The Sun.
London, England, 1840-06-16 00:00:00

LAW INTELLIGENCE.

COURT OF QUEEN'S BENCH, JVNI 15.
( Sittings in Banco.)
DEANERY OF EXETER.

TIIE QUITS V. THE CHAPTER CF EXETER.
lit thiS CZISC the ATTORNEY-GENERAL hal obtained .a
rule calling upon the defendants to show cause why a
mandamus should not issue calling upon them to elect
the Rev. Mr. Grills to the Deanery upon the presenta-
tion of the Crown. It will be recollected by our readers
that ou the death of the late Dean of Exeter in 1839,
Lord Wriothesly Russell was nominated by the Crown
to the Chapter for election. The Chapter refused to elect
on the ground that he was not qualified, as he was not a
prebend, and by a recent Act of Parliament they were
prevented from filling any vacancy in the Prebendal
Stalls until the Prebendaries should be reduced to a
certain number. Under these circumstances the Crown
withdrew the nomination of Lord \Vriothesly Russell,
and nominated the Reverend Mr. Grills, who was a
prebend, the Chapter again refused to elect the nominee of
the Crown, on the ground that he was not a canon resi
dcn'iary, and that the same Act prevented them frcm
adding to the number of the canons. On both these occa-
sions the Chapter expressed their deep regret at not being
able to conform to the wishes of the Crown, and their wil-
lingness so to do whenever they could legally do so. An
At.,t of Parliament was passed to remove the doubts In the
minds of the Chapter, and to authorize them to elect a
person nominated by the Crown to the deanery, either to
a canonry or prebendal state, so as to qualify him for the
deanery. The Chapter, however, refused to elect Mr.
Grills on the second nomination of the Crown, and of their
own mere motu elected the Rev. Thomas Law to the
deanery, who was accepted and inducted by
the Bishop. Under these circumstances the Attorney-
General applied to this Court and obtained a rule calling
upon the Chapter to show cause why a mandamus should
not issue.
Sir W. FOLLETT showed cause against the rule, and
contended that the Crown had no right to present any
one to the Chapter for election. The Deanery had been
founded not by the Crown but by the Bishop, who gave
the right of election to the Chapter, and that afterwards
the person so nominated was bound by the Bishop, and
therefore the right of nomination assumed by the Crown
was an usurpation, and the usage of nomination by the
Crown had not been complied with from 1559 to 1621.
It had always been the custom in early times for the
Deans to be elected by the Chapters, and for Priors
and Abbots to be elected by the Monks. This was
proved by the Charter of John. Besides, even admitting
the right to be in the Crown, a mandamus was not the
proper way now of trying the question. The deanery
was filled up—it mattered not whether by a legal election
or not ; but the elilce was filled up, and the present pos-
sessor must be ousted before the Chapter could be called
upon to fill up the vacancy. If the Crown thought it pos-
sessed the right of presentation, the proper way of try-
ing the question would be by issuing a writ of
quare impedit against the present possessor for dis-
turbing the Crown in the right of presentation.
It must be for disturbing the right of presen-
tation, for such was the form of the writ, although
in this case all that was claimed by the Crown was the
right of nomination. The Court bad over and over again
decided that it would not interfere by mandamus where
there was any other remedy. Now in this case there was
no right claimed by the Crown which could not be tried by
quare impedit. As the patronage had been filled up the
Court could not interfere by mandamus, the present pos-
sessor must be ousted first. If the Crown or any of its
subjects felt aggrieved by the conduct of the Bishop of
Exeter, or by the conduct of the Dean de facto, or by the
conduct of the Chapter, their only remedy was by
quare impedit. Mr. Law had been elected by
the Chapter, and inducted by the Bishop; and
this being (1, spiritual office the Bishop was the proper
judge, and not the Court, and even if the writ
were issued it could not affect the title of the
Dean. The Church was full by the induction and institution
of the person already elected, and if the mandamus were
issued, and the Chapter were to comply with it by the
election of Mr. Grills, the Bishop might refuse to institute
and induct him until the present possessor of the office were
ousted. The Learned Counsel quoted a variety of cases
in support of his opinion, and concluded a long and elabo-
rate argument by calling upon the Court to discharge the
rule. _ _ _

The ATTORNEY-GENERAL, in support of the rule, said
that he was surprised Sir W. Follett should have concluded
his argument without taking any notice of the necessity
which was said to exist, for the person nominated to the
deanery being a Canon Residentiary, that being the only
reason alleged by the Chapter for refusing to elect Mr.
Grills, and yet Sir Wm. Follett, who appeared before that
Court for the Dean de facto—for the Chapter, and for the
Bishop, had never ventured to moot that question before
the Court of Queen's Bench. His affidavits tet forth that
Mr. Grills had been nominated by the Crown according to
usage, and that the Chapter had refused to take any step
for the election of Mr. Grills. The ground they first set
up for refusing to elect was that he was not a Canon Resi-
dentiary ; they expressed no doubt of the right of the I
Crown to nominate, nor did they express any doubt of their
duty to elect to the office any qualified person nominated by
the Crown, but now they come with an after-thought and
designate the right of nomination which had been exercised
by the Crown for 300 years, a usurpation, and claim for
themselves the right of electing to the Deanery. He exceed-
ingly regretted that this controversy had arisen ; he was a
friend to the Established Church, both in England and in
the northern part of the island, and he thought any attempt
on thed be
epna
erts
toafblvi
shhoecdv ebr
ymaa
almost
oit s
tt o
ndlomae wmaoy with
r as
at
gh ae t
in which
the
Church, bad a tendency to do great harm to the interests
of the Establishment. Sir N. Follett bad argued as if
that which was now advanced by the Crown was a usurpa-
tion, as if the Crown had set up hclaim wholly unfounded.
It was certainly a novel case--.Vts:sertainly a great no-
velty. Because now this Chapter,34l4 was in the same si-
tuation as all the Chapters in England, after acquiescing for
three centuries, had now chosen to raise the question as
to the right Of norairAtion by,the CIOWA. -Was the

'

Crewn to abandon a right which it had ts:"3";ged
re for,
the centuries,' during ten reigns under the "ea
Tudor, of Stuart, of Hanover ? Seventeen De, a" had
been appointed by the Crown without dispute, and he
would have been guilty of the most culpable neglet. 't had
he advised the abandonment of that right se, hich
had ever been exercised by the Crown in fore 'cr
times. He bad taken a solemn oath to defee'd
the rights and privileges of the Crown, and he node- t le,
guilty of a desertion of his duty if he were ets•
aequiese in what he considered to be a usurpation on the
part of the Chapter of Exeter. By no Protestant Chapter
of Exeter had this right been claimed excepting the pre-
sent ; in no one single instance had a Protestant Chapter
of Exeter questioned the long usage of the nomination to
the deanery by the C,own. A proposition had been made
that a mandamus should issue, and that upon the return:
to that, a trial could take place, both as regarded the' law
and the facts. This would have been the most speedy,.
simple, and cheap mode of trying the question, and bee
regretted his Learned Friend should have been instructed
to refuse to accede to thatsuegestion. In ecclesiastical law.
forty Sears' usage was sufficient to establish a right, and
according to statute law, sixty years' usage was sufficient.
Now, the Chapter paid no attention to what had beets
for the last 300 years under former Bishops of Exeter,
revered, learned, and pious men, and by former Chapters
most learned and pious, who had acquiesced in this right.
Even if, for the sake of argument, it were admitted that
in olden times the Chapter elected the Dean, the ques-
tion was, not what was the usage while the Church was
Catholic, and the Pope was the head of the Church, but
what had been the usage since the Chinch had been Prv-
testant, and the King at the head of the Church. It
was not disputed that the right had been exercised by
Queen Elizabeth in 1559, and up to 1621 the records or
the Chapter had been lost, so that it could not be proved.
whether the right had been exercised or not during that
period ; but neither Elizabeth nor James I. were likely to.
give up the claim, and from that time to the present the
Crown had uniformly nominated to the Deanery: it
was true that the nomination of Edward the Sixth
to the deanery, who had nominated a Protestant,
had been resisted by the Chapter when Mary
came to the throne immediately after in 1559, but in 166/
the nomination of the Crown had been acquiesced in, and
this strengthened his case as showing that the Chapter
which had originally disputed the right, had afterwards,
finding they had no ground to stand upon, acquiesced irk
the exercise of it by the Crown. Scarcely any at the (scen-
eries of England were Royal foundations, and did Sir \V.
Follett mean to deny the right of the Crown to nominate
to any deanery ? The Crown might acquire this right in
various ways, by Act of Parliament, or by agreement, and
'ere was no authority to show that since the Reformation
the
'ht of election to deaneries remained in the Chapter,
done before. Lord Coke said that the right of
as ""^ s•o all deaneries was in the Crown. In the
nomination .
said be, the Deans come in much in like
ancient deanerie.,
sort as the Bishops seie. The Crown issues its cove
nominating the persoa, .and the Chapter is bound to elect
him. The Learned Gen:.
'men tooted several aiehori.
ties in support of this opiniorfs This right he supposed to
originate in various ways, either be eeimposition, or even
by Act of Parliament ; and Lord SlansiWel had said kte
would not hesitate to suppose even an A.ei of Parliament
in support of lone, usage. The Court had a right to grant
a mandamus, h was the most expeditious to adopt if
the Chapter still set the Crown at defiance, acid persisted
in doing so. Sir William Follett contended that the.
Court could not interfere in a spiritual matter. He knew
not whether it was desired to dispute the right of this-
Court by those who instructed hire, and to bring into this
country also the disputes respecting non-intrusion. But-
the Dean was an officer exercising civil rights. and in
such cases the Court would always interfere, If the re-
turn to the mandamus were to set forth any spiritual inca-
pacity, such as that the person nominated was deficient in
morals or orthodoxy, the Court. perhaps, ywould not feel
itself called upon to interfere ; but no such pretence was
set up. Tie right was rli.sputed.to the nomination, and .he
would quote several case:to snow that the Crown had
exercised its authority of isse'ing a mandamus to fill up se
spiritual office. The Learns`! Gentleman then quoted,
several cases in ehich the Court. had interfered in thfs
ant
manner. In this case a quare would not lie;
even if it would, it would be no answe: to the mandamus..
The right claimed by the Crown .was recommendation
only, not nomination ; and without the election of the:
Chapter he was not in office, and unless he were in
office, a quare impedit could not lie. It the Chapter
elected Mr. Grills, and the Bishop refused to induct;
then a qnare impedit would lie against him for ot;etructing
him in taking possession of his office ; but an election by
the Chapter was necessary before a quart impedit veould
lie. If a gime impedit were brought, the Chapter wo
fall back upon the ground, which they had now abaue'
doned, of qualification, of the necessity of the person re-
commended being a Cadon Residentiary, for which im-
memorial usage would be pleaded, which would also be
good for the right of recommendation by the Crown ; and
therefore, as this was disputed, it was the more necessary
that a mandamus should issue, calling upon the Chapter
to elect Mr. Grills a Canon Residentiary, which
was also part of his rule. With regard to the
argument that the office was already filled up, he contended
that such was not the case. They stood in precisely the
same situation as if they had not pretended to fill it up.
They could only elect on the recommendation of the
Crown ; they had proceeded to elect without such recom-
mendation ; the whole proceeding was null and void, in
the same mariner as if they had elected a Bishop without a
conge d'elire ; and the office R3i no more at present filled
up than if the Dean had been appointed by a Vssetr3. or
any other body having no proper authority to elect. The
Learned Gentleman then proceeded to cite several (U.'WS
in support of his argument.
The Cotner took time to consider of its judgment.
The Bishop of Exeter was on the Bessels during-the
whole of the proceedings, and was frequently engaged is
conversation with Mr. Justice Williams.

MONEY MARKET and CITY NEWS

7ISNDAY RVENING.

CHRONICLE—The English funds have experienced
a slight improacment to-day, but there s‘as not much busi-
ness tianseeted. The closing quotations of Consols far
the opining were 911. Exchequer Bills were the same
as Saturday, 265. to 28s. premium.
This being settling day in the Foreign House, the job-
bers and brokers were principally occupied in arranging
their accounts, which were on a more extensive scale than
has taken place for many months past, which, combined
with the heavy settling in the Share Market, esesed money
to be much sought after, the continuation to the next set-
tlement being about 3-16ths per cent. The fluetuationi,
since the last settlement have been principally confined to.
Spanish Attires, the extreme points on which amount to
abut 21 per ccut. In the other Foreign Securities very
little alteration has taken place. The Active Spanish
Stock, at one period of the day, was depressed to 251 for
monev, but towards the close of business a reaction took
place, the closing quotations being 26 to i for the account,
25i to 64 for money. Portuguese Stock advanced to 36,
closing, however, again rather lower. Colombian Stote,
was &.so a shade lower.
We understand that at the meeting of the Committee
of Spanish Bondholders to-day, it was found that there
was little difference in the statements as to the active pert
of the foreign and internal debt of Spain, compared with
the amount which it has hitherto been estimated at.
The great discrepancy appears in the statements regard-
ing- the internal debt bearing no interest, which is repre-
sented to be larger than the usual returns have hitherto
made it. it is difficult, we apprehend, to ascertain the
actual amount of this portion of the public debt of Spain ;
and we are by no means surprised, therefore, that some
difference of opinion should arise in the Committee with
respect to it. If is satisfactory, however, to learn, that
the information laid before them nearly agrees in regard to
the other parts, and we think the Committee will do right
in publishing the accounts submitted to them. We hear
that such is their intention, and that the whole will be com-
municated, with a counter statement, so that the public
will be enabled to judge of both.
The business transacted in the Share Market was prin.
• cipally confined to the settlement of the account. Money
was in considerable demand, at rates varying from 10
12 per cent. On Greaa Westerns, the continuation was
18 per cent., but on some of the lines, such as Brighton,
much higher rates were obtained. This being the day
appointed for receiving tenders for the shares to be sold
on account of the South Westcrn Railway Company, 693
shares were disposed of at rates varying from 561. I Is.
per share to 581. 10s. lid. per share, 500 of which were
at the higher price.
Notwithstanding the tightness of moneeryshaairluedeend
our
above, prices left. off firm, Birmingham and South West-
ern having experienced an advance of 11. p
quotations of Saturday.

SUN.—The English securities left off firmly. Uct.
sols for the opening at 91i, to 4, Exchequer Bills at 26
28 premium, and the Reduced Threc-and•a-Half per
Cents. at 991 a.

After the severe pressure for money, consequent on
the half-monthly settlement in the Foreign market, had par-
tially subsided, the different securitin began to rally, and
generally closed better. This was more especially the
case with Spanish Bonds, to depress which there has un-
doubtedly been foul play in some quarter, and too much
apathy on the part of the Committee, who with a brief ex -
planation might have set at rest the many idle reports in
circulation. The Active Bonds closed at 25 to 26
Portuguese New at 35i, and Dutch Two-and-a-Half per
Cents. at 343 The other Bonds were without alteration.
The Railway Shares were rather
but left off better, viz., the Great N‘,st weak
n in
at h 4
e morning,
but Quarter at 26, the New
eertt
hoerni
Nnegw,
at 19, the Birruirighrn at
at Ind the South 9S,
Western at 174 premium. Brightona
Shares were 3, and Nerth Midland 1 discount.

RAILROAD BETWEEN BLACKBURN ANand
course,
Nllhnacsh Manchester
seriously thought of, and we be r
T)
A railroad between Blackburn and Preston, or
some progress has been
PRESTON.--
attatke
irnrgo wßnl a
caknbd. the Leeds
n i
ts
made Towards the promulgation of the plan.— Liverp3ol
rhanteh
crat b 'eft od". enei no
rtdhen
From Henry Cowper, Esq., f 1
o. :ow en-waters ,
believe
llerts to Mcsit..4. S. and B. Solomons, 39, Albemarle-street,
piemAilly, and 76, King William-street, Bank of En land.
—Gentlemen, having been deaf for many years, I was
induced from recommendation to try your Invisible Voice
Conductors, and I have great pleasure in telling you that
they enable me to hear persons in company and at a plaoe of
worship most distinctly; and consequence of the great ad-.
vantage which I have derived, I ve recommended many
persons to you, and lam happy . state that their report ;
similar to mine, most far ra . The Spectacles and Hand-
glass which you -have sec. e are very excellent, and suit my
sight precisely, and ,tirpa.,s anything of the kind I hare ever
tried ; the transparency of which is so brilliant, that although
I have passed my Soth year, the 22d of May last, yet they en-
able roe to read, &c., by candle-light with the greatest ease
and comfort to myself.---Gentlemen, I return you tloy best
thanks, and remain your most obedient servant, Heise-
Cowrats.-22d of June, 18.19.—1 n consequence of Mr. Henry
Cowper receiving applications from all quarter= to know whe-
ther thtabove letter is authentic or not, he has addressed a
letter to the Standard, which was inserted in that paper on
the 6th of April last, stating that it vas so, and that in cOase-
quence of his extreme age and increasing inertnity, requested
he might not be troubled with any further tuquirio.
•
•