The Sun.
London, England, 1849-06-29 00:00:00

THE

comprehended by the originators and supporters of
that very decorous but very impracticable measure
called the Bill for the Protection of Women. As to
the motive out of which the Bill has emanate no-

thing could be more pure, more noble, more generous
or more entitled to our respect. Still that purity,
that nobleness, and that generosity fail to render the
measure one atom the more practicable. And for
this reason, together with the goodness of the motive,
we are compelled to recognize the fact that the senti-
ment of the thing is of the most morbid
description. Not only have all the law Lords dis-
countenanced the project as one whose good conse-
quences are altogether chimerical, but the Bill has
been exposed, in all its deformity and extravagance,
by the keen and analytic remarks of the ATTORNEY-
GENERAL. Besides the condemnatory observations of
Sir Joins JERVIS, the measure has called forth the
energetic opposition of Sir GEORGE GREY, of Mr.
HUME, of Mr. MILNER GIBSON, and of other distin-
guished representatives. They do not fail to per-
ceive the futility of any such efforts to necessitate
the practice of virtue. Wishing, as sincerely as Mr.
SPOONER himself could, wish, to decrease the number
of the unfortunate women whose lives of misery are
the disgrace of Civilization and the defiance of Chris-
tianity, we must nevertheless confess that we sym-
pathise in no respect in the present endeavour of the
Hon. Gentleman the Member for North Warwick-
shire. For it is clear to us that scarcely anything
can result from the Bill, in the event of its being
called into operation, beyond the enhancement of the
wretchedness of lives which are already sufficiently
miserable and debased. Should the scheme be ac-
tually passed into an Act of Parliament, we shall
witness, among many other circumstances equally
intolerable, the accumulation of annoyanceS round the
more respectable portions of the population. Many
an informant will be invited to come forward like
Master ELBOW—thus: " I say, Sir, I will.detest my-
self also as well as she, that this house, if it be not a
bawd's house, it is pity of her life, for it is a naughty
house:' And we shrewdly suspect that there would
be found much truth in that declaration of
POMPEY BUM—" If you head and hang all that
offend that way for ten year together, you'll be glad
to give out a commission for more heads : if this law
hold in Vienna [or in London much more] ten year,
I'll rent the fairest house in it after threepence."
We cannot conceive to ourselves, however, the pos-
sibility of such an egregious mass of blunders and
puerilities passing through the House of Commons,
or at any rate passing through Committee, without
extraordinary emendation. Should the Bill ulti
mately receive the Royal Sanction, we cer-
tainly shall expect to see in it a glaring
resemblance to the boat that was patched and patched
in all directions, until there remained not one particle
of the original material—leaving the opinion of logi-
cians and philosophers divided as to whether it were
the same boat or another ! Unless some such course
be adopted, we assuredly do not anticipate for one
moment the chance of the Bill passing into an Act of
Parliament. Upon the subject, therefore, of the
projected emendations in Committee, we trust that
the Hon. Gentleman, the representative of North
Warwickshire, will be somewhat more explicit, on
the occasion of the adjourned debate on the second
reading, which will be resumed next Wednesday.
Otherwise the Commons will be fully justified in
abruptly rejecting the measure without further
consideration.

The Corporation of the City of London is acting
in a manner worthy of its high position as the first
municipal body in the world, and of the exalted
liberality for which it has been distinguished during
so many successive ages. It is prepared to assume
the initiative in the measures to be adopted for the
relief of their Irish brethren, and the elevation in the
social scale of that magnificent but much neglected
country. If bright spots are to be found amid the
all but universal gloom that prevails throughout the
island—if " oases" are to be discovered, sprinkled
throughout the desert—they must be sought ior in
the estates of the Great Companies of the City of
London. These influential bodies have ever more
sedulously endeavoured to discharge the duties
than to enforce the rights incidental to
1
possession of property. They have afforded a wise
and salutary encourazemeat_ to the deserving._ and
improving occupiers of the soil. The happiness and
prosperity of their tenantry has ever been regarded
as their chief object, and mere pecuniary consider-
ations have been but of secondary importance. Un-
der their control and management the occupier was
certain of receiving full justice. If he expended his
labour or his capital in the permanent amelioration of
his holding, he knew that himself or his family
would reap the full benefit thereof; that he would
not be ejected from the lands he had improved, or
have his rent unduly increased beyond a fair amount
to provide for the incumbrances of an embarrassed
landlord, or to gratify the cupidity of a greedy agent,
who would receive a handsome duuceur for permitting
a stranger to reap the benefits of another man's
industry and enterprise. The natural result fol-
lowed; while other estates were deteriorated in value
and suffered to become comp trativeli barren and un-
productive, those of the London Companies were
brought into the highest state of cultivation, their na-
tural capabilities were fully and completely deve-
loped, and might challenge comparison with the best
managed properties in this happy nation. The
tenants were thriving and prosperous, the labourers
happy and contented, with constant employment at
fair and remunerative prices. " A fair day's work"
was given in return for " a fair day's wages," and all
classes were benefited by the humane and benevolent,
and at the same time wise and politic rules adopted
by the London Companies on their estates in
the "black north." There it was that the principle
of " tenant right" was first established, and there it
has invariably been acted upon with the strictest equity.
An unwritten code has started into existence mu-
tually beneficial to all parties concerned—to landlords
as well as to tenants, and its provisions have never
been in the slightest degree infringed by the livery-
men of the city of London.
A deep debt of gratitude is due to the distinguished
gentleman who so admirably discharges the impor-
tant duties of first magistrate of this great metropolis,
for having convened the meeting which assembled
at the Mansion-house on Friday last, and to Mr.
DAVID WILLIAMS WIRE and the other members of
the Corporation, who so enthusiastically responded to
the invitation issued by the LORI.) Aaron. If any of the
plans suggested by Mr. WIRE should be carried into
execution a great step would be taken in the right
direction towards the achievement of the social re •
generation of the Sister Kingdom and the establish-
ment of peace, order, and prosperity therein ; the
first great want of the country would be supplied in
the best manner, and capital would be introduced
under the most propitious and favourable circum-
I •%.41ees. As a mere pecuniary speculation nothing
could 13. -..,„,,,, productive than the purchase of Irish
estates at Preset**. vrices. Lands that formerly com-
manded twenty-five or twuty years'
purchase are now
practically unsaleable, or it %Teed into the market
owing to the embarrassments or th. nominal Ds'
prietors, must be sold at twelve or Voluteett Years' h
purchase, less than one-half of what could - r°-
_ay, been
obtained in better times, or what, we venture to say,
will be obtained in future years, when remedial measures
Legislature, shall
that have been enacted, and those which will un-
doubtedly still be submitted to the
have received a fair and reasonable trial. But the
Corporation of London are animated by still Ligher
motives than any respecting the profits that might be
realised from their transactions- Their object is to
ameliorate the condition of their suffering fellow -
creatures, to enable those who are now enduring all
the evils attendant on the deepest poverty to obtain
prosperity and comparative affluence by their own
honest industry and good conduct ; to set an example
which, if extensively followed, as it most probably Kill
be, will raise the Irish nation to a level with this
country, and render her the right arm and strongest
support of England, in place of being an incumbrance
and heavy drain upon the national resources. In the
beautiful language of Sir ROBERT PEEL, " It will not
seek to expel the natives from the soil
It will seek to elevate their character—to encourage
their industry—to find for them permanent employ-
ment—to instil the principles of order—of respect
for the laws—of submission to authority." " Such
will be the glorious effort of the City of London,"
said the Right Hoa. Baronet, and the community in
general, must fully assent to the justice of the obser-
vation. It is, indeed, a glorious undertaking, which