The Sun.
London, England, 1846-10-10 00:00:00

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LONDON, SATURDAY. OCTOBER 10. 1846.

Adverse circumstances of a local character have
delayed until very recently the transmission of a con-
gratulatory address from the electors of Wolverhamp-
ton to Sir ROBERT PEEL. Within the last week that
most interesting document has been forwarded to its
destination at Drayton Manor, and responded to with
a very courteous precipitation by the Right Honour-
able Baronet. Singularly as these expressions of
gratitude and gratulation have been procrastinated,
we would nevertheless direct to them an especial and
universal attention ; we would individualise this par-
ticular address amongst the innumerable others al-
ready forwarded to the distinguished national bene-
factor, who as Prime Minister of England dared to
emancipate the commerce of Great Britain ;
we would for a moment elevate the constituency
of Wolverhampton above all other constituencies,
and render the conduct of its electors the object of
contemplation to all the other borough and county
electors of the United Kingdom. Out of honest
thankfulness we conceive that: some such peculiar
mark of honour is demanded ; for the enfranchised
inhabitants of Wolverhampton have entitled them-
selves to the gratitude of their fellow-countrymen.
In regard to the enlightened and magnificent cause of
free trade Wolverhampton has assumed a paramount
position among the many towns entitled to send a
representative to Parliament. When that great cause
was the object of derision and contumely among all
classes of the community—when to profess doctrines
inimical to the protective system was to become
almost an object ofexecration as a profligate and unprin-
cipled politician, the electors of Wolverhampton gave to
that cause the most signal assistance which, under the
eircamstarmes, any body of men could possibly have
afforded. They returned as their representative in
the British Legislature a man eminently qualified
to uphold the interests of the weak and abused ma-
jority against the interests of the powerful and
tyrannical minority ; a man who was ready to relin-
quish all the allurements of personal ambition to
become the gladiator of the populace upon a despised
arena; one who possessed the faculty, as well as the
will, to battle against one of the monster abuses of
the Constitution.

The services of Mr. VILLIERS require no enumera-
tion to elicit the applause of his fellow-country-
men. Those services are enrolled in the Par-
liamentary history of Great Britain, but, more than

that, they are indelibly stamped upon the memory of
his contemporaries. It can never be forgotten, in
reviewing the occurrences which have ultimately
conduced to the realisation of free trade, that Mr.
VILLIERS was the eloquent and consistent champion
of those principles when they were most derided and
when their success was altogether hopeless ; it can
never be forgotten that year after year a motion for
the abolition of restrictive imposts upon grain was
made in the House of Commons by Mr. VILLIERS,
and that, although it was sometimes negatived with
explosions of laughter, and invariably by enormous
majorities, it was sure to be re-introduced in the fol-
lowing session with unabated earnestness and renewed
ability. When no prestige encompassed the advocacy
of free trade, but when, on the contrary, the two
great hostile parties were alone in unison upon that
particular—when the peasantry credulously regarded
protection as their only safeguard—when the mer-
cantile classes dreaded the effects of foreign competi-
tion—when the mass of the electors, and the vast
bulk of the legislators, coincided in opposing what
they conceived to be the fatuous day-dreams of poli-
tical economy—then it was that the Member for
Wolverhampton pleaded with cogency of reasoning
and rhetorical zeal for the acceptation of a policy
which was otherwise unadvocated.
Wonderful changes have occurred since that period;
the scheme that was hitherto regarded as the chimera
of political adventurers has been written in the sta-
tute-book amidst the acclamations of the popular
representatives. To the almost solitary name of
VILLIERS have been added the names of many illus-
trious statesmen. The proposition that was originally
carried down to St. Stephen's, session after session,
in the pocket of a barrister, has since then been im-
pelled to its final approval by a vast and marvellous
association. The reed has expanded into a trumpet,
which has breathed the grand truths of political
economy into every corner of the land, and carried
conviction to the most obdurate antagonists. Still,
throughout all these extraordinary alterations, the
voice, and the hand, and the heart of the Honourable
Member for Wolverhampton have continued at the
service of the people, as they were during
the days of tribulation and discomfiture. On
the platform of the League meetings, by the
side of COBDEN in the House of Commons, in the
closet as well as in the rostrum, with the pen as well
as with the tongue, Mr. VILLIERS still continued the
same arduous and untiring course as when he had
stood almost alone upon the floor at Westminster. It
is well that these things should be remembered, and
that their recollection should be cherished, because it is
in them that we possess the best guarantee for the
integrity of future constituencies and the patriotism
of future representatives. Wolverhampton has shown
itself worthy of its Member, by transmitting an ex-
pression of its gratitude and admiration to the states-
man win was mainly instrumental in rendering
those principles triumphant, for the success of which
their representative had so long yearned and so
zealously laboured. In acknowledging this address
from the electors of Wolverhampton, Sir ROBERT
PEEL has himself paid an emphatic and well-deserved
tribute to the Member for that borough. Those
constituents, says he, " are entitled to a share of
the credit which is justly due to one of
their representatives (Mr. VILLIERS) by whom those
principles have been advocated for many years, under
adverse as well as prosperous circumstances, with
great perseverance and singular ability." In recur-
ring to the memorable epoch which has witnessed the
acceptation of free trade by the Legislature, the
people of Great Britain will not fail to remember
how much that acceptation is owing to the enlighten-
ment of Wolverhampton and to the eloquent advo-
cacy of the Hon. CHARLES PELEAM VILLIERS.

All honour to the Irish Government, to the talented
and patriotic Nobleman who now fills the Vice- ,
royalty, and to his upright and able colleagues. The
step luta been taken which we have so long ad-wrested:
the money to be levied on the different lands for the
purpose of affording employment to the destitute and
impoverished children of the soil is no longer to be
expended solely on public works of a barren and
unproductive nature i..the land is to be improved and
brought into a higher state of cultivation ; and we
may, therefore, reasonably hope not only that there
will be a means by which the extraordinary ad-
ditional charges on the lands throughout the country
may be met without any additional pressure on the
already heavily encumbered landowners, but that the
increased means will be obtained in the most desirable
manner, and that increased food will also be the happy
result; that Ireland.will not only afford :m ample pro-
vision for the wants and necessities of her people, but
that she will again be enabled, as heretofore, to export
from her abundance a copious supply of edibles to
the people of Griat Britain in return for their manu-
factures. The Executive have taken upon themselves
a great responsibility, but one for which an ample
indemnity will be unhesitatingly granted immediately
on the meeting of Parliament, which, thanks to their
decided and vigorous determination, it will now be
unnecessary to convene until the usual and ac-
customed period ; and thus gentlemen will be enabled
to remain in their several localities at a time when
their presence will be most valuable, and the necessity
of hasty legislation will be dispensed with.
In The Sun of Thursday we published a circular
which was forwarded to the lieutenants of the different
counties, bearing date the 6th instant, and containing
a copy of a letter addressed the previous day to the
chairman of the Board of Works, with a request that
it might as speedily as possible be laid before the ma-
gistrates and cess-payers of the several counties. In
this letter the Government plan, and the length to
which his Excellency is prepared to go, is fully set
forth, and we doubt not that it will be hailed with the
greatest joy and gratitude by all classes throughout
the country. It states that his Excellency has had
under his consideration the various representations
made to him of the operation of the Poor Employ-
ment Act, and of the difficulty of finding in the
greater number of baronies public works on which it
would be expedient or beneficial to expend money to
the extent requisite for affording employment to the
people during the existence of the present distress.
With a view, therefore, of obviating the bad effects of
a great expenditure of money in the execution of
works comparatively unproductive, he desires the
Commissioners of Public Works to direct their
officers in the several counties to consider and report
upon such works of a reproductive character and
paramount utility as may be presented in the manner
therein mentioned, at any sessions held under the
above-mentioned Act. And it states that his Excel-
lency will be prepared to sanction and approve of
such of those works thus recommended by the Board,
in the same manner as if they had been strictly
public works, and presented as such in the manner
required by the Act. The following are the rules to
be acted on, viz. :

" 1. The presentment sessions willestimate the sum which
it may be necessary to raise off the barony for the pur-
pose of affording employment.
"2. They will also ascertain the proportion of such as-
sessment, which, according to the last poor-law valuation,
may be chargeable upon each electoral division of an
union, or portion of an electoral division (if the whole
shall not be included) in the barony ; and they will ob-
tain for this purpose, from the clerk of each poor-law
union, a copy of such valuation.
"3. They will present for such useful and profitable
works to be executed in each electoral division, to the
amount of its proportion of the assessment ascertained
as above.

4. In the case of drainage, however, and subsoiling,
so far as it shall be connected with drainage, an under-
taking shall be given in writing, and transmitted with
the presentment, by the person or persons whose lands
are proposed to be drained (being proprietor' in the
terms of the Act 5 and 6 Victoria, chap. 89), statieg
that the money so to be expended shall be a charge ex-
clusively on the lands so to be improved, and be levied
from the same, according to an award to be made by the
Commissioners as under the last-mentioned Act and its
amendments."
If our readers will look to The Sun of the 12th
September they will see that the above rules closely
follow the suggestions we then offered, and which we
have continually repeated from time to time since
that period. We proposed " that a register should
be kept in every district of the persons for whom em-
ployment should be provided, and an apportionment
of the quantity of labour, so as to ascertain that fairly
chargeable against each acre in proportion to its
value." By this the first rule would be immediately
complied with, as the sum necessary to be raised off
the barony for the purpose of affording employment
would at once be ascertained. The suggestion has
also been followed in the instructions for the forma
tion and guidance of relief committees, on which we

yesterday commented. The committees are forthwith
to prepare and to revise, from time to time, such a
list for their several districts which shall at
once point out, in the clearest manner,
the resources necessary to be provided through-
out the entire country. The second rule
provides for the apportionment of the quantity of
labour chargeable upon each electoral division in the
barony, and thus the proportion fairly appli-
cable to each acre, according to its value. The
third rule adopts the great principle, that every
owner of land must employ the poor belonging
to that land. It directs the sessions to present for
such useful and profitable work to be executed in
each electoral division to the amount of its proportion
of the assessment. Thus, no sum will be levied for
public works in any division where their proportion
of the entire sum to be raised is employed in useful
works within their boundaries ; this being the case,
there is little doubt that the people will select the
most beneficial channel for the employment of that
labour for which they must find full occupation. We
confess that we should be better pleased to see
the rule carried to the extent which we
recommended on the 12th September, and that
each owner of land should be permitted to select
the manner in which he would employ the labour
from which the land in his hands should provide
work ; but the step taken is in the right direction,
and may easily, and probably will be, extended to
the point we have advocated. We urged "that the
labour for which the land is bound to pay should be
employed in developing the productive power of the
land." That will now be done in every instance
which is presented for by the sessions and approved
by the officers of the Board of Works. Again, we
said—" The necessity for the interference of the State
is to compel a certain quantity of land to provide for
a certain quantity of labour. If the owner or oc-
cupier of that land is willing to do so, he should be
permitted to select the manner of that employ-
ment himself. In such a case he will be certain
to apply it in the most beneficial and advan-
tageous channel. A labour-rate should be
imposed on the land, sufficient for the remuneration
of the persons requiring employment, but a drawback
should be allowed therefrom for the actual amount
paid for labour by the person chargeable. If one
hundred acres of land should be chargeable with the
maintenance of ten labourers, the owner should fairly
be discharged from any payment ; if he can clearly
and satisfactorily prove that he has kept ten men in
constant occupation, he should only be bound to pay
the balance not so expended." Of course, the la.
bourers so to be employed must be persons selected
frcm the register, to which we have alluded, of
labourers for whom employment must- be provided.
In order to make the rule equitable it must be car-
ried to that extent : the money raised off of every
holding should be expended in that particular holding,
and it would be manifestly unjust that any person
should have labour paid for by his neighbour de-
voted to the improvement of his private property,
We cannot see why that labour may not be applied
to drainage or subsoiling in the same manner, and as
well, as to any other work. The fourth rule provides,
that if the work is of that character a written under-
taking should be given by the person or persons
whose lands are proposed to be drained, stating that
the money so to be expended shall be a charge exclu-
sively on the lands so to be improved, and to be
levied therefrom according to an award to be made
by the Commissioners under the last-mentioned Act
and its amendments. Now it appears to us only fair
and just that the owner of such lands should be
allowed for the portion of labour for which it should
find work, without its being made an exclusive charge
thereon. We, however, tender our hearty thanks to
the Executive for that which they have promulgated ;
they have more than fulfilled the high expectations
entertained on their accession to office, and by their
statesmanlike conduct they have given fair grounds for
the hope expressed by his Excellency, viz., that " the
calamity with which it has pleased PROVIDENCE to
afflict Ireland, may yet in its lesult become con-
ducive to the production of greater abundance of
human food from the soil, and to the future perma-
nent improvement of the country."

The New Aiarnburgh Gazette publishes a letter from
Dusseldorf, which states that the Conference of the
Zolverein, assembled at Berlin, had determined to
raise the import duty on linen-thread to 2 rix-dollars
per quintal, and on twists to 3 rix-dollars.

Accounts have been received from Rome to the
30th September. The old Papal party are endea-
vouring to excite the people in the provinces against
the liberal PorE. The following proclamation, which
has been extensively circulated in one of the pro-
vincial towns, is, it is said, the production of Cardinal
DELLA GENOA :

" Very dear Brethren,—Our holy religion is nearly
succumbing, The intrusive Pontiff Mastai is the op-
pressor of it. He belongs to the party of Young Italy.'
His acts show that. Vigilance, then ! Prudence and
courage, brethren ! If you have the courage, which I
believe you to have, the religion of the only Son of God
made man will triumph. God will assist ue ; for besides
the divine arm we have that of the world—the right of
Ferdinand I. and the left of Ferdinand 11. In the mean-
time do not cease to remind the faithful that the de-
vouring germ resists in vain the will of the Most Iligh.
The devouring germ shall be smothered by us. On a
future day the terrible day of our glory will be pub-
lished, and heaven will assist U 3 in the enterprise "
The POPE has given some dissatisfaction to the
Liberal party by his nomination of Delegates, the
whole of whom are ecclesiastics. It had been hoped
that his HoLiziEss would have appointed secular De-
puties. It is reported that Cardinal Gizze, in conse-
quence of the strong opposition which all his measures
met with in the Consistory, had tendered his resigna-
tion, but that, at the earnest request of the PorE, he
had consented to withdraw it. The old Papal party
is supported in its opposition to the POPE'S measures
by Austria.

The Austrian garrisons of Ferrara and Co-
machio have been reinforced, and the defensive works
of the citadel of Ferrara strengthened.

The news from Lisbon is to the 2d instant.
The intrigues of the German DIET; who seems
to have the King and Queen of PORTUGAL completely
under his control, and who is all but, avowedly the
agent of a foreign power, which has long been seek-
ing to gain an ascendancy in the Peninsula, have at
length aroused the feelings of nationality of the
Portuguese people. The distracted state of the
country is attributable solely to the intrigues of the
Afrancesado faction, of which DIETZ and the CABRALS
are the tools, and the KING and QUEEN the dupes.
It is much to be feared that a revolution, which may
cost the QUEEN her throne, will be the consequence
of these intrigues, for rumours were rife in Lisbon
that a necessity might arise for proclaiming as King
of Portugal Dom PEDRO the heir to the throne, a
child of ten years of age, and appointing a regency to
govern in his name.
The Camarilla and the Ministry are at war, and
DIETZ and the Court are openly intriguing for their
overthrow. The Bank, instigated by the Camarilla,
had refused to assist the Ministry, and bad expected
that the resignation of Ministers would have been the
consequence of their refusal. The Ministry, however,
managed to do without their assistance, and are still in
office. The resumption of cash payments by the
Bank is postponed to the 31st December

Madrid papors of the 3d have arrived.

The Bill for raising 25,000 men for the army had
passed the Senate, and both Chambers had adjourned.
It was not supposed they would re-assemble before
the dissolution.

Count MUSSON was about to proceed to Alcoban
das, to receive the Princes.

Mr. BULWER was to leave Madrid on the 3d for
Aranjuez, where he would remain until the marriages
were over. Senor SA.LANIASCA, the banker, and seve-
ral members of the Opposition party, would also
withdraw from Madrid during the stay there of the
French Princes.

The Heraldo states that the QUEEN will grant an
extensive and general amnesty.

Mr. BuLwau dispatched a courier for Cadiz Jn the
3d, v.ith instructions for Admiral Sir W. PARKER.
MADRID Boma, Ocr. 3.—The Three per Cents. were
done at 34% for cash ; the Four per Cents. 21%; the Five
per Cents., at 21% ; the Debt without Interest, ; and
the Coupons, 20%.

We have received the Paris papers of Thursday.
The Constitutionnel gives the following as the sub-
stance of the various notes which hare passed on the