The Sun.
London, England, 1831-10-12 00:00:00

COURT CIRCULAR.

A Cabinet Council was held yesterday afternoon at the
Foreign-office, which was attended by the Lord Chancellor, the
Marquis of Lansdowne, Earl Grey, Viscounts Melbourne,
Palmerston, tioderich, and Althorp, the Earl of Carlisle, the
Right Hon. Charles Grant, Sir James Graham, Lord Holland,
Lord John Russell, the Duke of Richmond, and Mr. Stanley.
The Ministers remained in deliberation about three hours.
Previous to the Council the Lord Chancellor had a loi g interview
with Earl Grey, at the Treasury. The Marquis of Lansdowne
also visited the Noble Earl.
The Ambassadors and Ministers of Russia, Austria, France,
and Prussia, 'assembled at the Foreign-office at half-past four
o'clock yesterday afternoon, and held a conference with Viscount
Palmerston.
A Deputation of the Retailers of Beer (under the new Act,)
headed by Mr. John Wood, M.P., waited on Viscount Althorp
yesterday at the Treasury, and had an interview with the Noble
Viscount.
The Duke of Devonshire, the Lord Lieutenant of Derby, h"
town for his seat in Derbyshire.

• _*-11414.

LONDON,,
WEDNESDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 12, 1831.

If the Bench of Bishops have even a fragment, a
shred left, of respect for their character and their
calling; if they be not altogether deaf and blind to

he signs of the times which are hourly developing
hemselves in thunder and lightning above their de-
voted heads; if they be not altogether heartless,
selfish, desperate, and infatuated; they will at once
follow the well-meant advice of Earl GREY, and
" set their houses in order." Not a moment is to
be lost. Their houses (of course we speak figura-
tively) are sadly out of repair; the walls are mouldy
and full of crevices; the timbers have got the
dry-rot; the stair-case creaks and totters beneath
the tread ; the roofs are falling in ; the founda-
tions are rotten and insecure : in a word, that
great public surveyor, Reform, has condemned them
all, and proclaimed authoritatively that they must
be either pulled down or wholly remodelled. The
architecture is not only quaint and old-fashioned,
but so contrived as absolutely to endanger the lives
of his Majesty's subjects. We repeat therefore
that the houses must either come down, or be
wholly altered. This is not the opinion of one, two,
or three individuals, but of the entire community;
not of a party, but of a nation. The popular feel-
ing against the Bishops for their late uncalled-for
meddling with the Reform question, is, indeed, in-
tense—tremendous--universal. The general cry
throughout the country is, " The Bishops have
betrayed :us; but for them we should have
obtained our rights : of what use are such
men in the House of Lords." Of what use,
indeed ! To despotic measures they have always
given an unhesitating assent : to those pro-
posed for the benefit of the country they have never
failed to be equally hostile. We are surprised,
therefore, that a man of Mr. HUME'S sagacity and
well-known attachment to the good cause, could
have found it in his heart to forgive the Bishops, on
the plea that they know no more of the world
than monks in cloisters. If they be really
so ignorant, they are doubly guilty for having
had the presumption to oppose the wishes of
a people of whom they know nothing. We are
quite sure their Reverences will JAnt find pre.
sumption recommended as a virtue in that sacred
book of which they are such devoted students.
Still less will they find the Church recom-
mended to throw down the apple of discord,
and all but drive its flock headlong into revolution.
The Reform question having been lost by the votes
of the Bishops, it is quite clear that to them the
present distracted state of the kingdom is owing.
They are, if not legally, at least morally, responsible
for all the disturbances that have ensued, and
may yet ensue, from the failure of this
great question. While professing to preach peace,
they have fanned the flames of discord ; and
tauntingly exposed themselves to the world, with
the Bible in one hand and the sword in the other.
And are they to be forgiven this folly, we might al-
most add, sin, because they know no more of the
world than monks in cloisters ? Far from it ; their
very ignorance tells against them; and is so far
from being an. apology, that it is actually an
aggravation of their offence. Again, then we
most solemnly recommend to the Reverend Pre-
lates, to " put their houses in order." Let
them set about it to-day; to-morrow it may be too
late. The hour speeds on, that is bearing on its
wings the doom of Reverend and Right Reverend.
Pluralists. Can they not hear the distant thunder ?
May the storm, when it does burst, find them pre-
pared and under cover ! At present they stand like
Lear on the blasted heath, exposed, unsheltered, to
all the winds of Heaven.

The LORD CHANCELLOR and Earl GREY read the
Reverend Bench a lesson last night, which we trust
it will not forget. The former commented with
exquisite irony on the " disinterested" spirit which
dictated its vote ; and the latter repelled in a fervid,
manly style the " foul calumny" which one of the
holy order had dared to urge against Government.
This one was Dr. PHILLPOTTS—he whose ele-
vation to the diocese of Exeter was looked on
in the west of England as a public calamity—he
who, from having furiously written against the
Catholics for years, from having vilified them in
pamphlets and in speches, turned round and sup-
ported their claims—quite disinterestedly we are
sure, but singularly enough—just in sufficient time
to procure his elevation. to a Bishopric ! This one
Rev. Prelate, to his numerous other sacerdotal qualifi-
. cation4tidded last night the patience of a saint and the
meekness cf an apostolic martyr. He did not in the
slightest degree resemble the boatswain of a man-of-
war, either in the tones of his voice or the quality of
his diction ! He was patience personified • the incar-
nation of humility. How gracefully the words" vili-
fied"—" insulted"—" foul mlumnie3"—" inferior
minds"—" schemes of confiscation" &c.—as applied
to the Government, and the people, fell from his
apostolic lips ! When the sage Nestor spoke,
honey, it was said, distilled from his mouth. Could
the Greek fabulist but have heard Dr. PIIILLPOTTS
" give tongue" last night ; for the Pylian sage, be

would assuredly have substituted the English Bishop!
We shall not lose sight of the Episcopal Bench.

By an extract from the Gazelle of last night,
our readers will perceive that every Gentleman of
his MAJESTY'S Most Honourable Privy Chamber is
requested to send in his name and address to the
office.on or before the last day of the present month,
and that those gentlemen only who comply with
the notice can be considered as holding this ap-
pointment. This, as a morning cotemporary ob•
serves;•seems indicative of movement.

Lord ELLENBOROUGH—poor Lord ELLENBO-
ROUGH, of whom, when in office, a witty Peeress
said that the sight of such a Cabinet Minister riding
or stalking down Parliament-street, was quite
enough to justify a revolution—thought fit last
night to attack the Press, as being the cause of the
present popular excitement. What a thousand pities
it is that this very natty Nobleman will not stick to
his love-locks, and not expose himself by making
speeches, which it is painful to read, and almost im-
possible to comprehend. Ne :War ultra erepidam ;
let each man stick to his calling; the dandy to his
dress; the fool to his cap and bells.

We hear with great pain that Nottingham Castle,
the property of the Duke of NEWCASTLE, bas been
burnt to the ground by an unruly mob. We entreat
our countrymen to forbear from all such outrage. It
is injurious to their cause as Reformers, and dis-
graceful to their characters as Englishmen. If
they are really desirous of Reform, they should learn
to deserve it by patience and submission to the
laws. They are sure of success, why then can they
not wait ? In few other parts of the country have
such acts of insubordination prevailed. The
people though disappointed (as was indeed to
be expected) are, generally speaking, peaceable ;
and as full of confidence as determination. Reform
meetings are taking place all over the kingdom, and
not one breaks up, without first bestowing, as in
duty bound, a few valedictory benedictions on the
Episcopal Bench.

Our City Correspondent says, it is reported that
the people of Nottingham have taken possession of
the town, barricaded the streets, and bid defiance to
the troops.

The Foreign Papers contain little of interest to
our readers at the present moment. The general
discussion on the Peerage Bill at Paris is concluded,
but the decision is not yet known. It is, however,
taken for granted that the hereditary qualifications
of the Peers will be abolished.

r The Duke of WELLINGTON, who has for some
time past barricadoed his windows, and put up dead
lights in Piccadilly, went down to the House of
Lords on Monday in a state coach, with glazed pan-
aels The Noble Duke has thought it necessary
of late to state repeatedly he is not to be intimidated,
as if any one felt inclined to doubt the personal
courage of the Duke of WELLINGTON. But as the
Noble Duke is not to be intimidated, the dead lights
in Piccadilly could not be put up from any feeling of
apprehension : was it done then from a modest
assumption of singularity, or an affectation of fear,
not entertained—an invitation for the attack they
seemed to deprecate ? Personal courage is a mili-
tary virtue, shared by every British soldier in com-
mon with his General ; but the moral courage, of
daring to act justly and honestly, uninfluenced by
party feelings or personal objects, a far more
ennobling quality, is seldom acquired or displayed
"on a blood-stained field. In proportion as many of
the Tory squad are anxious for riot and disorder, we
trust the people of England, the friends of Reform,
will be careful on all occasions to observe good or-
der and preserve the peace, more especially to-
wards the Duke of WELLINGTON, whether be rides
in a glazed carriage, or blockades his windows; and
that they will more particularly observe this course
in the neighbourhood of his Grace's mansion, in
order that he may, with undisturbed tranquillity, in
silence and in darkness, reflect on what he is, and
what he might have been.

We recommend to the special attention of our
readers the list of the 199 titled names which cora-
pose the 'majority against Reform. Let the public
consult the books called Peerages, and all other
competent authorities, and then judge whether it is
by the true aristocracy of England that the,Bill has
been thrown out. Let the public judge of the
truth of our repeated assertions, that it is the oligarchy
of modern origin that is the enemy of the people--
not the genuine Nobility of this land. Out of fifty-
one Barons who voted in person against the Bill,
only six were Noble before the reign of GEORGE
the Third ! The oldest of the opposition Marquises
was created in 1789 ! We must not enter into mi-
nute details. Any one who will consult DEBRETT'S
Peerage may read as he runs the facts of the case.
The rejection of the Bill is the work of sordid and
vulgar minds; it is the contrivance of those who
derive their origin from stock-jobbing, from trade, or
from special-pleading, and who have, since their
ennoblement of yesterday, denounced all fellowship
with the people from whom they have sprung. Let
us see whether the people will not, in their turn, be
able to denounce fellowship with these mushrooms
of Peers

The conduct of the Bishops is to be spoken of
more in sorrow than in anger. They have done
for the Church what the lay oligarchy have done for
the Peerage—drawn upon it the decided odium of
the mass of the people. They have identified the
Church of England with corruption—they have de-
clared that the Church by law established favours
and sanctions the trafficking in votes, and that the
jobbers and money-changers shall not be driven out
of the Temple. How can that Church expect to
continue in the reverence and respect of the nation,
when its heads are the unscrupulous supporters of
the most flagrant immorality ? For what is im-
moral—what is indecent—if the prostitution of the
elective franchise for gain, is to be accounted con-
sistent with uprightness of conduct, and with purity
of religion ?
To the 199 servants of Mammon is attributable
the whole of the agitation with which the country
is now vexed. They have done what the law gave
them the bare power to do—they have done what
they would with their own—their withered arms
have unsheathed the sword in defence of corruption,
when honesty and freedom were shielded by the
sturdy right hands of millions. They are an-
swerable for every tumult that arises between the
Land's End and Caithness; and have they the au-
dacity to charge Lord GREY and the Ministers
with being the instruments of confusion ? The
Bill was a peace offering which would have pla-
cated the disaffected, and satisfied all good citizens;
the Ministers were the peace-makers; and their
factious opponents have been those who would not
have peace at any price, but have preferred to
plunge the country into a state very nearly re-
sembling civil war.