•;2 Ohfervai'tons on Tythes. [FEE. 



never gonj farther tlian pointing out the proprlfty of valuing 

 them, though no doubt different ideas have prevailed conccriv- 

 iiig the bafe of the vahiation. Their wifh was to prevent tythes 

 from operating as an obftacle to the improvement of the country. 

 Your correfpondent, in my opinion, totally mifunderftands the 

 fubject; for the intereft of both parties maybe benefited by a 

 commutation, as liared in the firi> part of this letter. The real 

 obje^fl: is, to prevent tythes from operating as a tax upor^ induftry ; 

 and it is in this view chat the public are interefled. I aifure him 

 it is exactly the fame to pra<5tical agriculturifts whether the impro- 

 priator has a third or a fifth iliare of the concern. If the rate 

 does not rife proportionally to the exertions of the occupier, the 

 nature of the partnerihip will give them no trouble. 



Your correfpondcnt would infer, that tythes are not yet fett 

 to be an evil of magnitude, becauie, as he fays, proprietors have 

 never been cordial and unanimoi^s in taking fteps to procure a 

 commutation. Without laying any ftrefs upon the old adage, 

 * that what belongs to every body belongs to no body,' or bat- 

 ing that tythes, being hi all cafes paid by the tenant, renders the 

 proprietor more negligent than coniiftent v/ith his intereft, i 

 may notice the application from Devonlbire eight or nine years 

 ago, and the Aill more recent relolutions of the Grand Juries m 

 different counties. It may alfo be mestioned, that> by a ftrange 

 perverfion of terms, to notice this bufinefs has of late been con- 

 iidered as a doubtfal 5gn of principles : and perhaps this very 

 circumftance has contributed to prevent the queiVioa of commu- 

 tation from being regularly brought forward, feeing that a collec- 

 tion in kind has been reprobated by feven-eights of the gentle- 

 men employed by the Coard of Agriculture in the great work of 

 furveying the kingdom. 



I might have noticed the extent of tytheable land, as an inftance 

 hew little the fubject was comprehended by Mr T. S. He is not 

 content with lefs than an eight Ifiare of the kingdom for the 

 holders ; which, if true, would have corroborated fome of my 

 arguments againft the inexpediency of the tax. A confiderable 

 part of laud is tythe free: in many places, a trifling modus is only 

 paid ; and in others, from the prevalence of pafturc land, little 

 or no tythe is exackd. I fpeak with certainty upon thefe points, 

 becaufe I have examined into them upon the ipot. The value 

 of Englifh tythes, m ordinary years, may amount to about three 

 millions (terling, or nearly one iixteeuth of what is underftood 

 to be the rental of the country. 



But does the gentleman know what is exacted under the name 

 of tythe, — or how the articles are divided ? If he docs not, the 

 following extract of a letter, from a friend in England well ac- 

 <}uainted with the bulincfs, will communicate fome information 



to 



