The Sun. — 1841-01-14 (London, England)

THE TRUTH THAT MEN WILL NOT PERMANENTLY CONTENT THEMSELVES WITH THE WORSE AND DEARER ARTICLE, WHEN THEY CAN HAVE THE BETTER AND CHEAPER." This great leading principle, not of national policy nor of political economy alone, but of human nature in every age and in every country, laughs to scorn all the interested nonsense Ville Butts and the O'Connell:, who might as soon think to eradicate the seeds of vegetation from the earth, as to make a community of men act sys. tematically in a voluntary opposition to their own individual interests.  Now, if all this is true of Mr. O'CoNNELL's scheme to foster and force manufactures in Ireland, it is equally true of the landlords' scheme to foster and force agriculture in the whole empire. In the teeth of their united declaration, " that men will not permanently content themselves with the worse and dearer article," our Pro-Corn-law Contemporaries persist in endeavouring to make our manufacturers contented with worse and dearer corn grown in England, when they could, except for the law made by the landlords to enrich themselves, have the better and the cheaper corn grown in Poland and Russia. These gentlemen are usefully engaged in refuting their own arguments, and we willingly and cheerfully leave them to their work, merely reminding them of the saying, invested with some authority, that " a house divided against itself cannot stand." Against Mr. O'CoriNEL 1., they strenuously espouse the doctrines of free trade ; against the Anti-Corn-law League, they as strenuously espouse the system of restrictions, protections, and bounties.  The case of Mr. FROST is now before the public by his own letter, and we cannot see in that the least ground for the censure which the Tory journals have heaped on the Ministers. FROST is sent to one of the worst penal settlements, the place of punishment for those who are too wicked to live with other convicts. There is no mercy in that. But Mr. FROST is not chained with thieves and murderers, and is not compelled, like them, to work in irons. Now that is quite consistent with general policy and general practice. It never has been customary to treat those convicted of political offences as if they were thieves or highwaymen. Probably those who made the laws had an eye to themselves in founding the distinction, for while they could never dread being punished as thieves, they never could tell to what accusations, in the turmoils of party, they might be exposed. Certain it is, however, a distinction between political offenders and other offenders has always been observed, and loud and just would be the remonstrances were men like Mr. FROST to be ironed with thieves and murderers. In Mr. FROST'S letter we see no proof of any mercy or kind treatment more than is usual in cases like his ; and we repeat that if the Government had shown either mercy or kindness with a view to soothing the masses at home, we should not have been disposed to blame them. Beyond the necessary constraint to keep Mr. FROST safe, every hardship inflicted upon him is gratuitous cruelty, savouring of a personal desire of vengeance, which ought, for the common and general good, to be reprobated. To thirst for the man's blood is to have the passions of a tiger ; to desire that he should be exposed to the terrible cruelties inflicted on the twice-convicted felons which lately excited the sympathy of the Post and the Herald, indicates a nature at least as depraved as that of Mr.'