The Sun.
London, England, 1825-06-06 00:00:00

[NEW TIMES.I

We. havei:elsewitere, extracted from an Edin-
burgh Paper, the statement of some 'proceedings
relative, to the• refusal: of ,of the Scot-
tish, Church to baptise .aninfant.-.—(See aitother
column .of THE SuN.),-7-.The appears so
strange, that we must conclude it is inaccurately
reported ; and, if so, we are 'doing a service to
the parties concerned, in bringing; the misrepre-
sentation to their notice. According to the revor.t,
a Parent. brings his child to a ClOrgymaw to be
ptised,and. the Clergy manrefuseilo baptise the
child,. because the Parent was alleged to
been guilty of various irregularities—such as:keep.
'ing a : public-house !--smuggling-Hencouraging
drunkenness—and sowing irreligious opinions.—
In the first place, •these offences are, all denied.
-except the curious crime of keeping a public
house; but suppose them all to' be fully proved
and ten times more, is the profligacy of the. Fa.
rent to be. a reason for excluding•the chilttfrout
admission into the Christian Church ?, ;.'Thus
seems to be directly contrary to the words Of our
Saviour,—.c' Suffer'. little children. to conie;',unto
me, and forbid them not." And yet it ,WOuld.
appear - from the ,Report, the Committett.as-
- sunned that the child ought not to be.l.lagt.ised4
if the accusations against the Father `could
be substantiated ; for it • is stated, 4C that the
case was remitted. to the Kirk ,SesSion,
with instructions to make:. • the necessary
inquiries ; to hear Bremner, - (the • alleged
delinquent) in his own .:defence, and. to
decide, 'definitively, that Mr. Gunn (the-tler:.
gyman). shall or shall , not baptise the
Common reason teaches.us that the errors of the
Parent catrbe no -reason for withholding-a spirit.
ual benefit from ' his' innocent offspring. The
spirit of theehurch of England-, is certainly very
different; for, by an express Canon, it is ordtie.:
ed, that:no-Minister, under paiwol three months'
suspension; shall refuse or delay, to christen any

child. We should have conceived, too, that the
spirit of the Scotch Chuech-Vms-the same; for, by
an Act of Assembly in 113•47, it was " recommended
to Presbyteries to consider of the best means to get
the child reitilf Ordinary beggars baptised ;" and by •
au Act in 17121 it was " declared, that children
born within the' verge:of the visible Church, of.
p4ebuis, one or both, professing the Christian re-
ligion;have a right to baptism." We are aware,
that by the usage of the Scotch Church, which
dilfers in that respect from the English, the pa-•
renf' is regarded as the most proper sponsor;
but where circumstances occur to disqualify the
parent, some other fit person may be appointed.
The case of Bremner, however, as reported in
the- Edinburgh Paper, does not turn on a refusal
to accept the father as sponsor, but on a refusal
to baptize the child ; and this it is which we
think requires to be cleared up. •

C,TILE PUBLIC LEDGER.) -
Last night we received. Augsburgh Papers to
the 24th, and Frankfort to the same date. With
the exception of news from Greece, of a very fa-
vourable character, they contain no political in-
telligence of any kind, which seems to spew that
the best understanding prevails at this, time be-
tween the Great Powers. Of late the Holy Al-
liance has mitigated its tone, as may be seen. from
the Speech of the Emperor Alexander at the open-
ing of the Polish Diet, as well as from the popu-
lar acts practised by the Emperor Francis since
his arrival in Italy. Only in Spain and one other
country,w lath shall be nameless, an uncompromis-
ing resistance to public opinion, and an incessant
struggle with the spirit of
,the age, still prevail
amougst.the Ruling Party. With respect to our
diplomacy, we see nothing to blame ; but, on the
contrary, much to praise ; and it would be more
in• unison with the- character of this great and free
country, if the same spirit, by which the direc-
tion of our foreign interests is marked, animated
the rest of the Cabinet. The news from Greece
is derived through three different channels, and
concurs in representing her affairs as proSperous
at every point. There are advises from Seres
by way of Semlin, of the 30th of April, from
Corfu, to the 2.01 of IVlay, and from Constantinople
of• the 27th of April, in all of which the failure
of Redshed Pacha's attempt to become master of
Western Greece is admitted. It is even reported
that he had previously sustained a defeat near
Arta ; whilst it is pretty certain that the Albani-
ans have not made those efforts in favour of the
Porte, upon which the latter is said to have count-
ed. Added to this favourable news, there is a re•
port that the traitor Odysseus has been deserted by
all his followers, and that he has fled again to his
cavern in the mountains. Goura, however, who
is employed
,against him, is stated to have ex-
pressed confident hopes, in a letter addressed to
the Greek Government, that he will be able to
take him in his retreat ; whilst ad vices from
Constantinople say that he has actually perform.
ed this service. With respect to Ibrahim Pasha
and his Egyptians, all accounts agree in stating
that he has failed before Navarrin ; and as this
place is wholly incapable of resisting a well-
directed attack we may imagine what sort of
troops the Egyptians are, from the circumstance
of their having failed to carry it.

[THE TIMES.
Spanish Stock advanced in price on Saturday,
in consequence of- some vague intelligence from
14itdrid; that the King, pressed by hiS necessi-
ties, had evinced a disposition to listen to more
moderate counsel. It is even asserted that he
has heard, without any-violent indignation, pro-
positions for the' introduction of such a• system of
representation in Spain, as will at least divestab-
solate power.of its more rude• and direct opera-
tion. In our judgment, there is just as much-sin-
eerily in this new -turn to the sentiments of Fer-
dinand, as in that of the fox. in the fable; who
praised the fine voice of the crow,- in order, by
making her sing, to induce her to- drop-the cheese
she held in her mouth. The object of Mr:Lamb's
mission to Madrid was known, his arrival hourly
expected, and the object of the Royal 'hypo-
crite would . naturally he to feign a recantation
of his. former errors, ttnd•declare himself-a• cone
vett to- moderate principles, al the best mode of
overtime; the wrath of the English Arnbassndor,
and-blunting the effect. of- the.threat with which
he was cha:rgted. Be his motives what they nlayi
the letters from Madrid dwell with much em-
phasis on the supposed conversion, and indulge
in.-'sanguine speculations •on the- happy • conse-
quences which are to flow from it.- Ferditurnill's
situation, without doubt, is sufficiently deplorable ;
without a maravedi in his coffers, he is hard pressed
at once by theclaims of the French and the British
Governments, to meet which he is equally without
resources from internal revenue, and from the state
of his credit in foreign countries.- England is the
spat •to which he. looks for a-supply; yet that is
t4e.country which above-all others has- been most
injoted•and insulted by him in the money trans-
actions conducted in his name. We believe we
may safely affirm, not-only that-his credit is 'de-
stroyed here, but that it irirnpossible for hirn,under
snykupOcritica pre ten Cie sof unaltered disposition,
to reviireit. A Royal word once broken should never
arultrbe- trusted. I una te treachery-Hr character is a
vice --mot to be eradicated ; and ';lik creditors,
should there be found any persons so simple 99
to place themselves once rrio're-in that relation to
hini„ may be assured, that the first' specious' plea
which presents itself- would be acted on, to the
defeasance of theirs claims. We shall watch-with
mach curiosity- the issue of the new experiment
which we anticipate will be-made on:the English
creddlity.

-t

ING CHRONICLE.)
NEWSPAPF:itS OF .1.11 E •CoroNtts.—We are Riad
to find that Mr. ;Horne 'obtained, .on Friday
Right, a pledge, -from. the Chancellor - of the
ExciiegnPr .tinit a , Bin should,'be 'introduced
forthwith, to permit. the transmission- of News
papers. to and from the Coloniesi on
the same terms as to and from Ireland. We
know that Mr. Hume hasfor three years, been
endeavouring to accomplish this object, so de,
si miff e " for thespread' information; and' we
think Mr. Robinson': will receive, .115 ,he
serves, the thanks 'every .one connected 'with

the Colonies. Mr. Hume has, for some time
past, intended to submit to the House of
Commons the propriety of taking off half the
present Newspaper duty, and also of reducing
the duty on Advertisements to the same amount;
and for many reasons we shall hereafter
assign, we hope his Majesty's Ministers will
lend a favourable ear to the proposition.

The evidence of Dr. Doyle, Roman Catholic
Bishop of Kildare, before the Select Committee of
the House of Lords, is remarkable for the ird-
portance and the variety of the information it
affords, and for the superior power of mind
and temper exhibited during a long examina-
tion, on every tenet, past as well as present, of
the Catholic Church.—The late Lord Kenyon was
once subjected to an interrogatory nearly as per-
tinacious, and we have heard that the examiner
was as much discomposed by the great temper
of one witness, as the great want of temper of
the other. The Chief Justice of the King's
Bench had been required to afford information
respecting the fees and emoluments of his Court,
to a Committee of the House of Commons, of
which Mr. Abbott, now Lord Colchester, was the
Chairman, who held also an inferior office in the
King's Bench, when the patience of the Chief
Justice had been exhausted by a series or
questions too nearly touching that tender
subject the fees of his office, and he began
to demur to any further interrogatory. Mr.
Abbott assuming, as he well knows how, a
high and commanding attitude, informed his'
Lordship, with all the authority of a Chairman
of Committee, that he (Mr. Abbott) was armed
with the authority of the Commons House of Par-
liament.—The Chief Justice returned this short
answer—" I don't understand being yelped at
by my own turnspit."—ln the present instance
the verattle Dr. Doyle being blessed with a com-
mand of temper, Which did not belong at all times
to the late Chief Justice, appears to have baffled
and despised the yelping of the little turnspit
who attempted to worry an animal so superior to
to himsel f.—

[MORNING HERALD.]
The spirit of party, like the Malaria of the
coasts of-the Mediterranean, poisons or contami-
nates all that comes within its reach. A striking
instance of this occurs in the proceedings which
have lately taken place in Parliament relative to
delays In the Court of Chancery ; the principal
movers in which seem much more anxious to heap
opprobrium upon Lord Eldon than to look to the
root of
_the evil, whatever it may be. For our
own parts, we believe that Lord Eldon goes
through as much labour of mind and body as any
one of hi& Majesty's subjects, and that to expect
from him more than he performs, is both unreason-
able and unjust. It is the fault of little minds to
jump too hastily to wrong conclusions, and of
great ones to hesitate too. long in coming to right
ones. lo this latter error, if it he one, we believe
Lord Eldon is obnoxious; and, however para-
doxical it may appear, we are persuaded that
were he less able he might be more expeditious,
and so far, perhaps, more useful. But it is one
unerring criterion of true wisdom to doubt • its
own powers and attainments, and to convince its
possesior how little he really knows. That Lord
' Eldon's procrastination may, to a certain degree,
have been iojurious to sui tors, cannot be denied ; but
such injury is but as a drop of water in- the
ocean, compared to the greater evils which be-
long to,- and seem to have become inherent and
inveterate in our Courts of Equity. These call
loudly for a thorough investigation, and as effec-
tual a cure as they are susceptible of ; for,
after all, we fear it must be admitted that much
of the evil is such as will admit of no substan-
tial remedy.. Such, for instance, as the time
allowed for answering bills in equity and other
unavoidable periods of delay---in many cases
absolutely necessary, but in others an inevitable,
injury and abuse. It. is also- to be borne in mind
that there are two parties to every suit, the one
demanding justice and the other withholding it ;
and it must be 'a very perfect system indeed
which would decide by. anticipation that which
it is the final object of the suit to discover.
The folly of the thing, after all, consists in
people going to law -as they do, when nine
times in ten, especially in matters- of account,
men of business and of common sense (of which
Mr. John Smith gave a striking instance in the late
debate) could arbitrate between them much more
honestly,effectually,and satisfactorily than Courts
of Law or Equity can do. That that which was
intended as a remedy should often become a-
source of further injury and oppression to the
aggrieved, is however- a great evil ; but one
which is not likely to be redressed-by- party spi-
rit making it the handle of an attack upon an iiii-
vidual, who is in no way answerable for the sys-
tern,'and who is, as a Judge, far beyond re-
proach. Neither, ate fear, is it likely to be reme-
died by Commi.sions composed of persons who, if
they do not profit by the abuses, at least are not
very unfriendly to the objects of their own pur-
suits. The reform must be accomplished, if accom-
plished at all, by information, the good sense,
and right feeling of the public, made known
through ,that medium which is the redresser of
all Wsungs—the PEeis. The staternents given
through it have already made a deep impression
on the public mind ; and will, we have no doubt,
hasten a reform of the objects we allude to, more
effectually than their being- made the ground of
individual prejudice and attack.

ExEcuTlox.—Wedne's(lay morning, a few mi-
nutes past eight o'clock, James Stevenson, who was convicted
at the Cilasgow Circuit, of robbing and cruelly maltreating
John Brown, paid the forfeit of his life to the offended laws of
his country in front or' the Court-house, It will be in the re-
collection of. our readers, that Stevenson, along with two
others, attacked Mr. Brown on the Catchcart.road, near Cross.
one night. in January last, arid there felled him to the
ground with stobs, and heat and cut bim.st severely, that his
lifewas despaired of, and afterwards robbed him of 2.31., sotne
silver, and two watches. The unfortunate man was only
twenty-one
years a age: In - consequeuce of the execution
being, so early in the morning, and a heavy shower falling at
the time, the crowd was unusually small ; indeed it was over
before a great proportiorrof the inhabitants were aware. of it,—
(GZasgote Paper).

I, It was Cololle.l CooPErt, the I%lember for Dart-
Mouth, and-riot Mr. B. Cooper,-who spoke on the motion for a
gust to repair. Lyme Regis harbour, on•FrOaY-- • - • -