The Curates' Alliance held a preliminary meeting in the Vestry
Hall of St. Martin's-in-the-Fields on Thursday, the object of the Alliance being to improve the posi- tion and prospects of Curates in the Church of England, by securing for them a fair representation in Convocation, and by obtaining better incomes for those who do not in course of time re- ceive any other promotion in the Church. No one can deny that the object is a most useful and even urgent one, though how far representation in Convocation,—a fair enough demand in itself, —will tend to secure that object, may be open to much doubt- That very many of the Curates of the Church of England have a most hopeless and dismal prospect before them in their old age,—both as to influence and as to means of living,—is certainly true. And if there be a remedy, it is certain that that remedy should be soon found, and promptly applied. We con- fess our doubts that Convocation can either find or apply one, and should rather look to new rules for the patronage of the Crown and the Bishops, reserving part of it as rewards to working curates of a certain age. All professions, however, starve some.
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