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pjej ' ^ e secott (^ pl ^ ce , the effect it has on agriculture ; and , in the third place , I will consider it in a political view , and point out a few of the
dangerous consequences which will certainly be sooner * or later the result of the tithe system , if the same is continued as at present . Whoever has lived in any of the small country towns or villages in England can scarcely miss
having observed the effect of the tithes , particularly on the lower orders of the people . In place of looking up to the minister or parson of the church with that respect and esteem which are due to the character of a priest or minister ,
and listening with attention to his instructions , they in general consider him as their greatest enemy . Passions the most inimical to the practice of a Christian are constantly kindled in the human heart ; nor is it possible to be otherwise , when those articles , which
are so essential to the poor , and often constitute a great part of their living , are forcibly taken from them . So very extensive , and sometimes undefined , are the laws relative to tithes , that I believe , wherever they have been contended , the church gains nine
causes in every ten ; so that there is not an article on which the parson cannot lay his hands : the poor man ' s potatoes , turnips , peas , cabbages , all must pay tithe . Of fow Is of every kind , viz .
hens , ducks , geese , &c . and . of pigs , the law demands one ill every ten ; but the general practice , as far as my observation has served me , is , the parson takes one of every kind , however small the number . I would now ask any calm ,
unprejudiced person , if it is possible , under such circumstances , for any good understanding to take place between the parson and his hearers . I well remember , when very young , being some time in a village , riot ten milesfroin the Tweed , where the antipathy of the
people against the minister of the church was carried to such a pitch , that it was often said , the first words that children were taught to utter was to curse the parson . I , however , can-1 J ° t help at the same time observing , f hat even the minister himself is placed
* toost uncomfortable circumstances ; ** t f he i& a pious , humane man , he is «* e to lose more than the half of what l | te lfcw S 8 LyS is his right . If he is an a ^ eretnan , or if the necessities of his 2 ** feittily urge lito on to gf eater acts w ** erity thaw h ^ Would otlrtroisle
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pursue ; in that case he is an object of suspicion , hatred and ill-will . Thfc fatal consequences of such things require very little illustration : the moral * of the people are corrupted , no early impressions of piety are fixed on their
minds , religion becomes a mere mockery , and the church is only spoken of with contempt and ridicule . —I will now consider the effect which tithes have on agriculture ; and here a more extensive field presents itself to the contemplation of every inquisitive or
j mpartial observer . In the former ages of darkness and superstition , when the parson of every church was supposed to hold the keys of heaven and hell , when indulgences could be bought with raon-ey , and the prayers of the priest were believed to shorten and mitigate even
the sufferings of the wicked in a future state , and a bequest to the church Was accounted a sure passport to heaven : —when the people were under thepfc impressions , it is no surprise that they cheerfully submitted to every demand , and made a willing sacrifice of not only
the tenth of all they possessed , but in many instances of nearly the whole of their property ; but in this age of general information , when every than is taught to think and judge for himself to continue the same system appear * to me extremely unaccountable , and I have long considered it as ~ a most
dangerous infatuation ; for it is now no longer a matter of choice or a voluntary sacrifice , but it is become a mat ^ ter of severe coercion , and can only be enforced by the execution of laws made in the ages of ignorance and barbarism . I believe there is scarcely an individual in the kingdom , however much he mav be attached to the
church , but '' who feels a disagreeable if not an indignant sensation when he sees the tithe-gatherer collecting * hi $ tenths from the whole produce of his lauds . But if this is the general feeling under such circumstances , what must be the sensations produced on the laborious cultivator of waste lands
who transforms a barren wilderness into fruitful fields and luxuriant meadows ? With what severe resrret and high indignation must he survey the * , collector of tithes carrying- off the tenth of all hfs toil and tillage , whilst he has not contributed one fraction to
any of his improvements ? Is there a man in the country but who deplof «» this as a great evil , and a most fceV $ r *
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Mr . Gn&am dn 1 to bad Effects of the present System of Tithei . 561
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1815, page 561, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1764/page/29/
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