The Sun.
London, England, 1834-11-20 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

and sufficient to our understanding, but not necessary
or fit to be herein explained, we have, in our infinite •
wisdom, thought it expedient for the present to alter
and vary that order of things, and have advised our
Sovereign Lord the King to invest us with that pleni-
tude of power which shall enable us to take our
own time and pleasure as to the mode and manner,
and as to the person or persons to whom we shall
delegate such portions of the • Ministerial functions
as we shall see fitting ; and whereas we entertain
the most profound respect for our sometime coun •
senor and friend, the Right Honourable Sir Robert
Peel, of Roman Catholic memory—and .it is our •in-
tention to wait his good pleasure, until he shall have
sufficiently disported himself with the arts and graces
which he is gathering in Italy, before we determine
what shall be the course of Government by which this
once free and happy country shall henceforth be ruled.
Now know ye, good people of England, that it is our
will and pleasure that you remain in ignorance. of the
benefits we design for you ; and in the meantime we
enjoin you, that you forthwith present to our Gracious
Sovereign humble petitions of thanksgiving for this
overgracious declaration !" Now, if " His High-
ness" will, in the performance of his duty as a good
subject, make himself thus intelligible to the country,
he will find himself overwhelmed with addresses. Gocd
God I in the name of common sense and common de-
cency, are we to'be thus laid prostrate ? Are the
people of England to be fooled and dragooned out of
their rights, and is Reform to be manacled, because
there is one man bold enough to advise his Sovereign
to confide in him ?—Morning Chronicle. •

We are ready to admit that it would be unfair to I
" his Highness, the Dictator," to pronounce him hos-
tile to all reform in Church and State, merely because
tlie Times attributed such hostility to him a month or
two ago. In commenting on Mr. Ward's motion, on
the 4th of June last, our contemporary observes,
" They (the Ministers) moved upon it the previous
qtPstion, and carried it by a majority composed of
some eighty or ninety Conservatives, who have always
been mad when a redress of the Irish grievances was
recommended—partly of old stagers, whose avocation
is to wait upon the Downing-street providence for
whatever offal they can contrive to pick up," &c. ;
adding, that " the Advent of a mere Tory Cabinet is
a chimaera which can exist only on the confines of a
crazed imagination." If we could see. how " his
Highness" could, with any regard to consistency, re-
commend to the Tories of England to support a policy
directly at variance with 411 the principles hitherto
avowed by them, thereby implying that they had been
formerly mad, or were now knaves, we would not
tie him down to the opinions expressed by his organ
for the time being (the Times). We know, indeed,
that he conceded the claims of the Catholics, though
he had opposed them to the twelfth hour, and even
when he did concede them, avowed that he still re-
tained his former opinions ; but then, in that case, he
appealed to an over-ruling necessity. He was quite
horrified at the idea of civil war, and he had no alter-
native but civil war or concession. But " His High-
ness" surely would not maintain that there would have
been a civil war if he had not taken up his abode at the
Home Office, and obtained the superintendance of the
Horse Guards ? England never was more prosperous
and tranquil. Her numerous workmen were all em-
ployed, and generally at good wages. He May,
indeed, still say that Church reform in Ireland is neces-
sary to the tranquillity of that country ; but as that
reform was promised by the Melbourne Ministry, it
would be difficult for " His Highness" to show how
it was necessary for him to supplant that Ministry
to obtain the reform in question. The Duke, there-
fore, must not only act in the teeth of all his former
opinions, and all the former opinions of the Tories, to
concede the various reforms in Church and State,
which his organ, the Times, promises in his name to
the people of England, but persuade the Tories to dis,
play the same unblushing want of principle. And
after all, as the Tories could only gain by the deceit
by making dupes of others, would they not have their
misgivings that, as the world is not yet so bad
as to deeem the party who have shown them-
selves the most reckless in violating former pledges
—the most ready in renouncing former opinions
—the most likely to adhere to the opinions pro-
fessed and pledges given for the sake of mere con-
veniency—that the trick would be seen 'through, and
that they would have the credit of intending to
deceive, without being able to profit by the deceit?
Some of our contemporaries assume that " His High-
ness " is a sensible man ; and that being .a sensible
man, he must see the necessity of conceding an ample
measure of Reform in Church and State. But with-
oat arguing the question as to " His-Higliness's" sense,
we have only to say, that they are measuring "'His High-
ness's" corn by their own bushel. Let Us have his own
understanding of what becoines a sensible man. 'We are
indebted to an evening contemporary (The Sun) for
the following quotation from a speech made by " His
Highness " on the 11th of July, 1833, on the Church
Temporalities Bill, as reported in the Times, as a proof
of his notions on the subject of Irish Church Reform:—
" The great object on all these occasions was to support the
protestant religion in Ireland. Now, ,if the 'present measure
were passed, they would be contented to part from that prin-
ciple entirely. How was it consistent for -Parliament with the
Act of Union, which declared the two churches to be united,
fresh in remembrance—to pass such a measure as this ?
( Hear, hear.) On this occasion he only looked to the policy
o!' this country from the time of the Reformation, and up to the
present period ; another and a more fitting opportunity would
arrive, when he would go into the whole question. Besides,
his Majesty positively swore to support the Church of England
in all its rights, privileges, and immunities. He did not quote
the precise words, but the meaning of the oath evidently was
that his Majesty was thereby bound to maintain the Protestant
Church in its full powers. s g What,' however, he
chiefly contended for was, that the coronation oath was another
evidence of the policy of this country to preserve the Esta-
blished Church, and which policy, he would maintain, ought
not to be departed from."

The very general support which the Duke of Wel-
lington gave to so many of the measures of Lord
Grey's Administration, affords of itself no small ear-
nest of his abandonment of most of those anti-reform
notions which led to his last retirement from office.
Indeed there are those who go the length of assuming
that the Noble Earl is not altogether unconnected with
the changes which are now going on, and that it is
even probable that he may be included in the new ar-
rangements. To this, however, the secession of those
members of his family (Mr. Edward Ellice and Sir
George Grey) who still held office, is a pretty plain
contradiction. It is true that it was understood that
the former of these gentlemen was about to retire at
any rate ; but, with regard to the latter, it would have
been easy enough for the Duke of Wellington to have
said to him, " Stay where you are for the present," if
there were really any prospect of his uncle, the late
Premier, returning to office. Our readers will have ob-
served that we have at all times expressed what, we trust,
may be called a laudable anxiety for Lord Grey's reputa-
tion, which, we think, might be put to more hazard than
it has even heretofore encountered, should the Noble
Earl now consent to take office with those who have
been through life more or less his political opponents.
However they may be found, as we hope they will be,
to have come over to his view of things, coalitions at
best require a mutual yielding .and concession, which
can seldom take place without damaging the repu-
tation of one party, or of both. Besides, in Lord's
Grey's case, it may be truly said—" Non eadem est
cetas, non mem." The Noble Earl himself placed
his retirement upon that footing ; nor is it at all de-
sirable that the Nestor of Reform should exhibit the
flickerings of that lamp in the same arena around
which it has for so long a period shed Eo much bril-
liance. If any additional reasons were still wanting
they would be found in a very unenviable position in
which Lord Grey, as a Member of the Duke of Wel-
lington's Administration, would be placed, as coming
in constant collision with the fierce opposition which
may be expected to emanate from some, at least, of
his late colleagues—to say nothing of the attempt
which will, probably, be made by his son-in-law, Lord
Durham, to form a party of his own. But, though
out of office, Lord Grey may, if he think proper, as-
sume a very dignified and useful position as a Peer of
Parliament. Lord Grey, the father of Reform, is ex-
actly the person best fitted to watch its progress and
its workings ; while his age and station entitle him to
check, on the one hand, the too ardent zeal of innova-
tion, or, on the other, any hostility which may be in-
clined to defeat the operation of Reform. We make
these -observations in a full persuasion that nothing
but a Reform Administration can possibly stand. It
is a singular circumstance, an instance of remarkable
political imbecility (of which even Lord Grey must
unfortunately partake), that the Whigs, after having
laboured to. obtain the means, leave the accomplish-
ment and the fruits of their own favourite measure to
their rivals. The latter must now carry out the Re-
form Act in its true spirit ; any attempt to evade it,
even were they so inclined, would only involve them
in the ignominious fate of their predecessors.—Morn-
ing Herald.

To show how deeply " His Highness" is impressed
with the necessity of a thorough Church Reform in
Ireland, our evening contemporary has quoted from the
report of his speech on the address to the Throne on
the sth of February, 1833, as reported in the Times,
the following passage :
" Ministers were fond of what they called reforms in all de-
partments ; but he wished that in their zeal to recommend a
reform in the Church, they had not made his Majesty say some-
thing to countenance the notion, that blame was to be attri-
buted to the clergy. Why was it necessary in the Speech
from the Throne to advert to the complaints regarding the
collection of tithes? He did not say that such complaints did
not exist ; but sure he was that they were trifling in number and
amount, and what was said by the King would give encourage-
ment to a party in the country, whose object was to pull down
the Establishment."

In fact, we have only to consult an authority which
" His Highness" will not now challenge—the file of
the Times during the whole period of the Grey and
Melbourne Ministries—to find " His Highness" giving
the lie to every item of the concessions so lavishly pro-
mised in his name by that organ on Tuesday last.
Thus, for instance, he declared " it was impossible to
imagine a greater blunder than the recognition of the
independence of Belgium ;" that it was impolitic to
open the trade to the East Indies—that the present
state of Portugal "was a revolutionary war—a war
carried on by means furnished from England, and sup-
ported by persons who had no earthly interest but that
which was derived from the hope of plunder." In
short, this new apostle of liberality so contrived to dis-
guise his sentiments during the two last Ministries,
that for the most part they wore as little the appearance
of Reform, as if they had been dictated by Metternich
himself. There can, therefore, be no mistake with re-
gard to " His Highness's" notions, and they who
profess a readiness to support him as a statesman, from
whom efficient reforms in Church and State may rea-
sonably be expected, must be the blindest of the blind,
the most besotted beings that ever laid claim to the
character of humanity. We will not libel " His
Highness," by supposing that because he can find
ready tools,-he will be equally ready to prove himself a
knave.—Morning Chronicle.
So, then, this is the position in which the affairs of
this country are placed. Our Contemporary (the
Standard), who is the principal organ of the new
order of things, cannot, under the commands of " His
Highness," inform us whether we are to have a Govern-
ment or not. What, is the Duke then not pledged to
form a Government? Has he no line of policy which
he intends to adopt? It is certain that he has no men
to fill the offices of Ministers ; unless, indeed, he orders
out a battalion of Guards. Why, what egregious
trifling is this with the people of England ! Does the
Duke think he has the opinions and feelings of the
country on his side ? Let him call County Meetings
through the influence of such of his partisans as are
bold enough to state what his course of policy is
to be, and give us the reasons why he is where lie is,
p
enoarossina all, and not daring to do anything. He is
merely doing the duty of a good subject, forsooth ! 'What,
does the duty of a good subject consist in taking pos-
session, in his own single person, of all the ministerial
functions, and holding their powers in abeyance until
he shall understand what may be the opinion of a man
at Milan ! Is it the duty of a good subject to give
such advice to his Sovereign, as to present him to the
country so careless and indifferent to the welfare of his
people, that they are to gaze, and wonder, and specu-
late, while a gentleman is taking his pleasure in a
foreign laud ? Was there ever such an insult offered
to a people not slaves ? What was, and is, the dire-
ful emergency which thus paralyzes all the transac-
tions of business at home, which disturbs all the
foreign diplomacy, which is to hold in suspense all
the complicated interests of this mighty empire ?
Let " His Highness " make his manifesto—issue
his proclamation to his good and faithful lieges :
—" Whereas, the Government of this country has
heretofore, and until yesterday, been conducted by
Ministers placed in the several departments of the
State ; and whereas these several departments were
yesterday severally occupied by men with whom the
Commons of England and the 'people of the country I
were well satisfied ; and whereas, for some cause good

The Morning Chronicle of yesterday renews its
ridiculous abuse of the Duke of Wellington for having
obeyed his Monarch's commands, and for not assum-
ing the power which he might of himself exercise. It
talks of the people finding out very soon how they are
to be governed, and points with malignant folly at the
variety of functions which the Duke has to perform—
the fact being that he assumes nothing. It is a mat-
ter of absolute necessity that there should be one Se-
cretary of State. To meet this positive exigency the
Duke of Wellington fills the office. There being, un-
der the very peculiar circumstances of the case, no
other Minister yet appointed, the Duke, as a matter of
course, holds the other seals. The Duke of Welling-
ton assumes nothing ; nay, so completely does he defer
to others, that no one arrangement in which it may be
supposed his Grace has a voice is to be made till Sir
R. Peel arrives in England. Had the Duke hastily
made appointments—had he exhibited any feeling but
that of loyal and dutiful obedience to the King's orders
—had he, in short, ttiken upon himself any act except
the laborious duty of the ordinary current business of
the different departments, the Chronicle might howl
with some show of reason. But the marked absti-
nence on the part of his Grace from taking any mea-
sure of himself might with ordinary liberal men secure
him from the imputation of conduct superior to which
his honour, his integrity, and his greatness soar eagle-
high. The peculiar character and attributes of the
Great Seal render it absolutely necessary that it should
immediately pass from its last holder ; its presence
and possession of themselves constituting the indi-
vidual to whom it is delivered the highest law
officer of the Crown, and the first lay subject in the
land. For the purposes of continuing the business of
Chancery, in which the interests of so many of the
King's subjects are involved, it is most important that
no difficulty should be interposed between the secession
of one Chancellor in his judicial character and the no-
mination of another. On Friday, therefore, the Seal
will be received from Lord Brougham and Vaux and
delivered to his successor. But, with this unavoid-
able exception, we repeat nothing—unless perhaps
some minor appointments to facilitate the transaction
of business—will be done by the Duke of Wellington.
Under these circumstances it seems the height of folly
or wickedness to attack his Grace upon his anxious
assumption of a dictatorial authority ; which, however
much it might suit the tastes and characters of some
leaders of the opposite party, and conduce to the in-
crease of their personal consequence, is utterly foreign
to the Duke's character and disposition, and, under
the circumstances of his glorious career through life,
Wholly unworthy of his care or consideration.—illorn-
ing Post.

But for a misrepresentation which has appeared, and
been repeated, in contemporary prints, we might not
have been called upon to say anything just at present
on the subject of the late Ministry, whose retirement
from office, for whatever cause, must in some respects,
and in so far as some of its members are concerned,
inspire all honest advocates of Reform with sincere and
lasting regret. The misrepresentation which we allude
to regards Lord Melbourne, who is by some charged
with having made a direct avowal to his .Majesty that
it was impossible for his Administration to go on ; and
a request that the King would be graciously pleased to
commit the Government to the hands of the Duke of
Wellington. For those who know anything of Lord
Melbourne's character it might be superfluous to no-
tice this charge, equivalent, under the circumstances,
to nothing short of downright treachery and folly
against as frank, noble-minded, and discerning a gen-
tleman as any now in England. But the country
generally, no further acquainted with the facts than as
they are stated by the newspapers, and with no further

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1834.

clue to the principles of Lord Melbourne than from '
such uncontradicted, however fallacious, statements,
ought to be disabused by positive contradiction of that
which would reflect on him extreme and undeserved,
discredit. Had his Lordship so despaired of the
efficiency of his Cabinet as to have found it his duty to
convey to the Sovereign a persuasion and proposition
of the nature above-mentioned, he would assuredly
have felt himself called upon to apprize his colleagues
before he left London this day se 'might, that he was
compelled to do what amounted to a virtual tender of
his own resignation, and to a breaking up of the entire
Ministry. But the fact is, that his Lordship did no
such thing. He waited on the King, if we are not mis-
informed, to state fairly to his Majesty the various and
considerable difficulties entailed upon him by' Lord
Sp' ncer's death ; but he went alst prepared to explain
and recommend the means of adequately providing
for them, and carrying on the Government, though
without the aid of Lord Althorp in the House
of Commons. These means and these difficulties the
Noble Viscount did develope seriatim and in fell de-
tail to his Majesty. But if the King, upon a calm
consideration of all the contingent results which might
or, as it appeared to his Majesty, must have flowed
from the adoption of any of the proposed alternatives,
became conscientiously satisfied that a dissolution of
the Cabinet at the present moment would be attended
with less serious mischief than at any time during a
session of Parliament, who can blame Lord Mel-
bourne for such an unwished-for termination of his
conference with King William ? We are bound to
add, in candour, who can blame the King for acting
on different, but certainly not unreasona')le, impres-
sions ? It is not for us to decide upon, nor shall we
dispute the correctness of the judgment exercised on
this occasion by the King. We shall, however, lay
a few 'brief hypotheses before our readers, and leave
them to draw their own conclusions from each. Sup-
pose Lord John Russell had been recommended
for his Majesty's approval as Leader of the House of
Commons—is there, or is there not, reason to appre
herd that his Lords!: 2's pledges, either towards the
Dissenters or with regard to the ultimate disposal of
Church property in Ireland, or both, might have laid
him under the necessity of introducing and enforcing
measures of so bold a character, that other Ministers,
Lord Lansdowne, for instance, and Mr. Spring Rice,
would have taken the opportunity of resigning ? Had
the task-of Leader been assigned to Mr. Abercromby,
whose opinions on the two points specified are under-
stood to agree with those of Lord John Russell, the
same consequences, it was to be feared, would follow.
On the other hand, in the case of Mr. Spring Rice being
appointed Leader, although the Right Hon. Gentle-
man might not have meddled with such dangerous mea-
sures as those we have referred to, the Whig Radical
Opposition must have done so; in which case, no less,
we apprehend, than four of the Ministers must have
voted against their colleagues, and have then unavoid-
ably,broken up the Government in the very heat of
the Session. We state these things hypothetically.
It might not be decorous to present them in a more
positive form, and we shall leave all comment upon
them, and upon the sound discretion of his Majesty's
choice under such perplexity, to the unbiassed judg-
ment of our readers. There is another point which, from
observations very recently occurring to our minds and to
those of others, we now approach with compassionate
and extreme repugnance. We would thereby indicate
the conduct and condition of Lord Brougham. In the
presence, therefore, of his colleagues, who will read
this . article—of Lord Melbourne, their chief—of
William IV., our common Sovereign—we are inclined
to add (though it is unnecessary), of the Chancery
bar, and of those who have witnessed the proceedings
of this fallen Judge and politician during the last week
—was it possible for any Cabinet that could have been
formed to rely on its own existence for twenty-four
hours, while Lord Brougham, in the actual state of
(we must speak technically) his nervous system, was
a member of it ? We put the question distinctly and
emphatically, and more than a dozen persons may well
comprehend our meaning—would it have been possible
for the necessary, the routine business of the country
to go on without convulsion for another week ?
Would it have been—we do not say morally, much
less figuratively—would it have been legally—
would it have been physically, we mean without the
application of actual physical coercion, practicable for
his Majesty to exercise his most undoubted and most
essential prerogative—that of issuing a commission to
prorogue the Parliament—had Lord Brougham been
left any longer in full possession of those official powers
which he enjoyed at the last prorogation in the Li-
bra 6, of the House of ,Lords ? These questions are
not meant for political bravado : they are asked in so-
berness : they are asked in deliberate defiance of an
affirmative answer from any person of sane mind who
is competent to give one : they are finally asked in a
spirit of justice to the Crown, and of deep commisera-
tion for one of its late advisers. As for intrigue, or
manceuvre, or preconcert in any part of the late transac-
tion, it is due to his Majesty, and to all his Household,
to Lord Melbourne, to his colleagues, to the whole
Conservative party, and to the Duke of Wellington, to
declare our unfeigned and irremovable conviction, that.
no imputation was ever more absolutely false.--Times.
Whatever alarm there may be in the present state of
politics, that alarm can only be on the impossible point,
that of the people of England proving untrue to them-
selves; and that is a groundless alarm. Of the Duke,
sword and all, there is none. Did not the people--
the enlightened people of England—by means of their
opinion, calmly and quietly expressed, and with some
of the Whigs at least, or, at all events, of the profes-
sing Whigs, acting as a damper on the spirit of the peo-
ple—did not they then, in the mere hope of the Reform
Bill, drive the Duke, with all those whom he can now
call to his assistance, from the administration of pub-
lic affairs ? And if the people did this in their un-
represented strength, and it may be with the weight
of some longers for the flesh-pots upon their shoulders,
is it to be for a moment entertained that now—with a
reformed House of Commons, through the medium of
which the Duke must, if he conquer the liberties of
the people, or one iota of them, conquer the whole
people—the very same combination of persons which
was worsted in the weaker day of the people, shall be
victorious in the day of their strength ? It is utterly
impossible. Therefore " union, firmness, and modera-
tion" be the words ; and the more that the Administra-
tion is hostile to the people, the more it is in the power
of the people—the worse it is in its own intentions—
the more have we the power of compelling it to do good.
We stand by the people ; and we call on them to do any
thing rather than to fear or to despair. The darker
the cloud, the rainbow of hope is even the more glori-
ous ; and the people of this country have only to be
true to themselves, and to be the faithful guardians of
that which they have already gotten, and the more
hostile the Minister, the more good they will com-
mand. To a friendly Administration the people must
concede something ; but with an hostile one, it is
" war to the knife," and war is synonymous with
victory. The weakness appears even in the Tory
Chief Magistrate. He gets rid of the people's requi-
sition upon a fictitious point of etiquette; but that
only shows that he dares not meet them upon the prin-
ciple, or rather the want of principle, which he would
show if he could. Therefore we say, "be firm, and
fcitr nothing."—Morning. Advertiser.

COURT OF CHANCERY, Nov. 19.

A meeting of Middlesex Magistrates took place
yeiterday at the Sessions-house, Clerkenwell. Nothing but
the ordinary routine business was disposed of.

SHOP-LIFTING IN PARIS.—A few days since, two
women, named Hurtterer, were arrested, having been disco-
vered to be regular shop-lifters. Their respectable appearance
excited no suspicion, and they contrived while the goods were
displayed before them to abstract such as best suited them.
M. de Gourlet, Commissary of Police of the quarter of the
Observatory, after a long and scrupulous investigation, seized
at, their house (in the faubourg St. Honore) a great quantity of
articles, of which it would be difficult to give here the complete
detail. Amongst the things found in their possession were
Cachmere shawls, silks, lace, stockings, shoes, gloves, candles,
lamps, clocks, saucepans, &c. It is said that they have; con-
fessed to the commissary ofpolice the various robberies of which
they were accused, and that the owners of many of the nume-
rous articles stolen have been found. The culprits testified
sincere repentance, and added that, at the very moment when
they were arrested, it was their intention to leave off this cul-
pable practice and set up as milliners with the articles which
were found at their house. It is to be hoped that arrests of
this kind, which have latterly been rather frequent, will at
length put an end to the reFeated robberies which have -so
much hurt the trade of Pari2c