The Sun.
London, England, 1849-07-09 00:00:00

PARKER.

Bryanston-square, June 14.
Sir,—You will already have heard that the Bill fcr
the e,tabishrnent of County Financial Boards, which I
introduce,' into the !louse of Commons at the request of
the deputation from Lancashire, was last night rejected
by a majority of 154 against 96.
It is a matter of great regret that Sir George
Grey, her rdsjesty's Secretary of State, should have
oppo!ed the second reading of this Bill, and voted against
it with z.iir John I'akin4tors, whose intention of throwing
it out was intimated to the House, and expressed in the
notice-book on the day when I fixed the second reading.
You should know that there are two modes in whtth
Bills are usually opposed in Parliament—first, by a
direct vote against the Bill; and, secondly, by proposing
the appointment of a Committee to take the subject
matter of the Bill into consideration. Sir John Peking-
ton yesterday changed his mode of attack from the former
to the !alter course.

By the second reading of the Bill the 'principle of
control by the ratepayers over the county rates would
have been established; whilst the motion for a Com- '
nottee indirectly rejects the principle; and tho Com-
mittee, it appointed, might have prosecuted its inquiries
into any and every other mode of control than that which
you require.
.1 pressed the House to sanction, by the second reading
of the Bill, " the principle of taxation and representation,"
and I expressed my willingness to refer the Bill atter•
wards to a committee to consider the proportion of
magistrates in the proposed hearth, and to make any
other alterations in its enactments that should be con-
sidered likely to facilitate the working of the measure;
but the magisterial influence, aided by the Secretary of
State, was too strong for me.
I have good ground for complaining of the ministers,
for having first encouraged me to introduce the Bill, and
then deserted me and joined Sir John Pukington and
others, who, in their speeches, evincA their decided
opposition to the ratepayers obtaining that control which
I consider absolutely necessary for the future economical
management of the county rates.
The Reform Bill of 1432 gave to the ratepayers of
cities and boroughs the election of the magistrates and
members of council by whom the rates are assessed
and expended ; and much benefit has accrued to the
finances of boroughs from that act.
By the Bill which I introduced into Parliament in
1837, I proposed, by the direct election of county boards,
to place the county ratepayers in exactly the tame
position in respect to the assessment and expenditure of
the county rates as the ratepayers in cities and boroughs
are now placed ; but by the Bill thrown out yesterday
it was proposed, in accordance with the wishes of your
Committee, that only one-half or two-thirds of,otobe
r.
board should be composed of elected members of _ _
Cm.
law unions, and that the other half or third should
sisc of magistrates.
You believed that this concession to the magistrates
would secure more support from the county members;
but the manner in which even this modified claim of the
ratepayers to he represented has been treated by the
of the fallacy of that expec-
House, must convince you
tattoo.
It will be seen by the report that Sir John Pakington
end others have virtually declared that the ratepayers
are unworthy to be trusted with the management of
their own local affairs; and that the expenditure of the
county rates is be ter attended to by the magistrates
than it could posibly be by persons elected by the rate-
•!•rs.

My own experience has led me to a totally different
conclusion; and, it I can obtain the support ot the
ratepayers, I hope to see the financ,s of counties
placed under the same constitutional control as those of
cities and boroughs.
At the same time, after the conduct of Ministers and
county Members last night, I must candidly state that
I see no h pe of that de&sble object being attained
until the farmers, agrictntural ratepayers, and county
vo.era, shall make it their business to attend to this sub-
). it ut the election ot them reprtsentatives in Parlia-
mbnt. I remain, Sir, your obedient servant,

_
JOSEPH HUNE•
To A. Townley aker, Zeck, Coercion Sall, Freston.

, MAGAZINES, &c.--CONTINUED.
FRASER...,
Fraser has no political article .this month, unless,
indeed, the Current History may be considered as
such. In that the writer crows over wl?at he calla
the great Protectioni.t meeting at Drury-lane, and
foretela the speedy downfal of the Free-trade Govern-
ment. The article on railways is continued, and is
to be concluded in the next number. Michael South
continues his "Peace Campaigns of Ensign Faunce."
In these chapters the Ensign is introduced to his
uncle, the manufacturer, and we anticipate much
amusement from the results of the introduction.
" Matrimony," Part 111., is another continuation, and
we have a commencement of a series which promises
well, on " North Devon." The writer evidently
knows every inch of the county he describes,
and loves North Devon as only a native
can love it. We are rejoiced to find such a writer
taking up such a subject. He will do for the Moors
of North Devon what Christopher North his
done for the Moors of Scotland. A chapter on
" Balloons " is a history of the science of
aerostation from the earliest experiments of Dr.
Black, of Edinburgh, down to the time of the first
nocturnal trip of the celebrated Nassau balloon. The
perusal of the following extract from this paper may
perhaps tend to quiet the fears of certain nervous in-
dividuals who are periodically haunted by a vision of
a French invasion :•

"The use of balloons by the French in war soon
created a panic among English alarmists. It was re.
prted that England would be invaded by clouds of aerial
monsters, which would burn the cities and destroy the
crops. Among the balloon prints before us, is one dis-
playing a number of balloons on their way to England,
under which is written:—' Oh, dis be de grande inven-
tion. Dis will immortalize my king, my country, and
myself. We will declare de war against our enemi. We
will make de English quake. We will inspect his camps;
we will intercept their fleet; we will set fire to their
dockyards; and we will take de Gibraltar in de air bal-
loon; and when we have conquer'd do English, den w
will conquer other coutries, and make dem all colonies
of do Grand Monarque.' But, like the subsequent
threatened invention by Napoleon, whose flotillas were
to land innumerable troops on our shores, and did not—
so no favouring breezes bore dreaded aerial machines
across the Channel. Ancient dames once more slept in
security, and farmers gathered their crops unapprehen-
sive of danger."
An elaborate notice of the recently published " Me-
moirs of Prince Rupert," an admirable paper on
" Tacitus the Historian," a well-written and inter-
esting account cf " Queen's College, London," a
notice of the picture exhibitions of the season, and
some few scraps of poetry, constitute the remainder
of the contents of Fraser for the month.

ELIZA COOK'S JOURNAL. Part 11.
The second monthly number of Eliza Cook's
Journal may take its stand beside the very beat of
similar publications. As the journal has progressed
week by week its resources have become more de-
veloped, and a greater variety and discrimination is
visible in the arrangement of its materials. Five
weekly numbers are comprised in the brochure before
us, in which we fi❑d three poems by the Editress,
very dissimilar in style but all excellent. One of
these, " Lady June," gives a glowing and beautiful
fancy portrait of the queen of summer months :
" See her robe is rictily woven of the greenest forest
leaves,
With full bows of honeysuckle looping up the flowing
sleeves.
See the fragrant marsh-flag plaited, forms her yellow
tasseled sash,
With the diamond studs upon it, flung there by the
river splai,h.
See her flounces—widely swelling, as the Z'phyr's
wings go past,
Made of to.,s, with the woodbine's perfumed thread to
stitch them last.
See the foxglove's bell of crimson, and the poppy's
scarlet bud,
'Mid her tresses, bright and vivid as the sunset's ruby
scud.
See the fresh and luscious bouquet that she scatters in
her way,
It is nothing but a handful she has snatched of new
mown hay."
In addition to these poems the active pen of Eliza
has also contributed "a few" very excellent "words
on slang," and a delightful picture of " The Old Lady
of the Old School." Silverpen's story " The Glass of
Gin," which was commenced in Part 1., concludes in
the last number of Part 11. It gives a sad but un-
happily a truthful glimpse of the evils of intemperance,
hut the story is not on the whole a melancholy one.
The history of Alice is woven into it as a beam of
sunshine, and in the end her virtuous perseverance
meets its reward. The following passage affords a
happy specitnen of the loving spirit which pervades
the writings of Silverpen
:
It was not to vindicate or complain that she bent
her steps this way, or either to be seen or recognised by
any one who knew her, for the truth was scarcely ad-
mitted by her own heart; but simply at a distance, in
street or park, to breathe the self-same air, to see the
roof which covered in, to tread with lighter feet within
the sacred footprints, to look with glistening eyes upon
the lighted window panes; and thus, it possible, to soothe
the anguish of her soul!
" So more or less are the souls of us glorified by the
ideal; so more or less, however bankrupt of all else,
friends, fortune, or good name, however dull through
ignorance, or callous through repeated sin, some mea-
sure of this sweet unselfish worship does enrich us, and
links us most divinely frum man to men, and from them
thence to God!

" The most prosaic natures are richest often in this
grand poetry of the human soul; the most prosaic things,
the most uncured for, the most despised, the smallest and
the least, stand not, nor pass away, without some little
service to this noblest portion of our natures. No stone
in London streets, but what is hahowed to another by
some human foot; no dusky window-pane, but what is
sacred to same upturned gszel no human heart which
passes by us in the throng, but what his known, or feels,
or recollects some love, which, being fur another, has
been or is a part of, and most dear to nature, because
prming beyond the narrow bounds of self 1"

The columns devoted to " Diamond Dust" contain
many rare " jewels five-words-long," or thereabouts;
e. g., " The higher the head, the humbler the
heart ;" " The art of life is to know how to enjoy a
little, and to endure much ;" "Politeness is the shadow
of civilization, Christianity is the substance; "Rather
let us suffer for speaking "the truth, than that the
truth should suffer for want of speaking." We have
said that this journal is characterised by the variety
of its papers, as a proof of which we need only
mention the names of a few articles :—" A Sketch of
George Stephenson," " Laws," " Railway Travel-
ling," " Coral Rocks," " Industrial Schools for
Young Women," " The Working Man," and others
of a similarly thoughtful character are contrasted
with light tales and homely scenes, such as " The
Back-parlour Window," " Tea Parties," " Some-
thing about Gretna-green,","The Sculptor of Bruges,"
" Sea Roamers," &c. Peter Parley describes
some " Summer Rambles in search of the Rural," and
William Dalton draws the portrait of ." The Little
Buys of London," and " The Jolly Old Tradesman."
There is another class of articles also somewhat
difficult to describe, but most delightful to read and
most useful to remember. Of this class are " The
Art of Being Happy " (which we commend to the
study of all whom it concerns, namely, every one) ;
" A Beam in the Eye," " The Union of Extrava-
gance with Parsimony," and many others. While
the utile and the dulce are thus happily mingled in
its pages, the success of Eliza Cook's Journal can
hardly be a matter of speculation.