tion of it applicable to the payment of the West India Bishops and Clergy.

A

Since the subject was announced to parliament, it has been finally arranged that two Bishops shall superintend the affairs of the Church in the West Indies. residence is appropriated for each of them, with a stipend of 40001. per annum, and a retiring pension of 1000l. per annum, after twelve years' residence. Jamaica is to be the head of one see, and Barbados and St. Vincent's the moveable seat of the other Bishop. The appointments which have taken place in pursuance of this arrangement, will be found in page

284.

HOUSE OF LORDS. Thursday, March 25.

IRISH TITHES.

Lord Clifden presented several petitions against the Irish Tithe Composition Act, all of which concurred in objecting to any compulsory clause. His lordship acknowledged, that he himself last year proposed a compulsory clause, and was glad that he had been defeated, for he had since found reason to change his opinion. The averages had been fixed too high by the Bill, therefore the operations would have been oppressive in the extreme, if the compulsory clause had passed.

The Earl of Kingston presented two petitions of a similar nature, and made some very severe observations at the expense of Dr. Woodward, rector of Balleylock, in the county of Cork, for the high rate at which he had averaged the value of his tithes. This unmerited attack proved in the end beneficial to the character of the clergyman against whom it was directed; for

The Bishop of Limerick rose, and remonstrated against the unfair mode which had lately been pursued, as in this case, of accusing individuals in a place where they had no opportunity of defending themselves. Dr. Woodward, his lordship said, had in fact expressed his readiness to receive a composition which was considerably below what he was justly entitled to; and the peo

ple of the parish of which the reverend doctor was rector, were so far from being dissatisfied with his conduct, that if they were called upon to give evidence, they would say, that they never had a more worthy clergyman among them. A more pious, mild, or assiduous minister, was not to be found; his upright and gentle conduct had secured him the affection of the poor, and of all who knew him.

The Marquis of Lansdown was induced to rise, in consequence of some observations of the right rev. prelate, which seemed to say, that the land-owners of Ireland exercised an undue influence to prevent a composition of tithes. For his own part, he felt it his duty to point out the intended compulsory measures, as one of the greatest interferences with the right of property ever attempted.

Lord King discussed the subject with much sarcastic humour, and gave the following ingenious and characteristic turn to the conversation that had dropped with regard to Dr. Woodward. "If the conduct imputed to him by the noble earl (Kingston) had been practised by a person whom the right rev. prelate distinguished as the beau ideal of an Irish parson, what might not be done by the ordinary run of Irish parsons?" His lordship concluded by saying, he should like to see the tithe proctor exhibited before the House, as a specimen of natural history worthy to be preserved.

The Earl of Harrowby, with the happiest perception of the real state of the case, declared, that if the tithe proctor was to be brought to the bar of the House, he hoped he would be accompanied by the stewards of the landlords. The noble earl then expressed his regret, that both there and elsewhere, the names and characters of individuals should be made free with, and often when they had nothing to do with the point in question.

The Earl of Limerick said, he was presi dent of a most respectable meeting of Irish noblemen and gentlemen, where the proposition for the tithe composition bill had originated; but if the land-owner was not to be free to consent to the composition, and if land now tithe-free, was to be forcibly compelled to pay tithes, there would be an end of all justice.

The Earl of Grosvenor complained of the constitution of the Bishop's Court, where a tithe-case was to be determined, and where the adjudicating parties had all an interest on the side of the church.

Lord Clifden rose a second time, and spoke of the misfortune of Ireland having two church establishments. She was in a situation similar to that of Scotland before the revolution, when the people fought up to their knees in blood, in resistance to the church which was imposed upon them.

The question naturally suggests itself to us, if the present tithe system is to be abolished in Ireland, who are to have the benefit of such abolition? The Roman Catholic clergy, or the landlords? If the former, will the landlords be satisfied? If the latter, will the people gain by protection, by example, or moral influence?

HOUSE OF COMMONS.
Monday, March 29.

IRISH BURIALS BILL.

Mr. Plunket rose to move the order of the day for the second reading of the Burials Bill in Ireland. After some preliminary observations as to the groundless alarms which might prevail in the minds of those connected with the established Church, the hon. gentleman said, the first thing the bill proposed to do, was to repeal the act of the 9th of William III. cap. 7. The object of this act of William was, to forbid both to Roman Catholics and Protestants, burials in the sites of places formerly used as abbeys, convents, &c.; but since taken out of the possession of ecclesiastical proprietors, and vested in members of the state. The next provision was, to give the right of burial in Protestant church-yards to all, according to the religious ceremonies of the parties whose friends were brought there for interment. This measure originated with the noble lord, who presided over the administration of Ireland, and had the unanimous sanction of his Majesty's government. Before he proceeded further, he felt it necessary to describe what was the state of the law as it now existed. The freehold of the Protestant church-yard was vested in the rector. He was empowered by law to superintend the mode of granting Christian burial in the church-yard. He was to grant the right of interment; and, by the act of Uniformity, he was to read the burial service of the church of Ireland as by law established, and no other. He could not

himself read, nor depute any other person to read a different service in the churchyard. Such was the law on one side; and on the other, according to the laws of the land, the friends of every deceased person had a right of interment for him in the Protestant church-yard of the parish in which he died, subject to the fore-mentioned right of the rector. The hon. gentleman then said he would do justice to the Protestant Clergy by allowing, that in most instances they had forborne to exercise a duty imposed upon them by the Act of Uniformity, and had tacitly permitted the performance of religious ceremonies by Roman Catholic priests, but insisted that it would be wise to alter the enactment. The new Act was to authorize the Protestant parson to give the desired permission. The present Bill was to make arrangements which would hardly fail to satisfy all parties; the avowed intention was to give the dis enter the benefit of interment according to the rites of his own church in a Protestant church-yard. The law, as regarded its effects, was to be put in the strongest practical shape. The Protestant clergyman was to be applied to. If he thought fit to refuse permission, he was bound to state, in writing, to the applicant, the cause of his refusal, and to certify the same to his ordinary, who was to forward it to the lord-lieutenant. He granted that the Bill was the introduction of a new right and power: it was giving the Catholic Church a right to the church-yard of a Protestant church: yet there was nothing new in the effect of what it did; the novelty was only in form. No rational Protestant parson could complain of being permitted by law to waive that right, which he had been all along accustomed to waive with the law against him in so doing.

The Bill was then read a second time.

Our observations upon the nature of this most specious of all Bills, by which a Protestant clergyman is compelled to sanction rites which he deems idolatrous, must be reserved for its last reading. The most extraordinary part of Mr. Plunket's speech is that, where he would intimate, that it has been the practice of the clergy of the Established Church to permit the performance of Roman

Catholic rites in their Protestant church-yards; whereas, it appears from a declaration, signed by the Parochial clergy of Dublin, that to their knowledge no Roman Catholic priest ever officiated, or attempted to officiate, in their church-yards, with the exception of the St. Kevin's outrage, and that at St. Mary's, both of which occurred lately.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

March 29.

EDUCATION OF THE POOR IN IRELAND.

On the resolution" that 22,000% be granted to defray the expences of the Society for promoting the Education of the Poor in Ireland for the year 1824,"

Mr. Hume said he doubted the possibility of effecting the objects of Mr. Grant, unless the larger part of the funds, destined for the purpose, were placed under the control of the Roman Catholics. He had the authority of a Roman Catholic Bishop for stating, that in the thirty-six parishes of his diocese, there were 10,000 children of an age to go to school, who were restrained from availing themselves of the schools supported by the Kildare-street Society, on account of the Scriptures being read in them without note and comment. He did not intend to oppose the motion, but hoped the House would be put in possession of some information upon the subject.

Of

Mr. J. L. Foster rose to make a few observations explanatory of the objects and beneficial labours of the Kildare Society. It provided proper masters for the various schools connected with it; it had established a model school in Dublin, for the education of the children of artizans. the number of masters belonging to the Society, half were Roman Catholics, and threefourths of the children instructed were of that persuasion. The subscriptions raised in Ireland for its support, amounted to 10,000. In the year 1812, the Scriptural Schools in Ireland amounted to no more than 239; but in consequence of the operations of this Society, they amounted at present to 4150, and were increasing monthly. With such statements as these to present, he had no doubt that any enquiry about to be made by the Committee, would prove the utility of the Society's exertions.

Sir J. Newport and Mr. Hutchinson expressed their regret that the subject had been introduced in the House, before the Committee appointed by the House had made their report.

Mr. North, in a maiden speech, protested against the doctrine that he had just heard; that silence should be preserved upon this subject, when he knew that all his countrymen anxiously desired that an explicit avowal should be made, as to whatever had been given to them, or whatever had been' withheld. He had been one of the original members of the Kildare Society, when they had nothing to rely on, but the excellence of the objects they had in view; and no other support but the intellectual ardour, which they brought to the pursuit. In 1812, the whole country, with the exception of the single province of Ulster, was lying in a state of thick and palpable dark

ness.

The Protestant Clergy, as was naturally to be expected in a Catholic community, had failed in communicating instruction to the poor. The Catholic Clergy had never undertaken the office. The gentry were not awakened to a full sense of its importance. (Continued cries of Hear, Hear.) The education of the poor, was, in fact, left to themselves, and no good education could possibly take place from their educating each other. The schools were at the sides of hedges, and were such as his hon. friend had described; in them licentiousness and robbery were openly taught, and the horn-book of instruction was the manual of vice. The History of Freny the Robber, and the Life of Moll Flanders, were ordinary school-books. So lamentable indeed was the system of education which was there introduced, that it were difficult to pronounce which was the most dreadful, the thick darkness, or the lurid gleams by which it was occasionally pierced; the torpid ignorance that stagnated in one quarter, or the mischievous activity that fretted and raged in another. Dreadful were the effects produced by their combination. The ranks of our crowded population thickening and gathering into lawless, fearless, tumultuous, undisciplined array; threatening peace, threatening property, threatening life; and, from the abysses of their misery, sending up a voice of defiance to a dismayed gentry, and an almost appalled government. Under these circumstances, the first principle which the Society laid down, was, that religion should be made the basis of the system; that the children of Protestant and Catholic parents should be brought to

gether into the same schools, and be referred to the great original of their faith. It had been said, that this system could never become general, because the Roman Catholic Clergy would oppose it; but the fact was, that Roman Catholic children did come to these schools, and that their parents were anxious to procure for them the benefits of education. He trusted that no measures would be taken to destroy the existing system, before another was substituted in its place; under which there had arisen 600 masters, and 79000 scholars; not after a lapse of years, not in the course of a century, or half a century; but, to use an expression of Lord Bacon, "in an hour glass of one man's life, in a few yesterdays."

The resolution was agreed to.

Mr. North's brilliant speech, of

which we are unable to give more than an imperfect sketch, will satisfy the country, that if there has been any failure in the attempt to educate the poor of Ireland, it has not been owing to any defect in the views of the Legislature, in the management of the funds, in the exertions of those who super. intend the plan, or in the comprehensiveness of its regulations, but to the suspicious jealousy of the Roman Catholic Priesthood, who are enemies to every species of education, which serves to enlighten the laity, and consequently to diminish their own influence.

IN THE COURT OF KING'S BENCH.
NIGHTINGALE v. MARSHALL,
AND ANOTHEr.

2 Barnewall and Creswell's Reports, p. 313.

THIS was an action for a false return to a writ of mandamus.

On the 22d Nov. 1821, the place of sexton, in the parish of St. Mary, Whitechapel, was vacant. The plaintiff claimed to have been elected to that office by a majority of persons entitled to vote, and that the defendants as churchwardens, ought to have admitted him to that office, which they refused to do; and that, in their return to a writ of mandamus, issued on the 11th of Feb. 1822, commanding them to admit him, they falsely returned, that he was not duly elected. The cause was tried before Lord Chief Justice Abbott, and a verdict found for the plaintiff, subject to the opinion of the Court of King's Bench.

The right of election was allowed to be in the inhabitants paying church and poor rates assembled in vestry. On the vacancy of the office, a public meeting was held for the election of a sexton. There were two candidates, and several persons claimed to give more than one vote, under

the statute 58 Geo. III. c. 69. s. 3. which enacts, that all who persons had paid the last poor rate upon an assessment of an annual rent of less than 507. should give one vote; but if such payment had been made upon an assessment of, or exceeding that amount, then one vote for every 251. of annual rent on which it had been so assessed, might be given; but that no inhabitant should have more than six votes.

If more than one vote could be given by any individual in the parish, the plaintiff was duly elected; if not, his opponent was the successful candidate. In point of fact, it appeared, that the poor's rates had never been assessed upon the inhabitants according to an equal pound rate; but the rate had been made according to the property of the party charged, whether situate in or out of the parish. The court held, that no person in that parish was rated for the relief of the poor in the manner contemplated by the act; and therefore, that its provisions with respect to the enabling individuals to give a plurality of votes, did not apply. The plaintiff was, consequently, not duly elected to the office of sexton, and a nonsuit was entered.

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