The Sun.
London, England, 1837-02-02 00:00:00

Nev York Papers, to the Bth inst., have ,been re-
ceived. They bring an account of the loss of the
Mexico, an American brig, hound from Liverpool to
New York,• in the vicinity of the harbour of her desti-
nation. Most of her crew, including 200 steerage pas-
sengers, from Ireland, were unhappily drowned.

We beg the earnest attention of our readers to the
ample and interesting report of the proceedings which
took place at the great meeting of Dissenting Delegates,
ALmbers of Parliament, and other friends to the
abolition of Church. rates, held this day at the London
Tavern. This numerous and most respectable assem-
bly have adopted the only tone which will ever be
listened to with attention by the legislature. There
has been patience long enough—forbearance enough,
and to spare. The Dissenters feel that it is now high
time that active and energetic measures should be
taken, to assert in the face of the world the right which
is the inalienable inheritance of every human
being—the right of yielding to their Maker that
tribute, and that only, which conscience dictates
to be due. What have the Dissenters gained
by their passive endurance of the evil for which they
now seek a remedy ? Just this—to be accused of in-
sincerity in the cause they are now advocating.
" Why," ask the hypocrites who bring forward this
charge—" why have you never stirred this question
till now, if you find it so great a grievance to pay
Church-rate. How happens it that you have never
made this discovery before ?" Now, to this it is quite.
sufficient answer, that there is a time for everything. •
The Dissenters, GOD knows ! have had enough to
complain of. They tried for more than a century to
get the repeal of a cruel law, by which they were ex-
cluded from all offices of trust, and stigmatised as
" aliens" from the privileges of the Constitution,
though they had been principally instrumental in
establishing that Constitution on its present basis.
But they did not succeed until the year 1828.
To have agitated the abolition of, Church-rates,
while the Test and Corporation Acts hung
over their heads—not to mention many other heavy
grievances—would have been hopeless, and they,
therefore, wisely abstained. But does that prove
they did not feel -the pressure of the burden ?
Assuredly not. While there was no chance of relief,
what was the use of complaining ? That time, how-
ever, has now happily passed-away, and a new order
of things begun. Now they have some chance of fair
play-110W- -they have some chance of 'getting the
waggon out of the mire, and, therefore, they put their
shoulders to the wheel.
The charge we have alluded to—the charge of " not
agitating sooner"—comes, too, with admirable grace
from those who are constantly heaping abuse upon the
Dissenters for being " political agitators."
The CIIAIRMAN of the Meeting made an eloque?

introductory speech ; and was followed by Mr,
WARD, the Hon.. Member for St. Alban's, who
strongly urged upon the Dissenters the necessity of
continuing their exertions with the same spirit with
which they had commenced, and they ‘vould extort a
satisfaCtOry arrangement of the great question at issue
in spite of all opposition. With regard to the nature of
the measure about to be introduced, the- Hon. Mem-
ber observed, that—
" When he said he believed that the Bill of the Government
would be a good Bill, this sufficiently implied that the princi-
ple on which the former Bill vtas founded would be entirely
abandoned.—( Hear, hear, and loud cheers.) That not one.
half of the Church-rates, nor one-twentieth of the Church.
rates, nqr any part of the Church-rates, should be charged on
the Consolidated Fund.—(Cheers.) He looked upon that as
the only position on which a good Bill could be founded, and
whatever his feelings might be towards the present Govern-
ment, if the Bill announced by Lord J. Ruissell, to be intro.
duced on the 27th of the present month, placed one single
fraction of charge on that Fund, he should feel himself, how-
' ever, reluctantly compelled to oppose it."—(Tremendous
cheering.)
In the following passage we find Mr. WARD cor-
roborating the opinion which we have always expressed
on this point :
"It (the payment of Church-rate out of the national reve-
nue) would place the DissexterS, as regarded Church-rates,
in a worse situation than they were in at present ; for any
transfer of the Church-rate to the Consolidated fund would
deprive them of that control which they now had over it.
For instance, they had now the power to grant the Church-
rate or not, according as the majority of their numbers went.
(Cheers.) It would be unjust and impolitic to take that
power out of the hands of the majority, and make Church-
rates similar to tithes."

After noticing some of the arguments so often ad-
duced in favour of Church-rates, the Hon. Member
thus adverts to that of their being established :

" One other plan to which he should advert as a reason in
favour of Church-rates was, that it was an established system
—( Hear and laughter)—that it worked well. The proof of
its working well was to be found in that large and influential
meeting--( Cheers) in the anxiety which brought together 400
delegates from the remotest parts of the country to oppose and
put it down—(Cheers—and yet they would be told that it
worked well.—(Cheers.) That was the old plea for every
abuse. For the last 300 years it was never proposed to do
away with any grievance, but they were told that the system
worked well. They were assured that the rotten boroughs
worked well.—(Cheers.) That the Test Acts worked well.
--(Continued cheers.) They were now assured that the
monstrous evils of tho Irish Church worked well."—(Tremen-
dous chering.)
Sir CULLING E. SMITH, as a zealous Member of
the Church of England, strongly advocated the aboli-
tion of Church-rates, which he considered decidedly
injurious to her interests. " To the Members of the
Church of England," observed Sir C. E. SMITH.
" He said that it was for their interest that an alteration
should be made. The great and ruling motive with him was
the absolute injustice inflicted upon Dissenters, and upon
that principle he never would be a party to injustice. He
would never cease to advocate the question, merely because
his individual interest was concerned. The claim was a para-
mount one."

Mr. HUME, who was received with loud cheers,
in alluding to the variety of dissenting grievances
which still remained to be redressed, strongly recom-
mended the concentration of their energies to one ob-
ject at a time. The Honourable Gentleman said that,
" He believed that not one shilling would be placed ih
the Consolidated Fund by the Bill now in preparation.
The Members of the House of Commons would not be called
upon, therefore, to oppose that part of it, but they would
be called upon to give their best assistacce to the Ministry,
to carry the question.—(Cheers.) He could not look to the
proceedings of the past year, without some suspicion that
the same power which had already strangled many good
and beneficial measures would be brought into action on the
present occasion. He was satisfied that the conduct of the
Ministry could only be strengthened by all friends to the
question being united, and he congatulated the friends of
civil
body andore relihim."gious liberty on seeing such a united and strong
bef

Mr. HINDLEY, M.P., a member of the Dissenters'
Committee at Manchester, in seconding one of the
Resolutions, said that he need not tell the meeting of
the spirit of the Dissenters in that town :
" He need say that though none of that body was able to be
present in consequence of illness, yet they were there in spirit.
They were determined to fight the battle, and they would not
take any thing less than total abolition.—( Cheers.) If
they wished for any further pioof of the spirit of Manchester,
he had the pleasure to tell them that there had arrived in this
city this week a petition from Manchester, signed by upwards
of 35,000 people.—(Tremendous cheering.)"
The following instance of the weight with which
Church-rates press upon the DisSenters, was . given
by Mr. HINDLEY, and it is, we think; an admirable
illustration of the " working of'the system" I.
" lie lived in the towns* of Duttonficld, Whlch contained
about 20,000 people, all of whom were supplied with spiritual
food from pastors of their 01Vh appointment, and who were
paid b themselves.--( Loud cheers.) They lived seven miles
&Jut the parish church of Stockport. Even its bells they
had never heard, The Minister not one of the people of
the township had ever seep, except when they were about
to he pnited. m the bonds of bely matrimouy.L--( Laughter.)
Xet in lEi32—,he did not know whether his Hon. Friend
the Member for Middlesex was then in the House—they came
from Steekgort and obtained a Dili from Parliament to build

feel satisfied that no further attempt would be made to
deprive them of the Constitution.

The Ex-Empress of BRA zu was about to depart
o❑ a visit to Gcrmany for two months. The QUEEN
readily consented to a separation which circumstances
have recently rendered no longer painful to her.