Thus it appears, from the above particulars, that the Church has nearly twice as many as the Methodists, Roman Catholics, and dissenters added together; more than three times as many as the Roman Catholics and the dissenters united, and seven times as many as the dissenters.

The Church and the Methodists are more than four times as many as the Roman Catholics and the dissenters.

I beg to observe, that, in every school which was publicly known to be under the control of a particular religious profession, or in which the peculiar tenets of any sect or denomination were inculcated, I have considered every child attending (except infants) as belonging to that sect. But I am convinced, that the parents of a considerable proportion of children in all the schools, are members of the Established Church; and that the real number of dissenters, in comparison with churchmen (if to be reckoned from their progeny at school), is, therefore, much lower than I have allowed. "The statement," on the contrary, has been brought forward to prove the vast numerical superiority of dissenters, not only in Liverpool, but throughout the kingdom. From the little local knowledge I possess of that town, I think I have made it appear, that the pretended comparison is unworthy of credit. The person who made the calculation will only be doing justice to his own party, if he will publish the data upon which it was founded, detail the names, situation, numbers, and religious character of every school; and also extract from the registers of what are called dissenting schools, the religious profession of the parents. For, as they boast of instructing all denominations, without interfering with their peculiar tenets, it is a curious stretch of appropriation to reckon among dissenters those Church-of-England children, who, from various causes, are drawn into these schools under the comprehensive declaration.

I do not wish in any way to decry the exertions of any benevolent gentlemen in providing instruction for the poor. But why should they vilify and asperse their Christian fellow-countrymen, who are carrying on the same work so much more securely, extensively, and munificently? The unjust and unprovoked hostility, which has been lately manifested against the charitable character of the Church, might, indeed, tempt me to speak harshly of those who busy themselves in the fabrication and circulation of injurious misrepresentations. I shall, however, be satisfied, if the author of the comparative "statement" will review the matter, and favour the public with the particulars I have requested. Till then, I cannot but entertain the sentiment, that truth has been perverted, and that the Church has been wantonly and uncharitably misrepresented.

Durham, March 6, 1834.

R. W. B.

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.")*

Nottingham, April 10, 1834. MR. EDITOR,-IN compliance with your wish to obtain information respecting the relative proportion which the public charities of the dissenters bear to those of churchmen, I beg to refer you to the last reports of the Committees for the General Hospital, the Lunatic Asylum, and the Dispensary in the County Town of Nottingham, from which you may glean the following particulars

Names of Charities. No. of Subscribers.

Total.

Sums Subscribed.

The Donations to the Lunatic Asylum from its commencement :-Churchmen, 50001.—

Dissenters, 180l.

The Donations and Legacies to the General Infirmary have been :-Churchmen, 20,000l.-Dissenters, 1000Z.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant, D. D.

II.

(From the Western Luminary.)

THE account between the members of the established church and the dissenters of Exeter stands thus:

Total of

...

Amount of Subscriptions. 2147 5 0 250 19 0

43

Lunatic Asylum (Benefactions) 310
Deaf and Dumb Institution

...

48 60 8908 16 4

330

Lying-in Charity....

52

67 14 6

Coal Charity

178

35

Blanket Society

43 11 6

.................. 315

18 5 0

Penitentiary....

Eye Infirmary.....................

129

990 40 5 0

£12,459 17 11

313

†£1270 8 6

Is it credible that a respectable publication like the Eclectic Review could quietly copy this wonderful passage into its pages without a word?

In all cases corrections will be gladly received, on sufficient evidence. This is not a warfare which any one can like; but it is forced on us by the dissenters. It is hoped that similar lists will be sent from other places..

PARLIAMENTARY GRANT OF LAST YEAR TO SCHOOLS.

By a return just made to the House of Commons, it appears that 20,000l. have been distributed thus: viz., to the National Society, about 11,000l.; to the British and Foreign Society, 9000l. When the appropriation of the money was made, the former Society had sent in cases for the whole of 20,000l., the latter for 16,000l., which gives about the proportion of the grants voted to each.

If it is thought necessary to account for the large amount of money applied for by the British and Foreign Society, it may be accounted for by several facts:

1. The National Society has, for a length of time, been raising from churchmen, by voluntary contribution, and voting away in grants, above 6000l. annually; hence the most pressing of the church cases have been accomplished. The British and Foreign Society has not given 1000l. in the same manner since its formation; hence, when money is to be had, there is naturally an immense rush at first to get a share in it.

2. The National Society offers no other encouragement than the nature of the case properly admits of; the British and Foreign, in its circular, tells people that they may raise money to meet the government grant any how; that "there is not an hour to lose;" that the country will form an opinion as to the merit and popularity of the dissenting system by the number of school cases sent in to the Treasury; and that, if there is difficulty, the applicants may borrow money upon the building, though they may not mortgage it. N.B. The Treasury require a bona fide declaration that the building is free from debt and incumbrance of every kind when the grant is claimed. The Society's circular tells us, “Yes, legally speaking, free;" but you may borrow money upon it still!

3. The cases of the National Society are solely and wholly for church-ofEngland schools. The cases of the British and Foreign Society are made up of applications from all classes-churchmen and dissenters of every kind, not to omit Roman catholics. Two clergymen, for example, (one of them the incumbent of Doncaster,) petition the government, through this Society, as appears by the quarterly extracts of the Society appended to the Sunday-school Teachers' Magazine for April 1834; and even higher authority is said to have given the same assistance. It is notorious that clergymen attend the annual meeting of the Society, and speak on its behalf; and a Roman catholic school at Sheffield is recommended by this liberal institution,—a Society which grounds its pretensions to public favour upon its principles of non-interference with any class of religious opinions, and perfect abstinence from patronizing any sect as a sect, recommends to the Treasury, for a grant, a class of persons whose opinions are the most exclusive of any which is known.

ANALYSIS OF THE TITHE COMMUTATION BILL.
Times," April 17, 1834.):

(From the "

PRINCIPLES OF THE BILL FOR THE COMMUTATION AND REDEMPTION

OF TITHES.

VALUERS are to be appointed in the different counties, whose duty it will be to ascertain the actual annual value of the lands in each parish now subject to tithes, distinguishing the land into two classes-arable and not arable.

The rent paid, it is presumed, will in general be taken to be the annual value; so that actual valuation will not be necessary, except where the land is manifestly let above or below its real value, and where the parties interested cannot agree, or where fraud or collusion is suspected. The valuers will in VOL. V.-May, 1834. 4 I

like manner ascertain the amount of tithes paid by the same lands in each parish on the average of the last five years, distinguishing the amount paid by arable, and the amount paid by not arable.

This having been done for each parish of a county or district, the proportion between the total tithe paid for all the parishes in that district and the rent of the land which pays it is determined, and this proportion becomes the tithe rate of the county or district, and continues invariable. In ascertaining this tithe rate, the distinction between arable and not arable is preserved. For example-suppose the annual value of the arable land is 100,000l., and the value of the tithe 20,000l., the arable tithe rate will be in that district 48. per pound on the annual value or rent. Suppose the rent of the pasture land in the same district to be 80,000l., the tithe 10,000l.; the non-arable tithe rate will be 2s. 6d. per pound on the rent of land not arable. These respective rates, viz., 4s. per pound and 2s. 6d. per pound, being thus determined for the district, are to remain fixed and unalterable; but the annual value of the land is subject to revision every seven years; so that the amount paid in lieu of tithe may rise or fall at these intervals with the rent of the land which pays it. The payment of this sum is cast upon the landlord instead of the tenant, a provision which at once removes the cause of those frequent disputes between the clergyman and his parishioners, not less destructive of the moral influence of the one than injurious to the real interests of both.

So far the measure is imperative. If the landowner is of opinion that the value of land is falling, he may not be disposed to proceed further: if, on the contrary, he expects that it will rise, or if he means to lay out capital on his land, he may convert (if unwilling or unable to redeem in the manner to be explained presently) the annual tithe charge above-mentioned, and subject to certain variations depending on the value of the land, into a fixed and permanent rent charge, estimated in bushels of wheat, in the manner usually adopted in regulating corn rents.

By adopting for the value of tithes the average payment of the last five years, an actual valuation is avoided, which it is well known would raise very materially the total amount of tithe paid throughout England. By determining the tithe rate for a district or county, the injustice so loudly and fairly complained of in the bill of last year, of fixing a heavy permanent charge on a parish where tithes had been severely exacted, and a light charge where they had been moderately taken, is avoided. By the present plan, where the demand has been severe it will be reduced; where it has been unusually small it will be increased; where it has been moderate it will continue nearly the same. The amount, therefore, to be paid to the tithe-owners in lieu of tithes in any county or district, will remain unchanged, though its distribution may be thus partially altered.

But while the consequence of determining the tithe rate for each individual parish would have been the objectionable result which we have explained, on the other hand too large a district is to be avoided. There are local customs observed in valuing and paying tithe peculiar to different counties, and so generally observed as essentially to affect the value of the land. In Northumberland and other northern counties, for example, it is the practice to value the crops annually; in Devonshire, to take a portion of the rent; in Kent, to collect in kind, or to enter into composition for a certain number of years. in the latter county, where the collecting in kind is not unusual, the value of tithe is much nearer its true value than in those counties where the practice is rare. These differences, however, are so marked, and the value of land is so much affected by them, that it becomes desirable to limit and define the districts, according to the prevalence of particular customs, as well as the nature of the cultivation, and the general fertility and character of the soil.

As the tithe of poor land bears a larger proportion to rent than the tithe

of rich land, and a rate bearing the same proportion to the rent is to be imposed on both, the poor land will be somewhat benefited at the expense of the rich; but there can be no great objection, we conceive, to an arrangement which does nothing more than equalize the burdens of the poor land and the rich.

In the case of hop land, a fixed sum of shillings per acre will be charged in addition to that which it would have paid if only subject to the arable tithe rate of the county; and any land on which the tithe rate may have been redeemed shall nevertheless become subject to this fixed annual charge if hops be grown thereon.

With respect to the redemption, it is provided that any owner of land may, by a payment equal to twenty-five years' purchase of the annual charge, determined in the manner abovementioned, free his land from such charge for all time to come. The fixed rent charge, the nature of which we have already explained, may also be redeemed at the same rate. At the present rate of interest this will not yield to the clergyman so much as he receives from the tithe; but this small pecuniary sacrifice will probably be more than compensated by the certainty and facility of payment, and the removal of those many annoyances to which he is now subject.

The purchase-money of all clerical tithes to be paid to commissioners appointed by the bishop of the diocese, and to be invested in the public securities or in land, or on mortgage, as may seem to them most expedient. When the whole or any portion of the purchase-money for any parish is invested in land, such land must be situated either in the parish itself or in an adjoining parish, and is to be considered as glebe land, under the control and management of the incumbent, who is empowered to grant a lease for twenty-one years, but restrained from receiving any fine or premium for its renewal.

Such we believe to be the outline of the proposed measure; we have endeavoured to explain its principles, avoiding all technicality and as much detail as possible. When the bill is before the house we shall again return to the subject, and point out the provisions for adjusting the proportion between great and small tithes for regulating the mode of proceeding in those cases where the produce of the land is wholly or in part protected by a modus, and where tithes are let on lease for a term of years or for lives.

The tithes of the lay impropriator are, we perceive, to be dealt with in the same manner as those of the church.

CHURCH MATTERS.

PROBABLY no better method of bringing the most important subject of all those which now concern the church, viz., the admission of dissenters to the Universities, can be found, than by presenting to the reader the following letter from one who approves of the measure.

ON THE ADMISSION OF DISSENTERS TO DEGREES
AT OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE.

N.B. It will be seen the following letter was written before Colonel Wood's measure was brought on.

MY DEAR -I see with pain the degree of heat which this question is generating in our body. Still I need not, I hope, make any formal apologies to you for presenting you with views upon it, which I know to be opposed to your own. Differing in many points of public policy, the habit of freely