The Sun.
London, England, 1831-12-16 00:00:00

HOUSE OF COMMONS, DEC. 15.

Mr. Sleath, from the Bank of England, appeared at the
bar with returns of the amount of balance of interest in
the hands of the Bank.

Mr. Danvers, from the East India House, brought up
certain papers relative to the government of Fort George.
Mr. HODGES presented a petition from the inhabi-

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tants of Ramsgate, praying tat provision might be made

In the Reform-Bill to entitle them to vote in conjunction

with the town of Sandwich.
ABUSES IN THE COURT OF CHANCERY.

Mr. SPENCE presented a petition from a gentleman
named Joseph Harrington, complaining of the practice of
the Court of Chancery, particularly that portion of it
which related to the Master's office, and the taxation of
bills of costs. The petitioner stated, that being unfortu-
nately entitled to a portion of property under a will, which
was the subject of a suit in Chancery, his attorney's
bill amounted to no less than 7,0001. ; the Court of
Chancery permitted him to have the bill taxed, but on
inquiry he was informed that the expence of taxation
would be 1,500/.—(Loud cries of " Hear.") The bill of
costs extended to 7,000 folios, the mere copies of which
(which must be made, although wholly useless) would
be 700—(Hear, hear),—and the whole expence, the
items of which were stated in the petition, would be

1,538/. 13e. 4d.—(Hear.) He (Mr. Spence) knew that
such cases were of frequent occurrence, although they would
be hardly believed to occur in a country like this. He knew
one instance where a bill of costs in Chancery amounted
to 5001., and the expense of its being taxed was an ad-
ditional 900/.—(Loud cries of " Hear, hear.") He
should dwell farther on the enormity of these cases did he
not know that a full and effectual Reform was shortly
about to take place—(llear)—be was enabled to state
upon good authority, and he knew it for a fact, that
these abuses would be speedily and effectually reformed.—
(Cheers.) Under the sanction of the Lord Chancellor,
Bills were in the course of preparation, and the indi-
viduals employed about them were fully impressed
with the importance of the subject, and he was
I enabled to state, that shortly after the Christmas recess
one or more of those Bills would be introduced in this or
the other House of Parliament ; one in particular relating
to the abuses detailed i■ the petition.—(Hear.)
Mr. D. W. HARVEY was persuaded that the informa-
tion just communicated by the Hon. and Learned Gentleman
would afford much gratification to the public. He hoped,
however, the Hon. and Learned Gentleman would direct
the attention of those engaged in preparing the Bills to
two things, viz.—the appointment of an officer, whose
exclusive duty it should be to tax bills of costs in
Chancery ; and also, that when fees to Counsel are taxed,
the allowances be returned. With regard to the first sub-
ject, the duty of taxing bills was often deputed by the
Masters to one of the Six Clerks, and it was net unfre-
quently that those officers had a direct interest in the
amount of the bills ; and, with regard to fees to Counsel,
those gentlemen never returned any thing they received ;
but he did not see why one branch of the profession should
be taxed and not the other. .
Mr. SPENCE said the remedy for the abuse of which the
Hon. Member for Colchester complained was, to a certain
extent, in the hr ads of that branch of the profession to
which the Hon. Member belonged. He admitted, that
the disallowing of fees paid to Counsel on consultations
was excessively ridiculous, and called for some remedy,
which he had no doubt would now be applied to it.
Mr. W. BROUGHAM corroborated the statement of
the Hon. and Learned Member, relative to the proposed
Reform to be introduced.
Mr. HUNT said the House had now heard the
opinions of a Master in Chancery, a Counsellor, and an
Attorney, but he hoped that the proposed Bills would not
be drawn by either of them, for be feared that between
the three the poor client would be where he now was.
The petition was read, and ordered to be printed.
Mr. SPENCE, with a view of affording every infor-
mation relative to the new Bills, would move for the
returns of the amount of fees received by the sworn Clerks
in Court, or the Six Clerks, in each year, for the last three
years, on the occasion of taxing bills of costs.—Ordered.
Mr. SPENCE then presented a petition from farmers
and breeders of horses in Yorkshire, praying for an altera-
tion in the law regarding horses.
Colonel DAVIES presented a petition from the glove
manufacturers in Worcester, complaining of the great dis-
tress which exists in that trade. The Hon. Member de-
tailed the state of distress to which large numbers of
the operatives in that trade were reduced, and said he
earnestly hoped that his Majesty's Government would, at
an early period, institute an enquiry into the causes of the
distress, and introduce some remedy. He gave notice,
however, that shortly after Christmas he would move
for a Select Committee upon the subject, if his
Majesty's Government did not take up the subject.
Mr. Robinson, Mr. Gure Langton, Colonel Torrens,
Mr. Sadler, Sir R. Vyvyan, Mr. Weyland, Mr. Warbur-
ton, and Mr. Hunt, spoke upon the petition.
Mr. P. THOMSON stated that when his Hon. and
Gallant Friend (Colonel Davies) brought the subject for-
ward, he would be prepared to state the views which his
Majesty's Government entertained, and what their inten-
tions were relative to the slave trade. At present it was
under the consideration of the Government.

Mr. SADLER obtained leave to bring in a Bill for re-
gulating the labour of children employed in mills and
factories throughout the kingdom. He would name the
22d of January next as the period for discussion.
Mr. CROKER asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer
when the information on which the details of the Reform
Bill were founded, relative to the number of boroughs to
be enfranchised, would be laid before the House.
Lord ALTHORP said the papers had been sent down
to the House last night after adjournment, and they were
now in such a state that they could be delivered to-mor-
row morning. The arrangement of the schedule, but not
the principle of the Bill depended, upon the papers.
Mr. CROKER said, if the documents were not placed
on the table to-morrow, he would object to the second
reading of the Bill.
Mr. STANLEY gave notice that he would to-morrow
move for leave to bring in a Bill for the relief
of Protestant members of Government from the sacra-
mental test in Ireland.
IRISH TITHES.

The SPRAYER. having called upon Mr. Stanley, and that
part of the King's speech which relates to Ireland having
been read,
Mr. STANLEY said, in rising in obedience to the re-
commendation contained in the gracious speech delivered
from the throne, which we have just heard read,
to move for the appointment of a Select Committee
to inquire into the present state of the law relating to
tithes in Ireland, in order to ascertain whether each
legislative enactments cannot be made as shall at once
combine security for the property of the Established Church,
with the removal of those grievances existing under the
present system, I luive undertaken, I am well aware,
a task of no ordinary difficulty..--(llear.) Sir, we
shall be told on the one hand, by those who adhere
to things as they are, at all hazards, that we are introdu-
cing unnecessary innovation, creating agitation on
subjects better kept quiet--lending the sanction of offi-
cial authority to idle clamour and unnecessary complaint,
unsettling men's minds on the foundation of vested rights
of property, and giving an undue encouragement to
unprofitable and dangerous speculations. We shall
be told, Sir, on the other hand, I am well aware,
that to the evil seen in its frightful magnitude we
shrink from applying the only remedy that could re-
move it—that our judgments are warped by preju-
dice, that we dare cot look at the question as we
ought—and that nothing less than a sweeping
overthrow of all the existing institutions—the total de-
struction of property, will be sufficient to remove the cause
of a grievance at once so wide in extent and ruinous in its
consequences. But as I think it would be unworthy of his
Majesty's Government were they to shrink from the mag-
nitude and difficulty of the task imposed upon them, so
would I deem myself unworthy of the situation which
I hold, were I to refuse to offer myself, as the
organ of that Government, in bringing before this
House and the country, the views we take of the existing
evils, and of !hose points to which we conceive more espe-
cially legislative interference ought to be applied. But, Sir,
I will own that upon such a question I am under a more
fearful responsibility still. It is not alone as a Minister of
the Crown, anxious for the tranquillity of Ireland, which
cannot be otherwise seenred—it is the h;glier responsibility
of a Christian and a sincere Protestant, anxious for the
support of that Church to which I belong—for its re-
spectability, for its security, for its very existence, but still
more for the support of the religion which that Church
is calculated to maintain and to propagate, that I call on
this House, of which so large a proportion belong to that
Church, seriously to consider what is the state in
which that Church and our common religion are now
placed in Ireland. Sir, the Right Hon. Member for
Tamworth, in commenting on some observations made
by me on that part of his gracious Majesty's speech
which has been read, expressed the greatest possible alarm
at the notion of a Committee being appointed for this
purpose, and he argued, with no inconsiderable degree
of plausibility, that so long as this important question
was pending in the House, so long as it was before the at-
tion of Parliament that there was a complaint between the
clergy and the people, every possible resistance would be
made, during the pendency, to the payment of tithes.
Now, in making these objections, the Right Hon. Gentle-
man should have recollected that tithes were not paid
front week to week, nor from day to day ; that they were
not like the profits of commercial enterprise, liable to in-
terruption from sudden stagnation of demand for the la-
bours of industry. Tithes, they should bear in mind,
were paid half-yearly,—one period of payment had re-
cently elapsed, and none would probably arrive until after