INLAND NAVIGATION OF IRELAND.

Sir John Newport, in pursuance of notice, rose to submit several Resolutions to the House on the present state of the Inland Navigation of Ireland. He stated that it appeared to him that the greatest neglect had been shewn in this department. At the Union, an event that was never referred to without giving obvious pain to the noble lord (Castlereagh), the sum of 500,000l. was voted for the purpose of completing certain canals and other works in the sister Island, and five Controllers with a salary of 5007. each, appointed over it. As, however, the continuance of their pay depended upon the continuance of the funds in their hands, over which they were appointed, they had taken good care that little or no money should be expended in any thing but the payment of their salaries; so that during twelve years only 197,000l. had been laid out, 76,910!. of which had been applied to discharge the salaries of the controllers, engineers, and other dependants. He contrasted the slow progress of the works in Ireland with the rapid advance of the Caledonian Canal, upon which 340,000. had been laid out, and only 20,000l. paid in salaries, &c. In Ireland the public had for two years been deprived of the use of the Shannon navigation by a private squabble. He thought it therefore high time for the Legislature to interfere, and with that view he moved three Resolutions, recapitulating the various facts he had stated, and recommending that the inland navigation should hereafter be superintended by the Board of Treasury of Ireland, which had little else to do, and that the Controllers should be discharged.

Mr. W. Pole very warmly resisted the motion, insisting that the honourable baronet had not made out even the shadow of a case against the Controllers. He contended that every thing that could be done by men had been performed by them to forward the object for which they were appointed. They were not to be blamed that too little had been expended; on the contrary, the economy with which they had preserved the public money, was highly laudable. The bonourable baronet had not dealt fairly by the House, in stating that 76,940/. had been expended in salaries-for the truth was, that many incidental charges had been paid out of it. He complained that the honourable baronet had

brought forward no particulars, contenting himself with bare extravagant assertions: he (Mr. Pole) would willingly afford him the means of establishing their truth, if it were in the power of the honourable baronet, by affording him every necessary document if he would move for them; if he did not, Ministers would take care that they should be laid before the country. He would maintain against all the world, that the Directors of Inland Navigation had conducted themselves most laboriously, indefatigably, and honourably; and the nation was much indebted to their exertions, more particularly, to that venerable and useful public servant, Mr. Sackville Hamilton. With regard to the proposal that the duties of the Controllers should be transferred to the Board of Treasury, he begged to state that it was utterly impossible for the latter to discharge the arduous and important functions executed by the former. He thought the better way of meeting such resolutions as those proposed was, by moving the previous question, which he did accordingly.

Mr. Parnell contended, that there were no works as yet completed, at all adequate to the expences which had been hitherto incurred. He thought, upon the whole, that the system under which the business had been carried on, was radically bad.

Lord Castlereagh contended, that the old system was inefficient, and observed, under it there had been repeated instances of canals, after having been cut to a considerable extent, abandoned, on account of the impossibility of supplying them with water.

Mr. W. Fitzgerald vindicated the conduct of the Lords of the Irish Treasury.

Sir J. Newport replied, and the House divided,
For the previous question

Against it

Majority

IRISH TYTHES.

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Mr. M. Fitzgerald then entered on the subject of Tythes on potatoes in Ireland. It had been said that in all commutations of tythe, the right of the Clergy to a tenth part of the produce must be admitted. But this was not the law of the land-Originally, there was a four-fold division of tythes, one-fourth for maintaining the fabric of the

church, a fourth for the Bishops, a fourth for the Clergy, and another fourth for the maintenance of the Poor. Now the fabric of the church was supported by taxation. The Bishops were amply endowed with lands for their support, and in Ireland these lands were to an enormous amount. The poor were not now provided for out of the tythes. These were principles to be found in Blackstone and other law writers. In Ireland, however, all the tythes were absorbed by the incumbent. In England, Poors'-Rates were established, a measure which he considered as injurious, and which he certainly did not wish to see introduced into Ireland; whereas the Poor of Ireland were now deprived of the share of tythe which they once received, and were even become the payers of it. He proposed, if his Bill should be now introduced, to have it printed, that it might be considered in the interval between this and the next Session, when it would undergo the discussion of the House. He should move, therefore, for leave to bring in a Bill for better ascertaining the Tythes on Potatoes in Ireland.

Lord Castlereagh said, the right honourable gentleman had attempted to shake the foundations of property, by drawing a distinction between the property of the Church, and that belonging to other individuals. Nothing ought to be so little tolerated at this day, as any such distinction between the right of tythe, and that of property of any other description. This was a direct invasion of the rights of the Church. The right honourable gentleman had talked of humanity to the poor; but such humanity ought to be exercised at the public expence, and not at the expence of any other class of subjects. He would therefore enter his protest against the principles of the right honourable gentleman, though he would not oppose the introduction of the Bill, as he had in some sort promised not to oppose it at present.

Mr. Martin (of Galway) said this was the most inauspicious moment that the right honourable gentleman could have chosen for his attack on the property of the Clergy. The Protestant Clergy of Ireland were both numerous and respectable; and as an advocate of the Catholics, he should be anxious to demonstrate to the Protestant Clergy that he was no less anxious to protect their interests. The arguments of the right honourable gentleman, (Mr. Fitzgerald) were exactly the arguments which had been made use of in the National Assembly of France against the Biens de

l'Eglise; and it would appear, therefore, that he was indebted to French literature for all his ideas on this subject.

Mr. M. Fitzgerald said he did not lay down what he had advanced on the nature of Tythe as the principles on which he was to found a legislative measure; nor did he mean to question the rights of the Clergy as they now existed. With respect to the charge which had been brought against him by an honourable gentleman (Mr. Martin), of having been indebted to French literature for his ideas, bad he not expressly stated that these were the opinions of grave authors, whom he named, on English Law, he should have been less astonished at the mistake. He had never adopted French theories; and when those theories were in full force he had always been adverse to them; but he believed the honourable gentleman himself was at Paris during the period of this prevalence; and if he was not misinformed, the honourable gentleman had spoken in public at Paris, at a time when any other sentiments than such as were in the spirit of the fashionable doctrines, would have met with rather an unfavourable reception, (here Mr. Martin expressed signs of dissent.)

Mr. W. Pole said, if the Clergy had not a right to the tenth of the produce of the land, all the decisions of our Courts were not law. The right honourable gentleman had said, he had taken the law for regulating the tythe on hemp for his model. But the Bill did not affect impropriators. Did he mean to include impropriators in his Bill? Were they to be allowed a tenth of the potatoes, and the Clergy exclu ded, who had an equal right? The impropriators possessed one third of the whole tythes of Ireland.

Mr. Parnell said, Dr. Paley, Lord Mansfield, and Mr. Pitt, were all of opinion that a commutation of tythes was advisable.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer said, the principles laid down by the right honourable gentleman (Mr. Fitzgerald) were such as to take away from him every hope of being able to concur with the Bill.

Mr. Robinson joined in disapproving of these principles. Sir J. Newport observed, that the noble lord (Castlereagh) seemed in his new zeal for the preservation of the right of tythes, to forget altogether the Act of Agistment. The monstrous resolution of the Irish House of Commons, by which every man who proceeded to levy tythe on pasture lands, was afterwards sanctioned by Farliament under the

auspices of that noble lord-( Hear, hear !). And what were the consequences? Some of the richest pasture lands were in the possession of the Protestant gentlemen; and the consequence of this law was, to throw the burden of tythe on the potatoe gardens of the poor Catholics.

Mr. M. Fitzgerald wished it to be understood, that the Bill he proposed to introduce was merely grounded on the existing practical grievance of tythes. What he had stated was merely in order to shew the original constitution of tythes, as laid down by all the law authorities.

Mr. Martin explained. In charging the right honourable gentleman (Mr. Fitzgerald) with being indebted for his information to French literature, he certainly affixed no obnoxious signification to the words. There were not in any language better Sermons than those of Massillon, Bossuet, and Fletcher-(a loud laugh),

The Solicitor-General spoke against the principle of the Bill.

Sir J. Newport explained, when leave was given to bring

in the Bill.

COMMITTEE OF SUPPLY.

Lord Stanley rose to move that a sum not exceeding five thousand pounds should be granted to Mr. Crompton, for his invention of a machine to facilitate the spinning of cotton. It appeared from the evidence of witnesses who had been examined in a Committee above stairs, that our cotton trade had increased, within the last thirty years, as twenty to one, and that one-half, or nearly two-thirds of that increase was attributable to the machine for mule-spinning, invented by Mr. Crompton.

Mr. Blackburn supported the motion, as did also the Chancellor of the Exchequer and Mr. Davies Giddy, when the sum was unanimously voted, and the Report ordered to be received to-morrow.

The Report of the Riot Bill was taken into further consideration, when two additional clauses were proposed by Mr. Ryder, and the Bill ordered to be read a third time to-morrow-Adjourned.