The Sun.
London, England, 1831-08-27 00:00:00

It appeared that the motion fur leave to bring
in the Bill occupied in discussion seven days, and the
motion for a second reading, with other discussions, caused
a debate of eleven days. In the present Parliament it bad
been in Committee for twenty-nine days up to the 25th
instant ; making in the whole, with the preliminary dis-
cussions, thirty-four days' debate, comprising 260 hours.
fn total discussion, therefore, it had occupied forty-five
days, or 352 hours, and yet the Committee had arrived
only at the 22d clause of the first Bill. If the disposal of
the three Bills was necessary before Parliament separated,
as he presumed, it was necessary to make some ar-
rangement the better to expedite its progress.—(Hear.)
He (Mr H.) was aware that even after any resolution
which the House might come to, it was in the power
of any Honourable Member to interpose on the motion
that the Speaker leave the Chair, and prevent the
progress of the measure. But let that Hon. Member
know, whoever he might he, that the public vv,,ul,,
mark him, and rightly estimate the motives of
his conduct.—(Hear, bear, hear.) He had himself
interposed with the progress of the same three hours
on a recent occasion, when considering the
necessity of colonial representation connected with the
principle of the Bill he had ventured to call the attention
of the House and of the Government to that sufject.
But having thus taken to himself the whole of the
blame which was imputable to him, he considered himself
warranted to call upon the House to adopt some plan
for effectually expediting the progress of the Bill. He knew
well that any plan for this purpose might in some way
be liable to objection ; but in the present state of
the country and of the House, it was certainly in-
cumbent upon the House to make a trial.—(llear.)
He should move, therefore, that no petitions should be pre-
sented in that House in the five days of the week, except
such as regarded this important ineasure,—(A laugh.)
and with that view, as preliminary to a series of resolu-
tions, be should move that the orders of the day
should take precedence of notices on Tuesdays,
Thursdays, and Saturdays. The effect would be that
Monday should 'main for any other discussions that
might be requisite, and the remaing five days
would be appropriated to the dispatch of the Bill. The
House might meet from twelve till six in Committee, the
Speaker might then take the chair for an hour or two,
and the Committee might afterwards resume.
Mr. O'CONNELL seconded the motion.

After an alteration in its phraseology, suggested by the
SPEAKER, the motion was then put, that in this
present Session of Parliament all Orders of the Day set
down in the Order Book for Tuesdays, Thursdays, and
Saturdays, should be disposed of before the House pro-
ceeded with any motion.
Lord ALTHORP said that he did not wish, in
that stage of the discussion, to express any decided
opinion upon the motion. He was anxious to know
the feeling of the House upon the matter. For himself he
could fairly say, that it did not appear to him that this
motion would have any very great tendency to ex-
pedite the progress of the measure.—(Hear.) He knew
perfectly well that there were in that House many Ho-
nourable Members who were as desirous as he was for
the progress and success of that great measure; he
should like, therefore, to hear their opinion on this
motion. One objection would be the great inconve-
nience which an early meeting would occasion to Members
in situations like his own. He wished to take the feeling
of the lit use upon the motion, however as he would most
cheerfully undergo any individual inconvenience, or
labour, if it were the wish of the House that the motion
should be adopted.
Mr. HERRIES suggested that the motion before the
House was not to meet at an earlier hour, but simply as
to the precedence of motions by orders of the day on Tues-
days, Thursdays, and Saturdays.
Lord ALTHORP said, if the proposition of the Hon.
Member for Middlesex were adopted be would certainly
object to the form and manner in which it was ex-
pressed. The same end might be attained in a dif-
ferent way.—(Hear.) The Committee on the Reform
Bill might be treated in the same way as a Committee
up stairs. He would object to orders of the day excluding
notices. It was objectionable in principle, and would, he
believed, be inoperative in practice.—(Hear.) But
while the convenience, the comfort, and perhaps the health
of Hon. Members were involved in the question, he should
like the sense of the House to be taken on the subject.
Mr. HERRIES believed, it was the universal wish of
the House, that the Noble Lord (Altborp) should first
declare his own opinion upon this subject.—( Hear, hear.)
He gathered from what the Noble Lord said, that so far
as his own opinion went, he was against both parts of
the motion of the Honourable Member for Middlesex ;
with respect to the early hour of meeting, the Noble
Lord seemed to be of opinion (in which he also con-
curred) that the progress of the Reform Bill would not be
thereby promoted ; but when the Noble Lord stated that
individually he was willing to make any personal
sacrifice, and to endure the additional fatigue of coming
to the House at twelve o'clock, .he (Mr. Herries)
begged to remind that Noble Lord that there were
two parties concerned in that object ; that there was
not only the inconvenience of the Noble Lord and his
Colleagues, but there was also the public service.—(Loud
cheering from the Opposition. 3 If he (Mr. Herries) were
at all competent to form an opinion of the duties of office,
he could declare that very great inconvenience would arise to
the public service, if the Ministers of the Crown were to
come to this House every day at twelve o'clock, and for
this reason (looking at personal convenience as a se-
condary object) he should oppose the present mo-
tion. As to the second part of the motion, viz. that
orders of the day should take precedence of all other
business, that was a proposition he would never
consent to, and indeed it was not competent for the House
to make any such order. When great events were daily
passing before their eyes—(Hear)—were Hon. Members
to be prevented bringing forward motions merely because
this subject had been proposed to he taken first ? This mea-
sure was not one of an urgent immediate operation, its object
was prospective—(Hear)—and could it not be supposed
that it would have fewer imperfections by allowing some
interval to pass ? If the object of the motion were to
promote the success of the Bill, and in the best manner,
he would tell the Hon. Member that the motion would
defeat his object.—(Hear.) Although the Hon. Member
(Mr. Hume) might possess Herculean strength, there were
others as talented as be who did not possess sufficient physi-
cal power to endure the fatigue of an early and unremitting
attendance in the House.—(Cheers.) Let the House
consider this proposed regulation would not only impOse a
heavy burthen on all the Members of the House, but
would encrease the buthen on the Ministers of the
Crown, and interfere in the proper discharge of their
other functions.—(Cheers.) He (Mr. Herries) thought
that much good would accrue by the postponement of the
Bill for a period. The Noble Lord and his colleagues had
not contended that this Bill was a wise measure, or
indeed a good measure ; but they maintained that it
was a necessary measure—and less than that would
not satisfy the people. He (Mr. Herries) and those on.his
side denied that assertion, and in proof of it the people
were now cooler upon the subject, and were getting wiser.
—(Cheers from the Opposition.) Why not postpone it for a
time, and come to the discussion of it with a better knowledge
of the people's wishes, as collected from their opinions ex-
pressed in cooler moments. He did not flatter himself that
his proposition would be acceded to by the Noble Lord ; but
he begged to dissent from the present motion, as
creating an injury to the public service, and as an uncon-
stitutional interference with the functions of the House of
Commons.—(Cheers.)
Sir J. NEWPORT said he understood that the House
had been called together, as oared by his Majesty, for the
purpose of ascertaining she sense of the people upon
the great question of a Reform in Parliament.—(Hear.)
The Right Hon. Member opposite and such as were Mem-
bers for notrination boroughs,were extremely anxious to do
all they could to protect their existence, for the moment the
Reform Bill passed, that Hon. Member and others who
surrounded him would be no longer Members of that House.
By meeting at twelve o'clock Alsmbers would, in his opi.
nion, be much more competent to do their work properly
than they would be by sitting up till twelve, one, or two
o'clock in the morning.—(Laughter.) 'When it was said
that other measures would be postponed in consequence
of the Reform Bill, be felt it his duty to state that he
believed the ppinion of the public was more intense for the
passing of this Bill than any other meagre. He de-
precated the adjournment for three months, wishing
the opinion of the people to be satisfied at the present mo-
ment. He thought by
beginning at twelve o'clock, busi-
ness would be much expedited, and the people,whose anxious
hopes were fixed on the passing of this Bill, would be
satisfied. He therefore concurred with the motion of the
Hon. Member for Middlesex.
Mr. HERRIES could assere the Noble Lord
opposite thst he was in earnest in suggesting, as odjooria-
meta for three months.
topublicdeferring
opinion on subjects like the present, which the Noble Lord
seemed inclined to do, Ile recommended an adherence to
the ancient practice of the House,
Mr. PROTHEROE thought that the proposition of
the lion. Member for Middlesex was reasonable, and
should be adopted. He would however suggest
the adjournment of the House for an hour or so, to allow
Members to take their dinner.—(A laugh.) lion. Mem-

bars might smile, but he thought it but rational that
some short respite should be given•
An Hort. MEMBER whose name we could not learn, rose
to move as an amendment, that the order of the day for
the House going into Committee on the Reform Bill be
read, which being seconded,
Sir C. WETHERELL rose and said, though he could
not but admire the parenthesis which the Honourable
Member for Bristol wished to introduce, for the pur-
pose of affording a dinner hour, yet he thought an
interruption in the sittings would occasion much loss of
time. With respect to the motion of the Hon. Member
for Middlesex, he had no hesitation in saying, that if
it succeeded, the proceedings of the House would be entirely
under the controul of his Majesty's Ministers. If the
Bill, however, was to be carried instantly into opera-
tiion, there might be some necessity for the Hon.
Member's motion, but when it was notorious that the Bill
could not come into operation until the month of
August, 1832, he felt completely at a loss to fins;
out its necessity. No election could take place under
the present Bill till a year had elapsed from the time of
its passing, the registration having to take place in July or
August. He admitted it to be true, that in the tyran-
nical reign of James the Second the Crown bad dissolved
the Parliament for the purpose of making the new
one its creature, but in times like the present he had no
hesitation in saying, that the measure of Ministers, in
advising the Crown to dissolve the late Parliament, was
an ill-judged and tyrannical measure. The Bill did not
seem to him to be looked so favourably upon now, as it
had been represented.

(We sbail give the remainder in a Second Edition.)

AWFUL DEATH.-BURIAL AT SEA.

When we think ourselves in the greatest secu-
rity we are oftentimes on the brink of destruction.
The night was cloudy and dark, the breeze
fresh, the ship under the guidance of an expe-
rience pilot, and secured from rocks and shoals,
we progressed rapidly by the islands. About
midnight the pilot expressed himself thirsty, and
went to the scuttle-butt, which stood just before
the mainmast (for in those days we had those
lumbering articles, to which was chained a tin
pot) in order to gratify his desire. He had
scarcely lifted the water to his lips when a peal
of thunder roared over our heads, and the pilot
was a corpse. He was struck (lead by the light-
ning ! The vivid flash nearly blinded us, and
the noise of the fall alone announced the cala-
mity. He never sighed or spoke—he was dead
in a second. The ancients considered a man
struck by lightning as a favourite of the Gods,
but the watch on deck evinced great doubts as
to the favour bestowed ; and the second peal had
rattled over our heads, before a sailor could be
found valiant enough to remove the poor pilot
from his sudden death-bed. On examining the
corpse the next day, it was with the utmost dif-
ficulty the smallest spot could be discerned ; at
last a little black speck, about the size of a pin's
head, on the left side of the body was discovered,
and it was settled by the surgeon that the pilot
was dead, and that this same spot was the place
where the electric fluid had entered the body.
We buried him the next day after the following
manner :—The sail-maker undertook to place
the shroud in the shape of a hammock round
the head of the unfortunate man, and cut the
canvass to suit the figure of the body. Down
he sat upon the corpse with all the non-
chalance that a Spaniard would exhibit
as he placed himself on a cushion at the
feet of his adorable Donna Francesca. The
body was enveloped in its last vestments;
the canvass stitched tightly round, and two shot
attached to the feet. I have heard it said that
it was customary to run the needle in the last
stitch through the nose of the corpse ; some
may do it, but I certainly never remarked it my-
self. The bell tolled at eleven o'clock. Of all
sounds on board a ship the usual toll of the bell
is the most melancholy ; and, although a ship
does not afford those spurs to holy meditation
like the aisle of a church, where, seated in pro-
; found silence, the congregation wait the first
burst of the organ to rise in solemn adoration ;
still there is a profound solemnity when that bell
tolls its unusual toll to summon us to the at-
tendance of our last duty to a fellow-creature.
Placed on a grating, the corpse was removed to
the gangway or entrance part of the ship, and
was covered with a Union Jack, the corner of
which was fastened to the grating, and the grat-
ing was secured by a rope. The officers stood
behind the Captain on the quarter-deck, while
the crew assembled on the gangways and on the
after-part of the booms ; the messmates of the
deceased placed themselves by the side of the
corpse, and, when all was silent, the bell stopped.
The officers and ship's company uncovered,
and the burial service was read. This fell to
the lot of the purser, for the Captain rarely
officiated ; indeed, with us in that ship the Cap-
tain was seldom called to the unpleasant attend-
ance, for we were healthy, and never lost a man
even in action while I was in her. At the part
Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty
God," &c., the following words are altered to—
" we therefore commit his body to the, deep.
A slight bustle occurred from the sailors anxiety
to catch a last glimpse of their fellow-creature ; a
pause
e edi scue ea din the s e
d performed
the untilfinal the in e
services s rn a the
by
launching the corpse, grating, colours, and all,
into the sea. It fell with a deep and solemn
splash as the water rolled over the dead, enlarging
its circles, the emblem of that eternity to which
the body had been committed. The rustling noise
of the water, as the grating was dragged through
it by the motion of the ship, alone disturbed the
solemn silence of the moment. The service was
finished, and the ship's company retired to their
usual avocations. It is certainly strange that in
so small a community the death of one seems
so little felt and so easily forgotten. The sale of
the dead man's clothes, which usually follows on
the first opportunity, erases him from the me-
mory and his name only lives on the ship's book
and in the purser's accounts. The common
sailor has an opinion, not easily removed, that
the first occupation of the purser, after he has
replaced his prayer-book on the shelf, is to
charge to the dead man's account some few ex-
tra pounds of tobacco, and this idea I believe to
have had its foundation in reality ; for, in the
early ages of the navy, all sorts of tricks were
practised to swell the debit side of a sailor's ac-
count, and to place money in the purser's pockets.
Hence the saying of the sailors, speaking of the
talents of a purser, " Oh yes," says Jack, " he
is a clever fellow, for lie can make a dead man
chew tobacco."--,Melropoiitqn Magazine.

Every one who knew HOPPNER must recol-
lect that I e was of the genus &Mobile. ,A wealthy stock-
broker drove up to his dooi., and two carriages emptied
into his hall in Charles-street, a gentleman and 12,1 y, with
five sons and seven daughters, all samples of pa and 712 a,
as well fed, and as city-bred and comely a family as any within
the sound of Bow-bell. " Well, lister Painter," said he,
" here we are—a baker's dozen ; how much will you de-
mand for painting the whole lot of us--prompt payment
for discount?" " Why," replied the astonished 'painters
viewing the questioner, who might be likened to a super,.
arinuatd elephant, "Why, Sir, that will depend upon the
dimensions, style, composition, and"....-66 Oh ! that is settled,"
quotli the enlightened broker, " we are all to be touched off
in one piece as large as life—all seated upon our lawn at
Clapham, and all singing God save the King.' " " These
things (said HOrPNEA, in relating the circumstance to his
friend and crony, the critic-poet, GlFFpan), "these things,
and be hanged to you scribbl, re ! are part and parcel of the de-
, ectables of portrait-painting.".—Library of the Vine Arts,