The Sun.
London, England, 1839-02-18 00:00:00

the last week, each suggesting its own favourite as
the probable representative of Royalty in the Sister
Isle. The public are aware that several names
have been put forward from day to clay, with no
colour of likelihood. In fact, some illustriousin-
dividuals have been confidently mentioned,
such as the Duke of SUSSEX, the INlarq&s of TA-
VISTOCK, the Earls of ALBEMARLE and
RADNOR, to whom the appointment has never
been offered.
The Earl Of CLARENDON has also been men-
tioned as likely to go, and the general opinion here,
as well as in Ireland, is much in favour of the Noble
Lord ; but we believe that his Lordship is coming
over from Spain more on a matiimonial, than
a po!itical mission. What the result of his arrival
in this country may be, we do not pretend to say ;
but we should not be surprised to see, after all the
" Sayings and Wiskings" of interested parties, that
the Duke of SUTHERLAND will be Lord Lieu-
tenant of Ireland.

Lord BROUGHAM'S motion relative to bearing
evidence at the Bar of the House of Lords stands
for this evening. It is, however, stated that Lord
GLENELG purposes to give their Lordships an
explanation of the causes of his retirement or dis-
missal from the Colonial-office ; and if his Lordship
do that, as it is a personal matter, no doubt their
Lordships will entertain it in preference to Lord
BuouGHAm's motion. The one will gratify
curiosity, perhaps it will supply food for scandal,
and ce►tainly it will cause personal excitement
amont4st the Peers. The other concerns the
; it will excite no pleasure except what may
he imparted by the great and varied talents
of the orator ; it will give rise to uneasy
reflections on self, rather than allow of boasts
of superiority to another, and it will be
distasteful and wearying to the Peers. They will
therefore, we presume, require Lord GLENELG to
proceed before Lord BROUGHAM. Such a course
would be very consistent with the relative im-
portance which their Lordships usually allow to
personal and national matters. '' Perish commerce
and let the Constitution live," was the exclamation
of a heated politician, who preferred the charlatan
contrivances of his brethren in trade to the natural
means of civilizing mankind, and rendering the
labours of statesmen comparatively unimportant. In
like manner we fear the Lords may saw; " Perish
the People, but let the Peers flourish," though it
be only to indulge in what Lord DURHAM called
low petty personalities. To call for Lord GLE-
N ELG'S explanation, who, according to report, has
been very ill-tr,:ated, would no doubt be gratifying
to their Lordships, but if that put a stop to Lord
BROUGHAM's motion to hear evidence at the Bar
against the Corn laws, it will not elevate the Peers
in the public respect.

The soreness which both the Ministry and the
Opposition evince at the publication of the whole
of Lord DURHAM'S Report, shows what a rrU-
sei able skeleton it ~vould have turned out had it
been subjected to the pruning-knife of either. Lord
WHARNCLIFFE or Lord ABERDEEN would have
cut out all that related to Tory misrule; Lord
LYNDHURST would have lopped off the scheme
for Municipal Corporations; Lord WiNcruLsEA
would not have left an atom of the praise so libe-
rally heaped on Catholic priests ; and, after
the Royal reprimand administered by and through
the Cabinet to the late Governor- General
for his first manifesto, we cannot suppose that the
second, containing so much of the same spirit, would
have found more favour with the Whigs than the
Tories. We need not wonder, therefore, that Lord
DURHAM expressed no regret at its publication,
or that Lord WHARNCLIFFE was so determined on
putting words of regret in his mouth. These dis-
cussions on the subject, however, and the wrang-
Hugs between the two parties have, what is a rare
occurrence, turned out for the good of the people.
They have been let into the secret of Cabinet doings,
and they can now estimate at the true value
those things called " Government extracts," in
other words, mangled dispatches, reports, and do-
cuments, which in place of informing the public
are often calculated to amuse or mislead them.
Had the old system not been frustrated in this in-
stance by accident or design, the people of this
country, and the Legislature too, would possibly
have been left as ignorant of the real state of the
Canadas as they were up to the publication of this
valuable report, and we should have gone on legis-
lating and fighting in the dark, as our ancestors
did in the same hemisphere when George 111. was
King. The facts disclosed by Lord DURHAM
may avert a similar calamity. Concealment would
only have prolonged the evil, and whatever Lord
MELBOURNE or Lord WHARNCLIFFE may think,
those most interested in this matter, the people
here and in Canada, will rejoice that for once they
have heard the truth, the whole truth, and nothing
but the truth.

The publication of the correspondence between
Lord JOHN RUSSELL and Mr. FROST, the New-
port Magistrate, relative to the latter having at-
tended meetings of the Chartists, at which violent
language was used, places the duties of the Home
Office, and of the Magistracy,in rather a novel light.
When the late Earl FITZWILLIAM was dismissed
from the Lord Lieutenancy of the county of York,
for attending a political meeting, the conduct
of the then Administration was properly and
severely censured. But the office of a Lord
Lieutenant, whatever powers it might ori-
ginally have had, is now a place of mere
ornament and patronage for individual Peers,
and is one which very little concerns the
interests of the people. It involves no deci-
sions for or against them, and brings them not into
contact with the Lord Lieutenant. The office of a
Magistrate, however, is one of much labour and
little or no patronage. It involves the performance
of duties towards the people implicating their dear-
est interests. We can therefore only praise Mr.
FROST for his spirited reply to Lord JOIIN
RUSSELL, when the latter required to be
informed whether Mr. FROST had attended a
meeting at Pontypool, at which violent and
inflammatory language had been used. Mr.
FROST, supposing the inquiry made with a view to
dismiss him, insisted on the right to judge for him-
self what course of political conduct he was to pur-
sue ; that he was not responsible for the violent
language of other persons, and he spoke with
contempt of his office of Magistrate if he were to
hold it, not by the tenure of performing his duties
efficiently, but at the pleasure of a Home Secretary,
who might be offended with a political opinion, and
be frightened at its possible violence merely because
it was in direct opposition to his own. Mr.
FROST'S letter, in fact, bases the responsibility of
Magistrates on a reference to the people, while the
conduct of the Tories in the case of Earl FITZ-
WILLIAM, and the presumed intentions of Lord
JOHN RUSSELL in the case of Mr. FROST,
would base it on the pleasure of the Minis-
ters. Nor can we conceive that the merely Minis-
terial Journals, particularly the Morning Chronicle,
which indulged us on Thursday with a disserta,
tion on the advantages of local Government in Eng-
land and the United States, will object to the just
and the Republican viewof the matter which is
taken by Mr. FROST. Lord JOHN RUSSELL, we
are happy to see by the concluding letter, had no
intention tointerfere with the opinions of Mr.FRosT;
though how far it may be his duty to see that " no
man carries opinions into practice to the danger of
the public peace," is with us a subject of doubt.
It assumes, we will own, too much the duties of a
Prefect of Police, and leads the Noble Lord to

interfere with the possible consequences of opinion
prior to any overt criminal acts, at which point
alone he ought to interfere. We recommend the
spirited, though sornchat testy, letter of Mr.
FitosT to the attention of the public, who will
no doubt be prepared, as we are, to hear that Lord
JorrN It wJsE:LL's acquiescence in it will expose
him to a multitude of reproaches from the terror-
loving, coercive Tories.

There was a great deal of shrewd sagacity in the
observation of a Noble Peer in the House of Lords
a few nights ago, that nothing served as a more fra-
gile link to bind nations together in amity than per-
fect similarity of political institutions. Republics
are least tolerant of the popular license incidental
to Republican forms of Government ; while Des-
potisms mark with more. than lynx-eyed eagerness
the slightest external movements on the part of Ab-
solute Governments. This is particularly observ-
able in the language of the French press on the
subject of the part taken by Great Britain, to effect
the pacific settlement of the Belgian question.
Jealousy of any dependence or Belgium upon
France,
is assumed by the French press as the real

THE SUN, LONDON, MO

cause of the anxiety evinced by our Govern-
ment to avoid having recourse to the direct
intervention of France in the compulsory
settlement of the Hollando-Belgic question.
We do not look upon this as any im-
peachment of that degree of confidence which we
ought to have in the honest inten.ions of the French
Government. On the contrary, it amounts merely
to a manifestation of our zeal for the virtual inde-
pendence of Belgium—an independence of no
earthly importance, if we allow it to go forth that
Belgium is a nation only by the sufferance of
France. In this respect we refuse nothing to France
which we do not refuse to Great Britain ; and,
therefore, the arguments of the Quotidienne,
and the other journals whch repeat the
surmises of that Royalist organ, are really
not worth a straw. The Quotidienne pretends
that we care not what becomes of Belgium so she
form not a close connexion with Fran:T. This is
an error, and a very grave one too. What we seek
is to prevent Belgium appearing as either a French
or a British Province. We want Belgium to be,
what it is of the utmost importance to Western
Europe she should be—a free and independent
Kingdom, subsisting alike independently of France
and England.

We have often had occasion, in the exercise of
our public duty, to speak in terms far from flattering,
of Mr. ROEBUCK ; we are glad, therefore, now to
have an opportunity of according him praise with-
out drawback or reservation. On Friday last, at a
public Meeting at w hich he was present in Bath,—
and a full report of ,which will be found in another
column of The Sun,—this gentleman made a speech
which was characterized not less by energetic do-
quence—that best of eloquence which springs from
heartfelt conviction—than by consummate political
sagacity. He expatiated at length on all the
leading topics of the day, and brought to the dis-
cussion of each, the resources of a calm, thought-
ful, observant, and resolute intellect. Hitherto
we had been impressed with a notion that
Mr. ROEBUCK was a man of crotchctty
theories—a hankerer after the unattainable—
a staunch advocate for the impracticable ; but we
now find we were mistaken, and take this opportunity
of making him the amende honorable. Nothing
can be clearer, or more sagacious, or more free from
—what, for want of a better term, we may call—
political moonshine, than his speech of Friday.
Speaking of the necessity of union. among the
people, the Learned Gentleman observed, " I will
take upon myself for once to be a prophet, and I
predict that the demands of the Corn-law agitators
will be resisted, and that their petitions will be of
no avail. Does not this show how insufficient
their means are to obtain the ends sought after ?
Their interests are the interests of the working
classes ; but we find them ranged in hostility
to one another, and if one demands one thing the
other demands another. There ought to be no
such feeling ; they ought to be a united people, and
if they understood their interests, they would find
that in all things they corresponded. But there
have crept in petty jealousies and animosities, which
have blinded each to their real interest, when, if
they reflected, they must find thew identical, for
each must be interested in obtaining cheap, effi-
cient, and just government." On the subject of the
" People's Charter," Mr. ROEBUCK remarked as
follows :—" I believe that the wider the Suffrage,
the safer the State, and the greater the chances of
good government. But if any one should press me
further, and ask, Will you take anything short of Uni-
versal Suffrage ? my answer is, Certainly ; asking for
the rest, however, and seeking to obtain it. If I
cannot make the journey at one leap or by one stage,
I must do it by successive steps ; if I cannot go on
at rail-road pace, I must advance as well as I can.
Onward, onward, is my motto. Every step in ad-
vance I rejoice in, and will make." These are the
views of a statesman, in opposition to those of a
mere day-dreamer. To effect real, lasting good,
we must advance by " successive steps," and not
seek, like visionaries, to attain a distant goal at
one bound. We must duly estimate our strength
and our resources, and not try to achieve reforms
beyond them. If we desire to obtain Universal
Suffrage, let us first pave the way for it by the
Ballot and Triennial Parliaments ; and not alarm a
prejudiced and unprepared community by putting that
measure in the van, which should stand in the
rear. We wish the Chartists would take to heart Mr.
ROEBUCK'S advice, for they may rely on it, they
Will find no sincerer friend than he is. Wishing
well to their cause, he would nevertheless advocate
that cause with no other weapons than justice and
common sense. The general tenor of his advice is
simply this—abate not one jot of your pretensions;
but husband your resources, and bide your time.
So say we, and so we are sure, will say every honest
Englishman who prefers reform to convulsion,
and prefers to walk side by side with the times, in-
stead of rushing madly ahead of them.

The arrival of a British squadron in the Mexi-
can Gulf, has excited a great deal of interest in
the political circles of the French metropolis.
Besides the Pique frigate, which arrived there on
the 22d of December, with Mr. PAKENIIAM, the
British Ambassador, on board, there appeared
there on the 31st following, the Cornwallis and
Edinburgh of the line ; the Madagascar and
Vestal frigates ; and the sloops of war, Ringdove,
Modeste, Racehorse, and Rover. The pre-
sence of so large a force is regarded
with suspicion by a very large class of
French politicians, who seem to think that
France cannot any longer enforce a blockade of the
Mexican coast. The French force at Vera Cruz
consists of no more than three sail ; Admiral
BAUDIN had ten vessels of all sizes, at Antonio
Lizardo, while the rest were refitting at Havannah
under the direction of the Prince DE JO I N VILLE,
where the British ship of the line, the Rodney was
stationed as if to watch their movements. To
increase the chagrin of France, brother Jonathan
begins to manifest symptoms of uneasiness at the
prolongation of a blockade which was only to last
for a few weeks. Then there is the report of
the issuing of letters of marque by Mexico,
which has already all but frightened several
French mercantile houses out of their wits. In
fact we believe that the most sensible among the
French people are heartily sorry that their Govern-
ment deemed it at all necessary for the national
honour to break a lance with the Mexican Re-
public, seeing that it may lead to serious misun-
derstandings with England and the United States.

The Belgian Journals received last night, state
that a remarkable abatement in the excitement upon
the Hollando-Belgic question, has been observable
among the Belgian populace, for the last three
week& Statistical, geographical, and numerical
truths have, within that short period, produced an
effect upon the minds of the most ignorant, not less
satisfactory than surprising. The Belgians begin
to perceive that it would be madness to resist
the decision of the London Conference, and
that the KING in declining till the last moment
to sign the treaty has done all that a patriotic So-
vereign could do to obtain the best terms for his
subjects. Belgium can bring a hundred thousand
soldiers into the field, but to resist them, or rather
to coerce them, the Five Powers can bring upwards
of million, and it is surely no disgrace to a Belgian
to suppose that he would be no match for an Eng-
lishman, a Frenchman, an Austrian, a Prussian,
and a Russian all at him at one and the same time.
No fault is therefore found with what was under-
stood to be an instruction of the Government
that M. VAN DE W EYER, the Belgian
Minister, should sign the ultimatum of the Con-
ference
by the 15th at the very latest, so that it
might reach Brussels before the opening of the
Chambers on Tuesday.
In addition to the above very satisfactory intel-
ligence we find the following in the Dutch, Brus-
sels, and German mails received last night :
BRUSSELS, FEB. 14.—The average prices of wheat
and rye during the week ending February 9th, having
been—Wheat, 24f. 15e. ; and Rye, 14f. sc. per Hecto-
litre, the exportation remains prohibited, and importation
duty free.
The creditors of Mr. John Cockerill met yesterday in
the Town Hall, to be heard on the application for a
respite made by Mr. Cockerill. There was no oppositon
to the application. They then proceeded to the
nomination of a Committee of Administration, which
is composed of Messrs. Jules, Nagclmackers, Elias,
Ferd, Perlot, Victor Bellefroid, Max, Lesoinne, and
Joyez. The statement or balance made up to the 30th
of June, 1838, presented by Mr. Cockerill, indicates the
assets at '20,197,469 fr. and 35 centimes, and the debts at
12,084,195 fr. and 70 centimes.
We have the following letter from Liege :—" It is said
that a manufacturer, patronised by the Government, while
his affairs were flourishing, and who had asked and obtained
permission to withdraw from the partnership as soon as
he po-ccived that his affairs became profitable, in conse-