will be useless, as I have long known that this is the rock on which I should split." It is needless to add that he immediately left the kingdom, and, it is supposed, is now in America. :

THE REV. THOMAS JEPHSON,

Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge, an Unnatural Monster, who lately fled his Country.

Set thou a wicked man over him, and let Satan stand at his right hand. PSALMS.

The Reverend Thomas Jephson, Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge, was last month found guilty of the horrible and unnatural crime which has been by no means uncommon in the church. He was a Bachelor of Divinity, and a Tutor and Lecturer of St. John's College; and what added to the extremity of his offence, had that very morning (it being Whit Sunday) assisted at the ceremony of the Lord's supper, in his College Chapel. After chapel he went out walking on the Chany-Hinton Road, from Cambridge, where he came up with a fine boy, that took his depraved fancy, and after a short conversation gave him a shilling, and told him that if he would meet him again that evening he would give him much more money. The boy promised he would, and it is probable that from his ignorance of this Reverend wretch's intention, might have become his dupe, but for an accidental circumstance that led to the complete detection of this infamous impostor; for as the child was playing with some other boys near his door, a shilling fell out of his pocket, which immediately drew the attention of his parents, as they knew that it was improbable he should have come honestly by so much money; and being questioned, he simply related the whole circumstances as they had occurred. His father suspecting the truth, told the boy to go, and to meet the gentleman according to appointment; whilst he, with some other men, would follow at a distance. According to appointment the Bachelor of Divinity appeared, and the rest of the party being out of sight, he soon pursued a line of conduct that rendered a speedy interference highly necessary. On this unexpected interruption, he begged them, in the most earnest manner, to give him his liberty again, and take his money, watch, or whatever they chose; and they accordingly took his watch, that it might be witness against him if necessary. By means of the watch and seal, they soon were enabled to discover his name, but as it took them some little time to do so, he had time to leave Cambridge, to which, however, he was again immediately summoned by his College, or threatened with immediate expulsion if he did not return and exculpate himself most satistactorily. A deputation of the Fellows of St. John's College was sent to London for the express purpose, and to the

surprise of all that knew him, persuaded Mr. Jephson to return to meet the charge preferred against him. This dreadful criminal returned from town with some legal advisers, and to complete the enormity of his offence, swore that the boy's father had robbed him of his watch as he was walking alone, and that he knew nothing of the crime of which he was accused. It now became necessary for the other party to defend themselves, and with the assistance of a learned lawyer, a Member of the University, they most clearly and indubitably proved the truth of their own story, and covered the Reverend sinner with disgrace and confusion; indeed it was impossible for his word to be taken against that of so many witnesses, or for him to account for his sudden flight to London, with all the other improbabilities of his account of the matter. In short, it ended as might be expected; the criminal was admitted to bail, and thus allowed to escape to the Continent, where he has probably gone to join others of his double profession, and to add one item more of disgrace to the establishment already too notorious for this species of offence.

1

NOTE BY THE EDITOR.-We have inserted the preceding two atrocious cases verbatim as they were sent us, knowing them to be correct. Nothing more strongly shews the necessity of a revision of our ecclesiastical laws as administered in the Universities; had Parson Jephson been a layman, he would have been had before a magistrate, and committed to prison for the vile assault, and tried in open court before a jury of his country; but as a Member of the University, they had a prior right to try him by his peers, and admitted him to bail—that is, give him leave to escape, to prevent fur⚫ther disgrace being attached to the College. These gentlemen have an opinion of disgrace, widely different from those outside of College walls. By law, he that attempts to conceal a crime, or the person of a criminal, is considered guilty, and shares as a participator in the criminal's offence. The College would have been honoured, had they delivered the criminal, bound hand and foot, up to justice; but they are disgraced in the eyes of honourable men, by permitting a felon to escape, of whose guilt they pronounced their belief, and whom, in their hearts, they must detest and despise.

If one considers the rank of the offender, his being a Tutor of a celebrated College, and a Bachelor of Divinity, and that he had that day administered the sacrament, and immediately after that solemn ceremony, planned this great and terrible crime, it offers as gross an instance of clerical iniquity as has been exhibited, not excepting the renowned case of the Bishop of Clogher; and as his fellow Collegians have tried to keep the whole affair as secret as such a shocking transaction can be kept, it requires a speedy and ample justification, that all true Christians may learn that the spirit of christianity and its virtues are not to be found with clergymen exclusively, however high their rank in the church, or in society in general.

BENBOW, Printer, 9, Castle Street, Leicester Square, London.

OF

IRELAND,

OR, THE

PROTESTANT HIERARCHY ;

DEVELOPED FROM THE HANDWRITING OF THE

BISHOPS;

CONTAINING THE

Name and Description of every Incumbent,

WITH

THE ENORMOUS TEMPORALITIES APPENDED,

IN

1819.

"Talk of the Priestcraft of the ancient Dynasties of France and Spain; why, for oppression and cruelty like this, there is no picture bearing even a resemblance in the Cabinet of the World."

LONDON:

PRINTED NY G. MORGAN, FLEET-STREET, AND PUBLISHED BY BENBOW,
CASTLE-STREET, LEICESTER-SQUARE; AND SOLD BY ALL

BOOKSELLERS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM.

Entered at Stationer's Hall.

!

PREFACE.

We have long accustomed ourselves to talk of the enormous incomes of the ci-devant French priests; of the immense ecclesiastical revenues of Spain; and to revile the people of these countries as superstitious and priestridden; but let us only turn our eyes to the PROTESTANT CHURCH OF IRELAND, AS AT PRESENT ESTABLISHED-look at the FACTS which I will place beyond all doubt or explanation, as recorded in Parliament, in the hand-writing of the Right Reverend the Bishops, in the course of last year; and we shall be compelled to confess there is no picture bearing a resemblance to this, in the CABINET OF THE WORLD.

In the year 1817, when the proposal of allowing the English Clergy to lease their tythes, was before Parliament, I took the trouble gratuitously of preparing for the consideration of the House of Commons, a “simple equation of tythes," in which the twelve following propositions were maintained upón documentary evidence:

1st. That by the original institution of Tythes for the maintenance and

support of the Christian Church in England, they were to be applied, 1st, for the building of churches; 2dly, for the relief of the poor; 3dly, the expense of government by Bishops; and, 4thly, the salaries of the officiating parsons.

2d. The subsequent appropriation of this property by one of our Kings,

(Henry VIII.) at his own will to his own use.

3d. The absolute and entire right of disposal of this species of property, as not merely claimed, but really exercised by Parliament, who forcibly took it from the possessors, and gave it to another set of persons, on condition of their subscribing to thirty-nine articles of faith, which had