The Sun.
London, England, 1842-09-29 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 29, 1842.

for the borough. The Tories are making great,
and, in our opinion, unwarrantable exertions to
obtain a majority in the Council, in order to re-
turn two Tory Members at the next election.
What, for instance, can be more unwarrantable,
or more unbecoming-, than the chief clerk of one
of her MAJESTY'S ships of war mingling in city
polities to the neglect of his duty as a Govern-
ment officer?_ All persons of this description LIPs
generally regarded as impartial spectators, and
when they step out of their line of duty should
be treated as intruders. Conduct like this, how-
ever, will meet its reward. It will incite the
citizens to defend their rights in opposition to
the underlings of office, who wish to pay court
to the present Government by using their in-
fluence for the suppression of public opinion.
The burgesses of Devonport have maintained
many successful contests in the cause of freedom,
and at the ensuing elections we are confident
they will maintain their character.

It is delightful to turn from the angry war of
political parties that too generally pervades the
Parisian journals, to the generous, the eloquent,
and the harmonising discourses delivered by the
great men of France in their halls of science and
literature. On occasions like these, to their
great honour, they forget all party strife, all
national antipathies, and, in general, do justice
to the discoveries and social -improvements of
other States. There are, it is true, exceptions,
but fortunately rare, for their great object scents
to be the advancement of intelligence, the union
of melt of science and genius in every
part of the earth, and the diffusion of
those blessings which are conferred on mankind
by the arts of .peace. We have been
led to these remarks by a brief account of the
proceedings which took place in the Academy
of Macon, on the 12th inst., when M. LAMAR-
TINE delivered an address distinguished for its
surpassing eloquence, liberal views of the present
state of society, and a glowing description of the
vast changes which have taken place within a
fewyears, and are still in active progress, through
every part of the habitable globe. A brother
philosopher, we believe the son of the historian
LACRATELLE, had denounced the effects of mo-
dern discoveries, and among others the invention
cf steam power, railroads, and machinery, and
contended that mankind would be much more
happy, if all these were swept from the earth,
and the population of different countries were
brought back to the simplicity, and, conse-
quently, ignorance of the primitive inhabitants
in bygone ages. This strange argument roused
the indignation of the orator, and he broke forth
in a strain of fervid eloquence, adduced facts and
witnesses to refute the charges, and showed that
even steam, one of the powers which had caused
such mischief, in the view of his antagonist,
was one of the greatest blessings ever
conferred on mankind. " What," said he
" has steam done ? It has formed a new
geographical, political, moral, and commercial
world—it has brought the very ends of the earth
together—it is blending different languages, dif-
ferent races, and different religions, and giving
to the whole human race a power and a unity
which can be seen and known only by ,the
GREAT CREATOR." Never were words of
greater truth uttered, and seldom ever with
such effect. By means of the steam-engine
nations, formerly as much separated as if
they lived in another .world, have been
brought into contact, :mutual wants are sup-
plied, commerce is increased ;to an unknown
extent, prejudices and antipathies are effaced,
and even the very bigotry of religion assumes a
less forbidding aspect. The speech, however, is
not more remarkable for its eloquence and sound
views, than for the humanity and Christian cha-
rity displayed throughout. Whilst the speaker
describes the wealth raised by these great dis-
coveries, and the additional employment created
for the working classes, he denounces the cruelty
of those who enrich themselves at the expense
of the poor, and then leave them to pass their
old age in want and suffering. We recommend
the entire speech to the attention of our readers,
who will join in conferring their tribute of praise
and honour on a foreigner so well entitled to the
approbation of the wise and good.

Archdeacon WILBERFORCE has recently issued
an Address to the laity of the. East Riding of
Yorkshire, which is no otherwise worthy of
notice than as it embodies a High Churchman's
sni gllt
he seems to think is a panacea
views of a sound national education. The Rev.
be expected from.hiseloth,
i
favour of a system of religious
instruction,
u
no
r a.tseetnxiucll exclusively
arlej:lwhichctisvoiia
present i
and future evils, and which he
designates as " the fulcrum that must move the
whole community." Certainly the great truths
of Christianity cannot be too generally diffused
among the people, or too forcibly pressed en
their attention; but we apprehend that this is
not exactly what the Archdeacon means. We
suspect that, in accordance with the tenets of
Puseyistn, he has an eye to the temporal as well
as spiritual ascendancy of his Church; and when
he talks of " religious instruction," means
nothing more than that the peop!.e should be
brought up in a spirit of unqualified subordina-
tion to the Establishment ; that they should be
taught to regard Dissent—in whatever form it
may show itself—as an evil to be eschewed by
all good men; and should accept, without consi-
deration, and with unfeigned thankfulness, what-
ever doctrines their spiritual pastors may be
pleased to propound to them. In a word, we
fear that the " religious instruction" which the
Archdeacon so strenuously advocates, involves
a scheme for perpetuating priestcraft ; and
as such, it is infinitely more likely to be
injurious than beneficial to the community.
We are confirmed in this suspicion by the
circumstance
.that, throughout his address, the
Rev. Gentleman takes every opportunity of
sneering at " reading and writing," just as
though he felt that the progress of knowledge
must of necessityritine
in-
terests of priestcraft. " That there is more
reading and w be detrimental to the
he says, " than for-
naerly, I admit, and more talk about education ;
but I* greatly doubt whether, considering all
the opportunities we possess; there ever was a
time in which were to be
.found more per-
sons, in the true sense of the word, unedu-
cated than at present." The utter fallacy of this
remark is proved by recent remarkable events.
To what, but to the progress of knowledge among
them, and its consequent softening effect on
their minds, are to be attributed the forbearance
and moderation so generally shown by the
starving operatives, during the late turn-out
in Lancashire Had these riots occurred
fifty—or even five and twenty years ago—
there would have been pillage and blood-shed
to a dreadful extent; but, thanks to the huma-
nising progress of that "reading and writing"
which Archdeacon wiLBERFoRcE holds in such
pious horror, snobs, even when driven to excesses
by squalid destitution, are• no longer what they
were in the good old Church and State " days
of 1780, when, in a paroxysm of orthodoxy,
they set fire to London ; and, some few years
afterwards, under the influence of the same
bigoted feeling, destroyed Dr. . PRIESTLEY'S
valuable library at Birmingham, because he en-
tertained but an indifferent opinion of the apos-
tolic integrity and disinterestedness of Mother
Church.

Our accounts from Madrid are of the 19th
instant. The Patriota announces, that the Mi-
nister of Finance had :succeeded in negotiating
Anotherw a s tranquil
paper,
a p eor n,
thet h e
Treasury bills to the amount of 12,000,000 reals
out of the 15,000,000 assigned as the quota of the
province of Madrid, in the loan of 160,000,000
voted by Congress.
15th. The Globe journalCa(liz had not re-appeared
since
asitnldcetthhee Ipatoeliftaictaall encounter between its editor
Defeasor del Pueblo, bad incurred the displea-
sure of the Progresista and Republican
and the autlorities fearing- for'the..:ll-ife of its.
editor, M. -QA-mpE,-. sent every _Oiht-,-ra .detaclt-
tnent of troops to_guayr4 114104 jl-i-4'11°166-
.___

The Five per Ceats. were done at 261 for cash,