The Sun.
London, England, 1837-06-27 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBL 1 i; JOURNALS.

Though we think it unlikely that Mr. Sergeant
Talfourd's Copyright Bill, which was to be read a
second time to-morrow evening, will ho further pro
ceeded in until the next Parliament, c shall neverthe-
less fulfil our prom'se of calling attention to the strong
claim of musical composers to that. protection which
has never hitherto been granted to them. Mr. Bulwer,
in his Act of '1833, to amend the laws -relating to
dramatic literary property, has wholly • overloolzed a
class of authors who contribute not only to give
elevation and refinement to the operatic drama, bat who
give to it its most delightful and attractive charm.
This neglect, while it prevents public men of great mu-
sical genius from obtaining that high rank in the public
estimation to which they are entitled, deprives them of
their fair reward, by leaving the fluits of that genius to
be gathered by every one but themselves. While a
popular composer is awakening the enthusiasm and
calling forth the admiration of the public by his
production, the publisher, the singers, the theatrical
managers are, each in their turn, enriching them-
selves at his expense, and putting the well earned
reward of his talents into their own pockets, while he
is left to. eat the coarse bread of dependence, and to
struggle with the world as he can. Is this justice ?
Is this the treatment which they ought to receive from
whom all classes of the public derive amusement of
the highest kind, and to whom they owe many of their
happiest hours ? If it is intended by the new Copy-
right Bill to secure to every author the fair advantage
of those talents with which he is gifted, how can its
professed purpose he answered if the misled- author
is disregarded ? Mr. Sergeant Talfourd has now
ample time before him to revise the provisions of his
Bill ; and we toast lie will so frame it, as to em-
brace those interests which, at present, are not iris
eluded, in it. Songs and ballads, appearing as they
do on a single sheet of paper, are apt io be consi-
dered as things of no account. An ample octavo,
or a book of any kind, comes before the public eye
with something like respectable dimensions, but a
few printed notes expressive of simple sounds, on
a disconnected sheet of paper, are considered by
many as by no means of magnitude enough to com-
mand the protective interference of the 'Legislature.
We arc very apt to be carried away by false associa-
tions. The dealer in folios looks with contempt upon
a pamphlet ; and in like manner, we suppose, a dealer
in pumpkins would put no value on a green-gage.
Whatever does not come recommended by size and
bulk such persons pass over as beneath their regard.
But magnitude is no test of merit. A single air,
unimportant and siniple as it may seem, may be worth
a moderate fortune, and, which is more, may produce
it. An instance or two will explain this, and will at
the same time, we hope, induce many to bestow some
attention on a subject which they have not hitherto
considered fis deserving their consideration. The late
Madame Malibran was -some three or four years since
engaged at the little theatre in the Haymarket, at a-
sarary of one hundred and fifty pounds a week,
the only terms of her engagement being that she should
sing the songs and ballads appointed for her that might
be introduced in the performance of the evening.
One of these songs was " The deep, deep sea," com-
posed by. Mr. C. Horn. So attractive was this
air, that it was sung not only in London, but at
every provincial theatre in the United Kingdom, and
by the popular singers at conceits and public places.
A net sum of at least 5,0001. wus pocketed by the
managers and public singers ; the publisher did not
draw less from the sale of copies than 1,0001. How
much of all this came to the share of the composer?
He got from the managers nothing I From the pub-
lic singers not a sixpence I He received•ten pounds,
or thereabouts, from the publisher, and for that pro-
duce of his genius from which others had profited thus
amply -this was his whole remuneration. But even
this paltry compensation was munificent when com-
pared with to the dividend allotted to English compo-
sers on most occasions. The air of " The Light
Guitar," by Barnet, was introduced by Madame Yes-
tris, and by other singers, into a variety of dramatic
pieces, and drew many thousand pounds from the pub-
lic into their private purses : full 20,000 copies. were
sold by the publisher, who then obtained from the pub-
lic two thousand more. And to what extent did the
composer participate in these abundant gains ? He
received 2/. 2s. ! ! a dividend of absolutely less than

half a farthing in the pound, upon the net profit de-
rived from his musical genius by those who contri-
bute nothing either to the production or support of it.

Is it, then, without cause that British musicians com-
plain of discouragement Are we to wonder that even
so popular a composer as Mr. Horn should have been
compelled to emigrate to America with a view to
try his fortune in a foreign market ? It has been
alleged that.there is ample public patronage at home
to encourage musical talent. Very likely ; but of
what avail is that patronage if all the advantages that
should arise from it are defeated? What is it to a
composer that he arrives at fame and distinction if
the pecuniary benefit which should accrue from his la-
bours are thus intercepted ? Of what value would it
be to an author that his works were everywhere
read and admired if hawkers, and pedlars, and circu-
lating libraries were permitted to reap the profit of
them, leaving .him to be content with the empty praise ?
The injustice, in the present case, is not on the part
of the public: it is on the part of the Legislature,
which has hitherto withheld from musical composers
that protection which it extends to intellectual property
of every other kind. The Act 3 William IV., c. 15,
should be enlarged, and such enactments introduced
into it as may put an end to the evasion of the right
which a composer has to the exclusive profit of his
works, in common with other authurs in every branch
of literature. The interests of our native composers
moreover require that this protection should be ex-
tended to the works of foreign masters. But as Mr.
Sergeant Talfourd is not likely to proceed further at
present, we shall defer what we have yet to urge until
the revival of his Bill shall again bring the subject be-
fore the public.—Morning Chronicle.

There can be no absurdity greater than for the
Tories to complain of the little that Ministers have
gone during the last Session, when the Tories know
all the while that they have been the only obstacles to
the passing of nearly all the important measures intro,
duced by the Cabinet of Lord Melbourne. If some
have not been brought forward with the alacrity that
would other Wise have been displayed, it is easily ac-
counted for by the fact, that Ministers were aware that
although thy might carry the Bills by considerable
majorities in the Commons, all the toil of drawing
them, and passing them • thus far, would be but labour
in vain, since, if not absolutely rejected, they would be
miserably mutilated by the Lords. It is very well for
the Times, with its usual hardy effrontery, following
its bold and barefaced leader, and for " My Grand-
mother," with her usual senility, following anybody,
to endeavour to make out an accusation of the kind
by referring to such measures as the Imprisonment
for Debt Bill, for instance ; but what can they say
of the conduct of the Lords, who, after the Com-
mons had twice passed the Irish Municipal Bill,
laid it' on the shelf for a mouth or six weeks
at a time, and refused even to take it into considera-
tion ? This conduct of the " Obstructives" certainly
afforded great encouragement to activity in bringing
measures before and urging them through the Lower
House of .Parliament. The Tory Peers, with Lord
Lyndhurst at their head, first erect an impassable bar-
rier to the progress of public business, and then they
avail themselves of their own act and deed in order to
found upon it an accusation against Ministers. This,
as everybody must see, is exactly the simple state of
the case, and hence the absurdity (to say nothing of
the baseness.) of the attempt to raise a cry that the
Whigs have done nothing and intend to do nothing.
The good sense of the country cannot be imposed upon
by any such flimsy pretexts. The people of England,
Scotland, and Ireland are too clear-sighted to be
blinded by a little dust thus thrown in their eyes ;
and they will do full justice, both now and hereafter,
to the cernest desires and honest intentions of a Govern-
ment which-has only had the national good at heart, and
which, in its efforts to accomplish that good, has been rc •
sisted by a faction combined to attain the worst ends by
the worst means. Be it remembered that it is only n
few months ago, and during the present Session, that
an alarm was endeavoured to be got up by the same
parti:s that Mi►;iste►a were doing too much—that the

State machine was going at a dangerous rate, and tli ti
it was necessary to check its progress. Its progres
has, indeed, been checked with a vengeance ; and those
who have checked it, with admirable consisteney, no,
assert, forsooth, that it is the fault of the present MI
nisters that the advance lus been 2o slow. Wlit.
they have brought the wheels of the State machin —,
(which, according to them, was once goin much to' rr
fast) to.a dead lock, they turn round and blame thosk
who were willing and anxious to proeeed at a safe P%. 2 "
steady pace, but who were not permitted to proceed a
all. This is what the Tories call justice, and an ad.
mirable specimen it is of the sort of justice that the, '
would deal out to the country. It creates in i.•
Lno surprise ; true it is, the accusation is as deste
Lute of truth as the accuser!, are of prineitile
but we ate prepared for anything from that Tear-
ter, and the friends of Ministers may rejoice the;
their enemies arc driven to such desperate shifts of a:
gument and assertion. We need not follow the Iffi me'
of yesterday through its ostentatious but useless erne .--,
meration of measures which Lord M 1' e oourne's Go -,
vernment has been unable, from the obstinate resist-
ance of the Peers, to carry forward into law. Th.,.
longer the list the more it proves that nothine. wa
o
wanting on the part of Ministers to discharge th. .
great duty they owed to the country, and the more i
establishes the senseless perverseness of those who fo.'v:
the mere purposes of party set themselves in opposi-
tion to changes which are admitted to he beneticia:. ..
Even the Times calls some of the Bills " whole ';
some," and affects to wonder that they were no
persevered in, when it knows, as well as we do.A.,
that perseverance would have been vain anti
fruitless in proportion as it was earnest and we! •
nuous, What we have said has had reference to th '..
-
general and not to the particular circumstances ii -,,.
which Ahe Government is placed. The demise of tin
Crown was an unforeseen event which would hay, -..,_
disconcerted Parliamentary arrangements, even ha( ~.
the Lords been acting in perfect accordance and har-
mony with the Commons. That they have not se
acted is iio more the fault of Ministers, than it is their .•
fault that our late lamented Sovereign was mortal. A
we had yesterday an article in the Times accusing tie '
present Government of not doing impossibilities ii '
passing Bills through the brick-wall of the " obstrue- t:.-
tive" Lords, we should hardly be surprised at seein :"
another article in " My Grandmother" of to-morrco
imeuting blame to Ministers for the inevitable dispel e
sations of Providence.—Morning Chronicle.
It is understood that the arrangements for th: 4
Queen's Household are considerably advanced, and thy '
names of several ladies who have received appoint-
ments near her Majesty's person are already circulated
We know nothing of these matters ourselves, and w,
give them as mere gossip :—" The Duchess cf Suther-
land, first in rank, is also foremost in official station,
and, as Mistress of the Robes, stands at the head of
Queen Victoria's family. The Marchioness of Lans-
downe holds the office somewhat curiously entitled, it,
her Ladyship's case, ' Groom of the Stole,'* yet such "
we believe to be the traditional and proper designatioe --'#:
of it ; so at least was it in the days of Queen Anne.
Subordinate to these two distinguished ladies, an(
(if the shreds and patches of Court 'etiquette which •'''
have reached-us be authentic) under the immediate de
rection of the latter, are the ' Ladies of the Bed- Is
chamber,' two of whom were stated yesterday tt ~
have been nominated in the persons of the Marchioness ffe
of Tavistock and Lady Charlemont. Two maidsiis
of Honour have likewise been appointed—viz., Miss
..,*
Pitt (daughter of Lord Rivers), and the Bishop of
Rochester's daughter, Miss Murray." To none of
these promotions, or appointments rather, in so far as .-
concerns the individual merits or qualities of the.,
Noble Personages who have obtained them, -can any
shadow of just objection be stated. The Duchess o
Sutherland, with all the seductions of this world at
her feet, has ever borne a decent reputation ; nor could!
a woman be found, in whatever. rank of life, more.•
shrewd or exemplary than the Marchioness of Lanse':
downe. For her perfect guidance on such points,''
however, the young Queen of England, according to
the remarkable expression of Sir R. Peel, already
possesses, in the materials of her own character, some-7:-.
thine, ~which art cannot imitate, nor education-;
teach,"' and which of itself enables her, under these
most trying circumstances, to dispense with the '
most experienced Counsellor. One question, how---
ever,which cannot be settled so easily to the
satisfaction of -political reasoners, regards the con- :-
stitutional bearing of such appointments as this'
of Lady Lansdowne. Her Ladyship is wife to a
member of the Whig-O'Connell Cabinet, and although 4
the spirit of monopoly, apparent in the appropriation of
Cabinet and household offices by man and wife, may ,
interest none but the colleagues and political part isan-s4
pi
of the Noble Marquis, and be a bone to pick for Whig-
Radicals
exclusively, the nation in general looking 0,,r0
and enjoying the scramble, we have still some busi-'f
tress to inquire whether it must be admitted as a prin-
ciple in the future treatment of the Kings and Queens
of England, that the occupant of the throne, whether:--
male or female, is at all times, and in hours whiele-
ought to be those of perfect privacy and freedom from
ail restraint, to be surrounded rigorously by politicians.
of both sexes, who are of one unvarying clique and.
colour—viz., Ministers with the immediate rela-
tives, friends, and dependents of their especial party c''
' Is it to be the law of political management for the
future that an English Monarch shall have- no choice.
in the selection of his or her domestic friends ?—that
no other British subject shall have even oceasiona:,
access to the Sovereign but through a Ministerial,
fiat ? The Whigs, indeed, attempted this species ci'.
in-door dominion over some of those high personages;;
who preceded her present Majesty in the exercise of
the Royal functions ;. but in the laudable effort theys,'.
were defeated. Her Majesty ought, nevertheless, t%,...
understand what system of endurance it is that she •';
thus establishes against her own personal freedom to ,
all future time. She ought to be made aware that to:.
the end of her life she cannot henceforth consistently.,
claim the enjoyment of that reasonable freedom which,;:;
throughout the whole of English society, is inherent',
in every mistress of a family—to wit, the right of de. -1
termining what individuals shall possess the priyilege•,
of being under every possible circumstance inmates of
her home, and familiars of her retirement as of her
table, and who shall be excluded from either, or from:
both. The power of a constant inmate over the coin-
fort of an entire family, and in some respects over the,
, independence of whoever is at the head of it, must be-
obvious to the whole world ; and this subjugation of,e
the sacred recesses of domestic life, in the case of the ti
3
Sovereign, to intrusions which would be repelled at oncell
from the hearth of the meanest of her subjects, does,
not promise much for the forbearance which the you»4
Queen Vieroria is likely to meet hereafter at the hands
of those who have so commenced their proce-edinge.i.
Once more, we disclaim in the strongest mariner any
personal disrespect to the higher ladies of the house-a
hold, albeit they are without exception Whigs, by Ole
above, observations. Even although Queen Anne inay,,,,
be quoted as an example of the political ascendancy
which has heretofore been obtained over a weak and,
subordinate mind by one of an aspiring and imperious' .
nature, the- Ministers, we trust, will not accuse us of .
any greater disposition to affront her present Majesty, -
by a humiliating compaiison with the daughter of
James 11., than to libel the upright but somewhat
fidgetty Lady Lansdowne by imputing to her the selfish
vices of the all-grasping Sarah, or than we have shown
to put the feeble President of Lord Melbourne's C0m1..:
eil on a level with the first Whig statesman and hero -
of the 18th century. Let, however, our youthful.
Sovereign beware of this early compromiSe of her hide-,
pendenee.— 7 'hires.

Every rea,ier may not know that the " ion„
vestment of the scarf species, still worn by ecclesiastics botht
of our Church and the Rarnish, has been extended to signitly
the entire wardrobe of Royalty_a part for the whole. Thra
an Offieer of the Stole is one who ostensibly has the car.: of
all the King's or Queen's clothing.

Among the discussions which occurred in the H0u..1
of Commons on Friday, one of the most striking, as,if
well ag, we must also add, one of the most astonishing ,r•
was that raised by Mr. Flume, respecting the utility
or inutility of thc Board of Trade, as a separate ay.:ti
distinct dc,parkincut of the Executive of the countr,.
\\7e
have every couVence in the integrity and pa-
triotic feelings .of the Hon. Member for Middlesex.
If lie has not, m consequence of unwilling Nlinisters,
and still more unwilling Pailiame:lts, accomplislmi

all the good which he has been desirous of render-
ing to his country, he has unquestionably prevented,
by his somewhat too stern adherence to economical
principles, the - commission of a larger portion of
evil, which otherwise would have befallen this coun-
try, than any other Member of the representative
aody—and if this be not the highest praise, it is
.inquestionably an avowal of merit of which any
man might be justly proud. But the Honourable
!srember for Middlesex will fall at times into mis•
.akes as well as other men—h& may stretch his prin-
. siples of economy, not to a useless only, but to a mis-
chievous limit ; and if he ever (lid so upon any one
`occasion more than another, it was unquestionably
m Friday last, when he, we doubt not in a moment
-if forgetfulness, attacked the well-paid services of the
President of the Board of Trade, and argued, as we
, should infer from the brief report of the debate, that
the Board might be safely dispensed with, its Presi-
tlent cease to exist in his official capacity, and its
whole establishment transferred to the department of
the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Now we hold it to
be a fact well understood, and thoroughly recognised,
that the Chancellor of the Exchequer of the United
Kingdom has burthicn enough upon his shoulders, if
'le do justice to his own department, without any other
• Ueing attached to it ; but even if this proposition be
*- rot granted, it is our decided opinion, and we be-
s• ieve that every merchant within the bounds of the
United Kingdom will agree with us, that of all the
s"lepartments of the State, the most important—the
.1.:: n• ost necessary—the must vital to the best interests
if the country—is that of the Board of Trade. We
carcely know of ally country which can boast either of
menial or external trade, which does not also boast of
t superintendent, or of a President, or of a Board of
• Trade ; and if this be the case with countries which do
~_ lot average two-thirds of the commerce of the United
..:'. Kingdom, how can this mighty empire dispense with
• uch an establishment? The question as to the pro-
;:- priety of the establishment will not bear a hearing. If
''.:•t be badly conducted—if the gentlemen who corn-
's rose it do their duty inefficiently—let the facts in
::•' rroof of the assertion be produced, and we shall be
• ' he first to come forward to denounce them, and advo-
• sate the appointment of more capable men ; but until
these facto, if they exist, are before us, we must con-
- -inue to declare that the department is useful, and that
it is managed by able and competent persons. The
late Mr. Huskisson, we suppose, was a useful man in
• the days of his strength, and we are not aware that
' his successor has in the slightest degree departed either
~ from his principles, or from attention to the duties of
.c his office. Indeed, there is no department which re-
s quires so much attention—none upon which so many
onerous duties devolve—and we will also add, none to
shich more strict or more usefel attendance is given.
Do away with the Board—place it in the hands of a
:hief clerk in the office of the Chancellor of the Ex-
. -thequer, and, allowing for all his diligence and zeal—
he trade of the country—the staple support of its
greatness—is utterly and wholly annihilated.—Morn-
e
ing Advertiser. .
. The dissolution of Parliament is at hand, and it is
not the proceedings of the House of Commons, but
the state of the constituencies, which should now be
the great object of attention and anxiety. Little as has
been done by the present representative body, and much
. as it has failed to do, perhaps, considering the auspices
under which it was constituted, it has scarcely fallen
:short of the expectations formed at its inauguration.
What could be expected from a House of Commons
avowedly convoked for the purpose of giving to a fac-
ion the sanction of its countenance, and in the elec-
ion of the members of which the whole influence of a
Cory Government and the wealth of a corrupt Oli-
;archy were lavished with unsparing desperation to oh.
tain an ascendancy ? Such a House could not be ex-
. rested to express, much less to enforce, the wishes of
-he British people. It never had the public confidence,
ts majorities for the most part merely indicated that
r'action had become impotent of evil, but they had not in
.hemselves the fcrce to assert any active principle of
i.- flood. Had it not been for the event which has accele-
rated the period of its dissolution, it would have been
; lismissed with but little claim on the public confidence
• is credit. Parliament is now about to depart in peace,
• f not with dignity ; and we are not disposed to disturb
• ts last moments farther than is necessary to prevent
he resuscitation of its more noxious principles in that
.vhich is to succeed it. The people have now had
• imple opportunity of discerning their friends from their
oes ; and even with the limited franchise which they
rossess it will be their own fault if they do not return
o the next Parliament such a majority of Reformers as
•,:s. nust carry out the spirit of civil and religious liberty—
; hat amelioration of our institutions so patriotically al-
: uded to in the declaration of our beloved Queen—against
Tall the factions impediments which Lords or Tories can
oppose. The :Wilistry, the Commons, and, though last
. not least in censure, the Lords, have been-all more or less
'lamed for the interruption which has for two years and
ipwards been given to the legislative improvements ; but
low the appeal is about to be made from Parliament to
.s.
s he people—the national tribunal—the supreme au-
` s hority shall be called upon to decide, whether civilize-
e. ion shall progress or retrograde, whether the rights of
nan the inalienable endowments of intellectual
' •reings, shall be extended or curtailed even of their pre-
.,
.. ,ent proportions, for to remain stationary is impossible,
• Ind, if, through supineness, indifference, or the opera-
's—ion of undue influence, that tribunal shall deliver a
suicidal verdict (for in this case the people are the arbi-
-
e-, ters of their own fate) it will incur universal and eter-
- aal execration, but we have no fear of the result. There
'''. 'lever was a time more favourable than that approach-
-1 ing for the exertion of popular influence and principles
n the election of Parliamentary representatives, and
lever a time when the most strenuous activity on the
' )art of all classes of Reformers was more necessary. A
°=. :)roper effort now—a combined and active and de-
;ermined zeal—may lay a secure foundation for a
.
.zign of prosperity and freedom, and facilitate the
:ealization of the hopes and promise which so cheer-
r,
s !ugly illumine the vista opened to the nation by
• the recent accession. But without this effort the tide
; if fortune may be lost ; though faction can never gain
:#* sufficient strength to become actively mischievous, it
-'-•,.nay still retain sufficient vitality to exercise a negative
• in the national sentiment ; it may not be able to effect
0, :ts own evil objects, but to a great extent it may pre-
., vent and mar the accomplishment of good by others ;
s end with a House which may live out its legal Jura-
!, Lion, a seven years' blight might be cast on the bud and
: 'alossom of the whole reign. For this reason, though
s-r success appears certain, every possible contingency of
lefeat should be guarded against, and on the people
; now rest the responsibility, the onus and brunt of the
battle. With a Reform Ministry, and a Reform
Queen, who has frankly and unequivocally pledged
herself to carry out the principles proposed for d a op-
tion, and partially recognised in the reign of her pre-
. Jecessor, lie must be a recreant wretch whose zeal would
lot be stimulated by such glorious and exciting prospects.
`ss Prepare, therefore, Electors! and be ready to vindicate
‘. .he interests upon which you are about to be appealed to
for your decision, and embrace the opportunity of
• achieving your own and your country's welfare and
7- happiness. An active canvass is already on foot in
most parts of the country, and, above all things, it is
. necessary that electors should not suffer themselves to
:!. be trepanned into a premature promise of their suf-
, (rage. There are a number of defaulters in the pre-
sent House of Commons, whom it is essential to sub-
ect to a strict examination, before again investing
'''them with the representative trust. These we shall
:particularize as they come before us ; but there are
... certain leading questions, which have been so tho-
roughly discussed, and of which the utility, the po-
:'.licy, justice, and necessity, arc so manifest, that no
:is honest man can hesitate a second - opinion of their
*..merits. To these distinct pledges should be exacted
il' from every candidate before a single vote be promised.
Amongst these we may mention, first, Church and
. Corporation Reform for Ireland, and the relief of the
Dissenters grievances in England, with a host of other
corollaries, the enumeration of which we shall reserve
!.for a subsequent article.--Morning Advertiser.
..:' There are few things more laughable than Lord
' , Johliltkiiailfs solemnity. Let our readers figure to
0
khenilelva a Minister of the Crown assuming with all
kht the'air of a" most forcible Feeble," and ut-
'''
1 16.1m—' lb ' l 1 following
: I,cring, in
_e a orate rmeasurec accents, the followi
'llcpeofound-commfitary on his own intentions :—" I am
itaware that we cannot hope to meet with an universal

concurrence in our views on the subject of conducting
the public affairs of the country. We shall be, 'as
others have been, liable to have our motives miscon-
strued, and our measures misrepresented, but we accept
the condition to which our position renders us liable."
What amusing magnanimity ! But his Lordship
is too modest. Why should he not hope for un►ver-
sal concurrence in his views ? He has been so v ely
near that consummation hitherto, that without being
considered too poetical, he might indulge in the
pleasures of hope, that all the slight impediments to
" universal" approbation and applause! would soon
pass away. Vulgar reports have, indeed, gone abroad,
that the support of his Lordship's Administration has
hitherto been such as to make any allusion to its uni-
versality somewhat ludicrous. It has been said—nay,
there are naughty, illiberal people who have put it in
I the newspapers—that the Administration to which
Lord John Russell belongs has had scarcely any sup-
port at all, except of that description which ought to
make an independent British Minister ashamed. It has
bean affirmed that an overwhelming majority of the
Peerage of Great Britain not only does not support
the Administration, but uniformly opposes its views.
It has been conjectured that the great body of the
gentry of Great Britain do not concur in the views of
the Administration ; and one great Whiggish autho-
rity, the Edinburgh Review, ,sent so far as to pro-
phecy that but a small minority of that class of persons
in this country who possess 500/. a year and upwards
would be found to lift up hand or voice in favour of
the present Government. The'Universitics, it has
been saii, are not with the existing Administration—
the leading men of tl►e professions of law and medicine
are unfavourable to it. But these must be erroneous
reports—these must be " errors of the press." If it
were not so of course Lord John Russell could not
fall into so ludicrous an absurdity as to talk of not
hoping for " universal concurrence in his views."
Besides, we have good reason to know that that
eminently constitutional person, Mr. O'Connell, is
determined to throw the whole weight of his influence
into the scale in favour of Ministers. A gentlema❑
who has always spoken so cordially of English men,
and so respectfully of English women, must of course
carry with him the leading people of this country.
His support is a host in itself. Lord John Russell
knows that, by the use of a talisman in his possession
called " Irish patronage ;" be can make sure of that
support at all times and under all circumstances, when
he may please to call for it. With such support at
hand, why doubt of " universal concurrence in his
views ?" Then there is the accurate Mr. Hume, and
the luminous Mr. Baines—the omniscient Mr. War-
burton, and the omnilateral Mr. George Frederick
Young ; they are all friendly to the existing Admi-
nistration, and, with such aid, why should not the
modest Minister hope for "universal concurrence in his
views ?" When these leading spirits of the age
are with him all others must come round. It is out
of the question that the force of their minds and the
fervour of their eloquence should not prevail. Lord
John does not do justice to the immense support upon
which he may safely calculate. As for the Roebucks,
and troublesome creatures of that class, let but the
magazine of Mr. Hume's information and the fire of
Lord John's eloquence be made use of against them
for one instant, and they are of course annihilated.
Why should not Lord John proclaim his sanguine
hope that he will have " universal concurrence in his
views ?" So eloquent a man as Lord John should
not be so faint-hearted. But Lord John and his col-
leagues are willing to accept the conditions to which
their position renders them liable. Amiable creatures !
Was there ever such meek, Lamb-like resignation ?
Who shall say after this that " resignation" is a word
not to be found in the vocabulary of Whig-Radical
Ministers ? Be witness, all ye Treasury clerks, who
once a quarter inflict salary upon your superiors, that
Lord John Russell and his colleagues are resigned
to their fate ! Spare them not. Prepare your checks
and your counter-checks—administer your stern
justice through the bankers of the Cabinet Minis-
ters—pay in the full sums to their credit ; they will
bear it all " with most magnanimous meekness ;" they
will accept the conditions to which their position ren-
ders them liable. The gratitude of the country for this
generous determination cannot be adequately expressed
in written words. We should absolutely despair of jus-
tice being done to Ministers on this ground, were it
not that we are informed that tl►e very vehement cheer-
ing in the immediate vicinity of the Treasury bench
when Lord J. Russell intimated this determination
showed how sincerely the kindness of it was felt, and
must have greatly animated the Minister to further
acts of similar self-devotion ! Greatly as we admire
the Noble Secretary of State for the Home Depart-
ment, and especially upon the occasion of his using
the words to which we have taken the liberty of refer-
ring, we own that we do not wish a repetition of such
a scene. It is really too moving, and our nerves can-
not stand it. We beseech his Lordship to take care of
his health, in consideration for the people of England,
and to bear in mind, that for this purpose he must
consent to subdue the flow of his eloquence on great
occasions.—Morning Post.