The Sun. — London, England, 1812-07-04 00:00:00

Noble Earl then 'topiougnreferred to various pe nahand rptrictive statutes' still remainiag, lie as serted, on the anitute books, and chiefly enacted in be tsintes of Elizabeth -anti James By the first of E! zabeth, the subjects were hound to -at tend cliv:tie service- on Soo nays and holidays un . • • der a peaalty of 'l2/. By the 16th, severer penal ties were; enacted Against 'individuals. absenting. theniaelves from Church. By AStatute of James L parties so offendinn were even.-liable to for , leiteses in land, 'and _other effects, and'to a fine also of 101. for every servant abseittiona him or herself from Church.' Not only that, but-for the awry visitors and their servants residing in his . house, the , master was likewise amenable with . respect to their Church-going. Now this, he contended, was against, the very vital. principles of the _Christian Religion ; - for in • the. fine 'Sermon of Christ. Open the Mount, his followers .were enjoined to pray in secret. Against such a mode all these Statutes The severity of some of these penal Statutes went even so far as banishment from the realm, and all the dominions belonging to his Majesty. Such in fact,. as appears from those - Statutes a was thd boasted tolerance of the Church of England. In some cases, even a son was made punishable for his father not going to Charch ! The existence • of these laws were at present still more unjust and oppressive —for, according to an Official Re tort, there were 72,000 persons who could not be accommodated in the Churches, for want of room. In Canterbury diocese, there were more 'than 100,000—in the Metropolis, the prOportion was still greaten—This undoubtedly would be quite sufficient to spew the folly as well as . the injustice of holding,punishrnents over the people's heads, for not doing that which it was impossible for them to do. He largely adverted to the powers oF the Ecclesastical Courts, particularly with re ference to the process of remuneration,, which, ,under these lams, may be most unjustly and' op pressively exercised; and he quoted the authority of Lord Mansfield's doctrine in that House, in support of his argument. He dwelt much on the nature and possible tendencyOf those laws ; per haps few of their Lordships had perused them; he, however, had waded through the *hole Statutes, from illognd Charta to the 27th, of the. King, and he, declared he would' as soon again go over a -park paling of tenter hooks. There were be tween two and three hundred Statutes on religion. He related an anecdote of the late Sir Joshua Reyuolds, who, being at a loss how to paint a fool, was told to paint a.clumsy fellow endeavonr ing to climb over a pailing of tenter-hooks, while a gate was open close, by. Now, •helwould im prove on this idea, and he would have placed be hind the park paling a wall fifty feet high, like that round the King's Bench Prison ; and he thus applied the parable.—The park paling was the Statute Book; the fifty feet high wall was these tatittes, relating to religion--the open gate was his Bill—and the strait road which he would have .placed before the gate, Was the first clause of his Till—by its adoption all thoie masses of ineurn -brance would vanish. He glanced at some inac curacies and differences in the printing and lan guage of some of the prayer-books, particularly those printed at the Universities, and by the K ing's Printer, which was a deviation from the strictly prescribed uniformity. And by an Act of Eliza beth, the form of prayer may be altered by the Queen, assisted by the Metropolitan. This re-' :minded him of what he saw by the different clocks, or dials of a chapel, not fa.- from Cavendish-square, some time since :—Wishing to know the hour 'exactly, be looked at one side, and found it was five o'clock—by glancing-his eye at another side, the hand pointed to a quarter after.; he then wish ed to see what the third would say, as an umpire between these two arbitrators—when, behold ! it said exactly half-past five o'clock. He could not help thinking to himself, that this chapel clock formed a striking symbol of the. uniformity of . Mother Church. The Noble Earl pursued his line of argument and illustration, in this manner; at -considerable length, and frequently observed, that if many of the provisions of these penal statutes formerly passed for the benefit and security of the Church, excited the risibility of their -Lordships, it was not his fault. One-of the most curious of the whole was i that by the provisions of the Act of the Ist of James I. no women nor children un • der .21, *ere allowed, under very heavy penalties, even on the officers and owners of vessels; to pass over the seas ! and the reason legislatively assign ed; he believed few of their Lordships could guess ; it was, that women, as women, were so possibly ineiined! All their Lordships had seen the great 'book-which had been written by games 1. aid •ed by the Dean of the Chapel Royal. James was as great a theologist as he was' a mathemati cian. He bad maintained that nil circles were not round, but that sonic of than were square, and others . triangular (a loud laugh) ; and he in this book Very learnedly described the mode of casting out evil spirits., All this spewed the ig norance of the times-in which the laws, that it was his wish to abrogate, - originated. Among: those laws were -statures against bigamy, which defined . bigamy to be marrying two wives, or one widow. Statutes against invoking goblins or hobgoblins, and statutes against the practice of feeding evil spirits upon either animal or vegetable food ! (A tond , laugh) These statutes all - .came from: the, same shop as those which imposed up on the Dissenters from the Established Church.- 7 -. How different was,the spirit that 'breathed in the • list Treaty of Commerce with France, in which it it was provided, that the inhabitants of -each country, when in the other, should enjoy the free eaercise of their - religion-I How different were' the sentiments which had been so wisely and libe rally uttered by thegresent Bishop of- Lincoln hi - his sermon before stheir -Lordships ; by the late . worthy Bishop of St. Asaph '(Shipley) ; by the. learned anal excelleot Bishop of Llandatf ; by the truly estimable Bishop of Nerwicli, and -by the lite admirable Bishop Horsley. By.all these great persons liberty Of private judgment had been warmly advocated. It was for that he contended, not for toleratiOn. He disliked the term- tolerati on.- It implied a rightin some parties to be into lerant. What he wished to persuade Parliament to grant was, not toleration, but religious liber ty.; As a proof of the justice . of his dislike to mere toleration, be referred- to all the tolerative Acts, from the first which had been passed, down to the' one now proposed by 'Mr. William Smith, ,which last was -a system of. Licenses to be ;most severely reprobated, unless indeed some' Chancel lor of the ExChetiner, some Mr. Vansittart, chose to increase the revenue by littbjecting these licenses to men to exercise their natural tights to a stamp duty. of five shilliiu or ten shillings and sixpence. Xle fras for none of these partial measures: ligious liberty would bresk the chains of the .peo ple; toleration would only rivet them: 'Jew., Ma honietan, and Christian, had, in his opinion, a 'perfect right to interpret the Scriptures in their own war; 'and if any' man conscientiously disbe lieve them of any part of them, he ought to be left in free possession of his own sentinients. Of this he was sure, that many a Dissenter- was per fectly entitled to say to many a Churchman, as Paul said to Agrippa, " Would to God that not -only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost and altogether such - as I am, except these bonds." He then concluded by moving, that the Dissenters Relief Bill be read a second time. A division then took place on the Motion, Contents i 0 Non-Contentc Majority... -21 Lord Hor.t.AND askedtheNoble Lords opposite, as they had chosen to reject this Bill, Whether it was their intention to propose any . Other ; 'or whether, knowing, as they did, the general feel ing upon the subject, they nevertheless meant to leave it in its present state ? If so, 'and if no one better undertook the task, he pledged himself to s{ibmit to their Lordships a propoion for their consideration. -The Earl of LIVERPOOL replied, that the sub ject bad undergone the serious consideration of all the Members of his Majesty's GoVernment, and more particularly of his own ; and he hoped that in a few days he should be enabled to bring in a Bill which would meet with their Lordships acquiescence. Lord HOLLAND expressed himself perfectly sa tisfied with this intimation : hut added, that un less the Bill which it was the Noble' Earl's inten tion to propose, proceeded on the general prin ciple of that which had just been rejected, it would not Meet with his concurrence. . • which was Only SOS. a year ` tut Which had been considered as unnecessary. Lord HOLLAND warmly supported the Bill The odium with which these sinecures were loaded, was in itself a sufficient argument for their: aboli tibn. He agreed with the N o ble_ L o rd on- the 'Woolsack, there-were many errors and imperfec tions in the details of the measure ; but he in treated their Lordships to postpone the considera tion olthese errors until the proper stage of the proceeding, and not, by acquiescing in the Noble Lord's Amendment, 'to reject the principle of a measure of such importance to the public. The Earl of DARIstLEY supported .the Bill.. Earl GROSNOR merely observed, that not a single word had been said which ,rendered it .ne cessary to trespass upon their Lordships time, in the way of reply. The House then divided. on the AmetiAment— ..Contents. • ' '35 Not Contents 8 Majority —27 The Bill is consequently lost for the present Session, The various Bills on the table were then fin - - warded in their respective stoges, and the House adjourned, , [For the Debate in the House of COllll/10114 see last page.] , MAILS. ARRIVED-1 Dublin, 1 Waterford. DUE-1 Cadiz, 1 Lisbon. PRICE OF sTpcKs TlrTs Dty AT :TWELVE O ' CLOCK. Consoi 57,;',.; I Red. Ann. 567,- 56 I oinnium tpll pr. rr 1; 1 TTitT ,***i - 74 F , r)I,EM Qt' IS 1;:L/.7:i: FAI.9L7M At! DE.l'r SINECURE OFFICES BILL. Earl GROSVENOR, in moving the second read-, ing, of the ,Sinecure Offices Bill, said he would make but a verylew prefatory observations. The Bili was one, to to iS success of which the public looked with great anxiety, and he confessed him self at a loss to anticipate any serimis objection to it. All that it went to do, was to declare that no person should hold an office unattended with any duties, and unquestionably the present prac tice on that subject was one which could. not too soon be terminated. He trusted it would not now be defended on the ground of long establish, ed usage. Prescription was no defence of error. At least he expressed his hope that the Bill would be permitted to pass through the present stage, in order that, if any imperfections existed in the de tail, an opportunity might be afforded of ccirrect ing them in the Committee. The Loa]) CHANCELLOR warmly O" ;ed the Bill, which he declared abounded wi..„..surdi ' ties, and the clauses of which were of such a na ture, that if agreed to by Parliament ; it was im possible they could b e carried into effect. He was persuaded that this wise and notable Bill bad not,,passed under the eye of a lawyer; and the consequence was that which it 'always must be under such circumstances, that as" a legislative measure, it would be nugatory if enacted. To prove - this, the Noble and Learned Lord entered into a critical examination of the various clauses of the Bill, contending that the Bill ought to be called.a Bill to deprive the Crown of the power of granting all Offices whatever. He had care fully examined the schedules of the Bill ; and he would' venture to say, without fear of contradic tion, that not one-twentieth part of the Offices described in the Eill as sinecures were actually so-. The deficiencies in theßillwere abundant; in those parts of it which' went to the abolition. of cer tain principals, andto the substitution of their depu ties,there was no proviSion for the payment of these, deputies. Adverting to the abolition, all the Bill proposed to effect, of certain offices in the Courts of Justice, he ridiculed the suggestion. The business at present before the Courts was so ,con siderable, that it could with difficulty be transactS. ed, • And now it was propOsed •to diminish the number of those Officers who'assisted in execut ing it. For himself, he had no hesitation in say ing, that no man could devote soul and body more completely to the discharge of. the functions of his high office ; it was impossible for him at his time of life, and it Would have been impossi ble for him at an earlier period, to devote more than 18 hours out of the 24 to business : he knew perfectly that his Noble and Learned Friend, who presided in the Court of King's Bench, was also completely oppressed with the extent 'of the du tics he had to perform. As it was said by Lord Mansfield,' that he did twice as much as had been done by ,his predecessor in that Court, so it might be said - -of his *Noble 'and Learned Friend, that he did three times as much as had been done by Lord Mansfield. - it was the same thing in the Court of Common Pleas ;' and yet; under all these eircnnistances, it was proposed to reduce the number of Officers, aiding in the business of these Courts. Did their Lordships recollect the duties of the Cursitors in his Court ? Were their Lordships aware, that if the Bill before them were to becoine 'an Act of Parliament, and the office of Cursitor abolished, no writs could be sent into Norfolk and Suffolk ? After a variety of observations, tending to shew the futility of the measure, he. moved 'as an Amendment, that the Bill be read a second time this day .three months. The Marquis of DOUGLAS contended that the Noble and Learned Lord's arguments were pre mature, as they were directed, not against the principle, but against the details of the measure, and ought therefore to have been reserved for the Committee. Lord l.ttnESDai.E objected to the Bill, contend ing, that in many respects it would be' injurious instead of beneficial to the public interests. No thingcould be more pernicious than an ill .judged economy - . He instanced the case of a loss which the revenue had incurred of 10,000/. in conse quence of the abolition of a place, the salary of LONDON; SATURDAY, JULY 4, 1812. French PaPers arrived last night, from which we learn that ITONAPARTE was' at Konigsberg on the 15th ult. It is therefore more than -pro bable that a blow has been struck .before this time. We trtist, however, that the Russians will have profited so much by experience, that they will not trust the fortune. of the war to the issue of a battle or two. By the adopting of a defen sive and harassing system of warfare, General BENNIGSPN may ultimately destroy the French Army. If he will imitate the splendid example which Lard WELLINGTON has set , him, there can be little doubt that his efforts must be finally successful. While acting defensively on their own frontiers, a:iy loss which the Rus sians may sustain can be quickly and, easily sup plied ; hut BUONAPARTE'S reinforcements will • have to traverse half. Europe. We may shortly expect to hear some very im portant intelligence from the Peninsula, for therp appears to be no doubt that Lord 'WELLINGTON Was advancing upon Salamanca the view of forcing MARMONT to a battle, or of 'con-yell ing him to abandon the whole or the .greater part of the E i rovinCe of Le6n; The retreat of lfaa,loNT would be attended with 'most beneficial effects, as - it 'would give a decisive turn to the °pc, rations in the North, and place the Trench rather in an embarrassing situation in the South of Spain. The advance of the allied army under Lord WEL-, LINGTON, connected with the active and perse vering efforts of the Guerillas, and with the movements of Sir HOME POPHAMS squadron„ on the western coasts of Spain, affords the most ra . tional ground for hoping for the most brilliant success ; but we must not, at the same time, con ceal,from ourselves, that the very exhausted state Of the country offers the most serious obstacles to the advance of the British General. Yesterday, about twelve o'clock, the QUEEN and PRINCESSES left town for Windsor: Previous to their departure, the Dukes of YORK, CUMBER LAND, and CAMBRIDGE visited them. PnILLIrroN, the late Governor of Badajoz, who surrendered to the Earl of WELLINGTON on the 6th April, and was sent by Government on parole to Oswestry, contrived to quit that town on Wednes day last, accompanied by an °Aker of artillery named GARNIER. It has not yet been ascertained whither these - disgraceful fugitives have gone but there is some reason to suppose that they are attended by three persons who reside ,near We are are glad to learn that Government has adopted every necessary precaution to prevent their escape from thiS country ; full descriptions of their persons having been sent last night to all the out ports, and to other places where there is any proba bility of detecting them; and sirict orders have been issued for the careful examination of every suspici ous person who may be found near the coast. The artillery officer who aCcompanies .PHILLIrPorr is said to speak pretty good English,whence it is con jectured that he has probably assumed the appear ance and character of a friend,' acting as an in terpreter. PHILLtt , PoN himself is, a tall man, being nearly six feet in height, of a stout frame, with a fair complexion, ansl havtng a scar over his left eye. The baseness of so niany French Officers- in these repeated violations of the lawS of civilized warfare,- seems to render it indispensable oti the part of our Government, to abridge the 'ac commodation's which have been So liberallygiven to these persons, and to watch them with t a degree of strictness that 'may put the farther repetition of such transgressions 'out of their power. This man when in London, was entertained At the tables of several of our gentry, and no ddubt laughed at the goodnatured simplicity Of his . hoSts, We wish he was the only one ' o f his countrymen' to whom a similar opportunity of being merry at the expense of our folly had been, afforded. SECOI'iD VOITION, S UN- 0 FFICE; HALF-PAST Tti - O O'CLOCK• We stop AC Press to state, that-Preneb Paper' to the 30th ult. have just beeii receil'ed. It ap pears that BUONAPARit remained at itonigiber; till the 16th, on which day he proCeeded to Vehlayi and, on the following day arrived atinter6nrg, both which places he reviewed all the troops sta' tinned there: INTEIISBURG:JUNE ,18.—His Majesty (Btro!. 7 ''' t'ARTE) reviewed yesterday, at Vehlau, the third division of Curiassiers. His Majesty arrived sr Intersburg at four. He reviewrd, this morning' at Intersburg, all the divisions. of the Second corr: s ', commanded by the Duke of Reggio, and the 01 ° brigades of light cavalry, as well as a brigade the Prussian corps, commanded by Gen. lii,rlll - .appeared satisfied with,the fine apPearanc' s of the troops. BERLIN, JUNE 1 6.--Flis gh nes s Prii CHARLES Of INIECTILENEOURG STRELITV, 'pas.-44 through ' here yesterday, on his way from 13r law, and is going to Potsdam. ' - Marshal the Duke of T'ARENTIIIM has, its ig said, the command in chief of the Prussian for' under the CoMinand or General De GRAYQ -01 ' His Excellency passed the 6th at Konipb2rg' and thence- set out for Memel. His Excelleo c i tix French General of Division, Count .lio ol4- DROP, arrived on the 9th of June at Konigsberg' ROME JUNE 19. , --Yesterday his Majesty CHARLES IV. (of :Spain) and his family, arri ve° in this city. Their. Majesties alighted at th e Borghese Palace. They were accompanied hi the Lieutenant of the GovernOr-General and the -2refec-t of Rome, who had wine to Inca tha''' The beauty Of this new residence appeared t o give much satisfaction to the KING and Qu -02; " Their Majesties are very well. NAVAL NEWQ Prnrou'rn, JULY 2.—Arrived this morning f -/ ‘ brig Findley, belonging to London, Ihanzs,, ter, from Gibraltar, with a cargo, consisting cf wine, almonds, and cork, bound to this Wt fcr orders, and is u n d er quarantine—Sailed fr'c' r° Gibraltar on the gth June, in company wit ll 6 fleet, consisting of about 40 sail, under cou lci of the Victorious man of war ; parted eompanY 6 4 few .days since.—The French ship Rivoli, of 6 ....r• guns, captured sometime since in the Medir ranean, by - the Victorious, .sailed from GilorgP f in company with the above fleet. Arrived his Majesty's ship Crocodile, CaP t . . LUMLEY, from a cruize in the Channel; ttllc IJ ward, belonging to Swansea,' CUTCLIFF, rll 3t° from Cork, Penzance, and Falmo u th ; an d ,Shan, belonging to and from Waterford, Ec °1 4.1 51 ;master, last froth Dartmouth, both laden provisions for this' port. ! - • Put back by contrary.winds,. the \ Spaniso • $ Aquila, belonging 'to A me li a I s l an d, W .- ~5 master,. bound from. hence with a cargo... of •Put in here this day, to complete h e r cart -0 f o LisboN the brig Anna Maria, STEvENsos, 01 ter, from London. - tY 1 PORTSMOUTH, J ULY 3.—S a il e d 1U M ll / ship Vengeur and Asia on a s truize and the • schooner for Newfoundl an d. His Majesty's 513 Prometheus is appointed convoy to North Ara— .also sailed the Conquest, for Guerniey and Je lle- • and the Defender for the' Downs. The Courts Martial on Captains Sir 1 . WOOD and CAMPBELL, finished this aftern°°" they are both acquitted. DEAL, JULY. 3.—Sailed the Folkstone itlg 4ref o with the outward-bound, for Portsmouth. • Arrived his Majesty'sship San Domingo ' l. ' 3-- craze of Flushing. d o A Gcneral Court Martial ass e m bl e d ist th e - A / valry barracks, •at n i ne o ' c l oc k on NVe"i'esao i n 00" morning. last.. Licut. COL tOd DE ToBING sars), President ; Lieut. BL AIR (3d Foot), Y putt' Judge Advocate. " Tn ISLANDS OF SC ILLY , JUNF: 20. The ii°r o f of the Treasury have, on the representati on: the Bishop of EXETER, permitted eight:ht l ` lc to and fifty-five bushels of salt . to be distribu te ' el the poor individuals o f th ese I s l an d s , duty fj.e, t so for the purpose of caring fi s h.f or t h e i r supP° r " the Winter . Season. This_supplv of salt.bas, ir ide4 o been timely to the I,qiei of the poor inhabi ts . ti c i i in general, and has been distributed to "Par o f of two . thousand persons, the greatest par t d • g, whom received 28 p oun d s , an d ot h ers 14 1 1 ° 11/3 17 0 for each indiVidual. It is, therefore, much to, 17$ desired that the' bounty of Government ro 33r e o continued annually to the necessitous poor Zif t 4 , - . Islands.' - t" JULY I.—. Cane in the Williams, 110, 0 0 , from Penzance to Lisbon, Sand after taki 4 i t ; board a company o players, sailed agalli" the evening.