The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1826-02-17 00:00:00

TITIIES.

Mr. lIIIRCOMBE presented the Report of the Tithe Committee,
which was ordered to be printed. It was not read, but was de-
scribed as being a most interesting document, anti was very volu-
minous. Mr. Hurcombe said that it was with great pleasure he
had to announce that an arrangement had taken place between the
Rev. Mr. Holmes of St. Oiles's Cripplegate and his parishioners,
they haying allowed him 10001. per annum, his fattier baying re-
ceived only 3001. He (Mr. Ilurcombe) could wish he had the
same account to give of Dr. Owen of St. Olive flart.street, but
the contrary was the case, his conduct to his parishioners had been
most insulting and disgraceful.
Mr. FAVELL Seconded the Report, and sail he could not but
bear testimony to the conduct of the Bishop of Chester, it had been
most praiseworthy and exemplary; as for Dr. Owen, he had cer-
tainly not raised himself in the opinion of any man.
Mr. AlliCrinall WAITHMAN said that the Bishop of Chester,
and other respectable clergymen had done themselves honour, and
the cause of religion the greatest service by their conduct, while he
regretted that there were some who seemed to have no other object
in view than to bring religion into disrepute. The conduct of the
Bishop of Chester would do more to promote the cause of religion
than any thing else that could be conceived.
Mr. HOWEL said that as a parish:oner of St. Olave, Ilart-street,
he would offer a few observations an to the conduct of Dr. Owen.
The Doctor had lately come among them. and which had given rise
to great disputes; they had hoped that things would be bettered by
the interference of the Bishop of London, but such had not been
the case. The Bishop of London would not consent to the Bill,
unless the parish live one and sixpence in the pound upon Dr.
Owen's rental, and certainly lie had not under-rated the value of
'any of the buildings whatever in the parish. Mr. Peel advised the
granting of an annuity of 18001. for Dr. Owen's life, which they
declined. The parish then consulted Mr. Culeraft, who had

•
forwarded their Bill In the House of Commons, and it is*
smunsggt tstategtly
coutd giro. that the nett ett incumbent should have We/. per an:
num. To this the parish objected, and offered 1.260 L is lb*
gulatM the parish of 'Srthe Bishop .
CofriCpphealegterate,inhaidheOHnlylictlhasittnneti
2.5301, which WAs one-third only of the race rent of the parish-!
wink St. (flare. Ifart-street, had consented to gi4e one-ball: ,ThY
being considered, the patiatt came to the determination of petition.:
ing the legislature. Dr. Owen said he would raw in the aprhe bN4
villa:tern ;n going to Parliament, but that .he Biandp.of Londpri
would not consent to the arrangement, thereby throwingafh obq
odium upon the Bishop. The document he #3lr, Howt11) held iti
his hand was from Dr. Olen, and which was a circular to the 06:
iirhioness, calling upon them not to sign the petition until they had .
seen him, in order that they might be aware of the consequences of
doing so. This was no doubt intended ass threat, /1t present St.
(Nave's war, the only parish in the city that.was assessed at Ord
shillings and nineprnce; hut it did not follow; if tlip right wad
eatablitthed, but others would be called upon as well aa themselves:
The report was then agreed to, and ordered to be prtited.

BANKRUPT LAWS.
Mr. !TARTLET rose to move fora Special COMMittek to cOnCidetr
of the expediency of petitiOning Parliament to constitute a regular
tribrinal for the administration Of bankrupt estates. Ile said be
would first touch on the importance of the Subject, ?ltd then Rd
into more detailed particulars. It could not be consitred but isk
an extraortlim4ry circumstance that the persons admiristering the
bankrupt laws in a commercial nation like England should not
themselves be persona conversant with commerce. To show the im-
portance of the subject, he (Mr. Hartley) would state that, to hid
certain knowledge. from having had the matter cone tinder his
own cognizance, individual debts had been proved to the following
amount:—in one instance 11010,0091., another a6.000L, anottnit
50.00 a, Another :,11,0001., and the last 20,00(4; therefore, in Writ '
of property, the question was one of the greatest importance. It war
dreadful. td look at the severity of the law until !allay, wh4n bank.:
rupts were subject to the penfshment of death ; and Even new the,
were liable to transportation for 14 years, or sent td prison in cow
patty with felons and malefahtors, The first statute reimectinp
bankrtipta took place in the :lath of Henri VIII., and tee Court
would sec what was the nature of crime them contemplated: it
was "for craftily secreting goods, ht:" When that 'tumid wsS
framed commerce was in its infancy. The name of 'he individeal
did not-appear, but he was expressed by the Initials VP. The
Judges appointed by Met Act were th.. Lotd Chancellor, the hoed '
President, and the Judges. The next statute allowed the Lord
Chancellor appoint delegates; and ghee 1603 every yeer pro-
duced a new•atatute on the subject, and all added Double and ex.
pease. In one instance that he (Mr. Hartley) had know!' where(
a debt had not been allowed to go to proof by the CommifslOnen,
it had cost the creditor 40111. to establish his claim ; and was this ti
proper state of things? As the questions were purely commeeelat
questions, ought not they to be decided ky coinmereial men ?
Mr. Duro): -interposed to say that he thought the gentiefnahl
(Mr. Hartley) had shown sufficient grounds for the Committee;
and therefore. perhaps, he would not consider it necessary to rd
into the mass of papers before him.
The Lone MAYOR considered that it must be left to the option
of the gentleman making the motion as to the line of tondnet hi
chose to pursue on that point.
Mr. HA/VLF:Er resumed, and said that he was obliged to thl (OAS
denten (51r. Dixon) for his suggestiOtt ; belt he felt the necesslty of
going into the consideration of the papers. The Bankrupt lama
were administered by 14 lists of Commiasionera, I've on each list,
makivg the whole numbes7o—edch list *as regulated by its own
rules, which was tfnfortunate for the bankrupt, unfortunate for the
creditor. and unthrttinate ter all partPts ? Was it possible that tinder
such various regulations justice could he done. He (31r. Hartley)
did not •Intend to find fault with the individuals composing thaw '
commissions, but with the system, for he believed a more honour-
able set of men never existed than those delegates; at the slims
time he must consider that the nature of persons at first appointed
showed that the delegates should not be such persons as now oc.:
copied those situations. And now he (Mr. Hartley) had to shot,
an extraordinary circumstance, that from the year IEO9. to IBW
some of the lists had committed to prison bankrupti to the number
of ten; the fourteenth list had committed 35: from 1822 to 1824
that 'Walser had committed six, being a larger nonlife than any of
the other lists; in the year 1E24 the sante list had committed elevate.
Ile Cllr. Hartley) could not account for this. unless that the Chair-
Iran of that list was a West Indian, and in some way connected
with silvery.
Mr. Drxost said that perhaps if that list haul gone to the extent
of their power they might have committed forty instead of eleven.
Mr. HARTLEY said that might be so. but it was an extraor-
dinary circumstance tliat this fourteenth list should get all the
rogues. in a case that he had lately witnessed of a country bank-
rupt, who came up surrounded by his cousins and friends, he was
asked what had been his personal expenses; in the contusion excited
by the novelty of his situation, he replied " 1141 did not know ;" the
consequence was that his examination was pat off sine die, and he
like many others was left to wander about the country uncertified
and unexamined. The Lord Chancellor himself, by his own dic-
tum, bad add that the present state of the Bankrupt Laws was a
national disgrace, and that it would be better to redeem all the
statutes. (The speaker here emd the opinion of the Lord Chan.,
cellos and several other authorities, which he described as being
favourable to his view of the case.) It had been said that the
grand object of all Courts of Judicature should be a maw.
nnum of justice at a minimum of expense; but unfortunately
the contrary was the case, and the creditor was. obliged to
pay the expense of prosecuting his own suit against the
bankrupt's estate. The next question was that of expense; each
commission cost at least 300 i, and he left it to the Court to see whas
an amount that would reach, even at a time of less distress than
that which the country now laboured under. The next point was
that of delay ; this was a crying evil, and delay 'vas contrary
to the principles of British law. The Lord Chancellor did not hold
, the ofhce of administering bankrupt estates as Lord Chancellor, but
as keeper of the seals, and therefore there could be no difficulty in
constituting a proper tribunal. The Lord Chancellor might be
I away by the argument of advocates, and how was it possible that
seven hundred bankrupt petitions could be gone through before the
Chimed:or and Vice-Chancellor in the course of a year, seeing the
other business they had to transact? Was it possible that jostles
could be so administered ? The next point was that of publicity
it was known to every one that the administration of the law took
place in a private room, and it was as well known that justice could
not be properly administered in that way. In France, Holland,
Austria, and Russia, they have their public tribunals for the ad-
, ministration of bankrupt law, and why should England, the first
commercial capital in the world, not be in the same situation ? It •
only now remained to make the motion, the substance of which ha
(Mr. Hartley) had given in the opening of his speech.
Mr. FAVELL seconded the motion.

3lr. Alderman Warrntsiscs said, that the manner in which
this matter had been brought forward did the mover much credit.
The subject had excited his (Mr. Waithman's) most serious con.
aideration at a former period, particularly during the period he sat
in Parliament, and his evidence would be found in the Report of
the Committee of the House of Commons, and he must say that
so many difficulties were thrown in the way of inquiry that be
could only look back to the subject with disgust. There were
seventy Commissioners of Bankrupts, and all of them corinectett
in some way with the Legislature anti Parliament, so that any at.
tempt to disloge the Commissioners, or to enter into a full inquiry
respecting their conduct, was out of the quest ion. He (Mr. Width.
man) was obliged to attend the Sessions at the Old Bailey, but he
was anxious to state, before he went away, what were his feelings
on the subject, and that, from the recollection of the disgust he ex-
perienced when formerly employed on this subject, lie was anxious
that the discussion of it should go into other hands.
Mr. Dix ow, after some preliminary observations, said, that as
to committal to prison he thought it a most salutary law, and also
that of transportation. Ifs man picked your packet of your hand.
kerchief he was transported, and why should not the man be trans.,
ported who committed rubbery by wholesale ? Where there was
one unfortunate debtor there were a thousand unfortunate creditors. •
He would recommend that the subject should be left to the Com.
mittee generally, fur their Ripon, not pointing out the necessity
of a specific tribunal.
Mr. TAYLOR remarked, that very little of the property of the
bankrupt found its way into the pocket of the creditor. The case •
of a bankrupt was like that of a ship on the coast of Cornwall cast
ashore in a gale of wind, and the lawyers acted the part of a body
of persons known there by the name of wreckers, and therefore it
was that the lawyers had endeavoured to mystify the bankrupt lawb
to their own advantage ; they ought to be made simple and plain.
Indeed, to call it mob law was not too harsh an expression. The
only remedy fur this state of things was in a !dorm in the Corn.
mons House of Parliament, for there it was that these 70 Cont.
missioners were protected.
Mr. DAVIDSON said, and we regret that our limits will not•
allow us to follow him at length, that lie rose not to object to the
measure, but to correct some of the statements of the moyer. The
preamble of the 34th Ilenry VIII was as salutary a preamble se
could be found in any Act of the present day, inasmuch as it ap-
plied only to the fraudulent secreting of property. As to the ay.
pointment of Commissioners, he (Mr. Davidson) knew from Nut
most undoubted authority that the Lord Chancellor had refused to'
fill up five vacancies that had occurred, until the Report of the
Chancery Commission should be made, and therefore it was that he.
(Mr. Davidson) would ask the Court to wait until that event had.
transpired ; that these Commissioners were maintained at an ea.
pense of nearly 50,000/. per annum, was certainly cause fur corn.•
plaint.
Mr. Ortittax. in a short speech, supported the motion, and
said, that if it should turn out that the opinion of the Court coin.
tided with that of the Commission, it would do the Court no dis-
credit.
31r. HARTLEY having replied, the motion was agreed to in the
following words, that a Committee be appointed to take into •
their consideration the expediency of petitioning Parliament to con.
!Hittite a regular tribunal for the administration of bankrupt
estates."
The other business of the day was then disposed of, and the
Court broke up.

LtrartrooL, Fss. 15.—Our Cotton Market is dull, but
prices remain steady. About 4,500 bales sold.
Yesterday the despatches were closed at the East India
House, and delivered to,the Pursers of the following ships,
viz.:—Sir David Scott, Captain John Orr Wismar •
and George the Fourth, Captain Thomas William Barrow,
for Bengal and Chins.
Letters in town
,announce the arrival of the Honouratlla
Company's chartered ship Malcolm, Capt. James Eyles. at
Wl's, on the Bth of September, after the short pump ;
of fourteen weeks from England, without any casualty.