The Sun.
London, England, 1846-01-22 00:00:00

etiiening

J-.--13TUA.RY 22, 1815.

There is no public man more deserving of honour
from the people than Mr. DUNCOMBE ; and the
meeting held last night at the Crown and Anchor
Tavern, by the working classes and the members of
the trades' associations of the metropolis, to do
honour to their champion, was a fitting tribute of
gratitude and respect, su,itably rendered on the eve of
the day on which he will renew his Parliamentary
labours. If we look back through the four years of
the Peel Ministry, we find Mr. DUNCOMBE standing
out in bold relief, and proudly distinguished by the
persevering pursuit of definite aims, and by
services actually conferred on the people, in the
general apathy of the Liberal Opposition. The Sun
will not be accused of being insensible to the great
services of Mr. COBDEN and Mr. Vu.mans ; but what
they have done since the Whigs went out of office, in
1841, has been done much more out of the House o'
Commons than in it, and it must be said that in the
House of Commons the champions of the Anti-Corn-
law League have shown generally an indisposition to
take part in any questions besides their own. We do not
say this reproachfully, and it is by no means neces-
sarily a reproach. " One thing at a time " is
often a good rule; and if Mr. COBDEN had scattered
his energies on other questiona besides the repeal of
the corn-laws, we should not be where we are on that
question—within reach of victory. But there is no
question in which the great bulk of the English peo-
ple feel an interest—no question of individual wrong,
any more than of public grievance—which has not
had the aid of Mr. DUNCOMBE'S eloquent, bold, and
untiring advocacy. Early in the life of the present
Parliament, on the occasion of Sir ROBERT PEEL'S
first gift, the income-tax, Mr. Durecoarns
wrested, by his tact and perseverance, from
an unwilling Government and Parliament
a power for the people of petitioning
against taxes about to be imposed. If Mr. DUN-
COMER had done no more than what he has done
against the immoral and unconstitutional practice of
letter-opening at the Post-office, the people of this
country would still owe him a great debt of gratitude.
We hope that the Hon. Member for Finsbury,
cheered and stimulated by last night's demonstration
of gratitude and affection from a most crowded meet.
ing, will return to the charge this session, and not
rest content till the odious power of seal-opening is
entirely swept away. And on another ques-
tion to which The Sun has lately endeavoured to
direct public attention, the state of the
representation, Mr. DUNCOMBE is almost the only
Member of the Legislature who has continued from
time to time to show up the abuses that still exist,
and protest against finality in Parliamentary reform.
Honour, then, we say heartily with last night's meet-
ing, to the people's champion.
The meeting of last night had for its especial and
principal object to honour Mr. DUNCOMBB ; but the
series of resolutions passed and spoken to shows it to
have been also a meeting chiefly of Chartists. To
desire further Parliamentary reform is one thing,
and to subscribe to every item of the Char-
ter is another. We cannot advocate payment of
Members of Parliament, which would give the con-
stituents a power over their Members quite irrecon-
cileable with deliberation and free action by the
latter. We think there are many valid objections to
a division of the country into equal electoral districts,
apart from the difficulties attendant on a change
from the present old established system of constitu-
encies ; but we entirely go along with Mr. CHRISTIE,
one of the very few Members of Parliament present
at this meeting, who said—
" He did not come there to pledge himself to a particular
set of opinions, but he was prepared in the House of Com-
mons to endeavour, in the words of the resolution, to destroy
class legislation—(Great cheering)—by giving more power
to the people and less to the dukes in elections—by having
larger constituencies and a much wider distribution of the
franchise, and by giving the poor voter, whose circumstances
made him dependent on the rich and the great, the prote‘7,-
den of the ballot."

The presence of so few Members of the Legislature
on such an occasion is deeply to be regretted. Our
legislators do not know, and do not try to know,
what is going on among the working classes.

The result of the action BARNETT v. BURDETT,
tried in the Court of Exchequer, before Mr. Baron
ALDERSON and a common jury, is of Test impor-
tance to the community, and will cause deep regret
to many that they were not wise in time, and that
they embarked in dangerous speculations without
counting the costs. The action was brought
by a stationer and printer, in the City,
against Mr. JONES BURDETT, nephew of
the late Sir FRANCIS BURDETT, to recover
the sum of 1191. 10s. for stationery, printing, and
other articles, furnished to the Irish West Coast Rail-
way Company. Mr. BURDETT was a member of the
provisional committee, and the plaintiff, knowing pro-
bably that he was able to pay, and not placing much
confidence in the pecuniary abilities of certain others
of the provisional committee, sued him for the whole
amount. Mr. BURDETT, it further appears, did not
consider himself at all liable, for in a note to an appli-
cant for payment of the account, he replied " that
he had no connexion whatever with the Irish West
Coast Railway, and had forwarded the application
to the solicitors of the Company, as he
knew nothing at all about it." The Learned
Judge, however, and even the counsel for
the defendant, took a different view. The
latter admitted that he had no defence to the action
as fur hack as October 16th, the period at which the
defendant became connected with the Company,
Mr. Baron ALDERSON'S words are precise on the
point, and ought, therefore, to be generally known :
" No possible doubt," said he, " existed as to the
liability of the defendant. The defendant became
responsible from the day when he consented to act on
the provisional committee, and that was on the 16th
eot efrr.o
frown that
defendantday w h
which
was h
aliable e tno
enteredal l
ocofntOract
into for thP purposes of the company, whilst the
party who made those contracts for the Company
was in the position of the agent of the committee,
For an?, debts inctirred before the 16th of October