The Sun.
London, England, 1857-09-22 00:00:00

ONE TYING AT A TIME.

There is a class of busy men who will do any-
thing, and with industry and zeal, except the
matter in hand, de busiuess which stands first in
order of time arse.. importance. . For these men,
although divines sod churchmen
.are often of the
number, Solomon !las in vain written that "there
i 3 a time for all things under the sun." They
will not have it as.
eWngrheenong the mind
egreataffaiorf, one
e
overwhelming anxiety, is tasking all the energies
of Government, aid engrossing
nb!ic, these 'men aro for doing something else,
and pressing other subjects and other under*
takings, for which the season is not yet come, and
for which nobody las- any stomach but themselves.
We have a strikiig instance of this mischievous
activity in the untimely zeal for Indian missions,
of which we are sorry to perceive symptoms her e
and there through the country, at the most inop-
portune moment fir such exertions that indiscre-
tion could select. We are engaged in the sup-
pression of the mist formidable revolt that ever
placel an empire :n peril, a revolt raging over a
distant and vast coitinent, and accompanied with
crimes and horrors that make it not less our duty
to elms ise the rotes than to crush the rebellion ;
and with this work upon our hands, this double
ork of conquest and punishment, we are,
it seems, to charge ourselves with the addi-
tional burthen of poaching to, and converting the'
insurgents. .A moment like this is thought a fit
arid decent opportunity for giving an impulse to
missionary labours, .arid even for raising funds to
encourage and support them. We rely upon the
common sense of the country to discountenance a
zsa,l so ill-timed as this, even in a cause 60 in-
trinsically good am:laudable. The season will come
for employing the mission tries of religion, when
our soldiers, the missionaries of our justice, as well
as the defenders cf our empire, have acquitted
themselves of their prior function+. There is no
greater mistake, or One more prolific of bitt©r fruits,
than that ire() which many pious men are apt to
fall, to think that vhat is abstractedly right to b 3
done, and a duty is do, it is therefore incumbent
upon them to do atall times, and under all varieties
of circumstances. This is the mistake that Mr.
Hanna has fallen into with such lamentable con-
s opencss in Belfast ; but a thoasand times
more mischievous would be its repetition here
in England at a crisis like the preseut, when per-
haps the very existence of our empire in India may
require the concentration on its defence of
cvery thought and faculty, energy and resource
of the nation, wiihout the slightest distraction of
purpose or relaxation cf effort. On su re grounds
of humanity, however, we enter our protest
against a second subscription, which cannot but
interfere most unjustifiably with that which the
yesrnings of public sympathy have already or-
ganised for toe relief of our suff.eing co n.ri-
111'n in India. Here, again, are two works that
tannest go on together; the public will not cep-
t•ibute to two Indian funds at the same time.
Which, then, is to have precedanco ? Even among
works of charity these mu t be subsidinatisn of
claims. " And in this instance can anyseigh t-miuded
man, have a doubt which ought to be postponed to
the other ? For our part, at least, IVO have none.
We think our martyrs have the that claim on
our compassion. The conversion. of Nana Sahib
to Christianity would unquestionably be a glori-
ous work, though it would not prevent 113 from
also hanging him ; but we submit that our first
concern is for the wretched survivors, alas too
few, of Indian outrage and brutality ; and we
have - too much confidence in the Christian in-
tincts of Englishmen to think that from thss
opinions there can be many dissenters in the
country.