The Sun.
London, England, 1845-04-23 00:00:00

THE MAYNOOTH BILL.

ADJOURNED AGGREGATE PROTESTANT MEETING
Last night a meeting was held in the large room of Exeter-
hail, being an adjournment of the one lately held in Covent-
garden Theatre. The principal object of the meeting was to
decide upon what steps it was necessary to take in con-
sequence of the second reading of the Maynooth Bill being
carried in the House of Commons.

On the motion of Mr. LORD, secretary to the Anti-May-
nooth Committee, the Most Noble the Marquis of Breadalbane
was called to the chair.

The meeting was opened by the Rev. Dr. HOLLOWAY
offering up a prayer ; after which the Rev. Mr. MELVILLE
read the 2d Psalm.

The Marquis of BREADALBANE, who was received with
loud cheers, said—Ladies and gentlemen, it is with very
great diffidence I have undertaken the duties of the chair.
I have had very little time to consider the important ques-
tion upon which you are assembled to deliver your opinions.
I was anxious rather to follow than to lead on this question,
and to have confined my exertions more especially to that
place in which I hold a seat. I thought perhaps in doing so
I might be serving the Protestant cause in a more efficient
manner—(Hear, hear, and cheers)—but as I was requested
most earnestly on this occasion to take the chair, I resisted
my own scruples, and gave way to those who are so anxious
that I should attend here.—(Cheers.) Having said thus
much, I shall address to you very few words upon the im-
portant subject on which we are assembled. We are called
here to deliver our opinions in a firm, but, I trust, a tempe-
rate manner—(Cheers)—upon a great principle, affecting the
best interests of our country, and especially the interests of
our Protestant religion.—(Loud cheers.) A measure has
lately been introduced by her Majesty's Government to give an
additional grant to the Roman Catholic College of Maynooth,
to perpetuate that grant by law, and to take the Money from
the public funds of the country.—(Hear, hear.) Thus the
members of the Protestant Church of this country, and
those Protestant Christians who dissent:from that Establish.
ment ; the Presbyterians of Scotland, and those who secede
from the Presbyterian Establishment, will be called upon
to contribute to that which is contrary to their scruples, and
contrary to the spirit of Protestantism.—(Loud cheers.)
They will be called upon by law to contribute to this Catho-
lic endowed college—a college of priests to sow the seeds of
Catholicism—to instruct the people of Ireland in the Roman
Catholic religion—a measure which appears to me much more
objectionable in its principles than even if we were called
upon to endow the whole Roman Catholic priesthood of Ire-
land. But the measure now introduced is lowed on such
andprinceifpalesiletmheant
Citesthseulpicpoeretteerhslieehvmenenctomnfeesst
talrigatnnn
the endowment
be the necessary consequence. It appears to me that
s
this measure—although emanating from a man who is at the
head of her Majesty's Government, and for whomeelhnaevee I
very great respect—(Cheers)—a man who in manyi
te
has
evi
n yetes:ed
et hdi ni
ekp,essiint
iceenh
tee t
actoo k
fer the
thheel helm
best the
eGr
eoevteer ne
country,fmtehnet,
stusffiincietnhtilsyrecaolnnsli—deirleads
the great Proteswho, I must say,t
a
in
nt
tfheeislincasg
case has
ncheoxtie
not been introduced
faithwhich
into Parliament
oughtwitherev
teu
thatect deferenceeteh
te to
the Protestant
Go-
vernment of this great empire.—(Cheers.) I regret that in
the difficulty in which that Right Hon. Baronet was placed,
in relation to the circumstances by which the Government of
Ireland was surrounded, that in an hour of indiscretion—an
hour when wisdom certainly did not guide him—when that
Protestant spirit which should ever guide the Government of
this country, especially in all matters concerning religious
measure which
iew an hd icl a
i
endowments—that in an hour of difficulty with regard to Ire-
land, the Government should have proposed,a a
firm, appears to me fraught with danger.—(Cheers.) It is for
us to raise our voices in a temperate
constitutional manner against it.—(Cheers.)
assembled to resist this measure, and to make known our
opinions to her Majesty's Government and to the Legislature,
that we consider what they have done is inconsistent with
our Protestant principles and with the best interests of the
country. The question is an extensive one ; and there are
many topics which might be dilated upon, but having
opened the proceedings, having stated the great object for
which'we are assembled, and having stated to you that I
have not sufficiently prepared myself to
go at length into
details, I shall not address you at further length, but but re-
quest those gentlemen who have given the subject considera-
tion now to move the resolutions.—(The Noble Marquis re-
sumed his seat amidst great cheering.)
The Rev. J. T. ROBINSON, Rector of St. Andrew's, Hol-
born, moved the first resolution. Hitherto he had stood
aloof from public meetings, but now, when danger was
threatening the cause of which he was a minister, he had, as
the pastor of a large and populous district, been induced
to come forward in vindication of the Protestant principles
in which be had been educated.—(Hear, and loud cheers.)
If there WM one truth more firmly rooted in hid mind than

moment Mr. FOX Maule Made hie 94
..peare ott the platform, and was received with great
cheers)—if there was one truth more firmly rooted in his
mind than another, it was that Popery was damnable
idolatry.—(Loud cheers and hisses.) With this conviction
he had no hesitation as to the course he should pursue in ree
gard to any measure that might be proposed to support it.
education of
tlhtewasßosamieed th.ceattthheelimeeaspriuereetew. aszfuotr thewhe bettertewtteres
Roman Catholic priests were necessarily bad. men, eanbuthtehte thedid
say that in conjuction with such religious plan_
theme
knowledge without principle ? He did notmeip
professed, education would have the tendency of principle as they
resolution expressive of surprise and indignation of Pro-
testant House of Commons. after the general expression
worse instead of better men. The Rev. Gentleman thenurge
thatec thete
agreed to the second reading of the
the course the House of Commons -were
feeling throughout the country, shouldßili. haveHe
was prepared for
taking, of thrusting the meastire through the House, heedless
of the wishes of the great body of the Protestant com-
munity. The conduct of Sir Robert Peel towards a deputes
tion, which had waited on him to point out the impol icy of the
measure he had brought forward, might be aptly illustrated
by these words :—" Sic polo, sic jebeo; stet pro ratione
voluntas."—(Cheers. ) He would tell the Right Hon. Baronet
that he had aroused a feeling in the country which he was
.not aware of, for he thought he had mesmerised the people.
—(Laughter.) But the Protestants were not prepared to
give up their principles at the wish of any man, and they
ought to oppose, by every means in their power, the endow.
ment of the Roman Catholic religion—for, in reality, such
would be the ultimate object of the principle of the grant, it
once adopted.—(Cheers.)
The Rev. ARTHUR 'I'mMAN, Foreign Secretary to the
London Missionary Society, seconded the resolution. He
said it was generally conceded that the introduction into the
British Senate of the principle laid down by the Premier
was of a new character, and that it would be followed byresults which, when they once began, who could tell to what
they would lead, or what change they might effect ? He
admitted that Ireland was a suffering country, and
required improvement ; but its unfortunate condition was
to be ascribed to the machinations of a bigoted priesthood.
He denied, on the part of the Protestants of tins country,
any desire to destroy the rights of their Roman Catholic
fellow-subjects.—(Cheers.) He would give to the Ronan
Catholics as much as he asked for himself, and considered it
was unfair to tax him for another man's religion. Ile then
passed a glowing panegyric on the beauty and simplicity of
the Protestant religion, and it was for its stability that he
had to contend.
The Rev. C. J. GOODHEART, of St. Mary's chapel, Reading,
censured Sir Robert Peel for the course he had adopted in
supporting a religion which would have the effect of tearing
the crown from her Majesty's head.--(Cheers.) He was
astonished how he could stand by her Ida with his Bible in
his hand, and act as he had done—that was if he read or
believed hiS Bible.—(Cheers and laughter.) The Popish
Church was the mother of harlots and of all abominations--
(Cheers)—and he could not but pity those benighted indi
viduals who were members of that Church. Wherever
Popery prevailed there existed misery and unhappiness.--
(Cheers.) If they were asked why they met in that
way, he would tell them they did so because the Protestants
did not support them as they should. If they had the Ca-
tholic Emancipation Bill would not have passed into a law.
—(Cheering and uproar.) The question was, whether the
Protestants of England would be ready, when the day of
reckoning came, to oppose the extension of the Popish reli-
gion. If they did this England would preserve her religion,
her constitution, and her crown.—(Cheers.)
The resolution was then carried by acclamation.
EDWARD BAINES, jun., Esq., of Leeds, rose to propose the
second resolution, protesting against the atter disregard
shown by the majority of the House of Commons to the peti-
tions and remonstrances of the Protestant community, and
thanking the minority for the course they had taken on last
Friday evening. He said he had come up from the country
to aid the cause. It Lad pleased the Hon. Member for Edin-
burgh (Mr. Macaulay), and the Hon. Member for Dungar-
von (Mr. Shell) to cast vituperations upon those who met at
Exeter Hall. Such aspersions came with abed grace from Mr.
Macaulay, who at one time represented the Dissenters of Leeds,
and now the Presbyterians of Edinburgh, and who had been
associated with the progress and extension of the Protestant
religion, and the course he had taken was unworthy of his
name, of his talents, or of his obligations.—(Cheers.) He
would admit that nonsense was sometimes talked in Exeter
Hall ; but if there were any Members of Parliament there,
they would admit that Exeter Hall had not a monopoly of
that artiele--(Laughter)—tbe walls of St. Stephen's did not
always echo to absolute wisdom. With reference to the
speech of Mr. Sheil, the assertions he had made were most
uncalled-for. Then with respect to Mr. Cobden's speech, in
which he stated that he thought it would be more desirable
that there should be less theology and more logic introduced
into the debate—(Laughter)--he thought the Hon. Member
himself had introduced less logic than theology into his
speeches in that House.—(Laughter.) Mr. Cobden sup-
ported the proposition because he considered it an educa-
tional, not a theological grant, but he (Mr. Baines) was
firmly of opinion that it would be the means of propagating
the Roman Catholic faith.—(Cheers.) It was no reason,
because one man gave money to support Maynooth, that he
should follow his example. If the Parliament passed the
Act the blame would rest with them, not with the people,
who, he believed, were strongly opposed to it. Was it right
that Sir R. Peel should sacrifice the consciences of the people
of England to pacify Ireland, which had no right to such a
grant? He was in favour of governing that country in
a spirit of mildness and conciliation ; but what he

was opposed to was that the Protestant leli.
gion of England should be made tributary to the
Roman Catholic religion of Ireland.—(Great cheering.) He
called upon them to unite as one man, and to do their utmost to
prevent the carrying out of the measure now before the House
of Commons. He could not conscientiously give one farthing
to support the Roman Catholic religion. Was it for such a
measure as this that the great Reformers of the Church had
laboured to free religion from the bigotry and superstition
which at one time degraded and enslaved it ?—{Cheers.)
JAMES CUMMINS, Esq., seconded the resolution. He said
the happiness of the Queen and the safety of Europe were at
stake in this question, and when so much was at stake it was
their duty to unite and defend them. The only impediments
which Sir Robert Peel expected to be raised against the grant
were—first, the unwillingness of the Catholic priests to accept
it—(Laughter)—and secondly, the determined hostility of
the people of England to it.—(Cheers.) The first was
a nullity—(Laughter)—and the second a great fact—
Cheers)—and from what he had heard that night he had no
doubt that it would meet with the most determined opposi-
tion of the people of this country.—(Great cheering and
waving of handkerchiefs, which lasted for some seconds.)
Men of different opinions met there in a spirit of
amity, because they were bound together by the
Bible. It was because they believed that Popery was or•
posed to the word of God that they had met there to oppose
it.—(Cheers and hisses.) Maynooth was to be made a nur-
sery of Popery against the word of God, and care was taken
that Protestants should not penetrate into it and examine
the education taught there.

The second resolution was put and carried unanimously.
The Rev. THO3fAS Monyneen then rose to propose the
next resolution, and was received with great cheering. The
resolution was in substance condemnatory 'of Popery, and
calling on all Protestants to resist its encroachments, -It had
not been his intention to attend the meeting, but he had
yielded to the wishes of the committee, and had come there
to bear testimony to the importance of the subject to the best
interests of religion. He thought the Protestant religion was
the true one, and that it must prevail ; but they were not
united as they ought to be for its protection. They most
talk together, sing together, pray together, and commemo-
rate the dying love of the Saviour together.—(Cheers.) Sir
harry Inglis had made him a present of a stick—oh ! how
unworthy he was to receive it—which he wished he had
brought to his Lordship—a stick which Sir Harry had
brought from Marathon. They wanted the men of Item-
thou there to aid them.—(Cheers.) He had two silver cru-
cifixes, which had grown black in his cupboard, that he in-
tended presenting to the committee in aid of their funds in
opposing the grant to Maynooth.—(Cheers.) Would they
just look in their cupboards, and see if they could find some-
thing there which they could present to the committee in aid
of the funds ?—(Laughter.)
Sir C. E. SMITH seconded the motion. lie thought that
Dissenters ought to aid them in defence of the principles
enunciated that night, for they were equally interested with
those belonging to the Established Church. A formal de-
. .

claration was made by her Majesty ai----lceiCorOnaiiOn-i; the
effect that she would support the Protestant religion, and it
was, therefore, inconsistent for her Ministers openly and dis-
tinctly to propose an endowment of a Roman Catholic college
. .

in opposition to that declaration, and in direct opposition to
the great body of the people.—(Cheers.) He deprecated the
conduct of Sir Robert Peel, and called upon the meeting to
protect the Protestant religion.
The Rev. Wm. CHALMERS (a member of the Free Church
cf Scotland) rose to support the resolution. He said the
Church of which he was a minister was ready to aid them in
the struggle. However much the House of Commons might
sneer at Exeter Hall, he thought that the motion was too
clearly worded to give them any reason to call them an
" organised hypocrisy."—(Cheers.) He then proceeded with
much vigour to show the effects that would result from the
fostering of the Catholic religion, contending that that reli-
fethtyatofththeeGcohvoetruchm;eannt
gio.n.tiwonaswfoouonlddeedodein
position d Pcarreti endanger the
upon them to unite in its defence. The reception of Mr.
Macaulay at the next election would be a warm one, and he
would be taught what stuff the people of England were made
of.—(Cheers.) The Journal des Debats had interpreted the
character of the people of this country better than Sir Robert
Peel—that they would forsake everything rather than their
religion, and that Sir Robert Peel would meet with the con-
sequences of the step he had taken.—(Cheers.)
JAMES COOK EVANS, Esq., said it was the duty of Protes-
tants of every denomination of Christians to unite together
to defend their common religion. He censured the conduct
of Lord John Russell, and regretted that he was elected at the
last election for the city of London. It was the duty of the
Dissenters in Lambeth, Southwark, and the Tower Hamlets,
to show their representatives that the conduct they had
whheo
waspoe proclaimed ilmo
lover
himself
o fltelanan
Ireland
Irishhe
pursued with respect to the Government proposition had
forfeited their confidence and their seats.
nett resolution, approving ofthe
This resolution was also carried.
sißt)aoEnple,Nr
Popery,
'ttoahpots
eproposed
Wesleyan,becausethe
course taken by the Anti-Maynooth Committee. He could
ld
e ou
prove, if the time permitted, that Maynooth
batedP rpoe.
school of sedition—that the principles • i was a normal
nculcated there are
anti-social and anti- Christian,
tending to sap the foundation: of the throne of their beloved Sel •
ereign —(Ch )
Rev. JABEZ BURNS, a Baptist
minister,eers.
seconded the reso-
lution. Their opposition was neither fractious nor bigoted-
Let
those who were in favour
of the Roman Catholic religio
n
support it, but he could not understand the ' •
com-
pelling those opposed to that religion to supportprinciple e
it was not demanded, and the Catholics Ireland Beside
o were in a
condition to support their own college and their own priests,
—(Cheers.) He trusted that they would soon have
sembly, sitting in the largest building in Londo,, anhiasch-
would represent the Protestant community. w
This resolution was also carried.
Mr. P. MaueE, M.P., then came forward, amidst enthusi-
astic cheering, to move a vote of thanks to the Noble Chair-
mail, and availed himself of the occasion to state that the
Maynooth Bill was not what it pretended to be, but a bona
fide step towards the endowment of the Roman Catholic
Church in Ireland, which he ever would oppose.—(Cheers.)
Mr. J. D. PAUL rose to second the motion, but seeing that
the meeting was about to separate, requested them to remain
for a very few moments. It bad been said that the Roman.
Catholic religion was superstitious and idolatrous, and that
her Majesty swore it was so. Now he could prove it to be
blasphemous as well.—(Cheers.) To do this, he need only
refer to an extract from a sermon which was delivered by a
Romish priest so late as the month of August last year, in
the presence of a Titular Romish Archbishop ;—" Any
person who practises the reading of the Bible will inevit-
ably fall into everlasting destruction. I would, therefore,
my dear friends and followers, most earnestly beseech you,
by the love that you bear the Virgin Mary, and to the
saints—by the love that yore bear to the dear priests, not
to allow these Bible readers near your houses—not to speak
to them when you meet them on the roads; but put ufs your
bands and bless yourselves' and pray to God and to the
Virgin Mary to keep you from being contaminated, by the
poison of the Bible. The worst of all pestileneas 0-the in-
fectious pestilence of the Bible—will ensail upon yourselvea
and children the everlasting ruin of your souls. Thu who
send their children to school, where the Scrii!or, are rest

give their children bound in chains to the Devil." (The
reading of this extract, particularly the passages (referring
to the Virgin Mary, caused an evident feeling of disgust
amongst the auditory. The allusion to the " dear priests"
excited some merriment, but the concluding sentence was
followed by loud cries of "No Popery.") Had he not kept
his promise? And had he not shown that Popery, besides
being superstitious and idolatrous, was also blasphemous?—
(Cheers, and cries of "Name.") He had no objection to
name ; the preacher was Friar Jennings, and the Archbishop
before whom he preached was John, Archbishop of Tuam—
Dr. M‘Hale.—(Cheers.)
At this moment a gentleman, who had occupied through-
out the meeting one of the seats set apart for the press,
stepped forward, and stated privately to the Chairman
(what it would not be our province to notice, but that the
same thing was afterwards stated publicly) that he was well
acquainted with both the parties whose names had just been
mentioned, and could take upon him to say that it was
utterly false that such language had ever been used by a
Roman Catholic clergyman (or the particular clergyman re-
ferred to, we do not know which). This gentleman, who at
the same time stated that he was an Irish Protestant, and
whom we learned to be Dr. Gray, the proprietor of the Free-
man's Journal, resumed his seat, while Mr. Paul was still
addressing some observations to the meeting on the subject of
the extract, the publisher of which he called on Mr. Paul to
name. In the midst of some little confusion,

The Marquis of BREADALBANE rose to return thanks, and
in the course of doing so said, that it was unplesant to find
oneself dragged forward in condemnation of the religion of
his fellow-countrymen ; but who had caused them to do so
on the present occasion ?—(A cry of " Sir R. Peel.") Cer-
tainly it was the man who had propounded this measure on
the subject of Maynooth. The Noble Lord then stated, in
effect, but amidst considerable noise, what had been commu-
nicated to him by Dr. Gray.
Dr. GRAY, raising himself on a level with the speakers'
platform by standing on his seat, said that, as a Protestant,
he claimed the privilege of publicly denying the truth of
the charge which had been made by Mr. Paul, and of calling
on that gentleman to tell him who the publisher of the
alleged sermon was.
The meeting were wholly unwilling to listen to Dr. Gray,
who was immediately dispossessed of his position by the
pressure of persons towards it (whether intentional or not
we cannot say). He took refuge on the speakers' platform,
from which, however, he was very unceremoniously sent
back upon the reporters' by a push from one of its reverend
occupants. Some gentlemen cried " Turn him out," others
called on the police to interfere, which they eventually did.
In the meantime, however, a colloquy passed between Dr.
Gray and Mr. Paul—Dr. Gray demanding, and Mr. Paul re-
fusing, the name of the publisher ' • but stating, that he found
the sermon in a pamphlet which any one might purchase,
and that he would send it to Dr. Gray if he wiihed to read it.
Dr. Gray was maintaining it to be a falsehood, when a police-
man was somewhat peremptorily called on to remove him,
which he said he would render unnecessary by retiring.
While doing so,
Sir C. E. SMITH observed, that if the gentleman complained
of Mr. Paul's statement, he had only to address a letter to
the Times newspaper on the subject; and if he did so, he
(Sir C. Smith) had no doubt that his friend Mr. Paul would
be prepared to verify the statement he had made.—(Cheers.)
The meeting then chaunted a psalm, and broke up at half-
past eleven o'clock.

MONEY MARKET and CITY NEWS.

FROM THE MORNING PAPERS OF THIS DAT.

TIMES.—The premium on gold at Paris is 171 per mille,
which, at the English Mint price of 3/. 17s. 101 d. per ounce
for standard gold, gives an exchange of 25 59 ; and the
exchange at Paris on London at short being 25 771, it follows
that gold is 0.72 per cent. dearer in London than in Paris.
By advices from Hamburgh, the price of gold is 436 per
mark, which, at the English Mint price of 3/. 17s. 100. per
ounce for standard gold, gives an exchange of 13 101 ; and
the exchange at Hamburgh on London at short being 13 121,
it follows that gold is 0.73 per cent. dearer in London than
in Hamburgb.