The Sun.
London, England, 1838-12-24 00:00:00

excuse for his heartless neglect of his duty or his
treachery to his colleagues.
The Chronicle would imply, in order to excuse Mr.
THOMSON, that he knew these facts, and communi-
cated them to the Cabinet, and would then throw on
its shoulders the blame of knowingly and wilfully
sacrificing the best interests of the country to the
" selfish Aristocracy who have been planning schemes
of robbery." In that case Mr. THOMSON would
only deserve the miserable character we as-
cribed to him on Saturday ; and the whole
Cabinet would share with him the greater guilt
of neglecting their duty and betraying the country.
The Chronicle may take which side of the alternative
it pleases; for our part, we are induced to believe that
the rest of the Cabinet should be exonerated, and that
the whole of the neglect, treachery, and guilt should
be ascribed to Mr. POULETT THOMSON.

Mr. HARTWELL, whose speech at the meeting
at Theobald's-road, we quoted on Friday, has addressed
a letter to us giving some details concerning the condi-
tion of the agricultural labourers in Dorsetshire which,
for the honour of the individuals implicated, and for
the general credit of the clergy and gentry of that
county, we hope are not true. At present we shall
make no comment whatever on the letter, which is to
us, and will be to -the public, full of painful interest.
Our duty requires us, by publishing it, to make the
public aware of the manner in which the labourers
assert they are trea tcd by Poor-law guardians, gentlemen
farmers, overseers, and magistrates. But, publishing the
letter which involves serious charges against individuals,
we shall be equally ready to publish any contradiction of
those charges or any vindication of themselves which
the gentlemen mentioned may think proper to transmit
to us. No persons arc more zealous advocates than
ourselves of the principle of free and unrestricted com-
petition in every branch of buying and selling, includ-
ing the buying and selling of labour. In the present
case that principle seems to be violated by the farmers,
and if it be not we must remind them, that the law to
keep up the price of bread involves the sacrifice of
duing what they like with their own. Living on the
produce of a tax, that which they call their pro-
perty truly belongs to the State, the humble slaves of
which they are made by the Corn-laws.

We see, from the reports of the different Ward

motes held on Friday, that little or nothing is to be
expected in the support of Corporation Reform from
the present body of Municipal Electors. Matters go
on in the same jog-trot manner as usual ; and, with
hardly an exception, the same representatives, not-
withstanding their indolence and neglect of the inte-
rests of the citizens at large, are re-elected. In one
or two wards only was an attempt made to introduce
the subject of Reform. In Aldersgate Ward a spirited
discussion ensued, which has been postponed • till
the conclusion of the polling for Common Coun-

cif-men. In Portsoken and in Walbrook, reso-
lutions condemnatory of the doings of the Corpo-
rators, and setting forth the necessity of civic Reform,
were passed. Mr. TRAVERS, the Chairman of the
City of London Reform Club, proposed the resolutions
in the last mentioned Ward, .and, to our great surprise,
carried them unanimously. Why was not the same
course pursued at all the wards ? Because the electors
and the elected, we fear, as things arc at present, play
into each other's hands. It is not the interest of the

present small body of electors that their number should
be increased. There would not be the same chance fur
jobs.

In Langbourn Ward, several new candidates were
proposed, and, on a show of hands, rejected. A poll
was demanded and taken on Saturday, but what the
result was we have not yet learned. Mr. JOHN
NICHOLSON, one of the candidates, has published an
excellent letter to the Ward Electors. This gentle-
tleman reminds them of an important truth, which

seems, if they ever knew it, to have been obliterated
from their memories; namely, that " the wealth, power,
and prosperity of the City of London, must depend on.
the conduct of the citizens in choosing men fit to do the
work of supporting all the great interests connected
with its commerce and shipping, and especially in
protecting the local and individual interests of all the
citizens." Had the electors acted upon this principle,
the inhabitants of the City would not now have to
complain of the coal monopoly, the gas monopoly, the
Postage grievance—which falls upon London and
its environs with a pressure equal to 700,0001. per
annum—and many other notorious abuses, which, as
Mr. NICHOLSON justly remarks, would require only to
be named in the Court of Co►nmon Council, properly
chosen, in order to be instantly removed.

We recommended to our readers, on Saturday, the
excellent and conclusive speech of Mr. K. H. GREG,
at Manchester, and we now beg leave to call their at-
tention to the following remarks of the Manchester
Times, which will inform them, amongst other things,
who this Mr. R. H. GREG iS :
The proceedings of these :two meetings of the Cham.
ber we consider to be the most important of any meet-
ing ever held in this town. : Here were assembled
our most eminent merchants and manufacturers, who,
after a debate of five hours, at their first meeting,
adjourned their discussion for a week, to. give time for
reflection and consideration upon the course they should
pursue, and then, after another debate of five hours duration, so.
lemnly (for no other term will convey to our readers so correctly
the deep interest manifested by the Chamber during the whole of
their two long sittings) declaring by a majority of at least six to
one, that unless the Corn-laws be immediately abolished the
destruction of our manufactures is inevitable. This decla-
ration from such a body, composed of men of all political
shades of opinion, cannot pass unheeded either by the Govern-
ment or the Legislature ; noris the declaration of their opinion
less important, that the great and peaceful principle of Free-
trade on the broadest scale is the only security for our manu-
facturing prosperity and the welfare of every portion of the
community. _

We particularly direct attention to Mr. R. H. Greg's
speech. When a man of his character and intelligence, and
who is also the largest spinner and manufacturer in this
country* talks of carrying his capital and skill to foreign
lands, from the belief that the repeal of the Corn-laws
has been so long delayed that our manufactures must
gradually sink into ruin, it is alarming in the highest degree,
and demands renewed energy and exertion on the part of all
those whose property is sunk In these establishments obtain,
without delay, the removal of the unjust, oppressive, and ini-
quitous Corn-laws. -

A copy of our Paper will be serf to each of her Majesty's
Ministers. They shall not have the opportunity of pleading
ignorance of what is passing here. The question for their
consideration lies in a narrow compass—the ruin of our manu-
factures, or the repeal of the Corn-laws. Which will they
choose ?

• We believe Mr. Greg's firm manufacture 100th part of all
.he cotton imported into Great Britain.

The Speech of her Most Faithful Majesty the
Queen of PORTUGAL at the opening of the Session
of the Cortes on the 9th inst., which will be found in
another part of The Sun, almost rivals the PuEsi-
DENT'S Message in the happy art of saying nothing,
or next to noticing, in the greatest possible number of
Words. Upon two points only is her MAJESTY Sim-
Ply explicit—namely, in announcing the birth of
her second son, and in notifying the formation of a►►
alliance with the sage and potent OTrro, King of
Greece. It is a great consolation to a nation like
Portugal to know, thdt:whatever be tl►e state of her
revenues, there is no danger to be apprehended of a
want of Princes to appropriate them. We pity the
wretch who would not derive happiness from the re-
flection that however miserable his own condition,
still the Royat line was so flourishing as
to hold out hopes of 'multiplied demands
upon his scanty resources. Of the importance of a
friendly alliance with the King of GREECE, it is un-
necessary to offer a single observation. All we need
here say is, that if King n
THO be faithfully repre-
sented at the Court of Lisbon, her most faithful MA-