iSo3. Anfwcr to OhfavaUons on Tithes^ No. 13. p.6i-']b. 44I 



feeble impreiruti whicli tlicy make upon the public mhul, and the 

 general torpor that prevails with regard to the commutation of 

 tithes. Let him not Ihelter himfelf under the old adage, that 

 * what belongs to every body, belongs to nobody ;' or plead that 

 tenants only I'uffer, as an apology for landlords being negligent ; or 

 lay llrefs on mere relolutions of Grand Juries, whicii ended in 

 doing nothing. Did tenants, in general, fufFcr to one half the 

 extent that he and his friend deferibf, their iuflerings would force 

 themfclves on the notice of proprietors and the public, and impc- 

 rioufly and fuccefsfully call for rcdrefs. 



Tliis fame letter mufl not be difmillcu, without further animad- 

 verfion. I cannot help regretting, that the writer has not fpeci- 

 fied fome particular facls, from which we might have known, 

 with certainty, how far he or his neighbours have really been ag- 

 . grieved by the vexatious conduci of tithe-holders, and what pro- 

 portion of their grievances has arifen from tlie laity and from the 

 clergy : for information on thefe points feems abfolutely necef- 

 fary, to afcertam whether there be occafion for legal interpofition, 

 or whether relief can be obtained without it. If oppreflive exac- 

 tions be few and partial (as I apprehend for the reafons already 

 alhgned), individual fulTerers fhould be left to make the bell com- 

 pofition they can. If fuch exactions be general, to whom are they 

 to be imputed ? Not furely to lay-impropriators : for landlords 

 have it in their power to remove them, by purchafmg their tithes. 

 If landlords will not employ this power, upon being fuitubly re- 

 imburfed, thty are to blame. If tenants refufe fuch an additional 

 rent, as will amount to a fultable reimbuvfement, tley are to 

 blame. Yet he tells us, * the great tithes are generally in the 

 hands of laymen ^ ' and he enumerates ' corn' among the great 

 tithes. Do laymen, then, prevent farmers from * harvelling their 

 corn, and depaituring their iiclds in proper time ? ' And do land- 

 lords tamely fubmit to a,burden, from which they can be relieved 

 on paying a fair compenfation ? Or are tenants backward in urg- 

 ing their landlords to give the compenfation, and in offering fome- 

 tlvng more than an annual equivalent for the value of it ? V/ill 

 your corrcfpondetit, or his Englilli friend, who are fo well ac- 

 qtiaintcd witli the fubjecf, be fo kind as to fay where the blame 

 lies ^ There may be inilances, vvdiere family pride, perfonal 

 pique, or political difrcrences, prevent lay-impropriators from dif- 

 poiing of tithes. But, in general, thefe conliderations are eafily 

 overbalinced by felf-intereit. To that powerful principle, the 

 opprelled will very feldom apply in vain. Where they do not ap- 

 ply, I dare fay it mull be allowed, that there can be no harm in 

 tithe-holders ufmg a right, hov/ever unfriendly to agriculture, 

 which the very perfons, moil intereitcd in the profperity of agri- 

 culture, ueglecl, or degliiie topurchafe. 



QL^ q 4 As 



