The Sun.
London, England, 1838-03-05 00:00:00

ki,`Jot

WITH WHICH
ct THE TRUE SUN" IS NOW
INCORPORATED.

LONDON :
MONDAY EVENING, MARCH 5, 1838.

A meeting of the Tory party took place to-day at two
o'clock, At Sir ROBERT PEEL'S, to decide on the course it
will be exkiedient to adopt to-morrow. A meeting also of
the friends o-f Ministers took place at the Foreign-office.
Whatever may he resolved on by both parties, there can, we
believe, be no do:Abt that the division on Sir WILLIAM
MOLESWORTH'S moron, should he continue so ill advised '
as to bring it on, will be a very close one. We must, there-
fore, remind all the Mewbers who represent Reform opi-
nions, that it is their duty to be present to-morrow evening,
to oppose the Tories. Those who are nut of town must
hasten back, and no Member must suffer any motive of
Private interest to impede the performance of his public
duties.

If Sir WILLIAM MOLESWORTH'S motion went to con-
demn the principles of our system of Colonial administra-
tion, we should by inclined cordially to recommend it to
support. We can conceive no system of government which
in principle appears to be worse than that which administers
the affairs of distant countries, making laws for them, re.
igulating their trade, and controuling their intercourse
with other countries, by a few official gentlemen in
Downing-street. At the same time, it can scarcely be
be denied, that such a system is compatible with a consider-
able degree of Colonial prosperity. As acted on by the In-
dia Company, it has, in fact, been of great advantage to
India itself. ,Notwithstanding too, the just complaints
which have, from time to time, been made, of misplaced pa-
tronage—of scan 'lalous waste of the Colonial resources—
and of no trifling acts of oppression, the Colonies of Eng-
land have been, at least, within the last few years, better
governed and more prosperous, than under such a system
we have any right to expect. But, whatever may be the
virtues or the faults of the system, it was not devised by the
present administration, and was, in fact, loss devised by any
statesman, than brought about by the nature of circum-
stances. The resent Ministers have had to administer
that system as they found it ; they are not to blame for
its existence ; nor cat we justly call upon them to alter
it, whatever may be our nrivate opinion of its defects, as
long as the bulk of the people both in the Colonies and
at. home acquiesce in its Continuance. On principle,
we conceive the system to be bad, and we would
take every fitting opportunity to make our own opinions the
general creed ; but as long as the Colonists and the
public here acquiesce in it, we cannot rationally expect
any Ministry or any Government to denude itself of the
patronage and power which it bestows. If Sir WILLIAM
MOLESWORTII, Mr. LEADER, and their friends, were to
direct their efforts to the improvement of the system, they
should have our cordial support ; but their object is to
ivjure the Ministry, and they propose to effect that by
taking advantage of the defects of the old system to ,
disparage The Colonial Minister. This is uoiust and un-
worthy. We will not, however, follow a respectable
Morning Contemporary in lavishing contumelious epithets
on these gentleme.n ; because that desire of distinction
which the Chronicle .attacks, though sometimes diseased, is
really the source of 01 that is good, great, and ennobling ;
and we would rather endeavour to direct it to usefulness,
by convincing these genaemen that they are likely to do
injury to themselves, than to 3Jarden them in error by abuse.
V-e shall endeavour briefly to prove that their proposed
proceeding is contrary to their own avowed principles-.
The real question is, whether Lord GI.ENELG have ,;cl-
- a bad system with so much discretion
as to deserve the support of Reformers. Now, with the ex-
ception of Canada, we have no recollection of any period in
our Colooial history in which the colonies have been more
prosperous and contented, or in which the popular interests
have been scr .much promoted, as under Lord GLENELG'S
administration. Even Mr. HUME has scarcely found any
thing to censure. As to Canada, the chief complaint which
has been made against Lord GLENELG, both here and in the
colony, is, that ;1e hiss leaned too much to the popular party.
tlo found that c along distracted by intemperate factions.
It was not his fag It that the Canadians wore divided into