The Sun.
London, England, 1846-06-27 00:00:00

1111,ritiitst

LONDON, SATURDAY, JUNE 27, 1846.

On Thursday, the 22d of January, Sir R. PEEL, in
his place in Parliament, as a representative of the
people and Minister of the country—with his own
past protestations full in his memory, and the open
and violent hostility of friends and foes before him—
dared to confute the one and to confront the other,
and, boldly speaking of the people's wants, boldly
propose the measures they required. That
speech was received with heartfelt joy by
the many, with bitter and acrimonious indig-
nation by the few. It was stamped by the fiat
of popular approval, and history transmits it to the
applause of posterity. On Thursday, the 25th of
June, after a five months' unequal and ineffectual
opposition, those glorious measures received the last
award of the Legislature—they are now the law of
the land! The "Je le eeui" of the SOVEREIGN has
ratified the will of the people—monopoly is no
more ; and the spirit of faction weeps over
the dearest of her children. Faction weeps,
while free trade triumphs—while the mighty
multitude hail the mighty measure; and
they hail it not alone for itself, but for the great
things which shall follow in its train. The corn-
laws are abolished—and something more than the
corn-laws ; free trade is triumphant, and something
more than free trade. We have now seen the down-
fal of class-legislation, of party prejudice and fac-
tious despotism ; a nobler, a higher system
of legislation is at hand—and the people know this,
and shall they not triumph? The mind of the mul-
titude is in this unanimous, and while they rejoice,
and while they feel that to themselves is the glorious
achievement virtually due, yet they forget not those
through whose immediate agency their long struggles
and enduring hopes have been crowned with the ulti-
matum of success. Theythank the SOVEREIGN, who from
the throne spoke of their long-desired measures ; they
thank the Parliament, by whom their interests have
been truly represented; they thank the Peers

for their cordial concurrence with their de-
sires ; but, above all, as was declared last
night by their chief spokesman, they thank the
Premier for his patriotism, his perseverance, his
self-sacrifice. And sincerely as Mr. COBDEN,
sincerely as any, do we also tender our earnest thanks
and congratulations to Sir ROBERT PEEL. We
thank him for the benefit he has conferred upon the
country, we congratulate him on the glory he has
acquired for himself. He has triumphed even though
he has fallen. Though now compelled to relin-
quish his position, it has not been held in
vain. For five months he has held office
as a free-trade and as a popular Minister, and that
brief and eventful period has set the seal to his title-

deeds to fame. Whether he again resume his official

—,.
post, or whether he remains only a representative of
the people, time only can declare ; but no
tune can rob him of the popularity he
has acquired as the Minister who dared
to sacrifice all things—position, place, and
party—for the interests of his country. The
vindictive and acrimonious attacks with which he has
recently been assailed are tacit confessions of the
efficacy of his reforms, by proving their hostility to
the egotist spirit of faction. As the head of the
strong Conservative party, Sir ROBERT once
held an apparently high position : by oppos-
ing its prejudices, undermining its iniquitous
strongholds, dividing its elements, and finally
by bringing against it the power of the people
that party he has destroyed! Without supporters
and without adherents, the once great chief is almost
alone—he is in a minority, but is he less truly
great? Can any of his real friends regret his recent
conduct, his recent sacrifice ?—will they not rather
ibrft with the people in proclaiming—
" Iris greatest glory was that hour
k-W self-upheld, abandoned power?'

The majority of Seventy against against the Minis-
preseeinotnGßill,
nhmhaies net! nsluime--
immediately
antecedent to the dawning of that day
mated the destiny of the
morable henceforth in our Parliarnenvtoerr
be the ?6th of June, 1846, memorable, al'
prophecy of Sir ROBERT PEEL was fulfilled to the very
letter—the day on which his great political difficulty
was proved in literal veracity to be Ireland. A strenuous
effort to meet the exigencies of that problematic island
constituted the last act of his Administration. It
would be infinitely ridiculous to impute to the Prime
Minister any but the most disinterested motives in
propounding a policy so generally obnoxious through-
out the sister country ; it would be ridiculous,
because by so doing no additional emolu-
ment and no superfluent celebrity could in
any manner accrue to himself; because such
a proceeding would, moreover, only facilitate the
pettish recrimination of his personal adversaries,
while it afforded them a sort of neutral leverage for
the subversion of his Cabinet ; because, in fine, so
many more agreeable questions might have been
selected as the cause for his retirement, had a seces-
sion from office been the coveted aoquisition.
Nevertheless, while we accord to the Ministry the
credit of disinterestedness, we must acknowledge
ourselves incapable of discovering the particular
exigency which in the present month should demand
an interference so authoritative with the social go-
verunient of Ireland as the Coercion Bill, When