A Town. Council was held at Ipswich on Tuesday, which
was chiefly distinguished by the subdued and moderated language held by the " Blue " or Tory party. The town being exposed to the danger of being left without a police force, or the means of administering justice, in consequence of the Lords (on Lord Lyndhurst's motion) having thrown out the bill which had been framed to remedy certain alleged defects in the election of the Mayor and Town-Council, various plans were suggested ; and Mr. Bacon and others of the more respect- able of the " Blue" party, candidly expressed their conviction that the municipal expenses ought not to fall upon a few individuals ; and sug- gested that meetings of the townspeople should be called together, in order to share in the expense,—a suggestion by which those gentlemen showed their sense of the course pursued by the reckless and the more violent of their party, and, as we conclude, their wish to separate them- selves therefrom. The Town-Council then proceeded to recommend, or nominate, persons to be appointed as Trustees of the Charities ; and set an example of fairness and moderation, by nominating. one- third from the Tory party, (that being their alleged proportion in the Council,) avoiding the more violent and factious individuals, who had exposed the town to the evils under which it is labouring. The only point of public interest which oc.airred, was a strong effort made by the Tory party to prevent the nomination of Dissenters as Trustees, on th.. ground that the principal bequests, (those of Tooley and Smart,) amounting to 20001 a year, were expressly left by the donors to the use of individuals who were members ef the Established Church, and who attended its worship; and that such, and none other, ought to have either the management or the benefit of such funds. As this position was strongly and pertinaciously urged, the Town- Clerk was referred to; and it was proved that Tooley was a Catholic ! that the rules for the distribution of the charity were framed in the reign of Philip and 111ary ; and that the donor, in the very will by which the gifts were bequeathed, directed that prayers should be said for his soul ! So that, when the Church party insisted that, by the intention of the donor, Dissenters were excluded, it was plain that they were themselves equally excluded ; and that Catholics alone, saying mass in a certain church or chapel in the town, were fit objects to receive or administer the charities in question. The distinction, therefore, between Dis- senters and Churchmen' as unjust as it was invidious, was overruled ; and a large majority of the Council agreed in recommending those whom they deemed tit and proper parties to hold the important trusts in questiou for the good of the town in general, and not, as they have been hitherto used, for corrupt and party purpose.—Correspondent of the Chronicle.
Previous page
