The Sun.
London, England, 1832-06-19 00:00:00

ANATOMY BILL.

Lord MINTO moved the second reading of the Anatomy
Bill. In doing so, his Lordship spoke in so very low a
tone of voice, that notwithstanding there were only few
Members present, it was almost impossible to hear a single
sentence he uttered. He desired to draw their Lordships'
attention to the present state of the law as it regarded
anatomy. Nobody could be legally dissected except the
body of a murderer. From this circumstance the Schools
of Anatomy were deprived of the most important sources
of information, and this itself was an ample cause why there
should be an alteration made in the law. The supply
to the dissecting rooms at present in London was very
limited indeed, and almost the whole was procured by the
robbery of graves, and by the breaking oven of houses
and carrying off the dead bodies before they could
be interred. It had even been supposed that
the high prices which had been given for the dead
bodies have for a long time past led to the commission
of the most dreadful crimes. Whether the present mea-
sure was exactly that which ought to be passed, he would
not undertake to say, but undoubtedly something upon
the principle of this Bill ought to be carried into a
law ; and whether the details came before the Committee
it would be for their Lordships to consider what would be
the best mode of supplying the schools, and of i.ffording
the students of this metropolis the necessary supply of
dead bodies at the cheapest possible rate. In every
part of Europe where dissection was carried on,
except in England, where there was dissection to a
very great extent the legality of dissection was recog-
nised for the sake of science. There could be no doubt
that it ought to be rendered legal here also, and, for his
part, he wished to have the price of bodies to students so
reduced, as to remove any inducement on that ground
to theft, or to an abuse yf the law.
Lord MALMESBURY said that he was sorry to differ
with his Noble Relative upon this important subject. He
wished to encourage science, but the feelings of English-
men prevented there being a supply of subjects furnished
'in such abundance as they were in foreign countries. He
thought the Bill would expose persons taken insensib'e to
a hospital to be anatomized even contrary to his wishes,
for the Bill required dissent to be expressed to it, and not
assent to be given. He did not see much security
in the inspectors ; such inspectors ought not to be
medical men, for it is only medical men who could be
concerned in what required the check of inspectors. He
doubted whether the Act would prevent burking. The
Bill once legalizing the sale of dead bodies would establish
an open mart for their sale. He thought there ought to
be persons superintending the sepulture of the remains of
sfreueasbrpjeeedcettst
h,
teoi n
Bill
the
order to i
ewo would
d bodies !ue su
nodfr ei t
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dissection, he thought it no additional punishment to the
criminal, but only to his relatives, who were often respect-
able people. He should not oppose the second reading, in
hopes that when the Bill got into Committee some material
amendments might be made in it.
The Earl of ROSEBERY supported the Bill, and
said that all the evidence upon the subject sheaved
that there was a great deficiency of subjects in all
the medical schools of the kingdom, but more especially in
of Edinburgh, which had hitherto been thought the
greatest in the world.
Lord WYNFORD said that his objections rose so
strong against the principle of the Bill that he
should divide against the Bill if he stood.—(Hear.)
alone. He would rather have the bodies of the people
than their minds contaminated by the effects of this
Bill. The sentence of dissection on a criminal he bad
withperooldounceel
Dteshepagrdreawtehstilbteffhecet. H
was
under sentence seenotehnvceersedof
death for high treason, and although fearless of death
itself, he had manifested the greatest horror at dissec-
laulpvplywohuflderipmriondaulsce exaecsouffitedeiebnyt•
ttheion (sentencelle ar . )
off
the The
supply, and if that were not sufficient, he would take the
bodies of convicts who died whilst in prison, and if that
were not sufficient, persons who committed suicide.
(LIEFT SITTING.)

LIVERPOOL AND MANCHESTER RAIL-
ROAD.-The directors of the Liverpool and Manchester
railway are, according to Mr. GORDON, thinking of aban-
doning locomotive engines, and erecting stationary ones,
or substituting horses ; not, however, from any want of
power in the engines, but because of the expense of keep-
ing them in repair. Surely, however, this is a difficulty
which ought not to be regarded as insurmountable. —Me-
,chanic's Magazine.—[We fancy no persons will be more
surprised at this intelligence than the proprietors and ma-
nagers of the
railway themselves. So far from its being
true, we understand two new locomotive engines have
been just ordered...—Manchester Guardian.

On the motion of Lord TENTERDEN, these Bills
went through their resi-ective Committ•e9.
NORFOLK ASSIZES BILL.
Lord SUFFIELD moved the third reading of this Bill.
After a few words from the Duke of GRAFTON, the
motion wa. agreed to.—Bill pivsed.
KING'S COUNTY ASSIZES BILL.

The Eirl of WICKLOW presented a petition born
fifty-four Magistrates of King's County, in favour of the
ali,ve Bill; also a similar petition from Parsons Town.—
Laid on the table.

On the motion of the Normn EARL the Bill went
through a Committee, and was repuried without amend-
ment.

MESSAGE FROM THE COMMONS.

Teo privee Bills were brought up fl'om the Commons.

TITHES.

Lord KING presented a petition from several agricul-
tural parishes in Cornwall. The petitioner, praye,l for a
better and less pernicious distribution of that part of the
public revenue, as he was glad to see they called it, known
by the name of Church property, He was happy to see
arising amidst the people a better notion than they used
to have, of the nature of what was called Church propery.
They now began to understand that the clergy were scot
the church, that it was the congregation made the
church, and that the clergy were only its ministers. They
saw, therefore, that the tithes were not cl-rieal but
public property. He was tempted to ask what had
become of the Tithe Composition Bill, which had
after much delay passed that House ? Had its authors
found out that it was perfectly futile, and that now it
would not even serve the purpose of making the people
believe they meant to do something ? The Reform
Bill was now passed, and he h•:ped to sue im-
provements in the Church as well as in everything :lee.
He contended that the revenues of the Church were as
much public property as the revenues fro .0 which the Mi-
nisters of State were paid, and was as much under the
control of Parliament. He bad, on s!veral occasions,
shown how grossly it was mismanaged, and what in-
justice was done to the clergy, who really did all the work.
He had before mentioned a case at Exeter, and a case in
Oxfordshire, of a very gross description ; oar. ;4, had now
one to mention as occurring in the West of Etighand.There
was a living there, near Yeovil, the great tithes of which
belonged to a Prebendary of Lincoln. They yielded him
6001. or 9001., and he paid tbeierpetual curate 301.
Lord KING presented a petition from the Roman
tholics of a town in the county of Wexford to the sama
effect.