In answer to this, we do represent to your Grace our humble opinion,
that neither we nor our church-wardens can be legally commanded or
required to go from house to house to receive the said charity; because
your Grace hath informed us in your order, at your visitation An. Dom.
1712, that neither we nor our church-wardens are bound to make any
collections for the poor, save in the church; which also appears plainly
by the rubric, that appoints both time and place, as your Grace hath
observed in your said order.

We do likewise assure your Grace, that it is not in our power to procure
some of the chief inhabitants of our parishes to accompany the
church-wardens from house to house in these collections: And we have
reason to believe, that such a proposal, made to our chief inhabitants
(particularly in this city, where our chief inhabitants are often peers
of the land) would be received in a manner very little to our own
satisfaction, or to the advantage of the said collections.

Fourthly, The brief doth will, require, and command the bishops, and all
other dignitaries of the Church, that they make their contributions
distinctly, to be returned in the several provinces to the several
archbishops of the same.

Upon which we take leave to observe that the terms of expression here
are of the strongest kind, and in a point that may subject the said
dignitaries (for we shall say nothing of the bishops) to great
inconveniencies.

The said dignitaries are here willed, required, and commanded to make
their contributions distinctly; by which it should seem that they are
absolutely commanded to make contributions (for the word _distinctly_ is
but a circumstance), and may be understood not very agreeable to a
voluntary, cheerful contribution. And therefore, if any bishop or
dignitary should refuse to make his contribution, (perhaps for very good
reasons) he may be thought to incur the crime of disobedience to His
Majesty, which all good subjects abhor, when such a command is according
to law.

Most dignities of this kingdom consist only of parochial tithes, and the
dignitaries are ministers of parishes. A doubt may therefore arise,
whether the said dignitaries are willed, required, and commanded, to
make their contributions in both capacities, distinctly as dignitaries,
and jointly as parsons or vicars.

Many dignities in this kingdom are the poorest kind of benefices; and it
should seem hard to put poor dignitaries under the necessity either of
making greater contributions than they can afford, or of exposing
themselves to the censure of wanting charity, by making their
contributions public.

Our Saviour commands us, in works of charity, to "let not our left hand
know what our right hand doeth;" which cannot well consist with our
being willed, required, and commanded by any earthly power, where no law
is prescribed, to publish our charity to the world, if we have a mind to
conceal it.

Fifthly, Whereas it is said in the said brief, "That the parson, vicar,
&c. of every parish, shall, in six days after the receipt of the said
charity, return it to his respective chancellor, &c." This may be a
great grievance, hazard, and expense to the said parson, in remote and
desolate parts of the country, where often an honest messenger (if such
a one can be got) must be hired to travel forty or fifty miles going and
coming; which will probably cost more than the value of the contribution
he carries with him. And this charge, if briefs should happen to be
frequent, would be enough to undo many a poor clergyman in the kingdom.

Sixthly, We observe in the said brief, that the provost and fellows of
the University, judges, officers of the courts, and professors of laws
common and civil, are neither willed, required, nor commanded to make
their contributions; but that so good a work is only recommended to
them. Whereas we conceive, that all His Majesty's subjects are equally
obliged, with or without His Majesty's commands, to promote works of
charity according to their power; and that the clergy, in their
ecclesiastical capacity, are only liable to such commands as the rubric,
or any other law shall enjoin, being born to the same privileges of
freedom with the rest of His Majesty's subjects.

We cannot but observe to your Grace, that, in the English act of the
fourth year of Queen Anne, for the better collecting charity money on
briefs by letters-patent, &c. the ministers are obliged only to read the
briefs in their churches, without any particular exhortations; neither
are they commanded to go from house to house with the church-wardens,
nor to send the money collected to their respective chancellors, but pay
it to the undertaker or agent of the sufferer. So that, we humbly hope,
the clergy of this kingdom shall not, without any law in being, be put
to greater hardships in this case than their brethren in England, where
the legislature, intending to prevent the abuses in collecting charity
money on briefs, did not think fit to put the clergy under any of those
difficulties we now complain of, in the present brief by letters patent,
for the relief of Charles M'Carthy aforesaid.

The collections upon the Lord's day are the principal support of our own
numerous poor in our several parishes; and therefore every single brief,
with the benefit of a full collection over the whole kingdom, must
deprive several thousands of poor of their weekly maintenance, for the
sake only of one person, who often becomes a sufferer by his own folly
or negligence, and is sure to overvalue his losses double or treble: So
that, if this precedent be followed, as it certainly will if the present
brief should succeed, we may probably have a new brief every week; and
thus, for the advantage of fifty-two persons, whereof not one in ten is
deserving, and for the interest of a dozen dexterous clerks and
secretaries, the whole poor in the kingdom will be likely to starve.

We are credibly informed, that neither the officers of the Lord Primate,
in preparing the report of his Grace's opinion, nor those of the
great-seal, in passing the patent for briefs, will remit any of their
fees, both which do amount to a considerable sum: And thus the good
intentions of well-disposed people are in a great measure disappointed,
a large part of their charity being anticipated, and alienated by fees
and gratuities.

Lastly, We cannot but represent to your Grace our great concern and
grief, to see the pains and labour of our church-wardens so much
increased, by the injunctions and commands put upon them in this brief,
to the great disadvantage of the clergy and the people, as well as to
their own trouble, damage, and loss of time, to which great additions
have been already made, by laws appointing them to collect the taxes for
the watch and the poor-house, which they bear with great unwillingness;
and, if they shall find themselves further laden with such briefs as
this of M'Carthy, it will prove so great a discouragement, that we shall
never be able to provide honest and sufficient persons for that weighty
office of church-warden, so necessary to the laity as well as the
clergy, in all things that relate to the order and regulation of
parishes.

Upon all these considerations, we humbly hope that your Grace, of whose
fatherly care, vigilance, and tenderness, we have had so many and great
instances, will represent our case to his Most Excellent Majesty, or to
the chief governor in this kingdom, in such a manner, that we may be
neither under the necessity of declining His Majesty's commands in his
letters patent, or of taking new and grievous burthens upon ourselves
and our church-wardens, to which neither the rubric nor any other law in
force oblige us to submit.


*****       *****       *****       *****




ON

THE   BILL

FOR

THE CLERGY'S RESIDING ON THEIR LIVINGS.


NOTE.

In the note to the tract, "Some Arguments against enlarging the Power of
Bishops in letting Leases" (p. 219), it was pointed out that the Bill
against which this tract was written was an attempt on the part of the
bishops to get back a power which they once had abused. Failing in this
attempt, in 1723, they renewed the attack in 1731 by promoting two
bills, one called a Bill of Residence, the other a Bill of Division.

The ostensible object of the Bill of Residence was to compel the clergy
to reside on their livings. By this bill, any person taking a benefice,
with cure of souls, of the annual value of £100, was forced, if the land
attached to that benefice had no house fit for residence, to build one
thereon, in any situation the bishop might think suitable, this house to
cost one year and a half's income, and to be completed within a time
fixed by the bishop. It will at once be seen that the power over the
inferior clergy which this bill placed in the bishops' hands was by no
means insignificant; and Swift felt that to make such a bill law would
not only tend to impoverish, the inferior clergy, but would place them
in a position of subjection at once degrading and dispiriting. He
opposed the bill, with the consequence that the House of Commons
rejected it.

By the Bill of Division "it was intended to be enacted that whenever a
church should become vacant, although the incumbent should refuse his
consent, it might be lawful for the chief governor, with the assent of
the major part of the Privy Council, six at least consenting, by and
with the consent of the ordinary and the patron, to subdivide any parish
into as many portions as they might think fit, provided that, after such
division, the church of the old parish should continue worth, at the
least, £300 per annum." This bill, which passed the House of Lords two
days after the Bill of Residence, Swift opposed in a spirited and
somewhat bitter manner. His opposition largely influenced the Lower
House in rejecting it. The two tracts which state the grounds of his
opposition to both bills are the present one, and the following tract,
"Considerations upon two Bills, sent down from the House of Lords to the
House of Commons in Ireland, relating to the Clergy."

Scott notes that the "tone of _aigreur_," which is more distinctly felt
in the second of these tracts, intimates a "deep dissatisfaction with
late ecclesiastical preferments, which may perhaps be traced as much to
personal disappointment as to any better cause;" a statement which it
was hardly worth making; since, however deep may have been Swift's
personal feelings, he never allowed them to be the impelling motive to
his work. It should suffice us to know that the cause which Swift
espoused was a disinterested one. As Vicar of Laracor he knew what it
was to make a shift of living on an insufficient income; and it may have
been, this experience as much as "personal disappointment" which gave
pungency to his criticism. It is easy enough to find questionable
motives for a satirist, especially when that satirist is Swift; let us
not, however, forget that in his case the personal element was never
permitted to overweight the impersonal purpose. Other men when they
reach prosperity often forget or ignore the hard conditions of their
previous state; to Swift these conditions were always existing factors
in his considerations for the amelioration of his fellow-men. This it is
which gives to his writings so much of the "tone of _aigreur_."

In his letter to John Stearne, Bishop of Clogher, dated July, 1733,
which is one of Swift's most characteristic epistles--characteristic,
because the embodiment of truthful candour--he gives no equivocal
expression of opinion on these two bills. He calls them, "abominable
bills, for enslaving and beggaring the clergy, (which took their birth
from hell)." "I call God to witness," he adds, "that I did then, and do
now, and shall for ever, firmly believe, that every Bishop who gave his
vote for either of these bills, did it with no other view (bating
further promotion), than a premeditated design, from the spirit of
ambition, and love of arbitrary power, to make the whole body of the
clergy their slaves and vassals until the day of judgment, under the
load of poverty and contempt."

About the same time, 1732, appeared another pamphlet entitled, "The
Reconciler ... shewing how all the good ends proposed by either of those
bills, may, by a more gentle and easy method, be attained, without
injury to the rights of my lords the bishops; or rigour and violence to
the inferior clergy." In the main, the writer agrees with Swift; but the
tract is valuable as showing that the controversy was no small one, and
it furnishes also what is, apparently, an impartial history of the whole
affair. Three Irish prelates voted against the bills on a
division--Theophilus Bolton, Archbishop of Cashel, Charles Carr, Bishop
of Killaloe, and Robert Howard, Bishop of Elphin.

The text of this tract is based on that which appeared in a volume of
"Miscellanies in Prose and Verse" in the year 1789. It has been collated
with those given by Scott, Hawkesworth, and other editors.

[T.S.]


  ON THE BILL FOR THE CLERGY'S
  RESIDING ON THEIR LIVINGS.


Those gentlemen who have been promoted to bishoprics in this kingdom for
several years past, are of two sorts: first, certain private clergymen
from England, who, by the force of friends, industry, solicitation, or
other means and merits to me unknown, have been raised to that character
by the _mero motu_ of the crown.

Of the other sort, are some clergymen born in this kingdom, who have
most distinguished themselves by their warmth against Popery, their
great indulgence to Dissenters, and all true loyal Protestants; by their
zeal for the House of Hanover, abhorrence of the Pretender, and an
implicit readiness to fall into any measures that will make the
government easy to those who represent His Majesty's person.

Some of the former kind are such as are said to have enjoyed tolerable
preferments in England; and it is therefore much to their commendation
that they have condescended to leave their native country, and come over
hither to be bishops, merely to promote Christianity among us; and
therefore in my opinion, both their lordships, and the many defenders
they bring over, may justly claim the merit of missionaries sent to
convert a nation from heresy and heathenism.

Before I proceed farther, it may be proper to relate some particulars
wherein the circumstances of the English clergy differ from those of
Ireland.

The districts of parishes throughout England continue much the same as
they were before the Reformation; and most of the churches are of the
gothic architecture, built some hundred years ago; but the tithes of
great numbers of churches having been applied by the Pope's pretended
authority to several abbeys, and even before the Reformation bestowed by
that sacrilegious tyrant Henry VIII., on his ravenous favourites, the
maintenance of an incumbent in most parts of the kingdom is contemptibly
small; and yet a vicar there of forty pounds a year, can live with more
comfort, than one of three times the nominal value with us. For his
forty pounds are duly paid him, because there is not one farmer in a
hundred, who is not worth five times the rent he pays to his landlord,
and fifty times the sum demanded for the tithes; which, by the small
compass of his parish, he can easily collect or compound for; and if his
behaviour and understanding be supportable, he will probably receive
presents now and then from his parishioners, and perhaps from the
squire; who, although he may sometimes be apt to treat his parson a
little superciliously, will probably be softened by a little humble
demeanour. The vicar is likewise generally sure to find upon his
admittance to his living, a convenient house and barn in repair, with a
garden, and a field or two to graze a few cows, and one horse for
himself and his wife. He hath probably a market very near him, perhaps
in his own village. No entertainment is expected from his visitor beyond
a pot of ale, and a piece of cheese. He hath every Sunday the comfort of
a full congregation, of plain, cleanly people of both sexes, well to
pass, and who speak his own language. The scene about him is fully
cultivated (I mean for the general) and well inhabited. He dreads no
thieves for anything but his apples, for the trade of universal stealing
is not so epidemic there as with us. His wife is little better than
Goody, in her birth, education, or dress; and as to himself, we must let
his parentage alone. If he be the son of a farmer it is very sufficient,
and his sister may very decently be chambermaid to the squire's wife. He
goes about on working days in a grazier's coat, and will not scruple to
assist his workmen in harvest time. He is usually wary and thrifty, and
often more able to provide for a numerous family than some of ours can
do with a rectory called 300_l_. a year. His daughters shall go to
service, or be sent 'prentice to the sempstress of the next town; and
his sons are put to honest trades. This is the usual course of an
English country vicar from twenty to sixty pounds a year.

As to the clergy of our own kingdom, their livings are generally larger.
Not originally, or by the bounty of princes, parliaments, or charitable
endowments, for the same degradations (and as to glebes, a much greater)
have been made here, but, by the destruction and desolation in the long
wars between the invaders and the natives; during which time a great
part of the bishops' lands, and almost all the glebes, were lost in the
confusion. The first invaders had almost the whole kingdom divided
amongst them. New invaders succeeded, and drove out their predecessors
as native Irish. These were expelled by others who came after, and upon
the same pretensions. Thus it went on for several hundred years, and in
some degree even to our own memories. And thus it will probably go on,
although not in a martial way, to the end of the world. For not only the
purchasers of debentures forfeited in 1641, were all of English birth,
but those after the Restoration, and many who came hither even since the
Revolution, are looked upon as perfect Irish; directly contrary to the
practice of all wise nations, and particularly of the Greeks and Romans,
in establishing their colonies, by which name Ireland is very absurdly
called.

Under these distractions the conquerors always seized what lands they
could with little ceremony, whether they belonged to the Church or not:
Thus the glebes were almost universally exposed to the first seizers,
and could never be recovered, although the grants, with the particular
denominations, are manifest, and still in being. The whole lands of the
see of Waterford were wholly taken by one family; the like is reported
of other bishoprics.

King James the First, who deserves more of the Church of Ireland than
all other princes put together, having the forfeitures of vast tracts of
land in the northern parts (I think commonly called the escheated
counties), having granted some hundred thousand acres of these lands to
certain Scotch and English favourites, was prevailed on by some great
prelates to grant to some sees in the north, and to many parishes there,
certain parcels of land for the augmentation of poor bishoprics, did
likewise endow many parishes with glebes for the incumbents, whereof a
good number escaped the depredations of 1641 and 1688. These lands, when
they were granted by King James, consisted mostly of woody ground,
wherewith those parts of this island were then overrun. This is well
known, universally allowed, and by some in part remembered; the rest
being, in some places, not stubbed out to this day. And the value of the
lands was consequently very inconsiderable, till Scotch colonies came
over in swarms upon great encouragement to make them habitable; at least
for such a race of strong-bodied people, who came hither from their own
bleak barren highlands, as it were into a paradise; who soon were able
to get straw for their bedding, instead of a bundle of heath spread on
the ground, and sprinkled with water. Here, by degrees, they acquired
some degree of politeness and civility, from such neighbouring Irish as
were still left after Tyrone's last rebellion, and are since grown
almost entirely possessors of the north. Thus, at length, the woods
being rooted up, the land was brought in, and tilled, and the glebes
which could not before yield two-pence an acre, are equal to the best,
sometimes affording the minister a good demesne, and some land to let.

These wars and desolations in their natural consequences, were likewise
the cause of another effect, I mean that of uniting several parishes
under one incumbent. For, as the lands were of little value by the want
of inhabitants to cultivate them, and many of the churches levelled to
the ground, particularly by the fanatic zeal of those rebellious saints
who murdered their king, destroyed the Church, and overthrew monarchy
(for all which there is a humiliation day appointed by law, and soon
approaching); so, in order to give a tolerable maintenance to a
minister, and the country being too poor, as well as devotion too low,
to think of building new churches, it was found necessary to repair some
one church which had least suffered, and join sometimes three or more,
enough for a bare support to some clergyman, who knew not where to
provide himself better. This was a case of absolute necessity to prevent
heathenism, as well as popery, from overrunning the nation. The
consequence of these unions was very different, in different parts; for,
in the north, by the Scotch settlement, their numbers daily increasing
by new additions from their own country, and their prolific quality
peculiar to northern people; and lastly by their universally feeding
upon oats (which grain, under its several preparations and
denominations, is the only natural luxury of that hardy people) the
value of tithes increased so prodigiously, that at this day, I confess,
several united parishes ought to be divided, taking in so great a
compass, that it is almost impossible for the people to travel timely to
their own parish church, or their little churches to contain half their
number, though the revenue would be sufficient to maintain two, or
perhaps three worthy clergymen with decency; provided the times mend, or
that they were honestly dealt with, which I confess is seldom the case.
I shall name only one, and it is the deanery of Derry; the revenue
whereof, if the dean could get his dues, exceeding that of some
bishoprics, both by the compass and fertility of the soil, the number as
well as industry of the inhabitants, the conveniency of exporting their
corn to Dublin and foreign parts; and, lastly, by the accidental
discovery of marl in many places of the several parishes. Yet all this
revenue is wholly founded upon corn, for I am told there is hardly an
acre of glebe for the dean to plant and build on.

I am therefore of opinion, that a real undefalcated revenue of six
hundred pounds a year, is a sufficient income for a country dean in this
kingdom; and since the rents consist wholly of tithes, two parishes, to
the amount of that value, should be united, and the dean reside as
minister in that of Down, and the remaining parishes be divided among
worthy clergymen, to about 300_l_. a year to each. The deanery of Derry,
which is a large city, might be left worth 800_l_. a year, and Rapho
according as it shall be thought proper. These three are the only
opulent deaneries in the whole kingdom, and, as I am informed, consist
all of tithes, which was an unhappy expedient in the Church, occasioned
by the sacrilegious robberies during the several times of confusion and
war; insomuch that at this day there is hardly any remainder left of
dean and chapter lands in Ireland, that delicious morsel swallowed so
greedily in England, under the fanatic usurpations.

As to the present scheme of a bill for obliging the clergy to residence,
now or lately in the privy council, I know no more of the particulars
than what hath been told me by several clergymen of distinction; who
say, that a petition in the name of them all hath been presented to the
lord lieutenant and council, that they might be heard by their counsel
against the bill, and that the petition was rejected, with some reasons
why it was rejected; for the bishops know best what is proper for the
clergy. It seems the bill consists of two parts: First, a power in the
bishops, with consent of the archbishop, and the patron, to take off
from any parish whatever, it is worth above £300 a year; and this to be
done without the incumbent's consent, which before was necessary in all
divisions. The other part of the bill obligeth all clergymen, from forty
pounds a year and upwards, to reside, and build a house in his parish.
But those of £40 are remitted till they shall receive £100 out of the
revenue of first-fruits granted by Her late Majesty.


*****       *****       *****       *****




CONSIDERATIONS

UPON

TWO BILLS, &c.


NOTE.

"In the year 1731 a Bill was brought into the House of Lords by a great
majority of the Right Reverend the Bishops, for enabling them to divide
the livings of the inferior Clergy; which Bill was approved of in the
Privy-Council of Ireland, and passed by the Lords in Parliament. It was
afterwards sent to the House of Commons for their approbation; but was
rejected by them with a great majority. The supposed author of the
following Considerations, who hath always been the best friend to the
inferior Clergy of the Church of England, as may be seen by many parts
of his writings, opposed this pernicious project with great success;
which, if it had passed into law, would have been of the worst
consequence to this nation." [Advertisement to the reprint of this
pamphlet in Swift's Works, vol. vi. Dublin: Faulkner, 1738.]

Fuller details of the circumstances which gave Swift the opportunity for
writing this tract are given in the note prefixed to the previous
pamphlet (see p. 250).

The text here given is that of the first edition.

[T.S.]


  CONSIDERATIONS
  UPON TWO
  BILLS
  Sent down from the R---- H---- the
  H---- of L----
  To the H----ble
  H---- of C----
  Relating to the
  CLERGY
  OF
  _I----D_.

LONDON.

Printed for A. MOORE, near St. _Paul's_, and Sold by the Booksellers of
_Westminster_ and _Southwark_, 1732.


I have often, for above a month past, desired some few clergymen, who
are pleased to visit me, that they would procure an extract of two
bills, brought into the council by some of the bishops, and both of them
since passed in the House of Lords: but I could never obtain what I
desired, whether by the forgetfulness, or negligence of those whom I
employed, or the difficulty of the thing itself. Therefore, if I shall
happen to mistake in any fact of consequence, I desire my remarks upon
it, may pass for nothing; for my information is no better than what I
received in words from several divines, who seemed to agree with each
other. I have not the honour to be acquainted with any one single
prelate of the kingdom, and am a stranger to their characters, further
than as common fame reports them, which is not to be depended on.
Therefore, I cannot be supposed to act upon a principle of resentment. I
esteem their functions (if I may be allowed to say so without offence)
as truly apostolical, and absolutely necessary to the perfection of a
Christian Church.

There are no qualities more incident to the frailty and corruption of
human kind, than an indifference, or insensibility for other men's
sufferings, and a sudden forgetfulness of their own former humble state,
when they rise in the world. These two dispositions have not, I think,
anywhere so strongly exerted themselves, as in the order of bishops with
regard to the inferior clergy; for which I can find no reasons, but such
as naturally should seem to operate a quite contrary way. The
maintenance of the Clergy, throughout the kingdom, is precarious and
uncertain, collected from a most miserable race of beggarly farmers; at
whose mercy every minister lies to be defrauded: His office, as rector
or vicar, if it be duly executed, is very laborious. As soon as he is
promoted to a bishopric, the scene is entirely and happily changed; his
revenues are large, and as surely paid as those of the king; his whole
business is once a-year, to receive the attendance, the submission, and
the proxy-money of all his clergy, in whatever part of the diocese he
shall please to think most convenient for himself. Neither is his
personal presence necessary, for the business may be done by a
Vicar-General. The fatigue of ordination, is just what the bishops
please to make it, and as matters have been for some time, and may
probably remain, the fewer ordinations the better. The rest of their
visible office, consists in the honour of attending parliaments and
councils, and bestowing preferments in their own gift; in which last
employment, and in their spiritual and temporal courts, the labour falls
to their Vicars-General, Secretaries, Proctors, Apparitors, Seneschals,
and the like. Now, I say, in so quick a change, where their brethren in
a few days, are become their subjects, it would be reasonable, at least,
to hope, that the labour, confinement, and subjection from which they
have so lately escaped, like a bird out of the snare of the fowler,
might a little incline them to remember the condition of those, who were
but last week their equals, probably their companions or their friends,
and possibly, as reasonable expectants. There is a known story of
Colonel Tidcomb, who, while he continued a subaltern officer, was every
day complaining against the pride, oppression, and hard treatment of
colonels toward their officers; yet in a very few minutes after he had
received his commission for a regiment, walking with a friend on the
Mall, he confessed that the spirit of colonelship, was coming fast upon
him, which spirit is said to have daily increased to the hour of his
death.

It is true, the Clergy of this kingdom, who are promoted to bishoprics,
have always some great advantages; either that of rich deaneries,
opulent and multiplied rectories and dignities, strong alliances by
birth or marriage, fortified by a superlative degree of zeal and
loyalty; but, however, they were all at first no more than young
beginners; and before their great promotion, were known by their plain
Christian names, among their old companions, the middling rate of
clergymen; nor could, therefore, be strangers to their condition, or
with any good grace, forget it so soon as it hath sometimes happened.

I confess, I do not remember to have observed any body of men, acting
with so little concert as our clergy have done, in a point where their
opinions appeared to be unanimous: a point where their whole temporal
support was concerned, as well as their power of serving God and his
Church, in their spiritual functions. This hath been imputed to their
fear of disobliging, or hopes of further favours upon compliance;
because it was observed, that some who appeared at first with the
greatest zeal, thought fit suddenly to absent themselves from the usual
meetings; yet, we know what expert solicitors the Quakers, the
Dissenters, and even the Papists have sometimes found, to drive a point
of advantage, or present an impending evil.

I have not seen any extract from the two bills introduced into the Privy
Council by the bishops; where the Clergy, upon some failure in favour,
or through the timorousness of many among their brethren, were refused
to be heard by the Council. It seems these bills were both returned,
agreed to by the King and Council in England; and the House of Lords
hath, with great expedition, passed them both, and it is said they are
immediately to be sent down to the Commons for their consent.

The particulars, as they have been imperfectly reported to me, are as
follow:

By one of the bills, the bishops have power to oblige the country
clergy, to build a mansion-house upon whatever part of their glebes
their lordships shall command; and if the living be above £50 a-year,
the minister is bound to build, after three years, a house that shall
cost one year and a half's rent of his income. For instance, if a
clergyman with a wife and seven children gets a living of £55 per annum,
he must after three years, build a house that shall cost £77 10s., and
must support his family during the time the bishop shall appoint for the
building of it with the remainder. But, if the living be under £50
a-year, the minister shall be allowed an £100 out of the first-fruits.

But, there is said to be one circumstance a little extraordinary; that
if there be a single spot in the glebe more barren, more marshy, more
expos'd to winds, more distant from the church, or skeleton of a church,
or from any conveniency of building: the rector, or vicar may be obliged
by the caprice, or pique of the bishop, to build, under pain of
sequestration, (an office, which ever falls into the most knavish
hands,) upon whatever point his lordship shall command; although the
farmers have not paid one quarter of his due.

I believe, under the present distresses of the kingdom (which
inevitably, without a miracle, must increase for ever) there are not ten
country clergymen in Ireland reputed to possess a parish of £100 per
annum who, for some years past, have actually received £60, and that
with the utmost difficulty and vexation. I am, therefore, at a loss what
kind of valuators the bishops will make use of, and whether the starving
vicar, shall be forced to build his house with the money he never
received.

The other bill, which passed in two days after the former, is said to
concern the division of parishes into as many parcels as the bishop
shall think fit, only leaving £300 a-year to the Mother Church; which
£300 by another act passed some years ago, they can divide likewise, and
crumble as low as their will and pleasure will dispose them. So that
instead of 600 clergymen, which, I think, is the usual computation, we
may have, in a small compass of years, almost as many thousands to live
with decency and comfort, provide for their children, &c., be charitable
to the poor, and maintain hospitality.

But it is very reasonable to hope, and heartily to be wished by all
those who have the least regard to our holy religion, as hitherto
established, or to a learned, pious, diligent, conversible clergyman, or
even to common humanity; that the honourable House of Commons will in
their great wisdom, justice, and tenderness to innocent men, consider
these bills in another light. It is said, they well know this kingdom
not to be so over stocked with neighbouring gentry; but a discreet,
learned clergyman, with a competency fit for one of his education, may
be an entertaining, a useful, and sometimes a necessary companion. That
although such a clergyman may not be able constantly to find BEEF and
WINE for his own family, yet he may be allowed sometimes to afford both
to a neighbour, without distressing himself; and the rather, because he
may expect at least as good a return. It will probably be considered,
that in many desolate parts, there may not be always a sufficient number
of persons considerable enough to be trusted with commissions of the
peace, which several of the Clergy now supply much better, than a
little, hedge, contemptible, illiterate vicar from twenty to fifty
pounds a-year, the son of a weaver, pedlar, tailor, or miller, can be
presumed to do.

The landlords and farmers by this scheme can find no profit, but will
certainly be losers; for instance, if the large northern livings be
split into a dozen parishes, or more, it will be very necessary for the
little threadbare gownman, with his wife, his proctor and every child
who can crawl, to watch the fields at harvest time, for fear of losing a
single sheaf, which he could not afford under peril of a day's starving;
for according to the Scotch proverb, a hungry louse bites sore. This
would of necessity, breed an infinite number of brangles and litigious
suits in the spiritual courts, and put the wretched pastor at perpetual
variance with his whole parish. But, as they have hitherto stood, a
clergyman established in a competent living is not under the necessity
of being so sharp, vigilant, and exacting. On the contrary, it is well
known and allowed, that the Clergy round the kingdom think themselves
well treated, if they lose only one single third of their legal demands.

The honourable House may perhaps be inclined to conceive, that my lords
the bishops enjoy as ample a power, both spiritual and temporal, as will
fully suffice to answer every branch of their office; that they want no
laws to regulate the conduct of those clergymen, over whom they preside;
that if non-residence be a grievance, it is the patron's fault, who
makes not a better choice, or caused the plurality. That if the general
impartial character of persons chosen into the Church had been more
regarded, and the motive of party, alliance, kindred, flatterers, ill
judgment, or personal favour regarded less, there would be fewer
complaints of non-residence, neglect of care, blameable behaviour, or
any other part of misconduct, not to mention ignorance and stupidity.

I could name certain gentlemen of the gown, whose awkward, spruce, prim,
sneering, and smirking countenances, the very tone of their voices, and
an ungainly strut in their walk, without one single talent for any one
office, have contrived to get good preferment by the mere force of
flattery and cringing: for which two virtues (the only two virtues they
pretend to) they were, however, utterly unqualified. And whom, if I were
in power, although they were my nephews or had married my nieces, I
could never in point of good conscience or honour, have recommended to a
curacy in Connaught.

The honourable House of Commons may likewise perhaps consider, that the
gentry of this kingdom differ from all others upon earth, being less
capable of employments in their own country, than any others who come
from abroad, and that most of them have little expectation of providing
for their younger children, otherwise than by the Church, in which there
might be some hopes of getting a tolerable maintenance. For after the
patrons should have settled their sons, their nephews, their nieces,
their dependants, and their followers, invited over from t'other side,
there would still remain an overplus of smaller church preferments, to
be given to such clergy of the nation, who shall have their quantum of
whatever merit may be then in fashion. But by these bills, they will be
all as absolutely excluded, as if they had passed under the denomination
of Tories, unless they can be contented at the utmost with £50 a-year,
which by the difficulties of collecting tithes in Ireland, and the daily
increasing miseries of the people, will hardly rise to half the sum.

It is observed, that the divines sent over hither to govern this Church,
have not seemed to consider the difference between both kingdoms, with
respect to the inferior clergy. As to themselves, indeed, they find a
large revenue in lands let at one quarter value, which consequently must
be paid while there is a penny left among us; and, the public distress
so little affects their interests, that their fines are now higher than
ever, they content themselves to suppose that whatever a parish is said
to be worth, comes all into the parson's pocket.

The poverty of great numbers among the Clergy of England, hath been the
continual complaint of all men who wish well to the Church, and many
schemes have been thought on to redress it; yet an English vicar of £40
a-year, lives much more comfortably than one of double the value in
Ireland. His farmers generally speaking, are able and willing to pay him
his full dues. He hath a decent church of ancient standing, filled every
Lord's day with a large congregation of plain people, well clad, and
behaving themselves as if they believed in God and Christ. He hath a
house and barn in repair, a field or two to graze his cows, with a
garden and orchard. No guest expects more from him than a pot of ale; he
lives like an honest, plain farmer, as his wife is dressed but little
better than Goody. He is sometimes graciously invited by the squire,
where he sits at humble distance; if he gets the love of his people,
they often make him little useful presents; he is happy by being born to
no higher expectation, for he is usually the son of some ordinary
tradesman or middling farmer. His learning is much of a size with his
birth and education, no more of either than what a poor hungry servitor
can be expected to bring with him from his college. It would be tedious
to shew the reverse of all this in our distant poorer parishes, through
most parts of Ireland, wherein every reader may make the comparison.

Lastly, the honourable House of Commons may consider, whether the scheme
of multiplying beggarly clergymen through the whole kingdom who must all
have votes for choosing parliament men (provided they can prove their
freeholds to be worth 40s. per annum, _ultra reprisas_) may not, by
their numbers, have great influence upon elections, being entirely under
the dependance of their bishops. For by a moderate computation, after
all the divisions and subdivisions of parishes, that, my lords, the
bishops, have power to make by their new laws, there will, as soon as
the present set of clergy go off, be raised an army of ecclesiastical
militants, able enough for any kind of service, except that of the
altar.

I am, indeed, in some concern about a fund for building a thousand or
two churches, wherein these probationers may read their wall lectures,
and begin to doubt they must be contented with barns; which barns will
be one great advancing step towards an accommodation with our true
Protestant brethren, the Dissenters.

The scheme of encouraging clergymen to build houses by dividing a living
of £500 a-year into ten parts, is a contrivance, the meaning whereof
hath got on the wrong side of my comprehension; unless it may be argued,
that bishops build no houses, because they are so rich; and therefore,
the inferior clergy will certainly build, if you reduce them to beggary.
But I knew a very rich man of quality in England, who could never be
persuaded to keep a servant out of livery; because such servants would
be expensive, and apt, in time, to look like gentlemen; whereas the
others were ready to submit to the basest offices, and at a cheaper
pennyworth might increase his retinue.

I hear, it is the opinion of many wise men, that before these bills pass
both Houses, they should be sent back to England with the following
clauses inserted:

First, that whereas there may be about a dozen double bishoprics in
Ireland, those bishoprics should be split and given to different
persons; and those of a single denomination be also divided into two,
three, or four parts, as occasion shall require; otherwise there may be
a question started, whether twenty-two prelates can effectually extend
their paternal care and unlimited power, for the protection and
correction of so great a number of spiritual subjects. But this proposal
will meet with such furious objections, that I shall not insist upon it,
for I well remember to have read, what a terrible fright the frogs were
in, upon a report that the sun was going to marry.

Another clause should be, that none of these twenty, thirty, forty, or
fifty pounders may be suffered to marry, under the penalty of immediate
deprivation, their marriages declared null, and their children bastards;
for some desponding people, take the kingdom to be not in a condition of
encouraging so numerous a breed of beggars.

A third clause will be necessary, that these humble gentry should be
absolutely disqualified from giving votes in elections for parliament
men.

Others add a fourth, which is a clause of indulgence, that these reduced
divines may be permitted to follow any lawful ways of living, that will
not call them too often or too far from their spiritual offices (for
unless I misapprehend, they are supposed to have episcopal ordination).
For example, they may be lappers of linen, bailiffs of the manor, they
may let blood, or apply plasters, for three miles round; they may get a
dispensation to hold the clerkship and sextonship of their own parish
_in commendam_. Their wives and daughters may make shirts for the
neighbourhood, or if a barrack be near, for the soldiers. In linen
countries, they may card and spin, and keep a few looms in the house:
they may let lodgings, and sell a pot of ale without doors, but not at
home, unless to sober company, and at regular hours. It is by some
thought a little hard, that in an affair of the last consequence, to the
very being of the Clergy, in the points of liberty and property, as well
as in their abilities to perform their duty; this whole reverend body,
who are the established instructors of the nation in Christianity and
moral virtues, and are the only persons concerned, should be the sole
persons not consulted. Let any scholar shew the like precedent in
Christendom for twelve hundred years past. An act of parliament for
settling or selling an estate in a private family, is never passed till
all parties give consent. But in the present case the whole body of the
Clergy is, as themselves apprehend, determined to utter ruin, without
once expecting or asking their opinion, and this by a scheme contrived
only by one part of the convocation, while the other part which hath
been chosen in the usual forms, wants only the regal permission to
assemble, and consult about the affairs of the Church, as their
predecessors have always done in former ages; where it is presumed, the
Lower House hath a power of proposing canons, and a negative voice, as
well as the Upper. And God forbid (say these objectors) that there
should be a real separate interest between the bishops and Clergy, any
more than there is between a man and his wife, a king and his people, or
Christ and his Church.

It seems there is a provision in the bill, that no parish shall be cut
into scraps, without the consent of several persons, who can be no
sufferers in the matter; but I cannot find that the Clergy lay much
weight on this caution, because they argue, that the very persons from
whom these Bills took their rise, will have the greatest share in the
decision.

I do not, by any means, conceive the crying sin of the Clergy in this
kingdom, to be that of non-residence. I am sure, it is many degrees less
so here than in England, unless the possession of pluralities may pass
under that name; and if this be a fault, it is well known to whom it
must be imputed: I believe, upon a fair inquiry (and I hear an inquiry
is to be made) they will appear to be most pardonably few, especially
considering how many parishes have not an inch of glebe, and how
difficult it is upon any reasonable terms, to find a place of
habitation. And, therefore, God knows, whether my lords the bishops will
be soon able to convince the Clergy, or those who have any regard for
that venerable body, that the chief motive in their lordships' minds, by
procuring these bills, was to prevent the sin of non-residence, while
the universal opinion of almost every clergyman in the kingdom, without
distinction of party, taking in even those who are not likely to be
sufferers, stands directly against them.

If some livings in the north may be justly thought too large a compass
of land, which makes it inconvenient for the remotest inhabitant to
attend the service of the Church, which in some instances may be true;
no reasonable clergyman would oppose a proper remedy by particular acts
of parliament.

Thus for instance, the deanery of Down, a country deanery, I think,
without a cathedral, depending wholly upon an union of parishes joined
together, in a time when the land lay waste and thinly inhabited; since
those circumstances are so prodigiously changed for the better, may
properly be lessened, leaving a decent competency to the dean, and
placing rectories in the remaining churches, which are now served only
by stipendiary curates.

The case may be probably the same in other parts: and such a proceeding
discreetly managed would be truly for the good of the Church.

For it is to be observed, that the dean and chapter lands, which, in
England were all seized under the fanatic usurpation, are things unknown
in Ireland, having been long ravished from the Church, by a succession
of confusions, and tithes applied in their stead, to support that
ecclesiastical dignity.

The late Archbishop of Dublin[1] had a very different way of encouraging
the clergy of his diocese to residence: When a lease had run out seven
years or more, he stipulated with the tenant to resign up twenty or
thirty acres to the minister of the parish where it lay convenient,
without lessening his former rent; and with no great abatement of the
fine; and this he did in the parts near Dublin, where land is at the
highest rates, leaving a small chiefry for the minister to pay, hardly a
sixth part of the value. I doubt not that almost every bishop in the
kingdom may do the same generous act with less damage to their sees than
his late Grace of Dublin; much of whose lands were out in fee-farms, or
leases for lives, and I am sorry that the good example of that prelate
hath not been followed.

[Footnote 1: The Right Rev. Dr. William King (see p. 241). [T. S.]]

But a great majority of the Clergy's friends cannot hitherto reconcile
themselves to this project, which they call a levelling principle, that
must inevitably root out the seeds of all honest emulation, the legal
parent of the greatest virtues, and most generous actions among men; but
which, in the general opinion (for I do not pretend to offer my own,)
will never more have room to exert itself in the breast of any clergyman
whom this kingdom shall produce.