Imatges de pàgina
PDF
EPUB

ample provision of lawn-sleeves for the Protestants of the sister country. From the number proceeding to the revenues of the Irish bench, it can easily be shown that from lands alone, exclusive of every other source of emolument, the aggregate revenue of the Irish Bishoprics is upwards of £130,000. The average income, therefore, of each Bishop may be stated at £6000. per annum. Now let us pause and ask, what spiritual duty, or what duty of any kind, have these Right Reverend personages to perform, which would not be overpaid by one-half, or even one-third of this allowance? Let it be recollected that they are twenty-two in number, and that the Protestant population of Ireland is considerably under a million. Viewed in relation to these circumstances it is not too much to say that the average yearly payment of 6000l. to the Irish Bishops is as flagrant an instance of disproportion between emolument and service as any that can be produced even from the records of Irish jobbing. It is Erasmus, we believe, who says “ Episcopatus non est artificium transigendæ vitæ ;" he did not see episcopacy in Ireland, or he would have reversed the observation. Either the number or the incomes of the Irish Bishops must be reduced considerably. The lands of the Church alone might be made to bear the entire charge of the Establishment. Upon the demise of the several prelates, the Legislature might take possession of them without the slightest injustice to any interest and the abolition of the ecclesiastical tenure, so fatal to production, would be of singular advantage to a country, eminently agricultural like Ireland, and whose resources, compared with the demands of a great and growing population are so very imperfectly developed. It was stated by Mr. Baron Foster, that the estates of the Church (according to Dr. Beaufort's map one nineteenth part of the soil of the island) can be distinguished everywhere by their non-improvement; and the reason is obvious-any improvement effected immediately enhances the renewal fine, which is the principal source of the Bishop's revenue. Surely it is not Christianity which thus sterilizes the soil, and diminishes instead of multiplying the means of human enjoyment; yet there are persons who speak of the property of the Church as if it were the same thing as our holy religion itself.

In the preceding remarks we have confined ourselves exclusively to the demonstrable landed property of the Irish prelates; but we should form an incomplete idea of the prosperity of these individuals if we left out of view the enormous patronage which they have at their disposal. We have not space for

We had intended to insert here a calculation of the incomes of the Irish Bishops, founded upon the returns to Parliament of the number of acres attached to their several sees; but we prefer presenting the reader with this statement, contained in a document just printed by order of the House of Commons. It consists of a return made on the subject of the "First Fruits ;" and amongst other important matter, contains the following valuations of the revenues of fifteen out of the twenty-two Irish dioceses :

"The yearly incomes of the Archbishops are stated to be-Armagh, 15,080l. 15s. 6d.; Tuam, 5,5481. 19s. 11d.; Cashel, 3,500l. and upwards; while of Dublin no return is made; of the others, Clogher is returned 9,000l. late currency; Derry, 10,000l. and upwards, late currency; Meath, 5,815l. 14s. 5d.; Raphoe, 5,3791. 14s. ld.; Leighlin and Ferns, 5,000l. to a fraction; Ossory, 3,000l. to a fraction; Dromore, 4,8631. 3s. 5d.; Waterford, 5,000l. exact money; Cork, 3,000l. ditto; Limerick (renewal fines, nearly as much more, not included) 2,915l. 19s. 84d.; Cloyne, 2,000l. and upwards at the least;' Killala, 4,600l.; from the dioceses in Tuam there is no return made, as there is no record of the value of the several bishopricks and dignitaries of the province in the Registrar's Office.'

The average value of these fifteen dioceses, deduced from these manifestly incomplete returns, is very little under 6,0007. per annum. The see of Derry, here rated at 10,000l. a year, is allowed by the Bishop of Ferns to be worth little less than 15,000l. That there are nearly as large errors in the valuations of Cashel and Cloyne is unquestionable. A very moderate allowance for the sums concealed under the words "and upwards" raises the average above 6,500l. a year. Of the sees not contained in these returns, Dublin is allowed to be worth 8,000l. a year; and the remainder may be valued at about 6,000l. each.

+ Evidence before the Committee of the House of Lords in 1825.

any details upon this subject; all that we can observe upon it is, that it far exceeds in amount the patronage of the English bishoprics, and is calculated to be equal in value to all the other emoluments of their sees. Indeed it seems to have been the ecclesiastical policy of the sister island to make up to the hierarchy in temporal cares and concerns what they want in spiritual occupation. If their episcopal offices are sinecures, they have secular interests in abundance to exercise their activity and fill their thoughts. If they are not "about their Master's business," they are about their own; and between the management of their vast estates, the disposal of their rich patronage, and the exertions which they are continually impelled to make by the alluring prospects of more opulent mitres, they are certainly (after their own fashion) labourers in the vineyard.*

The character and deportment of the fathers of the Irish Church are, we believe, in general conformable to the merits of the system under which they flourish. All may not be covetous and worldly; but, notwithstanding that the Council of Constance has declared-"si quis dixerit episcopum aliqua iufirmitate laborare, anathema esto!"-we are bold enough to assert that piety and spiritual-mindedness are the shining exceptions, and cupidity and worldliness the melancholy rule. Nor indeed can it well be otherwise, unless there is a virtue in the office of consecration to change the character of human nature; for if we observe the appointments of the Bishops, we see that they are not made upon gospel principles; and if we mark their situations, we find that they are eminently unfavourable to the growth and exercise of gospel virtues. For what apostolic qualities many of the present race were elevated to their mitres, or by what train of Christian graces they adorn their high and holy statious, are questions which remain undecided; and yet how can it be difficult to answer them, when we observe in Dublin" the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit;" in Kilmore sanctity and learning; in Ferns the evangelic character of the primitive church; in Kildare nothing sordid or self-seeking, but a holy indifference to the things of the passing world; in Clogher no pride; in Waterford no avarice; a daily beauty in the life of Killala; and in Derry, Cork, and Killaloe, all the graces and excellencies that embellished and dignified the purest times of Christianity!

The establishment is formed on the same scale of wanton magnificence in the

The recently published Report, to which we have already referred, contains an account of the Irish ecclesiastical promotions made since 1812. The influence of Parliamentary interest in procuring mitres is evident in the frequency with which the aristocratic names of Beresford, Jocelyn, Tottenham, Bourke, Ponsonby, French, &c. recur amongst the changes upon the episcopal bench. Except the single appointment of Dr. Brinkley to the see of Cloyne, we do not discover a single instance in which ability alone led to promotion. It is, therefore, with any thing but surprise, that we observe in the appointments to benefices, made by prelates selected upon such principles, the most discreditable abuse of patronage. The aggrandisement of their families appears, from this Report, to be their chief solicitude. In many cases, a glance at the names of the beneficed clergymen in a diocese is sufficient to inform us of the name of the Bishop. In the promotions to livings in the see of Derry, since 1812, the name of Knox occurs ten times. One gentleman, William Knox, appears five times. Altogether, the Knoxes have got, since 1812, £5230. 7s. 8d. per annum, and 3555 acres of land! We take for granted they are of kin to the Bishop. In the same way, we find the diocese of Killala studded with Verschoyles, that of Cork with St. Lawrences, Waterford with Bourkes, and Tuam with Trenches. The abundance of the Magees in Raphoe and Dublin leave no doubt that the brows of a Magee have felt the mitres of those sees. W. Magee, J. Magee, and T. P. Magee occur, like the Knoxes in Derry, ten times since 1819. The last-named person has been promoted five times. His last step was to the union of Wicklow, for the tithe of which he has refused to compound at less than 16001. a-year. We shall have occasion to allude again to this either extremely fortunate, or highly meritorious gentleman. As to the Beresfords, the Church of Ireland teems with members of that family. They have an Archbishoprick and a Bishoprick, and not fewer than fourteen livings, of which only four have their values annexed, amounting to 18571. 11s. 2d. and 64,803 acres of land!

article of Dignitaries. There are thirty-three Deans, and a host of Archdeacons in the Church of Ireland, not to speak of an infinite series of Chancellors, Precentors, Prebendaries, and rural Deans. The income of the Deans and Chapters has never been ascertained. Even Mr. Baron Foster is not in the secret of their wealth, for he informed the Committee of the Lords that he was unable to speak upon that subject. Now we should like to be informed of what earthly use are Deans and Chapters; we do not read of them in Scripture; and we can conceive no other argument in their favour but the propriety of preserving a symmetry between the several parts of an Institution which sets at nought all the principles of economy and reason.

We now come to the beneficed clergy; and it is in this branch of the subject that the Irish Church Establishment exhibits the most revolting spectacle. The Tithe-composition Act of Mr. Goulburn has, in a great degree removed the cloud which previously hung over the wealth of the parochial clergy, and has in this manner indirectly served the cause of ecclesiastical reform. From the returns to Parliament in the session of 1828, it appears that 1151 parishes had compounded for their tithes. The total amount of composition was 278,0361., and the average to each parish 2417. Taking this to be the average for the whole island, and assuming the number of parishes to be a mean between Dr. Beaufort's computation and the statement of Mr. Baron Foster, or about 2250, the total annual income from tithe in the hands of the established priesthood is 542,250l. There are, moreover, on the authority of a return to Parliament in 1824, glebe lands to the extent of 83,000 acres, yielding, at a pound an acre, the annual sum of 83,000l., which, being added to the revenue from tithe just mentioned, gives 625,250l. as the aggregate yearly income of the beneficed clergy in Ireland. Now leaving out of view entirely the circumstances of insult and cruelty under which a large proportion of this tax still continues to be levied; omitting also the grievance of an impost whose pressure increases with every increase of capital and industry; keeping in view only the two facts-first, that the country from whose penury this vast revenue is extorted professes a religion different from that of the State; and secondly, that the professors of the State religion (for whose benefit the Establishment is by priestly fiction said to exist) are considerably under a million of individuals-keeping in view these facts alone, we know not which astonishes us most, the enormity of the spoliation committed upon the Irish people, or the patience with which they have endured it so long. Why should the established clergy be better paid in Ireland than in Scotland? In the latter country the followers of the State religion are a million and a half in number; and yet the whole revenues of the church do not exceed 234,000l., little more than onethird of what is paid in Ireland to the parochial ministry alone. Surely this is hard to be borne. Are the Scottish clergy inferior in point of attainments; have any complaints been made of the manner in which they perform their duties; have they been taxed with indolence, with levity, or with ignorance? on the contrary, has not their exemplary conduct been the theme of constant and wellmerited eulogy? why then should the Irish clergy be better paid than they are? There are about 1200 benefices in Ireland; supposing them to be endowed upon the scale of the Scotch Church, the sum that would be required is 330,000l., about one-half of what is lavished upon them at present, for no other purpose but to entice covetous and worldly minds into the Church, and advance the secular interests of the priesthood at the expense of the spiritual interests of the people. The ecclesiastical affairs of Ireland compared with those of Scotland present indeed a remarkable and instructive contrast.

To return; the tithe-system, both in England and Ireland, must be taken early into the consideration of the Legislature, with a view to its complete revision; but the reform should commence in the latter country, for there the system is not only an intolerable pressure upon the resources of the people, but a direct infringement of their rights as citizens. The Catholic is but half emancipated so long as he is taxed for the maintenance of the Protestant establish

ment. The Irish Protestants are able to support their own priesthood, and we do not entertain so ill an opinion of their religious character as to believe that they are not willing. The members of the Establishment at length begin to see, that it is not the best means of advancing Protestantism to disregard the precepts of Christianity.

With respect to the manner in which the tithe-system has worked in Ireland, it were easy to multiply details of the most revolting nature. Our limits, however, forbid us to do more than generally remark, that its effects upon the priesthood and the people have been equally deplorable. The former have too often been hardened into oppressors, the latter exasperated into insurgents. The state of the South of Ireland has, for the last century, been a terrific illustration of the evils of tithe. The violent enactments of the Legislature to repress insubordination are so many admissions against the system. "The most sanguinary laws upon your statute-books," said Grattan to the Irish Parliament, "are tithe-bills; the White-boy Act is a tithe-bill-the Riot Act, a tithe-bill." The Insurrection Act of the present day is of the same ecclesiastical character; tithe, at least, is prominent amongst the causes of that disorganized state of society which the ordinary course of law is too feeble to contend with. The Tithe-composition Act of Lord Wellesley's administration, has certainly, as far as it has operated, removed much of the vexation and discord attendant upon this mode of providing for the clergy; and it would not be difficult so to amend it, as to diffuse this beneficial effect over the whole island; but we own that we look forward to something more than mitigation; we consider the great abuse to be the system itself; the evils accompanying its administration are of minor consequence. No mode of taxation has been more generally condemned by political philosophers. "Of all institutions adverse to cultivation," says Paley, none is so noxious as tithe; not only a tax upon industry, but the industry that feeds mankind." But let us not be understood as advocating such an abolition of the system, as would subtract from the clergy, to aggrandise the landed proprietors. We would guard with equal care against lay as against clerical rapacity. In the room of tithe we would substitute an equitable land-tax; and we would vest the produce in the hands of Parliamentary Commissioners, for the support of the poor in the first place, and of the priest in the last. This would be no spoliation of Church property, but its restoration to its original, constitutional, and sacred purpose.* When tithe was first instituted, it was subject to a poor-rate. On no other principle did the Church presume to demand, or was the laity weak enough to concede it. The priest was the trustee of the poor. Let the trust be executed. The condition of the peasantry of Ireland is a melancholy argument for reverting to the ancient principle.

[ocr errors]

It is obvious that the Irish Church Establishment does not exist for the benefit of the people of the country. It is equally clear that it does not exist for the benefit of the Government. Receiving the protection of the State, it confers no reciprocal advantage; it wants the power to confer any, for it possesses neither moral nor religious influence over the nation. Indeed, so far is it from conforming to the terms of the alliance, that it directly violates them; producing anarchy and disaffection, instead of being a bond between the people and their rulers. For whose benefit, then, does the Establishment exist? Can it be for the benefit of the Protestant population? The solution appears a natural one; and yet it is hard to reconcile it with the train of abuses which we are now about to lay before our readers. Unions, pluralities, non-residence-reward and labour inversely proportioned-dilapidated and deficient churches-the parson flourishing, and Protestantism decaying; these, and other like proofs of secular rapacity and spiritual neglect in the administration of the affairs of the Church, cor

The tithe of every parish was originally divided into four portions; one for the poor, one for the bishop, one for the repair of the church, and one for the priest. In the dioceses of Kildare and Clonfert, the old episcopal allowance of " quarta pars" is still preserved. The allowance for the poor has everywhere fallen into oblivion.

respond better with the hypothesis, that the wealth, ease, state, and luxury of the ecclesiastical corporation is the grand object, and the interests of the laity only the convenient pretext.

The number of parishes in Ireland is variously stated; Mr. Baron Foster states it to be about 2000; Dr. Beaufort, an excellent authority, considers it 2436; the "Black Book," 2450. Dr. Beaufort is, probably, the nearest to the truth. We find from the Ecclesiastical Register for 1830, that of these parishes 1701 are compressed into 517 benefices. The collection of parishes in each union varies through all the numbers from two to thirteen. There is actually one conglomeration of thirteen parishes! There are 131 of three; seventyone of four; forty-four of five, and twenty-three of six. The unions of episcopal creation are 230 in number; those made by the Irish Privy Council (an authority never, we believe, exerted in opposition to the Right Rev. Bench) are 126; the rest are either immemorial, or formed by charter or act of parliament. We have it from the lips of Mr. Foster himself, in the evidence so often quoted, that "it is physically impossible, in a great many instances, for the clergyman to execute, with any tolerable propriety, his duty in extensive unions." Taking unions of five parishes and upwards to be "extensive," we find no fewer than ninety-four benefices in which it is "physically impossible" for the incumbent to do the duty of a clergyman "with even tolerable propriety." Of this number, fifty-eight are episcopal, or formed by the Privy Council. It surely was not for the spiritual welfare of the Protestants of Ireland that the bishops made, or sanctioned the making, of these enormous livings! Mr. Foster admitted that secular interests only were considered. He tells us that a necessity for unions arose from the act of the Irish Parliament, which took away the tithe of agistment. What is this but a plain confession that the religious wants of the people were held but as the dust of the balance, compared with the worldly prosperity of the parson? Mr. Foster admitted farther, that "the practice was carried far beyond the necessity;" and he adduced the following instance. It is almost too flagrant to be credited upon any authority but that of a High Churchman :-"I find in one case, a parish producing 570l. a-year united to another producing 2887., and these two united to a third producing 171/., and these three united to a fourth producing 720/., and these four united to a fifth, which has not yet been made the subject of the Tithe-composition Act, but which, I am inclined to believe, will turn out to be one of the most productive of the number." The Union question is that of Granard, in the diocese of Ardagh. The revenue of it (allowing the fifth parish, to be worth as much as the fourth) is 24691.- -a reasonably handsome income for the incumbent of a benefice, of which it is "physically impossible for him to perform the duty with even tolerable propriety."

The returns of 1825 abound with instances like Granard. In the diocese of Killaloe alone we see five Unions, of three or four parishes each, not one of which produces less than 1000l. a-year to their several incumbents. Ardbraccan, in Meath; Killursa, in Tuam, and Boyle, in Elphin, are Unions of six and eight parishes, dovetailed together for no other purpose but to endow their rectors with incomes monstrously above their services. Three parishes in the vicinity of Dublin, producing an aggregate revenue, under the Tithecomposition Act, of 9451. are united to two parishes in that city, one of which, St. Peter's, is worth at least 1500l. a-year. The incumbent of this immense benefice has likewise a living in the county of Kildare, and holds, moreover, the dignity of Archdeacon of Dublin. The Earl of Mountcashel, in one of 1 isletters to the Bishop of Ferns, mentioned a Union in his own neighbourhood formed of five parishes, and valued at between 3000l. and 4000l. a-year. Surely this is "presuming riches to be the right of the Church, instead of supposing the gospel to be the right of the people, and competency for preaching the gospel, not luxury, to be the right, as it is the profession of the Church."

The pluralities of the Irish Church are as scandalous as the Unions. Are these likewise for the advantage of the Protestant people? We have seen the 2436 parishes packed into 1252 benefices, we have now to contemplate the cri

« AnteriorContinua »