We have endeavoured in preceding chapters to discuss with fairness and impartiality the circumstances which lead to the present debased condition of the Irish peasantry, who encumber, rather than cultivate, the ground. We have now to take notice of the grievances which are alleged to bear so hardly upon all occupiers of land, whether rich or poor: these are Tithes, and the County, Barony, and Parochial Rates.

The great, and indeed the only reasonable, objection to tithes, when considered merely as a demand upon the profits of the occupier of the soil, lies in the uncertainty of the amount of

that demand.

As to the vulgar objection, that it is a payment to those who do nothing for it, that it is a sum required for spiritual services from those who neither want, nor will receive, the spiritual services of those who so require it, we have only to say, that this is placing the demand upon grounds obviously erroneous to all but the very ignorant. There are not a few also, like the author of the Life of Captain Rock, who represent the tithe in this light, not through ignorance, which only deserves our pity, but through a something much worse, which deserves our indignation. The men who affect to see something so very monstrous in the payment of tithe to the clergyman because he does nothing for it, are quite calm upon the subject of the rent paid to the landlord, who certainly does just as little for it; yet the right to the demand is, in the eye of law and of reason, precisely the same in both cases. All property is the creature of law; and according to the law of the land, which is notorious to every man who tills the earth, the tenth of the produce is as clearly the property of the parson, as the whole of the rent is that of the landlord. But, from the uncertainty of the demand, and yet more, from the variable manner of exacting it, and the want of uniformity and exactness in its collection, the people in Ireland

are not in the habit of regarding it as a charge which they should provide for like rent, but consider it a severe tax, which they evade when they can, and seldom submit to except with a fierce impatience, which is zealously aggravated by the Roman Catholic clergy, and other political disturbers. This mistake regarding the ecclesiastical rent, for we must insist that the nature of the parson's right and the landlord's are just the same,-arises partly from the continuation of a bad and antiquated custom,-that of taking a proportion of the produce instead of a fixed amount of money; and partly from a vicious system of collection of this proportion which the law secures to the church. Upon this subject we quite agree with Mr Sadler, though we should differ from him in the remedy he proposes. He says, "The system of collecting tithes in kind is but the continuation of the metaric system, which once prevailed universally, and still remains in some parts of France, and generally in Italy. The landlords, in such case, had usually the half, the clergyman a tenth of the produce. It has been found far more convenient to both landlord and tenant to change this mode into the payment of a rent mutually agreed upon between the parties; but the share of the church has continued to be estimated, or taken upon the old principle, equally to the disadvantage and dissatisfaction of all concerned: it is in fact a relic of barbarism,-of a mode which was perhaps once necessary on all hands,

-when coin was rare, and bargains consequently continued to be made pretty much on the principle of bar

ter.

Even the revenues of the country, at least some of the most productive ones, continued till within these few centuries past to be paid in kind, particularly in wools. It is much to be regretted, that, as money payments became practicable, and were adopted in all other cases, so beneficial an alteration did not take place touching the revenues of the

church; one which would have been demonstrably for the benefit of all parties, and more especially for the clergyman, who, I am persuaded, notwithstanding the outcry against him, is the greatest sufferer."* Mr Sadler's remedy, at which he merely hints, is that of turning the value of the tithe into glebe; but it occurs to us, that there is a political disadvantage attendant upon the actual possession of land as ecclesiastical property; because, as it passes entirely away from the family of the holder at his death, he has not the same interest in its prospective improvement, as the lay landlord has, who looks to its occupation by his children.

To obviate the evils of the uncertainty and irregularity in the annual amount of tithe to be paid by the landholder, Mr Goulbourne's Composition Act was introduced, by which, for a specified period, not exceeding twentyone years, the tithe may be commuted for a fixed annual payment by the

acre.

This act has been carried into effect in a great number of instances; the tillage farmer being generally willing to throw the burden equally on all the lands of the parish, and thus include the grass lands, which did not pay any thing before,† and the clergy man being anxious to escape from those altercations about his pecuniary affairs, which must be unpleasant to any man, but particularly so to a clergyman. Still, however, we cannot help thinking this bill is justifiable rather on grounds of temporary expediency, than of general and permanent policy. Undoubtedly it is very useful and agreeable to make an arrangement, voluntary on both sides, by which the revenue of the clergyman may be received, without resorting to a mode of collection generally deemed objectionable. So far, and for the present, it is very well; but if we look forward to the period when the term of composition for twenty-one years shall draw to a close, we may see in the prospect considerable difficulty and danger to the ecclesiastical revenue. For, when

the composition is at an end, the clergyman must either submit to such new composition as shall be offered to him, or resort to the old law of tithe in kind; and it may well be questioned whether this latter alternative, which is his whole security, will not by that time have slipped from under his feet. It is easy to say that the law which has been so long suspended will then revive; but the practical question is, whether such a law, grown obsolete by desuetude, can be revived; and the answer of every practical man must be, that it cannot,-provided such revival be disagreeable to the great body of the people, by which expression we do not mean the rabble. Men will submit to what they do not like, when it is but the continuation of a rule long established; but let that rule lapse for twenty-one years, and its revival becomes an odious novelty, to which people in this country will not submit. The practical consequence, therefore, of the Tithe Composition Act, if carried generally into effect, will probably be, to take away altogether the power of enforcing tithe in kind, and to convert the claim of the church into a tax fixed by statute, the amount of which tax will depend upon the temper of some future House of Commons.

This probability is strengthened by a view of the present state of circumstances with regard to tithes. The strict letter of the law gives the clergyman a tenth of the produce; but in Ireland clergymen have not in general exacted nearly so large a proportion, and though the law be as strict as ever, they could not now exact it, if they would. We have seen it fre quently stated, that land in Ireland, which is tithe free, sets for more additional rent than the tenth of its produce could be calculated to produce; but throughout the whole of our experience, we have found directly the reverse of this to be the fact.

The Tithe Composition Act seems to be but a timorous and inadequate way of dealing with so important a matter as the tithe system. There are a few

fixed facts, and let them be dealt with as simply as possible. The clergy have a right by the law to a tenth of the produce of the land; but it is deemed impolitic, and we think justly so, that their revenue should be an invariable proportion of a very variable whole; and, moreover, that it should be a demand, increasing with the increased industry and expense of the cultivator. Now, our way of simply settling the matter would be this: Let the church-wardens of every parish be required, in every fifth year, to summon a jury of twelve men, who shall each be worth at least L. 100 a-year, and let the jury be required to return upon oath, a statement of the average annual value of the crops raised in the parish within the five years preceding. The Legislature having considered whether a tenth or a fifteenth or a twentieth, or some other proportion, is that which the clergy now generally claim in the exercise of their common-law right, and having fixed the proportion for the future, let that proportion be taken, of the valuation of the jury, and fixed as the annual sum leviable for the parson for the succeeding five years. The amount to be paid by each individual to make up this sum should be applotted according to the valuation of each man's holding; and if any man's holding be, by ancient prescription, tithe-free, (though we should wish to see these distinctions abolished,) let him plead the prescription instead of paying the sum applotted.

At present, some landed proprietors complain, that, by the operation of the Composition Bill, the charge which was before contingent on some revenue being derived from the ground, and only proportionate to that revenue, is converted into a regular land-tax, and a permanent lien on their acres; for, whether the land be fallow, or the tenant abscond, paying nothing, the land is still chargeable with the composition, and its arrear, and the claim must always be satisfied before that of the proprietor. By the plan we propose, if unproductive ground was charged in one five years, it would find the benefit in the next, when it would probably be productive, as the prospective levy would be regulated by the value of the preceding produce.

But the greatest hardship, as it appears to us, which attended the old law, was a practice adopted by some

clergymen of selling the tithes of their parish to the highest bidder, and then suffering the purchaser, often a person of the worst and lowest character, to extract the utmost he could wring from the parishioners. This should not be permitted, as, when the tithe is an uncertain amount, to be settled each year according to the value of the crop, it is obviously better that the farmer should have to deal with a gentleman and a clergyman, than with a person who has no feeling beyond that of putting every shilling he possibly can in his pocket. We would not make the clergyman a griping farmer of his tithe; we would have him relieve every distressed man in his parish to the utmost extent of his income; but the way to do this most effectually, as well as most consistently with his duty to himself and to his successor, is, first to enforce strictly, but not harshly, all his legal rights, and then to be as charitable with his own property as he may.

Mr

Next to tithes, the burdens which are most loudly complained of are the County and Barony rates, levied by authority of the Grand Juries of the several counties. The existing Grand Jury laws of Ireland certainly admit of improvement, and have been made the frequent subject of animadversion, both in and out of Parliament. Spring Rice, whose knowledge of the affairs of Ireland no one can dispute, however they may differ from his political views, put forth a pamphlet some years ago, which very forcibly pointed out the evils of the Grand Jury system; but as yet no sufficient remedy has been applied, and we must still assent to his proposition, that "the Irish people are injured in their moral character, in their efforts of industry, and in their pecuniary resources, by this system.”

The sum annually levied for making and repairing roads, and the various other purposes to which Grand Jury assessments are applied, exceeds, on an average, L.800,000; an immense sum to be taken from so poor a country as Ireland. Of this amount, little more than one-half is subject to the control of the Grand Jury; namely, the portion expended on roads, bridges, and county buildings. The sums for the payment of the police, the salaries of officers, and repayment of Govern ment advances, though levied by their

assessment, are not under their control; so that from a comparison of the number of acres of profitable land in the island, with the amount of the Grand Jury cess, it appears that the portion of the levy which is at the disposal of the Grand Jury, does not exceed sixpence an acre; and when it is considered how numerous and how excellent the roads of Ireland are, this sum does not appear very unreasonable. The unequal portion of the tax, however, and its variableness even in a given place, form very serious objections to the mode of its collection. The past surveys of Ireland, by which the county assessments are regulated, were formed on a peculiar system; an artificial value of land was assumed, and to this, as to a constant standard, the real value was referred. When the plough-lands were measured, the quality of the soil of each was also estimated, and in the survey the ploughland was rated, not at its actual contents, but according to the then estimated actual value. Thus, a plough land of five hundred acres, deemed worth ten shillings the acre annually, was returned of the same extent as another of a thousand acres worth five shillings an acre.

The whole amount of the Grand Jury assessment at each assize is not levied at the same acreable rent in each barony of a given county. The sum for barony cross-roads, and other local purposes, is charged upon each, according to the presentments fiated for itself; but the Grand Jury do not take into consideration any subdivision more minute than that of a barony, or half-barony as they are called, in places where the ancient barony has, for purposes of local convenience, been divided. The treasurer of the county next determines the several acreable rates, by dividing the whole sum to be levied from a barony by the number of acres at which it is rated in the survey, and then hands to the chief, or barony constable, the warrant for levying the charge. The constable proceeds to levy the sum from each plough-land; but as the relative value of different lands has, of course, prodigiously altered since the old survey valuations were formed, it not unfrequently happens that the acreable charges differ exceedingly, when the present value of the respect ive lands is nearly the same. The

expression of an Irish member of the House of Commons, when examined by the committee on the new survey of Ireland, was, that the present applotments were "ridiculously unequal." It was found, too, that great frauds were sometimes practised in the collection, by the constables levying cess from a greater number of acres in the respective denominations than was proportionable to the whole number specified in the treasurer's warrant. To prevent this, the usual Irish remedy of an oath has been resorted to, and the constable is obliged to swear that he has not levied the cess from a greater number of acres than that specified. But the dishonest, as usual, evade the oath, and find an easy salve for their conscience. They continue to levy the rate on acres where they have no right to it, and they omit some part of the barony where their right is undoubted, and they are sure of being paid the legal demand; they then make their return to the treasurer, take the oath, and, after they have finally settled with him, receive and pocket the proceeds of what they quaintly term "the spare acres."

These evils will, however, be obviated, when the new survey, now in progress, shall have been coinpleted.

If the provision of the Tithe Compo. sition Act, for transferring the burden more immediately to the landlord were generally acted upon, and a similar provision introduced with respect to the Grand Jury Cess, a very desirable improvement would be effected. It has been proposed that, in all future leases, the lessor shall be bound to accept cess and tithe receipts as part payment of the reserved rent. So far as the tenant is concerned, this will have an effect somewhat similar to that of changing, in government imposts, an assessed or direct tax into a duty on some necessary of life. It will not diminish the burden, but will, perhaps, render it more tolerable, when less plainly forced on the observation of the person taxed. At present the farmer cries out against the tithe and local taxes as falling wholly upon him. The landlord affirms that the charges are, to their amount, a diminution of his income; while bookish men declare that nei ther tenant nor landlord is the real sufferer, but the consumers of the

produce, who pay so much the more for it on account of the burdens borne by the land. It does seem desirable to simplify the matter as much as possible; to remove the seeming grievance of the occupier of the soil, by transferring the payment of the tax the tax to the landlord, in whose hands, so far as relates to presentments, the imposition of it lies, and to confer on the agriculturist the solid benefit of knowing accurately the precise amount of the outgoings in money, to which he binds himself when he takes a farm. At present, every presentment is applied for in the name of some individual, to whom the performance is granted, if the presentment be passed. The individual is usually the nominee of the particular Grand Juror who interests himself in procuring the pre

sentment.

It has been proposed that the Grand Juror should only decide upon the fitness or unfitness of the work; and that if approved, it shall then be open to public contract, and the lowest offer shall be accepted-that county, or at least district engineers, shall be appointed, who are to certify the due performance of every contract before the treasurer can issue the sum agreed upon-and that such engineer shall be held responsible for the state of the roads, &c., in his district.

If such a plan be feasible, its adop. tion is certainly to be desired. Every thing that would lead to remove the actual expenditure from the disposal of the gentry is desirable. It is notorious, that a spirit of jobbing, engendered by the peculiar circumstances under which Ireland was placed, did eat like a canker into the bowels of the land; and though we know it to have very exceedingly diminished of late years, in many counties it has not yet entirely disappeared. In the county of Mayo, as appeared by the evidence of Mr Macdonnell before the Commons' Committee in 1825, domain walls were sometimes built at the expense of the county, under the name of guard walls for roads. After reciting a most flagitious case of a bridge built at the public expense, and wholly for a private purpose, the witness was asked, "Do you not think, that if there was such a manifest job imposed upon the county as the building of a bridge for the purpose of being employed as an embankment for any

No

man, however rich and powerful in the county, there might be sorne public-spirited person to step forward, and to traverse such a presentment ?" The answer was, " I should rather imagine, that the individuals on the Grand Jury, who generally participate in something of the same kind themselves, would be the last persons to come forward." Now, the moral injury done by each individual case of jobbing with the money of the county, is incalculable. The peasantry, to a man, know accurately what transactions are of this class, and they see that a man who ranks as a gentleman is capable of lending himself to all the disgusting tissue of misrepresentation, fraud, and perjury, which are requisite to carry the scheme of spoliation into effect. The example has its full weight. The peasant never pretends to be better than the man with the good clothes; and, in every act of similar villainy, he congratulates himself that he is no worse than his neighbours. We are not sure that any improvement, short of a complete change of system, would be sufficient for the reform of Grand Jury abuses. matter how well disposed the jurors might be to do their duty fairly and conscientiously, it is impossible that, under the present mode, they can give a due examination to the presentments. Were they to sit for as many weeks as they do sit for days, it would not be more than enough to investigate properly the numerous presentment-bills which they have to pass. It is also very necessary that the public should have some opportunity of seeing and expressing their opinion upon those accounts and estimates, for which they have been, or are to be taxed. The system, as described to the Committee of the House of Commons by the Honourable Judge Day, strikes one at once as being unjust and monstrous. He says, "Roads and bridges-salaries to officers, and building of court-houses and of diocesan schools, and the police and insurrection establishments, and damages for burnings and other malicious injuries-these, and other immense burdens that are thrown upon the occupiers, and with which the Parliament are totally unacquainted, are imposed by the Grand Jury, enclosed within locked doors, uninterrupted by those who pay, and who hear nothing