The Sun.
London, England, 1832-08-24 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

We yesterday enumerated some of the claims
which the Portuguese Constitutionalists have
upon the justice and sympathy of Englishmen,
for support or encouragement in their present
awful struggle against a usurping tyrant,—and
called upon our countrymen in this metropolis for a
bold and manly expression of their sentiments on
the Portuguese question at a public meeting,
whose voice would resound through all Europe.
If the facts which we stated, and the reasons
which we gave for the measure which we recom-
mended, should be thought insufficient to war-
rant the appeal which we made, we should almost
despair of success in addressing our fellow-citi-
zens on any other great political question which
was not immediately recommended to their no-
tice by fashion, by novelty, or by obvious inte-
rest. If sentiments of pledged honour,—if ties
of. acknowledged duty,—if claims of ancient
alliance,—if companionship in the common faith
and feelings of freemen,—if revolting persecu-
tions and proscriptions, endured on our account,
or for following our advice,—if the urgency of
atonement for our broken engagements and for
our guilty indifference on more favourable occa-
sions,—if the prospect of calamities at which
the heart of man sickens, as the alternative of
our present apathy,—if the voice of humanity
and the cries of mercy,—if, we say, all these
motives for exertion, which unhappily unite ie
our relationship to the Portuguese Constitutional
cause, should fail in producing the effect which
we ardently desire,—then we must contend that
our countrymen are changed, or admit that we
have mistaken their generous nature. Both
we ourselves, and many of those to whom out
present appeal is made, lament that the liberal and
Reform Government of this country did not set us
the example of testifying in favour of the cause
of the Portuguese patriots, by a favourable allu-
sion to it in the King's speech at the late pro-
rogation of Parliament. Nothing, we are per-
suaded, could have been more pleasing to his
Majesty's own feelings, and nothing could have
earned for him and his servants a greater fund of
popularity with the nation. The title of the
young Queen had been acknowledged in the
official acts of this country. The divisions of
the House of Braganza, and the disturbed state
of Portugal, have been adverted to in the
speeches from the throne for the last four years.
The blockades of the belligerent parties have been
publicly recognized ; and the present state of the
contest did not permit the war on this occasion to
be passed over in silence. Why, therefore, was
there such excessive caution in abstaining from all
allusion to the side on which constitutional right,
justice, and freedom are ranged? After declaring
Don. Miguel to be a usurper, and receiving his
niece as Queen of Portugal, could there be any
difficulty in determining to what party our ex•
pressions of sympathy were due ? Could there
remain a moment's hesitation in deciding be-
tween the merits of usurpation and legitimate
right,—between the banners of despotism and
the flag of freedom,—between a Government
which had persecuted our countrymen, and one
that held out professions of amity and friend-
ship Y. Was it a weak desire to maintain a kind
of hold over Don Miguel, or to propitiate the
rump of the Holy Alliance, that imposed this
silence on a King of England in taking leave
of his Parliament ? Making every allowance
for the reserve imposed on a Government in the
official announcement of their views or wishes on
occasions like the present, we cannot help, never-
theless, declaring our conviction that their frigid
allusion to the Portuguese cause in the Royal
speech was impolitic and mischievous. By the
Portuguese party, to whom we are opposed, it
will be registered as an act of political cowardice
—(we should be alarmed to think that it was
taken for one of returning friendship) ; and by
the other, with whose cause we are identified,
and which may have received from Ministers
private encouragement, it will be looked upon
as an act little short of political treachery. By
all Englishmen it must be interpreted as, pro
tanto, an abandonment of that manly and
straightforward course of policy, on which the
affairs of a great and magnanimous people—
free and safe to declare their sympathies and dis-
likes—to acknowledge their friends or their ene-
mies—ought always to be conducted. But
though, in the present Portuguese struggle, the
Government of England, like the gods of an-
cient Rome, may wait " to choose the conquer-
ing side," we have a better opinion of the
manly and patriotic portion of the public,—
who
are bound by no official reserve—to sup-
pose that they will be the less eager on that ac-
count to express their feelings and sentiments at
the public meeting to which we yesterday ad-
verted. We are aware of one objection which
may be made, and which has been made, against
the present military proceedings of the
guese Constitutionalists, and, consequently,
against any renewed expression of British interest
in their favour, an objection of great plausibility
we allow, but to which, from a more inti-
mate knowledge of Portugal probably than most
of our readers, we are able to give a brief and
satisfactory answer. It has, then, been said,
" See how ill the Portuguese are prepared for '
freedom. Though oppressed by the Usurper
for years, they still hug their chains, and are de-
lighted with his tyranny. No portion of them
has joined the liberating army, though it hoists
the Constitutional charter on its standard,—a
proof that the charter could not be executed,
though in the squabble between the two brothers,
family considerations should prevail upon the
people to choose the side of the eldest. Why,
then, should we Englishmen feel any interest
in a contest which is not connected with a poli-
tical system, but involves merely a family preten-
sion ?" It is true, indeed, that few of the Por-
tuguese beyond Oporto have, as yet, joined the
Constitutional standard, but that does not prove
that if the Emperor had happily landed at Lis-
bon, and got possession of the capital, the whole
nation would not have supported him. The
Portuguese peasantry, or the great mass of people
in the provinces, take little interest in political
changes, but would have acquiesced in a
good system, till they had begun to feel
its benefits, as easily as in a bad one,
to which they could not logically trace their
sufferings. Those who had been of a more active
turn of mind, and who had previously supported
the constitution, are mostly either in exile or in
prison, and thus cannot give an expression to
the feelings of their more passive countrymen.
There remain chiefly, therefore, as active politi-
cians, the population of Lisbon and Oporto--
the great and enlightened majority of which had
embraced with ardour the cause of the charter, and
are still its decided friends. Oporto, it will be
seen by all the accounts, welcomed the Emperor
with enthusiasm ; and so would Lisbon have
done, had he been able to encounter the troops
of the Usurper as easily in landing on the banks
of the Tagus as on the banks of the Douro.
Had the imperial forces been sufficient to effect
an entry into both capitals, his success would

have been secure, the nation would have been
with him, and liberty would have been pro-
claimed amid the exultation of a people who
now seem dead to its attractions. The parties
of " light and darkness"—of passive obedience
and of the charter—are so equally balanced,
that the sentiments of the Court, or the sword
of the army, can at any moment turn the
scale. The Princess Regent, though a weak
and capricious woman, was able to support
the constitution till the arrival of her brother
Miguel, in 1828 ; and it certainly cost " the
monster" more trouble, and exposed him to
greater danger, to destroy the charter and to
usurp the Crown, than it would have done to
have remained Lieutenant of the kingdom under
the Constitution which he had sworn to obey,
and which his brother had sent him to maintain.
The priests, the monastic o dens, and corrupt iI
magistrates in the provinces, are certainly power- I
ful ; but, like the Jesuits and the emigrants un-
der the late Bourbon Government in France,
they are only powerful by leaning against the
throne which they are supposed to prop. Like
ciphers, they count when added to a positive
quantity, but are nothing when isolated. Were
Don Pedro or his daughter established in the
Palace of Ajuda to-morrow, they would not__
find more devoted courtiers than the heads
of the monastic houses, who are now setting
fire to their convents to consume the Con-
stitutional troops in the conflagration. The
English public may, therefore, rest assured that
if the military means of the Constitutional
party had been sufficient to cope with the tried
force of the Usurper, a better political order of
things in Portugal was not only possible, but
was certain. The numerous exiles now spread
over the world would have been recalled—im-
prisonments and violence would have ceased—
the sword of political vengeance would have been
sheathed—existing confiscations would have
been reversed, and such spoliations for ever
afterwards rendered impossible ; while legisla-
tive chambers, according to the Charter, would
have been convoked, and would have laid a sure
foundation for all subsequent political improve-
ments. The Portuguese Constitutionalists—
who are many of them able men—may be
supposed to !know their own country as
well as the Duke of Wellington or any English
pig-headed Anti-Reformer; and yet they, in
reliance on the view which we have given above,
have returned to their country, and staked their
lives on the success of their enterprise. In the
result of the struggle they may indeed be dis-
appointed ; but let not any nibbling, Anti-
reforming, political sciolist try to convince us by
reasonings a priori, that from the ignorance and
superstition of the Portuguese their success was
impossible, and that the degradation 'of their
countrymen must be eternal ! Times.
At the Maidstone Reform festival on Tues-
day last, of which a very fill account has been
given by the Maidstone Journal of the follow-
ing day, Mr. Hodges, one of the Members for
Kent, observed, that " now that the Reform
Bill had become the law of the land, they might
reasonably look to it as a means of remedying
all the grievances and miseries to which this great
nation has been exposed. I certainly (added
he Hon. Gentleman) am not prepared to say
that this great measure is without imperfections
or without faults; but I can assure you who
have read the debates, that 1 and others who
listened to them are perfectly aware, that if we
had continued to propose amendments, with the
intention of rendering the Bill perfect, or ca-
valling at every point in order to make our ene-
mies' objection groundless, we might have gone
on to this time, or even longer.—(Cheers.) We
have taken the Bill as a man takes his
wife—(Loud cheers)—for better for worse,
but resolved to make the best of it.—(Loud
cheers ) The great principle which the Bill
establishes is, that which all the statesmen who
have written upon our Constitution have long
contended for—it contains a power of renovating
itself, without at all disturbing its grand outline.
It is a boon of inestimable value. The people
of England have now the means put into their
hands of remedying those evils which have been
brought upon us by borough influence in Parlia-
ment. Every Government in the world stands
in continual need of watching, however excellent
it may be in principle. * * * I am
sorry, that, for the present at least, the new con-
stituency under the Bill is not so extensive as
it ought to be—as it was meant to be—and as
it will be."—(Cheers.) Mr. Hodges here very
properly rests the great merit of the Reform Bill
in its having removed the weight which sus-
pended the operation of the Constitution, and
opened a door to such further improvements as
experience may prove to be necessary. The
Bill has defects, but the Bill supplies the means
of removing these defects. The other county
Member (Mr. Rider) alluded significantly to
one of these defects, which must be removed.
Speaking of an Honourable Baronet, who is a
candidate for the representation of one of
the divisions, he observed, " Some friends
of the Honourable Baronet, in their over zeal
for his support, and with a blindness to conse-
quences quite marvellous, have endeavoured to
exercise more than a legitimate influence over
their tenants, and have held out threats which will
naturally drive that respectable class of persons
to consider whether it be not possible to find
some mode of giving the suffrage which will enable
them to satisfy their own consciences ; while
others, with singularly bad taste, have boasted
much of the good old times of Toryism, for-
getting, I presume, that from that party and their
measures have flowed the manifold blessings of
800 millions of debt ; and that the farmer, of
whom they profess to be the especial protector,
has been by their means led gradually from
prosperity to the poor-house." The Reform
Bill has given a better constituency, in as far as
the constituency is richer (for though wealth is
not identical with intelligence, the possessor hav-
ing more abundant means of acquiring intelli-
gence, may be presumed to have profited by
these means) ; but it has exposed the elector at
the same time to the apprehension of suffering
from the exercise of his franchise. The appre-
hension may or may not always be well founded;
but the elector is entitled to all the protection
necessary to his exercising the suffrage without
injury to himself. From all parts of the country
we hear the same complaints. Thus, for in-
stance, the Essex Independent observes, that
" a very powerful argument in favour of the
vote by ballot has been furnished within these
few weeks in Essex, by the reluctance on the
part of the new constituents to register their votes.
We hold it to be the duty of every man to sup-
port the cause of liberty at this eventful crisis, in
spite of any selfish interest. But when, on the
other hand, we recollect that there are many
voters whose very livelihood may depend on not
disobliging the party which they would desire
to oppose, we feel that something is yet neces-
sary to shield the indigent voter from oppres-
sion, and the Ballot occurs to as the only

means as° doing. As the time for the election
under the Reform Bill is now at hand, and as
the other promised plans of Reform are soon to
be discussed, we feel it to be our duty to state
the question relative to Vote by Ballot in its
true light, both in order to disabuse it from the
wilful misrepresentations of interested individuals,
and to state its exclusive value, as a means of
representing the people, in terms that cannot be
mistaken by a discerning, though long-deluded
public. It will be recollected, that in the early
discussion on the Reform Bill, the question as
to the Ballot was postponed, in order to be dis-
cussed in a future Parliament." After describing
the mode in which Balloting ought to be con-
ducted, the writer in the above paper forcibly
observes—" The objections brought against this
mode of voting may he traced to party and in-
terested motives ; and a moment's serious re-
flection is capable of refuting them. It is fool
ishly said that Ballot would lead to corruption,
by inducing a candidate to offer bribes to the
voters, to be paid on condition of his being
returned. This, however, is a spurious objec-
tion got up by those who dread the fierce ordeal
of the Ballot, and has no real foundation in
truth. It is enough now for a few vicious and
dependent persons to be bribed ; yet the penalty
and consequences, if discovered, render it very
uncommon ; nor would the manner of voting
either increase or diminish the number of such
instances of bribery. But, on the other hand,
the ballot must necessarily do away, at once,
with a much more prolific source of corruption—
we mean open and avowed influence. Many, in-
deed, have been the hundreds and thousands of
unwilling votes extorted from the poor farmer,
who happens to have a vote, to oblige his master
or the lord of the manor ; or, what is as ridi-
culous, perhaps, as it is corrupt, to oblige the
parish parson !! ! And this neither from bri-
bery nor good will, but purely from the base
passion of fear !—a sentiment disgraceful to the
character of a courageous English Yeoman, and
one from any temptation to which the brave
French have long been exempt, by having long
enjoyed the blessings of the ballot. How many
thousand electors openly declare, every election,
that they are forced to vote for 'Squire Such-
a-one, or for Lord Thingabob, or else be
ruined in their trade or turned adrift from their
farms, to suffer the misery of houseless want, as
a reward or penalty for giving a conscientious
vote ! And this is called freedom ! Good God ! if
this be really freedom, and not slavery, what then
is misnomer and paradox ? The French and
the Americans laugh at our notions of freedom
of election, guarded as they have long been by
the Ballot. The truth is, the corrupt portion
of the Squirearchy know quite well the value of
the Ballot ; they feel the full measure of its
force ; and they dread the castigating hand that
shall let fall the fatal and bitter pill into the gob-
let of corruption. And we will conclude by
saying, we feel sure that on this mode of voting
alone all true Liberty depends." It is quite '
ridiculous to suppose that the constituency of
the country will allow the continuance of a sys-
tem of suffrage, under which they can only dis-
charge their duty at great risk to .themselves and
their families. The question we hold to be de-
cided—any man who opposes it we hold to be a
Tory, or something worse. He who wishes to
have the power of influencing a fellow-citizen by
appealing, not to his judgment, but to his fears,
is a brutal tyrant, whatever name he may choose
to give himself. But the Ballot has been at-
tacked from another quarter. Those who are
not electors are hostile to the Ballot because it
deprives them of control over those who are,
and who hold the suffrage as a trust for the rest
of the community. In an evening paper of yes-
ter'lay it is urged—
" Though the vote by ballot is adopted to secure the
independence of the voter, and to protect him in the ho-
nest discharge of his duty, it must not be overlooked that
there are circumstances in which such independence would
become a positive evil. The case which we suppose is
one, where the constituency is limited and wealthy, and
has interests, real or supposed, separate from the mass of
the community. There it is plain that a secret mode of
voting would clothe them with a most dangerous power,
and one productive of the most extensive mischief. It
should never be lost sight of, that where the few monopo-
lize the power of making the laws for the many,
the responsibility and accountableness of the few
should be strictly secured. Their power is not intended
for selfish but for national objects ; and to screen its exer-
cise from publicity, is undoubtedly the way to ensure its
perversion. It is upon this ground that we have ven-
tured to express doubts as to the expediency of adopting
the ballot as a permanent arrangement, till we shall, first,
have taken measures to secure an extension of the very
limited constituency which the Reform Bill will create in
England. Out of a population exceeding twenty millions,
scarcely half a million will be entitled to the exercise of
the right of electors ; and these include the wealthy and
independent classes. There are comparatively few among
them so immediately derendent upon others as those classes
who are excluded from the franchise. Might it not be
unwise, and productive of evil, were this delegated body
permitted to exercise their functions in secret ? They are
entrusted with a power to exercise it for the public and
general good; and for the discharge of this trust they are
responsible to society. But there can be no responsibility
where there is no publicity. The potent and acting few
can in such a came do as they please; tie excluded millions
have no resource but an appeal to force."

The constituency in many parts of the coun-
try might be extended with advantage. Still we
believe it is so extensive as to be unassailable by
bribery. The body of men to whom the suf-
frage is confided compose all but the very lowest
classes in the large towns; and even in the ma-
nufacturing towns of the north of England and
Scotland they form so large a part of the middle
classes, that their interests may be taken as iden-
tical with those of the nation. 'they may be
controlled, however, from above and from be-
low. One great argument for excluding all who
did not possess a certain amount of property was
the presumption that they alone possessed the
intelligence necessary for the proper exercise of
the suffrage. This is, of course, merely a pre-
sumption, and in many cases it may happen that
poverty and intelligence are associated together.
But the presumption is not warranted, for know-
ledge is power, and one of the first uses a man
is disposed to make of this power is to better
his circumstances. But the open voting would
lead to intimidation, not only from the rich,
but also from the poor ; nay, from the
very mob,—from those who were exclu-
ded, because they were supposed not suf-
ficiently intelligent to exercise the suffrage
with advantage to the community. There
may be a conspiracy of workmen to destroy the
custom of a shopkeeper or publican, on account
of voting in favour of a man of whose prin-
ciples and qualifications they themselves ap-
proved, but who happened not to be less a
favourite with the persons so conspiring than
some others. Public opinion and the opinion
of the classes in question may not always be
identical. The elector is called on to give an
independent vote ; and the majority of the elec-
tors, voting independently, may be supposed to
represent public opinion. While we say this,
however, we are aware that in some towns of
the north there are many excluded from the
franchise who are qualified, in point of intelli-
gence, to exercise it properly. The great evil
to be guarded against is intimidation. A te-

rant may know that his landlord cannot turn
out all his tenants; but, as Partridge says in
Tom Jones, one man armed with a pistol will
disperse a crowd, for though he can only kill
one man, yet no one in the crowd is sure that
he himself may not be the man.—Morning
C/ ronicle.

It is right that the person of the King has
been declared by the law to be inviolable. It
seems proper that an assault upon the person of
the King should be subject to a higher degree
of punishment than an assault upon any other
individual. These points, we think, may be con-
ceded by the advocates of constitutional freedom
under a limited monarchy, in consideration of
the high dignity of the kingly office, although a
maxim which has often been pronounced from
the judicial Bench declares that " the law is no
respecter of person." Making the case of the
King an exception to this maxim, it is not ne-
cessary to go the length of contending that a per-
sonal offence, which would only constitute an
assault when directed against any other indivi-
dual, should be punished as high treason in the
case of the King. We say that the doctrine of
the inviolability of the Royal person does not
make-it necessary to go this length, for the
offence of assaulting the Sovereign may be
severely punished as a seditious act, without con-
founding it with high treason—the highest crime
known to the law, and which is properly a pre-
meditated attempt upon the life or liberty of the
King, connected with an intention to subvert
the existing Government. Accordingly the
ancient laws of this country did not punish an
assault upon the person of the Sovereign as high
treason. The great statute of treasons, the
25th of Edward 111., which first defined the
crime, and guarded the subject against the perils
of constructive treason, contains no such offence
as a mere assault upon the person of the King.
Under that Statute the treason must consist in
the compassing or imagining the death of
the King ;" and although the King's death
might not follow, it was necessary to prove by
some overt act that the King's death was in-
tended. It is clear, therefore, that if Dennis
Collins, the sailor, who has just been convicted
of high treason, and sentenced to the penalties
thereof, for an assault upon the King, had been
tried under the Statute in question, he must have
been acquitted, seeing that the verdict of the
Jury was, " We do not find the prisoner guilty
of intending to destroy his Majesty, but, on the
fifth count, of intending to do his Majesty bo-
dily harm." It is certain that his Majesty did
not, in reality, suffer any bodily harm from the
act of the prisoner, but, as the indictment only
charged him with the intention, it was not ne-
cessary that actual bodily harm should be proved.
But how does the intending to do the King
some bodily harm come to be high treason, and
to be confounded with the crime of compassing
and imagining his death? The Statute which
has made it so is, in fact, one of the sanguinary
Acts of comparatively modern days, which was
passed at a time when the Draconic spirit
pervaded our legislation, aid every Session
brought forth new Statutes of blood. It was
during the Ministry of Pitt, when the doctrine
of constructive treason was pushed to the most
violent extreme—when the Constitution of Eng-
land was twisted like a nose of wax, and the
British Parliament was as servile a tool of power
as the Turnkish Divan—that the Act was passed
under which Dennis Collins has been tried for
an assault upon the King's person, and sen-
tenced to be hanged and quartered. If England
had had a free representation at that time such
an Act would never have been passed ; and it is
not likely a reformed Parliament will long allow
an Act to remain on the Statute-book which is
so at variance with the principles of rational and
proportionate justice as to confound an assault
with the greatest crime known to the law. But
supposing the law was unexceptionable, the facts
of the case in question are such as might fairly
induce a jury to presume insanity. If that be
an insane act for which it is impossible to assign
any rational motive—if that be an insane act by
which the perpetrator forfeits his life in the open
face of day—in the midst of a crowd—ostenta-
tiously courting exposure, and not having
the hope or chance of any guilty advantage
from his crime, never • has there been a more
insane act than that of Dennis Collins.
A Berkshire Jury have in their wisdom thought
otherwi,e. We believe the result would
have been different if the trial had been held
before a Jury of Londoners—not from purer
intention, but because London Juries are more
enlightened and more capable of thinking for
themselves than country Juries, in general, are.
How else did it happen that Margaret Nichol-
son was treated as a lunatic, and Hatfield was
found insane, while Dennis' Collins, whose act
was quite as wild and irrational as theirs, and
had nothing of the character of premeditation—
nothing of the unequivocal intentioneoragr e g a
Nichol-
son with
icsthth a
destr
111.
oy
the life of the Sovereign that their's had, is
considered a responsible agent, and sentenced to
shoeassailed hanged
personquarteredof G
? Margaret
knife or dagger which she had cautiously con-
cealed. Here the use of the mortal instrument
proved that the intention was the death of the
King, and the concealment which she practised
in approaching his Majesty showed that her
madness had method in it. As to Collins, he
neither used a deadly weapon nor attempted to
avoid detection, but flung the stones openly,
which it appears he picked up at the back of
the Royal stand, as if he were performing the
most innocent or meritorious act—a tolerably
conclusive proof of the extinction of the sense
of right and wrong at the time of com-
mitting the act, his sufferings, his want,
and some liquor, probably producing that
excitement, which so operated upon the
wound in his head, which he had received in
fighting the battles of his country, as to produce
temporary derangement. It is true the Jury
have, since the trial; signed a petition for mercy
to the unfortunate man. Even if they had not,
we are quite confident that the beneficent pre-
rogative which the Constitution has deposited in
the Royal bosom, will not, in the present in-
stance, be powerless to mitigate the sanguinary
sentence of the law. Hatfield attempted the life of
George 111. with a loaded pistol, which he dis-
charged at him while seated in his box at the
theatre ; and, for ought we know, he lives still
in the seclusion of a lunatic asylum—the fittest
place for the wretched, crippled, and, evidently,
deranged Collins ; but if even he be considered
to have had sufficient sense of right and
wrong at the time of committing the offence to
make him a responsible agent, surely, his Ma-
jest), will not seek for any consolation from
shedding the blood of the miserable man whose
quarters the barbarous law so humanely places
at his disposal." No, we are convinced the
Royal mind, consulting its own generous feel-
ings, will turn with natural disgust from the
sacrifice offered to it, and, by administering jus-
tice in mercy, by exercising the noblest attri-

hute of Kings, give the Throne a moral protec-
tion stronger than any which it can receive from
the terrors of revengeful law.—Morning Herald.
Delusive arts boldly exercised, and mis-state-
ments widely circulated, will have their effect,
and in no case have they been more successfully
attempted than against the Bank of England.—
In the present instance we shall deal with this
subject very practically. The two leading
charges brought against the Directors of that
Establishment are, that they have mismanaged
their affairs so as to reduce their means, and
that they have grievously inflamed the excite-
ment of 1825 by their over issues. To these
two points we will now confine ourselves, and
in reference to them we pledge ourselves to
the country that the following statement will
be found in the evidence and accounts about
to be published respecting the affairs of the
Bank of England. In February, 1819, the
securities amounted to thirty-one millions.—
The resolution of Parliament declaring the
necessity of withdrawing one pound notes
from circulation, these amounting to up-
wards of seven millions sterling,• of course
imposed the obligation upon the Directors
of reducing their securities to that extent.—
But the necessity was further imposed by the
expected, and then decided upon, withdrawal of
the notes of provincial bankers, which created a
further curtailment of the Bank securities for the
purpose of issuing upon bullion to meet the
wants of the country bankers. After these pre-
parations had been made the Government came
to the determination in 1822 to continue the cir-
culation of country bank notes until the year
1833, thus leaving an inordinate quantity of
bullion in the hands of the Bank, to the amount
of fourteen millions, in the early part of 1824,
which operation at the same time gave a great
power of extension of the circulation to country
banks by the continuance of the issue of their
paper. Pending these transactions the profit of
the Bank must diminish ; but, subsequently to
February, 1825, the dividends have been more
than covered by the legitimate income of the Bank,
which has also been enabled to provide for the
loss of at least 250,0001. by Fauntleroy's for-
gery. And now as to the other charge, of largely
contributing to the excitement of 1825. The
increase of the circulation of the Bank between
January, 1822, and April, 1824, arose solely
from the increase of bullion held by the Bank
in the latter period over the former ; and if the
calculation of the circulation be carried on to
October, 1824, it remained as in the preceding
April. On the Ist of January, 1822, the cir-
culation stood at 17,700,000/., and the bullion
at 11,700,0001. On the Ist of April, 1824,
the circulation stood at 19,300,0001., and the
bullion at 13,800,0001. These figures show
that, whilst the paper had increased 1,600,0001.
the bullion had increased 2,100,0001., which is
clear evidence that no forced issues were made
by the Bank. We leave this plain statement,
to the accuracy of which, as it will appear in the
evidence and accounts, we again pledge ourselves,
to the unbiassed judgment of the public.-
3torning Poet.
The result of the approaching election of
Members of Parliament is as confidently stated
by one party to be favourable to the interests of
Reform, as it is predicted by another to be ad-
verse to them ; but, on whatever side the truth
may lie, there is nothing more true than that
the system of undue influence, which has been
already resorted to, on the one hand, and the
cowardly system of refraining from the exercise
of the elective franchise, on the other, must lead
to the adoption of the ballot as the only safe-
guard against the one, and the only means of
encouraging the other to do their duty by them-
selves and by the community. We see no help,
in fact, against such result. The object of the
Reform Bill was two-fold—first, to destroy
nomination burghs, in which it has already
succeeded ; and, secondly, to convey to
the country such an extension of the fran-
chise as should prove an effectual bar against
the corruption of voters, in which last ob-
ject we fear that it has already totally failed.
In the counties we know that, generally speak-
ing, it will prove a failure, in consequence of the
influence exercised by landlords over their te-
nants ; and in many of the burghs we fear that
the case will not be much different, in conse-
quence of the anxiety of tradesmen not to give
offence to their customers. For the former class
some charitable allowance must be made, for it
is, unquestionably, no pleasant affair fur a dis-
tressed tenant to place himself in hostile array
against his landlord ; but for the latter, we see
no excuse—we can admit of no apology. 'Their
conduct is base in the extreme, and most wor-
thy of all the reprobation which those who fought
unflinchingly in the sacred cause of Reform can
possibly bestow upon it. It is not only a deser-
tion of their duty to themselves, but an abandon-
ment of the duty which they owe to society—it is
saying neither more nor less than that they will
take advantage of the benefit of a good
vote government,
to
its
n‘tvei
nl la
nneoet caonndt ri b
whuat
te evene
dt
yhr
e is
there for such conduct, but the ballot ? Honest,
and courageous, and independent men have no
wish to shield themselves under the protection of
such a system ; but they must naturally desire
it, in order to shield themselves against the con-
duct of those who are neither the one or the
other ; and—reluctantly we allow—we now call
upon the independent and reforming portion of
the community to demand from every candidate
for the honour of their representation a pledge
that he will not only vote for, but support, as a
primary matter, vote by ballot. There is no
safety without it—there never was a more favour-
able moment, either for demanding or compelling
the pledge. Many candidates have already de-
clared themselves in its favour ; and it only re-
quires the expression of a simultaneous wish, on
the part of the public, to render the question
quite as popular as that of general reform lately
was.—Morning Advertiser.

SOMNAMBULISM.—Dr. BLACKLOCK, the
celebrated blind poet, after his ordination at Kirkcud-
bright, dined with some friends who bad accompanied
him from Dumfries, and finding rest necessary to recruit
his harassed and exhausted spirits, soon afterwards left the
table and retired to bed, when the following extraordinary
circumstance occurred, which merits particular notice, as a
curious fact relative to the state of the mind in sleep. One
of his companions, uneasy at his absence from the corn..
pany, went into his bed-room a few hours afterwards, and
finding him, as he supposed, awake, prevailed upon him
to return into the dining-room. When he entered the
room, two of his acquaintances were engaged in singing,
and he joined in the concert, modulating his voice as
usual, with taste and elegance, without missing a note or
a syllable ; and after the words of the song were ended, he
continued to sing, adding an extempore verse, which ap-
peared to the company full of beauty, and quite in the
spirit of the original.—.He then went to supper, and drank
a glass or two of wine. His friends, however, observed
him to be occasionally absent and inattentive. By-and-by
he was heard speaking to himself, but in so slow and con-
fused a manner as to be unintelligible. At last, being
pretty forcibly roused by his companions, who began to be
alarmed for his intellects, he awoke with a sudden start,
unconscious of all that had happened, having been the
whole time fast asleep.

Li V EltPuti t. CORN EXCHA NUE.—Aug. 21.
WHE&T, English, White, per 701 b.
Red
Scotch, Welch, and Manx 8 9 9 3
- Irish, White 7 9 8 .2
-- Red 7 6 8 0
- Foreign 9 0 9 8
OATS, English, Welsh, and Scotch, per 451 b 2 9 2 10
- Irish
- Foreign
BARLEY, English, Malting, per Imp. quarter 36 0 40 0
- Scotch and Irish, per 60Ibs.
- Feeding 4 3 4 6
BEANS, English, per Imperial quarter 36 0 40 0
- Irish, &c.
- Foreign
PEASE, English, per Imperial quarter 36 0 38 0
- Foreign
FLOUR, English, per 28011).
- Irish
OATMEAL, English and Irish, per 2401bs 2l 0 23 0
INDIAN CORN, per 4401 h.
lIA E, per Imperial quarter . 3l 0 32 0
Nlaur, per Imperial quarter
IMPORT OP GRAIN for the Week ending Aug. 20.
Wheat. Oats. I Barley Flour. Oatmeal.
Qrs. Qrs. Qrs. Foreign, Brlsilrish, &c. Scks.l Loads.
2,533 2,784 i 86 837 I 2;64 1,868

A large portion of the Theatre at Baden, in
Switzerl nd, has been burnt; the performance had termi-
nated with a scene representing a house on fire.
A few minutes after three o'clock to-day a
gtntleman called at the Cess-uffice, and tendered pay-
ment of taxes, which were refused. Having t tken with him
a notary and witnesses, he again tendered the amount,
which was again refused. The notary asked if the Act
fixed the hour of shutting the office ; but he was refused
an answer, and ordered to the door by Baillie CRAIGIE,
the collector. He then took a protest against the collec-
tor, and retired in sufficient time to prevent forcible ex-
pulsion, which seemed to ba meditated by the collector and
his sun. The Tax-office was shut on Saturday at 12
noon, while the Town Clerk's office was open till 10 p.m.,
and to-night will he open till midnight.— Girt sgow Citron.
SINGULAR INQUEST AT CARLOW.-011
Tuesday last, the 14th instant, the skeleton of a man was
found in a quarry adjoining the Graves, and quite near the
town. The men, on discovering one or two of the bones,
proceeded very cautiously, when they found the whole,
together with his boots, spurs, cross-belts, and a breast-.
plate, hearing the inscription, " Castledermot Cavalry
King and Constitution," together with some old shillings
and halfpence. The spurs and breast-plate were not in-
jured by the time they had been in the earth. The de-
ceased was discovered to be a man named COLEMAN, mis-
sing since November, 1500. On the night he was mis-
sing, a dinner was given by Captain GREEN, of the Cas-
tledermot Cavalry, at the Bear Inn, kept by a man named
SMIT/I. After dinner he went into the street, after which
he was never heard of. An Inquest was held on Thurs-
day, when the above circumstances were proved. Dr.
PORTER said, that there was a fracture on the skull.
There was no evidence to prove how the deceased came by
his death. It appeared that the place where the body wad
disc veered was originally a quarry-hole, which had been
filled up. All the quarries in Carlow were searched at the
imp of his disappearance, without sneetBB. The Jury
found a Terdict—" That the bones of a man produced
were those of BENJAMIN COLEMAN, who came by his
.leatli in some way that cannot be accounted for."--"
Carlow Sentinel.