The Sun.
London, England, 1838-11-17 00:00:00

sion by endeavouring to define, or to describe, what it is
rii .udepervienrs consists. At a:1 eras,
it is a strange sort of recommendation for the Poor-law,
that its efficacy fails precisely at the time when its help is
most necessary. That " enlightenment" is marvellously
Whiggish which devises a law for the relief of the poor that
shall be inoperative when the poor stand most in need of
relief—that is to say, in seasons when food is scarce and
prices are high. The disadvantages to which the poor are
subject when prices are high—such high prices being the
result of real or artificial scarcity—are palpable enough,
and to these, it seems by the Whig account just referred
to, the new Poor-law intends to leave the poor liable.
But the advantages derived from the new Poor-law—
advantages we mean to the labourer—wip,n prices are not
high, are by no means palpable. If they exist at all,
they exist in the profoundest depths either of philoso-
phy or insanity—or perhaps of Whiggery, which is a sort
of compound of both—and it becomes very expedient
(especially since so much depends upon the opinion of
the masses) that the advantages of the new Poor-law
should be made as plain as the disadvantages must
be allowed to be palpable. We believe the truth to be
this—that the new Poor-law is far better fitted for times of
comparative ease on the part of the labouring, population
than for times of pressure. The great advantage of the new
law is, that it inflicted a heavy blow and a great discourage-
ment upon idle, shameless, able-bodied pauperism. Not that
it touched the extremes of these cases, for the desperately
idle and hopelessly shameless will go the workhouse—but
the multitude who would not make enough of exertion, be-
cause they had parochial assistance to fall back upon, or
who spent their earnings in superfluities, while they trusted
to the parish for necessaries—these the new law met and
defeated. The more rigorous system, however, which seems
to have been framed solely with a view to cases of abuse,
such as those above described, will be found to operate
very hardly when even the honestest and most hard-work-
ing will not have enough. To such persons the present law
denies assistance. In ordinary times such persons require no
assistance, and therefore this denial does not come into
operation. But in times of general hardship it will conic
into operation, and we fear it will be found a very
dreadful law. At such a time we have no doubt that in
the agricultural districts (we expect nothing like conside-
ration for the labourers from the Whig-Radical manufactur-
ing mill-owners) the wages of the working people will be
increased. To a suggestion of this kind the Government
paper to which we have referred answers that he who
recommends this course "confounds wages with charity."
This is pure Whiggery, which ever confounds words with
things, and in so doing congratulates itself upon being es-
pecially "scientific." What does it signify—except to
Whiggery, which delights in insulting the poor—what doe,
it signify whether the advance in the requital for a poor man's
labour is called " charity" or an " increase of wages ?" We •
know that the labourer ought to obtain in requital for his
labour what is sufficient for his support. Miserable
necessity and the great abundance of labourers may
cause unfortunate men to work for much less than is
sufficient for their support, but no employer ought to take
advantage of this, if he be able to afford a better remune-
ration. Political economy may teach him that cheapness
should follow the circumstance of the supply of labour being
greater than the demand for it, but morality and religion
teach that we should not grind the faces of the poor,
though their necessities may place them in our power. In
such a case we are not to consider for how little we may
obtain the labour of the poor, but how much will be suffi-
cient for the labourer's support. Whether we call this
amount by the name of wages or of charity matters not a
rush. Perhaps (if Whiggish ears would bear the sound)
the best way would be to avoid both terms, and call it
justice. As to the dictum so oracularly delivered, that the
high price of food is an evil to all classes except the pro-
ducers of food, we beg to say that it is nothing better than
an ignorant plausibility. Locke, Ray, Sir W. Temple, Sir
W. Petty, Sir Joshua Child, Gee, and others, whose views
of the philosophy of such matters were perhaps as pro-
found as those of the more modern and more conceited
political economists, were all of opinion that high prices
of food are favourable to manufactures and commerce, and
low prices unfavourable ; and they who think that facts
are quite as much to be relied upon as the theories of
modern professors, will perhaps be inclined to agree in the
opinion, when they perceive that at this hour commerce,
manufactures, and general wealth most abound where the
price of food is high, and least where it is low. Of all
countries England is that one where food is dearest, and in
Europe it is cheapest in the south of Russia and the south
of Spain. We need not say in which are commerce and
manufactures most flourishing, and the people most re-
moved from barbarism and destitution. Where high prices
proceed from scarcity, they must no doubt be concurrent
with distress. Where they proceed—as they generally do
in England—from the low value of money compared with
its value in other countries, in which money, the taxes, and
the wages of labour are measured, then high prices are a
spur to industry, a penalty upon the idle capitalist, and a
benefit to the country.—Morning Post.
We have given insertion to the speech of Mr. Poulett
Thomson to the Bonded Warehouses Committee of Man-
chester. It is chiefly remarkable for the evidence it affords
of the Right Hon. Gentleman's readiness to promote the
selfish interest of his own re-election, and to gratify the
still more selfish feeling of personal vanity by depreciating
the wisdom of the House of Commons, of the Treasury,
and of all the Boards subordinate and auxiliary to
the latter, when placed in competition with the sur-
passing wisdom of the President of the Board of Trade.
The Right Honourable Gentleman, it will be ob-
served, displayed so much tact as to mitigate the
disgust which his undisguised and overweening self-estima-
tion might otherwise have excited among his auditors, by
intimating that, as his judgment upon the matter in hand
was clearly preferable to that of all official or senatorial
competitors, in like manner the wishes and interests of
Manchester and other inland towns were entitled to greater
attention on the part of the Government and Legislature
than those of Liverpool and the other sea-ports of the king-
dom. Who can deny, after this, that in Mr. Poulett Thom-
son we have a fine characteristic specimen of Whig-Radi-
cal modesty and Whig-Radical statesmanship ?—Morning
Post.

LORD LINDSAY'S LETTERS ON THE HOLY
LAND.—We are requested to state that the new and revised
edition of the above work, in 2 vols. post Bvo., was published
this day by Mr. Colburn, Great Marlborough-street, and may
now be had of all booksellers. Mr. Colburn has also just pub•
lished Dr. Vaughan's Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell, illus-
trated in a series of letters between the distinguished men of
the time, now first published from the originals, with notes,
and an introduction on the character of Cromwell and of his
times, in 2 vols. Bvo., with portraits. Agents for Sem land,
Messrs. Bell and Bradfute, Edinburgh ; for Ireland, Mr. John
Cumming, Dublin.

MISS DARLING.—Last week Mr. Batty gave a
benefit to Miss. Darling, when 20/., deducting expenses, was
realized. This sum was paid to her by Mr. Silvester, a mem-
ber of Mr. Batty's establishment, on Saturday ; and we were
much surprised to learn, notwithstanding all that has been said
about presents sent to this heroic young lady, that, except the
medal by the Humane Society of Glasgow, and a cup, the
presnt of Lord Fitzclarence, the above was the first money
she received. The statements that 5/. had been sent by this
and by that person, for a lock of her hair, and so forth, are so
many pieces of figurative writing ; and wha'ever she may yet
receive, up to Saturday nothing beyond what we have stated
had reached her or her venerable father. We thought, ft oin
what we saw in the newspapers that Miss Darling must have
received some thousand pounds; now we and many others
have been misled. Three different artists, and a brother of
the broad-sheet, have visited the Ferns since the wreck of the
Forfarshire : but they, of course, went to turn the shipwreck
into account—not to reward the Darlings. We trust this no-
tice will have the effect of calling attention to the facts : and
that those who have taken an interest in promoting subscrip-
tions will take means to make certain that the amount they re-
ceive shall reach the parties for whom it is really intended.
Edinburgh Observer.

BELL'S LIFE IN LONDON.—By the official do-
cument just printed agreably to the Parliamentary order of
the number of stamps issued for the different newspapers, those
for Bell's Life in London were during the last half year end
ing the Kith of September, 537,000, namely,
In the month of April 90,000
Ditto May 85 000
Ditto June 116,000
Ditto July 82,000
Ditto August 80,000
Ditto September 84,000
Thus showing the average sale of each publication of Bell's
Life in London to have been 20,653 copies.

The value of Gibraltar to Great Britain has been
questioned by a recent writer on Spain, who doubts whether
it be worth preserving. " The command of the Meditera-
nean," ho observes, " belongs to the strongest fleet." This
—albeit a debateable proposition—l will not stop to dispute,
since what Gibraltar claims is simply the command of the en-
trance to the Mediterranean, and that clearly belongs to the
power which can most readily keep a force near at hand to
prevent all ingress and egress. Now, Gibraltar is so situated
as to enable Great Britain to do this with very small naval
means ; whereas it would require a fleet of any other nation
to watch the straits, because that power would have also to
blockade the port of Gibraltar. This any one at all acquaint-
ed with the localities, the prevailing winds, &c., will readily
admit to be at times an impossibility ; and on every occasion
that the blockading squadron might be driven from its cruiz_
ing ground, the command of the straits would again be pos-
sessed by Gibraltar, should its batteries shelter but a few gun
boats. The importance of Gibraltar will increase tenfold in
the event of a steam war, as every thing will then depend upon
the vicinity of the contending parties to their coal depots.--
Scott's Ronda and Granada.

Mr. Card, the flute-player, with a company of pro-
fessionals, intends shortly to favour the good people of New-
castle and other towns on the borders with a series of concerts.