The Sun.
London, England, 1838-04-28 00:00:00

Zhe ann.

WITH WHICH
" THE TRUE SUN" IS NOW
INCORPORATED,.

LONDON :
SATURDAY EVENING, APRIL 28, 183 L

Dr. CHALMERS delivered his second lecture yesterday;
which was on " the vindication of a National Religint,',s
Establishment, in opposition to the views of the (Politics 1)
economists." From the Rev. Gentleman having made lila):
previous allusions, in what, we thought, a sneering nu '913 te
to free trade doctrines, we anticipated an attempt to ttarn 0
the profit of establishments, in the presence of a Tr(3trie
auditory, the Tory prejudices against free-trade, 'ST:-
were most agreeably disappointed : for Dr, ei,,aLieß;
after giving a concise view of the most ultra and, cornPlieTa.
free-trade doctrines in relation to commerce, as. expounn
by the political economists, expressed his
unqualified
e
assent" to them in a manner sufficiently fervent to bre,j,
the hearts of the writers in the Herald, Standard, u
Post, and those in the Times also, if they "Aa;
apostatised as completely on political eeanonlY
on political parties. It was, Dr. CHALMERS said expressly'
because he gave his " unqualified assent" to these doctrine%;:
and contended for a national religious establishment, thatijv
was peculiarly proper in,and incumbent on him, to P°'n:"
out the great difference between commerce and CV'S;
tianity, as well as the false analogy which led such emin°
men as TURGOT, particularly referring to his Essai sur les
Fondations, and ADAM Soluru, unjustly to apply the c°lr
mercial doctrines of supply and demand to providing ref' T'
gious instruction for the people. To point out the fakso
analogy which led the Economists astray, and to point 04b1t
the principle of human nature which makes national est.* 0
lishntents to teach religion necessary, was the object of 1161
eloquent discourse, rich in illustrations, which was listen
to by a crowded audience with unabated rattention for m°
than an hour and a half. Having yrstcrday supplied fij
our readers with a necessarily hurried, but faithful °P
ample report of the lecture, we shall not enter n°lo
0
further into its details ; but emlea.vour to show that
learned Lecturer, Rot the -political economists, is in error. After acknowledginP; the truth of a great body of sel°ll°:
founded on the widrist induction and the most extensive „c
perience, and ern'iracing all the numerous and comPlicat::
phenomena of buying and selling, which include all the
means by which society is fed, clothed, and housed, it T'Ti
as
incumbent on Dr. CHALMERS to prove, in the clerlre,t
;._
manner, that his own peculiar employment forms a,°
ception to the general rule. If, indeed, he had, like other
Tories, denied the principle of free trr,de, he rraight babe
ye
classed his own occupation as one of many caul ; hu"e
admitted the principle, and failed to establish the ea,
caption. It will immediately occur to our intenPo
gent readers, that '
.Doctor
means singular in claiming that his own craft, _ ,t
CHALMERS is by
or
art, should not b,e subjected to the general rule ; andf;
will excite suspieion that on this point he only lows in the wake of the selfish producers of almost every
commodity, Why, there is scarcely one profession, v:
One trade in the country, from that of a barrister to
that of a ticket-porter—from the cultivator of the sod
to the maker of gin—who does not, whether an ad"'
sate of free trade or not, contend, like Dr. Cil,aolE3s'
that its doctrines do not apply to his own part'
_„lar ocen;
pation. The Barrister insists that peculiar privileges 0r
necessary to procure men of talents and ;.ategrity for tiie,
ha, ; the ticket-porter asserts that guarantee is require,;
for the honesty of those who mr,„,-3,t trusted with letter
and parcels, and he shaws his, badge as the token that he is
a proper man, r.che far„,ner says free trade would throw
the 'owl out of er.:itivation ; and the maker of gin that
fee trade Qt.Prf-d to his business, would destroy- home

distillation, and promote drunkenness by the consumption
of foreign :ind cheap spirits. Now these arguments, which
obviously flow from individual selfishness, and have indi-
vidual gratification for their attainment, are no jus-
tification of restrictions, or taxes, which affect the
whole community ; and it does not recommend na-
tional religious establishments to us, and will scarcely
recommend them to the people, to be told by Dr.
UHALMERs that they are founded on an exception to a
great body of scientific truth, similar to that on which
landlords attempt to defend the law for lessening the supply
of food. The Corn-law which tends to starve the people,
and religious establishments which violate the rights of
conscience and of property, are bath, as we now learn
from Dr. CHALMERS, exceptions to what he calls the salu-
tary rule, that legislators should not interfere with the
Supply of the market.
The great difference between religious instruction and
commerce, which constitutes the former an exception to
rules which apply to the latter, Dr. CHALMERS stated to
he, that there is no sustained natural demand for religious
instruction, as there is for those commodities which corn-
Therce supplies. As hunger increases, any commandable
price will be given for food ; as men are sunk in voluptu-
ousness and ignorance, they are said to be averse from re-
ceiving the religious instruction which might cure them.
It may be suitable to the avocation of the priesthood thus
to exalt the vast merit of their teaching, and thus to decry
human nature ; but history proves that there is as strong
and as sustained a demand for religious instruction, as
much craving aftor -a knowledge of man's origin and end,
and as good a will to pay largely for it, as a craving for
fold and readiness to procure it—to say nothing of the
dernanJ and supply of a multitude of less necessary
articles, whirh are abundantly and constantly provided by
the laws of free trade. On the sustained demand for reli-
gious instruction a wily priesthood has, in almost every age,
been able to procure from the people much greater wealth
than those who have supplied them with food. But we
should do injustice to our arguments on these points were
we now to attempt to show in detail that there is as natural
and as extensive a demand for religious instruction as for
food, and that it has repaid, and always will amply repay,
those who undertake to supply the craving. We may
probably return to the subject.
We cannot, however, allow a single day to pass with-
out noticing the factious attack which Dr. CHALMERS, at
the close of his leeture, in the very spirit of the virulent
and vituperative Times, made on those who advocate
economy in the public expenditure. After the fashion of
the profligate younger sons and other spendthrifts who
write in Blackwood and Fraser, the Learned Tory made a
series of observations in favour of public extravagance,
which excites the warmest enthusiasm of those who seek to
profit by the public purse. But if there be one virtue which
more than another it is now essential to press on the attention
of Statesmen of all parties, in order that the poor may be both
enabled by every possible reduction of taxation to save, and
encoui-aged to be thrifty by the example of their superiors,
it is public economy. The Priest who, pretending to be
the friend of the poor, could vilify that admirable virtue,
which is unhappily so scarce, because perchance it might
keep a few pounds of gold from the lap of his own order,
shows himself to be perfectly rabid with faction and the
deadly enemy, both morally and pecuniarily, of the very
classes he pretends to be most anxious to serve.
Thy 11

ie public is more deeply interested, than it is at al
lilva;e of, in the zealous efforts of the distinguished founders
'of the National Loan Fund and Life Assurance Society.
In the success of this vast project, we can clearly perceive
the seeds of a rich harvest of popular comfort-the germs
of a social and moral regeneration, the influence of which
Will in time pervade the humblest hovel in the land. We
believe it is now some months since we directed public at-
tention to the prospectus, published by the able Chairman
and original Founder of the Institution, Mr. T. LAMIE
MURRAY, when we stated that the whole scheme was by no
means perfected, although it offered, to persons of limited
Income, inducements to the forming of providential habits
never before held out to them. We have now the outline of
the complete plan before us, and never was there a project
submitted to us so well calculated to benefit the humbler
classes of society, The principal inducements which it offers to
Prudent and economical habits among the workingclasses are
the following :-A person insuring his life for any sum, no
Thatter bow small, say from twenty years of age, may at
the age of fifty, fifty-five, or sixty, exchange it for a fixed
annuity, to be paid to him during his life ; or he may ac-
cept in lieu thereof a fixed sum of money proportioned to
the amount of his past payments, and not to the actual
market price of his policy ; or he may at any time, by de-
Positing his policy with the Society, borrow upon it two-
thirds of all the money he may have paid into the Society
Vithout detriment to his interest in such policy ; or, in
'tile event of his death, two-thirds of all the money lie
'M aY have paid into the Society is made returnable to his
friends or executors, for the benefit of his family or legal
heirs. To suit the convenience and to meet the necessities
.of the humblest classes, the payments upon the policies
eY be made weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually ; and
that the poorest may not be without a hope of bet-
, tering their condition, payments upon policies not
exceeding sixpence weekly are contemplated ! Now there
are very few labouring men who-were they to frequent
the beer shops and public-houses less than they now do, to
b ruin of their health, their morals, and their families-
qaigfht "t Pay into such an Institution from a shilling to
..a-erown weekly. This saving would amount to an
Independence in old age. A labourer aged twenty-three,
by the
payment of a shilling a week out of his earnings,
wa.oonuldo,f
an annuity of On
reaching the age of fifty, find himself in posses-
life, 81. ifs. 3d. for the remainder of his
whichl 6 it would be optional with him to exchange for
Cott s.
in
money. This sum would pay the rent of his
age
, and
enable him to pass the rest of his days with a
comparative
degree of comfort. A weekly payment of six-
' Pence would produce half the benefit ; a payment of two
xbilliugs would double it-and so on in proportion. Let it
be remembered that the advantages held out by this Insti-
tution belong as a matter of absolute right to the assured,
and its immense superiority to Saving Banks and Benefit
Societies as an engine for the moral improvement of the
People, will be at once perceptible. This Society lays no
claim to the merits of a charitable Institution, carried on
under the management of a Committee of self-sacrificing
Philanthropists. It does not affect to be guided by any
Principles but those of trade, and its relations with the
Public will be purely of a commercial character. It will
ntot, like the Saving Bank, refuse the poor man's earnings,
than
they may have accumulated to something more
will
Would pay a rich man's glover's bill for a year ; neither
; it, like the Trustees of a Benefit Club, institute any
-uirY, should the assured require a loan to the amount of
tricl
• "w°-thirds of his payments. The following Notes to the
"sbTables of Deferred Annuities," which have been pub-
by Mr. MURRAY, the Chairman, will place the
is atveral advantaffes offered to the labourer, the merchant,
al". the capitalist, by the Loan Fund Society, in as clear a
ight as it is possible to put them
Person, aged 23, by the payment of Is. per weak, or 12s. per
."to, will secure, on attaining the age of 50, the option of an annuity
of l 16s 3c1., cash' down 113/. 65., or a policy on his life for 178!. Is.
ru
1.,Y one-half the payment, that is, Id per week,Bovrfie m
I!.v 6s. per
the
en.
Payt,,,ne will secure the option of half the benefits.
the Balt% he will be entitled to the option of five times(tAhlelbernornefiito%santdo
term,n,! may be extended to any other proportion.
Itirnebe".with the period.) Two-thirds of the paymentspmay at any
survive hdrawn on &posit of the policy ; and should theiparty not
is
sentatives."
' two-thirds of hie payments will be returned to
repre.
The
substance of this te has been given above, but
its repetition will serve to remove all doubts as to the
rectness with which we have given the Society's views.
-10 continue
oi:o nperson, aged 24, may secure, on attaining the age of 50, th:
forlife
.I'..)f an annuit of 104 his
, cash down 126/. Ils., or a policy on
02/. Is y
, 6d. by the annual payment of 3/. 35 , or a single pay-
meat
et 4t.1. 85.; or by payment of 1 U. Os. Id. for disparity of age, he
the entitled' to the same benefits by the same annual payment as for
.n age of 20, 2.1. Us. per annum.
by A annuity of 5,91, or five times the other benefits, may be secured
Cie
_ tunes the payment; and, in like manner, any other annuity
aro corresponding benefits may be purchased by making the payment
accordingly.
A person,
" aged 23, by the payment of 21. 12s. per annum, will secure,
dowt; 1211)11 the age of 55, the opt ion of an Annuity of I_ol. Us. 7d.; Cash
1 t'l• Cs. ; or a Policy on his life for 2001. ls.
4 r
_Person ;2sed 23 may secure on attaining the age of 55, an annuity
with the Other options, by the annual payment of 2/. ls. 9d., or
gle Payment 0134/. 10s 3d.; or on payment of 81. 18s. 4d. for dis.
Parity.it. ,he will be entitled to the same benefits by an annual payment of
N. the same as for ago 20.
Person, aged 25, by the payment of 21. 12s.
per annum, will secure
%A
n oiltaning the age of 60, the option of an annuity of 20!. 13s. 4d. ; cash
-02/. Is ; or a policy on his life for 259/. 195.
nut, Person,. aged 26, may smire, on attaining the age of 60, an an-
Dr ot 101, with the other options, lty the annual payment of 1/. 6s. 9d.,
aLY
.zingi:paym„t Of 22/. 17s. 3d.; or An payment of 61. 14s. 3d. for