The Sun. — London, England, 1832-04-24 00:00:00

, sfight ATve ; So The fofination of the marriage tie ought to be encouraged by all rea sonable measures, and its dissolution severely discountenaTiced. Respectable clergymen, of all persuasions, ought to have the power of so lemnizknr, marriages, and rendering them valid in 'law. We are inclined (though less po sithre on that point) to believe that civil ma pistrates ought to have the same authority, and divorce ought to be met by obstacles, serious though not insuperable, —open prof of adul tery being always one of them, a: it some public and peculiar stigma might be beneficially affixed to that offence. It seems to us astonishing that the institution of marriage has 'never yet been turned to any solid Irc extensive ac count, as an instrument more powerful than any other known to history for civilizing, the negro nature, and that education itself ap pears in but secondary odour with the loudest anti-slavery champions. We shall say no more at present on the wild proposition cor instantly emancipating the slaves. We are convinced that were our own views followed up, and not violently superseded by any fanatical hurricane, there would be few other than free labourers in our western colonies after a lapse of 20 years— a short space in the annals of any nation, But the writer of the " private" letter rerzrred to ac cuses us of being " exceedingly misinformed" on the sentiments of the " Anti-Slavery So ciety on the point of compensation to the slave holders." The gentleman must be something of a wizard to have made this discovery, seeing that we had never once adverted, in word or (we might add) in thought, to that society's notions about the justice or the amount of indemnity to the pl a nter for his n egro e s . We will speak with no disparagement of the Anti-slavery Society, in whose final object, as declared by its organs, we concur. It contains, we know, many excellent persons, with others who, perhaps, have an am ple share of human worthlessness in their leaven. But we are conscious of no wrong towards the association or its members, in having presumed to write upon the West India question without referring to them as supreme judges of a case in which they have appeared such frequent and eager advocates, or without being aware that they are yet acknowledged as a constituted power in the state.—Times. Some extraordinary distinctions have of late been drawn between the principle and provisions of the Reform Bill, and some equally absurd conclusions have been founded on the presumed admission of these distinctions. It has been fifty times stated in this journal, and was repeated by Lord Grey both in his opening speech and in his reply on the second reading of the Bill, that the principles of his Reform measure are three,-Ist, disfranchisement of corrupt or insig uificant boroughs ; 2d, enfranchisement of large towns ; and, 3d, extension of the right of suf frage uniformly to the large body of town inha bitants. It is evident that in making this simple enumeration of principles, nothing more is meant than a convenient classification of provi ions already known. These provisions are, the partial or total abolition of the existing right of returning members to Parliament by the 86 bo roughs in schedule A and B,—the distribution of the privileges which those boroughs had abused, or could not advantageously exercise, to the large towns in schedules C and ii,—and the establishment of a uniform qualification, or right of voting in the occupation of a'house of 10/. a year or upwards. In thus stating the question, the principle is embodied in the provision, or, rather, they are one and the same identical thing. But, without being so rigOrous in our identification of the acknow ledged principle and the proposed enactment, we shall allow that, maintaining the three prin ciples above-mentioned, schedule A might be made to contain 66 instead of 56 boroughs,— that schedule B might be extended to more than 30 of the insignificant places which are allowed still partially to retain the former franchises, — that more than the proposed number of 22 large towns might be included in schedule C, — that no place hitherto unrepresented, having above 6,000 or 7,000 inhabitants, should be ex cluded from schedule D,—and that in all the towns admitted to the participation of represen tive privileges, a fraction below or above 10/. rent might be the qualification for a vote. In every system of reform grounded on ancient in stitutions, with a view to their practical improve ment, and without any aim at theoretic perfec fon, there must be arrangements which have the appearance of being arbitrary or anomalous. There can be no decided or very preponderating reason given why the number of boroughs to be totally disfranchised should he exactly 56, in stead of 55 or 57 ; but 56 having been origi nally pointed out by the first Bill which disqua lified all boroughs with a population below 2,000 inhabitants, there can be no reason given why it should be altered to any number immediately above or below. The same course of argument may be applied to the 101. qualification. It might be difficult to prove why it should be fixed at 101„ rather than at 9/. or 111.; but it is the duty of those who resist the proposed arrange ment, and desire a change, to supply a satisfac tory justification of their alleged improvement. It is quite plain, that a great excess, say Si., either above or below the sum of the proposed qualifi cation, would considerably alter the amount and character of our constituency ; but for the vital im portance of maintaining the precise or exact limit of 101. in preference to a fraction above or below, no person would be absurd enough to contend ; as nobody would be absurd enough to insist upon so small an alteration. The principles, then, of the Bill being disfranchisement, enfranchisement, and extension of town suffrage, Lord Grey may, very safely, announce that he will agree to any reasonable modification of the provisions, of which these are merely the heads or the abbre viated expression, without laying any ground for the monstrous inference that he is inclined to abandon any of the clauses which constitute the strength or efficiency of the Bill. According to to the clumsy sophistry or paradoxical coxcombry Of such a logician as argued the point in an evening paper of last night, Lord Grey should be satified with a decision of the House of Peers which would cut down his bill to a provision for transferrino• the rep resentat i ve pr i v il eges o f Old Sarum to ' Manche s t er , and for vesting the elec tive rights of the new borough in householders of 501., because forsooth in this case he would maintain the three great principles of his measure—disfranchisevient,enfranchisement,and extended suffrage ! No, no. The following 'ords of his Lordship, which are adduced, to support this stupid doctrine, will bear no such construction Now, in the first place, I say, that although I thiuk 36 boroughs ought to be disfranchised, although I should be very sorry to see a less number disfranchised, and although I think the 10/. franchise is not too great an extension of the qualineation, still these provisions are no part of the principle of the Bill, and they may be altere d in perfect cOn•isteney'with its principles. But it is said that I will not consent to any alteraion in this Bill. To this asserti9n 1 can only repeat the ;inswer I made to a similar one !act October. It does not !lepencl upon Me, it depends upon your Lordships." " When the Bill goes into Committee, I shall certainly feel it my duty to resist any alterations which I may think inconsistent With the main object which the Bill proposes to carry into inert. But if it can lie shown that any in justice has inadvertently crept into any of the schedules— if it can he shown that otat,- qualification, not so small as 101.,, would he Ists open to fraud and abuse, I will not resist the correction of such circumstances." he " main object " which the Bill proposes to carry into effect if; a foil, free, and efficient representation of the people in the Commons Hou,_;e of Parliament ; and if that object is aban doned altogether, or disregarded in any essential degree, in the committee of the House of Lords, the Bill will be as effectually lost, and the inte rests of public order as wantonly compromised, as thourrh the three barren and, unfruitful prin ciples abo , :e alluded to, had never been admitted or recognised. Reform, however, will not ul timately be endangered, though it may march to victory under different auspices, and demand from its vanquished enemies more humiliating, perhaps less politic, concessions. We recom mend attention to the letter of " Puhlius," on the necessity of giving members to represent the magul'acturing interest, though we are not of opinion that the voice of the manufacturers has been neglected r.-.ore than that of the rest of the community, landholders and boroughholders ex cepted. We shall perhaps recur to the subject. —Times. The pattisan3 of revolution are uneasy in their _ position, notwith-tanding their boasted victory. They fear lest the partial advantage they have gained should be followed by real de feat. They cannot believe that the great con servative strength of the country will allow itself to be tieprived of that Constitution which is its only security without making an effort in its defence, and they know that such an effort, however slight, would inevitably involve their own political extinction.• But the question is, what can they do? If they call public meetings, and endeavour to raise the mob, the chances are ten to one that something will happen to expose the worthlessness of their cause, and give the alarm to the respectable part of society ; and if they remain quiet and allow agitation to subside, the good sense of the country will be sure to prove in some way or other a bulwark to its ancient institutions. And when they per ceive the s:;lid unbroken masses which are op posed to them, headed by the Duke of Wel lington himself, who is not celebrated for giving an enemy a chance, or for neglecting to charge home when the proper moment arrived, their em barrassment and perplexity become ahnost insup portable. In such a state of things the less disci plined among the troops, to whom inaction is death, naturally put themselves into motion first, however injurious to the common cause. That precious junto, the Birmingham Political Union, has, it seems, taken the lead upon this occasion, followed, as might have been expected, by the Radicals of Leeds. These people could not remain quiet and control their irritation, and they have consequently exposed themselves, just as we should have desired them to do if their conduct had been under our control. William the Fourth, Lord Grey's nominal mas ter, issued a proclamation some months since to put down Political Unions, and this of Bir minham among the rest. But the Birmingham Union, Lord Grey's real master, determined upon disobedience, and, having secret intelli gence from their Ministerial nominees, they Made a Few technical alterations in their arrange ments, and impudently pretended that the Pro clamation did not apply to them. They thus violated the spirit, if not the letter, of the King's mandate, and Lord Grey was compelled to submit. Resistance would, of course, have been vain, his office being held upon the tenure of subserviency to jacobinism ; " the spur in the flanks of the shy and shuffling jades" would soon have com pelled obedience. If the Lords had boldly re jected the Bill these Jacobin Clubs would have shrunk into insignificance, and the Monarchy of England would have emerged from its temporary eclipse. But what has been the result of Lord Harrowby's temporizing policy ? We are now informed that the Birmingham Union has de clared its sittings permanent till the fate ?f the Reform Bill is ascertained ! This is precisely what might have been expected. The Monarchy has been degraded by issuing a Proclamation which the responsible Advisers of the Crown dare not execute from the fear of offending a rival power ; the House of Commons has passed a Jacobin Bill ; and the Lords have temporized. What is to prevent the Jacobin Unions from occupying in such circumstances that vacant place of authority which the legitimate Government has abandoned ? Plainly nothing ; and the re volutionists have taken their position accordingly. A portion of the crew mutinies, and the man at the helm is in correspondence with the traitors : of course the vessel is at the mercy of the waves, and may be expected to be presently on the rocks. The total paralysis of all the powers and functions of Government which has taken place is obvious, but the mode in which it has been brought about would be unknown to the public if the cackling of some of the Radical geese did not sometimes let the secret out pre maturely. A correspondent of the Times, whom the Editor sanctions by quoting, speaks only yesterday of " the very extensive and per fect organization which prevails throughout the country in the form of Trades and Political Unions, which afford all the ready machinery of being converted into Corresponding Societies on the first fitting opportunity of popular discon tent?' He goes on to say that " our mechanics, servants, and labourers, have only been pre vented from enrolling themselves by entreaties and assurances of confidence in his Majesty and his Ministers," and threatens Lord Grey with the Tarpeian rock if he should hesitate about the destruction of the Constitution and the en thronement of jacobinical power ! Now we only for the present ask, are these things so, or are they not? Is Lord Grey privy to such a con spiracy, and does he hesitate to put it down ? Or is he supinely ignorant of its existence ? Or is he consciously betraying his too confiding Mas ter into the toils of a ferocious faction, in the hope that some chance may extricate him, and sacrificing his country to the phantom of an imaginary consistency P And will the Peers of Great Britain tolerate the further progress of this absurdity P.. • The monster may be crushed in a moment now ; but let it be fostered, pampered, and petted, let it be indulged in the commission :of treason, and accustomed to the exercise of sovereignty, and who will foretell the cost in blood and treasure of its ultimate extirpation. The Leeds meeting is not worthy of much notice. As the radical prints say that it mustered 4,000, we may perhaps estimate its numbers as high as 400. It was attended prin cipally, we understand, by the usual Jacobin „hacks, and represented anything but the loyal inhabitants of the town. The resolutions ask i for new Peers, as before ; so that - Lords Hai -1 rowhy and Wharncliffe have not yet gained . . much by conciliation, the fiouL,c of Lomb is obviOusly doomed by the radicals as a separate estate of the realm ; they will not only be per mittdd to exist pro tempere to register the edicts of the representatives of the mobs of the towns. If they rebel, successive swampings will be their very lightest punishm en t. Th e pl a i n q u estion for the '.Peers to decide is, whether they will abdicate theirpretensions for ever, or g i ve battle at once before the Radicals shall have possessed them selves of the House of Commons ? We coun sel open, fearless, unflinching resistance, and then we say that a little month would set the question at rest for ever, by the complete triumph of the ancient conservative principles of the Constitution. Whatever impressions may obtain as to the desirableness of some Reform, nine teen-twentieths of the people would be opposed in heart and soul to any kind of revolutionary movement, and loath e J beyond expression the infidel and profligate crew by whom alone it would be supported. Separate, we say, the moderate Reformers from the Radicals, by ex tinguishing the Jacobin Bill, and substituting a temperate measure, supported by a constitutional Ministry, and we shall be at once delivered from all practical difficulty. History, philosophy, and common sense unite to teach the in estimable importance of a Government by means of balanced powers, and the whole country will gladly support the Peerage as essential to this object. The middle classes look up to the Peers as the great conser vators of rank, property, and all which consti tutes that social organization upon which their own security and prosperity depend. The re flecting people of this country only ask them to dare to be the Barons of England still, as they have been ever since Magna Charta sealed the compact between their illustrious order and the community at large. The people understand that the same division of powers which availed to conduct the empire from extreme barbarism to its present pinnacle of opulence and power is now more than ever required to protect the ex tensive and delicate interests of its complex and wonderful civilization. Improve the me chanism, they say, as much as you please, but spare the principles of the Constitution. For eight hundred years the people have said with respect to the integrity of their constitutional system, and they still say, content. What then ails the Peers ? Are they frightened at the Jacobin demonstrations of a few trumpery Poli tical Unions, which could not turn out, at the utmost, five hundred fighting-men ? Their fathers would have ridden stirrup-deep in the blood of foreign invaders or domestic traitors in a just and holy cause ; and shall their de scendants quail before some twenty silly plebeian meetings, and more silly printed resolutions ? As for new creations, let the whole body of Peers resist, and it could not be effectual. The order can only fall by its own hands. Tempo rising has been tried, and it has already failed ; one course only remains, which we trust will be resorted to with perfect fearlessness, and in re ference to which, we venture to say, England expects every Peer to do his duty.—Morning Post. The Reform Association of Glasgow, on the night of Wednesday last, met to address the King, and petition the House of Lords on the subject which is now uppermost in all men's minds—the Reform Bill. The address and petition and resolutions voted at this meeting, and the speeches, while they express satisfaction on account of the success which has hitherto at tended the measure, are at the same time cha racterised by great uneasiness with regard to the future. An unfortunate misgiving has taken possession every where of the public mind, partly from the tone of Earl Grey's speech, but still more, perhaps, through the reports regarding the intentions of Ministers, which have been in dustriously circulated. At the Glasgow meeting Sir 1). K. Sandford, in answering the question, was the Bill out of danger ?—said, " He wished from his heart that the contest were over ; but though none could be more willing than he was to hope for the fulfilment of the sanguine anticipations of some, who in the height of their rejoicing conceived the victory already won—he must express his own forebodings —lie must state his belief that at no period in the history of this vital measure, elated as he was at its present ad vancement, did there mingle with his joyful feelings so many misgivings, so much alarm, lest these hopes should after all be disappointed." No one doubts the honesty of purpose of Earl Grey; but the fear entertained is, that rather than make any addition to the House of Peers, he will allow the Bill to be deprived of those features which are its great recommendation to a large and most respectable portion of the in habitants of this country. The Glasgow Re fbrmers declare in their resolutions— " That it is the completeness of this great measure which constitutes its value in their eyes and in public estimation, and that its mutilation or curtailment in Com mittee would inflict a disappointment in the public mind, not less acute than its total rejection ; a disappointment, the effects of which would render it inoperative for one of its principal objects—that of reconciling the people to their political institutions, and thus of binding the whole community in one friendly and harmonious bond. That, in particular, the clause conferring the right of f ranc hi se upon householders of 10/, annual rent, is that portion of die Bill which has taken the strongest hold of the pub lic mind in this quarter of the empire, as being admirably adapted to the condition and requirement of society, and affording a sound and permanent basis for the creation of a virtuous and enlightened constituency; and that the raising of this qualification, however slightly, would viti ate this measure in the estimation of the people, and give rise to continual heart.burnings and renewed agitation, if not to consequences still more disastrous," Mr. Baines stated at the Leeds meeting that the Bill, if passed in its present shape, would only give votes to from five thousand to six thousand persons out of a population of 120,000, and that if the qualification were raised to 151., the electors would be reduced to 3,000. It was stated by Sir I). Sandford, at the Glasgow meet ing : " Cut off the 101. voters in this very place (and be it remembered Glasgow has a population of upwards of 200,000), and you lose more than one third of those who would otherwise get the franchise. If you make it 151., the franchise will be lost to 2,500 men. If you raise it to 201., your voters will lose two-thirds Of their num ber. He was certain, and he would be borne out by every landlord in saying, that the 101. householders were a class every way as respectable, intelligent, and independent, as the householders of 15/." But why should the qualification be so raised as to reduce the number of electors in large cities, like Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, &c., to a h an df u l ? Two-thirds of the electors would, it appears, in Glasgow, have a qualification of 151. No Tory would think of raising the qualification above 151. Then the voters of 151. and upwards form a majority, and the alarm as to the swamping of the higher class o f voters by the 101. voters, appears quite groundless. The Duke of Buckingham talked a meat deal of nonsense about the 101. voters. The truth is, as Mr. Baines re the qualification is only far t oo hi g h a t To t a ed, s a minimum. We agree with him in think ing, that five thousand votes in a population of t i i 2 o o n , o o u o g o ht to beov isfart r o ie 'fe r % e v d ; and that th e qualifica tion 5/. rath er t h a n raised to 15/. The people are quite aware of the de feLL the till still Icavea in our repteAntation, 'They cannot shut their eyes to the large share of the representation still left to boroughs, of which the aggregate wealth and population is not equal to those of one of the new boroughs. But they make allowances for the difficulties in the vvay of Ministers, and receive with thankfulness the partial remedy which they have proffered. If, however, Ministers now give way, and allow the Bid to be mutilated, the people will not be satisfied. The demonstrations at Glasgow, Leeds (and to be made this very day at Edinburgh) may satisfy them that any attempt to raise the qualification, or to deprive the Bill of what is liberal in the way of enfranchisement, will be attended with most mischievous results, the con sequences of which it is impossible to predict. The Glasgow Reformers tell the House of Peers " that if the qualification be preserved at its pre sent amount, a long period of peace, security, and prosperity, will result ; but if raised to any extent, however trivial, a system of agitation will ensue, and be continued, the immediate consequences of which will be injurious to national industry in general, and to manufactu ring districts in particular, and the ultimate result may be to lower the elective qualification to a sum still less than that which has been wisely proposed in the Bill." The Scotch have a proverb, " let sleeping dogs lie," and it would be well if the Aristocracy of this country kept this proverb in mind. The people have been quieted ; then why awake them ? We all know that the might is with the people, and that it is always unwise to drive matters to an extremity, which may allow that might to dis play itself. Can it be for the interest of the higher orders that agitation should be per petuated ? that industry should be paralysed, and that the people in their difficulties and sufferings should be taught to view the aristo cracy of the country as a curse ? The mo ment you deprive any order in society of the advantage of a general conviction that the privileges it possesses are held for the general good, that moment you undermine it. The higher ranks of this country may be assured, that by grasping at. too much, they may exemplify the story of the Dog and the Shadow. But after all, the question for the people is not what the Lards will do, but what are they preparet, to do themselves ; be cause, if they are true to themselves at this conjuncture, the rest will follow. The men of the north seem aware of the truth, that great benefits are seldom obtained without an effort, and to be prepared for the effort. We have no doubt that the determined men in the ranks of the Refor mers have turned the question over and over again in their minds—What if we are deceived ? Dreadful will be the responsibility of those who may throw in one day the whole labouring po pulation of the manufacturing districts idle— who may compel a resolution to cease working, or some measure of equal efficacy, of a fiscal character. Mr. Cobbett has transmitted to us an address to the people of Birmingham (which will appear in his next Register). In that ad dress he assumes (from some alleged conversa tion of Mr. Joseph Parkes, of that town, in a bookseller's shop here) that Ministers are pre pared to raise the 10/. qualification, and to abandon the metropolitan boroughs. We are quite sure that Mr. Parkes's meaning has been tnisconceived ; and from what we know of that gentleman, we are equally certain, that the mo ment this meets his eye, he will explain, in a satisfactory manner, the allusions to the Bir mingham people attributed to him. Mr. Parkes never could mean that the people of Birming ham, of all places, would be indifferent either to the raising of the qualification, or the aban donment of the metropolitan boroughs. But we shall allow him and the Birmingham people to vindicate themselves in their own way.— Morning Chronicle. Having, on several occasions, interposed, and not unsuccessfully, to prevent the destruction or mutilation of fine remains of architectural art in various parts of this country, under the pretence of public improvement, but really through a spirit of wantonness, ignorance, or sordid job bing, we have great pleasure in observing that the most recent attempt of this sort, which we had noticed more than once in the terms of re probation which it deserved, has been defeated. We allude to the case of Booth= Bar, which the corporation of the city of York had an nounced an intention of pulling down, as some other noble portions of the ancient fortifications of that city, equally interesting to the painter, the poet, the scholar and the historian, had been previously destroyed, as if to show how little of the conservative principle actuates the proceed ings of a corporate body when corruptions or abuses are not the objects to be preserved. In the case of Bootham Bar, however, the corpora tion of York deserve credit for having, in this instance, yielded to the voice of enlightened public opinion, as our readers will see from an account of a late meeting of that body, at which a motion was carried, to direct the general Com mittee to ascertain the expense which will attend the restoration of Bootham Bar. Thus en lightened opinion has obtained a triumph which, we trust, will have its effect in saving from wan ton and barbarous destruction many other splen did relics of the ancient architecture of England. We observe that on this occasion several mem bers of the Antiquarian Society had expressed their anxiety for the preservation of the interest ing memorial in question. We are glad to see that Society turning its attention to objects of more rational consideration than what had ge nerally occupied its time and engrossed its sen sibilities for many years. While it was engaged in its evening dissertations upon collections of disentombed crockery-ware, fragments of Roman or Dutch pantiles, rusty bits of metal, or other knick-knacks, the hand of barbarian violence was busy in destroying the splendid and venerable remains of antiquity which connected the finest principles of art with the grandest associa tions of English history. When, for in stance, we interfered about seven years ago to preserve St. Saviour's Church, in the Bo rough, from the doom pronounced upon it by t he Vandal party, who had actually obtained a vote in Vestry to level its massive and beautiful proportions with the earth, the Antiquarian So ciety was perfectly passive and silent. The dis covery of a trinket or a coin of the reign of one of our Edwards or our Henries would have pro duced a sensation among that erudite body ; but not so the fate of a magnificent church—an or nament to the metropolis— a rich repository of the principles of art—a place where poets and scholars who adorned our literature are entombed, and where the martyrs of our religion had tri umphed. Such a relic of the " olden time" as this was not worthy the sympathy or admiration that were continually lavished upon the nameless objects of a fantastic curiosity—things which, when new, had no connexion with science or art, and, when old, were but the rubbish of anti quity. Even when, little more than a year ago, we %etc instrumental in saving that glory of c&• clesiastical architecture, York Minster, ftont the mutilations with which it was threatened, under the name of improvement, the Antiquarian So ciety raised no voice for its protection. Perad venture it was digging for relics into green mounds, or collecting mouldering trophies from Ofra's Dyke, as valuable as the helmet-full of shells which attested the conquests of a certain Imperial collector of ancient Rome. If indeed the Antiquarian Society had been really what its name implied, and had acted up to the obvious obligations which that name imposed upon it, it would have been impossible that the Vandals of modern times could have committed the havoc which they have done upon the finest relics of English art, and the most interesting historical monuments of the empire. The valuable and ef fective cooperation of Mr. Etty, the Royal Aca demician, in saving both York Minster and the other remaining antiquities of York, we acknow ledge ; but he is a man of taste and genius, not an antiquarian in the ordinary sense of the word. Yet we are glad to find the Antiquarian Society, even at this late hour, come forward to earn for itself a better reputation tha❑ it has heretofore deserved, by assisting in the conservation of those inestimable works of ancient art which are a por tion of the national history, and reflect glory on the earlier recollections of England.—Morning Herald. It is evident that emigration is, and has been for some time, going on to a considerable extent from all parts of the United Kingdom. In so far as this has been confined to labourers or tradesmen, who could not find employment in their own country, its operation would be bene ficial—the poor-rates would be to a certain ex tent, and for a limited period, relieved—and the good effects of an increased demand in the la bour market would be generally felt. But it is well known that emigration has not been con fined to labourers and tradesmen without employ ment. Many experienced farmers, with the rem nants of their capital, have fled, from the ruin which seemed to await them in their own coun try, to wilds which may now transfer the epithet " inhospitable to the nations from whom they originally derived it. We need not enter into any arguments to prove that persons of this de scription—persons possessing small capital, and great enterprise and experience—are a loss to the mother-country ; and that even the power of po pulation, with all its accumulative energies, may not easily replace them. It is therefore that we would urge upon G overnment the necessity of tak • ing into immediate consideration the state of the poor•laws, for in the working of that system arc to be found most of the evils which banish the industrious farmer to seek a livelihood in foreign lands, by depriving him of all hope in his own. The great struggle between corruption and Re form, which has so long furnished Ministers with a pretext for postponing every other mea sure, is likely to be soon terminated. We hope, however, that the present Parliament we w a il i l lu t d io e t . separate without taking some step towards th e correction of the system to which The case of Ireland is especially urgent, and its urgency is not confined to considerations affect ing its own interests exclusively. England and Scotland require that something should be done by Ireland for her own poor, in order that they may escape the burden which has been hitherto thrown upon them, and chiefly upon this country, by the uncharitable, the barbarous, and inhu man negligence of Irish laws and Irish landlords. It is aggravating to reflect how large a portion of the Irish poor are thrown every year upon this country for support, and that not by any cunning or design, but by the mere heartless dis regard of the landlords for the lives of the wretched peasantry. If the want of an equivalent for the word " comfort" in some languages be justly charged upon other nations as a proof that the domestic virtues are not much cultivated by the people, the total want of poor laws in Ireland, or of any thing in the shape of a legal provision for the destitute, may be applied, in the same way, as indicating a disposition the very reverse of charity in a people who pride them selves not a little on their benevolence. We hope, however, that the emigration now going on will attract the attention of the Government to this important subject, and that some steps will be taken, before Parliament separates again, for the improvement of a system which so ma terially affects the agricultural, and, indeed, all the great interests of the country.—Morn Her. If ever the people of England entertained any doubts of the low estimation in which they have always been held by the Tory faction—if ever they considered it to be a question worthy of a moment's reflection, whether they conceived the people to be made for them, or the Government which they had usurped to be made for the people—these doubts must have been dispelled by the declarations of the faction itself, during the discussions upon the Reform Bill, and especially by their hostility to those clauses in it which have the rights and interests of the people more especially in view ; for the whole of their objections to it may be summed up in two brief sentences—first, that it will confer too much power upon the people ; and, secondly, that by conferring such power it will not only put off to a very distant day their return to office, but render it valueless in point of patronage and plunder. That these are weighty objections, on their part, to an acquiescence either in the ten. pound qualification clause, or in the rotten borough disfrafichisement, or in the metropolitan enfranchisement clauses, we do not attempt to deny ; but while we are prepared to shew, on the one hand, that the evils which they pretend to anticipate as the result of their sanction by the Legislature, are wholly nugatory and unfounded, we are quite as ready, on the other, to assert that, whatever they consider to be a blemish in the Bill, is to us an additional proof of its uti lity, and that could we entertain any doubts of the excellence of the whole measure, they would he dispelled by the mere fact of the unconquer able opposition manifested towards it by the ene mies of the people. To come, however, to the objections urged by the Tory faction to the ten• pound qualification clause, it is asserted by them, first, that it is too low ; and secondly, that it will not, in all places, embrace the same class of voters. The first is the offspring of their habi tual hatred and contempt, not unmingled with have so long trampled with impunity ; and the l t lh o ca n t a m m n e ; natural subject of wonder with every one who their fear of that people on whose necks ndye t r h a e; knows them must be, not that they . object ,to it theirs o defeating, even it, t h en most the ost agony h o av f e i c t, on a de i s s c i e . nt ed for both qualifications, when sanctioned by the amonga sa 1 them improvement shou ki Legislature, would prove equally fatal to them. There is this great ditrerence,lhowever, between them, so far as the people are concerned, that the tenTound franchise will embrace a much ,larger constituency than the fifteen-pound, and consequently one more unlik e l y to be bribed into the taunt of Menibef:; to the House of Commons, who either possess not the talents, or have not in them the moral qualifications befit ting the discharge of the important duties with which they will be intrusted ; and it is this which gives it its highest value in our estimation. It affords security, on the one hand, for the existence of a respectable and thinking consti tuency ; and, on the other, against every species of bribery and corruption, except in a few towns of small population. With regard to the objection that it will embrace a different class of voters in almost every different town, we deny that it has any other foundation, in fact, than that in the metropolis and in large towns gene rally, it will produce a constituency which a qua lification of one-third less amount would bring together in smaller cities and towns ; but while, on the one hand, it would have been clearly im possible for his Majesty's Ministers to have, by means of any qualification, however modified according to place, so adapted it as to have em braced precisely the same constituency, in point of intellectual. and moral attainments, it may be fairly stated in reply to the oligarchic faction on this head, that if it be the main object of a re presentation of the people in Parliament, to re present the opinions, feelings, wishes, and inte rests of all classes of the community—and repre sentation, if such be not its object, is neither more nor less than a mockery—why, the different classes whom the ten-pound qualification is cal culated to embrace in different parts of the United Kia , dom, is a benefit and a recommendation, and not a disadvantage or a ground of objection, a proof that by means of it we shall return to the ancient practice of the Constitution, instead of retaining the shameful abuses to which its principles have been perverted. So much for the Anti-Reform objections to one of the main clauses of the Bill. To-morrow we shall possibly advert to some of those which have been urged upon other popular clauses of it. In the mean time every friend to the measure ought to be on the alert, and watchful of the movements of the enemy. Meetings ought to be held, and pen dons agreed to, and every other step adopted, which may be calculated either to strengthen the hands of his Majesty's Ministers, or to promote the final sanction of the Bill by the Legislature, entire and umnutilated. Now is the day of trial—now is the season of hope ; a few weeks past and gone, and the former may have termi nated against us, and the latter have given place to one of regret and danger.—Morn. Advertiser. LONDON MARKETS. PRICE OF BREAD. The highest price of Bread in the Metropolis is 10d. fot th• 41b. Loaf. There are others who sell from !¢d. to IA. below that price. PRICE 01' SEElis.—April 23 New English Red Clover Seed (per Cwt.) —s. 525. tine —s. 82s. Old Ditto Ditt0................... —s. —5. hne —s. —s. New Foreign Ditto..... 5 2 ,. 63s fine —s. 925. Old Ditto .. .., New White Clover , 525. Rs. fine —s. 9.25. Old Ditto Ditto —s. —s. fine —s. —s. New Trefoil ... —s. 12s. fine 50s. Ws. ald Ditto —..». —s. —s. tine —s —s. Rib Grass ---...---....--....—. —s. 375. tine —s. 42'. English Carraway Seed„ .. —s. —s. 60s. fine 655. Foreign Ditto ----................—„*. —s. —s. —s. fine —s. Voriander —.---„, . —s. —s. fine 255. 30s. St. Foin . (per Quarter)........— —s. —s. fine —s. 725. Rye Grass .---- . —s. —s. new 20s. 435. ['acey Ditto -40 s. 56s. new —s. —s. Linseed, for feeding —2. 40s. fine --s. 445. Ditto, for crnshing .............365. 40s. —s. fine —s. Canary Seed, New -, —s. 70s. 72s fine —s. ' 'ltto Old - —s. —s. --a. fine —s. White Mustard Seed —(per 8u5he1)....... —s. 7s. Ss. fine--s, Drown Ditto — ,-s los 17s. tint. —s. . . Turnip Seeds, Rounds —s. —s. Bs. tine 12s. Green and Red Ditto _ .... -s. —s. Bs. tine 12s. Tares, Old _ ~ —s. :is. fid. tine (is. Ditto New —s. —s. fine —s. —s. Rae Seed, English, fine (per Last) 23/. 271..,,..,. Foreign 201. 24g. L'lttUL3 5t 0,. fit. 2.A. to 81. OS. 41 153. 51. 12s. to tit. OS. ~ 51. Os. 5/. 15t. to 71. Os. —9/. N. 12.1. Os. to 01 Oa. 01. Oa. 71. Os to 91. Os. ..... 41. 10s. St. Its to 61. 15s. 4!. 4s. 51. Os. to 51. ss. 3/. 15s 31. Os. to 51. 12s. Kent Pockets--. SPFSCX Ditto Fe2ex Ditto Fateham Ditto. 3econdh Kent Lags Sussex Ditto Essex Ditto PRICE OF OIL. Ripe Oil, brown Refined 0 Linseed Oil Linseed Oil Cake at the Mill, per thousand Rape Cake, per ton 10 10 5 5 WHI'I'ECHAPEL HAY 51ARKE'L—April 21. Hay Od. to 90s. Od. 804 tki. to 120 s. Od. Od. to 3Si. Od. PRICE OF POTATOES.—ApriI '2O. Kidneys Scotch Iteds Oxnobles and Shaws 21. ss. to 21. 10s. ditto. rlilt;LN Ut LLA A ULU. Per lb, d. toff. Butts, English ---. 16 21 Ditto, Foreign...—. 14 18 Dressing 13 159 llitto 'l6 18 Ditto, light ---- Clop Hides, light —. 12 13 Ditto 40 to 451 h 13j 15 Di tto 15 IN; Per lb. d. to it. English Horse Hides... 12 15 Sivinish Ditto 14 16 Per dozen. Calf Skint,. 30 to 4111 b. 15 23 Ditto 50 to 70Ib. 17 21 Ditto 70 to 801 b. Small Seals, Greenland 181 19 Urge ditto .. 12 15 itAw HIDES. Per Stone. a. el. to s. d. Per Stone. e. d. to a. d. gest Heifers& Staers2 6 2 8 Ordinary 1 6 110 ~lidillings.--.2 2 2 1 Market Calf 6 0 each. Polled SHEEP SKINS. 54. Od. to is. Od. I Downs 3s. 6d. to 4s. 6d. Shearlings—...— Oct. to Os. Od. PRICE OF CANDLES. The price of Store Candles, in the retail shops, is as follows : Candles, per dot. 7s. Od, to Bs. Od. I Moulds, per dozen —9s. (id. PRICE OF TALLOW, SOAP, &c. per 1121 b. Town Tallow 446. bd. Yellow Soap C's. Od. Yellow Itu.-* Od Mottled 681. Od. White --- 425. Od. 745. Od. 426. Od. Graves 14s. Od. 355, Od. Good Graves ss. Od. 226. Od. Soap Ditto,.,,, Melted Stuff', Ditto Rough. PRICE OE RAW FAT, per stone of 81b. Prira of Tallow (as stated by the Tallow Me1ter5).........-2s. 6d. COAL 31Alt Per Ton. Beaumont.. l7s. I'd. Bensharn Main 16 6 East 17 0 Hebburn Main 19 0 Holywel Kenton West 18 0 Orti's Hedhugh 16 9 Pontop Windsor . 17 6 South Holywell Shipeote 15 6 lanticld 18 6 'Pow West Hartley Willington 18 9 Walls End Bell fi C 0..., 18 6 Ditto Bell,ltobsonACo. 18 0 Ditto Bewicke and Co. 20 7 Ditto Blake 18 0 Walls Ena Callerton * 17 0 Walls End Carr and Co. 17 9 Ditto Clarke and Co. 17 9 Walls End G0510rth....,.. 22 0 Walls End Heaton-- 20 6 Walls End Hilda 18 6 Walls End Hotspur-- IS 6 Walls End Jollitre . 17 0 Ditto Killingworth - 19 3 Ships arrived since FT.-April S".S. Per Tort. Walls End Newmarch— 19s. i!cl. Ditto Northumberland 18 6 Ditto Newbigin --- 17 6 Ditto Perkins and Co.. 19 0 Walls End Riddell's.-- 20 0 Walls End Walker..... 20 0 Walls End Hetton "I 3 Walls End Ly0n5,,,.,. 19 0 W. E. Russell's Hetton 21 3 Ditto Russell's Lyon's—. 19 6 Walls End Stewart's 21 9 Walls End Adelaide-- 18 6 Walls End Butter Knoll 19 0 Walls End Tees 21 0 W. I, : r : i .1 E. S Walls r 0 is,,en o ,l% th ilitEailgnli)rtiirL,......b........am 1 11 8 86 0 ,0) Hartley .—...----.... 18 1 1 Llangennech '27 0 Llangen nec h Pemberton 21 6 New Flockton, and Co. 17 6 Silkstone Field and Co. 18 0 Silkstone Holmes 16 0 Silkstone Jackson 17 3 Northumberland Trad. 17 Tantield 18 0 last market-day. 113. BIRTHS. On the 22d inst. in Portman-square, the lady of C. G. Wynne, Esq., of a son. On the 15th inst. at Gloucester, the lady of John Franci► Vaughan, Esq., of Courtfield, Monmouthshire, of a son. On the 2.2 d instant, Mrs. NVilliam Field, Clapham-rise, of a daughter. MARRIED. On the 24th inst. at All Souls Church, St. Marylebone, by the very Rev. the Dean of Chichester, George Douglas, Esq., met': chant, Glasgow, to Ann Drew, daughter of T. It. Drew, Esq.. e t No. 3, Regent's park, London. After the ceremony the parties lett town for hew, Surrey. DIED. On the 18th inst. at Madelcy Manor-house, Staffordshire , Foster Cunliffe Offley, Esq., M.P. On the 21st inst. at his residence in the City-road, after 3 lingering illness, Mr. Alexander A. Henry, formerly of Haydon square, aged 40. On the 16th inst. at Bromley, in the county of Kent, Hannah, wife of Thomas Sammons, ag,red 62. On the 21st inst, at MichaePs-grove, Brompton, Middlesex, Joseph Jacob, Esq., aged 9:1. years, Howard Chamier, third son of Robert Edwards ton, Esq. illness of ten days, Charles, just completed . On the 2`.'xi inst. at Melcombe-place, Dorset-squr, Bagmedugil,2. In February, at Jamaica, after an o in Goodman, Esq. , of Houndhay, near Leeds . . • _ r u i r l y ne s s o t ni s e o r n se o t f , CinhiltrilsetsB(tT,sypeaarlittterbuck, Esq., of North Cad inst., School, Edward, eldest son of MI, education. at the . On the i 9 d l the late Edward Butler, turner and stationer , ' his Bruton-street, Berkeley-square. On the 16th inst. a • • t his seat, Hall Barn, Bucks, the Rev. Si t John Robinson; Bart., in the 79th year of his age. j On the 2 0 d inst, at fleathfield Lodge, Acton, the residence of t i ol t ,i n i o i s i tt s . t . Elizabeth, i z i . , i i li s e i t : t , i t i I;:aAry year, wife haying i J n g 1 :3iitglnerrat'nhielfatner, Henry John Gillman, eldest son of Lieut.-Co lonel Gilboa!), 76th Regiment. On the Bth inst. at Battle House, Brombam, Wilts, in the 3 4 . 1 year of his age, Richard Strachan, youngest son of the late Rear - Admiral Peter Paget. C. 13, PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY MURDO YOUNG, AT THU SUN OFFICE, 112, STRAND, LONDON.