The Sun.
London, England, 1844-12-25 00:00:00

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LONDON, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 25, 1644

" Ecce iterum Crispinus, et est mini srepe vocandus."
Doctor PIIILLPOTS is again in the field, and we
foresee—as we remarked a day or two since—that we
shall be often called on to notice his controversial
eccentricities—to apply the most lenient term to his
present perilous course of conduct. For the third
time this bustling, mischief-making Prelate has rushed
into print, and his last letter is of quite as incendiary
a character as its two predecessors. Like them it
concedes nothing, but, on the contrary, is peremptory
and exacting to the last degree. In some passages it
affects the logical, but its logic is of a most peculiar
nature, and tells directly against the course of policy
which the Bishop is so resolutely bent on carrying
out to the fullest extent. Thus, the Right Reverend
writer states that previously to the issuing of
that episcopal ukase—his Pastoral Letter, he di-
rected inquiries to be instituted as to the spirit
in which it might be received throughout
diocese, and " was assured," he adds, "by those
whom I addressed, of their firm conviction that little
or no dissatisfaction—none that would be of serious
moment or of long duration was at all likely to arise
against an order which might issue from authority."
Thii first step on the part of Doctor Puinerorrs was
in every respect a judicious one. He acted with sound
discretion in endeavouring to ascertain the sentiments
of his dock and the strength of their digestion before
be crammed the whole Rubric down their throats ;
but having discovered that they were averse to the
swallowing of such a tough substance, he should—
if only in his high capacity of a Christian
minister of peace—have withdrawn his obnoxious
ordinances, and permitted the Church service to be
conducted in the usual fashion. But instead of this,
he has insisted on his ordinances being obeyed with it
vehemence that has increased in exact proportion to
the popular ferment which they have excited through.
ont his diocese! He abides by them on the very
score of their unpopularity. His arguments in their
favour are drawn from their notorious inefficiency. Was
ever such logic yet put forth by one who is in the
possession of all his faculties ? But the Bishop of
EXETER, we fear, is not in this enviable condition.
His starch, overweening notions of authority have
clouded his better judgment. His prejudices have
overlaid his common sense. He has a sort of
rubrical Monomania upon him. Only ima-
gine his boasting of his efforts to restore
tranquillity by his Pastoral Letter, when the
immediate effect of that most injudicious cominunica
tion has been to bring the clergy into painful collision
with the laity throughout the diocese of Exeter !
Was this well said or well done on the part of a
minister:of the Gospel of Peace ? Was it his duty to
throvr in the apple of discord, when by a little timely
concession—a little show of conciliation he might
have ensured the continuance of order among his
flock ? But in justification of his proceedings he ob
serves—"l see. a resolute determination in many
parts of England to resist all Church authority ; I
see schism in its most mischievous form,
under the guise of nominal churchmanship,
rampant, and of course intolerant wherever
it is seen." If the Bishop really sees this, he must
be endowed with most extraordinary powers of'
vision, for he sees what no one beside; himself can
see. Never did the Church possess more rightful
!uthority than it does at the present day. Never
its legitimate influence more readily
acknowledged..
was
Never were its wishes more cheerfully obeyed. Look
ook
at the immense number of new religious structures
that have sprung up, as if' by magic, in all parts
t the country, on the very first expression of
It recommendation to that effect by the dig-
nitaries of the Establishment ! Look at the
enormous subscriptions for charitable and religious
pw'po es raised last year in pursuance of the Christian

appeals of the clergy to the people! Are those proofs
of a popular determination to resin " all Church
authority "—of a refusal to pay further obedience to
its wishes ? If the Church be now harassed by dis-
sensions from within and without, it is the crafty in-
trigues of the Tractarian heretics that are chiefly to
blame fir these dissensions; and yet these are the
men whose views the Bishop of EXIITIIt is doing all
he can to forward! Strange to say, this un-
accountable Prelate takes credit to himself for
having commenced fighting the theological battle
upon trifles I "There are conditions," he says, "of the
public mind, when it is in truth a blessing that in
struggling for a principle—the great principle of
Church authority, the immediate object to be defended
is not in itself worth the trouble, much less the bitter-
ness and anxiety of the contest. I rejoice, therefore,
that we have not to fight for an object which would
give dignity to the conflict." 'We do not profess
exactly to understand the logic of this passage, but
so far as we can make out the Bishop's meaning, his
argument is, that the less true dignity and the more
frivolity a religious controversy possesses, the more
delighted should those be who take part in it, and the
more eagerly and uncompromisingly should they follow
it up! Upon this principle a fanatic or bigoted High
Church disciplinarian is justified in convulsing a
whole community about a matter not worth a
moment's serious consideration ! Verily, we repeat,
the Bishop of ExErnit is a most extraordinary logician,
but, to the credit of his consistency be it said, that
he practices what he preaches

With the return of that great festival to which
this day is consecrated throughout the Christian
World, new duties as well as new enjoyments present
themselves to those whose lot has been cast " in plea-
sant places." To all such, whilst we would tender
our hearty congratulations, after the cordial and good
old fashion of the primitive Church, we venture to
address on this occasion a few words in the spirit of
mere laymen—anxious to see the temporal condition
of our poorer brethren ameliorated by the timely aid
of private charity. Nor let it be accounted to us for
presumption, that we endeavour to discharge so re-
sponsible a task. It is impossible for us to resist the
strong impulse by which we are animated, on perus-
ing, day after day, the fearful accounts that come
before us of the destitution and suffering that in all
parts of the country fill our streets, at this inclement
season, with incessant spectacles of silent misery or
wailing hunger. The contrast of regal pomp and
glittering luxury with squalid wretchedness and
shivering nakedness is still more forcible, impressive,
and mournful in an imperial metropolis like ours,
where the extremes of society—throughout all its
ranks, conditions, associations, and aspects—are ne-
cessarily brought into daily, nay, hourly contact.
Alas I for the terrible preponderance of wretched-
ness over comfort, of poverty over wealth, of priva-
tion over competence, of despair over festivity, which
is concealed beneath the animated bustle and cease-
less din of this majestic London and its suburbs, with
their swarming population of twice a million of
human beings. That ever rolling tide of life and
motion—marvellous to the eye, and yet more mar-
vellous to the contemplation—must not he dwelt upon
too intensely by him who fancies that the din of many
voices and the hum of toiling industry bespeak, of
course, a city of light hearts and contented labours.
If these bright manifestations sometimes sparkle on
its surface, its deeper waters, like those of the
mighty but polluted Ganges, sweep on their terrible
accumulation of the dying and the dead ;—the
emaciated corses of those who have perished by dis-
ease, by starvation, by the violence of others, by
their own suicidal despair ;—and the unresisting
victims of that undefinable malady, the most mortal
of all influences, physical or moral, a broken heart—
who abandon themselves to the stream, and welcome
the accomplishment of their fate. It is in the by-
ways and neglected quarters of this emporium of
opulence and grandeur—it is in the sordid nooks,
dark alleys, infected courts, and revolting cellars of
straggling streets which are not thoroughfares—of
dilapidated tenements that are not houses—of garrets
that are roofless, of rooms whose bare walls are per-
vious to the rain and the cold, but are never venti-
lated by the pure winds of heaven ; it is in such
localities as these that that immense community is
distributed in whose behalf we implore all, who have
the means of charity, to contribute whatever it may
please them to give—be their dole large or small—
towards a generous provision for the three great
necessities of fuel, food, and raiment ;—necessities
which, at this period, cling, like a prima3val curse, to
the desolate lot of poverty ; for we must not forget
that the distress which at this moment so widely and
sternly prevails in the districts inhabited almost ex-
clusively by our industrial population—is not of their
seeking. It is not the result of their misconduct: It
does not flow from their idleness or their disinclina-
tion to better themselves in seeking for work. The
affliction which overwhelms them is twofold—defi-
ciency of employment, and inadequate wages for any
employment obtained. This is not the place to dis-
cuss the causes of either of these phases of their
..vretchedness. Enough for us that the evil exists,
and that they are not the authors of it.
Let those, then, among us, who on this day rejoice
in their family associations—in the interchange of
sffectionate greetings and tokens between parents
and children, kinsmen and friends, the old and the
young, landlords And tenantry, the low and the high,
masters and servants, remember the wants of the

friendless and the famishing. Whilst they rejoice
arid make merry, and perform or partake of the rites-
of that hospitality which at this period is at once in-
dividual and national—amidst all the bright accom-
paniments of its festal cheeriness—let them pause to
regard the dreary distress of those who sit by un-
lighted hearths, to commune with hunger and their
tears, or wander in houseless misery from the de-
serted shambles where they huddle together at night,
to the unfrequented corners at which they stealthily
beg by day. Let the rich—and not merely the rich,
but those who possess only a simple competency—
bethink them that neither poor-laws, nor union
houses, nor charitable institutions devoted to specific
objects, can embrace the various classes even—still
less satisfy the craving wants—of the sons of desti-

•
tution and helplessness whom the severity of winter
and the deficiency of employment, at this time, throw
unfriended, unfed, unlodged, unclothed---upon the
wide world! Let them remember that it is now the
season, at which their faith as Christians, their bene-
♦olence as men, their duty as citizens, their own re-
lations as parents or children, as brothers or sisters,
protectors or friends—demand of those means a
present charitable donation, each towards alleviating
the sufferings, and solacing the misery of their indi•
gent fellow-creatures. The magistrates of all the
police-courts are willing and unexceptionable reci-
pients of such bounty ; and the press does no more
than its duty in pleading for, and aiding in its distri-
bution. Nor can we conclude our humble appeal
(regretting, as we must, its imperfections and its
feebleness) without reminding the laity at large that
this work of charity especially devolves upon them.
We have fallen upon evil times, when the voices that
should have been raised in every church of the Esta-
blishment throughout the kingdom in arlvocating by
day and by night this holy cause, are more busied in
apologising for the offensive revival of exploded forms
and obsolete ceremonies, than in inculcating the noblest
precept of the Christian faith. If Churchmen, at war
among themselves, by reason of the vexations of
Fuseyism, are so much preoccupied in uncharitably
imputing false motives to those who reject the Trac-
tarian innovations, let the laity teach the Churchmen,
by the most effective of all remonstrances, their
highest duty. Let the laity practice—if the Church
forget to manifest—" charity" to all men ; and come
forward with a mighty purpose, and as one man, and
with one heart, to " comfort and succour," to the ex

;ent w•e have mentioned, the desolate and the dis

rcssed.

Accounts from Madrid (,f the 16th instant state,
that the Chamber of Deputies had resumed business.
A communication was made from the Minister for
Foreign Affairs to the effect, that ClowssLEs BRAVO
had been directed to return to his mission at Lisbon
forthwith, and it is supposed this step had been taken
at the instance of NARYAEZ. This BRAVO, it appears,
was a great favourite at the Palace, and favourites, of
course, are very jealous of each other. The follow-
ing reports from Committees were laid before the
Chamber :--The report of the mixed Committee on
the authorisation granted to Ministers to promulgate
organic laws by royal decrees. Another on the
Clergy Potation Bill, the majority concurring in the

views of the Government; and the report on the con-
version of the debts proceeding from contracts into
Three per Cent. Stock, to which the Committee like-
wise gave its sanction.

MADRID Bouusis, DEC. 16.—Three per Cents. for
cash, 321; 33 for Account. Fire per Cents. 221 for
cash ; 22i for Account. Floating Debt, 77 for 2S
days; Coupons, 26 for Account.

Some of the Paris papers have comments on the
enthusiasm with which Sir HENRY POTTINGER has
been welcomed in England, and snore particularly on
his speech at the Liverpool dinner. The .Tournal des
Debate, however, is silent on the subject, for a good
reason. A few weeks since it put forth in the shape
of a leading article certain statements respecting the
Chinese treaty, but evidently furnished by a corre-
spondent in the East, asserting that the treaty was a
mere nullity, and the English negotiator had been
completely overreached by Chinese cunning. We no-
ticed the absurdity of the article at the time, and the
Prevre adduces the authority of Sir HENRY POTTIN-
GER as a proof that the editor of this Ministerial
journal had been imposed upon by a correspondent
who trusted more to his imagination than facts-
" The simple fact," it says, " of the solemn ovations
of which Sir HENRY POTTINGER is at present the
object on the other aide of the Channel would of itself
be well calculated to interest France. Another mo-
tive, however, induces us to direct the attention of
our readers to the late banquet at Liverpool. In the
speech delivered by Sir HENRY POTTINGRR there is
to be found information important not only for
English merchants, but likewise for those of
France. Sir HENRY POTTINGER spoke of China
and of the • men who preside over her desti-
nies in such terms that many persons in France
ought to regret the levity with which they have often
treated that country. One journal related some
months since, in the most serious manner, a ridiculous
history, according to which the treaty of Ningpo
was a mere mystification. According to that story,
the Chinese negotiator lead bribed Sir HENRY POT-
TINGER'S interpreter, and, thanks to the complicity of
that agent, the written treaty contained stipulations
of a totally different nature from those which had
been verbally agreed on between the Chinese and
English Plenipotentiaries. Not only has the speech
of Sir HENRY POTTINGER reduced this assertion to
its just value, but it gives some important informa-
tion relative to the man appointed by the EMPEROR
to treat with the European Powers. That statesman,
KEY-ING, had the charity to inform the British re-
presentative that the Chinese are a religious people
who are scandalised at the sight of a drunken Euro-
pean, and that if the British seamen who touch at
the coast of China continue to lead that dissolute life
of which they have so often given an example, the
commercial relations opened by the treaty would pro-
duce but little advantage. The advice is worthy of
our attention, and we trust that French shipowners
may take notice of it, until the extraordinary embassy
directed by M. Lau/mini shall hare completed its
observations, and shall have obtained more direct in-
formation."

The Constitutionnel states that the intention enter-
tained at one time of bringing forward Bills this
session to grant a civil list to the Duke of NEMOURS,
in case of his becoming Regent, and also dotations to some
of the younger branches of the Royal Family, had been
abandoned by the Ministry. The Prefects through.
out the country had been consulted as to the opinions
of the Deputies on the subject, and the answers from
them generally are unfavourable.
It appears from the Paris journals that the exe-
cution of the assassin who attempted the life of the
King of Paussia. has excited an unfavourable feeling
towards royalty at Berlin, as it seemed hard, after
long delay, to carry the sentence unexpectedly into
effect. The Journal de,* Dtbats thus apologises for
the Kits G's conduct

"It appears that the execution of Tschech, and the
somewhat strange circumstances that preceded it, hare
made a painful impression at Berlin. The long interval
that had elapsed since the attempt had naturally corro-
borated the notion that adenouemext more favourable to
the condemned would have taken place, singular
inci-
dents also arose which public opinion has commented on
in various ways. The riecessity of choosing between what
he considered a political duty and his religious scruples
had thrown the King into the utmost perplexity, 7_t is
said that, being desirous to escape Altanative, he
had imagined several add eXpedients. He wanted, at
first, to delegate his right of pardoning to the Prince of
Prussia, erhu would have decided the question. lie next
had the idea of suspending the decision until his death,
and of leaving to his successor the task of pronnuncing
upon the fate of the offender, HeanWhile physicians and
clergymen successively 'laited Tshech, the former to
strive to discover some symptoms of insanity or mono-
mania ; the latter to kindle in him some glimmerings of
repentance; but the efforts of both parties failed. At length
the affair was submitted to the Council, w hen it was the
unanimous opinion of the Ministers that the King
owed it to his people, whose affection had been so conspi-
cuously manifested when the attempt had taken place,
and to all Sovereigns who had been outraged in his per-
son, not to make justice recede before the obduracy of
criminal. The Prince of Prussia is stated to hall said
that to all these reasons he had one to add, which was
personal to himself; namely; that he could not accept the
share of inheritance it was contemplated to .leave him.
Fresh sereples then arose in the mind of the King, who
asked whether his people, whose affection had so warmly
displayed itself when the attempt on his person had been
made, still persisted in the same feelings and his Ma-
jesty reverted to the notion that, if he dearly saw his
duty as a King, he had also his duty as a Christian to
fulfil, and could root prove himself severer than Provi-
dence which had saved him. At length, overcome by
the entreaties of his Ministers, he resigned himself to
signing the warrant of death ; but his emotion was so
deep that, after .doing it, he fell into deep dejection,
and shed abundant tears. In signing the werraitti
he stipulated that M, do Kleist, First President
of the Chamber 01 Justice, should attend the exam-
etklifilind be the bearer of a pardon in the event. of
Tscheeb, at the last moment, evincing some repentance.
Lastly, the King left Charlottenburgh, which is on the
road from Berlin to Spandau, in order to spend a fere
days at Potsdam. On his side, Tscheal, who had t.vo
days before been apprised of his doom, had continued
deaf to every exhortation. Doctor Gerlach, the Court
chaplain, having again been sent to him, on the last
evening, Tschech roughly repulsed him, persisting in
glorying in his crime, and in rejecting religious assist-
ance. He separated in the same way from his daughter,
expressing to her the hope that they should soon meet
again. At Spandau, at the fatal moment, M. de Kleist
addressed him for the last time, and asked whether, in
presence of eternity, he did not feel some repentance ?
He replied, with more resolution than ever, that he did
not, and that, on the contrary, he had done a great
action. He began a speech, but had not time to finish
it. It was then half-past seven, Two or three hundred
persons at the utmost were on the spot."

The French Three per Cents. were done at Tot-
TOM'S on Sunday at 85f. 65c.

THE PANTOMIME AT THE SURREY THEATEB.—The
title of this Christmas piece of amusement is Pounds,
Shillings, and Pence; or, Harlequin, L. S. D. It has been
got up with great care, and at considerable expense ;
and, it is presumed, will produce to the spirited 1t ssee a
hundred per cent., and to the public amusement equal
at least to twice that amount of value for the price of
admission. The whole of the pantomime Las been in.
vented and written by Mr. Nelson Lee, and will be pro.
duced under the direction of that excellent manager, Mr.
R. Honner.
ROYAL ACADEMY or Music.— The examination
of the candidates for the scholarship of this excellent in
stitution for the ensuing year, took place on Friday
last, when the prize was awarded to Miss Georgiana
Poulter.
DARTMOUTH ELECTION.--DATRMOUTII, MOicDAT.
—A public meeting of Mr. Moffatt's friends was held at
the London Tavern on Saturday evening. At a few mi-
nutes before seven the chair was taken by Capt. Bulky,
the Chairman of Mr. Moffatt's Committee, who an-
nounced the satisfactory progress of their canvas since
the last meeting. Mr. Moffatt addressed the meeting at
some length, amidst continued cheering. He refuted the
charges that had been brought against the Liberal party
by their Tory opponents, and assured them that there
was no doubt of their ultimate success if the constituency
were only true to each other, and resisted, as they
hitherto had done, the improper interference of their
oppon • Mr. opponents. Nicholls afterwards spoke on the sub-
ject
e
of free trade.

It is said that Messrs. Rogers and Co. find the
acceptors of the bills of exchange which were stolen from
them come forward very handsomely, most of them
having paid their acceptances upon the guarantee of the
house to keep them harmless.
SUPPOSED CASE 01" POISONING AT HOLBECK.—
During the last few days a great deal of excitement has
prevailed in the neighbourhood of Holbeck, arising out
of the fact that a married woman, named Illingworth,
had met with an untimely death. Deceased was the
wife of William Illingworth, a clock and watchmaker,
residing in Holbeck-lane, and a leading Socialist, who
had also living in his house another woman, named
Simpson, by whom he has had two children. The co-
roner's jury has sat twice upon the body, and at the time
our paper was put to press they were sitting a third.
time ; the result of the investigation, therefore, cannot
be stated in our present edition, but from what I;aseooY,
to our knowledge there is ground for very strong" "Vii-
cion that the wife has been wilfully poisoned.--liteds
Mercury.

SEA;OZ4ABLZ GlFTS.—Monday, in the parish of
St. Bride, Fleet-street, forty tons of coals were d :.stri-
buted, under the direction of the parish authon ties,
amongst 576 poor deserving families of the parish. The
gift is paid for by subscription among the inhabitan 'B.
There will be a second distribution of the Mrao (juuntityY
on the 21st of ijanuary next.