The Sun.
London, England, 1838-10-12 00:00:00

C JOURNALS.

When we are told that " the Ministry have one Irish
question still left," the question of Municipal RelOrm is of
course alluded to, and the meaning is, that were this disposed
of, there would cease, as far as regards Ireland, to he a dif-
ference between a Government of Liberals and a Govern-
ment of Tories. This would clearly be a most convenient
and comfortable doctrine for the latter part'y. It labours,
however, under a slight defect : no doctrine can be more
untrue. The truth is that the space which divides the
Liberals from the Tories in Irish policy is so vast, that it
would scarcely be sensibly diminished by the most popular
settlement of the question of Municipal Reform, or in-
deed by any measure that Perliament, could pass for the
redress of the grievances of Ireland. Far deeper than in
the lowest depths of Corporation abuses lies the true,
the great, the capital, the insuperable obstacle to the
Government of Ireland by the Tories. That a, Tory
Admieistration can never egain exist in Ireland we
do not assert ; but we do say that such an Admi-
nistration must fail of necessity, and fail egregiously,
contemptibly, and disastrously. Its term would be as
short as a winter's day, and as bleak and stormy.
The attempt might add little to the political disgraces
of the Tory adventurers who should hazard it ; but.
the evils of Ireland would be increased frightfully, and the
pillars of the Union shaken. These are positions only too
easily demonstrated. The Liberals and the Tories differ
upon that broadest of all questions—upon what principles
and with what spirit shall we rule Ireland ? This is the
great Irish question ! This is the question of questions.
This is the question that has survived the enactment of a
Poor-law—that will survive the reform of the Corpora-
tions—that would outlive the largest reduction of the
Church—that will never cease to be a qiiestion, and the
main question, until Toryism ceases to be Toryism, or until
the leopard has changed his spots. This is the true Irish
question that will "still be left." Settle all other ques-
tions as you please, you cannot deprive Ministers
of this. This will remain, Sir Robert Peel ! to plague
you, to embarrass you, to stand between you and office,
or, if ever you should regain office, to make its
tenure no bed of roses. " While a system of Administra-
tion is attempted," says Edmund Burke, " entirely repug-
nant to the genius of the people, everything must neces-
sarily be disordered for a time, until this system destroys
the Constitution, or the Constitution gets the better of this
system." Such a system it is that the Tory Government
would and must pursue in Ireland. " Every thieg would
be disordered for a time." The battle between the Con-
stitution and the system would be fought, as it has been
fought before, and, it is not to be doubted, with the same
success to the Constitution. " A system of Administration
entirely repugnant to the genius of the people" may be
tried, but it cannot be established ; and the Tory states-
men will find the trial of such a system in Ireland as ar-
duous in the experiment as ignominious in the failure.
They stand upon the wrong side of the great Irish question
" still left." Let them sett'e that question if they can
Then will they have made a progress towards office, end its
secure enjoyment, to them justly satisfactory, and to us
truly alarming. But to settle that question is beyond
their power. It is one thing for the Tories to smooth
the way to office by yielding a surly assent to a Corpora-
tion Bill, and quite another to shake off the long-established
and settled character and habits of their party. An anti-
Irish spirit, we repeat it, is an idiosyncrasy Toryism.
They can no more get rid of this unhappy quality, than a
man can get rid of the essential stamina of his- moral con-
stitution. No discipline can correct what is part and par-
cel of our nature. There is a change that no repentance
can accomplish, the change that is figured by the vain at-
tempt to wash an Ethiopian white. Hatred of Ireland is
bred in the Tory bone, and, as the homely proverb has it, it
will never be out of the Tory flesh. The Tories, we
presume, have an edition of the Bible, in which it is
written--" Thou shalt hate Ireland with all thy soul,
and with all thy strength." Certain it is, that some spirit
of evil has engrafted this maxim upon their heart of hearts,
and it is only their most censumm rte dissemblers that dig
guise the feeling. Sir R. Peel is too crafty an artificer to
bare his bosom to the public ; but the secrets of his party
are not in Sir Robert's custody : there are Tories in plenty
in both houses whose chief sin is not their hypocr'sy, or, at
least, who make no mystery of their malignant dispositions
towards the Irish people. Then the Tory Journals,
which could not eeist were they to play upon any but the
true chords of Tory feeling, sttike up in daily and nightly
concert the old tune of " No Popery," by which they
mean no Papists, or (which is the same thing) no Irishmi n,
or rather no regard, no care, no consideration, no relief, no
redress, no justice, in any shape or form, in any modifi-
cation or degree, for hateful, detested Ireland.! The great
Irish question, then, is this—shall a thi. d Rut of the
European dominions of the British Crown ba abandoned to
a party possessed with the very demon of misgovernment ?
Can Ireland be ruled either to her advantage, or to
our credit, by men who .entertain towards her enor-
mous population such sentimerr s as morality for-
bids us to harbour towards a foreign enemy ? Sup-
pose the next Session arrived and p‘st, and the
Municipal Reform Bill, like the Tithe Bill and
Poor-law Bill, part of the statute-law of England—
would the Tories be less Tories, would hostility to Ireland
he less a Tory sentiment and principle ? Would not the
grand and essential difference between Whig and Tory,
respecting Ireland, be as decided, as manifest, as strongly
and broadly marked as it is at the present moment? The
Irish systems of the two parties differ as widely as hatred
differs from affection. They lie upon opposite sides of the
moral equator, with the great circle that divides benevo-
lence from malignity, folly from wisdom, liberty from des-
potic government, marking their everlasting separation.
The first quality of government is good-will upon the part
of the ruler towards the subject. No wisdom will supply
the lack of this primary qualification ; indeed, where it is
wanting there is no true wisdom to b 2 found. The Tory
policy towards Ireland is as unwise as it is wicked ; and
they are now eating the bitter fruits of their folly upon the
barren shores of opposition, upon which their tried in-
capacity to navigate the Irish seas, more than any other
cause, has cast their piratical armament, with all its craft.
Look at what they admit when they exclaim, " Let the
Irish questions be removed, and then we will be ready to take
office." What is this but to acknowledge," While a single
measure for the benefit of Ireland remains to be earn 'd
we feel that we cannot administer the affairs of Great
Britain with propriety or common decency. Let the
odious business of mitigating Irish grievances be done by
other hands : we have no voeetion to reform corporations,
or take any step for the relief, improvement, pacification,
or content of Ireland. Wf. frankly admit that since these
detestable things must be done for the Irish people, you,
the Liberals, are the proper party to do them ; when
there is no more of such repulsive work as redress and
reformation to be performed, our day will be come, and there
will be some chance of holding office with comfort." This
is the plain Enlgish of—" wait until the Irish questions
are settled !" We, therefore, have no small degree of
satisfaction in announcing that the question of Municipal
Reform is the least of the yet unsettled qui stiona. The
Tories will see no end of the Irish question:, but " another,
another, and another," and above all the grand question,
Is Ireland to be governed upon Liberal or Tory principles ?
Is Ireland to be governed as a member of the imperial fa-
mily, upon the principle of the Union, or as an alien and
outcast, upon the principles of Toryism ; confidence or dis-
trust ; affection or hatred ; the spirit of the parent or the
stepmother ; the spirit of steady reformation, or the spirit
of reckless resistance to all improvement ? These are the
Irish questions that are "still leg." The Tory leaders
will find enough of difficulty upon their hands, even when
their darling Corporations have been swept with the inevi- ,
table besom.—Mornine Chronicle.
The Conservatives of the kingdom have drawn down
upon themselves the displeasure of ti,e public enemy, by
the heinous offence of meeting together, making speeches
declaratory of their political sentiments, drinking toasts ex-
pressive of their affection for eminent men, or of their devo-
tion to Constitutional principles, and pursuit).- a course
which serves at once to mark the stage which anti-revo-
lutionary feeling throughout the country has arrived at,
and to extend and accelerate its wholesome' progress
among the people. Such crimes of less-msjeste acanst
that atrocious humbug which miscalls itself " Liber "
we trust will widely spread and flourish in defiance aOf 'tnh'e
fundamental law of the " movement," which enjoins for the
harassed health of the State an everlasting change of In-
stitutions, just as some medical practitionsrs who have
drenched a patient with all the nauseous p!lysi(l in their
that incessant change of diet is their
shop, will tell him
only remaining nostrum. Thatnone those oessentialfthlediirerence exists
between Radical meetingsd aConservatives,faction
as nevers e
geh.'sical" .strength of their
fail to. beast of the
Wages—of the tens,"tpve3nties, firties, nay, hundreds mo-f
thousands, who flock _to attend the summons of their
instigators, and of the fierce and reckless efforts made to
rouse the passions of the multitude, by appeals to th it
overwhelming numerical force, being the sole power inhe-
rent in them, while the Consersereves quietly refer to facts,,ers
and opinions, and principles, and duties, as the powers
eehich they are willing to rely upon, And
those by which a
society of civilised beings ought exclusively tobe
regulated
and controlled. What again arc the purposes
proposed by
these bodies, according to their ovsn stateatents of their
respective projects? The Conservatives make no demands
upon their adversaries. They ask nothing but to be let
alone. They ask nothing but that the community shall
leeiet-peate--within itself—that the Monarchy shall not he
outraged by
Artier sTexo_e. eIYI the alternative of endless
(,4efeasi4.or tumult—!-that the pursuits of industry shall not be
eeeeeed, nor tllk enjoyment of property disturbed by loief
• fctrireetteDuncaations the barbarous necessity im
• against
Voietteifoo
,thetrfor to labour, and the iniquitous prisilege
,c.„\ •
-
•

possessed by the rich of living:without manual labour. The
Conservatives acknowledge that no scheme of Government is
perfect—that time works an unavoidable decay in the most
skilful mechanism invented for the protection of liberty, as
well as for the-maintenance oflaw, and that where such dege-
neracy can be shown to exist, they ere ready and anxious
to repair it. In fact, they take as their leading maxim,
that for the best interests of the commonwealth there ought
to be a certain vie inertia' in every political constitution,
and that where innovation of any kind is proposed, the onus
hes on the framers of it to show by reasoning, not by threats
or clamour, that the remedy recommended by them would
be better than the disease, and that the disease itse:f is
real. The law of revolution is the reverse this. Some
weeks ago (we think it was at Leeds), when Mr. Ward,
of " appropristion" memory, met a legion of Relit-els to
discuss the affairs.of the Movement, the Hon. Gentleman
chose to take upon himself the respectable office of mode-
rator, and made believe that he was desirous to restrain the
extravagance of his brother Destructives. What wis the
method employed by this enlightened advocate of liberty
nisi property, and faithful friend of the Constitution in
Church and State? He told the people that he w.as as ena-
moured of democratic change as any of them, but that it
was folly to think that they could get what he and they
wanted 710 W. Therefore they must only snatch at
so much as, and no more than, they would be able to gripe
fast and to secure, but must watch the opportunity of seiz-
ing the rest hereafter. In other words, Mr. Ward, like
his worthy chief, is a stickler for " instalments." " My
motto," said this Solomon, " is, Go on. Onwards is the
worel.'" " 0 wards!"—'o what, shallow, flippant, foolish,
babbling blockhead ? " Ormards!" to what rational, de-
finite, or useful end ? Why don't you name it ? Are you
afraid or ashamed, or ignorsnt of your own purpose ? If
you arc so eager for progr ssive innovation, and cannot as-
sign a h Atieg-p'ece at this side of a democratic a 1 repuldie,
but gal'op on, like Mazeppa's wild horse, to destruction, is
it not time for the multitude, whose impetuosity you pro-
fess to temper and admonish—is it not time, we sir,
for the multitude to pause and ask themselves what
sort of safety they have 'to hope for under such a
pilot? We are much pleased, and so we are sure
have been a large portion of the most respectable em ,ng
our readers, with the report of a meeting jut a
week azo at Dumbarton, in compliment to Mr. Colquhoul,
the Conservative Member for those boroughis. Tare wag,
in the speech of the lion. Member no vazue, inexplicable
nonsense, like that uttered by the Reform pote it Ite of
whom we made mention just before him. He give the lie
to that monstrous calumny which everyday issues from
the Ministerial Press, and which represents the return of
the Conservatives to power as a signal for the persecution
of all their political enemies—for a resumption of the old
Tory maxims of Civil Government—and, in short, as if
that were possible, for a return to the state of things which
existed before the Reform Bill. Mr. Colquhnun, we say,
gives the lie to these stupid slanders. He takes Sir
Robert Peel's celebrated letter for his text, and affirms,
what indeed the country knows full well, that there would
be more of the spirit', both of true Reform and of States-
manlike policy, in any one week of Sir Robert Peel's
Administration than in a century- under Lord Jo in
Russell. No. By the Reform Bill, bad as it is ie some
respects for Conservatism, the Conservative party will
abide. By the Reform Bill, lime as were the motives of
the Whigs in introducing it, they, the Whigs and Itatlica!s,
shall abide; in spite of them. Every known :thuse will b-
corrected—every known defect will be supplied—Parlia-
ment, under Sir Robert Peel, will legislate for England,
not forihe Whig oligarchy—for Ireland, not for O'Connell.
The. Government will rot give a bounty on political despe-
ration and incendiarism, by bribing off, with a place and
salary, every scoundrel that sticks a thorn in their side—as
Mr. Colquhoun truly charges upon the Melbourne Cabinet.
The course of policy abroad will recover its energy, at
home its justice—we shall at length shake off the qua 1-
ruple nightmare of licentiousness and Popery, arb trery
power and corrupt hypocrisy. We shall have a Govern-
ment, which now we have note-7'inzes.
For one more Session, at least, the Irish tithe qu-stion
—let unsettled as it has been by the recent Act of Corm
mutation—will constitute one of the most prominent and
interesting subjects for the consideration of the British
Parliament. Long and anxiously as it his already occu-
pied, we might almost say enerossed, the attention of th
Legislature and the pubic, the effects of " cemmutetion,"
" reduction," "appropriation," and " abolition"—the ft-
miner and favourite propositions for adjustment of the
question—appear as yet but little understood, or most er-
roneously estimated. We allude not to 'directed alarms by
which the Tory Press endeavours to fright the rattier) frown
its propriety, by asseve sting that the opposition to tithes
is merely a part of a foul and fearful conspiracy to esta-
blish Popish ascendancy in Ireland, or t :at Protestan-
tism cannot survive the abstraction of its coerced rev, nu't's
from the Church. As none are more convinced of the tal-
lacy of these fears than those lahourine to excite them, rill,'
as those minds on which then can make any impre,sion mu-t
be too weak and contemptible to be addressed in the lan-
guago of argument, these are fallacies on which i• would he a
waste of time to proceed in the exposure. The errors of °pi-
' nion to which we allude are not those of fraudulent design or
fanatical delusion, but. those arising from a gross and
unaccountable misconception or ignorance of the effect of
tithes on time relations of landlord and tenant. In almost
all discussion on the subject it has been assumed as a fact
too obvious to be disputed, that the burden of tithes falls
exclusively on the occupier of the soil, who consequently
will receive all the benefit accruing from their reduction or
abolition. To demonstrate irrefutably the fallacy of this
opinion, popular though it be, it is only necessary to refer
to the fact that all land " tithe free" in Ireland is in, ari-
bly let at a higher rent than that subject to its impost, so
that as regards the tenant, the only question is, whether lie
shall pay the amount of tithe to the parson or to the land-
lord. The general reduction or abolition of tithes, there-
fore, as in these particular instances, will necessarily lead to
a general increase of rent, and unless. where leases s-cure
the tenant against this contineency, the whole benefit
would devolve to the landlord. It was never the amount
of tithes—unjust and oppressive as it wes to increase that
amount in proportion to the improvement of industrial
occupation—but their application to the support of air
obnoxious Church, which provoked the dsadly hostility of
the Irish peo le. The conversion of tithes into is 'rent-
charge is merely the continuation of the same abhorred
application, and, consequently, with the exception of inter.
posing the landlord between the tithe proctor and tenant,
and thereby preventing those hostile and singuinary colli-
sions of continual occurrence in the collection of the impost,
thenew Act cannot rationally be expected to exert any in-
fluence in appeasing the discontent justly and naturally felt
by the people of Ireland in being taxed for the maintenance
of a Church with which they abjure communion. The rp-
duction of tithes is nothing more or less than a bonus to
landlords, unless it be regarded as a commission for be-
coming agents to the parsons in collecting the residue. The
total abolition of tithes, though it would remove a cause
of fierce and fearful excitement, would, in a pecuniary point
of view, be a mere transfer of so much revenue from the
State to the o•vnere of the soil. Such is not the settlement
which a judia ious policy would indicate. If there be a re-
mission of tithe, or of any other tax, in r gard to Ireland,
the whole people, and not a class only, should be admitted
to a participation in the benefits of the abatement. If
a doubt could ever have existed as to the right of
the State to dispose of tithe and ether Church pro-
perty in the manner most advantageous to the na-
tion, that doubt must be completely set at rest by
the Act of the last Session, in which the right was by
every branch of the Legislature recognisnl, asserted,
and put in operation. In support of this right it is
therefore superfluous to argue. Thus the revenue of the
Church being the property of the State, the plan which
appears most equitable, most practicable, and best adaptsd
to conciliate all parties, would be for the St ;te to take the
tithes altogether into its own possession, and levy theta as
a land-tax at a fixed :mount per acre, computed at the
average rate, or according to the recent commutation,
allotted in proportion to the value of the soil, in the simile
mod,- as the county rates are now apolotted in Irelan I ;
or, what would he still better, they might he :ass, sled nn
the landlords. The fund thus raised shou'd he added to
the national revenue, and from this incr use the Got ern-
ment would be enabled to reduce Close taxes which bear
most heavily on the poor. Tithes would thus he nbo-
fished " in name and nature," and all p trties would
equally participate in the advantage of their abolition,
whereas to abolish them without substituting an equiva-
lent tax on the soil, though it would remove a rna n-
strous grievance, tranquillise the country, and for the
present relieve the occupiers of the land, it would ulti-
mately tend only to swell the rental of the landlords. It
is not the present only, but the future also, which should
guide the actions of a Legislature. The abolition of tithes
weunl eff et an immense good in tranquillising the country,
hut before twenty years would have elapsed, the whole
pecuniary benefits would have gradually found their way
emointotile pockets of the owners of the soil, and the burden
erl with the tithes would be rep laced by an addition raek-rents. Tithes ought to be regarded as the pro-
perty of the State in the soil, and had they been fixed at
a certain amount, So as not to eperate as a tax on indus-
try, and applied to national purposes, instead of to the
support of an ail,iaoenrieriCerloiwuvnirdue/ilin,dgthey would have proved the
roost
s t t
h easy
their meanscontinuance ional expenditure.
a
never vetebe nhavaet been the subject
c
making a provision for ihe
of complaint. With regard to
suggest that, until the
pernod not far
It is
Irish clergymen, we would
tary principle be recognised by the Suttees.,
to the nssemliline of Par
distant—the Church should be support,d a; the army or
• fro, the general revenue of the country.
navy Is—
vsiolgisuleystion should he the
hrir:inms
ntitestihr:;:sblerntrrntenptonu.
most
calmly and scrupulously examined. We would most

•
strongly claim the support of the Irish Members, end
above all, of Mr. O'Cosnell. :0 placing before Ibex teen:-
tryne n a fair exposition of the re.a•io, s and cons, querce
to which we have just rererred, a• involved iii the adjust-
ment of the question. For ourselves, vvi,ether or not we
succeed in attracting their co, sideration or inakeig them
converts to our opini, n:, fully y imps ssed with the justice
and expediency of thew • o; inions, we shall earnestly and con-
scientiously continue to urge them on public attt•ntion.--s-
Morning Adver/iscr.
The increase of railway travellitie renders the system, by
which that mode of coeveyeinee msy be regulated: a sub-
ject of deep interest to the public. A communieation wa=s
as will he ‘e is in oar police rap int, m ile, yes•eoi •y to
Lord Mayer, in ref ren •e to ee •t irr. eul it S " inch
have occurred, an I wiriee m,y occur to • •of
road between Manc,hestcr and L •ndoe. M . D tatty
Hicks, the gent'
...email, who brought th • m tt r aan ler th•
notice of the Leal Mayor, stilted, that hey.. g t :ken .
at Manchester, for the whole jonr:•ey to Loild.;n, t n the
und.•rstandisg that no interruption stud I oc.•or. h- a d
the other passengers from the no the n ex-remity of the
line, wera d tained—in d r ct violat on of t e
,gr einem
at Birmingham, for six ,:ours and a half ; that a hen the
pass, asters remonstrated, and th eateneil to take pest-
chaises at the expence of the Ra lw iy
Comp my, they •.vast.,
jeeringly reminded, teat, although p ist-chas,•s, perhape
might be secured, it would be difficult to find post-
horses ; and teat, finally, submission to the arr (nee-
ments of the Directors was foaled to be the only remedy.
Other causes of diss •Csfattion with tre various Rail-
way,.
Companies h tte recently arisen.' C„e psess, fir
instance, was one of th•• marry anti( p 'red i lemit ez, s
to be derived from railwey trayelline. An I, f r a ti
the new mode of conveyitsce Berl, ondouiite sly pre e
cheaper than the old. But a leat the nil reed, sof
conveyance were discentinued, the rail wiis cherg• s fir
mediately rose higher th those, which had sutfic dto
support the saieet to iches! We de ect attent oil to t eese
facts, not for the purp ise of censu ins tire r.,iiw D ac-
tors, because, the unpleas.nt eircunist..tice sta'e I by Mr.
Hicks might, pi•rheps. be the sestet or accid. nt ;—a
to the rise in the cleaves centlect, d with r travel
ling, generally—that, nag inav hay • h,il 0., It-fed
cessitry by the inevitable oxpense of ush a nuste of
transport. But, while we ae• not disposed bin fly to eel.-
sure the mat-ewers and d r (loss of raitrot ds—still we (1,,
think, that sufficient ex cri 'nee has alrea ly b seat glen d.
to induce grave ri-flecie s as to the dilv:i(it •fzes :oaf dsss
advantages of this, the tin, recent t,iampli n 1 :iirch rical
skill. Some of tie ali a t cares ,Ire a. p R
pidity of communication inust, for certain s uhic. a sl for
certain commercial purposis, rank high in ilia scale of
social benefits. The substitution, nipreev r, of nisei.-
nical power for the labour of a class of i7iferior hors••s is
calculated to lead to a di I inidon in ttic innerist ot'eruelty
to the brute creation. Th • . xe- rm nt ef railro ils is,
however, too recent to enahle us to deteraiine, wh ..cr
the other promised adtast •ges cin e:er be roalis d.
Doubts are entertained, whether t•e rail.veys are, (if e
all, adapted for the tr .nspert of heavy go (Is. Th
friction induced by heavy tio li •s will, it is s .id,
the expense of repairs gee iter thar! any p j., w ich .as
be charged for the a••commsdation wit kid"' t of. 1,1 tat
event, the railroads must b,-, bu the e tv.•) e •
of pessengers ;—but no rate rue widget eau be ilori • I
from that source, will ev-r remunerate railw ty prp, • j to
The attempt, besids, to tax Cite c• up to tiie
nerating point must, necessarily, d s roy the chief of t!,.
adv
r•
aetazes to the great batty of Ts---.(!iiedp-
n-ss. Amongst the disadva- t :es c testi witssnele‘tves is—the liar
syst, r.avedl ahich hit e, alt, Ina le th en-
certain local inter+ sts. Tn I (lasses
of p
depended for the employment of their cap t 1 n,i th it ia-
dustry, on the occasion of inisisteang to the iv 'fits of tra-
vellers by the high roads, the i•liaoge w,ll be rianou • ;—and
even, it tly• consrqu-ne,s of tha7 c ai ge shoe d. in sow,
r:
,a,llEoinr
cases, stop short of absolute mint, aainsgst the m tes
y
ha
rdstii),a 7;e
e lit:hit loci:
th, ya e
f eL.
Oppress
Boning old pursuits anti habits--a .d of di coyer ne and
quiritig new. Amongst the mlieir Bait; att eid rut on the
new system, may be montane-I, its offers upon the ap
pearance of the c iuntry. Vast, barliaraus•laokine. item
like the ramparts of a semi-civilised le•oele. sp ad rig
thernselv, s through some of the in rst love) s i,t ti,.•
kingdom are fvt••d to arid to the pally- sqae he isfits o
English scenery—those beauties of wirieh (he insahitates
of England have so much reason to be pr-,lid. No-- may
such considerations—trivial as th y seem—he fairly left
out of view, when calculaine the eff -cts of ad way ss—toc. ,
on the other hand, the eulegists of stean travelleig -.re
exceedingly apt to leave their mere utilitarianism belend,
a•d to wax, if not poetical, at least anti-prosaic i.t extra-
tiatina on the a mote and dimly-seen advantages of their
ravouri!e system. 'l'•,e in ,r .I infliences of radroa 1,, toe,
present matter for doubt. We hear much ataut their
tendency, by ban c.• sing the intercaers b• 1 ate. 11. d stout
par's of the kinuu-dooi, to remote pr.ittdit, s.
' much in ,y, perhaps, b.- s:Sel) conceded o ;—h, the pr c. ss
of ccmcession canton stop :it this point. Exi ti g Inca,
preju lie-s mty b • rem ,viol i—out are they net likely tube
replaced by exotic prejudices quite as daogereus and uu-
profitable ? To determine this point, we must pre( iousl)
determine the relative purity of the mends, and modes of
thinking, which prevail, respectively, in large towns, and in
the rural districts;—because the establiihnient of radread
will, as a matter of necessity, iecrease prodigiously th •
influence of ereat towns over the other po lions of the king-
, dom. When the system, indeed, shall be fully develop, d,
England will, so tar as fashions and tastes, and opinions
and prejudices are concerned, be little else than one huge
town. It may be fairy doubted, we think, whether the
national character will gain maeli by the change. There
is one cir, umstance, coin •cted with the p,es(tit, system of
railroad travelline, about which, at ali events, there is likely
to be little difference of opinion. All will, we think, agree
that the public is more completely at the mercy of the
managers of railroads, than it ever was before, iii re erenee
to any class of men professing to nii•ister to the een,,.
ral
wants, in connection with travelling. The
moaopoly which
is, in point of feet; established, renders it very questionable
whether Parlierni•nt acted wisely in dealing otherwise with
railroads than with bigit-roads. The hi4ll-roads belong to
the public, and are regulated by fuuctionaries respoas bit
• to the public. Why should not tire railroads bt•losg to the
• public, and be managed under the direction of Ge) ere-
went 7—Morning Herald.
Among the texts for nitusenui .and fu'some
wh ch the 4441) reeort• d speech of Lord J. Russell, at
Liverpoal has
afforded to the tnieist,•riel writers ju L0.,,,0
there is one about e•lneati, n which does not seem to fie
to be very intelligilde. His Lonishie, it seams, expressed
a hope that touch would soaa be (hag! to raise the p, ople,
in a moral point view, .byan• ti i ,lit n(1 (mil religiaus
educatione" sineeo-I) jai.) the Noll- Secretere :n the
hop, that much m„y he. dose t•asards forth- rres•
spreading the relizieus eduction of die people ; hut )then
he uses that talismanic word or Wiiggerv. " ereiseiterirel,"
as_ tile eir!ef and ereced.ng qtaatiry n %via cli be
hopes to see emp o:• etc r ~sing" the prop c, we o• it that
the whole mattee becomes (to our ul.-enfightcried tision)
ta eln
jo-
t:e •(a p aplexey. So fir -
as our expteience
the educe n whit-in Wli gs eonsider eidighten. ti is not religi-
ous Filucation, hut the inculcation of i•ert an quackeries which
aredn their spire, and their pi aet•cel results, totally
olr-
posed to reigien. And they are rot more oppos d to
religion than tie y are to ihe ~striae which is foetid in nun.
The Christian reliaion in its whole ssope and bairing testi-
fies the skilful app. ical,•
oit of an all-wise Author to the na-
ture which is in mare as that it .tore m is' be loand exi•mplt-
fis i
d either n natienal or in pets history, loin toe crea-
tion of the world tai the ',resent time. But we must re-
peat that what Whig d ibblers in cdacation have ever put
forth as " eiii,eleemeLe as " superior to antiquated pr ju-
do, s," as "f, ei• ireni the
aleotry of set setts;' and et
forth, has n not only revoliine to the a-lesions
mind, because aepa entry regard! ss of 11,0 e awful
sanctiotis which ;rive to preciees of moral te..ehieg their
high and ho'y imam: its, but absolutely' fool sh, liec,use
overly ina; plicable to the thisg to be instructed aml
im-
pros ed, namely, the natal e which is in human crea-
tures. When. therefore, Lerd John Rus• ell sp, aks of
his hope that much e ill be done to raise the peeple
in
a moral point of view by an enfighteutd and religious
education, we very mirth faar that as iu the collocat'on of
his wor.ls, so in the thing itself, the religion us- II be secon-
dary, and the Whip, ry snit quicker) w; 1 lie first. It
does seem to us that the Whir: persons who have ei
y
iirdulged in speetdatioils alt ut the netral cliaaeta to be
effected by education are nothing short of craze ; and we
are quite cons ince] that if they give utterance to anythine
about the direction of their peculeary affairs half so wild,
fantastical, and repugnant to tl•e reality of things as that
which they utter ebeut education, their friends would
begin to take me 'so es for putting them ureter some more
healthful government and restraint than that of their ottn
minds. Flo-al certain hints which have fallen out in rela-
tion to Whig schemes of education, it seems that tho e uni-
versal agents fur introducing Whig change i stn the doniesti,.
habits of the people, the Poor-law Commissioner
are to have somethime very material to do with,
at all events, the initiatory process. We coil-
fess that we like not tins. The poor-law Com-
missioners noiy be very well in t! ear ctwu line of
business—and a very hateful, heart-hardenine hnie of busi
ness it seems to be—but as to the r ahlity for setting jut
action a system of religious educatien, we have no sort of
trust in it. Wt• should as soon think of entrusting a Corn-
piny of gas-pipe manufacturers to construct orga. s For ou.•
cathedrals, as to gist.- the stentattlonteesuoi CoMnris-
sinners of the new Poor-law the charge of org.ites:ng schools
for the relig;ous education of youth. But as there is no-
thing ike matter of fact for Cr) me the validity of as spe us
lation, we must beg leave to present to our readers a speci-