The Sun.
London, England, 1829-03-05 00:00:00

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SPIRIT OF' THE LONDON JOURNALS.

The frequent Cabin?t Councils of late have natu.-
rally given rise to all manner of rumours. On Tues-
day there were two ; the second, which met at half-

past nine o'clock, having remained in deliberation
until past two o'clock yesterday morning (two hours
later than was stated in the Court Circular.) While
the Council was sitting, a dispatch arrived for the
Duke of Wellington from his Majesty ; and his
Grace the Lord Chancellor, Mr. Secretary Peel,
and Mr. 'Terries, left town yesterday morning, at
ten o'clock, for Windsor, in obedience, as it was un-
derstood, to his Majesty's commands to attend him
at twelve o'cloCk. These meetings and journeys to
-Windsor, on the eve of the communication of the
gland Ministerial measure to Parliament, lead to the
suspicion that all is not as it ought to be. The
Standard of last night says, " This abrupt move-
ment (the journey to Windsor) has suggested many
various and contradictory rumours ; according to
some, the Ministers have gone down to force upon
the King the Resolutions to be proposed to-met-
row night ; otheee assert, that it is merely to
force the King's consent to the Association Sup-
pression Bill. All admit, however, that the
west remorseless dictation is to be exercised upon
our Sovereign to obtain his sanction to a breaking
in rbon the constitutional Settlement of 1688."
The o,,,emcias of Ministers have owed no small
pits of their success in obtaining petitions to the
coefidence with which they have all along main-
tained, that the King, in his heart, was unfavour-
able to the measure recommended in the Speech.
On the very day of the meeting of Parliament, Lord
Eldon evidently spoke at the King ; and ever since
the tactics of his Lordship have been rigorously ob-
served. The inferences generally drawn from the
bold asertions of the opponents of Ministers, of their
possession cf a knowledge of his Majesty's secret
inclinations, coupled with these messages and meet-
ing, are that his Majesty either does not know
his own mind, and allows himself to be driven
one day from the determination taken the day
before, the last Counsellor carrying his point for
the time, or that he is finessing with his Mi-
nisters. It is perfectly obvious, that when Mi-
nisters submitted the measure to his Majesty before
the meeting of Parliament, he might then have
opposed it with propriety, and on the refusal of
hie Ministers to desist from the measure, have ac-
cepted of their resignation. But :raving allowed
Ministers to announce the measure to Parliament,
any subsequent appearance of indecision is altogether
out of season, and can have no other effect than
that of unnerving the Executive, by provoking an
opposition to it. When it is reported that the
Duke of Cumberland is influencing his Majesty at
this critical time, the report is injurious to the repu-
tation of his Majesty, because his Ministers are com-
mitted to the measure; and though he is entitled to
dismiss them, lie is not entitled to retain them in
office, and at the same time to act in such a manner
as to counteract them. By dismissing Ministers at
once, they would know their position; but the re-
taining them, and encouraeing, or rather not discou-
raging reports of secret inclinations, at variance with
the measures which Ministers are allowed to recom-
mend, looks like a plot to take Ministers at an ad-
vantage, by stirring up an opposition to them, that
they may appear to be discomfited. The mercenary
and the trading politicians, no immaterial part of the
force of the Government of this country, naturally
act according to their estimate of the chances for or
against the permanency of an Administration. The
King, who allows it to be believed that he can be
influenced, is faithless to his Ministers. They are
entitled to be either dismissed or cordially
supported. There is a passage in Hallam 's
Constitutional History, which some may think
not altogether inapplicable to the present con-
juncturet—" It seems difficult," he says, " for
any King of England, however conscientiously ob-
servant of the lawful rights of his subjects, and of
the limitations they impose on his prerogative, to
rest always very content with this practical condi-
tion of the Monarchy. The choice of his Coun-
cillors, the conduct of Government .are entrusted,
be will be told by the Constitution, to his tole plea-
sure. Yet, both in the one and the other, he finds
a eserpetual disposition to restrain his exercise of
power; and though it is easy to demonstrate that
the public good is far better promoted by the virtual
controul of Parliament and the nation over the
whole Executive Government, than by adhering to
the letter of the Constitution, it is not to be ex-
pected that the argument will be conclusive to a
:1..0y.al understanding. Hence he may be tempted to
play rather a petty game, and endeavour to regain,
.by intrigue and insincerity, that power of acting by
his own will which he thinks unfairly wrested
front Jinn. A Kin, of England, in the calculation
of posies, is little' more than one among the
public met; 01' the day ; taller, indeed, like
Saul or Agatnernnon, by the head and shoulders,
at d therefore with no slight advantages in the
sciamble ; but not a mltch for the many, unless
he can bring some dexterity to ec.coed his strength,
arid make the best of the self-int:.Yeat &>MI p4imo-
sities of those with whom he has to does A4O. Pf
this there will generally be so much, that 5,1 the
long run lie will be found to succeed in the greaten.'
part of his desires." It has generally been supposed
that his Majesty has not been averse to practise the
ieesojis of what may be called King-craft. Accord-
ing to the most approved principles of that science,
a Sovereign, in order to have as much of his way
with an existing Ministry as possible, should take
particular care that it be not without apprehensions
shat his inclinations point occasionally elsewhere.
'Hence Ins :Majesty has always been particularly
auxiette to have personal friends among the outs as
well as among the ins. It is understood that dur-
ing Liverpool Administration, he had much less
paironage than he afterwards contrived to obtain
firiritig the Ministerial fluctuations that succeeded.
We can easily conceive, therefore, that the strength
of the Duke of Wellington's Government may not
liave been altogether so palatable to his Majesty us
to his Grace himself.—Morning Chronicle.
It appears by yesterday's Parliamentary proceed-
ings, that it has been settled for Mr. Peel to bring
forward the measure of Catholic adjustment in the
course of this evening. The form of the proce-
dure, says Mr. Goulburn, will be similar to that
adopted on previous occasions of removing Roman
Catholic disabilities—tkat is to say, a resolution
Drill ire moved preliminary to the introduction of the
Bill, and explanatory of its objects, principles, and
provisions. That such a measure has been con-
ceived and undertaken amidst difficulties so grave
as were funs] the first foreseen, would be suffi-
ciently honourable to the Minister who prepared it;
that the Minister and his colleagues have persisted
in their beneficent work, and have now the firmness
to stand Or fall by it, after the experience of ob-
stacles unhooked for, and from quarters whence it
would have been little short of treason to anticipate
them—the result of artifices most foul and base—
we say the existence of such statesman-like wis-
dom, and such admirable courage in any British
Government, refleets lustre oa the whole poli-
tea community of this kingdom. The frequent
Cabinet Councils which have been held are in-
evitable attendants on a policy so important as
that now on tisa eve of execution. The machina,
tions for opposing the King's Government—for
compelling hie Majesty to forego his gracious and
healing pledge to the pess.,eeuted millions of his
loyal subjects, and through their di appointment and
despair to convulse the empire and pt.'s-duce a bloody
and exterminating war in Ireland—those eeachina-
tions have, indeed, been most unnatural and Zis-
gusting. Who the chief incendiary is or can be, we
have inquired, whether successfully w' appear appear be-
fore many days have gone by. There is something
awful in the efforts made by bias (if it be a .sinial:a
agent), or by. them (if their ;seine be " legion").
Those who poison the mind of a King against his
most constant and faithful friends—against his
dearest interests, and his most sacred and urgent
duties—must be already hardened against conscience
and remorse. But to the shame of a public ex-