The Sun.
London, England, 1830-12-01 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS

We have reported in smother column the result
of the recent struggle for the office of President u
:the Royal Society. It will be seen that the choice,
by a small majority, has fallen upon the Duke. of
Sussex. We shall not HOW s.y more upon this
subject than that 0 e first iciew ific establishment in
the einp;re has obtained a Prince, and missed s
Philosopher, for its President. With every dispo-
sition to repudiate the discreditable stories which
have been circulated, of unfair influence—nay,
bullying letters—having been employed to restrain
he admirers of Mr. Herschell and the friends of
independence from voting -as their judgment and
feelings would have directed—with the most pro-
found contempt, likewise, for the calumnious false-
hood that an exalted individual had threatened to.
regard henceforth us his personal enemies all those
who might not think fit to promote the accomplish-
ment of his views in the present instance—utterly
disavowing our belief in the possibility of such ru-
moors having any shadow of foundation—we never-
theless deem it bud its principle that any weight of
power,. except that of scientific fame, should be
brought to bear down the pretensions of a candidate
who has no such extrinsic or illegitimate superiority
to support him. A Royal personage cannot, under
a monarchy like this, enter fairly into contest with
any unconnected citizen, where the decision must in
great part rest on men who, from their several gas
tions or professions, find their fortunes influenced
by the Royal frown or favour. It has been hinted
that the Puke of Sussex would probably resign the
invidious honour acquired under such singular cir-
cumstances, but for that we have no authority.,—
Times.

We recommend to notice a body of resolutions
passed at a meeting at Caine lately, for the purpose,
first, of improving the condition, and, next, of Nei-.
tying the discontent, of the labouring population..
The two objects to be attained should stand in that
order; for without improving the condition, it is
impossible to assuage the discontent of the wretched
peasant. Eight or nine shillings a week, with the
necessary deductions for lodging and clothing, is
not sufficient to sustain the frame of one working
man in health; and what, then, must be the case
if there be a family to feed and clothe? We hope
all landlords will consider this. The assigning a
small portion of land to every cottage is a humane
and rational system, but the rent must not be op.
pressive. We believe it has seldom happened,
where a landlord has been disposed to assign a
portion of land to the peasantry of his estate,
that his tenant has not immediately found it out
to he the very spot of ground which it is
the most inconvenient fur him to have separated
from his farm—that the land is better, or lies
more convenient there than elsewhere. This per-,
verseness ought not to be suffered to impede a
measure of obvious and incalculable utility.—
It will also be seen, by another series of resolutions,
that the Magistrates for the half-hundred of Ear
Brixton, in Surrey, have not been inattentive to our
suggestions. It is said that those gentlemen mean
to form themselves into sub-committees, and to
visit, in person, every part of their district, in order
to make such inquiries as are suggested in the reso-
lutions. It is not enough to obtain temporary tran-
quillity : the causes of the present insurrections
should be investigated, in order to their permanent
removal, and to save the country from a renewal
of circumstances at once so afflicting and disgrace-
IMPROVEMENT of the CONDITION of LABOURERS.
At a Meeting of the Paymasters of the parish of Calm!, held
on the ‘2sth day of November, iftlo, for the purpose of taking
into consideration the state of the labourers of the parish, the
Rev. W. Money in the Chair, the follawing revolutions were
agreed upon :
Resolved—That it appears to this meeting; from a statement
made by the assistant overseer, that there are now upwards of
50 able bodied men, and upwards of 50 young women and boys,
at work on the parish account. 'That in the course of a very
short time all the necessary labour on the lands in the occupa.
tion of the parish will ,3e performed; and that, with the excel,.
Lion of the trifling labour necessary to the keeping the roads in
repair, there will be no parish work on which the persons above
referred to can be employed.
Resolved—That It appears to this meeting, that the wages paid
the agricultural poor, averaging about Ns, per week in winter,
and Or. in summer, for able bodied men, are not high enough to
enable them to maintain their families, and that they are in coin
sequence driven to the parish pay-table, and compelled to receive
that in the shape of charity which they are fairly entitled to as
the reword of their labour,
Resolved—That the above low rate of wages is eameaSaaned
mainly by great competition for labour amongst the poor ; and
though this meeting is of opinion that the wages to agricultural
labourers should be increaued to 10s. per week in winter, and Ists,
in summer, and that to enable the farment to pay such Increased
wages an abatement in the rent of land and tithe must he made,
yet it appears to this meeting that the general and permanent
welfare of the poor man will not be completely secured until he
shall have some additional source of income from the occupation
of land, which will in a measure compensate for the inability of
his wife and children to procure employment.
Resolved—That, in the opinion of this meeting, the present
distressed state of the poor would, in a great measure, be reme-
died, by the letting of land to labourers at such a rent as the
same land would be worth to the farmer, That the poor rates
by such a course would be materially lessened, the moral habits
of the working men and their families; greatly improved, and a
general spur to Industry given, would be as gratifying to the pay.
masters of the parish as advantageous to the working men them.
selves.
Rosolved—That with the view of forwarding the objects of
this meeting, a copy of the foregoing resolutions be forwarded to
Lord Lansdowne and the other principal land.owners of the
parish, in the hope that through their means time wages of the
labourers may be raised, and their condition improved, by their
being accommodated with land near their several
houses, at a reasonable rent.
Resolved lastly—That with the view of finding employment
for museum out of work, it is expedient that the labourers of the
',aid, should he employial by the occupiers of land in propor-
tion to the rental, except that the occupiers of pasture land are
not to be expected to employ according to their rental the same
number of workmen as the occupiers of arable land but that
the relative number of labourers for arable and pasture land
shall be fixed by a committee of farmers to be appointed for
that purpose.
We regret to perceive, from the contents of the
German end Paris Papers that considerable prepa-
rations for war are making in the states of the dif-
ferent Powers of Europe, and that serious appre-
hensions are entertained of an approaching collie
sion. Reasoning from the general principle that it
is the interest of every Power in Europe to main-
tain, as long as possible, the relations of amity, so
desirable for the improvement of their finances, the
promotion of arts, sciences, and knowledge gene-
rally, and, in a word, for the advancement of their
subjects in social happiness, and even the safety of
tleir own thrones, which might be compromised
by a war against liberal institutions, we are in-
clined to think that the apprehensions vi hick
are entertained are groundless, and that the
warlike preparations which are making have
grown out of a state of affairs which has ceased
to exist within the last three weeks ; but still
there is no knowing to what an extent of folly the
madness of despots, for the retention of absolute
power, may drive them, and those who put faith in
the adage, " Quern bees vua perdc're prius de-
mentia,''will rather be disposed to credit the inten-
tions of the Holy Alliance Powers, to make war
against liberal principles, than to discredit them,
because they happen to be contrary to their own
interests. The preparations themselves certainly
seem to bode no great duration of repose to Europe,
and when considered in conjunction with the re-
peered declarations of the King of Holland, " that
he could reckon on the assurances of support given
to him by his allies," furnish no insufficient ground
for alarm. For some time past there hats been a
considerable movement of Russian troops towards
the western frontier of that overgrown empire ;
,ind it is now confidently affirmed, that an rimy
of no fewer than 200,000 men, and 400 pieces of
cannon, has received orders to mach for the saint
destination, and that there are to be in the whole

seven corps, including the mulish army. it is
.4tilleti, that in ease of ita being ordered to toke the
add, Getivnti Diebiteeh ►s to !MVO the entnaulnd et

it. A letter from Berlin observes, " that prepara-
tions for war arc not neglected, and that if they are
less seen, and less talked of, than those of Russia,
it is because they are already made, and dm every
filing is ready for action." These are rather strong
facts to be accounted for, as the Oermunpoinalisti.
endeavour to account for them, us mere precau-
tiontuy measures--(preeautiortiry measures against
,what?)---und, accordingly, as would he aeon from.
he contents of the Paris Papers yesterday, the King
if Fraoce has also begun to adopt preoutionery
Toe:Ll4lms, and to SWOon a coaSitletablo uramil
of force on his frontiers. The language also, of
he official Paris Papers On this subject is by
in) means of u dubious construction. " Can we
iuppoke, asks one of them, " with these feels be.

fate us, and a Pfussiatplumy reedy to execute the
,keision of the Diet, that the Freneloovernmera
will not take such turps as 'will make the priee:ple of
non-interventien to be elmerved?" 'I he Nessolv.r
des (hombres also tell* us that " Fratnethas suffi-
ciently proved, on the tiny after her own Reyes
helm, and on *lie day after tine Pelginin ltevoln-
time that she is not moved by any 'pane,inn foe
Aggrandizing her territory, or any acre/ pro•
pagandism. But. if by the elms& of blued (nice
egninst a small nation you prove that there is
nether good faith nor lasting corifidenee in your
first promises. of peace, then the Frenieb nation
will warmly adept the side of war, because, in
so doing, it will see the only' patentee of its
honour and liberty. Once embarked in s war of
honour and self-defence, the French p'op'e, whose
*odour and imagitevion: is so easily exalted, will,
perhaps, not Stop until it 'ite Overthrown' or consti-
tutionalized several thrones." This, as we have
said, is pret y plain language; and plain language,
we believe, is the only language which %ell suit in
these timed. Let the despots ktenw at once what
they have to encounter, and they, will then have to
blame themselves only, for the consequeeces which
we consider to be the inevitable results of their
in-
terference in matters which do not immediately eon-
cern them—anarchy and revolution. In minelusiim,
it is most costsolatory'to think, both from the mama
position of tide country, as regards fereion powers,
and from the principles laid. (limn by present
Government as the basis of its policy, that England
will have nothing to do in any continental broils
which may break Ow, beyond the duty of enden-
vowing to mediate a reconciliation.—/Irorning
Advertiser.
The exclusion of the House of Nassito :from the
Throne of Belgium, being what we for some time
anticipated, does not take us by surprise, But we
suspect the " Holy Alliantee! who bad assemed to
themselves the attentive, or a -Sort of earthly omni-
potence in disposing of thee. crowns antl'people of
Europe, were not quite prepared fteinch a result—.
a result which has nest only baffled their prescience,
but set at defiance their Power. It is highly (mein-
table to the Belgic Congress that they came to this
decision in the face of 'the threats and intimidation
which the despots of the Continent hid recourse
to for the purpose of controuling their deci.ions.
That such threats and intimidation eheidil have
been employed to perpetuate the connection bt
tween the House of Nassau Ind' Belgian* by those
who, with armies at their back, as, the 'tree's
tible interpreters of their wither,
.forced that
family upon an unwilling people, is not incon•
sistent with the policy which they have ever pur•
sued since they Necompliihed what they Were pleased
to call " the deliverance of Europe." That poky. was to place the rights of independent nations,
and the liberties of all people, at the feet of a
Corporation of Kings, who parcelled out territory
to which they had no claim, according to their owns
pleasure, and handed over nations from one Sove-
reign to another, without consulting their feelings
or asking their consent. It was eu;y to foresee that
such a state of things could not last very long in
Europe, unless the founders of in league, impiously
denominated " holy," could %yolk et. moral miracle,
ond roll back the ages of pu,t barbatism on tine Ina-
' man mind. It was in that attempt to work tech is
miracle that Charles X.'was crushed; and yet other
despots have not eufficient reflection to take warn-
ing by his fate. They say it is necessary to pre-
vent the progress of revolution. We say the same,
but we also assert, that if they raise armies for the
purpose, and attempt it by force, they will Iles
celeriac the catastrophe which they are rum.
ouv to prevent. They have the meana of
preventing the further progress of revalue
nicer in their own hands. These means wilt
not drain their Exchequers, and be the Callati
of placing new burdens of loans and tuxes on
their subjects. On the contrary, they will have the
effect of alleviating the burdens of their people, while
they give stability to their thrones. What are these
means ? Conciliation and reform. Let the Courts of
Austria, Russia, and Prussia, improve their own
civil institutions. Let them raise their eabiecis in
the scale of moral and political existeomes....b4 there
be provident stewards of lite. poppies money—let
them put. down their immense military establish-
mentse..-and exchange the sullen and iniecere grun-
deur of despotism for the sceptre of that constitu-
tional power which rallies round it the affections of
freemen. Let them do these things, and
.tire march
of revolution is stopped. But, if they poured ill
their troops upon Belgium to-morrow, and, by tine
sudden inundation of an overwhelming force, were
enabled to sweep away the institution* which a
people, who have purchased their freedom with
their blood, have just established, their •triumph'
would be but temporary ; mei though they
should succeed, for the moment, in placing a Primes
of the House of Nassau upon the Belgic Throne
against the wishes of the country, the Ole of
war, which they had provoked, would eventually
be rolled back upon their own territories, where
they would not find tine people so willing, to si,e sec
their defence as when they delivered them from
their abject vassalage to Napoleon. If the menittopi
of the Holy Alliance are wise they will tontine
their political labours to the reform of their owe
States, and leave Belgium, as they have been under
the necessity of leaving France, to choose its own
Sovereign and its own form of Government, They
have alreudy gone as far as they can go, without in-
volving Europe in a war, to prevent the exercise of
iudependent opinion in the election of a Sovereign►
for Belgium. Let them remain satisfied with what
they have done t nt, if they please, let them enter
a protest against the decision of the Belgian Cone
Kress upon the " journals" of the Holy Alliance.
It may one clay be a curious document for the con-
templation of the historian. Let them even, like Lord
Aberdeen, the modern " Lord Btaleigh," " shake
' their heath" at the notion of a people ettempting
to govern themselves who have been wretchedly
governed by foreigners; but if they ore wise they
will not go futther than that ; anti ne party will
derive more advantage from their fotbeeretwe than
nhemselves. Tine Courtier des Pop In'ar b;lr, 111
releienee to the recent attempts to controol the
Congress in its important deliberation; " A my of
neenuee and of war comes to interrupt our debates.
The Holy Alliance takes umbruge at this last affront
offered to one of her sons. She feels that her sen-
timents have been wounded in a vetoed part, She
throws her mold into the scalee, end seem* ti, say
to us, You shall hear me, or I %VW interfere ire
your concerns: But the Belgian people 'wilt tower
suffer tear to dictate what they might. have edepted
from feelings of extreme generosity," Thus the
eager arid Witco( interference of the. Holy Allinunce
with the freedom of debate in the Belgic!Coegrese
has worked more harm than good to the °eject
which they had at heart. It took *twiny the last
chance of the family of Orange, for it made et a
point of honour to exclude them. They cern do
nothing more without war. They will be wise not
to 'memo to convert nations to their political faith
by the logic of artillery.—Atorning herald.

Scotland begins already to make herself heard on
behalf of Parliamentary iteform, Edinburgh Forfar,
Kit kiddy, Ayr, Kinghoro, Atiehtetinuelity, have all
been signing requisitions, and proposing resolutions,
for en extension of the elective tretichise. We ob-
serve that the Lord Provost of Edinburgh has de-
clined presiding at the meeting to be held there, on
the ground that the question of Reform is now in the
hands at his Majesty's Ministers. This may, no
doubt, have appeared to the worthy Provost au
appropriate and sufficient reason for his refusal to
countenance a Reform meeting ; but to us it ap-
pears there ought to he no motive ito weighty Wit li
the real Supporters of Reform for pushing stretinoivls
forward every possible means of completing the great, measure, as the fact that there now exits a t.io
vestment wise enough awl bold enoueli to arktuvw.-
ledge, themselves ittr-solenota; • They urolt(114,
scquain t tit . with- an
outdid ig oils* lief:lrking of - fikyy
seed pe v4;14.41404 _ OA.. crawl Y.
who imagine Zhe '
4,*infi* hodire lnistee has
nothing to Itritto ,liistiAt'l .'+ i
—ll. P tithe.
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