The Sun.
London, England, 1822-12-26 00:00:00

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 26, 1822

CAMBRIDGE ELECTION

We hardly need say that we feel much plea-
sure in copying the following letter from The
Bury Gazette of yesterday, as It is obviously
written with that sound judgment, moral energy,
and constitutional rectitude, which have marked
all the preceding compositions from the same va-
luable Correspondent :

TO THE EDITOR OF THE BURY GAZETTE.
Sin—You will now permit me to speak upon some topics
connected with the conduct of the University in the late election
of Illr.Bankes. They will be found
.in part strictly in unison
with the ,subject—in part, in some degree, perhaps, irrelevant ;,
but altogether I hope, in this day of ecclesiastical rebuke, not
wholly unnecessary. _

We may, I think, Sir, venture to predict that many valuable
effects will flow out upon society from the example which the
University has now afforded of her independent spirit. One of
these will be the redeeming ofher character, so much, and, I
fear, so justly reflected upon up to this period. Whatever sus-
picions may have been entertained of the orthodoxy of her sen-
timents and views, the result of this contest must have con-
;Ancediall that she is wanting in neither. With every favour-
able
propensity towards Lord Harvey and Mr. 'Grant, she has
yet had firmness enough to reject them both ; and if she have
done this, as the report currently circulates, against not
only the persuasions of friendship, but in the Very teeth
of Ministerial influence," sound principles (to use the
words of a zealous and able defender of the establish-
ment) must have had a very magnificent triumph in-
deed." Nothing could have tempted her to such a 'noble
conduct but the conviction• that, as a Protestant University,
she had no alternative in the rejection of a Catholic advo-
cate, and would have been faithless to her charge and false to
her principles, if, for a moment, she had hesitated at such re-
jection. Mr. Bankes, amiable in his character, and literary in
his pursuits, had yet no peculiar claims of preference. He had
not bound her to him by any ties of a domestic, or of a public
nature. The sole' ground of his election was, that he enter-
tained those opinions, religions and political, which, as the re-
presentative of her loyalty and orthodoxy, it was essential he
should entertain.
This Gentleman then, Sir, in the face of no mean opposition,
they have chosen by an appalling majority ; and having thus
redeemed their fame from past omissions of duty, will, I trust,
have thereby sealed and consolidated it too for the time to, come.
But let it be carefully remembered, that though the University
have, in this business, acted gloriously, they have not gone an
atom beyond their bounden duty; they have only followed that
firm line of conduct which to have deserted would have
been the death blow of every virtuous hope. If the
cause of pure and reformed Christianity—if the union
of Church and State, which the nation bath evermore felt as
a blessing—if the principles of the British Constitution, as
they were settled at the period of the revolution—if the laws of
the land as they, are now administered—the prerogatives of the
Crown as they are now exercised—the liberties of the people as
they are now enjoyed—the concessions of privileges to dis-
senters of every denomination, as they are now extended to
the very utmost latitude of estaLlishal forbearance—if these im-
portant objects were warm at the heart and commended them-
selves, as I am sure they must, to the affection of the mem-
bers of the University, not he who too, young for the
,sugges-
tions of experience, yet apparently too fixed and confirmed to
wait for them ; not he who too tolerating for their security and
a little too evangelical, perhaps, for their orthodoxy ; not
especially he who, in every political principle hitherto promul-
gated, must haVe offended against all doctrines, civil and reli.
gious, by which, in their opinion, the common interest and
the common peace of the empire are best secured ; but he who
declares openly and without reservation that his principles are in
unison with their own ; his will, his voice, his course, commen-
surate with the will, 'voice, and course of an Englishman faithful
alike to the altar and to the throne, must, of necessity, become
the accredited object of their choice; his professions demanded
such a preference, and his virtues, fixed and steady to their
point, I doubt not will be found to deserve it.
Another good effezt resulting from the issue of this contest,
will be the total discomfiture of all improper, interference in the
election of future representatives. Whetheethe late victory of
the University was achieved in defiance of Ministerial influence
exerted against her, may, however, admit of a doubt. lam
sure such a report ought very seriously to be weighed, and
very firmly sustained before it is admitted into the mind as
credible. For on the supposition that Ministers themselves
have exerted their power to bring in a Catholic advocate as the
Parliamentary representative of a Protestant University, we
are called upon to believe in such a mass of dissonance, in so
many things that contradict our reason and do violence to our
feelings, as to render incredulity, in some sort, even a virtue
and a duty in us.
For my own part, Sir, I confess I am on this head inclined to
be perfectly faithless. For if I must believe that an English
Minister, hr times like the present, could really act in this man-
ner, I must believe too, that he can calmly aid in covertly over-
throwing the very Constitution he palicly professes to support.
I must believe that he secretly abets the violent opposition, in
all dissenting and radical quarters, to the established religion
of the realm, which every sound member of that religion is
persuaded he is daily and nightly exerting his great powers to
put down. I must believe that the Catholic claims can never
be founded in inch Constitutional injustice, nor the concession
of them productive of such Constitutional danger, when the
very men, affecting to array all the authority of the Legisla-
ture against them, are endeavouring to bring in those who they
know will exert all their Parliamentary Influence for them,-
nay, what is worse, are actually soliciting where they are aware
that the heart and soul are adverse to such claims and such
candidates ; and, what is :beyond all enduring, and which no
length of time can erase the insanity of, are preferring these
solici-
tations at the very moment when the Catholic question is so
strongly supported and so near being carried, and on the very
spot where all such solicitations to the desertion of duty'must be
attended with effects fatal beyond every calculation. In the con-
templation,. therefore, of designs so deplorable, and results so
unnatural,, to believe in such reports, would be to believe in a
deeper destitution of principle, a sadder dereliction of policy
than most minds could bring themselves to. The accusation is