The Sun.
London, England, 1870-01-29 00:00:00

THE UNION AT LEICESTER.

The Union had also a strong gathering directly
under its auspices at Leicester. The Duke of
Rutland presided, but his remarks do not need record.
A. fine speech was made by the Bishop of Peter-
borough. His lordship ably strove to show that
the word unsectarian really meant non-religious.
If they allowed the reading of the Bible in their
schools, which version were they to use F If
they read the Protestant Bible, the parents of
Catholic children would object, and say the schools
were sectarian, while if they read the New Testa-
ment as well as the Old, the Jews would make the
same objection. The proposals of the League, he said,
were unjust to the ratepayer, to the parent, and to
the child. Bishop Magee holds that any legislation
which excludes religion from schools will endanger
morality, and degrade and demoralise the nation.

LORD PENItIIYN'S INTERFERENCE IN ELECTIONS.
The Standard is very hard upon meddlesome
Welsh Radicals. It denounces them fervently
apropos of a correspondence between a Merioneth
Liberal, Mr. Morgan Lloyd and Lord Pen-
rhyn. Mr. Lloyd, on the hustings of the
Merionethshire election charged Lord Penrhyn with
violating the law and the privilege of the House
of Commons by interfering in the election. On
reading his speech, Lord Penrhyn wrote to Mr. Lloyd
a cutting letter, in which he denied that he
had interfered at all. Ho had no land nor any con-
nection in the county; he refused to attend meetings
on behalf of the candidate whom he approved;
he would undertake no work for that gen-
tleman. How, then, could Mr. Lloyd say
that his lordship had interfered P Mr. Lloyd in return
to this epistle makes an apology and withdrawal—he
was misled by current rumours. The Standard puts
down, on account of this case, all charges against
Welsh landlords as rumours—mere rumours.

THE IRISH CHURCH.
There is reason for the old familiar—too familiar—
heading to reappear once more. The committee ap-
pointed to draw up a draft constitution for the
Disestablished Church has finished its labours. The
Times understands it will recommend that the
Bishops be allowed a separate vote and a power of
veto—a proposal which at first met with very deter-
mined opposition from the laity, but which mature
consideration has induced them to look upon with
greater favour. " It is believed that there will be less
of democratic spirit and a greater regard shown for
the maintenance of established authority and order
in the proposed constitution than was expected from
the early manifestations of lay opinion."

THE HUSH PRESBYTERIANS.
The General Assembly of the Irish Presbyterian
Church has decided, by an immense majority, that
ministers should commute their life interests in the
Regium Donum. The voting shelved 337 for com-
mutation, and 8 against it, when the anti-commu-
tationists closed the voting. The Assembly next
proceeded to consider the details of the Sustentation
Fund.

Under the title of "Records of tho Late London
Fire Engine Establishment," Captain Shaw, the
Superintendont of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade, has
published a series of tables recording the experience of
that old institution,which, after continuing in operation
for thirty-three years, ceased to exist at the end of
1865. This work contains a large quantity of informa-
tion about fires that cannot fail to be of great use both
to insurance companies in estimating their risks, and
to insurers in forming a judgment about the rea-
sonableness of the terms they have to pay. The
statistics of the classification of the 29,069 houses
in which fires occurred during the thirty
three years show that those in private dwel.
ling were much more numerous than any;
other class. Next in order came those in lodgings, in
premises occupied by victuallers and by carpenters
and workers in wood. Fires in houses containing
combustible materials, such as naptha, turpentine, or
fireworks, are comparatively unccmmon, and only one
case of a fire at a gunpowder dealer's is recorded i 4
the thirty-three years.

'll HE LATEST EDITION of " THE SUN " to
.4- he seen Every Evening by 810 at Mr. ROBERT MEACOCK'S,
BAtannils Kensal New-town.

SPORTING.—J MIN -ROI3ERTS supplies the
LATEST EDITION of "THE SUN " as soon as pub-
ished.-4, Bath-street. City-road. N C.