The Sun.
London, England, 1840-02-24 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY, FETIRUARY 24, IS4O.

ferior caste, the Test and Corporation Acts, were
fixed upon them for the space of a hundred and
fifty years. And why ? Because they were quiet—
because they gave ear to so-called friends and
would-be patriots, who, when thOrshowed any
symptoms of restiveness, always exclaimed, " For
Gods sake don't stir ! Tills IS NOT THE
TIME." At last, however, they did stir. In 1828
they made a general and simultaneous movement,
and shook off at once the yoke which had galled
their necks during a century and a half of—
quietness.
WhEtt they may do in their present circum-
stances it is not for us to conjecture. They are
not only trampled upon by their open and avowed
enemies, but they have received a rude slap in the
face from their professed friends and former advo-
cates. If anything can rouse their from their
apathy, this, we think, ought.

England is not the only country in which the Church
is in danger. Indications of a more terrible fate than
any with which Socialism threatens the Lordly disci-
ples of the humble JESUS in England, begin to disturb
the repose of the Established Hierarchy of Sweden.
The Socialists, if they had their own way, would dis-
pense with the services of the Right Rev. Bench
in their sacerdotal and legislatorial capacity, and by
abolishieg rich benefices, prebends, and stalls, at present
maintained more for the personal comfort of lazy shep-
herds than to supply the spiritual wants of their starving
flocks, reduce these lordly personages to the alterna-
tive of working or starving. This, of course.
forms the climax of clerical wretchedness—the utmost
extent of Episcopal misery, in the opinion of the
Right Rev. Fathers in Gad of the English Church.
But dreadful as it must be to contemplate the spectacle
of a Bishop without a coach, a professed cook, a brace
of butlers, a 'troop of menials in rich liveries, and a seat
in Parliament ; the human imagination will, without
difficulty, conceive that a more appalling, because a
more mysterious and undefined, apprehension of danger
might seize upon the mind of a Hierarchy less richly
endowed than that of England. Now, a letter from
Stockholm, received on Monday last in Paris, giving
an account of the ceremonial of the opening of the late
Swedish Diet, narrates a circumstance, or, rather, we
should say miracle, which had it occurred in England
would have made the nation ring from one extremity to
the r with shouts of the " Church in danger ;" and
which, we have no doubt, has ere this formed the sub-
ject of many a Swedish homily, and many an Episcopal
inuendo suggestive of a charge of infidelity against
the heir-apparent to the Swedish Throne. In giving the
account of this miracle a prominent place here, we are
not without a hope that it will prove as useful as a
forged Papal Bull to the Rev. Messrs. M'CrifEE,
M•NEILE and their friends, at the next gathering of
the religionists, not of " peace" but of the " sword," at
Exeter Hall. After describing the appearance of the
Diet, and the dresses of the KING, and the different
orders, the writer adds, with solemn emphasis :
" Just as the King was delivering that part of the
speech in which he speaks of the period as being near at
bend when he must, in the order of nature, descend into
the tomb, a loose stone fell from a statute over the heads
of the order of the clergy, and fell, with great force close
to the Primate, the Archbishop of Upsal, and six bishops
who were sitting with him, but fortunately no person was
injured."

The attentive readers of sacred and profane history
cannot but see in the descent of this stone so near
the heads of seven Bishops, at such a time and, in such a
place, one of those omens. which mysteriously herald
the approach of the greatest catastrophes. The fall of
Nineveh, of Babylon, of Jerusalem, and of Rome was
predicted by signs and wonders ; and if GUSEBIUS is
to be credited, all the early persecutions of the Chris-
tians were indicated by miracles, many of which do not
appear to us half so prognosticative of danger as the
descent of a pebble, some two pounds weight, within a
foot or two of the bare skulls of six Bishops and an
Archbishop. The lucky escape of the Bishops' beads
makes nothing against the danger to the Church ;
for, be it observed, that the KING was speak-
ing of a period which, as friends of the Swedish
Hierarchy, we trust is far distant—the time of
his own interment. Then, that the danger is to
come from Rome is apparent from the descent of the
stone from a statue, which is manifestly an emblem of
idolatry. Nay perhaps the statue itself is commemo-
rative of the exigence of some Popish Saint, and if so,
the inference is as clear as is the presence of the sun at
noon-day. The stone, be it remarked, was " loose,"
which indicates that the attack- on the Hierarchy is to
be premeditated, and not from any sudden impulse.
From this it may be inferred that Prince OSCAR is
either a Papist or an Infidel in his heart, and that he is
now " lowening" the stone, or, in other words, leaguing
himself with Rome. Perhaps, like the Whigs, he has
a secret agent there, for a purpose not a jot more justi-
fiable than the abolition of the slave trade.

If the charity of the Bishop of EXETER does not
begin and end at home, we implore him to consider by
what means the calamity which threatens his Right
Reverend Brethren in Sweden may be averted. As no
miracle is reported to have preceded the birth of
ROBERT OWEN, we are not under any alarm of serious
danger to the Established Church of England from his
attacks. We respect the fears of a Prelate so wise in
his generation as Dr. PHILLEoTTr, but his Lordship's
prowess is a sufficient guarantee of safety from attacks
made by ordinary mortals coming into the world in the
ordinary way What fills us with unspeakable terror is
the descent of a " loose stone" so near the heads of six
Bishops and an Archbishop.

Although there is nothing absolutely new in the fol-
lowing extracts from two letters written by officers on
board the Volage, of whose engagement with twenty-
nine Chinese war-junks an account was brought by the
last overland mail from India, they will be read with in-
terest, as affording a satisfactory confirmation of the
news previously received. The writers take no notice
of the reported interference of Superintendent ELLIOTT,
who, in the previous accounts from Bombay, was
stated to have commanded Captain SMITH to cease
firing, and so saved from inevitable destruction more
than twenty of the enemy's junks. One of the officers
expressly says that, but for the " great and becoming mo-
deration of Capt. SMITH, the whole of the Chinese flotilla
would have been destroyed." But this might have been
the act of the Superintendant notwithstanding, and the
probability is that it was so. Superintendent ELLIOTT
was on board the Volage durk:g the action, and as
Captain SMITH was bound to receive instructions from
him, as the Representative of the Government, it is
not probable that on such an occasion he neglected to
consult with him on the extent of the chastisement
• which it was judicious to inflict on the Chinese. Of an
act so lauded by one party and condemned by another,
as the moderation of the British in this engagement,
it may appear presumptuous to speak decisively without
still further intelligence from Hong Kong. Judging, how.

ever, from the statements, upon which conclusions so
opposite have been arrived at, our impression is, that
if there was a necessity for firing a shot at all, there
was an equally great necessity that the result of the
action should be as decisive as possible. As a demon-
stration of our power in the case of such egotistical
barbarians as the Chinese, it would surely have been
more effective to have sunk the whole flotilla than a
few junks, especially as the celestials will never be per-
suaded that any one of them escaped which it was in
our power to destroy. They will give us no credit for
humanity, nor is it natural that they should, under such
cirenmstances. We arc, therefore, persuaded that, taking
the most humane view of the conduct of the British in this
affair, it was short-sighted in the extreme,
and in the end
will be productive of increased bloodshed. Had the
crews of the junks been seized, and after being wholly
in the power of the British, been set ashore without in-
jury and without ransom, the humanity and policy of
such moderation even the Chinese would have been
ebliged to admit. Of such a course we would be among
the first to pronounce an ardent approval. The first
extract which we shall give from these letters is dated
" Hong Kong, Nov. 6, 1839
In my last I mentioned that negotiations were in
progress for arranging temporarily the affairs here. An
officer with the Hong merchants came down to Macao, and
every tiling was settled by them and Captain Elliot for re-
opening the trade at the Bucca Tigris. At this moment
the ship Thomas. Ottley, arrived, and in defiance of the
superintendent's injunctions, entered the Bogue by signing
the bond. All was at an end then. The Commissioner
sent back the Hong merchants who had left Macao, and
said he would agree to nothing; but the ships coming to
Whempao, the delivery .of the man up, and called upon
the Portuguese again to drive forth the English, many of
them having returned under an impression that all was
concluded. The supplies were again stopped, the servants
left, and many English were obliged to seek refuge in the
houses of the Portuguese.
Under these circumstances, and the increased force in
the neighbourhood of the shipping, together with a large
camp outside of Macao, overawing the Portuguese, Capt.
Elliot wrote to Capt. Smith, suggesting that, as he had
done all in his power to arrange matters, without success,
the only thing left was to go to the Bogue with the ships,
and ask for the people to be unmolested in Macao. Capt.
Smith concurred with him, and proceeded up, and I think
von will agree with me that in the chop addressed to the
Commissioner, nothing was
asked for more than was
proper, and the discourteous act of sending it back by a
pilot uto nswered, shows very plainly the feeling by whien
they were actuated.
6, When their force came down upon us it became a

simple question—' which was to give way ?' and after all
that had taken place it wou'd never have done for us to
retire. Ido not know the extent of damage done. We
were engage one hour. One junk blew up, three sunk;
and I do not think there are many left that will be fit for
serv'ee. They have had a severe lesson, but not an unde-
served one, when it is taken into consideration that the
fArnilies of our countrymen have been driven twice from
M.:cao—the atrocious attack upon Mr. Moss—the attelipt
to poison the water in the vicinity of the shipping—the
call of the authorities upon the people to fire upon and
seiz,, the English wherever they could be found—the burn-
ing of the Bilbiano, taking her for an English vessel, &c.
The next is of a date two days later, and is as fol-
lows :

" Concerning the conflict which to,lc place at Chumpce,
I can only assure you that every effort was made to avert
collision with the Chinese; but retirement before a force,
moved out probably for the purpose of intimidation, and
the declared intention of proceeding to seize a man
in satisfaction for the native, Lin-wei-he, was impossible.
Captain Smith, however, displayed great r.nd becoming
moderation, for there would have been no difficulty in ut-
terly destroying the whole flotilla. It was a side wind, and
the ships ran un and down the line, with each broadside
bearing; but he thought that to repel onward movements
was the limit to which he was justified in proceeding.
It is satisisctory to know that the Commissioner
witnessed this proof of our prowess ; and I can-
not doubt it wit impress the Chinese Government whole-
somely. We not yet heard how the affair has been
taken. You will be glad to hear that the larger portion of
the cargoes has been sent up and disposed of at favourable
prices. The disturbed condition of affairs has at least
had the advantage of helping prices.
" Concerning the opium-traffic, it is only necessary to
remark that it is in the situation that might be expected
from these fool'sh measures of the Commissioner—that is
to say, as flourishing as possible. When he arrived in
these provinces, and for some months before, it was per-
ce ly stagnant. He (Lin) gives it such an in pulse, and
casts it into such desperate hands, both natve and foreign,
that I feel assured we shall soon see these coasts the prey
of people who are little else than buccaneers. If the
Commissioner had adopted moderate measures, the lawless
traffie would have been swamped instead of the lawful.
The two cannot co.exist."

Tee " foolish measures" here censured are not wholly
the Commissioner's. The last overland mail from India
brought us a Proclamation by Superintendent ELLIOTT,
promulgated since his expulsion from Canton, strictly
forbidding all British subjects from trafficking in
opium. Now we regard the issuing of such pro-
clamations by the Superintendent as exceedingly pre-
posterous in the present state of our relations with the
Chinese Government. It is surely no business of ours,
after an ignominious expulsion from their ports, to em-
ploy ourselves in vindicating the authority of their Coss
tong-house regulations.

By the arrival at Cork, on Thursday last, cf the
packet-ship South America, which was compelled to put
in there in consequence of the stormy state of the
weather in the Channel, we have received New York
Papers to the 3d inst., inclusive. They bring very little
news of interest. The Maine Boundary question excited
great attention, and it required all the firmness of the
Federal Government to prevent the " loafers" of Maine
from involving Great Britain and the United States in
a general war. This is is not surprising. The United
States abound in desperate characters, and in political
and financial gamblers, who contemplate the approach of
war as a flock of vultures might be supposed to
do the carcase of an ox rolling down a pre-
cipice. The ruin of a nation is nothing to them,
provided they can hope to enrich themselves. The
j-bbers in loans, the army and navy contractors, and
the hundreds who everywhere expect to share their
gains, arc all clamorous about the invasion of the Maine
Boundary, and the expediency of chastising the inso-
lence of the " Brittishers." It is greatly to be re-
gretted that Mr. FAIRFIELD, the Governor of Maine,
is as busy as the busiest of these persons, in blowing
into a flame the embers of international strife. Still
there is a strong anti-war party even in Maine ;
and taking the States of the Union collectively,
five-sixths of the people are averse to a war with
Great Britain, which, however it would terminate,
would unquestionably inflict commercial distress, to
an unparalleled extent, upon the people of the
United Sta-es. In addition to the papers relative to
this question, which were submitted to Congress at the
date of our previous advices from New York, the PRE-
SIDENT communicated to the Senate, on the 29th ult.,
two notes, of the dates of the 26th and 28th respec-
tively, the first from Mr. Fox, the British Minister, and
addressed to Mr. FORSYTH, and the second the answer
of the American Minister to Mr. Fox's communi-
cation. The following extract from Mr. Fonsynes
note will show the purport of this correspondence, which,
on the part of the British Ambassador. was to correct
misstatements Made by Governor FAIRFIELD
:
The undersigned, Secretary of State of the United
States, has the honaue.to reply, by direction of the Presi-
dent, to the note addressed to him on the 26Th inst. by
Mr. Fox, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipoten•
fiery of Great Britain.
" The President derives great satisfaction from the infor-
mation conveyed by Mr. Fox's note, that with reference
to the reported
.movements of British troops within the
territory in dispute, no actual change has taken place in the
attitude of her Majesty's authorities in the territory since
the arrangements entered into by the two Governments,
at the commencement of last year, for the preservation
of tranquillity within its limits, and from his assurances
that there exists no intention on the part of her Ma-
jesty's authorities to infringe the terms of those atrange-
merits, so long as they are faithfully observed on the
side of the United States. The President, however,
cannot repress a feeling of regret that the British colonial
authorities, without graver motives than the possibility of
a departure from the arrangements by the State of Maine,
should take upon themselves the discretion, and along with
it, the fearful responsibility of probable consequences, of
being guided by circumstances, liable as these are to be
misapprehended and misjudged in the adoption, within the
disputed territory, of measures of defence and precaution,
in manifest violation of the understanding between the
two countries, whenever they may imagine that acts of
hostile aggression over the disputed territory are meditated
or threatened on the part of the State of Maine. The
President cannot but hope that, when her Majesty's Go-
vernment at home shall be apprised of the position as-
sumed in this regard by its colonial agents, proper steps
wilt be taken to place the performance cf express and so-
lemn agreements upon a more secure basis than colonial
discretion, to be exercised on apprehended disregard of such
agreements on the part of the State of Maine.
" Mr. Fox has already been made the channel of con-
vr,yance to his Government of the &sire and determina_
tioa of the President that the obligations of the country
shall he faithfully discharged; that desire is prompted by a
sense of expediency as well as of justice, and by an anxious
wish to preserve the amicable relations now, so manifestly
for the advantage of both, subsisting between the United
States and Great Britain.

The question of domestic slavery having been brought
before Congress, the House of Representatives voted,
by a majority of 10i to 108, that no petitions or me-
morials for the abolition of slavery would be received or
entertained by the House! Upon this infamous reso-
lution we shall take an early opportunity of com-
menting. If this majority comprise within it many
Members who support Governor FAIRFIELD'S policy
of a war with England, we fairly warn them, that in the
event of hostilities, the question of slavery will not be
entirely left to their determination. To popularize an
American war, an English Minister would have only to
hold up this vote in the House of Commons. We trust
this remark will not be lost upon the pro slaver!.
clamourers for a war with this country.
We subjoin the latest monetary and commercial in.
teifgence from the New York Morning Herald of the
3d inst. The only news from the Canadas, where all
continues tranquil, is that Sir GEORGE ARTHUR will
not lave Toronto before the union of the two Provinces.
NEW YORK MONEY AND COMMERCIAL