The Sun.
London, England, 1837-07-31 00:00:00

"ter expressed Ms r ret at the evil, the extent of which'
slid not deny, but professed himself totally unable to cope•
th the difficulty.—( Hear, hear.) But the present Ministry,
either disguising from themselves the difficelty of the remedy,
.or the many obstacles that must be conic ndes4 with and
overcome in carrying that remedy into operatien— not dis-
guising from itself the discouraging ciscumstance tb.q. the
measure was not one to create popular favollr, but one iv,-'ch
must besupported.by the general intelligence of the coe-ntt,s.
deemed it their duty to undertake that great reform ; an I
must say, having no party nor personal interest in the mat-
ter, that with respect to the great prineipies of the amended
poor-law—subject to any future inquiry aid any 1-iteration or
amelioration which that inquiry may find cut as being neces:-
sary—l am strongly attached to that law as tending in every
way to the benefit of the country.—(Cheers.) lam perkeity
aware that it has been said that the real fault of. the Ministry
was that they did not go far and fast enough—teat they .ought
to adopt other schemes, and above all, as specimens of what
ought to be done rather as a beginning of other refotins thstsr
as final reforms in themselves, that they ought to pro et
vote by ballot, triennial Parliaments, household suit•ag
and an elective House of Lords. lam not now about to
address you, with respect to the vote by ballOt aid the
duration of Parliaments, having declared rny- opinion upon
these subjects the other day.—(Cheers.) I will Only re-
peat now that when I was a member of the 'Co:mei:tee
hich framed the great outlines of the Reform Bill,
I was selected to propose a plan, of which the chief ir,ads were
adopted by the Committee ; the plan began by proposieg the
total disfranchisement of 50 small boroughs, and the partial
disfranchisement of 50 more ; it then went on to propose tt,e
et:franchisement, of all the great manufacturing towns. The
plan originally contained no proposition with respect either to
the Balloter the duration of Parliaments ; but in the course of
the discussions which took place in the Committee, propoaals
were made upon those subjects, which after some consideration
were adopted ; and in the plan which we ultimately submitted
to Lord Grey's Cabinet we suggested that tie Vote by Pallet
should be adopted, and that the duration of Parliament should
be five years. I am mentioning this fact, because I l n3w
that several statements have been made upen the subject, and
at the time those statements were made I bad the permission
of his late Majesty to state any facts upon this sulject
which I thought necessary in the way of explanation.--( Hear,
hear, hear.) I have done so. I should, however, state that
at the same time that the Ballot was proposed by the Com-
mittee, it was suggested that the franchise should be raised
to 201. But the decision of Lord Grey's government upon
the whole was not to propose any thing to the Legislature with
respect to the duration of Parliament and the ballot, end
ultimately the amount of theApilification for the franchise wts
fixed at 101. lam only stating these things to show ti.at
whatever opinions I may entertain with respect to these
subjects, they are. at events matters that I deem fit for
discussion and consideration, and that I have always been
ready to discuss them.—(Applause.) I have already told
you that I am not partial to secret voting, and that I think
very short Parliaments would not tend to the advantage
of the Liberal party in this country, but on the con-
trary. would be advantageous to our opponents,' who would
find us harassed by such continued and frequent appeals to
the people.—( Hear, hear.) With respect to the suffrage
there certainly is no reason why household suffrage might
not originally have been adopted as well as the 101. suffrage.
For my own pact, I preferred the 101. suffrage. But this I
must soy, that looking at the various and complicated rela-
tions, both internal and external, of this country, I do not
think that such a measure as the Reform Bill ought to be fre-
quently proposed or frequently re-considered. I think that
the stability of our institutions very much depends upon their •
not being altered too suddenly or too rapidly.—( applause.)
With respect to the House of Lords, many persons have been
so in itated by the opposition of that branch of the Legislature
to certain measures that they say the constitution of it ought to
he wholly changed. They call it an irresponsible House
of Parliament. Upon that point I cannot help calling
to ruled an expression of my Nuble ; Friend (Lord Se-
grave) near me, who on the last public occasion in
which I had the honour to meet him, declared that he
considered the House of Lords as a respoesible bndy.—
(Applause.) I agree with him on that sentiment. I think
no Peer fully understands the situation in which he is placed,
unless he considers himself responsible to the enlightened opi.
nion of this country.—(Great cheering.) I believe I am
hardly exaggerating when I say that in the course of fifty
years, in one way or ancther, sometimes by election, some-
times by nomination, sometimes by partiality in the creation
of Peers, not leas than two hundred persons have been oddest
to the House of Lords. Of course the introduction of so
large a moss of individuals, all belonging to one party, has, in
some respects, changed the -character of the House of Lords.
But whatever the amount of that change may have been, it
his not eutirele altered the sense which, has aI ways been en_
tertaieed in the House of Lords, that when the Commons

prolourcts a decided opinion upon a great question, the opi.
ition of the Lords ought immediately to follow. If pubtic opinion
brought to bear upon the Muse of Lords, we shall find that
body more duly and more vigilantly consulting the opinion of
t • cowitry than it lees dune in former times.-4 Applause. )
At all cveuts I mos...declare to you, freely and frankly, that I
see no sugleirnt cause at present for alter log the ar.cient Con-
stitution of this country—(Applause)—that I thick our an-
client Constitution well fitted to provi le for the •ss Ware and
itappi;ier,•.s of the people, and that by that Corsti:ution I for
one am prepared to abide.—( Lod and long continued cheer-
ing. j And now. reverting to another part of our Constitution,
a rill to Ilkb all here are deeply attached, whetever thefeel-
ing in ether qearters may br—l mean the Alowrchy, I believe
we all persce.ally desire the prosperity, the I ppiucss, and the
lon, reign of our (nations Sovereign the Qucen.—( Rapturous
*Luse. tha ennapAny ruing Ina cr,;;;Ti,,uLizto elmer
tor many minutes.) It was much remorked, when her Ma-
jetty delivered her gracious speech from the throne upon the
occasion of the prorogation of the late Parliament, that talent
she came to th-t part of the speech in which she declared
that she hoped than the modification of the severity of the
criminal laws would be an auspicious commencement of her
reign, she threw aside as it were the c')py of the speech front
,sltkil she was reading, and spoke the words without reference
to the written paper in a way and with an emphasis which
sh mud that they canto truly from the heart.—( Cheers. ) Ido
sincerely hope that those Acts, in the passing of which I bore a
hu•Lble part, will prove an auspicious commencement of her
reign.—(Cheers.) We have 'had 'glorious female reigns—
those of Elizabeth and Anne led us to great victories ; let us
now hope that we arc going to have a female reign illustrious
in its deeds of peace—( Cheers)—an Eliz:-.beth without her
trrahnv—an Anne without her Lrrign conquests.
The Noble Lord resumed his scat amidst the most enthusi-

istic chcPring.
The CUAII:114 N next ix:posed the bealths or the re-elected
eprescn*..ativcs of the town, P. Scrope, Esq., and Lord John
Russcll, ( Great applause.) .

M. P. CROPE ruse and returned thanks. He would observe
iat the contest so triumphantly concluded at Stroud was simi-

ar to that which occurred in every part of the empire where
RefurMers and Tories were opposed to each other. The guns.
103 to be determined betwecu them was this—whether the

GovernmeLt, having the confidence of the Queen, should

carry into execution their own measures of reform—mea-
sures which they had advocated during the whole of their
lives, or whether the Tories should come into ofilce, and carry
something under the name of Reform which should fulfil
their pledges as Reformers, but in reality to prevent the car-
rying out of true reform.—(Cheers.) It was a question, in
fact, between real and sham reform. Were those who

saddled the country with a debt of 830,000,000/. to be be-
lieved, when they talk of retrenchment and economy ?
(Cheers.) No ! the King of Hanover showed what a Tory

'was wt: i let loose from all restraint. —( Great cheering.)
The CHAIRMAN next proposed " she health of Lord Se-
grave, the Lord Lieutenant of the county."—( Cheers.)
Lord &GRAVE, in returning thanks, ly:',,,,;ged to offer to the
electors of Stroud his honest. and -hcartftlt congratulations on
the rict:n•7 they had obtained. Every. Tory Hell sparr pub-
lished In the county teemed with personal scurrility against
him, as if he were thn only butt at which the party would

choose to shoot their bolts. If that very enviable situation
arose f-orn the apprehension that he was their d,cidad and
imlefatigab!e foe, he received the compliment--( Chters)—
and, what was more, would eadfavour to deserve Laugh-
ter and cheers.) Among other publications which had lately
appeared the newspers there was one which he was
bound especially to—t.!-orice, although the signature attached
to it was an assumed one. Arter many r xagyrated state-

ments and discussions—Tespeeting him and his family, the
writer proceeded to make this distinct charge against him,
that, to secure the Parliamentary mcnopoly of the Berkeley
family, he had brought another brother of his forward as a
nominee for the representation of the city of Bristol, and that
he bad forced about 9,000 electors in that city to accept the
man whom he narked to them, lie had had no communica-
tion, direct or indirect, with any individual connected with
that city. But somewhere about a month ago a deputation of
the citizens of Bristol did him the honour to come to him in
Spring-gardens, and state that the Liberal Association, which
had done so much fur the city, was anxious to have a brother
of his to prevent one Tory at least from forcibly entering to
take possession of the representation. Ile distinctly stated
that he hoped and wished that some gentleman who had a
local and mercantile connection with the city should have the
charge of the important trust so tendered to his brother. They
replied that they believed a brother of his would have a better
chance of defeating a Tory, and would be more acceptable to
the people of Bristol generally, than. any other individual
that could be found.—( Cheers.) Ele ( Lord &grave) bad
passed a life in which a great deal of vexation and turmoil Lad
been mingled; but the gratification and honour which he re-
ceived from that communication amply repaid him for all that
had been unfortunate, disagreeable, or unhappy in his life.—
( Cheers.) They did not know his brother even by sight—
they took him on trust—they took him at sight—on the cha-
racter of Lis farnily.--( Cheers.) This was tfic true history
of the w bole transaction, word for word, as an active and true
friend t..f liberty whom he then saw pres.nt ecu;d well avouch
(Cheers) —and this was what the Tories cAled nominee-
fib —( Cheers. )
The distinguished visitors now left the room, and shortly
afterwards the company separated.

The Grand Duke and Duchess of Oldenburgh in-
spcctcd the Royal Mint on Ihursdav, which magnificent cita-
bit,hment was explained to them by Mr. Ai!;inson, :chief of
cne of the departments. To disti:lguished party were equally
surprised at the magnitude of the establishment and the rapi-
d,ty nod exactness with -which the sovereign were coined.
SOUTEI NOTTI NGITA NISH! RE.—Mr. Denisen has
roigned and declines go:1:g to the poi!. We are unfeignedly
sorry fur it, fur at this late hour we suppose it is in vain to
think of :my effvettrtl opposition. We with Mr. D. had made
up his mind a little earlier, and then we arc of opinion some
o her Reformer would have appealed to the numercus elector
of the &nth division.