The Sun.
London, England, 1835-02-12 00:00:00

vation of the fabric, and then for thefidt performance of
all its duties. In the latter portion of this short sentence
how much is comprehended. And how great is the task
you would impose upon men whose high distinction it is
to make the attempt to accomplish it I" Yes, we would
impose a very great and serious task upon those who
undertake the work of Church-reform, because we
would have that reform not a partial or a superficial
one, but full, efficient, and satisfactory. We would
have the dead and rotten- branches lopped from the
tree—the fungous excrescences which draw off its
nutriment, and inflict upon it disease and debility, un-
sparingly cleared away—the parasitical plants that
entwine themselves round its venerable trunk, and ex-
haust the sources of its vitality, wholly rooted out,
that we might no longer see its strength and freshness
decaying under the withering influence of their noxious
embrace. This is not destruction—it is preservation ;
it is the means of renewing the vital energy of that
Gospel-tree of the Church which sprung, under the
favouring care of Heaven, through the storms of per-
secuting ages, from a seed small as a grain of mustard
—that it may throw forth its branches more luxuriantly-
than ever beside the living waters, that the people may
rest under its shade, and that it may spread itself abroad
more than ever—a shelter to the poor andan ornament to
the land. Such a work of saving and restorative reform is
therefore not an acceptable or popular work with those de-
structive politicians who only recognise "improvement"
in acts of desolation, and would make "reform" the han-
dle to the axe which they are eager to lay to its roots.
The description of the uses and advantages of cathe-
drals, as given by our correspondent, is, in our opinion,
perfectly correct. " A cathedral," he says, " nominally
the seat of the Diocesan, I have learned to regard, and
I believe justly, as the parish church of a diocese—a
house of prayer to be always open to all corners, who
shall have a desire either to offer up a silent prayer to
Heaven, or to join, at the convenient hour, in the
public worship of God. This, I conceive, to be not
merely the privilege of all, but the indisputable right
of every Christian person in the diocese." Nor do
the following sentiments, relative to the better applica-
tion of cathedral revenues, for better and holier pur-
poses than the pampering of stall-fed pluralists, less
coincide with our own :—" I would ask you, then
to provide for this by a better management of
cathedral revenues than is at present prac-
tised ; by the utter extermination of those wild
branches of the olive tree (the sinecunsts) which
obstruct the growth of the fruitful branches ;
by the pruning of the superfluous boughs (for of what
imaginable use can be a Dean and Chapter and twelve
Resideritiary Canons in directing the affairs of West-
minster Abbey ? Four, as at St. Paul's, are quite
• enoush ) By the curtailment of those exorbitant rsin-
conies which induce little else but luxury and indo.
lence upon those who possess them, you would provide
yourself with funds sufficient to carry into effect all your
excellent purposes." We also agree with our Corre-
spondent that the servants of the church, appointed to
protect the building and its contents from injury,
should be paid out of the revenues of the cathedral,
and not out of the pockets of the people. Our venera-
ration for those splendid temples of the Deity—
our cathedrals—makes us utterly abhor and detest
the practice of converting them into show-boxes for
mercenary lucre. We would have. the cathedrals
thrown open to all the people, as houses of prayer,
well endowed, like our cathedrals, ought to be. We
would put a stop to those " disgusting scenes
which we are now compelled to witness in these
sacred edifices, of verger's thirsting after the con-
gregation's money, as voraciously as vampire-bats
would suck their blood." We would drive the money-
changers from the temple. We would restore its
sanctity to the house of prayer, by putting an end to
those practices which desecrate with the sordid rites of
Mammon the temple of the living God. Such grasp-
ing mercenary practices are indeed.wholly inconsistent
with the elevated feelings and pious thoughts which
our cathedrals, with all their solemn grandeur of ar
their venerable beauties seen through the " dim re.
gious light" that impressed the mind even of the ste

Republican defender of the liberties of England with
emotions of holy awe, are so• Avell calculated to inspire.
Neither the examples of puritanical zeal nor the rage
of Republican principles could make the soul of Mil-
. .

ton cease to regard with sentiments of veneration the
hallowed magnificence of the cathedral, or the solemn
pomp of its service, with the " pealing organ" and the
" full voiced" choir, which—
" Dissolved him into eestacies
And brought all Heaven before his eyes."
And yet it is quite possible that a harpy of a verger in-
truding upon his sublime meditations to extort a fee
might dissipate even his glorious visions, and remind
him of earth again, with all its grossness, venality, and
corruptions. When our correspondent says that " the
greatest national consideration should be how to provide
for the comfort and happiness of the poor," it is unne-
cessary to tell our readers that we are of the same
opinion, because we have always advocated the com-
fort and happiness of the poor, and never more than
since a systematic attempt has been made by per-
sons calling themselves philosophers, and pretend-
ing to be " Liberals," to abridge their comforts—to
make a mockery of their misfortunes, and trample their
rights in the dust. It will not be denied that the poor
have as great an interest in the instruction and consola-

tions of religion as the rich. To them the " voluntary
system," as it is called, makes religion a sealed book,
for it only extends its advantages to those who can pay.
The Church of England was intended, not merely to
open wide the portals of spiritual knowledge to the rich,
but to preach the gospel to the poor. They have an
interest in its reform and preservation, because it is
endowed for their spiritual comfort and improvement.
The system of exaction practised in our cathedrals now
pretty generally excludes them from those holy places
which ought to be as open to them as to the most af-
fluent members of society. We believe that, allowing
the people to have free access to the cathedrals, and
the works of art and memorials of piety which they
contain, would not only promote the religious feelings
of the mass of society, but improve the public taste.
It is truly said, that " they would learn to love those
venerable structures as their own—to gaze on them
with delight, and to prize all those.: splendid memorials
of public virtues, which they are now chiefly inclined to
mutilate and destroy." It is the spirit of exclusiveness,
arising, in this instance, out of sordid cupidity, which
tends to degrade and barbarize the public taste. Let
the people become familiar with works of art, and as
they become sensible of their value, they will extend to
' them their protection. Confident we, are, that as re-
gards cathedrals and the treasures of art which they
contain, liberality to the people will be repaid with
gratitude, and religious impressions go hand in hand
with intellectual improvement.—Morning Herald.
"It was reported yesterday in well-informed circles,
and the report emanates from authority, that overtures
have been made by the Ministry to Lord John Russell,
of some other leading man among the Whigs, to the
effect that if the Whigs will throw overboard Mr.
Abercromby, and bring forward Mr. Spring Rice in
his place, the Tories will not oppose that gentleman,
and will give up Sir C. Manners Sutton." We have
the above report from a Tory friend ; but we beg his
pardon for not believing it to be true. The Tories
must be more weak than we supposed them to be, to
make such an expression of their weakness, and the
Liberals the most egregious fools to listen to the pro-
position. The offer was no doubt made to divide the
Whig camp ; but the offer will be in vain. The
union is complete—the Tories are beaten—and the
Whigs would be the veriest fools on God's earth to

listen to the counsels of their enemies.—Morning
Advertiser.

Having been successively driven from position after
position upon the subject of the Speakership, our
Whig-Radical Contemporaries arc, we perceive, en-
deavouring at last to entrench themselves in that
which is, perhaps, the most untenable of any they
have yet attempted to defend—the pretext, namely,
that Sir Charles Manners Sutton is less eligible for
the office than Mr. Abercromby, because the political
sentiments of the Speaker of the House of Commons
ought to be in accordance with those of the majority
of that assembly. How, we beg to ask, then, did it
happen that the Whig Ministry and their adherents
never once thought of the necessity of this corre-
spondence two years ago, when they solicited Sir
Charles Manners Sutton to occupy the Chair, al-
though in the Parliament which then existed it was