The Sun.
London, England, 1840-04-18 00:00:00

THE KIRK OF SCOTLAND.

EDINBURGH.—The election of members for the Ge-
neral Assembly by the Town Council, yesterday, af-
fords a striking instance of the growing unpopularity of
the veto cause. It has been the invariable practice to
send the Lord Provost and the Convener as representa-
tives to the Assembly ; but these personages being
vetoists of the first water, the Council have gone out
of their usual course, and elected two other members,
not in the Council, expressly on the understanding that
they will oppose the proceedings of the wild party in the
Church. The Lord Provost is so much enraged at this
judicious decision of the Council, that it is said he has
threatened to resign his office.—Scottish Standard.
MORE INTERDICTS.—At a meeting of the Presbytery
of Irvine, on the 31st ultimo, an interim interdict, at the
instance of Mr. Cunningham, of Lainshaw, and the
other heritors of the parish of Stewarton, was served on
the Moderator and Clerk, prohibiting them from making
any division of the parish, or allocating any portion of
the inhabitants to the parish of the Rev. Mr. Cleland
(late Original Burgher, Dissenting, Minister in the town),
or appointing him any kirk-session, or to perform any
acts of discipline, or to sit and vote in the Presbytery on
any matter relating to the parish,—Scots Pilot.
GENERAL ASSEMBLY.—In so far as the county of
Fife is concerned, the majority of members who have
been delegated to the ensuing meeting of Assembly,
are men who, though retaining different opinions as to
the rights of patrons and the privileges of the people,
will not acquiesce in the present schemes of the clamo-
rous rebels, who so zealously labour to trample down
the civil authority, and to set up a system of ecclesias-
tical tyranny having nothing to recommend it but the
contumacious enthusiasm of its abettors.--Fife Herald.
NON-INTRUSION.—Two of our clerical agitators,
having advertised a meeting in the hitherto quiet
and peaceable parish of Canonbie on the subject of
non-intrusion, proceeded to that place, where they found
the greatest difficulty in getting a room to send forth
their seditious harangues. At last the innkeeper
agreed to give them the use of a large room, where
they had a very scanty attendance. On inquiring, after
the meeting was held, what was to pay, the servant in-
formed our itinerating agitators that it was left to'
themselves to fix the sum for the use of the room, but
this they declined, and insisted o❑ the landlord making
a charge. A guinea was then demanded, whereupon
the agitators stormed and defied the servant, and
told her that they considered it a gross imposition, and
would not pay it, hut would advertise it in the news-
papers. The fair dame replied that her master would
not object to that, as, being in a public way, he would
like to see an advertisement put in which was to cost
him nothing, The agitators still refused, and the ser-
vant went again to consult her master, and then re-
turned and informed them that as the last company of
strolling play-actors paid a guinea, her master would
not have taken less, but for the very small attendance
the present company bad been able to collect, he agreed
to take one pound, which the wandering agitators paid,
and then left the house, breathing out all manner of
mischief to the innkeeper.—Edinburgh Observer.
HOBSON'S CHOICE.—It is said that the nickname of
" Hobson's Choice," applied to the veto, and by which
it is known about St. Stephen's, arose as follows :
The deputation having said, in an interview with the
Duke of Wellington, that the Assembly had the power
to give the people a choice, the Duke remarked to
Mr. Dunlop, •' That the veto was not a choice, but
a mere negative." " True," said the latter. " Then,"
paid the Duke, " the people may reject i 0 presentees,
and yet not get their choice." " Very true," was the
reply. " But," says the Duke, " the Court of Session
have decided that the veto is illegal, and that the Auch-
terarder people must either take Mr. Young or want a
minister altogether." " Yes," says Mr. Dunlop."
" Then," replied the Duke, turning to Sir R. Peel,
and the other Conservatives present, " that is what we
call Hobson's Choice' "—which call forth a burst of
laughter from the gentlemen present. To enable some
of our readers to appreciate the joke, it may be proper
to state that Hobson, who was a horse-hirer in the
time of Milton, kept forty horses for the use of the
students at Oxford, and with a view to prevent any of
them from being overridden, made it a rule that every
student should take the horse nearest the stable door.
The student was obliged to take the horse or want one
altogether. Hence arose the adage " Hobson's Choice,"
to signify what a man was obliged either to take or
want, or in fact to signify no choice at all. The Duke
saw that the people of Auchterarder must either take
Mr. Young or want a minister, and hence he wittily
nicknamed the veto " Hobson's Choice."
FALKIRK.—PUBLIC MEETING Or DISSENTERS.—
A public meeting of Dissenters was held in the Rev.
Mr. Rutherford's church, on the evening of Tuesday,
the 31st. ult. On the motion of the Rev. Mr. Welsh,
Alexander M'Farlane, Esq., Thornhill, was called to
the chair. After prayer, the chairman, in a very lu-
minous and able address, stated the object of the meet-
ing. He said, by the veto law, the right not of electing,
but of rejecting, was given to the Christian people.
He supposed the case of a congregation of 500
members, male and female. Excluding from such a
' congregation all the un►narried communicants, as well
as all the female members, he knew that in the ave-
rage of congregations not above 100 of the members
would be entitled to a vote under the veto. Suppose,
again, this right to be exercised, a bare majority
of the heads of families consisting of fifty-
one individuals, have the right merely to re-
ject, while the choice ought to be vested in the
whole congregation ; and it may be excluding the
very man the majority of members would actually pre-
fer, and this is the boasted veto. What was actually
the case in the High Church of Edinburgh There
were only five male heads of families in that congrs-ga-
don ; of course three might have the power of the
veto. Churchmen were now busy in getting up non-
intrusion meetings and petitions, and can you be in-
different ? In a parish not a hundred miles from
Grangemouth, a non-intrusion petition has gone the
round of signature—ship boys and apprentices have
been induced to sign this petition—nay, the very
foreigners have been requested to adhibit their
names to it. Such is a specimen of the work-
ings of the Church party. The meeting was after.
wards addressed by the Rev. Messrs. Steele, M'Far-
lane, M‘Michael, and Rutherford. The speeches were
characterised by great clearness and eloquence': and
produced a powerful effect. Resolutions were moved
by these gentlemen, and respectively seconded by John
Buckie, Esq., Jas. Lane, John Marshall, Esq., New-
house, and John %Vise, Esq., Grangemouth. The Rev.
Mr. Rutherford moved the adoption of the petition, which
was seconded by T. Wilson, Esq., Tophill, and is now
in course of signature. The petition to the House of
Commons will be intrusted to the care of Mr. Gillon,
the Member for the Falkirk district of burghs, and that
to the Lords to the Earl of Zetland. We hope the
Dissenters of Falkirk will do their duty at this time, and
also liberal Churchmen will assist in breaking off the
yoke imposed upon the Church of Christ by the State,
and that the Church will soon stand fast in the liberty
wherewith Christ hath made her free.—Scotch Paper.

HORRIBLE MURDER AND SUL

CIDE AT LIMERICK.

LIMERICK, TUESDAY.—Never, within the memory of
the oldest inhabitant of this city, had we to record so
foul and determined a scene of murder and self-destruc-
tion as we have bad this morning. An old commiE-
sariat veteran officer, named Maurice Roche, late of
Cashel, without any cause of provocation whatever,
deliberately called to his servant-maid (Corbett) for
warm water to shave himself. On obtaining it he
closed the door, his wife being in the act of dressing
herself. Immediately after his eldest daughter, an in-
teresting young woman, about 21 years of age, heard a
great crash or fall over the room in which she stood,
and fearing something wrong she ran up stairs, and saw
her mother lying on the floor with her throat cut to
the windpipe, her father leaning over her with
the razor in his hand ; but she could not see
whether he had wounded himself or not, as his back
was to her. She screamed, upon which her brother and
the servant maid came up ; but neither could render
any assistance, as they were both in the agonies of
death. The son, a young man about 20, deposed at the
inquest that on entering the room he rushed towards the
father, who, he perceived, had also cut his own throat.
lie succeeded in seizing him by the arms, with the razor
still in his hand, and he instantly fell on the floor, when
the razor dropped. The son held him firmly, though
ho bad made several attempts to get the razor back.
On further examination it appeared that Mr. Roche
was not of very sane mind for some time. His wife
was much younger than he was, he being over 60, and,
in consequence of his state of mind latterly, managed
all his affairs. The son further added that his father
never seemed so much to despond as when the wife or
any of his daughters (three sons and four daughters)
asked him what was to be done with " A B," or " C D,"
meaning the younger portion of the family.
Deceased bad formerly been an officer it; the army,
and fought in several battles, the last of which was Wa-
terloo; he was on half-pay, but sold out some years
since. He had been latterly attacked by fits of apo-
eappear
tta settledcke di nw
within
tniade,
lbpaulsetrttvil'arasefent eomrt noticedo'vnhtihcsi h et
odlitda vneobt
The Jury returned a verdict of " Insanity."

SINGULAR CASE.—Ott Thursday morning an
inquest was held before Mr. Wakley, M.P., at the George,
Brook-street, Holborn, on the body of Mary Menzies, aged
seven months. It appeared from the evidence of the mother
that on Tuesday morning she went out, leaving the deceased
asleep in bed, and another little girl, aged three years, in the
room. On witness's return she found the eldest child pointing
speechless and affrighted at the body of her sister, which lay
dead by the bed side. The surviving child was very fond of
the other, and continually creeping into its bed to kiss it whilst
it slept. She had no doubt that in witness's absence she did so,
and probably, whilst caressing, let it fall from the bed upon the
fi
oor. Thu Coroner censured the woman for leaving such
yoiutirilg a children, particularly so when he found she left them
w
re, without a guard, in the room. % erdict--" Found
Dead. "

THE FROME FORGERIES.—AII the parties
were convicted, and sentenced as under—James Sealy, trans••
portation for life; Thomas Candy, jun., 15 years' transporta-
tion ; and Hannah Candy, and Wm. Candy, two years' im-
prisonment.