The Sun.
London, England, 1827-06-28 00:00:00

JOURNALS.
SPIRIT OF THL PUBLIC

The re-establishment of the, 'Censorship in
France appears to us to be a ineaire at once
the most. uncalled for and impolitic tfizt could
have been adopted by the rulers of an inteUlgent
and spirited people. It proclaims to the wo:ld
what it was the obvious and paramount interesf
of the Government to conceal--4hat the House
of Bourbon feels conscious of having lost at the
same time the esteem and affections of its sub-
jects. Had it retained either, a sufficient gua-
rantee existed against evil arising from the free-
dom of the press ; for the press would have seen
forced, for its own sake, to appeal to the judg-
ment of the nation, or to its passions. The de-
fensive powers of truth and generosity are, when
wielded with equal zeal, beyond all comparison
stronger than the weapons of malignity and false-
hood. But what do the French Ministers with
to effect, or fancy that they can effect, by this
condemnation of the organs of opinion to inacti-
vity ? They debar men from making known
their sentiments through a certain channel ; but
do they kill the sentiments themselves ? Will
the passions of men be composed or infuriated,
by violence exercised against them—more espe-
cially by that description of violence which is in
itself an acknowledgment of terror ? If men are
forbidden to speak their minds openly, will they
be satisfied not to speak at all? No ; they will
give indulgence privately to impulses which
would have spent their force on the wide surface
of an untrammelled, and therefore unheeding,
population. They would have addressed the world
at large for the love of pause—for a livelihood—for
the public benefit—for a thousand objects,all ranging
within the peace of society and :be security of the
State. What will they do now ? They will brood
over the captivity of their spirit—they speak in
secret with those who, actuated like themsei;'cs by
a sense of humiliation and a thirst for vengeance,
may help them to strike, instead of only speaking.
There is no doubt that a spirit of strong dislike to-
wards the Royal Family and the priestly power ha;
for some time been spreading itself throughout
France. Will a forcible attempt to put down this
spirit have a tendency to destroy or to foment it ?
We know what. the result would be, if the question
related to English resolution and character ; but
for the French people—who have felt and borne
patiently some kicks in their time—it might not be
discreet to answer.—Tinies.

levP.alEuPdiwilieiti
has An b
eeexnt r e
'latelym ely interesting
published
eas
Jacob, entitled,, " A Clergyman's Address to
English Protestants, on their duties towards
their fellow-countrymen of the Church of Rome."
We never read a more gratifying specimen of
the mild, conciliatory, and charitable spirit by
which all addresses from an English clergyman
to his country, on political questions, ought to
be distinguished, than is here displayed by Mr.
Jacob. His allowances for many of the super-
stitions which have been higrafted by the priest-
hood on the earlier faith of the Church of Rome,
but which are traced by the candid mind of the
author to an origin in some of the sweetest and
most admirable of the human affections, will, we
trust, not be read without"edification by the more
zealous of our Protestant partizans. Mr. Jacob la-
bours to recommend the cause of religious liberty on
behalf of his Catholic fellow-citizens--a pious and
reasonable object, for which he has our hearty
prayers for the most complete success ; and if he
outstrips us in
.his eagerness for a serious prosecu-
tion of the means by which it is presumed that
converts can best be. gained from the Church
of Rome, we at least respect his manifest integrity,
although some doubts may occur to us as to time
policy on which his arguments have turned.--Thicl.

_ The new entrance gates to Hyde-park, at the
end of Piccadilly, are now open for carriages,
and visible in all their proportions. Considering
how long the public had heard of plans and
models for a grand triumphal arch in that direc-
tion, to form an entrance, not into Hyde-park,
but into London itself, we felt no - slight disap-
pointment at seeing, soon after the commence-
inent of this work, that the thing was not to
correspond with the magnificent epithets which
had been applied to it, inasmuch as it could not,
from its position, form any part of the great
western avenue to the metropolis; nor, from the
principle of its construction,' could it have any
thing to do with grandeur. The whole of the
architecture exhibited in this building has cer-
tainly an air of lightness, neatness, and pretti-
ness; the ornaments are in holyday fashion
and the execution seems accurate and finished :
but that is the most that we can say for it. The
parts are too much broken—the divisions are too
minute and effeminate—the tout ensemble is that
of au airy and pretty Screen-work, giving admis-
sion to the park of a private gentleman, and ap-
parently modelled by the delicate but fragile taste
of the lady of the manor. What would have
been at once more appropriate and striking, was
a simple arch, of lofty elevation, the crown of it
from forty to fifty feet high, thrown across the
end of Piccadilly, a little to the westward of
Apsley-house. Had this suggestion been
adopted, and had the architect relied for the
success of his undertaking rather on the nobleness
and majesty of outline, with a corresponding bold-
ness of accessory ornament, than on the high finish
and petty beauties of detail, all Europe might have
been searched in vain for a site more fitted for the
erection of a vigorous and imposing work,—a mag-
nificent porch to the metropolis of England,--than
that which the nature of the ground at Hyde-park-
corner, with Piccadilly in front, and the Green-park,
with Westminster and its Abbey in distance, on the
right, presented to the eye of a stranger entering
London by the great western avenue. A mind for
grandeur, not for elegance, was what ought to have
presidedover the " Board of Taste" on this occasion.
They have given us, nevertheless, an agreeable trifle
in architecture, contrasting favourably (that, per-
haps, was the design) with the County Lazar-house
over the way, through which his Majesty's guests
cud acquaintances must, it seems, approach, through
the Royal gardens, to the gate of Buckingham

Lord Eldon observed in the debate on the
Dissenters' Marriage Bill,. " that he should be
exceedingly glad to get a definition of an Uni-
tarian. The sole reason which led him (Lord
Eldon) to ask the question—and if their Lord-
ships should go into a Committee he should ask
it again—was, that it might be recorded upon
the face of the till what an Unitarian was."
The observation of his Lordship is well deserv-
ing of attention. The Reformation began with
a claim to the right of free inquiry; and it was
expressly stated by the most learned and acute
of the men to whom we are indebted for the
blessing of the Reformation, Melancthon, that
" articles 'of faith must be often changed, and be
calculated for times and circumstances." That
Protestants have frequently availed themselves of
this privilege, and it may with truth be observed,
that not only the Protestants have not only been
constantly changing their principles, so that there
are very few points of resemblance by those of
the times of Luther and Melancthon, and those
of the present day ; but .that the opinions of
every particular denomination of Protestants have
also been constantly changing. The words Lu-
theran and Calvinist convey no meaning in the
present day, for there are hardly" any men who