The Sun.
London, England, 1824-08-04 00:00:00

[rif F. TIM ES.I

We have alreti'dy .expressed our favourable
judgment of the spirit which set on foot i!01111618 •
sins for inquiring into the state Of education
throughout Ireland; and at the same time our belief
that the result would gate imprint very strongly on
the public mind. the necessit y of resorting to far dif-
ferent experiments than that of honk instruction for
bar' people. The domestic habits of the peasantry,
whlch are suckled in with the mother's' milk, and
contirthed and pvrpetunted by the daily occur-
. retires of the cAhitt—they, it is, which call for an
absoluv.+ and complete reform. Dirt and idleness,
atsd improvidence, are, 1110' practical elements of
every, cfiild,N.edueaiion.- .By these, the poverty
which' they -So often' suffer is always agratat.
ed when it 'does ()Coif', and, fretitiently produced
where, under tt better, 4ystetri, it might have beOtt
with eitse
.preveotedi Akin to thest. vices, or ttlig•
fprtnnes) and, ikart,,of that periettilgr
*At rattre'i 0 Nth* Most tird Ina ry waists of riviiiied,
which wq,„o least capoot help 111004', 114
inekrolobiut -;rtfroiettce between the Irish
labourers anal t boiw of other :raqioliffv ri' boy lt o.lt
nothing mo`to '(tf so rtilicii) in the way wheat

Englishmen comtidee, 44- comfort," than would
that guards their dwelling, or satisfy the cur-dog
the pig that shares it, . They have no conception
of bringing up children .to any higher state than
one of scanty and precarious livelihood. They
have no idea oi reserving for their own use, in
recompense for their own toil, any larger por-
tion of what the earth produces than that which
their ragg,ed and half-starved progenitors re-
ceived before them. From this deplorable
insensibility to the decent wants of exi,t-
ence, as is well known—indeed so well, that
we are almost ashamed to repeat it—two dread-
ful evils follow : first,- marriage, with just as
much forecast of its natural consequences as
beasts have—not half so much as birds have,
when they pair : secondly, extravagant biddings
for land, which are the immediate causes of those
enormous rents so universally complained of by
t charged uponthemselves,tlepoortheir and so (in that case) un-
justlylandlords. The igno-
rance, we say again, of those daily wants which
are familiar to all civilized beings, is what con-
stitutes, and what prolongs the miserable condi-
tion of the Irish- Can such ignorance be sup-
plied by school-books ? Books may correct'
erroueous, theories ; but 'habits of diseased ac-
tion must be superseded by a practical in-
struction in better habits. We do not pro-
pose, therefore, to relinquish nor to narrow
the school system of charity throughout Ireland ;
but we do most 'earnestly recommend that, in ad-
dition to it, some pains should be taken to im-
prove the daily management and interior arrange-
ment of the cabins, and of the tenements sur-
rounding them. Government there can do no-
thing, but by furnishing a moderate sum of
money. It rests with the gentry, the Protestant
clergy, and Catholic priesthood—above all, with
the resident ladies of Ireland—to teach the poor
in their own cottages—to make every family a
little school, where cleanliness, and decency, and
domestic industry, and minute economy of time and
space, may supplant the abominations which now
prevail universally ; for, disproportionate as are
the rents which these poor creatures impose
upon themselves, it must he observed, that by
their slovenly, unskilful, and wasteful practices,
the difficulty of providing for the landlord is nearly
doubled. Such a course of instruction,it is true, can
be executed only by means of sacrifices on the
part of the gentry and clergy which they have Ito(
been accustomed to, They must visit She poor
man's cottage in their own persons—not represent-
ed by ari‘jers, by tithe-proctors,. or policemen :
they must overcome
.a variety of disgusts, forego
many idle engagements, speak the language of
kind and friendly admonition, and follow up their
counsels bieucouragements of a more substantial
nature to those among the labouring poor who dis-
tinguish themselves by superior promptitude in
acting upon the lessons or their benefactors. By
e
such methods, and such chiefly, do we esteem it
possibl at
present to improve the habits of the
Irish poor. It may sound paradoxical to desire
that an increase of their wants should be resorted
to as an expedient for relieviug them from the
pressure of those which noes afflict them : yet
if some see!' stimuleS be' not applied, we may an-
ticipate another 100 years of hopeless and melan-
choly degradation.: At be,further said, we
have no doubt, that although the- poor' may be
disposed to Warn, there etre none among-the upper
classes of Ireland qualified or willing to act the
part which we havessugg es ted, nttd thus to re-
medy the evik by o hirh they themselves so deeply
'stitrer. That' is their coamidernaort—fnot oure.
• If the Irish gentlemen and their families can nei-
ther see the disorder, nor administer a remedy to
benevolent
sosinviting, and. to those which
are capable of even slight reflection 40 irldispen-
su We, why the CornMiSSioners ought to .Obtain
fresh powers, and—onlarge the sphere of their
inquiry, so as to embrace the best method of
educating the upper classes of the Irish, and
'fitting them for the discharge of their most urgent
duties. An Irish cc Peasantry
Association" has
been formed in London for the identical objects
above explained ; hut without support from Ire-
land itself, such partial undertakiugs can scarcely
hope to be successful.
• •

13ENI:FITS OF AURICULAR CONFESSION.--1101.1
Jon?' kNox lost his heart-shaped watch, vrhiclt
Nl'Cree describes, and been indebted for its re:
covery ,to a circumstance so orthodox as the
follOwing,.we really think the Reformer must
have allowed that confession could be applied to
the most tutvfal purposes in effect) -although a
mi,lokett idea extorts the guilt from the miserable
Catholic A boot tit rely. yea nt : watch-
maker in rail irk hall a.silver watch'..stolen from
his bhOP, and lung. despaired of ever.seeittg it
again,. till last week, it seems, the son of _Rik Irish
labourer, who formerly worked at the; Union
Canal, .was getting his conscience unitUrtlened 'of
its load baforewgltostly father in Edinbterg, and
among ...the rest of his •misdeeds,,confesseil 'the
theft, It deSerSes.lu be known. that the Priest,
in the most proper .inannerosinunediately. dis—
patched the mother of the root! to Falkirk with
ttte watch, when it 14.41.8 delivered to tile Surprigoit
it Stiff Presbyterian, 11110 Ott this-oectssiorr
trt,ry have beilowed rt hulk! prayer for the Aood'°,,r
the Popit.tilid,hisnseful plari.--,(Sfirlingjourn6.iq
A. very 'distressing. acchlenfootioarred. -in- -this
town About twelve: O'clock yesterday:Friday4.the3lth
The Chester mail, on its ipturvy.uouia,r4B. 1)0 nutYLYI-q4ciled
the end of Green Gate-street, when 4µ•o children at the name
of Bill, :broth:ls, if the tiler Uri three 'Arid bled yeaf§,'Who
were returning home i'roto•Wcbepl,,teroned the., road Inroad.y
under the: heads 01 the leakbAs; tuvi
was used on the nift Of' the p6aseng m
N;s and coat
tbrmer by collingiljoudiy;„&„l, TF:ttOr by 'drailing up his
harslet, in atteinptlpg to „do wblrh the reiom hrickke—thu !poor
lath were throwod9wn, arid tie wiievh IMsed.(4tr.Aaltit,their
beultes,ioul.thar attriiirtid the a?,eititint but a iel'f6iy
:• : , : 1 7.f pi a,.•

Y(74t!.rduyfuorningi
bouree .alt lock, an old
man, a porter, fell .over, windo(Oi Ave,' stories
high, inJackmon's.elose,- anti' was
hilled`l4port tkalmlut.. ' As several periOhs'
heel' drinking add itl the house,
during the night and immedi:itely he fore the
fatal' efitastroptio ppeikid, n man'named Semple,
11.0 a "ire, -41111: (1)4 dlitighier of the old man whe
415 •killed,ifitif, been atiprended, on suspicion
of thelr:bellig `lnitriinic!ntal in the mao'ii death,
itu IniVingliMliatfly fallen br been knocked over
the window 'during a squabbnle.--(Edinbargh
Courant-, July

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.

TITHES IN THE CITY OF LONDON•

MANSION.HOUSE.-Mr. John Blencarn, a Gen-
tleman engaged in mercantile business, and residing in Ame-
rica.square' waited upon the Loup Al AY On, and begged his
Lordship's advice in a matter of great importance to the inha-
bitants of the parish in which he resided. In consequence of
his Lordship's decision in a late case respecting tithes, he had
received the following extraordinary form of notice from the
•agents of the lay-impropriator of that parish (St. Botolph's,
Aldgate, in Portsoken Ward) :
" Stu— We are directed by Roger Kynaston, Esq. to apply
to you for payment of four quarters of arrears of tithes due to
him at Christmas last, amounting to the sum of 51. 10s. ; and
to inform you, that unless the same be paid to us on or before
Thursday next, we have peremptory instructions to file a bill
against you in the Court of Chancery ; and you will particu-
larly understand that this notice will not be repeated.
" IVe are, Sir, your obedient servants,
R. 0. and H. K. BURFOOT,
"2, King's Bench-walk, Temple, July 22, 1824.
" Mr. John Blencarn, 2, America-square."
The Act of Henry VIII. directed that all disputes which arose
under the alleged decree should be settled by the Lord Mayor
for the time being; and that only in his default should the parties
apply to the Lord Chancellor. Here the Clergy threw up his
Lordship's jurisdiction in defiance of their own pretended in-
strument, and in the present case, as Vac notice was a printed
circular, which he believed was general, the whole parish were
threatened individually with the dreadful expences of suits in
Chancery it' they ventured to resist the inordinate demand of
two shillings and ninepence in the pound on the rental. The
two shillings and ninepence in this case was demanded upon the
rack rent, which shewed to what an extent the inhabitants were
now to be proceeded against. The father of the present im.
propriator had for many years only taken sixpence in the
pound ; under particular circumstances the parish afterwards
agreed to give one shilling in the pound but it was only by
• the present impropriator that the demand of 2s. Pd. was put
forth and acted upon. Under these circumstances he begged to
know, whether his Lordship could in any way interfere, or the
claim be resisted without taking it into the Court of Chancery.
He was desirous of resisting the claim, but he could not think
of singly encountering the horrid delay, expense, and uncer.
tainty of a Chancery suit.
The LORD MAYOR said, that however oppressive the pro-
needing might be he could not interfere; and his advice was,
to those who felt the proceeding as oppressive, to call a public
meeting and petition Parliament for redress and a proper settle-
ment of the claims of the Clergy. He would give no opinion
MI the particular case; but if it were one of oppression the in-
habitants had better unize for their common defence, and if
they were unanimous they had many chances in their favour.
The step of obtaining the money by intimidation did not appear
very praiseworthy.
Mr. Blencarn said that his WAS a much more severe case than
that of Mr. Hargrave, which was argued before his Lordship
the other day.
The LonD MAYOR observed, that the proceeding in that
MC, by a suit in Chancery, was perfectly unwarrantable, as the
case was not determined before him in the second instance, but
merely adjourned to enable the impropriator to prove his right
fully, which lie had promised to do ; but, instead of re-appear-
ing for that purpose, he had preferred the oppressive proceed-
ing by a suit in Chancery. In fact, they were going back to
the old system, when the preference was given to the moat
severe course. They would not then take the money of the
Quakers, but prefared imprisoning them and punishing them
for their belief. These acts of oppression at length became so
terrible, that the Legislature were obliged to make the enact-
ments to give a sort of' accommodation to them.
Mr. Blenrarn left the office, as we understood, with a deter-
mination to act upon his Lordship's advice, and try to get the
parishioners together upon the subject.