The Sun.
London, England, 1837-05-29 00:00:00

parade the " chalk-stone" in his leg, as a men-
dicant does his sores ; but comes before them
boldly like a man, appeals to them as such,
and is successful as such. He does not say
pity the sorrows of a poor old man ;" but
" appreciate and reward the energies of one who Avill
fight your battles, as such battles should he fought :
who will stand by you through good report and evil
report ; and only asks you to stand by him so long as
he stands by you." Such is the language held by Mr.
DENNISTOUN, which we need not say is, in every
respect, the reverse of that held by Sir FRANCIS BUR-
DETT. One word more, The Member for Glasgow
is not qualifying for a Tory peerage. He has no am-
bition to hide his dishonoured head in a coronet. He
has no past that he would wish forgotten ; no present
that brings time blush into his cheek ; no future that
bids him tremble for the verdict of the historian. He
is "sound wind and limb," a man of the title Reform
breed, whose public and private conduct will alike bear
the strictest scrutiny.
That such a man should have been returned for
Glasgow—and returned, notwithstanding the herculean
opposition brought against him ; the intrigues of the
Tory whipper-in, who was sent down (express) for time
occasion ; the influence of the PEEL Club ; and the
example lately set by Westminster and Bridgewater—
that Mr. DENNISTOUN should have braved all these
obstacles ; home down all these obstacles ; and been
returned in the face of all these obstacles, is
a triumph which, as the Tory canididate justly ob-
serves, cannot be tco highly appreciated. It must be
rmiembered also that the Hon. Gentleman's ma-
jority is not a great, but an overwhelming, one.
It does not injure, but it destroys, the Tory fac-
tion in that city. It comes home to them indi-
vidually as well as in the aggregate ; for there is not
a single Conservative in Glasgow who did not make
Mr. MoNTEITH's case his own ; Who did not canvass
for him ; struggle for him ; speechify for him ; at clubs,
at committees, at hotels, at public-houses ; who did
not confidently anticipate his success ; and who will
not now mourn—and mourn bitterly—for his defeat.
The consequences of the Glasgow Election will be
felt throughout the kingdom ; and no where more
strongly than in the House of Commons. There it
will fix the waverers, alarm the apostates, and infuse
new courage into the Reformers. The Westminster
Election is already forgotten ; but what Liberal con-
stituency will forget, or fail to follow, the glorious
example set by the patriotic men of Glasgow, whose
conduct we regard with the same feelings of gratitude
with which we regard that pursued by the men of
Birmingham, when upwards of two hundred thcusand
of them met on Newhall-hill, and proclaimed, as with
one voice, " Let the Tories say what they will, the
Reform Bill shall pass I"
At the next public meeting of Reformers that takes
place, be it in town or country, let this be foremost
among the toasts :—" The health of the independent
men of Glasgow, who have wiped off the stain cast
upon the cause of Reform by the maudlin sentimenta-
lists of Westminster ;" and let this toast be drank
with three times three, and " one cheer more :"

We have always urged upon the Dissenters, and
those who, though in communion with the Esta-
blished Church, are at one with the Dissenters on
the question of Church-rates, that their own exertions
must be their main stay if they wish to shake off the
degrading burden which a rapacious and usurping
• hierarchy has bound upon their backs. Every day's
experience must convince them that it is utterly
hopeless to aim at success by any other means.
What does the justice of a claim, the righteousness
of a cause avail where the interests, real or supposed,
of the judges are arrayed on the opposite side. When Bi-
shops, Chapters, and lessees have combined to defraud
the Church, and grasp the public resources, it requires
something more effectual than reason and argument to
convince the confederates that a return to the path of
rectitude is the best course to pursue. What, then,
ought the Dissenters to do ? Ministers have done all
that was in their power in furtherance of the cause of
religious liberty, and the rights of conscience. They
have, in fact, thrown to the winds every other con-
sideration than that of carrying into effect the great
principle of relieving those who feel the payment of
Church-rates a grievous oppression of the burden,
without injury to the rest of the community. They
have even brought forward a plan which combined re-
lief to the Dissenters with positive advantage to the
Church ; and all that they have got from the so-called
friends of the Church is to have their views misrepre-
sented, their plans denounced, and the hue and cry of
" destruction" raised against them by the numerous herd
of factious knaves and ignorant bigots. It only remains,
then, for the Dissenters to fight out the good fight which
they have so nobly commenced. They are not—or we
mistake them sadly—made of materials which yield to
the first breath of opposition. The cause in which
they have embarked is one of paramount impor-
tance. It derives this importance—not merely
from its involving a civil right, but, also, from
the sacredness of the religious principle which
forms its foundation and its impregnable strength.
It is therefore the duty of this great body, distin-
guished as they have always been—immortalized as
they have sometimes been—for their adherence to the
dictates of conscience, in defiance'of all the persecution
which the State-supported Church could bring to bear
upon them, now to prove that their religious zeal
is as strong, and their religious principles as
uncompromising as were thOse of their ancestors.
They have hitherto acted, in the question of Church-
rates, with exemplary patience and moderation. They
have made a temperate appeal to the Legislature.
This appeal has been all but disregarded. They
must now prove to the country that they were
in earnest in seeking the redress of the grievance
of wl►ich they complained ; and this they can do only
1W one and all hencfforward rifirsing the payment of
Church-rates. This, we say advisedly, is the bounden
duty of the Dissenters ; and this, if their plea of
conscience be not what their enemies and calum-
niators are constantly casting in their teeth—a
mere pretence—they wi/i do. We are extremely
happy to see that this is the view taken of the subject
by the Dissenters of Bungay, who have ',.at a late
meeting passed some excellent resolutions which will
be found in another part of our paper. One of
these resolutions is in the following words :—" That,
as the most effectual means to this end (agitation) con-
sists in rendering the collection difficult or impractica-
ble, the individuals composing this meeting will refuse
to pay whatever Church-rates may be asses,ed upon
them."

Let the Dissenters throughout the kingdom follow
the example set at this meeting, and we will answer
for it that Church-rates will not survive another Ses-
sion of Parliament.

Another of those discreditable exhibitions, which
occasionally disgrace Exeter-hall, took place on Sa-
turday. We call the exhibition discreditable, because,
under the pretcite of supporting the Protestant reli-
gion, the parties who get up these meetings act in di-
rect opposition to some of its most sacred doctrines,
and, in place of encouraging brotherly love, charity,
and peace, do everything their power to excite the
most deadly hostility between two sects of Christians
and two parties in the State, who have sufficient
causes of estrangement, without adding to them the
gall and bitterness of religious controversy. And as
to discussion or fair play, there is not even a semblance