The Sun.
London, England, 1839-04-13 00:00:00

PRICE sd.

HACKNEY PETTY SESSIONS.

CHUCII-RATES.—The Church-rate crusade has com-
menced iu Hackney in good earnest, and there is every
likelihood that this hitherto peaceble and quiet district
will soon rival, if not altogether surpass, the less ci-
vilized regions of Cornwall, in scenes of bigotry and re-
ligious persecution. It is reported that no less than
fifteen hundred summonses have been issued by the pa-
rish authorities for the recovery of Church-rates, and
from the exhibition which took place before the Magis-
trates, at the Petty Sessions in Hackney on Thursday, we
are inclined to believe that the amount has not been at
all exaggerated. At ten o'clock the Court-room was
crowded to excess by a large number of Church-rate
defaulters, amongst whom were several highly respec-
table and and influential members of the Society of
Friends. There was also present the Rev. Dr. Price,
a minister of the Independent or Congregational denomi-
nation, and Editor of the Eclectic Rcview, and the Rev.
Dr. Cox, the eminent Baptist divine, the latter of whom
took an active part in the proceedings.
Messrs. Gibson and Burnell were the Magistrates
who presided on the occasion.

Mr. Oxen, the solicitor appeared on behalf of a large
number of defaulters'.

The first case called was that in which George Offor,
Esq., a Magistrate, was defendant. The sum sought to
be recovered was eleven shillings.
Mr. Owen appeared for Mr. Offor. He said that
that gentleman was exceedingly desirous to attend in
person to state his objections to the demand, but from
the late hour at which the summons had been served
upon him the previous night, he had been unable to
make arrangements to that effect. It was a very vexa-
tious manner of proceeding to cite individuals upon
such short notice, and was evidently done with the view
of taking advantage of their want of preparation. In
the present case his objections were two-fold. In the
first place, he was instructed to state that the com-
pounding landlords had been improperly rated ; and, in
the second place, he denied the validity of this rate, in-
asmuch as the vestry at which it was made had been
improperly convened. Upon those grounds, he was
prepared to support his objections in the event of the
Churchwardens carrying the matter into the Ecclesias-
tical Court.

Mr. Gibson, the Magistrate, said that after this de-
claration of going into a superior Court, it was unneces-
sary to argue the matter farther, as it took the adjudi-
cation out of their hands.

I❑ the next case the Rev. Dr. Cox appeared as de-
fendant. The Rev. Doctor said he would express in a
few words his objection to the rate. He had been a
rcsiclent in the parish for upwards of 27 years, and
during that time he had made it a matter of conscience
to abstain from all interference in parochial matters.
He had never intermeddled is their concerns, nor would
he have come forward upon the present occasion, only
he feared that religion itself was involved in the issue.
This was the reason why he, a minister of the Gospel,
came forward to denounce those rates as iniquitous and
illegal.—(Some persons in the Court here set up a cheer,
which the Magistrates in taia endeavoured to repress.)
It was iniquitous for a Church calling itself the Church
of Christ to demand support from those who conscien-
tiously objected to its tenets.—(Hear.) The Church of
Christ had nothing to do with Acts of Parliament; It
did not authorise the violation of men's consciences.—
rs.) In former times they burned the heretics, but
now they appeared to be content to rob them.
Here the applause became so uproarious that Mr.
Gibson, the Magistrate, was obliged to request that the
Rev. Doctor would desist from pursuing such an excit-
ing line of defence. That was not the proper place for
entering upon a polemical discussion.

Doctor 'Cox said he had no wish to excite any mani-
festation of feeling upon that occasien, but the onus of
excitement should rest. on those who caused it. He
would state briefly, however, his objection to the rate,
which was that it had been applied by the vestry to pur-
poses not authorise.d by the Act of Parliament. Upon
this ground he would take his stand, and appeal against
the rate to the Ecclesiastical Court.

Mr. Mann, the defendant in the next case, com-
plained, that although the summonses were dated a week
back yet that many of them had not been served until
the very night previously.
Several other gentlemen who had been summoned
made similar complaints.
_ _

Mr. Gibson said, that as they were determined to
appeal it was unnecessary to hear anything farther of
the case.

Mr. Beck, a member of the Society of Friends, said,
that up to the present period the Society to which he
belonged had been treated with a great deal of
courtesy, but he regretted to see the parochial au-
thorities guilty of the bad taste of putting the terrors
of the taw now i❑ force, whilst a measure for the
final settlement of the question was pending before
Parliament. He did not mean to dony the legality of the
rate, nor did he intend to carry the matter into the
Ecclesiastical Court, but he wished to know whether it
was the intention of the authorities to send a man to
seize his furniture or his plate for the payment of the
sum of Hs., for which he was summoned. It appeared
that other parishes had been able, by a voluntary rate.
to meet every exigency, and he had hoped that the p.l-
- of Hackney would have had the good taste to adopt
a similar system.

Mr. Pulley, the vestry clerk, was understood to say
that the arrears 'of the Society of Friends was carried
over from year to year, as a matter of form, but were
never enforced. He had no doubt that such would be
the case in the present instance.
Mr. Beck expressed his satisfaction and retired.
Mr. Owen then rose on behalf of a great number
of clients by whom he was surrounded, to state his
objections to the validity of the rate, and his
reasons why the Court should proceed no farther
in the cases before it. He was instructed to state that
the course pursued by the Churchwardens was very extra-
ordinary,:and altogether unexpected. They had usually
summoned a number of persons for those rates who were
able to contest the question of validity; but on the pre-
sent occasion they had carefully excluded all those, and
summoned none but such as were likely to submit to the
demand. This plan of enforcing a rate was both par-
tial and unjust. He contended that the rate was inva-
lid, inasmuch as that the district parishes of South and
West Hackney, which by law were liable to the repairs
of the church of the mother parish for twenty years after
the separation, had not been summoned to attend at
the making of the rate, nor had they been assessed with
their proportion of it. This was his principal objection
to the rate, and ho hoped that the Magistrates would
see the necessity of not proceeding farther in the cases
before them.
Mr. Pulley replied at some length, and stated that
the opinion of Doctor Adams was unfavourable to Mr.
Owen's position. The case had been already frequently
decided.

Fhe Magistrates declined to adjudicate in those
cases where objections were made against the validity
of the rate ; and it now remains to be seen whether the
Churchwardens will carry the matter into the Ecclesias-
tical Court.

COURT OF COMMON COUNCIL.

Yesterday a Court of Common Council was held at
Guildhall, to receive a Report from the Police and
Watch Cnmmitteo, for petitioning Parliament for leave
to introduce a Bill for improving the Police of the
city of London.

'File Lord Mayor took the chair at twelve o'clock.
THE POLICE BILL—TRIUMPH OF THE CORPORATION.
Alderman VENABLES brought up the Report of the
above Committee. He said that the Committee bad
appointed a' Deputation of their body to wait upon
Lord John Russell, to request a conference with his
Lordship on the subject of the Bill before the House of
Commons, for improving the Police of the Metropolis.
His Lordship granted their request, and the Deputation
had a long conference with his Lordship on the follow-
ing day, when the whole subject was fully stated and
discussed. The result would be found in the Report.
The Report was then read, and it stated that at the
conference abovementioned Lord John Russell agreed
that the City Members should be allowed to introduce a
Bill into the House of Commons for the better regula-
rion of the City Police, and which Bill his Lordship
promised to support in Parliament. His Lordship
suggested the propriety of the Corporation of the City
of London appointing an officer with powers similar
to those now vested in the Commissioners
of the Metropolitan police, and that every
facility should be afforded for the corporation of
the City with the Metropolitan Police—that it
would be expedient to introduce such Bill into
the House of Commons, as early as possible. The
Report then recommended, that as by the standing
orders of the House of Commons, it was now too late
in the Session to bring in such a Bill, that a petition
be presented to the House praying fur the suspension
of such order, and leave to bring in a Bill, and that
such petition be presented immediately by the Sheriffs.
The Report concluded by stating, that the draft of the
said Bill was already prepared, and had been approved
of by the Committee.

Mr. ltouEns inquired whether Lord John Russell
approved of the draft of the Bill which had been drawn
up by the Committee.