The Sun.
London, England, 1834-11-17 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

So little were people prepared for the startling intel-
ligence which on Saturday morning we gave almost
exclusively (for the brief notice in- the Times was
neither positive nor satisfactory), that for some time no
one would believe it. The attempt to govern by a
Tory Ministry seemed altogether so visionary and wild
that no one could suppose it would be seriously made;
and then the dismissal of the Whigs in so off-hand a
manner served to make the whole thing appear still
more incomprehensible. But the Reformers, though
startled, were far from being dismayed, while the mere
sensible Tories again appeared anxious and apprehen-
sive. We can state positively that some of the leading
Tories in the city did not hesitate to say that the
time was not arrived when the experiment of a
Tory Ministry could be tried with the least chance
of success, and that no good could come of it.
Strange as it may appear, a Tory Administration
will forthwith appear upon the stage. The Whigs
deliver up the seals of office this day, and their suc-
cessors will be immediately installed. Some of the
arrangements will probably be provisional till the
return of Sir Robert Peel, who is now at Florence,
and to whom an express was immediately sent. The
Duke of Wellington having been entrusted with the
formation of the Ministry, is, of course, First Lord
of the Treasury ; and it is understood that Lord El-
lenborough is Foreign Secretary. Sir C. Manners
Sutton is to be Home Secretary. Sir George Murray
is to have the Colonies. What has been offered to
Sir Robert Peel, has not transpired. It is possible he
may be Chancellor of the Exchequer. Lord Aber-
deen is personally disagreeable to Louis Philippe, and
does not therefore occupy his former place of Foreign
Secretary. He may possibly be President of the
Council, or fill some such office. It may be taken for
granted that Lord Lyndhurst will be Chancellor; and
we understand that when congratulated yesterday on
his regaining the Seals he appeared much elated.
The Duke of 'Wellington has, it is supposed,
been for some time in readiness for the summons,
and dined on Saturday with the King. The
dinner -was a military one, the guests being nearly
all officers ; a circumstance which we fear may be
typical of the character of the new Administra-
tion. The Duke arrived in town yesterday. There
can be little doubt that the Court party have for
months been at work, and the toasts at the Lord
Mayor's dinner were evidently the result of an under-
standing with the Tories. The toast of " Church and
King," and " The Duke of Richmond and the Peers,"
are now explained. The object of giving these toasts
was to produce an impression in a certain quarter, that
the reaction was no longer questionable, as even at the
table of the Chief Magistrate of the City of London
Tory sentiments were favourably received. The ques-
tion at Court was merely, When may we venture to
turn out the Whigs ? and as, according to the homely
saying, any stick will serve to beat a dog, the death
of Earl Spencer furnished the pretext. From the
moment the determination had been taken by
Ministers to reform the Church of Ireland, their
dismissal was certain. Our readers may be as-
sured, that the desire to prevent Church Reform
was the real ground of the bold step which has been
taken. The King was, we understand, personally
courteous to Lord Melbourne ; but this does not in
the least alter the character of the measure. His
Lordship and colleagues have been dismissed a /a mi-
litaire—ordered out as abruptly as if they had been so
many soldiers on guard on the arrival of the relief.
Decent pretexts even were not deemed necessary.
When Earl Grey resigned, his Majesty wished a Mi-
nistry to be formed of men of all parties ; and it is
understood that Lord Melbourne then, in a letter to
his Majesty, urged the ' impossibility of succeeding in
an endeavour which would 'destroy the character of
public men with their own party ; and it is understood
that his Lordship's letter was shown to the Duke of
Wellington, who admitted the force of the arguments,
and to Lord, then Mr. Stanley, who wrote some comments
to the same purport ; and the time not being come for a
purely Tory Ministry, the King reluctantly enough
consented to the continuance of the Whigs in office.
It can surprise no one that, surrounded as the King is
with rank Tories, with the most of his own family
affected to the Whigs, with the Queen for an adviser,
who, having been reared in a petty German Court,
naturally hates the very name of Reform—should
have yielded to Tory counsels. Here, then, we are—
with a Tory Administration, and the prospects before
us which such an Administration presents. A disso-
lution of Parliament may be expected forthwith--in a
fortnight, we believe. Some of the Tories have already
taken their measures with reference to it. Sir John
Beckett, for instance, is gone to Leeds. With the
the present House of Commons, the Duke of Wel-
lington could not exist a week. The greatest
exertions will be made to influence the elec-
tions. All that bribery and intimidation can
effect will be tried. A desperate effort will
be made to obtain a House of Commons favourable to
their views ; and then they will of course attempt to
modify the Reform Bill, in order that the House of
Peers may retain its ascendancy. That they will fail
in this attempt, we know ; but they have no other
course open. They must play a bold game, in order
to arrest the progress of Reform in Church and State.
We need not say that we have the utmost confidence
in the good conduct of all classes of Whigs and Re-
formers at this crisis. All differences will be laid aside
for the great object of combating the common enemy.
Our readers will see that a meeting has already been
held in the metropolis—that the Common Council
meets to-day—that parish meetings are everywhere
organizing. We will beat the Tories, and convince
them that no faction can withstand the determination of
this great nation. The cause of Reform will only be
advanced by this ill-advised attempt of the enemy. A
liberal Administration will feel itself, after the Tories have
been driven out, sufficiently strong to effect what the
Whig Ministry could not under present circumstances
attempt. Whigs, Radicals, liberal members of the
Established Church, and Dissenters, must all cordially
unite ; for it is only by union that we can hope to
conquer our enemies. We have sufficient strength, if
we only use it properly. We must not, however, de-
spise our enemy ; for in his desparation he will make
prodigious efforts. The first thing to be attended to is
instantly to call meetings throughout the country. Let
tile people show themselves everywhere in force. Num-
bers give confidence and courage. 'We need not re-
peat that the Whig Ministry are all true and united—.
there will be no defection, and we believe that if the
Duke were to try to do without a dissolution, there
would be few renegadoes from either Whigs or Radi-
cals. He can count only on Tories. The Tories
have staked their all on the venture ; for they well
know that if they fail, the reform which they so much
dread will be immensely accelerated. The fight is one
of life and death ; and this it is proper to bear con-
stantly in mind. The most essential provisions of the
Reform Bill will unquestionably*.be modified, if the
Tories prove successful in the elections ; but if they
fail, as fail they must, the Duke will soon be driven
from office, and then we should indeed be madmen if
we did not prevent the possibility of a second attempt
I to enslave us. We pause' for the present. England
expects every man to do his duty—and the cause of
the country will not be abandoned.—Morn. Chronicle.
The events of the last few days are so new, so
strange, so utterly unlike anything which has hitherto
occurred in the history of England, that it is with no
slight difficulty we approach the consideration of their
probable consequences. Previous changes of Ad-
ministration have always been preceeded by the resig-
nation of the existing Ministers, either because they
were pledged to some measure which the crown would
not concede, as in the case of Mr. Pitt, at the termina-
tion of his first Administration, and of the Whigs in
1807; or because the confidence of the country had.
been withdrawn from them, as in the cases of Lord
Sidmouth and the Duke of Wellington ; or because
the death or illness of the Premier has virtually dis-
solved the Government, as in the cases of Mr. Pitt.
(at the end of his second Administration,) Mr. Per-
ceval, Lord Liverpool, and Mr. Canning. That a
Ministry ill the full possession of the confidence of the
country, pursuing a course which has never been disap-
proved by the Crown, and therefore must be presumed to
have its sanction, should have been dismissed within five
months after its appointment, without any shadow of

a pretext, except the occurrence of an event foreseen,
and indeed imminent, at the time of that appoin•ment,
without warning to any of its members, or to the
country, is an event more resembling certain portions
of the history of the Stuarts than anything that has
occurred since the British constitution assumed a set-
tled form ; and this experiment, dangerous in the most
ranquil times, has been dared at one of the most cri-
tical periods of our national existence, when all our
fundamental institutions are in a state of transition—
when questions are at issue which cannot be left un-
solved, and the solution of which cannot be effected
without the certainty of some evil, and the danger of
much more. It has been dared, after an alteration has
taken place in our institutions, which has totally
changed the depositaries of power ; which has made
the House of Commons the real masters of the
kingdom, and the people the real masters of the
House of Commons ; which has enabled the different
onstituencies of Great Britain and Ireland to de-
;de who shall and who shall not be the Ministers of
he Crown, by deciding who shall and who shall not
be the representatives of the people. Such being the
general features of the crisis, we will now proceed to
consider its details. The Parliamentary part of the
nation may be divided into six parties, of unequal num-
bers and weight. 1. The Ultra Tories, such as Lord
Chandos, Lord Roden, and that class of political or
religious fanatics. 2. The Moderate Tories, com-
prehending the Duke of Wellington, Sir Robert Peel,
and their friends, or, to speak more properly, their
followers. 3. The Semi-Whigs, such as Lord Stan-
ley, Sir J. Graham, Lord Ripon, and the Duke of
Richmond—a party, if it can be called one, comprising
individuals who have previously - belonged to some
other party, and having been rejected by their former
associates, meet to talk over their mutual grievances.
4. The Whigs, that is to say, the party now dis-
missed. 5. The Moderate Radicals, such as Lord
Durham, Mr. Grote, Mr. Hume, Mr. Ward, and Mr.
Warburton ; and, 6. The Ultra Radicals, with Mr.
O'Connell at their head. It is understood that the
first attempt to be made with the moderate Tories ; and
accordingly the Duke of Wellington has been sent for.
But as the moderate Tories alone are incapable of
managing the House of Commons, in which they
form a small minority, it is obvious that the Duke
can do nothing unless some one or more of the other
parties will join him. We will consider the proba-
bility of such an occurrence and its consequences, if it
should oocur. The Duke may call in the Ultra To-
ries. The possessions of the Irish Protestant Episco-
pal Church must preserved untouched ; or rather the
tithes, which they have ceased to possess, must be ex-
torted by military power, and restored by them. "As
for the continuance of the tithe system," said the
Archbishop of Dublin, in his evidence before the
House of Lords, in 1832, " it seems to me that
it must be at the point of the bayonet ; that it
must be through a sort of chronic civil
war." The claims of tke Dissenters to partici-
pate in the institutions founded by our fore-
fathers for the purposes of education, and to be al-
lowed to celebrate their marriages without an apparent
assent to doctrines which they hold to be unchristian,
must be rejected. Agriculture must still be impeded
by the barbarous imposition of tithes—a species of
endowment which seems to be intended for the pur-
pose of giving the least possible benefit to the clergy,
at the greatest possible expense to the landlord, and
with the greatest possible interruption of the relation
which ought to exist between the religious instructor
and his parishioners. Corporation Reform—a reform
second in importance only to Parliamentary Reform—
must be abandoned. In short, the thing most difficult
to effect, and most mischievous when effected—a
counter-revolution—must be hazarded. We need not
dwell farther on this part of the subject. A junction
, of the Moderate and Ultra Tories is happily impossible.
But the Duke is a bold commander. It is supposed to
be possible that he may adopt the desperate course
which he has been accused of having decided on in
1832. He may, it is said, ally himself with the Mode-
rate Radicals. He may coalesce with Mr. Ward ; he
may support the celebrated resolutions, " That the Pro-
testant Episcopal Establishment in Ireland exceeds the
spiritual wants of the Protestant population—that it
is the right of the State to regulate the distribution of
Church property, and that it is the opinion of the
House that the temporal possessions of the Church of
Ireland ought to be reduced." He may give to the
800,000 Protestant Episcopalians of Ireland a provi-
sion no larger than is found sufficient for the million
of Presbyterians ; and apply the surplus to purposes
of education, or to a provision for the Catholic Clergy,
or to the general purposes of the State. He may
grant to the Dissenters all that they demand, and for
that purpose apply to the Church of England the
principles he has recognised with respect to that of
Ireland. He may, it is said, commute tithes, lay level
the entrenchments of Corporations, and himself intro-
duce household suffrage, triennial Parliaments, and
Peerages for life. We do not believe a word of this.
Much as we differ from the Duke of Wellington in
many respects, we believe him to be a man of sense,
and a man of honesty. We believe that he has
been conscientious in his opposition to all these
measures. We believe that he really thinks, as
he has always proclaimed, that they would be
utterly ruinous. We believe that now, towards the
end of his career, he will not sacrifice the fame of sixty
years of eminent services, in order to obtain a year or
two, not of power,—for a man who is forced to per-
petrate what he believes to be mischievous is the lowest
of slaves,—but of mere official income and patronage.
Nor do we believe that he could do it, if he were base
enough to make the attempt. All that can be called
his party would instantly revolt. Sir Robert Inglis
would again raise his voice against the treachery of his
former leader. He would have to encounter the vio-
lent opposition of the Ultra-Tories, the Moderate
Tories, and the Semi-Whigs, the contempt of the
Whigs, and the distrust even of his new friends, the
Moderate Radicals. We could almost as soon con-
ceive his joining 'the Ultra-Radicals, and proclaiming
universal suffrage, annual Parliaments, and repeal of
the Union. A Moderate Tory Administration,
therefore, is impossible. An Ultra-Tory one
is, of course, equally so. But it has been
supposed that an Administration might be formed
consisting of Moderate Tories and Semi-Whigs ;
an Administration which should comprise the Duke
of Wellington, Sir Robert Peel, Lord Stanley, Sir
James Graham, the Duke of Richmond, and Lord
Ripon. Such an Administration would comprise per-
sons of great talents, experience, and rank. But it
appears to us to be as impossible as a mere moderate
Tory Administration. The- addition of the Semi-
Whigs would add little to its numbers. It must, there-
fore, like a Moderate Tory Administration, coalesce
with the Ultra Tories or the Moderate Radicals. If it
were to join the Ultra Tories, it would be swept away
by the first ten days of the present, or of any future
House of Commons. If it were to meet the present
House, either the Address to the Crown would request
its removal, or the carrying Mr. Ward's or Mr. Har-
vey's, or some other equally anti-Tory resolution,
would force its resignation. If it were to dissolve, its
principal members, standing as members of a Tory Ad-
ministration, would be unable to obtain seats ; and if
they did obtain seats, would scarcely find a more ma-
nageable House than the present. If, on the other hand,
such a Ministry were to join the Moderate Radicals,
it must make as great, or even a greater sacrifice
of principle, than that which, as we have seen, would
be required from the moderate Tories. Lord Stanley
must introduce measures far more sweeping than those
of which the mere probability forced his resignation.
He must introduce an Irish reform far more extensive
than that which " he never expected to see a Minister
propose, he never feared to see a Parliament approve,
and he was not sure that a King would sanction."
Lord Stanley, however, is a young man, an ambitious
man, and an imperious man. He might be willing to
run the hazards of such a coalition, if it were pos-
sible—which we have demonstrated that it is not—
that the moderate Tories should follow him. We
equally deny the possibility of an Administration com-
posed of the moderate Radicals alone. With great
respect for the talents and good intentions of that
party, we regret to see them deficient in numbers, ex-
perience, compactness, and influence. They may be,
and, we trust, will be, most valuable assistants
to a Whig,,Government, but are at present un-
able" to- stand,. txlone. Of the Ultra-Radicals, as a
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