<3 E N E R A L HISTORY 



fl23 



CHAPTER XL 



m/ls lo suspend and discontinue certain Proceedings against Clerical 

 Persons. — Debates and Bills relative to the Corn Laws. — Proceedings 

 relative lo the Slave Trade, 



A CIRCUMSTANCE in which 

 -^^ the clerical body wasiutepest- 

 ed became the occasion of frequent 

 discussion in the present session 

 of parliament. An act had passed 

 about ten j'ears before, brought in 

 by Sir William Scott, for the pur- 

 pose of remedying the evils arising 

 irom the prevalent non-residence 

 of the clergy on their cures, to 

 the provisions of which heavy pe- 

 nalties for default were annexed. 

 These ])enaities attached not only 

 to non-residents without excuse, 

 but to those who should neglect to 

 maVe returns to the bishop of the 

 diocese of the claims to exemp- 

 tion as allowed bj' the act. It had 

 happened that a Mr. Wright had 

 been successively registrar of the 

 bishopricks of Norwich, Ely, and 

 London, and being dismissed from 

 his office in the last, he had avail- 

 ed himself of the knowledge he 

 had acquired in his station, to in- 

 stitute prosecutions against a num- 

 ber of the clergy for violations of 

 the act, of which the penalties to 

 which he was entitled as informer, 

 woniri amount, if levied, to 

 80,(H)01. As a great majority of 

 these actions was founded on 

 mere omission of the returns, an 

 alarm was excited among all who 

 were conscious of any neglect of 

 "ionti in this particular, and who 

 -aw themseivea exposed perhaps to 



absolute ruin at the pleasure of an 

 informer. To obviate this hard- 

 ship Mr. Bathurst, in the last 

 autumn session, moved for leave 

 to bring in a bill to suspend for a 

 limited time the i)roceedings in ac- 

 tions under the act above-men- 

 tioned, which passed both houses. 



The period of the operation of 

 this bill being near expiring, Mr. 

 Bathurst, on March 24th, rose to 

 move for leave to bring in a bill 

 " to discontinue the proceedings 

 on certain actions already com- 

 menced, and to prevent vexatious 

 actions, underthe43rdoftheking." 

 He introduced his moiion with the 

 observations he had formeily made 

 oil the great hardships to which 

 the persons against whom the ac- 

 tions had been brought were ex- 

 posed ; and in proof that their of- 

 fences in general consisted onlj' in 

 the neglect of duly applying for 

 licences, he said, that in a list of 

 ninety-two persons in the diocese 

 of London, against whom Mr. 

 Wright had instituted prosecutions, 

 only two were destitute of a ra- 

 tional excuse. 



Mr. Whitbread said, that those 

 who remembered the proceedings on 

 the bill in question would be struck 

 with what they now heard. At 

 that time it was contended that 

 every thing should be done to in- 

 duce informers to come forward, 



