The Sun.
London, England, 1846-02-13 00:00:00

TO VIE ELECTORS OF WESTMINSTER.

be put down by the Government. The greater part of
Ireland, he asserted unhesitatingly, was in a state of in-
surrection, and no step had been taken by the Govern-
ment to put it down. As the law at present existed, the
poor man, if he was honest, must be crushed. The
state of Roscommon was such, that life and property
was not protected there. He considered that it was
high time that something should be done with respect to
the criminal law in Ireland. The House had now s►t
three weeks, and the intentions of the Government on
that subject had not yet been made known to Parliament.
Earl ST. GERMANS said it was the intention of il,e
Government, at an early period, to lay on the tables
of the House a Bill which he trusted would have the
effect of remedying the evils complained of by the Noble

It was: evident that ever since the Hon. Baronet
had assumed office he had never been earnest in his defence
of the cause of protection, while it had been vigorously,
ably, and earnestly attacked by the Hon. Member
for Stockport. Our other institutions would be attacked,
and they would only be defended by one who was
earnest in his defence of those institutiow. The Right Hon.
Baronet was not in earnest in their defence, and therefore
he would not repose any further confidence in the

GENTLEMEN,
I BELIEVE I am asserting but a fact, thate
de-
at
the last general electien, a majority of your body wer
sirous of recording their votes fer site. We need not now stop to in-
quire by what neglect or juggle a stain on your hitherto bright and
long-established fame was then inflicted. But you and myself conse-
quently are placed in a peculiar position.
Under such circumstances—after so many years in your service—
after so many marks of your confidence, which I have scorned to
betray or abuse, or to pander for fee or reward, it has remained im-
perative on me to be prepared to co-operate In removing that dis-
credit.
But a week since I stated,
oar at the
teem, instance
my determination to fulfil
of pure minded and in-
fluential electors who enjoy yes
that obligation. The occasion has arisen. lam present with you to
fulfil my part. Last night a numerous assembly of your public-
spiritkd local representatives, at which I was present, decided on
this contest. In five preceding contests their decisions have been
with me, irrevocable. Never before have I been honoured with a
more kind, generous, or unanimous reception.
I need not tell you, I am a free-trader, total and immediate ; not,
however, of a few weeks or months, but of many years, when the
cause was in contempt and disrepute, and when its support was not
the road to worldly advantage. And I have no motive now to alum-
don it—nor will Sir R. Peel find amongst his most obsequious fol-
lowers or officials a more ardent supporter of his present measures.
lint, gentlemen, though deeply conscious of the necessity of unqua-
lified assistance to these measures, I ant not so silly a political or
party pedant as to believe that this is the sole matter worthy of con-
sideration, that there are not also other quite as great objects of Civil
and Religious Equality and Amelioration to be yet struggled for.
Of these 1 will, you know, be also a staunch adherent. And I will no:
wait to be so for the conversions of the great and powerful.
The day of elertion will arrive quickly. You will find me, then
and intermediately, at my post. I will do my duty, to the best of
my humble ability—do you yonrs ; and I am sure I need not call to
your recollection, that the first and paramount of all political func-
tions are those of electors. It is they who have truly the power to
teach their governors that a just, upright, and honourably consistent
course can alone receive their permanent sanction.
I have the honour to be, Gentlemen,
I Your faithful Servant,
DE LACY EVANS.
Bryanston-square, 12th Feb., 1846.

Right Hon. Baronet or his Government. His opposi-
tion to them was sincere and earnest, and he saw no
chance of its being removed, so long as the Right Hon.
Baronet, with his evasions of discussion, should remain
the master-spirit of the Cabinet.
Mr. C. WYNN regretted to find that on this subject
he differed from a large meeting of his constituency—a
misfortune which had not before happened to him for

Marquis.
After some observations from Earl FARNHAM an..l
Earl CLARE,
Earl GREY said he was glad to hear that it was the
intention of the Government to introduce a mea-
sure upon the subject that had been introduced by
his Noble Friend. There was something radi-
cally wrong in the state of Ireland, which required
Legislative enactments to remedy. Ile hoped, when the
measure was introduced, some account would be given of
the general policy of the Government with respect to
Ireland.

nearly half a century that he had represented them. He
was aware that it had been said that our forefathers
had adopted the doctrines of protection, but he
rated their authority as very high in matters relating to
commercial legislation. On the subject of com-
merce, trade, and agriculture, their legislation
had been a series of mischievous meddling,
and it was only until the days of Mr. PITT and Lord
GRENVILLE that just principles of commercial legisla-
tion were acknowledged and acted on. He had
always been an advocate for the relaxation of
prohibitory and protective duties, but he had
always felt the weight of the argument which
was urged in favour of agricultural protection ; but it
would be unfair to remove it while protection was con-
' tinned to manufactures. But now that the measure
for the removal of protection to agriculture was not
brought forward as an isolated measure, but as
part of a great scheme for the removal of pro-
tection generally, he felt bound to support it.

The returns were then agreed to, and the House ad-
urned.

The House met at Four o'clock.

The Marquis of CHANDOS took the oaths and his seat
ror Buckingham, and Lord HENRY LENNOX for Chi-

chester.

On the motion of Lord GRANVILLE SOMERSET, the
second report of the Committee on Railways was agreed
to after a short discussion.

Several petitions were presented in favour of and
against railway Bills.
On the motion of Lord G. SOMERSET, the following
Members were appointed a Committee for the classifi -
cation of Railway Bills:—Lord COURTENAY, Mr. Fox
MAULE, Mr. W. PATTEN, Sir W. SOMERVILLE, and Mr.
PAKINGTON.

Mr. HUDSON brought up the Newcastle and Darling-
ton Railway Bill.
Several Railway Bills having been introduced, and
various petitions presented,
Admiral DUNDAS said that he understood it was in-
tended to send Captain JOHNSTONE, who had been tried
for murder recently at the Old Bailey, to some colony
The man certainly ought to be hanged, and he hoped he
would not be transported. He also wished to know if it
was intended to institute an examination of persona
before they were permitted to assume the office of
masters of merchant seamen vessels.
Sir J. GRAHAM said the Government had no power
over Captain JOHNSTONE, he having been acquitted
on the ground of insanity, except to keep him in a state
of close confinement in Bedlam for life. He also stated
that it was the intention of Government to take mea
sures for examining the masters of merchant vessels
before their appointment.
Mr. SIDNEY HERBERT, in answer to a question,
stated that the subject of providing a retirement for staff
officers was under the consideration of her Majesty's
Government, and that the China medals, to the amount
of 17,0001., would be ready for distribution in the course
of a short time. _

Mr. STAFFORD O'BRIEN complained of certain inac-
curacies in the published statistical reports of the Board
of Trade, and took the opportunity of indulging in a
personal attack on Mr. M‘GREGoe.
Sir GEORGE CLERK said the Honourable Gentlema❑
had given no notice of his question, but that if law would
state to the Board in what the errors consisted, he IN ould
take care the subject should be inquired into.
After a few words from Lord SEYMOUR and Mr.

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, PEITRIT A ttY"lO, 1846.

they are. Is it likely th!t, country* so great
and glorious as this, a country will, owes her greatness and
a "'intr. even now shaking off the re-
h
strictions on her commerce, the fetters on her industry, about
gloryto comteo
foerrt
hp etopenl e
t,i
raw: more glorious than ever—is it likely
that such a cou'ry, boasting of her freedom, would submit
to the arb;.',rary dictation of an exclusive few, whose chief
claim to distinction is their strawberry crown, whose right to
rule is derived from some hereditary acres? Is it likely that
the people who, in 1831 and 1832, rose up the stronger from
all opposition, would be ready in 1846 to bow down to the
shadow of the tyrant they then defied?

" What! we who burst the bon lage our fathers bore so long,

That oppression had seemed sacred in its venerable wrong."
What ! we who fought, and not in vain, against the grow-
ing thraldom of years who beat the borough-mongers,
even with their own corrupted Parliament—shall we submit
now to the last remants of a system so unfair, so dishonest., so
un-English ! This is no longer a matter of doubt ; the mind
of the nation is made up. Noble Lords may know the
real feelings of the people as soon as they wish,
or even sooner. The only marvel is, that such a state
of things should have endured so long; that the
remnants of feudal tyranny should, in the nineteenth
century, be placed beside the evidences of the people's power;
that the electiOns of the West Riding and of Chichester
should occur almost at the same time ; that when the
Minister of England proposes great measures of commercial
reform, concerning the welfare, perhaps the existence of
thousands, he should be arrested in his glorious undertaking
by the selfish opposition of a privileged few, eager only for their
own interests, and by their very eagerness defeating their
own objects. What avails their senseless clamour, they are
only—

" The pebbles stiffening in a torrent's course,
They cannot binder time from flowing on."

It will flow on in spite of them ; and, if they are not care-
ful, it may carry them away. A little while must solve the
difficulty, whether there is to be a dissolution or not. Noble
Lords may be anxious for such an event; yet, should it come,
they will find themselves bitterly deceived. In a single
election they are able to hold their own; but when the whole
country is appealed to, even the enslaved pocket boroughs may
venture to gain courage by example, they may dare to act in
defiance of their masters, as in days gone by, when the spirit
of reform roused the sympaties of the nation ! But should
it be otherwise, should the protectionists chance to triumph,
such a triumph would be the most unfortunate thing that
possibly could happen to them, Then their day of reckoning
would arrive, then the people might stand at the doors of the
House of Commons and ask, as we do now, by what right do
many enter. What could the new Members have replied last
night had any demanded why they were there? Could Lord
HENRY LENNOX call himself a representative of the
people ? And such only should take their seats within
the Lower House. Would it not be fairer to allow
the sons, or the proteges of a Peer, to sit by
his side in his own House ? Then, indeed, we should
know what to expect. The SOVEREIGN alone can create
Peers, but a Peer can not only create commoners, but can
entitle them to the privileges of representatives of the people.
In everything there is some good and the good of a bad
thing is that it must be mended, so we will not despair; sa-
tisfied that it cannot last, we will calmly watch the enti ie of
new Members taking their seats amid "Conservative cheers ;"
we will witness the petitions presented to the Lords, and not
even exclaim, " So much for BUCKINGHAM I"