Page:Tithes, a paper read at the Diocesan Conference at Rochester, May 31, 1883.djvu/8

 attractions, but I shall not enter into it; we are concerned with the practical working of tithe in the present day, and the grievances, or supposed grievances, under which the tithe-payer suffers. May I say thus much, that I trust the day is far distant when the principle which guided our forefathers in imposing tithe, viz., that of all which we possess, a certain proportion is due to the service of God, will cease to be recognized, or when for political reasons, or from reasons of so-called religious equality, the State will proceed to abolish specific religious endowments altogether. If the time should come when the Church of England (quod avertat Deus) should be disendowed, may we hope that at any rate the revenues it enjoys may be preserved for the purposes of religion, and not handed over to secular objects, frittered away in compensation to individuals, or scrambled for by landlords. Incomes many times larger than those now derived from tithes are wanted to deal successfully with the mass of irreligious ignorance, and vice which an ever-increasing population brings in its train. On the principle of endowment. Lord Hatherley, a strong Liberal, says in his autobiography, "I am convinced that the Church of England alone, from its organization, the wealth of its members, from its endowments, and from its parochial subdivisions, has the means of bringing home religious instruction to the people."

I wish at the outset to state that I speak as a tithe-payer to a considerable amount, and not as a tithe-owner. I trust, however, that this has not exercised undue influence on my judgment. I confess that the more I have gone into the question, the more I am struck with the completeness and care with which the Act of 1836 was drawn; it seems to have anticipated, and, as far as the altered circumstances of the present time can allow of it, to have provided for every objection which might arise; and though I venture to suggest certain particulars in which I think the present system in respect of tithes may be amended, I can hardly do so in fairness upon the ground of any great wrong or injustice to be redressed, but rather as a matter of expediency, in the interests of peace and goodwill, and with a view to meeting the objections which are raised in the present day. The Rev. S. T. Gibson, B.D., in a pamphlet on the tithe