The Sun.
London, England, 1858-11-30 00:00:00

and by the influence of the parson and the squire,
they equally succeed in damaging the Establish-
ment. They save their own pockets a few pence,
which they ought in equity to pay, but they em-
bitter the feelings of their neighbours against the
whole system of worship and ecclesiastical manage-
ment which they wish to uphold. Let the Lords
do what they will, the amount obtained for Church-
rates will become less and less every year, the
parishes which pay them fewer, and the aversion of
people to a wealthy but mean and exacting Esta-
blishment stronger and stronger. The retention of
Church-rates by the Lords is in fact the retention
of weapons in the hands of Dissenters. ".Wise and
fairminded Churchmen see this, and readily, there-
fore, back Dissenters in their efforts for abolition.
The longer the Lords fight, the less they will have
to fight for : the question will be decided in the

parishes.
But the alternative proposed by Mr. DUNCOMBE
is an excellent one, and we really could wish
that Church-rate abolition should be carried in that
form. The proposal is "to transfer the freehold of
the parish churches and churchyards from the par-
sons to the representatives of the parish." There
can be no serious difficulty in carrying out such a
plan as this. The great merit is, that it at once
provides for the repair of the church by the parties
using it, and makes the parish, as it ought to be,
master of its own property. It answers the ques-
tion pressed on us by the pro-rate party--" How
will you keep the national buildings, for such parish
churches are, in repair ?" We have always replied,
By requiring those who worship in them rent-free
to keep them in repair, just as all Dissenters
keep in repair the places they have been at the
expense of building. Mr. DuNcomnE's bill shows
the way in which this duty may be enforced on the
congregation. The churches are national property
only as belonging to each parish in the nation—let
the parish, therefore, as locally representing the
nation, have the freehold of the churches. The re-
presentatives of the parish will then be able to
make terms with the worshippers in the churches.
They can, for instance, stipulate for the repair of
the building, and its insurance against fire, if the
parson and his flock continue to use it ; or they can

demand an annual rent from them, adequate to

meeting such charges. Or, what would perhaps be
the best plan of all, they might be authorised to sell
the church, for a nominal consideration, to the

existing congregation, to be at once fairly placed in
trust for their use and that of their successors.

We must confess that when we first saw the pro-
posal, though it pleased us, we thought it a very
daring one. The longer, however, we looked at it,
the better we liked it, and we think it will, when
understood, prove very popular. It is a great
nuisance now to have rural deans and archdeacons
and bishops telling parishioners what they shall
do to the churches ; and to have the parsons masters
in this matter of the parish, by the aid of these
ecclesiastical potentates. On the proposed plan the
parish will be master of its own church and church-
yard. It will repair its church according to the
dictates of its own practical good sense, and at the
cost of those who use it. It will be, pro hac vice, the
clergyman's master, not his slave ; it will be eccle-
siastically free ; it will be able to put an end to all
unseemly burial ground disputes, by allowing
all persons to inter according to their own re-
ligious ceremonies, charging only such a uniform
fee as shall keep the ground in proper order, and
leaving the clergyman to take his fee for his own
services. Probably a multitude of vexatious
squabbles would be at once got rid of by putting
the parish in its proper place, and confining the
clergyman to his also. The incumbent would, of
course, be relieved from the repair of the chancel ;

indeed, every one would have his own and pay for
his own.

. Elsewhere
,will be found a: most interesting
record of the religious rites and ceremonials by
which the heroic Poles in this country yesterday
celebrated the twenty-eighth anniversary of the
Polish Revolution. Under any circumstances the
occasion would have been deeply interesting : it
was rendered especially so, however, yesterday, by
the inspiriting oration delivered immediately after
the requiem mass, by the brave Count ZAMOYSKI—

noble words addressed in earnest tones by the
speaker to his exiled compatriots. It was placing
upon the tomb of Polish liberty a wreath of itn•
mortelles.