The Sun.
London, England, 1831-04-18 00:00:00

TO THE ~NDITO.R OF THE SUN.

Sz.r.,...—You have so liberally opened your columns to
both sides of the arguments for and against the great once-
tion of Reform, and so boldly advocated that cause, that I
trust you will use the following comrarnts on an Anti-
Reform eonnty meeting, held lately in the town of Elgin;
and the more particularly so, since you are well aware
how much our provincial press is encumbered with a bits
which prevents free discussion.
The first impulse of my mind on perusing the speeches
of ou self-elected Provosts and their partisans, at the
county meeting referred to, was amazement at their bare,
faced assurance, at their hypocritical cant, and et their
miserable effort to cajole those who bane been too long op-
pressed by them, in the appesrance ot whining attachment
to, and anxiety about, interests, which never gave them a
moment's real concern. The next impulse was to give a
detailed reply to the speeches ; this, however, would be a
work of snpererogatien. To decypher the Nairnshire
p tlitical status: of moat of the individuals composing the
nine " Wise Men of the East," will, to every reflecting
person, answer all the purposes of reply !
Was more than once a self-elected,
I. Sir Archibald Dunbar, non-resident Provost, and. la now a
the Chairman, self.elected, non-resi•lent Councillor
of the burgh of !C airn.
cHas been over and over again, and La
2. Sir IN. Cumming, -/ now the self-elected, non-resident,
C Prevost of the burgh of Nairn.
)' Has been several tirneeth e self-elected,
a Major Cumming, the non-resident Provost, and is now a
Provost ofNairn's brother, self-elected, non-resident Councillor
_:-.,itbe burgh of Nairn.
1 Has been a fixture, as a self-elected,
4. Dalvey, tion,rcedint Councillor of the burgh
of ;V

..Nairn for many years.
Has been for many years a Paper
And, 5, C:otonei Hay,
oßfaaronny,Litchrliputtioani%ndtli county,is
e, ofror,eartii
the " Freeholders" list of Nairnshire.
Having thus given the political relations of those of the
meeting, unfortunately fur us connected with this burgh
and county, constituting a majority by one of the Elgin
county meeting, I leave it to some one of your intelligent
Moray-shire correspondents to specify the weight justly
attributable to the political opinions of the remainder.
Looking then at the political character and connections
of more than one-half of the persons who composed the
county meeting held in Elgin on the 29th March, can any
one wonder that a last puny effort was made by such men,
to support their beloved and " perfect system" of corrup-
tion, and in the midst of sanguine feelings on the subject,
that they were led into many absurdities?
This burgh passed into the hands of its present owners
come forty years ago for a trifling pecuniary consideration,
and if you had leisure to refer to your own file of
December last, yon would there see, in a letter, signed
" Verax," a pretty accurate detail of the scandalous mis-
management ever since, and what sort of gratitude this
community owes to them. The heritable property of
thins burgh, not many years ago, was miles in extent, ex-
cepting a small hit of commonty, and a moss, this extensive
subject is irretrievably alienated front it. This fact alone
is sufficient to show, that the sooner our system is changed
the better ; and, so far from the self-complacent assertion
being true, that "if the occupancy of our' Civic Chair
was to be decided by a poll election to-morrow, the unani-
mous suffrage of the people of Nairn would raise the pre-
sent Provost' by acclamation to that well deserved dignity,"
I speak advisedly when I declare, that rather than be
forced to continue such an it:tliction on themselves, the
burgesses and inhabitants, with the exception of the few
involved in the present system, would deliberately and
unanimously petition to be utterly disfranchised ! !
Is it not an extraordinary proceeding, Mr. Editor, that
our rulers should go upwards of twenty miles away, to
Elgin, to sound their own praises, and to make declara-
tions which they have not the assurance to tome forward
here to assert? If the confidence they place in the com-
munity of Nairn he such as they would make believe, why,
when a public meeting, the most numerous that ever was
held here, on any political snhject, took place, did they
not come forward as men, and convince the inhabitants
that it was the 1)&4; and the most honourable course for
them to keep silence, and retrain political slaves ?—Nu__
this they knew, (though several of them were tlott evening
in the tntvn) would not suit their purpose. Pacts, stub-
born facts, not very pleasing to the ear, would have been
told them, and they kept aloof. The above meeting was
held immediately before his Grace of Wellington's heartless
declaration. There has been a subsequent meeting, for a
similar purpose, held in this burgh, approving the Minis-
terial pl in of Reform ; this second opportunity was not
embraced, not one of the municipal authorities appeared,
excepting one, who chose (according to the " hole and
corner" practice) to conceal himself behind the door!!
I challenge the advocates of corruption on their own
grounds. They have nearly ruined this burgh by their
culpaltle negligence and mismanagement. Their power,
however, thank Heaven, is not merely on the wane, but
the extinguisher is about to put it out for ever ; therefore,
I shall have mercy on them, in hope that the latent ener•
ties of the liberal-minded residents shall shortly be employed
to remedy the evil consequences of the veriest corruption,
and most unrestrained political bondage, that ever disgraced

This htirgh, whose inhabitants, with the exceptions al-
ready noticed, are united and determined as one man, con-
sists of but a small community, yet we indulge a belief
that some good has been done by our frequent, orderly, and
lord public meetings in support of our King and country,
were it only by opening the eyes of the sublic to their
truest interests—to the ahatne!ess abuses, consequent, una-
voidably so—of the corrupt system ; and by endeavouring
to point out the tree remedies. With such a coadjutor as
you: free press, we do not despair of shortly seeing the
oppressor put to shame—the reign of right instead of
might established—and the rich made to pay, et least in
equal proportion to the pour, for the support of the state.
I am, Sir, your very obedient servant,
RATIONAL REFORMER.

P.S.—The silly allusions made by one of the speakers
At the Elgin meeting to your exertions—to Mr. Hume—
as well as to the present enlightened Ministry, are unworthy
of much attention.

Since writing the above, one of the parties who attended
the meeting in question, and who made up the number
nine, has declared in the Elgiu Courier that he neither
agreed to the resolutions, nor signed the petitions.
Nairn, April 9. • R.

PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

NOTICES OF MOTIONS AND OB.DEI:S OF THE DAT WIIICH
STAND IN THE ORDER BOOK FOE THE PRESENT WEEK.
MONDAY, APRIL 18, ORDERS OF THE DAY.
1. Abjuration Oath Repeal Bill—Further consideration of Veport.
2 Land Tax Commissioners Names Bill—Committee.
3. Reform of Parliament (Ireland) Bill—Second reading.
4. London Coal Bill—Second reading.
5. Frauds on Creditors Bill—Second reading.
6. Suits in Common Law Courts Bill—Second reading.
7. Malt Distillation (Ireland) Bill—Committee.
S. Reform of Parliament (England) Bill—Committee.
9. Land Tax Double Assessments Bill—Committee.
10. Money Payment of Wages Bill—Further consideration of
Report.
11. Boman Catholic Charities Bill—Committee.
10. Vestries (Ireland) Bill—Second reading.
!3. Liability of Landlords Bill—Further consideration of Report.
14. Charities Bill—Second reading.
15. Charitable Funds Recovery Bill—Second reading.
16. Printed Cottons Bill—Committee.
17. King's Message—Report thereupon.
18. India Supreme Com ts Bill—Second reading.
19. Waterloo Bridge New Street 13111—Report.
20. Arbitration Bill—Further consideration of Report.
21. Supply—Committee.
22. Ways and Means—Committee.
'4l. Duchy of Cornwall Leases Bill—Committee.
21. Corporate Funds Bill—Third reading.
03. Elections (Ireland) Bill—Third reading.

NOTICES OP MOTIONS.
1. Sir
mAiitltedree wo
igen eiwt
e—fo'rlion
omovef Ia
ralizal
mlennstt r(tEi critgi
the Committee do consider the expediency of throwing t
olannr) theß il l
,Corni
that.
e
smaller English Boroughs into Districts and of assigning
One or more Members to each District, as in the Districts
of Burghs in Scotland, and as in the places sharing in the
Election of Burgesses in Wales ; and that no Borough
whatever should be totally Disfranchised.
2. General Gascoyne--To move a Resolution, That it is the opi-
nion of this House, that the total number of Knights, Ci-
tizen 3, and Burgesses, returned to Parliament for that
part of the United Kingdom called England and Wales,
ought not to be diminished.
. General Ga,:coyne—lnstruction authorising the Committee on
the Reform of Parliament Bill, th4t they have power to
insert a Clause, auth6rising any City, Town, or Borough
having a Population of not less than 150,000 resident inha.,
bitants, and a constituency of not less than ld,ooovoters, to

THIRD EDITION.
SUN OFFICE, Ha:if-past Eight.

IMPERIAL PAR LiAAIENT

PHIS EVENING.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

The galie.riee and every avenue leading to the Horne
were crowded at an early hour, and every seat in the
House was labelled with the name of a Member.

Mr. J. SMITH presentfA a iietition in favour of Re-
form from the tie: _rants, bankers, and tradesmen of the
city ...•.;1' London. The petition was signed by 9,600
persons, and was agreed to at one of the most ex-
traordinary meetings that ever occurred in the city, there
being only two dissenting vnic,?':'. The petitioners were
of opinion thot en Til. from the proposed measure of Re-
form ':-.eing revolutionary it would give additional security
to the establishments of the country.
Mr. PHILLPOTTS presented a petition from Berkeley
in favour of Reform, and another from Gloucester (from
the Magistrates) against the recent alterations in the Leer
Bill.

Mr. PALMER presented a petition from Berkshire
against the Beer Bill. He hoped Ministers would bring
the subject before the House.
Mr. F. PALMER, as a Magistrate, did not think the
Beer Bill had bed the least mischievous effect.

1!r. 140DGES-pre;enteil a petition from Hythe and
another place in Kent, in favour of Reform.
Mr. HOWARD supported the retition, and would
vote for the Bill threut,h an its stages.
Mr. IBIDGES also presented a petition from Lowe-
atote, and another from the freeholders of Sussex, in fa-
vour of Reform.

Alderman WINCHESTER—As one of the freeholders
of the eounty of Sussex, from wh the petition just
now presented by the Hon. Member for the county of
Kent purports to be, I am desirous of ascertaining to
what parts of the Noble Paymaster's Bill for the Re-
form of Parliament its prayer particularly alludes ;
for if I understood the Noble Lord rightly, the
other night, he declared his readiness to abandon a great
rAt.t of the principle of the Bill new before the House.—
(" Hear, hear," and " No, no," from many Members.)
Some Hon. Members say "No, no ;" bat I beg to state
that such is the fact, earl I am not alone in that impres-
sion, both as regards the opinion in this House and out of
doors. I shall now express my dissent from the prayer of
the petition, that as it mentions freeholders generally, it
might not be understood I was at all concerned in for-
warding, or of being interested in that meesure.
Mr. CURTEIS said the measure had his decided sup-
port. He was sure the freeholders of Sussex wished for
the Bill, the whole Bill, and nothing but the Bill.
Mr. SHELLEY was present at the meeting, and be-
lieved he was the only opponent to the petition.
He thought he could state that not thirty free-
holders were present.—(Hear.) The petition was only
agreed to by the tact of the Sheriff, and in his opinion the
Bid was not popular with the majority of the freeholders
of Sussex.—(Herr.)
Lord G. LENNOX had been through every town and
village in Sussex, and was convinced that there was not
a single individual but what was in favour of the
plan of Reform.—(Bear, bear.) He begged to etate
that the meeting was most numerously attended, anal the
Hon. Member who opposed it could get only himself and
two drunken Lewes men to oppose the petition.—(Exceed-
ing laughter.)
Mr. CURTEIS was convinced the freel:olders would
support the Bill with their lives and fortunes.
Mr. CRESSET PELHAM had hitherto been an inde-
pendent freeholder, but if this Bill passed into a law he
should no longer remain so.—(Hear, hear.)
The petition was then ordered to he printed.
Mr. COOPER presented a petition from Sligo against
Reform.

Mr. O'CONNELL said the petition was not agreed to
at a public meeting ; if a meeting had been called at all,
the majority would have been in favour of the measure.

Sir J. VoxicE and Mr. O'CoNxos DON made a few
obnervations.

Mr. COOPER could assure the House that the petition
was in accordance with the feeling of the immense majo-
rity of the people of Sligo.
Mr. G. DAWSON said, if the Bill was carried, it
would overthrow the Protestant Establishment in Ireland.
He denied that Sligo was acorrupt borough.

An Hox. MEltsmt said the borough was regularly
bought and sold.
Mr. G. DAWSON —Can the Hon. Member say if
he ever knew fle borough was bought and sold.—(Hear.)
Sir J. NEWPORT, if neeet-sary, could prove at
the bar of the House, that the borough was sold
to the highest bidder ; and if a Jew hid the most money,
no matter, he would have it.—(Laughter.)
Mr. C. FERGUSON—If it were not a fact that
boroughs were bought and sold, where was the use
of the ten days' debate on the Reform Bill ?
After a few words from Mr. O'CoNNEnt., the petition
was ordered to be printed.
Msjsr MACNAMARA presented a petition from Tulle,
and another place in the county of Clare, in favour of
Reform.

Mr. M. O'CONNELL presented a petition from Ire-
land in favour of Reform.

Mr. HUME said he did net rise to make any observa-
tions on the petition that had just been presented, but to
make a statement which he considered of great import-
ance. It had been intimated to that House publicly that
a great many of the lower class of people in Lancashire
were opposed to the present measure of Relearn. So far
from this being the fact, he was authorised from most
respectable quarters to state that the lower class of people
were almost unanimous throughout that county in favour
of the measure—that they hailed it as a great and
important boon from the one end of the county to
the other. Also, that at every one of the meetings
and dinners that the Honourable Member for Pres-
ton had attended, the health of his M ijesty's Ministers,
and success to their proposed measure of Reform, had been
given and drank with the utmost enthusiasm; and if
at those meetings there appeared to be any one
single individual opposed to the measure, it pro-
bably was the Hon. Member for Preston himself.—
(Cheers.) Attempts, indeed, were made to raise dis-
approbation of the measure, and questions were
asked, such as would they not prefer inaiversal
suffrage to the proposed measure ?—(Cries of hear,
hear.)—Why put it to any man—put it to himself
(Mr. IL), and he would say he would rather have
universal suffrage.—(Loud cheers.)— This was his
candid opinion, and why should hr disguise it ?
(Cries of hear, hear, hear.)—But because he entertained
an opinion that universal suffrage would be better, was
be to set up that opinion against his Majesty's Ministers and
against the country ?--(Cheers.) The measure was so
important now proposed, and fraught with such immense
benefit to the public at large, that he felt he should be un-
worthy of the confidence of any persons did he not give it
his warmest support. In the course of ten days the House
would be fully satisfied by the petitions which would come
from (the working and lower classes of society in Lanca-
shire, that the representation which bad been made of their
feeling of opposition to the measure, had been a most ex-
tremely unfair and improper representation. (Loud
cheer., and hear. )_This he was anxious to state
in the most distinct terms, as the Hon. Member' for Pres-
ton's speech misrepresenting the feeling of Lanca-
shire had undergone two or three editions, and been very
abundantly circulated throughout the country.
Mr. LITTLETON bad also been desired to give the
flattest contradiction to the statement of the Hon. Member
for Preston that the working class of people were not in
favour of the present measure.—(Near.) He believed thet
no Measure had ever been proposed to any Parliament
in w hich there bad been such unanimity of feeling in its
favour on the part of the working class of people through-
out this country. He held in his hand a letter from
a highly respectable clergyman in the neighbourhood
of Darlston, an extract of which he begged leave to
read. The writer stated " I saw yesterday by ap-
pointment several very respectable individuals of Darl-
sten, who went out of curiosity to a meeting: that
took place there to hear what Mr. Hunt had to say.
They assure me they did not hear any thing from any one
individual in opposition to the Bill, nor do they believe there
is one to he found there who is opposed to it; on the con-
trary, the Political Union, who are supporters of him (I beg
pardon for mentioning the name) are disgusted with him."
In another part of the letter he says--" Mr! Hunt said, do
yon return any Members here for Parliament? A man said
no. He said bow far are you from Coves try? A rnan
said, thirty miles. He said, how far are you from ?—A
man said, twenty mile,. Then, said hue t, go in a body
at the next electidn, and don't let them send such Mem-
bers to Parliament as they have b itherto done—
lay hold of the electors—catch them as you can ; if that
will not do, squeeze them pretty hard ; f that will not do,
put a tourni4uet round them, and screw ti at pretty hard."
Now, until this was flatly contradicted, be (Mr. L.)
should believe the whole of it was true. It had been
communicated to him from a most respectable source—
he had no lees than three or four and twenty letters on the
RAMO anh;gaef_ r tkral vs.(' nn Sa*Tirri.ly