The Sun.
London, England, 1846-09-26 00:00:00

britinns

LONDON, SATURDAY, SEPr.CENIBER 26, 1846.

The unwieldy remains of Protection have been
taken down to Chelmskord, to be exhibited to and
duly mourned over by a few of the relatives and
friends, who had for many years delusively enjoyed
an intimate acqu:sintance with the unfortunate de-
ceased. But -whilst they mourned, they feasted,—it
having been, settled, by a preliminary resolution, that
no stomP.chs were strong enough to continue empty
in ate presence of such a distressing object and
ghastly spectacle. Accordingly, to support them
through the painful scene they had determined on
witnessing, they ordered an excellent dinner for the
occasion, and wrote a very pathetic letter to Mr.
TOOLE, the celebrated toast-master, to run down fi;nd '
do his best to cheer up their spirits. The Duke of
RICHMOND acted in his usual, candid and straight-
forward manner. His Grace, having very op-
portunely flown to a convenient dis'6ance of five
hundred miles, sent a letter, stating that his
health had suffered so much from the attention
he had paid to the departed monster during his last
illness, that he begged leave to decline risking it any
further at the corr:plimentary " wake" to which they
had done his Grace the honour of forwarding an
invitation. Lord ASHBURTON took the like whole-
some view. Just returned from the Continent
where his Lordship had been for a little fresh air,
and the composure of his shattered nerves, a very
polite refusal to be present at the prandial inquest
was dispatched by Lord ASHBURTON to the Essex
Agricultural Protection Society. We think that in
these, and other numerous instances, a very wise dis-
cretion was exercised. Self-preservation is the first
law of nature ; and every writer on the preservation
of health has alluded to the deteriorating influences
of brooding over fetid remains. It may be a very
wise law for the promotion of anatomical science, that
the bodies of great criminals should be handed over
I after death for dissection ; but it is not to be expected
that all those who prompted them, for their own sel-
fish purposes, to the commission of the grave offences,
for which they have suffered the extreme penalty,
should be necessitated to watch over their mangled
re-mains, wherever and however they may be whimsi-
I cally hawked about. Therefore we hold that the
Duke of RICHMOND, Lord ASHBURTON, et hoc genus
omne, are fairly justified in the course they have
adopted.

The sudden and violent death that overtook the
' object so deeply commiserated at Chelmsford, was
frequently adverted to in very feeling terms during
the effervescent speeches delivered after dinner, and
much was said as to the actual cause of the shocking
occurrence. Lord GEORGE BENTINCK was observed
to howl most piteously. The intensity of his Lord-
ship's.sufferings elicited considerable sympathy, and
a great sensation was produced, when the Noble
Member for Lynn declared his belief that his de-
ceased friend bad come to his death by secret poison;
and the feelings were all the more strongly worked
upon, when his Lordship added, that he had known
the lamented victim many years, and who, till within
a short time of his melancholy end, appeared to be as
hale and hearty an old cock as ever stepped. We are
told that Lord GEORGE is exceedingly hurt at the
rumour that has got abroad, that the old gentleman
had pampered himself with very high diet all his
life, in the shape of import duties, and that, though
he was, to all appearances, a very healthy subject,
his system had been, for a long time, gradually un-
dermined. We are further informed that Lord
GEORGE is quite positive the late squire never hob-
bled about on crutches, when in private. We are
bound to confess however—making every allowance
for the favourable recollections and poignant senti-
ments of Lord GEORGE—that we have been credibly
assured he could not get out of his easy-arm-chair for
many years without calling for artificial support, and
that he used to give the strictest orders to his confi-
dential servants never to divulge the fact to the

The good, gullible farmers had to listen to many
dreary speeches, but must have left the table very
little enlightened as to the past or future. Lord
GEORGE rode over the course in his usual style. A
great deal of bombastic fustian, much coarseness of
language, and impudently-assumed fallacies, con-
stituted the chief ingredients of his Lordship's
address. Lord GEORGE'S egotism never soared
higher. His were " good, honest intentions," but his
opponents were " careless of principle and political
honour," and "dirty fellows" into the bargain. Ire-
land, to be saved, must, according to this redoubtable
champion and undoubted authority, " cling to the
last planks of Protection." Such are his Lordship's
pleasures of hope. If Ireland is suffering from
famine, she must keep her own superabundance
of grain to herself, for which she is entirely
indebted to the late system of the corn-laws. Such
is Lord GEORGE'S panacea, and into wase head
it never seems to have entered, that if famine is
to be thus staved off in one part of our dominions, it
would infallibly bring it over another, which has
afforded the usual market for the sale of the produce
he would prohibit from exportation from Ireland.
The Noble Member for Lynn makes startling dis-
coveries. His Lordship is sapient enough to eat a
cake and have it too. So far from Ireland having
benefited by the corn-laws, her backward state in
agriculture is referred to as the chief cause of her
misery, and every suggestion is being daily poured
forth to accelerate improvements in the cultivation of
her soil, which would long ago have been engendered
and stimulated, had the wholesome influence of com-
petition, incidental to freedom of trade, prevailed.
The old bugbear, that foreigners had closed their
ports against the exportation of grain in periods
of scarcity, was routed up anew, and al-
lusion made to this having been done last
year by Sweden, Belgium, Sardinia, and Egypt.
Countries are right enough to do this when they have
only sown corn sufficient for their own consumption ;
but steps adopted by foreigners, under our old laws
of prohibition, are no guide to their future policy
under the auspices of unfettered commerce, when, for
the purposes of commerce, other nations will produce
an article in abundance proportioned to the demand
for it in this country. The greatest of modern Em-
perors tried to hamper us by his celebrated Berlin
decrees ; but the energy of the merchant defeated his
purblind policy, even in the zenith of his power.
Much more of rhodomontade was uttered by the
Protectionist leader, which we cannot dwell upon at
present. His ignorance of the principles of our Con-
stitution is absolutely glaring. Altogether, the
meeting at Chelmsford goes further than we expected
to prove the monopolists the most incapable set of
men for understanding the wants, or promoting the
interests of a great country like this, that ever figured
in public life.

On Wedeesday the members of the Court of
Common Council resolved unanimously to petition
Parliament cn two subjects of extreme importance
to the sanatory condition of the metropolis :—Firstly,
to prohib the interment of the dead within the
precincts of the City, and secondly, to prevent the
grievances resulting from the smoke of steam-engines,
from the furnaces of manufactories, and from the
chimneys of other buildings. We have already so
frequently had occasion to dilate upon the necessity
of some comprehensive and immediate alteration in
these particulars, that the urgency of the question
must instantly present itself to the imagination of our
readers on the mere perusal of the above announce-
ment. Only very recently we directed public grati-
tude to the'patriotic perseverance of Mr. MACKINNON
in bringing his motions annually before the attention
of the House of Commons. We then endeavoured to
show that the exertions of that Honourable Gentleman
were only different from the evrtione made during