The Sun.
London, England, 1834-08-16 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY, AUGUST 16, 1834.

they must form themselves into firm and vigorous
union for the defence of the national institutions. The
great importance of the domestic topics which the
prorogation•of Parliament suggests cast into the shade
the various subjects of foreign policy' which occasion-
ally during the session have been the subjects of deli-
beration. The foreign policy of Ministers has been
frequently and forcibly arraigned, and upon such oc-
casions Ministers have generally excused themselves
from the difficult task of reply upon the very vague
and trite pretence that their full vindication would re-
quire such disclosures as could not be made without
detriment to the public service. Ministers have in-
deed been remarkably sparing of disclosures. From
them the nation knows nothing of the state in which
the Foreign Secretary has thought fit to suspend
the negotiations for the settlement of the Nether-
lands. From them the nation knows nothing of
the actua 1 state of our relations with Russia and
Turkey, although from other sources it is sufficiently
notorious that the diplomacy of Great Britain has
been discomfited, her dignity wounded, and her in-
terests impaired, in the east of Europe. Upon the
affairs of the Peninsula alone has any information
been communicated, and that inform.ation is essentially
incorrect. His Majesty in his Speech of yesterday is
made to applaud the Quadripartite Treaty, and to
ascribe to it the termination of the civil war in Por-
tugal.
The Treaty is a Treaty of unjust and tyran-
nical intervention, and it did not put an end to the

civil war in Portugal, for, before the Treaty was con-
cluded, that object had been effected by the unjust and
tyrannical intervention of a Spanish army. We wish
that the intimation contained in the King's Speech
may prove equally erroneous as to the measures likely
hereafter to spring out of this iniquitous compact. The
serious attention to the affairs of Spain which, " in con-
cert with France and with the other Powers who are
parties to the Treaty of the 22d of April," his Ma-
jesty promises to give is, we fear, a bad omen for the
consistency of our present non-intervention Ministers,
and inauspicious, in the same degree,. to the character
and interests of this country .—Morning Post.
We give elsewhere the speech delivered by his Ma-
jesty yesterday, previous to the prorogation of Parlia-
ment. Like all other documents of a similar character,
it tells nothing of which the public was not previously
aware, and makes but few observations which call for
any lengthened remark.—The Session just terminated
is spoken of as one characterized by extraordinary ex-
ertions, andthe state of our relations with foreign powers
to be of the most friendly character. Regret is
next expressed that the disputes between Belgium
and Holland have not been brought to a close, and
correspondent exultation that the treaty lately entered
into between France, Spain, Portugal, and England,
has had the happy effect of putting an end to the
civil war by which Portugal has been so long distracted.
The disappointment of the hopes which had been enter-
tained of the restoration of Spain to a similar state of
tranquillity is mentioned with regret, and it is pointedly
added that the serious attention of the four Powers
parties to the quadruple treaty, will be given to the
events which are takiin place in that country. In other
words, everything will be done to put an end to the
civil war which is now raging in the northern provinces
of that country, and to continue the succession to the
throne in the hands in which it was left by the late
Sovereign. The state of Turkey is briefly, but em-
phatically, adverted , to, and a hope sternly expressed
that no event will occur in that quarter to interrupt
the tranquillity of Europe. Aye, these are the
words, and they have been well chosen, for any further
attempt upon Turkey, and it is time that Russia should
know it, would be the signal for a general war through,
out Europe. The domestic concerns of the country
are next adverted to, and more especially the act for the
better Administration of the Poor Laws. The observa-
tions on this subject will naturally attract attention, and
are evidently intended to allay any fears or apprehension
which might be entertained on the subject. The intended
( stablishment of a Central Court for the trial of of-
fences in the metropolis and its neighbourhood is also
spoken of, with much, and we will add with deserved
approbation ; but with these exceptions there is nothing
said in the Speech which demands any observation.
The state of Ireland, though forming a main topic in
the King's speech at the beginning of the. Session, is
not even adverted to in that which was spoken yester-
day—and what is still more singular, although " the
important subjects of our jurisprudence and municipal
corporations" are specially selected as those on which
the labours of the ensuing Session will be most appro-
priately bestowed, not the slightest allusion is made
either to tithes or to the Church. On Monday we
shall give a brief summary of the labours of the past
Session, as well as advert to some not very just re-
marks of a morning contemporary upon them.—
Morning Advertiser.
King's speeches in England are remarkable among
written compositions for communicating to those for
whose supposed use they arc delivered, the least pos-
sible amount of information upon the subjects to which
they professedly relate. That which was spoken yes-
terday by our gracious Sovereign to Parliament, on
proroguing that assembly, we cannot refrain from say-
ing was rich in the above description of negative know-
ledge. But we are bound to add, that the framers of
the Speech—to wit, the present advisers of his Ma-
jesty—cannot be considered fairly chargeable, as a
body, with yesterday's defective communication from
the Throne. A narrative must have facts for its ma-
terials, and if there be little to narrate, the fault must
be looked for somewhere else than in the reciter. The
present Prime Minister has come too recently into
his office to justify the public in throwing upon him
the general fruitlessness of the Session just elapsed,
or by consequence the emptiness of that discourse
which ought to have formed its history.
There
has seldom passed a Session of Parliament hi whichheer
so little of the national business was done. It
was remarked by all the auditors of his Majesty,
that no allusion, not the very slightest, dropped
from the Royal lips upon those two questions which,
above all others, occupy and engage the public mind
throughout this country, as they did the harassing
though unprofitable attention of Parliament since the
3d of February. His Majesty did inform us that the
relations between Holland and Belgium were- not yet
settled ; that the civil war in Portugal was at an end ;
that his hopes of tranquillity in Spain were disap-
pointed by events of such importance to Great Bri-
tain as would require the most serious attention of his
Majesty and his allies ; and that he trusted nothing
would happen respecting Turkey to interrupt the tran-
quillity of Europe. But there is nothing particularly
satisfactory, as it seems to us, in the greater portion of
these statements. In reference to domestic matters,
the whole business of the Session, according to his
Majesty, has been confined to the Poor Law Bill, and
to that for the establishment of a Central Court for the
trial of offences in the metropolis and its neighbour-
hood, otherwise for extending the jurisdiction of that
useful but most unsavoury Court, the Old Bailey, and
that is all. Asto the Poor Bill, we confess, though we are
sorry, we are not surprised at the introduction of thiS
ill-omened measure into the King's Speech ; for it was
almost necessary to pledge the love and esteem which
His Majesty holds in the breasts of his subjects, in
order to redeem, so far as it admits of redemption, the
odious measure of his Government. But in this, the
ancient practice of the constitution is reversed, accord-
ing to which the Crown was the source of mercy and
kindness ; and where measures of coercion and severity
were necessary, they seemed always to emanate from
the Ministry. And what is this Bill wifich His Ma-
jesty is made to recommend and countenance with his
almost personal approbation ? Take the character of
it from the Bishop of London, a Privy Councillor, and,
as far as the Bill goes, a quasi-Minister. On the 4th
instant, his Lordship, when speaking of one of its
clauses (that respecting provident societies), said that
unfortunately this was the only clause which bore on the
face (fit the semblance ofkindness to the poor .1" Is this
a bill of which the King is to be made the putative fa-
ther ? Let any one look, also, at the perversion, we had
almost said of the course of nature, but certainly the
perversion of truth and of the proper application of
terms, in the Bill. It professes to be a Bill for the
poor—for the sake of the poor—for the relief of the
poor ; whereas the Chancellor avowed boldly, per-
haps indiscreetly, that the Bill was not for the poor,
but for the rich. These are his Lordship's wont: on
the 2d of July ;—" The question was, whether or nt;:t