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

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN

SlR,—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, 1850.
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 SCHOOL.—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 comaty gaol. Leave of tem-
porary abseace from his duty in the prison was granted
to Mr. Meeres by the county megiotrates on his repre-
sentation that the mastership tf the school had been
offered 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 fjrthwith 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 inthe Cathedral, and Mr. Meares has been
promoted to the corner stall near him.—Rochester
Gazette.

MIDDLESBOROUGH AND REDCAR RAILWAY.--TllO
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 Year Valley line. The statement of ac-
counts for the half-year showed that the: receipts
had been 81,9951. 55., and the payments 82,112/. 18?. 3d.,
leaving a balance of 1171. 13s. 3d. A dividend of 30s.
per share (less innome-tax) was declared fur the half-
year ending March 31, 1850, the said dividend to be
paid on the 18th of April to such proprietors as aro re-
gistered on the books of the company on the said 31st
instant.

LONDON AND BIRMINGHAM EXTENSION RAILWAY.
--Yesterday the, affairs; of this undertaking came on be-
fore the Master in Chancery (Blunt). About 33,000 L
was received by the directors as deposit, the greater
part of which was expended in railway and engineering
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-
pnaanryy,gewnaearalhmeledetaintgpoaf
Stobart, chairman of the board of directors, presided.
rtihine g Wtoenar ,
on Valleyßailw
Tuesday;
The accounts of the receipt and expenditure of the com-
panyandalafm-yotaanrt
esdtattoe dB6thB72t4t9hle. receiptsOa.l
d.t dur-
ingandperiod
a past
the expenses to 821,7721. Bs. 6d., leaving a balance in
hand of 46'4764 12s. sd. The • land
capita. revenue se-
thatfor
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., on the 50/. shares paid
in full, 11. 10s. per share; on the 251. shares paid in full,
155.; on the 25/. shares, calls duly paid, 10s.; the said
dividend to to paid on the 18th of April, to such pro-
prietors as may Le registered on. the books of the com-
pany on the 31st March, 1850.
SCHEME FOR THE ORGANIZATION OF LADOUR IN
MANCRESTER.—A public meeting was held on Monday
evening to take into consideration the necessity of a
general grganizstion 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 concerning 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 unani-
mously. Another resolution was carried, proposing as
a remedy for the existing evils, " the adoption of a
system of trade organization on the go-operative system ;"
and a plan was proposed whereby such a system might
be carried into effect in Manchester. The meeting Ras
also addressed by 1% D. se. Hilaire, who detailed the
success of the co-operative system adopted by the work-
ing classes in Paris. Specimens of the manufacture of
a similar association in Salford, were produced by a Mr.
Stork; after which the meeting terminated.
CULTIVATION OF FLAX 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 following particulars cannot
fail to be interesting. At the monthly meeting of "The
Royal Flax Improvement Society," a gentleman pre-
sent remarked that he bad sold 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 better than any of his other crops. He
had since been told by the purchasers, that they were
offered 81. for the seed of an acre of this flax; and be
had himself seen some of the fibre, which they had
steeped and scotched, and which was of, such good qua-
lity as to be valued by the spinners at 635. per cwt. It
was producing from the straw at the rate of about 80
stones of 161bs. to the acre, which would be 281. worth
of fibre, and, adding 8/, for the seed, the Irish acre
would bring 361. ,

INDIA.

The following summary from the Bombay Over-
land Times of the 17th ult. will be read with iute-

rest :

"We have once more got rid of the wars and
rumours of wars which were, but are now no longer,
the invariable concomitants of the cold season. The
Eusoofzae revenue recusants having been chastised
and humbled, the force lately in the field under
Colonel Bradshaw has returned to Peshawur, the
Bombay portion of it being by this time on its way
to the Presidency. The Fusiliers were to leave on
the 30th ult., the Artillery and Sinde Horse on New
Year's-day, the 19th Native Infantry when relieved,
and the 3d about the end of the present month. Drs.
Campbell and Hooker being now safe at Darjeeling,
the insults and indignities they have suffered become
known. It was, it seems, for no fault of theirs that
they were seized on and imprisoned : the attack was
as wanton and unprovoked as it was cowardly and
cruel. It remains to be seen what chastisement
we shall deem requisite for the Sikkimites
who abused them. A misunderstanding is said
to have arisen betwixt Government and the
ruler of Khyrpore, the faithless Ali Moored,
the betrayer of the other Ameers. The nature of
this has not been made known, but that the Khyrpore
Chief could long speak the truth or act honestly is a
thing not to be looked for. The "Black Act "
agitation continues the theme of dhcussioo. Bombay
has now followed Calcutta in presenting a memorial
to Government, pointing out the inadequacy of the
Company's Courts, and adverting to the illegality i f
Parliament vesting the Legislative Council of India
with powers which Royalty itself never claims, and
the reforms in our tribunals have hitherto been over-
looked which were considered by the Charter Act
essential preliminaries to the extension of their juris-
diction. Sir C. Napier, in reviewing the
troops now quartered at Lahore, has fulminated a
general order against the state of their discipline such
as is without precedent in our military annals.
Sir -Charles states that he never before, in the
course of half a century of service, wit-
nessed such a scene, and feels assured that in no
other regiments of the army could such misconduct
have occurred. He winds up by saying that troops in
a state of undiscipline, such as some of the regiments
he reviewed, would in the field prove dangerous to
their friends and contemptible to their enemies. The
Governor-General is expected to leave Kurrachee to-
day or to-morrow, and to be in Bombay about the
'2oth. He will remain here for two or three days, and
no more, and most likely keep himself strictly private.
The health of the Noble Marquis is, we rejoice to
learn, almost entirely restored ; he will, after leaving
us, take a short sea voyage, and then return to
Calcutta, whence he will proceed to Simlah as the
hot season approaches. The Ruler of Goozerat, his
Highness the Gwicowar of Baroda, is on his way to
Bombay, to be presented to the Governor-
General. Five steam-boats have been dis-
patched to bring down his attendants, amount-
ing to several thousands. While here, they will
have assigned to them the Government-house at
Malabar Point—the hot weather residence of the
Governor. He is about to propose that the British
Government should afford a guarantee of five per
cent. on the portion of the Tankaria and Baroda
Railway which-passes through their dominions—about
one half—he providing for that of the half which
passes through his own ; making up, besides, all defi-
ciencies in the share list. The offer seems a mcst
liberal one. Pity it is to 'see the Prince who makes
it about to squander on a pilgrimage to a village of
prostitutes in the Deccan as much almost on elephants,
horses, and women, or gifts to the idle and the disso-
lute, as would cover all the outlay he proposes to incur
in public improvements. On the morning of the sth
the ship Dartmouth was burnt, as is believed, by incen-
diaries, in Bombay harbour—being the seventh in
the port, and ninth belonging to it, that has thus
perished within these eight years, the value cf the
property thus destroyed exceeding a quarter of a
million sterling. MajorEdwardes and Captain Nichol-
son—two of the officers who so eminently distinguished
themselves throughout the Punjauliwar, and received
brevet rank, and the former a C.8.-ship have been
residing for some days amongst us and receiving the
honours and attentions that are their due. They re-
turn on a twelvemonth's leave to England to take
breath after their adventures. The Commander-in-
Chief of the Indian Navy has addressed a very able
letter to the Government on the subject of ship.
burning ; pointing out that in the majority of vessels
no proper regulations are observed, that there is no
floating engine belonging to the harbour, such as is
considered requisite at every extensive shipping port,
and that there are no means of compelling the ser-
vices of seamen in the harbour in cases of emergency.
A remedy for all these is suggested, which, if adopted
would most assuredly go far to diminish the magni -
tude of the mischief or danger. The results of the
census taken in May last have been published, and it
lippears that in the little island of Bombay, com-
prising in all twenty square miles of ground—
four-fifths of which at least are uninhabitable
iivearnp or rock—there are in all no fewer than
366,11, inhabitants, of whom 354.090 are males, and
212,029 females. Of these 6,936 are Br.hmins,
289,995 are of other castes of Hindoos; 1,902 are
.rains or Bhuddists ; 124,155 are Mahomedans;
114,691 Parsees; 1,132 Jews ; 7,456 native Chris-
tians; 1,333 Indo-Britons ; 5,417 lndo-Portuguese ;
5,088 pure Europeans; 889 Siddees, Negroes, and
Africans; and 7,118 of other castes unspecified. The
Europeans are thus less than one in a hundred of the
whole population. Cholera has greatly abated, but
has not yet quite ceased. The staff of engineers for
the railway is expected by next mail. Mr. T. J. A.
Scott has been appointed secretary on a salary of
1,0001. a year, and there are five directors who re •
ceive each 1001. per annum. So much of the season
has been lost by delays at home that little will be done
before October. The inhabitants of Calcutta have
presented Sir John Littler with a splendid piece of
plate in testimony of their esteem."

CHINA.
CANTON MARKET, DEC. 27.
IMPORTS.

Cottons—We have this month to report a healthy
change in favour of these goods, the rise in prices being
attributable entirely to the reduced stocks, and the small
supplies expected.
Raw Cotton—The partial failure of the native crop
must natui ally increase the demand for the foreign arti-
cle and even now shipments are being made to places
which hitherto have been supplied from Shanghae. The
moderate quantity expected from India likewise tends to
give confidence to the dealers. _

Cotton Yarn—The market for this article shows a
slight improvement, notwithstanding the very large
stocks; but until these are considerably reduced, no great
rise in prices can be looked for.
Long Cloths—These goods are in demand at a consi-
derable advance on last month's quotations.
Woollens show no improvement, and the stocks are
still very large.
Opium—Malwa, stock small, and all refuse—a little
new came on per steamer, but we have heard nothing
quoted. Nominal price 630 dolls. to 640 dolls. For
Bengal drug the demand is good, and stocks small, but
the extreme pressure for money brings sellers of both
Patna and Bermes forward at 475 dolls. t 3 480 dolls.