The Sun.
London, England, 1828-12-24 00:00:00

-SPIRIT OF THE LONDON JOURNALS.

The company which aF:.s.embled at NTaidstone
on Monday last, to vindicate the slandered cause
of civil liberty, and the spirit which prevailed
there, form an interesting comment on the pro-
ceedings of Penenden Beath, a reproach to their
fury, and an antidote to their intended conse-
quences. We are not of the hole-and-corner
gentry, who work in darkness because they fear
to be disgraced by exposure. We like Public
as
tsa tt
eh embes a 7 tc
us chi.: voaotles
ings
of
other,—as fair tests, likewise,
awrnienee art tchioleln theficidtiezifleacieleesof atdhfaeryemselves and in each 'e
when honestly con-
ducted, of the predominant feelings at least of
the people, if not of their must considerate and
matured opinions. But public. meetings, with
all their advantages of space, number, and
mating spirit, are worse than even the most
packed and inaccessible, if not conducted fairly.
If bodies of men not belonging to that de-
scription of persons or classes in whose name
the assembly has been called together, and of
whom it professes to be constitutel—if, instead
of being exclusively gentlemen, clergy, and free-
holders of a county, the numerical majority of a
meeting, thoSe who, without comprehending one
argument that is offered, or the true bearing of
any great public question upon any one of the
interests which it involves, be' scraped tOgether
by orders froni a few individual S—be diSciplined
to understand nothing but, secret . signals from'
their commanders-,-to 14.8 - to shout, to flourish_
-long sticks and. holiday hats, and.sinewy arms—
to drown the voices or shake the nerves of all
whom their leaders have proscribed—to Fut down -
discussion, and hasten the conclusion ;—if, we
say, a bellowing aid bludgeon-power like this
be organized, and obtruded upon an assembly
of professed freeholders, and then the victory
Of opinion be claimed by that party which has
brought forward little else than physical yin.
knee and uproar—we beg leave to say, that the
effects are far worse than could result from the
most abominable doctrines put forth by an ac-
knowledged hole-and-corner meeting ; because
it passes off. an unprincipled fraud upon the
community, and tends, when discovered, to lin-
pair among Englishmen their respect for this
ancient and (if not abused) this wholesome and
admirable exercise of their free institutions.—
The day of
.Penenden Heath was. the triumph
of ignorance and violence, disciplined by cun-
.
.
nmg. It was a dishonour to Kent-and to Eng-
land, and a falsification of the mind -of both,

inasmuch as a debauched and vociferating mob
was suffered to adulterate the political composi-
tion of the county: The natural remedy for
this incursion of the WinehilseaCosS. ticks was
a meeting where there should. be neither:
deception nor confusion--=where 'the 'numbers •
who attended it could be counted, their. qua
lity ascertained, their discourses -heard, their..
sentiments recorded and submitted to pub-
lic examination. If the Kentish Clubmen
are not pleased with what has passed at
the Maidstone dinner, they have then selves
and • their own foul play to thank for it.. •
The freeholders of other counties will •
know how to distinguish between the fury
of Lord Winchilsoa and the steady moderation
of Lord Darnley, whose several speeches at the
feast of Maidstone were distinguished for manli-
ness, temper, and good sense. It is not too
much to expect that the influence of these three
hundred gentlemen, and of others (the reasons
for whose absence from the dinner were openly
assigned), will be the means of extending through.. •
out every village of the county that re-action
which began from the moment of dispersiAl at
Penenden-heath, and which originated in the
disgust excited by those who had manoeuvred at
ptboasteamteoetg.
lizenteNrVtait the e
entertained by
sentiments
eliilto ‘ivmsuumpt:
ing the imagination of Lord Wiuchilsea and his
coadjutors, we wonder would they be so very
eager in their Orangeism, were the people of •
Kent to assemble at Penonden to-morrow.—
T hues,

A correspondent, who compliments us on
the notice which we have taken of the abuses
and inconvenience of the turnpike-gate system in
and about the 'metropolis, reminds us that the
evil is not confined to that district only, but is
more or less a source of imposition and abuSe
throughout the country. We are well aware
that there are few snugger jobs than these local -
trusts present ; and it is no small satire upon
Members of Parliament, Magistrates, and others,
who have the means of correcting them, that they
ant'l'er such goings on to exist, as many of them,
at least, must be fully aware is the case. But,
much as we denrecate the abuses of the system,
we are not prepared to say that there exists the
seine objection to turnpikes in the country as to
those in and about London. Indeed, we know
of no other, or at least, no fairer way in which..
the country roads can be maintained, than lay a
reasonable tax upon those who enjoy the benefit
of them. But here are inhabitants to keep the
roads-in repair as well as the streets; and the
utter absurdity of the thing is, that, while those
who inhabit the centre of the town bear this latter
burden, they find themselves shut in by these loath-
ome barriers, and taxed afresh lot that which their
neighbours are exempted from. The state of
this question is quite
or even 20- years
ago. What were
50,
were then the suburbs of the Me-
tropolis are now, virtually, part of the Metro-
?GUS. itself; and we will venture to say that there
to no one point of road, within six miles at least
of the Royal Exchange, in which houses stand a
thus with
toh
stone's' throw apart. Such being the case, the
whole of the streets and road,; should be under
one system of management, and that system one
which should abolish, at least within such a
circumference as we speak of, those abominable
nuisances called turnpike-gates. Lord Lowther
seems to have evety disposition to do this ; and,
if he will put his shoulder to the wheel, may, we
are assured, accomplish much, and that very
speedily. We believe, as we have al:eadv said,
that the debt left him as an incubus by his pre-
decessors is the great obstacle to this desired im-
provement. We are inclined, however, to think
that means might be found to obviate this. For
instance fe
, a of the most distant and least in-
convenient gates might be retained for this pur-
pose solely, while the roads might be maintain-
ed, as the streets are, by a rate upon the inhabi-
tants._ Moreileg Herald.
At the Maidstone Dinner on Monday last,
Earl Darnley observed, " that the attempts of
the Brunswickers in Kent had given rise to Is
triumph that had never been calculated upon,
for the cause itself had derived more advantage
from the supposed triumph of their adversaries
at Penenden Heath than from any event within
ihis knowledge. It had established a general
Ispirit of inquiry throughout the country ; and,
be it remembered, truth is great, and will finally
prevail. Their cause was the cause of truth,
and the more the attempt was made to put them
dowel the more sure they were tc) triumph,

I

'heir liberal Petition had already hundreds of
signatures attached to it, and he had no doubt,
that before it was presented t 9 Parliament it
would have thousands, and form a triumphant
refutation to all the assertions of their enemies."
The Brunswick Meetings in fngland have been
a complete failure. Even those who are against
cuncession'to the Catholics do not see the ad-
vantage of arraying one part of the population
against another on this point ; and hence the
leading Tories have, almost everywhere, dis-
couraged Brunswick meetings, It was, no
doubt, thought that a decisive movement in Kent
might electrify the rest of the country ; but 30
far from this being the case, the Clergy alone
have taken the field. In numbers, and they, seeing
that the higher 'tanks hail aback, ate beginning to as-
slime alno,-re moderate tone, as witness the late meet-
ing at -Richmond. The intentions of the Duke
of 'Wellington with respect to the Catholic
Claims are rather guessed at than known posi-
tively. However this may be, there can be
'little doubt as to the course he ought to pursue,
considering the question merely with reference to
the ease of the Government. The longer the set-
tlement is delayed, the more imposing the attitude
of the Catholics, and the more obvious the impos-
sibility of long resisting them. Ministers can-
not but know that the question of concession to
the Catholics is now mixed up with various other
questions not necessarily connected with it, and
which, were concession granted, would no
longer be mined up with it. It is only as Ca-
tholics th!.l the Irish are united ; but that union,
while lasts, has an important bearing on seve-
ral questions. There is; for instance, the

question of the Church Establishment, which is
the real cause of nearly all the hostility to the
Catholics. It may be reasonably doubted
whether the security of the Church would not be
greatly increased by Emancipation. The Church
Establishment would come then to be discussed
on .its own merits; and Irish Catholics, like
Irish Protestants, would naturally take different

sides in the discussion. The following obser-
vations from the The Dublin Evening Post of
Saturday last on this point, seem to us very much
to the purpose :
" It must be admitted that the prcsent.is a very
ner•ous, perhaps we might say a very awful period
in the history of our country. On one side, we
have united the Catholics to a man. There are
shades of difference amongst them on minor, or
perhaps we should rather say, on collateral points—
there are some who would be willing, perhaps, to
entertain the question of securities; there are more
who will not listen to terms. There are some who

would receive a part of what they justly consider
their just rights, while the great majority insist i4pon
a payment in full. There are many, particularly of
late,-who think that a Reform in the temporalities
of the Established Church should be preliminary
to, or concomitant with, Catholic Emancipation ;
while there are other Catholics, who, though no
friends of the Establishment, would be quite satis-
fied with the concession of their own claims, leaving
the Church to sink or swim upon its own merits, or
touching that Sacred Edifice,' not as Catholics,
but as Irishmen. Whatever the differences on
those and other points may be, there are none at all
upon the primary one. The Catholics of Ireland,
we repeat it, are united as one man in one pursuit ;
and though it may be safe for the present, it is un-
questionably dangerous policy, to set at defiance, or
to treat with contempt, the voice of millions. On
the other hand, the Church, and all therewith eon-

nected, Bishops, Deans, Archdeacons, Priests, Dea-
cons, Rectors, Curates, Parish Clerks, Sextons,
Beadles, and their wives and daughters respectively,
builders, carpenters, masons, bricklayers, lock •
. .

smiths, cess-collectors, tithe-proeters, officers in the
-Ecclesiastical Courts, and all their connection to the
tenth degree, and all the numerous expectants, are
to a man opposed to concession; in a word, they arc
opposed to the peace and prosperity of Ireland, as
well as their own interest. While the Catholics act
as they are resolved to do, with prudence, discre-
tion, and forbearance, theie may be no collision be-
tween the parties; but it is impossible that such a
state of things should continue for any length of
time, without ' eventuating' in the most disastrous
results. It is therefore, we will not say the duty,

because that is obvious eneugh, but it is the interest

of the Government to devise immediate means with
a view to tranquillise the country, and to divest the
faction of the capacity which it now possesses, and
which it is anxious to employ, of violating the peace
and of involving the Empire in all the horrors of a
civil war. This may, in a great measure, be accom-
plished by simple justice, by a simple repeal of the
Penal Laws, which still aggrieve the Catholics of
Ireland."

We put out of consideration the great proba-
bility of wealthy Catholics, like wealthy Dis-
senters, going ever to the Establishment, when
there is no longer any dishonour attached to the
desertion of the Catholic religion ; and of a luke •
warmness on the part of the Catholics in general,
when no longer suffering from laws of exclusion.
We take the question of the Establishment as it

stands, with the number of the religions as they
are. We put aside the Catholics as we put
aside the other Dissenters; because the Catho-
lics, in reality, have nothing more to do with
the Establishment than the other Dissenters.
The tithes are not paid by the Catholics, though
they happen to be the raisers of the food from
which it is taken by the Irish Establishment, but
paid by the population of the empire in general.
Tithe, as is well known to all political eco-
nomists, is a tax which falls on the con-
smiler, and not on the raiser of the food.
It raises the price at which the food can he
sold in the market, to enable the cultivator to
carry on his operations. The vexatious mode in
which the tax is levied, is another question. We
therefore demur to the argument of hardship, in
fdrcing the Catholics to pay the Ministers of
two religions. The manufacturers of Lanca-
shire, the shopmen of London, all who consume
Irish food, pay the Irish Protestant Minister, as
well as the Irish Catholic. When Emancipa-
tion shall be disposed of, the question will re-
duce itself to this, whether such a share of the

taxes of the country as the Irish tithes amount
to should be set apart for an establishment for so
very small a fraction of the people of Ireland,
the justification of an establishment being usually
sought in the circumstance of its being service-
able to the majority of the people at least. But
no man who reflects for a moment on the distri-
bution of political power in this country will be-
lieve that the Aristocracy, who are interested in
dividing among themselves the Church Reve-
nues, will consent to abandon this source cif
provision for their families, merely because the
Establishment is not required for the religious
wants of the people. The Establishment is not
kept up for the religious wants of the people, but
for their own temporal wants. Where is the force
in the country that can compel them to relinquish
this source of revenue ? To suppose that a re-
form in the Church Establishment can take place
is to suppose a previous transference of power,
from the hands that now wield it. But of this we
see no prospect at present. No position is bet-
ter
established than that power in every country
wi.ll be exercised for the benefit of those who I
possess it. The Government of England is the
Government of the Aristocrary ; and to suppose
that that Aristocracy would renounce
.volunta-

rily a source off' advantage to itself, is to suppose
an absurdity. The, Government of England is
so far popular, that each party must always de;•
rive a material advantage from deferring to pub-
lic opinion ; and therethre the Ministerial divi-
sion of the Aristocracy, in order not to allow
the Opposition division to obtain any advantage
over it, will always in indifferent matters yield
to the public voice. But this deference can
never extend to matters in which the Aristo-
cracy, as an order, are deeply interested. Hence
we hold the Protestant Establishment of Ire-
land to be secure, were there only fifty thou.
Sand Protestants in Ireland, so long as power is
vested in the Aristocracy of the empire. The
Catholics, as we have already observed, are only
united on the single point of emancipation.
That point carried, their voice would be di-
vided as to the question of the Establishment,
which would then be between the Aristocracy
and the people of the empire at large. We
wonder-the Church do not see this themselves.
—Moining Chronicle.
The full report which, we gave yesterday of
the Antis Brunswick Dinner at Maidstone, ren-
ders it almost unnecessary for us to allude to it
farther. The party consisted in the whole of
nearly three hundred freeholders of the classic
county of Kent, and the dinner, like that of the
Brunswick Club which was lately held there, was
conducted with the greatest regularity and deco-
rum. The speeches also were, on the whole, re-
spectable, and much less characterised by a con-
troversial spirit than, from the discussions
which have taken place respecting the re-
sult of the Penenden Heath Meeting, might
have been expected. We are frank to own,
however, that we disapprove in toto of such
Meetings, whether they be composed of Bruns-
wickers or Anti-Brunswickers. If they serve to
display the feelings and spirit of the country,
they also tend to keep alive its jealousies and
animosities—to feed and nourish its prejudices,
and to perpetuate those dissensions which it is the
object of every good Government to extinguish.
There was also a statement made at the Meet-
ing, which, in justice to the Brunswick
Club, we cannot pass unnoticed. Lord
Darnley mentioned, in alluding to the late
Penenden Heath Meeting, that many of
those present were- only servants in disguise,
that they had been dressed up for the occasion,
and armed with clubs and other implements of
warfare, for the purpose of enforcing the argu-
ments of their patrons. With all due deference
to the positive statement of Lord Darnley, we
sincerely hope that such was not the case ; and, in
justice to the club, with which the meeting ori-
ginated, we must state our belief that his Lord-
ship has been misinformed. Lord Winchelsea
never would have been guilty of such a despi-
cable device to swell the ranks of his supporters ;
and the latter, we imagine, would not have
dared to resort to it without some general under-
standing on the subject. Protestantism, at ail
events, stands not in need of such support.—
Morning Advertiser.

The inconsistencies into which the soi-disant
Friends of Civil and Religious Liberty are led
in their liberal designs of breaking down the
barriers of the Constitution, by the admission of
Papists to political power, are sometimes highly
amusing. For instance, the Earl of Darnley, at
the Maidstone dinner on Monday, at which the
advocates of Popery eought consolation for their
signal defeat at Penenden-heath, gave as the
first toast, " The health of his Majesty, and may
he never forget the principles which placed his
family upon the Throne of these Realms."—
In giving this toast, his Lordship must
either have considered his auditors (as indeed
they proved themselves to be) a set of
" thick and thin " Radicals, at once regard-
less of all principle, and ignorant of the
most important historical facts—or he must
have intended it as a preliminary intimation of
his intended abandonment of a bad and indefen-
sible cause. In either case, it must be deemed
rather surprising that there should have been
no person present not so far subdued in reason
by the seductive spirit of " Maidstone," as to
be incapable of discovering the gross delusion
thus so unmercifully practised upon their un-
derstanding. " May the King never forget the
principles which placed his family upon the
Throne of these Realms !" Such was the toast,
and "such must ever be the prayer of every
true friend of the Constitution in Church and
State. But the intoxicated auditors of the
artful Chairman were obviously either igno-
rant or forgetful of what those principles
are. Arid the Noble President, it is equally
clear, had not the candour to remind them
that the principles which he so boldly toasted
were in direct opposition to the object which
the swillers of Maidstone were then assembled
to celebrate. The Noble Chairman was in
honour and duty bound to inform them, that
the principles which seated the House of Bruns-
wick upon the Throne of these Realms were
mainly the preservation of our Constitution in
Church and State against the wiles of Popery
and the tyrannous sway consequent upon the
admission of the pernicious doctrines of the See
of Rome. His Lordship ought also to have
reminded them that the King (whom Heaven
long preserve I) has, like all his illustrious
predecessors of the House of Hanover, so-
lemnly sworn to maintain the Protestant
Religion as by law established ; that he
swears to maintain those laws which have
been established for the exclusion of Po-
pery, without reference to any of a differ-
ent description which may hereafter be enacted
by Parliament ; and therefore, unequivocally,
that he will govern, as far as regards the Pro-
testant Church, strictly according to the laws at
present in existence, and which in their forma-
tion were clearly and avowedly enacted as a fun-
damental and unalterable principle of the British
Constitution. Most cordially therefore must all
true friends of the existing order of things )oin
with Lord Darnley in his toast that " the
King may never forget the principles which
placed his family on the Throne of these
Realms ;" nor shall 'we reject the repentance of
the Noble Sinner, if we find him in sincerity
and in honour departing from the dark and dan-
gerous track he has lately pursued, and taking
a safe guide for his future course from the true
and glorious Star of Brunswick !—Morning
Post.

The following curious circumstance occurred
at Paris :...—yesterday se'nnight a man of about fifty years
of age was seen seated near one of the gates of the
Tuileries, with a large placard upon his breast, bearing
the words " Julien Langlade, ex-gendarme," and on his
back another, with the words " I am refused payment
of the three months pension due to me." On being
spoken to by a commissary of police, be said that be
had earned his pension of 'retreat, which' was 'refused
him, and that, being in a state of starvation, he hoped
they would send him to prison, where he at least would
-be sure of having bread to eat.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.

GUILDHALL.

A middle-aged man, named Henry Baker, was
brought before Mr. Alderman VENABLES yesterday,.
upon a charge of felony.
Samuel Davis, one of the city Smithfield officers,
stated that between ten and eleven o'clock on Mon-
day night the -prisoner attracted his notice in the
Poultry, merely by the suspicion with which he ap-
peared every now and then to look about him. He
observed be was earryiog something heavy under
his left arm, which he continued picking at with a
knife in his right hand, and eating us he walked
along. About the end of King-street, witness and
a watchman stopped him, and found he was tickling
his palate with some fine real Canterbury brawn,
respecting the possession of which he gave various
accounts. By inquiring at different shops, witness
traced that such a piece of brawn had been missed
from the premises of Mr. Myers, the fishmonger, in
St. Peter's-alley, Cornhill.
Mr. Myers said he knew very little of the pri-
soner, but he had applied many times at his shop for
employment. He repeated this application on Mon-
day morning last, stating at the same time that he
was in great distress; and complainant, without in-
quiring into his character, engaged him as a porter,
fully intending to keep him in summer as well as
winter, although contrary to the custom of the trade.
In the course of the day witness lent him 35., and
he went away between ten and eleven at night, but
the piece of brawn was not missed till four o'clock
in the morning. He was quite sure the piece pro-
duced was the same that had been missed, having
himself cut the whole quantity to oblige a nobleman.
It was of the value of upwards of 205., weighing
above 151bs.

The prisoner admitted he was guilty, and said he
was in great distress and extremely sorry for his
misconduct; and, in truth, he looked heartily sorry
and care-worn.

Mr. Myers had no anxiety to prosecute, but leav-
ing that question with the Magistrate,
Mr. Alderman VENABLES said, there was so much
ingratitude mixed up with the crime, that he should
not do his duty to the public if he (lid not send him
for punishment ; and the prisoner was accordingly
committed for trial.