The Sun.
London, England, 1855-11-14 00:00:00

LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, NoYEMBEit 14, 1855,

NORWICH UNION REVERSIONARY
INTEREST OMPANY.
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN,C That the HALF-YEARLY DI-
VIDEND, at the rate of 5 per pent., clear of income tax, due 31st
October last, Is now in course of payment at the office of the Com-
panY
Ht,NRY NORRIS, Secretary.
23, Lincoln's-inn-fields, Nov. 13, 1855.
• N.B. Proposals for the sale of Reversions, and application for new
shares, may be addiessed to he Secretary.

UNITY JOINT- S TO CK MUTUAL BANKING
AS OCIAT ON.
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CLOSING OF TIIE SHARE' LIST.
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`Shares in this bank will:be received after Friday, the •80th nf
November. By order.
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Unity-buildings, 9th NOT., 185%

CIRANI) BAL MASQUE at the CASINO de
VENISE, fligh Holborn, TO-MORROW, Nov. 15, the arrange-
ments for -which ere upon a most extended scale, and will eclipse any
Sind'ar entertainment yet witnessed in the metiopoils. Mr. IV.
M. Packer's band will perform many new works composed for this
occasion. Doors open. at half-cast 9, to commence at 10 o'clock
punctually. gentlemen's tickets, ss. ; lady's ditto, 3s. each. Mr..
Nathan; Castle-sireet, Leicester-square, is the appointed costumier:

•
RGY,LL ROOMS.-LAURENT'S CASINO
NOW OPEN for the winter season. The followin%
Music will be performed by his celebrated Band during
he week : March aux Flambeaux. Waltzes —The Lily
4f the Valley (D'Albert), Zephir Lufte (Gung'l), Fenella (Tinney),
Ethel Newcome (Laurent), La Sultana (Bosisio). Quad rilles—t. e
Rot du Pastel (Lamotte), Les Hugenots (Laurent), Palermo.(D'Al-
,,ert), Bride of Lammermoor ( Finney), 11 Trovatore (Tutton).
Polkas—Des Ilgiands (Lamotte), Italie (Gayiblo), The Lillian (D'Al-
t,ert), Des Coucous (Bousquet). The Zouaves (Laurent). Cialops—
Fhe Imperial Guards (Laurent), The Heels (Streather). Schottische
—La Guirlande de Fleurs (Bosquet), La Varsovlana (Laurent). Prin-
ipal Cornet a Piston, M. BoulcourS.—Doors open at 8. Admission
e Shilling.

OH Saturday next, the 17th, H. Laurent's new Varsoviana will
be played for the first time.

LEOTUR„EBY LORD J. RUSSELL ON MORAL
AIVD POLITICAL PROGRESS.

Yesterday evening Lord J. Russell delivered at Exeter
Hall, on the occasion of the opening of the session of the
Young Men's Christian Association, a lecture on the "Ob-
stacles which have retarded moral and political progress."
An immense crowd assembled to witness the appearance
of the noble lord in the now popular character of a public
lecturer; the hall was filled in every part almost to incon-
venience; and the audience amounted, perhaps, to about
4,000 persons.
At eight o'clock precisely his lordship, accompanied by
the Earl of Shaftesbury, Lord Panmure, the Right Hon.
V. Smith, Mr. Beaumont, M.P., the Hon. and Rev. M.
Villiers, the Rev. Canon Bickersteth, and a number of
ether gentlemen, entered the hall, amidst loud and pro-
longed cheering,

The Earl of Shaftesbury, tho president of the associa-
'tion, having been moved to the chair amidst considerable
applause, proceeded, after a prayer had been offered up for
the Divine blessing, to say :—Ladies and gentlemen, on all
occasions such as this, the opening remarks of the chair-
man ought to be exceedingly short. But on this occasion
they ought to be shorter than usual, because the proverb
that " good wine needs no bush" is singularly applicable
in the present instance. (Cheers.) The poble lord who has
so kindly undertaken to open this course of lectures needs
no praise of mine, nor'any introduction to you; his own
great reputation is more than sufficient. I will, therefore,
at once request our noble friend to open the business of
this evening with the lecture that he has been so good as
to promise us.

Lord J. RUSSELL then rose amidst considerable cheer-
ing and addressed the meeting as follows:--Gentlemen, my
noble friend, your chairman, has said most truly that I have
undertaken the task of delivering the opening leant.° to you
ttlh
ah
tavweaus nodffeerrta:dk emne
undertaking. Although
Ie
negepalappalled
confesstahi
the
honour
thatadatsti
hnacte
ohit,
l tui hsl odeuvngeohnt
help
egfl
being
c
certainly I cannot say that am unused to public speaking,
yet an address of this kind is to me unusual ; and I fear I
shall not perform the task in a manner adequate to its im-
portance. I must say, likewise, that the subject which I
cave chosen, and which is one upon which I have bestowed
A good deal of thought and attention, when I came to con-
sider it, seemed so vast that I can but open a corner of the
field ; I can bat make a beginning, as it were, upon the
subject. What I have to deliver may seem to you in many
parts to be proving that which has been abundantly and
frequently proved ; to be enforcing that which needs no
further enforcement; and to be wasting .time upon dis-
cussions the value of which has long since been ascer-
tained. At the same time I think you will not find it un-
useful to throw somewhat of the light of past history upon
the future, and that we may find some guide to the future
in looking Vack to errors that have been committed, not
by barbarous nations, not in the datle ages, bat by• some
of the greatest and most enlightened among mankind.
I have undertaken to point out some, at least, of the ob-
stacles which retard moral and political progress. The
latest lecture given in the course of 1851 was on " Opposi-
tion to great inventions and discoveries." Nor was abun-
dant material wanting to such a theme. Roger Bacon,
Copernicus, Galileo, and at a later time Harvey, and even
Newton, afforded pregnant instances of resistance to the
diffusion of light. But if the obstacles to the progress of
physical science are great, how much greater are those
which impede moral and political advancement? Mathe-.
matical demonstration and physical experiment carry with
them a certain irresistible force which pierces through the
thickest barriers of prejudice and superstition. When
Galileo showed through his telescope the satellites of Jupi-
ter, it was difficult for the most obstinate pedant to deny
the truth of his discovery. When Newton demonstrated,
by a series of geometrical propositions, the doctrine of at-
traction, those who understood his reasoning could not
long withhold their assent to his conclusion. But in re-
spect to moral and political truth we have not, in the first
place, the same certainty, and, in the second place, we
have to contend against more than the pride of intellect,
the tenacity of prejudice, and the force of habit; we have
to contend against the jealousy of power, the empire of
superstition, and the alarme*of timidity. Not to argue
this matter further, I will at once show you by an exam-
ple what T mean. The best commentary on Newton's
" Principia" is written by Jacquier and Le Souor, two
members of the Society of Jesus. This commentary is so
simple and complete that it enables a person who has but
an imperfect knowledge of mathematics to comprehend
and to master the sublime discoveries of Newton. There
was, however, a trifling objection to the publication of
this commentary. The Pope had, by his decrees, forbidden
any one to maintain the doctrine of the motion of the
earth. The learned Jesuits disposed of this difficalty
very easily. They prefixed a notice to this par; of the
work declaring that they bowed with implicit submis-
sion to the decision of tke Pope, that the sun moved round
the earth, but that they had been incited by curiosity
to show what would have been the case had it been a
truth, instead of a fiction, that the earth moved round the
sun. The world laughed and learnt ; the Holy, See was
satisfied and silent. Now, let us imagine that these eru-
dite Jesuits, instead of physical theories, had turned their
minds to religion, and had examined, while bowing to the
decrees of the Council of Trent, what would have bean the
result had the Bible been the only rule of faith, and all re-
ference to tradition and the authority of the Church had
been set aside. It is evident that censure, penance, and
expulsion, if not worse punishments, would have been the
result. This instance brings us at once to one of the great
obstacles to the progress of • moral and political science.
Truth is discovered by inquiry ; knowledge is attained by
the diffusion of opinion; governments have undertaken
to suppress inquiry, and to guide, opinion on all religious
and moral, nay, on many physical subjects. Let us inves-
tigate this subject further. We shall find that some of the
greatest obstacles which have been interposed to moral and
political progress are those which have been caused by a
misapprehension of the functions, and a misapplication of
the powers, of civil government. Those functions are ex-
tensive in their legitimate province; those power are for-
midable in their proper sphere. But governments have per-
vez ted to wrong ends an authority which is essential to so-
ciety in its lowest requirement:, and ought to assist its
progress to the highest summit. Let us for a moment con-
sider the objects of the formation of civil government.
These objects are very large,lofty, and extensive. At home
a government is bound to protect life and property. These
few words imply the whole question of criminal law, the va-
rious relations of property, the laws of marriage, the rela-
tions of master and workmen, the security of trade, the
maintenance of internal tranquillity, the rule of all orders of
men in their separate stations, and the complicated disputes
which spring out of their dealings with each other. Let us
grant, in addition to these, although it ratty be matter of
some question, the promotion of religion, and instruction
of the young by public grant or endowment. But there is
another duty still more complex and more difficult. Go-
vernment is charged with the maintenance of the indepen-
dence of the nation. As such it forms alliances, makes
and dissolves treaties, maintains armies and navies ; rules,
perhaps, extensive foreign possessions, and, whether in
peace or war, is bound not to sacrifice any vital interest to
a foregn power. (Loud and protracted cheering.) Surely
here ace functions enough for a %Heigh or a Sully—for
the wisdom of Somers and the energy of Richelieu—for the
capacity of a Henry IV. of France, or a William 111. of
Great Britain. It has been pretended, however, that be-
sides all these functions it is the right and duty of
dGo-
vernments to prescribe the rule of religious faith, and to
draw a circle beyond which it shall not be lawful to move.
Let us not consider that it is superfluous again to look at
the basis upon which this pretension is founded, for even
now, in this day, there are countries in Europe where re-
ligious freedom is not permitted, and where punishment
attends the declaration of conscientious opinions. (Hear.)
It may be said likewise, and no doubt has been said, that
the argument whioh goes upon the want of success in reli-
gious persecution is not founded on experience, for how-
ever the enemies of the Protestant reformation were de-
feated in this and some other countries of Europe, they
succeeded both in Spain and in Italy, and in some parts of
Germany and Bohemia, in extinguishing the light which
was beginning to spread abroad. Let us then examine
what is the argument upon this subject. I propose to show
you, first, the argument upon which this pretension is
based ; secondly, its hollowness ; and thirdly, the evils
which this unhappy mistake has caused. A great master
of morality and of reason, a pious and virtuous Christian
—I mean Dr. Johnson—after speaking of the duty of
parents towards their children, says, "Now the vulgar are
the Qhildren of the state. If any attempt to teach them
doctrines contrary to. what the state approves, the magis-
trate may and ought to restrain him." On another occa-
sion Boswell relates the following conversation. The
speakers are Dr. Johnson and Dr. Mayo :
"I introduced the subject of toleration. Johnson—
Every society has a right to preserve public peace and or•
der, and, therefore, has a good right to prohibit the pro-
pagation of opinions which have a dangerous tendency. To
say the magistrate has this right, is using au inadequatel
"word ; it is the'society for which the magistrate is_ agent,

He may be morally or theologically wrong in restraining
the propagation of opinions which he' thinks dangerous,
but he ikpolitically right. Mayo—l am of opinion, sir,
that every man is entitled to liberty of conscience in reli-
gion ; and that the magistrate cannot restrain that right.
Johnson—Sir,, I agree with you. Every man has a right
to liberty of conscience, and with that the magistrate can-
not interfere. People confound liberty of thinking with
liberty of talking; nay, with liberty of preaching. Every
man has a physical right to think as he p'eases ; for it can-
not be discovered how he thinks. He has not a moral
right, for ho ought to inform himself, and think justly:
But, sir, no member of a society has a right to teach any
doctrine contrary to what the society holds to be true.
The magistrate, I say, may be wrong in what he thinks ;
but while he thinks himself right., he may and ought
enforce what he thinks. Mayo—Then, sir, we are to re-
main always in error, and truth never can prevail ; and
the magistrate was right in prosecuting the first Christians.
Johnson —Sir, the cnly.rnethod by which religious truth eau
beeestablisheda its
hbey
tmh
iatirkt yrdm The
s ; ando.
he lvmagistrate
is
conscious has rightaof
the
as
truth
istulaffeetrr‘uthl,ambutafbrya.idpetrhseoroeutisionnoonotthheer
way hf
one hand, and enduring it on the other."
Such was the conclusion's to which a man of powerful under-
standing and extensive learning was driven by resting his
opinions on false principles. There are two of those prin-
ciples involved in the discourse I have quoted. The first
is that a man is at liberty to hold an opinion 'in his own
mind, but not to communicate it to others. It were easy
-to show that such a doctrine, fully established, must pre-
vent all moral and political progress. Indeed, I might go
farther, and say that even progress in physical science
would be arrested if the magistrate were, in the name of
society,.to stop the diffusion of such opiniOns as were con-
sidered by him adverse to religion. The opinion of Gali-
leo—that the earth moved—was condemned, not as con-
trary to- physical science, but as opposed to revealed doc-
trine. The opinions of the geologists were, at the com-
mencement of this century, denounced as at variance with
the narrative of Holy Writ. Is every man who has made
' a physical discovery- tti ask the, civil nAegistrate whether
his demonstration is at variano'e with some-Ignorant inter-
pretation of the Scriptures before he ventures to publish
it to the world ? Bat, to meet the objection in front, is he
who deems more highly of his God than the emperor or
high priest of his day, to hide his light under a bushel, be-
cause the civil or ecclesiastical ruler does not like to be dis-
turbed? Were the early Christians not to tell their bro-
thers, their wives, their husbands, their children not to
forsake idolatry, and worship the only true God ? Were
the Christian martyrs rightly amenable to the criminal
law ? Again, was Luther, after being convinced that indul-
gences and the other abuses of the Roman Catholic Church
were founded on perversions.of the Christian religion, not
to lift tip,his voice and proclaim his conviction ? Was the
martyrdom of Latimer and Ridley the just punishment of
a crime against society. These questions must have
pressed on the logical mind of Dr. Johnson, and, accord-
ingly,,they forced him to change his ground. But what
is the conclusion at which he arrives ? "The magistrate
has a right to enforce what he thinks, and he who is con-
scious of the truth has a right to suffer. I am afraid
there is no other way of ascertaining the truth but by
persecution on the one hand, and enduring it on the
other." Why not ? Why not permit the free circulation
of truth and error—leave to truth its own all-suffieient
armour, and to error its own stratagems and delusions—
leave argument to be met by argument, assertion by in-
quiry ? If the justeause suffer fora time, if human credulity
embraces error with ardour, and is cold as ice to truth, we
may yet rely that the light of free discussion will in time
disperse the mist of false opinions, that however slow the
process the test of free examination will in time separate
the dross from the genuine ore. Here, in fact, is the turn-
ing point of the whole question. Dr. Johnson and others
contend that governments have the right and duty to con-
trol their subjects as parents control their children. The
friends of religious liberty contend that governments have
no such right, and have no special capacity to fit them for
the task. A Roman historian speaks of the rare felicity of
his time, when a man was allowed to think as he chose, and
to speak as he thought. This rare felicity is the common
birthright of mankind. It is the source of, aU knowledge ;
the privilege
,which elevates the nature of man ; one of the
most precious of the gifts of God :

'`What is a man
If his chief good, and market of his time,
Be but to sleep and feed ?—a beast, no more.
Sure Hethat made us with Nadi large discourse,
Looking before and after, gave us not
That capability and godlike reason
To r ust in us unused.".
The exercise of the faculties of the human mind they con-
tend is the first step to the discovery of truth. The highest
object upon which the mind, when once raised and disci-
plined, and strengthened by instruction, fixesits attention,
is religion, What we are to believe of God, What we are
required to do in obedience to His will, engages the most
earnest thoughts of good and wise men. Milton and Locke
are great examples of this. But we have higher authority
for the exercise of the right of teaching than any mere
human dictum. When Peter and John wore co 'emended
" Not to speak at all, nor teach in the name of Jesus,"-
they answered and said, " Whether it be right in the sight
of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge
ye, for we cannot but speak the things which we have
seen and heard." Again, when they were threatened a
second time, and asked by the high priest, "Did not we
strictly command you that ye Should not teach in this
eieeneS?" They answered simply,,, but steadfastly, "We
ought to obey God rather then men." Now,' if this con-
duct of Peter and John was right in the sight of God, it
follow that no man ought to be punished for publishing
his religious convictions, for it is impossible that men can
have a right to do certain things, and avow certain opin-
ions, and that other men, their rulers, can have a right to
punish them for these same actions and avowals. If a
man, convinced of the truth of his own belief, has a right
to propagate that belief, a Scoiereign or magistrate can
have no right to punish him for it. For this 'were to ad-
mit two contradictory 'rights, two repugnant duties, in
violation of all our notions of Divine and human justice.
(Cheers.) It is contended, however, that the public
peace
is only to be preserved by repelling the intrusions of fana-
ticism, by repressing the disturbances by which innova-
tions in religion are always attended. This is the .pre-
tence of those craftsmen who wish to maintain inviolate
the profits of their own silver shrines. Let us see bow
far history sanctions this pretence. Without recurring
to the well-known example of the trial and punishment
of Socrates, let us observe the exercise of this right in four
memorable instances. The first I shall take is the punish-
ment of the early Christians; the next is the persecution of
the reformers in the Low Countries; the third, the reli-
gious wars in France ; the fourth, the revocation of the
edict of Nantes. To begin with the Roman Emperors.
I will riot quote the example of Nero or Domitian, but
refer to the wise Trajan, and his minister, the en-
lightened Pliny. We possess the, correspondence of
Pliny with Trajan during the time that Pliny was Pro-
prietor in Bithynia. In this curious correspondence we
find traces of the provident care with which a Ro-
man governor watched over the public peace; adorned
the buildings of the chief towns, and guarded the health
of the community entrusted to his charge. For instan.,e,
as a true sanitary reformer, he reports to the Emperor
that an open space, near a town, has a stream running
through it, which is called a river, hut which is, in fact, a
sewer—filthy to the sight and pestilential to the smell.
He asks the Emperor's permission to have this stream
covered, engaging to find the money for the purpose, and
immediately obtains the necessary authority. Among
other public and private concerns on which he writes, he
touches upon the progress made by the Christians. He
complains that the temples are nearly deserted, that
animals for sacrifice find no purchasers, and that the num-
ber of Christians is daily increasing. He interrogates
some who had belonged to their community, and who had
left it at various periods from 2to 20 years before. These
persons readily worshipped the image of the Emperor, and
cursed the name of Christ. Examined as to the nature of
their Pinner religion, they said that all they bad done was
to meet on stated days, before daylight, and sing hymns to
Christ, as to a God • that they bound themselves by an
oath (sacrament)) not commit theft or adultery, to keep
faith with their neighbours, and to restore goods deposited
with them to their right owners ; and after this they sepa-
rated, and met again to take food together, in common, but
without any evil intent. This account, from men who had
obeyed the orders of the Emperor to desist from attending
Christian meetings, and who were therefore disinterested,
might, one'should have thought, induced so benevolent an
Emperor as Trojan, and so enlightened a governor as Pliny,
to leave undisturbed the followers of Christ. But it was
not so. Pliny seems, indeed, to have doubted whether the
name of Christian, apart from any crime was to be punished.
He continues, however, his report to the Emperor in these
words ; the meantime, with regent to those
who were brought before me as Christians, I followed
this method. I asked them whether they were Christians ;
to those who confessed themselves to be so, I put the
question a second and third time, threatenine them with
punishment. Those who persevered I ordered to be led
out to execution'."' Trajan approves of these proceedings,
and only desires that the Christians who were not brought ,
before the governor shOuld not be brought out. I need not
relate to you what fearful martyrdoms, what cruel mas.
sures, followed the adoption of this principle of persecu-
tion. Far from preserving public peace, the system of
punishing Christians convulsed the empire, and was so far
from being successful, that it finally terminated in the
establishment of Christianity. I wish I could add that
pagans were not in their turn the victims of persecution.
The learned Dean of St. Paul's, agreeing in this respect
with other historians, places the first edicts sanctioningthe
punishment of heretic Christians in the reign of Theodosius
the Great. I do notpropose, however, to follow the history
of the various persecutions of heretics in Christian times.
I wish to make a transition at once to the persecution of
Protestants in the Low Countries, and to 'call your atten-
tion to a remarkable passage of Grotius on the subject.
Speaking of the tolerant laws promulgated in that country,
he says
" These laws, dictated by a disposition not usually cruel,
had their origin in a religion impatient of dissent. For
religion, which ought to be the means of softening and
uniting the minds of mon, has become, through the fault of
human infirmity, a most bitter source of hatred. For it
was at that time the conviction of many princes that the
body of the-commonwealth should bo anitnated by one
religion as by a soul, and that the best way to constitute
laws for spiritual as well as temporal matters was to give
ne choice to the multitude. Hence the Emperor was the
more easily persuaded after the example of Germany, that
n which
if the power of the priest was destroyed his own autho-
gh many perished, more succeeded
an opinion
drewr ityw
itsou l dying
vigour
ul
ro nfgreormb be
himself obeyed,
mightan and that
in
aa
stir?
time
be
subdued by punishment. But the event was contrary to
his expectation, for, thou
in their places. For these things that we do to please the
if it hag embraced eagerly
body, are subject to fine and to authority from the fear of
death and of torture ; but the soul, as It is by its nature
free and immortal,
it cannot be subdued by fire or by sword ; for dangers
themselves invite to resistance, and it accounted blessed
and glorious to suffer cruel and abhorred punishments
with a conscience void of sin. Proofs of this fact are to
be found in the early history of the Christians and in
these times. For after the capital execution 'of not lees
than a hundred thousand persons, in order to try whe-
ther this fire would be extinguished in a deluge of blood,
such multitudes rose in Belgium that public punishments
were interrupted by riot and sedition as often as a fa-
mous criminal was to be executed, or a torture more
painful thaneisual was •to be initiated."
- -

-190 ittle were these puniglaments, so little were Ulm hor!

rid scenes, productive of' that public peace,-that quiet and
rat theyreanntqswtiojelfrl tranquillity,
nefinfccirtgehidt h.:(escdakheee-rf.
Roman) which
hLei6ac
Let us
_hu
Catholic—.Do:
cois_7Dphraee:
atTre
hut
odhuee:ls.
:Pre-
sident sident of the Parliament of France. Speaking of his own
country and his own time, he says :
"We have been sufficiently taught by experience that
fire and sword, . banishments and proscriptions, have irri-
tated rather than cured a disease inherent in the mind.
For such a cure it is necessary, not to use remedies- which
only affect the body, but to apply those which, by doctrine
and careful teaching, are gently instilled into the mind.
All other matters are ordered by the discretion of the civil
magistrate; and therefore of the prince. Religion alone is
not commanded, but is infused into minds well prepared by
ran. opinion of its truth, with the assistance of Divine grace.
Plintshments are of no efficacy in producing this convic-
tion ; they,rather harden and confirm than break or per-
suade the mind. What the Stoics said so proudly of their
.philimpphy we may much-more-truly say of religion. For
-whee a man is acted upon by religions trouble and pain
are of no moment to him ; and any other kind of grief is
cast at his feet by the virtue which is _derived froth that
opinion which he has imbibed. ,Nothing he can have to
bear disturbs him. He complains not of being subject to
anything that may befal a human being. l• He knows his
own force, and, while he thinks himself trusting in the
grace of od, he believes that he shall be equal. to the bur 7
den that is clst,upon him. The executioner may stand be-
fore him ;. the minister of torture -marpreParelils instru-
ments and his fire ; he will still persevere; nor will he con-
sider what he is to suffer, but what it behoves Min to do.
For his happiness is in his own breast; and if anything
touches him from without it appearsto Kiva him light, and
to reach no further than his outer skin. It is worth while
to listen to what one of these men said and did.: When he

was tied to the stake, in order to be buret by.fire, he went
down on his knees and began to sing a hymn', which the
smoke and fire scarcely interrupted ;. and when- the execu-
tioner began to light the fire behind kis back, that he might
not be seen, the suffer& cried out, Come here and light the
fire before my eyes ; had I feared it I never should have
come to this place, which I might have avoided.' Thus,
the zeal of those who labour to introduce novelties in reli-
gion is not to be repressed by punishment; but, on the con-
trary, minds become more obstinate, whether to suffer or
to dare. For when from the ashes of some others are raised,
and the number is increased, patience is converted into
fary; nor have we to deal as before with supplicants, but
with remonstrants and opposers, and those who before fled
from punishment now appear' in arms. We have seen this
course of events for 40 whole years in France—for some-
what less time in the Low countries ; and the matter has
reached that point, that not by the punishment Of this: or
that person, as it might have been at the beginning, cam
this be restrained, lest it should spread further ; but when
it has pervaded entire communities and whole nations, and
thus reached the greatest part of Europe, we have need,
not of the sword of the magistrate; but of the weapon of
the Lord. For those. who cannot be forced ought to be
taught, and ought to be invited 10 'meetings and to
friendly assembhee.”

I come to the fourth and lard instance of persecutions,whieh,
like the former, regards France. After a long period of
so-called religious war, Henry IV., in_ concert with his wise
minister Sully, by the edict of Nantes, established concord
between the two religions, by lowing Roman Catholics and
Protestants in possession of all that they held. Peace for a
long time prevailed. But Louis XIV., tormented by his
confessor for the notorious profligacy of his life, resolved
to 4one for his sins by punishing the innocent and loyal
Protestants of his dominions. Two schemes were proposed
for his adoption ; the one, recommended by the Jesuit La
Chaise, aimed at nominal conversions, with a view to make
good Roman Catholics of the children ; the other, favoured
by the Jansenists, looked to real and effectual turningi of
the heart and mind to the Catholic faith. Between the two,
however, interposed Lonvois, Minister of War. Jealous
of the influence which might be acquired during peace by
othe'r ministers, he undertook the conversion of the Protes-
tants as a business of hie own department. The steps he
took, consigned as they are to everlasting infamy, under
the name of the dragonnades were of this nature :—Troops
of dragoons, sometimes accompanied by infantry and artil-
lery, were sent into the provinces in which the Protestents.
abounded ; they were quartered in the houses of the-Pro-
testaats, especially of the rich of that communion, till
they abandoned their faith; the troops were then removed
to another district. If the Protestants attempted to as-
semble for public worship they were charged, dispersed,
and killed by the dragoons. The consequences were what
might have been expected. Many nominal conversions
were made; in one district more than 100,000 in a fort-
night, but nearly all relapsed. They then remained ex-
eluded from the rites of marriage, their children declared
illegitimate, and they themselves, a million of subjects,
placed out of the pale of the law for nearly a century.
The discontent, the confusion, and the misery were be-
yond expression. So far, then, is it from being true that
restrictions placed upon religious freedom have preserved
the pose() and order of society, the facts are all the other
way. (Cheers.) Tho persecutions of the early Christians,
.the massacres of the early reformers, • the violenees'
committed against the Huguenots of Franca, have
rent society to its foundations, and peace has only been
established when the persecutor refrained from his unholy
task, and liberty of conscience was .proclaimed. I might
illustrate these facts by the persecutions which took place
in Holland at the peace which succeeded, when religions
liberty was proclaimed in that country, which, Sir William
Temple tells us,:was the first of all the countries of Europe.
I Inig4e allude to what took place in our own country—to
the persecutions which took place in The days of Charles
the Second—the Act of Toleration—the attempt to revive
persecution towards the latter end of the reign of Queen
Anne, and the peace which has prevailed since that time,
when religious liberty has been made a part, not only of
the law, but of the established practice of this country.
(Cheers.) Nor should I forget that, in the United States
of America, where religions persecution has for many years
baen unknown, where indeed it only took plade for a short
time after the pilgrim fathers arrived in America, we have
the authority of Lord Carlisle for iaying that it is a happy
and a pleasant thing to• witness the peace and harmony
that prevail. /Hear.) I have spoken to you of the impe-
diments which are interposed in the way of moral and po-
litical progress from a misconception of the dutiee of go-
vernment. I might give you many other instances in which
government have mistaken and overpassed their limits.
There is one to which I will but slightly allude, because
within a few years it has been a matter of political contro-
versy in this country. Nothing seems a more natural right
of man, or a right that may be more harmlessly allowed,
than that of exchanging the products of his industry against
the products of the industry of other men, yet one of the
wisest of ministers of whom we have record, Colbert, in
France, inspired by what was then thought true political sa-
gacity, finding that the people of France were exchanging
their wines for the hardware and other manufactures of Hol-
land, prohibited the admission of those products, and there-
by starved a great part of the people of France. Happily in
later times we have been wiser, but this is one of the sub-
jects upon which governments have overstepped theirlimita,
and is pretending to be wiser than their subjects, have
only retarded the progress of moral and political improve-
ment. (Cheers.) lam very far from having exhausted
the subject of the obstacles placed by' governments to
moral apd political progress. But, having given this
exampla of the evil done by authority, I will pass to
another part of this great question, and consider how far,
at the present day, the people themselves obstruct im-
provement. We ourselves have now arrived at the free-
dom of discussion, and that religious liberty, which good
men sighed for, which Milton eloquently demanded, and
Locke established by argument. In certain countries, in
Great Britain; in France, in the United States of America,
the human conscience is no longer shackled by government
or by laws. Have we, then, removed all obstacles to moral
and politic ul progress? I am afraid we must answer in
the negative, that great evils exist, and at least if a re-
medy his been found it has not 'the pervading influence
which it ought to have, and from which alone we may
look for success. A Frei references to the state of our
country will show that much remains to be done, in this
respect. The first I will allude to is the prevalence of in-
dulgence in articles which, instead of being useful, are at
all events when- taken in excess most hurtful to man.
(Hear.) It seems hardly credible, but it was shown by the
late distinguished Secretary to the Board of Trade, Mr.
Porter, in 1850, that the sums expended yearly in spirits,
beer, and tobacco, amounted to upwards of 57,000,0001. It
is stated by the sameleatleman that among those labour-
era and workmen, heads of families, who earn 100. to 1 s.
a week, at least one-half is spent by them upon objects in
which the other members of the family have no share.
Apart. from all statistical results, observation must- lead
us to the conclusioh_ that among labourers and -workmen
the vice of intemperance is one of the most common,
and the most hurtful. 2. The want 'of education, as
proved by the returns of inspectors, and chaplains of
gaols, is such that a great portion a our_ people are
ignorant 'of the simplest elements of religion, and the
most common rudiments of learning. 3. -While such are
the prominent 'vices and defects of the poor, vices and
defects of a different kind, but no less offensive to morality,
are found among the rich. Sensuality and excess, selfish-
ness, evil speaking, want of charity and kindness, abound.
All these are obstacles to moral and philosophical progress.
Upon what can we rely to counteract them? Upon the
force of civilisation ? Twice have its powers been tried,
and been found wanting. In the days of Augustus Cresar,
when order had been established, and prosperity revived ;
when Virgil and Horace flourished at Rome, and the vast
provinces were blessed with peace and tranquillity, every-
thing seemed to promise a long duration of happiness. But
the Christian apostle and the Pagan satirist silica prove all
was hollow and delusive. Vice increased, knowledge de-
cayed, power vanished, and soon everything portended the
decline and fall of the Roman empire. Again, in the 18th
century of our era, civilisation had rdached a very high
point; that century, enlightened above all its predeces-
sors, which enjoyed the literature of the age of Louis XI V.
in France, and of Queen Anne'in England—when Racine,
Moliere, Boileau, La Fontaine, Dryden, Pope, Addison,
and Swift were read and admired ; when Newton's phi-
losophy was established ; when Lavoisier, and Black, and
Cavendish had advanced chemistry to a science, and Watt
had, by his improvement of the steam-engine, rivalled
the invention of the printing press—seemed in its course
tending to the happiness of nations. It was pretended
that nothing more was wanting than a general benevo-
lence in order to secure the happiness of man; that then
everything that was brutal and everything that was cruel
would be banished from the face of the earth. But, be-
fore that century ended, revolutions tearing up the
foundations of society, wars desolating all the nations
of Europe, bore sad testimony to the mistake that had
been made. What was that mistake ? The nature of
man requires something more than the spirit which pre-
vailed in the time of Augustus. The nature of man is so
prone to evil that strong restraint is required to keep
down his bad passions and subdue his. vicious inclina-
tions. He reqaires likewise some special incentive to good.
The legislators of antiquity sought that restraint vixen. evil
and that incentive to good in powerful institutions,
guarded by sanctity of manners. It was thus that Spartae.
and Rome were led to virtue. But these institutions e pn.
riehed when manners no longer supported them- The Ili
stitutions of monasteries had its origin in a similareoran the
.f.eey ling
of the necessity of restraint.. Historians,
historians of Spain, who have related thee
related how one
picas intentions
of the-founders of these institutions,
order after another grew corrupt, andhaasleverer rule was in-
stituted by some more aastere reformer, to give
_way in its
turn to the evil inclinations, jealousies, and weaknesses of
human nature. There are rules, however, not artificial, not
_
founded on any prescribed form of society, or in isolation
from all mooiety WhiCh FigicientOf °,11.14re.4, t. 4): guide