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    imswtlon . Sir Robert Ingms wished to strengthen ^ episcopate in India ; and M * . GotUtobn held our first duty to be , the imparting of religious truth to the countless millions tinder our sway in India . Mr . MAN-<* EES deprecated Government interference in religion , and advocated roads and irrigation . Sir Henrf WiliofGbbt desiderated on India budget , to be presented to parliament yearly by the president of the Board of Control . ;¦' ; . V" y iv "¦ ¦* Mr . Chishoim Antstey , who came early m the debate , moved aii amendment , by-way ' of addition to the motion , praying the Crown to appoint a commission to inquire into the state 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 revenue , he contended , had not succeeded except where there were representative assemblies ; the revenue was well collected in spine 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 wpuld 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 of 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 JDi the receipt of something like 200 O or 3000 rupees n-month at least , and of the remainder riot one-third had less than the maximum amount of the salary of places held by natives or uncovenanted servants . Lord Dalliousie had indeed appointed : one native to an office of trust and powerybut the income was redxicted from 1500 rupees to 800 ; to be raised again probably if a European should succeed him . To iahow the cprruption of India , Mr . Anstey cited the case of Qplpnel Outrairi . -A . rich banker at Baroda , the capital of a tributary and protected State ,

    died ; a fraudulent agent of' the bam , on Ins accounts bemg examined into , carried off theiBurviying child of the deceased , and denounced the : widow : stshaying palmed , off a spurious offspring- ^ a ¦ el ^ rge _^ s hl ^; vi ^ ipacWed to be false . . TKe JRe ^<^;' t 7 ^ neTOutr ^ inquired into the case , auid the iresult '^ a « tha t her innocence was established , and that it was shown that the officers of the last Resident ; had ; beeni 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 ho could as to the best means of eradicating it . He made an effectual inquiry , and , he found that from 1840 money had been annually sent" to Bombay and thero laid out in bribes ; the highest persona were said to be recipients of those bribes , and Golonel Outram found , at all events , that the money reached tho castle , and procured the services it was meant to buy , and he intercepted translations of the most secret minutes of the Governor ia Council on the way from Bombay to Baroda , and these ho sent back . For this ho had been suspended , though ho was bound as Resident to unmask such a system , even if he had not had special directions . This was not a now charge in the case of Baroda . Papers were laid before tho

    House in 1848 connected with a former choree relating to Baroda before Colonel Outram ' s time ; onu Mr . Anstey had before him the report of the Advocate-General . Tho sum of 146 , O 00 Z . was proved to have been paid in bribes , and the names of the parties were mentioned . To these views Mr . Baillio and Mr . Hardingo replied . Mr . Baielie , defended the salt-tax and opium cultivation , contending that 5 , 000 , 000 / . revenue could not bo obtained in any other way less onerous to the natives . Mr . Hardingxe entered into several particulars to ahovv that practically tho condition of the native has improved . Tho salt-tax has been reduced , by 15 per cent ., so that now it is but SI . a head on the whole

    population ; and largo importations have been admitted . The condition of , tho people under British control is favourabl y contrasted with that of the rack-rented people in Oude , Cashmere , or tho Nizam ' s territory . Sir James Weir Hog (* also showed that the land-tax has been reduced at the lost survey : of tho nett rental , 20 per cent , is now allotted to the cultivator , 18 per cent , to tho middle-man or talookdar , and 62 to tho Government ; or whoro there was no middle-man , 30 per cent , to tho cultivator , and 70 to tho Government . Late in the debate enmo Lord John RusselIi , who uttered this sentiment— " In my opinion , it is hardly possible to improve tho general outline of tho Indian Wovernmont . " The amendment wnfl negatived without division , and Mr . Horries ' B motion was affirmed .

    CONTINUANCE OF THIS POOR LAW UOABD . nft AlT * ° "ffft variety of miscellaneous business despatched nffh t > ° Indilvn dol ) at « ° i * Tuesday—including a « tago JJ tn ° Pnssongorfl' Act Amendment Bill—two bills for Jj 10 cJntmuunco of the Poor Law Board , und tho Poor th f Amondmei » t Act , each advanced ft stage . On ««> iormer , Lord Dudley Stuart said ho would not PPoso the second reading , because ho nsBuined that w bo nmny members of tho present Government had oeen opponents of the opting Poor 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" 1854 /' 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 .

    ME . BENNETT AND THE BISHOP OF BATH AND ' ' ., - . ' . . " . ' ¦ ¦' . ; '" -wells : ' ; : . ¦ ¦ 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 his most flagrant acts of schism . Mr . HoESMAir moved in these terms- — * That Ayherea 8 , 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 liath 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 bis ministry' ( canon 39 ); also , that ' no curate or minister shall be permitted to serve in any p lace without examination and admission of the Bishop of the diocess , or Ordinary of the place , having episcopal jurisdiction , in writing under bis hand and seal , having respect to the greatness of the cure and meetness of the party ; and the said curates and ministers , if they remove froin one diocess to another , shall not be by any means admitted to serve without testimony of the Bishop of the diocess , or the Ordinary of the p lace 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 matkc this iriotion intelligible , Mr . Horaman recapitulated the conduct of-Mr . Bennett as k ^ mnbent of 8 fr . Paul ' s , Eniglitsbridge , with the history of the Tractarian proceedings at St . Barnabas , and his compulsory resignation under the requirement of the Bishop of London . Withjn twelve months after that , Mr . Bennett was installed as vicar of Frome ; but strange occurrences had happened in the interval . A letter , by a clergyman > in the ^ tcA * 7 ? Herald , reporting Mr . Bennett ' s conduct , first drew Mr , Horsman ' s attention to the subject ; and he wrote 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 Puseyite clergy , and travelling in company with Sir John Harrington , churchwarden of St . Barnabas , lodged for three weeks at the Hotol de Russie , Kissingen , on the same floor with my rooms . My attention was called to him in tho first instance by hear ing tho Gorman waiters , &c , talking about

    him ; his conduct , with that of his friend , being calculated to attract inquiry as to his religion , tho general idea being that ho waa a Jesuit or Capuchin . I then found that ho and his friend wont every morning between 7 and 8 , as was said , to tho ltoinan-eatholic church , to tho morning service . I never myself saw him in tho Roman-catholic church , because I never wont there , but I can testify as to tho regularity of liis morning excursions , and , as ovory one said that , their object was to attend mass , I proaumo thero is no reason to doubt tho fact . If thoro bo , any ono at Kissingen can attest it . During tho same poriod neither ho nor any of his party wore to bo scon on Sundays in tho English Chanel . It is a singlo room , capable of holding ,

    perhaps , 100 persons , and had ho been thoro ho must have been at once visible . But , as I boliovo , they remained considerably longer at Kiasingon than myself , tho English chaplain seems to mo tho porson who could g ive tho moat convincing testimony on this point . I likowiso hoard him inquiring about a missal , and saw a Capuchin , or some such monk , going in and out of his room . But I cannot with truth asseverate that within my knowledgo ho was his inseparable companion . My rooms wero , unluckily , noxt to Sir John Harrington ' s ; unluckily , ns I was vory voice tnat

    ill , and Sir John constantly talked m so loud a nearly all his talk was forced upon mo , tho partitions botweon Gorman rooms being , as you probably know , almost vontriloqunl . I was therefore * compelled to hoar long details about Roman-oatholio matters oxcluHivoly , in which Mr . Bonnett wan constantly implicated . Tho whole elloct waa to leavo jio tloubt on my mind whatever that Mr . Bonnott wan a thorough Romanist , and I considered it ho Bottled that I was nover so astonished m at perceiving in tho papors his appointment to Eromo . "

    In reply to a letter from Mr . Homnnn , tho British chaplain at Kissingen stated that Mr . Bennotb did not nt any time form a momber of hid congregation . Tlnw Mr . Bennett ' s history was , that bo is compelled to rolinquish hid London ministry in January , 1851 ; in tho HUinmor ho in at Kissingon , habitual attendant nt a Roman Catholic church ; and in tho autumn ho is appointed by a Protestant biHhop as Protestant minister over the Protestant congregation at Promo . The

    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 . Hors * man quoted two passages from his public sermons . In one , alluding to the decision of the Privy Council in the Gorham case , he 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 tho 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 ^ 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 dfac ^ se 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 the church of England , repudiating all Romish doctrines . I feel that I should be acting unjustly by him , and uncourteously as well as unfairly by tho Marchioness of Bath ( whose firm attachment to our church is so well known ) , if I were torefuso him admission into my diocess . I shall , therefore , adhere as firmly to my intention of instituting Mr . Bennett . " Hn _ "A AT ~ - 'V A ~ _— - ~ £ J- A * a**>— a *** ^^ ^ m ** m i-a mm ^^« w % i'V Vvavi ^ vJin ^ ± f ? \ J ^ When Bennett resigned his incumbencies of St

    ^ * Mr . . Paul ' s and St . Barnabas , three of his curates also resigned : two of them have since joined the Church of Rome ; the third , Mr . G . P . de Gex , Mr . Bennett appointed his own curate at Frome , dismissing the 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 nre too much mistrusted ; not in the prelates—they are too deeply tainted ; but in the laity , —for they , thank God , are yeb sound .

    Mr . Disraeli met the motion with evident disrelish . He admitted the importance of tho subject ; felt the extreme inconvenience of such discussions in an assembly like tho House of Commons ; was struck with tho total inadequacy of Mr . Horsman ' s proposition to deal with the circumstances that ho had stated ; foresaw that a commission of inquiry could not compel any one to make communications which lie might be unwilling to oiler ; had always understood thnt in such cases the right appeal lay to the Archbishop ; urged Mr . Horslnan not to press his motion ; and moved " the previous question . "

    This was at first vigorouHly resisted . Sir Hahkt Vminky , Mr . Hume , and Mr . Newdkoate , called for tho inquiry—has " the Defender , of tho Faith , " usked Sir Harry , no power ? Sir Rouebt Ingxis backed Mr . Disraeli . But Sir John Pakinqton made a concession . Tho Bishop of Bath is much advanced in yours , and in very bad health ; but tho conduct of Mr . Bennett nt Kissingen ought , to bo made tho subject of inquiry ; ' and Sir John hoped that Mr . Horsman would

    rest satisfied with tho hope that tho discussion would load to investigation ^ On this hint Lord John Ilus-BKix advised Mr . Horsinan to wait until Ministers should have mode themselves acquainted with tho facts of tho case . Mr . SrooNEii and Mr . Mangles , on difforont grounds , concurred in that advico for the moment . So did Mr . Gladstone , who showed that Mr . Horsman had Btatcd some of tho facts loosely , and advised inquiry in iv friendly spirit , in ordor to ascertain whether the hw had been infringed or not , in

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    A * rh- m 1852 . ] T& £ L E A BE It . W

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), April 24, 1852, page 383, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1932/page/3/