11 AUGUST 1967, Page 10

A hundred years ago

From the 'Spectator,' 10 August 1867—A Parlia- mentary return just published shows that the Ecclesiastical Commissioners have in twenty-one years spent 206,800/. on Bishops' palaces. No less than 52,194/. was spent for the Bishop of Lincoln, 19,054/. for the Bishop of Manchester—note the. difference—and 9,054/. for the Bishop of Llandaff. The Bishops must have houses, of course, but there are degrees in all things,. and what will con- tent Manchester might, one would think, content Lincoln. The "bondagers" of tha,t county, who want spiritual instruction a good deal, are fairly entitled to say that, asking the Church for bread, they get only bricks.