The Sun.
London, England, 1846-08-05 00:00:00

attAt

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5, 1846.

Protection to agriculture, though permanently
abrogated as the presiding principle of commerce, is
still the pet system of a minority. Discarded by the
nation and the Legislature, it is still cherished by a
faction. We are not surprised at this ; it is in the
nature of things. Just as it was natural for the staid
old gentlemen of a century ago to stick to those ram-
shackle conveyances, the heavy mails, in preference to
a modernized stage coach ; and as it is natural for
imne nervous old ladies now-a-days to patronise the
high road and to vituperate upon the perils dare
tare
to railway travelling, the protectionists
terribly behind their generation : they are
re cisely in as ludicrous a position in advocating
tbi commercial policy now exploded as a man would
bo in opposing the inductive philosophy of BACON as
914101194 And in pinning hie credence down to the

unprofitable disputation of the Peripatetics as bene-
ficial. It would be equally insanity to waste two
syllables in endeavouring to convince either of those
disputants of their error. They are beyond argu-
ment. A passage from the De Augmentis would
prove as inconclusive to the Aristotelian as a
passage from one of COBDEN'S lucid orations would
prove inefficacious to the protectionist. They are
equally beyond the reach of systematic reformation.
The children of this age can entertain towards them
not one particle of sympathy. Their emotions, ideas,
lamentations, and hopes, are so entirely of another and
a more remote generation, that we can only
listen to their harangues with astonishment, and
describe their movements as we would those of
some Anthropophagi, "or men whose heads do grow
beneath their shoulders."

The long-promised demonstration of the gratitude
entertained by this agricultural minority for the
exertions made by Lord GEORGE BENTINCK in the
House of Commons has taken place in Lynn
Regis, the borough which claims the honourable
distinction of having returned the Noble Lord as its
representative in Parliament. We have no inclina•
tion whatever to ridicule the proceedings even of a
minority as suggestive of the ludicrous as that
of the protectionists. We turn to the cir-
cumstances attendant upon this demonstration, and
the sentiments expressed by its orators with
feelings of curiosity and commiseration rather than
of scorn or aversion. We are neither surprised at
seeing a party of civilians solacing themselves after
a most crushing discomfiture by a kind of lachrymose
banquet, or to hear the Member for Lynn
and the Duke of RICHMOND repeating those common-
place phrases by the utterance of which they have
already committed themselves almost beyond the pos-
sibility of reparation. It would absolutely amount
to brutality to cast derision upon them for a proceed-
ing so thoroughly rational and so thoroughly English.
It is simply following the recommendation of
the drolls in the carnival, " And Sow gen-
tlemen having played the fool, let us go to
dinner!" Neither is it a matter of astonishment that
among the speeches delivered upon this occasion some
infusion of nonsense wa.s traceable. NAPOLEON iS said
to have been, after Waterloo, bereft, to a
considerable extent, of his powers of judgment
and rapidity of perception, for which at
other moments he was so remarkable. Can it, there-
fore, be surprising that Lord GEORGE BENTINCK,
after the signal victory of free trade, should betray
some deficiency of the qualities which he displayed
in Parliament ? that he should forget his charitable
and lenient remonstrances with Sir ROBERT,
his mild epithets, and rose-water rhetoric ?
Where ACHILLES failed, surely TIIERSITES would not
prove victorious !
The Noble Lord was unusually discursive in his
oration. In this particular, however, he merely fol-
lowed the example of the Noble Chairman, the Earl
of OREORD, who in about ten minutes had in-
formed his audience what the Doge of Genoa
said, when he visited Paris; that twelve months ago the
late Premier had been their trusted leader; that flags
had been unfurled metaphorically, and very shabby
tricks played substantially; and that the dinner
given by a few Mister Smiths and Mister Joneses,
of Lynn, was exceedingly like some compliment
paid by somebody to General VARRO, of the
Roman legions, after the battle of Cannce.
In emulation of this very desultory style of oratory
Lord GEORGE BENTINCK acknowledged the enthu-
siasm with which he had been welcomed by his con-
stituents, in a speech of considerable length, embrac-
ing almost every imaginable topic of political small-
talk. He entreated the yeomanry of England just to
compare himself (Lord G. BENTINCK) with Lord J.
RUSSELL ; by that adroit adjuration letting the said
yeomen into the secret, that the Noble Lord, the
Member for Lynn, was prepared, if necessary, to
sacrifice himself for the good of his country by taking
office. In this pert and clap-trap sentence Lord
GEORGE was peculiarly felicitous, and experienced
the most gratifying encouragement from his
listeners—listeners, whose cries of " We won't, we
won't," and "We will, we will," remind us of the
famous Old Dozey of MUNDEN. Of the flagrant
abuse lavished again upon the late Prime Minister,
of the platitudes uttered again upon the
burdens of agriculture, the necessities of
a protective system, the selfish machinations
of the cotton lords, and so on, through the whole
catalogue of protectionist logic, we shall say nothing,
because we have already said more upon those sub-
ets than they really deserved. We are gratified
that this banquet has taken place, and trust that
many others of a similar character will follow—
first, because they cannot possibly do any harm; and,
secondly, because they stimulate trade among a few
bakers and butchers, and afford one evening's em-
ployment at least to a few destitute fiddlers. During
the course of Lord GORGE BENTINCK'S me-
morable speech, on the 4th of August,
eighteen hundred and forty-six, he uttered one great
and indisputable truth. "It is scud," observed the
Noble Lord, " that we (the protectionists) have dis-
gusted the people of England!" Lord GEORGE
BENTINCK is both a wit and a philosopher; he has
condensed an eternal truth into seven words.

The debate on Monday evening, on Captain
LAYARD'S motion, was remarkable fur the unanimous
feeling that existed, on all sides of the House, for the
necessity of some alteration in the plans by which
our military affairs are regulated and carried on. The
able and convincing speech of the Gallant Member, on
introducing his motion to the House, most clearly
demonstrated the existence of abuses of the most se-
rious description. When so great a dislike to the ser-
vice is created in the mind of the soldier that he will,
unhesitatingly, accuse -himself of the most serious
crimes, and prefer even transportation itself---a
punishment the most weighty and formidable that
can be inflicted for any crime, with the exception
of capital offences—when in too many instances he
will have recourse even to mutilation or self-murder,
in order that he may escape from the stringent
severity of its discipline—there must be something
radically wrong in the management, which demands
the most careful consideration, the most anxious at-
tention, to be given to any suggestions for its amelio-
ration. Captain LAYARD appears to have maturely
weighed the various points, and to have brought his
military experience, and a cool, reflecting, well-dis-
ciplined mind, to their consideration. He thinks
that the enlistment should be for a limited period, for
ten years, and that if the soldier has acted worthily
during the time, he should receive his pay for six months
after his term, and that if he re-enlisted within a cer-
tain period, say two years, and served eleven years
longer, he should be entitled to the old rate of pension,
namely 10d. a day if in a sound state of health, and
ls. if reported unfit fur service by proper medical
authority, and that if he served on, his pension should
be still further raised. We cordially approve of the
suggestion. If adopted, it will afford, at least to the
soldier, a prospect of being one day released from his
irksome duties, and being restored to his rights and
privileges as a British subject—a hope that will cheer
and sustain him, that will enable him still to struggle
on during the residue of his term ; it will go some way
towards inducing a better class of recruits to tender
their services, and remove the temptation to desertion
which has hitherto unfortunately been so prevalent in
the army. The human mind is naturally buoyant,
and while a fair hope presents itself of an improve-
ment of condition at a future time, however remote,
wily preserve its elasticity, and undergo any
present hardships and privations • it is the total
absence of that hope that induces
to the
a feeling
r
of recklessness and despair, most injurious
in-
dividual and to the service to -which e belongs,
leads to the most horrible scenes, the most eaa whlinch
and harrowing punishments. But much must be doneg
for the soldier besides limiting the period of his com-
pulsory service; he must be educated, his comforts
must be attended to, a cheerful employment
an amusement must be provided for his leisure hours.
The condition of the soldier, in place of being worse
and more irksome than that of the labouring man,
must be so far raised above it as to afford the
strongest inducement to the sons of small farmers or
tradesmen readily to enter themselves, and to regard
their discharge as a serious misfcrtune, instead of a
blessing to be looked forward to with the most
pleasing anticipations. It may be said that such
changes would be productive of much expense to the
nation. We do not believe that such would be the
cape; op Os contrary, we xe satisfied that the addi.