The Sun.
London, England, 1836-06-24 00:00:00

Porindrit to d requisition, numerously and respt.: ctably
signed, add presented to the Mayor;,his -Worship comvenca
a public meeting at th inhabitants of Truro; at the Sown..
hall, on Monday evening' last, for the puhiOge of petitioving
the Legislature for the abolition of Church-Rates. Thu
chair' vins taken at seven o'clock by the Mayor, who pro-
ceeded to open the business of the i:tecting by stating. its
object.
The Rev. W. Moonu rose to move the first resolution,
and said—lt is almost superfluous for me to sa'ar, I stall&
before this assembly as a conscientious Dissenter from the:
Estahlished Church. It is imposition on conscience' which
has brought me here this evening—an imposition has
stained the Itlstory of my beloved country, and irhic II we
could Ifieh to be cad into eternal oblivion.—(Cheers.) We
wish to see the throne of England chaste, and rich in lust re
as the ivory and the gold on which Solomon sat and dis-.
pensed justice and jetagment—justice to the innocent and:
oppressed, and judgmec4 to the lawless and disobedient.—
(Cheers.) In speaking of the shade which still rests upon
the throne, I refer to that impost against which we have
met this evening to petition.(Hear, hear.) The motion
I hold in my hand speaks of it as unjust in principle, and
to every thinking and liberal mind it must he obviously un-
just. It is true that the warrants for distr,aint have the
words "justly due ; " but never were words more egre-
giously misapplied, and never was moral principle more so-
lemnly desecrated than by such a preamble.--(-.Cheers.)
We are told they are "justly due," for it is the law of the
land ; but I am under a superior law in matters of con-
science. The law of my religion teaches me to give unto
Caesar the things that are Caesar's, but I must stop there ;
I cannot give unto Caesar the things that are God's, with-
out violating the supreme authority of the Divine Lawgiver..
.--(Cheers.) After some further observations, the Rev.
Geni!eman concluded by stating that it was the determina-
tion of h'mself, in common with many other Dissenters in
Cornwall, to follow the example of their friends, the Qua-
kers, by resisting* the payment of an impost so unchristian
and unjust.
Mr. ROBERT MICHELL Seconded the resolution which
was unanimously adopted.
The Rev. E. CLARKE, in moving- the next resolution,
observed :—lt is with unfeigned reluctance that I appear on
the present occasion ; but as the object of the meeting is
so essentially connected with the great come of religious
liberty, I dare not be silent. It is with great pleasure that
we acknowledge the liberal measures for marrt:Te and re-
gistration which have been introduced by Lord John
Russell into the House of Commons, but from the state-
ments recently reported to have been made by his Lordship,
it is apprehended—and this apprehension is confirmed by
other sources of information—:that the present Government
are not prepared to apply their policy, liberal in other
respects, to the oppressive grievance of church rates. A
transfer of the burden to the general revenue of the country
is the only measure—remedy it cannot be called—to be
offered for the redress of this crying evil. The resolution
urges the adoption of constitutional means for obtaining
speedy and entire relief. What are these ? Lot us diffuse
information. Apart from religious theory, our's is a case
of common justice, and when understood, must triumph.—
(Cheers.) Let us petition the House of Commons—an
appeal to the Lords will be useless; not that by so doing
we admit the right of the Legislature to interfere in matters
of religion, but because we conceive that a course of wrong-
doing should be retracted, and laws, at variance with jus-
tice and christianity, be revoked.—(Cheers.) Nor must
we forget that we have an electoral franchise to employ ;
and can we give our suffrages to men who cannot be relied
on to vote honestly for the abolition of church rates, and
for justice, in every respect, to Dissenters, whose cause is so
intimately associated with all that is dear to Britons and to
men ?—{Loud cheers.) And, Sir, I hesitate not to adopt
another measure in concert with a preceding speaker--and
that is passive resistance. I mean to pay church rates no
more ; and that not from factious motives, but from dm
irresistible diciation of conscience.—(Deafening applause.),
Whatever a senoe of duty may suggest, it must be obvious
that these are time'? in which we must not fold our arms to
sleep. Providence, 6; numerous and urgent events, has
summoned us to our tens ! Whether human governments
shall legislate for religion, and thus perpetuate the anti-
christian usurpations of Popsy, or whether religion shall
be disenthralled, and restored to the simple purity and
untrammelled vigour in which it was left by its rightful
Head—the Saviour of mankind—this is evidently the grand
question of the age.—(Loud cheers.) And it is deeply
humiliating that Britain, with all its vaunted enlighten-
ment, is yet, in Ecclesiastical matters, far behind other
nations. Suffer me, in conclusion, to say, that as Dissen-
ters we have always contemplated, and still contemplate,
the utter abandonment by the State of all interference
with the rights of conscience, and the claims of God. To
the State, in all civil matters, we are conscientiously loyal.
and obedient. For the Church, as a religious body, holding
Episcopalian sentiments, and carrying out its objects, as of
late years, it has done wore than ever, on the voluntary
principle, we entertain cordial esteem, and only regret that
it should be so often returned by a supercilious scowl.—
(Hear, hear.) Its edifices we have no wish to see demo-
lished—its treasures we dare not touch, if we might. But
finding, as we do, that Church allied to the Stole, to the
immense detriment of both, by the ligament of the esta-
blishment principle ; and perceiving that in all ages and
countries, in England as
.well as in Scotland, and rime espe-
cially in Ireland, that principle is fraught with irreligion,
monopoly, intolerance, taxation, and blood, we feel that
neither as patriots, nor as Christians, can we rest from our
labours till that formidable connexion is for ever dissolved.
Then will the halcyon days of Christianity arrive, the strifes
of contending sects will cease, a holy love will unite all
hearts : " Ephraim shall not enry Judah, and Judah shall
not vex Ephraim" any more.—(Loud cheers.)
The Rev. Mr. BAYNE seconded the resolution, which
was carried unanimously.
Mr. SPRY, surgeon, came forward to move the petition,
and said he looked at the question not as a religious, but
as a politicai one. The resolution also stated, that the
Members for the Borough should be requested to present
the petition, and to support the prayer of it, now, they
knew very well that one of the Members (Mr. Tooke)
would be willing to do so, and if what had been written
and said of the other were true (and Mr. Vivian had ac-
knowledged the truth of it.) ,5e would do so also. After
some other observations, the speaker concluded by moving

the petition.
The REV. Mr. BARFETT seconded the adoption of the
petition. The Dissenters were not enemies to the Church
of England, but they drew a distinction .between "episco-
pacy and " episcopacy as established by law"—(Hear,
and he rejoiced that it was a distinction which was be-
coming more and more apparent to the British public.
Mr. BAYNARD moved the next resolution, which was
seconded by Mr. Paddon:
M. THOMAS (the editor of the West Briton) proposed
the last resolution, which was a vote of thanks to the
Mayor.
Mr. BENNALLACK SOCOTHICI the resolution:
The MAYoR returned thanks. The meeting then cirs-
persed.