The Sun.
London, England, 1839-08-05 00:00:00

expiated on a scafold, nor so heinous as the eel) assiee.
malversations to which I allude, and for the trial whereof
a common jury of honest men would be much more ap-
propriate than all the nobles and honourables of the British
empire, though. headed by Sir Robert Pe•.l or the great
Lord John's self There being one plausible objection to
secret nomination, the best remedy for it is with the
Chartist:, to discard public and private canvass at
once, under pain of elective and representative forfeiture or
suspension, according to the culprit's less atrocious or more
venial deserts. Candidates might, nevertheless, be per-
mitted, in due time, to publish a short plain address
thus :—" To the Honest Electors of A. B.—Fellow
Countrymen l My public and private moral character, in
every point of view, I flatter myself is already sufficiently
known to, or may be easily ascertained by all of you pre-
vious to the day of election, when, without any farther so-
licitation, personal or otherwise, permit me to request the
favour of your voluntary suffrages to represent you in
Parliament, where I promise faithfully to maintain the
rights, liberties, and welfare of my constituents, and to
promote them to the best of my ability on every occasion,
while consistent with the general prosperity of the entire
British empire at home and abroad. I engage, moreover.
• to furnish you with a true statement of my Sessional Votes
and the reasons for giving them. Should these not be
deemed valid by one-third of the electors, I shall restore
the trust immediately into their hands, that a more popular,
talented, or conscientious representative may instantly re-
place, yours respectfully, C. D."- Such a process would
require little expense from the Treasury, which ought not
only to defray the whole, but to appoint those functionaries
who are well paid to discharge all the necessary duties,
gratuitously, for the limited period of one long day, in
various sections of a town or county, where every vote
sealed might be regularly scrutinised by five or seven up-
right persons, bound by solemn affirmation to do strict jus-
tice, without unreasonable prejudice or predilection for
the parties concerned. In the event of either candidates
or constituents being found guilty, by a jury of good men
and true, of fraudulent practices connected with the pend-
ing election, they shall be subjected to such pains and pe-
nalties as the nature of their misdeeds may deserve, on the
plea of treason against the supremacy of the nation, infi.
nitely more indispensable than the sovereignty of a king,
to preserve the rational freedom, happiness, and prosperity
of the people. When goaded by the oppression of grind-
ing monopolies, in all the ranks of Church, State, law, and
learning, no wonder if their unheeded, eternal grievances,
render them savagely desperate at last, as in the recent acts
of popular rage at Birmingham, which every honest Chartist
must deplore, lest their outrageous proceedings bring the
Tory coup de grace of despotism on the head of liberty
for years to come, during which, in spite of their vain-
glorious song Britons must succumb, as cheated, helpless
slaves. Be prudent, Whigs I and ponder on this line—
" To err is human, to forgive divine,"
and preserve your father land from the bloodhounds of war,
hallooed on by Clerical,Civil, Legal, and Militaryßutchers,
as the vanguard of Toryism, Orangeism, Despotism, Selfism,
Fanaticism, and every other ism hostile to mankind, includ-
ing Corn-lawism, the very worst of the list. I may here-
after be induced to trouble you with my desultory thoughts
on those political objects mentioned in the outset of this
epistle, which is already too prolix for insertion in a jour.
nal so well filled as The Sun, generally appears in the
estimation of, Sir, your very obedient servant,
A CONSTANT SUBSCRIBER,
And like yourself, a Lover of Fair Play to Friend or Foe.