The Sun.
London, England, 1851-04-25 00:00:00

Ittl tok.
11116

LONDON, FRIDAY, APRIL 25, 1851.

On Wednesday morning Mr. Sergeant MURPHY
was unanimously elected representative in Parlia-
ment for the city of Cork, in the place of their late
consistent and faithful Member N laLbLlAdra FhAaurged
AN,
who, having honestly and indefatVi
giy discharged
the duties of the important trust confided
ude
edgtroathitishanadnsd,
had retired into private life, with the
respect t
esteem
of his former
Liberal constituents,
v a r
party
i
n t andh e litohues
House
o friendshipf Com-
mons,
who duly appreciated the important services to
the good cause rendered by their late colleague. No op-
ponent came forward to contest the seat to which every
elector felt that the Honourable and Learned Ser-
geant had a strong claim, not merely from the local
influence of his family and the high estimation in
which they have long been held by rich and poor, or
from his own unquestionable abilities, but from the
manner in which he invariably acted during his Par-
liamentary career—the undeviating redemption of
every pledge, the full performance of every promise,
and the indefatigable vigilance and devotion with
which he watched over the interests of his native
city, and the courteous attention he bestowed upon
the communications of his fellow-citizens and consti-
tuents. We always rejoice to find such services
' recognised and rewarded, to find a member, and those
by whose suffrages he is elevated to so high and dis-
tinguished a position, mutually worthy of each other,
and united by that cordial and mutual understanding
that is at all times so essential, and which so greatly

enhances the moral weight of the representative in the
Parliamentary scale, giving cogency to his reasoning
and adding strength to his arguments, when it is
known that he is always certain of re-election, and that
there is no prospect of his eviction from his seat.
We should not, however, perhaps have noticed the
present uncontested election, although it fully confirms
the assertion we put forward when the Liberal
party sustained a defeat last year, "that if Sergeant
31.uarny had been a candidate the result would have
been very different," but that we cannot pass sub silentio
the admirable manner in which he exposed the folly
and absurdity of those who have been styled " the
Irish Brigade," and who have acted against their
most cherished convictions, being ready to declare
that " black was white," if the Ministry could
be thereby annoyed or damaged. There can be no
doubt that Mr. FAGAN was induced to resign
his seat sooner than he might otherwise have
done, in consequence of the urgency with which
he was pressed by some of the electors to abandon his
well-known opinions, to vote in favour of proposi•
tions which he believed to be prejudicial to the best

interests of his country, and against measures cal,
culated to promote its welfare and prosperity—in
other words, to sink from the situation of an inde-
pendent representative into a mere delegate, who
should obey in every respect the dictates of a small
but energetic clique which took upon itself to speak
and to issue its commands in the name of the entire
constituency. A similar effort was made to coerce
Sergeant Muarny, as soon as he was declared to
be a citizen elected to serve in Parliament. But the
attempt was a total failure. The Hon. and Learned
Gentleman vindicated his own independence, and
showed the manifest impolicy of the suggestion, with
a vigour and ability that must have carried convic-
tion to the mind of every auditor, and which we

trust may have its due effect on those who have been
Led astray by temporary irritation.

So far as the question of the Ecclesiastical Titles
Bill itself, the teterrinza causa belli, was concerned,

there was no difference between the Honourable and
Learned Gentleman and the querists. None could
speak more strongly against the measure itself, and
against the conduct of the Premier and his colleagues
upon the entire point of the Papal aggression than
the Learned Sergeant, and although we think that he
has regarded the matter in a deceptive light, we do
not blame him for resisting by every legitimate
means a Bill which he believes—erroneously believes
—to be insulting to his religion and prejudical to the

interests of its professors. But while he thus pro•
perly and constitutionally expressed his views
he indignantly repudiated the doctrine that he
was to vote " black was white" in order to expel
from office a Ministry with whose views he generally
concurred, because he disagreed with them in one
point, in order to bring in another to whom he was
opposed toto ccelo. If his only choice lay between a
Bill which he certainly disliked, but which was a
mere brutum fulmen that would never belcarried into
practical operation, and another of stringent severity
that would lead to many qui tam actions, any com-
mon informer being at liberty to sue for the penalties,
and to put the machinery tof the law into motion,
should he endeavour to bring in those who would
carry the more objectionable measure in order to
exhibit vindictive spite against the others for bring-
ing forward the lesser grievance ? Should he depose
King Log, in order to elevate King Stork ? The
sound common sense of the Learned Gentleman re-
volted from the palpable absurdity, and we trust that
his Parliamentary colleagues will derive a salutary
lesson from his better judgment.
It is unnecessary to say, that the late Ministerial
crisis—the possible, aye, more then probable, advent
of the Protectionists to office, and the loss of a great
deal of valuable time—was occasioned by the defec-
tion of some twenty or thirty Irish Members,
who, although previously rendering a general
support to the Government, and advocating free-trade
principles, went into the same lobby with Mr. Dis-
RAELI (it is not necessary to advert to other cases),
and thus nearly transformed a respectable minority into
a majority. Ireland itself has suffered most severely
for the folly of its children. Measures of great utility,
calculated to develop the great natural capabilities,
and to promote the welfare and prosperity of the
country, have been indefinitely postponed. The Se-
curities for Advances Bill, a measure which, if ex-
tended as we have already pointed out, will probably
prove more beneficial to Ireland than any that has
been introduced during the present century,
has been kept back, and property is still
sacrificed for a moiety of its value under the En-
cumbered Estates Commission. But why multiply
examples ? The very persons who have occasioned
the mischief will, when reflection comes to their aid,
regret most deeply the insane eourse they have
pursued.
If any arguments were necessary in addition to
those so strongly and clearly put forward by Sergeant
Muarny, to show the folly of those reckless pro-
ceedings, we would commend an exceedingly clear
and well-written pamphlet,* which has just come
under our notice, and which will well repay public
re-perusal, while it will, we trust, induce the members
of the Irish Brigade to pursue a more rational and
straightforward course henceforward.

Among the many boons for which a grateful com-
munity stand indebted
who fulfils the functions to the Right Hon. Baronet
Ex-
chequer with equal ons of Chancellor of the
credit to himself and satisfaction
to the country, is hisusTal, as announced in answer
to a question put by mrref
13
Commons, on the evening the Bth instant, to with-
drawof thmi"G' in
the House of
or make any alteration in
of the 31st of August, 1840, sanctieonTinrgatshuer Treasury
adultera-
tion Minute
of coffee, or in the practice
of the Excise-office
on the subject. We are thus
Properly left to the
tender mercies of the grocers, and to the enjoyment
of a delicious compound, which should henceforth be I
known by the popular name of " Wood's Mixture ;"
for an acute contemporary announces, as a new dis-
covery in chemistry, that chicory is found to be
formed chiefly of lignine, the essential principle of
Wood. The Commissioners of Excise are nowise
responsible for the extensive adulteration of coffee,
nor is the impunity afforded to the vendors of this
sickening trash to be ascribed to any defective legis-
lation,
any more than to a laxity ov their part in
adopting measures to repress the evil. The bands of

" The Government and the Irish.Ronan Catholic
_
Members." Second edition. London: V. and R. Stevens
and G. S. Norton, Bell-yard, ard, Lincelni,is Inn, and W.
Pickering, Piccadilly, Ijsl.