The Sun.
London, England, 1822-11-28 00:00:00

TITHES OF THE CITY OF LONDON.

MANstoN.HousE.—Yesterday the important
question under the 37th of Henry VIII. as to the right of the_
Curates of the several Parishes in the City of London and Li-
berties to tithes, to the amount of 2s. 9d. in the pound on the
rental of the inhabitants, came on before the Loan MAYOR.
His Lordship was attended by the Common Serjeant and the
City Solicitor;
Dr. Bult Owen, the Rector of St. Olave, Hart-Streei9
at-
tended himself to establish his claim, and had nn professional
assistance. The defendant, Mr. George Abbott, whn; we un
derstand; is a Solicitor, did not appear when called upon to the
summons which Brand, the Marshalman, proved had been pro-
perly served. - '
Dr. Owen shortly stated, that he founded his claim against
the defendant under the Act of the 37th of Henry VI. cap. 12.
Although that Act authorised him to claim two shillings and
nine-pence in the pound, he only claimed two shillings, and
now proceeded against the defendant. for a quarter's tithes. at .
that rate. upon a rental of 2001. per annum. He had made
various applications for the money to the defendant, who had
removed about three doors out of the parish without having
paid it. He (Dr. Owen) now therefore applied foilt coinpul-
sory order against the defendant to compel him to pay the
money. The defendant, as the Rev. Gentleman was under-
stood, occupied a part only of the premises, but the law alowed
him to go to every occupier of a house, unless the rent was Im-
p der 101. when the principal was made liable.
The Loan MAYOR said, as this was a question of great mag.
nitude to the citizens of London, he had delayed •acting upon.
the case, in order to have the opinion of the City Law Officers,
The COMMON SERJEANT adverting to the Act of Parlia.:
ment upon which the present claim was founded; observed
that it positively directed that the decree of the Archbishop of ,
Canterbury must be enrolled before it could become an ope-
rative law. In his opinion, therefore, the question depended
entirely on the point whether or not the decree had been,en.
rolled. Now, there was no evidence of the enrolment of that
decree, and in his opinion the- Acts' Act was inoperative to all
intents and purposes, without such tyidence. • • •
The City Solicitor said, that he had searched the Parliament
Office, and found that there was no enrolment of the decree...
Dr. Owen said, the case had already been decided in a Coett
of Law, and upon those decisions he relied ; the Judges had.
distinctly stated the right to exist. in the case ef ftelam•tr.
Adams, the enrolment was admitted, and a-eerdiet.given eats-
blishing the claim. It had been decided in three instancei:-.-
, had been carried to the House of Lords and confirmed—and
the decision had been acted upon in the Courts beldw. Ile
presumed that the law had been properly administered in those
Courts, and that their decisions were well-founded; and he
concluded, that the fact of the.otrolment had been presumed,
for many documents were now acted upon that had long been
lost.—Many documents had recently been destroyed by the fire
at Cotton-garden.
The COMMON SERJEANT said he was not aware of the
existence of the case alluded to, and asked whether it had been
reported.
The City Solicitor said the case was not reported, but it
amounted to nothing, for the question as to the enrolment of
the decree was not put in issue : it was admitted.
The COMMON SERJEANT had no doubt that the Act had
been enforced upon the presumption that the decree had been
enrolled, but he had no hesitation in declaring that if the de-
cree was not enrolled the Act was without efficacy.
Dr. Owen again submitted that the question had been de-
cided in the Courts of Law, sufficiently to authorize the Ma-
gistrate to act. The East India Company had done the Cler-
gymen of the City the greatest service, by carrying the ques-
tion into a Court of Law, by which the claim had been con-
firmed.

The CITY SOLICITOR said, that in that case also, the
question of the enrolment had never been raised. It was the
amount of the claim, and not the right to make it, that had
been disputed.
The Lou!) MAYOR said, that for himself he gave no opilion
upon the law of the question, but under that of the two Learned_
Gentlemen who assisted him he had certainly very great diffi-
culty in proceeding against the defendant. As the question
was one of great magnitude, which agitates the whole City,
and wasleading to extensive litigation, he thought it could'not
be too cautiously considered; be, therefore, would adopt the
suggestions of the two Law Officers who assisted him, and take
further advice from those Counsel who had been deeply en-
gaged in the subject. His Lordship directed that the case
should stand over, and he suggested to Dr. Owen that he should
come prepared with professional assistance. The Recorder
would be called upon to attend.
Dr. OWEN said, he had not the slightest objection that the
case should be most fully canvassed. Ile brought it before
his Lordship that his parishioners might not be put to ex-
pence ; otherwise he might have taken it to the Court of Ex-
chequer.
The LORD MAYOR was satisfied that Dr. Owen was ac-
tuated by the best motives.
The case was then ordered to be resumed on a future day.

At the last Middlesex Sessions, an order-was
made by the Magistrates that the friends of the
prisoners in the House of Correction should not
be allowed to send or carry any provisions to
those confined there. On Saturday this order
was first put in execution, when the prisoners
rose in a state of mutiny, and they all refused to
work. The keeper of the prison applied on
Monday to the Sitting Magistrate at Hatton.
Garden Office, when Mr. ROGERS and Mr.
LAING proceeded to the House of Correction.
—The most active in the mutiny- were imme-
diately summoned before them, and the Ma-
gistrates directed them to be separately locked.
up, and put upon one quarter allowance.—
Four of the most violent were directed 'to be
well flogged in the presence of all the prisoners,
which sentence was • immediately eXecuted, and.
it had the desired effect upon the others who re-
turned to their work, and on the following morn-
ing the prisoners, through the medium of one
of the Magistrates, ma e a respectful application
to the Prison Committe, for an increase.of the
prison allowance, in case t e order of Session was
to be enforced. The prisoners stated that the
present allowance was quite inadequate to their
support, if they were prevented accepting the
assistance of their friends. We understand that
the allowance is a pound and a half of the best
wheaten bread per day for each prisoner, with a
portion of gruel, and half a pound of meat on
Sundays.—(Morning Herald.)
For some years past the Court-room of Melrose
has been so much decayed, that the Justices of
the Peace and Road Trustees, &c: were obliged
to hold their meetings in the inn.. The circum-
stance being made known to the guardians for his
Grace the Duke of BUCCLEUCH, they, at his
Grace's sole expense, have erected a most hand-
some and complete Court-room, Nvhichi the
Justices took possession of on Saturday, Jast.. A.
jail is also attached to the building.
MILDNESS OF WEATIIER.—As proofs' of. the
extraordinary mildness- of -the' weather, several
birds nests have been found in the parishes of
Chilham and Godmersham, Kent, some with four,
others with five eggs, and the old ones sitting on
them. There is also in the parish of Worneborne,
a pear tree in blossom, as beautiful as in the month
of June.

On Tuesday morning, about 'two o'clock,
as the watchman of Mary-le-bone was .pro-
ceeding on his rounds through Oxford-street,
his attention was attracted by a man lying on
the ground, weltering in his blood, who on
being raised up evinced no symptoms of life :
on taking him, to, the watchhouse.a large wound
was discovered to have been inflicted across his
head, from whit' the blood had proceeded :fie so
far recovered as to give his name, ''Hughes,;'
but nothing more whatever;—whether he was
knocked down for the purpose of being robbed
still remains a doubt ; but he was, however, taken
to St. George's Hospital, where he now lies in a
dangerous state.