The Sun.
London, England, 1858-11-30 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 20, 1858,

and by the influence of the parson and the squire,
they equally succeed in damaging the Establish-
ment. They save their own pockets a few pence,
which they ought in equity to pay, but they em-
bitter the feelings of their neighbours against the
whole system of worship and ecclesiastical manage-
ment which they wish to uphold. Let the Lords
do what they will, the amount obtained for Church-
rates will become less and less every year, the
parishes which pay them fewer, and the aversion of
people to a wealthy but mean and exacting Esta-
blishment stronger and stronger. The retention of
Church-rates by the Lords is in fact the retention
of weapons in the hands of Dissenters. :Wise and
fairminded Churchmen see this, and readily, there-
fore, back Dissenters in their efforts for abolition.
The longer the Lords fight, the less they will have
to fight for : the question will be decided in the

parishes.
But the alternative proposed by Mr. DUNCOMBE
is an excellent one, and we really could wish
that Church-rate abolition shouldbe carried in that
form. The proposal is "to transfer the freehold of
the parish churches and churchyards from the par-
sons to the representatives of the parish." There
can be no serious difficulty in carrying out such a
plan as this. The great merit is, that it at once
provides for the repair of the church by the parties
using it, and makes the parish, as it ought to be,
master of its own property. It answers the ques-
tion pressed on us by the pro-rate party—" How
will you keep the national buildings, for such parish
churches are, in repair P" We have always replied,
By requiring those who worship in them rent-free
to keep them in repair, just as all Dissenters
keep in repair the places they have been at the
expense of building. Mr. DUNCOMBE'S bill shows
the way in which this duty may be enforced on the
congregation. The churches are national property
only as belonging to each parish in the nation—let
the parish, therefore, as locally representing the
nation, have the freehold of the churches. The re-
presentatives of the parish will then be able to
make terms with the worshippers in the churches.
They can, for instance, stipulate for the repair of
the building, and its insurance against fire, if the
parson and his flock continue to use it ; or they can
demand an annual rent from them, adequate to
meeting such charges. Or, what would perhaps be
the best plan of all, they might be authorised to sell
the church, for a nominal consideration, to the
existing congregation, to be at once fairly placed in
trust for their use and that of their successors.
We must confess that when we first saw the pro-
posal, though it pleased us, we thought it a very
daring one. The longer, however, we looked at it,
the better we liked it, and we think it will, when
understood, prove very popular. It is a great
nuisance now to have rural deans and archdeacons
and bishops telling parishioners what they shall
do to the churches ; and to have the parsons masters
in this matter of the parish, by the aid of these
ecclesiastical potentates. On the proposed plan the
parish will be master of its own church and church-
yard. It will repair its church according to the
dictates of its own practical good sense, and at the
cost of those who use it. It will be, pro hac vice, the
clergyman's master, not his slave ; it will be eccle-
siastically free ; it will be. able to put an end to all
unseemly burial ground disputes, by allowing
all persons to inter according to their own re-
ligious ceremonies, charging only such a uniform
fee as shall keep the ground in proper order, and
leaving the clergyman to take his fee for his own
services. Probably a multitude of vexatious
squabbles would be at once got rid of by putting
the parish in its proper place, and confining the
clergyman to his also. The incumbent would, of
course, be relieved from the repair of the chancel ;
indeed, every one would have his own and pay for
his own.

Elsewhere will be found a; most interesting
record of the religious rites and ceremonials by
which the heroic. Poles in this country yesterday
celebrated the twenty-eighth anniversary of the
Polish Revolution. Under any circumstances the
occasion would have been deeply interesting : it
was rendered especially so, however, yesterday, by
the inspiriting oration delivered immediately after
the requiem mass, by the brave Count ZAMOYSKI—
nobIe words addressed in earnest tones by the
speaker to his exiled compatriots. It was placing
upon the tomb of Polish liberty a wreath of im•
mortelles.

LATEST NEWS.

THE BRAZILS.

(BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.)
LIVERPOOL, TUESDAY MORNING.
We copy the following from the Manchester
Guardian of to-day

RIO, OCT. 14.

'• Business in imports is extremely dull, and
prises have suffered a material decline, particularly
in prints and gray domestics, which are arriving in
quantities too large for the demand. Arrivals of
coffee are unusually small for the season, and
4,900 reis to 5,40 reis are demanded for American
descriptions. Stock 70,000 bags.

" The Bank of Brazil has reduced discount to 10
per cent. Still great distrust exists among capi-
talists, and unpleasant rumours are afloat.
" Freights and exchange the same as per Avon."

Ministry of the Interior and of Agriculture, we
have been thrown from one extreme to the other

since 1848. From a communal regulation, which
was meant to introduce without preparation a sys-
tem of self-government, we have been thrown back
to ancient institutions, without taking into account
the wants of the age, which would have pointed
out to us the desirable middle path. It will be
necessary to realise improvements on this head.
But we must first of all allow to remain what has
just been re-established, so ,as not to provoke dis-
content and new anxieties, which cannot fail to be
baneful.

" The finances of the country have within the
last eight years been retrieved from a very sad
condition in such manner that not only is the
budget fairly balanced, but it shows an excess of
income ; but it is not possible as yet to provide for
all the wants which manifest themselves in every
branch of the Administration.

" If, two years since, modifications had been made
in the projects of new taxes which were proposed,
those taxes would have been voted, and the press-

ing wants of the country would have have been
satisfied for years to come. One of the principal
problems of the future will be to find the proper
means for providing for those wants. And the first
consideration to be looked to here is to ascertain
exactly the amount of taxation which the country
can bear.

" Commerce, industry, and the means of commu-
nication, which are so intimately connected there-
with, have taken an extension which was scarcely
to have been expected. But here again certain
limits are necessary, lest we be blinded and carried
away by prejudice. Before, as after, considerable
means must be provided for the highways of com-
munication, but they must be proportionate to all
the other wants of the State, and then it will be
time enough to have recourse to credit.
" Justice has always known how to make itself
respected in Prussia, but such important changes
have taken place in the form of justice that it must
be our task to imbue every class of the population
with the sentiments of truth and equity, so that
every jury may render a just verdict.
"Of all the questions of the day the most diffi-
cult as well as the most delicate one is the question

of religion, because on this ground much 1;4 seed
has been sown of late. Imprimis, the most perfect
possible equality must be maintained between the
two Christian confessions.

_ • _
" In both Churches a serious opposition must be
made to every tendency which has for its object to
make religion the cloak for political designs. In
the Evangelical Church we cannot dissimulate it—
an orthodoxy has arisen which is not compatible
with its fundamental principles, And which, conse-
quently, has hypocrisy for a companion. That
orthodoxy has raised obstacles to the salutary ac-
tion of evangelical union, and we were on the point
of beholding the dissolution.
" It is my firm will to maintain that union, and
to propagate it with every possible regard in a con-
fessional point of view, as prescribed by decrees re-
lating to that subject. To realise this plan it will
be necessary carefully to select, and in part to re-
place those who are to be its organs.
" All hypocrisy, sham piety—in a word, all reli-
gious semblances which are but the mask for
selfish views—must have that mask torn off
as much as possible ; the true spirit of re-
ligion reveals itself in a man's actions. This
must not be lost sight of, and a line of distinction
must always be drawn between a man's actions and
i religious ostentation,
" As regards the Catholic Church, its rights are
fixed by the Constitution. No extravagances be-
yond shall be tolerated. Public instruction must be
directed with the conviction that Prussia ought to
lead intellectual sway by the establishment of su-
perior colleges and schools which shall provide the
necessary education to all classes of the population
without raising those classes beyond their sphere.
More liberal grants must be made for this purpose.
" Prussia is indebted to the army for her greatness
and development. It is because the army was ne-
glected that a catastrophe occurred to her and to
the State—a catastrophe gloriously effaced by the
re-organisation of her forces at the time of the war
of independence,
" A 40 years' experience and two other short
episodes of war have called our attention to many
an arrangement which is faulty and must be re-
formed. To do so political quiet and money are re-
quisite, and it would be a great fault to pretend to
boast of a cheap military organisation which when
it came to work would not be up to the mark. The
army of Prussia must be powerful and held in high
esteem, so that when needs be she can throw an
important political weight into the balance.
" I have yet to speak of the political position of
Prussia towards foreign States. Prussia ought to
be on friendly terms with all the great Powers,
without being influenced from without, and with-
out binding her hands too much by treaties.
'riendly relations ought at, the same time to be
' kept up with all the other Powers.
"In Germany Prussia must make moral conquests
by a wise legislation at home, by upholding all moral
elements, and by seizing upon all elements of union,
such as the Zollverein, which, however, must un-
dergo a reform.
" The world must be made acquainted that Prussia
is ready to protect right everywhere. A firm, con-
sistent, and if necessary energetic line of policy,
allied to wisdom and prudence, must procure for
Prussia a political importance and a position which
she never could obtain by her material power alone.
" To follow that path, and to do so with honour,
I. need your assistance, your counsels, which you
will not deny me. May we always be of one
mind for the welfare of our country and of Royalty,
by the grace of God !"