The Sun.
London, England, 1839-08-24 00:00:00

VIE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY, AUGUST 24, 1839.

ad►nit shat it struck a " heavy blow and preat
discourage►nent to Lord MELBOURNE 6
The conclusion, however, was most unworthy of
the mighty exordium. Lord LYNDHURST left
I ofF by a motion for an account of the dates
of certain Bills sent up to the House of Lords ; he
ought to have moved an address to her MAJEsTY,
or brought forward a proposition of impeach.
ment. It was not fair to . the Ministers to
make such heavy and important charges on such a
motion. He should have given notice of his intention
to attack their policy, and have enabled them to
prepare for their defence. Neither was his conduct
just to his own party, or to the people. If the Mi-
nisters are ail that he described them—if they have
sacrificed the dignity of their high office, and
have utterly degraded the name and func-
tions of Government—if they are a set of
shabby, base, and mischievous inttiguers, they ought
not to be suffered to degrade the Throne by
rema►ning one day in power ; and Lord LYND-
HURST owes it to his own party—he owes it to the
empire at large, not to large one art unused which
could turn them out. As a Peer and a Privy Coun-
cillor, having access to her MAJESTY, and bound
to advise her, it is his solemn duty, and the
solemn duty of those Peers who think with
him, to address the Throne, and in the closet
of the SOVEREIGN to represent the degradation to
which her Government is subjected, and the danger
to which her Throne is exposed. The whole people
look for safety at the hands of the Government,
and will require that Lord LYNDHURST, to serve
his own purposes, should not weaken, degrade,
and destroy the Government without tak►ng steps, if
he have clic means—and if he have nut the
he is criminal in degrading it—to remove the pre-
sent Monsters and place the Government in other
hand,i•

A view of this kind seems to have
foremost in Lord _AI LLBOtiIiNE'S Mitid. In lti
reply, whicl;, thou3h hurrit:.d in fmictilation, from
the Noble Loid iieitt z unusually excitcd, was full
of pluck, and, considering the preparation of the
Learned Lord, and the impromptu reply of the
civilian, may be justly characterized as an able and
vigorous speech,—Lord MELBOURNE dwelt em
phatically on the power of the Noble and Learned
Lord to pull down anddegrade the Ministers, and on
his total inability, notwithstanding his great forensic
talent, his extraordinary elocution, and his charac-
ter, to elevate himself or his party to popularity or
power. That is an important fact. The least
observation must satisfy every reflecting man that it
is easy now to vilify, degrade, and sink into con-
tempt almost any Administration. The one with
which Lord LYNDHURST was connected could not
escape that fate, and let it be formed when it may,
such will be its fate again. This lies in the nature
of Government, which, though represented in theory
as a protecting agen, seems in practice, with its
onerous taxation, its multiplied restrictions on trade,
its incessant impediments on business, its never-
ceasing interference with what it does not un-
derstand, to be more an annoyance than a
benefit ; and those who administer it must sooner
or later suffer from its qualities, and become
contemptible or odious to mankind. Such seems
their probable destiny, and to accelerate that
is not the business of rival politicians. They
should leave it to the tax-payers, to political
writeis, who live on public grievances, or to dema-
gogues, who always use them to raise themselves into
power, and pull down their superiors. Lord
LYNDHURST, with his friends, are guilty of poli-
tical treachery, when they aid political writers and
demagogues in ruining the Government. Lord
MELBOURNE, at the close of his speech, anbnad-
verted very ably and justly on the conduct of the
Tory Lords in not supporting the Government,
which he said filled him with alarm lest their
Lordships should be quite unequal to the difficult
circumstances which are likely to arise. Mr.
FEARGUS O'CONNOR and Mr. BRONTERRE
O'BRIEN have been brought to their level by
discussion ; and such discussion as that Lord
LYNDHURST last night originated is well calcu-
lated to bring down the statesmen of both parties to
the level of very ordinary persons.
Lord BROUGHAM followed Lord MELBOURNE
in a style not flattering to his Noble Friend nor
favourable to the Tories. The Duke of WELLING-
TON whose. exhibitions in the House of Lords
uive his best friends the most pain, raved about
"'he Chartists, and the want of military means to
put them down. His Grace seems to forget that at
least the humanity he showed to the enemies of his
country is due to our own people. Why will
he continually remind the public, by speeches un-
worthy of his reputation, of Pope's celebrated line—
" Down Marlborough's checks the tears of dotage flow.'

The Lords did nothing else of the least consequence
last night than discuss the merits of the Ministers. The
Bolton Police Bill, because their Lordships could not
agree as to what would be its effects, was put off till
this day.
In the Commons, a multitude of notices were given
for next Session.

The Duke of MARLBOROUGH'S Pension Bill was read
a third time after some fruitless opposition.
On the Bank of Ireland Continuance Bill Mr.
HUME made a speech concerning the operation of the
Bank monopoly, which is worthy of attention. To the
CHANCELLOR Of the EXCHEQUER and Mr. VILLIERS'
remarks on the Corn-laws we shall hereafter refer.
The Fisheries Bill was brought in and read a first
and second time. Captain PECHELL eulogised it and
Lord PALMERSTON.
Mr. HUME called the attention of the House to the
manner in which political prisoners arc treated, which
is likely to be beneficial.
A brief discussion ensued on the Colonial Mail con-
tracts, but before it was concluded the House was
counted out.

Judges, Justices, and Gaolers seem to conspire
to make Lord JOHN Russ ELL the most unpopular
Home Secretary, among a certain class, that has
conducted the internal affairs of this country since
the days of SIDMOUTH. Scarcely a day passes
without bringing to light some tyrannical act of
injustice, or some wanton mark of degradation in-
flicted on the unfortunate inmates of tzaols, and not
only on the profligate and abandoned, the outcasts
of society, but on persons of the middle and respect-
able class, who naturally look to a Whig Secretary
for protection. The degrading treatment of Mr.
LOVETT and his two companions in Warwick
gaol before conviction—the deprivations inflicted
on Mr. VINCENT and his two companions in
Monmouth gaol, from which HENRY HUNT and
others, under the despotic rule of CASTLEREAGH
and SIDMOUTH, were exempted—and the case of
the shopkeeper committed to Tothilf-fields prison
the other day in default of paying a fine of
205., are all acts of grievous oppression, which, so
far from vindicating the law or strengthening the
hands of the Executive, tend to bring both into
hatred and contempt. Some of these acts, too,
arcs of the most immoral tendency, and but too
strongly confirm the general belief that our prisons,
instead of heimf places for correction and improve-
ment, ara nurseries fur indecency and crime. The
treatment of VINCE vr and his comrades is utterly
without ev-o,y, They were convicted for attendhp,;
a nvetiog to discu:,s the People's Charter, which,
in then. own opinion, and hi the opinion of Lord
BROUGH A Al. and, Jecortiiii, to his Lordship, in the
opinion of .iil.Consilutionai authorities, ancient and
modern, they had o. right to discuss, and for this
they are treated likx fef, deprived of nourishing
food, and 01 inw)cont imd rational amusement—
nay of the Means of instruction, under the Govern-
ment of Lord MELBOURNE and Lord JOLIN
RUSSELL, who carried their Charter by
means of meetings ten times more alarming
than any that even the most misguided of the
Chartists have been able to muster. VINCENT
may well say, " Compare out meeting with that
at Newhall-hill in 1832, and compare the results.
Mr. A TTWOOD was rewarded by the secret appro-
bation of the Government, and by the people of
Birmingham, who gave him a seat in Parliament.
We are sitting in cells—fed on bread and gruel,
and denied the means of communicating with our
friends." It is vain to impute the blame to the re-
gulations of Clerical and Tory Justices. The
policy of these parties is to make Loid JOHN
RUSSELL and his colleagues unpopular, and the
apathy of the Government gives but too good effect
to it.

The French Journals of Thursday, the whole of
—t,ich we have received, are unusually barren of poli-
tical 4..
news of zny interest. In the Messenger we find
a reference made to a note, purporting to be addressed
by Lord Pat3tEg§ToN to the French Government,
demanding why Admiral 144.T.ArinE allowed the Turk-
ish fleet to leave the Dardanelles ; es by an agreement
between the two Governmeuts the English fleet waB tP
keep in cbeclc tlu of Egypt, and the French squadron
Turkish navy. That such
direct the movePotys !,I,le

a note has been addre.ssed by the Noble Foreign Secre-
tary to the French Cabinet we know 110 f, but the fiait
is not improbable.

Nearly all the French Journals predict the failure of
the proposed congress of the Great Powers, to settle
the Turkish question.

The .11(0)/ileili of Thursday contains the long expec-
ted Royal Ordinance for lowering the amount of duty
on the importation of Colonial sugars. It will conic
into operation on the 10th of September next, and runs
as follows :

FRENCH COLONIAL SUGAR IMPORTED IN FRENCH. VESSELS.

RAW. OTHER THAN WHITE.
Cents.
26 50
From America
Per 100 kilogrammes.—Francs.
33 0
From Bourbon

ii\IPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

(THIS DAY.)

HQ USE OF LORDS.

The House of Lords sat to-day at Half-past Twelve
o'clock.

DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH'S PENSION.
On the motion of Lord DUNCANNON the Duke of
Marlborough's Pension Bill was read a second time, com-
mitted, and ordered to be read a third time on Monday.
ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE, PARTS OF

COUNTIES.!
On the motion of the same NOBLE LORD the Adminis.
tration of Justice (Parts of Counties) Bill was read a third
time and passed.
BOLTON POLICE.
Viscount DUNC A NN ON, in moving the third reading
of the Bolton Police Bill, stated that he proposed to leave
out the clause which had been added on the bringing up
of the Report, including Little Bolton in the operation of
the Bill, as he found considerable difficulty would attend
the adoption of it.
The Bill was then read a third time and passed.
The Fines and Penalties (Ireland) Bill was read a
second time, committed, and ordered to be read a third
time on Monday.
The Bankrupts' (Ireland) Bill was read a third time
and passed.