The Sun.
London, England, 1818-01-12 00:00:00

E CoUNTRY.

As the Acquittals of Mr. lloNv. contintie to he
matter of triumph to the adrOir.rs of ELASPAEMY
and the abe'ttors of SepyrioN, we insert the fol-
lowing article, in order to spew that the senti-
ments of these prnjVgate Pemacrats are not the
sentiments of 'THE cOUNTft It. The article which
we now SPiectfr,imi am-Country -.Tom-nal, appear.'
ed verbatim in Ma CA.ester Courant of the 30th
'tilt, and therefore we are, incliu& to think that it
was originally taken fr,oni a London Newspaper.
If so, we regret that the Country I,l,ditors did not-
express their own opinions on thersubiert, which,
judging frotn the general contents of their respec-
tive Journals, they are well qualified to do, for their
own credit and Oat satisfaction of their Readers.
nowever, as the article itself may reasonably be
supposed to express the opinions of the Districts
in which bath of these Journals chiefly circulate,
and is well worthy of being transferred to the
columns of Ttic SUN, we willingly insert it.

(From The Carlisle Patriot of the 27th ult.)

"Avery considerable portion of our columns
is this week occuped with the details of Mr.
Hone's Trials, who, as our Readers already
know, was indicted by the Attorney-General for
the poblicatiOn of profane and -seditious Parodies
nu the Creed, Litany, Decalogue, &c. of the
Church of England. These Trials are of the ut-
most importance to the country, and to the cause
of religion in general ; they afford matter for the
most serious and painful reflection ; and n long
train of consequences is,likely to result from them.
The nature, though' not the extent, of the defend-
ant's offence will be seen by the short extracts
which we have given from these Parodies, in our
report of the ttia:s. His defence was simply, that
the practice of writing Parodies on the Scriptures
was as old as the time of Luther, at least, and
that the most virtuous and godly men had resorted
to it. In proof of this he brought forward all the
parodies either he or his ft lends could scrape to-
gether, and he read as many of them as he was
permitted to do, to the great gratification, it
seems, of the numerous auditory, whose conduct
was most reprehensible. Three successive Juries
pronounced the Defendant Not Guilty. The con-
viction on the minds of the Jury must have been,
that the Defendant had not a blasphemous intent.
Now, though we have the greatest respect for the
verdicts of Juries, we cannot help remarking that
it certainly singular to. acquit a man in refer-
ance to his inten'ions %%luau his actions had glaringly
prods -e 'he effect charged against him. But
ft re we s•op. We refer the n-ad(r to the 'Dials,
and mt, she!. he has read them, he is of opinion
that stir!: parodies 'ought to be tolerated in -a'
Christian Cottony, be of course will applaud the
labours of Mr. Hone, and consider him a need-
lessly-persecuted man ; but if, on the contrary, be
has a floe respect for religion, and through its
aid expects to rise triumphant from-the grave;—.
nay, if he only considers religion as a code, of po-
licy, necessary to restrain the tinbalent passions of
Theo within proper bounds, and as the prop of
t society—he then will feel the utmost disgost
at the conduct of the man who can so sport with
it, and: lament that such practices should be law-
fol. There are 'other and far higher standards by
which to try this important question, which will
readily occur to every considerate and tatioted
mind, but we are willing to trust even to the weak
test which we have adduced above, and do not
fear time result with those whose opinion is of any
value or consequence. Mr. Hone, on his trial,
talked of conscious innocence,' and expressed a
belief that Providence had interfered to give him
powers to defend himself,' but very few, we pre-
some, will be disposed to envy him either his con-
sciousness or his belief. As the offensive passages
were read, bursts of laughter and of approbation
frequently interrupted the proceedings of time
Court Whence did this levity arise, if not from
that irreligious spirit which these and other simi-
lar publications have created ? This conduct, as
was truly observed by Sir Samuel Shepherd,' was
the.best proof that could be given of the manner
in which these Parodies were estimated by the
unthinking, and showed clearly how well they
were calculated to engender in the mind ludicrous
and irreverent notions.—But there are hundreds,
we may say -thousands, who look on time acquittal
of Hone as a triumph, in every point of view de-
sirable and glorious. We envy not such their sa-
tisfaction, and leave them to the enjoyment of it ;
that is a matter which must be settled hereafter
bet en them and their consciences. But we
shall have other opportunities of discussing this
'topic more at length.
," Whoever has cultivated an acquaintance
with the productions of the periodical Press within
the last 18 months, cannot be insensible to the
various modes by which the animosities of the
people have been excited against men in power.
Among the most singular and the most effective
of these modes, is the use which is made of every
acquittal for a state offence. Nay, conviction or
acquittal alike furnish subjects of charge against
those in authority. If the accused is found
guilty, time Jury has been packed, and time wit-
nesses suborned ; if acquitted, the verdict of a
Jury has been proof agvinst the corrupt endea-
vours of the court, Tios, whatever be the event,
the Gayernament is guilty still, and the idea of
guilt in the accused is never for a moment enter-
tained. Hone in his third trial, speaking of Mi-
nisters, declared that he Would impeach them, and
he ended his sentence with the exclamation of
The Wretches !—and this, with the croud, was, ex-
cellcut !—Doctrines like these have a prodigious
influence not only in London, but all over the
country, in such times as the present. And time
poison circulated by one Journal cannot be eradi-
cated by another, for, to say nothing of the in-
fitteuce of a first impressicn, those who profess
such doctrines seldom or never look into the other
side of the question, because they do not like to
have their favourite opinions disturbed. We re-
cellect being in company a short time ago when

.
a person Present spoke icadly iti -prtilsr elf :qr.
Rrougham's speech at the cln%e of last Srssion,
and cvith correipnnirng naimth Oil what
therein attributed to Lord Castlcrelgh. On being
asked if he allowed no wvight to the renli'c3 of
his Lordship and 111 r. Canning, he ans:.vet.ed,
Oh ! I dot tint read their replies ; I only read
Air. Brougham's Speech, and it is an admit Able