Established Clergy. law, almost without opposition. The Whigs were silent. Mr. Whitbread and Mr. Brand indeed said something about the absurdity of enacting laws one day, and abrogating them the next; of the injustice of tempting people. by rewards, and after they had earned them, interfering to prevent their being granted. But this was all. These gentlemen agreed it was necessary to protect the Clergy; and, with the exception of Lord Folkstone, we do not find, in Hansard's History of the Debates, a single individual who raised his voice against the principle of this nefarious transaction. During the progress of the Bill, Mr. Wright presented several petitions in vindication of his claim to the penalties, and of his character and motives from the slanders of the Clergy. In his petition of the 21st April, (Parl. Deb. vol. xxvii. p. 462,) he declares, that the representations made by the Clergy of his having entrapped them, and nourished their offences, and of. having kept back their licences and notifications, are wholly without foundation: : so far from which, the petitioner had, at great trouble and expense, prepared abstracts of the different statutes in force relative to residence and license, and caused them to be printed and distributed, gratis, among the Clergy, that they might not be ignorant of the penalties they were liable to by their practices. He also complains of clubs and associations formed among the Clergy; of their having commenced friendly actions against themselves; and of having consulted counsel, whether they could not avoid the penalties to which they were liable by a sham resignation of their bene fices, and then retaking them all which the petitioner said were intended to abridge him of the legal rights vested in him by the legislature. After this petition the public heard nothing more of Mr. Wright. In histo last letter in the Morning Chronicle, he intimated that he had ulterior infor›? mation of great importance to bring forward; but suddenly he became as silent as the grave. Whether this silence was obtained by a payment out of Secret-Service Money, by a pension, a sinecure, annuity, or some other holy management, it is impossible to say; but it is certain that Mr. Wright all at once ceased his communications to the public relative to the Clergy; the Parsons' Indemnity Bill passed into a law, and the Church received complete white-washing from the State for all its manifold sins and transgressions. After the passing of the Restriction Act, Gagging Bills, Seditious Meeting Bills, and of the Habeas Corpus Suspension Bills, it can hardly excite surprise that a Bill passed to indemnify the Clergy. In the latter case, however, there pears something more unprincipled and contemptible than in the former un Established Clergy. constitutional measures. The law imposing the penalties which Mr. Wright attempted to recover had only been enacted in 1803: the professed object was to remedy the crying evil of non-residence; and to give greater encouragement to prosecutions, the Act provided that the whole of the penalties were to be given to the informer. Only eight years elapse, an informer comes forward, relying on the faith of Parliament; prosecutions are commenced; when the Legislature interferes-in utter contempt of justice and consistencybelying its former professions, violating its pledge, robbing an individual of his reward, and screens the delinquents which its own laws had made liable to punishment. It is impossible for the people to feel any thing but, contempt for such a system of legislation. Laws, it is clear, are not made to principles, but to men, and are only terrible to the weak, and not to the wicked. Revenues of the Established Church. This forms the most important branch of this article, and it is that part on which we have found the greatest difficulty in obtaining correct and authentic information. The returns made to Parliament of the incomes of the parochial Clergy afford sufficient information on that part of the subject; but the incomes of the higher orders in the ecclesiastical establishment cannot be obtained with the same facility and correctness. After, however, considerable labour and difficulty, we now flatter ourselves that we have obtained sufficient data for laying before the reader a comprehensive account of the revenues, number, and influence of the Established Clergy. re The Revenues of the Church of England are derived from Tithes, re served rents in corn or money, or both conjointly, fines on renewal of leases. of church estates, glebe and augmentation lands, surplice fees, and some other inconsiderable sources of emolument. The revenues derived from these sources are divided among three & Prin cipal classes, namely, the Episcopal, Dignified, and Parochial Clergy. The Episcopal Clergy includes two archbishops and 24 bishops. The Dignified Clergy consists of 26 deans, 60 archdeacons, 544 cathedral dignitaries, namely, canons and prebendaries, in all 630. We may also add to this class, though not included among the dignitaries, a subordinate rank belonging to cathedral and collegiate churches, under the denomination of minor-canons, priest-vicars, vicars-choral, &c. with many others in still lower situations, all Established Clergy. in holy orders, and whose total number may amount to 300. Besides these there are an immense number of lay-officers in the capacities of organists, singing men, choristers, vergers, sextons, schoolmasters, free-scholars, almsmen, &c. &c. The total of all these classes, nominally employed in the service of cathedral and collegiate churches, but in fact nothing more than idlers and sinecurists, amounts, it is supposed, to not less than 2000 persons. The Parochial Clergy are still more numerous, and constitute the basis of the ecclesiastical pyramid, of which the Episcopal Clergy form the apex, They form the great commonalty among the clerical body, including all rectors, vicars, curates, &c. amounting in round numbers to about 14,000. / The incomes of these great classes next remain to be considered. First, let us speak of the Episcopal Clergy. The revenues of this class have been variously estimated. Cove, in his Essay on the Revenues of the Church of England, (p. 106, 3d edit.) estimates them as low as £130,000 per annum. This writer, however, is not entitled to much credit; he participates himself largely in the loaves and fishes of the Church; he is a reverend gentleman, a rector, and a prebendary; his work is inscribed, " To the Friends of our Excellent Constitution in Church and Estate." He contends that the Clergy have both a NATURAL and LEGAL right to tithes; and his object plainly is, throughout the whole of his publication, to show, by disguised and qualified statements, that the cumbrous, expensive, and useless establishment, of which he forms a part, is not so oppressive to the country as is generally supposed. Upon the estimate then of the Rev. Mr. Cove it were unsafe to rely, Another calculation, inserted in Mr. Bentham's Church of Englandism, makes the total revenues of the Sees amount to £169,100. This statement probably is considerably below their real amount. Perhaps the only certain data we can proceed upon is to adopt the valuation in the "King's Book," and allow for the changes in the value of money and improvements in agriculture. The valuation in Liber Regis, or the King's Book, was made in the reign of Henry VIII. and contains the annual value of all ecclesiastical benefices then in the kingdom. But as the valuation was to be the foundation of the future payment of first fruits and tenths,* it is probable the estimate of First Fruits are the first year's whole profit or value of any spiritual preferment. The Tenths are the tenth part of the annual value of each living. Both first fruits and tenths were formerly paid to the Pope. The first fruits were paid to his Holiness on promotion to any new benefice, and the tenths were an annual income-tax, of ten per Established Clergy. that day was considerably below their real worth. However, it may be considered sufficiently near the truth, to enable us to form a tolerably correct idea of the present value of English bishoprics. The valuation of sees, and the dignities and livings annexed to them in the King's Book, amounts to about £24,000 per annum. Allowing that ecclesiastical property has increased in value in the proportion of ten to one, the present revenues of the Bishops amount to £240,000. Mr. Cove admits that the incomes of the Parochial Clergy have increased in this proportion; but he endeavours to show that the revenues of the Episcopal and Dignified Clergy have not increased in the same ratio. We can, however, see no cogent reason for making any distinction. The sources, namely, land and certain fixed money payments, whence the incomes of these classes are derived, are of the same nature, and have undergone similar changes as to value, as other descriptions of ecclesiastical property; we shall therefore adopt the same proportion in calculating the value of the bishoprics, and the revenues of cathedral and collegiate churches. The following statement will give some idea of the patronage, connexions, and revenues, of the Episcopal Clergy. Canterbury. Charles Manners Sutton, value of see..... .....£26,820 Cousin to the Duke of Rutland, and brother to the Lord Chancellor of Ireland. The livings in the gift of the Archbishop about 140. He is stiled Primate of all England: the Archbishop of York Primate of England. York. Venables Vernon, value of see 16,100 cent. out of the revenues of the Clergy. In the reign of Henry VIII. it was computed that, in 50 years, 800,000 ducats had been sent to Rome for first fruits only. As the Clergy would, when it was contrary to law, persist in the payment of these foreign exactions, Henry determined, on the dissolution of the monasteries, to keep them to the yoke to which they had voluntarily subjected themselves, and annexed the revenue arising from first fruits and tenths to the crown: excepting however from the payment of first fruits all vicarages under ten pounds, and rectories under ten marks per annum. In the reign of Queen Anne this part of the revenue of the crown, amounting to about £14,000, was formed into a fund, called Queen Anne's Bounty, and applied to the augmentation of poor livings. It has been subsequently greatly increased by an annual grant of £100,000 from parliament, and the benefactions of private individuals. Established Clergy. Brother of Lords Vernon and Harcourt. Patronage: about 80 livings, 50 prebends, besides precentorships, chancellorships, suhdeaneries, &c. London. William Howley, value of see Dean of the Chapel Royal £10,000 200 10,200 Patronage: 95 livings, 28 prebends, besides precentorships, chancellorships, &c. Durham. Shute Barrington, value of see Uncle of Viscount Barrington. The Rev. George Barrington, prebend of Durham, £1000, is a relation. Patronage: 12 prebends in the cathedral of Durham, the archdeaconry of Durham, and about 80 rectories, vicarages, and curacies. Winchester. Brownlow North, value of see... Uncle to the Earl of Guildford. Patronage: the archdeaconries of Surrey and Winton; 12 prebends, 6 minor canonries, and 70 livings Lichfield and Coventry. James Cornwallis, value of see Dean of Durham, .18,210 .28,730 £5590 4000 9590 Uncle to Marquis Cornwallis. Patronage: 26 prebends, 18 vicarages, 4 rectories, besides succentorships, precentorships, treasurerships, &c. Lincoln. George Prettyman Tomline, value of see... £8280 7250 15,530 Secretary to the "heaven-born minister." Patronage: 2 archdeaconries, 26 prebends, 36 livings, besides sacrists, vicars-choral, &c. Bath and Wells. Richard Beadon, value of see ..... Tutor to the Duke of Gloucester. Patronage: 27 livings, and a host of priest-vicars, vicars-choral, prebends, &c. Worcester. Folliott Herbert Walker Cornewall, value of see £9290 156 Rector of Hartlebury ..... 300* Patronage: archdeaconry of Worcester, with rectory of Clarendon, and about 20 livings. Chichester. John Buckner, value of see ... Duke of Richmond's tutor. Patronage: 36 livings, and 20 prebends. The bishop is rector of St. Giles's. 5330 9590 6770 |