The Sun.
London, England, 1853-03-02 00:00:00

I MPERI A L PARLIAMEN T.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.—(THIS DAY.)
The SPEAKER took the chair at twelve o'clock.
Colonel MAULE took the oaths and his scat for For•
farshire.

The committee appointed to try the Waterford elec
tion was sworn at the table.
PRIVATE BUSINESS.

On the motion for the second reading of the Ribble
•
Navigation Bill,

HEADtAM moved that the bill be read a second
time this day six months.
Mr. W. Patten, Mr. T. Parker, and Mr. Strutt sup-
ported the bill. The amendment was ultimately with-
drawn, and the bill read a second time.
The SPEAKER acquainted the house that he had
received notice that the petition complaining of an undue
return for the borough of Kingston-upon-Hull would not
be proceeded with.
A number of petitions were presented against the ad-
mission of Jews into Parliament.
Sir G. FILMER presented a petition from 250 work-
ing men of Sydenh►m, against the opening of the Crystal
Palace on Sundays.
Mr. PHINN presented a similar petition from the
working men of Bath.
Similar petitions were presented by Mr. CHEETRAM,
from Bury, and by Mr. BOUVERIE from Ayr.
Mr. AGLIONBY presented a petition from Maryport,
praying for Parliamentary Papers.
Mr. V. SMITH moved that the evidence taken be-
fore the Cambridge Election Petition be printed.
Agreed to.
UNION OF BENEFICES BILL.

Mr. FRE WEN moved the second reading of this bill.
Mr. S. HERBERT opposed the bill. He thought
that this was a kind of isolated legislation on a great
subject like this. The bill militated in its principle
against a project now in contemplation by the commis-
sion which was issued on the proposal of Lord Shaftes-
bury some years ago, for the purpose of inquiry into the
subject of sub-division of parishes. The house might
probably not be aware that in the city of London there
existed a great number of parishes from which the popu-
lation had altogether migrated, and in which the churches
were almost deserted. The population of the city at the
last census was found to have diminished to little more
than 40,000. It was proposed in such cases as these to
amalgamate one or more livings, and to devote the sur-
plus revenue, if any there should be, to the
creation of new cures in populous suburbs.
Now, if that project were to be carried out, the
first thing which would have to be done would be to
repeal this bill, and he thought it would be inconsiderate,
then, without some great object to be gained, which the
hon. gentleman had not shown, to impose the future
necessity on Parliament of retracing its steps. With re-
gard to the provision of the bill to prevent heads of col-
leges and masters of public schools from holding bene-
fices, to which, from the nature of their functions, they
could not attend, he quite agreed with its expediency ;
but he thought it was clear that they ought not to pro-
ceed in the matter hastily, without giving time to the
public bodies interested to supply the deficiencies in the
incomes of such functionaries which would thus be created.
He objected altogether to the third clause of the
bill which proposed to enact that in parishes where
there was no church, the revenue should be sequestrated
for a certain number of years until a fund had been ac-
cumulated sufficiently large to build one, on the ground
that it would be leaving the inhabitants of those parishes
in spiritual destitution for that long time without reason.
He hoped the hon. gentleman would not press the bill,
but if he persevered with it, he trusted the house would
be of opinion that it was an evil to legislate upon great
and important matters by small piecemeal measures of
this kind.

After a few words of explanation from Mr. FREWEN,
Mr. SPOONER hoped the hon. member would with-
draw the bill after what had fallen from Mr. Herbert,
who said that many of the evils to which it referred were
under the consideration of the Government, and who
held out a kind of prospect that some measure with re-
spect to them would be introduced.
Mr. FREWEN acceded to the suggestion, and the
bill was then by consent, withdrawn.