The Sun.
London, England, 1838-02-16 00:00:00

(Zlbt

WITH WHICH
- THE TRUE SUN" IS NOW
INCORPORATED.

LONDON :
FRIDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 16, len

The question of the Ballot was last night brought for-
ward in the House of Commons, and the result of the dis-
cussion has been such as to convince us that the measure
must ere long be carried. A greater number of Members
voted in its favour than had ever voted before, and this
notwithstanding Lord JOHN RUSSELL'S formal declaration
of hostility at the commencement of the Session, and the
well-known fact that the majority of his colleagues are
equally hostile to it. For this vast increase of supporters
of the Ballot, we may thank the Tories, whose con-
duct during the two last elections has impressed all
right-thinking men with a strong moral conviction that
the measure is indispensably necessary to the proper
working out of the great problem of Reform. Lord
JOHN RUSSELL'S speech will not go far to weaken
this conviction ; but, on the contrary, will lend it addi-
tional energy. A more impotent display of sophistry, which
had not even ingenuity to recommend it, we have not
often witnessed in the House of Commons. When we
say that it was merely a begging of the question, we do not
do it justice ; it was throughout a studied perversion of it.
The Ballot, forsooth, was a " moral plague," and would
make the dependent class of electors infinitely more cor-
rupt than they now were. The landlords would
still insist rigidly on their votes, and the latter, in turn,
would falsify their pledges through the safe medium
of the Ballot•box ! This is the'ivery poorest of all poor
sophistries. What object would the landlords have in
exacting promises, the redemption of which they knew it
was beyond their power to enforce ? Grant the Ballot, and
the landlord's despotism is at once done away with, for the
motive for its continuance will exist no longer. Lord JOHN
RUSSELL must hare been well aware that he was urging
the language of the sheerest Jesuitism, by the approbation
which his remarks met with from the Opposition. Sir Ro-
BERT PEEL himself was not more applauded by the
Tories, than was the introducer of the Reform Bill into
the House of Commons, whenever he expressed a senti-
ment more than usually hostile to the Ballot. These are
untoward symptoms, and almost induce us, when bearing
in mind the uniform principles of the Tories, and the very
accommodating ones that the Whigs are now striving to
bring into fashion, to cry out with honest Tybalt—" A
plague on both your houses !"
But if we speak—and we do so with the bitterest regret—
in terms of disapproval of the conduct of Lord J. RUSSELL'S
speech last night., what are we to say for that of Sir J. CAM
HOBIIOUSE, who had actually the effrontery—we will use
uo milder term—to record his vote against the Ballot ?
What, our readers will ask, the twenty-years Member
for Westminster—he whose very name was a synonyme
for ultra-Radicalism—who was ever foremost to take part
with the oppressed against the oppressor—who, if he pro-
fessed scorn and loathing of the Tories, professed still
deeper for their opponents—what, this man, after all his
noisy professions of patriotism, sink down from a fierce,
effervescing Radical, into a mere flat, small-beer Whig ?
Even so ! The fact seems incredible, but there it is on re-
cord against him ! The votes of the House, which we have
seen this morning, show him among the opponents of the Bal-
lot. What will the electors of Nottingham say to this? If they
do not instantly call on him to resign his seat, they will
deserve to have him as their Representative—and we can
imagine no crueller punishment—for ever. Of Mr. Pou-
LETT THOMPSON we must also say a tew words. What
became of his vote—his speech we could have dispensed
with—last night? Where was he, when the great question
which he had so solemnly pledged himself to support on the
hustings at Manchester, was to be decided? When every vote
was of consequence, and it was more than ever expected
by his constituents that he should do his duty. The
Member for Manchester had, to use Lord GLENELG'S
pet phrase, " bolted." He was non cat inventus, as the
lawyers say.
Such arc a few of the men—such their slipppery charac-
ters—such their happy facility of acceommodating them-
selves to circumstances—that now hold the reins of autho-
rity over us. They may, we think—on the question of the
Ballot, at least—be fairly enough divided into two classes—
the Intolerants and the Shufflers. LordJoHN RUSSELL repre-
sents the first, and Messrs. HOBHOUSE and P. Trromrsox
are finished specimens of the last. But let them retrace
their steps ; let them seriously bethink them of what they
are doing, and the results that are likely to flow from their
infatuation—in a word, let them consult their coun-
try's interests in preference to their own—or so surely
as they are now trembling in Downing-street, and
dreading the result of last night's discussion—so surely
will they be ejected from office, ere a month shall have
flown over their heads
But to return to the Debate. Mr. WARD made an ad-
mirable speech, in the course of which lie satisfactorily
accounted for the comparative paucity of petitions
on the Ballot, by showing that the intimida-
tion of the landlords had prevented many scores of
addresses, and many thousands of signatures. Mr.
HALL also made several very pertinent and forcible
remarks, which were not without their effect on the House,
and Mr. OWEN STANLEY, infinitely to his credit, in a
speech as full of argument, as Sir ROBERT PEEL'S was
of sophistry, professed himself a recent convert to
the Ballot, from the overwhelming practical proofs
of its necessity supplied to him by the last elections. Of
Mr. GROTE'S observations we shall say no more, than that
if common-sense had been allowed to exercise its legitimate
influence, the majority would have been in favour, instead
of against, the Ballot.

We announced on Tuesday that the Tories meant to
return Sir JAMES GRAHAM to Parliament for the Pem7
boke district of boroughs, and that Colonel OWEN had-
vacated his seat for that purpose. The addresses of the
retiring representative, and the aspiring candidate, are now
lying 'Afore us. Colonel HUGH OWEN tells the "indepen-
dent" electors of the united boroughs of Pembroke, Tenby,
Wiston, and Milford, that in retiring from the honour of
representing them, and giving them an immediate opportu-
nity of electing another representative, " T have sacrificed
personal gratification to a paramount sense of public duty,
believing as I do that the candidate who eel's himself to
your notice and who I trust will be the object ofyour choice,
is far more capable of rendering you effectual service, and
that his election will also be in this time of difficulty of the
most essential benefit to the country." The Knight
of Netherby, he of the bright sword, and of the
party which is renegade • from liberty, informs the
electors of the above-mentioned places, without, however,
mocking them with the epithet of independent," my friend.
Colonel OWEN, having vacated his seat, for reasons which
he has staled to you, but on which I cannot dwell, since
they are to flattering to me, I venture to offer myself as
a candidate for the high honour of representing you in Par-
liament." We have something to say about the high
honour and independence of all the parties to this transac-
tion, but we must first remind our readers that the two ad-
dresses completely confirm our statement of Tuesday. We
repeated that statement yesterday, with the additional
information that Sir JAMES GRAHAM would be supported
by Sir JOHN OWEN and Lord CAWDOR, and would, most
probably, be returned. From a Correspondent, at Pem-
broke, we learn that this also is correct, for he says that
" the Conservatives and the Conservative Whigs" support
Sir JAMES, and no other candidate is in the field.
In fact, against the OWEN family, which according to the
Parliamentary Pocket Companion has great interest in
Pembroke, and against Lord CAWPOR, who has also eon-

siderable influence, it is of no use trying, and we may be quite
sure that the votes of the independent electors will be an
transferred to Sir JAMES GRAHAM. Some encouragement,
however, and some hopes are held out to Reformers by
a " Ministerial Paper" of last evening, the accuracy of
which may be judged of by the fact, that it confounds the
boroughs with the county, and describes Sir JAMES as a
candidate to represent Pembrokeshire, in the representa-
tion of which there is no vacancy. The venal error of
the Courier, however, is of less importance than the con-
duct of the Pose and the Chronicle, which, having our
correct and more complete information before them, copy
the error of our ConternpGyary. That is, however, less for
us t^ complain of than their readers, who will hardly
excuse thai ilind animosity to this Outerprising Journal,
which induces them to copy the errors of:he " Ministerial
Paper" rather than our correct information t;•is the condi-
tion of naming The Sun.
We come now to speak of the high honour of a!' the
parties concerned. The first person who appears on On
scene is the Gallant Colonel, who, having in the month .1
July, in 1837, solicited the suffrages of the independent
electors, finds out in the month of February, 1838, that
he must lay down this honour. He is at the same time
careful to assure the electors that he retains a respect and
regard for their interests, and will attend their call if they
should require his services. He wishes, therefore, to hold
the seat, but cannot. Why, then, does the Gallant and
Honourable Officer retire ? Poor boy, he does as his
Papa and Lord CAWDOR bid him. He nominally sat for
the borough, but was really the Representative of the
Noble Lord and Sir Jolts OWEN. They want the scat
for a more efficient Member, and the Gallant Colonel,
without a court of inquiry or court martial, resigns one of
the highest nominal honours which can be conferred on
man, and retires from Parliament. If he were sn
unceremoniously dismissed from his regiment, would
he not feel and acknowledge himself disgraced ; and
what else but disgrace can he feel at being thus dismissed
from the House of Commons ? So looked at, this ease is
curious ; but the more curious part of the matter is, that
the Gallant and Honourable Colonel is an active agent in
inflicting this disgrace on himself, and, by vacating his seat
to bring Sir JAMES Gaats,sm into Parliament, confesses to
all the world that he was only the humble servant, like a
butler, of the patrons of the boOogh, and not the inde-
pendent representative of the independent electors of the
boroughs of Pembroke, Tenby, Wistog, and Milford. The
Gallant and Hon. Gentleman seems to us, by retiring from
a place he coveted no longer ago than last _Rummer, and
without any other reason than that of pi,:eing an"
other gentleman in his situation, when he has not bee"
asked to do so by the electors—not only to acknowle3ge
that he was the mere tool of the patrons of the borough,
but that, since his election, he has assumed the
character of an independent Member of Par
ment, which he knew did not belong to him,'
The next person who comes on the scene, and goes througa
the hypocritical farce of writing and publishing an address;
to the electors, is Sir JAMES GRAHAM, while he ktinsv"
l
that the whole matter has been arranged by the two patrons
of the borough. The electors have nothing to do with It,
except to vote for him as their patrons tell them. Sir
JAMES GaAWAM is, in fact, about to step into the dePen:
dent place of the retiring Colonel ; and while he is see'
into the House of Commons by another influence, intends to
hold himself out to the world as the independent represen'
tatire of an independent body of electors. He, too, is
most honourable man, and all the parties to the transac-
tion—which appears to us little better than a species ot
political humbug—are all honourable men. We must ex'
elude the electors, who, while they are thus transferred
from OWEN to GRAHAM, and go through the cere-
mony of withdrawing their confidence from the Colonel'
and giving it to the Baronet, are only called independent,
as if the epithets applied to both parties to the transaction
were intended to point out and contrast the qualities 1111,,
which both are deficient. Sir JAMES, once the real
honoured representative of the independent freeholders
Cumberland—an honoured seat he deservedly lost for 111'
to
political tergiversation—condescends to step into the bode"
like lace of Colonel OWEN, because he "is unwilling '`,
remain excluded from Parliament." He thinks either that
the nation will go wrong unless set right by his eloquencei;
or that the Tories will divide the spoils of office, for whii
he has laboured so hard, without giving him any shared
Whether his exuberant vanity or a desire for place make
him submit to take such a prominent part in the farce can';
the independent election for the borough of Pembroke, "r`
leave the reader to decide.
w One part of Sir JAMES GRAHAM'S address is very siig-
th
nificant. He speaks of his past official coonection
y.rst
the local interests of Pembroke. Sir JAMES tilig lA.
Lord of the Admiralty, and at Milford there is I"`°
yard. By that allusion, no doubt, Sir JAMES meant to r _
vive the gratitude of the electors, and gratitude has heel'
appropriately defined a lively anticipation of future favotirg•
Sir JAMES points to the time when he is to be again First
Lord of the Admiralty.

I i a strange doctrine that "an ex-Chancellor ought not
to condemn the Law-Officers of the Crown, or arraign the
law, because " that line of conduct operates as a great
encouragement to the commission isf offences." Such,
however, was the charge made by Led MELBoustiO
against Lord BROUGHAM last evening. So
that, if men
have been convicted by a severe law, or have suffered long
imprisonment on charges which the Law-Officers cas:ld not
sustain, or if subjects residing on the North Bank of ti
Tweed are to be punished with fifty-fold greater seven*"
than those on the South, not a word is to be said Against
the inequality of the law, or the severity of the punishment,
or the conduct of the public prosecutor ! All the
declared
charges against the Glasgow Cotton-Spinners were
ere
irrelevant by the Scotch Judges—the minor offenceS "'men
sustained by a bare majority of the Jury•
had been imprisoned previous to the trial for seven i'
A b
more than twice the period of imprisonment allotted
sijsr be
the
law of England on conviction, and yet they are -
the
banished for seven years in addition to these seven moil
imprisonment ; and when Members of both Houses Coinith
plain of this anomaly and severity, they are Charged r
haetontho
abetting crime. We can see . neither the justice Ire
policy of such conduct. We care nothing for
t
graver accusations against the prisoners—as theY them
not proved, the law can take no cognizance of thehlt
in awarding punishment. The Jury evidently d
great doubts as to the proofs on the minor indictment ; an
taking that into account, as well as the slight punishenmt
that would have been inflicted by the English law, therei
has seldom been a stronger case made out for the rnereife
consideration of the Executive. The papers moved for bY
Lord BROUGHAM, however, will throw more light on the
subject, and enable the public to judge for themselves.
A writer in the Herald states, that the discrepen,e,
between the laws on the different Banks of the Tweed '5
not so great as was made out by the Learned Lord.
ale
says, that by the common law these parties might have boot
indicted for a conspiracy which would have subjected their,
if found guilty, to .a longer term of imprisonment that
three months, and also to a fine. He also states that by
the 9th of Geo. IV., cap. 31, " any assault committed in
pursuance of any conspiracy to raise the rate of wages, the
Court may sentence the offender to be imprisoned, with or
without hard labour, in the common gaol or House of Cor
rection, for any term not exceeding two years ; and may
also, if it shall think fit, fine the offender, and require bile
to find sureties for keeping the peace." He infers, there-
fore, th at it is incorrect to say, " without qualification, that the
punishment for a conspiracy to raise wages by illegal means,
in this country, is liable to no greater punishment that
two »Iona? imprisonment." Though the discrepancy' be
not so great as Lord BROUGHAM described it, still the public
must be startled at learning that the same offence
committed on the north of the Tweed, subjects a ri1313
to transportation and hard labour for at least sevel
years, which if committed on the sunny tide, would at roost
only be followed by two years' imprisonment. Laws We,
a more important office than that of punishing erirn
th
of e
They
inform, guide, and instruct the moral sense
people, and to suffer such discrepancies to exist in the seTe
empire, can only confuse the moral perceptions of the pe°Pe
and obliterate the distinctions between right and wrong'
aise
the proper and just punishment of conspiracy t° r
wages be two years' imprisonment at most, the five Ye
additional transportation must be unjust, and is in file,
far greater crime committed by the law against the Cot,tol4
spinners, than the offence for which they are punished.
Ass -
Letters from Odessa of the 26th of January state that
the Empress of Russia has ordered 5,000 rubles to be sent,
as a donation to the poor of that town. The harbour 0'
the Golden Horn, at Constantinople, is completely froze°
over, and the clocks of the city are stopped from excessive
cold.

Prom the length of the Deb,.te we are compelledt o
leave over several articles of news, &c.

PATENT LEVER WATCtir'''
Four and a Half Guineas each.
A variety of Second-hand Watches, on this celebrated cons
truie(-1
tion, with going fuzee, to'Continue going while winding up,
di kylean ed
in four holes, hand to mark the seconds, hard enamel al,
other modern imp rovements are offered at the above price, "gal'
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maker, 47, Cornhill, London (Seven Doors from Gracechurch-
street).

On the 14th inst., at WoodlandsßlßT
Somersetshire, the lady of Cal"
fain Maher, of a son.

MARRIED.
At St. George's Church, by
the Rev. Mr. Boys, Peter Young!
P_sci., merchant, Demerara' to Margaret Blair, eldest daughter of
D. Smith, Esq., merchant, London.

London: Printed and Published by MURDO YOUNG, of Ne•
112, Strand, at The Sun Office, No. 112, Strand, in the county
Aliddlesex,—Friday, February 16, IE3B.

1