The Sun.
London, England, 1835-01-30 00:00:00

1696, we find the following passages, which, although
a century and a half have nearly passed away since, are
about as applicable to the state of the Church as they

were at that time :
" The condition of many livings in this kingdom is most mi-
serable. Many have not twenty pounds, and in some places!
three of them put together do not amount to forty pounds a
year, which is the case in Wales at the present day. A poor
clergyman may be scandalous, but he must be contemptible.
and ignorant. To this, in a great measure, we owe the,
Atheism and impiety, the sects and divisions that are spread
over the nation.

" It would be a noble demonstration, both of zeal for the,
honour of God and religion, and affection for the Church of
England, if the King would appropriate this revenue to the
raising of the livings in this nation to some just proportion,.
beginning at those in Corporations and those within the,
King's gift, but not excluding others, upon condition that the,
King shall have his turn in presenting, in proportion to the
augmentation that shall be made by this provision. A Corpo-
ration might be settled, as was the case from the reign of
Queen Elizabeth down to that of Charles 1., with power to re-
ceive the gifts of charitable persons to the same pious end ;
and all Bishops, Deans, and Chapters, might be obliged to pay
towards it a fourth or fifth of every fine they received."
•

Bishop Burnet wished to-have the maxim practi-
cally recognized in the spiritual vineyard, which says
that the " labourer is worthy of his hire." He saw,
and was afflicted to see, the great inequality which ex-
isted, as to a large proportion of the working Clergy,
between the labour to be performed and the remunera-
tion received. By obtaining the Act for the establish-
ment of the Board of First Fruits, he was the means of

procuring the augmentation of a certain portion of the
small livings ; but, as we remarked yesterday, the
operation of this remedial plan was on too limited a
scale to produce any general or extensive effect. We
have seen that his attempt to make an adequate pro-
vision for poor incumbents, by annexing the prebendal
stalls of cathedrals to their livings, was unsuccessful,
in consequence of the opposition which it m,et with in
the Church itself. If we recollect right, the late
Ministers gave a stall in Westminster to the Bishop of
Hereford, brother to Lord Grey. They could not find
any poor and hard-working clergyman in England de-
serving of it. There was no " piety and learning"
undignified by a mitre, unenriched by pontifical reve-
nues, on which—Reformers as they were—they felt
themselves bound in conscience to bestow it. So, in
general, have the sinecures of the Church been always
disposed of. They are made the reward of political
connection—not of professional merit. Objecting,. as
we do, to all sinecures on principle, this appropriation
of them, in the great majority of instances, to those
who least need or least deserve them, gives additional
force to our argument for their abolition. Against
pluralities Bishop Burnet set his face, and would only
olerate the holding of two livings in instances
where the churches lay near each other, and the
livings were poorly endowed. In such instances the
incumbent might be able to perform the duties of both
parishes, and consequently the great evil of pluralism
did not attach to the arrangement. But on every oc-
casion in which non-residence was the consequence of
a plurality, he made every exertion to prevent it, and in
some cases, his biographer states, he even hazarded a
suspension rather than give institution. It is further
narrated that, in his charge to the Clergy in his dio-
cese of Salisbury, he exclaimed against the abuse
called pluralism in the strongest language, describing
it as " a sacrilegious robbery of the revenues of the
Church." But he knew that no reform of the Church
could be effectual and permanent, unless men well qua-
lified to discharge its sacred duties should be provided.
So great was his anxiety to admit none to the pastoral
office that were not adequately trained for it, in all re-
quisite learning and spiritual accomplishments, that he
maintained at his own expense a " small nursery of
students" in divinity at Salisbury, whom he enabled to
pursue their studies until they could be provided for in
the Church. They were ten in number, and to each
he allowed a salary of 301. a year (a sum of much
greater value at that day than the present.) His bio-
grapher says " They were admitted to him once a day
to give an account of their progress in learning—to
propose to him such difficulties as they met with in the
course of their reading, and to hear a lecture from him
upon some practical or speculative point of divinity, or
on some part of the pastoral function. During the
Bishop's absence the learned Dr. Whitby supplied his
place in overlooking and directing their studies. By
this means the learned Prelate educated several young
clergymen who proved an honour to the Church."
Such are instances of practical reform, when one
unassisted Prelate of the Establishment, having the
virtuous inclination, carried into effect without waiting
for an Act of Parliament. To others, who have the
same or greater means, and who have, at least, equal
interest in strengthening the Church by giving it the
support of a truly pious-and learned body of Clergy,
and preventing " lewd hirelings" from climbing into
the fold, may we not say " Go and do likewise I"
Morning Herald.
The feeling of confidence in and attachment to the
Administration of Sir Robert Peel gains ground, and
increases with unexampled rapidity. Scarcely a day
elapses without some fresh manifestations of the grow-
ing strength of the great body of Conservatives, and
additional demonstrations of feebleness on the part of
our factious antagonists. The insolent tone of bluster
drops by imperceptible degrees into the querulous ac-
cents of complaint ; the loud denunciations of success-
ful hostility are gradually converted into the gentle re-
monstrances of discomfited opposition. Few will, we
believe, be found to deny to us the merit (if any merit
there be in so obvious a matter) of anticipating this
desirable result. When impeachment was menaced
by the loyal individuals who would deny to their Royal
Master the choice of his servants, and thus secure to
themselves a permanent and, indeed, perpetual tenure
of that power which they had so grievously abused,
we treated their threats as the dying ravings of disap-
pointed ambition, and reposed with confidence on the
good sense of the people of England, whose real
feelings and sentiments had been grossly and grievously
misrepresented. We have already shown that our
hopes and anticipations on this subject, have been
fully realized. Oh, but we are told trade would
suffer by this change in the Administration, alarm
would be created by the circumstance of the King
having dared to exercise his undoubted prerogative,
commerce would be affected by the substitution of
Mr. Baring for Mr. Poulett Thomson, our foreign
relations would be disturbed by the transference of
the management of that department from Lord Palmer-
ston to the Duke of Wellington, our legal character
be endangered by the removal of Lord Brougham and
the re-appointment of Lord Lyndhurst ! We listened
with composure to the ribaldry, nonsense, and abuse
which adorned the columns of our contemporaries, and
awaited with tranquillity the unanswerable reply that
would before long be given by those " stubborn things"
which are commonly called " facts." And what has
been their reply ? Look at trade. We have been in-
formed by those most conversant with the subject tia.
traje has materially increased since the removal of the
Althorp incubus. Business in the metropolis, which
had fallen off, as we are instructed, to an alatitihg
degree during the four years of misrule, is " looking up"
in a most satisfactory manner. The scenes of Bristol
and Nottingham had so alarmed the well-disposed por•
tion of the community, that they were unwilling to
lay out money in those perishable articles whose exist-,
ence might at any moment be endangered, if not de-
stroyed, by the practical auxiliaries of the Ministry of
the day ; while the higher and wealthier classes,
alarmed at the gloomy prospect which obscured on
every side the political horizon, were hastening from
the English version of the cry, " A bas les Aristo-
crats," to more peaceful climes. But look on the pic-
ture now. Convinced that better times are approach-
ing, and that under a Conservative Ministry the noble
and peasant, the rich and poor, will be equally pro-
tected, our noble and wealthy countrymen return, to
acid their quota of liberal expenditure to the sums laid
out in comforts and elegances. What wonder, then,
that trade greets with joy and gratitude the recent
change in the councils of the Sovereign ? The merchant
and manufacturer, sick of the doctrines of fructification,
anticipate with reason that " reciprocity all on one side"
will be no longer endured ; they foresee, in the appoint-
ments of Mr. Baring and Lord Lowther, the approach
of better and more prosperous times. Again, the
" merchant Prince" believes that the realization of a
legitimate and honest ambition is no longer a vain and
empty hope, to be followed by bitter and heart-rending
disappointment. He looks, moreover, to the security-,
the British security, in which he has invested his