The Sun.
London, England, 1839-01-01 00:00:00

4 T g
~.. .
, .
,e'''

the habits for it become more and more confirmed. Wet VAS Welk
al ways appeared to him - that a knowledge of the classics
was a knowledge of the noblest sentiments the human mind'
could conceive, conveyed in the purest language the human
tongue can utter.—(Applause.) But they might be the
most accomplished scholars—they might be the most pro-
found mathematicians—they might possess all knowledge
—be blessed with the finest understanding—yet all these
would avail them nothing. " What does it profit a matt
though he gained the whole world, and lost his own soul. Thep'
might depend upon it that learning, unless founded on religion.
was unsound and ev en dangerous. Learning,without religion,.
was but as a sounAin g brass and a tinkling cymbal—a com-
pass without its polar ity—a watch without its regulator—a.
steam-engine without its safety-valve.--(Loud and long
continued cheering.) However important might be the,
understanding, it was not the most important faculty pos-
sessed by man. Something more than to improve the un-
derstanding was necessary to the correction of the heart.
Let them look around them on the world, and see what
would be the consequences were the understandinj alone
left to combat with human passions. These passions- had
taken so deep a root in human nature that nothing but the
hope of future reward or the fear of future punishment
could bring them under subjection. Paul had preache d
of righteousness, and repentance, and judgment to come
before Felix trembled. Search, then, the Scriptures, for in*
every page would they find that which maketh wise unto
salvation—that which would bring the understanding itself
under control. Did he mean to say, then, that learning and
the exercise of reason were unnecessary ? By no means.
Learning was of advantage, in dissipatingthe obscurity which
hung over the dead languages in which the Scriptures
were originally written, while reason dispelled the, doubts
which might arise as to the authenticity of the Scriptures
themselves. Let the fundamental principle, " Thy word
is truth," but operate on their lives and manners, and tbeirs
was the promise of everlasting life. In illustration of the
importance of religious knowledge the Hon. Baronet re-
ferred to the testimonies of its value borne by the most
eminent philosophers. Bacon, at once the pride and the
shame of human nature, possessed of God-like genius, yet
actuated by the most gnawing avarice, the inventor of in-
ductive philosophy—this first of philosophers had said that
none could deny God but such as wished there was no,
God. Newton, the great discoverer of the laws on which
the motions of the heavenly spheres depend, bad exhorted
to sea3ph the Scriptures. Locke, the guide to the human
snide tending , hag-also_e4orted to the study of the Scrip-
tures, particularly the New Testaciient, which had God for`
its author, salvation for its end, and truth without mixture
of error, for its motto. Herschell, a distinguished follower
of Bacon, and Newton. and Locke, had said it was the cha-
racter of true philosophy to reject nothing that was as
impossible--to disbelieve nothing was not unreasonable..
Such doubt was absurd ; such scepticism iniquitous. The
Lord Rector turned to Dr. Chalmers, and enlarged in
high terms on the Reverend Doctor's work on the Evi-
dences of Christianity. But it was not only the best and
the greatest men of the past and present ages who had
borne testimony to the value of religion. A like evidence
had been tendered also by some of the worst—among others
by a leader of the first French Revolution, when the
Goddess of Reason was set up in France as an object of
worship. Robespierre had seen the madness of this at-
tempt to reduce a people to atheism, and had remonstrated
against it. The idea of a powerful, a just, and a holy Being,
to reward and to punish, he viewed as inseparable from the
human mind, spurned at by none but the rich and the
criminal, cherished by all the honest and destitute. The
Protestant religion which we cherish, continued the Ho-
nourable Gentlman, has for its object, to debase hu-
man pride and to exalt human nature ; that of scepti-
cism is to exalt human pride and to debase human na-
ture. Our religion is the religion of freedom ; free-
dom of judgment, freedom of interpretation, freedom
of conscience. It elevated the mind, and was thus favour-
able to the protection of civil rights. lt. was, moreover,
the religion of Reason. As yet they savebut pkthroug,h a
glass darkly ; but by a proper use of the. understanding,
they might reach the most sublime heights.—(Cheering.)
It•was the religion of hope ; they had the promise of the
life which now is and of that which is to come. It was
the Religion of Peace. Had he ever harboured a doubt
of its Heavenly origin, this consideration would of itself
have convinced him. Be ye kind, it is said, to one another ;
tender-hearted, and forgiving one another—even as God,
for Christ's sake, forgave you. It was the religion of their
forefathers—(Cheers)—and when he.said so, he could not
but recollect that he was speaking in Glasgow, that he was
addressing the descendants of men wbo valued property,
and life, and worldly reputation, as nothing in the bal-
lance when compared with a clear conscience and the
knowledge of the truth. He could not but recollect
that he was addressing the .youth of Scotland, the im-
mediate descendants of a happier generation, who had
been enabled to cultivate their native land in peace—
who had found it a howling wilderness, and had left it
a garden. But, alas 1 the present was a day of dark-
ness and of danger—there was a fear of change perplex-
ing nations—men's hearts failing them for fear. But in the
midst of all this—let them take their stand on the Rock of
Ages, and fear not for the religion of their fathers. Scot-
land had secured from England at the Union, a National
Judicature and a National Church. These were the tro-
phies of her patriots—the last great memorials of her inde-
pendence. Scotland had said to England, you may take
away our Crown, you may abolish our Parliament, you may
impose on us your taxes, and you may make us forget in
other respects that we once were a nation ; but you shall
not take from us our Court of Session or our Kirk.—
(Cheers.) We shall retain these as proof that we are not
slaves. The Court had it in charge to defend the Kirk,
and he hoped never to see the day when the two
should come into collision. What mutual concessions
had they not a right to expect in such a time of danger
as this, and he fervently prayed both might flourish to
the latest posterity, the Kirk in alliance wish the State and
—( Here the Honourable Gentleman was assailed by
some hisses and groans, which speedily called forth a
shout of energetic applause. For a short time the uproar
was tremendous. Hisses and groans, and all manner of
uncouth sounds, proceeded from one portion of the au-
dience, while cheers, clapping of hands, and the Kentish
fire, marked the others' approbation. Sir James attempted • '•
several times to finish the sentence, and after repeated
failures through the party zeal of friends and foes, he did
say something as if coming to a conclusion, but the confu-
sion was still so great as to prevent his being heard at even
a short distance.) He said something about a bold, yet
prudent assertion of the Church's rights. He was satisfied
from what he heard to-day concerning the part those before
him would take. The Hon. Gent. then referred to the
progress of the Romans in Britain, under the reign
of Agricola. Having vanquished the Southerns, and
reduced the Lowlands of Scotland to submission if not
to obedience, the Roman armies had at last crossed the
Forth, and carried their victorious eagles to the foot of the
Grampians. But in the fastnesses of these hills, still dear
to Scotsmen, the Clans mustered under Galgacchus, hav-
ing buried in oblivion their mutual feuds. They rushed
down upon the foe, nothing daunted by his numbers, his
discipline, or his valour, but animated by the words of their
heroic chief; who addressed them in language which he
would now hold to those before him in their present circum-
stances—let them rush forward in their might to the con-
flict, let them think of their ancestors, let them think of
their posterity, and Scotland would yet rest in safety under
their care. The Hon. Gentleman concluded his address
amid enthusiastic applause.
After a few remarks from the Principal the Assembly
broke up about half-past three o'clock.

On Friday morning an inquest was held at the
Royal Oak, Granby-street, Waterloo-road, on the body of
Cornelius Swain, aged 39. It appears that the deceased
was employed on board the steam-engine used for raising
gravel from the bed of the river, opposite the Houses of
Parliament. On Saturday night last the unfortunate man,
after being paid his wages, went on deck, and not return-
ing search was made, but his body was not found until the
following afternoon, when it was picked up by his brother-
in-law under the centre arch of Westminster Bridge.
Verdict.—" Accidental Death."

We regret to state that a haulm stack, the property
of Mr. French, of Bull's Lodge, Borebani, was on Friday
night set fire to by an incendiary and destroyed. It fortu-
nately stood at a distance from any other stack or building.
Mr. French's property is, we understand, fully insured.—
Esser Herald.

On the Ist •f November the Sardinian frigate La
Regina sailed from Genoa on a voyage round the world.
The frigate is commanded by Captain Albini, and among
her passengers is Prince Eugene of Savoy. King Charles
Albert was among the spectators when she sailed.
DEFECT IN THE POOR-LAW.--The state of the
poor in extra-parochial places—must have suggested itself
to the minds of the framers of the Poor-law Amendment
Act, and that the omission of any provision for such par-
ties was but the result of that narrow and short-sighted
policy which characterises, in a greater or less degree, most
of the proceedings of the Legislature. It is obvious that, if
there ought to be a provision for the poor at all, those who
happen to reside in extra-parochial places should not be ex-
cluded from its benefits ; and, by parity of reasoning, the
owners and occupiers of property in such localities should
contribute to the required funds. The evil might have been
easily met, in the construction of the Poor-law, by authoriz-
ing the Commissioners, when forming unions, to have con-
stituted such places separate parishes, or to have annexed
them to parishes adjoining, allowing the inhabitants some
voice in the matter. This, however, was not done ; and, if
the Poor-law Commissioners do not bring forward the sub-
ject as soon as Pariiament meets, we hope some friend 'to
the poor—one of the Borough Members for instance—will
take it up.. Leicestershirc Mercury.

.g.'
r "147*
4,,,p.
N,..,\
-v„--r- --
~ ,-444,44-,.... '•

"-I' ••111.: '76. •
-.3.-1,4%74.4 • __ , - _
ham -, - ,?'os ` _ _. \ 4 W..k,
01,,;.• s, :'-' ....- •_s_):u -.3,-
1-;"
)
e.-
s.;‘, ) 0, ~,.
~-.., .... ..,
. • 5,...,,,- . -
..c( V, C, 4.-* I; g 'X''',, 1 11111111111111 L 0 ' .----(
, --, if.6:l' ''it, . ' -iv ' '.--
, . i -1.-V Ipit air 1) 44,1SSfitai,"11"1#'41147-
OIT.'"