The Sun.
London, England, 1841-04-22 00:00:00

NEWPORT.

At our Quarter Sessions held on Tuesday, April 20,
there Here but thi, ten prisoners for trial, all fcr triflirg
offences, having no public interest, tsto of which were lett
for this day ; and all would have passed off without notice
but for one of the Jurymen entering the b,x with his
on : he was ordered to take it off, which he declined from
relivious motives, stating he was a Quaker. Ono of the
Magistrates, Hughes Hughes, Esq., not M. P. for
Oxford, ordei el the officer of the Court to take the hat
off, which be did, and put it down, vilicm the Quaker very
deliberately took it up and put it on again. This was
again repeated, when it was removed out of reach, and
having declined taking the oath, rfter some difficulty, the
affirmation was made. During the whole of the time this
said MaOs'rate was sit ing on the bench ssi:h his hat en.
The officer of the Court ought surely to have served him
as he did Mr. Pierce. the Quaker ; or are ther two laws
in this Court, one for those on the bench and another for
those under it ?

EASTHOPE'S BILL.
(From the Nonconformist.)

Church-rates--an impost originating in clerical cupidity,
fixed by fraud, continued only to gratify the Cow ch's pas-
sion for ascendancy—a tax, the laying and levying of
which engenders some of the meanest dispositions of hu-
man nature, craft, lying, spite—a perennial spring of bit-
terness—a thing that carries the war of party, of religious
party too, right into the heart of otherwise peaceful neigh-
bourhoods, and gives to men who are known in each dis-
trict, and whose worth or worthlessness can be best appre-
ciated there, power to vex, insult, worry, tyrannise over
those who know them, and to do it all in the name of
Christianity :—Church-rates are again about to be ar-
raigned at the bar of the House of Commons by Mr. East-
hope, the Member for Leicester.
And what wiil he the verdict of that assembly ? That
very much depends upon Dissenters themselves. They have
no excuses now for inaction. The Bill is a good Bill, judged
by the standard of their own principles—it proposes abolition,
it substitutes nothing. The time, for aught we can discern,
is as opportune as it is likely to he for many years to
come. At at events, it is of essential importance for the
great body of Dissenters to show themselves. If they fail
in removing Church-rates, a formidable attitude assumed
may deter the House from adding, as it is well inclined to
do, to our ecclesiastical burdens. Every congregation in
the kingdom should petition.
If Mr. Easthope's Bill is rejected, it will be rejected
by the people's representatives. Let dissenting electors
mark that. Let them not put up with speeches followed
by no vote. They should demand by letter, or by per-
sonally waiting upon them, the attendance of their re-
spective Memi'ers on the night fixed upon by the Member
for Leicester for his motion. Let them diligently scru-
tinize the division list—and let them solemnly determine,
that the man who votes against the Church-rate Abolition
Bill, however fervent his professions, or who is absent
upon a frivolous pretext, shall not have their support at
the next election. They have been be-fooled too long
already.
• • •

MARRIAGE IN HIGH LIFE.—At the Palace
of the Grand Duke of Oldenburg, on Thursday, the 15th
of April, by the Rev. Dr. 13,:ke1, Chaplain, General Wil-
liam Frederick, Chri9tian Aldenburg Bentinck, Esq.,
Court dale Holy Roman Empire, rightful Lord of Knip-
lharien, Varel, &c., Lord of the Bedchamber to his Ma-
jesty the King of the Netherlands, and oldest son of the
late Major-General Count .1:)hn Charles and Lady Jerni-
ma Bentinck, to Comtessc Pauline Albertinc, Maid of
Honour to her Royal Highness the Grand Duchess of
Oldenburg, and second daughter of Count Munnich,
Count of the Holy Roman Empire, and Steward of the
Household to his Royal Highness the Grand Duke of
Oldenburg. The ceremony was performed in the State
rooms, in the presence of their Royal Highnesses the
Grand Duke and Duchess, the Hereditary Grand Duk.,,
the Princess Fre(!erca, and the assembled Court. The
bride was given away by his Royal Highness the Grand
Duke. There were also present Count and Countess Mun-
, nich, Barons Bulow and Rossing, Colonels Charles and
Henry Bentinelr., Mrs. Henry Bentinek, the Earl of Ath-
lone, and Lady Elizabeth de Reede Giukle.

The Members of the Royal Naval Club, Bond-
street, are about to mark their sense of the long series of
diAirguiihed services perErrned by Sir Chap u
by inviting hitn to a dinner at their Club, of which he is
a ruemb,?.., The day is not yet fixed, but .I,irniral Su'
Philip Durham, G.C.8., hai kindly_ consented -to take
the-ehair.