The Sun. — London, England, 1831-01-27 00:00:00

) /7 • , 1 k i In a few days, in 3 vols. HE INCOGNITO ; or Sins and • 1 ~,! ;‘ .4 . 4 , I .>: - .Re; < 4 ` ;- :' II 0 1 el -,....,..---, JO Peccadillos. .4..1.-1LT174, . ,: 1 ,;-,,...,,-.- ~.._. `k"--.74,; / I' B --77- 1 to ; By the Author of " The Castilian," &c. • t •,.. n.i.l kr - ,* . iii' 0 '''' , .j, Whittakrr, 'I reacher, and Co., Ave Maria-lane. - . --.tn. , • ~, -- r, 1 ;4 1 31~ , .f.., - ,. ~::ni• .. , . ' / `tom n..J • ' iz.. ' i In I '' reJ 0 'ED MEXICAN AIINING ASSOCIATION. 14, --', " ~ _...... ' ' ca ": ..1•,. ii '-',-- ~.i; b. - , (.. !d 11 ' r No. 13, Old Broad - street, Jan. 26, 1831. '-' 'in ' ' - '.. ) --. -- ki t t t. 34 , . , 1.. , „ , ~,, ' li ft fl - `-' I. ' v P.ll , • , ' T ILE is hereby given, that the HALF ined ia it,,,,YEARLY GENV,RAL AIEETING of PRO -00. '•....•,_ j__ , , Lr _,:...- ---,. _ '''', 1; ; ',l , `%'''. ' -- - 1- % ' wl•,fig.,. ..s , fiti, ' ,:.t - ~ ' A 0. _ _________ Ili ft) - 4° ES, held thh; d At the City of London Tavern, _ -- hem,' mittel Beta, i to 11] ,b e _..... ~ay, a.'.. , 14 , b `'ell Meeting, ADJOURNED to Wednesday 4. siae ,'" e 2 ' l of February, at the of f ice of the Association, was P u " i I •, ' 3 , Old 1, nacre ( ' * LLOT r 14 of , road.strept, for the ELECTION, by TWO DIRECTORS, in lien of James )bstruct ll4 iNlte, : tti gned Jun , and Henry Cazenove, E-qs., who have tOql, • halt•pet Ar..e Ballot to be taken between the hours of Ten and e prisoner o l ve o'clock, mice, vvb ° 0.---...,_ fore, No. 11,974 RICHARD HEATHFIELD, Sec. there.- , a t whic_ll,l FACT INDIA HOUSE, JAN. 26. 1831. 11: 1 E COURT of DIRECTORS of the UNITED COMPANY of MERCHANTS of iv e N ati D Trading to the EAST INDIES do hereby ; totk the TRANSFER BOOKS of the said Company's , r k be SHUT on TUESDAY, the Bth March next, 4,,'lree o'clock, and OPENED again on TIIUKSD Y, the ,phApril following. tid QUARTERLY GENERAL COURT of the 1 411„` 11) ANY will be held at their House in Leaden ?je;:rett, WEDNESDAY, the 23d March next, at I , li n o'clock in the Forenoon. rill at i a GENERAL COURT of the said COMPANY h eld at their House in Leadenhall-street on WED- 4- z the 13 t h A pr il next , f rom Ni ne o ' c l oc k i n the y f t s L n g until Si x i n t h e E ven i ng , f or t h e ELECTION D IRECTORS of the said Company for Four Z ,4 " th a t the LIST of the MEMBERS of the sa i d PI LIY will be ready to be delivered at this House on .4)41', the 29th March next. tier) c e, with eNce nself in $ He, 11 0 compelle into ei!! z John rj" bearing, v j mai %VW! ?.ntly (an d l !n) that b e is in beto i l l passed 1 . 1 , ing cert ian and d with th/ e, none Orl ke otherl it ; —you' i the wit ig i , mother la PETER AUBER, Secretary. - ‘'"A r ERY OF A DEAD CHILD IN SHOOTER'S-HILL WOOD. rep lied I my lie Zie:.: i ew days ago the remains of a child were dis iore„red in Shooter's-hill Wood, under very extra dowliarY and shocking circumstances, and the fol ' 4 s ' n g facts were elicited at the inquiry before Mr. °r(j).-.„P" CARTTER the Coroner, which took place at iitttrvte.ri!t_'s, .the ' C heers Inn, Eltham : tia , ei farmer t r it a o l n or;, e a dneay residing in the village, de d morning, the 19th instant, of t te mnparlied the Rev. Mr. Myers, the clergyman 11 1 ,,. ° Parish, on a shooting excursion, and had with :11; - ( ;•; d a couple, of dogs; they scoured Shooter's-hill lei, '4 about eleven o'clock, and were about to leave ar i d el ,,the dogs darted into a thick part of the wood ,thi ''cl not come back to their well-known call ; foijo' circ umstance induced witness and his friend to to k w t hemthrough the thicket, when, upon coming At 1 : °11 of foot-p at h, they discovered the pointers de - „ rt Tthing which t h e y were busily an d eager ly 11 0 1 : ° , 4 'ng• They a pp roa ch e d the spot, an d to t h eir • p rlrt r-r and surp r i se , t h ey f oun d t h e su b stance to b e tr e °f the body of a dead infant. The lower ex ttriii'lies had been completely devoured by, the ani.. ex f. Witness and Mr. Myers with difficulty beat n viu de 6 m, a Off, and proceeded imm e di a t e ly int o th e el k - ti gr Where they gave information of the dreadful `.k uodi a;nstatednce to the constable, who removed the i: L remains for surgical i ns p e ctio n . Th e •, ,,,r, wa. und resse d, b ut wrappe d i n a p i ece o f ezti,tht It had a pp arent l y b een b ur i e d un d er t h e 0 14, a f ew inch es , an d t h e d ogs h av i ng scente d it 1 c ratehed i t up . fti,, lll Rev. Mr. Myers stated that he was with his a'n o - d 4 When the shocking discovery was made in the lie,: i mmediately behind Henry's cottage. The titat! Gentleman corroborat e d M r . M orr i s i n h is to te t nent i n ever y p ar ti cu l ar , a ddi ng , t h at h e was .40 , r , t blY alarmed at the circumstance, that he did iti s- t ° r ) to examine the object, but left it with dls• the w ith his f r i en d, to give the constable notice oi . It 4 016 • Itt„ has here stated that the spot where the infant fr onl Tund was a sort of path through the wood, k i ne high road. thatr. he Steadman, surgeon, of Eltham, stated, the he had 1 • of the body of -tie dexamined the remains deco de infant, which was in a sad state of lrd l l l l l P ° sition. The legs were much gnawed, as 111 04 teit stated, by t h e p o i nter s. H e was o f opi kid f lla t the body h a d b een d ea d a t l eas t a mon th, ehdd 1r the its app e a ra n ce it had been a full- g rown th at ! i an d he was of opinion, from outward signs, It nad been born alive. rri. Verdicta Jury, after some consultation, returned a de ad that the deceased child unknown was found t ak in the wood, but bow or by what i e there there was no evidence before the jurors, Th, -- t troubl el t it. I.; of your ne, and ences, et v 'could till IRMO' rring 0. 1 an earli len both ' Gradastg number ° :ing's C A ° urea prelim' rho he, ;take or ,ing Wad ommou ° his the i 'flan lo offends may be of jell' tokens 4 ____________. to t `" letters and apers from the Mauritius are 6 1 : e 2, 1 Oct, , there is , no truth in the reported insur -4.4in of the 'legne:4 the Ihe threatened run on the Banks of Ireland, 4 itti l4 " r use of the agitators,has produced a partial stag °, :, .. . s'Ar t he Irish OFFICIAL. KALENDAR FOR 1831. de r ° are requested to state that Burke's Official li.alen ov,f,:r 1831, comprising all the recent cl.anges..tihn the Nj "u'ent of the United Kingdom, together with 14.4. as Promotions, &e. in the Army and Navy, the New lal Lt,e°t ' B ‘e 1 will be published on Thursday neat, t e ..s ' - the only complete CEe e i • 6d. This will be found i i luar. ta,AiItLIAMENTARY INFLUENCE OF THE %ft),Nl)l4 CO MPANY.-Ten Directors of the East India th tee 'Y ' i t in the House of Commons,—returned by ikt,, !roPrietary boroughs, four boroughs containing seoe Opt:. thein 850 voters; one Scotch burgh, one. smalll litla r Y) eenfaining 161 votes. Independent of their reerto'lle:etf. 3 00/. a piece, or 3,0001. between them, these a ., f th e - u ur ing a patron'age to bear directly upon the v o o o tes . eer'v.„--"qlse, amounting yearly to not less than 250,0 ordered t r) h i • e ''s froin their share (according to the accounts rae sl tirt: r ril ited in 1826 and 1829), of the following ra:hei average Chi na of annuala appointments—viz. one . write p 6,0 00 ' , 4 0 001. ; sixty•eight writerships to . lndia at et 400-1;,460 'military, medical, and clerical appointments, t he I nd ' i each. This is exclusive of the local patronage of Pa eY' - ..1, 4 : 11911 5e, and p ttronage connected with the Cornd the ti"'PPing. with the supply of stores for India . , an eild ,"ig in vestments. Of the fifty-one Proprietors, itoetito,tners ' ..; , .11 Patliament, exclusive of the Directors, The n urnl, l , "Vat are returned by proprietary boroughs. D. N I rof votes at the India House possessed by the . me .; 100a.aci Proprietors having seats in Parliament, is exactly tm2oo)lPfhich, at the present price of stock, are wo .) r e t r t a i t 5 iti ul 4 Piece ; so that the personal interests of meml ' 2 0,0d 0 1- ed in maintaining the monopoly to the extent of alle on There are seventeen Peers possessed ofthi r r o ty s- - st ak , d i'e at the India House, and have near relations ote / °f eighteen votes, making between them forty-nine •12' Ives% 107,8001. -..1..1z ***-414. B A RD AND SARNEY, THE CONVICTS. l atie - .z itir, Jaw. 25 . —These two men, v . .. ho ,at the the for She trials at Aylesbury, under the special cin . int th e j , the county of Bucks, were left for execution . ehinpuut", Lavin.. been convicted of breaking paPel-ma ef Iv - .. 4t High Wycombe, have been in that state of misery, it . blebh, setne idea may be formed, when it is known tla Of 11,"?tertained not the slightest hope of a commutati on ttithe'leir sentence. Of the two, BLIZZARD has shown lia, L roore nerve ; but the general condition of both ultte - T a verY deplorable. BLIZZARD is a short, mus tsli, taller, and vulgar-looking an, about 30 ; S A R " i r is ,1/4and h ell-Proportioned, grey-headed, of decent exterior, 110,"ween 0 and 60. The former has been a farmer' s bamorer, and it has been remarked, that as be was never hi t Y'd at the paper -mills there was time less excuse fur ' i rn e s u i lPabil itY; but the fac ' t is, that though he has not ftrtre4 Worked at them his wife has, and has been a suf et Nafr,°4l want of employment ' by the recent introduction bter..-I"irlerY• SARNEY, ashas been before stated, kept a ti,ll 1.,::,(1:,,,,,t,!,nedre. most of those implicated in the riots , art. r, Larouse, and talk over their real or ima slut' ,g tevances. On Monday morning, at half-past Peti t °tleek, Mr. SHERIFF, the governor of the gaol, ex 4, '.' e eci the g r ati fi cation of receiving, through the High lio riff ' itod from the noble Secretary of State for the tihe:tt,ol-/e_Per.tment, a respite, unlimited as to time, " for ottri., ,orivtets under sentence of death." They were in th,vut that though their lives would probably be spared, let:t,Were not to expect that their punishment would be • li te ?sti transportation for the remainder of their days. toh4ltelligenee of tile respite soon spread thgh the IN N !rut nei ghbourhood of Aylesbury, and it rou was re 'ii all quarters with great satisfaction. LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, JANUARY 27, 1831. PRICE 7D. temple and the palace,' the crown and the coronet, the lawn and the ermine, the mitre, the mace, and the truncheon, with all the pomp and paraphernalia of office—rani: and order--wealth, commerce, agri culture, manufactures, arts, sciences, and literature, all—all descend together into the gulf of irretriev able ruin ; and England —once the generous, the brave, the fair, and free—England, once the queen of cations, who had her right hand upon the river St. Lawrence, and her left upon the Indus and the Ganges, shall have to sit down amidst the loneliness of her misery and desdation—bare, disconsolate, and forsaken—forgetful even of her wretchedness, her sackcloth, and her ashes—amidst the roiling thunders of Jehovah I Such is the kind of revolu tion we abhor and deprecate; from such a catas trophe may Almighty Mercy deliver us !—(Mr. Bridges sat down amidst the enthusiastic applause of the meeting.) The resolution was then put and passed unani mou ly. J. G. SMITH, Esq. barrister-at-law, then rose and spoke as follows :—On general grounds, and without entering further into details, I avow that I most earnestly desire the House of Parliament to be effec tually reformed. As to the precise mode in which this should be done, I would say that I have the most perfect reliance on the wisdom and integrity of the present Ministry, and would only desire the public voice to be raised in support of the measures they have pl4dged themselves to bring forward, and to strengthen them against the opposition of their adversaries. I will, however, say whh reference to what has fallen from the Chairman, relative to the representation of boroughs, that the franchise should immediately be transferred from those places where no electors exist to populous towns which at pre sent hare no voice in the legislature. The imme diate result of this measure would tend greatly to forward the cause of Reform. Instead of forty or fifty votes being returned at the beck of Ministers, so many individuals would be elected who, it might be presumed, would be the organs of expressing the true wishes of the people and of the nation at large. —(Cries of " The ballot, the ballot.") With re spect to the question of the ballot, I cannot say I have any great objection to its adoption. I must, however, confess that I have felt the force of the objection, that it is not so open—not so honourable as public voting.—(llisses, which continued until the Chairman interposed to restore order.)—Allow . me to explain : while I pay respect to the opinions of others, gentlemen, I will not express my own on any other terms. I say, I have no particular objec tion to the ballot—if necessary to purity of election, then, by all means, let us have it.—(Cheers.) T. SANDERS, Esq. then proposed his resolution. I am a decided friend for vote by ballot. I think there can be no difficulty in coming to this determination. It is notorious that the present Parliament does not represent the voice of the people, but I have every dependance on the Ministry of the present day, and believe it to be composed of some of the ablest men we ever had. I believe them honest. One of them has declared, in his seat, that the day was gone by when a Minister could hope to rule by patronage. I will, at present, only second the motion. The CHAIRMAN was about to put the resolution, when Mr. F. JONES, and HARAIAN VISGER, Esq., rose simultaneously to address the meeting. The Chair man said the latter gentleman had first caught his eye, and Mr. Jones reluctantly yielded the priority. H. VISGER, jun. Esq —Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen—The sun of light . and liberty, rolling onward in his course, promises, ere long, to burst forth with resplendent brightness on England. The changes we have lately been called on to witness have been immense. I feel particular pleasure in yielding my support to the resolution now before the meeting, because I conceive it goes to the full length of laying bare the roots of the evils that afflict our country. I rejoice at this opportunity of expressing my rentiments; I rejoice, also, at the present prospect of Reform. Let us consider how the House of Commons is constituted. It has been stated that nearly three-fourths of the number com posing the Commons are returned by Government patronage and boroughmongering influence, leaving only 171 members elected by the voice cf the people which, in such an assembly, must be totally downed. I would call the attention of the meet ing to the vast power which this anomaly throws into the hands of the landed Aribtocracy. Let us take a glance at the manner in which they have used this power, and we shall see how they have abused it, and also how it bears on the present ques tion. The war with France was undertaken to pre vent the people of England from asserting their rights, and to divert them from obtaining a free re presentation, and the .country was leagued with despots to put down popular opinion. With wars, it became necessary to have armies, and numerous offices were created, which admirably afforded the means of providing situations for the younger sons of the aristocracy, and of putting money into the pockets of themselves and their relatives. What shall we say of that iniquitous measure, the Corn Laws ? The House of Lords and the House of Commons thought it would be a good plan to devise some means of putting a large sum into their pockets. The question, then, naturally arose—from what did they get their incomes ? and an expedient was hit upon to enhance the rent of land. They accord ingly made a law, the object of which was to raise the price of wheat; and, indeed, to such an infamous extent did they carry this measure, that they abso lutely prohibited the importation of foreign corn until the home produce rose to 80s. per quarter.— (Hear, hear.) They forgot the miseries which this measure would inflict on the great mass of the popu lation, whose chief subsistence is bread. By this iniquitous measure, the industry of our country has been depressed, and foreign nations, who, in exchange for their corn, would have taken our manufactures, have been driven to retaliatory measures, which have operated generally to the injury of trade. The Corn Laws are a tax upon the country to the amount of 20,000,000/. annually. While on this subject I would just remark, that the aristocracy have been too successful in rendering prevalent an opinion, that the interests of the productive agriculturists are identified with their own, in upholding the Corn Laws. This, however, is a great mistake. Another proof of the selfish principle upon which they hare acted are the Game Laws, which reduce to the lev&l of felons some of our most promising young men. The aristocracy in Parliament propose laws to increase their own employments, disregard less of their tendency to demoralise the more humble classes of the community. To what shall we attri bute the Bank monopoly but to beroughmongering influence, which places at the mercy of a few indivi duals the mercantile interests and the credit of the whole nation? To what, also, but to this paralyz ing influence can we attribute the East India mono poly, and an imposition of a tax of one million and a half annually on the people of England, for the be nefit of a private company, while the people are pro hibited from trading where others are free to go from all parts of the world ? To China the ships of America, and of other nations, are free to carry car goes from this country, or from their own, while the people of England are denied any participation in this lucrative trade. I need not mention the enor mous sinecures—the waste of public money—the abuse of patronage in the Customs and Excise de partments, where offices are bestowed on the minions of some great man—(" Davis," "Davis")—as the rice of his being returned to Parliament. To what , . rs _ _ • - &". a-risystp. attribute theaerdbestowment of elite ele property—(Cheers)—but the venal intitien'ee to which I have adverted. To what attribute those " 11/ intolerable nuisances, self-elected Corporationa, 'so . • a- totally opposed to the very nature of the Constitti s : c ? , thee who levy taxes destructive to the trade and injurious to the interests of this rind other cities aate •, -,----- where they exist.—(Hear.) To th e same cause we •\, I may attribute the delays and expenses of our courts • ofjustice. All—all might be traced to one eon-linen source—the corrupt state of our representation. The second resolution was then put and carried unanimously. Mr. Ithees now rose, and said—Mr. C . hairne and Gentlemen, I shall not take up your time torpor' a subject which has been so ably brought before the meeting. The facts are so clear, and the necessity of Reform 20 evident, that in rising. to prove the necessity, I feel myself in the situation of a mat; who endeavours to establish a truism, (Mr. Mille here read several extracts from the speeches of Wm. Pitt, when he brought forward his measures of form before the days of his apostacy.) Mr. Milis then continued to say—l am sorry to say the apostle did not always abide by the doctrines which he preached ; he was met, as the advocates of Reform are now met, by the declarations from Hon. :%lem hers, that " things are very well as they are," and that " the people are indifferent to the que•tion:" —(Cries of" gioens and biases.) But I hope to see the day, when no Member shall dare to rise in his place and say that the citizens of Bsis tol are indifferent to the cause of Reform.—(Cheers, and cries of " Where was Baillie ? why did not be contradict it p 0) • C. GEORGE, Esq. said, let us support the preseet, Ministry in their measures of Reform, for be tissreed es ea if Canning failed, that Grey at l P.teeigaam will never be able to succeed without our support., now they have declared war upon sinecures and t Ire pen sion list. In illustration of the demoralizing of ets of the present system, I will beg leave to relate one circumstance which 1 have never 'Revd contradicted, and which I believe to be true :—The late Duke of Beaufort left, by will, 500/. per year to each of the younger branches of his family, until they were bet ter provided for by the state. Ido not wish to impute dishonourable motives to the present Duke, but I ask what security had the country for his in dependence in Parliament, knowing that his vote, by influencing the Minister in his distribution of places, might place money in his pocket to the amount of four er five thousand pounds annually ? It is, Sir, to the want of a Parliamentary Refortsi, that we are to attribute the American war; and seta) can think of America, without pride—America, the daughter of England, growing early great by the adoption of the very principles which ive cherish With a population that seems but as a speck in comparison with that of Russia, she fears not the Northern Autocrat, for her people are united. Such a union of feeling I hope exists in Poland . (Cheers.) Taxation must be equalized. The rich do not pay their just proportion, for taxation is no thing more than insurance upon property, and like every other insurance, the payments should be iu proportion to the risk. Under-the present system, the clerk, with a paltry salary of 1001. per year, pays iii some instances as much as his master, who is in the receipt of thousands. Is this just ? At Glouces ter, there is an Alderman said to possess nearly two millions sterling; he expends about 1501. per an num, and his clerk, who receives from him about the same sum annually, contributes as much.to the state as his master. Parliamentary Reform would cure this crying evil. Ido not think we can do better than return to the triennial Parliaments, which existed in the reign of King William 111., and which were unfortunately changed to septennial in the early part of the reign of George I. We want to do away with; the East India monopoly. What right have the East India company to tax us to the amount of a million annually; to deprive us of that which is our birth-right--the liberty of trading with all parts of the world ? There might have been some excuse for granting an exclusive charter, when the object was to nurse a young and promising trade, but to perpetuate it at a time when capital abounds, is infamous. We mast also have a Reform in the Established Church. A Churchman, myself, m part I do not think antayrTtte t ho,h h 3l erp a eboo t oma:old t i.arl h osyt aiti;italriolieen,elpshngouto:ua,pubnhitenseol the drl s heeelis h i establishment butiehel.nori his meritorious aeAs p i rdti o udiri s sn e n6i .0)011 visiting f u ea e m h distributed. o purso Clergy,pth in our sick, and instructing our children, should be paid a w t in t e he la r z a y te ne o c f As I believe the progress of true religion mainly depends on the state of the Church, I would equa lize the livings and the Bishoprics ; I would abolish translations; and, as I think the Bishop is called by duty to reside in his diocese, I would rather riot see him seated in the House of Lords.—(lmmense cheering.) The Reform we seek is due to us, and we must and we will have it—(Cheers)—still we a ill seek it orderly; and I believe if the people of England will but support the Government, it is se cured to them. In such men as Grey, Brougham, Althorp, and Holland, I place the most unlimited cot fidence. (Mr. George here read the resolution, and proceeded to say)-1 came here with the pur pose ot taking Mr. Davis to task for the expressions imputed to him in Parliament—(Cheers)—but be fore I did this, I thought it might be as well to as certain the fact as correctly as possible.—(Applause.) 1 referred to a publication which is considered almost official—the Mirror of Parliament; and I find from that, that Mr. Davis did riot directly say what was imputed to him in the papers, but that his speech is made to imply so much. The occasion was this : a Member had stated that the people were indifferent to the cause of Reform ; to which Sir F. Denman replied, that it was " very well for that gentleman to say so, who in all probability had no constituents at all—(he was, I believe, Member for some such place as Old Sarum)--but he should like to hear some gentleman who represented a large city, like Bristol or Liverpool, make the same con fident assertion." Upon this Mr. Davis rose and said, "I, Sir, accept your challenge : 1 am Member for Bristol, and I have been returned by a larger number of electors than any other Member in the House." See, my fellow-cititizens, what mischief you have done by voting for this man. Mr. Davis did not positively assert that you were indifferent to the cause of Reform, but the speech was made to imply as much. The third resolution was then put arid carried. JOSEPII REYNOLDS, Esq., in moving the fourth resolution, said,—Sir, nothing but a sense of duty should have induced me to intrude myself on your notice on a public occasion of this nature, and I now attempt it from a belief that our country is in danger, in circumstances more perilous than at any period which has occurred since the revolution in 1688, when tyranny and the Stuarts were expelled from the throne of Britain. This danger, I con ceive, is in part attributable to two cases :-Ist, to the poverty which is so rapidly encroaching upon and oppressing the lower and middle orders of so ciety, as to threaten the country with bankruptcy and ruin. 2tily, to the loss of that good old Eng lish feeling of good-will and mutual kindness which used to exist between the lower and higher orders in society, which is supplanted by a repulsive feeling of estrangement, that has probably arisen in part from unwise and oppressive laws, and partly from the same cause which has increased our burdens be yond the ability to support them. I mean, the system of influence and patronage, which has for a long time governed this country, by an expenditure of the public money profuse and extravagant beyond example—which has given to wealth and splendour that estimation which used to be paid to noble an cestry, or those public services which of themselves conferred consideration and respect; but now a man n g:r ' s n a l ; whose connections enable him to obtain office, and whose talents qualify him to fulfil the duties of it, is not sufficiently respectable to fill a public station, unless he has a large income, and therefore, lar andt them salariesem the acceptableare e a lthadded w ealthy ; ;t o t o butt a h l et l by h eo o seu n i n ,og u ifie ra rc b e l .s e c: (: n ! u ci t s , ththil REFORM IN PARLIAMENT. BRISTOL PUBLIC MEETING. (From the Bristol Mercury of Tuesday.) A numerous and highly respectable meeting of the inhabi-ants of this city was held on Friday las: in the Guildhall, for the purpose of taking into con sideration the expediency of petitioning for a Re form in the representation of the people in the House of Commons. The number and respectabi- lity of the names attached to the requisition which had been sent to the Mayor, as well as the present peculiar circumstances of the country, occasioned the meeting to be looked forward to with intense interest. The hour appointed for the chair to be taken was twelve o'clock ; and, ere that time ar rived, the Hall was literally crammed with all classes of our fellow-citizens. The Committee, and many of the more respectable inhabitants, were permitted to enter by a private passage. When the doors were thrown open to the public, the rush was tre mendous, and " the ballot" was the first exclama tion that struck our ear. Indeed, the ardour with which every one seemed disposed to enter upon the business of the day, at once refuted the imputation that Bristol was indifferent to the question of Re form. S!,ortly Mole the appointed hour, On the motion of A. PALMER, Esq., seconded by R. BRIGHT, Esq., Mr. TAUNTON, barrister-at law, was called to the Chair. The Ctimasiiin—Gentlemen, the progress of wealth has given to the rich a greater degree of in fluence over the poor, than is consistent with British liberty. That some measure is necessary to protect them, no one will deny; and the expedient pro posed as most conducive to that effect, is the ballot.—(lntmense cheering.)—Gentlemen, I cannot but be struck with the acclamations with which the word ballot•has been raceived ; but it is impossible that we should all agree on this expediency; it has, therefore, been thought best to preserve unanimity, that the ballot should be suggested to Parliament —(Applause)—as an expedient, or any other mode equally efficient, leaving the decision to their wis dom.—(Disapprobation.)—l shall conclude by en treating you to bear in mind the purpose for which you have been called together. 1 will only state that the best and most happy means of redress would be that conceded by the united voices of King, Lords, and Commons; but I entreat you to bear in mind that if the Houses of Parliament refuse to listen to us, the King, by the advice of his Ministers, is perfectly competent to grant us very nearly, if not entirely, all that we want.—( Applause.) .1r,lls; HARE, Esq.—l rise, Sir, to present a letter which I have just received from a gentleman for whom I entertain a very high regard, and who, ss hen in Parliament, showed himself an uncompro mising advocate for Parliamentary Reform. I mean Mr. Edward Protheroe, jun.—Mr. Hare then handed the letter to the Chairman, who immediately pro ceeded to read it. It was as follows : Gaddesden, Hemel Hempstead, Jan. 18, 1831. SIR,--It has been a• subject of serious consideration with me, whether I should attend tlke meeting, which I rejoice to see has been summoned at Bristol, to take into consideration the propriety of petitioning for a Reform in Parliament. I observe, with much pleasure, that the nufnerous signatures to the requisition comprise the names of most respectable geptlemen who at the late elec tion were unfortunately placed in opposition to one an other, though agreeing in general politics. It is this cir cumstance which decides my conduct, as my taking any part in the discussion of the meeting might, at.this mo ment, have a tendency to retive party feelings, and to create a division of sentiment, where cordial unanimity is so essential for the credit and success of our cause. I trust, therefore, that by denying myself the gratification of meeting my fellow-citizens upon this interesting occasion, I shall not appear to act inconsistently with the princi ples I have so ardently professed, and I shall feel highly iadebted to you if you will have the kindness to read this brief explanation to the meeting. I have the honour to remain, Sir, Your obedient humble servant, EDWARD PROTIIEROE, Jun. To tl.e Chairman of the Reform Meeting, Bristol. The CHAIRMAN having read the letter, said " the logic of it is not easy to understand." ARTHUR PALMER, Esq. then rose. Allow me, fellow-citizens, to say a few words to you upon the important, all-important subject on which we are now met, a Reform in the representation of the people in Parliament, now so loudly and so univer sally called for throughout the kingdom. In my humble judgment the time is at length arrived when a Reform in Parliament must take place, which is imperiously necessary for the preservation of our Constitution, and the rights and liberties of English men ; after being advocated during the past half century, and, among other great men, by the turn coat Mr. Pitt, afterwards the idol of the Ultra-To ries and the Anti-Reformers, who, almost fifty years ago, when out of office, declared that no ho nest man could sit in the House of Commons as then constituted ; and, Gentlemen, it still continues alike constituted as at that period; except by the addition of one hundred Members for Ireland, in consequence of the union; and who, %Olen he got into office, and continued in power upwards of 20 years, took no step to procure or encourage such Reform. His great talents, however, can no longer hurt our cause;, but the field is open, and most proous ing to every real lover of his country and its Constitu tion. Many persons in this hall will probably be much'. surprised to hear the following statement, as to the persons who choose the great majority of the House of Commons :—Sir, there are 218 Members returned by 87 Peers in England and Wales-31 Members by 21 Peers in Scotland-51 Members by 36 Peers in Ireland. And there are 137 Mem bers returned by 90 Commoners in England and Wales-14. Members by 14 Commoners in Scot land-20 Members by 19 Commoners in Ireland— and 16 Members nominated by Government. So that there are 300 Members of Parliament sent in by Peers, and 187 by great Commoners and Borough mongers, including 16 by the Government. Four hundred and eighty-seven Members are therefore thus improperly sent into the House of Commons, out of the whole number of 658, being considerably more than two-thirds of all the Members which constitute the House. And, to complete the picture, these 487 Members are sent into the House, it may be said returned, by 267 Lords and great Com moners. This leaves but 171 to be chosen inde pendently by the people, and these too, when some of the great manufacturing and trading towns, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, &c., are not repre sented, these having no right to elect Members of Parliament. Gentlemen, it is no wo n d e r that you are all surprised —every man must be so. Is it pos sible that any reasonable man can think this ought to be the state of the representation of the people in any country that has a popular form of Govern ment ? If there be such a man, he is formed with such intellects, and such a mind, and entertains such opinions, as I cannot possibly comp re h en d. Th e English Constitution, gentlemen, in its genuine state, is modelled upon a most nobl es an d excel lent plan. The legislat ive, judicial, and executive powers, are •so connected, interwoven, and yet separated, and form such an equilibrium between prince and people, that one would be led to sup pose it impossible for despotism, f avour i t i sm, or j faction, to disturb the ustbalance, or turn any of its springs to sinister or pricked . purpo ses ; an d so it would be, if the Constitution were pres erve d i n its original purity ; but we see this bulwark of our liberty and happiness almost subverted and thr own down by the stratagems and politics of designi ng , self-interested, corrupt, factious, ambitious, and senior Ind all le entl imed servile men, whose eves are averted, from . the people's good, liberty and peace; the objects of such men being their own private and ambitious views and pursuits : who, under the mask of pre tended patriotism, and their country's goad, and bawling, perpetually bawling, about loyalty, b etra y her liberty, and s a p h e r very foundations. It is said of our Constitution,—" Ponderibus libratd Buis;"-- " Poised by its own weight"—and so it was in tended to be, but time, that greatest of all inno vators, so called by the philosopher Bacon 200 years ago, and the selfish passions bf men, have sadly disturbed the lever. S;r, a practical Reformer of any ancient and long-established institution, well knows that every individual phantom is called forth to affright him, by bigotted men, and especially by those who profit and live by the continuance of the defects and abuses which time, and the selfishness of men, have produced. These bugbears are pre cisely the same, and succeed in the same order, and go through the same antic tricks, each time that any amendment or reformation is proposed, and they troop it as nimbly, and look as horrid, when the very smallest change is named, as when there would, by any inconsiderate and intemperate Reformer, be a proposal of uptearing the building from its founda tions. The bigotted cry is always the same, and always loud and boisterous—!et things alone! doiNf touch the building! veneration for old establish ments ! wisdom of past ages ! pillars of the state torn down ! moving land-marks! unsettling the whole order of things ! ignorance! rashness! and louder still, no innovation ! lie innovation! no inno vation ! till the bigot is exhausted and breathless. This has been the cant and cry of the bigotted and selfish from the beginning of time; and will always continue till Governments are made as perfect as the capabilities and the talent of man will permit. I might here ask, where would Britons now be, but for gradual improve ment from age to age ? Why, Sir, he would remain a Piet, with his body painted, or perhaps tatooed. But, though the wary and experienced Reformer well knows all these • bugbears, and is ' proof against them, his well-meaning, but less. dis ciplined supporters, know them not; and with the multitude at large, they exercise a fearful sway. How often soever the phantoms appear, they are always clothed.in terror for the ignorant and unre fleeting ; and they render the task of the upright Reformer always difficult, often hopeless. At pre sent, however, we have every animating hope before us ; the voice of the people is with us. Thank God, the mind of man is upon the march; not un holy triple armies, however numerous, nor all the armies of the whole earth, can conquer public opinion ; its progress may be retarded by violence and bigotry, but it is our happiness to know that it will finally prevail for the ultimate good of mankind. It is a grand and most interesting spectacle we have before us, by the mind's march ; and another half century, most probably half that period, or, perhaps, a much shorter time, will work wonders throughout Europe ; and afterwards, or, perhaps, simultaneously, throughout Asia and Africa, and regenerate the whole world. Mr, P. then read the first resolution. MATTHEW BRIDGES, E 511 .2 in rising to second the resolution proposed by Mr. Palmer, said will any ' one deny that we are on the eve of a crisis ? Will any one affirm, that a real lover of his country, or mankind, may now sit down with his hands before him ? That we are to let things, take their natural course, careless of the event, and unconcerned in the result ? Where is France now ?• We have described her on a former occasion. Where are Spain and Portugal ? Both sound asleep in the torpedo torpor of despotism, under the spell of priestcrafr and super stition, such as no human arm has yet been able to burst asunder, and rouse its wretched victims into moral, or political, or intellectual vitality ! Where is Italy—the land from whence liberty once spran g , and where liberty once, yea twice, has gloriously reigned ? The eagle of freedom is driven to the - lone rock of St. Marino, while that genius, which preserved and handed down the torch of literature for ail Europe, lies bound, like another Prometheus, on his native mountains, writhing in foreign fetters, and with the vulture of Austria at its liver ! (Cheers.)—And why are they thus, gentlemen ? Why, but because they have either lacked, or they have lost, the blessings of representative Govern ment—the blessings of which amounted to an As sembly of Deputies, to a Cortes, or a Parliament. And what is the state of the whole Continent at this time ? I might almost say of the whole world : for whispers of something like constitutional Govern ments are being wafted, as we all know, from Arch. angel to Alexandria—from the tide, across the Red Sea and the Deserts, to Persia—from Persia over all India—and even down to New South Wales and Van Dieman's Land—yes, the Paella of Egypt and the Shah of Ispahan are said to have mentioned a constitution! I say, what is the state of the world, more or less, at this time ? Has not the Angel of Liberty lifted up her banner on the field of nations? and is it riot hailed by the emancipated millions of France—the wealthy, though as yet unsettled Bel gian►—the awakening Poles—the states and prin cipalities of Germany—from the kingdoms of Ba varia and Wirtemberg down to the Electorate of Hesse Cassel and the Duchy of Brunswick ? Are not even Prussia, and Hungary, and Bohemia, cast ing a longing eye to this standard from afar —now looking backward at their chains, and now forward, for the moment to be free ? Arid if you ask all these what it is they require, they will point to Eng land, to France, to Holland, to North and South America; and all those vast, and opulent, and power ful countries, from Inverness to Gibraltar, from Amsterdam to Philadelphia, from Canada to Cape Horn, will answer with one voce, " Give them re presentative Governments—give them Parliaments —give them a pure Constitution." And who op. poses their having these benefits? who but the holy, or rather unholy, alliance abroad, and those who in the spirit of that unholy alliance, are afraid lest Eng land—happy and free—England, our own beloved country, should enjoy the benefit of her ancient, con stitutional, but until now almost forgotten liberties at home I I need not dwell on the present state of our representation ; for it is known and understood throughout the land. It is notorious that large masses of our fellow citizens are nearly as much re presented in the present system of the House of Commons, as in the Divan of the Urand 'Yolk at Constantinople. Great Britain and Ireland groan under the borough system. There is the whole kingdom of Scotland, or•.e vast rotten borough, which produces for each Parliament not many more mem bers than another cluster of beautiful boroughs, at the other extremity of the island ; I mean the county of Cornwall. Then there is the borough of West moreland, in the county of Lowther, as Lord Brougham once described it, and so forth; so that the Throne and the Constitution have been almost undermined by boroughs. Had it not been, under Divine Providence, for our county members, the public press, and the growing intelligence of the people, we might have• lost every vestige of our liberties ! The late events in France, however, seem to have roused the world; arid, John Bulls himself, is at length broad awake;—his chits is lengthening in most ominous proportion; the very hairs of his wig and whiskers are uncurling with horror—(Laughter)—iii spite of their powder and pomatum The way in which this honest and good natured personage has been so thoroughly excited, I am persuaded, is through his having lately become, in some degree, aware of innumerable harpies of cor e ruption, which for generations have fattened upon his vitals. Circumstances, little dreamt of, have unfolded before his wondering eyes the accumulated horrors of the Pension List ; the publication of this list has electrified him ! His amazement at the size and stature of the whole system of corruption, may remind us of the fisherman in the Aiabian Nights' Entertainments, who having accidentally drawn rip railer a small casket,broke the seal, and took off the lid to ascertain the contents ; when, to his over whelming astonishment, a gigantic phantom rose up graduslly before him, reaching from side to side of the horizon, with. his feet on the affrighted shore, and his head in the clouds of heaven! 3ust such a frightful colossus is that political corruption which we now behold : just as powerful in its ability to do mischief—just as enormous in its dimensions—just as malicious io its designs—and just as shadowy in its legitimate origin !—(lrnmense applause.) But the scene, gentlemen, is changing, Earl Grey has de clared war against this gigantic monster ; with the assistance of the public voice, he is going to bind him band and foot—to decapitate him with the sword of patriotism; and, having consigned his corpse to its native casket or coffin, he means to cast it at once into the ocean of oblivion for ever.— (Cheers.) And shall we not support MS :Lordship in this mighty task---gets .tremendous, this eventful operation ?—(Cries of " Yes.") The appeal is made from the heart to the heart, and shall it be made in vain ? Survey the present state of parties in this country, which may, perhaps, be classified under a threefold division. There is, first, the Aris tocracy, now out of power, and yet yearning for places and emoluments, like fishes out of water. Sir Robert Peel protests that he hopes to vegetate in his quiet park at Drayton, never again to return to office, and yet, all the time, wishing " No I thank you" hanged. There is, secondly, the country party now in power—the party to which so many amongst ourselves belong—the party who were in strumental in procuring us the revolution of 1688— the party pledged to the repeal of vexatious laws, the removal of unjust monopolies, the alleviation of public burthena, by strict economy, the extinction of all unnecessary expenditure, and the abolition of sinecures and useless places. The third party com prises those who are supposed to wish for radical changes in the Governinent—for the revolutions of France rather than the good old English reforms , dons of 1831—in one word, for a total overthrow of our present form of government. Earl Grey and his friends are therefore placed between two tremen dous enemies; and it is to support them that we are here assembled. But now, Gentlemen, there are two sets of assertions thrown upon us to cajole us out of all reason, on the one hand, or frighten us out of our seven senses on the othe;. And, with regard to the first of these,—numbers of noble and respectable persons, assure us that the present sys tem works practically well. I thank these gentlemen for their admission, and there is a sense, moreover, in which what, they assert is true. I will tell you what that sense is :—I can conceive a certain Duke, who has declared " he may do what he will with his own," stepping from his chariot and four into the treasury of the kingdom, to receive certain pensions for his family out of the civil list. I say Lean con ceive him consigning a cheque for 5,0001. of the public money into the velvet of his most noble pocket, and driving away to the west end of the town to receive 5,0001. more, as the price of one of his seats in Parliament. Why his Grace, it is mani fest, has ten thousand reasons to think that the pre sent system works practically well, and indeed it does so both for him and all kis family. Take dre other case—of one of the clerkships of the Privy Council, as matters lately stood. lt,; former posses sor is scarcely cold, ere the honourable son of a Right Hon. Earl succeeds him. Conceive this sprig of the Aristocracy throwing himself into the soft embraces of an elbow-chair, or ssretching himself upon his sil ken sofa in all the latitude and longitude of an enor mous salary for doing as little as possible, and then declaring how well the present system works! Well, indeed, most capital l y well , for the hono urable Mr. this, and the honourable Mr. the other ! (Laughter.) But what say the public, out of whose pockets the salary comes ? This is the point, and here is the trial of the present Ministry. But we are also assailed with a second set of alarms, and we are told that we are urging on a revo l ut i on . D o these gintlemen intend to assert that we are foster ing a revolution of opinions—merely a moral revolu tion ? Why that was done centuries ago at the Re formation ; it occurred, also, in 1688, when the three kingdoms sat down in the beauty of constitu tional freedom, the wonder and envy of the world But now there are two lines of conduct opening be fore the country, and we will glance for a moment at both. I will suppose, first, that what we wish will happen. Who will not hail this event—who does not wish, in the words of our motion, for a repeal and vexatious l aws — t h e remova l o f semonopolies—the all ev i at i on o f pu bli c b ur d ens uo e f y olpe st sp e sr i e e t ssiv economy — the extinction of unnecessary expenditure—and the abolition of sinecures ? Yet, on the other hand, conceive, but for err instant, the reverse of this picture—suppose that the present ad ministration is worsted—that the old regime returns —that those into rho power. ar e. e r for " things as they were," come again Why, then will be the hour of the triumph o f tyranny the knell will be tolled of all intelligence and liberty —the patriot's voice will be hushed in a prison or quenc h e d on a sca ff o ld. I say their may be the hour o f tire triumph of des potism, coeval with that of, perhaps, the suppression of Parliament. But, mark me, it will lie the hour also in which the young earthquake shall be born, which is to overwhelm our social order.—(Cheers.) It will be 'he hour, when universal discontent, like some sorceress of hell shall draw her magic circle a riridst the obscurity and horrors of darkness ; when conspiracy, and rebellion, and rapine, arid violence, and hatred, and war, arid massacre, and assassination shall listen to her exorcisms, and whet their wea pons for vengeance ! It will be the hour, when deep shall call unto deep, while the spirits of the abyss assemble, although unheard and unknown in the world above; far the sound shall go forth as before, that all is safe—that the nation is prosperous—that there are no complaints—that there is no distress— and thus shall the last sun of England go down amidst that calm, that horror of silence, during which the lightning is beckoning to the thunder, and the thunder to the hurricane and the whirlwind ! I say all may b e one externa l an d yet aw f u l an d ominous serenity; the tide of pleasure shall be flow ing on as before—the banquet shall be spread, and the wine poured out—the votaries of luxury—the sons and daughters of opulence—shall congregate for the feast, the revel, and the song ; until the fin gers of a man's hand inscribe on the wall their cha racters of flaming fire; and the mantled prophet of a nation's doom shall be at length summoned to read and rehearse and expound ; but, ere his voice can be heard —ere be can inform a guilty faction that " they are weighed in the balances and are found wanting"_,the fearful sentence is fulfilled—the vol cano bursts —Government has exploded into atoms —amidst a crash, and a groan, and a cry, and a wail, and u roar, and a din, compared with which the very cataracts of Niagara are but as the whispers of a stifled conscience !—(Cheers.)—Worse than Egyptian gloom, encircles and envelopes our shores —the brother is armed against his brother—anarchy and civil contention in confusion thrice confounded, impel their scythed chariot from gate to gate, from city to city, through clouds of smoke acid torrents of gore, over piles of tottering ruins,—while the throne and the altar, the prince and the priest, the ~- s