The Sun.
London, England, 1852-09-28 00:00:00

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SEPTEMBER 28. 1852.

England cannot fail to appreciate the noble senti-
ments which dicte,ed the letter in which the First
Minister of the Crown announced to the Home Se-
cretary the wishes of her Majesty the QUEEN, in
reference to the funeral obsecpsies of the late Duke yr
WELLINGTON. Those wishes, we feel assured, will
prove in every respect consonant to the wishes of the
entire population. They evidence a touching recog-
nition on the part of the SOVEREIGN of the eminent
services of the illastrioue old warrior whose memory
is about to receive from the nation so splendid and
almost unparalleled-a tribute of gratitude and admi-
ration. In every particular the communication ad-
dressed to the light Hon. SPENCER WALPOLE, and
dated by the Earl of DERBY—CiII the 20th of Septem-
ber from Balmoral, is worthy of the statesman by
whom it was penned, of the MONARCH whose emotions
it expressed, of the people to whose generosity it is
in a touching degree respondent, and of the distin-
guished man whose remains it is intended to honour
by an interment of very unusual magnificence.
Henceforth this memorable document will be en-
shrined in the history of the Duke of WELLINGTON
as the crowning homage offered to a career already
rendered remarkable by so many tokens of veneration
both from the country r and
from the SOVEREIGN. It
Will be related by the future biographers of his
Grace, that VICTORIA " received with grief" the in-
telligence of that death in regard to which the PRIME
MINISTER confidently expected that the nation would
"as one man" "sympathise with her MAJESTY."
M
It will be remembered, moreover, hg the annalist
how admirably sensitive herMAJESTY has been in this
matter, at once of the feelings of the relations of the
deceased and of those entertained by the People at
large, and by the members of the Imperial Legisla-
.
ture. " Although," says the Earl of DERBY, speak-
ing in the name of his SOVEREIGN, "although the
QUEEN could not for a moment doubt that the voice
of the country would be unanimous upon the subject
of the honours to be paid to the memory of the
greatest man of the age, her MAJESTY considered it
due to the feelings of his Grace's surviving relatives
that no steps should be taken, even in his honour,
without their approving concurrence"—and accord-
ingly a communication was at once, in the first in-
stance, addeessed by the Noble PREMIER to the
younger son of the departed for the purpose of as-
certaining the sentiments of his family in reference
to the public tribute proposed to be offered to his
" manes'-' in, behalf of his QUEEN and of his fellow-
countrymen. Thereupon the relatives of the late
Duke having, of
wholly and unconditionally in her MAJESTY'S hands,
it might have been expected not unreasonably that
the 01
eeunen would have forthwith issued her corn-
mends for the preparation of the intended obsequies,
without any further delay or any additional preli-
minary. Such, hoeseeer, has not been the course
pursued under the circumstances by a MONARCH ever
alive to the magnanimous sentiments of the popula-
tion. Instead of proceeding thus summarily
to the arratogemert oe the
projected cere-
monial, her MAJESTY determined, by once more
referring the subject elsewhere, to admit the nation to
participate more immediately in the anticipated ob-
sequies than could otherwise have been
Possible sup-
posing their authorization emanated exclusively from
the4sersonal regrets of the SOVEREIGN. That a tri-
bute of this description was demanded by thousand
imperative a
imperative considerations the QueEN appears to have
understood upon the instant, and without one mo-
ment's hesitation. Her chief Minister has Intimated
as much, indeed, in words that cannot very readily
be forgotten. He has said—" The great apace which
the name of the Duke of WELLINGTON has filled in
the history of the last fifty years—bis brilliant
achievements in the fie'd—his high mental qualities—
his long and faithful services to the Crown—his un-
tiring devotion to the interests of his country—con-
stitute claims upon the gratitude of the nation which
a public funeral, though it cannot satisfy, at least
may serve to recognise." Yet the QUEEN was so far
solicitous that that act of recognition should be in
every way worthy of herself, of her people, and of
the occasion, that she resolved to render it as much as
possible national and
PE popular in its character. The

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