The Sun.
London, England, 1832-06-12 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

Our friends, the friends of Reform and good
Government, have already received a hint or
two from the independent press, that if they
wish the Reform Bill to be of any use to the

country, they must exert themselves to put it
into immediate and effective action. It is clear,

we presume, to every man, that a law for the
creation of a free constituency must derive all

its value from the energy and wisdom wherewith

the new constituents may be disposed to employ

. .
their franchise. No law, however admirable, can
execute itself. No law can operate but through
human agents. The best imaginable statutes for
securing the liberty of the subject may be ren-
dered unavailing by corrupt Judges, or stupid
and subservient Juries ; and the most perfect
theoretical precautions that can be devised against
an overbearing prerogative of the Crown, or
against its acquisition of und,..!c influence in-
stead of prerogative, may be, and have been,
entirely frustrated, by the supine, the sordid,
the animal indifFerence of those who ought
to have guarded conscientiously the public
interest from all encroachments, under what-

ever form, on the part of the executive power,
Our countrymen may be assured, that if they con-

tent themselves with celebrating the triumph o

the Reform Bill as a bare historical fact, and for•

get it as the introduction to a wide field of ur-
gent and bounden duty, they will have gained
nothing by the Bill, or by all the incalculable
toil and exertion which it has cost them, but
the shame of discovering after two or three years
that the Conservatives have stepped in to ravish
from them the fruit of their labours. If Reform
and good government candidates now hang back,
or are not supported by those new constituents
who owe their existence to the public virtue of
the peceding electors spurring on the represen-
tatives of the United Kingdom—if there be no
gratitude in the young possessors of the fran-

aise, to their t;rethien who eagerly shared the
Constitution with them, and no consistency in
the voters under the oid system to prosecute their
patriotic work—if the Reform of our institu.
tions, though framed by liberal Statesmen, .be
left for Tories to finish, to act upon and pervert,
why then we do allege, that Reform is but a
roll of parchment, ink, and bees' ‘vax,—tbat
the freedom so obtained is a practical mocketry,
that the blind and foolish confidence derived
from such unsubstantial forms, is infinitely more
perilous than our former state of discontent
with the corrupt concord which reigned between
the principle and action of the Government, and
that the lethargy into which the nation will now
have sunk, is a far more fatal symptom than the
acute and irritating consciousness which before
afflicted it. Well then, what is to be done
This. As we know that there exists an House
of Lords, possessed by a spirit of unrelenting
and incurable Toryism,—as we know that, apart
from the Reform Bill, which was forced upOn
_ _

many repugnant individuals among its MeM
hers, the present House of Commons is bu
slightly attached to Lord Grey's Administration
and may any day in the week be induced to oil

it up, on some question unconnected with I

form,—under such circumstances Great Brit

ought to exhibit, by unambiguous testimony,

determination not to endure for one mom

the transfer of power from a Liberal to a To
Cabinet, before the ensuing Parliame

shall have assembled. Whatever may be

ease by and by, and however impossible, after
few years more, for any anti-national Dover
meta to rule this empire, on principles adverse
those predominating throughout the nation
this time during the interval which elapses b,

tween the birth of the Reform law, and its ab
lity to walk alone, that precious offspring
English spirit and intelligence must not be cor
fided to nurses who would have destroyed it eve,

in the first hour of its conception. First, the!
such a spirit must be manifested by the countr!
as will render the early formation of a Tory GC
vernment politically impossible; second, stiC

an organization of the whole constituen

throughout the United Kingdom ought to lie
completed, without losing another week, as rn4y
secure the return of a large, independent, a9d
upright majority in the reformed House of Conli-
n-ions, thus rendering the subsequent creation of a
Tory Cabinet, if not wholly impracticable, inct-
pable at least of any serious mischief to the Stat .
We repeat our solicitations, and with deepest eaF-
nestness, to our brethren, the electors of Greet
Britain and Ireland, entreating them to orga-
nize, and not to rest until the work be accoi I-
plished, election committees in every quarter, f r
il
the effectual return to the approaching Parli -
merit of candidates in the interest of the peon.
Read the letter of " A Reformer" in this days
Times. His spirit is right, and his views
are sagacious. Let men be sought for, should
some be not inclined to come forth, men who
will vote through fire and water for a redress cif
all practical grievances—men, who will take up,
not for pay, but use, the corn laws, game laws
tithes, perversioks of the poor laws, abolition
sinecures, abolition of corrupt pensions, over
throw of monopolies, banking,and commercial'
abuses of the civil list, defects in the adminis-
tration of justice, the law of libel, the militar
law, according to which, as at present constitute( ,
soldiers by profession have, in some cases, n 6
alternative but to be cashiered or hanged, an 4
the people none but to be quietly enslaved of
sabred ;—to these, with sundry other important
topics, the attention of candidates ought to be in'
vited, and on these their sentiments ascertained
Let then immediate, active, and well-regulated
preparations be made for a trial of the new elective,
franchise. Liberal men, of good education, and of
pecuniary means which place them above net
necessity or undue influence, will make upon,
whole the most useful Members of Parliament.
They can yield their labour without injustice to
their families, and can afford to treat seductive
overtures with contempt. But so likewise the'
Committees must be formed of gdod men and!
true. Extensive correspondences ought to be
set on foot between cities, counties, boroughs, all;
over the kingdom ; and wherever, as in Ireland.
for instance, a scanty constituency may be left
under the Bill, we would recommend that a
watchful eye be kept over the progress and re
sults of a canvass in such places, since Tory.
guineas may not be altogether fruitless where
electors are but few. But, above all things, the
nation must be on its guard against the trick of
changing the Ministry before the dissolution of
Parliament,—a Court manoeuvre, which would
throw the management of the dissolution—of
the election—and of the new House of Com-
mons on its assembling—into the hands of a
well-practised Conservative junta. 1 his must
never be. Rouse, then—rouse ye, countrymen.
The question is—Will you have the name only,
or the thing?' ..Will you have Reform a living
principle, pervading—moving—cheering—invi-

gorating the nation ? or, shall it be a dead letter,
to our mortification, disgrace, and ruin?—

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.

" us not, like the French, after gaining their
popular rights, retrograde, or even stand still, which would
he as bad. Everything yet depends upon the firmness of
the press and people. We must march, and without delay,
or the 11.• form Act will speedily become a dead letter.
Now hear me, for I speak from a knowledge of the facts.
" The Tories are scotched, but not killed. They will
revive, if yon be not vigilant and expose their plans.
" When all the hills are become Acts of Parliament, they
think they will have a chance, either by Lord Grey's re-
tirement, which is probal le, or by a hostile vote in the
Peers, (nay, even in the Commons, on any other subject

than that of Reform, there is reason to fear), to get once
more into power; and then the Reform Act is to be con-
strued and acted upon, as far as they dare do so, monarchi-
cally, that is aristocratically ; and by these means they ex-
pect that all advantage which the people: hope at present
may flow from it, will be, where it can be checked or en-
tirely crushed.
" Nut calculating how little they are likely in the end
to gain, and how much more than the present Bill they
are thereby likely to lose, they hope to throw out the
Whigs before the dissolution of Parliament takes place,
that the,edvantage of assembling the new House of Com-
mons, if any, may be theirs, not the Whigs, and they are
to take every benefit of such occurrence. The King is
said now to favour such views, and already are the landed
and monied aristocracy at work., manoeuvring, by buying
and bribery, amongst the weaker boroughs and castrated
counties. The Bill irs some measure may he worked aris-
tocratically, and perhaps the Whigs themselves, though
doers of the deed, may not wish the contrary- The no-
tion, therefore, ought to be on its guard. Nothing is done
till all is accomplished. I will name one wealthy clique,
all of whom I know to be at work. Alexander Baring,
and the rich Government contractor, Mellish (the butcher),
who are both doubly connected by marriage with the Bath
family, will lend any pecuniary aid for this purpose; and
the other aristocratic connexions of this clique are to lend
their influence. The Buccleuchs, Harewoods, Tbynnes,
Carterets, and others are to buy and bribe as far as they
safely can. There are also others which we have not time
to name.

" In your leaders you best know how to h indle such a
topic. Tie different bodies of the new constituency should
be put up to it, as also the nation in general. The people
ought to be politically - if they now betray themselves.
There is now no standing still ; if things are not made to
advance, and at the present crisis, they will inevit 'lily re-
trograde, so soon as the present feeling and spirit shall have
evaporated. •
" The present /louse of Commons, though pledged,
are but cold and reluctant Reformers at heart, and would
willingly cripple the marching of the present measure, if
they dared. Of the Peers it is needless to speak.

" Dwell upon these points :
" When the n.w Parlilt-net-it is summoned, let the elec.

tors at the hustings do what they lately did in the case of
the Reform Bill—pledge the favourite popular candidate
to certain grand and leading measures of that policy ;
such, for instance, as the Corn Laws, Poor Laws, Tithes,
abolition of sinecures, pension list, and useless places, ame-
lioration of the law of libel, cheap Government, &e. and,
;lmve all others, let them bear in mind that we yet have
the Septennial Act, which will allow at all times a term

long enough to engender corruption in needy men who
may be elected as Members. Let, therefore, the electors
distinctly require a pledge of the popular candidate, that if
at any time his public conduct shall so far have displeased
his constituents as that he is required by a full meeting of
them to vacate his seat, so as to allow them an opportu-
nity to express their sentiments of his conduct, that be will
resign, end so submit himself to a re-election. This will
counteract the evils which may arise from the Septennial
law. " A REFORMER.

" June 10."—Times.
Having received, and still receiving innu
merable applications on the subject of the pro
posed illumination, we are really constrained to
offer a day for the approval of our countrymen
throughout the kingdom. The 15th of June is
certainly the day on which Magna Charta was
signed, and that may be too early for the pass-
ing of the Scotch and Irish Reform Bills. But
let it be recollected that a change in the style
took place in the middle of last century. Insert
eleven complete days therefore, and the 27th
will be old Magna Charta day. On the evening
of that day we recommend that the illuminations
should take place throughout the United King-
dom, for the new Magna Charta—the Reform
Bill,—a day we trust to be for ever remembered.
If the Ministers have resolved to make no
alteration in the Reform Bill for Ireland, they
will have a most difficult struggle to encounter,
in the way of argument at least, with the repre-
sentatives of that country, who are almost to a
man dissatisfied with the extent of the present
measure. The difficulty of Ministers arises
chiefly from this circumstance, that, in the pro-
visions of the English Bill, they have created a
standard by which the Irish will insist that their
Bill shall be tried, if not with a view to demand
perfect equality, at all events to ascertain, by
comparison, how far that principle has been
violated in their case—whether something like
an approximation cannot be effected before the
measure has become law, and whether Parliament
ought not to do what the Cabinet has left un-
done. Nothing can be more easy than the
simple process of comparison, by which an argu-
ment of this nature is to be maintained. In fact,
it will require great dexterity on the part of those
who have created both the rule and the excep-
tion to keep themselves clear of that inconsis-
tency which is one of the most disqualifying
charges that can be brought against public men,
and which will most assuredly be brought in the
present case upon no weak authority, and by no
inconsiderable advocates. Nor is inconsistency
the only charge Minsters have to encounter.
The assistance which they received in their un-
paralleled conflict with the boroughmongers, not
only from the representatives, but from the great
mass of the people of Ireland, gives that country
a claim upon their gratitude as well as their
justice. We do not pretend to determine how
far the Bill, in its present form, can be considered
a violation of either of those claims. That it
is so considered in --Ireland the representatives
and the public Presi concur in stating ; and it
will be for those who support the Bill in its
present form to disprove it, if they can. One
consideration we would suggest to Mr. Stanley.
He is anxious that the measure should be final.
Let him consider whether the discrepancy be-
tween the English and Irish Bills be not too
great to afford a rational hope that the latter can
be a final settlement ;—let him consider whether
the avowed hostility of the Irish, through their
Nembers—through the Press—through their
public meetings—be not a plain and veritable
intimation as to the impossibility of making that
a final settlement to which discontent itself is
one of the parties. If it was chiefly in anticpa-
tion of the performance of such an arrangement
that Mr. Stanley gave his support to Parliamen-
tary Reform, it well behoves him to consider
whether the permanency he has in view does not
require some concession to popular opinion as
necessary to the support of his own argument.
The additional Members required by Ireland,
which is the chief point of contention, have been
refused, for this reason, that the House of Com-
mons is already too numerous. We are
strongly inclined to the same opinion ourselves.
But the addition of ten or twenty Members
would not be such an increase of the evil as to
counterbalance the objection of partiality, at a
time when the union between the two countries
is threatened with dissolution. If the House
of Commons be too numerous already, the fact
should have been considered not in reference to
one, but to all the three Bills. The rule of
proportion derived from that fact should have
been applied, not to one, but to all ; because