The Sun.
London, England, 1824-06-22 00:00:00

THE ISLE OF MAN.

The Morning Herald appears to have taken a

very erroneous view of the question which was

discussed. on Friday last in. the House of Com-
mons relative to the Isle of Man. The Petition

presented against the. Duke of ATIIOI bears the
signature of the 24 Members of the House of
Keys, who call themselves the Representatives of
the People ; but it is to be observed that this is
a mere self-elected Body for life, of which seven
are of one family, and many others nearly con-
nected with them. The fact is, that the party
spirit existing in the Island arises solely f►oin the
struggle of this Oligarchy, with whom the people
have no common interest, to thrust themselves
into power, and to encroach on the authority of

the Duke of ATHOL and His Majesty's Govern.
ment.
.The groat proof of this is, that the inha-
bitants at large make no complaint against his
Grace, nor in the long course of His Government,
upwards of thirty years, has any i►idividual ever
expiessed himself aggrieved by what the House
of Keys and Mr. BROUGHAM (on their authority)
are pleased to call his tyrannical conduct. It is
asserted, that the Duke of Auto'. presides ;n
certain Courts, as Judge, where Tithe Causes and
other matters relating to the property of himself
and his connections are decided. This is wholly
and entirely false, and we are able to declare,
from the most positive information, that no Tithe
Cause was ever brought before His Grace, nor
did he ever hear or decide any cause in Which

rnself and His family were in the least degree

interested ; but even had such a circumstance-
occurred, there is an appeal to the, King in Coun-
cil, which would effectually prevent any act of
injustice. It is also stated, in favoUr of an indi-
vidual who was dismissed from office, for exposing
himself 'improperly at a public-house, in a state
of intoxication, that he was afterwards received
at the Duke of kruot.'s House, and it is true,
that -at the particular request of one of the most

active Petitioners (who-now attacks His Grace)
and other Members of his family, the Duke did
consent in his private capacity to overlook this
person's public misconduct, and he was invited
amongst others to a Ball at Castle'Mona ; but
although this act of kindness is now thrown in
the Duke's face, by the very persons who soli-

cited it, it is all brought forward to substantiate a
charge of hardship and oppression. Last year a
general reconciliation took place between the
conflicting parties, and up to the day of the
Duke's quitting the Island, most of. the persons
signing the Petition were in the habit of fre-
quently dining at His house.. The present op-
position, therefore, originates in the late exclu-
sion of the Keys from the gaol delivery, which
was an act of His Majesty's Government, and did
not proceed from any recent representations of
His Grace, as the Keys may have erroneously
supposed. The Duke of ATHOL is Lord of the
Island, and possesses a large property in it, but
these circumstances, so far from making his uite-
rests clash, with those of the inhabitants, only
serve to render him more deeply interested in
their prosperity, than any other Governor could
he. There is, consequently, every reason for His.
haVing the honour of representing- Ilis Majesty in
the Isle of Man. We can see no grounds what-
ever for the non-existence of such an appoint-
ment, which would not equally apply to every.
Lord Lieutenant in his respective county, espe-
cially as the Secretary of State has explicitly an-
swered, he had received no grounds of complaint
against the Noble Duke for abuse of his official
powers !