The Sun.
London, England, 1842-01-28 00:00:00

r PRESBYTERIAN. MEETING lN
ARMAGH.

THE MARRIAGE QUESTION.
(Abridged from the Newry Telegraph.)
On Thursday, a meeting of the members of the First
Presbyterian Congregation of Armagh, took place in
the Rev. Dr. Henry's Meeting-house, for the purpose of
taking the subject into consideration, and for adopting
petitions in both Houses of the Imperial Legislature, to
avert the danger which is already more than pending.
The Rev. Dr: Henry took the Chair.
Dr. HENRY proceeded to state the objects of the meet-
ing in nearly the following terms :—" Christian Friends,
from our settlement in this country as a braneh of the
Established Church of Scotland, down to the present
time, our ministers conceived they had the right of
solemnizing marriage, not only amongst the members
of their own communion, but between their own
hearers and the constituents of other denominations.
Upon this understanding of the civil law we have
ever, as a body, acted, and our uniform practice
has been sustained by successive decisions from the
Learned Bench, as well as ratified by repeated public
acts of the Executive Government. It has frequently
happened that persons in this province, reckless of the
moral obligations which God and Nature imposes, have,
through their law advisers, raised the point of the inva-
lidity of Presbyterian marriages between an Episcopa-
lian and one of our people, as a plea against the charge
of bigamy, and as a shield against merited retribution,
and it has till now as invariably happened that our
Judges and Juries have ruled in favour of .our practice.
In consequence of this, many have suffered the penalty
of transportation, and some are at this moment in
banishment, making expiation by their bondage and
punishment to the outraged laws of their country. A
case of this kind I have referred to occurred at Car-
rickfergus within these five years. Upon the testimony
of one of our most respectable ministers, that he
had celebrated a marriage between au Episcopalian
and a Presbyterian, the act was without hesitation
ratified by the Judge and Jury, notwithstanding that
the defence of invalidity was set up and ingeniously ar-
gued by Counsel, and the bigamist in whose favour it
was employed was forthwith transported. It is now
twenty-four years since Captain Lethrope, an Episco-
palian, was married by Dr. Black, of Derry, to a Miss
Marshall, of his congregation. The parties removed
to England, where Lethrope resided, and an attempt
was afterwards made to deprive his daughter, the issue
of this union, of her rightful property upon the plea of
the illegality of the Presbyterian marriage perfornied
between her parents. Lethrope himself was a party
in this base attempt; and, not content with the ini-
quity of the disinheritance of his daughter, he added the
crime of .bigamy to his unnatural guilt. Dr. Black
was summoned to England and proved the marriage.
Not only was Lethrope defeated in his attempts, but
he was transported for seven years, and Aliss Lethrope
put, by the Chancellor of England, on Dr. Black's testi-
mony and marriage, in the undisturbed possession of all
her rights. But to come to the case which now imme-
diately concerns us—Smith, an Episcopalian, was mar-
ried by one of my co-Presbyters, the Rev. John Bell, of
Clare, to one of his hearers. After some years he
abandons his wife and two children ; he removes to
Dublin, and there marries and lives with another female.
An action of bigamy is brought before Judge Crampton,
at our last Assizes. Mr. Bell prcves the marriage;
and though Mr. Whiteside, with his usual power,
endeavours to invalidate it on account of the Presby-
terianism of the minister, it is sustained by Judge
and Jury, and, in perfect conformity with pre-
vious analogous cases, Smith is sentenced to seven
years' transportation. But Mr. Whiteside, it appears,
carries the question to the Twelve Judges, a majority
of whom, for the first time, affirm the principle that the
marriage of a regularly ordairied Presbyterian minister
between his hearer and an Episcopalian is null and void.
Thus the man who was judicially doomed is now enjoy-
ing all the enlargement of freedom, and that without any
change of circumstances or the light of any fresh evi-
dence. I impeach neither the soundness of the judicial
decision nor the integrity of her Majesty's Bench, but I
adduce these facts to vindicate myself and brethren
against the charge of celebrating marriages either igno-
rantly or illegally. We rested implicitly on the deliver-
ance of Judges and the deliberate acts of Governments,
and thought ourselves secure. Acting on this princi-
ple, nearly one-third of my marriages have been of
that kind which this decision dissolves, and some of
my best friends and nearest relatives have been
brought unwittingly by me into a state of public degra-
dation. It is but justice to the Government to say, that to
the last they were determined to transport Smith; and
had not the deliverance of the Judges necessarily altered
that determination, no amount of interest could have
prevailed on them to commute his sentence. I have
testimony in my possession to this effect, and I con-
ceive this an important and encouraging feature of the
case that ought not to be lost sight of. And now, fellow-
Christians, consider the awful and distressing circinn-
stances in which we are placed. What is the fact ? The
marriages of many of you, of many of yolir nearest and
dearest, of multitudes of your fellow-worshippers
throughout Ireland, nay, over the face of the world, are
dissolved. Your children and theirs, in such cases, are
held up before Christendom as illegitimate, the right, of
inheritance broken, and the securities which you be-
lieved sacred and indissoluble, suddenly severed. This
is a blow that cuts us in the •most vulnerable point.
We are most deeply grateful to the Attorney-Ge-
neral for giving us hope regarding the past. We
thank him for his noble defence of our privileges, and
for his intention of introducing a retrospective measure.
We trust he will go farther, and apply the provisions of
his Bill to the future. Now is the time to have it clearly
understood that less than this will not and cannot satisfy
us. We respect the rights of others ; our own we are
determined to support. Nothing short of unrestricted
liberty to unite our hearers with those of other denomi-
nations can satisfy us. Let all political differences be
buried till we are again placed in the honourable posi-
tion which we thought we held. Let us trust that
through Ulster, all divisions will be forgotten ; and with
one heart let us employ every legitimate means for
securing, in all coming time, those immunities to which
our numbers, wealth, and intelligence, as well as past
practice, and the spirit of our glorious Constitution, en-
title us. Let petitions from all quarters be poured in,
breathing the language of loyal and obedient freemen.
And now, friends, before I call upon you to move and
second the resolutions which are before me, I will give
you an instance of the first fruits of this decision. I
have here the documents detailing the facts of the case
to which I allude. A woman with four children ap-
plied on Tuesday last for admission into our workhouse,
who had been deserted by her husband, after having been
married to her for fourteen years, under the very pre-
tence which this decision afforded him: He has aban-
doned her, and married a female in another quarter of
the country, and her children, because of this, were pub-
licly, on last Tuesday, on the books of the workhouse,
designated as bastards.—(Great sensation.) This is
surely the time, when such occurrences as this are taking
place amongst us, to be up and doing. The Rev. Doctor,
after apologising for the absence of some of the leading
members of the congregation, on account of sickness,
and professional duties calling them elsewhere, con-
cluded amid the warm applause of the meeting.
Mr. DOBBIN, J.P., rose to move the first resolution.
The case to which he (the Chairman) had lately referred,
came before him in his Magisterial capacity. He had
taken the informations of the woman against her hus-
band, but, on account of the late decision, he was unable
to act on them. By the late decision the children of
great numbers of them are rendered illegitimate, at least
in the eye of law; and if some healing measure is not
adopted, the most disastrous consequences will ensue,
causing utter confusion amongst the whole of the Prej-
byterian community. Mr. Dobbin then proceeded to
read the resolution, which was seconded by Dr. Bryce,
and carried unanimously.
Mr. JOHN. KANE moved the second resolution, which
was seconded by Dr. Bell, and passed unanimously.
The other resolutions were then separately proposed
and carried, after which

HENny read a paragraph from the Newry Tele-
graph, which stated that means wore being taken by the
Law Officers of the Crown to have a Bill prepared and
'brdught
.in for the purpose of legalizing all such mar-
riages as the one which had been the source of so much
unpleasantness to the Presbyterians of the North of Ire-
land. He said he had lately been one of a number who
had drawn up the heads of a Bill on the subject, and he
would likely be one of those who would carry that Bill to
London on the ensuing meeting of Parliament. At the
meeting at which the preparation of that Bill was de-
cided on, he was happy to say that there was but one
opinion on the subject, and that was one of perfect
unanimity. •
The meeting then separated.

ANTI-CORN-LA W MEETING AT
LEITH.
A public meeting was held in the Trinity House,
Leith, on Monday, to consider the propriety of petition-
ing Parliament for the repeal of the Corn and Pro-
Provost REOCH being called to the Chair, shortly ex-
plained the object of the meeting. Ho thought they
were entitled, as members of an important and thriving
commercial town, to consider the working of these laws;
and from the same circumstances, they were naturally
called upon to. consider what ought to be clone to relieve
the present distresses of the country. (gear.)
Mr. BERRY moved the first resolution, to the effect
that, of all the protective duties, the Corn-laws were the
worst. Surely that law was the worst which taxed the
daily and necessary food of man more than his luxuries;
which aggrandized the rich and impoverished the poor ;
which aggravated the wants of the cottage, impaired the
health of its inmates, and barred the education of their
children.—(Cheers.)
Bailie MUIR 'seconded the resolution.
DANIEL M'GILVRAY moved an amendment, to the
effect that the extension of commerce had not benefited
the working population of this kingdom ; and that the
repeal of the Corn-laws would not be sufficient relief to
the working classes, while there are so many standing
laws equally hostile to their interests.
JOHN MACRAE, another working man, seconded the
amendment, which was put and negatived ; the original
motion being carried by a large majority.
Mr. RUTHERFORD, M.P., then moved the second
resolution, to the effect that the aim and object of all
monopolies was to benefit the few at the expense of the
many, and were therefore always injurious to the people,
particularly so when applied to their food. In speaking
of the amendment which had been moved, he said, I am
sure it would be a great boon to all—to the working.
classes especially—if these laws could be repealed or ab-
rogated, or even if they could be reformed. The Hon.
Member having addressed the meeting at some length,
concluded by moving his resolution.
Mr. D. Tact seconded the motion, and it was carried
unanimously.
Other resolutions ware moved and seconded by Mr.
Cos* AIL Lftwrio, Rey. jam limper, Rev. Mr, Cul-

len, and Mr. Mitchell, and carried almost unanimously ;
and a petition to Parliament, founded on the resolutions,
was adopted, on the motion of Councillor Gilley.

ILLEGALITY6FTIThE
TATION.
PARLIAMENT EXCOMMUNICATED.
(From the Western Luminary.)
On Monday last, at a meeting held at the New Lon-
don Inn, for commuting the tithes of several parishes,
the following Protest was delivered to Mr. Assistant
Commissioner Louis by Prebendary Dennis:—
Protest of the Rev. Jonas Dennis, Prebendary, Bachelor
of Civil Law, and owner of the moiety of the benefi-
ciary interest in a lease, for a certain term of years, of
the rectorial tithes of the parish of St. David's, in the
County of the City of Exeter, and of the manor of
Rooksdon, in the parish of Heavitree, in the County of
Devon,
The said Jonas Dennis protesting, declares, that having
been summoned to attend divers meetings of proprietors
and payers of tithes, in the aforesaid parishes, at the
New London Inn, in the months of December last,
and of January instant, convened by George Louis,
Esq., Sub-Commissioner, as is asserted, for the com-
mutation of tithes, by the alleged virtue of' a
certain provision of an Act passed in the sixth
and seventh years of King William the Fourth, in-
titled " An Act for the Commutation of Tithes in Eng-
land and Wales," he doth not voluntarily consent to any
act, proceeding, or agreement, of the said Sub-Commis-
sioner, tithe-proprietors, or tithe-payers, to effect the
proposed unconstitutional, and therefore unlawful com-
mutation and annihilation of tithes, otherwise than by
concurrence, compelled, and extorted under terror of the
pains and penalties denounced by the said Act.
First—Because the provisions of the said Act of Par-
liament are a direct violation of the English Constitu-
tion, and, therefore, form no part of the stringent law
of the land ; the said provisions not having obtained the
previous consent of the respective convocations of the
bishops and clergy of each province, notwithstanding that
such convocations having been convened and assembled
concurrently with the said Parliament, at the time of
passing the said Act, continued to constitute the first of
the three estates of the realm, to which the function of
legislation, as to the disposal or modification of ecclesi-
astical endowment with tithes, conjointly and primarily
pertained.
Secondly—Because the provisions of the said Act are
further demonstrable as an infraction of the English
Constitution, and consequently form no part of the
stringent law of the hind, inasmuch as they are a direct
violation of that fundamental law of the said Constitu-
tution, the unrepealed Act of Henry 111., commonly
called Magna Charta, whereby it is enacted, that " the
Church of England shall be free, and shall have all her
whOle rights and liberties inviolable."
Thirdly—Because by a statute of 37 Hen. 111., it is
enacted that the sentence of excommunication is de-
nounced against "all that secretly, or openly, by deed,
word, or council, do make statutes, or observe them
being made, and that bring in customs, or keep them
when they be brought in, against the said liberties, or
any of them, the, authors, law-makers, councillors, and
the executors of them, and all those that shall presume to
judge against them, all and every which person, let them
know that they incur the said sentence ipso facto, i. e.
upon the deed done."

Fourthly—Because by a statute of 25 Edward 1., c. I,
it is enacted that " the said charter be confirmed," and
that "all justices, sheriffs, mayors, and other ministers,
shall allow the same pleaded before them in judgment,
in all their points ;" and by cap. 2 it is provided that " if
any judgment be given from henceforth contrary to the
points of the charter aforesaid, by the justices, or by any
other ministers that hold pleas before them, against the
points of the charter, it shall be undone and holden for
nought."

Frfthly—Because, by a statute of 25 Edward 1., "all
persons, of whatsoever estate they be, are enjoined to
maintain and uphold all the said articles of the said
Magna Charta, on pain of the sentence, of excommuni-
cation."

Sixthly—Because, by a statute of 28 Edward 1., " it
is enacted that the said statute of Magna Charta is ra-
tified and approved by the King, and confirmed and made
strong for him and all his heirs perpetually."
Seventhly—Because, by 19 subsequent statutes,
namely, 14 Edw. 111., cap. 1, 25 Edw. 111., cap. 1, 50
Edw. 111., cap. 1, 1 Ric. 11., cap. 1, 2 Ric. 11., cap 1, 3
Ric. 11., cap. 1, 5 Ric. 11., cap. 1, 6 Ric. 11., cap. 1, 7
Ric. 11., cap. 1, 8 Ric. 11., cap. 1, 12 Ric. 11., cap. 1,
1 Men. 1V.,. cap. 2; 2,4, 7,9, and 13 Hen. IV., 3 Hen.
V., cap. 1, and 4 Hen. IV., cap. 1, it is enacted, nearly
in the same words, " that all the privileges and franchises
granted heretofore to the said clergy, be confirmed and
holden in all points."
Eightly—Because, by 1 William and Mary, cap. 6,
the following oath.-.is required to be taken by the King,
or Queen, as the condition of coronation, " Will you
preserve unto the bishops• and clergy of this realm, and
to the churches committed to their charge, all such rights
and privileges as by law do, or shall, appertain unto
them, or any of them ?—All this I promise to do."
Ninthly—Because, by 16, 17 Car. 2, c. 1, and 22, 23
Car. 2, c. 3, in an Act for granting a subsidy to his Ma-
jesty, by which the endowment of the Church with tithes,
previously exempt from Parliamentary taxation by
virtue of King Ethelwolph's charter, were first included
in the general taxation, it is " provided that nothin
heroin contained shall be drawn into example, to the
prejudice of the ancient rights belonging. unto the clergy
of this realm, by the force of which saving clause in the
reign of King George 11., Mr. Speaker Onslow reminded
the House of Commons, that an Act of Parliament affect-
ing the property of the Church, was not binding in law,
without the concurrence of the clergy assembled in con-
vocation having been first obtained."
Wherefore, fortified by such high authority, and on the
various grounds before enumerated, the undersigned
tithe owner protests against the proposed, or accom-
plished annihilation of tithe by commutation, in the pa-
rish of St. David's, Heavitree, St. Thomas the Apostle,
St. Sidwell's, Kenn, Payhembury, or any parish wherein
he is tithe-owner, or either by himself, or by his tenants,
payers of tithes, such commutation being devoid of con-
stitutional authority, therefore illegal,
JONAS DENNIS, 8.C.L., Prebendary,
Impropriate Rector of St. David's,
Parish of Rooksdon, Manor.
To George Louis, Esq., Sub-Commissioner
for Commutation of Tithes.
Polsloe-park, Jan. 24, 1842.

MONEY MARKET and CITY NEWS

FROM THE MORNING PAPERS OF THIS DAY.
TIMES.—In the Buenos Ayres papers received to-clay,
which come down to the 18th of November, the death
of I avalle is confirmed ; with the dispersion of his troops
and the slaughter of many of his leading men. The
announcement had been made through the usual official
channel, the Gazette, but, what is somewhat singular,
the manner in which the great leader of the Unitarians
came to his end is not given all is left to conjecture on
that head, but that he is dead there is no reason to
doubt. Respecting the fate of La Madrid nothing cer-
tain was known. Two Indians who had lately come
over the Cordilleras, stated that before their departure
from Chili a body of about 20 men had reached the first
post-house in great distress, and that on their passage
across they discovered nearly 100 .dead, upon some
of whom they found considerable sums in gold. From
Corrientes, the quarter to which is now directed the at-
tention of the Argentine forces as the stronghold of the
Unitarians, the last accounts stated that Generals Paz
and Ferri had retreated across the river, upon the
north bank of which General Echague had encamped.
In the Banda Oriental of the Rivera Government,
as one means of .preserving the integrity of the State,
had ordered a general enrolment of slaves. Rosas'
company at Santos Luguires was about to break
up, in consequence of the frequent desertions of his
troops to Don Frutos. The attempt of the Monte
Videan Government to open the navigation of the
Uruguay is said to have failed. The British brig Nau-
tilus had made the experiment, but was sent hack by the
commandant of the island of St. Martin Garcia. As
the natural result of the receipt of the intelligence of
the death of Lavelle, there had been the most joyous
festivities at Buenos Ayres ; and Roses who is de-
scribed as the " enlightened genius, the illustrious re-
storer of the laws," had had laid at his feet the
most flattering addresses on the success attending the
operations of the troops in the interior. Lavelle must
have sorely harrassed and perplexed the Government ;
for in the official despatches he is recognised as having
taken the field with his followers against the present
Administration as far back as the year 1828.
SUN.—Speculators have not to-day manifested any in-
creased desire to operate, nor has the market worn a
firmer appearance as far as they are concerned. The
chief business is still on account of the public. For
immediate transfer Consols have been marked 89i to
89i, and for the Account 89f buyers, and closing at that
price sellers. The Unfunded Debt has been supported
at 17s. to 10s. premium. East India Bonds were at 10s.
9. N ree
7 Th--
to 12s. premium. Bank Stock got up to 1671 and 1684,
aann(di.
f per Cents.
fluctuated 7
k and24B k. The
to from 99 . and the
Reduced Three per Cents. from 89i to 89i. 4'
The Foreign Bonds were flat to-day. Portuguese
New Five per Cents. declined to 33i and
but the 'Three
per Cents. remained at 20*. Active Spanish Bonds were
dull at 25i to 25. Mexican realised 29t and Dutch
Two-and-a-Half per Cents. were at 514 to 511
The Share Market presents no particular feature.
There is still an absence of buoyancy. Brighton were
atl34 to 13; Greenwich at 13f ; Midland Counties at 20;
Northern and Eastern at 7; and Birmingham and
Gloucester at 36 discount. Manchester and Leeds were
4 to 4i; York and North Midland, 42i ; Ditto New, 16+;
and Great Western 21 premium. London Joint-Stock
Bank Shares were 2i premium.

DEAFNESS.—Sound Magnifiers, and Invisible
Operative Voice Conductors, to enable persons at an advanced
age, and •f old standing extreme deafness, to join in general
conversation, and to catch the sound of a distant low speaker
at a publie assembly; they are the size of a very small geld
seven shilling piece, and when in the cavity of the ears, they
are not in the least perceptible nor more uncomfortable than
having a small piece of find wool in its place ; they are composed
ot a metal to collect sound, peculiar to the Messrs. S. and E.
Solomons themselves ; and although they are so extremely mai
yet they enable those of with extreme deafness, and
those who are only slightly dun of hearing to hear in every
reipeet equal to those of most acute hearing. Messrs. S. and
39, Albemarle.street, Piccadilly, opposite the
, King William street, City. Newly-Invented
ec
immediately
they are placed before imperfect vision,
eSYßipto.hrekgt;cilliben:yet:enld: aaynd 76
or candlelight, that mist and dullness which
appears before the eyes is at once removed, every object hemming
clear and distinct, so that the most aged defective eyesight
codesbe-
com nritig and brilliant, and is brought to its yonthfUl, natural
riginal state. These valuable inventions have gained the
patronage of theKoyal Family, and the unqualified approbation of
above 400 of the principal members of the medical profession, and
numerous individuals of high distinction, who have been greatly
benefited by their use. To be had only at 39; Alberemic-street,
Pict cadilly, apposite the York Hotel, and 7tl, King Winiam-stree'
Ciy.--No connexion with persons of the same name.