The Sun.
London, England, 1831-12-05 00:00:00

right of franchise to electors will, according to the
dimensions, character, and other circumstances, of
the city, county, or borough where it happens to
be enjoyed, summon to the poll very different ranks
of citizens. Next comes the Press, which is styled
of course " profligate and revolutionary." This is
ticklish ground, we can tell them. Who are the
supporters of the Press ? 'Why its readers. Who
then are its readers ? The reading classes of the
people of England. Are they all persons of profli-
gate and revolutionary sentiments ? If they are
not,—if the great majority of them be like the author
or authors of the address, dated " Bristol,"—
righteous and loyal,—then why do not they set up
a righteous and loyal Press, which must, from the
very nature of things, command a more extensive
market than that which is profligate and so forth, in
the same proportion according to which these loyal
people do constitute the majority over the revolu-
tionists ? If, indeed, the whole English nation be
revolutionists, why then, to be sure, the case is
hopeless for Sir Charles 'Wetherell and Alderman
Daniel, who then, we are afraid, will migrate to
Petersburgh or Morocco. The public are, of course,
aware that the addressers themselves are riot impu-
dent enough to call their meeting any thing but a
hole•and-corner one.—Times.

There appears in our advtrtising column s an ad.
dress to his Majesty, which professes to have ema-
nated from a meeting of " several gentlemen in
Bristol" who took a lead in the petition which was
presented in January last. This, as the very word-
ing of the introductory paragraph will show, was
another of the bole-and-corner meetings, contrived
by the Anti-Reformers as a set-off against the au-
thority of public opinion. The address of " several
gentlemen" has rather a more modest unpretending
sound than we have been accustomed to hear from
the same quarter; but the tone of the address itself
makes up for any deficiency in the way of confidence
or presumption which the knowledge of their nu-
merical weakness might have caused in the first in-
stance. The meeting proceed to instruct his Ma-
jesty in the nature of the Constitution, and of the
measure, with an air of sagacity at which it is difficult
to keep from laughing. But the simplicity with which
theyaccountfor having pasiedthose wise resolutions in
a hole-and-corner meeting, instead of a public meet-
ing, ought not to be passed over, and no language
except their own can do their discretion justice.
The following is the explanation which they give of
the affair :—" It was at first intended that a more
general meeting of the inhabitants should have been
convened, but a consideration of the early day fixed
for the re-assembling of Parliament, and of the im-
portance that the address should be presented with
as little delay as possible, induced the gentlemen,
thoutzh reluctantly, to relinquish that intention."
So, then, it was only to expedite matters that they
preferred tellispering together in a corner, to speak-
ing out manfully before the public. But, after all,
what great despatch could be effected ? A public
meeting must have finished within the day, as well
as a private one, and even the Anti-Reformers of
Bristol must allow that it would have been more
important as an expression of public feeling.—
Morning Herald.

It is stated in the German Papers that the people
of 'Warsaw have presented an address (or some-
thing of the nature of an address) of thanks to the
;rand Duke Michael, for the mercy they have ex•
perieneed at his lenids. Poor abused, insulted, be-
lied peo ?le ! after all their valour and all their sacii-
(ices, they are destined to witness the most di-gust-
ing hypocrisy on the part of the barbarians by whom
they have been o% errun ! With mercy and modera-
tion in their mouths, the Autocrat and his agents are
cairying, on a system of persecution and vengeance
at wh;eli the heart s'ckens. They are banishing the
noblest blood of Poland into the ft ight fill wastes of
Siberia, whose dungeons must be enlarged and mul-
tiplied to accommodate the numerous inmates se-
lected by Ru scan magnanimity for its display.
That in a city is hich they hold by the sword,
and govern by the sword, they should find
means to influence a few trembling wretches,
cannot surprise any one; and that such wretches
should be found, even in Warsaw, the history of
mankind must prepare us to expect ; but how the
Emperor, or the Grand Duke, or any of their ad-
visers, could hope, by the instrumentality of such
agents, to make a character for themselves, in spite
of their own acts—those acts proceeding contem-
poraneously with the statement they gave the lie to,
argues a degree of absurdity which it is difficult to
comprehend. Does the Emperor of Russia think
that his own empty professions, backed by the re-
luctant testimony of a few degenerate Poles, can
acquire for him the reputation for mercy which be
seems anxious to purchase by any means, except
those which imply performance ? It is a strong
proof how low tyrants are in the habit of estimating
mankind when they can hope to impose upon their
understandings by tricks which children could de-
tect. But what are the Governments of England
and France doing in favour of Poland, while the
heroes of that devoted land are marched off in de-
tachments to toil and slavery ? This reminds us of
a scene that passed the other day : we allude to the
Te Deum offered up for the conquest of Warsaw.
What blasphemy to thank Him who delights
in mercy for the slaughter of thousands of his
creatures ! It was with loathing that we read
the account in the foreign Papers. But the
Papers stated one fact which suggests to us
a question that ought not to remain unan-
swered. They stated that the French Ambas-
sador refused to be present at the profanation,
and that the Emperor was highly incensed. Are
we to infer from this that the British Ambassa-
dor was present ? We hope not ; but of this we
are certain, that it ought not to be left to conjecture;
that it is of importance enough to be investigated
and ascertained. 'What ! shall the representative of
free-thinking France refuse to pay homage to an
earthly Potentate in the mockery of the Most High
and shall the representative of religious England— ?
But we will not give utterance to a supposition so
disgraceful to the individual end the nation. We
will assume that the British Ambassador was not
present—that he could not have been present—
though the French Papers, in their anxiety to
vindicate their own nation and Ambassador from the
odium, neglected to do justice to our's. As for the
address of the Archduke, we wish we could consider
it as an indication of the disposition to mercy. There
is no sympathy, however, between imposture and
compassion—there is no royal road even to the
reputation of virtue without the practice.—Morning
Herald.
The King comes to town this day from Brighton.
His Majesty will hold a Council in the course of
the afternoon, at which the Speech to be delivered
by him to Parliament will be submitted for his ap-
proval ; and to-morrow he will go in State to the
House of Lords to open the business of the session.
It is understood that Ministers, in their anxiety to
avoid a lengthened discussion on the Address, and
to be saved the inconvenience and perplexity that
would inevitably attend the moving of an Amend-
ment on the part of the Opposition, have given so
general and vague a character to the Speech, that
required explanation only is likely to produce a
long debate in either House. The friends of the
Constitution will be found undauntedly at their
post, and their conduct, unimpelled by any fac-
tious motive, will be honourably governed by the
nature of the circumstances and the importance of
the occasion. There is no probability of the Ad-
dresses of both Houses being presented to his Ma-
jesty before Thursday ; so that his return to Brigh-
ton cannot be expected to take place before Friday.
—Morning Post.

According to the accounts received on Friday,
there has been no further disturbance among the colliers
at Bilston.

-- -
JOHN M'Comß was convicted, on Monday,
before the High Court of Justiciary of Edinburgh, for the
murder of his wife, by kicking her in the abdomen. He
was sentenced to be hanged on the 19th of December.
This is the third similar conviction in Edinburgh within a
fortnight,