The Express.
London, England, 1849-12-13 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, THURSDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 13, 1849.

Christian charity, to follow up and abide. by the di-
rection of his charter in all respects."
In the year 1816 the well-known Di. PUTMAN,
the tutor of Mr. Prre, was Bishop of Lipeoln. He
bad two seas, of whom for the twe shall men-
ties bat one, the Be'. Ittlitaillens to PUTMAN,
WM bad the good fortune to be appointed
2.hprain.right reverend father, thirti-three years go,
• Imago of the Year Hospital. an oinca
which be still retain', being at the same ambercp of Lincoln CatWral, and, as each,
of the ceeporatioa it the dean and . The re-
verend gentleman had illumine vested his single
pees" by thiamine parental nomination, no less than
Mar separ_ste rectories—those of Stoney Middleton,
in Clihire, of Walgrave and Hannington, in
Northamptonshire, and of Wroughrov, in Wiltshire.
What may be the value of these several pieces of pre-
ferment it is difficult to ascertain, because the re-
verend incumbent has made no return of them, bet,
OR the contrary, declined to give an account
of his emoluments to the Ecclesiastical Commission.
We have, however, good grounds for believing that
his income from the church is certainly not less then
4,0001. a year. The property of the Meer Hospital
granted by its founder consists of 875 acres of land
lying in a ring fence, tithe free, and within four miles
of Lincoln, the annual value of which, at a moderate
computation, is abort 1,4001. Our readers will
asturally suppose that with so liberal an endowment
a great number of poor and meritorious persons are
eemfeetably supported, and that the 'lepton-warden,
as his name would intimate, watches with a tender
care over their interests, both temporal and
spiritual. Very different, however, are the facts.
Under the benign auspices of the bishop and of the
dean and chapter of Lincoln, this ancient hospital,
committed so solemnly to their care, has been ea-
ten dto become a ruin, of which even the traces are
now scarcely discernible. The worthy chaplain-
warden gives a pension of 41. a year to each of six
persons, generally farm servants or decayed doman-
de*, chosen by his bailiff; and subject to this annual
expenditure or 241, he appropriates the rest of the
income entirely and exclusively to his own private
purposes. This is a short but true account of this
reverend divine's administration since the date of his
appointment ; and we do not mean to allege that he
has materially deviated from the example of his
more recent predecessors; who, however, were not
warned, as we shall presently show he has been, of
the illegality r f their proceedings. In 1818, when
the House of Commons appointed a committee to in-
quire into ohm lees, the abuse of the Meer Hospital
tot med a prominent feature in their report. In Lord
Breuvonmes celebrated letter of the same year to the
greet and good Sir SAMUEL ROMILLY it is stated
that "at Meer, in Lincolnshire, is an endow-
Iment for a warden and poor brethren of a very
ancient date. The warden seems to be well provided
for ;and 241. ay ear is the whole sum allotted to the
I
poor brethren. The bishop of the diocese is both pa-
Mel and visitor. He has given the wardenship to
hi ewe and the former warden resigned it on being
es~by the same prelate to a living in his gift.
171181136, one of the charity commissioners repaired to
Lincoln, and having there ascertained that an exem-
plification of the deed of foundation was preserved in
the register of the dean and chapter, he, in virtue of
his authority, demanded an inspection of
this important document. The answer of
the cathedral dignitaries was that they would
not produce it without the consent of
Mr. PRATT MAN, and that Mr. PRETYMAN
bed written to them from London, saying he would
not consent, and desiring them to refuse the produc-
tion. Fortunately a copy of the deed wes afterwards
found in the Public Library at Cambridge. The
case, coorequently, notwithstanding all impedimenta,
was very satisfactorily investigated; and, upon the
commissioners report, an information was filed in
Chancery by the ATTORNEY-GENERAL against the
chaplain-warden, the bishop, and the dean and
chapter,
chapter, who ade a defence, not only feeble,
but frivolous; and Lord LANGDALE gave judgment
condemning the leading defendant, Mr. PIrETYMAN,
in a sum exceeding 22,0001., and falling little short
of 23,000 d., the ascertained amount of his mdappro-
priations which he was decreed forthwith to make
good to the charity. Finding his fate sealed, the
chsplain-warden resorted to the expedient of an ap-
peal ad tnisericordiam, but he was told by his lord-
ship that the court must do its duty, "for that this
sum of money, beyond all doubt, belonged to the
charity."
On the 17th November, 1841, Mr. PEETYMAn's
counsel informed the court that his client was
insolvent, and that a decree against him was
io fact, little better than a mockery, for that he
could pay nothing. The result, we take leave to say,
was a little unusual in a court of justice. As we
learn from Mr. BEAVAN'S report, "the case' after
some not very hostile discussion, was referred to the
consideration of the Attorney-General." In other
words, to the plaintiff in the cause. Not very hostile
discussion, indeed ! We should be glad to know
%hen a discussion ought to have been hostile, if not
in such a case as this. And as to the plea of poverty
—how could a clergyman, without culpable extrava-
gance, and perhaps something worse, contrive, with
such an income, to get into difficulties? The world has
of late been satiated with the spectacle of clerical
delinquencies. But the question which the public I
will desire to see answered is this. What steps did
Sir FREDERICK POLLOCK, who was then Attorney-
General, take, under the reference of the court, to vin-
dicate the rights of this much-injures charity ? Did
he put the livings of the defaulting chaplain-warden
under sequestration ? And, if he did not, how can
he justify such neglect as a public servant. ap-
pointed by law to give help to those who
are unable to help themselves ? The poor,
we trust, have not been sacrificed at the shrine
of politics. And yet we are not sure of this : for the
indignation of the local press seems to point at some-
thing of the kind. At all events these facts are cer-
tain. The Meer Hospital is still a ruin—its pen-
ateliers are still the same is number and allowances—
and the Rev. RICHARD PRETYMAN may now laugh
heartily in his sleeve at those costly but inefficient
remedies which he has managed so dexterously t
Icets, I elude and to defeat.

FRANCE.

PARIS, WIDPIWIDAY, 6.30 r ti
M. Fould in opening the debate on the excise on
drinks, yesterday, remarked that he had to apply
to the Assembly to declare urgency on the di,
comion now about to open. (This was agreed
to.) Before the discussion opined, the go-
vernment thought it its duty to come for-
ward and declare its opinion with frankness and
simplicity. The government proposed to have the
duty on potable liquors maintained during the yeir
1850. It was indispensable that no change ghoul
be effi cted in the tax until a solemn parliamentary
inquiry had been instituted. He was aware that the
tax in question was severely attacked in the country ;
but the government could not, for the sake of a tem-
porary popularity, consent to run the chance of dis-
turbing the whole fiscal position of the state. Tee
hon. gentleman then briefly recapitulated the heads of
his financial statement of the 14th November last,
and after showing that the revenue of one hundred
millions of francs arising from the duty on potable
liquors was absolutely necessity for the wants of the
cawing year, asked how, if it were taken off, it with
toile replaced? Was it by an income-tax—by that
measure which bad called forth such universal com-
plaints? Was it by additional burdens on land? But
agriculture was already too much weighed down, and
the government was infinitely mere inclined to alle-
viate the burdens pressing on it that to augment
them. Were any new measure to be proposed to
throw additional taxes on land, a universal and legi-
timate protest would arise throughout the country.
Was it from the floating debt? 'that was impossible,
as the financial statement which he had made last
month must have proved. There was in faw no mode
of replacing it, and why, he would ask, should a duty
be taken off which presead so lightly on the bulk of
the consumers ? He maintained that the duty cas
potabllliquate was butm alight burden on the mass el
the people. No doubt petitions bad been seat
in, but it was by no means clear that eery
expressed the opinion of the country. Consi-
derable agitation had been got up on the sub-
ject, but the petitions almost all came from the
same district.. It spoke well for the warning tran-
quillity of the country that, though this agitation was
thus so excited, no dnturbance had tak .71 place. Out
of 63 councils-general not fewer than 64 had declare d
themselves in favour of keeping on the duty. In
order to show that the tax on potable liquors was not

Illyailigssap to tit Zqief uwearine, or to the
ire foreign gave the fo
e anllowi.
irtialts draws from :Adel manta :In 1788
deny were 1,636,400 beeline of vineyards
in caltiestica ; is 11184 then were 1,90,000
hectares; aid at the penast time 2,137,000. The
quantity of wines thus (erred to foreign oonsomp-
tion showed a constantly progressive increase from
1,144,000 hectolitres to 1,660,000 hectolitres, and
from 44 millions to 64} =Moos—that is to say, of
33 per cent. on the quantity, and of 18 per cent. on
the Take. The home consumption had followed the
same rate of increase, and it was important to state
that the revolution cf July had done what that of
February bad not done, although the cironmstanoes
were quite as serious; thus, in 1848, far from the
consumption and the receipts stopping as they did in
1830, they reached the quantity lof 10 million hecto-
litres, which they had never before attained. The
increase in spirits was not lees remarkable. The
quantity exported had risen between the years 1831
and 1848, in the proportion of three to five. The
difference was still greater on brandy. He would
now point out the consequences of the step
the Assembly was about to take. It would be im-
possible to carry on the government, if, while the ex-
penses increased, the taxes were diminished. That
was the path that had been followed for the last two
years. Since 1846, 156 millions had been added to
the budget of expenses for public assistance, and that
at the time when the disturbances of the country had
decreased the receipts by an equal amount. The
abolition of stamp duty on journals had cost the
country 4 millions; postal reform, 12 millions; and
the reduction of the duty on salt, 40 millions. It
was necessary to stop on that fatal declivity. If the
tax on potable liquors were to be abolished, a fatal
blow would be struck at the finances of the
country; confidence would cease, and the country
would fall into a crisis of which it was impossible to
foresee the end. 'the first effect of the abolition of
the tax would be the suspension of labour, and the
working-classes would be exposed to sufferings for
which they might justly reproach the Assembly. The
finances of the state would not only be disorganised,
but the communes would be prevented from receiving
the octroi duties, and they would be dept iced of the
resource of the additional centimes. " Happily," said
the minister in conclusion, " I feel not the slightest
fear of the result in an Assembly so enlightened. We
reject all the amendments, which are but an
encroachment on the parliamentary inquiry which we
ro
Prse.
i. Fonld was followed at the tribune by M. An-
thony Thouret, who, in an amusing speech, which ex-
cited much laughter, alluded to the danger attendant
on the present measure. It had at one time caused a
civil war in some of the departments, and had caused
the royalist Gironde to choose a democratic socialist
to represent it in the Assembly. (All eyes were here
turned towards M. Legarde.) During the empire the
duty was loudly cried out against, and the restoration
I was compelled to promise its abolition, though the
promise had not been performed. The Assembly
must beware lest the people, tired of waiting for the
bnprevetsents which were their due, should one
day come and demand the sudden psym-nt of them.
The tax on potable liquors was a real inqsisition ; the
only difference was, that the inquisiti' n struck en
mese while the modern law distributed its doctrines
in detail. The tax would end by devouring the land,
the vine, and the vine-grower himself.
M. Tliouret was followed by M. Depose, and the
debate was adjourned to this day. It was resumed
by M. Prodier, who spoke against the law, and conti-
nued by M. Chareneey, who thought it good, inasmuch
as it took from every purse and not from a class. M.
Charencey was speaking mien post-hour came.
101111111.

, PARIS, Des 12. For , For Account.
honey. ilhOpeners Highest. Lowed. Clammy.
----
3 yet Cents. 56 40 ,36 63 36 70 SG 50 56 50
5 per Cents. 9l 65 l 91 90 92 9 51 99 91 95
5 do. New Lone.. „ It n or n
49 per Cents. 99 90 n n n
4 per Lents .. , 99 91, 99 99
Kw:bangs on London : 30 days, 25 45; 90 dam 23 1129.
Belem, 3, 1840
Do. 0,INI 57 „ Roman Loan
Do.
Do. . „ Bank share.
Botlass.—Paris and Orleans, 762 50; Paris and Ranee, 5329'0 ;
Rouen and Dane, 24125; Mignon and Pdarsellka, 120; etras-
bourn and Basle, 103; Centre (Viertoo), 33..; Bordeaux, 406 23;
Nark, 451 23 ; Paris and etrasbonnr, 362 50; Tours and Nantes,
2PO; Nonterean and Troyes, 115; Anvers and (land, 260; Ver-
sAlles (right bank), 207 I/0 ; Versailles (left bank), 167 30.

GERMANY.

We have received our Vienna correspondence and
papers of the Bth and 7th inst., from which we ex-
tract the followings
VIENNA, Die. 6.
The Reidagesetsblati contains the text of a con-
vention between Russia and Austria, which fur-
nishes a new instance of the complaisance of the
latter power towards its powerful ally. By
this agreement the extradition of Jewish fugi-
tives is stipulated on either side. But the motive
is evidently entirely one-sided. Recently a vast num•
bar of Jews have crossed the Russian frontier into
(Wide to escape the recruitment. Theee poor
wretches are to be handed back to the Muscovite ser-
geant and the knout. Austria having in the March con-
stitution promised equality of political rights to all reli-
gious sects, by concluding a treaty in which the Jews
are singled out to be exempted from that protection
which is extended to other?, is evidently acting in-
consistently with the pledge alluded to.
The liberation of Kossuth's relations from prison is
extended to his children, who were provided with a
protestant tutor. His mother and sisters, who have
just been dismissed from their prison at Pesth, are
expected in Vienna, where it is believed they will
apply for passports for Turkey.
A singularly tragic occurrence rivets public atten-
tion at this moment. In oonsequence of a judgment
of the Court of Exchange ( Wecheel-gericht), an exe-
cution was to be put in the house of a grocer in the
Stadt. The bailiff, finding the door closed, caused it
to be broken open, when a fearful spectacle was pre-
' sented 0 those who entered. The man and his wife,
in bed, were labouring under the operation of poison,
which soon took fatal effect upon the first. The
' woman was recovered by medical means. What the
poison was is not mentioned.

The Cologne Gazelle announces, in a telegraphic
mange from Vienna, dated the Bth inst., that the
military governor of Vienna has suspended six of the
evening papers during the continuance of the state of
siege. The Preen is one of the six.