The Sun.
London, England, 1831-08-29 00:00:00

put it to himself what would be the state of the'
country—what would be the state of society—
what would be the state of the Aristocracy—
what would be the state of the Church—what
would be the state of the metropolis and.the manu-
facturing districts—were the Bill either not to pass,
or to be greatly crippled in its provisions ? Again,
with respect to trade, what can be more deplorable
than its present condition ? Is not the Money
Market daily filled with Exchequer Bills ? Is not
the Batik contracting its discounts ? 13 not money,
on the most unexceptionable bills, most diffi-
cult, or rather almost impossible, to be procured ?
Do not the moneyed men refuse even to advance on
mortgage almost any sum, except a mere per centage?
Nay, is is not a fact, that many of the most respec-
table banking firms of the city have actually refused
to give even one per cent. for large sums of money
which their customers could find no better mode of
disposing of ? And has not trade been greatly in-
jured thereby—nay, is it cot, except in mere ne-
cessaries, almost at such a stand-still, as threatens,
in the opinion of many men of judgment, a fearful
crisis in the course of the autumn and winter ?
And to what is all this mischief owing ? To no-
thing hut the delay in passing the Reform Bill—an
unsettling of the public mind—and fears of revo-
lution, in consequence of the deep feeling of hatred
which has been engendered towards the Aristo-
cracy, and the institutions which, by gross abuse, it
has made its own.—Morning Advertiser.

The report of the proceedings of the self-elected
city committee, which, it must be remarked, pro-
ceeded ;from themselves, presents to our view as
gross an attack upon the privileges and character of
the House of Commons, and as complete an expo-
sure of the servility, incapacity, and baseness of the
city Members, as it is possible to imagine. The
Members, we beg pardon, the delegates for the city,
are reminded by this junta of Liverymen that they
had solemnly promised to vote with his Majesty's
Ministers all through the Reform Bill ; that this
was the condition of their election; and that how-
ever wicked or absurd any proposition proceeding
from Ministers, it would be their duty to support
it. In all this the delegate whose conduct was under
discussion tamely acquiesced, expressed his con-
trition for having dared to vote agreeably to the dic-
tates of his own conscience, and solemnly re-
peated his electioneering vow never again to be
guilty of the same offence. If Ministers were to
propose vote by ballot and universal suffrage on
the one hand, or if, on the other, they should
attempt to limit the suffrage to such persons only as
are not below the rank of knighthood,theslave dele-
gates of the city of London would, according to the
doctrines and facts promulgated by this junta, be
compelled to support the proposition. The absur-
dities committed by a host of ignorant Liverymen
are not, it may be said, of much importance. The
conduct of a London Alderman, to whom probably
his seat in the Ifouse of Commons is in some way
or other a matter of great personal consequence, is
not, it may be said, of any importance whatever,
and abstractedly both propositions are, no doubt,
correct. But it is of importance to the character
and dignity and influence of the House of Com-
mons that it should not connive at and sanction the
publication under its eye of facts and doctrines
wholly incompatible with its character, dignity, and
influence. When the House of Commons permits
the independence of one of its Members to be pub-
licly assailed—when, without reproof, it permits this
Member to make a public and formal surrender of
his honour and his conscience—it proclaims to the
world that the House itself consists in a large pro-
portion of men in the same degraded and ignoble
situation, and that its opinions and decisions upon
any possible question are therefore not entitled to
any the least degree of moral weight. We hope the
House of Commons will yet rescue itself from this
degradation. There cannot, we suppose, be a doubt
in the mind of any rational man as to what a House
of Commons worthy of the name would do in such
circumstances. After the verification of the fact at
their Bar, or by the examination in his place of tile
culprit and degraded Member, they would send to
Newgate every individual who could be proved to
have taken any part in examining, insulting, and in-
timidating a Member of their House, and they would
at once expel from among them the Member who
had invited or submitted to this degradation. Nothing
short of this can redeem the character and restore
the wounded dignity of the House. The House of
Commons of England must support its proper con-
stitutional character if it would wish the measures it
may originate to be received with the usual respect
by the other branches of the Legislature. There is
no man who wishes well to the Reform Bill who
ought not to rejoice if the city Members, who have
proclaimed themselves slaves, were ejected from the
House of Commons, and the city junta who have
presumed to domineer over them were, every man
of them, sent to Newgate. For should the House
of Commons permit itself to be treated as an As-
sembly of Delegates, without any effort to maintain
and protect its proper constitutional character, who
can deny that this fact alone would abundantly jus-
tify the Upper House of Parliament, in the estima.
tion of the present and all future times, in refusing
to the Reform Bill even the customary courtesy of a
first reading ? To claim respect from others it is
necessary alike for individuals and assemblies to show
that they respect themselves ; and from this univer-
sal law even the House of Commons is not exempt.
—Morning Post.