co-operation, or impaired their usefulness: and I should
have been seriously grieved if the period of my archiepiscopacy
had been chosen as the period when freedom of opinion, within
the reasonable limits hitherto deemed allowable, was for the
first time denied to our clergy in a case where it is not denied
them by the Word of God or the declared doctrine of the Church
of England."

The Archbishop of York expressed his satisfaction
that so large a number of the clergy "agree in regarding
the judgment as 'a wise and just sentence,' in
accordance with the principles of the Church of England;"
and he added "the expression of his sincere hope, that
it may be considered by all parties as a final settlement
of the point in dispute, and thus tend to promote the
peace and harmony among ourselves which the times
and the circumstances of the Church require."

An address was lately presented by "the clergy and
laity of the parish of Frome" to the Marchioness of
Bath expressing grief and alarm at her intention to
appoint Mr. W. J. E. Bennett, late Incumbent of
Knightsbridge, to the Vicarage of Frome, and beseeching
her to reconsider her intention. The prayer was
enforced by reference to the most recent of Mr. Bennett's
works, in which among other things, he declares that
if the decision of the Judicial Committee in the Gorham
case be not reversed, the faithful pastors of the Church
of England will, within ten years, be ejected from her
communion by the law, "and although not loving the
peculiarities of Rome, compelled to seek salvation within
her bosom;" "when Protestantism will sink into its
proper place and die, and whatever is Catholic in
the Church of England will become Roman." The
Marchioness of Bath made the following answer, dated
the 3rd inst. and addressed to the Rev. W. Calvert,
vicar of Frome:—"I have received with sincere regret
a communication signed by yourself and others, relating
to the appointment of the Reverend W. J. E. Bennett
to the vicarage of Frome, in my gift. In reply, I beg
to inform you that the appointment is already made,
and cannot be revoked." On receiving this reply, the
petitioners addressed a memorial to the Bishop of Bath
and Wells, praying him not to grant institution to
Mr. Bennett. The Bishop has returned for answer that
he is satisfied that Mr. Bennett is firmly attached to the
Church of England and repudiates all Romish doctrines;
and that therefore, "as it would be acting uncourteously
to the Marchioness of Bath, whose firm attachment to
our Church is so well known," to refuse institution,
he adheres firmly to his intention of instituting Mr.
Bennett.

The toast of "The Cardinal Archbishop of
Westminster" was proposed and drunk at the celebration of
the opening of schools adjoining the Roman Catholic
Church of St. John the Baptist, Hackney, on the 13th
inst. Mr. Sheriff Swift was in the chair.

The approaching sitting of Parliament has led to
several meetings on the subject of Parliamentary
Reform.

The Westminster Reform Society, which has been in
abeyance for two or three years, was resuscitated by a
meeting of its members in Exeter Hall on the 20th inst.
It was explained, that the suspended action of the
society was owing to the necessity for repose to the
public mind after the Corn-law repeal, and to the
deadening effect of the Great Exhibition on all
questions "merely political." But now that a dissolution
of Parliament is expected, the society will be put in
working order, and made ready for action. A
committee, named from the different parishes in the city,
was appointed; and it was remitted to them to revise
the rules and regulations now existing, and report
to a future meeting to be held soon after the meeting of
Parliament.

The Council of the Manchester Parliamentary Reform
Association assembled on the 20th, to draw up their
claims on Parliament for a share proportionate to the
wealth and population of Lancashire in the new
distribution of Parliamentary franchise which is to be made
by Lord John Russell's Reform Bill. Mr George
Wilson was in the chair. The following resolution
embodying the case of Lancashire, was moved by
Mr. Bright, and unanimously adopted:—

"That the population of the county of Lancaster, by the
census of 1851, is declared to be upwards of 2,000,000, or one-
eighth part of the population of England, and a fourteenth of
that of the United Kingdom; that its taxable property, by a
Parliamentary return of the session of 1847, is declared to be
£6,463,362, or more than one-tenth of the whole rateable property
of England; that its contributions to the national exchequer,
whether from Customs contributions or from payments of the
various branches of the inland revenue, far exceed the average
of the population area of the United Kingdom; that its position
with regard to industry, wealth, intelligence, and population,
is second to no other county of the United Kingdom: that on
all these grounds, this meeting is of opinion, that in any
measure of Parliamentary Reform to be introduced by the
Government, or enacted by the Legislature, the number of
members returned from this county should be largely increased,
in order that its influence in the House of Commons may correspond
to the magnitude of its interests and to its importance as a
portion of the United Kingdom."

Mr. Kershaw, M.P., moved the adoption of a petition
by the inhabitants of Manchester, in favour of the
principles lately adopted by the Manchester Parliamentary
Reform Association, and promulgated to the country.
The petition was adopted; and the business wound up
with a resolution to open a subscription to advance the
question of Parliamentary Reform.

The Leeds Reformers held a meeting on the same
day. Alderman Wilson presided. Mr. Edward Baines
said, that though not prepared to go so far as the
Manchester resolutions, he was willing to sink any differences
at present for the sake of unanimity of action. Alderman
Carbutt moved a franchise resolution founded on
the Manchester programme; and Mr. David Green
seconded him, in a speech in favour of universal suffrage.
Mr. Henderson and Mr. Frith moved that "manhood
suffrage" should be demanded of the Legislature. The
amendment was put to the meeting, and the numbers
for and against it were so equal that the Chairman could
not decide the majority. Another division was taken,
and the amendment was declared lost. The original
proposition was then affirmed. Resolutions in favour
of the ballot, triennial Parliaments, and no property
qualification, were then passed unanimously.

Meetings on the subject of Parliamentary Reform
have also been held at Nottingham, Derby, and other
places.

The Constituency of Sheffield held their annual
meeting with their representative, Mr. Roebuck, on
the 13th inst., when he addressed them, as usual, on
the political topics of the day, and responded to queries
put to him. A vote of thanks and confidence was passed
by acclamation. The portion of his speech relating to
our foreign relations and our means of defence made a
great impression, and was vehemently cheered. He
had much anxiety on this subject, because he felt that
we lived on the eve of stirring times. "Among my
fellow-countrymen," he said, "and among those for whose
politics I have the greatest regard, with whom I have
the greatest sympathy, with whom I daily act in the
House of Commons, there is a feeling which I believe is
an erroneous one. Now, Mr. Cobden—I call him, and
I am sure he will permit me so to do, my friend Mr.
Cobden—not long ago, when that wonderful, and in my
notion horrible catastrophe, happened in France, said,
'That is the consequence of an army.' But supposing
that you are living in the country and in an isolated
house—that you learnt to-morrow morning that the
house of a neighbour in the same situation as yours had
been entered and rifled and its master killed—should
you think it wise to open your doors, to take away all
your bolts, to draw the loading from your guns and
pistols and bury them in the garden, and expect that
you were to be quite safe from moral force and public
opinion? Now, that is our difficulty at present. I
acknowledge the evils and horrors of an overwhelming
army; but I say to my country, do not be in a fatal
security. There are mischievous feelings abroad, and
despotism is triumphant in Europe now. Constitutional
government, liberty, and truth, have their sacred sphere
only in England. If England be invaded and crushed,
that Liberty and that truth must fly across the Atlantic
for protection. Europe would be a continent of slaves;
a darkness would come over mankind; and that torch
of truth which is now held up almost singly by the
glorious arm of England would be reversed and
extinguished. Shall such a thing be? And shall I,