The Sun.
London, England, 1831-11-17 00:00:00

WRIT OP THE PUBLIC JOURNALS•

Some time ago one would have thought that every
mode of crime which the inventive depravity of hu-
man nature could suggest had been ascertained and
defined. It was reserved for the nineteenth century
—the " age of intellect," as it has been called—to
bring to light a new crime ; a crime, at least, un-
heard of before, without example, and without a
wame ! The dreadful discovery made in the capital
of Scotland, which presented the spectacle of a den
of villains preying as regularly upon the bodies of
their fellow-creature as the tigers of the jungle upon
the less powerful animals of the forest, revealed for
the first time this mode of crime, for which our
language had no name. A name was supplied only
by adopting that of the principal perpetrator, and
giving tt the inflections of a verb; and thus the
verb " to Burke," like the verb " to assassinate,"
which had a scmewl'at similar origin, has become
neutralized in our language ; both expressing distinct
and peculiar sorts of murder. The revolting word
" Burking" expresses what could not be otherwise
expressed but in several words—namely the killing
a human being for the purpose of selling the body
to the surgeons. Though the existence of such a
dreadful mode of supplying the surgical shambles
has only come to the knowledge of the public so
very recently, we suspect that the practice existed
long before the detection. If we recollect right, it
was sscertained that no less than seventeen persons
had fallen by the hands of Burke and his associates
before he was brought to justice. These were all
disposed of, for the " interests of science," to persons
of that profession, one of whom is always called
on Coroners' inquests, and trials for homicide, to in-
forms the Court and Jury whether the person whose
decease is the subject of inquiry died a natural or a
violent death. How then did it happen that the
scientific men to whom Burke and his accomplices
sold the bodies of their victims had no suspicion of
the foul means by which they had been deprived of
life ? That the same mode of procuring human bo-
dies for the knife of the anatomist has long been
practised in London we have great reason to believe.
Among the number of persons continually advertised
of late years, as missing from the streets of the me-
tropolis, it is highly probable that some of those who
have never been heard of afterwards by their rela-
tions or friends suffered the fate which is believed to
have befallen the Italian boy, though we by no means
desire to prejudge the case of the men now in cus-
tody, and egainst whom, at present, there is no evi-
dence which goes further titan to fix them with sus-
picion. That the poor unfortunate boy was by foul
means deprived cf life there appears to be no doubt ;
but whether those with whom the body was found
were the perpetrators, or whether the murder s' as
committed with their knowledge or connivance, are
questioee that cannot be solved without further evi-
dence than has been yet adduced. The more atro-
cious u crime is, the more necessary it becomes to
guard the public against that precipitate judgment
of the excited feelings which might lead to results,
even in a Court of Justice, which reason and reflec-
tion NS culd afterwards have cause to regret. As to
the case of the persons who lie under the suspicion
of having " Busked" the woman Catherine Walsh,
we wish to be undesotood as making the same
observation. We are most anxious that guilt
of this sort should not go unpunished, but we are
just as anxious that eiery charge of guilt should
have a fair trial The example of some of our con-
temporaries we do net think proper to imitate, who
are apt, in the most serious cases of criminal accu-
sation, to decide first, and seek for evidence after-
wards. That the practice of " Burking" exists,
and has long existed, in London, we believe. Nor
is it wonderful that it should exist, when we consi-
der that the persons who supply surgeons and school::
of anatomy with "subjects" are the most hardened
and depraved of the human race ; for none but per-
sons 10v{ to all sense of decency, all feeling, and all
shame, would engage in an occupation which dooms
them to haunt the charnel houses and church-yards,
like vampires or goules, to despoil the last home of
mankind, and rob the grave of its prey. When,
therefore, we consider the characters and habits of
those persons commonly called " resurrection-men,"
anti couple with that the negligence or apathy which
but too generally exists in our hospitals and schools
of Anatomy as to the way in which those providers
for the " interests of science procure subjects, we
should riot be very much surprised if it should here-
after appear that " Busking" had grown into a re-
gular practice in the trade—and that human beings
Are prepared for the dissecting-knife, by some of
those who undertake to supply the anatomical market,
as regularly as cattle are slaughtered for the shambles.
We should not be astonished if those circumstances
should be taken advantage of by the " philosophers"
who supported Mr. Warburton's late Bill, in the
Press, and elsewhere, to thrust that forward again,
or some such specimen of legislation, as a preventive
to the horrid practice of Burking." We opposed
that Bill at the time in which it was under discus-
sion ; and we entertain the same opinion of it now
whieh we did then. A law which devotes the
bodies of the poor that die in hospitals, and are for
a certain space of time unclaimed, to the surgical
'smile, will not do as long us the instinct, or feeling,
or prejudice, or whatever it may he called, exists in
the minds of mankind in general against a violation
of the rights of sepulture, and a profanation of the
religious reverence with which both savage and
civilized nations regard the decencies of the grave.
if the great and rich cherish those feelings or pre-
iudicee, which preserve as sacred relics the ashes of
departed relatives and friends, they may be excused
:n the poor and humble. If men of cultivated and
enlightened understandings reeolt from the idea of
allowing the mortal remains of their dearest con-
nections to be coesigned to the table of the dissect-
ng-room, the illiterate and the ignorant ought to
escape the censure of those " philosophers" who
affect to be above the " vulgar prejudices" that
oppose the instincts of humanity to the " interests
of science." If those philosophers wish to in-
culcate their own doctrines by the most forcible
means of teaching—namely, by example—why
do tbey not make an offering of their own bodie-
on the altars of that science to whose service
they pretend to be so much attached ? Such
voluntary offerings of the bodies of those who advo-
cate a" free trade" in the merchandise of the grave
would go a greater way to remove the " prejudices"
wtdch they denounce than any other argument. It
would also have, at least, as much effect in prevent-
ing the practice of " Bucking" as any A
hospitals of
the bodies of the poor. A writer in the juurnals,i
during the time that the notorious Anatomy Bill
sees under discussion iu the, House of Lords, ad.]
dressed a letter to Lord Calthorpe, by whom it had
been introdaccd to that House, in wie;eli letter he
proposed that a legal supply of subjects ehoold be
procured, by making it compulsory that the bodies
of the following classes et persons should be de.'
livered up to the anatotnists All persons who
suffer the extreme penalty of the law, not confining
dissection in such cases to murders e ob-
ject to this, because we consider it a barbarous and
unchristian practice to put human beings to death
for any offence, unless it may be fer murder; and,
expecting, as we do , that at a future tints the punish-
Ment et-death will be abolished, we cannot consent
that any new law should be passed which would re-'
cognise the propriety of its infltctiort. 2. Persons
who die in pdison under sentence of dealli.—The
1C350119 which we opposed to the former proposition
apply to this. 3. Convicts under sentence of bans-
portation,who die either in prison, on board the hulks,
4c. As sentence of dissection after death cannot be
passed upon a transported man, whether his term be
seven years, fourteen, or for life, we object to a lass
which would deprive his remains of sepulture, however
penitent and contrite his subsequent conduct might
he. 4. Persons found dead, who are not claimed by-
J•e:otives or friends within 72 hours after an inq
jec-
ues
has been held.—To this we do not see any q
uest
tion, except that the deceased ;night be a traveller
and a strnger, whose friends, being at a great dis-
;once, might not hear of his fate in time to make the

ela;m, avid edit) that it might have a revolting
effect upon the feelings of the people. 3. All
persons who commit suicide.—W e think the re-
latives and friends of those who, ether through
insanity or digress of mind, commit suicide, are suffi-
ciently agonized, without this additional wound being
inflicted on their feelings; therefore we decidedly
object to this suggestion also. The same writer
also proposed that it might be allowable to the
friends of the deceased to ransom thr body on the
payment of a certain pie (say 250/.), to be appro-
priated towards defraying the expenses of a national
school of anatomy. By this proportion he acknow-
ledged the prevailing feeling on the minds of the
rich against such a • disposition of the body, and
admitted that it ought to be respected. lie there-
fore allowed the rich to redeem the body at a price
which the poor could not pay—such a law would be
partial and unjust-. We will tell this writer how a
legitimate supply of subjects might be obtained in
the most unexceptionable manner :—Let all surgeons
and surgical students—let all physicians and apo-
thecaries, who are, of course, men above vulgar pre-
judices, set the example to the ignorant, by publicly
devoting their own bodies to the " interests of
science."—Morning Herald.
- -

-- -
We have authority for contradicting in the most
positive terms the rumour of Lord Grey's resigna-
tion. We are assured that the rumour is wholly
false; that such a resignation has never been con-
templated ; that the Cabinet are firmly united, and
most friendly in all their intercourse with oneanother.
While, however, we give this unqualified contradic-
tion, we must own that we are not surprised that the
extraordinary silence of Ministers on the subjects re-
specting which the people have so much reason for
feeling an anxiety, should have given rise to rumours
of changes and resignations. Ministers, we know,
express the most confident assurance of their ability
to carry the Bill ; their language is, if anything,
more confident than ever ; but they cannot expect
that the people, who do not possess the means of
knowing on what their confidence is founded, should
should share it with them. The people hear the
same Anti-Reformers who rejected the former Bill
threaten as loud as ever the rejection of the next.
They hear of intrigues—they know that the powers
of Government have, for half a century or more,
been in the bands of the Tories—that their
creatures are in all offices, and wield all the
powers of the nation ;—they see Ministers more
anxious to have the good opinion of these Tories
than of the Reformers—and, under such circum-
stances, is it wonderful that they should feel alarm ?
Do they ask too much when they wish to see some
indications of the mode in which the Bill is to be
carried ? We have heard, on good authority, of one
great boroughmonger of the North having declared,
not that he has changed his opinion respecting the
Bill, but that it can no longer be resisted. Lord
Wharncliffe, on the other hand, has been travel-
ling into the country in stage coaches, to obtain
evidence of re-action, and he proclaims that he has
everywhere found the strongest evidence of it.
There is really no convincing some men. It would
not surprise us if Lord Tankerville, who had such
a narrow escape at Doncaster, and who was obliged
to travel all night with the ladies of kis family in a
coach greatly shattered and open to the rain, were
not, after a few days' intermission, also to proclaim
that the re-action had commenced. But these are
the animals who have to decide the fate of Eng-
land. It would he absurd to calculate on what they
may be disposed to do. But of one thing we are
sure, that the people can safely place reliance only
on themselves. Let them prepare, that if danger
comes, they may nut be taken by surprise.—Morn-
ing Chronicle.
The Mayor of Bristol has addressed a letter to
the Editor of the Bristol Mercury, inclosing for
publication two letters sent by the Magistrates on
the 4th of November—one to the Secretary of State
for the Home Department, and the other to the
Commander-in Chief—with accompanying docu-
ments. After the interval of a fortnight, the
Magistrates have deemed it time to lay the docu-
ments before the public. The statement of the
Mayor and Magistrates does certainly place the
transactions at Bristol in a new point of view. It
has hitherto been understood that the riot at Bristol
might have been suppressed in the beginning, if the
officer in command of the troops had been autho-
rized to act by the Magistrates. It appears from
the statement of the Mayor, that Colonel Brereton
refused to act, and that the city of Bristol was
literally without the means of making head againsi
the mob. The history of the Bristol riot is preg-
nant with instruction. We may see from it, what
we have all along been convinced of, the utter
inefficiency of the present pollee of the kingdom,
aided by the army, for the protection of persons
and property in times of agitation. At Br's•ol, it is
to be remarked, there was no surprise. The autho-
ties were aware of the public feeling against Sir
Charles Wetherell, and wished, if possible, to post-
pone the gaol delivery. Charles having deter-
mined on making his appearance in Bristol, the Ma-
gistrates made a communication to the Home Secre-
tary, requesting that a military force might . be sent
to assist and support the civil authorities in protect.
ing the city, and preserving the public peace.
Troops were accordingly placed at the disposal of
the Magistrates, in case the civil force should be
inadequate to preserve the peace ; and the Magi-
strates, at the same time, took the necessary mea-
sures for increasing the constabulary force. All that
the civil authority of itself could do was done, and
the Government supplied such a force as could be
furnished, without endangering the tranquillity of
other districts. The Riot Act was read about five
o'clock on the Saturday afternoon, and the troop;
were ordered to the scene of action—the Mansion-
house—which had been broken into, and was
threatened with destruction. On the appearance
of the troop, the people withdrew from the attack,
but did not disperse. Colonel Brereton was or-
dered to clear the streets. The mob, however,
still occupied the courts of the adjoining houses, and
the corners of the squa;ess near the Mansion-house,in
considerable numbers, throwinz stones at the win-
dows and at the 14i h Dragoons, two of whom
were brought in wounded. Colonel Brereton came
in from time to time to report to the Magistrates,
saisi the people were in good humour, that their num-
ber wag lessening, and that he should disperse them
by merely riding the troops about, while the Ma-
gistrates nought the number of the people was
increasing rather than diminishing—that their con-
duct was tumultuous eend violent, and they wished
them dispersed. Colonel Oressetors was asked if he
had any authority which prevented hisaa from acting
under the authority of the Magistrates ; and having
answered that .`.is orders were to be under their direr-
dons, the Magistrates then desired him to clear the
streets. The people were driven from the squrtre
without any cut or svcaind being infricteu. ?t u ould
appear that Colonel Brereton refused to al.ove the
people
ho had retreated across the quay
ere to
had the
Th
chili; to be dislodged by the troops.
been partial disturbances during the night, and by
seven o'clock on the Sunday morning there were
many hundreds assembled, Colonel Brereton called
at ;he Mansion-house and ordered bottt elaa few
soldiers who remained there. This was the signal
for a fresh attac:a. The troops were recalled, and
the people again withdrew,but retained possession
of the cellars, and drank the lscluois. About half-
past te.i o'clock the soldiers returned to melt- c,uar-
ters, followed ic. the mob, which continued to pelt
and insult them to their .v.Pryquarters, The Riot Act
had been read three times by oo of the Aldermen,
who remained on the spot and addressed teed soot,
and entreated them to setarn to their homes, and SOO4
afterwards the Alderman, iii a conversation with
Colonel Brereton, rc9uested the troops might fire;
but the Colonel said the troops would not and silo;d2
not firs' ;it itioidd be of no acail ; and the mob
would be so infuriated, that they might overcome the
troops, and the city be given up to slaughter. The
Colonel said it would be better to keep the mob in
temper until the next morning, when a reinforce-
went of troops might be expected." About eleven
o'closis the mob were proceeding in force to the

City Bridewell, the ipseial constables had returned
to their houses, a few of the citizens only answered
the Mayor's request to come to the Guildhall, and
those who did attend expressed their readiness to
act if supported by the troops ; but, at the same
time, declared their unwillingness to risk their lives,
unless they could be so supported. "At this time
Colonel Brereton applied to the Magistrates for
their authority to send the two troops of the 14th
Dragoons out of town, stating that the mob were so
exasperated with them, in consequence of their
having fired, that the life of every man of them would
he sacrificed if they remained." The Magistrates re-
fused their authority. "He also stated that those
troops, as well as the 3d Dragoon Guards, were har•
rassed and fatigued,as well men as horses,and could not
render any assistance, or take any duty for some time."
The Magistrates held him to his responsibility; but
he ordered the soldiers to quarters two or three miles
out of the city. After Bri,lewell had been carried
and set on fire, and the mob were proceeding to the
gaol, Colonel Brereton was again peremptorily de-
sired to call out the troops, but he answered that he
could not do it, as their lives would be sacrificed,
without doing any good. Outrage followed outrage,
till two complete sides of Queen-square, containing
nearly forty houses, including the Mansion-house,
the Custom-house, and the Excise-office, were fired,
and during all this time the Magistrates say they
were at their post, but were wholly without means
of protection or defence, and the mob had complete
possession of the city. About four o'clock on Sun-
day, one of the Magistrates went to the quarters of
the 3d Dragoon Guards, stating, that unless assist-
ance was given, the whole of the square would
be destroyed. The officer expressed his readiness
to attend, but could only furnish twenty-four men.
The officer, at the desire of the Magistrate, went
to Colonel Brereton's lodgings, who, upon being
called up, said it was no use to take out those
jaded troops, they could do no good,—what good
could they do against such a mob ? He at last
consented to order out the troops, and in about ten
minutes the troops charged a mob of about 600 or
I 700 persons, in Princes-street, and on entering
: IQueen-square, the mob, consisting of about 600
more, were just commencing an attack on the first
two houses on the third side of the square. The
troops formed in front of the two houses; the mob,
however, did not disperse, but continued round the
soldiers; but from the arrival of the troops in the
square, no attempt was made to attack or set fire to
any house. About six o'clock the mob had sepa-
rated into small parties of twenty or thirty in diffe-
rent parts of the square, arid the streets were ulti-
mately cleared. In the meantime, having sent to
Gloucester and other places for assistance, and the
two troops of the 14th having been brought into the
city from their country quarters, and Major Beck-
with having arrived from Gloucester and taken the
command of them, and received directions from the
Magistrates to disperse the mob wherever they were
found to be assembled in force, they were vigorously
attacked. B.ii these measures, and the arrival of a
'considerable number of troops and yeomanry from
dfcrent parts of Me country, the city was restored
to a state of considerable peace and security." The
point at issue between the Magistrates and Co-
lonel Brereton is, whether he had force suffi-
cient to quell the riots; and whether, supposing
he had not sufficient force, he was justified in
refusing to act when desired to do so by the
Magistrates. As Colonel Brereton is about to be
put upon his defence, these points will, no doubt,
he fully argued. However, allowing even that the
Colonel was not justified in refusing to act at all
hazards, it does not appear that the troops under
Major Beckwith would have been equal to the re-
storation of the town to a state of peace and secu-
rity, had not a considerable number of troops and
yeomanry from different parts of the country arrived
at the same time. But whether Colonel Brereton
could or could not have quelled the mob by acting
with vigour in the outset, is it to be borne that our
cities shall be viewed in the light of problems, on
which the troops placed at the disposal of Magi-
strates and the mob may try their relative stieugth?
Here there was at all events no surprise. The sub-
ject of the entry of Sir Charles Wetherell into Bris-
tol had been the subject of anxious deliberation of
the Magistracy and the Home Secretary before the
event. Bristol might have been attacked without
such note of preparation, and destroyed long before
aid could have been sent to it. Dees not this show
I that no allowance is made in the system of the po-
lice of this country for times of agitation ? The
army, spread as it is over our colonies and the
three kingdoms, is a mere mockery of force in
times of general agitation. All that could be sent
ro Thistol, without exposing other places, were
detachments of two cavalry regiments. An expe-
prienced officer of the rank of Colonel deemed
it destruction to the troops to attempt to fire
upon a mob. Does not this demonstrate In the
clearest manner that the Special Constabulary Sys-
tem, with soldiers to aid them, is both inefficient
and hazardous ? Does it not demonstrate that some
mode should be fallen upon of organizing the able-
bodied householders of every town, the people who
have the deepest interest in its prosperity, in such
a manner as shall at all times enable them to afford
prompt aid to the civil authority ? What can be
more ludicrous than to see the Magistrates of a city
like Bristol without means of crushing a contemp-
tible mob, and sending to the neighbouring counties
for troops and yeomanry to preserve the lives and
properties of the inhabitants from destruction ? We
trust, then, we shall no longer hear of any twaddle
about special constables, and the danger of arming
citizens, lest it should be supposed to imply a doubt
in the intentions of Government. There can be no
danger in training and arming, under re-pectable
Commanders appointed by the Crown, the house-
holders of a wan, any more than the householders
of the country. Why should the inefficient means
of special constables be resorted to, when the more
efficient means of yeomanry infantry can be had.
It is always well to show such a force as to prevent
the probability of outrage. There can be no good
reason for distrusting householders—men who, in
the language of Lord Bacon, have, in their wives
and children, given hostages to fortune.-3/Orliiug,
Chronicle.

There is not a shadow of truth in the An
Reform rumour of yesterday, that Lord Grey was
about to resign. That there are sundry Lords and
Hon. Gentlemen—Ladies too, indeed Ladies of the
Bedchamber—Howes in petticoats—who would re-
joice at the probability of such an occurrence, all
England is well enough convinced ; but the stronger
the adverse interest felt!on such a subject, the better
prepared ought intelligent
men to be for sifting each
and z.veu tale put forth from those quarters which
are known to anticipa;-,e a selfish profit by the resig-
nation of the Reform Ministry, and the more cau-
tious against yielding to such slanders (for they are
no better) an indiscreet and unfounded confidence.
t is false that Lord Grey, or Lord Grey's colleag u
will resign ; a:e least, until they have fought—
lost, which God forbid—another battle for Reform.
There are some admissions, which the rynot eager
advocates for the success of that great measure—
and we ourselves aspire to be so regaided—sorne
admissions, which we and they are called upon to
.Whe pe,asure is vast—is (in practice) new,
—involves tlisb, nvertinpw of much real (however
ill acquired, and worse exercised) powe-,-,--4.ects a
multitude of " vested" wrongs,—lays the axe
directly to the root of many sacred perversions
of public pritreVe,—exposes, in an immense
variety of instances, the un;;atural, though long-suf-
fered, confusion of names with things, eirhi,ehl
host of
they do not signify ;—there are, then, such a
timid ;tujge7eitts to be strengthened—of courtly max-
ims to be set aside, arael prejudices to be softened,—
there is so much ridicule to be zo.-.3batted, and such
a phentasm of " revolution" and other follies Lo 7,3 e
dissipated,—and, finally, selfishness in a tretnendous
diversity of forms has been zo deeply wounded and
provoked, that two years ago there was hardly a man
in England who would have had an imagination bold
enough to conceive the triumphant growth and pitch
to which Reform bas actually soared in
~thy council

chamber, the legiglature, mid throughout the country.
These were the difficulties which beset the qusation
when Lord Grey first recommended it to the Royal
favour, and when he received the gracious pledge of
an upright Prince that he would support his ser-
vants in the toil of carrying it through Parliament.
But these difficulties no longer exist. The breadth
and grandeur of the scheme propounded, which
4- split no differences," discarded all compromise, and
made a frank choice between the friends of freedom
and her foes,—these powerful characteristics of
Lord John Russell's Bill, gained at once the whole
flower of the nation. The fair dealers in constitu-
tional policy all acceded to it—the contrabandists
and plunderers only stood out. His Majesty was a
party to the Bill. It was submitted to him before
he pronounced his Royal declaration that it should
he brought before Parliament. His resolution to
persist in a measure founded on the same 'principles
was declared on proroguing the legislative body
last month. There was no qualification in the
Sovereign's tone or language,—as there is neither
duplicity nor cowardice in his character. So, after
the rejection of the second reading in the House of
Lords, Lord Grey made in his place a solemn pro-
mise, that "all the means" vested in Government
by the Constitution should be employed, if neces-
sary, to ensure the success of Reform ! These words
are irrevocable arid decisive. Well, then, why
are the people of England not yet quite without
uneasiness ? The King's word has ever been invio-
late: Lord Grey's not less so. The public, there-
fore, are far from entertaining suspicions derogatory
to the faith on which they have been encouraged to
rely. But accidents are fearful disturbers of human
calculations, and all delays are full of them. With-
out the slightest impeachment, of Lord Grey's in-
tegrity, the country is terror-stricken lest, through
some mere casualty abroad or at home, producing a
change of things or persons, and wholly tinpreme•
ditated by Lord Grey, his Lordship might not have
the same power of redeeming his engagements to
the people of England, as great energy and expedi-
tion would secure to him. Again, the employment
of those " constitutional means" for removing diffi-
culties in the way of the Bill, which was distinctly
promised by the Prime Minister, and ,which must
be supposed to have contemplated nothing else but
a certain exercise of the Royal prerogative, given
for no other purpose but that the Sovereign might
amend, partially or extensively, the constitution of the
House of Peers,—that employment of such means
the benefit of which, by the way, looks beyond
the mere business of any single session, might
not be above, or exempt from, fhe reach of accident,
unless it were resorted to diligently and in due sea-
son. Then the skill, the cunning, the tricks, the
ever•varying and indefatigable devices of the Anti-
Reform faction ! Do they form no fair topic of
anxiety, or of importunate alarm ? To-morrow will
bring forth a Gazette—the only regular Gazette day
before the 22d. Let us hope, therefore, to find in
that Gazette an announcement of the day on which
Parliament meets " for the despatch of business ;"
and let us hope confidently, that it will be an early
day. Much, very much, depends on the alacrity for
" business," conveyed by that official paper. The
course of proceedings in the House of Commons,
and the result of them, so far as that House is con-
cerned—which last we have been taught to look for
before Christmas—may give the Peers an opportu-
nity for ascertaining the scantiness of their own real
power ; and if evidence should appear that they do
not mean to profit by self-examination, then, at
least, we presume, there will be no " ignorant im-
patience" in demanding a creation of Peers.—Tinnes.'
We described yesterday the efforts making in
France by the Bourbon faction to convince the world
that they have the numerical majority of the people
on their side, and that in any appeal to the nation
by universal suffrage they could calculate on a
triumph of power. This assertion they illustrate
and support by a great variety of facts, some of
which are irrelevant and others exaggerated, but
which deserve to be taken into the account in form-
ing an idea of the present situation of the French
Government. It may perhaps be remembered, that
tiering the discussions on the electoral law last
spring, though a great variety of opinion prevailed
as to the amount of the requisite qualification for
electoral privileges, none of the Liberal Members of
the Chamber proposed to reduce the census below
150 francs, or to abolish it altogether. This amount
of direct taxation—consisting of imposts on land,
houses, furniture, or trading licences—presupposes
a considerable degree of ease, if not of affluence,
though not a great fortune, among the large classes
of landed proprietors, capitalists, merchants, manu-
facturers, or shop-keepers, who bear its burdens, or
enjoy its privileges. Formerly, when the qualifica-
tion was 300 franc., a body of only abent 80,000
electors was formed out of a population of 30,000,000
—and the widest range which was contemplated to
the number of voters under the new law was
200,000. No Member proposed to reduce the qua-
lification to a hundred francs except old Lafayette,
who, full of American freedom and universal suffrage,
desired to pursue his principles of liberty and equa.
lity at home to all their consequences, and did not
see that what suited well a new trans-Atlantic de-
mocracy might not exactly accommodate itself to an
old European monarchy. When the venerable
General proposed that a smaller census than 200
francs should be adopted, or that something like
universal suffrage should be granted, all the Mem-
bers of the Liberal Club, to which he belonged, as-
sured him that if the common people were admitted
to vote, he and his present colleagues would lose
their elections. The obvious inference from this
fact, or rather this apprehension is, that in the pro-
vince, the working or laborious classes, which con-
stitute the chief portion of the community, do not
partake the sentiments of the suburbs of Paris, and
if admitted to electoral rights, they might be acted
upon by influences opposed in the present state of
the representation, and the existing order of things.
In the course of last session the Chamber of Dr.pti-
ties passed a law for regulating Municipal Admire-
strations,—a law which enables the inhabitants or
communes on a low qualification to elect their own
councils. In some placrs, the Councillors tiers
elected are said to be Carlists,—and in others, the
elections have been suspended by order of the Go-
vernment, from an apprehension that the majority of
the Council would be hostile to the existing order.
This is dwelt upon by the writers of Carlist pamph-
lets and journals as another evidence of the strength
of their party, and of the wide diffusion of their
opinions. It consequently appears to them to warrant
the inference that a more extended suffrage or a
general appeal to the nation would promote their
cause. The elections of officers for the National
Guard by the National Guards themselves may be
regarded as nearly popular. It is ascertained that
the persons enrolled in this defensive and civic force
amount to about a million and a half. The advocates
for universal suffrage, including the Royalists, point
out this national militia as an electoral body ready
made. At any rate it may be supposed that it
speaks the national sentiment, diversified by
local partialities, by variety of pursuits, and by
peculiar attachments or influences,--better than
a more limited and select body, taken chiefly from
one class of society, and disaiegeished by one
uniform =cruet of fortune. Now this force la said
in many cases to select royalists for their officers,
and it is an indisputable fact, that some Liberal De-
putiee who were returned by several electoral col-
leges at the some could not obtain the suf-
frages of their own comrades for a command in their
own legion. This is relied upon by the Carlist
writers, as another evidence that by a more ex-
tended ;:ijlit of voting their cause would rather
prosper than suffer. sin tlae south and the west
there has existed, for several
civil dissension,--a repugnance to the restraints of
roontha peat, a state of
fallen dynaaty eed the supporters of existing order,
law, and an hostility between the partisans of the
—which has sometimes bro:en out into acts of
tumult, and is always menacing some public out-
rage or disturbance. In those departments the ig-
norance and superstition of the great body of the
people is profotind, and in exact proportion is their

disaffection to Louis Philip, and their tsudeney to
disorder. In soma places, such as at Marseilles,
and other towns in the south, the priests and reli-
gious orders are stronger than the liberal magic-
traces. Battles have accordingly taken place at
religious processions, or even in consecrated edifices,
in which vic-ory has declared for the disaffected fa•
moles. Allow the curate, the friar, or the bishop,
to direct the consciences of such a people in the
disposal of their political trusts,—a result which
would occur under a more general suffrage,—and it
is easy to foresee what kind of Deputies would be
sent to the Legislature. Such is another alleged
proof that the Carlists might expect more from an
appeal to the mass of the nation than to the exist-
ing electoral body, who are either, by their infidel
principles, or their more cultivated understandings,
above ecclesiastical influence, or monkish delusions.
It is a striking fact, as connected with this view of
the subject, that M. de Villele and the body of
Royalist Deputies who fought under his banners
before he became a Minister, always argued for a
more general suffrage than was admitted by the
300 francs qualification, on the ground that an ex-
tension of suffrage would be favourable to the cause
of the royal Es. But in order to realise their Uto-
pian schemes of legitimate government, and to re-
concile their theory of universal suffrage with a
Bourbon monarchy, the Gazette de France and its
partisans are obliged to forget that France has un-
dergone several revolutions and many changes of
Government within the last 40 years,—that the
provincial and even the parish land-mark has been
effaced by the plough of political innovation,—that
the powers of the State have been centralized, and
cannot be immediately dispersed over their former
surface,—that there are now no Parliaments, no
rich hierarchy, and no directing noblesse,—and that
therefore no elements exist for an assembly like that
of the States-General (elected on their principles),
at the commencement of the first revolution. In
order to prevent confusion in taking their votes,
and to obtain their universal opinion free from
all popular impurities, they are obliged to make
the parish or cointnane their unit, and to strain
their representation through numerous degrees of
election. The parishes (if we understand them
right) would elect delegates to form an assembly of
the canton, the cantons would elect Deputies for the
arrondissement, and the arrondissements for the de-
partment, or (which they would prefer) the pro-
vince. Thus, as the curate and the little noblesse
of the locality could influence the election of the
parish delegates, it is supposed that the whole re
presentation would retain a tinge of its religious and
aristocratic origin. Such is a brief account of the
present principles and visions of the most intelli-
gent portion of the Bourbon Press in France.
Though they may not appear very practicable, they
deserve to be known in this country as the creed of
a party to which they have given a popularity
lately increased by the pamphlet of M. de Chateau-
briand ; and they cannot be altogether overlooked in
any estimate which we might otherwise be led to
form of the stability and duration of the existing
dynasty.—Times.
The Brougham Gazette, under the instructions
and aided by the pen (if internal evidence is of any
value in tracing compre4tions to their author) of its
Noble and Learned Master, is exposing the politics
of the Ministerial faction with a clearness and per-
spicuity which, considering what these politics are,
partake but little of discretion. The present policy
of this crew of traitors seems to be to threaten,
intimidate, and coerce the King; its design for the
future, should its menaces prove, as they will prove,
unsuccessful, to stigmatise, revile, and traduce him.
From a long article in the Times of Tuesday, all
tending to the same purpose, we extract, as a proof
that we deal in no gratuitous assertions, the follow-
ing exquisite specimen of insolence, disloyalty, and
cunning:—
"It is dreadful, if the 'Ministers be not themselves
discouraged—it is, we say, dreadful that the nation
should be kept gratuitously in this mournful and distract-
ing doubt. Let then the Noble Lords bring matters to a
point at once. Should the opposition to deceive mea-
sures rest with a great personage, let the merit of it be a
merit (and if not, his Majesty wilt soon be made aware of
it)—let the merit of a refusal to carry Reform through the
House of Peers lie upon the proper shoulders. The Mi-
nistry owe this to their own honour as Patriots and
Statesmen."
It is impossible to read this passage, knowing
the quarter whence it proceeds, without perceiving
that it is now time for all honest men and loyal sub-
jects to rally round the Sovereign, and to protect
him from the attacks meditated against his cha-
racter and dignity by his own immediate servant,.
The King will not, it seems, permit the British
Pei rage to be degraded by the Introduction into its
ranks of all the scum of Whiggery, whom a despe-
rate and falling party would recommend to this
elevation, not for the purpose of carrying the It --
form Bill, for this they know to be hopeless, not-
withstanding any creation upon which even the
Whig Ministers would venture, but for the purpose
of enfeebling the Monarchy, and embarrassing every
future Administration for a long series of years.—
His Majesty will not lend himself to the Whig pro-
ject of di-gracing the Peerage, and anticipating the
strength and resources of the Monarchy, by letting
at once into the House of Lords a flood of adven-
turers and revolutionists ; and for this refusal he
to be punished, by being held up to popular indigna-
tion as the enemy of Reform, as the treacherous ail(
inconsistent Monarch, who has deceived his Mini-
sters, and disappointed his people, as the sole ob-
stacle to the gratification of a wish which Ministers
and their partisans have laboured diligently, and
still labour, however, unsuccessfully, to inspire.—
The present game of the Whig Ministers is one
of which Earl Grey at least ought to know the
danger. lie cannot have forgotten that once before
he attempted to traduce the Sovereign, whom he
had first endeavoured in vain to defraud and betray ;
nor can it have escaped his recollection that the
worthy device of casting blame from his own
shoulders to those of his Royal Mater proved
in that instance singularly unfortunate. Earl
Grey, it is evident, is still the same man,
as untaught by experience, bitter as Itt was, and
durable as were the effects of his conduct in every
mind but his own. Again is he surrounded by a
congenial body of colleagues, and supported by a
Press eminently worthy of him and of them. Why
should we doubt that William the Fourth will dis-
play the same manly dignity and resolution, the
same patriotic disregard of rabble censure, the same
superiority to ministerial treachery which shone so
conspicuously in the conduct of his Royal father ?
That the people of England will now as then mani-
fest the loyal and devoted attachment which is due
to their Sovereign, and the contempt and hatred of
deception and ingratitude which are due to them-
selves, them• can be no doubt whatever. The King,
whatever opinion he may entertain of the necessity
of a Reform of the house of Commons, or whatever
attachment he may have formed to the Whig Mi-
nistry and their selfish Bill, will not for the sake of
either consent so to employ his prerogative as to
destroy the independence, vitiate the character,
abrogate the functions, and thus prepare the way for
the speedy abolition of the hereditary branch of the
Legislature. This at least we should, in any cir-
tamistances, have held it our duty to believe of our
Sovereign until the contrary had been proved by
events; but we cannot conceal the satisfaction with
which we derive a confirmation of our faith from the
rancour with which his Majesty is now assailed by
the enemies of every established institution. We
see plainly by the language we have quoted from
the leading Ministerial Journal what course his Ma-
jesty's present advisers intend to pursue on their re-
tirement from alike. But we hope the friends of
Earl Grey will counsel him that no Statesman in
this COuntry can twice in his life find refuge under
the plea, that in a high matter of state he and his
Royal Master have misunderstood each other. The
Miniver is responsible indeed to Parliament and the
country that there shall be no such misunderstand-
ing, and in asserting or insinuating the existence of
what he was bound to prevent ha would but seal, as
the Noble 1;arl sealed ones before, hie own eon-

disonation. Did Earl Grey throw tha,
civil strife, his Reform Bill, into the
peaceful community in the ignorant
that he could persuade, or overrule, or
existing Peerage to adopt it ? And it
ranee and rashness may not justly be
him, did he take for granted, or had he
express or implied, that the Sovereign;
need, would create a Peerage more st
views? Should Earl Grey, or anybed,
half, venture to insinuate the forfeiture
pledge, it is certain that the whole cow
as incredulous now a; the Noble Earl ha
fortune to find it on a former similar occx
should it appear, on the other hand,
the flexibility of the Sovereign in a rail
grave importance to be a thing of cours
acquit him of incorrigible folly arid pi
arrogance ?---Morning Post.