The Sun.
London, England, 1833-06-28 00:00:00

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LONDON,
FRIDAY EVENING, JUNE 28, 1833.

Mr. FINCH—(he must be a greenfinch)—
chirped and twittered with surprising powers\f
voice last night, in the House of Commons,
on the subject of the Political Unions. His
speech had the rare merit of being absurd,
inconsistent, and inconclusive, to a degree that
might put even a LONDONDERRY to shame.
The last part was the best answer that was
made during the night to the first part. After
declaring that the unions were " fraught with
unmixed mischief ;" that they bore a striking,
family likeness " to the Jacobin clubs at Paris ;''
that they were a confederacy which " might over-
turn all existing institutions ;" and that " the
circumstances of the times were such, that not
the least dust should be allowed to remain in
which the spark of revolution might be kept
smouldering ;"—after erecting the bristles 'of the
House by these frightful denunciations till they
stood up like hairs on the back of an enraged
cat, the Hon. Gentleman proceeded to smooth
them down again by affirming that there was not
the slightest ground for alarm, for that the Po•
litical Unions were " contemptible, and wholly
beneath notice ; "—alas, then, how much vir-
tuous vituperation has been thrown away !—and,
above all, that " the revolutionary spirit was at a
discount, an extremely conservative one being
prevalent instead throughout the country."
What a consummate logician is this greenest of
Finches ! How grateful ought we not to be to
.--to considerate an alarmist, who supplies the an-
tidote as well as the bane, and if he doses us
with arsenic, administers also the stomach-pump !
In the course of his speech—which, notwith-
standing its would-be smartness, was dryer than
a ship-biscuit—Mr. FINCH recorded his solemn
conviction that the " Revolution of Belgium
was essentially a Conservative one." How asto-
nished will the King of HOLLAND be to learn
this ! How vexed to find that for two long
years he has been fighting on the wrong side !
We once heard of an Irish woodcutter who
sawed off the branch he was seated on ; but tile
blunder of his Dutch MAJESTY, in mistaking
a " Conservative" for " a Destructive" revolution,
is beyond even this towering flight of Milesian
eccentricity !
Mr. FINCH was also pleased to observe, that
for his own part he could see no more likeness
between the Carlton Club and the Political
Unions, than there was between a man and a
monkey." We believe him. A man who has
lived so long among Carlton Clubs, cannot but
be good authority on the subject of monkeys
After the division of last night, Mr. FINCH,
we suspect, will scarcely venture to chirp or
twitter again for some months. He is not full-

fledged. He should go back to the parent nest.
Think of a man being compelled indirectly to
confess that he had mistaken a dwarf for a giant,
a Primrose-hill for a Benlomond ! The less Mr.
FINCH meddles with Political Unions the better.
Children should never play with edge-tools.
The subject, he may rely on it, is too compre-
hensive for his puny intellect to grapple with
If the mountain, after months of travail, could
only bring forth a mouse, what can the mole-hill
expect to produce ?
The Political Unions are confederacies organ-
ized by the necessities of the age. They are
the natural, the inevitable consequences of long
ages of misgovernment. We have to thank
the Tories for their origin, their progress,
and their maturity. The Duke of WEL-
LINGTON (not Mr. ATTWOOD), was their
founder; his Grace and his party are still
their most efficient supporters. When the
country found that Reform was hopeless under
a Boroughmongering Administration, then, and
not till then, did the Political Unions start into
existence. Then, indeed, did they bestir
themselves, and to some purpose ; and they
will again bestir themselves to still better
purpose, should the shattered fragments of the
WELLINGTON faction ever attempt to reunite
in opposition to the popular demands.
We do not mean to urge that the Unions are
all equally distinguished by sagacity. Some
have halted in their path ; others have gone
astray after strange gods, and mistaken an ignis
fatuus for sunshine ; but the majority are still
sound at heart, and strong of head. Indeed,
it is to the exertions of these much vilified con-
federacies, that the country, during the last two
eventful years, has owed its escape from convul-
sion. When the news reached the provinces
that the Lords, assisted by the Bishops, had
rejected the Reform Bill, who, but the Mem-
bers of these Unions, checked the angry flood
that was every where rising, and directed its
waters into a fitting channel ? The Political
Unions are the safety-valves of the Constitution.
They are the national defences against Whigism
on the one hand, and Toryism on the other.
They give an impetus to the sluggishness of
Government ; they check the insidious en-
croachments of the Tory faction. As for
their illegality, they may be illegal accord-
ing to the letter, but certainly not according
to the spirit, of the law. Even their most extra-
vagant demands are all within the pale of the
Constitution. They demand the ballot, triennial
Parliaments, an extension of the suffrage, and a
reduction of the taxation. And why not ? What
law written, or unwritten, forbids them from pres-
sing these demands ? In exacting the repeal of
the Septennial Act, in particular, they exact only
the repeal of the most fraudulent and uncon-
stitutional measure that has been perpetrated
during the last three hundred years. Away,
then, with this cant about the danger and
the illegality of political unions. When the
people have obtained all their rights—when the
abuses of the pension list exist no longer but
in name—when the Tory faction has lost the
power to work evil—when the Temporal Peers
are disembarrassed of the presence of Spiritual
ones ;—then (but not till then) will the Political
Unions be disbanded.

Lord ALTHOItP very properly refused to in-
terfere with the question, and the House being
almOst unanimously of his Lordship's way of
thinking, poor Mr. FINCH had nothing left but
the consolation that virtue is its own reward.
After all, however, the Hon. Gentleman is not
so ill paid, for his public reward bears a beauti-
ful proportion to his public virtue.

Ten Bills, introduced by Mr. POULETT
THomsoN, stand for committal on the order
paper of the House of Commons for to-night.
These Bills are intended to consolidate under
separate heads the different Acts regulating
the customs' duties, trade, and navigation of the
whole empire. Their importance, therefore,
cannot be exaggerated, and we doubt not they
will meet with the attention they deserve. We
do not suppose that, even if they came on
to-night, more than the two first can be taken
into consideration. To those, therefore, the
few observations we shall make will be con.
fined. They are entitled " The British Pos-
sessions Bill," and the " Registry of Ves-
sels Bill." The title of the first is rather
more extensive than its contents justify, for, in
point of fact, it only relates to our possessions
in America. Among other points in which it
wants alteration, we would particularly point out
the following. In the table of prohibitions and
restrictions, tea is prohibited to be imported into
the British possessions in America, except from
the United Kingdom, or from some other
British possession in America, unless by the
East India Company, or their license. The power
of the East India Company is to be done away
with, so that unless provision be here made al-
lowing tea to be taken direct from China, the
American colonies will, under this Act, have to
receive it through England ! In clause 9, im-
posing duties of importation in America on
certain articles, it is provided, that if such ar-
ticles be imported from any British possession
in North America, or from the warehouse in
the United Kingdom, they shall be free from
duty. Now, why should the exemption be con-
fined to any British possession in North America ?
As the Bill stands, if a vessel should sail with
a cargo of flour from Australia or the Cape of
Good Hope, to any of the West India islands,
it is subject to a duty of ss. per barrel, whereas,
if it sail from Quebec, it is subject to no duty
at all. Surely this, and similar inconsistencies,
ought to be removed from the measure.
The Bill for Registering British Vessels,
affords an opportunity which ought not to be
suffered to pass, without advantage being taken of
it to alter the law with respect to the mode of mea-
suing the tonnage of vessels. We see that Mr.
THONISON has inserted the old mode of mea-
surement, viz., taking the length of the keel and
the breadth of the vessel as the sole elements of
the calculation of the amount of its tonnage. It
is notorious that this does not give the true ton-
nage, and it must be evident that, as long as the
depth of the vessel is left out of the calculation,
ship-owners will have an interest in buildivg up
the sides of their vessels to an extent dangerous to
the safety of goods, passengers, and crew. In order
to give the uninitiated an idea of how the present
inode of measurement operates, we should state,
that all tonnage dues are paid according to the
registered amount of tonnage, whilst the ship-
owner is paid freight according to the real
amount of tonnage a vessel can carry. Ships
are accordingly built to have as little measure-
ment tonnage as possible ; that is, are built
deeper than they would be if constructed upon
the safest principles. The consequence of this
(joined with some other circumstances into which
we cannot now enter) is, that vessels are every
year lost, and hundreds of lives lust. The
fact is horrible, and only does not excite the