Colonel Sibthorpewas sorry that he did not see the Secretary for the Home Department in his place; but though he was not present he could not have any hesitation in moving "That a return of the present valuation, as far as can be ascertained, of all the property, in lands, manors, forests, liberties, or of any nature whatsoever, which originally belonged to the several monasteries, abbeys, chapelries, or other religious houses, which, under various pretexts, and for other purposes than those for which they were established and endowed, have been from time to time alienated from the service of the Church; also a return of the names of the individuals to whom, and the periods at which, such were granted, and by whom they are now severally enjoyed." He thought it was high time that some Member should rise and defend the Church Establishment. He trusted the noble Lord would not shrink from any inquiry into these matters. Edmund Burke had said of that noble Lord's ancestor, the Duke of Bedford, that the grants to the house of Russell from the Church lands were not only outrageous to the Church, but absolutely staggered credibility. He had taken great pains to ascertain the exact amount of property which had been alienated from the Church—in fact, of which the Church had been robbed. In making calculations he had to rely chiefly upon historical records, and he believed that such alienated property would be found to amount to no less a sum than 938,308,000l. Where was the hon. Member for Kilkenny? Why did not that hon. Member take up this subject? He was sorry that he did not see the noble Lord, the Member for Stroud, or the right hon. Gentleman the Chancellor of the Exchequer in their places, but he hoped that no opposition would be given to this motion by the hon. and learned Gentleman, her Majesty's Attorney-General.
§ The Attorney-Generalsaid, that the only reply which he could give the hon. and gallant Officer was, that it would be impossible to furnish the returns which he had moved for. The hon. and gallant Officer had not suggested to whom the 353 orders for these returns were to be directed. They would go to every landed proprietor in England or Wales, and it would be necessary to search titles for a period of three or four hundred years back to see whether or not their estates ever belonged to the Church, and, having done this, to ascertain when they were granted from the Church, and to whom. On a moderate calculation at least fifty thousand orders should be issued by the House, and at least one million of titles examined. He supposed that the motion of the hon. and gallant Officer was intended merely as a piece of pleasantry, and to amuse the House. He should not have thought it necessary to say anything in replying to the motion of the hon. and gallant Officer if it had not been suggested to him by his noble Friend (Lord Morpeth) that he ought to explain to the House what its nature really was. He begged that the hon. and gallant Officer, seeing the utter impossibility of furnishing these returns, would consent to withdraw the motion.
§ Colonel Sibthorpcould assure the hon. and learned Gentleman that if the hon. and learned Gentleman supposed that he came there to waste the time of the House, or to amuse it, he was totally mistaken. He trusted that none of those alluded to by the hon. and learned Attorney-General, had had their title-deeds in the late fire in the Temple. He treated the observations of the hon. and learned Gentleman with the most sovereign contempt—and he was surprised that they should have fallen from one holding such a situation.
§ Motion negatived.