The Sun.
London, England, 1836-07-07 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

The difaeldifrdry iitcrease on all the principal.
branches of the reVeilue rifirOrds the most unequivocal
proof of the material well-being O( nation. The
Conservatives may amuse themselves with e'r4ploying
itinerants to perambulate the, country, with a vieiv to
emits religious discord and sntariaii animosity,
.but
they will find it no easy task to disturb a population so
stictessitilly occupied in the pursuits of peaceful in-
' dittstry.,• Anitious as they may be for place, they will
hataty be so mad as to attempt to play over again the
farce 19411, by any unseasonable interruption of
the national pidsperity. We think the people may
therz,forc rest satisfied, that if Ministers have
been unable to carry all the measures of im-
provement which they proposed, this i. the ex-
tent of the mischief which the Tories can inflict
for the present. Our French Contemporaries are not
inattentive spectators of the proceedings of the British
Parliament; and their opinions, though not always
founded on a correct understanding of the English
eharaeter, and the peculiarities of our social condi-
tion, are nett Undeserving of attention. The Constitu-
tionncl is unable to discover in the late proceedings
of the House of Lords any symptoms of the boasted
prudence of the English aristocracy.
" It must be owned," says that journal, " that the aris-
tocracy play a bold game with their inflexibility of opposi-
tion. When the social state of a country is so wretchedly
organized, the class for whose profit this state of things is
6ft.ablished is very ill-advised to irritate the spirit of reform
by an exaggerated • resistance. The politic prudence of
the English aristocracy has long been the subject of boast,
but there is certainly little evidence of it on this occasion.
The arNtocracy are much mistaken if they suppose they
,kan derive aoy benefit froM their blind obstinacy."
'1 lie holds a different language.
4, The 13At.ii, "returns.so much altered by the
Lords, that there is.h4l2lv to be discovered in it any part
then, are the, Whigs about,
as it originally stood. What,
who so often repeated no concessie'n They repeat, over
and over again, that their intentions t.." e pure, that they
for the House
ve roject,
are animated by the most profound respect
of Lords, and they prove this by offering a n‘ p
s
softened down, very modest, humble even to an ex-
treme. this new project it waled with more conteNt.
than die first, at?t) at a single sittiag a formidable mzeioriiy
sends it disdainfully balk to its authom Of what avai: is
the agitation with which IVIr. O'Connell thteatens his ad-
versaries? Are they not aware of what he means by agita-
tion ? Meetings, newspaper attacks, public processions, in
which his fine voice and powerful eloquence will be heard?
But for a practical people like the English this is not enough
—.action is necessary ; and against whom ? Against the
Tories? The power is awanting. In this occurrence
the Baited party might have taken a decisive attitude
if it had been organised. But whether from inexperience
or modesty, there hag net yet appeared a man disposed to
lead it. However, itcountj from 140 to 100 votes in the
House. .It has men who, like Mr. Grote, possess a con-
siderable fortune, a pure character, talents which appear
to advantage in discussion, and other well-founded titles to
respect ; it has scientific men, like Mr. Warburton; young
men full of ardour, zeal, and intelligence, as, for instance,
Messrs. Roebuck, Molesworth, Buller, Leader. However,
they are restrained by indolence and a fatal distrust, and
relying, perhaps, too much on the solidity of their prin-
ciples, they allow the opportunity to pass : they trust to
events, and abandon to the impulse of chance a democracy
which everywhere seeks a centre and a direction."
The Constitutionnel cannot discover in what manner
the Lords can derive any advantage from their opposi-
tion. The National does not attempt to show in what
manner the Lords can profit by placing themselves in
opposition to the people, but is surprised that the op-
portunity for securing a victory to the democracy is al-
lowed to escape. The people of England are not suf-
ficiently miserable to find revolution a desirable specu-
lation. The saying of the soldier who had become
rich, " Let them take castles who are »ot worth a
groat," naturally recommends itself to a nation reaping
the fruits of successful industry, and every day gaining
fresh conquests im the fields of commercial enterprise.
The man must be made of stern stuff who would at-
tempt to disturb this state of things by agitation, and
draw on himself the responsibility of Paralysing indus-
try, and subjecting the many families now enjoying com-
petence and comfort to poverty and privations. Even
the-ToriM selfish as they arc, would hardly have the
heart to put to hazard the present happy state of
things by mad attempts to seize on power on
defiance of the will of tha nation. It is, no doubt,
perfectly true that the people have. not reaped all' the
fruits they anticipated from the Reform Bill. It is
equally true that the Oligarchy, beaten in 1832, have
saice entrenched themselves in the House of Lords,
and afforded a demonstration that the Constitution was
only half removed at that time. But the obstinacy of
Lords merely retards the progress of reform. The
most extravagant Oligarch among them can hardly
dream of the possibility of their recovering their lost
power over the Commons. The power of the House
of Commons rests on a secure basis, and lit every
struggle with the Lords something must be gained for
the people. It is to be kept in mind that the
people, though dissatisfied with the Lords, arc not
yet so generally persuaded that a House of Com-
MODS returned by the people cannot act in concert
with an irresponsible House of Lords, as to justify
any appeal to them for the specific object of a re-
form of the Peers. The nation had long been
prepared for a reform of the House of Commons ;
but a reform of the Peers, however indispensable,
is at Variance with all the recognized theories of the
Constitution ; and the people of England renounce with
difficulty any notion with which they have been im-
bued. It is this peculiar unsusceptibility of new im-
pressions which has preserved to this day abuses of the
law an glaring that all foreigners wonder how they can
possibly ha borne. But the misconduct of the Peers
•is precisely the aid of which the Reformers are in
Silint, to prepare the nation for the further reforms that
arc neceatiary. Had the Peers acted with more pru-
dence and Moderation, the people might have remained
long blind to the defects of the constitution, and all
idea of organic change would have been hopeless.
But the lessons of the Peers have sunk deep into the
minds of the people. They are the great instructors.-
On the first seasonable excitement of the nation it will
be seen whether or not the people have benefited by
their instructions. The materials for another moral
revolution arc beg prepared. Any other description
of revolution is not to. :the taste of the people of Eng-
land.—Morning Chronicle.
Mr. Daniel O'Connell's speeciii on Monday last,
not in reply to Lord Stanley, but h spitC.ful reproach
of it, was worthy of ancient Pistol. It was ,
ndeed
but a paraphrase of " all Hell shall stir for tins",”
Fruitful of mischief as are the practices and the ordi-
nary resources of the Learned Repealer, we wait with
some curiosityJci discover what new modes of disturb-
once he is now to put in action. When the police,
newly modified, with Colonel Shaw Kennedy, come
into play, we doubt whether agitation will, at its mas-
ter's bidding, assume the character of actual insurrec-
tion, or whether tithe resistance will, in the'face of the
Exchequer, amount to an open defiance of the law.
We know that the Learned Beggarman did threaten
Lord Stanley with the future inefficacy of all legal
process for the recovery of tithe, declaring that not
another farthing should be paid to the clergy ;" but
allowance must be made for the time of year, and for
the approach of the month of November, when it
consists with the financial policy of the sturdy Beggar-
than that no disbursements should take place from any
Popish pocket, save only for the benefit of " the rent.
There are likewise other threats of the ex-Member
for Dublin, for the fulfilment of which we are willing
to suspend our impatience. The House of Lords have
shared with the clergy, and, with all Englishmen and
Englishivomen,•his revengeful curses and denuncia-
tions. There is little need for us to state any opinion
with regard to his plan for syringing that illustrious
with a stream of nastiness drawn froth his
aoswsli
lie ll'obliil. imagination, in the shape of a motion, which
he had some time ago fixed for last Thursday evening.
By taking-tile motion and the man together, we are
assisted in our judginent upon both. The motion for
turning the House of Peers into an elective body is
such that
u none. b an arrant blockhead would have
conceived it. would be somewhat curious to inquire
by what
sort of machinery this grievance-monger pro-
poses to effect the metamorphosis of the Peers into a
" second chop House of Commons. He moves a
resolution, or a (loin of them—what next ? They
are r:jected by a majority, consisting of Conservatives
and Whigs. there is an cud of him, " within
doors," at least, for the present. But suppose he should
carry his resolution—what next ? A petition is voted to