The Sun.
London, England, 1831-05-16 00:00:00

DEVONPORT, MAY 14.

VICTORY! VICTORY! VICTORY I
(raom A CORRESPONDENT.)

Sir Richard Vyvyan and Lord Valletort have resigned !
Sir C. Lemon and Mr. Pendarves, two Reformers, are
returned for the county of Cornwall—aye, for Cornwall
—the strong hold for boroughmongery—the cradle of cor-
ruption. Here we are mad for joy. The Devonpgrt co-
lumn is brilliantly illuminated. Rockets are ascending
from, and blue-lights without number are burning on, its
summit, amid the cheers of thousands. The inhabi-
tants of this town have been foremost in their zeal for the
glorious—the righteous cause. Every resident freeholder
was sent down free of expense. But we will not boast—
we merely did our duty. This is, however, the grand
defeat—this is the finishing stroke—the last head of the
hydra is annihilated.

EDINBURGH, MAY 13.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

Sra.,—l fear that, notwithstanding the declaimers put
forth against any deign of altering the Reform Bill, there
is some reason for doubting whether, upon one very im-
portant part of it, viz. that which concerns the qualifica-
tion for the elective franchise, the minds of Ministers are
sufficiently decided, to abide by their first determination of
giving it to all householders paying 10/. rent, and indeed
the Lord Advocate here, and Lord Palmerston at Cam-
bridge, are said to have described the amount of qualifica-
tiou as being still unfixed. In the Courier of Wednesd
there is put forth what seems to be a s,:rt of feeler upon the
suhject, whether officially or officiously, I know not; hut
considering you to be one of the most firm and consistent
advocates of the popular cause. I am induced to offer you a
few remarks upon a subject of so much importance. Your
own observations upon this head are, I have not the least
doubt, in unison with the feelings of the whole nation :
you h late justly characterized the 101. franchise as a princi-
pal and essential feature of the B 11, and I sincerely hope
that no attempts will be made to deprive it of so vital a
characteristic.

The Courier, in a very plausible and jesuitical manner,
deprecates forsooth all rigid injunctions being laid upon
candidates to vote f.r " the Bill, the whole Bill, and nothing
but the Bill :" it is necessary, say they, that Parliament
should be unshackled and able to deliberate upon all the
provisions, &c. &c., all which would he very well at any
other time, and if the Bill were now about to be submitted

for the first time to Parliament and the nation ; but are
surely out of place now that the Bill has been fully ma-
tured, that all the details of the Miniverial plan have been
laid before the country, end that the nation, approving the
whole with complete unanimity, has put forth all its ener-
gies to return such Members only as would engage to sup-
port, not Reform in general, but this very plan.—this only
—and this entirely ; not to give their assistance to any
plan of Reform that may chance to be submitted by one
side of the House or by the other, but to carry into effect
one measure of Reform, which has been detailed by the
Minister, sanctioned by the King, and joyfully accepted by
the people ; which has formed a bond of union to all Re-
formers, which has increased their affection for their
Sovereign, and conferred upon the whole Government a po-
puta. ity that, I h"pe, may net, r be diminiaheti.
But the Courier says, that the details nay be submitted
with safety to the next Parliament,—that there will he so
large a majority on the side of the people that any altera-
tion that may be made will be made in their interest. To
this, I answer, that in the first place, the 101 franchise is
hot a minor point, but °he of first-rate importance; and in

.he second place, that the people having elected tepresenta-
tives to vote for a definite measure, already long enough
before the country to have been thoroughly sifted, would
prefer the Bill as it at present stands, without one iota of
alteration. They are satisfied with it--the Ministers must
surely lie satisfied with it as they introduced it—and the
101. franchise was alluded to with peculiar satisfaction by
Lord J. Russell—the King is satisfied with it—the majority
of the House will he pledged to support it, and why, there-
fore, are we to hear of alterations : and it must be recol-
lected, that there will still be a very large and powerful
party, who will use every means that the wavering or bad
tactics of their opponents may put in their power to defeat
and destroy it. Gre it as the majority will be, it must be
recollected that the House will he far from being a reflec-
tion of the nation's mind. Look at the long list of rotten
boroughs, arid remember that Scotland is one great rotten
borough ; "a whited sepulchre. full ofdead men's bones, and
of all uncleanness."' To a Parliament which shall truly
and completely represent the nation, to such as we hope
soon to see, the interests of the nation may be with con-
fidence committed, but at present there is a very nume-
rous party, who are interested by every possible motive to
injure the Bill as much as possible. We believe the I%li-
sisters to he sincere, but we have less confidence in their
generalship than in their honesty. We fear lest any
change should afford to some slippery Members an excuse
for acting like some gallant representatives in the last
Parliament, and therefore we humbly deprecate any change.
A few words on the propriety of the 101. franchise.
The nation, Sir, regard the 10/. franchise as one of the
pillars of the Bill ; it gives to an industrious and most
useful class the prospect, by diligence and prudence, of
having a voice in the legislation of their country ; it forms
a judicious medium between an aristocratic constituency
and universal suffrage ; it will have a most beneficial ten-
dency in stimulating the industry and in raising the con-
dition of the working classes. In the words of Lord J
Russell " the probability of the possession of this fran-
chise will be an inducement to good conduct. When a
man finds by his being rated to a certain rent, and by
paying rates, he will he entitled to a vote in the election
sf a 11Iernher of this House, it will be an inducement to
him to be careful and prudent, and punctual in his deal-
ings. I think when we add this large constituency, we
provide for the political and moral improvement of the
people." The class upon whom it will confer the privi-
lege, whilst they are the most industrious, are not one
iota less loyal—less desirous of supporting the institutions
of their country—less attached to their King, than any
other class in the kingdom. Nothing is more ridiculous
than to impute to the working classes any designs against
the order of society or the nature of the Government. I
maintain that they arc less likely to entertain such ideas
than those above them. A rich banker or merchant
might expect to fill a greater part in a republic than be
does at present ; but the lower orders know that such a
change would neither give them rank nor wealth ; they
tre contented with a good Government under King,
Lords, and Commons. Their expectations have, doubtless,
been excited by the Ministerial gill, as first promulgated,
and in it they have buried all difference of opinion ; but by
raising the franchise to 20/, they would be shut out of all
hope of the elective privilege, and would doubtless be
clamorous for further concession.
Let the Alinisters preserve their well-earned popularity.
Let them abide by the Bill and the whole Bill. They
have now the power to carry their own measure by a tri-
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in their course would not be calculated
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If you' think proper to insert these observations in your
valuable Pape ritlay to vuie:whticol loywilloolhp'u loiriagmscee'nwe respectfully,complacency
A TRUE REFORMER.
* The mock representatives from the county and city of
Edinburgh, will vote against the Bill, yet an Anti-Re-
former in these parts is a " taro anis ;" are these the na-
tional
asmatyhelecavoeurtfheer'a'dprovi-
sions" representatives ptrhees eßnl with

--- -
On Thursday last his MAJESTY, as Mas•
ter of the Trinity House, presided at a Court of that
Corporation, which, by his MAJESTY s command, was
odd at the Palace at St. James's, when the Right Hon.
Earl GREY was elected an Elder Brother, in the room of
the late E.arl of MuLoaAvir. . • I

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