'that is distant; sometimes a parish may be intersected in two, ⚫ or divided into three distinct parts by the intervention of other ⚫ parishes; sometimes a sub-denomination, called a townland, may be divided into three portions, and one of each belong to a se'parate parish; part, too, of the tithes of a parish may be payable to the minister of a remote parish, who is in no way responsible ❝ for the duty; and perhaps, too, part of a parish will stand charged with the payment of a church-rate to another parish, with which it is otherwise wholly unconnected.' Parishes, and even benefices (which in 478 instances out of 1385 are composed of two or more of the 2405 parishes, into which Ireland is divided) are not only irregular in their boundary, but very unequal in their extent. Not knowing the acreage of all the parishes, we can judge of these variations in extent only by reference to the population. We find there are twelve benefices, in each of which the entire population is not more than 200, and in some of which it sinks to 60; while at the other end of the scale there are 29 benefices, in each of which the population exceeds 20,000. Among these Belfast, in the diocese of Connor, contains 67,224; the wardenship of Galway, in Tuam, an immense rural district consisting of a union of seven parishes, contains 57,648; and Ballynakill, in the same diocese, consisting of nine parishes, contains 45,091 souls, and has its extreme points about fifty miles distant from each other. The smallness of many of the Irish parishes, and their inability to bear the parochial cesses for the support of a parish church, have frequently induced the plan of uniting parishes or parts of parishes under one benefice, a plan which has been adopted to a great extent, and sometimes doubtless very beneficially; though it cannot be said that it has materially removed those inequalities which prevail in the Irish ecclesiastical division, while it has certainly added others which are much open to objection. The unions in the Irish Church,' said the Archbishop of Armagh, in a letter to the Lord-lieutenant of Ireland in 1819, have long been considered as one of its greatest defects. These unions are of two kinds, perpetual and pro hac vice; the former ' are made by the Privy Council, the latter by the bishop of the ' diocese. As perpetual unions cannot be effected without the consent of the patron, the incumbent, the bishop, the archbishop, and the Privy Council, they undergo such severe investigation as precludes all suspicion of their being improperly made. But 'episcopal unions are under no such restraints; and it is possible, therefore, that some of them, particularly those made in former times, may be found to be extremely objectionable.' Of these Episcopal unions there are (according to the Irish Ecclesiastical Register) 230, comprising 704 parishes or parts of parishes; some

of which unions have eight, ten, and even eleven parishes in each. Many unions do indeed appear to be extremely objectionable; but we cannot say whether the instances to which we would refer are episcopal or perpetual. It might be supposed that in uniting parishes into one benefice, to be under the superintendence of one incumbent, for the purpose of religious instruction, the contiguity of such parishes would be considered a necessary condition. Yet it appears that out of 478 unions, enumerated by the Commissioners of Public Instruction, there are 87 in which the parishes are not contiguous. Some of these cases of non-contiguity are unimportant-the separated parishes lying very near; but there are others of a very different stamp, of which we will cite a few examples.

Tintern, in the diocese of Ferns, is a union of five parishes, one of which is detached, and distant seven miles from the rest. The Chancellorship, De of Waterford, is a union of two parishes, ten miles apart.

Templeneiry, in Cashel, a union of three parishes not contiguous; the boundary of one of which is above twelve miles from the church, which is situated in the other parish.

Kilcooly, in Kilmacduagh, a union of ten parishes, of which eight are contiguous and two detached-one six miles, the other ten miles, distant from the contiguous parishes and from each other.

Ballynakill, in Tuam, a union of nine parishes, one of which is thirteen miles from the rest of the benefice, and twenty-seven from the church.

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Kilcullihean, in Ossory, is a union of two parishes, distant about thirteen miles from each other.

Rasharkin, in Connor, a union of three parishes, Rasharkin, Killdollough, and Killraghts, of which it is reported that · Killdollough is twelve miles from Rasharkin, and ten miles from Killraghts, which is ten miles from Rasharkin.'

The Treasurership, in Connor, is a union of two parishes distant between twenty-five and thirty miles.

Burnchurch, in Ossory, is a union of fourteen parishes, three of which are at opposite extremities of the county of Kil'kenny, many miles from each other and from the body of the

' union.'

Kilflyn, in Ardfert and Aghadoe, is a union of eight parishes, of which five and three are respectively contiguous, and the two portions of the benefice are separated by a distance of twenty-five miles.

These are instances of defective unions. But this evil is not always attributable to the unions; for there are also instances,

such as Wells in Leighlin, Agher in Meath, and Abbeylara in Ardagh, in which the parts of a single parish are considerably detached. The latter is also one of those instances of inconvenient form, with reference to the purposes of public worship and religious instruction, which is objectionable in the present ecclesiastical division in Ireland. The benefice of Abbeylara, consisting of a single divided parish, is fourteen Irish miles long, and two broad; and the church is at one extremity. It is obvious that when a benefice is long and narrow, the distance of some of the parishioners from the church, and the labours of the clergyman in his parochial duties are much greater, than when the same area is more nearly square or circular. Yet this obvious inconvenience exists in many Irish benefices. Kilcrohan is twenty-seven miles long; Templeport, twenty-nine; Fircal, twenty-two miles long, by from five to seven broad; Kilrush, twenty-eight miles by six; Roscrea, seven by one and a half; Cloncha, thirteen by three; Artrea, fifteen by three and a half; Termonbarry, eight by three-fourths; Donoughmore, sixteen by six; Corry, sixteen by from three to five; Ballinascreen, sixteen by two and a half; and Kilcommon, forty by sixteen. These distances, too, be it observed, are given in Irish miles, which exceed the English by about thirteen to ten.

Anomalous and objectionable as is the ecclesiastical territorial division, thus considered, it is still more so with reference to the distribution of that part of the population for the benefit of whom it is peculiarly designed. Although the members of the Established Church are very unequally distributed in Ireland, we can perceive no evidence of the ecclesiastical divisions of the country having been in the slightest degree systematically arranged with reference to these inequalities. There are inequalities in the division, but not such as appear to have sprung out of any considerations of this kind. In short, it seems as though Ireland had been parcelled out into dioceses and benefices, without any evident consciousness that the members of the Established Church are comparatively more numerous in one part of the kingdom than in the other. Thus the province of Armagh has 502 benefices for its 517,722 members of the Established Church; while the province of Cashel, with only 110,813, is divided into 469 benefices. The diocese of Clogher has forty-five benefices to 104,359 members of the Established Church; the diocese of Cashel has forty-eight benefices for an Established Church population of 6178; and Emly not less than seventeen for 1246. So strangely unequal is the division into dioceses with respect to the number of members of the Established Church, that at one end of the scale we find the dioceses of Dublin, Clogher, and Armagh, each con

taining an Established Church population of more than 100,000 souls; at the other extremity, Emly, with its 1246 members of the Established Church-Kilmacduagh with 656-Kilfenora with only 235. It is a remarkable circumstance, and one which will perhaps illustrate more strongly than any other the complete absence of all reference to Anglican population in both the diocesan and parochial divisions-that a single benefice, Belfast, one of forty-seven benefices in the diocese of Connor, contains more members of the Established Church than the six dioceses of Waterford, Emly, Kilfenora, Kilmacduagh, Achonry, and Clonfert, which comprise sixty-two benefices. But this is not all. There are 41 benefices in Ireland in which there is no member of the Established Church-99 in which there is one, and not more than twenty-124 in which there are twenty, and not more than fifty-160 in which there are more than fifty, and not more than 100. There are in all 264 benefices, in each of which the members of the Established Church are not more than fifty-there are in all 424 benefices, in none of which do they exceed 100. There are above 400 benefices in Ireland, in which the aggregate members of the Established Church are not equal in amount to those contained in the single benefice of Belfast.

In a country in which there exists an ecclesiastical division, made ostensibly with a view to the religious instruction of the members of one persuasion-yet in which there are forty-one of these portions of territory in none of which is one single member of that persuasion to be found-we should conclude, that this apportionment would comprise at least all persons of this persuasion that are to be found in the land; and that none would be excluded from the benefits of a provision which appears in many instances to be so lavishly afforded. But what is the fact ? that there are fifty-seven parishes or districts in Ireland excluded from the present ecclesiastical division, which are without provision for cure of souls — that there are residing in these unprovided parishes 3,030 members of the Established Church. The number seems small; but let it be remembered, that it is as great a number of Episcopalian Protestants as can be found in 200 of the benefices of Ireland. In three of these unprovided parishes the number of such persons exceed 500; and in one of them-Grange O'Neill, in the county of Armagh-it amounts to 578. Such is the present ecclesiastical division of Ireland—and such is its conformity with the religious wants of that portion of the population for whom it is peculiarly designed! We will now come to the revenues.

It appears from the Report of the Commissioners on Ecclesiastical Revenue and Patronage in Ireland, that the total gross

revenues of the archbishoprics and bishoprics, on an average of three years, ending December 31, 1831, amounted to L.151, 127, 12s. 44d. The total net amount of the same was, on an average similarly taken, L.128,808, 8s. 34d., or L.5854 to each.

The richest archbishopric is that of Armagh, of which the average net yearly produce is L.14,494, 0s. 34d.; the richest bishopric that of Derry, averaging a net income of L.12,159, 3s. 6d. The poorest archbishopric is that of Cashel and Emly, of which the average net income is L.6308, 5s. 2d.; the poorest bishopric, Clonfert and Kilmacduagh, of which the average net income is L.2970, 11s. 6d. Great as is the wealth of this portion of the church establishment, we are told it may become greater. We are informed, by the returns to queries circulated by the commissioners, that in fifteen out of the twenty-two archbishoprics and bishoprics, respecting which any such statement has been made, a greater income may be expected, to the amount of L.12,404, 8s. 44d.; and the total gross income may be thus raised to L.163,532, Os. 9d. ; and as there remain seven bishoprics, with respect to which no such specification has yet been made, it is possible that this large amount of revenue might become even larger still. We find that the prospect of increase is greatest in the princely revenues of the archbishopric of Armagh, where, if instead of only one-eighth of the tenant's profit rent being charged as fine, one-fifth were to be charged, as in other dioceses, the annual income accruing from the annual fines would be augmented by the sum of L.6260, 14s. 54d., and the gross revenues would be increased from L.17,669, 16s. 7d. to the enormous sum of L.23,930.

The sources of the revenues of the archbishops and bishops are various; but the chief sources are fines and rents, which constitute more than three-fourths of the whole. Fines on renewals of leases of houses, lands, and tithes (occasionally for lives, but principally for terms of twenty-one years), amount to L.76,655, 3s. 11d. The amount accruing from rents of lands is L.45,458, 15s. 94d. Of this, L.39,306, Os. 5 d. is from holdings for terms of twenty-one years; L.1920, 3s. 6d. for terms of forty years; L.2022, 12s. 3d. at will or without lease, and L.1420, 12s. 5 d. for lives. The extent of these lands in statute acres is 669,247. Of these 485,532 are profitable - 155,643 unprofitable and 28,072 undistinguished. The amount of income arising to the archbishops and bishops from tithe and tithecomposition, is comparatively inconsiderable. Tithes not under composition are valued at L.2158, 15s. 9d. The tithe-composition of appropriate parishes is L.4825, 4s. 61d.