1^6 Review of AlidcUefex Survey. Jan. 



therefore fent hi propofal in a letter ; which was, that a particular 

 part of the commons, containing 300 acres, (hould be allotted to 

 him in one piece, enclofed with a ditch, bank, and park-paling, and 

 maintained in good repair for ever, at the expence of the other per- 

 fons who had a right of common. As fuch an unrenfonabh requeft 

 could not be complied with, it of conrfe defeated the intended 

 application, and the land ftill continues in common. 



<« For about 794 years after Chrift, tithes had no eftablifhment 

 in this ifland ; and then, only over a fmall part of it, till about the 

 yenr 854, when they were extended to the reft of England. The 

 occafion of their being given, is a powerful reafon againft their 

 continuance. It was at a time, too, of great fuperftition and grofs 

 ignorance ; and tithes are continued to thefe days, by a barbarous 

 policy, which fets an infurmountable obftrudlion in the way of every 

 great improvement, and lays an Intolerable burden on the mofl 

 virtuous and valuable clafs in fociety, to which half the property in 

 thefe kingdoms contributes nothing. The operation of this tax is, 

 to keep down or reduce the produce of the earth to much lefs in 

 quantity than it would otherwife be, and of courfe to increafe the 

 pfice, and promote our dependence for bread on the importation 

 of corn from foreiga countries, vvhich could with eafe be raifed at 

 home. 



" Tithes create grievous heart-burnings on account of their 

 partial operation, and which is vifible in moft parts of this county, 

 by a very great number of the moft wealthy perfons living in ex- 

 penfive houfes, or carrying on the largeft manufaftories, and who 

 pay to the clergyman nothing, or, at the moft, only a few /hillings 

 a year, as a compofition in lieu of the tithe of a garden. But, 

 mark the reverfe : The fmaller farmers are a very numerous clafs 

 in fociety, fupporting their families by the utmoft exertion of their 

 jnduftry: many of them are unable to keep the wolf from the door, 

 although themfelves, their wives and children, would think it an 

 Indulgence, could they afford to fill their ftomachs with the coarfeft 

 fare. Yet will the tithe laws not fail to compel fuch miferable, 

 but valuable beings, to pay a fixth, a fifth, or even a fourth, of the 

 rental value of their land ; and, in fome cafes, more than the rent. 

 Thus, the poor farmer pays to the clergyman from lol. to upwards 

 of lool. a year, while his wealthy neighbour does not pay fo many 

 fhillings. 



" Every poflible argument In favour of tithes upon land, in 

 cxclufion of houfes and other property. Is infupportable. Why 

 tax the land to build churches ? Does the land go to them ? 

 Is it V>encfited by them ? There is not, nor can there be, any 

 connexion whatever between the land and the church. Religion, 

 in a word, is a mere perjonal concern ; and, of courfe, every 

 poffible expence relative to it, ought to be defrayed by a perform} 

 tax, vrithout reference to any particular fpecies of property. A 



greater 



