Archdeacon Bathurst has addressed a letter to the Church-rate Abolition
Society in London, urging them, for the sake of "peace," to follow the example of his father, the very old Bishop of Norwich, and abandon their opposition to Church-rates-
" Give not cause," says the Archdeacon, " to the great and good man, the Duke of Wellington, who, when he bowed to the general wish, and carried the Catholie Relief Bill through Parliament, did what he did in the spirit of a hero-give him not reason to repent of what he has done; and give not reason to those who so long proscribed the Bishop of Norwich for having supported the cause which he supported in the teeth of the general opinion of the Church— give them not reason to say that he has contributed, more than any other man M the kingdom, to open a floodgate whereby the Church, of which he is so high a minister, is in danger of being overwhelmed, unless it prepare for and determine upon a struggle painful to every Christian feeling, and destructive of that which we pray for—viz.that we all, who profess and call ourselves Christians
ay live
aess of life!'" The in unity of spirit, in the bond of peace, and in righteous. ' " The Secretary of the Society has replied to the simple writer of the above letter in courteous terms ; but it is needless to say that Arch- deacon Bathurst and his singular arguments are completely demolished.
It appears from the Sixth Report of the Parliamentary Petition Committee, that up to the 2d of March, 123 petitions with 9,595 sig- natures had been presented against, and 474 petitions with 190,981 signatures for the Abolition of Church-rates.
Sir George Staunton, the former colleague of Lord Palmerston, and the present Whig vandidate for South Hants, in a letter addressed to the electors, states that, " although he cordially concurs with his Ma- jesty's present Government upon most points, he cannot support them upon the Irish Church Appropriation-clause, or any other question which involves in it an alienation of Church property to secular pur- poses."
Ten Peers possess 196 livings : the Earl of Craven has 13 livings, of Albetnarle 9, Duke of Cleveland 14, of Sutherland 8, of Portland 10, of Bedford 27, of Devonshire 48, of Norfolk 21, Earl Fitzwilliutn 31, and Lord Yarborough 15. Let us now turn to the Tories. Ten Tory Peers possess 170 livings: the Duke of Bucking- ham has 13, of Northumberland 13, of Rutland 29, of Beaufort 29, the Marquis of Ailesbury 9, of Bath 13, of Bristol 20, the Earl of Lents. dale 32. The Lord Chancellor has 807 livings, and the Bishops 1.900! There : these are good and sufficient reasons for Whig and Tory support of the Church.—Leeds Times.
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