The Sun.
London, England, 1838-12-13 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

The paragraph which was inserted in yesterday's Times
relative to the attempts of Russia to raise recruits for the
Canadian rebels, could surprise nobody but those who are
in utter ignorance of the practices habitually resorted to by
that scheming, restless, insidious, and unprincipled Power.
In the East the machinations of Russia against the British
Empire of Indostan had for many years been carried on in
silence and by stealth. The British Government seemed
not to dream of their existence. For a subsequent period
they were prosecuted audaciously and without disguise ;
but the British Government, well aware of them, affected
that, ignorance which was no longer real. It is but within
a few short months that the local authorities of Eng-
land east and west of the Punjaub have used the lan-
guage, or commenced the operations, which became a
mighty Power--a Power more dreaded by Russia than
any other on the face of the globe ; and the consequence
is, what every man acquainted with the relative re-
sources of the two states, and with the conscious weakness
of the Muscovite Emperor, when he compares his means
with those of England—that, in the naval phrase, he has
already " struck." Persia, his instrument, and destined
victim, has withdrawn from an enterprise forced upon her
by the representations of his Minister, which, under the
semblance of besieging an Affghanistan city, was plainly
meant for a stab at the vitals of our Indian empire, and the
vicarious war which Russia has in that quarter instigated
for our destruction has ended, for the present, in her signal
disappointment and defeat. So, in that depraved and
met series of outrages which Russia has long been
perpetrating upon the free warriors of Circassia, she
has managed to combine with her offences against that
braves people a succession of insults to the British flag,
and to aggravate and evenom, both by a career of hateful
tyranny over Turkey, and of domineering insolence
towards all the Powers interested in the free navigation of
the Euxine, which would at any time since the signature of
the treaty of Unkiar 'Skelessi, so overwhelming to the
Sultan, and to Great Britain so humiliating, have justified
the States of southern and western Europe in declaring
open war against the Russians. The attempt of Nicholas
to seize upon the Danube, and to deprive Austria and
England, as well as Turkey, of the trare,it of mer-
chandise by that noble stream, would in itself have been
cause abundant to legalize a joint war against the com-
mon aggressor. The systematic and well-known mal-
practices of Russia, in stirring up the encroaching spirit
of Mehemet Ali to measures the most harassing and
insulting towards the Porte, have alone been a suffi-
cient inication of the animus which directed the first-
named Power in what concerned the public peace and
the well-being of the Turkish provinces of Asia Minor.
From the frontiers of Hungary to the heart of Bur-
mah and Nepaul, from the eastward of the Ganges to the
Nile and Danube, the Russian fiend has been haunt-
ing and troubling the human race, and diligently point-
ing his malignant frauds and perfidies to the vexation
and disturbance of' this industrious and essentially pacific
empire. England—slow, languid, and long-suffering—after
an exercise of patience which, by surrounding states, and by
her own subjects, was deemed pusillanimous and ignoble,
has at length apparently shaken off her deathlike sleep.
She detected, seasonably, the treacherous conspiracy,
framed and encouraged by the known agents of Russia,
along the whole northern frontier of British India, em-
bracing Burmah on one extremity, on the other Cabul.
The Russian Court was promptly made acquainted with
this discovery. The Shah of Persia, in his camp
before Herat, was threatened with the speedy ven-
geance of Great Britain, and the immediate passage of
the Indus by a powerful British army was announced
to him. Almost simultaneously with these vigorous de-
monstrations of English spirit and activity—effective,
though late, from beyond the Caspian—came the intelli-
gence that treaties had been signed by England with Aus-
tria ; England and France with Turkey also ; and the lat-
ter, though reluctantly, acceded to by Mehemet Ali, whose
system of monopoly it must, if fairly enforced, extinguish ;
each of these instruments bearing, indeed, the inoffensive
title of a " commercial" treaty, but involving political
consequences of the most unmeasured magnitude. What,
then, has been the demeanour of Russia under these se-
vere reverses in her diplomacy, and solid obstacles
raised with the suddenness of exhalations to the march of
her aggressive projects? She bad threatened much, and
bullied much : her armies were " a million of men :" her
" fleet had the Seraglio under its fire :" a Colossus—
" she covered Europe and Asia at one stride." But now
that she has been unmasked, and bearded, and set
at defiance—nay, laughed at, what has she done ? Has
her deportment been lofty ? Has her bearing been reso-
lute, and conformable to her previous boastings ? By no
means. She has O'Connellized—otherwise, " cringed."
She has disavowed, as we learn from Paris, one and all of
the hostile designs imputed to her by the press and Go-
vernment of this country. Nicholas, the soldier million.

naiTe—
" Like some cow'd bully, droops his head, and sigbs.'-
But another scene for the Macbiavelism of this rancorous
and odious Power was presented by the French rebellion
and Yankee pirate invasion of our North American pro-
vinces, which Russia would not suffer to lie idle. There
has always been a sort of political coquettry carried on be.
tween the United States and Russia, the bond and cement
of their courtship being, of course, a common sentiment
of kindness towards Great Britain. We do not by any
means affirm, for we have not evidence to prove, that
Mr. Van Buren has bad a share in the tamperings of
Russian agents with and in favour of rebels against the
Crown of England, or with foreign incendiaries and ma-
rauders upon her soil. There are proceedings which
look like connivance, it is true, and we dare say that, if
it could be brought about by any intrigues of Russian
Consuls, Ministers, or less conspicuous agents, no effort
would be wanting to the success of it. But this incident
of an attempt to inveigle the poor Poles enjoying a refuge
in this country, after being expatriated by Russia, into the
trap which she has laid for them—of which the twofold
object, as we stated yesterday, is to increase the insurrec-
tionary power in Canada, and to direct public obloquy
against the cause of Poland here—throws no new light upon
the character or schemes of Russia. She but labours in
her villainous vocation. She is for the moment discom-
fitted, but not reformed. We must not be satisfied with
having just checked and stopped her. She is no match for
England, when the blood of England is once roused, and
her musket shouldered, and her fleet at sea. But she
must be watched incessantly. In the words of the very
able pamphlet on the progress of Russia in the East—
" England may be assured that Russia dreads her ;" but,
presuming on the obvious reluctance of the English nation
to risk a disturbance of the peace of Europe, and admir-
ably skilled in judging how far she may press upon that re-
luctance, she does and will continue to advance step by
step, until patience is worn out, and indignation roused—
then, and not till then, will Russia recede."—Times.
The Tories are evidently in a woful predicament. The
meeting of Parliament approaches, and it is therefore felt
to be desirable that some definite understanding should be
come to as to the course to be adopted by them relative to
the differences between Lord Durham and the Ministry.
But what that course ought to be, is the question which
perplexes them. On this point they are divided into two
sections ; not in consequence of any doubt as to the course
of proceeding which justice and truth demand that they
should pursue, but because they feel a difficulty in deciding
what particular line of Parliamentary conduct promises to
be most embarrassing, if not fatal, to the Melbourne Ad-
ministration. The Morning Post, as the organ of one of
the two parties into which the faction is divided, proposes
that Lord Durham should be at once thrown overboard,
representing him as a person of too much political insigni-
ficance to be worthy of a moment's consideration. The
Post comforts itself with the notion that the Ministry may
be displaced by the Tories, without converting Lord Dur-
ham into an instrument for the purpose, and provided that
grand object be only gained, the Post will be satisfied. The
Tines, on the other hand, as the organ of the other section
of the Conservative hosts, not surei) about being able to
eject the Melbourne Ministry mug-street with-
out the aid of Lord Durham and, therefore,
has so
withb that
unparalleled profligacy for which
eenmen
no-
torious, it urges on " Conservative Peers anrogentel
the propriety of makipg common cause with him •
ofmba his
dif-
ferences with the Cabinet. This is an instance of
in the case of the Times which could not be exceeded, and
which has seldom been equalled even by that mendacious
journal itself. Has it not, until the supposed interests of
its party yesterday suggested another course, written in
the most derogatory and even malevolent terms of Lord
Durham, ever since his announced intention of re-
signing the Governor-Generalship of Canada ? Has
it not since then, with scarcely the intermission of a
single day, not only loaded him with. the most op_
probrious epithets, but even charged him with crimes
against the State amounting to L.4tle short of high
treason ? And yet this journal, to ,serve the purposes
of the faction, yesterday has the effrontery and unmeasureds
profligacy to turn round and represent him as a
,m,an,wi whose
side side the " Conservative Peers and Gentlemen oulgdi
the
espouse in the impending collision between him
hat
Ministry ! The force of baseness could no farther go.
go
For ourselves, we have not shrunk from a free and
of
fear-
less expression of our sentiments respectirg the conduct
Lord Durham, in abdicating the Governor-Generalship of
the Canadas at such a crisis as the present ; but we have
now done with the subject until we see what vindication
the Noble Earl will offer of his conduct on the re-assem-
bling of the Legislature.—Morning Advertiser.
Sir Herbert Jenner has delivered his judgment in the
Arches' Court upon the case of Mary Woolfrey and the
tombstone in Carisbrooke churchyard, whereon were en-
graved, at her instigation, the words, " Pray for the soul
of Richard Woolfrey—it is a holy and wholesome thought

to pray for the dead." The object of the suit was to have
Mary Woolfrey admonished and lawfully corrected in her
manners and excesses, for having caused this inscription,
contrary, as it was alleged, to th articles of the Church
of England, to be set up in Carisbrooke churchyard. Now,
the 22d article of the Church is against purgatory and
the invocation of saints. The Judge said that if the
inscription was of the character attributed to it in the
citation, namely, contrary to the articles of the Church,
no person could have a right to erect such a tombstone, for
it impugned the doctrines of the Church of England. But
it was not the opinion of the Learned Judge that the
article against purgatory was an article against praying
for the dead. The point, he said, upon which the whole
question turned was, whether the prayer for the dead was
so connected with the Romish doctrine of purgatory as to
be essentially and necessarily included in it. It might be
true, and no doubt it was so, that the doctrine of purgatory
included the practice of prayer for the dead, but it did not
follow that the prayer for the dead was consistent only
with the rites of the Romish Church. The Learned Judge
cited various authorities to show that prayers for the
dead had no necessary connection with the doctrine of
purgatory, and that they could not have any such neces-
sary connection, because the practice of prayers for the
dead existed long antecedent to the establishment of the
doctrine of purgatory. The Learned Judge seemed, how-
ever, to admit, that though no prohibition of prayers
for the dead existed among the authoritative rules
of the Church, yet such prayers were discouraged.
With regard to the offence of having erected the
tombstone without the consent of the Incumbent,
the Learned Judge said the question did not arise
upon the face of the citation. It was certainly a punishable
offence, but not being erought formally before the Court,
could not be adjudicated upon. Finally the suit was dis-
missed, with costs against the promoter of it. Upon the
whole view of the matter, as laid down by the Learned
Judge, the proceeding in the Ecclesiastical Court seems to
have been a most injudicious one, and the Learned Gen-
tleman who advised it has certainly no reason to congratu-
late himself upon the sagacity he displayed; on that occasion.
The matter cited as an offence appears to have been no of-
fence at all, and the real offence appears to have been omit-
ted in the citation. Truly this was an ill-managed bu-i-
-ness. There is a very blundering account of this judgment
in last evening's Cou,ier. A lamentation is made about
the probability of Mrs. Woolfrey's being sent to prison for
the costs of this suit, whereas the Learned Judge expressly
decided the question of costs in her favour. The promoter
of the suit will have to pay all.—Morning Post.
The Court of Arches yesterday, in the case of Brecks
v. Woolfrey, rescued the -Church of England from a share
of the bad odour in which the indiscreet zeal and intole-
rance of some of her sons have at last placed her. The
ease has been dismissed with costs, a salutary warning ; for
costs in an ecclesiastical suit are no trifle. It is but justice
to the Rev. John Breeks to say that all accounts from the
neighbourhood of Carisbrooke agree in stating that he is a
venerable pluralist, quite satisfied with the share of the
good things of this world which he possesses, and by no
means naturally disposed to scan too curiously the inscrip-
tions which afflicted relatives place on the gravestones of
the departed. The curate of Carisbrooke, who has the re-
putation of being a first-rate saint, first moved in this case,
and it having been brought to the notice of the diocesan,
the Bishop of Winchester, the poor old vicar was obliged
to move in it. As the diocese of Winchester is
one of the richest in the kingdom, we presume
the Right Reverend Prelate will not suffer the costs
to fall exclusively on the head of poor Mr. Breeks, the
party legally responsible to Mrs. Woolfrey. However, we
leave the Prelate, the Vicar, and the Curate of Canis-
brooke, to settle this affair as they best can. Sir Herbert
Jenncr showed in the most satisfactory manner that though
the doctrine of purgatory included the practice of praying
for the dead, the converse of the proposition did not hold,
that prayers for the dead included the doctrine of purga-
tory. It was not enough to prove that the 22d canon of
the Church of England condemned purgatory, it was neces-
sary to prove that either the 22d or some other canon pro-
hibited praying for the dead. Now, there is no prohibition
in any of the canons of praying for the dead ; and, more-
over, it is sanctioned by the uninterrupted practice of the
Church from the earliest period, long before the doctrine of
purgatory was thought of. A sort of strained inference had
been drawn from the character given of the Second Book of
homilies in the thirty-fifth canon, that the practice of pray-
ing for the dead was useless, as not being founded on
any scriptural warrant, that by implication that practice
was condemned ; but it was shown by the Learned Judge
that this by no means amounted to a condemnation of the
practice as unlawful, but merely referred to it as of no avail
in altering the condition in which a person was at the t'ine
of his death. The history given by Sir Herbert Jenner of
the variations in the service of the English Church with le:-
spect to praying for the dead is curious. It appears that
in consequence of the advantage attempted to le taken by
the Romanists of the retaining of this custom by Reformers
it was deemed advisable to discourage it, as having a ten-
dency to promote superstition. The Church of England,
therefore, did not encourage but rather discouraged prayers
for the dead, and had expunged them from the Liturgy, as
being useless, but not as being unlawful. It is now, therefore,
to be understood that praying for the dead is not a violation
of any of the canons or articls of the Church ; and as the
greatest ornaments of that Church, Taylor and Barrow for
instance, have followed the practice, as having been nearly
coeval with Christianity itself; it may be supposed that here-
after there will be persons disposed to tread in the footsteps
of these shining lights. It has been observed that the best
mode to straighten a bent bough is to bend it as much
the other way. The first Reformers, in consequence of
abuses in the Catholic Church, were often led to discourage
things not objectionable in themselves, which served as the
foundation of these abuses. The practice of praying for the
dead is so natural that mankind in all times are disposed
towards it. In those parts of the country where the
people are most religiously inclined nothing is so common
as at wakes to pray for the departed. The persons so
praying have not the slightest idea that they are yielding
an assent to the doctrine of purgatory. Affection prompts
them to intercede in behalf of the departed, as it would
have prompted them to intercede for them during his or
her life. A man may be reasoned out of the most natural
feelings ; and the dread of encouraging Popery may repress
the promptings of affection to intercede with the Almighty
for a beloved relation. A better proof, however, cannot be
afforded of the difficulty of repressing this natural tendency
than the recommendation, lately noticed by us, of Baron
Alderson to the murderer whom he was trying, to pray for
the man whom he had forced into the presence of his Maker
without time for preparation. We have not a doubt that
Baron Alderson in this case held a language which he had
often heard other Judges hold, and that a search into the
annals of our Criminal Courts would furnish frequent in-
stances of similar addresses. So much for the case of the
Vicar of Carisbrooke and Widow Woolfrey. The Church
of England, we are often told, is the poor man's Church.
It certainly is the Church to keep men poor by means of
the extraordinary contrivances to which its clergy have re-
sorted for taxing their parishioners. A correspondent has
supplied us with an instance of the working of our " poor
man's Church," in which, if we knew' more of such
matters, we might not find anything uncommon. The
Church of Rome used to levy good round sums occa-
sionally for the affection of relatives for the departed ; but
really, if we may judge from the letter of the Rev.
Mr. Tomkyns, inserted in that of our correspondent,
the Church of England has nothing to reproach her-
self in neglecting the lessons of her predecessors.
Good God, to think what an engine the churchyard is
in the hands of the clergy for extorting money ! How very
fallacious must all the estimates of the revenues of the
Church of England be when we see what enormous sums
the clergy contrive to squeeze in this way from those who
wish to honour the ashes of departed relations ! The
widow of a poor blacksmith in a retired village pays, on the
demand of the Rector, first 6/. 2s. for a brick grave, then
1/. 2s. for surplice fees, together 71. 4s. ; then an addi-
tional fee of 1/. 3s. 6d. for a head and foot stone ; but this
is not all : a further demand is made from her of
1/. 14s. 6d. as a fee for permission to cover in an arch over
the grave ; but here her patience was exhausted, on which
the Reverend Doctor read her a most edifying lecture.
" You were not obliged to have these things," says the man
of God, " therefore there can be no appeal to me on the
ground of charity to remit them. Any one might as
well claim a silk gown at the price of a cotton one,
because they may not be in affluent circumstances ;"
and with a characteristic shrewdness he observes,
" If I remit these fees, a precedent is urged by those
well able to pay them, that they are
not always
demanded." Dangerous precedent ! The widow paid the
1/. 3s. bd. for the head and foot stone, but still the fee for
turning an arch over the grave of 1/. 14s. fid. remained,
and within a week she is threatened with the Ecclesiastical
Court 1 Perhaps, as we have said, the Rev. Mr. Tomkyns
ihsasnocte trilt°airnelyrapacious than other Rectors, but merely pos-
sesses
inultOrethsekeifsi
sesses
working
in letter writing. Be this as it may, he
supplied the uninstructed with a curious in-
sight of the poor man's Church. Our
proofur correspondent
o fthe advat
Contemporary
sStandard will no doubt, with his usual
dexterity, make the
aesmost of the circumstances detailed by
eaffording to the Upper Canadians a
ment among them of the may
derive from the establish-
Rev.
Murrch of the metropolitan nation.
vountisTomkyns they have the ad-
In the letter of the
and pence. Fo-
vantage made out in
iroeciigiffneerros,notooot,o wthililorrpsroofif tthgiarevvat2eldsdheillings'is specimen of the
rrantifested by the minis-
ters of Him who while on earth had not whereon to lay his
head.—Mortzing Chronicle.
MORE CLERICAL RAPACITY,
TO TILE EDITOR OF THE MORNING CHRONICLE.
Sir,—Another widow and tombstone case has occurred,