The Sun.
London, England, 1831-05-19 00:00:00

clouded judgment, are determined that a more pure
mode of choosing their representatives shall be intro-
duced. But the object of the present article is to
allude to a squib, published by the enemies of the
Lord Chancellor, and the Minisiry of which he forms a
part, to
be found in this days Paper, in which his
Lordship is represented as giving a description of the
state of taxation to which British subjects are re-
- duced. We krtownot whether his Lordship be the au-
! thor, hut we really never read any thing, eitlir written
or spoken by t hat eminent person, that gve us a higher
idea of the vivacity of his imagination, the brilliancy
of his wit, and withal the accuracy of his descrip-
tion. But if Englishmen are thus taxed,—sitting,,
walking, lyir!g down, or standing, living or dying,—
how is it to be expected, we ask, that the passing of
the Reform Bill should at once remove such a load ?
A Reform Bill passed. '.-ong ago would have pre-
vented the aezturulation : a Reform Bill passed
now, cstn only operate a gradual relief according to
the principles of honesty and gs)od raid), and pre-
vent the recurrence of similar evils :

" Taxes upon eery at tide which enters into the mouth,
or covert the back, or is placed under the foot ; Taxes
tt.pon every thing which is pleasant to see, hear, fee!, smell,
and taste ; Taxes upon warmth, light, and locomotion ;
Taxes on every thing on earth, and the waters under the
earth,—on every thing that comes from abroad, or is grown
at home ; Taxes on the raw material ; Taxes on every
value that is added to it by the industry of man ; Taxes
on the sauce which pttmpers man's appetite, and the drug
that restores him to health,—on the ermine which deco-
rates the Judge, and the rope that hangs the criminal,—
on the brass nails of the coffin, and the ribands of the
bribe,—at bed or at board, couchant or levant, we must
pay. The school-boy whips his taxed top ; the beardless
youth manages his taxed horse with a taxed bridle on a
taxed road, and the dying Englishman, pouring his me-
dicine which has paid 7 per cent. into a spoon which has
paid 15 per cent., throws himself back upon his chintz
bed whit') has paid 22 per cent., makes his will on an Si.
stamp, and expires in the arms of an apothecary who has
paid 1001. for the privilege of putting him to death. His
wholeproperty is then taxed from 2 to 10 per cent. besides
the probate, large fees are demanded for burying him in
the chancel, his virtues are handed down to posterity on
taxed marble, and he is then gathered to his fathers, to be
taxed no more."—

In our extracts from the Dutch Papers, in another
column, will be found a detailed account of the cir
cumstanees which preceded and followed the defeat
of the Polish troops under Dwernicki, and the aban-
donment of Volhynia for an asylum in Austrian Gal-
licia. Though the intelligence comes from Vienna,
there seems no reason to doubt its general correct-
ness. We observe in the foreign journals, and in
the Papers of his country, a great deal of needless
speculatio❑ and erroneous reasoning on the ultimate
fate of the Polish corps. According to the acknow-
ledged law of nations, and the neutral character of
Austria, the treatment of these brave and adventur-
ous men cannot remain for a moment doubtful. They
have been obliged to seek an asylum in the Austrian
territory from the pursuit of their enemies; but they
have not been captured by Austrian troops, nor can
they either be delivered up as criminals, or retained
as prisoners of war by the Austrian authorities.
Austria might have repelled them, though the act
would have been barbarous, but she cannot now im-
prison them. She could not, as a neutral, allow
fighting to continue in her territory. She was there-
fore justified in disarming the Poles who sought an
asylum, as she must have disarmed the Russians had
they persisted in a desire to continue on her territory.
But in neither case would she have any right to de-
tain foreigners in such circumstances, if they chose
to incur the hazard of immediately repassing her
frontier. The Austrian Government is right, ac-
cording to the law of nations, to which we have re-
ferred, not only in disarming the Poles, but in de-
livering up their arms to their enemies, and old
masters, the Russians. For, in the first place, Aus-
tria can only consider the Poles (till their independ•
ence is acknowledged) as the rebellious subjects cf
the Czar, and therefore as indebted to him for their
arms, which are Russian property ; or, in the second
place, as the declared enemies of Russia, whowse arms
must have become booty to Russian Generals, had
not Austria offered them an asylum. In either case
the Russian authorities would have been entitled to
the Polish arms; and therefore the conduct of Aus-
tria in surrendering them cannot be regarded as any
indication of hostility, or any breach of the laws of
neutrality. We have, unhappily, too many recent
instances of the application of this rule to allow its
tendency to be for a moment doubtful. When in
the end of 1826 the Portuguese Royalists took re-
fuge in the Spanish territory, the Constitutional
Government claimed their arms, artillery, and horses ;
and though great delays occurred in complying with
the demand, its justice was not disputed. In No-
vember lest, the Spanish exiles, who, having at-
tempted an unsuccessful irruption into the Spanish
territory, had been repulsed and driven back into
France, were disarmed and sent into the interior, but
were not detained as prisoners of war ; and in the
present struggle in the north, the Russian troops who
fled from the Lithuanian insurgents and took refuge
on the Prussian territory were disarmed, but allowed
afterwards to return to the Russian dominions. In
these two latter instances, indeed, the question never
arose about the delivery of the arms; because in the
one case no good claim could be made out to their
original proprietorship, and in the other no recognized
proprietor could be found.—Times.

Though it may appear ungenerous to exult over a
fallen enemy, we must be permitted to say, that we
believe there has been no one election in which the
victory has been more satisfactory to the country in
general—nay, to men of all parties—than the signal
overthrow of Mr. Bankes in Dorsetshire. Few
persons have been longer before the public than that
gentleman, and few, as public men of such long
standing, can have contrived to gather so small a
share of what are termed " golden opinions." Mr.
Bankes, in short, has been one of those trimmers in
politics who has contrived to make himself to be by
turns feared and hated, but never beloved. Mr.
Bankes's defeat would, we have no doubt, have
been still more prompt and decisive had his oppo-
nent been a person of less equivocal character on the
subject of Reform than Mr. Caleraft, who, it must
be admitted, has played a sort of " fast and loose"
game, which, we are convinced, left many of the
honest freeholders of Dorsetshire rather at a loss
how to act upon the occasion. This, however, in
the end, only makes the victory more complete, and
must, we should think, have taught the late Mem-
ber, and some of his overbearing adherents, that the
principles of Reform are too deeply rooted in the
minds of the people, and the current of public opi-
nion too strong, to be either stemmed or turned
aside by such miserable banks as have been opposed
to it in Dorsetshire.—Morning Herald.

It is with surprise we observe that an attempt is
making in the county of Mayo to bring forward a
new man as the representative for that county, in
place of one of the late Members, both of whom
voted for the Reform Bill, and that the most active
supporters of the untried candidates are a number
of Roman Catholic priests, led on by Dr. Kelly, the
titular Archbishop of Tuam. We do not like to
see persons of any descriptions, or the ministers of
any religion, laying aside their robes of peace to
mingle in the heated and irritating struggles of poli-
tical contention, even when a principle worth con-
tending for is at stake—still less do we like to see
them stepping out of the sphere of their sacred
functions, to foment discord and produce agitation
without any conceivable object, unless the unworthy
motive of showing the extent of their power, or
the more .disreputable incentives of personal par-
tiality or resentment. The person whom Dr._Kelly
has taken under his wing, and whom he recommends
to the freeholders as a liberal politician, a deter-
mined Reformer—and, moreover, as one for whom
he entertains a high personal regard—is a Mr.
Josephd Macdonnell, who has the advantage, or the
father
~issadevlaintkage, We don't know which, of not being
undertakes to la
Vsnort.o the political world asi he. is tn his
Dr. Kelly however, at the e ectiou font,
his sponsor, and an-
h.,: name," for lie
swers, at least, " three thingse '
says that, " from his kno‘ledule the man, he is
convinced that where tile independence., the happi-

• 6
11C83, and the liberty of the country are concerned,
there is no one more ready to step forward and exert
all his energies on her behalf in the most faithful.
disinterested, and determined manner." This is all
very well, and if Mr. Abcdonnell had been put
forward against a politician whose sentiments and
whose conduct were hostile to the independence,
the happiness, and the liberty of his country, such
a testimonial of character ought to have weight
with the liberal portion of the electors. But Mr.
Dominick Browne, whom Dr. Kelly is so anxious'
to turn out of the representation, has fought the
battle of the country with firmness and per-
severance. After having registered his name
among the supporters of the Reform
on the divisions in the House of Commons,
is be now to be dismissed by clerical influ-
ence to make room for a young man to whom Dr.
Kelly is partial, and who has nothing but specious
promises to put in competition with substantial
proofs of experienced fidelity ? We should be sorry
to think that Mr. Browne being a Protestant and
Mr. Macilonnell a Roman Catholic, had any in-
fluence in inducing the Clergy of that persuasion to
promote the present opposition, because this would
betray a spirit of bigotry not at al! calculated to bear
out the predictions of the liberalizing influence of
emancipation. On this subject a correspondan!
writes as follows :—" Mr. Dominick Browne, against
whom the Catholic Archbishop of Tuam and his
Clergy have declared war, is a well-known liberal,
active in his habits, influential from his large pos-
sessions and high connections, very assiduous, 'com-
pared with other Irish Members, in his attendance
in Parliament, and every way eligible. His
rival, Mr. Macdonnell, is a young man, un-
known out of his native county ; a novice
in politics, bringing to no cause which he
advocates any important accession of force,
whether from long established character, proved
talent, or family consequence, or extent of
stake in the prosperity of the empire." He asks
then, what are the grounds of the preference mani-
fested by the most Rev. Gentleman and his sub-
ordinates ? He says there are no public reasons, but
he asserts there are two of a private nature—one is,
that qtr. Joseph Macdonnell is a Catholic, and his
rival a Protestant—the other, that Mr. Brownie de-
clined to take part with the Archbishop in some dis-
pute which he had with the Roman Catholic in-
habitants of a parish of which Mr. Browne is the
landlord. For our part we hope neither of these
grounds are the real cause of the opposition which
the Roraan Catholic Clergy are giving to a tried
Reformer, but that they are acting under some mis-
taken impression which a little reflection will dispel.
Surely, if they have any patriotism, it will teach
them that it is not to their credit to sow disunion
among men of liberal principle at any time, but
especially at a crisis .when men, who love their
country have, almost universally, merged their pri-
vate sentiments and differences in the promotion of
the great cause of Reform, and the defeat of the
common enemy.—Morning Herald.

That the declaration of Lord Althorp, as to the
intentions of his Majesty's Ministers to adhere to
their precious Bill of Reform, is equivocal and un-
meaning, sufficiently appears from the variety of in-
terpretations which the partisans of the Adminis-
tration affix to the words of the Noble Lord. One
of the most able and candid of these partisans con-
strues his Lordship's declaration to mean merely
that " no alterations will be wade in it which will
reduce in the slightest degree the power which the
Bill, as it now stands, gives to the people of Eng-
land, or which will reduce the number of the persons
whom the Bill admits to a share of Constitutional
power." How widely different this is from a de-
claration that " the Bill" will be adhered to may
be shewn in a very few minutes, by tracing out
the outlines of a Bill of Reform widely different
from the stupid and mischievous abortion of his
Majesty's Ministers, and which yet complies to the
utmost extent with each of the above conditions.
1. Our Bill shall be supposed to disfranchise all
the boroughs of which the actual constituency is less
numerous than the most limited of the new consti
tuencies, which in its ultimate operation the Mini-
steriul measure would create, and shall further pro-
vide that any borough, the voters in which may at
any future time fall below the proscribed number,
shall be disfranchised ipso facto, the vacancy occa-
sioned thereby in the national representation to be
supplied or not in each case as the wisdom of Par-
liament may determine. Any disfranchisement be-
yond this would evidently be gratuitous innovation.
2. Our Bill shall be supposed to enact that one-
fourth of the number of Members formerly returned.
by the disfranchised boroughs shall be given to the
great manufacturing and commercial towns now un-
represented. But instead of the uniform 101. rent
franchise, we should have a franchise in no two
places precisely alike. Birmingham, for instance,
with the whole manufacturing district of which it is
the centre, should have the Preston franchise, a
universal suffrage even, if it preferred it. In another
place the right of voting should belong to 10/.
householders, in another to 20/., in another to 301.,
in another perhaps to 40/. householders. Again, in
some places the mere occupation of a house of
whatever value should give no vote, the right of
voting being confined to the owners of visible and
proveable property, to the extent here of 100/.,
there of 5001., elsewhere of 1,000/., and thus ad-
vancing even to a still higher amount. In all cases
of town representation we should be inclined, as a
boon to the lower orders, to give the right of voting
to every man who had, previous to a certain date
antecedent to the promulgation of our Bill, accu-
mulated property to a certain fixed amount, by a
certain series of payments in the Savings' Bank
of his district ; and we do not know that we might
not be disposed to impart to each individual of
this very meritorious cla,.s the further privilege of
nominating by will one successor to his fran-
chise, in the person of any of his sons, or
in that of the husband of any of his daughters.
We ought to add, that no vote for the
county in which such towns or districts are
situated should in any ease arise from property of
any kind within their limits. 3. Another fourth of
the seats in the Ilouse of Commons rendered va-
cant by our borough disfranchisement we should
give to the counties disencumbered, as by our plan
they would be, of the town electors; and instead of
confining the county franchise to the freeholders,
copy holders, and long leaseholders, as the Ministers
propose, we should extend it to every occupier of
land, by whatever tenure, paying a certain annual
amount of rent. This wide extension of the county
franchise would be at once conformable to libe-
ral principles, and favourable to the legitimate
influence of property. 4. We should create an
entirely new class of representatives, by giv-
ing a certain number (say six) of our vacant
seats to the professional men of the metropo-
litan counties. The, following classes of per-
sons resident in those counties should have the
right of voting at one election for the whole six, or
in different districts, as might be thought most ad-
visable :—Barristers, Physicians, Incumbents of
Livings, Royal Academicians, Fellows of the Royal
Society, Officers in the Army and Navy of a cer-
tain grade. 5. There would still remain upon our
hands one-half, minus six, of the whole number of
seats which had become disposable in consequence
of the disfranchisement of the small boroughs.
These seats we should bestow in one entire lot, and
thus create another new class of representatives, upon
the holders of funded property. Individuals, holders
of stock, being natural-born subjects of the King, and
residents in Great Britain or Ireland, should have one,
two, three, or four votes, according to the amount of
their stock, with the privilege of voting, as many of
them now receive their dividends, by power of
attorney. This innovation we should adopt because
the fundholders are unquestionably the greatest of
the new interests in this country, the modern crea-
tion of which is said to have produced the necessity
for Reform—because the interest of the fundholders
is essentially a conservative and anti-revolutionary
interest—because the small boroughs being disfran-
chised, by means of which the monied interest found