YOUR Correspondent Agricola, Pe

434, wishes to infer, that the Clergy are better remunerated in these days, than they were ever intended to be by the nature of their original appointment. Ainong the Jews, he says, one-tenth of the produce was set apart for one-twelfth of the population; but now, one-third of the value of the land goes to maintain one-fortieth part of the community; and all this, he is ready to prove. Now, I confess, I am a little curious to see how he will set about it; for I have very lately seen a book published by the Rev. Mr. Bearblock, on the subject of Tithes, in which it was laid down, from actual calculations, that the Titheowner, so far from receiving onethird, did not, in most instances, receive one-twentieth, and in none the tenth; and, if the Tithe was taken in kind all through the kingdom, which, perhaps, is the only fair way of ascertaining its value, the value would, for the most part, be raised 50 per Cent. in order to make it a fair proportional tenth of the annual increase. But, supposing it to be the case, that an equal tenth was originally intended to be levied for the support of the Clergy, it is by no means true, that that body was originally supposed to be in a greater proportion than that of one-fortieth, to the rest of the community: for, taking for granted, what I believe also is not the fact, that the Clergy do not comprize more than onefortieth part of the population of these kingdoms, yet their numbers must, in the nature of their institution, be stationary; and it is not probable that any great diminution has taken place in their body, since the dissolution of religious houses; and to that date, when the Church was new-modelled, may most properly be referred the present order and distribution of Tithes.

As to

the Levites, and their constituting one-twelfth of the people of Israel, if your Correspondent had turned to the Book of Numbers, instead of taking it for granted, that, because that people were distributed into 12 tribes, the distribution must necessarily have been into 12 equal parts, he would have found, that the tribe of Levi, when increased by the fami

I

I am also your Constant Reader, LAICUS.

N answer to your Constant Reader, p.357, who enquires relative to the qualifications and appointment of Sheriffs, I beg eg leave to inform him, that the principal, and, perhaps, only indispensable, qualification for that office is, that the party shall have sufficient property within the county, "to auswer to the King and his people." Lists of persous competent to serve, are laid before the Judges on their respective Circuits, by the then Sheriffs; which lists are altered and adjusted by the Judges, as they see fit. Out of these lists, the names of three persons for each County are chosen by the Court of Exchequer, during Michaelmas Term; and of these three, one is pricked (as it is called) by His Majesty in Council, early in the year. Should all the three persons be found unfit, or get themselves excused, another is appointed from the Judges' list; and who, in that case, is called "a Pocket Sheriff."

With regard to the exemptions alluded to by your Correspondent, legally speaking, I know of none; though there is one which has been known to operate in favour of many highly respectable persons; viz. their having served their Counties for many years as active Magistrates. This, it may be said, is rather a qualification than an exemption. As the office, however, is one, though of great dignity and honour, yet often of much difficulty, and always attended with considerable expence and immense responsibility, it is seldom sought for. Persous best fitted for it, are generally glad to escape it; which may be the reason, why

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Mr. URBAN, Shadwell, Aug. 22. HE Love of our Country is a feeling that must ever be held in esteem, and venerated; and I persuade myself this amor patriæ is nowhere more deeply felt than in the bosoms of those who have been deprived of her protection, or at distance from home. The story of the Pewter Spoon with London upon it, and its effects on the feelings of Captains Gore and Clark, with their officers at Kanıskatka, is well known to your Readers.

Another truth I will obtrude, that useful lessons are to be found for reflection and improvement to travelers at home, by visiting our Churchyards; and, although I cannot bestow praise on the cemeteries within the Bills of Mortality (but much to the contrary) yet there are those that do credit to the parishes to which they belong; and this conduct seems to be justified by antiquity: for, say some antient heroes, "We will meet thee at the tombs of our fathers."

Simple, and sometimes ludicrous, as we find the "poeticfire" on gravestones, there is much to be learned; and we can smile at some, as the following two will prove (and quoted from memory); the other two lines immediately after, do not fail to inculcate this useful truth, "that afflictions are the lot of man, and that medical aid cannot secure mortals from their doom."

In Fife-shire, North Britain, is to be read as follows:

"Here lieth I, killed by a SkyRocket in my eye, aged Forty."

And the Southern inhabitants of our Isle, not to be out-done in the pathetic, have in Fareham Churchyard, Hants, the following:

"In Fareham-harbour I was drown'd, And for three days could not be found: At last, with grapples and with care, I was dragg'd up, and buried here." Aud these, with the well-known distich to be found in every direction, of "Affliction sore long time I bore,

Physicians were in vain," constitute the ground on which I furnished my preceding reflection.

As some of your Readers may recollect their boyish days at Harrowschool, perhaps the following epitaph in the Church-yard, on two brothers, may also come to their remembrance. "How blest are these brothers, bereft

Of all that could burthen the mind; How easy, the souls that have left Their wearisome bodies behind.

Of evil incapable those

Whose relicks with envy I see, No longer in misery now,

No longer are sinners like me. Thus each is afflicted no more With sickness, or shaken with pain; The war with their flesh, it is o'er, And never shall vex them again." In Farmingham Church-yard, Kent: "Ye giddy youth, who tread life's flow'ry

path,

With serious thought awhile his dust survey, No pompous titles did adorn his birth, But noble virtue, mixt with humble earth. This caution learn, since such the life of

IN

T. W.

Νου. 9.

an

N. Dr. Clarke's Travels in Russia, quent mention is made of Officer called "the Starosta," who is stated by the author to be "an Officer resembling the antient Bailiff of an English village."

I should be obliged to any of your Readers who will favour us with an account of this latter Officer, his appointment, and duties, and when they ceased. I have now before me a "Patent of Clarke of the Markett, and Bailiff of the Liberties," of a very obscure village, granted to an ancestor of mine, under an Ecclesiastical Corporation, in 1658. T. S.

Mr.

REVOLUTION House at WHITTINGTON.