The Sun.
London, England, 1832-05-02 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PJJBLIG .IouRNALS,

One objection m Ic, by politicians of the
Wellington school, to the acceptance of the Re-
form Bill, is, that it cannot be " a final" mea-
sure. Then, supposing the Bill to be rejected,
we ask, is there one honest man in England who
will say that our present condition can be
6nal? Is it possible for us to remain where we
are ? Who will dare to answer that question in
the affirmative ? The objection goes directly
against all political improvement. It deprecates
all legislation on subjects of more lively or ge-
neral interest than a turnpike-road. According
to every sound conception of the structure,
growth, and wants of human society, the worst
law that could be proposed to a state for its
adoption, would (if we can imagine so wonder-
ful a measure) be one which admitted no pos-
sibility of future change. "lean ! and for
ever !" is the exclamation by which such dreamers
ought to be corrected. We have put it to any
honest man to say whether it is physically pos-
sible for the Constitution of England to remain
stat ionary at the point whereon it totters at this mo-
ment. With the single exception of the Duke of
Wellington, there is no such living man. Save only
his Grace, what other Anti-Reformer has yet
asserted that the country can go on without
some measure of Reform ? They one and all
tell us that " the changes which have taken place
in public opinion make it unavoidable to
concede a safe and temperate Reform to the
excited people." Then their argument amounts
to this—that a partial Reform, granting a small
portion of the redress which the country calls
for, and disappointing far more than half of its
desires, will be a guarantee against further soli-
citations or movements on the part of the reform-
ing spirit; but that the grant of all that the
united voice of property and numbers calls for,
will be but a bribe to discontent. Thus, dis-
franchise a few boroughs (the fewer the better),
—enfranchise a few great towns on the same
principle)—lay down a test of qualification, which
shall, in another half century, have narrowed in-
stead of widened the constituent basis of the
kingdom,—let no householde► who pays less
than 20/. of rent have a voice in the election
of a Member of Parliament for boroughs
where there is no rent so high as 201.,—
leave the six thousand of rich, populous,
and enlightened inhabitants of the now unen-
franchised metropolitan districts beholden to the
Livery of the city of London for a deputation
from its own peculiar body, to speak their senti-
ments on matters of general policy, or to the
four Members for Westminster and Southwark,
just the same proportion of representative power
as is allotted to the patrons of two houseless and
penniless boroughs,—do all this,—frustrate the
rightful claims of millions,—exclude the much-
dreaded middle classes from the constitution,—
deal with a great nation in a spirit of unmanly
distrust, or of insolent defiance,—extol the ca-
price of the old system, which encourages the
corruption of idle pot-wallopers, while it repels
the industrious, the independent, and intelligent
from the hustings,—embody in your " safe and
temperate" reform bill every possible element of
public dissatisfaction and complaint,—force two-
thirds 'of the collective personal property of Eng-
land into an angry sympathy with the universal
suffrage mob,—then boast that your measure
will be final ! It is obvious, on the show-
ing of the moderate, or bit-by-bit reformers,
(the ultras being incorrigible, we have no-
thing more to say to them), that if their own
estimate of that cause which has justified their
concession of a partial Reform be correct, viz.
the necessity of adapting the institutions of
society to its spirit, there could be no mote futile
objection raised to a general Reform of the Con-
stitution of any country, than its want of (that
which can be no where found) a formal guarantee
against all subsequent alterations. It may suf-
fice to say that a treasure which contemplates
the interests and inclinations of an entire people
bids fairer to be durable than one which treats
them with indifference ; and that in proportion
to the number of active, intelligent, and indepen-
dent citizens, who feel their interests to be
embraced and protected by the Constitution,
is that Constitution likely, in its essential prin-
ciples, to remain unaltered. Therefore it is
that in speculating upon the longevity of any poli-
tical system applicable to the British nation, the
most ample and comprehensive measure of re-
dress for grievances, and of Reform in Parlia-
ment, is that which would appear to common
sense to be of the most stable character, the nar-
row and make-believe Reform of the half-and-
half party to be more short-lived in the samede-
gree in v.hich it is more slender, and the existing
or Wellington constitution to be the most de-
ciduous of all. A final measure, in the strict
senge of the word, none but a knave or madman I
would require : a measure facilitating the action
of the national mind upon the conduct of public
affairs, and thereby assisting the country to ame-
liorate whatever may, on experience, be found
defective in the frame even of the Reform Bill
itself, is all that human intellect can accomplish, 1
and all that in equity can be called for at the
hands of any statesmen. lithe consequences of
this Bill of Reform should turn out to be really
beneficial to the liberties of the people of Eng-
land,—if commerce, foreign and internal, be ad-
vanced by a Parliament so chosen as this Bill
points out,—if abuses generally be corrected with
more diligence and vigour,—if undue patronage,
as is very certain, be curtailed throughout all
departments of the Administration, and titled
paupers be compelled to work for their bread,
instead of pilfering it from the country,—if, in
fine, property, public and private, be more secure
from invasion, by reason of the enactment of this
aw,—it is not extravagant to assume that the
bulk of the nation will be sensible of such ad-
vantages, ministering so immediately to their own
well-being, and that the measure will be durable,
or even final, should ultimate experience prove
that it deserves the support of the people. As
the House of Commons has hitherto been con-
stituted, a sordid faction might out-vote all
England : that evil, at least, the present Bill
will cure. The main amount of property and
intelligence throughout the kingdom will operate
unobstructed upon the composition of one, and
on the acts of both branches of the legislature.—
Times.

The cause of glorious but unhappy Poland,
though it has lost much of its every-day glareand celebrity since the brilliant displays of her
martial valour and patriotic enthusiasm in the
course of last spring and summer, has lost none
of its interest with the enlightened statesman or
the, ardent lover of freedom. We are no
longer, indeed, excited with frequent bulletins, in
which prodigies of Polish military skill and in-
trepidity are recorded. We no longer see the
blaze of Polish armour or the flash of Polish ar-
tilleiy, darting across the northern sky to an-
nounce a victory of the Poles over their Musco-
covite oppressors. We no longer are left to
calculate the result which may spring hum a
struggle between 4,000,000, of brave arid de-