The Sun. — 1845-04-17 (London, England)

PUBLIC JOURNALS. FROM THE EVENING PAPERS OF YESTERDAY. GLOBE.—Sir Robert Peel is the male Catherine de Medicis of modern Conservatism. There is a real duplicity, as Ranks has said of his female prototype, not in his words, or in his actions only, but in his mind. He has two strings to his bow; he is always for sitting on two stools. This duplicity of view andof conduct, as in the lady above-mentioned, so in the present gentleman, after attempting to play one party against the other, ends at last in a violent crisis. Catherine first leaned towards the Protestants—and ended by enacting the Saint Bartholomew. Peel's Protestantism seems drawing to its catastrophe in a similarly violent situation. Re has driven his own original party to bay—and it stands at bay. He has thrown himself on Whig support ; and he will have to take it, we surmise, on Whig terms. Consistency of principle demands that the party in Apposition should speak their whole mind on the whole extent of the Irish Church question. It is forced upon them ; they have not factiously forced it upon the Government. On the contrary, they have, thus far, given the Government the most unreserved support. The public, however, has spoken out, and shown itself strongly persuaded that (as we stated) what is proposed is one thing— what is argued for is another. The Minister's act indicates intentions which are universally received with immense distrust. And his argumentative supporters make the matter worse. They demonstrate that much more remains behind. Mr. Gladstone on Friday, Mr. Milnes yesterday, let the cat terribly out of the bag. The country sees clearly enough that this is only a beginning of new church policy. And they will have Sir Robert Peel begin nothing of which they don't see the end. As an Irish dealer, they will buy no pig in the poke from him. Now, in this natter, the Opposition leaders have embarked in the same 'boat with Sir R. Peel. Unless, however, they mean to commit party suicide for the sake of his beaux yeux (to say nothing of the sartorial " sacrifices to the graces" which Mr. Grant has attributed to him)—they must declare all they would do with the Irish Churches, and how they would do it. The widest ssossible unpopularity has been already incurred by both parties. The party in power may get out of it how they can —that is no concern of the party in Opposition. What they have to think of is simply to connect their present conduct with their past professions ; and set forth, in their full extent, the principles on which they have followed the Ministerial move. Those principles may not be less unpopular than that move is—but, if true, they must make way. The unpopularity is incurred—toutest perdu fors rhonneter—it is for Opposition to take good care that honour, at least, shall be safe, and that the country shall know where to look for men—not to consult its momentary pleasure—bat to chalk out a clear future course. Sir R. Peel sits like Joe Miller's Jew at dinner, aghast at the sudden thunder-storm—" Here is a piece of work about one little bit of bacon ?" But the little bit of bacon leads the public to infer the whole hog. Even that little bit is more than the public will tolerate, without knowing what is to follow. Sir R. Peel has made the great mistake that he could keep Protestant zeal quiet by treating the thing as nothing new, while the Irish majority are to take it as something new. This is adding distrust and suspense to inevitable Protestant unpopularity. The duplicity is perceived ; and if it had not, his supporters have taken good care to disclose it. Two such speeches as Mr. Gladstone's and Mr. Milnes' involve all that Mr. Ward's motion menaced, and something more. They involve the positive patronage of the Romish priesthood, as teachers of the people, while Mr. Ward's motion only went to deal with surplus ecclesiastical funds (such as those Mr. Hume last night mentioned) for general educational purposes. Mr. Gladstone, therefore, and Mr. Milnes, go farther than Mr. Ward went towards directly superseding Protestant ministry as regards Roman Catholic masses. They would directly patronise another ministry, as effectual, where the former is ineffectual—and unless they uphold the preposterous absurdity, that where that acknowledged inefficacy exists, and where, on that very ground, they would erect State machinery to supply other agencies —the non-working wheels are to go on being oiled " for the look of the thing." and the public to be taxed for more oil for the working ones, as well as for putting them in gear " at first starting—unless this preposterous absurdity is asserted, Sir Robert Peel's argumentative adherents espouse the appropriation clause, and something more. Is it for the Whigs to dissemble that a new principle is involved here ; and to shrink from declaring that principle, in the whole extent to which they would act upon it? This appears simply due to themselves on the part of the Opposition. Mr. Milnes stated it to b' " his opinion that the country was not at the present time susceptible of the arguments which had been adduced in favour of the Bill." But he was just as great a sinner himself in the way as Mr. Gladstone. The country is susceptible of alarm, at all events ; and such speeches have done all that could be done to alarm it. Nothing more will be lost by explicitness; there is nothing now to be saved by silence. We once hazarded a fabled illustration of the ostrich gait of Sir Robert Peel's policy. But now the ostrich would screen itself by sticking its head in the sand, and, because it will not see its way, thinks that nobody else sees its whereabouts.