The Sun.
London, England, 1869-06-16 00:00:00

tttorney, who informed Lis hearers that they had met
that eming to protest against an attempt by an Act of
Parliament brought forward by an apostate Minister to
rob them of their liberties, their religion, and their pro.
perties. The resolutions adopted •at the first meeting
were proposed and carried at this.--The principal speaker
was Archdeacon Goold, who protested against thetill,
and expressed his belief that it would unfold a new
roll of misery for this unhappy country.—Mr. Joshua
H. Nunn, an attorney, declared that if there were a
true spirit of loyalty in the empire, the Minister who
had dared to introduce such a measure as Mr. Gladstone
had done would be impeached. If the Revolution of 1688
was justifiable, the same means by which that ixvolution
was achieved would Le lawful to be resorted to in main-
taining it. The time Lad arrived to tell the House 'f
Commons, the House of Lords, and their beloved monarch,
that the Lill would not be submitted to by the Irish
people. Mr. .Nunn's sentiments were enthusiastically
applauded.—Mr. Walter Boyd, Mr. Frazer, Mr.
11`Meehan (three barristers), and several others, addressed
the meeting, which broke up about a quarter to eleven
o'clock. The proceedings were very orderly.

AI-FETING- OF C'ONVOC.47 lON FOR THE

Ple 07'1 NCE OF CA NTERBUR

Both Houses of Convocation nsscn:l)lcd on Tuesday
ror the despatch of LusinrFs.

L:;•rrn
The A rabblv-p of Cv.ttt-rl.ury presided, and several
hisbops were present.

TEL ATPANASIAN CfILYD.

The Bishop cf ELY presented two petitions from a large
numb er of clergy and laity indiis diocese, one complaining
that the parochial clergy were not sufficiontly represented
in Convocation, and one praying that some measures
might be taken for altering the condemnatory portions of
the Athanasian Creed. He raid lie should like to say
a few words on the matter, as he had been asked to speak
specially on this subject. Anything that could tend to recon-
cile Nonconformists to the Church would be a, blessed good.
With regard to the Athanasian Creed, a charge bad been
made that there were some exaggerations which would
not have been the case had the Creed been drawn
up by a general council instead of a single
individual. At the same time ho did not
forget that the Creed had been accepted by the 'universal
Church for ten centuries, and anything that might be dJne
to soften it down and explain the extreme rigour of some
of the expressions would be acceptable, without at all
attempting to remove it from the Prayer-book.
The Bishop of LLANDAFF suggested that if the word
" may " were substitMed for " will" in the opening sen-
tences it would be sufficient.

The Bishop Of GLOUCESTER AND BRISTOL objected to
any alteration, and was afraid that the views of the
Bishops of Ely and Llandaff would create some dismay in
the Church.

The Bishop of BANGOR said he knew that amongst the
intelligent laity there was a great objection to the con-
demnatory clauses of the Creed.
The Bishop of HEREFORD thought the true solution of
the difficulty would be in the clergy explaining the Creed
from time to time to their congregations.
The Bishop of LINCOLN said that in the American
Church a discretionary power was given to the clergy.
The Archbishop of CANTERBURY trusted that nothing
which might be said would be considered to cast any
reflection on the American Church. At present there
was a good deal of truth about "union." lie did not
think that union with the Church of Rome was likely, but
any alteration might stand in the way with the Eastern
Church, on the one hand, and the American Church on the
other.

The petition was ordeied to lie on the table.
THE 11ISHOPEIC OF DUNEDIN.

The Bishop of LICIIFIELD announced that there bad
been some objections raised to the appointment of Dr.
Jenner as Bishop of Dunedin. On an election, the clergy
voted pretty equally, but by the votes of the laity Dr.
Jenner was rejected. lie was not, therefore, the Bishop
of Dunedin. 'lli re was practically no endowment of the
bishopric.

REFORM OF CONVOCATION.
Several petitions on this subject were presented.
The Bishop of GLoucEsTsr. and BRISTOL moved that
the Archbishop of Canterbury should be requested to
communicate with her Majesty's Government on the sub-
ject.
The motion having been agreed to, the AncHnisnor
said he would do so.
Their lordships adjourned, after a very brief sitting.

PARLIAMENTARY AND MUNICIPAL
ELECTIONS BILL.

The select committee on this b:11 re-ts-embled on Tues-
day in CorurnittN3 Room No. 18, the 3.larquis of Hartington

in the clatir.

The first witress e x:anined was the Ilev. Mr. M'Dermot, a
Roman Catholic priest, of Sligo, who Tole ntrally as to
the mode of conducting el( eCons in that county. Ii 's gene-
ral in ression was that electors were coerced by their
h.ndlold,, th Lib( rul and Cot servative, to vote
against heir pe:sc,nal feeling and principles. He had
known instaeces where sham riots were get up in order that
the voters might be cartied off and ki pt secure until the
polling day. TM n they were taken to the hustings under
a strong protection of the military and constabulary. At
the last ele, tion fur Sligo, which took place on the 30th No-
vember, the magistracy began to write for military escorts on
the 18.11, which was more than ten days before the polliug.
The esccrts•were sent out generally by sub-agen s, and
rarely if ever upon the sworn information of any of the
voters themselves. The afect of sending out the soldiery
and tho police was that the people believed that they
could not resist successfully against the combined forces
of the Government. Ho knew that in some cases a
voter was taken away and prevented going to
chapel en Sunday, which he considered a great crime, and
as an atonement ho gave his vote for the Conservative, other-
wise he should have voted for the LiberaL The priest ad-
dressed the electors in the chapels before an election. He had
done so, but he invariably told them to vote according totheir
convictions. There was no undue influence on the part of the
priesthood in Sligo. They, as a rule, did not want to inter-
fere with rarliamentary elections, but they were forced into by
popular pressure at the time. He believed there was no
actual free voting in Ireland, and time never would until
they had the ballot; but that would be of no use without
strict secrecy was observed. The power of the priesthood
would not be increased by such a means. He did not be-
lieve that the information Low the elector voted would bo
ascertained in the confes,iornl. Voting papers ho thought
would increase the power of the landlord. At a parliamentary
election he Aiwa) a took a great interest; Le was not always
at polling booths, but in the streets. At the last election he
was anxious that a Liberal candidate should be returned
it was, in his opinion, a case of peace or rel.:onion, and it was
acting on those views that he took an active part in the pro-
ceedinre. he Government officials, he believed, intended to
intimidate the electors at the last eiection bye military display.
As a rule he felt suro if the ballot was brought into opera-
tion the priesthood of Ireland would not become acquainted
with the political opinions of the voters at large. There
was, however, generally a Sunday intervening between the
nomination and polling days in Irish elections, but poli-
tical meetings were not, as a rule, held in the churchyards
after service on that day.

Col. Tortens, 3LP. for Cambridge, said he had been a
nominee member of the Australian Legislature, previous to
1856, when the new Constitution was introduced, and, after
that having lost his office he became a candidate for South
Adelaide and was elected by ballot. Ile did not exactly
know what was the qualification before the ballot was in-
troduced, but it was not a high figure. It was notorious
that largo numbers of the electors were open to bribery,
and as a necessary constquence an ticc:ion Kas an ex-
pensive matter. I hey were generally conducted in that
country as in England ; there was rioting and broken
heads, but the ballot had entirely changed the aspect
of matters, and now elections ale carried on with the
greatest order and very small expense. The witness then
proceeded to detail the mode of conducting an elec-
%ion in Australia, and said that a cross was
placed against the name cf the candidate on a
card which was given Lim. A voter who could not read
could not vote, because it would be contrary to the law for
aim to ask another person to put the cross en the card for
tile, and he could not publicly declare Lis vote.

THE MURDER NEAR CHEPSTOW.—CONFESSION
or THZ PEISONER.—WiIIiam Lane has been committed
for trial by the Chepstow magistrates for the murder of
William Nicholls, near Chepstow, on the evening of the
sth inst. In reply to the charge he said :—" I did it for
counsel to others. An angel from heaven appeared to me
and told me I was bound to do it." The following is a copy
cf his confession :—" It wasin the Bible for me to go to the
!louse, order the servant girl out, to take possession of
the house and gate, write en the house am:'
gate, possession taken,' to fasten with a withy,
which I was to find on a hurdle - stand a little way
off, and shoot the first man who came to the gate
where tuf sister lived. I Lave kilown Nicholls for thirty
years ; the other man used to live with the Crochets, at
Wentwood. I was to have three charges ; shoot one man
twice, the other once, which wax to finish my powder and
shot. I was to kill the first man, Lot not the second ;he
was only to be wounded. The people are getting very bad
about the world, and I was to do it for a warning to
others. Mr. Waddington, of Usk, caused it all, by taking
four seven-year-old oxen from the farm. Mr. Foye and
Mr. Cooper have cheated me out of £47, and made me
pay twice." Mr. nye and Mr. Cooper, it may be said,
some time ago prosecuted the prisoner for embezzling that
amount froth-Chepstow Union, the prisoner being at one
#41.! oversee; for o 4 of the dits4loo 44.a..1141i94.

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