The Sun.
London, England, 1830-01-20 00:00:00

clerk, who assisted him in the labours in ques-
tion, appointed to a good situation, while Mr.
Pitt was unable to do more .for him than giving
him the Secretaryship of the Board of Agricul-
ture. With the known subserviency of the late
King and Queen to the Church, and the known
unrelenting spirit of all religious corporations,
whether Jesuits or Anglican Church, or what-
ever other name they bear, to all who come in
collision with them, the terrorism of the people
of this country, with respect to the tithe ques-
tion, is easily accounted for. And this leads us
in passing to observe how much less expensive
to the nation is our present Sovereign, with all
his taste for palaces, cottages, and gewgaws, than
his predecessor. It is but too well established,
we believe, that to the invincible obstinacy of
his late Majesty, we are solely indebted for
the American war, and mainly for the war with
France. He was precisely the Sovereign of
whom a Priesthood could avail themselves for
their particular purposes. He exhibited him-
self regularly to his people, was assiduous in
attending to the details of business, and exem-
plary in the relations of private life ; and any
English Sovereign who resembles him in these
respects may always lead the nation to the brink
of ruin. We often bless God that our present
Sovereign has not the taste to re-enact the Far-
mer George, and to exhibit himself to the mob
in a Windsor uniform ; for, in that case, instead
of paying for palaces and cottages—quite a suf-
ficient evil—we should have, perhaps, been
obliged to pay for his popularity by the comple-
tion of the ruin in which his Father advanced so
far, and have had to submit besides to the Cle-
rical despotism of which little more than the
shadow now only remains. The domestic virtues
of the late King cost the nation at least two
thousand millions. We little thought some
years ago, that ever we should see a county
meeting called expressly on the subject of tithes.
It is hoped, however, now the ice is fairly
broken, that other counties will follow the ex-
ample set by Devonshire. Assuredly, the land-
owners generally have an interest in the perma-
nent settlement of tithes. Whenever, from any
failure in the crop, we are obliged to open our
ports to the importation of corn from abroad, the
burthen of tithes is then thrown upon the land,
and not upon the consumers. Mr. Hamlyn,
who seconded the petition, went into a number
of calculations, to show how completely tithes
are in the way of any plan for relieving the poor
when out of employment, by giving them grants
of small pieces ofland. The titheholder makes his
appearance after the poor man has his crop ready,
and carries away more than the net produce. Many,
cases have been communicated to us of recent at-
tempts to relieve the poor having been completely
frustrated by the enforcement of the Clergyman,
or Impropriator, of his claims, which, in the
case of land reclaimed from a state of waste,'
sweep away the fruits of the labourer's exertions.
Mr. Hainlyn referred to Scotland, as an evidence
of the Lenefit derived by an exemption from
tithe. We have never been able to see why the
course pursued in Scotland should not be fol-
lowed in England. The owners of land and
owners of tithes came to an agreement that the
King (Charles I.) should arbitrate between
them, and the Decree of the king, confirmed
by an Act of Parliament, fixed the tithe at one-
fifth of the rent, and gave to the owners of the
soil a power to purchase at nine years' value.—
At that time land sold in England at little more
than nine or ten years' purchase, so that the
nine years were probably not far short of the full
value. In the present day, the market price of
tithes would be considerably higher. There can
•be no difficulty, however, in determining the
number of years' purchase from an average of
years. If any plan for obtaining tithes at less
than their value be thought of, it will assuredly
fail. The Impropriator cannot complain if he
obtain a fair market price for his property ; and
as to the Church, the tithes accruing to it ought,
at all events, to be valued. We trust the Coun-
try Gentlemen, now that they have once begun,
will follow out this matter. We may observe
that the mode of paying the Clergy iu Scotland
is a distinct question from that of tithes. The
Clergy are paid a stipend out of the tithes, which
has been augmented from time to time, except in
those cases in which the stipend equals the sum
at which the tithes were valued. In England the
Parson le no 4 stipendiary but a titheholder.—
We are not speaking of livings belonging to Col-
leges cr Impropriators, or such 3s are held in
coinmendam.—Morning Chronicle,
is stated in some of the best informed circles
that the Duke of Wellington, rather than en-
counter the objections in a certain high quarter
to the elevation of Prince Leopold to the throne
of Greece, has agreed to postpone the considera-
tion of the measure till he has had an opportu-
nity of ocertaining the sentiments of Parliament
and the country on the subject. There is more
wisdom in this resokition than most people are
a-vare of. The serious part of the joke is, that
the disappointed prince is placed in the attuetion
of being considered only an embryo king, under
circumstances which render it extremely doubtful
wile-fleet he will ever arrive at maturity. It is
confidently asserted that the Duke of Northum-
berland is anxious to relinquish the government
of Ireland, according to the express stipulations
under which he accepted that high and respon-
sible office. His grace's friends state that when
he became the sueceseeer of the ill-treated and in-
sulted Lord Anglesea he agsepel that he should
be required to remain no longer in Ireland than
till another viee,roy could be named, and the pc-
riod of twelve snonthe was fixed upon as amply
sufficient to enable the then embarrassed Pre-
mier to look about for an eligible successor. The
time fixed upon has consequently expired, and
the Duke of Northumberland is exceedingly de-
sirous to exact a fulfilment of his contract. Who
is likely to succeed him is, however, a question
w cannot presume to answer, Soma names
have beein handed about, but we fear they do not
sound sufficiently well to be acceptable on either
side of the water.—Morning ,Journal.
Times of national peril, by ceiling forth ener-
gies equal to the crisis, have generally produce 4
their own means of extrication. We trust that in
our case this rasa., be so now. There never, we be-
lieve, was a period when a great master mind was
more called for to navigate the ve4el of the State
through the shoals and quicksands on whip-het-1p
has been thrown than the present. We do not
say that the yniad.pf the Duke of Wellington
may not be equal to the crisis ; in the present
dearth of public talent it would be difficult,
perhaps, to name any one individual in whom
the country be more confidence. But on the
other hand, it is fit that the Duke should learn
that that confidence is fast wearing ppt, and that
the events of the next few months, if not weeks,
may destroy it altogether. But, to render the
powers of his intellect available for the salvation
of the country from its present difficultes, it is
first necessary that his Grace should free himself
from the influence of those narrow, little minds,
by which, in his political career, he has hitherto