The Sun.
London, England, 1844-02-26 00:00:00

ties to which they had subjected themselves by their
ignorance of the law," and he fairly avowed his sup-
port of the measure on these grounds.

If ever public man was placed in a humiliating
and ridiculous position, that man is Sir ROBERT PEEL.
Though he has a majority in the House of Commons
to back him, and the entire strength of the House of
Lords at his command, he cannot take a single decisive
step of moment—he dare not declare himself unreser-
vedly on the side of the monopolists, nor dare he declare
himself unreservedly against them—he dare not ori-
ginate one solitary bold, remedial measure as regards
Ireland, for he takes fright equally at Orangeman
and Catholic—he has no comprehensive scheme of
national education to propose, for the Dissen-
ters on the one hand, and the Churchmen on the
other, keep him in a constant state of uneasiness and
vacillation—he cannot offer a single authoritative
opinion on the subject of the religious disputes that
now distract the country, for the I'useyites and the
Anti-Puseyites, and other rebellious sectaries, hold
him in such complete thraldom among them,
that he dare not side with one party, lest he
should array against him the influence of the other.
And yet the man who acts in this tame, halting,
equivocal spirit who is neither Monopolist
nor Free-trader, neither Orangeman nor Libe-
ral, neither Puseyite nor Low-Churchman—this
man is the Prime Minister of Great Britain I Is
he not burlesqueing the high office he holds—an
office which was once held by a CHATHAM, a PITT,
a CANNING, a WELLINGTON, and a GREY—by such
abject, truckling timidity ? Should not an English
Premier lead, rather than follow, public opinion—put
himself boldly in the van of a movement, instead of
sneaking ingloriously in the rear ? For what pur-
pose is he placed at the helm, but that he may steer
the State-vessel steadily and safely into port? If he
is to fall asleep at his post, and trust to the
winds and waves to waft the ship into a secure haven,
we may just as well have no pilot at all. And indeed
to all intents and purposes we have none, for though
Sir ROBERT PEEL is nominally at the helm, yet it
is the ship's crew that are doing his work among
them, while he looks lazily and contentedly on, com-
forting himself with the reflection—so dear to
some men, which regard the show rather than the
substance of power—that, in name at least, he is a
pilot. There never yet lived an English Minister who,
while apparently he did so much, in reality did so
little as the Right Hon. Baronet. Not one single
bold opinion does he dare to promulgate of his own
accord. Not one single manly conviction does he
presume to entertain. Even the slightest fragment
of a declaration must be wrung from him. It is not
he that governs England, but the two great an-
tagonist parties of the Leaguers and the protectionists
It is not he that governs Ireland, but
the Repealers and the Orangemen ! All the
momentous public questions of the day are agitated
and helped forward by private—that is to say, by
non-official—individuals, without the slightest de-
ference to his authority, without even the show of
respect for his sentiments. Mr. COBDEN cares no
two straws for his opinions—the Duke of Ric

MOND scarcely conceals his contempt for him--Mr.
O'Comaix., " convicted conspirator" as he is,
throws down the gauntlet at his feet, and
dares him to take it up. Nay, even in the
Principality, his power, or his reluctance—call it

•
what you will—to act with decision is so apparent,
that the Times quietly takes the duties of Govern-
ment on its own shoulders, and tranquillises the sen-
sitive " Rebecca and her Daughters," by directing
public attention to, and suggesting remedial
measures for, the grievances under which they labour.
So far as we can see, we might just as well
have the Guildhall giant Gog or his brother Magog
for our Prime Minister, as Sir ROBERT PEEL. They
would be quite as useful, and they could not well
be more inactive. In other and better times the
country used to look to the opinions of their Pre-

mier as a sort of barometer, which indicated the

success or failure of the political schemes oft e day ;
but no one thinks of doing so now If we wish to know
what chances we have of getting Commercial Re rm

we consult the League, not the Prime Minister. If we
wish to know what hope there is for Ireland, O'Cost-
NELL, mot PEEL, is the individual to whom we turn
for information. In like manner, the Monopolists—
treating with utter indifference the distrusted decla-

rations of the Premier—read the speeches of the
Dukes of RICHMOND or BUCKINGHAM, in order

to ascertain what prospect they have of suc
cess. AM parties, Free-traders and Anti-Free.

traders, Orangemen and Repealers, however they
may differ in other points, yet agree in this one
—namely, that the opinions of the Prime Minister
of Great Britain—the dispenser of the favours of
the Crown—he who, by virtue of his office, should be
the most influential person in the three kingdoms
—all parties, we say, agree in thinking that the
opinions of this illustrious individual are not worth
a moment's serious consideration ; for all know
that he is the veriest slave of circumstances—the

helpless tool, not the vigorous controller, of event;
who is carried along in the go-cart of expediency,
without presuming to make a movement of his own.
If this teaming, contemptible imbecility and vacillation
on the part of Sir R. PEEL continue much longer, we
do hope Mr. lIUME will come forward in Parliament
with a proposal for abolishing the office of Premier,
as well as other sinecures ; for we do not see why the
country should pay six thousand a year for a Prime
Minister, who is no better than a mere cypher.

Paris papers of Thursday have been received. On
that day the discussion on M. Da REMUSAT'S motion
was resumed and brought to a conclusion. The
motion was rejected by a majority of 30. The
papers contain no news of interest to the English
reader. The French funds were very arm, and the
market closed as follows :—Three per Cents., for
cash, 82 as ; for Account, 82 60 ; Five per Cents.,
for cash, 125 85 ; for Account, 125 85 ; Bank of
France Shares, 3,270; Neapolitan, 103 63; Spanish,
32a ; 'Paris and Rouen Railroad, 832 50; Paris and
Orleans, 845.

The accounts from Madrid are to the 16th, and,
according to the Government papers, official dis-
patches had been received announcing a victory gained
by the QUEEN'S troops over the insurgents. In one
of these General RONCALI states that he had caused
seven officers who had fallen into the hands:of Gene-
ral PARDO to be shot. The names of these unfortu-
nate men were Lieutenant-Colonel Don ILDEFONSO
Vosons, Captain Don JOSE MENA, Lieutenants D.
LUIS GIL, and D. P. PEREZ VILLAPADIERNA, and
under-Lieutenants ALGARRO, MOLINA, and BLANCO.
The Government also received accounts that Co-
lonel PURZOA had taken two feluccas from the insur-
gents between Carthagena and Torrevieja.
A circular has been addressed to the Foreign Am-
bassadors, to the Grandees of Spain, and to the Clergy,
announcing to them that her MAJESTY had decided
on going as far as Aranjuez to meet her mother,
Queen CIERISTINA, and inviting them to accompany
her.

On the 16th, the Three per Cents. were quoted at
29f at 60 days, and the Fives, without Coupons, 20
cash, and 20f at 60 days.

THEATRE ROYAL, DRURY-LANE.--The new ballet
of The Beauty of Ghent " is a decided hit," and is nightly
received with universal admiration and applause. The fol-
lowing distinguished persons have been already to wit-
ness its performance ;—Their Royal Highnesses the
Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Marchioness of
Ailesbury, Marchioness of Conyngham, Duke of
Leeds, Marquis of Clanricarde, Marquis of Lansdowne,
Marquis of Salisbury, Marquis of Winchester, Earl and
Countess of Chesterfield, Earl and Countess of Cardigan,
Earl and Countess of Eglinton, Earl and Countess of Errol,
Earl of Lincoln, Earl of Munster, Count Keilmansegge, Baron
Nieumann, Baron Ashfeldt ; Ladies Pollington, Somerset,
Ernest Bruce, Harrington, Graham, Foley, Villiers, Camp-
bell ; Lords Macdonald, Castlereagh, Alfred Paget, Shel-
burne, Alexander Lennox, SeahEun, W. Graham, Glamis,
Clive, Adolphus Fitzclarence ; Sir Charles Shakerley, Bart.,
Sir John Harrington, Bart., Sir B. Graham, Ban., Sir H.
Webbe, Bart., Sir John Rennie Sir Charles Aldis ; Hon.
Grantley, Berkeley, Hon. F. Stanhope, Hon. Edmund By ,
Hop—Colonel Darner, Hon. Craven Berkeley, Hon. Mr. Gre-
villa ; Col. Cavendish, Col. Knox; Ormby Gore, E admirers
of ROMANCE OF " CHATSWORTH."—The admirers
of romantic literature will be delighted to learn that the new
work, the announcement of which under the title of" Chats-
worth," had excited so much curiosity, has no reference to the
recent festivities at that palace, but proves to be a pure work
of fiction, uniting in a singularly novel and original manner,
the characteristics of a " fashionable novel," and a highly-
wrought romance—it is a sort of modern Decameron, in which
a brilliant company of the supposed literary Celebrities of
the day met together in the gorgeous halls of Chatsworth
Palace, set their wits to work, jointly and severally, in a trial
of skill, as to which can produce the most effective specimen
of what each holds to be the highest species of prose fiction.
A work of this description, making its appearance under the
auspices of a writer of such consummate taste and accom-
plished scholarship as the distinguished author of " Tremaine"
and "Do Vero," cannot fail to excite unusual attention.