MISCELLANEA.

from a view of the fearful consequences of the want of some such sober safeguard as is afforded by the episcopal church; and his reasons are set forth in this little volume. It is to them that the appeal must be made; and they are warmly recommended to the perusal of all who wish to know the state of America. He argues also very forcibly in favour of the apostolical succession. The following quotation relates to the religious excitement of America. It may, perhaps, hereafter be followed by other extracts:—

It is these excessive, multitudinous, and often long protracted religious occasions, together with the spirit that is in them, which have been for some years breaking up and breaking down the clergy of this land. It has been breaking them up. It is commonly observed, that a new era has lately come over the Christian congregations of our country in regard to the permanence of the pastoral relation. Time was, in the memory of those now living, when the settlement of a minister was considered of course a settlement for life. But now, as everybody knows, this state of things is entirely broken up; and it is perhaps true, that, on an average, the clergy of this country do not remain more than five years in the same place. And it is impossible they should, in the present state of things. They could not stand it. So numerous are their engagements; so full of anxiety is their condition in a fevered state of the public mind, acting upon them from all directions; so consuming are their labours, in the study and in public, pressed and urged upon them by the demands of the times; and withal so fickle has the popular mind become under a system that is for ever demanding some new and still more exciting measure some new society-some new monthly or weekly meeting, which perhaps soon grows into a religious holyday-some special effort running through many days, sometimes lasting for weeks, calling for public labours of ministers, of the most exciting kind, throughout each day, from the earliest hour of the morning to a late hour of night;-for reasons and facts of this kind so abundant, and now so obvious to the public that they need only to be referred to to be seen and appreciated, it is impossible that ministers should remain long in the same place. Their mental and physical energies become exhausted, and they are compelled to change, first, because it is not in the power of man to satisfy the appetite for novelties, which is continually and from all quarters making its insatiate demands upon them; and next, that, if possible, they may purchase a breathing time, and a transient relief from the overwhelming pressure of their cares and labours.

But alas! there is no relief: they are not only broken up, but they find themselves fast breaking down. Wherever they go, there is the same demand for the same scene to be acted over. There is-there can be no stability in the pastoral relation in such a state of the public mind; and what is still more melancholy and affecting, the pastors themselves cannot endure it—they cannot live. They are not only constantly fluctuating-literally afloat on the wide surface of the community-but their health is undermined—their spirits are sinking-and they are fast treading upon each other's heels to the grave, their only land of rest.

Never since the days of the apostles was a country blessed with so enlightened, pious, orthodox, faithful, willing clergy, as the United States of America at this moment; and never did a ministry, so worthy of trust, have so little independence to act according to their conscience and best discretion. They are literally the victims of a spiritual tyranny, that has started up and burst upon the world in a new form-at least with an extent of sway that has never been known. It is an influence which comes up from the lowest conditions of life, which is vested in the most ignorant minds-and therefore the more unbending and uncontrollable. It is an influence which has been

fostered and blown into a wide spread-flame by a class of itinerating ministers, who have suddenly started up and overrun the land, decrying and denouncing all that have not yielded at once to their sway-by direct and open efforts shaking and destroying public confidence in the settled and more permanent ministry-leaving old paths and striking out new ones-demolishing old systems and substituting others--and disturbing and deranging the whole order of society, as it had existed before. And it is to this new state of things, so harassing, so destructive to health and life, that the regular ministry of this country-the best qualified, most pious, most faithful, and in all respects the most worthy Christian ministry, that the church has ever enjoyed in any age-are made the victims. They cannot resist it-they are overwhelmed by it.

Doubtless, there is a redeeming spirit in reserve; I could not confide in Providence, if I did not believe it. The clergy of this land are worth too much to be lost-to be sacrificed. I trust it will not be long before they will be able to assert their prerogatives, and recover their appropriate influence.

ABSTRACT OF THE CREWEIAN ORATION.

(From an Oxford Paper.)

He drew an

THE Creweian Oration was made by the Professor of Poetry. analogy between a general commemoration of benefactors, such as the University had then met to celebrate, and those holydays in which the church celebrates-not any particular blessing-but the whole sum of divine mercies. He considered the University benefactors as divisible into two classes, some immediately to the whole body, others, indirectly, to individual colleges, and proposed, on the present occasion, to confine himself to the latter class, namely, to commemorate especially the founders of colleges; and this the rather, because the collegiate system has been lately attacked, and that even in Parliament, on the supposition that it is disadvantageous to literature, from the comparative discouragement of professors and lecturers, and again under a notion that an unfair advantage is taken by the colleges and their heads. In answer to this, the professor made an appeal to the history of the university as presented by that indefatigable antiquary, Anthony à Wood, down to the time of the first foundation. He noticed the perpetual disputes between the townsmen and the students; the continual appeals to the king or to the pope; the attack, in 1238, on the Cardinal Legate Otho; and, lastly, the well-known disturbance in the reign of Edward III., which led to the annual offering, by way of penance, on the part of the city, the observance of which has only been discontinued in our own time. The barbarism of the university at that early period seems, said the professor, to be still more marked, if we consider the causes of these frequent conflicts: they arose from the difference of nation or of county; between the natives of the North and those of the South; between the English and the Irish; between Jews and Christians; or even between the partisans of the different monastic orders.

Nor let any one affirm that there would be no danger of such occurrences in these more civilized times; for if we refer to the more recent annals of the German universities, we shall there find records of continual disturbance, and may remember, even in these our own days, instances of violence and insubordination sufficiently destructive of academical discipline and utility. But, added the professor, even allowing that there may now be no danger of actual violence, surely the danger of irregularity in study, and, above all, the danger of heresy in doctrine, is fearfully increased in our own times, and history has taught us that foreign impressions have been of old far too casily received in

Oxford: witness the impediment occasioned to the course of study by the introduction of the civil law, and the readiness with which every fresh theory was embraced from Paris. To drive men back now to the old system, would be like driving them again into the woods, after that they have been fairly civilized.

The professor next expressed his opinion that the best benefactors to the university were the founders of colleges, and it was satisfactory that the first to be named should be one of so noble and venerable a character. Walter de Merton, Bishop of Rochester, and Lord High Chancellor of England, temp. Henry III. and Edward I., crowned his important services, legal and political, by giving the first example of the collegiate system; moved thereto, doubtless, by the miserable confusion that has been described, and in part, perhaps, by the disloyalty of which the students were guilty in aiding the rebellious barons at Northampton, A.D. 1264, "the only instance upon record that I know of, (said the professor,) of Oxford men, as a body, being disloyal, and that, be it remarked, at a time before the collegiate system had been introduced." But however this may be, as Walter de Merton's loyalty was shewn by the whole course of his public conduct, so his foresight and prudence were especially made manifest by that rule in his statutes which permitted his college, if necessary, to migrate; so that we may well suppose him to have really meant to give an example of a system altogether new. As to the fact, that Walter de Merton really was the inventor of the collegiate system, it is evident, both from the novelty of the plan in those days, and from the history of the foundation, particularly by its going on gradually, step by step, like a person feeling his way over new ground. It may, however, be asserted, on direct evidence-first, that of Henry VI., who in a document preserved in King's College, says of Merton College, that "a kind of family likeness is observable in the subsequent foundations of both universities;" and, secondly, Sir Henry Saville, who, on Merton's tomb, styles him "omnium quotquot extant collegiorum fundatorem." To praise Merton, therefore, is to commend the collegiate system of which he was the Coryphæus, and with him we may recommend to grateful and lasting memory the whole band of founders, each of them commonly, in some respect or other, improving on his predecessors, so that the whole may be considered as a remarkable specimen of unity in general principles, and of diversity in particular applications. The professor next proposed to divide the founders of colleges into three classes; first, Merton, and those who succeeded him, nearly to the reign of Edward III., who seem to have thought simply, yet piously, of merely providing a place of refuge for religion and learning in troublous times; next come William of Wykeham, Chicheley, and others, who looked more to the completion of a great circle of study; and, thirdly, there were the prelates and other founders, about the time of the reformation, such as Fox, founder of Corpus (the first to institute in his college a Greek lecture), Wolsey, Sir Thomas Pope, and many other names dear to history and learning, who are entitled to our gratitude, and lay claim to our admiration, for their moderation in the reform of good learning, as were their contemporaries in that of religion.

From the mention of these venerable names, the professor descended to more modern times, in which he remarked that our later benefactors have usually confined themselves to the augmentation of libraries, or the endowment of professorships, scholarships, or the like, services in themselves of great value and utility, but still not to be compared with the devotion of whole fortunes, the royal generosity, the paternal spirit displayed by the founders of colleges, more especially with the dedication of their works to the honour of God and the futherance of his religion. The newer sort, he remarked, may be likened to the ornaments of the buildings, the elder involve the principles on which its very being depends; and this suggests a caution on our acceptance and use of the minor sort of benefits, so that we suffer them not to

change the frame of the university, which, in time, they might do, although so gradually as to be almost imperceptible. In conclusion, the professor considered that he might almost venture to appeal to Providence, who seems to have hitherto dealt with the universities as though it were intended by this very system that they should grow up to be a kind of outwork to the church and city of God, which must, of course, make it peculiarly dangerous for any one to lay rash hands upon them; but more dangerous far for those who are members of the body, if they fail, wilfully, in doing their best to maintain inviolate and unimpaired their privileges and usefulness" a cause," said the professor, "to which we are all as sacredly and solemnly pledged as are children to fulfil the last wishes of revered parents."

We regret that we have not been able to do better justice to the professor's admirable address; the foregoing we believe to be a tolerably correct analysis of the speech, which was heard with the most profound attention, and elicited frequent and manifest tokens of approbation; but we are too well aware of the deficiencies and imperfections of our report.

DOCUMENTS.

REPORT FROM THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON FIRST FRUITS AND TENTHS, AND ADMINISTRATION OF QUEEN ANNE'S BOUNTY. THE Select Committee appointed to inquire into the Constitution of the Boards connected with the Receipt of the First Fruits and Tenths, and Administration of Queen Anne's Bounty; and who were empowered to report their observations, together with the minutes of the evidence taken before them, to the House, have agreed to the following Report:Your committee find that first fruits were, originally, the first year's whole profits, and that tenths were the tenth part of the whole annual profits of all benefices; that they were claimed by the pope, and transmitted to Rome with more or less regularity.

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At the Reformation, first fruits and tenths were transferred to the sovereign, "for more augmentation and maintenance of the royal estate of his imperial crown, and dignity of supreme head of the church of England," (26 Henry VIII. c. 3;) and a court of first fruits was established by act of parliament to receive the annates and tenths from the clergy, and remit them to the king's exchequer, (32 Henry VIII. c. 45.)

At the same time, the king ordered a valuation to be made of all the episcopal sees and benefices in England. The book which contains this valuation is called the Liber Regis. In that book all the episcopal sees and the benefices of England appear; and all, that have not been since exempted, pay first fruits and tenths, according to that valuation.

Some bishoprics, and a considerable number of benefices, have been discharged by subsequent statutes. By royal grants, under the 1st of Eliz. c. 19, sect. 2, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London were not only exempted from tenths, but authorized to receive the tenths of a certain number of benefices within their respective dioceses, in compensation for certain manors and estates which, at the same time, were alienated from the sees. By the 1st of Eliz. c. 4, all vicarages of not exceeding 101. annual value, and all parsonages under ten marks, were exempted from the payment of first fruits; all hospitals were exempted from tenths, and the deans and canons of Windsor were exempted from first fruits and tenths.

By the 6th of Anne, c. 24, all benefices were discharged from the payment of first fruits and tenths, which at that time were under the annual value of 501., except such benefices of which the tenths had been previously granted away by the crown to other parties, which benefices continue to pay tenths only.

Other cases of exemption occur, to which reference will be made hereafter. There are two archbishoprics and twenty-three bishoprics which are now liable to first fruits, and eighteen bishoprics which are liable to tenths. Out of 10,498 benefices, with and without cure of souls, there are 4,898 which remain liable to tenths, and of that number, 4,500 are also liable to first fruits.

The court of first fruits was dissolved, and its duties were annexed, by the 1st of Elizabeth, c. 4, to the exchequer, of which the boards of first fruits and of tenths are branches, under the superintendence of the same chief officer, the remembrancer. Of these two boards, the board of first fruits is the superior. Each board has its own receiver; but the board of first fruits is empowered to receive from the board of tenths all it collects, and transmits the amounts, together with its own receipts, to the exchequer. The board of first fruits is also directed, and alone has the power, to enforce the payment of arrears due from either of the boards, by calling upon the exchequer to issue writs. The remembrancer is the executive of this part of the functions of the board.

The objects of the board of first fruits are provided for in the following manner. Writs are annually addressed by the exchequer to the bishops, requiring them to make a return, twice a year, to the board of first fruits of all the institutions which have taken place within the preceding half year in their respective dioceses. The clergy are considered to be so fully aware of their liabilities, that they are expected to pay their dues without any notice. First fruits are due within three months after institution or collation; except the first fruits of bishops, who, on account of the largeness of the sum, and the great expenses of taking possession, are by the 6th of Anne, c. 27, sect. 5, allowed to liquidate the debt in four equal yearly payments.

Tenths become due at Christmas, but are not exacted till after the end of April. If the payments on this account are not received at the appointed time, it becomes the duty of the respective boards to address a notice to such incumbents as may be in default. If this notice does not bring the money before the 1st of June, it is their duty to send a second notice; and if the arrears are not paid before the last day of June, the name of the clerical defaulter is put on what is called the non-solvent roll; any time after which the board of first fruits may apply to the Exchequer for a writ to compel payment. Each process subjects the defaulter to additional costs and fees.

In the case of a living being vacated, the exchequer is empowered, by the 26th of Henry VIII. c. 3, sect. 18, to recover arrears of tenths, not only from the executors and administrators, but also from the successor of the last incumbent. Arrears of first fruits, due at the time of vacancy, are, by the 1st of Eliz. c. 4, sect. 33, recoverable from the last incumbent's heirs, executors, administrators, and sureties, but not from his successor.

The salary of the remembrancer chiefly arises from fees payable on each institution, on each notice, and on each writ.

The receiver of the board of first fruits, who is also the receiver of the arrears of tenths, deducts his salary from the receipts before he pays them into the exchequer.

The clerks are partly paid by fees and partly by salaries.

In the reign of Charles the Second, the office of remembrancer was made a patent place for ever, and conferred upon the family of the Duke of Grafton. It is a freehold, and has been repeatedly sold. In 1774, it was sold, by the