The Sun.
London, England, 1840-11-07 00:00:00

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LONDON:
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1840

The opinion that the Church of England, be-
cause she has been weak, and unable to carry out
her principles to their full length in all cases by the
sword, has conferred great benefits on the country,
which was lately broached by Lord SANDON, is ra-
pidly gaining ground. A field is prepared for it in
every parish, and it there takes root and flourishes.
It would not be for a moment listened to in Ire-
land, so long afflicted with penal laws for the be-
hoof of the Church ; no man could utter it in an
assembly of Dissenters, for upwards of more than
a century and a half the victims of the Test Act,
without provoking a derisive laugh ; but every well-
paid Rector welcomes it more fervently than the
tidings of his salvation, and preaches it with more
zeal than Christianity. At the Bucks Conserva-
tive dinner, held at Brill on Thursday, the Duke
of BUCKINGHAM and the Members for the county
being present, the Rev. J. BARON, speaking to
the toast of " Church and State," praised the
Church, en the nothing-like-leather principle, in the
following terms :
" To the Established Church they were indebted fcr
many privileges and blessings. Amongst ethers, that
important one of freedom of conscience. The greatest
enemies of that Church, even, had confessed her mo-
deration and tolerance. To all men, however differing
in religious opinions, the establishment of such a Church
must a great blessing., and he trusted they would see
that blessing still more extended."
Little JEm, at school, is thrashed by big BEN ;
when he complains and resists, he is told, " Be
silent; you are a lucky dog; you do not get kicked
and cuffed half as much as Tom is kicked and
cuffed by SAM ;" and BEN, though he is a brutal,
spiteful, arrogant bully, is set down by the compa-
rison as a virtuous, generous boy. Englishmen
have not been as unmercifully treated by the priest-
hood as the Spaniards by the Inquisition. " See,"
say Parson BARON and Lord SANDON, " what
blessings the Church has conferred on you !" Im-
prisonment for non-payment of Church-rates--
exclusion from civil offices, because her communion
is not followed—taking tithes of the property of
those who believe her an unchristian Church, are
all to be regarded as blessings, because the more
arrogant and iniquitous Church of Rome has
burned men alive. Men judge by comparison.
The priests compare the Church of England to the
Papacy, and pronounce her a blessing ; other men
compare her to the unpaid voluntary scheme of
Dissent, and conclude that she is a curse only less
heavy than the Papacy.
Somewhere about the time that we were remark-
ing, the night before last, that the priesthood served
MAMMON, and could not serve CHRIST, the said
Mr. BARON, speaking of the extension of this
blessed Church, was proving the truth of what we
said. His observations are, we think, too remark-
able to be allowed to pass unnoticed :
" There was a statute upon our books," be said, as
reported in the Morning Post, " of Richard 11., in
which the abbeys were called nu by the Bishops to
support the parochial clergy, and it was in thgir power,
and in the power of the people of England, to claim of
the Legislature that it should call upon the present re-
ceivers of Church property, in accordance with the
spirit of that Act, to afford a proper maintenance for
the clergy in their localities. He felt astonished, in-
deed, that so just a nation as this had so long allowed
this obvious injustice to continue. In that neighbour-
hood alone the College of Christ Church possessed two
livings, of which they received the tithes, which were
ample, and what reward did they bestow upon the ex-
cellent minister who did the duties? Twenty. two
pounds per annum for each parish, and, instead of
giving one clergyman to each parish, compelled the same
to do duty in both.—(Hear, hear.) The Duke of Bed-
ford, it was reported, received the amount of 60,0001. a
year, the whole of
,which was derived from Church pro-
perty, and yet it was well known that several livings in
the gift of the Duke of Bedford had received augmen-
tation from the Governors of Queen Anne's Bounty.—
(Hear.) Now, let those persons who were in the same
situation as the Duke of Bedford and this College of
Christ Church—let these lay impropriators do but com-
mon justice to the Church, and make the nation some re-
turn for that which the nation paid them out of the reve-
nues of the Church, and then the blessings of the Pro-
testant Establishment would be extended far and wide.
Let Lord John Russell, si ho last Session brought in a
Bill to take away a portion of the cathedral property,
next Session bring in a Bill by which the Duke (y Bed-
ford and others in the same position shall be called upon
to pay and provide fora sufficient number of stipendiary
curates in the livings from whose revenues they derive
their splendid incomes, and then they would have reason
to say that Lord John Russell was a just man ; but,
tiil then, they would have full reason to question his
sincerity.—(Chee-s.)"
More pelf for the Church, not more learning,
more kindliness, more virtue for the priesthood, was
the burden of that passage. The Rev. Mr. BARON
lifted not up his voice against war as unchristian,
but he demanded more moprey for the clergy. He
sat amidst landowners, and heard the Corn-laws
p raised, without reproaching those who take the
bread out of the mouth of the poor ; but he was full
of knowledge and eloquence in demonstrating that
more of the national wealth should be appropriated
to the priesthood. His observations were cheered,
they were congenial to the company ; arid the Duke
of BUCKINGHAM, with the rest of the convives,
seems to approve of the opinion, that a " Bill
ought to be brought in to make the Duke of BED-
FORD and others " restore to the Chula some of
the property their ancestors took from the Church.
In relation to the Dukes of BUCKINGHAM and
BEDFORD, and to the bulk of noblemen and
gentlemen in the kingdom, we think the Rev. Mr,
BARON is quite right. As mere owners of rent,
enjoying large revenues without any exertion on
their parts, few or no persons assert that they are
essential to the well-being of society. But the
bulk of them, followed by a large part of the com-
munity, are never tired with doing homage to the