The Sun.
London, England, 1846-04-15 00:00:00

THE PROTECTIONISTS.

The Augsburgh Gazette, just received, says:—" In
consequence of the anxiety of the public for news from
the East Indies, the Oregon question is in the meantime
almost forgotten. At all events, no one takes it ill of
the Ministry, except the protectionist organs, for making
no answer to the swaggering of the Americans, and con-
tinuing to offer its hand for an equitable adjustment.
Lord George Bentinck, who is all of a sudden, as if by a
magic stroke, transformed into a great statesman, and
delivers his judgment, in a single speech, on all points
of internal and external policy, upon trade, finance,
and national education, spoke very freely last week,
in the Bramarbas style, of the destruction of all the
American seaports. I assure you, however, that John
Bull infinitely prefers buying from his brother Jona-
than cotton, corn, salt meat, and cheese, to destroying
his towns with cannon balls; and if Jonathan has not
entirely lost his senses, he will not thwart old Bull in
his peaceable humour. The Opposition (behind the
Treasury benches) contest Peel's plan step by step ; and
seem to derive fresh courage from Lord Stanley's decla-
ration that he hopes the House of Peers will throw it
out ; and yet the result of all their divisions on each
individual point of the tariff which they thought proper
to oppose ought to have rendered them more discreet ;
for they were not only beaten every time, but on every
division the Ministerial majority was larger, and in the
sequel the House of Commons adopted the tout ensemble
of the tariff without the slightest alteration. At this
moment all the articles therein included are already
either free of duty or admitted at the newly-reduced
rates. What, however, they should take still more to heart
is the almost total silence of the manufacturers and artisans
affected by the alterations ; even those orators who at
first cried out so loudly had partly withdrawn their
complaints against the intended alteration in the timber
duties (since adopted), and partly ceased to complain at
all. Yes, the prevailing silence of the farmers, and even
of the landed proprietors, should serve them as a warn-
ing that, as these have attained conviction, it would be
better to bring the affair to a termination at once, than
any longer to depend upon an apparent, but, on account
of its uncertainty, a useless protection. All this, however,
does not restrain the landlords from continuing to struggle.
On the 23d ult. Peel proposed the second reading of the
new Corn Bill, and a long debate ensued. The result is
known. Unfortunately, the Government finds itself com-
pelled to press forward the Irish Coercion Bill, and on
this account the business on the Corn Bill and the tariff
must be postponed. There is, moreover, no hope enter-
tained, in spite of all the prayers and complaints ofsthe
commercial world, that this affair will be entirely brought
to a close before the end of May. What is intended by this
delay it is difficult to ascertain, as even amongst the Op-
position ranks it appears to be deemed a matter of cer-
tainty that a majority is gained in the House of Peers.
It suits their purpose, however, to impute to Peel every
possible act of treachery in the world ; and thus their
organs declare, with all the appearance of conviction,
that he has already concerted with the Whigs, Radicals,
and Repealers, the sacrifice of the church in Ireland
and the granting of repeal to O'Connell, as soon
as the Corn-law battle has been won ; and that
consequently every bishop who may vote for the
repeal of the corn-laws will really vote for the down-
fall of the church. I fear, however, that this mingling
of corn and church will not much avail either the corn-
producing aristocracy or the aristocratical church es-
tablished by law. From the very circumstance that the
League is constantly accused that its intention is di-
rected beyond corn and aimed at the church, the latter
might easily be enabled to direct its power against an
institution, the clergy of which are on all occasions
pressed upon it as adversaries.

THE SQUIRES V. POACHING.—The squires are a terrible
race, harmless enough, indeed, in all ether matters, but a
terrible race when the majesty of the game• laws is attacked.
We heard of one of them a week or two ago, who, like
Robinson Crusoe, " monarch of all he surveyed," was walking
about his dominions with, like the same Robinson, his gun
upon his shoulder ready for action, should he fall in with any
invaders of his territory. And he did. In one of his fields,
bordering upon the turnpike road, he espied, not a yard from
the road, a very small, wee wee dog. In short, it was a
lady's lap-dog. Visions of pheasants, hares, and partridges
destroyed by this horrid four-legged poacher instantly arose
before the mind of the angry squire, who, cocking both
barrels of his gun, advanced, like Sir H. Gough upon the
Seikhs, bravely towards the terrible aggressor. The little
dog made no efforts to retreat, but having been taught all
kinds of tricks, stood up upon his hind legs and put out
its paw to snake hands with the new acquaintance who
was approaching. In this position the cruel wretch shot
it dead. Hardly had he effected this noble deed, when he
learned from one of his servants who came up, that the
poor creature was the property of a neighbouring gentleman,
who, upon hearing of his feat, would make no scruple about
elongating his nose to the greatest mathematical proportions
of which it was capable. Upon this he proceeded to bury
the animal, as the best way of putting it out of sight and
preventing all discovery. But he had been seen. Within
an hour came a note inquiring after the poor dog. The cow-
ardly assassin of the canine innocent equivocated. Then
came the stern rejoinder:—" You shot it yourself, were seen
to bury it under such a tree, and my servant has orders to
see the body disinterred and bring it home with him." And
there the matter rests, but only rests for the present, as the
falsehood of the dog-killer is putting him out of the pale of
all society in his neighbourhood. But what a picture of the
effects of game preserving upon civilization does this incident
set before us ! and it is only one out of a thousand examples
which might be adduced to show how the happiness and
harmony of society are interrupted and destroyed by the
hateful laws which make the birds and beasts of the field the
property of one man in preference to another.—Liverpool
Chronicle.
SINGULAR DEATH OF A WATCHMAN.—Yesterday,
James Russell, night-watchman at the Irongate-wharf,
the Tower, was found suffocated between two bales of
have fa en a 1.),
piled uP
about
tr
fifty
yy
ysingularage,
is supposed circumstances.
tin'h e
against the
during the night, on the flax, which is
to get out was
between two of the bales, and in attempting
wall, and must have fallen head downwards whos
lee s
suffocated. His face and neck wered great efforts to extri-
swollen, and he had evidently
who missed his colleague
cate himself. There was
Gerrard, employed on the premises,make
any d oalno uorpeedn nngd,
anded
anothiner
about two o'clock, but did not
when the labourers came to the
nlghste-lalr'acthchfrnoranh,imnam,
it was not until eight o'clock,
wharf; that of the deceased was found in the 4411-
sttiot
aeicribtcbc4 body