The Sun.
London, England, 1831-05-23 00:00:00

half of your great Minister, to the applause of after
ages, and to the institution of festivals for the last-
ing celebration of his name." In conclusion, there-
fore, such a stranger will reply to our question as to
the real purpose of " Pitt Clubs," by assuming that
they have been established and maintained for the
honour of Mr. Pitt, in a spirit of pious gratitude to
that Statesman, by those who have ever been en-
thusiastic in the cause of negro liberty—of Catholic
emancipation—and of Parliamentary Reform. To
disabuse him of the flattering error into which he
had been betrayed by his own consistent and 16gical
reasoning, but total ignorance of English faction,—
to satisfy his mind that the name of Mr. Pitt had
been set up as a rallying cry by the bitterest foes
to the abolition of the slave trade and of Catholic
emancipation, as it is now about to be by the
enemies of Reform, and of a Reform founded
on that very principle,
viz.—the disfranchisement
of nominative boroughs, which Mr. Pitt himself
recommended,—so to disbttse him, would, we
repeat, be to open up the most frightful view
of fraud, and impudence, and meanness combined,
that ever disgraced any people. However, we have
said that the impending Pitt Club exhibition would
be left to the underlings, and deserted by the leaders.
Sir R. Peel, indeed, with his accustomed shrewd.
ness, which he never laid aside but on one occasion,
—when dri▪
ven to despair by the dissolution of the
late Parliament,—has so hedged off from the whole
party of thick and thin "anti-revolutionists," that
if we may j▪
udge from his speech at the Tam worth
dinner, it would no way surprise us to hear that
Right Hon. Gentleman get up and second Lord
John Russell at his next introduction of the Reform
Bill. The opposition benches seem already to have
given Sir Robert a severe sickness of the stomach.
The following is the extract of Mr. Pitt's speech
above alluded to. It was spoken on the 18th of
April, 1785, as an introduction to the Right Hon.
Gentleman's cum ?notion for Reform,—a motion
which was rejected even 46 years ago, by a majo-
rity of only 74 in a House of 426 Members :
" But in the borough representation the changes hail
been infinitely more common. Gentlemen had undoubtedly
read, that of the boroughs which used formerly to send
Members to Parliament. seventy-two had been disfran-
chised—that was to say, that the Crown had ceased to
summon them at general elections to return burgesses to
the House of Commons. After the restoration thirty-six
of these boroughs petitioned Parliament to be restored to
the exercise of their ancient franchise; their prayer was
granted, and to this day they continue to enjoy it. But
the other thirty-six, not having presented say petition on
the subject, had not recovered their lost franchise. Upon
this he would be bold to say, that considering the restora-
tion of the former, and the continued deprivation of the
latter, the spirit of the Constitution had been grossly vio-
lated, if it was true (but which he denied) that the ex-
tension to one set of boroughs of the franchise of returning
Members to Parliament, and the resumption of it from
others, was a violation of the Constitution. For if the
numbers could not originally have been constitutionally
increased, so they could not constitutionally have been
diminished. But having ben once diminished, to restore
them might by some be said to make an innovation; and
if the Parliament had any authority to restore the fran-
chise, the principle of restoration ought to have been ex-
tended to the seventy-two boroughs, and not confined to
one-half of them. Here, then, it appeared manifest, that
the whole was governed by a principle which militated
directly against the modern doctrine, that to do what had
been constantly done for ages, by the wisest of our ances-
tors, was to innovate upon the Constitution. The seventy-
two boroughs in question had discontinued to return Mem-
bers because they had fallen into decay. Thirty-six of
them afterwards recovered their franchise, when they re-
covered their former wealth and population ; but the other
thirty-sir, not having renovated their former vigour and
consequence in the State, remained to this day deprived
of the franchise which had been taken from them, when
they lost the wealth and population, on account of which
they had originally obtained it.
" Why, then, was there a greater objection to any
change in the representation of certain boroughs now, than
there had been in former periods? Why were they more
sacred now than the thirty-six boroughs which had been
disfranchised, and which had no share at present in the
representation of the country ; the arguments that in-
fluenced gentlemen against any change at this time,
would have rqually operated against the thirty-six bo-
roughs which bail from time to time been extinguished, as
well as against the Game number, which, having been
abolished, were, from a change of their ciicurhstances, re-
instated in their privilege. In those earlier periods, such
was the notion of representation, that as one borough de-
cayed, and another arose, the one was abolished, and the
other invested with time right; and alterations took place
from accident or caprice, which, however, so far as they
went, stood good and valid. The alterations were not
made by principle ; they did not arise from any fixed rule
laid down and invariably pursued, but they were founded
in that notion which gave the discretionary power to the
Crown—viz., that the principal places, and not the de-
cayed boroughs, should be caed upon to exercise the right
of election."— Times.

The Northampton election is at length at an end.
An address from Mr. Wickham, chairman of Lord
Althorp's committee, to the freeholders resident in
London, which our readers will find in our advertis-
ing colurrmQ, announces that Mr. Cartwright and
Sir Charles Knightley have resigned. After the
decision in the case of the Northampton freemen, to
have prolonged the contest would have been vexa-
tious, for it is obvious that the freeholders are ex-
hausted. In this address Mr. Wickham adverts par-
ticularly to the services rendered by the freeholders
resident in London. With the best disposition in
the world, however, to forward the cause of Reform,
many of these freeholders must have been unable to
defray the expence of conveyance to and from
Northampton, and this must have been a heavy tax
on Lord Althorp's purse. The non-resident voters,
throughout the present election, have displayed, with
few exceptions, an excellent spirit, and it has been
owing to them in not a few instances, that the Re-
form candidates obtained the victory. Still one of
the great benefits of the Reform, will be the freeing
candidates from the ruinous expence of conveying
distant electors to the poll. Many and many an
estate in this country is now at nurse on account of
election contests. With Northampton the English
elections close. In Wales there is but one remain-
ing—Pembrokeshire, and that will soon be over.—
Morning Chronicle.
The Standard admits that the Tories may be re-
garded " as all but totally defeated." It is instruc-
tive now to listen to the attempts to ascertain the
causes of this signal failure. Our contemporary
assigns a great many accidental causes, which, how-
ever, he thinks, would have availed little but for the
signal blunder committed by the Tories of not meet-
ling the Bill by " a safe, effectual, and gradual plan
of Reform. But tpen, unfortunately, the Tories
had just declared that so far from Reform being ne-
cessary, the wit of man could devise nothing equal
to the representation as it now exists. The Tories
in general wished to Reform, and as the Quarterly
Review distinctly stated, to concede that any Re-
form was necessary,
was to concede to the Re-
formers their principle, All the Tories being averse
to Reform on principle, it became no easy matter
to argue on how much should be conceded, in order
to render the Reform something in appearance, and
let as good as none. In vain our contemporary
rails " the want of union among the Tory party.
they had been united three months ago, they
could have devised a plan of safe and effectual and
gradual Reform which would have been adopted
by the House of, Commons, and approved by tins
country, and sent the Wwhie g's to another twenty-five
years of retirement.
length upon this had intended to speak at
Pula:see:lit as. et this moment our
observations might
have
epbomted at Sir Robert
Peel, with whom we
often at variance, and whom views,
unfortunately too
s, as disclosed at
the Tamworth dinner, are stronglyew perstebd to those
fe present, the
which we hold; we must theleforeo
decline a more particular examination
sub-
ject.' But the want of union among the Tories
was the necessary result of their having been driven
from their principle. The principle on which alone
the Tories could consistently unite was, that a cer-
tain number of families should be able so to in-
fluence the elections as to command a majority in
the House of Commons. The moment this prin-
ciple was departed from, the Tories ceased
reventto exist►
If a Reform be conceded with a view to p

still more extensive Reform, the former must still
proceed upon a recognition of the principle, that
the House of Commons ought not to represent a
certain number of families, but the nation, and a
more extensive reformation in accordance with the
principle so recognized would necessarily follow the
first. No wonder, therefore, that the Tories were
disunited. They who detested the principle of
Reform, and saw danger in the House of Com-
mons respecting the nation instead of a certain
number of individuals, said to themselves, if we
cannot now maintain ourselves in the power we pos-
sess, we shall be less able when the mass of pro-
perty in the country has more share in the returns.
The rock on which we stand is boroughmongering.
Once admit that a rotten borough is an evil, we
must prepare to abandon all rotten boroughs ; for if
the people extort one from us, that one will aid them
in extorting more. The Duke of Wellington is the
last of the Tories. His principle is, that the people
ought not to choose the House of Commons, but
merely to have a voice in it, and indirectly to in-
fluence the votes. This is the principle of the Uni-
versities, and the Clergy. They are opposed to all
Reform, no matter how slight, which flows from a
recognition of a right in the nation to choose the
guardians of the public purse. Sir Robert Peel,
after his speeches at the Tamworth dinner, will be
as much an object of dislike to the Universities and
Parsons, as he was after voting for Catholic Eman-
cipation. He is, in fact, no longer a Tory. Bit by bit,
he must abandon every one of the principles on which
he opposed the Reform Bill. There is no halting
between them and the principleof Reform—between
naming representatives for the people, and naming
representatives by the people, there is no middle
course. At present the representatives are partly
chosen for the people, and partly by the people ;
but a Reform diminishes the number of the former,
on the ground that representatives ought to be
chosen by the people. he principle is not weakened
by this concession to it; increased power will, on
the contrary, give increased effect to it. We must
come at last to a state of things in which the pro-
perty, and intellect, and industry of the country de-
termine the elections. But, as Mr. Bankes sensibly
observed, the best course, now that Reform is car-
ried, is to submit patiently to the new order of
things. A real aristocracy will now prevail among
us. Property must always possess influence, in
the hands of those who deserve to have any. In
fact, the influence of the rich will be increased, be-
cause they will be compelled to prove their title to
it by merit, and the homage which is paid to desert
is always more willingly paid than the homage
which is paid to mere wealth without it. The cor-
ruption of the poor, through the exercise of the
franchise, has been one of the great means for sup-
ping the principles of the nation. With a Reformed
Parliament we shall have a deserving gentry and a
more moral people. We shall all benefit, and none
more than the rich, who always lose by a system of
exclusion.—Morning Chronicle.

Our readers are aware, from the publication of
the Recorder's report to the King in Council, that
two men, named George Widgett and Jelin Broach,
are selected, from among the number of persons ca-
pitally convicted at the Old Bailey Sessions in April
last, to suffer the extreme sentence of the law.
There were eighteen persons who received sentence
of death at that Sessions; and we presume the two
cases in which the Royal mercy does not interpose
between the unhappy criminals and the exterminat-
ing severity of the law are the two worst cases in the
calendar, otherwise the selection must have been made
either in a spirit of partiality or caprice. Now, what
are really those cases in which it is thought nothing will
satisfy the ends of justice but the shedding the blood
of the offenders? One is a case of sheep-stealing—a
crime against property, which undoubtedly deserves
to be severely punished, but which is not, under any
circumstances, an offence which justifies the sacrifice
of human life. Recollecting, as we . do, the opi-
nions which the leading members of the present
Ministry entertained of capital punishments when
out of office, we were not prepared to expect that
they would have advised the King to withhold the
prerogative of mercy from any of those inferior
offences which a vindictive and barbarous system of
legislation made capital, and which, although they
constitute serious violations of the rights of pro-
perty, are not accompanied by any of those circum•
stances of atrocity or terror which distinguish vio-
lent and sanguinary crimes. There are persons
who assume the name and pretend to the intelli-
gence of legislators, who, whenever it is proposed
to abolish any of our sanguinary laws, express their
alarm at the dangers of innovation upon the ancient
arid establisSed system of English criminal juris-
prudence. This is an alarm which betrays as much
ignorance as it does obduracy of feeling. Most of
our sanguinary Statutes are themselves only inno-
vations on the ancient law of England. How long
is it since the Legislature called in the assistance
of the executioner to put down the offence of sheep-
stealing ? It is only since the 14th year of
George 11. that capital punishment has been
inflicted for this crhne ; and we believe it will
be found that, notwithstanding the sanguinary
examples that from time to time have been made,
the capital law has had no effect in diminishing the
amount of depredation in this way—nor, indeed, is
it to be wondered at; for, as in the case of every
violation of the law, where the penalty greatly ex-
ceeds the offence, humane and conscientious people
would rather bear with the injury than prosecute.
Many offenders escape with impunity ; while those
who occasionally fall a sacrifice to the rigour of the
law excite the compassion of the public, whose na-
tural sense of equity is too strong for the artificial
morality of the law, and who sink their detestation
of the crime in their sympathy for the offender,
who unjustly suffers beyond the measure of his
guilt. No man dies the death of the murderer for
sheep-stealing in France, or even in Russia. Is
such property less secure in those countries, or is
human blood more sacred ? As to the offence of
John Broach—that of stealing in the dwelling-house
property above the value of five pounds—under what
law is he sentenced to suffer? Under the Statute
of the 7th and Bth George IV.—one of Sir Ro-
bert Peel's Acts for the amendment and ameliora-
tion of the Criminal Law. Previously the sum
necessary to render the offence capital, or the mini-
mum price of human life, was forty shillings, so that
Sir Robert Peel, in his enlightened and compre-
hensive view of criminal legislation, went to the
trouble of repealing the original Act, on this sub-
ject, of the 12th of Anne, and devising and carrying
a new enactment in its place, which raised the
value of human life by the amount of three pounds
sterling! This is a specimen of the sort of altera•
tion which the Lancashire Solon regarded as im-
provement. It would have been well if he were
half as chary of the lives of his fellow-creatures as
he is of the old walls and green mounds of rotten
boroughs. The late lamented Sir Samuel Romilly
—the ablest lawyer, and at the same time the most
humane legislator of his day—considering that put-
ting the crime of stealing in the dwelling-house to
the amount of forty shillings on a level, in point of
punishment, with the most atrocious acts of violence
and blood, was not to be defended on any principle
of policy, morals, or sound justice, brought in a'
Bill to repeal the Act altogether, and to make
stealing in the dwelling-house (of course without
breaking or violence) the
_subject of a secondary
punishment. He twice carried this Bill in the
House of Commons, and it was twice thrown out
in the House of Lords, who, unfortunately, have
been always much more ready to give their sanction
to innovations of severity upon our Criminal Law
than to those of judicious lenity and temperate jus-
tice. When Sir Samuel Romilly introduced this
Bill and others to ameliorate the penal laws, not by
a huckstering alteration of a few pounds, but by a
real change of principle, he was supported by the
pentasr e
well
Lasoey Cothahtir
deilslotirngaund ishSeidr Jma
emneisnlYa
the House
e
of Commons, and by Lords Grey and Rolland in
ethaeusHe ofooufsethein
LomardosriaNnvtl,tsotsaetionnasmwes we select be-
the preFent Ministry. Yet it is
unh_learrathey hold in
Ministry of

which Lord Grey is the Premier, and Lord
Brougham the Lord Chancellor, that a sheep-
stealer, and a man convicted of stealing some articles
of value in a dwelling-house, are ordered to suffer
death. We hope that the public will come forward
with petitions to the throne to pray for a commu-
tation of the sentences of these unhappy men, and
that the disciples of Romilly, now in the days of
their power, will not, upon reflection, think it right
to have recourse to the old sanguinary system,
which, when in opposition, they so eloquently con-
demned.-111-orning Herald.

There is now no longer any doubt of the Reform
Bill being carried to its fullest extent in the House
of Commons, and that the House of Lords will
pass it entire is almost as certain. Indeed we under-
stand that the great boroughmongers have given up
all idea of opposition as perfectly useless, and that
even the Duke of Newcastle has expressed himself
to this effect. It is also clear that the Bill will be
brought before Parliament as soon after the assem-
bling as possible; and the probability is that it will
become part and parcel of the law of the land in
the course of a few weeks. Such being the case,
the question natgrally suggests itself, will the Par-
liament be dissolved immediately after the passing
of the Bill, or will his Majesty's Ministers dispose
of any of the important business which now presses
for consideration with the House of Commons as
at present constituted ? It is truly observed by a
Sunday Paper, that " the state of Ireland, of Eng-
land, and of the Colonies, demands the serious
attention of the Legislature; and if we are riot
much mistaken it will be necessary that the Par-
liament of this country should express a de-
cided opinion with respect to the affairs of some
portion of the Continent. The death of
George IV., and the bickerings of party, deprived
us of all benefit from the Session of 1830. The
Session of 1831 was abruptly terminated by a neces-
sary dissolution; and there is now a long arrear of
business to be disposed of, which cannot longer be
delayed without the most serious injury to the public
service. When it is considered, therefore, that the
passing of the Bill must and will be immediately
followed up by a new election to give it due effect,
it becomes a matter of great importance that such an
election should teke place as soon as possible, in
order that the real and pressing business of the
State may be brought under the consideration of
the real representatives of the people. We have
heard, indeed, that it is proposed to despatch same
of this business even after the Bill is passed by the
House, constituted as it is at present. We cannot,
however, believe this. Such u proceeding would be
an insult to the people, arid a tacit admission of the
arguments of the Anti-Reformers, that, when the
country can elect such a popular House of Commons
as we are now about to have, no Reform is required.
A dissolution and a new election we consider to be
evitable before the termination of the autumn." We
agree with the writer of the above remarks as to
the serious injury which will arise to the public ser-
vice by delaying the long arrear of business to be
disposed of; but we by no means think that a dis-
solution and a new election are inevitable before the
termination of the autumn. It should be recollected
that, before the provisions of the Reform Bill can be
carried into effect, a great many important regu-
lations are to be made, and these, we should imagine,
will necessarily occupy some months. The coun-
ties, for instance, will have to be divided into elec-
toral districts. The number of voters in the small
boroughs will have to be increased from the neigh-
bouring districts, and the electoral lists throughout
the United Kingdom must be made out ; a work, of
itself, we should imagine, will occupy a consider-
able time. Under these circumstances, ssfe think it
would be highly improper to delay the necessary bu-
siness of the State, seeing that the House of CoM-
mons just elected will be in effect a reformed House.
As for the argument of the Anti-Refortners,that,when
the country can elect such a popular House of Com-
mons as we are now about to have, no Reform is
required, it is, like all their other arguments,
more sophistical than true. The present election has
been the result of extraordinary excitement—an ex-
citement which it would be neither desirable nor pos-
sible to raise upon ordinary occasions. If, indeed,
it were true that a Parliament like the one about to
assemble could be at all times elected under the ex.
fisting system, the argument of the Anti-Reformers
would be perfectly just, and the conduct of the Go-
vernment, either in dissolving it or retaining it for a
few months, would have no effect upon its validity.
But it is not true ; and no persons are more aware
of this than those who employ it. The questions for
the consideration of Ministers, as to an immediate
dissolution of Parliament after the carrying of the
Bill, are—first, whether the public service will be
injured by a delay of business ? and, secondly, if so,
whether the House about to be returned will suffi-
ciently represent the opinion of the country as to en-
title it to despatch such public business? Now, in
our humble opinion, this question must be answered
in the affirmative, and therefore we see no necessity
for an immediate dissolution. Let the Reform Bill
be once carried, and, if we mistake not, we shall find
that even the close-borough Members will become
wonderfully patriotic.—Morning Herald.
The Northamptonshire election has reached its
close in the return of the " Reform" candidates, a
result brought about by means entirely worthy of the
great cause in which the Government is embarked.
With it terminate the elections for England and
Wales; those for Scotland and Ireland are nearly
concluded ; and it is now unhappily but too plain that
the House of Commons about to assemble will con.
rain a considerable majority pledged to " the Bill,
the whole Bill, and nothing but the Bill." This result
may be traced to various sources ; and first among
them, in fearful prominency, is seen the " bludgeon
and brickbat" system—the system of mob intimi-
dation and terror. Till now we would not have
believed that atrocities such as those which have
disgraced many districts during the late elections
could be associated with the name of Briton;
still less, that men of education and intelligence
could, in effect, give their sanction to these murder-
ous excesses, perpetrated in the King's name ! and
consent to be raised by such means to a seat m a
deliberative assembly. How have these practices
contrasted with the:language held by our gracious So-
vereign on the dissolution of Parliament I-- with the
desire he then expressed that the calm and dignified
sense of his people might pronounce on the most
momentous and vital question that ever was sub-
mitted to the decision of a nation !

" I have been induced to resort to this measure for the
purpose of ascertaining the sense of my people, in the way
in which it can be most constitutionally and authentically
expressed, on the expediency of making such changes in
the representation as circumstances may appear to require,
and which shall be founded on the acknowledged principles
of the Constitution, and may tend at once to uphold the
just rights and prerogatives of the Crown, and to give se-
curity to the liberties of my people."
Has any respect been paid to the paternal advice
and wishes of his Majesty ? Has the end been at-
tained which his Majesty desired ? Are the atrocities
of Boston, Banbury, Dorchester,Wigan, Lanark, and
last not least, Dumbarton—are these and numberless
other examples that could be adduced, to be regarded
in their effects as expressions of the sense of the
people ? Are these the means by which our liberties
are to be " secured ?" Does liberty consist in lawless
outrage and intimidation, whereby candidates are
deterred from approaching a hustings, and electors
from proceeding to the poll ? Is this the constitu-
tional mode by which changes in the representa-
tion" are to be effected, or "the just rights and
prerogatives of the Crown" to be upheld ? Doubt-
less, upon revolutionary maxims, upon the maxims
of our Marats and Robespierres, these questi▪
ons
might be answered in the affirmative; but we are
not yet to look to them fora decision. In nearly all
those places where ferocity and murderous violence
has shown itself, the sense of the people has been
stifled; it is not the sense of the constituent body
that will be heard and have weight in the delibera-
tive Assembly of the Nation, but the base passio•
ns
of reckless and criminal men, who have no connec-
tion or sympathy with the elective body; who have

nothing to lose, but who hope to gain by a radical
change, and therefore supported such change by in-
flicting every species of brutal violence upon any
who dared to appear as its opponents. Nor has me-
nace and the terror of example done less for " the
Bill" than actual outrage; to select two instances
out of fifty, it cannot be doubted that, at such a
crisis as the present, one Constitutionalist at least
might have stood a successful contest both for
Westminster and Middlesex. In places again
where outrage was not to be apprehended to any
formidable extent, the Tories have too easily
given way to despair. Here is another
source of the partial triumph of radicalism. It is
now pretty well ascertained that had Mr. Ward
stood the contest for the City he would not have
failed ; the resignation of that gentleman, in hasty
compliance with the advice of some of his friends,
dispirited the Tory party throughout the country ;
while the retirement of Sir E. Knatchbull from
Kent, and of Sir T. Acland from Devonshire, was
not less unfortunate. The results of the contests for
the counties of Buckingham, Salop, and Huntingdon,
and the formidable stand made in Essex and
Northampton, sufficiently shew what might have
been effected had the exertions of the Consti-
tutional party been more general and vigorous.
In the result of the election for Cornwall, and in
other instances where those exertions have been
signally unsuccessful, we see the third great
source of the numerous votes that have been
gained to " Reform," or, rather, to the Bill.
Here the coup d'etat has done its work. An
appeal was made to the people at a moment of
unusual excitement—an excitement raised by false
but plausible statements—exaggerated hopes held
forth that can never be realised—extravagant pro-
mises that can never be performed. Such was the
expedient put in force; it is one which has been
pointedly denounced by wise and honourable men and
against which all wise and honourable men must ever
raise an indignant voice. An artificial excitement,
which a few months would have cooled down to
the ordinary temperament of reason, was hastily
seized upon, and the result is before us. But the elec-
tors who have contributed towards it, already, we
have reason to know, begin to see the deceit that
has been practised, and, when their error becomes
fully manifest, they will not hesitate to appeal to
that power in our happy Constitution, through
which they will be enabled to reverse or modify
their precipitate judgment.—Morning Post.
The Reform expounded in the celebrated Bill is
now so plainly to be the law of the land, and has
been already so fully discussed and commented on,
that it becomes scarcely necessary to allude to it,
save as a great experiment, the result of which we
look to with confidence as likely to realize all the
wishes of its supporters. In the mean time, we are
glad to see that some of the most strenuous oppo-
nents of Ministers, either gained over by argument,
or satisfied by the conviction of expediency, have
declared their determination to give the measure
their support; arid there is every reason, therefore,
to believe that the Bill will pass through the House
of Commons with little discussion, and still less al-
teration, and be carried up the House of Lords,
backed by a majority which it would be highly dan-
gerous and impolitic to resist. All accounts agree,
that this majority will amount now to something
above one hundred and sixty; and when it is recol-
lected that it will contain nine-tenths of the county
Members, and all those for open boroughs, and that
the Opposition will be composed purely of the re-
presentatives of the close boroughs, whose interests
are to be affected, we think it scarcely necessary to
hazard a conjecture with respect to the ultimate
triumph of the Government. .There are many
reasons, independent of our wishes for the accom-
plishment of that long-desired object—the Reform
of Parliament, which render it a gratifying circum-
stance, that no time will be frittered away in unne-
cessary and unavailing discussion. The state of
Ireland, of England, and of the colonies demands
the serious attention of the legislature; and if we
are not much mistaken, it will be necessary that the
Parliament of this country should express a decided
opinion with respect to the affairs of some portion of
the continent. The death of George the Fourth
and the bickerings of party deprived us of all benefit
from the Session of 1830. The Session of 1831
was abruptly terminated by a necessary dissolution ;
and there is now a long arrear of business to be
disposed of, which cannot longer be delayed with-
out the most serious injury to the public service.
When it is considered, therefore, that the passing of
the Bill must and will be immediately followed up
by a new election to give it due effect, it becomes a
matter of great importance that such an election
should take place as soon as possible, in order that
the real and pressing business of the State may be
brought under the consideration of the real represen-
tatives of the people. We have heard indeed that
it is proposed to dispatch some of this business
even after the Bill is passed by the House consti-
tuted as it is at present. We cannot, however, be-
lieve this. Such a proceeding would be an insult
to the people, and a tacit admission of the arguments
of the Anti-Reformers, that when the country can
elect such a popular House of Commons as we are
now about to have, no Reform is required. A dis-
solution and a new election we consider to be in-
evitable before the termination of the autumn.—
Observer.

The success of Reform may now be considered
as certain as any thing in the course of human
events ; and the only question is, how the Tories
will submit themselves to the measure ? Though
we have been promised a fight for it, we do not
tremble at the thoughts of a rebellion; for however
excellent the populations of Gatton, Old Sarum, St.
Michael's, Beeralston, &c. may have been as con-
stituencies, they would make but a sorry figure in a
campaign against the nation. If matters came to
the worst, we should hear, without dismay, that the
Duke of Newcastle had declared war, in the name
of the Short Parliament, at Newark; that Lord
Exeter had flung the scabbard away at Stamford ;
that Mr. Bankes had hoisted the black flag at Corfe
Castle ; that Lord Calthorpe held Bramber for the
boroughmongery ; that the electors of Gatton were
in open insurrection, and coming up to town with
the most desperate purposes, in a taxed cart; that
Sarum, in arms, was booked for the box of the
Salisbury Fly for Basingstoke, where it was to
effect a junction with the Haslemere army, 60 strong 1
(deserters and decrepid excepted) and beaded by
Lord Lonsdale in person. Such movements as these
may be dealt with by binding the Lords and leaders
over to keep the peace, and putting the rebellious
forces into the stocks and cages, wherever the
posse of old women and children may succeed
in capturing them. Somewhat more serious
would be an insurrection in London, which would
not fail to attend any turbulent movement in the
country, namely, that of the seventy Commissioners
of Bankrupts, who would, with Lord Eldon at their
head, take possession of Guildhall, formally depose
the Chancellor, league with the attornies disaffected
by the County Courts' Bill, put themselves in com-
munication with Lord Lyndhurst in the Exchequer,
and prepare to charge the people—as such a body
only knows how to charge. This is the worst com-
bination we can anticipate ; and London cannot do
better, at such at such a conjuncture, than leave it
to the schools to imitate the glory of the youth of
Paris, and quell the treason. Nay, the children in
arms, if properly supported by their nurses, as we
doubt not they would be, might suffice to put down
the sedition. But on these extremities we do not
reckon—indeed, we are decidedly of opinion that
there will be no civil war ;' for, on considering the
materials for rebellion, we find that there are not
more than two thousand disfranchised electors who
could, by the remotest possibility, be moved to take
the field. In leaders, it cannot be denied that they
would be very disproportionately strong • and the
rebels of the United Kingdoms might Muster four
thousand rank and file, that is, a man of rank for every
file (in the Newgate sense of that word). If these
malcontents were concentrated, it would obviously
require the force of a small country town to subdue
the disaffection of the empire, and bind these turbu-

lent spirits to keep the peace. But we reckon on
better things. The enemy, so desperate when the
issue was less certain and immediate, are now dis-
covering signs of tractability. They will listen to
reason—we see they will. Instead of drawing the
sword, they will scarcely whisper " no" to the Bill.
Many will make a virtue of necessity,—which, hard
as it is, is the only thing of which a certain sort of
man Gan make a virtue. With the exception of
Lord Eldon, we really cannot calculate on any Tory's
losing his head for high treason ; and our readers re-
member that we have always prophesied that fate of
that noble and venerable, but too factious Lord.
We drop a tear at the thought of his learned head
over Temple Bar; but it cannot be helped—his
star has sto ordained it—the star in the very tail of
Cancer. For Lord Londonderry we have no fears.
He has a plea which in any case must save his
head. The Duke of Wellington, having won as
many battles as he has fingers, is a peaceable man ;
and the rest of both Houses will submit with a good
grace, according to their different fashions ofconces-
sion. The New Parliament will indeed be a House of
Reformers—how can it be otherwise, when there is
scarcely such a thing as an Anti-Reformer to be
found in the land ? Formerly, says Burton, there
were only seven wise men in the world, and now
there are not as many fools. Formerly, we could
count the Reformers on our fingers; now, there are
not as many anti!—nay, a little finger for the great
Duke of Wellington tells off the corps. He is
Alpha and Omega of the faction. He is the excep-
tion to the nation—the great unconverted. The
rest are all Reformers of one degree or another.
There are the moderate Reformers, the Reformers,
and the Ultra-Reformers. By Ultra-Reformers let
it not be supposed we mean the Radicals—no such
thing; we mean a new party that has arisen, of
which Sir Richard Vyvyan is the head, and perhaps
the tail too, as an Irishman would add. The
Standard, which should know the Baronet's opi-
nions, states this fact; and as we have always
pleasure in quoting from so ably-written a paper,
we shall give its words :

S r Richard Vyvyan is a Reformer, was a Reformer,
and, if returned to Parliament, would, we doubt not, be a
more efficient, perhaps a more extensive Reformer, than
any of Lord Grey's Cabinet. When the Cabinet Bill was
brought forward, and when Sir Richard opposed it, not
because it was a Reform, but specially because it went to
ruin the farmer, the fisherman, and the miner, we know
that he was commonly charged by the Ministerial party
with entertaining plans of Reform too wide and too wild
for the present time; with an extravagance of doctrinism
thet would make population in too great a degree the scale
by which representation should be adjusted—with, in a
word, going almost as far as Granville Sharpe, who, it
will be remembered, was for giving impartially a represen-
tative to every fifty thousand of the people, wherever inha-
biting."

Sir Richard's Reform would appear from this to
have been like the sense of a certain sort of people
who are said to have it, " though they never show
it." The Bill does not go far enough to serve for
the present content of one, who is of a mettle to
" pluck bright honour from the pale-faced moon,"
but not to seize it at arm's length. He will keep
before us, and vociferate before us, just as a charac-
ter, not to be mentioned with the Honourable Gen-
tleman, outscreams his pursuers in the cry of " stop
thief!" " The fastest thief," says Burns, " cries
loudest fie." There is a course for these faint,
hearted ardour-pretending suitors, which, we regret,
cannot be taken with :sir Richard. When a lady
asked what she should do to punish an urgent old
libertine, the answer was—" grant him what be
asks." Sir Richard would feel rather awkward if
the Reform were granted to him, which the Stan-
dard declares he solicits, and would most assuredly
reproach the angry gods with having listened to his
prayers. The moderate Reformers will make the
body of the opposition, and offer desultory, teazing
resistances to the details of the Bill. The mode-
rates are composed of the " Little-as-need-be" and
the " Bit-by-bits," What these parties would not
do, is better understood than what they would do.
The East Retford debates showed us the very slen-
der amend which was too much for them. When
the Scotch laird was told that his servants were
grievously discontented with his family dinner of
half a sheep's foot a day, the answer, with a gene-
rous air, was, " An they grumble at half a sheep's
foot, e'en let 'em have a whole one." This laird
was a Moderate Reformer—an extremely Moderate
Reformer, for conjoining the " Little-as-need-be"
with the " Bit-by-bit" character, he went far be-
yond any of our improvers by scruples, in the libe-
rality of his concessions. When an evil is on all
hands admitted, it is for the wit of Tories only to
perceive the virtue of moderation i❑ the improve-
ment. Sick Tories don't ask moderate cures—they
don't insist on •" Little-as-need•be" and " Bit-by-
bit" alleviations of suffering. When their houses
are tumbling down, they don't order moderate re-
pairs, nor when their ships are sinking, do they re-
commend moderate pumping. The moderation of
their remedies is only for the State, whose rotten-
ness is their profit. But all this is sufficiently well
understood. Sir George Murray, in a speech at
the Perth election, which has been praised as elo-
quent by those who have a taste for varnished,
hacknied fallacies, repeats, for the thousandth time,
the observation—

." That the existence in this country of men of wealth,
possessed of considerable political influence, and of corpo-
rate bodies, accustomed to pursue a line of conduct of
their own in political matters, without being carried away
by the impulse of the moment, was one cause of our being
free from those fluctuations to which France has been so
subject.
The object of the present day seems to be, however, to
alter this state of things, and to render the House of Com-
mons more exclusively subject to popular controul. It is
said the representatives of the people are too slow in con-
forming themselves to the general will of the nation. For
my part, I consider this one of its best characteristics,
that it is not liable to be immediately acted upon by every
popular impulse. It is owing to this that every interest
in the country can be patiently heard before a decision is
come to by which it may be vitally and permanently
affected."

The House has certainly been as slow in remedies
as Sir George Murray, or any of his political deno-
mination could desire; but there has been no simi-
lar tardiness in mischiefs. The Debt was of won-
drously rapid growth; and corporate bodies, with
" their line of conduct of their own," served as no
check to it. States liable to popular influence are
not affected with frenzies of extravagance. Again :
the change of the Six Acts in our laws was not re-
sisted by the bodies whose bias against innovation
is supposed to be so certain and so useful. Nor in
any one instance, in which a new system has been
injurious to the purses or the liberties of the people,
have the corporate and borough influences offered
any cheek to its course. When their commended
backward tendencies might have stayed the advances
of profligacy, and the encroachments of a tyrannical
spirit, they had no such operation—nay, their weight
was given to further the mischievous intention.
The chief interest now belonging to the Reform
Bill respects its treatment in the House of Peers.
The conduct of the Lords on the Queen's trial fur-
nishes the clue to their probable course on this occa-
sion. A stand cannot be made in that House against
the King, the Commons, and the country. Ii the
event of the worst, the exercise of the King's pre-
rogative of creation would overbear the obstinacy
of faction or fanaticism—whose temporary success
would be the destruction of the Chamber, and whose
display would be of irreparable damage to its strength.
—Examiner. _

The consumption of Indian opium in China,
from the Ist of April, 1830, to the Ist of January, 1831,
was 15,145 chests, valued at 10,083,302 dollars, which,
at the exchange of 4s. per dollar, gives 2,016,6601.

HARMLESS ENJOYMENT OF DIGNITY.-
Daring the last few days a gentleman, availing himself of
a strong resemblance to the late E:4IPEROR, both in person
and features, has ..mused himself with parading about the
town in high military boots, a grey redingote, and the ne-
ver-failing cocked hat, with his hands behind his back,
while the vagabond boys of the town run after him, shout-
ing 4. ViverEinpereur !" which he acknowledges with
smiles of complacency, and a nose daubed with snuff.
Speciateur of Dijon.

Per Quarter.
CAI lible
fiexham
Morpeth—...—
Penrith
Sheffield
Winchester

Per Bushel.
Coventry
Newcastle (Staff)
Northallerton
Stafford
Swansea
Warwick

Per 8011.
Barnardcastle........
Durham .....,.................
Richmond --.....
Stockton--

Aberdeen ....„,
8erwick.,...,....
Coldstream ....
Cupar ...............
Dundee .---
Elgin —...—.......

Inverness.....
Kelso ---- '
Kirkaldy.--
Perth
The size

50 66
40 44
42 45
54 76
52 60
58 63
s•' 58
41 48
42 70
50 60
of the in 4

C. to 8.

22 29
26 28
- 34

23 ili
s. ti. s. d.
20 28
36 40
49 53
33 40
36 40
29 33
22 26

80 94
56 76
70 90
70 80

28 30
25 211
40 42
38 40
19 21
34 35
29 36
45 43
28 34
:hout the

S. to a.
35
50 52
36 3S

47
42 46
s. d. v. d.
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56 60
50 60
59 fib
72 g 6
00 00
73 76

00 110
106 116
110 11 6
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