The Sun. — London, England, 1837-03-04 00:00:00

I) , ,Jerty.—( Hear, hear, bear. ) This authority may not have weight with gentlemen opposit e , b ut i t i s one on wh i ch I rely— it is th at of Lord Spencer.--( Hear, and cheers.) The case tee make out is this, that we give a new value to the existing Church leases, and I contend that we have a right to apply the funds derived from this new value as Church-rates. —( Loud cries of Hear, hear,.) I have the authority of Lord Spencer for this —that Noble Lords, in 1833, in introducing this measure, said that "even those who declared that it was unjust to interfere with the revenues of the Church, agree, that if by an Act of Parliament a new value is given to benefices, it does not properly belong to the Church, and the amount raised by it ought to be appropriated to the State." That was said by Lord Spencer. In introducing his Bill he said that " those gentlemen who th ought it was unjust to interfere !vith Church property agreed to the proposition." But, Sir, I have now another authority on the subject—that of my Noble Friend opposite —nay, he goes beyond what I contend f o r.— (pear.) M y proposition is not that you should apply the su r .. Pius to the purposes of the State generally, but to the purposes of Church -rates; but my Noble Friend has gone further, he litaintains the doctrine that it should be applied to the other purposes of the State, and therefore let it not be said that my plan interferes with and is inimical to the Church and to the Property of the Establishment, for it is founded on principles more moderate than those of my Noble Friend, whose attach recut to the Established Church has never been questioned.— ( Hear.) My Noble Friend, in proposing the Irish Church Te Mporalities Act, proposed to increase the value of Church P's'oPerty, but proposed to devote it to State purposes; whereas Nye propose to devote it to purposes that are entirely definite. He said that the land should be subject to a corn rent, and that the Bishop or the tenant should not have the power to alter the arrangement. He also asked to whom it should go. lie was replying to the Right Hon. Baronet, the Member for Tamworth. The Right Hon. Baronet said—to the Church. 1 say —to the State.—( Loud cheers.) I say it is not compe tent for my Noble Friend to object to the principle we pro- Pose. He may not agree in our plan—he is not bound to assent to it ; but then he is not at liberty to say we violate any principle when we propose to increase the value of the land, and then apply it, not to the State but to the Church. The Bishops, the Noble Lord then said, could not grant leases for more than 21 years, the value of which was about 21 years' purchase. If you pass an Act which increases the value of the leases to the extent of 8 or 9 years, are y o u to give that increased value to the Church, or should you not rather when, by an Act of the Legislature, you in crease the value, give the benefit of it to the State by ap plying it to secular purposes? I use the high name and the great authority of the Noble Lord, not for the purpose of throwing any difficulty in his way. I admit there is a diffe rence between the cases of England and Ireland, and no doubt I will be told so, but Lst us hear that argument when the Irish Church Bill is under consideration. I repeat I do not use the high character of the Noble Lord, and the Weight of his authority, for the purpose of annoying him ; but to meet the charge and the gross invectives brought against us out of doors that we are actuated by a spirit prejudicial to the Established Church. I contend this is strictly an Ecclesias tical p ur p ose . N ow , i n t h at di scuss i on , t h e H on. Bart., the Member for Tamworth, said he would not object to appropriate a part of the revenues of the Church to what were strictly ec clesiastical purposes. I therefore have the authority of both the Noble Lord and the Right Hon. Baronet, for my line of argument. lam not about to refer to historical facts, or to detain the House by quoting from antiquarian lore ; but to those who love antiquity, I say look at the times of Queen Elizabeth. She wished for funds for the repair of a cathedral—what did she do ? Why, she at once went to the Clergy, and by pretty severe taxation upon the Clergy, she laid down the principle that the Church must contribute to its own repairs.—( Cheers.) Again, in the time of Charles the Second a vast number of the leases of Church lands had run out in the time of the Commonwealth, and a great mass of property in the shape of fines was undoubtedly the property of the clergy of that day. The Church had an undoubted right, fairly and honestly, to these fines—the lessees were fairly entitled to the re ?;wal of their leases. But did either - of them get it ? "10, not one of them. Part of the money was taken for re -building St. Paul's, and a great portion of the money Was certainly diverted from ecclesiastical purposes.—( Hear.) Then again, as to the lessees, so far from any preference being given to them, the lessees, who have suffered for their King and their Church, were, I am sorry to say, set aside, and the hew incumbents looked merely to the land, and set aside all the obligations of others.—( Hear, hear.) Before I sit 'lown I will take the liberty of referring to an authority on this subject, well worthy the consideration of the ,House. It w ill b e urged that the p e titi ons w hi c h h ave °cell presented, praying for the abolition of Church-rates are entitled to less weight than I think they ought to have • but I find I have an authority on t hi s su bj ect, one of the dignitaries of the Church-_a Gentleman of great learning and eminence in the University in which he lived. I allude to Dr. Burton, late Regius Professor in the Uni versity of Oxford—he says with respect to Church -rates, that he thought it hard that persons not Members of the Church of England should be obliged to pay for the repair of a p l ace o f worship i n w hi c h t h ey too no part. At the close of his report he says " that the payment of Church-rates by Dissenters ought to be abolished, if they deem it to be a grievance to their conscience to pay them." I have therefore the authority of the Regius Professor of Oxford for the course I am pur suing. I will just say one word in explanation before I sit down. if the alternative fails, viz, of converting the leases into perpetuities, I have another mode of raising the Money. I propose that we should have the power, if these funds be deficient, of advancing from the Treasury upon the security of the Church lands, repayable out of' the Church lands, just as if the advance had been made to any public body, such sum as should be adequate to the deficiency. !I believe that power will not be wanted.—( Hear, hear.) , do not b e li eve it w ill b e necessary i n the slightest degree ; but I know perfectly well how our argument would be dealt with if 1 had not this power. I know it would have been S aid, all your calculations are matter of doubt and uncertainty__ we won't leave it to them, because they will leave the provision for th e Ch urch depen d ent upon a cont i ngency. I think I l 'ave proved to demonstration that I have the means of meeting every necessity, but if I should be wrong, an d i t s h ou ld b ecome euisite to make an advance from the T reasury, i n order to give peace to the country and peace to the Church, it is but right that that principle should be adopted. I thank the House rpost sincerely for the attention they have paid me.--( Cheers. ) know the statement I have made has been extremely Irksome to listen to. I have endeavoured to make it as plain 44 _ 1 Possibly cou ld.—( Cheers.) Ther e are many who might os h ila Y they had heard no argument at all ; b ut , f or t h e pur e of avoiding misconception out of doors, I have thought rt.ecessary to go thus fully into the matter.—( will not allow Gentlemen who are inclined to supportme—l ll tWhi not allow my Colleagues in the Government—t o be open to de pi imPutation that the plan which I have int ro d uce d i s to e God of his honour, or the poor of their rights.— (Tremendous cheers. ) The measure is founded on the most Aconscientious regard to the interests of religion. I h ave s h own Ihe Dissenter that it will give him a full and eff ec t ua l re li e f, °1 t , 1 . 1 I have s h own to t h e persons w h o h ave l ent their money, eat their rights will be protected, and that the debts of the I t 3 „ ar ties will be adequately secured. I have done this ; but high"ohas been necessary to fortify myself with ii, authorities, to refer to names that I never al ti;"„e to. and which never ought to be alluded to for po ' s _ Purposes of taunt or vituperation ; but for the pur e of thereby supporting my own argument by the t i o of their authority, and the arguments they advance. I har "°Pe we shall approach this subject without a contentious or tY feeling, and consider it simply on its own merits. Sir, I don't quarrel with the course suggested he other night t i 3; th e Right Hon. Nlember for Tarnworth ; It rather rejoice Plan after the resolution has been read, and the ex- In ' i tu .ation given, people should have an opportunity of exa thth_nleg their details —that there should not be a cry raised at we have forgotten the lessees—that we have forgotten or e Church it se lf— t h at we have disregarded the claims .Chubth h e Dissenters, these circumstances, or overlooked our obligations to the will Under I rejoice that time be afforded for the full consideration of the question. At p r esent, I k now t h at i t is difficult to follow a s t a t e ment lik e Mine, even if it had been made in a very different manner. full w -2 l ear, hear.) It embraces a vast variety of matter on n° Hen: Member could wisely pledge himself without conthani,isideration, and I shall conclude by humbly and earnestly listenendg the House for the very kind manner in which it has to r oe . The (Loud and continued cheeri ng .) Resolution, was then read by the CHAIRMAN as follow s : " That it is the opinion of this Committee that, for the re-,. pair and maintenance of parochial Churches and Chapels England and 'Wales, and the due celebration of divine therein, a permanent and adequate provision be made wo outo p f an ised value given to Church lands, by the introductiono,., of anew system of management, and by the application of the Proceeds of pew-rents, the collection of Church-rates ceasing altogether from a day to be determined by law ; and, that in order to facilitate and give early effect to this Resolution, the C ommissi oners of his Majesty's Treasury be authorized to make a dvance s on the securit _ and repayable out of th e p ro d u ce, of S uch Ch urch lands." Y' Mr. HUME understood from the Right Hon. Gentleman's statement that Church -rates should hereafter :entirely cease. f f Q'''' ' he wi s h e d to know what would be done where arrears o ormere r ates were still outstanding ? bad Th C HANCELLOR of tile EXCHEQUER said he explained this fully. Where a rate was outstanding, it W a . to be rai se d by a new levy on the parish, to be collected Wlth the Poor -rates. Mr. HU ME said that would be a compulsory payment. 1 , The ATTORNEY -GENERAL explained that it was not 1, Mr. a rate imposed by the King's Bench which was compulsory but, in the case of a rate levied by the Vestry, it should be With the consent of a majority of the parishioners. Sir E. INGLIS was fully sensible of the disadvantages und er which he rose after t h e speech just delivered by his Right Hon. Friend. Th ere were some points in that speech in which he fully concurred, and there were others upon which no widely differed from him. His Right Hon. Friend had stated as one of his propositions that under no circumstances Would he consent to a separation between Church and State 1 this country. He ( Sir R. Inglis) confessed he was glad to Merithave the authority of his Right Hon. Friend for this state , because, although he believed that these were his indi v,ln 1 sentiments, yet it was satisfactory to have this public rat claration upon the subject, inasmuch as it must be regarded ,s ad pledge on the part of Government that they would - never I l e i ti s i . h •r sanctions to such a mea sure. --(Hear.) Another of Right too Friend's propositions was, that he would never ceonsent he voluntary principle. This declaration also, voeming as it did from the representative of his INlajesty's Go rnment, met his warm probation His third Go ners t , hat the poor should a n p ot be denied access to the benefits proposition t,f_.the religion of their country, and in none of his Right Hon.. “lentl's propositions did be more cordially concur than in that.—( Hear.) He, fourthly, relied on the immense import ance of the subject, and he stated that the evils of the exist ing system were undeniable. Now, he (Sir R. Inglis) was not disposed to deny the existence of evils ; but it by no means followed that he must therefore approve the remedies which the doctor had proposed. He for one could never approve a remedy which must lead to the destruction of all Government, ecclesiastical and civil—a remedy founded on this principle, " Resist the law, and the law must yield to you."—(Hear, hear.) He was not opposed to modifications and improvements of the existing laws, but he never could admit resistance to a law as ground for repealing it.—( Hear.) But, even admitting, for a moment, for the sake of argument, the validity of the doctrine laid down by his Right Hon. Friend, he begged to ask whether the resistance of a small minority of the nation (for the proportions were as one to one hundred) would justify, even on his oNn• grounds, the adoption of his measure ? ( Hear, hear.) His Right Hon. Friend had referred to the case of Sheffield, where he said the rate had been extinguished ; but did not this only go to prove the necessity of adopting the recommendation contained in the report of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, by giving a more summary power for its en forcement ? It could not have escaped the memory of his Right Hon. Friend that there was a period (during the great rebellion) when this rate was enforced on the principle recom mended in that report, and that the plan had been found suc cessful in its operation. His Right Hon. Friend had expressed a hope that no unfair opposition should be resorted to by the op ponents of his plan, and that he should not be met with a cry of " The Church in danger." He begged, however, to ask his Right Honourable Friend if he had read the petitions presented to that House by the opponents of Church-rates; and whether those petitioners did not state, unequivocally, their hostility to the . Church as an Establishment, and that their objection was, not to the amount of Church -rates, but to the principle ?—( Hear, hear.) The measure of his Right Hon. Friend went to destroy the nationality of the Church Establishment of E ng l an d, b ecause i t would be no longer a Church supported by the nation at large, but by a particulur sect.—( Hear, hear.) He now begged the attention of the House to the authority on which Church-rates hitherto rested. Church-rates must be considered an estate held by the Church, founded on a better and more ancient title than any other de scription of property whatsoever, and he (Sir IL Inglis) held that the rights of the Church to impose a rate for the repairs of the Churches, and the maintenance of proper temples for the celebration of religious worship, was older than the rights and privileges of the House of Commons itself.—( Hear, hear.) He also maintained that there was not an estate or house in England, which was not bought or sold subject to Church-rates. How, then, could any man who purchased property, with a full knowledge that it was subject to this charge, now set up a plea of conscientious scruples against payment of the rates ; and he put it to Hon. Gentlemen, whether such a plea could be consistent with common sense or common honesty ?—(flear, hear.) It was well known that when an auctioneer put up a house or land for sale, he always enumerated the Church-rate amongst the taxes and encum brances with which the property was burdened ; and what difference, he would ask, was there between this and any other description of mortgage ?—( Hear.) Let not, therefore, op position to Church-rates be put on religious grounds, or let not the plea of conscientious scruples be set up against them. Such an objection was, on the face of it, to say the least, un reasonable ; and he trusted the House would not on such a ground consent to a measure which must have the effect of placing the Church in jeopardy, and compromising its in terests as a national Establishment. His Right Hon. Friend had stated that it was not his intention to adopt either of the propositions of placing the burden of Church-rates on the Clergy or the Consolidated Fund, although he had reserved to himself the latter alternative in case of the failure of' his pre sent plan. But must not his Right Hon. Friend know that the conscience of the Dissenter would still be violated if he placed the burden on the Consolidated Fund, the objection, as he before stated, being, not to the amount, but to the prin ciple? The Dissenters would, therefore, be compromised if one-sixteenth of a farthing of the impost was continued in any shape.—( Hear, hear, hear.) There was one point referred to in the plan of his Right Hon. Friend which, although of minor importance, ought not to be overlooked. He alluded to the renewal of leases. Now he ( Sir R. Inglis) did ,not mean to contend that those leases were entitled to renewals, but, having held this property for so many years as to give it almost the semblance of real estate, he thought that claims of this nature were deserving of some consideration —( Hear, hear.) There was another point of minor importance (if any could be said to be so,) to which he deemed it necessary to advert. His Right Hon. Friend proposed that this fund should be paid to the Commissioners, and not to the existing functionaries. This, in his judgment, also tended to destroy the nationality of the Church, and must be productive of most injurious results. His Right Hon. Friend, however, considered the measure a great boon to the Church, but it would be very difficult to convince him that it would give it that increased stability which his Right Hon. Friend so confi dently anticipated.—( Hear, hear.) He believed that a large number of the Dissenters themselves were opposed to this mea sure. He had himself presented a petition signed by all the Dissenters of a parish except one in favour of Church-rates, and none of the parties whose signatures had been attached to that petition had any conscientious scruples against them. The Right Hon. Baronet then adduced the authority of Matthew Henry, to show that in the opinion of Dissenters " the Church should be maintained notwithstanding Church corruption." He objected to the principle on which the measure was founded —a principle which was simply this, " Resist the law, and the law must yield to you." If such a principle as this were sanc tioned by the House, it would soon extend to the payment of rent, and every other species of legal obligation, and it would be difficult to say where the evil would stop. He, therefore, warned the House to interfere in time, and prevent the con sequence which the recognition of so dangerous a principle must lead to.—( Cheers. ) Mr. GA LL Y KNIGHT rose to express his astonishment at the measure of spoliation introduced by the Right Hon. Gentleman the Chancellor of the Exchequer. He was far from saying that things should remain as they were. He had always been anxious to relieve his Dissenting brethren from any grievances under which they laboured ; but, at the same time, he never could go the length of saying that it was not the duty of' the State to provide for the religious education of the people.—( Hear, hear.) He thought that if there should be found any surplus it ought to be devoted to the augmen tation of small benefices, and that any other appropriation would not be consistent with common honesty.—( Hear, hear.) Lord Althorp had been far o ut s t e pp c d y by his col leagues, as was clearly shown by the mearure of the Right lion. Gentleman, and it was clear that the present Govern ment were determined to advance with fearless intrepidity. Government should act between contending parties in the cha racters of umpires and not of partisans. To exhibit a reci procity all on one side was not the becoming course which a ' Government should pursue.—( Hear, hear.) Mr. L ENNA RD heard the proposition of the Right Hon. the Chancellor of the Exchequer with unqualified satisfaction, and hailed it as a measure calculated to put an end to the pa rochial strifes and hearthurnings which existed to a far greater degree than the Right Hon. Baronet the Member for Oxford seemed willing to admit. indeed, many of those attached to the Establishment were opposed to the present system of Church -rates, and would hail this proposition as a measure rendered necessary for the safety of the Church itself. The Hon. Gentleman then quoted from one of Mr. Fox's speeches to show that the system of Church-rates struck at the very root of toleration, and continued to argue that even for the adherents of the Established Church it was most desirable that some adjustment of this question should immediately take place. The proposed measure was, in his opinion, the very best which could be adopted, and it was one which he thought would have been received by Hon. Gentlemen with far greater favour than it had met with. Mr. GO RING then rose on the Ministerial side of the House, and said—Sir, it is with extreme reluctance that I find myself compelled, on the present occasion, in opposition to those Gentlemen I generally find myself able to support; but considering that in the measure now brought forward, not withstanding the manner in which the Right Hon. Gentleman has varnished his tale, a most unjust aggression is made on Church property, and that I am called upon to make a sacri fice of principle to expediency—( Hear)—l shall not one mo ment hesitate. lam anxious, as far as possible, to relieve the Dissenters from any real grievances, but will never consent to do it to the injury of the Established Church.—( Hear.) I supported the measure brought forward in 1834 by Lord Spen cer, because I thought it would relieve the Dissenters from those grievances of which they complain with justice, and pro vide for the prover maintenance of the Established Church. By the present proposition you are depriving the Established Church of one source of emolument without giving any ade quate equivalent except from its own resources—(Hear)—in fringing on that alliance which exists, and which I trust will „„. never be dissolved, between Church and State.--(Loud cheers.) Ido not think the Church possesses much more than an adequate sum for its support, and that the money you now take is required to afford a more sufficient maintenance to the working clergy ; and i❑ this argument I am borne out by the speech of the Right lion. Gentleman—(Cheers)—and, therefore, I cannot consent that it should be applied in lieu of Church-rates to enable you to give, however you may disclaim it, what I consider a first instalment to those who advocate the voluntary principle..—( Loud cheers, ) Mr. PLUMPTRE could not agree with the Hon. Member for Maldon in his estimate of this measure. If the House were to grant this, where was the guarantee that those who called for the extinction of Church-rates would not go still further in their demands ?—( Hear, hear.) If a conscientious objection on the part of the Dissenters were deemed a sufficient ground for doing away with Church -rates, why might not the same objections be considered as of equal weight when urged against tithes ?—( Hear, hear.) Indeed, the speech of the Right Hon. the Chancellor of the Exchequer wculd seem to give countenance to a resistance of any and of every tax.— ( Hear, hear.) The Right Hon. Baronet the Member for the University of Oxford showed from the petitions which had been presented against Chnrch-rates, that the petitioners did not intend to rest there, but went to the very root of a Church Establishment. The Hon. Gentleman then, in furtherance of this view, proceeded to read an extract from a letter which appeared in a provincial newspaper, and, as we understood, from a Dissenting Clergyman ; but the extract was read in so low a tone, that we could not catch a single sentence. As well as we could collect it, the substance was, that national establishments were greatly injurious to the propagation of true religion. From this and other circumstances, it was evident that not the abolition of Church-rates, but the abolishion of the Established Church itself was the object in view. Mr. AG LIONBY merely rose to put one or two questions to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, as it was necessary that the measure should be as fully understood by the country as possible. He wished, first, to know whether in the calcula tions made by Mr. Finlayson, or by Government, any dif ference was made as to the leases held under Bishops and those held under Deans and Chapters; for, as he understood the Right Hon. Gentleman, he thought he heard him say that, though there was no legal, there was a sort of moral right to renewal on the part of the lessees of such property. Had the Right Hon. Gentleman adverted to the fact tint there might be instances in which a young Bishop would run his life against a lease, whilst, with respect to the leases of Deans and Chap ters, there was almost always a moral certainty of the leases being renewed, as there would be always one or two old per sons whose interest it would be to renew them. The marketable title, then, of one species of this property was higher than that of the other. He would also wish to know whether they were to be estimated by their new value or on an average of time, as was done with regard to tithes. He also wished to know whether it was intended to make any regulations as regarded improvements, in the same way as was done in the Irish measure of four years since. There were instances of persons who had in short intervals expended thousands upon renewals of leases, in which case, by the Irish measure, allowances were to be made. He would also ask whether it was not the intention of Government to allow some time—he would not ask for a large extension, but a reasonable time--fur the propositions contained in the measure to circu late through the country. There was, especially in the county with which he was conversant, a large portion of property of the description to which he had alluded, and it would be de sirable to allow time for Members to communicate with their constituents upon the subject. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said with regard to the first question, it was the intention to deal as equally as possible with both species of property. As to the second question, relative to allowances, it would be difficult to give an answer without going more into detail than would at present be advisable. The principle which it was intended to go upon would be such as would make it the interest of the lessee to conform to it. He could not say that the condition of the Irish measure would be introduced. As regarded the question of time, the best way would be to resume the Com mittee on Friday next, when, if the House agreed to the reso lution, the Bill would be printed and circulated. Mr. GOULBURN said it was important, even to those who acquiesced in the principle of the measure--he, however, was not one—to know what its principle exactly was. If he understood his Right Hon. Friend it was proposed to divest the Archbishops and Deans and Chapters of their properties in Church lands, and vest them in a Commission, and to make provision for giving them annuities equivalent to the full value of the lands when they ran out of lease. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER—Quiteso. Mr. GOULBURN—There was another point. Was he correct in supposing that the proposition was to give to parties during their existing interests all the powers which they at present possessed of making leases? The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER—No; it only referred to existing Bishops, who are to have either that or the alternative of a fixed income. If they choose to sub stitute liens without leases their whole receipts would be con tinued as now. Mr. G OULBURN—The calculations will affect Deans and Chapters more than Bishops. These latter grant leases on their own lives only, and the provision with regard to them may he more easily delayed. In the interim out of what funds are they to be paid, and how are the Church-rates to be provided for ? The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER was under stood to say that funds for this purpose would be provided by the falling in of leases and the sale of annuities ; and if these were found insufficient, which he did not apprehend, any de ficiency could be made up from the Consolidated Fund, on the security of the Church lands. Mr. G OULB URN wished further to know whether it was proposed to take from the trustees of bequests in particular places, the government of the funds for the repair and erection of churches which they were appointed to manage, and vest the property in the hands of the Commission, to be appointed to general purposes? The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER was glad that the question had been distinctly put, as it had been ad verted to by the Right Hon. Member for Oxford University. Nothing could be more unjust than that parochial estates, de vised for local purposes, should be seized and applied to ge neral ones. It was desirable, however, that there should be a power of general superintendence, as, for instance, it would be right that a Bishop, aware of a fund intended for local pur poses, should have' authority to see that it was properly applied before any additional grant was made from the general fund. —( Hear, hear.) This was the only extent to which it was proposed to empower the Commission. It had never entered into his mind otherwise to interfere with bequests intended for purely local purposes. Colonel SIBTHORP wished to know the amount of salary which was to be given to the paid Commissioners. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said it would be necessary to have three paid Commissioners in Lon don, and he was anxious that the salary should be fixed at the lowest possible amount. The salary was a matter over which he wished the House should have controul, as it could decide in proportion to the manner in which the duties should be per formed.--( Hear. Colonel' SIBtHORP was understood to express himself not satisfied with the answer. Mr. RIC HA RD S observed that the copyholds on lives had not been alluded to, and wished to know how they wcre to be affected. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said that a reference to the report would show that this did not properly enter into the computation. They formed a distinct branch. Mr. HUME approved of the Ministerial measure. He dif fered from the proposition made four years ago by Earl Spencer, which went to throw the Church-rate on the Conso lidated Fund. It was only continuing the same rate in an other form, which still rendered Dissenters liable to the pay ment of it. The Hon. Gentleman the Member for East Kent (Mr. Plumptre) thought that the present would not prove a healing measure, whilst he thought, on the con trary, that it would be most so. It was most unjust, he thought, towards the Dissenters, to make them support" the fabric of the Church, and he considered the. Church would be the better for being left free to support itself.—( Hear.) It had been used as an argument against the abolition of Church-rates, that the Dissenters would, on obtaining it, demand ulterior measures. Nov,it was most unfair to deny what was just in con sequence o f ultimate intentions. He had been present at a meeting of four hundred delegates from the country, seeking to obtain this relief; and he could assure the House, from what had there transpired, that the Dissenters had no intention of pressing further claims at the present moment.—(Loud cries of " Hear, hear," and " Oh, oh," from the Opposition.) Yes, he said at the present mo ment ; for he did not know what change might take place in opinion.—( Renewed cries.) In these days of change he should not be at all surprised at the Right Hon. Baronet the Member for Tamworth, if he was sitting on that side of the House, bringing forward measures of reform, outdoing and outstripping all that had hitherto been done.—( Hear, hear, and laughter.) What had been called the rights of the Church was the right that the clergy had of putting their hands into the pockets of Dissenters. He thought that the measure would be the means of putting an end to this, of the differences existing in the country, and assuage the hostility now entertained in the country against the Established Church. The Dissenters were nearly equal to the members of the Establishment.—(Cries of " Oh," and " No.") He would be perfectly satisfied, on a proper opportunity, to come to the discussion on that point. He looked upon the tax as a mark of degradation. With respect to the present measure, there was only one point upon which he was not clear. He did not think it was just that when a debt existed in a parish, which had been raised on the credit of Church-rates, the debt which might remain for 30 or 40 years to come should be paid by the Dissenters. He thought it should be paid out of the property of the Church. He believed that in the Bill brought forward by Lord Spencer this was provided for.—(Cries of ' 6 No.") Whether it was so or not was no matter, if it were just. The lion. Member concluded by expressing his hope that the measure would be passed triumphantly, and that it would con tribute to the peace of every parish. Sir E. KNATCHBULL asked some question with respect to pew rent which we did not distinctly hear, to which The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER thought the Bill itself, when printed, would give the best explanation; but that the gravamen of the whole plan was to give greater accommodation, and particularly to the poor. Mr. JAMES expressed his entire approbation of the plan. Mr. FOSTER was fearful that the plan proposed as re lated to the claims upon the Church-rates by different pa rishes would be a constant source of contention. Lord Spen cer, in 1834, had placed those charges upon the Consolidated Fund. her for Liverpool, that it infringed on the rights of the poor. If the Noble Lord had said that it infringed on Church pa tronage, or on the means of making provision in the Church for younger scions of the aristocracy, he would have said what was nearer to the truth. If the Dissenters were satisfied with the measure in his (Mr. Gillon's) opinion the Church had every reason to be so to. Air. TENNYSON D'E YNCOURT expressed his full concurrence in what had fallen from his Hon. Colleague, both in regard to the measure as it stood, and the improvements which might be effected in it by making the surplus available for the discharge of debts contracted in erecting new churches generally. He trusted that the Chancellor of the Exchequer would give it his best consideration. The measure proposed by Lord Spencer had a provision to that effect in it ; and in his opinion the measure of the Right Hon. Gentleman would be incomplete if it were not included in it also. Mr. PALMER said that the object of his Majesty's Minis ters in the measure before the House, as well as in every other measure affecting the Church which they proposed, was the degradation of the Establishment, and the affirmation of a prin ciple of liberalism in religion throughout the whole country. One of its consequences would be to convert the high digni taries of the Church into mere State pensioners. Every mea sure of the kind was calculated to destroy true religion in the country. Sir R. PEE L—l have not the slightest wish to enter into any discussion of the details of this measure, because I think it better to reserve all discussion until a period when some practical result can arise from it. In the intervening time op portunity will be afforded of considering the details of the plan, which, I must confess, I do not think by any means so simple as they appear to have been found by the Hon. Mem ber opposite. Mr. T. DUNCOMBE (across the House)--I said the principles, not the details. Sir R. PEE L--But as I do not think that the present op portunity should be let pass I shall just make an observation or two on a few of the details, in the hope that they may have the effect of calling public attention more pointedly to the general measure. I fully concur with the proposition laid down by the Right Hon. the Chancellor of the Exchequer as to the necessity of an Established Church in this kingdom. With the principle I have no fault whatever to find : my only doubt on the subject is in regard to the measure as a whole— that is, whether it be a practicable measure or not. The Right Hon. Gentleman repudiated the voluntary principle ; and he further observed, that he thought it as incumbent on the State to support an Established Church as it was to sup port an army or a navy. With the kiln proposition of the Right Hon. Gentleman in this respect I also agree. But what is the inference to be deduced from his words ? " It is Lord SA ND ON said, that the declaration of the Hon. Member for Middlesex, as to what might be the future inten tions of the Dissenters, which he gathered from tho four hun dred delegates, was calculated to destroy the little satisfaction be had experieuced from the speech of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Those future intentions he could only suppose to be a determination not to rest until the Established Church was removed. The Right lion. the ChanceitOrOitheEx chequer had asserted that this measure for the abolition of Church-rates was nothing more than giving a privilege to pa rishes to tax themselves. Now, he would appeal to the lion. and Learned Gentleman opposite the Member for the Tower Hamlets (Dr. Lushington)—himself a Judge—whe ther the debt of 800,0001. could have been created if this were the case ? How could such an amount be raised on such a sandy and insecure foundation ? He looked upon Church-rates differently. They were always reckoned in purchasing an estate, and were an ancient bur then on the land of the country. The Dissenters might no longer consent to pay them ; and although he would willingly remove all heartburnings upon the subject he did not think it deSirable to proceed in the way proposed. He said this more especially when he looked at the Report of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, among whom were sonic of the members of his Majesty's Government, where it was declared that the sup port to the Church was inadequate on a fair estimate. And yet this resource of Church -rates was cut from under the Establishment, while it was stated that no population under .500 were worth attention, and that for above that amount a as incumbent on the State," he says, "to provide a religious establishment for the community as it is to provide an army or a navy for their defence." What, I say, is the inference to be drawn from the Right Hon. Gentleman's words ? The moment you agree to that principle you completely exclude any thing like a conscientious view of the case —you banish it from consideration altogether. It is never inquired of indivi duals what their private views are of the policy or expe diency of peace or war ? They are called on to give their share of the tax imposed on them and asked nothing further, neither arc their objections any more heeded. If it is equally incumbent on the State to support a Church Establishment as it is to support an army for the prosecution of that war, so is it equally just, and right, and proper that it should be in cumbent on all classes to support one as well as the other.— (Hear, hear.) This is the only fair inference which can be drawn from the Right Hon. Gentleman's observations. The Right Hon. Gentleman also said that it was incumbent on the State to provide free sittings and Church accommodation generally for the poor. Does the measure ho has proposed effect those objects? It does not. Why? It formed a part of Lord Althor•p's measure on the subject of Church-rates. Oh, but the Right lion. Gentleman takes .credit to himself Clergyman should receive 2001. a year. 235,0001. was now the deficiency, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer proposed to squeeze out 130,0001. to meet it, leaving a deficiency of 100,0001. This was the existing number of parishes, and where were they to look for the means for supplying the defi ciency? Not, it appeared, from Parliament, but out of the revenue of the Church itself. lie could not allow a week to pass without protesting against this measure, which was to deliver up the dormant property of the Church to relieve scruples which his Majesty's Ministers themselves considered unreasonable, and to relieve the land of a burden which had existed from time immemorial. He was anxious for a settle- ment, but he did not consider himself bound to any settlement that might be proposed. Because he acquiesced in a propo sition of the sort a few years ago, it did not follow he should do the same with the present, for it was evident that he could not rely long on the forbearance of the Dissenters with respect to ulterior measures. Should the measure drop through this THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY, MARCH 4, W. , year, there was no certainty that the next principle advocated would be that there should be no Established Church. Lord HO WICK was quite willing to discuss the question; but he was particularly anxious to correct some misconceptions into which the Noble Lord had fallen. The Noble Lord had found fault with the description given by his Right Hon. Friend, of Church-rates giving the power to the people to tax themsclves.—( Lord Sandon here said something in expla nation.) If the people did not tax themselves, how came it that parishioners came to a vote in vestry, and had the power of refusing a Church-rate ? Was there any similarity in that to tithes? Could the farmers refuse the payment of tithes, and if they did, had not the clergy their remedy in a court of law ? The tithe of the Church was an ancient burden upon the land; but Church-rates were the ancient mode of the parishioners taxing themselves. " How could it be so," said the Noble Lord, " when there is a debt of 800,000/. ?" He would ask, in return, how could the people of this country—of England, Scotland, and Ireland—tax them selves, when they owed a debt of 800,000,0001. ? If the one debt existed, so might the other, and each on the same prin ciple of self-taxation. The Noble Lord, too, said that Church rates were always considered in the purchasing of land. No doubt they were, and if he were to go and hire a house in London, the first question he would ask would be what were the amount of the poor-rates, the Church-rates, and other taxes. So it was with land. The next point of which the Noble Lord complained was that the measure went to take away the dormant property of the Church, and thus deprived it of the only made by which it could be further extended by the augmentation of Church livings ; and in support of that he read several extracts from the report of the Church Com missioners. He (Lord Howick) was sorry that the Noble Lord had not sufficiently considered the question, for if had, he would have seen a few pages further on, in that very Report, that the Commissioners had suggested the means of applying the dormant property of the Church. He did not mean the Members of his Majesty's Government alone who were on that Commission, but also the Ecclesiastical members ; and that his Right Hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer had merely embodied these suggestions in his measure. The measure went not affect the capital of the Church, though it gave relief to the whole country. The Noble Lord had said that it only relieved the Dissenters, who formed but a small minority in the country, and that it was solely a concession to then clamours. The Noble Lord was mistaken. Such mo- tives had never actuated his Majesty's Ministers, though they were of course anxious to relieve all classes of their fellow-sub- jects. Their motive mainly was to relieve Churchman, as well as Dissenter ; and to strengthen and support the Church. Was the Noble Lord unaware of the fact that Churchmen were in many cases as much opposed to Church-rates as Dissenters ? Did he not know that, in the recent opposition to them at Manchester, a great number of Churchmen were concerned ? With those facts staring him in the face could the Noble Lord insist longer on his assertion, th a t th e measure was a conces sion to the clamours of the Dissenters, and that it would give relief only to a small minority in the country ? It was a sa crifice of nothing but those obstacles which stood in the way of the utility and effectiveness of the Church. In the amount of revenue applicable to the purposes of the Church, he ( Lord Howick) was bound to say that the Church itself would be materially benefitted. His Right Hon. Friend had made his calculations on a supposition so unfavourable to the country, and so favourable to the Church, that there was no manner of doubt that in the course of a very few years a large surplus would accrue, applicable to the extension of Church accommodation, and the increase of small livings, to both of which, like the Noble Lord, he (Lord Howick) attached no inconsiderable importance. Under these circumstances, he (Lord Howick) was quite willing that , the question should be debated on the distinct grounds of the good it would do to the Church. To the voluntary principle he expressed his most decided dis sent, and hi: attachment to the Established Church, which he believed rested on the affections of the people as a basis, was not, he trusted, less than that of the Noble Lord. So much for the Noble Lord's speech. With respect to the reply of his Right Hon. Friend on the subject of pew rents, which he believed had not been as well understood on the other side of the House as it was intended it should, he felt called on to say that in no case would it be proposed unless under the sanction of the Minister of the parish, and that it was princi pally intended for the regulation of the rents in those places when there were a great many pew lettings. Lord SANDON said a few words in explanation, which were inaudible in the gallery. Mr. E STCOURT expressed a hope that the rights of the poor would not be sacrificed in those parishes where the project of pew rents was to be applied. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER did not wish it to go forth to the country that even the probability of such was likely to occur. In that case, and in all others, there was a provision in the Bill which he hoped to be allowed to bring in for a sufficient number of free sittings, so far as the poor were concerned. Sir E. KNATCHBULL made an observation or two which were not heard in the gallery. Mr. T. DUNCOMBE said the principle of the measure was so simple and just, that he had no hesitation in thanking his Right Hon. Friend, on the part of his constituents, for it. That principle was one which he was sure all would approve of the Church revenues responsible for the repairs of the Church without charging them to the revenues of the country, or fixing them upon any one class of the people. The details of the measure were no doubt complicated ; but the plan was simply this—Church-rates were abolished for ever without doing an injustice to anybody. If the calculations were correct, the lessees of the Church, the only parties who could by possibility suffer in case of the worst, were likely to be placed in a better position than before. As to the Bishops, and Deans and Chapters, he (Mr. Duncombe) did not believe that they would be so sordid as to avail themselves of the ad vantages exposed by the Right Hon. Gentleman who moved the resolution in his speech to the Committee. With regard to the measure itself, he (Mr. Duncombe) should only repeat his conviction that it would meet with the universal approba tion of every farmer and householder in the kingdom—all of whom would be greatly benefitted by it. Mr. HAWES was not disposed to disparage the measure, and he wished he could give it the same unqualified appro bation as the Hon. Member for Finsbury. But he was bound to say that Church-rates would not be abolished by it in the borough which he represented. In that borough certain debts had been incurred over and above the estimated amount in the building of ne w churches. These were at present charged on the Poor-rate, and collected as part of it. Now if there were to be any surplus remaining he ( Mr. Hawes) would put in his claim for a share of it—(Laughter)—to re lieve these debts ; and he thought that that claim should have a preference over the extension of accommodation, or the aug mentation of small livings. With the single exception of that point, to which he begged to call the attention of the Chan cellor of the Exchequer, he fully approved of the measure; and was quite satisfied that the country would do the same, and be grateful for it also. Mr. GIL LON, on the part of the people of Scotland, ex pressed his satisfaction with the measure. It was based upon justice, and would have the effect of improving Church pro perty. He denied the assertion of the Noble Lord the Mem- for the difference between his measure and that of Lord Althorp. He says, " I abandon that part of Lord Al thorp's measure," though, be it remembered, it is entirely in unison with his proposition that the State should provide free sittings and Church accommodation, generally, for the poor; and he adds, "the groat merit:of my measure is, that the Church, and not the State, shall provide these requisites."— ( Hear, hear.) It is not my desire to create any undue pre judice against the measure on the part of the Church lessees, but I cannot help saying that I much doubt the accuracy of that statement of the Right Hon. Gentleman which goes to say that their interests will not alone be uninjured, but will, on the contrary, be benefitted by it. I take the subject on higher and broader grounds of objection, As it is according to the statement of the Right Honourable Gentleman, and the show ing of the ecclesiastical Commissioners, the Church lessees are the parties who will be mainly affected by the measure— they will have to bear the expense of it. Why should it be so ? Why are they alone to be burthened ? Why are the landholders of England at large to be exempt from this taxa tion ? I fully concur in the proposition of the Right Hon. Gentleman that the State should provide an Established Church, and all its appurtenants; but on what principle of justice or right, taking that proposition for granted, can the landholders of the country, who are themselves members of the Established Church, be exempted from supporting it ? By the measure of the Right Hon. Gentleman, the whole charge of supporting the Church will be thrown on the lessees —while those only will be relieved who, inheriting with their property the claim for the support of the Church, on the ex press understanding of discharging it, have therefore an un doubted right to do so.--( Hear.) I agree with the Right Hon. Gentleman that differences on the subject of Church-rates have arisen ; and I think with him that it is very unfor tunate that such things should have occurred. lam quite wil ling to lend myself to any plan which will have the effect cf making a satisfactory settlement of them. But there is something to be said on the other side also. Great dif ferences as to the principle of abolishing Church-rates exist . in many parts o f th e country. In the large towns, and in the suburban parishes, the population is, perhaps, generally opposed to them ; but in the vast mass of the , rural parishes— the entire agricultural population—the feeling is as strong, aye, stronger, in favour of their continuance. " Let us alone," they say, "do not touch us. We are content to remain as we arc, and as we have been." Not only do that important portion of the population not wish to be relieved from the payment of Church -rates, but I firmly believe that when they look on the gr ey t ower f the venerable fabric which rears its head above the graves of their fathers for many gene rations, when they see that building, associated in their minds with all that their simple lives know of pleasure—the plea sure of youth and innocence—in place of relieving tender consciences by abolishing the rate levied for its repair and sustainment you are absolutely offending them with your measure.—( Hear, hear.) In waiting for the mo ment of consideration when it shall be decided whether this charge is to be laid on the church lessees or not, if the conclusion be come to that we can extract 1.50,000/., or 160,0001. a year from them without detriment or injury to their interests, I shall then contend that there are prior claims for the application of that sum than that which arises out of the support of the fabric of the Church. I shall contend that the * increase of Church accommodation has the precedence; and I shall prove it by facts. In the diocese of Chester there are, according to the last report of the Commissioners, thirty eight parishes. The average population of each of these parishes is about 10,000, which makes the aggregate very nearly 380,000 souls. Yet in that diocese I find it stated there is only Church accommodation for 90,000 persons. Thus more than seven-eighths of the population of the diocese are abso lutely without Church accommodation. Again, in the diocese of York there are twenty parishes, the average population of which is 22,000 each, making an aggregate of 440,000 souls. Now, the Church accommodation in that diocese is only equal to forty thousand—being, or about, one-eleventh of the whole. Then, again, there is the diocese of Lichfield and Coventry. In that diocese there were sixteen parishes, with an average population to each of 10,000, and an aggregate population of 235,000, while 'there is only Church accommodation for 29,000.—(Cheers.) From what fund, let me ask, is this great deficiency in Church accommodation to be supplied ? If it can be proved to me that, without any deduction from the re venues of the Bishops, and without any injury or injustice to the lessees, the sum of 250,000/. a-year can be raised, how can the claims of those districts which I have named to better Church accommodation be neglected?—( Hear, hear, hear) — or if the accommodation cannot be afforded in this way, let me ask, from what other source is this deficiency to be supplied ? —( Hear, hear, hear.) I will not now enter further into this part of the subject, nor shall I now enter upon the justice of alloting pews and charging the affluent with a rent for their occupation. I hope, however, that this allotment of pews to the affluent alone is not to be understood as extending to the rural parishes, and that paupers alone are not the only persons who arc to be exempt from payment for a seat in the church. I hope that no rigid scrutiny will be instituted either into the legal right by which pews are held in rural parishes by farmers and other respectable parishioners.— ( Hear, and cheers.) I say this, because the Noble Lord said that a strict inquiry should be made into the title by which pews were held. It must have the effect of exciting great alarm in the minds of respectable farmers to learn that after their family pews have been possessed by their ancestors for centuries, the right by which they held them is now to be in quired into.—( Loud cheers.) Why, those persons have been accustomed to look upon their pews in their parish church as freeholds—(Cheers)—and nothing could excite in their minds a greater or stronger feeling of disgust than to have their right now dispute, or pew-rent charged upon them.— (Cheers.) I will not enter more into the subject at present than to say, that the first claim upon the fund of 250,000/. a year, should such a fund arise, is either to augment the small livings of 2001. a year, or to afford to the manufacturing dis tricts better church accommodation, when some eight or nine tenths of the population of those districts arc now without the means of attending to their religious duties.—( Cheers. ) Mr. BA IN E S did not disapprove of the general principles of the measure ; but the details, he thought, were open to much observation. The Right Hon. Baronet opposite had said that one-eight of the population of the diocese of York were without accommodation. Now he (Mr. Baines) lived in that diocese, and he did not think there was a town in it that had any reason to complain in that respect. The question was not how many there were in certain districts, but how many were disposed to go to church ? ( Hear.) He could not at all understand why the landed gentry were to be exempted by this measure from the charge of Church Rate, any more than the landed gentry of Ireland. He was really surprised at the comparison which the Chancellor of the Exchequer had made between the Church Establishment and the army' and navy, and also the observa- tions he made as to the volUntaryprinCiple Why, it was well known that:in America the voluntary principle prevailed as to the payment of the Clergy, but the army and navy were, notwith standing, paid by the State. It was dangerous to draw ana logies in argument which were not fit and aptly applied. The House then resumed. The CHAIRMAN reported progress, and asked leave to sit again on (as we understood) Friday next. DUTIES AT JAVA. Sir IL PEEL having been very mach pressed to ask a question of the Noble Lord the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, who was not then in his place, respecting the duties levied by the Government of Holland at Jaya, under the treaty of 1824, was desirous of knowing when it would be convenient that he should make this inquiry ? Mr. P. THOMSON said Monday next. SHERRIFFS' COURT (SCOTLAND). On the motion of the LORD ADVOCATE, the House resolved itself into a Committee. when certain resolutions were agreed to for granting compensation to officers connected with the Sheriffs' Court of Scotland, whose fees were about to be abolished. The House having resumed, Mr. FIE L DEN moved for certain returns connected with the regulation of factories, which were agreed to. The House again went into Committee, when The ATTORNEY-GENERAL moved a resolution, to the effect that the Treasury should be empowered to grant compensation, to be hereafter regulated, to the Marshal of the King's Bench, the Warden of the Fleet, and other Go- vernors of gaols who had their appointments by Parliament, or for life. After a desultory conversation, in which Sir R. Peel, Sir J. Graham, Mr. Hume, and the Attorney-Genera/ took part, the resolution was agreed to, with the understanding that a clause founded on it should be open to future discussion. The resolution having been reported to the House, Lord HO WICK gave notice that on Monday he should move that the Committee on the printed papers of the House should be allowed to report their opinion. Adjourned at Twelve o'clock. DOCUMENTS Read by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the course of his speech last night:— Sir R. Peel.—Feb. 12, 1833. " I am bound to say that I do not object to the appropriation of some portion of the revenue of the Church of Ireland to a purpose which I consider strictly ecclesiastical, and which I believe will tend to increase its utility. lam prepared—and lam now but repeating the opinions which I expressed in the last Parliament, if not in this House, at least in a place almost equally public—l am prepared, I repeat, to admit that I think no question relating to the settlement of the Church of Ireland can be satisfactory to that country, which does not go to place the vestry cess on a diffe rent footing." Lord Althorp. " In some instances, the vestry happen to be interested in it ; in others, the churLhw•arden for the time being causes improvements to be made in the church, because he wishes to hand down his name to succeeding ages; in other cases, some of the vestry may be tradesmen interested in the expenditure, which they will vote. From all these causes, and from others, all persons are agreed that the extravagance is great." Extract from Strype, and Life of Archbishop Parker. " In the year 1561 a tire happened in St. Paul's Cathedral, which burnt down the lofty spire, anti otherwise damaged the edi fice. The Queen, Elizabeth, resolved to have the damage speedily repaired. And what steps did the Queen take to effect this object? Being, as Strype observes, church-work, she reckoned the Bishop and clergy should especially be contributors thereto.' She sent a letter, therefore, to the Archbishop, that he should consult with the Bishops of his province, and the chief of the clergy, to devise among them some convenient way for collecting money from them for that use.' The Archbishop accordingly issued his order to the Bishop of London, and the other Bishops of his province, ` that they ehould contribute the twentieth part of their promotions in the diocese of London, and the thirtieth part elsewhere, with the ex ception of stipendiary curates and beneficed men, exempt by statute from first fruits, unless they should be brought to contribute by good persuasion of the Bishops, and to pay one-fortieth.' Some of the clergy being backward with their payments, Queen Elizabeth's Council issued a letter to the Archbishop, desiring him to collect the arrears, and informing him that `further orders would be taken if the clergy refused to pay. Such was the mode adopted by Queen Elizabeth for repairing St. Paul's." Memorandum on Crown Laws. " A memorial was presented to the Treasury in 1802 by the ,C ti 71 /," Crown lesseess, complaining of the discontinuan reirrevrals •on the • usual terms of the Crown land_ under the A kit V 94; The met e orialists stated that they 'should be doing i . 11 ;;tilt4r: selv e+; to renew their leases upon the terms requir w re - st lease for 31 years at five per cent. below the rack re pi othc.7and more beneficial channels of investing their prop 4 a themselves.'—( See Surveyor-General's Second Report, A Ar stract, p. 11. ) Thc memorial was signed by 111 persons, several of whom had pint interests (as is supposed), fur the total number of leases in whieh they were interested was only 85. " Those who refused to renew were Those who did renew were 54 Those whose property was purchased for Govern ment improvements were •••• ....... 18 ABOLITION OF CIIURCH-RATES BILL. The following are the Heads of a Bill for the Abolition of Church -rates : The land revenues of the Archbishops, Bishops, Deans, ayd Chapters, and separate estates of Canons anal Prebendaries, are to be managed by a Board of eleven Commissioners, consisting of the— Arehbishop of Canterbury Dean of St. Paul's Lord Chancellor Dean of Westminster Archbishop of York Two Nominees of the Crown Bishop of London Nominee of Archbishop of Can- Secretary of State terbury, First Commissioner of Woods and Forests of whom any three may act, except in special cases. The three last-named Commissioners are to be salaried, and are remoreable by the Kin.. in Council. " The Commissioners may grant /eases for thirty-one years at rack-rent, or building leases for thirty-nine years. " Church tenants entitled to surrender their leases and take a new lease for thirty-one years at five per cent. below the rack rent, having the value of their lease allowed to them at four per cont. " Church tenants entitled to purchase the reversion and fee simple. of their lands, valuing the fee-simple at twenty-five years' purchase, and the subsisting lease at the same rate of four per cent. interest : The value of lives being computed front the 'Government tables. " If any Church tenant has sublet his lands on fine or renewable lease, or if any person shall have a derivative interest in the lands other than that of 2. former at rack-rent, claim may be made, and the Commissioners sholl apportion the lessees benefit among the parties according as they shall think them beneficially interested in the leases. Five Commissioners to meet for this purpose, of whom, one to be the first Commissioner of Woods and Forests and to ob serve the principles followed ;rt the ,execution of 34 Geo. 111., c. 75, for improving the Crown lands. "All claims tobe advertised, and tat) notice taken of persons neg lecting to claim beyond a given an - . "Tenant who has allowed three ye: es to elapse without renewal not entitled to'any preference. " Commissioners may exchange lands " Rents now reserved to be paid to. such dignitary as before ; surplus carried to common fund. " Advances to be made from a commhon fund, instead of the fines which such dignitary would_ have recei v,ed, for which purpose he may have a life of any age inserted in a a onainal lease, and receive the corresponding fine, and so toties quo.ezes. After existing inte rests, nominal leases to be discontinued, and an average of the fines advanced instead, •r any dignitary may ere , .:t to take the average forthwith. " This Act not to affect the payments t / and from the Ecclesi astical Commissioners under the Act of 1,1.5 t Session 5 and 6 W. IV., c. 77, or any Order in Council made thereon. " Commissioners empowered to sell ground-rents charged on the Church lands, in case a sufficient sum should not be raised by the sale of reversions. " Advances may be made from the Consolidated Fund to cover temporary deficiencies, to be repaid with inter est. " Annual income of the commin fund to be: applied, 1. To make the necessary payments to tl ic dignitaries. 2. To pay the ground-rents created and s old. 3. To pay an annual sum not exceedi ag 250,003/. to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners for rep. t,.; ring churches and chapels. 4. To repay advances from Consolidated 17und. 5. To be invested in Stocks to form a zeserved fund, which may be sold again to meet deficiencies. " When the reserved fund amounts to 50,003 e., the interest of it to be paid to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners fo- increase of small livings. " Commissioners to certify to the Crown and both Houses of Parliament their proceedings under this Act. " Church-rates abolished : debts charged on Poor-rates. " Ecclesiastical Commissioners to procure annual estimates of re pairs of churches and chapels, and apply the sum paid to them by the Commissioners of Church-lands. " Certain fixtures and articles needed for divine worship charged on the Building Fund, if not provided by pew-rents. " Archdeacon to apportion among his churches the sum granted to the Archdeaeonry for repairs, &c. " Parish estates in aid of Church-rates applied as before. " Liability to repair chancels not affected, but repairs to be ex ecuted by direction of Surveyors, and cost thereof repaid by parties liable. " Owners of faculty and prescriptive pews to repair or forfeit them. " Pews may be let. by Minister and Churchwardens with consent of the Bishop, leaving one-fifth free seats if the same has been usually let heretofore, or one-third if the Church be built under Church-building Acts, or one-half (?) if pews not usually let be fore. " Pew-rents to be applied for the service of the Church in which they are raised, under direction of the pew-renters, but subject to any charges on them by Act of Parliament. " Vestries not to appoint any clerk, sexton, beadle, &c., but pew renters, or Minister, if pews are not let. Churchwardens to' be elected by pew-renters, when pews are let. " Dissenters exempted from acting as Churchwardens ; exemp tion of prosecutors of felons repealed. " Tables of Fees to be agreed on for Burials and Monuments to be settled, in case of disagreement, by the Dean of the Arches. " Burials prohibited in churches, except in iron or leaden coffins, or vaults opening from the outside. " Visitation fees abolished: Churchwardens need not attend vi sitations.' COURT CIRCULAR.. The King, attended by Sir Herbert Taylor,left St. James's Palace, at half-past seven o'clock on Wednesday evening, on his return to Windsor Castle. Ills Majesty (it is expected) will hold investitures of the most noble Order of the Garter, of the most illustrious Order of St. Patrick, and of the most honourable military Order of the Bath, on the 17th inst. Mr. George Mostyn and Mr. George Bolton had interviews with Viscount Melbourne on Wednesday, in Downing-street. Sir C. Grey transacted business on Thursday at the Colo . vial Office. The Russian Ambassador, and M. de Bourqueney, the French Charge d'Affaires, transacted business on Thursday at the Foreign Office. Despatches for the Earl of Gosford, Governor of the Canadas, and for Sir Francis Head, Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, were sent off on Thursday from the Colonial Office. The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and his Private Secretary, Mr: Frank Sheridan, are expected at the Claren don the week after next, from Dublin Castle. It is expected that his Excellency's stay in town will be short. The Earl of Jersey has left Berkeley-square, for Newmarket. The Duke of Wellington left Apsley-house yester day, to hunt at Strathfieldsaye, where the Marquis of Douro, who remains for the present on the half-pay list of lieutenant colonels, has also arrived, for the purpose of enjoying the same diversion. The Duke is expected to return to town on Monday. The Bishop of Killaloe has declined taking a man sion in Ulster-terrace ; his Lady and family will join the Rev. Prelate at the London Hotel next week, from Killaloe Palace. The remains of the late Bishop of Salisbury were interred in the cathedral of that city on Monday, in a spot previously selected for that purpose by the venerable diocesan himself. The funeral was strictly private. In the Court Circular of the levee on Wednesday, the names of Commanders " W. and H. Paget" appeared, instead of W. and H. Paget. The Marquis and Marchioness of Anglesey and the Ladies Mary and Adelaide Paget, are expected at Uxbridge House, from Paris, the first week in April. The Count de la Rochefoucault has arrived at Thomas's Hotel, from Paris. The Duke and Duchess of Leinster and family have arrived on Carlton-terrace, from Carton House, Kildare. 111 r. John Agar, late of Windsor, applied on his pe tition to be discharged before the Commissioners of the Insol vent Court, in Portugal-street, on the 17th ultimo, but tho hearing was aejourned, with several others, till the Monday follo.ving. Owing to the great disappointment in not being heard on that day, he returned to prison labouring under great excitement. On Monday morning he was so unwell as to be unable to leave his room, and in spite of every attention on the part of his medical attendant, he gradually got worse, and died on Thursday night (the 23d ult.), leaving a widow and six children unprovided for. The Author of the " Pleasures of Hope" has just produced his new work, called " Letters from the South." Mr. Campbell writes more gaily and graphically than ever— he rambles on " at his own sweet will," always informing, in teresting, and delighting us. The quiet humour, the pleasant conversational style, the neatly-introduced anecdotes, and the skilful manner in which the letters are written, add another wreath to the many laurels already gained by this amiable and estimable poet. The interests of our Representatives in Parliament would be materially served were the public to bear in mind, that all letters sent to Members through the post should be strictly confined within the prescribed weight of one ounce : and further, that all petitions to Parliament should be for warded in the same form as newspapers—with both extremities open, for the convenie:ice of inspection. It would also be well to insribe on the envelope " Petition to Parliament."—. Liverpool Court*. The " New Monthly Magazine" gains fresh power and animation as it proceeds, under the able directorship of Theodore Hook. Some of the brightest stars of our literary system now " shed their selcetest influence" over its pages; and the present epoch of its career is marked by the imme diate succession of one of these, of peculiar lustre. Captain Marryat, who is, probably, unsurpassed its popularity by any living writer whatever, has brought the power of his genius to the support of the " New Monthly" —enriching the March , Number with two contributions of some length—" The Phan tom Ship," a story (or, rather, the opening of one) of the wildest interest ; and " Modern Town Houses," a happy ex hibiti9n, and almost as true as it is laughable, of the train of evils attendant on those frail creations of the architect. About sixty bottle-nosed whales appeared off the South of Skye, on the 31st ult., and were all captured by the people, -who chased them to the end of the loch.