Meetings to petition Parliament for the abolition of Chu reh-rates
have been held in various parts of the country ; and many associa- tions have been formed with a view to procure the object of the pe- titions, by an " action "on the electoral body. It is plain that the up- bolder of Church-rates will stand a very bad chance of his return in any large town, or even county where the urban population has much influence. The juggle of making the rates a charge on the general revenue of the United Kingdom—thus imposing the cost of supporting English churches, not only on the English Dissenters, but on the Scotch and Irish also—is seen through and scouted. The demand of the people, (for it is not a Nonconformist cry merely,) is that out of the revenues of the Church it- self the expense of repairing churches shall be defrayed. It will not be credited that those funds are insufficient, as long as there are such things as " golden stalls," and 150,000/. a year can be had for the luxuries of right reverend persons in purple and a formidable increase of unpopularity, unless they resolve to fine linen. Ministers must therefore be prepared to encounter apply the " Appropriation " principle to the Church of England. And this question will not be embarrassing to the Whigs alone. Should the Tories get into power again, they will find it most diffi- cult to deal with : but finding it so, they would in all probability do as they have so often done—throw their "principle" to the dogs, abolish the hated impost, and make their places easy.!
