The Sun.
London, England, 1831-07-22 00:00:00

LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, JULY 22, 1831.

a mere handful of their own sprats and bone-lace.
The " princely" borough of Fowey was allowed
the honour of a somewhat more ceremonious process
before it was finally consigned to ann;hilaticn.
Gatton vanished in a moment, amidst a roar of
laughter; and Haslemere, whose representative his-
tory is one of the blackest in the annals of election
Committees, will never again be invaded by free
colliers from Westmoreland, and may quietly send
poultry to market instead of Members of Parlia-
ment. In the House of Lords last night there was
nothing worthy of particular remark.—Times.
Fresh suggestions are heaped upon our table
every day, for improvements, not in the mechanism
of the Reform Bill, but in the superstructure which
is to be raised upon it. A correspondent has ad-
dressed to us a clever letter, for the whole of which
we have not room, but which contains a variety of
hints worth perhaps considering,—we will not affirm
worth adopting, without at least very mature re-
flection, and a long exposure to the ordeal of public
inquiry. Observing that some of the Tory objec-
tions'to the Bill have turned on the difficulty which
certain great interests might experience in obtaining
access to Parliament through representatives of
their choice, the writer recommends, besides six
Ministers of the Crown, the admission to the House
of Commons of Members not elected by particular
places,—whether city, borough, or county,—but de-
legated by particular interests,—such as the East
India Company (two Members); the Bank of Eng-
land ! (two Members) ; the West India interest,
two; and, what may strike with wonder those who
have weighed the natural consequences of the
Reform Bill in affording a solid and extensive,
though impartial influence to the landed aris-
tocracy, he proposes that the House of Lords should
be represented by the same number of two Mem-
bers in the sister House of Parliament. Why, the
House of Lords will, as a body, be abundantly re-
presented in the other House, under this measure,
which founds every qualification throughout the
realm (save the elective right of the Universities)
on property, and property alone. The difference
between lordly influence as now exercised in the
House of Commons, and as it must be enjoyed un-
der the Bill, is the difference between a condensa-
tion, partial and capricious, and a general and natu-
ral distribution. One or two great boroughmongers
—or a dozen with their nominees—may be bought
by a Minister for any mercenary job ; but it would
be a miraculous draught, indeed, for a Minister to
catch, in the ordinary meshes of Downing-street, by
spreading them in the usual manner, the votes of
all or of a tenth part of those Members who, re-
presenting the great mass of landed property,
would owe their seats to that fair influence

which Lords, like other gentlemen of large
estates, must necessarily have the means of exert-
ing. In a reformed Parliament we need not
dread or distrust the influence of Peers upon the
representatives of the people, because it will
be only by virtue of rights which their Lord-
ships hold in common with the people—that is to
say, the general rights of property—that they can
henceforth operate upon the constituency of the
land. There is something analogous to one part of
his proposition in the regulations of the French
Charter, which gives to the Ministers seats among
the deputies, whether they have been elected or not.
It is, however, a curious fact, that this privilege of
the Crown or the Government has in no instance
been necessary ; for even the most unpopular
nisters in the times of the highest excitement have
always been returned, not unfrequently by more than
one body of electors. Our correspondent estimates
the number of these extraordinary Members of Par-
liament, including six Ministers who are to acquire
seats ex-officio as Ministers, at no more than thirty.
He likewise proposes that a duty of ten shillings or
twenty shillings shall he paid on the registration of
voters, to go in lieu of some one or more of the
assessed taxes. We do not for our own parts see
why a constitutional right of the most sacred nature
should be in any manner subjected to such a tax.
However, let the propositions of this correspondent
stand or fall by their own merit : in such cases we
choose to act on the principle of non-intervention.
—Times.

The result of Lord Althorp's proposition to meet
every day at three o'clock, and to enter on the Re..
form question at four, was an understanding that the
Reform Bill should come on every evening at five
o'clock when it stood for discussion. Sir Robert
Peel thought the opportunity favourable for one of
his touches at Journalism. " If (said the Right
Hon. Baronet) the Noble Lord would only trust to
his own plain and unbiassed judgment, he would
find more facilities for carrying forward the mea-
sure than by attending to the recommendations of
the newspapers, and considering their suggestions.
—(Loud and continued cheers.) Let the Noble
Lord act on his own judgment, and disregard their
advice—treating with indifference and contempt, as
he (Sir Robert Peel) did, the shameful menaces by
which it was attempted to dater Members of that
House from performing their duty."—(Cheers.)
Sir Robert has such a happy way of evincing his
contempt and indifference for the Press, that he
reminds one of Sir Anthony Absolute's exclamation
against passion—" What the devil good can pas-
sion do ?"—or the self-laudation of Sir Fretful
Plagiary—" I say nothing—l take away from
no man's merit—l am hurt at no man's good
fortune. I say nothing—but this I will sav—
through all my knowledge of life I have observed—
that there is not a passion so strongly rooted in the
human heart as envy !" What a treat Sir Robert
would have been for Sheridan ! For an indifferent
man he is at wonderful pains to persuade people that
he is indifferent. Sir Robert is not sufficiently aware
of his good qualities. He is not of a temperament
to allow him to be indifferent, and it is well that he
is not, for it too often happens that those who are
indifferent as to what is said of them are equally in-
different when duty and honour summon them to
action. We remember when Sir Robert and the
Journals were on better terms with each other—
when he professed a great deference for public opi-
nion, and declared that the object of his Reforms
was to endear the laws and institutions of the country
to the people. But these days are gone. Ti :e in-
cense of Journals was then a sweet smelling savour
to his nostrils. Now journalism is the accursed
thing. Lord Althorp would act with singular folly,
indeed, were he to evince his independence by
avoiding to adopt a reasonable course, because it
was one which had been recommended in the news-
papers. The question is not who recommended
the course, but is the course proper under the
circumstances ? According, indeed, to the doctrine
of the Quarterly Review, which may, perhaps, be
law at Buckingham-house, the business of Govern.
ment is to oppose the people; nod whenever the
people are anxious for a measure, Government should
employ the resources at their command in prevent-
ing them from obtaining the object of their wishes.
Lord Althorp ought to consider it quite enough
that the public are eager for Reform, and, not with-
out apprehension on account of the slowness of the
progress of the Bill hitherto, to concur with the op-
oPbo3neertNi,tsedof the till in interposing fresh causes of
delay. Why was the Bill introduced, but that the
public voice demanded Reform ? " It was said,"
Sir Robert, " that the Bill would be de-
feated by delay. What was the meaning of that ?
Had they not a majority to support the Bill ? If it
was meant that the appetite for Reform would be
abated, that would be due to the fair influence of

reason, and nothing else. If the public shall become
as weary of discussion as the House was—if they
should look for some other topic of interest, some
other cause of excitement—if that were to be the
consequence of delay, it showed there was ground
to doubt if the clamour for Reform was produced
by the evils of the system, and gave ground to be-
lieve that it would die away before the voice of
reason." No, Sir Robert, the fear is not that the
call for Reform will die away, but that delay may
produce circumstances less favourable to Reform
than the present. We have now a Government
favourable to Reform—the desire of the nation is
seconded by that Government—the opponents of
the Bill look forward to the chance of a Government
which shall oppose the desire of the nation. We
are now at peace, the country is tranquil. No man
knows how soon the sky may be overcast. The
great body of the people of England rot only wish
Reform, but they wish to see it effected under cir-
cumstances which may not disturb the tranquillity
of the country. The delay, respecting which these
factious opponents of the Bill speak so lightly, may
be the means of disturbing credit and confidence,
and producing wide spread suffering among the in-
dustrious classes. They have deep cause for anxiety
and apprehension. The Ministry which should re-
main Mdifferent while the people were so justly
alarmed for all that men deem valuable, would there-
by prove themselves unworthy of the high stations
they fill.—Morning Chronicle.
The case of Mr. Bingham Baring was brought
before the House last night by Colonel Evans. Mr.
Francis Baring stated at great length the circum-
stances connected with the arrest and conveyance to
prison of Mr. and Mrs. Deacle. At that time the
whole country, he said, was full of. mobs, and dif-
ferent classes of people were going about in great
numbers within a few miles of Winchester ; and he
read a list of several mobs of 700, 1,000, 100, 400,
600, which were going about on the days imme-
diately preceding theday on which Mr. Deacle was
arrested. A general panic prevailed. With respect
to the cart, he said it was obvious that any other
arid speedier method of conveyance would have been
more agreeable to those who had such a disagreeable
duty to perform ; but in the disturbed state of the
country, it was necessary to proceed in such a
manner as not to attract attention. They (the
Magistrates) conceived " that in that part of the
country, which, it should be understood, is rather
wild and retired, no other conveyance could well
have escaped notice.—(Hear, hear.) It was con-
sidered, indeed, if they had attempted to bring their
prisoners away from their own house in a post-
chaise, that the horses would have beeft surrounded,
and the signals spread, that the whole population
would have been up in arms, and that it would
have been impossible to avoid the risk of a rescue.
—(Hear.) It was but the day before the execution
of this warrant that a military escort was necessary
to convey the prisoners from Romney to Winchester;
and he begged again to observe that no warrant had
been executed before without the assistance of the
military." No one could peruse the report of the
trial without receiving an impression that Mr. and
Mrs. Deacle were innocent of the crimes with which
they were charged; that the Magistrates, notwith-
standing their peaceable conduct when arrested, had
ordered them to be handbolted ; that the conveying
of persons of their rank of life to prison in a cart
was a wanton insult ; and that the striking a man
who was handcuffed was carrying cruelty to the ex-
treme. We will venture to say, that this is the im-
pression which the report would produce on ninety-
nine out of every hundred persons in the country.
The Judge who summed up the evidence said, " he
could not help remarking that the handcuffing was,
to say the least of it, a very harsh proceeding
towards a lady and gentleman who had been per-
fectly civil and quiet, and had offered no resistance,
and whose station in life was that of a gentleman—
the son of a clergyman of the Church of England."
At the trial no explanation was given respecting the
handcuffing, on which the Judge thus animadverted
--no explanation was given of the circumstances
which led to the conveyance in a cart—the evidence
of the blow given to a defenceless man was not con-
tradicted nor explained. If at the trial the Counsel
for the prisoner had stated what was stated in the
House last night, that Mr. and Mrs. Deacle
were deeply concerned in the outrages; that
they were leaders of the insurrection and encou-
ragers of the outrages ; that Mrs. Deacle had been
riding about among the rioters, and distributing
among them the money they had obtained in a lawless
way; that it was of immense consequence to the
peace of the country that the leaders should be se-
cured without loss of time ; that the mode of arrest
and conveyance had for object the preventing unne-
cessary effusion of blood, which must have taken
place if the people had been aware of the arrest and
had time to assemble; and that in short, in times of
danger, when the utmost energy is called for in men
in authority, it is not to be expected there should
be all the punctilious attentions and observances
which belong to times of tranquillity. All these
things, however, were kept in the back ground,
however necessary they might be for the vindication
of the gentlemen. Serjeant Wilde stated last night
distinctly, that Deacle was deeply implicated in the
riotous proceedings. "It was stated by many wit-.
eesses," he said, " that Deacle and Boyce accom-
panied the mob, encouraging them to insist on the
signing of a paper, which pledged the landed pro-
prietors to agree to a reduction of rent, and the cler-
gymen to a diminution of tithes ; and he declared
it as his belief, that the mischief of the rioters was
very much lessened by the promptness with which
the Magistrates had acted on the occasion which had
given rise to the present discussion." The feeling
in the House was very strong in favour of Mr.
Bingham
Baring. It must be owned that the facts
stated last night give a very different complexion to
the affair. On perusing the report, the whole con-
duct of the Magistrates seemed gratuitously harsh.
They now appear w have been engaged in a duty of
Cre-
ditors i, rrittiohr third reading aditngor ofd tphleunk Pr.eatut
still much peril, and to have employed 110 means which
had not for object to prevent the unnecessary effusion
of blood.—lllonzing Chronicle.
In the
te
House of Lords, last night, Lord Wynford
ppo i it;a ev teri
px.:ia iced
to„s,om under dsilo
l
consi-
dered this a very harsh measure ; and Lord Eldon
observed that no one of their Lordships was less
favourable to this Bill than he was. The Arch-
bishop of Canterbury's Tithe Composition a
Committee,
Wynford desiring extension of some of its provisions
to lay
er celtaio circumstances ;
but the Archbishop of Canterbury, &c., spoke of the
difficulty of blending the proposed alteration con-
sistently with the preamble and principles of the
wit
Bill. Lord Wynford eventually I d re;i the
amendment. Lord Eldon '
sno,w against the
Bill, and of the diffizu'aies of carrying its provisions
into ea:gr. The Bill was orderd to be re-com-
mitted on a future day. In the House of Commons
the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with the view of
affording increased opportunity for the discussion c 4
the In:eposed that 4114:1d have pre-
cedenceof all nntices, ()piers, and even petitions,
except such Petitions as related to the subject of
Reform ; that the House should meet at three
o'clock in the day (the Speaker having
consented to
that part of the arrangement), and nrocaed with the
Bill at four o clock,—so that ire calculated the Bill
might be discussed 'at least eight hours each day ;
and that the House should meet on Saturdays for