The Sun.
London, England, 1833-05-23 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS

The vote of the House of Commons in fa-
vour of the assessed taxes, on Tuesday evening,
appears to us to have been an ill-considered and
unfortunate vote ; so was the decision of the
same assembly in support of the iniquitous
system of corn laws, most revolting to the judg-
ment of honest men beyond the walls of Par-
liament, and, we must add, most alarming to
their reasonable apprehensions. Another demon-
stration of the feelings both of Government and
Parliament, from which we can derive but little
comfort, is that which has hitherto shown itself
with regard to the known waste and profligacy of
the pension list. On all these subjects the
House of Commons, the reformed House, has
thought and acted in a given direction ; but the
deplorable consideration is, that the people of
England should have felt and spoken out in a
sense directly opposite to that of their professed
representatives. It is not, of course, the first
time in our history when such contradiction of
sentiment between the people and the Legisla-
ture has displayed itself. The last 100 years
were full of such wretched examples; and why?
Because, as was always then insisted on, there
existed no natural relationship between those by
whom the laws were made and those for
whom ; because the Parliament was vicious
in theory and practice, and it was taken
for granted that no sympathy could be de-
pended on between the nation generally and
a self-elected body, the main object of whose
efforts and existence was to perpetuate its own
monopoly of the national plunder. The mischief
`cc as seen by every eye, and the cure universally
s.talled for was a reform of Parliament. That
reform was anticipated by all men of any fore-
sight as the sole means ofaverting a war between
the nation and the legislative oligarchy. ' It was
looked upon as the single safeguard against re-
volution ; and why ?—because it must of ne-
cessity, if a sound reform, establish complete
harmony between the people, who would make
the House of Commons out of materials of their
own free choice, and the parties so chosen to
represent them. The success of the Reform Bill
in effecting such concord and confidence through-
out the country was admitted to be its great
prospective merit, and that without which it
would be no better than the cup of Tantalus. If
a reform within the limits of the Constitution
were to fail of accomplishing the practical end of
good and economical government, the natural,
the inevitable inference was, that men would
cry out for some measure beyond the pale of
the Constitutionnamely, for one involving
its overthrow. Now, what is the fact ?
Has the reformed Parliament so demeaned
itself as to satisfy honest and reflecting men
that the blessings of good government are secured
through its instrumentality ? Have the votes
of the House of Commons on many serious
questions been conformable to the declared
wishes of the people ? There never was dissa-
tisfaction more gravely expressed by the town
and commercial population of the country than
that which has been excited by the protecting
duties on corn. How came the majority of the
House of Commons to differ with the majority
of their constituents on that important question?
Was it that Hon. Members desired indirectly to
propagate an eagerness for revolution ? Again,
was there ever in this world a more striking una-
nimity from north to south of England than in
praying for a repeal of the assessed taxes ? Then
what could be the hope of that majority of the
House of Commons which declared against
their constituents, and in favour of the house
and window tax, but to inculcate upon the minds
of the middle classes that they must look to
some mighty change far beyond the boundary
of a " reformed" Parliament for relief ?
The public murmurs at the indifference of
Parliament, and of the upper ranks of Eng-
lishmen, to the feelings of their poorer
brethren, have recently grown to a frightful
magnitude, and betoken some tragical result.
The institutions of the kingdom share the dis-
like so generally entertained towards the higher
orders by the lower, from a belief that those in-
stitutions have been framed and administered in
an unfair spirit. The bad odour in which the
aristocracy are held arises from the arrogance
and selfishness too frequently imputed to them,
and of which, if we be bound to speak truly,
they afford no niggard proofs. No real dift-
culty could have prevented Lord Althorp's
acquiescence in the public wish for a repeal of
the corn laws and of the assessed taxes. We
fear there is an habitual, nay, almost a conven-
tional distaste in some quarters to appreciate the
national desires, or to concede at all, save only
in the nibbling peddling manner which has been
exhibited in the Noble Lord's unhappy budget.
The continuance of such a temper will not
do. It can lead to nothing but a crisis
which must end, so powerful are the demo-
cratic elements everywhere, in a downright
overwhelming revolution. The verdict in Spa-
fields, and the undisguised dispositions of the
jurors, may be taken as indices of that sort of
instinct which actuates large bodies of men
against the public functionaries and the (hitherto)
ruling classes. How were such feelings en-
gendered among Englishmen ? They are the
reverse of natural. Let Ministers look carefully
into the origin of them, and they may draw
from the source a salutary lesson from their own
guidance, and for the course to be recommended
to Parliament, as well in finance as in other
branches of legislation. Mr. Harvey's motion
for a return of civil list pensions, as well as
those charged upon the consolidated fund, was
carried without amendment. The object is one
of incalculable value,—namely, a disclosure of
the especial services, or other grounds, on which
each individual pension had been granted. But
we question whether the investigation will lead
to much practical good, unless—lst, the name
be inserted in the return of each Minister b)
whom each particular pension was recommended
to the Sovereign, or applied for; and, 2d, unless
a Committee be appointed to conduct the in-
quiry, and to cross-examine a certain class of
witnesses.— Times.

We have received a well-written letter on the
subject of the late meeting in Coldbath-flelds,
and the mode of dispersing it. The writer is
known to us, and we believe him to be an ho-
nourable man, incapable of stating what he does
not believe to be the truth. He blames the meeting,
and admits that the authors of it ought not to
have been permitted " to trifle with the public
peace, and with the public authorities, with
If
impunity ; and adds, that " every sensible
person condemned the object" of the meeting.
But he endeavours to account for the strange
and blundering verdict of the jury thus :
" They have been led into the singular position
of justifying murder for the purpose of con-
demning the authorities." The complaint is,
that in dispersing the meeting unnecessary vio-
lence was used ; and that it might have been
dispersed, and the authors of it punished, without
the use of the violence which was employed.

That the Whigs are incompetent to the task
of relieving the public distress, and re-esta-
blishing the shattered interests of the country,
we need not take trouble to prove, as they dis-.
tinctly admit the fact. When they were out of
office, indeed, they told a different tale ; then
the sole cause of the calamities of England was
their unfortunate exclusion. In due season,
however, they attained to the object of their am-
bition, and then they found that nothing pre-
vented their enlightened policy from taking effect
but what they called boroughmongering. Only
remove this, said they, and all will be right pre-
sently. Well, this alleged mischief is extinct,
with a few fraudulent Whig exceptions, and we
have the marvellous happiness of being governed
by a
i reformed Parliament, constructed through-
out n the most exquisite manner possible. Now
comes, of cotirse, a flood-tide of liberty, prospe-
rity, and universal content, to the astonishment
of the world. No such thing ; but, instead of
this, Irish coercion, distress more frightful than