce now at 6,840,0001. - Thirdly, the Re-
viewer understates the revenues of the Bishops.
Last year, in consequence of the Archbishop,
of Canterbury applying for a private Act of
Parliament, it came out that his Grace's income
was 32,0001. per annum ! and the see of Win-
chester is supposed to be worth 50,0001. Taking
the valuations in the Liber Regis of Henry
VIII., for a basis, and .assuming the revenues
of the whole to have increased in the same ratio,
with those of some of its parts which are known,
it is found that the present value of the 26 sees
should be 297,000/. Applying the same rules
to the Deans and Chapters, their aggregate
revenues must now, be 494,000/. The sums
sunk, or mortified, as we say, in past
times for education, are another source of great
emolument to the Church. According to Par-
liamentary Returns, there are 3,898 School

'Charities in England, of which the Clergy enjoy
the exclusive emolument. We have a shining
example of this kind of abuse, in the Pockling.
ton School in Yorkshire, where a churchman
was receiving 9001. per annum for teaching one
scholar ! Then there are the wardenships, visi-
torships, provostships, lectureships, fellowships,
&c., in the Universities and great Schools,
which yield incomes from a few hundreds to
2,51)0/. per annum, all reserved for the Esta-
blished Clergy, and unattainable by Dissenters !
After this come surplice fees paid at marriages,
christenings, churchings, and burials, which Dr.
Cove, whose estimates are all two low, calculates
to yield 401. for each parish, or 500,0001. in all
England. Then follow Easter offerings of
hens, geese, turkeys, converted into pecuniary
dues, with smoke pennies, &c., yielding 80,000/.
more—Chaplainships to Ambassadors, public
bodies—Lectureships paid by the parishioners
in large towns—and lastly, the pecuniary grants
made by Parliament to the Church a few years
ago and continued. Putting all these together,
the amount is 9,459,0001.

Church Tithes ... £6,885,000
Incomes of Bishoprics .... 297,000
Estates of Deans and Chapters 494,000
• ••• ,
Glebes and Parsonage-houses O5O 000
•
Perpetual Curacies
Benefices not Parochial 32,000
Church Fees on Burials, Sce 500,000
Offerings or Compositions BO,OOO
College and School Foundations 682,000
Lectureships in populous' places 60,000
Chaplainships
New Churches and Chapels 94,000

£9,459,000
" The penury of one part of the Church is
not less objectionable than the bloated and sine-
cure opulence of another." The Diocesan
Returns of 1809 give the following classifica-
tion of Poor Livings :-
12 Livings not exceeding £lO per annum each.
72 do.
191 do.
353 do.
433 do.
407 do.
376 do.
319 do. ..... do. ... 80 ... do.
309 do.
315 do.
1,211 between 100/. and 130/.

This shows how the money lavished on the
English Church is expended. The men who
instruct the people, the working Clergy, as they
are appropriately called, are starved, while the
drones are pampered with princely wealth. Or
the condition of the Church may be aptly de-
scribed, by saying, that there is one class of men
who work for the tnoney, and another who live
idle and spend it !
There are 11,342 benefices in the English
Church, which are held by 7,191 individuals.
Deducting the revenue of the Bishops and Eccle-
siastical Corporations, the remaining 8,668,0001.
gives 7641. for the value of each benefice, and
1,200/. for the overage emoluments of each in-
cumbent. From this sum, however, the paltry
pay of the starved curates must be deducted.