The Sun.
London, England, 1823-09-19 00:00:00

PROVINCIAL JOURNALS.

(From t 7 Leedi Independent, Sept; 16.)
COMMUTATION OP VICARIAL. TYTII,ES!

A numerous atid respectable meeting was held at the Court.
House on Saturday last, for the purpose of taping into conside
ration the" property of effecting a Commutation of Vicarial'
Tythes and .Easter Offerings in the parish of Leeds, in conse-
queue' of a munificent offer made by Fountain Wilson, Esq.
11. SaimE it, Esq. (the Mayor,) in opening the business of
the meting observed, that he wished to be*concise and to avoid
introducing extraneous matter. lle should be under the ne-
cesaity, in the ,first instance; of introducing the name' of Mr.
Fountain Wilson, whom he considered as the main spring
in this importanccase; Ile•stated, that in consequence of Mr.
Wilson having repeatedly heard of unpleasant circumstances,
connected with the collecting of the Vicarial Tythes, he had
been induced to give the subject a serious consideration, and
had corresponded witli several gentlemen in the parish on the'
subject, and had ultimately determined, that if the parishioners
would make an efibrt to effect a Commutation of the Tythes,
that he would give one half of the sum required for that pur-
pose. Mr. Wilson, accompanied by the Vicar, had also Waited,
on the Archbishop, who highly, approved of thei intended mea.
sure, and recommended that the Vicar should be moderate in
his claims, as circumstances would admit, taking into consi-
deration that he had only a Life Interest', and that he would
have to treat for his successor. .
Mr. Sant.E a further stated, that. the Vicar had agreed to a
COmmutation of all the Vicarial Tythes arid Offerings, on con..
dition that an annual stipend zf .C.lOO should be secured to him,.
unit the sum of .£lOO per annum for his clerk in orders. These
liberal offers had induced the parties to whom they hail been
made, to invite a number of gentlemen to meet for the purpose
of, taking into consideration the best method of bringing the.,
matter before the public ; and accordingly forty circular letters
had been sent to different persuasion to attend a meeting, and
the result of that meeting was the appointment of this: Mr.
S..observed, that it was a 'subject that concerned every class of
society, but more particularly the lower orders, who in some
measure feel it an'unequal burden. Before he had had the ex::
perience of office, ho should have had Considerable doubt as to
theprobability
of effecting the present object', but this doubt was
now removed. He had recently attended public meetings in
which the wealthy classes of society were interested, and he
had had the pleasure to observe, that. when any subject was
fairly brought before the public and candidly stated,
that it had been met by the most liberal and noble spirit.
On a recent occasion,
the inhabitants of this' town- had
met, and ' had unanimously and cheerfully agreed to tax,
themeslves, for the purpose of establishing a free market, and
they had been induced to do so, because their good sense had
convinced them that the object was laudable; and that it was
an hottest attempt' to promote the interests of the. community.
He was glad to say, that their present object was not to tax any
'one. What Was now required would be a voluntary offering,
and tiO appeal would be made to the poor. It was intended to
world's good; an opportunity
exonerate, that class of society altogether ; and not only
the present generation, but generations yet unborn. He
was so noble nail' princelY'
would now allies himself to those who had much of this
was. now presented of effecting
a great work, and if
WO
it might never be regained. An offer had been made
'it should be lost for want of exertion,
that he never remembered
which
express those feelings of
such an instance of liberality in connection with the town of
Leeds before. It was die spontaneous act of a noble mind, .
and done with so laudable a motive, that it was impossible to
which such a display of
munifitence necessarily excited. The munificent donor Wish-
ed the subjett to- be brought before the public. ' Let the
subject, said he, be fairly stated to the parishioners of Leeds ; •
let an appeal be made to their good sense, and I am sure the
object will be effected., Mr. S. observed, that no object had
trratitude,
ever presented itself of greater magnitude, and yet exertion
had f requently
been made equal to what was now required,
especially in the case of raising contributions for the. establish.
ment Of volunteer corps, under the direction of Colonel Loyd.
In this case, it was not for gentlemen to-calculate how small 4
sum would do for the purpose, but to determine to do it at any
rate. We were not to meet this instance of unparalled muni.
&once with a sparing hand and a grudging heart, but to give
freely and cheerfully. This was to be considered an instance
of parish beneVolence, to effect a purpose for • the benefit of the
lower classes of society, in which the more opulent were under
the greatest obligations. It was to the industry of the labour-
mg classes of society that the town of Leeds was indebted for
its wealth and greatnesS; and now was the time to ahoy what
valite we put upon the poor mart's exertions, by freeing him
from a burden which was a source Of_ vexation to his mull—

• By the report of the Marshal Lauriston of the 4th instant,
we are told that the fort of the Prince is nothing.more than an
out-post 200 foises from the city. Now in the plan which we
'have before its, and this fort is situstedat upwards of 600 tais4
from Parnpeluna ; but w sce near Ayer, though on. the
opposite side to the suburb of the Madeleine, a fortihed build-
ing called St. Bartholomew, which in effect is not more than
200 mimes front the place ; this perhaps is the post alluded to
by the

since the year 1512, when the Duke d'Albe,Ge.i:
fiend Of Ferdinrind and Isithelle, took Pampeluna.
fromlein,&Albret'.' and that 'cat% scarcely bek
called a siege, since five days only after the are
rival of the Duke before the town, the inhablj
tantiopened their gates to him. We do not,
moreover, reckon that as a siege, in which' the
anther of the life of 'Si. Ignacius' .says, "that hid•
hero, while defending , the breach against the-
French in 1521, had his right leg splintered to
pieces 'by a cannon shot; because it was not till
the time of Philip H. that Pampeluna wits•for-`
tilled 'according to the new system. The city
was besieged in 806 by the troops of Louis, King.;
of Aquitaine,, and son of Charlemagne; and
some • authors think that =it was besieged and
taken' by Charlemagne himself in the year 7.78:-,-.7
When Napoleon planned the conquest of Spain,.,.
heltnew of what importance it would be to get,
possession of'Pampeltina and its citadel. .He ac-
cordingly ordered General &Armagnac, whit:
was in the city with a French division,' to seize:
-by stratagem the fortress which he was 50
anxious `to obtain: • This order was punctually
executed. The magazines of provisions being-In"
the citadel, some soldiers, taken from diver)
corps of the French division, went there every
day for the distributions.* In' the night 'of the ,
16th` February, .the French• General 'filled his
house, which was opposite to the gate of the el•
tadel, with as many grenadiers 'as it would colt.
tain. At day-break the soldiers entered the
citadel as usual, a little before the hour of distri-
bation. On this occasion' they had 'been selected
from the voltigeurs 'of the 'division, and a•part-01-'
them had their sabres concealed under- their
great coats: In the interim, before the opening--
of the•rnagazines, the French 'voltigeurs, feigning'
to'' be engagtl in divers pastimes, crowded':
towards the guard at the gate, and -in•an instant
seized a pile of arms which were placed at the
entrance; whilst the others • drew out their,
sabres and disarmed the guard. At .the same
moment the grenadiers came our- of their
hiding place, rushed on the bridge, and en.
tered the citadel ; they were, soon followed
by nearly all the French division, which' had :se-
cretly taken arms.—The citadel of Pampeluna,
thus taken from the Spaniards, continued in, the„
possession' of- the French till towards the end of
the year 1813. At the time of the unfortunate
affair of Vittoria, when the French army were
compelled to evacuate Spain, the- grand head-
quarters were momentarily fixed at Pampeluna'•
However, instead of, profiting by the resources,.
which this place offered, and re-organizing.the.
French army•under it, Marshal Jourdan aban-
cloned it, and re-passed the Pyrenees. ,The allied'
army, under the! orders of ,Wellington, delayed
not to invest it. While the- English and Portu-
geese marched • upon St. Sebastian,. O'Donnel.
(Count .d.'Abisbal) established. himself .around".
Pampeluna with twelve thousand men. Welling..
ton, reckoning. more-- on famine than on •force,of
arms, to reduce the place, .diiected.that it shouldl:
Ibe blockaded, and-a Hue of works to be. erected
lround it, to oppose the excursions of the garri-
sons- for obtaining supplies. Shortly. after Mae,
shat Souk took the command of the army, he
made a movement to ,relieve St. Sebastian and
Pampeluna. Ile failed in this attempt,, but- it
gave the latter place. an opportunity of provision-
ing itself,and it held out for five months. Public at.
tentioo is again directed to.Pampelunat Though in-
vested by, ourermy itnmediately.after the.passage•
of the Bidassna, it is..only within the last week
that serious demonstrations- have been made
against it. All announce that the siego has, been
formed ; but unless we: were in the secret of the•
Marshal who commands the, hesiegers; it. would:
be difficult to say. on what. side he. will, direet
attack. It. may be that-he will first seek to ob-
•tain possession of the. city before he attacks the.
.citadel ; that is• to say, that he will-undertake
two successive sieges. This will engage some
time, and naturally inclines us, to think that. the
gavernment does not believe tile conclusion of
'the Spanish affair to be very' near at hand. On
the other side,. the converting. of the blockade.- a•
Pampeluna into a- siege is a certain -indication
that. the possibility is admitted of a retreat, oc.ce-
•sioned by other causes than the pacification. of.
Spain ; and in which it will be very disadvan-,
tegeons for our army to be obliged to. PasB
through the centre of a, corps. drawn from the
garrisons of all the strong places which our
troops, have left behind. them in their advance tot,
Ate extremity of the Peninsule. however that
may be, the operations. before. Pampeluna. have:
commenced,, and we shall follow them with greet
attention.

A letter dated Ifacnburgh 4th Septembert
says—" The day before yesterday the entire. Parish of qt. Ps-.
ter's, in this City, assisted with, the most heartfelt pleasure and.
satisfaction in celebrating,: in the Church of St. Peter's, the
50th anniversary of the Ministry of their much beloved and rerlt.
worthy Pastor, the Rev. Archdeacon Rudolph Gerhardt Ilehr-
mann, D.D., a man of truly pious disposition, and most 8.1.
cellent character. go, the 45th of last November, the much
respected, indisidual in question had the happiness to celebsilltd
with his amiable spouse, what is termed in Germany the golden
wedding, f. r. the 50th anniversary of the hymeneal day.--
The worth of the parties must be our apology for presentinS
to our readers this private anecdote."

BIRTH.
On Monday, the 12th lust., at Kensington, the hidy of E.Nr:
Biwa, Poi, of a son.

.31ARRIED. •
On Monda, the 15th inst., Mr. Holmes, surgeon, of'ol4
Fish-street, to Charlotte Eliza, youngest daughter. of the late
Rev. Richard Bowen, rector of Min town, in the county c Salq•
On Thursday, the 11th inst., at the Abbey Church, St.
ban's, John, second son of John Smart, Esq., of TrewitOoneet
Northumberland, to Mary-Ann, oldest dika4hte; of .the la"
'Rev. Thomas Gregory, of flenlow, Bedfordshire.
(in Tnesday, the 16th inst:, at Binfleld, Berkshire, the Itfl%
Ellis Ilurroughes, jun.,• to. Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of
Lieutenant General Sir Francis Wilde;.

- - . --
On the 12th inst., DIED.
Arthur, the infant son of Benjamin Bo?'
kinson, Esq., of Red Lion-square.
On Thprsthv evening, the 11th inst., the Hon. 1,4}11'
q Stow-haR, in Norfolk. This Melancholy event toot C.!
after a very Short illness, in London, whither she went forMf'
dical advice.
On Thursday the 11th inst., in the 61st year of his 140,
Robert Raved, of bovinhani Market in'the coufity'of orr°,l-
'saddler.
At WarrenpOint, on the Bth inst., Oliver S. 4ontla.-2 npr, at the advaneed Lip Of 92 years. A min who "f4tigilt "i;;
Admiral Rodney in ht engagement With-De Gra?se, and a
circumnavigated the globe three arncs,

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