The Sun.
London, England, 1831-01-19 00:00:00

beneficial to the community as practical services,
and the worthy Alderman is a practical man. In
the case of the Orphans' Fund, and that of the old
Insolvent Debtors' Court, he showed his inclination
and ability to reform actual abuses, and to serve his
fellow-citizene, without consideration of personal
trouble or party hostility and misrepresentation.
His conduct at the era of the joint-stock mania, in
setting himself against the infatuated schemes which
hurried thousands to their ruin, cannot be forgotten
as long as probity and good sense are held in esti-
mation among Englishmen; nor should his efforts
to expose the mischievous fallacies of the " political
economists" in trade and commerce be left out of
the accouet, if the claims of the candidates for such
a high civic office as the Chamberlaireship are to be
accurately sifted, and the euffragee of the electors to
be given to the most worthy.—Morning Herald.
The affairs of Belgium have not prospered much
since the diplomatists of the "great Powers" volun-
teered in their services to bring them to a happy ar-
rangement ; on the contrary, they have languished
exceedingly, as if the energy and virtue with which
the haughty Burghers won their independence had
perished by coining in contact with the corruption
and duplicity of Courts. Had the Belgians pro-
ceeded in the war against Holland, and not allowed
the fresh and vigorous spirit of honest patriotism to
be trodden down by the " cloven foot" of diplo-
macy, they would, before this, have compelled his
enlightened" Majesty of the Hague to ope❑ the
navigation of the Scheldt, and caused their trade and
manufactures to revive while they consolidated their
institutions. It is evident tiatt the great Powers
have interfered in their concerns only to neutralise,
as much as possible, their revolution, and to make
the peculiarity of their political situation subservient
to the purposes of ambitious intrigue. They declare
for the principle of non-intervention,and yet they con-
tinually interfere in the internal arrangements of the
Belgic State ; they pretend to leave the Belgians Wee
to choose their own Sovereign, but though they do
not dictate openly who shall be King, they dictate
who shall not be King; and if this be non-inter-
vention on one side, and independence on the other,
we must confess ourselves to be profoundly ignorant
of the meaning attached to words in the vocabulary
of modern politicians. We think it cannot be
doubted, however, by any rational person, that, not-
withstanding the total and unqualified exclusion of
the family of Orange by the National Congress,
some, if not all, of the agents of the " great
Powers" have been, from the first, busily engaged
in plotting to cajole or intimidate the Belgians out
of this solemn determination, and induce them to
accept either the Prince of Orange, or one of the
family, for their Sovereign. At the bottom of this
plot is the Russian Autocrat, whose connection
with the house of the " enlightened" William
makes him feel particularly sore touching the dis-
comfiture which Dutch legitimacy has experienced.
Feelers, inspired by " a voice from St. Petersburgh"
have been put forth for this purpose for some time
past in certain English and French Journals ; but the
foolish zeal of Deputy M'Claglan in the National
Congress has served to place beyond all doubt the
hopelessness of a cause, for the success of which so
much of the machinery of political manceuvre and
intrigue had been employed. Again—the King of
France would naturally wish his son, the Duke of
Nemours, to obtain the Crown which it is so diffi-
cult to find a head to fit ; but he has not spirit
enough to follow his own inclinations, and to take
any step which would excite the jealousy of the
other Powers; so he makes a virtue of necessity.
But while, as King of France, he prevents the
Duke of Nemours from ascending the throne of
Belgium, as a Bourbon he declares against the Duke
of Lenchtenberg, because he is related to the de•
parted Monarch who raised France to the highest
pitch of glory she ever attained. While these
diplomatic schemes are going on, and the arm of
Belgian heroism is paralysed, the Dutch King con-
certs in security his measures to destroy the trade
of the liberal provinces, if they should finally re-
ject every member of his family. It was a great
mistake in the Belgians not to have chosen a native
Sovereign in the first instance, even if he were
taken, like Saul, from following his father'e asses,
and thus have saved the " Great Powers" the
trouble of helping them to a King.—Morn. Herald.
The meeting of the freeholders and residents of
the county of Berks, of which we gave an account
yesterday, may fairly be set down as the moat
important which has yet taken place in this
part of the kingdom, both as regards the respecta-
bility of those who were present at it—the resolu-
tions to which it agreed—and the unanimity which
characterized the whole of its proceedings. The
time has been known in this country, when neither
a Reform in the representation of the people, nor
any other measure which had not for its object the
enriching of the weaL hy and unproductive classes
at the expence i,f the industrious and productive,
could have been discussed—when any one who an-
nounced himself to be a Radical Reformer would
have been voted a dangerous person,and unanimously
" sent to Coventiy"—when the mention of the ballot
would have only given rise to sneers—and.when any
proposition for reducing the taxes which pressed
most severely on the poor, would have been con-
sidered an impudent intrusion on the harmony of a
meeting;—but these things are now altered-
-county meetings are no longer to be classed
among the unmeaning frivolities and farces of the
age—the voce of the people is heard and listened to
—their cause is advocated by those who are not un-
affected by their distress—and their misery sympa-
thised with by signs of language and conduct which
are not to be mistaken. Such a character at least
belongs to the Berkshire meeting, from the respec-
tability and unanimity of which we riot only augur
great benefit to the cause of Reform and economy,
but from whose sympathy with the just complaints
of the people, we confidently anticipate an exten-
sion of moral influence on their dispositions, highly
favourable to the future tranquillity of the country
—more capable of ensuring it, and better calculated
to lead to just and wise legislation—than any
other proceeding which could have beer► adopted.
Let the ether counties of England but follow
the example of Berks—let but the higher classes
show that they are at length thoroughly in eatnest
in effecting is redress of the grievances of the
people, and we will venture to assert that there vii

. ......
be no more burning of farm-yards—or destruction a

property--or intimidation persons—and that
those who endeavour to excite sedition or produce
disturbance, will be hunted from the country
those whom, under other circumstances, would be-
come an easy prey to them. But to come more par-
ticularly to the proceedings of the metting, it would
be seen from our report that it came to the unani-

mous resolution of presenting a petition, through the
County Members, for an efficient and rational Itt-
form ; but that with discrimination which did it

great credit, and a confidence in the good intentions
of the present Administration, as highly flattering as
it was just towards the latter, it refrained from any
other proceeding, as will be seen from the COll.-
. . .

elusion of the proceedings in this day's Paper, than
that of recording its opinion on the ballot.
That opinion, however, was nearly as unani-
mous as ►t had been on the necessity of an immediate
and rational Reform ; for out of the whole meeting
there were only four who could be found to vote

against it, and of these four not one who could fur-
nish a better reason " for die faith that was in him"
than that voting by ballot was an innovation on the
Constitution 1 The time, however, is gone by
when such arguments could be looked upon in any
other light than as downright nonsense. The vote
by ballot is part of the detail of r epresentation, and
not the principle of it, which latter, only, is re-
cognised by the Constitution. The latter says, that
the representatives of the people shall be elected by
their free, unbiassad, and independent suffrages;
but it does not proscribe the suffrage by ballot, or
in any other mode in which it can be collected. The
ballot is, therefore, merely an innovation on the