The Sun.
London, England, 1835-07-21 00:00:00

COMMON LANDS.

Lord EBRINGTON presented a petition from certain in-
habitants of Castlemorton complaining of the conduct of the
Dean and Chapter of Westminster in endeavouring to dispos-
sess them of lands which they had purchased, or which had
descended to them from their predecessors by inheritance,
and which had been bought and sold with the full per-
suasion of the validity of the sale, and had been in
the possession of the petitioners and their families for periods
varying from 30 to 100 years. The petitioners had also ex-
pended money in erecting buildings upon and otherwise im-
proving the condition of the lands, and therefore thought it
would be an act of great injustice if they were unceremo-
niously ejected from them without any just cause or compensa-:
tion. He (Lord E.) had no knowledge of the petitioners, who
appeared to be persons of humble station, because their signa-
tures consisted of a mere mark added to their names, which were
written by some other person. Since, however, he had re-
ceived the petition, he had made inquiries, and was satisfied
that the allegations of the petitioners were correct. This
was a matter of importance, because an action had been
recently sustained by the Dean and Chapter in reference
to their claim against Lord Somers, a nobleman whom all
would admit to be the last man likely to attempt to appro-
priate any part of his neighbours' property to himself. He
was prosecuted for the restitution of a piece of land which
was inclosed by his predecessor 50 years ago, and he imme-
diately offered to throw it open; but that was refused by the Dean
and Chapter, who claimed it as their freehold, and Lord Somers,
who defended the action more for the sake of the poor com-
moners than his own, was cast in expenses of 4001. Of course,
after that failure, it was useless to carry the proceedings any
further, and the land was seized by the Dean and Chapter.
—(Cries of " Hear, hear, hear.") He did not wish to
make any severe remarks upon the conduct of the Dean and
Chapter, but every one who knew the circumstances of that
proceeding considered it to have been a very harsh one. -As
the law stood, however, he was quite aware that the House
could afford no immediate remedy ; but, he trusted, that in the
course of next Session some alteration would be made in the
law, that the Church might no longer be in a position to exer-
cise such a very odious and invidious power.—( Hear.)
Major BEA UCL ERK did not blame the Dean and Chap-
ter so much as the present state of the law. He bad seen
latterly in the county of Surrey many instances wherein simi-
lar disputes were raised about lands which had been two
hundred years in quiet possess on of the occupiers, or
their forefathers.—(Hear.) He trusted Ministers would do
something to settle these claims—indeed they ought to
have done something two years ago, after the opinion which
was then delivered by the Attorney-General in favour of limit-
ing the right of the Dean and Chapter to the same term as
that of Crown possession. To such an arrangement he did
not think that even the Clergy would object.
Mr. ROBINSON supported the prayer of the petition, as
this was a case of extreme hardship. The petition was not
merely signed by the parties who were interested in the
proceedings taken by the Dean and Chapter, but was also
signed by their fellow parishioners, who considered this
case one in which the parties were certainly entitled to
protection. The Dean and Chapter had for a great many
years allowed these encroachments, and were now about to
retake possession of these lands by ejectment, after improve-
ments had been made on them, and when the parties supposed
that from lapse of time and undisturbed possession, the pro-
perty had become their own.—( Hear.) Of course they
could not pretend to expect that the Dean and Chapter
would forego their just rights, but in a case such as
this they might expect a little more forbearance.—( Hear.)
He feared that cases like this would excite much more clamour
against the body of the clergy of the Established Church,
and have a greater tendency to bring the Church into danger,
than the efforts of all those persons who were adverse to the
Church.

The petition was laid on the table.
CORPORATION REFORM.

Colonel SIBTHORP presented a petition from the free-
men of Lincoln, praying for the preservation of their corporate
rights. He trusted that this Bill would not pass—a Bill which
annihilated the rights of so many persons. A more ridiculous
Bill—a Bill containing such violations of the rights of man and
property had never been seen in any Parliament in the world.
—(A laugh.) It was a strong proof of the want of feeling
on the part of his Majesty's Government.—( Great laughter.)
He would, regardless of all opposition, protect the poor man
from his Majesty's unfeeling, and he hoped soon to be able
to say, degraded and disgraced Ministers.—( Great laughter.)
Mr. POTTER—The freemen had been convicted, and
judgment passed on them accordingly.
Colonel SIBTHORP—Those who differed from him on
the Reform question now supported him, as they were quite
sick of what they now saw was nothing more nor less than con-
founded humbug.
Lord STO RMONT presented petitions from several places
in Scotland in favour of a grant to the Established Church of
Scotland.