The Sun.
London, England, 1840-06-09 00:00:00

CHURCH-ItATES.

At tho Ilford Petty Sessions, on Saturday, Mr.
Ebenezer Clarke, a tradesman residing at Waltham-
stow, wc.s summoned at the instance of the parish au-
thorities, to show cause why he ought not to pay the
sum o.t: eleven shillings, for Church-rates for the years
1838 anal 1839.

Mr. ,Griffid„ a professional gentleman of Ilford, at-
tended ire suppoct of the proceedings, and Mr. Boykett,
a gentleman conn,lcted with the Church-rate Abolition
Society, appeared o'n behalf of Mr. Clarke.
Mr, Griffin addre.,sed the Bench at some length, and
cited cases in support of his view of the subject, in the
event of the defendant taking any objection to the va-
lidity to the rate.
Mr. Boykett said that he would at once state that it
was not his intention, on behalf of the defendant, to
take any technical objection to the rate—he merely dis-
puted his ability to pay it.
Mr. Griffin then put in the Rate-book, and closed
his case.

Mr. Boykett submitted to,the Bench that the mete
putting in of the Rate-book did not make out prima
facie that the rate was properly made, and he contended
that there should be some proof that the proper notices
had been given by the Churchwardens before the rate
was made.

The Chairman, W. Cotton, Esq., said he considered
that the rate, properi!-y signed, being put in as evidence,
was sufficient,
and he was quite prepared, upon his
own responsibility', to take it as a legal proof of the rate.
Mr. Boykett then called for the production of the
books containing the cash accounts of the churchward-
ens for the years speciiiied.
Mr. Griffin said he should itot produce any documents
of the kind.

The Magistrates said that they had already de-
cided that Mr. Boiykett was not entitled to call for
any documents or other evidence connected with the
rate. They had nothing to do with the mode in which
the money was expended, but when the rite was placed
before them they had no other course to pursue wzt to
enforce it, unless cause was shown to induce them to
adopt a contrary course of proceeding.
Mr, Boykett then said that he should not offer any
evidence, upon which
The Bench decided that an order for the payment of
the amount should be issued.
Mr. Boykett immediately gave notice of his intention
to appeal to the Quarter Sessions.

It will be seen by the annexed extract, that the lead-
ing evening organs of the Whig-Radica's, and our ex-
cellent Contemporary the Dublin Evening Mail, a
journal devoted to the advocacy of Conservative prin-
ciples, are cordially uaitcd in maintaining and en-
forcing the claims and rights of Sir Augustus d'Este,
and his sister, and are both pledged to continue to
do so until the wrongs which they have so
long and so meekly endured are investigated and re-
dressed. Nor, to the honour of the press of this coun-
try be it recorded, is this a solitary instance. Other
Journals have imitated the example of the Mail and
The Sun, and we have no doubt but that such instances
will be greatly multiplied. The personal and public
character of the Duke of Sussex are deeply involved in
this affair ; and for the sake of his own reputation, he
must, ere long, make it appear, that that influence by
which Lady Cecilia Underwood has bcea created a
Duchess, and which has procured at Court, as we under-
stand, the recognition of.kis marriage with that lady, is
sufficient to obtain justiee'for his children, or he must
be content to take a much lower place in the estimation
of his contemporaries and of posterity, than, we are free
to confess, we should wish to see his Royal Highness
occupy.

(From the Dublin Evening Mail.)
We beg to direct the attention of our readers to two
very able articles in reference to the union of the Duke
of Sussex with the Lady Augusta Murray, and to the
children of that marriage. These articles are, extracted
frOni the columns of The Sun, and Argus Landon- Pa-
pers. Nothing less was tot. have been expected of a
Constitutional and. Conservative Journal, such as the
Argus, than that it would put forth its powers and exert
its influence in the cause of persecuted innocence, :and
iia the assertion of law and justice. In doing so it 'was
.but labouring in its vocation ; but we will confess that
when we see a Paper like The Sun—attached upon
principle to that party in the country in which, if :the
Duke of Sussex be riot a lrader, he at least occupiei a
high and prominent position ; when we find a Jourfial
like The Sun—possessing such a character and com-
manding such a circulation—unmindful of personal con-
siderations and regardless of political consequences—.
merging all private feelings in the bold, and manly, and
noble assertion of a great public principle, we are at a
loss for words to express our admiration of conduct so
high-minded and so generous, With such a universal
sympathy as is now excited, with such a general advo-
cacy as is now enlisted, justice must be done to the
memory of one of th.r most noble and heroic of her sex
—the late Lady Augusta 'Murray—justice must be
done to her wronged and oppressed children—the
Prince an Princesses of Sussex—and justice will be
done (in spite of himself) to the husband of the one,
and the father of the other. When this desired event
takes place, the Duke of Sussex will be a happier and
a better man than he has been fur many a year ; and if
we could but hope that our humble voice could reach
his royal ear, and that his fame, honour, atnod
dreoptuitiaattioons
were as dear to us as is our own life and character,
awneawcotuolfdgeranctraesavthibechsweeicllhhePnloprloce p
red
uhiloni him as a mat-
ter of justice. Never was it the fate of mortal man
to have an opportunity within his own reach of
acquiring in a single hour such admiration and
popularity as his Royal Highness has the means
of achieving. He has no (recorded) declaration to
retract—no (absolute) step to retrace. Ilis acts of later
years towards his children have been rather of a nega-
tive than of a positive character. The way is clear and
the course open. A repetition in his age and on reflec-
tion, of those noble and beautiful sentiments which burst
spontaneously from his bosom in youth, is all that would
be neces,ary. A reiteration of the eloquent language
contained in his letter to Lord Erskine—language at
once so creditable to his head and heart—a recital of
the expressions of tendet ness and love towards his
children, set forth in the two wills made by his Royal
Highness—the one at Berlig, the .other in Loudon—
and this done publicly, wout,r c.t the same time recon-
cile him to himself, his children, and his country. When
all the concurrent testimony sets one way, there can be
little doubt of the merits Lunt good qualities of those
whom every speaker and writer join in praising; and,
therefore, from all that has been said and published of
the amiable and elegant Augustus of Eite, and his
charni.ng and accomplished sister, they are children of
whom a Prince—a Monarch might feel proud.
(From the Dublin Evening Mail of Friday.)
We copy from recent numbers of The Sun and of
the Brighton Gazette the evidence which their columns
afford of the deep and augmenting interest which has
taken hold of the public mind in favour of the claims
of the late Lady Augusta Murray, and the considera-
tion due to the amiable and (alas! that we should have
to say it still) the injured offspring of her Ladyship's
marriage with a Prince of the House of Brunswick.

Much as we were ourselves impressed with a sense
of the wrongs endured by these illustrious sufferers, we
had hardly a hope, at the outset of our career, that, oc-
cupied as the public mind of England is, not only with
the commerce of the world, but with the critical po-
sition and prospects of her government, the question
should have received, and that so suddenly, such a ge-
neral sympathy amongst the people ; or our poor ex-
ertions in collecting and arranging the documents and
facts, have met with such a generous co-operation from
the press. We are happy to acknowledge cur error.
Beyond all calculation has the interest become intense ;
and we speak with a confidence resulting from many
years' experience in the task of observing the progress
and result of public opinion—that this question can
never be set at rest without the extension of full justice
to the parties, so long, and we must add, so gratuitously,
deprived of their rights.
In addition to the testimonies which we subjoin from
The Sun and the Brighton Gazette, of the growing in-
terest in favour of the Prince Augustus—(for so we
must be allowed to call him) and his illustrious sister
—we beg leave to call the attention of the public—
and if his Royal Highness will condescend to be ad-
vised by us, of the Duke of Sussex himself—to a report
(which will be found in our subsequent columns) of the
proceedings of the Highland School Society at its an-
nual festival. It must not be overlooked that the illus-
trious family of the Lady Augusta Murray are of Scot-
tish descent, of the blood-royal of Scotland ; and that
to the nationality and clanship of the Scottish people
such claims as those of her Ladyship and her children
can never appeal without effect.

It should appear, then, as if the Society in question
were not incognisant of the
claims of their country-
woman's children, nor unwilling to place them in that
rank and station to which their deserts, no less than
their birth, entitle them. The Prince Augustus sat
at the right band of the Noble Chairman ; and when
the Society bad drunk to the hea!th of the Duke of
Sussex, as President of the Society, the honour of re-
turning thanks for his Royal father devolved upon the
Prince, who has so long and undeservedly been ex-
cluded from his father's kind consideration, and denied
the honours of his birth.
It was indeed a trying scene for the Prince—a touch-
ing one to the hearts of all who were present ; but we
sl:ali forb ar commentary. What all good men—what
all loyal subjects—what alI those attached to the House
of Brunswick, and to its character and stability should
desire—is, that the Duke of Sussex should take the
less than for the reputation of his injured wife and the
steps necessary for his own honour and happiness, no
d
restoration of his children, all of whom, in his happierays, he loved and cherished with the affection of a man
and the tenderness of a parent. Recent circumstances,
in which he has consulted his present comforts perhaps
more than his recollections of the past, or his hopes of
the future, give him the most favourable opportunity that
could be desired or imagined of making restitution,
though tardily, to those whom a real or imaginary, but,
at all events, a cruel necessity, has hitherto made him
feel for with indifference, and act towards with injustice.
He can do nothing more injurious to his present peace
and posthumous reputation than persist in the course
which he has hitherto been unhappily advised to pursue.
It is now for his Royal Highness to choose. May
we not be allowed to hope that nature will not plead
in vain, and that honour will triumph in carrying out
principle to its full effect ?
(From the Brighton Gazette.)
Participating in the sympathy so universally felt by
all classes throughout the kingdom, in favour of the
children of the Duke of Sussex by, his first marriage
with the much-wronged Lady Augusta Murray
namely, Sir Augustus and Mademoiselle D'Este:or,
more properly speaking. Prince Augustus Frederick of
Sussex and his sister the Princess Augusta, the vali-
dity of whose claims to such style and status has been
proved and declared by the highest law authorities in
Europe, and acknowledged by the Duke of Sussex
himself in 1831 ; and partaking alsoof- the general
feeling of abhorrence and indignation now so loudly
expressed from one end •of the United Kingdom,
to the other, at the trgen::rons and cruel treat-
ment to which two of the most noble-minded
andnest enlightened members ,of :the House of
Brnosisick have been so long and unjustly subjected—
we again shori.ly recur to a question which is daily be-