The Sun.
London, England, 1839-11-19 00:00:00

HAMBURG MAIL.

`WARSAW, Nov. 4.-111. Uwarrow, the Minister
for Public Instruction, arrived here a few days ago
from St. St. Petersburg, and has begun his examina-
tions of all the public establishments for education.
Much good was expected from the prudence and jus-
tice of such a man ; he is said to have already declared
pretty explicitly, that along with the Russian language
the Polish shall be retained in all the schools, respecting
the entire exclusion of which some fears began to
be entertained. The junction of the United Greek
Church with the Russian Greek Church, is a step that
will have very important and beneficial consequences for
Russia, and will be severely felt by Rome, which, with
a little prudence and compliance, might have averted
this blow. The junction has not yet taken place in
this kingdom.

LEIP9to, Nov. 11.—The Leipsig merchants are said
to have sent the following answer to their representatives,
respecting a reduction of the postage of letters :—" It
will be proper to wait for some years to see what will be
the result of the reform of the Post-Office in England
and France before proceeding to any such changes, the
possible consequences of which cannot be foreseen."—
Hamburg Papers.

SIR SIDNEY SMITH.—A Biographical Me-
moir of Sir Sidney Smith, from the pen of the author
of " Rattlin the Reefer," is on the eve of appearance.
The deeds of this distinguished Commander have won
for him a never-dying fame, the love of his countrymen,
and the admiration of foreigners. The hatred which
Buonaparte entertained for him may be easily accounted
for, since to Sir Sidney alone was owing the utter frus-
tration of Napoleon's projects in Syria. To the long
resistance of St. Jean d'Acre, under the command of Sir
Sidney Smith, it is well known that the Corsican General
attributed all the disasters which subsequently befel him
in the East.

The scarlet and typhus fevers still continue
their ravages among the children of Kendal ; large
numbers have been victims to these diseases within the
last three months.-IVestmorcland Gazette.

DEATH OF A CHARACTER.—Within these
few days, Edinburgh has lost one of its most remarkable
public characters. "Rhyming Wattie,"—he of the
coat of many colours—is no more. He met with an
accident in a joiner's shop, and was carried to the Infir-
mary, where he died. Wattie or Andrew Smith, which
we believe was his real name, was not the fool his ap-
pearance indicated. By his eccentricity, he managed
to keep alive a wife and family of three children. He
was educated in Heriot's Hospital ; and to those who
were intimate with his history, would throw off his ap-
parent " foolery," talk rationally, and show that he was
" more rogue than fool."—Edinburgh Courant.
BRISTOL SUGAR MARKET, NOV. 15,—A
few sugars have been sold in our market at extreme
prices ; but the show of samples is so very indifferent
that the buyers cannot supply themselves, and the bu-
siness is therefore very limited. The wretched state to
which Bristol is reduced, as a mart for West India pro-
duce, is shown by the mortifying fact that some of our
retail grocers have been supplying themselves from
London—a truth that speaks volumes ; and yet the
wholesale dealers are vainly exerting themselves and
wasting their energies to continue a country trade
under disadvantages almost insurmountable.—Mercury.
ALEXANDER PITCA IR N, EsQ.—A wicked,
malicious, and unfeeling hoax has just been successfully
played off upon a respectable newspaper in Perth. The
author of this trick, who has been detected by the
praiseworthy vigilance of the local authorities, pur-
ported, by forging or using the name of a gentleman
in Perth, to convey to the public the announcement of
the sudden death of Alexander Pitcairn, Esq., of her
Majesty's General Register House in this city.—
Edinburgh Courant,

We are glad to find that Rees Loughor, jun.,
who by his gallantry, saved the lives of the crew of the
Les Eufantes Cheris, wrecked near Munknash, in
January last, has been rewarded by a gold medal from
the King of the French, a bronze medal from the Com-
mittee of Lloyd's, a silver medal and five pounds from
the Royal National Institution ; and we trust that the
example of this young man will be followed by others
on the coast when opportunity offers, and that the re-
putation of the inhabitants of the coast of Glamorgan
may henceforward be very different from what it hi.
therto has been in respect to their treatment of ship-
wrecks.—Cambrian.

Bank of England notes are in circulation in
Leeds and other towns, in which, though the note is
genuine, the sum is fraudulently altered from Si. to 101.,
so as to double the apparent value of the note. The
word " Five," both in the left-hand lower corner and in
the centre of the note, is erased, and the word " Ten"
substituted in its place. A further alteration is in eras-
ing the words " Bank of England," just above the sig-
nature, which words are printed in Roman capitals on
the 5/. notes, and re-inserting them in slender italic let-
ters, more like the following :—" Bank of England," in
which signature they are printed in the 101. notes. The
alteration is pretty well executed, but it may be readily
detected on examination of the parts altered. A note
of this description was yesterday presented at the Bank
of England in this town.—Leeds Mercury.
BASE INGRATITUDE.—A deputation of the
students of the University have waited on us to com-
plain that yesterday, at the election of Rector, the
newly appointed Professors, viz. Drs. Cowan and Bu-
chanan, who owe their offices entirely to the Whigs,
did not appear to vote against the Cumberland rene-
gade, Sir James Graham. We wonder what these
newly fledged Professors will now say for themselves
about the consistency of their politics. Is this what
the Whigs rewarded them for—to betray them, or to
act supinely towards them at the very first commence-
ment of their professional career ? Or have the amiable
gentlemen, now that they have got into the berth after
the Tory howl raised against them, quietly turned upon
their heel against their own patrons? The Tories,
we guess, would not have so acted in similar circum
stances. But this piece of conduct will be noted. We
add, with very great pleasure, that when
Professor
Nichol appeared yesterday, and gave his vote in the
Common Hall against Graham, he was most enthusi-
astically cheered by the entire body of students, which
shows that they have the generosity to admire, and the
spirit to applaud, sterling independence.—Scotch &-
formers' Gazette.
THE INSURRECTION.—The Cambrian states
as a fact creditable to the national character, that the
Welch Chartists not only abstained from all violence on
their route, but that they paid for their refreshment at
every house at which they halted. The Merlin states
that Mr. Vincent,
t, the Chartist prisoner at Alonmouth,
was till Sunday in utter ignorance of the fatal events at
Newport, and was not even aware of Mr. Frost being
in the same prison, with him until he saw him on Sunday
morning, in the Chapel of the prison. Their change of
glances was a study worthy of Lavater.
The Rev. Mr. Gathercole, we are informed, has
been " suspended" by his Bishop. We trust, for the
credit of the Church, that the information is true.—
Gateshead Observer.

RIOTS AT NEWPORT.

NEWPORT, SATURDAY.
As the Court is adjourned till Monday, it may, per-
haps, be desirable to embrace the opportunity to say a
few words in reference to the occurrences of the past
week. It has been a subject of remark and regret
with the sober-minded in this vicinity, that an influen-
tial portion of the public press should have laboured
to bring the law and the authorities into contempt,
for mere party purposes. Thus one paper, on the
receipt of the first imperfect account of the outbreak,
laid the whole charge to the account of her Majesty's
Ministers, and said that they deserved a more severe
punishment than the actual leaders of the rioters. No
sooner had the evidence on the examination of Frost
appeared than the same paper, though Frost had not
said a word in defence, asked if the Minsters would dare
to hang Frost ? Another influential paper has a
long tirade on Lord John Russell, on account of his
havinginserted Frost's name in the commission of the
peace, and refusing to admit that of a gentleman who
is said in othe- respects to be well qualified. In the
same article, all the faults and crimes of which Mr.
Frost had ever been guilty are shown up in the strongest
light, without one extenuating circumstance being stated
throughout his career. Is this just Is it merciful?
Is it decent ? Whatever the faults of Frost may have
been, it is very certain that he had won the confidence
of a very large number of his fellow townsmen, who be-
lieved that he had effected great good, and that he had
the desire and ability to accomplish further benefits.
For twenty years he bad acted in politics as a consti-
tutional Reformer, and it was in that character he gained
the confidence of the burgesses of Newport. When
he forsook that course, and became imbued with
the insane doctrines of Chartism, he lost the respect
of the townspeople ; he was removed from the
commission of the peace ; and he has now taken a
step which, in all probability, will lead to anigno-
minious end. But is Lord John Russell, or are the
burgesses of Newport responsible for the. opinions which
Mr. Frost maintained. Frost did not embrace Chartism
till August, 1838. He was elected Councillor and
Mayor, and his name inserted in the Commission of the
Peace, in 1835-6, and so far from the so-called principles
of the Charter being any recommendation in the eyes
of my Lord John Russell, or of the burgesses of New- I
port, by the one his name has been struck out of the
Commission of the Peace, and with the other he has I
lost all influence where before he was all-powerful, purely
in consequence of his adoption of the mad schemes of I•
those universal confusionists. Any respectable person in !
Newport will tell you that Frost could, before he be-
came a Chartist, return whomsoever he pleased as a Town
Councillor, whilst at the last election three of Frost's ad-
herents were unceremoniously rejected. The attack,
therefore, on Lord John Russell and on municipal insti-
tutions
founded on the conduct of Mr. Frost falls to
the ground. I have heard the following version of
Frost's commencement of the riots ; there is a degree
of probability about both accounts, The first is, that
Frost was waited upon by a deputation of colliers and j
miners from the hills, who told him and stated that
they began to doubt his sincerity or courage, and as
they were determined to put it to the test, they would
insist on his joining them at once and making prepara-
tions for an immediate attack. Frost, it is said, agreed
to return with them, and left a message at his
house that if he did not return by a certain day,
they might know what would happen. Another story
is, and I have had this in some measure confirmed by the
testimony of a gentleman who has been into the iron
districts and made inquiries of the men—it is, that Frost
urged them on to the conflict by a series of misrepresen-
tations, the most serious of which was his reading to
them pretended letters from the soldiers stationed in
Newport, pledging themselves not to fire upon the Char-
tists in case they came down to take the town. The
men were so exasperated when they found they were
deceived, and that they were, as they expressed lt,
" only brought down to be fired at," that they say they
would have " torn Frost in ribbons" if they could have
seen him that night.

NEWPORT, Nov. 16.
Cardo, the emissary of the National Convention, was
this morning discharged, with directions to the officers
:o see him safely conveyed out of the town, not think-
ng the circumstances sufficient to warrant his deten-

tion. There are reports that Zephaniah Williams is
captured ; but I cannot trace them to any authentic
source. An old man, 92 years of age, has been brought
in to-day in custody from Blackwood, charged with
being concerned in the riots. He is known as Doctor
Israel. He is a man of extraordinary energy for his
age—an American by birth, and by profession a quack
doctor. There are now seven prisoners in custody.
Three of the leaders, for whom a reward of 100/. each
is offered, are not yet arrested. The military force here
has been somewhat reduced by the drafts for Cardiff,
Merthyr, Pont-y-pool, &c. It consists at present of one
troop of the 10th Hussars, a brigade of the Royal Horse
Artillery of 6 men with two pieces, and four companies
of the 45th Foot, viz., the grenadier company, the light
company, and the Ist and Bth companies, the latter being
under the command of the gallant Captain Stack.
The extensive circulation obtained for the seditious
and treasonable unstamped publications amongst the
ignorant and deluded Welshmen has had, there is no
doubt, a most pernicious tendency. Several parcels of
these infamous publications were seized by the police.
They were addressed to several beer-houses where the
Chartists are in the habit of holding their meetings.
They are filled with extracts from infidel publications.
texts, and articles on the right of armed resistance,"
numbers of pretended letters from soldiers, stating that
they are favourable to the cause of Chartism, and in the
event of a struggle they will be found on the side of the
people. They of late, too, abound in doggrel rhymes,
and in appeals to the " spirit of freedom," &c. The
following is a sample of this sort :
THE DAWN OF FREEDOM.
" Time vas," said the bard, " ere our troubles began,
" When in England each acre supported its man ;"
But since base oppression his empire begun
The one boasts his millions—the millions have none.
The brave sons of industry labour in vain,
The blood-sucking State all their purses soon drain;
And the wealth-mongering classes but use them as slaves,
Through a life spent in toil, till they rest in their graves.
But the hour draweth nigh when the people shall rise,
And their cries 'gainst th' oppressor shall mount to the skies,
In the might of their rights, in the strength of their cause,
To o'erthrow sin's dominions and banish its laws.
The full torch of freedom shall shortly burn bright,
And illumine the world with its glorious light ;
And the slaves of oppression now toiling in gloom,
Shall join in the death-song o'er tyranny's tomb.

Then rouse, my brave men, from mountain and vale ;
Let the shout of defiance be borne on the gale,
Till your tyrants shall call on the hills for to hide

Their base persons from those they now scorn and deride.
The virtuous and brave in that bright coming hour,
Will no longer want food or fear tyranny's power;
And the base sons of idleness revel no more

In the wealth they have pilfered from millions before.
I extract the following account of terror which the
Chartist risings occasioned in the neighbourhood of
Ebbw Vale from a provincial paper :
" During the whole of the past week it was generally
known in the hills' that the Chartists would rise on
Sunday evening, and it was understood that their ob-
ject would be to release Vincent and his companions
from Monmouth gaol. Of this but little heed was taken.
The evening came, and at dusk miners and colliers were
increasingly busy, passing in knots of six or ten. By
design they assembled in a field belonging to the Pen-y-
-coe Works. But by seven o'clock, the appointed hour of
rendezvous, their numbers fell far short of what they ex-
pected. Fire-arms were then discharged, singly, fol-
lowed by loud hallooing, to announce to their comrades the
hour of appointment had arrived, with a view to increase
their numbers. The lukewarm and the curious re-
ceived a salutary check by the fall of heavy rain that
continued throughout the night, which was also very
dark. Towards midnight their number& were increased
by the addition of the men from Tredegar, Sirhowy,
&e. To these strangers was committed the task of I
searching every house, as well for deserters as for those
who were orderly and peaceably inclined, and had re-
jected the overtures made to join their ranks. Many of
these had gone to bed, from which they were literally
dragged by strangers,' and compelled to accompany
them. It was not until they had ransacked every
house to discover a man or a boy that they agreed
to move on.' Finding how serious the aspect
was, and that their only object, thus far, was to get
men, without offering violence to the women, I at-
tended to the advice of others, and disguised in the
garb of a miner, with a blackened face, wended my way
among the moving throng towards the mountain. As
I approached a small farmhouse I looked about for shel-
ter, but feared to venture on account of the dogs which
I knew to be more or less numerous in such places. I
knocked at the door gently, and was responded to by a
checked growl from a dog within. I could hear no one
stir. I raised the latch and the door opened, for the
farmer thought that, if the Chartists came, the door or
even the lone house would present but a sorry barrierd
from
to their numbers, and, by seeming acquiescence
neutrality, he might save his property
destruc-
tion. On entering, never shall I forget the hicrhl
in-
teresting sight that presented itself.
Around they fire,
as a centre, sat about a dozen refugees like myself.
it ; and, when they discovered
Every eye was turned towards
mt hye
udnoecierh
tahs
glaorhp cantle dd
blackened
face, they y
had a
overtakent once
timaginedhem andha that tlh
we
a s revengehu t t
the
the unlawful mo
forerunner of a determined band. I, too, was astonished
at seeing
them, provided as they were, in the hurry of
escape,
the best protection they could obtain against
with
the inclemency of the weather ; their horror-stricken
visages (most of them had about their persons all the
money they had secured by a long train of persevering
industry) were lighted up by the fire only, the partial
glare of which threw the whole scene into a Rembrandt-
like picture of bold light and shade—it was a study
from nature.' However, I soon broke the silence which
prevailed by calling on one of them by name. The tran-
sition was great. We remaned in abeyance all night,
and returned to our houses in the morning, after assur-
ing ourselves that the bulk of the mob had departed. I

EVENING EDITION.

could see them going along the tram-road towards is 4«
port, not en masse, but in straggling groups, armed, some
with pikes, others with firearms of all descriptions, &c.
They appeared to be under no control, and acting only
by impulse, each for himself. Late in the afternoon the
tide turned, and the poor deluded fellows were seen re-.
turning sell well. That they had been fired at was
deemed a sufficient excuse by them."
_____

MONEY MARKET and CITY NEWS

(MONDAY EVENING,)
CHRONICLE.—Money- was to be had on much
easier terms to•day on the Stock Exchange. The busi-
ness transacted in the English funds to-day was limited ;
but still the Market was firm, and prices have com-
pletely recovered from the depression of Saturday.
In the Foreign House the intelligence in the Morn-
ing Chronicle to-day on the state of parties in Madrid,
and the probability that Espartero would soon withdraw
his troops into winter quarters, produced a strong
rife-•t on Spanish funds, which at one period of the day
showed a decline of 13. per cent, since Saturday. A
very extensive sale was made in these Stocks in the
course of the day, for which various reasons have been
assigned : hut •we believe the real cause was that
i
money had been lent on the Stock n question, and I
that the sale was made to cover the advance. To•
wards the close of business the Market had partially
recovered.

The Share Market was steady. Birmingham (old),
50 to 52 prem. ; ditto (new), 16 to 17 prem. ; South
Western, 08 to 39 per share ; Great Western, Si to 74
dis. ; Manchester and Leeds, 6 to 8 prem. ; Manches-
ter and Birmingham, 10 to 8 dis. ; Birmingham and
Derby, 20 to 18 dis.; Gosport Junction dis. to par ;
Brighton 14,1 to 14 dis.; Blackwell, 3to 21 dis. ;
London and Greenwich, 12 to -LI per share.
The Times, in its city article of this day, attacks the
balance sheet of the afflirs of the Bank of the United
States, which,we published as we received it from Mr.
Jaudon. Its own remarks, however, really prove the
accuracy of the statement in question. It gives two
tables—one being a copy of the detailed return, winch
we understand was furnished by Mr. Jaudon himself to
the brokers, for the express purpose of being printed
for the shareholders and circulated ; and the other, viz.,
the one which we published, being a condensation of the
same return, by merely taking the balances of items
which appear on both sides, and throwing others to-
gether. This will at once strike every one who com-
pares the two tables ; and it will be evident, too, that
the object and result of thus reducing the mass of
figures must serve to render the statement more intel-
ligible. The condensation of the items was repeatedly
spoken of at the time as having, in fact, contributed to
the better understanding of the statement, and the only
regret generally expressed was, that the whole had not
been reduced to two items on each side, as is done by
the Bank of England. It will thus be seen that the
charge of attempting to mislead recoils on the writer in
the Times, whose knowledge of accounts soems from
this specimen to be small indeed.
We have heard it remarked that some of the English
shareholders in the Bank of the United States may be
alarmed at the attempts that are made to show that its
charter is forfeited by the suspension of cash payments.
We think, however, the shareholders must know that
the charter remains the same now as it was during the
former suspension.

According to the clause in the charter applicable to
the case the Bank is allowed ninety days to resume
cash payment after any of its notes or bills have been
presented and not paid in either gold or silver. On the
expiration of said period of ninety days, the holder or
holders of such notes or bills may proceed before a
Magistrate, and offer proof of the fact, which the
Magistrate is bound to take in writing, having first
give -1 ten days' notice to the cashier or president of the
Bank.

This beitig done, the proof is forwarded to the Go-
vernor of the State, who thereupon declares the charter
forfeited. The clause is ambiguously expressed, but
this appears to be the meaning of it, and we do not
think that the shareholders need feel much alarmed on
the subject, because by paying in specie within ninety
days the proceedings are quashed ; and, besides, it is
not likely that any very large holder of them would be
inclined to adopt such a course ; but if such were the
case, such an establishment as the Bank of the United
States can always command specie sufficient to take up
any of their notes or bills which may be presented for
the purpose of vitiating their charter.

POST.—An amusing story connected with the re-
turn of sovereigns from Paris to the Bank of England
has, during the last few days, been current in the City.
The version that we have heard of the affair is, that the
juvenile members of an old and wealthy capitalist esta-
blishment, being under the erroneous impression, shared
by so many others, that the Bank would, as a conse-
quence of the continued importation of grain, be com-
pelled to have recourse to extraordinary measures,
in order to avoid a suspension of specie payments,
shipped some time ago a million sterling in gold coin to
the Continent, in the hope of a liberal offer for its resti-
tution. With their cellars already so much exhausted,
the Bank Directors were no doubt but ill prepared for
this wholesale withdrawal of treasure, and the steps
taken to arrest the drain were of too direct and decisive
a character not to have operated with much severity
on the commercial interest, but still matters did not
become so hopeless as to induce them to encourage a
repetition of the manoeuvre by making the looked..
for overtures to the exporting party. The million of
gold was suffered to lie idle in the French capital, and
day after day passed over without any intimation being
made to its owners of things being in so desperate a
state as to ensure them a handsome commission on its
replacement in the bullion-office. To retain the million
sterling at a sacrifice of a thousand pounds a week in
interest was more than could be long endured. An al-
lowance of at least five per cent. or fifty thousand
pounds was, it is understood, at one time calculated upon
for its surrender. The altered circumstances of the
Bank showed, however, that the speculation could not
but have an unsuccessful termination. The Directors
have been receiving a good deal of specie from dif-
ferent quarters ; and the grain importations being
nearly or quite suspended, and more than covered by
the exportation of manufactured and other goods,
the issue of the crisis, though it may have been a
severe one, is now beyond all doubt or apprehension, as,
in fact, it has been for some weeks past. The million
sterling of sovereigns, out of which so fine a thing was
intended to have been made, is accordingly fieding its
way back again. 'We may suppose it has been about
three months absent. The interest of such a sum for so
long a period, with the addition of charges for shipping
and insurance, cannot be short of twelve thousand pounds;
and the most curious part of the matter is, that almost
the whole of this considerable amount is so much gain
to the proprietors of Bank Stock. We trust that these
deep-laid money-making schemes, which are attended
with such extensive mischief to the community, may al-
ways end with as little advantage to their projectors as
this of the million of sovereigns appears to have done.
The transactions in the foreign house were more
considerable than they have been for some time past.
Sales of Spanish Stock were made to the extent of
front two to three hundred thousand pounds, and they
seem to have been ordered by parties who purchased a
short time since on the recommendation of certain
west-end advisers. We do not say with others that
these purchases were made under the influence of any
leading Spanish authority, but that the gentlemen con-
nected with our fashionable clubs have lost money to
the amount of some thousands by their ill-considered
speculations in the bonds is not to be questioned. A.
result like this proves but too plainly how dealings in
the Peninsular bubbles are conducted in the absence of
any legitimate cause for renewed transactions. The
jobbers seem to have been alive to what was going on,
and to have regulated their movements, so as to have
taken the fullest advantage—in its final consequences—
of a series of operations which have been fur sime time
in progress.

TIMES.—A private letter from Lisbon discourages
the prevalent reports that the existing differences be-
tween Great Britain and Portugal on the subject of the
slave trade arc likely to be soon settled, and adds that
a recent note of Lord HoWard de Walden to the
Minister for Foreign Affairs at Lisbon, a copy of which
was forwarded to Downing-street on the 4th inst., is
couched in sarcastic, and even in threatening language,
indicating anything but a conciliatory disposition en the
part of his principals.
Annexed is an extract of a letter from Madrid, which
disctuses some important arrangements meditated there
relfti\,iii-eAtDontirhp, the toNboay. B.—The negotiationsccoeontracts:—
been for some time privately going on w the whichs hadh
Government for farming the tobacco revenues Spanish
by a
private company of capitalists have been resumed, and
begin
trac
whicht, to
ihsaas2t
jecsomeont
,omo
attention.
aodedtooil
ai‘risi, The
nisters co
for
atnednitioenaarsl, offercon_
Government for the first twoliey%re osf,
431,10060a,01-3'ogeos
dtoolitahres
during the next two years, 4.500,000 dollars for the-.
next three years, and 5,000,000 dollars for the remain-
ing three years, the parties engaging to continue in
their service all persons who are now in the employ of
the Government. The parties also claim the preroga-
tive of causing all smugglers to be tried and summarily
punished by a special tribunal. Ministers and the
would-be contractors are at issue as to the amount to
be paid by the latter, because upon referring to the
the
presentllst
e
documents of the Financial Department they have found
ar
os, statement
tbe t
contractor,inister
Marquis of Casa Riera, wanted to secure the business,
showing, that although the then annual consumption of
.op Baa
Spain did not exceed 3,800,00016. of manufactured
tobacco, after deducting all charges, little doubt existed
that the actual consumption, of course including the
smuggled tobacco, was 10,000,0001 b. per annum. It
is contended by the Ministers that the management of
this branch ofthe revenue by a private Company would
have the effect of almost instantaneously doing away
with the contraband trade, because the Company's
officers being we'l paid and keenly looked after, would
be active and honest, and not connive or compound with

:4,

FROM THE MORNING PAPERS OF THIS DAY.
(From the Morning Chronicle.)
The Bishop of Exeter's charge, as revised and pub-
lii shed by himself, contains many passages, especially on
the subject of national education, which had not ap-
peared in the previous reports. One of these is re-
markable, as showing, it may be presumed, the extreme
point to which the High Church party is disposed to
advance for the purpose of facilitating the settlement of
this momentous question. The passage to which we
refer is as follows :
" For instance, to meet the most obvious case, let no
child be compelled either to attend Divine Service in the
Church if his parents object to it on an alleged scruple of
conscience, or to learn the Catechism, or anything else
to which the parent may object on a similar ground
in any school maintained wholly or partially by the State."
(page 38.)
This statement, taken by itself, affords no answer to
' the inquiry on which its worth, as a concession, is alto-
gether contingent. It does not tell us by whom the
schools, subject to this arrangement, are to be con-
trolled, directed, and superintended We will take the
most favourable supposition for the public. Let
the ruling agency be that, not of the Church,
but of the Government which furnishes, in whole
or in part, the pecuniary support. What, then,
is the position in which the children of Dis-
senters and Roman Catholics are placed by the
Bishop's suggestion ? The schools are supported by pub.
I lie funds ; not by a national reserve, like the tithe, but
by taxation levied equally, according to their means, on
all classes of religionists. They arc as much the pro-
perty of one class as of another. All classes have in
them their proportionate rights. The proposed inequa-
lity of privilege is therefore an obvious violation of the
simplest principles of justice. It provides for the chil-
dren of the wealthiest Church religious instruction at
the expense of the poorest Churches. To such rob-
bery, for his religion's sake, the Bishop of Exeter ex-
pects submission, and on it he professes to crave the
blessing of heaven. If injustice be thus perpetrated on
the parents how stands the case as to the children ?
A zealous philanthropy may gratuitously provide reli-
gious teaching for them out of school. The unavoidable
expense of this process is a further tax upon the poorer
classes of religionists. Or the onerous duty may be
neglected, and the children left solely to the education
received in the school that is to say, they are either edu-
cated without religion at all, or the only rel Lion which
they are taught is constantly exhibited to them in a degrad-
ing point of view. Isolated from the majority, banished
, from the walls of the school-room, a thing almost of
stealth, and evidently of bumble charity, there is every
presumption that it will lay little hold upon their
minds : the glaring disparity by which it is degraded
i will render it inefficacious. And this is the effect the
Bishop would produce on all children unconnected
with the Church. He would abase and destroy their
religious training for the worldly purpose of exalting the
comparative position of his own Church, and upholding
the trappings of its temporal supremacy over all other
sects and Churches. Maintaining religious instruction
with in
to be primarily essential, he would (for the children
question) keep it outside the school door, a slave
or felon badge upon its back. Truly this is worship;
ping the earthly superiority of the e Established Church
by a costly sacrifice of childrens' souls. We will take
the other supposition as to the direction and manage-
ment of the schools, and imagine them under the con-
trol of the clergy. This is evidently what the Bishop
intends, He broadly claims for " the religion
the Church of England to be the foundation of
of the system of National Education in Eng-
land." Now if so, what else must the entire
school be but ajuvente Church of England ? Its course
of general instruction, its authorities, discipline, ser-
vices, religious teaching, direct and indirect—all will be
deeply imbued with the spirit of Episcopalianism. Ac-
cording to the Bishop's own notions of education, even
the west material sciences will be taught theologically.
How is it possible for parents, in such a case, to mark a