The Sun.
London, England, 1839-06-10 00:00:00

EVENING EDITION.

THE CHUR

DUCATION. I GRAND BANQUET AT THE
MANSION HOUSE.

(FROM A CORRESPONDENT.)
Earnest hut peaceable—and because peaceable
therefore the more earnest—friends of religion, we
have ever lamented, as a national misfortune, the
hardened worldliness and vulgar hectiiring spirit
which have injured to so great an extent the cha-
racter of the ministers of our Established Church.
We are too reasonable to insist on extraordinary
acts of disinterestedness from a class of persons
who—though required, indeed, to advance the
cause of virtue by example, as well as by precept—
are yet, we do not forget, mortal men, " passioned
as we." We are not so romantic as to expect, nor
so harsh as to demand, from that class of persons a
rigid practical exemplification of the moral virtues
they enforce on others. Whether there would not
he a certain fitness and propriety in such a con-
formity of profession and behaviour—whether it
would not be a circumstance rather beneficial to
the interests of religion, that the preachers of charity
were charitable, the advocates of peace peaceable,
and the panegyriits of moderation and content
free from the imputation, at least, of inordinate
selfishness and insatiable cupidity, we will
not say ; but of this we are certain, that the course
which Churchmen are now pursuing in regard to the
tartly, but welcome, proposal for popular education
--the envy, hate, and all uncharitableness which
they are not ashamed to manifest in the spirit of
their opposition to it, are, if not discreditable, at
least deeply injurious to them. That the murky
mists of self interests (and no real self interest, but
only a false, mistaken conception of it) should de-
scend on a whole brotherhood, visiting them with
the plague of a blundering blindness, so obfuscating
their five senses, that " knowledge"---knowledge of
themselves, their true predicament, and the figure
they present to an observant world—should be, not
"at one," but at every " entrance, quite shut out,"
this so deep, caliginous visitation, positively
leaving them neither eyes to see, nor ears to hear,
nor heart to understand what is going on, but
causing them, in quaking at everything, to compre-
hend nothing—this, we say, would be almost iacre-
dible, did we not unfortunately perceive it to be true.
Now for any particle of the pure philanthrophy,
the kindness without exception, the benevolent car
•f the people's good, which made the primitive
Church of CHRIST the blessed landmark of regene-
rate human nature--for any show of spiritual purity
—for any wisdom or morality, in short, above the
common level, we have already said that we had
not looked ; but unquestionably, having regard
only to the vulgarest aspect of their affairs, placing,
them on a mere commercial footing, we did enter-
tain an opinion of the sagacity of the Clergy of
this country far too high to permit us to foresee
the course they appear to have adopted. That
course is one which has neither virtue, wisdom,
prudence, common sense, nor common interest to
recommend it, and would seem to bespeak only
that preliminary dementation which the proverb
annexes to the idea of divine wrath. There is not
a body of men in the kingdom—not a fishmonger's
• company--not a society of publicans—that would
not have behaved with more of magnanimity,
as well as discretion in any case affect-
ing their common interests, than the Clergy
of the Established Church have done ; who,
considering themselves—by right of what Iran-
scendant charter of monopoly, they vouchsafe not yet
to inform us—possessed of an inherent, indefeasible
title to all and sundry the souls and consciences of ,
the British people, denounce the terrors of excom-
munication against her Majesty's Ministers, and
their supporters, for daring to suggest a scheme of
education which does not constitute them, in pursu-
ance of the said imprescriptible right, sole patentees
of a people's hopes of salvation. Oh, toleraqt and
reasonable men, and who thus practically approve
your high claims as instructors of the people, and
substantiate that title to their confidence and affec-
tion, which one day you say that you possess, an-
other day, that you must unite to recover!—.43 it
by thus unblushingly laying bare the cloven hoof
of Mammon, without a rag to cover its startling
unholiness, that you hope to make good the
" presumption, nay certainty," that your schools,
" though under the legal superintendence of the
Establishment," would be "attended without scruple
by Dissenters ?"
Often as we have felt the danger of disaffection,
and even revolt, to which the Church lay exposed
by the intemperate and fatuous conduct of her mi-
nistry, we never seem to have beheld that danger as
one of positive imminence and immediacy till now.
In the 'first place, we have a DEMAND FOR UNI-
VERSAL POPULAR EDUCATION, made by the
people—a demand in its very nature irresistible.
Yes„believe us, Tories, tremblers at free knowledge!
Believe us, obstructors of heaven's light ! Miser-
able wooden window-shutters, believe us! A people
which is seiciently educated to ask for education,
is a people sufficiently powerful to take education,
whether ye will give it them or no ; and your poli-
tics ought to tell you, if your passions forget, that
what one can no longer withhold with impunity, one
had best get credit for ceding with grace.
In the second place, we have the RIGHTS OF
CONSCIENCE. These, as you ought to know (if
the spirit of the first Dissenter be not yet dead in
your hearts), concern the most irrepressible of known
moral principles; and CANUTE'S chair by the sea-
shore was a throne of practical wisdom compared
with the fixed seat of inexorable bigotry from whence
you would thunder your impossible commands for
' a religious uniformity.
• Here, then, are two moral powers in operation,
both of proved irresistible might; first, the DEMAND
FOR EDUCATION, made by a people wise enough
to want it ; second, the RIGHTS OF CONSCIENCE,
claimed by the same arguments which gave that
now dominant Church that disallows them its own
sole, original title to an independent existence. And
to these, the not new-waked, but vigorous, well-
- meridian powers of the national mind, the
Church, so far from conceding one iota of her ex-
clusive and already practically useless pretensions,
rather takes the occasion to put forward her least
tenable claims, as if seeking gratuitous mate-
rials of provocation and dissension, with an
inveteracy and a blindness to consequences, diffi
cult to account for on any principles of sane con
duct.

Does not the Church perceive that her passion-
ate resistance to a scheme of education, in which
the largest and most emphatic feature is its provi-
sion for the religious wants of the community--a
scheme in which orthodoxy is subserved to the ut-
termost extent compatible 'with religious liberty—
does she not perceive that her opposition to such a
measure as this can only lead to one conclusion in
the minds of men, namely, that she has found,
or thinks she has found, a bar to some cherished
perquisite--some fraction of the enormous indirect
tithes that find their unseen way into her coffers,
and the consequence—indicative of the strength of
her attachment to the people—is, that against their
mighty universal hopes she places her one small
fear ? Fear, observe, not danger ascertained—.
even to that fraction of her resources—but fear,
mean•spirited, cowardly, and above all, baseless
fear. And such a feather in the scale is the whole
m_ oral
at happiness and contentment of the people of
G e Britain, when balanced against one grain of
the fears of an over-gorged ecclesiastical oligarchy,
thve at then e former ,c must—shall—you see it does,"
y,
miser shall
popular darkness, with popular
y, allprevail to to the crack of doom, that
the equanimity of a merciless, but, unfortunately,
also nervous and timid tyrant, may suffer no second
shock I
Iva, well, " let us keep our temper," as the
may the people of
serivice—CM,s7,--Fd loses it. And
GeartUrifpply keep theirs.

On Friday a grand entertainment was given by the
Lord Mayor and the Lady Mayoress at the Mansion
House. The Egyptian Hall was laid out in the style
usually adopted on Easter Monday, and was decorated
with flags and trophies. The whole of the superb
service of city plate covered the table behind the chair,
which at the Guildhall banquet to the Queen formed
part of the throne. There were about 100 guests at
this entertainment, and the decorations of the Hall were
seen to much more advantage than on the festival to
which we have alluded, and on which four hundred
persous are usually crowded together. It was a most
select party, upon the plan of those exceed-
ingly numerous parties which have graced and
elevated the civic hospitality of the present
Mayoralty, by assembling together persons of rank,
and fortune, and birth, who never met at the table of a
citizen before. The present dinner was designated an
entertainment for the Foreign Ambassadors principally,
and for other foreigners of distinction, a great many of
whom were present ; and the Grand Duke, if he could
have prolonged his stay in England, was to have ho-
noured the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress on the oc-
casion. It may be proper here to mention that at an
early period of the visit of the Grand Duke the Lord
Mayor sent an invitation to his Royal Highness, re-
questing that the Il►ustrious Prince would appoint
a day for visiting the city, but it appeared
that his Royal Highness's engagements were already
completed. Amongst the distinguished guests we ob-
served the Right Hon. the Earl of Dunmore, Lord
Dunboyne, Lord Worsley, their Excellencies the Baron
Moncoaro, the Portuguse Minister, the Baron de Cetto,
the Bavarian Minister, the Count Mandelshon, the
Wurtemburg Minister, the Baron Munshausen, the
Hanoverian Minister, the Baron de Bartoul, the Cheva-
lier de Rebello de Carvalho, the Hon. Edward and Mrs.
Buttar, Sir Jehn, Lady, and Miss Hall, Captain
and Mrs. Alsager, Mr. and Mrs. Fararr, Mr.
and Mrs. Josiah Wilson, Major-General Wright,
Major Marshall, Admiral Cator, many Dignitaries
of the Church, &c. &c. The baml played popu-
lar airs in the saloon as the company arrived, and in the
music gallery during and after dinner. 'Upon the re-
moval of the cloth the usual loyal toasts were proposed
to the sound of the trumpet. The moment the Queen's
health was proposed, the gas, which was scarcely visible
before, illuminated the Hall with astonishing brilliancy,
and added to the applause with which the toast was re-
ceived.
The LORD MAYOR, in proposing the health of his
Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge, made a grati-
fying and eloquent allusion to the benefits conferred
upon the various charities of the city of London, by the
unbounded and energetic patronage of the illustrious
Duke.

General WRIGHT, in returning thanks for the Army,
expressed the pleasure he felt at the high honour con-
ferred upon him by the invitation from the Chief Ma-
gistrate of the first city in the world. After a period
of' upwards of forty years spent in the service of his
' Sovereign, it was gratifying to him to return to the
bosom of society, and to be so kindly and hospitably
received, in the midst of so much beauty and grace as
he was as that moment surrounded by, in the persons of
his lovely countrywomen.—(Loud cheers.) That was
a delightful and important part of the reward of a
soldier, when his " stern alarms were changed to merry
meetings," and the blessings of peace were dispensed
by those, without whose smiles peace would be of no
value.—( Cheers.)
Admiral CATOR returned thanks for the Navy. The
Lord Mayor had, he said, done the service no more
than justice by the observations with which his Lord-
ship had introduced the toast. There were many pre-
sent who were toe young to have any recollection of a
time of war, who had hitherto only enjoyed the advan-
tages of peace. He, with several others who heard him,
could remember the period when the British Navy had
been called upon to protect the rights and privileges of
the British merchant by sea, and the peace and com-
merce of the country.—(Cheers.) War brought with it
many evils, and amongst them he was free to acknow-
ledge, that of pressing men into the service against
their will. Ile admitted that that was no slight aggra-
vation of the business of war, but what would the
British Navy be without men ?—(Cheers.) It was a
choice of evils, hut the alternative was one of para-
mount emergency, and if ever the time should arrive
when the services of the Navy should be required for
the protection of the country, there would be no lack
either of officers or Jack Tars to fight her battles.—
(Cheers.)
The Baron DE CETTO (the Bavarian Minister), in
returning thanks for the Foreign Ministers, stated that
he had been a resident nearly twenty years in England,
and had had frequent opportunities of witnessing such
banquets as the present, the like of which could not
be seen in any other part of the world.--(Cheers.)
The Ministers of Foreign Powers felt much indebted to
his Lordship for the distinguished reception he had
given them, and begged to take the opportunity of
drinking the Lady Mayoress's health,
The toast was greatly cheered and was acknowledged
by the Lord Mayor in suitable expressions of gratitude.
Lord DUNMORE returned thanks for " the House
of Lords," a toast which was received with shouts o
applause. He knew well that no circumstances wouh
prevent their Lordships from excercising the independent
and honourable authority with which they were invested,
and the existence of which was so indispensible to the pre-
servation of the Constitution of England.—(Cheers.) He
felt honoured in a manner beyond his capability of ex-
pressing by the association of his name with the senti-
ment of respect uttered by the Lord Mayor, in pro-
posing the toast, and would take the liberty without
asking permission, which he knew would be willingly
granted, to give, as the representative of the House of
Lords, " His Grace the Duke of Wellinf,,,ton."—
(Sliouts of applause.)
The LORD MAYOR then proposed " the House of
Commons." He stated that his fellow-citizens had
reason to be grateful to the. Hon. Members of that
House for many important services rendered to them,
as a corporation, in defence of their rights and privi-
leges, as well as for the improvements which had been
accomplished through their instrumentality. There were
at that moment at the table several intelligent and use-
fnl Members of the House of Commons, the benefit of
whose services the City would, he trusted, continue
to enjoy ; and he trusted, too, that the great City in
which they were then assembled would continue to de-
serve the countenance, assistance, and approbation of
of the House of Commons.—(Cheers.) His Lordship
proposed the toast, connecting with it the name of Lord
Worsley.
Lord WORSLEY expressed his regret that the duty of
returning thanks fur the House of Commons, did not
fad into abler hands, that justice might be done
to the toast. He saw many around him who
were much older members, and better qualified
than himself for the performance of the task, but
he assured the Lord Mayor that no one could feel more
deeply gratified for the honour than he felt. He re-
turned thanks to the Lord Mayor for the invitation to
the very splendid entertainment which they were all so
heartily enjoying, and for the opportunity afforded to
him of uniting his thanks with those of the great body
of the people in the firm, manly, independent, straight-
forward, and disinterested conduct of the Chief Magis-
trate, in the performance of the duties of that high
office.—( Loud cheers.) The services rendered by the
company's honourable and spirited host he could not
stop to enumerate. They were general, and the
approbation excited by the resolute and able
performance of them extended to all parts of
the country. There were, however, a few who mur-
mured against the Lord Mayor, but to the:com-
plaints more strongly pointed out, and distinguished the
good that had been carried into accomplishment. That
the Lord Mayor should have raised some feeling of
animosity, amongst a few solitary individuals (and the
dissatisfied were very few) was not at all to be wondered
at, but wherever he (Lord Worsley) went, into what-
ever company, public or private, he happened to be in-
troduced, he beard but one feeling expressed of the
character and energies of the Chief Magistrate of the
City of London—unmingled approbation.—(Cheers.)
The Noble Lord concluded by proposing the health of
the Lord Mayor.
The LORD MAYOR in acknowledging the honour
done him said, that it :was a high gratification to him,
as he was convinced it must be to any public man, to
receive such marks of approbation from his fellow-
eountrymen as he n as daily receiving. It satisfied him, that
he was pursuing a right and advantageous public course
and that his humble and unwearied exertions for the
public good was more than duly appreciated.—( Cheers.)
That applause was the most exalted reward he wished
for, and was a great encouragement to him to perse-
vere. He was quite aware that he came in for a pretty
large share of abuse amongst certain persons ; but when
he looked at the quarter in which the ill feeling was
generated, his ardour, instead of being damped, was
raised to a higher degree of enthusiasm, particularly as
the more indigent classes of the community were those
who were most likely to be essentially served by his
efforts.--(Loud cheers.)
Sheriff JOHN3ON returned thanks for the Magis-
trates and Sheriffs of London.
Captain ALSAGER returned thanks for the Magis-
trates of Surrey, and several other counties.
Lord DUNMORE proposed " the Church," which he
said required at the present moment to be particularly
noticed.
The Rev. Doctor DAVIES returned thanks.
Sir JAMES DUKE returned thanks for the honour
done to the Corporation by the manner in which the
Lord Mayor had called the attention of the Meeting to
the claims of that body. Although he had since he
joined the Corporation
station, he should perform his duties as one of them
with as much zeal as ever. He should always feel proud
to serve the City of London, either as a Member of its
Council, or in any other capacity in which his exertions
might be required. _

The Company did not leave the dinner table till after
eleven o'clock, when they retired to the drawing-
room, and spent another hour most delightfully.

The party was a full-dress one. There were a great
many beautiful and splendidly dressed v. omen at the en-
tertainment, and a more magnificent and festive scene,
could not have been exhibited.

MAGISTRATES OF THE CITY OF

LONDON.

WHITEHALL, JUNE .—The Queen has been pleased
to issue a new Commission of Lieutenancy for the city
of London, constituting and appointing the several
persons undermentioned to be her Majesty's Commis-
sioners for that purpose, viz. :—Her right trusty and
well-beloved Samuel Wilson, Esq., Lord Mayor of the
city of London, and the Lord Mayor of the said city for
the time being ; her trusty and well-beloved Sir Clau-
dius Stephen Hunter, Bart. ; George Scholey and
Samuel Birch, Esqrs. ; Sir Mathew Wood, Bart, ; Sir
William Heygate, Bart. ; William Venables, Anthony
Brown, Matthias Prime Lucas, and William Thompson,
Esqrs. ; Sir John Key, Bart. ; Sir Peter Laurie, Knt. ;
Charles Farebrother, William Taylor Copeland, and
Thomas Kelly, Esqrs. ; Sir John Cowan, Bart., Al-
dermen of the city of London ; Charles Evan Law,
Esq., Recorder of the city of London, and the Re-
corder of the said city fur the time being ; Sir Chap-
man Marshall, Knight, James Harmer, Thomas
Johnson, John Pirie, Thomas Wood, John Lainson,
James White, John Humphery, William Magnay, and
Michael Gibbs, Esqrs., Aldermen of the city of Lon-
don, and the Aldermen of the said city for the time
being ; Sir James Shaw, Bart., Chamberlain of the
city of London, and the Chamberlain of the said city
har the time being ; Henry Woodthorpe, Esq., Town-
clerk of the city of London, and the Town-clerk of the
said city for the time being ; John Mirehouse, Esq.,
Common Serjeant of the city of London, and the Com-
mon Serjeant of the said city for the time being ; Thomas
Price, Joseph Daw, 'Thomas Whitby, Rich. Brook, John
Blackett, Joseph Carter, William Sandell Angell, John
Lorkin, Thomas Corney, David Allen, William Curl-
ing, John Downes, James Frisby, William
.Green,
Richard Hicks, William Thomas Heath, John Kinners-
ley Hooper, Walter Anderson Peacock, WilliamPr-
nell Tyars, Robert Westwood, Thomas Quested Finn's,
John Obadiah Jaques, James Ramshaw, William Ste-
vens, John Atkinson, James Southby Bridge, John
Brown, Edward Godson, Thomas Pewtress, and Wil-
ham Richardson, Esqrs., Deputies of the city of Lon,
don, and the Deputies thereof for the time being ; John
Garratt, Edward Tickner, Robert William, and George
Hibbert, Esqrs., Sir Robert Baker, Knt., James
Brogden, and Stephen Edward Thornton, Esqrs., Sir
Thos. Neave, Bart., Jeremiah Olive, Jeremiah Har-
man, Isaac Solly, Andrew Loughnan, Abel Chapman,
Andrew Henry Thompson, Cornelius Buller, William
Ward, and Melvil Wilson, Esqrs., Sir John Rae Reid,
Bart., John Henry Polley, Robert Barclay, John
Bowden, Henry Davidson, Abel Lewis Gower, Thom-
son Hankey, jun., John Benjamin Heath, John
Gellebrand Hubbard, Charles Frederick Huth, Alfred
Latham, James Malcolmson, William Cotton, Humphrey
St. John Mildmay, James Morris, George Warde
Norman, John Horsley Palmer, James Pattison, Chris-
topher Pearse, Timothy Abraham Curtis, Charles
Pole, Henry Poreher, William R. Robinson, Thomas
Charles Smith, Thomas Matthias Wiguelin, Bonamy
Dobree, Charles Pascoe Grenfell, John Oliver Flan-
son, Rowland Mitchell, Sheffield Neave, Henry
James Prescott, Thomas Warre, Money Wigram,
and William Unwin Sims, Esqrs. ; Sir James Law
Lushington, Knight Grand Cross of the Most Ho-
nourable Military Order of the Bath ; Sir Richard
Jenkins, Knight Grand Cross of the Most Honour-
able Military Order of the Bath ; William Astell,
Campbell Majoribanks, William Wigram, William
Stanley, Clarke, John Thornhill, John Loch, Char-
les Mills, John Mastermann, John Petty Mus-
pratt, Henry St. G. Tucker, and Henry Alexander,
Esqrs. ; Sir William Young, Bart.. George Lyall,
John Forbes, Henry Shank, Russell Ellice, and John
Cotton, Esqrs. ; Patrick Vans Agnew, Esq., Compa-
nion of the Most Hon. Order of the Bath, Wm. But-
terworth Bayley, J. Shepherd, Francis Warden, Mur-
tin Tucker Smith, and Josia3 Dupre Alexander, Esqrs. ;
Sir Robert Campbell, Bart., Neil Benjamin Edmon-
stone, Hugh Lindsay, and John Goldsborough Raven-
shaw, Esqrs. ; Sir Henry Willock, Knt., Charles
Franks, Thomas Vienne, Charles John Baker, Henry
Berens, and Philip Pleydell Bouverie, Esqrs. ; Sir
Richard Plumptre Glynn, Bart., Matthew Harrison,
Henry Lannoy Hunter, Henry Kingscote, William
Phillimore, Abraham Pole, John Thornton, Edward
Vaux, John Willing Warren: John Beauclerk, James
Whatman Bosanquet, Ebenezer Fuller Maitland,
Charles John Manning, Brice Pearse, jun., Geo. Whit-
more, Abraham Roberts, Geo. Carr Glynn, Wm. St.
Julian Arabin, G. Rickards, J. Muckleston Key, Theo.
Green, George Henry Holm, Abraham John Valpy,
Robert Seeley, and John Murray, Esqs. ; Sir Charles
Price, Bart., Sir William Henry Poland, Knt. ; Benja-
min Barnard, Geo. Woodfall, Thomas Alers Hankey,
and John Gore, Esqs. ; Sir Moses Montefiore, Knt.,
Sir George Carroll, Knt., Samuel James Capper, Henry
Butterworth, Edward Tyrrell, William Croft, John
Alexander Hankey, and Geo. Raikes, Esqs. ; Sir James
Rivett Carnac, Bart., Charles Bosanquet, James An-
•derton, and Daniel Britton, Esqs. ; Sir James Duke,
Knt., George Dodd, Francis Bligh Hookey, William
Hughes Hughes, jun., John Johnson, George Meek,
Ambrose Mcore, Joseph Oldham, William Matthew
Thiselton, William Venables, jun., Josiah Wilson, Al
fred Wilson, Cornelius Lea Wilson, Edward Lanford
Peter Laurie, Edward Wilson, and Richard Lea W
son, Esqs.