The Sun.
London, England, 1842-08-16 00:00:00

our rulers and public writers still place on
this broken staff, we should be filled with
despair, if we did not notice a striking symptom of
change and- coming improvement. The Press is
taking the station which is due to it. Differing essen-
tially from the writers in the Times, the Herald, and
the Post, we at the same time see with satisfaction
that, casting off the trammels of party, or rather of
faction, as The Sun has done before them, each of those
journals is pursuing an independent con rse. They
one and all refuse to be the tools of any statesman.
Not one of them is a Peelite. They think for
themselves. That is a healthy symptom. They will
soon get over caste prejudices, and prejudices of a by-
gone age, and look fearlessly at the present condition
of society. They will seek a remedy in things not
in words ; they will look to facts, not to precedents, to
reason not prescription, which is only the reason of
a, more ignorant age. They will soon see, and soon
lead the public to see, that our country cannot be
successfully governed by the sword, and they
must, in common with all reflecting men, aid
in putting down violence of all kinds, and in
restoring, amongst the different classes, that love and
respect for one another, and that confidence in the
law, by making it just, without which England can-
not be either great or flourishing. We dare not
hope for a speedy and happy conclusion to the pre-
sent difficulties, but we should wholly despair if it
were not that the Press is casting off its party
shackles, and is struggling to ascertain, freely and
'ettered, what is really for the public welfare.

As :it is palpable that the greater part of the social
phenomena, whether for good or evil, depend on the
number of the people, and the relation they bear to
the space at their command and the means of subsis-
tence, it is also palpable that those who undertake to
limit and regulate the supply of food, must, at the
same time, take measures for proportioning to that
the amount of the population. We are not at all
surprised, therefore, to find the landowners, who re-
strict the people to a limited space for obtaining their
food, also taking measures to prevent the increase of
people. It is certainly more humane to prevent
births, if they can, than cause deaths, and we there-
fore are inclined to characterise as consistent
the following circular, from Lord Filmic's
EGERTON'S head steward, which has been sent, says
the. Manchester Times, to the tenants on the Bridge.
water estate :

" Worsley, July 30th, 1842
-- The evils which an over-crowded population entails
upon the poorer classes of society make it necessary to
consider in what manner this may, with the most ease,
and with the least interference with their comforts, be
diminished gradually, and finally removed alto-
gether. There can be no doubt that early and ill-
considered marriages between very young persons is
one great cause of these evils. Marriages contracted
without forethought, and without any consideration
as to the means of future support and maintenance
of children. Such marriages should be discouraged
for the sake of the individuals themselves, as
well as for that of their parents and neighbours.
Sash marriages receive great encouragement upon the
Bridgewater Estate, from the parties being permitted to
reside in their parents' dwellings after marriage, thereby
producing other serious evils and inconvenience. It is,
therefore, hereby intimated, that after the Ist day of
October next, no cottage tenant shall permit any newly-
married son or daughter to take up their residence in
their house, without leave in writing from Mr. Fereday
Smith, or Mr. Robert Lansdale, as the case may be, or
the tenant himself will be put under notice. Mr. Lans-
dale will fill up any cottage now vacant from those cot-
;ages which contain more ,than one family, taking great
care that the vacancy thus made shall not be filled up by
an extra family or lodger. JAMES Loon.'
The gentlemen of England must either watch over
the breeding of the people as they do the breeding of
their cattle, or they must abstain from meddling with
their food and trade. We cannot think that they will
find any encouragement to do this in the state of
society, as in Russia, in parts of Sweden, and parts of
Germany where such a principle has been acted on.
Society in those countries is not so energetic, civilized,
and moral, that the gentlemen of England can look for
any great reward for taking on themselves this extra-
ordinary trouble. It is no doubt a vast, if not a noble
ambition, to regulate the number of people within any
given space, and, by a nice adaptation of mouths to
food, promote the improvement of mankind ; but
remembering how Lancashire was peopled a century
ago, and that then no person dreamed of its present
population, we infer that for such ambition to be wise
it requires that it be directed by the prescience of a
God.

The important decision given by the House of
Lords in the Auchterarder case, has set at rest the

main question, which has agitated the Church a
Scotland for the last seven years. Even the dominant
party must admit that there is no alternative now but
to obey the law. The question had received the most
deliberate consideration in the Supreme Law Court
of Scotland, and a unanimous judgment was given
against the defendants. It had been twice argued in
the House of Lords ; counsel, well acquainted with all
the merits of the case, were heard for several days ;
and four of the most eminent lawyers of thp
day, Lord LYNDHURST, Lord BROUGHAM, Lord
COTTENIIAM, and Lord CAMPBELL, also came
to a unanimous decision that the Presbytery, or,
rather, the General Assembly, for the majority of
the Presbytery acted under its sanction, had wilfully
disobeyed the law of the land, and must take the con-
sequences. There was no political feeling to sway
the minds of the Judges in this case, as, fortunately,
they belonged to both parties in the State—nay, the
majority of them were Whigs, a class of politicians
naturally disposed to view the claims of the people in
a favourable light, and for more than a century al-
most identified with that portion of the Scotch
Church which has from its commencement been
,opposed to patronage. In addition to these facts,
the appellants cannot now have recourse to
any higher authority than the Supreme
Court of Law, as well as equity, the House of Lords,
for by appealing to that Court from the Court of
Session, they at once admitted its authority, and if
they are not utterly destitute of common sense as well
as common honesty, must abide by its decision. We
cannot, therefore, conceive any judgment more enti-
tled to respect, whether we consider the long, •atid
solem deliberation on which it was founded, the
ability and honesty of the Judges, or the voluntary
appeal of the parties themselves to the highest tri-
bunal of the country. The next step will be to remit
the case to the Court below, which, of course, will
send it before a Jury for the assessment of damages;
and however much Mr. YOUNG, the presentee, may
have suffered, both as regards his pecuniary
interest, his public character, and his long
exclusion from the sacred office of the ministry,
we believe nothing like vindictive damages will be
required. He has gained a peaceful victory, and, if
found duly qualified, will be at once admitted into
the bosom of the Church. It cannot be denied that
that portion of the Church to which he belongs, have,
during the whole of this unseemly contest, displayed
great moderation, that they have ever yielded respect
and obedience to the Ecclesiastical Courts, when act-
ing in conformity with the principles of that law from
which the Church of Scotland derives its existence ;
and that there is every probability when they have
acquired their rights, they will use them
with moderation and Christian charity. The
other party, we trust, will act in the same
spirit. They cannot fail to see the vast injury
they have done, not only to the Church, but to the
cause of religion in Scotland. They cannot carry on
the contest with any hope of success against law and
lustiee, and, we may add, against the repeatedly ex-
pressed opinions of both Houses of Parliament ; and if
they wish, as they pray, for the peace of Zion, they
imitate the example of their great Master, sub-
mit to the powers that be, and dwell with their bre-
thren in unity. This would give unmingled satisfac-
tion to the true friends of the Presbyterian Church.
We have taken great interest in this affair from the
commencement, and have invariably opposed the
Veto Act, because we saw it was impracticable,
and calculated to throw into confusion the most
beautiful and useful Church establishment ever known
in Christendom. We opposed it from our respect
,and attachment to that Church, and the endless divi-
sions it has caused ; the depositions of venerable
clergymen to an extent hitherto unkn ow n, and the
complete anarchy which now prevails in every Kirk
Session, Presbytery and Synod, bear ample and me-
lancholy testimony to the sincerity with which we
denounced the dangerous scheme of Lord MosrcarErie
and Dr. CHALMERS'. We trust they will learn wis-
dom by experience, and now endeavour to make
atonement for their errors, and heal the breach which
Is caused such distress to the religious people of
Scotland.