The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1803-06-08 00:00:00

SIXPENCE.

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liirrEßLit PARLizt.-_
,HOUSE:OF LORDS.
TV!sD?Y, sukE 7.
• • FOOT€'® DIVORCE BILL.
-Previous to the second reading of the Bill, intituled
An Ado dissolve the marriage of Edward James
Foote, Esq. and Nina Harries his now wife ; Mr.
Garrow and Mr.7Nolan, as Counsel for Capt. Foote,
proceeded to call, the necessary witnesses to prove
the marriage, whictetook place first in the chapel at
the city of Ma.tfrid, belonging to his Majesty's Am-
, bassador, by-the Chaplain of the Swedish Ambassao
dor, who was a priest of the Lutheran church, and
which afterwards, in order to obviate any doubt as
to the validity of the said marriage, was again solem-
nized at the parish church, of St. James, Westminster;
to prove the fad of the adulterous conversation and
intercourse of Mrs. Foote with Mr. Owen Jones, and
to produce evidence that an action was commenced
in the court of King's Bench against the said Owen
Jones, and damages of 5,000 L obtained, and that
at a subsequent period, viz. in Hilary Term last,
a sentence of divorce a WWI; et iboro was obtained
against the said Maria Foote.
All the evidence necessary to be •heard in this
stage of thefßill having been gone through, the
further hearing was adjourned to Friday.
CLERGY FARMING AND RESIDENCE BILL.
The Order of the Day for the second reading of
this Bill having been moved,
Previous to putting the question, the LORD
CHANCELLOR left the Woolsack, and said he
believed their Lordships were no strangers ao the
necessity of amending the Aft of Henry the Eighth,
which went to enforce regulations upon each of the
two 'heads, to which different parts of the
Billwhichhe held in hishand referred. Certainly some
provisions or other were absolutely required, as the
enactments of the Al of Henry the Eighth were in
both pointi in-adapted to the present times ; and in
regard to the penalties to enforce residence, perfedl y
i,nadequ.ite, and.copsequeritly.uojust. }laving said
;thus muclo.he• Should' not think -it neeeSsary at
thknionicnt.to-4,,into any detail, as he ,couls•-• not
chineiye; but that every one- of their. Lordships
:wetilld think with..bim that a Bill: having such im-
..
portant querests as ease, accommodation, and.
• coenfart otthe Clergy for its objcls, interests in-
vptving the priservation, discipline, and severity of
.thg. klwrc'hesoablishraent, was a Bill fit at least to
o to,a Committee; in order to see if such rafts of
it as blight possibly be liable to objection could be
so antened as to render the whole of the fit to
Isecome a. part of the law of the land.
The Earl of SUFFOLK expressed great anxiety
(Mlle subjea, being earnestly desirous that the in-
come of the Clergy ought to be such as would ena-
ble them to live decently and comfortably. He had
bn a fnriner day moved that an 11,. OUTS t o 1 rho
'amount of the incomes resulting from all the redo-
ries and-vicarages in the kingdom, under 1001. should
•be laid before the HoUse ; but it was said it could
not be got at. He was surpris.d at this, as it must
•bave been done in Queen Anne's time, when the
fusffruits were granted. His Lordship said, he un-
derstood that the livings of one half of the inferior
clergy, at least, did not produce 701. a year, and
many nothing like it. He had one particular
proof of the poverty of some of the clergy, who
held livings which he would state. Many years
since he visited the Lakes, and at a particular
place, he was told, there was a slate mine well
worth his seeing. He asked if he could have any
accommodation there? He was told he might at
the clergyman's. He replied, that he could not ob-
trude himself on a Gentleman, to whom he was a
stranger. " Oh, said the person, with whom he
conversed, you need not mind that, the clergyman
keeps a public house !" He then asked what his
living produced, and the answer was " 141. a year,
but he makes out a maintenance by playing upon
the fiddle, and can play a country-dance, a jig, and
a hornpipe." Upon his hearing this, his Lordship
said, he gave up going, as he did notarish to see-a
clergyman in so indecorous and unbecoming a situ-
ation. 'rhere„were, he next observeJ, many pre-
bendaries, the income of which had risen to two,
three or four hundred a year; they he thought
ought to give a first fruit and a tenth in addition to
Queen Ann's bounty,,which had done a great deal
of good, but only averaging about f. 5.0001- a year,
was not • equal to what was necessary to- support
the infericr clergy as they ought to be supported.
If the wealth of the church was more equally,divi-
ded among the clergy, it would be much for the
better.
Lord AUCKLAND 'mac not, he meld, act de-
tain their Lordships at any. Igig.o,-tindted if he
were desirous of doing sob ite"was not.-ahetrahles
from obvious 'indisposition) ,but to give' Tstier; that
thinking the Bill' kf the tint intisortsmea, and dot
being able to satisfy himself ititthriia. as aoai/or
stood, though he did not think his 0h3,-04iins Such as
were wholly unsartnonntable, Oktui thOuld be.ex-
trethely glad to have them- rensoved ) whetrit should
be in the Comnaittee, he should,take tble 411erty,.of
proposing an amendment, or, perhaps,3 clauseaor
the purpose of limiting the duration of the-4BilL
Whenhe didso,he should peeiiously state the reasons
which induced, him to think such an amendment ne-
cessary.
The Bishop of St. ASAPH said, when he consi-
dered the high character, the great abilities, anti the
cordial esteem and regard .to the interests' of the
church establishment, which belonged to the Right
Hon. Gentleman, who had with' great labour and
attention framed the present Bill; he could not but
with great diffidence presume to differ from him in
any respell or on any occasion. He admitted the
principle of the present Bill to be a fit and expedient
one, and a principle necessary to be adopted at pre-
sant, but he was not satisfied with the fabric of the
Bill, meaning thereby the shape and form of all its ..
clauses. His Lordship was proceeding to a discus-
sion of such clauses to which he most forcibly ob- -r
jeCted, when he was called to order by
The Earl of ROSSLYN, who apologized for in-
I terrupting his Right Rev. Friend, but said, he fouud

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