The Sun.
London, England, 1835-10-21 00:00:00

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LONDON,
WEDNESDAY 'EVENING:- OCTOIIER 21, 1335.

SUN-OFFICE, THREE 0' CLC CK.

We understand the Bafavier steam-boat has just
arrived with the King of HOLLAND'S Speech, which
is very pacific. No . fresh taxes will be imposed.
This speaks well for Belgium.
The following is the substance of the speech :
His Majesty says that in the political state of the
country, since the last communication, no alteration
has taken place. It becomes of importance to the nation
to arrange their internal concerns in such .a way that
foreign affairs may be the least burthensome, as
there has been no opportunity to arrange the
Belgian question in a manner conformable to the in-
terests and honour of the country, inasmuch as the

p,2riod remains uncertain.
The I?ave of absence to the military has been ex-

tended.

The internal state of the country is favourable.
Trade and navigation likely to increase. Manufac-
tures are favourable. The East and, West Indies
enjoyed peace.

The constitutional efforts which the people of Eng-
land are preparing to make for a Reform in the House
of Lords, begin seriously to alarm those paragons of
political virtue, MM. GUIZOT and BROGLIE. The
French Conservators of our " glorious Constitution in
Church and State," have instructed their organ, the
Journal des Debats, to address to us a few pompous
nothings on the subject; and we have now to acknow-
ledge, with proper expressions of gratitude, the re-
ception of a column of admonitions and arguments,

which are only wanting in truth, knowledge, and in-
telligibility—mere trifles in asi article pr&'essedly
written by a Doctrinaire of tle Tin ERS and GuIZOT
school. The Doctrinaires aec a privileged order of
public instructors. Where their knowledge of facts
fails them—which it almost constantly does—they are
permitted to have recourse to fiction, on the simple
condition that all fictions substituted for facts shall be
delivered with a grave pompous air, with here and
there a good deal of unmeaning jabbering about
" principles," which are—as all the world knows—
the great staple of the school. In navigating the
troubled waters of politics, the Doctrinaires make up
for their deficiency in ballast by a double supply of
sail. The less they know of the coast the more con-
fidently do they steer for it, without once troublin,l
themselves about the soundings : let them only catch
a glimpse of land, and they are qualified to write a
history of the government, laws, customs, and manners
of the inhabitants.

E►►gland, according to the Journal des Debats, is in
a kind of crisis, which is more dangerous than all pre
vious ones, because it threatens to destroy the basis of
political freedom in this country—namely, the British
Constitution. We believe there has not passed a
year during the last century in which the Constitution
of England was not represented to be in the most
imminent danger. Every change in the laws—
every abolition of iniquitous or absurd statutes—
every extension of suffrage has been, in the lan-
guage of a few alar►nists, " a dagger planted in the
bosom of the British Constitution." Even withi❑ the
memory of the present generation, our Constitution
has suffered a thousand martyrdoms. It was torn into
pieces by PITT ; utterly abolished by CASTLEREAGH ;
trampled under foot by CANNING; and annihilated
by Earl GREY. It was massacred at Peterloo ; trans-
ported to New South Wales with the Dorches-
ter labourers ; starved to death by Lord JOHN
RUSSELL ; and anatomized by WARBURTON.
The Irish Papists devoured it as sauce for the
tithe pig ; and not a night passes, if we may
credit our " country gentlemen," in which villainous
poachers are not cracking away at it. Most marvel-
lous is it, therefore, to find that it is still only in immi-
nent danger; and that though assailed by the most
deadly enemies, it exhibits no traces of past injury.
BUTLER, in his " Lives of Saints," tells us some
curious anecdotes of certain primitive Christians whom
the Roman Governors could not kill by any of the
usual processes. It was quite useless to deca-
pitate them, as the heads joined the trunks of
their own accord, and the martyrs rose up as sound
as before the executioner had raised his axe. The
British Constitution is a martyr after the same fashion.
The world has been summoned to give attendance at
its funeral for the last fifty years ; and yet, after being
" perverted," " strangled," " destroyed," and " abo-
lished," a million of times, it is now as much exposed
to danger, and as obnoxious to injury, as it was when
first threatened with invasion.

Jii deference to the attention of the Doctrinaires to
our interest;, we shall, for once, treat their fears se-
riously. To do this in a spirit of fairness, it is ne-
ussary that we should quote the substance of the ar-
ticle in the Debats. Here is is :

But a question arises as to whether the actual crisis be not
more serious and dangerous than any of those that England
has hitherto gone through ; and whether it will pass away like
the others, without producing any permanent effect, or leav-
ing a trace behind it ? In what consisted the force of the
English Constitution ? What kept it so immoveable on its
base? Was it not its equilibrium 9 In the English consti-
tution was contained a considerable portion of liberty, and not
a little of democratical manners and customs, but at the same.
time, and as if by way of counterpoise, its fundamental prin-
ciple was aristocracy. Founded by the Normans, the most
constant and fervent propagators of the feudal system, Eng-
land took from her founders, and retained the ineffaceable im-
pression of their genius. It was an aristocratic state, in
which everything tended to give the ruling power to the aris-
tocracy. If a plebeian gave proofs of great talents or com-
manding character, he was certain, sooner or later, to be
received into the ranks of that English aristocracy, which
had the cleverness to understand that in order to remain
powerful, it was necessary to renew its youthful force con-
tinually, by the adoption of plebeian talents, and never to suffer
any predominating influence in society, without endeavouring
immediately to make the possessor of that influence a mem-
ber of their own body.
" An aristocracy thus organized was an immense counter-
poise. Against this aristocracy, which from its wealth en-
joyed so much social power, and by means of the House of
Peers and the rotten boroughs was invested with political
power, what could the press or popular assemblies achieve?
At the utmost they could only agitate the surface, tahilst in
the deep waters beneath all was motionlesss and stable.
• • •

" As long as the aristocracy was not brought into question,
the various crises through which England has passed must ne-
cessarily have been momentary and harmless. But is it the
same case at present ? Certainly not, for the great question
involved in the present crisis is that very aristocracy and its
political power, that is to say, the very principle of the British
constitution. That which formed the counterpoise of the
common weal—that which constituted its strength and its
durability—that which maintained it in an admirable equilibrium,
that it is precisely which is now sought to be destroyed."
If the above description of the British Constitution
be correct, we challenge all the philosophers in France
to point out in what consisted the "admirable equili-
brium" so pompously referred to by the Journal des
Debats. If the aristocracy were omnipotent in the
State—if neither the Press nor public assemblies could
effect anything—if everything tended to give the ruling
power to the Aristocracy—is it not evident that there
could be no equilibrium ? A Constitution such as is
here described might exist in Russia, without endan-
gering the absolute power of the CZAR. But the
whole is a tissue of misrepresentation, marked through-
out with a total ignorance of our history. Our Con-
stitution—at least the most invaluable portion
of it—is not of Norman but of Saxon ori-
gin. It is the Saxons to whom we are indebted
for the great body of our common law—the
bulwark of our greatest civil and social privi-
leges. The Norman conquerors of -England did
all in their power to destroy the Constitution of this
country, and they certainly succeeded in impairing its
equilibrium. If,--as the Journal des Debuts asserts;
the whole power of the kingdom be wielded by one of
the three Estates, despite of the influence of the other
two, the Constitution of England is set aside, and an
oligarchical despotism established in its place. The
Debats asserts that neither the people nor the Press
have had any power in England ; this we admit; but so
far from maintaining that the Constitution was cogni-
zant of such a state of things, we maintain that in this
consisted the destruction of its equilibrium. And it
is this which induces us to call for, and to insist upon
a measure of Constitutional reform, which shall purge
the Peerage of some of its most noxious privileges.
We deny—positively deny o❑ the part of the Re-
formers of Great Britain and Ireland, that the exis-
tence of the Peers, as a branch of the Legis-
lature, is threatened. What we seek—what we
must obtain—is the reform of that body—a reform
so extensive as to render it efficient for the
high functions entrusted to it by the Constitution.
Does any Christian believe, that the Church will suffer
injury, or can -any politician suppose that the State
will be exposed to peril, by .obliging the hierarchy to-
preach the Gospel to their flocks, instead of gravely
assenting to Bills for the regulation of Tonnage Du-
ties, and the proseCution of poachers? Will there be
any thing unconstitutional in obliging Judges to- hear
before they decide ; and compelling Senators to be
physically, as well as constitutionally, present in the
Chamber when their vote is given ? Would the
House of Peers be less responsible, or less sacred, if
fools and madmen were prevented from taking seats in
it by the mere right of hereditary sanity and wisdom ?
The Journal des Debats knows very little about

what is passing in England. MM. G ULZOT,
TILLERS, and 131tOGL lE, mar cease to alarm them-
selves ; we are on the eve of no anarchical crisis—our
Constitution is in no danger whatever. We seek only
to reform, not to abolish, our political institutions.

The Paris papers of Monday have been received. Ex-
tracts arc given in :mother column. Generally speaking
their contents are unimportant as far as regards the
great subject of public interest—the war in Spain. By
a private letter from Bayonne of the 15th inst., we
learn that the French authorities on the frontier openly
supply the Carlists with arms, military stores, and pro-
visions. Surely the British Government will not per-
mit Louts PIIILLIPPE thus openly to violate the qua-
druple Treaty.

We have rtJad with considerable satisfaction Mr.
POTTER'S speech at a public dinner given to him on
Monday last by the non-electors of Wigan, wherein
the Hon. Gentleman enters, at length, into a review
of the proceedings of last Session. explains the nature
of his votes, and the reasons that induced him to give
them. His observations throughout are marked by
good sense and moderation, and give assurance that he
will never swerve from the broad, straight path of Re-
form. Speaking of the general election in November
last, he says, "When I entered the House in February,
its appearance was to the a melancholy spectacle. In
vain I looked for numbers of those with whom I had, ,
during the preceding Sessions, been in the habit of
constantly acting and voting ; but I was consoled by
the reflection, that their elections had not been lost,
because they had been unfaithful to the trust reposed
in them, but on account of tile intimidation,- bribery,
and treating, which had been practised at the election
to an alarming extent. It has been said, and I confess
I believe the statement, that at least one million of
money was expended b 5• the Tories at the last general
election !" The recollection of this vast but profitless
expenditure, with the disastrous defeat to which it
led, is no doubt one of the main causes of the
Tories' present dejection. To lose power is bad,
but to lose money is worse, and both- coin-
bined are quite enough to upset the soundest
understanding. But what makes the case worst of all
is this, that in the present instance the evil is wholly
without remedy. Had the Corporation Bill not been
passed into law, the Tories might possibly, by a further
lavish expenditure at some future election, have con-
trived to secure a bribed majority in the House, and
so reimburse themselves by their old monopoly of the
loaves and fishes of place ; but now they have no such
prospect to look fors aid to. Their million is gone for
ever ; and as if this in itself were not sufficiently har-
rowing to their pecuniary sensibilities, they have fur-
ther the discomfort of knowing, that it has supplied
their bitterest enemies with just one million practical
arguments in favour of the Ballot. It is in this light
that Mr. POTTER views the question ; observing,
" the ballot is the only radical cure for such profuse
Tory bribery, and I earnestly hope the period is not
far distant when the electors of the United Empire will
have the protection of the Ballot." The Hon. Gentle-
man does right in keeping this question before the
public eye. It cannot be too often or too earnestly in-
sisted on.

Under the head " Ireland," our readers will find
some remarks in this day's Sun, which show the great
and daily-increasing popularity that• the conduct of
Ministers is securing for them in the sister-country.
The writer is an acute, well-informed man, who has
no purpose to serve by wilfully misapprehending or
misinterpreting plain facts : his observations, therefore,
are deserving of every attention. He tells us that an
expectation is " universally entertained" in Ireland--
except, indeed, among the Orangemen—that she will
kr- henceforth governed on just and impartial princi-
ples ; and that no Conservative, or one-sided policy,
will be longer permitted to interfere with the claims of
equity. Lord MULGRAVE, he says, bids fair to be-
come one of the most popular Viceroys Ireland ever
possessed ; nor is Lord MORPETII, in his depart-
ment, a whit less esteemed and confided in by
the people. When could this be said of a Tory
Lord• Lieutenant, or Tory Secretary of State ?
Should this auspicious state of things continue--
and we have every reason to anticipate that it
will—Government will soon find its present army of
30,000 men wholly unnecessary to preserve the peace
of Ireland. The writer adds, " the majority of Irish-
men are determined to support those men who will
carry the Ministerial measures into effect. This is
an opinion that gains strength every day. O'Cos-
NELL's adhesion to Governmcnt—his dissolution of
Trades' Unions—his increased popularity for doing so,
testified by the character of those men who are pre-
paring to entertain him at public dinners—and his
reconciliation with Lord CLoNc URRY-prove the fact
incontrovertibly." When we hear and read of these
things, which there is no possibility of gainsaying, we
cease at once to wonder at the phrenzy of the Con-
servative Journals.

The glorious uncertainty of the law was never more
beautifully exemplified than it has been during the Re-
gistration now drawing to a close. Decisions of ques-
tions, similar in every respect, have been given directly
in the teeth of one another by the Revising Barristers,
and the happy result is, that no man can possibly tell
either what constitutes a qualification, or what evidence
is necessary to support a claim.

That this latter point should not be quite settled we
do not. wonder. The Reform Act left much to the
discretion of the Revising Barristers, as to the mode
of substantiating claims, and hence naturally arose
a variation in their decisions. What one might con-
sider sufficient evidence of the possession of a qualifi-
cation, might not appear so to another. One would be
guided by the spirit, another would creep along by the
letter of the law ; and, having no precedents—those
soft cushions on which judicial intellects delight to re-
'pose—to rest upon, they could not fail to introduce
contradiction and confusion into the Registration code.
But we confess it does seem a little surprising that
even lawyers should entertain any serious doubts about
what constitutes a qualification.
We imagined that the Reform Act had admitted to
the elective franchise the possessors of certain descrip-
tions of property which did not formerly confer that
privilege ; and that, when the possessor of such pro-
perty had complied with the prescribed forms, and
proved his title, there was an end of the matter. But
it never struck us that the nature of that property, or
of that which, prior to the passing of the Act, alone
conferred the qualification, had undergone the least
alteration.

Such, however, now appears to be the case. If we
are to be guided by a late decision in a neighbouring
county, we must believe that the Reform Act has not
only given votes to copy-holders, leaseholders, and
ten-pounders, but has made a radical change in freehold
property. Either it has done this, or else the true
nature of freehold property has never been properly
understood, till now that the mystery has been re-
vealed to Messrs. KNAPP and PEAK, the Revising
Barristers for the county of Hertford. These gentle-
men have given a decision in the case of the New
River Company, which will make the gentlemen of the
long robe brush up their law.
We may observe, first, that a similar case to this
was decided a few days ago in West Kent. The