The Sun.
London, England, 1839-03-08 00:00:00

ble to thq people. We do net say that such a scheme
is the only one or the best which can he ee:ised,
but we are clear, from the nature of railways, that
they cannot be placed in the hands rf
vi-
duals or Companies ; and we are equally clear
that to affirm of Government .that it cannot be en-
trusted to accomplish ad object of such general
briajOrl as d cortiplete 0./stet/1 df failtfatsi is tb bow:
tfeitiii it d 8 a ihnig uttetly Useless.
We are not of opinion that the railway pro-
prietors who have already secured local Acts of
Parliament would hay: any reason to complain of a
rreneral plan tthiCh firight eVen stipetsecle their road•;.
Whey would be left undisturbed in the possession
of what they have constructed, but the privileges
nranted to them do not and cannot bar out the
community frtlm clecirting hey scheme, demon-
strated to be useful, of general national improve-
At the breaking out of a war individuals
secure letters of marque, and arelat great expense,
in the hopes of mak;ng caphires of forei:in vessds,
and we have never heard that it was for them
a good ground of complaint tl A the national fleets
swept the teas of its enemies, and made the:r pa-
triotic speculation one of considerable losv. So the
Legislature has sanctioned private individuals con-
structing Railways, in gross ignorance, we believe,
of the numerous economical bearings of the novel
invention ; and if it should at length become wise,
and do that for England which it has done for Ireland,
and lay down and ex-cute a general plan of Rail-
%Nays extending over the whole empire,- those Corn- '
panics which have speculated in Private Acts of
Parliament, would have no just cause to complain
of its decisioa.

[bent.

When the important —question relative to the
plan for Railroads in Leland comes on for discus-
sion, we recommend to all parties the advice given
by Sir JAMES GRAHAM on Wednesday touching
the Navy :

" Let them reduce the matter in dispute within those
narrow bouath, and, instead of indulging in erimination
and recrimination, and invidious comparisons between
Tory Governments and Whig Governments. let them put
the case in a right point of view before the werld, and
show that they were all united in the determination to do
all that the case required."
This subject has, unfortunately, hitherto been
treated by one portion of the Conservatives as a party
question, tha! portion, namely, which plays such
fantastic tricks when left to their own guidance, but
to this we attach little importance. The question
must be decided by mcn of a different stamp. The
Duke of WELLINGTON, Sir RODERT PEEL, and
the more rational of the Tories, have either refrained
from giving a decided opinion, or given one in favour
of the plan ; certain of the supporters of Government
have voted against them, and we may there-
fore anticipate that an Irish' question for once will
he approached with something like impartiality.
The Orangemen object to it because it will give
patronage to Mr. O'CONNELL and the Irish priests,
but if there is any real ground for this fear, why
not adopt the title laid down with regard to ap-,
pointments under the New Poor-law, and make it
a great national question without distinction of
parties ‘? Great Britain is as much inter-
ested in the queftion. as Ireland. The one
cannot suffer or prosper without the
other. If the Legislature can find employment for
the superabundant population of the ;sister
country, in constructing a work which, on calcula-
tion, hardly disputed, will at least pay ordinary in-
terest, and in the end give an impulse to industry,
is this not infinitely preferable to grants for encou-
raging emigration, or even to Poor-laws ? The
New Poor-law for Ireland will entail more
expense On that country in four years than the
whole cost of the proposed and 2,500,000/.
expended on emigration would, in the end, leave
Ireland exactly where she was. Are not these
points which interest Orangemen as well as Catho-
lics ; and independent of this, is it a matter of no
importance to ascertain by experiment whether the
gross abuses, the needless expense, and the
monopoly which Railway Companies in this
country are daily acquiring, may not be ob-
viated by giving the Government, under the
controul of the Legislature,- power to construct and
maintain them at the expense of the nation ? No
man has been more alive to this subject than the
Duke of WELLINGTON, and as his great object
can only be the good of the country, we confi-
dently anticipate that he will take the independent
course which he did with regard to the New Poor-
law Bill. This is an Irish question, too, which can-
not affect the Established Church ; and if it is to be
rejected from the foolish dreld that it may give pa-
tronage to Mr. O'CONNELL, we may as well leave
off legislating for Ireland, and grant him at once
Repeal.

We adverted yesterday to the fact well know

but not enough remembered, that the Nobility and
Gentry of this empire have enjoyed an unexampled
immunity from violence and wrong, either legal or
individual, for a great many years. Moreover, they
have enjoyed their large incomes undisturbed,
though they have done little or nothing to earn
them. For these blessings they are most ungrate-
ful, as well as most unjust, when they continue to
tax the people's bread. By such a proceeding they
forfeit all claim to regard or respect, and deservedly
acquire the public hatred and scorn. We envy
them not their security nor their possessions, but
when they insist on enlarging their incomes by
taxing the people's bread, their scandalous avarice.
endangers both their possessions and their safety.

We beg the attention of our readers to the re-
port of the proceedings at a public dinner at Bath,
given to Mr. HOBBS, the printer whom the saints
of Bath have deprived of his situation in a News-
paper office on • account of his religious opinions.
Much credit is clue to those gentlemen who have
thus come forward to bear their testimony in
favour of religious liberty, and to stigmatize
the unchristian conduct of this conscientious
man's cruel persecutors. He has suffered the
penalty of asserting, in the nineteenth century, the
great principle on which our fathers in the sixteenth
founded the glorious Reformation—the right of
private judgment in matters of religion ; we trust,
however, that sufferings for conscience' sake, will
in this, as in other cases, raise up friends for
the victim of persecution, not merely among
persons of his own persuasion, but among those
who may differ from him in religious opinion.
We are sure that the orthodox Dissenters in parti-
cular, who are so zealous in the cause of religious
freedom, and who justly regard all persecution as
directly opposed to the spirit of Christianity, will
readily embrace this opportunity of showing to the
world the sincerity of their professions by taking
Mr. HOBBS under their especial patronage.

The reports from the Corn-law Delegates continue
to be satisfactory. The statving fishermen of
Orkney and Zetland appeal to be allowed to ex-
change their fish fur foreign corn. - Must they
starve because they cannot eat cod, ling, and hali-
but, without bread, every day ?
The folly of the agriculturists in supposing that a
law to enhance the price of what they produce, and
thus limit its consumption, when tea, cofKe, sugar,
foreign fruit,
etc. etc., come into competition with
their produce, surpasses anything we recollect in mo-
dern tunes. To produce corn at the Cheapest possible
rate is clearly the only means by which beer and
home-made spirits can be preferred to foreign produe.-
lions, and by which the consumption of the farmers
produce can be extended. They
slaughter their
own prosperity by insisting on growing beat corn.
•
We add with pleasure that our private accounts
from Manchester tend to make Its believe that the
feeling in that town amongst the
working classes
is healthier than we supposed it to be. The post-
ponement of Mr. STEPHENS' trial may not have

been without its influence,~ and if it were at
once given up no injury would accrue. To
indulge rancour and hostility never beneficial.