CHURCH PROPERTY.
TO TUB EDITOR OP TILE SPECTATOR.
Sra—The property of the Church might be !reduced, without. injuty to the actual incumbents, by giving them perpetuai. annuitios equal ía value to the life annuities which they now possess; and, after the deaths of the incumbents, it might be reduced without injury to anybody.
1st. There would be no injury to the incumbents, because the per. petual annuities bestowed would be equal in permanent value, though less in annual charge, to the life annuities that were taken away; and these perpetual annuities would be again convertible into life annuities, if it were thought desirable.
• 2nd. Neither would there be any injury to the aspirants, if the re. duction of ecclesiastical benefices were accompanied with an abolition or reduction of the restrictions on ceinmeroe. Iconceive that the last mea- sure would add more prizes to the lottery of human life than the first would take away; that commercial freedom would increase the demarul for intellectual labour-as--well-as for bodily labour; and would, therefore, be advantageous to every. person who _possessed any intellectual accom- plishment, who had-aticket in the intellectual lottery. Lastly I conceive that this measure would not be injurious -either to the religions interests of the people-, or to the political interests of the Church. By reducing the vrealth, of that body, we ideould increase 101I moral influence, and thereby bestow a better sort, of -wealth than we should take away. "Quo volutates corpora' suet cuirta alictoritatis pramiis comparandre ?' In order to lessen the practical difficulties of this measure let the actual value of ecclesiastical benefices be estimated a little Love the truth ; if a doubt exists, let the Church have the henifit ok it. This would both facilitate the execution, and take away the qpretit injus- tice of the-aseasure.- There would be no reallnjustlie, because neither the moral interests of the people nor the worldly inteits of the existing Church would be affected. The aspiratas to ecclesiastical benefices would gain more by one part of the measure than they would lose by the
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