The Sun.
London, England, 1834-06-16 00:00:00

lIVIPERIAL PAIILIAMENT,

THIS DAY, MONDAY, JUNE 16.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

The SPEAKER took the Chair at twenty minutes
past twelve o'clock.
The reports of the committee upon the Limerick
Bridge Bill, the Newry Roads Bill, the ttchen Bridge
Bill, the South London Water-works Bill, the Ba-
nington Hampfield Roads Bill, and the Liverpool Court
of Passage Bill, were severally brought up and laid
on the table.

Sir E. KNATCHBULL presented a petition from
the farmers of Huntingdon, against the Islington
Market Bill.

Mr. HALFORD presented a petition from Kings-
mill, in the county of Leicester, against the claims of
the dissenters.

Mr. H. HUGHES presented a petition from the
parish of St. Giles, Oxford, against tne admission of
Dissenters to the universities; and a similar petition
from East Dewham, in Norfolk.

Mr. FITZ SIMON presented a petition from Rath-
down, in the county of Dublin, against the Turnpike
Roads Bill. As the bill had been withdrawn, he
would make no observation upon it. The hon. mem-
ber presented another petition from the fishermen of
Balbriggan, praying for relief.
Sir R. B ATE SON presented a petition from the
parish of Newtown-Barry, upon the subject of drunken-
ness, and a petition from Arden to the same effect ;
also a petition from Drumcote, in the county of Lon-
donderry, upon the subject of the cholera, and com-
plaining of the pressure of the Cholera Act.
Mr. R. DARE presented petitions from West
Ham, East Ham, and several other parishes in Essex,
in favour of the church, and against the claims of the
Dissenters as far as they interfered with the privileges
of the established church ; also a petition from St.
Albans against the Municipal Corporation Bill.
Mr. SC HOL EFIELD presented a petition from
Birmingham against certain clauses of the Poor Laws'
Amendment Bill. _ .

Mr. SHAW presented a petition from the clergy
of Ireland in favour of a more equal distribution of
church property amongst the working clergy, and a
petition from a parish in Cork, praying for some
measure for the better observance of the Sabbath.

BURNING OF ^A
BIBLE.
The Hon. and Learned MEMBER then said that he
had a petition to present of a very singular nature re-
lating to the Roman Catholic church. The peti-
tioners complained of a great outrage, the burning of
a Bible at noon day, and in the most public manner.
He did not wish to say a single word that could give
rise to unnecessary discussion, or excite unpleasant
feeling, but he thought it right that the facts
should be known. The petition was mildly worded,
and the petitioners were most respectable ; and he re-
gretted that neither of the members for the King's
County was present to bear testimony to the respec-
tability of the petitioners, one of whom was Deputy-
Lieutenant of the county, several of them were ma-
gistrates, and there were 600 others of the first respec-
tability, composed of individuals of all political parties.
The facts were short, and were stated by the landlord
of the poor man whose Bible was burnt, a gentleman
of the name of Atkinson, upon whose testimony he
(Mr. Shaw) could place the most implicit reliance.
( Hear, hear.) A priest was called upon to visit
the family of a poor man of the name of Ma-
gennis, one of whose daughters was in the last
stage of a consumption. When the priest entered
the house, he observed a Bible, which was lying with
a New Testament upon a shelf. He took down the
Bible and inveighed against the mischievous tendency
of the book in the hands of unlearned persons. This
he (Mr. Shaw-) did not object to, as every man had a
right to express his opinion, but what he objected to
followed. The priest required that the book should
be burned. The persons in the house, viz., the young
woman who was ill, her sister and mother protested
against the burning of the book. The priest insisted ;
and when they refused to burn the book, he carried it
out of the house and called upon the neighbours re-
siding in the hamlet to bring him fire. He found
some difficulty in procuring fire, till an old woman
brought some lighted turf, with which he attempted
to burn the Bible. He did not succeed at
the moment, and he then carried back the book to
the house, and burned it in the fire. To show how
much value was set upon the book, the mother brought
the New Testament to the girl, who was dying in the
bed, and, though ill as she was, concealed it in the
bed. The other daughter ran for the father, and the
reason that was given for resisting the burning of the
Bible was, that on the father's return from work in the
evening, he found great pleasure in having this book
read to him. The father, upon entering the house,
saw the Bible on the fire and attempted to save it,
but by this time it was nearly consumed. This was all
that' had transpired, and the only surprize was that
upon such a subject so much information had been
obtained. The facts, however, were so notorious
that it was not attempted, to make any denial.
His object in presenting this petition was to
prevent so gross an interference with the liberty of
conscience. The occurrence, he was bound to say,
took place before Christmas, and the petitioners took
every method to procure redress from the Irish Go-
vernment before applying to Parliament upon the
subject. They were informed that such an offence
was not contemplated by the law, and that no punish-
ment was provided for it ; and they were, therefore,
compelled to apply to the house as the last resource.
Mr. SPRING RICE took the oaths and his seat
for Cambridge. The hon. member on entering the
house was received with loud cheers.
Mr. Alderman C OPE L AND said he had taken
some pains to ascertain the truth of the circumstances
connected with the burning of the Bible, and could
confirm the statements of the hon. and learned mem-
ber for Dublin.

Mr. C. O'DWYER said that the Archbishop of
Dublin had already paid every attention to this affair,
and he thought the whole matter was to be attributed
to the attempts of certain fanatical gentlemen of the
establishment, one of whom had improperly in-
terfered with the priest, and the latter seemed to
have retaliated in a very improper manner certainly ;
but he begged the house to suspend their judgment on
the case.

Mr. F. O'CONNOR said, the fact that the priest
could get no one to assist him in this act, was a
proof of the morality of the people of Queen's county.
Mr. FINCH said it was important that the people
of this country should know the real spirit of the Ro-
man Catholic religion. So great was the influence of
the Catholic priesthood in Ireland, that it was neces-
sary that public opinion should be brought to bear
upon it. Every Catholic peasant who presumed to
read the Bible without the permission of his priest,
was refused the remission of his sins. ( Cries of " Oh,
oh !") The hon. member quoted a passage from the
Council of Trent in proof of his assertion. He only
claimed for the Protestant clergy of Ireland the same
rights which Catholics enjoyed, and it was well known
that, at the present moment, a Catholic mission to
Protestants was in full operation. He did not know
whether any legislative enactment would be necessary
to put a stop to such doings as burning Bibles,‘. but it
would be necessary to give expression to public opinion
on the subject.
Mr. FIT ZSIM ON denied that it was necessary for
a man to have permission to read the Bible from his
priest; whatever might be written in the Council of
Trent, such was not the practice of the church.
Mr. PL UMPTRE said it was an undeniable
fact that Roman Catholics were most tyrannically de-
barred from the free use of the Scriptures ; that in
itself was bad enough, but such an act which had now
been communicated to the house ought not to be
passed over in silence, for it was a sin against the
Author of that divine book, and the members of the
Roman Catholic Church ought to be made to under-
stand that such an act was looked upon with indigna-
tion by the British House of Commons. ( Hear.)
An HON. MEMBER deprecated this discussion as a
waste of the time of the house.
Col. PE RC E VAL could not conceive it any
waste of the time of the house to discuss so important
a question. It was a cruel thing to deprive man of the
only guide to an eternal world, and what power on
earth could assist the poor peasant, and protect him
in the undisturbed possession of the Scriptures, but that
house ? He trusted that the day was not distant when
the Roman Catholic Priest would be under the control
of the law, as well as the Protestant minister.
Sir R. BATE SON was surprised, that after the
calm manner in which the hon. member for Dublin
hadintroduced this subject, it should be attempted
to treat it with scorn. It was an act equally
shocking to all classes of Christians, and it was an
offence against the personal liberty of the individual.
He was sorry to say such things were happening
every day, and he hoped the Roman Catholic priest-
hood would alter their course, without being put under
the control of the law. ( Hear, hear.)
. The petitions were then laid on the table.
Sir G. STRICKLAND presented a petition from