A Weekly Newspaper and Review.
DOM VCBIS GRATÜLAMUR, ANIMOS KTIAM ADDIMUS 0T IN INCCEPTIS VESTRIS CONSTANTER MANEATIS.
From, the B r ie f oj H is Holiness Pins IX . to T h e T a b l e t , June 1870.
Vol. 83. No. 2817. London, May 5, 1894.
P rice 5<d. by P ost sK d .
[R egistered a t th e G eneral P ost Office as a N ewspaper
C hronicle of th e W eek :
Page
Imperial Parliament: Welsh Disestablishment — Disendowment — The Winding up of a Church— Vested I n te r e s t s — How the <cLoot” is to be Applied—The Registration Bill— Church Patronage Bill— The Irish Church Fund —The Polar Expedition—French and English Dockyards — Lord Rosebery on Education— The Imprisoned Cave-Explorers — T h e Anarchists Abroad—Coxeyites at Washington — Lord Rosebery at Manchester—The Money Market 677 L e a d e r s : Mr. Gore’s Criticism on the Papal
Encyclical.. .. .. .. 681
CONTENTS.
L eaders (Continued) :
Page
The Triumph of the Pope .. 683 The New Gallery .. .. .. 684 N o t e s ..................................................... 684 R eviews :
Mr. Swinburne’s New Volume .. 686 English Book Plates, Ancient,
and Modern .. .. .. 688 Papal Nunciatures .. .. .. 689 Theories : Studies from a Modern Woman .. .. .. .. 689 The Life of Benito Juarez .. 690 Books of the Week .. .. 690 The Catholic Social Union .. .. 691 O b ituary .. .. .. .. 691 Correspondence :
Rome :—(From Our Own Corre
spondent) .. ......................... 693 News from Ireland .. . . . . 694
L etters to th e E ditor :
Duties of Men Towards Beasts.. 695 “ The Monsignorial Ring ” .. 696 The Encyclical, “ The Tablet,”
Page and Mr. Gore .. .. .. 697 Cardinal Pole’s Biographies .. 697 Blessed John D ’Avila .. .. 697 Uxbridge Schools .. .. .. 697 The _Deluge and the “ Higher
Criticism ” .. .. .. 697 St. Thomas of Canterbury .. 697 A Missionary Model Farm in
Borneo .. .. .. .. 697 British Pilgrimage to Rome .. 698 The Catholic Social Union .. .. 698 Social and Political .. .. 704
SUPPLEMENT. N ews from th e Schools : Mr. Acland on Evening Schcools 709
N ews from th e S chools (Con
tinued) The School Board and Defective
Eyesight ..
Page
.. 709
Upton Hall, Birkenhead .. .. 710 Catholic Association . . 710 EWS FROM THE D lOCESES Westminster . . 710 Southwark . . . . .. Clifton .. 71c Plymouth St. Andrews and Edinburgh . . 712 Argyll and the Isles .. 712 Resolutions of the Catholic Arch
bishop and Bishops of England on Public Elementary Education .. 712 Bangalore Branch of the League of the Cross .. .. .. .. 713 The St. Joseph’s Leper Asylum .. 713
% * Rejected M S . cannot be returned unless accompanied w ith address and postage.
CHRONICLE OF THE WEEK.
IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.
— WELSH 'DISESTABLISHMENT.
Wales was a model He waived general say that the opinion
R. ASQUITH’S speech in introducing the Bill which is to disestablish and disendow the Anglican Church in of lucidity and mastery of detail, considerations, finding it enough to of the Welsh people was evidenced by the fact that thirty-one out of thirty-five of its members were pledged to Disestablishment. In the minds of the •bulk of the Welsh the Anglican Church was associated with injurious and humiliating memories— for them it was a symbol not of national unity, but of discord. They regarded it as an aggressive sectarian power selected for •State favour, and put in the exclusive enjoyment of the special patrimony of the people. As for the scope of the Bill it would include the twelve counties of Wales and Monmouthshire. The inclusion of the last county is justified on the ground that it was anciently part of the Welsh marshes, and is alleged to be still predominantly Welsh in the general character of its people. A further reason offered was that the whole county of Monmouth is included in the Welsh diocese of Llandaff. The adoption of this •area will involve some re-arrangement, as some parishes belonging to English dioceses are geographically in Wales, while parishes belonging to Welsh dioceses are situated in England. The task o f redistribution will be left to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, but it is proposed in all cases to •follow the geographical, and not the diocesan boundary, •where the two are not coincident. Whatever the date at •which the Bill becomes law, a breathing space of one year will be allowed to permit the different persons and public bodies concerned to adjust themselves to the new situation. During the interval between the passing of the Act and the actual date of Disestablishment, no new vested interest will be allowed to spring up to hamper the work of Disendowment. If new Welsh Bishops have to be appointed, they will have no place in the House of Lords. As to the various livings which may fall vacant during the same time, they will be filled up, but clergymen so appointed will be allowed no additional claim for "the purposes of compensation. With reference to the status of the Disestablished Church all rights of patronage are extinguished and all
New Series, Vol. LI., No. 2,126.
ecclesiastical corporations are dissolved. No Bishop of the Church of Wales will again be summoned to sit in the House of Lords, and their places will be taken by English Bishops who have no seats. The present ecclesiastical law in Wales and Monmouthshire will cease to exist, and the ecclesiastical courts will no longer have any coercive jurisdiction.
Strictly speaking and in point of law
— d is e n d o w m en t . the Church of England is not the owner of any property whatever. She is not a Corporation, and, therefore, is not capable of owning or exercising proprietary rights. Ecclesiastical property in this country is anendowmentattached to some particular benefice or office. That being borne in mind it is then necessary to distinguish between the ecclesiastical revenues which arise from Wales, and the revenues which are handed over to and enjoyed by the Church in Wales. The first class of revenue consists partly of ancient endowments and partly of private benefactions since 1703. The last named sum is extraordinarily small, and amounts to only ^13,000 a year, and need not be further considered. The ancient endowments consist chiefly of parochial benefices affording a gross income of ^233,000 a year, and of this no less than ^179,000 is represented by the tithe. A second class of revenue consists of endowments of cathedral and collegiate churches still received by the Capitular bodies ; this amounts to the small sum of ¿£3,360 a year. The third head of revenue derived from Wales is the income received by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, this comes to ¿£42,300 a year, of which ¿£27,000 is represented by tithe. But this total of ¿£279,000 a year does not represent the actual income of the Welsh Church, as some 25 per cent, has to be deducted for the cost of collection and other things before we arrive at the net amount. It has to be further diminished by ¿£12,000 paid by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners to English Chapters and benefices. That is one side of the account, but there is another, and when the balance is struck it will be found that the English Church as distinguished from tne Welsh Church, is entitled to a considerable sum, for the Ecclesiastical Commissioners make grants to Wales largely in excess of the sums paid by them to England out of Welsh tithes and out of Welsh land. In fact there is a balance in favour of England of some ¿£40,000 a year, and this sum will revert to her when the Welsh Church is disendowed, so that ultimately the English Establishment will be the gainers to that amount. For the purpose of secular plunder, or let us say for distribution for secular purposes, there are two funds : the first,
