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narrow fragment of the Church tower. The living is in the gift of Magdalene College, Cambridge : it is a Rectory, and a sinecure. Mr Dodd was appointed thereto in 1812, and held it until his decease: on his preferment the following comments appeared :—
"On reference to the 'blue book,' containing the ' Report of the Commissioners appointed by Her Majesty to inquire into the Ecclesiastical Revenue of England and Wales, 1835,'—(page 266) we find the Rev. P. S. Dodd reported as being appointed the Rector of this place in 1812. The patron of the parish is Magdalene College, Cambridge. There is ' no dwelling-house.' The Church is ' in ruins.' The annual gross average income is £300, out of which payments were made of £6 a year, leaving Mr Dodd in possession of a net income of £294. Mr Dodd was also Rector of Penshurst in Kent, the patron of which is Sir I. S. Sidney. The population of Penshurst is 1499. It has one Church, which holds 450 persons. This living is a Rectory, to which Mr Dodd was appointed in 1819, and the gross income of it is £820 a year ; yearly payments deducted, £54, and £100 a year for a curate, leaving a net income of £666 to Mr Dodd, which added to the £294 a year from Aldrington, gave him a clear income of £960 a year. Mr Dodd is just deceased, and the living of Aldrington, therefore, is vacant. Now, without an inhabitant, without a Church, without a clergyman, clerk, or congregation, what is to be done with the £300 a year ? What will its patron, Magdalene College, Cambridge, do with it ? Is another clergyman to be appointed to receive the £300 a year ? without duties to perform ! a pastor without a cure of souls! a shepherd without a flock ! How far do the powers of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners extend ? Can they interfere in a matter of this kind, now that the parish is without an incumbent ? The £300 a year is, we suppose, derived from the tithes, which the landlord, be he who he |
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