The Sun.
London, England, 1827-09-20 00:00:00

" The eharehwardens request a meeting of the rate-

payers, at the vestry of the pariah church, Wakefield, at
twelve o'clock, on Thursday next, to sign a rate for the
repairs and other extiences of the parish church, St.
John's church, and the churches of Stanley and Alver

thorpe.Th "
e Rev. S. SHARP, vicar,. having taken the
chair, stated that, on the 12th of July last, a re-
solution was passed, that the churchwardens
should ascertain the liability of the parishioners
to contribute to the expences of the new
churches. To show their liability, he had brought
with him the acts under which their new

churches were built. In 1818, the legislature
put into the hands of certain commissioners a
million of money, to expend in building churches,
under the authority of an act of parliament. Two
of these churches had been built in the parish of
Wakefield, one at Alverthorpe, and the other at
Stanley ; and as they had made them chapels of
ease under the parish church, and not district
churches, the parishioners at large were liable to
the axpence of their future maintenance, as ap-
peared from the act 58th Geo. 111. cap. 45, and
3d Geo. IV. cap. 72, sec. 20, 'which section he
read. This being the ease, the churchwardens
had made an estimate of the sum that would be
required for the current year, which appeared to
be about 800!., and a rate of 18.8 d. in the pound
would raise that sum. As he was, therefore,
fully convinced of the legality of the thing, he
was ready, without•hesitation, to sign the book.
Mr. P. Hitchon immediately added, " So will
I." The book was produced, and some of the
gentlemen present immediately proceeded to
sign it.
This created a considerable sensation through-
out the whole of the meeting, when, after a
short pause, Mr. Craven stepped forward and
said, " Will you allow,us, Mr. Chairman, to say
any thing on this business ?" To which the
Rev. Gentleman answered, " I will, if you will
stop a little." After a few more gentlemen had
signed the rate-book, the chairman added,
" Now, Sir, I am ready to hear you."
Mr. CRAVEN then said, " I wish to know whe-
ther it is your intention to make any motion on
the subject ?" To which the answer was, "No !
it is not usual ; at previous meetings scarcely a
sufficient number have attended to sign the book.
What had been done at former meetings he did

not know ; but be knew that the law said that
the churchwardens, with a majority of the inha-
bitants, could make any rates ; but if the ma-
jority of the inhabitants refused to make a rate
for the necessary expenses of the church, then
the churchwardens could do it of themselves."

He then read an extract. from Burn's Justice to

that purport. " We," said he, " are not refusing
to make a rate, we intend no such thing." Mr.
Craven then said, that it was required by the
Vestry Act that the notice convening a parish
meeting should be posted on the church door,
but that this notice had not been so posted, and
that of course the meeting itself was illegal, and
in strictness the business done at it would be a
nullity. The Chairman said, he did not know
whether the notice had been exhibited upon the
door or not ; and Mr. P. Hitchon observed,
that the business, he thought, was settled, and
therefore moved—" That the meeting be
dis-
solved."

Mr. CRAVEN said, this was a strange mode
of proceeding, taul claimed the privilege of being
heard. The Chairman said they would hear all

,hat was to be said.

Mr. CaasEN resumed—The vicar, he said,
had informed them that it was usual after signing
the book, to adjourn, but common sense leads
him to deny this assertion. At former meetings,
a few of the churchwardens' friends had assembled,
and there being but one opinion on the subject,
they immediately signed the rate. But now
when there were a great number present opposed
to the measure, the case was vary different. Even at
the former meenwtpianiragdisentleihsde, ctoliturchwardens had doubt-
less asked the opinion oftheir assembled friends as
to the proper 'amount' of the rate; or else what. was
the use of calling them together. Such, he 'said,
ought to be the case on the present occasion.
There was no man of understanding, but what
must revolt at the present proceeding : surely,
they must exercise their judgments, and as to.
the amount of the rate, he should beg leave to
move—
" That. a rate of ninepenee in the pound be made for the
necessary repairs, &s. of the Parish Church and of St.
John's Charch.".
Mr. CRAVEN then declared himself prepared
to show, that the sum this would raise was suf-
ficient for all necessary expenses, and, with what
called
dddto in:ta,kleinplreos:
the churchwardens had in hand, was as much as
had been found necessary in previous years.
beeolwivoeursaldtipount
his motion
Craven
asked
Mr. C. would include all the four churches, sts
idi
rr,,r eMga
and
r refusal f ufit
then
la:ell:hi:0 being
tgiatnhrgeep
theaTsok After
wdnfthiteeilriceehtsi aiClhnghel eawi repliedr
Chairman
n furtheri
. 't
expresslyha he
c
upon those who approved of his. motion for a
ninAepfteenrnay
greatrate todlealolldofupalttehreciartilotann,dsiwehesnhtahrep
lmcfottoien,
cwhaasircaartrtivido boy.cloackg.rea:ir. majority.
jackso Jackson, one
visionC . at. for
lengthall addressediliis
larity, and declared the meeting dissolved.
oCfhtahier Chairman
churchwardens, r
many of the people kept togethertill
near five
o'clock, being occupied through this long period
in conversation and d' •
iseussion on the business of
the slay. reecaaahnttaed called

wopi
nit
eessrri
sdoi
el tried.
ianaerina; bdrd hearing
n who,
0 evidence,
The weather, which, with one or two slight
interruptions, has been uniformly favourable to
the harvest, still continues dry, and, for the last
two days, we have experienced all-the warmth of
summer. The thermometer, yesterday, stood at
73, in the shade. The harvest, in the neigh-
bourhood,
friidme
rbpaoedirntla,genrct
adverting
gt to
0 landlords
t h t
eir_
of the cornb
for huis,-
abundant.—Edinburgh Evening Courant.
Itzunrh; oeondd,
we
es
übbeednersttldin,thaint ethxecellpernoatidlucdoctnehdiis-,
vibcfiyaerinlicileseir:ihz,aovruitnindgptiitfaernillie:::
In the Perth Jury Court, on the 12th instant,
in arrears with his rent, his landlord sequestrated,
his stock, rouped his corn and live stock, and
fluence, dissuaded people from bidding,
a purchaser r:
opinion, that
yietrleperheheaepnsipboles,sesstsaitoeidi
his
chargedeumstan
et
eh eefJtuhrey,
ohbigtahill
purchaser had sustained no loss, injury,, the
or
damage; but the Jury "returned
a verdict for the
pursuer, finding 851.105. damages.__ Caledonian
Afercu7.
employer.saa
tnw and
latoseyeeadon ft
tenants