The Sun.
London, England, 1837-03-13 00:00:00

bishop of CANTERBURY promised " legally, with good
faith, and without fraud or reserve," to observe them; but
when it suited his purpose to violate this solemn engage-
ment, he did it under the pretext that the words virtu-
ally implied a salvo for the rights of their order, which
—being connected with the cause of GOD and his
Church—could never be relinquished by any engage-
ment. When the light of the Reformation dawned
on this country, and the Lollards began to expose the
abuses of the Established Church, the clergy took the
alarm for their possessions, and under the pretence of
preserving the true religion, they got a law passed, by
which heretics should be committed to the flames be-
fore all the people ; and under this pretence, within a
very short period, there were hanged or burnt in Eng-
land 277 men, women, and children—above 50,000
in the Netherlands, during the reign of CHARLES V.
—and nearly the same number in France. When, in the
reign of HENRY VI., the clergy were called upon to
contribute something to the public burdens, they rose
in a body against such a sacrilegious proposition, pre-
sented an address to the KING, and the Archbishop of
CANTERBURY at their head urged as their reason
against it, that while others went in person to the
wars, they who remained at home were employed,
night and day, in offering imp their prayers for the hap-
piness and prosperity of the State. Their vast
power, aided by the superstitions of the people,
prevailed. The KING reprimanded the Commons for
interfering with the affairs of the Church ; and, to
show that he was in earnest, ordered a Lollard to
be burnt before the dissolution of Parliament. And

in later times, when part of their vast wealth was
taken from them, the head of the Church insisted that
"it should be restored to the utmost farthing ; that
whatever belonged to GOD, could never by law be
converted to profane uses, and every person who de-
taMed such possessions was in a state of eternal damna-
tion." The same, or somewhat similar arguments,
are used to the present hour; and we believe there are
men, too, who, covering their rancorous persecuting
spirit under the garb of piety and a regard for reli-
gion, would carry the same principles into effect ; and
but for the spread of knowledge and general civiliza-
tion, JOSEPH HUME and DANIEL O'CONNELL
would long ago have expiated their offences in Smith-
field—nay, another victim might have been added to
those which the family of RUSSELL has already fur-
nished in the cause of religious and political freedom.
But these days are gone by—the people are no longer
to be deceived by such hypocritical pretences, and the
Government may rest assured that, though they may
be opposed by the Bishops and the Tories, by a few
of the ignorant, and by many interested in abuses, if
they only act with vigour, they will he backed by the
great body of the people, and in a very short period
Church-rates will be abolished in name, as they now
are in reality.

The appeal which has been made to the British
üblic in behalf of the destitute inhabitants of the

Highlands and Islands of Scotland, requires no aid of
ours to send it home to the hearts of the charitable and

the humane. Who that has any pretensions to bene-
volence can read the detail of wretchedness described
with such simple and touching pathos by the Rev.
Gentleman, who has come among us on this mis-
sion of charity, without stretching forth his hand to
relieve the distress of the unhappy sufferers ? Th 3
first impulse of every honest English heart is to suc-
cour the miserable. When the Englishman sees thou-
sands upon thousands of his fellow creatures and fellow
countrymen exposed to the horrors of famine and the
ravages of disease—to destitution in all its hideous
forms—he stops not to inquire how it has happened,
or why it was not prevented ; it is enough for him that
it exists, to call forth his sympathy and assist-
ance.

Human beings must not be left to perish
almost before his e%es, if his exertions can save them
—even if they have been accessary to their own ca-
lamity. But, i❑ truth, nothing like this can be al-
leged against the poor natives of the " far north."
They have neither consumed their substance in riotous

living, nor are they desirous to eat the bread of idle-
ness. It is by no fault of their own that they are re-
duced to the deplorable situation in which we now
find them. All die resources on which they have been
accustomed to depend for employment and subsistence
have suddenly failed them, by reason of those vicissi-
tudes of the elements, which human foresight and hu-
man power can neither prevent nor control. There
may be, and undoubtedly there are, some things in
the state of the landed tenures 'in the Highland and
insular districts of Scotland that require to be altered, so
that population may not outrun the means of subsistence,
but let those things be set to rights when the present
emergency is over. It is not the time to stand dis-
cussing points of political economy when our neigh-
bours are dying for want of food. It is like giving,
them a stone when they ask for bread. No ; the ge-
nerous man—the Christian philanthropist—will. open
his hand to his starving brother without asking leave
of that cold philosophy which measures man by his
productive powers, and that regards immortal beings as
so many pieces of machinery. He will look to
some nobler end, and be actuated by some higher
motive ; and when he dispenses, at the call of suffering
humanity, a portion of that abundance with which a
kind Providence has blessed him, will think himself
amply rewarded by the reflection, that " the blessing of
him that was ready to perish came upon him."

Mr. BUCKINGHAM, on Thursday, obtained leave to
bring in a Bill for the better regulation of the Mercan-
tile Marine of Great Britain. The subject is one of
great importance, as well as difficulty. No one
can contemplate the awful waste of human life
—to say nothing of the immense loss of pro-
perty—which our maritime records annually ex-
hibit, without feeling the necessity of some immediate
steps being taken by the Legislature to remove if pos-
sible the causes of those disasters which so frequently
occur at sea. When it appears, as it does, from the in-
vestigations of the Select Committee on Shipwrecks,
that a thousand lives, and property to the amount of
three millions, fall a yearly sacrifice to the imperfection
of our marine system, it is surely high time that that
system should undergo some revision, with a view to
amendment.

The various causes to which these frightful losses
are attributed by Mr. BUCKINGHAM, are the defec-
tive construction of ships, their want of strength,
deficient supply of cables, anchors, tackle, &c., and
also of provisions, the present mode of classifying
them at Lloyds', and the want of skill in the masters.
We have no doubt that much of the evil com-
plained of arises from the above mentioned causes ;
but when it is stated that Marine Insurances operate
in the same way—are, in fact, the primum mobile of
the mischief, we cannot but demur to such a conclu-
sion.

At least, we want more proof than we have yet
seen, to convince us that the Underwriters who insure

ships are not as sharp, as keenly alive to their own inte-
rest, and understand that interest fully as well as the
Owners do theirs. We cannot, " as at present adv;sed,"
believe that the former would risk their money on the
ships of the latter unless they had good grounds for so
doing ; and, least of all, can we persuade ourselves that
it is for the interest of the Underwriters that the ships
on which they so risk their money should be cast away.
On this point, therefore, we should deprecate any
legislative interference as a very serious evil—as cal-
culated, indeed, to increase the calamities which it is
the praiseworthy object of the Hon. Member for
Sheffield to diminish. Much caution, too, we ap-
prehend will be required in dealing with some
of the other points adverted to. The mould
of a ship seems a thing which an Act of Parlia-
ment cannot settle so well as a ship-builder ; nor
would it be tolerable, if it were possible, to have Go-
vernment officers in eaeli dock-yard to examine every
piece of timber used, and every bolt driven, to see if it
came up to a particular standard of quality. These things
are much betterleft to competition among ship-builders
themselves. The end which Mr. BUCKINGHAM has
in view may, we think, be attained by a better classifica-
tion of ships, a strict survey of their state and equipment
before proceeding
on a voyage, an examination by coin-
petent persons into the qualifications of those who are
to be entrusted with the command of them, and perhaps
an improved system of measurement.
We are extremely glad to find that the subject is to
undergo discussion in. Parliament, and sincerely hope