The Sun.
London, England, 1838-05-09 00:00:00

SEIZURE BY THE FRENCH GOVERNMEMT.

Dr. LUSHINGTON, seeing the Noble Secretary of State for the
Foreign Department in his place, wished to ask a question re-
lative to the seizure of certain ships be:ongin,g to her Ma.
jesty's dominions on the coast of Africa. In the month of July,

834, there were two vessels carrying on trade on the coast of

Africa; and he was informed that two French vessels of war then came
down ; that they attempted to compel the English vessels to sail from
the coast; that they seized the guns that were being put on board, and
ultimately seized the British vessels themselves. In the month of Fe-
bruary, 1835, a blockade was attempted to be imposed on that coast
by the French Government. A vessel, called the Eliza, and other
vessels in the trade belonging to her Majesty's Government, were
then seized. The question he wished to ask was, whether or net the
Government had preferred a claim against the French Government for
reparation, and whether there was any immediate prospect of its being
brought to a speedy conclusion ? Upon the answer he received would
depend whether he might think it necessary to make any motion on that
subject.

Lord PALMERSTON said that it was quite true, as stated by the
Hon. Member, that certiln vessels belonging to British subjects had
been interrupted in their commerce at the Ports he had stated. The
first was antecedent to a blockade, and the latter after it. He
presumed that it was not the wish of the Learned Gentleman that he
(Lord Palmerston) should enter into the details of the transactioa ; hut
he could state that application having been made to the British
Government, they applied to the French Government for corn.
pensation.—(Cries of " Hear, hear.") That had been under
the consideration of the French Government fur some time; a reply was
made, which was submitted by him to the claimants; and a short time
ago a communication was made by the English ambassador at Paris; to that
communication he had not yet received any reply, communicating the
final determination of the French Government, but at the same time he
must say, believing as he did that the claim was founded in justice,
he could not persuade himself that the French Government would not
give it the consideration to which it was entitled.

Dr. LUSHINGTON would wait a short time to see what the effect
of any communication would be; and if it was not as favourable as he
expected, he should bring the subject before the House.
Sir E. WILMOT postponed his motion for the entire abolition of
Slavery to the t'Ad of May.

Mr. JA MES gave notice that on the 16th of May he should move for
Ecclesiastical returns.

Mr. JACKSON gave netice that on the 22d of May he should move
for leave to bring in a Bill to amend the law with respect to the Regii.
try of Votes in Ireland.
CONTROVERTED ELECTIONS.

Lord MAHON said he would move his resolution en this subject, as
an amendment to Sir R. Peel's Bill, upon the same question.
FIRST FRUITS AND TENTHS.
Mr. BAINES then rose to move for a Select Committee to consider
the propriety of abolishing the first fruits, and for the more effectual
rating, and the better collection of the tenths, for the poorer clergy.
He feared he could not propitiate the House by promising to trespass
but a short time on their attention. The subject was one involving the
most important considerations with regard to a most influential and
useful body of men, the working clergy. He had followed the example
of the Noble Lord the Member for North Lancashire in his Irish
Church Temporalities Bill of 1833 in moving for a select Committee.
(The Hon. Member proceeded to give the history of first fruits and
tenths, commencing from the time of the crusades, in which they were
converted to the purpose of carrying on the holy war, down to the
reign of Queen Anne, when they were diverted from State purposes,
and ordered to be applied to the augmentation of the livings of the
poorer Clergy.)—From that time to the present he (Mr. Baines) was
sorry to say they had not been so applied. The benevolent intention of
that Princess was not put into execution, and the First Fruits and
Tenths Act was in reality a miserable failure.—(Hear, hear.) By a
return of the Ecclesiastical Commission there were at present eleven
livings in the Church Establishment of the value of Only 10/. per an-
num, nineteen of from 101. to 20/., thirty-one of from 201. to 301.,
sixty-three of from 30/. to 401., and 172 of from 401. to 501. That
was, 296 livings under 501. a year, and this after 130 years' opera..
tion of the Act for the augmentation of poor livings. There were be.
sides thirty livings of from 501. to 60/. per annum; 317 of from
601. to 70/., 250 of front 70/. to 80/., 355 of from 801. to 90/., and
390 of from 901. to 1001., making 1,912 livings in the best endowed
Church in the world of under 100/. per annum. Of livings between
100/. and 1501. there were 1,602, and between 1501. and 200/., 1,354.,
so that there were, in fact, 4,868 livings under the value of 2001. yearly.
He found also that there were 5,230 curaeies averaging 91/. per
annum. This, he considered, was a proof of tke failure of the Act,
and the reason why it had failed was, because the governors had not
done their duty, or fulfilled their trust. They had put a construc-
tion upon some words of the Act which they were not intended to
bear, whereby the first fruits were paid according to the valuation
of livings made in the reign of Henry the Eighth, altogether to
the benefit of the richer Clergy, and to the deprivation of the
poorer. When any law pressed grievously on one part of
the people it was the duty of Parliament to relieve them of it.
According to these statements there could only be left a sum of eighteen
shillings for each Clergyman, and this from a bounty which Queen Anne
and her Bishops intended should afford a sufficient maintenance. He
proposed, theft, as a remedy for these abuses, the entire abolition of all
first ftmits, except in the cases of those Clergymen who were at present
in possession of benefices, as they had cast their expenditure on a scale
conformable with their income, which to affect by these means would be
a serious injustice. He also proposed to deduct all livings above 300/.
a-year from the aggregate amount of all the benefices in the country, by
which means a fund would be created which would leave for every Cler-
gyman an income of at least 1001. a-year. A Committee had last year
been appointed which had recommended the same plan. The Hon.
Member then read letters to show the deplorable penury in which many
of the poorer Clergy were, many of whom were living on 401. or 501.
z.year, and quoted from papers in his possession to prove the alterations
which had taken place in the value of livings, many instances of which
he particularly referred to. The Hon. Gentleman then contended that
no proportionate amount of tenths had been taken from these increased
livings, and read a statement of the incomes of the Bishops, showing that
in the time cf Queen Anne and Bishop Burnet the payment of first
fruits and tenths was 16,0001. a year, whereas they now only amounted
to 13,0001, being a deficiency of 25 per cent in the present reign as
compared with that of Queen Anne. The Hon. Member concluded
by moving for a Committee of the whole House to take into considera-
tion the propriety of abolishing the First Fruits of the Clergy of Eng-
land and Walis, and the more effectually rating and better collection
of the tenths applicable to the maintenance of the poor Clergy.
The SOLICITOR-GENERAL—If the motion had for its object a
more equal distribution of Church property among the community at
large he would, perhaps, have been ready to give his attention to it ;
but then the question they would have to consider would have been a
very different one, for it would be wholly independent of anything
arising out of the first fruits, the tenths, and the statutes of Queen Anne.
The fact was that the Hon. Gentleman had confonnded two thing;
which were perfectly distinct—viz., the abstract question with the ques.
tion of right under the statute of Anne. It was clear that the Clergy
now enjoyed all those rights under the statute of Anne which the
statute of Henry V 111. gave to the Crown. There was no doubt that
some livings bad increased incredibly owing to a variety of circumstances,
but still as this was a fixed fund, collected according to a given rate, he
must on that ground give his opposition to the motion of his Hon.
Friend.

Mr. G. KNIGHT said than he felt himself called upon to give his
humble support to the motion of the Hon. Member fur Leeds.
An•Horr. MEMBER here moved that the House should be counted.
The gallery was cleared for a division, but there being more than 40
Members present was re-opened..
Mr. HUME hoped his Hon. Friend the Member for Leeds would not
go to division. It would be perfectly useless, as the proceedings on the
Benefices Pluralities Bill showed that the Government would not listen
to common sense, although they were ready enough to act against it. If
the wealth of the Church were properly applied, it would be sufficient for
all Church purposes; but the Government alone were to blame for re-
sisting thb propositions which had been made to make that property
available without injury to any one. It would therefore be a farce for
his Hon. Friend to proceed any further with his motion.
Mr. GOULBURN entirely concurred in what had fallen from the
Hon. and Learned Gentleman the Solicitor-General, and objected to the
view taken on the subject of first fruits and tenths :by the Hon. Member
for Leeds. He denied that Parliament had any authority or power to
take those imposts for the purpose of applying the money to the
lise awayof
poor clergymen. He would conclude by repeating his opposition
to this motion.

The gallery was then cleared for a division, and the numbers were—
For the m,,tion ...... ......... 48
Against it
- -

Majority for the motion —2l
On the re-admission of strangers Vf3 found,
Mr. BAINES that the Spe.akerdo !cave the the chair, in ordLr
to the House going into Committee.
Sir R. INGLIS rc•se to oppose the motion. The views which he had
been on it former occasion prepared to express on this subject wei e
those which he would at present take of the question before the House.
By the arrangement proposed by the Hon. Member for Leeds a pro_
Lerty tax was to be levied emelusively on one class of her Majesty's
subjects.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said that he had voted
with the minority on the last division and on the grounds stated by the
Solicitor_General, but he would not, after the division, concur in the
motion against the Speaker leaving the chair, but he thought that the
Hon. Member for Leeds ought not to press the motion for going into
Committee at present.

The Speaker then left the chair, and the House went into Committee.
The first resolution was then read at the table, and was as follows :
" Resolved, that it is expedient that a better provision for the main-
tenance of the poor Clergy of the Established Church of England and
Wales should be afforded than that which at present exists, to be de-
rived from the revenues of the said Church."
Mr. ESTCOURT would move as an amendment that the Chairman,
before the Committee came to any decision on the resolution, should re-
port progress and ask leave to sit again. He thought it impossible that
any such proposition as that of the Hon. Member for Leeds should ever
meet the concurrence of the House. The House had been taken by
surprise, as many Members had gone away expecting that the propose.
tion would not be carried. Now, if there was any proposition more ob-
jectionable than another it appeared to him to be this—that all Church
property should be subjected to taxation. It had been stated. that out
of ten thousand four hundred livings there were four thousand three
hundred which did not pay this tax. Now the Hon. Member did not
merely propose to extend this additional tax to all of this four thousand
three hundred, but to all of 300/. per annum or upwards. He thought
nothing could better show the unjustifiable nature of the arrangement
he proposed.
After a few words from Mr. Hume, the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
Mr. Cayley, Sir R. Inglis, Mr. Freshfield, Dr. Nicholl, end Mr. Hindley,
the question was put, and the amendment that the Chairman should
report progress was carried.
The CHAIRMAN then reported progress, and the House resumed.
Mr. BAIN-ES then stated that he would to-morrow name a day when
they might take the resolutions into consideration.
Mr. IJUME moved for copies of the several Acts of the Legislature
of Upper Canada in the last session, for the preservation of the peace,
and for the trial of persons charged with insurrection and revolt against
the Government of the province, stating the dates on which the several
Bills received the Royal sanction.

Lord J. RUSSELL'S motion for naming a Committee on Church
leases was postponed until tomorrow.
The other Orders of the Day were then disposed of, and the House
adjourned at a Quarter to Ten o'Clock.

THE TWO GRAND HORTICULTURAL
FETES of the ROYAL SOCIETY of HORTICUL-
TURE, SATURDAY', May 19, and SATURDAY, June 16, under the
PATRONAGE of HER MAJESTY, will take place in the
beautiful grounds and apartments of Cremorne House, King's-road,
instead of the usual place. The three principal bands will be in
attendance, and in addition to the usual floral attractions, there will
be an Archery Field Day in the grounds detached for that perpose.
Tickets arc now issuing for a few days at 2s. 6d., but to be
raised to ss. without notice.

FAMILY ENDOWMENT SOCIETY:7.
Notice is hereby given that an EXTRAORDINARY
GENERAL MEETING of the PROPRIETORS will be held
at the Office of the Society, 12, Chatham-place, Bridge-street,
Blackfriars, on THURSDAY, the 24th day of May instant, at Two
o'clock precisely, to consider the expediency of confirming the re-
solution of the Board of Directors to carry on the business of the
Society in India.

JOHN CAZENOVE, Secretary.

UNITED STATES ASPHALTE OF
SEY SELL COMPANY.
The DIRECTORS of this COMPANY think it right to give
NOTICE, that at the expiration of the time mentioned in their
previous Advertisements they proceeded to the ALLOTMENT of
the SHARES, all of which have since been issued.
Bth May, IB3§.

WESTLEY and CO., 2, Child's-place, Temple-
bar, GENERAL NEWSPAPER AGENTS, supply
all the London Daily and Weekly Newspapers, post free, to all
parts of the United Kingdom.
Orders from the Country, accompanied by a remittance or refe-
rence in London for payment, will be attended to with promptitude
and regularity. Letters post-paid.

CHELTEN HAM.
LAMB INN AND COMMERCIAL HOTEL.
TO COMMERCIAL GENTLEMEN AND OTHERS.
'CHARD HULBERT, Proprietor of ti e
s above Establishment, begs most respectfully to inform the
Commercial World, and his supporters generally, that he has en.
largcd his Premises to double their former extent, and presumes
that the comfort and accommodation, which he shall in future be
enabled to afford his guests, will be such as cannot be surpassed by
any other house in the Kingdom.
Spacious, lofty, and well ventilated bed-rooms, large and com
manding sitting and dining-rooms. Good Stabling, with Lock-up
Coach-houses.

Wines of the first Vintage, and Spirits of the greatest purity.
The most polite :attention will on all occasions be shown, and the
former Moderate Prices rigidly adhered to.

TO PRINTERS AND BOOKBINDERS.

TO BE DISPOSED OF, in a Country Town,
in the West of England, a PRINTING and I3OOK-
BINDING BUSINESS, established upwards of 11 Years. The
Stock consists of 40 pair of cases of excellent jobbing and other
letter, foolscap and double-crown presses, and a good assortment e 1
binding materials nearly new. The proprietor being about to re-
tire, it will be sold for 3001. the profits of last year; average profits
ISO/. proved by the file and day-book. There is no Stationer's
shop, and consumable stock small.
Apply by letter, post paid, to Mr. Kingdon, Mr. Chilcott's, 30,
Wine-street, Bristol.