"farewell of this, their only benefactor, at the pound gate. "I have heard, with emotions which I can scarcely describe, deep curses repeated from village to village, as the caval"cade proceeded." Vol. ii. p. 466.

According to a return made by order of the House of Commons, it appears that, in the single county of Tipperary, there were tried, before the quarter sessions, in the year 1817, 1084 tithe cases! A mere citation in a tithe case, of the value of 18s. 10 d., we are informed by Sir Henry Parnell, costs the defender fifty shillings.*

It will be remembered, early in the last autumn, that a meeting of Irish noblemen, and landed proprietors, was held in London, at the Thatched House Tavern, to take into consideration, the best means of alleviating the distresses of Ireland, when an alteration, in the present system of tithes, was considered indispensably necessary. A meeting also, in the county of Waterford, was held in September last, having in view the same object. Here it was not proposed, be it observed, to call upon the legislature, to take away or even to diminish the revenues of the protestant church in Ireland. The moderation of the wishes of the landed proprietors is sufficiently testified by the first resolution adopted at the Waterford Meeting.

"First, That for the tranquillity and happiness of Ireland, it is expedient to substitute, for the present precarious and vexatious mode of supporting the clergy of the established church, a full and liberal equivalent, fairly assessed and levied."

In what spirit is this proposition met by the clergy?—those ministers of peace, whom we are taught to esteem as the blessing of a country, and the dispensers of a religion "full "of mercy and good fruits." From his Grace, the Archbishop of Armagh, Lord Primate of Ireland, we may collect the sentiments of the clergy. His Grace, during the recent visitation of his clergy, not only meets the question with a direct negative, but accuses those who are agitating it, with being actuated by a desire to overthrow the protestant church. He represents the proposed system of commutation, as dangerous to the interests of the clergy; and, rejecting all innovations, it is his lordship's fixed determination, as well, no doubt, as that of his reverend brethren, not to

* Edinburgh Review, for July 1822.

loose their holy grasp on the land! Justice-religioncharity-public sympathy apart, we blame not their indiscretion: it is impolitic to change the tenure when the title is in danger. The catholic clergy knew sufficiently the hazard of reforms, where the system itself was vicious. It was the saying of a Jesuit, concerning those proposed in France, that they would not extinguish one taper, though "it were to convert all the Huguenots in France." And his Grace of Armagh will not consent to a commutation of tithes, though it were to give happiness to seven millions of people!! We have not before us the printed copy of the primate's charge; we take, therefore, his lordship's defence of the claims of the clergy as reported in the Irish papers.

"The education which clergymen received-the rank which custom had assigned them in society-and the many unnecessary expenses they were thereby forced into, all demanded that the reward should be ample; nor could this be considered detrimental to the public, when the whole was expended in the neighbourhood from whence it was derived."

"The right of the clergy to tithes was enjoined by the scriptures of God, and confirmed by the laws of man."

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Now we venture, with suitable deference, to suggest, that every single idea of which the above reasoning is compounded, is contrary either to reason, to fact, or to scripture. "The education which clergymen receive"-is a very great evil; it leaves them with too much learning to understand Christianity, and too little virtue to practice it. "The "rank which custom had assigned them in society” — is contrary to the humility of the gospel. "The many unnecessary expences they are thereby forced into"-prove their imprudence in keeping bad company. "All demanded that "the reward should be ample:"-the reasons were of no force separately; they obtain no momentum, therefore, by being united. "Nor could this be considered detrimental to the "public, when the whole was expended in the neighbourhood "from whence it was derived,"—which is not the case in Ireland; and if it were so would leave the neighbourhood just so much the poorer by all the amount of money taken from it, in tithe, seeing it cannot repossess that amount without giving an equivalent either in labour or commodities.* The right of the clergy to tithes was enjoined by the "scriptures of God, and confirmed by the laws of man;" con

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*The late Earl of Bristol, Bishop of Derry, resided twenty years abroad, and received from his diocese during that time £. 200,000.

firmed by the laws of man they are, and by the laws of man they can consequently be repealed: enjoined in the scriptures of God they are not; and the bishop must know very little of those scriptures if he is serious in thinking so. The Jewish priesthood was appointed by Deity to receive tithe, but the tithe has ended with the priesthood. The inspired teachers of Christianity were entitled to a maintenance, being appointed by God, to make a revelation of his will; but is that an argument in favour of a bishop, appointed by a king, to teach a "religion as by law established?"-" Jesus "I know, and Paul I know, but-who are ye?"

The good bishop may, perhaps, contend that the claims of the clergy to support, are founded in simple justice, and that the principle of the apostle expresses this sentiment: If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things?" (1 Cor. ix. 11.) The principle we deny, and the conclusion we dispute, as applicable to any but to the apostles. But at any rate, following out this principle, the catholic population of Ireland may be justified in saying to the protestant clergy “if you have not sown unto us your spiritual things, is it a great thing that you "shall not reap our carnal things?"

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The Irish clergy, it is apparent, are determined to keep what they have got; but some of our LONDON CLERGY are rendering themselves conspicuous, by their desire to obtain more. We allude to the exertions now making by some of the possessors of livings in the City, to increase their stipends; by availing themselves of a doubtful and obsolete act of parliament, by which they are seeking, by an appeal to the law, to enforce a claim of 2s. 9 d. in the pound, on the rack rental of the inhabitants. In this "labour of love," the present rector of the parish of St. Andrew, Holborn, is rendering himself eminently conspicuous. This worthy clerk is suspected, in the City, to be, both in his politics and religion, an advocate for the doctrines of "passive "obedience and non-resistance." Two years ago he ventured, through the public papers, to lecture the alderman of the ward in which his church is situate, for permitting, at a wardmote held in the church, that honest freedom of debate, for which the good men of Farringdon have been so long conspicuous. And now, although deriving from the parish £.1600 a year, besides the possession of a good house, he is, we are informed by the public prints, instituting a suit in the Court of Exchequer, against certain of his parishioners, for the recovery of a tithe, as he calls it,

of 2s, 9 d. in the pound! which would increase his income to SEVEN THOUSAND PER ANNUM! Shade of SACHEVEREL! with what benignity must thou look down upon him who has caught thy mantle, and obtained thy benefice!*

On this monstrous proceeding of the reverend gentleman, in going to law with his parishioners, for an increased tithe, two observations occur to us. Mr. Beresford is engaged to administer spiritual consolation to his parishioners, for which they engage to pay him: so far it is a business transaction. But how is it, that, in a country so eminently commercial as England, religion should be the only article that is not left to find its fair market price? In the present instance the purchasers of Mr. Beresford's commodity say that it is worth only 6d. in the pound, (some, indeed, would rather decline it at any price) Mr. Beresford demands 2s. 9 d.: the parties cannot agree; here, then, the matter ought to end-Mr. Beresford retaining his religion, and the parish their money: instead of which Mr. Beresford goes to law, to compel the public to take his article at more than they think it to be worth. But we take a higher objection to this: the reverend gentlemen is at issue with his own flock-with the members of his own church with his brethren; now, if his church be founded on scripture, and governed by its authority, why are not these differences decided by the church itself? "Dare any "of you, (says the apostle)" having a matter against another, "go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?" "Is it so that there is not a wise man among you? No! not "one that shall be able to judge between his brethren." Oh! but (Mr. Beresford will say) my brethren, in this case, are an interested party, I shall not receive justice. We answer him in the words of the same apostle; "Why do ye "not rather take wrong? Why do ye not rather suffer yourself "to be defrauded?" We had almost continued our quotation to the next verse; "Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and “that YOUR BRETHREN!" Reader! consult, at thy leisure, the whole context; there follows a complete catalogue of those who are unworthy of the Christian character: "Nor THIEVES, nor COVETOUS, nor REVILERS, nor EXTORTIONERS shall inherit the kingdom of God."-See 1 Cor. vi. 1 to 10.)

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*The rich living of St. Andrew, Holborn, was given to the celebrated Dr. Sacheverel, by the tory faction, in the reign of Anne, as a reward for his high church bigotry, and for his fulminations against the principles of the Revolution.

It was our intention to have extracted from our newspaper file, a list of various crimes, offences, and misdemeanors, for which, during the present year, clergymen have been brought before the public courts of the country; upon examination, however, the cases appeared generally of a nature too scandalous to be introduced into our pages. One instance, however, of clerical infamy, towering high above the rest, has been rendered too painfully notorious not to be adverted to, in an article like the present. We content ourselves with quoting our testimony from the definitive sentence pronounced in this case, by the Lord Primate, at the metropolitan court of Armagh, the court having found that "The Right Reverend Father in God, "Percy Joslyn, by Divine Permission Bishop of Clogher, a Suffragan Bishop of, and belonging to, our Province of Armagh," &c. &c. "hath been guilty of the CRIMES, 66 EXCESSES, and IMMORALTIES articulated!"

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The public have also been favoured with another, not unimportant exemplification of the character of the clergy, in an action for libel, instituted by the diocese of Durham, against the editor of the Durham Chronicle, and tried at the last summer assizes, at Durham. The circumstances of this case are all familiar to the reader. On the occasion of the funeral of England's late persecuted Queen, it was supposed the clergy of Durham had manifested a marked disrespect to the memory of her Majesty, in causing the bells of the cathedral to suppress their emotions," as it was termed on the trial; upon which conduct the editor of the Durham Chronicle offered some bold and spirited animadversions, accusing the Durham clergy of being actuated by the most unchristian and unbecoming feelings, in their general conduct towards the Queen. The Lord Bishop of Durham, and his brethren of the diocese, endeavour to answer the accusation by sending the accuser to prison. They institute a criminal information, in the name of the king, against their assailant. The language which they charge as libelous, is to the following effect, as quoted on the trial:

"Thus the brutal enmity of those who embittered her moral existence pursues her in her shroud. These men profess to be followers of Jesus Christ-to walk in his footsteps-to teach his precepts-to inculcate his spirit-to promote harmony, charity, and Christian love: Out upon such hypocrisy! It is such conduct which renders the very name of our established clergy odious, till it stinks in the nostrils! It is such conduct that makes our churches look like deserted sepulchres-that causes our beneficed dignitaries to be regarded as usurpers of their possessions. Sensible of the decline of