The Sun. — London, England, 1833-02-27 00:00:00

-~ ~ SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS• The proceedings of the meeting which took place on Monday last at Birmingham have been sent to us. The report is much too long for publication, and we are bound to say, which we do with some regret, that it would neither indemnify our readers nor ourselves for the sacrifices of attention bestowed on its perusal, nor for the time and space which its insertion would cost us. Mere blind fury serves no ra tional cause, and the cause of law and liberty has oftentimes been deeply injured by it. The professed objects of the meeting were manifold, to " consider the address of the House of Commons in reply to the King's speech, and the Bill introduced into the House of Lords establishing arbitrary power in Ireland, and re specting the present severe distress of the indus trious classes." Here was, undoubtedly, ample field for complaint, and it must be admitted that it was not suffered to lie idle. To judge by the advertised proceedings only, one might be led to infer • that Irelend had but little to do with the business of the meeting. There is a resolution touching the distress of the industrious classes, and a petition having reference to the same, where it is affirmed that property, and not poverty, ought to be taxed. There is, indeed, a resolution, moved by the Rev. Mr. M'Donnell, a Catholic cler gyman, condemning the Bill proposed for Ire land, as. utterly subversive of the principles of the British Constitution, and threatening Eng land and Scotland with similar measures if this regarding Ireland he carried. But the taxes on " knowledge," and those on sundry other arti cles,—namely, foreign corn, animal food, malt, hops, tea, tobacco, soap, house and window tax, &c., constitute apparently, and by no means unjustly, the main gravamina both of the reso lutions and petition. We have said that mere violence is of little service to any cause which displays it. The chairman overshot his mark so much as to assert that a reduction of taxation to the amount of 25 millions was necessary to the happiness of the people, being about 5 or 6 millions more than the whole surplus revenue, after paying the interest of the debt. In the same degree in which he abused Ministers the worthy chairman panegyrized Cobhett, and declared that the Bill for relieving the overwrought and auined children in the factories, by a reduction of their working hours, was founded on a " mistaken" principle ! There is a philanthro pist for you ! We are as far from being friends to tyrannical measures, either in Ireland or here, as any man of the thousands who have attended the several Birmingham meetings, but a one sided view of any question must be either stupid or dishonest, and it is impossible to look at the proposition of the Bill now before the House of Commons for Ireland without considering as well the nature of the justification alleged for it as that of the remedy recommended. Our sen timents have been delivered freely upon most of the clauses contained in this new Bill no less than on its principle. The principle is clearly—nay, confess edly, as announced by the Ministers themselves, at variance with the spirit of a free Constitution; and some of its clauses, besides being ineffective for their declared object, are an outrage even upon that harsh and arbitrary principle. But we must not, with the Rev. Mr. M'Donnell, with Mr. George Edmonds (who informed the meeting that Earl Grey " ought to be impeached , and lose his head,") with Mr. John Lawless, just arrived from Dublin, and Mr. Shea Lalor, of Kilburn, in the county of Kerry. We cannot, in common sense or integrity, shut our eyes to the fact that there are criminals io be restrained in Ireland as well as sufferers to be protected. Mr. De Boscoe Attwood made it a ground of invective against somebody or other (he did not say whom) in Ireland, that " corn had been ex ported from " that co untry" while the poor lived on sea-weed ; in the second of his com plaints, to wit, the wretched aliment within the reach of the poor of Ireland, every man will concur, but the answer to the first is, that if corn were not to be exported, no corn would be raised, inasmuch as there would be no market for it on the spot, as was formerly the condi tion of that island, where the greater portion of the soil lay idle and unprofitable either to land d or tenant. It is right, however, to refer to one passage in the speech of the reverend person, as we have already to an analogous one of Mr. O'Connell, not so much for the sake of impugning either of those gentlemen, as of de ducing from their language, however hostile, a serious admonition to his Majesty's Ministers to mind what they are doing in the way of a reform of the Church of Ireland. Mr. O'Con nell reproached Mr. Stanley with a design to bolster up, through this Bill, the continu ance of the tithe system in Ireland. Mr. M'Donnell pronounces broadly that this em bryo " Church Reform was a complete mockery." Now, having already warned Mr. Stanley against the madness of making his Coer cive i cive Bill an auxiliary to the restoration (for t is at present dead and gone) of the tithe sys tem, so do we adjure Ministers, one and all, not to sanction Mr. M'Donnell's sarcasm, that their Church Reform is a " mockery." The country will not endure on such a sub- Scet to he mocked. If the Church Reform— the foremost of the conciliatory measures, because first dragged by circumstances into action—be not a grave, a solid, and abundant measure, one which may afford an earnest of the zeal and pro bity of Ministers in all that concerns reform of every other kind, we do not scruple to tell them that their " Suppression Bill" must break down, and whether Lord Althorp and his colleagues have been serious or not in his threat or promise ( whichsoever it was to be deemed) to the Mem bers of the House of Commons who met his Lordship yesterday,—whether, we say, the Ca binet be serious or not—whether volunteers or not, in the declaration that by the Coercive Bill they will stand or fall,—we tell them that they will break down with their measure, unless the spirit of that measure be redeemed by a large and superb reform of all tangible grievances in Church and State—nay, we go further ; we take the liberty of assuring that Noble Lord, with the respect which all men feel for his unassuming sincerity and honour, but with that indepen dehce which becomes the free press of a free country, and with that jealous watchfulness over the dignity of Parliament which we trust will never sleep in the hearts of Englishmen,—we do assure Lord Althorp that the tone em ployed by him towards the Members of the house of Commons yesterday, on the sub ject of modifying the obnoxious clauses of this Bill, was by no means indicative of his understanding what was due to the character of that assembly which he had himself contributed to elevate from a band of hired slaves to a Senate representing the most enlightened nation in the universe. His Lordship, we repeat, cannot comprehend the greatness and majesty of a reformed Parliament, and, in the confidence ... , that there is no party to succee his own in power, he flatly refuses to purge the Bill of its impurities, and announces his preference for the alternative of resigning. Such a threat, we once mere affirm, is out of keeping with the name and habits of Lord Althorp. It is more ; it is a mistake of his position, and of that of his colleagues. This Bill, unmodified, they ought not to carry ; this Bill, unmodified, this dragooning Bill,—this house-breaking revolting Bill,—they will not carry while any respect for British law and liberty inspires the representa tives of the British people. Let them, then, —we grieve that they have given their country such provDcation,—we grieve because we have earnestly, fervently supported them,—let them, then, resign. Their country depends not on them. England is rich in intelligence and public virtue. Whoever takes the high office in these days, if he be not himself enlightened, must play an enlightened part. He must rule for the nation and according to the nation.— Times. On presenting a petition last night from the inhabitants of Boreham, in Somersetshire, com plaining of one of the Lord Chancellor's rectors, in having set up a claim to the tithe of herring caught at sea, Lord King stated, that such a claim had never been set up before, and that it had thrown the whole parish into confusion. It is singular that at this time, when, according to the Lord Chancellor, there is a run upon the Church of England, and when of course it might be expected that the.clergy would be peculiarly anxious to avoid giving cause of scandal, the number of attempts to disturb their parishioners by unusual claims should be greater than we ever remember. There is no doubt a disposition at present to resist unusual anti oppressive claims, and we may no doubt be attributing to the in creased oppressiveness of the clergy what may only he the fruits of the increased spirit of the j eople. The attempt to exact tithes of fish caught at sea, has lately caused commotions in several parishes in Cornwall, and we believe the attempt has been finally abandoned. It is not a quarter of a year since a claim was set up in a parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, to a claim of tithe of wages of agricultural labourers, and these men were actually committed to pri son for refusing payment ; but, after a few days' confinement, liberated by the Committing Magi strates. The case excited some sensation, and was fully detailed in the Hull Rockingham. In the Bath and Cheltenhani Gazette of 12th Fe bruary, there is a report of an anti-tithe meet ing, at Wellow, near Bath. Most of the speakers complain of increased exaction, and vexatious proceedings on the part of the clergy. One speaker (Mr. S. Day) " cited several in stances of the dreadful oppression of the eccle siastical Court, inflicted upon parties present in that room, who, for altering the day for setting out the tithe, purely in consequence of the wea ther, were put into that Court, and kept there for eves one or two rears, and subjected to the most ruinous law expenses. For these reasons, it was a well-known fact, that throughout the whole district there was a falling off of the members of the Established Church. In some parishes, the congregations amounted on the average to four individuals ; and in one village, containing from 4 to 500 souls, the members of that communion amounted only to 30." The Lord Chancellor observed, that it did not ap pear that any step had been taken in the parish of Boreham to carry the threat of tithing her rings into effect, and that " if there were no custom authorizing the rector to demand the tithe of fish, the petitioners had only to wait un til some attempt should be made to levy such tithe and then they would have their remedy in the Courts of Law." His Lordship takes the matter bravely. According to his Lordship, it is a mere amusement for humble fishermen—the poorest of the poor—to be dragged into Eccle siastical Courts and subjected to ruinous law expenses. In Cornwall, a shorter process was resorted to ; for we believe the wives of the fishermen nearly strangled the tithe exactors with fish. It is astonishing that all these abuses of the middle ages should have remained unre formed to this day in England. There is no saying to what extent personal tithes may be claimed. The law in England on the subject is the same that it is in Spain and Italy, only more rigorously enforced in some cases with us. Father Paul tells us, that on the Adriatic the priests used to take tithes from highwaymen and pirates ; and we are not sure that the clergyman of Yorkshire, who claimed tithes of wages, might not, on the same principle, have exacted tithes from ladies of easy virtue, for there is no prescription against the Church, and such a tithe is levied in several countries to this day. The Lord Chancellor partly accounted for this, on the principle of the adage, that a hungry insect bites hard. His Lordship had presented him to the living because he had been the in cumbent of one of the new churches burnt down two years ago, and he was, in consequence, left with a wife and two children in a state of entire destitution. On entering -on the living of Boreham, it is hardly, therefore, to be wondered at that the Reverend Gen tleman should have endeavoured to avail him self of the rights over herrings, possessed by his Roman Catholic predecessors. It is amus ing to hear the Lord Chancellor declaring that " he was no friend to discussions of this descrip tion ; - they generally produced reflections upon the characters of individuals, which circuin. stances would not be found to justify. He re gretted much the run that was made upon the Church of England at this moment without any just cause. [The Noble Lord did not seem to perceive that, by the observations in which he indulged, by increasing this cry, he was adding to the troubled spirit which was now abroad against the Church of England.] He never would sit quiet at such a juncture, and hear the members of the Church unjustly accused, either individually or collectively." It has been said that the famous simile in Virgil, of the disper sion of a mob, when stones and brickbats were flying in alldirections, by the appearance among them— " 'rum pietate graven' ac meritis si forte virum quern Conspexere, silent, arreetisque auribus astant : tile regit dictis animos, et pectora mulcet"— had reference to the greatest of the Roman ora tors. But it has never been said of him that he could both raise the mob and quell it. The Lord Chancellor will have thrown Cicero in the shade, for of the admirable specimens of his eloquence published last year, in an octavo form, by Mr. Ridgway, and received throughout the United Kingdom with that favour with which everything is received that comes from his Lordship, one of the most admired, and which has made the deepest, nay, an almost indelible impression on the minds of old and young, is the famous in vective against the clergy. "It is here (said his Lordship), when all manlier of conflicts are at each moment inevitable between the people and the priests, that I feel myself warranted on their be b/lf, and for their protection—for the sake of the esta blishment, and as the discreet advocate of that Church and that clergy—for the d t fence of their very existence..to demand the most unrestrained discussion of their title and their acting under it. I have hitherto all along as sumed that there is nothing impute in the practice under the system ; I am admitting that every person engaged in its administration does every one act which he ought, and which the law expects him to do ; I am supposing that up to this hour not one unworthy member has entered within its pale ; I am even presuming that, up to this mo ment, not one of those individuals has stepped beyond the strict line of his sacred functions, or given the slightest of fence or annoyance to any human being; I am taking it for granted that they all act the part of good shepherds, making the welfare of their flock the first care, and only occasionally bethinking them of shearing, in order to prevent the too luxuriant growth of the fleece proving an incumbrance, or to eradicate disease. If, however, these operations be so constant, that the flock actually live under the knife—if the shepherds are so numerous, and employ so large a troop of the watchful and eager animals that attend them (some of them, too, with a cross of the fox, or even the wolf in their breed)—can it be wondered at, if the poor creatures thus fleeced, anti hunted and barked at, and snapped at, and from time to time worried, should now and then bleat, dream, of preferring the rot to the shears, and draw invidious, possibly disadvantageous comparisons between the wolf without, and shepherd within the fold ? It cannot he helped ; it is in the na ture of things that suffering should beget com plaint ; but for those who have cause d the pain to complain of the outcry, and seek to punish it, for those who have goaded to scourge and to gag, is the meanest of all injustice. It is, moreover , th e moat pitiful folly for the clergy to think of retaining their power, pri. vileges, and enormous wealth, without allowing free vent for complaints against abuses in the establishment, and delinquency in its members." The schoolmaster has enabled the people to profit by these lessons of wisdom ; and it is the fate of his Lordship's wisdom, that the language in which it is clothed will not allow it to be ever forgotten. The people may, however, be pardoned for feeling somewhat astonished, after being roused to action by his per-fervid elo quence, they should so soon hear the same voice raised to reprove them. Lord King touched at the same time upon a point of some delicacy : " The Noble and Learned Lord no doubt acted in that way with a view to stand well with the Bench of Bishops ; but he (Lord King) could tell him that, notwithstanding that, he would not be able to get their votes. The Noble and Learned Lord knows that the Bench of Bishops was said to be the tools of every successive Government; and it was true that they were always ready to vote with Tory Governments; but he would answer for it they would not do so now. The Noble and Learned Lord, who knew so much of history, would recollect the reply of a celebrated statesman to William 111., when that King remarked to him, that lie thought the Tories were a very convenient and a very accommodating set of men, whom it might be to his advantage to employ. The Duke agreed with his Majesty that the Tories were certainly very good tools ; but his Majesty must recollect that he was not the King of the Tories. He would tell his Majesty's Ministers that they were not the Ministers of the Tories." His Lordship disclaimed the motives attri buted to him by Lord King. He did not, he said, make over the patronage to the Bench of Bishops with a view of standing well with them : " He denied that it was with any political view of the nature which his Noble Friend had attributed to him ; that it was with any view of conciliating that class which held principles opposed to those which be ever had and ever would maintain ; but he stated at the time, when be first adopted the arrangement (anti most of those who are at all acquainted with the subject would bear him out in the assertion), that the number of exceedingly small livings which fell to the gift of the Lord Chancellor makes it ab solutely impossible for the individual who holds the Great Seal to inquire particularly into every circumstance which might be necessary to be known, in order well and truly to exercise his duties in choosing from among candidates." This was his only object. But it is some what singular, that if his Lordship had no wish to conciliate the Bishops, he should select for judges of fitness, the very men who, in every case, would be sure to make a different choice from that which he would have made himself, could he have made the inquiry. We presume that with regard to the livings of 2001., 3001., or 4001., he did not apply for information re specting them to persons entertaining the prin ciples of the Bishops—" Principles (as he says) opposed to those which he ever had and ever would maintain." But the inhabitants of pa rishes with poor livings ought no more to be abandoned to men of bad principles than the inhabitants of parishes with large livings. The union of Church and State in England renders it of some consequence that the Clergy should not entertain principles opposed to the well being of the nation ; and his Lordship, to whom the State and guardianship was committed, abandoned his trust to men, whose principles he condemns, merely because the livings were poor. The remonstrance of upwards of 100 Members of the House of Commons (as stated by Mr. Stephenson in his pamphlet on Church Reform) conveyed to his Lordship at a memo rable crisis, affords a sufficient proof of the dan ger to which his Lordship exposed the State, by abandoning the patronage of the Crown to the enemies of the nation. If his object was not to conciliate the Bishops, it would be difficult to conjecture what it could well be ; for were we even to admit with Lord King the ignorance of clerical nature of the Noble and Learned Lord, it would be difficult to suppose his Lordship could have given the disposal of livings to per sons, of whose principles lie disapproved, with out contemplating some equivalent. The good of the people committed to the charge of the incumbents chosen by the Bishops it could not be. So much for the parish of Boreham and Bench of Bishops, and the Lord Chancellor's attempt to conciliate them.—Morn. Chronicle. The fact which transpired in the debate of last night respecting the sanguinary laws of this country, will afford great satisfaction to all who take an interest in that important question. We allude to the fact of Government having sent a gentleman to America, for the purpose of investigating the secondary punishments adopted in the United States in room of the punishment of death, and ascertaining how the system of mitigation works upon experiment. From what has already transpired on the sub ject, we can feel neither doubt nor hesitation as to the probable result of such an inquiry, sup posing it to be executed, as we have no doubt it will be, in good faith, and without any bias in favour of laws already condemned by the in telligent portion of mankind. It has often fallen to our lot, in denouncing the barbarous spirit of our criminal code, to allude to the case of America, where, with less pretensions to civilization, the Legislature has shown a greater respect for human life—a greater horror of legal vengeance, and a greater regard to the proportions between crime and punish ment, as necessary to the ends of justice. To have this distinction established by an investigation conducted through an agent of the Government, will be a great point to wards the furtherance of a cause which needs only to be thoroughly sifted in order to be suc cessful. From all that we have heard, as well as from all that we can anticipate by reasoning, the issue of such an inquiry will be to favour an e xperiment—nay, to shame us into an experi ment in which we ought to have led the way. Even without such an example before us as America, we have the testimony of our own ex perience, so far as we have already gone in the work of amelioration, to favour a further pro gress in the same course. If it were wise to have abolished the punishment of death for for gery, it cannot, we should conclude, be unwise to abolish the same punishment, with regard to other offences against property, unaccompanied with violence to the person. The success of the experiment in one instance is a guarantee for its success in others. We may, therefore, con gratulate the friends of humanity, in this Chris tian country, on the progress which the cause is making, and we may refer to the general tone of the observations that fell from the different Members last night as a proof that the time cannot be far distant when the whole system will undergo a revision, and the punishment of death will be reserved for the crime of murder alone. —Morning Herald. We are informed by several correspondents that among the 'Members of the Committee of the House of Commons appointed to inquire and report upon the state of the several corpo rations of the kingdom there are not less than seven or eight gentlemen who happen at the present moment to be engaged in litigation with particular corporations, in respect to affairs in which their own personal interests are deeply concerned. 'We can scarcely credit the infor mation, for we are willing to believe it impossi ble that in the whole House of Commons, even the present, there should be the number of seven or eight individuals so utterly destitute as the fact thus stated to us would imply, we do not say of the delicacy of gentlemen, but of the or dinary feelings of honest men. How could Lord Althorp get into his Select Committee so large a proportion, as our correspondents intimate, of the whole number of Members of the House of Commons standing at the pre sent moment towards corporations in the relation of litigants and enemies, unless upon one or the other of these monstrous supposi tions—that he sought them out, intending, under the name of a Committee of Inquiry, to establish a Committee of Sequestration ; or that they intimated to him how he might confer a favour, and exercise a valuable patronage, by simply making them judges in their own cause? The matter deserves a little inquiry, and a little inquiry shall be instituted ; but for the honour of human nature, we hope that our information will prove to have been incorrect. Omitting, however, for the present any further allusion to an injustice which seems too monstrous to be be lieved, there is in the constitution of this Com mittee more than enough of manifest and undeniable unfairness, to deprive it of all claim to the confidence of the public as a judicial body. The Conservatives of the United Kingdom, a party comprehending a large proportion of the entire population, and three-fourths at least of the noble, the learned, and the wealthy classes of society, are represented in this Committee by the very adequate number of five Members. The Con servatives of Ireland, as distinguished from those of Great Britain, have no representative what ever. And by what number of Members will our readers believe that the Papist, or O'Connell, or disorganizing party in Ireland is represented? We will tell them. There are just seven Irish Members of this particular description or section of the Movement party ; more, that is to say, than are allotted to the whole Conservative body of the empire. This being the proportion of Conservatives and Repealers, it is only necessary to add, that all the rest of the Committee is made up of Whigs and Radicals of various shades and degrees. This Committee cannot, it is o bvious, have been selected upon any of the principles which have been recognised hitherto as those which ought to determine the forma tion of such bodies. It does not consist of men chosen on account of their peculiar know ledge of the subject of inquiry, or their eminent qualifications for the calm and cautious pro cess of investigation by which alone compre hensive, accurate, and useful information upon any subject can be acquired. It does not con sist of men chosen from the different parties and interests composing the House of Coinmons in numbers proportionate to the relative strength of these several parties and interests in Parliament. Therefore the Committee is not an epitome of the House. It does not consist of men chosen from the various parties and interests composing the aggregate of British society in numbers pro portionate to the relative stren g th and impor tance of these several parties and interests in the country. Therefore the Select Committee of the House of Commons is not an epitome of the nation. What is this Committee, then, and what does it represent ? It is a mere emana tion of Ministerial power, a tribunal packed for the accomplishment of a predetermined purpose, an impersonation of feelings and principles which the Administration is bound to effect whenever, in pursuance of its see-saw policy, it has to render to the revolutionary party some mighty compensation. What can such a body represent but democratic tyranny, but revolu tionary injustice, and oppression ?--Morn ing Post. It is with no inconsiderable degree of pain that we point the attention of our readers to the report of a meeting of the Birmingham Political Union, which was held on Monday last. We were the first, along with another morning contemporary, to give wings and influence to that association, by reporting its proceedings — commenting upon them in our own humble way —and by holding up to the admiration of our countrymen the justice of the objects for which it was established, and the peace and good order by which all its meetings were characterized ; and at the time in question we also cherished the hope that as it had begun so it would end—honourably to itself, and beneficially for the interests of the country. But we greatly fear that we are about to be disappointed. The proceedings of the meeting on Monday are far from being gratifying to the friends of the asso ciation, or honourable to itself. They are cha racterized by great violence of language, as well by calumnies and threats, which, in any case, do no service to a good cause, and must mate rially injure one so truly bad as that which the Birmingham meeting has deemed it proper to support. Under such circumstances, however, there is one remaining gratification—and that is, that the meeting appears to have been composed, not of the sound-headed and clear-sighted, and loyal politicians who gave birth to the associa tion, but of persons of whose title to fame the world is, and is likely to continue, ignorant. Had it been otherwise, we should, indeed, have looked upon the proceedings of the meeting as worthy of the most serious attention.—Morn ing Advertiser. FREE TRADE.—We understand that a meet ing of delegates from the different trades of this city, was held lately for the purpose et memorializing their incorpo rations, regarding the propriety of abolishing their char tered monopolies ; and they expect that those who have so frankly and laudably lent their assistance to carry other reforms, will consult willingly to the abolition of those exclusive privileges which materially interfere with the in dustry, and affect the interests, of their non-incori anted rbrethen,--Scotsinan, SECOND EDITION. SUN-OFFICE, Seven o' Clock. IMPERIALPARLIAMENT THIS EVENING. HOUSE OF LORDS. The LORD COANCELLOR having taken his seat at Five o'clock, The Marquis of WESTMINSTER presented a petition from Chester, praying for the better observance of the Lord's Thy. As a great many petitions had been presented to both Houses of Parliament upon the subject, he would trouble the House with a few words. He hoped that the Bill which was to be presented to Parlia ment upon the subject would strengthen the laws which at present existed, but lie was anxious that no puritanical spirit should be intermixed. He and Mr. Wilberforce had introduced a measure with regard to the publication of Sunday papers for the purpose of putting an end to the system of printers and other persons connected with those publications being employed on the Sabbath Day. He did not wish to suppress those papers, because they provided amusement for the labouring classes. Lord TEYNHAM said that he had to complain of a gross libel which appeared this evening in the Standard calling him, and some Noble Friends of his, " Scoundrels, and the Devil's advocates," because they had presented several petitions to their Lordships, praying for the abo lition of tithes. He had thought it his duty to present all petitions upon the subject which were put into his hands. He gave notice that to-morrow he should move that the editor and printers of that paper, be summoned to the bar of their Lordships' House. The LORD CHANCELLOR said that he was sure the Noble Lord, upon consideration, would discharge the no. tice he had given about the trumpery nonsense he had re ferred to. Lord KING said, that he. had been told by his Noble Friend of the article which had appeared in the Stan dard, but he did not participate in the view that that Noble Lord had taken of it. He eared not what was said of him in the Standard, but was obliged to them for the compliment they had given him. Lord TF.YNH AM, after a few observations, said that lie would withdraw his notice. VENUE (IRELAND) BILL. la' to the utmost pitch, but they did nothing t° , l s p. crease the stipend. And this the Noble Baron, ' 0 ,4 pears, had stated upon the author it y of others, and br rliv..ll obloquy upon a respectable ma n—u p on one, who ttio, the nature of his profession , was above all °..01,1 necessitated to support his character. In this party,_els instance the clergyman was confined to a bed of 50 1 ,bit and cui; ao d tre o l o doomed to s t G o r e f d e mi e: aar t vii h os e ww m e de o r r ei e i aa b vp i i t pn t ig e i bitterly dmy taotdhetehatneryandauetactatai.cokn 0 i character. as b` The Bishop of BATH and WELLS could assure.ithobei: Lordships the general rule was not as quoted by the yob Baron, but with the increased 'value of the inapraPri there followed an increase in the stipend. The House then adjourned, at six o'clock. HOUSE OF COMMONS' tctil The call of the House of Commons Was o° ' t ' o e ttl seven o'clock this evening. The avenues eding ( 11 13 cb lobby and to the Gallery of the House wer e , r d ° early period of the afternoon literally erarn in bad evi persons. These were not of the rabble , „ciol* dently both respectable and intelligent iwdo,, anxious to t ascertain no doubt, in the first plac e ' o f ba Majesty's Ministers to attempt to carry extent to which it was sti I the intentie° ottre' affecting Ireland. this great to IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT' The Earl of SHAFTESBURY brought up the report of the Venue (Ireland) Bill. The Duke of RICHMOND presented a petition from a place in the county of Sussex, and one from a place in Derby, praying the Legislature to interfere for the better observance of the Sabbath. Also two petitions praying for the abolition of slavery; and, in the absence of his Noble Friend, Lord Kinnaird, he presented a petition, signed by many thousands of the citizens of Perth, also praying for the abolition of slavery. The Marquis of LONDONDERRY presented twenty petitions from different places in England, praying for the abolition of slavery. The Noble Marquis stated that all these petitions prayed for the immediate abolition of negro &every ; they all expresser, n anxious desire that any mea sure introduced for that purpose might be accompanied by such enactments as would provide safety to both parties. Lord SUFFIELD presented two petitions to the same effect. Lord KING presented a petition from Kilburnie, in the county of Ayr, to the same effect. Earl De DUNSTANVILLE presented two petitions from places in Cornwall, praying for the better observance of the Sabbath. The Bishop of BATH and WELLS said, he rose in consequence of a charge made by a Noble Baron, whom he was glad to s.e in his place, (Lotd King) against a most respectable clergyman in his diocese. He was glad to be a witness to the respec tability of that gentleman, but he believed the best way to refute the calumnies, would be to read a letter he had that evening received from that gentleman himself. The Rev. Prelate then read the letter alluded to ; amongst other things it said that the petition had been got up and carried about the parish for signatures by Lord King's agent. That in no instance bad he raised the tithes since he went to the pa rish, but in many he had lowered them. That on the l a st tithe day there had not been a single complaint. That he had never threatened to take the tithe on fish, and that he had no doubt but that the wicked peti tion originated with his Lordship. The clergyman in question was a most excellent man, and from the inquiries which be had made, he believed his conduct to have been most exemplary since he went to that parish. He hoped that the Noble Lord now felt ashamed of his conduct; for not one of the facts were traced out to be true. He trusted the Noble Lord would not go on making these attacks against defenceless men. The constant re petition of them, after the most unequivocal denials of many of them, would almost lead one to suppose that he laboured under an aberration of mind. He would only again say, that the gentleman who had been so maligned stood in as fair a light as before that petition had been presented. He trusted the Noble Baton was now ashamed of his precipitate conduct, and would now rise in his place, and make the amende honourable to the Gentlemen who had suffered under the lash. Lord KING said he did not feel in the predicament mentioned by the Rev. Prelate. His contradiction came from the despot himself, at all events from the party com plained of.--( Hear, hear.) The gentleman, whom he called his (Lord King's) agent was a lessee of land in the parish, and lie was given to understand that the petition was signed by every person in the parish, except two. The petitioners were not his tenants, but the tenants of other gentlemen. He had no influence over them, and his agent had not signed the peti tion in that character but in his character of a lessee of land. The Right Rev. Prelate had said that the clergyman had not raised his tithes, but had lowered them.—(Hear, hear.) There was a good reason for that, because the price of corn was lower, and therefore the rector was en titled to no credit for it. The facts that he (Lord King) stated yesterday he would repeat to-day ;he bad said that the rector had caused such alarm in the parish, by his threat to tithe herrings, that his proctor was burnt in effigy.—(Hear.) Would the Right Reverend Prelate contradict that ? Or would he contradict the fact that the rector had made the parish a little Ireland ? But whenever a case of hardship against a clergyman was mentioned, up started some Right Rev. Prelate to assure the House that the individual in question was one of the best and most respectable of men. They all knew, how ever, that the best men were not proof against the temp tations afforded by the tithe system. The BISHOP OF BATH AND WELLS stated that be would make particular inquiries, frotn individuals resi dent in the neighbourhood, and if he fi,und any of the assertions in the letter which he had read to be false, he assured the Noble Lord (King) that he would come down to the House and state so. lie could not help regretting to find the Noble Lord so ready, upon all occasions, to come forward and malign the clergy. Lord KING said he never maligned anybody who did not deserve it. The BISHOP OF EXETER felt it his duty to allude to a circumstance which oceurred some nights ago, when he had it not in his power to do justice to a clergyman of his own diocese, —he meant the Dean of Exeter. Their Lordships might not possibly recollect the case, among the multitude of groundless at tacks which the Noble Lord (King) was in the habit of makin on the Clergy, and he would now therefore, bring it to their recollection. That Noble Lord stated that the Dean of Exeter had appro priated to himself the tithes of two townships in the county of Devon, that he had made an extremely small allowance to the Curate, and that the parish had only ditty performed in it once on each Sunday. He also stated that the Dean of Exeter had taken care, when he renewed his tines, to screw them up to the utmost extent, but that he had given no increase to the stipend of the curate. He had written to the Dean, who stated in answer that he had been Dean of Exeter 20 years, and that he was the impropriator of the tithes in ques tion, but he denied that he had ever received a six pence of fines. When the No ble Lord thought fit to make such charges, he ou g ht to recollect that there was some difference between saying that which his hearers supposed lie knew to be true, and saying that which was false. Lord KING said that his observation was that in all livings which belonged to ecclesiastical bodies, the curate. "e remunerated‘vere received, a p anyothers. e w f a l l e s o h f a d leases, said tl The charge aga inst the Dean and Chapter was, that they too k good care of themselves, and never of those who al' i s e or r t hee worse at g w i :h t e n to oe b e s a n increase in the curate's stipend. did the duty. He would like to know when the increase of the stipend took place ; it was most likely within the last two years, and had been promoted by the direction of public attention to the subject. In all cases of renewals, he (Lord King) believed it had been made a general rule to reserve the same sum only from the lessees for the officiating minister, that had been given for perhaps 200 years before. The Bishop of EXETER remembered perfectly well that on the occasion to which allusion had been made, the Noble Baron had said that the impropriators of tithes had done their utmost to screw up the tithes f 96 ' HOUSE OF COMMONS, FERO 4$ A petition was presented against the return for ', e eS‘ and ordered to be taken into consideration on tm April. • Mr. SHAWE presented a petitio n from a Pllli Dt e Suffolk, praying the House not ta a g ree to 811 , 1 0 °. the relief and employment of the poor , until th the Commissioners to examine into- the condi° of ~o poor was laid before the country. p a re ' , Mr. E. DENNIS brought in a Bill for the 4 , ., raising money to make compensation for the dna' • og by in the hundred of Broston, in the county of M lti which was read a first time. ilk Mr. W. PATTEN, brought in a Bill to rn" l3 a D irsA from the Warrington and Newton Railway t ° ham, which was read a first time. Pc oc /c Mr. BENETT moved the third rea din g o 1 8%0 sure Bill, but from the noise in the House, we e$ hear to what part of the country it related. a bit Mr. BRISCOE opposed the Bill , an d expree°,, ofoi t e ntion to take the sense of the Hou se upon ', 4 0 o f 1. ground that there was no provision for the rig; be e poor, although no less than 1, 000 acr es were t „ closed by the Bill. 11 Pit Mr. BENETT, in reply, said the rights 0' were expressly reserved by the Bill.—( Hear.) After a few words from Mr. Price , Mr.Estcont'' prIP W. Harvey, and Mr. Benett, in explanation, grpg withdrew his opposition, and the Bil l for enci°6l,bird° in a parish in the county of Wilts, was read A and passed. fat 11 , 1 r. O'CONNELL obtained leave of absence ot weeks for an Hon. Member, whose name gl'. l l3 j - isi l f, in the gallery, in consequence of a domestic e'e,ll,l' the most a ffl icting nature. The Hon. and LealPipclo ber then postponed his motion respecting theB,l9,3ie of the Irish Reform Bill, on the ground that " directly interfere with questions refe rred t° $ Committee of that House. did Lord A LTHORP postponed his motion r e g al h, mutation of tithes in England and Wale s, to t' March. • S , ve to biwg in , b , ved fr Mr. PORTMAN rrio , . or lea\ consolidate all the Acts regarding highwaYe• in this Bill, the Hon. Member meant to Wr o- 0 1 0 4 changes in the mode in which highways wer,,et sl kept in repair.—(Hear, hear.) One importa- big' was with regard to the levies by which t be a o rin 4 l were kept in repair. Great difficulties h i ' woo l raising these levies, and it was difficul t for: tslo person to know exactly the proper steps to " A order to compel the necessary payrnents. be 1 sition upon this head by this Bill woul d o tegr,,, a highway rate, founded upon the poor torri certain extent. Another important change ; alteration in the turnings and blocking' uP ° s e lec l ot which had met with the approbation of the t l a mittee last year. He proposed, in the 6rl i $ 5 that any of the inhabitants, in vestry' %l) might propose, to save the unnecessary kee t i any highway that might be useless, that "ort closest, or perhaps diverted into some f iv is° tion..--(Hear, hear, hear.) He believed O h elk be satisfactory to the House and to t e bete,y He thought it desirable that in all instances i " t 0 Y" spondent did not appear, he should be lo P ,, e o sec:if costs. Another important alteration be Pr 4,, o p d i in the present law was, to give a power t 4 IPtel the decision of the Magistrates making t ; 0 414 00 rate, which did not at present exist. Tb ec- ,. alterations of some importance, providing 0; So of the inhabitants and other matters, but 11 ,, 00, 0 1 that this was net an interesting subject t " i$ although one of the greatest importanee.tiogir tails. He would therefore conclu de by stibetor) proposed that the Act should take effe ct to itb This was as to its general provisions , for, ' ll O .O 0 12° the appointment of surveyors, he tho u g ht it de o - o p ) should take place at the same time as the overs tr e Mr. WILKS seconded the motion, and w o e to the exertions of the Noble Lord upon thi4' Leave was then given to bring in the 13'11 CURRAGFI OF KILDARE'S Mr. EDWARD RUTHVEN moved fa r lative to the charges and profits of the abegeoor„,,, Mr. P. THONISON moved that the SPeof his writ for a new election for the borough Of the room of himself, he having chosen t° cbester.—Ordered. PHtENIX PARK. of t i; Mr. RUTHVEN moved for the return' prio had given notice, relative to the extent, 0150e(J'oc: penditure and profits of Phoenixof Colonel PERCEVAL moved for return.'biichC of prisoners in gaols in Ireland, disting o9 e 10 . 0 # from Protestants. He understood from thlferol` Gentleman opposite (Mr. Rice) that th e 0 0 °t s. not he made, because the Catholic a nd Protec el were classed together. His reason f° ins i this return, however, was , that it to the Protestants that they were Ine i° ll " e lse' in the commission of o utra g es in c ries' wished to show that the increase of t garded the anarchy and conf usion in tbi,,,(01, not been caused by the Protestant-I'o- 0 6 ,y , 0 hear.) He took that opportu nit y of of v gross libel bad been publishe d in 91,01.40 prints against a Noble Friend of his, the,01,100,), of the county of Longford, in which big ers o, o , accused of having favoured the escap e of diri°6+ stated, was charged with murder. The I ' l , 00,, to was a most respectable grimier, who WL' c lefetr , returning from Dundalk, and in his osliti a wound that occasioned the death of his Mr. SPRING RICE slid, that a lthot 00 0 'i tion might be obtained as might do for "'be private infottnation, still it could no t 0 ,11: perfectly correc ,- . When prisoners sve re o th e 14: were not bound to tell their religion, 0( 1 r t i e returns was to have accurate informatioo; CO 4 , perceive that it would not be prude° „id P e to i present motion. Even if the return c°lo,l made, it would be a most invidiou' big ! I , --(Cries of " Hear, hear.") That sy3so, &it tion to the motion. They had n o rigl't set of persons to state in what s in the chronicle of crime, particolarcersl9 Ireland, where the greatest crime tnighto and poverty. The inference that Ivo ° 1 ,0 0 0 1 be of a religious kind, and, therefore, 1,1;11 the Hon. Member would not p er ' ist c l After a few words from Mr. pr As 4 0 0 / Mr. STANLEY said, in answer t,, ° ,.0 %, fe? him by one of the Hon, Members for %dig; went was not at present prepared t° or 1"4 specific measure on the subject of the P° o o o BL , fore any one resolved that the P°e r ,, c oth ti • introduced into Ireland, he mus t reso i : ot o tle o r: of poor laws was necessary, 10a %; be 1 11 ' and on what principle they show, .„t i er 0 0! the observation which the Hon. I"e`"tie,ti° surely must know that there was r l . ° ol (l ,,,pirect i , parties were more divided among n._ 11 , ; tb e c os the poor laws ; and that was especu, trY st Members from that part of the coo°_ re fer, difference of opinion existed, withoeu`differeci cal or to religious sentiments. The t sod it ; in fact, was that which all might conscientiously entertailiLlo,nesihe°::lot,l:, satisfactory judgment on so inipor.r,, i t s t ,,t, these circumstances, he did not ti 4 _ 0 5 s r blame to the Government, that, a" be ir direct oolq affairs to which they had to t be o f had not been able to bring before c e _ oo r t bj e of affording a legal provision fur b o l' oe thought, indeed, that if there Wasu_ot P b more to be feared by te GOYer `. ".) QIN 4t 104 WI re • d . Itnd of r et: k 4t 'ea l 0 ti