EPISCOPAL WEALTH.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1500, 7 March 1887, Page 2

EPISCOPAL WEALTH.

'Silver and gold have I none,' Peter frankly declared, but they of the apcßtollo success'on m England manage their financial affairs more shrewdly nowadays. It is stated that within the last thirty years forty bishops of the Church of England have died, and that — excluding one, whose estate appears to have been too trivial for mention — they left on an average £54,000 of personalty eaoh. Without enquiry as to the real'y, these 6gurea suggest that 'the oversight of the spiritual flock is not incompatible with considerable worldly prosperity. It may be doubted whether the bequeathals either of the> last forty judges or the last forty generals would represent a gross personalty of over £2,000,000. A seat m the English episcopacy yields a very safe and a very handsome inoome — one which enables the inoumbeut to pursue an exceedingly comfortable standard of living, and at the same time to make highly satisfactory provision for those dependant on him. On the other hand it ia said that bishops have to work terribly hard for their stipends. But men who leave fortunes of £54,000 can keep secretaries, and we are inclined to be perversely sceptical as to whether most bishops perform anything like as much harassing work aB many a poor curate who struggles to keep up appearances on tha pay of a day labourer. Certainly it strikes one as a departure from the original syßtem that Christian ministers ehould claim to measure their efforts by their reward m this world's goods ; but then, as we are reminded ln the literary remains of Mr Bigelow, they did not know everything ' down In Judee '— v » Biblo Standard."