are not compelled to advance the salary | to dazzle the parishioners at the rate of their perpetual curacies, up to a of 250l. per annum. The poor man, fifth of their estates? The answer, actuated by those principles of common too, is equally obvious- Many lay sense, which are so contrary to all the impropriators have votes in both Houses provisions of the bill, chooses to make of Parliament; and the only class of a good thing of it, because he knows men this cowardly reformation attacks, it will not last; wears his old coat, is that which has no means of saying rides his lean horse, and defrauds the anything in its own defence. class of curates of all the advantages which they were to derive from the sleekness and splendour of his appearance. Even if the enrichment of curates were the most imperious of all duties, it might very well be questioned whether a more unequal and pernicious mode of fulfilling it could be devised than that enjoined by this bill. Curacies are not granted for the life of the curate; but for the life or incumbency or good-liking of the rector. It is only rectors worth 500l. a-year who are compelled by Mr. Perceval to come down with a fifth to their deputy; and these form but a very small proportion of the whole non-resident rectors; so that the great multitude of curates Lust remain as poor as formerly, and probably a little more discontented. Suppose, however, that one has actually entered on the enjoyment of 250l. per Свинт. His wants, and his habits of expense, are enlarged by this increase of income. In a year or two his rector dies, or exchanges his living; and the poor man is reduced, by the effects of comparison, to a much worse state than before the operation of the bill. Can any person say that this is a wise and effectual mode of ameliorating the condition of the lower clergy? To us it almost appears to be invented for the express purpose of destroying those habits of economy and caution, which are so indispensably necessary to their situation. If it be urged that the curate, knowing his wealth only to be temporary, will make use of it as a means of laying up a fund for some future day, -we admire the good sense of the man: but what becomes of all the provisions of the bill? what becomes of that opulence which is to confer respectability upon all around it, and to radiate even upon the curates of Wales? The money was expressly given to blacken his coat,-to render him convex and rosy,—to give him a sort of pseudo-rectorial appearance, and It is of some importance to the welfare of the parish, and the credit of the church, that the curate and his rector should live upon good terms together. Such a bill, however, throws between them elements of mistrust and hatred, which must render their agreement highly improbable. The curate would be perpetually prying into every little advance which the rector made upon his tithes, and claiming his proportionate increase. No respectable man could brook such inquisition; some, we fear, would endeavour to prevent, its effects by clandestine means. The church would be a perpetual scene of disgraceful animosities; and the ears of the bishop never free from the clamours of rapacity and irritation. It is some slight defect in such a bill, that it does not proportion reward to the labour done, but to the wealth of him for whom it is done. The curate of a parish containing 400 persons, may be paid as much as another person who has the care of 10,000; for, in England, there is very little proportion between the value of a living, and the quantity of duty to be performed by its clergyman. The bill does not attain its object in the best way. Let the bishop refuse to allow of any curate upon a living above 500l. per annum, who is not a Master of Arts of one of the universities. Such curates will then be obtained at a price which will render it worth the while of such men to take curacies; and such a degree and situation in society will secure good curates, much more effectually than the complicated provisions of this bill: for, primâ facie, it appears to us much more probable, that a curate should be respectable who is a Master of Arts in some of curates, and willing to do it for less English university, than if all that we than the statutory minimum. knew about him was, that he had a fifth of the profits of the living. The object is, to fix a good clergyman in a parish. The law will not trust the non-resident rector to fix both the price and the person; but fixes the price, and then leaves him the choice of the person. Our plan is, to fix upon the description of person, and then to leave the price to find its level; for the good price by no means implies a good person, but the good person will be sure to get a good price. Where the living will admit of it, we have commonly observed that the English clergy are desirous of putting in a proper substitute. If this be so, the bill is unnecessary; for it proceeds on the very contrary supposition, that the great mass of opulent clergy consult nothing but economy in the choice of their curates. It is very galling and irksome to any class of men to be compelled to disclose their private circumstances; a provision contained in and absolutely necessary to this bill, under which the diocesan can always compel the minister to disclose the full value of his living. After all, however, the main and conclusive objection to the bill is, that its provisions are drawn from such crroneous principles, and betray such gross ignorance of human nature, that though it would infallibly produce a thousand mischiefs foreseen and not foreseen, it would evidently have no effect whatsoever in raising the salaries of curates. We do not put this as a case of common buyer and seller; we allow that the parish is a third party, having an interest*; we fully admit the right of the Legislature to interfere for their relief. We only contend, that such interference would be necessarily altogether ineffectual, so long as men can be found capable of doing the duty We remember Horace's description of the misery of a parish where there is no resident clergyman. "Illacrymabiles Urgentur, ignotique longa Nocte, carent quia vate sacro." If there be a competition of rectors for curates, it is quite unnecessary and absurd to make laws in favour of curates. The demand for them will do their business more effectually than the law. If, on the contrary (as the fact plainly is), there is a competition of curates for employment, is it possible to prevent this order of men from labouring under the regulation price? Is it possible to prevent a curate from pledging himself to his rector, that he will accept only half the legal salary, if he is so fortunate as to be preferred among an host of rivals, who are willing to engage on the same terms? You may make these contracts illegal : What then? Men laugh at such prohibitions; and they always become a dead letter. In nine instances out of ten, the contract would be honourably adhered to; and then what is the use of Mr. Percival's law? Where the contract was not adhered to, whom would the law benefit?-A man utterly devoid of every particle of honour and good faith. And this is the new species of curate, who is to reflect dignity and importance upon his poorer brethren! The law encourages breach of faith between gambler and gambler; it arms broker against broker:— but it cannot arm clergyman against clergyman. Did any human being before, ever think of disseminating such a principle among the teachers of Christianity? Did any ecclesiastical law, before this, ever depend for its success upon the mutual treachery of men who ought to be examples to their fellowcreatures of everything that is just and upright? We have said enough already upon the absurdity of punishing all rich rectors for non-residence, as for a presumptive delinquency. A law is already passed, fixing what shall be legal and sufficient causes for non-residence. Nothing can be more unjust, then, than to punish that absence which you admit to be legal. If the causes of absence are too numerous, lessen them; but do not punish him who has availed himself of their existence. We deny, however, that they are too numerous. on the subject of pocketing unearned emoluments, that we have no doubt the moral irritability of this servant of the Crown will speedily urge him to a species of reform, of which he may be the object as well as the mover. There are 6000 livings out of 11,000 in the English church under 80l. per annum: many of these 201, many 30l. per annum. The whole task of education at the university, public schools, private families, and in foreign travel, devolves upon the clergy. A great part of the literature of their country is in their hands. Residence is a very proper and recessary measure; but considering all these circumstances, it requires a great deal of moderation and temper to carry it into effect without doing more mischief than good. At present, however, the torrent sets the other way. Every lay plunderer, and every fanatical coxcomb, is forging fresh chains for the English clergy; and we should not be surprised, in a very little time, to see them absenting themselves from their benefices by a kind of day-rule, like prisoners in the King's Bench. The first bill, which was brought in by Sir William Scott, - always saving and excepting the power granted to the bishops, is full of useful provisions, and characterised throughout by great practical wisdom. We have no doubt but that it has, upon the whole, improved the condition of the English church. Without caution, mildness, or information, however, it was pecuKarly unfortunate to follow such a leader. We are extremely happy the bill was rejected. We have seldom witnessed more of ignorance and error stuffed and crammed into so very narrow a compass. Its origin, we are confident, is from the Tabernacle; and its consequences would have been, to have sown the seeds of discord and treachery in an ecclesiastical constitution, which, under the care of prudent and honest men, may always be rendered a source of public happiness. CATHOLICS. (E. REVIEW, 1808.) History of the Penal Laws against the THE various publications which have But, though the argument is given up, and the justice of the Catholic cause admitted, it seems to be generally conceived, that their case, at present, is utterly hopeless; and that to advocate it any longer, will only irritate the oppressed, without producing any change of opinion in those by whose influence and authority that oppression is continued. To this opinion, unfortunately too prevalent, we have many reasons for not subscribing. We do not understand what is meant in this country by the notion, that a measure, of consummate wisdom and imperious necessity, is to be deferred for any time, or to depend upon any contingency. Whenever it can be made clear to the understandings of the great mass of enlightened people, that any system of political conduct is necessary to the public welfare, every obstacle (as it ought) will be swept One glaring omission in this bill away before it; and as we conceive it we had almost forgotten to mention. to be by no means improbable, that the The Chancellor of the Exchequer has country may, ere long, be placed in a entirely neglected to make any provision situation where its safety or ruin will for that very meritorious class of men, depend upon its conduct towards the the lay curates, who do all the business Catholics, we sincerely believe we are of those offices, of which lazy and non- doing our duty in throwing every posresident placemen receive the emolu-sible light on this momentous question. So much delicacy and con- Neither do we understand where this science, however, are here displayed passive submission to ignorance and ments. dated Columbo, 1805, will set this mat- | less attractive to him than to any other heathen from the life of misery by which he purchases it. ter in its true light; "The elders, deacons, and some of the members of the Dutch congregation, came to see us, and we paid them a visit in return, and made a little inquiry concerning the state of the church on this island, which is, in one word, miserable! One hundred thousand of those who are called Christians (because they are baptized) need not go back to heathenism, for they never have been anything else but heathens, worshippers of Budda: they have been induced, for worldly reasons, to be baptized. O Lord have mercy on the poor inhabitants of this populous island."-Trans. Miss. Soc. Vol. II. p. 265. Nothing is more precarious than our empire in India. Suppose we were to be driven out of it to-morrow, and to leave behind us twenty thousand converted Hindoos; it is most probable they would relapse into heathenism; but their original station in society could not be regained. The duty of making converts, therefore, among such a people, as it arises from the general duty of benevolence, is less strong than it would be in many other cases; because, situated as we are, it is quite certain we shall expose them to a great deal of misery, and not quite certain we shall do them any future good. What success the Syrian Christians had in making converts; in what degree they have gained their numbers by victories over the native superstition, or lost their original numbers by the idolatrous examples to which for so many centuries they have been exposed; are points wrapt up in so much obscurity, that no kind of inference, as to the facility of converting the natives, can be drawn from them. Their present num-ish and imperfect as the religion of a ber is supposed to be about 150,000. 4thly. Conversion is no duty at all, if it merely destroys the old religion, without really and effectually teaching the new one. Brother Ringletaube may write home that he makes a Christian, when, in reality, he ought only to state that he has destroyed a Hindoo. Fool Hindoo is, it is at least some restraint upon the intemperance of human passions. It is better a Brahman should be respected, than that nobody should be respected. A Hindoo had better believe, that a deity, with an hundred legs and arms, will reward and punish him hereafter, than that he is not to be punished at all. Now, when you have destroyed the faith of a Hindoo, are you quite sure that you will graft upon his mind fresh principles of action, and make him anything more than a nominal Christian? It would be of no use to quote the example of Japan and China, even if the progress of the faith in these empires had been much greater than it is. We do not say, it is difficult to convert the Japanese, or the Chinese; but the Hindoos. We are not saying, it is difficult to convert human creatures; but difficult to convert human creatures with such institutions. To mention the example of other nations who have them not, is to pass over the material objection, and to answer others which are merely imaginary, and have never been made. You have 30,000 Europeans in India, 3dly. The duty of conversion is less and 60 millions of other subjects. If proplain, and less imperious, when conver-selytism were to go on as rapidly as the sion exposes the convert to great present most visionary Anabaptist could dream misery. An African, or an Otaheite or desire, in what manner are these peoproselyte, might not perhaps be less ple to be taught the genuine truths and honoured by his countrymen if he practices of Christianity? Where are became a Christian; a Hindoo is in- the clergy to come from? Who is to stantly subjected to the most perfect defray the expense of the establishdegradation. A change of faith might ment? and who can foresee the imincrease the immediate happiness of mense and perilous difficulties of bendany other individual; it annihilates ing the laws, manners, and institutions for ever all the human comforts which of a country, to the dictates of a new a Hindoo enjoys. The eternal happi- religion? If it were easy to persuade ness which you proffer him, is therefore the Hindoos that their own religion was folly, it would be infinitely difficult are equally ignorant of the truths of effectually to teach them any other. Christianity, the Hindoos are a civilised They would tumble their own idols and a moral people. That they have into the river, and you would build remained in the same state for so many them no churches: you would des- centuries, is at once a proof, that the introy all their present motives for stitutions which established that state doing right and avoiding wrong, with- could not be highly unfavourable to out being able to fix upon their minds human happiness. After all that has the more sublime motives by which been said of the vices of the Hindoos, you profess to be actuated. What we believe that a Hindoo is more mild a missionary will do hereafter with the and sober than most Europeans, and heart of a convert, is a matter of doubt as honest and chaste. In astronomy and speculation. He is quite certain, the Hindoos have certainly made very however, that he must accustom the high advances ;-some, and not an unman to see himself considered as im- important, progress in many sciences. famous; and good principles can hardly As manufacturers, they are extremely be exposed to a ruder shock. Who- ingenious and as agriculturists, inever has seen much of Hindoo Chris-dustrious. Christianity would improve tians must have perceived, that the them; (whom would it not improve?) man who bears that name is very but if Christianity cannot be extended commonly nothing more than a to all, there are many other nations drunken reprobate, who conceives who want it more. himself at liberty to eat and drink any The Hindoos have some very savage thing he pleases, and annexes hardly customs, which it would be desirable any other meaning to the name of to abolish. Some swing on hooks, Christianity. Such sort of converts some run kimes through their hands, may swell the list of names, and and widows burn themselves to death: gratify the puerile pride of a mission- but these follies (even the last) are ary: but what real discreet Christian quite voluntary on the part of the can wish to see such Christianity pre-sufferers. We dislike all misery, vovail? But it will be urged, if the luntary or involuntary; but the difpresent converts should become worse ference between the torments which a Hindoos and very indifferent Christians, still the next generation will do better; and by degrees, and at the expiration of half a century, or a century, true Christianity may prevail. We may apply to such sort of Jacobin converters what Mr. Burke said of the Jacobin politicians in his time,-"To such men a whole generation of human beings are of no more consequence than a frog in an air-pump." For the distant prospect of doing, what most probably, after all, they will never be able to effect, there is no degree of present misery and horror to which they will not expose the subjects of their experiment. As the duty of making proselytes springs from the duty of benevolence, there is a priority of choice in conversion. The greatest zeal should plainly be directed to the most desperate misery and ignorance. Now in comparison to many other nations who man chooses, and those which he endures from the choice of others, is very great. It is a considerable wretchedness, that men and women should be shut up in religious houses; but it is only an object of legislative interference, when such incarceration is compulsory. Monasteries and nunneries with us would be harmless institutions; because the moment a devotee found he had acted like a fool, he might avail himself of the discovery and run away; and so may a Hindoo, if he repents of his resolution of running hooks into his flesh. The duties of conversion appear to be of less importance, when it is impossible to procure proper persons to undertake them, and when such re We are here, of course, arguing the question only in a worldly point of view. be placed, though certainly the lowest and one point of view in which it must least important. |