The Sun. — London, England, 1831-10-03 00:00:00

FRENCH PAPERS. (Extracts from the Papers of Friday.) The following is the petition which is preparing for the King ; it has already received a crowd of signatures " SIRE,-The glorious days of July gave birth to legi timate hopes which have not been satisfied. The inhabitants of Strasburg beheld with grief all the sources of their ancient prosperity succesively dried up ; w hile, at the same time, imposts, as high as they are ill-distributed, press upon every article of consumption. " The tax upon salt,—the law which regulates the entrance duties upon foreign grain,—and the tax on the importation of cattle.—these, Sire, are the objects for which we reclaim revision with the most lively solicitude. " One general voice is raised in France for the abolition of the salt tax—a duty which, it must be admitted, presses principally upon that part of the population which lives by its labour, and, at the same time, impairs the pro sperity of our agriculture. " The law which fixes the corn-entrance duties, dates from an epoch when the distress of the cultivators called for help ; it was modified in 1830, by reason of the in crease of prices, and by a law which expires in 1831. We still pay the importation duty upon rates determined for times of plenty, although for some years the dearth of the crops has been increasing. " We ask the revision of this law, in what concerns not d aaly corn, bnt also oats and barley. " However onerous may he these charges, above all, in the presence of an annihilated commerce, and of the ex cessive rise in the price of at-ides of actual subsistence, and of the disasters of an inundation of the crops, we have hitherto been resigned to it, under the impression that the dignity of France, the honour of the country, required such sacrifices. " But when this odious impost, which has for its prin ciple a protection granted to a particular interest, which was only established when at an epoch it was thought ne cessary to punish Alsace fur its patriotism and devotion, — when it, let us say, strikes exclusively at the subsistence of the poor,--it should be permitted to us to reclaim the suppression of a measure alike contrary to all rules of jus tice, and the just principle of an equal distribution of taxation. " Alsace has not ceased to protest against the duties upon cattle entering her bounds. These duties, first fixed at 12 francs, in the interest of a reasonable protection of agriculture, were successively carried to 55 francs in 1822. At that epoch strong and earnest remonstrances were made to the Chambers and the Government against a measure which went to increase the price of food. Al sace could not provide pasturage for cattle, owing to the extreme division of property, and was therefore obliged to obtain them from without. " These just observations, sustained by every maxim of reason and equity, were not adopted : other councils, other interests, prevailed in the Government of the Restoration ; nevertheless, our grievances found some sympathy. The tax was then established and provoked, thus raising the price of an article of primary necessity, and restricting our external commerce. " We do not open a discussion upon the former policy, but we do call upon your Majesty for the suppression of the impost upon foreign cattle, that which obliges us to pay two Bois dearer for them than in justice we ought. 44 We had hoped for the last 15 months the just redress - which we had a right to expect from a revolution that promised oqual protection to all interests, such as existed before 1822. We appeal to your Majesty's justice and benevolence to ease the burdens of a people who want work, and whose privations are aggravated by the failure of the last harve,t." (The signatures.) The butchers of Strasburg had also circulated the following note :-" After the steps taken by the Prefect on the 25th inst., which provisionally di minished one-half of the duties upon cattle, the butchers of this city have unanimously consented to reduce the price of meat from 50 centimes to 4.5 the ponnd, which is more than the moiety of reduction of duty ; but as they hope they have a certainty of the speedy reduction of the whole tax, they are not afraid of losing eventually by the arrangement." " A letter in La Sentinelle Nationale, a Lyons paper, of the 27th Sept., professing to reply to the speech of M. Sebastian', of the 19th, says, The army of the King of Sardinia is actually from 80,000 to 85,000 men, of whom 60,000 are of the line, divided into six contingents, which in time of peace serve every four months. Now, however, they are all under arms, and in case of war, their number can be carried to 100,000 men, by means of the annual levy of 15,000 men, and the delay of giving their discharge to those who are entitled to it from length of service. Charles Albert, upon his accession to the throne, had, it is true, dismissed the sth contingent, and the sending away the next contingent was also announced, but the sth was soon after recalled, and the reduction of the ether stopped. This event has given currency to the ru mour that there has been concluded a treaty of alli ance between Piedmont and Austria. At all events such a treaty was formed with Austria by Charles Felix, and it has never been rescinded. Moreover, it is thought that Piedmont could not remain neutral in the event of a rupture between Austria and France. At all events, should the march of the French Go vernment he anti-national, and consequently inca pable of presenting any guarantee of stability and strength, nobody would dare advise the King of Sardiuia, supposing even tluit he wished it, to sepa rate from Austria, and unite w ith France.' " FR FNcl, FrtioS, Pa RIM, SEPT. 30.-Five per Cents., 88E 25c. Fkf. 87f. 90c. 95c. 881. 87f. 80c. 75c. 87f. 65c. dOc. ;. Four per Cents., 7.21. 50c. ; Three per Cent s., 59f. Sc. 10c. z9f._s9t. Sc. 59f. SSE 80c. 90c. 5 9f. 591. Sc. 581. 95c. 80c. 8.,c. 75c. 80c. 7ac. 5Sf. 70c. 75c. 5911 UV. 90c. 80c.: Bank Stock, 1,5251. ; Rente de Naples, 69f. 60c. 55, 50e. ; Rente d'Eipagne, 10N ; Royal Spanish Lo an , 63 ski ; Rente Perpetuelle d`Lq,agne, 46 3 % 47 46;1, a 4 sip 46 3 . i • Ilaytian Loan, 2o sf. E xchan g e on London, one month, paPer, .25c 5c., money, 251. sc. ; three months, paper, 25E, money, Dr. psc. -COO rs .luthentique. EXPRESS FROM PARIS. (From the Times Private Correspondent.) PARIS, SATURDAY EVENING. It WP.t yesterday currently reported, and among some o f General Sebastiani's own friends, that that Minister was about to retire. He, however, this day wishes it to be contradicted himself. He not. only does not mean to retire, he says, but least of all does he shrink from any investigation which General Guilleminot may bring against him with re ference to the affairs of the Constantinople embassy. Whatever opinion may be formed of the morale of General Sebastiani's politics, he is a bold and an able man, arid rathr r unlikely to yield in the pre sence of an enemy. The fact is, however, that the present Ministers mean to stand or fall together. There has been of late no division in the Cabinet, and all public measures have been conducted with unanimity. The debate on the Peerage law will last through the whole of the ensuing week, and probably longer, for as the details of the budget are still under dis• cussion, the Chamber of Deputies cannot devote itself exclusively to the great constitutional ques tion. There is, lam informed, a great deal of in trigue at work upon the subject in both Chambers, and much difference of opinion in anticipation of the result. The King will take up his abode this day in the Palace of the Tuileries. The Carlists have already in their publications raised a cry against this pro fanation of an edifice so long dedicated to the trzes of the elder Bourbon branch. In it the latter has often plundered, and from it often massacred the people. The ravages making in Vienna by the cholera morbus are frightening the French, The authorities have, however, taken every precaution upon the frontier, and the Prefect of Police in Paris issued orders yesterday for the construction of new foun tains in the capital, that the inhabitants should have an abund ant supp ly ai? good water, for the purifica tion of the ci te , Y. "rump), SEPT. 22. - , The Court still remains at St. Ildefontso, but will s peedily be removed to Madrid. An ordinance of Ferdinand has enjoined eight days' mourning for the death of the Grand Linke Constantine. The news of the f a ll o f Warsaw has i mparted t h e greatest joy to the Apostolica,is. They think it the destruc tion of the cause of liberty. The greatest activity prevails in arming the middle provinces in Biscay and Navarre, so as to have some columns ready to march at a moment's notice. Still the treasury is it, Neat want of money to pay the troops, and thi Government do not know well where to obtain it. (From the Moniteur of Saturday%) As soon as the Government had knowledge of the events at Strasburg, the removal of the nefect was announced, and at the same time orders were issued that the full amount of the cattle duties should be enforced. A telegraphic dispatch an nounces that these orders hove been executed, and that no further disturbance has occurred. (From the Morning Herald.) We have just received the Paris Papers of Sa turday, and the Gazette de France and ;Illes,9ager des Chambres dated yesterday. The foreign political news contained in these Papers may be thus briefly summed up :—Mexico is pacified. The Turkish fleet destined for Alexandria reached Mitylene on the 18th ult. The insurrec tion at Neufchatel has been suppressed by the troops of the Confederation. Important military move ments were observable in Prussia. Oporto is said to have revolted against Don Miguel. The crew of a Portuguese corvette in Brest harbour took pos session of the ship, and hoisted the colours of Donna Maria. The cholera makes dreadful progress in Vienna and Berlin. The disease which had broken out at Wesel, on the Rhine, is, it appears, not the Indian cledera. Egypt, it was feared, would be ravaged by the scourge, which had already reached Cosseir and Suez. The internal state of France is far from satisfac tory. In the Chamber the influence and power of the Ministry is every day increasing, while out of doors the Government is becoming unpopular. The elections have in general been in favour of the Mi nisterial candidates, whilst (however paradoxical it be) public opinion is stated to be hostile to M. Pe rier and his colleagues. The disturbances which broke out in several of the departments on receipt of the fall of Warsaw are nearly at an end, but the Chouans are yet in arms in some districts; and, what is infinitely more to be lamented, a serious riot, in which the Na tional Guards were the actors, took place on the 25th ult. at Strasburg, for the purpose of compel ling the authorities to lower the duties on the in troduction of provisions from Germany, Govern ment appears, however, determined to act with vigour in this and all similar cases. The proceedings on the Peerage question were recommenced ort Friday last, and were resumed on Saturday; but it will be many days ere the probable result can be predicted. Although the reported retiremeut of M. Sebas• tiani from the Ministry was formally denied at Paris, a rumour prevailed on Saturday evening of the in troduction of MM. Guizot, Dupin, and Thiers, into the Ministry. The Journal du Commerce says, " The Spanish Government, it is reported, has intimated to the French Cabinet, that if au expedition against Don Miguel, and in favour of Donna Maria, was sent to Lisbon on board of French vessels, Spanish troops would enter Portugal immediately ; but, if the movement was only effected by Don Pedro against Don Miguel, Spain would not take any part in the quarrel between the two brothers." The Messager des Cliambres contradicts, in the most positive terms, the rumour of General Sebas tiani's retirement. According to letters from Naples, the Prince de Cassaro, Minister for Foreign Affairs, has embarked for Genoa, for the purpose of demanding the hand of the Princess Christina of Sardinia for the King of the Two SicilieE. CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES-0(7. 1. At a quarter pa-t two o'clock M. Girod de L'Ain, the President, took the Chair. The order of the day was the continuation of the preparatory discussion of the project of law for the recognization of the Peerage, but the Deputies not being in number, M. Mallet was called upon to pre. sent a report of various petitions. The most remarkable were those of several hun dred inhabitants of Paris, Clermont, and other towns of France, begging of the Chamber to interfere in favour of Poland; and another from Lyons, praying that the Poles should be admitted in the ranks of the French army, and treated as French citizens. The reporter said that those petitions were for warded before the catastrophe of Warsaw was known, and that, although little hope remains of Poland being able to conquer her nationality, yet the commission considered it expedient to refer the pe titions to the President of the Council. General Lafayette—l join with all my heart in the sentiments expressed by the reporter of your commission. I nevertheless remarked some expres sions which induced me to speak on the question. It is not exact to cor.sider the Polish cause as en tirely lost. However deplorable the catastrophe of Warsaw may be, there still remains a nation full of patriotism, and an admirable army, to which the National Government has rallied. We should then endeavour to encourage the sympathy still existing in favour of Poland, and to assist in the energetical efforts which all France expects from the Minister of Foreign Affairs in favour of that country. The petitions were then referred to the President of the Council of Ministers. Several other reports on petitions were made by M. 'Martin, M. March!, and others, before the Chamber resumcd the discussion on the Peerage. SITTING or SEPT. 30. The President of the Council, in rising to make a communication from the Government, said, that within a few years many foreigners had been driven by political events to take refuge in France. Their distress had excited the munificence of the country. The first Spanish refugees, banished from their country for having belonged to the French party, received relief from the Minister of the Interior. In 1823, other refugees having fled to France, a sp,- cial grant of 610,000 f. was made for their relief. This grant was renewed in 1829 and 1830. In 1831 the number had greatly increased ; and at this moment, independent of the Foreign Legion, no fewer than 5,500 proscribed refugees were receiving relief. The Minister then pointed out most dis tinctly that it was upon the principle of humanity, and not upon that of policy, that succour was afforded ro them. He protested beforehand against any in terpretation that would give a political character to the measure, for these foreigners must be prevented imagining that they had rights which might lead to cowequences disagreeable to France. France was the country of Frenchmen alone; it was not, as had been said, Belgian, Italian, and Spanish, but French. —(Strong sensation.) It had not taken upon itself the wrong of protecting any propaganda whatever. France was doing for these refugees what every indi vidual Frenchman would be induced to do. The refu 4ees, on their side, ought to respect the rights of hos pitality. This point was the more to be insisted on, us the conduct of some of the refugees had rendered severe precautions necessary. In the recent dis turbances at Paris and at Perpignan some of these refugees had been arrested among the agitators. From the good conduct of these strangers in the mass, and the prompt restoration of order in their country, the gradual reduction of the burden upon France was to be hoped for. France would always support thew in their desire of again seeing their homes. As to the refugees from Romagna, the most happy results had already been obtained in their favour. An amnes y had been granted them upon the sole condition of their taking an oath of allegiance, and promising not to take part in any plot in futuie, and to resist every attempt at revolt. Sixty of these Italians had already agreed to these conditions, and twenty had left France. Such as refused to return home, upon complying with con ditions so simple and cagy, would ba excluded from sharing in the succour. The Minister then presented a Bill for a grant of 500,000 f. to be made to the Minister of the Inte rior, in addition to one million already granted for 1831, to be applied to tho relief of foreigners who are refugees from political causes. The Bill was ordered to be printed, and referred to the Committees.—The discussion on the Peerage Bill was then resumed, 1 ,- as. —PARIS, OCT. I.—FiYe per Cents., 87f. 93c. 3 2 x v : 7.l:,; ) r ‘k• 9 ac. 90e. 85c. 95c. 88f. 88f. 18c. 30c. 35c. 30c. 30c. , ;,,,,w; e a e l t5 i f a ,:f , . 6 . „ 75 ,A c . . 90c. 65c. 90c, 59f. 59f. 13c. ',agile, 46% 47 • ter Bank Stock, 1 , 5 201: ; Itente de Naples, Of. 50c. 60e. paper, 25f. Sc. ; money, 25f.• tx.ltente Perpetuene threege on London, , one, month, f it. oluthentipc, months, paper, 41, , money, SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. The county and town meetings are going on as if the vote of the House of Lords upon Reform were to determine the fate of every father of a family throughout the United Kingdom. For the irra tional exclamations of those who talk about intimi dating the House of Peers from " doing their duty," we find it difficult to deal with them, only for the same reason that one finds it the most perplexing task in the world to answer with a composed coun tenance the ravings of drunkenness or insanity. Now, with submission to the Tory Press, it is somewhat hard that a tremendous public grievance should he passed over sub silentio by those whom it most concerns, for fear of their hitting upon so me proof that the said Peers will be in a worse condi tion by striving to perpetuate the grievance than by redressing it. In the order which Providence has assigned to human affairs, there is no wrong com mitted which does not entail upon the perpetrator, as its necessary consequence, some degree of retaliation, or of other chastisement. Such peril is the natural safeguard ofjustice, the most powerful sanction of that law which prescribes the duty of man to his neigh bour, and therefore to press it upon the atten tion of•all concerned is a high moral obligation. What is the language which the pretended friends of the Peers put in their mouths ?—" I will not be deferred from crime; that is a vile plebeian motive. Had you told me that I might have held my Gatton, Old Sarum, &c., as long as I pleased,—that I might have had places, pensions, and bishoprics for all my cousists, and for their cousins to the twentieth ge neration,----and game laws, and corn laws, and wars, and colonial governments, and all, at no expense but that of giving votes to the Minister, and with no chance of interruption but from my own satiety, I might then, perhaps, in the nobleness of my own generous nature, have mercifully flung back to the people some shilling or so in a corn tax, some re mission of a few hours in a poacher's penalty ;—nay, I might have prodigally commanded one of my curs to let drop some picked bone of small patronage, no longer tenable, ar►d even have vouchsafed to a dozen large towns, containing above a million of inhabitants, the benefit of two or three representatives among them." But, good God ! do these vile calumniators of the Peers suppose that such is the demeanour of rational beings ? Is there no such thing on earth as po litical discretion ? and is the dread of plunging a whole nation in misery no fit consideration for a wise and upright statesman, lest it might be im puted to him that he acted under the assurance of escaping in his own person a share of the calamity from which he saved his country ? But the im portant question isnot whether the friends of Reform have or have not urged upon the Peers certain argu ments, by which they may be deterred from throw ing out the Bill when presented to them. The true and only question is this,—whether, supposing the Reform advocate of the Press to be as mute as fish upon the occasion, the state of the country itself is not such as to create the danger, the reality of which the journals are reproached with asserting. What, then, is the Act? Do the people call for the Re form Bill, or do they not ? That surely is a matter to be resolved by other evidence than what appears in the London papers. Is it true that county meet ings have taken place within these three days in Gloucester, Henford, •Suirey, Kent, and Wiltshire, in any of which live countieQ, which, with the excep tion of Lord Mahon, who sits for a rotten borough, and Mr. Gipps, there were no hands nor voices raised to interrupt the unanimity of the Reform resolutions ? The privileges of the Lords, and their station in this constitutional monarchy, we hold to be of vast importance to Great Britain. They have great and noble functions to discharge, judicial and poli tical, all of which are recognized by the people of England. They exercise others, which, if not ex pressed by the letter of the Constitution, are un derstood in practice ; and which, when not abused by them, are scarcely of less public advantage than the others. Their influence in the return of county Members is in the twofold ratio of their property and character ; and the new Bill has the most direct tendency to strengthen both these sources of sub stantial and wholesome power. But whatever pri vileges they enjoy, or whatever the authorities with which they are invested, they possess none but such as have been given them for the benefit of the people, and which, even when in their nature the most dis cretionary, are, like the prerogatives of the Crown of England, to be exercised in furtherance, not in hindrance, of that great end for which they were in stituted—the promotion of the public welfare. It is undoubtedly true, that among the uses of an Upper Chamber ought to be accounted that of checking occasionally the too impetuous flight of popular impulse, and subjecting that which may be but a light or transient caprice, to the test of calm, laborious, and reiterated deliberation. But is the eagerness of the people of England for the accomplishment of that measure, which the most exalted Statesmen of Great Britain durin g more than seventy years have pronounced to be essential to the security and permanency, not of free dom only, hut of all the institutions of the Hahn,— is that to be regarded as a light and gratuitous fancy, to which the Peers, under colour of their constitu- tional " check," might oppose a dogged and unrea soning obstacle? Unquestionably not. The Royal prerogative may be perverted to evil purposes; and what happens ? Our Constitution announces for mally, that trial and punishment may follow. Whose trial—the King's? No; that would soon lead to the overthrow of the Monarchy ; but his Minister's, who advised him, and whose fate, if he be found guilty, may operate as a useful precedent. If there were to be no visitation for delinquency, or no indi vidual to make atonement for the perversion of the Royal power, then there would be wrong without redress, which no constitution of political society can tolerate. So, the Members of the House of Commons possess extensive powers, large dis cretionary prerogatives, for none can (at the instant) controui them in the employment of their votes. Well—does the Constitution pro vide no safeguard against their delinquency ? Yes, assuredly,—a return to the presence of their consti tuents, and the loss of their seats in Parliament, as the proof of popular disfavour. Here, likewise, dis plays itself the essential spirit of the Constitution, — a specified penalty for a public wrong. But how operates this principle in the contingent case of an abuse of authority by any party among the Peers, who may chance to constitute a majority of that assembly ? They do not act by responsible advisers; there can therefore be, as respects their Lordships, no Ministerial scape-goat. They cannot be sent back to their constituents, to be by them ejected from their seats in the Legislature. There is, in fact, .but one remedy. The Crown can create Peers without limit or restraint; but might not that right be carried to an unhappy pitch, by rendering the Peerage of as little value or distinction as the French Noblesse before the Revolution ? There may be something said, then, for the King's Ministers, in their postponement of any extensive addition to the Peerage until after the second reading. The gross amount of the Anti-Reformers will then have been ascertained. In the mean time we pray their Lordships to observe that they have not heard the last of petitions. The meeting of Monmouthshire takes place this day. On Wednes day last the Somersetshire requisition had 500 names annexed to it. On Wednesday next the county of Berks will meet at Newbury : the county of Devon met on Friday; the Isle of Wight on Wednesday. The Worcester Political Union have agreed unani mously to a petition. fa Wiltshire, the requisition for a county meeting had affixed to it the names of thirty magistrates, many of whom were formed) Anti-Reformers, and are among the most distin guished families of that great county. Finally, meeting of Yorkshire will be held on the 12th inst. The names annexed to the requisition afford a signal proof of the "public indifference," or of the feeling on behalf of the Bill being confined to the rabble ! If the lay Lords love their order, it is easy to guess how they will vote. If the Bishops love tie Church, they will vote with those Peers who lime 4 .1 wise attachment to their order. To both we (otn. mit the nation's peace.—Times. The Tories give out with effrontery that the Re form Bill will be rejected on the second reading. They boast that they have nearly all the Bishops with them. On this day all business will be sus pended in Birmingham, by invitation, equivalent to command, of the Political Union. We suppose the whole population of that town and neighbourhood ,vial proceed to the field assigned for its meeting. On Saturday last there was a meeting in the same town, which all accounts represent to have been one of the most numerous and respectable ever known; bankers, merchants, magistrates, and clergy of all denominations, attended in great num bers. The language held at this and other meetings, riot by were mob-orators, but by men whose lives have been passed in the pursuits of commerce and industry, and who have a deep interest in the peace of the country, will, we trust, make a due im pression on their Lordships. "If thrown out" said John Turner, Esq., " the Lcrds must not be surprised if the people turn round, and, borrow ing an expression from on e o f their body, say, Have we not a right to do as we please with our own ?'--(Cheers.) The people were determined, whatever the Lords might determine, to have the Bill, the whole Bill, and nothing but the Bill."' These men, who have all to lose, by an interruption of tranquillity, have for some time been casting about them to see how all this will end, and preparing for the worst. These men cannot shut their eyes to what is passing around them. They know that an Englishman is the most patient of human beings, but they know also that patience has its limits, and with breathless anxiety they await the result of the discussion which opens this day. May God in his mercy avert from us the consequences W''hich they apprehend from this result ! Mr. Joseph Parkes, than whom no man in England knows more of what is passing in the minds of the people at this mo ment, and no man has the welfare of his country more at heart, concluded an eloquent speech with these strong and significant observations : " As a friend to the Constitution, he trusted that the Peers, as at present constituted, would pass the Bill. If they did so, without obliging the Crown to increase their number, it would heal all wounds, and (as an eloquent speaker had said) would even hide the scar. If they threw it out or smothered it, on their heads be every re sponsibility; the queonion of the utility of an Hereditary Peerage would infallibly arise. No after-step—no increase of the Peers, even if it subsequently carried the Bill—could retrieve the blow to the Peerage. But if they should blindly oppose it, his Majesty possessed a prerogative, not for ornament, but for use—a wise appurtenance of the Constitution, calculated for occasions of peril. He would say no more ; he hoped he had proved his own modera tion, but now he must be allowed to say that he didinot blind himself to the peril of the crisis. He hoped and be lieved the nation would be saved a possibility of anarchy ; if anarchy occurred, its horrors in this country would far exceed any ever recorded. We subsisted on credit, and our monetary system exposed us to evils which no man could exaggerate. The men of property might, in a re volution, slink into holes and corners, and bury their money bags; but the numbers were ruined and undone with a cessation of the demand for labour. The people were really, above all, as a body, interested in order, and avert ing any extreme political change ; they knew it, and proved it by their actions. But if, unhappily, an Anti-Reforin Administration should befal them ; if a cheat were substi tuted fur the Bill; if scenes of civil discord did arise, similar to these in which the blood of Hampden, the Rus sells, and the Howards, was the seed of English liberty— he (Mr. Parkes) should go with his order—the people.— (Loud cheers.) But he could not anticipate such an un happy state. He would award a national monument to the incomparable services of the Duke of Wellington as a Commander and a warrior, but he firmly, hoped and be lieved future monuments would record his Majesty and Earl Grey far higher character—that to redeem a country is above all conquest."—(Loud cheers.) Let us not deceive ourselves. Already the appre hensions of what is to be expected from their Lord ships have begun to produce their effects. Already public credit feels the shock. Do not let these Lords imagine, that if once the Funds fall eight or ten per cent., which they will assuredly do, they can say, thus far shalt thou go and no farther. We are all of us on the brink of a precipice. The time is awfully ominous. Several of the gentlemen em ployed in manufactures, well knowing what serious consequences will flow from any interruption of con fidence, have waited on the Duke of Wellington and other Anti-Reforming Peers, and plainly told them the consequences they apprehended. It remains to be seen whether these warnings have produced due effect. We confess we have our fears. The Scotsman of Wednesday last gives an elaborate calculation of the proportion of Reformers to Anti-Reformers in Edinburgh, by which they are as sixty to one.— " Yet," observes our contemporary, " Edinburgh is justly held to be the head-quarters of Toryism ; and we sincerely believe that the proportion of Re formers is even higher in the rest of Scotland. We ask if history presents such an example of an una nimous people?" Observe only how the people are congregated together in the North of England ! By the late census, Lancashire alone contains 1,335,600 inhabitants. The two hundreds of West Derby and Salford contain a million of inha bitants. These peaceable and industrious men may, by one fatal vote, be thrown out of employment. But will the Lords gain by all this misery ? We have been favoured with an early copy of the Edin burgh Review for September, in which there is an article on the Huse of Lords and Reform, well de serving of the attention of their Lordships. " The position of their Lordships (says the Reviewer) may be summed up in a few words. There is no man 1 1 of common understanding who now doubts the Bill ' must pass. Even its most violent opponents have openly admitted, long ago, that schedules A and B are their inevitable fate, and that the reign of the rotten boroughs is at an end. Then can human folly go further than to postpone the period for a few months, and prolong the agitation into which the bare announcement of this delay would fling the community ? Or can any thing be more certain, than that when the people shall regain the mastery, it will no longer be the Bill, and nothing but the Bill, that will suffice. Half a year hence it may be anything but the Bill." The Reviewer, on the supposition that the Bill is lost in the Lords, argues that this will lead to a prorogation and a new at tempt, or it will produce the resignation of Minis ters. This last course he considers too absurd to be adopted; but, for the sake of argument, he sup poses a resignation : " Let it then be considered (says the Reviewer) what must be the result of such a measure as the present Mi nistry being driven from the helm, or rather quitting it in disgust, there being, in truth, no one to drive them. We verily think that such a sensation would be produced all over the country as no time had ever witnessed. The dismissal of Neckar in France would be a jest to it : his return, in spite of the Court, on the people's shoulders, pregnant as it was with fatal consequences to the Mo narchy, as somewhat sht te:bidfeseagpirsopepea‘sur. of :lorl favourel l l yia p b, a i ei s sy s iaiddgeuea, personally tlih r y n e s ; huseeesyr enjoyedt v im e o a b ) y n ;. I;raythozelflapsn:;:eiotrsrennibnite:'d.3pyloip:l7:toillar collectively as a .Ministry. With o t t h ir' a enly t a je have nothing to d o . Th ey are judged by corn. this i iet n e v iee t io t r pf b ae co t ß i cp : ee ei l fpe , r ,trathti a ,ia d ,:v v ne e t n i i : i s oel a wny r ; i : e ur s r‘kvee ; t il they defeoinrnt iptfi a toe r , e e wdi rerevered;t,ehxaeapsi plan d int; to all the inevitable objections that must needs lie against every a ctual Ministry, front unavoidable inadvertences, errors inseparably connected with all human management, above all, disappointment of friends—how infinitely would such favourable feeli ngs b e i ncrease d b y t h e i r qu i tt i ng 'Ace, and quitting it on account of the people's favourite plan, to which they should have sacrificed their own power? If they have made mistakes, these will all he forgotten ; if t h e y have incurred any odium, that will all be changed into love. The very men o f t h e i r own a dh erents that have cavilled at th em, w ill b e t h e fi rst and warmest tliifythweirastdeevtoitieed la s n u , p i po w rt i e th rs ; r a g a e nd at b t u h t eir one spirittii removal,thought less will i iue o in a t idofisin theira ntoyed t restore i,ey them to supreme power. ovlluehnderafitedlc, will astonished,l determination et b e ercon carping andtheir antagonists fe w less flatterers—the little men of office—will be fain to hide t hemselves front the wrath o f t h ree ki ng d oms , an d to l eave the Ministers of the people to resume the King's service, aid carry through at once the Reform. " But they will return to that service, they will carry 'that Reform, under4ther and less fortunate auspices. At present trey governionstitutionally, with a due subordi nation to the established authorities of the realm, and posse sing no more power than Ministers ought to wield. At their restoration,—always, with Princes, the worst of revolutions, always, with parties, the worst of changes— they will stand, whether they like it or not, upon the ground of the highest popular excitement, which will have forced them back to power. They will be no longer masters of the course they are to take ; they will be driven onwards from behind—pressed from all quarters, except in face ; thus, every shadow of resistance being annihilated, they will have a space free from even the right and natural obstacles to such advance ; and over that space, travel they must, will they or not, and at the pace which may please other men, not at their own. ' The Bill,' which now satisfies and pleases all the people, will no longer con tent them. Other provisions and larger concessions must be aided, to signal . ze the triumph which the mnst short sighted and the most self-interested of human kind will have compelled the people to win ; and the enemies of the mea sure will cast many a wistful look back upon its principle and its details, and curse the day that saw them regret so safe, so moderate, and so constitutional a plan. " Let not the Lords shut their eyes to these things. Let them rather tax their powers of reasoning to dis cover any other alternative,—to fix any point short of this at which the contemplated change can stop. Who can for an instant doubt that the certainty of the measure being lost, would rouse the people altogether ; and still more, who can doubt that the loss of the Bill for the pre sent, coupled with the retreat of the Ministers, would at once open the eyes of the community to the utter ruin of their whole hopes, as long as the Anti-Reformers held power ? Everything else of the picture above drawn fol lows quite of course. For let no man be so stone-blind to all the signs of these times, and all experience of the past, as to flatter himself with the hope of measures of Reform being accepted from the Anti-Reformers. We verily be lieve that the factious and place hunting part of the Op position, who have been resisting the Bill upon the highest grounds of Anti-Reform principles, would not be a week in office before they abandoned every one of their positions, and brought in a Reform Bill of their own. Nay, they would probably, after their first attempts had failed, adopt their adversaries' measure, and bring in this very Bill. At least they did this, and more than this, by the Catholic ques tion. But that same Reform would never satisfy the people; and if it for the moment did, swift destruction would follow, dealt out by the first reformed Parliament upon the heads of its base arid unprincipled authors. Such persons cannot expect to be endured long by any community of honest men, whose principles upon the most important sub jects hang se loose about theirs that they can, within four and-twenty hours, shift their ground, and take to the tenets they have all their lives opposed, as the most absurd and the most pernicious; thus dealing with opinions, not as sacred matters of conscientious conviction, but as com mon instruments of a craft, stock in trade, tools to work withal, for their individual nrofit and advancement. It will not do thus to insult the common feelings of mankind. The people generally look to the end, and are regirdless of the hands that minister to their advantage or gratification. But some appearance of decorum must be maintained ; and assuredly they would be revolted by so abominable a spec tacle as the present Opposition ejecting the honest Mini sters who have redeemed the pledges of a consistent life by propounding the Bill, and then adopting that very Bill as the means of maintaining a power thus obtained. It would be too outrageous au experiment, and too hazardous upon the patient endurance and virtuous feelings of the world. There is a point beyond which the community may not safely be insulted. " Our fixed opinion is that the leaders of theAnti-Reform party in both Houses are wholly incapable of such vile projects as we have been contemplating ; but our remarks are addressed to a considerable portion of their followers— men whose support is little credit to any party; such men, we mean, as those who, on the Catholic question, only re quired half air hour to turn right about, and vent their feelings in acclamations for the proposal of a measure which they had flocked to the chambers of Parliament for the purpose of hailing with curses and abjuration." --.- Morning Chronic/oz. The Ides of March are come, and though we are not alarmists, there is surely enough in the present aspects of the country to induce the most serious reflection. Faithful and zealous advocates for Re form, from the first moment the question was mooted, we have felt it to be equally our duty to take our stand for Constitutional Reform, in oppo sition to that unknown and indefinable change which must spring from the movement of physical force. The ultimo ratio Regan: is sufficient affliction to mankind; but the ultinza ratio populorunz is infinitely more fearful; and deep is the responsibility of those who are endeavouring to conjure up that appalling curse. It is, indeed one of the worst signs of the times that the public mind has been poisoned into a familiarity with the ideas of revolution, and civil war, in the event of the Reform Bill not imme diately receiving the concurrence of the House of Lords. How dreadful an alternative to so inade quate a cause ! Will the instigators of this fatal doctrine suffer the multitude to pause but for a few days upon the prospect before them ? Will it tell them to look the horrors of civil war in the face—the prostration of the industry of the country —the destruction of its commercial prosperity— the desolation of its fair fields—and the mas sacre of tens of thousands of its people ? These are the results so madly and impiously invoked— every peaceful and happy home violated by brute contention—rivers of blood made to flow, and a great nation ruined. These are contemplated with desire by some, and with indifference by others, as not merely the possible, but the probable, conse quences of a measure—we mean the rejection of the second reading of the Reform Bill—which is likely to ensue within eight-and-forty hours of our publishing these remarks. To us it seems almost a dream that, standing upon so awful a precipice, both Peers and people should be swept onward by an insensate impulse, and no calm and rational voice interposed to allay the fury of debate, and obtain a truce from the stormy passions that have been so dangerously inflamed, till common sense, and the first of all instincts—that of self-preservation, shall have exercised their influence upon the crisis at hand. Frequently have we addressed ourselves to the property and consideration of our fellow-citi zens; and again we call upon them to abjure the rage of either faction in the State, and, with the energy of true strength and power, to effect a full and ample Reform of the Constitution by the Constitution, and not by destroying it. We repeat that no man who knows its powers can doubt its eflicieocy to accomplish this; and that the attempt to stir up tumult and rebellion is an insult to the cause, as well as a provocation to unbounded calamity. To avert even the most distant chance of bringing such evils, we could wish, by mere homely illustration, to recall the minds of English men to a perception of some of the first principles of that species of Government which has justly been styled our matchless Constitution. We will not trouble them with the vain disputes as to the origin of authority, whether partly derived from Heaven, or entirely from the will of the people; but we will remind them that it is always a difficult thing to gather what the precise will of the people is when their masses have been enlarged into societies con sisting of millions upon millions. To avoid the confusion and conflict inseparable from the effort to ascertain the opinion of ten or twenty millions of men, these ten or twenty millions of men have wisely agreed to depute their powers to smaller numbers, who shall represent them in their various classes, interests, and objects. And this is the end of all Government :—the many, for their own sake, surrender the controul and management of their affairs to the responsible few ; and it is not too much to de clare that of all the schemes ever devised by human sagacity, and improved by the practical operations of time, there never existed one so splendidly calcu lated to ensure the happiness and promote the wel fare of a mighty people as the mixed, free, and mo narchical Constitution under which we have lived and flourished. The more we study, the more we must admire it; and this our admiration bids us ap peal, in the most forcible language we can use, to a reasonable public, to restore what is decayed, and to correct what is amiss, but, of all things on earth, to refrain from injuring or overthrowing the wonder ful fabric itself. At present we see no n ecess i ty for calling on the ten or twenty millions to resume their delegated power — a majority in the Lords against the Bill requires no such counteraction ; the remedy is worse than the disease, and the disease can be remedied safely and effectively without it. a vile eNperlment to swill to the lait re l dn the first instance; to inflame and arm the CO orders in their prodigious and portentous te e against the legal adminis.ration of affairs. 71.„' look about us for analogies r—No as 01 11 4 ° ,S 4 individuals can govern itself, and it is the g',sr as well as most mischievous of absurdities toct: pose that the population of a country can e t s: , self. If this were so, a school might as well Per:. own discipline and education ; the urchin s 4 , lowest forms having their squeak and chino potential as the say of the biggest and be , formed of the elder scholars. All the cresol ship, all the privates in a regiment, all th e ° lo b,' at a public dinner, all the members of a L e io g the persons in a church congregation, w cnnu d ird wise be entitled to state their opinion s n OE I their orders individually upon every occasie l Z ' lo ! we should have the school a school of fe'4l ship a prey to mutiny, the regiment ine through insubordination, the dinner a see e° mult, the club disorganiz e d, and the church atel",d of anarchy ! These are common and tri s foi amples; but we trust they t ray strike matill°l readers, and the public in g e neral, as fairly i"s11:(1; ing our argument in f a vo u r o f moderation• I_, excitement--the Co ns tit u ti on versus revolutiery has been asked, what will the Lords do? We llS reason to believe the Lords will throw out thisee and then comes the question what will th`'ll,:4 do ? Be it ours to exhort th e m to a firm c lls , P ti rS their numerical superiority upon this vital a ite Si an abstinence from every thi n g like riot agues^ gNil d Nir,ir l eio C eedi t k.my a i t ed i Odianinilaa.dbt and dpee l o n iteoi htvtt political ci eea, desperate one easnpt pid: e: rly e :e a tv:e s e e they will achieve or good purpose, and a bloodless Reform will bde willro tt of overthrow the I sm g . t e h e ot t f h a e e r e ne e v : ll : o ll : lt. u ustt i i s oo ; l ':`' , surely, surely, the intelligent, the prudent, an ° ca r who have ought to l ose , w ill ra lly round th e o sli servative principle,and s a ve th e ir threatened coo —Morning, Herald. t The off old England's debate, tli e , happy momentous c o n d s e t b i t a u t t e i , ca tr a :: °° 0ll:ea; I h l / 1 2 fate realm itself, commences this day in the 11 it Lords. It will last two, if not three, dak s 'd o sbt look to the result with anxi e ty, but not win' erspe' or fear—firmly persuaded as we are that th e r r , rate deliberation and wise decision of the re e esi ert reverse the award of the delegates sent in a 10 3 of excitement to the House of Commons. eral word, our glorious Constitution, at once t be ot th e and the admiration of the universe, we tin's slightest doubt, is perfectly safe in the pro nit s hands of th e H ouse o f L or d s . I t is at lea i lVaiii certain that the at r oci ous revo l u tionary 11 . 1 ,pte; not be suffered by their Lordships to pass i lll , l O sent form. important ormvi.ofthepar occasion ticula w particular course to be In j os e on this e cutely speak ; but it is not improbabletT'liat°lhoeefide d: structive measure will be got rid of by an, ; :, th e ment, to substitute, instead of the a tionta,;pte' innovations, and the outrageous injustice of no? visions, the plain, intelligible, and rational P. r oor tion, simply that the populous towns of M i r ; 10 0 hatn, Manchester, Leeds, and Sheffield, sha'' v lie each two representatives, which plait effected without any alteration in the pre sell s - e stituted state of the House of Commons bY t- st franchisement of four of the most insigniti ee ,..",bei l roughs. The debates will naturally be of the the se' importance, and we have of course formed these eessary arrangements to give the whole wit h s t o rsi e most fidelity and impartiality, and with an n' us or' copiousness suitable to the great and momen t° f so t casion. We have only to add the expression sn d perfect confidence that the Lords will 0 1 1 0 E11 manfully do their duty, therefore that the e° and Constitution are safe.—Morning post. je°t.• The moment—the important and awful the is at length all but arrived which is to deei n is siti question whether a handful of Peers are t° 1 3 101 , ' c( t i t oe l p ryr o i g s i s ini e t s as s l i lo o ft n h , efodr Englishra e a short , t oa i m en cdeu therebyr l r o e n i g i c e e r oitinfnvtuhloei copsestol the, l t r ha e en v opl immediateue toipo people e t render f danger a u t e i g nc e to o o rights, and thereby save itra:t'elthoiarecntkgiolevvraanntndhoderyduenarJruersrtet.l"sivititt?: re store h itt ohtc. quiet and tranquillity to the country of "; bi d c i atil trade, its commerce, it ; m a n u f a ctures —its s ir ; 141° of every description—and m a y we riot f this the highly excited and weary minds % t oo t people—stand so much in n e ed. The 0..," is an awful one in every sense of the wor d ' fu tur e the crisis in the nation's present as well as look welfare—and there is no one who does n° t , so d forward to it with feeling s of mingled alti, ell e vefi l alarm, to which no pr e vi o u s ly anticipate Lord.' in the nation's annals gave birth. Will th e °° the?, pass the Bill ? We know not ; b ut ~;% / 1 )); conjure them by all that they hold dear on ea ;, - all that they possess, and all that they hop e s — s .sfn —riot:to place themselves in a scale in Whi CP ' 5 Sc the united force of the King, the Convi l°l : 'la c ; the people,—they would assuredly be made ha' vo the beam. The reverence for their order -3' eitthi been excessive of late years, and more c 5 P e 0 0 ' during the last t welvemonths, and w ere tb e fii 4 'o add to the declen s ion o f th e i r i n fl a ence,lV : F e themselves in oppositi on t o t h e u nited “ He , - ,esl' i le ; loyal, desperate, r eso l ve d, an d p ers evering,' what might not be the consequence' s ', of ° Pi tremble even to thi n k of th em . The nig ht o h e pression and spoliation has long continued tetli,e, t i d h o i m ck in n i e o s r s i o o sie i r ts t d h a e rk p n eo e p ss le riis ; o a tTh n e d ord i y r ,e r tA,e p ri r rni o ni p ins o at r rty t i i o n cir t ie l on t o h o s o t b : ; c p a o l s .r i y ng , o f r o i r t a il moment, e GoNr, ur shall reign no longer formed were the Bill to he rejected—or, e' utt e a ll nm w e h r a it t . not ° her e 01 : impossibility, that it could be formed , ° iv y a the parishes of the metropolis, in which t " select vestries, refused to pay the taxes lineecist'lr, these self-elected bodies; arid is it na t tie d well known that unions have been fef;: t pr' lr many parts of the kingdom, the very P r i l t h re ,; ciple of which is a similar resolution loyabh'e spect to the payment of the direct tolt es , si l oft,7 to Government, in the event of the rejec t "' A"`;;; Bill by the Lords, and the formation of o ld Reform Cabinet ? And to what a pSS S W° nial° l l, l e country be reduced by such a resolution Ol d beti' ie adopted by the people ? What then ‘O ti s ithat,t or value of bank-notes and bank property ? otn' value of a share in the national debt, or t i n cti i eon e ; public security ? Looking at the dreal"tien Of 0 quences which must result from the rej ec lear eb r measure on which the affections of t appears Have to u s a o i nid he r i o lti P inber o• resolutely bent—looking at the small d i re ct i n i Peers out of the whole House who have r i g hts' th e terest in the sp o li a ti on o f t h e peonle' s r o r .liob also to the giga n ti c we i g h t o f talent bY ch i be are passing of th e R e f orm Bill i n the Lords wilt A o vocated—we ar e f ran k t o o wn that o ur t reas ury stronger in fav our o f th e a doption o f the But is than our alarm; for a contrary re sult• e oy es, to the event of th e l atter oecurre nce—an d w t i oo to r be provided for it—there is another tin e ; , ers da: asked, and that is—" What will the Man" ; yew , t ,,, ;( m Resign No —that would be lit tle se-- , s tood them to the last, and , cuery to the cause of a people who was' . 1 , re " of thei r and c signation? Prorcasue Parliament, e d not et! , sha t Peers v • That ought to be done rune, a. the Anti• Reform Peers have triumph° ; Are re' e ' course then remains for them? he ob mat to t e .llO readers for information on that p communication of our correspondent. en sp has not only vindicated the position s ' ohe ite, by himself and Mr. Crampton, th e ions ol General for Ireland, against the silly,sobs. who will not Lam . reate „ea Lord Eldon and a writer in Fraser king' but laid down the constitutional law o t t .ie t l !_ rese n dom on every point connected with l e , e l ) _ . „_ or in coon ° sire establi,hed authorities --,much less .nsa.,. i n prec I" fie s ose and common right—can commend its perusal to Lord Eldon ana .a , notice 0 and we commend it also to the speF l f ps Who WIII ._ Lord Grey and his colleagues, t here J 4 crisis, in a manner which nothing in ga, hi:friends it, if they do not already know it, that lately yid emerg ent ; order to i i Which, i t the enunt Advertise► SEI 11l pi to At an h t , eat Aeere Roust h ear nrd erE '°nstl e , deb order w °f °f ° Ner te r Z i der,:h :11:11(1 014‘1:,ere co lt • Pahl ie ° I ! ae,