to lead them in the knowledge and obedience of his word, so that at the end of their lives they may be saved through Jesus Christ: and to this is added a collect out of the communion-service, concluding with the bishop's blessing, who now desires, that the blessing of Almighty God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, may be bestowed upon them, and remain with them forever.

Matrimony is not deemed a sacrament in this church, although regarded as a sacred and holy rite. It is performed, either in public in the church, or in a private house, and either by li cense, or the publication of banns; and cannot be dissolved except by an especial act of parliament, after previous convic tion of the crime of adultery, or some other lawful cause, heard and adjudged in the courts of law. Accordingly, therefore, the laws of England forbid any divorce to take place on account of alleged adultery in either party, till such acts of adultery have been clearly proved; after which the aggrieved party may apply to parliament for an act of divorce, or, as it was anciently called, a Bill of Divorcement. This law, however, cannot be considered, as some have considered it, an ex post facto law," or a law made to punish an offence, against which there was no previous law.

46

The Funerals of the Church of England are very simple and affecting; and the service of the most solemn and devout kind.

They have a practice of publicly returning thanks by women after child-birth, which they call Churching of Women, and for which there is a distinct service in the book of common prayer; snd this, with what is called the Commination, a long list of curses, used only on the first day of Lent, concludes that singular, and, in many respects, very excellent book.

In concluding this analysis of the liturgy of this body of Christians, it may be observed, that the morning service formerly consisted of three parts, which were read at three different times in the forenoon. These are now thrown into one, and are all used at the same time. This conjunction of the services produces many repetitions. For instance, the Lord's Prayer is always repeated five times every Sunday morning; and on sacrament days, if there happen to be a baptism and a churching, it is repeated about eight times in the course of about two hours. These and some other defects have been repeatedly attempted to be reformed; but hitherto without

success.

The government, discipline, &c. of this church are next to be considered.

There are two Archbishops, (viz.) Canterbury and York, the first of which is primate of all England, though the king is temporal head of the church; and has the appointment of all the bishops. There are twenty-six bishops, besides the two Archbishops, who are all peers of the realm; except the bishop of Sodor and Man, who is appointed by the Duke of Athol; and has no seat in the house of peers.

The Church of Ireland is also episcopal, and is governed by four archbishops and eighteen bishops. Since the union of Britain and Ireland, one archbishop and three bishops sit alternately in the house of peers, by rotation of sessions.

The province of York comprises four bishoprics, viz. Durham, Carlisle, Chester, and the Isle of Man; all the rest, to the number of twenty-one, are in the province of Canterbury.

The clerical dignitary, next to the bishop, is the arch-deacon, whose duty, though very different in different dioceses, may be termed that of a representative of the bishop in several of his less important functions. The number of arch-deacons in England is about sixty. The name of Dean (Decanus) was probably derived from his originally superintending two canons or prebendaries. Each bishop has a chapter or council appointed to assist him, and each chapter has a Dean for a president; but there are in the Church of England many deaneries of other descriptions. Rector is, in general, the title of a clergyman holding a living, of which the tithes are entire ; Vicar is understood of a living when the great tithes have passed into secular hands. The very general name of Curate signifies, sometimes, (as curé in France) a clergyman in possession of a living, but more frequently one exercising the spiritual office in a parish under the rector or vicar. The latter are temporary curates, their appointment being a matter of arrangement with the Rector or Vicar; the former, more permanent, are called perpetual curates, and are appointed by the impropriator in a parish which has neither rector nor vicar. The name of Priest is, in general, confined to the clergy of the church of Rome; in the Church of England, the corresponding term is a "Clerk in Orders." A parson (parsona ecclesia) denotes a clergyman in possession of a parochial church. Deacon is, in England, not a layman (except with the Dissenters) as in Calvinistic countries, but a clergyman of limited qualifications, to preach, baptize, marry, and bury; but not to give the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. Readers" are not regular clergymen ; but laymen, of good character, licensed by the bishop to read prayers in churches and chapels, where there is no clergyman.

66

The number of church-livings in England and Wales is very great, being fully 10,500. From this multiplicity of benefices, and from the general smallness of the incomes, have arisen two irregularities pluralities, and non-residence. To prevent, at least to lessen this latter abuse, an Act of Parliament was passed in 1813, directing that every non-resident incumbent should nominate a curate of a salary of not less than 80l. per ann. unless the entire living should be less. The effect of this Act was to reduce the number of non-resident clergymen, by fully 800; they had previously been about 4700; but in 1815

the official return to Parliament of the incumbents in England and Wales were as follows:

Non-resident from the following causes :

Sinecures 52-Vacancies 164-Sequestrations 40-Recent Institutions 87-Dilapidated churches 32-Held by Bishops 22-Law-suits, absence on the Continent, &c. 122-Livings from which no report 279, total 798-Incumbents non-resident from other causes 3856-Incumbents resident 5847-total 10,501 livings.

The rental of England and Wales was, by a late return, discriminated as follows in regard to tithes :

Tithe-free in toto

Tithe-free in part

Free on the payment of a modus
Subject to tithe

7,904,379

856,185

498,823

20,217,467

Total 29,476,854

A part, and by no means an inconsiderable one, of the tithes of England is held by laymen; but as the church have other resources of income, its total revenue is computed at nearly 3,000,000l.; but the absorption of large sums by several of the prelates, and the accumulation of the best livings among a few individuals of influence, reduce the annual average income of the curates, or most numerous class, to little more than 100l. a-year.

Tithes necessarily fluctuate with the state of agriculture; at present (1820-1) the deficiency is extremely alarming. This was also the case in the year 1815, when the clergy began to discover, that the tithe was a very unsuitable and impolitic source of revenue. Application was made to Parliament, and the subject was, for some time, under serious discussion; but the rise of corn in 1816 and 1817 prevented any other measure than an Act, founded on a Committee Report of the 18th of June, 1816, authorising the possessor of tithes, (laymen as well as clergymen) to grant leases of them for a term not exceeding fourteen years.

According to a return in Parliament, made in June 1817, it appears that the incomes of those benefices where there is no parsonage-house, or at least none that forms a suitable residence, are as follow:

From 10l. to 100l.

100 to 150

150 and upwards

livings.

615

442

793

1850

A prior, and more comprehensive return, had stated the number of churches and chapels, for the established faith, at 2533; and as these were thought inadequate, (the members of the established church being about five millions, or half the population of England and Wales,) an Act was passed in 1818, and

even pecuniary aid, to the amount of one million pounds sterling, given by government, for the erection of an additional number of churches. The previous attempts to raise the requisite funds, by the issue of briefs and voluntary subscriptions, had exhibited a miserable specimen of misapplied labour; the expenses of the collection, and of the patent and stamps, absorbed more than half the money received from the subscribing parties.*

There were not a few worthy and conscientious members of the established church, who questioned the policy and expediency of taking from the public purse so great a sum as one million, at the time when the nation was already greatly embarrassed by the stagnation of trade, and the weight of the existing taxes.

In addition to the details already given of the ecclesiastical statistics, and other affairs connected with the government, discipline, and revenues of the Church of England, the reader will be instructed and amused by some facts, partly taken from that singular production, " A Plea for Religion and the Sacred Writings," by the late Rev. David Simpson, Minister of Christ Church, Macclesfield, than whom a better or more honest and conscientious clergyman the Church of England never possessed.

It is well known, says this good man, that there are about 18,000+ clergymen in England and Wales of the established religion, and nearly 10,000 parishes.

The rectories 5098; the Vicarages 3687; the livings of other descriptions 2970; in all 11,755. Twenty or thirty of these livings may be a thousand a-year and upwards; four or five hundred of them 500l. and upwards; two thousand of them under 2001.; five thousand under 100l. a-year. The -average value of livings is 140l. a-year, reckoning them at 10,000.

In the year 1714, when Queen Anne's Bounty began to be distributed, there were 1071 livings not more than 10l. a-year; 1467. 20.; 1126, 307.; 1149, 40l.; 884, 50l. In all 5697 livings, not more than 50l. a-year a-piece.

All the 101. and 201. livings have been augmented by the above donation.

This bounty is about 13,000l. a-year, clear of deductions and is, therefore, equal to 65 augmentations annually, at 2001. a-piece.

The Clergy are indebted to Bishop Burnet for this applica tion. The money itself arises from the first-fruits and tenths of church livings, above a certain value, which, before the time of Henry VIII. used to go to the Pope of Rome.

See the return of briefs delivered to Parliament, May 19, 1819.
These have rather increased since Mr. Simpson wrote.

The whole income of the church and two Universities is about 1,500,000l.* a-year. There are 26 bishops, whose annual income is 72,000l.; or, according to another account, 92,000l.; each bishop, therefore, has on an average 2770l. or 35381. a-year, supposing he had no other preferment. There are 28 Deaneries aud Chapters, whose income is about 50001. a-year each, making together about 140,000l. a-year. The income of the two Universities is together about 180,000l. ; the clergy have together about 1,108,000l. a-year among them, which is little more than 100l. a-piece. The whole body of the clergy and their families make nearly 100,000 souls. Reckoning the population of England and Wales at 8,000,000, of people, every clergyman would have a congregation of 444 persons to attend to in the same way of calculation.

There are moreover 28 Cathedrals, 26 Deans, 60 Archdeacons, and 544 Prehends, Canons, &c. Besides these, there are in all about 300 in orders belonging to different Cathedrals, and about 800 Lay-Officers, such as singing-men, officers, &c. who are all paid from the Cathedral emoluments; so that there are about 1700 attached to the several Cathedrals, who divide among them the 140,000l. a year, making on an average nearly 831. a year a-piece.t

There are nearly 1000 livings in the gift of the king; but it is customary for the Lord Chancellor to present to all the livings under the value of twenty pounds in the king's book, and for the Minister of State to present to all the rest. Those under 201. are about 780, and those above, nearly 180. Upwards of 1600 places of church-preferment, of different sizes and descriptions, are in the gift of the 26 bishops more than 600 in the presentation of the two Universities; about 1000 in the gift of the several cathedrals, and other clerical institutions; about 5700 livings are in the nomination of the nobility and gentry of the land, men, women, and children; and 50 or 60 of them may be of a different description from any of the above.

The titles by which some of the highest orders of the clergy are dignified, are, in some instances, little inferior to those given to the Pope of Rome. The archishop of Canterbury is addressed as 66 His Grace, the most Reverend Father in God, N by Divine Providence, Lord Archbishop of Canterbury." The Bishops are styled "Right Reverend Fathers in God, by Divine Permission, Lord Bishops of, &c." Others are styled Very Reverend, &c.

Ministers at the time of their ordination take a solemn oath, that they subscribe ex animo, to all and every thing contained in the book of Common Prayer, &c. They also swear to per

*This is scarcely half the entire value of the Church's Revenues, if we reckon every possible source.

See an "Essay on the Revenues of the Church of England."