The Sun.
London, England, 1827-12-12 00:00:00

Department in an Administration, of which—the
majority thinks, as he does, that the peace and
welfare of Ireland depends upon granting the
Catholic Claims, and which has determined not-
withstanding--which holds the reins of Govern-
ment indeed upon the implied, if not the express,
condition—that upon the question of these claims it
shall, as an Administration, be entirely neutral ?
Who does not see that a Minister so situated is in
fact a Minister with his hands tied; that he cannot
have any system ; that. his opinions and obligations
are in conflict; that ►•onsiatently with both it is im-
possible for him to move in any direction whatever?
And who, we need scarcely ask, but must despise
any man, or set of men, who can consent to occupy
their situations upon terms so degrading, and so to-
tally irreconcileable with the dictates of an honour-
able mind,-11E,rning PO3I,

If the Marquis of Lansdowne is not altogether a
theoretic Statesman, he will take some vigorous
measure to reform the Police, and to recover, for
that departnient of our municipal plan of govern-
ment, the good opinion and confidence of society,
which its mal-practiceS have completely destroyed.
The audacity with which extensive projects of rob-
bery are now carried into execution equals any thing
of which we read in the most unsettled state of so-
ciety, and proves that the honesty or the efficiency
of the Police is in so low a condition as to be totally
inadequate to the performance of those duties which
the public have a right to expect. It is told by
historians, as a • convincing proof of the ability for
government which Alfred the Great displayed, that
.in his reign (that is, after the subjugation of the
Danes), a purse of gold might be hung up beside
the highway without any man but the owner having
the hardihood to take it down—now, in our (lays,
we apprehend that, notwithstandir the " vast im-
provements" which the " march ofc intellect" has
brought about, if such an article were hung up
by way of experiment in the most populcius street in
London, with a watch-box on each side of it,and a man
with a scarlet waistcoat in front, for its protection, it
would very soon disappear without any of its official
guardians perceiving the sleight-of•hand, by which
the quick conveyance was made. Nay, the vicinity
of a watch-box would be thought by many, judging
from experience, as a sufficient reason for its insecu-
rity. The instance of the purse of gold, in Alfred's
reign is but an exaggerated picture of the protection
which property enjoyed under that vigilant and
energetic Sovereign. Such an anecdote, however,
could not have passed current for a fact, unless the
security of property had indeed been in that reign
extraordinarily great. In this respect the tenth cen-
tury had greatly the advantage of the nineteenth;
and certainly security of property, or its insecurity,
has always been taken as a strong test of the ability
or inefficiency of an existing government. With
us, as there is a division of labour in all the depart-
ments of the State, there is less excuse if -the duties
of each department are not adequately performed
than in those countries where one official personage
undertakEs to transact the business of several de-
partments. The office of Home Secretary, we admit,
would require a very assiduous, and perhaps trouble-
some attention, to make it a's useful to the country
as it ought to:be ; but then it has a salary of 6,0001.
per annum attached to it, which,along with the power
and elevated rank which it confers, should be, for
the most effective discharge of its labours, we think
an ample remuneration.—Morning Herald.
A good deal of speculation has been excited in
the City, at the length of time that has elapsed since
the date of the last official dispatches from Constan-
tinople. The last that were received from Mr.
Stratford Canning were dated the 10th ult. and ar-
rived on the 7th inst.; so that, calculating on the
same number of days for their transmission, we
might, without any extraordinary accident, have been
in possession at present of official letters, so late as
the 15th at least. There is one obvious way in
which this delay is to be accounted for, namely, by
the interposition of the Porte, either openly or pri-
vately, to prevent the despatches which our Ambas-
sadors may have attempted to transmit from passing
the frontier aid by laying, .e to private
letters it was alleged the Sultan intended, an
embargo on the European vessels in the ports
of Turkey. There is, indeed, another cause which
may have interfered to produce the delay.—
There are but two channels by which Mr.
Canning can communicate with London—by
Vienna, or by sea. Supposing that he had been
free to choose, and had selected the latter way, a
strong westerly breeze might have delayed the ves-
sel that carried his communications for a much
longer time. It is, of course, quite impossible to
say, from the state of the winds here, what has been
their direction or force in the Archipelago and the
Levant. The private letters which have come to
us through the foreign journals, state that the Am-
bassadors left Constantinople on the 15th. Some
of them do this on the authority of news received
at Jassy—some on the authority of intelligence
said to have reached Vienna on the 28th. If we
place any reliance at all on these unauthenticated ac-
counts, the utmost we can conclude from them
is, that on the 28th, intelligence had reached
Vienna to the 15th inclusive, five days later
than the date of our last despatches. .We
are, however, by no means disposed to be-
lieve, that any intelligence at all to be relied on
has been received from Constantinople later than up
to the 11th. Some of the Evening Papers have
boldly stated that despatches had been received by
Ministers up to the 22d, and that, in fact; such des-
patches were received every twenty-four hours by
some one or other of the Cabinet. A stray parcel has,
it may be presumed, from the authoritative way in
which the assertion is put fortb, by accident dropped
out of the bag as it passed down Ludgate-hill, pro-
bably the one which should have arrived on Mon-
day, as the discovery is only twenty-four hours old.
We hope we shall have it to-morrow at length.
It is only necessary, in answer to this piece of
wit, to remark, that the private letters from Con-
stantinople are no later in date than the public.
And although Ministers had been ever so careful,
and had succeeded ever so well in concealing the
arrival of the latter, it is not to be supposed they
could exercise any controul over the former. I. et-
ters are said, indeed, to have arrived in town to the
12th. But this we are inclined to attribute, not to
their being in reality any later, but merely to the
different mode observed in dating them. It will be
recollected that the famous "private" letter, about
which a contemporary held, for some eight days, so
ridiculous a racket, was ostensibly one day later
than the public despatches, although it came
by the same conveyance. We conclude, then,
that the despatches have been delayed, either
by being privately intercepted by the Porte, or from
Mr. S. Canning's being under surveillance, or from
the state of the wind. The last is ~by far the most
probable cause, and will, we dare say, prove to
have been the true one.—New Times.

THE SAGACIOUS DOG.--Au individual,
now residing in Canterbury, who has been in the service of
a gentleman On the Continent, has a dog of a mixed breed
of a setter and pointer, of extraordinary sagacity ; it is one
of four puppies which he assisted in rearing during his ser-
vice : this one always appearing to understand and attend
to what was said to him, excited the attention of the present
owner, who gave up portions of his time to instruct him,
and all those who have had an opportunity of seeing the
animal, are satisfied that it is not done by signs. The dog
is capable of distinguishing colours ; his principal perform-
ances arc with bread ; he will ascertain the number
of persons present, the number of ladies, how
many gentlemen have white neckcloths, how many
black ; lie will divide any number and reckon money, Bcc.,
in all of which he is sure to be correct. The bread is
broken and given to him : he eats it until he has taken the
number required, when no enticement will induce him to
pursue his task further, he is so exact that if be is asked
the 4th
.part of 5, he will take one piece, and will not
touch the next till it is broken into four pieces, when he
will take one and no more. The owner has lost his place
through indisposition, and with a wife and family is at
present wholly
supported by this faithful creature, who has
been exhibited at Bifrons, and several other families in the
neighbourhood,
where he is sure to excite waiver's' ad-