The Sun.
London, England, 1831-09-08 00:00:00

fSPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

The country may now be fairly congratulated
/hat the Reform Bill has passed the Committee,—
the opposition gradually relaxing as the contest was
prolonged, and the latter clauses having been carried
with something little short of entire and unanimous
acquiescence. The report will be received on Tues-
day next, and there are many reasons for desiring,
that on the third reading a majority may show itself
in favour of this great national good, hearing some
slight proportion to the out-of-doors majority, bating
a due allowance for the rotten-borough Members,
who have no connexion nor sympathy of any kind
with the people. There are those who ascribe the
decay of active bitterness in the Anti-Beform oppo-
sition of the House of Commons, to certain dreams
of redemption for the borough system in a different
quarter. Dire chimeras these ! and desperate the
minds which can engender them ! If there be really
a party within this realm which contemplates as 11
matter within the bounds of reasonable probability
the rejection of the Reform Bill by the House Of
Lords, or any serious modification of even one of
its essential clauses, that party must itself be insane,
or still more insane the assembly by Nvhich such an
expectation would he realized. For let not Tcry
Piers indulge the melancholy reverie, that the
" people have forgotten the 11;14"—nlready
ave warned their Lordships on this subject. We
know that. there exists a class of Lords,
—ay, and of untitled grandees, chiefly men
who have been in office under Tory -Minis-
ters, a class which never looked for informa-
tion while the Government was formed by them
and by their friends, beyond the purlieus of Down-
ing-street or Whitehall—who fancied that the people
of England were as complete machines as their own
clerks and MCSSCIIg,C7S about the Treasury chambers
—who never conceived that the Constitution was
any thing but a form, that extreme eases were within
the range of physical possibility, or that the vehicle
of the State could be endangered by any unskilful-
ncss of the drivers. hese unfortunate men are now
busy according to their peculiar fashion. Charles-
street is to them, while out of place, what their
much-lamented Downing-street used to be. They
see nothing but what surrounds them in that their
conclave—hear nothing but what is whispered there
—believe nothing but what is there accredited—
circulate every thing which has the fiat of the old
Bureaucracy affixed to it—and are, in point of autho-
rity for the national spirit and sentiment of Englend,
just On a par with the present tenants of Holyrood,
for knowledge of what is going on amongst the
French people. These men, we say, are habitual
aliens to their country. They would drive the
House of Lords into a conflict with the people of
England. Such a conflict may a merciful Provi-
dence avert !—Times.

At last, thank God, the Reform 13;11 has passed
through the Conlmittee. The few words tittered
by Lord John Russell were most moving, " I move,
Sir, ihat you do report the 13;11 with its amend-
ments to the House." These few words were re-
ceived with loud cheers, and on the question that
the Chairman do leave the Chair, these cheers
were renewed. The report is to be taken into
considerwion on Tuesday next. We are now fas;
approaching to the great crisis,—the progress
through the House of Lords. For all that has
taken plnce in the Commons the people were in
some measure prepared, though the delay may have
somewhat exceeded their anticipations. Respecting
the fate of the Bill, however, there could be no
anxiety, the elections having determined the result
in the House of Commons. But the same certainty
does not exist with regard to the House of Lords.
Anxiety, intense anxiety, is entertained on that
head. Much will depend on the people themselves
Let them now prepare to let it be seen that they
are worthy of the privileges to which they are abou'
to be admitted. Again we say much will depend
on the people themselves in the approaching crisis.
Our hint, we know, will be understood.—illorning
eh en icle

Tc-day a Monarch, strong in the affections of his
people, goes forth to receive with the solemnities of
religion, and amid the honest acclamations of hi,
subjects, a crown which is consecrated by that
highest and purest historical glory which is azso-
ciated with the consolidation of a nation's liberties.
Happy would it have been for a neighbouring king-
dom if •the revolution which expelled the Stuarts
from R throne which their folly and their vices for-
feited had taught the Bourbons wisdom. It is be-
cause the lesson that England gave to ambitious and
profligate rulers of nations was read in vain by the
descendants of Hugh Capet that France has suffered
incalculable miseries, and that the late Sovereign of
that fine country is now a crownless exile, who
found a secure asylum from the ju,t indignation of
his subjects on the shores of England—presenting
the instructive spectacle of a tyrant who has fled
fir refuge to the sanctuary of freedom. While the
Ex-King of France remains a living example of the
dreadful force of the recoil of public opinion, when
the pressure of porter has become too violent to
be borne, the King of England, by yielding to
the reasonable desires of his people, and re-
pairing those criurgiea of a free Constitution which
abuses had corrupted, or time impaired, makes
the foundation of the throne itself more firm,
and draws around his own just prerogatives
the impregnable defence of a people's love.—
The Coronation of this day will not, indeed, rival
that of the late King in gorgeousness of pageantry
and brilliancy of spectacle, but it is chastened
splendour will be in better taste, and it will have a
moral attraction superior to what has invested any
similar: ceremonial since the revolution ; for the
Monarch who is, on the present occasion, to renew
those engagements with the nation which-guarantees
the preservation of its rights and liberties, has riot
mere promises to offer to the country of the faithful
discharge of this great trust :—he has given proofs
of the sincerity with which he means to observe the
obligations which he incurred on his accession, be-
fore he subscribed the contract which binds by the
most solemn act of religion the conscience of a Bri-
tish King to the cite ies of a Constitutional Throne.
There is another charm which the present Corona-
tion will possess, that would, of itself, more than
compensatate for its diminished scale of scenic
splendour, compared with the Coronation which
preceded it ;—the glory of the Monarch's
Crown will be reflected in softened lustre from
the diadem of his illusttious Consort. Tie wisest
of Kings has said that " a virtuous wife is above
the price of rubies." William the Fourth pos-
sesses that treasure in having a partner of his throne
whose conduct is the source of domestic happiness
and public pride to himself, a moral example to the
country, and the best ornament of the highest sta-
tion. Is it not better that the solemnity which is
about to be observed should be graced by the pre-
sence of such a Queen as this, than that sovereignty
should display the most costly and cumbrous train
of magnificence that ever spread its variegated co-
lours to the sunshine of a Court festival? We ap-
preciate the good taste of Queen Adelaide, who
preferred having her crown composed of her own
jewels to hiring others at the public expence, as
was done upon a former occasion. We do not like
to see English Royalty decorated with borrowed
plumes; arid we are sure the Queen's crown will
not look the less beautiful in the eyes of the people
because the jewels that adorn it, like her virtues,
are not assumed.—Morning Herald.
We were not disappointed iu the expectation
hich we entertained respecting the patriotic feel-
ings of the citizens of London. They havejustified
the character of their ancestors, and h
report,
nobly redeemed.ch
e le which
o
hcas
the pledge, as will be seen from
they gave to the country in Marcho t
last.
lutions of that month were confirmed in T
their fullest
extent, and the lie given, in the broadest terms, to
the false assertions of the Anti-Reformers, that_ithe
country had become indifferent to Reform.l 07
should it, indeed, become indifferent to Reform
The Bit may not be as pure now as it was
introduced Iry Lord John Russell; but itj is a

great boon—it is an immense step to the acquisi-
tion of greater blessings—it is a lever which mint
bring back society to its just land-marks, and that,
(1, in the most peaceable manner, and without
any of those stains which have marked the re-
storation of freedom to other nations. Eng-
land passed tirrough the fiery ordeal of revolution
daring the time of the ,!Stuarts—her instituticirs
have since become corrupt, and the object of the
Reform Bill is not to substitute a liew Constitution
in their place, but to restore the old one to its ori-
ginal purity and efficiency. Why, then, should the
public be dissati,fied with such a Bill Is it because
the people hold no meetings on the subject of Re-
icrrn, that the Anti-Reformers have imbibed the
notion that the country has become inditrx.rent
to Reform ? If they do so they will find a
ready explanation of the silence of the country in
the efforts which it has made—in the certainty that
it requires not to make any more.,,--enat there is no
public body wlEch could dare to gainsay its unani
mous decision=-and above all, they will find a sati7,
factory answer in the following res.dutionn, passed
in the city yesterday—and in that city too where
the Anti-Reformers hoped to muster a majority in
their favour.

" rriukt this Court feel highly tgraoed at the
rrospeet of a speedy and auccessfcl termination to the
labours of the House of Cr.innons, in relation to the
great end vital que.tion of 'Parliamentary Reform.

" Resolve:l, That this Court, having nn unaltered con-

vietion of the imperative necessity of such Reform, do
petition the House of Lord 7) praying their Lordships to
give their assent to tl!is ueat constitutional measure, t'at;t:
the same may I.c passed into a ktw, wherehy alon'e a true
rind la,tio; union will be preserved of sings, Lords, and
Commons, and the House of CoMmons become, in fact,
the representatives of the people.
liesolved, 'Pita it be ref-rrud to the Committen

tive to deform in Parliament, to prepare the draft of a
petition to the llonourah't die house of Lords,
and report the same to thin Court.

In conclusion, We commend the sine-eh of Mr.
Charles Pearson, to the attention of our readers.
It i 3 a bril:iant effort and ought to promote its
awhor to a seat in the House of the " collective
wisdom" of the nation.—Aforning Adc,:rriser.
The Coronation of their Maiesties the King and
Queen of England takes place this day, and we
gladly avail ourstives of the occasion to utter, in
unison with the great majority of our fellow-
,:ubj,,,ets, the expression of on; ardent attachment
,o the British Monarch) and to breathe with them
cur fervent a?pintions to that Power by which
Kings reip for its perpetuity, its unabated glory,

its continued and increasing, strength as the bul-
wet k of national freedom and security, its sur-
passing and progressive abundance as the source
of national happiness and welfare. What though
this august national solemnity be celebrated
with " maimed right"—though we endure the
mortifica!ion of beholding our Sovereign shorn
of his befitting splendour—though we be com-
pelled, in the warmth rind impatience of our
affectionate loyalty, to ask " What ceremony else ?
must there no more be done ?" surely it is not for
!his, however we may condemn or despise tl.e spe-
nous or hypocritical economy which thus diappoints
the feelings of the people, and seeks to place the
Monarch under a cloud, that we should pronounce
with stinted breath or mitigated ardour the appro-
priate prayer of the day, " God bless the King !"
England could well have afforded to crown her King
end the amiable pertner of his throne as his ances-
!ors have been ci.ownel, and under the adminis.ra-
rion of any body of Statesmen other than Whigs
and economists she would have been allowed the
gratification of doing so. We doubt whether now,
better than on any former occasion, the Crown of
England can afford to loosen those ties of suit and
service, hitherto deemed alike honourable to the
payers and the receivers, which in so many houses
•If the British Nobility and Gentry combine the
feelings of loyalty with those of personal and family
pride. But -Ministers imagine that to be prodigal
tf the dignity and interests of the throne, and parsi-
monious of the revenues of the State, is the road to
popularity, and unless when some sordid and selfish
interest of themselves or their connections tempts
them to deviate, they are determined to pursue it,
regardless alike cf the permanent interest of the
,Inone and the people. We enter our protest against
!he unseemingly mutilation of the solemnity of this
day. We say it is disrespectful and injurious to the
Throne, as we have no doubt it is peculiarly offen-
•ive to the people of England. It must not be
drawn into precedent, notwithstanding the re-
publican austerity and simplicity by which it
has been recommended to our present mob-flat-
tering rulers. Who ever heard or ever will hear
of a nation in a. sound and healthy state
which was indifferent or insensible to the ex-
ternal pageantry even of its political solemnities ?
But this affectation of contempt for the visible sym-
bols of greatness and power, this apparent disregard
to every thing which strikes the senses of mankind
es a means of affecting their imagination and their
feelings, is purely hypocritical ; else why do not our
economical Ministers and the silly metaphysicians
who support them clothe the British army in drab
instead of scarlet, and place upon the head of every
soldier a skull-cap in the place of the plumed helmet ?
else why does the Duke of Sussex wear upon his
breast the dazzling emblems of knightly honour,
when he presents to the House of Lords the petition
of Jurors boasting of the facility with which they
ran violate their oaths ? else why does Earl Grey
garter so sedulously that knee which he has to bend
to the authority of the rabble ? It is all hypocricy
and pretence. The moral influence of pageantry and
ceremonial is doubted by no man. The most trans-
cendental of our political metaphysicians struggle as
vehemently as more vulgar statesmen do for stars
and garters, and are to the full as cureful to display
them when they are obtained. There is no frugality
in the expenditure of oil, or gas, or saltpetre,
among the most philosophic of our democrats, when
they wish to manifest by these external emblems
their exultation that the Sovereign has been be-
trayed into the infatuation of asking his people for a
Democratic House of Commons. Alen who are thus
inconsistent may be justly suspected of hypocrisy.
The " main rites" of the Coronation do not, we
firmly believe, proceed from a disregard to the
power of pageantry or ceremonial over the minds
of men on the part of those who have recom-
mended the mutilation, hut from their desire to
transfer from the throne to the enemies of the
throne whatever aid or support that power can afford.
The Coronation ought to have been what hitherto
it has always been in England, a gorgeous pageant,
commemorative in its minutest detail of some past
tribute of loyal devotion, and some equivalent return
of princely gratitude, and thus impressing upon the
minds alike of subject and of Sovereign in a manner
the most forcible the nature and paramount import-
ance of their reciprocal obligations. This unfortu-
nately it will not be. Of its most essential charac-
ter, however, the levellers of our day happily had
not the power to divest it. It is still a religious
solemnity of transcendent importance. It is still
the public and formal ratification of the compact be-
tween the Sovereign and the nation. It is still the
occasion upon which, in the face of Heaven, they
pledge themselves to the discharge of their recipro-
cal duties. May the King never be led by evil
counsellors to forget the solemn obligations he will
this day contract ! May the people, notwithstand-
ing all the artifices by which wicked men have
sought to delude them, be enabled to unite with
one heart and voice in the spirit of the supplica-
tion—" God save the King !—Long lire the King !
May the King live for ever !"—Morning Poat.

A large line'-of-battle ship arrived on Thurs-
day in Leith Roads. She is under jury masts, and will
proceed, as soon as the wind permits, to the Hope ; a
til-gun frigate passed through the Roads for the Hope on
Tuesday. The Duncan, 7-t, was on Thursday afternoon
taken in tow by a steamer, to be taken up the Frith.—
Caledonian Mercury.
Sir ISAAC NEWTON was so small and weakly
an infant, that his mother had used to say of him, that
" ISAAC, when first born, might have been put into a
quart pot."