Star.
London, England, 1824-02-17 00:00:00

sea was considered,.GentleMen ought rather to winder
at the smallness of the present vote, ifthich, so far from
going beyottd the necessity of the State, should not be
so low as now proposed; which, were it licit for the - -
great confidence we entertained in a long and pi otrac. ed
peace, would he otherwise insufficient—(Hear, Irar )
Mr. HUMP. expressed hi; intention not to :iv ±e the
Committee.—The aruendm€iit was then put, and nega-
tived without a division, and the original e:rl titian—
For granting £885,950 for wages for 29,000 men was agreed to.
The following resolutions were then agreed to: •
£584,350 for Victuals, at the rate of £l. l le. a man per month.
.C 282,750 for Wear r.nd Tear.

£94,000 for Ordnance for the sea sertice.
Sir GEORGE CLERK now proposed to move the
ordinary estimates.
Mr. HUME had not had an opportunity of looking
to the e:ti-nate;, and put it to the Honourable Baronet
whether it would be fair to press them forward now?
.Sir GEORGE CLERK cnoranCed to ppstpone them.
The Resolutions were then agreed to, anti the Re-
port ordered to be brought up on Wednesday next.
On the motion of Mr. Goutannor, the Committee on
the Irish Law Couits• Bill was postponed to Wednesday.

RESIDENCE OF TIIE IRISH CLERGY.

Mr. GOULBURN rose to move fin leave to bring in
a Bill to compel, as far as was posSible, the Resideirce
of the Clergy of Ireland upon their Benefices. He did'
not think it -necessary upon this occasion to detain the
House very long, by explaining the pat ticulars of the
measure which he proposed. No one ould deny that
the residence of the Clergy was in all countries benefi-
cial to the inhabitants; it was obvious that the practice
was still more necessary in Ireland, because the greater
the difficulties under which that country laboured,
the more requisite was it that a vigilant attention should
be paid to the wants of its inhabitants. There was
another point of view in which the residence of the Irish
Clergy seemed no less important; not only were they
called upon to perform the offices of religion, but in con-
sequence of the absence of the Gentry, other duties de-
volved upon them, and they were required to minister to
other than the spiritual wants of the people. 'The object of
the Bill he meant to introduce was to effect this. In some
cases he was aware the residence must be dispensed with.
These were, either when the incumbents were compelled
to reside on other parts of their benefices, or where the
infirmities of nature caused their absence.' Ile proposed
to limit these cases to such as were strictly unavoidable,
and to take came that an adequate ptovision should
always be made for the administration of the inc(sm-
bent's duties. By an adequate provision, he not only
meant persons who should be duly qualified by their
moral character and acquirements, to be Ministers of
religion, but that their stipends should be suitable to
the rank they would hold, and the duties they would be
expected to perform.. .le would, therefore, shortly state
to the House, that the form d the Bill would be in most .
reveal similar to the existing law on the same subject
in England : it would considerably narrow the grounds
upon which a plea of exemption could be allowed, and
provide that the stipends of the curates should be pro-
portioned to the value of the benefices, and to the ex-
tent of the population under their csre. The House
would, therefore, probably excuse him from stating
seriatim the several pr °visions of the Bill, and he thought
he should best consult its convenience by moving fot
leave to bring in a Bill to consolidate and amend the
laws relating to the' residence of spiritual persons on
their benefices; to restrain such persons from engaging
in trade or merchandise; and to provide for the stipen-
diary curates in Ireland.
Sir J. NEWPORT expressed his readiness to concur •
in any measure which should be calculated to carry
into effect the object of the Right Honourable Gentle-
men, and he thought the best means of accomplishing
that object would he by preventing the beneficed Clergy
from Jiolding pluralities. There were instances in which
Clergymen, already holding five or sir; and even tea •
benefices, had obtained faculties by o hich they weie
permitted to unite to those benefices three or four more
parishes. By a reference to the kiescopai returns, it
would be found among others that. Lord Viscount Clif-
ford, in the Deanery of Armagh, held four parishes, in
which duty was performed, and that lie was in posses-
sion of 388 acres of glebe ; he held also four other
parishes, and in right of them 297 acres of glebe; but
in these latter parishes no duty was pe, formed. There
was also another living in another dioce.s, consisting of
five parishes, in none of which there was a glebe house,
although there were 240 acres of glebe land. In the
diocess of Clogher, there was enjoyed, in right of a
living, 1,300 acres of glebe land, though no glebe
house; and in that of Meath, five vicarages, containing
2,600 acres, were la the same situation. The. only way,
he thought, of procuring the residence of the Clergy,
would ize by doing away with these monstrous
_plura-
lities, as he would call them. The law, as it stood
upon the Irish statute-book, prevented the Bishops, who
Were inclined to do so from dissolving these unions.
'the ktiihorof Cloyne had publicly expressed his regret
that he was prevented from doing so by the Act of the
21st of Geo. 11. which forbids such dissolutions, that the
value of ecclesiastical dignities might not be diminished.
Mr. HUME expressed his fear that no good could be
done while the present system lasted. Until the over-
grown incomes-which 'Were at present enjoyed by indi-
viduals w ho did nothing should- be reduced one-fourth,
he must consider such measures as that now proposed
to be little better than patching up the inconvenience.
Mr. DAWSON deprecated any attempt to interfere
with the church pi operty of Ireland, and bore testimony
to the valuable services of the clergy of that country.
Colonel TRENCH shortly supported the motion..

Mr. BIJTTERWOR.TII Was most anxious that some
measure of the kind shotr'xl be carried into effect. The
number of unions was, in his opinion, most injurious to
the welfare of the Protestant Church iu Ireland. He
knew that many Protestants had becomeßoman Catholics,
in consequence of not having the benefit of the religious
advice and assistance of Protestant Clergymen. He was
convinced that the .number and extent of the unions
were a-cause of the dereliction of their duty by the
Clergymen. - From a, tour -which he had made last
summer in Ireland, he Was at once surprised and pleased
to witness the greatest improvement in the conduct and
demeanour of the Clergy; they took an active part
in the educaion of the people, and in the superin-
tendence of schook ; they also made ample distribu-
tions from their private incomes to relieve and al-
leviate the wants.of the people. These facts he had
ascertained with eqUal surprise and gratifieation, and he
was bound to bear testimony to the improvement of the
clergy. Ile would repeat his anxiety for the diusinn-
tion of the number Af the unions, and if this could be.
done without inte:fering with the state of the Church,
be was confident it would confer the greatest benefit
upon the public".
Mr. GOULBURN said, that with regardio th el,-

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