Star.
London, England, 1830-03-17 00:00:00

TITHES.

BY GEORGE COVENTRY. EFFINGHAM WILSON.
The book before us treats of the revenues of the ,
Church of England ; " exhibiting the Rise and Progress i
of Ecclesiastical Taxation."—There never, perhaps, ap- ,
peared a book that has treated the subject in a more satin- ,
factory manner. To those who receive tithes, it must ,
be invaluable : it administers to them the consoling fact
of the pagan antiquity of their exactions ; and as the au-
thor observes in his preface—that the forms, customs,
ceremonies, ordonnances and emoluments of the heathen
priests, have contin:ied to be upheld by the Church,
through successive ages, down to the present era.
Before entering on the business of his subject, Mr.
COVENTRY gives us about thirty texts from learned au-
thorities, against superstitious rites, and the contamina-
tion of the tithe system, as unjust, oppressive, and pre-
judicial to the promotion of Christianity. These are all
well selected, and much to the point. We could be
tempted to stop at the threshold, and quote some rare
and appropriate passages from these learned authorities;
but we must limit ourselves to two or three. Lord
KAMN rs says that a rule of capital importance, as re-
gards the interests of a nation, is, " that every tax which
tends to impoverish a country, ought to be rejbcted with
indignation." Bishop Bu ANETT speaks thus: "There
ace a great many abuses which yet continue, and are too
much in use among us—such as pluralities, non-resi-
dences, and other things of that nature : so that it may
be said, that some of the manifold corruptions of popery,
when they are recommended by the advantages that ac-
t oinpany them, are not yet thoroughly purged out, not-
withstanding all the noise we have made about reforma-
tion, in matters much more disputable, and of far less
consequence. That these abuses should still be found
among Protestants, and in so reformed a church, is a
scandal that may justly make us blush." One more
passage from the celebrated lawyer, Sir GEORGE MAC-
K F.NZIE, and we are done with the text :—" Churchmen
pull up the ladder after they have scaled the walls of pre-
ferment themselves." We shall now let Mr. COVENTRY
speak for himself ; and in giving the following extract
from his book, we promise it shall not be the last ; for
it is impossible for us to let the work lie idly by,
while it contains so much matter, not only to amuse, but
to instruct and guide us in the fast approaching day of
distribution :

In all ages of the world, a race of men have sprung up, who, by
artifice and intrigue, have maintained an ascendancy over their
fellow creatures. This has been carried to great excess in civil
policy, but sinks into oblivion, when contrasted with the influence
which priestcraft has usurped over the minds of monarchs and their
svh3ects.
Thus we find, as early as the reign of Isis and Osiris in Egypt,
tl'e priests of the temple stood preeminent in the government of the
country.
Diodorus says, that the Egyptians held them in the highest
honour ; they were the first order in the state, always near the per-
son of the sovereign, and assisted him with their advice and instruc-
tion., if such it may be called. The public records and archives
sere committed to their custody. They had the inspection of
monies, weights and measures, and directed what taxes should be
levied upon the people.
This testimony is also confirmed by Strabo, /Elton, Clemens
Alexandrinus, and other ancient writers. Can we wonder, then,
that they should take advantage of their influence to secure liberal
grants for themselves ? Accordingly, one-third of the kingdom of
Egypt was allotted them for their maintenance,independently of other
perquisites which they extorted from the credulity of their devotees.
Plato says that it was customary to pay the same offices to the
goJ., which men stand in need of; thus sacrifices were the food of
the priests, altars their tables, and portions of land were allotted foe
their maintenance.—Lib. vi. de Le9ibus.
Clemens Alexandrinus observes, that it was the custom to con.
secrete the tenths of their land, and the tenths of their spoils to
Apollo ; and that over the temple of Delphi there was an inscription
to that effect:
The tenth part of the produce of a certain field was annually eon-
secreted to Diana.—Xenophou dc Raped. Cyri, Lib. v.
But the richest prize of all, was the claim made to a tenth of
certain mines.
Pausanias tells us, that the Siiihnians constantly presented a tenth
part of their gold mines to Apollo.
Dionysius Halicarnassus says,' That the Pelasgi gave their
tenth of gain out of sea merchandise to Apollo at Delphi.
Camillus vowed the tenth of the spoils to Apollo, in consequence
of a favourable omen given to him by the Priests of the Temple...-
Plutarch:
Posthumius, dictstor,gave a tenth of the spoils upon his fortunate
victory against the Latins.—Plutarch.
Thucydides mentions, that when the Athenians divided Lesbos
into 3,000 parts, a tenth was given to the priests belonging to the
various temples.
Justin states, that the Carthaginians sent the tenth of their Sici-
lian spoils to Hercules at Tyre.
Pliny, (lib. xii. cap. 144 commenting upon the Arabian customs, I
says, that every merchant was bound to offer the tenth of his frank.
incense to the god Sabis, or rather to ensure the good wishes of the
priests, for his success.
Cyrus was admonished by Cronus not to allow the goods of the
Lybians to be ransacked by the soldiers, until the tenth was appro-
priated to the priests.//erodotua.
Thus we clearly find, that the origin of tithes may be traced to the
Pagan priests, who instituted them for their maintenance, and en-
forced them in the reign of superstition. Precisely the same custom
continues in the Reformed Christian Church down to the present
day, with this distinction, that they were instituted in the reign of
superstition, and continue to be enforced among the enlightened
people.
&orifices, it is true, are discontinued, but other offerings are
freely received, If of any value; such, for instance, as an organ,
plate, or other sundry decorations; and with respect to Easter
offerings, once voluntary, they are now considered so naturally an
appendage to.s clergyman's emolument, that if you omit, to pay
them, they unceremoniously prosecute you for contempt of their sup.
posed rights. Well might Cicero exclaim, " Neque Hercule guts-
quam decimam vovit unquaim si sapiens factus fuisset.'
That great philanthropist and philosopher Soame Jeayno, AIM
taking a survey of ecclesiastical estabrishments, observes—
, Pure and genuine Christianity never was, nor ever can be, the
national religion of any country upon earth. It is a gold too refined
to be worked up with any human institution, without a large portion
of alloy ; for no sooner is this small grain of mustard-seed watered
with the fertile showers of civil emoluments, than it grows up into
&large and spreading tree, under the shelter of whose branches the
Irfrde qf prey and plunder will not fall to make for themselves
comfortable habitations, and thence deface its beauty, and desuoy
its fruits.'
This beautiful observation is fully exemplified In the church to
this day : corruption has sapped the vital principle, tinkered the
root, snd.kft little else bad this the shadow and
.the nem& The
early Chriethars foresaw this evil, Mirl refusal to. hive any
connection with the. goviuntnene of the country. They =Mid
not with those Who ruled, teethe, thew sundering' them good advice ;
they were neither temporal bisholts or civil magistrates, but men
nninembered with worldly affairs, simple in their mode of living,
obssitoblo aelletoor, and watchful over the spiritual welfare of
••••• I.;
'laving shown the deitivialislhg printdple Of *dthes and oaring,—
the corm* source from whom they origlnated.—innovatlons which
Christianity never enjoined, or cannot in anywise sanction—we shall
sent point oat and examine the origin of the present union of etch-

siastical affairs with those of the State—a union that has checked the
pmgrem of Christianity, and been fatal to the promulgation of its

rifle doctrines.

As the heathen priests had the regulating of the laws and customs
of the country, it became a question of policy to take the monarch
into partnership, and constitute him head of their establishment ;
otherwise, in an evil hour, he might grow jealous of their power,
and deprive them of their ill-earned riches. We accordingly find
that many of the early kings enjoyed the priesthood with the so-
vereignty. This became a dreadful tax upon the people, who were
[ not only obliged to contribute their tenths of the land to the priests,
but a tenth of their revenues to the king. We have a remarkable
instance of this species of tyranny exemplified in Pisistratus, who
exacted it from the Athenians.

Solon strongly remonstrated against this arbitrary measure, but
the tyrant excused himself by reminding the legislator, that the
money was not expended in his own private service, but went to the
priesthood, to be bid out upon sacrilices.--Diogenes Laertius.
Thus the monarch and the priests connived together to oppress
the people, and to triumph over their credulity ; hence the origin of
that connexion between the priests and king, which in after-times
became so congenial as to render Church and State inseparable.
When the Jews expressed a desire to have a king, they were
remonstrated with by Samuel in the following manner:—(l Sam.
chap. viii.) ' And he will take your fields and your vineyards, and
your olive-yards, even the best of them, and give them to his ser-
vants; and he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vine-
yards, and give them to his eunuchs, and to his servants : he will
take the tenth of your sheep, and ye shall be his servants.'

I n comparatively modern times, it became an act of policy in the
Court of Rome to give Henry the Eighth the tide of Defender of the
Faith, hoping he would protect the church under his parental care ;
but it suited his purpose better to dissolve partnership, and take pos-
session of some of the ill-gotten property.
Fearful, however, of carrying things too far, his superstition did
not allow him to enact laws for the better maintenance of the priest-
hood, considering that, if he infringed further, the gates of Paradise
would he shut against him. Then was the glorious opportunity of
_ _

removing those obnoxious customs which had disgraced our code of
laws since the days of Ethclwolf, and which have since remained an
endless source of contention between the vicar and his parishioners,
to the great prejudice of Christianity.