The Sun.
London, England, 1838-01-08 00:00:00

Shannon, for in no other way can we account for hiF
egregious and oppressive dTfidence.
The Right Honourable Baronet is pleased to be
exceeding wroth with Ministers. We do not wonder at

this, for it is natural that an ambitious statesman
should reel a►iy thing but cordiality tx.yards those
whose more liberal policy has been the means of
*ding him from the Admiralty, where IR
had hoped, no doubt, to have slu►►g his hammock for
years. But is there not—we respectfully put the ques-

don to him—is there not some little inconsistency in
his displeasure in this instance? He abuses Ministers
wholesale for their policy, yet immediately afterwards
confesses that they think with him on the great ques-
tion of the Ballot, Triennial Suffrage, &c. This mo•
nient he condemns them for going too far, the next he finds
fault with them for not going far enough—that is to
say, for being " a shabby Government" who cannot
—will not—dare not—have an energetic opinion of
their own. AS for Lord BROUGHAM, Sir JAMES
works himsef up into a perfect phrenzy at the men-
tion of this illustrious statesman's name, politely com-
paring his " fall" to that of Beelzebub, which he
seems to think is the oniti parallel to it. We regret to
state that this is the only droll portion of Lhe ei-nem-
ber's speech. The rest is dull, hopeless twaddle—

dull as a November fog, and hopeless as a rational
speech from BEN D'ISRAELI.
Sir JAMES'S opinions on the Church Establish-
ment, though wondrously unamusing, are at any rate
edifying. He will not consent, he says, to any Re-
form among the Clergy that shall have the effect of
touching, as young BEN would phrase it, their
pious breeches' pockets. On this point he is fixed
as adamant. Religion, in his view of the
case, is evidently a mere matter of pounds, shillings,
and pence. It is something to buy and sell—to eat
and drink—to grow fat and be merry upon. Touch
the pockets of the Church, and away goes the national
piety, and with it all sense of national justice, decorum,
and morality Touch the pockets of the Church,
and that instant we become a community of liber-
tines and atheists Touch the pockets of the
Church, and off goes the Crown off the QUERN'S
head, and up starts a Republic ! These are
the inevitable results of any inquisitive investigation
into the state of sacerdotal pockets ; wherefore it is Sir
JAMES' fixed determination that, so far as in him

lieg, they shall remain inviolate. Minor reforms of
no earthly consequence he will not object to listen to
—but no tampering with clerical pockets, for herein
is enshrined the spirit of true religion.
It is comforting t• observe the affectionate manner
in which the ex-Member for Cumberland speaks of
those unspotted Baronets, Sir FRANCIS BURDETT,
and Sir GEORGE MURRAY. This is a subject which
lie seems to approach with as much reverence as even
the breeches-pockets of the Clergy—nor can we won-
der at it, for a more congenial triumvirate, more hap-
pily adapted to each other—or more qualified to sing
each other's praises, never lived at one and the same
period under the protection of the British Constitution.
Sir G. MURRAY, SIITRANCIS BURDETT, SirJAMEs
GRAHAM ! The one betrayed his constituents in
Perthshire ; the second deserted his old friends in
Westminster ; and the third played fast and loose with
his well-wishers in Cumberland. Amiable trio 1 No
wonder that each is proud of the other; and that a
GRAHAM beholds in a BURDETT and a MURRAY, a
1 vivid reflection of himself.

We end, by a reference to the country papers, that
meeting of Parliament is looked forward to with
much interest. The progress of the insurrection in
the Canadas has excited an impatience to learn what
course Minisi,?rs are prepared to recommend, with a
view to check the !Luther spread of disaffection in
those provinces. We, too, are impatient to witness a
full devclopement of the policy of Ministers, not only
as regards the Colon:es, but as concerns the domestic
administration of Great Britain and Ire!and. We
want to know whether Lord JOHN It thisELL's opi-
nions upon the Ballot, the Extension of the Suffrage,
and the shortening the duration cf Parliaments, con-

tinue unchanged ? We want much to know what
steps have been taken to secure the passing of the
Irish Municipal Bill ? We should like to be informed
what amendments are to be proposed, in order
to realise the expectations of the country from the
Reform Bill ? We are impatient to learn whether
Ministers really intend to give a Poor-law to Ireland,
and to free the majority of the people of that long mis.
governed country from the spiritual and secular op-

.
pressum of bein3 compelled to support a Church in
whose creed they do not believe ? With respect to the
Canadas, we should like much to learn what Reforms
Ministers propose to introduce in the composition of
the Legislative and Executive Couucils there, pro-
vided the Canadians consent to lay down their arms?
The Juste Milieu system of the Whigs must be given
up, and Ministers must either adopt a decisive line
of policy, or betake themselves to the other side of
the House. They must either turn Tory and betray
the people, who will not be long in inflicting upon

iem a summary chastisement in the event of such

treason ; or they must place themselves at the head
of the people, and honestly direct the onward
movement now making by the body politic.
The Whigs cannot be suffered to stand still. They
must move with the people or perish. The Ballot
must be conceded ; the Suffrage must be extended ;
Parliaments must be shortened ; Ireland must have a
:dunicipal Reform Bill ; the Catholics and Dissenters

must be relieved from the burden of Tithes ; and Ire-
land must have a Poor-law. We do not pretend to
say that all these measures must be granted at once to
satisfy the country. On the contrary, instalments will

be taken, and thankfully too ; but there will he no ces-
sation of the popular demands until all be conceded.
Ministers had therefore better look well before them,
and to be cautious in committing themselves upon any
of the questions here enumerated. We particularly
warn them against the danger of assuming a high
prerogative ground with respect to the Canadas The
eclat of soldiership will not !lull the present genera-
tion of Englishmen ; and the Whigs had better reflect
a little on the danger before them, previous to their
recommending to Parliament to imbrue its hands in
the blood of any portion of our fellow-subjects. We
pray them to remember that they themselves were the
lira to proclaim aloud the misgovernment of the
Canadas, and to their confusion be it added, that they
have been seven years in power without redressing
them.

An interesting little pamphlet under the title of I
" Reaction with its Origin, by a Manchester Man,"
has been published by RIDGIYA I' and SONS. The
author examines the assertion so clamorously and per-
tinaciously put forward by the Tory press, that a le-
action has taken place in the public sentiment on the
question of refurm, and after trying it by various tests,
proves it to be founded in deception and fraud. A fair
specimen of the mode in which reaction has been pro-
duced in the northern part of the kingdom, is afforded
in the following passage :
" In the county of Edinburgh, in 1832, the constituency
amounted to 1,126 ; non-residents, 61 ; liferents, 42. In the
present year the liferents had increased to 146, and the non-
lesiden:s amounted to 141. In the county of Haddington, the
constituency amounted, in 1832, to 513 ; the non-residents
were 27 ; that number has since increased to 151. The life.
rents in 1832 were 29 ; in 1836 they increased to 75. The
constituency previous to the late election was 714. In the
county of Linlithgow the constituency, in 1832, was 532 ; the
non-residents, 112. Recently they had increased to 202.
The liferents, in 1832, were 23, of which 4 were non-resident.
This year the liferents had reached 66, of which 63 are non-