The Sun.
London, England, 1832-05-08 00:00:00

.SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

The Reform Bill is in the agonies of death, if it be no
by this time defunct. It has received its death-blow at its
very first entrance into the Committee. Prepared as most
people were for the discomfiture of Ministers in cone way
or other in the C'ommittee on the Reform Bill, the result
of the first night's proceedings will yet, we venture to say,
create no small astonishment throughout the country. No
man of sane intellect could suppose that Ministers could
carry a Bill unnautilated through a Committee, a majority
of the Members of which were either the real enemies, or
pretended friends of the measure ; hut it was not antici-
pated that the false friends would at the very outset form
o junction with the enemies of the Bill, and leave Minis-
ters in a minority of 116 to 151. The title and preamble
of the Bill having been postponed, and Lord Grey having
intimated his intention of proposing the omission of the
words " fifty-six" in the first clause till schedule A
had been considered, as there were some Noble Lords who
admitt d the principle of the disfranchisement, but
were of opinion that the number of boroughs to be dis-
franchised should not he fixed until schedule A had been
considered, Lord Lyndhurst rose for the purpose of pro-
po.ing the postponement of the consideration of the clause
altogether. If he should succeed in persuading their Lord-
ships to agree to that proposition, be intended to follow it
asp by proposing that the consideration of the clause which
immediately followed should also be postponed. He added,
that his object was to submit to their Lordships the pro-
priety of taking into consideration those clauses by which
certain places not at present represented were to be allowed
to send Members to the House of Commons, and to deter-
aline what number of places should be enfranchised, before
they entered into the consideration of what places should
be disfranchised. On the first motion of Lord Lyndhurst the
delete of the night took place, which ended in the defeat of
Miaisters. The first motion was to have been followed by a
second, for the postponement of the second disfranchising
clause, but further proceedings were arrested by the adjourn-
ment of the Cosnmittee to Thursday next. Thus, in the very
outset, the enemies of the Uhl have obtained the guidance of
it. That the people may know bow much they gained by
the second reading of the Bill, according to Lord Lynd-
hurst, we quote his Lordship's observation, that "although,
by agreeing to the second reading of the Bill, their Lord-
ships had acknowledged its principles, they had not in the
slightest degree fettered themselves as to the extent to
which those principles should be carried. They bad de-
unmined that there, should be enfranchisement, disfran-
clii,:ement, and an extension of the elective franchise, bet
they were perfectly free with respect to their determination
bow far those three principles should be carried." Now,
as extent :s everything, according to his Lordship, nothing
has been determined. Lest any persons should be simple
enough to believe that, in postponing the disfranchising
clauses, as enfranchisement ought to precede disfranchise-
ment, the dispute is merely a repetition of that of the Big-
endians and Little-endians of Swift's " Gulliver," we may
observe that his Lordship professes himself sincerely of
opinion that the Bill, in the shape in which it had been
sent up by the House of Commons, would destroy " the
just rights of the House of Lords and of the Crows ;"
he
desires the postpone-naent of the disfranchising clauses till
after the consideration of the enfranchising clauses, in
order that a juste•milieu may be found, namely, such a
degree of enfranchisement as may pacify the towns to
which the suffrage has been promised, with the retention
of the rotten boroughs, the existence of which is neces-
sary to the preservation of the just rights of the House
of Lords and the Crown. An extension is to be given to
the representation, but the corruption is to be retained,
:la order that the people may derive no benefit from the ex-
tensiou, the corrupt part of the representation retaining the
preponderance. This is the interpretation put on the motion
by the Lord Chancellor. " The principle of the Bill (said his
Lordship) was, in the first instance, the expediency of taking
away the power of voting for the Representation in Par-
liament from inconsiderable places. This was the founda-
tion and basis of the Bill—then the grant of Representa-
tion to towns which had risen to importance—the addition
to knights of the shire—and the diminution of the expense
of election I but a snore prominent feature was the taking
away those parts of our parliamentary system, the abuse of
which had been found to be intolerable." His Lordship
saw distinctly that the manoeuvre had exclusively for object
the throwing dust in the eyes of the people—the amusing
them with a show of Reform, while the dominion of the
Oligarchy should remain intact ; for the dominion of the
Oligarchy is bound up with the rotten boroughs. His
Lordship said, " he would not treat the proposition of his
Noble and Learned Friend (Lord Lyndhurst) as a mere
question of order, or consider any vote which might be
come to upon it otherwise than as an expression of the feel-
ing of the House upon that most important part of the Bill
—the principle of disfranchisement itself --(Loud cheers,
and cries of No, no ! from the Opposition Benches.)
If his Noble and Learned Friend, instead of wrap-
ping himself up in genera's, had stated that he
agreed to a larg' measure of Reform—had stated
that be agreed to Schedule A, or something to a
similar extent, but that he bad rather Schedules C or D
should be first gone into, then, indeed, he might be dis-
posed to entertain his proposition ; but the object of his
Noble and Learned Friend (or, at least, if that were not
his object, his proposition had that tendency) was to keep
that main part of the Bill in its present unsettled state, or
else to substitute something entirely new, leaving
Item in the dark as to w tat was to t, done," The

question was, indeed, anything but one of form; and the
importance attached to it by the Opposition sufficiently
expresses their opinion regarding it. The proceeding is a
manakuvre to place Ministers in a dilemma. " Either
(say the devisers of this scheme) Ministers must at once
create Peers in sufficient numbers, or they must resign, or
they must proceed with the Bill. If they allow the en-
franchising clauses to be first considered, we shall, by our

show of liberality, and particularly by the scheme of Lord
Ellenborough, of giving a scot and lot franchise, instead

of the 10/. qualification, sow division among Reformers
and detach the lower orders, who are now excluded
from the franchise, from the middle classes, so that we may

defeat them with impunity on the disfranchising clauses:"
We promise them that the people will not give in to this
dehhion. Whatever opinions may be held with respect
,0 the extent of enfranchisement, there can be none an

to this, that without as large a measure of disfranchise-
ment as that in this Bill, all enfranchisement would be

illusory. The trick is too stale to answer. Mark, too,
the shifts of these men, who, but the other day, talked of
the beggars under the 101. qualification, now proposing
scot and lot, after it had been demonstrated that a 101.
qualification, so far from being low, was a great deal too
high The people must see the object of all these con-
trivances is to defeat Reform, and that Reform can only
be gained by union among its friends. They cannot for-
get, that all this liberality comes from men who would
give no reform whatever, ii they could avoid giving it—
and who, if in possession of power, would endeavour
to render what they gave (for all now we are pre-
pared to give some Reform) as worthless as possible.
The gist of Lord Lyndhurst's speech was, that the
franchise was a right and privilege, and not a trust, and
ought not to be withdrawn except on proof of delinquency,
—that the King had aiways had the power of enfranchis-
ing, but not of disfranchising,—that the course which he
recommended was to begin by enfranchising, to begin by
conferring rights and privileges—to begin by granting
boons and favours, whereas the course recommended by
Earl Grey was to begin by depriving a portion of the
community of the rights and privileges which they at
present possessed. He was at pains to show that nearly
all the former plans of Reform merely went to enfran-
chise, allowing a certain number of Members for point-
leus towns and counties, and leaving the existing fran-
chises undisturbed. This disguise is so thin, that it can
hardly be called one. A pretty right and privilege!—
the right and privilege of robbing the people of England,
by naming persons virtually to represent them, but re-
sponsible only to the patrons of the boroughs, which,
said Lord Harrowby last night, " certain persons had
chosen to stigmatize as rotten boroughs." Lord Hol-
land, whose indisposition has seldom allowed him to
speak on this question, made last night a most impres-
sive speech:—
" He would say this fearlessly, that the postponement of the
disfranchisement clause is tantamount to a rejection of the prin-
ciple of the Bill. He contended, however, that the postponement
of the disfranchisement was contrary to principle, and at the
same time calculated to defeat altogether the just expectations of
the people—to destroy that which rendered it palatable, and
wh ch so completely answered one of the two magnificent objects
effected by the introduction of the Bill.—(Hear, hear.) One of
these magnificent objects—for so he would call them—was to re-
concile the people to their ancient and truly noble Constitution—
(Hear, hear.) The other object was, to improve and revive the
ancient principle and practies of that t onstitution.—(Hear,
' hear.) Disfranchisement (said his Lordship in another part of
his speech) was that which had been most agreeable to the feel-
ings of the people, and he had no hesitation in saying, that if
they postponed it, they would materially affect the principle of
the Bill, and embitter the feelings of those who were most
anxious that it should be isuccessful. Good God !he could
scarcely give utterance to what he felt, hearing what he had
heard that night. He declared most solemnly that what he had
heard from Noble Lords produced in him the greatest surprise.
Disfranchisement was pointed out to be of such dreadful evil,
and then rotten boroughs were proved to be of such vast ad-
vantage to the Constitution, and then such ingenious arguments
were used to prove the benefits of their working—all of them
founded on the most cunning theory, but yet decidedly contrary
to practise and to the authority of all the great men who had
written or spoken on the subject.—(Hear, hear.) The Noble
and Learned Lord contended that there should be no disfran-
chisement, unless in cases where delinquency was proved, or in
which a very strong case of necessity was clearly made out."
This is the view which will be taken of the subject by
the people of England. They will not be the dupes of the
shallow artifice of giving the franchise to a certain number
of places, while the nomination boroughs leave the sub-
stantial power of the Oligarchy untouched. If the Bo-
roughrnongers command a majority, the enfranchisement
will be but a mockery. The people are not so stupid in
to be captivated by a franchise which is of no avail as
checking the rapacity of the Oligarchy. But we will not
waste another word on what must be obvious to every man
capable of the least reduction. What, then, is to be done ?
Ministers have wisely determined to proceed no further for
.he present. Bet they must soon decide. They cannot go
on as they are, that is obvious. They are at the mercy of
the enemies of the Bill in the Committee. Out of that
Committee no Bill worth one straw in the way of Reform
will ever come. In the meantime the people must bestir
themselves. Now is the time for decision. If it should
turn out that Ministers have either been deceived or have
deceived themselves, and that their power in the way of
furthering Reform is at au end, the people must be just
towards themselves. Let all who possess influence in their
respective neighbourhoods bethink themselves of the im-
mense'ersisitiquence of acting with union, with decision, and
with caution at the same time. Disunion will ruin every-
thing. Let it he borne in mind, that union alone can save
us from the most dreadful calamities. If the people are
only true to themselves at this conjuncture, they must suc-
ceed. The conjuncture is most trying. Fortunately all
the Standing Committees are, as it were, ready to act at a
moment's warning. ' They will see what the occasion de-
mands, for every moment now is pregnant with important
events. It will soon be known whether there is any hope
for Reform from Ministers, or whether the people must
take counsel front themselves.—. Morning Chronicle.
The struggle, then, has commenced, and in rightearnest,
as every one foresaw, even those who affected not to see
it. Lord Grey's Administration has been left, upon a
most important question, in a minority which forbids all
hope of carrying the Reform Bill—that is to say, the Re-
form Bill—through the existing House of Lords. The
Government has been beaten by thirty-five, on a motion
of Lord Lyndhurst for postponing the disfranchisement
clauses. What next then ? Will Peers now be made ?
That of which no doubt whatever can exist is, that if

Peers be not made instantly, Lord Grey ought instantly to
give in his resignation, and let the people of England see
who will venture to take the abandoned office. That alter-
native, indeed, the Noble Earl decidedly intimated in his
concluding speech last night. If Peers be not made before
another Gazette, it amounts to a demonstration that the
Sovereign's confidence has been withdrawn from his present
Minister ; because nothing can be more evident than that
the counsel adverse to a creation of Peers could not have
proceeded from the Noble Earl, or from his colleagues.
If there be, in a certain quarter, an unyielding obstacle
to that moat essential exercise of the prerogative,
there is no question that Lord Grey must have
been already conscious of it, and as little, that
knowing,—(or how could he be ignorant of the majority
against the Bill ?—he ought not to have delayed his re-
signation to the present hour. We do emphatically im-
plore the King's Ministers, if Ministers they have not
ceased to be, to throw the responsibility of whatever may
befall the realm in consequence of this dreadful disappoint-
ment of the national claims to the first right of every na.
tiou—viz., " good Government"—we beseech them, if
1 they would not be set down by their countrymen for
spiritless imbeciles, or Anti-reformers in diguise, to throw
the weight of public repoach and resentment upon the
shoulders of those who ought to bear it, and not to exhibit
before the people of England the only party which they at
present desire to trust, as anxiously and sordidly clinging
to the emoluments of place, when its honours have
withered, and all salutary power has departed from it.
This is no time for dancing minuets, or exchanging bows.
It is no time for conventional politics. It is no time for
the consultation of personal tastes or wishes. Life and
death are in the scale. Opinion has been provoked into
passion. 'We do not believe that there lives one sound
and reflecting man in England, to whom the state of the
empire, after the account of last night's division shall have
reached him, will not appear to bea state of revolution, to
be terminated only by the frank acceptance of the Bill
which has so victoriously passed the House of Com-
mons, or of some measure which may extend
still further the field of popular tight. How-
ever, if the Anti•Reforni Chiefs have triumphed
over Lord Grey and his Cabinet, they have not triumphed
over that force upon which Lord Grey's better genius
might have taught him to rest with a more hearty and
steadfast reliance—the people,—the unanimous, the uncon-
querable people. The people are unscathed, and they are
resolute. Whatever becomes of Lord Grey,—which,
though we wish him well, is but a secondary matter,—
reform, a full, efficient, and complete Reform, the people
have pledged themselves to obtain. If asked whether they
would rather see a reform of the Commons frustrated, or a
remodelling of the Peers themselves effected, does not every
man anticipate the same answer ? However, the season is
not one for words : it calls the country to action. We shall
wait with deep interest, but with perfect assurance of the
manly and constitutional energy of this great nation, for
intelligence from all quarters of the rutted Kingdom. The
complexion of that intelligence will satisfy mankind whether
Englishmen are earnest and honest in the pursuit of liberty.
it will be seen that atter the division Lord Grey moved and
carried a postponement of the Committee till Thursday.
His Lordship, has, no doubt, requested this delay for the
purpose of pr.4.uring his Majesty's sanction to the creation