The Sun.
London, England, 1831-03-03 00:00:00

SPIRIT OP THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

The Reform Bill--the Ministerial Reform Bill—we
may even add the Royal Reform till—is now before the
country. It will he e: bseryed, too, that with the peculiar
privilege which is said to belong to the measures of an
thee:lute Monarchy only, the secret was kept till the blow
was struck; and then. indeed, writ those against whom
it was levelled, or whore tesistante Was most to be appre-
hended, overwhelettA With surprise, and confoUnded with
dismay. They did not expect it ! To its it appears that
the Tonion are more infatuated than that wretched creature
w ho is now shut tip in lttolyrood-house, alter having over- '
thrown the fortames of his family by his blind adherence j
to obsotete prejudices, if they do° not rated; at Lord John
Russell's plan, and embrace it at a God-send for preeerv-
ing the tranquillity of the country. The ineAtinre is a
hold and consprehensive one, no doubt ; but look at the
principles from which it starts, and the facts upon which
it is founded ; and if shy one can deduce more moderate
and restricted consequences from such premises) we
shall be content to join his party. !:t its impoa-
srole that the rotten boroughs thould stand. That
may be laid down es ta axiom so clear and as-
sured, that the :tan is a fool—an absolute fool—who
denies i', Then what are you to do With the 120
elnbers who now most scardalously enter Parliament
from those boroughs ? Von must either dock Parliament
by so many ire:ethers, or distribute them somewhere ;
and how trey can he better distributed than over large
counties and into large towns, we 'tally do not know;
and this distribution is all thS.l the Bill now before Par-
liament aims at effecting. The next mischief to he re-
moved is the Zsc travag ant expense of elections. It is im-
poseibte that they should continue! It is not a matter of
choice, or suggestion of policy, that the expences of elec-
tions should be reduced—it is stern and uncontrollable ne-
cessity, or there were an end of elections and of fit men
serving in Parliament altogether; and bow was this to he
dope but by some such measure as Lord John Russell's
Ein ? It does not prescribe the ballot as remedy,
for which some men hare been so clamorous ; but if
it provides a sebetitnte for that hazardous and degrading
experiment, Which otherwise must be tried—if, with
litth comparative expense, it preserves the relation
between the electors and the elected, and so keeps up
the responsibility of the latter to his constituents, we
think that it effects a great good, and preserves the
country from a gulf already opened and gaping before
it, of which no one can see the depth. Such is the Bill
now before Parliament, and which we assert has given
such an electric pleasure to all who have heard of it. But
still we are aware that its merits are be tried there where
the evils which it would correct are in full force. Our
correspondents, therefore, ask how the public is " to call
for and press it forward," as we recommended yesterday?
We answer, by instantly crowding the House with prayers
and petitions for the Bill—by public meetings recommend-
ing its adoption. An illumination was talked of yesterday
in the cities of London and Westminster, to commemorate
its introduction, and as a pledge of its success. We have no
objection to that, but in any case let the people in every
possible constitutional way show their respect for the friends
of the Bill, and their aversion to its enemies. It was as-
serted yesterday, and denied, that the House of Commons
had lost the confidence of the people. There is, unquestion-
ably, in that House a vast mass of respectability ; but how
can it be denied that an assembly, in which seats are bought
and sold as openly as standings for bullocks in Smithfield—
in which many Members sit in a capacity no better than
that of servants to rich Noblemen,--must he tainted with
such infamies? It may he said,—and the fact is no doubt
true,—that the greatest scamps in the House are ordinarily
the result of popular elections, and not of nominations.
But it must he observed, in reply, that Lord John Rus-
sell's Bill tends to raise, not to lower, the qualification
necessary for the exercise of the elective franchise. The
Radicals are content with it; the Tories must be mad not
to catch at it as a boon—to seize it as a refuge from greater
evils. We cannot close these remarks without making
some reference to a jacobinical assertion of Lord Ellenbo-
rough's,—that his sinecure office, the emoluments of which
consist of fees extorted from the pockets of poor suitors
in the Court where his father once presided, is as good
property as the hereditary estates of other noblemen. Be-
ware of placing real property on so weak a foundation !
This is a retroactive —not argument, er it is devoid of
common sense, but—assertion of fearful consequences.
The people know what property is, and respect it : but
sinecure places, wrung from general or partial suffering,
and enjoyed by those who have done nothing to merit
them, are entitled to no respect. Do not attempt to con-
found the distinctions of wright and wrong in the minds
of the people.—Times.
The debate on the motion of Lord John Russell, for
leave to bring in his Reform Bill, is again adjourned. It
is difficult to describe the satisfaction which the announce-
ment of the measure has every where produced. Nothing
else was talked of yesterday. Whatever opposition to the
measure there may be in the House, it would have been
difficult to discover any out of doors. The opponents of
the measure, of all grades, were in motion yesterday. A
meeting was held at Sir Edward Knatchbull's, attended
by seventy Members ; another meeting, of thirty Mem-
bers, was held at Sir Charles Wetherell's ; a meeting, of
fifteen, was held at Sir Robert Peel's. At these Conci-
liabules the course to be pursued in their opposition was
keenly and anxiously agitated. We understand it was de-
termined on, at all of them, not to oppose the introduction
of the Bill, though at first several Members were anxious
to make head at once against it, on the ground that, if not
crushed in the outset, the Press would produce such as im-
pression en the public, that it might no longer be possible
to withstand the evil. But the greater number thought that
a course like this would he held indicative of a determi-
nation not even to allow the measure a hearing, and that
it might create a spirit in the people still more dangerous
than that produced by the press and the continued discus-
sions. Sir R. Peel has a difficult card to play, and we
understand his party were not exceedingly edified by his
counsels. It is easy, in fact, for Sir Charles to rant and
roar like another Bottom; for being as high on the ladder
of ambition as he ever can be, words are nothing to him.
But Sir Robert may be pardoned for having an eye to of-
fice hereafter ; and one 'false move at a time like this,
may be of immense consequence. To be opposed to Re-
form, at a time when ninety-nine in a hundred of the na-
tion are for it, is no trifling matter. No time is to be
lost by the public in coming forward in such a manner
as shall leave no doubt as to the general wish. We
are glad to perceive that a meeting of the parish of St.
Andrew, Holborn, is to be held this day, to express
approbation of the conduct of Ministers. A requisi-
tion, numerously signed, by men of all parties, has
been presented to the Lord Mayor, and a similar re-
quisition for a meeting in Westminster has also been
numerously signed. These examples will be followed
without loss of time throughout the whole country. If
the people wish their interests to he protected, they must
support those who combat in their behalf. Let the re-
presentatives of corrupt interests know what it is to op-
pose themselves to the honest endeavours of a Monarch
and his Ministry to satisfy the just expectations of an en-
lightened nation. We have hitherto heard no one good
argument against the motion. That the nominees of
the borough p itrons should be hostile to any Reform which
disfranchises the places whence they derive their conse-
quence is hardly to be wondered at. The amusing part of
the business is to hear those representatives, with the
utmost possible solemnity, declaring that they are utterly
uninfluenced by their personal interests on the occasion.
" It might he said (observed Lord Darlington) that he
was himself one of the aggrieved parties by the measure
under consideration that night—perfectly true ;
but did it not thence fallow that he was in-
competent to form a right judgment upon the
matter at issue ? He should deem himself utterly un-
worthy of a seat in that House were he capable of being
influenced by such considerations." In the countries in
which Judges take bribes, we can conceive them protesting
with equal solemnity that they should despise themselves
were they to allow their decision to be influenced by any
present they might receive. How illiberal to suppose
that a man is not a fit judge in his own cause ! It is
told of Montesquieu, that having quarrelled with a certain
Abbe, he went round their common circle, cautioning
them not to believe what, slither he or the Abbe said of
each other, as they were enemies. This, according to
Lord Darlington was a basedistrust, highly discredit-
able to him who manifested it. Hitherto no good argu-
ment has been urged against the measure by its oppo-
nents. They like the present state of the representa-
tion, but they can lay down no principle as the test
of the goodness of that representation which is so
much the subject of their admiration. If that which
exists is to be deemed good, merely because it
exists, we should have no reformation of any abuse
whatever. We ought to have some principle surely to
guide us in determining how a nation ought to be repre-
sented. Air. Horace Twiss dislikes the middle classes.
Ought they then to be excluded from all influence in return-
ing Members ? Another Member dislikes the proposed
plan, because, though under it property of the people of
England, real and personal, will be represented, it will
afford no opening to Indian Nabobs, or retired slave-
drivers, who may be ambitious of the honour of a seat.
Another says, how will the political Swiss of the country
find an entrance into the House ? To be returned
by an independent constituency, supposes a candidate to

enjoy their esteem on account of his talents and virtues ;
but what is to become of those whose talents and virtues
remain to be discovered ? One would think that the
protection of the liberties and property of a nation
is the only object for which a t- presentation is not re-
quire& Na), Sir Robert Inglis seemed to wish to
argue, that the less the representation was connected
with the nation, the more it approached to perfection.
Mr. aceordint tt him, had said, that if they
leaked at the map of England, and saw a place that
was not represented now, it was certain that it was a
place of no importance when the system of the represen-
tation of the country bad !Seen formed. He (`sir Robert),
however, thought', :that if they examined the subject, they
would find that this was not the case. And why was it
•
not tae case ? Let us hear Sir Robert. " What was it
that had first induced the Sovereigns of this country io
call a Parliament together ? It was because they wanted
men and money to carry en their wars." This was an
excellent ceases, ef course for their leaving out populous
places and selecting places with few inhabitants. Had a
Parliament been first called in oar times, by a Sovereign
in want of men and money, he would have assuredly taken
care to leave out Manchester, Birmingham, and Leeds.
Our ancient Sovereigns would have been delighted with
such a state of representation as we now possess. The
good sense of the people of this country will secure them
against attempts to reach their understandings by such ar-
guments. Once more we will call on the people to bear in
mind who they are who are now trying the question of
their own fitness to represent them. We need say no
more.—Morning Chronicle.

We are not disposed to attach much importance to the
arguments against the plan of Parliamentary Reform
brought forward by Lord John Russell of such reasoners
as Sir Robert Inglis, inasmuch as the burden (and griev-
ous it seemed to the House) of his speech was, that the
mode of electing Members to the British Parliament al-
ways has been corrupt, is corrupt, and, therefore, must
ever remain corrupt. The only security, according to Sir
Robert Inglis and Mr. Horace Twiss, for the liberties of
the people of England, is in the perpetual sale of meats in
the House of Commons by the proprietors of some
boroughs; and in the never-ending bribery of the voters
in others—in short, that it is impossible for property to
retain its due influence, except through the means of
money illegally paid and received. Now, however
anxious we are for an extensive change in the application
of the principles upon which the British Monarchy is
founded to the constitution of the House of Corn-
mons, we should he slew to assent to any plan
which destroyed the proper influence of the higher
classes of society in that House. Without the re-
presentation of those classes, and their proprietary in-
terests, in that House, such a frequent occurrence of
differences on legislative questions might be anticipated be-
tween the Houses of Lords and Commons as would mate-
rially, if not fatally, obstruct the course of public affairs ;
but we feel assured that the plan of Reform proposed by
the Government doss not involve any such consequence.
Nay, we go further, and we believe that the legitimate
influence of property and local connection will be unim-
paired, and that, in many cases, the individuals through
whom that influence is now exerted will be unaffected by
the contemplated alteration. We put the following real
case to our readers, and we feel convinced that there are
many others. Suppose a town with 4,000 inhabitants,
now sending two Members to Parliament, the right of
voting being burgage tenure, the number of burgesses be-
tween one hundred and fifty and two hundred—a landed
proprietor in the neighbourhood owns four-fifths of the
houses in the town giving the right of voting, and conse-
quently nominates the Members—the burgage houses
are inhabited by persons of the middling class,
in easy circumstances, who therefore exercise con-
siderable influence over the class immediately below
them, with whom the transactions of business brings
them into daily contact—the individual of whom the
Members are now in truth nominees further owns the
greater part of the lands in the immediate vicinity of the
town, portions of which are indispensable to the inhabi-
tants—what will be the condition of the representation of
this town, under the proposed change? Is it to be con-
tended that the occupiers of the houses in the town will
lose all consideration for their landlord ? Is it to be sup-
posed that the other inhabitants, who are tenants of plots
of ground in the neighbourhood, will feel indifferent to the
goodwill of the same landlord? On the contrary, does it
not consist with probability—nay, with positive experi-
ence, that the recommendations of an individual pos-
sessing such power over the convenience of the leading
persons among the middling classes, and over the ne-
cessities of the lower, will still be predominant ? We
will also ask whether the addition made to the county
Members is not, in fact, an augmentation of the just
influence of the landed proprietors? Look at the lists of
the county Members for the last century. Do we not
find in those lists names belonging to all that is vene-
rable from antiquity, and powerful from property, in the
country ; and does not this plan, so objected to for its
subversion of the balance of the Constitution, add nume-
rically 5t names to that class by which the interests of
the Upper House are virtually represented in the House
of Commons ? The British Monarchy would change its
distinctive character if the influence of large property
were not felt in the House of Commons ; but the Bri-
tish Constitution does not recognise the specific nomi-
nating authority of a few proprietors, and still less does
it essentially require a perpetual rated traffic in the votes of
electors. The Members of the present House of Commons
are, doubtless, called upon to make great sacrifices of
their personal interests ; but as extensive Reform must
come at last, is it not more honourable, as well as more
politic, to adopt a plan that has received the sanction
of the Monarch, and has been brought forward by a
Government largely composed of the Aristocracy of the
country, than to disappoint and disgust the people of
England by a rejection, resting upon arguments essen •
tinily untenable, and only rendered plausible by an enu-
meration of fortunate accidents. The populace of Rome,
we learn from Cicero, were not insensible to the maxim
46 IN valet salus plus quani libido." Let not the Tories
of England be less wise.—.Morniny Herald.