The Sun.
London, England, 1839-06-10 00:00:00

TIIE DEVONSHIRE SHERIFF.

0,1:031 tug COLLIEEPONpENT.)
The County meeting yesterday terminated, as it was
feared in some quarters that it might. The assembly was
most rumerous, there bcirg about 7,000 persons present.
The Tories round Exeter made every exertion to drive in
their retainers into the meeting. and from, the of that
had been used it was apprehended that they would succeed
in obtaining a ninjority to the show of hands. The morning
was d e .dfully wet. Devonshire nominations and county
meetings are proverbial with your London reporters
for their wetness, 'ard this was one of the completeat
seekers every witnessed. It was not, however, stiff'.
cleat to damp the ardour of the Reformers, who came
in from all parts of the county in such numbers that
we were not low," in discoverieg that the majority
was with us. Mr. J. W. Buller, and Mr. Divett, M. P.,
had come down from London to be present at the meeting.
.and on the Tory side the four County Members were all
present together with the Earl of Devon, who had also
coerce from London, not a little indignant that the County
should have been called together on :web an errand. But
I am sorry to say, that the leading Reformers who were in
London remained there, awl of the fourteen Liberal
Members returned for the Boroughs of the County, with
the exception of Mr. Divett, not one was present. Sir
Edward Elton, Sir John Seale, Sir J. Williams, Mr.
Bulteel, were all absent. This lekewarmeess en the part
of the Reformers is no credit to them ; and contrasts in a
striking degree with the zeal of the Tories. The Reformers
tppeer to think that their cause is not only good, but that
it has a self-acting p.ineiple, and will always work of it-
self. Among the leading Reformers present were—Sir
Rohert Newman, Sir W. T. Pole, who. to his honour,
braved the iselemency of the weether, and travelled thirty
miles to be present, although an invalid ; Mr. Seasiley
Cary, of Fellatou ; tSir B. Wee} ; the Hon. Newton
Fellowes ; Mr. J. W. Boller, of Downes ; Mr. Calmady
Haralyn ; Rev. Procter Thomas; Rev. Dr. Caraithen
Mr. Henry Fellowes, Ste., &e. The muster on the other
side was stranger—nll the Tory houses" of the county
being either direetiy.or indirectly represented.
I shall not treuele you with any details of the business
of the meeting—but merely state that you will find ail
you can crestre en that heal in the local papers—especially
tea Vicaern Times Eat you will find also that the result
cf the ire.etieg was al.noq prophetically anticipated by the
article in The Sums of Thursday. You will find on refer-
ring to tle:t article that it is stated that " the High Sheriff
is Tory ; apart 1.-orn his politica, a most honourable man ;
but when the sf,lfs and parsons told up their han& against
the loyal address he may be deceived as to numbers. The
Under atrilT is a Tory, steward and friend of Earl
Denea ; if the High Sher' make a blunder in the
ntuebern the Under Sheriff will have some difflealty
in cotrecticg him ; and .if be did, some profane peo-
ple might fancy that it was the Devil corrcctirg sin."
Now this prophetic fen-, which was published in The Su»
of 'Leaden the day before the meeting took place, was
realised to the ,otter—was realised to the very letter.
Aheut the eurnh_Ts present at the meeting—as to which
had the rnijority—there was not a doubt expressed by any
one rf the Reformer:. But the Sheriff called twice for
the show of hands, on the plea that he could not decide.
The Tories, knowing that they were in a minority, never
once awerte.i that the decision ought to be in their favour.
13ar, although the Earl of Devon had moved an amend-
ment, they were in ecstasies at the condition that they
should not have it carried, amid that the address of the Re-
formers also should not be carried, the Sheriff deciding
tien he did not know which party had the show of hands.
Eut when Lord Ceurtenay subsequently put the vote of
thanks ihr the Sheriff, he dared not call for the negative,
because be saw it would be lest, and the vote of thanks to
the Sheriff therefore was not adopted.
Exeter, June 8.

LORD BR6UGH-AM and MR. HENRY

GRATTAN.

Lord Brougham requests the Editor or the Morning
Chronicle to insert tho inclosed report of Mr. H. Grattan's
speeches to which the lat-.! correspondence refers, cod which
was subjoined t.) Lnrd Brougimm'i last letter. The publi-
cation of that correspondence on Friday omits this report ;
end there is a statement added which proceeds upon an
entire mistz.ke, namely, that Mr. H. Grattan had in his
second letter to Lord Brougham disclaimed the expr,ssions
ascribed to him. llis disclaimer referred to certain expres-
sions in another report, contained in Lord Brougham's
former letter, and not to the enclosed report which was
'afterwards sent to him. At least, Lord Brougham never
received any communication from- Mr. Grattan after his
(Lord Breugharn's) last letter inclosing this report.
As thcsa were the expressions commented on by Lord
Brougham, it is necessary they should he given with the
rest of th 2 correspondence.
Grafton-street, Saturday.

FROM TIIE DUBLIN FREEMAN'S JOURNAL, OF MAY 21

AND 24, 1839.
" You have powerful motives to urge you on at the pre-
sent crisis, and not among the least powerful is this, that if
we got under a Tory regime, and if the Queen were sur-
rounded
by Tories, such as Sir Robert Peel and the other
members of a Tory cabinet, I, for one, would not answer
for her life a single hour. History abounds with instances
in which rulers have been taken away by the hands of their
courtiers, and not the least rernarkeble of those, is that
which Aristotle mentions, of the death of Alexander the
Great, who,. he says, died without any of those external
symptons which generally accompany the ordinary diseases
by which man is liable to be deprived of life.—(Hear,
hear.) If the charges which arc brought against a certain
Royal person, namely, the King of Hanover, be true, I de-
clare solemnly! do not think the Royal lady would be safe
in her palace whilst surrounded by the minions and pro-
teges of his Highness.

Why, he would not for bis part give so much as an
orange peel, despicable as it was, for the life of the Queen,
were the same once iu the hands of Tory keeping.
..".11rt felt. sensible that had,the odious party the power
over a lady in darkness—had they the mixing of the bowl
or the preparation of the opiate—then indeed would her •,
subjects soon behold their beloved Queen composed in a long 1
and endless sleep."

:METROPOLITAN POLITICAL
SUMMARY.

The Morning Chronicle of this day, speaking of the
imperative necessity of further Reforms, says :—" It is
quite clear that the Government of this county must
rerearo powerless for good, so long as parties remain
nearly halaaced in the House of Commons. Front an oli-
gerchieal republic, Rith a monarchical head, the country
has become what it would puzzle .arsy political writer to
characterise. The democracy and aristocracy have just
sufficient power to paralyze each other ; but not sufficient
powcr to carry any important measure. A change is im-
periously called for. The Tories will say, we possess a
majority in the Ilause of Lords, and all that it is canted
is that we should also have a majority in the Ileuse of
Commons. But the Reform Bill has given to the middle
classes a degree of power which will ever prevent the
Tories, if they should even obtain a majority, from
having more than a bare majority, An attempt to
conduct the Government on Tory principles would
therefore merely pave the way for a succession of
coellicts dangerous to the best interests of the country.
All power which does not rest on the foundation of the
people is precarious. To obtain an fa c Wilt Government,
we must be fairly and proportionally represented. Some
of the present Ministers are, we believe, not unwilling to
make the Reform B:11 what its trathors intended it to be.
Other members of the Cal Asset are, it is understood,
aoxieee to Lold power merel:.• for the purpose of delivering
over.the Government to this Tories when the time favours.
nted not aay that the former policy appears to us not
only just toward the peeple, but also the only safe course.
To goatee against the will of the people is madness in the
present times. We consider Toryism as precursory to
revolosion."
The Times is in a truly frigloful state of consternation
at the idea of Ministers progressing in the work of Reform ;
but immediately afterwards our Contemporary, Cobbett-
like, consoles himself with this reflection that he had long
ago foreseen and prophesied this alarming result:--" Is it
true, then, that with a Radical round-robin levelled at
their. heads, the Whig Ministry, to buy a brief extension
of their discreditable being, have again gone down on their
knees an it lent their accks to the 'Ling tread of the Move_
moat ? Their Newspapers say so, and their followers say
£0 ; there is nothing against it but consistency and honour,
and what are these in such a 'natter ? May it not, then,
be true ? May there not be another Lichfield House, from
which to fire another reign ? We; at least, have no right
to affect surprise at such a treaty ; for it was but on the •
lath day ct the very last mouth, that we gave our readers
en accurate programme of the arobable plot, exactly ae it
appears to have developed itself?"
The Morning Elert:gd, in the course of a vague, ram-
bling leading article on the subject of national cilticatiz,n,
makes the startling discovery that the original pie jector of
the Ministerial scheme is no less distinguished a personage
than the Devil, tviso has commissioned Lord John Rusell
to act as 'his representative in the Flouse of Commons
We quote the passage in which Grand:num:ea makes the
astounding revelation :—" When the spirit of the 'old
serpent' lately assumed the character of that celestial
visitant of earth—angelic charity—for the purpose of mere
effectually leading the powers of Popery, Socinianism, and
infidelity to the destruction of vital religion, he could no
mole withstand the touch of the Ithuriel spear of Truth'
than is the ' olden time.' His real nature was revealed—
the Christian people of England saw with horror the
boon' of fraudulent knowledge' which-he;affared them. It
was cast aside amid expressions of general contempt and
abhorrence. Bat though thus detected and baffled, he,
whom the greet moralist called 'the first Whig,' is not
so easily put from his purpose. He has already prepared
another boon' of National Education for the people
scarcely less deleterious and dangerous than the first.
If the public money be granted for the adaancement of the
new scheme, vital Christianity will be struck at by means
ff torrupted versions of the Scriptures inculcating all the
monstrous inventions and errors of Papery, or denying,
-with Sceinianism, the divinity of Christ."
The Morning Advertiser contains the following ohm.-
vatiocs. on capital punishment —" The primary ohject of
All punishment should be the protection of society, the next
2be reformation of the criminal. Revenge should have no
influence whatever on the application of the law. Hence
it follows that as capital punishment has been dernonstrat. d
Itafrord no protection to society, but on the contrary to pro-
mote the very crimes it is intended to suppress, and as it
altogether extinguishes with his life the erirnin;l's chance
of riormat-
ventreful it can
only
lie advocated on the ground of
should quality to which the august majesty
of the law never lend Itself, and which, by encour-
*,!ing sanguinail passions and making the roinil famil ar
human suft ring, aggravates the evil it is designed to
r.move. By capital'p%ishment, society, in fact, encour-
ages crime, and wars upon its

Tr.P.Mit
It is not the intention of
the Government to
p7opos.e to ParliaMen!,. during the present es,:io, my
measure for the nboht:on of Church-rates.' Upon
the
conalentlyrely.—
truth a this sta.temcnt, r,?....1ers may
Patriot.