The Sun.
London, England, 1831-12-28 00:00:00

16714
9947

67675
59682

79',)3

No. 6.—1 am prepared to establish by proof that
the total sum which has been received in each year
by the Archbishops, Bishops, and clergy of Ireland
who have been promoted to benefices from August
12, 1812, to 26th February, /831, as the annual
profits of their respective benefices, amounted in
each of those years to 1,161,845/., and which sum
ought to have been paid as one set of First Fruit•
by them into the revenue of First Fruits ; instead
of which they have only paid into it 9,9471. 11s ,
which sum so paid does not amount to one per cent.
on the sum they received as their first-fruits in any
one year within the above period.*
No. 7.—The annual profits that arise to the in-
cumbents of parishes in Ireland, from the parochial
glebe lands alone, amount to more than seven times
the sum in each year from 12th August, 1812, to
26th February, 1831, than has been paid, or con-
ditioned to be paid by the Archbishops, Bishops,
and clergy of Ireland, who have been promoted to
benefices within that time for their first year's fruits
of the benefices to which they have been so pro-
moted. Thus—
Parish. No. Province. Acres of Parochial Glebe.

34
• •• 76,205

144 -
218
Tuam
Total 91,137 Acres.
Take off one-third as unprofitable 30,379

Take off' two-thirds profitable land
Worth upon an average 265. per acre

344,54,3
121,516

2,0) 157,970 (8

.C 75,985
Deduct 5 per cent. for collecting, &c 3,947

Total phi(' for First Fruits, from 1812 to
1813 p fl47) £75,038 (7
69,5'29

5,59
No. S.—One fifty-third part of the Annual Revenue
arising from the Parish Tithes of the Incumbents
in Ireland alone, amounts to more in each year
than has been paid, or conditioned to be paid for
First Fruits, by all the Archbishops, Bishops, Dig-
nitaries, and beneficed Clergymen in Ireland, who
have been promoted to the Benefices from the
Mh August, 1812, to the 26th February, 1831 ;
notwithstanding they are bound by the Statute of
the second Gco. 1., chap. 15, to pay the whole sum
of their first year's Fruits, Revenues, and Profits
respectively to the Revenue of the First Fruits, viz....L1,1fi1,845
Annual Revenue arising from the Parochial Tithes...Xs29X3
Paid for F. F. £
Thus : 9,947)529,929(53
49,735

32,579
29,831

2,738 being 1-52,d part.

No. 9.—Messrs. Blackburn and drampton, the
present Attorney and Solicitor General of Ireland,
in their opinion, given by them to the House of
Commons on the Sth of August, 1831, intimated
that one year's First Fruits and Profits of the Arch-
bishops, Bishops, and Clergy of Ireland, in the 29th
year of King George 11., was computed at 3001. per
annum. Those gentlemen, when they made that
statement, appear to me to have known, or at least
they ought to have known, that the net produce of
all the Benefices in Ireland, im any one year within
that reign, exceeded 500,0001. ; and that in the
year from 1812 to 1831, the net proceeds of the
Revenue of the Church of Ireland exceeded
1,161,8451., as shown above. lam unwilling to
suppose the opinion of those Learned Gentlemen
was given for the purpose of diverting the attention of
thesuffering population of Ireland from the spoliation
committed on them by the spiritual part of the trustees
of First Fruits there, to shelter themselves and their
co-trustees from the responsibility that attaches to
them for their neglect of duty ; but I have strong
reason to believe the majority of the people will be
of that opinion; particularly as the average value of
the annual fruits of every parish Church in Ireland
(and they are 2,465 in number) exceeds 3001. per
Dignitaries inclusive; Archbishops and Bishoprics
exclusive.

No. 10.—How those Learned Trustees could bring
themselves to suppose that any rational being who
was acquainted with the history of the Church of
Ireland, could be led to believe that 3001. per annum
in the 29th year of King George the Second. was
computed to be the whole of one year's First Fruits
of the Church of Ireland, is to me inexplicable.
They knew that the Irish statute of the 2d of Geo.
1., chap. 15, sec. 3, which passed in the year 1715,
and which is now in force, requires every Arch-
bishop, Bishop, dignitary, and beneficed clergyman
in Ireland, all and every of them, to pay the whole
sum of their first year's revenues and profits of their
benefices respectively to the revenue of First Fruits;
and they must have known that 3001. per annum, in
the 29th year of Geo. 11. was not a thousandth part
of the First Fruits of the revenue of the Church of
Ireland in that year. They knew that the yearly
revenue of the Church of Ireland at the time they
gave their opinions (and from the I2th day of Au-
gust, 1812, to the 26th of February, 1831, for in-
cumbents that had been promoted within that time)
amounted in each of those years to 1,161,815/., and
that that sum as one payment, or set of First Fruits,
was pursuant to the statute of the 2d of Geo. I. chap.
15, due from the Archbishops, Bishops, and bene-
ficed clergy to that revenue, and that they had only
paid about the 116th part of that sum.
No. 11.—The opinions given in this matter by the
present Attorney and Solicitor-Generals of Ireland,
and the late Attorney-General Plunkett and Soli-
citor-General Joy, as laid before the House of Com-

• 1 per cent, on 1,161,845/. amount. to 11,61b1. 88.

mons in August, 1831, were so given on a com-
plaint made that a great portion of the first fruits of
the Church of Ireland was not duly paid to their
proper revenue. It is obvious that those four
Learned Gentlemen were aware that they were and
are Trustees of that Revenue, and Members of the
Corporation thereof, in conjunction with the Reve-
rend Prelates,and consequently responsible with them
for any irregularities committed by the Members of
that Corporation.
How far it is right for apparent defaulters to be
judges in their own cause is not for me to decide;
I take it that every Member of the Corporation of
First Fruits is open to a serious responsibility, and
can be made to answer the deficiency of that reve-
nue, which deficiency, from the 121 h of August,
1812, to the 26th day of February, 1831,amounted
to 1,151,897/., which sum that Corporation forgot
to sec paid, and feeds it inconvenient to recollect
such non-payment. That sum is now due to the
revenue of 14'irst Fruits, this day, 26th Feb. 1831.
We now come to the revenue of the Twentieth
Parts, formerly paid in Ireland under the Act of
the 28th Hen. VIII. chap. 11, Irish. It was, in
other words, five per cent, per annum on the entire
revenues of the Church of Ireland at the time of
the grant of the Crown in 1712, and the Act of
the 2il of George I. chap. 15, confirming it, and
released the clergy from the payment of the same
annual revenue of the Church of Ireland, being at
that time 580,922/.

The twentieth parts, or five per cent, on the re-
venue then payable to the Crown yearly by the
Archbishops, Bishops, and beneficed Clergy, was
consequently 29,0461.
The Crown, therefore, by the grant and the Act
of the 2d of Geo. 1., chap. 15, released the Clergy
of Ireland from the payment of 29,0461. per annum
for the consideration to be given by them, as set
forth in the said Act of the 2d of Geo. 1., chap. 15,
Irish.

1. That they were by the Statute of the 2d
Geo. 1., chap. 15, to be released from the payment
of their twentieth parts to the Crown, which
amounted at that time to 29,04.61. per annum.
2. That they were to be the receivers of their
own first fruits and profits of their benefices for the
first year, together with the first year's fruits of the
rest of the Irish Clergy.
3. That they were to have four years each to pay
the first year's profits of their respective benefices to
the revenue, instead of two years, which latter pe-
riod was the time allowed by the Acts of King
Henry the Eighth.
1. For which considerations they were bound
by that Statute to pay the whole sum of their first
year's profits of their Benefices respectively, to the
revenue aforesaid.

They have uniformly complied with the three first
conditions, but they found it convenient to forget to
comply with the fourth condition, and, consequently,
they have not paid more than about one hundred
and sixteenth part of what they ought to have paid.
Thus—One year's revenue of the Church of Ireland,
in any one year, from 1812 to 1831—Ante, pa. 26,
No. 4-1,161,8,15/.

, .
Paid by the Archbishops,
Bishops, and Clergy, for £
their First Fruit, from 9947)1161845(116th part of what they
the 12th of March, 1812, 9947 ought to have paid
to the 26th Feb. 1831.. pursuant to the Sta.
16714 tutes.
9947

67673
59682

how the present Trustees could at'empt to infer
that one year's First Fruits' Revenue and profits of
the Church of Ireland, was computed to be fixed at
about 300/. per annum, and this done with a know-
ledge of the Irish Statute of the 2d Geo. 1., chap.
15, which requires that each Archbishop, Bishop,
Dignitary, arid Beneficed Clergyman of Ireland,
shall respectively pay to the Revenue of First Fruits
the whole sums of the first year's profits of his be-
nefice, which, if those fruits had been duly paid by
all, would have amounted, within the period afore-
said, to 1,161,8451., and which ought to have been
paid to that Revenue by the Clergy ; and, with the
exception of 9,917/. I Is. as above, is now due from
them to that Revenue.

As ene of the injured lay patrons of Ireland, I
beg leave to protest against the system of intrusion
that has been adopted by the Hierarchy there, on
the rights of Lay Patrons of Churches, and against
the Clergy generally, for the deficient. payment of
their F►rst Fruits, and that I will continue to use
my utmost endeavours to relieve that country from
such intrusion, and from the imposts that have been
resorted to in order to snake good that deficiency,
which is as oppressive as it is unjust. I presume,
with respectful but humble confidence, to submit
that sufficient evidence of the conduct of the parties
is in my possession to effect that desirable object.
SAMUEL COOKE.

MADRID.

(From the Times Private Correspondence.)

MADRID, DEC. 17.—1 wrote you on the Bth in-
stant, and sent you a copy of our Extraordinary
Gazette of that date, announcing the capture of the
brave but unfortunate Torrijos, and about fifty of
his companions, who had been driven from Gibral-
tar in consequence of the infamous persecutions and
menaces of the English Governor of that unhos-
pitable rock, where, relying on British generosity,
they expected to have met with an asylum ; but,
alas ! they were sadly disappointed in their expec-
tations, as in him they met with a greater foe to
Spanish liberty than in their own countrymen. By
the Gazette of Thursday, the 15th, you will see
Torrijos, and fifty-three of his brave companions,
have been most inhumanly murdered in the glorious
cause of liberty. This, I hope, is a convincing proof
of the blood-thirsty despotism of Ferdinand, whom
the Gazette has had the audacity to compare to Titus,
by stating, " whilst the blood of these fresh victims is
still smoking, we can put into the mouth of the King
the memorable words of the clemency of Titus, ad-
dressed to the Jews, on contemplating desolated Jeru-
salem : I call Heaven to witness that your calamity
is not my work, but the effect of your pride and obsti-
nacy.' " They were executed at Malaga on the
11th inst. at half-past twelve o'clock, amidst the
exultations of an infuriated and bigoted populace.
Poor Torrijos was the first one who marched to the
place of martyrdom ; he who had braved the fire
of the enemy in so many engagements was not to
be appalled at the sight of the wretches of Ferdi-
nand's tyranny : he marched with a firm and com-
posed air, taking farewell of his comrades in arms,
—the word was given, and he fell amidst the balls of
those soldiers for whose cause he had so valiantly
fought during the war of independence. After him
came Calderon, his constant companion, with a de-
termined step. The others were all drawn up in
file, and met the same untimely end as their heroic
chief,—(here follow the names, which we have
given elsewhere),—in all, 51 unfortunate patriots,
who have thus been deprived of their lives to gratify
the sanguinary revenge of the tyrant.
The intelligence of their execution has created the
highest delight to the Apostolicos and the infuriated
priesthood. Ferdinand feels the atrocious act he
has committed in having them thus put to death,
and is afraid to publicly show himself. The Queen,
it is said, tried to intercede in their favour, but
without success, as the despot win not listen to any
humane feeling this unfortunate Princess may strive
to exert in saving victims from his vengeance. All
the friends of Torrijos and his murdered compa-
nions, instantly the news was known, put black
crape round their hats. Thus, as I expected, has
teminated the fate of the heroes of 1823; but they
will some day or other he revenged. Spain is not
without patriots, who, when the moment is favour-
able, will strike the blow.

The High Sheriff of the county of Roscom-
mon has announced a meeting of his bailiwick on the sub.
ject of the Reform Bill for Monday next. The requisition
on which he has called it bears the signatures of both the
County Members, ten other Magistrates, and every other
gentleman of the liberal party in the district,

THE DEVONSHIRE REFORM MEETING.

The following is Lord Grey's answer to a letter
from Lord Ebrington, forwarding the Devon county
address of confidence in the Premier :
" Downing-Street, Dec. 14, 1831.

"MY DEAR LORD,.—I have bad the pleasure of receiving
your letter of to-day, with the accompanying address from
the county of Devon.
" Nothing could be more gratifying, both to my col-
leagues and myself, than so flattering an expression of the
confidence and esteem of a body so numerously and respect-
ably composed as that which you describe.
" For the very kind addition of your personal concur-
rence in the sentiments of that body I cannot sufficiently
express my gratitude ; and your approbation of the new
Bill has given me the most unqualified satisfaction. You
have ju.tly appreciated the views of the King's Govern-
ment. Bound, not more by our repeated declarations than
by a conscientious opinion that nothing less than we had
before proposed would have the effect of producing a settle-
ment, in which all the great interests of the country would
concur, it has been our endeavour to maintain, to the full
extent, all the principles of the former measure ; and at the
same time, when we could do so without impairing its
efficacy, to introduce such alterations as appeared expedient,
not only as improvements in themselves, but as tending to
mitigate the hostility or obviate the objections of our op-
ponents. I am, with the highest regard,
" Dear Lord Ebrington, yours most faithfully,
"To Viscount Ebrington." (Signed) " GREY."