The Sun.
London, England, 1822-03-19 00:00:00

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

Sir J. GRAHAM obtained leave to bring in a Bill for build,
ing a new Chapel in the Parish of St. Andrew,- Holborn.
Sir A CAMPBELL obtained leave to bring in a Bill for
erecting a new Gaol in the city of Glasgow.
IRON COFFINS. . •

Mr. Alderman WOOD brotlin-Ci-a Bill to authorize the
use of Iron Coffins in burying the dead.—Read the first time.
TITHES.—IRELAND.

Mr. CALCRAFT moved for a Return of all Causes tried
in the Law Courts of Ireland for the last five years, relative to
Tithes, and of all Appeals tQ the Ecclesiastical Court on the
same subject during the same period.—Ordered.

NAVAL RANK.
Sir J. YORKE, seeing an Hon. 'Secretary in his place (Mr.
Croker), rose to put a question to him relative to a late occur-
rence, which had created considerable sensation amongst that
class, of Naval Officers with whom he was in the habit of associ-
ating. Before he preceeded any further, however, he begged
distinctly to disclaim any thing like personal feeling ; for he
assured the House he had not the slightest, and it was solely
from the interest he felt for the service that he was induced to
take thiS public_ notice of the matter. It had been the usage
or custom for some time back, in the Navy, and indeed had
been considered as inviolable as a law, that Naval Officers who
by remaining in the enjoyment of any civil anointment should
pass their flag, should not again' be put back to the station in
the Navy, which had they not so done they might have filled.
In contravention-of this rule, however, he found in a late Ga-
zette, that John Clark Serle, Esq. 'late Commissioner of the
Victualling Office, after being twelve years in a civil situation,
and having passed his.flag during that time, was placed again
on the Flag List, as Rear-Admiral of the White, as the Ga-
zette stated, 'by his Majesty's 'special pleasure and command.
The question, therefore, which he had to put was, whether the
rule to which he had alluded had been abandoned ? The dr,
cumstance had operated as a peculiar hardship upon the
officers over whom he had been placed, and the painful part
of it was—

The SPEAKER reminded the Hon. Member, that unless
he intended to conclude with a motion, he was going beyond
the ordinary bounds.
Sir J. YORKE, said, that be hoped he should be permitted
to state his question fairly, however long it might be, as he
was desirous of taking the benefit of the Speaker's being in the
Chair, in which case he knew he would be secure from inter-
ruption.
The SPEAIKER assured the Honourable Member that it
was not the extent of his speech, but the argumentative part
of it that he complained of.
Sir J. YORKE resumed. He wished merely to get an
individuals
who to his questions. One of the meritorious
who had suffered by the departure from the rule, was Rear-
Admiral Monckton, who had been promoted from distinguish-
ed conduct in the hour of battle. 'The Hon. Member was pro-
ceeding to enter into detail, when
Mr. S.-WORTLEY spoke to order. He thought the ad-
monition which the Honourable and Gallant Member had re-
ceived from the Chair, might have convinced him of the im-
propriety of going at length into the merits of the case of Ad-
miral Serle.

Sir J. YORKE said, he had three questions to ask, at the
same time that he felt highly obliged to the Honourable Mem-
ber for Yorkshire for putting him right as to his conduct in
that House, after he had been 32 years in it. He knew not
whether the report was true or not, but such a one was abroad,
that this Gentleman had been directed to leave the chair of the
Victualling Board, which he had occupied so long. This was
the more extraordinary, as,he .had received special marks of
approbation during the course of his civil services, not only re-
ceiving a pension besides his salary, but obtaining one for Mrs.
Serle also. This report, it would be perceived, placed his late
appointment in a more extraordinary light.
Mr. CROXER rose to order. Although it was competent
to his Honourable and Gallant Friend to state his question, it
was certainly going beyond all fair limits, and unjust to the
individual alluded to, to admit of any debate being entered
into upon his charaCter. He believed that his Honourable and,
Gallant Friend and himself were not at variance on that part.
of the question, but he could not in justice to Admiral Serle
permit it to be canvassed in this irregular manner. With_re-
gard to the question, it was certainly true that this individual
had retired from the Victualling Board, but nOt as his Hon.
Friend had stated.

- Sir J. YORKE said, that as his lion. Friend had called him
to order for entering into debate, he surely could not be in or-
der in doing so himself.
The SPEAKER wished the Honourable Member to un-
derstand that the course he was taking was not in strict accord-
anee with the practice of the House. The Hon. Member asked
one question as to the maintenance or abandonment of a rule,
and another as to whether the course supposed to have been
pursued was fair. Although it might be perfectly fair to ask
the first of these questions, he did not think the latter was of a
nature that could be let in by the courtesy' of the House,:—
(Hear.)—All questions, he apprehended, must be confined to
matters of fact, and not be extended to whether the fact itself
was fair, fit, or expedient. He hoped that the Honourable.:
Member, seeing that the general feeling of the House was
against the course he was taking, would not persist in it.—
(Hear.) •