The Sun.
London, England, 1831-04-23 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS,

The King, in exercising his just prerogative to
dissolve Parliament, hag given an unquestionable
proof of his sincerity in the cause of Reform. Had
he been content to prorogue the Houses by com-
mission the act would have refuted the slanderous
reports which the supporters and advocates of a
corrupt sys•ern of representation disseminated to his
prejudice, as being a Monarch capable of disappoint-
ing, at the most eventful crisis of the country's
destinies, the reasonable expectations of his subjects.
His going inpersontoexecutethatnumeoh calumniousstimpor
important
moreoffice is than a refutation of
assertions—it is a rebuke to their authors. It is
also a renewed pledge to his faithful people of his
Majesty's earnest de':ermination to consummate the
great work of political regeneration which, under his
Royal auspices, has been so happily begun. His
Majesty has not only vindicated the honour and
dignity of the Crown—he has done his duty to the
country. It remains for the country to give effect
to the wishes of a patriot King by doing its duty to
itself. Its destinies, as far as they depend on human
efforts, are now in its own hands. The people are
now called upon, wherever they have a voice in the
return of representatives, to exercise with wisdom,
discernment, and integrity, that great privilege.
They are called upon, by every sense of duty
which they owe themselves and their children, to
seize the present opportunity of securing the peace-
able triinneh of their constitutional rights, by send-
ing men into Parliament who shall stand pledged to
the great measure of Reform, which is calculated to
fix the throne upon a firmer basis than ever, while it
restores the energies of a free Constitution. If they '
lose the present opportunity, it may be long, indeed, '
until such another occurs. With a most popular
• King, and his Ministers favourable to an extensive
and efficient plan of Reform, nothing can prevent
the complete success of the people but their being
false to themselves. Let each man exert himself as
if the fate of the country were involved in his indi-
vidual exertions, for on the ensuing elections depend
the future fame, happiness, strength, and prosperity
of this great empire. As in many places the peoplc •
have no share in the choice of those who obtain
seats in the great Council of the nation, it be-
comes the more necessary for them to be zealous
and indefatigable in securing the return of enligh- -
tened and honest men in all places where the mono-
poly of the few has not absorbed the privileges of the
many, and where long usurpation has not turned the
elective franchise into a mockery. It has often
happened that the people, in asserting their own
just rights in this country, have been under the un-
pleasant necessity of opposing the wishes of the
Sovereign; or of coming into adverse collision with
the Ministers of the Crown. If the present crisis
has its anxieties, it has also the peculiar felicity '
of presenting the interesting and sublime spec-
tacle of a people and a Ministry making a united
assault upon the strong holds of corrtvtion un- •
der the guidance of the Monarch himself. How
different from the scenes presented at this mo-
ment in many nations of the Continent, where the
Sovereign and the people are in a state of mutual
jealousy or open conflict, and where the advisers of
the Crown continually inculcate the disastrous doc-
trine that there is no security for the Royal prero-
gative but in the destruction of popular rights.
Great will be the moral impression that will pervade
the country, from the prompt and energetic act of
William the Fourth, in dissolving a Parliament hos-
tile to Reform, and elected under the auspices of
the late Administration. The Royal motto, "Dien
et mon droll" is applicable to the contest in which
the people are now engaged, and should be inscribed
on their banners. By establishing the right of a
free representation, they will save the Crown as
well as the country from the power of an oligarchy
that has equally domineered over the prerogative of
the one arid the liberties of the other.—Morning
Herald.

It is impossible to describe the joy produced yes-
terday by the intelligence that his Majesty was pro-
ceeding to the Parliament to prorogue it with a view
to diskolution. Every man you met was loud iit
the expression of his satisfaction at a result so in-
dispensably necessary to the carrying the great mea-
sure on which the hearts of the people are set. The
perusal of the report of the proceedings of Thurs-
day night had filled the people with great disgust at
the desperate conduct of the vile faction on this oc-
casion. But if there was joy without, within the
walls of Parliament very different passions dis-
played themselves. The rage of some of the Mem-
bers of both Houses burst through all restraint. The
speeches of the mortified anti-Reformers were frantic
ravings, and the action in most cases corresponded to
the language. In the House of Peers, Noble Lords so
far forgot themselves as actually to clench their fists at
each other.lf we are not misinformed, too, even Majesty
itself was insulted, by the looks and gestures of
some of these ill-bred Senators. The tenor of the
speeches delivered by the anti-Reformers was not,
certainly, calculated to serve them much with the na-
tion. Amidst all the fury and raving of the speakers
or both Houses, traces of previous concert were,
however, discernible. Thus it has been discovered
that something more is necessary for the people than
alarm for the Church, and regret that the power of
the Crown to pension should not be unlimited. Lord
Mansfield in the House of Lords, and Sir R. Vy-
vyan in the Commons, tried to frighten the national
creditors. " Why," said Lord Mansfield (this No-
bleman modestly accused Ministers of incapacity !),
" did they want a reformed House of Parliament ?
To gratify, they said, the people. But what did
the petitions of the people pray for? They prayed
indeed for a Reform of Parliament, but they prayed
for it for that which they expected it would give
them. Their desire, in the first instance, was to
have a reduction of taxes, which they knew could
not take place without a previous reduction of the
national debt; next, the reduction of sinecures;
next, the reduction of salaries; and next, the appro-
priation of that species of property which has
hitherto been called church property, to an entirely
different purpose." Sir Richard Vyvyan more than
once brought the national debt on the carpet. "He
would conclude (he observed on one occasion), by
avowing it as his decided conviction, that if they
were permitted to carry their Bill, all funded pro-
perty would become unsafe. Tithes would be de-
voted to confiscation—the House of Lords would be
betrayed, and the Crown itself shaken from the
head of the Sovereign." This is miserable trash.
The Reform Bill will protect property and not en-
danger it. The constituency to whom that Bill
will give power are in every county the
most cautious and the most interested in
the security of property. The national creditors
are not stupid enough to be the dupes of this non-
sense. Sir Richard Vyvyan admitted, that the
object of his party, on Thursday night, was to
stop the passing of the estimates. They have re-
ceived the proper reward of their faction, which an
indignant country will know how to estimate. The
tirade of Sir Robert Peel on the dangers of the
country, and the inability of Ministers to meet these
dangers, was ludicrous enough, considering the state
in which Ministers received from him the two
islands. Was net the word revolution in every
mouth when he abdicated the helm ? And did he
not pitifully whine out his lamentation that nothing
could be done by Government to put down the dis-
turbances in the• South and West of England ? The
people are now full of hope, fully employed, and
even Ireland is at politicaliy disturbed. No Mini-
sters can prevent a people suffering from famine
from being disturbed ; but the disturbances are local.
It well becomes these men to talk of inefficiency !
Morning Chronicle.

Again we invoke the electors of the United
Kingdom—and united it is in one resolution to de-
pose and exterminate the borougbmongers—to de-
vote their bodies and minds to the accomplishment
of our political regeneration. Every man must act
d
iiiisidtihvoidnuguhl
et
xheertif
oiantsio.naNl
vsealsin•atuisotri
noetpende
over.d oraten
the
power of the people, or tinder-rate the influence •
and vicious spirit of the borougbniongers. True

it is, that the corruptionists regard the proclama- but firmly, and without the least loss of presence
Lion of dissolution as the grave-stone of their of mind, persisted in his motion. Lord Londonderry
power ; they see in it the close of their existence ; .igain, though at least six of his friends (among
it is the bottomless pit of their perdition. The e horn was Lord Salisbury) tried to hold him down
awful and sullen silence in which they received the by the arms and skirts of. his coat, started on his
announcement of their majority on Wednesday legs, and in a tone of fury, and darting himself
morning, as twilight receded before the rising of across the table as if he woeld strike the Duke of
the sun, demonstrated their fears of success. De- Richmond, exelainned, " What, then, the Noble
feat was ruin; victory might be equally destructive. Duke is to be the hero of this coup d'elat ?" At
Stretched on the rack of this excruciating instru- this moment the Lord Chancellor entered and took
went of torture—the Reform Bills—the borough- his seat. Lord Mansfield denounced al Atrocious
mongers knew not which way to save their lives. and unprecedented the conduct or Ministers in ade
The passing the Ministerial measure was certain vising the King to dissolve the Parliament under
death to the political hueksterers; the rejection of present circumstances. The Lord Chancellor, in a
it might afford a ray of hope, if not a gleam of ulti- Intel firm voice, and with great energy of manner,
mate safety. As the desperate gambler casts the exclaimed, " What ! unprecedented' for a King of
last die, so the adversaries of the people were forced England to exerrise his undoubted prerogative of
to run all hazards. The cit kof Regulus was corn- dissolving the Parliament, when the Hoese o' Com-
fort compared with the agonies of their situation. mono, in a manner unparalleled in the Most factious
To the last moment, deceived by bast-minded periods of English liistoto:-, have stopped the sup-
courtiers, and bewiled by political women, they plies ?" This tel4ignant exclamation was re-
trusted to the wily plots laid to seduce tie eeived with loud cheers, but the opposition party
King from his courage and integrity. Even when seem vociferous in exclamations against the. Mi-
the momentary discharge of guns, in successive 1 sisters. The King having by this time arrived in
peals of thunder, announced the advent of hie Ma- the robing room, the Lord Chaineellor left the House.
jesty to save the nation, the wretched dupes still Lord Shaftesbury was again voted into the Chair,
doubted the horrible reality. The Gazettealone this amidst a scene of confusion and tumult that rivalled
day can satisfy numbers of their political bankruptcy. the noisiest election mob. Certninly no blows were
Many regarded prorogation as a ruse. A few short given, but the most viol.ent tones and jestures were
months have intervened since the Duke of \Veiling- every where visible, and not even the presence of a
ton vaunted the perfectibility of the represents- great number of Peeresses seemed to have the
tion. A few days only since Sir R. Peel flattered slightest effect on the passions of this dignified
himself that he could produce a pocket Reform to branch of the Legislature. Lord Whatincliffe at
smooth the public mind. Miserable was the idea, length moved his resolution, and was followed by
despicable the false spirit in which he has cunningly Lord Mansfield in a speech of extraordinary vehe-
opposed the cause of the people. His maledictions 'Deuce, which did not cease even when the King had
against Journalism and Democracy remind us of the entered they House, nor until he was mounting the
maniac raving against his keepers. The sun of his Throne. The King, wtele in the robing-room,
political power has set never to rise more; he can asked what was doing in the House, and on being
no longer make himself the drag-chain of the State told, was observed to assume a resolute air and look.
machine. A new patent has superseded his super- The crown was about to be put on, when he took
annuated instruments of Government. Europe has it from the °Meer, saving—" I will put on my crown
burst the chains of despotism with which the Duke myself,." He then, with a firm decided step, walked
of Wellington, Sir Robert Peel, and her prede- into the House, where the uproar was still proceed-
cessors had manacled her spirit. The borough- ing : even some of the anti-reforming state officers
mongers are irretrievably undone. Sir Robert Peel about his Majesty were heard to exclaim against the
became frantic with the vision ef futurity. In The tlTsgraceful insult offered to the King in the exer-
School for Scandal, Joseph Surface exclaims to rise of his prerogative. The King, however,
Mrs. Candour, " I am afraid his circumstances like all men of real mettle, was only the firmer in
are very bad, Ma'am." Mrs. Candour re- proportion to the violence of his enemies. He
plies, " Ah! I heard so—but you must tell calmly took his seat : the House was shamed into
him to keep up his spirits; every body almost is silence. The speech was then read by his Ma-
in the same way—Lord Spindle, Sir Thomas Splint, jesty, and it was read in a tone of firmness and dig-
Captain Quinze, and Mr. Niekitt—all up, I hear, nifled emphasis, particularly the clause relating to
-within this week ; so if Sir Charles is undone, he'll the Bill, which indicated the unmoved purpose of
find half his acquaintance ruined too, and that, you soul, though he is known to have recently suffered
know, is some consolation !" Sir Robert Inglis, in from indisposition. Indeed, it is hardly possible
the spirit of a martyr, chaunted a funeral dirge over but that the exertions of mind, anxious to subject
the grave of the horoughmongers, Joseph Surface to its consideration every part of a most momentous
would fain believe in the possibility of a redemption question, and to come to a right decision on the
of his dying cause. Sir Robert Pea invokes the whole, must have worn the stoutest body. The
country. We invoke the electors to mark with speech will he found in its proper place—in the
scorn the desperate infatuation and pretences of Parliamentary report : we presume it is unexcep-
these men of desperate fortunes. Tt e King, the tionable ; for it is the act itself of dissolution, not
Ministry, the people, must prevail against rotten the form or the words in which it is conveyed, that
corporations, borough patrons, and venal intimidated has excited the wrath of the disaffected ; indeed the
voters. The flower of the aristocracy is with us, speech had not been heard, and was unknown,
though the bran is exceeding coarse. Every man, when the tumult was raised. But how proper, how
therefore, must hasten to the sacrifice of time, irate- just is the second clause,—the only one in which
rest, and labour. NVe repeat, that virtue must be the topic of dissolution, is handled : how unanswer-
the polar star of the approaching contest. Threats able its reasonings, " I have been induced to re-
must be despised, bribes scorned, devotion to the sert to this measure for the purpose of ascertaining
cause must universally ptevail. Above all, it must the sense of my people." And why may not the
ever be remembered in the election struggles, that King, we ask, appeal to his people, to ascertain their
to the honest representatives, supporters of Re- feelings on so important a question ? It were surely
form in the expired Parliament, we we the op- better to do so, than to experience their dissatisfac-
portunity of
_national emancipation. They must tion afterwards; for a people's discontent at last is
be protected, supported, shielded from the pillage of no trifle, even to a King, however some of those
elections. The first duty of the electors is, the spon- inferior persons may have braved it, who have now
taneous and hearty return of the old representatives monopolized the Royal favour, and plundered the
free of expence. The private fortunes of men must public treasure for so many years, that they consider
be respected, or the public will be deprived of their it as a robbery to deprive them of the free enjoy-
most trusty arid valuable servants. This is espe- meat of either. But we hope we may look for better
cially just and necessary in those instances, and times.—Tinnes.
they are numerous, where the old representatives,
It has been suggested that some memorial of a
voting different ways, necessitates the introduction
people's gratitude should be raised on the present
of a third man, to depose the evil-doer. The ho-
nest candidate must be held harmless of cost. In
occasion to the patriot King, who has referred it—
Le;cester, Mr. Evans must not be visited with so far as those abuses which it is meant to correct
the punishment of Sir Charles Having's- Lord Al- will suffer it to be referred—to the British nation,
thorp, in the county of Northampton, must be hc- whether it will have a reformed or a corrupt House
nourable and cheaply returned. In Warwick, Mr. of Commons—a legislative body purely chosen by
Tomes must not share the penalties about to be in- ,lie people, or one nominated in part by the Peers.
flirted on Sir Charles Greville, In Warwickshire, The money might soon be raised. What shall the
Mr. Lawlev must be protected from expenditure. memorial be ? The public sees that colossal figure,
when Mr. •Dugdale is ousted by a third andidate. at the south-east corner of Hyde-park, cast from
Mr. Tennyson, in Stamford or Lincolnshire, should the cannon which was won by our gallant troops its
be honOurahly and gratuitously returned. Mr. John a series of continental battles. We care not whither
Wood, in Preston, should not he fitted for the per- it is well or ill devised, butt the motive was a noble
verse or wilful offences of Mr. Hunt. These are tale, Why might not some work of art of a similar
only a few instances of the cruel mulct which will kind be erected at the nottl:-east corner of the same
otherwise be levied on the old and most useful Patk, looking towards Oxford-street ? It is as
friends of the people. As a general rule, all those proper to record by a lasting testimony the triumphs
Members who consistently supported Ministers in obtained over domestic, as over our foreign foes,—
the Reform Bill should be returned; hut a strict the victories of our King, as of our most celebrated
Catechism should be read, and an equally strict re- General. The uniformity of the Park, with respect
cord of the answers should be preserved. All ab- to its ornaments, would thus be preserved. We
sentecs on either division should be rejected ; a should like to write the inscription.—Times.
good medical certificate is the best proof of incom-
The King, yesterday, was most enthusiastically
petency to discharge the duties of a representative;
cheered by all classes in going and returning to and
absence of mind is an equal incapacity with physical
from the House of Lords. Above 200 persons, on
inability. We again urge union ; let that man be
the leads over the portico of the Lords, waved their
selected for nomination who unites in his interest
hats with repeated cheers; nearly half of them were
the largest body of reformers. We urge the whole
barristers. The Lord Chancellor and Earl Grey
Provincial Press to cultivate dis;nterestedness anti
were also received with the most fervent plaudits.
immediate energy. Thus the nation will be saved,
Proceeding through the Park, on its return, the vast
and all will be rescued from the rapacious and de
crowds which followed the Royal carriage, and had
grading slavery of the infernal boroughmongers.—
been huzzaing his Majesty in the most ardent man-
Morning Chronicle.
nor, suddenly changed this mode of testifying their
England, Ireland, and Scotland, attend ! Your joy at the occasion to a loud and simultaneous clap-
King came down yesterday to dissolve his Parlia. ping of hands, which lasted, without interruption,
went, because, despising the wishes of his people, far several minutes. The effect was curious, and
and his own Royal wishes, it refused to reform itself, highly animating. In the evening many houses
and even stopped the supplies necessary for the were illuminated, and the bells were rung in most
support of the pubic institutions of the country, of the churches. The King's speech prepares us
unless Peers and boroughmongers might be per- for a speedy dissolution, as the consequence of the
mitted to continue in the usurpation of your rights— prorogation. We believe that the dissolution will
to nominate theirdependents as mock-representatives be announced in the Gazette of this evening.—Tinzes.
of the people, and to sell the power of making laws A statement appears in the Standard of last
and imposing taxes. This is the purpose for which
night, that his Majesty's Ministers " waited upon
the King of England,—William, the more than his Majesty this (Friday) morning, and again ten-
conqueror—William, the Restorer of his people's desed their seals of office." We can state in the
rights—came down yesterday to dissolve the Pattie- moet positive terms, and without fear of contradic-
ment. The scene was a sublime one, so far as re- Lion, that the idea of their having event once offered
lased to his Majesty, and will form a bright page in to resign is altogether without foundation.—Times.
the history of the country. The conduct of his
enemies and yours was no less remarkable ; and, after Mr.
n exordium so suited to the solemnity of the occa- cellos; Brougham,
offers himselfthe brother of the Lord Chan-
for the Borough. His first
sion, we hardly know how to descend to the desert p-
is
address is to be found in our journal of to-day, and
tion of the miserable tumults springing from the dis- as proper as his success is most probable. We
appointment of criminal hopcs,of impotent malignity, do not hear of any opponent but Mr. Bulwer, one
raving against just and constitutional controul, and of
nliqs. There was one of them who offered
presence. plots, blasted in an instant by the Regal lovef those two brothers who have made some to Bulwer,
as
presence. The House of Commons was in a himself for the borough of Hertford, and during the
atate of uproar, but it was in the House of Lords contest was strangely smuggled away, with his own
that this confusion was most conspienons, and chiefly consent, by Lord Salisbury, to make way for his
among those who had been enriched through the Lordship's own man, Lord Ingestrie. This Bulwer
munlifieenee of the immediate predecessors of that east up in the Pembroke Cabinet of Medals. It is
Sovereign whom thee insulted, or by the plunder of not he, we believe, who now aspires to the Borough,
that people whim
most sacred riguets they would but his brother. Great efforts, as we have said be-
continue to usurp. The King of England, •we say, fore,
it the
made in purse, as well as by personal
yesterday on the very steps of
was insulted
arone, and by whom ? By starving artisans ? the Reform , question a fair tilts] with the nation be
by art unlettered mob ? No—such men have no to be carriedinto full effect. We hear of a Right
entrance there : but his Peers, who ought to have Hon. Baronet who has subscribed largely, and of a
been bowing at his approach, an
d closed around his Noble Duke who says he will sacrifice his whole for-
person in respectful silence. Bat we must descend tune to aid the other side. Let us hope that the
to particulars—we must mention names. It ,ears The people of
then, that in the absence of the Lord. Chancellor,a the United Kingdom must bestir themselves. It
present will be the last struggle.
who was in attendance upon the King, Lord Shaftes- will not be " a long pull;" but„it must be " a
bury, on the motion of Lord Mansfield, took the
chair, or the Woolsack. Lord strong pull, and a pull all together. —Times.
Wharnelitle then rose The Session of Parliament was yesterday brought
to propose his resolution : the Duke of Richmond to an abrupt conclusion by a prorogation intended
rose to order, and moved the standing order that its the precursor of an immediate dissolution—by an
Peers should take their proper places—he saw a
,act of the Sovereign authority strictly within the
Baron sitting in an Earl's seat. On this too-Constitutional prerogative of the Crown, and there-
don the Marquis of Londonderry rose with in- tore liable to censure no otherwise than as it affords
anewd proof of what was already, indeed, abun-
chieflydescribable vehemence, and—amidst
thean furpiernodars
the determination of his Majesty's
occasioned, as it seemed,
of the Noble Marquis, some restraining, ining some pt_areenste.Ynast:aldepis'seirbsieto
moment,
regardless
se office t
hoe>
cheering him—insisted that the Duke of Rich- -h
I
mond was out of order. Lord Lyndhurst spoke to welfare and tranquillity of the country, and of the
the same effect. The Duke of Richmond warmly security and dignity of the throne. When we look