The Sun.
London, England, 1845-12-24 00:00:00

etienin, Ant

LONDON, WEDNESDAY. DECEMBER 24, 1845,

It cannot be denied that a very general feeling of
satisfaction is evinced throughout the country at the
return of Sir ROBERT PEEL to office, and it is a cu-
rious circumstance, among the many strange events
which have occurred within the last fifteen days, that
this satisfaction is by no means so manifest among
the Conservatives and Tories, as among the different
sections which exerted themselves at the last election
to keep him still in the ranks of the Opposition. No
common observer can he surprised at the result. A
change of Ministry at the present time would have
been attended with vast inconvenience—nay,
it would have led to ruinous effects on trade
and commerce. Business, for many months,
would have been paralysed—no great commercial
enterprise could have been undertaken with security,
because the measures of a Whig Government were
uncertain, their power was untried, and the most de-
termined opposition to their policy, however honour-
able to themselves or beneficial to their country,
might have been expected from a certain portion of
the Commons and by the great majority of the Peers.
There success in carrying a repeal of the corn-laws
in the former assembly was at the very best doubtful
—in the latter it was considered impossible, without
a new election, and even the effect of that would have
been inoperative without a general commotion, and
that " pressure from without" which triumphantly
carried the Reform Bill. But a social earthquake
like that (if we may be allowed the expression)
cannot be got up every ten years, or
every fifty years, and indeed, for the good
of the country, should be avoided, except in extreme
cases, such as when the lay Peers as well as the
spiritual Peers forget their real position in society,
look only to their own selfish interests, despise the
great body of the people as serfs, fit only to obey
their commands and minister to their wants, and
obstinately refuse all just concessions till constrained
by terror and force. Such a general rising at the pre-
sent time very few men would consider desirable, and
all persons engaged in trade, all subscribers to rail•
ways, all who take an interest in our foreign rela-
tions, and indeed in the general welfare of the
country, at home and abroad, are infinitely better
pleased that the storm has blown over, and that Sir
ROBERT PEEL, who has already done wonders,
should be allowed to take the refractory Peers
under his management, and make the at-
tempt to carry out to the utmost those
principles of free trade of which he is the un-
doubted, and perhaps the most able, advocate. Lord
JOHN RUSSELL and his party have, to their honour,
for the last four years, rendered him invaluable
assistance in this great work; they sacrificed their
own immediate interests, both personal and political,
in the cause of equal justice to men of all religious
persuasions ; they acted as a body like true patriots,
and their refusal to take office at this conjuncture,
with such doubtful prospects of success and such
certain derangement of vast commercial relations
and gigantic internal enterprises, only furnishes
another proof that they prefer the good of their
country to the ephemeral enjoyment of place and the
allurements of patronage and pensions. It is a matter of
regret, however, to many, that Sir R. PEEL has not re-
constructed his Cabinet in a different manner, and that
he still retains many colleagues with which both he
and the public could well dispense. Lord STANLEY,
it is true, is gone, but that is his own work. He and
the Premier never cordially coalesced in office:; he
was hardly allowed liberty of speech in the Commons,
and sending him to the Lords was only a gentle method
of laying him on the shelf. He possibly has been
offended at last by the treatment, and seized the pre-
sent opportunity as the most appropriate for making
his secession. By this resolve the country is benefited ;
for the Government of the Colonies absolutely required
modification, and while that aristocratic and obstinate
Minister ruled the Colonial Department any material
reform was utterly hopeless. Mr. GLADSTONE►
will be more pliable. From his natural habits
ar►d his peculiar education he can find excuses
for change such as that he exhibited
in reference to the sugar question ; and a short rusti-
cation, too, has its effect on statesmen as well as on
conceited and refractory scholars. The Earl of ST.
GERMANS will also be a useful acquisition to the
Cabinet. He is moderate in his political opinions ;
he conducted himself with impartiality and kindness
towards the Irish nation, and, from all accounts, is
a practical man of business, who can think for him-
self while he is not so bigoted to his opinions as
to make their fulfilment, like some statesmen,
the only condition in which he can remain in office.
Excepting, therefore, Sir Jssuis GRAHAM and Lord
ABERDEEN, there is scarcely one Minister that the
public care much about. The Earl of LINCOLN de-
serves great credit, considering his family ties and
position in society, for adhering to free-trade
principles, and, above all, for consenting to a
repeal of the corn-laws, which nearly all
his " order " regard with so much horror.
But, as for RIPON, and HADDINGTON, and GOUL-
BURN, the sooner they are out of office the better.
Whatever they may have been formerly, they are now
of no use. The Minister and the public anxiously
desire that their places should be filled with better
men. In the meantime, however, all eyes are turned
to Sir ROBERT PEEL. He represents the whole
Cabinet—he has it, we presume, entirely under his
control, and on the manner in which he extricates
himself from present difficulties, and reconciles con-
tending interests for the good of the nation, will
depend his futUre fame, and his character as a
statesman.

Aide toi el Dieu t'aidera is the wisest of political
maxims, and upon this maxim the Anti-Corn-law
League have acted, are acting, and will continue to
act. A meeting was held at Manchester yesterday,
in the Town-hall, for the purpose of commencing the
subscription towards the Great League Fund of a
Quarter of a Million, and before the meeting sepa-
rated, 59,160/.—yes, FIFTY-NINE THOUSAND ONE
HUNDRED AND SIXTY POUNDS sterling, were sub-
scribed towards the Great Quarter of a
Million Fund. This is a demonstration which,
in the words of Mr. BROTHERTON, is
well calculated to inspire the free-traders
with hope, and the monopolists with alarm.
What will the "curry-powder Dukes" say to this ?
Do they imagine that " the miserable monopolising
minority," which they claim to represent, could
raise the sinews of war thus easily ? Let them read
also Mr. COBDEN'S promise, and they know full well
that Mr. COBDEN never yet made a promise but he
fulfilled it to the letter. "In less than three years
from this time," said Mr. COBDEN, " I will
undertake to unseat a hundred county mono-
polist Members, and place in their stead men
who will vote in accordance with the interests of the
people." We doubt not but that this demonstration
will produce its effect upon Sir R. PEEL. The Right
Hon. B aronet is a shrewd judge of " the signs of the
times," and he must see clearly that the game is up
with the protectionists. Should we unfortunately
be involved in war, the development of our
manufacturingindustry can alone enable the
country to bear the heavy burden of additional
taxation which must be laid upon us. Sir ROBERT
PEEL cannot forget the magnificent present which
his father was enabled to make to the country during