secure a continuance of such weather some time after they have been planted. If the roots of evergreens be allowed to dry when out of the ground in spring, it is scarcely possible to prevent their suffering considerably, and showing this injury a long period after they are planted." And hence he recommends the winter months as being those in which we are best able to attain these purposes, the day being in general moist and cloudy, and even when it is sunshine, the sun being such a short time above the horizon, and its influence so trifling as to have little effect. But where that kind of weather cannot be obtained, he then recommends the work to be performed in the evening, after the sun gets low, particularly in spring or autumn planting.

The following are his directions for the details of planting:"In planting evergreens," says he, "whether in a dull day, a wet day, or a dry day, it is very necessary to keep in view the expediency of keeping the plants for as short a time out of the ground as possible; if only a few minutes, so much the better; and, in all cases where it can be done, where great numbers are to be planted, we should, if possible, have some men stationed to take up the plants, others to carry them, and a third set to put them into the ground. In all seasons, situations, and soils, the plants should be well soaked with water, as soon as the earth is put about the roots." Though he recommends universally the practice of watering immediately after planting, he remarks that the urgency of the case is less where the evergreens are planted in winter, to form underwood in extensive plantations; and that the deaths, without watering, will be so few that they are not worth avoiding, where it costs much expense and trouble. "As soon as the plant has been put into its place," continues Mr Macnab, "the earth should be filled in, leaving a sufficient hollow round the stem, and as far out as the roots extend, to hold water, which should then be poured in, in sufficient quantity to soak the ground down to the lowest part of the roots. In short, the whole should be made like a kind of puddle. By this practice, which is particularly necessary in spring and autumn planting, the earth is carried down by the water, and every crevice among the roots is filled. Care must always be taken to have as much earth above the roots of the plants as will prevent them from being exposed when the water has subsided." An old birch-broom, or any thing similar, he observes,

ought to be laid above the roots, to break the fall of the water when it is poured upon them, and to prevent the roots from being washed bare of such earth as may adhere to them. This thorough watering is so indispensable, that it is to be applied even although it should be raining at the time of planting. After the water has been absorbed, the earth should be levelled round the stem of the plant, and as far out as the water has been put on, but not trodden. If the plants are large, a second watering is sometimes necessary; but, in ordinary-sized plants, one watering is quite sufficient; and, after remaining twenty-four hours, more or less, according to the nature of the soil, the earth about the stem, and over the roots, should be trodden as firm as possible, and, after treading, should be dressed with a rake.

Such is a brief account of Mr Macnab's system of planting evergreens; and if they are planted in this way, or in some way similar to it, and during the winter season, he assures us that the risk from failures will be very trifling. In ordinary-sized plants, that is, from one to two and a half or three feet high, he says it is desirable to leave as much earth about the roots as possible, though this is more for preserving them from being injured, than from any advantage to the plant. Much larger sized plants cannot be moved with success without keeping a large ball of earth as entire as possible about their roots.

But our limits will not allow us at present to follow Mr Macnab through all the details of his practice. For his remarks on packing plants when sent out of a nursery; on keeping them moist both before and after being placed in the earth, before they are finally planted out; his instructions regarding getting plants in a young state; on not watering plants at all in dry weather, or doing it only when a shower of rain falls, or in the evening, and in either case when it is done, doing it completely; and his instructions for making composts and substitutes for moss where plants require such soils;-for these, and many other useful remarks, we must refer to the pamphlet itself, which will be read with pleasure by those who feel an interest in the propagation of evergreens; and not the less so by those who are acquainted with the unassuming manners and real worth of its author.

3 € 2

ON THE COMMUTATION OF TITHES.

A Bill, entitled An Act for encouraging and facilitating Compositions for Tithes, and other Payments arising and payable to Incumbents of Ecclesiastical Benefices in England and Wales,-Ordered to be printed 10th May 1830.

ALL reasonable men will agree, that if it be wise to recognise a National Church, it must be but justice to afford such support to those who are called upon to perform the duties of the ministry, as shall maintain their personal dignity, recompense their labours, and hold out a fitting reward to learning and virtue. Nor do we imagine, that, amongst the more temperate part of our countrymen, any wish exists to deprive the church of a just and even munificent provision; for nothing could be more illiberal than to seek to degrade the members of a learned profession, whom we call to perform public duties, which we admit to be salutary, and even necessary, and for which the long labour of learned studies is required. Indeed, the revenues of the church of England, though ample, are not excessive, when we regard the number and character of the individuals whom these revenues must maintain, the duties which they are required to execute, and the station which they are expected to fill in society.

It is computed by the author of a pamphlet recently published, and to which we shall have occasion to refer in the sequel, that the total revenues of the Established Clergy of England and Wales amount to L. 3,872,138 Sterling*. Although the data from which this result has been obtained are not so precise as could be wished, it is probable that the estimate is not understated. Now the number of benefices of all kinds (according to diocesan returns) is 10,582; so that, supposing each benefice to be filled, and the revenues to be equally divided, each member of the church would receive a yearly income of L. 365:18:4; which cannot be considered an unreasonable allowance for well educated men. These benefices, indeed, are held by about

The Revenues of the Church of England, not a Burden upon the Public.

6000 persons; so that the existing revenues could yield to each of the present incumbents about L. 645 a-year; but even this, surely, cannot be termed excessive. Unhappily, however, these revenues are not only not equally apportioned amongst the members of the church, but the inequality of the division is so great, that while many individuals enjoy endowments little short of the revenues of princes, numbers are paid by a pittance scarce exceeding the wages of common mechanics. This, perhaps, even more than the mere amount of the endowments, tends to nurse those angry feelings towards the Church Establishment which have unhappily spread too widely amongst us. This part of the subject, however, is in no degree necessarily connected with that upon which we are about to enter. The present question is not the manner in which the revenues of the church are apportioned amongst its members, but the manner in which they are levied upon the country.

And, in this respect, it is grievous to think how just a cause exists for censure and regret. The impost of a tithe has not only been long regarded as a public injury, but is felt by all who are subject to it as a personal grievance. While it seems to fall a burden upon the produce of land, its influence extends far beyond the sphere of the landholder. It affects production, and the free application of capital, in the most important of all the branches of domestic industry. It is oppressive in the mode of exaction, and is thus unjust to all whose situation subjects them to it; while, by the endless quarrels to which it gives rise, it tends to degrade the church, and weaken the influence of the ministry. We do not mean, however, to contend, that this part of the property of the clergy shall be secularized: we are merely to argue, that a burden so palpably pernicious and oppressive, shall be converted into a just equivalent, and be rendered a tax, not upon industry, but upon land.

During the very first age of Christianity, no trace, it is well known, of this impost can be found; and for the long space of nearly four hundred years, the teachers of religion were maintained by the freewill-offerings of converts. In progress of time it became common for the Doctors and Fathers, to stimulate the zeal of the faithful in the offering of those gifts, by appeals to the examples of the Patriarchs, and the laws of Moses. Chris

tians were conjured not to bestow a smaller portion of their substance upon the Holy Church, than Abraham had paid to Melchizedeck, or than Jacob had vowed to the Lord, or than Moses had assigned to the tribe of Levi, namely, a tenth part of the yearly increase. Hence the offerings, though paid in small portions, and termed oblatæ, came soon to be called deci ma, tenths or tithes; and the convenient analogy of the Levitical law was never again lost sight of in all the arguments in favour of the church.

And, during the progress of the fourth century, these claims were still more absolutely urged, and some say received the sanction of the civil power by a law of Constantine, ordaining the payment of tithes throughout the empire. If this law were ever carried into effect, it was soon disregarded in the subsequent changes of the imperial dynasty, the destruction of the empire, and the establishment of the barbarians. But the church had a resource in its spiritual powers,-its excommunications and anathemas. These have come down to us in innumerable records; and while we must condemn their object, it is impossible not to admire the constancy and spirit with which such monstrous pretensions were forced upon barbarous nations, in opposition to the strongest bias of interest and habit. In the provincial council of Tours, held in 567, a strong exhortation was issued, calling upon the faithful for their gifts and offerings as of old. But in the second council of Macon, held only 18 years afterwards, namely, in the year 585, a bolder tone was assumed, and a solemn decree was issued, demanding the payment of tithes as of divine right, under the pain of excommunication. Let the offender, says the canon, "a membris ecclesiæ omni tempore separetur." A few years afterwards, a similar canon, in terms still more authoritative, was made by the council of Seville. "Let every one, rich as well as poor, truly offer to his lawful church all the first fruits, and a tenth part of his cattle, as well as of the fruits of the earth. Let every husbandman and every artificer give a just tenth part of the fruits of his labour. For as God hath given all things, so he hath demanded that a tenth part shall be given back to him again. Thus, we demand, of the fruits of the

* Code Theodos.