The Sun.
London, England, 1835-04-22 00:00:00

shown himself a consistent one, which is more than
can be said for on• half of his opponents. The
electors of Devon, too, must be up and stirring, if
they would save themselves from the reproaches of all
honest Reformers. They have a sacred duty entrusted
to them, which they cannot fulfil too promptly, or in
too zealous a spirit. The Tory agents, backed by a
Tory purse, are canvassing the county in all directions.
They must be met, then, with counteracting energy.
It would be a foul stain on the character of the Devon
electors—a stain which no after-penitence could ef-
face—were they to allow a Conservative Member to
supplant Lord Joinq RUSSELL. But we have little
fear of this. His Lordship is strong in the good
opinion of his constituents, and has all the weight of
public character to throw into the scale against Tory
gold. He represents the moving principle of Reform,
a principle for which no county has made more pa-
triotic sacrifices than Devonshire. During the great
struggle for Reform she was ever in the van ; and will
not, we are sure, now abandon her high 'vantage-
ground ; least of all, for any such considerations as the
Tories have it in their power to offer. Be at your
posts, then, Reformers of Devonshire 1 " Sleep
on your matchlocks," so that you may be secure
against all Tory surprises. Your foes are crafty, and
have now more cause to be so than ever, finding that
the props against which they so long leaned in false
security are, one by one, giving way beneath them.

To be able to shift one's ground with dexterity, and
to take up a new position according to circumstances,
is as necessary a qualification in a party writer, as it
is in a military officer. It is a qualification, however,
in which the partizans of the late Ministers are wofully
deficient. Shift their ground they unquestion-
ably do, often enough, but what sad bungling work
they make of it ! They flounder on from contradiction
to contradiction—out of one absurdity into another—
plunging, over head and ears, into the grossest incon-
sistencies—conducting themselves, in short, as if they
had neither eyes to see what is before, nor memory
to recollect what is behind them.

How long_ is it since the watchword of the whole
crew was " Measures not men," varied, now and
then, with the kindred note of " Fair trial I" But
what is now the cry ? Do we hear any of those dis-
interested patriots raising their voices in favour of a
" fair trial" for the new Administration ? Oh, no—
that is quite another thing. With your thorough-
going party-man, what is fair towards one set of men
is not so towards another.

A Morning Journal, not particularly distinguished
for its political steadiness, has, in its leading Article
of this day, broken ground against the new Govern-
ment by a practical dereliction of its former doctrine,
and has made an attack upon "the men," without any
reference to " the measures." The assault, to be sure,
is far from being a formidable one, and in this case,
it fortunately happens that it may be repelled by
the assailant's own weapons. IT has " not the
slightest wish"--not it—" on the contrary, it
desires most earnestly—not to say anything per-
sonally disrespectful of the individual members of
the existing Cabinet," although it would be " jus-
tified in speaking of it (the Cabinet) as a body
as harshly as the worst personal enemies of any of its
individual elements could wish to speak ; and if it (the
self-denying journal) sought merely to vent its spleen,
(who could ever suspect it of such a motive ?) here
would be opportunity enough." " For the sake of
illustration, however, (exactly so, and for no other
reason in the world) it is absolutely necessary
that it should place in juxta position the names and the
pretensions of some of the IVIELBOURNE and some of
the PEEL Cabinet." It then goes on to compare Mr.
SPRING RICE with the late CHANCELLOR of the
EXCHEQUER, exclaiming with astonishment, .and a
double note of admiration, that it finds Mr. SPRING
RICE appointed to succeed "no less a person than Sir
ROBERT PEEL I I "—as if it were quite unconscious that
little more than two years have elapsed since it designated
this same Sir ROBERT PEEL—this paragon of
statesmen--what? A JOURNEYMAN !I I This god
of its idolatry was then actually classed with HENRY
GOULBURN, Esq., and both were stigmatized as a
couple of journeymen f The Duke of WELLINGTON
is now " the most experienced diplomatist in Europe."
About the time to which we have alluded, if not in
the very same article, his Grace was honoured with
an appellation equally complimentary to his moral and
intellectual qualities. Ho was saluted as the " hard-
hearted and soft-headed hero of Waterloo I I I "
Several other members of the late Administra-
tion are paraded before the public as men of the
first eminence, who we think it would not be
difficult to show have been held up to public ridicule
and reprobation in the columns of this ever-varying
print. But we must desist for the present.

We are happy to learn that public manifestations in
favour of Lord JOHN RUSSELL and the new Ministry
are becoming very general throughout the country.
On Monday evening, a very respectable meeting
took place at the Bell Inn, Philip-street, Birmingham,
for the purpose of taking into consideration the pro-
priety of offering " a public tribute to Lord JOIIN
RUSSELL for the noble stand he made, and the victory
he obtained over a corrupt and oppressive faction—
a faction hostile especially to the liberty and walfare
of the working classes."
At this meeting, we understand, that 'Very spi-
rited Speeches were made by Messrs. S. PASSY,
BROWN, EMES, MASON, and ASHNIORE ; and
resolutions were unanimously agreed to, that a Com-
mittee be appointed to give effect to the opinions
of the meeting, by communicating their high opinion of
Lord J. RUSSELL, and their approval of his conduct, in
carrying so triumphantly the resolution for appropri-
ating the surplus of the Irish Church in the House of
Commons. We have no doubt that similar demonstra-
tions will be made by all true Reformers throughout
the empire ; for in times of emergency like the present,
every well-wisher to his country ought to consider the
good as if its success depended on his own individual
efforts. This would at once insure unity of purpose,
and—what is not less important in all great under-
takings—unity of action.

The celebration of the Festival of Easter has so en-
grossed the attention of our Parisian contemporaries
as to limit to three the number of Morning Papers
published in the metropolis of France on Monday.
This is a rare occurrence ; and considering that it now
happens immediately after the passing of the American
Indemnity Bill, and during the time supposed to be
the eve of the trial of the prisoners of April, we easily
infer the immense difference there is between the
natural temperaments of the people of England and
France. On Monday the Chamber of Deputies was
opened as usual, but only a few members were in atten-
dance, and up to three o'clock no public business of
any importance was done.

Notwithstanding the great preparations now being
carried on for opening the new trials of the prisoners of
April, the Bon Sens states (on what authority we