The Sun.
London, England, 1845-01-27 00:00:00

MR. MATHESON'S ANSWER.

Mr. Meers, Chairman, Mr. Fitze, Secretary, and
all my kind and warm-hearted Friends,— How or
where can I find language sufficiently expressive to
convey to you the fervour of my gratitude for the too
flattering address and testimonial which you are
pleased to offer me. To deserve and to enjoy the
good opinion of his constituents, ought to be the aim,
and may well be considered the honest ambition of
every representative of the people. How gratified
then must I feel to be thus honoured by no less than
two thousand of your number, men whom I know to'
be distinguished equally by the independence of their
political principles, as by their intelligence, industry,
and highly respectable bearing in every relation of
life ; for to say the truth, there is no body of men
whom I have seen so much reason to esteem, and
with whom my intercourse has been productive of so
much satisfaction, as those I have now the pride and
pleasure to address.

This testimony of your goodwill towards me is
the more gratifying from the manner in which it
has been arranged ; for, first, it is a source of satis-
faction to me to know that none of the contributors
have been put to inconvenience by the share they
have borne in it; and, secondly, the large number of
those who have joined in presenting me this gift is
the best possible proof of the unanimity of feeling
which suggested it, and the harmony of opinion
which it is designed and intended to convey.
I thank you all most cordially and sincerely for
the gift itself, and assure you that I shall preserve it
with great care, as one of the most agreeable me-
mentos I could have of a period of my life spent in
a position to which I was elected by the constituency
of Ashburton, and in which, while I have endea-
voured to discharge my duties, my conduct has hap-
pily been honoured with your unqualified appro-
bation.

After the manner in which you have expressed
yourselves, however, on several topics of public inte-
rest in the flattering address accompanying your
highly valued gift, I cannot content myself with
merely offering my thanks, but will embrace the op-
portunity which the occasion so appropriately offers,
to advert, very briefly, to one or two of the questions
of public policy which it will be the duty of the Le-
gislature to consider ; and which it will be the inte-
rest of all the constituencies of the kingdom rightly
to appreciate, and temperately, yet firmly and vigo-
rously, to support.
First in the order of necessity and importance, is
that which you have touched upon in your ad-
dress, namely, Free Trade, meaning thereby the
abolition of all merely protective duties ; and I
consider your advocacy of it as the strongest
proof of your enlightenment; seeing that, although
long since inculcated by philosophers and men of
learning, it is only very recently and tardily that it
has been able to overcome the old interest-begotten
prejudices that have unfortunately so long swayed the
bulk of mankind. So prejudiced against free trade
were the artisans of this country at a very recent
period, that it was impossible fur the Minister to pro-
pose the minutest abatement of protection on the
most insignificant article without exciting such a
violent clamour and resistance as it was for a time
impossible to withstand. When we consider how
powerful is the influence of large pecuniary interests
to obscure the reason and cloud the judgments of men,
we can hardly wonder that there should be some
parties alarmed at what seems likely to injure
their local and peculiar sources of profit. But to
all other minds not so fettered, the question of free
trade must seem one of the easiest to understand,
and one of the most advantageous to the world at
large (but to England in particular) to carry out
as speedily and extensively as possible. When it
pleased the great Creator in his wisdom to produce
for the habitation of man a globe marked by diver-
sities of climate and yielding an infinite variety of
products, each in excess beyond the wants of the par-
ticular provinces in which they are found, he saw
fit also in his benevolence to provide the means of
barter and exchange between all the varied regions
of the earth, by the noble rivers which form the chan-
nels of conveyance for the produce of the interior to
the sea coast, and then the vast ocean as the high-
way between nations the most remote.

If the inhabitants of each of these nations were re-
stricted to the use of their own products only, and
could not interchange them with others for articles
differing from their own, it is clear that all countries
would remain in a state of comparative barbarism, as
each would be lamentably deficient in many things
essential to their happiness, at the same time that they
would be encumbered and burdened with far more
than they needed of their own peculiar products. But
if free trade be important to the world in general, it
may be called the life-blood of England especially.
In no other country of the world have there yet been
made the same advances in the arts and sciences as
applicable to manufacturing power. In no other
country are there the same inexhaustible beds of iron
and coal, in none the same amount of skill and indus-
try, or the same extent of capital and energy to combine
all these for the production of wealth. From all which
there results the daily and hourly manufacture of such
a vast mass of commodities as to be beyond measure
superabundant for the consumption of our own popu-
lation. And it is impossible these immense manu-
factories and the millions of our fellow-countrymen
depending upon them can be maintained; far less
can they advance as they ought, without a constant
and progressively expanding demand for their com-
modities, among the other nations of the globe. For
these reasons, and a hundred others which might be
added, I respond most cordially to your wssh that I
should sanction all measures in favour of free trade,
to which I shall always give my constant and earnest
support.]
There is another topic of the highest importance in
which I am sure your sympathies will be as warmly
enlisted as mine—l mean the extension and promo-
tion of education. To those who have thought upon
the subject it must be evident that among the many
powerful causes of crime, disease, and misery still
operating in England, ignorance and intemperance
may be regarded as the most prolific—they contribute
equally to fill our prisons, our hospitals, and our
workhouses, and they materially assist to swell the

numbers of the boirtrietB sent to our penal settlements
abroad. Vdr these education, intellectual,
moral and religious, With training to habits and
practices as well as professions of good, will be
found the most effeetual cure. A cultivated in-
tellect and well trained habits, an industrious, sober,
moral, and religious life, cannot fail to adtanee a man
however humble his origin to a higher station in so-
ciety, malting him at the same time happier in himself,
more useful to his fellow-citizens, a better husband,
a better father, and a better friend. In this ancient
borough you are happily well provided with the
means of education, and to the good use you have
made of them are to be attributed the estimable
qualities which characterise its inhabitants, How
fervently is it to be desired that the whole country
should be as well provided as you are in this respect.
Right views on subjects of general polity would in
such event be more generally diffused, and the pro-
gress of Legislative improvement would not be re-
tarded by interested motives and delusive representa-
tions such as tended to overthrOw the late Liberal
Ministry, to whom the countay is indebted for so
many important ameliorations of our institutions
and social position. Of these none is more remark-
able than the deference shown by the Government to
public opinion when constitutionally expressed, which
prevents their forcing on bad measures, however
strongly backed by a subservient House of Commons.
Equally remarkable is it that the Conservative Go-
vernment feels itself (as the only mode of retaining
power) compelled to dole out piecemeal, and against
the wishes of its adherents, portions of the very mea-
sures on which they had ousted their predecessors
from power. Thus it is a consolation to reflect that
the force of public opinion is able to extract some in-
stalments of liberal measures even from Conservatives
and Tories. Cherish then these liberal principles,
and continue to set an example to other constituencies
of independence, of industry, and of orderly conduct,
and be assured that they can never fail to produce
goods fruits, both to yourselves and to your country.
I will not farther prolong• my observations, except
to assure you, in conclusion, that I value most highly
the testimonial you have been pleased to present to
me, and shall never cease to feel grateful for the flat-
tering terms in which you are pleased to advert in
your address to my past services in Parliament, and
in promoting the trade and welfare of your borough,
and that I shall do my utmost, in future, to continue
to deserve your good opinion and enjoy your confi-
dence.

DREADFUL ATTEMPT at MURDER
AND SUICIDE, BY AN INSANE MAN.

On Friday morning, between five and six o'clock, the
inhabitants of Deritend and Bordesley, Birmingham,
were thrown into a state of great excitement, in con-
sequence of an attempt made by Mr. Bunny, a carpenter,
to kill his wife and afterwards destroy himself. In the
summer of 1843 he conceived the notion that he had
been poisoned by some person, and could not live. The
result of this idea was a constant apprehension of death,
terminating in paroxysms, which rendered restraint
necessary, and he was accordingly removed to the
Lunatic Asylum at Sutton. After a few months he
came out apparently quite recovered, and resumed his
avocation. About three months ago, Mr. C. Walker,
of Round Hills, Aston, became possessed of the Rainbow
public-house. Some alterations being deemed neces-
sary in the premises, Mr. Bunny was employed to
make them: he became acqaainted with the barmaid, an
interesting-looking and agreeable woman, named Sarah
Turner. He made an offer of marriage to Miss Turner,
and on Tuesday last they repaired, with their friends, to
Aston church, where they were married. They returned
to the Rainbow, and in the course of the following day
he was observed to be particularly gloomy. On Thursday
he complained of his head, and he and !Ars. Bunny re-
tired to bed after supper, about twelve o'clock. About
half-past five in the morning, the servants and the per-
sons living in the adjoining houses were alarmed by the
most awful shrieks and cries of murder. The servant-
man rushed up stairs, and hearing Mrs. Bunny
screaming for help, tried in vain to force open
the door. He then ran into the street, and pre-
sently Mrs. Bunny was seen at the bedroom window
calling for assistance. A ladder was immediately placed
against the window, and Mr. Bunny made his appear-
ance, and descended into the street, half dressed, with
his throat cut and his person literally covered with blood.
He was conducted into the shop of Mr. Fletcher, within
a few doors of the Rainbow. Here his appearance and
conduct left no doubt of the state of his mind, and Mr.
Fletcher had him well secured, and then proceeded to
the house and upstairs to the bedroom door. This he
found securely fastened inside. When they got in, a
scene of the most horrifying description presented itself.
Mrs. Bunny was leaning against a side wall in her night
dress, which was saturated from top to bottom in
blood, flowing from a number of wounds in various
parts of her body. The bedclothes, curtains, and floor
equally presented a most frightful appearance. She
was immediately put into bed, and in a few minutes
Mr. Archer, surgeon, was in attendance, and on examin-
ing her person, he found not less than seven severe
wounds, which had been inflicted with a knife. The
poor woman's throat was dangerously cut. He imme-
diately rendered the necessary attendance. He then
visited the unfortunate husband, and found a wound upon
his throat, which he secured, and also some other cuts
of minor importance. He was then removed to the
workhouse. During the drive the men had great diffi-
culty in keeping him in the car, and preventing him from
further injuring himself. In the course of the day Mrs.
Bunny was so far recovered as to be able to state some
particulars of the unfortunate occurrence. It appears
that about five o'clock in the morning her husband got
out of bed hastily, and locked the door. By his doing
so she was awakened, and presently heard him say, " My
dear, we have lived together, we have loved together, and
we shall die together.' He had no sooner uttered these
words, than he seized hold of her in the bed, cut her in
the throat, and began to stab her with a large clasp
pocket-knife in various parts of the body. She jumped
out of bed, screaming for help, and the impression on
her mind is that the unfortunate man became terrified,
and attempted to cut his own throat. It would seem,
however, that to the bluntness of the knife the salvation
of both their lives is attributable.