The Sun. — London, England, 1819-11-20 00:00:00

eJit THE SUN. THE RELIGION, LAWS. AND POLICY OF THE-COUN TRY t;ONSIDEItED, to a Series of Letters, _most respectfully inscribed to tits Pro prietor of Tut: SUN. LETTER lII.—RELIGION.—(Continued.) EDlTon—Fer reasons which it might be deemed irtcicirant to state here,,.l shall now pro ceed to discuss this sobjeet somewhat more sys- tentntic , dly. The Religion of ibis Country, as by law estab lished, it is well known, is the Protestint ; the troth of ‘vhieli our ances'ors sealed with their blood, and which, I trust, their posterity, will ever strenuously maintain. The first tenet which this Religion inculcates, is a belief in the existence pud attributes of God; a belief, equally essential to p,blic morals, good order, and individual teli- airy : since it mils: be evident to every one who posiesses the common inteEect of a man, tiro if a, , y one gill dare to deny that God, who is our Creator, Preserver, Benefactor, and who will finally be his Jodge, he %Ain pay little, if any, de ference to Civil Authority, or Human Laws, hoW ever excellent in their nature, or beneficial in their etrecti. Heoce, then, my fellow•subjects, the importance of Religion appears as a matter of political expediency, and the absolute necessity of constituting such Religion a part of the Law of the Land. Otherwise, every profane caviller, or blasphemous reviler, would obtrude on the Public theories and opinions, fatal to Morality and Re ligion, and subversive of all Regal and Legisla tive authority. Thus, as far as human depravity and human artifice could effect it, the Law of God would be set aside, and the Law of the Land be come a dead letter : while families would be Om set at valiance, Religious Societies divided, and the nation .at large be one tumultuous scene of irreligion, anarchy, and bloodshed. Nor is, my friends, this belief in the existence and attributes of GOD of less importance to us individu Illy ; for if, as some have presumed to assert, and many others, front their conduct, seem to suppose there he no Gon, where our secu rity in this life, .and our felicity in that which is to come ? What arm can shield us from the mer- cilets storms of life, front the innumerable dis eases incident to humanity, or what voice speak consolation in the awful moment of dissolution ? When the dint twilight of time must terminate, either in the dismal horrors of eternal night, or the bright effulgence of eternal day ! Wherefore, my friends anti fellow-subjects, seeing that this belief is of such infinite importance to us all, both here and hereafter, 1 shall now proceed to consider evidence by which this article of our Holy Faith is supported.—(l Peter, iii. 15.) — In order that you may be able to give a reason of the hope that is in you, and be on your guard against the sleight of men and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.—(Ephes. iv. 14.)—When, in girder to meet the futile objec tions of the sceptical cavillers who disbelieve whatever their finite capacities are insufficient to comprehend, and at the same time to shorten discussion in the argumentative parts, I shall oc casionally place at the bead of each division such Axioms, &c. as the nature of the subject may seem to require, as these from mathematical ac curacy, and pointed breyitv, generally carry stronger conviction to the mind than lengthened arguments or tedious discussion ; besides, being equally conclusive. Axiom 1. What did not exist could neither produce itself nor any other being. Corollary. Therefore the world could not produce itself. Scholium. This will refute the hypothesis that the world was the re sult of chance: for as chance is a mere name, equally desti tute of existence, essence, and attributes, it could not act ; and since every effect must have an active cause, it is clear that chance could not produce ts, single pare-, lunch less a whole, so replete with order, harmony, and design, as the system of the world. A.riom 2. Mere matter is perfectly inactive. Corollary. Consequently could not organize itself. 'Scholium. This will refute the hypothesis that the world was formed by the fortuitous concurrence of atoms. Besides, this is making the thing created the Creator ; as well might it be as serted that a piece of mechanism - is the mechanic, and ab surdity which the most untutored rustic would reject with contempt. . _ Ariont Whatever is snbject to decay, or had a beginning, cannot be eternal. .4.riam 4. All matter is subject to decay. Corollary. The world being, material, is ;n;bject, to decay, and has been proved to bare a beginning; therefore could not have existed from all eternity. Scholium. This will refute the hypothesis as to the eternity of the world. • 42:iont 5. Only an infinite cause can produce an infinite effect. The creation of the world is the effect of infi nite Vower, wisdom, and design therefore none but an infinite God could produce it. There is one argument in refutation of the eter y of the world, which admits of such useful and striking iflustratiou, that I trust my fellow•conn trymen will pardon the digression, should they deem it such, while I attempt to elucidate it ; may we all, my friends and . fellow-subjects, at tend to the important lesson it is calculated to convey The argument to which I -refer is the tendency of all material bodies to dissolution and decay. In order to substantiate this point, let us take a transient review of the progressive ravages of Time, and we shall find that all his revolu tions have been matked with vestiges of desola tion. The once celebrated cities of Babylon, of Athens, and of Rome, have long since fallen into decay, and their tedious catalogue of Kings and heroes retired to the grave, and their brilliant achievements written on the sands of obli►ion. Let us next s , urvey the dreary abode of fallen magnificet►cy and departed grande►tr, whose lord ly possessors, dignified with all the glitteting appendages of rank and fortune, have ceased to exist, and their lung line of ennobled ancestry ef faced from the records of time. Since nothing now remains, save the fit eting memorials of the trembling turret, or the mouldering battlement— no more the rigid mandate of its imperious was ter infuses terror in the domestic breast, or the exhilirating sounds of hospitality entertain the ft iendly visitant. The fragrant parterre iind the vettlant lawn, now the nursery of nettles and thorns, no longer exhale their sweets or diTiny their beauties: while the rn<+ngling► ivy, the en►- blem of decay, whispers in the midnight breeze, to strike the lonely stranger with dismay, or in spire the contemplative wanderer with revereu tial awe ! Yet are, my friends, the •preceding proofs in sufficient to carry conviction to the mind ; let us no.v visit that house appointed for all hying— the silent Golgotha of the dead, I•lere we behold the rich and the poor; the learned and the igno rant ; the young and the old ; the galley-slave awl the conqueror of the world, indiscritivivately re cline on the icy pillow of death ! While the beau tiful and expressive lines of the Poet will serve as a general epitaph to the whole : The boat of Heraldry, the pomp of power, And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave, Await alike th' inevitable hour— The paths of glory lead but to the grave. Having thus briefly answered, and, I hope, fairly refuted the absurd theories of our atheistical op ponents, I now proceed to'remind my Fellow.• subjects, for, I trust, that i need not attempt to convince them of that evidence in support of this doctrine which is so obvious to every reflecting mind, and which so strikingly appears in the stu pendous fabric of the Heavens, the diversified pro ductions of the earth, and the wonderful structure of man. Were we, my Friends, to view the daz zling luminaries of Heaven in their orbits, and consider their magnitudes, motions, distances, in fluences, anti appearances— were we to examine the animal, vegetable, insect, reptile, feathered, and finny tribes, together with their organizations, in siiucts, economy, parts, properties, and uses—were we to examine the structure and composition of rocks, mountains, and strata, and the volcanic pro ducts;ThFnerai dykes and metalic veins, together with their long catalogue of generic and specific bodies—with what an ample field of evidence would they furnish us. Lastly, were we to take a view of ourselves, and examine the physical functions of the body, and the metaphysical powers and operations of the mind, what a complicated syStem of deSign and intelligence is that wonderful microcosm, man ! Here we shall perceive every part and propol then fitted and adjusted with infinite wisdom and ex quisite design : so as to give facility to motion and energy to action : at the saute time, to pro tect the delicate organs of life and the God-like powers of the mind from assault, annoyance, or decay, so as not only to perpetuate our existence during our pilgrimage here, but also to qualify us for all the duties, avocations, and ratiooul enjoy ments of life. But when, my friends, we con cider that immortal, that ennobling part of man the mind, its faculties and endowments, its ener gies and operations, its investigations and inven tious, surely here we trace the hand of omnipo tence, yea, the image of our God. Since, by the superior faculties of the soul we can accompany the Mariner in his voyage, the Soldier in his wars, the Philosopher in his research, and Angels in their Heavenly employ, while Nature unfolds her hidden stores, Science her brightest gettr,s, and Religion her immortal treasures. Whetice then must we suppose this noble, this traos cendant principle, first emanated ? certainly from that immortal source of every perfec tion who claims our highest adoration as our Creator and our God. Finally, my ft iends and fellow-subjects, do we not hear the voice of God in the thunder and in the wind ? Do we not read his wisdom and his mercy, his power and his providence, in the genial showers which give fertility to the soil, verdure to the herbage, beauty to the flowers, fecundity to the crops, and maturity to the fruits Are we not convinced that lie hears every word, knouts every thought, and sees every action of our lives Cart we then he insensible, much less incredulous, of his exist ence ? or of his omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence ? Impossible ! since as soon could we believe that we do not exist, that we crewed ourselves, or that we could hold the ocean in the hollo%v of our hand ! For we know, we feel, any friends, that there is a just, a holy, and a merciful Goo, who first created, still upholds. and who , will ultimately destroy the stupendous fabric of the World. When He shall say to the Sou, be extinguished ; to the Earth, sink into nothing ; and to Time, thou shalt be no longer ! Having thus described the subject, as far as relates to the necessity of a First Cause, I shall in my next consider the concurrent testimony of all Nations and all Ages in support of . this doctrine, as deducible from the indelible impression on the mind of 1113 h of the reality of such a cause, from. the religious observances of most Nations, and as supported by the authority of the 'wisest arid greatest men. in the meats rime, I beg to sub scribe myself, Sir, Your obedient humble Servant. A BRITON. November 17, 1819. FAVER3II:OI At. the late General Jcsstuu3 of the Peace for the Town of Faversham aoil its Liberties, holden brfore the Recorder, CHAS. JuHN LAwsoat, Esq. anti the Benet; of Magistrates. • '!'l►e Grand Jury having been called and sworn, the Proclamation against Vice and In►morality, and for the Encouragement of Piety and Virtue read, the Recorder in his admirable Address to the Grand Jury, alluding to the Proclamation, said " All persons filling the situation I have the honour to hold inthis Corporation, are command ed to give charge at their Quarter Sessions, for the prosecution and punishment of all persons who shall be guilty of blasphemy, dissolute, or disor derly conduct ; and if there ever were a time, when the duty here enjoined was inure urgent than another, it is now, when sedition mid blas phemy stalk abroad in the I Ind, when our glorious Constitution and admirable Code of Laws are at tacked, ford alcove all, when religion itself is as. seih d iu the strongest hold, I mean in that sacred volume which we are taught to lisp as babes, and in the language of which all good men wish to close their last accents. When we look around and see the principles of infidelity spreading like a torrent—religion wade a mockery—the Bible pro. flounced false—the most solemn offlaes of o ur re ligion, our Litanies and Creeds paraphrased and ridiceled, aed the principlei or Republicanism and anarchy instilled ieto the minds of our youth, the Government reviled, and the Judges of the land insulted, every man, Whether in Hui hot icy or not, is called on as he fears God, honours the King.. and loves his fellow-creatures, to exert all his energies to stem the torrent that threatens to over whelm this once happy kingdom. You have many of you children and dependants, whom you wish to bring up and preserve in thif pc iociple an have yoerselves been tang lit, hut whet hope is there of succeeding, it their infaec or uneducated minds are to be contaminated or led astie,y by the doctiines, contained in pamphlets, so itolus ttiously circulated. When they are told :hat all Religion is imposture and fraud,' that as re ligion decreases, morality increases—that no book ever derogated so much from the cheracter of the Almighty, as his own revealed will—the Bible. Nay, one writer has gone the length_ of recom mending that all places of public. worship should be closed. To these authors one would speak in the energetic language of Bishop Wet stun so Paine—' You have misruled the faith of thou sands—rooted from the minds of the toiliappy vir tuous all their comfortable assnrallees of a future ecompence—have annihilated in the minds of the flagitious all fears of tut ore punishment— you will have given the reins to the dominion of every passion, and have thereby contri buted to the introduction of public insecurity and private unhappiness usually and almost necessarily Accompanying a slate of corrupted morals..—To those r who have : passed the hey-day of youth, and are advanced in yeats, or ruined in their bealth—deptived of their fortunes—bereft of their children, or dearest connexions—blasted in their character —disappointed of their fondest hopes, or deserted by an ungrateful woild- - What resources can this life afford them ? All would be a dreary waste, without a gleam of comfort, but for the hopes and promises of religion. What ! at a time when every county and almost every town in the kingdom has its Bible Society, for communicating to the lower orders the treasures of that sacred volume, which the wisest aud the best believe will not only promote the eternal sal vation of those who Study it, but will also benefit society in general. Shell these laudable endea vours be cou n teracted by such men as Cackle, Sherwin, Hunt and Wooler, and this sacred vo lume he represented us false ? It has been truly said, that it this book is not true, the religion we profess_ is false ; and therefore these men begin by attacking the Bible, as the means of root lug out religion, and thereby loosening the ties of conscience nod restraints of law, and subvert ing the order of society. It is not our religion alone, that these assassins of the politic peace attack. Our glorious Constitteion and our admirable Code of Liws, the collective w isdom of ages and the eulogy of every foreign laud are assailed—' They avow themselves to be conspira tors against the House of Commons, with inten tion to subvert it'--' They declare assassination ought to be encoeraged ; and that any one who should assassinate Lord Castlereagh, wool:i be de serving of a lewartl. l -' That the Regent has far kited his title to the Crown.' We ate told that these seditious doctrines, like the blasphemous ones I beore alluded to, must be stiff red to be published, or you invade that boasted palladiem of British freedom, the Liberty of the Press. I admit that the best security against the mis-rule or oppression of those in power, is the liberty we enjoy in this country (exclusively) of reviewing and observing upon their- public conduct ; but, Gentlemen, the abuse of this liberty, when caviled to its present excess e mest lead to the subversion of the order of society, and to a tyranny worse than that of Kings, the tyranny of the People.— If the minds of the lower orders are detached from the present state of things, and their passious iu aemed against their rulers, by attributing those privations which come from the hand or Prosi , dence, and are the natural result of the fluctuations • of society, to the oppression, exection, and lois rule of their Governors, by violent and itiflamms tor y publications, revolution must be the conse quence, and the same melancholy scenes take place here that we witnessed ina neighbonrieg nation. I would ask any moderate and unprejudiced man, what is the principal cause of the present Aim he's; state of things ) Is it not the licentiousness of the press ? Is it not owing to the seditious and blaspUmous publications sent forth in - the Politi cal Register, the Black DA arf, the Sundey Nee papers, anti and cheap publications so industriausly aed maliciously circulated among the lower or ders ? If it be necessary to the preservation of the liberty of the press, diet such public:46olls -should go forth into the world, better would it have been, that the lower ?orders should have been kept in ignorance of reading and writing, than that they should he enabled to peruse such things as must unsettle their faith and shake their loyal.y. An other great palladium.ot English liberty, of which we have lately heard so much of, petitioning the Throne for the redress of grievances —an UlidOUbt• I'd right it is, and as i val ixt3te 89 undoubted, hut this, like the liberty of the press, may b . e abused, and made like that, an instrument to overturning the GovernMent. The Bill of woo asserts the right to petition, and that any pro'. secutions for the exercise of that . right are' illegal ; but the statute of Charles the Second ale' says, that all tumultuous assembling to peiition illegal, and there can be no doubt, that if til/Y number of persons meeting, even for a lawful putt' pose, with such circumstances of tenor, as cannot but endanger the public peace and create darns in the King's subjects, as meeting armed in trier" tial array, or with banners inscribed Death or Reform,' or Vengeance,' or with insignia tend" ing to !plug contempt on the King or Goya° . ment, this is not a due exercise of the right of Pe' titioning, the Meeting becomes an unlawful as' sembly, and may he dispersed. Gentlemen, Ido not think it would be becoming in me, in this sl" tuation, to allude to the proceedings at Manches ter. IVltether the conduct of the people a sserna bled there on that unfortunate day, or of the Ma e gistrates who dispersed them, is to blame, non of its are competent to form a cotreet lodgmen t ) and it is most unjust, in my opinion, to prejudge the ytestion. Satisfied I am, from a long We , tierce of the integrity of our Judges, and the iz! dependence of our Juries, that no wrong ha ve been done, nor any right invaded, which will not be amply and satisfactorily redressed by the legal tribunals of the land. " But w:thout alluding to these transaction s ! I have thought it right to stare shortly the ;awl tot the subject of public Meetings, as it may b c . useful to the • Magistrates and to you, althoug h ' thank God, no meetings have been called hi this neighbourhood, tinder the specious 'pretence of petitioning for Reform. Before I dismiss th ig subject, 1 will add, that no man can be 1 101.6 anxious than 1 ant to pr e s e r ve t hi s i nva luabl e right of petition, according to its original into" tion, yet I would keeo the exercise of it within , reasonable bounds, It cannot be oecessaryto ar exercise of this right, that the p eacea bl e othall!" taws of a town should be driven front their thins by alarm, or the industrious tradesmau obliged to close Isis shop at tuid-day, where t l ►c .l6 Meetings are held. It cannot b e ne ce s sa ry to i r " . exercise, that men should be drilled, or march array, mooch less that they should assemble arme d ' or with banners and insignia of a revolutioo'l chat deter. li : pr is it necessary th a t they shoO' a in their harangues at rack all that is sacred to venerable in Church and State. Such Meet ings are iujittions to the laws of liberty-- 41116 is not the place, Gentlemen, for the discus sion of politics, but I may be allowed to s/ (to the subject of Reform (the frivolo ite -topic °, the day) that few w i ll be bi go t e d enoug a to pronounce that there is no room for reform 11 1 the political as much as in the moral world. V" are imperfect beings, and every thing that eaten' nates from us must partake of that imperfeeti °° ' But is this a reason for attacking the Conatiu v i thin and those Laws which have stood the test ages, and of introducing the wild theories ° Universal Suffrage and Animal Pailiernents , " . There are scarcely any melt of talent or integfil among those Modern Reformers—then what ° i t of Reform are we to expect from such met) at Wooler, Carlile, or Hunt. Revolution a nti oa , Reform are their object. If such be the alart l o' state of things in this cotottry at present, it be ; conies highly important for us to consider o'l l° o course we ought to pursue. In the first ris c let all persons in authotity express their tahh ° , l : reuce of the blasphemous anti seditious trines which are every where disserninatel V a Let them publicly avow their loyalty attachment to the Chown and to the Ca li stittition in Church and State, a n d th e ir unalC c° l able determination to support th a t Throne, act that Constitution as by Law established, 81/3 ,‘ discountenance and punish all those who shall e t; deavour to ()yenta!) the one or the other. 1 1 , • us endeavour to alleviate thos e di s t r e s ses Of t , lower mile's, and convince them that the Pr ivo es a Lions which they suffer in common with r ag } of Europe, will only be increased by tumuli disorder, while patience, moderation, sobri et ,C, acid economy, obedience to the l a ws, and ks pendeuce on him who kno , vs wh at is b es t will have a considelable effect in remetlyini; t oy evils. Let us endeavour to find means 0 1 s tr y playingthemand encourage habits of in", 500 and economy, and with that view to inclose I ' l 4 , to become members of thole excellent It tut ions Saving Banks ; alld let us distill:Z i t le i ( by mat ks of our favour those who sulfa 1 4. 0 0 privations with patience and resignation ' 1 . 0 ,a those who take unlawful m ean s to them, or who attend tumultuous assemidieS „if seditious harangues. Above all lei us eittleavna to preserve the minds of the lower orders, "die pattictilaily of the rising generations, fru° 41 • -.contagion of those pestilential publicat loos bI phemy and sedition, with which the Pr ess i r iei teems—and with that view let us keep a . - se ji• watch on ail public- house 4, and see that ' o ° ~e re, Lions or blasphemous publications are read l u x o„. an:) take care that no such publications ar e e d i s • liked in the windows of bookseller s ' shops, periled by itinerant agents of ilo-se i n cendio: tate Gentietssen, I have thortglo it nay duty I° . e at thus touch to you on a NAV': heart. As a Christian, as a Pdti lot ,as F 4 ck i n g Mas a au, I feel the %it.' importance of Ch c ol iell at the outset, the propagation doctrine by, its a neighbouring coootry proonced to il', 1 bloodshed, and revolut nod wtjch "'„„ate verily believe, IlrOthiee ie3nits 019 , : toc ig ity it we sleep on our posts, wid do not es t o this malty he.oted monster before be becom es le solo; for us to,;:roppl” +%ith." ~..411•111111.•• V', RI ED. - St. S tir On the I Stli inst., by the Hi v. Mr. TownlrYi at ma riAr W;ilbruolt, A.C.Cluollet,of lion.l•stregt, hiddc t ins ilaughtis of the late ItuoLit. Shirley,L'`l' miniter. WEI). „ On the 18th instant, 'Mr. 14alr, of flolhorn-liiii• nail"' On the 1711 t instant, at her house, in 1,3 ,111 ";•i t i c a street. in the 47th sear of Inc age, Cath • M erine•'"ist,ilfuru. elict of John May, Esti., late of shire, LONDON: Printed I J. B. 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