The Sun.
London, England, 1838-04-20 00:00:00

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LONDON :
FRIDAY EVENING, APRIL 20, 1838.

Dr. CHALMERS' lectures, now announced, are to
be " upon the Establishment and Extension of Na-
tional Churches, as affording this only adequate ma-
chinery for the moral and Christian instruction of the
people.- We hope that the learned Doctor, in dis-
coursing on this important theme, will not forget
to shew how it happens that Christianity can now
be propagated in the islands of the Pacific Ocean, arid
in other wholly barbarous and half civilized lands, with-
out any National Church ; while Scotland, according
to the learned Doctor's own statement, with its well
organized National Church, is deep sunk in hea-
thenism. We hope that he will demonstrate, too, how
it happened that Christianity was propagated long
after the age of miracles amongst the barbarous
nations of Europe, not merely without the aid of a
National Church, hut in opposition to the civil autho-
rity ; and how it happens, if Christianity can only be
preserved by National Churches, that the peculiarly
petted and favourite form of Christianity amongst us—
the National Church—with all the power of the State
to help it, has been almost wholly extinguished in Ire-
land ; and up to a recent period, when much public
censure, and the emulation of other sects quickened the
zeal of its priests, was fast giving place to unpaid
and even persecuted Dissent in England. Lest the
learned Doctor should forget or omit this important
part of his theme, we shall throw out a few remarks
which may help our readers to come to a right con-
clusion.

Its the case of the Missionaries, who are now, ac-
cording to their reports, successfully propagating
Christianity in the Pacific Islands, it is obvious that
they have altogether more knowledge of almost every
description than the islanders, and they both teach
them with authority, and in teaching them prove their
superiority by their skill in several arts. They do not
tax the people to support their Churches ; but they
teach the islanders how to sow anti how to reap ; how
to make cloth, paper, and gunpowder, as well as teach
them Christianity. To them the Christian religion, so
far from being made hateful by a compulsory tax, is
recommended to them by the numerous advantages
freely offered, by which it is accompanied. All modern
conversions to Christianity, not excepting the conver-
sion of the Indians in Paraguay, were accomplished
by men more advanced in civilization than those they
converted. Nor was the case very different in the early
ages of Christianity. If the Jewish fishermen and
carpenters belonged to no superior class of civilized men,
it must he admitted that even they were more advanced
than the barbarous tribes among whom Christianity
wan soon spread. They, however, were aided by the
influence of miracles ; and, after the age of miracles
was over—after the conversion of the Romans had
taken place to a considerable extent—after the
various barbarous nations of the North and the
East had dismembered the empire—the most learned
of the Romans found safety in becoming Christian
ministers. The monasteries, and other asylums of the
priests, were the repositories of all knowledge, because,
as M. GUIZOT has demonstrated in his works on civi-
lization, the conquered patricians of Italy and Gaul
took refuge in the priesthood. The Christian minis-
ters of that time possessed all that had been saved of
the ancient treasures of knowledge, collected in Egypt,
Greece, and Rome : they belonged, like the missionaries
of our day, to a much more civilized race of men than
those they converted to Christianity. The majority
of the ministers of the Catholic Church in the early
ages stood in the same relation to the Saxons, Goths,
Lombards, and others, as the English Missionaries
now stand to the Pacific Islanders. They taught
their savage conquerors all that had been preserved of
ancient arts : they impressed on them by their example
the advantages of civilization, and raised their
savage nature by an improved code of morality ;
they won their approbation and support, and, in re-
turn for benefits conferred, they gained large revenues
from their admiring pupils. The Church, however,
had grown nearly to the height of her power, and felt
symptoms of decay, before she forcibly extorted con-
tributions, or imposed compulsory taxes on her willing
followers. On the one hand, when Christianity was
successfully propagated, there were great power and
great zeal to confer real benefits on the converts, and
a tempting of them into the bosom of Christianity ;
on the other, there was great ignorance, which readily
gave its mind to imbibe the religious knowledge poured
into it by those who possessed all kinds of knowledge,
and made it the hand-maid to much useful service.
There was no compulsion to adopt Christianity, and
no civil authority compelled men to support it.
We read, indeed, of some cases of forcible conver-
sion, in which the prince or leader was first a willing
convert, and afterwards compelled his subjects to em-
brace Christianity. The resistance, however, which
the Saxons and other inhabitants of lower Germany
made to CHARLEMAGNE, and the slow progress of
Christianity amongst them—many of whom two cen-
turies ago still clung to Paganism—are types, we admit,
of our National Churches, and their injurious effects.
The bloody persecution of CHARLEMAGNE to con-
vert the Saxons was the commencement in Europe of
National Churches. Christianity then became allied to
the civil power, and its beneficent principles were cor-
rupted by the passions of savages. Unholy was the
oriain of the union between Church and State, and Na
Tonal Churches are the lingering remnant of the Maho-
medan principle, as acted on by CHARLEMAGNE, of
converting men to Christianity by the sword. The prin.
11141%4163011h4tonstraint in them is the same ;but our im-
,
ity, which will not tolerate putting a
nfa.4 to .r considerable offences, only allows the
• it'
to fine, vex, and plunder those who

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