448 Afifiver io Ohfervaficns on Tithes y No. 13. /;. 61-76. Nov. 



As far as the clergy are implicated In liis charge, this reafoning 

 will not apply. He feems to ailcrt, not in a direct, but in an im- 

 plied manner, that fome of the greater, and moil of the fmaller 

 tithes belong to them ; and thefe cannot be commuted or pur- 

 chafed without an acl of the Lcgiflature. In a fimilar manner, 

 he feems to aiTert, that a decifion, finding turnips titheable, ex- 

 cept when eaten on the ground by Ihecp paying titlie, has been 

 infiiled upon, * on many occafions, ' with a rigour very injurious 

 to the cultivators. With regard to lambs of an improved breed, 

 he does not even fedm to allert that they ever luere demanded ; he 

 only infmuates that they way be demanded in tithe. Let us, how- 

 ever, admit the charge in its full extent againit the clergy. Let 

 lis admit, that, by their perverfencfs, corn is injured, cattle are 

 deprived of pallure, fields are kept back from being tilled and 

 fown ; and that, through their greed, turnips and improved lambs 

 are rigin'ly tithed, the t]uefl:ion Ilill recurs — is the practice univer- 

 fal ? If it be, do not farmers calculate upon it when taking tlieir 

 farms, and ofFcr lefs rent ? And is not this circumilance of itfelf 

 fufhcient to route proprietors to fuch cffedfual meafures, as fhall 

 infure a legal commutation ? For, in every cafe, the univerfality 

 and preilure of an evil is both the (Ironged incitement, and the 

 fureit prelude to a fpeedy remedy. If, on the contrary, the prac- 

 tice be not univerfal, but confined to a few folitary inflances, it 

 3s material to inquire, whether thefe be occafioned by the avarice 

 or ill-nature of the clergy ; or by the artifices and fraudulent at- 

 tempts of farmers to elude a fair and full payment ; or, perhaps, 

 partly by both thefe caufes ? This inquiry may be equally nccef- 

 iary with refpe6l to opprefiive exactions of tithes by laymen. 

 Part of the blame will often be found imputable to farmers. — 

 None of thefe confidcrations are taken into account by the letter- 

 writer. He never fuppofes, that farmers draw down fuch rigor- 

 ous treatment on themfelves, or pofiefs their farms fo much 

 cheaper for being fubjeci: to it. He never fuppoies, that tithe 

 owners would willingly accept fomething lefs than the fair value 

 of their tithes, to be freed from the trouble and odium of receiv- 

 5ng them in kind. He gives no hint that difienters are the chief 

 fufierers by the vexatious demands of the clergy, or, in the lan- 

 guage of the clergy, are the moll clamorous and troublefome to 

 deal with in the matter of tithes. Yet it is well known, and not 

 foreign to the point, that the generality of them, with all their 

 refpeclability and worth, are unfriendly to religious ellabliihments 

 of any kind : they cannot be fond of paying tithes to fupport 

 wliat they diflike : thev arc not, on that account, much in favour 

 with the clergy : lefs indulgence is fliown to them than to church- 

 inen ; and they are not likely to conceal or extenuate their wrongs. 

 ^:ctting afide their complaints^ not as groundlefs, but as the ne- 



ceifary 



