The Sun. — London, England, 1832-12-18 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF I HE PUBLIC JOURNALS. The Conservatives have at last succeeded (it would appear) in their advertising for a candidate to represent the great metropolitan county. In vain did they for some days after Lord Henley's retirement announce to th , public that they had a seat in St. Stephen's at their sole disposal, and they were ready to convey it over, for a pepper-corn consideration, to any respectable gentleman who was willing to hoist their colours and to adopt their ereed. In vain did they even send a deputation to a defeated candidate for the city, to beseech him to be so good as to allow himself to be made a county Member on their nomination. In vain did they, when they failed in this quarter, follow the conduct described in the Gospi parable, and go ont "to the hedges and high. ways" to invite a Member "to come in." No body would stir a step at their bidding, probably because, though the estate was eligible enough, and offered on very easy conditions, everybody doubted the goodness of the title, as it had been carried into tie Master's Office, and had come out with a negative torn his Honour. At last, however, a Scotch Nabob. who has come " from Indus to the poll," and who his been al far north and south as Mr. Hume, his rival, has been induced to accept Conservative terms, and to try how far the people of Middlesex are prepared to belie all their former professions and principles: Sir Charles Forbes, the present Conservative candidate, has not any of the pretensions of Lord Henley. He is so fir from being a Refotmer, that we much doubt whether he is even a " Conformer." He opposed the Reform Bill in all its stages, and he has opposed every motion for improvements in our laws or retrenchments in our expenditure, for the list fifteen years. If he obtain a seat, therefore, with any of the three other candidates, he neutralizt's a reform cote, and by this means blots out the whole influence of the metropolitan county on every division. We announce this undeniable fact to the freeholders and electors of Middlesex from no personal hostility to the lion. Baronet, but solely from a sense of duty, and from a regard to the consistency of this enlightened and important district of the empire. We have no further election intelligence to communicate to-day of any striking iiovelty. The known returns and the state of the polls, which will he found in another part of our paper, will he found as satisfactory as formerly. We regret to state that riots have occurred in some places, for which the working of the Reform Bill can in no case be made responsible. They have either been occasioned by the desperation of the Conservative faction,—by the disappointed rage of the Radicals,----or by causes altog• ther foreign to the exercise of electoral privileges. Indeed, even the persons most op. posed to the great measure of Reform in its essential provisions for destroying rotten-borough influence,— for extending the franchise to large towns,—end for admitting new c'asses of chi/ens to electoral rights, are compelled to acknowledge the immense be nefits of its executory regulations. The expedient of previous registration, the establishment of numerous polling-booths at convenient distances, and the conse quent limitation of the poll to two days, are found to be an efficient provision against all riots except those which are concerted between Radical Rumps or Conservative Clubs. In order to afford a practical illustration of this remark, we extract from the Herts Mercury of Saturday last an account of the diagraceftil scenes which took place at Hertford during the late eh ction for that borough. We remember nothing in the whole history of old elec tioneering violence in which the Tory faction has written their infamy in darker characters. Though the account is long, eve willingly give it insertion, for two reasons,— first, because our former narrative of the events of the election had been inadvertently taken from a Tory print which misrepresented them,—and secondly, because a nar rative of this kind is not likely to be a barren record of corrupt barbarities, but must lead to Parliamentary in quiry. Ira a leading remark which we made on the con duct of the elections, u e ascribed the violence which disgraced Hertford to its proper source,—namely, the corruption of the Conservative party ; but our remark was trot borne out so well as it is now by the account which we then copied from another journal. We are the more distressed for these scenes when they do occur (though happily their occurrence is rare), that we know the eyes of all Europe are upon us in this first trial of our great Reform measure. We at home can explain the secret causes of excesses like those which have disgraced Hertford, Norwich, and some other boroughs; but fo reigners are not always so fortunate as to find the clue, and are apt to ascribe to the operation of the system dis orders which are merely accidental and extraneous. The French, especially, who were so accustomed to (write:, alter their own " glorious days," thought that we ought likewise to have hail our tumults in consequence of Re form. They have, however, been well nigh undeceived, and we are happy to find that all the respectable Journals of Paris have done homage to the order and becoming conduct of our metropolitan elections,— Times. That the machinery of the Reform Act must undergo considerable alteration, especially as regards the extensive disfranchisement which it at present produces, can admit of no doubt. It is no impeachment either of the measure itself or of its authors, considering its vast extent and import ance, that it should not prove all perfect in its outset, or that, like the Constitution which it se much renovates and im proves, it should itself he susceptible of, and call for, im provement. One of the striking defects of the Act, and that to which the early attention of Parliament will, we ' crust, be drawn, is the not having provided for the sum mary, instantaneons disfranchisement of any place where any thing like a system of bribery may be proved to pre vail. We are aware of the objections that may be urged against punishing the innocent in common with the guilty, and it is on that ground that we allude to places where a system of bribery exists, in contradiatinction to a few solitary instances. Ira fact, such instances as the latter must neceasarily be rare. An odd vote or two may, in the end, sometimes turn the male, and be, there fore, worth a high price; but, generally speaking, the enlarged constituencies obtained under the Reform Act render this improbable, and reduce bribery—as in the pres nt Norwich election—to a wholesale, rather thsu to a retail, traffic. But wherever it exists the law should I meet it in a bold and uncompromising manne r . Wretches who can barter the highest rights of freemen for a mess of pottage are unworthy of being allowed to remain within the pale of freedom ; while the tainted lazar-house which contains them should be shunned and held up to shame and avoidance. We care not from what side or what party such practices proceed ; the crime is the same, whether committed in a Conservative, or a Radical, a Whig, or Tory garb. We shall be happy to find, at the end of the present elections, the instances are few. But, numerous or few, they should be dealt with in proportion to their enormity. Let the briber and the bribed be made outcasts of civil society ; and let the renovation of our representative system be marked in the outset with determined hostility towards those who attempt to renew the defilements and corruptions of a &Lased and gone-by era.—Morning Herald. We have heard with eonaiderable satisfaction that II:. Charles Wynn is likely to fill the now, more than ever, important office of Speaker in the ensuing Parliament. This office is one that, from its peculiar line of service, requires peculiar studies. Much reading, mach know ledge of the law and of precedent, as well as intimate ac quaintance with the usage and practice of Parliament, iJ 1 necessary ; and, as there is something laborious and dis tasteful to most minds in this species of application, the circle from which this high functionary ahoold be chosen is, at all times, a very circumscribed one, If those qualifications were formerly considered iodise pensable, bow much more so are they at the time at which we write? Among the indivi.duals generally named as aspirants to the Chair, there is not one whose pretensions will bear any comparison with those of gle Right Honourable Gentleman alluded to. Mr. Wynn has passed the greater part of his political life in rendering himself master of the dirties of this arduous office. He was originally brought forward by the Whigs, in oppiisition to the late Speaker, Mr. Manners Sutton, end, though un ssuccessful when opposed to that gifted individual, die ---; . testimonies then h . o . rne by Mr. Wilberforce and others to his qualifieatio ns . were such as to leave no doubt of his hi g h pretensions to the honour to which he aspired, eve n in the eye s s$ his o pponents. To those pre : unsiont Mr. Charles Wynn has since a. - 14.ed the additional claim of some fifteen years' experienze, during which time he has devoted himself almost exclusively to the study of the forroa 3.nd precedents of Parliament. At the period to which WF have alluded, he ranked among his suppprtoro many Members of t h e present Adininistration; and arnon others Lord Brougham and Lord Altborpi 'Mr. Wynn is nut brought forward at this juncture by any party, or for aoy party Pri"see• He stands upon his character and his universally acknow ledged fitness for the Chair ;and, when we consider the composition of the.. Parliament over the debates of which the future Speaker will be called upon to preside, we are of opinion that a more judicious selection than Mr. Wynn; or one more likely to give satisfaction to the country at large, it would be impossible to make.—Mornirig Post. The nomination of the candidates for Middlesex took place yesterday, when Sir Charles Forbes boldly advanced to the relief of the disconsolate Conservatives. It would, indeed, be most disgraceful to the metropolitan county, were a man, to whom the country is more indebted ttaul to any other individual for services in the Howe of Com mons, to be thrown out by a gentleman, who, whatever he may be in his private capacity, is the very last person whom, on public grounds, the freeholders of Middlesex should elect. But we will not so far libel the freeholders of Middlesex, as to suppose for a moment that they will allow themselves to be so disgraced. Sir Charles is held up by the Conserva. tive Journals as a Saint of the first magnitude, as one whose latchets Lord Henley is not worthy to unloose. " We rejoice," exclaims the Standard, " that England may yet escape the sin and disgrace of exhibiting the denouncer of all who would acknowledge the Providence of God as the re presentative for the metropolitan county. Sir Charles Forbes, than whom there lives not, we believe, a fitter representative of the character of a Christian Englishman, has consented to replace Lord Henley ; and could we recall the time which that weak and wavering person's misconduct has sacrificed, the late defection would be more than compensated. However, if the Christian electors of Middlesex do their duty—and if they are indifferent, or even lukewarm in the discharge of it, their pretensions to religion of any kind are extremely questionable —if the Christian electors exert themselves—as, if they are really Christians (and not merely such in name, they will—to disarm the enemy of their religion of the power of injuring it, they are perfectly able to return Sir C. Forbes and Mr. Byng.". We are told in Scripture, that a sparrow shall not fall on the ground without the permission of our Heavenly Father, and we know that, whatever takes place, does so ender the Divine Providence. But it has long been held by those who have the interests of religion most deeply at heart, that it has suffered by nothing more than by the indecent familiarity with which men who wish to pass for being more righteous than their neighbours, are constantly referring to Providence. We have a curious instance of this abusive reference in a book published seven years ago, " The Diary of Henry Teonge, Chaplain on board a man-of-war, from 1675 to 1679." Henry Teonge was very poor, and made various efforts, without success, to borrow money to retrieve his cloak, left in pawn. He had been only a few days at sea, when Provi dence, he says, threw some necessaries in his way, which he turned to account—that is, fairly stole them. "And here (he says) I might tell you what Providence put into my hands, which, though little worth of themselves, yet were they of great use to him that then wanted almost everything. Early in the morning I met with a ragged towel on the quarter-deck, which I soon secured. And soon after, Providence brought me a piece of an old sail and an ear'hern chamber-pot—all very helpful to him that had nothing." Wm. Huntington, in his Bank of Faith,givei a display of providences which must be quite refreshing to our contemporary. Breakfast, dinner, and supper were sup plied to him every day by Providence. We had imagined that the indecorum of this langu ige was now generally felt. But it seems, when all other modes of assailing an honest and virtuous man fail, a leaf out of Hunting• ton's book is gladly welcomed. However, the electors of Middlesex must he blind, indeed, not to see through all this despicable cant. An affectation of regard for reli gion is assumed—for what ? To protect corruption, to further whatever tends to degrade and demoralize a peo ple. Mr. Hume, in labouring, as he has done, to correct abuses in the Church, has proved himself the best friend of religion, but not the friend of those who seek to make religion a pander to their avarice. As be observed at the meeting yesterday, " lie was the friend of the Church, and therefore was the advocate of a proper Reform in the Church. The present system of Church Government, they all knew, did not promote ' peace and good-will on ea7th,' which was the object of religion—(Hear, hear) — but, on the contrary, excited dissatisfaction throughout the country." Of all the contemptible, trashy objections to a public man ever urged, that of his being irreiiaions, because be objected to the impropriety of introducing Providence into Acts of Parliament, seems to us the roost contemptible, the most trashy. The gentlemen who gravely put forward such objections, have formed rather too low an estimate of the understandings of the Middle sex electors. The time for this trickery is gone 4. .1/netting Chronicle. The Irish elections are running strongly in favour of repeal. Messrs. O'Connell and Ruthven head their op. ponenta by upwards of 1,000. We regret to see the animosity with which Sir H. Parnell is attacked in some of the repeal newspapers. We had imagined, after the declaration of the Catholic priests, that a candidate would not be started in opposition to him. The Pilot labours hard to effect this, and all because Sir Henry, in his financial writings, has endeavoured to show that, in spite of various adverse circumstances, Ireland has still been advancing in wealth. No one can either doubt the industry or the honesty of Sir Henry ; and this bitterness against him, because in a work of financial research his conclusions may not always square with those of the Re pealers, would surprise us, if anything from Ireland could create surprise. It would be a disgrace to the country, were a Member so highly esteemed by all parties, and ca pable of rendering such efficient services to Ireland and the empire at large, to be excluded, merely because his views of the condition of Ireland are not so gloomy as those of the Repealers. —Morning Chronicle. The foul influences have been unsparingly employed. From all quarters we hear of bribery and intimidation. In the small constituencies these powers must generally prevail, and already there are cases for a new Schedule A. Nomination boroughs have been farted like mushrooms. The final measure has allowed of the instant reproduction of the vice it was professed to abolish. The often declared principle of Lord Grey was "representation, not nomina tion ;" but it has escaped, for the ,final measure is as leaky as the sieves of the Belides. The only way of making it hold is to place it in the balloting urn, so excel lently retentive, If the safeguard of secret voting be not immediately afforded by the new Parliament, we hope that the inhabitants of enthralled boroughs will petition that their franchise may be transferred back Gattons, Sarums, Bramhers, and such places, where there are sticks and stones bearing the name of towns, but not people to be de. moralised or oppressed. We repeat what we have often asserted, that, if nomination is to exist, the least pernicious kind is that which affects will corruption the smallest number of persons ; and we now find realised in too many places a fear we have expressed, that the extension of the suffrage without the ballot would be the extension of de bauchery, or the tyrannies. There are inventions so ma lignant as to have been attributed to the devil ; but surely there is none so truly infernal as the system of obtaining legislative power by the production of a certain amount of dishonesty. " Make knaves, and you shall make laws," is the condition, even yet, in too many places. We admit, however, that a tort of representative effect is had by this practice ; for the morality of the corrupted constituency is not unaptly represented by the morality of the corrupter. We never, for a moment, expected that these vices would cease with the working of the new law under the eye of corruption or tyranny; but the constituency has proved narrower than we had anticipated, and, of course, less able to grapple with the powers applied for its subjugation. It is now, in many piacea, of the unhappy mean—too few for independence and honesty, too many to be given up to debauchery or thraldom . Accordin g to the information we he,ve received from various quarters, in no general election within our time have the undue influences been so vigorously exezzised. Nor is this suprising ; for a tri is to he made whether they will have their old effects in the altered system, and, for an experiment so important to the pillagers of the public, no exertion or expense is spared. Norwich is a conspicuous example,—the theatre of the Scarlett abomination. The Bast Anglian says— " We stated in a leading article that the ballot must soon succsed to the present mode of voting, or the Reform Bill would be utterly stultified. Since that article was written, fresh and repeated instances have come to our ears of the use to which gold has been sucsessfully employed in the pollution of poor men to abandon their iisl i npiples, and vote against their consciences, in support of the old Tpry syTtem. The re, turns won the canvass were, as we know from the beg aWlu) rity, a majority's), considerably more than 400 in favour of Ow, ney and Ker. We im,o4v, too, that a very great number of poor electors, when called on yest,er,day to fulfil their promises, re. plied, that they were ofibred 5/. a piece to vote for Stormont a- irgh Bg4 er b r i l ;. tt W ' .e1:10iv, and j, that they should so vote Ktless they had a i to the great disgrace of rn anyof the pew 101. electors,--to the disgrace of those who have just come WO the enjoyment of their franchise, and wish to be regarded as stand, ing in a decent station in sockar,—Wat many of these have thus sold their votes, and wallowed in corrupti9n. We know that, at the moment we are writing, a list of more the names p!traes Aro Si.eked off; as having thus ferfeited their pledges." A printe correspondent represents to us that— " The funds of ;.. Er e Conservative Club have been lavishly, and by no means ineffectiyekyilipplied among the poor freemen of the city. One voter's canary bird was purchased for twelve ineas ; another poor old fellow was caught by a mousetrap baited yip; ill. ; in other instances the temptition bar rels of beer ansl sacks of flour were too strong for integrity; and an honest 011;04AI:sr sold three dozen pair of shoes at 21. per pair." This, indeed, realises the notlops which Sheridan's Stafford electors entertained when toasting Parliamentary Reform, that, as ;n the old system, they had for a ;rote, in an improved system Sl;ev would pouch ten. The case of Sir James Scarlett at Norwich is, we are told, so flagrant es to be cognizable by law. But, satjefactory as it would be to see that aspirant to the Chief Justiceship Taped in the King's Bench priann for his most foul offence, we yet think it worse than idle to fix on particular cases which happen to stand out a little more prominently and tangibly from the common course of malpractice. Preventiott is better than punishment; gspecially when the prrention is general, the punishment individual. The ballot is the only resource. We see at Leeds that the committees of Mr. Macaulay and i%lr, Marshall threaten to publish the names of persons who attempt intimidation. This is a miserably partial check, for where the intimidation is sue cessful,—where the dependence is greatest, and the greatest protection is needed,—the oppressed party dares not utter complaint, and his wrongs remain unknown and unno ticed. Secret tyranny has co-existence with open voting. The example of Stamford aided very considerably in ad. vancing Parliamentary Reform. A petition from the burgesses was intrusted to Mr. Tennyson, praying that either protection against the undue influences should be afforded to the voters, or that they should he relieved of the franchise subjecting them to corruption or persecu tion. This unanswerable argument for the ballot lay in ' Mr. Tennyson's pocket, for reasons more familiar to his pocket than to us. Had it been read in the House, we can imagine the silence and awe that would have attended such an appeal, and the tremendous effect that would have ben produced by it on the country. Here Were men crying, " Have mercy on our consciences ; make us pat pro-titute or persecuted for your false pretences. We I would be honest : spare us, 0 Legislators. Our trusts are snares to us ; they expose us to the temptations or the tyrannies : protect us in the discharge of our duties, or take the thing from us for which we are doomed to be slaves or martyrs." In settling the boundaries, a district, wholly the property of Lord Exeter, was added to the borough of Stamford. Lord Althorp, we remember, was warned of the effect ; and, with a prudery which should always be suspected, he answered that the arrangement accorded with the general rule, and be could not deviate from it because of any advantage it might be supposed to give a particular individual, or some words to that elect. His Lordship, in that signal piece of impartiality, omitted to observe that the principle of the Reform Bill was para mount to the plan for carrying it into effect. The princi ple was representation, not nomination ; and if it was in any instance clear that the effect of a measure of detail was to convert a half-emancipated borough into a close no mination borough, the subordinate plan should have given way to the governing principle, and not the govern ing principle to the plan for giving effect, or, in this case, defect to it. The issue is, that the Boundary Bill has bound Stamford hand and foot, and delivered it to the will of Lord Exeter, who has succeeded at last, through the Re. !ono Bill, in the aristocratic object of making rogues or slaves of the poor voters. Hating the people as these tyrants do, how they must enjoy demoralising and degrad • hag them, and making a roguery which is as aristocratic a settlement about a great house as the rookery used to be esteemed. Men of Lord Exeter's sort have as much pride in the number of subject or corrupt creatures they can muster, as the squires have in the abundance of their game. The boroughs are preserves ; the gamekeepers, the Black Georges, the Conservatives. The Reform Bill, it has been seen, was fatal to the struggling independence of Stamford. There is, however, a virtue in this measure which shows its own vices and indicates what is needed. Thus, in mechanics, there is a contrivance called the tell-tale, which denotes any error in the working of the machinery; and so, in destroying the freedom of Stamford, the Bill dis covers, in a most signal instance, the mischief it works without the ballot. In many other places no resources of intimidation have been left unemployed ; and the Bir mingham Journal lately mentioned that, at Walsall, " A partisan of Mr. Forster's waited upon a voter of Mr. Attwood's, and, amongst other arguments to induce him to desert his colours, asked him how he could expect that Mr. Forster would ever act in his magisterial capacity on his behalf; if he voted for Me. Attwood ?" The fear of injustice is thus presented to turn the elec tor from the path of duty; and doubtless with our Magic. tracy the fear is not groundless. We have hitherto glanced at the darker parts of the scene before us, because it is of the very first importance that the points of error in the new system should not escape observation; but there are bright places in the view, and many signs of excellent promise. The return of Mr. Grote at the bead of the poll for the city, is a circumstance for the proudest exulta tion—exultation that we have such a man, and yet more that we have thousands capable of so justly valuing him, and placing him where his talents and excellent dis positions will he armed with power for the service of society. We can imagine no better sign of advancing intelligence than this, for Mr. Grote's worth is of the kind which requires worth for its recognition. Mr. Roebuck's success at Bath, despite of lying, evil speaking, and slandering, the most strenuous exertions of the Hotihouse party (of the unscrupulousness of which we have ample experience), and all the aristocratic and cleri cal influences, is also indeed a great victory, signalising, among other things, the impudence of the braggart Times, the Bobadil of the press. Westminster enjoys its Baro nets. We wish it may not repent its choice, but fear we shall have frequent occasion to remind it of its wilfulness. Yet we know it is passing pleasant to a number of pursy, portly gentlemen, with powdered heads, to take off their hats and say, " How d'ye do, Sir John ?" or " How d'ye do, Sir Francis ?" and to have a gracious recognition in return, and go home to their wives and families and say that they met Sir Francis or Sir John, and that he was very affable ! 011 that qtrability what slaves it makes in this land of boasted independence! We are certain that Mr. De Year is well repaid for all his toil and trouble by that " Dear De Year," in the Baronet's note to him. " These little things are great to little mea." But other causes have favoured the Baronets. The portly and pow der-headed class could not have carried the election with out other aid, the nature of which has been thus stated by Mr. Place:— " The state of the poll did not result from apathy, but from apprehension. He recollected former elections. At one of them Mr. Stockdale advertised that he should publish the names of the voters, and the way the votes were given. That had its effect. The loss of the franchise was as nothing com pared with the certain loss of custom, so that at the ensuing election the apprehension of publicity prevented thousands from voting who had voted on former occasions, or who had promised votes. On the present occasion their committees had not been efficiently formed, and their canvass had been very imperfect ; while the committees and canvass of their opponents had been most efficient and successful. Besides, a well-known attorney had been told that money was no object so long as Colonel Evans could be defeated. It now only re mained for them and the country to do their utmost to secure the ballot. With the ballot the next election would secure them two independent Members. The Times very foolishly treats the result of the West minster contest as a victory over Ultra-Radicalism. This e.innot be, for Sir John Hobhouse is either what the Times would call Ultra-Radical or he is renegade. His supporters contend that he is an unchanged man—the same in opinions and purposes as was chosen by the electors in 1519; and in 1819 he was an Ultra-Radical, not con tent with householder suffrage and triennial Parliaments, and pledging himself to strive for a Reform of greater ex tent. The opponents of Sir John at the last election op posed him, thinking that, as he refused to declare his opinions, they were changed, and he was no longer Ultra- Radical; but the voters who have honestly supported him did so in the belief that he was true to the opinions which had first obta,ned their suffrages, and an Ultra •Radical in 1832 as in 1819. His friends can, therefore, boast so vic tory over Ultra-Radicalism, unless, by separating the Baronet from Ultra-Radicalism, they fix him with apos ' t cy. Sir John's victory can only have been over those who suspected him of not being Ultra-Radical, as he was when he obtained his seat for Westminster. His sup porters must believe him to be this, or a renegade, who, having changed his side, has not the courage to declare that he has done so. Sir John certainly has not wished the electors of Westminster to suppose that his opinions are altered ; and he owes his triumph either to a forced majority, or to the belief that he is yet Ultra-Radical, or, as we think, in part to this delusion, and in part to the force of the Ministerial and aristocratic influences. The complacency with which he congratulated the electors on the victory they had gained in returning him, was vastly arousing as a specimen of naive self-conceit, or of the ins peqtance of a man to himself ; and he seems to have been too crafty cr top conscious to fall into the error of the stupid Timer, and to des;:ribe the victory as one over his old opinions, which it was necessary to his supcess to have supposed his present opinions, though it was in compatible with the Ministerial service to profess them. He would have had himself believed stanch Radical by the electors, and aristocratic Whig by the Whigs. Notwithstanding all disadvantages, and obstacles to a free choice, the new Parliament • will goat with the stream of public of inion, and proceed in the course of improvement. The same power which, in the rotten s y st em, compelled a partial reform, most ;Doke itself obeyed in the House about to he put to trial. The compliant charapter of th e Legislature is, however, no certain criterion of the virtue of its constitution. The dissolved Parliament was as yielding to the demands of the people as this is likely to he; zinil tdogla we should be sure of a commanding ma jority for all good objects, vie should yet argue that it is not enough to look at the g eneral ; es i t 4 in Pa r li amen t ; and that while any vice continues in the elective process, there is matter calling for further reformation, as t h e trio _ rdo of some portion of the people must be depraved by it, and as tile:c; roost be a corresponding vice in the Legisla ture. The represeni:at.ves Norwich, Ch at h am, Stam ford, and such boroughs, old and new, caznot, it is true, retard ti,e onward cause of things in Parliament; but surely it woi:4l be better to have the advantage of the ser vices of men of taientp apd probity in place of the cor rupter, the factious partisan, or the incapable nominee ; and it is also even more desirable that bodies of electors should be protected against the seductions to dishonesty, and that many may not be made rogues that some few may be made Members of parlifupept: }he means of security are simple —the ballot, and a sufficient extension of the franchise. Give that, and temptation is paralysed, inti midation annihilated, and the elector has no motive to knavery or subserviency. The morals of the people should be the first object of the State : the habits of duty should never be broken in upon ; and wherever an opportunity is carelessly left for a practice against honesty which could he prevented, there is a foul reproach to the Constitution. Holding these opinions, we are not satisfied with merely looking at the gross number . for and against our objects in the House; but we look also to the effect of the elec tive process on the probity of the people. We know, moreover, that till the people are protected against the foul influences, there can be no security for steady good go vernment. We shall have a compelled service; how su perior would be the spontaneous : we shall have a majo rity obeying the public sentiment, but how much better would br a majority partaking in it. There is no doubt that Government will have the support of a large hetero geneous majority, composed in part of the official serviles (who would go with any Government that gave them Place), the Members of the nomination boroughs of the reforming Ministry ; in part of the Moderates who see that movement is irresistible, and who think that the Whig Ministers will he as able as they are willing to make it, to the utmost possible degree, slow and wavering; in part of the Independents, or Radicals, whose business will be to extract from the existing Government all the good of which it is capable—to stimulate to useful measures, and strengthen in the prosecution of them. In the West Indies there is a mode of getting cocoa-nuts without climbing or cutting down the tree—it is by pelting the monkeys in the tree, who, in return, fling down the nuts at their assailants. Now, if the Radicals, who neither want to climb nor to cut down the tree, throw stones at the exalted monkeys, it is not to knock them front the branches (where they are much more at home just now tha❑ a superior sort of creatures would be), but that they may fling down the fruit, which is the only retort they can make to our volleys. The Tories will present a pretty strong muster, we conjecture. Considering the limbs that have been lopped off, the body has rallied and mustered its vicious strength from the corruption of the country with surprising rapidity and energy. They are indestruc tible, except by the balls of the ballot-box, which would rattle them down in a trice.—Examiner. Our anticipations of the past week have been realized by the events of the present ; as far, at least, as they re lated to the defeat of the Conservatives. Out of sixteen Members returned for the metropolitan cities and boroughs, these is not one who would not indignantly reject the im putation of belonging to their party. The foes to improve ment will doubtless account for their discomfiture, to the satisfaction of the few who trust them, by declaring that no exertions were made to prevent it—that they considered it wiser to wait until the public mind had recovered its former healthy tone—until monopolists and borough mongers should once again come into fashion. But what is the fact ? Have they indeed been idle and uninterested spectators of the contests which have just terminated ? or, on the contrary, have they not been striving, might and main, to holster up the pretensions, and force the election, of their partisans ? Have the Bank and the East India mo nopolists, the London and West India Dock Companies— been indifferent to the success of Mr. Lyall or Captain Marryat ? Have not their dependents received an intima tion perfectly well understood, that their votes were to be given to the Conservative candidates, or that the ensuing Christmas would be any thing hut a merry one to them ? The fact is, that wherever there was the least probability of intimidation or corrupt influence being effectually em ployed for the return of a Conservative candidate, they have been unscrupulously employed for that purpose. The Tories have not been defeated without a struggle. They die hard, though they fight with unlawful weapons. We are proud and thankful to see Mr. Grote at the head of the poll for the city of London It is the place which his talents, independence, and clear and sagacious sense, entitle him to occupy. There has been no concealment on his part of the principles and measures which he intends to support in Parliament. Neither, indeed, can any fault be found with his three colleagues on that score. The duty of coming to a full understanding with their constituents, on all important points, is frankly admitted and fairly per formed by them all. The electors in the city, then, have chosen their representatives with their eyes open. Alder men Wood and Waithman have reasserted their adherence to their well-known political principles; and Mr. Grote and Sir John Key, the new Members, have given their constituents every reasonable assurance, that their endea vours shall be unceasingly directed to procure cheap and good government for their fellow subjects at home and abroad. The result of the Westminster election cannot in every point of view he considered quite so satisfactory,— though, here, it is pleasant to find that the disunion of the Reformers, and the ill-managed, if not also ill judged, at tempt to substitute Colonel Evans for Sir John Hobhouse, did not lead, as some apprehended that it would have done, to the introduction of a Tory candidate. These unf.irtu nate gentry are indeed sadly out of place among large and extended constituencies; and it may safely Is predicted, that three-fourths of the few who will find their way into the Reformed Parliament will owe that honour to the rotten boroughs, which were suffered to survive the general slaughter of their comp anions in corruption. Sir Francis Burdett and Sir John Hobhouse have been returned by considerable majorities ; notwith-tanding their absolute re fusal before, during, and subsequent to, the election, to give even a decided opinion on any one of those interesting and important subjects which they will he called upon to dis cuss in the Reformed Parliament. They go to the House of Commons not merely unpledged, but absolutely at perfect liberty to vote on any question, in any way which at the time may happen to suit their private inclination, or the views of the Minister. We do not mean to insinuate that they are likely to turn traitors to their party or their prin ciples; but they have positively refused to give the electors any assurance that they will not do so. Hitherto, no con stituency in the empire has been more determined to exact from their candidates a full and open declaration of their political sentiments and intentions, than the electors of Westminster. Both the present Members, at former elec tions, have pledged themselves in the most unqualified manner, to advocate and support the most searching mea sures of retrenchment and reform. But now, they even consider themselves insulted by an intimation of a desire on the part of their constituents, to learn how they mean to vote, when the introduction of the ballot and the repeal of the Septennial Act shall be brought under discussion in Parliament. Never, indeed, was any Roman mob more severely lectured by a haughty patrician, than the electors of Westminster have been, by the very men who owe all their importance to popular support, and have hitherto been the foremost to acknowledge the obligation. The electors, however, have kissed the roil ; and after a feeble at tempt to bar them out, the authority of their masters is re established, for the present. Sir Francis Burdett will pro. bably ere long take his departure for the House of Incas rabies. But Sir John Hobhouse is yet in the prime of life ; and has a long course of ambition, and we trust of usefulness, before him. We advise him, therefore, to be circumspect in his movements—to take especial care that he does not trip—for lie is a marked man, and will be closely watched. It is quite impossible that his late con duct should not have awakened suspicions, which will not soon or easily be laid to rest. If his political opinions remain unchanged, why, in the name of common honesty, should he shrink from saying so ? If he stil perseveres in his determination, so repeatedly expressed, to cut down the army estimates, and abolish military flogging—to re— pe the Septennial Act and taxes on knowledge—why not say so, like an independent man, in the face of his con stituents, and in the teeth of the Ministry ? There was no occasion whatever to have " tied himself hand and foot" to vote for any particular measure at any particular time. But it was necessary to his character (though not, it appears, to his e lection), that his sentiments and inten otiuotriscoonneeianiimpoeintatnotr e poi gu n i t y s o c s a h t o i n o l n d . have is aesn clearg v e n as with- day light in the country, that the possession of place has hampered the Hon. Baronet in the expression of his opi nions. Should it also hamper him in his votes, notwith standing his recent triumph, we firmly believe that he will be unseated at the next election. His opponents will manage matters better another tithe—they cannot by any stretch of human ingenuity contrive to manage them worse than they have done lately. We regret to find so few in dependent Members returned for the metropolitan districts. They are nearly all 11 linisterialists— excellent and honour able men certainly, in whose hands the liberties of the country are safe, and who would scorn to turn their seats in Parliament into sources of private advantage, accord ing to the old aristocratic and corrupt custom ; but, with one or two exceptions, we see none who would be ready to press disagreeable measures of retrenchment and reform noon a Whi g Ministry. Mr. Flume will find, we have no donut, efficient allies in Mr. Grote and Mr. Ten nyson ; but sturdy opposition to a Ministerial job can hardly be expected from . Dr. Lushington, or Messrs. Grant, Horne, and Spankie. We fear, indeed, that this honest y A p :Member, to b e e a r, rta. like I Alder mant m l a st-named gentlem an will he fo und but a poor substitute fin. Mr. Cabbage, He certainly will require looking after. ay be very Wood, His addresses a nd ptofcssams are very lik e th ose o f a tra ding politicia n. H e has a cforanol past, datdho haraci t and speak as to his future conduct, in som ewhat va g ue anti general terms ; but an untried man, like Serg ea nt Spankie, vehemently suspected, too, of h av i ng panned hi; conscience to a brief from the 01, propert o refer to his India House, should be clear and explicit in the exposition of his political creed. We wish that the electors had exacted a promise from him to resign his seat whenever he should be required to do so by a majority of his consti tuents. But in Finsbury, as elsewhere, there was too much taken upon trust. If it is necessary, however, to watch Sir John Hobhouse, the Learned Sergeant assuredly must not be suffered, through his comparative insigni ficance, to escape without a searching scrutiny into his Parliamentary conduct.—Spectator. The week has furnished us with a specimen of the March of Election, unequalled in the history of the country for its rapidity and smoothness. Already very nearly ab the Borough Members of England are chosen. It was asserted, and repeated till everybody was weary of hear ing, that the Reform Bill would never work. There have been more contests on the present occasion than we remember ever to have taken place; indeed, hardly a town in the island has been free from such a visitation ; and yet, wonderful to he told, this non-working Bill has worked so well, that we absolutely look round with a sort of disappointed feeling, and ask ourselves, if it be possible that the whole affair is gone by already? In the metro polis, seven contested elections have not produced one tenth of the commotion that one used to do, although the number of electors polled, in most of the districts, was exceedingly great. Throughout the country, the case has been in all points similar. In two or three instances a row has taken place, but hardly any interruption—not more than an hour of extra polling was sufficient to make up. A few of the Tory leaders have pushed their way in. Sir Richard Vyvyan, Sir Robert Peel, Sir Henry Hardinge, Sir James Scarlett, and some others, will still grace the House, to show, by specimen, what its ancient composition was : but alas ! what can leaders, however able, effect, where there is none to be led ? The Tories bring their staff to the combat ; and an army would hardly insure their victory. It is worth while to note the causes that have led to their admission where they have gained admission : they are the dregs of the old corporate constituency, by which the otherwise wholesome cup of Reform was allowed to be polluted, and the remnant of the nomination boroughs, which the Ministers in their cle mency were pleased to spare. What are the remedies? Household suffrage, by which every man who has or claims to have a standing in the community will gain a vote ; the ballot, by which every man may b -stow his vote freely ; a new Schedule A, including nine-tenths of Schedule B, and about a dozen of the tail of the unscheduled bo roughs. The two first are essential, and must he had. The Reform Act, with all its defects, has worked ad mirably for its makers ! Never was there a Parliament in which the Ministry were so strong. The factions, honest and dishonest, have melted before them. They have hardly a Conservative to hold them back, or an Ultra- Radical to push them on. They may do es hatever they please. As they are strong, we trust they will be wise. If they mean to persevere in the right way,—of which, in some instances, their electioneering politics have given but indifferent proof,—a career more glorious than even that which they have hitherto run lies before them. If they stand still, or retrograde, a reckoning so much the more severe awaits them. They who sin without excuse, must look to be punished without mercy.—Spectator. The elections for the boroughs are, with few exceptions, completed, and the returns afford abundant confirmation of the prediction of those who brought forward and sup ported the Reform Bill. Property, when combined with character and an honest intention to redress the just grievances of the people, has in almost every instance triumphed over the arts of the demagogue ; and the Mem hers of the new Parliament of England will at length speak the sentiments, and he subject to the influence, of those they profess to represent. In the metropolis on the day of nomination we were compelled to admit that the majorities seemed on the side of those whom the friends of their country would reject; but we expressed a belief at the same time that many of the persons who ventured on that occasion to give utterance to their opinions were not entitled by the Reform Bill to give them effect. The result has fully justified our assumption. The metropolis and its boroughs, after polling above 40,000 voters, have selected men whose private character gives us assurance of their public probity, and who are neither pledged to Mi nisters nor to systems, except in so far as they may find the one disposed to promote, and the other calculated to effect, the comfort and happiness of the people, and honour and integrity of the State. In the country we may say that on a balance of all the returns yet made they will be found to promote the same ends. Radicals have in some places—by coincidences which never may and pro bably never will occur again—crept into a brief existence. Tories, in others, have profited by family influence and the flickering blaze of expiring prejudices; but the num ber of both is too limited for power and too contemptible for interference, while a masa of high-minded, honest, and well-informed gentlemen enter the House of Commons as the organs of the local interests, the commerce, and the manufacturers of the boroughs. Of the counties we cannot yet pronounce with any confidence an opinion ; but, looking at the spirit which animates the towns, we cannot believe that the results will be very different. One thing is certain—that the Ministers responded to the almost unanimous voice of the nation when they declared for Reform ; and that, unless they display an ignorance and incapacity beyond all that our annals make mention of, they will command majorities which will enable them to achieve all that can be desired by the philosophic politi cian, or the most ardent lover of unsparing economy and retrenchment.— Observer. DUTCtI PAPERS. THE HAGUE, DEC. 14.—We have direct accounts from the citadel of Antwerp up to 10 o'clock at night o❑ the 12th. The report of the wounding of Lieutenant- Colonel de Boer is unfound il, one of the Papers received being signed by him, and no mention being made of his being wounded. The report arose probably from the fact that a bomb fell into the building occupied by two companies of the flank battalion of the 9th division of infantry, on the sth of this month, by which Captain Schoulen, Lieutenant Kirkhoff, and some privates of the corps were wounded, but none killed. It appears also from the accounts that the besieger, really abused their very superior means. A report says, " We should look in vain for such a brutal bombardment as that which the enemy directs against this fortress. Such conduct never before was seen among a civilized people. The showers of bombs and shells are beyond all concep tion. The garrison, however, is still full of courage." The spirit and bravery of the garrison at all points appear, in deed, in every sentence of the reports that have been re ceived. Our artillery has, from the beginning of the siege,. replied with unparalleled courage and coolness to tae continuanceen enemy ' s, has of h impeded i swon ks or ,anddismounted stopped himi in th a number e erection o a nd f his guns, and, in particular, compelled hint to give ano ther direction to his trenches before Fort St. Laurent. The artillery too, after it had been observed that the enemy had cut embrasures in the right flank of the counter guard of the citadel to support the attack on Fort St. Laurent, and for that purpose to open a battery, took him from the right face in flank, and from the bastion No. 1, en rivers. The firing was so well directed that the work erected was levelled, and it became impossible for the French to remain at that point. " Our artillery," says General Chasse, " performs wonders." The military of all arms have most admirably done their duty in defending the fortress in continual sallies, and in firing from the works. On the 10th, in the even ing, a very successful sally was made by a detachment of the 10th division. Twenty ells of the enemy's sap were destroyed, and six mortars thrown into the water or ren dered unserviceable. The Second Lieutenant, Nari zky, was killed ; Captain Morse severely wounded (since dead) ; one corporal and seven men slightly wounded, and one miner made prisoner. The buildings in the citadel, as might he expected from such a terrible firing, have been greatly injured, by which the brave garrison is exposed to many privations and inconveniences, which, as the report says, " are borne with the greatest readiness, and for which all praise is due to the spirit of the garrison." Some sailors from Captain Icoopman's flotilla perform important service, especially in conveying the wounded in boats along the moats of the citadel from the outworks to a place of safety. In general it is said that it must he acknowledged that a blessing rests on our arms, for that the number of wounded in the citadel, notwithstanding the terrible tire of the enemy, amounted during the many days, to the evening of the 12th to no more than one hundred and thirty-six. Thirty-six men had been killed, and four were missing. Among the severely wounded are Count M. Van Limburg Styratn, First Lieutenant of Engineers, Lieutenant Van Ilitren, and Adjutant Roger, of the Engineers. During the twelve days of the siege only one man of the guard at the burnt arsenal has deserted. He was a French man of Lille, named Cazet, of the 9th detachment of infantry. A German, whose name is not mentioned, prevented a great disaster by his presence of mind. A bomb having fallen at the entrance of a powder magaaine, he hindered the fire from communicating to the ammunition. Direct accounts from his Majesty's fleet i❑ the Scheldt brine the melancholy intelligence that. Vice-Admiral Leme Van Aduard, Commander of that fleet, was killed on the 12th inst., in an action with the French off Kruysschaue. The Proserpine, Eurydice, and some gun-boats having opened their lire at ten o'clock, the enemy did not return the file, but soon afterwards commenced a brisk fire from howitzers behind the dike. At first his balls fell into the river, but afterwards eight grenades fell into the Eurydice, two of which burst, and one set it on fire between d e cks, hut the fire was soon extinguished. The others damaged the rigging, and one of them struck the Admiral at three in the afternoon. One man was killed by a grenade on board the Pro scrpine. - The number of wounded in that ship was not reported. The gun-boats had suffered little. In the evening the Eurydice tray out of the reach of the enemy battery below the Kruysschaus ; the Proserpine, with six gun-boats, above it. The Comet defeated the movements of the enemy at' Duel ; the Medusa at Fort Frederick Henry. The Second Chamber of the States-General has to-day agreed to the project of law respecting the Landsturm by a majority of 43 to 3. BERLIN, DEC. 7.—lt is doubtful whether Prussia, Austria, and even England, will agree to a long stay of the French in Belgium, even though circumstanci-s should seem to justify it. Negotiations, it sr ems, are on foot oa the subject. The exchange of couriers between the Nor thern Courts and England is incessant, whence some con. elude that the newly-made alliance between the latter and France is not very seriously intended. Gen. Muffling is gone or going to Paris to negotiate...." Hamburg Papers, Dee. 11. EXCHANGES ON LONDON. HAMBURG, DEC. 11.-13 11%; two months, 13 10. ST. PETERSBURGII, Nov. 30.—Three months, 14) 8-IG. STOCKHOLM, DEC. 4.--Seventy-fire days, 14 7. BERLIN, DEC. B.—Three months, 6 2.57. DECLARATION of PRUSSIA made to the. GERMAN DIET on the 6th DEC., 1832. " It is known to the Most Serene Diet that Great Britain and France have projected coercive measures against Holland, in order to put into execution the 2 4 articles of the treaty of London, dated the 15th November! 1831, in conformity to the modifications which have been made by ulterior negotiations. " Although these coercive measures, according to the terms of a Convention concluded between the two saia Powers, are limited to the capture of the citadel of Ant werp, it is impossible, in case of resistance on the part of Holland, to conceive such a state of things without war, and to look upon the war with Holland and the Or° Powers, as, in the course of events, without extreme danger to the general peace of Europe. " Austria, Prussia, and Russia, have not failed to take steps to oppose these measures of constraint against an dependent State like Holland, at the same time that thcee three Powers have refused to take part in, or to approve of them. " However, as Great Britain and France, in their ovol position and their relations with Belgium, think they have motives to persevere in their resolutions when once taken, the undersigned representative of Prussia, as a ease' quence of the confidential communication made some time since to the Federal Legations, has been authorized to cause to be entered in the protocol of the Diet, that orders have been given by the King his master that the 7th corps d'armee, which until now has been stationed in Westphalia, shall pass the Rhine, and take position be tween Aix-la•Chapelle and Guelders, in order to cover the frontiers on the right bank of the Meuse opposite to Bel" gium and Holland ; and at the same time that the Sth corps stationed on the Rhine shall serve as a corps de reserve in support of this force. " Information of the meaning of this measure of precau tion has already been given to Great Britain and France by Prussia, to the effect that the Meuse shall not be passed, or the right bank of that river compromised in any way whatever by the French, Dutch, or Belgieo„ troops who may be at war on the subject of the citadel 01 Antwerp. " By virtue of superior orders, the undersigned corn municates the preceding for the information of the Diet. (Signed) " NAGLER. " Frankfort, Dec. 6, 1832." DREADFUL RIOT AT SHEFFIELD ELEC• TION.-FIVE PERSONS KILLED. (From the She Dcc. 15. ) Last night, after the second day's polling had closed , and the committees of the several candidates had retired to their inns, a riotous assemblage of persons collected in front of the Tontine Inn, the large room of which was occupied by Mr. Parker's committee. About 3 o'clock symptorn4 of insubordination had been manifested by the mob in the neighbourhood of the Corn Exchange, where the poll svai taken. Several gentlemen were very roughly treated , and had their coats torn off their backs, A little before 5, when Mr. Parker was addressing the members of his committee, the mob outside commenced breaking the windows, but not with that determination which afterwards characterised their excesses. The riot out proceedings of the mob afterwards became more alarm ing. About 7 o'clock, their vengeance not having been satiated with the demolition of the windows at the Tontine, and the insulting of individuals, there were loud cries (If . " On to the Bank ! down with it—and to Pallreytnan's• This call was immediately obeyed, and about half-past a mob, consisting of 8,000 or 9,000, went on to Bank street, and broke several windows at the Bank. They then went en to Mr. Palfreyman's, in Queen street, and began breaking the windows. Mr. Piti freyman, r.:ith Mr. Skidmore, a gentleman in his office, came immediately to the door, and begged of the mob to retire, at the same time stating the id' nest of Mrs. Palfreyman as an argument for them to de' mist; but instead of desisting, they immediately began throwing stones, bricks, and other missiles, breaking the windows, and also hurting Mr. Palfreyman's arm very seriously. He then told them, that if they did not desist, he should use fire-arms, which both he and Mr. Skidtnoro then produced. The breaking of windows and throwing of stones still continued. Mr. Palfreyman and Mr. Skid more fired over the heads of the mob, and immediately re loading their pistols continued facing the mob, who de ' sister' for a time, apparently afraid of the arms, when for tunately the police arrived, with Mr. Badger, who had 1 few minutes previously read the Riot Act from the windovi of the Town-hall, by virtue of his office as Coroner, in she absence of a Magistrate. At length the soldiers arrived, accompanied by J. B. Bosville, Esq., and even this bad no influence on the infatuated mob. Mr. Bosville, Wig come out of the Tontine Inn, was in the act of entreaties them to go home, when he was dangerously hurt, tad although streaming with blood still continued his exec' tions. Several other individuals were also injured. then, after again begging of them to desist, all to no par pose, ordered the soldiers to fire blank cartridge, and this was repeated several times, being answered by the multi tude with groans, shouts, hisses, and volleys of stones. At length, lamentable to relate, it was found absolutely neces' sary to fire, the soldiers being on duty in the Tontine' gateway; and the consequence was, that five persons were killed on the spot, and several wounded—one or two dale j gerously. Five or six individuals have been taken into costorlY who were active partisans, and several of the ringlead e " are well known. One of the sufferers is a boy, 12 or 1.1• years of age; another about 17 ; and the others are grown-up persons,. EXTRACT OF A LETTER, DATED SHEFFIELD, DEC. 15. " This morning apprehension was entertained thll`,. there would again be some rioting. Great numbers eL persons began to assemble in the Haymarket very earlY; and many of them were heard to vow vengeance agaiVi the Irish regiment. The result of the poll was dared at 12 o'clock to-day, and the candidates were t to address the electors ; but in consequence of the proceed't ings of yesterday, placards were issued this morning, a t . 7, ing that there would be no speaking at all, a nd tha t % I ,' chairing of the Members was postponed. Lord Wht-d -cliffe arrived in town early to-day, and took the oin n3 : o l of the Sheffield, Rotherham, Wath-upon-Dearne, ted Teikhill troops of yeomanry cavalry. His LordthiP f o c g itl in a very spirited manner. He told the mob there be no rioting to-day ; they were immediately dispe and up to this hour all has been very peaceable' hp ia Tontine Inn has the appearance of a barracks, there "-.; I about 200 yeomanry about the place, besides a cooll'a n o ,' b ' n the 18th regiment of foot. The number of pe°P le s ta ee ke t n he the re p su ri l: ci w p a a s i were really desirous of a riot yesterday were very There are nine persons i i n n to comparatively speaking ; but the multitude assembled e, to be ne; part in teuhuceshtlieys,s proceedings." ia, who are i statede said BIRTHS, ; a a t' t• tin the 15th inst. in H er tf or d- s t ree t, the Lady Georg ---11 vill, of a son. wir On the 14th inst. at Brighton, the lady of Captain Tow nsile R, N., of Balls Park, Hertford, of a son. _____...-----".". MARRIED. 00 1 ' On the lfith inst. John Ward, jun. Esq.. of John,F,tretooc l ' i ford-row, to Caroline, fourth daughter of the Rev. J. Hector of Radminster and Faulkbourn, in the same constr. DIED. A CO ' Es o q. l: o t f ie m l e i r t e h tl i e n k s t t. L a , t d H ge a: E ti s n s g e s x , aged 38, Thomas Maling - 4/ ' PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY MU R D O 'YOUNG , I SUN OFFICR, UV, STRAND, LONDON: