would be a mere verbal one. The affidavits sought for contained a great deal of irrelevant matter, and did not exactly apply to the case. Under such circumstances, he put it to the learned member, whether it would not be better to shape his case according to the recommendation of his right hon. friend.

The petition was then brought up and read. It purported to be the petition of Martin Money Canfor, formerly of Charlwood, Surrey, farmer, but now of Churchstreet, Stoke Newington, Middlesex, butcher, and setting forth,

"That in May 1824, the Petitioner lost several sheep from their feeding on Charlwood Common; that the petitioner immediately commenced an active search and inquiry for many miles round the neighbourhood of his residence, and ultimately discovered that one of such sheep was in the possession of a person of the name of William Beale, residing near Betchworth: that the petitioner thereupon proceeded to the place of the said W. Beale's residence, and instantly recognized his said sheep, although it was in a fold with others, and had been shorn of its fleece, and he thereupon claimed it of the said W. Beale as his property, and required the production of the fleece, which the said W. Beale admitted he had himself taken off, but the said W. Beale refused either to show the fleece to the petitioner or to give up the possession of the said sheep; that the petitioner, therefore, determined to exhibit a charge of felony against the said W. Beale, but being a stranger in the neighbourhood he inquired for the residence of the nearest magistrate, and was directed to William Kenrick, esq. of Betchworth aforesaid; that the petitioner immediately proceeded to the House of the said W. Kenrick, and saw one George Adams, his butler, who, ascer taining that the petitioner had a charge of felony to prefer, refused to introduce him | to the said W. Kenrick until he had communicated all the particulars of such charge, which the petitioner was therefore compelled to detail to the said G. Adams; that upon the petitioner's introduction to the said W. Kenrick, he repeated the cir cumstances of his charge against the said W. Beale, and requested the said W. Kenrick would grant him a search warrant, in order to enable him to secure the fleece of his said sheep, expressing his apprehension that the said W. Beale would otherwise destroy or conceal it, in order

to prevent satisfactory proof of the petitioner's property; that the said W. Kenrick thereupon began to write something on a slip of paper, and the said G. Adams having offered him the form of a search warrant; the said W. Kenrick observed, the note I am writing to Beale will do as well;' but the petitioner, humbly representing to him that he was apprehensive that a note would be of little use, as the said W. Beale had already refused to produce the fleece, and that he therefore was anxious to have a search warrant, the said W. Kenrick became much enraged, expressed his determination not to proceed on the complaint, and ordered the petitioner to quit his House; that the petitioner, finding that he had no chance of obtaining a search warrant from the said W. Kenrick, and being desirous at all events to secure his property, he submissively requested the said W. Kenrick to finish the note which he had originally proposed to send to the said W. Beale; that the said W. Kenrick accordingly wrote such note, and delivered it to the petitioner unfolded, and which note is in the words following:- These are to request you will deliver to the bearer the fleece of a sheep admitted to have been taken by you from Westwood, in order that it may be produced as evidence before me on a charge of felony, or bring it with you to my house, and show cause why you should not do so.-W. KENRICK. That after the said W. Kenrick had written such note, he required of the said G. Adams, the Christian name of Beale, the person accused, who answered. William, ours is named James' (as the petitioner understood), and the petitioner has since discovered, that the word 'ours,' referred to a brother of the said W. Beale, who is in the service of the said W. Kenrick as his bailiff; that the said W. Kenrick desired the petitioner to deliver the said note to the said W. Beale in the presence of a constable, but immediately afterwards observed, you may deliver it yourself, a constable is unnecessary;' that the petitioner accordingly carried the said note to the said W. Beale, who refused to receive it, whereupon the petitioner, in the presence of several persons, read the same to him, but the said W. Beale treated it with indifference, and stated that he would not give up the sheep or produce the fleece; that the petitioner discovering that the said note was so utterly ineffectual, and being apprehensive of making another application to the said W. Kenrick for a search warrant, he went before Imp Burgess, esq. a justice of the peace residing at Reigate, who declined to interfere in a charge which had been before another magistrate, and recommended the petitioner to call again upon the said W. Kenrick on the subject; that the petitioner, in consequence of such advice, returned to the said W. Kenrick, on whose grounds, near his house, the petitioner found the accused person, the said W. Beale; that the petitioner was interrogated by the said G. Adams as to the object of his visit; and having informed him of the said W. Beale's disregard of the said note, and of the petitioner's desire, in consequence, to prefer his charge against him, the said G. Adams informed the petitioner that the said W. Kenrick would have nothing further to do in the business, and that he refused to see the petitioner again; that the petitioner expressed his regret that, after the trouble he had taken, and the expense he had incurred, he should be deprived of redress, provided as lne was with clear evidence to prove the unlawful taking of his property by the said W. Beale; whereupon the said G. Adams observed to the petitioner, that the said W. Beale had stated, that the petitioner had agreed to refer the question of property in the said sheep to a Mr. Cutler, which the petitioner instantly denied, and thereupon the said G. Adams requested the petitioner to call the said W. Beale, who did not repeat such statement, but pressed the petitioner to refer the matter to Mr. Joseph Nash, who is the land-agent of said W. Kenrick, and resides in his neighbourhood; that the petitioner, despairing of further assistance from the said W. Kenrick in the investigation of his charge against the said W. Beale, and apprehending from the refusal of Mr. Burgess, that no other magistrate would interfere, and that he was in danger not only of losing his property, but of incurring the imputation of preferring a groundless accusation, he was induced to abandon his charge of felony, and to consent to accompany the said W. Beale to the house of the said J. Nash; that the said W. Beale having produced to the said J. Nash, and a Mr. James Ede, the fleece of the said sheep, and the petitioner having shown them the fleece of another sheep of the petitioner's with a corresbonding mark, they instantly decided that

the fleece in the possession of the said W. Beale was the property of the petitioner, and they ordered the said W. Beale to give up the same, together with the said sheep, which he accordingly did, and the said J. Nash and J. Ede gave to the petitioner two notes or certificates of their judgment on the subject; that the petitioner, having thus obtained his property, and being in the neighbourhood of the said W. Kenrick's residence, he considered it right to wait upon him, in order to inform him of the result of the investigation, and the petitioner took with him the fleece which had been so restored, and the two notes or certificates beforementioned; that the petitioner, upon his arrival at the said W. Kenrick's house, was shown into a room in which the said W. Kenrick and the said G. Adams were; that the said W. Kenrick desired the said G. Adams to shut the door, and immediately desired the petitioner, in a peremptory manner, to deliver up the note which the said W. Kenrick had written to the said W. Beale, and whilst the petitioner was in the act of producing it, he again, in a very loud tone, commanded him to produce it directly; that the petitioner, no, attaching much importance to the said note, had no intention of withholding it from the said W. Kenrick, but being surprised at the shutting of the door, and at the agitated manner of the said W. Kenrick, he requested to be permitted to take a copy of such note; whereupon the sad W. Kenrick became more violent, and addressing himself to the said G. Adams, said, 'I appoint you a special constable; search that man for the note;' that the petitioner resisted the attempt of the sail G. Adams to search him, as he was clothed with no proper authority for that purpose; and the said W. Kenrick therefore directed that one John Batchelor the constable of the parish, should be sent fo; and the petitioner was confined in the said room until the arrival of the said constable, for the space of nearly an hour; that when the said J. Batchelor entered the room, the said W. Kenrick pointing to the petitioner, said, There constable, is your prisoner;' and as the said Join Batchelor hesitated, apparently waiting for the particulars of the charge, the aid W. Kenrick, addressing him in a tone of great anger, said, constable, do your duty; seize him, and search him for anote;' that the petitioner having ascerained that the said John

Batchelor was really a constable, he submitted without the slightest resistance; and the said John Batchelor, having collared the petitioner, searched him, and took from him the said note, and also, by the direction of the said W. Kenrick, took possession of the said fleece; and the said W. Kenrick then ordered the petitioner to quit his house, which the petitioner left immediately, under the apprehension of further violence; that for this imprisonment the petitioner brought his action against the said W. Kenrick, and the cause stood for trial at the last assizes for Surrey; that the petitioner might reasonably have expected considerable damages for the injury he had sustained; but, being actuated by no vindicive motive, and being solely anxious for some acknowledgment, on the par of the said W. Kenrick, of the impropriety of his conduct, at the request of the counsel of the said W. Kenrick, the petitioner consented to accept a verdict for five pounds, upon the express understanding and condition | that the petitioner was to be at no expense in the matter or the cause; that the costs of the said action have been taxed and paid, but he petitioner has sustained a considerade loss in tracing and obtaining possession of his property, for which he has not received the smallest satisfaction or indemnity; that the petitioner disclaims all personal hostility to the said W. Kenrick, which he submits, has been sufficiently inlicated in his desire, by the compromiseof the said action, to prevent a detail of the foregoing facts, where the interests of the petitioner were alone concerned, but inasmuch as the petitioner feels, that there was a denial of justice on the part of the said W. Kenrick, in the case of the sail W. Beale, by which a charge of felony was suppressed and defeated, the petitoner is led by a sense of public duty to state the circumstances for the consideraton of the House, offering at the same time to verify all that he has alleged, in such manner as may be considered expedient and necessary; that the petitioner is induced to consider an investigation of this case more peculiarly important, from the circum. stance of the said W. Krick being one of his majesty's justices of the great sessions in Wales; the petiioner does not presume to suggest the course to be adopted in the event of the establishment of his charges against the said W. Kenrick, but submits in all things to the discre

Mr. Denman said, he wished to explain to the House the disadvantageous situation in which he was placed. If he had not founded his motion upon affidavits, he would then have been told, that he rested his case upon hearsay, and unfounded report. But now that he took a different course, he was told that the grounds upon which he went were too grave and solemn to be met by the simple denial of Mr. Kenrick. All he wanted was the production of the affidavits of Mr. Kenrick, upon which the court of King's-bench refused to make absolute the rule for a criminal information against "The Morning Chronicle."

Mr. Baring said, that the sort of objections urged on the other side would almost lead to the suspicion (undoubtedly unfounded) that it was the desire of ministers to screen the individual against whom the charge was made. They incurred a heavy responsibility in the course they now pursued, and he thought merited reprehension for not themselves bringing the case before the House. It ought not to have been left to his learned friend, from a sense of public duty, to submit a motion upon it. The first information he (Mr. B.) had obtained of the case was from the speech of the Attorney-general in the newspapers; and after that speech, censuring as it did the conduct of a judge of the land, it seemed strange that he should be allowed still to preside without inquiry, in some shape or other, into his case. Had the power, as formerly, remained with the Crown, it would have been unquestionably the duty of ministers to have investigated the subject; but, though the power was now vested in parliament, ministers ought not to have waited until a volunteer on the opposition side of the House called its attention to the misconduct of the judge. Yet that judge had been allowed to go his circuit in Wales as usual, even after the speech of the Attorney-general. [The Attorney-general said, across the table, that he had not made that speech in his official capacity.) He was aware of that circumstance, but the charge was aggravated, and it was pressed by the Attorney

general with a degree of earnestness, and apparent sincerity, which ought to have induced government to institute a solemn inquiry. In what state did the question at present stand? The whole subject was to remain over until next year, because it was late in the session. The right hon. gentleman had expressed his hope, that, in the mean time, the House would suspend its judgment; but, would the individual against whom the charge was made, in the meantime suspend his judgment? No; he was to be permitted to go his circuits, and to dispense justice, as a judge of the land, as usual, with very grave accusation hanging over his head. Suppose the charge had, by possibility, related to any of the judges of England, such a state of things would not have been endured; and he saw no reason why Wales should not be treated as England, merely because it was a little further off. Next, as to the partiality of the proceeding: his learned friend was willing to rest the whole case on the testimony Mr. Kenrick had given for himself. If so, there was an end of all supposed injustice, and want of equality and reciprocity on the ground of evidence. It seemed to him, therefore, that the House might form a fair decision on the question without delaying it until another session.

Mr. Denman then moved for a copy of the affidavits filed by Mr. Kenrick in support of a rule for a criminal information against William Innell Clement, and the affidavit of Mr. James, filed to prove Mr. Kenrick the author of a letter printed in the " Stamford News"; which was agreed to.

ESTABLISHED CHURCH IN IRELAND.] Mr. Hume, in rising to submit a motion relative to the present state of the Church Establishment in Ireland, said, he was fully aware of the importance of the question, and of the responsibility attaching to any individual who introduced a proposition of this consequence into parliament. But, being strongly impressed with the opinion that much of the evils which had so long afflicted Ireland arose from the present condition of its church establishment, and that that establishment, so far from promoting the welfare and happiness of the people, produced a precisely contrary effect, he had determined to bring this most important subject fully before the House. He would have declined to do so, but that he believed, so long as that establishment

existed on its present footing, there could be neither peace, unanimity, nor security for Ireland. He would shortly state the grounds upon which he had come to such an opinion, and why the House ought to entertain his proposition, and, at an early period of the next session, inquire into the state of this establishment, with a view to effecting such changes in it as the circumstances of the times might seem to require.-Having in three preceding sessions entered at great length into the principles, and stated the details upon which that proposition was bottomed, he would not now detain the House by going over the same matters again. Many of the facts that he had advanced on former occasions, and which were then strongly contested, had been since conceded by those who then opposed him; and much of the argument with which he was then met had been since, as if it were by common consent, withdrawn. The main object of his motion, therefore, he could not help thinking, had made some progress. He was well aware of the necessity and importance of religious instruction in every community; and was quite satisfied, from his own experience in Scotland, of the benefits to be derived from a system, the pastors of which attended regularly to their sacred duties were never absent from the sphere in which they were to be discharged and were, from January to December, occupied in the anxious care of those who were confided to their ministry. From a system like this, much real benefit had been, and ever would be, derived: the publicapprobation must sanction it; and it would be found of the highest advantage to the community among which it obtained. He did not object, therefore, to the establishment, as an establishment for affording religious instruction to the people; but he called upon parliament, as it formerly adopted the Protestant profession as the best calculated for the interest of the English people, and the Irislı reformed church as the best adapted for Ireland, to say, whether, in regard to the latter country, circumstances had not since occurred which made it expedient for the legislature to revise what it had so done? If it should be found that the present Irish church establishment was not in any respect adapted to the due discharge of the duties it had to perform-or was larger than the state of that country, or the nature of its society, required-or was better paid than was necessary, was it too much to say, that the House would not be performing their duty, if they did not alter its condition? Dr. Paley had described a church establishment to be "only a means towards an end;" and the same authority declared, that "religious establishments could not be shown to form any essential part of Christianity, but were only the means of encouraging it; for it could not be proved among the early christians there was any religious establishment." From this authority, he (Mr. Hume) inferred, that as christians they were not bound to any particular established form of worship; but that it was competent to the legislature, as heretofore, to decide, if the establishment which it had formerly authorized should be found not to have answered the ends proposed, upon altering it; that as parliament had once determined for the Protestant, and at another time for the Roman Catholic religion, as the religion of the state, so it might again change its determination in this respect. It was a favourite maxim with some, that with the established religion of any state, the state itself must fall. He thought a more dangerous maxim was never broached, either as regarded the welfare of the government, or of the church. The. hon. gentleman then went on to contend, that the church in all ages had manifested its subserviency to the government; which the latter had recompensed by the gift of proportionate privileges and property. But he was of opinion, that the government should always stand upon its own footing, independent of the church. It was highly proper that the state should render the church the means of instructing the people, but the church had never benefitted in character or religious principle by its political connexion with the state. He begged that this distinction might be kept in view, that hon. members would exercise a common degree of discrimination, and then he should not be again cavilled at for revolutionary intentions when he called upon the House to interfere.This course of reasoning brought him to the question, what prevented the House from inquiring into the state of the church establishment of Ireland? The law, it might be said, had constituted the Protestant the established religion of Ireland; but, the power that made that law might revoke it, and if it saw reason, might make the Catholic, or any other religion, the religion of the state. Referring to the

events which had taken place in the reign of William 3rd, he found good ground for believing, that that monarch intended at one time to make the Catholic the established religion of Ireland. In one of his letters to the government of Ireland, he had required them to pass an act, establishing that church which should be most consonant with the wishes of the people. Circumstances intervened to prevent the accomplishment of this injunction; and matter of endless regret it must be, that they should have done so; for had Ireland obtained the Roman Catholic as her established religion, in the same way that Scotland had obtained the establishment of the Presbyterian as hers, there was every reason to believe, looking to what had happened in Ireland within the last 120 years, that she would have enjoyed by this time a century of peace, happiness, and prosperity, instead of anarchy and misery-that she would now have been a flourishing nation, and that England, instead of her gaoler, as it were, would have been regarded by her as her benefactress. In what a condition was Scotland when it was attempted to force upon her a religion which was not more generally disliked by the Scotch than Protestantism now was by the great body of the Irish people? Did not bloodshed, violence, and insubordination prevail, until Presbyterianism was finally established as the religion of Scotland? It was not for him to say whether the Catholic, Protestant, Presbyterian, Hindoo, or Mussulman religion was the true faith. He was not called upon to decide that point. The question was, what ought to be the conduct and policy of a government in this respect, which wished to promote the prosperity of the people. He was satisfied that all that had happened to Ireland, since the time when Scotland obtained a religion of her own choice and settlement, might have been avoided if just measures had been adopted. She had been deprived of the hard earnings of her industry; had been degraded far below her true rank in society; and had been most unjustly deprived of her civil rights. The page of history could furnish no instance of a country in the condition of Ireland for the last century. The truth was, that the governing power in England was worse than in any other part of the world; yet it claimed to be superior, and would fain establish an exclusive right to the title of liberal. If then, under this