The Sun.
London, England, 1833-08-07 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

Mr. Littleton's statement on Monday last.
upon going into Committee on the Irish Till).
Arrear Bill, and his proposition for meeting tin
d &trite created by the large amount of income
actually due to the clergy of Ireland for the la,
two Years and a half, were calculated to gain th.
confidence of the House of Commons. There
appears, however, to be some misunderstandii.g
on the suhjeet of the loan to the Irish clergy.
and Mr. Hume persists in declaring that he c:o
only consider it as a grant to Ireland, for whit!
the people of England are to be taxed. Th.
case that appears to justify the Bill brought i,
by Got ernment arises out of the present sitna
tion of Ireland. Every ',mon who has spoke.
on the subject of Irish affairs, has we repeat, at-
know h-dged that by some means the present it..
curnhents must be paid, and that, whatever ma%
be the result of the tithe contest, it would be most
unjust to suli et the present possessors to alit
deprivation which Parliament might think right
to suirject future incumbents to. In thi
view it was that it became necessary to propose
the present ban, ratite, than permit Ireland t•
become the scene of that outrage, violence, and
misery which must ensue dining the next year.
if the tithe is to be collected by the clerp,
either in the ordinary way, or by that mode so
ruinous to bo h parties, the Exchequer processes.
assisted, as would be the case, by military ant
police. The question, then, is, how can Eng-
land he secure of the repayment ? and it is to
this that we must particularly look in the Bill
a',out to he brought in. It would appear from
Mr. lAtleton's speech, that in November nex'
the whole of Ireland will be placed under the
tithe composition, and the amount of arrears for
1831, 1832, and of tithe sloe for 1833, is to be
divided into five years, and paid by the person
from whom it may he due to the tithe-
owner, by whom it must be paid to Govern-
ment, at d against whom all the powers of
the Crown for the collection of Crown debts
may be directed. The security to England,
then, for the repayment of the loan in five
years, is, in the first instance, arising out of the
property of the clergyman, who has a first chare
on the land tinder the Composition Act for the
amount due to him. The advantage to the
people cS England and Ireland, is in the hope
of belt g spared the recurrence of the outrages
of last year, and the opportunity th,:t the pre-
sent tr. nquillity gives to the Government for
making some commutation of the tithe system.
Although much disappointed at the delay, until
next session, of a general and fittal measure for
the maintenance of the Irish Church, we re-
joice at ti e course adopted by Mr. Littleton,
because it is one which renders that coal
mea-
sure more manifest, both in its necessity and its
nature, titan any previous steps taken by Mini-
sters had led the world to suspect that the\
themselves considered it, or wished it to be
regarded by others. It is impossible nor'.
that a general Tithe Commutation Bill
not be passed before the end of next session.
ith respect to the present session, we would
submit to Honourable Members, almost exclu-
sively of the liberal school, who have notices on
the journals for sundry motions—no one of
%hien can, to the best of our judgment, have
the slightest immediate Effect beyond that of
prolonging the session indefinitely—that it would
be considerate and humane in them to bottle up
their intended speeches until next February, or
longer, throwing away such of them as have
not body enough to keep through the vacation
without turning sr ur, iu which case they will be
very little or no loss—not even in the lung r.or—
to the owners. If those Hon Gentlemen, then,
wilt just receive our friendly counsel, and let the
public business take place of their own particu-
lar hobbies, it is possible that the session may
not exceed seven months ; but if they all will
have their " jabber"—and if one insists on
it, all tire rest may—they must torment tie
country until Christmas, and God knows
who is to he the better for that. Some of the-e
Members nave, we beneve, a le.k Parliament
of
their own. Let them make speeches there ; let
them report each other's speeches; and above
all, let them start a newspaver Exclusively dedi-
cated to the registration of their eloquence. It
mug have a prodi;:ious sale, and at some future
day the world may he gratified with the t. Ora-
tiunes Obseuroruni Virorinn," as an appropriate
appendix to that celebrated hook the " Epistoim
Obscuroruin Virorum." We almost ;alley we see
pus trity gloating with delight over the flaming
eioqueuce of the magnanimi honis O'Connethi,
or the profound philosophy ot R6ebuckii sapi-
entissimi. Alas I that such men should not be
appretia.ed tit their own age, hot have to wait
fur their due fame for three or four centuries,
and then have their claims allowed only by dunces
and antiqrrarians who happeit to have an instinc-
tive sympathy with that species of merit winch
all the rest of mankind retuses to recognise.—
Times.

Mr. Hume, we see, has given notice of his
intention to move for a cad of the House on
the proposed vote of credit fur a million, for
compensation to the clergymen of the Irish
Chive!). It there is the most distant doubt of
,Atilicient security being enforced by the Bill for
the repayment of this loan by the Irish lanolords,
we agree with him that not one shilling should he
voted, and not one halfpenny imposed for such a
purpose, as a tax upon the people of this coon
try. I f, on the other hand, the advance is in-
tended as a bona fide loan, to be repaid from
certain and assured sources, we think it will be
wisely given to present a recurrence of those
scenes, with the renewal of wh ch ne were
threatened iii;ntediately after the passing of the
Coercion Bill, and of which such bud and
bitter complaints were poured forth in petitions,
and representations from the Irish Members. It
is impossible, without some compensation, to
prevem: the Irish clergymen from prosecuting
their legai demands; and it is isle to say that
they are irrecoverable, since there is no lack of
adventtniug attorneys, who will take an assii„n-
meta of those claims, and enforce them with ace.,
mutated charges far exceeding their amount,
on the wretched and resisting population. In
such a state of things what can tie Govern-
ment do ? It cannot in erfere to prevent the
recovery of a just and legal demand, and
may be driven, by the very force of encum-
stoices, to assist in the due execution of the
law, which must lead to the very state of things
that made recours> to the Coercive Bill neces-
sary,
and may render its continuance beyond the
present time inevitable. .111 e loan is, therefore,
choke of evils, and, as we have said before,
with clue security to the public for, the repay-
ment, is clearly the lesser one. \N. e, therefore,
advise the Member fur Middlesex rather to
direct his attention to the provisions of the Bill
enforcing recovery against the Irish landlords,
than his opposition against the whole measure'.
. That his apprehensions of this vote of credi
being added to other large grants of the public
money in the present Session are very reasonable

we readily admit, and the more especially after'
'he declarations of Mr. O'Connell. We think,
however, alines could he devised to prevent the
•iossihility of the Exchequer being defrauded in
the repayment ; and no Enulish Member will be
round to object to the most rigorous means of
recovering from those, for whose relief this loan
is essentially required. It would be no heavy
tax upon the Irish landlords, if the money was
►►ever received from the tenantry—seeing the
treat advantage which must result to the country
'tom the mnntenance of the present state of
neac•e and trinquilli-y, and the security which
their utl►er interests will derive from habits of
order; anti obedience to the laws. We need
scarcely add, that one year's further suspension
Irish grievances, and Irish outrages, would
he a moat desirable consommation to all other
!lartiri who feel an interest in the public pros-
perity,—Morning Chronicle.
_ _

Two Bills for preventing bribery and corrup-
tion in The boroughs of Hertford and Warwick
have just been published, and Sir Thomas F. e-
mantle moved last night for leave to bring
another Bill to disfranchi-e the borough of
Stafford, which had sienalised itself as a whole-
sale dealer in votes. The importance of the
elective franchise will appear at once when we
consider that it is the very foundation of Repre-
s 'ntarive Government, which in its turn is the
f ,undation of practical freedom. 1 his import-
ance rend, rs it necessary that the right should
he protected as well from the baseness of a
trafficking spirit in the electors as from any more
violent assault of power or treachery in the
Government. If it were not for the great ex-
tent to which bribery, and all its disgraceful and
demoralising accompaniments, have been carried
tinder the old system, men would be as much
ashamed to offer a bribe as to receive one.
Indeed, in point of moral guilt, the tempter is,
if any thing, more culpable than the wretch who
yields to temptation ; for the latter his many
excuses—such as ignorance and poverty, which
do not apply to the former. Still the frequency,
we had almost said the unavoidability, of the
p-actice, countenanced moreover by the power
which it is the means of conferring, has obtained
for it a sort of license amongst the great, who never
seemed to think their own characters affected by
the degradation and immorality which they have
nut too well succeeded in disseminating amongst
the 'nimbler classes of their countrymen. For
this reason we should like to see the bribery oath
administered to the representative or the candi-
date, not to the constituent, as the effect of it
would at once he to make it disgraceful to bribe,
which it is not now in certain circles. A Noble
Lord or a wealthy Commoner may at present
shelter himself under a distinction between the
payment and the acceptance of a bribe, and " his
order" will recognise the distinction ; but let
falsehood and perjury he associated with the
giving as well a , the taking of bribes, and the
two offences will be brouoht to the same level
in popular, and even in aristocratic estimation,
as in morale. The extension of the franchise, b)
enlarging the number of voters, affords one cor-
rective, or rather di-couragement of bribery, but
we confess we are of the number of those who
would like to see a strong example made in
cases of notorious cotruption. The argument
against extinguishing a corrupt borough, be-
cause there are some uncorrupt individuals
amongst the electors, goes to deny the right of
Parliament to inflict that punishment in any case,
however flagrant; for it is impossible almost to
conceive airy case in which all the electors to a
man shall be guilty. It is very well to talk of
justice and moderation, but where there is
monstrous delinquency there should be signal
punishment, and no culprit ever paid the forfeit
of life more justly than the borough of Stafford
will lay down its political existence as a forfeit
to the offended laws of the country. It is eon-
ory to find that the first Session of the first
Reformed Parliament will not conclude without
taking an important step towards the correction
of one of the greater evils that could befal any
nation. It is creditable to the Government and
to the House of Commons that Stafford is
likely to meet its deserts. The Bill, once in-
troduced, can scarcely fail to be carried through
by the force of public. opinion.— Morn. Herald.

Though the Whigs are stilt in office, and
though they boast of carrying every measure
with a high hand, an obstinate impression seems
to pervade the whole country that they are
whr.re they ought not to be, and th tt their sway
cannot be much further prolonged without the
gre test danger to every important public inte-
rest. The principle upon which they claimed,
and ultimately grasped power, was that they
were to originate such extensive reforms in the
managetrent of our domestic and foreign Alum
as would seen e peace and harmony abroad and
at home, and sensibly relieve the burdens of the
people. They tnust, of course, be judged by
their pretensions ; and if they cannot perform
these modest promises, or at any rate convince
the public that some progress is making towards
their accomplishment, defeat and scorn, how-
ever lung delayed, must he their final portion.
This is no ino,e than justice, and they may de-
pend upon it that justice will, sooner or later.
find them out. They would quack the diseased
nation hack again to health, or pay the forfeit
of their rashness. Heavy was the expense of
the experiment, at d nothing can be more
equitable than the univer-al demand for some
proportionate beneficial results of an unequi-
vocal and undeni.,hte kind. We have few
sympathies in common with the Radicals; hut
as lovers of truth we must frankly confess that
they have a right to say they asked for reform
as a means to an end, and not as an end in itself.
'I hat end, as the country understood the matter,
was public prosperity—more trade, better wages,
aid less, or at least relatively lighter, taxation.
The country has given the Whigs their terms
with lavish generosity, and now asks with some
natural impatience for the promised benefit;
asks, in a word, either for fewer taxes or more
wealth to meet the charges which cannot be
dispensed with. We side with the public in
making this demand. If the Whigs can meet
it, let them ; if not, we venture to tell them that
the sooner they shrink from the public gi ze the
less fatal will be their exposure, and the more
mild their punishment. The question now is what
has been done or what is doing to realize the just
expectations oldie public ? We know that the an-
swer Milst be, nothing ! On the contrary, the taxes,
through the increased distress, are inure galling
than ever; and the public debt, which ought in an
honest community to be decreasing dung every
)ear of peace, has augmented, and is augment
tog, tattler a Whig system, by millions and tens
of millions. A paltry attempt has been made
try some cf the Government scribes to represent
he kind intentions of the Whigs as having been
obstructed by the opposition of the bigoted Tory
I'cers ; but we think there is little danger of any
one being deceived by a misrepresentation so
gross as tills. hat measure, we ask, tending
to the public relief, has been obstructed by the

Tories? The fact is that the Tory Peers have
spared the Whigs upon every occasion, and
have even consented. wisely or unwisely, to pass
the Irish Church Bill itself, based as it is upon
mischievous principles, and free as it is from
any the slightest tendency to benefit a single
human being, rather than manifest the semblance
of factious opposition. The Whigs have had
full scope, and what have they either accom-
plished or propounded calculated to improve the
aspect of public affairs ? If they have any
deep schemes in reserve for the benefit of their
credol us couture men, it must he confessed that
they have kept their secrets upon this head ad-
mirably, for nothing of the sort has ever transpired.
But if they have really, after all, nothing to pro-
pose for the general good, it becomes the re-
flecting portion of the nation seriously to con-
sider the positive damage which is done to the
public interests by their continued possession
of office. It is notorious that the present Cahi-
, net maintains its offici II existence from month
to month by the merely floating
balance of
parties, and without possessing the confidence
of either the aristocracy or the people. What
can be more clear than that such a Government
must he inefficient ? And if the Government be
inefficient, the great interests of the commu-
nity, foreign and domestic, must go into de-
cay. The Commons seem to support the Mi-
nistry, as tie best way to get through a trouh'e-
some session without change and dissolution,
which they know would he fatal to their future
consequence. Ministers disturbed the ma-
chinery by which the wealth and intelligence of
the country had been previously represented,
and then forced a new election, before the old
interests could adapt themselves to the new
state of things. We have, therefore, an intru-
sive Ministry, an intrusive House of Commons,
and a G nernment of shifts and expedients, in
which no class of the community can place con-
fidence for an hour together. Nothing but the
high talent ranged on the Conservative side in
both Houses, and the returning good sense of
the people, would have prevented us, under such
critical circumstances, from being hurried into
the vortex of revolution. The Conservatives
have nobly, and not unsuccessfully, exerted
themselves to retard the democratic movement,
and give the c tuntry time to understand its true
position, and guard ag wrist the destructive ten-
dency of the existing system. So far as the
Whigs are concerned, the bubble of reform
has burst, and disclosed nothing but a vulgar
scheme for the attainment of power on the part
of men whom the country has always rejected,
and must still reject, ifit would hope to recall and
perpettmte its lost prosperity. Hope for the
Whigs there is none ; and we, therefore, submit
that they ought to be dismissed at once, to make
way for a strong and enlightened Government
acting upon Conservative principles.— Morning
Post.