The Sun.
London, England, 1838-02-06 00:00:00

openly declaring himself altogether opposed to the
principle of any Poor-law that would give food and
shelter to the indigent, but not diseased, poor of Ire-
land. He had no objection to physicking the starving
gratis, but he would not entertain the principle of fill-
ing their bellies with wholesome food. As we
stated yesterday, the etarving poor of Ireland are
greatly to be pitied► The RODENS are for cramming
them with Bibles, and the O'CONNELL s with bolusscs.
Wherefore are the wretched poor immoral and diseased?
Simply because they have nothing wherewith'•. '.i") sate
the cravings of hunger. Take mtasurcs for filling
Lheir bellies, and covering their backs, and they will
want less physic, and pay more regard to the moral
doctrines contained in the Sacred Volume. The real
cause df their guilt, ignorance, and disease, is indigence
—is a want of the simple necessaries of life. We
thank Mr. O'CONNELL for dealing thus openly wit-h
the friends and supporters of this important and truly
necessary measure. It will save them a world of trouble
in Committee, because it will convince them that no
Bill fur such an object would have his support.

On the motion of Lord BROVGHA.NI, M. ROE-
BUCK was heard at the Bar (2f #A,A-: House of Lords
47z:nada Bill. The Learnel
last night, against the.
Gentleman's s'i;eec:ll,--which occupied two hours and a
half in tie delivery—was only distinguished from the
ration previously delivered by him at the Bar of the
House of Commons, by being more temperate in its
general tone, although not entirely exempt from grossly
offensive personality. Nothing could be more ill-
judged than the wanton attack made by the Learned
Gentleman upon Lord GLENELG-wanton, because
he did not support it with the shadow of a proof. 'We
have never been admirers of the Colonial policy of
the Noble Secretary ; but solemnly to charge him
with being the author of all the calamities which
have befallen the Canadas—personally to in-
voke upon his Lordship's head the vengeance of his
Peers for having disturbed the peace of the empire--
for having led t o slaughter her peaceful citizens—is
1.7. act for,which nothing short of insanity could con-
stitute a plea of justification. The bitterness with
which Mr. ROEBUCK allowed himself to speak of the
conduct of the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER,
a member of the Government who could not be sup-
posed to be present, and who, whether or no, could
not defend himself in that assembly, went far to neu-
tralize the favourable impression which the commence-
ment of his speech seemed to make upon the House.
He was, however, heard throughout with marked at-
tention ; their Lordships being prudently solicitous to
avoid the manifestation of anything like weariness
while the reresentativc of a colony was pleading its
cati:ac at their bar. Lord BROUGHAM was the
only Peer who subsequently made the slightest allu-
sion to the speech of the Learned Gentleman, whose
efforts failed to provoke so much as a discussion on
the Bill, which went through Committee without an
amendment, and stands for a third reading on Thurs-
day. Further opposition to the measure, in Parlia-
ment or by the Press, being now useless, we shall
henceforth be silent upon it until we see the result of
its practical operation. We oppose no part of the
policy of the Government from factious motives, and
therefore we are willing to allow Ministerial measures
which have become laws a fair trial—however strongly
we may have resisted their enactment while before the
Legislature.

The following is an extract from the Protest of the
Lords (October 31, 1776) quoted by Mr. ROEBUCK
at the conclusion of his speech last night :
" That whilst we lament the effusion of English blood
(which we hope has not been greater, or other than necessity
required and honour justified), we should most heartily con-
gratulate his Majesty on any event leading to the great and
desirable end of settling a peace, which might promise to last,
by the restoration of the ancient affection which has happily
subsisted between this kingdom and its colonies. Any other
would necessarily require, even in case of a total conquest, an
army to maintain, ruinous to the finances, and incompatible
with the freedom of his Majesty's people. We should look
with the utmost shame and horror on any events, of what
nature soever, that should tend to break the spirit of any
large part of the British nation ; to bow them down to
an abject and unconditional submission to any power
whatsoever; to annihilate their liberties and to sub-
due them to 'servile principles and passive habits, by the
mere force of mercenary arms. Because, amidst the excesses
and abuses which have happened, we must respect the spirit
and the principles operating in these commotions—our wish is
to regulate, not to destroy them. For though differing in
some circumstances, these very principles bear so exact an
analogy with those which support the most valuable part of our
own Constitution, that it is impossible, with any appearance
of justice, to think of wholly extirpating them by the sword
in any part of his Majesty's dominions, without admitting con-
sequences and establishing precedents the most dangerous to
the liberties of this kingdom."—Richmond, Devonshire, Port-
land, Manchester, Rockingham, Scarborough, King, Craven,
Fitzwilliam, Abingdon, De Fcrrcrs, Effingham, Abergavenny,
Ponsonby.

Mr. LAnouctiEnE, it will he seen, made his mo-
tion last night for a Committee on the Coal trade, and
got leave to bring in " A Bill to continue an Act re-
gulating the vending and delivery of Coals in London,
Westminster, Southwark, and places adjacent in. Sur-
rey ;" at the same time stating that it was his inten-
tion to move that the Committee " have power to alter
and ar,►end the Bill." If the friends of the poor bestir
themse!ves, they have now an opportunity of effecting
great good, by pouring in petitions for a change of the
system. It appears that the sensation our exposure
~f the coal monopoly and its most inhuman conse-
quences, has created, is not confined to Parliament, but
that the Court of Aldermen are becoming a little more
alive to the subject. A paragraph in the Observer
intimates this change, and at the same time expresses
its confidence that the " worthy" Aldermen will see
that justice be done. Their conduct must be very
different before we can join in such confidence, or the
public either.

A smart discussion took place last night in the
House of Commons on the Parliamentary Electors and
Freemen's Bill. The Tories were exceedingly anxious
that the Bill should be divided into two Bills, as they,
poor, dim-sighted gentlemen, could not for the life of
them, see any possible connection between relief to the
freemen and relief to the ten pounders. Their purpose
is too easily seen through to be succcssfnl. The free-
men arc their peculiar favouritcs—their pets. This
rotten portion of the constituency they know they
can always command, by " coming down," in due sea-
son, with the Mammon of unrighteousness ; and they
therefore support, with all their energies, that part of
the Bill which has for its object to increase and mul-
tiply freemen—at least so far as giving every facility to
their admission to the freedom of boroughs has this
effect. For the ten-pound voters—that is to say,
for all the respectable portion of the borough con-
stituency—they have no such love. They find
them stubborn, and difficult to deal with ; though
in some cases capable of being influenced by inte-
rested motives, yet in the main a very untractable set
of people ; and instead of facilitating the augmenta-
tion of their number, they have done, and will do, all
they can to oppose any relaxation of those clauses in
the Reform Bill which operate so disadvan-
tageously for that class of voters. It is found,
by experience, that the rate-paying clause of
the Reform Bill disfranchises thousands and tens of
thousands of persons against whom there is no other
objection than that they have not paid up their rates
and taxes to the sth of April—and this not from in-
ability to satisfy these claims, but from inadvertence,
or from the Collector's not having done his duty in
calling for payment in proper time. Can any
thing be more preposterous than to deprive a ,
man of a political right on such grounds ?
Is the non-payment of a tax, in such cases, or

in any case, a proof of insolvency ? How will those
who gabble so much about a strict adherence to the
letter of this clause as almost necessary to the preserva-
tion of the Monarchy, feel, when the Assessed Taxes— •
those of them, at least, that press upon the lower
classes—arc repealed, as we hope they soon will he, and
the Poor-rate is reduced to a more trifle, compared
to what it was when the Reform Bill was passed ')
All must surely go to -
anu ruin them if it be
now s o `.7.7il,rerons to give !ht; Ora& six months
additional credit lot his rates:
But we say, as we hue ,atWays maintained, that the
payment of rates aria taxes is entirely a tuatitvr between
the payer and the collector, The 6* 1%.v3 mined the
latter with beret to eprotet tdaim. If this power
is net enough, give hittl more ; but let him not have
thelrivilego) Its he has at pi•escut, of disfranchising
the elector by a 1a.24 and it may be, a dishonest dis.
charge of duties.

Nothing won hy of ettltitt.4kr notice occurred during
the debate. is Vi,as no ways singular to sec Colonel
SxArtt`ltr " standing forward belilly in behalf of
those injured individualit (tt,e i'reem" !) whose cha-
racter he wa-s tVere ready to defend." There is no-
thing) We say, uncommon in this foe when was there
a criminal condemned (tt, the Old Bailey who could not
find a friend to come forward boldly and defend the cha-
racter of the " injured individual ?" LordJ. RUSSELL
said he could not agree to Mr. DUNCOMBE'S amendment,
Which did away with these payments as a qualification,
because it differedfr,mt the Worm Bill. This argu-
ment, if it be one, makes against any charge in that
Bill, and consequently against this very measure,
which he is himself carrying through the House.
We suppose, however, that the Noble Lord looks upon
the one change as a matter of principle—on the other,
as one of detail; as he stated in a subsequent part of
the discussion, that " he had always contended that
the principle of the Reform Bill should be main-
tamed ; but he had never gone so far as to say
that there could not possibly be found any defects in
that measure, arising from its working, or from the
conduct of those vt ho had always been its enemies,
and who tried to impede its working in a natural
and safe manner.—(Hear, hear.) He should,
therefore, be always ready to propose practi-
cal remedies for such defects." We trust the
Noble Lord will consider the Ballot as one of those
" practical remedies" which are required for the
" natural and safe working" of the Reform Bill.
Mr. PRAED remarked that " the payment of a
man's just and fair debts afforded a fair
test of his respectability," a remark, in the justice of
which we heartily concur. But we may ask Mr.
PRAED whether, if this test were applied to the
representative, as well as to the elector, there would
not be (slew Members of the present House of Com-
mons disqualified for want of respectability

Some of the Morning Papers of Saturday committed
a mistake in their Parliamentary reports which may
have serious consequences. The Times, for example,
stated that Lord JOHN RUSSELL gave notice that he
intended, on some subsequent day, to move for a vote
of 120,000/. or 130,000/., to provide for religious in-
struction in places where it was required. What
Lord JOHN RUSSELL stated was, that by the arrange-
ments proposed by the Ministers, that sum would he
obtained from the revenues of the Church, and
was to be devoted to the religious instruc-
tion of the people in populous places, where
the means of instruction are now deficient. Our readers
will remember, that relying on the correctness of the
Morning Journals, we made some comments on the
supposed plan of Lord JOHN RUSSELL to levy
a further tax on the people, which we are ex-
tremely glad to learn had no other existence than in
the mistakes of our Contemporaries. It is due to our
own report of the proceedings of the House of Commons
to say, that what Lord JOHN RUSSELL stated was
correctly given.

By the arrival of the Neptune steamer at Falmouth
from the Tagus on Sunday, we have received advices
from Lisbon to the Ist inst. inclusive. The Cortes
have recognized the Prince Royal, Don PEDRO
D'ALCANTARA as lawful heir to the Crown of Por-
tugal. The Oporto Bank has refused to be any party
to the loan proposed to be granted by the Bank and
Merchants of Lisbon to the Government.

Up to the hour at which we write (two o'clock,
P.M.) the Paris Papers of Sunday have not been
received. In the Charte of Saturday evening, we
find the following, which includes the whole of the
intelligence from Spain :

" BATONNE, FEB. 3.
" The movement of Basilio on the 19th was undertaken
merely to intercept a convoy. He returned to the province
of Toledo, and on the 2d he was in the environs i Tembleque,
intercepting the communications between Ulibarri and Sanz.'
FRENCH FUNDS —PA NIP, FEL 3.
Five Cents.. 109 f, oe, 85c, ewe,
Four per Cents., 102 f.
1 hre.: per Cents., 79f. 75c.
Bank Actions, 5,027 f. 50e.
dente tie Naples, WI. sc. 9Pf. 90c. SOc.
Roman Five per Cents., 101%%.
Spanish Actives, 111%34,
Spanish Passives, 44.
Belgian Loan, 103%.
Belgian Bank, 1,505 f.
Portuguese Loan, Three per Cents. 131,6 IS.
Hzytian Loan, 3851.
excliastog. 'AN LONDON.
Ohe month, raper, 25f. 45a. ; money, 25t.
1.!-ret months, paper, 251. ; money, 2:,1, 30r.
LAST PRICES.
Five per Cents. 1091. S. c.
Three per Cents., 79f. SOc.
Bank Actions, 2,627 f. SOc.
Romans' 101%.
Belgian Loan, inn%.
Belgian Bank, 1,505 f.
Haytian Loan, 3831.
Portuguese Three per Cents., IS;i.
Spanish Actives, 191 i.
Spanish Passives, 4%.

LORD DURHAM AND HIS PRIVATE SEERS-
TARY.-The English are well known to be a most illogical
people, and never to carry out any one principle to all its con-
sequences. In the case of Lord Durham, for example, they
have resolved that he shall go out to Canada with almost un-
bounded and despotic power. They pass a law to suspend
the Constitution of that country, and place all the people at
his mercy ; but Lord Glenclg, the apparent and responsiblev
author of the measure, insisted on fettering the Noble Earl
with detailed instructions, written three months before he
could leave England, fixing precisely number of counsellors
by which he should be advised, and how they should be se-
lected. In the same manner the press now will not allow the
wan
pthrievactoeunseteryrhtaarsya.rmieide
is withto
ibmcpethrioarlop,;wh thoroughly taoh absolute s choose
overhis
Canada, but he is not without cur approbation to select the
tool to work with.

The forthcoming farce, underlined in the Covent-
garden Bills, is to be called " The Moggs," and is written
expressly for Power, by Mr. Calcraft, the Manager of the
Dublin Theatrc.

Yesterday morning the
STATE OF THE RIVER.—
ice was so thick on the Thames, extending from Blackwall to
Wapping in almost one continuous field, f, om side to side, that
several barges and boats got completely locked in it, and were
unable to move one way or the other until the tide ebbed, and
they were then carried down the stream. The pressure of
the immense body of ice was so great on the mooring
chains that they were breaking every minute, and several
tiers got adrift, and many vessels were forced in shore.
Between the hours of nine and ten o'clock, the Tourist
steamer, to the surprise of
every one, was seen drifting up
in a body of ice, half a mile in extent, without a single open-
ing. The whole power of her steam-engines was applied,
and two sails were set, to force her through the ice. In
the revolution of the wheels the paddle-floats were broken
ani damaged, and she could make but little way against the
fearful obstruction before her, which was so great when she
arrived off the Rotherhithe platform that it was found ne-
cessary to back her astern, and she laid. off the platform for
upwards of two hours, stuck fast in the ice. An attempt was
subsequently made to move her forward again, when a tempo-
rary opening among the fields of ice was visible. The steam
was set on and she cleared the opening, when she got into the
body of the ice again, and stuck fast. Towards the period of
high water the navigation from Woolwich to Rotherithe was
completely stopped. The river presented the appearance of
one complete field of snow, which covered the ice beneath it.

PRAGUE, JAN.. 20.—1 t is said here, that in conse-
quence of the accumulation of ice in the Danube the city of
Buda is entirely under water. In our neighbourhood a vast
quantity of snow has fallen within these three days, and the
roads are in such a condition that the arrival of the mails is
hindered or delayed.