The Sun.
London, England, 1831-09-01 00:00:00

LEULAH SPA, NORWOOD.

I.lllcbtlS Pa, the water of which the Duchess of CAM-
qtl and the Prince and Princess of CAMBRIDGE
N
Pa „ was yesterday opened to the public. The
-11i4-41tuits of about twenty acres, the greatest part of
dwti' wood. The well is most romantiely situate, and
tnt
Pe
laid out with the greatest taste. All the resi-
Fere in the neighbourhood, and many from London.
Ciletent. The band of the Coldstream Regiment of
• arch were in attendance, but the eclat of the scene
14;14 or'°,ll,e measure destroyed by the very unfavourable
at it 14 weather owing to which it was determined
4tdiat stuld remain open to the public for three suc-
4Yo.

LONDON,
THURSDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 1, 183

on

The Archbishop of CANTERBURY'S Bill for
the discouragement of pluralities was ordered to
be committed, last night, in the House of Lords.
In the Lower House, the attention of Hon.
Members was principally engrossed with the afflfirs
of Ireland, the Irish Miscellaneous Estimates
being appointed to be taken into conside-
ration on that night. in the course of
the discussion on these estimates, the late
melancholy catastrophe at Newtownbarry was
again brought forward, and much party feel-
ing elicited on the occasion. An animated con-
versation then took place on the subject of the
balance due by Sir GEORGE HILL, as Vice-
Treasurer of Ireland, who it seemed, had given in
his accounts without vouchers, according to which
accounts there was a deficiency of 2,1001. due by
him to the public. The most extraordinary part
of this affair is, that notwithstanding Sir GEORGE
was proved to be a public defaulter, he was ap-
pointed by the WELLINGTON Administration
to the Government of a West India colony,
where he now performs the financial and judicial
functions of Chancellor as well as Governor. We
hope a strict inquiry into Sir G. HILL's conduct
will be promptly made. It is due to the ends o
public justice, that a defaulter, no matter how
respectably connected, should be visited with
condign punishment. In the course of the even-
ing Mr. SPRING RICE moved for a grant of
50,0001. to defray the expellees of the Corona-
tion, which after some objections urged by Mr.
FiumE, was allowed. The Reform Bill comes
lon again to-night for discussion.

We direct attention to our Chancery Report
of this clay, by which the public will learn
with satisfaction that the delays of Chancery,
which have heretofore passed into a proverb, are
likely soon to become a wonder.

Brussels Papers have been received this morn-
ing. The KING and Marshal GERARD re-
viewed a portion of the French army on the 30th.
It appears that the German Diet have been trying
their hands at protocolling, in answer to an appli-
cation from the Belgian Minister, respecting the
free entry of Belgic public functionaries into the
fortress of Luxemburg. The Protocol of the
Diet is strongly in favour of the King of HOL-
LAND. " The Diet thinks it is the less called
upon to declare itself on this subject, as it has had
no communication on it from the King of the NE-
THERLANDS, or from the Conference at London.
File German Diet meantimelexpects, with perfect

confidence, that in the course of the negociation the
rights of the Confederation, and of the House Of
NASSAU, over the Grand Duchy of Luxem-
burg, will be taken into strict consideration, and
that no measure will be decided upon, the result
of which would be to lead to changes either of
the integrity of the territory, or the relations of
the Grand Duchy, without the previous consent
of his Majesty the King of the NETHERLANDS,
as the Grand Duke of the German Confedera-

VIENNA, AUGUST 19.-Great alarm was caused yester-
day by the sudden death of a mechanic, with the usual
sytnptoms of cholera. Today all is easy, it being
affirmed, from many quarters, that the health of the city
is in no danger, and that the individual in question died
of an ordinary dysentery. Many families, however, are
going away, and th, road to Bavaria is crowded with tra-
vellers. The Emperor is at Schoubrunn, to which access
is free. The young King of Hungary is here, which
much tends to make the people easy. Prince Metternich
and the Foreign Ambassadors are also here ; but trade is
at a stand, and the exchange affords a melancholy prospect.
VIENNA, AUGUST 12.—Five per Cent. Metalliques,
75 ; Four per Cent. ditto, 64.; Bank Shares, 599;.

The public mind in France must of necessity

lave been so prepared for the reception of a pro-

lect of law for the modification of the Peerage,
:hat the most remarkable part of M. CASIMIR

PERIER'S speech will probably be considered
that, " mrt of deference to the popular wish,"
he is introducing a measure contrary to what he

conceives to be the true interest of his country.
It is soilething very new, and strongly indica-
tive of the change of times, to hear a Minister

admitting that the public voice is, to him, a law
to be regarded in priority to the dictates of ex-

perience and the force of conviction. It is a
striking proof that the people have, in France,
the substance of power in their hands, and that

;hey hold it firmly enough to compel, in due
ime, the disappearance of those institutions

which they view as inconsistent with the general

welfare.

The only useful end of a Chamber of Peers
in France is, that it may form an Assembly whose
character and experience should examine and
controul with steadiness and caution the legisla-
tion of the Chamber of Deputies, who, being
the more immediate servants of the people, may
be supposed to be somewhat liable to precipita-
tion in making laws, from their natural subser-
viency to the wishes of the people, who so often
misunderstand their own real interest. In this
point of view an Upper Chamber has uniformly
been recognised as necessary in all modern con-
stitutional experiments, on the ground of its use-
fulness to the perfectibility of legislation. For
example, the new Constitution of Belgium,
which established in that country what may be
called a Monarchical Republic, provided for a
Senate to be composed of half of the number
of the Chamber of Representatives—to be
elected by the electors of the latter Chamber for
eight years (half the Senate being renewed every
fourth year)—and to consist of Belgians having
attained forty years of age, and paying not less
than 1000 florins in direct taxes, and receiving
no salary for their services. The 1.15 e of such a
Chamber can obviously only lie in the advantage
of the several consideration of new laws by a
body of influence and property, which meets its
constituents less frequently than a Chamber of
Deputies elected for four, and half renewable
every two, years.

The minds of the French Ministers appear to
be governed by considerations quite different
from those to which we have alluded. With
them, the grand object seems to be to raise up
some power to counterbalance that of the Cham-
ber of Deputies—some order that may ex-
ercise its influence in a sense different from the
voice of the people—some institution, in short,
that may form a barrier against the changes
which the democracy has expressed its determi-
nation to effect. M. PERIER desires the
continuance of a sham aristocracy, such as he
fancies would operate conservatively upon the
existing state of things, and the whole project
implies the acknowledgment of such a want in
the French Constitution. Such endeavours ap-
pear to us utterly vain and delusive. There
never can be again an Aristocracy in France.
There are no elements for a Peerage like that of
England. The law of equal partition is a barrier
against the accumulation of territorial wealth ;
and without the sanction of illustrious names or
historical remembrances, except in a few in-
stances, the Chamber of Peers has never had
any just title to public confidence or respect.
An Aristocracy cannot be created by a charter ;
it must be produced by the gradual and regular
working of a social machine, like that which has
reared and festered the nobility of England. At
the first French revolution every thing Aristo-
cratical was rooted out of the land. It is far
beyond M. PERIER'S power to plant it again.
For the reasons stated, we entirely disapprove
of those parts of the project which give to the
KING alone the nomination of Peers to an un-
limited extent. The plan of giving to the
KING two voices out of the three composing
the Legislature, viz., one by himself and another
by his creatures the Peers, appears to us quite
inconsistent with the spirit of a Government pro-
fessing to consist of a throne surrounded by
Republican Institutions. It is a scheme founded
upon the fallacy that a sham Aristocracy is de-
sirable to be preserved in default of a real one,
which is impossible to be had. With every
disposition to appreciate the motives which have
led the Ministry to sacrifice their own opinion
to that of the nation, we can hardly believe that
sFtrraonnlycgewill be satisfied with the whole of the
project. If it passes, we shall nevertheless be
impressed with the superiority of the
Belgian Senate over such a body as it will esta-
blish for the Legislative Chamber. This we
say, not from any affection that we may have
for Elective Chambers, or Republican Institu-
tions in general, but upon the principle avowed
by M. PERIER, that the best institutions for a
given country are those which will be the most
thankfully received.
This consideration, and a due attention to the
decidedly democratical spirit of the French na-
tion, will explain why the Peerage project can-
. not be relied on as answering altogether the
ob-
ject left in July last to be fulfilled.