The Sun.
London, England, 1841-05-04 00:00:00

LONDON:
'TUESDAY. MAY 4, 1841.

The explosit in in the House of Commons on Friday was felt
in the House o f Lords la't night; and the prodigious haste
the Duke of Rocictsronaat has made to denounce the Minis-
terial proposition before it be known, is another con-
proof of the exquisite tenderness of that raw in the
_land-
lords which the Mlnisters have rubbed. The Duke, on
Ptseati'ag 120 petitions, principally from places in
:Bucks, against any alteration of the 'Corn-laws, said
'that the annor,ncentent on Friday had induced the
'petitioners to cot nmunicate with him and express their as-
toni.hment and rs gret that the head of her MAJESTY'S Go-
vernment should have united with his colleagues in altering
.the Corn laws. The Noble Duke hoped that the Commons
,vrould, by their opinion, dispel the fears of the agriculturists,
:and enable therm to enjoy in peace their own property. What
a scandal to call a tax property ! Of course the Noble Duke
quoted some words formerly used by Viscount AlELeotta-,rE,
describing very happily, certainly, the temporary ev.is of
changing the law, but also describing the permanent evils of
continuing it, and -warned the Noble Viscount that, he would
throw th a country into confusion.
Viscount MELBOURNE showed by a quotation from a former
speech of his, the: be had never declared his adhesion to the
tpresent Corn-law, and had always stated, that the alteration in
it was only a question of time, hut that it must be altered. He
further declared that the time ha", now arrived when the exi-
gencies of the State made it im /ussible to leave that MASTER
GiILIEVANCE UNTOUCHED, to which declaration let all the
?people say " A men."
The Earl of Eirow expressed great regret at the speech of
the Noble Vis.ount, on. account of his Noble Friend's cha-
racter. He \canted to know whether the principle to be fol-
lowed was protection sir taxation ; if it were protection Corn-
laws were all right and proper,— if it were taxation, it was
such a monstrous tl.ing that it had never been done by any
-country to tax the, 'bread of the people.
'The Earl of WaNcsul.sta followed on the same side, and
made a prodigious deal of noise. The proposed measure was
a tax, he said, cn corn, a tax upon the agricultural interest, a
tax on the most. essential article of food, and he would give it
all the opposition in b is power.—(Lord STANHOPE gave assent
to this.) It had hit, ten° been protection, it was now to be a
tax on bread, and, in Gon's name, let their Lordships resist it.
So these Noble Lcrals delude themselves, and fancy they can
delude the country , by making a distinction, where there is no
difference, betwee protection and taxation. At present the
tax on corm is about 235. per quarter ; Ministers mean to reduce
it. according to the. supposition, to about ss. or is., but it is
to be now kept up Tor the revenue of the State, and not for the
benefit of thelan dlords ; and these foolish Lords suppose that
while the thing, remains the same, or rather, its mischievous
effect will be p' •obably diminished, that a change in its name
alters its ch aracter. An onerous tax for protection is
a good thin, ;, according to them ; a light tax for re-
venue is tri be abhorred by men and Gon. We can-
not see muds difference in them ; but the heavier tax to en..
rich the la ndlords is much the more hateful. In every word
which the :Earl co RIPON and the Earl of WINCHILSEA said
against a bread tr.x in any shape, we cordially agree ; but their
denuncia Sinus aAdy with more force to the present fluctuating
tax tha s to tl'.e tax, if it be moderate, to be proposed by Mi-
nisters. W e would recommend Ministers to consider of this
in tin e, and instead of being parties to continuing the tax on
corn,, to .king all that odium on themselves, to come into our
viv.rs snd abolish the Corn-laws altogether. That is the cer-
tain W ay to gife a stimulus to enterprise, and make the altera-
tions' in the other taxes which they propose answer their
exile ctations.

I .Ord DuNFERNILINE in presenting a petition from seven
ele rgymen complaining that they are deprived of their rights
itered at some length into the interminable difference be-
tween the Scotch Church and the Scotch law authorities,
which he said ought to be stopped, otherwise the difference
would extend to other inns of the empire. 'fhe Assembly
had attempted to enforce its own act in defiance of authority.
Something definite ought immediately to be done, or there
-would :be two churches in every parish, one the prop of the
StatrJ; the other the prop of the General Assembly. The
FP'.ale Lord gently hinted that the patronage of the Govern-
.m.ent flow, d over on and fertilized the opposers of authority.
Viscount NIELROURNE adhered to his resolution of not inter-
!Tering, trusting apparently to the rabid party recovering their
.senses.
Alter some interesting_ conversation, in which the Earl of
RODEN took the part of the clergy, the petition was laid on
the table.

'lheEall of GLENGALL brought the case of Mr. STANLEY,
'the Secretary to the Poor-law Commissioners for Ireland, under
the notice of the House. Mr. STANLEY, it will be recol-
lected, was examined at the bar, and proved to have altered a
paper which had been ordered to be laid on the table
of the House. The Noble Earl moved that Mr. STAN-
LEY made the alteration in contempt of the authority
of the House. After a short debate the resolution
-was carried. The Noble Earl then moved that Mr. STANLEY
be ordered to attend at the bar of the House ; but after it had
been explained that Mr. STANLEY was in bad health, he with-
drew it, and a resolution was passed stating the reason why it
was withdrawn, so that their Lordships might not appear to
waive any of their privilege or power. The minute of the
Board on the subject of the resignation or dismissal of Mr.
STANLEY was also ordered to be laid on the table, and so ends,
we believe, that great Cloumel affair, by which, the Eall of
GLENGALL and other Irish Tory Peers were to blow up the
Ministers.
At Half-past Nine their Lordships Adjourned.
In the Commons, a Jr.A G. PALMER gave notice that he
'would move to postpone the Committee on the Colonial Pos
sessions Bill. That is the beginning of the warfare which the
corruptionists are to wage against the whole system of Im-
posed amendments to our commercial code.
A new writ for Sandwich wai'iisued to supply the place of
Sir RtJFANE DONXIN, deceased.
Lord STANLEY postponed his Registration Bill for a fort-
night, which looks as if it would be given up.
Mr. HANDLEY complained of the Morning Chronicle. It
had misrepresented him to have said, on Friday evening, that
he would second the CHANCELLOR of the ExcisEQuen. in
dealing with the various details of the. proposed alteration of
of the Corn law, wi.ereas he stated' "that he should do his
duty"' to his constituents arid the public," implying that he
would oppose the Alinister's plan. lie moved that the printer
of the Morning Chronicle be called to the bar ; but after a
few words from Mr. Hume, withdrew the motion.
Viscount SANDON gave notice of a motion on Friday, to
take the sense of the douse on the CHANCELLOR f the Ex-
CHEQUER'S P.udget resolutions, including, we presume, the
alterath n the Corn-131v, which will at once bring the mat-
ter to an issuP. All the flends of free trade and justice must
be resent on Friday to support Ministers.
Sir ROBERT INGLIS aisu gave notice of his intention of
taking the sense or the House on the propriety of allowing any
British subject within her Majesty's dominions to consume
slave g:ewn sugar. The Hon. Baronet will of course, there-
fore, st p the present practice of refining Cuba and Brazil
sugar in bond. and supplying Mr. GLADSTONE'S estates in
.Demo-ara with it at a cheap rate. His West India friends
will not thank the Hon. Baronet for his zeal. It is delightful,
however. to see all the
ineins,ives in tele, ing
pr,feQs-rs of all the puriri,s to eager 1,,
signs! zethe people of England, vo-to
tong suffn ing es they are, must now know who are their real
friends.
The House went into Committee on the Punishment