The Sun.
London, England, 1841-08-16 00:00:00

PUBLIC OPINION.

The Times, commenting on the singular fact that
" the Reform Bill has not produced one single man of
distinction or impression in debate, of rough, homely,
masculine energy and enthusiasm," accounts for it as
follows :—" Great energy and enthusiasm require great
grievances to kindle them—grievances such as happily
have now very long ceased to exist." What! are there
no " grievances " still existing to kindle the energy
of a patriot orator ? No deep distress in the
manufacturing distric6—no well-grounded discontent
in Ireland—no dismal apprehensions of the future among
the people generally ? It was but yesterday that the
Tory Post was lamenting the serious public embarrass-
ments which Sir Robert Peel would be called on to re-
lieve ; and to-day, the Tory Times insists that " griev-
ances " exist no longer —but that all is sunshine and se-
renity on the political horizon ! The Post takes a far
sounder view of the present state of affairs than the
Times.

The Herald observes, with reference to the case of
11, I'Leod—" It can only be decided with honour and peace
to the country, by the immediate and unconditional re-

lease of its subject."
The Chronicle says,—" The late election established
what was well known before hand to all who attend to
such matters, that the landowners have a great prepon-
derance in the British Legislature. On any question
which unites the landowners, such as the corn monopoly,
and in which they take a determined part, they are sure
to have a great majority. The clergy are, identified
with the landowners, and in so far the corn Monopoly
question may be called also' a Church question, hut it is
absurd to take an election like the last as a test the
relative strength oF•Tories And Liberals, or of Church•
men and Thiseiite,4l4.':lVe think that both landowners
and clergy. ,have ':,cAmmitted a grievous blunder,
in fighting for the corn monopoly as they
have done. They have by this blunder con-
vulsed British society to its base." At the time
of the Reform Bill, the clergy were warned by
Lord Grey not •to throw any selfish obstructions in the
way of that great remedial Measure ; they now require
to be warned with equal earnestness not to mix them-
selves up with the momentous question of Monopoly.. As
they value their moral influence, and, what is still dearer
to them, their temporal interests, let them stand aloof
from that struggle, for the chances are a hundred to one
against them. But if they must interfere, and make
common cause with the Monopolists, then the sooner, to
use Lord Grey's-words, " they set their houses in order"
the better.

The Post, in_default of some more attractive theme,
thus chaunts the praises of the Tory faction :—" The
Conservatives have the advantage of the great body of
their Parliamentary troops being men of high character
and standing among the gentry of the kingdom. They
have also the advantage of not being hampered by dis-
honest pledges, which they may not dare to fulfil."
The idea of the Tories not being " hampered by
dishonest pledges" is infinitely amusing. Why, the
great leader of the faction is pledged to provide hand-
somely for every influential Tory claimant that may pre-
sent himself at his door. lle is bound to satisfy the
cormorant demands of that renegade, Sir James Graham;
to gratify the spleen and ambition of. Lord Stanley ; to
encourage the exorbitant expectations of Mother Church;
to take care that Lord Lyndhurst has a productive place;
and that Goulburn is not " sent empty away," like the
rich man in St. Luke. Are these not dishonest pledges
for a Tory statesman to be " hampered with ?" As for
any other pledges, we grant that Sir R.Peel is perfectly un-
embarrassed ; for we do most conscientiously believe that
he is pledged to do nothing for any party but his own.
We find the following significant remarks in the
Advertiser :—" Look where Sir Robert Peel may, he
can discern nothing but the most ominous signs of an
appalling storm about to break on the country's devoted
head. Does he look upward ? There he beholds the
heavens frowning upon that policy which denies the
poor of the land the means of procuring their daily
bread ! Does he cast his eyes to Ireland ? There the
frightful spectacle stares him in the face, of an entire
people on the very verge of rebellion, at the mere
prospect of being again subjected to the insults, outrages,
and oppressions consequent on an Orange ascendancy.
Does he fix his anxious gaze on the manufacturing dis-
tricts of England ? There he sees trade paralysed, com-
merce prostrate, and immense masses of the population
literally perishing of hunger. Nor are these the only ap-
palling prospects before Sir R. Peel. There is a fearful
amount of lurking political disaffection in Ene and as well
as inlreland. Chartism,though partially asleep, is not dead.''
Disheartening as they are, there is much truth in these
remarks. An alarming crisis is at hand, and the Minister
who is to rule the helm belongs to a party who, of all
others that could be named, is the least fitted to grapple
with the perilous difficulties that are gathering in every
quarter of the empire. Let the Tories be but six months
in office, and pursue no other system of policy than that
of their favourite expediency, and the exasperated people
will cease to think of riots, but will be looking forward
to revolution.

The following is from the Durham Chronicle :
" The unseasonable summer will give a tone of great
earnestness to the debate on the Corn-laws. Passing
the month of May, we have had no summer. There is
no ripeness in fruit or grain. The breaking of a few
more Banks will throw the country into a panic, to which
we are circumstantially nearer than we were in the sum-
mer of 1825."

The Coventry Herald justly remarks—" An altera-
tion of the Corn-laws is inevitable ; and a conviction of
this, if not an admission of it, has now become general.
With respect to the nature of the alteration, the idea of
a sliding scale is scouted more and more every day, as a
piece of the rankest quackery ; while on the other hand,
there is a proportionably growing preference for the prin-
ciple of a fixed duty, if there is to be any duty at all."
The Dublin Evening Post, commenting on ' a late
article in the Times, says—" Ireland is for the connec-
tion, fairly, and fully, and honestly. There is not a
man able to shoulder a musket, or to wield a sword in
Ireland, that would not, if the occasion should unfor-
tunately offer, risk his life to defend the Throne of a Queen
whom they love and honour. But do not, we 1);g of
you, deal in such topics as these. This is not a time—
when a spark, and God knows how soon it may come,
would set Europe in a blaze—to be playing tricks, to be
making experiments upon the feelings and the interests
of the Irish people."