The Sun.
London, England, 1837-12-18 00:00:00

PRICES OF SHARES THIS DAY AT ONE O'CLOCK

Paid.
Birmingham and Derby Railway Company l5
Great Western Hallway Company 53
hri,nton Railway Company 5
Brighton Railway (Rennie's)
L ildon and Birmingham Railway Company Pa
Ditto 4 Shares 5
London and Southampton Railway Company 5O
London and Southampton (Newl Railway ii
London and Croydon Railway Company
Ditto Scrip 2
\ • mchester and Birmingham Railway 5
Midland Counties Railway Company lO
Mexican and South American 5

Reformers in every part of the United Kingdom
to contribute to it. The Tories aefend party sub-
scriptions, and if the Liberals only follow their ex-
ample we will soon beat them wtth their own weapons.
There is a great deal of unnecessary apprehen-
sion about the influence of Tory gold. The
people may take our word for it, there is an abundance
of Reform gold in the United King,dom—more by
two-thirds than the Conservatives, with all their talk
about long purses, can boast the possession of. The
pence of the people would raise a fund which would
quickly reduce to comparative insignificance the sub-
scription raised in pounds ranging from five to fifty, by
their Tory oppressors. An English " Justice Rent"
against the Tories would do wonders in the way of
bringing the Conservative faction to its senses.

Thanks to Lord JOIIN RUSSELL, the question of
the Ballot is daily making the most rapid and satisfac-
tory progress. Public meetings have been held, or
are about to be held, on the subject, in Aberdeen,
Perth, Dundee, Paisley, and several other towns in
Scotland ; while in England—in the north especially
—the same energy and determination prevail to an
equal degree. We trust this wholesome spirit of
agitation will not be allowed to abate, for never
was it more necessary than at the present
crisis. We should not lose a day—an hour
—in recording our opinion on the Ballot ; but be
as prompt, active, and resolute in discussing, and
insisting on it, as ever we were on the Reform Bill ;
for it is the natural sequel of that measure, which
without it—as experience has shown—is a mere delu-
sion. Let it be borne in mind, that the question will
come on for discussion shortly after the recess ; that
its enemies are day by day asserting that people
are quite indifferent to the matter; and that, led
astray by this notion, Lord JOHN RUSSELL has
formally declared against it. Let those things, we
say, be borne constantly in mind by the people, and
sure we are that it will supply them with a sufficient
stimulus for exertion. It will be useless to agitate
the Ballot after the Parliamentary debate on it is
closed. Now is the time to strike—now when circum-
stances favour us. A few weeks hence, and the doom
of the Ballot will be sealed for at least a year. Let
us hasten then to supply Mr. GROTE, and the rest of
its advocates in the House of Commons, with such
arguments as shall give them an irresistible case ;
let us strengthen their hands by petitions ; and enable
them to say, with all truth and sincerity, that the
people are unanimous in their demand for the protec-
tion of the Ballot. If we do not bring the weight of
opinion to hear promptly and strongly on the question,
never shall we carry it. It is our only resource—the
only chance we have left us. Ministers will be in-
fluenced by this, if they will listen to no other, consi-
deration. On this subject, Mr. WARD expressed
himself with much emphasis and good sense at the
great meeting held last Thursday at Sheffield. He
insisted strcnuonsly on the necessity of a marked and
immediate public manifestation on the subject of the
Ballot, as being the sole means we had remaining to
us, of making the requisite impression on Mini-
sters. He added that he was by no means
certain that the majority of the Cabinet coin-
cided in the declarations of Lord JOIIN RUSSELL—an
hypothesis which may,
.or may not, be true ; but
which, whether it be true or false, is quite motive
enough for us to strain every nerve to carry our point.
But we have other and stronger inducements to exertion.
The Ministerial leader in the House of Commons has
talked to us about the " finality" of the Reform Bill.
He has told us that we have nearly, of not quite,
reached the point at which legislative improvement
should stop ; and that, under Whig auspices, we have
arrived at the Euthanasia—the Millennium of perfect
Government. This is precious doctrine for a Reform
Minister to hold, five years after the passing of that
great remedial measure, whose very first principle was
progression ! Why, if his Lordship's doctrine is to be
considered orthodox, we must henceforth retrograde,
instead of advance ! For every short step we mak e
forward, we must make two long steps back-
ward, till at last we return to sheer, unadulterated
Toryism. And return to this system we most
assuredly shall, if we do not instantly exert our
best energies. Never was;Reform in such peril, as it
is at the present moment. The Ballot—Triennial
Parliaments—the Extension of the Suffrage—all
that we hold dear—all that we have so long
anticipated and struggled for ;—all this is in
jeopardy. We have made great sacrifices ; we
have toiled hard and long ; but the fruits of our labour
have gone to enrich others. The Whig party have
benefited by the Reform Bill, not the people. We have
secured little or nothing by it, in comparison with what
we had a right to expect ; but the Whigs have gained
office by it ; they have ensured a triumph over their bit-
terest adversaries by it ; they hare been enabled to gratify
their ambition by it ; and help themselves plentifully
to all the loaves and fishes of the Treasury. Such
being the result of our past exertions, it is time
that we should cease labouring for others, and
look a little to ourselves.: We should get up agi-
tation on our own account ; insist on the Ballot
—on Triennial Parliaments—on Extension of the
Suffrage—and on all those other Reforms which Lord
GREY'S Bill taught us to expect, and promised to
secure for us. We urge these points the more ear
nestly, because we are hampered by no party fetters ;
we wear neither a Whig nor a Tory livery ; but belong
exclusively to the people, whose cause we consider at
this moment of our writing, to be in greater peril
than it has been in any time these ten years past.
In a word, we are reverting, slowly and stealthily
indeed, but surely, to Toryism, and nothing can save
us from this accursed system, but the promptest and
most determined resolution.

Per Share
7N
66% 7
3%14%
I'.3s. 2us. Ws.
160 SS
:24,4 4
36!4

8%
5 4%
5

PRICES OF IRISH STOCKS. DUBLIN, DECEMBER 16.
3 per Cent. Consols — Grand Canal Debs. 6 p:r cent. 90%
Ditto Reduced —l Ditto, 4 per cent. ... ....... ...
3%_ per Cen,. Stock — Hine, Man Bank. ..•
Ditto New, 153) .....
354 per Cent. Debentures
Bank Stock
Royal Canal S,ock . —i 6allest Office Debentures, 4 per
Grand Canal Stock 27; ; cePt .. —

MA !LS.

Arrived. Due.! Arrived. Due.!Arrivcd. Due
I) America.......... 0 2 Francc.... ...... 0 1 Lisbon 0
0 1trazi1............ 0 I Gue:n. & Jersey 0 0 Malta
0 Bnentis Ayres.. ,0 0 l-Lunburg 0 0 Mexico 0
0 C..rt'nigena...... 0 1 Holland 0 0 Ostend.. ....... .. 0
2 Dublin... ....... 0 0 Jamaica ......
2 Flanders ...... ... 0 0 Lce—vard Islands 0 2 Waterford....." 0

HIGH WATER AT L('NDON BRIDGE TO-MORROW.
Morning..., 33minutes after ti j Evening 51 minutes after 6.

The COURT and TIMES of QUEEN ANNE.
Just ready; in 2 vols. Bvo. with Portraits.
THE DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH'S
PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE.
Illustrative of the Court and Times of Queen Anne;
WITH HER SKETCHES and OPINIONS of HER
CON TEMPO RA RIES, &c.
Henry Colburn, Publisher, 13, Great Marlborough-street.

The publication of Tua SUN NEWSPAPEIt commenced this day
a 10 minutes past Three o' Clock.

1....
'7,z,,

r 1 • a,

LONDON :
MONDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 18, 1837.

The HOUSE of COMMONS, contrary to the practice which
has generelly obtained, assembled on Saturday morning, as
has been already seen by our Special Parliamentary Report of
the entireproueding, which we laid before our readers in
the afternoon of the same day. The motive for meeting on
Saturday wts to advarce the Civil List Pi!l aed the Duchess
of Kent's Annuity Bill another stage. The former Bill was
°ported, and ordered to be read a third time to-day :
Mr. GROTE stating th:.t he should move the omission of
Clause 5. relating to Pensions. For the other Bill, on the sug-
gestion of Mr. GOULI>URN, a Resolution in Committee m:s
suhst:tut, d by the CHANCELLOR of the EXCrIEQUER, to the
effect that it wal expedient that ail the pres;..nt annuities to the
Duchess of Kent should cease and determine, and that in lieu
thereof there should be a grant of 22,000 L, in addition to the
one of 8.000/ already agreed to, making in the whole a grant
of 30,0001. to her Royal Highness.
The Slave Compensation Bill went through Committee, and
was ordered to be reported to-day. The New Houses of Par-
liament Bill also went through Committee. The Prisoners'
(Ireland) Bill, and the Sessions Court ( Ireland) Billl were
read a second time, and ordered to be committed.

A Petition relative to the Ponte'ract Election was presented.
The House then adjourned.

We call the attention of the public, and more par-
ticularly that portion of the public, the shopkeepers
and small traders of the metropolis, who (excepting
always the House of Peers) are the only class opposed
to the Bill for abolishing Imprisonment for Debt, to
the able and unanswerable speech of Lord BROUGHAM
on the subject. The speech, which was delivered in
the House of Lords on the 6th inst., has been re-
, printed in a separate form, and contains within a small
compass the main arguments in favour of this great
measure of justice and mercy. The chief argument,
addressed to these two classes, proves beyond contra-
diction, that imprisonment is less efficacious than
other modes for recovering payment—that the money
fruitlessly spent is, in general, just equal to the
whole gain—that the law of arrest not only encou-
rages improvident dealing, but is often made the means
of robbing the great body of the creditors for the be-
nefit of one ; and that there is an annual loss of at
least 300_000/. a year for which no compensation
whatever is received by any party, except the practi-
tioners and .officers of the law. In addition to this the
measure is mcommendcd by the disinterested opinion
of four out of the five Commissioners of Inquiry ; and
after full discussion
,in Committees, has received the
sanction of two different Houses of Commons. These
facts have ma de such an impression even on the least
reflecting ir.iinds, that little doubt remains of the
Lords passi rsg the Bill, on condition that the
Members of their Noble House, and of the House of
Commons are to be exempted from its operation.
The persons these members being already free from
arrest, the here litary legislators require also that their
property shall be screened, and that they shall not be
compelled to d) that by their honest creditors which
they would make imperative on all other classes. The
concluding reraarks of his Lordship on this modest
request are so characteristic of his powerful and sar-
castic eloquence, and so descriptive of the odious ex-
ception, that eve are sure every reader, who is not a
Peer, will be drilighted to read them in his own words:—
" Such being the whole pervading principle of the Bill," says
Lordship—". what is the course announced by the Noble and
Learned Lord on the Woolsack. as about to be pursued with
regard to your Lordships ? That you, the Peers of this
realm—the Aristccracy of England—the head and ornament
of the State—whose honour is more esteemed than other
men's oaths—wiio decide upon honour higher matters
:than others upoit oath—you, who are not only the Peers
,of England, the counsellors of the Monarch, the Aris-
tocracy, the head and ornament of society, but the here-
ditary lawgivers of the empire—and are desired to abuse
your right as such, for the purpose, they tell you, of raising
and aggrandizing yourselves, but I tell you, in order to
flower, to debase, to stigmatize yourselves—you who are be-
-side all this the judges of the land in the last resort, exer-
cising the highest functions of the judicial office; supremely
-and without control, in all cases, administering both civil and
criminal justice—what is it that you, clothed with these
•\a-ious powers, wielding all these lofty prerogatives, holding
-the whole law in your hands as legislators and judges, are
about to do, with the purpose of protecting your privi-
leges—of exalting yourselves yet higher in the world—of am-
:playing your title to respect—and of recommending
yourselves to the love of your unprivileged fellow-sub-
ee:a ? Why, you are required to adopt a provision for ena-
bling- you to do that which I will not repeat in such near
juxtal assition to your names ; enabling you to do that by your
honest creditors, which, if any other men were to do, you
would, as administering the criminal law, be bound to visit
them wi th punishment as knaves, rogues, cheats, swindlers
.1 Nov let me see the man who will yropound this clause I
Let me pee this alteration brought forward to cripple the Bill!
_But if it shall be brought forward, I pledge myself to give
vealc one of your Lordships an opportunity, by your vote, of
:re..'ee,,aing yourselves from the shame of such an act, by
guardiu
g yourselves against the stain—the foul and revolting
418i.ain.—..at tempted to be fixed upon your names!"

The Vectors of Westminster have given notice,
hat they ildeud, in a few days, to hold a great public
,eetiwr. to adopt measures for counteracting the
p olicy the SPOTTISWOODE gang. We trust that
n 3 unnecessary delay will take place in calling such a
tr. ,eeting, for so patriotic a purpose. The course for
it le Westminster Electors to take, is, in our
union, already obvious. Let them commence
tat subscription of a liberal fund, and invite the

The retention of the revenues of the Duchies of
Cornwall and Lancaster by the Crown, will not fail to
diminish the confidence of the country in the profes-
sions of retrenchment and reform so often repeated by
her MAJESTY'S Ministers. For ourselves, we look
upon the possession of any private sources of revenue
by the Sovereign, as utterly inconsistent with the rela-
tions which the Constitution recognises as existing
between the Monarch and the Parliament of this
country ; and we had expected that on so favourable
an occasion as the accession of her MAJESTY, Mini-
sters would have come down to the House with a
Message from their Royal Mistress, directing Parlia-
ment to take the controul of this property into its
own hands, and confiding in the liberality of her faith.
ful Commons for supplies adequate to the mainte-
nance of the royal dignity. Such a course would have
been more in accordance with the professions of the
Whigs and their friends when in Opposition—more
worthy of the Crown itself—.and much more satisfac-
tory to the country, than the one which they have
thought proper to adopt. It looks like an insult to
the loyalty, the liberality, and the common sense of
the people of England, to parade the wants of he
Crown before the country in order to excite a spirit of
generosity, aed yet to refuse a knowledge of the pri-
vate resources possessed by the Crown for supplying,
these wants. If Ministers were able to say to Parlia-
ment—" Here is a list of necessary items in the Royal
expenditure for which we do not ask you for a grant,
because they are provided for out of the revenues of
these Duchies," they might have some exeuse for re-
taining them as a secret service fund, to be expended as
the Sovereign might direct. J3ut this is not the case.

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1837.

No such omissions are tober found in the Civil List.
Every want of the Sovereign is carefully entered and
provided for, on a scale the most munificent. Even
a provision is made for the exercise of the benevo-
lent feelings of her MAJESTY—the only item in the
List which, we believe, will be found inadequate to
the purpose for which it is intended. We know that
this subject will prove unpalatable to many of our
readers, as there seems to be an impression abroad
that too much cannot be voted to maintain the dignity
of a Sovereign of such happy promise as our
' young and lovely QUEEN. Great Britain would
fain prove herself what BURKE described France be-
fore the first great Revolution—,, a nation of Cava-
liers." But though Englishmen can never fail in
loyal attachment to their Sovereign, it is possible that
they may hereafter wish that they had acted with more
caution in imposing a permanent burthen upon the
country—that they had at least insisted upon knowing
whether all they were asked to give was in reality required
to maintain the regal dignity. The people of this
country are most willing to contribute in any way to
the personal comfort of the Sovereign—we might
almost add to any amount—but they do not consider
themselves as fairly dealt with when required to do so
in utter ignorance of the amount of personal revenue
enjoyed by the Sovereign—of the amount of a re-
venue which they cannot but consider as inconsistent
with the spirit of a limited and mixed Monarchy, such
as England.
One of the objections of Ministers is, that the
Duchies of Cornwall and Lancaster are private pro-
perty, and that to touch them would establish the pre-
cedent that Parliament might interfere in the manage-
ment of such property. We protest altogether against
such an inference. We utterly deny that the Crown
holds this property, or any other property, by virtue
of the same tenure as subjects hold their estates. The
right of the Sovereign is a Corporate, not an indi-
vidual right. Now Corporate property, by whom-
soever held, is subject to the jurisdiction of Par-
liament, and to prove that this is the case with
respect to Royal property, we need only direct atten-
tion to the fact that the QUEEN could not, of her
MAJESTY'S mere motion, and without the consent of
Parliament, alienate any portion of the hereditary re-
venues of the Crown.

We may here notice the singular inconsistency of
the Crown in yielding up its ordinary and constitu -
tional revenue in exchange for a Civil Lis, and at the
same time seeking to retain a source of income at vari-
ance with the first principles.of British freedom—which
aims at the controul of the Sovereign through the
deputed guardianship of the public purse by the House
of Commons. But this inconsistency had its (nigh)
in interested motives. Had the Admiralty Droits
and other public sources of Royal revenue produced
more, or even as much as Parliament was willing to
give for them, the Sovereign would never have handed
thein over to the House of Commons. With respect
to her present MAJESTY being placed on an equal
footing with any of her Royal predecessors, we humbly
conceive that that proposition by no means involves the
recognition of a claim on the part of our young
QUEEN to an equal amount of income. It has been
the constant practice of Parliament, ever since the first
Civil List was voted, to take into consideration the
wants of the Sovereign without any regard to precedent,
as often as these wants could not be relieved but by
an appeal to the generosity of the nation ; nor was
the having voted any amount as Civil List ever cited
as a just ground for refusing any increase that altered
circumstances might render necessary. Were Parlia-
ment never again to be called upon to vote any increase
to the Royal income, we would not object to Ministers
asking the same amount of income for one Sove-
reign as was granted to another ; but while it is
competent to a Minister of the Crown to come
down to the House of Commons next year and demand
an augmentation to the Civil List, we respectfully
submit that her MAJESTY'S Virgin state, and neces-
sarily limited personal expenditure, ought to have had
more weight with her constitutional advisers—who
should have borne in mind that it may hereafter be
objected to them, that they took an unfair advantage
of the fever of loyalty into which the nation was
thrown by the QUEEN'S accession. No principle can
be more injurious at the commencement of a new
reign—particularly when there is every reason to hope
that it will be a long one—than to invite extravagance
in the Court by voting an excessive Civil List. The
claims made upon the Sovereign are generally pro-
portioned to the means allowed by Parliament for
satisfying them ; and it is well known that there are
persons ever ready to represent economy in the So-
vereign as meanness—simply because the purse
of the nation is supposed to be as inexhaustible as the
loyalty of the people. As to the individual pleasure
of the QUEEN herself, we are justified in assuming,
that nothing would have given her MAJESTY more
real delight than to know that her Ministers had con-
sulted the will and welfare of her people, at the expense
of prerogatives burdensome to them, without being
longer necessary to the support of her Royal dignity.
In the event of Ministers persisting in refusing to re-
commend to the Crown to place the revenues of the
Duchies of Cornwall and Lancaster under the controul
of Parliament, some of the Liberal Members ought to
move an humble address to her MAJESTY on the
subject, and should that fail, addresses to the Throne
would serve to convey to our gracious SOVEREIGN a
knowledge of a grievance loudly complained of by her
faithful subjects.

In our columns of this day will be found alarming
intelligence from Lower Canada. The Government,
anticipating the dreaded movements of the disaffected,
has already taken the field. The loyal inhabitants
loudly demand the proclamation of martial law—a
measure to which the authorities are unwilling to re-
sort, save in the last extremity. A number of persons
have been arrested on charges of high treason, and
against others warrants were out. M. PAPINJIAU 19
said to be included in the list of those against whom
proofs of guilt have been discovered, and as he had
not made his appearance for some days it was rumoured
that he had concealed himself, or fled across the fron-
tier. We cannot avoid the expression of our disgust
at the air of triumphant satisfaction with which the
official portion of the press dwell upon the prospect of
a civil, war which must steep the colony in the blood
of its inhabitants.

By the arrival at Liverpool on Saturday of the
packet-ship St. Andrew, we have received New York
journals to the 25th ult. inclusive. Their contents,
except in so far as they relate to the state of Lower
Canada, are unimportant. The elections have secured
the complete triumph of the Whig party, so that the
Jacksonians and Van Burenites will have no chance
in the ensuing session of Congress. So great was the
joy of the people on learning the result of the elec-
tions, that business was partially suspended to allow
time for mutual congratulations on the certain re-estab-
lishment of a National Bank.

The Rev. Mr. LovE.Rv, a highly respectable
clergyman, was brutally murdered lately by a mob at
Alton, in the state of Illinois, for advocating the aboli-
tion of slavery I This humane and benevolent clergy-
man had given notice that he intended to establish a
journal to be called the Observer, to enlighten the
slave-owners upon the subject of keeping their felloW
inhabitants in bondage and ignorance, whereupon a
mob surrounded his house, which they set on flames