124 
beral and enlightened classes of the 
community, for its strenuous and un- 
deviating support of the best princi- 
ples of constitutional freedom and 
reform, as well as for its philosophical 
and literary attractions, 1 shall offer 
no apology for the following notice of 
a very curious and important state- 
ment of the comparative merits of the 
different religious establishments of 
other countries and of our own ; witha 
view to lessen the enormous expendi- 
ture of the latter. Among the numer- 
ous productions to which the financial 
difficulties of the country have given 
rise, none has appeared that in so few 
pages has given us so clear a view of 
the practicability of its plans, and the 
soundness of its arguments. Its very 
title, though somewhat extended, is a 
proof of this, by going at once into the 
subject, and advancing facts, and very 
stubborn facts, which must at once 
strike every one, and more particu- 
Jarly the clergy. Nothing in its argu- 
ments appears to be. sought for, and 
nothing taken for granted. It is 
founded throughout on facts, illus- 
trated and exhibited at a glance by 
comparative. numerical tables, and 
scales of the various gradations of cle- 
rical rank and its emoluments, in most 
of the civilized nations of the globe. 
By the aid of tables, showing the 
principles on which. they are calcu- 
lated, and ample references made to 
the various sources of information, the 
author has very clearly and satisfac- 
torily made out what he proposes to 
himself in the title-page. Of these 
tables your limits will merely allow me 
to give the results, with the author’s 
observations and inferences, assuring 
your readers of the general correctness 
of the data, and the accurate sources 
from which they are derived. From 
such ealculations we learn, that the 
consumption of public wealth by the 
established church of England and 
Ireland, is not only greater than that 
of any other national church, but its 
clereymen are said to receive in the 
year more money than all the clergy- 
men of all the rest of all the Christian 
world put together. Should any thing 
near this be found to be the case, a 
considerable part of its wealth may be 
very properly applied to relieve the 
national burdens; the more so, as, of 
the twenty-one millions of people com- 
posing the population of our islands, 
less than one-third, or seven millions 
of people only, are hearers of the 
3 
Present Endowments and State 
[Sept. 1, 
established church; the remainder, 
upwards of fourteen millions, being 
attached to other Christian persuasions. 
This, it is considered, gives other na- 
tions such decided advantages over us, 
that the very difference between what 
is expended on the clergy, by them and 
by ourselves, would be enough to pay 
the annual expenses of a war between 
us. In this statement, however, as 
well as in all those that follow, it is 
but fair to notice, in mitigation of our 
church expenditure, that the author 
fails to consider the. comparative va- 
lues of the circulating medium in this 
and other countries, which, on a scale 
of prices, would be found considerably 
to lessen the value of the stated gross 
amount of our church revenue, in com- 
parison with that of the other nations 
of the world ; or simply, that money is 
of less value with us, and will not pro- 
cure the same advantages here asa 
given amount of the same among the 
continental nations. In what propor- 
tion this may exist, and so far affect 
the accuracy of the author’s compara- 
tive statements, I cannot here pretend 
to ascertain, though I may safely 
assert, that it would reduce the nomi- 
nal amount of our ecclesiastical 
wealth, as stated by the author, in 
comparison with that of the whole of 
the rest of the world, in no less a pro- 
portion than one-fifth part. 
This will, doubtless, still leave us 
an exorbitant and overwhelming reve- 
nue, compared with that of other reli- 
gious establishments; and, unlike any 
other nation, to be provided by the 
whole of the subjects of Great Britain, 
for the benefit only of one-third; so 
that even such alteration of the au- 
thor’s statements would not greatly 
affect the accuracy of his reasonings, 
or the excellence and utility of the 
objeets he has in view. 
Far from any violent, innovatory 
or revolutionary tendency, the plan 
here proposed is entirely on the prin- 
ciple of commutation, and a fair equi- 
valent for benefices, with the mode of 
substituting such provision in lieu of 
the present one, in the event of the 
riches of the church being applied te 
the relief of the nation. 
As this appears to be the chief ob- 
ject and result of the author’s enqui- 
ries on the subject, we must, however 
unwillingly, pass over the various pro- 
cesses by which he secks to establish 
his arguments,—consisting of separate 
tables. of the church expenditure of 
different 
