The Sun. — London, England, 1833-02-14 00:00:00

ICatholi cs , i s t h e anii!lior.ltion to he Y i lt In the general temper of the th r e a la i nd, and the consequ e nt proba '"" May . he vinlicared, outraged and innocent life protected, by a ! .. g t _e,e of severity and coercion than ,Iwise have been required. One am (es_ n_ . I ) onat ' i... "_flo . therefore defective, point in the thine, iv g iv en by Lord Althorn on Tuesday 'one ( /' R T , How are the clergy to be sup !re una F rom the Noble Lord's speech we set i s or e , B / 0 collect whether the Composition ow 1 04 'a time to continue for a time, and for the question ",, , be e ff eete t d une, or how soon a commutation is and what sort of commutation ? les t „ n as relates to the Bishops is all luesti on _ Ugh ' t _ but the other, which is the main teen l ei .' ;has, hitherto at least, unfortunately hat • it I F • in ••eyptian darkness. We observe veuing it w as hurried statement of Tuesday if we as unintentionally made to appear hat an Irish official a I , ; et..or.ty for asserting ' h e t.: P sath l • poor-rate, and the payment of 13f the c clergy, to b e grand Were t o be part and parcel . measure of Church Reform, and 11. 1 ' br at , 1 1 or ON out by Ministers in a separate L or a ] Bills, immediately after that of which se th orn h as just given notice. A sur oultiafhtehaatrnature (and we say so with regret) 0 puiett he kept terror. Sure we are that the poor P a. from. starving, and the Catholic id well•being r d, ki lhood 0 ti ty or semeinintained by the state, under the plan of Ch u g Ireland a prey to turbulence thor has been rsedis°rder inio t o h and , althou g h . no evidence has yet assent and -; that Ministers are of the same orth narni tt g.,:b o 11 With `that the ourselves, or have the courage to ns. The truth y judge bY 1 i t r os eessi y ,t Ought to do in this matter. How. Y will "bide its time," and make right L feeling ( 5 z. r elt h and inexorable pressure. and v vith 4 0, li :the,. Y a ro ug h of the Chtirit have had occasion more than once to rories, vizl S i , !ark o ti ih Mr. Goa, lb „ li i ri g orlibers of the excessive eagerness of some arils convol-; hof rer t he new Parliament to enter on the i us b , 11 , 4 1) oi it;nrmation without knowing how to !thing va o f &la' `..4 e ---, to occupy particular ground with everse . t ds ,, ten., ertai n i n !sty's Mim s- a dieu)" of „ .g their own powers, or the speech, are :- 'the a t tbe_:neir position,—and to propose par s And ifilinitliiende4hona, suites without being aware how far !xperieneet 00 , t i a. , et the , Plated plans of Government might our!. f o Y ef' th lr nostrums unnecessary. The first pular m ai d r „,, , e se __. aronet, he le tielori ty of 'sion exhibited a perfect scramble a s i l t s fertartik The notices in this kind of popular le rward:ting them e r i g , ad t a k en order-book was almost like a ve of the r e a' X ' til e ra by storm and surrendered to pillage. itch of Irei-of e rot i l ti g e ,_eontinued an hour longer, scarcely a .ds the Ma ss d ' xj 4l 3as eeli n ave been safe in the budget of lburn, ind ee e ; etro le g in st ? r of the Exchequer—scarcely an , no el , „ le t i , aution would have remained un g tne r s o ut l i ti , a n d scarcely a legislative innovation f Ireland , r i g . iv s hav e r of th ,‘ I tb a i g4i nst, ernain e d unappropriated. Had the lion o f refOr tij o ; % ell Y f or ,,, ;forestalling" existed in Parliament in did net) 0 (01 il to h av q:rly did in our markets, they ought sto the a °l4 el 'e Il tk es o bee n enforced, and such a number Church sls :g 1 w 'tiee, like not to have been allowed till whi ch i t °4 . ere Ike the market, had been filled, and I for w ti ead 0- a egi s Ytoet t f • A m o ng entry, his .` 1 i t ,f It to hi ar air. the eager i ) rit for what it r kii 44 (4 , 104 t i bleb we have alluded we Observe one burocratic sa r i kf u t4l and Y Mr. Joseph Hume, "to abolish official Pary tbe ' (li te ., ,military sinecures," which comes • lopped wf 1 ei ktes."isasion this evening. Mr. Hunie in It I, i s 4 40, tith a tolerable Parliamentary tactician. inches. o f t h e faO h n t ipe et 3 .l. ofr at be must do something in economy s received it ia pie 4 ) ' kid against his blunders in other re er source t h b g e keot to qin he dexterously seizes the present inst it by I d t i i)etl li ) , wh ,* that continued zeal for retrench indulgence s, div his l eh his chief popularity has been Irish o opu l e ilk li eB „, B Peecli, his figures his calculations, ; hog tli o ih d old it wollutnitions are all, no ' doubt, prepared, seen Timons ° l e iii§ l e : l N t f d be too much to expect that he hood that am how th e presentation of the estimates ressed Jails , I t , kg g e N oi • far his motion is necessary, or to aPP • e. 4 est h it Can d to o ' f i le y awe be conceded. We would only i ta li t fi e ed solo; an I)s,h o L ver, that an upright Member of Par di of Wor ic' e frierN>4 o ad the real good of his country at ben , ot„ 41 1 , ,‘nought less of the gratification of his events t stl-7 4 nit ,t and sal° e., bits' 11, Y than of the discharge of his public aeasure -- " e c i ll e, h adLl44o,l,s,r, no desire to embarrass a patri re to be n' s ho l j° 2eit,!qe 4 e nt, anxious to accomplish all eeclesii t ' s r Z l ht: Ilpou-eforms in a reasonable time, by i of vestri. o f :t cl s . t ° co, it premature discussions—who re pair 0 wait tl ittii„ g ° ,Perate in the work of saving with ) the 1 the ine °lll l ll4 twin 4 all the merit to himself, would have &i t sa d or wr llit try " .. ase like the present, till the naval d is, . 0 ~ tYl!' 4°o • siti ," B .lirnates had been laid on the table, perw d et ;0 et, ,q,urnitted to the consideration of the gion ° f ag r it , .'is..4 he n „„ uses °` , L it it qli4 e _, ould occur the fitting occasion ilex arena e • • hale a Per'be; 04, 4e rvie Politic to abolish those rewards price t° e le t tlea 4 le ttb es which may be included by the a se - ful- ii h i' sg s P ei llto t o er under that name. Most likely s u er by s uc- j ' av Y>. glue demand the abolition of the she of 3" / hal l 'lth Admiral and Vice-Admiral in :he of rent' p ith h e a ll the reduction * o no' I/ ni • t h , °th e ,. of that of Field-Mar ioptaind a st , , !tiler aim,orsh,annir appointments in the army, we belie / 1 0 / r tlir l l or t Pa of different fortresses, and ill be that per of 1-1 0 ° ‘v f ar P i °B4 . We shall not stop to in his own 1) : f v . f t tlt t e 'e 0„ he intends to go, or tell how far cupidity , iy etltti o say t et to follow him ; it is enough or e nd his Tell ; : i )r fl it e 4, ti, at this is not the time for the of the sol; 04 h 14 0 ,1 11 "t nothing will be lost by waiting the d i e cesa t %I nn ot „lre sh e , t ;°n of the estimates, and that, e importane let o( qti t i a a u not assign a bad motive, we le inur edi° o ry \ l o. l ,i ( Pod one for bringing on the de ita Le o 4 11 ), the r :; l t• Legislation is not like epic For p t he 111 !of It , Ctl a,s , r 's , no necessity for rushing at once t o ifte 14 ti e s'. '••••••Tinres. i bees the r 4 n 4 4. ht iee. , An° A ir, welt red .:ssary for us to repeat, what we have ition of . " 010 tA i.te , .. opr conviction of the necessity, his te11 i. 3 . 6 1 1 ,e ou lk oet i i %nee, of a refbrm in the Church a t of "' Pi o , hil . view of the empire. We did not con [ sst the be' t . t h t, ` l 4 ; . ...__to the Irish branch of the Esta rtexion 0 : 1 5t i giti l the t h e her ever abuses could be shown to i mp aga in he k rn t 4 k teti th r in. England or the sister island, though t r y 17 4 e8 : I „,e ' , p at , the Church ought to be relieved , y es sit to g ':'e,indicial consequences of such tiled w e s h tb ail d . f ion t a tt, ,a tell d i sinterested persons must allow, e o owl hard . r , i _ . the at il or 1 1 , a 1 4 I: s u t us and moral influence of the vith a.% of r t t ,,, , whi t! Promoted by removing those 1 • • a tr'" 1 an stain its Christian purity of Ju t • 4 Li are , defe ren t_.i in ~_ ket. I . OW 1' the mllle v ,he SPOtB upon vestal's S iXt"' 0 6 'Ch v ack t P r io,r what t„soil." robe, II for. dl' I),,t i lltet, I ng the - o ke e extirpation of the abuses J 0 ral• .ge )w e nbe Alo gi• .1. t Ititti.lol). never recommended anything tive.easyr 1 Wi' l . 4 :h 4 , 11 ! th , s v vili e h W k e objected to sinecures and 1 4 ° 1 pia sta te , t e a i' t At di ".ave been objected to by some if con fa b e ' 4 14 41f . , stl nguished lutninaries of the o ffices h e R 1 vit,, 4 1 % Vv i . ... dt , , t , b , ok ltti .. would instance such cele loin/ie,:any h e littl i , i , tot er tho se of Burnet and Sherlock_ orb-. 704, 10,, lee 4 ;etit tr e,sl in the temporal fruits I o the by 1113 of 4). ' 4 l It Y of It ' not blind o le) j., Jeeti„' 41% a e their judgments as to ii,. r . „,,i,0r" ?erg yi nal A : ho e o rrection of its abuses. Fre no'":rtirig.a9 Ith es ,l l ßh i `,lt ode we expressed a wish that a less ,1 s ic cing. / th e N e ,i'ed er: °l' providing for the parochial Lords hi p- , dig h ot t: , a r h i 4 . y the :ed than the Papal invention of I no& a d. 4 D "he % 'NI% dad inv nt . because it was ,„ for - li d la •.0 8 1 a N I / auth . e ion, . , r ; vl,l and e or .1 )rity of the Roman Pontiff in, ° JO d g he e l th • I ginall • op° eer et i en. y imposed on the people etr , In • isn't he i,„ 41 1,, 4 the kaYtnent, as now enforced, Ami n for h e "et 'ter ' first • • re s o of _instance established by Pooreas,heir 4 ,vrik a p o sa 4 or , ope Innocent 111., about * „g, I t 1c ilia N. ,tn e 1 ,-, , res et. e a ta pe. ov kli _ 44tn century. It is true at P. eio ts rr e „ Payt rie ntis t i e 'n for the Levites under the on' l 00 ti t b ge ttloi l , Il t of ill' which,though ) ii o' able e at . 1 4 ..i t h something eli tl t e , was very different in its f a vour," o f -4... a.. . 411 ---> t tu t i rorn ours. That system, ;nil° or ia i . • • 4writers admit, began and n i t t ee pro _ Jo .t resumed, w". 6 'Fees f to Law .00 —of the 111 ' f Iv.. C. 41 ' 4 0i weedioge bectio i the procia° 11. altering the litiohs. rd the Noble b ntention t o g o t I before t he the laws rei'o r, coranion l Y et ; idered it a r es which tho°l" : intentionnt 01_16. mewnre ree" JOURNA LS• ended with the Jewish Theocracy ; so that our Protestant tithe system rests only on Papal foun dation. Anxious, however, as we have been in this and other respect's fora reasonable and judicious Church reform, we never advocated the diverting any part of the revenues of the Church from the maintenance of the clergy, and other ecclesiastical purposes, unless in the event of its being satisfactorily demonstrated that those revenues amounted to a greater sum than would be requisite, ifproperly distributed, for the decent and comfortable support of all the clergy. One of the greatest abuses of the Church establish ment is the enormously disproportionate ilicomes of the dignitaries who superintend, and the inferior clergy who labour. The worst paid members of any liberal profession who have much work to do are the inferior clergy of the Church of England, while, with the ex ception of the Spanish prelates, our superior clergy are the best paid. Now we have con tended for the principle of a less unequal distri bution of the wealth of the Church both in England and Ireland, insisting at the same time that none of the wealth of the Church should be seized by the State, and applied to secular purposes, until it should have been ascertained that the whole body of the working clergy were respectably provided for, and a surplus remained, in which case it would be right that such surplus should be appropriated to the relief of the poor. It appears by the proposed plan of Irish Church Reform, Ministers intend taking between two and three millions from the Irish Church, and applying that sum to secular purposes, before they can possibly have ascertained whether the remaining property of the Church, if properly distributed, would more than decently maintain all the clergy. It is true their plan contemplates a fund arising from the abolition of sinecure offices, which is to be applied,. under the autho rity of Commissioners, first, to the ordinary Church cess ; secondly, to the augmentation of poor livings. But under this regulation it is not yet possible to know what sum will be available to the augmentation of poor livings. Now, if any part of the property of the Church shall be ap plied to the purposes of the State before the whole of the poor livings are adequately aug mented, a wrong is done to the Church,. and the proper incomes of its inferior members are made the subject of spoliation. But, supposing all the poor livings reasonably augmented, what is to become of that hard-working class of clergy men, the Curates of the Establishment ? Are they to be still left to the miserable pittance of 751. per annum ? If so, as far as they are concerned will the plan of Church Reform in Ireland be an equitable one, or a confiscation of the means of subsistence which they had a right to claim under a reformed Establishment. Nor do we observe that the Mini , terial plan for Ire land embraces that most important point, the equalization of the incomes of Bishoprics ; and the other great point, which would in some measure be a consequence of the former, the abolition of the mischievous practice of transla tions ;—a practice, indeed, more injurious to the character and efficiency of the Church than almost any other abuse—a practice which con verts, but too often, the Prelates of the Esta blishment into suppliant courtiers, waiting upon the smiles of a Minister, when they ought to be engaged in the duties of the sacred office, in stead of fawning on power for a larger portion of the gifts of Mammon.—Morning Herald. Last night, in the House of Commons Sir James Graham was afforded an opportunity of vindicating his conduct in playing fast and loose with a distinguished officer, Sir H. Neale, with respect to the naval command at Portsmouth, We wish it were in our power to add that the explanation tendered by the First Lord of the Admiralty of this extraordinary exertion of his , ificial power was honourable to himself, or likely to prove satisfactory to the naval service or to the country. Sir James Graham admitted that no order exists pronouncing that a seat in Parliament and the possession of a naval com mand of this description are incompatible, and insisted that in applying a new rule of his own making to this particular case he had only exer cised that free discretion which it had been the invariable practice for persons holding the office which he filled to enjoy. Sir James, in short, evaded the question altogether. He asserted the power inherent in his office, which nobody has disputed, hut said not one word, or none to the purpose, of the just, candid, or honourable reeling manifested in its exertion in the case of Sir H. Ne .le, which is the very thing that is dis puted by all the world. It is evident enough that whenever the First Lord of the Admiralty may have a friend whom he wishes to appoint to a good command, and who happens to be a Member of the House of Commons, he will be casuist sufficient to find some distinction between the case of such friend and that of Sir H Neale. Portsmouth is at a much more conve- nient distance from the House of Commons than many of the stations, naval and military, which Members of that assembly who happen to be favourites with Sir James and his colleagues are at this moment permitted to occupy. They must be blind indeed who do not see through the whole manceuvre. It suited the Cumberland Baronet to get the credit, if he could, of appoint ing to Portsmouth a naval officer of first-rate pretensions. But it suited him also that the appointment should be nugatory, in order that he might have the opportunity of giving the substantial and effective appointment to some political or personal friend of his own of second or third rate pretensions. The Grey maxims of Government extend to the Admiralty, where they are disguised with something more than the dexterity of Downing-street. This is all.— Atorning Post. The West Indians have for many years af firmed that they were grossly calumniated and misrepresented. They constantly demanded a thorough and searching investigation upon oath into the actual state of their negroes, and of society in general in the colonies. The Corn tnittee of the House of Peers, from whose " Minutes of Evidence " we have occasionally given extracts, was accordingly appointed to make this investigation ; and, by way of coun terpoise, Mr. Buxton obtained an Abolition Committee of the other House. In the latter Committee Buxton, Lushington, and Co. had an , opportunity of stating tneir part of the case ; but the Committee report that they were compelled, by the approaching dissolution of . Parliament, "to close their labours in an abrupt and unfinished state ;" before the co lonists had been fully heard, or one-tenth part of their witnesses examined ; and that, " with some few exceptions, the inquiry has been confined to the island of Jamaica, and that the important question of what is due to the fair and equitable consideration of the interests of private property' had not been investigated." The inquiry before the Committee of the House of Lords was of a more general nature, yet their Lordships only got through a part of the case of Jamaica, without having been able to extend their inquiry to any other colony. " Under these circumstances, adverting," say they,. " to thead vanced period of • the session, and to the pro bable arrival of persons of authority from Jamaica, whose evidence would be most desi rable, they have determined to postpone the con sideration of any detailed report." The West Indians having thus hail no opportunity of fully refut ng the allegations of their adversaries in one Committee, and the case of one island only having been partially investigated in either, no man desirous of promoting fair and substantial justice can wish that the inquiry should rest where it is, more particularly as the Earl of Belmore,and many other persons of the highest character and respectability, have subsequently arrived from the colonies—men whose attainments, capability, and opportunity for investigation, render their evidence, impartially weighed, worth the testi,. inony of a thousand half-educated missionaries. Yet; it will scarcely be believed, the abolition.. ists have plotted to stifle further inquiry, and are desirous of jumping to a conclusion.. And why ? Because they are afraid to meet the case fairly. The West Indians, however, much to their honour, have demanded that the most rigid and uncompromising inquiry upon oath should be continued, conscious that the more their case is known, the more evident will it appear that hitherto they have been treated with the greatest possible injustice; and that the im mediate abolition of slavery would be equally ruinous to the slave, to his master, and to the country at large. We have heard a good deal about the flourishing condition of Hayti, and of the great credit which ought to be given to the evidence of Admiral Fleming on these subjects. Without supposing him to be biassed by the cone tinued influence of his early Cpanish connection, or by his quarrel with the people of Jamaica, we shall merely observe that the West Indians have had no full opportunity of bringing witnesses to confute his desultory evidence, ranging, as it does, over not only the West Indies, but also Hayti, Cuba, Caraccas, and other trans atlantic countries. As a specimen, we give extracts, in another column, from that part which relates to Hayti, together with extracts from the evidence upon oath of a respectable gentleman not connected with our %Vest India Colonies, whose opportunities for obtaining correct infor mation were, it will be seen, superior to those of the Hon. Admiral; and as Ministers, though they have discouraged, have not refused the re appointment of Committees for further inquiry, the colonists will have the opportunity to pro duce further evidence showing the complete fallacy of the Admiral's conclusions. In the meantime, let us see how the assertion regarding the great industry and prosperity of St. Domingo is manifested, in a commercial point of view, by comparison with other tropical countries. We notice at page 1,076 of the Lords' Report, that the importation into England of St, Domingo coffee (its staple production) was, in 1826, 111,000 cwt.; in 1831, on an average of the three preceding years, it had fallen to 3,716 cwt. In that year (1131), whilst the value of British and Irish produce and manufactures exported to Hayti was 320,0001., the value of the same articles sent to our own depressed colonies was as follows, viz.:--To Jamaica, 1,247,0001.; Barhadoes, and some other of our slave islands, 1,035,0001.; British Guiana and Trinidad, 635,0001.; exclusive of foreign and domestic mer chandise. But then, say the abolitionists, the Haytians trade chiefly with the United States of America. Let us see how this stands. By the American Secretary of the Treasury's report of the trade of the United States for the year end ing on the 20th of September, 1831, it appears that the whole value of the imports from the flourishing, free-trading Republic of Hayti was only to the extent of 1,580,578 dollars, and the exports 1,318,375 dollars; whereas the American imports from the neighbouring slave island of Cuba alone amount to 8,371,797 dollars, and the exports to about 5.000,000 dollars. Such is the state of free-labouring in dustry in Hayti. The morality of its popula tion may be guessed at even from the evidence of the Hon. Admiral ; and there seems little reason to doubt that that once flourishing colony is still, in a great degree, labouring ,‘ under an odious combination of the darkness, ferocity, vices, and superstitions of all colours, and all nations, unredeemed by the virtues of any ;" and that Mr. Buxton and his coadjutors, if they really desire to promote the cause of humanity, would be better employed in endeavouring to suppress the foreign slave trade than in persevering at tempts to re-plunge the British negroes into their former state of barbarism.—Morning Post. We alluded yesterday to a communication from a correspondent in Spain, on the present state of the unreformed Church of that country. Our correspondent is a gentleman thoroughly acquainted with Spanish affairs, and of the strictest honour and integrity. We this day, according to promise, lay the communication before our readers : " SEVILLE, JAN. 14, 1833.—1 have been at some pains to ascertain the application and distribution of the ecclesiastical revenue of this country. When -at Toledo last spring, to see the festival of Passion Week, I pro cured from the Accountant of the Diocesan Treasury a statement of the distribution of the tithe income, and other rents of that celebrated see. And I have now got a si milar statement for the archbishopric of Seville. Both accounts agree within a trifle; so you may rely on the accuracy of the following general information, as appli- cable to the whole kingdom : " The Government t4kes 72 per cent. aril a fraction over, of all tittles and other income, from certain or fixed sources belonging to the Church. For instAnce, out of every 100 fanegas, or bushels of tithe grain, the Govern ment takes '72 bushels; and of everything else in a si- milar proportion, which goes direct into the N,tional Treasury in aid of the public burden, and forms the largest item in the Ways and Means of the Minister of Finance, being about twenty-two millions of dollars, or four and a half millions of pounds sterling. " The remaining 28 per cent. goes to the church, for the maintenance of the clergy and building and repairs of churches. •' This curtailment of clerical wealth bad its origin in various periods of State necessity. The Government quota, stated above in round numbers at 72 per cent., is rendered in the accounts under several heals or titles; the principal ones are three— Tercias Reales, Noreno, and Excusada, so ca'led when first taken or established. For each there has been a concordat with the Pope, as the head of the Church. The divisions and sub-divisions of the general fond to the other participators are too numerous and re quire more space to explain to you th in I can spare of this sheet. You shall have them by another convianee. " There are no Church rates, as in England. The ex• penses of building and repairs of churches come out of the tithes, with a priority of all claims, according to the in-• tention of the primitive donors; and it is the t nly part of their pious intentions now complied with. The poor, the principal obj-ct for whose relief tithes were given and be queathed by the faithful, are entirely forgotten. " The people of England are made to believe tbat the Spanish clergy are the richest in the world, while the contrary is the fact. The Bishops are reduccd to scanty incomes, and the inferior dignitaries still lower, in propor tion to their standing; still they (the Bishops) contrive to give ex , ensive charities. To be sure they have no families to support and provide for, like your Bishops in England. There is no instance, in modern time, of a Spanish Bishop dying rich, or enriching his relations in his lifetime. 6' In Spain clerical duty is performed with great atten tion. All who live by the Church are kept to their posts —no non-residents ; no pluralists. Not even the highest I dignitary can absent himself from his spiritual jurisdiction without special permission from the King, previous to an application showing sufficient cause. The Archbishop of Seville, for instance, could not go to Madrid on his private affairs without such permission. And were he to tarry beyond a reasonable time, his passport would be sent him unceremoniously to repair to his church. " The parochial clergy are hard worked and badly paid. In every parish churc", there is a sleeping room and other accommodation for the curate, his clerk, and sexton ; here he is understood to he found at all hours, day and night, ready to afford spiritual comfort to the sick. In small places of hut one parish, the curate is allowed, by suffer ance, to have a house of his own to live in ; but it must he close to the church, the clerk and sexton continuing in the said church apartment, with a night bell to the door to call up the curate the instant he is wanted ; and off he must go without a moment's delay, though it should rain in torrents. In towns of more than one parish, this place of call or attendance is in the principal church ; here the several curates relieve each other by turns of weekly attendance, one being always present (and all if necessary, as in times of epidemic sickness) day and night, like a soldier on guard. The priest, while on duty, is cilled el cura semanal. This salutary change in ecclesi astical discipline, so different from times gone by, is the effect of public opinion—public opinion, that hs not yet reached the absolute Court of Madrid. has worked a con siderable reform in the Church of Spain, in which, how ever, there is still room for amendment. " I am promised an account of the income of every Bishop in Spain, which I shall send you as a curious do cument, to compare the poverty of these teen with the wealth of the Prelates of the Church of England. As far as my information goes at present, I should say that the Archbishop of Canterbury receives into his private purse, to do with it as his own,' more than the incomes of the eight Archbishops of Spain put together: and that each Bishop of the sinecure Church of Ireland takes, on an average, to spend at his will and pleasure, as much as ten Spanish Bishops, while the latter perform laborious duties, and are obliged to give away in charity every dollar beyond a moderate subsistence. • I say obliged to give, for were a Bishop in Spain to hoard money, or divert his income from its proper object, the relief of the indigent, he could not show his face in public ; the clamour of the poor, loud and vehement, would pursue and shame him wherever he went, even to the foot of the altar. " A multitude of other charitable funds, besides tithes, existed in Spain down to a late period ; the donations and bequests of pious individuals, under various denomina 'ions, such as alms-houses, hospitals, asylums, schools, &e., endowed with sufficient rents to support them in perpetuity. Profligate Princes, from time to time, laid violent hands on much of this property, and bestowed it on favourites in reward of the basest services. A vast deal still remained till the last reign, some thirty years -go, when the King, Charles IV., or rather the Queen, who ruled him, made an end of it by sweeping the whole into one general sale, under the name or title of Obras Pias. This sale of so much real property produced an immense sum of ready money, which was soon squandered by the Queen, Maria Luisa de Bourbon, of dissolute me mory. The ostensible motive set forth for this wholesale robbery of the poor, was to form a sinking fund for the national debt, paying interest to the various charitable in stitutions to which the property belonged ; but with the real intention to have no sinking fund, and no interest paid, which secret vow is kept to the present day. Here ended all permanent relief to t! e poor of Spain, for no one will now endow a charitable institution that is sure to tall under the iron grasp of absolute power. I know an old Spaniard of great wealth, who is unhappy because he cannot leave his ail for the benefit of the poor, with any chance of security of their enjoying it. " You will say that the poor of Spain are plundered of their patrimony as in England. This is a melancholy truth, attested by multitudes perishing of want ; there being no provision by law or usage, the indigent are left to casual and voluntary charity; and this in a country without trade or manufactures to give employment to such as are able and willing to work. The necessary conse quence is insecurity of person and property from open robbery, and all manner of vicious ways to which num bers are driven by hunger. The patrimony of the poor, had it been honestly administered, would he sufficient to set up every beggar in Spain, if I may use the expression, a riding in his carriage; so immense have been the gifts of the faithful for charitable purposes, always including the tithes, the unquestionable inheritance of the necessi• taus. Verily the dispensations of Providence puzzle my weak understanding, when I see the false guardians and plunderers of this sacred trust walk the world unpunished to the grave." It appears then that four millions and a half sterling are taken from the Church estates of Spain by the Government, and that out of the 28 per cent. of the tithes, &c., left to the clergy, the expense of building and repairing ofChurches is defrayed. It appears further, that the Spanish Bishops are reduced to scanty incomes, yet that they still continue to give away much in charity —that non-residence either on the part of Bishops or parish clergy is unknown—that there are no pluralities—and that the parish clergy are hard worked and badly paid, being obliged to be in readiness day and night to afford spiritual comfort to the sick and dying. Our correspon dent promises to supply us with an account of the income of every Bishop in Spain ; but in the mean time he states his belief, as far as his information goes, that the Archbishop of Canter bury receives alone, to do with it as his own, more than the incomes of all the eight Archbishops of Spain ; and that each sinecure Bishop of the Protestant Church of Ireland receives as much as ten Spanish Bishops ; while it is an under stood tnatter, t hat the incomes of the latter must be expended chiefly in works of charity. Bishop Burnet remarked, that he had travelled through most of the countries of Europe, and that he had nowhere found a Church so full of abuses as the Church of England. The abuses of plu ralities and non-residence had been corrected, in the Catholic Church by the Council of Trent. The Rev. Mr. Townsend, in his " Travels in Spain," tells us, that during his residence in Spain (in 1786 and 1787), " all with united voices bore testimony to the superior virtue of the Bishops. Indeed, these venerable men, from all that I could hear, and from what I saw, in the near approach to which they graciously admitted me, for purity, for piety, and for zeal, can never be sufficiently admired." On another occasion he says, that " the moment a Minister of the Altar accepts a mitre, he devotes his life wholly to the duties of his office, confines himself altogether to his diocese, and is lost to both his friends and to his family.." So that it would appear the exemplary conduct of the Bishops i❑ Spain is of an old date. The Conservatives view a Church merely as a piece of machinery for dis tributing a large share of the property of the country among the children and connections of the aristocracy. They are, of course, aware, that certain reli g i ous o b servances are necessary to give a title to the property ; but they view the religious part of the question as quite a secondary affair- Prope r ty, property, i s always uppermost in their minds when they speak of the Church. Thus, for instance, Mr. Goulburn, on Tuesday night, " regretted most deeply that the influence of the Church should be diminished. The first principle of the measure was the destruction of more than one-half of the power of the Church. He could understand why the Noble Lord should think such and such incomes were too large ; but why should he wish to withdraw from the Church their influence and power?" All the influence and power Church, in the opini o n o f t h e Ri g h t Hon. of Ge the nt leman,is the influence and power derived from the coin:nand of large sums of money. The means by which a clergy may obtain an influence over the minds of their flocks by the zealous discharge of their spiritual duties, never once enters into his head. Sir Robert Peel, too, sa y s , " Let us, with the Bishop of Cloyne, ask ourselves this question—is an Irish .gentleman anything the worse that he wears a black coat, and says his prayers twice a day ? Even in a civil and .temporal point of view, is not the re sidence of a clergyman a great advantage to any p a rt of the country in which he may be fixed ? Most Hon. Members present are perfectly aware that if tithes were completely relinquished, the effect would be that the whole of the produce would be pocketed by the landlord ; but that surely is not a consummation which any person sincerely interested in the happiness of the coun try would desire to witness; and I am sure I but speak the sentiments of every friend to the Church and to religion, when I say that the Protestant clergyman should be preserved in circumstances to hold up his head amongst men to whom he is not inferior in education, manners, or moral worth." If the whole question was, whether it would be better that certain estates should be held by men in black or men in red or blue coats, there might be some force in this reasoning. But the qnes tion is properly, not whether such and such individuals should be enabled to play the gentle men in black coats, but whether the money ex pended for this object cannot be expended more beneficially for the public interest. We take it for granted, that the ministers of religion are the servants of the state, that the money paid to them is public money, and in the expending of public money we ought to consider the relative importance of the various objects for which the public money is required, and in what way these various objects can be best effected. Now, we take it that money can always be more profitably employed than in merely maintaining the mem bers of a sinecure Church in their character of country gentlemen in black coats. But were the Church not a sinecure one, the object of keeping it up we take to be the moral and religious instruction of the people. Now, as Sir Henry Parnell observed of the civil servants of the State, the worst way of going to work to obtain efficient service, was to overpay men, for that introduced into the service men who laboured with reluctance, and had expen sive habits incompatible with a due discharge of duty—it may in like manner be affirmed Lhat the scale of remuneration most likely to obtain effective and zealous instructors / of the people, is not that which would enable clergymen to hold up their heads with the gentry. The clergy of Germany, for instance, according to the accounts of all travellers, discharge their pastoral duties in a most exemplary manner, and it is no doubt greatly owing to their assi duity, that the German peasantry are so distin guished for honesty and good conduct. In Sir Arthur Brook Faulkner 's recently published " Visit to Germany and the Low Countries, in the years 1829, 1830, and 1831," we have some valuable information respecting this matter. To give an instance from him :—" The clergy at Marburg (he says) are in the strictest sense a working clergy. Their allowance from Go vernment is partly in corn, and in the casual profits arising from births, marriages, and fune rals. Some have a little glebe land, which their parishioners volunteer their assistance in cultivating, out of pure respect and good feeling. They are perpetually among their flocks, correcting and training, and guiding, and, in such unremitting labours of lore, earn a reputation not the less likely to abide b them for being the capital on which they must rely for most of their comforts and happiness. And it surely is most fitting there should sub sist always this reciprocity of feeling and good offices between the pastor and his charge." The clergy everywhere throughout Germany receive a very moderate remuneration ; but we see the effects of it. In short, we have no hesitation in saying, that if the Protestant Church of Ire- land had been as poorly paid as the Protestant Churches of Germany, it would have been at this day rooted in the affections of the people of Ireland, instead of being altogether without influence. It must appear to most per sons strange that the handsome way in which Government have proceeded with the Pro testant Church of Ireland has been lost on the Conservatives. Why was Mr. O'Connell satis fied ? If Mr. O'Connell had thundered against the Government plan, the Conservatives would have jumped at it. But that the same thing should please them and Mr. O'Connell is not to be expected. Had, in short, Mr. O'Connell wished to break up the union between the Conservatives and the Whigs, which certain politicians have been at such pains to form, he could not have hit upon a better method than to seem pleased with the Mi nisterial plan. We may now expect that the Conservatives will stir heaven and earth against it. We acquit Mr. O'Connell of any such Ma chiavelian intention, as the wishing to set the Conservatives and Whigs by the ears ; but what ever his intention, the tendency of his support is to withdraw from Ministers the support of the Conservatives. To be fore .warned is to be fore armed, and he is now fore-warned, so that he has a sure card to play. We may observe, that in our article of yesterday, we unintentionally understated the advantages of the Ministerial plan, with reference to the public. Last night the subject was introduced in the House of Commons : " Lord STORMONT asked to what purposes the surplus of the revenues of the Church of Ireland were to be de voted ? "Lord ALTHORP replied, that he considered the sur plus revenue applicable to the purposes of the State. c , Mr. HARLAND inquired whether it was intended to diminish the number of Irish Bishops in the House of Lords ? " Lord ALTHORP answered in the negative." This is an admission of a most important principle. It is, no doubt, a sad waste of public money to give 10,0001. a year to an Archbishop ; but it is something that a beginning has been made to cleanse this Augean stable.—Morning Chronicle. Many flagrant instances occurred during the late general election of the unjust and unworthy practices resorted to by Tory candidates and their friends to obtain the votes of those depen dent on them. Such instances carried with them the strongest proof of the urgent necessity of the ballot. But to the credit of London, be it said, no case of that kind occurred in that city. We find, however, that the present contest for the city will not pass over thus untainted. An instance of threat has already appeared in the conduct of a Tory towards a voter in his service, who had promised his vote to the Liberal candi date, as unjust and disreputable as can be ima gined, and which must reflect indescribable dis- grace on the Tory cause. The outline of the case referred to is simply this : the elector spon taneously offered his vote to the Committee of Mr. Alderman Venables. His employers, know- ing he had a vote, demanded it ior Mr. Lyall : he informed them he had promised hi s vote to the Liberal candidate. He ;vas instantly ordered to go and retract his promise. He went to the Committee of the Aiderman, stated the circum- stance with tears in his eyes, lamenting he was not allowed to exercise the dictates of his con- science : lie was ordered to retract his promise, which order he must obey, as his employment depended on it. We hope the liberal electors of London will view with merited indignation all such attempts at oppression, and will unitedly come forward and show the illiberal and Tory interest of the city that the electors are not to be treated as slaves, subservient to the dictation of ~thers in the exercise of their political franchises. —Morning Chronicle. - - Mr. Hume put a question last night on a most important subject. He wished, he said, to know if the statement of the death of the Master of the Report Office was correct, and if it was intended to fill up the vacant appointment ? " The emoluments (he said) of this situation amounted 1,5891. Ile. 10d. per annum, which sum was paid out (if the Court of Chancery. According to a former de el/ration of the Noble Lord, all offices, as they fell vacant, were to be subject to revision ; and he took it for granted teat this was to be the case in the present instance. He would venture to throw out a suggestion, that inquiry s:Jould be made how far it was necessary to fill up the office at all ; and if necessary, at what reduced salary. It was of !treat importance that these points should be strictly attended to in all cases where appointments fell vacant. At Present, when any situation fell vacant in the colonies, Or in the army or navy, the first intimation the public ge nerally had of it was the appointment of a successor." He should give notice of a motion on the subject for a future day. These are the foul spots on the system of this country. To think only of individuals being allowed to take nearly 3,0001. a year for doing n s othing, or next to no thing, out of the pockets of the people of this country ! But as Achille Murat observes, in England a man is paid not for his services but for his rank—he is a Lord or the brother of a Lord, and therefore he must be paid as a Lord. —Morning Chronicle. a i r test ev r a t the matte. c o f ir oci %tile ie would not et i pot e i "ced u t be hops b e ?Pie of by them bee" MY that t PPrei MOW when t be d r scu, L the hands of , P d e , • ,„,g 4 t ()th e ; e Hon. Ilember '4l 'emus, d be, lost &boat rPplan ar , ation HAMBURG PAPERS. HAMBURG, FEB. 6.—From the sentence passed by the seventh Aulic Tribunal, which is now pub lished, it appears that Baron Von Duben was unanimously sentenced to simple banishment from the kingdom . ; but with respect to Baron Von Ye ge,ack, the majority added that it should be left to his Majesty to determine whether he should not be Imprisoned till he made a confession respecting the begging letter to the Prince of Wasa, and the con spiracy mentioned in it. _ The farmer in the province of Nerike who is ac ciised of high treason has addressed a humble peti tion to the King, begging that the proceedings against him may be stayed.. The investigation has, however, been commenced, and will be continued. BERLIN, FEB. S.—(FROM A LETTER.)—WeII-in formed persons affirm that the dignified manner in which Russia steps forward as a mediator between he Porte and Mehemet Ali Pacha is in perfect uni son with Prussia and Austria. The latter Power is, besides, interested in it on account of the insur rection which has broken out in Bosnia; because, on all such occasions, its provinces, which are known by the name of the military frontier, are exposed to 'roubles which in time of peace, with the good un derstanding that prevails between those provinces end the Turks, never occur, Under the present circumstances the following authentic anecdote de serves to be published :—The last time thar the late Field-Marshal Count Diebitsch was in Berlin a per son of distinction here expressed his surprise at the moderation shown by the Russians after the passing of the Balkan, when they were almost in eight of Constantinople. To this the celebrated General answered—" The Emperor of Russia never ivtned at he ruin of his neighbour, and the Sultan and his Vizier are honourable men; and Russia must and will step forward as their protector, if the rebellious Pachas, and Mehemet Ali at their head, should ad vance to Constantinople." In the course of this year the grand reviews will be near Breslaw and Konigsberg, in Prussia; and the King will pass a considerable time in Silesia. His Majesty enjoys such good health this winter, that he declares that the use of the baths of Toplitz, though he went so late in the season, were never so evidently beneficial as at this time. Among the reports of the day is the intended se cession of a German Prince from the Evangelical Church, and the exchange of a small territory at a great distance from the native country, or rather from the other dominions of the Prince, will be effected with Prussia for territories more in the vicinity. _ _ The army has lost a veteran officer by the death of General Herwath von Betterfeld, at the age of O. FREIBURG, JAN. 31.—Professor Rotteck has de clared to-day that he renounces the honour of being chosen a second time burgomaster, and begs those who intend to vote for him to make another choice. EXCHANGES ON LONDON. HAMBURG, Fes. 13.—One month, 13 13; two months, 13 11%. STOCKHOLM, FEB. I.—Thirty days, 14 9. BERLIN, FEB. s.—Three months. 6 28%, —Hamburg Papers, Feb. & The petitions from Leeds to both Houses of Parliament, praying for the immediate abolition of colonial slavery, were sent off on Monday evening laq to Earl GREY, end to JOHN MARSHALL, jun., Esq., and THOWAV i3ABINGTON MACAULAY, Esq., Members for this borough, for presentation. The number of signatures amounted to upwards of 16,000. The address to the KING, signed by the Chairman of the meeting, had been previously trans :flitted to Lord BROUGIHAIt.-Leeds Mercury. Members of Parliament may be, not inaptly, compared to coveys of partridges. In the early part of ti.e season the birds are tame, and eho's easily obtained. So Members, at the commencement of the Session, are exceedingly courteous, affable, and easy of access. As the season proceeds the birds get wilder, stronger on the wing, and shots are much more difficult. So Members, who now, feeling the daily, and almost hourly, annoyance of enclosure lawyers, railroad lawyers, and turnpike-road law yers, get more shy ; they fear to present themselves at the front windows of their club-houses—sometimes change their lodg ings, and get to the House through back ways and alleys, and are not easily caught by their pursuers. Towards the end of the season the birds are perfectly wild—soon a nouble barrel Manton becomes perfectly useless. In like manner the Members, as the Session closes, avoid the private Bill mongers with the utmost anxiety, exercising as much in genuity to get rid of them as some have done to avoid a sheriff's officer previous to their election. BURKE replied to some one who asked his support to a private Bill, " That his Injustice was engaged." It is confidently stated to be the intention of Government to abolish the police-office at Lsmbeth.street, Whitechapel, and divide the business at present done there between the Thames-police and Worship•street offices, !Raking Whitechapel and Mile-end raids the line of de ►narcation. By this arran.tement a saving of nearly 4,0001. per annum will be made to the country. THE SKETCH BOOK OF FASHION.—" This is just such a book as we should suppose the Authoress of ► Mothers and Daughters' would write, lively, keen, witty, and, to use a familiar eipres.ion, full of relish, with here and there a tone of satire which, but for its graceful. ness, might be thought a little too sharp, and a bantering which, amusing though it be, too nearly approaching mis. chid-making, and bears too hardly on in any worthy persons who do not deserve to be so ridiculed, though the authoress masks her inteation at the very beginning of the book by dectying, in the most forcible terms, the practice of quizzing. This is at once ingenious and disingenuous. We must, however, admit that it is difficult to possess the power of ridiculing others, and, at the same time, to keep that power in due bounds, more especially when, as in the present day, nothing is more admired thin caricature. But when we designate Mrs. Gons as in part a carica turist, we do not intend to deny her talents in the higher order of portraiture, nor to say that her stories are deficient in variety, sentiment, or passion. As a female novelist, she is second to none of her day, and can command our tears no less than our smiles.",.-Morning Post. CORONERS t was holden yeszrd y uf n a n n i 0 1.1 0 E ST. pP EitA hToEq Inquest S clo. ore THOMAS STIRLING, E•q., at th e H orseshoe and Magpie, Coldbath.street, Spa-fields, on v i ew o f t h e b o d y of ELIZASETA SJIIIH, aged 60, who committed suicide y throwing herself out of thesecond flour back window of Clerkenwell workhouse. Verdict " Temporary Insanity.' The Saltash floating bridge was tly permanen set to work last week. Among many equipages which for the first time crossed the Tamar in this novel and very de+ commodating machine was that of Sir IVILLIA3I CALL, whose carriage was drawn to the bridge with four horses, which were driven on and from toe bridge with perfect composure, nor did the coachman leave his box 'luring their passage. It is not generally Julian that the i"habi tants of the borough of Saltash are, by ikeet of Pariiamt-nt, exempted from paying tollfor ever, a Pr-vnag e they L. ar. not a little proud of.—Ctoreavall Gazette. t. ;, E•