and the Tory lay lords have resolved to put in use the voluntary principle, and to set an example to humbler churchmen, by devoting a considerable portion of their own enormous incomes to the maintenance of the Irish clergy. Seriously, however, the House of Lords is not, for the most part, composed of the wisest and most prudent of mankind. It does not speak much for hereditary wisdom, that those in whom it is the reason why power is entrusted to them, evince so strong a determination to provoke the destruction of their own privileges. In vain does one of the richest of their number, one who is most attached to the distinctions of his order, and one, let us add, who possesses a more than ordinary share of that wisdom which is not hereditary, but self-acquired-in vain does the Marquis of Westminster warn their lordships that they are kicking against the pricks: and the consequence will be, that among the measures which will be forced upon the attention of the House of Commons during the very next session of Parliament, will be one for the new modelling of the Upper House of Parliament. We shall inevitably have a second Parliamentary Reform Bill. MR. STEPHENS. (From the "Christian Advocate.") We desire the careful attention of our readers to the Report of the proceedings of the Wesleyan-Methodist Conference, which is contained in other columns, especially to that part of it which refers to the case of the Rev. Joseph Rayner Stephens, His case has terminated precisely as we foresaw it would. The great man has carried his point. He has forced out of the Connexion the only man that he has really dreaded since the best days of the late Daniel Isaac. But, let him believe us, he has not succeeded in making good his own position. Mr. Stephens-his very adversaries being judges-is not a man of ordinary powers; and Mr. Jabez Bunting being judge, he possesses, in an eminent degree, that very class of powers which is wanted in a leader of opposition in the Conference. The name of the spirit that actuated, and, we rejoice to know, still actuates Mr. Joseph Rayner Stephens -the name of that spirit is "Legion;" and a legion is possessed by it. It is one thing to control the Conference; but it is another thing to subjugate the people. They will not be ridden rough-shod; they perceive that it is absolutely necessary, in order to a smooth and satifactory course of proceeding, that they should come into every court of Methodism, and take a part in the conduct of its whole affairs. Lay delegates in Conference," is now the cry of no mean portion of them; and it is every week the cry of more. It will soon be the cry-nay, the determination-the irresistible determination and demand of all. The sooner the better.* " MR. WILKS. (From the "Christian Advocate.") We find the following remarks in a recent number of the Record : "We have not room to day for a Report of the dinner given in honour of Mr. Thomas Slingsby Duncombe, the successful candidate for Finsbury. The well-known Mr. John Wilks took the chair; and truly, if the pious and orthodox dissenters are content to put themselves under such a leader, they cannot greatly marvel that their motives and conduct should alike be held up to public view as insincere, unhallowed, and disreputable. What the Standard calls Mr. Wilks's facetious allusions to Mr. Duncombe's imputed frailties,' might or might not be unbecoming the character of a professional agitator; but we are sure they are altogether abhor The abuse of Mr. Bunting has increased in virulence since the decision of Conference, and that decent paper, the Christian Advocate, has now begun to attack him with ribald songs. The decision of Conference, which was so nearly unanimous, does the Wesleyans the highest honour.-ED. rent to the principles of those nonconformists, of whom we are sorry to think the modern dissenters are degenerate representatives." We did not fail to notice the equivocal manner in which Mr. Wilks was reported to have alluded to Mr. Duncombe, in connection with "the blandishments of the fair."(!)* But we protest against founding any inference, unfavourable to the dissenters, from what it may seem good to Mr. Wilks either to say or to do. He is not the leader of the dissenters, whatever he may affect to be. His conduct at the Tabernacle, in Moorfields, completely destroyed the small remains of confidence which they were disposed to repose in him. They are not so entirely destitute of friends as to be obliged to leave their cause and interests in such hands. High churchmen may be driven to the necessity of accepting the aid of any man, be his character what it may, who may offer himself; but the dissenters never did, and never will, ally themselves with any except men whose characters are such as to command public esteem. MR. JOHN WILKS, M.P. TABERNACLE AND TOTTENHAM-COURT CHAPEL. THE following Resolution was unanimously adopted at a meeting of the Church and Congregation assembling in the Tabernacle, held in Cumberlandstreet Chapel, on Wednesday se'nnight. Present about 1200 persons. Mr. EDWARD MITCHELL in the chair. After a declaration that the Meeting conceived the office of Managers in the Tabernacle requires men of intelligence and experience, of unquestionable piety and spotless reputation, who deserve and enjoy the confidence of the congregation and the public; and after expressing their confidence in Mr. Bateman, whom Mr. Wilks wishes to remove from the trust, and further declaring that Mr. Wilks has given no proof, as a manager, of zeal for the glory of God in the place, or of interest in the prosperity of its institutions : : ; "Resolved,―That, in the judgment of this Meeting, John Wilks, Esq. M.P., for the above and other reasons, is not a fit and proper person to act as an office-bearer in the Church of God-that he does not possess our confidence and we must, therefore, notwithstanding the pain which it gives us, because of his venerated name, request his withdrawment from our entire concerns." The above was passed on the following evening, at a meeting of the Church and Congregation belonging to Tottenham-court Chapel, held in the Burton Rooms.-Record. EXTRACT FROM THE SPEECH OF MR. DAVIS, AT THE GLOUCESTER TRUE BLUE MEETING. "With respect to more sacred things, I am convinced, Gentlemen, that if the House of Commons thought they should not arouse the popular feeling on the subject, the church itself, with all its sacredness, would be laid low at their feet. I believe that is the only obstacle which prevents their accomplishing such a desecration; and I am satisfied that, if they did not fear to excite popular clamour against them, another week would not pass before they laid their hands upon the most sacred things. It appears to me that, when they talk of dissolving the connexion between church and state, they mistake the very meaning of the terms-it is not a separation of the church from the state, but it is the apostacy of the state from the church; and when that apostacy does take place, who is there capable of serious reflection, or even of common sense and knowledge of history, who does not know that visitations will fall upon the land?" This is the phrase by which this dissenting paper palliates profligacy. DOCUMENTS. DISSENTERS' SUBSCRIPTIONS TO CHARITIES. "WHILE it (dissent) has done this, it has been made to contribute its proportion towards the support of an endowed church; and yet it has, as if refreshed by its exertions, greatly surpassed that church in its contributions of service and money to those greater efforts of Christian benevolence which are not of a sectarian, but of a general character.”—(“ Case of the Dissenters.") SIR,-I send you another proof of the truth of this impudent assertion. The funds of the Worcester Infirmary were at a low ebb last year, and sermons were accordingly preached in the different churches and chapels of the county to replenish them. The amount of the various collections was as follows::.£1128 18 9 Collected at Churches....... at Dissenting Chapels.......... 43 12 1 I think it right to add, that the amount of annual subscriptions, from June, 1832, to June, 1833, was 1,0287. 12s.; of which sum 1771. 9s. was contributed by the clergy, being one-sixth of the whole. Yours, A FRIEND to Truth. TITHE-OWNERS' RELIEF FUND. By a return, made to the House of Commons, of all applications for relief on the part of owners of tithes in Ireland, for the years 1831, 1832, and 1833,shewing the number of applications from each county, the amount of claims for each year, distinguishing clerical from impropriate claims, and shewing the total number of claims of both classes for the three years, the entire sum paid was 818,5187. 16s. 5d. There were 2,736 applicants; of these, 2,113 were clerical, by whom a sum of 631,219l. 1s. 4d. was received; and 623 were lay-impropriators, to whom 187,299l. 15s. was disbursed. The respective numbers of applicants in each county and province are stated, from which it appears that the payments made in each province were as follow, viz. :— £94,627 19 11 Ulster Total This return demonstrates the singular fact, that, in the most catholic province, Connaught, the disbursements to the tithe-owners were the smallest in amount-nearly double the sum having been paid in the Protestant province of Ulster. The county of Cork presents a very large proportion of the whole, 147,8501. having been received in the following manner : TO THE KING'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY. YOUR MAJESTY having been pleased to issue a commission under the great seal, dated the twenty-third day of June, in the second year of your Majesty's reign, authorizing and directing the commissioners therein named to make a full and correct inquiry respecting the revenues and patronage belonging to the several archiepiscopal and episcopal sees in England and Wales, to all cathedral and collegiate churches, and to all ecclesiastical benefices (including donatives, perpetual curacies, and chapelries), with or without cure of souls, and the names of the several patrons thereof, and other circumstances therewith connected; and your Majesty having been further pleased, on the expiration of the said commission, to issue a second commission, extending the period within which the commissioners were required to make their final report, and authorizing them to extend their inquiries to the islands of Jersey and Guernsey, and the Isle of Man ; We, your Majesty's commissioners, whose hands and seals are hereunto set, humbly report to your Majesty, that, in obedience to your Majesty's commands, we have proceeded to execute the duties committed to us. In prosecuting our inquiries, we have, from the extent and complexity of the various matters to be investigated, encountered many difficulties, which, though not unexpected, necessarily required a considerable length of time to surmount. We believe that we are now in possession of materials sufficient to enable us to make a full report to your Majesty on all the topics within the range of our commission; but to arrange and digest into a tabular form so large a mass of returns, comprising so many different heads of information, and thus to present a distinct view of the whole revenues of the church and their distribution, has been a work of no ordinary labour, which, though nearly completed, must still occupy some further time. It would have been more satisfactory to us to have awaited the period when we could have completed our task by a final report; but we are impressed with a conviction that it is expedient to lay before your Majesty, without delay, a statement of the total income of the church, and of the manner in which it is divided between the archbishops, bishops, corporations aggregate and sole, and the incumbents and curates of benefices. The total amount of the gross annual revenues of the several archiepiscopal and episcopal sees in England and Wales, is one hundred and eighty thousand four hundred and sixty-two pounds, affording an average of six thousand six hundred and eighty-three pounds; and the total amount of the net annual revenues of the same is one hundred and sixty thousand one hundred and fourteen pounds, affording an average of five thousand nine hundred and thirty pounds. The total amount of the gross annual revenues of the several cathedral and collegiate churches in England and Wales, together with the separate gross annual revenues of the several dignitaries and other spiritual persons, members of cathedrals or collegiate churches, is three hundred and fifty thousand eight hundred and sixty-one pounds; and the total amount of the net annual revenues of the same is two hundred and seventy-two thousand eight hundred and twenty-eight pounds. The total number of benefices, with and without cure of souls, the incumbents whereof have made returns to our inquiries, omitting those which are permanently or accustomably annexed to superior preferments, and which are included in the statements respecting those preferments, is ten thousand four hundred and ninety-eight; the total amount of the gross annual revenues of which benefices, is three million one hundred and ninety-one thousand nine hundred and fifty pounds, affording an average of three hundred and four pounds; and the total amount of the net annual revenues of the same is three million three hundred and ninety-three pounds, affording an average of two hundred and eighty-five pounds. The total number of benefices, with and without cure of souls, in England and Wales, including those not returned to us, is ten thousand seven hundred and one; the total gross income of which, calculated from the average of VOL. VI.-Sept. 1834. 2 T those returned, will be three million two hundred and fifty-three thousand six hundred and sixty-two pounds; and the total net income thereof will be three million fifty-eight thousand two hundred and forty-eight pounds. The total number of curates employed both by resident and non-resident incumbents returned to us, is five thousand two hundred and eighty-two, whose annual stipends in the aggregate amount to four hundred and twentyfour thousand seven hundred and ninety-six pounds, affording an average annual stipend of eighty pounds; and the total amount of the stipends of curates, if one hundred and two be assumed as the proportionate number on the benefices not returned, and the same be calculated on the average of those returned to us, will be four hundred and thirty-two thousand nine hundred and fifty-six pounds. From a scale which we have prepared of the benefices with cure of souls returned to us, it appears that there are two hundred and ninety-four, the incomes of which are respectively under fifty pounds; one thousand six hundred and twenty-one of fifty pounds, and under one hundred pounds; one thousand five hundred and ninety-one of one hundred pounds, and under one hundred and fifty pounds; one thousand three hundred and fifty-five of one hundred and fifty pounds, and under two hundred pounds; one thousand nine hundred and sixty-four of two hundred pounds, and under three hundred pounds; one thousand three hundred and seventeen of three hundred pounds, and under four hundred pounds; eight hundred and thirty of four hundred pounds, and under five hundred pounds; five hundred and four of five hundred pounds, and under six hundred pounds; three hundred and thirty-seven of six hundred pounds, and under seven hundred pounds; two hundred and seventeen of seven hundred pounds, and under eight hundred pounds; one hundred and twenty-nine of eight hundred pounds, and under nine hundred pounds; ninety-one of nine hundred pounds, and under one thousand pounds; one hundred and thirty-seven of one thousand pounds, and under one thousand five hundred pounds; thirty-one of one thousand five hundred pounds, and under two thousand pounds; and eighteen of two thousand pounds and upwards. The number of sinecure rectories returned to us, and which sinecure rectories are included in the number of benefices above stated, is sixty-two; the aggregate gross annual revenues of which amount to eighteen thousand six hundred and twenty-two pounds, affording an average of three hundred pounds; and the aggregate net annual revenues of the same amount to seventeen thousand and ninety-five pounds, affording an average of two hundred and seventyfive pounds. We regret that it is not at present practicable to offer a full explanation of the various items which compose the difference between the gross and net amounts; but, to prevent misapprehension, we think it advisable to observe, that no deduction is made from income on account of payments to curates, nor for the reparations of episcopal residences, or of glebe houses and offices, nor on account of payments of rates and taxes for the same, nor has any deduction been made on account of arrears due at the time of making the returns, or of any payments not being of a compulsory nature. The returns of income have been generally made upon an average of three years, ending December the thirty-first, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-one. |