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 iM^ii
 
 
 A PLEA FOE REFORM 
 
 IN 
 
 THE CHURCH AND HER CLERGY, 
 
 MORE ESPECIALLY IN REFERENCE TO THE 
 
 SYSTEM OF PATRONAGE AND PROMOTION 
 THEREIN, 
 
 BY WHICH THE PRINCIPLE OF 
 
 "DETUR DIGNIORI" 
 WOULD BE DULY RESPECTED. 
 
 BY '' SAPEEE AUDE. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 WYMAN & SONS, 74-5, GREAT QUEEN STREET, 
 LINCOLN' S-INN FIELDS, W.C. 
 1878.
 
 To flic Bight Hon. Eichard Assheton Ceoss, M.P., 
 Secretary of State for the Home Department. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 The independent disposition whicli prompted 
 you to successfully carry into existence tlie St. 
 Albans and Truro Bishoprics Bills induces me, an 
 humble country clergyman of long standing and 
 experience, to dedicate to you the following pages, 
 in the earnest hope that the same feeling of interest 
 for the welfare of the Church may be further ex- 
 tended for her reform and benefit generally, as set 
 forth herein, and so add to the just renown you 
 have already earned from all true sons of the 
 established Church. 
 
 1*^0 person can deny that something is urgently 
 required to correct the system of patronage and 
 promotion, and the suggestions herein contained 
 point to a remedy which must in course of time 
 benefit the Church and her clergy. 
 
 I remain, Sir, 
 
 With every respect. 
 
 Your most obedient Servant, 
 
 THE AUTHOE.

 
 A PLEA FOE EEFOEM 
 
 IN 
 
 THE CHUECH AND HEE CLEEGY. 
 
 " Those who know the Churcli to be God's appointed 
 instrument for the regeneration of mankind, and re- 
 garding her as such have tried to impress her claims 
 upon others in opposition to the sectarianism of the 
 day, are well aware of the difficulty they have to 
 encounter in the almost universal ignorance, even 
 among persons supposed to be well educated. Yet 
 the moment we turn aside from the beaten track 
 that connects one great epoch with another, we find 
 incidents of the most exciting, attractive, and 
 instructive kind, crowding together with a truth 
 more strange than fiction and wonderfully illustra- 
 tive of the inner and outer life of the Church." 
 
 Such are the words with which the publishers 
 (J. H. & J. Parker) introduced a series of historical 
 tales to the notice of the public some years ago. 
 And as we are now come to a period in which great 
 and extensive reforms (it is to be hoped for good) 
 are promised for the Church — I do not allude to the 
 reform of her liturgy, or fresh translation of the 
 Bible, — let us have a real reform in life, practice, 
 system, government, preferments, rewards, and 
 punishments of bishops, priests, and deacons. That
 
 ( 6 ) 
 
 tlie law is inoperative to correct life and morals in 
 the Cliurcli is plain enough. That something is 
 wanted to uphold her practice and system is equally 
 plain. The government of the Church, all must 
 allow, is strangely administered — Preferment unduly 
 conferred, rewards few, punishments none, or next 
 to none. In all serious matters of discipline a 
 clergyman is left much to the bent or inclination of 
 his own mind ; some mutilating the service, others 
 conducting it in a manner, if not offensive, at least 
 distasteful to the majority of the congregation. 
 Then there are some men anxious to promote the 
 Church's welfare, seeking to do and teach her disci- 
 pline and practice according to the rules of the 
 Prayer Book, having sworn at their ordination to 
 '' conform to the liturgy." Being conscientious 
 men, and having a reverence for their obligations, 
 are such men properly estimated? The simple 
 answer is, ''No." 
 
 To give a few instances out of many as to how 
 Episcopal patronage is dispensed at the present day, 
 let us record the following:— The present Archbishop 
 of Canterbury between 1868, his " translation," 
 and 1875, i.e. in seven years, presented eight near 
 relatives to valuable livings in his gift, ranging from 
 £320 to £1,345 ; the average being £660, and of 
 course a comfortable house and glebe. In the same 
 period his Grace presented eight private friends, the 
 average income being £654. The Archbishop stated 
 in the House of Lords in 1875, that " he regarded 
 all patronage as a public trust"! In 1876 the 
 Bishop of London presented his son-in-law, the 
 Eev. Walter Abbott, a young man, an indijfferent
 
 ( 7 ) 
 
 preacher and indifferent scholar, as successor of Dr. 
 Moorhouse, Bishop of Melbourne, to the valuable 
 and important living of Paddington. In the seven 
 years above mentioned, the Archbishop presented 
 eleven " deserving curates " to livings averaging 
 £268 each, most of them being large town parishes. 
 The Times of 27th June, 1877, says :—'' It would 
 certainly be pernicious, for instance, if all appoint- 
 ments were in the hands of bishops ; still worse if 
 they were all matters of election." In 1876 or 1877, 
 the Bishop of Worcester gave the living of Hartle- 
 bury, £2,500 a year, to his brother-in-law, Mr. 
 Haviland, and Fladbury, £778 per annum, to Mr. 
 Campbell, his nephew. Neither of these fortunate 
 gentlemen appears, from " Crockford," to have had 
 any long standing in the diocese of Worcester. 
 
 It had been asked at one time, '' Qui lono 
 bishops ? " It must be allowed that at present 
 there is room for adding to their '' good." We say 
 in school matters that '' the eye of the master does 
 more work than his hands." And so it is with 
 bishops. I say to them first, go see, and judge for 
 yourselves ; never mind your " eyes," the rural 
 deans, who have their own friends and favourites, 
 their own likes and dislikes ; and don't expect them, 
 as my bishop formerly said he '' required" me to do 
 when rural dean — " to tell him in confidence every 
 weakness or failing, neglect or indiscretion, or want 
 of attention among my neighbouring clergy"; not to 
 tell the good deeds, the self-denying devotion, the 
 almsgiving, the hushed prayer of the poor when 
 asked about their clergyman, who, his early and 
 spare breakfast ended, spends his forenoon in the
 
 ( 8 ) 
 
 scliool, and witli urgent cases of illness ; then, 
 allowing a couple of hours for people's dinners, and 
 his own letters, &c., occupies the afternoon in walk- 
 ing through some portion of his parish, to see and be 
 seen, if there should be need to attend particularly 
 anywhere, or otherwise at home occupied in the 
 lawful and ordinary calling of his duty, or still 
 further, returning the visit of some neighbour, to 
 keep up friendly intercourse, or for recreation and 
 exercise. It is thus that the parish clergyman fulfils 
 his duty to God and man, and it is to marlc such a 
 man in his every- day life that I require a bishop to 
 be '^ blameless." To know by ^personal inspection 
 the state of every parish in his diocese. It does 
 not require much discernment to know the true 
 pastor from the hireling. I know clergymen now 
 who spend most of their time gadding about the 
 country, preaching here, — speeching there — all to 
 " court popularity " and notice, while neglecting 
 their own parishes ; and I know men following this 
 kind of life petted and preferred by their bishop, 
 who accepts their ^'soaping-up" to him as a sufficient 
 qualification for his gifts, always excepting he has 
 no son or near relative more worthy. A bishop can- 
 not excuse himself by saying he must attend Parlia- 
 ment. How many questions or subjects are brought 
 on during the session in which he really need inter- 
 fere ? Notice is always given of the proceedings 
 and motions in Parliament, and when really required 
 to engage in debate, they can easily attend in these 
 railway days, without keeping up an establishment in 
 town. London is not the place for an idle man, be 
 he priest or layman. Except the Archbishop of
 
 ( 9 ) 
 
 Canterbury and the Metropolitan bishops — a town 
 life is not a fit life for our bishops ; we want them in 
 the country, we want them in our large and crowded 
 towns, we want them in our manufacturing and 
 mining districts — not to work, but to see our work 
 and to encourage the workmen — not to be, as has been 
 described, like an " abstract idea." How many 
 hundreds, perhaps I may say thousands, of clergy 
 there are who have never seen a bishop within their 
 parishes, or the tradition of any such being there. 
 I know the incumbent of a country parish near five-] 
 and-thirty years, not a remote parish like parts of 
 Cumberland or Cornwall, for through the village is 
 the high road between two market towns and rail- 
 way-stations, and a railway- station also within two 
 miles, and no bishop or archdeacon (except the latter 
 once in thirty years) has ever been hioiun by record 
 or tradition to have set foot in the parish, since, 
 perhaps, the consecration of the Church some time in 
 the reign of William the Conqueror, and that parish 
 is one of the best in the bishop's patronage. Bishops 
 we know are fallible men, like the mere clergy, and 
 seldom better in rank and position in life, until 
 tempted by some political interest, or being private 
 tutor to " my Lord " or his son, or head-master of 
 some great school. Such as these have been made the 
 stepping-stones to the mitre, and what fruit can we 
 expect therefrom? I allow there have been men 
 every way deserving such preferment selected from 
 the mere working clergy, but they are oases in the 
 desert. It would be invidious to mention names, 
 but there are men now on the '^ Bench," selected 
 from the parochial clergy '' for their works' sake," 
 
 0.
 
 ( 10 ) 
 
 who alone would '' save the city," and perhaps are 
 now the " salt " which is doing so. Such appoint- 
 ments are a step in the direction to which the subject 
 of this tract is tending. Take up the '' Clergy List," 
 or any clerical directory, and note therein the many 
 surnames of archbishops, bishops, lord chancellors, 
 vice-chancellors, deans, canons, and other Church 
 dignitaries, past and present, in the persons of men 
 holding the best and choicest of preferments in the 
 Church, whose affinity was their only qualification — 
 of men to whose lives and acts in several instances 
 "the office of the judge" and the records of our 
 criminal courts bear testimony. If a like surname 
 is found attached to some poor living, you may be 
 sure the possessor has no kindred claim. It was re- 
 marked to me formerly in a cathedral town — " that 
 the bishop's servants were the worst behaved in 
 church " ; and I believe it is an undeniable fact 
 that the sons of church dignitaries ivere notorious, 
 cceteris paribus, for their disorderly lives. There 
 are such men, I believe, still living under suspension 
 or deprivation for their acts. 
 
 We hear often of the poverty of the clergy, which 
 is too true, though, as the Times says, " a clergy- 
 man's ^position makes up for the deficiency of in- 
 come " ; still that will not pay a baker's or butcher's 
 bill, no more than the ^position of an editor of a 
 newspaper, who must be paid for his labour ; and 
 why not also those whose very ^' jposition^' brings 
 them in contact with infection, and misery, and want, 
 and squalor, and wretchedness, the extent of which 
 none but those visiting such scenes would believe. 
 
 Purification, and devotion to her vital interests —
 
 ( 11 ) 
 
 the souls of her members — may yet be in store for 
 the Church. Her vitality is within her, if properly 
 revived. Before proceeding, then, to point out the 
 remedy, let us survey the amount and extent of 
 Church patronage in the gift of the Crown, Prince 
 of Wales, Lord Chancellor, archbishops, bishops, 
 collegiate corporations, and the universities, all of 
 whom hold such patronage by virtue of their offices 
 in trust for the good of the Church. 
 
 The Church patronage of the Crown comprises, 
 with some alternate patronage, about 320 livings, 
 possessing a gross income of about £85,000 per 
 annum. The Crown, likewise, presents to all 
 canonries except 15, and all deaneries except 3. 
 The Prince of Wales' patronage, with the Duchy 
 of Lancaster, is 85 livings ; annual value about 
 £25,000. The Lord Chancellor presents to 
 15 canonries and 830 livings, the gross annual 
 income of the latter being about £300,000 (this 
 was before Lord Westbury's act). The direct 
 patronage of archbishops and bishops is about 2,100, 
 together with some deaneries, all archdeaneries, 
 prebendaries, chancellors, treasurers, subdeans, and 
 the various dignities, major and minor, connected 
 with their cathedrals. It is impossible to form any 
 estimate of the annual income of such preferments, 
 the tithes in many parishes being still let on lease, 
 with fines, &c., a mode of calculation for such being 
 confined to those immediately interested, the only 
 conclusion one can safely come at, being, that the 
 Church is not only " spoiled," but robbed of half 
 her dues. The same applies to the patronage of 
 " deans and chapters," the number of which exceeds
 
 ( 12 ) 
 
 1,000. The patronage of the universities is about 
 900. We may set set down £1,250,000 a year as the 
 gross income of all corporate livings. We have 
 here the patronage of about 6,200 livings, exclusive 
 of canonries, prebends, and such '' gifts." I take 
 the figures from the " Clergy List," which is rather 
 under the mark than over. If there is added the 
 private patronage of 7,800 livings, the total is 13,000 
 livings, in round numbers, for say 23,000 clergy. 
 Assuming that the 13,000 represents the beneficed 
 clergy, we have 10,000 curates, young men as such, 
 serving their cures and undergoing a certain proba- 
 tion for the full duties of the ministry. It is well 
 known, however, that of those 13,000 livings several 
 are held in present plurality ; but as that abuse is 
 fast righting itself, let us look to the future. We 
 must leave the private patronage aside for the pre- 
 sent, and deal with that held ex officio in trust for 
 the Church. The number of such livings, as I have 
 already stated, is about 5,200, and. with this number 
 there can be no reason why the same correction, 
 applied to every person holding appointment under 
 the Crown, should not lie. I held an appointment 
 for some years in a government ofl&ce, and it may 
 not be generally known that every government 
 ofiicial must enter in a book, or make a return daily 
 or weekly, of his every-day attendance or employ- 
 ment, — a diary of his official life in fact, — so that 
 the "censors" attached to each department may be 
 able to prove that the duties are properly fulfilled 
 according to the rules of the public service. Why 
 not apply the spirit of this test to the Church, 
 beginning with the public patronage ? and its benefit
 
 ( 13 ) 
 
 must soon appear so apparent, that owners of pri- 
 vate patronage would readily relieve themselves of 
 much responsibility and annoyance, and present to 
 their benefices, under the same rule, men really 
 deserving of them. But to come to the subject. 
 In plain words, I should require from every clergy- 
 man holding any of those 5,200 livings a regular diary 
 of his official life. I want no sneering answer to this, 
 — that we should have — e.g. "Monday, parson's holi- 
 day ; Tuesday, fishing ; Wednesday, dined with 
 friend ; Thursday, shopping with my wife ; Friday, 
 thinking of Sunday's sermon ; Saturday, writing 
 it." I hold that every clergyman's duty is for 
 the souls entrusted to his care ; and few men can 
 be content, residing on their livings, to lounge all 
 day on a sofa, reading novels or unprofitable books. 
 I demand a reform in the every- day life, where 
 needed, of a clergyman. I do not want to confine 
 him to the four walls of his house; but, while in 
 that house and in that parish, I want him to fulfil his 
 duty, and not be ashamed to show it, — "that all may 
 see his good works." I should exempt, perhaps, 
 the two archbishops, but I should begin with the 
 first bishop on the bench, and extend it to the 
 last or poorest beneficed clergyman on those 5,200 
 livings, also to curates in '' sole charge," and per- 
 missive on assistant curates. I should place in 
 every clergyman's hand a full-page diary for each 
 month, and require the same to be returned to its 
 proper office immediately after the 1st of the follow- 
 ing month, not for the purpose of censure or fines 
 (unless such was in course of time found necessary), 
 but to deduce from those returns the hard working
 
 ( 14 ) 
 
 and conscientious parochial clergyman, and as such 
 deserving of promotion. 
 
 Bishops may not wish to be promoted ('* trans- 
 lated " is perhaps the proper word), and some of the 
 mere clergy may have the same feeling ; but I 
 should make it compulsory on every dignitary and 
 beneficed clergyman, who draw their incomes from 
 Church sources, to make and send in those monthly 
 returns. If a bishop or clergyman were wilfully 
 absent for a lengthened time from all his duties, with- 
 out reasonable cause, he should be liable to some 
 correction, beyond the present inefficient law on the 
 subject of non-residence ; and here would be sure 
 grounds for a remedy. Further, I should leave it 
 optional to every clergyman on private or other 
 similar patronage also to make the like returns and 
 come under the same rule. And it may be desir- 
 able for all curates on those 5,200 livings to send in 
 their diaries, if willing. We should in due time weed 
 the Church of her drones, the old high-and-dry 
 would die oflP, and we should have proof who was 
 best fitted or entitled to promotion. We should 
 not have a bishop's son presented to a valuable 
 living, and, after some years of careless and aban- 
 doned life, suspended. We should not have the son 
 of a dean beneficed on a valuable '' chapter " living, 
 silenced for the last thirty years of his life for 
 drunkenness and immorality ! We should not have 
 the idle and worthless sons and sons-in-law of 
 bishops and of other dignitaries appointed to every 
 best living in the mitres' or " chapters' " gift, and 
 showing by their after lives how worthy they were 
 of such preferment ; more careful about their farm
 
 ( 15 ) 
 
 or their mercliandise, their horses or their pigs, 
 than the souls committed to their charge. Let us 
 think for a moment if there is not some truth in the 
 remark by an able and good man, still living — *^ that 
 there will be more of the priesthood damned than 
 of any other class ! " There is no use cloaking 
 matters, the good will rise to glory ; let us see what 
 can be done while yet there is time for those who 
 may be turned aright. Worldly position is too 
 tempting to be disregarded, if there is proof of its 
 being won by devotion to duty and purity of life. 
 The Times of 27th June, 1877, says: ''A living 
 confers a social position, as well as a spiritual charge, 
 and there will be men who will look more to the 
 former aspect of it than to the latter." But if a 
 clergyman having no Parliamentary influence or 
 friend in the Government to advance him in his 
 profession, sees, for instance, the son-in-law of a Lord 
 Chancellor appointed, first, to a chancellor's living of 
 £500 per annum, complaining of the 6,000 parish- 
 ioners being rough, and the duties irksome ; next 
 preferred to a chancellor's living of £700 a year, 
 but still too much work among 2,000 mechanics ; 
 after that again preferred to a chancellor's living 
 of £850, with a small rural population — three pro- 
 motions within ten years, seeking the largest pay for 
 the least work, — what must any poor clergyman 
 think, but that there is no justice for the Church ? I 
 do not mean to allege anything against the fortunate 
 gentleman in question ; he may or he may not be 
 deserving of such preference, but I ask, was it an 
 act of equity in the Lord Chancellor of that day, 
 was it just to the Church of which he was a trustee,
 
 ( 16 ) 
 
 that he should pension his offspring upon the Church 
 without scruple ? I know well how the civil appoint- 
 ments were and are still disposed of, and how also 
 the Lord Chancellor's patronage is monopolized for 
 political purposes. Still, as there is a prospect of 
 better times for the civil service appointments, let 
 us hope better still for the Church, — " God's 
 hallowed agent upon earth for the conversion of 
 mankind." It can be done, and there must be a 
 beginning to everything. I do not see why the 
 clergy themselves should not stand forth and de- 
 mand such a reform in their- rule and government ; 
 believe me, if they do so, the malignants will soon 
 subside into thin air. Do not expect much mercy 
 from your enemies ; if they once find the fabric 
 tottering to their blows, it will soon come down. 
 You will find little toleration in dissent; you all 
 know that. While the martial spirit is abroad to 
 defend our land from no invasion, let us of the 
 Church array ourselves for our defence, and high 
 and low, broad and no Church, lift up your heads in 
 time. "Samson, the Philistines be upon you!" 
 Before our strength is gone, let us go forth, and 
 shake off that drowsiness and sloth and ease, which 
 too often, like the torpor of the snowdrift traveller, 
 ends in death — twofold death — death to our own 
 souls, and death to those committed to our care. 
 
 " We are disposed to rely more and more on the 
 growing force of public opinion, both among the 
 laity and clergy, to repress more and more the abuse 
 of an inevitable anomaly" (Times, 27th June, 1877). 
 Therefore, knowing that we must account for every 
 day to an earthly master, will keep alive in us our
 
 ( 17 ) 
 
 account for our heavenly ; and we shall indeed be 
 ashamed to record the daily indolence and ease 
 against ourselves, — hence the incentive to earnest- 
 ness and devotion to our duties. How much more 
 pleasing to note, even for human eyes, a certain 
 portion of each week conscientiously occupied as a 
 parochial clergyman, than to find the sheet going 
 up blank, or some twenty days of the month filled 
 up with " private business " — which may mean 
 '' courting popularity " by speeching or preaching 
 wherever the idle busybody could intrude. I do 
 not desire to prevent a clergyman from seeing his 
 friends at home or abroad, or in any way to inter- 
 fere with his liberty. My object is to honour and 
 prefer the most worthy, and thereby keep the Church 
 in a wholesome state of correction and discipline. 
 Those who choose to lie in the mire may stay there 
 for their term ; but I would exempt no one 
 fraternity of the clergy from these returns. I 
 would include all, of every style and grade — from 
 the Bishop of London to the Curate of Humblestoke. 
 The proposed plan resolves itself into a simple 
 measure. There should be a permanent commission 
 of six men : — three clergy, three laymen, to meet at 
 an ofiice in London, and of those six commissioners, 
 a clergyman and layman should each be selected 
 from three divisions of England, north, midland, 
 and south, so as to have some idea of local habits 
 and requirements. There should be no bishops or 
 other Church dignitaries, as such, on that commission 
 of six. The commissioners should be unanimous in 
 their choice, and to select from tabulated lists, 
 deduced from the diaries, the most worthy and most 
 
 B
 
 ( 18 ) 
 
 fitted to recommend for the vacant benefice. It is 
 easy to decide where personal motives do not inter- 
 fere, and though, perhaps, an awkward appointment 
 may now and then be made, (for who is perfect ?) it is 
 better that one should perish than all. The lesser evil 
 would soon right itself, and, upon a vacancy, the 
 parishioners may congratulate themselves on having, 
 what each should be, an efficient parish priest. 
 
 The Times of 27th June, 1877, says : " A man 
 is wanted for executing one of the most solemn and 
 important offices of trast. He is to be responsible 
 for promoting, to the best of his power, the spiritual 
 and eternal welfare of the inhabitants of a parish. 
 It is certain that the social welfare of most parishes 
 will depend to a very large extent upon the character 
 of the clergyman. He may exert everywhere a 
 great influence for good, and if he simply abstains 
 from exerting any such influence, the parish is by so 
 much the loser. He can set on foot measures of 
 social and sanitary improvements ; and if he be a 
 man of strong moral and spiritual convictions, he 
 can exercise a still more potent force. For such 
 appointments a careful selection of men must be 
 desirable." 
 
 In addition, there should be an agent or collector 
 under sureties in every diocese, or portion of a 
 diocese or archdeaconry, to receive the tithe-rent- 
 charge of every benefice so supplied under this com- 
 mission, and pay all into a common fund, the stipend 
 to be paid quarterly or half-yearly to the incumbent, 
 subject to a small deduction, — say two and a half per 
 cent, for collection. This would amply repay the 
 collector, if his receipts were large. I should abolish
 
 ( 19 ) 
 
 tlie Ecclesiastical Oommission, and conform that 
 official building into an office for tliis purpose. A 
 beginning might be made with the bishops and 
 clergy, who are now paid by the Ecclesiastical Com- 
 missioners, to make some such return of their time 
 and duties, as an equivalent for the public funds paid 
 to them. Those six commissioners, as with the 
 heads of other departments, should have power to 
 form " minutes " in defining certain rules which 
 should limit or postpone preferment. I do not think 
 for a moment about false or fraudulent returns — the 
 crime would be too heinous in the sight of God to 
 pass unnoticed — it would betray itself — e.g., if a 
 man had been preferred, whose previous life and 
 attention to his duties did not justify it, upon inquiry 
 the matter could soon be proved, and deprivation or 
 degradation following would act as a sure antidote 
 for such profanity. A clergyman not wishing to 
 change, from association or locality, may remain ; all 
 would be quite voluntary in accepting any offered 
 preferment. 
 
 A few thousand sheets of foolscap, printed in a 
 tabular form, as the following, and with the address 
 of the commission printed on the back, would each 
 go by post for one penny ; only one shilling a year, 
 unless arrangement was made with the General Post 
 Office for all such to pass like other official papers.
 
 Diocese of Parish of 
 Diary of the Reverend J- — B — 
 
 County of 
 for 187 
 
 1 
 
 Monday 
 
 Visiting the sick, 
 and parochial work. 
 
 17 
 
 Wednesday 
 
 Parochial work. 
 
 2 
 
 Tuesday- 
 
 Ditto. 
 
 18 
 19 
 20 
 
 Thursday 
 
 Absent. 
 
 3 
 
 Wednesday 
 
 Private business. 
 Absent. 
 
 Friday 
 
 Absent. 
 
 4 
 
 Thursday 
 
 Parochial work. 
 
 Saturday 
 
 Parochial work. 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 8 
 
 Friday 
 
 Ditto. 
 
 21 
 22 
 
 Sunday 
 
 Two full services. 
 Sunday-sohool. 
 
 Saturday 
 
 Ditto. 
 
 Monday 
 
 Parochial work. 
 
 Sunday 
 
 Two full services. 
 Sunday-school. 
 
 23 
 
 24 
 
 Tuesday 
 
 Ditto. 
 
 Monday 
 
 Private business. 
 
 Wednesday 
 
 St. John the Bap- 
 tist. Full service 
 in church. 
 
 9 
 
 Tuesday 
 
 Parochial work. 
 
 35 
 
 Thursday 
 
 Absent. 
 
 10 
 
 Wednesday 
 
 Ditto. 
 
 26 
 
 27 
 28 
 
 Friday 
 
 Parochial work. 
 
 11 
 
 12 
 
 13 
 
 14 
 
 Thursday 
 
 St. Barnabas. Full 
 service in church. 
 
 Saturday 
 
 Ditto. 
 
 Friday 
 
 Private business. 
 
 Sunday 
 
 Two full services. 
 Sunday-school. 
 
 Saturday 
 
 Parochial work. 
 
 29 
 
 30 
 
 Monday 
 
 St. Peter. Full ser- 
 vice in church. 
 
 Sunday 
 
 Two full services. 
 Sunday-school. 
 
 Tuesday 
 
 Parochial work. 
 
 15 
 16 
 
 Monday 
 
 Parochial work. 
 
 
 
 Tuesday 
 
 Ditto. 
 
 
 
 
 {Signature, c^c.) 
 
 J S 
 
 Rector of
 
 ( 21 ) 
 
 The ^dajs of the month and week should be 
 printed, and a separate sheet, headed for the month 
 and for the whole year, should be sent to every clergy- 
 man before the beginning of the year, with a corre- 
 sponding book of the same in duplicate for his own 
 use, that there^may be no irregularity. If a clergy- 
 man were at home, and doing what he in his con- 
 science knew to be the work of his calling, it should 
 come under " parochial work." If absent for the 
 day, it should be stated. If he did any duty occa- 
 sionally for a neighbouring clergyman, it should bo 
 so recorded; the fact would test itself as against the 
 other, and if the diaries were universal, it would 
 help out the whole system. The presentation should 
 always, of course, come from the patron as such, 
 the commissioners' work being to supply fit and 
 proper persons. 
 
 Then, with books properly tabulated for a year or 
 more, the commissioners,^assisted by a clerk, could 
 tabulate from the diaries the particulars of each 
 return, and across each page would form that year's 
 history of each clergyman ; so that a few figures at 
 the end would give the result required. 
 
 Accidental or other circumstances, such as resig- 
 nation, suspension, license for non-residence, 
 death, &c., to be duly recorded, instead of the 
 usual entries. 
 
 We come now to the application of the funds. 
 By paying the income of all those livings — I mean in 
 trust patronage, amounting to over £1,250,000 per 
 annum, all the income of the Ecclesiastical Commis- 
 sioners, near £2,000,000, all the income of Queen 
 Anne's bounty — into one common fund, it would
 
 ( 22 ) 
 
 allow a scale of payment as follows (the bisliops to 
 receive the same income as now) : — The highest living 
 to be £800 a year, if the population exceeded 3,000 ; 
 the next to be £600 a year, if the population exceeded 
 2,000 ; the next to be £500 a year, if the population 
 exceeded 1,000; and £400 a year for all livings below 
 1,000. A residence to be provided in every case, ex- 
 clusive of the income ; but if the clergyman desired 
 to occupy the glebe-land, or a portion of it, it should 
 be fairly rated as so much of the income; but in all other 
 cases the rents of the glebe-lands should be received, 
 or accounted for, together with the tithe-rent charge, 
 by the agent or collector. A few acres may be 
 allowed free around the house, for lawn, &c, exclusive 
 of garden and such portion as formed part of the 
 premises. 
 
 Notwithstanding the tithe commutation, how 
 much expense and worry and trouble the above 
 system would save each clergyman ? It v/ould not 
 prevent his giving a dinner as usual; the day of the 
 agent's audit may be fixed upon for the purpose, or 
 any other time convenient. 
 
 Those six commissioners should be independent 
 of any sect or parfcy inside or outside the Church, 
 selected for their known honesty of purpose 
 and integrity of life; their salary to be £1,200 a 
 year each, and all personal and travelling expenses, 
 their whole time being required, being really work- 
 ing ofiice men. This would contrast with the 
 £30,000 a year of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners 
 and staff expenses — with their half and quarter time. 
 How the system treated of herein would in course 
 of time put an end to all traffic in the sale of livings.
 
 ( 23 ) 
 
 No man need be afraid of succeeding wlio fulfilled 
 his duty to God and man ; we should get rid of the 
 "live at ease '■*' incumbents; and also that crying 
 scandal J still continued, of archbishops and bishops 
 presenting their sous, and sons-in-law, and near 
 relatives would cease. All the dreaded clauses in 
 the Bishop of Peterborough's Bill would vanish ; a 
 full amount of purity would be restored to the 
 Church in all her internal dealings and where such 
 momentous matters were concerned. It is hard to 
 cast imputations anywhere, and it is quite possible 
 that, in matters of conscience, what might be a cause 
 of offence in one patron might not be so in another ; 
 yet it is certain that some men require protection 
 even against themselves. The honour of the Church 
 is surely more delicate than that of any human 
 being, and not even a breath of suspicion should be 
 allowed to come within the scope of her dealings. 
 We have too many enemies ready enough to spread 
 and propagate scandal ; it becomes, consequently, the 
 business of Churchmen and of all friends of the 
 Church to contribute in dispelling the evil. It is 
 not intended by what I have written to interfere 
 with the rights of any patron, it is to reheve the 
 painful responsibility so often felt by private patrons 
 in the exercise of their patronage. A reference to 
 the commissioners would at once supply the kind of 
 man suited for a rural, a mining, a manufacturing, 
 a town, a remote or neglected parish ; experience 
 would soon put all this upon its proper level. It isj 
 mentioned as a fact by a private patron, a member,; '' 
 of Parliament, and holding the highest social po- 
 sition of any commoner, that '^ he would not accept
 
 ( 24 ) 
 
 episcopal recommendation without further and due 
 inquiry " ! The law recognizes the right of patron- 
 age as freehold property, and also the tenure of a 
 living as freehold property ; and the introduction 
 of any law to alter those rights must seriously 
 affect the social position of both patron and incum- 
 bent. But when a congregation, and parishioners, 
 and all ultimate circumstances are considered which 
 ought to prevail, on what principle can a patron 
 justify his conscience that a clergyman, who might 
 be a mere drone in the parish, utterly inefficient, 
 prone to amusement and sport, and who might not 
 possess any one of those qualities which parishioners 
 have a right to expect in a clergyman, was to remain 
 there among them, it may be for twenty, or forty, 
 or, humanly speaking, any number of years, and no 
 power to remove him, unless he was guilty of some 
 outrage against propriety. Almost all prominent 
 appointments in the public service are limited to a 
 term of years, and proof of inefficiency or incom- 
 petency would even shorten that term ; why might 
 not a similar rule be applied in tlie case of the mere 
 drone above mentioned ? The consciousness of 
 having his inefficiency limited would either rouse 
 him to a better state of mind, if it were possible, or 
 at all events console the parishioners, that after a 
 certain day matters would be different, if not 
 mended altogether. It should be in the power of the 
 commissioners to warn the culprit, that if his 
 returns continued to mark the same blanks, they 
 would have power, according to law, to declare the 
 benefice vacant after a certain day. The great 
 strength of the Church, as a national institution,
 
 ( 25 ) 
 
 lies in her patronage, and it was the identity of 
 interest between the clergy and the laity which kept 
 up the Church's strength. It will generally be found 
 that lay patrons who act disinterestedly and for 
 the Church's welfare alone, present a more efficient 
 class of clergy than Episcopal or clerical patrons. 
 I have known livings of small but important towns 
 in the gift of peers, filled by most excellent working 
 men ; the noble patrons making every careful inquiry 
 for the fittest man to suit the particular case. A 
 bishop seldom consults any one, giving sometimes a 
 poor living to a meritorious curate of long standing, 
 — except in the name and independence, not much 
 better than the curacy he had left ; while he gives 
 his " fat livings " to his sons or sons-in-law, or 
 '' Mrs. Bishop's" nephews, or her nieces' husbands. 
 Cases have occurred before now where the " she 
 bishop " ruled the patronage, and Episcopal livings 
 have been given away through the influence of a pet 
 daughter, a chaplain, a secretary, a butler, a gar- 
 dener, and even a bishop's cook ! 
 
 One morning in the month of November, 1875, 
 the post brought me an imposing long official-like 
 envelope, headed, instead of " On Her Majesty's 
 Service," " Church of England Incumbents' Sus- 
 tentation Fund," addressed ''' To the Reverend the 
 Officiating Minister and Churchwardens of the 
 
 Parish of ," with ''Marquis of Lome " printed 
 
 in the lower left-hand corner. There was no postage- 
 stamp, but a red post-mark: ''London, S.W., 
 PAID," and date. The envelope contained a large 
 quarto sheet of paper, neatly printed, making an 
 appeal for "annual subscriptions, donations from 
 
 c
 
 ( 26 ) 
 
 offertory, Ac," on behalf of this fund; and accom- 
 panied by an " appeal-card/' having eight lines 
 marked for " annual subscriptions," four lines 
 for '' donations," and three lines for " offertory," 
 with the intimation at foot that I must return the 
 card before the 25th March, 1876, to the address 
 given. I praise the benevolent intentions of the 
 noble Marquis, although he bases his appeal on the 
 argument, — that as a sum of about, or near, 
 £30,000,000, has been raised during the last forty 
 years from various sources for Church-building, a 
 like proportionate sum should be contributed to 
 enable the ''council" of the societv "to raise the 
 income of all existing benefices to £200 a year" ! 
 meaning, no doubt, to raise the income of any livings 
 under £200 a year to that amount. ''All existing 
 benefices" don't require it! This appeal begins 
 with a very mild, gentle persuasive, that if every 
 parish in England and Wales secured the contribu- 
 tion of £1 a year, £12,000 a year would become 
 available for the purposes set forth. I am not one 
 to discourage charitable institutions in any persons 
 for real charitable purposes. Never a day passes 
 that I have not to listen to, and, if in my power, 
 answer, some appeal, — trifling it may be, but still a 
 help. But why should a begging appeal be circu- 
 lated on behalf of the clergy of a Church, while that 
 Church has within herself the means of her own 
 support ? I venture to say, if the income of every 
 parish in England and "Wales, i.e., arising from tithe- 
 rent charge, rent of lands, funded or other sources, 
 hond fide Church income, was thrown into a common 
 fund, with the several proceeds and funds of the
 
 ( 27 ) 
 
 Ecclesiastical Commissioners and that of Queen 
 Anne's Bounty, it would give, as I have shown, no 
 less an income than £400 a year, and graduating 
 higher according to population. We may infer from 
 the Marquis of Lome's appeal, that the incumbent 
 of a benefice of 10,000 population is to have his 
 income raised to £200, if now under that. This is 
 giving a man a stone who wants bread ! I do not 
 want to stifle this appeal, but it appears an anomaly 
 to be seeking by charitable means to do for a 
 Church what that Church can do for herself, — it 
 only waits a generation to make all clear. 
 
 In reference to the Clergy Orphan Corporation, 
 the Times of 7th March, 1878, says: "But what are 
 the facts of the case ? There are now 24,000 clergy 
 in the Church of England, and at least half of them 
 have not clear clerical incomes exceeding £200 a 
 year. The greater part of them have very little of 
 their own, and no means of adding to their incomes, 
 while they are generally stationed in the midst of 
 poverty. Their income is every year rather less, 
 their expenses every year rather more. Their 
 houses are expensive to keep in repair, and every 
 post brings some claim on that religious or chari- 
 table zeal of which they are expected to set an 
 example to their lagging and scattered flock. The 
 present amount of clerical distress is awful ; in ten 
 years it will be a great deal more awful, — downright 
 intolerable, — demanding serious andinstant remedy." 
 
 I shall now conclude v/ith a short extract from a 
 leading article in the Times of 16th April, 1860, on 
 Church Extension ; with a paragraph also of later 
 date, sHghtly altered. — " If the Church does not
 
 ( 28 ) 
 
 adapt her means to tlie end, and make it a ^ day of 
 small things,' Dissenters, and even Eoman Catholics, 
 will. In fact, this is what they are doing, and this 
 it is that enables them to make np for their immense 
 disadvantages in social rank and position." 
 
 '' What need I now add ? Is a grand Church, 
 archbishops, bishops, clergy, all to pass away, and 
 their illustrious shades to have no terrors for us. I 
 shall not be afraid to present myself before them ; 
 my book is in my hand. It contains the truth, on 
 them, on me, on our history — so far, at least, as it is 
 possible for the historian to collect it, to grasp it, to 
 fix its features, that they may be honestly handed 
 down to posterity and enlighten succeeding ages. 
 The greatness of the theme has inspired the writer. 
 It carries upon every page the impress of an honour- 
 able candour and of punctilious veracity as the 
 events appeared to the author. Fear nothing, we 
 are not come here to make a scene ! " 
 
 ■WYMAK AND SONS, PEINXEES, GREAT QUEEN STEEET, LONDON, "W.C.
 
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