The Sun.
London, England, 1842-08-30 00:00:00

that the prisoner had assaulted the prosecutor
with an intention to do him grievous bodily
harm, but it had been deposed by the witnesses
for the prosecution that the prisoner was one
of those who threw stones, and even supposing
that was not true, if he was one of the crowd
from whom the stones were thrown, and thereby
gave encouragement by his presence, he would
be guilty under the second count, which charged
him with resisting his lawful capture. The
offence of the prisoner, even according to the
Judge's own showing, was of a very venial cha-
racter. The Jury, after deliberating for one
hour, found the prisoner guilty, but strongly re-
commended him to mercy, and the Judge concur-
ring, as he said, in the recommendation, humanely
ordered the prisoner to be sent to the tread-mill
for three months. Our readers must be informed
that this convict was not a pickpocket, or a thief
of any description, or even a Chartist, as far as
we learn from the evidence, but the foreman of
a respectable builder, with from eight to eleven
men under him, and had been in 'that situation
for the last four years. He had, according to
the evidence of his master, five children, and
there could not be a more peaceable, discreet
man, or a better husband and father; yet a work-
ing man of this class, the pride of our country,
and the main source of our superiority over
other nations, is sentenced to an ignominious pu-
nishment, for what the humane Whig Judge,
the late Member for Falmouth, calls " resisting
his lawful capture." If this is the law of the
land, if this is the result of our liberal Constitu-
tion, then who can blame those who require a
change ? It is altogether a painful subject, and
the more painful when this severe sentence is
passed by a man who obtained the office of So-
licitor-General, and ultimately of Judge, from
professing himself to be a friend of the
people and a hater of oppression. Every
unprejudiced person admits, and Baron ROLFR
cannot be ignorant of the fact, that all the dis-
turbances at Kennington-common were caused
by the atrocious, the wanton, and the brutal at-
tack made by an armed police on a crowd of
unoffending men, women, and children. Under
such circumstances, a real friend of the people,
a lover of justice and mercy, even a true Whig,
would have made allowances for the excitement
caused by conduct so outrageous and so repug-
nant to the feelings of Englishmen. But the
real offenders escape, and a man who is a good
husband, a good father, and a good servant, is
made their victim, and sent to the tread-mill for
three months. We ask Baron ROLFE if this sen-
tence will make policemen and Judges more re-
spected.

Mr. D. CROWTHER,tiI e Assistant-Secretary
of the Dublin Protestant Operative Association,
has politely requested us, on behalf of the Com-
mittee thereof, to be kind enough to give inser-
tion to some fifteen printed pages of a theo-
logical address of that erudite Society to the
" HOII. and Rev. GEORGE SPENCER," on the
subject of his conversion from the faith of Can-
terbury to that of the Vatican. We must beg
to be excused for declining to comply with a re-
quest the reasonableness of which would have
been more apparent had the "Assistant-Secre-
tary" instructed us to deal with it simply as an
advertisement, for the expense of which funds
were provided by the Committee of the Theo-
logical Operatives of Dublin. Nevertheless,
our good-nature is such, that we cannot, with-
out some notice, throw aside a document so in-
teresting as this effusion of the Christian charity
and apostolic orthodoxy of the Irish Protestant
Operatives. What a contrast does it not form to
the doings of the same class of men in Eng-
land ? While the Protestant operatives of Eng-
land are quarrelling with their employers for
higher wages, and with the landlords for a
cheaper loaf, their more erudite Irish brethren di-
versify the intervals of repose from the
labours of the loom, the forge, the
turning-lathe, the adze, the hatchet, and the
hod, by deciding, with the mandatory authority
of an (Ecumenical Council, the merits of the Ho-
moousiaa and Homoiousian controversy, and in
humbly co-operating with the DEITY in barring
the gates of Paradise against the entrance of
Papists. There are thousands of sober, reflect-
ing Christians who, we fear, will be rather scan-
dalized at the. off-hand, slap-dash style in which
the orthodox hodinen of the Hibernian capital
"pitch the Papists to perdition ;" but that will
only testify- to the fearlessness and the zeal of
the Irish confessors.' Nor does the address of
the Protestant Operatives confine Papacy within
the ordinary limits recognised by Englishmen.
In the category of reprobates the Operatives in-
chide the Puseyites and Newmanites, and, worse
still—the " shallow Protestant hypocrites" who
voted for the Education grant—including Sir
ROBERT PEEL, Lord STANLEY, Sir JAMES
GRAI;IAM, Mr. GLADSTONE, Sir ROBERT H.
Itiams, Mr. Sergeant JACKSON, and every Pro-
testant Member, without exception, in the
present Parliament. We must endeavour
to gratify any curiosity excited in the
minds of our readers by quoting . a few
gems from this address, too rich to require the
exercise of any skill in setting. Like the perfec-
tion of female beauty they will be pronounced,
when " unadorned, adorned the most." With
that excessive modesty so characteristic of the
nation, and the professions of the members of
this theological association, they thus clear the
ground fora regular " scrimmage," not only with
their Hon. and Rev. Opponent, but with every
Member of the Cabinet, and every Protestant
supporter of its policy in the two Houses of Par-
liament :
If the Roman Catholic Church be a Church of
Christ, by which salvation is attainable—if its principles
be sorb as may be innocently taught—if its priests may
properly have the cure of souls, then ought Popery to be
established in Ireland—the Irishmen who think so be-
come Papists, and our Church be pronounced to be a
lying synagogue of Satan, for it has denied all this, yea,
protested against it. We loathe and abominate the in-
consistency of the shallow Protestant hypocrites—falsely
called Protestant—who think one thing and act another;
who support the national system of Irish education and
Maynooth ; who propagate Popery with the national
funds, and pension Popish chaplains in workhouses and
gaols—in the army and navy. The inconsistency of these
wretched halters between two opinions we despise, while
we confess that you are honestly, boldly, and laudably
consistent, though deeply and deplorably in error.
If these questions were to be decided by the
greatest Divines of the Church of England, we
fear the POPE would have a cheap bargain of
the Dublin Operatives; for, assuredly, the great
Fathers of the Anglican Church all agree in the
opinion that not only salvation is attainable in
the Church of Rome, but that the ordination of
its priesthood is valid, imparting to them the
HoLy Gmosr by the laying on of hands. The
Roman Catholics believe in CHRIST, • and
the 18th of the Thirty7nine Articles of the
Church of England pronounces all accursed
who do not hold such belief salvationable.
Nor can we agree with the Operatives,
that because the gates of Heaven are open
to virtuous Catholics, therefore the Church
of England is to be stigmatized as a " lying
synagogue of SATAN." There is nothing in the
Scriptures, or the Thirty-nine Articles, to justify
the uncharitable belief that the Most Rev. Drs.
WHEATLEY and MURRAY may not meet in the
mansions of the blessed as well as at the Irish
Education Board. " Believe in the Lord JESUS,"
saith the Apostle of the Gentiles, " and thoti
shalt be saved, thou and thy house." He did
not say a word about rival creeds.

In the above extract, the Crown, the Cabinet,
and the two Houses of Parliament, are denounced
as represented by " shallow hypocrites, falsely
callfA Protestant." Now for the Operatives
attack upon the Puseyitcs. In addressing the
Hon. awl Rev. GEORGE SPENCER, they say—
do not wear the garb of Protestantism, and
pmkt the revenues of the Protestant Church, while
your Ile:irt is at Rome, and all your e ffortsexerted'to
extol tlic principles—the very essential principles of
Popery. All this the Puseyitical divines do, hence you
are really a more creditable person than they. Why
those who hold such principle, should not in Ireland at
least, become Roman Catholics we cannot tell.

Here we agree with the Protestant Operatives
of Dublin. The Protestant priest who embraces
the doctrines of Rome, and attests his sincerity
by renouncing his preferments in the Church of
England, is a thousand times a more respectable
and trustworthy person than he who, while

abandoning the Establishment, clings to its tem-
poralities. An open enemy is always to be pre-
ferred to a hollow friend. But. what have the
Irish Protestant Bishops and clergy been about
that they left to the Operatives the task of
making war upon the Puseyites ? Is the "si-
lent sister," before whose gate the bronze hero
of the "'glorious and immortalmemory" displays
his truncheon, destined to remain for ever
dumb? Surely the University of Dublin boasts
of some names more familiar to the Bench of
Bishops, and the learned theologians of Oxford
and Cambridge, than those of Messrs. PASSLEY
and CROWTHER ? And yet, with the lively faith
of the members of the Protestant Operatives'
Association, their zeal can only be imputed to
.excess of charity ; for they remove all doubt upon
this head by the following sufficiently explicit
explanation :
Indeed we firmly believe that the Devil is the father
of the apostate Roman Church, and we need not remark
on the spiritual consequences of belonging to a Church
that can be thus spoken of.

We shall imitate the forbearance of the Asso-
ciation. The consequences of belonging to any
of SATAN'S children, are not suggestive of the
most agreeable reflections, inasmuch as the law
of primogeniture does not regulate inheritances
in the kingdom of darkness.
And now that we have strained a point to
oblige the Committee of the Dublin Protestant
Operatives' Association, may we claim in return
the privilege of offering them a word of friendly
advice? We feel confident that we may. From
their bungling in the use of the weapons of
theological controversy, it strikes us that they
are fir more expert at handling the trowel, the
hand-saw, the shuttle, the scissors, the sledge-
hammer, the last, the spade, the scythe, and
the reaping-hook. Now, we advise them
henceforth to fling aside theological controversy,
and to stick to the implements of their daily
avocations. The Roman satirist who advised
the cobbler not to go beyond his last, was the
cobbler's best friend—inasmuch as he pointed
out the way in which he might prevent the
world from ever laughing at him. He must be
a very diligent operative, indeed, who, in addition
to minding his ordinary calling, finds time to
examine the principles of his own religious faith,
without concerning himself with the squabbles of
schoolmen, and the limits of the Divine mercy
towards the erring children of men.

It is stated in the Leeds Times that there are
nearly two thousand persons in prison through-
out the country, for being concerned in the late
riots. The gaols in several districts are so full
that they can hold no more, and it is irreverently
suggested that some of the parish churches ought
to be converted into prisons. The extent of the
rising may be surmised from the number of the
prisoners, who certainly do not amount to one for
every hundred of the operative Turn-outs in the
manufacturing districts. Now, when it is re-
membered that the turn-out of the operatives
originated in severe distress, the throwing them
into prison, and compelling their wives and chil-
dren to seek shelter in workhouses, must appear
a very strange mode of alleviating their suffer-
ings. The cost of their maintenance in a state
of compulsory idleness, will impose an immense
burden upon the country. But worse than all is
the impression which these prosecutions will
make upon the minds of th e operatives themselves.
Hundreds of those now incarcerated on charges
of riot, arising out of the culpable con-
duct of the Magistracy and Police, were
never before an hour in confinement in their
lives. They were hard-working, industrious
men, whose bread, and that of their children,
was earned by the " sweat of their brows."
These' men will now be compelled to herd with
the worst characters ; despairing of justice they
will become indifferent to character and honest
pursuits ; and at the expiration of their imprison-
ment they will carry to their homes the vices
which flourish in the cell of the felon, and the
ward of congregated profligacy and recklessness.
We entreat the Government to weigh these
things carefully. It has incurred a higher
responsibility than that of pandering to the vin-
dictive feelings of an irritated. local Magistracy,
least serviceable when its services are most
wanted. We desire to witness increased popular
confidence in the justice of the Ministry, and
therefore it is that we suggest moderation on the
part of the Government. Any undue severity
will exalt the objects of prosecution to the rank
of martyrs, than which nothing could happen
more unfortunate for the Ministry.

The Ilanover Gazette of the 22d instant, con-
tains a Royal Proclamation, signed " ERNEST
AUGUSTUS," invoking the blessing of Providence
upon the nuptials of the CROWN PRINCE. The
sign-manual of the King of HANOVER will be
thought, by many Christians, but an indifferent
passport to the throne of celestial benedictions,
and is certainly not calculated to warm and in-
vigorate the devotional feelings of his disaffected
subjects. The Princess MARY of SAXE ALTEN-
BURG appears, from the Proclamation, to merit
blessings which, we most sincerely trust,
will not be denied her because invoked
by a tyrant. '" The amiable and elevated
qualities of the august bride" (says the
proclamation), "and the reciprocal cordial at-
tachment of the affianced couple, allow us confi-
dently to hope that the happiness of our beloved
son, which we have so much at heart, is fully
secured by this union." We are more Catholic
in our hopes. We include the Princess equally
with her husband. As Regent, acting for
a blind Sovereign, her's will be a regal
state far from enviable. The KING pro-
ceeds :—" May Divine Providence bestow
upon this union is choicest blessings. We
are assured that our faithful subjects will
unite with us in these our fervent wishes and
prayers." If such an assurance be warranted, it
will be more in consequence of the genuine
piety of the Hanoverian people than any de-
voted attachment to the person or will of the
reigning Sovereign. Short as his reign has been
it has provedlong enough to estrange from King
ERNEST the affection of the most loyal nation in
Europe. To a human being with ordinary
powers of reflection, how terrible it must be
to think that, with opportunities to make
thousands of his fellow-creatures utter his name
with prayers and blessings, he has so spent his
life as to be an object of general abhorrence or
execration—to be forced, on the brink of the
grave, to admit the terrible conviction that no
man cries " GOD bless him"—to feel that the
good will rejoice over his grave, and that when
his, came shall be uttered—

" Blessings shall hallow it,
Never, Oh never !"

The period is now approaching when opportunities
will arise of practically appreciating the value of the
extensive law reforms which have been effected
during the last session of Parliament; and as we
believe but one opinion prevails as to the important
benefits they are calculated to confer upon the public,
no party considerations ought to prevent a fair and
full acknowledgment of the services of those by whom
a result so satisfactory has been achieved. We only
regret that Lord LYNDHURST, who lent his aid in
forwarding all these movements, did not view the
abuses in our Law Courts in the same light ten
years ago, as in that case the country would have
been saved a great deal of expense, and suitors and
insolvents no little inconvenience. But we must be
thankful for what we receive, and make allowances
for the vast change which possession of office makes
even on virtuous statesmen.
No one who remembers the mode in which bank-
rupts' estates were managed, and the laws relating to
that subject administered, prior to 1831, can hesitate
to admit the vast improvement effected by the new
system, the least important result of which has been
the collection of a fund under old and neglected com-
missions, the mere interest of which is said to be more
than sufficient to cover the whole expense of the new
Courts. This measure which, as a matter of experi-
ment, was at first confined to a limited circle around
London, has now been in operation for eleven years,
and its benefits universally acknowledged. But no
extension of this improved system was carried until
the accession of the present Government to power,
when a Bill for that purpose formed one of the first
objects of Lord LYNDHURST'S attention.

10 justice, however, to Lord COTTENILISI, it is 11C.