The Sun.
London, England, 1835-09-29 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1835.

terminate in December ; after which the examina-
tion of FIESCHI will commence by the Peers. PEPIN,
his supposed associate, who is now in custody, baffles
all the subtlety of the Minister of the Interior. He
admits having given money to rtEscil t, but affirms
that he gave it, as he often did hernre, fa a- charitable
purpose. He
by thejustice, by protesting that he only ()ulcers of
14°;4,,i;i his flight upon being pursued
his tt-ile resentment of
lis-
tened to the intrcaties of his wife, who dreaded that
life would be sacrificed to gmbry
the King:
AtteArg DE RIGNY has arrived at TOIIOII from
Naples, having failed in negociating a match between
the Royal Families of Naples and France.

The Conservative cause appears to be at tts low an
ebb in Worcestershire, as it is in 0016- parts 4 the
country. Our authority for thi M'iiistilitt Is Mr.
PAKINGTON, one of die l'O4l.llgl.lories of the county,
Who, at a meeting yet the West Worcestershire Con-
servative Association, bold on Wednesday last, at
Worcester, thus e:;.presses himself He feared this
Associatiq; Was not, in some quarters, supported as it
01.1gnt to be. It was useless to conceal facts; there
was nothing like meeting them face to face. There
were persons of high standing in the country, of great
respectability, and of great stake in it, who were of Con-
servative principles, who kept aloof from these Associa-
tions from objection, on principle, to all political societies.
He hoped these persons, whom he much respected,
and whose motives he honoured, would consider the

danger with which every thing they valued, was
threatened ; that they would view the activity with
which every thing they could hold sacred) was as-
sailed ; and that they would not keep aloof too long
from joining societies, which like the present one, were
so eminently calculated to protect their best institu-
tions." The assertions in one part of this querulous
passage are flatly contradicted by the facts in the other ;
for it is ridiculous to suppose that the institutions
of the country can be in any, even the slightest,
" danger," when- the very men who have the greatest
interest in the maintenance of those institutions, by
reason of their " high standing, their respectability,
and their great stake" in the country, " keep aloof
from Conservative Associations." Were they really
apprehensive of peril to the community, they would of
course be foremost, as they have ever been, in it's de-
fence ; but the fact of their indifference is a convincing
proof that they see matters in a proper light, and are
persuaded that so far from the public tranquillity being at
all endangered, it is fixed on a more secure basis than ever.
We have neverbeen any very extravagant admirers of the
Conservatives; but we cannot in justice deny that their
present quiescence—which Mr. PAKINGTON so much
regrets—is a proof of discretion and sagacity, which
is deserving of the highest praise. Pray Heaven it
may continue, and that in the course of a few months
we may have to record the decease of the last Conser-
vative Association. Already these Societies have done a
world of mischief, by rekindling the half-extinguished
embers of intolerance, and thereby keeping the country
in a state of incessant agitation. " When bad men con-
spire, good men must combine," and it was solely
owing to the Conservative conspiracy against Reform,
that the Reformers were induced to enrol themselves in
confederacies. It was the former who led the way,
and the 'latter, in self-defence, were compelled to fol-
low. As the Conservatives, however, are now begin-
ning to see the error of their ways, there is
some hope of the country being permitted
to remain in a state of repose, at least until the next
Session. From the lamentations of Mr. FAKING..
TON, the absence of the two Members for Worces-
tershire from the city dinner—one of whom sent a
good fat buck as his substitute, greatly no doubt to
the delight of the company, who would naturally de-
rive more pleasure from a fine haunch than a silly
speech—and the utter silence of the Quarterly Re-
view on all political topics, we infer that the Conser-
vatives have at length come to the conclusion, that
their cause is desperate ; and that therefore it is useless
.to attempt any longer to struggle against destiny.

Of the many sources of discontent and outrage
which exist in Ireland, none, we believe, has been more
fruitful of mischief than the administration—or to speak
more correctly, the mal-administration—of justice. It
has been the policy of the faction to which Ireland owes
all her degradation and all her misery to fill the judg-
ment seat with men, whose chief recommendation for
their high office was a slavish subjection to party
feelings and party objects. Blind subserviency and
furious zeal were the sure passports to judicial
honours, while learning and talent, if not combined
with these indispensable qualifications, were left to
shift for themselves. The consequence has been that
the people of Ireland have lost all confidence in the
laws. They know, because they have been made to
feel, that the law is perverted—that the forms of jus-
tice are little better than a solemn mockery ; and the
natural result of this feeling has been a determination
to take the, law into their own hands. Hence
the atrocities of which we so frequently hear, and that
contemptuous defiance of legal authority, which has
become so general and so habitual, that it may almost
be considered as a characteristic of the Irish.

This state of things we would fain hope is now passing
away. Its continuance, indeed, under a liberal and en-
lightened Administration is quite impossible. We there-
fore rely with perfect confidence on the discretion of the
Government in the appointment of a fit and proper person
to fill the important office of Assistant Barrister or
County Judge, now vacant. It will be seen by the able
letter of our Dublin Correspondent, that this sub-
ject has excited an intense interest in Ireland.

-We resume our extracts from Mr. BIGGS'S excellent
pamphlet on the reform of the House of Lords. After
bestowing a just measure of censure on that arch-
apostate Lord LYNDIIURST, and his noble coadju-
tors the Dukes of WELLINGTON and NEWCASTLE,
for the part they took in mutilating the Corporation
Reform Bill, the author very truly remarks that it is
the system which is principally to blame, and that it is
against the system that our efforts ought to be di-
rected. We quite agree with him in thinking that
our hereditary legislators were as perverse fifty years
ago as they are now, and that they will not be one
whit better fifty years hence, unless either the system
or human nature undergo a change :
" It is to the fact that the House of Lords is an heredi-
tary, irresponsible body, beyond the reach and influence of
public opinion, and moreover from a majority of its mem-
bers being interested in the continuance of abuses, that we
are indebted fel- this formidable and fatal opposition.
" It is therefore of no use complaining of individual bad
men, the object of the people must be directed at once to
the reform of the constitution of a House, which has shewn
that in its present shape it is utterly incompatible with the
progress of improvement or the existence of public liberty.
" By a reform of the House of Lords, I mean that it
should be changed from an hereditary to an elective House,
over which the people can exercise a proper and salutary
control. Without this reform we shall be perpetually ex-
posed to these sorts of interruption, and no measure of a
satisfactory or liberal character will be carried through the
legislature without the most vexatious and continued op-
position, and on the part of the people the most irksome
and wearisome excitement. It is of ,no use removing the
twigs and branches from the tree of corruption : we must
lay the axe at once to the root, and petition the Commons,
and instruct our future representatives to insist upon the
abolition of the hereditary legislature.
The House of Lords, and their dependents and family
connexions, have for a long series of years profited by
every corruption in the state, whether in the old Parlia-
mentary boi•Qughs (lately destroyed by the Reform Bill),
in the Irish Church, in the English Church, or in

the Corporations. generally. They are the steady ene-
mies of Reform in our institutions, they are the sup-
porters of the Corn Laws, and the opponents of free
trade. They misgoverned America till they drove her to
revolt, and then waged a long war to resist her inde-
pendence ; they joined in the crusade against the liber-
ties of France, and accumulated a load of debt that has

anticipated the resources of unbern generations ; they
supported Pitt; Sidmouth; gild tastierea„.l the Six Acts,
and the repeated nspensions of the. Habeas Corpus Act ;
they •••••
~jected again and again
Catholics of Ireland) P(.1., ..-vw are too eigoten Plipporwi.
of a Church in a country mbere them glig, gOart6lS, any
ProttAlitS,
the emancipation of the
and employ soldiers to ieVY tithd6freiti a Ca-
tholic population on the verge cI starvation. They op-
posed the Reform in the House Of Corriniting for more
than half, a centiirb and eVdit *at to i7fai state off
the viykettion altogether ; they; subsequently; (when it Was
brought for Ward by the goVerntnent; and passed by re-
peated thajeriiiei of the dr ddriirlidn§) drove the
country id the Verge of revolution, before they would be
induced to pass it ; they have, within the last few days,
thrown out a Bill for the application of the surplus reve-
nues of the Irish Church to educational purposes, and
have consummated their legislation by the rejection, or
what is tantamount to it, the extensive mutilation of the
Corporate Reform Bill.
" Such being their course, and such being their policy,
there is nothing to hope from a body so constituted : in
its present shape it is evidently impervious to opinion, and
incapable of improvement as was said of the Bourbons,
the Lords " have learned nothing, they have forgotten
nothing." Our energies must not therefore be wasted in
declaiming against their decisions, because they do not pass
our Bills for the reform of abuses ; they are not likely to
pass our Bills : they batten on abuses, and profit by the
plunder of the people.
" The circumstance of a body of men holding heredi-
tary power, of the exercise of which they render no account
to anybody, is an anomaly in an enlightened age. ItS ori-
gin was in a barbarous state of society, for which alone it
was fitted ; it is continued by family injustice, and is at
war with nature, with reason, and with man.
" While the Lords are a deliberative body, and an inde-
pendent branch of the legislature, they are not likely to
be dictated to as tti what they are to do with this or that
bill ; they are of course sure to dispose of them as they
choose, and the idea of coercion from without, except such
coercion is absolutely overwhelming, will answer no other
end than stimulating them to resistance and defiance.
" This being the case, and the fault being in the system,
and not in the men, our attention must be of course di-
rected to altering the system. When the Peers are once
accountable to the people, as they ought to be, they will

act differently and not before.
" We have done at Leicester all that we could do, under
the circumstances of the case, in the way of expressing our
opinion ; we have twice petitioned the House of Lords,
and twice the House of Commons, and have, moreover,
sent up deputies to London to watch the progress of the
Bill through the Legislature, and though the Bill is now
jeopardized, and the ultimate fate of it uncertain, it is at
least some satisfaction that we have made every exertion
in endeavouring to influence its becoming law.
" It is evidently of no use continuing to petition the
House of Lords : every one has, for the future, I presume,
renounced the idea of it : there is 4 slavishness about pe-
titioning men who treat us with contempt, which is un-
worthy any spirited or independent mind ; so far as that
mode of approaching them is concerned, we may therefore
consider that we have adopted it for the last time—we must
try to reach them by more efficient means.
Mr. BIGGS then proceeds to point out the only
means which in his opinion can be effectual in bring-
ing about an alteration of the present system
" The only really effective way, then, in which we can
influence the Legislature, is by the return of Members to
the House of Commons, and to this let us now seriously
direct our thoughts. The election of Members of Parlia-
ment is one of the highest duties we are called upon to
exercise ; if the complexion of the Parliament is Whig or
Tory, it depends of course for that complexion upon the
choice of the people.
" Every elector, whether Freeman or 101. Occupier,
whether Freeholder or Scot-and-Lot Voter, is in fact a
member of the Government, and is able to influence, one
way or other, by the intelligent and conscientious exercise
of his franchise, the destinies of this country and of the
world.
" This is a proud distinction for an elector, if he under-
stands his position—to be a member of the Government of
the first country of the world, which can influence by 'its
high-standing the fate of nations, and advance or retard
by its policy the liberties and happiness of a large portion of
the human race.
" Unfortunately a great many electors do not understand
their position, do not appreciate the value of their great
trust, but sell for .a paltry bribe a privilege that is more
valuable than a dukedom.
" The selling a vote, or the submission to a bribe, on the
part of an elector, arises either from ignorance or want of
principle. To the very uneducated or ignorant man there
is not much to say ; it is always a matter of regret that
political power is in the hands of men who know not how
to exercise it ; giving, or allowing them to retain, the
franchise, is like putting a sword into the hands of a mad-
man or a fool. To the man who in politics is like a Swiss
and sells himself to the best bidder, there is no censure that
can be too severe ; the unfortunate girl upon the town
who prostitutes her person for money, is not half so morally
bad, so extensively mischievous, as the man who knows
the nature and value of a vote, and by selling it becomes
a party to the ruin of his country.
" There is no corrective in either of these cases so effec-
tive as knowledge ; in order, therefore, to diffuse knowledge,
we must petition the House of Commons to take the tax
off newspapers ; in the meantime the duties of the editors
of newspapers, if they properly appreciate them, are of a
very high order.
" Next to the teachers of morality, there are no men who
exercise so extensive an influence on the public mind as
editors of newspapers,—thousands take the complexion of
their politics solely from the paper or papers which they read.
" As government is founded on opinion, and as editors of
newspapers have an immediate influence upon opinion, it of
course becomes evident that they are very potent either for
good or for evil ; the spirited and consistent advocacy,
therefore, of what they conceive to be right, becomes with
them, if they reason rightly, or properly appreciate it, a high
moral obligation. There always appear to me to be less of
the tradesman, and more of the moral teacher about the
business of an editor, than in that of any other profession
short of that of the minister of religion.
Having taken these preparatory steps as to petitioning
for the repeal of the taxes on knowledge, and diffusing
in the meantime what political information we can, our next
point is—to attend to the registration.
The observations which follow, though originally
intended for the electors of Leicester, may be very
useful to the electors of many other places, and some
of them are well worthy the attention of the electoral
bo.dy at large:—
" The elections in future will be decided by the registra-
tion ; for this purpose you must always have a Committee to
attend to it.
" Now the registration is mainly completed, it becomes a
duty,to look forward, and consider what course or courses
are to be adopted in reference to the election of Members
of Parliament. In reference to this matter your Committee
have positive rules and injunctions to follow, which will se-
cure your presence and co-operation whenever that comes
more particularly under consideration ; in the meantime I
only give you my opinion as to what must be done on the
occasion.
" In the first place, when we meet, my decided opinion is,
that we ought distinctly to resolve that we will attempt the
return of two Members; the result of the registration is
such as to warrant this resolve, and under these circum-
stances any other course would be a desertion of our duty,
and a sacrifice of the best interests of the public. Let the
trial, come when it will, come 1 I think there is no fear of
failure ; but even if the issue were uncertain, we had better
nobly contest it, and abide the result, than by compromis-
ing or not contesting it, be parties to the prostitution of our
town and the degradation of our country. Let the election
come when it may, we must be found at our posts, and if
bad advisers or, reckless men, dissolve Parliament again and
again, in order to wear out the popular energy, they will
find that we shall return to the encounter with the fresh-
ness of youth, and contest it with the determination of he-
roes and the resolution of conquerors. Wallace upon the
hills of Scotland—Tell among the mountains of Switzer-
land—Hofer in the passes of the Tvol—or Washington
upon the plains of New Jersey or Virginia, had not a holier
cause than the one which is now in the care and keeping of
the English Electors ; may they guard it as the Jews did the
ark of the covenant, and may they triumph over their ene-
mies as that people did over the hosts of the Egyptian and
the Assyrian
To return. In the second place, after having deter-
mined that we will return two Members, the next consi-
deration is, the complexion of the men to be sent ; and here
there are two things especially to be considered, first we
must send men of ability and integrity ; and secondly, men
of decided principles.
6, As to their wealth, that of course does not amount to
much ; it does not follow that a man is wise because he is
rich, any more than that he is ignorant because he is poor.
Their qualification therefore on the score of wealth may be
dispensed with : but not so as it regards their principles ;
these must decided. Moderate politics in these times will
not do ; personal attachments, old recollections, &c., Sze..
must, if they interfere at all with the best interests of the
people, be snapped asunder, or thrown into the shade, com-