The Church Rate, by Benjamin Richings 62004 [Subtitle: a dialogue between a Churchman and a Dissenter] [Link: http://www.gutenberg.org/6/2/0/0/62004 ] [Files: 62004-0.txt; 62004-h.htm] For those wishing to know: this Anglican pamphlet from the 19th century was written against the dissenting groups (e.g. Methodists) who complained that they had to pay a "church rate" to fund the Church of England, but were of a different religious group. The matter was a source of great argument, particulary around 1836 when Parliament unsuccesfully tried to abolish church rates. The arguments for it (which is what the pamphlet puts forward) weren't that strong and you have to wonder if the writer really thought he had a good case. As a side point: the Rev. Benjamin Richings possibly put one or more of my ancestors in the poor house! All the best, David Overcast England