



348 
vice. JF thall only bes in return, that 
fome of your readers wii! indulge me with 
an anfwer to the following queries :— 
What are thofe laws of the Congrecation 
ef the Index, that are mentioned by his 
Holinefs? What authority is attached to 
them among Catholics? What is the na- 
ture of the Conftitution of Benedi&@ 
AIVth? What is the meri< of Martint’s 
tranflation? Is it much read by the Laity 
in Italy? And lafily, how long has it 
been judged well among Catholics, that 
the faithful fhould be excited to the reading 
of the Holy Scriptures, and that thefe abund- 
ant fources ought to be left open to every one? 
Aug. 15, 1798. SALOPIENSIS. 
Sete 
Yo the Editor of the Moxthly Macazine. 
SIR, 
N a late publication on Tithes *..a 
fhort account is given of tithes in 
Scotland, from which it appears that the 
cultivators ef land in that country are- 
by no means fo grievouily opprefied by 
tithes as the farmers in England. 
In Scotland it is in the power of the 
heritor or owner of lands, to bring an 
action before «* The Lords for plantation 
of Kirks and valuation of Tithes,”’ and 
to call for a valuation of his tithes by 
commiffioners ; and when his tithes are 
valued, no increafed-value of them can 
be claimed afterwards. After this valu- 
ation he has the power by the law of 
Scotland, to buy his tithes at wine years 
purchafe, unlefs they be whag are called 
Bifiop’s tithes, which cannot be bought. - 
‘The reafon of the limitation of the price 
te mime years purchafe, is, the purehafers 
of tithes are liable to the payment of the 
prefent flipend of the minifer of the pa- 
rifh, and to an augmientation of the 
{tipend hereafter, if the Lords for planta- 
tion of Kirks, &c. who are the Judges of 
the Court of Sefficn, fhould think it right 
to grant fuch‘augmentation. Hence it is 
evident, that the owners of land jn Scot- 
land, are not under the neceility of paying 
to the tithe-owner a tenth part of the 
produce of all their future labours and ex- 
peaces. Before they begin to improve 
their lands, they may obtain a valuation 
of the tithes. of the prefent produce of 
them, and thus preciude any increafe 
of the demand of the tithe-owner. But 
no land-owners in England have any fuch 
privilege. 
In the prefent improved ftate of agri_ 
* ‘Tithes indefenfible. By T, Thompfen, 
F.S. A. Sold by Johafon. 
/ 
Purchafe of Tithes. 
[Nov. 
culture, the payment of tithes is a griev- 
ance which is felt every day; and no 
other ftiniulus to the purchafe of tithes is 
neceffary, than a power to buy them en 
reafonable terms. By the a& for the 
fale of the Land-tax, the purehafer is aj- 
lowed four years, from March 1799, in 
which to make his payments, But, I 
believe that the greateft part oi the tithes 
in England, would be bought and paid 
for in twelve months from the time at . 
which there fhould bea poffibility of buy- 
Ing them. 
The obje@ in view in felling the Land- 
tax is undoubtedly the relief of the nation 
from the preflure of the funded debt, and 
as there is at prefent no hope of peace, it 
-is certainly of the greatett confequence to 
the exiftence of the prefent government, 
and the fafety of the country, that the 
national debt fhould be decreafed, or that 
a great part of it fhould, by fome means, 
be taken out of the market. But it ap- 
pears impefiible to raife more readily a 
large fum of money for the purpofe of 
buying ftock, than by a fale ofthe tithes. 
By the Yale of the tithés, three great ad- 
vantages Would be obtained in a very 
fhort time. The clergy would receive 2 
great increafe of revenue, the improve- 
ment of agricultnre would be greatly 
promoted, and the prices of the public 
funds would be much advanced. 
The whele fyitem of tithes is-fo much 
abhorred by every man who pays tithes, 
‘or who is nat a tithe-owner, that no man 
would rett under the oppreffion of tithes for 
iter it was poffible for himto relieve 
himlelf from it. Interdum populus recle Vir, 
det, and this cafe is certain proof of it. 
By the act for the fale of the Land 
Tax, the owners of lands who 4re under 
certain dLabilities, are authorized to {ell 
part of their eftates to enable them te 
purchafe. the land tax. “Phe land tax, 
however, is not an incumbrance which in. 
its effects can be compared te that of tithes. 
A quarterly payment of the land tax, no 
more ailects the improvement of land than 
any other out-payment. But. the pay- 
ment of tithes is a millftone around the 
neck of every agricultural improvement, 
and it becomes every day more and more 
heavy and galline, There can be no 
doubt theretoreAhat the proprietors of 
land would much more readily fell part 
of their eftates to relieve themfélves from 
tithes than from the land tax. ' 
QU ASITOR. 
In the lat letter the word inequality fhoald 
have been printed ineguity, 
