The Sun.
London, England, 1841-07-24 00:00:00

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Peel will have to cot%end would swamp it in three months'
even were his majority twice as great as it is. He must either
attempt to retain power by an abandonment of principle, which
will render him odious and contemptible to the more hone,t
potion of his own adherents, or, if he persist in his attach-
ment to the principles he lately professed, he will as assuredly
become an object of hatred and derision to the country. Were
it not our fixed opinion that paltry pet sonalities ought to be
avoided in a great and public cause, we should say that the first
obstacle be will have to encounter is the known repugnance of
the Queen both to h;s person and his politics. Weneither know
nor care whether it be true that he lately had the temerity to
boast "he would make her a Tory in six weeks." Therunieur
may, perhaps, be a clumsy parody of the declaration falsely im-
puted to Lord Brougham, when informed of William the
Fourth's intended lapse into Torvismothat " with a bottle cf
blackstrap he would make him a Reformer aeain in half an
hour"—a report which, though based on falsehood, as we have
every reason to believe, made the desired impression on the
sensitive mind of a monarch who, although he frequently forgot
his dignity himself, never allowed others to attempt the smallest
infringement on it. But it is matter of history that Sir R.
Peel outraged the warmest feelings of the Queen when he
bluntly intimated to her that she must sacrifice the friends of
liar youth ; and it is matter of fact that, however plausible he
may be in the House of Commons, he is wholly destitute of
those "glazing airs," which are supposed to exert an influ-
ence so powerful in the circles of a Court, and in which the
present Premier is notoriously unapproached and unapproach-
able. George the Fourth—an authority dear to Tory ears-
long ago settled this important point; and since the day when
that prince of gentlemen emphatically pronounced Peel
to be "no gentleman," the Honourable Baronet is un-
derstood to have made no advance in the graces.
These are weighty matters, however, which we
shall leave to the Solons of the Times, Herald, and Standard,
who are gravely writing " leaders "on the rumoured Royal
conversion. We shall proceed briefly to notice one or two
other questions which will quite as effectually bar the " proxi-
mate Premier's" progress, even if he should succeed in the first
instance in "giozing over" the repugnance of the Queen. If he
take up the corn question, which it is impossible for him to
avoid, how will he contrive to unite the interest of the majo-
rity-sof his supporters on the one hanili and that of the people
of England on the other ? Will the landlords be satisfied with
any modification of the sliding scale, unless he make it turn in
their favour? Or will the millions of the country quietly sub-
mit to
i have the promised food torn from their grasp the mo-
ment t has been presented to their view ? How is he to re-
concile the avarice of the timber merchants, of the Gladstones,
and other monopolists of coffee and sugar, with the interest of
the inhabitants of Britain ? The small portion of the commer-
cial community that now support him, he will find are attached
to his Government solely because he protects those abuses by
which they flourish ; and though place may satisfy the Glad-
stones and a few of the lesser fry, no bribe which it is in his
power to offer will conciliate the others if he attacks their in-
terest by adopting a liberal policy. He will be still more de-
luded if he expect he can sacrifice the welfare of England to
either. If, again, turning his eyes from the traders in com-
merce to the retailers of cant, in what manner is he to act with
the religious part of his supporters ? Is the nation to be taxed
to realise the Bishop of London's favourite plan for the erec-
tion of a score of new churches in the capital, when not a
tithe of those already built are now filled? or Sir Robert
Inglis's hopeful scheme for extending the same blessing to the
country that already teems with spires in every direction ? Are
the thirteen new Bishoprics which the Archbishop of Canter•
bury, and others on the Episcopal Bench, contemplate creating
in the colonies, to be endowed at the expense of the United
Kingdom ; or does Sir Robert Peel imagine that the whole of
these men are such hypocrites as to abandon, immediately on
'his access to office, designs which they have declared necessary
for the preservation of the empire both at home and abroad?
To these queries Statesmen of the calibre of Mr. Goulburn
reply by informing us that the new Premier is to govern by
" letting things alone." But the Tory Baronet will find such
a course impossible. A great nation must either advance or
retrograde, and if he attempts to rule on such stagnant prin-
ciples, he will only precipitate his own and his country's fall.
TIDIES.—The day before marriage is usually devoted to
settlements, and on Monday, the 19th inst., Lord Johtfßus •
sell, being then at Minto, and having marriage in contempla-
tion, seems to have determined to get rid of all encumbrances
at once, and make a clear score of it altogether. Accordingly
he employed the evening in "knocking off," among other set-
tlements, his long over-due address of thanks to his constitu-
ents of London, and we are informed that, on the next day, the
Noble Lord " led to the hymeneal altar the Lady Frances
Anna Maria Elliot, second daughter of the Earl and Countess
of Minto," &c. Yesterday the ante-nuptial address appeared
in the leading Government Journal, decorated with those
honours of type which are usually reserved for the speeches of
Royalty. Without subscribing to the compliment thus
intended to be paid to the lucubration of the Noble
Lord, we feel bound in candour to admit that it does not con-
stitute the only pcint of resemblance. To say as little, and
that little in as vague and evasive a way as possible, is the
usual characteristic of Royal Speeches ; and this the " little
man " has certainly imitated on this occasion with more success
than attended his endeavours to walk in the footsteps of Pitt.
Lord John Russell's Address lays claim to the character of a
manifesto of the forthcoming Opposition. It is divided 'into
three branches ; the first of which consists in a mere recapitu-
lation of the old apology far the bubble Budget—an apology
which will bs repeated, no doubt, to the end of time, but
which, even if it had not been a thousand times disproved, nobody
could ever believe. 'f he second branch of Lord John Rus-
sell's Address is that in which be speaks of the position and
prospects of his party.
" As soon as the new Parliament meets, we shall 'take the
first opportunity of asking for a clear and decided judgment
upon the policy we have proposed.
" The result of such an appeal may now be easily foreseen.
In the English cities and ;boroughs there is a small majority in
our favour. In the Scotch cities and boroughs, a very deci-
sive majority the same way. In the Irish boroughs arid coun-
ties there is also a majority in favour of the policy of the pre-
sent Ministers. In the Scotch counties the majority will be
the other way; and in the English counties that majority will
be overwhelming.
.‘ To those who recollect Lord Stanley's description of our
English county representation, or who have observed the
effect of tha Chandos clause of the Reform Act, this result
will not be at all surprising. It should be added, however,
that the manufacturing districts have not, as might have
been expected, tended to restore the balance. As no Minis-
ters of the Crown can stand without the confidence of the
House of Commons, our retirement from office will imme-
diately follow the condemnation of our policy. In this altered
position it would be inconsistent with my notions of public
duty to harrass the Government of the day by vexatious oppo-
sition; still less to deny to the Crown the means of maintain-
ing the reputation of the country abroad and internal quiet at
home "

We cannot say that it is any surprise to us to learn that
the Whigs mean to cling to salary till the latest possible mo-
ment, or that we ever expected them to resign before the
meeting of Parliament. Still it is impossible not to be struck
by the unprincipled inconsistency which can announce such
a course in the same breath with a sententious declara-
tion' that "as no Ministers of the Crown can stand
without the confidence of the House of Commons, our retire-
ment from office will immediately follow their condemnation of
our policy." The House of Commons, as Lord John Russell
cannot have forgotten, pronounced sentence of condemnation
upon the policy of Ministers full two months ago. Yet Minis.
ters did not retire. They pretended to believe that a new
House would reverse that judgment, and therefore presumed to
continue in office upon the pretext of appealing to the country.
The appeal has been made, and Lord John Russell does not
now affect to deny that the country has more than ratified the
decision of the House of Commons. The pretence, therefore,
upon which he has clung to power since the division on Sir R.
Peel's motion is now cut away from under his feet ; and
yet he sticks fast still, and refuses to budge till fairly driven
out by a formal Act of the new Parliament. The res
cords of that Parliament will probably tell posterity that
such outrages against the British Constitution are not to be
committed with impunity. Of the result of the elections Lord
John Russell speaks, as is his wont, in a spirit of pettifogging
erasion. He boasts of the small majority in his favour in the
English cities and boroughs, of the decisive majority in the
Scotch cities and boroughs, and of the actual majority in the
Irish boroughs and counties, while he admits, with affected
candour, that in the counties, both Scotch and English, the
majority against him is " overwhelming." But he has for-
gotten to notice the fact, that in no one class ot constituencies
in the whole united kingdom has lie done otherwise than LOSE
GROUND 11 this election. He has lost ground in the
English cities and boroughs : he has lost ground in the
Scotch cities and boroughs; he has lost ground in the Irish
cities and boroughs; he has lost ground in the Irish counties.
Where he had a majority before, that majority is seriously re-
duced ; where he was in a minority, that minority has become
smaller still. Every class of constituencies in the United
Kingdom has declared that its confidence in the Whig Iklinisterdy
has diminished, is diminishing, and (if their da
mercifully cut short) would soon have attained, as that "f nthoeti
Ihingoffeproinnto.
aggregate has long since done, to the vani Lord John Russell
.promises that he will
thßisoprbeQrt.
" vexatious opposition ' to the Ministry
Peel. We do not believe him. He cannoot keSepir
mine without ceasing to be leader of hishposerkty ; and sooner than
that, he would consent to brush Mr.
form the ko-tow to Mr. O'Connell, in theoffuatoicehko'sf tteoeass'seSmr Pbelerd.
House of Commons. The conclusion
, that the e Noble Lord's
speech is prefaced by a prophecj
w‘
igurenaot
tp principles of
omf
religious, civil, and commerci Ebert ,"
the retirement of the Whigs. Lord John Russell may com-
fort himself with the assurance that the country is of the same
opinion. We may now hope to be roverned by men whose
notions of religious liberty will embrace churchmen, the great
majority of the nation, as well as the noisy
fol-
low their own inventions in the minority who
st s of Dissent—men whose
exertions in the cause of civil liberty will not terminate in re-
clueing paupers to the condition of slaves, and merging local
ct
government in centralization, and where seal for commercial
liberty will never pronipt them to
do Chat (by their own con-
fescommersion)
cial questions. would be likely to retard the settlement of important
jPOST.—Lord John Russell, who continues to be her Ma-
esty's Secretary for the Colonies, was married on Tuesday in
the smith of Seotland, to a daughter of the Earl of Minto, who
continues to be the First Lord
of the Admiralty. On Monday'
Lord John Russell penned an address to the electors of the city
of London, not on the subject of his marriage, but upon his fu-
ture prospects, which we trust are of far more blissful aspect in
iespect to his private, than they appear to be in respect to his
public career. His Lordship's address to the electors of Lon-
don relates wholly to politics, and by no means implies thsst
happiness of temper, or love of truth, which one would naturally
wish the Noble Lord to have been posseSsfs! Af ,t such a time.
We have meter been ahle ty thioi, otherwise than very slightly
of Losd John Russell. In this we know that we differ frets;
many whose experience and judgment we resnstsii iNt_we
think that we too, found our opinion upon gffl oldence. We
persqn 7y.abffoaliressty riepuisrponoset
look upon him to be a
largenesS of rW't of
I' political
party matters, and
without dexterity the management
perhaps he is, opon the whole, aboutr as good a leader a; mil a
party could have. gut weH cannot_ Card hire as a public man
with anything like ewe&t e seems to have at once a low
and a reckless mind—a mind which is ever condescending to
smnlrshifts and practices, and yet apt enough to be desperate,
even where great results are concerned. His Lordship's address
to the electors- of London, instead this
figl is nublie t
re' Os thshe, to rm
„dreVs—'' cOnsildersastesing thatte its t
comescon from
-
'a
'leading man—appears to be fussy and contemptible.
The most important point in the address is the notifies,
tion which it gives that the present Alinisters (1a weS
mean to resign until " they have as ,t'4 for a c10:s and decided
1.44,,,fft5nf ifpfin fl4O he ha PlosOt" Now) we look
tßis' PCI we Cf teeltritiih Atol c Wall look upon it, as
nothing better than incdent tnookory. Ministers know very
well what 1g tittl v;loss and decided judgment of a large majority
of the present representativesof the people upon the Ministerial
policy which has been proposed, Lord John himself says tha