LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
CLERGY INCOMES.
[To THE EDITOR or THE " SPECTATOR."'
Sza,—My income, according to Crockford, is 2440 commuted tithe, but owing to E86 going in rates alone and other deductions, the balance works out in our" Diocesan Calendar" at 2194 net. I have a rectory-house of such dimensions that the late Bishop Claughton said it would be fit for his palace, and the last certificate coat £80. One of my neighbours left me the example of providing for his children by mortgaging all his property, getting a bill-of-sale on his furniture, and dying as deeply in debt as it was possible for one who had been beloved by his parishioners. I believe the poverty of the -clergy will be soon shown in the dropping of insurance policies. The clergy will also be obliged to educate their children at the Board-schools, and this will have far-reaching -consequences, for in the past the cream of the clergy and -50 per cent. of the Bishops came from the parsonages. Against a most inadequate income I have a population of two thousand five hundred, a large church with full choral services, and a Bishop who, even when I am laid low with the "Flu," is unable to help me by sending his chaplain to preach for his Poor Benefices' Fund.—I am, Sir, &c., S. C.
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