T RAV

BENEVOLENCE OP THE CLERGY. 21too., bas beenan object whereon to heap condemnation. Itwas certainlyheavy, but thëinjustice whiçh criminates it is much more 50. Certainit is that the very best specimens of agriculture, which l'rance présented,were atforded in the church lands, (oot that it is pretendedtosay that good agriculture aJone, like charity, will cover a multitude ofsins,) by theoc.cupation andmanagcmel}t of tbose very people, againstwhom al this period (t.784) the charge, a very diffuse onc, in every layman'smonth, is, " qu'ils ne sont bons à rien," the usuai prelude to acrimination upon what constitutes a point of merit to every fair-judgingmind-the flourishing appearances around them. Theil' establishmentshere supply the most important caUs of human nature, and very thanklessha'S beenthe recompense, as has heen since too strongly seen.Theil' laboratories are the apothecaries' shops of the rustic community,lvith the difference in the}r favour, that the profits of the trade are notdemanded. The pOOl' receive eleemosynary relief at their gates, thesick are attended at home. AlI this comes before our eyes. That suchestablishments are requisitefor thé community at large, in the presentstage of the world's growth, is by no means asserted; but still furtheroff be theiojustice of denying them any merit ! Be their fate what itmay, the behaviolill' of the laity here to the clergy in the pl'esent day isvery disgusting to observation. Infact, the wrerched fathers are nowhuuted from aIl gelleral society, and whither are the unforttmate men tobètake themselves? Are they to recul' to first principles, and betakethemse1ves to ÜtlC forests and deserts ? Certainly th6l'e is no footing,for them in social life. Theirsituation 18 not now, perbap8 it neverwas, a matter of optidn; if it were, the,ribaldry wherewith they are,wherever they show themselves, assailed by the laity would, one cannotbut suppose, pr.eclude qll hesi~tion on their parts in (to borrow an expressionfrom our great Elizabeth) unfl'ocking themselves. Indeed they