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

wherever a distinction is drawn which cannot
otherwise be accounted for, partially must sat-
tach, and partiality is an attribute irreconcilable
with the character of good Government. The
debate on this important question, however,
will soon take place. We sincerely hope that
it will be conducted in a spirit of candour and
moderation upon both sides, and that no party
or factious motives will be permitted to mingle
in a cause too important to be decided upon
any other than the most enlarged views of policy
and conciliation.—Morning Herald.
That excellent Member, Sir John Newport,
has just furnished a valuable contingent to the
History of Corruption, in a short pamphlet
under the title of " The State of the Borough
Representation of Ireland in 1783 and 1800;
dedicated to Earl Grey, in testimony of the sin-
cere admiration and respect which the writer en-
tertains for his patriotic, enlightened, and per-
severing exertions, by which the triumph of
Parliamentary Reform has been effected." We
trust that Sir John, notwithstanding the an-
nouncement with which he commences the
pamphlet—" On the eve of terminating my poli-
tical life, I offer to public inspection a document
connected with its commencement in 1783"
will continune to enjoy several years health and
strength to enable him to extend his patriotic
career. There are few men who can look back
on a public life of half a century with so little
to dread from the monitor within the breast.
Sir John, who, in 1783, was a Niember of the
Convention of Delegates, assembled in Dublin
under Lord Charlemont, and one of the very few
surviving Members of the Committee of that
body entrusted with the charge of investigating
the state of the Borough Representation of that
kingdom, with a view to Parliamentary Reform,
gives in this pamphlet the minutes of that ex-
amination. He has added the names of the
boroughs extinguished in 1800, and of the
Peers and Commoners paid for their miscalled
rested rights, on returning the Members for
borough in question. The value of a command
through Parliament of the money of the people
had risen immensely between the period of the
Union of Scotland and that of Ireland. The
Parliament of Scotland sold their country for
20,0001., and some Nobles did not receive more
than 111. for their share. At the Irish Union
the price of a single borough was 15,0001. ; and
this sum was paid to the holders of no fewer
than 82, of whom 55 were Peers. But that
which we deem most precious in this well-timed
communication of Sir John, is a transcript from
a Parliamentary document,lwhich throws a valu-
able light on the advantages which Christianity
derives from the Union of Church and State,
and tends moreover to explain the partiality of
Bishops for boroughmongering. Among the
claimants for compensation was the Bishop of
Ossory, for the borough of the Irish town of
Kilkenny, and the grounds of his claim were the
following :
" That, by immemorial custom, part of the oath of
office, taken by the Portreve, is to be true to the interest
of the Bishop of Ossory.
" That, for a long series of years, all elections of Mem-
bers of Parliament have been held in the Bishop's Palace-
yard, and the other corporate meeting in his hall.
" That the Burgesses are always elected on the recom-
mendation of the Bish' p of Ossory.
" That neither property, residence, or service in tho
borough is required of any freeman; and that hardly one
inhabitant of the borough is at present a freeman.
" That the influence of the Bishop has always been so
powerful, that the Members of Parliament and burgesses
have been unifot mly elected on his recommendation, with-
out one instance to the contrary.
That the circumstance, above mentioned have given
the Bishops of Ossory so much additional consequence,
and obtained for them so much attention from Govern-
ment, that the Bishops of that See (with the exception of
only two Bishops who died soon after their appointment,)
for above a century past, have been all translated to much
more eligible bishoprics.
" That by the Union your memorialist is deprived: of
that influence and consequence which his predecessors al-
ways enjoyed, and from which they derived great ad-
vantage ; and, therefore, considers himse'f entitled to claim
any allowance which may be awarded for said borough
ceasing to send Members to Parliament."
The Bishop of Ossory does not scruple to
admit that the uses to which he and his prede-
cessors in the See put the votes for the Irish
town of Kilkenny was to obtain for them a much
more eligible, i. e., a richer bishopric, Ossory
having been only then worth the small sum of
5,0001. a year. This is a practical comment on
virtual representation. But do not let us be so
uncharitable towards the then Bishop of Ossory
as to suppose that, though his admission is sin-
gular, there is anything singular in his case.
Was there no connexion between the transla-
tions of the Bishops of the name of Manners
and the boroughs of the Duke of Rutland ? In
former days, the Barons and Baron-bishops
robbed on the highway. One of the Archbi-
shops of Cologne, having built a castle near the
Rhine, and being asked his object, as he had no
lands there, answered, it was conveniently situ-
ated for four roads; and he turned the situation
to good account, having been a most successful
robber. The Baron or Bishop, who for per-
sonal considerations votes away the money of the
people, is as much a robber as the Archbishop
of Cologne ; and the latter had as good a right
to compensation for the privilege of plundering
on the highway, as the Bishop of Ossory for
the privilege of selling his votes for translation.
The celebrated Father Paul, to whom the world
is indebted for the History of the Council of
Trent, wrote also the history of a very singular
Christian nation,called the " Uscochi," dwelling
towards the head of the Adriatic. This people
were one and all robbers and pirates, and Father
Paul tells us that " the very clergy themselves, in
their public preachings, exhort to robbery, because
the churches receive the tithe of the booty ; and
in Segna, and in all that region, the families
held in highest honour are those who, from the
remotest periods, are sprung by a continuous de-
scent from persons who have been hanged for
robbery or killed in the act of committing it."
These Ustechi were not, it would seem, so suc-
cessful in persuading their neighbours to submit
patiently to pillage, as the Bishop of Ossory and
the Barons and Baron Bishops of England and
Ireland were. Even that sacred part of the
spoil—the Tithes—which fell to the share of
the holy men who ministered at the altar, proved
no immunity from the gallows. Such is the dif-
ference between a barbarous age and an age of
civilisation. Those who take their religion
merely from the Bible, are no doubt often sorely
perplexed to understand how the journals which
are more especially the organs of the Church,
should be so hostile to Parliamentary Reform.
To such persons the claim of the Bishop of Os-
sory may not be without its use. It will let
them see, that though Christ warned his follow-
ers to eschew riches, the Bench of Bishops are
by means of the opinion of him whom they pro-
fess to follow, but prefer a rich to a poor See.—
The Acts of the Apostles
.and the acts of the
descendants of the Apostles so far differ. We
must not look in the Bible for an explanation
of the partiality of the Bishops for borough-
mongering ; but we may find in borough-
mongering the cause of the partiality of