CHURCH LANDS.
[To TrIa EDITOR OF TEE "SPECTATOR."] Sin,—Should I be trespassing on your kindness too far in asking you to submit proof that the Cavendishes and Russells paid for the land which they acquired from Henry VIIL which that monarch confiscated from the Church P On naming to a friend that the Spectator had stated that these lands were bought and paid for he promised a donation to a charity if it could be proved.—I am, Sir, &c., Oakjleld Terrace, Davenport, Stockport. E. PeansoN.
[Like the Cambridge undergraduate in the Euclid examina- tion story, we cannot, we fear, prove the proposition, but we can, we think, "make it appear exceedingly likely." Henry VIIL built a large number of castles along the coast (Hurst Castle is an example), built ships, and did several other things in the matter of national defence out of the money derived from the sale of Abbey lands. Whether documents exist to show that among those who " paid cash " were the predecessors in title of the Dukes of Bedford and Devonshire we cannot say, but the money certainly came from somewhere, and once again we venture to express the opinion that Henry VIII. was not the man to make very large grants of land except for a valuable consideration. Possibly services which must otherwise have been paid for in gold were paid for in land, but this can hardly have applied to all the so-called grants to both families.—En. Spectator.)
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