The Sun.
London, England, 1835-01-27 00:00:00

of a wild democracy, on the ruins of our mixed Con-
stitution. The idea of passing a vote of censure upon
the King, for that was, in reality, the.meaning of the
original project of the Whig Radicals, was so extrava-
gant and monstrous that it could have no other effect
than to rouse the deep and general-. indignation of the
country against the Whig-Radicals, and to cause con-
stitutional and loyal addresses to pour into the Throne
from all parts. The people of England, who have so
strongly spoken out at the elections, would not patiently
and silently look on while the agents of the " Work-
house Government" offered such an insult to the So-
vereign, whom only a few months ago they extolled as
the most patriotic and liberal Monarch that ever
reigned in England. But the opposition to any par-
ticular individual proposed by the Government for the
office of Speaker has nothing in it indecorous or un-
constitutional. To propose a competitor for the Chair
in opposition to the Ministerial candidate is fair
enough, and ought to be encouraged whenever it is not
undertaken from factious motives, but with a view to
procure a better man for that important office than
the candidate who has the support of Govern-
ment. In the present instance it is universally allowed
that no man is so well qualified for the situation of
Speaker as Sir C. Manners Sutton. The only ob-
jection made to him is that of being a Conservative;
and those who make that objection say that it is ne-
cessary to have in the Chair of the House of Com-
mons a person of strict impartiality. Now, on this very
score of impartiality the strongest testimony has been
borne to Sir C. M. Sutton by his political adversaries.
The Whig Ministers, when they proposed him to pre-
side over the first reformed Parliament, alluded to his
many pre-emiment qualifications for that office, and
among others his total disregard of political predilec-
tions in the Chair. 'What then has the Right .Hon.
Gentleman done since that time to forfeit the public
confidence ? He obeyed the summons of the King
when the fag-end of the Whig Ministry, from which
Lord Grey was obliged to disconnect himself, was dis-
missed. This is at least misprison of treason towards
the Whig-Radical faction, .and therefore a more
impartial person must be chosen for the office of
Speaker in the person of some vehement partisan of
that faction, such as Mr. Abercromby, Mr. Littleton,
or Mr. Spring Rice. Since those names have been
mentioned, indeed, and not received by the public
with any great favour, the name of another candidate
has been introduced ; but we doubt that it is with
his own consent. The Whig-Radical Press, that
lavished no small measure of vituperation on Sir James
Graham for dissociating himself from the Whig
Cabinet, when he found it mistaking the road of de-
struction for that of reform, now laud him as an object
of their warmest admiration, and set him up as a rival
to, Sir C. Manners Sutton. Sir James Graham is
certainly a man of most respectable character, of con-
siderable Parliamentary talent, and, we believe, an
honest politician ; but in point of qualification for the
Chair of the House of Commons, there can he no sort
of, comparison between him and the Right Hon. Gen-
tleman who has so long presided over the representative
assembly of Great Britain, with so much credit to
himself and advantage to the public business of the
country. We doubt very much, indeed, that Sir James
Graham would allow himaelf to be made the " cat's-
paw" in this matter of a party with whom he could not
continue to sit in the Councils of his Majesty. Be-
sides, he has pledged himself to support the Ministers,
if they introduce good measures ; but the question just
now raised about the Speakership is for the purpose of
effecting the turning out of the Ministers, before they
can submit their measures to parliament. If the thing
should, indeed, be attempted, we believe that, whoever
may be the opposing candidate to Sir Charles
M. Sutton, it will be a decided and signal failure.
Since writing the above, we have been informed that
Mr. Spring Rice, whom we were the first to name as
the competitor of the late Speaker, has not abandoned
the idea of contesting the Chair of the new House of
Commons. We have reason to believe that an active
canvass is going on for him at this moment. So then,
by the way of securing an impartial Speaker, the
Whig-Radical party propose to place in the Chair a
vehement partisan of their own faction ! This is a
strange avay of securing impartiality. It reminds us
of the Irish prisoner who said that he could not have
just'.ce or a fair trial unless his " own faction" were
put upon the jury. It may be very well for the Whigs
to have their own nominee in the Chair, hut it will not
be so well for the country, nor for the'House of Com-
mons. The new House of Commons will want an
experienced, judicious, learned, and able Speaker ; no
man unites the qualities which constitute an efficient
President of a popular, and, at the same time, a delibe-
rative assembly, in such perfection as the Right Hon.
Gentleman, who by the concurrent testimony of all
parties, was selected as the best qualified to preside
over the first reformed House of Commons.—Morning
Herald.

There is one fact connected with the recent general
election in England and Wales which ought not to be
overlooked or unnoticed by the friends of the Constitu-
tion. The fact to which we refer is the generous con-
fidence reposed by the Conservative body in the candi-
dates who sought their suffrages on the principles of
attachment to the King, and reverence for the ecclesi-
astical and civil institutions of the land. Pledges
were neither offered nor exacted, the sole assurance
given by the gentleman who desirod the Representa-
tive trust to the constituency at whose hands he r.xed
it, was the expressed determination of mar aining the
just prerogatives of the Crown and-+.1.1e liberties of the
people, •;;Vhose co-existence is '.7iclispensable to the se-
curity of either. It is wel; -known that the agricultural
in'kerests expect (wht`:ner reasonably or not it is unne-
cessary now to 'inquire) that great relief would accrue to
them from the repeal of the malt tax; the householder of
towns desires with equal anxiety the abolition of the
window duty; the conscientious Dissenter looks forward
to the redress of those grievances which may Tex
and annoy him; the zealous Churchman seeks the re-
moval of those defects which may in his judgment im-
pair the efficiency or diminish the usefulness of the
admirable establishment of which he is a member ; 3et
have none of these parties pressed their claims or
wishes upon the persons whose duty it will be to attend
to and deliberate upon them, convinced that whatever
can be effected can best be executed by the Noblemen
and Gentlemen to whom the Sovereign has been gra-
ciously pleased to entrust the administration of affairs.
We will take first the repeal of the malt tax. Two
Cabinet Ministers, Sir Edward Knatchbull and Mr.
Baring, are the Representatives of agricultural dis-
tricts, inferior to no, part of the United Kingdom
in importance and intelligence. Faction was ready
to throw the apple of discord ; there was, however,
none to pick it up. An opposition was indeed
talked of both in Kent and Essex, but no one could
be found venturous or fool-hardy enough to en-
counter a certain and disgraceful defeat. Yet we
imagine that the electors of those counties are not
less anxious for relief than others, but they know well
that they are safe in the hands of their able and high-
principled Representatives, whose deliberative functions
they are unwilling to suspend by demanding a pledge
the fulfilment of which may be (for the present at
least) utterly impracticable. Again, Leicester and
Norwich are important manufacturing places, whose
inhabitants would be greatly benefited by the abolition
of the duties upon windows ; nevertheless the loyal
electors of those towns, convinced that Sergeant Goul-
burn and Lord Stormont possess the two requisites, of
"prudence and good-will," insisted upon by the great
moral philosopher of the ancients, fettered them by no
declarations upon that topic, leaving them with the
most perfect confidence to the free and entire use of
their judgment on that as on otlier questions of im-
portance. Nor are we to suppose that the Christian
Dissenter (always to be distinguished from the poli-
tical sectarian) of Exeter and Yarmouth desires
less the removal of real and bowl fide grievances
now than he did a few months back. He is, how
ever, certain that Sir William Follett and Mr.
Praed will do all in their power to forward his legiti-
mate views, and be repudiates with indignation the
idea of binding such men by specific promises and ab-
solute engagements, whatever might have been his
disposition towards the Proteus-like persons of the
defunct Administration. But is the Churchman of
Oxford or Cambridge anxious that the abuses and de-
fects which may have in the lapse of time crept into
our admirable and unrivalled ecclesiastical A