The Sun.
London, England, 1828-02-20 00:00:00

new Government, his Mljeaty had accompanied his
commands for that purpose with the following de-
claration :---t I commit to you the formation of a
new Ministry. The last Administration has been
dissolved; but it is my duty to inform you, that if
That Administration had not been dissolved by acts
of its own, I should have remained faithfid to it to
the last.' What a contrast-does this conduct. of the

sovereign present to the timid, wavering, and even
perfidious proceeding of some of his Ministers
" The servants," to invert the wit of igletnaj;
had-got a good Prince, but the Prince had not got
good servants."—.T-macs. •

The Army mid Ordnance Estimates have been
printed; the former. constitute a.tremendous item in
the genera{ 'expenditure of the year—ast less than
6,58-6,000?, s and the vexatious part of the subject is,
that the it'd-calve army (including the staff ), from
which,'alone the nation derives immediate and tangi-
ble tie vantage, does not eost:a great deal more than half
thy.; above-mentioned stuo,—vis., ;J450,0004 Reduc-
'ilons, we arc aware, have been promised by Mr.
Peel, in the strength of the army itself; and, so far
as our judgment goes, we are inclined to approve the
principle of those reductions,—nathely, that of dis-
charging so many private men Vas company, and
leaving the regimental skelettan (that is to say, the
corps of officers, sergeants, &c. whatever is most dif-
ficult to construct, raid leest susceptible of speedy
repair when. injured) in a state of fitness for service,
oii any national' emergency. We trust, however,
that the Colonial Secretary will contribute in no
slight digrce to the ease and magnitude of theepro-
posed reduction. lt is a question which has been
Often asked, why so many thousand officers and
soldiers should be sent to perish iu the pest-houses
of the Tropics. The planters of the West Indies
are surely interested enough in the preservation of
their several islands: to take upon themselves the
duty of militia-men in protecting their internal tran-
quillity; and if backed-by a, small increase to the
number of our naval cruisers on that station, would
he able to dispense with the presence of a very
large proportion, at least, of the troops—especi-
ally in the smaller islands, of which the centre
stands at an inconsiderable distance, perhaps within
a day or two's march from the coasts This would
in effect be no more than a substitution of floating
barracks for those ashore, it being well known that
the marines and seamen in these fait ides, who live
no board ship, suffer not at •all comparably with the,
soldiers garrisoned among the islands. Mr. Huskis-
son and the Dttlcerof Wellington ceneot..do better
than give thOv attention to a subject so closely con-
nected witli the health and welfare of the British
armY- Three or four additional frigates and
slcev.i of tear, in tlw West Indies, would rein-
feece powerfully the species of armament which
scmistitutes the .real strength of England, and,
by .-saving au equivalent in the military estimates,
would not be attended with a shilling of extra
expense. The Ordnance estimates exceed those of
1827 by a sum of about 50,000/.; but the increase
is only apparent-, inasmuch as many items, formerly
charged under the head of Army Extraordinaries,
and amounting to no less than 162,0001., have been
transferred to the head of Ordnance, which latter,
therefore, presents a real diminution of 112,0001., as
compared with the year 1827: one great article of
reduction (31,00014 is under the head of Irish
barracks. When the Army Extraordineries come to
be printed, it will be werth while to see whether
their sum-total has been- allowed to. profit by the
above-mentioned transfer to the Ordnance.—/bid.
Mere Last Words ! The explanations of Monday
night in the House of Commons led to further ex-
planations last night in the House of Lords. How
long this business of explaining will go on; it is as
impossible for the uninitiated -to 'Say,- as' it must
have'been for the spectators of an Italian battle of
the, middle ages, in which blows were only given for
.foixsjs sake; to guess when' it wOuld be over. A
tieries''of explanations in which-ho Ming is explained
tonnot exhaust the solid'( matter for explanation,
though it may .traus't the patietice of the public.
Nothing add to nothing makes nothing ; and in
of positive information nothing is all that
public have yet received. As was observed by
Mr. Brougham, " with all the explanations which
we have. heard we are as much in the dark as ever ;
for whenever the parties came to any thing that was
material, they slipped over the subject as quickly as
possible," We have•all• along maintained that the
Cabinet which - could be blown up by a difference
about the nomination to the Chair of a •Finance
Committee, must befOre'have been all but in a state
of-utter dissolution; fur men in a condition to be
left at large by- their relatives, do not quarrel
irreconcilably about what are mere matters of arrange-
ment. Though the substantial cause of d6solution
has mot been told, enough has been, however,
told, to show that the Finance Committee affair
was not the cause. Mr. Huskisson observe 4,
" When I say that the subject (Lord Al-
thorp's • nomination) was considered not th be
of any paramount importance, I ant far from depre-
ciating the eminent - talents and integrity -of the
Noble Lord ; but I speak of its being considered
as unimportant in relation to its effects upon the
Administration. This brings us to the second of
the month. Between the second and the twenty-
sixth of December, I never heard one word more
about the matter I am bound to state,
that-between the second and the twenty-sixth of -
December, when the subject was revived in my
mind, there had occurred many circumstances which '
tended very mainly to impair the strength, and to
shake the stability, of the Administration. These
circumstances, particularly a part of them, are so
notorious, that it is not necessary for me to recall
them. There'were other circumstances., Me know-
ledge of which came to me, and came to my Noble
Friend at the head of the Government, in a manner
which precludes: my staling them to the House:
These happened to show the, increasing difficulties
of the Administration, and to prove that these dif-r
Amities were not of a nature to be easily overcome.
They were ominous signs ; but nevertheless, -I can
take upon myself to say, that on December the
23d, on which day I left town for only four or five
days, agreed to use my endeavours to meet these
difficulties, great as they would be, in the approach-
ing Session of
_Parliament. On the very day I left
London, I did, by word of mouth to some, by letters
to others,' state my distinct feelings to be this—
whatever might be the risk, I would rather bear the
trial of meeting the business Of "the Country in the
House, than appear under all the circumstances to
shrink from the struggle." Me..tlerries says, " I
-have accounted for the whole delay that took place ;
I have' explained the ground on which the -re-
newed • applicsations were niade, and I have
stated in what way they were made. From this
statement I am obliged -to draw this conclusion--
that these ciretunstatices had shaken.. the Govern-
ment to its, foundation before the Ilst December,
when my letter was written ; -and therefore I have,
felt it my duty. to make known those circuinstances
which led to the actual dissolution
• if /he Government,
but to which, to My
extraordinary surprise, and my
deepest regret, my Noble Friend (Lord Goderich)-
in another place never once alluded.. I am •entitled
tc say, that these were the Circumstances Which had
• •en such a shock to the Government, that its fall
" •
was apparently inevitable, and that occasion was
this letter, or those proceedings of mine.
taken of
as a convenient opportunity to lead to that inevit-
able result which was
.expected sooner or later.—
'
These ..circumstances .sy,were repeated at the
foot of the Throne, with a studied determination
that they should 'be the means of bringing the
Government to an end.
I feel, then, that my cha-
racter is at stake.
Great as Is .
my respect and
friendship for the Noble Lord, Goderich, ifs
unfor-
tunately, the concurrence .of circumstances makes
his conduct and principles run counter to my cha-
racter, I must defend if. • Sink or swim, I must
"dicate my honour. - No -man can thatdoubt the
,me Minister who takes the-report of difficulties
this trifling and paltry nature, and represents them
t the foot of the Throne as insurmountable ember-
.assments, unaccompanied by any advice, does virtu-
ally offer his resignation there.'! Lord Goderich, in

the House of Lords; last night, while he denied that
. there was- is design to alter Or change. the Govern-
l' went or break it up,•observed, " I will not say that
I circumstances had not occurred which might make
r ; the- OnVernment not receive the countenance' and
5 support of Parliament:" Mr. Huskisson has told
i us that he`; had great misgiving as ttr his ability to
meet ParliOient.
.If We ate to credit his statement,
! he had been Wavering between continuance in office
and resignation ; but at last had made
.up his mind
to the former. .We may conjecture from this,. that
on mustering their forces, Ministers saw ground to
apprehend that as things then stood, the' enemy
would be too strong for them, Whether Mr. 'Hus-
kisson refers more • particularly to the House of
Lords, which in the pileceding, Session had shewn
itself so decidedly opposed to the Ministry and the
nation, it is impossible for us to
_say ; but we. sus-
, pect the Pltra-Tories and WhigS In that Hoarse op.
posed to the Administration fOrmed the subject of
alarm—the ominous signs. To meet this difficulty,
it would appear that it had been agreed on by at
, - least apart of the Cabinet; to strengthen themselves
by a mote intimate connection with the Whigs, who
are strong in the House of Lords • But this no doubt
frightened the Tory part of the Cabinet. This is
the only explanation which we can give of the pas-
}
_sage in Mr. Herries's letter is Lord Goderich of the
gist December: " A negociation has been carried
on and completed by Mr. Tierney, with your sane-
ILion and: that of Mr. .Huskisson, 'for the. nomination
of the Chairman of the CoMmittee. The Govern-
ment is, I presume, fully committed to the indivi-
dual fixed upon for the purpose, and to the Noble
House of which lie is a Member; and this proceed-
ing, as I am given to understand, has been adopted
with alfiew, in a great measure, to a political ob-
ject, and as calculated to strengthen the hands of the
Administration.. I doubt much whether that view he
correct, and whether the calculation be a just one."
Mr.llluskisson, after lunch: wavering, had made up
his mind to make the 'Administration more a Whig',
one. He viewed an 'accession of power Mini that quar-
ter; it wouldnppear, as a sine quanon for facing Par-
liament with effect. Hence the nomination of Lord
Althorp had then become important, as a link ip
in the chain which was to connect the Administra.
Lion more closely with the Whig party. Mr; Herries,
on the other hand, doubted the correctness r?' this
view. ile dreaded being cut off from the Tories, ap-
prehensive, perhaps, that the closer union' with the
‘Vhigs would be a signal for abandoning, the Ad-
ministration, and . that he would thus be left on the
strand. If the Administration could have gone on
as it .was—if there had been no ominous signs—if
there had been no negociations, and resignations;
and restorations—if the appointment of Lord Al-
thorp had been an individual appointment, uncon
nected with a speculation for giving a stronger
Whig complexion to the Administration, it is pro-
bable,,we, think,, that 'Mr. Herries would not have
experienced What the religious call a revival, that is,
a more intense feeling of the force of the objections
to Lord Althorp, so soon after the restoration, or
have been under the nceessity.of searching for such
grounds, of Objection to him as • his hostility to the
principles of a Sinking Fund. Mr. Tierney evi-
dently means this, when he says, " In the country
a plain man pill ask why the Government. of Lord
'Goderich was' overturned ? And if the answer is
to be, because the Right Hon. Gentleman (Mr.
Herries) could not bear the nomination of the Noble
Loud as Chairman of the Finance- Committee, can my
Right Hon. Friend suppose that ally one will rest
satisfied that. this was the. whole ground for the
change- of Ministry ? 'I do not accuse the Right
Hon. Gentleman of any intention to disturb the. Go-
vernment ; but when it is heard that he discon-
tinued his services on that account, is there a man
who will 'not conclude that there were other things
besides this appointment which were gall and worm-
wood to this Right Hon. Gentleman? Mr. Tierney
had before observed, " Does any one think, says
the Right Hon. Gentleman, that it was my ham•
tion to overturn the Government ? Ido not think
That such was his intention, Sir ; but that his opinion
was that Government was overturning, I certainly
do think; and believe that he did not act so cautiously
as .he would have dons, if he had Ihought that Go-
vernment possessed its full rigour," Mr. Herries
refers to the objections which had been made to his
entrance into the Cabinet, and aikS:hoW it could by
Possibility be true that in three months 'he should be
able to overturn the . Government ? It would be
difficult to answer this question in any other way
than by ' saying, that a crisis. had arrived—that it
was necessary to wake the Administration either
more Whig or inure Tory—that -Mr. Herries took
alarm .at the prospect of being cut off from the
Tories; and that the other Tories finding themselves
in the same uneasy predicament, would have taken
lis resignation 'as the signal for departure. Mr.
Huskisson and -he bad come to different conclu-
sions on this point ; Mr. HuskissOn drew towards
the Whigs, and only abandoned them when it be-
came no longer a matter of doubt that they could not
tre-nefit him ; and be remembered, at 'last, that he
was a Tory, when it was unprofitable to- be a Whig,
in this respect having surer ground to go on than
1 Mr. Herries. Messrs. Huskisson and Herries were
'very chary of coming much in contact with each
other in the course of their explanations; and one
would hardly suspect, from their speeches, that they
had had any differences. There is a homely adage
—that any stick will serve to beat a dog with. The
Cabinet was doomed to destruction. Its dissolution,
says Mr. genies, was an inevitable result. The
business of the Chair was the handle. A revelation
is required of the real causes. What we; do not
know is the plan- to blow up the Ministry ; to the
knowledge of which Mr. Herries, as Mr. BrLugliam
urged, confessed twice, and " he was cheered-both
times with cheers that rent the sky." Mr. Herries,
indeed, was almost betrayed by his warmth here
into an explanation of the real causes; thOugh, in-
deed, he afterwards stated in explanation, that " in
using the words ' I know' with reference to the in-
tention of making the difference between him and
the Right Honourable Secretary for the Colonies
the means of dissolving the Government, he meant to
say that he drew the, positive conclusion: from the
circumstance that it must be so." Lord GOdet ich
last night observed, " It is now imputed to me
that what I stated to his Majesty was a
false pretence ; that I had a covert deSign to dis-
solve the Government, and that I acted from pro-
found calculation. It is imputed to nie that I went
to his Majesty with a statement that was not correct;
and that the immediate cause which led to the pre-
cariouSness introduced into the -Government did not
arise from what I stated, but bad some other imme-
diate cause. But if the immediate cause was not the
re,Dignation of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, as I
staled, then am- I the basest of mankind." Lord
Carlisle. confirms in this respect ' his Lordship's
statement. But' this..is almost a verbal dispute.
Why was the resignation the immediate cause ?
Why did his Lordship tender his resignation on that
account? Mr. Berries, in his .letter of the 21st,
made his resignation conditional. But Lord _Gode-
rich knew that the nomination of Lord Althorp was
connected with a certain course of policy, and so did
Mr. Herries. Lord Goderich knew that if he had
consented to leave the nomination open, the resources
on which Mr. Huskisson calculated would have
failed, and he, therefore, would not leave the affair
open. If the Government had not been in a condi-
t ion which rendered dissohition unavoidable, LOrd
Goderieh must have been imbecile indeed to make
Mr. Merries's resignation a ground for his own, ex•
ceps he had wished to break up the Ministry. But
he had allowed himself to be so embarrassed, that
he could not move without bringing the fabric about
his ears.—Morning chronicle.

It gives us great pleasure to learp that the Duke
of Wellington is as much disliked by some of the
clerks in some of the Government Offices, as he
was disliked by some of the clerks in the War-
Office. His Grace is beating up. the quarters of
some of those who have been receiving large sala-
ries, while they have been doing little or no busi-
ness. We are much mistaken if . the Duke will not
be found one of the meat efficient First Lords of

the Treasury that England has had for many years.
His Griice, we hear, intends to be as strict a disci/Ai:
!atrial' with respect to clerks, as he was with respect
to officers and men in the army. That he will be
'hated the,clerks no one: can doubt ; •bn't:that the
people of England Neill like.' him for doing his duty,
in this branch *Of the pub4i; business, there cannot
also be any dOebt. Some of, the clerks, we under.-
stand, have been in the habit of attending only half
an hour in the four-and-twenty, and sometimes they
do not attend at all, It;:isr a question, however, if
the Duke does not find the clerks tougher customers
to deal with than Buonaparte's (,Generals, or Buona-
parte•himself.— Morning Herald. _

The extreme length of the debate on Monday—_a
debate, of • which the explanations removed no ob-
scurity, and the communications gave no informa-
tion—preelUded us from any attempt to examine the
long-delayed, and, to many, still unsatisfactory, de-
fences made by. Mr. Huskisson, and particularly by
Mr. Herries. It is not our intention now to enter
upon them .with a view to criticism. We intend
merely to lay the history of the charges, and of their
attempted refutation, before our readers, and leave
both to their judgment. The two gentlemen,
whose quarrels and reconcilement have occupied so
large a share of the public attention for the last two
months, will probably, now that the fiery trial is
over, continue to fight their battles on the:Ministerial
Bench as brethren ought to war, and therefore, after
this notice, we shall, unless something extraordinary
takes place, quit the subject altogether. -There were
two charges against Ml. Huskisson, one in some de-
gree personal, namely, his speech .about the guaran-
tees, at Liverpool; and the other, the guilt of
which, if any, was equally imputable to Mr. Her-
vies—we mean• his quarrel with that gentleman
about Lord Althorp. We shall discuss the former
very summarily. There were but two original re.
ports.of Mr. Huskisson's Liverpool speech published.
in- the London Daily raprs. One was' published
in the Lie)pool Albion, of which we gave a copy on
Monday.; and one,iii the Leeds Mercury, from which
most of our contemporaries of the' following day ex-
tracted so much' as touChed upon the matter in dis-
pute. These, with the, exception of an abridged
report which appeared ih the Liverpool Advertiser
of the day of the election, were, we lielieVe, all the
original reports published. In the report which was
given in the ,New Times on the 12th inst. the word
"guarantee" occurs thrice only. Adverting to the
Duke of Wellington's first communication, Mr. Hus-
klsson'is made to say—

" To an application so gereral I could 'only say, that if
the new Government were constructed upon such public
principles as to satisfy my mind that what I considered
the best interests of the country would he promoted, and
if such arrangement should be made as would give me
a pledge and guarantee that the policy of the late Govern-
tnent. would not be departed from," &c.

"-In the progress of interviews with the Duke of Wel-
lington, I felt myself bound to look to two things—first, to
the measures ; and, secondly, to the guarantees which the
new Administration would give that those measures would
be carried into effect."

And afterwards, on the same subject, he added—

"If any man doubted his consistency, let him look at
such men as Lord Dudley, Mr. Grant, *and Mr. Lamb,
(on whose characters he pronotniced the highest eulogium)
whose continuance in office was the most satisfactory of all
guarantees, that the foreign policy and commercial system
tit* the country would remain unchanged, and that Ireland
would be governed with the strictest impartiality."

In the Times of the 12th inst. the first passage
above quoted was thus given
" To an application so general I could only give a general
reply. I could only state that I was not precluded by
party or party connections to forego any attention to what
I believed in any own mind and judgment to be due
to the interests of my couutrY ; and. that, provided the
new Administration were formed upon the principles
which I had espoused, and which I thought indispensable
to .the welfare of the community; and provided also I
could See a pledge for the guarantee of the due operation
of my principles, I was not deprived by any pledge or en-
gagement with others from participating in their' promo-
tion."

Our Contemporary mentions the continuance in
officc of the Earl of Dudley, Mr..Prant, and Mr.
Lamb, and afterwards makes Mr. Ifilskissopatdd—
" I say, then, for the security of these I have a guarantee ;
they are to he followed up, as far as possible, in the manner
in which Mr. Canning would have sanctioned and pro-
ri►oted thete.,-(Hear.)—l have obtained the best gua-
rantee, I repeat, for these, or I should not appear here as a
MeMber of. the Government. But could I with honour
have retired, when the option was offered to me of having
it guarantee for the execution of those measures which are
associated with the memory of my la►uented friend (Mr.
Canning), and upon which are built hiss claims upon the
honour and regard of his country?"

We cannot pretend to reconcile those discrepan-
cies between• our contemporary's account and that
which we' gave, other Wise than by attributing them
to the greater length at which the former has appa-
rently been given. Whatever interpretation, how-
ever, may have been put on Mr. Huskisson's words,
it is quite evident that he must have known his own
meaning- .better than either the reporters or Mr.
Shepherd ; and, accordingly, we pay more defer-
ence to Mr. Huskisson 's own account of the
matter than we do to any one else. It is, there-
fore, fairly established that the Right Honour-
able Gentleman meant no other guarantee than
that which he derived from the continuance of a
few of his friends in office. The clashing statements
and point-blank contradictions are thus reconciled :
but' the unfortunate fact still remains, that Mr. Hus-
kisson's determination not to yield to Mr. Herries,
and Mr.. Herries' resolution riot to yield to Mr.
Huskisson, led to the dissolution of, the late Ca-
binet, and that, with the exception of Earl Dudley,
who appears to have taken no part whatever in the
conflict, the only persons who were not pleased to
profit by the dissolution, to retire, were the two gen-
tlemen whose quarrel had caused it. The history
of Lord Althorp's intended appointment has been
given by Lord Goderick and by Mr. Tierney) and
also by Mr. Herries and Mr. Huskisson, and there is
very little difference in their several versions,—
Where they differ, they do so on matter of infe-
rence, not matter of fact. The history of the case
is brief. Mr. Tierney, early in November, men-
tioned the Noble Lord to Lord Goderich, as a fitting
person to fill the Chair of the Finance Comthittee,
and Lord Goderich referred Mr. Tierney to Mr.
Huskisson, the leader in the Lower House, and one
who was more 'immediately connected with such
an appointment. Mr. Tierney did consult with Mr.
Huskisson, and with his cordial. concurrence it was
agreed that the matter should be communicated
to Lord Althorp, to ascertain if he would accept of
the office if he were called on to fill it. This was
accordingly done through Lord Spencer. From
Lord Althorp a letter was receivad on the 3d or 4th
December, stating his acquiescence in the arrange-
nient, should it be thought advisable to carry it into
effect, which letter was shown to Mr. Herries,
whose concurrence had already been asked and ob-
tained on the 28th of 'November. This point be-
ing apparently settled, Mr. Tierney produced a list
of some seventy names, from which to select a Com—
mittee ; and from which the Committee has, it ap-
pears, been actually selected. We must now pur-
sue Mr. Herries' narrative. After the interview
with Mr. Tierney, on the 28th November, at which
he declared himself satisfied with the arrangement
respecting Lord Althorp, he returned home and be-
gan to reflect on the subject; and the result was.
that next morning at ten, he waited on Lord Gode-
rich, to express his regret that any such step
as that to which he had the day before con-
sented had been taken--Ist. Because he disapproved
of the principle--2dly. Because he had been, he
imagined, improperly treated,' by its adoption with-
out his being previously consulted. The same day
Mr. Herries, by letter and personally, made a similar
Communication to Mr. Huskisson ; and not satisfied
with both these modes, after returning home he dis-
patched a second letter to Mr. Huskisson, solemnly
protesting against Lord Althorp's appointment.
The result of all this, which really seems to us as
pitifully childish as any thing we have heard; of for
many years, was, that Mr. Huskisson wrote to Mr.
Tierney not to show his, list of seventy to any one,
andto take no farther steps respecting the proposed
Chairman. This was on the same day, the 29th.

The latter gentleman answered the letter of Mr.
t-fuskisson, by stating-What we hive already men-
tioned, 'that no step had been taken respecting
Lord. Althorp, than merely to ascertain, in case
he were proposed, if, he would serve as Chair-
man. This letter was shewn to Mr. Herries
on the 2d :December. What took place between
the 2d and 'the 21st is hidden in impenetrable,mys-
-
tery. Mr. Tierney and Mr. Huskisson • say that
they know nothing; Lord Goderich says he did no-
thing ; Mr: Herries 'does not say who acted,-;--nor
does.he say precisely what was done ; but that some
mischief was_ brewing setnewhere is very evident,
for on the 21st Mr. Herries gave in his resignation.
On the 26th this resignation was communicated to
Mr. Huskisson. On the 28th Huskisson gave
nt his resignation, , or at least. told Lord Goderich
that he intended to give it, and the intention of Mr.
Huskisson was communicated to Lord Lansdowne
and to' Earl Dudley on the 29th. The arrival of
Don Miguel delayed the resignation of Mr. Hus-
kisson until the.Bth of January, 'what delayed Mr.
Herries •is not stated. On the Bth of January Lord
Godetich resigned, and there was an end of the whole
Administration. The parts of this strange eventful
history whiCh we have not given, are sueh as
arc matter of inference merely. Mr. Herries char-
ges Lord Goderich with a plot to blow up his own
Government, for what purpose is not at all apparent
nor does he adduce any proof in support of the
charge. Last night, in the louse of •Peers, Lord
Goderich denied, in the most positive manner--and
With all the feeling becoming a Nobleman of his un-
impeached and Unimpeachable character; one whose
greatest fault has • been but the weakness of virtue,
"an.iiver indulgence of the faults of others--the truth
of Mr. 'Terries' imputations. After this denial it
remains for the public either to conclude that his
Lordship is the basest of men, or that .Mr. Herries
has not stated the facts correctly. We have given,
at briefly as as we can, the facts necessary for coming
to a rightjudgment.—New Times.. .