30 AUGUST 1873, Page 11

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

THE " DISESTABLISHED " CHURCH OF IRELAND.

[TO TRH EDITOR Or TRE “SPRCTA.TOR:1

Sin,—I have just read in the Spectator of the 23rd inst. Mr. J. J. Murphy's letter, which I am sure will be perused with interest by many of your readers, although it is hardly to the point on which I suggested that he should offer some proof from any facts within his experience. He had admitted that when the commuting clergy have died off, there would be but little of the Commutation Fund left ; and yet, whilst it has not endowed the Church, commutation has, as he asserted, been a valuable help in the work of re-endowment. It was of this that I desired to have some evidence derived from experience in one large field, that of the united diocese of Down, Connor, and Dromore. We are, however, indebted to Mr. Murphy for his lucid explanation of the main features of this one diocesan scheme, and I sincerely trust it may avail to bring home to some English minds a notion of the complex con- ditions under which it is sought to build up the Irish Church.

The elements in the case described are these :—(1), That the Church Body has succeeded in investing the commutation money at a higher rate, and credits the diocese with 4 per cent, on the commutation money of its clerical commutants ; (2), that the diocesan council after consultation with the parishes has drawn up a schedule of incomes for the clergy who are to succeed those left by the Church Act ; and (3), that a careful calculation made by a professional man has shown that the interest credited to the diocese will pay 9-20ths of the incomes, leaving the rest to be made up by contributions, a contribution of £110 a year from a parish securing an income of £200. To sum up, our future welfare depends—(1), Upon finance realising with absolute security, and after all expenses, 4 per cent, on large investments; (2), on the future incomes being adequate for gentlemen who, as a rule, are family men without private means ; (3), on the correctness of this "careful calculation." Now in regard to the first point, finance. The last report of the Church Body gives some colour to what I fancy may be Mr. Murphy's view that 4 per cent, is secure, for it is claimed that up to its date the average from investments had been £4 7s. 9d. ; but then of £4,658,221 charged with annuities, there was yet £3,778,152 to be paid over (I take the figures for all Ireland, and not those of the diocese) ; and the Commissioners of Church Temporalities were entitled to delay rayment of the balance during two years at, a charge of only 3f per cent. So here, at the very start, 4 per cent, is to be paid to the diocese, when, for a large portion of its commutation capital, the Church Body can for a time only receive 3f per cent. ! And when the balance does come into their hands, is it so certain that they are always to get as much interest on their loans as they may have done hereto- fore? Already we hear in Dublin of private investors finding great difficulty in getting anything like 4 per cent. on first- class mortgages, because expectant borrowers can get from the Church Body at a less rate ; and will not the market be yet further brought down ? Then the expenses of the Church Body, it must be remembered, are great. On the second point— the adequacy or inadequacy of the contemplated incomes—I need only state them, in Mr. Murphy's own words, as "incomes which vary from £300 a year to £150." more approaching the minimum than the maximum, however. What are these for educated gentle- men in such times, when the emoluments of all professions are on the rise, and when the Irish Church, commanding at any time the services of but few men of means, is likely to have a reduced number of that class for the future,—when the very necessaries of life demand more than £300 a year on which to bring up a family ?

But I may pass from this part of the subject with only a quota- tion from the Bishop of the diocese, who, in a Synod held at Belfast during last autumn, is reported to have said that it would be a "fatal day for the Church of Ireland and for this diocese, when there is a hard-and-fast line drawn of a miserable dead level of £300 as the income of the clergy." And it is a part of the programme which contemplates these miserable incomes that the number of working clergy in the diocese be reduced, I find, by one-half ! On the third point,—on which there has been careful calculation by a professional man. Any such must be, in great measure, actuarial, and rest upon the vital statistics which form the foundation. And whilst there may not be much difference amongst actuaries as to the method of calculating life-annuities and rever- sions, there is considerable room for difference as to the data on which the calculations should be made. The history of commutation affords illustration of this, and any one who can recall to mind the nature of the controversy between Mr. Finlaison and Dr. Farr on the subject of the life-table appli- cable to the Irish clergy knows that this is very uncertain ground. I am afraid, however, that apart from this, any actuarial calcula- tions in connection with general commutation have been absolutely vitiated by the large. extent to which the clergy have taken advances or compounded.

I heartily sympathise with Mr. Murphy in the view that it is a great advantage that the clergy, once elected, should be almost as independent of their congregations as they were in the Established Church. I do not, however, see that it is secured, for will not seat-letting be one of the first resorts in order to eke out small stipends ? And if it were better secured, how is it through com- mutation? Mr. Murphy does not explain what is to become of those parishes which have not come into this scheme ; these are probably the poorest and the most in need of support from the rich people of Belfast, or from England. The throwing of any deficiency over all, rather than let it fall on the clergy of default- ing parishes, must, I think, be peculiar to the diocese in question ; but there is much to be said for it.

I hope Mr. Murphy may be encouraged to say more, for exact in- formation from any one diocese will best enable the public, English and Irish, to judge of the working of the present system. This great diocese, conterminous with the counties of Down and Antrim, may well serve as an example. It embraces the rich and rapidly money-making town of Belfast ; two of the most populous counties of the North ; it is presided over by a Bishop, the only one on the Irish Bench of Bishops who favoured Gladstone's policy, and he is aided in council by many of the best business men in Ireland. If under these circumstances there are any results pointing to success, we should gladly receive them for as much encouragement as they may yield, although even then we cannot fail to see that a diocese in the south or west may present a far different condi- tion. For as much as it is worth, let Mr. Murphy be encouraged to afford us the results of his experience.

In the very number of your paper which contains Mr. Murphy's letter, I find, under the head, "Mr. Gladstone at Mold," the following interrogatory :—" \Vas not the Irish Church a relic of the past, and was it folly to sweep that away ? " Now amongst your readers there are some who will go with the tone of your leader, and readily answer, " Yea ;" but if I mistake not, a good few will say, " Nay,"— the Irish Church was not a bad relic" of the past ; there was much vitality in her when the blow was struck ; there is much yet, though she may be still reeling from it ; and vitality remaining, there is no fear that she will be swept away. But we may have been upon a wrong tack, and with new pilots, through unknown waters, what wonder if the ship should have got a bit out of her true course? At all events, many are beginning to think that commutation and sustentation are very different things, which have no essential connection, and that it may possibly be disastrous A.that they have been so studiously interwoven by the Church Body and the several diocesan schemes. Mr. Murphy "cannot see that any other system could have worked so well ;" but let me again ask him to show by any facts how commutation has helped the work of re-endowment. He says truly, "The scheme is only in the second year of its working, and we cannot yet speak of assured success ;" but as •the treatment is experimental, let us observe the symptoms so far, and be ready for change, if such should appear called for. Mr. Murphy might well help us. I have set forth some reasons why his diocese may be fairly taken as an example, and I think you, Sir, will not deny him space.—I am,