The Sun.
London, England, 1841-03-13 00:00:00

THE CHURCH.:

Sir H. PARNELL presented petitions from Armagh,
and other places in the North of Ireland, against Church
patronage in Scotland.
Mr. BARN E B Y presented petitions from several places
in the county of Worcester, in favour of Church Extension.
Mr. BAINES presented a petition from a place in
Shropshire, against Church-rates.
Sir R. JENKINS presented a petition from the same
county, in favour of Church Extension ; also a petition from
Shrewsbury, against the County Courts Bill.
PRINTED PETITION.

Mr. WAKLEY presented a petition from the medical
practitioners of St. Colomb, Cornwall, praying for the
union of the medical body in Great Britain and Ireland
into one faculty, and generally for Medical Reform. He
also presented petitions against the new Poor-law Bill
from Leicester, Brompton, and other places. Some of
these petitions were, he said, printed, and he wished to
know whether it was a rule of the House that they could
not be received ?

The SPEAKER said that it was a rule of the House
not to receive any petition which was either printed or
lithographed.
Mr. S. O'BRIEN presented several petitions from
places in Ireland against the Bill for giving the Govern-
ment control over railways; also several petitions from
dispensaries in 'Wand, praying that medical charities
might not be put under the control of the Poor-law Corn-
miss:oners.

Mr. HUTT presented a petition from the Chamber of
Commerce of Aberdeen, complaining of the injury eur
commerce received from the unjust duties levied upon it
by the Hanoverian Government.
Mr. HAWES presented a petition from tho Central
Committee of the Religious Freedom Society against the
appointment of paid chaplains to union workhouses—they
considered it as an attack upon religious freedom. Also
a petition from the medical practitioners of Nottingham,
praying for the establishment of one Board for that pro-
fession.

Sir R. ING LIS presented petitions from places in the
counties of Lincoln, Gloucester, Hants, and Buck-
inghamshire, praying for Church Extension. Seeing
the Noble Lord the Secretary for Foreign Affairs in
his place, be would present the.petition from the vicar and
others of Sheffield, of which be had given notice. It
was with reference to the state of Christians in the Le-
vant, and as the question was one of very considerable im-
portance, he trusted the House would indulge him with
liberty to say a few words upon it. For a considerable
length of time the Emperor of Russia had claimed the
right to take under his protection the whole of the
people belonging to the Greek Church. The So-
vereign of France gave his protection to those
belonging to the Church of Rome; but the Christian po-
pulation were comparatively without. The brightest jewel
in the Crown of England was Protestantism, and the peti-
tioners prayed that the Christians might not he placed in
a worse condition now than either of the other classes.
The petitioners prayed the House that especial provision
would be made for seeing that the Protestants in Syria
might have the full and free exercise of their religion.
They also asked that that protection might be extended
to the
population in that country.—(Hear,
hear.)
a r.Jewish
The
Baronet, after some few observations
on this portion, concluded by moving that the peti.ioa do
lie on the table.
Lord PA LMERSTON assured the Hon. Baronet op-
posite that her Majesty's Government had taken steps to
urge the Porte to do precisely what the Hon. Member
(Sir R. Inglis) and the petitioners recommended, namely,
to take care not only that the Christians in Syria should
not be worse off after the change which had lately taken
place in the condition of that country, than they were be-
fore it; but also, if possible, that they should be better
oil as regarded the enjoyment of their religion. With re-
gard to what had been called the right of protection claimed
by the Emperor of Russia for the Christians of the Greek
Church in those countries, it arose out of a certain, treat.
long since concluded. And as to the sort of acknowledged
right of the French Government in favour of Roman Ca-
tholient, it was also a matter of ancient date, arising at a
time long gone by, and out of circumstances very different
from the present. He ( Lord Palmerston) therefore ap.
prehended that it would not be easy for the British Go-
vernment to obtain from the Porte analogous privileges
with regard to the Protestants. He would, however,
assure the Honourable Baronet that care had been
taken to acquire the protection sought. With re-
gard to the Jewish population, her Majesty's Go-
vernment had taken steps to obtain from the Porte
security for that portion also of the inhabitants
of Syria. With respect to both Christians and Jews, if
the hatti scherif issued on this subject were enforced, the
objects sought by the Hon. Baronet would be accomplished.
In answer to a question from an HON. MEMBER, whether