The Sun.
London, England, 1836-05-05 00:00:00

ut upon one raiim# of 11, which we Cain k-
may,
will be found, if carried into effecfi isa be of a very op-
pressive character to the public. 'l'!w ;natter will be
best understood by the perusal of a table, Accompanied
with observations, contained in this clay's jotirna! ; !roar
both of which it will appear that one clasp' co: his
tNioltb
aljets.,lty's subjects (and through them all the rest. sio
will stiffer most grievously by the premediteted
change or inctswie of the Stamp Duties. It is known
that the law stationers of the metropelis first receive
the stamps. at the office, and then send them forth and
distribute them throughout the realm. On the first pur-
chase of the stamps made by the law stationers, a diseeamt
of one and a half per cent. is allowed for immediate pe
went, and as a stamp of a fixed value now covers man;
species of transactions, there is nu necc,ssity for airy
large stock on hand. The law stationer inns increase,:
his first receipt of stamps by his present means. But-
' under the proposed arrangement the duties will not he
equally progressive, as they have been in certain kinds
of transactions; stamps for each, therefore, most ire
taken out in cases where one would have served for
many, as the lew statimpers and their stock
suspendedstocikin
indefinitely
increased, or the transaction:' of the public
whilst the discount on pronipt y•syment is to be greatly
diminished. These and similar herdships on the law
stationers are ably explained in the observations to
which we refer our readers. But what, we ask, will he
the effect on the public ? And, in answering this
question, we wish it to be observed that we do not now say
a word against the increase of the etainn duty—we shall
leave that point to future considers *ion—but we do
deprecate most sincerely the complication and the
consequent perplexity of the proposed change. If
there be one thing which puzzles plain -veil-meaning
men more than another in the ordinary u7tsiness of
life, it is the knowing what stamps arc to be affixed
to certain transactions : the contracting parties are
almost universally left to the mercy of the stan7l)-
dealer ; and we ourselves have known more than onto
instance in which it has been attempted to set aside
an agreement or vitiate a contract in consequence of a
wrong stamp being affixed; yet will this " confusion"
be infinitely " worse confounded" by the new scheme.
The objections, however, do not rest here; other parts
of the Bill impose iieb;lities of the- trieet oppressive Has
tore, as will be 'seen ov tie from a pamphlet
published for circulation amongst the iJembers of the
House of Commoas, which will be found in another
column. While we are upon the subject of stamps,
we must say that we care not a farthing for what the
Chancellor of the Exchequer can do to us; .but we
cannot help remarking upon the perverse follies of his
system as affects the country. He is throwing away
some stamp duties, and aggravating others—but how?
and upon what principle? Why, he is sacrificing
revenue for the sake of popularity among those who
already reject his offer with scorn ; whilst upon the
transactions in which men of merit and men of business
and honourable citizens only can be engaged, he is
increasing and complicating the stamp duties. If the
present Government were really anxious to do good—
if the present House of Commons would look at the
subject with the eye of common sense, would they be
troubling themselves with the remission of stamp
duties, whilst the tax on soap continued ? Cleanli-
ness is health : and health is the essential ingredient
both of individual and of a nation's happiness. Next
to bread, soap is the poor man's necessary of life. We
would beg to ask those who are now militig for the
better observance of the Sabbath, whether they do not
think a clean shirt and stockings at least as indispen-
sable distinctions to the labourer and artisan of that
sacred day, as a dirty sheet containing 1,530 inches of
obscenity, sedition, and blasphemy ?—Times.
With deep regret we have observed all along the
proceedings carried on by a large body of English
clergymen, holding (some of them) high and impor-
tant stations in it, against one of their reverend bre-
thren. With great pain do we now remark that the
spirit in which such proceedings originated has not
lost any of its bitterness with time—that Dr. Hamp-
den is pursued with unremitting and indefatigable—
zeal, we will call it, from a repugnance to the use of
any less respectful term—that the efforts to mark out
and degrade him arc at this moment revived with more
seeming decision and pertinacity of purpose than at
any period since the first moment of his nomination
to the Regius Professorship of Divinity—and that the
declaration of opinion which is just about, as report
say.:;, to issue from the public assembly of divines at
Oxford, aims at operating with fatal influence agains
the usual discharge of the elevated and sacred func-
tions boloneing to his office. It is a subject im-
possible to be dwelt upon with satisfaction by any
enlightened friend of the Church, or at such a sea-
son as this, to be glanced at without apprehen-
sioa. When the edifice of the Church of England is
threatened from without and treated as an object of in-
veterate obloquy, is it a fit moment for internal dis-
cord among its Ministers, and for exposing to eager
and irreverend ridicule that which is already shaken to
its foundations by the foreign assailants ? We fully
admit the indiscretion manifested in the choice of Dr.
Hamden for his conspicuous office. If, besides the
confidence of the King's Ministers in the purity of
his character, the force of his abilities, and the sound-
ness of his religious doctrine's, they considered the
leaning towards Whig principles in his politics as an ad-
ditional recommendation to his Majesty's favour, it
would be unfair to censure them for such a preference
Mieisters have done the same. But if Lord
Melhourne had reason to believe that there existed
against Dr. Hampden so strong a sentiment of dis-
approval, and that so passionate an expression of it
would be called into play by his appointment as R,e-
gins Professor, on the part of the great majority of the
Clergy, we cannot acquit his Lordship of great impru-
dence and of indifference to the peace of the Church
of England, in lending himself to such a nomination.
IVe nevertheless deprecate every symptom of a fac-
tion ; and, above all, a persecuting spirit, in the con-
duct of del gvinen of the Protestant Established
Church. It is cruel to the interests of religious free-
dom, of which that Church ought to he, and in the
mein, we trust, will always be, the sanctuary, that any
couatenance should be given to rtunon:.-i c!iar:;ring time
pretlinnineit party at Oeford with enmity to D.-.
annpden, not because of his imput-d heterodoxy,
but for the sake of his bias toward; Whiggery ; as if
all clergymen were bound.to be of one faith in politics
as well as in religion. While it is yet time, we would
hainhly and affectionately implore the members of eon•
vocation to reconsider the entire sub:ect—to divert
tlieir minds from all political pr..;:osse:ision—to atijudi-
clte a religious quest ion upon sz:ft.:iv ivli,;ions grounds
—and to rememeer what inestimable, though collateral,
interests are staked 01)00 this single issue.—Times.

The following article upon'' T Andrew ,Agnew's Bill
was read, for insertion yestcrlay, but want of space
•.rovented its publication
`• Oh I fur a forty-parson power
To chaint thy praiie—Hyporriey
air Andrew k;new's Bill of absurdities, miscalled
a Bill to promote the Observance of the Lord's Day,
has been ordered to be printed by the House of Com-
mons. This will serve one putpose, and only one that
we are aware of, and that i,, it will serve as a record
of the ridiculous folly which otherwise might be doubted
by posterity, of some members called to legislate for
the thitish empire in the so-called enlightened nine-
teenth century. In fact, if this Bill were by any
chance to become law, we consider that the only way
by which its penalties could be avoided would be to lie
in bed and fast all thy ; for its preamble enumerates
such a variety of acts which involves violation of its
provisions, that it would be almost impossible to stir,
move, eat, or drink, without incurring a forfeiture. It
should therefor,: be properly entitled a Bill to promote
and fasting on the. Sabbath. Let the follow-
in:, II:, taken as a specimen of the wise and considerate
provisions of the Bill :
house used or licensed for
gen:eut of
who shall
" And be it further enacted, t:liiiinllttnn
)rea,
enryk. ehioleoputeceerl,:
or
ripeeer'-shoonu,siel,a‘ell'if b'-itilowti sec: rtea veOorrrn
(oak
s-aslielotp)i. 'l.l:3s•e'ret il or otherwise,
permit any liquor or provisions to be drunk or consunted in
or upon, or to be remmed from his or her premises during
the Lord's day, and every person who s:tali be present ong
the Lord's day at any news-yentatioilrisslub-raum, shall forfeit
saahslgasmfonroto!eesfisrtshtaonetele:t;y
than forty shilling;,
nor more than three pounds for the second cameo ; and not
le.s than three pounds, nor more than five pounds for every