The Sun.
London, England, 1850-12-31 00:00:00

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LONDON, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1850.

Notwithstanding the natural tendency of the
human mind to look hopefully to the future, there is
something irresistibly mournful connected with the
last day of the year. Ere entering upon a new
period of time:fraught with the happiest anticipations,
we cast " a longing, lingering look behind,"
while, perchance, we contrast the promises of the last
January with the very different realities witnessed
by the succeeding months. Very few can listen to
the midnight chimes of the thirty-first of December
without re-echoing that lamentation of the Roman
EMPEROR over a lost day, and many lost days—very
few can witness the close of a year of life without a
sigh for what it has failed to bestow, or perhaps a
tear for what it has taken away.

Both as a nation and as individuals, we have had
cause for sorrow during the past twelvemonth, but,
thank GOD ! we have had cause for rejoicing also.
Not again have we had to mourn over the fearful
pestilence, yet the hand of death has been
ravages of
sadly visible. A royal Prince has been added to the
happy group in Windsor Castle, and a royal Prince
has been added to the silent dead at Kew. Less
illustrious by birth, but more illustrious in position—
illustrious by the conspicuous place he held in life,
and yet more illustrious by the heartfelt and uni-
versal lamentation poured upon his tomb
Sir ROBERT PEEL, since last January, has
passed from among us. Saddest among the
days of 1850, the 2d of July will be long re-
membered with regret. Added to such themes of
common sorrow, the individual experience of most of
us can too readily suggest ample reason for regret
over the past year, even while, undismayed by
disappointments, we turn hopefully towards its
dawning successor. Seldom has the name of a coming
year been so frequently upon the lips of every one,
and the theme not so much of speculative conjecture,
but of assured gratulation, as that of 1851, the year
of the great Exhibition. Cause, indeed, shall we
have for rejoicing next December if one-half

of the public anticipations be realized. Cause,
indeed, shall we have for exultation when the
true Peace Congress shall have been held in London,
and the representatives of all nations shall have met
together in peaceful and " twice-blessed" rivalry.
With this auspicious event in prospect, it is but
natural that 1851 should be greeted with even more
of hope and satisfaction than his predecessors. While
trusting in PROVIDENCE for the happy issue of these
expectations, let us remember, one and all, the old say-
ing respecting " good intentions"—good intentions
which are worse than fruitless, unless consummated
by good actions. One and all, rich and poor,
wise and simple, have their part to perform
in the drama of human life. None are
so insignificant as to be excused from their allotted
post. Such thoughts, which' are always worthy of re-
membrance, are more especially suggested by the
arrival of the thirty-first of December. Both in a
public and private capacity, both as a nation and as
individuals, let us remember that it is useless to
lament lost. opportunities, unless from that lamenta-
tion we are led to better performances. It is vain and
futile to build up castles in the air for the future, un-
less we at once set about laying their foundation
in the present. Chastened, but not depressed by
former disappointments, cheered, but not too much
elated by anticipated success, let us greet the new
year now about to dswn upon us. flow many aching
hearts and weary brains are looking forward to that
new year for a solace to their suffering and repose
from their toil. To how many of the friendless chil-
dren who crowd our thoroughfares, and the sinking,
starving labourers who toil in the garrets and cellars
of our cities, will not the coming year be fraught with
good or evil, perhaps not only for time, but for eternity ?
A moment's pause in the giddy whirl of life, a
moment's contemplation of the state of so many of
our fellow-creatures end fellow-countrymen, cannot
but sadden and oppress every feeling heart and
thoughtful mind with a sense of overwhelming re-
sponsibility. At the hands of every one of us will
their blood ho required—those unhappy ones who die
in sorrow or live in sin, because when ignorant
children we have not taught them, and when strug-
gling, suffering men and women we have stretched
forth no hand to succour or to save them. Sad, indeed,
are the thoughts associated with New Year's Day to the
unfaithful steward—to the legislators, who forget
their primary duty, as the people's guardians, to the
masters, who impose unjust burdens, and forget thA
the labourer is worthy of his hire; in short, to one
and all, these periodical days of reckoning ere
themes for reproach and repentance, for how many,
when weighed in the balance, are found not
wanting ? Solemn and serious as these reflections
are, they are not inappropriate to the closing hcurs
of the year, when the brightness of spring and the
bloom of summer have given place to
_the darkness
and desolation of winter— _ _ _

" Dead, alas ! are buds and blossoms—dead, dead !
Like the blushes of a virgin they have bloomed and
fled;
In the dust the reeds are lying,
To their roots the sap is flying ;
Faint and feeblo—al) its beauty shed—
See the Old Year dying."

In society we ever find persons most eloquent in
deprecating the vices to which they are secretly in-
clined, and that eloquence will become absolutely
overwhelming if their favourite predilections happen
to be in any degree suspected. The " blackleg," who
gains an infamous livelihood by swindling the com-
munity, is continually speaking of "his honour,"
so that so far as mere words were concerned, you
would suppose him to be a model of integrity. He
would scorn to take any unfair advantage.
He would lay down life itself, before he would be
guilty of any act that could in any degree impair
his high and unblemished reputation ! He would not,
under any circumstances, postpone payment of his
gambling debts, or, as he would term them, "debts of
honour, even for a single moment; but, notwithstand-
ing all these professions, woe to the unfortunate dupe
that sits down with the worthy man to any game of
chance or skill, or enters into a match on the turf.
The cards will be marked, the dice loaded, or
the steed drugged ; or, even if these precautions be
dispensed with by the " man of honour," he is enabled,
by the sleight of-hand and dexterity acquired by
lnng prartice, to Tntnier it anything hut an equal
match, so that the result of the play is certain.
Then, indeed, he is inexorable,in enforcing the prompt
and satisfactory settlement of his unjust demand, and
GOD help the unfortunate debtor who is compelled
by the amount of his losses to seek any indul-
gence at his hands. He absolutely rises into
moral dignity in the power and strength
of his vituperation, or in the withering denunciation•
which he hurls at the devoted head of the betrayed and
cheated victim !
•

So it is with the bullionists, they raise a parrot
cry of " keeping faith" with the public creditor, and
impute the grossest dishonesty to all who venture to
suggest that justice should be rendered to the public
debtor. They have " packed the cards," " cogged the
dice," and " drugged the race-horse" by their acts for
the restoration of cash payments, for the abolition of
small notes, and for the separation of the issue and
banking departments of the Bank of England, and
compelling the directors to keep a large amount of
bullion buried in their vaults, of no greater practical
utility than an equal weight of quarry stones. By
these artificial restrictions they have greatly enhanced
the value of the pound sterling, so that they have for
many years past been extracting from the pockets
of the industrious population of the country,
who, as a matter of strict and equal justice should not
be called on to devote any portion of their earnings
, to the liquidation of debts contracted by their fore-
fathers, far more than they had any right or
any claim to receive, and yet the moment a word is
uttered respecting an equitable arrangement cf the
outstanding liabili!ies, a torrent of low scurrility is
poured forth against the hardy aggressor, in
order to deter him and all others from
again offending in a similar manner—
something analogous to the " appeal to the pistol,"
the challenge to mortal combat, with which the
worthy " bonnet" answers the remonstrances of his
victim. Such arguments may, however, be carried a
little too far, and provoke inconvenient recrimina-
tions scarcely anticipated.
What, for instance, would the Times say if the
right of the parties, by whom the national
debt was contracted, to mortgage the labour
of their descendants through succeeding gene-
rations, were altogether disputed ? Our Con-
temporary (in its leader of the 27th instant)
says, " As we can recognize no distinction between a
private and a public debtor, we will take an indivi-
dual case." It then gives a sketch of the proceedings
of a certain Earl of ENTAILS, who, being engaged in
sundry lawsuits and divers speculations requiring an
extraordinary outlay, has fallen into the hands of
Jew money-lenders (and what a mine of wealth
does the unfortunate nobleman prove to

that estimable class, according to the showing

of our contemporary !), and grants bonds for 1001.,
the real consideration received not being more than
30/. It then asks, what should be his Lordship's con-

duct if, by some fortunate accident, he came into
possession of means sufficient to liquidate all his lia-
bilities to the uttermost farthing ? We accept the
new illustration, although we believe the case of Sir
GODFREY GREENHORN (a more fitting namefor the bor-
rower) was, in 1847, during the commercial panic pro-
duced by our infamous monetary code, the favourite
example of our Contemporary. We shall,however, carry
the case a little farther. Let us suppose that the
Noble Lord has been gathered to his fathers, that a
hatchment is placed on the family mansion, and that
the eldest son (Lord FAIRPLAY) has succeeded to the
hereditary titles and estates, and a number of younger
children are left utterly unprovided for, the Noble
Lord having lived up to the full extent of his income.
There is a sound of mourning in Israel—the goose
that laid the golden eggs, that paid 1001. for
every SU borrowed, is no more. The new
Earl has succeeded to the wide. spread domains
without any incumbrance; his father had but a life
interest, as his usurious creditors well knew, and
they took care to charge him in proportion to the
infirmity of his title and the precarious and limited
nature of his tenure. The young Lord may, if he
pleases, set them at defiance. So far as the law is
concerned their bonds are no better than so much
waste paper, or, to use a stereotyped phrase of the
bullionists, " worthless rags." "what will be their
condition if they institute legal proceedings ? or,
to adopt the language of our Contemporary " How

would[they fare in a court of justice ?" There can
be no difficulty as to the answer. Their case would
be scouted out of court, and they themselves mulcted
in costs for their unfounded demand.

But, again, let us carry the case still further.
The portionless children have forgotten their aris-
tocratic birth,; and condescended to earn an honest
livelihood by their own exertions. One has been so
fortunate as to obtain a seat in Parliament and a
Lordship of the Treasury, or some of those comfort-
able situations that reward the labours of statesmen
in embryo. Another may be a barrister in good
basinsss ; a third a popular preacher, with:a fair pros-
pect of a mitre. The army and navy will have a
fourth and fifth ; and if the " detrimentals"—as we
believe the younger sons are termed in the
vocabulary of match-making mammas—be very
numerous, some may even condescend to
embark in trade, commerce, or manufacture. They
are thriving in their several vocations, and anxious to
redeem the memory of a revered, although an impro-
vident, parent from every imputation. There is a
family meeting to decide on what course to be
adopted. Would they be considered robbers and plun-
derers if
_they proposed to pay the full amount ac-
tually contracted with reasonable, but not
usurious interest, to restore the thirty pounds
per cent., and to a fair usance for the
money ? Far from it, their conduct would be• con-
sidered beyond all praise ; the creditors would bless
those whose high sense of honour led to so noble a
proposition, which would be gratefaily and thankfully
accepted. The Times, then, should avoid such to-
pics, or those of whom it is the avowed organ may
have little reason to be pleased with its advocacy.
No question can be disposed of by using gross
or abusive language. It will henceforward
do well to observe the salutary caution of Mr.
MIINTZ, and " to avoid blackguardism," or it may
find that others can call things by their right names,
and place matters in a very different point of view.
Although no code, human or divine, imposes upon
children the necessity of liquidating the debts of their
forefathers beyond the amount of assets which they
may have received from their ancestors, and

which were disposable, and could be alienated
by them, we do not desire to repudiate the national
debt, or, slight the claims of the public creditor. We
only wish to render equal and impartial justice to all
—to the debtor as well as to the creditor—and nothing
but such unfair and unjustifiable arguments as those
recently put forward on behalf of the bullionists can
endanger the rights of the latter ; and we sin-
cerely hope that henceforward the matter may be dis-
cu'sed in a calm and temperate spirit, and that all
unnecessary violence pf language may be avoided on
either side.
We cannot conclude without directing the attention

of our readers to an admirable article of our esteemed
and talented Contemporary, the Derbyshire Courier,
which will be fcund extracted into another part of
this day's impression. It will well repay perusal.

In another column of our journal of this day, a
statement will be found detailing the grounds and cir-
cumstances of a dispute which has recently taken
place between the Hon. and Rev. FRANCIS RICHARD
GREY, the Rector of Morpeth, and the churchwar-
dens of St. Mary's, in that town, to which we invite
attention. It appears that the; churchwardens had
received from the Duke of M.lNcuEsTErt, as chair-
man of the National Club, a pamphlet containing
certain "suggestions" to laymen for putting down
Romanizing practices in the Established Church. For
some time past they, in common with others of the
parishioners, had been subjected to constant annoy-
ance by a system of chanting the psalms and prayers,
introduced by Mr. GREY into the service of the
church there, and they were resolved to make an
attempt to procure a discontinuance of those objec-
tionable practices. With this view they recently
sought, and obtained, a personal interview with the Rev-
erend Gentleman, and, with more ingenuousness than
worldly wisdom, directed his attention to the " sugges-
flops" transmitted to them by then uke of MANCHESTER.
The request theypreferred to the rector was that he would
relinquish the chanting of the creed and the psalms
in the parish church on the first Sunday in the month,
and in St. James's Church every Sunday. During
the conversation, " Mr. Churchwarden KING" appears
'b. Ln•c Mull,' ...a loccaa ciarAprca in.n tile udinll3Blo2),

that but for the publication of Lord JOHN RUSSELL'S
famous letter to the Bishop of DURHAM, the church-
wardens would not have thought of asking the rector
to change the mode of conducting the service. Such
rare indiscretion, if it be true, on the part of " Mr.
Churchwarden KING," has, in our opinion, seriously
marred and retarded the very good cause he and his
colleagues were promoting. It is but justice, how-
ever, to that gentleman to say that he denies making
the infelicitous admission.

The day after the interview Mr. GREY replied by
letter to the request of the:churchwardens, in which he
announced his intention to make a trifling conces-
sion to them, but absolutely refused to discontinue

;he choral service at St. James's Church. This
etter of Mr. GREY, however, is chiefly remarkable

or the defiant, and, we may be permitted to say, gra

tuitous language which he holds towards Lord JOHN
RUSSELL and his Grace the Duke of MANCHESTER,
whom he designates " foreign extra-parochial agita-
tors." "I do not see," says Mr. GREY, " what right
foreign extra parochial agitators, however high in
office or in rank they may be, have to interfere in my
parish. Ido not see why we should give their sug-
gestions' a moment's consideration. In plain words,
I do not recognise Lord JOHN RUSSELL as the Prime
Minister of England, or his Grace the Duke of

MANCHESTER as the chairman of the National Club, as
having authority of any kind whatever, ecclesiasti-
cal or civil, in the parish of Morpeth. . . I should,`
however, be sorry to follow the example set by those
high in office and in rank, and to walk in the path
which they have pointed out—the path of agitation
and strife."

Now we take leave to say that, as respects Lord
JonN RUSSELL at least, this is an extremely unmanly
and undeserved attack upon his Lordship, seeing that

it does not appear that his Loldship has ever in the
slightest degree, or in any manner whatever, inter-
fered in the parish which is blessed by the. Hon. and
Rev. Mr. GREY'S clerical oversight, and that the Rev.
Gentleman must have well known when he penned
the words we have quoted. We gravely suspect that
in these times the Premier of England has other fish
to fry than to seek to pervert the parishioners of
Morpeth from their allegiance to their rector. Even
supposing that the sending the printed " suggestions "
of the Duke of MANCHESTER to the churchwardens of
Morpetb,was fairly chargeable as an act of interference
in the Rev. Gentleman's parish, it was in the highest
degree disingenuous and unworthy so to construe the
letter of Lord JoHN RUSSELL to the Bishop of Dui-
HAM, for which his Lordship has since had " to blush
to find it fame."

This correspondence is lamentable, as discovering
in a remote part of the kingdom, another among
the many attempts that have been made in recent
years to revive and engraft obsolete usages upon
the beautifully simple and devotional liturgy of the
Church of England, and so to pave the way, though
perhaps unintentionally, for that scheme of aggres-
sion originating in the insatiable lust for ecclesiasti-
cal domination which now assails the Constitution cf
this realm in a vital part. But to find an attempt of
this kind made and promoted by one ennobled by
the illustrious name of GREY, and by family ties with
" the blood of all the HOWARDS," indissolubly inter-
woven as these names are with the history of a series
of memorable struggles for political freedom and
human progress, had not:entered into our comprehen-
sion, and must be a humiliating consideration to
many who with ourselves have heretofore identified
the immediate ancestor of the Rector of Morpeth
with the advancement of liberty and civilization.

'We regret to learn that early in the present week
Lord Dalmeny, M.P., was dangerously attacked with pleu-
risy, and lies extremely ill at Dalmeny Park, near Queens-
ferry, the seat of his father, the Right Hon. the Earl of
Rosebery.— Glasgow Daily Mail.

The trustees of the late Colonel Cheap, of Gir-
genti, are now, in terms of his bequest, paying over to the
infirmaries of Ediuburgh,Glasgow, Dumfries, Aberdeen, and
Inverness, the sums realised from his estate. It was ex-
pected that each of the charities would receive 2,0001., and,
though the whole of the estate has not yet been disposed of,
1,8001. has already been allotted to each.
CORNISH GRANITE FOR THE GREAT EXISIBITION.
—A very large block of granite, being more than twenty
feet long, of the finest quality and colour, has lately been
raised by the Cheesewring Granite Company, at their quar-
ries on the Cheesewring Hill, which is intended to be sent to
the Great Exhibition of 1851.