The Sun.
London, England, 1839-03-25 00:00:00

KINNOUL

The arguments in this appeal, which is an t'-xtreinely im-
portant one to the Church of Se,eland, and which have
already occupied five day s, were concluded to-day. The
question in the case is whether the Court of Session or
any civil court has the pewer to int(rf, re with the decision
of any of the Presbyteries of the See ch Church in Eccle-
siastical matters, or whether the judgments pr:,nouncecl by
those Pesbyteries could only be reversed or altered by the
General Assembly of. the Church of Scotland. The short
facts out of which the question arises are as follows : The
presentation to the Church of Auchicrarder being in the
Earl of Kinnoui, his Lor&-hip in 1834, upon the death of
the incumbent, presented the Rev. Robert Yonne to the
living, but the Presbytery of Auchterander refused to
admit him, on the ground that the majority of the coen-
niunicants were against his being ("_;lied. Upon this refusal
the Earl of Kinnoui and :‘lr. Young brought an action
of Deciatator against the Presbyteryof Auchterander on
the ground that their refusal to admit Mr. Young, was
illegal, unwarrantable, a violation of the Statute, and to
the prejudice of the patrimonial rights of the respondents,
and therefore praying that it might be cl,clared that the
presentation was valid, and that the appellants might be
ordered to admit Mr. Young,. Upon the case coming on
before the first Division of the Court of Session, that Court
decided, that the Presbytery of Auchterander, in refusing
to take trial of the qualifications of Mr. Young, on the
ground that the majority of the male heads of familes,
communicants in the parish were against his admission, had
acted, to the prejudice of the Earl of Kinnoul and Mr,
Young, illegally, and in violation of their duty, and con-
trary to the provisions of the Statute of Anne: from that
decision the present appeal was brought.
Sir F. POLLOCK and Mr. PENIEERTON appeared on be-
half of the appellants, contending that the Church of
Scotland, as reformed from Popery by Presbyters was
fully invested with the power of deciding on all
questions with regard to the calling, trials, or-
dination, and admission of members, and of making
laws and regulations with regard to those matters ; that
the judgment pronounced by the Courts of the Church in
relative to the trial, ordination, or admission of ministers,
could only be appealed from to the General Assembly of
the whole Church, whose decision was final ; and that the
Court of Session had no jurisdiction with respect to the
admission or calling of ministers, except so far as deciding
upon the civil right to the emoluments of the benefice,
and that they had no right to adjudicate upon any other
points
The ATTORNEY- GENERAL and Mr. KNIGHT BRUCE,
who were Counsel for the respondents, submitted, at con-
siderable length, that the judgment of the Court below
was correct, because the pleas of the appellant could not
be sustained without leading to two results, first, to the
acknowledgment of the entire independence of the Church
Courts of all civil authoriy, which independence
was not bestowed by statute, hut was one of
the claims of the Church of Rome, cut down
by statute, and was an extravagant pretension
on the part of any Established Church ; and secondly,
without leading also to the acknowledgment of the right
of the Church to decide without controul as to the nature
and extent of it 3 own powers and the validity of its own
pretensions, which would prostrate the rights of all before
the power of the Church as at once omnipotent and infal-
lible, and create a tyranny the same in character, preten-
sions, and in its alarming consequences as the tyranny of
the Popish Church, the jurisdiction of which was by the
statute of 1560 declared to have not only " been con-
tumelious to the Eternal God, but also very hurtful and
prejudicial to our Soveraine's authoritic and commown
weill of this realme."

Sir F. PoLi.oex having concluded his reply this morning,
The LORD CHANCELLOR said that the great importance
of the present question, and the extent to which it had
been carried, would render it necessary to postpone the
consideration of the case for some time, but he would take
care that it should not be delayed beyond the period that
was necessary for the due consideration of the case.

Lord BROUGHAM concurred with the suggestion of
the Lord Chancellor. He looked upon the case as one
of unspeakable importance to all parties concerned; and
ie felt bound to say that he had never known a case of
difficulty and importance argued with greater ability and
learning than the present. He would take care that the
judgment should be given before the 15th of May, ou
which day the General Assembly would meet; and if he
should not be in town, he should furnish his Learned
Friend, the Lord Chancellor, with his written judgment.
Indeed, whether he was present or not, such was the im-
portance of the case, that he should consider it necessary
to write his judgment, in order that there might be no
mistake about it.

The further consideration of the case was then pos,
poned, until after the Easter Recess.

COURT OF CHANCERY, MARcm 23.

The LORD CHANCELLOR did not sit in his Court to-day,
in consequence of having to 'Attend the House of Lords,
to hear a part-heard appeal.

VICE-CHANCERY, Rem 23.

His Honour the VICE-CHANCELLOR took motions to-
day, but no case of the slightest interest came before the
Court, previous to its rising.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.

MARLBORO UGH- STREET.

IMPOSTURE. —Eliza Elflane, a middle-aged woman, was
brought before Mr. DYER, charged with having defrauded
a great number of the nobility and gentry, by representing
herself to be the matron of the Infant School, St.
George's, Hanover-square, and employed to collect sub-
scriptions in aid of the funds of that excellent charity.
It was clearly proved that the woman was in no way
connected with the Institution, and that her proceedings
were based in imposition. It was also brought forward in
evidence that the prisoner had obtained other sums of
money by representing herself to be the matron of the
Farm-street Infant School. Among those whom she had
imposed upon were Lady Mary Ross, Lady Braybrooke,
Lady De Dunstanville, Lady Clarke, Hon. Mrs. Best,
sirs. Long, Mrs. Hodgson, Mrs. S. Bourne, and Miss
Long.

'.l:e prisoner was remanded till Wednesday.
A notorious imposter, who pretext-1s to be, or is, deaf and
dumb, going by the names of Parker Page Morley, &c.,
was apprehended by W. and J. Horsford, the Mendicity
Society's constables, who proved that the prisoner had been
several times committed for his fraudulent practices, and
that recently he had succeeded in obtaining money from
Lord Wharncliffe, Sir F. Booth, Baron Biome, Lady M.
Ross. Lady Bouverie, Hon. Mrs. Stanhope, Hon.' Mrs.
Gosling, H. Hoare, Esq., &c. &c.
The prisoner was ordered to be brought up again next
Saturday.

FIRE .REWARD!.-It has long been a subject of• very
great complaint on the part of the householders of St.
James's, St. George's, St. Giles's, and St. Anne's, the
four parishes within the jurisdiction of this office, as to
the very large sum they are called upon annually to pay in
the shape of fire rewards. The aggregate sum, which can
easily be ascertained, is shared among a very few persons,
not more than ten or a dozen, as reported, and a good pro-
portion of these not regular firemen. The principal num-
ber of rewards appear to be fires in chimneys, and
although sufficient evidence is always produced to
satisfy the Magistrates that an alarm of the fire was
reasonably created, yet in at least one half of the cases
it may fairly be doubted if the reward has been honestly
obtained. The last case, in which great doubt existed,
was that of the Marquis of' Salisbury. It was alleged that
a fire had occurred in a chimney in the Marquis's house in
Arlington-street, and the engines were in consequence
brought to the spot. The firemen admitted they went ever
the house, but could see nothing to infer that a fire in
the chimney had taken place. One of the firemen re-
marked some pieces of paper lying about, and observed, iL
scraps of paper had been thrown on the fire, they, when
ignited, might have blown up the chimney and produced
the appearance which led to the idea that the chimney was
on fire. Two witnesses, strangers to each other, distinctly
swore they saw a quantity of sparks come out of a chimney-
pot belonging to his Lordship's house. On the other band,
the steward and four of the Marquis's domestics were ex-
amined, and they swore distinctly that no fires were in any
grate capable of producing sparks which should make their
escape out of the chimney-pot. The sweep also went up
the chimney where the sparks were said to have been seen,
and he swore it had not been on fire.

Mr. CONANT was of opinion that sufficient proof had
been given that reasonable cause of alarm existed, and,
therefore, that the engines were required, and awarded the
third penalty.