The Sun.
London, England, 1844-03-27 00:00:00

British empire, including the Indian possessions, would
(create the greatest alarm among the agriculturists,
and would create great confusion and uncertainty.
His Right Honourable Friend opposite had
said that the Government had been guilty of
a want of foresight last year, in not being aware that,
when they granted a boon to one colony, others would
insist on having a similar one. Now the fact was that
Government did foresee that, and when he (Lord Stanley)
introduced the Canada Corn Bill, last year, he stated
Clearly that he introduced it in conformity with a pledge
that this country had entered into with Canada, and that
it, therefore, must be considered an insulated case for
Canada alone. On that occasion, he stated that the
engagement was with Canada, and that only, and that
the Government had no intention whatever of disturbing
the existing corn-laws with respect to other colonies.
The Right Hon. Gentleman opposite then asked if it
'was intended to apply to Prince Edward's and other
islands, and he (Lord Stanley) then distinctly stated
that the course the Government had taken was in ac-
cordance with the engagements entered into. Now, was
it wise, he would ask, to disturb an extensive settlement
or arrangement for so unimportant an object as the
motion of the Hon. Member for Gateshead ? When
prices ranged high, the object of the Hon. Member
would be obtained, because, if the price rose to 575., the
duty would then amount to that sum which the Hon.
Gentleman wished. He would not now enter further
into the subject. It was a small and immaterial point.
If it could be proved that from the colonies they could
make up the deficiency of wheat at home, he should
have thought he had made some case for his motion ;
but, as it was, he thought a weaker case had not been
made out by any Hon. Member.
Mr: HAWES considered that the weakness of his
Hon. Friend's case was its strength. The Noble Lord
seemed to have completely overlooked the object of his
friend and the justice of his question. He should re-
member that all he required was a -Committee on the
subject, and considering, as he did, that that was essen-
- vial, he should vote for the motion.
Mr. EWART felt convinced that no alteration could
be made in the corn-law until some emergency arose that
would be most injurious to the agriculturists. He thought
they were bound to do what they could to promote the
interests of India ; and he also was of opinion that some-
thing should be done for the trade in general. He felt
convinced that the country had been too strongly imbued,
by that band of philosophers the Anti-Corn-law League
—(Laughter)—to be content with the motion of his
Hon. Friend the Member for Gateshead.—(Laughter.)
He thought they ought to follow up the motion of his
Hon. Friend by demanding a repeal of the corn-laws
altogether.
" Mr. HUTT replied, alluding to the arguments used
by the President of the Board of Trade, the Right Hon.
Gentleman had stated that only a " microscopic quan-
tity of corn" could he imported from the colonies.
Then he thought there was the less ground for alarm
on the part of the agricultural supporters of the Govern-
ment. With respect to the assertion that no corn was
likely to be imported from Australia, it should be re-
membered that not many years ago it was said
that no wool was likely to be imported into this
country from that colony, divided from us by fif-
teen thousand miles of ocean ; yet this country
last year imported from that country no less
than 8,000,0001b5. of wool. But what were they to think
of a President of the Board of Trade who undertook to
place: limits to human industry ?—(Hear hear.) All
they asked was that the Government would give the
colonies an opportunity of extending their sphere of
enterprise.' It was their duty to legislate for the colonies
as well as for this country, and it was therefore he com-
plained that the Noble Lord the Secretary fur the Colo-
nies had treated this subject entirely as an English ques-
tion. The President of the Board of Trade said that the
colonies were not always in circumstances to be able to ex-
port corn ; no country on earth was so ; no country could
always be blessed with plenty. But he maintained that
generally speaking they were exporting countries. Colo-
nies in their infant state must of necessity import rather
than export. Canada itself, from which so large a
supply was derived, was once an importing colony.
Whatever might be their decision, certain it was the
matter could not end here, and they would at some
future day regret their refusal in the latter hour of un-
availing repentance.
Strangers were ordered to withdraw, and the House
divided, when there appeared—
_ For the motion 47
Against it
Majority against the motion
FIRES IN THE METROPOLIS.
The Earl of LINCOLN moved for leave to bring in
a Bill for the better prevention of damage by fire. The
Noble Lord merely moved for leave to introduce it
without stating the provisions,which would come before
the House in the future steps of the Bill.—Leave given.
CHINA—THE LATE DR. MORRISON.
Sir G. STAUNTON rose for the purpose of submit-
ting the motion of which he had given notice—" That
this House will, on an early day, resolve itself into a
Committee of the whole House to consider of the fol-
levying address to her Majesty ; that is to say, than an
humble address be presented to her Majesty, praying
that,. whereas the late Rev. Doctor Morrison, and his
eldest son, the late John Robert Morrison, rendered
eminent public services in China, the former for a period
of twenty-six years, and the latter for a period of nine
years, and successively fell a sacrifice to their severe ex-
ertions in the performance of their public duties ; and
whereas the death of the latter individual was pronounced
by his Excellency Sir Henry Pottinger, her Majesty's
Plenipotentiary in China, in a public proclamation on
the occasion of his decease, a positive national calamity,'
her Majesty be graciously pleased to direct a suitable
provision to be made for the widow of the late Rev.
Doctor Morrison, and for the other surviving mem-
bers_ of his family; and to assure her Majesty
that , this House will make good the same."
He said he was very sensible that he incurred great re-
sponsibility in making this appeal to the House. He
was sensible that such an appeal in favour of a private
indiVidual ought not to be lightly hazarded. He could
assure the House that he would not have undertaken
the task if he had not the strongest conviction that this
claim was of so strong a character, that it could not be
neglected without reflecting dishonour and discredit on
the nation. He could speak from his own personal ob-
servation, while serving in China, of the facts, which it
would be his duty to submit to the House. The propo-
sition he had to bring forward was strictly in accord-
ance with the best precedents of their history. He
would not adduce any of those precedents to show that
it had been the policy of this country, when great and
eminent services had been performed, when those who
performed them had sacrificed their lives to give the fa-
milies who survived them a claim on the gratitude of
the nation. He would shortly state the history of
the two distinguished individuals whose case he
then brought forward. Dr. Morrison went to
China originally as a minister of the Gospel.
He had no wish or desire for emolument or employ-
ment; all he desired was, that he might be permitted to
exercise his sacred functions without interruption. But
he soon possessed himself of information highly im-
portant to the East India Company, which he served
most zealously for twenty-five years. At the same time,
he made no mercenary compromise with his own princi-
ples. He did not abandon the sacred profession to
which he had devoted his lift, but continued, to his last
moments, as he had begun—a minister of the Gospel.
He united to the most ardent religious zeal the still
more rare quality of sound sense and discretion; so
much so, that he was enabled to exercise these two
offices without any detriment being sustained by either
of them. He had accompanied the Embassy of Lord
Amherst to Pekin as interpreter, without receiving any
special remuneration for his services. Dr. Morrison
had accomplished two great literary works, to which he
would shortly direct the attention of the House. The
first was a most elaborate work. It was a Chinese and
English Dictionary.—(Hear, hear.) The East India
Company had considered these works of so much im-
portance, that they had granted a sum of 10,0001. towards
defraying the expenses of printing it in China. If it was
of so much importance at the time that only one port
was open to us in China, it became of tenfold importance
when we had four new ports opened to our commerce
and our enterprise, and that work was now in the hands
of every individual who was desirous of availing himself
of the improved state of our commercial relations with
China. That alone gave him a strong claim upon the
gratitude of his country.---(Cheers.) The other was a
work, the value of which could not be estimated in a
pecuniary or a commercial point of view, but it was a
work which had acquired for Dr. Morrison great celebrity
throughout Europe, and had earned for him the heartfelt
gratitude and admiration of a great body of persons in
this country—he meant the translation of the Holy
Scriptures into the Chinese language.—(Cheers.) This
work, he trusted, would, through the blessing of Provi-
dence, lay the foundation of the introduction of the bles-
sings of Christianity and civilisation into that immense
territory, by enabling its inhabitants—constituting' as
they did, one-third of the population of the world—to
to
'read the word of God in their own language.—(Cheers.)
At the end of 25 years after Dr. Morrison had entered
the service of the East India Company, their charter
expired, and Dr. Morrison would have been justified in
retiring when he would have been entitled to a pension;
there was at that time A fund from which that pension
would have been payable ; and if he had died in their
service his widow would have been entitled to a pension.
At that critical moment, however, his services were
considered indispensable, and be consented to transfer
those services from the East India Company to the
Crown without making any stipulations for himself
whatever. The first act of Lord Napier, on his arrival
in China, was to order Dr. Morrison to Canton, at an
unhealthy season of the year, and when the Doctor was
suffering from illness, to conduct that ill-advised nego-
tiation, to which he would not further allude. Dr. Mor-
rison fell a victim to the unhealthiness of the season in
the course of a few days. Lord Napier followed him to
the grave in about two months afterwards. He died in
the performance of his public duties. He had lost his
claim on the East India Company by the trans-
fer of his services to the Crown ; and by the abo-
lition of the fund from which that pension would
have been paid. •No specific allowance was made
by the Government to his widow and family,
but they did that which was equivalent to the granting
of pensions ; at least it would have ben so, had Provi-
dence spared the life of the son, whom they appointed
to the situation which had been held by his highly-gifted
father. This young man, although at that time only
twAty years of age, performed the ditties which de-
volved upon him with singular ability and great zeal, but
his bodily strength was not equal to the strength of his
mind, and he had obtained leave of absence, for the pur-
pose of returning to England to recruit his health, when
the seizure of the opium placed us in hostility with the
Chinese, and, in consequence of the extraordinary crisis
which then arose with regard to ourrelations with the
Chinese, Dr. Morrison felt it his duty to forego his
leave, and to remain in China. The war broke
out, and the necessity of having on the spot a secre-
tary who was acquainted, not only with the
language, but with the habits and manners