The Sun.
London, England, 1839-05-24 00:00:00

METROPOLITAN POLITICA I,

SUMMARY.

The Morning Post of this day, after abusing thr
entire Radical party in terms ridiculous, from their sur-
passing and even convulsive vehemence, as a st t of awl:
who cla'm to be the on!y sincero loyalists in the
g es on to observe that the " loyalty of the Toms i
something more than a feeling, it is a principle." Our
Contemporary is right. Tory loyalty is a principle,
and the strongest of principles—namely, that of self-
interest ! They love their Sovereign as the head and
front of their faction, but in no other sense. As the
Queen and benefactor of her people, they turn away
from her with feelings not far removed from contempt,
the daily columns of their principal organs have
sc,own fir the last fortnight and upwards.
The Times is quite frantic with the result of the
Hertford election, and draws from it the startling in.
ference that the Ministry have scarcely a chance of sal-
vation left. " What," asks our Contemporary, " sup-
ports the shaken edifice? The forlorn hope—a hope
igainst hope—of Radical adhesion at the last hour ?
From the bottom of our hearts we trust it may be so,
but the fiend begins to palter with our longings. The
chance of a dissolution ? What chance is there from a
dissolution for any but Conservatives ? The Queen's
favour ? Pshaw ! There is no principle nor material
of life in this Ministry. We guess Lord Melbourne
thinks so." The best comment on this is our Con-
temporary's own expressive phrase, " Pshaw !"
The Morning Herald contains a temperate and well
reasoned ar:icle on the subject of duelling, in the course
of which our Contemporary justly remarks :—" Every
appeal to force for the redress of individual wrong, or
the vindication of what is called personal honour.
implies contumacy and contempt, not only for the laws
of the land, but for the principles of Christian morality.'
The Morning Chronicle, commenting on the prospects
of Reform, says—" It would be unreasonable, certainly
to expect that at this advanced period of the Session,
Ministers should be able to reconstitute the Cabinet,
and carry through Parliament measures calculated to
satisfy the just expectations of Reformers. Neither is
the country so impatient as to be unable to remain
passive until Parliament re-assembles on the subject of
their expectations. But as little time as possible
should be lost after Parliament has met, before Ministers
remove the anxiety of Reformers as to the nature and
extent of the reforms which it is their intention to pro-
pose. That much anxiety exists on the subject is as
certain as it is that it would be hazardous to trifle
with it."

The Morning Advertiser refers again to the two can-
didates for the Speakership in the following terms :
" It is one of the remarkable instances of the madness
which has seized the Tory party, that they have selected
Mr. Goulburn for their Speaker. He has been so long
distanced in moderation by the more time-serving and
shrewd of his Tory coadjutors, that one wonders they
should have put him forward in the presence of the
country as one whom they would delight to honour.
And on the score of peculiar qualifications, if the gossip
of his friends be true, it seems that nobody pretends to
assign him any. We are rejoiced to find that among
the Liberals there is but one feeling entertained in re-
gard to Mr. Shaw Lefevre, whose merits are put in
strong relief by the candidate selected to be his oppo-
nent ; and that his success is as much desired on ac-
count of his personal recommendations, as of those
official qualifications which we pointed out some days ago!'

The Courier of last night comments as follows on
Mr. Goulburn's claims to the Speakership of the House
of Commons :—" Without being rash or over sanguine,
we may confidently anticipate that the Reformers will
be found firmly and sincerely united in favour of a tri-
umphant assertion of the superior claims of Mr. Shaw
Lefevre—regarded not merely with reference to his
pinions as a Reformer, but to his particular qualifi-
,..itions for the Chair. In every sense, his advant ges
over Mr. Goulburn are indisputabl}• ; and no Reformer
in the House can possibly expose himself to a
t.harge of inconsistency by supporting that gentle-
man's election. Not so. however, with the Opposition
and their candidate. Of the supporters of Mr. Gaul-
burn many are foredoomed to the reproach of the
grossest inconsistency, and to the endurance of the most
rxquisite ridicule. His very proposers, or their leaders
and setters-on, have distinctly admitted that they do
not consider him to be, of all their party, the best qua-
lified member for their Chair, or else that they were
guilty of disrespect to the House by intending to pro-
pose somebody less qualified than they deem him to be ;
tor.hc was to be a Cabinet ally of Sir Robert Peel."
The Globe observes in the course of a leading article,
advocating the Ministerial scheme of national educa-
tion We believe many conscientious Churchmen
are anxious that the great evils arising from the imper-
fection and deficiency of the means of education
should be remedied without infringing the rights of con-
science in their Dissenting brethren. We can conceive
that among such may be some who, while they agree in
thinking the objects proposed by the Government plan
in all respects desirable, may find difficulties respecting
some of the details. We know of no better employment
such gentlemen can undertake than to supply a plan
which shall not be found liable to more grave objections ;
and, until such a plan is discovered, to unite with us in
the cordial support of the plan proposed by the Com-
mittee of the Privy Council."
The Standard indulges in'the following inflated and
preposterous panegyric on Sir Robert Peel—that very
statesman whom, not many years since, our Contem-
porary was fond of sneering at :—" We have a very
high estimate of Sir Robert Peel—of his various and
profound learning—of his splendid genius—of his un-
spotted personal integrity, his unequalled temper, at
once so calm and so firm—of his exemplary private life,
and of his heroical devotion to the service of his coun-
try. We believe him to be the man vouchsafed to re-
deem and to save the British empire in its extremity ;
such is our estimate, and such we are persuaded is at
this moment the public estimate of Sir R. Peel."

THE INDIAN OVERLAND MAILS.

The following is the answer of Lord Palmerston to
the Chairman cf the East India and China Association,
relative to the transmission of the overland mail through
France via Marseilles :

Foreign Office, May 15, 1839.
Sat,—l am directed by Viscount Palmerston to ac-
knowledge the receipt of your letter of yesterday's date,
requesting in the first place that any Government mes-
senger who may hereafter be dispatched from Malta
through France to England may be instructed to bring
with him all such letters as may be addressed via Mar-
seilles, and which may have been brought from Alexan-
dria to Malta in her Majesty's packets, along with the
Government dispatches.
I am to acquaint you in reply that Viscount Palmer-
ston regrets extremely that he cannot reply with this
r. qu• st, as to do so would involve an interference with
the privileges of the French Post-office, in which it is
not to be expected that the French Goverinnent could
b • induced to acquiesce.

With regard to the second clause of your letter in
which you r,quest that at all ev,-•nts the vessel which
brings the Queen's messenger from Malta should not
have that place without bringing to Marseilles for im-
mediate transmission dtrougn France all the letters ad-
dressed by that route, I am to suggest to you that your
application on this point should be made to the Admi-
ralty, to which department the control of her Majesty's
vessels in the Mediterranean more immediately belongs.
In conclusion, I ant to state that Viscount Palmer-
ston hopes that an arrangement which has been some-
time in negotiation with the French Government will
shortly be concluded and brought into operation, by
which the s ife and speedy transmission of letters from
and to India through France will be effectually secured.
I am, Sir, your most obedient, humble servant,

J. BACKHOUSE.
G. G. De H. Larpent, Esq., Chairman,

London, East India, and China Association.

LAW OF STORMS.—A Lecture on this inte-
resting subject was delivered on Thursday evening, the
16th inst., at the Metropolitan Institution, Salvador House,
Bishopsgate, by Mr. W. R. Birt, the librarian. After
controverting the generally-received opinion that the
trade winds blow from the north and south at the limits of
tile torrid zone, becoming due east at the equator, by show-
ing that they first commence from the eastward, and gra-
dually become north and south near the equator, the lec-
turer explained the theory so ably put forth by Col. Reid,
and, with the help of diagrams and maps, showed the phe-
nomena that would arise from a cylinder of air rapidly
rotating, possessing at the same time a progressive mo-
tion. He also showed the agreement of facts with the
theory by a diagram constructed from the pub!ishi d ac-
counts of a storm that passed round the north of Scotland,
and along the eastern coasts of England during the night
between the 11th and 12th of October last. In conclu-
ding the lecturer endeavoured to show the vast importance
of the inquiry, especially to those persons whose occupa-
tions are connected with the sea.

CONSTANTINOPLE, APRIL 24.—Russia evi-
dently works to effect the ruin of all the establishments
tending to instruct or raise the people. There exists in all
Turkey but ten colleges, and already the intrigues of the
Greek Patriarch have succeeded in closing the Armenian
College of Koskoi, which contained 200 pupils, A: me-
nians, Greeks, Turks, Italians, French, and English. The
College of Halkey would have shared the same fate had it
not been for the devotion of several Greek merchants, who
furnished the necessary funds to support the enterprise,
shaken by the accusation of Protestantism, which has been
laid to its charge. The Greek Patriarch, evidently de-
voted to the Russian policy, has sent some ignorant priests
from the monastery of Santo Monte, near Salonica. These
missionaries openly preach in the Greek houses against the
profane College of Andros. Intrigue has failed, and large
placards, containing furious declamations against the Greek
patriarch, have been affixed to the walls of the principal
Greek houses.

Considerable falls of snow took place towards the
beginning of the present month in the east of Prussia, as
we learn from Berlin. Count Esterhazy, who was going
to St. Petersburg, bad his carriage so much impeded by
the fall of snow near Tauroggen that eight horses could not
uet it along. One of his servants fell under the wheels,
hut so deep was the snow, and 5,, thick was a fur cloak
which he wore, that he ef•caped almost uuhurt, although
the carriage went over his body.