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ABtoE^iB52.] THE /LEADER: 383
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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The Week In Parliament. The Serious ^ Bu...
irrigation . Sir Robebt Ingxis . / -wished to strengthen the episcopate in India ; and Mr . Gouxbttbn held our first duty to be , the imparting of religious truth to the countless millions under our sway in India . Mi-. Man-GfcfiS deprecated Government interference in religion , aud advocated roads and irrigation . . Sir HEsnay Wixiqitghbt desiderated an India budget , to be presented to parliament yeaxly by the President of the Board of Control . . ' ¦ ' _ . ' ¦ ¦
Mr . Chishoi /& i Anstey , who came early in the debate , nioved an amendment , by way of addition to the motion , praying the Crown to appoint a commission to inquire into the stjite and exigencies of India , in India itself ; a motion which he supported by criticisms on the anomalous and divided authority that rules over that Empire . Our Indian reyenue , he contended , had not succeeded except where there were representative assemblies ; the revenue was well collected in some parts , because it was levied through the municipal assemblies of the villages . The natives ought to be admitted into the highest offices ; there were natives fit for them . India would never be peaceful and contented till she was prosperous , and that would never be until she was ^ governed according to Indian and not European views , and for Indian and not European
interests— ' . Out df above 100 , 000 , 000 , not 100 were in the receipt of incomes amounting to 1000 rupees a-month , whereas out of the 800 covenanted servants of the company , 600 were in the receipt of something like 2000 or . 3000 rupees a-month at least , and of the remainder not one-third had less than the maximum . amount of the salary of places held by natives or uncovenanted servants . Lord Dalhousie had indeed appointed one native to an office of trust and power , but the income was reduced ' from 1500 rupees to 800 ; to be raised again probably if a European should succeed him * To show the corruption of India , Mr .
Anstey cited the case of Colonel Outram . A . rich banker at Baroda , the capital of a tributary and protected State , died ; a fraudulent agent of the bank , on his accounts being examined into , carried off the surviving child of the deceased , and denounced the widow as having panned off a spurious offspring ^—a charge which was proved to be false . The Besidest , Colonel Outram , being appealed to , inquired into tie case , and the result was that her innocence was established ^ and that ifc was shown , that the officers of the last Resident had been bribed , and that names of the highest rank -and character at Bombay ¦ were implicated . The Bombay Government found itself obliged
to interfere , and Colonel Outram Was directed to report whether it was true that there was a general belief of the prevalence of a system of bribery , and if so , to offer any suggestions he could as to the best means of eradicating it . He made an effectual inquiry , arid he found that from 1840 money had been annually sent to Bombay and there laid out in bribes ; the highest persons were said to be recipients of those bribes , and Colonel Outram found , at all events , that the money reacted the castle , and procured the services it was meant to buy , arid he intercepted translations of the most secret in
minutes of the Governor Council on the way from Bombay tq Baroda , and these he sent back ; For this . he had been suspended , though ho was bound as Resident to unmask such a system , oven if lie had not had special directions . This was not a new charge in the case of Baroda . Papers were laid before tho Houso in 1848 connected with a former charge relating to Baroda before Colonel Outram ' s time ; and Mr . Anstoy had before him tho report of the Advocate-General . The sum of 145 , 000 ; . was proved to have boon paid in bribes , and the names of tho parties were mentioned .
lo these views Mr . Baillie and Mr . Hardinge replied . Mr . Bailue , defended tho salt-tax and opium cultivation , contending that 5 , 000 , 000 / . revenue could not be obtained in any other way less onerous to the natives . Mr . Habdinqe entered into several particulars to show that practically , tho condition of the native has improved . The salt-tax has been reduced , by 15 per cent ., so that now it is but 8 ^ . a head on the whole population ; and large importations have been admitted , riic condition of tho peoplo under British control is favourabl y contrasted with that of the rack-rented
peoplo in Ourto , Cashmere , or tho Nizam ' s torritory . oir James Weiii Hoaa also showed that the land-tux lias boon reduced at tho last survey : of-tho nott rental , 20 per cent . iH now allotted to the cultivator , 18 per ' out . to tho middlo-man- or talookdar , and G 2 to tho Uovevuinont ; or where thoro was no middle-man , 30 P « r <> ont . to tho cultivator , and 70 to tho Government . Jjuto in tho debate came Lord John Kubseix , who mtorwl thin sentiinont— " In my opinion , it is Imrdly possible to improve tho goneral ' outline of tho Indian "ovorninont . "
'l'ho amendment was negatived without division , and iwr . Hornets motion was affirmed . CONTINUANCE OF THE TOOK LAW BOARD . Among a variet y of miscellaneous business despatched » jlor tho Indian uobnto on Tuesday—including a stage 01 tlio Passengers' Act Amendment Jiill—two bills for M » o / 'ontinuanco of thy Poor Law Hoard , and tlie Poor " ohoi Amendment Act , ciuih advanced a stage . On 10 Jor " » or , Lord Dudusy Stuabv said ho would not PPoho tho second rootling , becauso he assumed that , B 0 1 U ( l » y moinbora of tho present Government had bean opponents of tlio existing I ' oor Law , they
merely desired to continue it until they had time to present to Parliament a better measure . But in committee he , should move to substitute July , 1853 , instead of . "• . 185-4 / ' and to add a clause exempting from the jurisdiction of the Poor Law Commissioners all parishes that had local acts providing for the administration of poor relief . " . r '
ME . BENNETT AND THE BISHOP OF BATH AND WELXS . The principal debate of Tuesday was raised by Mr . Horsman , on a motion to bring the conduct of Mr . Bennett once more before the House , especially as a beneficed clergyman instituted by the Bishop of Bath and Wells , after bis most flagrant acts of schism . Mr . Horsman inoved in these terms" That whereas , by the constitutions and canons ecclesiastical of the Church of England , it is decreed and ordained that ' no Bishop shall institute any to a benefice who hath been ordained by any other Bishop , except he first show unto him his letters of orders , and bring him a sufficient testimony of his former good life and behaviour , if the Bishop shall require it , and lastly , shall appear on rltio OTOTni ' nntinn +, n Iia wrvrf / h-D- < vP Viis Tniriistrrv' fnsinnn . iMi \ ; liEV
^^ ^^ 1 ^ * T _ _ 1 ¦_ ^ . ^ r ^ M ¦ ¦ 1 '"r * ¦ ¦ J " *^^^ BW ^ f ' * »^^ **^ jb J ^^ » ¦ ¦ " ~~~ r * ' ^ k j » *^ ^^ »^ *^^ . ^ pi " ** I «^ r m m also , that ' no curate or minister shall be permitted to serve in any place without examination and admission of the Bishop of the diocess , or Ordinary of the place , having episcopal jurisdiction , in writing under his hand and seal , having respect to the greatness of the cure and meefeness of the party ; and the said curates and ministers , if they remove from one diocess to another , shall not be by any means admitted to serve without testimony of the IJishop of the diocess , or the Ordinary of the place as aforesaid , whence they came , in writing , of their honesty , ability , and conformity to the ecclesiastical laws of the Church of England' ( canon 48 ) ; an humble address be presented to her Majesty , praying , that she will be graciously pleased to direct inquiry to be made whether due respect was paid to the decrees of the constitutions and canons ecclesiastical of the Church of England in the recent institution of Mr . Bennett to the vicarage of Frome . "
To make this motion intelligible , Mr . Horsman re-, capitulated the conduct of Mr . Bennett as incumbent of St . Paul ' s , Knightsbridge , with the history of the Tractarian proceedings at St . Barnabas , and his compulsory resignation under the requirement of the Bishop of London .,- Within . twelve months after that , Mr . Bennett was installed as vicar of Prome ; but strange occurrences had happened in the interval . A letter , by a clergyman , in the A chill Herald , reporting Mr . Bennett ' s conduct , first drew Mr . Hbrsman's attention to the subject ; and he wroije to the clergyman , the Reverend Charles O'N . Pratt : Mr . Pratt referred to
" . a gentleman holding an office of some distinction not far from London' [ also described as ' professor of one of the seminaries near London' ] , of the highest character , and of unimpeachable veracity ; " and his account Mr . Horsman read" An English clergyman , whose name in the hotel-book [ at Kissingen ] was Bennett , wearing the peculiarly longitudinal vestment affected by tho Puspyite clergy , and travelling in « ompany with Sir John Harrington ., churchwarden of St . Barnabas , lodged for three weeks nt the Hotel de Russie , Kissingen , on tho same floor with my rooms . My attention was called to him in tho first instance by hearing the Gorman waiters , & c , talking about
him ; his conduct , with that of his friend , being calculated to attract inquiry as to his religion , tho genoralidca being that ho was ti Jesuit or Capuchin . I then found that ho and his friend wont every morning between 7 and 8 , as wns said , to the Koman-cntholic church , to tho morning service . I nover myself saw him in tho lloman-catholic church , because I never went thoro , but I can testify as to the regularity of his morning excursions , and , as every ono said that their object was to attend mass , I presume- thereis no reason to doubt tho fact . If there bo , any ono at Kissingon can attest it . During tho same period ' neither ho nor any of his party wore to bo . Boon on Sundays in tho English chapel . It is a ainglo room , capablo of holding ,
perhaps , 100 persons , and had ho been there ho must huvo been at onco visible . But , as I bolioyo , they remained considerably longor at Kissingon than myself , tho English chaplain seems to mo tho person who could g ive tho most convincing testimony on tins point . I . likewise hoard him inquiring about a missal , nnd saw a Capuchin , or sorao such monk , going in and out of his room . But I cannot with truth nssoverato that within my knowlodgo ho was his inseparable companion . My rooms woro , unluckily , no * t to Sir John Harrington ' s ; unluckily , as I waa vory
ill , and Sir John constantly talked m ho loud a yoicu thai ; nearly all his talk was forced upon me , tho partitionH botweon Gorman rooms being , aa you probably know , almost vontriloqunl . I was thorol ' oro compelled to hoar long details about Eoman-catholin matters exclusively , in which Mr . Bennett was constantly implicated . Tho whole oflbcfc was to loavo no doubt on my mind whatovor that Mr . Bennett wuh a thorough Konuinist , and I considered it no Bpl ; fclcd that . I wan novor bo aHtoninhod ns at porcoivin / f in tlio pnpors his appointment to Frome . "
. In reply to a lottor from Mr . Horfimmi , tho British chaplain at Kiswingen staled that Mr . Bonnotfc did not at any time form a member of hia congregation . Thus Mr . Bonnott'H history wuh , that ho is < : () ni ]) cllod to relinquish hi « London niinistry in January , 1861 ; in tho HUinmor ho in ufc KisHingcn , habitual attendant « t a Roman Catholio church ; and in tho nutunm bo is appointed by a Protestant bishoi ) as Piotewtant minifitor over tho l ' rotestuut congiHJgation nt Vroino . Tho
clergy , and laity of Frome tried in vain , by memorials to the patron of the living ( the Marchioness of Bath ) , and the bishop of the diocese , to procure the withdrawal of Mr . Bennett , or at least to suspend his institution . To show Mr . Bennett ' s doctrines , Mr . Horsman quoted t \ vo passages from his public sermons . In one , alluding to the decision of the Privy Council in the Gorham case , be says , that unless it be reversed , the pastors of the church of England will have to seek salvation in the church of Rome , although not liking all the peculiarities of that church : — " This , " continues the writer , " will probably happen within ten years . Then will come the end— -Protestantism will sink into its proper place and die ; and whatever was catholic in the church , of England will become Roman . "
The following passage was specially brought under the notice of the Bishop : — " All the ideas of the Bible , and the dispensing of the Bible , as in itself a means of propagating Christianity , are a fiction and absurdity . " The canons of the church specially guard against any impropriety in the transfer of a clergyman from one diocese to another . "No Bishop , " said the law , " shall institute any-to a benefice who hath been ordained by any other Bishop , except he first show unto him his letters of orders , and bring him a sufficient
testimony of his former good life and behaviour , if the Bishop shall require it ; and , lastly , shall appear , on due examination , to be worthy of his ministry / ' Three beneficed clergymen must certify of such clergyman , from personal knowledge , their veritable belief "that he lived piously , soberly , and honestly ; nor have we at any time heard anything to the contrary thereof ; nor hath he at anytime , as far as we know or believe , held , written , or taught anything contrary to the doctrine or discipline of the United Church of England and Ireland . " If all the subscribers are not beneficed in
the diocess of the Bishop to whom the testimonial is addressed , the- countersignature of the Bishop of the diocess wherein their benefices are respectively situate is required . Three clergymen did certify , and the Bishop of London attested their signatures ; with the usual qualification , of a marginal note , signifying that he only attested the genuineness of the signatures , and Was no party to the statement to which they were appended . The Bishop of Bath and Wells , therefore , was duly warned . To the demands for the dismissal of Mr . Bennett , he replied thus : —
" I am fully satisfied that Mr . Bennett has a firm and deep-rooted attachment to our own church , and to all the doctrines of tho church of England , repudiating all Romish doctrines . I feel that I should bo acting unjustly by him , and uneourteously as well as unfairly by the Marchioness of Bath ( whose firm attachment to our church is so well known ) , if I were to refuse him admission into my diocess . I shall , therefore , adhere as firmly to my intention of instituting Mr . Bennett . " When Mr . Bennett resigned his incumbencies of St . Paul's and St . Barnabas , three of his curates also
resigned : two of them have since joined the Church of Rome ; the third , Mr . Cr . F . de Gex , Mr . Bennett appointed his own curate at Frome , dismissing tho gentleman whom he found there . In his peroration , Mr . Horsman asked where redress for these things was to be found ? Not in tho clergy—they are too much mistrusted ; not in tho prelates—they are too deeply tainted ; but in tho laity , —for they , thank CJod , arc yofc sound . Mr . Diskaem met tho motion with evident disrelish . Ho admitted the importance of the subject ; felt tho cxtrcmo inconvenience of such discussions in an assembly like tho Houso of Commons ; was struck with tho total inadequacy of Mr . Horswan ' s proposition to don I with tho circumstances that ho hud stated : foresaw
that n commission of inquiry could not compel any ono to make communications which he might bo unwilling to offer ; had always understood that in such cns . es tho right appeal lay to tho - / fre / tbiwhop ; urged Mr . Horsninn not to press his motion ; and moved " tho previous question . " This was at first vigorously resisted . Sir Hahhy VJUtNEY , Mr . Humk , and Mr . Nuwdkgatk , called for tho inquiry—has " tho Defender of tho Faith , " asked Kir Hurry , 110 powor ? Sir Rohekt Inoxis backed Mr . Disriiuli . But Sir John Pakinq-xon made u concession . Tho Bishop of Bath is much advanced in
years ,, and in vory bad health ; but tho conduct of Mr . 'Bennett lit Kissingen ought to bo inado tho subject ol inquiry ; " and Sir John hoped that Mr . Hornnmn would rest satisfied with tho hopo that tho ditKuiKwion would load to investigation . On this hint Lord John Rtjb-BELIi advised Mr . Hortanau to wuit until Ministers should have made thoinsolvoa acquainted with tho facts of tlio enso . Mr . Stoonicw and Mr . Mancukh , on different grounds , " concurred in that advico for tho moment . So did Mr . Gxadstonjk , who showod that Mr . HorHinnn had stated somo of tho facts looxoly , nnd advised inquiry in ft friendly spirit , in order to uncertain wliothor tho law had been , infringed or not , in
Abtoe^Ib52.] The /Leader: 383
ABtoE ^ iB 52 . ] THE / LEADER : 383
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), April 24, 1852, page 3, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_24041852/page/3/
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