The Sun.
London, England, 1828-08-22 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

'e present onr readers to-day with 'a very
singular 'document—the remonstrance .got' the
French Bishops against the late liberal measures
of the Government;---os what may more pro-
perly be called the representation of the Catholic
Orangemen of France to the Most Christissi
descendant of Sts Lpuis, complaining of perse-
.
eution, and menacing resistance, Isecause the
'voice of, the nation has imposed some restraint
upon their interested intolerance, or lowered
their 'ascendancy preteusions. As, from the
press of other matter of more domestic interest,
we have for some time past been unable to be-
stow that attention upon the progress of cede-
sesstical discussions among our neighbours which
their importance demands, it may be useful to
recapitulate a few facts necessary for the full
comprehension of the present question, and for
the aue appeciation of the conduct of the peti-
tioners. The ere raised against clerical encroach-
'clients, as exhibited in 'the acknowledged esta-
blishmest and increasing power of the Jesuits in
France, had resounded throughout Europe, and
was one of the main causes of the expulsion of
the btst Ministry. However reluctant, therefore,
the, Court might have been to take any steps for
turbing clerical domination, the yew Cabinet
was compelled to do something to free the public
from their alarms of '-an order, who, without as-
sistance or countenance of the Court, would have
been as harmless as a set of junipers or dancing
dervishes. They therefOre appointed a commission
to inquire into the conduct of the ecclesiastical
seminaries in which the Jesuits were chiefly
employed, and to ascertain the precise state
of the law which applied to their renovated
institution. At the head of this commission
VAI'S the Archbishop of Paris, and its eight ether
members being equally balanced, his Grace gave
'his casting vote in favour of the Jesuits. The re-
port of this commission did not satisfy the Mi-
nisters by whom it was appointed, nor the pub-
lic which urged on the Ministry. Accordingly,
to the dismay of the high church party, and the
delight of the more liberal portion of the natio'i,
the Ministers of. Justice and of Ecclesiastical
Affairs issued, on the 16th of June last, (with-
out reference to the opinion of the extinct com-
mission), two Royal ordinances for the regula-
tion of the ecclesiastical seminaries, which effec-
tually ended the reign of the Jesuits, without
mentioning the name of the order, or alluding
to the interests of its members. By the first of
these, the. establishments known under the de-
signation of Secondary Ecclesiastical Schools,
directed by persons belonging to a religious con-
gregation not authorized in France, and existing
• at eight places to which we have formerly alluded
(Aix,
•Bilkim, Bordeaux, Dole, Forcalquier,
Montmorillon, Saint-Acheul, and Saiute-Anne
l'Auray), arc ordered to be subjected to the re-
gime of the University, and no person is per-
mitted to he employed in any establishment be-
lon&ing to the University, or in the secondary
emesiastical schools, who has not declared in
writing that he is unconnected with any such
unauthorized religious order. As the above
Jesuit establishments were entirely supported
by pupils belonging to: the wealthier classes
'ot destined his the church, who paid for
their education and support at a rate so high
as to enable the teachina fathers ,to receive
mid educate a
,number of ecclesiastical scho-
lars gratuitously, the decree for placing them
under the University, which, by its constitution,
separates these two sorts of pupils, effectually
destroyed their utility to the Church. The se-
cond ordinance, published on the same day,
limited the number of pupils to be received in
all the secondary ecclesiastical schools over
France to 20,000; prohibited the reception of
any external or day pupils ; ordered all pupils to
tali'e the eeclesiastical habit at the age of 14 ;
-rendered the approbation ofthe Crown necessary
to the nomination of teachers ; and created
8,000 pensions or biirsaries of 150 francs (or 6/.)
each, for the encouragement of yOuth inclined
to enter the church without possessing the means
necessary for defraying the expenses of their sup-
port. To those unacquainted with the course of
ecclesiastical studies, and the history of a clerical
education among-our neighbours, it.may be ne-
cessary to explain what is meant by the Se-
condary Ecclesiastical Schools. Before the Re-
volution, when the.revenuss and the honours of
the Church were sufficient to tempt the cupidity
or ambition of wealthy or distinguished families,
the primary or' secular education of those de-
stined for the ecclesiastical state was attained in
the colleges, open alike to the laity and the
clergy. The young Levites, as they are called
in the Bishops petition, could then pursue their
early studies among the children of the other
tribes, and were not set apart for the service of
the altar till they had taken a degree in an esta-
blishment of secular or profane learning: But
when Buonaparte re-established the Church with
bishoprics at a thousand a year, and parish livings
at 401., he could. only entice into its bosom
youths who were unable to pay the charges of
an expensive education. Indeed, such was the
aversion to a clerical life sonie time after the re-
storation of the church establishment, that
conscription was nearly as necessary to fill the
ranks of the clergy as those of the army,---that
'only the sons of peasants and artisans could be
-prevailed upon to take the tonsure, and that se•
seral thousand parishes remained without spi-
ritual guides. In this state of things, it was
ecclesiastical recruits, not
necessary to encourage
only by au exemption from military service, but
by a gratuitous education. :Accordingly, every
bishop was authorized to open a school in his
diocess to instruct pupils destined for the church,
in which they might obtain the degrees prepara-
tory to their theological course, without attending
a college. The establishments,were Galled "se-
condary ecclesiastical schools' —they were ex-
empted from the regime of the University,
placed
entirely under the control of the bishops, and
prohibited from receiving any but intended
churchmen. By admitting pupils of a different
class, as they did in the case of the Jesuit esta-
blishments, they departed from their rules, and
forfeited their privileges. The two ordinances
above-mentioned, therefore, only brought them
back to their former state, and enforced reeula-
list's which, Under Napoleon, were thought bene-
ficial, or at least were obeyed without a mur-
mur ; while they conferred • upon the church,
and placed at the disposal of its Bishops,
pensions to the amount of 60,0001. sterling a
year. But, strange to say, these decrees have
created a clerical uproar from one end
of.
France to the other. Some eighty prelates—
Cardinals; Archbishops, and Bishops, with
50,000 or 60,000 parish priests, loudly pros
= test against them, raise the cry that the church
is in danger, and pretend to group around
their tottering altars. Their fantastical Jour-
nals, like some nearer home, hoist the flag
of distress, and proclaim approachine, martyr-
dom. Some of the most fiery spirits among
pro-
the prelatel even talk of resistance, and

pose a crusade against the Royal bounty of
60,0001. a-year ! Addresses, petitions, protes-
tations, and remonstrances, are sent up from-
every diocese. Lamentations from the pupils of
the suppressed schools are spread over France,
to melt the hearts of the faithful. Several pre-
lates have published charges to their clergy, in
which they call upon them to prepare for threat-
ended calamities. One Bishop (the Bishop of'
Chartres) has plainly told his Majesty that he is
determined to oppose the execution of some of
his Royal orders ; and in the document of which
we insert a copy, a Cardinal, signing fbr the
whole French prelacy, speaks a language which
requires the mitre to protect it from a charge of
contumacy. If the Ministers and their Royal
Master are firm, all this noisy bluster—all this
affectation of alarm and denunciation oft, impiety
—will end in nothing. A church establishment
so poor or so unpopular as to be obliged to
employ missionaries because it cannot find or
make-paStors sufficient to supply its parishes, is •.
not likely to be dangerous if separated from the
authority of Government. Its principal force
lay at the Tuilleries ; its strength consisted in
the weakness of the King's conscience, and of
that it is now deprived. His Majesty has been
induced to considerthe opposition to his decrees
as factious, and the Moniteur of S un day assures us
that he is resolved to see them executed.— Times.
The word Protestant is so incessantly rung
in our ears by some of our
.Contemporaries, that
a stranger newly arrived among us might be
tempted to believe, that the religious zeal of the
century which followed the Reformation had re-
vived. Thank God, religious zeal has never, in our
tines at least, had any thing to do with the Ca-
tholic Question. The demonstrations of Pro-
testant zeal in this country are always connected
with the belly ; and with the cessation of inte-
rested motives the demonstrations will also cease.
Whenever the zeal is not fed with grosser food
than that which the spirit requires, it dies fast
away. Even Oxford is ashamed of the clamour.
If religion were at all concerned in the matter,
we should naturally have the most fiery demon-
strations of. zeal from the parts of the country
where there is the most religion. In the northern
parts of the island the influence of the Clergy is
unquestionably much greater than in England—
the religibus education of the people is more at-
tended to, and there is far more zeligious feel-
ing. No man who has ever seen the earnest faces
of the Scotch on a Sunday, when nearly the
whole grown population is thronging to, or
Tinting the various places of worship, can hesi-
tate for a moment to believe that religion is a
matter of greater concernment with the Scotch
than with the English. But we hear of no
firebrand among the Scotch Clergy taking credit
for his opposition to the Catholics. There may
be a diversity of opinion among them on the
subject of the Catholic Question—though we are
assured the opinion that the period for settlement
is arrived,•is becoming more general among them,
but as there is no premium for zeal either one way
or other, the various opinions exist very comfort-
ably together. The towns of England, which arc
too large to be influenced by individuals or Cor-
porations are equally tranquil. The diffieulty,
as .we. have -already observed, will be in Ireland,
where • there exists a party, the consequence of
which rests exclusively on religious .distinctions,
Between the Orangemen and Catholics there are
more substantial grounds.of hatred than religious
differences—diversity of race and hereditary ani-
mosities. • Pinkerton used to say he could, with-
out looking at the title, tell a book written by an
author- of a very irritable nation, as even the
leather burnt his fingers. We do not think we
should be taking-credit for any great discernment
when we say we could detect an Irish Orange-
man from the very first sentence which flows
from his pen on the subject of Protestantism.
There is a sort of frantic exultation about Irish
Protestants whenever Protestantism conies in
.their way. They write as if the blood flowing
in their veins had not -cooled since their last
battle: The fiercer animals by nature seem in
their dreams to be pugnacious, and it is not -
always safe to be near a dog that dreams he is
encountering an enemy.' We should suppose
the wife of an Orangeman would be in danger
of being throttled by him, when he dreams, as
be must do, of strangling Catholics. We, can
readily believe a contemporary (the Standard),
who assures us that the Irish Protestants are most
determined fire-eaters. _Fierce • and brave they
no doubt are. They have been fleshed for two
hundred years on the poor Catholics. The state of
Ireland is the price we have paid for their ferocity.
" If his Grace (says' our Contemporary) were
under any circumstances, accessible to such a motive
(as fear), he knows that science in which he excelS
all mankind, and he knows his own country and Lis
own kindred Irish Protestants too well to admit the
suggestion of fear in this case. He knows, and he
has asserted in his place in Parliament, that fifty
thousand men, armed arid disciplined, constitute a
garrison competent to preserve Ireland secure and
tranquil in defiance of the utmost efforts of treason ;
and he knows.that the British standard displayed for
one week on the sacred walls of Derry, or Ennis-
killen, or on the towers of the faithful' metropolis,
would collect beneath it six times fifty thousand of
the bravest men that ever drew the sword. We
speak advisedly, for they are the bravest men that
ever drew the sword; they are descendants of Eng-
lishmen and Scotchmen; the best blood of Britain
taken from the boldest and most adventurous classes
at the time when courage and adventure flourished
most amongst us : and the discipline of danger and
anxiety from Popish neighbours during nearly two
centuries, has steeled the hereditary qualitiesOf.the
llibemo-Britens to the highek terliper.of 'gallantry ;
with such an array upon the spot—with the mil-
lions which Britain. could pour fOrtli by steam in a
day almost, who could fear ?, Is it the Duke of
Wellington?"
Far be it from us to question the warlike pro-
pensities of
.this valorous race. It is, perhaps,
posSible to. garrison -Ireland with fifty thousand
men, and to. keep down; the Catholics with such
a garrison,•.and the six times fifty thousand
Orangemen. But Scotland can be garrisoned with
five hundred men, and we hope to see the day
when a thousand will be sufficient for Ireland.
Good God ! is one of the finest islands in the
world.to be for ever a garrison,—a theatre for
the display of the ferocity of four hundred thou-
sand men, and the oppression of six millions ?
We wish to see Ireland like England, time people
soberly engaged in the pursuits of industry, and
reaping the rewards of it in the varied
enjoy-
ments of all classes. Throughout all the rest of
Europe, Catholics and Protestants live happily
together; and why may they not in Ire-
land ? If we' thought that there was any thing
in the Catholic Religion which unfitted its Fo-
lessorS for the enjoyment of the rights of citi-
zens, we should—rather. than make Ireland a
perpetual garrison, a, theatre for the display of
Orange.fiereeness—vote fur the titter annihila-,
tion of the. Catholics as comparatively more hu-
mane • and politic. It would, no doubt, be a
new experiment in the history of the world, to
massacre six millions of. people. But with the
people we
,should be -rid of the garrison of fifty

thousand men, and the expellee of keeping Ire-
land—we should get rid of Orangemen, and
Protestant zeal.—Morning Chronicle.
The resignation of the Duke of Clarence pro-
ceeded' from an honourable and spirited feeling in
his Royal Highness, and augurs well for the cha-
racter of his Government, when, in the course
of nature, he may ascend the Throne. The
Lord High Admiral found' that his Council op-
posed the measures which he thought important
to the public service, in a manner not altogether
sufficiently guarded to prevent the possibility of
personal offence. In fact, umbrage was taken at
the conduct of one individual. An explanation
took place. From this it appeared that the Ad-
ministration required that the department of the
Navy should be made use of, as before Mr.
Canning was the Premier, for the purpose of
strengthening the hands of Ministers; but the
the independence of the Duke, as a Prince of
the Blood, and as wholly unconnected with
party, made such a course impracticable. It was
then settled that his Council should be respon-
sible to—or in other words, take their orders
from, Downing-street. This clelaircissement,
while it removed the grounds of personal
offence, rendered it impoSsible• for his Royal
Highness to remain in office, if he valued either
his self-esteem or the good opinion of the nation.
Immediate and unhesitating resignation was the
consequence. We shall not be suspected of
flattery when we say that this is an event deeply
to be deplored. The stories of extravagant
expellees are wholly unfounded. We defy con-
tradiction when we state that the sum of I,oool_
will cover all the charges upon the Treasury ; and
that the Duke most liberally employed a large
portion of his private income in executing his
official duties ! The " head and front of his of-
fending" was this—Lord Melville's system was
no longer acted upon. Services and merit be-
came the passpOrts to promotion. The recom-
mendations, or rather claims, of the borough-
mongers were disregarded. The Duke of Wel-
lington's Government felt that without wielding,
for the purposes of purchasing and retaining 1 'ar-
liamentary support, all the public patronage, it
could possess no stability. It, perhaps, may
be urged, that in the present corrupt state of. the
Representation, all Administrations must actin
a similar manner; but if this defence be admit-
ted, it-shews hi the strongest possible light the
necessity of Parliamentary Reform.—Aid.
A meeting of the Common Council was held
yesterday, an account of which our readers will
find in another column. The principal object.
of the meeting was one which has excited a good
deal of speculation among our City friends, and
which we have on more than one occasion ad-
verted to—the discussion of the proposed ap-
proaches to the new London Bridge. The sub-
ject was introduced by Mr. Weston, who com-
plained that when inquired at, he could not
answer a single question, a condition which is
certainly far from enviable. Mr. Weston was.
followed by Mr. Dixon, who stated that the re-

ports on the subject were never made but when
money was wanted, and who complained—
which, by-the-bye, was rather unreasonable—that
compensation for the loss of an increasing trade
was impossible. Mr. Stevens complained of want
of information ; he was, moreover, much op-
posed' to a standing Committee. Mr. Favell
defended the Committee ; and while he lamented

the loss which might be suffered by the shop-
keepers of Fish-street-hill, contended, and we
think with some justice, that there was a para-
mount interest to be. attended to—that of the
public—for which he deemed it the duty of the
Committee resolutely to stand up. There were
several other speeches made, among the mast
satisfactory of which we believe will be found

;hose which state that the arch over Thames-
street has received the full approbation of the
architect, which speaks sufficiently for it desir-
ability, and of the Lords of the Treasury, which
ensures its. adoption.,Netu Times.
An Evening Paper, in answer to some obser-
vations of our's relative to the intention of the
Duke of Wellington to carry the question of
Catholic Emancipation, says, 4, We deny that
his Grace has the power to carry it, and we more
strongly deny that he is a man to volunteer
apostacy, merely because the opportunity is
offered to him. If he thought that the Roman
Catholic question ought to be carried, what but
the most unworthy motive could have prompted
him, to assign his -objection to that question as
his reason for withdrawing from Mr. Canning's
Administration ?" Leaving out of the question
all consideration as to whether the Duke does
or does not possess the power to carry Catholic
Emancipation, let us examine the truth of our
contemporary's observation about apostacy, and
about his Grace having seceded from Mr. Can-
ning's AdministratiOn on account of his objec-
tion to the Catholic Claims. . In the first place
we deny that the Duke of Wellington would
be guilty of even the semblance of apostacy
by making the adjustment of the Catholic Ques-
tion a Cabinet measure; and, in proof of this
assertion, we . have only to quote a few extracts
from his Grace's speech in the HouSe of Lords
on the 10th of June, 1828, when the Catholic
Question was last befbre Parliament. On that
occasion his Grace said, ,‘ he hoped that his
views, and those of hi 3 Noble Relation the Mar-
quis Wellesley, did not differ very far in reality,
as he was himself most desirous to see thesub,
jest brought to an amicable conclusion. But
he was desirous .to see real distinct: securities
proposed before he would.c,onsent .to give any
vote upon those claims. He had never seen
any political objection to. the: theological doc-
trines of the Roman Church. He ; considered
this question, as, a question merely of 'expe-
dience. What;we; must dO must ;be by legis-
lation. Their Lordships, however, must legisz
late fearlessly, and carry .their legislation into
'execution * * *. It would be well to
allow the public mind to rest, and in
the end it might be possible to do some-
thing." We apprehend that the above extracts
are a sufficient answer to the observations of our
contemporary relative to -apostacy,; without any
comment on our part. AS for what is said about
the Duke of Wellington withdrawing from Mr.
Canning's Administration on account of his Ob-
jection to the Catholic Question, we shall only
observe that, so far as our recollection serves us
(and we speak only frOm memory) his Grace
never assigned such a reason. We always un-
derstod that the cause of his withdrawing from
Mr. Canning's Alinistry was a personal slight or
insult which his Grace conceived Mr. Canning
liad put upon him in his letter announcing the
dissolution of Lord Liverpool's Government.,
In this understanding we think we are borne out.
tbhyethDeuekext,s speech,raets o
hih cfwre,it i
haysengoitvleie
nkalbyia
above. from
hromis,
Grace would have; expressed himself so favour.,
ably
no n t thos t
blie ef
rCth
e:molaidp Question,ethatciuestiohnadthhee,,g. aro-ufe,wd.
of his refusing to join Mr. Canning's Adminis-
tration.-Morning tration.Mory:ting Herald.