The Sun.
London, England, 1868-10-17 00:00:00

THE NATAL DISPUTE.

"A Subscriber " writes to the Times to point out
the danger to which our oldest religious society, the
" S. P. C. K.," is exposed through the activity of a
small, but energetic] section of its subscribers. After
detailing the events of the meeting, at which it was
decided to grant £2OO for the use of the Church in
Natal, independently of Bishop Colenso, the writer
points out that that bishop has never been legally
deposed, and the Bishop of Capetown refrains from
appealing to a lay tribunal, which could alone decide
the question at issue. Furthermore, it is a mistake
to suppose that Mr. Macrorie would be welcomed by
the great majority of English Churchmen in Natal.
" Even among the clergy, the majority was against
the proposal for a new bishop. The invitation to
select a new bishop was carried only after the expul-
sion of one or two clergymen who had communicated
with Bishop Colenso, by the casting vote of the
chairman. The laity are in a vast majority, deter-
mined to resist the intrusion of a new bishop by tho
Bishop of Capetown. The situation, then, is this
The oldest society of our National Church is asked
to vote the sum of £2,000. for the promotion of an
antagonistic bishopric within a diocese the bishop of
which is condemned by no valid tribunal, and, as -far
as is yet known, by no law of the Church ; and this
against the wish of the majority of the clergy and
the laity of that diocese." The writer concludes by
hoping that the grant may be rescinded at the
meeting on December 1.

v 4:um's nas rouna out -a new, or rather dib.
society, whose expenditure is a matter of curiosity.
It is called the " Society for the Discharge and Relief
of Persons Imprisoned for Small Debts throughout
England and Wales." Some years ago this association
consisted of sixteeen persons, some of them being
elderly ladies; but of these sixteen only four took any
active part in the society's proceedings. In 1859 an
absent governor returned. The five governors are
the Earl of Romney, president and trustee; Mr.
Benjamin Bond Cabbell, treasurer and trustee; Mr.
Harwood I-larwood and Mr. Capel Cure, trustees
and auditors ; and Mr. F. Chatfield, trustee. There
are a solicitor, a banker, a secretary who is Mr.
Joseph Lunn, and an assistant secretary who is
Mr. W. A. B. Lunn. The trustees have the
absolute disposal of the interest of about £lOO,OOO,
derived from a benevolent public for an object
which has daily become less and less, and may
soon cease altogether to exist. The funds had accu-
mulated to such an extent that the trustees sought
and obtained an Act of Parliament (10th Victoria)
for their better disposal. The society are their Own
auditors, and arrange the accounts after a manner
which has excited the astonishment of the Charity
Commissioners. In 1850 the fun& had risen to
nearly £107,000. No • balance-sheet is pul Ished,
and therefore nothing is known of their e:l33nscs,
nn. of the way in which they distribute
their money. " Vigilans " reminds the trustees
that Mr. Peabody and Miss Burdett Coutts have
shewn that there are 'abundant ways in which the
poor can be helped ; and now that the original object
of the society has almOst become extinct, the trustees
are called upon to State the amount of the invested
funds at their disposal, •the expenses in the way
of salarieS and rent, the object to which they
intcnd to devct3 their enormous funds, the amount
of subseriptiobs and donations received during the
past year, why they have not published an account
of their receipts, and what amount of money they
spent last year for the relief of persons imprisoned
for small debts. We suspect that the Cornish miners
whom the " tallymen " are so fond of imprisoning for
shawls and bonnets sold to the wives during their
husbands' absence from home, have not even heard
of this society, much less have they benefited by it.