The Sun.
London, England, 1827-08-17 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PIJI3Lie JOURNALS.

_ . .
In the columns of, this day's. journal will be
read the account of Mr. Canning 's funeral. That
which moved the feelings of all beholders, can-
not fail of interesting, in the perusal, if it be but
faithfully described. And now, having seen
this gentleman quietly entombed, ,we must leave
it•to his.relatives and personal friends to mourn
over his grave : we turn to other topics, con-
nected with his public character. It may be
that the nation has taken a wrong view of the
policy by which the latter part of this Statesman's
high career has been distinguished. A nation
may err, certainly. All that we now contend for
or rather what we would merely point out to ob-
servation, as admitting of no contention or dis-
pute—is, that Mr.-Canning was attended to his
last home with the unfeigned sorrow and regret
of the British people,—that he was mourned for
in an extraordinary degree,—and that his death
was considered as a public calamity. .A Sove-
reign, therefore, who might desire to gratify the
wishes, and cultivate the affections, of his people;
would naturally continue that system of policy,
the adoption of which had procured to his
nister so general an approbation. His Majesty
has done this: lie has continued the c_olleagues
of Mr. Canning in office ; and, in doing so, he
has the assurance of the public grief for the Mi-
nister's death, that himself, the Minister's Mas-
ter, has at least pursued a cOurse which will be
gratifying to his people.— We now revert to a
point which we passed over hastily above. It may
still be possible that a systenfof policy introduced
by a great Minister, and equally agreeable to.
Prince and people, may be erroneous. But
what, we ask, is to prove its erroneousness ?
Time. Undoubtedly, projects recommended
by the profoundest wisdom, and conducted with
the most consummate .prudence, have been
known to fail of a happy result. But surely
those so recommended are still preferable to any
otheis, in the originating of which genius and
talent have had'no concern.. We do not look in
human affairs for certainty. of success, but only
for the best chance of success ; and Mr. Caner
firing" was at least as likely to see what promised
aritimate advantage to the country as persons of
less sagacity, penetration, and study. The truth.
is, that Mr. Canning, like his early patron and
prototype, Mr. Pitt, has,' towards the- close of
his political' career, turned to a more
beral system of domestic and foreign policy i :arid
this Was the more likely in the case of domestic
policy, as. the dread of the French revolution has
ceased to operate. With respect to the fbreign,
policy also, the fruit- of . the course adopted is
not wholly in expectation—it has been in part
taKted : and this - is the reason—for hopealone
is but spare diet—why the nation is so anxious
for the continuance of that system, of which it
has begun to reap the advantage.—Tinies..
We do not know that any offer has yet been
made by Lord Goderich to the Duke of Wel-
lington, placing again at his disposal the com-
mand in chief of the army, which it seems to be
a subject of general regret that his Grace should
ever have relinquished ; but there. existsaii un-
derstanding in well-informed quarters, that if such
a tender has not actually reached the noble Duke,
it will not be :.mncli longer . delayed.
,Brief as
has been the period of his Grace's retirement
from that professional office to which his claims
entitle him, and for whipli his qualifications more
eminently tit him than.any other soldier in the
British service, thearmy, in all its branches, al-
ready feels the want of some firm and steady
hand—the want of some military habit or instinct
to direct it. The moral(' of the service has sen-
sibly declined during the short adMinistration of
the. present Secretary-at-War ; Sit Herbert Tai-;
fors inferior rank, notwithstanding. his better
knowledge of the business, does not enable him
to contend successfully with a Cabinet Minister,
who is nothing in reality but a political person-
age, and ought not to hold a situation which sti-
mulates his attempts to be any thing else. - Nor
is there more reason for wishing to clothe a mi-
litary man with political attributes, or to expose
him to Cabinet seductions, than there appears to
be for metamorphosing Lord Palmerston into a
Generalissimo of the Army. If the Duke of
'Wellington returns to the Horse Guards, we
trust that his regard for his own ease and credit,
as slrell as his knowledge of, and interest in,
svhateve7 can best promote the military service of
the empire, will prevail upon his Grace to refuse
inflexibly every Ort of approximation to politics,
whether through the medium of an efficient civil
Mice, or of a seat in the Cabinet' without one.
It is rumoured, indeed, that-there are those about
him, who importune the Duke of Wellington
eiiher to make a Cabinet office the sine qua non
Of his accepting the 'command in chief, or at least
to show the Government that lie looks to such
• an object with an eye of solicitude and desire.—
But such counsellors are not disinterested in the
advice they give their patron : their end in so
Ong him is to increase his patronage and to
serve their own cupidity, not his reputation, The
Duke will do better to trust his own judgment
than theirs.—..aid: • .
The remains of Mr. Canning, were yesterday
committed to the earth. Though the funeral
was povate, and the day was peculiarly unfavOu-
rable, the crowd of Reople anxious to 'demon.
strate their respect for tne memory of the depar-
ted Statesman, by their presence on this sad' oeck•
lion, was immense. We cannot allow this oc-
canon to path by without reeating our conviction
that.the life of Mr. Canning was shortened by
the vile slander incessantly directed'aiaiost
to which, from his enfeebled state, le was but
too sensitive. That which, when we are in full
health and strength, provokes at' most a smile of
derision, often preys on the mind when the body
is struggling
with disease, or before it has reco-
ver fromiining Itje euegi that fFect of it. The opponents of
Mr. Ca
sa
his temper, always warm,
°.
from tlie influence
of in-
pd susceptible, 114.44 .
y excitable ; and
.41:is:position, become
tbey formed their system of tacta,e accordingly.
My listened only to the desire of ven,g•eapee,—
If the hisswa which they aimed were felthy the
adversary, they cared not what impression was
produced 'by their cm/duet on the -public.—
Womaded self-love and defeatc4 avarice had
made :them reckless. But - thOUgh there was
something peculiarly fiendish in ,the manner in
!which' these blOod-hoods pursued. the late la-
-Inented Premier to the-,idea we wish we.
leoold say 'thattheir offending_ extended no far-,
tiler. Slander is the sphere in which' the' new
opposition li4m) move, and have their being.--=
We Mush to say that there is a party in this
country which relies. exclusively on_ the use .of
poisoned wee one, and . which, provided only
that injury limy be done to an opponent,. in quite
indifferent as to the means In. complaining of
the daily and weekly slanders of this reckless
- party,' through the papers -under their peculiar
patronage (as, The Standard, Watchman, 6.c.,)
.0n the ging s private circle, we put- out of con.
sideration 'the personal character of the Sovereign.
There never Was, we believe, a Sovereign who