The Sun.
London, England, 1841-08-09 00:00:00

‘,41.1

LONDON
MONDAY, AUGUST 9, 1141.

It has escaped no Journalist's observation, we
believe, that. Sir ItopEnT PEEL'S difficulties will
be increased or lessened as the harvest is scanty
or abundant. It is a'proper punishment for him
that his fate should depend on the unjust law he
has sold himself to defend. The following pas-
sage from the Spectator places the matter in a
graphic light :

The weather-glass is the magic mirror of the states-
man. Every morning does Sir Robert Peel, " the pilot
. that is to weather the storm"—that is to take the helm of
the crank, ill-found vessel, with sealed instructions, in
the file() of lhe blackest clouds—every n-zorning, before
-his pilotage begins, does he consult the lowering sky and
the retrograde finger on his barometer ; his counte-
nano) reflecting the sombre aspect of the heavens, his
sighs of future trouble echoing the wind that beats
against his window and tells of the bleak corn-fields
and their spoiled abundance. The first week in August
sets in like the last in November, with gusty winds and
drifting rains : consolatory people in the country send
in word that all *is right with the plentiful crops, if
there be plenty of ripening sun ; and a glance at the
leaden sky betrays all the mockery of the " if." The
glance may well unnerve the boldest heart. The Whigs
leave office with the cry of " cheap bread" in their
moue ; the Tories come into office with dear bread
threatened in the weather. The antithesis, however ac-
cidental, however little to be imputed to them in the
way of blame, is startling, practical, undeniable. But
the praise or blame of the matter is of secondary mo-
ment—the consequences are the thing to be dreaded.
To have driven out the Whigs, in order to devise mea-
sures of relief for a distressed and discontented people, was
a victory sufficiently thankless ; but to encounter—with
a deficient revenue, taxes failing in productiveness, and
trade suspended in many places where those dependent
on trade crowd the thickest--in such circumstances to
encounter a war with the elements, and to front the ad-
vances of a hungry people, is a fearful complication of
evils. Such is the prospect offered to Sir Robert Peel
by the summer sky. There is only one chance left for
him---and surely he is not the man to shrink from a des-
perate recoanse
well
by desperate circumstances ?
He might as withstand the rush of man and beast
do the water after a,march in the desert, as stand by the
Corsr-laws in the face of the people pressed on by Min-
cer; .he would be trampled down without hope or mercy.
must abandon what he could not keep though he
id in the struggle—sliding scale, details,
ll find no help butin26,reipneealutidnigngthhies
faithful expedient and
ea lotllo:
which the Ministry of n
'segue, the Duke of Wellington, and himself, resorted--
ding the Corn-laws; leaving their ultimate fate to
be deeltled by and by.
Our Gontemporary pushes the matter too far,
suggests . that Sir ROB ERT
probably, -wiren he
may, as in 1826, suspend the law; but that was
done when the Parliament was not sitting, and
Sir RosEwr will, probably, be as well aware- of
the necessity of taking some measure before
the Parliament separates, as when it again meets
in January or February. At the same time, the
state of the weather must, at this moment,
barites any and every Minister who has any wish
to-see the country peaceful and prosperous.
When we are told so continually of the na-
tional independence caused by the Corn-laws, it
seems proper to remind the Tories that those
laws make the Government dependent on the
-weather, which is proverbial for fluctuations.
Such is the consequence.of interfering with the
'trod of the people, by which all the responsi-
bility of prosiding for them is assumed by the
Legislature, and its organ the Executive Govern-
ment. What folly ! what madness! Man is
born to trouble, doomed to labour and poverty,
and, by interfering with his food, the stupid,
but ambitious law-maker, makes himself re-
spossible for "all the ills that flesh is heir to."
The word "independence' does not mean a com-
plete freedom, and perfect unrestrained latitude
of action. A man cannot fly like a bird ; nor
could a Tory Government, though clothed with
the most absolute power, transport all our people
to France or the United States. Independence,
therefore, implies a restrained freedom, accord-
ing to which individuals and nations walk wisely-
within limits strictly imposed on them. To us it
seems clear that the Corn-law, instead of ex-
-I:Wing these limits, creates a new and arbitrary
-bpiutdary, narsowing both the national freedom
and the ecrvernmenes sphere of action very
much ; and thus, in the proper sense of the
ott:tv,,,,, word, increases the dependence both of the na-
avAPniivand the Government.
nation,—because it continually, as the
j~a- trains and limits our people to the sup-
r4!
sd obtained from our own soil, of course
t ern alwa
Will ~ •15 harvest ys
fails,
pinched for food, and
as of late it has been
4