The Sun.
London, England, 1844-12-12 00:00:00

Preen.

turing to drop a hint or two about the necessity
or the value of protection ; but ho receives no encou-
ragement, and is listened to either in silence or with
smiles. A daily organ of " public opinion" still strug-
gles on, hoping against hope ; and another occasionally
exhausts its capacity in elaborating a sneer at the
League ; but, with these exceptions, the advocacy of the
restrictive system is abandoned by everyman who wishes
to escape the imputation of imbecility, either as to the
use of his reasoning powers or his capacity to discern
the progress of public events. Tire question is not now
what is free trade, but whenstsad how will it be attainsd ?
The Anti Corn-law LeUgue propose to answer this
question; and the deep interest which was evinced by
the auditory in the seemingly dry details of the regis-
tration, as,rarrated by the chairman, show that this is
now thestarning point in the movements of the League.
Between it and Sir R. Peel there is now something Eke
reciprocity, In exchange for " buying in the cheapest
and relliug in the dearest market," the I eague have
adopted his famous policy of "Register, register, register,"
and are likely to work it out with far more effect than he'
has done his avowed free-trade principles. We flier at,
present no opinion on Mr. Cobden's bold and ingenious'
scheme for invading the counties, by means of his forty-'
shilling freeholds ; we merely notice the fact of the:
deep interest manifested by the meeting in eh etoral
operations and plans which have already bean tulsee up.
with great zeal and activity in Lancashire and Yorkshit e.'
The Anti-Corn-law League, almost in spite of its. if; is
becoming a great normal school of political agitation,:
and interesting thousands in the possession and the use,
of the franchise who, otherwise, might have remained in
a state of entire quiescence. This is ever the fruit of
continued injustice, the fatal consequence of selfish p: o-
crastination in the settlement of great national questions.,
In 1841 the corn-law controversy might have been closed,
for a century by the prompt adoption of a moderate fixed'
duty and a free -trade tariff ; in 1842 compromise was
not impossible, when Sir Robert Peel was disturbing,
without settling, the whole of our commercial affairs ; in
1844, nothing short of the total repeal of the corn-laws
would extinguish the Anti-Corn-law League ;• and wi.en,
the corn-laws are repealed, there appears to be now a'
strong probability that the bulk of those who for years
would have, been satisfied with commercial reforms, will
neither be contented nor put down without the ac-
companiment of political changes, affecting the structure
of the electoral body, and consequently the re-distribution
of the balance of political power. The perfect apprecia-
tion by the auditory of the question of free trade was
drawn out by Mr. Cobden in his usual happy way. Al-
luding to the dinner to Sir Henry Pottinger then taking
place in Merchant Tailors' Hall, he asked What was the
crowning service of that distinguished man, in ac-
knowledgment of which 'merchants subscribed to tes-
timonials, and were swelling by their voices the
acclamations with which he was greeted ? Why,,
the imposition of a perfectly free-trade tariff :on the
Chinese ; a universal, not a one-sided tariff ; one open
to all the world, and wholly irrespective of conditions of
reciprocity—a tariff which freely admitted the main
articles of human food, repudiated duties for protection,
-and laid down moderate ones, solely for revenue
This told upon the audience with great effect, which
was increased when the speaker declared, that if the
landowners would permit China to send over a Chinese
Sir Henry Pottinger, to do as much for England as
Sir Henry had accomplished for the Celestial Empire,
he would willingly subscribe his quota in acknowledg-
ment of the services of so great a benefactor. Striking
contrasts like these sink at once into the mind of an
audience, and render superfluous a world of argument.
On the whole, the meeting of last night in Co-
vent-gaaden Theatre, demonstrated that the Anti-
Corn-law League is as strong, if not stronger, than
ever ; and that continued refusals on the part of the
Legislature to deal with and settle this great ques-
tion, may lead to political changes far more perilous
than hesitating statesmen imagine. Let the middle
classes lend effectual aid, in order to rescue the let d-
owners from the effects of their selfishness and obstinacy,
and though some mischiefs are now all but irreparable,
the next general election, not very far distant, may com-
pensate for the infatuation of the last, and save the
country in time from undergoing, in the next series of
scarce and dear years, evils similar to those which dark-
ened the disastrous cycle of 1837-1842.

ATROCIOUS MURDER AND HIGH-
WAY ROBBERY, NEAR TRECASTLE, BRE-

CONSHIRE.

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