The Sun.
London, England, 1837-04-05 00:00:00

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his M ' y's Ministers. If any st%ch vres6fge;t, he invited
.he come forward and state, th eir okieetious, for he was
= d that information and int:full' svottld get rid of all such
ections. Before he Sat down, he wish 'to refer to two let-
ters which he had received on the subjec 0/Church-rates from
two members of the Government- -lie me it the Chancellor of
the Exchequer and Lord Hollant I.—(Thesflon. Gentleman
then read these letters.)' The fir.s, e from Lo litellanJes,as.
to the effect, " That, exclusive of et 'e measure of the Govern..
ment resting on the principle of reli.gious liberty, the misre- •
presentations by which it had been calumniated were more
shameful than any which he recolle& zed to have been resorted
to on any previous occasion, and evene.against the repeal of the
Test and Corporation Acts." Such was the opinion of Lord
Holland, who had grown grey in tithe. 'seating the princip'es of'
civil and religious liberty when that cawese was not so popular
as it. was at present.—(Cheers.) The. Han. and Learned
Gentlemen then read the letter of the Chancellor of :he Ex.
chequer, which was to the effect, " tin it much chenoue had
been excited against the proposition sus itaitted to Parliament,
but he felt convinced that when the proposition Ives well
understood it would be found to give full . relief to the Protes-
tant Dissenters, and at the same time to nnsure the iniportaat
object of securing permanence to the Clh urch, and thus re-
move many of the obstacles which now interfered with its
sphere of usefulness. He was convinced t hot it was desirable,
both for the sake of the Church of England and of the Dis •
senters, that they should be removed from ;ha apparently anta-
gonist hostile positiOns in which thek we to placed, had that
thus they would be left at . liberty. to teed° rra their important
duties of Christian instruction, in which. there was such a
large sphere open for their exertions.".—CCheers. ) He was
proud that such were the sentiments o f iiis Majesty's Minis-
ters, and he trusted that they would be sln ,ported in the plan
they had brought forward by the suppoitt of that and many
similar meetings of the kind.—( Cheers.),
Dr. BIEKBECK proposed the first yes o'll.ution—" That this i
meeting are of opinion that every religious ci 'enomination should
provide the funds necessary for maintaining: its own fabrics and
worship." He confessed that it was a mat ter of great satisfac-
tion that the Church would be able, -out co ' its own resources,
to provide for the expenses of religious Worsl iip in the churches,
as well as for the maintenance of those e 3 ifices.--(Cheers.)
It was also a matter of great satisfaction t o him that neither
the lessors nor the lessees would be injured by the proposed
arrangement. On the contrary, those farr, as TS who occupied
Church lands would hold them on a more s ?cure tenure, and
they would consequently be better cultivat ed, and thus the
country would be greatly benefited.—( Hear... ) A more admi-
rable, a more just, plan than that proposed by the Government
it was impossible to conceive : he therefore trusted that they
would join in-the support of those who had promulgated it, so
that it might be proceeded with to maturity.
Mr. J. G. SPARKS seconded the motion.
The motion was then put, and carried un a nimously.
The Rev. Dr. BENNETT, of Islington, p.m posed the second
resolution, " That this meeting express unfeegnecl satisfaction
that the House of Commons has affirmed tlsv resolution intro-
duced by the Right Hon. the Chancellor of the Exclieqner,
by which it has been determined that Chin ch-rates shall be
abolished." The Rev. Gentleman addressed the meeting in a
long and eloquent speech, for which we '-have not room for
more than an outline ; we have also been obliged greatly to
curtail the subsequent speeches. It might appear a matter of
hocus pocus, or to use a well-known te.esn, something like
thimble-rigging, to say that they would defray all those ex-
penses which were now paid by the Churche..eates without im-
posing the charge on any one ; but if they rooked a little far-
ther into the matter they would find that by improving the te-
nure on which ecclesiastical property was now let this result
would Le obtained. These lands were now 'let at a compara-
tively small rental, but fines were taken at every renewal of
the lease; namely, once in seven years. Thcese tines were now
to be abolished, and there was to be a fixed rectal. Some of
these fines were of enormous amount, and lie Lad heard of a re-
cent instance in which a bishop received a fine of 69 0001. for the
renewal of a lease. He had heard a joke respecting this re-
mark, which he a o :Id . t ite to then 0 sting.. This bishop was an
exceedingly pleasant man, and had received' the fine during
the absence of his attorney. The latter ors iris return visited
the Bishop, and in allusion to the fine said, " My Lord, I find
the See has been in motion since I have been away." The
Bishop replied, " Yes, Sir, and I can assure you that I am
not See sick."—( Loud laughter.) He could tat help feeling
that this was the most priest-ridden Protestant country in
Europe.
Mr. BARRETT WADDEN seconded the motion.
Mr. ALLAN, a Member of the Society of. Friends, proposed
the next resolution, which was, " That his Majesty's Ministers
are entitled to the confidence and gratitude of the country for
the introduction of that measure for the abolition of Church-
rates, as its success would heal the dissension which that vexa.
tious impost has caused in nearly all the parishes of the king-
dom, and promote that harmony between different sections of
the Christian Church which iss.desirable for the diffusion of
piety, for social peace, and for the national welfare ; and that
th:s meeting pledge themselves to employ every lawful and
constitutional means to effect the speedy abolition of the un-
just and obnoxious burden of Church-rates."
Mr. BOYEETT, Secretary of the Anti-Church-rate Society,
seconded the motion.

This resolution was then put and carried ; immediately
after which, a person in the body of the meeting, apparently
a labouring man, rose to oppose any motion of thanks to his
Majesty's Ministry. Ha went on indulging for some few
minutes in a tirade of abuse on the Government for their sup-
port of the Poor-laws, but the expression of the sense of the
meeting was so strong against his proceeding, that his ob-
servations could only be heard by those immediately about him.
Mr. EDWARD SMITH then proposed "That petitions to both
Houses of Parliament, founded upon the preceding resolutions,
he signed by this meeting, and by the inhabitants of the
borough; that the petition to the House of Commons be pre-
sented by Thomas Duncombe. Esq., and that to the House
of Lords by Lord Brougham ; and that the thanks of the
meeting should be given to J. Hume, Esq., M. P., and T.
Wakley, Esq., M. P., for their attendance that evening."
This motion was seconded by Mr. 0, SLEY, and carried.
Mr. T. DUNCOMBE M. P., then rose, and was received
with enthusiastic cheering. He did nut think that any en-
lightened or liberal man could object to the principle on which
his Majesty's Ministers intend to proceed —( Hear. hear.)
The plan proceeded on a priuciple to which no Dissenter
could object—it proceeded on a principle to which he thought
that all sincere clergymen should assent—he meant that all
religious sects or denominations should provide edifices for
their own pecidiar religious worship.—( Hear.) Such was the
measure before the House of Commons and the country. It
had received the sanction of the House of Commons after full
deliberation, when it had been the sole object of their opponents
to misrepresent and to mystify. He did not think that any as-
sembly in which there were not 300 Tories would have de-
bated in such a manner, and at such length, fur four nights,
this great measure.---(Cheers.) But he feared they would
have many more long nights if the people of England did not
put a stop to it.—( Hear.) He was sure unless there was a
strong manifestation of public feeling that the Tories in
the House of Commons, and the prelates in the
.House of
Lords would throw every impediment in the way of this
measure. Before the House of Commons had come to a de-
termination on the resolution, the Bishops had met at Lam-
beth to conspire against this measure ; and he trusted that
that meeting would be satisfied that when Bishops combined,
it was time for honest laymen to come forward and express
their feelings.—( Loud cheers.) That measure had met with
the opposition of the hierarchy on two grounds ; in the first
place, that body was opposed to every thing of a liberal and
reforming character, and the other reason was that it would put
a stop to the system of jobbing and intriguing and extorting
from the pockets of the people which had prevailed to such an
enormous extent.—( Cheers.) They had a specimen of this
jobbing in a recent transaction between the Bishop of London
and the Western Railway, respecting some land at Paddington
belonging to the see of London. [The Honourable Gentleman
here narrated the circumstances, which have been repeatedly
before the public.] In conclusion, he said that he should be
proud and happy to present the petition ; from what he had
seen that night he presumed the measure was popular, and
he would only add, that his satisfaction would be increased
if many thousands of names were added to the petition.
Thanks were then voted to the Chairman, who shortly re-
turned thanks, and the meeting broke up.

THE NEW WORK BY THE GERMAN PRINCE--

" SEM/LASSO IN AFRlCA."—Prince Puckler Muskau (observes
the Literary Gazette) is the Dick Jones, and often the Wrench,
of tourists. His volumes are extremely amusing—amusing
from the character of their author, and from the scenes he has
visited, and the people he has seen and described—Algiers,
Bona, Tunis, and interesting excursions into the interior, or
along the coast, form the subject. His descriptions of Moorish
society, particularly of Moorish ladies, is to the full as vivacious
and piquant as those he made in his famous book on England—
with this advantage, however, that the subject is more novel
and curious.

The ordinary meeting of the Institute of British
Architects was held on Monday evening, C. Fowler, Esq.,
in the chair. Several donations were announced, amongst
which was a series of architectural sketches in Spain, by Mr.
D. Roberts. Dr. Dickson then delivered his concluding lee-
ure on wood used in construction, after which the meeting ad.
tourned to the 17th of April.

The Commissioners of Post Office inquiry h•tve re-
cently recommended the establishment of day mails; and it is
very probable that this improvement, which has been much
called for, will be adopted shortly. There are at present .54
four-horse mails in England, and 49 pair-horse. The great-
est speed travelled is 10 miles 5 furlongs per hour ; the slow-
est speed 6 miles; and the average speed 8 miles 7 furlongs
per hour: The number of four-horse mails 'in Ireland is 30,
and in Scotland 10. Notwithstanding the highly-improved
state of our present mail system, the increase of the popula-
tion and of trade 'and commerce, 'demand additional facilities
of communication.

BIRMINGHAM THEATRE.—Mr. Fitzgerald, the
successful imitator of Mr. O'Connell, made his first appearance
at this Theatre on Monday evening last, and was most enthu-
siastically received. - The applause, after he had retired from
the stage, was kept up for a considerable time.

We learn the following from Bremen, in date of the
.20th ult. :—" The trade of this city is in a most deplorable
state. The warehouses are crammed with colonial produce of
every kind, which, in consequence of the fall in the market,
cannot be sold except at a loss. The trade in grain with
North America, at first turned out profitable, but subsequent
operations have' proved quite the reverse. We have also been
disappointed in receiving orders which were expected front
England."

EXTRAORDINARY MARRIAGE.—,On Monday
last, at All Saints, Poplar, by the Rev. C. Vaughan, Mr.
Frederick Hurst, to Miss Caroline Appleby. The bride was
a lady of nearly six feet, whilst the bridegroom measured only
forty inches in height.