The Sun.
London, England, 1839-11-09 00:00:00

QUEEN-SQUARE-(THIS DAY.)

Edward the 6th, which passed in the year 1547 ; that
by certain letters patent, dated the 4th July, 1550, in
the 4th year of the reign of Edward VI., the various
sums directed to be so applied, and which were vested
in the Crown, were for valuable consideration,
granted by the King to the Fishmongers' Company.
But doubts having arisen on the subject, an
Act of Parliament was passed in the 4th year of the
reign of James the First, by which those doubts were
removed, and the lands became vested in the Company
ire- their own use and benefit, subject only to the chari-
table uses which they alleged ware created by the will
of Kneseworth, and which they had performed. The
defendants admitted that since those grants were made
they lied applied a considerable part of the income to
charitable purposes, more or less, arising out of the
purposes expressed in the will, but that they had done
so only out of a pious regard to the memory of Knese-
worth, and not from any obligation to which they were
subjected. After the passing of the Statute of Edward
the Sixth questions arose as to the effect of it. When
gifts were made to superstitious uses it was doubtful
whether the Statute vested the laml itself, or only par-
ticular rents or proceeds thereof in the crown. It ap-
' peered to his Lordship, however, that the Fishmongers'
Company had had vested in them, for their own use,
such lands, or the interest of such lands, men-
tioned in the letters patent of Edward the Sixth, as
the Crown was entitled to under the Statute of
Edward VI. One of the purposes for which Sir Thomas
Kenesworth directed the rents of his estate to be ap-
plied, was the founding and maintaining two Anni-
versaries or Obits, for ever. It was admitted that
that was a superstitious use within the statute,
and supposing that any part of the rents were to be
applied to purposes not superstitious, the Crown,
though it might not he entitled to the land, was under
the statute entitled, in,the nature of rent charges, to
such sums of money as in any one year during the
preceding five years were applied to purposes deemed
superstitious by the statute. Other companies of the
City were in similar circumstances, and an arrangement
took place between the Crown and the companies, for
the purchase by the latter of rent charges, to which the
Crown was supposed to be entitled, for the sum of
18,444/. 11s. 2d. Three persons were appointed to
carry the arrangement into effect, and by letters
patent, dated the 4th of July, in the fourth year of
the reign of Edward VI., in consideration of that sum
paid to the Treasurer of the Court of Augmentation,
the King granted to them various rents, annuities, and
yearly sums, issuing out of the lands belonging to the
Companies of the City of London, and among other
Companies was the Fishmongers' Company. Among
the rents issuing out of the lands of the Fishmongers'
Company was the yearly sum of 535. 4d. out of the
two estates in the parish of St. Dunstan, bequeathed
by the will of Kneseworth, which yearly sum the Com-
pany had paid towards the perpetual support of the
anniversary in the chapel of London, for the soul of
Sir Thomas Kneseworth ; and then the letters patent
described three rents of 125., 10s., and 10s., which three
sums mentioned in this grant, were particularly men-
tioned in tho will of Kneseworth as quit rents, and con-
sequently the 21. 13s. 4d., which the Company had paid
for anniversaries, was all that in this testament was
described as the King's rent or annuity in respect of
such application. There was no evidence to show what
was the revenue arising from the estates in question,
though, from the disposition made by the will, it would
seem probable that the income greatly exceeded the
quit rents. On the whole, it appeared to him (the
Master of the Rolls) that any rent or payment to
which the King was entitled, under the statute of
Edward VI., was assured to the Company by the sta-
tute of James ; and taking into consideration the
effect of that Act, and having regard to the
nature of the present suit, which sought to esta
blish the trusts of Sir Thomas Kueseworth's will,
and not any other, his Lordship thought the
question to be determined was, whether the trusts
of Knete North's will, or any of them were good and
charitable trusts, which have been violated by the de-
fendants, and the execution of which was required to la,
enforced by the decree of the Court. The Testator
after devising the estates to the Company, to the intent
that they should perform his will, and after giving direc-
tions for obits and anniversaries, and the various super-
stitious ceremonies attending the same, gave this three-
tion,ftat the Company should provide four honest lies's
to sing and pr ly tile:e for ever, especially for his soul, thte
soul of his wife, the soul of his father and mother, and
benefactors, and all Christian souls, paying yearly to
every one of the said priests for their salaries, 4/.
sterling, in equal quarterly payments ; and he
gave directions for maintaining a perpetual succession
of such priests, and for securing the payment of these
' salaries. He next directed the Company to provide
" thirteen honest men and women, being in 1 o 'erty and
misery, not able to live of their own goods," to pray for
the befor. nentioned souls ; he provided for tie perpe•
tual succesiien of such poor persons, and directed the
Company to pay them eightpence weekly, and
to deliver them a certain quantity of Welsh cloth.
The poor persons IA ere required to pray daily,
and to attend the anniversaries and obits. After
having thus provided prayers for the souls thus
mentioned he directed the Company to pay to the
Prior and Convent of Roseton, in Hertfurdshire,
4/. yearly in equally quarterly payments, on condition
that the Prior and Convent would find a priest to say
mass every day, " from Easter to Michaelmas, the said
ma's to be done before six of the clock in the forenoon,
' and one bell to begin to ringi thereto at five of the
clock in the forenoon ; and from Michaelmas to Easter
to begin to ring at six of the clock in the forenoon or
before, and the mass Co be done before seven of the clock
in the forenoon." The priest was to have 31., part
of the 41., and was to pray for the soul of Kneseworth
at the altar, and to say de profundis for all. In the
arguments for the relators and in support of the infor-
mation, it was urged that the directions last mentioned
were only directions to pray for the souls of the dead ;
that such directions were not unlawful, and were not
and never had been prohibited by the Church of &g-
-land ; and were not deemed superstitious at the
tinar the Statute of Edward the Sixth was
passed. It did not appear to his Lordship necessary
fur the purpose of deciding this case to enter into a
minute investigation of the doctrines of the Church
of England respecting prayers for the souls of the
dead. The question was, whether the uses to which
the testator had directed his property to be applied
in perpetuity, were such as to vest the land in the
Crown, according to the intent and true effect of the
statute of King Edward VI., and although prayers for the
souls of deceased persons might not, according to the
doctrines of the Church of England, be necessarily con-
nected with the doctrine of purgatory, and although it
might notibe considered an ecclesiastical offence to pray
for the souls of deceased persons or to request others to
do so (on which points he did not think it necessary to
express any opinion), yet it might be deemed
superstitious to create an establishment, or
endow a foundation to be continued in perpetuity, with
certain ceremonies, supposed to be religious, to secure
prayers for the dead, either alone, or in connection with
other observances, within the express terms of the
Statute. It appeared to his Lordship that question
had been decided by authority, for he thought the cases
of Adam v. Lambert, as reported by Cooke and Moore ;
Pitt v. Farmer, as reported by Rowe ; and other cases
cited by Duke, could not be read without coming to the
conclusion that establishments or foundations for prayers
for the dead were deemed superstitious within the
statute of Edward the Sixth ; and upon those autho-
rities his Lordship was of opinion that the directions of
the will were such that the payments made in respect
thereof became vested in the Crown. The next direc-
tion in the will was that the company should pay
to the prisoners of Newgate and Ludgate 40s. yearly,
at the discretion of the Wardens, in such things as the
prisoners there should be most in need of. To this
gift no objection was made. The defendants alleged
they had performed the trust, and there was no charge
to the contrary. The testator next directed the Corn-
tinny to nppoint a reccitTr of the rents, who Isas.l
LJ pa, ne;, ul tau ~,; gild
other charges, and the Chamberlain of London was to