The Sun. — London, England, 1832-06-23 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. • We observe by an Ordinance, countersigned by the Nlinister of Commerce, that the French Government have reduced the tonnage dues upon British vessels entering the ports of France from the United Kingdom, from 4f. 12c. to If. 50c. The settlement of this question, which has been under discussion almost from the date of the Navigation Treaty of 1526, was under stood to have been one of the objects of the visit of Mr. Poulett Thomson to Paris last winter, and the principle upon which the reduction was claimed was then fully admitted, although, owing to the difficulty of adjusting th e exact sum which the French Government were authorized under the treaty to levy, the ordinance directing the reduction to be carried into effect has been delayed till the present time. By the treaty of 1526, the French Government engaged to levy no higher port charges or tonnage dues upon vessels of either nation arriving from the United Kingdom in the ports of France than are exacted in British ports. In France, the whole of the tonnage and light dues being in the hands of the Central Government, only one fixed charge is made throughout the whole kingdom ; but in Eng land, their dues varying according to the different ports, and being very generally either granted to corporations or belonging to individuals, great dif ficulty necessarily arises in ascertaining what is the precise rate of charges to which vessels in this trade are subject, and of course in fixing the standard which should regulate the charges to be made in France. Even now there remains some doubt as to the precise amount ; the French Government contending that the average charge made in Great Britain is nearly 21. ; whilst the English esteem it at not much more than lf. or If. 20c. A mean of 1f.50c., has therefore been adopted, until any more exact calculation can be made. This reduction, however, to the extent of nearly two-thirds of the former charge, will be of considerable advantage to our shipping, of which upwards of 100,000 tons are annually engaged in the direct trade with France. We hail it, likewise, as a proof of the disposition of the French Government to examine the com mercial relations between the two countries in a friendly spirit, and with a view towards their im provement; and we trust that the present mea sure will prove a forerunner of others yet more important to the interests of both countries, founded on the inquiry into the whole system of their commercial legislation, which was com menced under the same auspices, and has since been carried on by Commissioners left in Paris for that purpose.—Morning Chronicle. The public-spirited and gallant Reformers f the borough of Stamford are, we fear, by the result of the motion of Mr. Tennyson, last night, on the Boundary Bill, to prevent the proposed extension of the borough, again condemned to the temporary slavery of the Marquess of Exeter. We have before stated our strong opinion of the practical injustice rendered by the Reform Bill to the burgesses of that town, by the intended addition of a parish wholly belonging to the Noble Boroughmonger, and including even his domain, and which thereby places the two seats, as we understand, in the nomination power of the old patron. The parish of St. Martin, now added to Stamford, is stated to be in another county, and not within the municipal jurisdic tion. It is absurd to talk of the impossibility of violating a principle assumed by the Boundary Commissioners. All general rules admit of ex ceptions ; and in this affair—rather mysterious —the standard of extension did not relate either to the gross population, or to the numbers of the possessors of the elective franchise. If district divisions are to form the principle of elec toral arrangement, a wider limit ought to have been taken, or the ancient boundaries of the bo rough ought to have been preserved. Indeed, we do not hesitate to assert, that a great preponderating aristocratic property ought to have been in many cases counterpoised by the addition of other and independent properties. We fully admit the right to the legitimate influence of pro perty, which ever has had, and ever will have, its due share of political power in any represen tative system, whether regulated by open voting or ballot. But the case of Stamford is most cruel and deplorable. Be the consequences, however, what they may, we urge the indepen dent electors of that Borough to unite and con test every inch of ground with the Marquess of Exeter and his nominees. Ile may send down his Newmarket jockey or challenge any rival man of the turf to run for the stake of one of the seats at Doncaster or any other races, but let him pay for it. The smart-money will soon bring its own cure, and victory will be ultimate defeat to the boroughtnongers. They may rely on the fact that there will soon be an end of the object of expensive contests. Colonel ships in the Guards and steps in the Peer age will not be again purchasable with borough influence ; and a manly and determined contest with the Marquess, every heat, will soon take the running out of hint. The Noble Marquess, as an experienced racer, and accustomed to the cal culations of a " book," will speedily find his account at the day of settlement in giving up the contest. When nothing is to be gained, nothing will be ventured ; and if the Marquess should prove a stubborn animal, a Reformed Parliament will soon break him in by a cui b on his old habit of ejecting independent voters. There is a mode—secret suffrage—which even anti-ballot men will support, if no other cure can be found. Indeed, we expect the Tories will, in self-defence, from the necessity of the peaceable exercise of their franchises, become advocates of the ballot ; and may be the Duke of Wellington and Sir Robert Peel may live to make another turn in its proposition. We sin cerely regret this vote of the House, because the exertions of this excellent borough, and of Mr. Tennyson, in the common cause of Parliamen tary _Reform, claimed consideration. We have recently, and, as we thought, justly and pointedly, animadverted on a speech of Mr. Tennyson's on the creation of Peers. But a difference of opinion, however great, on the part of a public man, affecting judgment and opi nion, rather than political principle, will not make us unjust. Mr. Tennyson has been throughout his Parliamentary career an inde pendent Member of the House of Commons, a constant friend of Reform, and particularly an advocate of the fullest extension of the franchise. Any of the Western Metropolitan Boroughs, or the newly enfranchised Boroughs in the North of England, would do well to consider his claims as a Reformer, when he is excluded from Stam ford by the Boundary Bill, and, with his family, have sacrificed three close seats in schedule A— Bletchingly and Sal task, --.Morning Chronicle. The champions of the Duke of Wellington do not find it convenient quite to abandon Sir Robert Peel. The Right Honourable Baronet, though mistrusted and generally despised by the honest and the Ultra-Tories, is, nevertheless, in their political exigencies, esteemed " a good card to play," as the Manager of a Theatre said of a celebrated actress—" She has dreadfully uncertain ways, but we must give her an en gagement." The Ex-Secretary for the Home De partment is the most practised performer in the present Company of Boroughmongers, particu larly in the part of Joseph Surface, mid there fore is essential to the " theatrical business." But even the Protestant Jesuitism of our able contemporary the Standard cannot dress up the political actor so as to conceal the protru sion of his personal character. The Standard does not really forget or forgive the blackslidings of the Right Honourable Baronet on the Catholic Question, but has now found it convenient to endeavour to prevent a split between the Ex- Secretary and the Duke of Wellington. The Times acutely hints that Sir Robert Peel, in his memorable and suspicious defence of himself at the expense - of the Field-Marshal, had a long sighted view to aggravate, by discussion and so phistical commentary, his Grace's deplorable fall in public opinion. We think our contem porary will do well to abandon his futile attempts to Roman-cement the time-eaten reputation of the Right Hon. Baronet, or he will incur the same suspicion—of a secret desire to aid the Ex-Secretary in the same way that the dog led the blind man into the duck-pond.—Morning Chronicle. Ministers, we trust, will not, after all that has passed on the subject of the Bank of England, have the weakness, or worse than weakness, to demean themselves on this occasion as if the Bank had a freehold in its monstrous monopoly, indefeasible by any act of the legislature,—as if the Government and people of this country were at the mercy of the Directors, and dependent on them, while the corporation of Threadneedle street were our sovereign lords. The commercial interest and the nation expect to be liberated from the trammels of this autocracy of coiners. If the dominion be prolonged, without more im portant qualifications, not merely will much and bitter disappointment be the consequence, but great suspicions against Ministers themselves must pervade the whole monied community. It will be said that there is some mystery of ar.cient date, in the relations subsisting between the Go. vernment and the Bank of England, which Mi nisters have not courage to unveil, and for smo thering which the price to be paid is no less than a renewal of the monopoly. The Govern ment, indeed, can hardly be in debt to the Bank of England in a larger amount than has yet been made known to Parliament or to the public; but a slovenly inquiry, brought to a precipitate and un seemly close, must, unavoidably, give rise to con jectures that all is not what it appears to be. A correspondent of ours alleges no more than the truth, when he states that Government ought to have paid off the debt of the nation to the Bank, by a sufficient funding of Exchequer bills, be fore they entered upon any investigation into the affairs of that dangerous establishment, or into matters affecting its future connexion, if any is to be maintained, with the State. Government, it is plain, cannot be independent or impartial as between the Bank and the people of England, and, undoubtedly, it cannot gain credit for being either, so long as it attempts to execute the du ties of a judge under the yoke and bondage of a debtor. It is, we say, impossible for Minis ters to be true to the public interest, in a ques tion betweeen the Bank and the country, so long as the relations of debtor or creditor shall exist between them ; no settlement can be fair or free where the parties are noton an equal footing. Some thing more than justice will be demanded in the way of general privilege, by the party having un satisfied claims upon the other; and some thing more will be conceded by those who do not pos sess, or have not employed, the means of afford ing satisfaction. Let Lord Althorp, then, begin by g etting rid of duns : let him tell the Bank, "Here is your money, gentlemen : and now I care not for all your menaces or murmurs— I will see that the nation has no more cause to complain than you have." But there is a danger to the Bank itself, and no slight one, in ally abrupt or improvident proceeding on the part of Ministers. If the public be embittered towards the Bank of England by a violent disappoint ment of the hope that we may now throw off the thraldom under which it has placed us for a century, is there no fear that in the excitement so produced there might be a popular run upon the Bank, of which the outstanding obli g ations are between 20,000,000/. and 30,000,0001., while its funds of metallic currency do not exceed 6,000,000/. ? It is difficult to guess what course or form the national resentment might assume under such provocation, or what measures—neither authorized by principle nor wisdom, but plunged into from uncontrollable passion—might be the result. Would Lord Althorp sign an order in Council to save the Bank from the effects of his own folly, by an other abolition of cash payments ? If not, where else would be the remedy for an evil such as we have imagined ? A preventive is easier to be found. Let the inquiry be deliberate and perfect. Let the decision be upright and inde pendent. A Reformed Parliament will not be apt to confirm any other.—Times. It will be seen by our extracts from the French papers of Wednesday, that the second military commission has pronounced another judgment. The sentence in this case is not capital, as in the first ; but the penalty is so severe, that the pri soner has declared in favour of death, as a miti gation. The name of the prisoner is Margot, a Belgian by oriain: the charge was, that in the late disturbances he fired on the National Guard; and the sentence is fifteen years of hard labour. The attention of the Parisians is for a time diverted from the proceedings of these courts martial, and even from the more alluring subject of the legality of the ordinance for declaring Paris in a state of siege, tc rumours of the exa - - minations, and a persual o the correspondence, of the three Istinguished Carlists lately arrested, whose rank, station, and celebrity, throw the almost anonymous insurgents of the faubourgs into the shade. M. de Chateaubriand has pub lished a letter, and the Duke of Fitzjames a protest, which have furnished a topic for the day, and afford an agreeable variety amid the common-place wrangling of party politics. M. de Chateaubriand cannot put pen to paper without producing something striking, and fixing a kind of dramatic interest on himself, on his friends, and upon all his concerns. His writings, like the play of figures in the kaleidoscope (a pretty toy, so much admired some years ago) are always varied and vivid, though, like these same figures, they often present no destined form or object, and consist of worthless ingredients. His judgment is so completely subordinate to nis fancy (for we cannot call it imagination), .hat its operation can scarcely be detected amid the glittering confusion. Thus, in the present lettter, among fine and feeling compliments to an old friend—amid expressions of affection and regret towards the companion of his life—amid well-earned declarations of confidence in the judges and tribunals of his country, he draws a distinction between the social and political obli gations and duties which cannot, for a moment, stand the test of law or reason. His prate about allegiance is mere trash. By the laws of all ci vilized nations, his allegiance, as a Frenchman residing in France, was equally due to his So vereign, as if he had taken as many at once as a great diplomatist is said to have taken in the course of a long life of political vicissitudes. He is as much amenable to the laws of France when he tries to overturn a dynasty which he declines formally to recognize, as when he breaks any enactment of the civil or criminal code for which he reserves, and to which he professes to limit his obedience. His refusal to take the oath ' of allegiance,—such prof e ss e d di ssat i s faction in a man so exalted, may be a goo d reaso n why the Government should watch his conduct and suspect his motives, even when free from blame. But it cannot afford him any ex cuse for resisting examination under a judicial charge of treason or sedition. The declaration, then, of the Noble Viscount, that he would not answer even to his name on a political charge, lest it should be inferred that he was more a subject of Louis-Philipp e than he wished to be considered, implies an absurd and miserable sophism. The protest of the Duke of Fitzjames is, like the character of the man, more rational, consistent, and manly. He assumes that lie is subject to all the laws of France, civil and poli tical, though, like his distinguished friend, he may reject some of its privileges ;—he assumes that no Government, whether formally acknow ledged or not, can permit plots for its overthrow ; he even appeals for protection to the political laws of the revolution, and pleads the charter against the erection of new and extraordinary tribunals, by which he is to be tried. The pro test of the Noble Duke might be signed by the 1,500 republican prisoners about to be sent be fore the Courts-martial, or by all the Peers and deputies who have taken the oath of allegiance to new dynasty. One point strikes every body who contemplates the present state of things in France. Marshal Soult is a bad imitator of M. Casimir Perier. M. Perier displayed the vigour and daring of a powerful intellect, which, how ever, always calculated the chances and pro portioned the effort to the occasion. M. Soult exhibits the bustling tyranny of a military Martinet. The former description of energy may engender hatred as well as fear : but it coin. mands respect and even admiration. The latter produces contempt and disgust, and ends most commonly in general mutity. It is hoped that the presence of M. Talleyrand will obtain milder and more rational measures.-2'irnes. Our sentiments are too well known on the subject of the brutal and man-degrading punish ment of military flogging to require to be re peated, but laiat took place in the House of Commons, on Mr. Hunt's motion to discontinue that mode of punishment in the army for one year, calls for a few observations. It is remark able that Sir Francis Burdett, who, many yeas ago, used to make the nation ring with his elo quent denunciations against the ingenious and elaborate cruelty of the cat-o'-nine tails, which, for the dextrous infliction of exquisite torture, surpasses the scalping knife of the savage—it is remarkable, we say, that Sir Francis Burdett has been uniformly absent from the discussions on this subject of late, and has left the cause of ci vilization and humanity to other advocates. This is the more extraordinary, seeing that he used formerly to charge the predilection for this cruelty upon a government of " boroughmongers:' Well, the government of boroughmongers is overthrown. A Reforming Ministry occupies the seats of power—flogging in the army and navy still goes on—brave men, for violations of discipline, which can be best repressed by a steady and judicious moral control, are still tor tured, and their flesh torn from their backs with ignominious stripes—and Sir Francis Burdett is silent, and Westminster appears to be satisfied. Another cause of similar satisfaction to West minster must be found in the conduct of its other Representative—Sir John Cam Hobhouse—he of the " hundred-and-one " speeches against all sorts of Tory oppression and misrule. Ha ving succeeded to the situation of Secretary at War, rendered vacant by the dismissal of Sir Henry Parnell, for refusing to vote against his conscience and interests of the country in the Russo-Dutch loan job, Sir John is under the necessity of attending in his place, and showing how the placeman can preserve the character of the patriot, and how he can represent the humane sentiments of his liberal constituents, by resist ing a motion even for the experimental suspen sion of the disgusting operation of the instru ment of military torture for a single year. It was true he was able inform the people of Eng land that, in conjunction with Mr. It. Grant, and with the sanction of the Tory Noblemen now holding the supreme command of the army, he had been able to reduce the number of lashes from 300 to 200 inflicted by regimental courts martial, and by garrison courts-martials from 500 to 300. Mighty concession to public opi nion !—wonderful triumph of humanity ! Eng land hears that, under a liberal Government—a Reforming Government—a Government of " intellect," and of the " schoolmaster," not more than 300 lashes with a cat-o'-nine-tails can be inflicted on the bare back of a British soldier by the sentence of a garrison court-martial ! and this, too, after it had gone forth to the world that the King was so averse to this brutalizing mode of enforcing discipline that it was his Majesty's wish it should be abolished alto ther. We recollect that when the Duke of Wellington, Sir George Murray, Sir Henry Hardinge, and other military men, formed the principal part of the Government of this country, Sir Francis Burdett, as if con verted from the errors of his doctrine about " standing armies," by a sudden military inspira tion, declared that " the army was the best school for statesmen." Need we wonder, then, that Sir John Hobhouse would rather apply to the Tory comnruader-in-chief for his permission to abate a portion of the cruel and ferocious punishment which degrades men who take up arms for the defence of their country below the t tn o e rt n u t re fi ? ,r aT legislativreductione abo condition o f t h e b rute, than to come to Parlia otif? abolition this t n h u is m m be il r itar o y f lashes has no weight with us, who object to the use of the British knout—worthy only of Russian barbarism—on principle, and do not take " Cocker" in our hands to regulate the d egree of the infliction—but, in the name of civiliza tion—of justice—of morals and humanity, de nounce the practice altogether. To cut a single string from the scourge dripping with blood is a paltry compromise. What the c ountry wants is, L that the instrument of human degradation shall, by legislative 'force,be wholly and for ever struck from the hand of power. The reform introduced by Sir John Hobhouse as to flogging in the army, reminds us of that introduced into the criminal law by Sir Robert Peel, with regard to the penalty of death for privately stealing i n t h e dwelling-house. As the former takes credit to himself for having the practice of military punishment so ameliorated that regimental Courts martial can only inflict 200 instead of 300 lashes, and garrison Courts-martial 300 instead of 500, so the latter considered himself entitled to the public . approbation for raising the price of human life from 2/. to 5/.—an effort of improvement which could not excite much alarm among the conservators of sanguinary law. We have spoken of men being reduced below the condition of the brute. We have not, in saying so, indulged in any exaggeration, for there is a penal law to pre vent the brutes that graze the fields or drudge for our convenience in the streets from being treated with any thing like the cruelty which may be lawfully inflicted on British soldiers. Why is there no " Martin's Act" to punish any one who lace rates with the scourge the back of a human being in a way in which no man with impunity dare tear and torture the flesh of the beast that " wants discourse of reason ?" If such an in human practice were, indeed, necessary for the preservation of discipline in the army, it would be, as we remarked on a former occasion, the most cogent argument for the abolition of stand ing armies of any we have heard. But it is not necessary to brutalize men in order to preserve military discipline—the best governed regiments in our service, it is well known, are those' that know least of the use of the lash. Captain Granby Calcraft said, in the debate the other night, that " the result of his observations, during the period that he had had the honour to hold a commission in his Majesty's service, tended to convince him that the regiments where floggings were most practised were the worst disciplined in the service, and that the soldiers who were so punished became from that moment lost men." Nor is this to be wondered at. The manly feeling—the sense of shame—that senti ment of honour which judicious treatment can reach even in the rudest minds, are extinguished by a punishment which degrades the soldier be low the caste of humanity—destroys all self. respect, and brands the wretched sufferer, if he survive the torture, with a stigma that no good conduct can obliterate. What wonder, then, that one so branded should become obdurate in evil courses, and perish the victim of reckless desperation ? The incidents narrated in Mr. Shipp's book, one of the bravest soldiers that the service ever had, ought to suffuse with blushes the cheeks of those Statesmen and Legislators who allow such a system to disgrace the country and human nature itself. One of the anecdotes quoted from this work by Mr. Hunt is particu larly valuable, as showing, in contrast, in the case of the same person, the different effects of brutal violence and moral treatment on the human mind. It is that of the soldier who, having been often flogged for drunkenness without any good result, and being tied up to the halberds, once more awaiting the lash, was reclaimed. How ? By a severer flogging from a more vigorous arm ? No ; the Colonel, at last, tried the experiment of moral treatment, which had been heretofore ne glected. He appealed to his feelings. The appeal was not in vain—he burst into tears.— The Colonel forgave him, and promised him promotion to the rank of corporal, if his future conduct would justify his promotion. He be came from that hour one of the best men in the regiment, and received the promised promotion. This is stated to have been the only instance that came within the writer's experience where any man who had been flogged had ever again recovered his self-respect. It was the only in stance, we presume, in which such an experi ment had been made. Another case in stanced by this writer is also very characteristic. It is that of the Irishman who, for being drunk on guard, having received 600 lashes, said to his commanding officer, on being loosened from the halberds, " You will never get a day's work out of Paddy again." On the mention of this case there was something like a laugh from some Members of the House of Commons. The persons who could indulge in merriment at the idea of the writhing and mutilated wretch, who, in his agony, thus simply expressed his conscious ness of being rendered useless to himself and others for the remainder of his life, must have minds admirably constituted for the duties of legislation in a civilized and Christian land! We should like to see their names published, for the information of the voters at the next general election. The discipline of the French army is not upheld by the lash. The punishments have a reference to the sense of honour and shame in the m i n d o f t h e so ldi er , an d t en d t o keep alive the feeling of self-respect. Why should French soldiers be treated as rational men, and British soldiers as unreasoning brutes ? The punishment itself creates the distinction. Sink a man belo w th e l eve l o f hi s spec i es , an d hi s ac tions will soon correspond with his degradation. — Morning Herald. The idea of Mr. Baring being a candidate for the county of Middlesex is quite preposterous, and, if put forth as afeeler, ought to be met by an imm ediate respectability of how eßeaaltnt : it is f elt . ing bear ero commercial valuablehich he i uponulercaill subjects connected with the trade and finance of the country, yet it is equally undeniable that Mr. Baring has, somehow or other, contrived to render himself one of the most unpopular of that unpopular class of politicians to which he has of late thought proper to attach himself. Whe ther we look at his uncompromising hostily to the great cause of Reform, or the tone of aris tocratic hauteur with which he treats every topic connected with the liberties of the people, we should say that he is one of the last persons who can, with any reasonable show of preten sion, present himself either to the old or new constituency of the metropolitan county, for the high honour of representing them in a Reformed Parliament. We do not go the length of saying that we wish to see such a man as Mr. Baring excluded from a seat in Parliament, but what we do say is that the electors of Middlesex, who have fought so nobly in the cause of Reform, would stultify themselves irretrievably were they to confer the first fruits of their victory on one who has so strenuously opposed their obtaining it. riling Herald. Mr. Warburton's amendment, which provides that all Coroners' inquests shall be held in open Court, and which was carried on Wednesday night in the House of Commons, is likely to be very generally approved of, notwithstanding the fright i nto which Mr. Frankland Lewis was thrown upon the occasion. Mr. - F. Lewis is a true Conservative of the Tory school, though, if we mistake not, he was once a Whi g . Th e great principle which runs through the whol e o f t his gentleman's political creed is that change is an evil. Hence his horror of the Reform Bill, and of everything that savours of reform, d own t o the opening of the Coroner's Comt. He considered the latter one of those " gre a t an d i fundamental changes n the Constit6tion” against which the country ought to be protected. The change, be it observed, was from secrecy to pub 64y—from darkness to light; and there is this great objection to all such transit Ams—that there is an implied appeal to public opinion in every open Court, and consequently a breaking down of that irresponsible power which it is the great object of a certain class of politicians to exercise and abuse. But, though this objection may have its full weight with such reasoners as Mr. Frankland Lewis, it is hardly to be expected that the people will concur with him, to the pre judice of their own claims. He may think it a good thing, and even a kind thing, towards the people, to keep them in ignorance of what passes in Courts or in Cabinets ; he may think it a good thing to perplex and mystify the public accounts, so that no one can understand them but those who, for certain reasons, do not wish the understanding to become too general. We do not say that Mr. F. Lewis actually holds this opinion, though it is in perfect consistency with his dread of publicity that he should ; but, whatever evils he may apprehend from the throwing open of Coroners' inquests, it comes with rather a bad grace from a Representative of the people to take fright at every step of their advance, as if some calamity were at hand which it required only an increase of strength and in fluence upon their parts to put into active ope ration. The time, however, is fast approaching when Members of Parliament will be slow to acknowledge such a prejudice, even if they should feel it ; and we think that, before Mr. Baring talked of " the blackguards in the street," as he elegantly described the casual passengers, he should have remembered that he must repre sent something else in the next Parliament than the weight of his own purse—if, indeed, he represents any thing—for though some allow ance may be made for the prejudices of a mo neyed man, there can be none for his insolence. The plain principle on which the majority de cided for throwing open the Coroners' inquest admits of no answer. It is right that all Courts , should be open ; and those who call that prin ciple revolutionary are ignorant of the constitu tion of human nature, as well as of the spirit of British law.—Plorning Herald. We beg to point the attention of our readers to the important result, so far as regards the fu ture representation of the City, of the labours of the Committee appointed on Tuesday last, to draw up such resolutions, in the name of their fellow-citizens, as might most effectually conduce to give an efficient representation of the City, and set an example to the rest of the country. They are important, and they are well put—they are creditable to the liberal and independent spirit of the City, and, if adopted by the great body of the Livery, will give a tone to the election proceedings of the country of in calculable benefit to its future welfare. Re presentation, it will be seen from the docu ment alluded to, is no longer to be a name for a thing that is not—but a reality—a represen tation to the letter, as well as of the spirit—an ex hibition by the person representing, of the wishes of those represented. Many honourable and right honourable gentlemen, will, we doubt not, kick at this innovation on the independence of legislators, as a worse visitation than even the uprooting of Gatton and Sarum ; but let them bear in mind that their long enjoyment of unbridled and mischievous license has brought things to this complexion—that the people did not seek to fetter them until they had been again and again deceived—until they had lost all con fidence in public men, and were driven by the dire necessity of the case to seek protection un der specific and written pledges. We like also that part of the resolutions of the Sub-Com mittee which declares that " those to whom the law now commits the sacred trust of the power of choosing Members who are to represent their non resident neighbours as well as themselves, ought to be scrupulously careful to choose no man on whom firm reliance cannot be placed, that he will obey the wishes and directions of his consti tuents." The resolution is highly creditable to their good feeling towards their non-resident neighbours, and is as ably followed up in the matter of the pledge to be exacted from, or the declaration to be signed by, those who may aspire to the honour of a seat in Parliament for the City—a declaration worthy of the Livery of London, and which will carry as much terror and dismay into the camp of the Conservatives, as the reading of schedule A did on the first bring ing in of the Reform Bill. The Livery are de termined to have neither lazy nor dishonest Mem bers ; for, in the first Session of Parliament, they , must bind themselves to do every thing in their power to cause " a total abolition of tithes!"—" a repeal of the assessed taxes ! and of the taxes on malt and soap !" This is pretty well for one pledge; but the City is not to stop short here in the career of Reform, for as soon as the above taxes have been repealed the City Members are to press for an immediate co.iaideration of the policy of revising the corn laws, and to cause the abolition of all sinecures and unmerited pensions, and especially to effect a repeal of that Act of daring usurpation called the Septennial Act ! This is the way to give efficiency to the Re form Bill, and to enable the country to derive those fruits from it which is so well calculated to afford—this is the only sure means of shutting the door against Tory intriguers, and of defeat ing the designs of hollow pretenders to Re form. Let but the country generally follow the example which is thus set in the City of Lon don, and in due time tithes and assessed taxes— corn laws and Septennial Acts—pensions and sinecures, will become matters of history in stead of burdens on the country.—Morning Advertiser. It will be seen that Mr. Gisborne, in reference to his abrupt adjournment of the House on Thursday, explained that he acted without any premeditation, and without having previously communicated with any person. It is not for us to doubt the assertion of the Hon. Member, but when we consider that a vitally important sub ject, viz. an inquiry into the state of Ireland, stood for that evening, we must pronounce it at least extremely unfortunate that Mr. Gisborne should, without any motive whatever, have caused the opportunity of investigation to have been lost, irretrievably perhaps as far as the present Parlia ment is concerned. The concurrent postpone ment of the same question in the House of Lords is also a curious coincidence which may give rise to some suspicions• Unquestionably there is no subject so worthy of the con sideration of the Legislature at this moment as the state of . Ireland, and in whatever em barrassments the imbecile policy of the pre sent Ministers may-have involved them respect ing it, we say it is due to the age in which we live that the great problem of the degraded state of the Sister Country, a country boast ing natural a dvantages superior to almost any other in the . world, should at length meet with solUtion and explanation. Ireland is highly favoured in natural position. Her harbours and bays are numerous and most conveniently situ ...tied. Her soil is every where luxuriant, and her mineral products abundant and diversified. Valu able fisheries offer themselves in all directions on her coasts ; and yet we view at this moment the striking picture of a country thus circum stanced wholly without the ability of giving any permanent employment to its population ; boun ties of nature unenjoyed by man, and starving beggary in the midst of all the materials of opulence and plenty. If the peasantry of Ire land are in a state more utterly depressed and wretched than that of any ot her count r y i n Eu rope, it is not to the sterility of nature or to the neglect of Providence that we are to look for the cause; but to the non•attention of those who have the means of alleviating the evils of Ireland, and whom a liberal spirit might be expected to urge to afford that assistance which might convert into civilization and comfort the means so abundantly bestowed by Providence. Half measures and temporary expedients can be of little or no avail. An effective and permanent plan for giving employment to the destitute peasantry, and thereby diffusing tranquillity, sub ordination, and prosperity throughout the coun try, must be the result of the deep and anxious consideration of the subject by the Legislature. England has but one half of the advantages of her civilization and prosperity, while Ireland is so far from the enjoyment of either. Ought we, then, to look with insensibility on the destitute condition of our Irish brethren ; ought it not rather to be considered both an interest and a duty to inquire in what way their distresses can be most surely relieved ? Though this is a question which a Reforming Parliament appears inclined to answer in the negative, we trust and believe that there is a public spirit in this coun try that will tend to the speedy removal of the stigma cast upon the empire at large by the ano malous situation of Ireland.—Morning Post. COVENT-GARDEN THEATRE. The performances for the season, at this theatre, concluded last night with Mr. Knowles's play of The Hunchback. Mr Bartlett, as stage-manager, delivered the following address after the play ; "Ladies and Gentlemen—The duty of addressing you, on the last night of performance, again devolves upon me, and I am instructed by the proprietors of this theatre to offer their sincere acknowledgments for the support with which they have been honoured. Their exertions have been unremitting to merit your approbation, and that ap probation has seldom been more frequently awarded than during the present season. The appearance of the two dramas of Francis I. and The Hunchback may, per hads, without too sanguine , s stretch of anticipation, be regarded as an epoch in modern dramatic literature ; and from the success which has crowned these efforts, it may fairly be assumed, that with our established writers new adventurers will be allured to claim the ivy wreath at your bands. " The direction of this theatre will now pass from the proprietors, and the task for providing for your entertain ment will devolve on the new lessee, who requests me to assure you that he enters upon his arduous duty with a full conviction of its importance and responsibility. He relies, however, upon his own strenuous endeavour., and upon the hope of a favourable reception of them from )ou : his first aim will be to maintain to the extent of his power the reputation of the English drama: and his best ener gies will be employed, during the summer to prepare for the opening of the regular dramatic season at the usual time. In the interim, he is unwilling to suffer any op portunity to escape that may increase the variety of your amusements; and being at present enabled to introduce to the public, for the first time, the combined attractions of the celebrated French actress Mademoiselle Mars, and the popular dancer Mademoiselle Taglioni, both assisted by other talented performers, he is induced to open the thea tre for a few nights in July, and this without any inter rence with the regular dramatic season, to put in a sepa rate claim for your fav_our, during a short part of what is usually termed the recess. " I fear, ladies and gentlemen, I have trespassed upen your time ; allow me, therefore, to offer the united thanks of every person connected with this establishment, and, in the hope of meeting you again, at the commencement of the next season, most respectfully to bid you farewell." Some partial disapprobation was expressed at the announcement of the French performances, which was, however, succeeded by general applause, on hearing that they were not intended to interfere with the usual season. After the address Mr. Knowles and Miss Kemble were loudly called for. The former made his appearance first, and having bowed his thanks, withdrew. Miss Kemple was led cn by her father, and received ;he congratulations of the audience. which was a very numerous one. MEETING OF TUE LIVERY OF LONDON. A meeting of the Liverymen of London took place on Tuesday, at the chamber of Guildhall, for the purpose of considering whether any, and what pledges should be exacted from candidates intending to offer themselves for the representation of the city at the next general election; when various resolu tions were proposed, with a view of submitting to a general meeting of the electors of the city those agreed to. After much discussion, the several re solutions, as well as various suggestions, were re ferred to a sub-committee, consisting of seven Li verymen, and seven of the new electors under the Reform Bill, with directions to draw up such resolu tions as would best meet the object they had in view, The sub-committee submitted the resolutions they had framed to the general committee, which reas sembled yesterday at Guildhall, and it was finally agreed upon the resolutions below should be pro posed to the consideration of a general meeting of the electors. A deputation was then appointed to wait upon the Lord Mayor, to solicit his Lordship, to permit the meeting to be held in Guildhall. " Resolved, 1. That for one man to represent another, means that he is to act for that other, and in a manner agreeably to his wishes and instructions. "2. That Members chosen to be representativcs in Parliament ought to do such things as their constituents wish, and direct them to do. "3. That therefore it appears to this meeting, that those to whom the law now commits the sacred trust of the power of choosing Members, who are to represent their non-voting neighbours as well as themselves ought to be scrupulously careful to choose no man on whom firm re liance cannot be placed, that he will obey the wishes and directions of his constituents. "4. That in order to obtain the beet possible ground for such reliance, every candidate ought, in the first place, to give the pledges following:—to wit— " That I will neglect nothing within my power bo cause, in the very first Session, a total abolition of tithes, a repeal of the assessed taxes, and the taxes on malt and soap. These having been repealed, I pl e d ge myse l f to the immediate consideration of a revision of the Corn Bill ; and I further pledge myself to do every thing within my power to cause the abolition of all sinecures, unmerited pensions, and a repeal of th at Act of daring usurpation called the Septennial Act. " I will, at all times, and in all things, act conform ably to the wishes of a majority of my constituents, de liberately expressed, or I will, at their request, resign the trust with which they have honoured me. " That we, the electors of the city of London, pledge ourselves to each other, and to our country, that we wi I give our votes to no man who will not give ;the above pledges, and that we earnestly recommend to our fellow electors, in every part of the kingdom, to make, and strictly to adhere to, the same determination." BIRTHS. On the 19th i nst. at Wentworths, Surrey, the Marchioness o f __ oreester, of a daughter. On the •.?lst inst. at Cheltenham, the lady of the Rev. W. Spencer Phillips of a son. On the 21st inst. a t Ki ngs t o n, Hants, Charles Cyril Tayl o r, MARRIED. Esq., Major 20th Regiment, eldest son of the late Lieut-Colonel Taylor, loth Light Dragoons, to Nano?, eldest daughter of James Godolphin Burstein, Esq., of the Royal Laboratory, Portsea. On the 21st inst. at St. James's Church, the Right Hon. Fred• John Lord Monson, to Thcodosia, youngest daughter of Lathuni Blacker, of Newent, in the county of Gloucester, Esq. DIED. On the 21st inst. Thomas Catherall, Esq. of Pall Mall, i n the 73d year of his age. On the 20th inst. at Maxton House, near D over, age d '74. Herman Meyer, Esq. ofForty Hall, Enfield. •On the .21st inst. at Derby, Hannah Mihill, eldest daughter of N. Holmes, Esq., and wife of th e Rev. William Conyngharn Ussher, aged S 4. PRINTILD AND PUBLISHED DY MUItDO YOUNG, AT THS SUN OFFICE, 112, STRAND, LONDON,