A very short but impressi...
The Times, 1824-03-27T00:00:00

A very short but impressive pamphlet has been sent to, us on the subject of the tithe-systetn in Ireland, its prac- tice and results. The title is, " Short Statement r&cttive " to the Bisho/s Court in Ireland, and tke Conduct of Tithe " Proctors in that country." The publication itself pro- fesses to be a Report of the Committee of the parish of Blackrath, in the county of Kilkenny, appointed by the parishioners at large; who suffer, as it appears, under the various exactions and annoyances of which tithe, as mannaged in Ireland, is the source to rich and poor; but especiallY (and this is a grievous consideration) to the latter. As it is desirable that a statement so compact and unincumbered as the present should get into the hantls of every oqme con- nected with Irelaind, or anxious foi its welfare, we shall here select only two or three particulars, by way of samples of its contents; premising, that we take for grantea the truth of tle general representation, wliich, if liable to be refuted, will of course find those whose highest interest-that of their character-must dispose them to such an office. The first grievance of the tithe-system in Ireland is the uncertain standard by which the lue of tithe is deterrnined. In the same county, that of Kil- keiny, it appears that the proftori adopt two opposite courses-one calculates by the acre, and may over-rate the value of the gtain, bVttt cannot well sxaggerate the surface which produces it. According to this method, which pre- vails in the diocess of Ossory, the tithe of wheat is usually charged about i2s. per acre. Ir the diocess of Leighlin, the proctor eatimates the number of barrels likely to be pro- eluced-by a given surface. .Here there are tvwo inlets to im- position, for he may overrate both the quantity and quality of the crop: the result of this mode of reckoning is, that the tithe of ivbeat stands at 25s. per acre, So much for di- versity of practice. Again: it is said, that the farmer is always willing to set out his titlhe, and the tithe-owner unvilling to accept it in that form; whence the author of the pamphlet concludes that the charge in money is greater than a tenth of the crop. But when the proctor values tithe, he seldom or never, we are told, informs the parishioner of the sun. at which he values it; on the contrary, when the parish is assembled in January to pay the tithe, which had been valued before the preceding harvest was got in, the proctor, instead of maLing, his preciie demmad, fishes out of the parishioner what he is willing to pay rather than undergo a lawsuit in the Eccle- siastical Court, and often thereby bullies him into paying a larger sum than liad been charge;l agpinst him. When *Iragged into the Bishop's Coutrt, the poor wretch has to appear before a tribuual wvhere a clergymansits asJudge- wlhere there are frequently no proctors practising but the ia- dividual who is employed by the incumbent against the tithe paver-and where the expenses are so eno-rmous, that a litigatioin for five shillings brings with it costs to the amount of several pounds. The ruir tlhus fastened on the poor man who resists extortion is not the worst conse- quence to society : the witnesses on both sides swvear through thick and thin; and party spirit and religious ani- mosity feed hourly the flame of in.urrection. There ought to be an effectual and a promnpt reform of these mischiefs, not for the sake of the peasant merely, but of the Pro- testant Chwuch, and of the State itself: yet are we sorely afraid that some new convulsion in that fated country must prepare the way for anv useful or sensible amciliora- tion. There is no symptom of earnestness on the part of those -who profess to seek a cure for Ireland, at all equiva- l nt to thl obstinacy withl wvhich another party strive to per- petuate her (liseases. A Government which submits to be clerk-riddeii by such mcii as Mr. GOuI.sBtURN, wvho must have recrived his knowledge of Ireland and of legislation direct from the skits, for on carth he never has acquired ei-:hOr-the Ulieads of sueh a Government may amuse the world wilth solemn promises and loftv pretensions, but they can feel very little for tlheir owvn true dignity, or for the cause whichl they pretend to have eimbraced.