clared, that no person having enjoyed a seat in the other House should be capable of holding any living in the church, the grand objection to the eligibility of the clergy would be removed. The Earl of Rosslyn traced the usage of parliament from a very early period of our history, down through a variety of successive reigns to the present period. At no time had the right of the clergy to a seat in the other House been recognized, but their ineligibility had formed a uniform part of the common law of the land. He urged the necessity of the bill, and the inexpediency of allowing the clergy to sit in the House of Com mons. The bill was then read a second time. Debate in the Commons on the Clergy Non-Residence Bill.] June 9. Mr. Dickinson jun. moved, that the act of the 21st of Henry 8th, intituled " Spiritual Persons abridged from having Pluralities of Livings, and from taking of Farms, &c." might be read; which being done, he moved, "This House will, immediately, resolve itself into a committee of the whole House, to consider of so much of the said Act as relates to the residence of the Clergy on their respective Livings, and to their taking of Farms." Mr. Gregor contended, that, by the late prosecutions under this act for nonresidence, the greatest hardships had been incurred, and that the act had been enforced solely for the purposes of extortion. The defects of the act extended much farther than to the subject of nonresidence. According to its provisions, no clergyman could buy or sell cattle for the purposes of profit. This was in fact, prohibiting the clergy from farming their own glebes, or endeavouring to make up the deficiency of their frequently very scanty incomes, by taking small farms. Some alterations should be made in the law as it now stood. Sir R. Buxton said, that particular hardships could not form a sufficient ground for an alteration of the law. He thought it inconsistent with the clerical character, that the clergy should be dealers for their own profit in corn or cattle. A clergyman's name had lately appeared in the list of bankrupts. Sir W. Scott thought that every thing which could tend to enforce the residence of the clergy ought to meet with the countenance of the House; but he knew well that great individual hardships had been sustained from the present law upon that subject, and that that law had been made the ground of the grossest extortion and injustice. He therefore, though he wished to enforce residence as much as possible, could not help thinking that some regulations ought to be made, which would put an end to the evil complained of, if they could be adopted without limiting the restraints upon non-residence. He thought no evil consequence would result from allowing the clergy to farm their glebes, and to turn them to the best account they could. The clamour against non-residence had been very great; but he was convinced that it was not authorized to the extent to which it had been carried. The House having resolved itself into the committee, Mr. Dickenson moved, "That the chairman be directed to move the House for leave to bring in a bill to protect, and relieve, under certain provisions and regulations, spiritual persons from vexatious prosecutions by common informers under. the statute of king Henry 8th, in consequence of their non-residence on their benefices, or their taking of farms." Mr. Chancellor Addington agreed, that this act had been applied of late for the purposes of extortion and persecution; but yet the law appeared to him good in its principle, as tending to promote the residence of the clergy. That the clergy should be obliged to confine themselves as much as possible to the exercise of their sacred functions, could not be doubted. But, considering that the incomes of many of them were inadequate to the support of their families, he could see no impropriety in their being allowed to increase those incomes by farming small farms, either in place of, or along with, the glebes allowed them by the legislature. Though he approved of this measure, he hoped it would be only temporary, and that a more general system of regulation would speedily be brought before the legislature. Mr. Whitbread said, there could be no doubt that the residence of the clergy should be enforced as generally as possible; but it was at the same time, desirable to protect them from vexatious prosecutions. He agreed that it might be proper, as soon as possible, to direct the attention of the legislature to the revenues of the church, the mode of their collec-' tion, and their distribution. He also agreed as to the necessity of doing some thing to remedy the evils arising from the smallness of many of the livings in the church, as no doubt this formed the great source of pluralities and non-residence; but he should, indeed, be sorry if recourse should be had to the public purse to remedy this evil, convinced as he was that the revenues of the church, if properly distributed, were perfectly adequate to the sufficient payment of all its officers. Sir John Parnell contended that, as the principle of the existing law was good, it ought not to be annulled, because particular hardships might result from it. Dr. Laurence approved of the proposed measure, but expressed his disapprobation of the speculative plan of a future general alteration of the law. The Speaker said, the law was framed in very different circumstances from those which now existed, and for very different purposes from those to which it was now made subservient. A revision of it, therefore, was expedient. He, therefore, approved of the motion. As to allowing the clergy to hold farms to a certain extent, he conceived it to be proper; but to be very dangerous, if carried beyond that extent. The motion was agreed to. The bill was brought in on the 12th, and read a second time on the 15th. nalties under. the statute of Henry 8th merely because they did not exactly reside within the limits of their parish; while others, neglecting their duty, but sleeping one night in every month within their pa rish, might escape. Mr. Sheridan said, that the bill appeared to him to embrace two distinct objects. As far as the question of residence was concerned, in his opinion, the most beneficial effects would accrue from the paro chial habitation of the clergy. The state had a right to expect every assistance from an establishment, instituted, paid, and protected by the constitution. If the penalties enacted for non-residence were rigorously enforced, the infallible conse quence would be, that the clergy would reside in their respective parishes, and the public would reap the most essential benefit with respect to moral improvement. The second object of the bill involved the question of farming. By the statute of Henry 8th a clergyman was liable to the same penalties for engaging in agricultu ral pursuits as attached to him for nonresidence. Was this founded upon wise or equitable principles? As the law at present stood, a clergyman was authorised to cultivate his glebe, and to dispose of the surplus produce. Gentlemen must be aware that this was a very vague and usdefined privilege. The quantum of disposable produce depended on fortuitous circumstances. Not only the extent of the glebe, but the number of the clergy. man's family, came into the consideration. A clergyman with a large family, and an ordinary portion of glebe, might have very little surplus produce to dispose of. But how stood the case supposing him to have no children, or to be unmarried? Was it not his right and most undoubted privilege to turn his glebe to its full advantage? Could he do this, without pos sessing agricultural knowledge? In the case of inclosure bills, there was always a certain proportion of land allotted to the clergyman. Was the clergyman not to make use of his share? Was he to suffer the land to lie waste? Was he to neglect at once his own right, and the national benefit? Yet, as the law at present stood, he was liable to penalties if he disposed of the produce. Were acts of parliament to be rendered nugatory, by humouring a Mr. I. H. Browne considered common bigoted prejudice, that the sacerdotal cha informers as pests of society. Clergymen racter could be degraded by acts of prac who were regular in the discharge of their tical good? Whether was it better for a duty, might at present be subject to pe-clergyman to exert himself in benefiting June 19. On the order of the day for going into a committee on the bill, Mr. Ellison opposed it, and read a quotation from Joseph Andrews, relative to the various avocations pursued by parson Trulliber, for the purpose of ridiculing the bill; which, he contended, went to make parson Trullibers of all the clergy. He could not consent to allow the clergy to become jobbers and farmers, nor could he consent to dispense with their residence. He was not so hostile towards common informers as some gentlemen appeared to be; for he conceived them to be not only necessary, but frequently the benefactors of the public. Mr. Gregor thought the bill should go to a committee, that the grievances complained of by the clergy might be fairly examined. The means at present in the hands of informers to harass the clergy, tended very much to degrade that respect able body. vidious to mention names; neither, indeed, was there occasion to name a man so well known and recognized by public suffrage. Yet, however unnecessary it might be, per se, to point out the individual-a man whose merits were their own herald, and needed not panegyric-it might be proper, in the present instance, to oppose name to name, and, as a fictitious clerical character had been introduced, he would meet and contrast it with a reality, by exhibiting Dudley versus Trulliber. his country by practical effort and welldirected skill, or to consult merely his own gratification, in riding, fox-hunting, &c.? In Scotland, the clergy were to a man farmers. As reference had been made to an individual case, and that case hypothetical and supposititious, he should take the liberty of contrasting it with one drawn from actual life. Let the House picture to itself the case of a clergyman coming into a wild and uncultivated district, and presenting nothing but cause for discontent and alarm-a church in decay-the inhabitants rude and uncultivated-the soil itself ambiguous-and, from local circumstances, calculated solely for the rendezvous of smugglers and plunderers. The roads, if roads they could be called, impassable. This one individual man, this clergyman, gifted with superior powers of mind, with the best energies of human agency, reverses the whole face and complexion of things. Blending instruction with example, he civilizes the inhabitants, forms their minds to virtuous pursuits, erects a parsonage house, restores a dilapidated church, reclaims the soil, and forces ocean to restitution; plans and perfects roads, and carries into execution measures for public security; and transforms the whole character and situation of the place to which he is appointed. The services of this man are so important, that the lord lieutenant of the county feels it his duty publicly and officially to thank him: the magistrates echo back the vote of praise; the judges, in their official capacity, bear evidence to his worth and merit; the board of agriculture feel themselves called upon to pay him homage; in short, every constituted authority awards him the tribute of gratitude and applause. Is not the case of a man like this more than a set off against the fictitious character of parson Trulliber? But he was not now contrasting one ideal character with another. No! his description was given, not from the pages of a novel, but from historical fact. He was speaking of a man known to the world, and esteemed by all the good and the intelligent; a man universally recognized as a public benefactor, and whose loss could not but be regarded as a national misfortune. The unrooting such a man from the place which he had cultivated, adorned, and almost created, must Mr. Simeon thought, that as laws were be a subject of general regret. He was made for the purpose of being obeyed, and persuaded that the House must at once as without informers they could not be perceive to whom he alluded. It was in- enforced, we must tolerate them, and [VOL. XXXV.} Mr. Windham considered this as a bill of suspension, not as a final measure. He approved of it, because it might happen that an existing law might be suddenly used in a very different manner from its original spirit, and then it certainly was right for the legislature to interfere and bring back the law to the original intention of the legislature. He should be sorry to put the laws respecting residence permanently upon the footing which this bill would do, because, though he had the highest veneration for the bishops, those licences might in time be granted as a matter of courtesy, and their writing to grand juries upon a subject in which the grand juries had no right to interpose, deserved public reprehension. The hon. gentleman had introduced a case which he had put in opposition to the imaginary case of parson Trulliber; but how this case was applicable, he was at a loss to discover. The hon. gentleman seemed to understand the art of puffing, and parti.. cularly that part of it which was called the puff oblique. It put him in mind of the story of the celebrated George Bon Mot, which began with an anecdote and ended with an advertisement. With respect to the case which the hon. gentleman had thus introduced, he was not quite sure that all opinions in the county of Essex were so much of one side as the hon. gentleman seemed to suppose. Without, however, entering upon that subject, he should support this bill, considering it as a temporary measure. Mr. Jones thought, that clergymen should be compelled to reside in their parishes; and that this measure, if necessary, ought to have originated with the bishops. It would be better to buy up all tithes, which would cost only fifty millions, than agree to such a measure as this. [5 G] should not apply to the legislature to alter the law, because some hard cases existed. The statute of Henry 8th was mildness itself, in comparison with other provisions which were made against the non-residence of the clergy. He disapproved of granting a dispensing power to the bishops, not because he thought they would abuse their power, but because they might be imposed on. The House then went into the committee. The bill passed the Commons on the 24th. Mr. Tierney's Finance Resolutions.] June 17. Mr. Tierney rose to move his annual Resolutions respecting the State of the Finances of the country. It was, he said, his wish, that they should be laid on the table, printed, and be discussed on a future day. The Resolutions were accordingly laid on the table, and are as follow: FINANCE RESOLUTIONS. 1. That the amount of the public funded debt, on the 1st of February 1793, was 238,231,2487., exclusive of long and short annuities for lives, to the amount of 1,373,550l.; of which sums, stock to the amount of 10,242,1007. had been purchased by the commissioners for redeeming the national debt, and annuities to the amount of 79,8801. had fallen in, and been carried to their account, reducing the actual amount of the debt, on the 1st Feb. 1793, to 227,989,1487. and the annuities to 1,293,670l.: and that, on the 1st Feb. 1801, stock to the amount of 36,099,5621. had been purchased by the commissioners, and stock to the amount of 16,083,8021. had been transferred to them, on account of landtax redeemed; and annuities to the amount of 123,4777. had fallen in; reducing, on the 1st Feb. 1801, the actual amount of debt existing before the war, to 186,047,8847. and the annuities to 1,250,0731. 2. That the total amount of stock created since the 1st Feb. 1793 (including the amount created by sums borrowed in the present session of parliament, and after deducting 16,182,0947, purchased by the commissioners for redeeming the national debt) on the 1st Feb. 1801, is 298,317,5801., of which sum the interest on 7,502,6337. is payable by the emperor of Germany; and the interest on 19,708,750. is payable by Ireland: and that annuities have been granted, since the 1st Feb. 1793, to the amount of 542,6644.; of which 9,7914. is payable by Ireland, and 230,000l. by the emperor of Germany. after deducting 52,281,6561. purchased by the commissioners, and 16,083,8021. transferred to them on account of land-tax redeemed) was, on the 1st Feb. 1801, 484,365,4641; of which sum 27,211,388/. is on account of Ireland, and the emperor of Germany; leaving a funded debt charged on Great Britain of 457,154,0814. including 56,445,000l. the interest of which is to be defrayed, and the capital redeemed by the tax on income; and that the amount of annuities charged on Great Britain (after deducting what have fallen in) was, on the 1st Feb. 1501, in short annuities and for lives, about 540,000l., and in long annuities 1,007,000l. 3. That the total amount of the public funded debt (including the amount created by the sums borrowed in the present session, and 4. That, under the heads of treasury, army, ordnance, barracks, advances from civil list, and re-payments to be made for services not deducting the surplus of ways and means of voted, but paid out of grants for 1800 (after that year), outstanding demands, as far as the same can be made up, remained to be provided for on the 5th Jan. 1801, to the amount of 1,482,649l. That exclusive of anticipations of the receipt of certain taxes and payments on loans to the amount of 8,489,8002. the unfunded debt in exchequer bills unprovided for, or provided for out of funds which have proved insufficient, was, on the 5th Jan. 1801, 17,590,300l. That the debt of the navy remaining to be provided for, was, on the 5th Jan. 1801, 8,705,886. And that the total amount of demands oustanding, navy debt, and exchequer bills unprovided for, or provided for out of funds which have proved insufficient, was, on the 5th Jan. 1801, 27,778,8357.; of which sum 6,832,6491. has been since made good out of the supplies of the present session, leaving an unfunded debt,hereafter to be provided for,of 20,946,186!. and exceeding by 12,020,000l. the amount outstanding in 1793. 5. That the sum applicable to the reduction of the national debt was, on the 1st Feb. 1793, 1,427,1487; and on the 1st Feb, 1801, 4,989,818. 6. That the annual charge incurred by the permanent debt, on the 5th Jan. 1793, was 10,325,866.; including 1,000,000L applicable to the reduction of the debt. That the an nual charge incurred by the permanent debt created since the 5th Jan. 1793 (exclusive of interest payable by Ireland, and including the charge incurred by the loan of the present session) is 10,395,246.; of which sum 2,335,6241. is applicable to the reduction of debt; and that a farther charge of 497,735! per annum is guarantied by parliament, in default of payment of the interest of certain loans by his majesty the emperor of Germany. 7. That the nett produce of the permanent taxes existing previous to the war, was, on the 5th Jan. 1793, 14,284,000l. and on the 5th Jan. 1801, 14,194,5394 ́ That the nett produce of the permanent taxes imposed since the 5th Jan. 1793, was, on the 5th Jan. 1801, 8,079,076. And that the total amount of the Mr. Tierney's Finance Resolutions. permanent taxes was, on the 5th Jan. 1801, 22,273,615/. 8. That the total official value of all imports into Great Britain, in the year ending the 5th Jan. 1793, was, 19,659,358/.; and, on an average of six years ending the 5th Jan. 1793, was 18,685,390/. That the total official Value of all imports in the year ending the 5th Jản. 1801 (supposing the imports from the East Indies, of which no account has been made up, to be the same as in the preceding year), was 29,925,8581.; and on an average of six years, ending the 5th Jan. 1801, was *25,259,8901. That the total official value of British produce and manufactures exported in the year ending the 5th Jan. 1793, was 18,336,851.; and, on an average of six years ending the 5th Jan. 1793, was 14,771,049/. That the total official value of British produce and manufactures exported in the year ending the 5th Jan. 1801, was 24,411,067 l.; and, on an average of six years ending the 5th Jan. 1801, was 20,085,198/. That the total official value of foreign merchandize exported from Great Britain, in the year ending the 5th Jan. 1793, was 6,568,3461; and, on an average of six years, ending the 5th Jan. 1793, was 5,469,014l. That the total official value of foreign merchandize exported in the year ending the 5th Jan. 1801, was 17,166,1457.; and, on an average of six years ending the 5th Jan. 1801, 12,868,0431. was 9. That the total sum to be raised in Great Interest of the public funded debt, A. D. 1801. 1801 Proportion to be defrayed by .... [1558 1,699,425 152,620 39,338,489 2,500,000 497,735 10,395,246 Making in the whole the sum of £.68,923,970 •£. 20,144,586 | That the additional charge in- Interest, &c. to be incurred and 1801 Proportion to be defrayed by 1,812,816 766,480 1,376,470 635,549 That the additional charge for That the increased charge of half- And that the peace establishment 160,000 130,000 285,000 370,000 200,000 351,000 170,000 130,000 49,500 |