The Sun.
London, England, 1839-07-05 00:00:00

THE REGISTRATION.

Mr. WEST reported that he had caused bills to be
printed and extensively circulated, of which the follow-
ing is a copy :

" WESTMINSTER ELECTION.

" Voters entitled, under the Reform Act, will lose
their votes for the next year, unless they pay on or be-
fore the 20th day of July all the poor's•rates and
window tax, if any payable from them, in respect of their
premises previously to the 6th of April. The payment
of no other rate or tax is required for the exercise of
their franchise.

" Scot and lot voters will be disfranchised unless
they pay on or before the 31st of July all the poor's-
rates payable from them previously to that day. They
need not, for the purpose of registration, pry the window
tax, or any other rate or tax, than the poor's-rate.
" County voters must send in their claims on or
before the 20th July."
The above notice is issued by the Committee of the
Westminster Reform Society, and any further informa-
tion on the subject may be obtained from the Honour-
able Secretary, W. West, 420, Strand.
Mr. WEST added that these bills had been freely
distributed in those parts of Westminster, where the
electors were likely to be ignorant of the provisions of
the Reform Act, and many shopkeepers had placed
them in their windows.

Mr. TROTT said, as it had been decided that lodgers
were not entitled to vote for boroughs, he would recom-
mend those who paid 501. a-year, or upwards, to put in
a claim for the county.
Mr. STOKES questioned whether this would do any
good.

Mr. TROTT said, if 5,000 lodgers voted for the
county, the 501. clause would soon be altered, and that
would do great good.—(Hear.)
The other business having been disposed of, a vote
of thanks was passed to the Chairman, and the meeting
seperated.

REMEDY FOR THE BALLOT.

TO THE EDITOR OF ZHE SUN.

DIEPPE, JUNE 27, 1839.
SlR—Permit me to state that the almost hopeless
Ballot business might safely be dispensed with alto-
gether, provided a law to the following effect were passed
as soon as possible :—1 st. That every briber and
bribee, with all their agents and accomplices, shall be,
on conviction, declared guilty of felony.agamst the
tion, and punished by the immediate forfeiture of both
their electoral and representative rights for ten or so
many years, more or less, according to the enormity of
their respective offences in the opinion of a competent
Jury, carefully chosen to try the same, and composed of
Tories, Whigs, and Radicals in equal numbers, whose
Foreman should be, at least, a well-known liberal,
honest, private character, to whichever of the foregoing
classes he may happen to belong, so far as the selection
may depend on a majority of a Court so constituted.
To secure detection, as in the case of unknown murder,
&c., whoever among the suspected and accused criminals
shall first impeach his associates, to conviction, he or
they shall escape from the projected penalty, nay, an
adequate reward, composed of a competent fine from
the delinquents, pro re nate, might be decreed by the
Jury in terrorein to all future traitors to their fellow-
citizens, and as a recompence to informers against every
Lzberticide of this description, whatever his rank &c,
may be. Regicides, parricide's, homicides, with the longlist of other Bides, fall short in enormity in my estima-
tion of the base murderers and traitors of popular
freedom, who deserve death without benefit of clergy,
if capital punishments did not on all occasions produce
more evil than good on the jury, judges, executioner,
victim, spectators, and the people at large, in a variety
of ways too tedious to enumerate in this letter. Were
the Act projected :to pass, certain innate sinners might
pretend to scorn a seat in the House of Commons on
the conditions stated above, nay some ten-pound
noblesse would probably cock their noses up at the very
idea of the pending ordeal, and decline voting as a
matter of course, lest corruption, like the devil, who is
the great legal scapegoat, may, in an evil hour, tempt
them to betray their native country into the hands of a
greedy, corn-law-grinding aristocracy from selfish
motives entirely, either dictated by avarice, cowardly
fear, or future prospects of gain by patronage or other-
wise. To representative candidates and voters for
them, let me whisper in their ears that congenial pru-
dence should dictate the great danger of having offen-
sive weapons of any species about their persons, because
Satan, the grand deceiver, can then try his persuasive
wiles to instigate them to commit suicide, or send by
one bold stroke a human being to his long home from
the sudden impulse of revenge, rejected love, or that in-
vincible sacra fames auri. that has deluged the world
with more blood than the mortal bane of a dominant
religion, which like the boasted Protestant Church of
England, sets reason, morality, and even the purest
principles of the Christian faith in time and eternity at
utter defiance. J. B. G.

The Thames Tunnel is expected to be opened for
foot passengers in about fifteen months.

BIBLE PRINTING MONOPOLY.—SeIdom have
we been so disappointed, and at the same time filled with
so much indignation, by the turn given to any public
measure, as by the late announcements of the Lords Rus-
sell and Melbourne, in their several places, respecting
the intentions of Government with regard to the Bible
printing monopoly in Scotland. We had fancied that
matter was settled, and settled on a liberal ground. We
had fancied it was one, at least, in the proceedings of the
Whig Government, which might be set down to their
credit. We confess we could rejoice at this moment to
see the backs of the whole party, coupled with the assur-
ance that we shall never again see their faces. What a
vacillating crew they are I How odious and how con-
temptible they will become if they are allowed to remain
much longer in place lf Government adhere to
their purpose, and actually appoint a Board, such as bad
4 been proposed, we think we could suggest a plan by
which the labours of that Board might be considerably
alleviated. Liberty has been given to import Bibles from
Ingland. Let the Dissenters of Scotland resolve that
they will supply themselves from that quarter. Although
by no means an unexceptionable quarter, inasmuch as the
monopoly exists in England also, it will yet, all things
considered, be by far the less exceptionable of the two ;
and if the Dissenters of Scotland, who are, without all
doubt, the principal part of the population by whom the
Bible is loved and purchased ; if they shall bind them-
selves, as they may easily do, that they will use neither
Bible nor Psalm-hook printed to the north of the Tweed,
they will soon make the Bible Printing Board nearly as
idle as any Board in existence, and that is a strong word.
—Voluntary Church Megazine.