The Sun.
London, England, 1856-03-07 00:00:00

his ear the unpleasiug intelligence that something
was required, and that he either ought to accede
to or peremptorily refuse the urgent applications,
co that the Commissioner might know what he had
to anticipate, and for what he should be pre-
pared. Lord. STRATFOB.D must have formed a
very humiliating estimate of the intelligence of the
Government and people of Great Britain, when he
conceived that such an excise could pass current.
En any event there is a prima facie case against him,
which requires his immediate recall. The interests
of England can no longer be trusted in such hands,
whether the untoward events were occasioned
by negligence, ill-temper, or something even worse
than either.

A stringent account must also be rendered of
the money received in this country, on the joint
parantee of France and England, for the alleged
benefit of Turkey. It will be asked why that
which was of such vital importance to the Otto-
man cause was suffered to remain idle and unpro-
ductive in the Bank of England, when it was so
urgently required, and when the fate of Asiatic
Turkey virtually depended on its receipt.
It may be answered that the notorious
corruption and treachery of Turkish officials de-
manded unusual precautions to show that the
money should not be misapplied. But surely the
withholding the necessary assistance until the
mischief had been effected was nearly as bad as
the misapplication, of the fund. Had it been
promptly transmitted to Constantinople, a portion
might have been improperly spent, but the, residue
would have saved Kars, and thus have averted
an evil of fearful magnitude. Measures
should have been promptly adopted to coun-
teract the -undue influences in operation at
Stamboul, and for that gross negligence the Eng-
lish Government are in a great degree, if not alto-
gether, responsible.
As to the conduct of certain Turkish officials,.
there can be no second opinion. If they
had been in the actual receipt of Aluscovite gold
they could not better have played the Russian
game, or better have earned the wages of corrup-.
tion and treason ! The most exemplary pAnish-
ment could not be too stringent for SELI3I PACITA
and the "robbers and traitors" by whom he was
assisted in his nefarious course. We are not advo-
cates for capital punishment, unless when abso-
lutely required ; but no' person could say that
any retributive justice would be too severe for
such atrocious offenders.

That the fall of Kars is attributable to gross
negligence or something worse is certain. It is
for the British Parliament to discover the offen-
ders, and to see that they are treated in the
manner which they deserve, so that loyalty,
honour, and honesty may be fairly vindicated.

Dissenters must have been greatly amused with
;the grand difficulty of Wednesday's debate. All
the advocates of Church Rates, especially the two
Lords JOHN, were gravelled, as disputants of old
would have said, by the ever-recurring question
—How will you provide a reliable substitute ?
Their adversaries were by no means gravelled by
any such perplexity. Good Churchmen as they
were, with at least but one exception, they had on
this subject had so much of late to do with Dis-
senters that they had, perhaps unconsciously, im-
bibed the, belief that the difficulty was a mere
phantom; walk up to it and it would vanish.
Suppose a little coterie of Dissenting managers
met to discuss how they should provide for some
annual expenses of their worship, or their house
of worship ; suppose, after long, and graie discus-
sion among the grey heads, some one hitherto
quietly busy with pencil and. paper should ask—
" Well, friends, how much per 'head will it be,
think you, for the congregation ?—Why, just 35.,
at the most extravagant calculation—more pro-
bably about is. 6d. each ;"—the whole diffisulty
would be seen to have vanished at once. " Why,
a halfpenny a-week, perhaps," one would remark ;
"any how, not a penny a-week," another would
add. " Well, it is but for our pastor to tell the
congregation so from the pulpit and the thing is
done," would be the final observation of Mr.
Chairman, and the whole staff would resume
their ordinary engagements, perfectly sure about
the security of the Chapel Consols.
This supposition is a mere matter of fact in
regard to the grave difficulty which presses on the
younger Tory Lord and the elder Whig Lord. It
really comes to a question, say of one-halfpenny a
week per worshipper, or at most of under a penny !
And here were grave legislators in the British
House of Commons objecting to Sir W. CLAY and
the abolitionists that they provided no substitute !
We provide, replies Sir WILLIAM, the free-will
offerings of the worshippers. But Lord JOHN
RUSSELL turns up his nose at such an unreliable
dependence. Voluntary offerings are but a sha-
dow—or a vague—a will-of-the-wisp offer, tempt-
ing you only to Church perdition. The Noble
Lord has lived so much in the house of taxes,
that nothing else appears to him trustworthy secu-
rity. He has had so long discipline in the science
of obtaining money by coercion, that he cannot
comprehend the reality and force of the motives
to free contribution for religious purposes.
The truth is, that in every country on earth it
has been but too easy for priests and fana-
tics to play upon those motives. The
Clergymen of England_ could at this moment
raise almost any sum in reason which they choose
to ask, did not the revenues of the Church make
the application ridiculous. Even Lord JOHN
might perceive that there must be something re-
liable in the motives which could subscribe more
than 500,000,0001. in the last twenty years for
church building—and which could maintain the
ministers and the services of Dissenting worship.
pers, somewhat outnumbering those of the Esta-
blished Church. Any how, the whole force of the
objection resolves itself into this—that you can-
not rely on the worshippers in the Established
Church to the extent of a halfpenny per week
each ! That, though churches are provided them
by the nation—although their clergyare supported
by State endowments—although nothing, literally
nothing, pressed upon them but expense of wor-
ship and repairs of buildings, to the amount
of a halfpenny a week each, they could
not be trusted to raise it. Were this true,
the Church of England herself ought to be given
-up instead of Church Rates. But we do not say
we hope--we know better things of her.
In respect to all the quibbling about the audi-
tors to be appointed under Sir W. CLAY'S Bill, to
pass the accounts of money collected by voluntary
quite unessential.
contribution, we say but little, because they are
The scheme was introduced by a
Churchman to pleat() Churchmen—but it is pretty
evident that, like the " children sitting in the mar-
ket-place," soothe
no music will or please which ac-
companies the abolition of power to tax Dissenters.
It is losing the money, and, still more, losing this
ecclesiastical Huradj, which galls those who in
England occupy the place which Mahometans do
in Turkey. The Church of England is a Parlia-
mentary Church, and if Parliament does but give
its officers power to receive and apply voluntary
contributions, we may leave the rest to the con-

tributors. They will not long see their money
-wasted.

TIP gaill4t nJ agreed to.aucipt tha--Sill with

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