to get rid of the first fruits altogether, and to impose an immediate tax upon all benefices, to be graduated according to their value. Upon livings under 2001. a-year, no tax would be imposed. From livings between 2007 and 5007. a year it was intended to deduct 5 per cent; from livings between 500l. and 7001. a-year, 6 per cent; from livings between 7001. and 8007. a-year, 7 per cent; from livings between 8007. and 1,000l. a-year, 10 per cent; from livings between 1,000l. and 1,2007. a-year, 12 per cent; and from all livings above 1,2001. a-year, 15 per cent, This would create a fund which, assuming the amount of the tax to be 7 per cent on the whole amount of the benefices of Ireland, would amount to 42,000l. It was proposed that, where an incumbent held more livings than one he should not pay the tax upon each of them separately, but should pay the same amount of tax as if he held one living of the combined value of all the rest. A different scale, however, would be required for the bishoprics; for as the expenses of a bishop must, from his station, be greater than those of a private clergyman, it would not he fair to commence by taxing the revenues of the lowest sees at 15 per cent, and, by proceeding with a graduation, increasing from that standard, to tax the enormous revenues of the richer sees. It was proposed, that upon the revenues of those bishoprics which were below 4,000l. a-year a tax of 5 per cent should be imposed; upon those which were between 4,000l. and 6,000l. a-year, a tax of 7 per cent should be imposed; upon those which were between 6,000l. and 19,000l. a-year, a tax of 10 per cent should be imposed; that upon

all between 10,000l. and 15,0007. a-year, a tax of 12 per cent should be imposed; and that upon all above 15,000l. a-year, a tax of 15 per cent should be imposed. He was aware that he was going in this proposition to the full extent that justice warranted; but when he considered what the first fruits originally were, what they had now been for many years, and that it was the interest of the church to make a sacrifice to secure the affections of the people, he hoped that this plan would not meet with strong opposition from the clergy; and in point of fact, he had reason to believe that it would not. With the bishop of Derry whose revenue had been greatly exaggerated, his nett income being 12,6594, an agreement had been entered into (under a stipulation made at the time of his appointment) by which it was to be reduced to 8,000 a-year. He would likewise be liable to the deduction of 10 per cent; so that the revenue of the see of Derry would be little more than 7,2001,

His lordship went on to state that the first object to which the revenue thus gained, and which he estimated at 69,000l. a-year, would be applied, would be the abolition of church cess. This was a tax imposed for maintaining churches, and meeting the expenses of religious service. In Ireland, this rate, though paid by a Catholic population, was under the exclusive management of a Protestant vestry. It was very different, too, in its nature from tithes. Tithes were a certain burthen on the land, of which a man was aware at the time he purchased it; but the church-rate was an uncertain uncertain tax, which varied according to the purposes

to which it was applied. It might be increased by abuses of management, or it might be dimiuished by frugality; but in neither case had the Catholic the means of exercising any control over the money thus levied upon his property, It was a grievance to the Catholics of Ireland to pay this tax to a church to which they did not belong; but it was an additional grievance to them that the levying and management of this tax should be entrusted to a Protestant vestry, from which they were entirely excluded. It was intended, therefore, that church cess should be immediately and altogether abolished. Its amount was estimated at 70,0007. a-year, There would thus be some deficiency in the means to be provided in lieu of the church cess. He was satisfied, however, that the expenses to which that cess was applied might be diminished, and in that case the' means in the hands of the House would be sufficient for the purposes for which they were intended. The other objects of this fund-for it would be an accumulating fund-would be the augmentation of poor livings'the giving assistance in the build. ing of glebe-houses where glebehouses were required under the act of last session, the dividing of unions, and the building of new churches. But it would be provided, that the commissioners to be appointed by the act should not have power to commence building new churches, unless a certain amount of the expense of erecting them was subscribed by private individuals, or a certain number of pews were taken by the congrega tion that was to meet within them, This regulation would prevent churches from being built unneces

sarily, and where there was not a sufficient number of Protestants to warrant their erection.

These alterations would take ef fect immediately; but there were other proposed arrangements which could come into operation only on the decease of the present incumbent. The nett amount of the revenues of the primate of Ireland were 14,500. It was proposed that, at the expiration of his incumbency, the revenues of that see should be reduced to 10,000l. ayear. With respect to deans and chapters, wherever they were not connected with the cure of souls, but existed merely in the quality of deans and chapters, it was intended to abolish them altogether, or else attach cure of souls to them. The next point was one which had often been noticed, and which had probably in some instances been exaggerated-cases where valuable livings were held, without any duties being attached to them. It was proposed, with reference to livings where no duty had been performed for the last three years, to give a discretion to the commissioners to suspend the appointment of ministers to such parishes, if they thought fit. An equally popular topic always had been, the number of bishops in Ireland as compared with the Protestant population of that country. That, however, was not, perhaps, the fair mode of treating the question; because they ought not to look merely to the numerical amount of the church establishment, but they ought likewise to consider the space over which each bishop had to preside. The duties of a bishop necessarily required frequent visitations to different parts of his diocess, however remote they might be from each other. They ought,

therefore, to bear in mind the space over which the bishop's power extended, before they hastily decided on the number which should be allowed. There were twenty-two diocesses in Ireland. His deliberate opinion, after giving the subject the most mature consideration, was, that this was a greater number than was necessary. The House, therefore, was to examine how many bishops might be reduced after the present possessors of the sees had died, so that the duties should be fully and efficiently performed, and the interests of the Protestant church properly attended to. After the best consideration which ministers could give to the subject, and they all admitted that it was a most important one, they thought they might fairly reduce ten bishops, with perfect safety to the establish

ment.

The sees which it was intended to reduce were-Dromore, Clogher, Raphoe, Elphin, Clonfert, Killala, Kildare, Cork, Waterford, and Ossory. In order that the duties of those dioceses should be properly performed, it was proposed to unite Dromore to Down and Connor; Clogher to Armagh; Raphoe to Derry; Elphin to Ardagh and Kilmore; Clonfert to Killaloe; Killala to Tuam; Kildare to Dublin; Cork to Cloyne; Waterford to Cashel; and Ossory to Ferns.

Lastly came the lands attached to the bishoprics-and the Chancellor of the Exchequer laid down this principle, that if, by the act of parliament to be introduced, any new value was given to benefices, that new value, so created, did not properly belong to the church; and whatever was raised by it might be immediately appropriated to the exigencies of the state. As the law stood at present, he continued, bishops in Ireland could grant leases

for twenty-one years, and the fine granted on the renewal of such lease, together with the rent, formed the annual income of the bishop. The value of a bishop's lease in Ireland was twelve years and a half's purchase. In many instances, however, the lease was renewed every year; and it was still in the power of the bishop (and he believed that circumstances of the kind had occurred) to run his life against the tenant, and to deprive him of property which his family had possessed years before. The tenant was also placed in such a situation, that if the land were much improved by his industry and by the outlay of his capital, he was liable, on the renewal of his lease, to an increase of fine. In order to remedy this defect, it was proposed that every tenant who chose should be enabled to demand from the bishop a lease of his land in perpetuity, at a fixed corn-rent. Now, looking to these terms, the value of such a lease, at a fixed corn rent, would be twenty years' purchase, instead of 124, being an increased benefit of 7 years' purchase. But it was proposed that the bishop should grant leases in perpetuity at a corn-rent, on a tender of six years' purchase being made to him. That would confer a very great benefit on those who held bishops' leases, because it would give them the full advantage of any improvement which they might effect in the value of the land; and it would also provide against any hazard that might be apprehended from the bishop running his life against the tenant, while the bishop would receive the same amount of rent as he did at the present time. Here was an increased value created. Being so created, it formed no part of the

property of the church; therefore, even those who objected to the interference with church property, or the appropriation of it to any other than church purposes, might, with out any scruple, agree with him in this proposition, that whatever additional proceeds were realized by the new system might be applied to such purposes as Parliament might think fit. He believed, that 500,000l. a-year was the value to the tenants of all the bishops' lands; but the value to the bishops was only 100,000l. per annum. The amount of the proceeds arising from the grant of leases at six years' purchase would be from 2,500,000l. to 3,000,000l. This might be converted to the certain benefit of the state, at the same time that the system would be a great relief to the church tenant, and would not operate to the disadvantage of the bishop. Such were the measures which government proposed. It would be necessary to appoint a board of commissioners to carry them into execution a board which would consist, of course, of members of the church of England, but would be, in its constitution, perfectly independent of ministers. His Lordship concluded by moving for leave to bring in a bill, to alter and amend the laws relating to the established church in Ireland.

The plan thus opened by Lord Althorp was calculated to produce hostility from two opposite quarters-from the conservative opposition, who deemed that many of its arrangements and principles were destructive of the true interests of the church, and from the economists, repealers, and radicals, who thought that it left too much of the church untouched. It was clear, however, that these different species of opposition could not en

danger the success of the bill in the Commons; for ministers were sure to be joined by one of the parties in resisting any amendment which might be moved by the other. Sir R. Inglis, and Mr. Goulburn declared their hostility to the spirit which pervaded it, as injurious not only to the Irish church, but to the Protestant religion. Instead of improving the mode of distribution of church property, it abolished half the hierarchy; and it was remarkable that, of the ten bishoprics proposed to be abolished, five were taken from that part of Ireland which was essentially Protestant. The removal of church cess would only put money into the pockets of the landlord; and there was involved in the measure a direct principle of confiscation in applying church property to the use of the state. The Irish members, while they stated that the plan did not go far enough, yet received it with great approbation, and prophesied it would do much good. Mr. Ruthven, alone, one of the members for Dublin, proposed to stop its progress, in order that it might be made more searching. He complained that the reduction in the number of bishops was too small; four were sufficient for the Protestant population of Irelandthat was the opinion of the people of Ireland. The abolition of the church-rates was good, for they had been the source of much mischief and injustice; but it would not do away with agitation. Such a pro position as that now offered was not adequate to the task of quelling the agitation which prevailed, for the church lands did not cause or produce that agitation. What was to become of the poor? He understood, or supposed, that the revenues of the church would be ap

plied to general purposes; but the church lands were public property, and ought to be appropriated to their original purposes,-namely, the education of the people, the decent maintenance of the clergy -not of one sect, but of all sects, -the relief of the poor-and the building and repairing of churches. He moved an amendment to the effect that it was expedient to in, quire into the present state of the Irish church, with a view to an entire modification of its temporalities, and the appropriation of its reve nues to their original purposes. This amendment, however, he was prevailed on by his fellow labourers in the same cause to withdraw. It could not be good policy to quarrel with so large a gift merely because they might wish, by and by, to make it larger. They particularly valued it for the enunciation of the principle, that church property might be applied to state purposes: and whether it did so or not, became afterwards, in the progress of the bill, when their praises were changed into curses, a matter of some importance. The principle laid down by the Chan cellor of the Exchequer seemed to be, that when legislative acts raise the value of any given species of property to a point which it would not otherwise have attained, the increased value belongs not to the owner, but to the state. The principle was not new, It had been preached before by the most pretending of the radical periodical publications. If the principle was right, and if it was true that the corn laws, for instance, had raised rents, it was not easy to see why the additional rents should not have been seized by "the state." Lord Stormont put the question to Lord Althorp (13 Feb.) whether, when

he spoke of the new fund to be raised by letting out church lands in perpetuity, he meant that it should be applied to ecclesiastical purposes? Lord Althorp answered, that all the sums to be derived from the mode which parliament might devise, of purchasing leases of church lands in perpetuity, could not be considered church property; and that, therefore, without at all infringing upon the principle (on which he was aware great difference of opinion existed) of the applicability of church property to state purposes, he thought that a fund so created must be considered as state property, and applicable to such purposes as parliament might deem proper. It was only by means of this distinction-not a distinc tion which can be seen at once by the eyes of ordinary people-that ministers could avoid being involved in a direct recognition of that very principle which Lord Althorp was so anxious to leave where he had found it. If we suppose a cabinet, some of whose members were perfectly willing to adopt and apply the principle, while others would not listen to it, nothing could have furnished them with a better expedient for removing their differences than this distinction. But the enemies of the Irish church would understand no such subtleties. They knew the broad fact, that certain lands were the property of the church, and, that part of the proceeds of these lands was to be applied to purposes with which the church had no con

cern.

In an irregular discussion of the affairs of Ireland on the 18th February, Mr. O'Connell, having characterized Lord Althorp's esti mate of the annual value of the revenue of the church in Ireland at 800,000, as "a base delusion,”