Total value of the tithes £7,948,800 Rate upon the tithe in the proportion of 8,111,4227., the poor's rate of 1829-1830, to the supposed rental, 39,744,000l.... 1,619,721 I have adopted the rental assumed in the Black-Book, and if I had doubts before of its accuracy, they are now confirmed. The supposed rental of 39,744,000l. exceeds the whole landed property assessed to the income-tax in 1803, and it is only twelve millions less than the whole property-tax in the several counties, assessed in 1815, which included rents, tithes, tenants' profits, profits of trade, incomes derived from houses, canals, professional instruments, and whatever was liable to be charged to the income-tax; and the calculation thus founded upon the rental assumed in the Black-Book, makes the sum to be received for tithe, without deduction, two millions and a half less than the sum charged in the table. If it be objected that the rate upon the tithe is paid by the occupier, and forms a part of his charge, I grant the objection; but to whomsoever the tithe may be due, the same sum would be levied, but it forms no part of the income of the tithe-owner. The tithe-owner is only in the state of any other proprietor who receives his rent without any direct deduction upon account of rates, but whose property is of more or less value in proportion to the rates which may be levied upon it. It is therefore the concern of the clergy, and of all other proprietors of the soil, whether they consult their own private interest or the moral condition of the poor, that rates should be kept down by an equitable adjustment of wages; and it is too often in an unwise and unjust opposition to the interests of the proprietor, in a jealousy of the comparative exemption of the tradesman and the mechanic, and in a mistaken view of the temporary benefit of the existing tenant, that wages are depreciated and that rates are suffered to increase. The writer of the Black-Book appeals to authority in opposition to the statements of the " Quarterly Review," and in favour, it is presumed, of his own statement, to which, upon his shewing, they afford but a very partial support. Arthur Young, who is no bad authority in these matters, says, the revenue of the Church was five millions in 1790: and how greatly it must (must it?) have since increased from the vast increase in population and produce.-Black Book, p. 42. The sentiments of the late Secretary of the Board of Agriculture upon the subject of tithes are too well known, and have been too often refuted, to need any notice. His calculations are like those which have been so liberally applied to the wealth of the Church of Ireland, and which are chiefly distinguished by the omission of all distinction between the present actual receipts and the gross value under the most remote and almost impracticable contingencies. They are, however, particularly unsuited to the purpose of the Editor of the Black-Book, who, in the very same page in which he appeals to Mr. Young's authority, declares the average of tithe throughout the kingdom to be 4s. Old. in 1790. Now on the very liberal supposition that this was the rate of tithe in 1790, and on the yet more liberal supposition that the same portion of the surface, viz. 31,795,200 acres, was under cultivation in 1790 as in 1830, and that in the last forty years there has been no increase of the soil brought into cultivation, the total revenue derived from tithes could not exceed 6,362,3521., of which the portion due to the Clergy could be but 4,241,568. But Mr. Young's calculations in 1790 cannot be a ground of ascertaining the value of tithe at the expiration of forty years, during which the national debt has been raised from two to eight hundred millions,-the poor's-rate from about two millions to 8,111,422l.,—and the population from 8,675,000 to 11,977,663. It is said, indeed, that the vast increase in population and produce has greatly increased the revenue of the Church. Increased population may have brought some increase of the occasional fees, but nothing in proportion to the burden which it has been the means of bringing upon every description of landed property: it may also, by the greater demand which it occasions, have increased the price of produce, though even this effect is counteracted by the increased growth of potatoes; but the alleged increase is limited by the statements of the Black-Book (corrected in both instances), to the difference between 4,241,4681. and 5,608,320l. The five millions of one paragraph, and the 6,844,800l. of another, are pure fiction. The writer would nevertheless vindicate his inference from Mr. A. Young's calculation by appealing to a more authentic standard. Notwithstanding the evasions and omissions under the property-tax, the returns for 1812 make the tithe for that year amount to 4,700,000l.; and allowing for the increase in produce and fall in prices, it is not likely a less sum would be returned at present. I doubt whether I ought to have separated these two consecutive sentences. The revenue of the Church, which in 1790 was five millions, and has since been vastly increased, in 1812 had reached 4,700,000l., on account of tithe, and in 1830 "it is not likely a less sum would be returned," and therefore it is made 6,844,800l. So that the original sum is increased by nearly one half!! Whether, since 1812, in the many trials which the farmers have undergone, and under which their spirits have been broken and their capitals consumed, and there has been occasion for a large importation of foreign corn,-whether, under these circumstances, there has been any increase of produce, may at least be doubted and surely if the fall of prices from 251. for the load of wheat to 157. has not been counteracted by a very large increase of produce, it cannot of itself sustain the value of tithe in 1812. The value of tithe depends upon produce, and must fluctuate with its price; but though, in some places, when the tithe had been raised to meet the war prices, it has been considerably reduced, in others, as the old incumbents have died, or the leases have expired, and it has made some approaches from its previous depression to its equitable value,—still, as it never did and never could exceed its natural level, it has not since undergone the same depre ciation as rent. Ruinous competition has not operated in enhancing tithe as it has operated in enhancing the rent of land. On the prinçiple of a general adjustment of the value of tithe, of the depression of one part being balanced by the elevation of another, I am far from being unwilling to admit that the property-tax returns of 1812 or of 1816 may afford a fair criterion of the aggregate and average value of tithe but let them be fairly used. Instead of insidiously referring to "evasions and omissions," which, under the circumstances of the case, there is no reason to suspect, and which, if there was a fraudulent intention, there were no means of carrying it into effect, as there was no such common interest between the tithe-owner and the tithepayer as would engage them in a conspiracy to defraud the Government;-instead of those insinuations let it be plainly specified of what the tithe of 1812, amounting to 4,700,000l. consists, whether of the whole tithe or of the tithe due to the Clergy only; whether if the tithe is subject or not subject to rates. The Editor of the Black-Book refers to the parliamentary papers; I the less regret that I have not the means of examining them, as their substance is given by Arcdeacon Lyall in his Charge to the Clergy of the Archdeaconry of Colchester, in which he justly calls them a document, of unimpeachable integrity. At the hazard of falsifying another statement of the Black-Book, and of requiring some deduction from the returns of 1812, which make the tithe of that year amount to 4,700,000l., I recite the words of the Archdeacon, referring to the parliamentary returns of the property tax: By looking to these, we shall find, that in 1806, the amount of tithes, lay and ecclesiastical, for England and Wales, amounted to 2,012,0647. : in 1808 to 2,139,9567. in 1810 to 2,353,2637.: in 1812 to 2,583,2637.: in 1814 to 2,732,8987. giving an average for the ten years preceding 1814, of 2,292,2877. or somewhat less than 2,300,000l. and as the price of wheat during the whole of this period was higher than has ever been known in this country, I suppose, we may safely assume, that neither the value of tithes, nor of any other description of landed property, is greater at present than at that time.—Charge, p. 26. I have now quoted all which the writer of the Black-Book alleges in defence of his proposition that "the amount of Church tithes is 6,844,800l. per annum," and I ask Quid dignum tanto ferat hic promissor hiatu ? Surely nothing which justifies the extravagance of his conclusion. His main assertion rests upon a palpable error in arithmetic,-his best authority disclaims the assertion which he is called to prove. But though I think it right to expose them, I have no pleasure in the aggravation of these errors. I only ask of those upon whom they have imposed, if the Black-Book is their only authority? if they have any other authority, in justice to the country let them produce it; if the Black-Book is their only authority, in justice to themselves let them cease to trust it, and to complain that "the amount of Churchtithe is 6,844,800l. per annum." The Editor of the Black-Book would have been more usefully employed in revising his own calculations and assertions than in maligning the motives and disputing the statements of contemporary writers. His oracular opinions might be delivered with less authority than in the following sentences: But enough of the estimate of the Quarterly Review. The principles and purposes of this publication are so notorious, that every one is on his guard against receiving implicitly any representation relative to the Church, from so suspicious a source.- Black-Book, p. 44. We shall first solicit attention to the estimate from the Quarterly Review, which is such an unfair and misleading representation of the revenues of the Clergy, that we ought almost to apologise to the reader for laying it before him. p. 42. Upon whatever principle or test the statement is made in the Quarterly Review, its erroneousness is apparent. The reviewer supposes the rectorial tithes to average only 3s. 6d. per acre, and the vicarial tithes only 1s. 3d. Both these sums are assuredly too low. The vicarage tithes, in consequence of the turnip husbandry and other improvements in agriculture, are often more valuable than the parsonage.-Ibid. Again. The reviewer greatly misrepresents the proportion between rectories and vicarages. It is well known to every one the impropriate livings barely equal one-third of the whole number. Yet the reviewer makes the number of vicarages 4,516 : whereas, according to Archdeacon Plymley, there are only 3,687 vicarages in England and Wales. But it suited the sinister purpose of the writer to exaggerate the number of vicarages, in order to calculate the tithe of so many parishes at only 1s. 3d. per acre.-Ibid. acre ; I have yet to learn where the vicarage tithes are more valuable than the parsonage; and it is but lately that I heard an aged vicar, of the largest experience and information in all agricultural concerns, almost deny any value to vicarial tithe. I pretend not to determine whether the reviewer is justified in supposing "the rectorial tithe to average only 3s. 6d. per acre, and the vicarial tithes only 1s. 3d. per " but I know at the present time a parish in Essex in which the composition for the rectorial tithes is paid to the lessee, who is also the curate, at the rate of 2s. 6d., and that for the vicarial tithes to the vicar, at 1s. 3d.; and when I remember the common assertion that the poor-lands amount to one-third of the whole land in cultivation, I cannot say that "these sums are assuredly too low," -nor can I conceive a public writer so destitute of principle or of prudence as wilfully, and for the mere purpose of his argument, "to misrepresent the proportion between rectories and vicarages,” and to “ exaggerate the number of vicarages in order to calculate the tithe of so many parishes at Is. 3d. per acre." I have not at present access to his sources of information, but I know that the rectories and vicarages are distinguished in the Liber Regis and in the Population Abstracts; and the writer could hardly have ventured without authority to distribute the rectories and vicarages, as they are in the gift of public or private patrons; and be it remembered that this distribution is admitted into the Black-Book implicitly and without remark. But it is the charge of a sinister purpose which I am chiefly concerned to repel. Now if Quarterly Review," with the Editor of the Black-Book, had calculated the tithe upon 31,795,200 acres at 3s. 6d. per acre, the total amount of tithe would be 5,564,160l., from which, if one-third, or 1,854,7207. be deducted for tithe for land, there would remain for the Clergy but 3,709,440%.; and I cannot think that the difference which involves a sum of less than 450,000l. is a sinister motive of sufficient the ،، power to induce a public writer to disgrace himself by a deliberate imposition upon the credulity of the public. The difference is, however, in truth, considerably less. The principle upon which the writer in the Quarterly Review proceeds is to deduct one-tenth of all the land in cultivation, as entirely exempt from tithe the remaining 28,615,680 acres he supposes to be subject to tithe, and distributes into 10,693 parishes, each containing 2,676 tithable acres. Of these parishes 5,177 are rectories, 4,516 vicarages, and 1,000 perpetual curacies. There are of course 5,516 impropriate rectories. It is of importance to ascertain first, what proportion of this tithe is paid to the Clergy, and what to the lay impropriator. Acres. Paying. 5177 rectories, containing.. 13,853,652 at 3s. 6d. 4516 vicarages 1000 impropriate rectories} 12,084,816 at {1s. 3d. impropriate rectories after deducting for racies 75,000 10,693 parishes, containing. 28,615,680 Total tithe, at 3s. 6d. 3,254,688 £1,753,043 1,753,043 £5,007,731 By this statement it appears that the laity receive very little more than one-third, and the clergy very little less than two-thirds of the aggregate amount of tithe, and the Editor of the Black-Book has, upon this ground, no cause of complaint,—no occasion to impute a sinister purpose to the Quarterly Review. Another point to be ascertained is the proportion between the great and small, the rectorial and vicarial tithes, upon which I cannot concur in the estimate of the Quarterly Review, as it is established in, the Black-Book. It must not be thought that the rectories produce nothing but great tithe, or the vicarages nothing but small tithes. When the composition is made with the rector for the tithes at 3s. 6d. an acre, it includes a certain portion of land from which small tithes only are collected, at the rate of Is. 3d. an acre, as is specified in the case of the vicarages. In this proportion the whole tithe is valued at fourteen parts, each equal to three-pence, of which nine-fourteenths are due for great, and five-fourteenths for small tithes. Now if the value of the produce paying small tithe is equal to the value of the produce paying great tithes, there will be five acres paying small tithes to nine acres paying great tithes; i. e. of 28,615,680 acres, there will be 10,219,895 acres paying small tithes, and 18,395,811 paying great tithes, at 3s. 6d. for every acre. But if the produce paying small tithes be of less value than the produce paying great tithes, and if it sink so low as to be only worth 1s. 3d. an acre, the effect will be to increase the great tithe in the same proportion as the small tithes are reduced; and if, as before, from five-fourteenths of the surface, or 10,219,895 acres, at 1s. 3d. but 638,7321. are collected it will be necessary to collect the remainder 4,369,000l. from |