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

Reformed Parliament. Up to that time, it is quite
unnecessary to say that he was regarded, in the eyes
of both Whigs and Tories, as a most impartial anti
efficient Speaker. Otherwise the Whigs would have
opposed his re-election at that time. Now, we ask,
if any complaint of partiality, or unfitness of any sort,
had been made against him .during the two Sessions
which measured the duration of the first Reformed
Parliament ? We confidently say, " None whatever."
We doubt if any Commoner in England could have
kept so much order in an assembly of such mixed and
turbulent elements as Sir C. Manners Sutton did. To
support the dignity of the Chair with his suavity of
disposition, and to preserve the demeanour of the ac-
complished gentleman, - amid scenes and emergencies
which tried the temper as much as they elicited
his accurate knowledge of the law and practice
of Parliament, proved his qualifications to be of a
rare, or rather a pre...eminent order. Why, then,
look for another Speaker ? Certainly not for the pur-
pose of finding a better qualified Speaker, for that is
impossible ; nor for the purpose of finding one as well
qualified, for, if that be possible, it is certainly not in
the person of Mr. Abercromby that his rival is to be
found. We, who belong not to any party, judge of
official men by their fitness for office. We believe that
the qualifications of Mr. Abercromby- are not thought
of by the party that propose him. This gentleman had
lately signalised himself by proving, by Whig-Radical
logic, that the exercise of the King's lawful preroga-
tive might become the subject of a vote of censure. It
was consequently expected that he would have moved
that vote of censure ; but as the wild and absurd pro-
ject has been abandoned, it is thought by his party that
the next best thing is to move him into the chair, wit"
the hope that such a demonstration of their strengtl
will have the effect of moving the King's Ministers ou
of their places, before the Parliament and the country
can have any opportunity of judging of the character
and intentions of the Cabinet by its measures. We
trust an experiment, so obviously for the purposes of
party, and against the, public interests, will be signally
defeated.—Morning Herald.
We exceedingly rejoice to bear that
,Mr. Aber-
cromby has permitted himself to be put into nomina-
tion as Speaker of the new Parliament. When we
consider the high professional character, the integrity,
judgment, and fairness of this gentleman, it is im-
possible to withhold our confident expectation that he
will be found admirably suited to sustain the dignity,
and to perform the duties of the important office for
which he will be nominated. It might have been
better if the Reformers bad resolved to a trial of
strength with the Tory Ministers on some other
question ; not that we suppose it an unimportant
matter that the Speaker of the House of Com-
mons should maintain those principles which are
likely to advance the interests of the country at
large ; but the gauntlet has been thrown down, and
the country will wait in the calm expectation that the
Reformers, will in this matter act upon principle. The
votes of members on this question will be closely
watched ; let every man do his duty, unintimidated by
the eulogiums that will be passed upon Sir Charles
Manners Sutton by his political friends. We could
once have added our testimony in his favour, but his
character as an arbitrator has been tarnished, and it is
absolutely necessary that he should be superceded by
a more effective, moderate, and impartial man. Mr.
Abercromby is such a man, and Iwe cannot speak
too highly of his public spirit in permitting himself
to be nominated for the laborious and frequently
unpleasant office. The Tories are now using all
their influence to induce the Members to vote for
the former Speaker. We have not, however, the
least fear as to the result of the question ; but it is
at the same time most important and necessary that
Whigs and Reformers should join together in good
earnest to secure the election of Mr. Abercromby,
and defeat the wishes of the Ministers. We cannot,
in conclusion, do better than quote an admirable pas-
sage on the subject from the last number of Mr. Fox's
Monthly Repository :—" Devoutly is it to be hoped
that no false delicacy, no foolish fear of being called
factious, no vain expectations of future opportunity,
will interfere with that immediate decision of the great
question between the Ministry and the people, which
is so aptly provided for by the forms of Parliament.
The battle can never be so well fought as on the first
two topics that must necessarily engage the attention
of the House, viz., the choice of a Speaker, and the
Address. The first is not a mere matter of form ;
nor, now that the transition has been accomplished
from a nomination Parliament to a representative one,
Can it be again treated as only a question of conve-
nience for the dispatch of business. There is nothing,
henceforth, to interfere with the appointment of a man
who, while qualified by ;his experience and attainments
for the routine duties of the office, shall also be qualified,
by his principles and character, to represent the Reformed
House of Commons ; who shall be in sympathy with
the majority of that House ; and who may, therefore,
without the incongruity which was temporarily sub-
mitted to, be presented to the King in the face of the
country and the world, as the first commoner of Great
Britain, To endure, now, the elevation of a member
of ' the party,' the one party which alone disturbs and
confronts the nation, to so conspicuous and honourable
an office, would show an indifference and insensibility
as culpable as they would be extraordinary. But while
the strength or weakness of the new Administration
will, in all probability, be exhibted by this question, it
is that of the address by which their fate will be de-
cided. Aud here we trust that the Reformers in Par-
liament will rise to the full sense of the responsibility
and dignity of their position. The occasion is a mag-
nificent One. It is for them now to give an elevated
tone to the popular feeling, a defined aim to the na-
tional desire for improvement, a distinct
expression
to the great principles of Reform, The amendment
on the Ministerial Addreee of lit to be a national
manifesto, embodying the desires and tietermina-
tions of the people on the mode and agents of
Government. There should be none of the little
tricks of the old party conflicts. None of the ambi-
guities by which Parliamentary tactitians used to catch
straggling votes. Carried or lost, if lost it can be, it
should tell why the country will never again voluntarily
endure the misrule of party. It should denounce those
who, after the lapse of so many generations, have re-
vived the exercise of an irresponsible prerogative, the
obsolete and fatal claim of the Stuart dynasty, For
royal interpositions it should demand accountable ad-
visers, It should proclaim, that, when a pnlelie act
is imputed to the King personally, as in the dis-
missal of the late Admonstration, there is a gross
violation of all that, by courtesy, le called the Con•
stitution. It should indicate the absurdity of calling
for public confidence in the hitherto systematic op-
ponents of public right. It should declare that the
national Reformers tenaciously uphold the sacred-
ness of property, and the obligation of applying pub-
lic endowments to public purposed ; and that, there-
fore, they claim for the people the benefit of educa-
tional and religious funds, which are grosely abnsed
in their monopoly by a sectarian and political hierar-
chy. It should assert fa and entire civil equality for
the holders of all the diversities At liPPlogipat:
opi-
nion. It should announce their determination to or-
libe-
rraecutzteh
tehaebuses, spirit,t of municipaloexten a
extend e ttititgv andinstitutions.
It should
pledge them to apply the now recognised 'principles of
Reform to all political, legal; Or religious esta-
blishments, that may require revision, Argl in the re-
spectful, but manly language of flee men, speaking
wish the voice, and armed with the authority of a free
people, it shee;kl_ remind the Sovereign that he holds
his crown but by common acquieseslts,
.copl_
mon good ; that it befits not his station to lenilins au-
thneity to the selfish purposes of a party ; that in these
sentiments he hears his felt to Rpm' to the Peg-
le • and that should he, by renewing that ap`
allow the accursed enginery of electioneering de-
m00444411!) regain to bear upon their weak •
flees, their dependence, ;0)4 tliqlf few, eligy. will
arouse the popular spirit to such a manifestation of de-
termined principle and resistless power as shall make
faction, corruption, and oligarchic pride call on racks
and inountaio's to screedthei4 OYU Afigment.
Let the majority, as majority, we think, and a large
one too they must be ; let them but thus speak, and
the hearts of the mere men of 'office will quail within
subordinate spite of their angry loudness, be
them, while the grurnblings and vituperation of their

another very important office in ' that assembly is
to be filled, that, namely,
.of Opposition leader, if
self-election may be presumed in such a case to have
any validity. The correspondence is profitable indeed
to both the eminent .•persons engaged in it. Lord
John appoints himself leader of the Whig-Radical
Opposition, and obtains the ready recognition of his
self-constituted authority. by his disinterested friend
Mr. Abercromby., This is Lord John's share of the
gain, and it is mach. We know something in Lord
John Russell's favour, which we did not know two
days ago ; having now learned that there is one Mem-
ber of Parliament in addition to himself who thinks
him qualified to lead -one side of the House of Com-
mons. And the advantage derived by Mr. Aber-
cromby from these' friendly letters is reciprocal. The
world is now apprized that another Member of the
House of Commons, besides himself, thinks him a fit
competitor for ;Sir Charles Manners • Sutton. No-
thing can be more agreeable to contemplate than
two gentlemen thus amiably engaged in conferring
advantages and distinctions each upon himself, and
mutually upon each other. In the next place, Lord
John Russell and Mr. Abercromby agree in the opi-
nion that it is necessary for the vindication of a public
principle that the new House of Commons should
differ in opinion from the last and several former
Houses, so far as to profer for its Speaker the latter
gentleman to Sir Charles Manners Sutton: but neither
of them condescends to inform us what the public prin-
ciple is which requires this kind of vindication. This
obscurity is unfortunate, since it compels us to conjec-
ture and speculate in a manner which, upon such a sub-
ject, we should have been as well content to avoid. Is
the public principle to be vindicated by the elevation
of Mr. Abercromby to the Chair of the House of
Commons, the same as that which induced Mr. Aber-
cromby to fill at once the situations of a hired steward
of the Duke of Devonshire, and one of the nomi-
nees of that Nobleman in the House of Commons ?
Is the public principle of which Lord John Russell and
Mr. Abercromby speak the same as that which induced
the latter, when he had exchanged his Devonshire
Stewardship for the office ofJudgefAdvocate,under Mr.
Canning's A dministratien, he having been till that time a
staunch supporter of Parliamentary Reform, and the
repeal of the Test and Corporation Act, to cheer his
new leader, more loudly than any other man, when
the latter solemnly pronounced his determination to
oppose the repeal of the Test and Corporation Act,
and to oppose Parliamentary Reform also, to the last
moment of his political life ? Is the public principle
of our leader and Speaker-self-elect of the new House
of Commons the same as that which induced Mr.
Abercromby to accept, at the hands of. the Duke of
Wellington, the office of Lord Chief Baron of Scot-
land ; and, having filled that office for a year or two,
to avail himself of the opportunity of a facile and
friendly Administration being in power to secure, at
the public expense, a pension of 2,0001. a "year for
life, with all the future chances of a new and more
ambitious flight ? Is the public principle of these re-
spectable correspondents the same as that which has
made the liberalism of Mr. Abercromby constantly fluc-
tuate, up and down, to the exact point at which it
coincided most perfectly with his personal interests ?
We cannot answer these questions, and we sincerely
wish that Lord John Russell and Mr. Abercromby, by
stating plainly what public principle it is for the vindi-
cation of which they are so solicitous, had dispensed
us from the necessity of asking them. With respect
to the issue of the contest, if Sir Charles Manners
Sutton should condescend to allow himself to be placed
in competition with such a person as Mr. Abercromby,
there can be no doubt. No House of Commons, no
deliberative assembly that ever existed in the world,
could hesitate for a moment between two such compe-
titors.—Morning Post.
It now appears beyond all doubt that the design of
opposing the election of Sir C. M. Sutton to the
Speaker's Chair has not been abandoned. The Whig-
Radicals did not hit upon this project for trying to
heat the new Ministry, in the very outset of the Par
liamentary campaign, and before they could have an
-,ortunity of submitting their measures to the Legis-
opt
lature, they had ascertained that there was not
the slightest c../lance of succeeding in the absurd and
:4
4 the King's exercise of his law-
factious attempt to n.
-ful prerogative the subject of a vote of censure. Hay-
weakest dupes or
ing discovered that none but the ‘
most desperate tools of faction could iiC jnduced to
lend themselves to an endeavour to place the House
of Commons in collision with the Crown on grounds
perfectly untenable, the Whig-Radicals resolved upon
making the election of a Speaker their battle-ground,
and so they looked about for some person to contest the
Chair with the Right Hon. Gentleman, whose able,
dignified, and impartial administration of the
duties of that high office had given unqualified
satisfaction to all parties up to the end of the
last Parliament, and had frequently extorted
praise and admiration from his political adversaries.
Since this project was first announced great doubt and
uncertainty have prevailed as to the choice of the indi-
vidual to be put forward as the President of the new
House of Commons by the Whig-Radical party.
Originally Mr. Littleton was named, but the damage
which his public character received from the disclosure
of the " confidential intercourse" with Mr. O'Connell,
and the development of the plot which drove Lord
Grey from the Cabinet, could be no recommendation in
the eyes of Conservative and Constitutional Whigs,
without whose assistance the ultra-Whigs or Destruc-
tive party could have no hope of success.
.The idea of
starting Mr. Littleton was scarcely entertained when it
was given up. Then the name of Sir James Graham
was put forward, but, as we surmised, without his own
consent ! for although Sir James Graham is cordially
hated by all the ultra-Whigs and Destructives,
because of his honest and manly sacrifice of place
and power rather than step beyond the limits of
~zfe and constitutional reform, yet, as they well
knew Nt the colours of faction, in the forthcoming
conflict, coeld
not be unfurled under more favour-
able auspices t,tl.3n by making him the standard-
bearer, they would have gladly supported him for the
purpose of making their battle sure. If, indeed, they
succeeded, which even on behalf of such a candidate
we do not think possible, Sir James -Graham, as
Speaker, might have the opportunity of presiding at
the passing of measures to demolish those ancient in-
stitutions of his country, which his secession
from the Whig Ministry, when they were diverging
from the road of improvement into that of destruction,
proved him so anxious to. protect. In such a cause,
however, the Whig-Radicals found that Sir James
Graham was not exactly the man willing to be made a
" cat's-paw." He responded not to the call publicly
made upon him. They then turned their eyes to the
Right Hon. Gentleman who was lately Secretary for
the Colonies, and who signalized himself in that
capacity by countenancing the Australian Emigra-
tion scheme—a job of extraordinary boldness and
magnitude, and also the scheme for sending English
labourers to take the place of the West India negroes
in the pestilent and intolerable climate of the sugar
islands, which is almost too much even for African
constitutions. The experiment of putting this gen-
tleman forward, though we readily admit his supe-
rior abilities and industry to those of several of his late
colleagues, did not promise success. The pulse of
the public was felt, and we believe the opinions of
many Members of Parliament sounded upon it, but
the result was the withdrawal of Mr. Rice's pretensions.
In the mean time application had been made to Mr.
Abercromby, to know if he would stand, and this gen-
denim, after a good deal of coquetting between his
modestkrzd his ambition, finally answered the call in
the a tive. Mr. Abercromby is, therefore, the
known and now acknowledged competitor for the
Speaker's Chair with Sir Charles Manners Sutton.
If we thought better of the Whig-Radical cause than
we do, we should be sorry to see it lowered in public
opinion, and endangered by making the choice of a
Speaker for the new Parliament a subject of factious
contention. The oosti would be very different, indeed,
if the opposition to the electim) 9f Sir C. Manners
Sutton was for the purpose of placing 14 the Asir
some person better qualified for the situation than
that Right Hon. Gentleman, who has presided in
several Parliaments with general approbation, and
whose superuy #tress for the office, though an undis-
guised Conservative, caused Loyd Prey' Ministry to
support his claims to the Speakership of the 'first

THE SUN, LONDON, SAI"U-itnAY, JANITARY 31, 1835.

drowned in the roar from without of the thunders that
will utter their voices responsively. If the Reform
Members of the House of Commons will take their
stand on such ground as this, they will do more for
their country than has ever before been accomplished,
even by the noblest patriots of the most trying periods;
more than by the Parliamentarians of 1641, for they
will head the people in the warfare, not of brute force,
but of enlightened opinion ; more than by the re-
volutionists of 1688, for they will establish, not
the ' reign of influence' but that of representation."
Morning Advertiser.

We yesterday announced that Mr. Abercromby had
consented to be put in nomination for the office of
Speaker of the House of Commons. We now lay be-
fore (P. a. readers a correspondence between Lord John
Russell and Mr. Abercromby on the subject ; from
which they will perceive that the latter was only in-
duced to allow himself to be put in nomination, when
he found that those with whom he had been connected
in public life viewed the present election of a Speaker
as a question, not merely of individual preference, but
of public principle.

" Woburn Abbey, Jan. 27, 1835.
My Dear Abercromby,
was very sorry to find from the different communica-
Lons which I have had with you, that you were so unwilling
,o comply with the desire of many Members of the House
of Commons, that you should be proposed for the Chair
at the meeting of the new Parliament.
" After you had declined, however, I should have been
myself reluctant to press on you a proposition which
I found personally unacceptable ; but when I tell you
that I have been urged from various quarters, and in the
strongest terms, to place before you the earnest wishes
and general concurrence of those with whom you have
been connected in public life, that you should allow your-
self to be put in nomination for the Chair, I trust
you will re-consider your decision. Above all, I think you
will be influenced by the argument I have to state—
that they view the present election of a Speaker as a
question not solely of individual preference, but of public
principle ; and they are convinced, that in order to try this
question with the utmost advantage, it is of great import-
ance that you should not decline this high honour, if the
House should be willing to confer it upon you.
" I remain, ever your's, most faithfully,
"J. RUSSELL.

The Right Hon. I'Abercromby.”
" Fenton's Hotel, Jan. 29, 1835.
" My Dear Lord John,
" My earnest desire to decline the honour of being pro-
posed as a candidate for the Chair on the meeting of the
new Parliament, has been so often and so strongly ex-

pressed to you and to others, that I was in hopes that it
would have been acquiesced in.
" However painful it would have been to me to maintain
my own opinion in opposition to that of so many of my friends,
I should have adhered to it, if the approaching contest

had invorVefl only a question of personal preference.
" As I aqi now aware that the governing motive of those
who wish ma to alter my decision, is a desire to vindicate a
public principle, which they think it their duty as Members
of the House of Commons to maintain, I feel that the
indulgence of my own wishes, would subject me to the charge
of obstinacy, or of selfishness ; and therefore, if the choice
should fall on me, I shall be ready to perform the duties of

the office, to the best of my ability.
" I remain, yours, very truly and faithfully,
" J. ABERCROMBY.
" To the Right Hon. Lord John Russell."
Hitherto we could only express the opinion enter-
tained by all Reformers, that Sir Charles Manners
Sutton ought not to be the Speaker of the new House
of Commons. We knew that many of its members
were better qualified for the office than that gentleman,
but we also knew that Mr. Abercromby would be the
most acceptable to the House. All our fear was tha,
Mr. Abercromby might not see the question as in-
volving an important public principle. Now that his
reluctance has been overcome, all difficulty on the sub-
ject is at an end. Every Reformer in the United
Kingdom must at once see that he can only vindicate
hi§ own title to the confidence of the country, by vo-
ting in favour of Mr. Abercromby against an in-
triguing Ultra-Tory, who exerted himself to destroy the
late Ministry, and who is only not a member of the pre-
sent, because it was conceived that he might be able to
injure the Reformers more effectually by filling the
Chair of the House of Commons. The people of
Scotland very generally exacted a pledge from candi-
dates, that they would vote against the late Speaker.
General Sharpe, Member for the Dumfries district of
Burghs, at a dinner given to him by his constituents,
declared, " Some of the Members of the late Parlia-

ment with whom I have had the honour to act, ma.

not consider it judicious to make a stand on the elec
tion of Speaker ; but here I must leave them. lam
compelled and pledged to vote against him." When
the pledge was exacted and given it was not known
that Mr. Abercromby would consent to be nominated
as a candidate ; but it was not once doubted on that
account that the last man who ought to preside over
the new House of Commons was the Speaker of the
last, who so signally abused the confidence reposed in
him by Reformers, as to intrigue for the dismissal of
the Melbourne Ministry, and the formation of the
present, with a view to deprive the country of the
Reforms in Church and State which were known to
be in progress. But the consent given by Mr.
Abercromby leaves no ground for hesitation to the
most irresolute. The election of a Speaker is truly,
as is observed by Lord John Russell, " not a question
solely of individual preference, but of public prin-
ciple ;" and this he tells Mr. Abercromby is the ge-
neral opinion of those with whom he has been con-
nected in public life. The question, therefore, is not
one respecting which Members can be allowed to
indulge individual partialities. Whoever votes in
favour of Sir Charles Sutton inflicts a blow on. Re-
form ; and it ought, therefore, to be distinctly under-
stood, that to support the late Speaker is to support
the Peel Ministry. The question being one of prin-
ciple, will be a trial of strength between the Tories
and Reformers ; and we should as soon expect to
find Tories voting for Mr. Abercromby, as Reform-
ers for Sir Charles Sutton. In all such cases the
rule is, Whoever is not with us is against us.
The vote, whatever it may be, will have impor-
tant consequences. The waiters on Providence,
the waverers, will look carefully through the lists ; and
if they should unfortunately find that Mr. Abercromby
is not adequately supported, they will take their mea-
sures accordingly. Let no man, therefore, indulge in
the delusion that his individual vote may be of little
consequence. Every vote is of infinite consequence.
Members should consider that if they are returned to
Parliament to support Reform principles, they are not
at liberty to give a vote which may not only be de-
structive of their own characters, but injurious to the
cause they profess to have at heart. Mr. Abereromby,
as we have already stated, is admirably qualified to fill
the Spolier's chair. He possesses a sour.a under-
standing ; and no debater in the H.c4Vtae of Commons
is less chargeable with want of fairness in stating
his own views, Of combating those of his oppo-
nents. We remembers upwards of twenty years
ago,
sfame controversy arising respecting a dis-
cussion of a somewhat personal nature on a pre-
ceding evening in tilt.? Homo, the affirmation of
•Abercroliiby was held to be conclusive, as his
conscientiousness In all his statements was proverbial.
Though sufficiently decided in his principles, ho is the
last man to seek to give effect to them by unfair means.
The speaker of the House of Commons ought to
command the confidence of all parties, not merely from
his knowledge of the rules of the House, but his can-
dour and impartiality. •It would be difficult to select
a man llottff acquainted with the proceedings of the
House than ,Mr. Abercromby ; and we are sure that
his strict honour and fairness of disposition will be
willingly admitted by the most determined of his oppo-
nents. The Rutland family, from their borough pro-
perty; were enabled to male Dishop and Judges,
sometimes without the suitable qualifications. A late
Irish Chweilor had no small reason to be thankful for
Iris I,lMily name of Manners. Sir Charles Manners Sut-
ton is a gentleman possessed of much good nature, and
cautious in his behaviour. But more than this cannot by
said of him. As a S,veillc4, 'ire may. succeed in allaying
irritation, but lie-alsO not unfrequently fails to discern the
proper moment of interference, in order to prevent un-
necessary irregularities. He never uttered in his life a
sentence which any one would wish to remetln
wiwo byirrAe' Me rs, are dis-
tinguished only for pompous inanity. His qualifica-
tions for the Chair are all of a negative description.
Before pronouncing as to his knowledge of forms and
precedents, it would be well first to ascertain how
much he is beholden to the to,rqs I,eY;.• r.