THE POVERTY OF THE CLERGY. MO THE EDIT011 01 THE
SPECTAT01:9 Sin,—It was an accident only that has made my letter to the Times appear as an advocacy of a celibate clergy. The original correspondent in that journal stated that it would be a gross scandal if the richest of Christian countries should pay their clergy the lowest remuneration. I thought this was going a little far, and therefore quoted what I believe to be the average stipends of the clergy in the South of Europe. They happen to be celibates, and if I had thought I might have quoted the instances of the Swiss and French pasteurs, or indeed of the Scotch clergy of Protestant denominations. As a matter of fact, it is beyond denial that the English
clergy are even now more highly paid than the ministers of any religions body in Europe. As far as a rough calculation can go, I should say they received on an average about three times the stipend of the Swiss or French Protestant clergy, who are almost invariably married and generally have large families.
But, Sir, the criticisms, yollta din-Ong the number, on,myr supposed advocacy of celibacy have made me think that there• is after all a good deal of exaggeration in the alleged.objec-- tions to celibate clergy. I know many of the clergy, and T doubt not you know more, who are bachelors, no longer young, and who fill some important and even eminent positions in. the Church. I cannot say that their influence is diminishedt by the absence of a wife and family. If there were this general feeling against unmarried clergymen, a parish would revolt at such a man being placed over them, still more a cathedral chapter or a diocese. You know this is not the case; On the other hand there are plenty of instances of a clergy- man being thwarted by a silly or meddlesome wife and slangy, vulgar daughters. In regard to the question of the poverty of the clergy. It is now nearly twenty-two years. since I took my degree, and at a public school and Oxford I made friendships or acquaintances with a crowd of men who have since taken orders. Among them there can be none as- old as fifty, as I am forty-four, and yet I can number among my contemporaries at least two Bishops, one of whom, the Bishop of Winchester, has gained one of the great prizes of the Church, and many other distinguished dignitaries and a large number of rectors and vicars. Indeed, I know of map one contemporary who is not now incumbent of some
and he is a bachelor and a man of means, and prefers being a. plecentor, as he is an enthusiast for music.
In another branch of the sacred profession I find several head-masters and house-masters of public schools, and I think two University professors, all with incomes that would excite the wondering incredulity of a German or French clergyman. If I turn to the other great group of young men who launched their boats with me, the members of the Bar, I do not find they have done nearly so well on the whole, and yet I may be forgiven for saying that they were certainly better endowed with brains than the future clergy. There must be failures in every profession from clergy to cab-drivers. I have no sympathy with a duffer who goes to the Bar, mismanages all his work, and then gets none,—he ought not to have attempted so difficult a profession ; but my want of sympathy turns into positive disgust when he complains of his pro- fession and not of himself. I will tell you who are the poor clergy ; they are, with few exceptions, the incompetent, half- educated, or eccentric men who ought to have been attorneys' clerks, or have joined some other equally humble class of ["A. N." is to be congratulated on the present circum- stances of his early friends who took holy orders, but they have no bearing whatever on the main subject of the discus- sion in which he has again intervened. It would be equally preposterous and unfeeling to maintain that all, or most, of the incumbents of the many thousands of benefices with an income of less than £150 a year are "incompetent, half- educated, or eccentric men, who ought to have been attorneys' clerks," &c. But if it were true, there could not be a stronger reinforcement to the appeal to the liberality of Churchmen to raise the stipends of their cures of souls to a figure at which fully educated and competent men can live on them and bring up a family in decent comfort. Of course, many unmarriea clergy are popular and influential, but undoubtedly the general opinion of Englishmen is that it is desirable for the clergy to be able to marry if they do not wish to remain single The misfortune is that, to a large extent, this remains a merely pious opinion, without leading to action.—En. Spectator.]
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