The Sun.
London, England, 1827-04-19 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

The process in the formation of the Ministry
is either carried on with extreme secrecy or is
not very active. We have heard of no new ap-
pointments, which can be vouched for, since yes-
terday's publication ; but resignation walksthrough
all the ranks of Goverisment. To us, an union
between Mr. Canning and the more temperate
Whigs seems so apposite and natural, that we
are surprised it has not already been cemented.
They have much more cordially, during the late
Administration, approved of all those measures
of which Mr. Canning was supposed to be pe-
culiarly the author, than many of his own osten-
sible colleagues, and were in that sense, even
while out of office, more I\ linisterial than the
Ministers. What, then, should prevent their
accession to office, under one with whose policy
they were before identified ? We confess we
know not, and should like to hear a cause assign-
ed. Have the Whigs the same objection as the
Tories to accept of Mr. Canning as a chief ? The
mild and unobtrusive patriotism of Lord Lana-
down, the chief, if not the only person who is
said to have been addressed on the subject, repels
such a supposition. Besides, the Whigs would
not, now at least, commit that error, which is
so justly reproached to the seceding Tories of
the late Administration, of interdicting to the
king the power of placing his confidence in those
in whom he chooses to place it. Is Mr. Canning
afraid that in admitting allies he may find mas-
ters. But let him weigh well, whether the Whigs
will not be more formidable to his power out
of Administration, than received into it by his call.
There is one more question which we shall take the
liberty of putting. Does Mr. Canning still cherish
the hope that he shall be able to form a Ministry
from among his mere personal adherents ? If so, lel
him consider the consequences of a failure, not only
to himself, but to his confiding Master. Let him
consider how, in the mere attempt to compass such
an end, he is putting the power of that Master to
the most fearful proof—how he is stretching the
cord of Royal prerogative till it may break. Egi)
et Rex mews may have sufficed to govern the coun-
try once ; but it would be a dangerous experiment
at the present time to stake them against the whole
mass of Parliamentary influence inherent elsewhere.
We must also observe, in favour of despatch in thip
formation of the Ministry, that Mr. Canning aci•
tually threw a charm over himself by turning out
his'late powerful colleagues—people were astonished
at the success of his audacious enterprise; but that
charm is daily and hourly weakening, by the proof of
his tardiness or vacillation in supplying the places °if
the factious seceders. He ought to have foresea
the result, and been ready with his substitutes. But
the side of Majesty remains denuded of its constitir-
tional covering week after week, and none can say
when the opening will be closed.—Times.

We have no additional intelligence which can
be relied on to communicate respecting Minis-
terial negotiations or arrangements. From all
quarters we hear only of congratulations on the
retreat of the useless portion of the Ministry.
The self-love of the party must be profoundly
hurt, by the experience which they have obtained
of the difference of the estimate which they
formed of their own importance, and that which
the public have formed of it. All truths are
valuable, ibut there are some truths which ae
very unpalateable; and of this number are thoSe
which reveal to a man the secret, that he is nei-
ther esteemed nor dreaded. We understand the
Ex-Gentry lay the flattering unction to their
scruls, that they are not held in utter contempt
by the people, but that Mr. Canning, who is
,a
great trickster, has been beforehand with them
with the Press, and purchased its co-operation,
so that their numerous supporters have no organ
through which their sympathy can find a vent.
This, we understand, has been gravely main-
tained, and it is a very amusing parody au
Swift's Memoirs of P. P. Blessings on their
numskulls ! They cannot otherwise account for
the unanimity of all the Newspapers in rejoicing
at the elevation of Mr. Canning and at their
downfall. Well, after all, it is a wise dispens-
tion that the most contemptible creature seldom
forfeits his good opinion of himself. His Lordship
of Westmorland, no doubt, imagined in good earnest
that he was what one of our Contemporaries desii-
natel him, a pillar of state, and that too, one oftip. e
main pilllars. Newspapers have little power when
they run cou:qter to public feeling. It is, perhaps,
cruel, to undeceive these worthies who conceisid
!!• but we must frankly owin,
themselves so formidauil
that to write them into pop:ilarity with the public,
exceeds the power of the Press. Newspapers have
a sort of instinct which teaches them to void kicking
against the pricks. If they were even to be without
principle they dare not be without prudence: arm, to
revolt the feeling of the public by sounding the
praises of the Earl of Eldon, in the midst of the
general joy at his downfall, or complimenting Earls
Bathurst or Westmorland on the value of their
services, or bearing testimony to the political wisdom
and profound legislative arguments of the Duke of
Wellington, or extolling the disinterestedness of
Lord Melville, would have truly revolted all but
these individuals themselves, and the most desperate
of their parasites.—/Iforning Chronicle.
The state of Portugal is infinitely more pre-
carious than is generally imagined. The late
efforts of the Constitutional troops, and the pre-
sence of a British force have, no doubt, for the
moment, paralysed the plans of the .Apostolichl
party, but not defeated them. The latter haVe
now resolved to change their mode of attack,
and relying on the secret friends they have scat-
tercd all over the kingdom, even among the
members of the Government itself; expecting
also to wear out the patience of the auxiliary
forces, and trusting to external combinations, as
well as the imposing attitude of a large Spanish
force on the frontiers, they have adopted the
scheme of curifiding the issue of their cause to
time, money, and intrigue. They have seen
that, notwithstanding so many overt acts of trea-
son and rebellion, no one partisan has been
punished—no one loyalist rewarded. How does
all this happen ? exclaim the wily Apostolicals.
Evidently, they answer, because the Constitu-
tional party is weak everywhere except in the
field, and the very persons who wield the arm of
power are afraid to punish, lest, in a few months,
their own turn may come, and the tables be
turned upon them. Hitherto, by the Portu-
guese Executive, as well as the Chamber of
Peers, the guilty have been screened and the
patriotic neglected ; this is, because the corning
over of Don Pedro, the bestower of the Consti-
tution, to Portugal is dubious ; and those who
reflect on the subject see that his rival, the In-
fante Don Miguel, is retained at Vienna for
some secret purpose, contrary to the express
commands of his elder brother ; and this they
suppose is no other than an intention of bring-
ing him on the arena the moment he is of age.
Hence a new plan has been formed for the over-
throw of the Constitution in Portugal, to which
Spain is an immediate party, and the basis of
this plan, to which we alluded the other day, we
will now briefly unfold. The Infante Don Mi-
guel, the chief instrument employed, on the 26th
of next October, completes his 25th year, when
by law he is of age; and, consequently, beyond
the controul of his brother or guardians. Article
92 of the Constitutional Charter expressly de-

dares, that " during the King's minority (and,
consequently, that of the Queen), the kingdom
shall be governed by a Regency, which shall be-
long to the nearest relative to the King, in the
order of succession, and who shall have attained
25 years." By this very article the Mig,ttelites.
declare their patron has a right to seize on the
Regency the moment he is of age, to the exclu-
sion of his sister, and it is for the enforcement
of this plea they are now secretly preparing. If he
has no direct right to the Crum], the Regency at
least, they argue, next October will belong to him
by law, even according to the Constitution itself,
and this, they readily conclude, will answer all their
ends. This is the great topic, connected with Por-
tugal, which is now going the diplomatic rounds;
and it is very confidently asserted, that it forms
part of Baron Neuman's instructions to Rio de Ja-
neiro. According to a letter we have seen, it also
begins to be the subject of discussion in Portugal,
and the arguments, pro and con, are very generally
canvassed. The Constitutionalists declare, that,
according to Article 90, " the husband shall hare
no part in the Government, and he can only be
called King when he has had by the Queen a son
or a daughter." Hence they argue that Don Mi-
guel must dissolve his marriage, otherwise he can-
not take upon himself the Regency, and then not
legally, because his sister, the Infanta Isabel Maria,
uniting in herself the requisites described by law,
has already had the Regency conferred upon her,
and by the oath she took (vide Article 76 of the
Charter), she swore " to deliver up the Govern-
ment to the King only when he shall be of age."--
On these premises they feel satisfied_ that Don
Miguel cannot strip his sister of her present func-
tions, Ist, because they were duly and legally confer-
red upon her; and, 2dly, because the Regency is held
to be " permanent," according to Article 93 of the
Charter. Having sworn not to deliver up the Go-
vernment to any other than the King (embracing
also Maria IL), when he shall be of age, the Re-
gent would commit an act of perjury by now be-
traying her trust. However the matter may be de-
cided, the topic is certainly a curious one, and, as
we have once before asserted, in our opinion calls
for the interference of the Emperor Don Pedro.—
At all events, we can very confidently assert that
the above-mentioned doubts in the Constitutional
Charter form the basis of the next great political
intrigue preparing for Portugal, and, in order to
carry it into effect, very extensive combinations are
in a state of progress.—lbid.

That the opposition Mr. Canning's new Go-
vernment will have to encounter will be formi-
dable, cannot be doubted. Upwards of 100
votes are already supposed to be lost in the
House of Commons; and what the result may
be in the House of Lords no one has as yet, we
believe, ventured to calculate. The new Mi-
nister, however, will be in no want of those in-
ducements, which, while human nature remains
as it is, will ever hold the strongest influence
over friends and foes. A more than ordinary
share of patronage awaits the disposal of Mr.
Canning, which he will find that very high, and
apparently very high-minded personages, in all
departments, are by no means indifferent to. In
one respect, Mr. Canning must at this moment
find some of his own principles recoil upon him-
self. We allude, in particular, to his known
and avowed antipathy to Parliamentary reform.
Instead of standing, as he would doubtless wish
to do, upon the high grounds of his own popu-
larity, and the favour of his Sovereign, he finds
that he has to truckle in no small degree to
those who possess the borough patronage ; and
finds, to use a common phrase, that their " solid
pudding- is not to be set against " empty praise."
—The success of the new Ministry will depend
not more upon the nature of the measures them-
selves which they may propose to adopt, than
upon the ,degree of-- support or opposition -they
may meet with in Parliament. Should the for-
mer be of a nature so self-evidently wise and
prudent as to silence all opposition, or should
the latter show itself in a factious dispo-
sition to fetter his Majesty's choice—in either
case, the country will be with the Adminis-
tration, and, backed by public opinion, no Mi-
nister in this country can ultimately fail of success.
On the subject of Catholic Emancipation, on which
the Government and the country have long been
each divided in opinion, it would seem that the
new Administration is to avow the same line of neu-
trality professed by its predecessors. It cannot,
however, be denied that the cause itself will have
gained strength and countenance by its most power-
ful advocate being at the head of affairs, as well as
by the secession from office of some of the most
powerful of its opponents. On this topic, overrated
as it is in importance both by its friends and foes,
we do not believe that Mr. Canning has the opinion
of the country with him. The injudicious conduct
of its advocates in the Catholic Association has done
more to alarm and alienate the feelings of people of
all ranks, from an object which was otherwise gain-
ing ground, than all the efforts of its opponents
alone would have been able to accomplish. Mr.
Canning's will be no bed of roses. The great in-
cubus of the debt will both haunt his slumbers and
occupy his waking thoughts ; and when we con-
sider that the details of finance will be, in a great
measure, new to him, we do not see how he is more
likely to grapple with this monster than his prede-
cessors. By his Portuguese expedition, unwise and
uncalled for as we still think it, he will, in this re-
spect, have increased his own difficulties.—Morn-
ing Herald.
it would be an injustice to the discretion of
his Majesty, and it would be an injustice to Mr.
Canning himself, if his appointment to be Prime
Minister were to be considered as the triumph of
one set of extreme principles over their oppo-
sites. The great merit of Mr. Canning's admi-
nistration of Foreign Affairs has been, that he
has had the courage and the address to keep
pace with the more enlightened, and (without
using a party phrase) the more liberal, spirit of
the age, and, at the same time, to avoid com-
promising this country with those Governments
who are bound up with the existence of 'Svery
species of antiquated superstition and tyranny.
It is perfectly impossible for a Minister of Great
Britain, at the present day, to stand aloof from
the progress of new opinions, and shut his eyes
to the fact, that there is a spirit abroad which
renders established errors not quite so secure, or
so triumphant,
as in former times. Mr. Can-
ning has had to grapple with the difficulties aris-
ing-out of this conflict with old and new powers;
and he has surmounted them with the most mas-
terly genius.not properly assume,
May we
that to his talent and his discretion—his happy
ability not only to perceive what is right in itself,
but to seize the proper moment for carry-
ing that right into practice—we owe the recog-
nition of the South American Governments,
without committing us with any of the Euro-
pean States who were interested in their depend-
ence. May we not ascribe to him the trium-
phant, because just, attitude which this country
has assumed in the affairs of Portugal, by which
the progress of Spanish bigotry has been re-
strained, without involving any rupture with
Spain herself, or those of her allies, who may
feel an interest in the existing order of things ?
And how has Mr. Canning been able to reconcile
these conflicting principles? Because he "stands
upon the ancient way, and then looks around to
see which is the right and true way." His
very long friendship with Mr. Pitt—his own
masterly efforts against the progress of re.