The Sun.
London, England, 1822-02-15 00:00:00

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THE SUN.

SOLEM QUIS DU:ERE FALSUM AUDEAT ?

LONDON,
FRIDAY; FEBRUARY 15, 1822.

Lord LONDONDERRY, it is expected, will sub-
mit his plan of relief to the Agriculturists, in the
House of Commons this evening. There are va-
rious rumours on the subject. Some say that it
is the intention of Government that five millions
should be advanced, by way of loan, to such
farmers as can give security that would be satis-
factory to Government, though the same security
might by no means be deemed sufficient by
Bankers. Others assert that the proposition will
be to make the issue of five millions to land-
, owners, taking mortgages as security. A. third
rumour is, that the five millions will be employed
in purchasing corn, to be stored up it public
granaries, until by the elevation of prices, it may
be sold out to the public without injury to the
agriculturists. Any one of these measures would
very probably have the effect of temporarily en-
hancing the price of the necessaries of life.—
The permanenq of the benefit to the agri-
culturists must depend upon the prospect of
a very great extension to our manufactures
and commerce, so as 'to increase the de-
mand for, and generally to raise the value of,
manual labour.—The low price of produce, and
the consequent distress of the farmers, is allowed
to arise from an overabundance of produce, as
compared with the market demand. The legiti-
mate remedy, therefore, both for the farmers
and for the people, is an increase of consumption.—
But the direct effect of extraordinary measures for
raising the price of corn will be to diminish the
consumption, and thus ultimately to aggravate
the original cause of low prices, by enlarging,
instead of reducing, the surplus stock in hand.—
It is not expected, it cannot be expected by
Government, that the consumption will be in-
creased, by enabling the farmers to hold back
their produce until the prices shall rise. The
consumption, on the contrary, as we have already
stated, would by this means be diminished.—Go.
vernment, therefore, must expect that the rem),
vation of manufacturing industry will be so exte'

•
sive as to create an increased consumption, in de-
fiance even of increased price.—On the fulfilment
of this expectation, the success of the scheme de-
pends.—The experiment is a dangerous one. If,
by enhancing the price of ‘food,any of our branches
of industry should be injuriously affected, or if,
though the present employment of industry
should not be slackened, there should not be so
very great a demand for labour as generally
to raise wages, the mass of the people will
be subjected to unnecessary suffering, without
any permanent advantage to the land-owners and
occupiers ;—and the revenue will inevitably full
off.--We confess that, for our part, we see no
prospect of such a rise in the wages of labour
as will have the effect which this scheme antici-
pates. Time, however, if the expedient be
adopted, will solve the difficulty.

Sir ROBERT WILSON'S narrative of his pro-
ceedings on the 14th of August is so far advan-
tageous to his character, as it circumstantially
contradicts the rumours circulated against him
in some of the newspapers a few months ago, im-
puting to him practices little short of treason :
at the same time it describes a course of conduct
not only of a nature to warrant his immediate
dismissal, but which rendered it impossible to re-
tain him in the service without setting a most
pernicious example, and indirectly casting a re-
proach upon loyal and honourable members of
the army. Sir ROBERT volunteered his attend-
ance upon the QUEEN'S funeral, without, as he
declares, having had even the opportunity of
participating in any measures that might have
been taken for obstructing the procession. He
must, however, have known that, with which all
London rang, the passionate opposition made by
the QUEEN'S adherents to the plan laid down by
Government; he must have known the ferment
so industriously excited and sustained in the pub-
lic mind ; he could not but have read the letter, in
all respects so remarkable, of Lady Hoop, in which
she foretold the bloodshed that would ensue if her
admonitions and those of her party were not at-
tended to ; and he must therefore have perceived
the probability of a conflict between the popu-
lace and the King's troops, which would render
the situation of au Officer in the King's pay ex-
tremely embarrassing, that Officer being present
in no military capacity, but forming a conspicuous
part of the assemblage which was likely to be
the central point of confusion. If these consider-
! ations were not sufficient to deter him from ac-
companying the procession through town, they
at least left him without excuse for any conduct,
during that attendance, which could be deemed
in the slightest degree unguarded : and if any
motive for caution could be wanting in this most
delicate situation, it was supplied by the remem-
brance that he already laboured under the cen-
sure of his SOVEREIGN for his exertions in behalf
of a condemned traitor abroad. Sir ROBERT
witnessed the encounter at Kensington, where
the Civil Power was defied and the mili-
tary assaulteJ ; and it is worthy of remark,
that, at this place, he, attended by Mr. HUME,
did ride forward to the head of the procession,
where Sir ltonEnT addressed both the mob and
the commanding military officer. To the officer
he recommended the very step so loudly repro-
bated since, of altering the route of the proces-
sion by military command. " He asked " (we
quote his own speech from The Times)" whether
IL was intended to go through the City ? " and
observed further, " that his (the officer's) answer
would finish the matter—that his word would

settle the business, and perhaps prevent mis-
chief." Sir ROBERT then parleyed with the
rioters, who-had seized upon a baggage waggon,
and at his desire they released it. The leaders.
of the processsion at length yielded to the op-
posing force, and moved on in a :new direction
(as Captain OAKES deposed..before\the Cormier)/
amidst shouts from the ;mall, of " Victory!
victory ! thank Gob, to Jilt beat them once !"
When the more fatal conflici7, ook place at Cum-
berland-gate, and was announced by the sound
of pistols. Sir ROBERT was at some distance in
the rear, and he again prepared to push forward.
and reconnoitre, as he had done at Kensington.
Rut his friend, the MeMber for Aberdeen, was not
equally ready to accompany- him on this service.
" For Goo's sake, Sir Rooroor," said the. finan-
cier, " don't let us go there"! lie recollected
on this occasion what appears not to have struck
him at Kensington, that their interference in the
riot, for whatever purpose, might expose them to
" misconstruction." We at first suspected that
the Honourable Mourner might have thought,
like Mr. KETTLEDRUMLE, in the Scotch Novel ;
" of a verity the shooting_ of the focinen doth
begin to increase ; peradventure some pellet
may attain unto us even here." !lot we are
ready to admit that the fear of rni,,;:oeitruction is
a very sufficient reason for keeping out of pistol-
shot. Sir R.WILSON, however,hastenedoon, and
arrived at Cumberland gate near the conclusion of
that skirmish, in the course of which, it will be re-
collected, that 41 Life Guardsmen were wounded',
and two of the mob were killed. The conflict had
slackened, but some of the soldiers were still
firing ; stones were occasionally thrown, an-
nounced by shouts, and one soldier was severely
struck in Sir ROBERT'S presence. The fear of
being misrepresented which he, adopting Mr.
Huma's explanation, declares himself to have felt
at this time, prevented his addressino.himself to
the rioters, though he acknowledges having done
so at Kensington ; but he boldly rode np to the
soldiers, and began to question them as to their
orders; to tell them they were disgracing them-
selves, and to bid them desist from firing...—
Meeting a Magistrate, he informs him that
the military have been firing without orders,
and rebukes him for not having been in
the right place ; he then finds out the corn
mending officer, whom he counsels to keep the
Magistrate close by himself and to withdraw tha
soldiers (whose duty, indeed, was now accom-
plished) for the purpose of preventing " the,
manifestation of further ill-feeling." And how
had this officer been employed ? We will relate
it in his own words, as delivered on oath before
the Coroner. " I entered Oxford-street," Cap-
tain OAKES says, " under a shower of brickbats
from every direction. On arriving at Tyburn
Gate I found a mob on both flanks, the one be-
hind the iron railing, the other behind the
barrier of a waggon and a tree or piece of
timber. A third mob was found behind Ty-
burn Gate. A simultaneous attack commenced
from three positions; entire submission would
have been to sacrifice every man ; I was induced
to ride at the gate to dislodge the rioters, who
were drawn up against me; the men had no
means of defending themselves ; a pistol became
the only alternative ; as far as my observation
went, the pistols were directed in the air, with
view rather to intimidate than to retaliate upon
the mob ; having removed the waggon from the
Edgware-road, the proceision then proceeded ; I
then retired to inform the Magistrate that there
was no further occasion for the military."—
Such was the character of the conflict, and such
the spirit of resistance that led to-the first firing.
Under circumstances like these the interference
of any unauthorised person, in whatever stage of
the tumult, was highly culpable, but that of a
military officer not on duty could, we think, have
been regarded as nothing less than a public de-
fiance of all discipline and subordination. It
will be remembered how sedulously, during the
late QUEEN'S life-time, a notion was inculcated
that some part of the troops were favourable to
her cause in a degree inconsistent with their duty;
persons who were in London on the day of the
funeral will recollect how actively the report was
spread, and how eagerly received, that detach-
ments of the military had turned their arms against
each other ; is it then to be wondered at that
When, amidst the contusion of this fray, Sir Ito-
BERT WILSON—LAVALETTE?S Sir ROBERT WlL-
sos, the staunch partizan of the Qui:EN, was
observed riding among the private soldiers, dis-
tinguished by that Star which he wore for a rea-
son not to be divined till he himself explained it,
inquiring what orders had been given, bidding
the men cease to fire, reproaching, probably not
in whispers, those who disobeyed, expostulating
with the Magistrate, dictating to the Officer in
command, but addressing neither reproach, in-
quiry, nor expostulation to the rioters, who con-
tinued their attacks, whom he had not scrupled
to accost at Kensington, and who on that occas ion
had given him a favourable hearing ; when these
things happened, is it to be wondered at that per-
sons should have mistaken Sir ROBERT for a sup-
porter of the populace against the King's troops ?
Can any one pronounce that his demeanour, even
by creating such an impression, might not have
given a still more disastrous turn io the riot?
And is it just matter of complaint that a Gene-
ral Officer, having made an exhibition of this
kind, should instantly have been punished by a
summary and decisive exercise of the KING'S
indisputable and most constitutional prerogative?
Our army, we are proud to believe, has as yet
no LA FAYETTES or RIEGOS, nor will such men
arise in it while the principle is jealously main-
tained, that a soldier's fidelity is like a woman's
chastity ; its very semblance cannot be thrown
aside without a loss of honour.—But the zeal of
Sir ROBERT WILSON was to be excused, because
he was interposing to stop the shedding of Eng-
lish blood. Of English blood ! And is it not '
English blood that fills the veins of our heroic
men of Waterloo ? Because a part of that blood
has been given for the defence and glory of Bri-
tain, is it therefore to he held viler than the
blood of pickpockets and assassins, the last re-
fuse of a London populace ? Are our brave Life
Guardsmen to be crushed with stones and bricks?
and when at length they repel the attack upon •
their lives, is the fact so monstrous as to be made

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