The Sun.
London, England, 1835-01-24 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

It gives us great pleasure to perceive that the para-
mount question of Church Reform begins to occupy a
large share of the attention of those who formerly
were anxious to avoid the subject, and to engage them
in a course of earnest and useful discussion. An
able contemporary of yesterday evening, anticipates
an extensive and satisfactory measure from Sir Robert
Peel's Government, framed with the active concur-
rence of the Bishops, and presents its own conjec-
tures as to what the outline of the Bill is likely to
contain, with some observations upon the nature of
those improvements which it ought to establish in
the Church of England. So far as the plan goes,
which has been chalked out by our contemporary, it is
entitled to public approbation and support, and in some
of its essential features differs little from that which
was, though we acknowledge less distinctly, traced out
in the Times of yesterday. It is perfectly true, that to
render religious instruction accessible, and at the same
time welcome, to all classes of the people is the one
great object of a Church Establishment, and therefore
of a Church Reform. But there can be no due facility of
access to the means of religious instruction where there
is permitted to exist a clergy in great part non-re-
sident. When a clergyman is suffered to hold more
than a single living at a tame, he must be non-resident
in one of them or the other ; and although he must
employ a curate, it is to be feared that in nine cases
out of ten, allowing rector and curate to be on a par in
professional merit, the duty will be performed with
greater zeal by the incumbent of his own parish than
by a stipendiary not under his eye, and who is no more
than his paid representative. In order to secure an
efficient body of parochial clergy, we are so far from
wishing to see the incomes of the more moderate
livings diminished, that it is our anxious object to
augment their revenues so as to make the remuneration
of the minister bear a reasonable proportion to his la-
bour. It is our film belief that this end would be
answered by gradually converting to the endowment
of new churches, or the enlargement of the salaries of
ill-paid incumbents, as the case might be-Ist,
whatever surplus should accrue from a revision and
fresh distribution, implying also a certain curtailment,
of the collective revenues of the Bishops, the average
of whose incomes (with four or five exceptions) neigh`,
as it appears to us, be very fairly reduced to about
5,000/. a-year ; 2d, the bulk, or by much the larger
portion, of the revenueS. of Deans and Chapters, after
providing for the convenient support of officiating
Clergymen in the several Cathedrals, and for the pre-
servation of those sacred edifices in a state of perfect
repair ; 3d, a considerable surplus, which we suspect
might he obtained, without difficulty, from some very
lucrative benefices in the hands of lay-proprietors, who
contrive to pocket enormous revenues, while the Vicar
has little more than the wages of a mechanic. There
is no reasonable man who would insist on the cutting
down of all parochial incomes to a single standard,'
or to any interference with ancient boundaries either
of Bishoprics or benefices, not indispensable to a
more effectual attainment of the one main pur-
pose for which both were instituted, viz.—the
diffusion of religious knowledge, and with it the
improved morality of the people. But we quite
agree with our contemporary before alluded to, that
some Bishoprics (he says nothing of benefices in that
sense) are by far too large and intractable for a single
Prelate. The administration of the diocese of Ches-
ter is too burdensome for any Bishop ; so perhaps is
that of Lincoln. In the mean time we desire to be
understood as giving full credit to the Bishops for a
sincere and zealous wish to bring all these questions to
such an issue, as may restore and perpetuate the
highest attainable degree of harmony, not only be-
tween the clergy of the Church of England and their
congregations, but between the Church including both,
and the great dissenting bodies of the kingdom. And
if the Right Reverend Bench be now better disposed
upon that subject than during the last Administration,
it may be that they place confidence in the power of
the existing Government to resist all efforts for the
destruction of the Church : while admitting, as we are
sure they ought to do, the upright intentions of the
former Ministers, they dreaded the commencement of
any change which the Whigs might in their weakness
have been forced to leave to the revolutionary faction
to finish.—Times.
Without professing to be in possession of Cabinet
secrets, our information leads us to believe that the de-
mand for the repeal of the malt tax, which has been
responded from one side of the country to the other,
has already caused much deliberation in the Ministry ;
and we hesitate not to say that, unless Sir Robert Peel
and his colleagues lay aside all the frivolous objections
to the repeal of this tax, which from time to time have
been put forth by their predecessors, they will have
miscalculated the support they expected to receive from
the country gentlemen of England. We know that
one of the present objections raised against the removal
of this heavy burden from the agriculturists and the in-
dustrious poor, is the difficulty of providing for the defi-
ciency of the four millions and a half which this tax pro-
duces; but this was one of the silly subterfuges by which
the Whig Administration succeeded in again saddling
the country with this crippling burden, after a vote of the
House of Commons had expunged it from the Budget.
But then we had a blundering Chancellor of the Exche-
quer, who led a servile House of Commons, whenever an
attempt was made to move the reduction of the people's
burdens, by talking of the breach of faith with the public
creditor, or the necessity of imposing other taxes instead,
whilst the reduction of the Four per Cent. Annuities
into a Three-and-a-Half per Cent. Annuity was held
to be no breach at all. But surely the present Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer does not intend to follow the
weak example of his predecessor ; neither will the
new House of Commons do their duty to their consti-
tuents if they tamely permit him. The present Admi-
nistration must put their shoulders to the wheel—they
must not flinch from the reduction of any imposition
which presses upon the industry of the people. Let
them in a manly and straightforward manner begin
with the malt tax ; it will be better to volunteer it
when it will be received with gratitude, than to have
it wrested from them by a determined House of Com-
mons, which will certainly be the result ; whilst their
spontaneous concession of the boon will secure to
them the lasting confidence of the country. The only
objections which present themselves to the present Ca-
binet are the means by which this desirable consum-
mation is to be brought about. To impose other taxes in
lieu would only be to shiftthe burden from the shoulders
of one party to another. Let Ministers, then, meet
the wishes of the country, by raising a loan of two
millions and a half; this, with the boasted surplus of
two millions, coupled with a just economy in the ad-
ministration of the finances, will meet the reduction
of the four millions and a hafcaused by the repeal of
the malt-tax ; and the increased capabilities of con-
sumption thus given to 6,500,000 of people engaged
in agriculture will soon enable the Government to pay
off the loan. But an objection may be started as to
the principle of raising a loan for two millions and a
half during a time of peace, and this, we believe, is
one of the difficulties likely to be mooted in the Ca-
binet. We would, however, appeal to the common
sense of the country, and put it fearlessly to them, whe-
ther it is not equally as politic, and by far more noble,
to raise a trifling loan, during a time of peace, in or-
der to remove an odious and onerous tax, and thus
to promote the profitable industry and consuming power
of a large portion of the empire, as it would be to raise
twenty times the sum yearly, to carry on a war for 22
years, which has been done, the justice of which has
often been called in question by the ablest politicians ?
The public debt, we thus maintain, has been increased
for much more frivolous causes than the one we advo
cate, and, as the end will just 4 the means, we trust
that the Cabinet will not only adopt it, but that the
Commons, by their vote, will vindicate the agricultural
occupiers and peasantry from this oppressive burden.
Let the evils which the beer-shop system has inflicted
upon the country not only stimulate the present Admi-
nistration, but the Parliament, to do their duty. There
then may be some hope that the country at large will
rise, Phoenix-like, from the mischiefs inflicted by for-
mer Administrations, and thus that decided boon will
be restored to the labouring classes of which they
ought never to have been deprived ; in fact, • we hesi-
ate not to assert that the removal of this odious tax
will be the precursor of a return to those happy days

The counties in England and Wales have nobly re-
sponded to the call of their patriot King, and have
even surpassed our most sanguine anticipations in the
selection of men of public and private worth, to repre-
sent their interests in the Commons' House of Parlia-
ment. When, indeed, we perceived the towns through-
out the kingdom emancipating themselves with vigour
and earnestness from the galling yoke of misrule which
had been imposed on them in a moment of excitement
and delusion, and vindicating at once the just preroga-
tives of the Crown and the real liberties of the peo-
ple, our fears were gradually dispelled, and we looked
with anxious confidence (the struggle being one of no
ordinary nature) for the con summation of our peace-
ful triumph, to the agricultural districts of the
land, to those districts which had experienced in a
more bitter degree, if possible, than their com-
mercial and manufacturing neighbours, the futility,
the hopelessness, of relying on the protection
and support of an Administration which numbered
among its members an Althorp, a Palmerston, and
a Brougham—a Ministry whose delusive promisea
ended always in disappointment, aggravated by the
sense of misplaced confidence, and betrayed trust.
We purpose to lay before our readers a succinct view
of the victories gained by the Conservative party in the
counties throughout England and Wales, and thence
to deduce such conclusions as may be generally aii:l
practically useful. Nor do we imagine that we can
adopt a more convenient course than that followed by
us in our enumerations of the triumphs achieved in the
cities and boroughs in the same part of the United
Kingdom. In the last Parliament, then, the following,
counties returned two Dcstructives, or pledged anti-
Ministerialists :—Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire,
North Cheshire, South Derbyshire, South Devonshire,
West Gloucestershire, South Hampshire,Hertfordshire,
West Kent, South Lancashire, East Norfolk, West
Suffolk, East Surrey, West Surrey, South Warwick-
shire, and North Wiltshire. Berkshire was repre-
sented by one Conservative, one who has since de-
clared himself favourable to the new Administration,
and one Destructive. In Denbighshire, South
Essex, South Leicestershire, South Northamptonshire,
North Shropshire, East Suffolk, and the North
Riding of Yorkshire the representation was di-
vided between a Conservative and a Radical. Let us
now examine the changes which have taken place in
each separately. In Buckinghamshire Mr. John
Smith (having lost we presume that portion of his
breath which was left to him after Lord John Rus-
sell's speech on introducing the Reform Bill), left the
field, and his place (as a candidate) was supplied by
Dr. Lee, who, in conjunction with Mr. Dashwood,
the late member, was soundly beaten by Sir William
Young and Mr. Praed, two zealous Conservatives.
Mr. Eaton, a young man of high character and sta •
tion in the county of Cambridge, ejects Mr. Childers,
a grievous Radical, from the place usurped by him.
Lord Grosvenor, the son of the Whig-Radical Mar-
quis of Westminster, is in spite of his amiable papa's
influence, driven from North Cheshire by Sir Philip
Egerton, a staunch friend of the Constitution, with-
out even the formality of a poll. In North Der-
byshire, Lord Waterpark (one of the eternal Ca
vendishes, who wish to rough-ride that county)
and Mr. Vernon (not one of the Cheshire Vernons)
are driven from the Representation by Sir George
Crewe and Sir Roger Greisley (the latter was
beaten by a majority of near nine hundred in 1832),
who are chosen by the free voices of the Derbyshire
farmers. This is indeed a glorious victory, and will
bitterly annoy the Liberal Lord Lieutenant. Sir
John Buller is elected for South Devonshire, Mr.
Bulteel not daring to show his face, it being univer-
sally acknowledged that Grildrig must have gone out
had a second Conservative presented himself. In
West Gloucestershire, Lord Worcester is chosen with-
out opposition, Lord Ducie not choosing to intrude
more than one son on the yeomen of that county. In
South Hampshire, Lord Palmerston and the unfoqu-
nate wise man of the East, once a Tory, then a Whig,
and now one of the Reformers of all grades, who has
been dragged through the mud by the ex-Foreign
Secretary, are beaten to shivers by Mr. Fleming and
Mr. Compton, Gentlemen and Conservatives (why
were Mr. Lefevre and Mr. Scott suffered to walk over
the course for the Northern Division ?) Poor Lord
Palmerston, what will he do, odious alike to county,
university, borough, and every constituency in the
kingdom ? Hertfordshire returns Mr. Abel Smith,
vice Sir John Sebright, a superannuated Whig, so
that Lord Grimston's vote is no longer swamped by
Destructives (a third Conservative might have been
elected here without the slightest difficulty.) The yeo-
manry of West Kent have done their duty in the elec-
tion of Sir William Geary, a young man of whom it
is impossible to speak too highly, whether with re-
ference to public or private worth. The " Rider to
the Bill," as he is familiarly termed, has been taught
a wholesome lesson. The men of South Lancashire
may well be proud of their exertions. Mr. G. W. Wood,
a Dissenter of the " East" school, a person only con-
spicuous for his violent and rancorous hatred of the
Church, his vituperative powers on that subject being
unredeemed by the slightest spark of talent, is dis-
missed from the Representation of South Lan-
cashire, to make room for the able, eloquent, and
consistent Lord Francis Egerton, of whom the
Lancastrians may indeed be proud. Nor is this all,
Mr. Wilbraham, the worthy son of the excellent
Lord Skelmersdale, who came forward to secure the
election of his Noble Friend, is chosen as the other
Representative for that division of the county, Lord
Molyneux, a remarkably stupid young gentleman,
whose silence in the House of Commons was as noto-
rious as his noisy declamation on the hustings was un-
meaning, being dismissed by his constituents in the
teeth of all the influence exercised by that wise sup-
porter of the omnibus Cabinet, the brilliant Lord
Sefton. In East Norfolk Mr. Wodehouse has been
nobly rewarded for his manly behaviour in refusing to
allow the Conservative cause to be in anywise injured
by acceding to the cunning and insidious proposal of
the Destructives " to allow the return of one and one."
The electors of Norfolk showed their sense of his gene-
rous and straightforward conduct by placing him at the
head of the poll, and assigning as his colleague the high-
principled and right-minded Lord Walpole. In West
Suffolk the old Radical Members cut and run. Mr
Rushbrooke, a gentleman of staunch Conservat:
principles, succeeds the one, the other is replaced by
Mr. Wilson, whose opposition to the Ministry will be
of a very modified nature. East Surrey has com-
mitted the care of its interests to Captain Alsager, a
fine specimen of a manly Englishman, one who shrinks
not from avowing his attachment to his King and
country. Had a second supporter of the Constitution
been brought forward, Messrs. Beauclerk and Briscoe
would not have been compelled to quarrel for the sc-
cond seat. West Surrey deserves the best thanks of
the friends of order. Mr. Barclay, her new Repre-
sentative, is a thorough Conservative and an excellent
man of business. Mr. Leech, and his nominee, Mr.
Long, are at a terrible discount. In South Warwick-
shire Sir John Mordaunt, a young Baronet of sound
principles and high character, is elected without oppo-
sition, Sir George Phillips, the late Member,
conceiving " discretion to be the better part of
valour" (here, likewise a second Conservative can-
didate would have triumphed with ease.) In
South Wiltshire Sir John Astley, the friend of
every successive Administration, is compelled to
make way for Mr. Walter Long, the unsuccess-
ful candidate on Constitutional principles (in conjunc-
tion with Lord Douro) for North Hampshire at the
last contest for that division. So much, then, for the
counties which returned two Destructives at the gene-
ral election in 1832. Proceed we now to consider
those in which the representation was divided. Berk-
shire has chosen Mr. Pusey in the room of Mr. Throck-
morton, who did not venture to the poll. The Mem-
bers for Denbighshire in the late Parliament were Sir