The Sun.
London, England, 1829-11-06 00:00:00

THE CHURCH, TITHES, AND CLERGY.

TO THE ED:TOR OF THE SUN.

observe with pleasure that it is intended to in-
ivite the county of aeron to pronounce an opinion on the
tithe laws. Being myself a payer of tithes, and a member of
that Church to the support of which tithes are now ap-
plied, I feel some interest in the subject. The county, and
' the whole body of tithe payers and tithe receivers through-
! out the kingdom, owe much to those at whose suggestion
this question is brought forward. It is undoubtedly a
question of great magnitude, and of some difficulty, and
as it is also one on which men's minds are much divided,
and on which they feel strongly, it is most desirable that
it should be examined, and, if possible, settled. The dif-
ficulty in this question arises principally from its connexion
with the Church, because as far as the lay impropriators
are concerned, voluntary arrangements might be made
with the lantlowers in the several pari-hes, by which, if
parties were so disposed, the value of their property might
he ascertained, and paid for. If any additional facilities
are required, they might be easily obtained from the Legis-
-1 :ture. And as tithes are most vexatious in their nature, and
operate as a direct discouragement to improvements in agri-
culture, I think the lay professors of them would do well
to lose no time ;n reflecting on the advantages of some
such arrangement. When, however, we approach that
part of the subject which relates to the Church, two ques-
tions naturaily present themselves—are tithes the best mode
of defraying the expence of a National Church, and if so,
do those who receive the tithes render to those who pay
them an adequate compensation ? On these two questions
I enrer6in a distinct opinion ; I have no doubt that tithes
are not the best mode of paying the Church ; and as little
doubt that the Clergy do not sufficiently discharge their
duty. Now what would be the hest way of paying the
Church? Certainly that which, while it provides for the
comfort and proper station of its Ministers (making the
reward proportionate to their labours), should at the same
time be collected with as little injury as possible to
other intere-ts, taking care to distribute the burthen
amen;:; all who may be called upon to
pay. Can it then be said that, under the existing state of
things, good provision is made for the comfort and proper
station of the Ministers of the Church ? Are the frequent
disputes on the subject of tithes a source of comfort ? Do
they promote the jest influence of the Clergy? Are the
bargainings, and altercations, and contrivances of worldly
interests, all of them carried on with the very persons
committed to his spiritual charge, occupations that befit
the station of a Christian Minister ? Is the reward in pro-
portion to the labour ? I need not summon the poor Cu-
rate or the luxurious Pluralist before you—the thing is too
notorious to require an answer.

If this be so, then, with the receivers of tithes, do they
who pay them fare better ? In the imposition of public
burthens it is to be wished that they should interfere as
little as possible with the profits of industry, from which
they must all :be raised. But tithes interfere grievously
with the most important branch of industry : they dis-
courage agriculture, and tend to diminish the amount of
the produce of the soil. Again, this burthen is not thrown
equally on all who are intended to profit by it, but exclu-
sively on land. Have the fundholders no interest in sup-
porting the National Church? They possess an annual
income of more than 30 millions sterling ; they must, there-
fore, Le a very numerous body, and, connected as they are
with the State, they must be supposed to have some inte-
rest in the great institutions of the country ; but the owner
of the sod is alone called upon to pay ; and this burthen, in
addition to the greater part of the poor rates, county rates,
repairs of unproductive turnpike-roads, and other endless
demands upon his easy nature, constitutes -a weight under
which the native vigour of his frame is. rapidly giving way.
. .

_ .
But in whatever made the expence of the Church
establishment is to he defrayed, we, who pay for it, have a
right to see that the money is applied to the purposes for
which it is professed to be collected. The purposes are
the regular and efficient discharge of their religious duties
by the Clergy of the Church of England. _Among the
first of these duties is residence, punctual residence,
bringing with it all the advantages of constant intercourse
with the poor, evinced as these advantages would he in
the improvement of their religious and moral feelings, in
their education and social habits. But is the Clergy do
not always think proper to reside, it will become necessary
to stimulate their slumbering zsal, and enforce the per-
formance of this primary duty. Ido not here enter into
any examination of those higher principles of duty on
which I am willing to believe the greater part of the
Clergy conduct themselves; principles which are inde-
pendent of taw and human authority, on which good men
will always act, and which, when they influence the Clergy,
give to their sacred calling a grace, an authority, and a
just power over the minds of others, which form a part of
the dignity and proper vocation of their profession. To
shell men it would berm less presumptuous than unnecessary
to say one word. I speak to others, and to the Clergy
generally. I would say that they had better deceive
themselves no longer, they must soon make up their
minds to reside, and they had better do so with a good
grace, for if they are refractory and reluctant,
or even tardy, the Dissente.s of a hundred denominations
will make a fearful inroad upon their flocks, and then
where will be the Church of England ? One hears various
excuses made for this abandonment of duty, sometimes
there is no neighbourhood, no society ; or the roads are
bad ; or the climate bad ; or the house bad ; or there is no
house at all. But none of-these pretexts will do ; where
there is no house, one may be hired until a parsonage shall
be built, by means for which the law already contains some
provisions, and might be made to contain inure. The
other inconveniences must be borne ; and pray, why not ?
Why are the Clergy alone, of all professions, to he doomed
to carry about them the curse of being able to neglect their
duties with impunity ? When a regiment is ordered to
the West Indies, or a shit) to a winter's cruise in the North
Sea, the Colonels and Captains are not in the habit of
Lighting shy, mini of besieging the Horse Guards and
Admiralty with complaints of climate and want of accom-
modation, and other trash of that description ; no, they
have entered voluntarily into professions which involve the
discharge of certain duties, and they discharge them, or
abstain from doing so at their peril. The Clergyman also
enters voluntarily into a profession, and accepts of certain
obligations, and arming these obligations the beneficed
Clergyman undertakes the care of a certain number of
souls. But how this duty is to be performed without re-
sidence no man can tell me. The service of the Church,
even where it is read twice every Sunday, which is fre-
quently not the case, does not of itself constitute the
whole amount of the parochial duties of a Clergyman. 'What
those duties are it is unnecessary now to dilate upon,
this being a matter well understood, and rightly appre-
ciated by all persons lay and ecclesiastical, to whom religion
and reason are not strangers. I must add, moreover, that
if the above-mentioned military and naval officers were so
ill advised as to put forward the sort of excuses to which
I have alluded, it is probable that the authorities in ques-
tion would not listen to them with great complacency.
Of what use, therefore, it may be asked, are Bishops,
but to enforce the performance of the duties of their
Clergy ? They may possess a value of a different de-
scription in the House of Lords, but the object of their
existence, in which the public have any concern, is that
which I have just mentioned. Now residence is a sleet
qua non in the duties of a Clergyman, and as this duty is
much neglected, as idle excuses are admitted for its ne-
glect, anti as the Bishops are there for the purpose of
enforcing it, one is obliged to suppose that the Bishops
themselves want either the power or the will to do their
duty. If it be power that they want, the law may be
amended ; but if indeed they want the will, I must again
lament that there should exist iu any profession (above all
in such a profession) a privilege of neglecting its duties
with impunity. The want of residence necessarily en-
tails the abandonment of almost all other palish duties,
and this begins to be so seriously felt that the Church will
soon have to make its choice between providing a remedy,
or giving way to more diligent competitors : if they do
not reside, the Dissenters will. In the meantime, as the
ecclesiastical authorities leave us to our own devices, per-
haps the best way of bringing this question to an issue
would be for all parishes, where there is no resident
Clergyman, instantly to petition the Legislature to be
exempted from the payment of tithes, as having
been abandoned by their Clergy, and instead of tithes
to be allowed to pay a salary to the person who
might be appointed to perform the Sunday duly.
In law, as the law now stands, no one will deny the legal
objection to pay tithes, even where the incumbent never
graces the parish with his presence ; but in reason these
things are reciprocal, and by and by they will be so in law,
and the Clergyman who shall hereafter propose to take
tithes without residing himself, or causing some other
Clergyman to reside, wilinot be listened to by Judge or Jury.
The Diocese of Exeter is said to abound in instances of
non-residence ; I base heard described a district contain-
ing a whole cluster of parishes so instanced; in some of
these there are, I am told, good parsonages either empty
or inhabited by laymen, in others no attempt seems to be
making to supply the want of houses. It is natural, there-
for, that the county should have its attention directed to
the subject of tithes.
One word let me add on the subject of an Act passed
sonic few years ago to provide against the insufficiency of
Curates salaries ; this Act is shamefully evaded, nor can 1
adopt the language or sentiment of the Bishop of Ferns,
who says that if the Curates choose to accept insufficient