owners and tithe-payers. Do we, however, require as the remedy, any self-sacrifice or spoliation of the clergy? God forbid! So far from it, we advocate commutation because we consider it the only means of preserving the property constituted by tithes for the benefit of the church, and preventing it from lapsing, as, if things are left to take their course much longer, it assuredly will, to the landlords, who have not a shadow of title to it, and from whom the public can expect nothing in return. When the public attention is liberated from the all-absorbing measure of Reform, not a doubt can exist but that it will be fully and strongly bent upon the church; and well will it then be for her, if, instead of being forced to extend her defence to the hated, weak, and untenable point of tithes, she shall not only find herself protected on that side by a commutation desired by all parties, and satisfactory to them alike, but be in a condition to hold up her conduct on that occasion as a shield against the clamours of her enemies, and an encouraging word of rallying for her friends. To insist further that it is politic for the clergy, and as urgent as it is politic, to convert their tithes into some other species of property not liable to the same objections, we should consider a waste of words: we will, therefore, proceed to advert to the rules by which such a conversion should, to our mind, be regulated; and we will then make bold to discuss with our readers the outlines of a scheme calculated, according to our judgment, to carry that conversion into practical effect.

To deal with fairness between the parties interested in so important a conversion of property, it will readily be admitted that the defects rendering the abrogation of the tithe system necessary, should be clearly placed in view, in order that they may be excluded from the institutions to be substituted in its stead; and at the same time that, whatever advantages that system may really possess, should be carefully set apart, and preserved, with a view that those advantages, or provisions substantially equivalent to them, may be taken up and embodied into the new institution,-what then, are the defects? First and paramount is the general and unmitigated aversion which obtains towards tithes eo nomine, considering them merely as a species of payment. But this, obviously, is a result; let us inquire into its probable causes. We think they may be traced chiefly to the circumstance of the tithe being calculated upon the gross unliquidated produce of the land; a circumstance which compels the tithe-holder, if he wishes to obtain his legal dues, to ascertain as nearly as he can, and by the best means he may

*There exist abuses in every institution, yet we are confident that no clamour will arise against the clergy, personally, beyond the cabal of mere renegades and Deists. The sole question is that of Tithe Commutation.—

EDITORS.

command, the amount of the farmer's produce. Now, whenever there is distrust on one side, or jealousy and reserve on the other, that is to say in nine cases out of ten, (for where is the man who would leave his interests at the mercy of another when he can avoid it? or who does not detest all check or conhis private affairs, be it however slight or even imaginary,) it is clear that the requisite calculations will not be made to satisfaction, without watchings, and pryings, and interferences innumerable, which, or the mere semblance of which, are sufficient to breed heats and disputes without end. In this particular, tithe resembles the obnoxious income tax, with the difference, that the angry feelings which it gives rise to, are concentrated and pointed upon an individual. We may add to the foregoing the more substantial motives of dislike, which may be supposed to influence the farmer, springing from his conviction, however erroneous, that tithes form an absolute drawback on his profits, and are, therefore, so far, an impediment to his making his way in the world: and we shall then have no difficulty in clearly recognising, even though we may not be inclined to appreciate, his reasoning, which leads him to extend the ill will so heartily bestowed upon the system, placing him under such obnoxious authority, to the individual in whom that authority is vested. If, as is by no means uncommon, the tithe-payer happens to be a Dissenter, it is needless to say that his repugnance to be taxed, as he imagines, for the support of a mode of worship from which he is alienated, will render him a conscientious and uncompromising opponent of tithes.

Besides this grudging humour prevailing from time immemorial against tithes and those who live thereon, which in our days has attained such force as to be by itself a sufficient motive for their commutation, since, otherwise, it will indubitably be the cause of their summary removal, they are intrinsically a vicious mode of raising income, inasmuch as they operate as a tax preventing production, though not, we acknowledge, to the extent that other taxes might have done. This, however, is of course no reason why the mischief which actually exists should not be abated. We have, in a former Number, enlarged upon the effects of this property of tithes, and, therefore, we may at present content ourselves with simply adverting to it as a defect. pro tanto. With regard to the legal properties of tithes, also before touched upon, grievous defects though they be, they do not fall within the scope of our present consideration, because they more particularly attach to lay tithes, and at all events, on the extinction of tithes, there will be an end of them simply

and at once.

And now for the advantages incident to the political nature of tithes. As the first of these, we may reckon that the mainte

nance of the clergy is thereby thrown almost entirely upon the surplus produce of the land, in such a manner that in theory, the result, as far as concerns existing interests, is nearly the same as if the church derived her income from an actual endowment of land. The unfortunate variance that takes place from that theory, on the raising of the tithe in practice, is mainly to be ascribed, as we have endeavoured to shew, to the faulty mode of computation, which takes for the index of the quantum of the churchman's income the tithe of the gross produce raised by the farmer, a fund including at once capital, profits, and rent, instead of the rent of the landlord alone, as ought to have been the case.

The other advantages of tithe, looking at it as a provision for the clergy, consist in its security, resting, as it does, on land, and in its unfixed amount, which being proportioned to the value of agricultural produce, is sure to keep pace at all times with the increasing wealth of the community.

We feel that an apology is due to our readers for insisting upon such minute and obvious truths; but we beg them to consider, that as we are not merely arguing for the necessity of a change, but at the same time desirous to point out some means of carrying it into effect, these preliminary details form as indispensably parts of our case, as the clearing of the ground for the foundation of a new structure must necessarily precede its erection.

We have thus ascertained the particulars of what is bad, and what there is of good, in the existing system; but to enable us to avail ourselves effectually of these particulars, we must first take a correct view of the field to be worked upon,-we mean the different provisions which offer themselves as endowments for the clergy in lieu of tithes.

In the first place, then, there might be a stipend, to be paid either by the government, or by the inhabitants of the parish, to be levied, in the latter case, by a rate. We may at once dispose of this plan; we do not think it expedient. The church, as it is, has proved itself, in most instances, but too dependent and subservient upon government: put it on the Pension List, and there will be an end, at once, and entirely, of its dignity, and of what means it now possesses of vindicating an occasional independence. Besides, a provision of this nature could not possibly endure, looking at the daily increasing influence of the Dissenters: at least, not without embracing them likewise, which would greatly enhance the evils we have just deprecated. If confined to the Establishment now endowed, a public stipendiary maintenance could not, however, be charged with augmenting the public burdens, an objection which has been urged against

it, since the tithe would then, of course, devolve upon govern ment, to be appropriated to the general services of the state. To a stipend contributed by the inhabitants of each parish for the maintenance of its respective pastor, the foregoing objections, it must be confessed, do not apply. And if there were no existing endowment in the case, this mode of maintaining the clergy would have our favorable vote in preference to all others, as being the most equitable, and the most likely to secure the honest and assiduous services of the minister. But we must not lose sight of the existing tithe, which forms a mass of public property applicable to the purposes of religious worship, according to the ritual of the Church of England. There being this fund already existing for such an object, no good reason can be given why the people should be subjected to a new tax for the purpose, unless it can be shewn that, by taking the fund and appropriating it to other public purposes, and supplying its place by an assessment, as suggested, a greater portion of benefit would accrue to the community as a whole. We do not deny but that this may be demonstrable hereafter, but we scarcely think it will admit of proof just at present.

Passing over the stipend then as inexpedient, the only other provisions on the principle of commutation appear to be, first, land; secondly, a rent, to be charged on the titheable land; and thirdly, a sum of money resting on sufficient security. Land unquestionably unites all the requisites of an endowment, possessing, as it does, the advantages of being permanent and secure in its subsistence, whilst its value is always moving, and that, perhaps, in a ratio of increase in relation to all other kinds of wealth, real or conventional. But in many cases it may not be practically obtainable; whenever, for instance, the value of the tithes of any incumbency should not be sufficient for the purchase of any but a very small quantity of land, our readers will readily perceive, without our going into details, that it may, from various circumstances, be impossible either to let that land, or to cultivate, and much less improve it with profit; in which case the clergyman might be left entirely destitute. Besides, we should not wish to see too much encouragement given to clergymen-farmers, and it would at all times be proper, where land is the endowment, to permit the management of a farm to be undertaken by the incumbent himself, only as an unavoidable alternative to leaving it uncultivated.

A very ingenious scheme has been suggested by Mr. Senior, formerly the Professor of Political Economy at Oxford, to ensure the advantages of a landed endowment for the clergy, and at the same time, obviate the above objections to it. He proposes, that the different incumbents within a given district, say

*Letter to Lord Howick on a legal Provision for the Irish poor, Commutation of Tithes, &c., by Nassau William Senior, esq., 1831.

an archdeaconry, or probably some smaller district, should be formed into a corporation, in whom he would vest the revenues of all the benefices in the district, but to be divided between the incumbents in proportion to the value of each respective benefice. Then the corporation should be empowered to sell the tithes of the whole district, and lay out the proceeds in the purchase of land. By this plan an estate, or several estates, might be selected, which would be certain to afford profitable cultivation, while the management of the estates might be conducted by a steward or bailiff of the corporation, so as to release the clergyman as well from the labour and solicitude, as the invidiousness of collecting his own income from his parishioners.

This scheme promises fair, though we foresee many difficulties in the way of its working; and, without wishing to see it altogether rejected, we decidedly think its movements would be too slow for the present emergency. What debates, committees, surveys, reports, remonstrances, and amendments, must there take place before even the machinery of the corporations is brought into working order! That done, there will still be a great complexity of interests and opinions to adjust between the different incumbents and their parishioners, and the patrons of their livings. And by the time a result may be hoped to be reached through all these impediments, who shall say that the tithe system may not, from the intervening action of public opinion, require a very different mode of settlement, if it shall not already have undergone one?

Where land might not be obtained, a land tax would mostly be found practicable. It would, of course, be equal in value to the relinquished tithe, and charged upon the freehold of the land previously titheable. Its advantage over tithe consists in its certainty, and in its not interfering with the farmer's produce, or the management of his farm. It is true, that the farmer might, in many cases, have to pay the tax, but this would be a matter of arrangement between him and his landlord, and therefore would not bring about the uncomfortable relation between the pastor and his flock, which is now produced by the tithe. The objections to be urged against a land tax are, that it may, by the variation of values, cut down the incumbent's original income. But this can be wholly obviated, either by making at once the yearly payment a corn-rent, or providing means for correcting the amount as expressed in money, at stipulated periods, by the actual value of corn. It has been also objected that such a provision would be insecure, for that, in process of time, the landlords would find means of withholding the payment or evading it. Without raising an argument on this objection, we think it will be sufficient to say in answer, that the act contemplated would be one of direct spoliation, and we think the clergy may