The Sun.
London, England, 1844-08-03 00:00:00

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LONDON, SATURDAY, AUGUST 3, 1844.

In the House of Lords the new " Knackers' Bill"
was read a second time, and ordered to be committed
on Monday. This was done on the motion of Lord
BEAUMONT, and he was followed by the Bishop of
Lospor, who presented petitions from Sir HAR-

ance, the House adjourned at Half-past Seven.

The spirit which animates the Bishop of LONDON
will be the death of his order. There is no redemp-
tion for the bigoted and selfish race which he repre-
sents. At the crisis of the Reform Bill, the Episcopal
Bench was all but overturned, the men with lawn
sleeves and black aprons scarcely dared to appear in
the streets, and were hooted even in sacred temples by
the religiaus people of England. They succumbed
for the time, but when the storm was over they ap-
peared in their true colours. Whenever any benefit
was to be conferred on the working-classes, when
education for the million was proposed and measures
for the relief of Dissenters were introduced
into Parliament, the Sacred Bench was
crowded to excess to advocate bigotry, and trample
upon the rights of one half of the nation.
They are the most selfish and intolerant class in the
whole community. Merchants and traders, and men
of experience in every other rank of life, listen to
reason, and submit patiently to the plans of Go-
vernment, however injurious to their individual in-
terests, because they know everything would be
thrown into confusion if they rebelled against the
lecisions of Parliament. The Bishops, however,
:ake higher ground. They set Parliament at defi-
ance, and rest on what they call their divine autho-
rity. The Railways Bill affords a remarkable instance
of the presumption and despotic character of the
Church. A clause allowing trains with third class
carriages to travel on Sunday, was carried
in the Commons by a large majority; the
Bill was sent up to the House of Lords,
that clause, and the Bishops without a moment's
delay put their heads together to oppress the poor
man. The Bishop of LONDON last night moved the
rejection of that clause. In his usual Jesuitical
manner he professed that he did not wish to prevent
railway companies from carrying third class passen-
4ers:; all he wanted was to release:the Government of
this Christian country from the necessity of enforcing
travelling on the Lord's-day. The conduct of this
man is beyond endurance. If it is a sin for the poor
,nan to travel on a Sunday by railway, is it not a
still greater sin to allow the rich to go by
what the Bishop, we suppose, would call a sa-
cred train ? The first and second class carriages may
be filled to overflowing,. they are to be allowed to
pass; but the third class is prohibited because it is
the Lord's-day. The nobles, the wealthy mer-
chants, the squires of England, and the whole bench
of Bishops, may travel by railway on Sunday ; but
the poor man must remain at home; he must not
enter a third class carriage, because he would bring
down upon the land Divine judgment by such an
outrageous profanation of the Sabbath. Though he
is pent up all the week in some noxious cell ; though
he is anxious to see his friends on the only day that
he can spare from his heavy toil ; though he
has no other means (with the exception
if steam-boats, and these the Bishop would also
:brbid) for inhaling the fresh country breeze, he is
to be debarred from this harmless and healthful re-
creation, on the plea that the Sabbath would be pro-
caned. We say, Down with these hypocrites—these
ppre-sors of the poor—these men who, in the word-
f our Saviour, " Strain at a gnat and swallow a
jam e 1 ." The rich have all the seven days of the
week fur travelling or amusement ; the poor man ha

,)nly one ; and, though he should be as Pious as the
Bishop of LONDON, and go to church in the forenoon,

ike a good Christian, he must be chained to his
house for the rest of the day, and look forward in
41oomy anticipation to the renewal of his labours
on Monday. His family too are to be chained
with him. His wife and his children, who we
know, if the Bishop does not, submit to
many deprivations during the week for one day of re
laxation, must be confined to the smoke of London,

while the Archbishop of CANTERBURY and the Bishop
of LONDON are travelling in their chariots, or regaling
themselves and their friends at country seats, provided
for them by the very people whom they would crush
to the dust. The public cannot submit to this glaring
tyranny, this mockery of religion. The Duke of
WELLINGTON, as will be seen from the Parliamentary
report, took time to consider. Why did he not show

his thual decision ? Why did the Hero, who fought
the battle of Waterloo on a Sunday, not act in accor•

dance with his own unbiassed opinions, and set his
face, like a good and a great man, against the en-
croachments of the Church and the oppressions of the
poor ?

We have devoted a considerable space to our report
of the proceedings yesterday at the Westminster
Court of Sewer:, which we think will amply repay
our readers for the time it may occupy in its perusal.
The subject, it will be seen, relates to the large
sum of 41,6491., the amount of work done by the
contractors for the Eastern and Western divisions of
the Westminster Sewers since Michaelmas, 1841.
Mr. LESLIE, one of the Commissioners, declared that
a gross fraud had been committed on the _public,
and that Mr. BENNETT, whose tender was ac-
cepted by the Court of Sewers in July, 1841,
as the lowest tender, was not so in reality. lie
made the surveyors read over various items from
the rejected tender of Messrs. BIRDS, comparing each
item with BENNETTS', in which it was shown in every
case cited, that the public has by the manoeuvre been
compelled to pay an increase of price, varying from
five to ten, twenty, fifty, sixty, and even one hundred
per cent. more than they should have done ! The con-
clusion of the scene was probably unparalleled in any
Court in this country, for after such documentary evi-
dence, which cannot err, had been read, the Court re-
solved that Mr. LESLIE had not proved his case !
We may safely affirm, that not a single reader will
coincide with the Court—the case is made out beyond
the shadow of a doubt, and we who are rate-payers
in the districts think and feel that a Court so exhibit-
ing itself ought to be buried in one of its own
Sewers.

Surely it is an augury that we have fallen upon
evil days, when it is impossible, in our opulent and
magnificent metropolis—to say nothing of the empire

COURT LEES and others against the repeal of the penal
laws relating to Catholics. What misery mad
Orangemen and Jesuitical Bishops cause in this
country ! _ _ _

Lord BROUGHAM presented a petition from Lord
DUNDONALD, stating that he possessed a secret for a
destructive engine, surpassing any of the implements
of war known, and prayed to be admitted into cornpe-
titiori with other inventors.

The Metropolitan Buildings Bill was passed.
In answer to a question from Lord BEAUMONT,
relative to the execution of a Maltese at Tunis, Lord
ABERDEEN said that person had been guilty of two
murders. On reference being made to him by the
Tunisian Government, he said he could not interfere ;
and if it had been left to him to say whether the law
should have its course, hu would have answered in
the affirmative.

On the order of the day being read for the third
reading of the RaiNays Bill, the Bishop of LONDON
moved an amendment-on the sixth clause, in order to
prevent third-class trains travelling on Sundays,
Good Fridays, and Christmas-days. This horrible
motion was justly condemned by Lord BROUGHAM,
Lord MONTE AGLE, and the Marquis of CLANRICARDE
and the Duke of WELLINGTON, seeing the state of
affairs, made a retreat, and moved that the debate be
adjourned till Monday. It was accordingly ad-
journed.
Lord WHARNCLIFFE moved the third reading of
the Unlawful Oaths (Ireland) Bill. This led to
some discussion, in the course of which Lord
CAMPBELL made this just remark :—" The Catholics
and Protestants of Ireland should be put on an equality,
and until they were so, there would be no lasting
peace or tranquillity in Ireland."
The Bill was then read a third time, and the House
adjourned at Half-past Ten o'clock.
The Commons met at Twelve o'clock, when several
Bills were passed.
A new writ was moved for Dudley in the room of
Mr. HAwx.Es, who had accepted the Chiltern
Hundreds.
The House went into Committee on the Insolvent
Debtors Bill. Several Members previously had
objected to the Bill being brought forward at such a
late period of the session, but the opinion of the
House was against them. Nearly all the clauses were
agreed to, the report was received, and the Bill was
ordered to be reprinted and recommitted on Mon-
day, to enable the Government to make alterations in
accordance with the suggestions of some Members.
The Art-Unions Bill was read a third time and
passed. After some other business of little import-