The Sun.
London, England, 1841-12-18 00:00:00

runzic OPINION.

The Advertiser observes, in a leading article evidently
penned under a strong apprehension that the doctrines
of Puseyism will spread far and wide through the coun-
try—" Of all the tyrannies to which the human mind
was ever subjected, there is none so degrading, or so
much to be dreaded, as a religious tyranny. Tyranny
begun with religion, nOwer ends with religion. It is sure,
sooner or later, to extend itself to man's civil and politi-
cal privileges also. Spiritual tyranny and civil liberty
cannot co-exist. They must come into collision, and un-
fortunately, in the majority of past conflicts, the latter
has been the vanquished combatant. In appealing, there•
fore, to our countrymen to enter the lists with the abo-
minable despotism to which the Puseyites are seeking
to subject us, we appeal to them without reference
to their views on religions questions. We appeal
to them as the friends of freedom of conscience, as the
advocates of liberty of thought and liberty of action,
wherever that liberty is -not incompatible with the
rights and safety of society—we appeal to them as the
supporters of the British Constitution—as the pro-
tectors of those rights and immunities which our ances-
tors have. transmitted to us, and which they purchased
with their blood—we appeal on each and all of these
grounds to the people of England, to arouse from their
state of torpor, to open their eyes to the daring designs
which a proud and pampered priesthood, under the name
of Puseyites, have formed against freedom of conscience."
—Our Contemporary is, we think, unnecessarily nervous
respecting the dangers likely to accrue from Puseyism.
That it is spreading, and will spread still further, is un-
deniable ; but we have no fear that it will ever seriously
affect the head or heart of the community at large. It
is at variance with the spirit of the age. It is two hun-
dred years behind-hand. The character of the times is
one of progression ; that of Puseyism, of retrogression.
" Go ahead," says the people, " Go back !" say the Trac-
tarians. Again, the tendency of the age is to encourage
the simplest and homeliest forms of religion ; the obvi-
ous tendency of Puseyism is to crush real vital religion
beneath a tawdry load of ceremonial observances, as
Tullia crushed her &liter beneath a weight of glittering
armour.

The Post, spiking of the gradual progress of the
Tories during-the last seven or eight years, says--" All
that time public opinion has been flowing in their favour,
and at last, upon flood tide, they were borne into office;
and since their accession to office, though they have
taken time to consider what ought to be done, and
though they hare not taken any pains to flatter the pre-
judices of any portion of the public, still they seem to
stand as well as they did when they obtained the Govern-
ment. Their opponents do not appear to have gathered
any hope that the Conservatives are speedily to be ex-
pelled (unless we take into account the stray flourish of
honest Lord Palmerston at 'ridgnertli), but on the con-
trary, they advertise the world that the Liberal' party
must be restored before any such thing as a restoration
of the Liberal' Ministry can be dreamt of. So far as
public expectation goes, the Conservative Administra-
tion must be regarded as strong, and likely to last."—
We see no indications at present that the Tory Admi-
nistration, as now constituted, is likely to last. Most
certainly it will not last, unless on the approaching Ses-
sion they announce an entirely new system of policy.
But this cannot be done, so long as such obnoxious men
'as the Duke of Buckingham, Lord Stanley, and that
bright brace of Baronets, Sir James Graham and Sir E.
Knatchbull, have an influential voice in the Tory Coun-
cils. These men, who are the Jonahs of the State
vessel, must be thrown overboard, or the ship will as-
suredly founder.
Alluding to a significant leading article that appeared
in the Times of yesterday, respecting the insufferable
ravenousness of the Tory subalterns, the Chronicle
makes the following remarks :—" Certain untoward eir-
cumstancesin the position of his party seem to prey
upon the mind of the writer in the Times. Success has
brought anything but satisfaction. To abuse the Whigs
is some relief ; although the ceaseless resort to so poor
a consolation indicates that the glory of conquest "gins
to pale his uneffectual fire.' And even in abusing the
Whigs, it happens, as we have lately shown, that the fes-
tering at the heart becomes obvious, in the unconscious
use of phrases descriptive of Tory vexation, disappoint-
ment, and apprehension. How forlorn was the confession
on Tuesday last, that 'you will never want a strong
party' (the very phrase by which Toryism has delighted.
to describe itself) when you offer an unlimited license of
spoliation: And how yet moreforlorn the ejaculation, but
what is your strong party, when thus collected to do?"
This, we have no doubt, is the very question that Sir
Robert Peel is constantly asking himself, and winch
neither he nor any one of his cads can answer. They
have collected their party; they call it a strong one ; yet
despite its strength, what are they to do with it? Will
the Premier muster it under the banger of the Corn-laws?
Will he head it against Free Trade ; sound drum and
trumpet, and bid it rally to the charge against the anti-
monopolists ? Be dare not—for his hie he dare not
What then will lie do with his " strong party ?" Nothing
decisive ; but just ground his arms, and coolly wait to
-see what turn events will take.
In the absence of some fresher and more attractive
k
theme of abuse, the 'rill fulls foul of Mr. O'Connell,
as will be seen by the following passage :—" We never
entertained a doubt that if there was one man in the

---
United Kingdom who perverted his talents to the worst
of purposes—his influence to the most mischievous of
applications—his position to objects having the least
legitimate degree of relation to it—that person was no
other than Daniel O'Connell. That he had been, from
first to last, a mere adventurer—unrestrained by any
scruples of real regard for his country, but actuated by
any and every impulse the impression of which coin-
cided with his instinctive selfishness—that as a partisan
he was as unsteady as he was vehement—as faith-
less as he was unsteady—and as rash as he
was faithless ; we, of course, were satisfied who had nar-
rowly watched his public career for the last thirty years.
Besides all his politico-pantomimical changes (as gro-
tesque, abrupt, and unblushing as those of his motley
prototype ' on the stage'), we detected in the various
actor the same individual ; in the mutable demagogue,
the immutable Daniel O'Connell."—And it is precisely
because he is the "immutable Daniel O'Connell" that
he maintains his strong hold on the affections of his
countrymen, and extorts the respect of a vast body of
the English Reformers. His immutability is his title to
general consideration. Were he otherwise—were he to
rat like a Graham, or vacillate like a Peel—he would
soon become a mere nullity_ The great champion of
Catholic Emancipation need desire to have no better epi-
taphinscribed on his tombstone than this—Here lies the
immutable Daniel O'Connell !
We take the following from the Times :—" The '
plaint uttered at Derby by the midland millowners has
made itself heard among their northern brethren at
Leeds and at Manchester ; and they have re-echoed the
cry with a shrillness which strikes very sharply on the
ear, however little it may move the understanding. The
only one of theiri i
which has
allegations,
any whethersurtof truth
in the
in way
it,
isthat
of fact
or of argument, wi a
great deal of distress is existing in the manufacturing
districts. We are quite sure that there is no class of
men whose sympathy is more awake to the sufferings of
their poorer fellow-subjects than those who are held up
to obloquy as the causes of this distress—the Conserva-
tive gentlemen of England."—lf the Tories really have
this sympathy for the poorer classes of society, they
have a queer way of showing it, by refusing them the
advantages of cheap bread, and keeping up those mono-
polies under which they are ground down to the very
dust. But your true Tory is a cross-grained animal—
so much so, as to make his very sympathies wear all the
aspect of antipathies.
' - COMMERCIAL REFORM.

On Thursday the important meeting on the state ol
the cotton trade, and its distress, was held at Manches•