The Sun.
London, England, 1835-01-31 00:00:00

question did not seem to be thoroughly understood,
either by the Hon. Baronet who introduced it, or by
the House that discussed it, the Noble Author has
determined (in our opinion wisely) to make the public
acquainted with its real merits through the press. This
task he performs with considerable ahility and laudable
fairness. He has a decided opinion of his own, and
he endeavours to support that opinion by arguments,
to some of which we are not dis Posed to attribute
much weight ; but he does not ke:y out of view, nor
shrink from combating, the atguments on the other
side. He says what- he has to say, frankly, clearly,
and precisely, scorning the unworthy artifices resorted
to by those who involve themselves in a cloud of un-
meaning or ambiguous words, be.cause they entertain
designs which they have not the manliness to avow.
In the arrangement of his materials the Marquis
deprives himself of none of the advantages which can
be derived from a strict adherence to method. He begins
by stating his proposition, that the present practice of
vacating seats on the acceptance of office is injurious
to the public interest, and ought to be discontinued.
He then enumerates in detail the objections which
may be made to this proposition, which objections are
afterwards briefly sumnEd ul) in the following

manner

" First, the delay which it in,Nitablv and uniformly inter
poses to the action of the executive 'administration of the
country ; a delay always injurious, generally arising at an
inconvenient season, and possibly at a moment whln it may
be peculiarly perilous. Secondly, the difficulty of obtaining
a seat for a Minister if rejected, by his former constituents,
a difficulty greatly increased by .the Reform Bill. Thirdly,
that it interposes a check to the Crown, noel entirely need-
less, and therefore mischievous, operating-, frequently, when
the Government is weakest, never when it is strongest, and
acting, not against abuses, but against an exercise of the
prerogative, which cannot possibly lie dormant. Fourthly,
that it has a tendency absolutely to deprive the public of the
services of statesmen, whose abilities may be indispensable,
at the moment, to the interest and prosperity of the Empire.
Fifthly, the great and unnecessary vexation and expense to
which it exposes official men ; its consequent tendency to
prevent poor men of talents from entering into the public
service, and to give to wealth an undue monopoly of the go-
vernment of the country. Sixthly, the occasion it creates
for improper disclosures and unadvised pledges from single
members of the Ministry, together with all the re-action
which a fear of these evils may produce. And, lastly, the
probability that it will often be the occasion of two other
'consequences equally undesirable. In the first place, it may
give, to a person who is popular with his constituents, the
influence which ought rather to belong to the person who is
popular with the empire in general ; thus bestowing power,
not on the man most able to serve his country, but on the man
who has succeeded best in pleasing a single, perhaps a small
community. In the next place, it may have the effect of
introducing an undue number of Peers into the Cabinet."
These objections are then considered seriatim, after
which follows a short, hurr:cd, and very superficial
examination of the plan adopted in the French
Chamber of Deputies, and proposed by Mr. BULWER,
by which the holders of certain oliees are allowed to
speak, but not to vote. We arc sorry that our limits
do not allow us to enter into the discussion of the
subject to-day, but we .shall probably examine some of
the Noble Marquis's arguments at a more convenient
season. We cannot, however, close 'this article with-
out adverting to the notice which the • Noble Author
has been pleased to bestow on The Sun. At page
32 we find the following note :
" The Sun says, the parties likely to join the
Ministry with a certainty of being -returned, we have 'heard
the names of Mr. Tennyson, Sir H. Parnell, Mr. Abercrom-
bie, Lord Ebrington, Mr. Robinson; &c. 84c.' mentioned. To
give strength to the Government, Lard Grey could not select
more worthy and liberal men.' Ido not blame the newspaper,
but the law, for mentioning their certainty of being returned'
in the first instance—their worth and lib: ality afterwards. We
do not blame Horace for saying ' V;rtus post minunos.'"
Upon this we shall only xe:nark, that he who infers
from the mere relative position of these two sentences
that we meant to represent the " certainty of being re-
turned" as a qualification for office superior to " worth
and liberality," is by no means an adept in logic, and
that if the meaning of a writer is to be subjected to this
rule of position, the point of the satirical observation
contained in the quotation from Horace would be
entirely lost.

Extract of a letter from Canton, dated August 19 :
" The British trade is at present stopped, as Lord Napier
will not obey the order of the Vice- Roy to leave Canton."
It is the general opinion, however, that all will go
on as usual in a few days.