The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1826-03-10 00:00:00

CORN LA WS.
lend ARBUTHNOT presented two petitions from the county
of Kier:other, egainet any alteration in the Ohm Laws.
Lord KING presented a petition from 1,400 carpenters of the
city of Lennon, against the Core Laws. His Lordship could not
avoid teleereng to the partial effects of those laws. It wag stated
that the tine' price of corn led to high wages, hut that that ap-
parent equity wax any thing hut equity or justice. Tn fact, that
the great &sitters:um was high rem, and how could that be kept
up without high price? and the consequence of high prices fell
upon the coesumer. But it hail been said that high prime operated
as an encouraged cultivarion rat lend, but the only effect they had
in that way wan to force bad land by additional labour. He always
thought that an abundance and cheapens of labour was a blessing,
but a cortrary doctrine was very much in fashion. It was main-
tained that the Corn Laws were entirely-for the good of the people,
and that Parliament had no other object in view. But it would be
difficult to persuade the labouring classes that high prices were for
their advantage.
The Earl of CA RNARVON said it was unusual to enter upon
such discussions as the Noble Lord was in the habit of indulging
in. without any previous notice; nor even if there badbeen a
notice would he (Lord Carnarvon) feel disposed to ricer upoo any
discussion of that important subject at that period. Neither could
he acquiesce in the term job, which had been so often applied to
the ('urn Laws; that measure had been euasidered carefully. and
enacted after great caution. It would be in the recollection of
their Lordships that the measure was deferred from one Session to
another, and ultimately passed after she mum mature deliberation.
Parliament might have erred, but for hiapart he would prefer see-
ing the protection which had been bestowed upon the manufactur-
ing interests given to the agriculture of the country. Any Inter-
ference of the Government, that would throw a number of agricul-
tural labourers out of employment, would he most unwise. The
('urn Laws were not passed for the benefit of landlords. bat for the
benefit of the labouring poor, who were applying to the mataturatee
fetereliel, There was another poem to welch he wished to dircer
the attention of their Lordships, and he would ask what would
be the state of the home market if the Corn Laws were repealed.
and low prices established ? He did not intend to advocate the
Corn bes, but he had been bowed into' diecnssion by the Ye.
pealed allusions of the Noble Lord to the subject. The time
could not be tar distant when the subject must come under discus-
sion, and until that period lie would willingly abstain frtwn further
remarks: He should wish to see the Nettle Lord abstain from the
term job, and from every strong expression, which could only cause
dissatisfaction and irritation. Any premature discussion of the
subject would only create a prejudice, and would rather retard than
promote that full and fair discussion which it was desirable an im.
portant a subject should undergo. He did not mean to give any
opinion at that moment, but upon a proper occasion he would be
prepered to deliver his sentiments on the subject.
The Earl of DARNLEY did not feel disposed to prolong the
discussion, still less was he disposed to add to the vicious pro-
pensity of his Noble Friend (a laugh). who was always ready to
enter upop that subject. He was nut en much attached to the sys-
tem of Corn Laws that he would not adopt any other which might
te more consonant to the interest of the cauntry, but he must say,
that all that discussion was premature, and likely to promote irri-
tation. It was not the interests of the agricultural classes alone
which were consulted in passing the Corn Laws ; and he would
venture to say. that the carpenters and other tradesmen who coin-
plained of the Corn Laws were better paid and niece comfortable
than the labourers in the country. Nothing should again provoke
Lie) to enter upon a discussion, not even the observations of his
Nohle Friend, until the question should be brought regularly
before their Lordships, and he entirely disapproved of raising a
vulgar clamour against the best interests of the country.
' Lord KING did not despair of provoking the Noble Earl again
Limn a discussion in which he took en deep an Interest. He (Lord
King) had been accused ofßepeatedly attacking the landed Tote.
roe iu prose and in Terse, and these accusations came from persons
whom he was bound to think were the most d sterested. There
who desire a revision of the Corn Laws were always told to wall,
and not to etebarrase their customers, but he would venture to say
that if they waited ever so long the landed interest would never
attempt to make any alteration in the Job of Jobs. His Lordship
then presented a petition hem the Guild of Merchants in Arbroath
against the Corn Laws ; and another petition to the same effect
from the Magistrates and Council of the town of Arbroath.
Lord MELVILLE presented a petition from the Society of
Solicitors in Scotland against any alteration in the present system
of baukieg in Scotland.
TILE ESTABLISHED CHURCH IN IRELAND.
The Earl of KINGSTON wished the subject which he was
about to bring before their Lordships had been introduced by sonic
Noble Lord better quallted for the task than himself, or by one of
,the Reverend Bench of Bishops, who must be more conversant
with the subject than he could peeeiblv be. By the Reports laid
on their Lordships' table. it was evident that a vest number of
unions of parishes existed in Ireland. la the city of Cork there
was a union of seven parishes within a small distance; and he
had the honour to present. on a former eveeine, a petition to
their Lordships (tom an union of parishes which extended over
tiftivi miles, in which there was bat one Protestant place of
woriatip, and even that was private property, and not built on
' parish grouted, He bad known many instances where theme were
five, six, seven, nod even eight parishes united, and often without a
church or even a Protestant Clergyman. In the parish of
Kilkenny there had not been a rector nor even a curate for
many years. In moving for a Conttuittee to inquire into
the state of the leetablishel Church in the South of Ireland, he
did not mean any disrespect to the heads of the church hi Ireland ;
on the contrary lie must acknowledge that a great deal had been
done by them. A great many 'hutches had been built. His ob.
jeer was to Wilms hfurselt to Government to afford means for the
building of churches, and purposes connected with the church.
The establishment in Ireland was scandalous, whilst the Catholic
el^ v. were exerting all their zeal in the instruction of their flacks.
Tie did not mean to tied fault with the exertions of the Catholic
clergy; he thmieht their conduct praiseworthy. In the dioceses of
Castel and of Limerick, and Aghadoe, the uni Mn which he coin-
nlained of were most numerous. lie would therefore move that a
Comtnittlee be appointed to inquire into the state of the Established
Chinch in the province of al neater.
The Earl of HARROWBY was not inclined to oppose the
motion of the Noble Earl, but he could not ace what was to be at.
teineil by it. All the information which the Noble Earl seemed
anxious to obtain was to be found In the Reports upon their Lord.
ships' table. No grounds were laid before their Lordships upon
which they ought to be called upon to appoint a Committee, and
unless amine rename were adduced, he thought it would beciating
an unnecessary reflection upon the established church in Denote.
Additional churches must be erected, unless they wished to remain
with only a single church—that of the Renate) Catholic persuasion,
in the country. It must not be supposed that it is fur want of con.
gregations that Protestant churches are so thinly scattered ; for
wherever a Protestant church has been erected, a Protestant con.
gregation has never long been wanting ; and Government, well
aware of this circumstance, so far from neglecting this subj.tct, has
given it their most serious attention. He begged leave to inform
their lordships of a fact deduced front the returns already made in
this inquiry. It appeared from these, that no less than 175 churches,
and 122 glebe houses, had been erected in the part of the country
to which the Noble Lord (Kingston) referred, during the twenty
years which preceded the year 1822. It did appear, however, in
relation to the particular case which had fallen, under the Noble
Lord's observation, that there were good grounds for the unlined-
versions which his Lordship had made upon it.
The Bishop of LEIGHLIN and FERNS said, he was so
little in the habit of taking part in public discussion, so little
accustomed to the forms of parliamentary heelless, that he
hoped their Lordships would hear him with great indulgence tin
the present occasion. Being one of those individuals connected with
the Established Church, whose lot has been cast in Ireland, he
found himself called upon to state to their Lordships those circum.
stances which his local knowledge of the country enabled him ntore
fully to explain, Ile was of opinion that the Returns already
presented to the House gave a very accurate and comp Lee account
of ail the unions of parishes which had been dissolved, as well as of
the authority by which they had been dissolved ; arid from these
documents every requisite information could be obtained respecting
wnat was most important in the inquiry—the peculiar deene of
necessity for the erection of new churches in different parts of the
country, accenting to the number of Protestant inhabitants.' The
number of acres in a parish was by no means a test in Ireland of
the number of churches required in that particular district. There•
were litany parishes much inferior in extent to those to which the
Noble lord had referred, which would yet require a far greater '
n 1111 l ber of churches. The Right Rev. Prelate here mentioned an
• stance of a district of large extent, in which two churches were
found sufficient. Hementioned these circumstances, to show how
little dependence could be put on any reasonings on this subject
drawn from the number of acres. In same parts, a single church
might he quite sufficient for districts of from 15,000 to 20.000 acres,
aid this was particularly the case in the South of Ireland, where
the number of Protestants soigne the lower classes was extremely
small. The Right Reverend Prelate observed on the other heed
that he himself held a' parish in Limerick, of not more than 240
acres, the tithes of which he gave up for the purpose of erecting a
Church, which was always completely filled. Another instance oc-
curred of a pariah in the diocese of Annan, in which there are
110 leas than four churches. The rector has therefore to pay 3001.
a-year to his curate'', and pay to collect that money and the small
surplus in the shape of tithes front the whole parish. There
were inetences of unions still more formidable than that mentioned
by the Noble Lord. There was one of no less than II miles in
extent. In the diocese of Cashel, vast numbers of parishes had
been grouped together in overate's') unions; but these unions had
all been formed by prescription, by act of Council, or by other
circumstances, over which the Bishops had no control, anti with
which they could not therefore be chargeable. The applications
which had been made on the aubject were so numerous: that it was
impossible to attend to them all, cod mall or them were in tact
extremely unreasonable. One application in Munster had been
made by a parish in which the number of parishioners was only
5(10. The Right Reverend Prelate required the returns to be
made on other grounds than the mere extent of the districts in
which churches were thought necessary; he required returns ofd
the parishioners resident in the parish, so as to preclude the gas_e
albeity of being deceived. He thought it much more necessary
to relieve the unions already dissolved than to dissolve others. I
The word pariah halt more meanings than one, and we toast not