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

THE SUN LONDON, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 1837.

threshed by so kind an enemy." We suspect the real
cause of apprehension in the ministerial camp is, that
Sir Robert Peel, not complying with the advice to
" band-box" himself while the herculean Lord Johnny
displays his vigorous parts and prowess on the floor of
Parliament, may do " irreparable mischief," not to
his constitution, but to Lord Johnny's Cabinet, at pre-
sent in so ricketty a condition as to be in some danger
of tumbling to pieces without the application of any
very extraordinary external force.—Morning Herald.
We have no doubt that Mr. James Abercromby
as he ought to be, and as he said he was, very much
obliged to the House of Commons for unanimously
choosing him as their Speaker. We suppose that he
did not consider this (on the present occasion) as a
mere party distinction, for which she was indebted to
the Whig-Radical consideration of the paltry and
pompous Lord who leads the band of motley Minis-
terialists. Mr. Abercromby distinctly expressed his
particular sense of the honour of having been una-
nimously elected, and we have no doubt that he felt
this honour very particularly. To be chosen as the
favourite of a faction comprising all that is worthless,
contemptible, and ridiculous in the political world is,
as every gentleman must feel, no honour at all. What
signifies it that—
" A sneaking, cringing, treacherous, artful race,
Of babbling tongue, and never-blushing face ;
A Protean tribe one knows not what to call
Which shifts to every form, and cheats in all—"
What, we say, can it signify to any man of under-
standing and sensibility that by such a party as this—
by such a revolting heap of political refuse, he is con-
sidered the best man to preside over the debates of the
House of Commons? But far different it is when
that party, comprising the majority of the Representatives
of England, and three-fourths of the county Repre-
sentatives of England—when that party which repre-
sents the honour and spirit, and learning and wealth
of the nation, concur in approving of the man whom
the motley rabble of Ministerial politicians had set
up. This is indeed an hononr, and we feel with Mr.
Abercromby that it is one which he has reason
to cherish and esteem as the proudest of his life.
Of this honour, however, the factious and brutal
stupidity of O'Connellite Ministerialists desires to
rob him. The morning journal of the Administra-
tion speaks of the proud situation of Mr. Aber-
,cromby as one v‘bich be owes to the " nomination
of the Queen's Ministers !" Upon the face of the
proceedings in the House of Commons there was no
nomination by the Queen's Ministers ; but lest any-
thing should appear to have been arranged in that
House untainted with the foul and factious touch of
the present contemptible Administration, the news-
paper is to be employed to represent Mr. Abererona-
by s position as if it had been accomplished by the
sic volo of the Treasury leader. If anything were
wanting to display, in its most disgusting colours, the
vulgar and spiteful animosity of the Ministerial Whie.b-
gery, it would be found in the tone and spirit with
which the courteous moderation of the Tory leader,
on the first assembling of the new House of Com-
mons, has been treated by the Ministerial press. When
we call to mind the position of Sir Robert Peel, at the
head of the most powerful, the most united, and the
most respectable minority (?) that ever surrounded an
Opposition leader in the House of Commons, we are
almost surprised at the remarkable self-controul, and
the total absence of all boastful remark, in his speech
of Wednesday. We attribute this to a calm consci-
ousness of power. He cannot but have observed,
and observing cannot have forgotten, the ridiculous
threats of the annihilation of his party, which were so
rife before the election of the new Parliament began.
He and his party were told, not only that the minority
would be diminished, and the Ministry rendered abso-
lu.ely triumphant, but that there would be scarcely such
a thing as a Conservative opposition left in the House
of Commons. They were told that here and there per-
haps a Tory might " creep into the House of Com-
mons," but that would he all. He knew that this had
been said, and he knew that, notwithstanding this, he
stood at the head of a larger body of Tories than there
was in the last Parliament—a body all but numerically
equal to the aggregate rabble who, acknowledging ail
sorts of revolutionary opinions, are only united to iceep
in power a set of incapable Ministers, over whom they
may domineer as often as they please. These things
Sir R. Peel well knew, yet with cairn courtesy he for-
bore from either boast or sneer—from either taunt or
menace. He had no objection to offer to the propo-
sition which Ministers were understood to support,
and he took no advantage either of their present weme-
ness, or their former folly, which boasted of an acces-
sion of strength before it was attained. And what is
the requital for this, on the pant of the Ministerial
Press ? The stupid and impudent assertion that,
even if he would, he dared not offer any opposition to
the election of Mr. Abercromby as Speaker I Dared
not I Why should lie not have dared, if he had
thought proper ? He might have shown that the
gentleman approved of by Ministers for the Speaker's
Chair, was not approved of by the majority of the
Representatives of England. He might have shown
that Ministers could not put the man of their choice
into the Chair of the House of Commons, except by
the votes of men nominated to Parliament by Romish
Priests. He might have shown that Ministers, who
call themselves popular, and who boast continually
(and most indecently) of Having the Court with them,
can muster in the House of Commons a majority of
but two dozen, while in the other co-ordinate branch
of the Legisleture they are in a miserable minority.
All this Sir Robert Peel might have done, had he
been moved by such paltry virulence as actuates his
opponents. But he was true to his character it;
hchig
calm, courteous, and patriotic, and the Ministerial
Press is equally true to its character in being ungrate-
ful, insolent, and false.—Morning Post.
Favourable as are the auspices under which the
Session has opened, it would be illusory to expect that
it will progress to its close without such collisions of
sentiment and of individuals as will agitate to their
utmost depth and intensity the opinions of every class
and party throughout the whole British community.
There was no contest for the Speakership, simply be-
cause the Tories, knowing that Mr. Abercromby's
electiost was secure, did not choose to expose them-
selves to the mortification of a defeat, by putting an-
other candidate in nomination. They prudently ab-
stained from making any commentary on the contest
which took place on the assembling of the Peel Par-
liament, feeling in their most unwilling conviction that
they had no chance of retaliating the distinctive mark
of disapprobation which the House of Commons then
impressed on the Tory Ministry, by choosing a
Speaker in direct opposition to their wish. Sir
Robert Peel, as the leader of the Opposition, made
a virtue of necessity, and acquiesced in an election
which the utmost efforts of himself and his sup-
porters could not have prevented. Mr. Aber-
cromby was unanimously chosen Speaker of the House
of Commons, because the Tories knew that the pro-
posing of any opponent would have served only to
exhibit their weakness. It would have been the de-
light of their hearts to have retorted, if they had the
means and opportunity, the stigma inflicted upon them
when the abhorrence of their principles provoked the
rejection of Mr. Manner Suttons—a gentleman in all
respects, save his Tory predilection, eminently quali•
fied to fill the Chair of the British House of Commons.
But the higher his qualifications, the more deep must
have been the sentiment which dictated his rejection.
The merits of the question may be stated in a few
words. Mr. Manners Sutton was rejected from the
Speakership in the last Parliament, not from any indi-
vidual disqualification, but because he was associated
with a party inimical to the wishes and interests of the
British people. Mr. Abercromby is now
unani-
►nously chosen, because, independently of his personal
qualifications, the tenour of his political career has been
more in accordance with the feelings of the British
public, than has been that of any opponent which the
Tories could have started against him. However, it
may be regarded as not unfavourable omen that a Libe-
ral Speaker has been unanimously elected in the first
Parliament of a reign of which such vast expectations
have been formed. There are some who ima'ine that
the Tories have withheld their opposition, in the hope
that Ministers will pursue a Conservative policy. If
their forbearance has proceeded from such an impres-
sion, we are gratified to be able to state they are most
miserably mistaken. The policy of Ministers must at
least be as liberal as that proposed by them in the last
Session, otherwise a power will be roused into action