The Sun.
London, England, 1837-11-17 00:00:00

King, on assuming the reins of government under
such circumstances, must have found an immediate
change imperative. His Majesty could not be ex-
pected to incur the responsibility of acts which he had
not the power to direct or to controul. In fact, the
question was narrowed to this simple point—whether
the King should govern his dominions or not. If the
functionaries, by being irremovable and consequently
independent of superior authority, were left to admi-
nister their offices as they thought fit, without refe-
rence to the will of the Sovereign, or to the wishes
of his people, a most debasing oligarchy must have
been established. This has been prevented by the
firmness of the present King. His Majesty has
called on the country, under the Constitution of 1819,
to decide as to the national interests, and has by

this course given satisfaction to all classes of his sub-
jects, save those having personal interests in misgo-
vernment. It is well known that his Majesty's acces-
sion to the throne, and his arrival in Hanover, were
hailed with enthusiasm. And when the Hanoverians
boasted that they were thenceforth to " have a King Of
their own," it was not that they rejoiced at the
severance of their connexion with Great Britain, but
that they exultingly anticipated a release from the
thraldom to which the underlings of an indolent
Government had subjected them. To come more im-
mediately to the question of the counties. Here we
find a subservient mercenary class of officers filling
the place of the county magistracy of England. These
persons travel from town to, town, they exercise an ad-
ministrativ.e and adjudicative power, and incredible as
it may appear, they cannot be dismissed, however
flagrant the abuses of which they may be convicted.
This, or something very like it, is the system which
Lord John Russell and Mr. Joseph Parkes .have
evinced a disposition to substitute, under the name of
" centralization," for the county magistracy of England.
We could almost fancy that these two worthies had
been employed in concocting the Hanoverian Constitution
of 1833; for the provisions of that Constitution directly
militate against the legitimate local influence of pro-
perty and station. The irresponsible officers to whom
we have alluded exert an influence in their journevings
through the several counties manifestly incompatible
with the independent action of any constituent body,
and consequently fatal to the free expression of po-
pular opinion. That the resident nobility and gentry
in the several counties should resent the vagabond in-
terinedling of persons of this description is but
natural. Let us for a moment consider the prin-
ciple upon which the counties of Hanover have
proceeded under the provisions of the Constitution
of 1833. Each village in a county elects a wahl-
mann—that is, a chooser or elector, who pro-
ceeds to the county town, and gives in to the Com-
missioners appointed the name of the deputy for
whom he votes on behalf of such village constituency.
Now, it is obvious that an irremovable functionary
will have that influence in s'ich village elections which
in England, and indeed in Prussia, attaches to the pos-
session of property and to residence. Another class of
persons has also been actively engaged in opposition to
the resident nobility and gentry : these are the law-
yers in the several provinces. They formed a sort of
league with the public functionaries against the landed
proprietors, and succeeded in introducing laws, by
which several of the privileges and immunities of the
nobility and gentry were abrogated. These persons,
however, are now greatly irritated against the said
functionaries, having found that the latter merely made
use of them for their own purposes. In short, the
relation between these classes is pretty much that of
the Whigs and Radicals—the one grasping all they
can, and the other growling in vain for participation
in the plunder. Under these circumstances it is that
the King of Hanover has afforded his subjects an
opportunity of constitutionally expressing their wishes
under the provisions of tire Constitution of 1819. The
Assembly of the S%ites, so convened, will calmly and
deliberately co-operate with the Sovereign in his en-
deavours to remedy the defects of a hasty, and, in
many respects, mischievous law. In so doing, they
will not less consult the wishes and the interests of
the Hanoverian people than the dignity and inde-
pendence of the Crown.—Timcs.
The paragraph which we copy below from a Morn-
ing Ministerial paper shows how fearful Ministers are
lest Sir Robert Peel should take a decided and ener-
getic part—the only part that can do credit to himself,
and be worthy of the Conservative cause—in the ses-
sion of Parliament which has now formally com-
menced, but which will not be regularly constituted
for the despatch of public business until the delivery
of the Queen's speech on Monday next. The su-
periority of Sir Robert Peel's talents and qualifi-
cations for the Conservative leadership of the House
of Commons is acknowledged on all hands ; but,
somehow or other, the Whig-Radicals have lately
got into their heads that the moral courage of the
Right Hon. Baronet is not on a level with his great
and splendid abilities. They also seem to entertain
the fanciful notion that, when they fail to alarm him
by their threats, they may succeed in wheedling him,
by their soft cajolery, into the adoption of that
temporising and " shilly-shally" sort of policy, which
in the struggle of great principles never yet achieved
any thing important or memorable—any thing de-
serving the gratitude of a nation, or the recollec-
tion of history. The talents of the elder and younger
Pitt, transcendent as they were, could not have
obtained for the memories of those distinguished states-
men the prominent position which they fill in the an-
nals of their country, if it were not for the energy and
decision of character which accompanied and gave to
those talents their prompt and powerful application.
How it has happened that the Whig-Radicals have
got it into their heads that Sir Robert Peel is so defi-
cient in courage and firmness necessary for a Conser-
vative leader in these times as to make him a fit sub-
ject upon which to try their artful experiments of alter-
nate intimidation and cajolery, we do not pretend to
say. Certain it is that such experiments are repeat-
edly made in the hope that his talents may be neu-
tralized by timidity, or rendered ineffectual for any
great purpose through a political complaisance to his
adversaries, scarcely less injurious to a national cause
than timidity itself. The most recent attempt to alarm
the Right Hon. Baronet, and induce him to shelve
himself for the benefit of Melbourne, O'Connell, and
Co., affects a most sensitive regard for the Conserva-
tive statesman's health ! We transcribe it here :
" Sir Robert Peel took occasion to express his concur-
rence in the re-election of Mr. Abercromby ; and in doing
this every one must have been struck with his altered per-
sonal appearance. His voice and spirits also exhibited a
painful contrast to what they used to be ; altogether it is
but too clear that the Right Hon. Baronet's health is
seriously injured. We deeply regret this. Though differ-
ing from Sir Robert in political opinion, we have always
felt for him the highest respect both as a private individual
and as a public man. It is to be hoped that the illness.
under which he now suffers will only be temporary. Should
he, however, in his present state of health, be so far cajoled
by tho fulsome adulation of the Tories as to attempt to
take the prominent part in the discussions of the House of
Commons which for some years past he has been accus-
tomed to do, he will certainly do an irreparable injury to
his constitution ; he will sacrifice himself to his party."
The regard expressed in the above paragraph for the
preservation of the health of Sir Robert Peel strangely
contrasts with the undisguised, unmanly, and indecent
expressions of exultation which appeared in some of
the Whig organs when the Right Hon. Baronet was
Premier, and it was supposed his health was giving
way in consequence of the great exertions, mental and
physical, which he felt it necessary to make, in order
to meet the malevolent and unprincipled attacks of the
most 'factious opposition that ever endeavoured to pre-
vent any Ministry from having a " fair trial." Then
the Ministerial organs went the disgraceful length of
making it a subject of triumphant announcemsnt that
there were visible signs of the health of Sir Robert
Peel being so seriously affected by the continued wor-
rying which he received from the Whig-Radicals that
the sources of life itself seemed to be daily sinking un-
der the pressure. To-dav the Whig-Radicals " deeply
regret that the Right Hon. Baronet's health is seriously
injured," their real cause of regret being that it is not
seriously injured, as we trust the Whig Ministers will
find to their cost before the close of the session. T
he
ministerial writers are afraid " he will do an irrepa-
rable injury to his constitution if he takes the promi-
nent part in the discussions of the House of Commons
which, fur some years past, he has been accustomed
to do." Generous antagonists ! "It is quite de-
, lightful," as the American said, " to be soundly