§ Mr. Harveysaid that he had to present a petition from an individual which was in every way entitled to the consideration of the House, inasmuch as it was the petition of a working clergyman who was very ill paid, and laboured hard. It was the petition of the rev. Charles Collier, vicar of Hambleton-cum-Braunston, in the county of Rutland, and the statement of the petition peculiarly merited the atten- 1134 tion of the House at a time when they heard so much of the doctrine of appropriation, and when there was so much laudable solicitude evinced that the revenues of the Church should be appropriated to their original purpose. The petitioner stated, that, in 1822 he was inducted to the living, that it was of the annual value of 150l., and that the value of the tithes originally derived for religious purposes exceeded the sum of 2,000l., which by one of those contrivances which characterised the discretion of our ancestors, and which was somewhat rising again in, the clauses of the Irish Tithe Bill, which proposed to appropriate 30l. per cent, of the property of the Church, gave the tithes of this parish to temporal purposes—tithes which were applicable in former times to the spiritual wants of the people—which realised a considerable sum, and produced 2,000l. Of this sum this individual received about 150l. The petitioner stated that 380l. was advanced from Queen Anne's Bounty for the express purpose of suiting the convenience and consulting the taste of his predecessor, and that it was expended in erecting stables adapted for a gentleman who indulged in fox-hunting, but which were wholly unnecessary for a person who had clerical duties to perform. This 380l. was charged upon the living, and the petitioner was called upon to pay the interest annually, and now threatened with legal proceedings in default of payment of the principal. In what way, he would ask, was this Gentleman to receive relief? Was there any party in that House to whom this Gentleman could appeal? Would that House call the Commissioners of Queen Anne's Bounty to account, and compel them to do justice in administering the funds committed to their charge? A sum of 30,000l. had been allowed to remain in the hands of the treasurer; the treasurer became an insolvent, and only 8,000l. recovered from the sureties, and that by his interference. The trustees afterwards agreed to make up the difference, but refused to pay the interest, so that 4,000l. a year was lost to the Society for ever. The petitioner called upon the House to protect him from paying a sum of money which had been misapplied to certain purposes, and in the way named in the petition.
§ Petition to lie on the table.