The Sun.
London, England, 1831-09-16 00:00:00

COURT CIRCULAR.

His MAJESTY, accompanied by the Princess AUGUSTA,
and attended by tke Surveyor-G neral of the Board ..1
Works, after inspecting the old Palace at Kew on Wed-
nesday afternoon, went through the Royal Gardens. s;
front thence to the residence of the Duchess of CUMRP:I:-
LAND on Kew-green, and paid a visit to her Royal Higi -
ness. His MAJESTY and the Princess AUGUSTA after-
wards returned to town.

The KING gave an audience yesterday to Earl GREY.
The QUEEN, accompanied by the Duchess of SAXE
WEIMAR, Prince GEORGE of Cambridge, and Baroness
BULOW, and attended by Lords VA LLETORT and BROWN-
LOW and Lady BROWNLOW, took an airing yesterday after-
noon in an open carriage, and visited the new Zoological
Gardens at Kennington.
His MAJESTY went yesterday in an open carriage, ac-
companied by the Princess AUGUSTA and the Duchess of
GLOUCESTER. to the Royal gardens at Kensington.
The Duke of SUSSEX and the Princess SOPHIA, visit d
their MAJESTIES yesterday.
The name of the Countess FERRERS appeared (by tnis-
take) as having been presented to her MAJESTY at the
drawing-room, on Mooday, by Earl HowE. No such
presentation took place.
. . .

A conference of the Ambassadors and Ministers of the
Five great Powers was held yesterday afternoon at the
Foreign-office. The Ministers were occupied in delibera-
tion upwards of two hours.
A deputation of the agents of the West India Colon;es,
c-mposed of Mr. BURGH, M.P., agent for Jamaica; Mr.
AlayEas, agent for tiarbadoes ; Mr. Baowttt, agent for
Antigua and Montserrat ; and Mr. COLQUHOUN, agent for
St. Vincent, &c., had a long conference with Earl GREY
And Viscount Gonnticit, at the Treasury, yesterday.

A deputation of distillers (from Ireland), headed by Mr.
O'CONNELL, M.P., and Mr. Nonni, M.P., had an in-
terview with Viscount ALTHORP, yesterday, at the Trea-
sury; Messrs. POWER, RAE, GRIER, WOLLESBT, MA-
noNY, and MALEY, were among the deputation.
Count DE MourKE, the Danish Minister, visited Vis-
count PALMERSTON, yesterday afternoon, at the Foreign-
office.

The Duke and Duebecs of CUMBERT,AND entertained a
select party at dinner on Wednesday evening, at their resi-
dence in the Palace at St. James's.

Among the names of those present at her MAJESTY'S
Drawing-room, Dr. DURNEY was inserted instead of Dr.
BUNNY.

THE REFORM BILL.

'Yesterday the following requisition was drawn up and
transmitted to Alderman Waithman by the inhabitants of
the ward of Farringdon-Without

" TO THE RIGHT WORSHIPFUL R. WA ITHMA ESQ. M. I'

" We, the undersigned inhabitants of this ward, re-
spectfully request you to call an early \Vardmote, to con-
sider the propriety of petitioning the House of Lords to
pass with the least possible delay the just, wise, and im-
portant Bill for Parliamentary Reform, sanctioned not only
by his Majesty's Ministers and a large majority of tic
House of Commons, but by the universal voice of the
people; and which we believe nece,sary to the safety, hap-
piness, and increasing prosperity of the British empire."
A requisition is also on foot to the churchwardens of
the county and city liberties of St. Andrew, Holborn.
Meetings will take place not only in rll the wards in
the city, but in all the pat ishes and divisions. SeVer.!
gentlemen were in conference with the Lord Mayor in the
course of the day upon the subject. Toe anxiety about
the reception of the Bill by the Lords is intense, but the
zeneral belief is that it will be unnecessary to make new
Peers to pass it.

. Last night, at eight o'clock, a numerous and respectable
meeting of electors of Westminster was held at the Cro uu
and Anchor Tavern, Strand, for the purpose of adopting
measures, in order to convene the inhabitants of the city
and liberties, that they may have an opportunity of ex-
pressing their opinions On the Reform Bill. A requisition
to the High Bailiff has been very numerously and re-
spectably signed ; and it was the object of thy meeting to
know when the general meeting of the electors should take
place. Mr. De Year presided. The speakers who ad-
dressed the Chair were Dr. Carpue, Barber Beaumont,
E.q., Messrs. Walker, Hume, Harrison, Clarke, &c.,
when it was resolved that a meeting should be called im-
mediately, and that the High Bailiff be requested to ap-
point next Wednesday for the put pose. The following is
a copy of the requisition :

TO ARTHUR. MOKRIS, ESQ., HIGH BAILIFF 01' THE CITY

r;f

SPIRIT nP TIIE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

It is difficult, in a season of ardent public excite-
ment, to know how to vary the terms or expres-
sions, by which the x,al may be propagated or the
interest sustained. Whatever we have sail, the
people of England would do, to obtain the passing
of the Reform Bill by the Lords, they have done or
are doing. What more, then, have we to say ?
Per,evere, leave no excuse to those who would per.
versely misinterpret your will. Let the " malig_
flaws" know that the people of England must have
their 11
,form Bill. A contemporary journal finds
out that we do not write grammatically. The ani-
mal ! as if every sentence we pen did not prove that
we knew the English language accurately, with all
its powers and resources ; and as if a!y thing were
more common than for a sentence of ungram-

matical construction to escape the most prac-
tised writer : vet our grammar is right (as our
argument is incontrovertib!e, and our facts cer-
tain) in the case alluded to. The names of
the most respectable merchants and bankers
in the city of London have been subscribed Is
a requisition for a general mee:ing of that pa,vilfid
body in order to petition the Lords to pass the B. 11;
the requisition will be pre-erred to-morrow, and the
meeting is therefore certain. 'What better names
can we mention than those of Mr. John Smith and
Mr. Grote ? And all the counties—we say "all"

:he counties—are in movement. The L',rds come

from the colinlie., arid cannot have a conciefiOn or

an interest different from that of those by whom
they are surrounded. The opposition to the Bill

mu.t therefore he diss;pated almost by a breath;
for what was the sole cnose alleged why the 8.11

might he lost in the Le,rds? Not the impelfertions
of the Bill itself,—not the nullity of the clam: of
the people to a fair representn,ion ;—but th,rr in-
d!fferenee to that their righ,. They will ,how
whether they are indifferent to it : they will show
whether they think themselves freemen, to whom
.

it belongs to choose their own representatives; and,
having done this loudly and bravely, ;hey may then
but not till then, rest secure of the result —limes.
Mr. Ponsouby is actually in the field for Dorset.
shire. Who will opposchiot ? Who will so insult the
electors of Dorset, their good sense, their spirit, their
consistency, as to tell them on the hustings that they
cannot discern the difference between repr,rsentatives

of the people and delegtves of Pears,--that, know-
ing their rights, they dare not assert them by their
votes; or that having so lately pledged themselves
to the whole kingdom as sturdy advocates of Re-
form principles, they would now eternally disgrace
themselves by abandoning those princTles, and for-
feiting those most solemn pledges ? Mr. Portsmilw's
address is just what it ought to be. It takes for
granted the sympathy between the freeholders of the
county and himself,—assuming, as he may, the pu/+
licity already given by his conduct in Parliament to
his own political sentiments, and in emphatic lan-
guage throwing himself on the manly constancy of
the men of Dorset, whom he implores to act energe-
tically upon their known opinions, and to rescue the
people of England, whose honour is now placed in
their hands, from the base reproach of treason to their
common country.—Times.

The Dutch and German Papers contain farther
accounts of thedistmbances at Stettin, caused by
the regulations adopted to guard against the pro-
pagation of the cholera morbus. The same spirit
of resistance which prevails throughout the whole of
Prussia, also exists in those parts of the Austrian
dominions in which that dreadful malady has ap-
peared. It does appear strange, that in a country
so advanced in civilization as Germany, any con-
siderable portion of the people should have adopted.
the opinion that the patients in the hospitals were
put to death in order to stop the progress of the
contagion; bust this circumstance will cease to sur-
prise, when it is considered, that though much
knowledge is diffused through Germany, there
is one of a most important kind—political knowledge
—which is rigorously repressed. The censorship,
which exists in all the states, and which some are
now struggling to get rid of, is intended by its insti-
tutors to have a benumbing influence on the human
faculties; but where it fails to stupify, it is sure to
excite irritation arid suspicion. It is nor unnatural,
therefore, that agitated populations should infer the
Governments which are in coastant dread of the
publication of truth, which cover all their acts with
a veil of secrecy, and which employ tin expensive
machinery fur the sole purpose of diminishing the
utility which their subjects might derive from the
art of printing, may he capable of other evil deeds,
even of wishing to apply a stifling proeess to the
life, as well as to the mind of man, Such Govern-
ments must always be liable to suspicion, and no
sophistry in praise of the mildness with which their
authority may occas'onally be exercised, can divest
them of this law of their existence. In a late article
of the Austrian Observer, respecting the justice of
the application of the term " despotic," used by
some of the French papers in speaking of the three
great members of the Holy Alliance, the writer
quotes the sentiment of Clautlian-
-" Abertas gratior extat
Quaer4 skAb ;no pin t"
and follows it up by the celebrtqed line of Pope—
" Whateer is best administeled is best." Without
discussing these favourite maxims of the M-tternich
school, we may olocote that they have often been
misapplied. The former was constantly on the lips
of our Tories during a reign—not a very distant one
—which has been well characterised as chiefly re-
maricable for taking from the liberties and adding to
the burdens of the people. With regard to the lat-
ter, we believe no people in Europe would willingly
place themselves at the mercy of their rulers. The
Ki,g of Russia is in general described to be a well-
disposed benevolent man, yet we find that in Prussia
dreadful excesses ,have been committed, in con..e-
quence of a distrust in the intentions of the
Government. Reasonable people, therefore, swish
to have some better security for good government
than the personal charartei• of Princes. This wish,
' we know, is daily gaining ground at Berlin, and not.
wtthstanding the flattering unction'of the Austrian
Observer, we believe is not entirely a stranger at
Vienna.— Mmes.

We are glad to find that Mr. Ponsonby has de-
clared himself a candidate for Dorsetsliire, and that,
in an address, dated Canford, 13th September, he
states that " ha has been called on by a large body
of freeholders to come forward." Mr. Pon,onby
has, ii is said, much more local influence in Dor-
setshire, from his connections and property, than the
lave Mr. Bdnkes ; but the great ground for confident
anticipation of his success is the cause with which
he is identified, To the Dorsetshire men, the ho-
nour of England is at present in a great measure
committed; for, as Mr. Ponsonby say:, in his ad-
dress," An opinion has been industriously eirculatet
that you have relaxed in the enthusiasm by which
you were then Animated—that you see dangers ant •
objections in the Bill brought forward by his• Ma-
jesty's Ministers; and it isas a supporter of that Bill,
and of the general measures of the Covernment,
that I now call upon you manfully to come forward
and renew the struggle, which cannot fail of being
crowned with the came sueeess, and of e‘tablishing
those principles and that character of independence
of which you so gloriously !ail the foundation at
the last election." The men of Dorsetahire will
never disgrace themselves by returning a Bankee.
Nol they would by so doing make themselves a re-
proach among Englishmen. We ate sure of the re-
sult.—Morning ultronick.

The List of Peers pledged to vote against the
Reform B;11, exhibited by the most detested man in
all England, makes the majority against it about
forty. It is, however, possible that. names are en-
tered in the list on no good authority; and it'is also
possible that many may have Leen deluded into a
pledge, or promise, by
believing too readily that, the
people of England were become indifferent as to the
issue. Those who re/Oren-proof ant the people
;ire true to theinsalves will soon obtain it, and ofa
strength to be sarisfoctory to sill who are riot bent
to remain unconvinced. As to the ultimate issue
we are without apprehension. But we confess we

would much rather that the Bill were at once ear.]
Tied in the House of Lords, than that Ministers
n ere forced to have recourse to the measures '
tointed out by the Constitution for placing the two
-Houses in harmony with each other, when the ma-
ority of the representatives of the people is so
great as to preclude all hopes of bringing round the
jCommOns 'to the opinion of the Lords. However,
if the Peers are so blind as not to see that the
consequence of throwing out the Bill can only
be the compelling Ministers to add to their num-
bers, Ministers have no alternative. They must
proceed. "No man having put his hand to the
plough and looking back is fit for the.kingdom of
God." To those Peers who would wish to retain
the power of pillaging the people, but are not so
infatuated as to cling to impossibilities, and are
therefore open to reasoning on this subject, it can
he no difficult matter to make ourselves understood.
They may be assured that all the produCtive classes,
all the capitalists throughout the country, all the
national creditors, will strenuously support Minis.
ters, from the most obvious principles of self-pre-
servation. Were an Anti-Reform Ministry to suc-
ceed the present, the people throughout the country
would, on the most moderate supposition, refuse to
r,r taxes. No man can tell the consequences which
arght flow from such a step. We put out of conside-
ration the rising of any of the numerous organizations
throughout the count' y ; because so long as there is a
hope of effecting an object by peaceable means, Eng-
lisl,men will, we trust, prefer having recourse to them.
But let us take the supposition that the people com-
bine not to pay taxes, the confusion which even this
rep would produce could not fail to be very great. Now
all men of property, all but desperate political ad-
venturers, all but boroughmongers and their toad-
eaters, have so strong an interest in preventing any
such extreme measures, that they will support the
present Ministry with all their heart and Soul. In
the continuance in office of a Reform Ministry they
see peace and tranquillity, and order and confidence.
The accession of an Anti-Reform Ministry would
be the signal for confusion. Nor let it be supposed
that the people are to be gulled by the declarations
of those who, at the twelfth hour, pretend to be
convinced of the necessity for Reform, but object to
abe present as too sweeping. The people know
that this language is merely held out to deceive.
No man, not utterly destitute of common sense,
would think of looking to the enemies of a measure
for the giving effect to it. When the Devil was
sick, the Devil a monk would be, says the adage.
Without any great lack of charity, we may se•
down all the declarations of willingness to grant
moderate Reform to the amount of an intention to
delude the people. So long only as the necessity
presses, so long only would Reform be thought
of. "Do not grow angry, old Isgrim," says the
Shepherd in the fable to the old Wolf; " lam
sorry that you come with your proposal seven years
too late. Your broken teeth betray you." There
can be no sincere amity between the sheep and the
wolves. The salus populi demands that all who
possess influence with their fellow-citizens should,
at this crisis, exert themselves to furnish to the
Peers proofs not to he mistaken that there shall be
no trifling with the question of Reform. Three or
four hundred Peers are but three or four hundred
individuals, whose weal or woe is as nothing when
weighed in the scale with the well-being of this
great nation. Let but the system of industry of
this country be disturbed for one week, and calamity
unspeakable would be the infallible result. The
benevolent and the selfish, therefore, are equally
called on to rally round the Government at this con-
juncture, to teach that portion of the Peers who are
sufficiently unprincipled to disregard the dictation of
justice, that they shall not be allowed to give effect
to their intentions. The humble tradesman has as
deep an interest in the welfare of the country as the
richest landholder. All the industrious classes will
therefore, interpose between the Ministry and those
who would sacrifice the peace of the country to
their selfish views. Englishmen, be firm and united
at this eventful conjuncture. The Ministry are
pledged to you—their interests are essentially bound
up with yours. They cannot desertyou, and yoo will
not desert them. They dare not resign, because
they knew that to resign would be to expose them
to the hatred of the Tories, whe would never for-
give them for what they hare done—and to the
hared of the Reformers, who would never forgive
them for unnecessary sufferings. Reaction would
follow close on (he heels of an Anti-Reform Mi-
nistry, and all the calamities incident to such a state
of things would be placed to the account of a Whig
Ministry, who had not the nerve to follow up their
own principles to their necessary consequences. A
common interest, and common danger, therefore,
bind up the Ministry with the Reformers, and the
men who fails at this crisis—the man who is not
ready to strain every nerve to assert them, is un-
worthy of the ranee of Englishman. The more vi-
gorous the exertion, the shorter will be the trial.
One blow struck now may prevent twenty from
being struck hereafter. The power is with us—a
great and overwhelming power. To that power, if
pioperly exerted, every thing must give way. Now
is the time for vigorous demonstrations. Let the
odious individual exhibit his majorities—the people
must triumph over every obstacle if they are only
true to themselves. We have now a kindhearted
and benevolent Monare:7. and an honest Ministry,
and let us snatch while we way the blessings which
Providence has placed within our reach.—Morning
Chronicle.

A most important declaration was made last night
by Lord Altborp, in the course of a discussion re-
specting the Press, to which the presentation of a
petition from William Carpenter gave rise. His
Lordship stated that if he had not been pressed
with other business, he should have brought in a
measure for the consolidation of the Stamp Laws ;
and whenever he had an opportunity, he should in-
troduce some measure of the kind.

" It was true (added his Lordship) that he had been
opposed to the introduction of the Six Acts as eagerly as
any Honourable Member, perhaps more eagerly, for he
had been the person who had made the substantive mo-
tion respecting them. He then, as now, desired that the
liberty of the Press should be protected to the utmost
possible extent consistent with the prevention of private
scandal, and of false attacks on individual character,
or attempts to destroy public raorals.—(Cheers.) In
his opinion, public men and public measures ought to
be freely treated.—(Cheers.) Those who entered into
public life took their situations as public men, subject to
such discussion., and they ought not to complain of attacks
of a public kind being fcee'y made on their political
ennduct.—(Cheers.) He did not take any merit to him•
self in saying this, for lie did not see those Papers which
made any attacks on him—he did not read such attacks.
They were not agreeable enough to induce hint to do so—
(A lauell)—but if he did, he hoped and trusted he should
leave more good humour than to mind them—(llear,
lear)--but he felt that public men ought not to complain
of criticisms—even if severe criticisms were passed on
their conduct.—(Hear, hear.)"
This is a most important declaration from a man
of Lord Althorp's station and influence in the
country; and we hail it at the first distinct recogni-
tion in this country of the right of the people to
free discussion, in the genuine sense of the word. It
is the commencement of a new era. Discussion has,
no doubt, enjoyed, for a considerable length of time
in this country, great freedom ; but it hat; been a
freedom on sufferance. Truly was sit observed by
Mr. Lytton Bulwer, " that kom the free expression
of opinion all that was honest and true:was to be ex-
pected ; and on it, too, all good and real Reform
must be founded."—Morning Chronicle.
We do not presume to anticipate the decision of
the House of Lords on the Reform Bill, but, what-
ever that decision may be, we think i fair and
only an-
proper that their Lordships be allowed the exercise
of the right of free discussion, which the people
justly claim for themselves on public questions, and
House of the Legislature
without which the Upper
could have no pretens.on to the character of a de-
liberative assembly. Some of. our co n tt e
denying that freedom of opinion to others
• iiiey would think it very hard to be. deprived dr) of,
--ilave already commenced a war of intimiciat o on
ihe House of Lords. They have used threats of the

moat violent nature—threats which ars as impolitic
as they are indecent. Violence cannot serve the
cause of Reform, but it may seriously injure it. If
Reform b, grounded on reason and justice, the aid
of the angry passions can only encumber its progress
and endanger its success. None but injudicious ad-
vocates or treacherous friends of Reform would ad-
dress the House of Lords in the language of menace
before that assembly has had any opportunity
of taking a single step in reference to the mea-
sure. They who threaten revolution seem to
commence it by thus chaining up that depart-
ment of the Legislature from all deliberation. If the
House of Lords only exists in the Constitution to
register the Bills passed by the Commorni, it ought
not to pre-ume to discuss them ; but, if it have
higher functions to perform, the more important the
measure to which the House of Commons agrees,
the snore necessary is it that the Upper House
should he free to give it the most calm and dispas-
sionate consideration. If the measure were perfec-
tion itself, the acquiescence of the House of Lords,
if it does not agree to it, ought not to have the ap-
pesrance of being forced rather than given ; but,
should the proceedings of the House indicate an ad-
verse feeling, there will be time enough before a final
decision to criticise and animadvert upon the senti-
ments and conduct of their Lordships, which will be
then fairly under the review of public opinion. At
present that portion of the Press which loves
rather to domineer than to reason actually treats
the House of Lords as a hostile body, and de-
mands that that august assembly shall surren-
der at discretion, and submit to march captive
at the chariot-wheels of their arrogant authority,
before it can possibly be known whether the
majority of that House are favourable or adverse to
the Reform Bill. One Journal goes so far as to say
that the House of Lords would be at open war with
the King, the Commons, and the whole people of
England, if they were to " reject the Bill ;" or
what it adds is precisely the sante thing—meddle
with any one of its more important provisions. It is
the same Journal that said, not very long since, in
commenting upon the changes made in the Bill in
the House of Commons, that the country had reason
to blush for the Bill and its authors ! For our own
part we should like to see the Lords meddle with some
of the important provisions of the Bill. We should
approve, for instance, of their doing away altogether
with the division of counties, and the clause giving
the right to vote to farm-tenants at will. These
are highly-important provisions; and yet the doing
them away would not put the House at open war
with the whole people of England, but render it
more popular than before. These provisions are,
however, too obviously favourable to aristocratic
influence to be viewed with disfavour in the House
of Lords. At all events, we say, let the weapons
of Reformers be reason and free discussion, and not
intimidation and violence.—Morning Herald.
The absence of nearly the whole of the Member,
of the late Administration from the ceremonial of
heir Majesties' Coronation exhibits, to say the
least of it, an instance of as much bad taste as can
well be imagined. A Coronation, though a politi-
cal, is in no respect whatever a party measure; but,
on the contrary, affords one of the few opportuni-
ies when men of all parties can pay a willing ho-
mage to the Sovereign, without in any manner com-
promising their own particular prii,ciples and opi-
nions. But, besides the marked disrespect to their
Sovereign, the persons in question may be truly said
on this occasion to have, according to the late Lord
Londonthr, y's maxim, " turned their backs upon
'hemselves ;" for it cannot be denied or forgotten
that the Coronation took place when it did, at their
own particular suggestion and interference. They,
good souls! or some of them, took it into their
heads, as a sort of forlorn hope, that his Majesty
could not, consistently with his Coronation oath,
give the Royal assent to the Reform Bill ; and there-
fore that the King ought to be crowned, and to
enter into that solemn compact with his people, pre-
vious to this " revolutionary measure" (as they then
chose to call it) being offered to his Majesty for
adoption ; and no sooner had this idea been
started than it was forthwith acted upon, and
Lord Grey was questioned by the Duke of
Wellington whether any time had been
fixed for the ceremonial. The Anti-Reformers
were, however, doomed to be caught in their
own trap. Lord Grey, upon being asked the
question, replied that he had not received any com-
mands from his Majesty upon the subject. Here
indeed was a gleam of hope for the drowning
catchers at straws; but it was doomed to be but of
short duration ; for no sooner was it known to the
King that such an idea as that which we have al-
luded to was entertained than his Majesty immedi-
ately ordered his Coronation to take place, and it
has taken place in a manner that must have shown
a patriot King what it is to reign in the hearts of a
loyal people—the only persona who skulked away
from the ceremony, and from the joyous scenes
which accompanied it, being those who had urged
its taking place, at the same time secretly wishing,
as it would now seem, that they might still have its
non-performance to harp upon. Good taste, as well
as common prudence, however, might have taught
them, even in the midst of disappoinment, to make
a virtue of necessity ; and, instead of suffering their
chagrin to get the better of their loyalty, they would
have acted more wisely in crowding round the per-
toll of their Monarch on the day of that inaugura-
tion which they themselves called for, and which
they justly enough deem to be of such importance.
—Morning Herald.
We shall make no apology for returning to the
City of London Gas Company. The subject is one
of great interest to the public, and the number of
letters we have received respecting it convinces us
that the public are awake to that interest. One of
the letters we inserted the other day, from a friend
of the Company, made a boastful allusion to the
large capital they have at their comspand, and warned
off all competitors from the forbidden districts of the
city, on pain of having that large capital employed
to ruin them, But not only have this Company a
large capital; they have also an organised system for
the protection of their monopoly, which, as the bo-
rouglimongers say of their own system, works well;
and which certainly does work well—and very well,
for themselves. It is not necessary at present to
explain the precise nature of the system, or to
state by what treaties, offensive and defensive,
with other powers, they have hitherto contrived
to baffle all attempts at rivalehip. Suffice it to
say, as we have already said, the system works
well for themselves ;—how it works for the
public is another question. That the Company
have no cause to be dissatisfied with their own
system may be concluded from the fact of their
dividing ten per cent, on the shares, and being
obliged, by management, to keep down the dividends
to that sum, beyond which, for obvious reasons,
they do not deem it prudent that those dividends
should be permitted to advance, But the public,
unfortunately, have not the same reason for content-
ment ; on the contrary, they see, in the dividend of
10 per cent.—which has been kept up, or rather
kept down, to that amount, for a long period of time
—a strong corroboration of the overcharge on the
commodity, against which they have often remon-
strated in vain. The Equitaide Gas Company, whose
pipes are laid to Temple bar, would be glad to carry
them into the city at 25 per cent. under the present
charge; and the City Gas Company, already in pos-
session, could afford, arid would be obliged, to do it
for less, if it were not for the monopoly they enjoy,
and the favour they experience from the tuthortties
within their district. We are obliged to distinguish
their district, because there are at present two com-
panies in the city—ono the " City Gas," the other
the " Chartered Gas ;" and they have, for their own
convenience, divided the whole into two separate
allotments, so that the boundaries of their territory
are distinctly defined, and any interference with
each other prohibited by that sort of honour
which is said to exist amongst—honest men.
Some reduction has been already effected, or pro-
mised, in consequence of the dread of competition.
It is natnral, therefore, that we should look forward

with hope to the reality, to the actual existence, of
competition, for further reduction. We are not at
all insensible to the difficulty of competing with a
rich and powerful Company, and we would be the
very last to suggest any speculation so desperate as
that of entering the lists against them without suf-
ficient means. But, while there is something very
alarming in the idea of waging war against a rich
Company, there is something very encouraging in
the reflection that that rich Company made its
riches in the trade which they are so anxious to
keep to themselves. This is the view which we
expect that men of capital will take of the subject;
and, from what we know of the disposition of the
citizens, we are confident that they would hail with
joy, and promote by every means in their power,.
the success of any rational speculation which pro-
mised to afford them the advantages of fair compe-
tition. At all events we are satisfied that the city
of London is not the place where the spirit of enter-
prise is likely to be damped by the necessity of em-
ploying large capital in the endeavour to struggle
against an overgrown monopoly.—Morn. Herald.
The " indifference" of the public is manifesting
itself with a vengeance We announced yesterday
the meeting of the Livery of London for Monday
next, and we have now to state, that not only are
the Livery to meet, but that almost all the wards,
divisions, and parishes of the metropolis are to have
separate and independent meetings, for, the purpose,
not of saying that they have ceased to be alive to
the necessity and importance of Reform, but of
petitioning the House of Lords to pass the
Bill with all possible speed! There is to be
a meeting in Westminster—a meeting of the
county of Middlesex—a meeting, we are also
told, of the great and wealthy dis,rict of Mary-
lebone; and there will, we have no doubt, be
meetings of all the districts to which the free-
dom of sending representatives to Parliament has
been conceded. There ought, at all events, to be
such meetings, and who among the inhabitants will
not readily join in supporting them ? This is the
true way to treat the calumny which has been ut-
tered against the public feeling. Let the country
be but true to itself, and the Bill must pass. In the
mean time we trust it may not be altogether out of
season to address a few words of advice, in the shape
of questions, to those Noble Lords who consider re-
volution and a Reform in the representation of the
people to be synonymous. And in the first place,
let us ask, what there is in the word " revolution
to frighten them ? Have we not had a revolution
before now, and has not the country been more
prosperous in consequence ? The mode in which
a revolution may be effected is the only thing which
they have to dread; and in this country especially,
where the existing Constitution supplies the
means of perfect renovation, there is nothing to be
feared respecting the mode, provided the Peers will
only uct in unison with the universal feeling of the
country. What might happen, in case that they
should prove refractory, we shall not state, though
we have ample means of knowing ; but rather leave
it to the imagination of their Lordships to conceive.
Again let us ask, why should they reject the Reform
Bill ? It trenches on none of their privileges, though
it takes from them a power which they have long
wielded to the injury of the country ; for the
Peers are expressly declared by statutes to be
guilty of a misdemeanour, and liable to pains and
penalties if they be convicted of interfering in the
representation of the people. The Bill, in fact,
is a Bill in which the King and the people only
have any interest ; and as both the King and the
people are united in the desire that the Reform Bill
pass into a law, we trust their Lordships will not give
r;se, by their conduct, to the agitation of the ques-
tion of their right of legislation upon it. But again
let us ask, are they not unwise in thinking for a
moment of rejecting the B. 11? Do they ever ex-
pect to have such another presented for their appro-
bation ? If they do they are very egregiously de-
ceived. Neither the present Bill, or any other at
all similar to it, will ever crave their sanction if the
present be rejected. A constitutional denial of a
redress of grievances is tantamount to a provocation
to unconstitutional attempts of redress; and what
may perhaps be still more worthy of their Lordships'
consideration, the people, if irritated now by a re-
jection of their Bill, will demand more, and not be
satisfied with what is now conceded. We beg tlitir
Lordships to ponder this matter well, and not, by a
hasty decision, to compromise at once both the
existence of their own order and the tranquillity of
the country.—Morning Advertiser.

It is really quite amusing to perceive the eager-
ness
with which the Ministerial scribes, justly
alarmed at the approaching discussion in the House
of Lords, are at present endeavouring to excite the
dormant energies of the rabble. The Times is ever
the mast active in performing the work of the Whig
faction, whether it be to stir up the dross of St.
Giles% against an illustrious and amiable Princess,
or to inflame the united rabble of the three king-
doms in support of an abandoned Ministry; arid, as
a matter of course, our contemporary has taken the
lead on the present occasion. No opportunity is
permitted to escape of reviling the House of Peers
—no day is suffered to pass without its accustomed
allowance of gro-s sedition and loathsome vulgarity.
In his leading article of yesterday our contemporary
has the following remarks :
" Now what will the enemies of Reform say, to the feel-
ings of the people on that important topic? Awaking, as
if by a crash of (our?) thunder from the repose into
which they had sunk, under the conviction that all was
going on well with their favourite measure—astonished
beyond expression that the enemies of them and of liberty
should impute their quiescence to indifference—we see
them roused into a degree of zeal and activity becoming
their cause, and which we have no doubt will carry the
Reform Bill triumphantly through the House of Lords.
It is a glorious sight, this fresh development of patriotic
ardour I—this legitimate rising of a whole nation !
Will all this convince you, ye doubters, that the people
are in earnest for Reform—that their zeal and anxiety in
this cause are unabated; If not, tell us what proof you
want, what issuraneeyou require, and they will be afforded
.to you ; but beware of obtruding any mockery upon a
roused nation I"
Thus, according to the showing of the Times
itself, the people had quite forgotten all about the
Reform Bill during its progress through the House
of Commons, and they have only been aroused from
their state of apathetic indifference by our contem-
porary's crash of thunder ! Arguing, therefore,
from this admitted fact, we feel justified in assert-
ing that the people, if left to themselves, would not
care one straw about the Reform Bill Dees the
hungry man require to be driven to his food ? Or
does the weary traveller need the airl...of eloquence
to lure him to his couch ? Assuredly not. How
absurd then is it for the Times to suppose that if
the people were really in need of Reform, they would
require the crash of its thunder to remind them of
their necessities. No, no; a people yearning for an
amelioration of their condition require but little per-
suasion to induce them to demand it; and there-
fore we say, again and again, that the indif-
ference of the people of Eng and respecting the
fate of the beform Bill, is a full proof that they
deem it an unnecessary, and therefore a dangerous
measure. That the feeling in favour of Reform
was .ery general during the late elections we wil-
lingly allow ; but popular excitement is of short
duration, and the people, enjoying a return of their
natural good sense, are at length beginning to see
Their folly, arid to repent of their past indiscretion.
The Ministerial scribes have therefore our full per-
mission to rave and rant and thunder'as long as they
please; we laugh at their efforts. The excessive
heat of June has sunk down into the healthy tempe-
rature of September ! By-the-bye we perceive
that the Times is offended at the charge of vio-
lence which has been brought against it. " They
charge the Times with appealing to the mob,
and forsooth would meet us with the people.
in .contradistinction to the mob. We reject and
m
deprecate ob meetings !" Ah ! indeed I and
how long is it since the Times began to
" reject and deprecate mob meetings ?" If we
remember right, it is not three months since the
Times -,40t only courted tile aid of mob meetings, but

kindly advised theta of the sort of weapons which
the said meetings most advantageously use. And
also, if we do not mistake, three days have not
elapsed since the Times hinted about the probability
of open violence on the part of the rabble. Can our
contemporary, in defiance of these facts' attempt to
" reject and deprecate mob meetings ?" All his
efforts, however, to remove the impression of disgust
entertained against' him will prove in vain.; of this
we are quite certain. It is notorious, and regretted
even by the more moderate Reformers, that the Times
has endeavoured to excite the rabble to acts of out-
rage and violence ; and our contemporary may rest
assured that the remembrance of this fact will long
stand out a lasting disgrace, not only to himself, but
to the infamous intriguers whose views he endea-
vours to forward.—Morning Post.

IMPERIA L PARLIAMENT

THIS EVENING.

HOUSE OF LORDS.

Till Five o'clock the LORD CHANCELLOR was engaged
in hearing Scotch appeals. At that hour his Lordship
took his seat oa the Woolsack, and proceeded with the
public business.
Lord TENTERDEN moved the second reading of the
Limitation of Prescription Bill.
The Bishop of BRISTOL complained of a clause which
he thought would affect the rights and privileges of
the Church. From the known consistency of the Noble
and Learned Lord, and his known attachment to the
Church, he (the Bishop of Bristol) felt assured
that circumstance needed only to be presented to the
mind of the Noble and Learned Lord to insure its due con-
sideration. _

The Bill was then read a second time, and ordered to
to be committed on Thursday.
,aLord MELBOURNE rose in order to introduce a Bill
for allowing the use of spring-guns and man-traps in
certain places, and for the protection of certain descrip-
tions of property. He (the Noble Lord was one of
those who cordially joined in the repeal of the former Bill
fur this purpose. He considered it a wise and salutary
measure, and in at present repealing part of it, he felt
himself obliged to give an explanation of the reasons
which had induced him to introduce the present measure.
Since that Bill was repealed, a crime, he might almost
say a new crime bad appeared in this country ;
a crime for which there could be no shadow of excuse,
and which could only be committed by those whose
minds were actuated by the most diabolical motives—
he meant the horrid crime of setting fire to the
agricultural produce. It was a crime which could
be perpetrated with tie fairest prospects of privacy and
concealment without the privity or knowledge of any one
but the incendiary himself. For these reasons he had felt
it necessary to introduce the present measure as affording
some security to that description of property. The pre-
sent Act, it was proposed, should confer power to
make use of these instruments under the sanction
of two Magistrates, who would, when required grant a
licence under certain regulations. He proposed that the pre-
sent Bill should be in force for one year until the expiration
of one Session of Parliament thereafter. The Bill was then
read a first time, and ordered to be read a second time
on Monday.
The Earl of ROSLYN moved the second reading of
the General Turnpike Act for Scotland.
The LORD CHANCELLOR then resumed the hearing of
Appeals.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

At a Quarter to Four o'clock the SPEAKER took his seat.

THE POLES.

Colonel EVANS presented a petition from the National
Reform Association, held at the Crown Tavern, Museum,
street, Bloomsbury, praying the House to take into con-
sideration the present state of the unfortunate Poles, with
a view of addressing his Majesty, praying that his Ma-
jesty would be pleased to recognise their cause. Laid on
the table, and ordered to be printed.