The Sun.
London, England, 1841-11-22 00:00:00

PUBLIC OPINION.

The Morning Post, returning to its favourite theme,
abuse of the Opposition Press, remarks:—" We do not
stop to notice the string of ridiculously overstrained ex-
pressions by which the Whig-Radical journalist seeks to
persuade its readers that the present distress is more
severe, more extensive, and more permanent than ever
existed before. We have been sickened by the same
phrases at intervals
.for the last forty years, that is tosay,
during a period in which the manufacturingtand commer-
cial prosperity of Great Britain made.advances inyros-
perity wholly without example in the: history of natn;kns."
—We can readily imagine that the Post is " sickened"
with the frequent references to the distressed state of
the country, which the Liberal Journals, in the discharge
of their duty, are compelled
,to make. Our Contem-
porary's fine sense of gentility must revolt at the details
of squalid destitution—must shrink with loathing from
the idea of a Paisley weaver, with scarce a rag on his
back, or an ounce of bread in his possession! But truth
is truth, and must, and shall be told, however it may
shock the susceptible Post. So fai 'from diminishing,
the distress of the operatives in the manufacturing dis-
tricts is daily increasing; and, as if this were not enough,
Ministers treat the matter with the most supercilious
indifference, and hope to console the destitute working
classes by coolly telling them to wait the advent of better
times !, ,

Alluding to its pet-hobby, the New Poor-law, the
Times makes the. following observations :—" When in
the late Session of Parliament the propriety of abolish-
ing the Poor-law Commission was under discussion,
various boards of guardians remonstrated against that
step, expressly on the ground that they did not wish their
own responsibilities to be increased. It is of all things most
contrary to the true policy of laws for the relief of the poor
toextinguish, or deaden, in this manner, the sense of
moral responsibility in the parties to whom the actual ad-
ministration of relief is confided. Under a system which
aims, like the present, at a reduction of the cost of re-
lief, such a distribution of power must inevitably lead
to gross oppression. The Commissioners issue harsh
orders without remorse, because they do not come in
contact with the sufferings which they occasion ; the
boards of guardians and their satellites execute them
with equal apathy, because they are not responsible for
them. Thus a harsh administrative character is formed
for which, even in its excesses, the system itself is mainly
accountable."
The Chronicle, speculating on the nature of Sir Ro-
bert Peel's remedial measures, says :—" What the plans
of Sir Robert Peel may be, when Parliament meets,
may not yet be known even to the Right Hon. Baronet
himself. To judge from his Revenue Commission, be in-
tends to promote a reform of that part of our Custom-
house legislation which relates to its collection, and very
probably, also, he intends to improve its cumbersome and
antique regulations. That will be a good and wholesome
work—a necessary accompaniment of a modification of
the Corn-laws. To judge, also, from common, report, Sir
Robert Peel intends to bring for yard a general and
comprehensive scheme of national emigration. * That,
also, will be a good and wholesome deed—a very
appropriate and very fitting accompaniment of a modi-
fication of the Corn-laws. And were he to go a step
further, and devise some plan by which the Bank of
England would be effectually checked in playing tricks
with the currency, that also would be an excellent con-
trivance, and prove to be a necessary and salutary com-
panion to a modification of the Corn-laws."--These,
though well enough in their way, are at best but secondary
measures ; first and foremost should be a repeal of the
Corn-laws, which is the grievance that now most severely
presses on the commercial energies of the people. Let
Sir Robert Peel, then, begin with the beginning in his
Reforms, and first consider the question of this grind-
ing impost ; his other measures can afford to wait until
this paramount one is disposed of.
We quote the foll Owing from the _Herald :—" The
state of public feeling on the subject of slavery in the
southern States of the great American repuhlic, is, if
indeed that be possible, even more degraded than,that in
the Brazilian empire. The Brazilians would—at least
in profession—tolerate free blacks ; . the southern Ame-
ricans will not. Black freedom south of Maryland is a
privilege practically unknown. We ask the public to
peruse an extract to be found in another column, from
a New Orleans Journal, and then decide what must
be the condition of public morality in Louisiana,
which can tolerate, much more spnpathise, in
the publication of such brutal, sentiments. The
writer demands legislation that every free negro in
the state be driven from our .borders as a pest, as
a plague ;' that the law of South Carolina, imprisoning
every free black landing in:the State, be extended to his

. .
State;:that it be rendered iinlawfoljto employ free blacks
as menials on board ships or steamers navigating. Louis-
ianian waters; that emancipation. be prohibited in the
State, unless the manumitted person be at once sent
thereout; and that no black be
.permitted to. hold pro-
perty. Drive them from us,' he adds ; speaking of free
blacks, it is our only means of salvation !' The mon-
ster—for to use ordinary language in speaking of such
a writer would be affectation, hypocrisy, and injustice—
gloats over the prospect that when the State Legisla-
ture next meets, our whole free negro policy will. be
changed."'
The Plymouth Journal, speaking of Lord John Rus-
sell's late reception in that town says :—" The living
impersonation of his party is Lord John Russell. He
was a man born to high personal honour—of a noble fa-
mily—with the blood of some of the best patriots that
have adorned this country in his veins, cool, wary, wise,
one to be trusted by his friends—to be dreaded by his
enemies. A man that success could not unduly elate, or
disappointment baffle. Early in life he took his stand
on the side of the people—on that side which his family
had befriended with their name and influence, from the
days of the Stuarts downwards. He took his stand, and
he maintained it."
On the subject of the Maynooth grant, the Dublin
Evening Post makes the following remarks :—" That
Sir Robert Peel regards the question as one of a very
embarrassing, nature we are well convinced •, and we
feel persuaded that he will endeavour to get rid of it by
one of those pieces of dexterity which he has been in
the habit of resorting to upon all occasions of difficulty.
The present • miserable annual grant he will not
refuse ; on the contrary, we think, he will profess the
greatest anxiety to meet the views of the Prelates, as
expressed in their memorial. But he will talk very plau-
sibly of the necessity of removing the prejudices excited
against the system of education in the College of May-
nooth, by an official inquiry, and, if it should appear ne-
cessary, by a revision. In fine, Sirßobert Peel will pro-
mise a great deal, contingent upon a change, to be
effected by a Commission of Inquiry—a Commission
eotxiposed of Tories and Orangemen, to. regulate the
education of the clergy of the Catholics of Ireland.'
The Durham Chronico thus alludes to the present cis,,

tresses of the country :—" In the late Session of Parlia-
ment, Sir Robert Peel ' dished up' his case against the
alleged distress of the country by an artful and dis-
ingenuous reference to the amount of Savings'
Banks Deposits. The state of the merchants' accounts
with • the Bank of England is a much better crite-
rion.' of the present condition of the whole public
industry of the country ; and has neither received,
'tog ,iseapable of receiving, a satisfactory answer. The
public prints, up to the present hour, teem with statements
of the dreadful sufferings, and the all but absolute starva-
tion, of the manufacturing population, enough to wring
the most callous heart."

The Leicester Mercury says :—" There are indications
that Sir Robert Peel will endeavour to put a stop to all
substantial Reform, by buying. over, as far as possible,
he leading men of various parties.",