The Sun.
London, England, 1841-02-01 00:00:00

SOUTHAMPTON.

A number of vessels from Cowes, Portsmouth, and the
eastern portr, are proceeding to the westward, for the
mackerel season, which has commenced very early this
year. A quantity of fish have already been brought to this
port to be forwarded to town. This is another benefit our
railroad has brought us. The vessels last year ran to
Portsmouth, from whence the fish was conveyed in carts to
town, and we got the fish from thence ; now' this town and
neighbourhood has the best and freshest supply, and they
are also obtained at a cheaper rate.
Isle of Wight lambs passed this way to town last season
for the first time. We have seen none en route yet, but
we hear they are very fine and plentiful, and that many
have been slaughtered in the island, weighing from 9lbs. to
lolbs. per quarter. Turnips arc very plentiful, but hay and
straw both scarce and dear ; the former 61. per ton, the lat-
ter 51. per load. The weather has set in remarkably finer
barometer, 30.10. Wind N.—Jan. 29.

EXTRAORDINARY INSTANCE 0F LONGE-
TIT Y.—A female pauper named Whiffin,
esp:red on Fri.
day in the workhouse of St. Luke's, C:iel'ea, .
Arthur-
street, King's-road, having attained Amatordnar age
of 107 years. She had been an i of. the above
workhouse upwards of twenty years, and retained all her
death, when she fell into a state of second childhood. Mrs.
reigns of five, sovereigns, one
faculties unimpaired until a short time previous to her
' hof St. Luke,
pans
Whiffin, who was a most intelligent woman, was born in the
the acccsaioa to the throne ot king George the Second.
the Third's) is the
of which (George
..longest on record.
The old woman was frequently in the habit of collecting
She thus lived during the
a number of
.the Faupers around her, and entertaining
them with stories of her early days, and drew amusing
pictures of the ccntrast between the manners and
which prevailed a
customs hundred years ago and
those of the `resent day. She described Chelsea in
those days as a quiet, secluded 'tillage, the communication
between which and the metropolis was rendered a matter
of some , k rie in
_consequence of the swarms of highwaymen
and desperate characters who infested the " Five Fields,"
the site of the present magnificent buildings
composing
Bslgrsve and Eaton-squares. About five years ago a
person took the old woman to Battersea-bridge, for the
purpose of showing her one of the steam-boats which plied
between London and Richmond. Upon its being explained
to her how the vessel was propelled she appeared per-
fectly amazed, and inquired the number of tea kettles ne-
cessary to provide the required quantity of steam. Her
memory was excellent ; and she gave a graphic descrip•
tion of the state of the metropolis during the No Popery
riots in 17S0, and the excesses committed by Lord
George Gordon's mob. The old woman had Bur-
vivedall her relations. It is said that she belonged to a
highly respectable family, but nothing certainis known re-
lative to her connections.
BOROUGH OF REIGA FE.—A Correspondent
informs us that Dr. Bedford, of Loudoun House, Brixton,
\has gone down this morning to Reigate, to present himself
as a candidate in opposition to Lord liastoor. We have
I also heard that Mr. Watson,NN a barrister, is to start in the
1 Liberal interest..
1 The Commissioners of Stamps and Taxes have
directed the surveyors throughout the country to obtain
from the several assessors an account of die number of
houses and cottages in their districts nut already assessed
' ! from there being less than eight windows; and also of the
number of farmhouses at present exempt.

NIORNINC4

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS.

FP OM THE DAILY PAPERS OF SATURDAY.
(From the Morning Chronicle.)
It gives us unfeigned pleasure to be able to refer our
readers to a document from Walsall, in another column;
beiap a remonstrance signed by a number of the most re-
sPe'ztable members of the Wesleyan Society sad congre-
gr dons in the borough to those of their friends who have
iignified an intention to vote on the side of the supporter
of the CorSlaws. After quoting several forcible texts of
Scripture, they call upon their misguided brethren " to
pause bffore they range themselves on the side of the op-
pressr,rs of the poor ;" and they add that three-fourths of
the. congregation are hostile to the landlords' tax candidate.
Yes, 4se Corn-law monopolists are oppressors of the
poor I " He that witbholdeth corn, the people shall curse
him." These Wesleyan Methodists express their sur-
prise that the erring minority should form such an
intention as voting for Mr. Gladstone, "because
we know you to be a believer in the lVord of GA."
If that Word is to be a guide of conduct, how can any
man who believes in it give his support to a candidate,
who, in order to enable bankrupt landowners to live in
luxury, would uphold a law which condemns the poor me-
chanic to starve, when he might, in exchange for his in-
dustry, obtain food in abundance. The Corn law mono-
poly is utterly at variance with Christianity. Before a
me-a can make up his mind to support the Corn-law mo
:tupoly, his heart must be closed against all those benevo-
lent feelings which a perusal of the sacred volume in true
simplicity of heart must inspire. Well did Dr. Samuel
Johnson answer Sir Thomas Robinson, an advocate of the
Corn-laws Sir Thomas, you speak the language of
a savage ; v.hat, Sir ! would you prevent any people from
feeding themselves if by any honest means they can do it ?"
The Corn-laws are a discreditable shift on the part of the
landowners to throw their share of the public burdens,
which ought to press equally on all, exclusively on the
rest of the community. But they do more than this.
They tax the industry of the country to an enormous
amount, to swell the rent of land, which, from various cir.
cumstances, would otherwise be excessively high. People
are not generally aware of the great increase of rent of
late years. It was but the other day we saw in an Edin-
burgh paper a statement that the estate of Ayton, in Btr-
wick.hite, had been sold for 170,0001. Berwickshire is
a purely agricultural district, possessing neither coal nor
lime, nor any other means whence estates may derive
value than corn and pasture. Yet we will venture to say
that if this estate had been sold at the time when prices
were higliest before the close of th.:. war, it would not
have brought 100,0001. The estate was, in 1811, as
highly improved as it can be in 1841 ; and yet it sells now,
in our present improved currency, at twice as much as it
would have sold for in a depreciated currency thirty years
ago I We call ou the electors of Walsall to set an ex-
ample to the rest of the country on this occasion.
The election is fast approaching. We hear that the
last accounts received from the borough are favour-
able. We tru.,t the spirit which led the Wesleyans
to pen the rernon.trance to the misguided minority
of their brethren in the interest of Mr. Gladstone,
will be found to pervade the community. The Tories, as
usual, have been threatening the electors. Bat the elec-
tors ought to bear in mind that the power to oppress fails
when it is encountered by a general display of spirit. The
strength of the people is in union. If it be seen that,
animated by the hatred of a grinding monopoly, the elec-
tors boldly face the adherents of the Corn-law monopo-
hitt, those who have used threats will pause before they
venture to put them in execution. Should, however, any
Tory be so ill-advied as to seek, after the election, to pu-
nish a conscientious voter, we trust that Manchester, if not
the country at large, would stand between him and his op-
pressor, and im:eninify any honest elector for his losses.
'I he cause of Mr. Smith is the cause of the people. Wal-
sall is the first place where the battle against the mono-
poly of food has lecen fought ; and, should the monopolists
be defeated, the men of Walsall will be in every mouth,
from the Land's End to John o' Groat's. It is impossible
to over-estimate the importance of the return of the free-
trade candidate.

(From the Morning Advertiser.)
In the last number of Tait's Magazine there is a post.
script respecting the Walsall election, a portion of whicl
we shell copy into our columns :—" Limited as is cur
spice, we cannot allow the occasion to elapse without one
word expressive of hearty satisfaction at the decided
movement of the Anti-Corn-law League. From the atti-
tude the League has assumed, whatever may be the imme-
dieto re3ult of the election—and we anticipate triumph....
the most b.neficial consequences must arise. The Chart-
jets and working classes will now be convinced that the
members of the League are in earnest in the pursuit of
that great object, which has been misrepresented as a trick
of the middle classes to divert the people from those fun-
damental reforms more necessary to their well-being, and
those of the Ministry, who are capable of setious reflec-
tion, must now believe that something more is required to
satisfy the Abolitionists than the hocus-pocus of Open
Queetions. A proof like this was wanted to carry
conviction both to that insensible Government, who
despatched the unlucky young gentleman, at such a
crisis, to such a constituency, and to those misled
persons—on this point grossly misled—who ima-
gine that they have as interest opposed to that of the
Coru.law aboliti elists. In the present critically balanced
state cf factions and votes in Parliament, the Ministerial
prints are, of course, furious at any step which may en-
danger the place's of their patrons ; security in office,
keepiog in the Whigs,' being the Alpha and Omega of
their desire ler the general weal. Tile real Reformers,
also, would, in this particular instance, be doubly grieved
and disappointed if the Tory candidate was returned; yet,
eve n that calam:ty were tolerable, under the conviction of
the advantages that must result from the step advisedly
taken at Walsall, and which will be repeated as often as a
similar crisis arises." New, we trust that we need no: in-
form our readers that we are quite as hostile as the mem-
bers of the Anti-Corn-law League to the continuance of
the tax upon breed, end that if we could obtain a total re-
peal
of it, no effort upon our part should be wanting to
ac-
complish so desirable an object. The tax upon the intro-
duction of foreign corn is the most mischievous that
ever was devised, for the purpose of aggrandizing one
party at the expense of the rest of the community'—of
adding to the monopolies of the rich, and taking away
from the well-being of the poor. It is the mother of
pauperism, and of crime, and of want—it is the worm that
is gnawing the very vitals of our country—drying up the
sources of our prosperity—driving our best workmen
abroad in search of employment—compelling thousands
annually te leave our shores who would otherwise find a
rich field for the exercise of their capital and skill—and
rendering the demand for our manufactures in every mar-
ket in the world daily less and less. The manufacturer is
obliged to accept small profits—the artisan and labourer to
work for starvation wages—and yet, after all these sacri-
fices, the proprietors of land are themselves injured instead
of beirw benefited by the unjust, impolitic. and accursed
tax. Entertaining, as we most sincerely do, these opi-
niony upon the subject of the Corn-laws, every successful
endeavour that is made, every probable step that is
taken for th car removal, has our heartiest support and
approbeCon ; but there are two points respecting the
policy of which we are inclined to differ somewhat
frem the Anti-Corn-law League. The first is that of
insisting upon a total repeal instead of a modification of
the duty upon foreign corn ; and the second the pro-
priety of opposing every candidate for a seat in Parlia-
ment who will not pledge himself to the same effect.
With regard to the first, there is no rational person ac-
qiiainted with the state of parties and the power of the
agricultural interests in both Houses of Parliament, who
dreams for-an instant of the possibility of carrying a total
repeal for a series of years to come. Nothing but an
unanimous league among the working classes, endanger-
ing property, and accompanied ley overpowering violence,
could accomplish, even if that could accomplish, the ob-
ject in view; but the case is otherwise with a reasonable
modification, because there are many who would vote in
favour of such a measure, but who would oppose the other
with all their might and main. Besides, the obtaining of a
modified duty upon foreign corn would pave the way more
eff ctually than any other course for the accomplishment of
a total iepeal; for who can doubt, thickheaded and most
obstinate as many of the Landowners are, that they would
relax in their opposition to the wishes of the country, when
they once saw that they were not only not injured, but ac-
tually benefited by the change ? With regard to the se-
cond point, if by ousting every Liberal candidate who
would not pledge himself to vote for a repeal of the Corn-
!awe, a repeal of them could be obtained by returning a
representative of Tory politics, we should counsel the
adoption of the scheme, and assist in carrying it into
effect with the most hearty goodwill ; but, unfortunately,
there is no such flattering unction to be laid to
07 pr:wr,
souls
—the Tories imposed the bread-tax in their day
and to a man they are almost all still in its favour. The
Anti-Corn-law League ought, in consequence, to be care-
ful how they act, lest, in their endeavour to put an end to
one evil, they do not inflict a greater upon their country.
(From the Courier.)
According to notice, Lord John Russell last even-
ing brought before the Commons House his motion
for leave to bring in " A. Bill to Continue the Poor-law
Commission," nut for one year, not for five years—to
which originally limited by Lord Althorp, with anin-
timation that machinery so expensive might thereafter
be dispensed with—but " for ten years," that is to say,
for ever. Supplementary to this announcement so con-
soling for the poor, the Bill professes to be also for the
"further Amendment of the Laws relating to the Poor in
England." We might have been tempted to hope, even
against despair, for the concession of some boon to the
poor in these arnendmeeits, so called, to be proposed,
but reference to the speeches of the Noble Mover is
quite sufficient to extinguish whatever ray of comfort
'night have glimmered ill the far distance on that score.
The amendments will, in fact, be only in the way of ren-
dering the provisions of the new Poor-law morn stringent,
and of enlarging the despotic powers of Somerset House.
Lord John pretends to justify the repeal of the more
wise and bum roe enactments of the law of Elizabeth,
on the ground of certain abuses which in the course of
nearly two centuries feel grown in the working of that
Law. Upon the seep: principle he would be equally
right in vindicating the repeal of Magna Chute, the
Bill of Right:„ or, to conic to more modern time,,
tholic Emancipation, because rebcllious Nobles had
re levied civil we, or reform aeitators had broken out
into rebehon in South Wales, or Papists had
broken their (wile. The abuses of rights and privi-
leges by the rich and more powerful have been at least
equally salient with those ou the part of the poor
under the old Poor-laws ; and where transgression
is equal the punishment should not be one-sided. But
the abuses were those of mal-administration merely,
and did not affect the principle of the old Poor-law.
Lord John assumes, indeed, that the principle of the
EFzatictban Act is left unscathed by its modern tra-
vest,e, but we incline to believe that he is single in the
conceit which, as we cannot attribute it to ignorance,
we must challenge as of bad faith. The law of Eliza-
beth says the poor shall not starve, but it does not
make imprisonment in workhouse gaols, and dietary