The Sun.
London, England, 1856-11-10 00:00:00

LONDON, MONDAY, NOVENL 4R 10, 1850.

It is needless to adduce any argl u vents to prove
the great dearth of specie at this m .c ment, both in
France and England. Notwithsta ,n ding the ener-
getic efforts of the Directors of the „quasi National
Banks in both countries, the drain still continues
with unabated force, and it is ins possible to say
when the tide will turn, or the bu U ion which has
departed from our shores can ee Fen partially be
brought back. The exorbitant rate of interest
must speedily paralyse industry. ..A1 stagnation in
even the most legitimate operati* )11S of trade is
inerritable. Production must cee ae, inasmuch as
: the absence of a circulating medir aa, adequate to
the wants and exigencies of the : a:Ation, will pre-
vent the ordinary operations of el -edit by which
such operations can alone be coi at 'acted ; and if
even orders for our manufactures. should be re-
ceived, they can scarcely be execute d by those who
are suffering, not from a scarcity- of capital (for
despite the sinister statements of "MERCATOR that
is abundant), but from a scar a ity—we might
say a famine—of currency to act as its measure
and representative. Nor have 1r e yet seen the
worst part of the crisis. Althoug h the rate of in-
terest is enormous, it is more the c a hinted that it
will soon be increased. Altboug 51 the nature of
the security tendered is scrutinise cl with the most
curious eye, it is more than p cobable that still
more stringent regulations may be anticipated ;
and then what will be the cense( tuences, not only
to the industrial portion of the co untry, but to all
who have contracted obligations, which it will be
difficult, if not impossible, to I.ilfil, under the
altered state of affairs ?

In France the money market i.s even more de-
pressed. The Bank has been comp ailed to sustain
its own credit by pressing heavily on the sister
establishment in this country, :3: ad means have
been resorted to in order to obt sin a supply of
bullion which can scarcely be regarded as legiti-
mate. Many sagacious and ex perienced men
already predict an early :suspension of
cash payments, and the substitu ti on of a paper
for a metallic currency ; and it 'would be well
for France if its Government would, while there
is yet time, adopt sound and judicious measures
for the purpose of economising the p •7ecious metals,
by creating a circulating medium fully capable
of transacting the domestic busin(%3 of the coun-
try, but which would not be av ailAzble either for
hoarding or exportation !

It is under such circumstances that a French
Company, the " Credit Mobilier," has entered
into a gigantic speculation, which will render the
transfer of bullion to the amtrunt of some
43,000,0001. sterling, from France and England
to Russia, within a limited period indispensable.
That Company has obtained the covcession, as it
is termed, of a number of railways in Russia ; or,
in other words, has undertaken to construct about
2,500 miles of railway in that country within a
period of ten years, and to advance 43,000,0001.
for that purpose. The whole of that money must,
as we have already explained, be provided in gold
and silveL. It is ridiemlous to suppoao that it
either can or will be taken in the manufactures of
the Western States. Nothing bat "hard cash"

will be accepted ; for it will be the policy, no less

than the desire of the CZAR, to enforce the con-
tract, however ruinous it may prove to the parties
concerned : so that the project, if fully carried
into execution, must prove highly disastrous ; for
although the capital may be :ample, the currency
is manifestly inadequate.
It is certain that the Credi t Mobilier does
not for a moment contemplate locking up
its own capital in the vast undertaking. It
is only the agent, hoping to realise sufficient
funds from the communities of both nations.
Should the shares be quoted and sold at pre-
miums, it will gain consid'srable profits, but it
does not for a moment con-eemplate a permanent
investment, nor care for the misery and destitu-
tion which may follow the wild and reckless spe-
culation. A very easy calculation will show, that,
like the razors of the itinerant vendor, the shares
are constructed for sale, not for use. Persons
seeking high interest may nibble at the temptinv
bait, but should they do so they will have speedy
cause to lament in sackcloth and ashes their un-
fortunate credulity. It might be thought that
they had already sufficient warnings to render
even the most sanguine cautious, that the painful
lessons already received would prevent such des-
perate gambling. But it is impossible to estimate
the extent of public gullibility, or the lengtks to
which parties may proceed in the too eager pur-
suit of speedily acquired wealth. It is, therefore,
an imperative duty on the public journalists to
uplift their voices—and again, and again usque
ad nauseam, impress upon the people the folly—
the wickedness, nay, more, the certain loss that
must result from any participation in the trans-
action. This is the more necessary, as it is said
that agents are already busily engaged in trying
to introduce the new scrip into our own money
market, and that it is hoped that the greater por-
tion of the money may be obtained from the
pockets of Englishmen. It is palpable that the
bullion must be obtained from us, for even before
the speculation above alluded to had been entered
into a leading firm had contracted to supply gold
to the value of 140,000,000 f., or 5,600,0001. to
the Bank of France.

What, we ask, would be the feeling of English-
men if a project were ventilated for obtaining
money for the reconstruction of Sebastopol, and
the Russian fortresses during the late war ? Would
any man, with the slightest particle of patriotism
in his heart, touch the accursed thing at any
price, or on any conditions ? Would any possible
amount of anticipated profit tempt him into the
unholy concern ?
For the honour of our coun-
try—of human
nature, we should hops not !
And yet the practical difference between military
fortresses and military railways is of a very
trifling character. Ten days since we explained
that these lines could not, by any possibility, be
required for purposes of locomotion or traffic.
The passport system prohibits the one, the poverty
of country, and the scantiness of prod uc tion—
,
which, in proportion to the square
mile is but
—the other.
one-seventieth part that of England
The transaction is, therefore, solely entered int•
for the purpose of enhancing the military power
of Russia, and removing that which was the great
drawback to the Russian operations during the
late war. With the additional strength supplied
by the important chain of military railways the
CZAR hopes to insure the success of his next ag-
gressive movement, although opposed by ,ca
world in arms." Is there any true-hearted Eng-
lishman who could, under any circumstances, be

induced to lend his aid in removing the trifling
obstacles opposed to the traditionary policy of

Russia, by the late war, to render nugatory the
sacrifice of 50,000 English lives, and
100,000,0001. of English mosey ? Every senti-
ment of patriotism is opposed to the notion.
But, putting aside the considerations of patri-
otism, and the effect on our own industrial opera•
Hens, by the effect on the currency, there is still
another aspect of the question which has been
presented by " A Hertfordshire Incumbent,"
through the columns of a contemperary, that is
peculiarly worthy of notice. The Rev. writer
points out the existing scarcity of iron in Russia,
and the results that must follow so great a de-
mand as must be produced by the vast consump-
tion. The price would take away the profits of
the company, or at least would greatly increase
the outlay, while the guarantee is limited to a
fixed sum. An addition of some millions of ex-
penditure would practically reduce the interest,
which will only be paid for a certain term of
year?, to a lower amount than could be obtained
for a perpetuity, either in England or France !
Let our countrymen, and our French, brethren
ponder on these matters, and abstain from en-
tangling themselves in matters that may here-
after occasion serious losses to themselves, and
misery and destitution to their unfortunate
families.

We cannot remember the time when the Church
was not in danger. Just before our entrance on
public life she had enjoyed a long and peaceful
slumber. She had had an unquiet time of it dur-
ing Presbyterian ascendancy, and JAMES 11. gave
her a year or two's uneasiness ; but from that
time to the horrid days of WHITFIELD and WESLEY
most happily did she doze and slumber, and slum-
ber and doze. Dissenters during that long inter-
val troubled her not ; they were either too re-
spectable, retaining among them same titled sece-
ders, who suffered no insults to their venerated
mother, or too weak, and glad by extra courtesy
to country squires and magistrates, to atone for
the guilt of nonconformity. The popularity of
the two great field preachers of the last century
did not at first disturb ecclesiastical repose ; both
were sons of the Church, had taken her orders,
used and even attended her services, and, while
denouncing unworty priests, never attacked the
altar which they served.
Yet soon after the Church began to be alarmed.
The French Revolution set all the Radicals against
priests of every description. This, however, only
roused the bishops and clergy to triumphant
wrath., Thera was no easier way to devote any
over-zealous reformer to Church or State to a
mob auto de fe than by pronouncing him a
Jacobin. The mob was as serviceable to the
Church then as it is just at this moment to the
domestic institution of our American cousins. The
great danger began when two denominations,
separated by their opinions on one point only, the
Baptists and Independents, awakened from their
slumbers by the successes of WHITFIELD and WES-
LEY, began to push their opinions and to make
proselytes among the middle classes. Their church
government is strictly republican. The Memoirs
of JEFFERSON mention that that statesman ob-
tained his first conceptions of the federal union
of independent states from what he observed in
churches of the Baptist communion. One prime
article of their creed, and that of the Inde-
pendents also, is, that each of their churches
is a complete sovereign organisation, amenable to
no external authority, and every member having
equal votes. Endowments, even by individuals,
were soon found to be adverse to this out-and-out
republicanism ; and voluntaryism has long be-
come their avowed reliance. Their independence
was guaranteed by each member being able to
diminish the means of any usurper or invader of
their :liberties, by withdrawing his quota from
the church treasury.
Now, as advanced liberals ourselves, we must
do these twin sects the justice to acknowledge
their services to the great cause of freedom.
Whatever a man's religious principles, it is cer-
tain that they materially modify his conceptions
of government and politics. How few High
Churchmen fail of being good Tories also. Im-
plieit obedience to the Rector and the Diocesan,
issue in a tendency to "quiet submission to the
powers that be. On the other hand, the sects
we have adverted to, distinguished by a purely
republican church polity, have hardly a Tory
among them. He is quite a black sheep
where he is to be found. When the Anti-
State Church Association was proved, which,
held its meeting under a new name on Thursday,
so far as we could ascertain the active men
belonged almost exclusively to these bodies, and
we are informed that to this day it numbers but
a few Churchmen, Wesloyans, Presbyterians, or
even Catholics amongst its prominent agents.
We believe public atttention has been directed to
this fact, for a fact we believe to be, hitherto.
The Hon. Rev. Baptist W. NOEL no sooner
became the minister of a Baptist Chapel, than he
published at once a large octavo, and, we are told,
a rather vigorous attack against the union of
Church and State. It has been the same with
other seceding clergymen who have joined these
ecclesiastically republican Dissenters.
It is plain that at length they have succeeded
in gaining for their favourite principle of volun-
taryism, the respectful attention of respect-
table Members of Parliament. Mr, MIA.LLS
motion on the Irish Church last session,
though avowedly based on the voluntary
principle, obtained upwards of 120 votes in its
favour. And both out of Parliament and in it,
such men as Mr. GLADSTONE and Lord S'TANLEY,
from there very different points of view, have in-
dulged in very strong encomiums on voluntaryism.
The abolition of protection in so many forms, and
the overpowering evidence that self dependence
has augmented surprisingly the energies of com-
merce, has also been much in favour of the volun-
taries. They chime in with the popular senti-
ment by representling State Endowment as pro-
tection, and Voluntaryism as free trade in re-
ligion ; and thousands who would give no head
to a theological dispute, attend when the creed of
the day is invoked. The abolition of the Clergy.
Reserves in Canada, and the general determina-
tion of the colonies to do away with State grants
for religious purposes, must also have an influence
on the mother country.
To all this has to be added to the results of the
religious census ; not merely was it proved that
one half the worshippers in the kingdom did
support their own worship ; but even the prodi-
gious church building efforts of the last few
years have been voluntary efforts—efforts, too,
the results of which have stood in marked con-
trast with the little effected, byGovernment grants,
for the same object. Thouaands of Churchmen
have been taught, by the best of all teachers, how
much more they could de for their Church than
they had thought they could. The success of the
Free Church in Scotland, of Popery in Ireland,
and the total failure of our wealthy Establishment
there, have all come in support of the new danger
to the Church. Perhaps Mr. SPOONER, has helped
the Dissenters as much as any one. Every argu-
ment he can use kw disendowing Maygooth