The Sun.
London, England, 1839-02-11 00:00:00

THE CHARTISTS AND REFORM

CHURCH-RATE ABOLITION

SOCIETY.

TO TIIE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
Sra,—Allow me, as a contumacious Cburchsraterecu:
sant, to tender to you my sincere thanks for your spirited
advocacy of the principles of religious liberty. Whilst the
Patriot, the self-styled organ of Dissent, has yerfound no
tongue to denounce the persecuting measures of the Church
authorities in this and other towns, The Sun, assuming
no such pretensions, has bean uniformly foremost ill
fighting the battles of the oppressed. Accept my thanks,
Sir, not only for the notice you have taken of the procee"'
ings recently adopted against myself, but especially for
your exposure of the weakness, the unsoundness, and to all
practical purposes, the worthlessness of that rampart against
ecclesiastical aggression, designated " The Church-rate
Abolition Society."
That Society, Sir, was one of the effects produced by
provincial agitation. A spirit had already been ea
cited very generally throughout the country, which
not even London apathy could damp, first by the
iin-
prisonment of Mr. Childs, and subsequently by the
declaration of Lord John Russell, that he contem-
plated no settlement of the Church rate question wbieb
would be satisfactory to Dissenters. It became quite clear
that LOndon Dissenters must stir or be left behind. 'rho
did at last resolve to move forward. The Church-rate
Abolition Society was formed. Its first measures %lilt
energetic. It put forth powerful addresses. kselet
able lecturers. It procured numberless retitions. '
made every demonstration of carying the Government 11
storm. In short, it seemed disposed to wield with full
effect the excitement prevailing among Dissenters general!'
As a crowning effort, it assembled upwards of four bundeee
delegates in the metropolis, to represent the wishes and de'
termination of Non-Conformists, to the Ministry. flare'
Sir, I fear the catalogue of its virtues must be closed.
Suspicious appearances began to present themselves on the
very morning of the assembling of the delegates. No in-
timation was given, none could be obtained of the course
the Committee intended to pursue, previously to the moving
of the several resolutions. No opportunity was allowed
of concerti ig a modification of these resolutions'
supposing it to have been desirable. Men from all parts
of the empire, from Scotland, ;from Ireland, from wales,
ere summoned to affix their seal to the fiat of the Church'
rate Abolition Committee. Discussion was as much ea
possible precluded. All kindred topics, such as the sePa.
ration, and the regium donum questions were forbidden by
the Chair. No reporter, but from the Patriot office, was
admitted—whether lee was paid for his task may one day
appear. Ministers, however, were waited upon—the del
gates returned—and from that hour, the Abolition Society
d
have done nothing but allay the excitement themselves ba
pretended to raise.

They had demanded the abolition of Church-rates on the
ground of the rights of conscience. The Bill of the
Chancellor of the Exchequer. never recognised that ground'
his speech at its introduction repudiated it with flippancy
and scorn, and yet this Committee, acting under the stl'e
of twenty-nine Members of Parliament, consent to Vs;
the rights of conseivice in abeyance, until the Chancellors
financial statements be v, rifled. What a miserable sacrificed
of high principle 1 And yet the Patriot, seemingly bltn
to the very essence of the whole question, regards the sP;
pointment of the Church Lease Committee as a sufficien
compensation for all our struggles. When will the part!
whom that paper represents understand that the earnest
Dissenters ahe struggling for a noble principle, and not for
the abolition of a paltry tax?
But the Society has of late been charged with solo!:
thing more than an abandonment of the high ground I"
once occupied. From various quarters murmurs of disss;
tisfaction with its financial arrangements have arisen, and
calls have been made upon them to show their accounts.
What has been their reply ? Ist. That they hav
had an interview with the Government, which has proved
sati factory. 2d. That their incompensated Secretary de-
serves the thanks and confidence of the Christian public'
3d. In a long address, that Dissenters must again awake
to do battle for their liberties. Sir, it had mfich better
become these gentlemen—it had been an easier,shorter,lnere
decisive way to clear their character, to have published a
detailed statement of their finances.
Such, Sir, is the Society whose hollow pretensions You
have happily joined with others to expose. It has Weil.
Dissenters a memorable lesson.- Henceforth they "I
cease to confide their cause to the keeping of a few leaders,
open by their very position to seductive and soporific WI
ences. They will rely upon themselves—they will,fe;
their strength—and will finally, unless I much Iola"'
win their liberty by passive resistance.
I am, Sir, your's, &c.,
WM. BA INES.

Leicester, Feb. 5, 1839.

n
A NDWICII ELECTION.—'rile A
e duty --
Journalist imposes upon us the necessity of commiserating the
weak and fallen, as much as congratulating the strong and victorious_•
How their shall we find words to express the deep and overwhelming
sorrows, the never-to.be-enough.expressed grief we feel for
,t
Sandwich Tories; who with considerable difficulty, and after It,'„
search, found Thomas Gladstone, Esq , and induced him to ono_;
himself as atandidate, to represent their religious and Constitution3_
opinions in Parliament. He, after high-raised " a most sup'
cessful canvass," and the promise of a colleafue in opinion at l),
next general election is " non inventity !"—in other words, on
Sun-
day morning, at four o'clock—he bolted !—How are the Tolo`'
fallen !—Kent Herald.
OBSERVANCE OF TILE SABBATIL—At a ge-
neral special meeting of the proprietors of the Zoological Garden,
ill Manchester, it was decided after a long discussion, by an over"
whelming majority, that the Gardens should not be opened to the
public on Sundays. There were only 11 persons in favour of opening
them. Considerable interest was excited on the occasion, in Con-
sequence of the Clergy of the establishment, all the Wesleyan and
Independent ministers, having on the preceding Saturday in all the
Manchester papers, remonstrated with the proprietors on the int"
morality likely to ensue, provided the views of some of the proprie-
tors known to be favourable to such a thing were carried into effect'
ELASTIC LIFE-BOAT.—111 the year 1800 Mi".
Henry Bell procured a small French vessel which he fitted up with
a steam-engine of four-horse power. It was inspected by Lord
1
Melville and several naval omcers, who had not the sagaoitl ~,
perceive in this miniature experiment the germ of that gig 3.-
tic power which has since been brenht to maturity. LI
Nelson, however, who was one of the party. wade ,
observation at the time which is worth recording :" Gen
tlemen," said our hero, "if you do not take advantage
of this invention, you may rely upon it other nations
will." This anecdote was brought to our recollection
by the circumstance which we stated last week rela-
tive to the proposal made from the Russian On'—n-
merit to Mr. Hennessy to patronise him on the condition
that lie would proceed to Russia and carry his life-beat
,
with him. There is one material circumstance in
the cases of ,
Bell and Mr. Hennessy, which uught to insure for the invention of
the latter a more ready patronage than that which Mr. Bell eXPer _
enced at the time when Lord Nelson made the observation which ty;
have quoted. Steam-boat navigation was then in its infancy,
Mr. Bell's, experiment with his four horse engine, pointed but is di"
perspective to the perfection to which steam-navigation with four or
five hundred horse power has since attained. Mr Hennessy's eh'',
tic lifeboat was in 1823, when he first exhibited it, as it is now, '-
perfect as it can be made. He subjected it to the severe test of s
voyage from Cork to London during a furious storm, in which our
shipping suffered severely; and so confident was he in the princiPle
on which his little vessel was constructed, that he made the
experi-
mental voyage in her himself—Liverpool Mercury.

THE NEW PORTABLE ALARUMrsizea
small Snuff-Box, can be placed on the dressing-table and set t°
Ring at any hour that may be required. Price Three Guineas'
T. COX SAVORY,
Watchmaker, Silversmith, and Jeweller, No. 47, Cornbill,
London
(Seven Doors from Gracechurch-street).

B TH .
On the 9th inst., in South AR S
urudley-street, the wife of y• • S,
Langdon, Esq., of the Middle Temple, of a son.
On the Bth inst., the lady of Mr. Samuel Deacon, of Wal• . brook, of a son.