The Sun.
London, England, 1835-06-22 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SlR,—When men are set up by their followers as leaders of
their party, whose minds pass current as being all-comprehen-
sive, and whose opinions and measures are believed to he in-
fallible, it strikes me to be the duty of those in search after
truth and justice, uninfluenced by any faction, not only to
examine well the acts of our Legislators, but maturely to weigh
and consider the arguments adduced both for and against any
measure that may be brought before Parliament, that they may
be enabled to discover among the mass of talkatives, and point
out to their fellow-men, in plain common sense, those of their
Representatives who appear to take a clear view of general
subjects, and whose minds seem to be unclouded by the
veil of party, equity and truth shining with perspicuity
throughout their elaborate reasoning ; I say, Sir, it becomes
the duty of every true patriot to watch the discussions in
Parliament, disrobe them of their gaudy colourings, sift the
right from the wrong, and lay before the public, in unvar-
nished language, the justice of every measure between man
and man (for truth, its helpmate, must and will come home
to all, and carry with it heartfelt conviction), so that the pa-
triotic Statesman may be upheld and reverenced, and the
crafty politician, specious and plausible reasoner, for his
sinister views, strangled, as he deserves, in his own web.
For this purpose permit me, Sir, most respectfully, to submit
to you, that one or two gentlemen attached to your establish-
ment, for the execution of these duties only, would have an in-
calculable effect in the support of right, as those carte blanche
Statesmen have acquired by fashion and finesse an unlimited
credit for all they say and do ; but it is a paper credit, as their
coin, their sterling value, has never been enquired into,
sought after or made manifest ' • but when it is, as by the adop-
tion of my suggestion it would be, they will soon become bank-
rupt, and, like their cause, to use a vulgarism, be as speedily
sent to pot.
Not a debate passes that the sophisms of these intolerant;
are so glaring, that I grieve to think such men as O'Connell,
Harvey, Grote, and others, should not for once tackle to
them, and give these refined and exquisite yelpers such a
settler, that they would not soon give tongue again.
Take the recent debate on Mr. Grote's motion for secret
voting, as the latest instance I have observed of the truth of
my assertion, and you will find even Sir Robert Peel ! (but
why do I say even 2 merely because he is the nucleus—the
idol infallible of his party) taking up false positions, but wily
enough to mask his battery with covering impenetrable to
spell.bound spirits, and deck its environs with dazzling ima-
gery, the better to withdraw attention from the deceptive
and destructive point ; well knowing, as he does, an attractive
exterior goes a great length now-a-days to disguise error,
nay, crime—for is it not a crime to gloss over the wrong
to make the wrong be followed? For instance, I say, he held
forth that the franchise being a trust, secret voting would ren-
der the elector irresponsible for the reposed power; and goes
on with his palaver endeavouring to show, by a parity of rea-
soning, that it would be just as fit that Members of Parliament
should give their votes in the House by Ballot. But if I ad-
mit the franchise to be a trust, which I take to be a privilege,
a right,—who will deny that that trust has been conferred by
Parliament to empower a community to select individuals to
attend to their interests, and enact laws for general govern-
ment? And pray, how can a man better fulfil his duty to Par-
liament, which invested him with that trust, than by being
enabled, without fear, to exercise his unbiassed judgment, and
to respond to that portion of Divine Essence which is implanted
within all, and which is our secret monitor ? And shall it be
tolerated that any glib-tongued speaker shall attempt to blind
our common sense, and be permitted to pass, as a parity of
reasoning, as just as conclusive, that the Representatives of the
people, the offspring of this trust, pure only if so fulfilled,
might as well be armed with irresponsible power, as the con-
stituency for whom they act,—such irresponsible power ena-
bling them with impunity to oppose the wishes of those who
elected them, defeat the object for which they were chosen,
and betray the trust with which they were confided ?
I well remember, that in Rennell's cigar shop, in Brighton,
last winter, some one was cried down with a regular war-whoop
for being so silly as draw such a ridiculous analogy, on the
same subject, and almost in the same terms. Sir Robert's
brother was in Brighton at the time—l think it was on the
evening of the day he nominated Dalrymple ; but coming
from such a quarter as the acknowledged leader of the Oppo-
sition—the man on whom the Tories all depend "—it passed
current, and was swallowed or bolted as slippery matter by the
learned elite. I might just draw your attention here to the
noble sentiments of Lord John Russell, on which he grounds
his opposition to the Ballot, contrasted with the chicanery of
the Tory Leader's warped discussion.
Nominees in the corrupt. days were no more free agents
than fairly chosen Members now ought to be. Representatives
should be, and are properly, the organs of principles, and
the condensed echoes of the people's voice—for intelligence
belongs not only to the conclave at. St. Stephen's, but is so
generally diffused, that a man who is sent there being now
more frequently indebted to his property, many of whom I
could name, than to his fitness and superior intellectual endow-
ments for his election, must not think and act only for himself
and by his own judgment, but fellow that course he knows to
be most in unison with the sentiments, wishes, and views of
those by whom he was returned; and is it a libel on them to
suppose that mere boys ! downy-checked lads from College,
liberal Universities for example should be unable to take
comprehensive views of State affairs, and point out
where the shoe pinches, that never felt a corn ? Oh
for a faithful return of the age of those grave, ripe, and
experienced legislators, who recklessly swell the votes against
equitable measures, and goad the country to a state of despera-
tion the fall not be upon their own heads?
What a loss it is to the country that Mr. Grote's motion for
secret voting was negatived; and that it will not prove a fatal
one, the next general election will show. I much fear they
have thrown away the main stay that would ever have secured
an honest representation.
I have sent you these hasty observations, as I perceive that
Peel's palaver has already gulled some of the provincials who
are taking pains to disseminate hi; false doctrines. Pray give
the foregoing early publicity, to check the progress of error,
and believe that I am a faithful supporter of the principles you
so ably advocate.
Boulogne-sur-Mer, June 12.

R. M. N.