The Sun.
London, England, 1838-04-04 00:00:00

CHURCH PROPERTY.

Colonel SIBTHORP was sorry that he did not see the
Secretary for the Home Department in his place ; but though
he was present he could not have any hesitation in moving
" That a return of the present valuation, as far as can he
ascertained, of all the property in lands, manors, forests,,
liberties, or of any nature whatsoever, which originally be-.
longed to the several monasteries, abbeys, chapelries, or
other reljg-ious houses, which, under various pretexts, and
for other purposes than those for which they were established
and endowed, have been from time to time alienated from.
the service of the Church ; also a Return of the names of tha
individuals to whom and the periods at which such were
~ranted, and by whom they are now severally enjoyed."
He thought it was high time that some Member should rise
and defend the Church Establishment. He trusted the Noble
Lord would not shrink from any inquiry into these matters.
LThe Hon. and Gall Ant Member read a long extract from the
celebrated letter of Edmund Burke to the Duke of Bedforol;
in which the latter was taunted with the ciroumstiwee
that an ances'or of his had become possessed of certain Churclr
property in an unworthy manner.] He (Colonel Sibthorp)
had taken great pains to ascertain the exact amount
of property which had been alienated from the Church in the
.-uanner alluded to by Burke—in fact, of which the Church had
bete robbed. la making calculations he had to rely chiefly
upon ,historical records and he believed that such alienated
property would be found to amount to no less a sum than
938,308,1:001.—(A laugh.) Where was the Hon. Member
for Kilkenny ?--(Hear, hear, from Mr. Hume, and laughter.)
Why did not that Hon. Member take up this subject ? He was
sorry that he d;.d not see the Noble Lord the Member for
Stroud or the Right Hon. Genti=an the Chancellor of the
Exchequer in their piaces, but he hcped that no opposition
would be given to this motion by the Honourable
and Learned Gentleman (her Majesty's Attorney-General).
The Gallant Officer conclUded by reading the terms of his
motion. _ . .

The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said, that the only
reply which he could give the Honourable and Gallant
Officer was, that it would be impossible to furnish the
returns which he had moved for.--( Hear, hear, and
laughter.) The ii9noural4ic and Gallant Officer had- not
suggested to whom the orders for these returns were to
be directed. They would go to every landed proprietor in
England or Wales, and it Nv,,Ael be necessary to search titles
for a period of three or four huOdred
.7/ears back to see whe-
ther or not their estates ever beloagtrf to the Church, and
having done this, to ascertain when tl..‘q.:,,,Tere granted front the
Church, and to whom. Oa a moderate eL'lculition, at least
fifty thousand orders should be issued by th,' House, and at
least one of titles examined.—(Lang,`n.2l% ) fie suit_
posed that the motion of the Hon. and Gallant 0 was
intended merely as a piece of pleaiantry, and to au:use the
House.—( Laughter.) He should not have th mgln It neces-
sary to say anything in replying to the motion of the h n. and
Gallant Ofliecr, if it hal not been suggested to him
by his Noble Friend ( Lord Nterpth) that he ought to ex-
plain to the House what its :nature really was. He hoped
that the Hon. and Gallant (Meer, seeing. the utter
impossibility of furnishing these returns, -would con-
sent to wilidraw the motion.

Colonel SIBTEIORP could assure the Hon. and Learned
Gentleman, that if he supposed that he (Colonel g.) came
there to waste the time of the House, or to amuse it, .he was
totally mistaken. Ha trusted that none of those alluded to
by the Ilonourable and Learned Attorney- General had had
their title-deeds in the lat.! fire in the Teniple.—(Laughte."-)
He treated the observations of the Honorable and Lei.rneLl
Gentleman with the most sovereign contempt—(Laughter)—
and he was surprised that they should have fallen from one
holding such a situation, as he must be supposed to be a
man of education and a gentleman.
The motion was then put, and negatived without fS