The Sun.
London, England, 1835-04-23 00:00:00

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LONDON,
THURSDAY EVENING, APRIL 23, 1835.

At the Meeting of the friends of Reform anxious
to promote the re-election of the man to whom that
great cause owes so much, which took place last night
at the British Hotel, Cockspur-street, there was a nu-
merous and highly respectable attendance, the fol-
lowing Resolution was carried unanimously :
" That the meeting having observed with pleasure
and admiration the talent and firmness displayed by
the Right Hon. Lord John Russell, during the late
arduous national struggle in the House of Commons,
and being convinced that it is of the greatest impor-
tance to the public that he should be again returned
to Parliament for South Devon in the most trium-
phant manner, call upon all friends of religious liberty,
and of efficient and peaceful reform, to exert themselves
in every mode within their power to effect that highly
desirable object."
This resolution was moved by Mr. HUME, and
seconded by the Chairman of the Deputies appointed
by the Dissenters to protect their civil and religious
rights. It comes, therefore, strongly recommended to
the attention of the Reformers of Devonshire, to whom
it is more immediately interesting, and we are sure
there not a man among them who will not heartily
respond to the sentiments which it breathes. The
electors of Devonshire cannot be insensible to the
necessity of instant and active exertion, if they wish
that their late noble representative should be returned
to Parliament in the manner which his present position
demands. Lord JOHN RUSSELL, situated as he now
is, may be said to represent the cause of Reform in a
more eminent degree than any other man. The Tories,
the enemies, the deadly enemies of that cause and every
thing connected with it, view the matter in this light.
They are feelingly alive to the importance of checking
the onward course of national improvement by every
means in their power ; and nothing would gratify them
so much—nothing would fill them with so much exulta-
tion—as a triumph over the champion of Reform, and
the Leader of that illustrious band by whom their
patrons have been driven from the helm of the State,
and the hopes of the whole faction blasted—certainly
for the present—we hope for ever. It is no wonder,
therefore, that they are straining every nerve to throw
Lord JOHN RUSSELL out of the representation of
the county of Devon—that they have organised nu-
merous committees of canvassers, and subscribed
large sums of money to effect an object so dear to
their hearts. And how are these exertions to be
met? How but by similar activity and corresponding
energy on the part of the Reformers ? Shall it be said
that the enemies of social improvement are more de-
voted to the furtherance of a bad cause than its friends
are to the advancement of a good one ? Never I The
interest which is now manifesting itself in London,
Birmingham, Manchester, and various other places,
respecting the event of the Devonshire election,
,ivies the negative to such a supposition. Let
the example so nobly set in these cities be
followed in others. Let meetings be held and
subscriptions raised to defray the necessarily great

expenses attending an election in a large county, and
carried on in the teeth of a rich, powerful, and
furious opposition. Thus, not only will the sinews of
war be supplied, but those who have to fight the good
fight will be encouraged, by feeling that they have the
sympathy and the support of the British public.

" A Grand Conservative Festival"—as the Morn-
ing Post grandiloquently phrases it—took place yester-
day afternoon at Hertford. This Festival, which was
given by their Tory constituents to Lord GRIMSTON
and ABEL SMITH, Esq., must have been looked
forward to by the faction as an affair of prodigious
public interest, for our Contemporary takes credit to
himself for having " received the Report by Express."
We congratulate him on his efforts, which must have
been Herculean ; and when we look into the speeches
delivered at this Festival, we are astonished how he could
have contrived to receive so heavy an Express, within
reasonable time for publication. A broad-wheeled
waggon, we should have thought, could alone have
conveyed so tremendous a load of dullness from Hert-
ford to London, without breaking down under the weight.
For not one speaker only exhibited unusual powers of
heavy prolixity ; but each vied with the other in his
contributions to the general burden. " Amurath suc-
ceeded Amurath." VERULAM was followed by GRIM-
STON. The former talked at considerable length about
his inability to " conceive" why the late Ministry was
opposed in Parliament. "He could not conceive,"
he said, " how such a thing could have come to pass."
Of course he could not. How should he ? He never
had a rational " conception" in his life—at least, if we
may judge from the speeches he has from time to time
delivered in public. 'lt is about the very last thing we
should ever think of accusing him of.
When the sire had sat down the son rose, and
with a filial obedience, which we cannot too warmly
applaud, strictly followed the example set him by his
parent. He was just as incoherent, just as incon-
clusive, and—we rejoice to add—just as prosy. How
greatly must it delight the heart of VERULAM to
find that his dulness is as hereditary as his title
GRIMSTON will not belie his hopes in this respect.
His speech of last night proves that he will never de-
generate into anything like talent. It is full of the
true Verulam promise.
The Chairman's speech, though something long,
had one defect. It was incomprehensible. In eulo-
gizing, for instance, the conduct of Mr. ABEL SMITH,
he placed him in startling contrast to the Liberal
Members, whom he compared (in the same sentence)
first, to " Egyptian mummies swaddled round with
pledges ;" and secondly, to " unreasonable echoes."
What, in heaven's name, is the meaning of all this
farrago of words ? Who ever yet heard of a
" mummy swaddled round" with a pledge ? As
for the " echo," that we can partly understand, for it is
evidently a facetious allusion to the famous Irish echo,
which when any gentleman happens to shout out
" How are you ?" is always " unreasonable " enough
to reply " Pretty well, I thank you, how are you ?"
The CHAIRMAN went on to observe, " their Noble
Representative, Lord GRIMSTON was not unknown to
them. He had stood the brunt of the battle, and had
achieved a victory for them—aye, for them—and a
victory also for the throne and the altar." When was
this ? We know of no such victory achieved by
GRIMSTON. If there ever had been one, or any
thing even approximating to one, the penny trumpet
of the Standard, and the squeaking fife of the Morn-
ing Post, would have rung the news in our ears long
ere this. The whole story is, we suspect, one of
those bright " conceptions" on the part of the Chair-
man, in which Lord VERULAM lamented that he was
so deficient.
We have noticed this "Grand Conservative Festival"
at greater length than it deserves, because it is clearly
the first of a series which the Tories are about to get
up, in order, as they think, to rouse the country in their
favour. The idiots ! Will they never know their
true position ? The country is more estranged from
them than ever. Vain will be all their dinners—vain
all their " Conservative Associations"—vain all their
Addresses, Petitions, Meetings, and what not—Reform
has pronounced their doom ; and who shall gainsay it ?
For one Association they get up, we will get up a
dozen. For their one Petition, we will show our
hundred. Their energy shall make us quadruple ours.
Where they expostulate, we will insist. Where they
talk, we will act. Their's may be the struggle, but
ours shall be the triumph. We know them better
than they know us ; and in their present feverish efforts,
see nothing but the last convulsive movements of de-
spair.

The Paris Journals of Tuesday, which we have
just received, do not contain a word of intelligence
which has not been repeatedly before the public. The
Ministerial papers are more intent upon discussing
the Ministerial changes in England, than the actual
occurrences in France ; and the Press, in opposition,
confines its strictures to the ever-recurring topic of the
prisoners of April.
The French Papers bring advices from Bayonne
and Madrid, which add some new facts to those which
have already appeared. The Spanish Cabinet, with
the approbation of the QUEEN, proposes the suppres-
sion of half the convents in Spain, the whole number
being two thousand. By an article of the Council of
Trent, any convent may be suppressed in which the
number of religious does not amount to twelve;
and M. MARTINEZ DE LA • ROSA informed the
Chamber of Procuradores during the debate on
the internal debt, that one thousand of the con-
vents in Spain were canonically liable to sup-
pression, by virtue of the above act of the Council
of Trent. The property of the suppressed converts,
after providing for the sustenance of the present in-
mates, will be disposed of for the benefit of the na-
tional creditor.

General MINA has tendered his resignation, but
the QUEEN has re fused to accept of it, adding
that his services are indispensable to the safety
of the Kingdom. Her MAJESTY further added
that knowing the state of his health, she deemed
it her duty to permit him to absent himself from the
fatigues of command for a few months, until he would
find himself in a condition again to place himself at
the head of the Army.

Brussels and German Papers have been received.
Extracts from them will be found in another coulumn.

Lord JOHN RUSSELL left Queen-street, May-
fair, this morning to attend his election for South
Devon. Lady JOHN RUSSELL, who has returned
with her Lord from Woburn Abbey, accompanied
his Lordship. Lord JOHN RUSSELL will return to
town about the 30th inst. to resume his official duties
as Secretary of State for the Home Department.
The Pensions recently granted to Sharon Turner,
Southey, Mrs. Somerville, and others, are regarded by the
Brighton Guardian as acts of bribery. "We denounce them,"
says the editor. " The present application of this money is ob-
viously intended to influence the Press in favour of Toryism,
and bribe that good opinion which Tory principles cannot
command. The gifts and the pompous publication of them,
are obviously intended to buy public favour ; so that the peo-
ple are to be bribed by their own money to love that impure
and ruinous system of policy, to subdue which they have for
the last five years made the greatest exertions. Pensions to
literary men pollute the expression of public opinion at the
fountain head ; and none consequently are so mischievous."

RYDE.—This delightful town already begins to
assume the appearance of a bustling season....—Brighten
Guardian.

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 1835.

CHANCERY COURT-(THIS DAY).

LITRATURE.

Lord LYNDMIST did not, as expected, sit in the Court
of Chancery, in consequence, we understand, of his Lord-
ship having to resign the great seal at the Privy Council,
which took place at St. James's to-day. The Master of the
Rolls and the Vice-Chancellor sat in their respective Courts
and took motions to-day. Their Honours rose at half-past
one o'clock to attend the King at St. James's Palace, where
they are to be sworn in together, with Mr. Justice Bosan-
quet, as Lords Commissioners of the Great Seal. Their
Lordships are to be sworn in to-morrow, also, in the Court
of Chancery, where, it is generally understood, their Lord-
ships will sit one day in a week, for the purpose of hearing
appeals.
We believe the parties in every case which has been
heard by Lord Lyndhurst, and in which his Lordship has
not given judgment, have agreed to abide by his decision,
although given after he resigns the Great Seal.

THE GIPSY :-A TALE.
Br THE AUTHOR OF " RICHELIEU," &C. 60C. IN 3 VOLS.

London : Longman and Co. 1835.

There is no class of literary productions which has
undergone more changes, within the last half century,
than novels. As a mirror which is presumed to reflect
the surface of society, this appears only natural ; but
the more material changes--the changes which must
strike any reader of reflection, who, after wading
through Richardson's " Sir Charles Grandison," sits
down to the perusal of Ward's " Tremaine," or Bul-
wer's " Pelham"—refer not to the manners of any
age, to the habits of any class of society, nor to the
ever-varying modes of killing time—distinguished by
the names of dress, studies, and amusements—which
mark the progress of fashionable life. The changes are
not confined to the appendages of fiction; they extend
to a much greater degree, to the aim of the fiction
itself, and the impressions which it is intended to make
on the mind. Wonders have been displaced by opi-
nions, and the phenomena of ghosts by systems of
philosophy. The peculiarities of dress, of motion, of
speech, and of gesture, which formed such prominent
features in the fictions of an age which can hardly be
reckoned among the past, are no longer thought
worthy of passing notice farther than—like the walk
and gait of Cateline—they serve to exhibit the predo-
minance of passions, and the influence of thoughts and
feelings on individual conduct.
The volumes before us, although exceedingly inte-
resting, and pregnant with all the riches derivable
from much reading, habits of close, acute reflection,
and a veneration for whatever is good and virtuous, are
not the less valuable in our eyes because they inculcate
one of the most clear of moral aphorisms, namely
that the commission of one crime begets a necessity
for following it up with others equally, if not more,
atrocious. The consequences of one departure from
the path of rectitude must ever continue to baffle all
human calculation ; and there is no moral lesson more
impressive than such as are drawn from a detailed
account of all the ways in which one evil action has
led men to go gradually on committing others, each
succeeding act being rendered necessary as a de-
fence against the consequences of that immediately
preceding it—each, too, intended by the unhappy
perpetrators as the last—until, in the end, their hearts
become seared,. and they sink for ever the voluntary
victims of error and 'infamy.
The leading incidents of the " Gypsy" may be
summed up in a few words :—The Hon. 'Edward De
Vaux, younger and only brother of William, Lord
Dewry, commences his career in life as a lawyer ; but,
yielding to the temptations which surround men of
birth and fortune in London, frequents the gaming-
table, contracts heavy debts, and gets entangled in
various pecuniary difficulties, from which he has no
means of extricating himself but by the bounty of his
brother, by..whom he is allowed a handsome annuity.
Grown desperate by repeated losses, and the refusal of
his brother to support him in a course of such open
profligacy, he resolves to meet him near the family
residence in the country, and oblige him to supply him
with ample funds. For this purpose he quits London,
rides day and night, and meets his brother alone
within a few miles of the family mansion. An alter-
cation takes place, and in the fury of rage and despera-
tion the Gambler shoots the Peer, who falls, apparently
lifeless, into a river and is seen no more. Two per-
sons are witnesses of the crime—a Gipsy and a
gambling creditor of the lawyer's, who had followed
him to obtain payment. The murderer, after com-
promising the matter with his associate in infamy,
flies to London, and, as no suspicion could rest upon
him, succeeds, as a matter of course, to the titles and
estates of the late Lord Dewry. In the meantime the
Gipsy saves the life of the wounded Peer, upon whom
his brother's ingratitude has such a powerful effect,
that he resolves to quit the country, and for a time, at
least, leave the world to think him dead. It is not to
be supposed that the new Peer was happy, especially
as he discovered that the Gipsy was in possession of
the fatal secret. He resolved, however, to leave no
means untried to rid himself of all fear of discovery,
and as the only way in which he could make
a slight reparation for the crime committed against his
brother, he reared up his orphan daughter as the be-
trothed of his only son. The great interest of the tale
turns on the effect which the fear of his crime being
ever made known to the world has upon the character
of Lord Dewry, and still more on the movements of the
wonderful being—the Gipsy—who holds him in his
power. The character of Colonel Manners is finely
drawn ; but Pharold the gipsy is a phenomenon—
a beautiful creation, which we believe never had
a prototype in nature ; yet he takes by far the firmest
hold on our affections and our memory. His appre-
hension of his own death, and his last instructions to
the Gipsy tribe, of which he was the chief, are as
beautifully and as plaintively described as any event of
the same description in the language.
But the great power of-the author is shown in the
unity of purpose throughout, and the wonderful way
in which every little occurrence leads to' the unravel-
ling of the plot, which decides the fate of the principal
actors. There is also great ingenuity in returning the
poisoned chalice to the hand which first prepared it,
without suffering it to flow over on the heads of an
innocent posterity. The close of the tale is by far the
best, and most skilfully conducted part of it, and per-
haps what the public will be least satisfied with in the
whole, is the opening pages in the first volume.
Whatever be the fate of the " Gipsy," we shall
henceforth regard its author, Mr. James, as one who
deserves to stand high , among the best writers of
fiction. His knowledge of the world must appear
pretty accurate from the following extract from a con-
versation on the fine arts :-
4, That what is really good may always have ultimate success,
is true, undoubtedly, when spoken of transcendent merit, or
of super-excellent qualities ; but this transcendent merit only
appears once, perhaps, in a century ; and the world shows
that, in the great mass of worldly things, the every-day
virtues, the every-day exertions, the every-day characters,
which surround us in this busy existence, virtue and merit are
not always ultimately successful. The religious, the political,
the scientific charlatan often carries all before him ; while the
man of modest talent and unassuming virtue plods on his way
unnoticed, and dies forgotten. So much, indeed, is this the
case, that do not we daily see that many a shrewd man of real
talent feels obliged to mix a little charlatanism with his other
qualities, for the sake of ensuring success? If Marian had
said that things which are intrinsipally immortal—which have
in themselves inherent permanence—must have ultimate suc-
cess when they are really good, and condemnation when they
arc bad, I would have granted it at once; but in all lesser
things,--and the world is made up of them,—l sincerely be-
lieve that success depends upon accident or impudence."

All the Tory landholders and clergy of the Isle of
Wight will, as at the last election, bring their united forces
to , bear on the borough of Newport ; it is therefore the duty
of the liberals to counteract the machinations of the common
enemy. Care should be taken by those who employ land
stewards that their property should not be employed against
their principles ; at the former elections, we are prepared to
prove that the tenants and dependants of liberal landholders
under the influence of Newport officials canvassed against the
liberal party.—Brighton Guardian.

CANINE FIDELITY.—A fine mare, the property of
.1. Jeffreys, Esq., solicitor, may be seen grazing in a field at
Picton Terrace, near this town, attended by a terrier dog who
accompanies her when turned out in the morning, and con-
tinues with her the whole of the day. The dog evinces the
greatest anxiety for the safety of his charge ;—if a stranger
approach, he makes every effort to drive away the intruder ; if
the mare in playfulness gallop about the field, the dog follows,
yelping. at full speed, apparently in great distress lest she
should escape from him ; and when the groom makes his ap-
pearance in the evening to lead her to the stable, he delivers
her up in a way that indicates his high satisfaction at being re-
lieved from his responsibility.— Welshman.