The Sun.
London, England, 1838-07-20 00:00:00

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WITH WHICH
THE " TRUE SUN" IS NOW
INCORPORATED.

LONDON :
FRIDAY EVENING. JULY 20, 1838.

The debate in the House of Commons last night on the
resolution proposed by Ministers to appropriate the re-
mainder of the million to the payment of the arrears of
tithes in Ireland, and to remit the sum already appropriated,
was the most important and interesting which has yet
taken place on the long-discussed and vexatious question
of the Irish Church. All parties spoke with more sincerity
than usual, and allowed the public to see something of the
real motives which influence them.

Lord JOHN RUSSELL, for example, with, as the Times
says, " the air of a martyr," and as the Chronicle says, with
" a deliberateness of manner, a firmness of tone and a for-
cible simplicity of diction," which rendered his observations
peculiarly impressive, declared in substance that be gave up
the appropriation principle, and adopted Sir R. PEEL'S
practice of buying peace, by the vulgar expedient of giving
the recusant tithe-payer the national gold, because he
could not help himself, nor could the Government nor the
Legislature otherwise get out of the difficulty.
As to giving_ up the appropriation principle, with which
he was taunted, the Nob e Lord said justly that it is not
the duty of the Minister to carry on a contest with the
other House o: Parlament. The state of public opinion
at present in this country, as Lord Howics explained.
forbids a hope of soon effecting it large reductien and re-
form in the Irish Church. Opposed, therefore, as the
Ministers are on this point by a very numerous party in
Eng:and ; and bound as they are not to excite political
seritation, but o preserve tranquillity ; not to direct public
I.ostility against the House of Peers, but to shield it—they
ere quite unable, whatever they may desire, except
covertly and is done by the sanction of Sir R. PEEL, in
giving ‘25 per cent. of the tithe to the Irish landierds—to
carry the appropriation principle into effect. Lord Jose;
RUSSELL openly confessed that, and resigned himself to
bear any personal reproach which might be poured
on the Government for yieliLne to the Conservatives,
Loth on the appropriation question and on the
Bill- for establshing municipalities in Ireland. Finding
himself unable to carry out his own principle, be confesses
that he adopts those of his opponents. He is to act 01
the Tory policy ; has he the least chance of success ?
He will not, he cannot carry out that policy of which the
principle is to rule the State with a view to particular
religious tiontriaes, and for the exclusive advantage of one
sect. By in, an; oF much bloodshed, by ae almost eternal
eisil war, or by a system of repression and coercion worse
even than an open batty, the Tories might succeed. 'rho
Whigs cannot, and we are afraid that they have adopted
the Tory policy only to discomfit themselves.
As to pacifying the Irish by giving them the national
gold, that i; a inere expedient which no wan hopes can be
more than temporarily successful. All parties admitted
that only a trace could le! obtained for the Irish Church
by the State paying the arreer; of the tith!! occupiers, and
so buying from ,!se titheowner his legil right to enforce his
legal claim by a legal but ruinnue legal process. It is not
possible, in a Canetitutionel Government, to rule in spite
of the majority of the peeple ; the majority of the
Irish will not pay titlleg, And therefore it has become
necessary that they should pail out of the public money.
The Legislature comes to (he conclusion that it can-
not
command--it can only purcoase the obedience of the
Irish to the existing law by the public money.

It was stated by Lord HoWicic, in a bold speech,
that the Irish looked for their clear, undoubted rights ;
and that, as a consequence, the existence or the Church of
Ireland would come to be argued in the House of Com-
mons. It was stated by Mr. WARBURTON that they
meant to appropriate a surplus of the Church
property ; Out they were obliged to hand out
the public money for the support of the Clergy, whence he
inferred a necessity hereafter to pay them out of the
Budget. Now these several admissions and confessions of
powerlessness on the part of our Legislators, reluctant to
come to conclusions which are injurious to their own autho-
rity, seem, in relation to the very interesting tithe question,
to be most important. We recommend the debate to our
readers as worthy of being studied.
The resolutions, though opposed by Mr. HUME and a
large body of Radicals, were carried by a considerable
majority ; and it is instructive to see Sir ROBERT PEEL,
Lord JOHN RUSSELL, and Mr. O'CONNELL all voting in
that majority, which, in fact, sanctions resistance to the
law—which approves of the Tory policy—and which re-
jects the appropriation clause.
_ I

We understand that the Select Committee of the
of Commons...appointed to inquire into the subject of postage
have come to a most important resolution. After some
severe fighting, and five divisions, it was resolved to recom-
mend that one uniform rate of postage should be established
over the whole empire. It is not,hosvever, to bens Mr. HILL
proposed one penny—the could not be obtained ; nor
three half pence, whin) the Committee also rejected ; but
twopence and the weight of each letter is to be half an
ounce. Stamp paper for covers is to be used. If the re-
commendation be earied into effect, it will .14 a great im-
provement ; and those, who, by perseverance, nays ucom-

ouse

!dished so much in spite of many obstacles, deserve the best
thanks of all the industrious classes.

Mr. POITLETT THOMSON met with a sharp rebuke
last niglA from Mr. WaLLacE on his introducing the
Gibraltar Lighthouse Bill. The Member for Greenock
said it was intolerable to submit to what the Government
were doing. Private individuals hail been requested to
withdraw their Bills, and give up motions which they had
given notice of, in order to allow the public business
to proceed ; and no sooner had this been agreed to than
new Bills were forced in upon them in shoals. At
the end of last week no fewer than eleven new Bills had
appeared, and now more and more were coming cut. He
could not comprehend the motive forsuch conduct, in which
the President of the Board of Trade took a lead. It
absolutely looked as if that department kept their pro-
ceedings back on purpose ; whereas they ought to be intro-
duced as early as possible, in order to allow the commercial
community all over the country time to consider what
so much affected their interests.

On the motion to read the Trading Companies' Bill a
third time, Mr. WALLACE renewed his complaint ; and
after stating the hardship his own constituents were subjected
to by such crude and hasty proceedings, moved that the
third reading be postponed until Monday next, and said he
would divide the House on his motion, which, however,
he did not, owing to the SPEAKER putting the ques-
tion during some confusion, which appeared to prevent the
Member for Greenock from hearing it.
Is Mr. POULETT THoMsoN afraid of his measures meet-
ing the eye of an intelligent and scrutinizing public in the
provinces? We suspect that he is, and that he finds ad-
vantage in keeping back his measures, until the harrassed
and tired out Members allow him to force them on
the House and through it, with that breathless haste which
insures their receiving no consideration at all.

We congratulate the country that the Pope or LON-
DON'S Bill to tax all the parishes of the empire which con-
tain more than one thousand inhabitants, and to take away
from the parishioners their long recognised right to meet
and discuss all parish business in the Parish Church, was
last night thrown out of the House of Commons. The
majority was, it is true, but small ; still it is worthy of all
rejoicing as a defeat of the hypocritical canting liberticides—
of those miserable envious wretches, who arc engaged in a
great conspiracy against the enjoyments and the liberty of
the people. This, however, is only a foretaste of the many
and important defeats which the good sense of the people
is preparing for that cant, and hypocrisy which would render
the earth little better than a loathsome dungeon to all but
the hypocrites, on the pretext of promoting the glory
of Gon.

We are pleased to learn that Mr. WALLACE'S labours
on Post-office Reform are near a close, and hope he will
continue to look to the careless manner in which Bills are
carried through the House. We further wish Mr. HUME
would return once more to his best vocation, and improve
the finance accounts, and take along with him tho
Hon. Member for Greenock—so that jobbing in money
boa in passing Bills through the House may be checked.

We lay before our readers a copious extract from the
Second Report of the Commissioners appointed to consi-
der and recommend a system of general Railways for Ire
land. Not Intving yet had time to read the whole, we will.
not at present offer any opinion on it further than to say
that the concluding recommendations seem amply
confirmed, by the experience we have already had,
of the improper use which Railway Companies are
disposed to make of the privileges which Parliament has in
its haste inconsiderately conceded to them. We shall re-
turn to the subject ; but cannot now leave it without saying
that the whole Report, with the accompanying plans and
maps,appears to be prepared in a masterlystyle, and is worthy
of the great reputation of Mr. MI3)131030 and the rest of the
Commissioners, all of whom are scientific men ; and of the mi-
litary and other engineers, by whom the chief part of the li
labour has been performed. Had such a plan been adopted
for England when railways were first required, as we over
and over again recommended ; and bad the principle been
then acted on, of the Government prescribing the lines and
the conditions on which private Companies should be In-
vited to construct them ; great expense, greatinconvenience,
and greatdamage wouldhavebeen &voided. Whether Ireland
receive justice or not, she has on this point been more dis-
criminately and prudently dealt with than England, The
opinions and work of the Commissioners must, we pre-
sume, excite the envy, if not the hostility, of Mr. POULETT
THOMSOK. who is chiefly to blame, we .Ire afraid, for the
same wise plan not having been adopted fc,r 1 ir4lapd as for
Ireland.

The patriotic Members of the Opposition in the Hano-
verian Chamber of Deputies have addresged the subjoined
petition to the German Diet, at Frankfort. Whatever
reception it may meet tvith from that august body, there
can be no question as to the powerful impression which it
will make upon the minds of the Hanoverian population.
King ERNEST the Absolute never before had so wholesome
a dose adrninstered to him. We quote the petition from
the Leipsic Gazelle :
" Forced by circumstances which we could not wastar into a state of
resistance, the legal order of things having been overthrown without
our participation, we nevertheless, in the interest of public
entered upon our duty of representatives with fitting activity, tliarebY
showing our obedience to our gracious Sovereign. We were slisposrd
to continue our exertions within the limits assigned to us, with the
hope of preserving public order, unless forced to go further than circum-
stances require, But we protest solemnly, for ourselves and for our
country, of which we arc the representatives, against awl induction from
our conduct which would imply that the Constitution of ISI it 4i 4i: rf-',Wred
taforce and validity. On tenth March last the Assembly of the Status
dared by rescriint that its actual conipnsition did not accord with the rule
laid down try the Assembly of 1519, and it: its resolution of the 25th of
June categorically declared its acislon on tints point by ni votes against
24. We conscientiously persist in this conviction ; .04 sent deem it a
sacred duty to declare that tip act of the present Chamber of kepreseu_
tinives can give a law an obligatory character, since to communicain:
such hires to its acts tan only belong to an A+sembly based on the Con.
stitution established before tine accession of his 3j,jeity, and convoked
according to tine dispositions of the fundamental taw, This respectful
declaration, which we are compelled to make with pain, jinposcd
upon us in the interest of txie honour, outraged by an article in
Au,;sl4trg Ga:xtte, the King's Coennissary refusing all satisfactory
reply to our demands. It can only be fc,e the Supreme German Diet to
ikcide what was the Constitution in force his Majesty's acces-
sion, We have not the character of a constituttonai representative
body. Nevertheless, we Lope that the Diet will pay attention tO this
reclamation. The ininabitatit4 pf this kingdom await a decision witii
the most lively anxiety. They y'aut W none in respect and obedience
towards their legitimate Sovereign ; Lot they are convioced tl at the
security of the throne, as their owo, earn be 1..44 !,,ply on right. The
happiness of Prone and people are inseparable We das:!.zre solemnly,
before God and this illuttrions assembly, that we have not and wig not
be wanting in 1,1 alt y. Full of t;!Jclity towards the sacred person of the
Monarch, e will not infringe on his tizlits. But, on the other hand,
our oath and mandate compel us to defend tile rights and the happiness
of our country.,— Here follow the signatures.]

A &ivy short monthaezo England rang from one extreatty
to the other with the grieve...44Th real and imaginary, of the
Cinadisaus, Now there is an evideoi indisposition on the
part of the public to hear with tolorabio t;glience the
briefest allusion to the political relations of these provitiz,es;
There is nothing to discourage the philanthropist in this.
The Camelia, it .s true, may be in ae wretched a condition,
in all save the horrors of actual warfare, as they were in
March last—the hatreas of factions may be as intcruse.and
their consequences as morally pernicious—the ramifica-
tiowa of treason may be as Mittitin;:f. and as fraught
with danger slow, as they were then ; se44l yet, were
this state of things strictly true, what could better
&inonstrate the mor4l greateieis of the people of England,
than the calmness with which they await the result of the
mighty experiment hazarded in the Earl of DURHAM'S
mission ? They seem to be convinced that the pe.e.4o,t)t is
not the fitting time cithes to act themselves, or to dictate
action to the nobleman whom, cte e4oncert with their SovE-
limos, they have honoured with theit. -44,!)fidence. They
appear sensible that Any movement—that any *iesli;lecided
expression of opinion—aha their part, just now, might °elf
serve to embarrass the Noble rb--thus evincing a col-
leetedness, a moral dignity, and a titiiiitiekkl sagacity, which
we rtstd to say is the reverse of what would ii4ye charac-
terised their etwelint had they suffered themselves; t 47, I,kc
carried away by the esii.n4o/03 set them by certain Members
of the House of Lords. Inateeo4,9l weakening the hands
of Lord DURHAM, it is of the utoost amp4:4l:l;:;e,—if we wish
to preserve the Sovereignty of Great 13iittnet i ;,;;.p Cana-
das,—to discountenance any attempt that may be made to
'esti ict him in the exercise of iiw great powers entrusted. to
him, so long as the proofs brought forward of his abuses of
:hem are eoojlned to individual enmities, whichba,/c Aqtbing
lirectly or indirectly to do with his Lordship's official ad-
ministration. The duties of the Noble Earl are already
;ufficitntly onerous, without ericesi,:h,ering him with ex-
liciv counsels, nceless for every purpose i..4.ttb.lit of indi-
rectly cneGwrasling tgritoz disaffected to set his waiLlv,)-
ity at defiance. lilt W ipple4y for these reasons, and
,iartly to avoid proNekilsxillrAV.o.!:ll.7 discussion upon