The Sun.
London, England, 1831-12-28 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

If the Tories reckon on support from the
country, in case of the ReforniMinisters failing
to .carry their Bill, the ToriesTemistaken. The
Manly and honestyshowever on thtt point wrong-
headed, portion of them, have spoken out, and
declared their decided enmity to all measures
of general Reform. If such men, on taking
office, design to act up to their professed princi-
ples, they must retain Parliament in its present
condition,—the same in substance and in form,
—because, always admitting that these high- j
minded " conservators" believe the truth of their
own allegations—that whatever flaws, or specks,
or irregularities, may be discovered in the exist-
ing representative system, " as a whole it works
well,"—nay,: works the better " by resS•oll of
such seemingwdefects,"—it follows, not only that
the worship ers of these holy, but unfathomable
mysteries, ill ,have a conscientious dread of
touching a , the smallest, particle of the sacred
pile, but feiitures of it, which they will
regard with dienost anxious and awe-stricken
reverence, must be those which are outwardly
the most " irregulars' and defective ; and,
therefore, that let what will be subjected to
experiment, or exposed to change, the rotten
boroughs, under an honest Tory Cabinet, would
be sure to stand unmolested. Now, that such
would be the anticipations of the people of Eng-
ttild, in the event of the Duke of Wellington
acceding to the Government, no one can doubt
who is aware of his Grace's high repute for in-
tegrity and consistency of character; and we
shall therefore only stop to ask, is it morally
possible that under a general impression of the
Duke's carrying into effect, as Minister, his re-
corded hostility to all extensive Reform, an-
nounced to the world when he was actually Mi-
nister, a little more than twelve months ago,—
can any sane mind imagine that he would have
the people of England more cordially with him
than before, when he himself confesses that he
was driven from office because Parliament had
withdrawn its confidence from his Adminis-
tration, and when it was notorious that be lost the
confidence of Parliament for no reason but that
the people's cogfidence had been previously for-
feited by his speech against Reform ? Then the
Duke of Wellington, acting with due regard
to truth or honour, would feel that he could not
hold office for a week, and if, under that consci-
ousness, his Grace should refuse to form a Go-
vernment, whence, in the name of wonder,
could a Tory cabinet be exfodiated ? Sir Robert
Peel, solus—would he attempt it ? He is too
prudent. But there is another hypothesis. The
Duke of Wellington might turn reformer,. and
bring in a Bill—an insufficient bit-by-bit Reform.
Would the nation accept it ? His Grace knows
that they would not. There is still another hy-
pothesis. The Duke might bring forward afac
simile of the Bill which he now opposes, and
might prevail upon the Lords to support for his
sake a measure which, as Lord Grey's, they re-
pudiate ! Then the Duke of Wellington
would do that for office, which he would not do
fur the public good ; and the Lords would pro-
mote, when tendered to them by a Minister of
the old Court or Tory predilections, what, when
submitted by a statesman whose general views were
of a popular tendency, they have rejected with
scorn. It is impossible to conceive such a man as
the Duke of Wellington acting from such paltry
motives, or a house of Lords thus factious. We
reject; therefore, the hypothesis with contempt.
As for the Press—that portion of it, at least, for
which we can speak without presumption—our
support was given to the Duke of Wellington
until he proclaimed himself the enemy of Re-
form. It was withdrawn, and with reluctance,
not from the upright, vigorous, and pacific Duke
of Wellington, but merely and simply from the
stern foe of that one measure, without which, as
we conceive, and as we expressed long before his
Grace left office, there can be neither lasting
peace for England at home, nor any just and
olid influence over the councils of foreign
nations. So our support is given—and we trust
may continue to be conscientiously afforded—
not to Lord Grey, or Lord Grey's colleagues
personally—but to their grand Bill for abolish-
ing rotten boroughs--for admitting great towns
to the benefit of the Constitution—and for en-
franchising,those independent classes of English-
men, now trampled on by strangers who have
usurped the power of coercing them and taxing
them, and plundering them of the produce of
their taxes.—Times.

Our readers will see, in the Gazette, an Or-
der in Council permitting Austrian vessels to
enter our ports and harbours on paying the same
navigation dues as British vessels, the Austrian
Government having extended the same privilege
to British vessels in Austrian ports. This is
another instance of the extension of the reci-
procity system which, by the Act of Parliament,
Government is permitted to establish in all cases
when its views are met by a corresponding dis-
t.o,ition on the part of other States. Our rela-
tions with Prussia, with Hamburg, and with all
the north of Germany, are now on this footing.
British commercial intercourse with Austria
cannot be very extensive. The ports of Trieste,
Venice, and some small harbours on the Dal-
matian coast, are the only points of contact by
sea with that empire ; but it is something to find
a good principle triumphing over antiquated pre-
judices, and an absolute Government relaxing
the rigour of impolitic restriction in order to
enlarge its commercial intercourse with a free
People. We should not be surprised that this
iivw reciprocity treaty (for such it is) should
excite a pretended alarm among those who have
always declared themselves against the late im-
-1,, ovements in our navigation laws. But when
ti,e feel the panic coming upon them, let them
only reflect that in this case we must be gainers
by the change, as the number of British vessels
in the ports of Trieste and Venice is propor-
tionally much greater than the number of Aus-
trian voesels in British ports. This may give
them ease, and tend to allay their rising dissa-
tisfaction.— Times.

In another column will be fount.). a valuable
statement, by Mr. Cooke, well known for the
success with which ne has combated the Protes-
tant, or Christian Church, as our contemporary
of the Standard terms it. In this statement
there arc disclosures with respect to money mat-
ters which exhibit the descendants of the Apostles
in a very different light from that which the
Apostles themselves exhibited in the New Tes-
tament. Were St. Paul to return to life, and
to pay a visit to Ireland, he would be extremely
puzzled to understand how, in a Christian
Church, a Bishop should revel in the produce
of 100,000 acres of fertile land, and the tithes
of a number of churches, while the poor, to
whom all the funds of the Church were originally

given, were perishing around him in the ditches
for want of relief. The Standard says—
" The Globe, the Morning Chronicle, the Times, and
the other liberal journals, are just now exceedingly anxious
to overthrow the Christian Church of Ireland. Dupes!
do they suppose that it their wishes were realited to.mor-
row,—that if that Church Were Subverted.--they would
hare the sister kingdom, according tO their -fait ideal of
good government, tvithont tiny established Church? No,
the Popish Church is already establithed there-;---established
in defiance and above the poiver of the tegislatUre. It is
notr awaiting with open mbuth-, prepared to Swallow all
the spoils, and ten times the of that Church whose
destruction is clam:tort:ll for ; and in twenty years from
the day in tvbich its ravening shall be gratified by the over-
throtv of Christianity in Ireland, the Popish Church in
that kingdom will have engrossed more of 'tlie property of
the country than ever belongee. 1:-‘3 any Protestant Esta-
blishment.

" De ere forget that the mass of the people of Ireland
art More ignorant than the English have been at any
period from the age of Alfred downward? Do they forget
that such ignorance is ever the harvest time of Popery ?
Do they forget that all the property of the Established
Church which is now the subject of so mtrei obloquy, i.
but a fragment of that which Popery had accumulated
f.r herself in times of greater poverty, though, as respects
the mass of the Irish people, certainly not of greater igno-
rance than the present I' And remembering these things,
can they doubt that in leaving to Popery en undisputed
ascendancy in Ireland, they resign to that enemy the pro-
perty of the country as well as its dominion and (hut that
is a little matter in the ryeenf the liberals) the souls of the
people?"
We are not anxious to overthrow the Chris-
tian Church of Ireland, but to render it more
Christian. It is impossible that the inha-
bitants of Ireland, who do not belong to that
Church, who, according to concurring testimony,
amount at least to nine-tenths of the population
(some say fifteen-sixteenths), will rest satisfied
till the different religions are placed on a footing
of equality. We have no fear of the property
now possessed by the Protestant Church getting
into the hands of the Catholic Church ; but the
best way to prevent such a transference is to act
upon the recommendation of General Cockburn,
and sell the lands and the tithes, and apply the
proceeds to the extinction of the national debt.
Mr. Pitt had it in contemplation to give effect
to such a plan. We have never heard that in
any country, except England at the restoration,
the Church lands, once transferred to private in-
dividuals, ever found their way back to the
Church. In France, in Germany, in Bel-
gium, in Holland, in Switzerland, even
in the Forest Cantons (the inhabitants of
which are the most bigotted Papists in the
world), either lands or tithes once seized, were
ever recovered.by the Priests. In Italy, even
.under the nese of the Pope, the Priests never
entertain an idea of reinstating themselves in
their former possessions. In Spain and Por-
tugal, the transfer was not completed ; but we
will answer for it, if the Cortes of Spain had
imitated the French, and distributed the large
estates of the Church among the peasantry, not
an acre would ever have been recovered from
them. The Catholic clergy do certainly possess
much influence at present in Ireland ; but they
possess that. influence because they are entirely
dependent on the people. A poor clergy are
always an influential clergy ; but it is difficult to
inspire a people with reverence for a clergy,
whose conduct gives the lie to the religion they
preach. How can a man be a Christian _and
possess riches? was the common language of
the early Christians... If the tithes were trans-
ferred to the Catholic -Church, the flocks would,
ere long, be transferred, to the ProteStant Church.
Poverty in the pastors is the only security for
diligence. When Dr. Goldstnith was at Ley-
den, the Professors asked him whether Edin
burgh, which had taken all the English medical
students from them, was a rich University ?- He
told them the Professors of Edinburgh had no-
thing but what they made by their exertions.
We suspected as much, said they ; and we fear
we shall have no more English students,till the
Edinburgh Professors are better endowed. It
is not after he has obtained spoil, but in order to
obtain it, that the soldier throws himself in the
deadly breach.

" Let them take castles who're not worth a groat."

We may observe, by the bye, that the-conclu-
sions drawn by the .standard from what we yes-
terday said on the subject of tithes, is utterly
unwarranted :

" It—the Chronicle (says our contemporary)—is very
indignant with a Scotch gentleman for having asserted
!hat the landed interest has many burthens to support,
which press but little upon other interests. He enuire-
r"ted among them tithe, for which he is thus lectured—
" 'What right has he to call Ministers' stipend a bur-
then on the land ? The Ministers' stipends are paid out
of the teind or tithe, the property in which was distinct
from land, and which, when purchased by the land-holder,
was subject td the payment of that stipend. The land-tax
before its redemption, payable for all Scotland, was a mere
trifle. The.pogr.rates are also trifling in
,Scotland. But
he the burthens great or small, they are not taxes on
landholders;'beeause land is held subject tl *theni, and
whoever purchases an estate takes these burthertsinto con"-
sideration.'

" It is unnecessary for us to say that we agree entirely
with this doctrine of tithe, newly adopted by our contem-
porary. No man has any right whatever to say that tithe
is a pressure upon him ; because, as the Morning Chro.
nick truly remarks, he took possession of the land, know-
ing that it was so charged.
"We congratulate the Morning Cbronicle upon its
conversion."

There is no conversion nor approach to con-
version in the case. In the first place, the re-
mark had reference to Scotland and Eng-
land. In Scotland the tithe was perma-
nently commuted, and sold to the landholder,
subject to a certain stipendiary payment out
of it to the clergy. The tithe once fixed
was fixed for ever, and the purchaser had no
more right to complain of it than of a quit-rent,
if the estate had been subject to one. The
amount of the stipend, too, is so mode-
rate, being somewhere between 6d. and is.
in the pound, that no objection can be made to
the appropriation of this portion of the public
property to the Church of Scotland. But in
England the tithes are not fixed, and are a bar
to improvement, a constant source of dispute.
At present all attempts to benefit the poor by
grants of small pieces of land will be found
illusory till tithes are permanently commuted. If
tithes were permanently fixed, as in Scotland,
the objection on the score of interfering with
cultivation would be removed, and the only ques-
tion would be, whether so much of the public
property should be given to the teachers of one
of the religious divisions of the population. But
the public object also to tithes, on the ground
that a tenth of the gross produce raises the price
to the consumer, inasmuch as the farmer cannot
extend his cultivation to_meet the increasing wants
of society, till the price in addition to.his other
expenditure covers the tenth of the gross pro-
duce taken by the tithe-owner. Our contem-
porary also misconceives the ground of our ap-
probation of the Dutch income-tax. We ap-
prove of it on account of the fairness of the
scale. But the income-tax in this country was
most iniquitous. What, for instance, could be
more unjust than taking ten per cent. from a
professional income of 2001. a year, and ten per
cent. from an income of 100,0001. a year from
land or interest on capital :'—iltorning Chron.
The parish meetings, which are now every-
where held, are well calculated to arrest the at-

tention of all those who take an interest in .the '
political regeneration of their country, and who.
attend to the rapid progress of change in the
State. Will our s?lf-complacent Tories take a
hint from such meetings ? Do the Lords not
see that the people may learn at their parish
meetings how to bring into forced operation even
a more B*etping Measure than the Reform Bill?
What, if the people, in their strike against parish
taxes, should include those of the State !! It is
curious to observe how exactly the same spirit of
legislation, which for many years found favour
in thb House of Commons, has presided at our
parish vestries ! From one end of the country
to the other, those little tax-making and tax-
eating machines lie on us like the night-mare,
cursing us with ten times more expense than our
accumulated burdens from all other sources. In
the parish of St. George's, Hanover-square. the
Government taxes are now about 201. on 100/.
of annual rent, while the parish junta have
levied rates to the amount of 241. on the same
sum. All the vestries are constituted, or at
least managed by, a presiding parson and a few
hungry tradesmen, his creatures. This will, no
doubt, be denied by the persons interested ; but
an example or two will illustrate, at the same
time that it proves the truth of our position.
About two years ago, the creatures of the Rector
of a very wealthy parish at the West-end of the
town, agreed that it was unbecoming so large
and opulent a district that the Rector should not
be provided with a suitable residence, because he
was passing poor with 4,000/. a year. No
sooner was the idea started, than it was pur-
sued to its accomplishment, with the secrecy
and activity peculiar to the proposers of such
measures. In an instant, all the fry of tradesmen
were in motion ; the bricklayers, and plasterers, and
paper-hangers had already, in imagination, sacked
the plunder of the parish. But they, fortu-
nately, ruined their job by too great avidity.
Not satisfied with building the Rector's house,
they resolved that it was advisable to build it
close to the church. We do not know whether
the pious gentleman's case was consulted in this,
or whether there was a charm in eight or nine
acres of land, with a fine shrubbery of waving
acacias and sycamores, which attracts the atten-
tion of all passengers in the New Road, but it
was certainly thought that the Rev. Gentleman
could not endure the neighbourhood of poverty.
The poor-house was for this reason ordered to be
demolished, and the reckless miscreants had al-
ready proceeded to the destruction of an enor-
mous pile of building, worth at least 30,000/.,
when they were stopped by that troublesome fel-
low, Joe flume. We see also, by the state-
ments given in by the Committee of the parish-
ioners of St. George, Ilanover-square, that the
Rector, inhabiting a fashionable house in Gros-
venor-street, worth 400/. a year, is rated at 1001.,
and that he has not paid any rates even on this
reduced estimate. The same statement is made
with regard to the parish clerk, the collectors,
assessors, and all the busy people of the parish,
and the same may be affirmed of the curates, &c.
Are these "the 'weaker party" of the Bishop
of London, or are they the people who, accord-
ing to his Grace the Primate, " prostrate their
reason in order to make progress in holiness?"
If they have found out the true holiness, it ap-
pears that it has not led the way to truth, and
justice, and charity. But is it no part of their
Lordships' duty, one of whom at least appears
to have a sharp mode of practice with his clergy,
to protect the interests of the people ? If so,
may the people not find out another reason for
dismissing the Bishops?—Morning Chronicle.
In returning to the subject of the new Bank-
ruptcy Court, we propose to make a few obser-
vations on the probable effects of its operation in
reference to the expense, delay, and difficulty,
hitherto dependent upon the judicial arrange-
ment of a bankrupt's affairs. To reduce that
expense, diminish that delay, and remove that
difficulty, were the avowed objects for which the
old system was abolished, and the new one
created. If these objects shall be attained under
the new system, according to the assurances
given to the public, the change will have been a
most beneficial one, and the mercantile classes
will have great reason to be grateful for a mea-
sure of legal reform peculiarly conducive to
the security of their rights and the protection
of their interests. It is obvious that such
results can only be attained by a machinery
extremely simplified, and adapted with pe-
collar fitness to the particular sort of work
for which it has been constructed. To under-
stand the fitness or unfitness of the new Bank-
ruptcy Court for its business, let us see what
that business is. We have already said that to
sever the Administration of the Bankrupt Laws
from the Court of Chancery, and to establish
for this branch of civil jurisprudence a Court of
its own, is, in itself, something achieved in the
way of •Reform ; but our inquiry is now whether
this new jurisdiction is so constructed as to
afford peculiar facilities for despatching the sort
of business which will come under its cognizance
with cheapness and expedition. To enable our-
selves to form any thing like an accurate opinion
lon this subject we must bear in mind that a
Court of Bankruptcy is not a Court in which
solvent litigants enter the arena of legal strife. It
is not a Court in which the litigants risk a part
of their property to recover some greater stake ;
but it is merely a Court to gather or collect the'
effects of a trader who has become unable to
meet his engagements, and to distribute those
effects among his creditors. It is clear that no
complicated machinery. is required to carry these'
objects into execution. We need not set about
proving that the system will be best which saves
the most of the bankrupt's property from the
wreck, and divides the most among his creditors.
For the former purpose its power must be simple,
but energetic ; for the latter its operation
must be expeditious and unexpensive. Now,
what. is the constitution of the Court ? It con-
sists - of three different tribunals—namely, the
cOriamissioners' Court, the Subdivision Court,
and the Court of Review—with a power of ap-
peal to the Lord Chancellor, who is, generally
speaking, the Judge in the last resort ; but
there is also, under particular circumstances, a
power of appeal to the House of Lords. Here,
then, are altogether five tribunals of graduated
jurisdiction to be conversant in affairs of bank-
ruptcy—affairs which are, for the most part,
matters of' account, and which some persons
might suppose a Court of Commercial Accoun-
tants, under the direction of one or two sound
lawyers, to keep the course of commercial jus,
tice within the boundaries of law, would be
more effective in unravelling the tangled web of
the bankrupt's affairs, and in handing over a
larger dividend to the creditors, than the most
ponderous and expensive system of judicial pro-
cedure that ever, was invented • to grind down
property in the-mill of' litigation. We do not
say that we are altogether of this opinion,
because questions of bankruptcy are mixed
questions of la* and fact ; and very nice

lineations of law sometimes arise, particularly
when the validity of Commissioners of Bank-
ruptcy are disputed : but still we cannot help
thinking that our new Bankruptcy Court is, like
the whole of our legal establishments, on too
magnificent a scale—and the greater and richer
the Court is; the less dividends the creditors are
likely to enjoy: In fact the new Court of Bank-
ruptey will be a more complicated judicial
machine than the Court of King's Bench, though
the salaries of the several Judges will not be so
large. The Court of King's Bench, until a re-
cent Act of Parliament, had, for despatching the
immense quantity of business that comes before
it, but a Chief Justice and three puisne Judges ;
--it has now four. The Court of Bankrupts
has a Chief Judge, with a salary of 3,0001.;
three puisne Judges, with salaries of 2,0001.
each ; six Commissioners, with salaries of 1,5001.
each ; the Chancellor's Secretary of Bankrupts,
1,200/. ; two Chief Registrars, 8001. each ;
eight Deputy Registrars, 6001. each ; the Clerks
of the Secretary of Bankrupts, 800/. between
them ;—making a total charge on the public of
26,8001. a year ! In addition to the salaries above
stated the Secretary of Bankrupts and the
Registrars are to receive a certain proportion of
fees—a mode of payment which we have always
objected to, as bad in principle. In addition to
this charge upon the public there will be the
charge upon the compensation to various parties
consequent upon the change of system ; for
instance, Messrs. Thurlow and Scott are to re-
ceive an annuity equal to the average of the last
three years' profits of their places, supposed to
be nearly 9,0001. per annum ; and the present
Commissioners of Bankrupt, a number of officers
of the Lord Chancellor, ara also to receive com-
pensation for the loss of their appointments.
Here is a heavy expenditure for the creditors of
the bankrupt to pay out of the wreck of the pro-
perty before they can obtain a farthing dividend.
This brings us to the important consideration
whether the great expense complained of under
the old system, and which in a great number of
cases actually realised the fable of the lawyer,
the two disputants, and the oyster—will
be saved by the operation of the new Act.
On this point we cannot do better than
quote the statement of a legal correspondent,
who says—" Theorists will tell you great
expense will be saved; but what foundation have
they for this statement ? They will say Look
at the expense of the proceedings under Howard
and Gibbs' commission, which was upwards of
20,0001.—under Chambers's commission, up-
wards of 10,0001.' These expellees were under
the old system, and they would not be one-
fourth the amount under the new. But these
are isolated cases ; perhaps of such cases there
may not be one in 200, and the expense, which
principally arises from presenting petitions to the
Court of Chancery on matters connected with
the bankruptcies, might be easily avoided, with-
out inflicting the enormous increase of expense
upon the creditors in the remaining 199 cases,
which will be added under the new Act, as men
of practice and experience well know that in
nine cases out of ten no petition is ever presented
to the Court of Chancery." He then pro-
ceeds to compare the expenses under the old
and new Acts in a bankruptcy, where the
assets amount to 4,0001., which, he says, are
below the usual average, as follow :