pences, for commissioners, solicitors, &c. &c. all eagerly employed in doing worse than nothing, and can they not afford to forgive us half-a-crown for the inspection of a deed that is, eventually perhaps, to take away half the value of our livings? It is a paltry charge, but quite in keeping with the commutation spirit throughout, which, after contriving to filch the prime wool of our flocks, would think it a degradation to their ingenuity if they could not pilfer the very clag-locks into the bargain.

CLAUSE LXVI.

Agreements, Awards, and Apportionments not to be questioned after confirmation.

This, as the shortest clause of the whole Act, we can afford to give at length, as " Russel's Entire." And be it enacted, that no confirmed agreement, award, or apportionment shall be impeached after the confirmation thereof, by reason of any mistake or informality therein, or in any proceeding relating thereunto."

And thus endeth this tithe tragedy! this chapter of the legislative perfection of the whig cabinet! of the sorrows of the Church of England, of her deep injury, of her everlasting disgrace! Thus they conclude their Act of Commutation, by a clause covering up, at once, its intrigues, its ignorance, its injustice, and its wrongs. No mistakes are to be rectified, no informalites altered, no proceedings relating thereto, be they never so important, never so needful, to be questioned after confirmation. All objections to it, or to any part of it, are quashed for ever. Nothing is to be breathed upon the subject more-no syllable of censure permitted to disturb the solemn approbation of the whig conscience upon this consummation of whig policy. One only voice is allowed to be heard amid the reverend

silence; the voice of that redoubtable tithe statesman, my Lord John Russel.

Exegi monumentum

Non omnes moriar; multaque pars mei
Vitabit Libitinam. Usque ego postera

Crescam laude recens.

You are right, my Lord.-You have indeed reared to yourself and your compatriots an enduring monument in this grand healing measure, this admired object of legislation, half rogue half fool, puffed out in the trumpery of whig costume on the one side, and a mere bag of bones, the very image of the skeleton of death, on the other.-Sic itur ad astra!

CLAUSE LXVII.

Lands to be discharged from Tithes, and rent-charge paid in lieu thereof, being money-value of Grain payable instead of Tithes.- Rent-charge to be recovered by Distress and Entry, and to vary every year, according to prices ascertained at preceding Christmas.-No Person to be personally liable for Rent-charge.-Payment of Rent-charge on reclaimed Lands to be postponed, until Tithes would have been due.

Of this clause there are, you see, several branches. It may be considered as the winding up of all tithe business; the funeral procession of church revenues. Lands are here discharged from the payment of all tithes. "And be it enacted, that from the first day of January next following the confirmation of every such apportionment, the lands of the said parish shall be absolutely discharged from the payment of all tithes, (except so far as relates to the liability of any tenant at rack-rent dissenting as hereinafter provided), and instead thereof there shall be payable thenceforth (to the person in that behalf mentioned in the said apportionment) a sum of money equal in value (according to the prices ascertained by the

then next preceding advertisement) to the quantity of wheat, barley, and oats, respectively mentioned therein, to be payable instead of the said tithes, in the nature of a rent-charge issuing out of the lauds charged therewith."

Thus, my brethren, not a remnant of the old system is to be left-of that tithe system which God in his holiness did ordain from, probably, the very beginning of time-which ran on from the creation to the flood, from the flood to the calling of Abraham, from the calling of Abraham to the coming of Christ, in one almost unbroken line of solemn consecration—which our blessed Saviour did in no part of his gospel abolish--which his apostles did in no part of their epistles discountenance and which the Primitive Christians only for a season dispensed with, while, with a fervour and charity that too soon, alas! grew cold, "as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, and laid them down at the apostles' feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need."

I must beg your patience a little longer on this solemn part of our subject. I do say-and with the seriousness with which I would take an oath at the altar-that our tithe system, now about to be abolished, was the work of Heaven; the whole, sole, and entire work of Heaven. Else, why should men who affect to have found this system so oppressive, yet endure it? Why should they consent throughout all generations" to establish it by law, though representing this estaclishment so every way detrimental? Why should they pay obedience to a regulation so entirely opposed to their interest, their avarice, their everlasting complaints against its operation in the improvements of agriculture, and the peace of their possessions and their parishes?

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Why, in short, with all the strongest feelings, all the warmest passions of their hearts called up against it, why should they thus from their very cradles, have, at once, desecrated and revered, have sworn eternal enmity against, and yet paid implicit obedience to this mysterious provision?

Will it be replied, that all this is the work of the law of the land, and that this continued obedience results from the authority of that law? But why did the law of the land establish the tithe system? Why establish a payment that men every where exclaimed against? Why did William the Conqueror, (in England) entail this burthen upon every individual estate, he, by right of conquest gave away? Why did the nobility and gentry of the various states and kingdoms of Europe do nearly the same? It is certain they would have relieved themselves of this impost upon their property could they have done it. But instead thereof, why did they bear, permit, encourage, and actually establish by their laws, a mode of payment which, of all other, they (though without ground) declared to be the most oppressive, the most injurious to their landed possessions, and a mode which, left to themselves, it would never even have entered into their hearts to have made choice of?

The answer hereto is evident.-The hand of God was upon the solemn contract, and no law of man dared to infringe it.-The will of God was upon this mode of payment, and no corrupt inclinations dared to dispute it; no interested views dared to disown it. That will of God gave to the ministers of his religion the full, clear, tenth of the produce of the earth, and, what had been thus solemnly sanctified, left an awe upon the conscience which continued it unimpaired, uudisputed, unremitted! Had this mark of its divinity been wanting, the tithe system would never have supported itself through a single century. All interests would have

been raised against it and demanded its extinguishment. We should have seen every where voluntary contributions, government stipends, yearly allowances, graduated incomes, and all dependant upon the will of man; but no where should we have witnessed that permanent, that sure, that hallowed provision for the worship of the Almigthy-Tithe in kind.

Now, however, my Reverend Brethren, the heaviness of the soul is coming upon us. We are journeying onward towards "the land of darkness and the shadow of death." Now is that just, that generous, that awful system which the Almighty ordained as the especial nurse of the religious worship, in "all places, nations and languages,' due to Him-which age after age, rude with ignorance, and burning with ambition, and almost swallowed up in debauchery and wickedness, yet never once dared to abrogate-which has stood the rage of tyranny, the shock of conquest, the wildest frenzy of the greatest potentates, the deadliest malice of the keenest minds.-Now is that ancient and venerated system at length fairly grubbed up by the weakest, the most presuming, the most bitter and disgusting ministry that ever poisoned the page and disgraced the glories of British History!

This rent-charge is to be "recovered by distress and entry." Thus are we thrown on legal measures every time it is in danger, and though we may be relieved from any fear of the sufficiency of the security, expences are yet rendered certain to make that security available, and we are, as usual, to come into discredit with our parishioners for the recovery of our rights.

Considering too, that where this rent-charge is laid on only a small portion of the estate this security becomes weakened, it might have been some compensation for what the Act has taken away from us if it had rendered two or three substantial land