The Sun.
London, England, 1832-04-30 00:00:00

'likely to be realized—and in the full determina-
tiorrrather to see their goods and possessions
scattered by the winds of heaven, than to give
up one iota or one tittle of the boon held out to
them ! Was not this, we say, a noble and an
animating sight—a picture of moral grandeur of
which the like has not been exhibited since the
days of the solemn league and covenant ? And
yet the Duke of 'Wellington and the Anti-Reform
organs have, with the aid of some lying and
corrupt Scotchmen, fortunately few in number,
dared to declare that there was a reaction in the
country, and especially that in the north th e
people were indifferent to Reform ! The idiots !
Could they not have foreseen that the busy lie
would be returned upon them, and that such a
noble band of freemen as that which composed
the Edinburgh meeting, would not allow them-
selves to be calumniated for nought ? Reaction!
Indifference ! Where is the reaction ? Where
is the indifference ? Where is the hostility to
the Bill, except in the House of Lords, and
among the dependents of the Anti-Reform
Peers, and the State paupers ? Above all, why
did not the Tory vermin shew itself at the Edin-
burgh Reform meeting, if it he really so nume-
rous as is affirmed ? We pause for an answer ;
and defer the remainder of our observations for
another day.—Morning Advertiser.
The total absence of all pretensions to political
science in the Ministerial Reform Bill is not more
remarkable than the extreme paucity of candid
and consistent argument in the speeches and
writings of its supporters. All the principal men
of the Whig party, Brougham, Grey, Russell,
and the rest, have at some period or other of their
lives expressed the most decided abhorrence of
the democratic principles and tendency of the
Bill. When taunted with the obvious mischievous-
ness of the thousand-and-one schemes of Radical
Reform in vogue at different times, of which the
present project is one of the worst, their language
uniformly was, that they did not support Par-
liamentary Reform as a party, that the close
boroughs formed a most important part of the
representative system, and that they would touch
Old Sarum as carefully as the Crown itself. In
the Edinburgh Review and Lord John's book
these sentiments are maintained with equal zeal
and eloquence ; and Earl Grey stands pledged
as strongly as honour can bind any man to stand
by his order, that is, to oppose every change
which would tend to give predominance to the
democracy in the balance of the Constitution.
" Is thy servant a dog that he should do this
thing Yet what has the Noble Earl been
doing since he has been in office, or at least since
the exigency of his party seemed to require an al-
liance with radicalism? It is very well known that
theSe men have not in any respect changed their
opinions; many of the party acknowledge in private
at this moment that the principles of the Bill are
dangerous, unconstitutional, and absurd ; and Lord
John himself, in a lucid interval of candour,
plainly intimated to the House of Commons that
the beneficial tendency of the measure could only
be regarded as a matter of doubtful possibility.
Why then persist in a course almost confessedly
ruinous, and involving the grossest tergiversation
and apostacy ? They have nothing to offer but
the old apology, that the excited state of certain
classes in the community requires the sacrifice,
" and with necessity the tyrant's plea, excuse
their devilish deeds." But the excitement, so
far as it exists, is a thing of their own creation,
and would presently subside if left to itself;
and, with the whole conservative strength of the
country ready to come for Ward as one man in
support of a proper Ministry, nothing can pos-
sibly be more ridiculous than to talk of any ne•
cessity for the overthrow of the Constitution.
Supposing, however, that the Peers have de-
cided, as we doubt not they have, that no
change shall be admitted that affects the inte-
grity of the Constitution and the balance of its
several powers, the next question is, can sufficient
modifications be introduced into the present Bill
to conciliate the opposing parties and make the
measure a safe one for the country ? This is
the problem .Lords Harrowby and Wharncliffe
have to solve in Committee, and we think they
will find the entire scheme impracticable. No-
thing short of the whole Bill will satisfy the
Radicals, and very extensive modifications indeed
will be required to meet the views of the Con-
servatives and moderate Reformers. We must
never forget that the undoubted object of the
Radical faction, who are the chief clamourers for
the Bill, is to bring about a real democratic revo-
lution, to be followed with the quickness of
light by a general swamping of the Peerage, the
Church, the Debt, the Colonial System, and
whatever else may tend to support what may be
called the social organization of the country.
They value the Bill solely because they clearly
ycattoionpsroodfutcheis thts
preesrucietiv; ed tpsri
viler inevitable ibtaybany
t emmol deny
ten-
dencv, and they will forthwith hate it more in-
tensely than they ever hated Gatton and Old
Sarum. To extract from the Bill its venom as
it is called, to deprive it of its de-
structive and revolutionary qualities, would be
to rob it, in their estimation, of all its excellence
and efficiency. A real Reform of abuses, if such
there be, which would consolidate the general
interests of the empire, they could not endure ;
the only change they wish is one which would
convey a preponderating power into the hands
of that portion of the community which they can
infect with a sufficient degree of democratic
frenzy to secure their own objects. Such a
change they find in Earl Grey's Bill, and hence
they cling to it with a desperate tenacity, and
like its worst parts best, and call those worst parts,
What in truth they are, the principle and essence
of the measure. Now, we ask, how are people
of this description, on whom GovernMent ob-
viously leans for support, to be brought to tole-
rate conservative improvements in their darling
Bill ? The thing is plainly impossible. They are
the sworn enemies of all law, order, religion, and
public good ; and the safety of the community
requires that they should be met with defiance,
and treated as common disturbers. They are
the very class to escape from whom men congre-
gate in societies, and the new police might as
well expect to conciliate the pickpockets and
burglars of the metropolis by improvements in
e
tthe
c penalolt conciliate a tceo code,
modifica-
tionshe
of the Bill. On the other hand, while all
milisautintlaytthtoislfiej Bill would annilii-
biocyradlti:t
Unionists
aoarnndi cis
Radicals,
tasffl
bse mayand halosio)
dhaeeimgr considerate
changes are resistaßesdaLd
we must add, by
readers with the notion that the only points in
great
conservativeatt d decisive
party, changes
an (i by are
a.isti
tig
ed
objection is
and aristocratic branches of
Some of the Ministerial prints are
raaeNtnad'tui
ibgsa:ltali
ktiet.eehlsil
.er:
th
dispute are the 101. qualification and the metro-
ndandchaangbaed democracy too.
the Government
annihi-
late ei metro-
politan
monarchical
oeomnbaibreeccri
Thte°i sis Constitution,de
donenin twodemocrat}',
ways; first, by disfran-
chising the small boroughs which represent the
Aristocracy; and next, by making a low qualifl-