The Sun.
London, England, 1842-12-28 00:00:00

"' et itte I.l*l ition

SUN OFFICE Three o'Cloch

_
A great variety of schemes has been brought
forward by the clergy for awakening a stronger
sense of religious duties among the people, and a
more lively attachment to the services of the
Established Church, bnt Protestants cannot fail
to regret that all the proposed innovations are
copied from the practice and discipline of
the Catholic Church. While that Church
remains fixed in its tenets, and claims
the character of infallibility, the Protestant Epis-
copal Church is receding from its first principles,
and gradually approaching, with the sanction, at
all events with the connivance, of the Bishops,
towards " Mother" Church. The Puseyites,
and they are not few in number, approve of auri-
cular confession and absolution. Some of them have
adopted the genuflexions and other outward signs
made by Catholics, burning lights on the altar,
and imitating ceremonies in Divine worship
which the Reformed Church had hitherto regarded
as the peculiar abominations olAntichrist. These
ceremonies, it is vainly supposed, will attract
the multitude, and excite that fervouranddevotion
so conspicuous among Catholic worshippers. An-
other notable device has just been discovered,
and we regret to find that a prelate of so much
learning and good sense as the Bishop of NOR-,
wicu should have sanctioned it, as a means of
gathering together the strayed flock. Pews now
are found to be highly injurious to religious
worship, and orders have been issued in several
churches for their demolition, and substituting in
their place chairs and stools on which the rich
and the poor, the high and the low, may take
their seats promiscuously as in the olden times.
The Bishops are great Conservatives, they dis-
like reform, and least of all reform in that esta-
blishment where it is most wanted, and it is
therefore strange that they should encourage
an innovation which might make things even
worse than they are. if the poor come in
this way to church they may drive away
the rich. Do these Reformers imagine for
a moment that the haughty squire, with his
proud dame and delicate daughters, will con-
tinue to frequent a church where they must come
in contact with farm-labourers, low mechanics,
and paupers? The habits of the people, and the
custom of the times, are alike opposed to such
amalgamation; and the result will be that the
higher classes will leave in a body, and either
desert the Church altogether, or erect chapels
of their own, where they can enjoy their snug
pews, associate with persons of their own rank,
and perform their devotional exercises without
any of those interruptions or annoyances which
they would find among a mixed multitude.
In either case the parish church would be
more deserted than ever. The poor not
unfrequently attend church for the purpose
of seeing their richer neighbours; and the ex-
ample of the higher classes is as certainly fol-
lowed by those beneath them as the effect
follows the cause. This is not the way to en-
courage religious worship ; and a very different
system must be adopted before the " poor man's"
Church becomes an object of general attraction.
There are ample funds set apart for ecclesiastical
purposes, to build more churches than are wanted.
Let these funds, therefore, be properly distri-
buted, let ample accommodation be provided for
the poor without money and without price, but
above all let the clergyman—as is done in Ca.
tholic countries, mix more frequently with his
flock, consoling them in their distresses by
his exhortations and his prayers, and bright-
ening their future prospects at the hour
of death. The cause of all the present
apathy and coldness towards the Establishment
lies in the system. Our clergy, at least the
greater portion of them, have no community of
feeling with their flocks. They are educated
among the nobles and the wealthiest classes of
the land. They assume the habits, the an-
tipathies, and too often the pride, of the
rich. They look, consequently, to wealth
and preferment, and regard the moral and
religious education of the people as objects only
of secondary consideration. A thorough reform
of the whole system of ecclesiastical education
and Church government might increase the
power and usefulness of the Church ; but to
imagine that this great work is to be accom-
plished by the demolition of pews, the tinkling
of bells, and bowings at the altar, is one of the
wildest of visionary schemes.

The intelligence from Madrid is to the 19th
instant. A general belief prevailed that the
Cortes would be speedily dissolved, and that a
decree for the dissolution had been forwarded to
Catalonia, for the signature of the REGENT.
This event is exceedingly probable, as that body
had evinced great opposition to the present Go-
vernment, and hopes are entertained, that since
the revolt at Barcelona, the feeling throughout
the country is favourable to the REGENT. The
following account from Seville, dated December
15, appears in the Patriota :
In the morning of yesterday an extraordinary
courier arrived, with orders for the disbandment of
the battalions Nos. 1 and 3 of the National Guard of
this place. This measure took place immediately in
the greatest order. The disarming commenced yes-
terday, and will be terminated this day. It is gene-
rally thought here that the remaining battalions will
be re-organised. This measure would give great
satisfaction to the public, as the National Guards of
Seville, are in a state of disorganisation and disorder
which cannot any longer be tolerated. The judicial
investigation into Ithe circumstances of the late dis-
turbance is proceeding actively, and it is asserted that
warrants have been issued for the arrest of several
persons. There is at this moment the greatest tran-
quillity, and nothing indicates a probability that it
will be again disturbed. Three companies of regular
troops arrived yesterday, and others are expected.
The Constitacional of Barcelona pilblislies the
following order of the day :
" Army of Catalonia.—The Generals and Officers
named in the following list (the list contains nine-
teen names) are comprised in Article 1 of the procla-
mation of the sth inst. Consequently, the General-
in-Chief orders the publication of their names in the
general order of the day, that all persons may be well
apprised, that if they are acquainted with the place of
asylum of either ofthese Generals or Officers, and do not
reveal it to the authorities, they will incur the penalty
of death, decreed by Art. 4 of the same proclamation.'
The REGENT left Sarria on the 22d for