The Sun.
London, England, 1827-08-13 00:00:00

VIDE SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

The acts of Government, when a Ministry is
in complete operation, are the acts of the Mi-
nisters : that is, they are responsible for them,—
they advise their adoption, and direct their exe-
cution. But the act of supplying a deficient
Ministry, or calling a new one into existence, is
the King's act, and is one of the highest prero-
gatives of Royalty. Now if, on the unfortunate
demise of Mr. Canning, there was one thing
more desirable than another, it was that his suc-
cessor should be nominated as speedily as possi-
ble ; and this duty his Majesty has performed
with. despatch suitable to the occasion. He
Las not been wanting to the wishes of the people,
and the exigencies of the state : for Lord Gode-
rich, already fleshed in the business of finance by
being Chancellor of the Exchequer, is to be
First Lord of the Treasury ; and it is hardly,
therefore, necessary -to speak now of the other
arrangements : they will be readily understood,
and will be settled with that promptitude of
which his Majesty has given the example. The
melancholy ceremonial of Mr. Canning's inter-
ment is to take place on Thursday, and the
Ministerial appointments will probably be inser-
ted in the ordinary Gazette of the day following.
The tranquil indifference to personal considera-
tions—the mild acquiescence in whatever may
appear to be beneficial to the country,—displayed
by Lord Lansdowne, will at once endear him to
Sovereign and people. The Whigs arc rapa-'
cious, are they ?-----greedy of office ?—obtrusive
of their claims ? and anxious for promotion ?
Then, at least in these respects, Lord Lans-
downr.; is not a Whig. Perhaps he is a Tory !
They have the merit of self-denial! They seek
not their own advancement ! To whichever
party Lord Lansdowne belongs, we only wish
his friends would study his example. We hardly
know whether we ought to regret the absence
of Mr. Huskisson. To witness sufferings
which he could net alleviate—to watch a depar-
ture which he could not retard—are painful
duties to friendship. It will be some consola-
tion to him to learn,—as lie may learn from
other, though probably not better authority than
ours,—that the conduct of the late Premier was
marked by Christian resignation and pious hope,
when.his mind was not distracted by delirium,
produced by pain ; he foresaw his approaching
dissolution, and foresaw it without dread. There
was no childish clinging to life : he sometimes
expressed the keenest anxiety for the success of
his plans of liberal policy, and wished for the
continuance of his colleagues in office as most
likely to produce that result. But Mr. Huskis-
son, though absent from the anguish of his
friend, will be present to the wants of his coun-
try. His return to England may be speedily
expected. In one respect the duty of his Ma-
jesty, in filling up the Ministry so soon, would
be facilitated ; for though a clamour is made, or
rather attempted to be made, against the present
men, we really do not know whom it could be
proposed to substitute in their places, under the
appellation of a Tory Administration, Could
Lord Westmoreland form an Administration ?
or Lord Bathurst ? or Mr. Peel ? Or could all
these three be made to constitute a Ministry ?
And as to the Duke of Wellington, we presume
his situation is always open to him ; nor can we
conceive why he should not accept it as readily
whilst Lord Goderich is First Lord of the Trea-
sury, as if Mr. Peel were in that situation. But
really to us it appears that the Tories are extinct,
or that so many of them as are capable of hold-
ing place with utility to their country, are mem-
bers of the present Administration. if not, let
them give us a programme of the Ministry they
would form; for we really—and we say the thing
seriously—could not, if we were adherents to
that faction, make up a Ministry out of it.—
Times.

On whatever side, or in relation to whatever
affairs, domestic or foreign, we view the subject,
the promptitude with which the King has exe-
cuted one urgent but most melancholy duty, oc-
casioned by Mr. Canning's untimely death, con-
fers on his Majesty a fresh claim to the respect
and gratitude of the nation. To choose imme-
diately a successor to the admired statesman,
whom his Majesty and his people have lost, was
an exercise of the prerogative only second in im-
portance to that of choosing wisely. There
never was a period in history, when the minds
of all men, at home and abroad, were likely to
be more agitated by hopes and solicitudes, re-
specting the composition of the future Cabinet
of England ; because there never has existed a
crisis at which British subjects, Europe, and the
world, had a deeper stake in the policy to be
pursued by the King's Government. The mere
distraction of men's feelings, which a long sus-
pense on this question must give rise to, would
be in itself, at such a juncture, a serious moral
evil, which the quick determination of his Ma-
jesty has considerately and humanely averted.
The doubts and misgivings of commercial men
with regard to the views on which an unknown
Cabinet might govern the manufacturing, mari-
time, and trading interests of the kingdom, when
such opposite principles are afloat, would, if long
continued, have produced a grievous paralysis of
credit and enterprise, a positive loss of profit, and
bar to the accumulation of capital ; all which
have been saved by the early announcement of
his Majesty's pleasure, that Lord Goderich, the
political friend and partner of Mr. Canning,
should form the Administration according to his
own sense of the materials which were accessible
to him, and of those which the exigency re-
quired. Another imminent danger has been
removed, or has been diminished of much of its
importance, by the watchful and timely declara-
tion of his Majesty's wishes. Every one who
has observed the workings of the Holy Alliance
policy in the South of Europe, must be aware
that new attempts are preparing, by the em-
ployment of open
force, or by the artful per-
version of authorities alleged to be founded on
the letter of the law itself, to overthrow
the Portuguese Constitution, and wholly to
dissolve the connection between Portugal and
Great Britain, partly for the sake of perpetuat-
ing despotism in Spain, partly that the entire
Peninsula may be engrossed by the same family
power which, since the year 1823, has fitted a
heavy and disgraceful yoke to the necks of the
unfortunate Spaniards. The Paris nevv,spapers,
as may be seen from our journal of Saturday, are
commanded to hold, upon the subject of Por-
tugal, a language which no man can mistake.—
If King Pedro should presume to set his foot on
the soil on which he was born, he is to be at-
tacked and dethroned, under pretence that his
CharteT and his sister's Regency,, instead of the
outrages
-offered to both, have caused the
anarchy" which is said to reign in Portugal.
Certainly England has no right nor power to
drag Pedro to Europe against his own consent ;
and if that Sovereign. should think fit to leave
bOth his (*Otter's futtiie kingdom, and the
Constitution which lie has bestowed upon it, an
unresisting prey to the ambition of the house of

Bourton; there is no where a power which could,
even' by physical means, prevent his incurring
such a. catastrophe, so far as his own separate
interests and those of his child would be in-
volved in it. How far such a transfer might be
tamely submitted to by other sovereigns is a
somewhat different question ; but, with these
threats held out from the quarter which we have
alluded to, and with the additional weight im-
parted to them by circumstances which gradually
unfold themselves in a more distant quarter of
Europe, it is clear that nothing affecting the suc-
cessful course of our foreign policy could be of
more obvious importance than a prompt avowal
by the Sovereign of Great Britain that his Ad-
ministration should be placed in hands the most
deeply pledged to follow up those measures
whereby Mr. Canning had already announced the
sense this country was justified in entertaining of
the duiies of foreign Governments towards her
and her Allies. We are now assured of a Ca-
binet which will do justice to Mr. Canning's me-
mory, by treating with congenial spirit and firm-
ness this trying question, of which Portugal is
at once the subject and the scene ; but in the
issue of which are comprehended the national
dignity and honour of England, and the hope of
a resurrection to light and liberty for the most
degraded portions of Europe. To the fact that we
eannot, physically speaking, compel Don Pedro
to return to Portugal, may be added the acknow-
ledgment that Don Miguel's threatened journey
thither is a movement not much easier to frustrate
than the former one would be to enforce. But when
the natural tendency of Don Miguel's unre-
strained accession to the Portuguese Govern-
ment, or of his usurpation of it is considered, it
will be seen that for Great Britain to neglect such
precautions and guarantees as are within her
reach, for averting the too manifest consequences
of such a revolution, would be nothing less than
a voluntary sacrifice of every interest which be-
longs to the maintenance of Portugal as a state
independent of the House of Bourbon, and an
indirect abandonment of all that British policy
which for more than a century has been striving
to emancipate Spain itself from the incorpora-
tion of its Court with that of the Tuileries. The
question is obviously well enough understood at
Paris, although, with the usual dexterity, not
more than half of it has been disclosed. Our
neighbour journalists see very clearly that there
is no security for preserving any part of the Pe-
ninsula a Bourbon province, but in the spreading
to Portugal the contagion of that system of des-
potism which, centering at Madrid, is protected
from Paris ; and therefore limit themselves to
recommending that the counter-pestilence, the
plague-spot of constitutional liberty, which is just
visible at Lisbon, and which England encou-
rages, shall be blotted out, lest, under the courtly
appellation of " anarchy," it should cross the
frontier, and inoculate 12,000,000 of Spaniards.
For realizing such a project, there is no method
more plausible than to uGe Don Miguel as its
engine. Brought up as that young Prince has
been, it is more his misfortune than his crime,
that he should be well disposed to execute the
office, cast upon him. And this is the danger
against which England has to guard—by diplo-
macy, rather, we trust, than by a recourse to
arms. If other European governments consent
to become guarantees with Great Britain of the
Crown of Portugal to the young Princess, and
against any overthrow by Miguel of the Charter
emanating from his brother, an outrage contra-
vening such a guarantee would establish an in-
stantaneous right of interference on the part of
the British Government. This, however, is but
one of many means through which such a secu-
rity as is essential alike to the interests of the
Spanish Nation and of our Portuguese Ally
might be attained to. The present Ministers are
not to be told with what facility the Constitu-

tional spirit of Spain might be rendered avail-
able to the protection of Portugal from the me-
naces of the House of Bourbon.—lbid.
The nomination of Lord Goderich to form
the Ministerial arrangements consequent upon
the death of Mr. Canning appears to give very
general satisfaction ; not only from the confi-
dence reposed in the straightforward integrity of
the Noble Lord's own character, but from the
extinguisher it puts upon all prospects of Whig
ascendancy. It is singular enough, to be sure,
that this duty should devolve upon one who has
himself a known disinclination to office, and that
he should have to deal with colleagues, three
of whom at least (Lords Harrowby and
Dudley, and Mr. Sturges Bourne), if not a
fourth (Lord Bexley), entertain the same feel-
ing. In this respect the patriotism of the Whigs
far exceeds that of their rivals ; for who ever
heard of a Whig who wished either to decline or
retire from office, or who would not readily serve
his country and himself at the peril of any incon-
sistency ? Their magnanimous self-devotion
forms in this respect a striking contrast with the
• timidity, the diffidence, or the indolence, which
ever it may be, of some at least of the Tories.
What Lord Goderich's arrangements will be, or

whether they have as yet mare any material pro-
gress towards completion, we are wholly unin-
formed ; except that the Duke of Wellington's
return to the command of the Army appears
pretty certain—so certain indeed, that there are
those who declare that his Grace's appointment
will be announced in to-morrow night's Gazette.
We believe too, we may assert with some confi-
dence, that Lord Eldon will not resume office
under any circumstances. That Noble Lord,
though possessing the vigour of a green old age
in a remarkable degree, determines to retire
from the fatigues and turmoil of politics, adopt-
' ing the solve senescentem of the poet, and re-
collecting that the latter part of a wise man's
life is best devoted to retirement and reflection.
The chief difficulty in the pending arrange-
,' ments is said to exist in obtaining a compe-
t tent Chancellor of the Exchequer. If the busi-

ness of a Finance Minister be, as it of late years
apparently has been, to mystify and render ob-
scure the whole of the public accounts, Lord
Goderich might find it difficult to hit upon a
conjuror qualified for the task ; but recollecting,
as the country does with gratitude, that he him-
self was the first to break down the system of
mystification, and to introduce common sense
and common arithmetic into the public accounts,
he has only to look around for some one with a
mind and inclination resembling his own, to find
an adequate Chancellor of the Exchequer. Mr.
Peel, if he would give up his mind and his time
to it, is the person of all others best qualified to
take this office, and with it what is called the
lead in the House of Commons. If this cannot
be, and if the Catholic Question is still to de-
prive the country of the services of some of its
most valuable and enlightened Statesmen, then
there are still Mr. Huskisson, Mr. Grant, and
Mr. Herries, any one of whom, we suspect,
would be able to fulfil the duties of this office to
the satisfaction of the country. One thing we,
at any rate, hope, which is that we shall have a
permanent,- not a temporary Government.—

-
-

Nothing can be more unfortunate for the country,
both in its foreign and domestic relations, than
the chief offices of the State continually changing
hands, as they have lately done, leaving the Go-
vernment itself as a kind of state weathercock,
liable to be turned about and shifted by every
breeze. The times are-much too critical, espe-
cially as regards our foreign concerns, for instabi-
lity like this. No congrn in private life which
is continually changing tither master or servants
is ever well conducted ; and. we know of no
safer test whereby to manage empires, than by
approximating their management as near as may
be to the good sense and right feeling of private
life. Had this principle prevailed heretofore,
neither debts nor wars would have existed to the
extent they have, nor would many other evils
have grown upon nations, under which we every-
where see them labouring.—Morning Herald.
We can state that the arrangements rendered
necessary by the death of Mr. Canning, are
proceeding in the most satisfactory manner. The
President of the Council, the Earl of Harrowby
retires. It is known that his Lordship has long
been desirous of withdrawing from office ; and
the loss of his daughter, Lady Ebrington, has
affected this amiable Nobleman so much, that he
feels the tranquillity of a private life necessary to
his health. He will, however, give his most
cordial support to the Administration. We do
not feel ourselves at liberty to state what we have
heard respecting the progress of the arrange-
ments. We can mention, however, that it is
probable Lord Holland will take office. One
piece of intelligence we can communicate, how-
ever, which will give the greatest satisfaction
throughout the country ; and that is, that no one
of the Outs will form part of the Administration.
Our readers, on seeing in the Court Circular
that Mr. Peel left town on Saturday for Mans-
field, might be disposed to infer that, before the,
Right Hon. Gentleman took such a step, he had
a pretty good assurance that it was not intended
to put his wisdom and experience in requisition
at this time. Another individual, a Nobleman,
who particularly distinguished himself during last
Session by the becoming manner in which he con-
ducted his opposition to the Government (we al-
lude to ,the Marquis of Londonderry), posted
up to town, in the persuasion, no doubt, that it
would be. impossible at this time to dispense with
the services of a Statesman of his commanding
talents ; but to the surprise of the Noble Marquis
(though we dare to say of no one else), neither
his talents nor his promptitude have been duly
appreciated. An attempt' will be made to navi-
gate the State vessel without his aid. The best
understanding prevails between Lord Goderich
and the rest of his colleagues, with respect to
the measures in progress for completing the Ad-
ministration. We never, indeed, anticipated any
other result ; for we were certain that his Ma-
jesty had the-peace and prosperity of the country
too much at.heart, to think of withdrawing his
confidence from men whose measures had given
so much satisfaction to the nation, and who had
so well entitled themselves to its approbation.—
The intelligenee of the satisfactory manner in
which affairs are proceeding, and more especially
of the certainty of the exclusion of all the outs, will
every where diffuse the most heartfelt joy. We
cannot close these few observations without point-
ing out to the execration which it merits the fol-
lowing passage, which appeared in an Evening
Paper. of Friday last :
" If Mr. Canning died a Christian, it is due to his me-
mory—due to those who surrounded his death-bed—due
to the everlasting welfare of thousands, we fear we might
say millions, of the vulgar, in all ranks, whose religious
feelings are too much influenced by the fashion set by great
and popular persons, to state that he died in a saving faith.
" If, on the other hand (and we tremble to put the hy-
pothesis upon paper), the unfortunategentleman died with-
out religion, it is important that it should be known. If
an Atheist he died, an Atheist he must have lived, for no
man apostatises in the hour of death ; and here, as in the
cases of Mr. Fox, Mr. Whitbread, Sir Samuel Romihly,'
and hundreds of others, we should have a key to that la-
titudinarian liberality, which would postpone the spiritual
interests of mankind to political convenience, and brand
with the imputation of bigotry all who conscientiously
maintain the religion of their conviction."
To comment on observations conceived in
such a spirit, would be an insult to our readers.
Far gone in depravity of heart must that man be
to-whom this rancorous appeal to the worst pas-
sions of our nature can give satisfaction. Mr.
Whitbread is understood to have been a very re-
ligious man, and gave evidence of his zeal for the
diffusion of religion, by the share he took in
promoting Bible Meetings ; and therefore, with
respect to him, the accusation is peculiarly ill-
judged.—Good God ! what an idea of serving
religion must the writer of the passage have had !
No, thank Heaven, the bigotry and fanaticism of
the people of England have not yet attained a
height, which will allow them to delight in such
an outrage to decency !—Morning Chronicle.
It is finally arranged that Mr. Canning's fu-
neral will take place on Thursday next, in West-
minster Abbey. It is to be strictly private. The
relatives of Mr. Canning, all the Cabinet Minis-
ters, the Secretaries and Medical Attendants of
the deceased Minister, have alone been invited
to attend, and to go in procession to the Abbey.
Several friends, however, having expressed their
wish to pay this last tribute of respect to Mr.
Canning's memory, they have been requested to
meet the procession at the Abbey, and will wait
its arrival in the Jerusalem Chamber, where they
will be admitted through the Dean's House by
tickets, which will be delivered on application to
Mr. Jarvis, the undertaker. The offers of
carriages to attend the funeral have been declined ;
and the carriages of those who are invited to
Downing-street will alone be permitted. to attend.
—New Times.