The Sun.
London, England, 1850-02-21 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF TEE SUN

Stn,—Knowing your readiness to expose wrongs
in any shape, I have presumed to address you on a
subject which may not be considered obtrusive.
A relative of mine, residing in the village of Chew
Magna, about seven miles from Bristol, of the Baptist
persuasion, loses a niece at the age of two years,
to whom the vicar of the parish refuses a Christian
burial, on account of the child not being christened
(the Baptists' custom being to baptise their brethren
at a mature age), and tells the relatives they must
bury the child themselves by night, or between the
hours of six in the evening and six in the morning.
The child was accordingly buried between six and
seven in the evening, without the funeral rites or the
tolling of the bell, which is usual in all cases in the
village ; and after the vicar claims the full fees, as if
he had officiated on the occasion and with the usual
formalities, which claim the relatives refuse, for the
reason above described.
You will therefore oblige your humble subscriber
by informing him whether or not they are obliged to
pay the demand. Your answer in your widely-
circulated journal will greatly oblige,
Your obedient servant,
A CHURCHMAN, BUT A LOVER OF
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY.
London, Feb. 20, 1860.
P.S. —I should have informed you that the Bap-
tists of the village, being so few, had no burial-place
of their own.

[As to the legality of the fees demanded, that will
depend on their nature, which our correspondent has
not explained. The vicar is entitled, we believe, to
certain charges for " opening the ground" for the
reception of the body ; but we do not think he can
make any claims for services which he refused to
render.—En. Sun.]

CATHEDRAL GRAMMAR SCIIOOL.—We are enabled

to state upon good authority that the Rev. Henry
Meeres, whom the Dean and Chapter have declared that
they have selected and duly appointed to be the head
master of the King's School, is, notwithstanding, still
the chaplain of the Bucks county gaol. Leave of t?in-
porary absence from his duty in the prison was granted
to Mr. Meeres by the county magistrates on his repre-
sentation that the mastership of the school had boen
uffered to him by the Dean and Chapter, and that he
believed that the litigation on the subject would be
shortly determined. Mr. Meeres further assured
the magistrates that he should forthwith resign his
chaplaincy in the event of his being confirmed in the
head mastership offered to him by the Chapter. The
result of this temporary absence from the prison is that
there are now two schools in the cathedral precinct, one
holden in the cathedral school-room, with a very large
majority of foundation and other scholars, under the
direction of a master who has been twice " amoved, re-
moved, deprived, and displaced" from his office; the
other over a gateway, and under the chaplain to a gaol.
His room is small and his scholars few. Mr. Whiston,
in whose favour the Court of Queen's Bench has made
the rule absolute for a mandamus, still occupies the head
master's place in the Cathedral, and Mr. Meares has been
promoted to the corner stall near him.—Rochester

Gazelle.
MIDDLESBOROUGH AND REDCAR, RAILWAY.—The
ordinary half-yearly general meeting of this company
took place on the 19th instant, at the office in Darling-
ton, J. C. Hopkins, Esq., in the chair. The share-
holders of this company are, for the most part, pro-
prietors of the Wear Valley line. The statement of ac-
counts for the half-year showed that the: receipts
had been 81,9951. 5?., and the payments 82,1121. 18s. 3d.,
leaving a balance of 1171. 13s. 3d. A dividend of 30s.
per share (less income-tax) was declared for the half-
year ending March 31, 1850, the said dividend to be
paid on the 18th of April to such proprietors as are re•
on the said 31st
instant.gisttred on the books of the company

LONDON AND BIRMINGHAM EXTENSION RAILWAY.
—Yesterday the;.affairsi of this undertaking came on be
fare the Master in Chancery (Blunt),
About 33,000/.
partwas of which
directorswhyastehxependedta railway and engineering
as deposit, the greater
expenses. The existing liabilities remaining to be de-
frayed by the shareholders amount to 10,0001. There
were upwards of 400 shareholders on the list of contri-
butories, and the Master fixed on the list as liable all
those who paid the deposit and signed the deed, reserv-
ing for argument and consideration the cases of those
who appeared and who object on various grounds to be
held liable at all.
WEAR VALLEY RAILWAY.--The half-yearly ordi-
nary general meeting of the. Wear Valley Railway Com-
pany, was held a* Darlington, on Tuesday; Mr. H.
Stobart, chairman of the board of directors, presided.
757d2. 1. 8s .
The 6d
capital
The accounts of the receipt and expenditure of the com-
pany for the past halfeyear stated that the receipts dur-
ing that period had amounted to 868,2491. Os. 11d., and
thehan
dexpenses t6oL 2
81218
ac-
counts were also read, and their details laid upon the
table for the inspection of the shareholders. The follow-
ing dividend was declared, viz., plietaalvinagndarebvaelnaunceein
on the 50/. shares paid
in full, 1/. 10s. per share; on the 251. shares paid in full,
155.; on the 251. shares, calls duly paid, 10s.; the said
dividend to be paid on the 18th of April, to such pro-
prietors as may to registered on the books of the com-
pany on the 31st March, 1850.
SCHEME FOR THE ORGANIZATION OF LAHOURIN
MANCHESTER---A public meeting was held on Monday
evening to take into consideration the necessity of a
general organization of labour in Manchester. Mr.
Lindsay, a journeyman tailor, moved, and Mr. M`Na-
mare
seconded a resolution condemning competition as
" unjust in principle., immoral in its tendencies, and cal-
culated to deprive the poor man of a fair remuneration
for his labour." Mr. L. Jones supported the resolution,
and attacked Mr. Macaulay, charging him with various
misstatements concernisig the working classes in his
recently published history. The speaker compared
the present state of the working classes, with their
condition in the reign of Henry VII.; and concluded by
regretting that in a time of such boasted civilization as
the present the working men of England were so de-
graded and oppressed. The resolution was carried tmani-
mously. Another resolution was carried, proposing as
a remedy for the existing evils, " the adoption of a
system °tirade organisation on the co-operative system;"
and a plan was proposed whereby such a system might
be carried into effect in Manchester. The meeting vies
also addressed by M. D. St. Hilaire, who detailed the
success of the co-operative system adopted by the work-
ing classes in Paris. Specimens of the manufecture of
a similar association in Salford, were produced by a Mr.
Stork; after which the meeting terminated.
CULTIVATION OF FLAK IN IRELAND.—At this
moment, when a growing appreciation is experienced in
foreign countries for our yarns and linens, and just before
the flax. sowing season,: the followingsarticalars cannot
fail to be interesting. At the moi,thly meeting of "The
Royal Flax Improvement Society," a gentleman pre-
sent remarked that he had told his crops of flax straw,
grown near Carrickfergus, pulled and dried, to a steeping
company at Cregagh, getting 121. per Irish acre for it,
which paid him bettor than any of his other crops. Ho
had since been told by the purchasers, that they were
offered 81. for tLe seed of an acre of this flax; and he
had himself seen some of the fibre, which they had
stenped and watched, and which was of such good qua-
lity as to be valued by the spinners at 635. per cwt. It
re's producing frere :he straw ct the rate of about 80
S'
cee s of 16)e s, te tU c .e, Rhl.eli wc,ukd Ise 2St. v.orth
of fibre, and, adding 8/. for the seed, the Irish acre
would bring 361.