1

This wanton, profligate, and monstrous ex-un-English. Your petitioners certainly must penditure of the public mouey, has, by your allow that the boroughmongering system at hon. House, been followed up by an unjust, elections, with all its filigrant train of evils oppressive, and overwhelming system of bribery, perjury, and other accursed practices, taxation-a taxation, a parallel to which is not UN-English-that persecuting and cannot be found in any state, kingdom, or ruining whole families by the boroughempire on the face of the globe-a taxation mongering faction, because the heads of such that is rapidly impoverishing, degrading, aud¦ families have been persons of integrity, and sinking the middle and working classes of his voted from pure motives, is not UN-ENGLISH, Majesty's subjects iuto one general mass of but peculiarly English; your petitioners are misery and ruin. also aware that a lavish and excessive expenditure-that an over bearing system of taxation -that an astonishingly large national debt, &c. &c. are things which are not un- English, but PECULIARLY ENGLISH; and the sooner your honourable House makes them un-English the better.

Your Petitioners are of opinion that this hitherto wanton, profligate, and monstrous expenditure of the public money-this hitherto unjust, oppressive, and overwhelming system of taxation, are not only rapidly impoverishing, degrading and sinking the middling and working classes of his Majesty's And for the attainment of the above-mensubjects into one ganeral mass of misery and tioned objects, your petitiouers would earruin, but also producing the greatest dis-nestly pray your honourable House to take contents the most alarming fears, and such immediate steps as your honourable frightful consequences throughout the whole House may in its wisdom deem proper. community. Thousands of individuals, who And your petitioners will, as in duty bound, formerly were peaceful, happy, and loyal sub-ever pray, &c. &c. jeets, are now, through suffering innumerable. privations, and being plunged into the deepest distress, driven to deeds of desperation, so that the foundation of society is undermined, and the peace and prosperity of the kingdom endangered thereby.

PARSONS AND TITHES.

To prevent this approaching misery and ruin, to remove these discontents, alarining fears, and frightful consequences, with which the nation is threatened, to avert all these crying evils, your petitioners beg, entreat, and implore your honourable House to retrace your steps, by hopping off all unnecessary places, unmerited pensious, and disgraceful sinecures, by enforcing the most rigid economy in every branch of the expenditure; by diminishing instead of increasing the army, by reducing that enormous load of taxation; but, above all, by promoting such a radical reform in the representation of the people in your honourable House; as shall restore to them their long lost-rights, liberties, and privileges - such a Reform as shall for ever deprive all-routen boroughs from return ing Members to your honourable House; that shall give a more equitable and extensive suffrage to the productive classes of the kingdom; that shall materially shorten the duration of Parliaments, and that shall be suited to the increased knowledge and civilized age

I SHALL, next week, make a GRAND SHOW-UP of the PARSONS and the MARQUIS OF BLANDFORD, who has acknowledged that he did write a letter to a parson, telling him that it was reported that some connexion with the fires had been traced to me, and that I had absconded in consequence. I will, next week, deal with him for this, and I will show that same connexion with the parsons has been traced to him, and shall then leave the public to judge who it is that ought to abscond; that is to say, to hide, or keep out of sight. Ah! the parsons were deceived! They. were too eager in believing the lies of the Bloody Old Times, which, just then, actually snuffed my blood; literally smelled it; and had its nasty old tongue out, ready to lap it up! To amuse the parsons, and to stay their haimpatience for the Grand Showing-up, along with their co-operator, the Marquis, I here insert, 1. A Letter from a Correspondent in Wales; 2. An Account of the Proceedings of a Parson and his Wife against a Servant Girl;

in which we live. Such a Reform that shall enable every elector conscientiously to exercise his suffrage in VOTING BY BALLOT; so that good, patriotic, and intelligent men may be returned to your honourable House, the honour and welfare of the country advanced thereby, and that England may become, not in name only, but in reality, the

envy of surrounding nations, aud the admira-3. Several Petitions relative to Parsons tion of the world."

Your petitioners are aware that vote by ballot is disliked-is dreaded by the boroughmongering aristocracy and other traffickers in seats in your honourable House, because it is

and Tithes. When they have read these, they will, doubtless, sit down comfortably, and wait for the showingup of next week, which they shall have

in fine style, TREVOR and his motions were read, addressed the prisoner, a very mild,
notwithstanding.

respectable-looking young woman, and told.
her he was sorry to see a person of her ap-
pearance in such an awful situation. "If,"
said he, "the evidence which shall be given
be such as shall oblige me to commit you, and
you, in another and superior Court, be con
victed of the crime you are charged with, your
punishment will be death. Therefore I entreat
you to pay every attention to the reading of
the depositions, and put any questions to the
witnesses you may think proper, or suggest
any-thing to me and I will do it for you."
The prisoner, making a low curtsey, said,
"Thank your honour; I am wholly innocent."
If you are,” said he, “ still, should the evi-
dence be strong enough to oblige me to com-
mit, and a Jury to convict you, your punish-
ment will be as certain in this world, as theirs
will be in the next who may have falsely
sworn against you; therefore, pay strict at-
tention to the evidence of the different wit-

Carmarthen, Jan. 31, 1831.
SIR, I perceive in your last Register,
that a gentleman has written to you to
know whether you would consent to
allow No. 7 of "Twopenny
Trash" to
be translated into Welch, and that you
have consented; now I should like to
know where this gentleman lives, or
rather where the Welch edition will be
published, and the price by the dozen or
hundred. The Welch farmers are much"
dissatisfied with the Tithe System, and
I am sure if the above Number contains
something on the subject of Tithes it
will be eagerly read by vast numbers in
this part of the country. There was an
admirable and short article in your Re-nesses, and if I sit here for a week, I will
exert all my power to do you justice."
gister, about three weeks ago, which The Rev. C. A. Verelst was then sworn.
(with your permission) your corres- The substance of his evidence was, that the
pondent would also do well to get trans- prisoner had lived in his service about three
lated into Welch. The Clergy have weeks as housemaid; that he had seen the
prisoner at half-past two on the preceding
had the day, the people are now going day, near a door up stairs, the pulley of which
to have theirs. Success attend them.
he was adjusting; that about half-past three
I am, Sir,
he noticed a strong smell of fire; that it was
discovered to have been caused by a fire
which had been in a sort of cupboard under a
window-seat, in an unfurnished room in his
house, and that a piece of paper and a skip-
ping-rope, partly burnt (which he produced),
were taken from it by his gardener, George
Littey; and that he (Mr. Verelst) and his
butler,
Pincombe, afterwards found,
in the same place, a small piece of candle,
wrapped in a little bit of greasy newspaper
(also produced); that he charged the pri-
soner with having done it, and had her appre-
hended.

Your obedient Servant,
A. S.

A PARSON AND A PARSON'S WIFE! (From the Bridgewater and Somersetshire Herald.)

ON Monday, the 17th instant, a man was examined before J. F. Luttrell, Esq., M. P., at Dunster, ou a charge preferred against him by the Rev. C. A. Verelst, Rector of Withycombe, of attempting to set fire to his house. From the evidence of Mrs. Verelst and servants it appeared that the man came to the house and asked alms on the morning of the preceding day, and that soon after he left some matting, which had been nailed up against the outside of the house to protect some shrubs from frost, was discovered to be on fire; that the man was instantly pursued and searched, but nothing whatever was found upon him except twopence, which had been given him by some people of the neighbourhood. It was further proved that the man was only a short time on the premises. The worthy Magistrate dismissed the charge, but committed the prisoner upon another, under the Vagrant Act, for one month to the tread

mill.

On the Friday following, a young woman, who had lived about three weeks in Mrs. Verelst's service, was brought before the same Magistrate by her master, charged with having attempted to set fire to his house on the preceding day. The worthy and excellent Magistrate, before the several depositions

Mrs. Verelst was next sworn and examined.
She said she saw the prisoner, about half-past
twelve o'clock on the preceding day, searching
for a piece of soap in an unlocked closet ap-
propriated to the housemaid, holding in her
hand a bit of candle, without a candlestick,
about two inches long, wrapped in a piece of
newspaper. On being asked by the Magis-
trate how she knew the paper was part of a
newspaper, she said, "I was near enough to
discover that it was so; "and she swore posi-
tively that it was a piece of newspaper. This
drew forth a remark from Mr. Luttrell; that
in another place, if the charge went there, she
(Mrs. Verelst) would undergo a most search-
ing cross-examination. "For how," said that
gentleman, rolling up a small piece of printed
peper, printed with type about the size of that
used for newspapers, 66 can any person posi-
ively swear, from looking at this paper in
my hand, that it is, or is not, part of a news-
paper
""
? Mrs. Verelst then said, she would
swear it was a piece of newspaper to the best

""

of her belief. "But you have already, Madam,' said the Magistrate, twice sworn positively that it was a piece of newspaper." At this period the other witnesses were ordered out of the room. Mrs. Vereist then went on to say, that the prisoner went up stairs about two o'clock, though she had no business there, and described the discovery of the smell of fire, and her going into the room where the smoke was, when she instantly directed Littey, the gardener, to the windowseat, and cried, "There is the fire, tear down the boards." On being asked what made her direct Littey to the window-seat, she replied, "I saw the smoke issuing from it." She admitted the room was full of smoke at the time. She was asked if any rooms in the house had been washed or scrubbed that day, which it was the prisoner's place to do when it was necessary; she answered positively, "No." She further said, in answer to other questions, that the prisoner had given her notice to leave her service at the end of the month, but that they had had no quarrel.

not, aud that the, tinder-box was not out of the kitchen for the day.

The Magistrate directed the room to be cleared, while he cousulted his clerk. In about five minutes the prisoner and her accusers were called in, and we were again admitted, when the worthy and excellent Magistrate, addressing the prisoner, said, "I feel great pleasure in saying that you are discharged, and that I believe you to be wholly innocent; and that when you leave this room, you will do so as free from imputation of being guilty of the charge this day brought against you, as you would have done had you walked out of it a week ago. Cause for suspicion there was, and it is my belief that there was a fire to create an alarm, or some worse purpose, and that the fire originated with some one residing in the house, but that person, I believe, was certainly not you; and I heartily wish that the real criminal may yet be discovered and punished."

It was a market-day at Dunster, and the room was filled by the yeomanry and tradespeople of the town and neighbourhood, who heartily congratulated the poor girl (a stranger in the neighbourhood, and a native of Exeter)

The next person examined was her own maid, Harriet Merry, whose evidence was almost an echo of her mistress's, except that she did not swear positively that the paper on her escape, and a subscription was inwrapped round the candle was a piece of news-stantly made for her, which did as much paper; but to the best of her belief it was, honour to the subscribers as did their symand that the prisoner had the candle in a can-pathy and anxiety during the examination. dlestick, instead of holding it in her hand without one; she also swore positively that no rooms had been washed or scrubbed on that day.

The Butler, Pincombe, was examined next: he swore that he saw a candlestick, which was produced, about the time mentioned by Mrs. Verelst, near the housemaid's closet, with a piece of candle in it about two inches long, but whether it was wrapped in paper or not he did not know. In answer to a question, he said his room had been washed out that day. On hearing this, Mrs. Verelst rose from her seat and said," she begged leave to say that she now recollected that two rooms had been washed ou the day of the supposed fire, from a remark which Mrs. Merry, her maid, had made to her when she was about to enter them, 'Don't go into them, Madam, as they are damp, and you will take cold,' and which remark that moment came to her recollection."

The expressions of feeling during the time of Mrs. Verelst being examined were so strong that Mr. Luttrell was obliged to restrain them, and to declare," that, however unwilling to do so, he should order the room to be cleared if they were continued." At one time during her examination, Mrs. Verelst was so annoyed by the questions put to her, that she declared she would answer no more. Her husband and Mr. Luttrell, however, told her she must do so.

TITHES.

At a numerous and respectable meeting of owners and occupiers of land in the parish of Barnwell, in the county of Somerset, tonvened by the vestry, pursuant to public notice, and held at the Ship Inn, the 14th of January, 1831, for the purpose of taking into consideration the propriety of petitioning Parliament to repeal or alter the tithe-laws,

Mr. BISDEE, churchwarden, in the chair; The following resolutions were unanimously agreed to:

Moved by Mr. Ford, seconded by Joseph

>

George Littey, the gardener, then swore that he was alarmed at the cry of "fire"! that he entered the house, ran up stairs, went with his master into the room, which was full of smoke, and began to examine the cracks of the floor, when he was directed to the win-Hewlett,dow-seat by his mistress, who said, "Look in the window-seat, look in the window-seat;" which he did, and, found the piece of paper and skipping-rope partly burnt; there was no fire there then, and those things were cold.

That tithes were originally granted to maintain the edifice of the church, to support, the poor, to maintain the bishops and parochial clergy, and it was far from the granter's intentions, that tithes should be applied in the manner they are at the present day; which produces the effect of paralyzing in

The kitchen-maid was examined next, and in answer to questions put to her, said, that when the prisoner went up stairs she was industry in its efforts to increase the produce the kitchen, and if she had had a lighted of the earth, by taxing it in proportion to the candle she must have seen it, which she did exertions made for its productiveness.

Moved by Mr. Francis Keene, seconded by Mr. William Sheppard,

That the present rigorous exaction of tithes upon the diminished means of the farmers is peculiarly hard in this parish, which, in addition to the heavy poor-rates and other paro-evil chial taxes, are a grievous burden; and do bring the church of England into disrespect. Moved by Mr. Young, seconded by Mr. Salisbury,

That it is expedient to use all just and lawful means to obtain a great and effectual alteration in the tithe system; and, to effect this purpose, that petitions be presented to both Houses of Parliament.

That for a period of more than sixty years, your petitioners have had no resident rector, nor have seen one since 1810, but to hold his audit, three or four days in, the year. Your petitioners respectfully urge, that this crying of non-residence arises from the system of pluralities, and not from the unhealthiness of the parish, or the want of a suitable resi◄ dence.

Your petitioners humbly submit, that if ever a government had a right to enact for the clergy a tenth of the produce of the land, produced by a tenth of the capital employed in cattle, compost, fallows, weeding, tillage, taxes, rates, and seed, together with the tenth of the husbandman's toil and the entire benefit of every tenth labourer; the same power as created so odious an impost and prolific source of feuds and contentions, has a right to abolish it; and that all clerical claims of invested rights have been fully compensated by lack of service and partaking of the toil of the cultivator and the improvements of proprietors, without contributing towards them; and your petitioners humbly and respectfully insist, that if invested rights do exist, they belong to the government for the good and benefit of the people at large.

That your petitioners feel most anxious to press upon the consideration of your honourable House, the unanimity of this parish. That every occupier paying tithe, most earnestly pray your honourable House to abolish

short of one not re-newable; to do away with the tithe-laws; to agree to no commutation all unnecessary officers, such as deans, prebends, and archdeacons. And that your honourable House do take into your own hands. the whole of the church property of whatsoever tenor it may be.-That the bishops be equalized and paid as the judges; that pluralities be abolished, by compelling residence, with a stipend equal to its local respectability. And your petitioners will ever pray.

ISLE OF ELY.

At a vestry meeting held at the church at Newton, on Thursday se'nnight, the following petition to both Houses of Parliament was unanimously adopted,

To the Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, in Parliament assembled The humble petition of the undersigned, being chiefly owners and occupiers of land, in the parish of Newton, in the Isle of Ely, and county of Cambridge; SHEWETH,

"

That your petitioners regret exceedingly

Whereupon the following petition to the two Houses of parliament was moved by Wil

the agitated and distressed state of the kingliam Cornock, Esq., of Goldwick, seconded by dom, and humbly submit that the greatest John Cox Hickes, Esq., and carried unanimcause of such, in agricultural districts, is the ously, viz:working of the present Tithe Laws.

That the contents of this parish is under 2,800 acres, and the rectory glebe 372 acres rents for 6001. per annum, which, with the tithes of 7001., realises 1,3001. per annum, being an advance of 5001. per annum since 1810.

At a Meeting held this 20th day of January, 1831, pursuant to public notice, at the Vestry of the parish Church of Berkeley, to take into consideration the necessity of a petition to parliament on the subject of the tithes ;; Mr. Edward Andrews, one of the churchwardens, in the chair;

It was unanimously resolved,

That the present feeling and state of the parish require a statement by petition.

"To the hon. the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, in parliament assembled;

"The humble petition of the undersigned parishioners of the parish of Berkeley, in the county of Gloucester,

"That seventy-five persons in this parish have, at this present time, suits pending against them, at the instigation of the vicar;" and were your petitioners to take into consideration the vexation, annoyance, and expense thereby created, they are quite certain that equal to one-fifth part of the produce of the land is thus swept away and taken from them.