The Sun.
London, England, 1819-04-26 00:00:00

BAPTISM.

MR. EDITOR—As I know 'hat you arelcqnainted
with many persons high in the Church,-,%h >' are
,capable of giving a decisive answer to the
log Query, and as I have particular rs'asuns for not.
personally addlessing myself to the Bisiiop of ;he
Diocese in which 1 reside, on (he subject, I shall
esteemjt as a favour if you would insert it in your
Paper, as a likely Mode of obtaining the sarisfac-
ti•on I seek. In the present day there is a great
,iod prevailing tendency to secede from our
Chord) on the ground of 13.1pris.n, and many
tender consciences are troubled about which is

Ire proper mode of administering that Sacrament,
whether by imutersion or sprinkling. Suppose
one of these individuals. should request of a kier—,
yinan to baptize an Infant by dipping, it "sit! ibe
Font,". would the Clergyman be liable to censbre
if he yiel4ed (o such a scruple ?' ltubrick.
authorizes this mode—custom does 1101.-1 ant

persuaded, that if it were genera;ly um:el-stood to
be lawful in such cases, many would be kept
within the pale of the Church who now make
this a pretext tor secession front it—at least, the
Baptists would be robbed of one halt at their ob-
jection to the Church discipline ; and it ittnlts
were baptized in the same way (if requit'nE
another excuse would be removed, or [elide/ ed
very weak indeed, for the fault of the Church, irt
the eyes of the Brpisis, is properly not that she
rejects Adult Baptism, but that si,e a&wt.l Infants
to partake of it. She is mere liberal than they
are, and yet boles all they hold, as to manner and
as to the subjects, and her bosom can only be ac—
counted too Firge for their narrower views. Site
gays, in the language of her Lotd and theA's,
" Sutler the little Cbildreo to Collie unto me', and
forbid them 110 r, for of such is the Kingdom of
Heaven."

jcu 'S f

cf,ERICITS CANTAB.

FOR THL SUN.

EMIGRATION.

MR. EDITOR—Your columns are so readily
devoted to all and every question concerning the
pablic welfare, that 1 make no doubt of your giv
ing a conspicuous place to the following ohserva-
tious ; or, at least, of your calling to their im-
portant subject the general attention:
The lower classes, and not a few among the
higher, of our agriculturists and artificers, are in
the toll title of emigration. America, by a prin.
ciple not thoroughly accordant with the interne-
iional law, receives them all, without hesitation,
condition, or enquiry. She avails herself of their
resources and their talents, and applies them to
her own purposes, without asking or caring whe.;
ther Britain is thereby prejudiced or no.. She be-
comes the refugium pauperum et peceatorum, in
utter contempt of the' British L,l,'. 3. -11', I de.
sire you to put to -our Legislature the, question,
how long is this unjust, and injurious practice to
c,ntinue ? How Icing is this insidious and under-
mining destruction of our weltsre to be permitted?
The miscreant .who violates our laws, no matter
how.deep the stain of his guilt, finds in America
a' SUIT protection ; the malcontent, who hates our
orutinances, finds in Atnerica a willitig eutertain-
mew. The agriculture of that rival state,--for
rival she ever wi.ll be, With as much, at least, of
inveterate envy as of honourab!e competition,—
her manufactures, and her arts, are to he pro-
moted by the drain of British Population.; and
we .passively look on, while our subj.,Lis are
speeding from their native soil by ship-loads, to
enrich a foreign country,--a country with which,
we have not one common interest nor one ,om.
mon feeling,—a country with which we have had
three wars in lorry years,—a country with which.
we have no perpetuity of peace.
Sir, the artificers from our very dock-yards are,
as the Newspapers say, transpor ing themselves to
'America. It is no longer sufficient that our ma,
nufacturers are to give to our—to our competitor
at least I may say—the means of working our
staple commodities ; but' our shipwrights are to
build her fleets and. our sailors are to man them.
Nay, in the event of the next war, To MAN THEM
AGAINST OURSELVES ; since, according to the
'anti-national principle of the New World, an
American residence unmakes a British subject,
and makes an American citizen.
Are our laws strong enough td prevent this ?
If they are, let them be enforced—strictly and
severely enforced : it they are not, let new laws
be enacted, strict and severe enough for, the pre-
vention. Since Anerica, while we are at peace
with her, will not forbear her. sanction of this
wrong, surely it is high time for us to prevent
it, betore we are, at war with her.
I know not, Sir, if any remonstrance has been
made to these modern republicans against their
acquirement of resources which do not belong to
them. \But this I will insist, that the property,
the population, and the skill of every State be-
long to itself alone, and that no other State is
privileged to acquire them. There is an old pro-
verb—if there were no receivers, there could be
tio —; but I will 'not urge its inference far•
ther than to say, that, if there was no entertain-
ment abroad, _there could be no emigration from.
home.
~
Perhaps,' however, we are superabundant in
the goods of the world—too populous, too in-
dustrious, too wealthy, too strong, too scien--
tific; and perhaps it is absolutely necessary to
cure our plethora by exporting so troublesome
an overplus of population, of industry, of wealth,
of strength, and of science. Perhaps so. But,
happening to have a Botany-Bay of our own,
may we not as well send our waste stock there,
as to the Botany-Bay of our ancestors ?
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