The Church. Young, T. Dodbrook, r. Rev. S. Webber. Muckton, r. M. B. Lister. Necton, r. Incumbent. c. W. Butt. Holmbale, r. *The case of JOHN JONES, at page 283, who holds thirty-four livings, besides dignities and offices, is so extraordinary that it seems entitled to more particular developement. The following tabular exposition shows at one view not only the patrons but the population, and year of institution to each benefice, held by this great Ecclesiastical Monopolist. LIVINGS HELD BY JOHN JONES. Irish Protestant Church. THE IRISH PROTESTANT CHURCH. FOR an example of the government that is said to "work well," we should look to Ireland-her degraded population, her tithe system, and administration of justice, form a practical illustration of the good-working government. In England, it is true, there are grievous abuses in the packing of juries, the game laws, partial taxation, and many other oppressions; but these sink into insignificance when contrasted with the sufferings of Ireland. There the natural order of society is inverted, and government exists not for the benefit of the people, but the people exist solely for the benefit of government. Among the various forms under which oppression is disguised, the most conspicuous is the Church Establishment; one is at a loss to conceive for whose benefit this institution exists in Ireland. Is it for the benefit of the Clergy, the People, or the State? If by the former is meant those who minister religious instruction, it can hardly be said to be of advantage to them. The teachers of religion in Ireland are nearly all Catholics, a vast majority of the people are of the same persuasion, and what religion there is the expense is defrayed by voluntary contributions. Neither the Clergy, therefore, nor the People benefit by the Church Establishment. With respect to the State, the advantage appears not less equivocal. The alliance betwixt Church and State is founded on reciprocal benefits-that, on the one hand, the State shall give its civil protection to the Church, and, on the other, the Church shall aid in sustaining the State by its influence over the Irish Protestant Church. People:-this is the basis of the compact; and it follows, when the Church loses its influence, when it loses the majority, when it is no longer able to sustain the State, the compact is dissolved; it has no claim for protection, and its alliance becomes a source of weakness instead of power. Such is the actual condition of the Irish Church, such the advantages it confers on the government; it adds nothing to its authority, affords no aid to the civil magistrate, neither the law nor its ministers are rendered more sacred by its influence-quite the reverse. Authority is degraded and abhorred in Ireland solely on account of the Ecclesiastical Establishment: it is the colossal grievance of the country, the source of all its discontents, rebellions, burnings, and desolation. Why then, it may be asked, is the establishment maintained? Why is it not reformed? On what principle or pretext is it justified? The godly cannot defend it from piety, the politician from reasons of State, nor the patriot for the blessings it confers on the community. Whose interest, then, is identified with the odious system? This is, indeed, a mystery; for who could believe that a country should be plundered, her population exasperated almost to madness, and five millions of people withheld from their civil rights; that a few score of families, to whom chance and intrigue had given undeserved elevation, might monopolize its wealth and honours? Who could believe that a government, said to be the wisest and freest in the world, would sanction such monstrous robbery and injustice?—such, however, appears to be the actual state of Ireland, and the policy to which she has been subjected. She has long been the prey of a favoured caste, a selfish and bigoted faction, who have divided her as a spoil; and such has been the wretched system of administration, that it has not been ashamed to avail itself of the folly and cupidity of such instruments to preserve a precarious sovereigntywhen, too, its frown would have made the same creatures, who were ready at any time to sacrifice their country for a pension or a place, instrumental to her prosperity and happiness. 4 Let us, however, come to our subject-the exposition of the Irish Church Establishment. The points most deserving attention are these:-First, the revenues of the Protestant Establishment; Secondly, the number of individuals among whom this revenue is divided; Thirdly, the condition of the people from whom these revenues are abstracted; Lastly, the conduct adopted towards Ireland by the Collected Wisdom of the nation. The last will, probably, be the most interesting part of the inquiry; indeed it seems clear, after witnessing the treatment of Ireland, and seeing all her wrongs pass unredressed, that no case can arise, whatever its injustice or cruelty, Irish Protestant Church. which will receive the least amelioration when opposed to the real or imaginary interest of that illustrious body. To come to our first topic, the Irish Church Revenue. On this point our information is still far from complete: a few general facts, however, will throw a tolerable light on the subject. Ireland contains eighteen millions of English acres of land, of which 900,000 pay nothing to the Church; four millions pay from endowments about one-third of their tithes, and the remaining thirteen millions and upwards are liable to pay full tithes. The whole rental of the kingdom is estimated, by Mr. Wakefield, to amount to £14,110,601 a-year, or about fifteen shillings per English acre. In England, it appears, from some very extensive returns to the inquiries of the Board of Agriculture, that land, on an average, yields five rents, or, in other words, the value of the produce is five times the rental. It appeared, also, from the same returns, that the tithe actually paid amounted to one-fourth of the rent, or one-twentieth of the total produce of land, labour, and capital. Applying these proportions to Ireland, the result is, that the annual value of her produce, at five rents, is £70,553,005, the tithe of which is £7,055,300. If we take the tithe actually paid at the same rate as in England, namely, one-fourth the rent, it amounts to £3,502,650. 1 Less than this latter sum the tithe can hardly be in Ireland-indeed, we are persuaded, it amounts to a great deal more. The system under which it is collected differs widely from that in England. The odious office of collecting the fruits of other men's labour is delegated to others, whose É exactions are not limited by a regard to character or the respect of the parishioners, but solely by the fatal figure of one-tenth, the limit of spiritual extortion. Hence it happens that the tithe frequently exceeds the rental: in some districts we know the land would not let for a guinea an acre, when the farmer has been charged 30s. for tithe. We may conclude, therefore, that one-fourth of the rent is far short of the amount of tithe actually paid. The real property of the Church is also immense, and bears no proportion to the same kind of property in England. It is calculated, by Wakefield, that two-elevenths of the soil of Ireland is in the hands of the Bishops and Clergy; and if we calculate its value at the average rent of the kingdom, the landed revenues of the Church amount to £2,565,563 a-year. Thus it appears, from this short and general statement, that the revenues of the Irish Church, from estates and tithes, is not less than £6,068,213 a-year. Irish Protestant Church. Next let us inquire the Number of Clergy among whom this revenue is divided. On this point there is no difficulty, and the number of Ecclesiastics may be correctly stated as follows: Among this small corps of individuals, then, the whole ecclesiastical revenue of Ireland, amounting to £6,068,213 a-year, is divided. It is this sacred band of 2,027 that claims two-elevenths of the soil, and one-tenth of the produce of Ireland. Such a religious establishment as this was never heard of before. No country, however superstitious, abandoned one-fourth of its property for the maintenance of the priesthood; it never gave up one-fourth of its produce for the maintenance of a three-thousandth part of its population. Six millions of revenue, among 2,000 persons, averages £3,000 a-year, even for the schoolmasters and singing-boys! Really the proportion betwixt the numbers and revenue of the Irish Church is incredible. There are, however, facts, which have recently transpired, that confirm the general statement of the subject. These facts we will now lay before the reader. In 1819, various inquiries were directed by Parliament into the state of the Irish Church; among other things the Bishops were directed to ascertain the number and denomination of the benefices in each diocese; how many parishes were comprehended in each benefice; were the parishes contiguous or distant from each other; and what was the estimated extent in acres of each benefice. It is from the returns to these inquiries the LIST OF PLURALISTS has been compiled. In many respects the returns are incomplete, but sufficient is elicited to show the enormous incomes of the Parochial Clergy. |