1823. 



On the Ecehsmtical Establishment, 



325 



^Idulafion or vitiated taste that would 

 assign to him an immeasurable supe- 

 riority to our great ethic bard. We 

 must refrain, though reluctantly, from 

 transcribing the passage ; as we cannot 

 aflord to indulge in any more quota- 

 tions. 



From a poet possessing sUcli capa- 

 bilities, and so highly gifted, as Lord 

 Byron, we would fain hope that we 

 may yet experience a delight unalloy- 

 ed by the occasional effects of visible 

 carelessness ; and the more so, as no- 

 thing could be more easy, with a very 

 slight effort on his part, than to free 

 himself from the reproach to which 

 ^♦e have alluded, and to remove alto- 

 gether from his writings — 



"The spot or two. 



Which so much beauty would do well to lose." 



To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 

 SIR, 



THE first article of the last Number 

 of your Magazine, headed "Ec- 

 clesiastical Statistics," is very interest- 

 ing, although, I fear, very erroneous in 

 some essential points. 1 was more par- 

 ticularly struck with the statement 

 which shows, that the 11,593 livings 

 iti England atid Wales are held by 

 only 6,719 incumbents ; and of one per- 

 son liolding as many as thirty-four 

 livings, another twenty-five, another 

 twenty, two fifteen each, three thirteen 

 each, and so on from that number gra- 

 dually, down to iinity ; the number of 

 pluralisfs increasing as the number of 

 livings which they hold decrease ; 

 there being 1,816 with two each, and 

 3,788 with one each. Having the 

 Ecclesiastical Directory by me, I was 

 led, from the statement in question, to 

 refer to it, and to examine it more 

 promptly and attentively than I other- 

 wise should have done ; and, from the 

 attention which 1 have bestowed on 

 tiie subject, I infer tiiat the writer of 

 the article in your Magazine has suf- 

 fered himself to be misled by too hasty 

 A view of it : it must, however, be ad- 

 mitti'd, that the Ecclesiastical Direc- 

 tory itself, in the arrangement of its 

 index to the names of the incumbents, 

 is objectionable, as I think you your- 

 self will inter from the illustration 

 which I shall offer. 



The one man, whom your correspon- 

 dent states as seeming to have thirty- 

 four livings, is the Kev. John Jones, 

 Against which natric in the index there 

 arc certainly thirty-four rectories, vi- 

 «aragcs, curucici, atul perpetual cura- 



cies ; but it will be seen that four of 

 them are held cum (with) others : so 

 that, in fact, there arc but thirty 

 livings ; and then it strikes me very 

 forcibly, that it is not the same John 

 Jones who holds the whole of them. 

 Here follows, however, a list, alpha- 

 betically arranged, of the livings, with 

 the population in each respective pa- 

 rish, the county in which situate, the 

 date (year) of institution, and the pa- 

 trons by whom presented. Should it 

 prove to be the self-same person that 

 holds the whole, it will be particularly 

 interesting to get a clue to the cause 

 which has led to such unprecedented 

 favour ; and, from the wide-spread 

 circulation of your Magazine, I enter- 

 tain a hope that some of your intelli- 

 gent readers will be able to solve the 

 query, whether it be the same John 

 Jones, or not, who holds the whole of 

 the said livings. My reasons for 

 doubting it arise from the general 

 principle on which I notice the index 

 to be formed, as well as from the cir- 

 cumstance, that in the body of tho 

 work, (Ecclesiastical Directory,) that is, 

 in the alphabetical list of the parishes, 

 against that of Kidlington, Oxon, and 

 LlanWnong, Montgomery, the incum- 

 bent is represented to be John Jones, 

 D.D. ; and against the parish of St. 

 Mary Mounthaw, cum St. Mary So- 

 merset, London, the incumbent is 

 stated to be Archibald Jones, D.n. al- 

 though the whole of these are included 

 in the index of names against the name 

 of the Rev. John Jones. Should it 

 prove that, instead of these thirty 

 livings being held by one John Jones, 

 they are divided amongst thirty John 

 Jones's, — which is quite a probable 

 case, — it will throw a doubt over the 

 whole statement as regards the plu- 

 ralists. It is a question, however, 

 which I hope this communication will 

 be the means of setting right ; but, at 

 all events, your correspondent is cer- 

 tainly in error in stating, that there are 

 11,593 livings, held by only 6,719 in- 

 cumbents ; inasmuch as there are a 

 very considerable number held cum, 

 that is with, another; being certainly 

 but one living, as they are only one pre- 

 sentation. As, lor examide, tho Kev. 

 Thomas G. Acland holds St. Michael 

 Mildred, R. cum St. Margaret Mosos, 

 R. London; and is included, with all 

 others under like circumstances, as a 

 pluralist: which I think cannot be 

 admitted. In like njHinier, the Rov. 

 Maurice Lcwjj is reckoned as holding 



