The Sun.
London, England, 1834-12-09 00:00:00

nose.

The French Ministry have triumphed, and Louts
PHILIPPE is now virtually acknowledged the absolute
Sovereign of France. The Paris papers of Sunday
which we have received state that the discussion in
the Chamber of Deputies closed on Saturday evening,
when the Ministry obtained a majority of sixty-seven
votes in their favour, in a division of three hundred
and one deputies. The division took place on a
motion which was made by M. HERVE, which ran
thus :

Tha_ the Chamber:being satisfied with the explanations
given relative to the line of policy pursued by the Govern-
ment, finds nothing in it but what is conformable to the prin-
ciples laid down in its address, and therefore passes to the
order of the day."

Upon this resolution M. SAUZET, Deputy for
Lyons, proposed an amendment, leaving out the
Chamber's being satisfied with the explanation
of Ministers, and merely passing to the order of the
day, without an expression of any opinion of the po-
licy pursued by Ministers. After a warm debate on
the respective merits of the resolution and the
amendment, the Chamber divided, when the Mem-
bers were :

For M. Herve's motion lB4
Against it
Majority for Ministers
Total voted
There were fourteen Deputies present who abstained

from voting.
The triumph of Louis PHILIPPE is complete.
Ministers acknowledged themselves the mere instru-
ments of his will, and the Deputies of France declare
themselves satisfied with a Ministry so acting. But
will the French nation be equally satisfied
with such an explanation ? Will it put con-
fidence in a King who will not be saved,
but at the expense of the Charter of France?
We dislike being the prophets of evil ; but we'antici-

pate dreadful fruits from this victory. The KING'S
position is in the highest degree difficult, and beset
with dangers. The Ministry, instead of screening
him from public odium, have thrown the whole respon.;
sibility of the Government upon him. Henceforth
every act of severity will be regarded as the fruit of
Royal obstinacy ; and the disaffected will direct their
hatred of nine Cabinet Ministers to the head of the
Cabinet. Better for the KING that his Ministers had
been thrice defeated than obtain such a triumph.

A certain morning preacher of the Order of. Black-
friars has lately been holding forth on the subject of
". conversion." Being himself a new convert, he ought
to be well qualified for his office, and if he could be
prevailed upon to make a clean breast—if he would
tell us the snares into which he has fallen, the temp-
tations which have led him astray, and the means by
which he has been brought to see the error of his
ways, we cannot help thinking that such a
circumstantial detail of his experience would be much
more interesting, and not less edifying, than the cold
generalities in which he delights to deal. He would
thus call to his aid the power of sympathy, which
sometimes produces wonderful effects in a congregation.

If he goes on in his present strain he will not do
much good. He is dry and unimpressive, and the
consequence is, that the „Avork of conversion pro-
ceeds but slowly. He seems, indeed, to be sensible
of this himself, and complains that some of his con-
gregation do not understand him, and are every now
and then writing private letters to him, asking an ex-
planation of some of his strange doctrines. This puts
him in a passion, and instead of giving the required
explanation, he tells them to come and hear him
preach the same sermons they have heard before—a
proposition which we think rather unreasonable. In
this morning's discourse, he was again very eloquent
upon apostacy. He poured forth the vials of his
wrath upon the wicked imps " who have not scrupled to
declare that to change from bad to good,—to abandon
the ways of error, and pursue the paths of truth,—to
cease to be vicious, and to practise virtue,—to fulfil
the wishes, and to satisfy the wants of the
people, instead of thwarting, disappointing, or op-
posing them,—would make a man an Apostate."
Now we think a man may be an Apostate notwith-
standing all this. The preacher we apprehend is en-
deavouring to mystify his healers, by confounding
moral with political virtue. In morals the same dis-
tinctions of virtue and vice are recognized by men of
all parties—there is no mistake about what constitutes
the one or the other. With respect to political virtue and
vice, the case is very different. What appears to one party
the summit, the very pinnacle, of virtue, is in the esti-
mation of the other the lowest degradation of vice.
When a Whig rats, a Tory says he has " ceased to be
vicious ;" he has then " abandoned the ways of error,
and pursues the paths of truth." Yet his former asso-
ciates style him, and style him truly, an apostate. In
like manner, when a Tory deserts his principles,
" fulfils the wishes and satisfies the wants of the
people," instead of " thwarting, disappointing, or
opposing them," as the Tories have always done,
and as their principles must always incline them to do,
he is justly called an apostate from the faith of his
party.

Sudden conversions are always to be regarded with
suspicion. The suspicion is much increased if there
be any worldly advantage accruing to the convert--
any thing in the shape of loaves and fishes. It is
true we have been reminded that there is more joy over
one sinner that repenteth than over ninety and nine that
never went astray—and the joy we imagine may be
imputed to the rarity of the occurrence. The con-
version of an old sinner is indeed a cause of rejoicing—
nay of triumph ; but who is there that can bear testimony
to such a fact ? Is it not almost miraculous ? When
a man reaches the age of sixty-six, or thereabouts,
his mind is generally pretty well made up—
it is then time to be in earnest. Any conversion that
then takes place ought to be accompanied with une-
quivocal marks of repentance. This is especially
necessary if the new convert is to be placed in a situa-
tion to exercise a powerful influence on the destinies
of his fellow creatures. Nods and winks are not
enough to convince us of the reality of the change.
We must have a full and explicit confession of his be-
lief, that we may see that he is " sound in the faith."
And as to his practice, as his former life cannot be taken
as a guarantee for his future conduct, we expect that
he will give us all the evidence in his power, that
lie has become a new man. The very first step
in this process is to forsake not only his old sins
but also his former companions. If he does not do
this—if lie hankers rafter his old associates—we may be
sure he is still in the " gall of bitterness and in the
bond of iniquity."
With respect to the preacher of the new light doc-
trines, we have only to say, that we hope ,he will
continue to adorn his doctrine by his practice, and
that he may be able to sing or say with his merry old
brother—

No baron or squire--or knight of the shire,
Lives half so well as a holy friar.

We beg to call the particular attention of all who
take an interest in Irish affairs, to an advertisement in
The Sun of this day, proposing the Establishment of a
Joint Stock Bank in Dublin, in connection with the
National Bank of Ireland. We highly approve of
the leading principles laid down by the New Company
as the basis .on which they intend proceeding. The
shareholders propose that, as a bank of deposits, sums,
however small, will be received, and interest allowed on
them for any length of time. This is most impor-
tant to small farmers who, at certain seasons of the
year, have trifles of money in their hands, which at
present produce them nothing so long as they re-
main unconverted into live, or other agricultural
stock. They may, it is true, deposit it in any of the
established local banks, but as no interest is allowed
upon it for three or six months, they gain nothing but
the chance of not losing it, by entrusting it to the care of
a banker. We shall enter fully into the merits of the
proposed Bank in the course of a few days.

The expenses of the late Royal Musical Festival in
`Westminister Abbey were 12,923/. 14s. 9d., and the receipts
were 22,013/., 183.—the surplus has been equally divided
between the Royal Society of- Musicians, the New Choral
and Musical Funds, and the Royal Academy of Music. The
greatest number present was 2,800 at the third rehearsal.
SOUTHAMPTON, DEC. 6.—lt is our painful task
to record the melancholy death of R. Eliot, Esq., of Eling,
near this town, who terminated his existence on Friday morn-
ing by shooting himself with a pistol. The deceased Gentle-
man bad for some time laboured under despondency of spirits,
to which is attributed this rash act. He was highly respected
by all classes for his urbanity of manners and charity towards
the poor.
CORONER'S INQUEST.—Last night an inquisition
was taken before Mr. Higgs, at the Albion Tavern, Duke-
street, Grosvenor-square, to inquire into the circumstances at-
tending the death of Mr. T. Hopkins, hatter, aged forty-one
who committed suicide by blowing his brains out with a pistol
at his residence, No. 275, Oxford-street. Verdict--" That
the deceased died from having shot himself, being at the time
in an unsound state of mind."