, 1880-06-27
THE RUINOUs EEFECrS.OF CHURCH AND
STATEH

Under the caption Of 1.-The Last Of the
Medieval Church in England" there is q
paper in the Fortrightly Reuie,U for June
which presents some suggestive statements
for Sunday consideration. The real sub
stance of the article in question is all exposi-
ton of the rutnous effects upon country Of
the union Of Church and State, and these are
clearly shown III this article as they affect
population, industry, wealth, and material
resources of every description. The writer
confines himself to the period Of English
history between the Conquest and the Refor-
nation, but his conclusions, ali things in pro-
portion, need not be confined to any one
period Of any country.
One Of the most striking effects of this in
congruous union is to be found in the slow
growth Of population. In the year HOO the
population of England was about 2,0c0, GOO.
After the lapse of three centuries it was
only 2,750,0 600, or about 10 per cent in each
hundred years. Another century raised it
only to $500, GOO. In 1000 it was l. 125 600, and
in 17o0 it had reached 5,l25,000. In the
period from 17o0 to 1SS0, freed from the
depressing and destructive influences of the
Church, it has jumped to 100000. From
the year 1100 to 1700 the increase was l1o per
cent. During the last $50 years the increase
has been 2S6 per cent. And during the Pc
riod Ut slow growth, it is to be taken into
consideration that there were no sweeping
calamities, like epidemics, devastating inva-
sions, Or great domestic wars. Thearticle to
which we have alluded supplies tile general
cause: 1.-THE small number of people and
their tardy increase can be attributed only to
tile circumstance that capital accumulated
so slowly that each generation had the great
est physical difficulty i'll maintaining asmany
offspring as would just replace it, sometimes
with d thrilling surplus, and sometimes with
deficiency. And this incessant conflict with
Nature for mere life necessitated dense ig-
norancc, the rudest and hardest labor, the
diseases and epidemlcs which follow close
upon hunger, cold, and exposure, and the
sweeping destruction Of infant and advanced
life.''
Coming from general to specific causes, we
find that there were in these four centuries
OF slow growth 10000 professed religious
persons III England, and adding to these the
Immense number Of attendants, servants,
and hangers-on to the religious houses, it is
So%A4l"tSAA 1I14A1 LuE M11U1c uuuUC1 u pCOpAV
devoted to ecclesiastical business was equal
to one-fourth OF the whole adult popula-
ton. One-fourth Of the time Of the
remaining three-fourths OF the people
was taken up In festivals and holf-
days, and those who ayailed themselves
Of these religious luxuries were compelled
to pay heavily for them in money and goods.
All this was equivalent to actual waste Of
time, labor, money, and material. In the
words Of the Rerte,o writer, 1t was g a calanl-
ityexactly analogous to reducing the quantity
Of daylight by one-haH or adding several
months to the reign Of winter As one of the
chief supports Of his argument, the writer
brings the City and County Of York in evil
dence. The erection Of the Minister of York
necessitated vast outlay Of capital, which
was wruns out6f the people in the form Of
aims, and demanded where 1t was not freely
given In this church there were forty-six
chantries, founded in connection with TWEEN
ty-seven affairs, endowed with lands, rent
charges, and revenue derived from York, and
these chantries were 1ayishly supplied with
jewels, cups, chalices, tapestries, gold and
silver plate, wrung out Of the people. Be-
sides the great minister, there Were.in York,
under Henry Y, nine monasteries and prior
les, forty-one parish churches, seventeen
chantry chapels, and sixteen hospitals living