The Sun.
London, England, 1837-08-11 00:00:00

Government—not for the glory of Brookes's) but for',
purpose of carrying out their own professed principles I
of improvement—would address themselVes tO settle or
the great subjects on whieb welte of the com-
munity at large ro_7, -,Vistinguishea from the mere gain
of reeculiar classes) demands that there be au.atttelits'
ration, or a relief, or at ltjatt A heltleilleilt. The state
of commettiel seeurities, and of the currency, taken
in toultexion with the banking system—the ponitien
of Canada, half-loosened by an htilbitiotis Faction
from its`fealty to the Crown of tnmolandthe reliAiovlt
destitution of many large and 'doweled districts of this
kingdom, where the growing swarms of the population
are left without churches to receive, or elogyeeeit to
instruct them—the long-vexed *Mt vetkiuo dispute be-
n.
tween the occupiers Atlvi tithe-owners of Ireltio(1) the
sore of 'het people and the blight al' Chuich—
these are the qnestiees ttpn some of which a plain
would natnrally expect that tt Ceebiiitt patting
with 1 thirty-bill movement would exert its force in the
session of 1837. A rain thought 1 The Session
is over; the twelfth Parlialueut of the United King-
dom is no more c the people knock impatiently at the
door of its vacated chamber, to fled the wholesome
enctments left behind 131, its departed wisdom : the
public voice is heard loudly through that great and
now empty space, inquiring for the expected legacies of
useful legislation, and demanding " where are they ?"
And echo answers, " where are they ?" One sa-
lutary principle was indeed advanced into prac-
tical form—the principle of the acts for the mitiga-
tion of punishment in cases of felony. The series of
Bills by which that good was effected were generally
approved, and carried with scarcely any adverse dis-
cussion, And scarcely anv less or time. They were
framed by lawyer!, with little labour to Ministers in
their offices, and perused and settled by the House of.
Commons in about three evenings of debate. Here
the list of Ministerial services begins ; and here, in the
same instant, it ends. But was there not the Bill to
abolish imprisonment for debt ? Surely that great ques-
tion of the law of debtor and creditor was not preter-
mitted by Government. The Attorney-General gave no-
tice of it on the very first day of the session; it went
through all its stages in the House of Commons, and if
it was ultimately lost in the House of Lords, the Mi-
nisters, who have been slender influence in that depart-
ment of the Legislature, are not to be made responsible
for its failure there. We will not affect to argue that at
any period of the session a Bill so adverse to the wishes
and interests of the commercial world, so obnoxious to
the just censure of every experienced lawyer, of every
fair trader, and of every rational Legislator, would
have been likely to receive the sanction of an assembly
composed of the most eminent judges and largest pro-
prietors of the country ; but it is enough to say, that
though introduced into the House of Commons on the
6th of February, and kept in motion till the 21st of
March, it was not forwarded one single step from the
21st of March to the 29th of June, between which
date and the date of the dissolution there intervened just
18 days to serve for the report and the third reading
in the House of Commons, for the transmission of the
Bill to the Upper House, and for the whole series of
the stages in which it was to be considered by the
Lords. The dates, by themselves, are conclusive. So
much for an assumption of merit by the Govern-
ment on the score of their attempt to settle the main
question
.of debtor and creditor; but of the two evils
(the non-settlement of the question, and the enact-
ment of the recent Bill) we are bound to admit that
the Ministers have chosen the less. The trade of the
country may go on tolerably without any new enact-
ment ; but with a new enactment, such as that which
was threatened, it could not have gone on at all. The
commercial disorders which, in the autumn of last
year, shook the credits of so many substantial houses
in Manchester, Liverpool, and London, and forced
throughout the kingdom a sacrifice of property scarcely
credible in its extent, and intolerable in its ruin, had
been foreseen by several cautious and far-reaching
men so early as the previous spring ; and a commit-
tee was appointed for the examination of the system of
joint-stock banking, as connected with the then grow-
ing difficulties of commerce. The Committee met and
reported ; but the Session of 1836 ended without a
remedy. As the year wore on, the pressure increased.
The winter brought no relief ; the Treasury afforded
none ; the new year began as gloomily as the old
one had ended ; the House of Commons met ; the
Chancellor of the Exchequer moved the re-appoint-
ment of the Committee ; and the demise of the Crown
at Midsummer overtook the Government without a
measure on the table of the House, or even a proposal
in the order-book. Meanwhile, in spite of difficulty
and neglect, the Money market has rallied ; and, ex-
cept as far as relates to the policy pursued by Govern-
ment last winter in respect of their Exchequer-bills,
the monied interests may congratulate themselves on
having got through their distresses with very little
more damage than if there had been no Government
at all. Now for our Colonial affairs. These, for the
most part, are matters of little interest at home ; not
because they are of little importance, but because they
are little understood. The public dots not usually take
the pains to inform itself of what happens afar off; the
interest is inversely as the squares of the distances.
But there was one colonial matter which formed an
exception even to this very general rule, and that matter
was the political position of Canada. The mother
country was not prepared to submit to the mutinous
and uneonstitutional spirit of a petty faction, which too
long had fretted both the local and the Imperial Go-
vernment. Ministers themselves were of the same mind.
They were highly Conservative upon Canadian affairs;
what was patriotic and praiseworthy in Mr. O'Connell
was revolutionary and intolerable in Mr. Papineau.
On the very first day of the Session Lord John Rus-
sell gave a notice for bringing the affairs of that Colony
under the consideration of the House of Commons on
the 23:1 of February. He put it off to the 28th, and
then to the 6th of March. He was prevented on that
day from discussing it by an amendment, and it caine
on for debate on the Bth. It stood again for the 15th,
but was postponed ; again for the 21st, but was post-
poned ; and then no more was heard of it till after
Easter. On the 14th of April it was once more among
the orders of the day ; the resolutions, necessary to
found the Ministerial Bill, were carried within a fort-
night, and reported on the 28th of April ; and from
that day to the hour of the dissolution the Ministerial
Bill has never been produced. It is irksome to follow
failure and neglect through their slow and slovenly
'notions. The task has wearied us ; but we shall re

cur to it.—Times.
The Tories are boasting, not only in their club-
houses, but in their journals, that, in consequence of
one or two elections having gone against the Re-
formers, it is the intention of Lord Melbourne to re-
tire from office, and to resign the Queen's Govern-
ment into the hands of the -Tories.' There never was
a greater mistake, or rather, we should say, there
never was a greater falsehood propagated. Lord
Melbourne neither does or ever did entertain any such
intention. With the firmness which has invariably
characterised him, he will stand to his colours to the
last ; and with the support of her Majesty and the
confidence of the people, will scatter to the winds the
'hopes of the Tories. Why, indeed, should he resign ?
Sir Robert Peel held office with a decided majority
against him for nearly two months, and in a Parlia-
ment of his own choosing ; and are Lord Melbourne
and his colleagues to surrender their places to their
opponents, when there is not only a majority of the
representatives of the people in their favour, but when
also, as is well known, her Majesty, the friend of the
people and the people's rights, is determined to give
them the most ample constitutional support. Shame
upon the audacious liars that dare to propagate such a
report !1 1 Shame upon their recreant lips which
give utterance to the falsehood, and still greater shame
upon the Reformer who could be so senseless as to
entertain the idea for a moment that Lord Melbourne
would strike his flag, and, without firing a shot, sur.
render to the enemy ! Lord Alelbourne is not only
the Minister of the Queen, but of the people ; and a
more atrocious act of treachery td both could not be
conceived than that of betraying both by the resigna-
tion of his office. However, to close our allusion to
this stupid fabrication on the part of some of our Con-
temporaries, we may state at once, and we state it
upon authority, that Lord Melbourne has not the
slightest intention of deserting either the Queen or the
people ; and that so many of the. supposed Tory
Members returned to the present Parliament have