The Sun.
London, England, 1804-08-02 00:00:00

IN THE tIrkTTElt OF LYONI, A MINOR.

On the death of the Minor' parents (wltich
'happenesl in the .yt,ar 1.795., when he ,w only 3
few months old); Nit. O':onnor, maternal grand.
father to -the Minor, had been appointed his Guar.
dim. by Lord BY an order of tliis Court,
made in Feb. 1864, .Mr. O'Connor had been
nv,ved from the Guardianship •on account of al,
'edged mis'ConduEi in the managtment of -the Po s.
cetrunon estate, and in permit:i,,g waste to he emu.
mitted on-the mansionAouse, scc.. antl,Mr. Walker,,
;One of the Masters of the
,Courti•had.been appoint.
ed in his place; and it was referred' to Master
Henn ,to report, amongst other things, a proper
•;m :Ale of education for the Minor. Upon his re.
port, it appeared that the Minor, now of the age of
eight years and ten months, was entitled to an
.estate in the County of Roscommon, of the annual
value of 1331. which haddescended from his father,
and to an 'estate of l000l; per annum ;in
~Jamaica,
under a devise froma paternal uncle the Master
reported, that the proper mode of education for•the
Minor was •at a Protestant school in England, and
that the school of Mr. 'Norris, at Taunton, in
-Somersetshire, was a proper school for the purpose.
On tit? other hand, two respeaable English Roman
Catholic schoools, one in Warwickshire, and one in
La•Tashire, were .suggetired as proper places .1
education by Mr. O'Connor. It appeared that the
father and mother of the Minor hind been both Rn.
ma; C idiotic,, as was also his grandfather, Mr.
O'Connor, who resided in the County Roscommon,
~nd had, at a very early age, introduced a Porisit
Priest into his house as Tutor to the Minor, who
had,-ot. course, so far been educated in the rind.
1..1es of that perstiasi,m, Mr. RAert Lyons, the
grand-uncle 'of the Minor,'and at whose instance
the order of 14',1-). 184, had been obtained, was a
Pri.!fesrant, arveared desirous that the Minor
should he eittica:ed in th et,tusion. •

m,. SOLICIT R •GENF RAL Intl Vlr. BUI:VTON, on
al, rift if Mt. 11,)W fit -V t-,1 to vat y that
rift of 11/14,4et report which recommemltd
a Protestant .01 for the" education 1 ill(' Nlinor,
and alti that Mr. 0!-Corimir should. he rvinJtated
in the Guardiant..hip.
Mr. ATTOR NV ,GENERAL.. moved, on.the part
of the I,resent Gli,trtitan,' Mt.. Wslker, that the late
Othir.ttan ,shouid he oldered Co hand Over
,to bun
all the pr. perry of the Minor in 71111 hantts ; and.
also, that he should give- sectirsty lOr such stuns as
a Mr. M'D,!rnitit had received, or shoulti receive,
out of the Jamaica estate ;• it being alledged th,t
M‘Dertnut, vdv, was the nephew of Mr..O'Coonor,
4nd had been Ify him app,,itited .receiver of ,that
watt, was a person ar flit OP"'Ve
On the. stibjea of Mr. Sot.' c ITUR,GMILAL'S
motion, • •
The Lop .A CHANCELLOR Said, that from the
eircumsrances, of Mr. O'Connoi's 4ge and:inktrni.;
ties he--was not so proper a person to be Guardian ;
but he asked, whether it had-,been usual in this
Court, . where the father. and mother of the child
bad been Rtiman Catholics, to prevent the child
being educated in , the sAme persuasion ? He did
not, he said, feel the propriety of taking hiln from
that which woniti have -been the parents course of
Niue,: Utrt, it they, had lived.

Mt. SAURIN: Mr. CURRAN, an] Mr, PoNsoti.
BY, for Robert Lyons.—This question. never has
beet‘soienrly decided by the Court.
,Under the Sta.
Ante z -Aone,•c. 6. which was put repealed until the
year 1193,tt Is ex,,tessly provided, that no per,,on
t,f tht. eortsh Religi,,n shall he Guardian to any in.
'taw, leitfiliat such Guaititanship shall he divosed of
by, Chancety' tir bottle Protestant relation, &c.; so
that under that Act a Papist lather could riot ap.
p, int a Papist to be testamentary Guardian : that,
however, is repealed, and as the law 4tands at pre,..
tents if the lather has exercised his power of ati.
pointing, tats Court cannot interfere. But the
,pteseint question does not ark,' in any case where
the rnent has exercised his authority ; there is no
person now claiming who can he said to he natural.
ly entitled to the, Guardianship of gm child.
Mr. BUR 'TONI for Mr. O'Connnor.—,-Tbr
21 and ;4 GeO. 111. C. 6z, 'provides, that any per:
pronessing the Popish religion, having taken
the oaths, acc. except an ECcreSiiiStie, may have
the Gumlit,inOlp of hia otn child or children, or
ot airy Papi,t's child or children; and Lord, Clare
44' 4, well aware of this Statute when he appointed
Mr.' O'Connor Gnsitliari.

For Mr..Lyon,— fliere was rt: that time no con:
troversy tor the vardi,liship, 'the Minor being not
one tear old. But it is now case. fw the di,cretinn
of the Court; and the tittetiun is, how is that -clic.
ctetion to be exercised ? 'That :di,cretion must he
exercised according .to the existing laws of, and. the
policy which has rh/ailed in the 4:matey ; and
sitting here utder a Ptotc taut Governtrienr, and
under a solemn obligation tAupport the Established
Religion, there cat) be 11410414 hoW,it ought to be
exercised. The Loan C4ANCItLCOR, in, such cases
as this) is plaCed by .the will of the Sovereign and
the ConSt it utiori Of the. Country , its ..laro percfnis
the Meaning of which is, not that .:ha is, bound to
adopt what be considers the unfounded prejudices_of
the parent, but tlthr, as a. parent, he is.to exercise
his delegated authority as he shall think must bene-
ficial forthe child. Then, if his spjricu 'interests
.are considered, it is not to be doubted what =rise
of,cducation will be most beneacial ; and, .in a tem.
poral point of view, his being a member of the
Established Church, will free him frtArn chose remain-
ing, inconvcniencics which are still'orjmeOrni% corn.
plained of, as attending the prolession.of the Roman
Catholic Faith.

Mr. CoNtutit (for Mr. O'Connor), in reply.—
This question i, to be considered as if it had arisen
before the disabling laws were made, they being
'now done away : and Would not the Court, before
those disabling A.as passed, have considered what
would have been the sentiments of the parents ? It
certainly would not have educated the child of a
Protestant in the Roman Cathylie Faith, nor vice
'versa; and it will judge in 018 same way now. 1i
is said the decision of Lord Clare is no authority,
becatfse made without, contest ; but that was not ne-

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At the Suti-Orylvs; No. 14 4) afrand.; where Adherthtsteiri, ordfri cut the Paper, Laws fog thi Editor, &c, (1,011-p414), 1171.151 be 441dreillea•