The Sun.
London, England, 1847-08-09 00:00:00

NJ' IVvlttix RJ ...'-) mt.

LONDON, MONDAY. AUGUST 9, 1847.

Lord MORPETH has at length received a colleague
in the representation of the West Riding of York-
shire eminently worthy of his distinguished cha-
racter as a liberal statesman. As a testimony of
the popularity enjoyed by the Hon. Member for
Stockport, he is returned by acclamation by the
most populous of all the constituencies of the United
Kingdom, and this not merely without his own per-
sonal interference, but without his own knowledge.
The prestige of his name has driven an adversary
from the field without even the show of resistance ; it
has proved more influential than the noisiest demon-
stration or the most brilliant eloquence. A similar
enthusiasm has almost simultaneously declared the
Hon. CHARLES VlLLlsits a knight of South Lan-
cashire and Mr. COBDEN a Knight of the West
Riding of Yorkshire. These, we conceive, to be
nobler tokens of the gratitude entertained towards
the two most memorable of the champions of
free trade than statues of Carrara marble
or pecuniary testimonials. And it is fitting that
Lord MORPETH should be associated with Mr. COB-
DEN in the representation of a county constituency
of thirty thousand nine hundred and ninety-eight
voters, for it cannot be forgotten that that Noble Lord
was one of the first and one of the most earnest con-
verts to the generous doctrines of an Emancipated
Commerce. The promptitude and candour with
which Lord MORPETH acknowledged his submission
to the irresistible logic of the League, and for-
warded through the letter, in which he shrived
his political conscience, a five-pound note to-
wards the funds of that great association,
still remain vividly in the recollection of
a large portion of the community. It is a worthy
commemoration of that confession that his name
should now be coupled with that of the masters
orator and master-agitator of the illustrious League ;
and it is a fitting demonstration of regard to RICHARD
COBDEN himself, that he should have honours as
magnificent as these thrust upon him by his coun-
trymen. The circumstance proclaims at the least
that free trade is not a scheme adventured upon
with rashness and received with a timorous conniv-
ance ; it shows that the principles of that gigantic
and beneficent system are as comprehensible to the
multitude as the rudiments of trigonometry are to
the mathematician, and that the commercial
reforms undertaken with such statesmanlike au-
dacity are welcomed by the people with no ordinary
sentiments of exultation.
If further evidence is required of the cordiality of
the reception of the free-trade advocates during the
progress of the Parliamentary elections, a splendid
catalogue of triumphs can be recorded. Protectionist
fanatics may be sceptical : we shall, therefore, enu-
merate some of the most prominent of the free-trade
successes. Not merely is Mr. COBDEN elected with
acclamation both by Stockport and the West Riding
of Yorkshire, not merely is Mr. VILLiEns received
with equal ardour at Wolverhampton and South
Lancashire, but Mr. BRIGHT is declared, by a decisive
majority, a successful candidate at the hustingssivet
Manchester. Besides, this Colonel PER o
THOMPSON—a pamphleteer as herculean in influence
as CA MILLE DRSMOULINS, though with a
more e
righteous conscience and in a more righteous cause
is accepted by the electors of Bradford; his name-
sake GEORGE THOMPSON, the orator of common sense
and universal justice, is recei▪
ved with all honour at
the Tower Hamlets ; W. J. Fox, the eloquent
satirist of Protection, whose declamatory sentence
" Don't be dependent on forei▪
gners !" form a perf(ct
epitome of the hypocrisies of all agricultural mono-
polists, is declared the Member for Oldham; JonN

; 1 chairman, and one of
BENJAMIN SMITH, the or.; g.na
the most strenuous upholders of the League, is
Lafs.re-
turned by the Stirling burghs ; Sir JOSHUA I% A
LEY is proclaimed Member for Leicester, Mr. DIXON
for Carlisle, Mr. TUORIELY for Wolverhampton,
Mr. SCROLEYIELD for Birmingham, Mr. BeowNE
for South Lancashire, Mr. E WART for Dumfries,
Dr. BOWEING for Bolton, and the Right Hon.
MILNER GIBSON for Manchester Such is the ear-
nestness with which the population acquiesce in the
various truths promulgated under the auspices of the
Anti-Corn-law League ; and, furthermore, numerous
constituencies have solicited from Mr. GcoaGE
WILSON, the indefatigable chairman of that associa-
tion, the honour of deputing him as their represents-
tire to the Imperial Legislature.

Aft* these brilliant and, in many respects, re-
markable Fjctorie3 achieved by tik free.trade candi.