The Sun.
London, England, 1841-09-01 00:00:00

PUBLIC OPINION.

The-Morning Herald accuses Lord Melbourne of an
exceedil want of gentility, in not makinz a set speech
while Al I nouneing his resignation in the House of Lords
last night. Our Conterpporary, brings forward his
charge quite in a master-of-the:.ceremonies style, as will
be seer:. by the following extract :—" His Lordship's corn-
rnunie iti'on was the simplest form of official statement.
and ot tly, therefore, not indecorous. The Noble Lord
conde aeended to own that he considered it his duty to
acquai'llt their Lordships with the fact, which he pro-
ceeded:i to state in a single sentence. Not a single word
of con Ipliment to the Peers for the personal kindness
and cot trtesy of their hearing towards him, even in the
heat an d excitement of debate, escaped from the whilom
courti. c." We are not aware of any particular courtesy
owiag by Lord Melbourne as a public man to the House
of Lo eds. They have never shown themselves friendly
to his Government, but, on the contrary, have always
oppose y 1 it to the utmost of their power without the
slightres t ceremony. Under such circumstances, there-
fore, to show any extraordinary or elaborate courtesy to
their Tc .ry Lordships, would wear the aspect, not sin-
cerity, -hut studied mockery.
The: Ailvert'ser remarks, in an article on the subject of
Financial :—" Justice demands that the fruits of
every man's industry should be guarded against the en-
croachments of the tax-gatherer until after its owner has
been provid,Nl with at least the primary articles of sub.
xistence, and with a portion also of the ordinary comforts
of life. Thes having been secured, the taxing process
may justly eno Igh fall upon the surplus ; because fall-
ing, as it then ivould fall, upon luxuries and superflui-
ties, its effects would be as little felt as they well could
be. Just the reverse of this is the principle and opera-
tion of British ,taxation." And for this we have to
thank the Tories, the most persevering and ingenious
tax-inventors recorded in tnodern history. This party
are now in power, and they can only maintain them-
selves there by endeavouring to undo all that they have
done for the last fifty years and upwards. Having
already repudiated the obnoxious name of Tories, they
must now make all haste to repudiate its principles also,
especially as regards the system of taxation.

In reference to Lord Stanley's speech last night in the
House of Commons, the Chronicle says :—" Lord Stan-
ley, for himself and for the Conservatives, has empha-
tically declared to the country, that they have turned
nut Lord John Russell because he was an able and faith-
ful servant of the Crown, and an untiring promoter of
the interests of the people. No other construction can
be put upon his words. Free trade, they say, is a very
good thing ; it is a very horrid thing for people to be
distressed ; yet the Minister that would have promoted
free trade, and the budget that was proposed to relieve
distress, are alike discaraed. They shrank from discus-
sion ; they out-voted the Ministry ; and now, when
they have obs'Tucted the measures, and turned out the
men, Lord Stanley comes forward, and virtually con-
fesses, that men and measures were alike calculated to
Promote the highest interests of the nation." Whether
i. l
n•offiee and a member of his Cabinet, or only a volun-
teer supporter of it, we suspect that Sir .Robert Peel
wilere long find in Lord Stanley the most embarrassing
colleague he ever had to deal with. Never were two
statesmen less • fitted to work together. The one is all
coldness and caution—the other is rash, impetuous, and
cursed with a temper that constantly Clouds his' Ind,-
nient. Lord Stanley is as bold as Sir Robert peel is ap-
prehensive ; and the boldness of the one, like the fears
and distrusts' of the other are always exhibited, at pre-

cisely the wrong season.
The Post observes with the coolest effrontery:—" The
Conservative majority has been won against every in-
,fluence but the honourable one of public approbation.
• For his pOsition as a Minister, Sir Robert Peel is solely
indebted to the favour and confidence of his Sovereign.
For his position as leader of the majority of the House
of Commons, he is indebted to the favour and confidence

of the people who possess the elective franchise." This
~„precious paragraph contains as many misstatements as
sentences. In the first place, the Conservative majority
-"was not won by the influence of public approbation, but
"'by the sinister influence of the Chandos Clause; secondly,
''Sir Robert Peel is not indebted for his new position to
•
the favour and confidence of. his Sovereign, but to the
;?;necessities of her situation, which just now admit of no
other alternative ; and thirdly, he is not lifted into office
1, on the shoulders of the people, but on the'shoulders of
_ the monopolists and landowners, whose selfish interests
• he must consult, to the sacrifice of every other considers-
9t'
tron,otherwLie out he goes, to freeze once again in the
Polar clime of Opposition.
3 In an article on the subject of M'Leod's case the Times
expresses itself as follows :—" Do we insinuate, then,
that without further ado Great Britain ought to proceed
forthwith to enforce Mr. M‘Leod's release at the point of
the bayonet ? By no means. Heaven knows we are no
advocates for war at any time ; nor would we ever have
recourse to it, except as a dire ultimatum when all milder
measures have failed. Measures of that description, how-

ever, have now been long tried. To the great indignity
end disparagement of Great Britain, whose wrongs are
z‘ at this moment unredressed, those measures have been
frustrated, as the Americans alledge, by an awkward
technical anomaly in their republican constitution. We
ask, therefore, what guarantee has Lord Palmerston re-
- calved that that anomaly, which makes so 'serious and
unwarrantable an assault upon international justice, shall
Ipeedily be corrected ? Really, unlcsi a warranty of
• his description have been givei, as evincing an honest

anxiety both to atone for M•Leod's detention, and to
prevent the recurrence of any similar case, we do not see
that anything has been done to satisfy the honour of this
country, but on the contrary, everything to defile and
defy it."