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    union of th e intelligent ati d iodepen 5 - dent part of the community for effecting > by constitutional means , the longneeded Church reform . Should not this end be attained to the full extent that may be desired , certain abuses maybe abolished or mitigated ; "which would be equally beneficial to Church and State .

    The London clergy have fixed a longing eye upon the original statute of Hen . VLIL , relating to them , which was superseded by the Fire Act . But their parishioners remind them that

    that statute was enacted in Popish times and in the spirit of Popery . Thus the parish of All-Hallows the Great have published the two follow * ins : resolutions :

    " Resolved unanimously , That the constructions and designs of the said Act , framed under Roman Catholic authority , and in the time of Bishop Bonner , have given rise to the most vexatious and destructive litigation , and have produced illwill and discoid between the clergy and their parishioners .

    " Resolved unanimously . That the statements and doctrine urged by the Rev . John Moore , in his printed case respecting such dormant rig-lit , as if emanating from and sanctioned by the . general body of the clergy , are such as Protestant ministers , in the present day , ought not to avow and acknowledge "

    That of St . Andrew by the Wardrobe , the following : " Resolved , That we sincerely regret that any minister of the Church of England should even hint at the revival of an

    obsolete statute ^ enacted in the dark ages of superstition and fanaticism ^ when the purses ' aiid the consciences of the community m 'ere equally under the dominion and eohtroul of the clergy of the Church of Rtime "

    And , to the same effect , but in still stronger terms , ia one of the resolutions of the parish of St . Gregory by St . JPaul : " Resolved unanimously , That even in

    the worst of monkish superstitions , when the clerg-y of this country were under the declared dominion of the Churchjof Rome , and throughout eight successive reigns , from the 13 tli of Richard the Second down

    to the 37 tt * of Henry the Eighth , the addition to the stipends of the parochial ministers , which the last-cited statute went to fix , was vigorously resisted , and unceasing ^ contested ; and this Vestry indidg ^ ji a wnfident hope that such a imtmwi fcWtettt *» f organized exaction ,

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    originating ^ as * it did , with a bigoted prelacy , the supporters and champions of Popery , and now" promulgated with the hope of . extorting -from the parishioners payments still more unwarrantable and burdensome , will at this day be -firmly and resolutely opposed . " . ,

    Many of the parishes have explained in their resolutions the original appropriation of Church Revenues , according to which only one third part belonged to tire clergy . The reverend body would not * we dare say , be

    willing ; to revert to the old law and custom , and , taking tithes , oblations , &c , in fuH , to bear the charges of the poor , and of the erection and repairs of Churches . On this . subject , the parish of St . Andrew Hubbard , thus express themselves :

    u Resolved unanimously , That the Fire-Act Clergy , having in the year 1804 obtained a considerable augmentation of their livings , in consequence of the decreased value of money , and the enhanced price of the necessaries of life , now claim , as a matter of right , a still further incre ^ se ^ seeking in effect a revival of the statute

    37 th Hen . VIII ., ( which till within these few years was considered obsolete , ) a measure whicli cannot he sufficiently condemn ed , and which we regard with the most serious alarm , especially when we recollect that such payments were originally in lien of oblations- and applicable

    ( according to the best authorities , viz . Blacks tone , Burn and others ) for the various purposes of maintaining the poor ( no poor laws being then enacted , ) repair ing- the Churches , as well as for the support of the superior as also the inferior clergy . "

    The parish of All-Halfotvs , in Lombard Street : " Resolved , That they recollect also , what is truly stated in the Resolutions of the London Clergy , ( vide Times , 1 st iftst ., ) that * By very aneieot custom the London , clergy , over and above personal tithes ,

    were entitled to receive , on Sundays und holydays , from the occupiers of the houses in their respective parishes , certain oblations in proportion to the rents , which at one time were s&ttled , by arbitration and consent , at 3 s . 5 d . in the pound , and were , after subsequent dispute and litigation ,

    finally established by 37 th Henry VIII . at 2 s . 9 d . in the pound . But the London clergy have omitted to tell theiV parishioners , that the excessive rate of 3 s . 5 d . in the peund , afterwards , by litigation , reduced to 2 s . 93 ., had for its appropriation , hot only tlie subsistence of the clergy , but also tfie expenses of the Churchy and

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    u Fire-Act London CUr ^ y . " iQj

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1819, page 167, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1770/page/31/