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given a new impulse to the undertaking, and has brought an accession of most liberal benefactions, which his Majesty has been most graciously pleased to augment with a munificent donation of one thousand pounds. The establishment of St. David's College, though intended chiefly for one Welsh Diocese, may eventually be useful to the other three; and in proportion as the Welsh clergy are employed in their ministerial duties in England, it may be beneficial to the whole Church. It may also relieve the Universities, by retaining at home many young men, who might otherwise venture, beyond their means, to resort to them. The proof which the Universities have given of their approbation of the undertaking by their very liberal contributions, affords a most encouraging testimony to its utility.

T. ST. DAVID's.

Abergwilly Palace, August 9, 1822.
Amount of subscriptions, £8375 2 0

Ecclesiastical Preferments.

Rev. J. BREEKS, Carisbrooke, V. Isle of Wight, with the Chapels of Newport and Northwood annexed.

Rev. E. R. BUTCHER, Chapel Royal
Perpetual Incumbency, Brighton.
Rev. S. KENT, of Southampton, elected
Chaplain of Royal Yacht Club.

Rev. PHILIP BLISS, D. C. L. and Fellow of St. John's, Oxford, elected one of the Under Librarians of the Bodleian Li brary, vice Nicol, now Regius Professor of Hebrew, and Canon of Christ Church. The Rev. JOSEPH LAWRIE; of Dumfries, appointed by the Hon. the East India Company, second Minister of the Presbyterian Church in Bombay.

The Rev. HENRY TATTAM, Rector of St. Cuthbert's, Bedford, appointed and licensed by the Bishop of London to be Chaplain to the English Church at the Hague.

The Rev. Lord W. SOMERSET, appointed to the Prebendal Stall in Bristol Cathedral, vacant by the resignation of the Rev. F. Blomberg.

Removals of Ministers.

THE REV. PENDLEBURY HOUGHTON has given notice of his intention to resign the situation of one of the ministers in Paradise-Street Chapel, Liverpool, in March

next.

THE REV. WILLIAM STEVENS resigns at Lady-Day next, the pastoral charge of the Unitarian Congregation at Newport, in the Isle of Wight.

THE REV. JOSEPH MARRIOTT, of White Church, Salop, has accepted the invita

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Court of King's Bench, Nov. 14. THE KING v. SUSANNAH WRIGHT.-Mr. GurNEY prayed the judgment of the Court upon the Defendant, convicted of pub. lishing a blasphemous libel upon the Holy Scriptures. (See Mon. Repos. last number, pp. 645-647.) Mrs. Wright pro. ceeded to read a manuscript in defence of the matter alleged to be libellous, but was stopped again and again by the Court, and at length committed to Newgate till the 4th day of next term, that she may be better advised, and instructed to offer what was fit for the Court to hear. The reporter says, that from her manner she seemed to exult in the determination of the Court.

THE KING v. SAMUEL WADDINGTON.— The Defendant, who was convicted at the

late sittings in Westminster of publishing

Principles of Nature, was brought up for a blasphemous libel, contained in Palmer's and on this amongst other grounds, that judgment. He moved for a new trial, Lord Chief-Justice whether it was an inone of the Jurymen having asked the dictable offence for any person to publish his Lordship answered in the affirmative, a work denying the divinity of Christ, found him Guilty. Now he insisted that upon which direction, he said, the Jury clearly wrong, because the statute exin this respect the learned Judge was tending liberty of conscience to Unitathe godhead of Christ was not an offence rians had expressly declared that to deny GENERAL said the Defendant had misin the eye of the law.-The SOLICITORstated what took place at the trial. In answer to the question alluded to, put by the Juryman, the Lord Chief-Justice did not say that to deny the divinity of Christ was an indictable offence, but that a publication, like the present, in which our Saviour was called a murderer and an impostor, was a blasphemous libel, and indictable as such.-Mr. Justice BAILEY, Mr. Justice HOLROYD and Mr. Justice BEST, severally expressed their opinions against a new trial, and maintained that the direction of the Chief-Justice upon the character of the libel was perfectly right, because, independently of the statute alluded to, no man of common sense, to whatever Christian sec the belonged, could doubt that it was libellous to speak

Intelligence.-Legal.

of our Saviour in the terms contained in this publication.-The DEFENDANT addressed the Court in mitigation of punish ment, and warned the Judges against giving an unjust sentence, as they tendered the account they would have to give of their own conduct at the day of judgment. The COURT sentenced the Defendant to 12 months' imprisonment in the Middlesex House of Correction, and at the expiration of that time to give security for his good behaviour for 5 years, himself in 100%. and two sureties in 50%, each.

In the Court of King's Bench, Nov. 19, WILLIAM CLARK, bookseller of the Strand, was brought up for judgment, having been convicted, at the sittings after the last term at Westminster, of publishing an Atheistical libel, entitled Queen Mab, by Percy Bysshe Shelley. The Jury had recommended the defendant to mercy on the ground of the destitution to which he had been reduced. The defendant now put in an affidavit, stating, amongst other things, that he published the work as a literary or poetical curiosity; that he had no object or wish in selling the work, beyond the gain he might probably make by the publication, and that, shortly be fore the commencement of this prosecution, he printed and afterwards published a pamphlet which contained an answer to the doctrines in Queen Mab; that on his receiving notice of its prosecution by the "Society for the Suppression of Vice," he offered to Mr. Pritchard, the agent of the Society, to give up the whole impression; that he wrote afterwards to Mr. Wilberforce, one of the members of the Society, making the same offer, and entreating his merciful consideration of the case, but received from Mr. Wilberforce only the verbal answer, that deponent was not a person to be treated with, and must go to trial; and that he had a wife and two small children entirely dependent upon him for support; and that by the prosecution he had been reduced from a state of considerable mercantile credit to insolvency, and compelled to undergo the disgrace of taking the benefit of the Insolvent Debtors' Act. This being read, the Defendant," a young man of gentlemanly address and considerable cultivation," entreated as he was completely destitute, that the Court would rather increase his term of imprisonment than call upon him to find sureties for his future good behaviour, as he should not be able to procure them. He did not care if it was solitary confinement, as he had some literary works on hand, to which he wished to apply him

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self. Mr. GURNEY addressed the Court in aggravation, and in forcible terms called their Lordships' attention to the heinous character of the libel. The CHIEF JusTICE asked the Defendant, whether if the Court were disposed to let him go upon his own recognizance to come up for judgment when called upon, he was prepared on oath to give up all the copies of the libel which were in his possession ? The Defendant said he was prepared to give up the only two copies which were in his own possession; but that all the remaining copies had been detained by the printer for a debt of 50%., which he owed him, and which were now selling at the machine, of which his Lordship was no doubt aware, for the benefit of the printer, and not for his benefit. Mr. GURNEY said this was an additional aggravation of the printer's offence, as he stated on the face of the work that he was himself the printer. The CHIEF JUSTICE. Will you give up the name of the printer? The DEFENDANT replied, that though he and the printer were at variance, still, under the agreement into which they had originally entered, he could not fairly give him up to prosecution. He would rather suffer any punishment himself than be guilty of such a breach of faith. The CHIEF JUSTICE observed, that the object of the Court would be to secure the copies of the work which were unsold. The DEFENDANT was then permitted to retire upon an understanding that he should come up again this day se'nnight, and in the interim have such communication with the Solicitor of the prosecution as might lead to the object which the Court was desirous of effecting-namely, the entire suppression of the work.

Nov. 25. W. CLARK was this day again brought up for sentence. He-put in an affidavit purporting that only 25 copies of Queen Mab remained unsold in the hands of the printer; and that these were now brought into Court; that before 50 copies of the work had been sold, the Defendant repeatedly offered to Mr. Pritchard, attorney for the prosecution, all the remainder of the impression, and that he verily believed the copies now produced in Court were all that remained undisposed of, because in his experience as a bookseller, he always found that the circumstance of a book's being the subject of prosecution produced a very rapid sale of such a book.—Mr. GURNEY urged the sale of the copies and the refusal to give up the printer's name (which the Defendant persisted that in honour he could not give up) in aggravation of punishment.-On the 25 copies being given up

to the Society for the Suppression of Vice, the Court proceeded to sentence the Defendant to four months' imprison. ment, at the same time praising the general conduct of the Defendant during the prosecution.

In the Court of King's Bench, Westminster, June 1, Lord SONDES brought an action against FLETCHER, Clerk, to recover damages on a bond for 12,0002. The defendant had been travelling tutor to Lord Sondes, who, in 1814, presented him with the living of Kettering, in Northamptonshire; taking from him the bond above described, to enforce his resignation of it as soon as either of his lordship's younger brothers should be qualified to hold it. This condition, which the bond was to provide for, was brought about in 1820, when Mr. Fletcher was required to resign in favour of the Hon. W. Watson, one of the plaintiff's brothers. He refused, however, and contended that the bond was void on the ground of simony. The action was accordingly for the amount of damages conditioned in the bond. For the defendant it was alleged, that he had quitted a valuable curacy to accompany Lord Sondes in his continental tour, on the understanding that he should be presented to the first living that came into the gift of his noble pupil,-that when he was presented to the living of Kettering, subject to the hard condition of the bond, it was understood that he should hold it until Lord Sondes could give him some other preferment which he might absolutely enjoy-which engagement had never been performed. That in point of law, the bond in question was void as against ecclesiastical policy, which directed that the union between a clergyman and his parishioners should not be broken at the caprices of individuals, but should be severed only by death.-That, at all events, so many deductions were in equity to be made from the sum stated in the bond, as would make the damages merely nominal. Witnesses proved the net value of the living to be 7461. per annum. Mr. Morgan, of the Equitable Insurance Office, stated that the living was worth to the defendant, at his time of life, ten years' purchase, but to the Hon. W. Watson, a young man of 24, it was worth 24 years' purchase, which would give 10,4402. The counsel for the plaintiff (Scarlett), denied the promise of another living. He would have the jury to judge which party was likely to make an imprudent bargain, and to suffer by the cunning of the other-a young nobleman just entering life, or a clergyman of

mature years, classical education, and knowledge of the world. The policy which had been imputed to the church had no existence. Was it true that a clergyman was married to his first living, and might never afterwards have intercourse with other parishes? If so, there could be no preferment-no dean could ever be made a bishop, and translations could exist no longer. The offer was again repeated, that if Mr. Fletcher would resign, the bond should be cancelled. The Lord Chief Justice charged the jury, that at present they were not called on to give any opinion as to the legality of the bond, They were not compelled to give the whole penalty, but might make such deductions as they thought fit. In his opinion, the way to estimate the value of the living was in reference to the life of Mr. Watson, and not of Mr. Fletcher. They had no power to compel Mr. Fletcher to resign; but they must give compensation in money to Lord Sondes, not because money was strictly a compensation, but because, as in some other cases, it was the only one which they could render. The jury, after inquiring whether Mr. Fletcher could not be obliged to resign, and receiving an answer in the negative, assessed the damages at 10,0007.

The defendant afterwards moved for a new trial, but this was refused.

A MEETING took place at Edinburgh a short time ago to take into consideration the state of the Greeks, when Dr. M'CRIE, the biographer of John Knox, moved a series of Resolutions, of which the following are two: "That the name and history of the Greeks are associated with recollections of the most sacred nature, and excite in the breast of the scholar, the patriot and the Christian, a deep and lively interest in the fate of that once illustrious, but long oppressed and degraded people."-" That a subscription be immediately opened for the relief of those Sciots who survive the massacre, and such other Greeks as may be placed in similar circumstauces." A considerable sum is said to have been immediately subscribed. A meeting for the same purpose was called at Glasgow, but put off for a time lest any political discussions should manifest an appearance of party during the King's visit.

Sunday Tolls.

THE General Turnpike Act, which takes effect on the 1st of January next, provides for the exemption of Dissenters from Sunday Tolls in going to and from their usual places of worship. But the

Intelligence.-Parliamentary. Resolution on the Slave Trade. 719

exemption is said not to apply to any turnpike within five miles of London.

THE Unitarian Society has resolved to reprint RAMMOHUN ROY's religious tracts, as soon as a complete collection can be obtained. This is an act of justice to that distinguished Reformer, since the Baptists, with censurable partiality, have republished Dr. Marshman's part of the controversy with RAMMOHUN ROY, on the subject of the Trinity.

PARLIAMENTARY. HOUSE OF COMMONS,

JUNE 27, 1822.

Resolutions on the Slave Trade, moved by Mr. WILBERFORCE, and seconded by Mr. W. SMITH.

"Resolved, nemine contradicente, That an humble address be presented to his Majesty, to represent to his Majesty that the deep interest which this House has so long taken, and still continues to take, in the abolition of the Slave Trade, has led us to peruse with no little solicitude the papers relative to that subject, which by his Majesty's commands were lately laid before us; nor could we forbear indulging a hope that his Majesty's renewed representations and remonstrances would have at length produced the desired effect of causing the various governments by whose subjects the Slave Trade was still carried on, seriously to consider the numerous and powerful obligations under which they lay, to co-operate with his Majesty, heartily and efficiently, in order to put an end for ever to this enormous evil.

"But that we have learned with grief and shame, that, with very few exceptions, every hope of this nature has been altogether frustrated, and that we are still compelled to witness the strange and humiliating spectacle of practices which are acknowledged to be made up of wickedness and cruelty by the very governments whose subjects are nevertheless carrying them on upon a great and continually 'increasing scale.

"That we observe, however, with satisfaction, that the powerful reasoning and continued expostulations of his Majesty's government, enforced by the strong and persevering remonstrances of his Majesty's Ambassador at the Court of the Netherlands, have at length produced an admission of the just construction of the treaty with that Power.

"That we are glad to see that some

of the abuses have been corrected which had prevailed in the conduct of the courts of mixed jurisdiction at Sierra Leone, but that experience has proved the necessity of altering that provision, which renders it necessary for the slaves to have been actually on ship board to justify the condemnation of the vessel, and of allowing due weight to be given to that decisive proof of the object of the voyage, which is afforded by the peculiar mode of fitting and equipping slave vessels.

"That it is some alleviation of the pain produced by the almost uniform tenour of these distressing accounts, to learn that the Cortes of Spain have subjected all who should be found concerned in Slave Trading to a severe punishment; and that with this evidence of a just estimate of the guilt of the crime, we cannot but hope that they will not rest satisfied with a legal prohibition, but that they will provide the requisite means for carrying their law into execution.

"That we find with concern that the vessels of Portugal, so far from gradually retiring from the trade, have been carrying it on with increased activity, more especially on that very part of the coast which is to the north of the Line, in direct violation of the treaty by which she had stipulated to confine her trade to the south of it.

"That we cannot but cherish the hope that the new Government of Portugal will manifest a warmer zeal for enforcing a treaty which every law, divine or human, binds her to observe; that we have observed with no little pleasure the zeal for the abolition of the Slave Trade that has been manifested by the commanders of the ships of war of the United States of America, employed on the coast of Africa, and the disposition they have shewn to co-operate with the officers of his Majesty's navy for their common object; but that we are concerned to have perceived in the American Government no disposition to give up the objections it formerly urged against the establishment of a mutual right of examining each other's ships on the coast of Africa. That we had hoped that the powerful arguments used by a committee of the House of Representatives in favour of this arrangement would have their just weight, more especially that which points out the difference, or rather contrariety, between this conventional and qualified system and the right of searching neutral vessels, without any previous treaty, as claimed and practised in war. Above all, that the consideration so strongly enforced, that it is only by the establishment of some such system that the trade

can ever be effectually abolished, would have induced the American Government to consent to it, when the object in question involves the rights and happiness of so large a portion of our fellow-creatures. "That with the decpest concern we find, as in the last year, vessels under the French flag trading for slaves along the whole extent of the coast of Africa: at home and abroad, proposals are circulated for Slave-Trading voyages, inviting the smallest capitals, and tempting adventurers by the hopes of enormous profits. That the few ships of war of that country stationed in Africa, offer no material obstruction to the trade, nor do the governors of her colonies appear to be more active; and all this while the French Government reprobates the traffic in the strongest terms, and declares, that it is using its utmost efforts for the prevention of so great an evil. That it is deeply to be regretted that a government which has been generally regarded as eminent for its efficiency, should here alone find its efforts so entirely paralysed. That, meanwhile, we can only continue to lament that a great and gallant nation,

eminently favoured by Providence with natural advantages, and among the very foremost in all the distinctions and enjoyments of civilized life, should thus, on its restoration to the blessings of peace, and to the government of its legitimate sovereign, appear, in fact, to be the chief agent in blasting the opening prospects of civilization, which even Africa had begun to present, and in prolonging the misery and barbarism of that vast Continent.

"That on the whole we conjure his Majesty to renew his remonstrances, and to render it manifest that his interference has not been a matter of form, but of serious and urgent duty. That this country will at least have the satisfaction of knowing that we have been active and unwearied in making reparation to Africa for the wrongs with which we ourselves were so long chargeable, and we cannot doubt that we shall ultimately be able to congratulate his Majesty on the success of his endeavours, and on his having had a principal share in wiping away the foulest blot on the character of Christendom."

CORRESPONDENCE.

Communications have been received from Messrs. Theophilus Browne; T. C. Holland; Joseph Jevans; and J. W. Pigg: Also, from F. S.; I. B.; T. G.; S. C.; and I. B. (Sheerness).

The continuation of Discipulus has come to hand. His other proposed communications will probably be acceptable.

We design for an early Number the Essay on the Principles of Criminal Law from the author of "A New Version of some of the Epistles of Paul."

In our next we propose to insert Colonel Stanhope's further Letter on the subject of a Free Press in India.

X.'s Letter shall be sent to Mr. Wellbeloved.

The Letter on Bible Societies has, we fear, miscarried.

Mancuniensis is put into the hands of the Gentlemen referred to, as is also H. W. By an accident, the continuation of the Review of the work on "Church Property and Church Reform" is deferred.

Letter II. from the late Rev. James Nicol was mislaid, but is recovered, and will be brought into the next Number.

We have the pleasure to announce that the UNITARIAN FUND Committee propose to print occasionally a paper to be stitched up with the Monthly Repository, containing a REGISTER of their proceedings, and the most interesting articles of their Correspondence, especially the Foreign. This Register will contain more or fewer pages, according to the matter on hand. It will, we are persuaded, be very acceptable to the Subscribers at large. A letter from Mr. ADAM, the Unitarian Minister at Calcutta, (see pp. 682-690 of the present Number,) to Mr. Fox, the Secretary to the Unitarian Fund, will, we understand, be introduced into No. I. of the REGISTER.

Various Subscriptions have been received by Rev. R. Aspland and Mr. Smallfield, for repairing the loss of the Rev. L. KIRBY, (see p. 647,) which have been remitted, according to their design.

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