The English State-church

The English Stme-Church has a clcrgy above fifteen thousand, and o reveniie ofabuve five millions sterling, or Jive iimcs ïcn kundrcd thousand povnds; a pound being an English sterling short of five dollars; yet it is computed by one of their number, (the itev. Thomas Spenser, perpetual cúrate of Hinton, near Bath,) that one million pays all the clergy who work, the rest being paid to non-residents, and sinecures of one description or another. These rcvenues are derived from baronial estates; whose titles are of feudal origin; and of which it ig qiiestionable whether the fee of the soil did not originally and rightfully belong to the serf instead of his lord : from tkhe-monies which by tho commulatiorHaw of 1356 were made a rent charga on the land, which the tenant paye to the laudlord, andthe landlord to the rector; and frorn certain 'lesser' tithes wliich are still collected in kind or money as the parties choose to agree. The object of the late commutation-law, was, !y concealing the tithe in the land-rent, to make ït less odious to dissentere than directly giving partoftheir crops to a peacher whose doctrines, if indeed he preached any, they disliked and did not Jiear. The clergy thoilh at first opposed to the commutation, as a chango ükeJy to be folio wed by otliers, yet made -the mo?t of their control in the govei'fime.nt, nnd competent men informed me that the revenues of the establishment were grcatly increased by the law, orrather, by represoniing the titiléis ubove their actual valué in money. A late meeting of VVelcli farmers declare that tho l;ivv has increased their tithes fifi y per cent: nnJ miriy declared that they would rather give up their farms to thn pargoñ altogcther than midertake lo pay !he tithe at the presen ra te. The losser lillies are stfli as T said, pair] in kind wben not coinmuled foi by Ihe parties: and dining with a friencl, minister of one of" the London dissonting chnrehes, I was amused. and instructed by bis showing me the last rece ipt for titlios-irionies which he h tinself, the pastor of a church, paid to the "Rev. II. C Jones, viear of We9t Ham, Essex," wJid cdd? to liis clerical functions the somewhnt ecjnivocai one of Presidont of a wliist club, uhich meets for cards, oysíers and wme each Salurday niglit: thoiigh my friend the til he pajer vir.dlcalcd Kim from the charge of tnrn'mg back Ihë liand ofllieclck lest twelve o'clock should comeand tho sabbath begin before the rubber wns finishcu. The receipt, rnn, througii the vvhole list of 'edible plants, '-Potuloep, Cabb.-ige, Ti'rnips, Onion?, Carrots, Collard, Mang-el-wurtzel," and of domestic ivpiinala specified, 'l)oullry, i lumbs, ére'èding sowj nnd cow," on which Insi { ihe ti'.he charge va, 1 recollcct, near four dol ■ } lurs per year. And the paper contairird a" no tice oppended requesting "the Rov. Mr to seiid the .amoünt te the collectors house near the Swan, on or bofore the that d;;y week.'' The opemlion oT tliis "Church nf Englnnd'" on the people of Í reiend, I propose lo cojisider in a paper on Jrisli matters. Every one remémbers the aiTair of the widow Bya.fi i's hagirard at. Ruthcomac s?evernl yr;us since; where tlie military, in dist raining the tithes of the parish, led on by tlie Rector in person, shot down fourteen pert-ons; a number just eqnai to'thal of all the inenibers of iho church of England in the wliole parish; all of whont belonged to the familv of the Rector in whose fnor tlie tithes were distrained. Tlio rnembor3 of tho Eriglish churc!) in Irclaod i-re but ejevcn in a btmdred of the whole population; nnd the. eighly nine pay tithes to support a religión for the eleven. - After the Emancipation act, "ihere appeared 41 benefices in u-hich the-e is not onc ninnhcr of the. Established church; 00, in which there were less Ufan 20; 124, m whirh there were bet ween 20 and 00; and 120 in which there were fewer than 100. In Kinvara, at the time of the investigation, th(;re were Catholics 4.37b"; not Calholics S, Titjied L3G0. or ?;1500 per year! InKilmoon. Catliolic?, 7G9; not Gatholics, none. Yt-t these 7H9 Cathoiics pay the Established church a titheof L300 a year! And these enórmous ta'xeS for tlic support of othcr pcople's religión, are drnwn írorn a populdion, of whorn mony have nothing to sle'ép on but strnw sprend on tlie earih. Huw enn an estabiitlimeni. sus'.ained by such vlolesnle injustice, bc ihe "bnlwarïc of Protestanlism in Europev? Jf, by tliis is moant that it rnakes Protestunlisrn eitlier lod or respocted or s( ciired; ie who believes it mnst conclude tjiat human uature and reason are very djffeVelit tliings bryond the Atlaii'ic (V'Hr, wlíát they aro on tliis side.