The Sun.
London, England, 1860-11-12 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDOfr MONDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 12, 1860,

likewise take advantage of the position in which
he was placed of putting all the county corps into
one battalion under the command of an adjutant

and paid officer of the Crown. In the course of
the day a silver bugle, subscribed for by the ladies
of Ely, was presented to the corps.
The volunteer movement is spreading in the
borough of Leeds. A good number of riflemen and
artillerymen have been enrolled, including all classes
of the people, and efforts are being made to increase
the number, especially by enrolling persons in the
suburban parts of the borough. In furtherance of
this object a well-attended public meeting was held
at Kirkstall, on Thursday evening last, Mr. G. S.
Beecroft,M.P., in the chair, who, in the course of
his
opening the proceedings said—" I ven-
s speech
in
ven-
ture to think that English patriotism, so far from
retrograding, outshines even that of our
heroic forefathers. It was the sublime motto of
the valiant and immortal Nelson that " England
expects every man to do his duty." When every
Englishman offers himself willingly for the service
of his country there is no longer room for this ex-
pectation. We are not conscripts, but Volunteers
(Cheers.) We are prepared for contingencies and
the march of events, able and resolved to take
care of ourselves and hold our own, and if any rash
adventurer should dare to pop the question of an-
nexation we are ready primed to pop the answer,
and with our rifles to our shoulders once more to
prove before the world that Britons never will be
slaves.'" (Cheers.) The following resolution, on
the motion of Dr. Whittaker, seconded by Captain
Chamberlain, of the Ist West York (Leeds) Volun-
teer Artillery, was adopted unanimously :
" In the present agitated state of Europe it is
requisite that we should employ all available means
for resisting any aggression upon our trade, our
commerce, or our native shores ; and the most cer-
tain, and at the same time most economical means
of securing peace, is the encouragement of the Vo-
lunteer movement, and in furtherance of that ob-
ject—namely, the extension and encouragement of
the Volunteer movement—we pledge ourselves to
use our utmost endeavours to promote the forma-
tion of a Volunteer corps for Kirkstall and the sur-
rounding district."

A DEMOCRACY IN DIFFICULTIES.

The city of Edinburgh is, as the world knows,
vexed with a direct tax for the support of the Esta-
blished clergy. Last session an act was passed
which reduced the tax one-half, slightly altered its
incidence, laid a ld. rate on the suburban districts,
and imposed pretty stringent conditions for raising
the tax and securing the payment of the stipends.
Forgetful of the great point gained in the modifica-
tion of the tax, and looking only to the ma-
chinery for collecting the tax, and the strict
terms of the bonds, which transfer the city's whole
available property to the Ecclesiastical Commis-
sion as security for the clergy, the Radical party
have raised an outcry against the tax, quite as
violent as any with which the unfortune rate has
been received during its existence of 200 years.
Ratepayers by the hundred came forward and pro-
fessed their determination not to pay, and a party
in the council have just failed in a bold attempt to
prevent the council from executing the bonds re-
quired by the statute. The propriety of obedience
or disobedience to the law has actually been made
a public question, and the most revolutionary doc-
trines have been broached as to the rights of citi-
zens to resist the taxgatherer. At the municipal
elections last week one of the -wards returned a
councillor knowing he would not act, and in the
expectation that, by preventing the council from
being in time completed, the bonds, which the
statute required should be executed before the 11th
of November, could not be signed. The mere at-
tempt created no little sensation in the town, for,
had it succeeded, the character of the municipality
would have been once more compromised by the
repudiation of statutory obligations. The question
of the signing of the bonds came before the Town
Council at its meeting on Friday, and a few ex-
tracts from its proceedings may serve to illustrate
the extraordinary controversy which now disturbs
the Scotch metropolis. The Lord Provost presided,
and all the existing councillors were present, num-
bering 39, there being two vacancies, owing to the
sham election by one ward and the return of a
disqualified candidate by another. The small por-
tion of the chamber allotted to the public was
crowded to excess, and chiefly by malcontent rate-
payers.
The opinion was read of Mr. George Young,
advocate, who advised the Lord Provost and coun-
cil that they might lawfully proceed to business,
although the council might not be completed in
consequence of parties elected declining to accept,
and that the council was never for a day disqualified
for the performance of the duties. The LORD
PROVOST accordingly moved—That the council
proceed to business ; and Bailie GEORGE RUSSELL

pay. (Cries of "No" outside.) He himself had set
the example of paying the tat, and he hoped for the
sake of the peace of the city that the tax would be
paid. (Renewed cries of " No.")
Bailie JOHNSTON, in reply, complain of the bean
of Guild using such language as " misappropriating
the Trinity College money," contending that no
man had ever sought to appropriate it to any other
than Trinity College purposes, whether in connec-
tion with the church or the hospital, He could have
wished that Mr. Ford had really taken his leaf out
of history. Hampden was a great man and fought
a great and glorious battle ; but it was a battle of
law against tyranny. It was a battle against the
tyranny of the King, who was trampling on law,
and who in doing so was defeated by his noble sub-
jects.

Mr. FORD (with animation and dramatic gesture)
—And we will win it too, if we stick to it. (Loud
cheers outside.)
The Council then divided. The motion of Mr.
Ford to refuse to sign was lost by 20 to 10, 9 mem-
bers declining to vote, and the motion to sign sun-
pliciter was carried, against the mot'on to sign under
protest, by 15 to 12 ; those opposed to signing de-
clining to vote. The bends were accordingly signed
by the Lord Provost, treasurer, and town-clerk be-
fore these officials left the chamber.