Star.
London, England, 1822-03-16 00:00:00

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PARLIAMinffIAVI EDING,"
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Vlergit OF LOitU.'. • ARCh 15.
IS ssbe ' pise hark.)
On the motion of the Loan CHANCELLOR, the j: dgment
/nett, moved in the case of " Lady Mary Crauferd tr.
was adopted and conirmed.
The House was next occupied with the cue of Robert Dowie
Wright, carpenter, in the citadel of Leith, appellant, and James
Douglas, of North Leith, barber, a pauper, respondent. It seas
a case of assault, in which the Magistrates of Leith had found the
appellant liable to pay the bill of the surgeon who attended the
respondent, being iOi. 10s. and MI. lis. 3d. is the cuts of suit....
This case was folly heard and judgment deferred.
The only other case proceeded in this morning was that of
Foreman and another v. Southwood and others, in which Mr.
HORN; and Mr. Straowax.r. were Counsel for the appellants, and
Mr. Mierni and Mr. Turstovz for the respondents.—The fur-
ther hearing of this case was deferred until ',Monday.
At half-past three o'clock the Lose Cnancsuass, the Bari of
SITATTISWIT, and Viscount MILIFILLR appeared as his Majesty's
Commissioners, and gave the Royal Assent to the Navy Five
per Cents. Bill, and the Judges of Assize Commission MIL s
Mr. BROGORR and others brought up from the Commons the
Army Mutiny Bill, the Marine Mutiny Bill, the Indemnity Bill,
and the Aliens and Denizens Regulation Bill. Read a first time.
Mr. Jonasow, from the London Dock Company, presented
an Account of the Receipts and Disbursements of that Com-
pany for the last year, and a Report of the completion of the
Works.—Laid on the table.
The Earl of SHAFTESBURY, pursuant to order, presented
the Report of the Commissioners for inquiring into !the State
of the Charitable Institutions connected with the Education of
the Pone.—Laid on the table.
The Duke of DEVONSHIRE presented Petitions, praying
for agricultural relief, from the Owners and Occupiers of Land
of the Hundred of Scarsdale, and several other Hundreds in the
County of. Derby.—Read, and laid on the table.
The Marquis of LA NSDOWN presented a Petition from
the Lay Impropriators of Tithes of Listowel and eleven other
Parishes in the south of Ireland, praying for the consideration of
the Tithe system, and for a commutation of Tithes—Read,
and laid on the table.

~•., .:.

'11177-77.",„

AGRICULTURAL DISTRESS.
Lord ERSKINE presented three Petitions from different
places, praying relief from Agricultural Distress; one of them
was from Witney, in Oxfordshire. The Noble Lord took this
opportunity of making some observations on the general dis-
t.tsses of the country, which he attributed chiefly to excessive
taxation ; because, while that taxation continued. It was impossi-
ble we could carry on an advantageous commerce with other
countries. His Lordship next adverted to the Porn. Laws, and
expressed a wish that the opinion of the twelve Judges might
be taken. whether it might not be possible to put these laws in
force in a manner different from the practice that now existed?
for the Legislature that first in!roduced these laws could never
have intended that parish relief should be extended to any ex-
cept those who were unable to work, from age and infirmity.
The Petitions were ordered to lie on the table.

,ly
of Parliament. It Might be objected , corps_
doe of tithes, that if it were adoped in Ireland, it
might also be calleg for in England. But the state
of things was so different in England, that there was
•
bot the shadow of necessity for such' a measure—
(Hear). He trusted that his Mejesty's Ministers, or
some other Noble Peer, would speedily bring the
subject before Parliament. There were other points
also which required consideration. He should not
complain of the number of absentees, and had done
everything in his power to mitigate the effects likely
to be produced by his absence. In fact, the con-
sciousniss of being an absentee himself, only served
to make him feel a deeper interest in the people of
Ireland. In the unfortunate disturbances which pre-
vailed, he saw no se for delaying an investigation
tiffear). And a more useful, grateful, and impera-
tive duty could not be thrown on their Lordships,
than that of endeavouring to provide a remedy for
the existing evils. He also considered it a great ad-
vantage, whatever might be the measures adopted,
that they 'should be seconded by an individual of the
vigour, wisdom, and experience, of the Noble Mar-.
quis now at the head of the rash Government. It was
time that Ireland should cease to be a source of na-
tional weakness, and should become one of national
strength. He therefore entreated their Lordships, as
they valued the safety of Ireland and the interests of
the empire, immediately to investigate the state of
that country. Let them look at the prayer of the Pe-
tition, and let them be assured that it spoke, not only
the sense of the body by which it was signed, but the
sentiments of all the loyal and intelligent people of
Ireland—(Hear). The Noble Duke then moved that
the Petition be read, which having been done,
The Earl of LIVERPOOL felt convinced, that he
only gave utterance to the sentiments of every Noble
Peer in the House, when he expressed his regret that
any circumstances should prevent the House from
hearing the Noble Duke take a more frequent part in,
its debates. He had never seen a question brought
forward in a more manly, distinct, and able manner,
than it had just been done by the Noble Duke. The,
Petition was entitled to the most serious consideration,l
from the respectability of the body from which it
proceeded, and from the influence and property of
the Noble Duke by whom it had been presented.—
Whatever the inconveniences of absentees might be,
and he did not deny that they were great, he had the
satisfaction of knowing and believing that what the
Noble Duke had so modestly stated was completely
true. There was no landlord more liberal towards
his tenants, and more eager to do everything in his
power to mitigate their sufferings, than the Noble
Duke; and he felt it due both to that distinguished
individual himself and to the Public, that his conduct
should be known. With respect to the subject of the
Petition, though the assurance might again draw
from a Noble Baron opposite (Lord Holland) an ob-
servation similar to that which he had already applied
to the professions of his Majesty's Ministers, yet he
should say, that it was a question which occupied the
most serious attention of the Noble Marquis at the
head of the Government of Ireland, and of the mem-
bers of Administration in this country. It was nem-.
sary, however, that one or two prejudices should be
removed. With respect to the present disturbances,
he did not believe that Much of them, though some
certainly did, belonged to the question of tithes.—
Neither was it a question solely between the clergy
and the community : for more than one-third of the
tithes in Ireland was not in- the possession of the
clergy, but in that of lay inipropriaters. He stated
this to do away an injurious imputation which had
been cast upon the clergy. He could not speak from
' his own experience of the manner in which tithes
were levied in Ireland, but it would generally be
found in England that the clergy were not the per-
sons most severe in the exercise of their rights. It
was important that their Lordships should not sup-
pose that this great question had been overlooked.—
It had been under consideration for many years, and
even a Noble Duke who stood at the head of the Irish
Government in 1806 and 1807, had avowed that he
had not found any plan which completely met the
object he had then in view. There was a difficulty
which, however, he (the Earl of Liverpool) did not
consider as insurmountable. It was this—that in any
commutation of tithes, the advantage in profit was
most likely to be on the side of the clergy. This to
him was no objection, especially as the alteration
proposed would have a tendency to produce tranquil-
lity in the country, and to avert the evils with which
it was not only threatened, but overtaken. The Noble
Duke had alluded to a very general notion, that it
was impossible to enter into the question of tithes in
Ireland without being called upon to do the same in
England. He agreed with the Noble Duke in think-
ing that there was no shadow of necessity in the case ;
and he should add, that he saw no reason whatever
why persons who were most averse to enter into the
question of tithes under all the circumstances of
England, should not be disposed to enter into it un-
der all the circumstances of Ireland. Not to be able
to. make it a general question was, in his opinion, no
difficulty ; and whatever might be the result of the
impression upon his mind and upon that of the Noble
Marquis at the head of the Government of Ireland,
as to the details of the measure, he should recommend

it as an Irish question. The object • would be to do
justice to all ; to the clergy, not as clergy alone, but
as having a right in the property. He could not at
present describe the measure more specifically, but
he had no difficulty in stating that the subject was
under the serious consideration of Government.—
Should, however, after the whole question had been
'thoroughly investigated by his Majesty's Ministers,
the impracticability of adopting an efficient remedy
become apparent, he should feel it his duty at once
to say so, that the question might not remain in a
state of suspense. The Noble Duke had said that the
present disturbances ought to be no impediment or
ground of delay to inquiry. In this sentiment he
entirely concurred--Wear, heat). On the other hand,
however, Parliament ought not to be induced to take
up any measure hastily, or without justice being done
'to all the great interests, and great they were, con-
cerned in the question.
The Marquis of LANSDOWN had been entrusted

- persons who ,
interfere with.the property of others, but, with en-
larged views and patriotic feelings, called upon it to
interfere with their own. When these important mat-
ters should be settled, it would redound to the im-
mortal honour of the Corporation of Waterford, that
they had been the first to come to their Lordships,
to ask to be-allowed to sacrifice their own interests,
in order to remove from their country that principle
of evil and of distraction which had been its bane for
ages ,No man could look at the situation of Ireland,
without considering it unfortunate that such a sys-
tem of evils should continue to exist in that particu-
lar part of Europe where its existence was the greatest
anomaly. Had the wisdom and vigilance of the Le-
gislature set about opposing ,a bar to the progress of
the Established Church, sowing seeds of difference'
and discord, and giving them life and vigour, they
could not have done it more effectually than by cre-
ating that anomaly, a Clergy professing the ,Ite
gion of the minority, and lay impropriators of tithes.
But for those evils the Protestant Church of Ireland
had not to answer. Although it might display faults
which had the effect of abuses, without being in- ,
tended as such, it certainly exhibited noble examples'
to all countries. In parts where the Protestant Mi-
nisters had no regular service to perform, they still
felt that they had a ministry to discharge, one of in-
dulgence and of charity ; and if they could not carry '
their faith into the cottage of the poor man, they car-
ried there kindness and instruction. Such men were
an honour to all Churches. But let the merits of the
Established Church or lay impropriators be what they
might, the evil of a few individuals availing them-
selves of the severe forms of the law to levy their
tithes, was sufficient to cow the seeds of distraction.
The Nbble Earl opposite conceived that the tithes
had not much effect on the present disturbances, but
many instances had occurred in which those dis-
turbances had been proved to arise from the levying
of tithes alone. The Noble Marquis then read the
Resolutions of several Magistrates, in a county where
the disturbances had not become general. They stated
that they were of opinion, that the first appearances,
of the disturbances at Kilmaine, had its origin in the
valuation of the tithes by the Curate, who was the
tithe farmer, and who valued them 75 per cent. over
what the Rector hai himself offered in 1815. Seeing
that a great change had taken place in the state of
that property in all European countries, he trusted
that their Lordships would not imagine that he in-
tended to recommend a similar alteratian. It had
been attended under Revolutionary, as well as under
Governments called Legitimate, with a character of
spoliation which he should be sorry to see attached
to any British measure. The principle on which he
wished that Parliament shOuld act, was that of doing
complete justice to all parties. While tithe property
stood on the footing on which it now stood, it was
not the conscientious Rector of a Parish, yielding to
the calls of humanity, and contented to receive two
thirds or one half of his tithes, who was the cause of
disgust and irritation amongst the people, but it
was the indifferent, or the absent Clergyman, who
derived enormous profits from the present system. It
was not now a proper time to speak of the nature of
a remedy, but he would say this far, that instead of
having ever formed an opinion that nothing could be
done on the subject, the Noble Duke, who in 1806
and 1807 had been at the head of the Irish Govern-
ment, had adopted a particular plan, and he (the
Marquis of Lansdown) was authorised to state, that
up to this very moment the Noble Duke in question
thought that his plan, or something of the kind,
might be used to advantage. The substitution of
land for tithes had already been propoeed several
times, and the same objection to this measure did
not exist in Ireland as in- England. Clergymen in
the South of Ireland, having but a small number of
parishioners to attend to, were looked up to chiefly
as resident proprietors and resident Magistrates. He
(the Marquis of Lansdown) had heard with satisfac-
tion the assurance given by the Noble Earl opposite,
that both he and the Noble Marquis, to whose hands
the Government cf Ireland was entrusted, had turned
their attention to a plan to remove those evils. Ile
had also heard with unmingled plea,ure, that the
Noble Earl did not regard the oresent agitation which
prevailed in Ireland as any bar to the consideration
of such a measure. After such a declaration he (the
Marquis of Landown) should abstain, and hoped
others would do the same, from bringing the ques-
tion immediately before the notice of the House.—
But Parliament would not do its duty if it' allowed a
considerable time to pass without going into a tho-
rough investigation of the subject.

The Earl of LIMERICK, after expressing his ad-
miration of the able manner in which the Not'le Duke
had brought the subject forward, contended that the
disturbances in Ireland did not arise solely limn the
levying of tithes, but from a variety of other causes,
one of the principal of which was the abominable
mode in which the system of excise on distillation,
was carried on. It was carried on in a manlier to
barbarize any country; by scattering the army about,
seizing the unfortunate peasants, and teaching them
acts of insubordination. Ile urged the necessity of
inquiry, without compounding with the rebels, for
he maintained that the present disorders in some in-;
stances amounted to rebellion. Ile considered the
system of tithes as a bounty for the growth of the Ro-
man Catholic Religion in Ireland. For when the peo-
ple were pressed and distrained on by the tithe pros=
tors, they naturally associated their acts with their
religion, and became fixed in their hostility to Om
latter ; any alteration of the tithe system would be
most beneficial to the Protestant faith in Ireland.—
He, therefore, heartily concurred with those who
wished for such an alteration.
The Earl of BLESINTON maintained that •7
Presbyterians of the North of Ireland were as hos-
tile to the payment of tithes as the Catholics of the
South. If they had not loaded their Lordships' table
with their Petitions, yet he knew that they had just
grounds for complaint, especially' with respect to
the management of College Livings.
The Petition was alien laid on tjte table.—Ad-1
journed WI Montly.

r *
. -
110 VIN OP 1150 thsiNg,
Snaffle was ommoned to the Mem* br he" Inlet,
Assent gluon by Commission to cotta s. On kid
, annasmeed to Home that the Royal Assam sr
certain Binh for which see the Report oldie Lards. 11
)IIN NEWPORT, on the part of his Hon. Friend, the
for the County of Mayo (Mr. Dominick Browne), pet.
motion on the State of Ireland, from the 17th to the
April
',wig KECK promoted • Petition boa certain Oece.
piers of Land in Leicestershire, complaining of Aleficidnali
Distress, and praying for suck a redurtion of libation as weegi
afford relief—The Petition was brought up and laid on *stabs,
Mr. HORMOUSE said he was Authorised by his Hun. CAL
league to postpone the motion for an Address to the Criswit is
remit the putdshment of Mr. Hunt, to Wednesday tkl u7tVire.
He (Mr. Hobbouse) bad some hope that, after what had hate
from the lion. Member for Yorkshire bet night, the maim
might be rendered unnesessary. -
Dr. PHI LLI MORE gave notice that be should, in the empe,
of the Session, move the repeal of the Marriage Am
Sir WILLIAM CURTIS moved that the Bill for remark"
the London iftidge. Water-works be read a second time ,n

day next.--Orderod.
Mr. BUTTERWORTH presented a Petition front a cos
ranee of the Proprietors of the London-bridge Wattir_work.;
pray's'', to be beard by Counsel against the Bill then ham.
the Haan. _ - - _ _ -

far. Wi►RRR presented a Petition from certain inh~h aye
of the County of Somerset, expressing their satisfaction thin
BM was in progress through the House, for the more effectual
recovery of Small Debts, and praying that it may pass into a law.
—The Petition was brought up, and laid on the table.

Wins:um/IED Fomatig WOOLLEN CLOTH.

On Mr. WA LLACE'vsnoving that the House resolve iv.V
Into a C.ammlttee of the whole House on Monday next, fat the
purpose of couside.ring the Navigation Acts.
Mr. BUM RT Wri/ItTLEY said that a report lad gnat
abroad, which, if true, would materially affect his Constnt.
eats in Yorkshire, engaged in the manufacturing of woolir,
cloth, namely, that foreign woollen cloth was allowed to I,e
brought lam this market, and sold under the duty. tie thought
it was only I nteaded to be warehoused in this country and exported
duty free ; he wished to know if such was the fact?
Or. WALLACE said he was anxious to correct such a star.
mem. It was intended that foreign woollen cloth should be
lowed to be imported, and then exported duty free.—The mo-
tion was granted.

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P. Reid," sides might safely rely on the wisdom of both Hawses brought it forward, and the fact that the Petition rah of IA
a p2ru2ment. It might be objected to COMMUta- came from persons who did not desire the House to sr. LE
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