The Sun.
London, England, 1845-05-13 00:00:00

THE WELLIN'GTON ADMINISTRATION.

" From the death of Mr. Pitt to 1825, the politio4l
history of England is a history of great events and little
meb. The rii'e of Mr. Canning, long kept down by the
plebeian aristocracy of Mr. Pitt as an adventurer, had
shaken parties to their centre. His rapid disappearance
from the scene left both Whigs and Tories in a state of
disorganization. The distinctive pri;iciples of these con-
nexions were now difficult to trace. That period of
public languor which intervenes between the breaking
up of parties and the formation of factions now transpired
in England. An exhausted sensualist on the throne,
who only demanded from his ministers repose, a volup-

tuous aristocracy, and a listless people, were content, in
the absence of all public conviction and national passion,
to consign the government of the country to a great man,
whose decision relieved the sovereign, whose prejudices
pleased the nobles, and whose achievements dazzled the
mu:titude.

" The Duke of Wellington brought to the post of first
minister immortal fame ; a quality of success which
would almost seem to include all others. His public
knowledge was such as might be expected from one
whose conduct already formed an important portion of
the history of his country. He had a personal and inti-
mate acquaintance with the sovereigns and chief states-
men of Europe, a kind of information in which English
ministers have generally been deficient, but without
which the management of our external affairs must at
the best be haphazard. He possessed administrative
talents of the highest order.
" How comes it then that so great a man, in so great
a position, should hare so signally failed ? Should have
broken up his government, wrecked his party, and so com-
pletely annihilated his political position, that, even with his
historical reputation to sustain him, he can since only
re-appear in the councils of his Sovereign in a subor-
dinate, not to say equivocal, character ?
" With all those great qualities which will secure him
a place in our history, not perhaps inferior even to Marl
borough, the Duke of Wellington has one deficiency
which has been the stumbling-block of his civil career.
Bishop Burnet, in speculating on the extraordinary in-
fluence of Lord Shaftesbury, and accounting how a
statesman, so inconsistent in his conduct and so false to
his confederates, should have so powerfully controlled
his country, observes, His strength lay in his know-
ledge of England.'
" Now, that is exactly the kind of knowledge which
the Duke of Wellington never possessed.
" This is not the occasion on which we shall attempt
to do justice to a theme so instructive as the admi-
nistration of his Grace. Treated with impartiality and
sufficient information, it would be an invaluable contri-
bution to the stores of our political knowledge and
na'ional experience. Throughout its brief but eccen-
tric and tumultuous annals we see continual proof, how
important is that knowledge in which lay Lord
Shaftesbury's strength.' in twenty-four months we find
an aristocracy estranged, without a people being con-
ciliated
; while on two several occasions, first, the pre
judices, and then the pretensions, of the middle class,
were alike treated with contumely."