The Sun.
London, England, 1846-07-30 00:00:00

under a ge6S.4.t ebfitifebtf thiat flie7 never
siould hope to disett'ss bq if they could fret Pas, thee/ the
fis/it ,sf gratitude they hail :
all events, tiehnowledge the obit`;; ?Oil,
stlft them under, they SOnigs at
and do htstsoste
those to whom lionoar was due.—(i..7''°#rt
Y It had beers
thought well by the committee to name this Mensberg'
of those who had distinguished themselves in the c2ls?Ytmons.
House of Parliament. They were, as they stood on the list,
Messrs. Villiers, Cobden, and Bright.—(Loud cheers.) He
was sure that assembly would unite with him in the senti-
ment, that those whom the sacred cause of free trade had
joined together ought never to be put asunder.—(Cheers.)
He should be sorry if, in that or any other meeting, there
should ever be a dissolution of those names.—(Cheers.)
They deserved to be indissolubly linked together.—
(Cheers.) They deserved to be out of doors what they
had ever been in the House of Commons—indissolubly
bound together, deserving, in consideration of their ab-
stract virtues, equal gratitude and admiration.—(Cheers.)
It might have fallen to the lot of one of those gentlemen—
so persuasive in his arguments, so conciliatory in his mea-
sures, so prudent and sagacious in all his efforts, so lucid
and transparent in his statements—it might have fallen to
his lot, endowed by Divine Providence above his fellows in
the particulars to which he (Mr. Thompson) had referred,
to become by universal consent the acknowledged leader of
their cause in that House ; but never could they forget that
in this great work there were instruments, which, however
efficient other instruments might have been, could not be
dispensed with, and who were an indispesssable and necessary
portion of that great army which had to fight the battle,
the triumph of which they bad achieved.—aTheers.) Let
it be remembered that ere Mr. Cobden was—he s-sould not
say honoured by a seat in that House, for he confsTred
honour and lustre on that House by taking a seat in it—let
it be remembered that before he had passed the threshold
of that House, there was a man there who, though allied
with the aristocracy, had identified himself with the people
out of doors—(Cheers)—who, he (Mr. Thompson) would
venture to say, had uttered during the last few years senti-
ments more universal in their character than any other
Member of that House besides.—(Cheers) That Member
thus voluntarily allied out of doors with the suffering people,
with the taxed and oppressed portion of their community,
year after year led the forlorn hope in that House.—(Cheers.)
He never was overwhelmed by ridicule—he was never dis-
couraged by opposition—he never was thwarted or cast
down by the smallness of his minorities.—(Cheers.) When no
other man could be found to move for the consideration of
the corn-laws, with a view to their repeal, the Hon. Charles
Pelham Villiers was in his place.—(Loud cheers.) At last
he was joined by Mr. Cobden—(Cheers)—and as the soul of
David was knit to the soul of Jonathan, so were the souls of
those men united in a common desire to benefit their
country by a repeal of the corn-laws.—(Cheers.) They were
joined by another illustrious man—illustrious from his
single-heartedness, and from the prodigal devotion of his
fine and ever-growing powers to this cause—illustrious,
from the warm-hearted appeals which he addressed
throughout the country, than which nothing could be more
efficacious, springing as they did from a heart overflowing
with humanity and zeal—he meant John Bright.—(Loud
cheers.) Those men had severally their work to do in the
House of Commons, and they did well.—(Cheers.) They
wanted the biting sarcasm and bright and polished wit of
Mr. Villiers—they wanted the lucid and statesmanlike ex-
position of this question which session after session on one
branch or other of it was given to the House by Mr. Cobden
—(Cheers)—they wanted the fearlessness, the high-toned
rebuke of John Bright, who, standing in the face of a con-
solidated
phalanx of opponents, when he spoke of the
offender against commercial liberty, the right of his fellow-
subjects, was not afraid to point his finger across the House
and say, "Thou art the man."—(Cheers.) Those men were
very properly named in such an assembly as the present,
and with them they associated every one who in the days of
discouragement and almost of despondency was not
ashamed of this question, and did not retreat from them, but
took his seat by them and gave them his vote, and when
they wanted an ally cheered them with his assistance and
co operation.—(Cheers.) Amongst them was his Hon. and
Gallant Friend who had honoured them by taking the chair.
—(Cheers.) That Hon. and Gallant Gentleman had won
fire himself laurels on the ocean and on the land.—(Cheers.)
He (Mr. Thompson) need not refer to his achievements else-
where, but of this he ( Mr. Thompson) felt confident, that he
was prepared to admit that he did not reflect with less satis-
faction on the bloodless triumph in which he took part for the
last few months, than when he was risking in his country's
cause his precious life under the walls of Acre.—(Cheers.)
It was not, he was sure, the less gratifying to him that, in
achieving this triumph, no one had been maimed or made
fatherless, but that this had been a triumph unstained by one
sanguinary spot.—(Cheers.) In conclusion, he proposed the
" Ilealths of Mr. Villiers, Mr. Cobden, Mr. Bright, and their
coadjutors in the House of Commons." _

The toast was drunk with the greatest enthusiasm.
The CHAIRMAN, who, on presenting himself, was received
with the most enthusiastic acclamations, said that he could
have wished it had fallen to some more worthy person to
have returned thanks for the toast, for he was bound in can-
dour to confess that he bad not always been as he now was,
a practical free trader. But ho never had been an advocate
of the sliding-scale.—( Hear, hear.) He had for a long time
been of opinion that it was better to advocate a fixed duty
on corn to free trade ; but though such were his feelings, he
had never failed in voting with his Hon. Friend Mr. Villiers
for free trade in preference to that most vicious of all sys-
tems, the sliding-scale.—(Hear, hear.) The reason why
he preferred to vote for a fixed duty rather than to advo-
cate absolute free trade was simply this, that it appeared
to him that it was very much easier and more feasible to
accomplish a fixed duty than free trade.—(Hear, hear.)
Nor was he alone in this sentiment, for be believed that
until the meeting of Parliament, at the commencement of
the present session, almost every man in Parliament was of
opinion that it would be incomparably easier to achieve the
one than the other.—( Hear, bear.) This was the opinion of
every man in the House until they saw Sir Robert Peel
coming out with his grand plan for establishing free trade,
and then every man of liberal and enlightened mind in the
House saw how it would be.—( Hear, hear.) The moment
that he (Sir C. Napier) saw the Noble Lord the Member for
London sending his subscription to the League, and address-
ing his celebrated letter to that body, he immediately saw
that the measure was one which was practicable, and might
be carried, and he accordingly supported it as cordially and
as strenuously as he had ever supported a fixed duty.—
(Cheers.) Nor did he regret having done so, for lie was sa-
tisfied that, thrown upon their own resources and their own
energies, Englishmen might enter into any competition with
any nation on the earth, and would be enabled to cultivate
their soil more effectually and with greater skill than when
the protective system was maintained inviolate.—(Hear,
hear.) He said this deliberately, for he was himself a
farmer, though on a small scale, and :he might be per-
mitted to say that lie pursued a system which had been
attended by results much more successful than those which
had attended the efforts of many of his neighbours
around him.—(Hear, hear.) He did not wonder
that many of his neighbours had not good crops,
for they did not take any pains to get them. They
appeared to think that nothing was necessary to be done but
to put the seed into the earth, and that it would grow with-
out any cultivation whatever. Such men deserve neither
pity nor "protection."—(Hear, hear.) But free trade would
call forth every man to exert himself to the utmost, and
farmers all over the country would be made sensible of this
fact, that good crops could not be obtained without the ex-
penditure of capital, and without draining the land and clear-
ing it with the utmost precision.—(Hear.) With respect to
the gentlemen mentioned in the toast, it was unnecessary
that he (Sir C. Napier) should say enythi,ig in their praise.
Their transcendent claims on the gratitude of the English
public were admitted on all hands, and even Sir R. Peel and
Lord J. Russell had admitted that it was not to them but to
Richard Cobden that the praise was due of procuring the re-
peal of the corn-laws. This honest admission on the part of
these two rival statesmen was alike honourable to them both.
With respect to Sir R. Peel, he must be permitted to say that
he thought that Minister had, by the disinterested course he
had pursued in reference to this gfeat measure, fully en-
titled himself to the gratitude and respect of Englishmen.
With a majority at his back of ninety• two, by whom he
might have carried any measure, he had, notwithstanding,
perilled his power, and as the event proved ultimately, for-
feited it, and at the same time left himself open to the
obloquy and calumny of those who were once his friends and
followers, in order that he might advocate what he consi-
dered the cause of truth and justice. He did not like Sir
Robert Peel's policy as much as the more straightforward
policy of Lord John Russell, but he was bound to give the
ex-Premier credit for the best motives, and most sincerely
did he hope that the great measure he had been instrumental
in carrying, would be eminently beneficial to the country.
The next toast proposed was "The Champions of Free
Trade outside the walls of Parliament."
Mr. R. MoonE replied in eloquent terms.
Several other toasts were proposed, and enthusiastically
responded to, and at eleven o'clock the company separated,
highly pleased with the evening's entertainment.

TALLOW-CHANDLERS' BENEVOLENT SOCIETY.—The
third annual meeting of the members of this Society, having
for its object the relief of distressed tallow-chandlers, was
held yesterday at the Hall of Commerce, Threadneedle-
street; John Catley, Esq., in the chair. The report, read by
Mr. North, the secretary, stated that the directors had de-
termined on holding an election of four pensioners in Octo-
ber next, in addition to the twenty-one now receiving the
benefits of the institution, thus making the amount of pen-
sions nearly 1901. per annum. At this time last year the
total amount received was 1,8681., and it was now 2,6241.
The funded property was 2,000/. During the year the re-
ceipts had been 1,5234 and,
deducting the expenditure and
the sum invested, a balance remained of 3321. The report
was adopted. Thanks having been voted to the various
officers, the meeting separated.
UNITED MEXICAN MINING ASSOCIATION.—Yester-
day at one o'clock the half-yearly meeting of this company
was held at the London Tavern, Sir John Easthope, Bart., in
the chair. Mr. Mather, the secretary, read the report of the
directors, from which it appeared that the total returns from
the mines to the 31st of December last amounted to
12,667/. 16s. 5d., and that the total available property of
the company in Mexico was estimated at 255,000/. The debt
due by the Mexican Government, amounting to 289,000 dolls.,
had been recently acknowledged by the Mexican executive,
although from the present aspect of affairs no immediate set-
tlement could be expected. The available assets in London
were 13,777/., subject to unclaimed demands to the extent of
6,727/. 7s. 6d., and leaving a surplus of 7,049/. towards the
next dividend. The report was received unanimously, when
Sir John Easthope, Bart., and Charles Morris,
elected directors. John Hibbert, jun., Esq., was E also
elected
an auditor. The usual vote of thanks was passed to the
ere
directors, and and the meeting adjourned.
CAUTION TO RAILWAY TRAVELLERS FROM SCOTLAND.
—A striking instance of the absurdity of the existing coun-
tervailing duties upon spirits entering England from Scotland,
and the annoyance caused by them to travellers, many of
whom are ignorant of their existence, occurred on Monday
morning, when the special train, conveying the pleasure
parties from Edinburgh arrived at Berwick terminus. A lady
and gentleman, on alighting from one of the carriages,
brought out a small basket with them, when they were ac-
costed by one of the Excise officers belonging to Berwick,
who seized, and searched it. A small bottle, containing
about a pint of whiskey, was found in it, which he seized.
when the gentleman remonstrated with him, saving it was
only a small portion he had brought with him for his own re-
freshment, and he was not aware there was anything im-
proper in so doing. The officer, however, was inexorable,
and seized also the basket, but this he returned on receiving
the gentleman's name. This case, we trust, will operate as a
caution to travellers, and may prevent many from being sub-
jected to a similar annoyance.—Berwick ander.
FRIGHTFUL ACCIDENT ON TUE LONDON AND BIR-
IHNGHAm RAILWAY.—On Tuesday evening an accident of
a most frightful character occurred to a man named William
Hailes, aged 53, a gentleman's coachman, who was coming
up from AVolverton in the train. Having alighted at the
Harrow station, he was about to resume his seat in the car-
riage, and in so doing he missed his footing, fell down, and
had well nigh gone under the wheels of the train, which was
just about to start. The poor fellow was picked up quite
insensible, bleeding from the forehead, and was placed in the
carriage and brought on to the terminus at Euston-square.
He was conveyed to the University College Hospital, where
it was discovered that he had sustained, besides a broken
leg, a fracture of the left clavicle, and other extensive
injuries, SO as to render his ultimate recovery extremely
dubious,