The Sun.
London, England, 1830-09-08 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR Or THE MORNING CURONICLE.
Paris, Sept. 3, 1530.
SlR,—Tlie French are fearing lest Prussia should
interfere in , this question, for, then, say the French,
our Government cannot withhold, assistance hem
the Belgians. Prince Frederick of. Prussia has
returned from the Hague. to Berlin, and the French
are sadly afraid lest the Prussiatt Government
should deem it necessary to send forces against
Belgium, lest the Rhenish Provinces should soon be
in commotion...
. The Belgians are divided. They are all agreed
upon, desiring ernancipetion; •but. they are. divided
as to the best means of straining the freedom they
seek after. The millions.would gladly- force them-
selves into the arms of France, and demand her aid
and protection.; but the hundreds, and there are a
good wry iorthem, fear lest this atep,.taken at the
present moment,, should induce England to join
the party of the Kings of Holland- and, Prussia,
and thus endanger at least the union which is de-
sired, and render it for more remote. They are di-
vided again as to the question of concessions, the
few beinglvilling to be satisfied with too little; and
the multitude, requiring, perhaps, too much. These
men.can never have read the fable of " The Bundle
of Sticks," or they, would not act so absurdly !
To-day we learn that the citizens of Brussels
allowed the Prince,of Orange to enter, but with-
out an army, and refused to lay aside the flags and
colours which his Royal Highness had denounced
as illegal !! We know not,as yet what transpired
at the then approaching interview, but we know
that the Son of,the King of the Pays Bas was re-
fused to allow to enter the city of Brussels with
either Dutch or Flemish troops!!! This is a good
deal like the Sovereignty of the People—but the
timid are afraid we_ should say, so—anti beg that the
fal,e maxim may be remembered and acted upon,
" that truth should not; always be spoken." At
least 0. P. Q. will not adopt this rule, for he will
speak our, whether they will hear, or whether they
will forbear.
The English, I perceive from the journals and
letters,of London, endeavour to convince themselves
and peisuadeothers, that the affair of Belgium is
nothing at ad—thai it will very soon be arranged—
that it is merely a local insurrection, or local tumult,
and that it is a matter of no sort of importance."
The fact is, the English Government dreads a
rupture with France, with respect to Belgium,
and I can imagine that if the Duke of Welling-
ton ever prayed in his life, it is now ; and_ that
his prayer by day and night is, " that the heart
of the King of Prussia may be turned to peace,
and that the hearts of the Belgian Catholics may
relent." I will answer for it his Grace never
offered up another petition, which is " that the
King of the Pays Bas may have his mind en-
lightened to perceive that it is wholly impossible
to govern Belgium by Dutchmen, and to retain
the former country as a Dutch Colony ;" and yet
this is really the prayer which his Grace should
daily make if lie be really, anxious to preserve the
peace of Europe.. •
Let me now continue my statement of the se-
condary reasons which have led to the Revolution
in the Pays I3as.. You remember the fundamental
one—the union of Belgium with Holland!
The. Priests in Belgiuth are all Revolutionists.
How is this ? Let me beg your attention-=your
best attention, to this part of the subject ; and let
me entreat that I may by no means be misunder-
stood in any of my statements as to the conduct
end feelings of the Catholic Priests.
In Belgium the Priests are not enlightened, bul

ley are sincerely religious—they are not iatolera,

but they are devoted Catholics—they are no;
wealthy, but yet they are charitable—but they seek
to and do actually exercise itnmetise influence over
the minds and consciences of the population, if I
be told that in Belgium the women principally go
to mass—to confession—and to all the Sacraments
—I reply, that this observation holds good with re-
ference to the higher orders in the cities and large
towns ; but that in the villages, the small towns, and
in those retired spots so well known to all who are ac-
quainted with the Low Countries, where the Priest
is next to the King in authority; in all these spots and
places the men as well as the women, and the rich as
well as the poor, attend daily to tell the exercises of
their religion, and are guided not merely in their spiri-
tual, but also in their temporal concerns by the
advice and opinions of the Priests. Now this state
of things may be desirable and advantageous, or it
may be injurious and lamentable. I have nothing
to do with more than the fact at present—and this

fact I cannot allow to be disputed. If lam tOl4
that in all countries where the Catholic religion pre-
, veils, the Priests have the same influence, 1 answer
No They have different degrees of influence in
different countries, and the degree of influence which
they have in Belgium is superlative. In France it
is positive—in Ireland it is comparative—and in
Belgium it is superlative. Well, then, the Priests
in the Pays Bas being all-powerful, but yet being
neither very enlightened nor very moderate in their
opinions, necessarily exert an influence not ut all times
beneficial—but yet et all times in favour of the Catho-
lic faith ! When Belgium was united to France, the
Priests were satisfied, not merely because the reli-
gion of the m.sjority of the French was Catholic, not '
merely because the Belgians, being slightly taxed,
were able to give more to the Church—arid not
merely because the country was thus detached from
Holland and the Protestaut Dutchmen—but because
they were better able to exert their spiritual and
temporal influence, to direct, according to their own
system, the education of the rising generation, and
thus to forward the progress of the Roman Catholic
religion in the world at large. Even when the Bel-
gians expressed at one time the desire of seeing their
country united to Austria, the Priests were not dis-
posed to interfere, because in that union there was
nothing opposed to their spiritual influence, or to_
the extension of the doctrines which they conscien-
tiously believed to be true. But when Belgium was
united to Holland, anti with a Protestant Prince of
the House of Orange to govern the two countries,
then the Priests were wholly dissatisfied, and have
remained so ever since. This dissatisfaction is
not unreasonable, and should excite no sur-
prise. I do not believe it has ever induced
one to conspire personally against the amiable
Monarch who rules, nor has this antipathy, as far
as I know anything about it, induced the Priests to
counsel those who have asked for advice to take one

step against the Princes of the House of Orange.
But, on the other hand, no one will tell me who

•
knaves Belgiuni, that the Priests are satisfied at he-
holding a Protestant Prince on the Throne, nor have

any attempts been made by the King or the Go-
vernment to remove such dissitisf4ction, and create
anotheifeeling. On the contrary, I must state so►ne
facts which have tended to increase the irritation

and quadruple the natural and conscientious objec-
tions of the Priests. For, in the first place, the
system of education adopted by the Catholic
Clergy has been subverted, without a better one
being supplied. Schools have been destroyed and
collages suppressed, without any attention having
been paid to the remonstrances of the religious in-
structors of the people. It is as intolerant to perse-
cute a Brahmin as a Catholic Priest, and, by the
same rule, as wicked toTforce a spltem of edocaticti
or religious instruction upon a people against. their
consent, though in the opinion of nine•tentlis of

numkinil the ilystem so foiced upon thei;Ts,y be