The Sun.
London, England, 1829-03-24 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE LONDON JOURNALS.

Some of the factious newspapers, we find, have
taken upon themselves not to blame, but to abuse
the Duke of Wellington, because of his having
sought from Lord Winchilsea the reparation usual
amongst gentlemen for the offence which was re-
cently, and as the Noble Earl has since acknow-
ledged, unadvised!), given by him to his Grace.
Entertaining, as we do, a most sincere and anxious
wish rather to heal completely, than in the slightest
degree to re-open or irritate, any uneasy feeling
which may have been connected with the late oc-
currences, we shall take no further notice of the
animadversions cast upon the Duke of Wellington's
part in them than seems absolutely indispensable
to truth and common justice. It would no doubt be
a convenience to gentlemen who have strong appe-
tites for stigmatizing their political adversaries, if
they were suffered to vent their violence, whenever
and to whatever extent they might think proper,
with impunity. There is nothing easier than
to write common-places against duelling, and
throw dirt at such men as the Duke of Wel-
lington, for having lent their sanction to a usage" so
barbarous and unbecoming." Few persons, perhaps,
will venture to defend, by abstract arguments,
a proceeding which may abruptly terminate human
life. But the fact is, that custom and general feel-
ing are too strong for even the Duke of Welling-
ton; and that the benefits of a system, whose chief
merit lies in its aptitude to diminish and finally ex-
tinguish the necessity for its own application, have
been felt so powerfully in the gradual refinement of
manners, throughout those nations where it has
more or less prevailed, as to confront the speculative
moralist by a direct appeal to facts. If the Duke of
Wellington had evinced no reteliness to meet the
provoking imputation of criminal motives, which
had been brought against him by a Nobleman so
much respected in society for private worth, would
not the very faction which now assails his Grace for
Laving resorted to the only mode of vindication
which the obstinacy of others had left open, been
the first to triumph in his submission to the charge,
and in his tacit avowal of its justice ? The bold-
ness—the excellence—the truth of Lord Winchil-
sea's letter was boasted of in all these factious
print., as a victory gained over the Duke of Wel-
lington, because no immediate and public no-
tice was taken of this production : its spirit, and
of its author, were applauded .o the skies.—
Whet, then, was the course prescribed to the Duke
of Wellington—prescribed to him, we say, by his ac-
rusers? Why, surely, to prevail upon the person
wilt) had so grossly wronged him to admit that lie
had been himself in error. Now this admission was
eaaile at last ; and, late as it arrived, was presented
with a degree of frank and honourable feeling, which
proved that the judgment only (not the heart) of
the Noble aggressor was to blame. lf, then, it had
become a matter of absolute equity, that the Duke
of Wellington should be relieved from the stain of
so unworthy an accusation, and if the error, or in-
temperance under which he had suffered, was at last
by the confession of the party himself made un-
queationable, let us ask any upright mind, whose
tisult is it that the extremity complained of was re-
eorted to ? flewd the correspondence, and see if
erer there were permed a series of applications from
an aggrieved indissideele more mild, more concili-
asory,—more humble, we bad almost said,—more
sorriest in their love of peace, more elshorrent of an
igotr;endly issue? It is manifest to every pan of
pilau sense and right feeling, that the Duke of
Welling ass could hardly bring himself to con-
template ee possible the extent to which
perseverance in error could be carried by
tile principal of whom he solicited redress, or by
h's44l,-iser. He even modified his own reasonable
:Jed welietempered propositions, to nit iI ha eould
etsften the ,obduracy of others. He declared him-
calf, titer the monstrous requisition had been made '
to hint, that he sheeld bimself explain his conduct,
—he who haul received the josolt I—after this mon-
eesalus requisition had been pet npeo him, the
Duke " lamented that a nobleman for whom be felt
the kigheit respect should entertain a bad opinion
him,'" and declared himself " still unwilling
to part with the belief that his Lordship would be
ieueious to give hive 1./nitration." (See No. 8.)
.Agssie;., at the eleventh 1404 W, when Lord Winchil-
silo had, through Lord Falmouth, reiterated his re-
fusal of peaceable redress, the Duke as fast espe-
siment sent Sr Henry Hardinge to aicertain," he-
s4nd the possibility of a doubt," that Lord Wine
4.ll,lisea " declined to giee the desired reparation."
This was at two o'clock on ceiday. (Yid. No. 11,)
Now we ask with confidence, wg..is ever human
patience carried to a more exemplary p,Qint than
in these proceedings of the Duke of Wellingtons 9
And we further ask, was ever any thing more
-n choirs or inhuman than now to charge
the ;''lured and long-suffering party with the
crime—for such they call it—of this duel ? Of
course, as we have already said, nothing could
be more convenient: for the fanatics than
cence to revile, and calumniate, and destroy
men's reputations with impanity; and it is clear
that their ch.ler rises at the untimely check which
has been given to this very wholesome privilege;
but let the blame rest on the proper shoulders.—
Lord Winchilsea went out, resolved trot. 10 fire at
the Duke of Wellington. He went out intetesPig,
as is quite obvious, to apologize, but not without a
previous duel. He therefore exposed himself to a:
mortal danger knowing himself to be in the wrong.
Who is " the duellist" on this unfortunate occasion''
Lord Falmouth comes with a supplementary letter
in his own person, and affirms (this is most import-
ant) that " he had distinctly declared on the ground
that it never was a question with him, whether the
publication had been wrong, but merely whether
Lord Winchilsea was in a situation honourably to
stibtcribe to the terms proposed, after lie (Lord
Falmouth) was requested to undertake the business."
What then—if factious papers will mat se mischief—
if they will sing blame about—what do they flay to
Lord Falmouth.--to Lord Falmouth who tsay.ee
" had a us'uht" that Lord Winchilsea had wronged
the Duke of 'l7ellingtort by his publication, yet who,
knowing Lord ‘;'.;richilsea to be in the wrong, was
a party to his refusal ssf reparation, and actually au-
thorized him, under such circumstaniees, in going
to the field ? Why did not Lord Fairn°44l fa)? Ili'
once to his friend—" My Lord, y,:-‘u have encev.it.-
ted an injustice, and you will act with (:,ctriitY and
honour in confessing it? My Lord, you are i';".• the
wrong on thie occasion, and if you do not acknow-
Nlge it, you must choose another second; for if,
evil!, my opinion of your conduct, I attend you to
the fieN, I may have your blood upon my hands."
—We have been dragged into this very painful dis-
cussionby no desire to blame Lord Falmouth, whose
task was a most difficult one, but by the base at-
tempts to villify the Duke of Wellington's demand
of reparation from his worthy, but ill judging ag-
gressor.— Times.

_lt will not be thought strange that the Attorney-
Gene,2l has at length received the official intimation
that the hj.tig has no further occasion for his ser-
vices. When
.his Majesty, in the speech which
opens a Session Parliament, recommends the
consideration of a measure with a view to some
change, which, both conside;-.ation of the measure
and projected change, one of his eWP servants de-
clares to be unconstitutional, wicked, aliJ absurd,
there can be no question but that somebody must
go out ; and as tht individual servant can bft roore
easily parted with than either the King or tha
Ministry, the conclusion is unavoidable. We can-
not conceive why, having determined to oppose a
Ministerial measure, the Attorney-General should
choose to linger any longer in the Ministry. He
waited to be turned out, instead of tendering iris
resignation, If Mr. Peel had adopted a similar
otirse—i t ire#had waited for a while, till pac,i:i.on had
siibsided, .and the fills, now in transitn, itad
,quietly and beneficially commenced their operation,
as we have no doubt will be ,t 1,2 .case—he never
would have lost Oxford; and withoiAt Any dispa-
ragemeirt of Sir R. Inglis, we feel convinced t.hvt it
will not be loos ere that learned body will deeply

regret that it has accepted a worse man in lieu of a
better. But who is to be the new Attorney-
General ? We know not. We hope, whoever he
may be that shall arrive at that dignity, that he will,
if need he, know how to retire with a better grace
than Sir Charles Wetherell.—lbid.

The divisions last night in the Committee on the
Catholic Relief Bill were triumphant proofs of the
certain progress of that great measure to a success-
ful termination. One circumstance was stated
which reflects great credit on Mr. O'Connell's good
sense and liberal feeling. He, it appears, had de-
sired two Honourable Members to deprecate any
opposition on his account to that clause of the Bill
which effectually excludes him from Parliament ex-
cept after a fresh election. The Bill of course was
not framed to meet his particular case; but Mr.
O'Connell might feel a very natural disappointment,
if not resentment, at seeing the great labour of his
campaign at Clare thrown away. He has, however,
sacrificed his personal feelings in a very handsome
manner, content to bear an individual defeat, rather
than obstruct a great public cause. Mr. O'Connell,
by this wise forbearance, is acting in strict accord
with the generous spirit of his countrymen, who,
we learn from all parts of Ireland, are cheerfully
submitting to the sacrifice of a portion of their rights
for the sake of the more important benefits of Ca-
tholic Emancipation. A measure thus supported by
the good sense of the people of England and Ire-
land must succeed, even if it had not that immense
additional support of the solemn pledge of the King,
' freely given, after careful deliberation, and adhered
to with that unshaken firmness which becomes the
man of honour and the enlightened Monarch.—
Ibid.

It has been again and again remarked, that the
opposition to the measure fur the relief of the Ca-
tholics regularly increases in the ratio of the igno-
rance and poverty of a neighbourhood; and that
wherever the people have had opportunities of
ac-
quiring information, they have approved of con-
. cession to the Catholics. In agricultural districts,
where newspapers are not in general circulation, the
people are hostile to concession. In the smaller
towns, where newspapers are read only by a few,
the advocates of concession are still greatly the
minority. But in the larger towns, where news-
papers are accessible to a large proportion of the
inhabitants, we find not merely property and intell:-
gence, but even often the numerical majority in fa-
vour of concession. Thus, for instance, on the pre-
sentation last night of a petition from Leeds against
concession, by Mr. Duncombe, in the House of
Commons, signed by between nine and ten thou-
sand persons, it was stated by Mr. Marshall, that
the petition in favour of concession was signed by
sixteen thousand persons. Mr. Duncombe remark-
ed, indeed, that the petition signed by sixteen thou-
sand persons was from Leeds and the adjoining
townships, whereas the petition presented by him
was from the Borough of Leeds. It was affirmed,
however, in the Leeds Mercury of Saturday last,
that though the petition bore to be from the adjoin-
ing townships as well as Leeds, yet, from the want
of time, it had been found impossible to obtain signa-
tures in the neighbourhood, and that the petition
was, therefore, in reality, only the petition of Leeds,
We find here not only the property and intelligence,
but even a majority of the lower orders favourable
to concession. In the House of Lords, a petition
was presented by Earl Grey, from Newcastle-upon-
Tyne, signed by 2,126 persons, which, hessaid, he
could confidently recommend to their Lordships as
deserving as much attention as any petition of that
sort, on account of the wealth and respectability of
those who had signed it. Four-fifths of the mem-
bers of the Chamber of Commerce, five out of seven
physicians, all the barristers, and nearly all the at-
torneys of Newcastle had signed it. When we
leave such places, and turn to spots inaccessible
frorn their situation to the regular channels of infor-
mation, sap nuq the people not only hostile to con-
cession, but occs,sionally determined even to keep
no terms with those who are riot equally hostile.
Thus the inhabitants of the principality, who have
not only to struggle with local disadvantages, but
have the additional misfortune of pos,,essing one of
those wretched Celtic dialects which still exist in
these islands, and sythiehi wherever they exist, ren-
der the diffusion of knowledge is,spossible (for there
can be no good books in Welch, Irish, Or Scotch
Gaelic), are the most prejudiced and intolerant of
the whole nation. Alluding to some petitions
‘vllifcli had been presented on a former night from
the Welch Calvinistic Methodists, Lord King ob-
served, that « the Welch Calvinists were some of
the most intolerant persons in the whole country.
The Committee ejected all persons from the On-
gregation who did not agree with them, and the
persons from whom he had presented a petition
had been turned out of the society, because they
did not agree with the Committee on the ques-
tion. He should sooner expect justice from a
conclave of Cardinals than flora the Welch Cal-
vinists." Any person who has been in Wales knows
that the people are in a constant state of fanati-
cal exe,:t.ement with respect to religious matters,
which pieces again altogether beyond the pale of
reason; A congregation soy be harmless enough,
but it would hardly enter intq the head of any man,
not in progress toWnrds a lunatic asylum, gravely to
take their opinion on any political question. 'Upon
the whole, we are ready to admit, that if England
Were polled on this question at the present moment,
a great naajority would be hostile to concession.—
Bot then tle tnprity is smaller now than it would
have hpest last year, andit would have been smaller
last year than the year precesli%, fifteen years
ago, that La 4a which now exhibits a majority in
favour of the Catholic inairns, exhibited a majority
against concession of fifteen to one. There never
yet was as instance of an innovation which was not
opposed in the outset by the great majority of the
people, So far from the lower orders being dis-
posed to chan,,..;sa their notions on any sub-
ject, it is well known tq 41 sibs; bave attended to
these matters that they always rettpußcp these no-
tions with great difficulty, and that no of the
truth; now universally admitted were long res
eel wed by the higher classes of society before they
found their wayto the lower. What we now wit-
ness in the ease of the pppplition to the Catholic
Claims, has been witnessed ha all other r&iiestions.
With respect to the Reformation, for `nit.7.F.ce,
t is well known that it was at first pxtrenteli
ssnpap4sr in every country of Europe. The eons
temporary lastosians are always exclaiming against
`l*e atticAment taf the rigJble to the errors of Po-
fir- Wale, in ilia Life of sl.ndrew Melville,
has handled Cni: uoinc %nth 113 usual itcpth,ty, " it
is observed (lie says; by a a'Arged
the observation has been co:T:10111Y reaPjvCd as cur-
rent, that the Reformed Preacers in Scoauhd
gained credit, as happens generally on the promul-
gation of every new religion, chiefly among person;
in the lower and middle ranks of life.'—(Robertson's
History of Scotland.) This sentireent appears to
me to rest, not upon proper evidence, but Sipes) c11,4,-
logical reasoning from what happened at the first
piomulgation of Christianity, and from the manner
in which many sects have arisen in modern tires.
The fact of the first preachers of the Christian re-
ligion, and the converts to their doctrine being found
chiefly among the lower and middle ranks of so
ciety, is connected with its miraculous propagation,.
Ansl it does not follow from this that it should
always be propagated in the same way. The di-
vine authority and truth of Christianity having been
once completely estaisLished, it was that external
means of a more ordinaryl:.isss! should be employed
to fsleilitate its future diffusion, .wd that these
should be varied according to the eircurnstassces
of the people smong whom it was to be intro-
duced or restored. accordingly the reformation
of religion was preceded by ,She revival of letters
throngs-mist Europe; the principal reformers were
men of superior gents and education ; and tl:t.7
muse vas ,espoused, pad essentially promoted, by
persons who masesased €4ghority and in-
fluence. ..... . . ,• ' •
If we duly attend to the state of society isioS.coi.hisid
Sakt that time the jlltnost unbounded power of the

Barons, the vassalage of the people, the ignorance
which reigned among the lower, and the rarity of
education among the middle ranks, with other pe-
culiar hindrances to the communication of know-
ledge, we shall be convinced that the Reformation,
humanly speaking, and without a miracle, could not
have spread as it did; the truth could not have ob-
tained a fair hearing, nor have come to the know-
ledge of the common people, if it had not been em-
braced and patronised by persons of rank and supe-
rior means of information. The fact exactly corre-
sponds to this view," &c. There is not a single
change which, if the people had been polled when
it was first propounded, would not have been re-
jected. Nothing, therefore, is more absurd than
gravely to propose that a people should be polled
with a view to the Legislature being governed by
the opinion which should be found most prevalent.
All truths have found their way at first among a
few, and only reached the many by a slow process.
—Morning Chronicle.
Great part of the business of many of the Cir-
cuits consists, as usual, in trying persons for of,
fences against the Game Laws—that prolific
source of crime, of poverty, and death ;—we say
even of poverty, for no man ever yet saw a
poacher, be he ever so successful a one, who was
in the end one farthing the richer for his pains,
but who was not generally reduced to a greater
state of rags and wretchedness than any others of
the neighbouring peasantry. We wonder that,
among others, the yeomanry of the country do not
raise one general voice against a system by which
they are trebly robbed; first, by maintaining the
hares and pheasants, the excessive preservation of
which is the sole cause of this crying evil; secondly,
by the loss they sustain in the deficient labour of
those who pursue this predatory warfare ; and
thirdly, by being, as they are, at the sole charge of
maintaining in prisons, and afterwards prosecuting
and punishing, the miserable victims of their land-
lords' tasteless cupidity. Something like justice
was done to the tenantry of the.country, in an Act
passed some short time since for the erection of Luna-
tic Asylums, in which a provision is made for fixing
a material part of the charge upon the landowners,
in the shape of a separate rate. If the Game
Laws and their expensive consequences are to be
continued (which the lukewarmness with which
their proposed alteration appears to be viewed leads
us but too much to apprehend), a similar distinction
should be made in their case, and the enormous
charge which they entail should be put upon the
shoulders of those who cause the burden, and are
brst able to sustain it. But let us hope that a
House of Commons which can feel so liberally to-
wards Roman Catholic Emancipation will prove no
longer deaf to such a monstrous stain and anomaly
as our Game Laws present. How absurd is it to
hear of Parliament deploring the increase of crime,
and professing to reform the Penal Code, when such
a nursery and hot-bed of crime is allowed to gr )w
up and flourish under its own protection ! The
Game Laws are to the country gentle nen what
flash houses are to the police. The country justice,
like the Bow-street magistrate, professes to put
down crime; but in each case, apparently lest the
trade should fail, each learned Theban has a breed-
ing cage at his door, which furnishes a prolific
source of work both for the justice and the
Morning Herald.
The duel between the Duke of Wellington and
the Earl of Winchilsea has given rise to as much
observation as if the affair had been wholly unpre-
cedented, and his Grace had unwarrantably exposed
his life, while filling a high and important situation
which exempted him from complying with the com-
mon rules of society. Nay, more, his Grace has
been accused of setting an evil example, and add-
ing to the demoralization of the times by demanding
the satisfaction which is due to one gentleman from
another when he has unwarrantably assailed his cha-
racter. If precedent, however, could justify any man,
it would assuredly acquit the Duke of Wellington.
His Lordship is neither the first nor the second
Prime Minister who has shewn an affection for gun,
powder. Mr. Fox, several years ago, fought a duel
with Mr. William Adam; but they afterwards be-
came the most firm and unshaken political and pri-
vate friends—fm iends, in fact, whom the death of him
only whose heart was never conscious of guile, se-
parated. The late Mr. Pitt, also, when Prime
Minister, fought a duel with Mr. Tierney; and the
late Lord Castlereagh another with Mr. Canning,
in which the latter was wounded. Even the high
rank of the Duke of York did not prevent him from
accepting a challenge from Lord Lennox, and fight-
! ing a duel, which was so nearly proving fatal,
that one of the curls of his Royal Highness was
struck by the ball of his adversary. In point of
precedent, therefore, the Duke of Wellington is
supported in his practice by the greatest men of for-
mer ages; and indeed, while the practice of duelling
exists, it will be impossible for men of honour to
avoid such affairs, without suffering a stain on their
character, which even death itself will not wipe our.
There is, in consecprenee, an evident necessity, more
especially at the present time, when political feeling
runs high, in men being guarded in their expressions
and avoiding that acrimony and intemperance of
language which the heat of political debate is but too
apt to engender. There never, in fact, was a time
when such caution was so necessary, for the minds
of all men are so inflamed, either in favour of, or
against, the measures of Government, that fu-
rious harangues, and harsh expressions may
be truly characterised as " the order of the
day." With !egard to the other point, the evil
likely to result from the Duke of Wellington's prac-
tical approbation of the practice, much might be
said on both sides. awning is evidently a
" remain" of the olden time, when it was supposed
that an alt-directing Providence sped the sword or
the bullet to the heart pf the offending party; and
like all such prepc.?sterons practices, wp should be
glad to see the time when the practice as well as
the belief—for the belief is gone—would be ago.
lished; at the same time, it must be confessed that
there are injuries of such an atrocious and unpardon-
able nature that no satisfaction short of the life of
the offeeder, can possibly atone for them;
and in such cases • the practice of duelling
may be considered as rather an antidote to the
commission of evil, than an evil in itself. But
in matters such as those in dispute between
the .Pu'ee of Wellington and my Lord of
Wineti;s'ea, we aee frank.. to own that the spirit of
the soldier'we's more. to be cornmeqed than either
his practice or discretion; " hiirsrcser of the
Duke was proof, in the eyes of all men, against any
malicious insinuation, or calumnious declaration,
which could be made against him ; while it might
trave beep iiFirally inferred, without an appeal to
arms, that Vie hero writ? F..tl stood his ground on
the 0004 of Waterloo;syolVd rsoit ionsterred by
any fears to hinuiejf, From meeting a kingWrintago-
flies en Battersea.-figide, c94ider 'the Doke,
therefore, to have conceded tb4 to goldiery gallans
try, which might fairly enough have been ch4rgg4
to the account of discretion ; but beyond this, wa
hold to liaise guiltless, though we would hope
tion now under that the ii;lpottons Pes
considera-
tion will give rise to 'no 011tirs of the kind.—
Morning Advertisee.

4 Anti-Slavery Association wag
formed at 13radfpr4, lag reag, under highly respectable
patronage.—Leeds .711ercyry,
COTTON TRADE.—The prospects pf the
cotton trade in this quarter have not improved this week;
The majority of the cotton works are on two-thirds time,
and some are upon half time. The male spinners, who
make high wages, are able to stand a reduction of the hours
of working, but the female piecers, and those emploped in
the otliVrtpartrnenN of Ppinninr, and do not average above
74.• a-wee ; feel Sorely he 10s of a third of their earnings.
The yam market is heaVy; and thete redu..on in the
coarser Nos. Some of the manufactUrers' week
fisrharging one in every ten of their weavers,' which will
make time pessure more severe. The Calton weavers have
applied the 'autilowit'..is for exemption from the police as-
sessment this year. It is•a eerta..o ;act that at all hours of
the night, the night watchmen Lind numbers a wearers at
bba loom.—. Glasgow Chronicle.