The Sun.
London, England, 1832-04-10 00:00:00

PIRIT TIM PUBLIC JOURNALS.

It is dee to ourselves to remind the public, the Governmen-
Inca, and the Opposition in both Houses of Parliawreit, of the
resolute heal and untired perseverance with which for many
weeks past we have been adjuring his Majesty's Ministers to
Ave' t the evil which manifestly threatened the Reform Bill, by
_ _

a timely creation of a sufficient number of Peers. bur voice at
the outset was heard almost alone ; but The seriousness and

sadness of the presage, and, as public attention began to be
rou-ed, the conviction not only that the danger was 'near, but
that the resulting calamity might he immeasurable, gradually
gained a thousand echoes to the cry, and an intriediate addi.
tion to the House of Peers, or ruin to the 8111, disgrace to the
Ministers, and, worse than all, a pattoXysm of just and north).

trollable resentment amounting to convulsion tteen*inut the
country, at last presented themselves to the ehitire tation as the

only alternatives width could by possibility dissolve the dread.
ful crisis. The Ring's 'Ministers 411/4f. hot act upon our solid.
ration. Tb'z.: Bill and the Ministers are now undergoing the

joint age' y of a trial before the same House. Of Lords from
whicl. both in lately- received an unrecire.iftil condemnation
ane, it behoves honest men, withinthls Aloft infeeral of twenty_
'our hours, which may, or may tot, elapse before the solemn

question ~hall be decidi:d, to look abtlft them a little and
inquire where thq, ate. We here 'dismiss every topic of 44E1Vnie
to the existing Government, Having said what IWO! serve to

justify ourselves, we shell merely repeat our trfdiffisinished con-
fidence in the perfect honour and siek-eiiitr with which Lord

Grey has matte up his mind to soursi't htinself of his ancient, his

recent, and consistent pledges to the people of Engloud; aid,
lamenting that he should, by a policy less prompt St au we had
hoped for, have matted the Reform Bill te irie.ir the cruel risk

which now, too plainly, surrounds that inestimab'e measure,
we will sustain the Noble Earl To the last, if, even at this almost
his midnight hour, he will st mut upon the breach and deal One

death-blow to the enemy. Parties have within these few
days been so nearly balanced, and the rests O both sides so
well sifted and considered, that we believe there was not, up to
the moment of moving the order of the day for the second read-
ing, a 4fiCerence of more Clan two or threw names between the

calculations of Ministers and their adversaries. The retrolution

of Lard Grey to meet the second reading without resorting to
th•! King's prerogative was notoriousl founded on the pro-
mises of certain, so called " moderate" Anti-Reformers, to

admit the necessity of some Reform, by an acquiescence In the
second reading of the Bill. Although these same Noble
Lords had not on a former occasion shown much scruple about
treating the House of Commons with Agnal disrepect by a
peremptory rejection of the principle of a Bill, which in ail Its
details had been assiduously laboured, and finally ftwroved, by
that assembly, they, the half-reformers, hars since displayed
signs of grace, by admitting that the voice of the nation de.

)nanded a proof of deference which had been denied to the body
assuming to be its repre.sentatiVes ; and therefore, that in the
case a the present Bill, they u•o tad vote for as second reading.
tb‘ this understanding, as w•e have obsti'ved, Lord Grey pro..

ceeded to the second reading of the Bill which had passed the
House of Commons. How has this compact between the Gowen`..
Inca and the moderate Lords been dealt with beetle tittl'a.anti-
reformers ? As might be expected.:Tbe Duke uf Buckingham
took occasion to give notice of a Bill, which was, according to
his view of it, to satisfy the country I—that is, he would brig
in a Bill for " enfranchising tertain (how many and riaat ?)
great towns,—for consolidating (that is, Scotehifying) cer-
tain, small boroughs,—and for extending the elective fran-
chise," how much? In other words, We have the names of
enfranchisement, disfranchisement, 'and a more extended qua-
lification,—those names to which, as Lord Grey well Z.x.
pressed it, the stigma of " revolution" was frets . The first
affixed by the Tories; and these vague words, to he travestied
ed libitum in the concoction of the Nob* DUke's Bill, are to
appease the appetite of the people nt ►_he United Kingdom f.-1,
a definite, substantial, and thorough Reform. And froht What
quarter comes this poisoned garment, proftertki as a boon to
the nation ? Even from the Duke of Buckingham, a man who
poured out large phials of Holy Alliance wrath upon the head
of Mr. Canning, for daring Witt kindly (Mr. Canning did no
more towards Spain and Portugal,—a man who is himself
a baroughmonger on a large scale. This, thee, is the Solon
upon whom the people of England are to rely tbr a new and per.

manent code of legislation, by which their dearest rights are t 6
be defended from local tyrants. This vile system, `Which
has lung been the curse of Scotland,—this corm:A partnership
of a whole tribe of paltry and abandoned boroughs, each re-
taining (otherwise it would have be ...1. so stated)—each retain.
ing its present machinery of some half-dozen, or from that to
half an hundred slavish and prostrate electors,—this slay do
well enough for the Duke of Buckingham,—it May serve pretty
exactly for a model of that sort of gag.atid--bayonet Govern-
ment, which seems to be the beau ideal of political corium.
nities in the mind of certain other noble and gallant Dukes;

but will a wretched patchwork of this nature.—tealnied
though it he varnished over, and nicknamed " ittihrm," but
aich as would approximate the Constitution of England rather
towards the principles held in reverentSe at St. Petersburgh than
in England,—will such a Bill, we sal., be received by the British
nation otherwise than as a fraud upon their understandings, alit'
reachery to their rights S' It has, however, a different and a
closer, as well as more business-like bearing than any upon the
nation at large. The notice of the Doke of Buckingham is in.
tended to catch certain halfsasid-half Peers, who swallon
though with wry faces, the principle of Reform, and 'would
compound with their consciences for the least imaginable quan-
tum of Retbrin that could be proposed or carried. It is hoped
by the Duke of Buckingham to indite* this party, by the vague
notice of a measure, called, though ever so absurdly, a " Refbrre
Bill," to vote against the second reading of the present pill, on
a speculation that my Lord Duke of Buckinghatii is hereafter
to come forward with one, forsooth, more acceptable to the
people of England : If these half Relbrrn Lords be so seduced
by his Grace of Buckingham, then is the Bill for this second
time lost. They, too, are lost in another sense. But the Bill
is retrievable, so will not be their reputaiion for hien of fair
dealing and integrity. Nor let the ultra " no" Reform Peers
presume that the whole lightning or popular indignation will
fall upon the defeated Minister. Lord Grey will be half pitied,
though half reprobated at the same time, by his countrymen, as
a feeble and vacillating friend : the ultra-Tories, the great stand-
ing causes of the mischief, will be loathed and execrated. For
them there is no redemption. They ate set down by the Erg-
lish nation as its lasting and incurable enemies. They can
never ru e England ; there is an end of all that. On the other
hand, sad and disastrous as would be the case of the Adminies
tration in the event of this Bill's overthrow, 4or Lortl Grey
and his colleagues we can see a glimmering of restoration. The
day after the second reading shall be thrown out, let the Par-
liament be prorogued until nerd Monday. In Friday's Gazette
let the names of 70 ne telt new Peers be published. Three days
afterwards bring the same Bill into the Lords : let not a single
rlsuse of it be altered, but work it vigorously through the
House of Peers; send it, after a third reading there, to the
Commons, and we shall obtain our Reform, the nation will
sesame its tranquillity, and a liberal Ministry may still remain
in office. The debate was adjourned ti!l this day. It will be
seen that Lords Haddlegton and Gage, who voted against the
-econd reading on the last occasion, have given a reluctant con-
sent to support it now.— Times.
Tile debate which is to end in the SecOnd reading or in the
rejection of the Refbnn 13in commeuced last night in the
House of Lords. It will be resumed to-morrow, when it is
expected that another adjournment will take place—so that
their Lordships are not likely to come to a division before
Thursday, as there can be no doubt but that Wednesday's
debate will rim far into the morning of that day, We need
not refer our readers to the report of this interesting discus-
sion—it will be the first of their thoughts : they will turn to
it with avidity, not to learn what arguments could be urged
for or against the measure—those they have heard a thou-
sand times before—but to catch, if possible, from the tone
of the debate, some cheering anticipation as to its ultimate
issue. There were some good and some bad symptoms to be col-
lected from that tone. But, before we say any thing of the
inferences to be drawn from the debate itself, we should
mention that the friends of Ministers reckon confidently on
a small majority in their favour. The Courier of last night
speculated on a majority of fourteen, but the numbers, we have
since heard, vary from eight to eleven. This does not look
ery sanguine, it is true ; but, perhaps, the moderation on which
the estimate seems to rest will be considered to make rather
in favour of its credibility than against it. As for the
symptoms of success or failure to be collected from the tone
andeertamstasices of the discussion, though all reasoning upon
them must necessarily be very uncertain, it is impossible, in a
case of so much anxiety, to avoid speculating on the suggestions
which they seem to dictate. One of the peculiarities connected
saith this discussion was the first appearance of the Duke of
Buckingham as the author of a new Reform Bill. It is a
pretty strong testimony to the progress which Reform has made
when we find Noble Dukes coming forward with Bills to amend
the representation. The Duke of Buckingham does not deny
that Reform is necessary—at least that it is expedient, because
demanded by the voice of the people; but he has found out
that the Reform which the people want is not the Reform
proposed by Ministers—not the Reform which has succeeded
in combining together thoegzhis 'sever could agree in any single
plan before—not the Reformissehich the House of Commons
ha., sanctioned by a large majority, but a Rgiorm as like it
in sound, and as unlike it in sense, as ingenuity can contrive to
fabricate. Of some such Reform as this the Duke of Buckingham
has given notice; but we have very little fear that the promise
Will operate to the disadvantage of the present BilL The
speech of Earl Grey is that, of course, to which public attention
will be roost eagerly directed. It was a calm, cautious, well-
argued, and clearly detailed exposition of the principles and
provisions of the measure. Far from rejecting, his Lordship
has declared himself open to all suggestions from the opposite
party which do not defeat any of the leading principles of the
Bill. Ile has declared himself willing to reconsider the extent
to which the principle of enfranchisement has been carried, to
reconsider the 10/. qualification, and other details. But the
most important declaration of his speech—indeed the most im-
portant declaration that has been made during the whole of
these debates—is contained in the following passage, towards
the conclusion of his Lordship's address:—" On the
one hand, I have not shrunk from bringing forward
the measure; and on the other I have not, in compli-
ance with an unreasoning spirit, suffered myself.h to be
forced into the adoption of means for carrying it hic should
only be resorted to in the very last necessity.". From this
statement it is evident that, if his Lordship. anticipates defeat
in any stage of the Bill, he is in possession. of the
.means and
waits only for the moment that shall require and justify their
application It is to be inferred, however, from some o t
spes.ches last night, that the anti.reformers will make
.a grea
effort against the Bill in its present stage. Some of their Lord.
shi?s seem to think that the people out of doors are as great
sticklers for etiquette as themselves; they seem to think that
all the people want is a more respectful sort of rejection than
that which the measure experienced before ; and with this

;ow Lord Ellenborough wait 'Out
_terirkfa w move, as an

amendment, that it shotld bb 'twat that day six months. But
it it not a.point:of ecinette or netemony thatthelaeople look to

at all \%hat they want is the Bill, modified, if you pleese,in

the true sense of modification, but not mutilated, not extin-
r,dshed. The Bishop of purhain stiovrtti the cloven foot in this

'a bate. He is one o?the'reftir'thers who will not vote for the Re-
form Bill even on*fft second reading. But we need not trarelhe
tone of the cr.s?.ussion any farther, as every one Al: be anxious
to saticfy his own mind by the perusaltif e report himself. We
shall only add a rumour that, Niched us, without vouching

for its authenticitr. Ws the course which Ministers intend to

pursue. bi►l they expect to carry, as we have almttly
&tato-1,1)y a small majority. In the Committee it IS said they
expect to be beaten on some points of stifikitnt impoitarke to

cause their rejection b,y the tothhityris;. and At the iettkrn of
t ie Bill front the trOttlbtsans to the tOtda, their amend-
ments teßtted, aeKlie 't44. prerogative, it is supposed,

N( P.l take place'whiChVi.o state of the two Houses of Parliament
with tispea'e. each other, and of one of them with rit-Ve.ct to
the public at large, will be considered it justifying and re-
quiring. We give this as Ofi*l. '',V the speculations that have

been communicated '9,!' ; but, from all we have either heard
or read, wettterine strongly to consider the measure safe, though
we •_ :Minot pronounce it out of danger.—Morning Herel4

Before the discussion on the secomk readilig Of the Reform
Bill commenced last night, Ott IYAIe of Buckingham, in pre-

senting a petithht fr'o certain freeholders of the county of
BucktAiiiinl against the Reform Bill, took the'ofpOrlt4.ity of

"giring notice that—
.. In case the second tteaditrvb`' L in'e Reform Bill now before
the House should be Res'Atii-ed, as he sincerely wished and con-
fidently hoped, kt w'ould be, it was his intention, on Monday next,
to bring 's' t: Bill for giving two representatives in Parliament to
thhet. forge towns which, by their opulence and constrierelal im-
portance, were entitled to be represented, aithingh at present
they were not represented. This weniti,be:the Orst object of the
Bill. A second object of the }3lllreontd be to conjoin and conso-
lidate certain borough* e..vb of whicb now retArted tw' gem-
hers to Parliament, so as to return.two Mrnbers or the conso-
lidated bbroughs ; the purpose of thre being to prevent the in-
totlvenienc of an addition to eft present numbers of the House
of Commons by the introduction of Members for places not be-
fore represented, And a third provision of the Bill would be to
extend the elective franchise to persons not now entitled to tote,
so as t-J prevent the abuse of the elective franchise hi Wittier&
In order to prove that he was seriously resoivid to bring in this
Bill in the event which he had n...-dnilolied, he proposed that the
notice should beenteted ill the books, and that the Lords be

summoned for Mottltly UAL"
By adopting the plan of Reform sketched by Mr. norace
in his pamphlet, just published, his brace of Bucking-
ham no doubt thinks he shall be sole to extriate the opponents

of the Bill from the diflidu'lly in which they placed themselves
last year. Thy moment the Reform Bill was rejected, the two

pantie: of qualified Reformers, and out and out Anti-Reformers,
found together only by the tie of opposition rtt the Ministerial

Bill, burst from each other, being able io agree oh no other

point. His Grace has tm4 liaised a standard found which he
hopes to rall tll Who oppose the Bill from thnse who Would

go all lengths short of a Reform which *Gold ti*stroy corrup-
tidn, down to the most determined Anti-Reformer. Even the
Duke of Wellington has fcr some time been preparing for an

escape to a mid;lt. course, having declared, that though he

still rernlined of the opinion, that an unreformed Parliament
Nris better than a Parliament however slightly reformed, yet

A would no longer be possible to avoid solilei;brt of Reform.

We have now, thereftwe, t* ieibrm standards unfurled—

hat of Minister; matt teat of the Duke of Buckingham. In open-

ing the debates hal Grey availed himself of this demonstratibit
of Nit Opposition, which, he observed, freed hit from the
necessity of showing " that the pencil-4e of the measure
was entitled to their LvstShipa' adoption, as it was ad-
mitted by those wht bad generally spoken and acted against
Reform, t!.'ll some Reform was indispensable." The oppo-
ts eals of Reform had shifted their ground, as the Noble Duke
meant to present a Bill founded on the three grand princ,ples
of dis franchisement, enfranchisement and extension of suffrage,
" on which the present Bill rested, and which they who op-
posed it had assigned as the groUnds on which they Character.
lied it as a measure not of Reform bid of revolution." There
is now, therefore, properl :to Conservative party, for all are
prepared to giVe something ; the difference between the par.
ties nr6+: is the extent of concession. They who would
fohnerly concede nothing will now give something in order to
avoid giving as much as their opponents have offered. Lord
Grey retorted on them the ehatge of revolution. "If exten-
sion of the tight of Voting—if disfranchisement and enfran-
chisensento said his Lordship, "be not Reform, but revolu-
, tidni by what process of reasoning does the Noble Duke come
to the conclusion that his own Bill, founded on them, is not
revolution but Reform ?" As great tat has been made of re-
volution to terrify weak iiiinds, the distinction drawn by his
Lordship betters Reform and revolution may be of use to
Wet than the Duke of Buckingham.
" What (said his Lordship) may be his notion of Reform, as
distinct from revolution, I know not; hut I cannot conceive that
adopting these principles entitles the measure to the character
of a revolution. A Reform in Parliament undoubtedly supposes
a great change In the principles of the consitution of Parliament;
and it supposes a great change made in the mode in which the
people arc represented. But all changes ate not revolution. The
change, in effect, is to be made by the acknowledged authorities ;
—it is to be mrde in accordante with the principles of the Con-
stitution ;—it is to be &he by an Act of Parliament—by the corn-
bine.l will of the three branches of the Legislature—King,
1 ords, and Commons. This is only to be passed after long and
mature deliberation, and passed by the acknowledged and known
forms of the Constitution, with the assent of the acknowledged
authorities of the State of three co-ordinate branches of King,
Lords, and Commons." His Lordship added—" 1 always under-
stood the designation of Revolution was given to great changes,
either in the succession to the Monarchy or in the institutions
of the country, carried into effect by force, and against the wishes
of the authorities of the State."
_Earl Grey's speech was upon the whole mild and conciliatory.
A considerable part of it will not be so palatable perhaps to
the country in general, as to the assembly to which it was
addressed. He was at considerable pains to show their Lord.
ships that the landowners would still have greatly the as-
cendancy under the present Reform Bill—that in the neigh-
bourhood of many of the towns were gentlemen of landed
property, who possessed considerable property in them, and the
representation would be chiefly under their influence.
" My Lords (said his Lordship), I think that there is a mistake
of s this point. I beg leave to remark, that it is generally pre-
sumed that the character of the elections of those places will
always resemble what it has been during a time of popular excite-
ment. Your Lordships must not judge of what will generally be
the case by what occurs when the question of Parliamentary Re-
form agitates the country.—(Hear, hear, hear.)"
There is, no doubt, much truth in this. The difference will
not be so much in the class as in the individuals of the class.
There is a material difference between a rich man buying the
suffrages of the poor, and a rich man returned to Parliament by
men who deem him fit to represent them in the great council of
the nation ; and on proof of unfitness, or want of principle, can,
at a new election, supply his place by another. We trust that
the effbct of the Bill will be to raise the moral qualification of
the candidates for the representation, and that there will here-
after be less effrontery in the advocating of measures hostile to
the interests of the community at large, and offensive to the
feelings of the people. His Lordship impressively warned
their Lordships not to mistake the character of the present
silence of the people.
" My Lords, I admit that we have of late heard none of that
outcry on the part of the people which first marked the progress
of the Bill. In its place, a fearful silence at present prevails—a
silence which may, perhaps, lead some foolishly to imagine that
the people are no longer looking at this question with the same
feelings of interest. But I caution your Lordships to beware
You how you form that opinion. may rely upon it that though
the people are silent, they are looking at the deliberations of this
night with no less intenseness than that which has marked them
from the very first day of the agitation of this question.—( Hear.)"
He concluded with an allusion to the attacks of which he had
been the object. He had been unjustly accused, and the sub-
ject of undeserved suspicion. " As, on the one hand (said his
Lordship), I have been deterred by threatened difficulties from
proposing this Bill—so, on the other, I have not suffered my-
self to be forced by clamour into the prosecution of it, by means
to which I could not in my better judgment consent." He who
seeks an end, must seek the means to that end. if his Lord-
ship's judgment would not allow him to consent to the only
means by which the end he sought could be attained, it is un-
sound. It is of no use for his Lordship to pray that "if mis-
fortune is to follow the measure, it may be confied to one—that
he may be the sole victim of it." He may be the victim of it,
but he will assuredly not be the sole victim of it. His Lord-
ship has committed to his care the interests of a great nation,
the peace and happines of many millions, who may, by an error
of his judgment, be plunged into misery unspeakable. His
Lordship may ultimately succeed, but the intelligent part of the
nation are at a loss to understand by what means he can suc-
ceed. Earl Grey is not conducting his own affairs, but the
affairs of the nation, and they whose affairs he thus conducts
doubt much the efficacy of the means employed to conduct
them to a prosperous issue. His Lordship may be right, and
their misgivings may turn out to be unfounded ; but if he err
under such circumstances, heavy indeed will be his responai.
bility, though that responsibility will be but a slight atone..
went to a suffering nation. The Opposition was opened by
Lord Ellenborough, who descanted at great length on the many
advantages of an unreformed Parliament, from the classes of
individuals who found their way into it through rotten bo-
roughs; and eulogized the Parliamentary proceedings of late
years. " Let them (said his Lordship) tell the nation what a
reformed Parliament would agree to, at their instance, which
Parliament, as at present constituted, refused to
donor for
r Pass
laws for the benefit of the whole community, athe
benefit of the aristocracy—save the people from being pillaged
by those who nominally represent them. A reformed. h
Pasa-
ment will not be wholly composed of Members possessing abso.
lute wisdom, but it will not lay itself open to the reproach which
Sir Robert Peel and Mr. Herries addressed to an unreformheck
ed
Parliament—that instead of the representatives being a c
on Ministers, Ministers were a check on the representatives ;
and that they were obliged to choose Committees of the most
virtuous Members, to shelter themselves under their reports
from the rapacity of the body. A reformed Parliament must
be less rapacious than a Parliament chosen by borough propri-
etors. His Lordship found out, too, that the Church of Eng-
land has its supporters only in the very rich and the rabble—that
the educated classes are almost all dissenters, and as the rabble
have no surlYage under the Reform Bill, enemies of the Church
of England only would find their way into Parliament " The
House of Commons (said his Lordship) would be returned by
the Dissenters here, by the Presbyterians in: Scotland, and by
the Catholics in Ireland." A fine compliment, truly, to Mo-
ther Church, and an explanation of the hostility she has always
shown to education. According to Lord Ellenborough, the
moment a man ceases to be poor and ignorant, he ceases to be a
churchman, except he become rich enough to be made a Lord.
The Bishop of Durham declared himself not against Reform, but
against Earl Grey's version of it. He saw no evil, however, in
an unreformed Parliament, bribery and corruption being no
evils according to the Right Rev. Father in God. We are
ire glad, however, to hear the Fathers of the Church recording
their sentiments in this manner. The debate was closed by
the Marquess of Londonderry, who delivered himself of one of
his usual eftlssions. So much for the first act of the discussion.