Albion Chapel.
The Times, 1824-10-20T00:00:00

Yesterdav evening, a meeting of the members anfd scat-holders of Albion Chapel was lheld at that place: the Rev. Mlr. ADAM in the chair. Mlr. JONES stated, that the principal object for whichl the meet- ing hadl been called, was to takc into consideration the propriety of presenting a memorial to the Associate Prei,bvtery of London, r3inting out the erroneous statements which were cointained in the speech delivered by Mr. Kilkaldly before the As3ociate Synod of Edinburgh. Alr. Kirlcaldy was the delegate from the Miles's. lane cengregation, anti his speech produced considerable effect upon the congregation. The worthy gentletan then read a memorial, .:hich pointed out andl contratdictd several of the statements mnade in the speech alluded to. He movetd that the memorial be approved of, which was unattimously agreed to; aand the elders of the chapel w.ere directed to present it. A Gentleman moved that the secretary of thechapel be dlirected to take proper measures fec the recovery of the churcl books. IUr. FLETCHER sttted that, sonie tiue since, Mlr. Gleed and AMr. Bolton hadl entered the chapel, and carried away the keys of the gallery an d the chlrci books, amongst which was the baptismal re- gister.-The motion was agreed to. Mlr. C1NrNINGHA3 moved "that Messrs. Smith, Alilne, Boiton, and Gleed, be no longer considered elders of the congregation, in consequence of their late unijustifiable proccedings, anid for having withdrawn themselves frotn the ministrv of their pastor." Al r. ,TONEs seconded the resolution. ilr. FLETCHER saicl, that the gentlemen nBentioned in the reso- lution had accompanied and supported Mr. Law, wlhen he camne to take possession of his pulpit.-The resol_tien was carried. Mr. FLETCIIER then said, he felt it necessary to adtvert to a few particulars. respecting whieh it was necessary that his congrega- tion should be informed. After the question in wvhich his conduct was concerned had been settled in the Court of King's Bench, his own opinion wasc- that the Presbytery should not have meddled with it. He had corresponded with some ofthe most respectable initependent ministers in England, anid he was happv to find that they expr^ssed the same opinion. The Presihytery pretended that they interfered in order to aid his usefulness, and to advance the interests of tie Presbytery. He would ask whether the dragging of him before the public was calculated to effectthoseobjects? It, hvowever, having been determined to drag him, whlo had been able to maintain the chia- racter of a respectable minister for 13 years, and wiso had never been in the habit of going to the theatres or Vauxhall for a iusement (many whobheardhim would understand whlat hetneant),he wrote to the Pres- bytery, to inform them that lie could not appear before them on a. day when they had suimmoned him to attetil. H is excuse Was ad- mnitted; and yet on that very day the Prehbytery. in his absence, permitted a libel on his character to be read before them. WNhen he first went before the Presbytery, he asked for a coDy of the charges wlhich existed against him, in order that he might, if possible, an- swer them ; but his demand was refused. Befbre he quitted the Presbytery, he lold them that they were proceeding in a way which was calculated to injure the church of Christ, and that be washed Iiis hands of the business; that if thev carrieti the matter to RElinburgi, they would repent it all their lives. Wl hat be had saiul was now being fLulfilled. He had done all that mats coul d do to prevent the ques- tion from beinz publicly agitated, but his efforts were not attended with sulcccF. One poinit to which he wished to advert, was the pretended unanimity of the Synod, in pronouncing his sentence of susperlesion. It was trumpeted all over Lontlon, that out of a bodv of 200 persons, not one could be found to speak in favour of Mr. Fletcher. It ought to be ktnown, tllat when that sentence was pronounced it was between 12 and 1 o'clock at niiglt, at which time the most venerable and respectable imiembers of thte Synod had left the assembly, with the intentien of returttiiig to resuiime the dis- cussion on the following snerning. But when they came next morn. ing, they found, to their great astonishment, that the marter was all settled, and that lie (AIr. Fletcher) was deposed. He had received several letters from Scotlandl oti tbe subject, but he wouldl particularly allulde to one written by the Rev. John Brown, son of the late Mlinister of laddinigton. That minister told him that he must not consider the sentence of suspension as the deedl of the Synod, because the measutre was forced tlhrouglh the house in the absetice of the most respectable members of the as- senably. Air. Brown aeltied, that lie atil sevcral otlher persons had resolved to petition the Synod in MIay to rescind its lecision. He lkil not like to toitch upon political topics, but hevoilti do so slizhtly on the present occasion. Thc Hoise of Commons, no loubt, con- taitte(i tnany men of great talent, learnitig, and respectability, but it wats well knswn that the Ministers couli carry anry measure thev pleased. He woulil mention one measure to which they resorted in orle'r toensurethtem success (the Cabinetcoultd not be angry with him forso doing, for tliey could not be ashamed of what they themsselves tdidt): wheit Alinisters wisicsl to carry a particular measure, they snme. times engaged a numiber of persons to talk against timc. lie had becn at the 0louise of Commons. anti there he saw, thtat whilst those spealting machines were going on, the members were talking and laughing, andl doing any thing but attending to themll, until their patience becamc exhausted, tid they left the houisc. A pro- cecdi:ig simiflar to that had becn resorted to in the Sy- nod. It must have been remarked by those wlho had read tie speeches dftlivered in the Syniodl, that thiey bore a remark. able resemblance to eaca other: in fact, they were as like each other as tle rigite eye was to the left. T'eo manwuvre succceeled. Th'e majority of the Synoed were cxltauste d azd(l retiret, anti titen the sentence was passed utpon him. To show the feeling which ex. isted in thc Synod, lie wouldl state, that wfien it wits mentionec thazt his brother was labouring under a bereavement of his facllties, telf information wasreceived witll a fiendish laiugh. After sOmle further observations. the rev. gentleman concluded by cxhorting the mcm- bers not to disphty too niucis warmth when they should present the memorial to tbe Presbvterv. He cesited thetn to bear in mind the example of Fox, who, wltilst he spoke with the greatest animiation anti rapidity, alvays preserved the entire possession ot his faculties. After a vote of thIanks had bean passed to the Chairman, the mect- iag separated. ALBIOA CHAPEL.