The Sun.
London, England, 1829-01-05 00:00:00

(FROM TUE EXAMINER.)

THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON'S LETTER TO THE
CATHOLIC PRIMATE OP IRELAND.—The Duke of
Wellington's letter to Dr, Curtis is a most wonder-
ful letter, for it has given satisfaction to all parties.
It is like the cameleon in the fable, upon which
every one fixes his own colour—a brilliant Orange,
exultingly exclaims Sir Harcourt Lees ; Green, by
this light, triumphantly shouts Daniel O'Connell ;
the Tories pronounce it True Blue, while the Whigs
do not hesitate to declare it as palpable a Blue and
Br as ever was seen at Brooks's. From these
opinions it might be inferred that his Grace had
contrived to say the nothing which might be con.
strued anything with considerable skill, but we can-
not pay his Jesuitism this compliment, for. it seems
to us that there is not so much address in the com-
position of the letter as hopeful self-delusion in the
interpretation of it. For oar own parts, we see
only one conclusion to be drawn from it, simply that
his Grace will attempt no measure for the satisfac-
tion of the Catholic Claims—the matter stands by
him distinctly adjourned to the Greek Kalends, or
to the day when the lion shall Court with the lamb,
and the streams run with milk and honey; when
these periods arrive, men may consider questions
affecting churches and the monopoly of power dis-
passionately and without violence. When the in-
genious Sir Abel Handy, in the play, iscalled upon
to suggest some means of extinguishing the flames
which are consuming his house, after having to no
purpose bethought himself of this and that 'clever
contrivance for the extinction of fire ; he says, " A
sudden thought strikes me—perhaps it may go out
of itselfl" The Duke is playing Sir Abel Handy
to the life—the flames of party strife, which he de-
sires to go out of themselves, are fed by the ques-
tion, and will rage so long as it remains unsettled.
The world expected to see the Duke plying the fire-
engine on the combustion this ,Session, but instead
of that it has the satisfaction' of finding him with
Sir Abel Handy's "sudden
.thought " in his mouth.
We are by no means surprised that his Grace
should have contrived to broach this ingenious and
brilliant idea in a quiet, unostentatious way, before
the meeting of Parliament. The abortion of the
mountain in labour has thus been suitably delivered
by the mole-hill. We Cdll imagine the awkward
pain of the Premier, had he been compelled to speak
that note in Parliament with the sense that a na-
tion's highly wrought expectation was fixed upon
its nothingness. The expedient of the letter was
therefore a judicious one; it has stayed curiosity,
and balked the eagerness of hope without dissipating
it. We still most wonder, however, at the credulity
which can allow of the last effect. The cameleon,
to our eyes, is as black as night. What says the
Man of Decision ?—" I am sincerely anxious to see
the settlement of the Roman Catholic question,"—
" but I confess that I see no prospect of such a set-
tlement " —" party has been mixed up with the con-
sideration to such a degree, that it is impossible to
expect men to consider it dispassionately—if we could
bury it in oblivion for a short time, and employ that
time diligently in the consideration of its difficulties
on all sides, I should not despair of seeing a satis-
fdetory remedy." It is impossible, thus affirms the
Duke, to expect men to consider the question dis-
passionately, and while passion prevails, adjustment
is unachievable; but if they could compass another
impossibility, that of burying it in oblivion and dis-
cussing it too, he would not despair.—No, in such a
case we need despair of nothing, the miracles might
encourage any hopes. The encouragement of fa-
vourable expectations all lies, let it be observed, in
a passage, which, by hypothesis, excludes positively
predicated impossibility, and further carries with it
that pledge and assurance of clearness of mtvaning, a
bull! Hope takes its stand exactly where the Duke
begins to flounder in his expressions, all the other
positions of the letter being of the most positive
character, and forbidding the expectation of Adjust-
ment. But it may be said, the Premier, so great,
so powerful a man," is sincerely anxious for a settle-
ment " of the question ; and according to the trite
saying, where there is a will there is always a way,
though he has riot yet discovered it, but on the con-
trary, proclaims "No thoroughfare." The words
we have quoted are of a vagueness open to every in-
terpretation.

SUICIDE of the REV. ROBERT BATHURST.

A few days since the family of the Right Rev.
the Lord Bishop of Norwich was thrown into a
state of the deepest affliction and alarm, by the un-
expected and heart-rending intelligence that one of
its members (the Rev. Robert Bathurst) had put a
period to his existence, at his residence in Uppet
Seymour-street.. The shock was, as may be sup-
posed, dreadful; and for a time the information was
discredited, but it was soon ascertained to he too
true. For a considerable time past the unfortunate
gentleman laboured under an indifferent state of
health, and was attended by Mr. Osgood, of Upper
Brook-street. He was, at times, much depressed in
spirits, without being able to assign any cause, and
would frequently sink into a state of abstractedness,
from which it required no little exertion to wrouse
him, when he would and walk about the draw-
ing-room. On the night preceding the fatal event
he bad some conversation with Mr, William Deer-
ing, his father's butler, and was by him observed
to be very absent and dejected. This took place
a little before 10 o'clock, and he immediately after-
wards retired to his chamber, it being his practice,
since his health. became impaired, to retire to
rest early. At half-past seven the next morning,
one of the housemaids went to call him, according
to custom, but receiving no answer, she opened
the door an inch or two, but could get it no fur-
ther, and, on endeavouring to ascertain the cause of
the obstruction, she saw her master's feet close to
the door, and the floor bloody. Greatly alarmed,
she ran down stairs and told her fellow-servants, one
of whom instantly fetched Mr. Elsgood, who, by
using considerable force, succeeded in opening the
door wide enough to obtain admission. On enter-
ing the room, the floor of which exhibited a pool of
blood, he found the body of the deceased lying close
behind the door, with a dreadful wound in the left
side of the neck, and .quite dead. The deceased
had on all his clothes, except his coat and cravat;
and by his side, immersed in the vital stream, was a
razor, with which, no doubt, the wound had
been inflicted. Au inquest has since been held on
the body, in the deceased's drawing-room, before
Mr. Stirling, the County Coroner, when ,the only
witnesses examined were the female servant, Mr.
Deering, butler to the Bishop of Norwich, and Mr.
Elsgood, the latter of whom stated that within the
last few days he had altered for the worse, his de-
jection increasing, and symptoms of derangement
occasionally exhibiting themselves. On this evi-
dence the Jury returned a verdict that the deceased
destroyed himself, being at the time deranged. He
was a man of peculiarly regular habits, and has, we
believe, left several children, but was a widower.