The Sun.
London, England, 1840-01-10 00:00:00

which ig the sole justification for taking the life of
one of it s own members.
_ .

We ill not now inquire into the origin of such
an error teous law ; it is enough to observe, that its
chief it itention was to preserve power, however ob-
tained., not to punish, and not to discourage vio-
lence.. Power may have been violently usurped,
azoi may be by violence retained. All history is full
c examples of such usurpation, and of men being
c irganized and armed for the protection of wrong. Such
was the government of BONAPARTE; such was the
r of the Orangemen and of Great Britain over Ire-
! and ; such, perhaps, may be that organization of the
middle classes to which Mr. FROST and his followers
acre opposed. The laws which were framed, like
t laws of BONAPARTE, to preserve his power
I“ainst any organized attempts to overthrow it,
sere laws for the protection and encouragement of
N riolence. So our treason law, which was originally
n elide merely to strengthen the hands of those who
h ad seized, and were in the possession of power,
at ed which is now interpreted by the Judges—not
tc), be a law for the suppression of violence,
butt, a law for the preservation of authority,
ho 'never acquired, and however used—is a law for
thei protection and encouragement of violence.
Unazier its aegis why should not the Corn-law plun-
der er protect his usurpation by the• organised power
of the State, if the Tories can get hold of office,
and put down as treasonable the Anti-Corn-law
Lea gue ; and why should not the Orangemen, when
the 'Tories repossess themselves of office, restore
Protstse.ant ascendancy by the sword, and recon-
quer itn eland ? In these times, when the community
is composed of divided, conflicting, and struggling
masses--struggling for food, or for life and death—
a law which is not directed against violence of every
kind, Ina against an organized means of obtaining
redress for a public grievance, and which encourages
the use -of violence by those who have possession of
power, is a most mischievous law. What society
require s, is to put down violence of every kind : the
,reason law only puts down organization against au-
hority, though its object is to redress a grievous
,niusticc.

We nre rather surprised that the Anli-Corn

law Circular, in the article which we quote,
should express any indignation at the proposition
of Mr. R. BROUN, the Honorary Secretary of the
Cent' al Agricultural Association, for making a
modest proposal to the Anti-Coin-law people to
join in a project for a general plunder of all who
live (in fixed incomes. Such a proposition appears
to u:s quite a matter of course. When the first

step i n crime is taken, a second is necessary. The
Thug , whose Adventures were lately published, felt

some repugnance and some fear when he was about
to take the first life ; but his success only

whettei his appetite for blood, and he afterwards
bectun !, impatient to commit murder.

The, class of whom Mr. BROUN pretends
:o be the organ, whose sentiments he speahs,
lava long rioted in the plunder of the

indtthtrious labourers and manufacturers, and
not Ling is more natural than that they
should be eager to go on in their career of
plunder, while there is any thing to be filched.
As long as the Corn-laws exist no man can or
ought to be surprised that rapine is the order of
the ky. It is consecrated by law. It is praigul
as the source of national independence. It- is ho-
nourYld as giving bread to the lahourer, in the
columns of the Herald, Post, Standard, and
the thousand other moral Tory and Landion'

Journals, which found national greatness of

legiatative robbery—reducing the theory of MA N-
D'VILLE to practice, and which insist that the
only way for the people to be great, wise, and
happy, is to submit to laws made and intended to
plunder the indesrions in order to enrich the
idle.. It is cherished by the groat body of the
Anglican priesthood, of whom, with the exception
of Mr. SPENCER, none have lifted up their voices
aga3nst it. The principle of rapine being so p;e-
nerzlly cherished, honoured, and consecrated, we
know not why Mr. BROUN should be visited with
so much indignation for wishing to do a little in the
sum- line after his own fashion. We are surprised,
howc'rer, that he should have been so simple, so
very much a child of the land, and not of the
world, as to have made his proposal to those who
have entered into a solemn leagtie and covenant to
oppose, resist, and destroy the chief ravine now
sanctified by the law. We can no longer marvel
at any dishonest propositions, come from whom
they may, for dishonesty is the applauded rule
followed by the leaders of society ; but we marvel at
a Corn-law man proposing a partnership in plunder
to those who have banded themselves together
to resist it.

This is only one of many such propositions
which have been, and whi ch will again be, sub-
mitted to the public. Mr. BovromLEY, who is
unjustly abused as long as the Corn-laws exist,
only threatened to imitate the landlords ; hut he
disdained to do so till he was actually reduced to
starvation. The Chartists, who have proposed to
wipe off the national debt, just seek, like the land-
lords, to relieve their estate (industry) from a
heavy incumbrance ; but, unlike the landlords, they
did not voluntarily agree to it for the honour
and glory of upholding the Church in England, and
putting down liberty abroad. The gentlemen con-
veyancers of the metropolis, whose ingenuity very
frequently prevents them from being Jletected,
while the bungling landlords are at once foitild out,
cannot live in their accustomed style on their in-
come, and they, as judiciously as the landlords, in-
crease it at the expense of their neighbours. For
our parts, as long as the Legislature enacts, or
maintains laws to take away the property of one
class and give it to another class, we can only
expect that theft will be generally honoured, as
well as honoured by the law, and shall waste none
of our indignation on any of the natural consequences
of the Corn-laws.

Mr. O'CONNELL declared at Dublin, on Tues-
day, that he would not oppose any grant the Mi-
nisters might bring forward for Prince ALBERT.
Does the Hon. Gentleman, by assuring them of
his support on this point, wish to encourage them
in extravagances ? Our loyalty to her MAJESTY;
and our good wishes for the
Ministers,
dif-
ferent character. We cannottlil
n think
that
t take amA:
JESTY would be flattered, or the Ministers served,
by urging a large grant for the PRINCE. We admit
that the nation is deeply indebted to her MAJESTY
for keeping the Tories out of the Ministry, but we
should never think of showing its gratitude by im-
plying that her MAJESTY would be pleased by an
offer of money. She acts from principle, not selfish-
ness. Our loyalty induces us to say at once to her
MAJESTY, and our devotion to her Ministers to
say to them, that nothing can be more fatal to her
popularity and their permanent power in the pre-
sent declining condition of the public revenue and
present distress of the people, than a proposition to
bestow on Prince ALBERT a large income. The
injurious nature of Mr. O'CONNELL'S proposal is
palpable, by the example he refers to in support of
it. The income of the QUEEN DOWAGER, how-
ever judiciously she may spend it, is almost uni-
versally condemned as one-half too large.

We are quite willing to accept a Tory for a
fellow-labourer in a good cause, and therefore see