The Sun.
London, England, 1844-06-19 00:00:00

HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE. eject him from office, if it so please them ; he is con-
Signor COSTA has the honour to inform his Friends, Subscribers
to the Opera, and the Public, that his BENEFIT will take place 1 siderate and condescending enough to concede their
TO-MORROW EVENING, JUNE 20,
When Ina be produced an entirely New Opera Seria, composed by right to exercise this priiilege; but so long as they
M. Costa, the Poetry by Leopoldo Tarantini, entitled
DON CARLO& profess to be supporters of his general system of
With New Scenery by Mr. W. Grieve. policy, so long must they accord him an unhesitating
Philip 11. (King of Spain), Sig. Lablache; Don Carlos (his son),
Sig. Mario; The Count Posa (Friend of Don Carlos), Sig. Fornasari • obedience, otherwise he will take the earliest oppor•
Gomez (Grandee of Spain), Sig. Giubilei; Isabella (Wife of Philip',
Madame Grist. tunity. of remembering—to quote his own words—
To conclude witht he Grand Ballet entitled " what I owe to my duty and my own honour"—the
ALMA; ou, La File du Feu.
Principal Dancers—Mdlle. Cerito, Mdlle. Fanny Waster, M. St. Leon,
and M. Perrot. plain English of which is, that on the next
_44lpplications for Boxes, Stalls, and Tickets to be mLI . ..t the Box symptOm of disaffection, or coldness, or mutiny,
u e, Opera Colcnnade. Door! open at. Half-past Seven. The
o,,vra will commence at Eight o'Clock. that may appear in the Conservative ranks, the Pre-
mier will punish the delinquent party by resigning
the seals of office, and thereby become the instrument
of bringing in their old enemies, the Whigs. Hence-
forth, it is clear that there can be no mistake as to
the nature of the compact between Sir ROBERT PEEL
and the Conservatives. The one is to issue his com-
mands, and the others are to obey them without
hesitation. Anything like an adherence to conscien-
tious principle, on the part of the latter, is to be
wholly out of the question. The old, hacknied system
of governing by party—and by party exclusively,
without reference fo higher considerations—is still to
be maintained in all its pristine rigidness. Now, we
had hoped that the Reform Bill, which created such
a revolution. in politics, would have had the
gradual effect of doing away with this worn-
out system ; and that, warned by the failure of
the Whigs, who were too often influenced by mere
party prejudices, Sir ROBERT PEEL would have
adopted a more manly and comprehensive course of
action, and in bringing forward his public measures,
have trusted for support solely to their efficiency, and
not to the mere votes of his Conservative supporters
But, instead of adapting himself to the altered cha-
racter of the times, he has preferred to continue the
old system, and rely on the blind obedience of a
party, rather than on the free suffrages of the people,
for support. The consequence is, that he has re-
duced the Conservatives to the humiliating alternative
of either becoming the abject tools of his will, or else
of hurling him from office, and so running their heads
against the brick-wall of Whiggery.

THEATRE ROYAL, HAYMARKE.
MS. BENJAMIN WEBSTER, LESSEE
THIS EVENING JUNE 19,
Will be repeated the Prize Comedy of
QUID PRO QUO; or, THE DAY OF DUPES.
With a Prologue and Epilogue.
Earl of Hunsdon, Mr. Stuart; Lord Bellamont, Mrs. Nisbett ;
Jeremy Grigson, Mr. Strickland; fit n•y, Mr. H. Moll; Captain
Sippett, Mr Buckstone; Sir George Mordent, Mr. W. Farren;
Countess of Hunsdosi' Mrs. W. Chftbrd; Lady Mary Bivera, Miss
Julia Bennett; Mrs. Grigson, Mrs. Glover; Bridget t rim, Mrs.
Hun by.
The Prologue to be spoken by Mr. Webster, and the Epilogue by
Mrs Nisbett and Mts. Humby.
After which, THE TRUMPETER'S DAUGHTER. Phillipot,
Mr, Webster; Ma elon, Madame Celeste.
lo conclude with RURAL FELICITY.
Orchestra Stalls, bs. ; Boxes, hs. ' • Pit, 3s. • ' Gallery, 'a.; Upper
MlUery, Is. Half-price—Boxes,_3B. ; 25.; Gallery. la. ; Upper
H
Gallery, 6d. Doors opened at alf-past Six, and the Performances
corrimeßce at Seven.
Tickets and Places to be had of Mr I. T. Amber, us the Box-
°Bice. from Ten till Five.

PRINCESS'S THEATRE, OXFORD-ST It FLT.
LESSEE, Mr. J. M. MADDOX.
THIS EVENING, JUNE 19,
'Will be repeated a New Comic Opera, entitled CROWN
DIAMONDS Count de Campo Mayor, Mr. Weiss; Don Hen.
riguez de Sandoval, Mr. Allen; Rebolledo, Mr. Paul Bedford ; La
t:tsterina, Madame Anna Thillon ; Diana, Miss Grant.
To which will be added ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. Antony,
Mr. Wright; Cleopatra, Miss Emma Stanley.
To conclude with a New Farce, called WILFUL MURDER.
Mr. Consol, Mr. Granby; Pythagorus Sphoon, Mr. Wright; Frank
Peatherly, Mr. Fitzjames; Rhoda, Miss E. Honner.

THEATRE ROY AL LYCEUM, LATE ENGLISH OPERA-
HOUSE.
Under the Management of Mrs. KEELS Y.
TH 13 EVENING, JUNE 19,
Will be performed a New Domestic Drama, entitled THE 110-
MEN'FOUS QUESTION. Characters by Messrs. Diddear, F.
wining, J. W. Collier, Miss Fortescue, and Mrs. A. Wigan.
After which, THE THREE FRA DINVOLOS. Principal
Characters by Messrs. F. Viniag, Keeley, Wigan, Diddear, Miss
Woolgar, and Mrs. Woollidge.
To be followed by an Apropos Bagatelle, called POLKA MANI A .
Characters by Mr. F. Matthews, Mr, Wigan, Mr. leeley, Miss
Woolgar, and Mrs. Keeley.
To conclude with a o.aff I Burlesque Fairy Extravaganza, called
OPEN SESAME; or, a Night with the Forty Thie es. Ilassarac,
Mr. Keeley; Morgiana, Mrs.. Keeley.
PRICES OF A OhllSSlON.—Balcony Poxes. 11.; Upper
Boxes, as. ; Pit, 25.; Gallery, 6d. Second Price—Balcony Boxes, 2s. ;
Upper Boxes, Is 6d.; Pit, Is. Private Boxes on the it or. my Tier
(holding eight persons), Two Guineas. Private Boxes on the Second
Der (hokling eight persons), One Guinea and a-Half. Private
Boxes on the Pit Tier (holding six persons), One Gni, en

We recur to the very important subject brought
under the notice of the House of Commons, on Fri-
day night last, by Mr. THOMAS DUNCOMBE. The
Hon. Gentlemen, it will be remembered, stated, on
the authority of a petition, which he presented, that
certain letters, written and posted by the petitioners,
Messrs. LINTON, LovETT, MAzZiNI, and others, had
been opened, read, and unduly detained at the General
Post-office. Petitioners, who were prepared to prove
the truth of these allegations, declared that the letters
in question, which had been written at No. 47, De-
vonshire-street, Queen-square, Bloomsbury, were not
written with any political purpose, and contained no
treasonable matter. They now prayed the House to
grant a Committee of Inquiry into a proceeding which
they could only identify with the system of espionage
established in the departments of some foreign States,
but which was a system alike repugnant to the spirit
of the British Constitution, and dangerous to the prin •
ciples of British liberty.
All this, and more, is perfectly true of such a system.
It is one calculated, moreover, to excite all the indignant
jealousy of Englishmen on the score of that national
honour and good faith which. they appeal to with a
just and noble confidence in protesting against, or re-
senting, the crooked policy observed by other States
in tampering with the private business and affairs of
foreigners who May happen to be within their juris-
diction. The sacredness of sealed letters is (not
to speak disparagingly of so sound a principle),
a moral prejudice, a received axiom, an inalienable
association in the scheme of English society. It is
assumed to be as unviolated in practice as it is unim-
peachable in theory; and the scorn and contempt vi-
sited on its infraction, in private life, are of the most
intense and implacable character which can attach to
the vengeance of opinion. We speak of that opinion
which is the unwritten judgment of the community
,(on crimes against social confidence and private inte-
grity)—beyond• and independent of all legal penalty.
No wonder, then, that Mr. DUNCOMBE'S address ex-
cited so profound a sentiment within and beyond the
walls of Parliament ; and we trust, for the character
of the country--, that the matter it involved is not to
be allowed to sink out of notice, or to escape a most
searching inquiry, out of any consideration for the
shuffling statement offered by the Home Secretary,
Sir JAMES GRAHAM—a statement halting between
habitual arrogance, and awakened timidity; between
an affectation of the speaker's confidence in his official
impunity, under the latent powers of an unsuspected
clause in a consolidating Post-office statute, and ner-
vous indications of his alarm at the succession of un-
welcome questions provoked from various quarters by
the tone and temper of his refusal to supply the infor-
mation demanded of him. Sir JAMES is, after all,
but a clumsy dabbler in the art of managing spies;
he will find these servilest of public hacks as liable to
break down in St. Martin's-le-Grand as at Clontarf
or Donnybrook.
Now let us look a little at the detail of the debate,
in its actual order. Mr. DUNCOMBE, we repeat, after
the petitioners, stated that the letters were written for
no political purpose, and contained. no treasonable
matter. Sir JAMES GRAHAM, in no subsequent pas-
sage, attempts to aver that they did. This should be
borne in mind, because it is a fact which deprives the
Right Hon. Secretary of any ex post facto justification
for breaking their seals to get at their contents. Mr.
DUNCOMBE asked whether the Right Hon. Baronet
was aware 'that the letters of these individuals hai
been so opened, read, and examined at the General
Post-office; and, if such things had been done, whe-
ther they were done by authority of any of the prin-
cipal Secretaries of State ? Sir JAMES evaded this
question, by assuming that the House was aware that,
from so early a period as the reign of ANNE, power
had been invested in the principal Secretaries, "by
warrant, to detain letters, and to empower the Post-
office authorities to open them." Why, these powers
were granted under so different a state of things from
that which at present exists—internal convul-
sions, a foreign war, and jacobinical intrigues
for the restoration of the STUARTS—that it was
then a question of confiding them to the con-
stitutional and clean hands of a GODOLPHIN,
instead of those of a GRAHAM. The same power,
however, Sir JAMES asserts, came under the review of
Parliament in 1837, and, by the Ist VICTORIA, was
continued in her MAJESTY'S principal Secretaries of
State. But, in the first place, even if this were so, it
would only show that, in the scandalous hurry with
which the House of Commons gallops through official
Bills, at the more advanced periods of a session, the
most important and most iniquitous provisions and
powers may escape all observation and discussion ;
and, in the second, the fact remarked by Mr. HUME,
and afterwards cleverly illustrated by Mr. WATSON,
in the debate on Friday, is not exactly, as it suited
Sir JAMES thus to state it. Sir JAMES (who can
never "pull up" in time), carried away by this felici-
tous invocation of ANNE and VICTORIA, went on to
this very tender ground :—" That the power com-
plained of he had, as Home Secretary, by the law of
the land ; that he had exercised it, as one entrusted to
Ministers for the publiC safety; that the Parliament
of the country placed confidence in those who exer-
cised it"—among those, of course, is himself. As if
Parliament had forgotten his unexampled apostacy
from his party ; his inconceivable desertion of his
principles ! As if Parliament could be tutored to for-
get the quondanz Radical Whiggery of the present
Tory Secretary, by the humiliating exhibition of
his tacit acquiescence in, and patient endurance
under, the jibes, and taunts, and sneers, of the Pre-
mier whom he now serves, at the " Corn and Cur-
rency" doctrines of " Sir JAMES GRAHAM, of Ne-
therby," in 1827, when appealed to, and vindicated
by, the Birmingham " Gemini" of 1844 ! As if
the House of Commons, with the recollection
fresh in its mind of Education Bills ejected, and
Factory legislation failures, and secret missions,
and private instructions to ostensible reporters
for public papers, and this last acknowledged
exercise of a power disgraceful to all concerned in its
proposition, its grant, -or its use, were
with
respect
sspfeocrt
" confidence," truly ! But then, it seems,
to the letters of three of the petitioners, no warrant
had ever been issued. " With respect to the fourth,
he had on his own responsibility issued

warrant which was not' now in for;e:

So then, in three of these cases, if Sir JAMES Will
obstinately withhold further information, we are to
assume no warrants were issued. How came the

letters of these parties, then, to be opened, examined,
read, detained ? Who is to plead to this illegality ?
Does Sir JAmss = gravely expect that the Parliament,
or the people of England, will tamely submit, like