The Sun.
London, England, 1830-06-18 00:00:00

. .
the nutnerous changes in our laws and institutions
Which the altered circumstances of the Country im:
'periously 'called for. Nevertheless, iritereetS tin-M.lof:-
out the country were affected by the ineasiireS agi-
tated from tiin'e to tulle, and hence petitions without
nimnber were poured in on the'House. A Member
who might shrink from participating in a.general
discUssion, cannot refuse to enforkie the petnithir 6f
his constituents, ij.nd I.y iNglies he becobles satisfied
rith tifhieii, and a frequent speaker on all subjects.
There is hardly now a Member of the whole As-
sembly who has not addressed it at times. Now,
nothing is such an impediment to despatch as Mime
roux speakers. Jefferson oho:tit.% that they got on
very well with 'business in the Old Congress; but
after the pace, when Congress became a numerous
representative body (though stilt e sinell body Om-
pared to the House of Commons); and chiefly com-
posed of lawyers, the time ;was consumed in speaking.
Sir Robert Peel must Make inability iti biti'eehiry a
necessary qualification for Parliament, or things will
proceed from bad to worse. When there were few
speakers and many listeners in the House, the
House had onl- ..
-, patience for a moderate quantity of
elope
~-•0..,.-•oce 'at a t.i rs i atid hence the dislike of Burke,
.. . a;
iii
WO ,alitla the hailer
.13e11, on account of his
Wig sOeeehes beinding the Meiriber3 to dinner. Ent
*hen MeMbets haVe theinselves to thank, they must
year with the infirmities of others ; a man must,
however reluctPt, offer „k, a sacs ice to tht!, itlr4ov
of others, that he may inoulge his own selt-iolie: No
rational lnting who doohs with tiny attelitiOn at inch
an Asternbiy as the Honse of Cominonsa mere over--
groWn club.,-could ever expect any other result.than
that which Sir Robert Peel how likinebb. Three
or fear weNriforin'eq a. ti lal)erious indiViduals may
prodeeti with legal Reforms; withoirt impeding each
flothet too Much by the disetmion which their dif-
ferent modes of viewing -points tt?sy rendi2r net.'esr-
sary. nut let us s'9.rp'Me that the labour and re-
search -of tith extensive legal Reform has been de-
\rolVtit on a Commission, and that a Bill embodying
the fruit of the labours of the-Commission is sub
rr...tied to Parliament, besides the diSciis&niii on the
principle, every,,elati6 '61161S iip interminable dis-
tussiehthe Bill undergoes a number
,of modi&•
cations in the Committee—some of the changes are
at variance with the parts of the Bill retained; and
with. other changes and the Y..1..ii! hus betortie in as-
' semblate il' incongruities. A re-commitment be-
comes necessary. If the Bill ever become a law, no
two men, perhaps, can agree as to the meaning of
some of its clauses, No numerous assembly can
ever legislate to any advantage. The questions of
peace or war, aid taxation—complaints of grievances
may come with advantage before it; The nation
would not be satis4ed withisut ,ah assembly which
should.reprnent the general feeling on such matters.
Rut at pre-sent ParliaMent 'is eVerYthing. It is a
tofirrof Law---;-- a LegiMa'v.-,ive Body--it decides on
all 'question domestic or colonial. If here is hardly
1 conceivable object which may not be brought under
discussion in it. Hence the anarchy which prevails
—hence the helplessness which have lowered it so
much in the eyes oi the nation, and made popular
bodies ge:ierally ridiculous..--Morning Chronicle.

at' glad to ob!Serve that the praetice of corn-
pelling British Soldiers on foreign stations to do ho-
mage to PART] And idolatrous ceremonies has be-
tome a subject of Parliamentary aniMadversioh.
everal petitions have recently been presented to
the House of Commons, preying for an abolition of
this tinjustifiabh3 ptat'tiee, and we have not perceived
that any Member of Government has been bold
enough to undertake its defence; vet it is not many
years since a British Officer was dismissed the sec•
vice for refusing to salute an idol at Malta, to which
popular a;loration is paid at certain seasons. In this
the Qiricer certainly showed more regard for con-
s'ience than discipline; he was guilty of a disobe-
dience of orders, and liable to the penalties provided
for an act of insubordination by the articles of war.
But what a cruel thing it is to reduce men who are
able and willing to serve their country—who are
ready to face every peril, to undergo any hardship,
and to shed their blood at any moment in its defence
s--what a cruel thing it is, we say, to reduce such
men to the alternative of violating their conscience
or incurring the penalties of disobedience! Is a sol-
dier to be, in his religious principles, as well as in
his military conduct, a mere machine ? Is it neces-
sary for the interests of the service that he should
be so ? If that. be the case, then the best soldiers
would be those who entertain no' sense of religion at
all ! Is this a doctrine for a moral and Christian
Government to maintain in the face of the civi-
lized world—or, if the Government, notwithstand-
ing their professions of zealous devotion to the
interests and principles of that form of Christianity
which constitutes the established religion of Eng-
land, remain silent, will the Bench of Bishops con-
tinue so, and allow a subserviency to idolatrous
ceremonies to be enforced by the sentences of the
law-military, without raising up the voice of pious
remonstrance against it ? Cannot the Bishop of
London see something as reprehensible in this as
the profanation of the Sabbath by the recreations
of the poor ? Will not the Bishop of Norwich,
so long the uncompromising and consistent advocate
of liberty of conscience in the Roman Catholic
people, think it his duty to be equally earnest for
the recognition of the same invaluable privilege in
the Protestant soldier? Even before what is called
Catholic Emancipation was granted the Roman
Catholic soldiers were allowed to attend their own
places of worship, out of a proper deference to the
religious feelings of that class of men. 'Why, then,
should Protestant soldiers and officers be compelled
to perform acts of worship to wooden images—the
objects of the superstitious veneration of the Res-
man Catholic populace—idols to which the better-
educated Roman Catholics themselves would, pro-
bably, be ashamed to offer the external marks of
adoration ? It is one thing to punish a soldier for
insulting the religious feelings or prejudices of a
foreign people, and it is another to punish him for
refusing to degrade himself by a hypocritical com-
munion in rites and ceremonies for which he
can entertain no respect. It does credit to Lord
Killeen—himself a Roman Catholic—that he sup-
ported the petition which Mr. Trent presented from
Dover on this subject the other night. It shows
that he is willing-to obtain for others that religious
freedom which he was so anxious to procure for
himself. But where were the great many advocates
for liberty of conscience on this occasion ? Sup-
posing a Roman Catholic Officer was dismissed the
service for refusing to join in some rite of Protestant
worship abroad, what an outcry there would be im-
mediately raised in the newspapers and both Houses
of Parliament ! How the changes would be rung
upon religious tyranny, in all the vocabulary of in-
vective ! But few are the patriots who find a heart
or a tongue to demand for the Protestant soldier
emancipation from that thraldom which denies him
the right of religious opinion, which even our In-
dian Government concedes to its Eastern slaves—
for it was stated in the House of Commons that,
during the Marquis Wellesley's Government in
India, some :Sepoys had been, on one occasion,
compelled to attend Divine Service—but, when
.it
was made known to his Lordship, he condemned, in
the strongest terms, the conduct of the Command-
ing Officer. One of the few Members of Parlia-
ment who reprobated the practice of ordering our
soldiers to join in idolatrous ceremonies was Lord
Milton, who observed that, if a soldier himself, he
would, most assuredly, object to being compelled
to do honour to religious rites that were considered
idolatrous ;—but, if he were a soldier whose liveli-
hood depended on his commission, how bitterly
would he feel the compulsion ! Such a practice is
a cruelty to the defender of his country, and a de-
gradation to the British name.—liforning Herold.
The only real business in the House of Commons
last night was the introduction of a Bill by Mr.
Brougham, for the more speedy and economical ad-
Iministration of justice in the matter of small debts.
The Bill is not intended to extend at present to
more than three counties, and is a mere experiment;
but an additional clause will render it applicable to
the whole siuntry. It is, of course, impossible,
without nein the Bill, which is not yet printed, to