The Sun.
London, England, 1828-01-28 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

A Supplement to Me Gazette of Friday last con-
tains those appointments of the new Cabinet which
had, through' some delay in point of form, been
re-tutted in the regular publication of that day.
There arc occasions on which it seems to be natural
fur the public to decide at once upon the character
of a Ministry, with no other evidence than that of
the Gazelle wherein their names are registered. A
Cabinet which displayer but one colour of party af-
fords a fair ground of such early and-confident anti-
cipation. If tae new Government be altogether
Tory, the !tag is that of a public enemy, and the
people of 'England do not hesitate to throw in their
fire. Let an Administration of known Liberals be:
forreeed, we recognize at a glance the friendly
atandard, and ask no other guarantee for-our willing
and active support. It is enly under circumstances
like those which have Marked the construction of
the Duke of Wellington's mixed and speckled Ca-
binet, that a strict though watchful forbearance on
the part of the nation becomes a duty of discretion
as well as of justice ; because in fact the precise ex-
tent of comprontise on either side, between the op-
posite ingredients resorted to by the Prime Minis-
ter, must remain until after to-morrow at least, a
"quantity" altogether unknown. In another ar-
ticle we. have spoken more at large Upon the
position in which the head of the Government
has thought fit to place himself. It will be
sufEcient to repeat that the acceptance of the
Chief Comniissionership of the Treasury by
the Duke of Wellington is, on the face of
it, as inexpedient now, as it was described to
be all but impossible iu May last, by the per-
son who has since obtained • it. But " the sur-
render of the command in chief of the army !"
if it be a true, and not a sham surrender ? If the
Duke of Wellington means bona fide to divest him-
self of the power of managing the army, with a view
to the interests of his political administration; let
him reject with disdain the- subterfuge of appoint-
ing two or three of his own fernier staff Accra
under the name off-a commitsion, to take the respon-
sibility while they leave him the substantial power.
There is unquestionably in the Duke's situation
much which hie- country will call upset him clearly
to explain ; aatl•for that explanation, vhieh cannot
be long aaetporied, we shall wait, no t without re-
liance an his Grace's character that ;t will not be
quite uesatisfactOry. We believe there is little doubt
of Mr. Cantiiitg'ahaving, in the course of last spring,
addressed a letter to the Duke of Wellington, in
avalcal be combatted, on constitutional grounds, the
Minster,
of his Grace's accepting the office of. Prime
Ninisters and defended on the same principles his
own resolution to decline nerving in aCalsinet. so.'ar-
ranged. - Mr. Huskisaon, we belleva, not only knew
of this letter,- but approved of it. If so, it is addi-
tionally hieuntberit'oti hint to declare the motives of
his co-operation with the present Ministry; and,above
all things, it is essential that Mr. Husktsson Should
assure the country for how much of his own policy,
financial and commercial, he has stipulated as the
price of his continuance_ in the Cabinet.—Tance.
A letter from an " Old Assistant Surgeon" in
'the army, contains a sort of indirect petition to the
Duke of Wellington, which we hardly know how to
recommend to his Grace's notice, inasmuch as what-
ever inclination the Noble Duke may feel to relieve,
at the public expense, the distresses -of any portion
of his brother officers, there is nothing in the Board
of Treasury, as at present constituted, ao restrain
him. A pretty cheek, indeed, will the Board of
Treasury, as at present constituted, impose upon the
protagality of the Horse Guards—the Army Pay-
office—the Ordnance—raid- the other scenes of
military favouritism and jobbing! A blessed chance
will any officer now have of promotioß or indulgence
if. his claims be not supported by Parliamentary in--
&settee or aristocratic favour ! The Connnander-in-
Chief of -days not long - since past, the unambitious
Duke of York, used to make it his honest boast,
that he kept the King's Ministers at a distance,—
that he distributed the patronage of the army on
considerations of military service and character, to
the exclusion of political-7-that is, of corrupt inter-
ference ; and the country was protected by an effi-
cient and well-regulated army. But the Duke of
vests was enabled to govern the army on
aariteciples, by his official independence of the Minis-
ters of the Crown. It mattered little to his Royal
Highness who might fill those departments of the
State with which he had nu connexion, but it
concerned lam much to ascertain whether lie was
beloved or detested by the army in which he
had concentrated all the cares of his existence.
How is it,- on the contrary, with the actual sue-
tessor of" his Royal Highness ? Can any one be
avealc enough to imagine that the wants and claims,
the merits and pretensions of military min, will
• be:decided by a Treasury Commander-in-Chief on
feelings altogether distinct from the political rela-
tions of the candidates ? Will even the Duke of
.Wellington, ifslie should continue Prime MiniSter,
have nerve enough-to tell a borough patron, that his
job for son or cousin, or electieneentig agent, must
wait until the services of some poor friendless officer
.had their.-just reward? It is monstrous to
tuppose, and an' insult- to the people of England to
affirm, that the Duke of 'Wellington, as Comman-
der-in-Chief, will have the magnanimity to forget his
simultaneous interest as First Lord of the Treasury,
-By this Unconstitutional appointment, therefore, not
only does the British army bid fair to be destroyed,
but the satin of the army will become an instrument
for upholding. what ever be most
.reprelaansible
in the political system of a. Government directed by
a. soldier. isior, can, as we before. remarked, any
ihange of farms, or substitution of subaltern names,
he admitted:sea a palliation of what is really dange-
rous iii the -es"Sence of this new absorption of the
civil by the -military power. What signifies it
whether Lord Fitzroy .Somerset shall distribute pro-
motion as Military Secretary of the Duke of Wel-
lington, or in the character which report says he is
to assumes—of one of the "Commissioners' for ex-
ercising the °Pace of Commander-in-Chiefy Will
, his Lordship' be less under the Duke's control when
commissioned by him as delegate, and consulting him
tub rota, than while openly taking his commands as
Secretary, acording to his daily custom at present ?
A masked battery is not the least formidable.--Ibid.
We are almost afraid to trust ourselves with' so
tender,-, a subject as that of the new Administration.
it has long.been held to be one of the peculiar
duties of the system of Parliamentary Representa-
tion of this country, that it was variegated, nicely
variegated—that 'all claSses of men, from the Peer-
ages
,down to most extretne Raaidic,aelos their
heacidu
organs in the iietts- of Con, woes, l
that there was ao
,body in the county}without its
aciyocatcs to watch over its interests in that assent-
.We know, indeed, that it had 'been objected
to this vaiiegatedaystem, that the predominating in.
terest was not that of the great body of the people,
nail that the will of. the predominating interest is
the will elfa-the -assembly. However, there are
efeettes into which we shall- ea-sautes at present.
It used-formula arm be, alas aPaikaaed -practice to
tonstruct Cabiaets tar the principle-that they should
represent only", thel.priiidornhiatimg. interest in Par-
liament—that is, the 'interest opposed to that of the
people. Whether the -7 people have become gene-
tally more antelligent, and. are less easily cajoled,
and those opposed to the people have less confi-
dence in their poWers of coercion, we know not, but
it has beenuhe fashion for some time past to have
also a nicely variegated Adwinistration—m sheroan
exact counterpart in that respect of the Parliament.
The beauty of this system is, that the Cabinet itself is
a non-entity—that nuone can eitherpraiseor dispraise
it, but that one person praises one.individual in it, and
abuses another; while a different person holds by
the individual so abused as the very sheet anchor of
the nation. A weekly contemporary (The Exa-
miner) seems to think that we are indebted to the
practice of medicine for the suggestion of •this
novel mode of mixing up a Cabinet. " Being re-
luctant to abandon the favourable opinion we have
lately formed of his Majesty's judgment, we are
strongly disposed to consider the present pranks as

merely a piece. of mauvaise .plaisanterie, intended
.for the laughable exhibition of human infirmity in
'the conjunction of extraordinary conceit and extra-
ordinary imbecility ; but there are others who view
the burlesque as a real tragedy, and who trace its
causes not to the King's desire to treat Don Miguel
with such a pantomime as neither' Prince nor Pea-
sant ever saw or imagined before, but to a certain
Apothecary's equally extreme and natural hostility
to liberality in every form and degree. According
to this last version, we are under the rule not of the
Crown and Sceptre, but of the Pestle and Mortar,
and all sorts of abominable mixtures are conse-
quently thrust down our throats. In compliment
to its alleged respectable origin, the present mess
should be called the Assa Ftetida Administration—
the title, or label rather, is somewhat long, and
therefore for shortness the first syllable may alone
be used as sufficiently significant for the rest. The
Ass. is the cue-word, as the actors would express
it. We Ivould suggest the subject to the caricatu-
rists. ' K****in braying fools in a mortar, to
make an Administration,' would be a taking title ;
and we might see the busy, bustling, meddling
quack, with all his vile trash about him, pouring in
this and that insipid ingredient or nauseous drug,
and . endeavouring to grind the various incom-
patibles into consistency, using in the nasty pro-
cess the Crown for his mortar, and the Sceptre for
his pestle." In the old prescriptions, there used to
be.many ingredients, that no man could well tell
what the effect of a mixture would be in Which action
and counteraction were combined in the most per-
plexing variety. The present Cabinet does seem in
its combinations to be equally calculated to defy
conjecture as to its working. Thus, for instance,
some Liberals have flattered themselves with the
idea that Messrs. Huskisson and Grant, and Lord
Dudley, would he able to give a liberil character to
its acts. On the other hand, John Bull thinks the
Duke of Wellington, aided by Mr. Peel, will suc-
ceed in giving us the Austrian system, and acquiring
for our .Cabinet the admiration of that great States-
man and Diplomatist. "We know too well," says
John," to be told, the joy and delight of the country

in having the Duke of Wellingtotiat the head of an
Administration which embraces the talents, the firm-
ness, and integrity of Mr. Peel ; and we are quite
aware that, possessing these advantages, the people
are little disposed to examine the minor points con-
nected with the Government. The Duke is, unques-
tionably, the fittest man in the world to be Premier
At this crisis—the decison of his character, so well
known and thoroughly understood by the Continen-
tal Governments, will give a death-blow to diplomatic
intrigue. The rivalry which existed between Austria
and Great Britain, in the persons of Prince Metter-
nich and Mr. Canning,will cease to be. Russia, the
Porte, America herself, will feel the alteration of mea-
sures whichthis change of men can not fail to effect; and
England, rallying from the mischiefs of overstrained
liberality and fine-spun policy, shall, please God, be
herself again.' " John admires the Duke of Wel-
lington and Lord Bathurst, but laments that the
places of Lord Dudley and Messrs. Huskisson and
Grant are notfilled by those great Statesmen the Earl
of Eldon, the Earl of Westmorland, Mr. Arbuthnot,
and Lord Lowther. " Ultra Toryism," says he,
." raised this country to the highest pitch of Glory—
a relaxation from the principles of Ultra Toryism has
in a few months lowered and involved her, and no-

thing but Ultra Toryism will replace her in her for-
mer position." John evidently calculates on the
predominancy of the Wellington and Peel element,
and the union of the Duke of Wellington, Mr. Peel,
Mt. Goulburn, and Lord Bathurst, with their kin-
died elements of Eldon, Westmorland, Arbuthnot,
and Lowther ; and he predicts that " many weeks
will not elapse without some other changes—changes
too, which would be highly beneficial to the
Government and country at large." However,
taking things as they are—leaving the Ultra Tories
to 'regret the -absence of Lords Lowther, and Eldon,
and Westmorland, and the Liberals to regret the
presence of the Duke, and Lord Bathurst, and Mr.
Goulburn, what will be the result of this variegated
agency ? But here we are met, in the very outset
by some perplexing ingredients, which the skilful
compounder of this Cabinet has thrown in with
the view, no doubt, of rendering all analysis impos-
sible, and preventing all anticipation of results. Here
again we must borrow from our Sunday contem-
porary, John Bull.—" The arrangement which has
caused this exclusion (the exclusion of Lord Eldon
and Lord Westmorland, two Ministers of Mr. Pitt's
own Cabinet) brings into the Government Lord
Aberdeen and Lord Ellenborough, Noble Lords of
talent and accomplishments, but of whose powers of
Parliamentary oratory we are left•to judge chiefly by
their attacks upon each other; in Lord Ellen-
borough's political career, he has been principally
remarkable for speaking is favour of measures and
voting against them, and vice versa. If this con-
duct arise from a consciousness of the effect likely
to be produced by his advocacy or opposition, it is
a strong proof of modesty and good sense; it will,
however, be found to have been his Lordship's
general principle, and one upon which he has acted
up to the very last, for one of his Lordship's most
memorable acts was speaking against the late Queen
Caroline, and voting in her favour." Now sup-
posing this representation to be any thing like cor-
rect, we are presented in limbie with the difficulty,
in an attempt to estimate the working of the Cabi-
net, of not knowing whether to class his Lordship
according to his speeches or his votes. We should
like to submit to Dr. Foyle, or any other gentleman
deeply versed in the science of casuistry, whether in
such a case we should estimate a man's principles by
his former votes, or his former speeches. But sup-
posing even this difficulty got over, and we have
succeeded in classifying his Lordship, we have still
another. If his Lordship follow the practice for
which he is indebted for the reputation which
has elevated him to the Cabinet, who knows
what the effect of his eloquence in the Cabi-
net may be on his Colleagues ? His Lord-
for instance, might vote for one of Mr.
Peel's Criminal Reform Bills, should he propose
any such, but then who knows whether he may not
succeed in persuading Mr. Peel in the Cabinet that
it is of no consequence whether you hang the guilty
or the innocent, provided only you hang a sufficient
number ? His Lordship is a smooth-tongued man ;
and though his arguments may nut have power to
influence his own vote, they may be too strong for
Mr. Peel's principles. Many a man succeeds in
convincing others who cannot convince himself; and
there are men so pleased with themselves, that the
moment yon agree with them, they wheel about and
support the opinion you have abandoned, We have
the less hesitation in stating. these difficulties with
regard to his Lordship, as we are persuaded his good
opinion of himself is not to be shaken, and we can
therefore deliberate freely for the public good,
without any danger of hurting his Lordship's feel-
ing's. How Mr.'Brougham will be able to attack
an Administration like this (for we presume he will
be an assailant) without knowing its character or
how it will act in any given case, it will be difficult
to saY• To be sure, ,Mr. liuskisson would at once
silence
all opposition, were he to get up and tell the
LearnedQeittleman that he need not be in the least
uneasy—that his Colleagues had made him an assign-
ment of their opinion on all given subjects before he
would consent to act with them, and that there
would be but one Minister, divided, for form's sake,
into
or thirteen personF.—Morning
N twelve larv:g
glad to find that the parish of St. Mary-
le-Butte have resolved to petition Parliament for the
abolition of the Select Vestry. It consists of some
'twelve or thirteen persons, who have absolute con-
trol over the parish funds, to the exclusion of the
body of the inhabitants, who ate only allowed the
privilege of being taxed to whatever amount the
" select," in the exercise of their "purity and wis-
dom," may command. It is extraordinary how long
the people of this country have conceded to little
•self-created authorities that prerogative which they
' deny, and with great reason, to their Kings—we
mean' the power of taring without representation.
The power which the Select Vestries exercise every
*day is the very same, in principle, as that which