The Sun.
London, England, 1827-06-14 00:00:00

lics be a violation of the King's oath, then has
the oath been broken at least 12 times since the
Revolution, for at least so many different in-
roads upon the penal statutes against Catholics
have received the Royal assent since the year
1689. But was such an absurdity ever before
started, as that the Legislature should bind itself
irrevocably to reject any change in the laws af-
fecting Dissenters—no matter what essential al-
terations might occur in the state of the mo-
narchy? Lord Kenyon but repeats what com-
mon sense and obvious necessity had already
impressed upon every man who enjoyed the gift
of reason, when he lays it down as a fundamen-
tal maxim, that " the supreme power of a State
cannot limit itself." If it could, the very next
day it would cease to be a " supreme power."
It would assume a new nature, and with the
people of England themselves, would be
robbed of a right, without which no poliLi-
ey.! community can exist. What the Le-
gislature could not do directly,—viz. impose a
limitation on its future power,—it could never
meditate effecting circuitously, by framing an oath
for one of its members, which would enable that
member to restrain the whole legislative body. If
this could be, we should strip our descendants of
the most essential rights of reasonable creatures—
that of making laws adapted to the age they live in.
If a Protestant oath were to be thus binding for
ever, why so might a Catholic oath be indissoluble;
and a nation universally embracing the Church of
England might thus be compelled to all eternity to
obey a Popish system of laws ! But, in fact, there
was no such monstrous notion entertained by our
ancestors on this important subject. The oath of
William and Mary was designed to give Parliament
a controul over the King—not the King over Par-
liament. It was an intended safeguard against the
repetition of such conspiracies, for the establishment
of civil and religious despotism, as 'had disgraced
the last years of the reign of Charles, and the whole
of the short reign of James—which had threatened
the independence of Parliament, and had cost the
latter Prince his crown ; but it was not, and could
not have been, intended to restrain the King from
co-operating with Parliament in the performance of
their common duty of legislation. Lord Kenyon's
authority, therefore, delivering the judgment of po-
litical science and of plain sense, will, we imagine,
be found too much for that of the unknown Bishop
and of Lord Clare—the secret advisers of his late
respected Majesty—though backed by the very en-
lightened and peremptory declaration of that emi-
nent statesman, the late Duke of York, who valued
the opinions of such men as Mr. Pitt and Lord Ken-
yon no higher than as arguments against the policy
of emancipation.—lbid.

We never thought highly of the Duke of Wel-
lington as a politician ; but the writer of a letter
(which want of room prevents us from inserting
to-day) goes, in our opinion,a little too far, when he
infers from his Grace's being an indifferent States-
man, that it is probable he owed his successes as a
soldier more to fortune than merit. The same
inference may be made with regard to Buona-
parte. No one can have read the records of
the conversations of that distinguished individual
without perceiving that his ideas out of his
own profession betrayed great narrow-minded-
ness, and that his political principles in general
were those of a Charlatan. We have besides a
proof in his absurd Continental system, that no
practical refutation of his theories, however ob-
vious, could make any impression on his un-
derstanding. Yet surely Buonaparte understood
the art of war ! But in the political conduct of
his Grace, we see difficulties which it would not
be easy to solve,, without attributing to him an
incapacity in matters demanding mental attention,
almost approaching to imbecility. There are
many persons, we know, who will attribute his
conduct, throughout the discussions on the Corn
Bill, to insincerity and dishonesty. We are un-
Nulling, however, to adopt this solution. There
are not wanting instances of men anxious to be
believed knaves, but there are few instances of
men desirous of being thought fools. Now
it is possible that his Grace really understood
the principle of the Resolutions on which the
Corn Bill was founded—it is possible that he com-
prehended the discussions in the Cabinet, which
took place while he was present, on the various provi-
sions of the Bill—it is possible that he read and re-
read so important a Bill, affecting so many interests
in the country, as he was bound in duty to do, care-
fully considering it as a whole and in its various de-
tails ; and that from such attentive reading and de-
liberation, he made himself completely master of the
subject; it is possible, we say, that his ignorance
was assumed, that his inability to understand the
meaning of Mr. Huskisson's very plain note was
also assumed; but the stultifying himself to serve
the cause of faction, exceeds, we think, the measure
of disinterested devotion to be expected from mor-
tals. If his Grace be prepared to hold himself up
as a ninny to serve his new associates, his devotion
of himself exceeds in magnanimity that of Curtius.
But we have no faith in these refinements. We
suspect the Duke, all through, owed more to nature
than to policy ; and that Corn Bills, or any other
Bills involving matter for deliberation and reflection,
may very safely be read and discussed in his presence
without any danger of his betraying the secret of
the principle of them. The same observation may
be applied to Lord Bathurst. 'We really gave his
Lordship credit for sincerity when he expressed him-
self unable to distinguish between the corn at pre-
sent in bond, and the corn which might be im-
ported after the passing of the Act.—Morning
Chronicle.

Our readers will see from our Parliamentary
Report, that Ministers have determined to aban-
don the Corn Bill. In this we think they have
acted wisely. The Lords chose to introduce a
clause into the Bill, completely at variance with
its principle, and that of the Resolutions on
which it was founded. By doing so the Noble
Lords completely changed the character of the
13i11, and, in fact, substituted a bantling of their
own for the offspring of Ministers. Let the
Lords, then, have all the glory which they can
derive from their victory over the King's Go-
vernment, and over the nation. They no doubt
wished to show that all power is vested in them ;
and being omnipotent, they also no doubt deem-
ed it advisable to prove, by this striking exercise
of their power, that the duty of a Legislature is
not, as has been mistakingly supposed, to de-
vise the means best calculated to promote the
general prosperity, but to devise the means best
calculated for deriving from the industry of a
nation the greatest possible benefit to the depo-
sitaries of power. The time was when their
Lordships might have shrunk from the glory of
such a display, from some secret misgivings as
to its policy; but the bold and unhesitating
manner in which the great land-holders, as a
body, now oppose themselves to the rest of the
nation, proves, we should think, their convic-
tion of their own strength to be more firm and
decided. Ministers then have done wisely, as
the Lords haire taken the Bill out of their hands,
to allow them to retain the possession of it. Let
them, in God's name, have the honour of their
own act. It is for them to order, and for us to
obey,—,, I have already (said Lord Goderich,
in his usual moderate manner), felt it my duty
to state to your Lordships the grounds on which
I consider the clause not only objectionable, as
being fatal to the principle of the Bill, but also as
likely to be unsuccessful in obtaining the object