The Sun.
London, England, 1852-11-04 00:00:00

I q,
v( 14.1.1) int 4,2:ltit,
_

LONDON, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1852.

Immediately before the assenablirg of Parliament,
the people of England have enjoyed the privilege of
listening to the opinions entertained at the present
juncture, by one no less eminently qualified to pro-
nounce upon the events of the past, or upon the pro-
spects of the future than the Right Hon. THOMAS
BAIHNGYON MACAULAY. The oration delivered by
that eminent man, on Tuesday afternoon, before his
constituents at Edinburgh, comprises within it a
variety of characteristic peculiarities, commanding for
it the fulness of the popular consideration. Every-
thing__ Conspired, indeed, to invest the remarks that
.gulattfall at this moment from the lips of Mr. MA.
A
With an interest of very singular importance
Duriz,g the five last years, the lips of the orator had
been
2 aled.llls genius had within that interval
been
upon the sedate concentrating
its energies almost exclusively
Ile had andseclultd labours of the historian.
withdrawn
altogether from the anxieties
devolving
upon the A
surrdooun m indi
nt rga
tt
ho re, e axni
sdt e
uf from the
of
te
agitating influences
more active Mem f vrbers li am ent s
ußpepcoarl
tl
ee
rds
_t o
public life by the voice of hisformer
elected by the unanimous decision of the Liberal
possessors of the franchise in the Capital of Scotland
—chosen by them spontaneously as theiriasirettpirreseltia-
tive in the popular branch of the Leg
r.
MACAULAY has permitted the pen of the annalist to
be for a while abstracted from his
grasp ; he has
allowed the scroll to be swept from his table, and
replaced by the Blue Book ; he has consented tc
tbatdon the allurements of erudition, and to take part
once more in the struggles of debate; he has allowed
his patriotism to predominate over his predilections ;
IL) has obeyed the summons of his country, and,
in doing so, has magnanimously, for a time,
closed his ears against the persuasive calls of liters.
ture. It was under such circumstances. that Mr
MAcaur.AY, on Tuesday afternoon, presented himself
again before the Lberal electors of Edinburgh. It
was only very recently, moreover, that he had par-
tially recovered from a prcitracted and severe attack
of indisposition. Scarcely any wonder, therefore, is

the illustrious orator resolves itself under every point
of consideration. He recognizes the enforcement
of the truth therein inculcated through all the
shifts and turns of Protectionist tergiversation.
He sees it before him everywhere, even at the hust-
ings and at the polling-booths—what though Lord
MAIDSTONE forgets his verses, and Sir FITZROY
KELLY forgets his votes. He beholds it, though the
depth of his conviction is that " no person can dispute
the salutary effect which the repeal of the Corn-laws
has had on our trade and industry." He perceives it
afar off in the gold-diggings of Australia and in the
backwoods of America—hearing it proclaimed on all
sides in that grand reality that "everywhere the desert
is receding before the advance of the fbcd of human
civilization." Everywhere, too, in proportion to that
recession, he hears, and, hearing, repeats, as the safest
recommendation that can be offered to Englishmen—
to Reform, but, while reforming, to Conserve their
wise and august Constitution.

Whoever has watched the system of legislation
adopted in this country cannot have failed to ascer-
tain how eminently unpractical it is. What have
been called " the mechanics of law making " are
greatly at variance with common sense. We have
occasional nibblings in Parliament at errors in the
laws; but we never think of amending the system,
under which, when the laws are being made, these.
errors arise. Perhaps we should rather speak of the
absence of anything like a system—of the preponder-
ance of blunder, haste, and sacrifice to expediency.
A very important Session is rapidly approaching---
indeed the first step, the election of Speaker, will take
place this day ; and without pretending to any
extraordinary powers of vaticination, we may venture
to predict with tolerable accuracy the course that
will be adopted.
When the swearing in of the new Members has
been completed, we shall have " the QUEEN'S Speech,"
framed as usual on the principle of telling very
little. That will be followed in due course by the
debates on the " Addresses." which will, in truth, he
neither more nor less than the echoes of what the
Royal lips are made to utter. The same Ministers
who prepare " the Speech from the Throne " will
also provide " a cut-and-dry " loyal and dutiful Ad-
dress from each Rouse of Parliament, to which they
will again, in due course, indite her MAJESTY'S " most
gracious reply." There will probably be discussions
on each Address—for legislators, whether hereditary
or elective, are exceedingly fond of hearing their
own voices, and of being reported in the public jour-
nals (in fear of which they live, while they affect to
despise them). We do not, however, think that there
will be any formal trial of strength, Ministers will
carefully avoid anything calculated to provoke a con-
test, while their opponents will be equally unwilling
to risk a division in that early stage of the proceed-
ings when they must do so, if at all, at a con-
siderable disadvantage. Then will follow a great
deal of word-spinning and sentence-weaving on
the merits
.of the departed Hero, whose obse-
quies will be celebrated by his g:ateful coun-
try. Until the nation has discharged that last
melancholy tribute of respect and gratitude to its
most faithful and efficient servant, there will be com-
paratively little wrangling , men of all classes and
varieties of political feeling will vie with each other
in exhibiting the affectionate regard they entertained
for the mighty dead. When that is accomplished,
and all that remains of the great Dime has been con-
signed to its last resting-place, the real business of
the Session will commence. Then, if not anticipated
during the debates on the Address, we may expect
certain Ministerial declarations as to the principles
and policy on which they will endeavour to carry on
the Government. We may look forward to a vast
quantity of speech-making on this, by which the
Ministerial equanimity will be very little milled or
disturbed.
Meanwhile, even on the first day of the Session,
" Honourable Gentlemen" (as it is the fashion to call
them) will have commenced their " pen-and-ink'
assaults on the virgin purity of the blank pages which
constitute what is yclept " the Notice Book," every
on will rush to that important volume, to enter his
notice of some favourite measure which he intends to
bring forward. The Ministerial Whipper-in will also
give his notices, including, perhaps, some ten to
tw.ltwenty new bills, or modifications of old ones. There
will, in fact, be as much work cut out for the Com-
mons during the first working week of the Session as
they could reasonably expect to getn through in
eigThhteeenn,
imnotuhtehsf'u'ltlhnaersad
olafbtioraure."woisl
exposition
itiaerriveef thethe Cfiunearte:
CELLO& of the ExcueQuen.'s ex,
p
ail question. We shall have his Budget, and it must