The Sun.
London, England, 1837-08-26 00:00:00

'SFIRIT OF THE PUBLIC Ji)UR:4;kiLS.

It serves the purposes of the faction to represent
every augmentation to the strength of the Liberal party
derived from the Irish elections as ail increas;: of the
individual influence of Mr. O'Connell. The analysis
which we have recently made of the Irish representa-
tion demonstrates the utter falsehood of this statement
in the sense in which it is conveyed, The Tiny scribcw
treat all the Liberal Members as the nominees of
O'Connell. We have shown the ludicrous abaurd4
of this bold fiction in describing who and vehnt the new
Members are. The character, the mit, the wealth,
the past conduct, the public and private connections of
the men who have been added to the Irish representation.
form the best tilloWers to the ravings of the Tories, .
from the ditAppointments of conflicts in which they '„are
ban so signally worsted. The truth is that Mr: rfCrpi,
hell merits by his conduct during tbi. tees nt Irish
elections the highest praise for oflA-„,ic spi.:wand
feet disinterestedness. In P. One instdnec (for thu
elgctrrs of Athlone had 'invited Mr. John O'Connell
many months as *.o become their candidate, and it is
not impossibi-: that. any other individual would have
faded counteract bribery in that once Tory borough)
—in no one instance did Mr. o',Connell interfere to

procure the return of a candidate bolding in all things
common opinions with him, or belonging to v;nat used
to be called the O'Connell party in IrelFad. In al-
most every instance the constituencies gave their con-
fidence to men of moderate opinionv, jf large fortune.
attached to the policy of the present Government, and
opposed to extreme courses. We have named the
members and the constituencies. The men arc known
—we defy contradiction in detail—we care not for
wholesale denial. We . know not whether these
be or be not one very youthful Member who is
supposed to lean to Radicalism ; but we. doubt it.
This result of the elections, and the circum-
stances which led to it, are *as instructive to the
rulers of Ireland as they are honourable to Mr. O'Con-
nell. They show the effect of good government upon
a people once exasperated by insult and contumely to
the wildest pitch of excitement ; and they demonstrate
how little of individual popularity and power will be
exerted against good government, and how apt it is to
fall into the new and calmer current that sets in towards
good order, when public confidence has established
public tranquillity. The popular passions in Ireland
have subhided into fixed and settled public opinion,
supporting a Government which the people trust, and
a system of state policy of which they feel many bene-
fits in present fruition, and from which they not nnrea-
ronably hope a continuance and increase of the good
which they enjoy. This is but the natural result
of obvious and adequate causes. We have both before
us. It is said that Mr. O'Connell's influence will
be increased in the new Parliament. Is is certain
that he may, and we trust and believe that he will, in-
crease it for all that is good. It is as certain that it.
will not be increased for anything that is evil. He will,
and he must, possess all that influence' which belongs
to vast abilities, to great popularity, to the merit of
long public service, and to those recollections of the
history of Ireland for the last thirty years which will
cast while he lives, and for generatio's after him,
a charm with his countrymen around the name of

O'Connell. That his experience of Ireland and her
affairs will induce his countrymen in Parliament to
consult him, and that his talents and the public po-
sition which he holds will give luim a lead among
them on theise points on which they entertain
kindred opinions, we believe. But the proportion
of Liberal Irish Members who, fully • agreeing
with Mr. O'Connell on the present system of Ad-
ministration in Ireland,,under the measures proposed
by Government for ameliorating the condition of that
country, and fully determined that both shall be sus-
tained, yet differ from him on some important points
of public policy, is much larger now than it ever was
before; and while we are sure that he will never need
this circumstance to check him, it will, with a mindso
sagacious as his, infallibly have its weight in in-
fluencing his public conduct. The most timid Tory
will have less to fear than ever from Mr. O'Con-
nell in Parliament. The friends of sound, rational,
steady, though nut too slow, reform, the friends of
social order and public liberty, will have more than
ever to hope from the combined exertions of him and
of his countrymen,' who may be led by him in accor-
dance with their own opinions, but whom, against
those opinions, he will never attempt to drive.—
Morning Nronicle.
If you travel in Ireland, the country peonle, before
they will guide you towards the place you are going
to, insist upon knowing the place you have come from.
Under the natural impression that all Irish associations
must needs be pleasant to the servants of Mr. O'Con-
nell, perhaps, when next they "prate of their whete-
abouts,” and make a rally for the point they would he
going to, some light-headed meddler from Munster or
Connaught may trouble them, after the, fashion of his
country, with a question or two ahont the point they
have come from. Their answel', after looking out be-
hind and before, will not b j a cheerful one. There
is much import and more in this " whence have vou
come ?"—are you rising from worse to better, or
are you sinkine!, from better to worse ? That is
the gist. of .411:1 question. Now,. in the House of
Common:, vs/Aid) has just ceased to exist, the Ministers
had a majority of nearly half a hundred to work with.
1.0 the new one they will scarcely muster a score. They
studiously remind the public that they have still a
positive force of 340 in 658. And it is true, un-
doubtedly, that if man is to be counted against man,
without any consideration but that of simple number,
the nominees of Mr. O'Connell do make out a Minis-
terial majority'. But even when these nominees are in-
cluded, the " whence have you come ?" remains a ques-
tion inexpressibly awkward for Ministers. Take Ire-
land even at par with Great Britain all through,
Member for Member, and even then, with all the
benefit of such an equalization, the comparison of ac-
counts will leave the Government a heavy loser—a
loser, as far as England and Wales are concerned, of
24, being 2 on the balance of the boroughs, and 22
on the balance of the counties : in Scotland, on the
balance, neither gainer nor loser cf a single seat : in
Ireland, a gainer of 9, to be deducted from the 24 of
England and Vales, leaving to the Ministers, on the
total balance of the empire, a loss of 15 seats, which 15
seats, it is hardly needful to remind our readers, being
not only lost to the Ministers but gained to the Conser-
vatives, make the difference, as between the late and
present Parliament, of thirty votes in every division.
And this is the reason why, instead of simply asking,
" What point are you at ? ' or, " what point are you
snaking for ?" we have been curious to inquire also,
" what point have you come from ?" The compara-
tive view is no less important than the positive : the
position of parties must be surveyed relatively as well
as. absolutely. The result then is, that, not in one or
in another insulated region of her Majesty's dominions,
but on the entire aggregate of the representation, from
Berwick to the Land's-end,
64 From Kilda to the green lerne's shore,"

the Ministers, with the dissolution in their hands, with
the name of Royalty in their van, with the patronage
of the new corporations at their back, so far from,
gaining upon the Parliament elected under Sir Robert
Peel, have been heavy, hard-bitten losers. In the
Parliament of Lord Grey they carried, with the
Radicals, a, majority which was counted by hundreds.
In the Parliament of Sir Robert Peel they carried a
majority which was counted by tens. In the Parlia-
ment of Lord Melbourne they carry a majority which
must be counted by units. One more such victory,
said the conqueror, and I am undone.—Times.
A few weeks ago a Ministerial newspaper, which
must be confessed to be facile princeps in affectation,
announced, with a calmly triumphant air, that " the
elements of tranquil power preponderated very greatly
on the side of the Ministry, and that there was no use,
even were there any motive, in attempting to transfer
them to the other side," It is hardly necessary to add,
that this piece of tranquil" impudence was hazarded
at the very beginning of the general election. The
Whig-RadiCal journalist in the Globe, although he b
acknowledged
" Through all the realms of nonsense absolute,"

would not now venture upon such absolute nonsense
as to say that the elements of tranquil power pre-
ponderated on the side of his political friends..
Their preponderance of power is neither .more nor
less than an Irish preponderance. The tranquillity