The Sun.
London, England, 1835-08-29 00:00:00

to argue that question at present. This, how-
ever, we think, no one will dispute, that before such
an application of the public money could be jus-
tified, it was the botinden duty of the Government to
be well satisfied that the grant was really required, and
that the Church itself did not possess the means of
extending its own usefulness without the aid of the
State. They could only do this by appointing a
Commission to ascertain, first, what was the actual
state of religion in that part of the Kingdom, and what
were the funds there applicable to religious purposes ?
• For Lord ABERDEEN, therefore, to object to such
power being given to the Commissioners, is in our
opinion not a little unreasonable. Would he have had
the public money given away without knowing whe-
ther it was required or not ? That may be very con-
formable to Tory practice, but Lord MELBOURNE
has not so learned his duties as a guardian of the
public interests. As to the tithes being the pro-
perty of individuals, such is not the fact. At
the Reformation, the whole of the Church pro-
perty was seized by the aristocracy, under various
pretences. During the reign of JAMES the Sixth,
numerous illegal grants of this property were
made by the Crown, and when a Commission of In-
quiry was issued by CHARLES 1., the Scotch nobi-
lity of that day resisted it. To avoid a rebellion,
CHARLES was obliged to revoke the Commission, and
to limit his inquiries to the teinds or tithes. These
were valued, and a compromise was made by
which the tithes, though then in the possession of
individuals, were to be available for the maintenance of
the Protestant Clergy. Out of them the Clergy have
been supported, successive additions to the stipends
being made under the authority of the Court of Session,
as the circumstance's of the times demand. The
tiends, therefore, are really held in trust for the
Clergy, who in many, we believe in most, of the parishes
have already absorbed the whole of them. Where,
however, they are not exhausted, it surely is not con-
trary to the interests of the Church that their amount
should be ascertained. The gentlemen who have been
appointed to this office, have, no doubt, an invidious
task to perform ; but nothing can be more ungenerous
towards them, or more impolitic towards the Church,
than such attempts as this of Lord ABERDEEN to
lower them in public estimation.

Our readers will perceive to what a length some of
the. Peers carried their hostility to the Corporation
'Bill last night. It was understood that after the
lengthened discussion which took place on Thursday,
the third reading was not to be opposed. Such, however,
is the inveteracy of the lordly hatred entertained towards
this measure, that five Peers were found who had the
hardihood to divide the House on the third reading.
Not that we should have at all regretted it had they
succeeded in throwing it ,out : on the contrary, we
should have greatly rejoiced, for in that case we
should have had a certainty of getting a better Bill
than we are now likely to have, and an additional
one for the reform of a Corporation, more unsuited to
the taste, and more at variance with the interests of the
people, than any or all of those which are proposed
to be re-modelled.

The Bill went to the Commons last night, and is to
be printed before it is taken into that mature conside-
ration which its altered state demands. We trust the
Commons will maintain their ground N\ about flinching.

The Great Western Railway Bill was read a third
time last night in the House of Lords, and passed.

The last desperate struggle between the aristocratic
and the democratic pi inciple, is now on the eve of
commencement, and be its immediate result what it
may, its final one can be no other than the extinction
of a factious, irresponsible Oligarchy.. The two hos-
tile parties have been advancing nearer to each other
ever since the passing of the Reform Bill ; but they
are now drawn up, face to face, in battle array, and
pledged, one at least, not to quit the field of action till
its antagonist power is overthrown. Had their Lord-
ships not been as completely strangers to the character
of their countrymen as the most ignorant Russian, or
Austrian Nobleman, they would ',never have provoked
a collision in which all the chances were against them.
Not even the most sanguine of their party, had he
thought fit at the outset to exercise the slightest re-
flection, could possibly have anticipated, under the
circumstances, any other than a shameful and decisive
defeat. For where is the strength—where are the
resources of the House of Lords ? They have no
longer a majority in the Commons—no longer
influence with the people—they cannot calculate on
the army, for twenty years of peaceful intercourse
with his countrymen have taught the soldier that he
is a citizen, as well as a military machine. Where,
then, are their resources against the great day of
battle which is at hand ? Do they lie in the broad-
sword of WELLINGTON—the fists of WINCHILSEA
—the craft of LYNDHuRsT—the bigotry of CUM-
BERLAND—the thunder of the " leading Journal of
Europe"—or the prayers of the Episcopal Bench ?
Will NEWCASTLE summon his vassals, place himself
at their head, and lay siege to the House of Com-
mons ? Will KENYON blockade Downing-street with
town-clerks, and compel Ministers to surrender at

discretion ? Will SEGRAVE, nobly disdainful of the
constable's staff, charge at the head of his cavalry
of fox-hunters, and put to rout the entire po-
pulation of three kingdoms ? or more modestly
content himself—for SEGRA VE is the most mo-
dest of Peers—with merely making prisoners the
Ministerialists, who have announced a great meeting
for Monday ? Possibly so, for there is no absurdity,
however glaring, of which their Lordships are inca-
pable ; nevertheless, let them play what game they
please, put forth what parade of power they please,
still they cannot but be vanquished in the collision
which they have so madly provoked. It is no or-
dinary energy that the people and their representatives
are now preparing to display. They do not look on
the approaching contest as a mere skirmish, to be
forgotten when its hour is past ; hut as a
deadly battle, on the most comprehensive scale,
whose issue is to decide whether the democratic
or aristocratic principle is henceforth to be in the
ascendant. Hence they are all energy—all confidence,
acting as one man, and inspired with one spirit ; while
their enemies, on the contrary, as may be seen by last
night's debate, are weakened by dissensions among
themselves ; some are desirous of a collision, others
are anxious to avoid it, while all, even the most san-
guine, look as chop-fallen and disconsolate as a hungry
poet at a cook-shop window.

We have received the whole of the Paris Papers
of Thursday. They are filled with reports of the
debates in the Chamber of Deputies on the law for
abolishing the liberty of the Press.
The intelligence from Spain is not important. The
Northern Provinces are resolved upon the establishment
of a Federal Government, similar to the Swiss Re-
public. The following are extracts
:
PARIS, AUG. 27.—The arrival of the Foreign Legion at
Tarragona is related in the following terms in the Eclaireur
de la Mediterranee:—
" TARRAGONA, Au°. 18.—The Foreign Legionhas at length
arrived here. The French squadron which brought it sailed
from Palma on the 14th, and arrived in our roads on the 16th.
The people immediately went out in boats, and rowed round
the French ships, shouting Liberty for ever.' Early the
next morning the landing of the troops, baggage, and horses
begun, and was effected with perfect order.
" t noon the troops set out on their march, preceded by a
baud, which played the air of .Riego, to which the Spaniards