airtravalid.

A meeting of the members of the Church-rate Abolition Society, and of other persons interested in the subject of Church-rates. was held on Tuesday, at the City of London Tavern. Sir Culling Eard- ley Smith was chairman ; and on the platform were Mr. O'Connell, Mr. Harvey, Mr. Andrew White, Mr. John Wilks, Mr. Baines, und Mr. Hindley. The Chairman adverted to the want of vigour on the part of Ministers in reference to the subject which the meeting was convened to take into consideration— They were told by those whom they regarded as tlwir friends in the House of Commons, that they did not expect to carry a measure tot the abolitiou of Church rates this session ; the Committee to inquire into the subject not having been appointed until May. Ile much regretted that the Goverumeut Avoid not have thought it right to propose the Committee till so late a period of the session ; because, if they had dune so when they had met, or after Christmas, there would have been time to demonstrate, not telly that the Chancellor of the Exchequer's estimate was below the mark, but that the funds of the cathedrals would produce infinitely more even than he calculated ; and they would also not only have bad lime to prove this to the satisfaction of every impartial man, but also, if not to carry the measure into law, at least to make the attempt in the Upper House of Parliament. That meeting was for practical purposes, and to consider the course which WAS to be adopted. In doing so, it was in the first place necessary to couaider in what position they were now placed. Why had so little progress been made'? Were they to believe that the Government were not still of opinion that it substitute fit Church-rates could be found ? Did they believe that Lord Melbourne's Government did not bear the same attach- 's:cut to the cause of the People ; or were they to attribute their slowness to altered circumstances? The fact was, that they had decreasing majorities in the House of Commons. But still, he thought they ought to go forward OR their principles, cost what it might. They, however, did not wish to have their measure passed by so small a majority in the Commons that the LOHla would kick it out with contempt. The first thing the opponents of Church- rates had to do, then, in the present state of things, was to infuse a better Nash into the House of Commons.

Mr. Baines did not consider their position as very discouraging. He entered into a defence of Ministers, and spoke in complimentary language of Mr. O'Connell. Mr. Baines told the meeting, that

His friends generally imogined tint he was ridden by Ministers. It a-as their hontse opinion, amid his friends had a perfect right candidly to express it; but he would tell them, that so long as Ministers supported good m,beeitnisit7er take their places if they were turned out, so long would he sup ort would and so long as he considered them infinitely better than those whicha"1–I They

were told, that if they turned out these Ministers, they would

worse, bec tine since the passing of the Reform Bill no man could be NI' • "

who did nut support Liberal measures : hut he knew the difference Ile thought thatthe meeting would agree with him in this opiniponh.0

having lima in office who supported Liberal measures because they liked them, and those who adopted Liberal measures because they were forced upon them; and this was just the difference between the value of the present Ministers ind" of Sir Robert Peel. Now, Ministers had brought forward Liberal measuresatiok valise, not only to England, bin to Scotland and beland also; and witenh- beheld them supporting these Liberal measures, he could not agree with those shallow po'iticions who thought that Ministers could be turned out without danger to these Liberal measures with respect to the country of his honourable and learned friend, Mn. O'Connell —with respect to Ireland—und he never heard Irelend mentioned but it associated in his mind the na;r3ieiro.f;c'Counallea: along with it. He hoped Nlinisters would have to make the Coronation Peers% and that they would infuse some good Liberal blood into the Upper House. Ili did know whether his honourable and leatned friend near him had any ambition fur a Peerage—(Lonyhter)—but if he had, Mr. Baines was ewe that a better man could not be placed on the woolsack.

Mr. Andrew White deemed it right to come forward us an oppi. neat of Church- rates ; for his constituency was chiefly composed of Dissenters— Not less than three-fourths of the grown population of Sumierland went to places of Nonconforming worship : a new church had, however, been built by aid of a Parliamentary grant, although the others were not nearly filled. The new church had been open a few gems, and was capable of seating nut less duo 1,500 persons; lint the fact was, that not more than 250 of the adult popula- tion usually attended, whilst other places of worship were filled to overflowing. For himself, he was opposed to the granting of any public. funds for building churchee, either in Scotland or elsewhere; and he believed that it the Church of England was thrown more upon its own resources, a larger number of

Churcl . n than at present would come forward to support it.

Mr. O'Connell commenced with the emphatic enunciation of one of his old familiar phrases-

" Justice fn. Ellybood! Again I say Justice for England !' If I tin asked why, with my Irish accent ion; my warm feelings, I have ma called fur .lustier his Itched' ahru on this question, it is because belied his got that justice alit caoly. We pay no Church tan s in Ireland ; we have abolished Clan eli.raois there ; und here sin I who helped to do it. And surely what Irishmen hate done, Englishmen can accomplish : and more shame for them if they do nut do it. in procuring any act of justice, John Hull has never been found unable to right himself. As to the meeting of thirty alembers of Par- liament, of which you have hearth and which recommended the suspeusion of agitation upon this subject, I can assure you that I was not one : on the cos. tiny, if I had been one of thirty-one present, I should have pretested against tiny suspension of agitation ; for so long as you allow the Chinch to plunder you, so limo will she continue to du it ; and there is but one remedy, and that re. nisaly is agitation. is but one magic in political life, and that is always to be in the right. Now, you are in the right, and your opponents are in the wrung; and therefore I•say, ' Agitate, agitate, agitate ;' and as surely as to. mite, rOW's sat shall rise, an surely shall you succeed if you agitate."

A " great magician " had been brought from the North, to tell them that money and religion were not only synonymous, but identical-

" Now, I am a very plain speaker, and I like to call thing.: by their right names; and by whomsoever 1 ant reprimanded for it, I shall receive the read. enand with content—(Sreeral rounds of eheeriny)—and I brim; the great Ma. gician of the North to the bar of the public opinion, and I arraign him in the presence of that God who will administer justice between him and sue on the west day of account for an eternity of weal or an eternity of ten. I arraign him before Christian Europe, and I arraign him before the honest and intelli- gent people of England, and I put him upon his trial ; and notwithstatilling the powers of his intellect, notwithstanding his reedy eloquence, notwithstanding his powerful talents, notwithstanding his possession of all human facilities for success, he will fail, because he has a bad cause. And of what do I accuse Dr. Chultners? I accuse him of blasphemy. For it is blasphemy to the Deity to identify the 'Mammon of this world with the God of eternity. The ever liting Bead of the Christian Church, though the beasts of the field had where to take their rest, and the birds of the air a-herein to nestle, had not a place to lay his heal—he had no establishment. The Apostles hail no motley, save• one, and he had ; and which was that? It was Judas. Ile was the blas- phemer and the traitor. But the great Apostle to the Gentiles, he who made his simple baskets, did not, like the Northern Magician, require an establishment. What money had the Christian Church during the first three centuries? What support did it then have from the State; or what cognizance was taken of it,ez. cept indeed to condemn its professors to the stake and to niartyttloin? And how comes it that Dr. Chalmers overlooks this? Does he think that the erns of that God who showed himself the God and the protector of the first Chris- tians, is not now all powerful for the help of true Christians? is lie not now the God of the good Christians? But, in the early ages, the Christian teligtou existed not only without state support, but in spite of state opposition. All the civilization of that day was concentrated in one great state; and all the authority, all the power of the greatest and most powerful state which existed in the world, was employed to persecute the Christian Church. It seemed u if the Daemon of Darkness were fixed to try its power over it, with all appli- ances for success concentrated in an all.powerful kingdom : anti yet the

Christian Church had survived all the attacks. How then could the idea come across the mind of that great Magician, that the Church is to be sup- ported by this pitiful tax ?"

But that was only one count in the indictment- " The second count of may charge is, Dr. Chalmers is blasphemous; and for this reason—that he wants to do injustice. Is it not plain and palpable in. justice, to in die me pay for Dr. Chalmers's preaching, when I do not wish to

heir hint ? Dr. Chalmers thinks the religion which I profess, and which I profess with the utmost sincerity, is erroneous—he treats it with contempt. I

make no co oplaint of that. Though I am here, I do not wish to sacrifice any

part of my religious opinions ; but that liberty which I ask for myself, I Iva' tingly accor-1 to others. I wish only that Christians should meet on the com- mon ground of charity, and should discuss their points of difference, seek- ing only fur the honour of the true God : for Faith is great, and hope is great, but charity :is the greatest of all.' We may differ in opinion; he thinks my opinions erroneous—I forgive him fur it freely ; but it' I were In power, and were to say to Dr. Chalmers that I would make Dr. Chalmers pay for the ma- otenance of opinions which he would describe as damnable—it I

were to say, • Dr. Chalmers, I will put my hands into your pockets to pay for two Popish priests for me '—if I did this, would not Dr. Chalmers roar out persecutio a, martyrdom, injustice, blasphemy ? ' Oh, that he would—and I. tell you ruo e, he would be quite right. But I would say to Dr. Chalmers, al

Mr. Cubbew's phrase, ' what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. It is as great an injustice for me to pay for the umiutenance of your church, as it • for you to pay for mine-' every man with his hands in his own pocket' is If Dr. Chalmers, tnstead of coining to us with a degree in yi max). had come, as a doctor in medicine, and were to set about curing me, and then send to you to pay the fee for any cure, he might have cored me, but whets would you say if he came to you, to pay the fee, 4.because,' as he would cured Mr. 0 Connell . I suppose that you would good- tided' ulreillaytbeutt sturdily refuse his demand. But if, on this refusal, he were 3),°,,c a constable, and with a distressswarrant levy his fee on you because htepiu-roulreyour neighbours, bow horrible it would appear ! He might indeed say that he had cured your pour neighbours this is a reason why he should appeal Sonar„ charity; but if those neighbours should happen to be enormously rich- hie the Church, they had tour millions a year-how inconsistent it would ot,e ' ! Dr. Chalmers, however, the high Presbyterian, came forward to say that the people ought to pay more than these four millions. Nay, he would carry It further : Alinisters-who are not so firm as I could wish them to be- come forward with their plan, and say that it is true that Church-rates ought to he paid, but that it is unjust that they should be paid by the Dissenters ; and that if the Church only become good stewards of their property, there will be sbusdance of funds to pay the Church-rates without going to the Dissenters : whereupon Dr. Chalmers comes all the way from Edinburgh to complain of this as the grossest injustice, and he not only denies the right to apply the abundance of the funds to such a purpose, but the right also to make any such inquiry. So that the Church was still to go on robbing and grinding, when it had already robbed and ground too much. Did not the learned Doctor remem- ber, that the man who took the lamb out of his neighbour's fold was plagued with an enemy in his own house ; and those who came out plundering, whether from' the North or the South, ought to recollect that there was one Divine coin. mandment written on the heart of man before it was engraven on stone, which commanded each human being to respect the property of another. I care little whether they steal under the authority of a warrant or under the penalty of transportation-whether it is done by a mighty Doctor or the poorest Church- man-it is stealing still, and it is prohibited by the law of God.”

But better times were coming. There would be few more such scenes as had just been witnessed at Stoke Newington-

a Why, since Dr. Chalmers blew his trump, the bugle has brought down. if not a troop of light infantry, at least a heavy train, lire parsons have taken courage, and say, Oh here is a man that will bother 'eta al'. We have got the mighty Wizard of the Ninth, as Walter Scott would call him ; here is a white witch from the Hebrides ; and while he is getting a number of people to turn vp their eyes towards heaven, our hands can inure easily get into their pockets.' (Continued laughter and cheering.) is it the NVord of (;od, or the Homilies, or the Thirty-nine Articles, that these worthies appeal to? Oh no ; it is to the parish Beadle, to the Constable, or to a brighter divine still-the neigh- bowing Magistrate ; and placing the Royal arms at: the head of one of their plundering warrants, in the name of the Queen, who, dear little lady, had no- thing at all to do with it, with this fiirmillable lion and unicorn they go round, and io Stoke Newington alone, within the last ten days, not less than thirty-three distresses have been issued. Dr. Chalmers, there is the effect of your preaching ! Every man who is distrained on ought to put Dr. Chalmers's name over his dour (Cheers and laughter.) There can he no religion,' says unless the lion and unicorn and the constable are going to your houses.' Here are his preachers, and here are the supporters of his religion-the lion and unicorn—Cllr. O'Connell Ming 11 warrant to the nun then amidst roars of laughter)—and thus, I repeat, I have made good the charge against him. I have arraigned the culprit-he has refund to give the usual answer, and he will nut be tried either by God or by his country. (Long-continual checrina.) He will be tried by his preju- dices; and will be justified in the eves of the overwhelming party who give the tacit confe'sion that they are confident of the insecurity of the Establishment they are so anxious to protect. Does it not bespeak a kind of foregone condo ion is their minds, that if they have not the powers of the chest and their fet- ters of gold, they are powerless ; that they have not the power and strength of truth with them ; and that it is a conscious weakness that makes them bring in the anus of Mammon to support the religion which they wished to uphold ?" Mr. John Childs and the Reverend Mr. Burnett spoke briefly ; and the meeting broke up, after passing resolutions of which this was the chief- " That the recent decision of an Ecclesiastical Court in the Braintree case, together with the intolerant spirit which has been manifested towards the Dis. Inters, are signs of the times that show the approach of a crisis which must rivet or break the chains of Ecclesiastical tyranny, and indicate tontl the friends of genuine liberty, and above all to the l'rotestant Dissenters of England, the necessity of merging all party considerations in this great absorbing question- s question which involves the freedom and independence of all the churches in the land. This meeting, therefore, call upon tile entire Liberal public to coupe. rate with them, in their parochial capacity, in all cases to resist, by every con- stitutional and legal means the making of a rate, and in their capacity of electors to observe the votes of their Representatives."