The Sun.
London, England, 1853-05-25 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDYESDAY EV

This may, no doubt, be attributed, to their con-
sciousness that the refusal of the- 1,2371. was
worth to them fully ten times its amount. They
would not have minded procuring the refusal if
they could have done it, and for the same reason
as a beggar on the pavement hires another wo-
man's baby. Nice little slices, and some large
ones, too, of ecclesiastical bounty were therefore
mercilessly brought to light in the State Larder,
and the
.right of the favoured • Church to these
savoury tit-bits pertinaciously denied. Great,
indeed, was the variety with which the House
was entertained. It seemed much like an irrup-

tion of her Ladyship of the parlour into a sud-
denly-suspected kitchen.. Now, a suispicious crust
in the shape of 501. each to two poor clergymen
of Heligoland, who passed for rich on that 'annual
sum ; now some luscious pastry-4001. a year for
a chaplaincy in Gambia, and as Much for another
iu the Falkland Islands, with a population of 200
only—looked very doubtful ; presently a glorious
luxury in the form of 700/. a year, and 95/. 1.55.
for contingencies, turned up at Hong Kong !
What could that mean ? The under-cook explained

that Hong Kong was a -Very bad place for the
health, and that, accordingly, generous diet was
essential, and X. s. d. was a raost.approved recipe for
miasma. Even Mr. LUCAS and Mr. MIALL sympa-
thised with the sufferers, and did not divide. And,
thus the rummaging of shelves and cupboards• went
on, till at length a door was opened, and not less
than 38,4921. worth of loaves and fishes, laid by 'to
quiet ".Nonconforming, Seceding, and Protestant
Dissenting Ministers" in Ireland, were exposed
to view. Sir 3.• V. SHELLEY, and Mr. BRIGHT
denounced it as became them. Lord C. .HAMIL-
TON, Member for Tyrone, flew at the Man of
Peace, on behalf of his injured. constituents, with
all the fury of wronged honesty. Sir J. YOUNG
declared his belief that, if religious endowments
were withdrawn, the very name of religion would
soon die out of the land. Mr. COBDEN and Lord
JOHN followed, however, with calmer counsels,
agreeing very much in their main views, though
voting differently. Both argued that to equal
dealing by all sects the country must soon come.
Both preferred endowments for religion, Mr.
COBDEN, however, chiefly, he thought, because he
had been brought up in the Church ; Lord JOHN,
from higher reasons of State. Mr. COBDEN, there-
fore, voted against the grant, as the House had
refused the Maynooth grant for repairs; Lord JOHN
voted for it to keep the Presbyterians in geed po-
litical temper.
One remark in his own homely style, 'Mr.

COBDEN chopped, which deserves the attention of

all the hot, one-sided rtligionists of this ' country
and of all countries. " Ile had always gone to
Church himself. His mother took him there, and,
as a general rule, he thought they all went where
their mothers had. taken them.'; Yes, fully nine-
tenths of every community owe their religion to
their mothers ; they go " where there mothers took
them." There is a world of anti-bigotry in that
simple fact.
The furious- and bitter apostate may scornfully
repudiate the implication ; but the crowd of fol-
lowers whom he apostrophises, of what religion
are they ? Of the religion of their mothers. It
might well soften the mischievous asperities of
warfare between sects if each would remember
the educational, the domeitic origin of their faith.
Account for it as we will—and it is by no means
difficult to do so—the broad fact is before every
one, that Dissenters' children grow up for the
most part Dissenters ; Roman Catholics' children
Roman Catholics ; and the children of Church-
men Churchmen. We commend this plain truth
to the notice of the Protestant Alliance.