The Sun.
London, England, 1835-08-27 00:00:00

Urown:' Its *ant of Custcm;house regulations con-
Verted its ports into asylums for desperate smugglers,
through
Whose agency a contraband trade *as Carried
bit throughout Europe ; while its position between two
Etbsnitite 111onarchieS, and the ignorance of its inha-
hitinitss led the pdpUlace id Cdniiiiind freedom
with the unquestioned liberty of the brigand, and
change with the substitution ' absolute of despotism
for self-government. The error of which the Queen
of SPA IN and her Ministers have been guilty is not
in revoking thefueros of the Basques, but in revoking
them all at once, and before the proper steps were
taken to make the people comprehend the value of the
privileges about to be conferred on them, in requital for
those of which the freedom of the nation demanded
the abolition. The act in itself was proper, but it was
performed so rashly, and with so little regard to per-
sonal feeling, that we are not surprised at the conse-
quences by which it was so unhappily followed.
It will be seen by a reference to the debate, that all
parties agreed in deprecating the conduct of Don
CARLOS, with regard to his well known proclamation.
For a precedent, for a decree so sanguinary, their
Lordships were compelled to refer to a similar procla•
illation published by the French convention during the
Reign of Terror.

The House of Lords may be said to have virtually
passed the Great Western Railway Bill. This mea-
sure has been somewhat' more than nine weeks before
Q Committee of their Lordships during which time it
underwent the strictest scrutiny. All that now remains is
the formality of reading the Bill a third time with his
Majesty's gracious assent to its becoming the law of the
land, W 6. congratulate the proprietors on their
ultimate success, and we trust that the heavy ex-
penses to which they have been put by the un-
fair opposition of the Southampton Railway Company
will impress them with a conviction of the injustice,
as well as the injury to the public, of following such an
example, in the -event of other companies attempting to
establish more convenient lines of general locomotion.
We from the first supported the Great Western Railway
Company, because we approved of the principle upon
Which it proposed to facilitate the means of public con-
veyance ; and every other Company having the same
object in view shall have all the assistance which we
can render to it.

The Irish Constabulary Bill, a measure calculated
to be of the greatest benefit to Ireland, especially that
clause of it which proposes to transfer the appointment
of constables from the Magistrates to the Crown, was
lost last night in the House of Lords by a majority of
twelve. In vain Lord GLENELG offered to concede
some of the most objectionable points ; Mr. O'CoN-
NELL had voted in favour of the Bill, and that one
Circumstance was quite enough to induce the Tory
Peers to reject it with contempt. Had the Hon. and
Learned Gentleman been opposed to it, they would of
Course have passed it with the greatest alacrity ; but
sooner than he should have any share in the tranquil-
lization of Ireland, their past and present conduct
Plainly denotes that they would reduce the whole
empire to a state of unmitigated anarchy. It is im-
Possible that men actuated by such petty, personal feel-
ings, can ever carry on the business of legislation pro-
perly, for there is nothing that so warps the judgment
as spleen ; and so thought Lord DUNCANNON, when
he observed, that " if the Noble Lords opposite were
determined to resist every thing for which Mr. O'CoN-
SELL might happen to have voted, it would be idle
for Ministers to attempt to legislate upon any subject
connected with Ireland." Really it is full time that
this factious, vindictive course of conduct should be
Put Et stop to. The country must not be deprived of
all salutary measures of Reform, merely because the
House of Lords entertain a strong personal dislike
t? Mr.-O'CONNELL. They must be taught the pro-
Priety of looking to measures rather than to men ; but
this desirable conviction can only be impressed on
their
minds by a thorough reform of the institution.
In their present temper they are inaccessible to reason,
and will run all risks .rather than abate one jot of their
Prejudices. They even seem desirous of provoking a
collision with the other branch of the Legislature, just
as if they, and not the Commons, were the influential
body in the State I A few days, we trust, will suffice
to bring this haughty nature to its proper level ; and
satisfy even the most sceptical of their Lordships,
that, as a branch of the Constitution, they have no
°ther moral influence than what they derive from act-
ing in accordance with the interests of the people. As
for their independence, of which they are constantly
Illaking such a parade, it exists only in idea. " Fling
but a stone, the giant dies." Test it by a collision with
the Rouse of Commons, and it melts into thin air.
Ile people are well aware of this ; hence the decided
4ttitude that they have of late assumed—an attitude,
by the bye, which is daily assuming a more deter-
trilled and formidable character, as the factious spirit
Which influences their Lordships' decisions, more and
More developer itself. The language of complaint is
no longer in favour with the community. It is ex-
enanged
for the more emphatic language of indigna-
tion. The country has" ceased to lament the obduracy
of the Rouse of Lords ; it has begun to question
the utility of such an institution. It no longer goes a
circuitous way to work, but comes direct to the point.
It does not ask, why do the Lords do this, or why do
the Lords do that, but why does hereditary legislation
exist at all ? Do our readers ask far proofs of the i
prevalence of this inquisitive. spirit ? We refer them,
among other equally significant ones, to the resolutions
passed at a late public Meeting at Salford, which was
attended, not by the mere rabble—as their Lordships
would fondly believe—but by the most respectable
,merchants and tradesmen of the district, men who
'lave an interest in the preservation of the public trail-
; but who at the same time will not allow them-
s
elves to be duped by the artifices of a faction, which
Oerives its wisdom, as it derives its titles, wholly by he-
reditary descent. At this great meeting, the following
was among the resolutions proposed and passed, amid
general acclamations :—" That the time has at
en
tcy of
feNth arrived when it becomes the duty of every l
his country to petition the Commons of Great
utility
and Ireland, to institute an inquiry into the
utility
or otherwise of the hereditary principle of le.-
rtilatien) with a view to the defining of the Consti-
t4on, and fixing it on some 'common sense principle."
heir Lordships may—as no doubt they will—laugh
tel , the idea of an inquiry like this ; but they may
is Y en it, that the feeling which suggested
not confined to Salford, but is generally
Prevalent throughout the community. There is, in-
deed,,e
rt
_ no longer the reverence that there once was,f
hereditary legislators. People have learned to
r
°A on them as among the luxuries, rather than the
neee,st,aries, of the Constitution, and are strongly dis-
POsedt to ascertain the fact whether they can-
~t tlo away with them altogether. Not that
ara averse to the institution of a second
Chamber, but that they are desirous of having one
that shall harmonize with the other branches of the
Igislature, and not merely act as a clog on their
l'nvements.
Did Nye require still fln-ther proofs of this spirit
or
the part of the people, we should find them
of
,t,T declaration of the enlightened Reformers
it '"ewei.stle, who have at length discovered that
Is a izeie farce to address the House of Lords ;