§ 2.-II. Increasing the Number of Resident Curates.

III. To that end, out of the pockets of Incumbents and Patrons, taking money, and forcing it into the pockets of Curates.

"ties and forfeitures in the said Acts contained for Non-Residence ;-<6 1. Or actually serving as a Chaplain of the House of Commons ;-2. Or "as Clerk of his Majesty's Closet ;-3. Or as a Deputy Clerk thereof, dur"ing the time of their respective attendance ;—4. Or as a Chaplain-Gene"ral of his Majesty's Forces ;-5. Or Brigade-Chaplain on foreign ser“vice;—6. Or Chaplain on Board any of his Majesty's Ships ;—7. Or of "his Majesty's Dock-Yards;-8. Or in any of his Majesty's Garrisons ;"9. Or Chaplain of his Majesty's Corps of Artillery, during the times of "attending the duties of such offices respectively;-10. Or as a Chaplain "to any British Factory;-11. Or in the Household of any British Ambas "sador, or public Minister residing abroad, during the time of his actually "residing in such Factory or Household, and performing there, at all due "times and seasons, the duties of such his office;-12. Or as Chancellor, 66 or Vicar-general, or, in his absence, the principal Surrogate or Official "in any Ecclesiastical Court of any Diocese, whilst they are residing "in the places where their respective offices are exercised;—13. Or as "Minor Canon, or Vicar Choral, or Priest Vicar, or any such other pub"lic officer in any Cathedral or Collegiate Church, during the times for "which they may be required by the Canons, or local Statutes thereof, to "reside at such Cathedral or Collegiate Church, and actually reside and "perform duty at the same;-14. Or as Deans, Sub-Deans, Priests, or "Readers, in his Majesty's Royal Chapels, at St. James's and Whitehall;— “15. Or as Reader in his Majesty's private Chapel, at Windsor or else"where ;-16. Or as Chaplain at the Royal Military Asylum, at Chelsea, "or Royal Military College, at High Wycombe, or Teacher at the Royal Military Academy, at Woolwich ;-17. Or Chaplains at the Royal Hos"pitals, at Greenwich and Chelsea ;-18. Or as Chaplains to the Royal "Hospitals for Seamen, at Haslar and Plymouth, whilst they shall respec❝tively reside and perform the duties of their respective offices;-19. Or as a Preacher or Reader in any of the Inns of Court, or at the Rolls;→→ “20. Or as Bursar, Dean, Vice-President, or public Tutor, or Chaplain, or other such public officer, in any College or Hall, in either of the Uni"versities of Oxford or Cambridge, during the period for which he may

For this part of the system, the person to whom Excellent Church is principally indebted is, as already observed,

"respectively be required, by reason of any such office, to perform the "duties of any such office, and actually shall perform the duties of the 66 same;-21. Or as Public Librarian, or Public Registrar, or Proctor, or "Public Orator, or other such public officer, in either of the said Universities "during the period for which he may respectively be required, by reason "thereof to perform the duties of any such office, and actually shall per "form the duties of the same;-22. Or as Fellow of any College in either " of the Universities, or of Eton or Winchester College, during the time "for which he may be required to reside by any Charter or Statute, and ac"tually resides therein;-23. Or as Warden or Provost of Eton or Win"chester College, during the time for which they may be respectively re❝quired, to reside, or shall actually reside therein;-24. Or as Schoolmaster "or Usher in the same, or as Schoolmaster or Usher of Westminster "School;-shall be liable to any of the Pains, Penalties, or Forfeitures, ❝in the said first recited Act, or this Act contained, for or on account of "any Non-Residence on any Dignity, Prebend, Benefice, Donative, or "Perpetual Curacy, any thing in the said Act, or this Act, contained to "the contrary notwithstanding."

Note well the estimation in which salvation of souls is held by the pen. pers of this clause. With the exception of a small part—a part which, till of late, was, if not still is, as small as a man could be had to serve for-the pay allotted for the salvation of souls is stripped off from the labour, and given to every Incumbent who is fortunate enough to obtain any one article in the above-mentioned enormous list of preferments. This detachable mass of pay, is it needless to the purpose of salvation? Then why leave it attached? Is it needful?—Then with what colour or decency, other than Church-of-England decency, presume to attach it?

Included, in no small proportion, in this list of preferments are a set of complete Sinecures. Here then, on no other ground-for no other merit— than the good fortune of his having, by the necessary breach of probity, obtained one Sinecure,—so it is, that, from an office of matchless importance and supposed laboriousness, a man is suffered to strip off the greater part of the pay, allotted to it under the notion at least of its being necessary: to strip off as great a part of its pay as possible,-and out of it, for his own benefit, to carve another Sinecure.

Take the converse of this case. Of the whole number of benefices with cure of souls, in the instance of the greater part, the quantity of pay attached to the office is declared to be insufficient. Well then, was ever any

p. 255, the Earl of Harrowby. For the principal provisions, see in the second Curates' Act-the Act of 1813;for the reasons on which they were grounded, see his Lordship's Speech.

On an occasion such as this, salvation of souls being, of course, in every body's mind-if not in truth, at any rate in profession, the ultimate end in view,-in the character of intermediate ends, two objects, in themselves altogether distinct, appear to have engaged, in close conjunction, more or less of his Lordship's attention: viz. 1. On the part of the class of official persons in question, viz. Curates, securing appropriate official aptitude. 2. In default of habitual Residence on the part of the Incumbent,

such proposition made, as that of taking any one of these useless offices, and, in a permanent way, attaching the whole, or any part of the pay of it, to any one of these supposed insufficiently paid soul-saving and laborious offices? Never, never-who is there that would have endured it? This would be robbing Excellent Church, stripping her of her jewels—stripping her of every thing to which she owes her Excellence?—Oh no where addition to pay is to be made, it must be-not by substraction from Sinecures, but by addition to the taxes.

As to persons already in possession-under the thus existing system of almost universal delinquency, to have bestowed upon them the most perfect indemnity-to have continued to them by law a possession obtained by breach of law-yes: all this might and would have been well: in all this there would have been nothing but what might have been justified by the uti possidetis principle (See App. No. IV. § 2, p. 198). But in an Act, calling itself An Act for enforcing Residence, thus wantonly to go to work, and heap together, in addition to the one originally and so unwarrantably established by Henry the Eighth, a still more enormous mass of Non-Residence,-. ........ once more, what assurance! Not only are probity and sincerity thus violated, but consistency. If giving despotic power over the rest of the Clergy to Bishops be a right thing,-as in the case of the other batch of indulgences, established in the shape of Licenses, it is assumed to be,why not in these cases likewise give to good discipline the same supposed security?-why not subject this tribe of Incumbents, as well as the other, to the same supposed salutary yoke?

For this part of the system, the person to whom Excellent Church is principally indebted is, as already observed,

"respectively be required, by reason of any such office, to perform the "duties of any such office, and actually shall perform the duties of the "same;-21. Or as Public Librarian, or Public Registrar, or Proctor, or "Public Orator, or other such public officer, in either of the said Universities "during the period for which he may respectively be required, by reason "thereof to perform the duties of any such office, and actually shall per. "form the duties of the same ;-22. Or as Fellow of any College in either "of the Universities, or of Eton or Winchester College, during the time "for which he may be required to reside by any Charter or Statute, and ac"tually resides therein;-23. Or as Warden or Provost of Eton or Win"chester College, during the time for which they may be respectively re❝quired, to reside, or shall actually reside therein;-24. Or as Schoolmaster 66 or Usher in the same, or as Schoolmaster or Usher of Westminster "School;—shall be liable to any of the Pains, Penalties, or Forfeitures, ❝ in the said first recited Act, or this Act contained, for or on account of any Non-Residence on any Dignity, Prebend, Benefice, Donative, or "Perpetual Curacy, any thing in the said Act, or this Act, contained to the contrary notwithstanding."

66

Note well the estimation in which salvation of souls is held by the pen. ners of this clause. With the exception of a small part—a part which, till of late, was, if not still is, as small as a man could be had to serve for-the pay allotted for the salvation of souls is stripped off from the labour, and given to every Incumbent who is fortunate enough to obtain any one article in the above-mentioned enormous list of preferments. This detachable mass of pay, is it needless to the purpose of salvation? Then why leave it attached? Is it needful?-Then with what colour or decency, other than Church-of-England decency, presume to attach it?

Included, in no small proportion, in this list of preferments are a set of complete Sinecures. Here then, on no other ground—for no other merit— than the good fortune of his having, by the necessary breach of probity, obtained one Sinecure,—so it is, that, from an office of matchless importance and supposed laboriousness, a man is suffered to strip off the greater part of the pay, allotted to it under the notion at least of its being necessary: to strip off as great a part of its pay as possible,-and out of it, for his own benefit, to carve another Sinecure.

Take the converse of this case. Of the whole number of benefices with cure of souls, in the instance of the greater part, the quantity of pay attached to the office is declared to be insufficient. Well then, was ever any

p. 255, the Earl of Harrowby. For the principal provisions, see in the second Curates' Act-the Act of 1813;for the reasons on which they were grounded, see his Lordship's Speech.

On an occasion such as this, salvation of souls being, of course, in every body's mind-if not in truth, at any rate in profession, the ultimate end in view,-in the character of intermediate ends, two objects, in themselves altogether distinct, appear to have engaged, in close conjunc tion, more or less of his Lordship's attention: viz. 1. On the part of the class of official persons in question, viz. Curates, securing appropriate official aptitude. 2. In default of habitual Residence on the part of the Incumbent,

such proposition made, as that of taking any one of these useless offices, and, in a permanent way, attaching the whole, or any part of the pay of it, to any one of these supposed insufficiently paid soul-saving and laborious offices? Never, never-who is there that would have endured it? This would be robbing Excellent Church, stripping her of her jewels-stripping her of every thing to which she owes her Excellence ?-Oh no: where addition to pay is to be made, it must be-not by substraction from Sinecures, but by addition to the taxes.

As to persons already in possession-under the thus existing system of almost universal delinquency, to have bestowed upon them the most perfect indemnity to have continued to them by law a possession obtained by breach of law-yes: all this might and would have been well in all this there would have been nothing but what might have been justified by the uti possidetis principle (See App. No. IV. § 2, p. 198). But in an Act, calling itself An Act for enforcing Residence, thus wantonly to go to work, and heap together, in addition to the one originally and so unwarrantably established by Henry the Eighth, a still more enormous mass of Non-Residence,-... once more, what assurance! Not only are probity and sincerity thus violated, but consistency. If giving despotic power over the rest of the Clergy to Bishops be a right thing,-as in the case of the other batch of indulgences, established in the shape of Licenses, it is assumed to be,why not in these cases likewise give to good discipline the same supposed security?-why not subject this tribe of Incumbents, as well as the other, to the same supposed salutary yoke?