Star.
London, England, 1830-11-24 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE JOURNALS.

TutEs.—Lord Orey has announced, as the grounds on which he
means to rest the claims of his government to the national approbation
and support A correction of those abuses which have been intro.
duced by time into the representation of the people in Parliament. 2.
An unsparing retrenchment of all but the most unavoidable expenses In
the public establishments. 3. A •, complete system of non-interference

on all those questions which were now disturbing and distracting the
Continent of Europe. so far as the national honour would permit." We
conceive that, directly or indirectly, every duty of a minister, and every
right and interest of the nation, may be comprehended and provided for
under the above three heads. It is true that the promises made by Lord G.
are expressed in general terms; but we must also observe, that the princi-
ples are laid down clearly. Had the noble lord given pledges so detailed
and precise as to leave no room fur future controversy with regard to
their entire fulfilment, he must have desribed (now without having had
time to hold a single Cabinet Council) every separate and subordinate
future of plans, necessarily multifarious, for retrenchment and reform ;
and thus, without adverting to, or allowing for, a possible diversity
either of circumstance or opinion, have prematurely bound himself and
his colleagues to particulars, from an adherence to which the principles
themselves might have eluded them. One point, and of high moment,
has been secured by this declaration of the Minister, however seemingly
abstract his expressions: he has given up the plea as no longer tenable,
that antiquity is a paramount title to the retention of prima facie incon-
veniences, and time itself being stigmatized as a wrongdoer, is not suf-
fered to protect from public visitation the ills which have originated in it.

HVIALD.—The present Oovernmcnt has the advantage of having at
its head a man long known to the political world for those statesman
like talents which, though long excluded from power, have reflected
lustre on the Senate of England. It is true, his advanced age, if it
brings with it the advantage of great experience, must have somewhat
diminished the energies which the direction of the affairs of a great
empire, at a crisis of unexampled difficulty and peril, may be supposed
to demand. But his character for high and unblemished integrity, in
always refusing to accept of place at the sacrifice of his principles, united
to the enlightened moderation of his views, justly attracted to him thr
public confidence. Though austere in his deportment, and attached to
his order, he nu given, during a long public life, unequivocal proofs of
a comprehensive regard for the rights of the whole people. Hav-
ing no unworthy jealousy of the abilities of others, he has
formed an Administration strong in the variety of talent which
it possesses. But, disposed as we are to presage well of such a Mi-
nistry, we will only judge of it by its acts. We know that the temp-
tations and dangers by which it is beset would tuk the severest public
virtue and wisdom ; and we do not, therefore, presume to forestall the
verdict of the country. This Administration must stand or fall by
the pledges which they have given, and the principles which they pro-
fess. The chief attention of the public will be directed to their plan of
Parliamentary reform. This will be the criterion of their capacity to
govern a country circumstanced u England is at present ; for all pa-
wns who can reason on political affairs know that a system of retrench.
ment and economy can only work a temporary relief, unless the sources
of venal and corrupt influence be closed by an effective reform in Par.
liement. We stated, the other day, our view of the sort of Parliamentary
reform that ought to satisfy the country. We shall soon know whether
that which Ministers intend to propose coincides with it or not ; but, u
far as things have yet gone, we cannot but congratulate the country on
a change, which, whatever effect it may have on our domestic circum-
stances, seems to ensure the preservation of the peace of Europe.

PosT.—There is the question of Reform, upon which, as a vital
question, the opinions of honourable men might naturally be expected
to prove inflexible. Yet such is the marvellous talent for business of
the Noble Premier, that in five days he brings to his aid, in forming an
Administration expressly pledged to Parliamentary Reform, a whole
body of eminent and honourable Statesmen, who but the other day were
the devoted adherents of a Premier pledged as deeply to resist, to the end
of his life, Parliamentary Reform in whatever shape it might present
itself. If Mr Conning had still lived there is good reason to believe
that Lord Palme'ston. Lord Goderich, and Mr. Grant, would to this day
have been very decided opponents of Reform. Must not, then, the Pre-
mier's powers of persuasion be next to miraculous, when, in five days,
he has succeeded in convincing such men as these that
their support or opposition to a measure of vital importance to the
country, for good or evil, could properly and conscientiously be deter-
mined by the life or death of an individual ? But the greatest triumph
of all those which the noble Premier has achieved yet remains to be
told. He has found the means of reconciling Lord Brougham to the
substitution of such " ambiguous giving. out" on the subject of re-
form, of such obscure intimations and vague assurances as were con-
tained in his own speech, and in that of the Marquis of Lansdowne,
the other night in thellHouse of Lords, and which mean, if they
have any meaning, that the Reform to be proposed will be re-
duced to a minimum in the place of that distinct and effec-
tive scheme which the
Crnoble and learned lord had ready last week to
offer to3the House of ommons, which all the members of that house
now in theadministration would unquestionably have supported—which
was sure, as we have been repeatedly told by the friends of that ad-
mhdstration, to obtain a commanding majority, and which the noble
and learned lord had pledged himself in the most edema manner to
bring forward " on Thursday the 2bth inst. whoever might be minis-
ter."lf to surmount with the greatest apparent facility diSculties which
to ordinary apprehensions would have appeared altogether insuperable,
be a proof of merit, it is no more than justice to say that Earl Grey is
indisputably at the present moment the most meritorious man in the
whole universe.

Cuitaxtct.z—There is a material difference between a statement
that " the change of administration is one which cannot possibly affect
me," and " he could not by any possibility form any part of that go.
vernment, the creation of which he knew at the time to be inevitable."
The one merely goes to say, that as he was not in the ministerial ar-
rangement' the change could not by any possibility prevent him from
' bringing forward his motion on the 25th, which is merely saying in
other words, that had he been in the ministerial arrangements, it would
have been impossible for him to bring forward his motion. The possi:
bilk), does not refer to any determination of Lord Brougham never to
form any part of the administration. To take a familiar instance. Will
you accompany me to to dinner? "I am not invited; I can.
not possibly go." An invitation actives —the party accepts it. The
possibility here has no reference to a determination not to make one of
the dinner party, but to the not being at the time entitled to make one
of the party.

POST.— Our present Lord Chancellor (Brougham) has never other-
wise been distinguished than for his superabundant fluency of speech;
of deep legal knowledge his deficiency is most lamentably notorious.
It will therefore in all probability be deemed necessa►y, as was the case
on the occasion of the amiable Lord Erskine's elevation to the Wool.'
wick in a former Whig Administration, to have in the Cabinet some per-
son thoroughly versed In the laws r•f the land. In the instance of die
ridiculously self-named " Taleni Min 'sir," of which Lord Grey was a
leading member, the Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench was called
into the Cabinet, fa obvious violation of every principle of constitu-
tional justice; and if any such expedient be meditated on the present
occasion, we sincerely hope and trust that Earl Grey, from past experi-
ence, will not adopt so obnoxious a course. But should he even at.
tempt it, we are persuaded that Lord Tenterden (the present first
Lawyer of the Land) will not yield compliance, except in the event of
his neces►ary retirement from the Judgment Seat in consequence of the
declining state of his health ; in which case there would be nothing
either constitutionally irregular or legally dangerous in an arrangement
which in a Cabinet so constituted might be deemed indispensable to
the weU regulation of official affairs.

Tram.— The French Papers of Sunday, which arrived last night,
contain scarcely any news of interest or importance. In the journal
called Ls Globs, we find a protest by the Spanish patriots, on the
Pyrenees, against the order of the Minister of the Interior, commanding
them to leave the frontier, and to repair to Bourges. This order was
communicated to these unfortunate exiles by the Sub-Prefect of Bay.
onne, who was instructed to secure its strict execution, even by the
employment of coercive means, if necessary. The allowance to be
afforded to the officers on their journey was three half-pence a league
—a pittance allowed in passing vagrants front one Department
to another. The motive for this order was, on the part of
the French Ministry, a desire to avoid giving any reasonable
offence to Spain, by allowing enterprises against its peace to be organised
on the French soil. The protest, of course, embodies the disappointed
hopes and indignant patriotism of the exiles, without showing any re.
via to the law of nations, or the necessity of good neighbourhood.—
Their complaints, so far as we can gather them from their remonstrance,
are,--ist. That a body of officers, chiefs and generals, are treated like
vagrants, in being passed on from place to place on vagrant
allowances. 2. That in a free country like France, they are pre-
vented from choosing their place of residence, and are to be
confined to a particular district, like prisoners of war. S.
That they are prohibited from exert:Wag their right
an end to the tyranny of Ferdinand, by a Government awNisled
en the overthrow of that of the Bon:bone. 4. That the Invasion of a
French army having overthrown their constitution in 112 S, they are en-
titkri.to some compensation from the party in power sibs were opposed
to that Invasion. And sthly, That having received a kind of
ment from the French authorities at first, they an Dow treated,under
a more liberal Ministry, with Warming accts, Aar having
gnat eseriftees, and been reduced to extreme distress, by the of
their Ira megrim. They therefore conclude by pointing against the
I conduct of the Wendt Ministry, and appealing to the puska heart of
the Drench King.

NefFAL INTELLIGENCA.

&Wu Asuvao Tuns DAY—Dublin, 1 ; Waterford. 1.

The Navarino, Harrison, fr m St. Petersburgh to &fool, has put
int.) Fabrsund leaky, having been on shore at Fahro, and must dis-
charge to repair.
The Favourite. from Swansea to Waterford, was driven on shore on
Friday night, near Wexford. Crew saved.
The Henry, from Quebec to Penshwdd, was on shore near Llan-
madock ir.d inst. apparently much damaged. About half the cargo
disch ged.

The Catherine, Symonds, of Appiedote, was driven on shore near
Lianmadoek 22d inst. Crew saved.
The Win dins, of London, was driven on shore in the Shannon the
90th inst.

The Meteor, of Southampton, was driven on shore in Ballycotton
Bay the 20th i it.
The Felkity, Johns n, from Limerick to Glasgow ; and the Tiffin',
Dryden, from ditto to Liverpool, were dtiven on shore 20th inst. near
Bullrush ; the latter expected to be got off, the former full of water.
Deal., Nov. 23. Wind N.W.—Sailed the outward-bound.

Porramoum, Nov. 23.—Wind N.W. by W.—The Caesar, Wan,
arrived off here from Bengal, sailed from &. Helena the 11th ult. in
company with his Majesty's ship Falcon, Capt. Co!pays, bound to
Bermuda; and spoke, nu the 25th ult. in lat. 8. N. long. 24. W. kis
Majesty's ship Wolf, for India, all well. Arrived the Bussorab Mer
chant, —, from the Cape.
Piesrouxu, Nov. 22.—Wind S.W.—Arrived from London, the
Jane, Church, for Sydney (N.S.W.)
FALMOUTH, Nov. 22.—M hid W. strong breexes, and squally.—
Arrived off the port. the Amity transport, from Portsmouth for Co k.
Sailed the Tynan packet, for St. Domingo, Mexico. Jamaica, and
Havannah; and Camden packet, fur the Leeward Islands. Arrived
the Matilda, Nloore. from Pains. Off the port. the Europa, Ellis,
from Babia ; and Dania, Bell, from Bay Chaleur.

STATE OF THE COUNTRY.