The Sun.
London, England, 1845-12-22 00:00:00

RECALL

SIR ROBERT PEEL.

Lord Jong RussELL has resigned the task of
forming an Administration, and Sir ROBERT PEEL
Iva been again summoned: The Right lionouraide
I3aronet left town for Windsor •t two o'clock on
Stith rilay.

When Sir ROBERT Pear. declared his inability to
carry on the Government, we never doubted that the
formation of a new Administration mould devolve
up in Lord Jowl RUSSELL. Whether he ct.uld ac-
complish the task remained to be seen; but the
gr.tdullly improving tune of all sections of the
la; bora] party gave the strongest omens of success.

Up to Friday evening matters went on pros-
perou.ly, so far as could be judged, but difficulties
arose—difficulties, caused by the timidity of some,
knd by the pride and obstinacy of others, which have
ended in Lord Jostrr Russel...Lis refusal of the prof-
-7eresl Premiership.
We believe that Lord Joule has acted boldly,
honestly, and fearlessly ; he has not swerved one
p-article from the straight line of public principle
-,-owed by him, and, although he has for the day ex-
himself from office, the real gain to the Liberal
• .use will far outweigh the temporary disappointment.

(FROM A CORRESPONDENT.)
Sir JOHN HOBHOUSE, and other political leaders,
-!.Allt-d at Lord JOHN RUSSELL'S residence, in Chesham-
lace, on Saturday morning.

The following appeared i❑ our Third Edition, o

Saturday Evening :
The formation of a Ministry by Lord Joux Rts•
SELL i 4, for the present, at an end, and the Court
Newsman w•i!1 announce the departure of the mem-
bers of the might-hove• been Cabinet, for their country-
seats, instead of chronicling their arrival in Downing.
street.

With them will go the tribe of sucking statesmen,
and expectant placemen, who have haunted BROOKES'
and the Reform Club for some days past, full of
pleasing visions of power and of self-importance.
The break-down of the Whigs, in attempting to
form a Government, will, we hope, prove a lesson
to the narrovr-minded aristocrats of the LANS-
DOWNE class, that they cannot move without the aid
of the true Liberals and free-traders.
The desire to extend the basis of the Administra-
tion, and to give Mr. CoBDEN a place in it, or rather
to orrza hi'n one, with some minor disputes about
particular offices, have been the rocks upon which
the wreck took place.
Lord JOHN has done his duty in all, save in dis-
carding his ancient drags. The Whiggism of 1830
will not do in 1845.
The people have gained by the last ten days.
I,t'd JOHN RUSSELL may lead the van, but he must
not put his iiiii.%;%l artillery inAhe front.
Sir KORERT PEEL may fry to govern—he car.
only do so by adopting free-trade measures.
The.QUEEN has been throughout in favour of the
p.,ple and of p?plaF tne..4res; her words and
one have beets.} g, and it is gratifying
S

to know that a Liberal Administration would have

found a firm friend in her MAnnTr.

(FROM A CORRESPONDENT.)

Sir ROBERT PEEL received this morning a com-
munication from Lord Jonzs RUSSELL, and imme-
diately summoned together to his residence all the
Ministers hi-town.

After the meeting, messengers were dispatched to
such members of the Cabinet as are out of town, re-
quiring their immediate return to the metropolis.

As soon as Sir Rosser PEEL returns from Windsor
Castle, it is expected a Cabinet Council will be held.

The following appeared in our Second Edition of
Saturday Evening :
We are not at all sorry to find Lord Joists Rus-
szu. hesitating long before he undertakes the dif-
ficult task of governing the country. Unless he can
see his way clearly, and calculate with tolerable
certainty that he can conquer resistance in the Lords
as well as the Commons, it would only be a waste
of precious time to assume office. .The result of
a division in the Lower House on the question of
" total repeal" would be at beet doubtful. A gene-
ral election cannot be much longer delayed, whatever
may be the result of the present crisis. The. Tory
county Members will, therefore, be anxious to repre-
sent on a division the sentiments of the constituents
that returned them in 1841, and will vote against a
rveasure so sweeping and unexpected,. in order
to secure their next election. The influence of Peers
in county elections is still enormous, and we
are convinced that they will use that influence to
maintain the corn-laws with the utmost pertinacity,
till they find, as in the case of the Reform Bill, the
machine of Government stopped, and the country
threatened with some dire convulsion. Would it,
therefore, not be the more prudent course to allow
the obstructive party to form a Government and try
their hands at the settlement of this long-agitated
question ? Possibly that was Sir R. PEEL'S real ob-
ject in resigning, for, though he recommended the
QUEEN to send for Lord J. RUSSELL, he could not
fail to see that a Whig Ministry would have still
greater difficulties to contend with than those which
he dared not encounter, and that ultimately they
would be compelled to come to the same conclusion.
Present appearances justify the supposition that-
Lord JOHN RUSSELL can make no progress even in
forming a Cabinet. Possibly the Marquis of Lams-
nowsis, and others of the old Whig school, are not
prepared to go the whole length ; it is not impro-
bable, also, that they cannot forget their predilec-
tions in favour of the landed interest, and dread the
infusion into the Cabinet of those principles which
distinguish the free-traders of the day, and which, for
aught we know, may be as unwelcome to them as to the
RICHMONDS and TYRRELLS. One thing, we believe,
is certain, that the management of the House of
Commons is not the least of the difficulties that sur-
round the new leader of the Whigs. Unless, there-
fore, he can ,get rid of...the obstructions of: his
colleagues, and form an administration, not only
unanimous, but enthusiastic in the cause,
he would only expose himself and his party
to defeat and ridicule. Sir, R. PEEL has evidently.
made up his mind on the subject. Let Lord J.
RussELL do the same, and at once. The people of
this country have already been sufficiently long in a
state of anxiety and suspense—they know the real
cause, the reluctance of the Peers to give up their ill-
acquired gains, and they would be pleased to see the
task of forming an administration cast upon those
men who will neither work themselves nor allow
others to work._ This, would bring affairs to a crisis.
They could not bold together for six weeks, even
with all the abilities eiSTAisLeir, and all the courage
-stoic]) and BUCKINGHAM. They hive not one
of Ism.- -mons fit to oppose even a third-rate
man in the Um... would be opposed to them.
speaker of the fifty that.
the -last by sixty
They would be resisted to
Liberal
or seventy Irish Members, by the whole of tu...
party, headed by Lord Joit-RUSSELL, and, by from
eighty to oinety of the moderate Conservatives, under
the banners of Sir' R. PEaL. In a few days the
question would be settled by a simple process, called
the "reductio ad absurdum," and the deeds of _MILES
and TYRRELL would form even a more amusing epi-
sode in English -history than those which broke up,
amidst universal ridicule, " Barabone's Parliament "
Whatever may be the result of the present crisis
however, all the real friends of Lord JOHN RUSSELL
are anxious that he should not persevere in his
attempts to govern the country without a fair chance
of success, and that it would be better to give up the
struggle at once than form a Ministry which could
not secure itself against defeat.

Since the above was in type, we have learned with
satisfaction that Lord JOHN RUSSELL has acted the
more prudent part, and under all circumstances has
declined to undertake the Government. Sir R. PNEL
is now with the QUBEN, and as he has no prospect of
being able to form an efficient Administration, will
probably, advise her MAJEsrir to send for the Duke
of WIILLINGTON. The country, in this case, is left
at 'the mercy of a leader who never carried any
measure without Sir R. PEEL, and who is now
within three years of fourscore.

We brought before our readers on Wednesday the
points in Mr. PARKER'S letter to Sir JAMES GRAHAM
which belong to his own case of grievance. There
are other points in the letter, relating to the conduct
of the Poor-law Comm;ssionere -in the Andover in-
quiry, which also deserve notice. The Poor-law
Commissioners must expect to have it meted out to
them with the same measure with which they have
meted out to Mr. PARKER ; and they who considered
Mr. PARKER'S rec• mmendation of PRICE, in igno-
rance of his having resigned the mastership of the
Oxford:House of Industry, under a cloud, "a great
indiscretion, which they must notice in a marked
manner," cannot expect gentle treatment for indis-
cretions of their own. If no fallibility is to be Al-
lowed to Assistant-Commissioners, the least that we
can expect is infallible chiefs.

That the result of the Andover inquiry has hitherto
been most unsatisfactory, there can be no doubt ; and
that the Commissioners are to blame for this unsatis-
factory result, we think. will not be doubted by any
one who reads Mr. PARKER'S pamphlet. The in-
quiry was commenced by Mr. PARKER on the 25th
of August : on the 17th of September the Commis•
sioners ordered the proceedings to be suspended, just
as the evidence in support of the charges was con-
cluded, and the master was to enter upon his defence ;
then, on the 15th, Mr. PARISH was ordered to
resume the inquiry immediately. We will here
quote Mr. PARKER :
"On Monday, the 15th of September, I had an interview
with Sir Edmund Head, who desired me to return to An-
dover forthwith, and resume the inquiry on the following
day. I strongly remonstrated against such an early re-
sumption of the inquiry, and stated that the legal gentlemen
wlio had been employed in the case could not be assembled
so speedily. Sir Edmund observed that he did not care
about their presence at the inquiry, and I state.: that if I went
down to Andover that evening, I thought the witnesses
could not begot together by the next morning. I then
urged that it would be advisable to give a few days' notice, so
that there might to be no excuse afforded for adjourning the
proceedings. This suggestion Sir Edmund Head would not
listen to. and I immediately wrote to all parties, apprising
them of the intention to resume the investigation on the
17th September." . . .

If the object of tbe Commissioners was justice,
why this hurry ? Natural justice counsels the
giving every reasonable advantage to an accused
man. On the 17th, then, Mr. PARKER attended to
resume the inquiries, and was immediately met by
the master's counsel with an appieation for an ad-
journment, to allow him to get together witnesses
who were dispersed, and to prepare the defence,
towards which nothing had been -done, as they had
not expected the investigation to be resumed ; and,
with the consent of the counsel on the other side,
Mr. PARIEBR granted a five days adjournment.
" This adjournment for fire days was acceded to by all
parties, and, considering the indefinite character and nature
of s,,tne of the charges, it must be acknowledged that an ad-
journment for five days was not of greater duration than the
master might fairly demand. The reasonableness of the ad-
journment will be apparent, when it is undcrstood that evi-
dence on the following charge alone—' That lie has fre-
quently taken liberties with the younger women and girls in
the house, and attempted at various times to prevail upon
them to consent, to gratify his wishes,' applied to the cases
of no fewer than eleven women, and that none of the
alleged assaults'were of recent occurrence, and the greater
number of them were said to have been committed several
years since."
But so bent were the Commissioners on haste, and
so little mindful of justice, that they overruled this
adjournment; and on Mr. Plausa proceeding to
Somerset Howe, he was sent hack to Andover, and
ordered to resume the inquiry immediately. Mr.
PAILEFA eudeavotire4 to explaiu to the Commissioners

the reasonableness of the adjournment—even en-
treated them not to overrule it ; but all in vain. A
letter was written by order of the Commiasioners to
the accused master, explaining their reasons for over-
ruling the adjournment; which letter, to say the
least, is a very extraordinary document

" The Commissrieners are of opinion, that an officer against
whom charges of the kind involved in the investigation now
pending in the Andover Union have been made on oath, is
liable to be called ea to give an explanation, and enter upon
his defence with the least possible delay."
At:d this altogether irrespective of the nature of the
charges, and of the evidence which may be required
to disprove them I Why the falsest charges may be
the most difficult to disprove. -The letter proceeds—
" The time that has elapsed since the investigation began
has been amply sufficient, in the opinion of the Commis-
sioners, to enable you to get together the materials necessary
for your defence,tnore especially as most of the charges relate
to facts to be proved or disproved by witnesses on the spot."
But the inquiry had been stopped, and it was not
expected that it would be resumed. Witnesses that
had been got together might have been dispersed
again. Besides, Mr. PARKER says that the witnesses
generally were not on the spot. There is another
feature in the case which makes the conduct of the
Commissioners even more harsh and unjust, that they
were aware that the master's funds were exhausted.
One more extract from the jesuitical letter of the Com-
missioners :

. " Had the Board of Guardians acceded to the recommenda-
tion of the Commissioners,and suspended you—(a proceeding
which would neither have assumed your guilt nor have pre-
judiced any of your rights)—the Commissioners might have
taken a different view of the course they now think it fit to
adopt."

But how is the master responsible for what the
Board of Guardians have done ? Why is he to be
treated unjustly by the Commissioners, because the
Board of Guardians have not followed their advice ?
We trust that this letter will be viewed by the public
as at least a great indiscretion, which must be noticed
in a marked manner.

The end of it was, as our readers probably remem-
ber, that on Mr. PARKER'S resuming the inquiry by
direction of the Commissioners, the master's counsel
protested against the decision of the Commissioners,
declared he could not proceed in justice to his client,
and therefore withdrew from the inquiry, and advised
the master to send in his resignation. Mr. PARKER
thus describes this conclusion, in which nothing is
concluded :—" The conclusion of the Andover case is
certainly unfortunate—for no parties are satisfied,
whilst much odium is cast upon the administration of
the law ; —the resignation of the master, under the
plea of an act of injustice committed lay the Com-
missioners, has secured for him the sympathy of many
partiei, whilit the Board of Guardians feel them-
selves compromised by the vacillations displayed in
the course of the inquiry, and, above all, the public
mind is not set right."
Ths Andover inquiry will inevitably be the
subject of Parliamentary investigation next session ;
and this cannot be, a very agreeable prospect to the
Poor-law Commissioners. The following extract will
show—what may have been inferred already—that to
do justice was not the object of the Commissioners :
they were to set themselves right with the public as
speedily as possible,' no matter though an innocent
man were victimised :

"I had an interview with Sir Edmund Head, touching the
conduct of the investigation, when he expressed great
anxiety about them, on account of the manner in which the
Times had noticed the charges against the master, as well as
the complaint respecting the crushing of bones. Sir Edmund
appeared to me to be unusually excited by what he had read
in the Times, and he expressed. a desire that I should exert
myself to bring the inquiry to a conclusion with as little
delay as possible, in order that the public mind might be
quieted: He 'then informed me he was of opinion that I
ought not to allow the master to be present whilst the wit-
nesses were under examination. This suggestion surprised
me as much as his state of excitement, and I replied, I would
not incur the responsibility of excluding the master, unless
the Commissioners gave me express instructions to do so.
Sir Edmund said, ' What responsibility would you incur?'
and I answered, The responsibility of acting illegally—the
responsibility of acting contrary to the received opinion of
the bar.' "

The exclusion of the accused would have been, with-
out question, the most flagrant injustice. A man
who could broach the doctrine here ascribed to Sir
EDMUND HEAD is certainly unfit to be a Poor-law
missioner.

We hare Le—
pamphlet, that, before
of the hone-crushing in the Al.—

'-"irnt with surprise, from Mr. PARKER'S
the exposure by Mr. WALLET
• -lover Workhouse, the
',stated with

Poor-law Commissioners had been rem.—

on workhouse labour both by Ma. PAIZY ER and o,
the invaluable Secretary of the Commission, Mr.
CHADWICK.

" I have been remonstrant against the indiscriminate em-
ployment of the inmates of workhouses in crushing bones ;
I think where 'green bones' are used a mill is the proper
machine to reduce them to dust,' and that bone-crushing
should only be practised when bones of commerce, or bones
which have been submitted to some procea by which
the fat and animal juices are removed, can be procured.
[` Green bones' were used in the Andover Workhouse.]
This description of labour in union workhouses hat been the
subject of my remarks on more than one occasion, and the in-
formation communicated by me to Mr. Chadwick respecting
it, induced him to make some alterations in a paper, wherein
he broadly stated his conviction that grinding and pounding
bones was not fit employment for the inmates of workhouses."

Nothing was ever before heard of this paper of
Mr. CSIADWICK'S, though the practice has been often
the subject of animadversion in Parliament. We
quit Mr. PARKER'S pamphlet with another remark-
able disclosure, on the subject of which the public
will require some explanation from the Poor-law
ommissioners.

" In the Rye Lnion it was the practice of the present
Commissioners to sanction, as a matter of course, small sums
in aid of wages to able-bodied men. in 1842, when the dis-
trict including that Union was placed under my superin-
tendence, I inquired into the subject, and I was told in the
Commissioners office that I was to overlook the existing compro-
mises of the' law in that Union, for the population was too
deeply pauperised for the poor-law system to work beneficial*
there.

We have intelligence from Madrid to the 12th
The municipal elections were going on favourably
for the Government. The Funds were rising, nearly
all the Members of the Cortes had arrived, and the
capital altogether displayed great bustle and anima-
tion.. The Gazetts contains a programme of the
ceremonies to be observed at the opening of the Cortes
on the 15th.

The Three per Cents. closed at 36 11-16 for cafrh,
and 37 at 60 days; and the Five per Cents. at 24*,
at 60 days.

The Moniteur of the 18th publishes two royal
decrees, confirming the adjudication of the Paris
and Strasbourg, and the Tours and Nantes
Railways. The Paris papers continue their
comments on the Ministerial crisis in Eng-
land, and though there is little new in the
articles, the writers seem to know as much on
the subject as the best informed in this country.
They know the cause of the late resignations, the
difficulties of Lord JOHN RUSSELL, and can only
guess at the probable results. They generally be-
lieve, that without a commotion the Whig party
cannot succeed. The following remarks appear in
the National.—" In the abusive language directed
against Sir R. PRE!, by the high Tories, there are
great injustice and great passion; but it was, how-
ever, with those prejudiced men that Sir ROBERT
had his majority of one hundred votes in the
Commons, and it was these men who followed the
Duke of WELLINGTON to the House of Lords ; it was
with them and through them that he rose to power;
and to sum up all, in a word, they form a body of
200 in the elective Chamber, so that, these votes
failing, Sir R. PEEL cannot do anything but by the
ail of the whole Opposition. Fur a length of tim
the Baronet guided this hot-headed party by check-
ing them ; but for that he required the aid of Lord
STANLstr, and, still more, of the Duke of WELLING-
TON. If the latter would at once renounce his resist-
ance, and employ his authority, Sir ROBERT could,
no doubt, resume power, and go on governing as he
has dose, realising the measures of the Whigs. But
without that he can do little. The only real master
of the situation at present is the famine which menaces,
—the bread, which is rising in price—the people, who
cry—the middle classes, who, if further resistance is
offered, will pass from the agitation
.of meetings to
the agitation of the streets. The hand which can
calm this tempest is the only one that can assume the
reima of power. This is what common sense points
out; but common sense does nut always prevail over
interest; common sense cannot prevent resisting in-
terests from having, in the present organisation of
Parliament, a formidable power.!'

"We learn from a certain source," says the Courrier Fs= fais,
"that a confidential memorandum has been addressed to the
principal cabinets of the Germanic Confederation by Prince
de Metternich. It appears that the state of Germany; in
his opinion, is anything but. satisfactory. After having ex-
posed the gravity of the situation, he recommends the Ger-
man Governments to immediately inquire into the wishes of
their people, to satisfy as speedily as possible their real wants,
material and :moral, in order to anticipate, by such means,
the complaints which the Opposition would not fail to make.
The storm which threatens us.' says M. de Mettertuch in

terminating, 'cannot b. conjured away but by large conces-
sions !"

The French funds were more firm on Thursday :

The Three per Cents. closed at ISlf. 35e. ; the Five per
Cents., 117 f. 90e. ; the Orleans Railroad Shares, 1,1721.
ioc. ; Rouen, 957 f. 50c. ; Northern, 7221. 50c.; Havre, 765 f. ;
Avignon, 1110 f. ; Vierzon, 6421. 50c. ; Bordeaux, 6151. ;
Boulogne, 5021. 50c. ; Troyes and Montereau, 4351.; Basle,
237 f. M.; Fampoux, 4901. ; Spanish Actives, 36.

. -
The following are the quotations for other blies:—
Paris and Lyons Railroad (Laffitte), 6 premium ; ditto
Xslon), sf. 50c.; Union, 13f. ' • ditto (Ganneron), 55f:;
ditto (Lapinsoaniere), 4f. ; Sud Est, 3f. ; Ardoin, 3f; Re-
ceveurs-Gearaux, 4f; Paris and Strasbourg (Ganneron),
2f. 50e. ; ditto (Becket), If. 50c.; Tours and Nantes ( Mac-
kenzie), 5f.; ditto (Drouillard), sf. ; ditto O'Neill, 51. ; ditto
(Carette), sf. 50c.; ditto (Lefevre), 5f.; Lyons and Avignon
(Talalsot), 6f. 50c. ; ditto (Lecointe), If. -50 c, ; ditto (Corn-
pagnie Meridional.), 500 f. ; Bordeaux and Cette (Macken-
zie), 500 f. ; ditto ( Espeleta), 6f. 53c.; Creil and St. Quen-
tin, par; Charleroi (Kysaens), 495 f. The Lyons Definitive
Shares sold at 75f. premium ; Strasbourg ditto, 20f. ; Tours
and Nantes, 41f. 25c.
BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE, DEC. 19.
Anglo-Belgian.. — Madrid and Valencia...
Barba does
Boalogne and Amiens.. 8 Namur and Liege
Bordeaux &Mediterran North Jamaica ...
Bordeaux and Touleuse Orleans and Vierzon
Do. & Cette (Espeleta) Orleans and Bordeaux 9%
Do. (Mackenzie's) OverYsael
Callao, Lima. and Pa- Paris & Lyons (Laffitte)
citic Coast
Central of Spain .. — Ditto (Caloa's).... -
Ceylon . — Ditto (Sud Est) 2IA3
Demerara
Dendre Valley ... Paris and Rouen
Dutch Rhenish ... 7l/g Paris and Strasburg
Dieppe & Paris Janet. (Ganneron's)
Dijon and Malhouse Do. (Compe de L'Est)
East Indian ..... • IVg Do. (Aymard's)
Fampeux & Hazebrauk Paris and St. Quentin —
Grt Northern ot France Rouen and Havre--
Constituted IS Royal North of Spain.
Do. Pepin le Hallear — Sambre and Mime 41/2
Great Paris and Lyons — Strasburg and Bale
Great Western Bengal Tournay,Jurbise, Lan-
Great Western Canada 33/4 den, and Hasselt
JamaicaS Mid. Junction Tours and Nantes
Do. North Midland — (Mackenzie's) 4y,
Do. Extension
Jersey — Do.
Louvain and Jemappe — Trinidad
Lyons and Avignon.... Verona and Anemia —
Luxembourg

THE WEATHER.—The barometer has fallen to
28.9, lower than it has been for a long period. The
weather is hazy, with occasional sunshine, and bois-
terous ; but we fear, from the very low state of the
mercury, that the accounts from the country will be
less favourable.