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Untitled Article
700 , 000 / . : The two sums together made about 2 , 200 , 000 / . or 2 , 300 , 000 / ., which W&s the annual revenue in the hands of the Protestant Church Establishment of Ireland . Now he would ask the House , whether it was consistent , that individuals who had so little to do should be
allowed to enjoy so large a share of the public property ? Were those three millions divided among the labourers in the vineyard ? Were they made a fund of remuneration for the pious and assiduous teachers of moral and religious instruction ? No such thing ; and he believed he would be able 'to bring this ] matter
home to the feeling of gentlemen , by laying on the table , whenever the House allowed him , a return of the names and numbers of the curates in Ireland , with the amount of years they served , and the portion of salary allotted to them . He could shew that it was a rare occurrence , Indeed , that curates were promoted . It
was certain that the apportionment of this money was most unequally made , but there was a difficulty in ascertaining the real value . For instance , the Primate , who was Archbishop of Armagh , was stated to derive between 15 and 20 , 000 / . a-year from his see ; but there was besides a great deal of land leased out to
individuals , and thus many persons were largely enjoying the property of the church . It was very much the practice with the bishops to re-let land , on the small and antiquated rent , to their immediate connexions and friends . Some , indeed , he was aware ,, by running their lives against the holders , had got possession of vast
tracts of land . As to the practice of the bishops in providing for their connexions and friends , at the expense of the church , he did not blame them , for that they had the right , it appeared , to do . It was the system that was to be blamed ; no man
should be placed in a situation so tempt , ing , and a system that did so , was the worst plan of legislation that could be . But it vras / oot to be expected that bishops would neglect the opportunity while they had the power . But * beyond this , there was another and a most serious mischief
which ought to be corrected Such was the effect of licenses and certain Acts of Parliament , together with the very indulgent feeling shewn towardju the clergy on All occasions by the government , that a oajfijiderable portion of them had alienated themselves from their benefices , and left
€ h 6 - duty to be / performed by resident curates at a mere pittance * while they who enjoyed the vast salaries were to be found every where but where duty was to be done . It might vbe satisfactory to thfr Wouse to lmow the October of realdeif t £ ,: compared with&be whole number .
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The Honourable Member then read a Parliamentary Return of 1819 , from wbkh it appeared that the total number of incumbents in 1817 was 1309 ; and iu ? 1819 they were 1289 ; of those there were resident 758 ** and non-resident as
follows : —By exemption , 81 ; by dispensation , 243 ; without statement of cause , 15 /; for various reasons , 50 ; making altogether 531 , non-residents out of 1289 ^ In Dublin there were thirty dignitaries and prebends besides the above without places of residence . The Ministers of
the Crown were in the habit of talking much about their anxiety to support religion ; he gave them credit for their . expressions as sincere ; but if they were so , how could they reconcile their professions with their practice , when they took no step to remove such an abuse as that he
had pointed out ? He would point out an example , of the effect of a pious and resident clergy in the moral condition of Scotland . He would ask gentlemen to look to the moral state of that country 100 years ago . They would find that the present condition of Ireland was not worse than that of Scotland had been before
the establishment of schools and a resident clergy . With this , painful and afflict * ing example of Ireland so long before their eyes , it was really unpardonable in ministers to allow such an abuse to continue to exist . No country , indeed , of Europe was
in a condition so truly barbarous , unless , perhaps , Poland , and he doubted if evejt Poland made an exception . That country was thus debased and degraded by the neglect of Government ; the state of the country was greatly attributable to the condition of the Church Establishment .
He now called upon the . House to take such steps as would compel the residence of the clergy , and , in the next place , they should make an arrangement ,. that instead of clergymen having 1000 / . or 2000 f . or 3000 / . a year , and . living wherever they pleased , while others had but a
miserable pittance that scarcely supported existence ; where the real duties were performed , -there should be none whose income was below 150 / . a year , as in the Church of Scotland , and that none should have abbve 500 / . or 600 / . a year . The Church in- Ireland Was to be considered » lottery in which beiSefices and bishoprics
were prizes , and some families werefprtunate enough to draw a great number of such prizes . He understood that the Bishop of Clogher , he did not mean ibe late Bishop of Clogher , had gone * # Ireland without a shilling , and in & £ course of . his . apostolic mission ^ J * a < 4 < amassed about 300 , 000 / . or 400 , 000 / . The amount was very large , but It was no lc «» notorious It might notbe auperftttoua i » v . -
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I 186 IntelUgence . - ~ Iruh Church Establishment .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1823, page 186, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1782/page/58/
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