The Sun.
London, England, 1825-08-16 00:00:00

brings destitution into families, and swells the reve- I
nues of churchmen, who have forsworn the vani-
ties of the world,is more calculated than almost any
other abuse of the sacred functions of a clergy-
man, to bring religion into disrepute. It was
this practice, which in the dark ages accumulated
the wealth of the Church, and impoverished its
character. But too often the minister of reli-
gion, when called to afford consolation to the
afflicted and broken spirit, planned, in the midst
of the agonies of nature, the robbery of the widow
and the orphan. He taught the dying person, on
whose conscience the recollection of his misdeeds
pressed heavily, that by bequeathing his goods
to what were called pious uses, he could appease
the anger of Heaven, and purchase, by the
ruin of his relatives, the peace of his own soul.
The house of mourning has sometimes been known
to work a salutary influence on the hearts of vi-
cious and profligate men ; what then is to be said
of the appointed teacher of religious duties, in
whom its awful circumstances only excited the
passion of ungodly gain ? Before the Reforma-
tion in England, so prevalent a custom was it
with priests to extinguish the natural sentiments
of humanity in their dying communicants, and to
obtain their estates in this world, in exchange for
the hopes which they gave them in the next, that
the civil authority at length found it necessary
to interpose and prevent all the property of the
kingdom from being transferred, by will, into
the possession, of the priesthood. Before the
Statute against pious uses was passed, the more
the priests blessed the memory of the dead,
the more reason had their nearest relations to
execrate them. The heir-at-law often became
a mendicant at the gate of a monastery, for a
pittance of the wealth which the cunning of
the churchmen haft extorted from the dying grasp
of his parent. Infants born to ample fortune,
were made outcasts from their homes, and high-
bred and delicate females thrown on the cold
charity of the world. It is, therefore, pleasing
to every humane and well-regulated mind to
know, that at a time, when priestcraft is attempt-
ing its ancient ascendancy in France, a Court of
Law has had discernment enough to be aware of
the evil, and virtue enough to avert it.

[MORNING CIHRONICI.E.J
A Meeting was yesterday held at the Town
h all, Croydon, to consider of the best means of
assisting the Society for the Relief of Discharged
Prisoners. If, as was stated by Mr. Allen, the
Magistrate of Union Hall, upwards of three
thousand parsons are every year discharged
from the prisons _of Surrey, and if there is a
reluctance (certainly very justifiable) to em-
ploy discharged criminals, the disposal of this
appalling multitude, in such way as may, while
it contributes to the reformation of the individuals,
relieve society from the dreadful consequences to
be apprehended from thousands of desperate per-
sons, driven to the perpetration of fresh crimes
to supply the cravings of hunger,—becomes a
very difficult problem. We have not merely to
apprehend the acts of the discharged individuals
themselves, but the effects of the moral conta-
gion in corrupting others. Of course all that can
be done by any Society, will go but a small
way towards meeting so enormous a demand as
that of 3,000 discharged prisoners; but as far
as its activity extends the Society will do good.
This fact of 3,000 persons being discharged
from prison in a year, in one county, affords us a
melancholy glance into the interior of society in
this country. This is " a great and happy coun-
try" no doubt, as was observed by Mr. Allen,
but the privations and demoralization of the lower
orders form a sad deduction from its greatness and
happiness. If besides those who fall by the hands
of the hangman, and -those sent to the hulks
and the Penal Colonies, 3,000 persons are every
year discharged from our prisons, for one county
of only 323,000 inhabitants, what must be the
number of persons in it who have at one time
or other been in confinement ? No doubt a
great proportion of the three thousand annual
discharges, consists of persons who have been
before imprisoned, but.there must also be every
year a number of fresh subjects. Kent, it is said,
has fewer prisoners than Surrey, and other
counties more remote have no doubt still fewer ;
but making every allowance of this sort, what a
fearful proportio►► of our population must at one
time or other have bee►► within the walls of a
prison. It is good to contribute to the reforma-
tion of, and to find employment for those who have
been discharged from prison ; but it would be
still better to diminish the supply of the prisons.
Societies for the improvement of education,
for instance, as was remarked by Mr. George
Smith, are still better than Societies for the
reformation-of the depraved. Prisons, too, lose
most of their terrors, to a population, or any part
of it, when n►isery causes thee► to be looked to
as a relief. Now there are many thousand
children in this very metropolis bound out by
parishes, as-apprentices to factories, to whom dis-
cipline and prison treatment would be a welcome
relief. These wretches having been called into
an existence which to them is one scene of misery
without relief, are necessarily beyond the reach
of the law.

HAYLING ISLAND.-To the admirers of pic-
turesque scenery, and to the numerous families ,who annually
emigrate from the great Metropolis, and inland counties, to
enjoy the more pure and invigorating breeze which arises from
the sea coast, this Mane will shortly offer a pleasing and most
delightful retreat. The advantages which it possesses so far
surpass the present most popular watering places of the day,
that doubtless the exertions of the present owners of property,
and the spirited conduct of several Noblemen-and Gentlemen
in the neighbourhood, to render it as a complete and desirable
place of resort, will not prove unavailing. The formerly dan-
gerous approach to this Island prevented it from being generally
known, but the late erection of a .substantial and elegant-built
bridge has been the means of innumerable families visiting this
truly enchanting spot. The delightful sands on the south side
of-the Island, and which extend nearly five miles, united with
the sea prospect, comprising Spithead, the Isle of Wright, St.
Helen's, and the shipping in Portsmouth Harbour, add much
to the scenery of the place. Builders and architects are now
busily occupied in digging and planning foundations, and
erecting most elegant marine residences, several of which have
already found occupiers, and the numerous applications which
are daily made for sites of ground to commence building or.,
evidently shew how desirable a place it is considered, as well for
the investment of capital, as for the beauties which it possesses.
His Grace the Duke of NonFotii, we understand, early in
the ensuing month, intends
,to honour the Island with his pre-
sence, for the purpose of laying the first stone of an elegant
mansion, which is to be immediately erected for the use of his
Grace.