The Sun.
London, England, 1831-08-23 00:00:00

THE NEW BEER THU.

The clamour, chiefly of the church, against cheap
,wer, has produced alterations of the late Beer Act,
as to the licensing and the powers of the police. In
the discussion of the subject in the Upper House,
on Monday week, the feeling towards the poor was
unequivocally manifested. The Duke of Wellington
'vas for shutting up the houses after the hours of
.cork, at four o'clock in winter, and six in summer.
He did not think it necessary or desirable that the
!abourer should refresh himself after labour. Oh !
beerlat
i cellarsiz.aar Lazarus
after
t lo
s 1
hoursck u
ofph Duke's
send
and
eode
him
to the pump to slake his thirst I Lord Tenterdsn
thought the labourer should have time to refresh
himself after toil ; but, on Lord Melbourne's ob-
serving that great complaints bad been made that
he houses were shut at unnecessarily early hours,
he appeared to repent him of his mercy, and said,
" he hoped the cause of complaint would be in-
creased." That's right, my Lord, right aristocratic
—more groans, and more cause for them. Grind
the faces of the poor, pinch them, squeeze them,
oil them, cross them, deny them. Should they he
used as well as your horses, which drink when they
are cool, after work ? Oh I no, certainly not. But
are not these things scored in the hearts of the
poor % Is there not kept a reckoning for a day that
has come to others, and may come to us, when the 4
hard man will be all meekness, and have all the 4,
Christian claims in his mouth for himself, that he
has denied to his humble fellow-man ?
The Bishops, as usual, argued that the Beer Act
was bad for the Sabbath; meaning thereby, disap-
proved by clerical magistrates. When the turn of
Lazarus comes in heaven, he will see Dives, under
a rigorous licensing act, in Tartarus; and Dives
will, we think, have a mitre on his head; and he
will ask for boiling justice juice to quench his fiery
thirst, and be told that it is forbidden between the
eternities.
The discussion on the Beer Act was renewed on
Thursday, when the Bishop of London uplifted his
voice against the enormity of skittle-grounds; and
declared, that if he stood alone, he would move a
clause imposing penalties on the retailers of beer
who kept skittle-grounds. The pretended objection
is, the annoyance to the owners of neighbouring
land; the real one, that skittles is an amusement of
the poor. The Bishop may make his mind easy
about skittles; he, and such men as he, are going
the right way to set the people at another game of
bowls.

The only measure of our time, that has had for
object the comfort of the poor, has been this Beer
Act ; and see how it has provoked the malevolent
spleen of the aristocrats, who feel as if their autho-
rity had received a shock whenever the poor are
seen in possession of an enjoyment. Lord Mel-
bourne's heart is not in the defence of the existing
law. He is very lamb-like in his triode of treating
absurd and vexatious propositions. At first he ob-
jected to such ridiculously minute legislation as that
desired by out Right Reverend Father in God,
touching skittle-grounds. But, on the Bishop's per-
sisting, he said the suggestion should be considered.
His Lordships seems quite imbecile in the hands of
the zealots.
The rich are constantly pretending to apprehend
the invasions of the poor. Let us suppose the poor
legislating for the rich, in the spirit i❑ which the
rich legislate for the poor—that is, in utter reckless-
ness of the comforts and conveniences appropriate
to particular coadit►ons—and of their value to the
possessors,
Full liberty of skittles would be granted ; but
Almack's would be prohibited, as annoying, by the
noise and confusion, to King's-place and the vicinity.
Routs would be prohibited; and the case of Lord
Londonderry's parties would be mentioned as example
of the nuisance, rendering, as they do, Park-lane im-
passable.

Club-houses would be closed during divine ser-
vice hours on Sundays, and by • four o'clock in
winter, and six in summer. Cards and dice for-
bidden under heavy penalties.
The path-stopping Act would be repealed, and,
in lieu of it, a Bill would be passed, enabling certain
authorized persons to cut off the parks and pleasure-
grounds of great houses, 'and turn them to pasture
of tillage, for the benefit of the poor of the district.
—Examiner.